<s>
Helix	B-Application
is	O
a	O
database	B-Application
management	I-Application
system	I-Application
for	O
the	O
Apple	B-Device
Macintosh	I-Device
platform	O
,	O
created	O
in	O
1983	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Helix	B-Application
uses	O
a	O
graphical	O
"	O
programming	O
language	O
"	O
to	O
add	O
logic	O
to	O
its	O
applications	O
,	O
allowing	O
non-programmers	O
to	O
construct	O
sophisticated	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Helix	B-Application
was	O
the	O
first	O
multiuser	O
database	O
on	O
any	O
PC	O
platform	O
,	O
the	O
first	O
object-based	O
,	O
visual	O
programming	O
tool	O
and	O
the	O
first	O
relational	B-Application
database	I-Application
on	O
a	O
PC	O
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Originally	O
created	O
by	O
Odesta	O
Corporation	O
of	O
Northbrook	O
,	O
IL	O
in	O
1983	O
on	O
the	O
original	O
Macintosh	B-Device
,	O
Helix	B-Application
debuted	O
to	O
rave	O
reviews	O
when	O
it	O
was	O
first	O
released	O
in	O
late	O
1984	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
that	O
time	O
the	O
Mac	B-Device
only	O
supported	O
440kB	O
floppy	B-Device
disks	I-Device
as	O
storage	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Users	O
initially	O
ran	O
Helix	B-Application
from	O
a	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
with	O
Helix	B-Application
installed	O
on	O
the	O
"	O
system	O
disk	O
,	O
"	O
which	O
was	O
where	O
the	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
lived	O
before	O
the	O
age	O
of	O
hard	O
disk	O
storage	O
began	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
assumed	O
that	O
users	O
would	O
add	O
a	O
second	O
floppy	B-Device
for	O
any	O
sort	O
of	O
real-world	O
use	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
OS	O
and	O
Helix	B-Application
on	O
one	O
floppy	B-Device
,	O
and	O
data	O
on	O
another	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
spite	O
of	O
these	O
initial	O
limitations	O
,	O
Helix	B-Application
was	O
already	O
a	O
very	O
powerful	O
and	O
fully	O
relational	B-Application
database	I-Application
that	O
migrated	O
easily	O
as	O
machines	O
became	O
faster	O
and	O
more	O
powerful	O
and	O
storage	O
options	O
evolved	O
to	O
the	O
cavernous	O
tools	O
taken	O
for	O
granted	O
today	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
May	O
1986	O
,	O
Odesta	O
released	O
Double	O
Helix	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
comparison	O
,	O
the	O
original	O
Helix	B-Application
produced	O
applications	O
that	O
were	O
clearly	O
running	O
within	O
Helix	B-Application
,	O
much	O
as	O
a	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Word	I-Application
document	O
is	O
clearly	O
running	O
"	O
inside	O
Word	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Released	O
as	O
a	O
part	O
of	O
a	O
larger	O
suite	O
of	O
software	O
,	O
the	O
Helix	B-Application
suite	O
also	O
included	O
a	O
stand-alone	O
runtime	B-Device
version	O
known	O
as	O
RunTime	B-Device
Helix	B-Application
which	O
would	O
allow	O
users	O
to	O
run	O
Double	O
Helix	B-Application
applications	O
without	O
the	O
full	O
version	O
installed	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
MultiUser	O
Helix	B-Application
which	O
operated	O
in	O
a	O
client	B-Operating_System
–	I-Operating_System
server	I-Operating_System
fashion	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Upgrades	O
to	O
the	O
Helix	B-Application
product	O
line	O
were	O
continuous	O
during	O
the	O
1980s	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
company	O
spent	O
a	O
tremendous	O
amount	O
of	O
time	O
and	O
money	O
working	O
on	O
a	O
version	O
known	O
as	O
Remote	O
Helix	B-Application
which	O
ran	O
the	O
basic	O
Helix	B-Application
development	O
system	O
on	O
top	O
of	O
VAX	B-Device
based	O
databases	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
idea	O
was	O
to	O
offer	O
a	O
Mac-like	O
experience	O
on	O
"	O
big	B-Architecture
iron	I-Architecture
"	O
systems	O
,	O
a	O
common	O
theme	O
in	O
the	O
early	O
1990s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
company	O
also	O
released	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
related	O
tools	O
,	O
GeoQuery	O
and	O
Data	O
Desk	O
,	O
for	O
analyzing	O
databases	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
it	O
was	O
n't	O
long	O
before	O
the	O
average	O
Mac	B-Device
could	O
outperform	O
a	O
minicomputer	B-Architecture
,	O
the	O
popularity	O
of	O
the	O
VAX	B-Device
faded	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
product	O
was	O
never	O
a	O
major	O
success	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1992	O
Odesta	O
split	O
up	O
,	O
with	O
the	O
original	O
Helix	B-Application
applications	O
being	O
spun	O
off	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Double	O
Helix	B-Application
re-emerged	O
as	O
Helix	B-Application
Express	O
at	O
Helix	B-Application
Technologies	O
,	O
marketed	O
as	O
a	O
performance	O
leader	O
as	O
opposed	O
to	O
"	O
easy	O
to	O
use	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unfortunately	O
,	O
the	O
parent	O
company	O
became	O
entangled	O
in	O
an	O
unrelated	O
but	O
costly	O
legal	O
battle	O
,	O
and	O
Helix	B-Application
languished	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1998	O
,	O
Helix	B-Application
Technologies	O
was	O
purchased	O
by	O
The	O
Chip	O
Merchant	O
,	O
a	O
San	O
Diego-based	O
memory	O
vendor	O
,	O
who	O
released	O
a	O
major	O
upgrade	O
in	O
2000	O
,	O
adding	O
TCP/IP	O
capabilities	O
to	O
Helix	B-Application
Client/Server	B-Operating_System
and	O
improving	O
the	O
performance	O
of	O
the	O
entire	O
product	O
line	O
significantly	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
falling	O
memory	O
prices	O
and	O
a	O
slumping	O
economy	O
combined	O
to	O
drive	O
The	O
Chip	O
Merchant	O
into	O
bankruptcy	O
in	O
2002	O
,	O
sending	O
Helix	B-Application
into	O
legal	O
limbo	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
purchased	O
in	O
2004	O
by	O
two	O
of	O
the	O
people	O
who	O
were	O
running	O
its	O
day-to-day	O
operations	O
,	O
Gil	O
Numeroff	O
and	O
Matt	O
Strange	O
,	O
with	O
financial	O
backing	O
from	O
an	O
unnamed	O
businessman	O
and	O
long-time	O
Helix	B-Application
user	O
,	O
forming	O
a	O
new	O
company	O
:	O
QSA	O
ToolWorks	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
QSA	O
brought	O
Helix	B-Application
co-creator	O
Larry	O
Atkin	O
back	O
into	O
the	O
Helix	B-Application
fold	O
and	O
later	O
brought	O
back	O
Steve	O
Keyser	O
,	O
the	O
original	O
architect	O
of	O
MultiUser	O
Helix	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Dubbed	O
the	O
Helix	B-Application
Recovery	O
Team	O
,	O
this	O
new	O
management	O
and	O
programming	O
team	O
began	O
the	O
task	O
of	O
rewriting	O
the	O
Classic	O
Helix	B-Application
products	O
to	O
run	O
natively	O
under	O
Mac	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
X	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
OS	B-Operating_System
X	I-Operating_System
Helix	B-Application
Server	O
,	O
along	O
with	O
three	O
native	O
diagnostic	O
and	O
maintenance	O
tools	O
,	O
shipped	O
in	O
December	O
2005	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
month	O
later	O
,	O
Apple	O
announced	O
the	O
first	O
products	O
based	O
on	O
their	O
switch	O
from	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
to	O
Intel	O
processors	O
,	O
causing	O
QSA	O
to	O
have	O
to	O
"	O
switch	O
gears	O
"	O
and	O
begin	O
the	O
process	O
of	O
converting	O
their	O
code	O
to	O
Universal	B-Operating_System
Binary	I-Operating_System
format	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
forced	O
a	O
conversion	O
from	O
the	O
CodeWarrior	B-Operating_System
IDE	B-Application
to	O
Xcode	B-Operating_System
,	O
after	O
which	O
they	O
produced	O
Intel-native	O
releases	O
of	O
their	O
three	O
"	O
end	O
user	O
"	O
products	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
same	O
time	O
,	O
QSA	O
started	O
work	O
on	O
bringing	O
the	O
Helix	B-Application
IDE	B-Application
(	O
known	O
as	O
"	O
Helix	B-Application
RADE	O
"	O
)	O
to	O
OS	B-Operating_System
X	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
June	O
2011	O
,	O
QSA	O
began	O
shipping	O
″Preliminary	O
Releases″	O
—	O
versions	O
with	O
some	O
,	O
but	O
not	O
all	O
of	O
the	O
features	O
ported	O
to	O
OS	B-Operating_System
X	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
Helix	B-Application
project	O
is	O
known	O
as	O
a	O
Collection	O
,	O
a	O
"	O
document	O
"	O
created	O
by	O
Helix	B-Application
RADE	O
(	O
which	O
stands	O
for	O
"	O
Rapid	O
Application	O
Development	O
Environment	O
"	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
represented	O
in	O
the	O
system	O
by	O
a	O
sort	O
of	O
"	O
pseudo-desktop	O
"	O
similar	O
to	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
Finder	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
collection	O
may	O
contain	O
thousands	O
of	O
individual	O
databases	B-Application
(	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
relations	O
or	O
tables	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Helix	B-Application
applications	O
only	O
open	O
one	O
Collection	O
at	O
a	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Opening	O
a	O
collection	O
results	O
in	O
a	O
project	O
window	O
with	O
two	O
main	O
parts	O
driven	O
entirely	O
by	O
a	O
unique	O
set	O
of	O
GUI	B-Application
objects	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
one	O
of	O
Helix	B-Application
's	O
most	O
unusual	O
and	O
powerful	O
features	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Helix	B-Application
RADE	O
runs	O
in	O
two	O
modes	O
,	O
Design	O
mode	O
and	O
User	O
mode	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
User	O
Mode	O
the	O
Helix	B-Application
collection	O
opens	O
in	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
defined	O
user	O
menu	O
bars	O
,	O
allowing	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
use	O
the	O
database	O
as	O
they	O
would	O
any	O
other	O
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
theory	O
a	O
graphical	O
language	O
can	O
help	O
reduce	O
this	O
complexity	O
considerably	O
(	O
see	O
intentional	B-Application
programming	I-Application
for	O
examples	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Helix	B-Application
is	O
a	O
very	O
forgiving	O
tool	O
,	O
allowing	O
numerous	O
routes	O
to	O
the	O
same	O
result	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
quite	O
adept	O
at	O
handling	O
small	O
to	O
mid-size	O
databases	B-Application
,	O
a	O
common	O
problem	O
for	O
Helix	B-Application
is	O
that	O
for	O
much	O
of	O
its	O
lifetime	O
,	O
it	O
has	O
run	O
only	O
in	O
the	O
co-operative	B-Operating_System
multitasking	I-Operating_System
environment	O
of	O
the	O
Classic	O
Mac	B-Device
OS	O
,	O
making	O
it	O
rather	O
unstable	O
for	O
large	O
databases	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
the	O
programming	O
language	O
itself	O
has	O
the	O
scalability	B-Architecture
required	O
to	O
create	O
complex	O
databases	B-Application
,	O
the	O
inability	O
to	O
run	O
reliably	O
in	O
a	O
24/7	O
environment	O
relegates	O
Helix	B-Application
to	O
workgroups	O
of	O
100	O
users	O
or	O
less	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
QSA	O
released	O
an	O
OS	B-Operating_System
X	I-Operating_System
version	O
of	O
its	O
Helix	B-Application
Server	O
in	O
December	O
2005	O
and	O
is	O
rolling	O
out	O
the	O
rest	O
of	O
its	O
product	O
line	O
in	O
OS	B-Operating_System
X	I-Operating_System
versions	O
in	O
2006	O
and	O
2007	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
someone	O
familiar	O
with	O
Helix	B-Application
,	O
the	O
savings	O
in	O
development	O
time	O
can	O
be	O
significant	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
One	O
expert	O
who	O
is	O
also	O
a	O
leading	O
Microsoft	O
Access	O
trainer/developer	O
estimates	O
that	O
depending	O
upon	O
the	O
size	O
of	O
the	O
project	O
,	O
a	O
Helix	B-Application
project	O
can	O
be	O
finished	O
in	O
30-70	O
%	O
of	O
the	O
time	O
as	O
the	O
same	O
Access	O
project	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
Helix	B-Application
,	O
itself	O
,	O
prevents	O
a	O
developer	O
from	O
making	O
syntactical	O
or	O
programming	O
errors	O
,	O
the	O
remaining	O
sources	O
of	O
problems	O
come	O
from	O
errors	O
in	O
business	O
logic	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
languages	O
face	O
this	O
problem	O
,	O
but	O
Helix	B-Application
once	O
again	O
softens	O
the	O
difficulty	O
in	O
tracking	O
down	O
the	O
problems	O
due	O
to	O
its	O
object-based	O
and	O
graphical	O
nature	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Helix	B-Application
,	O
one	O
must	O
compose	O
all	O
code	O
graphically	O
-	O
thus	O
,	O
an	O
if	O
..	O
then	O
else	O
..	O
construct	O
is	O
built	O
using	O
flowchart-type	O
widgets	O
such	O
as	O
decision	O
diamonds	O
,	O
and	O
loops	O
are	O
implemented	O
using	O
connectors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
Helix	B-Application
's	O
visual	O
programming	O
is	O
possibly	O
easier	O
for	O
novices	O
to	O
learn	O
(	O
because	O
it	O
uses	O
a	O
flowcharting	O
paradigm	O
that	O
is	O
intuitively	O
understood	O
by	O
non-technical	O
individuals	O
)	O
,	O
it	O
can	O
become	O
tedious	O
when	O
the	O
amount	O
of	O
code	O
to	O
be	O
written	O
becomes	O
significant	O
,	O
especially	O
for	O
an	O
individual	O
who	O
can	O
write	O
code	O
much	O
more	O
easily	O
and	O
conveniently	O
than	O
if	O
forced	O
to	O
drag	O
icons	O
from	O
a	O
palette	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
this	O
end	O
,	O
when	O
Helix	B-Application
RADE	O
was	O
updated	O
to	O
run	O
natively	O
on	O
Intel	O
Macs	B-Device
,	O
an	O
"	O
abacus	O
expression	O
language	O
"	O
was	O
added	O
to	O
provide	O
this	O
capability	O
for	O
those	O
who	O
needed	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
there	O
are	O
those	O
who	O
might	O
argue	O
that	O
Helix	B-Application
has	O
suffered	O
from	O
the	O
lack	O
of	O
developer	O
support	O
and	O
third-party	O
applications	O
,	O
the	O
truth	O
is	O
that	O
Helix	B-Application
,	O
which	O
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
original	O
Macintosh	B-Device
applications	O
,	O
still	O
exists	O
today	O
precisely	O
because	O
of	O
its	O
developer	O
support	O
.	O
</s>
