Micro Focus Delivers 32-Bit Software Development Kit for 32-Bit OS/2 and
Windows NT 

Provides powerful environment for creating 32-bit COBOL applications

Palo Alto, Calif. June 7, 1993 -- Last month at WINDOWS World, Micro Focus
unveiled the Micro Focus Software Development Kit (SDK) for 32-bit IBM
OS/2 and Microsoft Windows NT operating systems. The Micro Focus 32-bit
SDK provides a powerful environment for creating new, industrial-strength
32-bit COBOL applications and for migrating existing 16-bit applications
to a 32-bit execution environment. A full range of 32-bit tools taken from
the Micro Focus COBOL Workbench product range have been shipped with the
Micro Focus 32-bit SDK. These include the industry standard Micro Focus
COBOL compiler, the graphical code debugger Animator v2 and a large part
of Micro Focus Operating System Extensions (OSX) execution environment.
The Micro Focus 32-bit SDK delivers increased performance, architectural
freedom, mixed language support and a high level of portability. The Micro
Focus 32-bit SDK facilitates downsizing mission-critical applications and
opens the door to cross-platform development on over 500 platforms.

SDK Program 

Micro Focus 32-bit SDK is part of a program designed to give application
developers early access to 32-bit technology in order to get a "jump
start" in their development efforts. Micro Focus 32-bit SDK forms the
first phase of Micro Focus' plan to produce full 32-bit versions of its
products. Users participating in the program will benefit from reduced
pricing and upgrades to the full release products as they become
available.

Geoff Wells, 32-bit COBOL product manager at Micro Focus said. "It is clear
from the demand we have received to date among our corporate customer base
that 32-bit systems, for both the OS/2 and Microsoft Windows NT platforms,
are key to their future IT strategies for downsizing and implementing high
performance client/server solutions."

Performance 

Robust business applications can realize significant performance gains with
Micro Focus 32-bit SDK. Performance is improved in most areas and in
particular. applications that utilize and manipulate large files
(typically greater than 64K) and those that are calculation-intensive will
typically realize performance improvements in the range of 2 - 5 times
faster.

Architectural Freedom

Micro Focus 32-hit SDK is a native 32-bit development system capable of
producing high-performance 32-bit code for execution. It removes the
restrictions associated with the 16-bit architecture such as 64K system
limits and the need for segment crossing code. Larger applications can be
coded, debugged and executed on the PC. These applications are larger both
in terms of the amount of data that can be accessed as well as the number
of modules that can be executed and debugged (tens of thousands of
modules).

Mixed Language Support 

Micro Focus 32-bit SDK provides seamless support for mixed language
applications. For example, C programs can directly call COBOL programs and
vice versa. The seamless inter-language communication capabilities of
Micro Focus 32-bit SDK allow COBOL modules to directly communicate with
modules written in many other languages such as C, Pascal, PL/I,
assembler, etc. 32-bit API routines in OS/2 and Windows NT, such as PM and
WIN32, can also be called directly from COBOL. In addition, Micro Focus
32-bit SDK smoothes mixed language debugging. Developers can use Animator
v2 to debug COBOL modules and transfer to the 'foreign' debugger to debug
non-COBOL modules seamlessly.

Portability, Cross-Platform Development 

Micro Focus 32-bit SDK is capable of producing Micro Focus intermediate
(.INT code, Micro Focus native code (.GNT) and standard object code (.OSJ
files. Portability is provided at both the source level and the object
level using .INT object code. Further, generated .GNT code is portable
across operating systems based on 32-bit Intel ix86 architecture such as
OS/2 v2.X, Windows NT and SCO UNIX. The OSX architecture enables a single
application to run across different operating systems without change by
providing a common base of operating system facilities. Micro Focus COBOL
is available on over 500 platforms, therefore, applications can be created
using Micro Focus COBOL or Micro Focus 32-bit SDK which are portable
across those environments.

Availability 

Micro Focus 32-bit SDK for Intel 32-bit ix86 processors is available for
delivery later this month and will be available on CD-ROM or 3.5 inch
disks. As soon as additional 32-bit tools and components from the Micro
Focus COBOL Workbench product range become available, they will be made
available to customers participating in the SDK program free of charge.
Micro Focus 32-bit SDK will be supported for development purposes only --
it is intended that production applications be deployed once a full
release version of the Micro Focus 32-bit OSX product is available.

Micro Focus enables enterprises that use information systems to benefit
from adopting new hardware and software technologies while leveraging
available skills and system resources. We do this by providing
state-of-the-art programming tools to empower application developers,
coupled with software technology to enable them to create new
industrial-strength applications, and bridging software to access and
enhance the value of existing systems. Micro Focus is located at 2465 East
Bayshore Road, Palo Alto, CA 94303; Telephone: 415-856-4161.

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