FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Denise Britti BLaCKSMITH, Inc. (800) 619-6147/(703) 250-1741 info@blacksmith.com http://www.blacksmith.com BLaCKSMITH Releases Beta Version of DaTASMITH(TM) the EOF(TM)-Based Report Writer for NEXTSTEP(R)/OPENSTEP(TM) Available Today Via ftp WASHINGTON, D.C. --- June 14, 1996 --- BLaCKSMITH, Inc., developers of the popular NEXTSTEP charting application, CHaRTSMITH(R), released the beta version of DaTASMITH today. DaTASMITH is a report building application and developer's kit designed to be used with NEXTSTEP's EOF (Enterprise Objects Framework). DaTASMITH has an easy to use drag and drop interface, allowing users and developers to quickly create complex reports from business information stored in EOModels. Like BLaCKSMITH's successful product CHaRTSMITH, DaTASMITH also provides a powerful and flexible API (Application Programmer's Interface). DaTASMITH's API allows developers to quickly and easily integrate a reporting capability into their custom applications. The API consists of a kit of objects, including a Report Builder and Report Viewer which can be linked directly into a custom application, without the overhead of Distributed Objects. DaTASMITH's API also provides entry points for developers to provide custom summary or aggregate functions, custom value classes, custom datasource classes, and custom EO classes. This gives developers a great deal of flexibility and control when integrating report generation into their custom applications. DaTASMITH fully leverages the power of NeXT's Enterprise Objects Framework (EOF) so users can build reports using their own custom Enterprise Objects(TM) (EO). Reports are generated with data fetched using NEXTSTEP's EOModels and Enterprise Objects Framework, which can access industry-standard Relational Database Management Systems (RDBMS) such as Sybase(R) and Oracle(R). "DaTASMITH changes the way in which users and developers approach database reporting," said Tony Rennier, president of BLaCKSMITH. "Users love the click and drag paradigm to produce even the most complex reports and developers love being able to produce reports with data retrieved from their custom EO's, putting an end to tedious report coding." Developers and users can build reports using dynamically-loaded custom Enterprise Object classes, custom value classes, and custom datasource classes, alleviating the need for developer's to program in special scripting languages. With this feature, any data source - the world wide web, stock market feeds, flat file databases, spread sheets - can be used by DaTASMITH to generate reports. Availability DaTASMITH 1.0, planned for release in Q3, 1996, will initially be available for NeXTSTEP 3.3 and EOF 1.1 for the Intel, Mach, PA-RISC, and Sparc platforms. Beta Available BLaCKSMITH welcomes input from users and developers. More information about DaTASMITH is available from BLaCKSMITH's Web site at http://www.blacksmith.com/product/. Anyone interested in testing and evaluating DaTASMITH may obtain a copy of this beta version via BLaCKSMITH's ftp site at the following URL: ftp://ftp.blacksmith.com/pub/Datasmith/Datasmith_0.7b.pkg.tar or on disk by contacting Denise Britti at 703.250.1741 or info@blacksmith.com. Instructions for providing feedback are included in the package. BLaCKSMITH, Inc. Founded in 1992, BLaCKSMITH, Inc. is dedicated to providing software solutions to customers who wish to capitalize on the advantages of object-oriented software. In addition to developing commercial applications like CHaRTSMITH and DaTASMITH, BLaCKSMITH also provides consulting, developer training and web services to its government and commercial clients. BLaCKSMITH, Inc. is headquartered in Fairfax, Virginia with offices in Baltimore, Maryland. Trademark Info CHaRTSMITH is a registered trademark of BLaCKSMITH, Inc. DaTASMITH is a trademark of BLaCKSMITH, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.