`                          Comparison of four ooDBMS 
 

 

PRODUCT
CRITERION
POET v.5.0
www.poet.com
GEMSTONE  (*) 
www.gemstone.com
JASMINE
www.cai.com
ITASCA
v. 2.3.5
*v. 2.2
www.ibex.ch
1. DBMS 
supports user 
defined data types
YES
YES
YES
YES 
2. DBMS 
supports IS_A 
relationships
YES
YES
YES
 YES
3 .DBMS 
supports 
PART_OF 
relationships 
 
YES
YES
YES
 YES
4. DBMS 
supports multiple 
inheritance
YES
Smalltalk - NO
Java - YES
YES
 YES
5. DBMS 
supports the 
concept of version
NO
YES
NO
 YES * 
6. DBMS checks 
the cardinality 
between objects
YES
 NO
YES (1) 
 YES *
7. DBMS 
supports long 
transactions
YES
NO
NO
YES *
8. DBMS 
supports 
replication of data
YES
YES 
NO
 YES* 
9. DBMS 
supports data 
encryption
NO
YES
NO
YES *
10. Attributes of 
objects has to be 
defined in the 
language...
C++
JAVA
JAVA
Smalltalk
C
C++
ODQL
JAVA
C++
JAVA *
11. DBMS stores 
the methods of 
objects in the DB
NO
YES
YES
 YES
12. Methods of 
objects has to be 
defined in the 
language...
C++
JAVA
JAVA
Smalltalk
C
C++
ODQL
JAVA
 C
LISP
13. DBMS 
supports 
application 
programming in 
C++
YES
YES
YES
 YES
14. DBMS 
supports 
application 
programming in 
JAVA
YES
YES
YES
 NO
15. DBMS 
supports 
application 
programming in 
Smalltalk
NO
YES
NO
 YES
STANDARDS
16. DBMS 
supports the 
Object Definition 
Language ODL
YES
YES
NO
 NO*
17. DBMS 
supports the 
Object Query 
Language OQL
YES
NO
YES
 NO*
18. DBMS 
supports ODMG 
C++ binding
YES
NO
YES, via TDI Inc.
 
19. DBMS 
supports ODMG 
Smalltalk binding
NO
NO
NO
  
20. DBMS 
supports the 
standard SQL in 
interactive mode
YES
Smalltalk - YES
Java - NO
YES
via ODBC
NO* 
21. DBMS 
supports the 
standard SQL in 
embedded mode
YES
Smalltalk - YES
Java - NO
YES
via ODBC
 NO*
22. DBMS 
supports a 
database language 
based on SQL
YES
Smalltalk - YES
Java - NO
YES
 YES*
QUERIES
23. DBMS 
supports ad-hoc 
queries with GUI
YES
YES
YES
YES* 
24. DBMS 
supports ad-hoc 
queries with 4GL
NO
NO
NO
 NO*
25.DBMS 
supports ad-hoc 
queries with a 
knowledge-oriented 
language (e.g. Lisp)
NO
NO
NO
 YES*
26. DBMS 
supports ad-hoc 
queries with 
object-oriented 
language (e.g. C++)
YES
YES
Java
Smalltalk
YES
 YES*
27. DBMS 
supports 
embedded queries 
with a 4GL
NO
NO
NO
 YES*
SCHEMA 
MODIFICATION
28. DBMS 
supports ad-hoc 
updates of the 
DB-schema with a 
GUI
YES
YES
YES
YES* 
29. DBMS 
supports ad-hoc 
updates of the 
DB-schema with a 
4GL
NO
NO
NO
 NO*
30. DBMS 
supports ad-hoc 
updates of the 
DB-schema with a 
knowledge-oriented 
language
NO
NO
NO
YES
 LISP 
31. DBMS 
supports ad-hoc 
updates of the 
DB-schema with a 
object-oriented 
language
YES
YES
JAVA
Smalltalk
YES
 YES
C++
Smalltalk
CASE-TOOLS
32. DBMS is 
supported by an 
integrated 
object-oriented 
CASE-tool
YES
RATIONAL ROSE,
OEW
NO
YES
NO* 
33. DBMS is 
supported by a 
3rd party 
object-oriented 
CASE-tool
YES
see above
NO 
NO
 NO*
34. DBMS is 
supported by a 
knowledge-oriented 
CASE-tool
NO
NO
NO
 NO*
ACCESS TO 
OTHER DBMS
35. An application 
running on the 
ooDBMS can 
read data which 
reside on other 
ooDBMS
NO (2) 
NO
NO
NO* 
36. An application 
running on the 
ooDBMS can 
modify data which 
reside on other 
ooDBMS
NO (2) 
NO
NO
 NO*
37. An application 
running on the 
ooDBMS can 
read data on the 
relational DBMS 
ORACLE
YES
YES
YES
 NO*
38. An application 
running on the 
ooDBMS can 
read data on other 
DBMS
YES
DB2
MS-SQL
YES
Sybase
Informix
YES
OpenIngres
Sybase
Informix
MS-SQL
CA-IDMS
CA-Datacom
DB2,VSAM,RMS
 
 NO*
ARCHITECTURE
39. DBMS 
supports a 
single-user 
single-tasking 
environment
YES
NO
YES 
YES* 
40. DBMS 
supports 
single-user 
multi-tasking 
environment
YES
YES
 YES
 YES*
41. DBMS 
supports a 
multi-user 
environment
YES
YES
YES
YES 
42. DBMS is 
based on the 
client-server 
principle 
 
YES
YES
YES
 YES
43. The physical 
data can reside on 
the client part 
 
YES
YES
NO
 NO*
44. The applications can run autonomously 
on the client part
YES (3) 
NO
NO
 NO*
45.Integration with CORBA environment 
YES
 
YES
YES
  
46. Data transfer 
(pages/objects)
OBJECTS (4) 
PAGES
OBJECTS
PAGES
OBJECTS
47. Object 
execution on 
server
NO
YES
YES
  
48. DBMS 
supports nested 
transactions
YES
NO
NO
  
49. DBMS 
supports MROW
YES
YES
 NO DATA
  
50. DBMS 
supports long 
transactions
YES
NO
NO
  
SERVER
51. DBMS 
supports 
MS-Windows
YES
NT
95
YES
NT
YES
NT
YES
NT
95
52. DBMS 
supports OS/2
YES
NO
NO
 NO
53. DBMS 
supports SUN OS
NO
NO
YES
 YES
54. DBMS 
supports SUN 
SOLARIS
YES
YES
YES
YES
55. DBMS 
supports AIX
YES
YES
NO
 YES
56. DBMS 
supports VMS
NO
NO
NO
 NO
57. DBMS 
supports data 
distribution over 
several severs
YES
 YES
YES
 YES
58. DBMS 
supports other OS
YES
HP-UX
Novell Netware
Intra Netware
SCO
 
YES
HP-UX
NO
 YES
HP-UX
Digital Unix
SGI
CLIENT
59. DBMS 
supports 
MS-Windows
YES
NT
95
YES
NT
YES
NT
95
YES
NT
95
60. DBMS 
supports 
Macintosh
YES
YES
NO
 NO
61. DBMS 
supports SUN OS
NO
NO
YES (5) 
 YES
62. DBMS 
supports data 
distribution over 
several clients
NO
YES
NO DATA
YES* 
63. DBMS 
supports other OS
YES
HP-UX
Sun Solaris
Novell Netware
Intra Netware
SCO
YES
Sun Solaris
YES
Sun Solaris
 
 YES
HP-UX
Digital Unix
SGI
AIX
Sun Solaris
MARKET
64. Market Share
 6,3%
9,2 %
 NO DATA
3% 
65. Prices
$2,500 for developer seat (C++, Java, Dynamic HTML, SQL Object Factory gateway to RDBMS)
NO DATA 
 -5 users  2500DM 
(Workgroup Edition) 
-10 users  5000DM 
(Workgroup Edition) 
-15 users  7500DM 
(Workgroup Edition) 
-unlimited  10000DM
NO DATA
 

Click HERE to see comparison of O2, Objectivity, Objectstore and Versant
 

(*) Gemstone/S Smalltalk version 5.1.2
      Gemstone/J Java version 1.1
(1) Only at the "0, 1 or many" level.
(2) It can be accessed through generic API.
(3) However, the database must be on a filesystem that is accessible from the client.
(4) Allows transfer of object groups.
(5) Through C API and CODQLIE but not GUI

Most information was given by vendors. Special thanks to Jasmine, Poet and Gemstone support services.