Actian Zen (formerly

Btrieve Btrieve is a transactional database ( navigational database) software product. It is based on Indexed Sequential Access Method (ISAM), which is a way of storing data for fast retrieval. There have been several versions of the product for DOS, Linux ...

, later named Pervasive PSQL until version 13) is an

ACID An acid is a molecule or ion capable of either donating a proton (i.e. Hydron, hydrogen cation, H+), known as a Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory, Brønsted–Lowry acid, or forming a covalent bond with an electron pair, known as a Lewis ...

-compliant, zero-DBA, embedded, nano-footprint, multi-model, Multi-Platform

database management system In computing, a database is an organized collection of data or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and an ...

(DBMS). It was originally developed by

Pervasive Software Pervasive Software was a company that developed software including database management systems and extract, transform and load tools. Pervasive Data Integrator and Pervasive Data Profiler are integration products, and the Pervasive PSQL relation ...

, which was acquired by

Actian Corporation Actian is an American software company headquartered in Santa Clara, California that provides analytics-related software, products, and services. The company sells database software and technology, cloud engineered systems, and data integra ...

in 2013. It is optimized for

embedding In mathematics, an embedding (or imbedding) is one instance of some mathematical structure contained within another instance, such as a group (mathematics), group that is a subgroup. When some object X is said to be embedded in another object Y ...

in applications and is used in several different types of packaged

software application Application software is any computer program that is intended for end-user use not computer operator, operating, system administration, administering or computer programming, programming the computer. An application (app, application program, sof ...

s offered by

independent software vendor An independent software vendor (ISV), also known as a software publisher, is an organization specializing in making and selling software, in contrast to computer hardware, designed for mass or niche markets. This is in contrast to in-house softwa ...

s (ISVs) and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Zen runs on system platforms that include

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...

, and

Mac OS X macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

. Both

32-bit In computer architecture, 32-bit computing refers to computer systems with a processor, memory, and other major system components that operate on data in a maximum of 32- bit units. Compared to smaller bit widths, 32-bit computers can perform la ...

and

64-bit In computer architecture, 64-bit integers, memory addresses, or other data units are those that are 64 bits wide. Also, 64-bit central processing units (CPU) and arithmetic logic units (ALU) are those that are based on processor registers, a ...

editions of Zen are available. Editions are also specifically designed for different computer networking

deployment Deployment may refer to: * Military deployment, the movement of armed forces and their logistical support * Software deployment, all of the activities that make a software system available for use * System deployment The deployment of a mecha ...

needs, such as workgroup, client-server and highly virtualized environments including

Cloud computing Cloud computing is "a paradigm for enabling network access to a scalable and elastic pool of shareable physical or virtual resources with self-service provisioning and administration on-demand," according to International Organization for ...

History

Pervasive Software was acquired by

in 2013. Zen is embedded by OEMs like Sage, Maestro* Technologies, ABACUS Research AG (Switzerland), and Unikum (Sweden) supporting software applications that address the accounting, finance, retail, point-of-sale, entertainment, reservation system, and medical and pharmaceutical industry segments. “Users include Novell, Microsoft, PeachTree Software, Fair Isaac, Disney World, Radio Shack, Cardiff and others.” The accounting industry formed a large part of its market in 2007. Historically, Zen served as a DBMS for

small and medium enterprises Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are businesses whose personnel and revenue numbers fall below certain limits. The abbreviation "SME" is used by many national agencies and international organizat ...

DBMS architecture

Zen supports stand-alone, client-server,

peer-to-peer Peer-to-peer (P2P) computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads between peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the network, forming a peer-to-peer network of Node ...

and

software-as-a-service Software as a service (SaaS ) is a cloud computing service model where the provider offers use of application software to a client and manages all needed physical and software resources. SaaS is usually accessed via a web application. Unlike oth ...

(SaaS)

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

. The central architecture of Zen consists of two

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and a ...

engines: (1) the

storage engine A database engine (or storage engine) is the underlying software component that a database management system (DBMS) uses to create, read, update and delete (CRUD) data from a database. Most database management systems include their own application ...

, known as MicroKernel Database Engine (MKDE) and described as a transactional database engine, and (2) the

relational database A relational database (RDB) is a database based on the relational model of data, as proposed by E. F. Codd in 1970. A Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) is a type of database management system that stores data in a structured for ...

engine, known as SQL Relational Database Engine (SRDE). Both engines can access the same data, but the methods of

data access Data access is a generic term referring to a process which has both an IT-specific meaning and other connotations involving access rights in a broader legal and/or political sense. In the former it typically refers to software and activities relat ...

differ.

Micro Kernel Database Engine

The Micro-Kernel Database Engine, the transactional database engine, interacts directly with the data and does not require a fixed data schema to access the data. It uses a key-value store to store and access the data. Calls to the MKDE are made grammatically with

API rather than through the use of a

query language A query language, also known as data query language or database query language (DQL), is a computer language used to make queries in databases and information systems. In database systems, query languages rely on strict theory to retrieve informa ...

; therefore, Zen does not have to

parse Parsing, syntax analysis, or syntactic analysis is a process of analyzing a string of symbols, either in natural language, computer languages or data structures, conforming to the rules of a formal grammar by breaking it into parts. The term ''pa ...

the request. This places the Micro Kernel Database Engine in the category of NotOnlySQL databases. Low-level API calls and memory caching of data reduce the time required to manipulate data. The MKDE operates in complete database transactions and guarantees full ACID ( Atomicity,

Consistency In deductive logic, a consistent theory is one that does not lead to a logical contradiction. A theory T is consistent if there is no formula \varphi such that both \varphi and its negation \lnot\varphi are elements of the set of consequences ...

, Isolation,

Durability Durability is the ability of a physical product to remain functional, without requiring excessive maintenance or repair, when faced with the challenges of normal operation over its design lifetime. There are several measures of durability in us ...

). If a transaction does not fully run its course due to an external event such as a power interruption, the data remains in the state in which it existed before the transaction began to run. In the MKDE, records are stored in

files File or filing may refer to: Mechanical tools and processes * File (tool), a tool used to remove fine amounts of material from a workpiece. **Filing (metalworking), a material removal process in manufacturing ** Nail file, a tool used to gentl ...

which are roughly equivalent to the tables of a relational database engine. It supports multiple keys on a record and, therefore multiple indexes in the file. The MKDE caches data in memory to facilitate performance. When a call is made to the MKDE,

cache Cache, caching, or caché may refer to: Science and technology * Cache (computing), a technique used in computer storage for easier data access * Cache (biology) or hoarding, a food storing behavior of animals * Cache (archaeology), artifacts p ...

d data is searched first; physical storage is searched if there is no cache of the data.

Configuration Configuration or configurations may refer to: Computing * Computer configuration or system configuration * Configuration file, a software file used to configure the initial settings for a computer program * Configurator, also known as choice board ...

settings for caches can be pre-configured by ISVs to optimize Zen performance for their applications.

Relational Database Engine

The second database engine, the SQL Relational Database Engine or SRDE, operates in a manner similar to other relational database engines, that is, through the support of

Structured Query Language Structured Query Language (SQL) (pronounced ''S-Q-L''; or alternatively as "sequel") is a domain-specific language used to manage data, especially in a relational database management system (RDBMS). It is particularly useful in handling s ...

queries. SRDE parses

SQL Structured Query Language (SQL) (pronounced ''S-Q-L''; or alternatively as "sequel") is a domain-specific language used to manage data, especially in a relational database management system (RDBMS). It is particularly useful in handling s ...

queries and sends them to the MKDE to run. The SRDE implements

SQL-92 SQL-92 (also called SQL 2) was the third revision of the SQL database query language. Unlike SQL-89, it was a major revision of the standard. Aside from a few minor incompatibilities, the SQL-89 standard is forward-compatible with SQL-92. The ...

. Significant other features include relational

integrity Integrity is the quality of being honest and having a consistent and uncompromising adherence to strong moral and ethical principles and values. In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and Honesty, truthfulness or of one's actions. Integr ...

database security Database security concerns the use of a broad range of information security controls to protect databases against compromises of their confidentiality, integrity and availability. It involves various types or categories of controls, such as tech ...

, and temporary tables. SRDE extends its functionality by supporting

stored procedure A stored procedure (also termed prc, proc, storp, sproc, StoPro, StoredProc, StoreProc, sp, or SP) is a subroutine available to applications that access a relational database management system (RDBMS). Such procedures are stored in the database d ...

user-defined function A user-defined function (UDF) is a function provided by the user of a program or environment, in a context where the usual assumption is that functions are built into the program or environment. UDFs are usually written for the requirement of its c ...

s, and triggers. In addition to its support for SQL-92, the SRDE supports several significant features of

COBOL COBOL (; an acronym for "common business-oriented language") is a compiled English-like computer programming language designed for business use. It is an imperative, procedural, and, since 2002, object-oriented language. COBOL is primarily ...

: COBOL

data types In computer science and computer programming, a data type (or simply type) is a collection or grouping of data values, usually specified by a set of possible values, a set of allowed operations on these values, and/or a representation of these ...

, COBOL OCCURS and VARIANT records.

Additional features

Multi-core processor A multi-core processor (MCP) is a microprocessor on a single integrated circuit (IC) with two or more separate central processing units (CPUs), called ''cores'' to emphasize their multiplicity (for example, ''dual-core'' or ''quad-core''). Ea ...

aware *

IPv4 Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) is the first version of the Internet Protocol (IP) as a standalone specification. It is one of the core protocols of standards-based internetworking methods in the Internet and other packet-switched networks. ...

and

IPv6 Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) is the most recent version of the Internet Protocol (IP), the communication protocol, communications protocol that provides an identification and location system for computers on networks and routes traffic ...

support * Row-level locking * Record and page

compression Compression may refer to: Physical science *Compression (physics), size reduction due to forces *Compression member, a structural element such as a column *Compressibility, susceptibility to compression * Gas compression *Compression ratio, of a ...

* Over-the-wire

encryption In Cryptography law, cryptography, encryption (more specifically, Code, encoding) is the process of transforming information in a way that, ideally, only authorized parties can decode. This process converts the original representation of the inf ...

and data encryption *

Cluster may refer to: Science and technology Astronomy * Cluster (spacecraft), constellation of four European Space Agency spacecraft * Cluster II (spacecraft), a European Space Agency mission to study the magnetosphere * Asteroid cluster, a small ...

environments compatibility *

I18N In computing, internationalization and localization ( American) or internationalisation and localisation (British), often abbreviated i18n and l10n respectively, are means of adapting to different languages, regional peculiarities and technical r ...

support, code page (including

UTF-8 UTF-8 is a character encoding standard used for electronic communication. Defined by the Unicode Standard, the name is derived from ''Unicode Transformation Format 8-bit''. Almost every webpage is transmitted as UTF-8. UTF-8 supports all 1,112,0 ...

) translation between

data file A data file is a computer file which stores data to be used by a computer application or system, including input and output data. A data file usually does not contain instructions or code to be executed (that is, a computer program). Most of th ...

s and SQL clients,

Unicode Unicode or ''The Unicode Standard'' or TUS is a character encoding standard maintained by the Unicode Consortium designed to support the use of text in all of the world's writing systems that can be digitized. Version 16.0 defines 154,998 Char ...

support in Btrieve API, Japanese localization * Data

backup In information technology, a backup, or data backup is a copy of computer data taken and stored elsewhere so that it may be used to restore the original after a data loss event. The verb form, referring to the process of doing so, is "wikt:back ...

agents or enablers with Backup Agent and VSS Writer * Data

auditing An audit is an "independent examination of financial information of any entity, whether profit oriented or not, irrespective of its size or legal form when such an examination is conducted with a view to express an opinion thereon." Auditing al ...

with Pervasive AuditMaster *

Data replication Replication in computing refers to maintaining multiple copies of data, processes, or resources to ensure consistency across redundant components. This fundamental technique spans databases, file systems, and distributed systems, serving to impro ...

with Pervasive DataExchange

Interfaces

Zen

interfaces Interface or interfacing may refer to: Academic journals * ''Interface'' (journal), by the Electrochemical Society * '' Interface, Journal of Applied Linguistics'', now merged with ''ITL International Journal of Applied Linguistics'' * '' Inter ...

fall into two categories: management interfaces and

data manipulation Statistics, when used in a misleading fashion, can trick the casual observer into believing something other than what the data shows. That is, a misuse of statistics occurs when a statistical argument asserts a falsehood. In some cases, the misu ...

interfaces.

Management interfaces

Actian provides the management interfaces Distributed Tuning Interface (DTI) and Distributed Tuning Objects (DTO) and a

Component Object Model Component Object Model (COM) is a binary-interface technology for software components from Microsoft that enables using objects in a language-neutral way between different programming languages, programming contexts, processes and machines ...

(COM)

adapter pattern In software engineering, the adapter pattern is a software design pattern (also known as wrapper, an alternative naming shared with the decorator pattern) that allows the interface of an existing class to be used as another interface. It is oft ...

(wrapper) for the DTI. These provide

application programming interface An application programming interface (API) is a connection between computers or between computer programs. It is a type of software Interface (computing), interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that des ...

s for configuration, monitoring, and diagnostics of Pervasive components. COBOL can also provide component management through a COBOL connector that can talk to DTI.

Application interfaces

All other interfaces exist for data manipulation purposes. * Btrieve,

Java Class Library The Java Class Library (JCL) is a set of dynamically loadable libraries that Java Virtual Machine (JVM) languages can call at run time. Because the Java Platform is not dependent on a specific operating system, applications cannot rely on any o ...

(JCL), COBOL, and

ActiveX ActiveX is a deprecated software framework created by Microsoft that adapts its earlier Component Object Model (COM) and Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) technologies for content downloaded from a network, particularly from the World Wide W ...

provides direct access to the MicroKernel Database Engine (MKDE). *

ADO.NET ADO.NET is a data access technology from the Microsoft .NET Framework that provides communication between relational and non-relational systems through a common set of components. ADO.NET is a set of computer software components that programmers ...

;

ODBC In computing, Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) is a standard application programming interface (API) for accessing database management systems (DBMS). The designers of ODBC aimed to make it independent of database systems and operating systems. An ...

v3.51 and

JDBC Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) is an application programming interface (API) for the Java (programming language), Java programming language which defines how a client may access a database. It is a Java-based data access technology used for Java ...

2 for Core, Level 1, and Level 2; and

OLE DB OLE DB (''Object Linking and Embedding, Database'', sometimes written as OLEDB or OLE-DB) is an Application programming interface, API designed by Microsoft that allows accessing data from a variety of sources in a uniform manner. The API provid ...

provide access to the SQL Relational Database Engine (SRDE). * Pervasive Direct Access Components (PDAC) are a set of

Visual Component Library The Visual Component Library (VCL) is a visual component-based object-oriented framework for developing the user interface of Microsoft Windows applications. It is written in Object Pascal. History The VCL was developed by Borland for use i ...

(VCL) components that enable direct access to both MKDE and SRDE for

Embarcadero Delphi Delphi is a general-purpose programming language and a software product that uses the Delphi dialect of the Object Pascal programming language and provides an integrated development environment (IDE) for rapid application development of desktop ...

and

C++ Builder C++Builder is a rapid application development (RAD) environment for developing software in the C++ programming language. Originally developed by Borland, it is owned by Embarcadero Technologies, a subsidiary of Idera. C++Builder can compile ...

environments.

Tools

Actian provides

utility software Utility software is a program specifically designed to help manage and tune system or application software. It is used to support the computer infrastructure - in contrast to application software, which is aimed at directly performing tasks that b ...

designed to facilitate administration and use of Zen. There are graphical and

command line A command-line interface (CLI) is a means of interacting with software via command (computing), commands each formatted as a line of text. Command-line interfaces emerged in the mid-1960s, on computer terminals, as an interactive and more user ...

utilities in

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

, Linux, and

environments. Zen Control Center (CC) is the main utility that enables the user to create and manipulate databases and tables, to access servers and clients, to set configurations and properties, and to edit data. Through CC, the user can access a series of other utilities: * License Administrator utility handles license management activities. * Notification Viewer utility displays licensing-related messages logged by the PSQL engine. * Monitor utility checks and displays activities and attributes of both engines, including

resource ''Resource'' refers to all the materials available in our environment which are Technology, technologically accessible, Economics, economically feasible and Culture, culturally Sustainability, sustainable and help us to satisfy our needs and want ...

usage, session information, and communication statistics. * System Analyzer utility tests the connections between the engines and within the

network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

and displays information about system components. * Maintenance utility enables users to create and edit schema-less files. * Rebuild utility enables users to convert

file format A file format is a Computer standard, standard way that information is encoded for storage in a computer file. It specifies how bits are used to encode information in a digital storage medium. File formats may be either proprietary format, pr ...

s and rebuild files in its MKDE file format. * DDF ( data definition file) Builder utility enables SQL users to create and modify table schemas for data stored in the MKDE, thus providing relational access to the data. * Query Plan Viewer enables SQL users to analyze

query plan A query plan (or query execution plan) is a sequence of steps used to access data in a SQL relational database management system. This is a specific case of the relational model concept of access plans. Since SQL is declarative, there are typical ...

s for

optimization Mathematical optimization (alternatively spelled ''optimisation'') or mathematical programming is the selection of a best element, with regard to some criteria, from some set of available alternatives. It is generally divided into two subfiel ...

. * Function Executor assists developers with

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development (music), the process by which thematic material is reshaped * Photographic development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting * Development hell, when a proje ...

, testing, and

debugging In engineering, debugging is the process of finding the Root cause analysis, root cause, workarounds, and possible fixes for bug (engineering), bugs. For software, debugging tactics can involve interactive debugging, control flow analysis, Logf ...

by simulating direct

API An application programming interface (API) is a connection between computers or between computer programs. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how to build ...

operations into MKDE and providing a view into the schema-less data.

Editions and licensing

Editions

There are five editions of Zen: *Zen Core Library: An ultra-small (and free) database library for your Android or iOS applications. *Zen Edge Engine: For small edge devices with support for ARM (Raspbian) or x86 (Windows IoT Servers). *Zen Workgroup Engine: Per-user licensing, up to a maximum of 5 concurrent users, with most environments being a single user. *Zen Enterprise Server: Originally called Zen Server. Per-user licensing, starting at 6 concurrent users. *Zen Cloud Server: Originally called Zen Server VX. Data size licensing (with unlimited users), required for web/SaaS installations.

Other Products

*Zen AuditMaster (AM): a transaction monitoring and auditing application for Zen Enterprise Server and Cloud Server, that allows tracking access and changes in data and provides a detailed audit trail. *Zen DataExchange (DX): a Zen database replication solution. It copies data between two or more Zen databases to maintain warm backup systems, drive data into reporting servers, or synchronize remote databases. *Zen Backup Agent: a tool designed to protect Zen databases by creating reliable, automated backups without interrupting database operations. It allows seamless integration into backup systems, ensuring data integrity and minimal downtime, making it ideal for business-critical applications. Actian PSQL v12, Backup Agent is included freely on the Enterprise Server and Cloud Server editions, and is available separately for Workgroup edition.

Licensing

There are two different

licensing A license (American English) or licence ( Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another par ...

models, user-count licensing and capacity-based licensing. * In user-count licensing (aka. Concurrent User License Model), each

product key A product key, also known as a software key, serial key or activation key, is a specific software-based key for a computer program. It certifies that the copy of the program is original. Product keys consist of a series of numbers and/or letters ...

specifies a licensed user. At any given moment, that many users can be connected to the engine. * Capacity-based licensing is based on the amount of

process A process is a series or set of activities that interact to produce a result; it may occur once-only or be recurrent or periodic. Things called a process include: Business and management * Business process, activities that produce a specific s ...

ing performed by the database engine. It measures data in use and sessions in use. This license model is designed to facilitate Cloud computing and highly virtualized environments. Both Zen Edge Server and Zen Enterprise Server use a user-count licensing model, while Zen Cloud Server uses capacity-based licensing, and Zen Core is royalty-free for developers.

Versions

Actian Zen release history

Actian PSQL and Btrieve release history

Actian Zen AuditMaster release history

Actian Zen DataExchange release history

Limitations

Actian Zen lacks: * some of the

data warehousing In computing, a data warehouse (DW or DWH), also known as an enterprise data warehouse (EDW), is a system used for Business intelligence, reporting and data analysis and is a core component of business intelligence. Data warehouses are central Re ...

data mining Data mining is the process of extracting and finding patterns in massive data sets involving methods at the intersection of machine learning, statistics, and database systems. Data mining is an interdisciplinary subfield of computer science and ...

, and reporting services built into database engines such as

Microsoft SQL Server Microsoft SQL Server is a proprietary relational database management system developed by Microsoft using Structured Query Language (SQL, often pronounced "sequel"). As a database server, it is a software product with the primary function of ...

and

Oracle An oracle is a person or thing considered to provide insight, wise counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. If done through occultic means, it is a form of divination. Descript ...

. However, Zen provides the option to set up a Zen Client Reporting Engine as a proxy server to reduce the load for report execution on a Zen server. * the ability to perform

distributed transaction A distributed transaction operates within a distributed environment, typically involving multiple nodes across a network depending on the location of the data. A key aspect of distributed transactions is atomicity, which ensures that the transact ...

s. * support for database caching unless the application has specifically been designed to take advantage of the Client Caching Engine (very few applications take advantage of this feature), the inbuilt feature of the engine, and the only supported caching option. Because the engine does not natively support database contention negotiation but relies on the front-end to manage contention issues, it is infrequently implemented. This makes the majority of applications developed with Zen unsuitable on any system where network or host server performance could cause a performance bottleneck.

References

External links

* - product page * {{Official website , 1=https://www.actian.com/ - company site Proprietary database management systems