With Objectivity/Smalltalk, Smalltalk applications benefit from high-performance storage, sharing, retrieval and update of database objects.

Smalltalk database applications in an Objectivity/DB environment can easily share access to information managed by C++ and Java programs. The data can even be reported on – and managed by – widely available SQL and ODBC tools.

Smalltalk classes are made persistent through reachability; transitive persistence assures that all instances referenced by persistent classes are also made persistent. Class definitions are provided for easily creating object database schema and for automatic object evolution as persistent classes are changed. Support is provided for standard object browsers and garbage collection.

You can use standard Smalltalk with Cincom's VisualWorks development environment and easily add object persistence where desired. Popular tools such as Object Technology International's ENVY/Developer and Cincom's VisualWave are also supported.

Objectivity/DB's architecture provides for the physical and logical clustering of data to maximize the efficiency of network and disk I/O. Intelligent buffering and relationship traversals further increase the performance. Objectivity/Smalltalk applications can take full advantage of Objectivity/DB's ability to manage multi-terabyte databases distributed over large numbers of networked servers. You won't run out of power with Objectivity.

• Almost all Smalltalk classes are persistence-capable
• Uses standard Smalltalk browsers for schema creation and modification
• Automatic schema maintenance
• Automatic schema persistence with full transitive closure
• Automatic locking and concurrency management
• Automatic database garbage collection; only changed objects written to database
• Natural Smalltalk interface with simple extensions for object base capabilities such as relationships
• Support for object clustering
• Dynamic bi-directional relationships
• Schema evolution and object migration
• Scalable collections including sorted B-tree like collections and collections using extendible hashing
• Complete interoperability across Microsoft Windows and UNIX platforms
• Fully compliant with ODMG-93 1.2 Smalltalk language binding.

• Simple to learn and use for the Smalltalk developer
• Database interface transparent to Smalltalk developer
• Easy to migrate existing applications
• Applications benefit from the high performance storage, sharing, retrieval and update of persistent objects.
• Works with popular Smalltalk development tools
• Supports the incremental development model which is natural to Smalltalk.