Oberon introduces Oberon Prospero, visual software for integrating data among Lotus Notes, databases and desktop applications

Business Wire, Oct 16, 1995

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 16, 1995 Oberon Software Inc., today introduced Prospero, a new Windows-based, fully programmable and expandable point-and-click visual software tool that integrates data among desktop applications, databases and Lotus Notes.

With Prospero users can easily and quickly move data back and forth among Lotus Notes, Microsoft Excel and Word or corporate SQL databases, without coding. Prospero is a 32-bit application which takes full advantage of Windows 95.

Most business professionals use their computers as business tools to manage projects, assemble departmental budgets, write memos, prepare status reports and perform a variety of other tasks. But when IS departments implement departmental or enterprise client/server applications, there is rarely a bridge between these systems and the applications and data that resides on desktop PCs. That is because these bridges are difficult to implement and time consuming to maintain.

"Prospero is a major step forward in data and application integration," said Bill Clarke, Oberon's Director of Sales and Marketing. "For companies that are making major investments in client/server and groupware applications, Oberon s innovative Prospero visual integration product offers the ideal solution for linking information on a business professional's desktop with centralized corporate data. By allowing users to integrate their work files into new and existing client/server or groupware applications, companies will benefit as they use these systems more effectively, and gain a higher return on their development cost."

With Prospero, data integration tasks are simplified; users avoid repeating difficult export and import processes and cumbersome cut and paste commands. Prospero offers self-configuration and customization capabilities, as well as the unique ability to integrate data from multiple sources and destinations. Application developers, database administrators and power users will appreciate these capabilities.

"Prospero from Oberon provides a unique approach to integrating Lotus Notes with both relational data and popular desktop applications such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and ACT!. As a visual tool, it makes the process of integrating the data sources both quick and easy-to-understand," said David Marshak, Vice President and Senior Consultant at the Patricia Seybold Group.

Prospero automatically creates graphical building blocks from existing Excel spreadsheets, Microsoft Word documents, ASCII files, Lotus Notes applications, ACT! contact manager data or SQL databases that support ODBC. By graphically connecting these building blocks together, users can form visual programs to share data on their desktops with corporate databases. Visual programs can be run inside Prospero or saved as stand alone executables that can be run as single applications.

How It Works

Prospero is a complete programming system tailored to build data integration applications. Prospero uses a direct manipulation interface to construct a boxes and arrows diagram, which builds an application from reusable components. Prospero uses industry standard Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) technology to integrate a wide range of applications, and Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) to integrate relational databases.

Prospero's graphical building blocks are assembled together in a visual program to perform a specific task. Users connect building blocks with arrows that indicate how the data should flow through the program. Ports on each of the building blocks correspond to locations that Oberon Prospero finds within the application file -- spreadsheet ranges, documents bookmarks, and SQL database columns and Notes form fields. Oberon Prospero finds these locations automatically when it creates the building block. When a user runs the program, Oberon Prospero will read and write data to and from the applications and perform any other logic or computation included in the visual program.

Flexible Lotus Notes Add-On

Prospero fulfills the needs of Lotus Notes users by working with the existing database applications. A Notes building block is automatically configured to read documents using views and to create or access a document using forms. Ports from views are named with the view column headings; ports from forms are named with the prompt text within the form. Prospero supports the fundamental Notes data types as well as a translation between Notes internal rich text and Microsoft Rich Text Format. Calculated fields are also supported. Prospero is both OLE and Notes/FX enabled, so visual programs can be embedded in a Notes document and share its data.

Pricing, Platform and Availability

Prospero is currently available at an introductory retail price of $695. Quantity and Value-Added Reseller (VAR) pricing are available upon request. Prospero runs on any PC supporting Windows 95, Windows NT or Windows 3.1 operating systems.

Prospero is available directly from Oberon Software at 617/494-0990. Oberon Software will introduce future specialized editions and configurations which will offer features and building blocks for various applications.