Borland IntraBuilder Professional 
Software Review by Russell Albach

 The reason for such a program is the Internet itself. While the Internet is rapidly becoming accepted as a universal information provider, most of the data that flows through it is either fixed, or very slow to change. Organizations with large and or constantly changing databases, need to get that information out to users outside of the company. One way to do this is through an Intranet, a sort of mini Internet-like private network that exists within the confines of a company or organization. 

Companies with LANs (Local Area Networks) and WANs (Wide Area Networks), need an easier means of sharing files and information from within and from outside the company. The Internet provides a way to access this from outside, and an Intranet combines both. To create an Intranet, you add browser software to the networked computers, and a Web-type server and software to an existing LAN or WAN. Using the same technology as the Internet, you add HTML (HyperText Markup Language) code to internal data which then allows anyone to search, view, and download from any connected workstation, or even from the Internet. It also permits continuous updating of the data by all who use it, rather than waiting for a specific person or department. 

Borland's Intrabuilder Professional contains the following: 

 
• Easy Web Solution Building; 
• dynamic HTML generation 
• home page, report, form, and table experts 
• visual form & report designers that generate JavaScript source code 
• enables users to edit, query, and report data over an Intranet 
• provides native access to Microsoft SQL Server and Borland InterBase 
• supports Microsoft Access and FoxPro, Borland Paradox and dBASE, and other industry standards 
• standard browser JavaScript 
• server
• side JavaScript 
• BRIEF program editor 
• complete object-oriented programming, including component creation and reuse 

 
• IS help desk 
• corporate work flow 
• personnel forms and systems 
• project management 
• sales tracking and customer management 
• materials tracking 
• product information 
• facilities scheduling 
• corporate phone list 
• expense reports 
• MORE... 

 IntraBuilder requirements are: 

 
• 486dx or faster cpu 
• Windows '95 or Windows NT(3.51 or 4.0, Server or Workstation) 
• cd
• rom drive (for installation) 
• 12mb ram for Windows '95; 16 mb for Windows NT 
• 30mb free space on your hard drive 
• vga/svga monitor and graphical adapter 
• a TCP/IP Internet or Intranet connection (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) 
• a Windows '95 or Windows NT Web server application, such as Netscape Fastrack, Microsoft Internet Information Server, or WebSite by O'Reilly & Associates

 Open the IntraBuilder Program Group, and click on and read IntraBuilder Server Help, and Borland Web Server Help. They contain instructions on testing and setup you need to follow, and you can only access them AFTER installation. 

The IntraBuilder Server is a process management system that is made up of the IntraBuilder Broker (intrasrv.dll and intrasrv.isv), and one or more of the IntraBuilder Agents. It surfaces through the Agents, which appear as minimized icons on your desktop. When active, the IntraBuilder Server works with your Webserver Application to respond to requests from Web Browsers. 

For those of you who use Quattro Pro, or some similar Borland product, the interface will look familiar. There are tabs and buttons to carry out various functions, and you can choose an "expert" to design for you, or "designer" to use your own preferences. Many pre built applications and forms are included for your use, or to be modified in any manner you choose. You can also create or modify existing web pages. My experience so far is very positive. The only difficulty has been the aforementioned setup, which YOU will not experience if you read and follow my above suggestions. 

 Anyone interested in an Intranet would do well to give this application a tryout. I give it a RECOMMEND. IF however, you simply want to design a personal web page, there are other applications intended to do exactly that, are easier to use, less resource intensive, and less costly. 

There are three versions of IntraBuilder: 

 
• Intrabuilder:The basic developer edition providing one instance of the IntraBuilder Designer and IntraBuilder Server for developing and deploying applications using local tables such as Paradox, dBASE, Access. Borland Web Server is included.

 

 

• IntraBuilder Professional: Adds support (brokers) for CGI (Common Gateway Interface), NSAPI (Netscape FasTrack Enterprise Server), and ISAPI (Microsoft Internet Information Server), and multiple instances of IntraBuilder Designer. Also included: Netscape FasTrack Web Server, Borland Database Engine and SQL Links for Borland InterBase and Microsoft SQL Server.

 

 

• IntraBuilder Client/Server: Adds multiple instances of IntraBuilder Designer and multiple IntraBuilder Server service agents on multiple machines. You can install remote IntraBuilder service agents. Also included is BDE and the full set of SQL Links supporting the full range of industry-standard client/server SQL systems including Borland InterBase, Oracle, Sybase, Informix, IBM DB2, and Microsoft SQL Server. (Brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders)

 Borland provides an installation hotline with unlimited support for INSTALLATION. After installation, they have several payment options for support. Phone support for installation is available from 7:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M., Pacific Time, Monday through Friday. (408) 461-9115