Attachmate's KEA! for VAX/UNIX software family to gain innovative client/server and connectivity enhancements; Advanced PC-to-host connectivity to DEC VAX, Alpha AXP, HP and UNIX hosts from Windows and Windows NT workstations

Business Wire, Dec 12, 1994

BELLEVUE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 12, 1994--Attachmate Corporation, a leading provider of desktop-to-host connectivity software, today announced dramatic improvements to its KEA! product family, which was voted Product of the Year by DEC User magazine two years in a row. KEA! for Windows v4.1, KEA! for Windows NT v4.12 and KEAlink LAT for Windows NT provide users with new connectivity options, powerful automation and usability features, and a new multi-tasking client/server development API. These enhancements are scheduled for release to customers in the first quarter of 1995. KEA! is known throughout the market for its extremely fast and accurate emulation with advanced productivity features for integrated data access between PC and UNIX host applications.

KEA! for Windows and Windows NT

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KEA! for Windows and KEA! for Windows NT, which both come in VT340 and VT420 versions, makes using any VAX or UNIX host application faster and more efficient with automation tools. Custom menus and button pads, along with KEA!'s powerful macro language give users greater control over host data. Context-sensitive on-line help, intuitive toolbars and keyboard mapping facilities reduce learning curves and limit support costs. KEA! for Windows NT is a true 32-bit Windows NT application with support for DEC Alpha, Intel, Mips and Power PC hardware platforms.

The latest release of KEA! has new connectivity and productivity

enhancements, including:

Integrated FTP file transfer support for more robust exchange of

files

Enhanced NetWare for LAT support including non-TSR based

multiplexing of sessions

Novell NetWare Connect support through the

new NASI.DLL (not available in KEA! for Windows NT)

Encrypted macros

Tool tips for real-time, pop-up help

Client/Server and UNIX Host Applications

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KEA! for Windows 4.1 also includes an innovative multi-tasking API set, known as the Attachmate Enterprise Access Library -- which provides developers with a simple way to integrate host information into new graphical applications built with tools like Microsoft's Visual Basic, Access, Excel, Word and Powersoft's PowerBuilder. These APIs are similar to those found in the award-winning EXTRA! for Windows, which have been shown to reduce normal programming between Windows and host applications by more than 90%.

Additionally, in early 1995, Attachmate's award-winning TOOLS! for Visual Basic and TOOLS! for PowerBuilder will be enhanced to support KEA!'s new Enterprise Access Library. These application development tools allow developers to encapsulate host data into custom controls and objects which then become re-usable from application to application.

"With KEA!'s automation tools and new Enterprise Access Library, corporate developers will be able to build graphical, point and click applications that bring new life to outdated host applications -- in a fraction of the time," said Joyce Jones, Attachmate's Executive Vice President, WorldWide Product Group.

KEA!, positioned as the premier DEC connectivity software, delivers an evolutionary solution to client/server. VAX and UNIX organizations with vital legacy applications cannot afford a radical change, but would like the advantages of building new graphical applications quickly. With KEA! for Windows, organizations can now balance old as well as current desktop technology with a more gradual evolution to client/server technology by combining the user productivity gains with new Visual Basic or PowerBuilder applications, yet retaining all the performance, management and reliability of their host systems.

Sophisticated multi-tasking capabilities

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The multi-tasking capabilities of KEA!'s interface, directly addresses the lack of standardization between host applications and limited on-line help facilities. Classic host-based applications are rigidly designed around processing modules with little consideration given to user interface or individual user requirements. KEA! allows multiple terminal sessions to be actively in use and simplifies task switching routines. Time consuming functions, like file transfers, operate in the background and users can perform tasks like word processing or spreadsheets instead of waiting for host processing to complete.

KEAlink LAT for Windows NT

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Attachmate also introduced its new KEAlink LAT for Windows NT, which takes full advantage of the Windows NT operating system and provides KEA! for Windows NT users with access to DEC applications via LAT. Attachmate is one of the first companies to offer such Windows NT functionality.

Attachmate's solution fills a critical communication gap since Digital's Pathworks for NT does not support the LAT protocol, said Eric Alexandre, Vice President of Product Management, DEC Client Products. Attachmate once again sets the standard for PC-to-UNIX host software.

About Attachmate

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Attachmate is a leading provider of enterprise connectivity products that enable users of individual and networked desktop computers to access, exchange and manipulate information and applications residing on host computers, including IBM and IBM-compatible mainframes, IBM AS/400 midrange computers, Digital VAX and Alpha AXP computers and UNIX host systems. The company's leading product lines are the EXTRA!, RALLY!, KEA!, and the Attachmate Enterprise family of client connectivity software products and the ZIP! family of host server software products, which operate in the Windows, Windows NT, DOS, OS/2 and Macintosh environments.