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NEW YORK, March 17, 1998 — Inso Corporation today announced at Seybold Seminars Publishing '98 (Booth# 1601) Version 4.0 of the DynaText® Professional Publishing System and Version 4.0 of the companion DynaWeb® server. DynaText and DynaWeb provide a standards-based solution for publishing highly searchable electronic documents, in virtually any language, via CD-ROM, LAN, and the Web, all from a single source of content. Version 4.0 adds major search engine enhancements through integration of Inso's query expansion and electronic thesaurus technologies. 4.0 also provides significant Web printing improvements, as well as additional eXtensible Markup Language (XML) support, including support for XML links.
According to Graham Marshall, Vice President and General Manager, Inso Electronic Publishing Solutions, "With DynaText and DynaWeb 4.0, Inso has achieved two primary goals — integrating world-class technology from other Inso development centers into our electronic publishing solutions, and continuing to demonstrate our leadership position in XML development by providing unparalleled support for the new standard in our products, today."
Search Enhancements
Major enhancements have been made to the DynaText search engine using Inso query expansion search technology. The new searching capabilities expand a user's query to achieve superior recall and precision. Query expansion techniques are divided into two main categories: general query expansion, mainly accomplished through a technique known as "stemming," and thesaurus-based searching. With stemming, for example, searching for "run" finds "run," "running," "ran," etc.
Thesaurus-based searching has been added using Inso's Concise International Electronic Thesaurus technology. This function operates by expanding queries to find synonyms and other related words. Synonym substitution occurs transparently after the user executes a search. Thesauruses are currently provided in English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish.
Publishers are also provided with a mechanism to create a "Publisher's Thesaurus" via a command line utility. Publishers can use this to augment the Inso-provided thesaurus, or to replace it. This function allows the scope of the feature to be expanded (or restricted) to a known, useful set of words important to the publisher's application.
XML Support
In DynaText 4.0, XML-related enhancements include support for XML links (or XLL "Simple" Links). The link specification documented in "Extensible Markup Language (XML): Part 2 Linking" describes two types of links: simple and extended. The simple form, which is similar to how the TEI (Text Encoding Initiative) has specified links, is now supported. In addition, the action associated with the activation of an XML link can be defined by the publisher. Also new in Version 4.0 is a publisher-controlled "Export XML" option and support for the .xml extension.
Existing XML support in DynaText includes the ability to parse, index, store, publish, and search XML (or Standard Generalized Markup Language — SGML) content. DynaText's sophisticated search engine also supports XML and SGML structure-aware, tag-level searching. The DynaWeb companion server converts SGML or XML content into HTML "on-the-fly" for viewing by Web browsers. DynaWeb is "client-aware" and customizes content for different browsers. In this manner, DynaWeb can also automatically deliver XML directly, with the appropriate style sheet, to XML compliant Web browsers as they become available.
Printing Enhancements in DynaWeb
DynaWeb 4.0 includes significant printing enhancements that are accessible via the user's Web browser. Users can now select items to print from a print table of contents, and then request the server to generate a PostScript® file for downloading and printing on a local printer. Publishers can now provide print-oriented style sheets (with paper-appropriate styles, including headers and footers). End-users can more easily pick what parts of the document they wish to print, including information chunks that are larger than what they're currently viewing in their Web browser.
DynaWeb 4.0 is scheduled for availability by the end of March and DynaText 4.0 by the end of April on a variety of Windows and Unix platforms. By end of Q2 1998 scheduled platforms include Windows 95 and NT 4.0, Sun Solaris 2.5.1, SGI IRIX 6.2, HP-UX 10.2, and IBM AIX 4.1. In addition to operating as a stand-alone http server, DynaWeb also plugs into Web servers, including Microsoft Internet Information Server 3.x and 4.x and Netscape Enterprise and FastTrack Servers 3.x. Starting pricing for a DynaText installation begins at $50,000. For additional information, call 1-800-733-5799 or visit www.inso.com.
Inso Corporation (Nasdaq: INSO) is a leading global
supplier of software solutions for sharing and publishing electronic information.
Inso provides solutions for effective distribution of all forms of electronic
information, from the simplest memo to the most complex technical manual,
in environments ranging from computer desktops to the Internet. Through
integration in the world's most popular software products, bundling agreements,
and distribution channels, Inso technology is installed on over 70 million
desktops worldwide.
Contact: plamoureux@inso.com