Birdstep Technology has upgraded its Linux-compatible Raima Embedded Database Manager (RDM Embedded). With "native," Java, SQL, and XML APIs, Version 9.0 of RDM Embedded adds a "circular tables" function, as well as a MicroHTTP server.

Since 1984, the embedded DBMS (formerly dbVista) has served as a cross-platform database for resource-constrained environments. Uniquely, according to the vendor, RDM supports either relational or "network data" models, with the latter claimed to perform better. The company claims over 20 million installations of the product, and adoption by more than 20,000 developers.

In recent years, Birdstep has introduced a client/server version of RDM Embedded called RDM Server, as well as an RDM Mobile version designed for consumer electronics products. In February, the company released RDM Embedded version 8.0, adding "performance-enhancing" features such as hybrid in-memory support, true varchars, and sparse indexing.

Version 9.0's MicroHTTP server enables applications that would allow inserting, updating, and deleting data within an RDM Embedded database via a web browser. Birdstep offers the example of an industrial power consumption monitoring application in which time interval data points dynamically adjust parameters. At a certain power threshold, the application would adjust the machinery parameters stored in the database accordingly, but users could override the adjustments via the web.

The circular tables feature, meanwhile, enables developers to define a maximum number of rows allowed in a table. When the table is full, additional rows could be added by automatically replacing the oldest rows, using the First in First out (FIFO) concept. The feature was requested for applications that contain event logs or statistics in which older data is no longer needed, thereby reducing the size of the tables to a manageable level.

Availability

A free download of the RDM Embedded software development kit (SDK) should be available now, with registration and acceptance of a EULA agreement, here. Fourteen different OSes are supported, including Linux, FreeBSD, Windows CE, Windows Embedded, Solaris, VxWorks, MicroC, Integrity, QNX Neutrino, and HP-UX.


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