sunflash-Distributed to mailing list sun/NC/north-carolina sunflash-Send requests, problems to owner-sunflash@suntri.east.sun.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Florida SunFlash Third Party Product Announcements SunFLASH Vol 61 #10 January 1994 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 61.10 Third Party Product Announcements 5 articles, 536 lines ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Abstracts 61.10.A QA Partner - Automated Software Testing Tool for GUIs QA Partner is a cross-platform, automated software testing tool designed specifically for graphical user interface (GUI) environments. It is based on an object-oriented paradigm that operates on screen controls as logical GUI objects, not screen locations. Test suites created once can be maintained through future releases. QA Partner tests use object names to find and activiate window objects and verify their contents, behaviors and structures. QA Partner support includes GUIs such Motif. (40 lines) 61.10.B RAINBOW: From Proprietary Word Processor to SGML Electronic Book Technologies, Inc. introduced a public technology platform to ease the transition from proprietary word processor data to SGML. Dubbed "Rainbow", the approach specifies a single Document Type Definition (DTD) for representing a wide variety of proprietary word processor data formats. Rainbow supports the first step in the proprietary-to-SGML conversion process in a common, tool-independent manner. (134 lines) 61.10.C TAE Plus, A GUI Builder for Programmers and Non-Programmers Century Computing, Inc. announces the first Commercial release of TAE Plus (v5.3), a UNIX-based Graphical User Interface (GUI) development tool. Originally developed under contract to NASA, TAE Plus has been in active use at hundreds of sites since 1988. TAE Plus was developed with the non-programmer in mind: application developers, human factors specialists, and graphic artists who design and build GUIs, but do not want to learn the details of X or Motif. Our experience is that new users can be building GUIs in a day or two. (76 lines) 61.10.D Informix Announces Informix Dynamic Server Informix Software, Inc. announced INFORMIX-OnLine Dynamic Server 6.0, a next-generation database server which incorporates the company's first implementation of its new parallel processing database technology - the Informix Dynamic Scalable Architecture. The INFORMIX-OnLine Dynamic Server is a multithreaded database server designed to address the growing needs of customers who must manage larger, more complex business-critical databases while improving overall system performance and scalability. (128 lines) 61.10.E CAD-system "LOGOCAD" for mechanical construction LOGOCAD is a system for 2D and 3D mechanical drafting, modelling and construction, with a high level of functionality and flexibility. With its rich set of application modules, it covers a wide area of customer specific needs. (69 lines) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Details ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 61.10.A Subject: QA Partner - Automated Software Testing Tool for GUIs From: bruceh@segue.com (Bruce Kin Huie) Org: Segue Software Address: 1320 Centre Street Newton, MA 02159 Phone: 800-922-3771 FAX: 617-969-4326 email: info@segue.com QA Partner(tm) for Sun Solaris(tm) automated software testing tool for GUIs QA Partner is a cross-platform, automated software testing tool designed specifically for graphical user interface (GUI) environments. It is based on an object-oriented paradigm that operates on screen controls as logical GUI objects, not screen locations. Test suites created once can be maintained through future releases. QA Partner tests use object names to find and activiate window objects and verify their contents, behaviors and structures. Exploiting the logical and functional similarities among GUI environments enables QA Partner to port complete test suites across multiple platforms. QA Partner currently supports GUIs such as Microsoft Windows, Apple Macintosh, and OSF/Motif on Sun, HP, IBM, DEC, SGI, and SCO. Versions supporting both IBM OS/2 Presentation Manager and Microsoft Windows NT are due for release during the first quarter of 1994. QA Partner is available today for SunOS and Sun Solaris v1.x and v2.3 for the Sun Sparc architecture. Working closely with SunSoft engineers in Los Angeles, Segue Software will port QA Partner to both the Intel and Sparc versions of Solaris v2.4 by next year. Segue also provides technical support, training and consulting services. A small sample of QA Partner customers include Adobe Systems, AT&T, Autodesk Inc., Boeing Computer Services, Cabletron Systems, Central Point Software, Claris, DEC, Fidelity Investments, Gupta, Hewlett Packard, Lotus Development Corporation, Oracle Systems, Pepsi-Cola, Progress, Software Publishing Corporation, Southwerstern Bell, Symantec, and Tandem. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 61.10.B Subject: RAINBOW: From Proprietary Word Processor to SGML From: Kent Summers, Director of Marketing Newsgroups: comp.newprod Org: Electronic Book Technologies, Inc. Phone: (401) 421-9550 Fax: (401) 421-9551 Email: kjs@ebt.com Address: One Richmond Square Providence, RI 02906 Electronic Book Technologies Announces Common SGML Representation For Proprietary Word Processor Formats "Rainbow" DTD and Tools Publicly Available SGML '93, BOSTON, Dec. 8, 1993 -- Electronic Book Technologies, Inc. (EBT) today introduced a public technology platform to ease the transition from proprietary word processor (WP) data to SGML. Dubbed "Rainbow," the approach specifies a single Document Type Definition (DTD) for representing a wide variety of proprietary word processor data formats. Rainbow supports the first step in the proprietary-to-SGML conversion process in a common, tool-independent manner. The conversion process from legacy, proprietary data to SGML today requires costly, custom-built tools, which make the SGML hurdle fairly difficult to overcome. Rainbow provides a two-step approach: In step 1, "Rainbow Makers" convert proprietary WP information into a canonical, well-documented SGML format. Then, in step 2, the Rainbow document is converted into the richer SGML structures required by the different industry-standard DTDs. Step 2 is performed using off-the-shelf SGML-translation tools. A significant advantage of Rainbow is that it insulates step-2 conversion from changes in proprietary formats. For example, if WP company X comes out with a new version with a new file format, only the X-to-Rainbow (step-1) convertor needs to be adjusted. The more sophisticated step-2 convertors that go from Rainbow to rich SGML need not be modified. By using this two-step approach as the standard "enabler" between proprietary WP data and SGML, the entire process is vastly simplified, more efficient for SGML conversion and translation tools vendors, hence much more affordable for consumers. Dave Sklar, Senior Application Developer at EBT, has managed the collaborative effort among the SGML tool vendors over the past five months to develop Rainbow. He says: "Proprietary word-processing formats are typically poorly documented, highly idiosyncratic, and subject to change without notice. Maintaining conversion tools that recognize such formats is thus a very expensive endeavor. The goal of Rainbow is to provide a stable data format to feed conversion tools, making the path to SGML much more affordable and increasing the shelf-life of such tools." "As more and more corporations adopt SGML as a vender independent solution, Rainbow will ease their conversion curve and help out the SGML vendor community as well," says Lou Reynolds, President and Founder of EBT. "DynaText was built around the SGML standard from the ground up, so we are especially appreciative of the current effort required to convert proprietary information into SGML. Rainbow will provide a useful stake-in-the-ground around which SGML conversion vendors can help customers hurdle the proprietary wall. To jump-start Rainbow support, we are coordinating with the SGML tool vendors to incorporate Rainbow support into their tools and we are making the Rainbow DTD and several Rainbow Makers (FrameMaker MIF-to-Rainbow and Interleaf ASCII-to-Rainbow) publicly available. Because the need for such a solution is so wide-spread, natural supply and demand will take care of the rest." Pam Gennusa, Executive Director of Database Publishing Systems, a premier SGML systems integrator and consulting service located in the UK, says: "We have long recognized the need to provide the all-important 'first-step' toward the use of SGML and enjoying its many advantages. Rainbow will make it possible for us to provide this important first step to our customers who have large existing sets of electronic documents in proprietary format. Customers will now be able to realize the rewards of SGML earlier in the overall conversion process. Rainbow is a solid approach to the conversion problem; it's also good for business." Eric van Herwijnen, author of Practical SGML says: "Rainbow will enable the conversion of any kind of electronic information into SGML. It supports the application of powerful SGML tools to a part of the market place that was hitherto beyond SGML's reach. At last, SGML will be available to the common user. Rainbow makes your information shine!" John McFadden, President of Exoterica, which develops and markets OmniMark, a specialized SGML text-manipulation language, says: "We have recognized the need for something like Rainbow for a long time. We are delighted that EBT has taken the initiative and dedicated the time and effort needed to finally make it happen. Exoterica whole-heartedly embraces Rainbow." "With an emphasis upon 'ease of conversion to SGML,' the Rainbow DTD nicely complements the easy-to-use strength of SoftQuad's Author/Editor SGML editorial environment," says Yuri Rubinsky, President of SoftQuad Inc., a leader in multi-platform SGML authoring software. "Word-processed files converted to Rainbow markup will import instantly into our full suite of SGML tools. We will continue to work closely with EBT and other industry leaders to develop a de facto industry standard around Rainbow." Jim Sterken, President of ArborText, which develops and markets SGML Publisher, a leading native SGML authoring tool, says: "The Rainbow DTD and associated conversion filters will greatly simplify the process of converting legacy data into SGML. We plan to use Rainbow and associated conversion filters in our PowerPaste document conversion application." EBT's product DynaText, introduced in August of 1990, is the first electronic book publishing system for large-scale SGML documents. DynaText accepts any valid SGML document and automatically builds a dynamic electronic book that enables users to quickly browse, search, and annotate large, highly structured documents. The electronic books can be shared among heterogeneous networks or placed on standalone portable information delivery devices. DynaText currently runs on Microsoft Windows, Apple Macintosh, and UNIX workstations. Electronic Book Technologies was founded in 1989 to provide in-house publishers with state-of-the-art solutions for the publication and delivery of a new generation of dynamic electronic books. EBT is privately held, and is headquartered in Providence, RI. To obtain the annotated Rainbow.DTD and Rainbow Makers via anonymous FTP: Name of FTP server: ftp.ebt.com Location of Rainbow data: pub/outgoing/rainbow To receive notification regarding Rainbow updates, and information on the status of Rainbow Makers, subscribe to the Rainbow information service by emailing "rainbow@ebt.com" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 61.10.C Subject: TAE Plus, A GUI Builder for Programmers and Non-Programmers Newsgroups: comp.newprod From: Don Link, Director of U/I Products & Services Org: Century Computing, Inc. Address: 1014 West Street Laurel, MD 20707 email: dlink@cen.com Phone: 1-800-823-3228 or 301-953-3330 Century Computing, Inc. announces the first Commercial release of TAE Plus (v5.3), a UNIX-based Graphical User Interface (GUI) development tool. Originally developed under contract to NASA, TAE Plus has been in active use at hundreds of sites since 1988. TAE Plus was developed with the non-programmer in mind: application developers, human factors specialists, and graphic artists who design and build GUIs, but do not want to learn the details of X or Motif. Our experience is that new users can be building GUIs in a day or two. Key features include: TAE Plus Workbench -- allows a developer to lay out an interface inter- actively and intuitively. Selecting from a set of presentation types (e.g., push buttons, menus, icons, check boxes, scrolling lists, etc.), the developer positions these items and resizes them on the display, seeing their interface exactly as the end user will see it. Code Generator and Code Merge -- generates interface code in C, C++, and Ada. A new Automated Code Merge feature re-merges U/I code with application code following significant changes to the interface. UIL/Mrm code can also be generated. Dynamic Data Objects (DDOs) -- allow the designer to create truly graphical interfaces that use dials, gauges, pictures, maps, switches, icons, or animation to interact with users. Rapid Prototyping -- allows the developer to build prototype interfaces and iteratively test and refine them to find the design that best meets the user's needs. Changes can be made easily, and an Undo feature allows recovery when a mistake is made. Automated Scripting -- based on the perl language, this feature provides for automated testing, on-line demos, tutorials, and usability testing. A Record and Playback feature lets the developer capture user actions in a time- stamped log file, and then play back the file to observe in detail the user's interaction with their interface. The developer can edit recorded scripts to create repeatable regression tests. TAE Plus version 5.3 is currently available for Sun OS users. Support for the HP 9000/700 is scheduled for the end of November. Support for additional platforms, including Solaris 2.x, DECstation ULTRIX, SGI, IBM RS/6000, DEC Alpha, and 486 SCO UNIX will be released in the coming months. TAE Plus is licensed based on the number of developer's actively using the tool. This approach eliminates the customer overhead and complica- tions associated with the more common floating license, which requires a locking license manager. Workgroup prices, which include the first year of updates and technical support, are shown below: No. of Workgroup Commercial Government International Educational Developers Price Price Price Price --------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 $2,250 $1,900 $2,700 3 $4,500 $3,800 $5,400 5 $6,700 $5,700 $8,100 10 $8,950 $7,600 $10,800 campus-wide n/a n/a n/a $3,800 Discounted pricing is available for larger Workgroups. Nominal media and shipping charges apply. NO RUNTIME FEES ARE CHARGED. A free 30-day evaluation copy of TAE Plus is available. For additional product information, contact Don Link. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 61.10.D Subject: Informix Announces Informix Dynamic Server From: tmiller@informix.com (Thomas Miller) Next Generation Database Server To Ship On December 20, 1993 MENLO PARK, Calif. (November 30, 1993) - Informix Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:IFMX) today announced INFORMIX(R)-OnLine Dynamic Server 6.0, a next-generation database server which incorporates the company's first implementation of its new parallel processing database technology - the Informix Dynamic Scalable Architectur(TM) (DSA (TM)). The INFORMIX-OnLine Dynamic Server is a multithreaded database server designed to address the growing needs of customers who must manage larger, more complex business-critical databases while improving overall system performance and scalability. "INFORMIX-OnLine Dynamic Server offers organizations a long-term solution to the problems of managing growing volumes of data and increasing loads of concurrent users on systems where processing performance is required to be faster than ever before,"said Phil White, chairman and CEO of Informix. "The OnLine Dynamic Server will be able to handle the scalability demands of our customers-today and well into the future. No other open systems database vendor plans to offer as effective a parallel processing architecture as the one we are introducing with our new server." Features of INFORMIX-OnLine Dynamic Server OnLine Dynamic Server's multithreaded, parallel processing architecture is designed to fully utilize hardware resources such as CPUs, disks, memory, and backup tape devices, whether on uniprocessor or multiprocessor systems. System resources can be reconfigured online to suit the changing demands of the system's workload. Benefits offered by the OnLine Dynamic Server include: - Maximum Scalability - allows the number of concurrent users to grow significantly while maintaining high-performance levels and exceptional price/performance. - Optimized Performance - fully exploits the processing power of the hardware, utilizing all available system resources in parallel to maximum potential. - Reduced Operating System Overhead - minimizes the use of operating system resources. OnLine Dynamic Server services client requests by creating database server threads rather than the less efficient alternative of creating database server processes. - Data Replication - provides high availability by maintaining a backup copy of the OnLine Dynamic Server system in the case of failure at the primary site. Also facilitates off-loading batch and decision support applications from the primary production system. - High Availability Through Shared Memory - OnLine Dynamic Server ensures that there are no redundant data structures in memory. All database server thread memory is shared and accessible to all users with access to the database server. This shared memory is dynamically allocated on an "on demand" basis, which further improves availability because customers do not have to shut down the database system in order to reconfigure memory usage. Memory requirements per user has been significantly reduced, which delivers even greater price/performance for large user populations. - Task Prioritization Scheduling and Locking - OnLine Dynamic Server knows which database operations are most critical and can intelligently schedule CPUs and prioritize tasks, providing maximum responsiveness to client requests. - Dynamic Load Balancing - creates a very efficient environment for database applications because jobs are dynamically balanced across all available resources, resulting in maximum use of system resources. - Built-in Client/Server Connectivity - With OnLine Dynamic Server, InformixUs client/server connectivity software, INFORMIX-STAR and INFORMIX-NET, are now built-in, allowing Informix applications to run in either client/server, distributed database, or local mode. Client/server connectivity also allows for ease of administration and is a cost saving to users. Together all these features yield mainframe-caliber administration, superior transaction processing, high availability, and data integrity -- all within a single client/server database. Future Versions of Dynamic Server INFORMIX-OnLine Dynamic Server 6.0 is first in a series of next-generation database server releases based on the DSA core architecture. Version 7.0, now scheduled for availability in the first half of 1994, will extend DSA to a full parallel data query implementation with compete parallel scan, join, and sort capability. Version 8.0 now scheduled for availability early in 1995, will extend the DSA architecture into loosely coupled cluster and massively parallel architectures. OnLine Dynamic Server Pricing and Platform Availability INFORMIX-OnLine Dynamic Server, 6.0 is schedule for December 20, 1993 delivery on symmetric multiprocessing platforms from Hewlett Packard, Sequent, and Sun Microsystems, with other platforms to follow. Pricing for OnLine Dynamic Server will be on a per usage basis. Prices range from $15,000 for small departmental-level needs to over $500,000 for large enterprise-wide solutions. About Informix Informix Software, Inc., provides the most complete and productive database technology to build, deploy, run and evolve applications. Informix products include powerful distributed database management systems, robust application development tools, and graphical- and character-based productivity software for delivering information to every significant desktop platform. With corporate headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., Informix has European headquarters in London, and Asia/Pacific headquarters in Singapore. ### INFORMIX is a registered trademark, and Dynamic Scalable Architecture, DSA and OnLine Dynamic Server are trademarks of Informix Software, Inc. All other companies mentioned or other names indicated by * or ( are registered trademarks of their respective manufacturers. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 61.10.E Subject: CAD-system "LOGOCAD" for mechanical construction From: Mr. Otfried Dorr Org: LOGOTEC Software GmbH Phone: +49 228 64 80 520 FAX: +49 228 64 80 525 Address: Chateauneufstr. 10 D-53347 Alfter Germany Email: 100021.3203@Compuserve.Com CAD-system "LOGOCAD" for mechanical construction now available on Solaris 2.x ! Alfter, Germany. LOGOTEC Software GmbH, one of Germany's leading CAD system software houses, announces the release of its CAD system "LOGOCAD" for Sun SparcStations under Solaris 2.x! Features -------- Subject: CAD-system "LOGOCAD" for mechanical construction LOGOCAD is a system for 2D and 3D mechanical drafting, modelling and construction, with a high level of functionality and flexibility. With its rich set of application modules, it covers a wide area of customer specific needs. LOGOCAD runs with multiple X-window based screens, thereby makes it easy to have overview and detail at the same time. You can have up to 4 active drawings and 20 windows simultaneously, this allows you to move or copy elements between different drawings easily. LOGOCAD is controlled by either a digitizer tablet or by the traditional mouse. The tablet driver contains a pen-computing interface so that most of the commands in LOGOCAD can be reached with gestures of the pen which are easy to remember. This makes the construction process faster because the user's concentration on the drawing itself is not disturbed by walking through pulldown menus. The user interface is outstanding. It is based on OSF/Motif, with the additional feature that the user can input any function at any time. Modal dialog boxes are almost unknown. The 3D-part is based on the well-known ACIS kernel, a proven and stable ground for solid modelling applications. Exchange of drawing data with other CAD systems is done through IGES and DXF interfaces. Availability ------------ LOGOCAD versions are available in several languages, including German, English, French, Italian, Polish and Russian. LOGOCAD is also available on PC's, based on Microsoft Windows. You can take part in the Solaris beta testing program of LOGOCAD by sending mail or E-mail to the following addresses: LOGOTEC Software GmbH | Phone: +49 228 64 80 520 Mr. Otfried Dorr | FAX: +49 228 64 80 525 Chateauneufstr. 10 | Compuserve: [100021,3203] D-53347 Alfter | Internet: 100021.3203@Compuserve.Com Germany | ********************************************************************** For information about SunFlash send mail to info-sunflash@Sun.COM. Subscription requests should be sent to sunflash-request@Sun.COM. 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