Bridging FORTRAN to object oriented paradigm for HEP data modeling task

Object oriented (OO) technology appears to offer tangible benefits to the high energy physics (HEP) community. Yet many physicists view this newest software development used with much reservation and reluctance. Facing the reality of having to support the existing physics applications, which are written in FORTRAN, the software engineers in the Computer Engineering Group of the Physics Research Division at the Superconducting Super Collider Laboratory have accepted the challenge of mixing an old language with the new technology. This paper describes the experience and the techniques devised to fit FORTRAN into the OO paradigm (OOP)