Thomas Technology Solutions, Inc. (ThomasTech) introduced LineDrive Directory Publisher to give directory publishers the ability to streamline content creation, page composition, and content update cycles in the production and publication of directories. With LineDrive’s content management features, directory publishers can store directory listings in one central database and reuse the information without reentry for multiple vertical-market directories. Given the wide range of professional directories available, from information on business and industry to public records, proprietary drug information, legal case results, and mailing lists, LineDrive’s all-inclusive approach to content management provides options for directory publishers. The editorial interface included in LineDrive is template-driven, with a familiar look and feel for Windows users. LineDrive also offers solutions for directory publishers to publish their content in multiple formats. The LineDrive Xpress utility is a bundled Quark Xtension that provides a template-driven solution for automated page composition. Based on user-defined page layout and business rules, LineDrive Xpress extracts and streams directory listing content and ads to Quark Xpress, generating printer-ready files. LineDrive also includes XML extraction tools to allow for simultaneous publishing in multimedia formats. Editorial teams can produce a companion Web site, CD ROM, or other collateral material to coincide with their printed directory.
Year: 2005 (Page 48 of 95)
Mark Logic Corporation announced the general availability of MarkLogic Server 3.0, a new version of their XML content server. New features in MarkLogic Server 3.0 include the automatic conversion of Microsoft Office, PDF, and HTML documents to XML, a Web services-enabled content processing framework, and enhanced full text and XML search functionality. In addition to loading XML “as is”, MarkLogic Server 3.0 now automatically converts common document formats including Microsoft Office, PDF, and HTML into well-formed XML without the need to create a DTD or XML schema. New XML element query, improved XML proximity search, and highlighting give MarkLogic Server 3.0 a complete full text and XML search capability (including word, phrase, Boolean expression, wildcard, proximity, thesauri, spell checking, and highlighting). MarkLogic Server 3.0 enables organizations to create custom content processing pipelines (trigger-based sequences of content processing steps) comprised of native XQuery statements and Web services-enabled external applications. MarkLogic Server 3.0 offers new support for Red Hat Linux ES3 on AMD Opteron (64-bit) and Windows Server 2003 on x86 systems. MarkLogic Server also runs on Sun Solaris 8 and 9 on SPARC systems, Red Hat Linux ES3 on x86 systems and Windows 2000 on x86 systems. http://www.marklogic.com
Microsoft announced that XML will be the default file format for Office 12. I’ll look more at the details and what this means to OpenOffice etc. when I get a chance, but this is certainly great news and another major step forward for XML in general and Microsoft’s support for it. It looks like Microsoft has addressed (full Microsoft press release) the main concerns that critics exposed during the OpenOffice debate we have been covering here and in our conferences. Tim is impressed!
Update: Dan Farber has some additional info from Microsoft.
Update 2: Dan points to info from Rick Schaut on Office 12 Mac XML support.
Sun Microsystems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUNW) and Storage Technology Corporation (NYSE: STK) announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Sun will acquire StorageTek. The combination will create a new global leader in comprehensive network computing and data management which collectively had total annual revenues of more than $13 billion in the past four quarters. The aquisition will deliver a systems approach to Information Lifecycle Management (ILM) to help customers better manage their growing privacy, security, compliance and policy requirements. Under the terms of the agreement approved by both boards of directors, StorageTek stockholders will receive $37 per share in cash for each StorageTek share for an aggregate value of approximately $4.1 billion, including the assumption of employee stock options. The completion of the proposed transaction is expected to occur in late summer/early fall 2005. http://www.sun.com, http://www.storagetek.com
Microsoft Corp. announced that it is adopting XML technology for the default file formats in the next version of Microsoft Office editions, currently code-named “Office 12.” The new file formats, called Microsoft Office Open XML Formats, will become the defaults for the “Office 12” versions of Microsoft Office Word, Excel and PowerPoint, which are expected to be released in the second half of 2006. The interoperability capabilities of the Microsoft Office Open XML Formats enable Microsoft Office applications to directly access data stored in systems outside those applications, such as server-based line-of-business applications. These third-party applications, in turn, can access data stored in the new Office file formats. Microsoft Office Open XML Formats are fully documented file formats with a royalty-free license. Anyone can integrate them directly into their servers, applications and business processes, without financial consideration to Microsoft. People using Office 2000, Office XP and Office 2003 will be able to open, edit and save files using the new formats, thanks to a free update available as a download from Microsoft that enables those older Office versions to work with the new formats. Documents created with the current binary file formats in Office also will be fully compatible with “Office 12” applications. So workers can save documents to their current formats and exchange those documents with people using “Office 12” — and when they upgrade to “Office 12,” they can continue to use their existing binary documents. Microsoft will provide further technical information about the Microsoft Office Open XML Formats, including draft versions of the schemas, to help ensure that developers and IT professionals can be prepared to take advantage of the formats before product shipment. People interested in the new file formats and the next version of Office can get additional information beginning Monday, June 6 at a preview site, http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview
OASIS announced that its members have approved the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) version 1.0 as an OASIS Standard. DITA defines an XML architecture for designing, writing, managing, and publishing many kinds of information in print and on the Web. DITA consists of a set of design principles for creating “information-typed” modules at a topic level. DITA enables organizations to deliver content as closely as possible to the point-of-use, making it ideal for applications such as integrated help systems, web sites, and how-to instruction pages. DITA’s topic-oriented content can be used to exploit new features or delivery channels as they become available. Participation in the OASIS DITA Technical Committee remains open. All those interested in advancing this work, including users, XML tools vendors, and consultants on Information Architecture and Content Management Systems (CMS), are encouraged to join the Committee. OASIS hosts an open mail list for public comment and the dita-user mailing list for exchanging information on implementing the standard. http://www.oasis-open.org
SDL International announced SDLAuthorAssistant 2005. SDLAuthorAssistant enables creators of corporate content to perform real-time, automated comparisons of newly authored content with existing translation memories and terminology glossaries. Content volumes for translation are minimized and forbidden terms are excluded. By integrating a common set of visual tools directly into Adobe FrameMaker, Arbortext Epic, Blast Radius XMetaL and Microsoft Word, SDLAuthorAssistant empowers authors to create content that complies with corporate standards and is optimized for the translation process. http://www.sdl.com
Today’s Supreme Court ruling reversing the decision against Arthur Andersen
is big news in the compliance world. My bet is that it will have two important
effects–both good.
The first is that, once again, it will be OK to destroy documents in
accordance with a company’s retention policy. The second is that it is going to
become even more obvious to companies that they really do need to have a
carefully designed document retention policy, along with a way to ensure that it
is implemented and monitored.
