Ingres is back in the game

Remember Ingres? That’s a name with a long and proud history in the software development world, originating as a database project at the University of California, Berkeley, in the early 1970s.

Ingres was purchased by Computer Associates in 1994; for a long time, the database software thrived, but then its popularity flagged in the early part of this decade. In 2004, CA released the Ingres database as open-source software, and then everything went quiet.

That wasn’t the end of the story. In November 2005, CA and Garnett & Helfrich Capital, a private-equity group, reincarnated Ingres Corp., with the now-open-source database as its primary intellectual property asset. Little was heard about innovation at the new Ingres, however, after the formation of the new company. Most of the news they announced focused on partner programs or executive appointments, with next to nothing about new technology.

And then last week, out of the blue, we heard about a new Ingres software bundle for Eclipse developers. The offering is pretty interesting. The company describes it as:

As part of the bundle, developers will receive:

* Working system of Eclipse Framework with Ingres Eclipse Data Tools Project (DTP) plug-in
* “How to Get Started” with Ingres DTP including screenshots and step-by-step instructions
* Source code for a feature-rich demonstration that developers will find useful in getting started with Eclipse and Ingres

The Ingres DTP plug-in extends the Eclipse DTP by providing functionality specific to Ingres including:

* Ingres Connectivity
* Ingres Schema Support
* Ingres Database Procedure Support
* Ingres SQL Syntax (SQL Editor, Stored Procedure Editor, Trigger Editor)

If you do database work with Eclipse, it’s worth checking the bundle out.