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 CL4's features are particularly attractive to
developers who want to produce applications for the Internet. It features a high performance, low cost web server database and scripting language suited to both Internet and Intranet applications.
CL4 incorporates a completely revised data manager and introduces a number of new features as well as many enhancements to existing commands and statements.
CL4 powers some of the most significant ebusiness operations in Australia, including Legalco Online, travel.com.au, isport.com.au, and Sydney Business Travel, Soccer NSW. CL4
is also the core technology of a number of Multibase’s web database application systems, such as
Netbroker, a secure information delivery system
Livesite 1, an entry-level web database catalogue e-commerce system
Livesite 3, an interactive web portal system for small to medium organisations
Has CL been upgraded since the green screen application days?
Yes, CL has been continually moving forward keeping track with the latest industry
standards. In the latest version, CL4.2.24 (at March 2005), CL offers features including but not limited to:
- CGI access to operate behind an apache webserver
- a SOAP server to allow development of web services
- Blowfish encryption for cutting edge security
- Foreign language support
- HTTPS encryption of the webservices using apache and OpenSSL.
- Soap package signing
- Large database support
We have a CL application in which we have invested significantly. Do we need to discard all of this to go onto the internet?
No. The CL databases that have driven your application for years are the same ones that can drive websites, webservices, SOAP servers, application servers and any HTTP
service. You need to ensure that you are licensed and have the latest version of CL to ensure you can do this. If you are not using the latest version, upgrading is not a difficult process.
Do we need a CL programmer to control the “look and feel” of the web site as well or can we separate the programming from the colours and layout?
It is more expensive to have programmers make changes to the programs when look and feel can be managed by web designers. Therefore many businesses have elected to
use the MVC (model, view, controller) system. Here the business logic, the database engine and the “look and feel” of the web site are all separated and edited
independently. The best way to do this is to have CL operate as a database server sending the data out over https in an XML format. The application server can then paint
the web page using this data as per the graphic designer’s instructions. For example, The Director does this using an XSLT engine. Please contact us for more information or to see this driving production web sites.
We would like to write our web site in Java or ASP. Is it possible to access the data stored in CL?
Yes. You can license an ODBC/JDBC/OLE-DB server separately for CL, which enables
the CL database to be accessed from almost any language. This allows you to keep your legacy applications in CL and write your new programs in any language you choose.
We are interested in moving to an open source database. Why should I pay for CL?
Open source is becoming more popular for many applications. The CL database system
has 4 main advantages over an open source database like Postgresql or MySQL.
- You receive commercial level support from a company that has provided continuous service since 1983. If you require assistance or are having problems
with CL you can get support immediately over the phone or by email from a commercial organisation. People with experience of open source databases will
have endured the frustration of searching mailing lists for hours trying to find assistance. Alternatively, they end up paying for commercial support anyway.
- CL is always backwardly compatible. Changes in CL do not prevent older code from working. Your CL4.1 code will work after recompilation on a CL4.2 database
. This is often not the case in Open source systems . Postgresql for example changed the way null values are used in the database significantly between
versions 7.2 and 7.3. This can cause systems to fail on an upgrade and many hours of programmer time to bring your code into line with the new versions.
- The CL development team takes user suggestions very seriously and feedback on new features is strongly encouraged. Unlike many open source developments,
you will not be expected to write the code for features you suggest.
- CL has existed since 1981 and has been supported continually. The open source environment is very dynamic, and while this leads to great features, it can also
lead to transient projects which are not continued.
Does CL still have a database limit of 2Gb?
Earlier versions of CL are limited to 2Gb databases, however the new versions support databases bounded by a 64 bit index. This is essentially well past the Terabyte size.
I am concerned about authentication over the internet. How does a CL web site/web service authenticate a user?
CL has a number of ways of authenticating a user depending on the level of security which is needed.
- A simple username and password stored in the database in clear text for low security sites.
- A username and a Blowfish encrypted password using a password stored in the web site environment and only readable/changeable by the root user.
- A username and a SHA1 hashed password stored in the database (similar to the Linux security model).
- A SOAP service with full public key signing of every SOAP message using the XML signing standards as implemented by the W3C.
As you can see the security that can be implemented using many methods depending on how secure your application is required to be. Please contact us for more information
about how this could be tailored for you.
How about packet sniffing on the internet - how can I stop someone reading our information in transit?
By operating CL behind the Apache webserver, we can leverage off the security already
implemented. The Apache webserver offers HTTPS encryption of traffic between the client and the server. This is state of the art encryption (SSL 3.0, RC4 with 128 bit
encryption (High); RSA with 1024 bit exchange for the technically minded). This can be done using either a third party signed or a privately signed certificate. Please contact us
if you need this explained further.
How does CL handle foreign characters?
CL can handle both 1 byte and 2 byte characters for displaying characters. This conforms to the ISO standards. Please contact us for a full list of the languages supported.
Can CL do credit card clearances on the internet?
Yes. CL can hook into our ePay credit card clearing gateway very easily. We have
working production sites which do this. Please contact us for further information.
I am worried about our sensitive data being compromised if we put our databases on the internet. How can we get around this?
Blowfish encryption, which is a particularly strong symmetric encryption method is now
standard in CL. We have a number of methods of securely handling the keys for this encryption. Please contact us for more information.
We want databases on the internet to display day-old data, not live production data. Is this possible?
Yes. We have a number of organizations who synchronize their data nightly and use CL
technology for both the web site data delivery and the production data transactions.
We like the CL product and would like to develop a web interface to our systems for internet or intranet, but we don't have any CL programming experience. Can we outsource this development?
Yes. At Multibase we have several teams of expert CL programmers who can handle any size of web integration task. We also have programmers with expertise in many other
languages and platforms if you would prefer a heterogeneous solution. Most competent programmers can also become productive quickly in CL, if you wish to develop in-house skills.
How can I find out more?
Please contact Multibase for more information:
email: info@mbase.com.au
web: www.mbase.com.au
phone: +61 2 9805 1911
fax: +61 2 9805 1931
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