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Microsoft Corp. this week will preview a Visual Basic (VB) upgrade that
allows developers to build distributed OLE applications over a network
for
the first time.

Scheduled to be formally launched Sept. 12, Visual Basic 4.0 will be
available in three editions: a 32-bit Standard edition, 16-bit and 32-bit
Professional editions, and 16-bit and 32-bit Enterprise editions for
client/server development.

With the Enterprise edition, developers will be able to create
applications
that call a remote OLE object, such as a component encapsulating a series
of
business rules, across a network.

But industry analysts said this capability is a poor substitute for
building
distributed OLE into the operating system, which is scheduled to arrive
in
Cairo, the next major upgrade to Windows NT.

"It's a kludge with a capital K," said David Smith, an industry analyst
with
Gartner Group Inc., in Stamford, Conn.  "With real distributed OLE, you
can
have a client call a server transparently.  This requires manual
intervention
and is static."

The remote capability in Visual Basic 4.0 uses an "Out-process server" to
let
developers to build three-tier client/server applications.

"With the Out-process server, a function, which could be an OLE custom
control [OCX] or another application, can be called rather than linked.  
And
more than one person can use it as a component," said one beta user.

A secured remote procedure call mechanism transports function calls
between
VB clients and servers.  These "Out-process" OLE servers are executables,
which are defined as classes with methods and properties, users said.

VB 4.0 Enterprise can also create OLE DLLs, which are local or
"In-process"
servers that can be called as discrete objects.  The OLE objects are
called
from an application rather than inserted in an application, users said.

Visual Basic will let developers create these OLE Automation servers that
can
invoke objects from any OLE Automation controller, such as Visual Basic,
Office 95 applications, and Visual C++, according to beta testers.

In addition to support for a remote OLE capability, VB 4.0 adds enhanced
database links, the ability to make OLE objects, and an open integrated
development environment for tying in third-party tools.

Other tools in the Enterprise edition include a component manager for
cataloging, locating, and testing objects.  Microsoft's SourceSafe
version
control tool will be integrated, so developers can use either the Visual
Basic or the SourceSafe front end, users said.  (See "VB looks to the
enterprise," May 29, page 1.)

VB 4.0 will also include a utility to "morph" or convert existing 16-bit
VB
custom controls to 32-bit OCXes, users said.  Developers can make 16-bit
apps
with VB 4.0 run by employing the Win32s API.

Visual Basic 4.0 will also beef up its capability to build
database-centric
applications with new OLE-based data source controls and a package of
enhanced data controls.  VB 4.0 Enterprise simplifies remote data access
with
Open Database Connectivity-based (ODBC) Remote Data Controls that
generate
the code for accessing remote Microsoft SQL Server 6 and 4.2 databases
and
Oracle7, users explained.

Other features in VB 4.0 are the ability to give Windows NT applications
a
Windows 95 interface, support for Win95 controls, a conditional compiler,
and
wizards for loading applications on local disks or across the network and
for
designing forms.

VB 4.0 also comes with the 32-bit Jet 3.0 database engine -- which will
support cascading updates and deletes -- and Data Access Objects 3.0,
which
will be backward compatible.  The new tool will also bundle a 32-bit
version
of Seagate Technology Inc.'s Crystal Reports, ODBC 2.0, and SQL Driver
2.0.

The database enhancements packaged with VB 4.0 are sorely needed, some
users
said.

"We found that Visual Basic [3.0] was unusable for database work despite
the
components to connect to databases," said Nick Richards, a consultant at
Standard & Poor's Corp., in New York, which ditched VB several months ago
in
favor of Borland International Inc.'s Delphi.

"It's a good tool for the departmental level or for personal
productivity,"
added Mark Hanner, an analyst with Meta Group Inc., in Burlingame, Calif.
"[But] it can [only] be pressed into service as an `enterprise tool' if a
great amount of resources are thrown at it."

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