4D rolled out at the Macworld Conference & Expo this week a version of its 4th Dimension RAD/RDBMS environment that features enhancements for Web services.

Metrowerks, meanwhile, announced that it is offering a low-cost programming tool for Apple Computer developers, and RunTime Revolution previewed Revolution 2.0, a multiplatform development tool.

4D's 4th Dimension 2003 RAD/RDBMS environment features integrated support for Web services and application integration, the company said. This functionality enables different applications to reuse each other's data and functionality, according to 4D.

Featured is integrated support for Web services specifications including SOAP, WSDL, and XML. Developer-friendly wizards build code necessary to call Web services, the San Jose, Calif.-based company said. XML import/export and programmatic XML parsing is offered within 4th Dimension 2003.

Also highlighted in the tool are an integrated compiler, increased scalability, printing and reporting functions, and enhanced programming capabilities such as a new method editor.

Using 4th Dimension 2003 with Mac OS X Version 10.2 changes the way business is done by enabling cost-effective, customized solutions to be built to improve productivity, the company stressed.

Also at Macworld, Metrowerks introduced its Code Warrior Development Studio, Mac OS X Edition tools suite at an introductory price of US$99 through February. The suite is ideal for hobbyists and novices because it contains essentially the same development tools used by professional programmers and has features intended to simplify the development process, said Metrowerks.

The Code Completion feature provides fast access to prototypes and parameters of any function in a project and enables programmers to write code more quickly, according to the company.

Developers can build applications in C++ using the MetroWerks PowerPlant Framework or Objective-C applications using Apple's Cocoa framework. CodeWarrior Development Studio, Mac OS X Edition, Version 8, is available now.

Edinburgh, Scotland-based RunTime Revolution at Macworld previewed Revolution 2.0, a multiplatform development tool that features a Jaguar-friendly interface, spreadsheet fields, and XML library for building and parsing XML documents. Also featured is Unicode/Asian language support, more comprehensive SQL database support, and Perl-compatible regular expressions.

Revolution enables development of applications for OS X, classic Mac OS, Windows, Linux, and popular Unix systems. License options are $995 for the Professional Edition, $299 for the Small Business Edition, a $99 Student/Teacher Edition, and a Free Edition that limits the size and complexity of code.