<s>
Informix-4GL	B-Application
is	O
a	O
4GL	B-Language
programming	O
language	O
developed	O
by	O
Informix	B-Application
during	O
the	O
mid-1980s	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
time	O
of	O
its	O
initial	O
release	O
in	O
1986	O
,	O
supported	O
platforms	O
included	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Xenix	I-Application
(	O
on	O
IBM	B-Operating_System
PC	I-Operating_System
AT	I-Operating_System
)	O
,	O
DEC	B-Operating_System
Ultrix	I-Operating_System
(	O
running	O
on	O
Microvax	O
II	O
,	O
VAX-11/750	O
,	O
VAX-11/785	O
,	O
VAX	O
8600	O
)	O
,	O
Altos	O
2086	O
,	O
AT&T	B-Device
3B2	I-Device
,	O
AT&T	O
3B5	O
,	O
AT&T	O
3B20	O
and	O
AT&T	B-Device
Unix	I-Device
PC	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
includes	O
embedded	O
SQL	B-Language
,	O
a	O
report	O
writer	O
language	O
,	O
a	O
form	O
language	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
limited	O
set	O
of	O
imperative	O
capabilities	O
(	O
functions	O
,	O
if	O
and	O
while	O
statements	O
,	O
and	O
supports	O
arrays	O
etc	O
.	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
also	O
had	O
,	O
as	O
additional	O
components	O
a	O
menu	O
system	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
front-end	O
GUI	B-Application
(	O
graphical	B-Application
user	I-Application
interface	I-Application
)	O
Generator	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
package	O
includes	O
two	O
versions	O
of	O
compiler	O
which	O
either	O
produce	O
1	O
)	O
intermediate	O
byte	O
code	O
for	O
an	O
interpreter	O
(	O
known	O
as	O
the	O
rapid	O
development	O
system	O
)	O
,	O
or	O
2	O
)	O
C	B-Language
Programming	I-Language
Language	I-Language
code	O
for	O
compilation	O
with	O
a	O
C	B-Language
compiler	O
into	O
machine-code	O
(	O
which	O
executes	O
faster	O
,	O
but	O
compiles	O
slower	O
,	O
and	O
executables	O
are	O
bigger	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
specifically	O
designed	O
to	O
run	O
as	O
a	O
client	O
on	O
a	O
network	O
,	O
connected	O
to	O
an	O
IBM	B-Application
Informix	I-Application
database	O
engine	O
service	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
has	O
a	O
mechanism	O
for	O
calling	O
C	B-Language
Programming	I-Language
Language	I-Language
functions	O
and	O
conversely	O
,	O
to	O
be	O
called	O
from	O
executing	O
C	B-Language
programs	I-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Informix-4GL	B-Application
project	O
was	O
started	O
in	O
1985	O
,	O
with	O
Chris	O
Maloney	O
as	O
chief	O
architect	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Roy	O
Harrington	O
was	O
in	O
charge	O
of	O
the	O
related	O
Informix	B-Application
Turbo	O
(	O
later	O
renamed	O
Online	O
)	O
engine	O
,	O
which	O
bypassed	O
the	O
"	O
cooked	O
"	O
file	O
system	O
and	O
instead	O
used	O
"	O
raw	O
"	O
disk	O
access	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
bundled	O
product	O
was	O
presented	O
by	O
Informix	B-Application
as	O
‘’’	O
Forms’’’	O
and	O
‘’’	O
Menu’’’	O
until	O
1996	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
‘’’	O
Rapid	O
Application	O
Development’’’	O
product	O
,	O
marketed	O
as	O
FourGen	O
CASE	O
Tools	O
,	O
could	O
access	O
the	O
user	O
’s	O
choice	O
of	O
‘’’	O
Informix’’’	O
and/or	O
IBM	O
’s	O
DB2	B-Application
databases	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
flavor	O
of	O
Informix	B-Application
programming-tool	O
was	O
produced	O
,	O
called	O
"	O
NewEra	O
"	O
,	O
which	O
supported	O
object-oriented	B-Language
programming	I-Language
and	O
a	O
level	O
of	O
code-compatibility	O
with	O
Informix-4GL	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Informix	B-Application
was	O
acquired	O
by	O
IBM	O
in	O
April	O
2001	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Despite	O
its	O
age	O
,	O
Informix-4GL	B-Application
is	O
still	O
widely	O
used	O
to	O
develop	O
business	O
applications	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
sizable	O
market	O
exists	O
around	O
it	O
due	O
to	O
its	O
popularity	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
tools	O
are	O
available	O
today	O
on	O
major	O
flavors	O
of	O
UNIX	B-Application
and	O
Red	O
Hat	O
Linux	O
and	O
SUSE	O
Linux	O
operating	O
systems	O
;	O
the	O
FOURGEN	O
business	O
was	O
later	O
acquired	O
in	O
2002	O
,	O
by	O
www.gillan.com	O
.	O
</s>
