Borland Delphi 4 adds new features for building CORBA (common object request broker architecture) distributed applications as well as applications that work with Microsoft's Transaction Server middleware and Oracle's Oracle8 database server.
Delphi already supports development of COM (component object model) applications.
The company has added a range of features intended to shorten development cycles: AppBrowser IDE makes it easier to read, write, and browse code under development; advanced project manager lets developers compile applications to multiple targets; new debugging features include a module view, event logs, data watch breakpoints, debug inspector, local variable inspector, integrated DLL debugging, and remote debugging.
Also added to Delphi 4 is additional support for building Windows 98 and Windows NT applications. The tool now supports Windows 98 features including docking, tool bars, and Windows 98 common controls. New Windows NT features include the ability to build applications that run in the background and automatically start up the operating system, according to Inprise.
Delphi 4 ships in three versions. The Client-Server Suite is priced at $2,499 for new users; the Professional version costs $799; and the Standard version, aimed at developers new to Delphi, sells for $99.95.
All versions are slated to ship next month.