ODBTalk provides VisualAge Smalltalk  developers with an interface to ODBC-compliant data sources, allowing development of the database access logic once for multiple RDBMSs.

ODBTalk provides support for all ODBC native data types, all parameter types and positioned statements (native or via the ODBC cursor library).  Online help, a sample application and 50+ programming examples are included.

ODBTalk  includes a sophisticated framework for mapping Smalltalk classes to relational tables and vice-versa based on types and brokers. This provides automatic retrieval and instantiation of objects mapped to a relational database as well as update, delete and insert capabilities. The database generator will automatically create all tables mapped to the types and classes, primary keys, optional unique indexes on primary key, foreign keys, etc. Based on the type of inheritance defined in the model, the database generator will create the one-to-one, one-to-many, or the type-subtype relationships in the database. This mapping can also be used to automatically generate classes reflecting the database structure. It is well suited to complex client/server applications with a thick object layer.

ODBTalk screen shot

ODBTalk also includes the ODBTalk Workbench Manager, integrated with the Smalltalk development environment. It allows developers to submit and test SQL requests to ODBC data sources. The classes provided manage and display queries and their result sets, as well as obtaining, modifying and displaying driver options and information. Both SQL statements and result sets can be saved to and restored from ASCII text files.

Smart caching of model instances and performance optimization of the mapping framework minimizes the overhead of mapping tables to Smalltalk objects. As well the use of the cache will reduce database (and network) usage and delays when performing key retrievals.

ODBTalk for VisualAge costs $399.00. Executables created with ODBTalk can be distributed royalty-free. There is a 30-day money-back guarantee.