Synergy DBL

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Synergy DBL (Data Business Language) is a compiled, imperative programming language designed for business use. The language was originally called DBL; later it was referred to as Synergy Language; as of 2012 the official name is Synergy DBL. It is based on Digital Equipment Corporation’s DIBOL programming language. DBL has an English-like syntax that was designed to be self-documenting and highly readable, but not verbose. The language is procedural and, since 2007 (version 9.1), object-oriented.[1] Support for Microsoft’s .NET Framework was added in 2010 (version 9.5).[2]

Code is split into two divisions (data and procedure) and uses a rigid hierarchy. The language includes a standard library consisting of 240 built-in subroutines and functions, 10 built-in classes, and 11 APIs that provide functionality such as access to XML from within DBL programs and sending and receiving data via HTTP/HTTPS.

Synergy DBL is cross-platform, with the current version running on all modern Windows platforms (Windows 7/Server 2008 R2 and higher), as well as on HP-UX, IBM AIX, Oracle Solaris, several varieties of Linux and OpenVMS. Applications can be developed on one platform and ported to other platforms.[3]

Traditional DBL is implemented as bytecode, which is executed by the Synergy Runtime. Synergy .NET programs are CLS-compliant and run under the .NET Framework.

DBL is distributed as part of a suite of programming tools sold as Synergy/DE Professional Series by Synergex International Corporation.

History

Synergy DBL is based on Digital Equipment Corporation’s DIBOL. DBL was developed by Digital Information Systems Corporation (DISC; the company name was changed to Synergex in 1996) in the late 1970s as a DIBOL alternative, targeting system integrators who combined DEC hardware with third-party peripherals. DIBOL ran only on DEC hardware, while DBL ran on most major business computer platforms.

By mid-1979, DBL was being sold as a DIBOL-compatible compiler for PDP-11 (and compatibles) running RT-11 and RSTS/E.[4]

November 1980: DBL 2.0 released for DEC’s PDP-11- based systems. It compiled and executed programs written in DBL 1.3 or Dibol-11, and ran on RT-11, TSX, RSTS, and RSX-11M. This was the first structured version of DBL. New features included an INCLUDE facility, global storage definition, and fixed-length binary I/O.[5]

January 1983: VMS native-mode version of DBL released to run on VAX. At this time, DBL was also available for DEC RT-11, TSX/TSX-Plus, RSTS, and RSX-11M/M-Plus.[6]

Summer 1984: Initial version 4 released for MS-DOS. (Other platforms were released in 1985, including VMS and TSX-Plus.) The language was rewritten in C and included support for virtual memory, multi-dimensional arrays, and the ability to bind two or more programs together into one executable.[7][8]

December 1984: DBL version 4 released for the AT&T Unix operating system. It included the ability to chain to non-DBL programs and interface to subroutines written in other languages.[9]

December 1987: First DBL utility announced, a windowing tool designed to simplify the display of menus and help screens. It enabled developers to open up to 256 windows.[10]

February 1993: DBL replaced DIBOL on Digital Equipment Corporation’s VAX, Alpha AXP, DEC OSF/1, and Intel-based SCO Unix systems.[11][12]

April 1995: Version 5.7.3 expanded the supported platforms to include Linux and Microsoft Windows (Windows 3.1, 95, and NT).

April 2007: Version 9.1 added support for object-oriented programming, and the compiler was rewritten to support objects and provide better error detection.[13]

November 2010: Version 9.5 added support for Microsoft’s .NET Framework, giving programmers access to .NET Framework classes in addition to DBL classes. The language was integrated with Microsoft’s Visual Studio.[14]

December 2014: Version 10.3 added support for creating programs that can run on Android and iOS devices.[15]

References

  1. ↑ "Synergex announces release of Synergy/DE 9.1 - Synergex" (in en-US). http://www.synergex.com/company/news/91. 
  2. ↑ "Synergy/DE 9.5 Provides Seamless Integration with Visual Studio 2010 and Microsoft's .NET Framework - Synergex" (in en-US). http://www.synergex.com/synergyde-95-integration-vs-2010-and-net-framework. 
  3. ↑ "Supported Platforms - Synergex" (in en-US). http://www.synergex.com/supported-platforms. 
  4. ↑ (in en) Independent's Compiler Puts Dibol on PDP-11. Computerworld. 1979-06-18. pp. 34. https://books.google.com/books?id=rfsvbXyn0ZEC. 
  5. ↑ (in en) DBL Substitutes for Dibol on PDP-11-Based Systems. Computerworld. 1980-11-24. pp. 44. https://books.google.com/books?id=cKmJJd7R8PIC. 
  6. ↑ (in en) Runs on DEC VAX: DBL/VMS Version Out. Computerworld. 1983-01-17. pp. 46. https://books.google.com/books?id=XnG8BXjSkSMC. 
  7. ↑ Edwards, Brian (June 1984). "The Secret World of DIBOL Comes to Light". Hardcopy (June 1984): 81. 
  8. ↑ "Business Programming Language". Professional Computing (June/July 1984): 70. July 1984. 
  9. ↑ (in en) Digital Information Systems Corp. Version 4, DBL for Unix. Computerworld. 1984-12-10. pp. 76. https://books.google.com/books?id=pwPLnCpM5wIC. 
  10. ↑ Weixel, Suzanne (1987-01-01) (in en). Firm Develops Tools for Use with Dibol: Digital Information Systems' DBL Synergy Utilities Do Windows under MS-DOS, VAX/VMS. Computerworld. pp. 28. https://books.google.com/books?id=iNn7XA5OJ4UC. 
  11. ↑ "DISC ANNOUNCES NEW DIBOL STRATEGY IN ASSOCIATION WITH DIGITAL - Free Online Library". http://www.thefreelibrary.com/DISC+ANNOUNCES+NEW+DIBOL+STRATEGY+IN+ASSOCIATION+WITH+DIGITAL-a013115705. 
  12. ↑ "Area Software Firm Gets DEC Contract". The Sacramento Bee. February 18, 1993. p. G1. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SB&p_theme=sb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&s_dispstring=%28area%20software%20firm%20gets%20dec%20contract%29%20AND%20date%281993%29&p_field_date-0=YMD_date&p_params_date-0=date:B,E&p_text_date-0=1993&p_field_advanced-0=&p_text_advanced-0=%28%22area%20software%20firm%20gets%20dec%20contract%22%29&xcal_numdocs=50&p_perpage=25&p_sort=YMD_date:D&xcal_useweights=no. 
  13. ↑ "Synergex announces release of Synergy/DE 9.1 - Synergex" (in en-US). http://www.synergex.com/company/news/91. 
  14. ↑ Clancy, Terry (December 6, 2010). "Another Language for Visual Studio and .Net: Synergex release Synergy/DE". https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/terryclancy/2010/12/06/another-language-for-visual-studio-and-net-synergex-release-synergyde/. 
  15. ↑ "Synergex Announces Synergy/DE 10.3 - Synergex" (in en-US). http://www.synergex.com/Announcing-Synergy/DE-10.3. 



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