SAN FRANCISCO, CA., June 6, 2000 - THOUGHT Inc., (www.thoughtinc.com) of San Francisco, today announced the availability of a fully functional Java EJB example e-Commerce Toolkit, including the source code, called the e-Commerce Shopping Cart. The program uses the market's leading Object/Relational mapping tool, THOUGHT's CocoBase Enterprise O/R 3.1. The free application allows developers to become familiar with using Java with EJB, and to have a set of readily-deployable JSP (Java Server Pages) and EJB (Enterprise JavaBeans) examples to work from when creating scalable and secure applications. This working e-Commerce Shopping Cart Application uses the Jonas EJB Server and the Instant DB Relational Database. By using CocoBase Enterprise O/R, developers can take this code and use the EJB Server and database of their choice to create a multitude of applications.

Currently, most e-Commerce applications are written by hand with only the JSP and EJB specification to define how Session and Session to Entity Beans works with database persistence. The use of CocoBase O/R for EJB technology demonstrates intricate issues such as scalability, customisations, and security when using relational databases and EJBs on the web. Key features included in the source code are:

1. the ability to automatically email order verification to the customer,
2. the ability to generate merchant side XML order files,
3. the ability to check customer order quantity against inventory.

"Developers not only require their EJBs and relational databases to work together, they also need to know that they're getting the best data access when using Session and Entity Beans to make the application scale and perform. The CocoBase Shopping Cart gives them example code to work from that happens to be … for free," said Dan Wilson, VP of Sales and Marketing for THOUGHT, Inc.

This E-Commerce reference implementation provides intuitive and familiar shopping cart interfaces for not only the client but, the merchant as well. Many of the functions of the cart can be customized on the fly from entries in the database or the HTML of the JSP. Of course, any one creating an E-Commerce site will need a basic knowledge of SQL, EJB, and JSP for business logic manipulation. The toolkit can be in invaluable tool in educating customers on the use of modern application server technologies.

"Our integration's with the leading EJB Servers providing Session Bean support for both stateful and stateless beans, and Entity Bean support for Bean and Container managed persistence, offer a rare working example that some companies charge an immense amount of money for. Of course using CocoBase Enterprise O/R delivers the most flexible, portable and customizable EJB Persistence on the market for any e-Commerce application or toolkit, commercial or otherwise," said Ward Mullins, CTO of THOUGHT Inc.

"CocoBase is fast becoming recognized as providing the greatest range of integration with the leading EJB Servers. We provide Session Bean support for both stateful and stateless beans, along with Entity Bean support for Bean and Container Managed Persistence (BMP/CMP.) The free e-Commerce Shopping Cart package based on CocoBase is expected to draw numerous new customers to THOUGHT, Inc., since many companies need reference examples to begin development from. Of course, we believe that using CocoBase Enterprise O/R allows developers to create and deliver the most flexible, portable and customisable EJB Persistence on the market for any e-Commerce application or toolkit," said Ward Mullins, CTO of THOUGHT Inc.

"Our ability to work with virtually any EJB Server and relational database ensures that companies have the flexibility to meet ever changing requirements without losing their ROI." said Wilson, THOUGHT's chief sales and marketing executive, noting that CocoBase has been integrated with 9 of the leading EJB server products, including BEA Weblogic, Bluestone, iPlanet, Inprise, Iona, Gemstone Sybase, Websphere, etc... "Development, deployment and maintenance cost savings coupled with ease of use across EJB servers are the real benefits that we deliver to customers who are building E-Commerce applications."

About CocoBase Enterprise O/R

CocoBase Enterprise O/R provides a powerful standard for bridging the fault between objects used by EJB Servers and RDBMS's. The CocoBase technology is based on landmark patents issued to THOUGHT Inc. for Repository based Object Mapping. It is the technology and product leader in the Java space. After 4 years of product acceptance and thousands of installation sites, CocoBase is in a class by itself in terms of Object to Relational Mapping. THOUGHT Inc. invented Repository based Object Mapping and then built a system on that technology that actually is more efficient than static solutions. This makes it an essential necessity for any Java Enterprise Component Developer.

About Thought Inc.

Established in 1993, THOUGHT Inc. is the market leader in Java-based object-oriented Mapping Middleware technology. THOUGHT Inc. has been shipping CocoBase, the companys' patented flagship product and the industry's most advanced framework for accessing legacy data in a distributed application since March of 1997. Since that time, THOUGHT Inc. founders have successfully provided solutions for customers deploying applications on the Worldwide Web and have gained a reputation for excellence with Object Mapping. CocoBase is a standards based product relying on such technologies as EJB, RMI, CORBA, JDBC, etc. Thought Inc. makes its home in San Francisco supporting customers worldwide in the United States, Europe, Japan, Asia and Australia. The CocoBase family of products are available through distributors, resellers and directly online at their Yahoo Store. CocoBase and THOUGHT Inc. are registered trademarks of THOUGHT Inc. CocoBase technology is based on US patent #5857197. More information on THOUGHT Inc. can be found online at www.thoughtinc.com or by calling (415) 836-9199.