<s>
OpenEdge	B-Application
Advanced	I-Application
Business	I-Application
Language	I-Application
,	O
or	O
OpenEdge	B-Application
ABL	I-Application
for	O
short	O
,	O
is	O
a	O
business	O
application	O
development	O
language	O
created	O
and	O
maintained	O
by	O
Progress	O
Software	O
Corporation	O
(	O
PSC	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
language	O
,	O
typically	O
classified	O
as	O
a	O
fourth-generation	B-Language
programming	I-Language
language	I-Language
,	O
uses	O
an	O
English-like	O
syntax	O
to	O
simplify	O
software	O
development	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
language	O
was	O
called	O
PROGRESS	O
or	O
Progress	B-Application
4GL	I-Application
up	O
until	O
version	O
9	O
,	O
but	O
in	O
2006	O
PSC	O
changed	O
the	O
name	O
to	O
OpenEdge	B-Application
Advanced	I-Application
Business	I-Application
Language	I-Application
(	O
OpenEdge	B-Application
ABL	I-Application
)	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
overcome	O
a	O
presumed	O
industry	O
perception	O
that	O
4GLs	B-Language
were	O
less	O
capable	O
than	O
other	O
languages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
OpenEdge	B-Application
ABL	I-Application
helps	O
developers	O
to	O
develop	O
applications	O
optionally	O
using	O
its	O
own	O
integrated	O
relational	B-Application
database	I-Application
and	O
programming	B-Application
tool	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
applications	O
are	O
portable	O
across	O
computing	O
systems	O
and	O
allow	O
access	O
to	O
various	O
popular	O
data	O
sources	O
without	O
having	O
to	O
learn	O
the	O
underlying	O
data	B-General_Concept
access	I-General_Concept
methods	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
combining	O
a	O
fourth	B-Language
generation	I-Language
language	I-Language
and	O
relational	B-Application
database	I-Application
,	O
OpenEdge	B-Application
ABL	I-Application
allows	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
the	O
Rapid	O
Application	O
Development	O
(	O
RAD	O
)	O
model	O
for	O
developing	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
programmer	O
and	O
even	O
end	O
users	O
can	O
do	O
rapid	B-Device
prototyping	I-Device
using	O
the	O
integrated	O
and	O
GUI	O
tools	O
of	O
the	O
development	O
environment	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
Progress	B-Application
4GL	I-Application
was	O
designed	O
(	O
in	O
1981	O
)	O
as	O
an	O
architecture	O
independent	O
language	O
and	O
integrated	O
database	O
system	O
that	O
could	O
be	O
used	O
by	O
non-experts	O
to	O
develop	O
business	O
applications	O
by	O
people	O
who	O
were	O
not	O
computer	O
scientists	O
but	O
were	O
knowledgeable	O
in	O
their	O
business	O
domain	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
business	O
applications	O
were	O
often	O
written	O
in	O
COBOL	O
(	O
for	O
machines	O
like	O
corporate	O
IBM	O
mainframes	O
)	O
and	O
sometimes	O
in	O
C	O
(	O
for	O
departmental	O
minicomputers	B-Architecture
running	O
the	O
UNIX	O
operating	O
system	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Progress	O
system	O
was	O
created	O
to	O
be	O
used	O
on	O
both	O
IBM	O
PC	O
machines	O
running	O
DOS	O
and	O
on	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
computers	O
that	O
could	O
run	O
UNIX	O
and	O
minicomputer	B-Architecture
operating	O
systems	O
such	O
as	O
OpenVMS	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Progress	O
ABL	O
is	O
a	O
strongly	O
typed	O
,	O
late-bound	O
,	O
English-like	B-General_Concept
programming	I-General_Concept
language	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
SQL	B-Language
statement	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
SQL	B-Language
statement	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
SQL	B-Language
operations	O
work	O
on	O
a	O
set	O
of	O
records	O
,	O
in	O
the	O
ABL	O
,	O
the	O
operation	O
is	O
applied	O
to	O
a	O
record	O
at	O
a	O
time	O
-	O
much	O
like	O
using	O
a	O
cursor	O
in	O
SQL	B-Language
.	O
</s>
