Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Embarcadero adds Windows 7 multi-touch to RAD tools

Great article from SD Times, by David Worthington

Database and software development tool maker Embarcadero will fully support the Windows 7 API and multi-touch technology in upcoming versions of its rapid application development (RAD) products.

Embarcadero's C++Builder, a RAD C++ development environment for Windows, along with the Delphi RAD Visual development environment for Windows software and database applications, will have interfaces to work with the APIs, said David Intersimone, the company's vice president of developer relations and chief evangelist.

Both products will have a gesture management component for Windows 7 that will abstract out its multi-touch capabilities from the Windows API to make it easier for developers to use those features in their applications, he said.

"Developers drop it down on any form in an application, and it becomes gesture-enabled. They just set properties and hook on the gesture event that takes place," Intersimone said. Developers can also create custom gestures to override predefined ones, he added.

The gesture manager also supports single touch for older touch-based systems, such as kiosk screens, and can use a standard mouse in replace of a finger. Older touch-based systems lack Windows 7's touch-screen technology and treat gestures as mouse input, he explained.

Microsoft released Windows 7 to manufacturing on July 22. Embarcadero must wait until Microsoft finalizes the Windows 7 software development kit before it can finalize its products, Intersimone said. The SDK usually ships a few weeks after Windows goes RTM, he added. He would not provide a timeframe for the products' availability.

Monday, July 27, 2009

ARTS Leverages Embarcadero’s ER/Studio to Build Industry-Standard Data Models and XML Schemas


Washington, July 27, 2009–The Association for Retail Technology Standards, the standards division of the National Retail Federation, announced today that it is adopting Embarcadero Technologies’ award-winning suite of database software tools, including its ER/Studio Enterprise data modeling tool, DBArtisan database administration tool, and Change Manager database change management tool. ARTS will use the tools to build industry-standard data models and XML schemas for the retail industry and to maintain its existing library of 17 schemas associated with its operational and warehouse models.

“Through our agreement with Embarcadero, we will now have the optimum tools to develop new data models and XML standards as well as enhance what we already have in place,” said Richard Mader, executive director of ARTS. “We’ve heard loud and clear from our volunteer committee that they could benefit from tools that allow for multiple concurrent users and that generate formats which are compatible with other modeling tools. Now we’re able to answer that call.”

“We’ve invested significant time and effort into building a rich collaborative environment to support the worldwide base of ARTS members who contribute to the development of retail technology standards,” said Kirstin H. Wright, Chief Visionary Officer for Retail Anywhere and chair of the ARTS Data Model Committee. “The Embarcadero toolset will support this effort by enabling us to effectively harness our richest resource, our members, and make efficient use of their valuable time to build ARTS standards bigger, better and faster.”

“ARTS delivers a great service to its members by offering them valuable data model templates and XML structures that give them a head-start on their retail systems projects,” said Jason Tiret, director of modeling and design solutions, Embarcadero Technologies. “Our tools will help ARTS continue to advance their standards efforts and, with features like the Repository included with ER/Studio, its global committee members can better collaborate on the ARTS Retail Data Model.”

The ARTS Retail Data Model, currently in version 6.0, is in use around the world, supporting a full range of computer applications to operate retail businesses across multiple segments such as Shell International Petroleum Company, McDonalds, Nike and many others.

ARTS expects to fully convert its data models to ER/Studio by the end of July. All future versions of the Data Model beyond 6.0 will be developed in ER/Studio, but will also be available to members using other tools.

Embarcadero Technologies, Inc. is a leading provider of award-winning tools for application developers and database professionals so they can design systems right, build them faster and run them better, regardless of their platform or programming language. Ninety of the Fortune 100 and an active community of more than three million users worldwide rely on Embarcadero products to increase productivity, reduce costs, simplify change management and compliance and accelerate innovation. Founded in 1993, Embarcadero is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices located around the world. Embarcadero is online at www.embarcadero.com.

The Association for Retail Technology Standards (ARTS) is an international membership organization dedicated to reducing the costs of technology through standards. Since 1993, ARTS has been delivering application standards exclusively to the retail industry. ARTS has four standards: The Standard Relational Data Model, UnifiedPOS, IXRetail and the Standard Requests for Proposal. Membership is open to all members of the international technology community- retailers from all industry segments, application developers and hardware companies. www.nrf-arts.org.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Buy One Get One Free | Database Tools & Developer Software

Buy One, Choose a Second Free Buy One, Choose a Second Free

An Offer This Good Won't Last Forever. This One Ends August 24, 2009.

It’s simple – purchase any qualifying Embarcadero product and select another tool FREE. You can choose from over 16 of Embarcadero’s industry-leading, multi-platform database and application development tools, including DBArtisan®, ER/Studio®, Rapid SQL®, DB Optimizer®, and more.

Not sure what product you want for free? Visit the interactive promo information pageand click on the “What Can I Get For Free” link to access our easy, online tool to explore and decide.

Create your own perfect combination:

  • Buy DBArtisan – get a free copy of Embarcadero® Change Manager™ to simplify database change management

  • Buy ER/Studio – get a free copy of Rapid SQL to speed database prototyping and development

  • Buy Rapid SQL – get a free copy of JBuilder®, the highest-rated, enterprise-class Java IDE for building Java applications

Whatever your choice may be, there has never been a better opportunity to get the tools you need to design, build, and run your systems better while minimizing the impact to your software budget.

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Wednesday, July 22, 2009

The 5 Static Code Audits every developer should know and use

From JavaWorld:

By Mike Rozlog, Network World, 07/23/09

In today’s competitive market and economy, developers need every tool they can get to increase productivity, reduce cost and lower maintenance while ensuring proper execution in production. One of the more under utilized developer tools is static software audits.

The concept of static analysis has been around for years, and over the past few years tools to evaluate and diagnose the style of the code have matured. There are hundreds of software audits available to developers today in almost any language. These audits can isolate poor coding practices in various areas like Arrays, Loops, Coding Style, Design Issues, Duplicate Code, Naming Style, Performance, and many others. Inside each one of those top-level classifications is another full set of audits to be used by developers or their teams.

A quick word of caution, using audits can cause audit paralysis where the developers get overwhelmed by the tool reporting too many things to fix. I once looked at a 200,000 line application, small by today’s standards, and ran the full complement of 200+ audits. The report basically stated that I had over 350,000 violations that needed to be fixed. What, where, how… overwhelming!

One key to successful audit usage is defining a limited set of audits. This is usually different for every developer or team. Before embarking on an audit hunt, the developers should come to a common-goal regarding what they are trying to fix or solve. This takes a few minutes or in some cases hours, but the time is well worth it.

I always recommend developers and teams start small, pick a set of limited audits that can be used to fix various common issues and give a great return. It should be noted that before engaging in an audit hunt that the developers already follow common practices like SCM, Unit Testing, and hopefully a QA process.

The great thing about audits is they give information about code and how it is constructed. Just because the report states that line 100323 has an anomaly, it does not necessarily mean that a) it is a true problem, or b) it will actually cause a problem. A good tool should give the ability to mark a reported problem as verified; this can be done in comments or something to let the tool know that the area has been reviewed and is OK to continue without modification.

So when do you use audits? I recommend audits be run every single night or during an integration build to ensure good form, especially if the code is being developed from scratch or is a new project. I believe audits should be run at least once when performing Software Archeology on existing code, and should be run all the time during a refactoring process.

The five audits that I’m going to focus on are Numerical Literal in code, String Literal, god Method, Shotgun Surgery and Duplicate Code. When I present these to companies they always look at me and say the same thing, “Why those five?” There are many reasons but in general, once they are explained, they are easy to understand and at the same time they have real benefit.

Numerical Literal in Code:

For the masses that read Martin Fowler’s awesome book “Refactoring” this audit was named “Magic Number” refactor. However, for me this is one of the simplest refactoring methods to learn and understand.

We have all written code like:
    double salaryCalc(double salary){
      return salary * 1.34564333721
    }
    C++

Then two months later, we are asked to update the salaryCalc method and when they review the code they become stumped. Most likely they can not remember or were not involved in the original writing of the method to know what 1.34564333721 represents. This can become a maintenance nightmare, especially if the developers you work with don’t put a lot of comments in the code they are working on.

Instead of using a numeric literal, it would be better to replace that number with a symbolic constant. This way a meaningful name can be given to the number, as an example:
    double salaryCalc(double salary){
      return salary * BONUS
    }
    static final double BONUS = 1.34564333721
    C++

Now when the developers review the code, at a very minimum they should know what 1.34564333721 is the bonus for the calculation.

Again if you are doing refactoring, the unit test should not have to change and the outcome should be exactly the same when the refactor is complete.

String Literal:

We all know there are times when time is of the essence, and we have to make changes to code and get it into production as soon as possible. String literals just happen. This audit is especially nice when you need to internationalize the software, or have already done that task. It should be run very often and all new occurrences should be remediated as soon as they are found. Just like the audits discussed in the paper, the unit tests should not change and the outcome should stay the same.

This would be incorrect:
    public const helloWorldMessage : String = ‘Hello World!’;
    Delphi

This would be correct:

    Public const helloWorldMessage : String =
          resourceManager.GetString(‘msg.helloworld’);
    Delphi

This method would retrieve the helloWorldMessage string from a resource bundle that could be changed outside of the application and corrected without having to recompile.

god Method:

The god ‘X’ audits, where ‘X’ is equal to Method, Class, or Package are great checks on good object design. This audit does more than just look at the code and spit out that it should be done a better way, as with to two above audits.

The overview for this audit will be the god Method; the simple way to explain it is that you have a class, the class contains 50 methods, however only 1 method appears to be doing all the work. This method would be marked as a god Method.

By the way, most god ‘X’ situations do not start out that way. In the case of god Methods, they normally start out as simple normal methods but over time as more functionality gets added and the method has more responsibilities assigned to it, it grows and grows and eventually it becomes a god Method.

So what calculations are used to figure out if a method is doing more work than other methods? The usual calculation revolves around three major audits and a set of metrics to determine its status. The three audits used include Long Methods, Long Parameters, and Switch statements. The 4 basic metrics used include; Line of Code (LOC), Number of Parameters (NOP), Number of Local Variables (NOLV), and Maximum Number of Branches (MNOB).

By putting those numbers together you can start to see how the calculation works. Long Methods usually mean more than one operation is being performed, Long Parameters are hard to understand, and Switch statements mean a lot of different paths through the code. By adding in the metrics LOC per method compared to other methods and then verifying the NOP, NOLV, and MNOB, it can calculate what a god Method is and what is not.

So what do you do once you have isolated a god Method? There are a number of refactors that could occur, like Extract Method, Introduce Parameter Object, and many others. The idea is to make sure the method is only doing the work that the method was supposed to do in the first place. As an example, having a method that calculates the salary and updates the salary history, generates salary reports, and calculates taxes all in one single method may not be the best approach. Plus, from a simple maintenance perspective, separation is going to make that job much easier.

Shotgun Surgery:

This audit is one of my favorite audits, not just because of the cool name, but because this audit can save a lot of time. Like the god ‘X’ audits, this method also uses metrics to calculate its results.

I like to explain shotgun surgery this way; ever isolate the one method with one line of code that needs to be modified? You know in your developer heart that when you make the change to that one line of code that you will get to leave the office early, get to have dinner with the family, get to watch your favorite T.V. show, and maybe, just maybe, get to go to bed early! However, you change the one line of code in the one method, run unit tests it passes, put it in production… you don’t get to go home until 3:00 am, your spouse and kids are upset and your manager is really mad for breaking production.

However, if you would have used the shotgun surgery audit, the bad stuff may not have had to happen. This is because the audit basically looks at the number of places in your code that is relying on that one method. Meaning that you will know that one line change is going to affect the entire code base and you better take a step back before actually changing that line.

The two metrics that are used to help calculate a shotgun surgery method are Changing Methods (CM) and Changing Classes (ChC). The changing methods audit is really the number of methods that are associated or relying on the particular method, and the changing classes is the number of classes that is also affected by changing the method. So you can think of the shotgun surgery audit as a mini-method-dependency-checker.

So if you have a method that is reported to have shotgun surgery what should you do? Simple. Slow down… look a little deeper into the code, find the dependencies and review what the proposed change would do to the system. The extra time will be paid back many times over with the re-work that will not have to be done.

Duplicate code:

There are many days I believe Copy/Paste should be banished from our editors. The amount of times we use this feature in our code is astounding. Sometimes I refer to the process as Snarf and Barf, because it takes no time to execute and no real thought behind it. This leads too many of us (including myself) to copy bad code and paste it all over the place.

This leads to many problems, the biggest being a maintenance nightmare. Think of how many times we copy five or 10 lines of code and put that same code in the next method, in another method, and so on. Then we change the second method just a little for this one border case, then the next, how do you keep track?

Using this audit you should be able to find many of the areas that this occurs in. Many tools out there today state that 10 lines or more have to be duplicated before the audit returns a true. That is personally way too high, especially if the tool you use has the ability to check for duplicates in Conditionals and Constructors. I would recommend setting the number down to three to five lines.

Once the developer has isolated the duplicates, a couple of standard refactoring methods can be applied, usually Extract Method, or Pull Up Field will do the trick.

So an example maybe an IF statement like:
    if (int x=0; x< 100; x++{
       //other statements
       someValue = 10;
    } else {
       //other statements
       someValue = 10;
    }
    Java

Could be written as:
    if (int x=0; x < 100; x++{
       //other statements
    } else {
       //other statements
    }
       someValue = 10;
    Java

The over-simplified example highlights it perfectly; the someValue was going to get changed to 10 every time so it may as well be changed only once.

There are a lot of audits out there today; there are most likely audits for almost anything we can think of. Remember, when starting with audits to start slow, pick a couple that you believe will give good feedback and have a potential for an easy payback and you should be ready to go.

Audits are one of those great tools that many developers seem to neglect or forget about. Take the time to find a couple and hopefully you will be able to produce better software in less time.

About the author: Rozlog is the senior director of Java solutions for Embarcadero Technologies. His latest book, a collaboration, is Mastering JBuilder from John Wiley & Sons, Inc. He can be reached at michael.rozlog@embarcadero.com.

All contents copyright 1995-2009 Java World, Inc. http://www.javaworld.com

IT's Challenge: Systemwide Optimization or Bust

Empowered with the right tools, IT can optimize application and database performance.

by Greg Nerpouni

The development of database-backed applications continues to accelerate despite shrinking IT budgets, and the distinct separation of duties between database professionals and application developers continues to blur. With DBAs becoming more focused on meeting production service level agreements (SLAs), application developers -- who are fluent in languages such as Java and C++, but admittedly not in SQL -- are being forced to pick up the slack and write their own SQL.

Read the full version by clicking the thumbnail below...

 IT's Challenge Systemwide Optimization or Bust

Embarcadero empowers software developers and database professionals with award-winning tools to design, build, optimize, and run software applications and databases across multiple platforms and programming languages. With the acquisition of CodeGear™ from Borland in 2008, Embarcadero now serves more than three million professionals worldwide with IDEs and database tools that dramatically simplify and accelerate development. Embarcadero’s tools are used in the most demanding vertical industries and by 90 of the Fortune 100 worldwide.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Data Modeling Tools Compared: Embarcadero ER/Studio v. Erwin

More and more companies are using data modeling to respond to changing business conditions, reduce data redundancy and comply with regulatory standards. But which data modeling tool can deliver the advanced features that make working with even the most complex data models more accurate and reliable? Which tool makes it easier to collaborate across the enterprise? Which vendor is committed to aggressively advancing your data modeling tools and providing you with direct-to-vendor support?

 

This Podcast will compare Embarcadero® ER/Studio® with CA ERwin and give an overview of how advanced data modeling tools, backed by world-class vendor support, lets you benefit from:

  • Improved productivity with superior auto layout and model navigation
  • More flexible design layers with separate, but integrated logical and physical models
  • Improved comprehension and knowledge sharing with better reporting and communication capabilities
  • Improved standards compliance and component reuse
  • Customizable XSD Generation and Visual Data Lineage
  • Comprehensive support
  • Flexible licensing options that dramatically reduce your total cost of ownership
Interested in this topic, but prefer alternative content formats? Try:

Monday, July 20, 2009

Bridging the Gap Between Database Administrators (DBAs) & Database Developers

Bridging the Gap

The transparent gap between Database Administrators (DBAs) and Database Developers (DBDs) has existed for years, however there has not been much discussion surrounding their relationship. Embarcadero Technologies recently held an event for customers, partners, press and analysts to debate the chasm developing between DBAs and database developers. The discussion focused on what is causing this chasm; the problems associated with it and the solution.

We hope you'll take a few minutes and listen to each of the podcasts a four part series.

 

Part 1 of 4: Communication styles between DBAs and DBDs

In this introduction we discuss the anthropology of database administration. The panel looks to gain an understanding of the relationship between Database Administrator (DBA) and Database Developer groups, how to help them develop better communication, and what are the issues surrounding these efforts.





 

Part 2 of 4: Working In a Silo

Developers tend to be work in an isolated environment. Despite working in a silo, DBAs and Developers do feel the need to exchange valuable information on a consistent basis. The panel discusses how silos adversely affect businesses and looks at potential solutions.





 

Park 3 of 4: How Does The Economy Affect Database Professionals?

Today’s credit crunch is affecting the business of the database. The panel discusses new ways of working, communicating, and collaborating between Developers and DBA. Additionally, it examines the new roles of Developers and the need for them to understand wider business objectives beyond their own roles.

 





 

Part 4 of 4: The All Access Toolkit for Database Professionals

Embarcadero All-Access provides all the application development and database tools you need-when you need them-across all major platforms, frameworks, and programming languages. In this discussion the panel explores how this single, cost-effective toolbox solution can bridge the gap between Developers and DBAs.

 

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

The Smart Way To Manage Database Changes

Please join us for a live webinar event, What’s New in Change Manager 5.1, and find out about features like data masking and how to automatically capture schema snapshots to quickly identify changes and correct problems in less time. Learn techniques on how to compare live databases or archives to track and report on change.

 

Change Manager offers:

  • Schema “archive” capture, compare and synchronization
  • Data compare and synchronization with custom mapping features
  • Archive and compare database configuration settings
  • Advanced alter script generation; handles object dependencies and preserves data
  • Full Unicode Support
  • Source Code Control (SCC) Integration
  • Command-line API for scheduling jobs and event notification
  • Data masking with shuffling and randomization

Friday, July 10, 2009

Data Modeling Tools Beta Software | ER/Studio 8.5

Embarcadero ER/Studio, an industry-leading data modeling tool, helps you discover, document, and re-use data assets. For the first time ever Embarcadero Technologies has combined the beta cycles of ER/Studio, EA/Studio and Portal. Sign-up today: http://beta.embarcadero.com

As youll see the ER/Studio Enterprise edition is a more comprehensive modeling suite to suit not only data modeling, but business process modeling and software/UML modeling as well. This beta is now available and go to beta.embarcadero.com if you want to check it out. Embarcadero empowers software developers and database professionals with award-winning tools to design, build, optimize, and run software applications and databases across multiple platforms and programming languages. With the acquisition of CodeGear™ from Borland in 2008, Embarcadero now serves more than three million professionals worldwide with IDEs and database tools that dramatically simplify and accelerate development. Embarcadero’s tools are used in the most demanding vertical industries and by 90 of the Fortune 100 worldwide.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Buy One Get One Free From Embarcadero Technologies

Get More. Do More. For Less!

For a limited time, with each Embarcadero product you buy, you can choose another product from Embarcadero’s vast portfolio of multi-platform application development and database tools—FREE!*

 

This Buy One, Get Free offer isn’t just about getting more.  It’s about getting the tools you need so you can design, build, and run things better. And for a limited time, you can do it for less!

Act now! This special offer ends August 24, 2009.

  • Purchase a qualifying product, receive coupon for free product.
  • Need Help Deciding?  Use the product selector guide below to learn more about our products.
  • Install and Register purchased product. How do I install and register?
  • What Can I Get for Free? Use the qualifying product selector tool to find out!.

    Redeem Your FREE Product Coupon(s)

  • Wednesday, July 8, 2009

    Try CodeGear RAD Studio For Free: Try the Best in App Development Today!

    Download the CodeGear RAD Studio 2009 Trial now and get started
  • Download the RAD Studio 2009 trial
  • Install and register the trial
  • Download the Delphi 2009 Handbook(note: the download link will work after you've registered the RAD Studio trial)
    The Delphi 2009 Handbook by Marco Cantu

    Get the Delphi 2009 Handbook free:

    The Delphi 2009 Handbook covers all the new features of Delphi 2009, from Unicode support to generics, from anonymous methods to other language enhancements, from new IDE features to the Ribbon control, from Vista-enabled controls to DataSnap 2009.

    If you've already tried just one part of the studio like Delphi, C++Builder or Delphi Prism, now is a great time to experience the complete RAD Studio that supports RAD native Windows development in both Delphi and C++ languages as well as .NET and ASP.NET development with new Delphi Prism; plus the Blackfish SQL database. CodeGear RAD Studio includes:

  • Delphi
  • Delphi Prism
  • C++Builder

  • Benefits of A Strong Quality Assurance Process in Software Development

    Chris Pattinson, Director of Quality Assurance, spoke to us this week regarding his role at Embarcadero Technologies – a database tools and developer software company.  After watching the video I hope you'll read an excerpt from a blog post Chris recently wrote (July 2009). 

    Software quality assurance (SQA) consists of a means of monitoring the software engineering processes and methods used to ensure quality. The methods by which this is accomplished are many and varied, and may include ensuring conformance to one or more standards, such as ISO 9000 or CMMI.

    Why Quality Assurance?

    I’ve now had almost a decade in the Quality Assurance field of software development, and while all folks understand the importance of testing, the understanding and measuring of the real value of a quality assurance organization can be difficult to determine.

    From my personal view, a well run quality organization achieves three majors goals:

    • Visibility
    • Control
    • Reduces Development Debt incurred by Bugs

    By visibility, the more mature the testing organization is, the faster and more effectively problems are found and the impact of problems are understood. When a bug is reported, a mature organization can analyze the frequency and impact of such an issue, then once it’s analyzed create an effective automated test to ensure that once the issue is fixed, it stays fixed.

    Visibility is more then just detecting the bug as well - the requirement for a feature may be ambiguous or incomplete leading to inefficiencies in development. And then other processes such as code reviews, project planning, and release processes could all have areas that if improved, not only ensure a product is shipped of good quality but that the process to do so is lean, mean and very effective - less waste of one of the most precious resources : Time.

    Control is achieved by clearly defined milestones and acceptance criteria to validate that milestone. It’s easy to say you have your first Beta build with no qualifications, however if you state the beta build needs to have certain functionality and bug thresholds, then you can ensure the team aims for those goals and can keep a project ‘health’ in good shape.  You can also ensure that when you release a product to market, you clearly understand it’s state and can more confidently predict revenue.  Also, public beta’s advertise how your organization cares about a product, and customers can feel part of the development process - as well as help other customers learn and use the product.

    QA in itself does not fix a product - however QA ENABLES the R&D team to fix a product and better meet a customer’s needs. And with highly visible test systems that run frequently, this adds huge value to R&D - the sooner a bug is detected the easier it is to fix.

    Now, the first two factors are hard to measure. Development Debt can be measured on the time it takes for developers to work on bug fixing during a product cycle. This work can be measured against customer satisfaction to understand the development cost of bugs to achieve certain satisfaction levels. A well run development process with mature quality organization can be truly agile and spend more time on features, and less on bug fixing since the cost of fixing a bug found quickly after introduced is hugely less then found later.

    Take the simple scenario - an engineer modifies a feature and a manual tester looks at it, and certifies it’s ok. However a bug now occurs in another feature that depended on a property that was modified and this other feature wasn’t tested. Worst case, the customer finds the issue weeks or months later after many other code changes - the time to investigate, and the dependencies of OTHER code on this initial change would typically cause a lot of work and headaches for both R&D and QA, ultimately making it hard to fix the issue without causing OTHER side-effects.

    Ultimately, R&D ‘feels’ less work was done, however if the issue was caught and fixed, the Development Debt is less for the next release, meaning more exciting features . It’s clear how this is a huge benefit of a well run QA organization.

    There are other advantages too - once you have visibility you can find opportunities for new features and understand what the customer is really asking for, not what you are assuming they are asking for. You may find that you thought customers always use your product in one way, or one feature that is really important to them. You may also find areas in the development process that if you improve, dramatically improve overall team productivity.

    Tuesday, July 7, 2009

    What’s New in Change Manager 5.1

    Header Webinar Event

    TECHNICAL WEBINAR

    How do you track and report on changes throughout your database environment? Roll out application updates? Comply with database audit and reporting requirements or protect data privacy? Or the real kicker… database performance tanked and it’s because someone tweaked the schema in Production and now YOU have to search through schema archives to find the problem and roll it back… ASAP.

    The Smart Way To Manage Database Changes
    Please join us for a live webinar event, What’s New in Change Manager 5.1, and find out how to automatically capture schema “snapshots” to quickly identify changes and correct problems in less time; compare live databases or archives to track and report on change; generate change scripts; compare, validate and synchronize schema and data within or across database platforms; and monitor database settings to ensure compliance with regulations and company policies.

    And NEW in Change Manager® 5.1, you can:

    • Protect Data Privacy - Data masking  features shuffle or randomize columns to de-identify data and then quickly migrate the masked data from Production into Test, QA or Dev environments
    • Migrate schemas and manage change across DBMS environments - cross-DBMS schema compare and synch between Oracle <> SQL Server and Sybase ASE <> SQL Server
    • Go Global – with full Unicode character support

    Embarcadero Change Manager is the only change management tool that covers data, schema, and configuration management, and supports four major DBMS platforms (IBM® DB2® for LUW, Microsoft® SQL Server, Oracle®, and Sybase®) – all from a single interface.

    Limited Attendance. Register today!

    July 16, 2009

    11:00 AM PDT / 2:00 PM EDT

    Register for Webinar!

    Download Trial!

    Have a question?
    Give us a call
    1-888-233-2224 or

    Wednesday, July 1, 2009

    Embarcadero Gains Strong Momentum for Industry's First On-Demand, Multi-Platform Tool Chest: Embarcadero All-Access


    Analyst and Customer Feedback Highlights Success of New Licensing Model That Provides Software and Database Professionals With a Comprehensive On-Demand Tool Chest

    SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwire - July 1, 2009) - Embarcadero Technologies, Inc. today reported strong momentum following the launch of Embarcadero All-Access, the industry's first comprehensive, multi-platform tooling solution that provides software on-demand. Embarcadero All-Access provides application developers, architects and database professionals with cost-effective access to the tools they need to design, build and run software applications and database systems across all of the most common platforms and programming languages.

    "At times when IT budgets face considerable constraints, user organizations are more inclined to reduce costs by purchasing suites with broader functionality rather than individual best-of-breed tools. Embarcadero's All-Access initiative is well-timed to appeal to organizations that are looking to reduce costs, as well as simplify their license arrangements," said Rob Hailstone, software infrastructure practice director, Butler Group. "Embarcadero seems to have achieved a nice balance with the simplicity of license management together with sufficient options to appeal to a broad set of user requirements."

    All-Access is the industry's only on-demand, multi-platform tool chest for designing, building, and running your software applications and database systems.

    John Rosemeyer, manager of Oracle Information Architecture at Orange Lake, a family of premier resorts and country clubs, agrees that All-Access is ideally timed, as IT enters an era in which roles are being broadened and redefined.

    "The new DBA role includes architecting databases, supporting databases, gathering business requirements, defining work flow solutions to business and automated processes, programming SQL-based procedures, altering databases, providing performance tuning, and managing the database source code throughout development, test and production environments," said Rosemeyer. "Embarcadero All-Access does an outstanding job of having a suite of tools to enable a DBA to effectively meet the demands of today's IT industry."

    As proof of Embarcadero's commitment to meeting the ongoing needs of its customers, the company has already expanded All-Access to include J Optimizer, a new Java profiling and performance optimization product introduced in March. Further additions to the All-Access tool chest are Delphi® 2007 and C++Builder® 2007, which accompany the latest 2009 versions already included in All-Access. With the addition of these popular older editions of Embarcadero development tools, customers who want the benefits of All-Access but are not yet ready to make the move to Delphi 2009 will find All-Access an ideal platform on which to make both this and future transitions.

    "We wanted to empower our customers to get far more value for their tools investments, both now, in the current economic climate, and in the future," said Wayne Williams, CEO of Embarcadero Technologies. "Embarcadero All-Access is accomplishing this by changing the way people acquire, access and manage their software tools. Now, anyone in software or database development or management has immediate access to the largest collection of premium tools in the industry, at a price that fits within their budget."

    For a limited time, Embarcadero is offering special upgrade pricing for All-Access from a selected set of competitive products, in addition to offering upgrade pricing to existing Embarcadero customers. It is now even easier for users to experience the benefits of All-Access, with a free trial download at: http://downloads.embarcadero.com/free/all_access.

    About Embarcadero Technologies

    Embarcadero Technologies, Inc. is a leading provider of award-winning tools for application developers and database professionals so they can design systems right, build them faster and run them better, regardless of their platform or programming language. Ninety of the Fortune 100 and an active community of more than three million users worldwide rely on Embarcadero products to increase productivity, reduce costs, simplify change management and compliance and accelerate innovation. Founded in 1993, Embarcadero is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices located around the world. Embarcadero is online at www.embarcadero.com.

    Embarcadero, the Embarcadero Technologies logos and all other Embarcadero Technologies product or service names are trademarks or registered trademarks of Embarcadero Technologies, Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.