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DataChannel Demonstrates Industry's First XML Viewer

Progress of Next-Generation Web Language Furthered By Enabling Microsoft and Netscape Browsers

Bellevue, Wa- July 30, 1997 - DataChannel, the leading provider of enterprise webcasting software, today announced the industry's first eXtensible MarkUp Language (XML )Viewer. Although this new Web technology market is in its embryonic phase, there is growing Web industry consensus that XML will parallel HTML as one of the most widely used web languages. Based on Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), XML allows groups of people to design their own markup languages to describe industry-specific documents, such as financial statements, chemistry research papers, sport statistics records or even build interactive Web channel "TV Guides".

Addressing the Web software development community's immediate need for open cross-platform tools, DataChannel's Java-based XML Viewer supports both the Microsoft and Netscape browsers, allowing them to view documents using Microsoft's Channel Definition Format (CDF).

"Progress within the XML development community is moving swiftly," said Jon Bosak of Sun Microsystems and Chairman of the W3C XML Working Group. " The fundamental building blocks are being put in place to evolve to powerful web document processing, mainly through the confluence of Java and XML".

"Critical to our customer-solutions efforts in the enterprise webcasting market, DataChannel is making extensive technology investments in XML, including our participation in the W3C , said Dave Pool, CEO of DataChannel. "XML coupled with Java will provide the fundamental underpinnings for the first widespread use of electronic document interchange (EDI.)"

Key features of the XML Viewer technology demo include:

  1. Cross-Platform Support. Allows users of both Microsoft and Netscape browsers to view CDF documents..
  2. Implements a Java-based XML processor which "reads" the tags in XML documents. · XML Navigation Tree. After processing, the parsed tree is filtered for tags and displayed as a tree.
  3. Support of XAPI-J, a proposed XML API that provides an open choice of XML parser types, e.g. Norbert Mikula's NXP, Textuality's Lark, or Microsoft's MXXML.
  4. Improved CDF structure readability. The viewer can read in any CDF file, rendering the document tag structure in a tree, which reveals the document's anatomy. It may also prove useful to those constructing Document Type Definitions (DTDs).

A Demo of Documents from the Future

The DataChannel XML Viewer demo illustrates the use of XML in providing an "interactive table of contents" for an example document (e.g. the ChannelWorld online HTML publication). In the example, the ChannelWorld website is represented as a set of metatags (information about the web document structure) to denote topic sections and published items. Users can navigate the document by clicking on the XML elements displayed as a tree view widget. The XML Viewer technology will be available in DataChannel's flagship product, ChannelManager.

The free XMLViewer is available at www.datachannel.com/xml/viewer for downloading.

About DataChannel

Based in Bellevue, Washington, DataChannel is a pioneer in the enterprise Webcasting market. Their first product, ChannelManager, combines the power of a Java-driven database engine (NASDAQ: SUNW) with real-time TIB notification (NASDAQ: RTRSY) working with Netscape's Communicator (NASDAQ: NSCP) or Microsoft's Active Desktop (NASDAQ: MSFT).

ChannelManager is the first and only corporate Webcast solution that allows IS managers to manage: Web channels; external newsfeeds such as Data Broadcasting Corp. (NASDAQ: DBCC), Desktop Data (NASDAQ: DTOP) and Individual (NASDAQ: INDV); search engines such as Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO), Excite (NASDAQ: XCIT), InfoSeek (NASDAQ: SEEK), and Lycos (NASDAQ: LCOS); relational databases from companies such as Informix Software (NASDAQ: IFMX), Sybase (NASDAQ: SYBS), and Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL); and PC applications and legacy corporate data from companies such as Wall Data (NASDAQ: WALL) and IBM (NYSE: IBM) æ all within a customizable employee desktop environment.

DataChannel's tools enable corporations to get the right information to the right person at the right time. The company was recently reviewed by Forrester Research and positioned as one of the few Webcast vendors providing "full, intelligent, interactive suites," along with Netscape and Yahoo! Additional information about DataChannel and its products can be found at www.datachannel.com.

DataChannel and ChannelManager, are registered trademarks of DataChannel Corp.