News: For Immediate Release Contact: John Yanefski Target Development Phone: (717) 898-9190 Email: john@targetdev.com Target Development Announces Beta Versions of 2 NEXTSTEP Object Palettes for DBKit Development [Archived beta copies have been downloaded to the ftp archive site: sonata.cc.purdue.edu in the /pub/next/submissions directory. ] LANCASTER, PENNSYLVANIA - April 12, 1993. Target Development announces beta versions of 2 object palettes for DBKit application development. The RetrieverPalette and LinkPalette are both shipping in beta, and due for release in Q2 of 1993. Interested beta testers should follow the instructions below to unarchive the beta software for test and evaluation. The README file with each product contains details on submitting bug reports and suggestions to Target Development. Each product includes a .palette file, library file, header files, and technical documentation. The .palette and library files are licensed through the end of May. After May 31, the palette will no longer open, and applications using the object code will no longer run. Contact Target Development directly if you wish to evaluate either product past the May deadline, or are unable to complete the downloading instructions below. RetrieverPalette The RetrieverPalette provides objects that allow the user to easily generate custom database queries, graphically or programmatically. These queries may be triggered from virtually any user interface object, including TextFields, Buttons, PopUpLists, MenuCells, FormCells, Matrices, Switches, Sliders, etc. The values contained by these objects may be used as part of the condition of the query. For example, the characters typed in a TextField may be used to build a query that searches for customers with matching last names, or the integer value of a slider may be used to retrieve a customer with matching ID number. Queries may be simple, applying one condition to one property, or custom, nesting multiple conditions across multiple properties. Sorting may be easily applied across multiple properties from the inspector or at runtime. Additionally, custom wild cards may be specified, and the Retriever can be set to "intelligently" ignore the case of the text it is retrieving. An intuitive custom inspector and detailed technical documentation make this palette ideal for any Database Kit application development. LinkPalette The LinkPalette provides several objects which may be used in cooperation with the Database Kit for database-style management of text, sound, and image files. These objects store path names in the database, instead of the actual files, eliminating the need to pass large amounts of data through the adaptor. A wide variety of instance and delegate methods are provided for run-time manipulation and file security. The LinkPalette is designed as an alternative means for management of potentially large image, rich text, and sound data. It avoids database adaptor problems in handling these large data types, while offering file security and a great deal of additional functionality. Using these objects will potentially free large amounts of database space, as well as permit those developing applications over databases that do not support these data types, to simulate actual database storage and retrieval without compromising security. One of the palettes objects is the LinkView, a subclass of ScrollView that displays the contents of a specified file name. The user may register and "unregister" the object to accept or reject files of the following types: TIFF, EPS, RTF, RTFD, and ASCII. Files may be loaded by dragging-and-dropping icons from the File Viewer, from an OpenPanel, programmatically, or in conjunction with record selection when using other Database Kit objects. Images may be scaled and/or composited according to variety of predefined "behaviors", as well as validated against user defined limitations. Documents and images may be altered and saved back out to the file system from a running application. The LinkSound and LinkSoundView objects offer similar functionality for loading, using, manipulating, and saving Sound files. Target Development is a Pennsylvania-based object-oriented solutions company, developing applications and objects for customers around the world. We have developed a variety of office-productivity applications, the most recent of which makes extensive use of the Database Kit. In the process, we have built a well-rounded library of custom objects, some of which we are now making available to the public. Target Development fully supports NEXTSTEP and it's port to Intel 486, and will continue to do so as NEXTSTEP continues to be the premier object-oriented development environment. We aim to continue our commercial application / object development cycle, and are considering larger government contracts in the future. For more information about Target Development, please contact us at 1.717.898.9190 or objects@targetdev.com. NEXTSTEP is a trademark of NeXT, Inc. LinkPalette and RetrieverPalette are trademarks of Target Development. Sybase is a registered trademark of Sybase Inc.