We've been looking closely at adopting OO design and programming. Our research has run into the topic of UML and UML tools and generating ABL from UML. We've had a good look at this Exchange presentation we found on PSDN -
http://www.psdn.com/library/entry.jspa?externalID=620&categoryID=247
This is very exciting stuff. We've downloaded a trial version of this Enterprise Architect tool from Sparx Systems and it looks very impressive indeed. Very easy to use and quite inexpensive. From the demos attached to this Exchange presentation on PSDN, it looks quite simple for Enterprise Architect to generate ABL code from UML and even import and generate .df files. This seems to be the way of the future for software development. Also, it appears that there is some kind of relationship between Progress and Sparx Systems. Does anyone know any more details?
From a recent thread on the PEG, it also appears that Progress is developing its own UML tool called the OESDK or the OpenEdge SDK. Does anyone have any details about this new product? Where and when will this product be available from Progress? We're not sure whether we should purchase Enterprise Architect or wait for Progress to release their new OESDK product.
Peter,
The OE SDK is NOT a licensed PSC product. It is a consulting service which includes a set of UML models, patterns, standards, and templates that our services organization in the Netherlands uses on consulting projects. The OE SDK actually uses Enterprise Architect and interoperates with it to generate OpenEdge ABL via its set of own custom tools and utilities including a separate database to store the model generation data.
It is not mandatory to have the OE SDK to generate and/or reverse engineer OpenEdge ABL from/into Enterprise Architect. OpenEdge ABL can be generated and/or reverse engineered by Enterprise Architect without the OE SDK. However, the UML models, patterns, standards, etc, add the value of generating ABL is a specific way that creates the components you need to get you closer to a working application.
Again, it needs to made very clear that the OE SDK is NOT a licensed PSC product. You have the choice of using Enterprise Architect standalone to generate/reverse engineer OpenEdge ABL or contacting your sales rep to find out more about our consulting services that can help you with UML and MDA.
Phillip Magnay
Lead Architect - PSDN Project Team
It would be nice if one could at least find out something about OESDK besides what was in Exchange and PTW talks. I get no response to their e-mail address and the web site is "do not enter", presumably unless one has paid.
Personally, while I think it is great for PSC to have a consulting product related to UML, if you are serious about spreading the use of UML, you should make the software components of this program freely available. I suspect that if you set it up as an open source project (on OE Hive, of course!), that you would find that people improved the offering and you would end up with better tools. This "you can't see it unless you pay" stuff is hardly helping spread the word. If you have useful help other than the software, people will still buy the consulting ... maybe even more, since more people would get exposed to it.
Thanks. I understand a little more about where OE SDK sits now.