Ashton-Tate said it will purchase Forefront.

Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Forefront is the developer of Framework, a computer program marketed by Culver City-based Ashton-Tate. Forefront’s 17 employees will continue to operate out of Sunnyvale, Calif. “The purchase of Forefront Corp. is part of Ashton-Tate’s corporate strategy to expand our developmental strength and capture the best and the brightest of the industry’s technical resources,” said Edward M. Esber Jr., president and chief executive of Ashton-Tate.