The Small Computer Company, Inc. 41 Saw Mill River Rd., Hawthorne, N.Y. 10532 (914) 769-3160 40 West Ridgewood Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ 07450 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For More Information Contact: Companv Contact: Richard Dukas/Stuart Feil Barbara Kelly Schoenfeld/Kahn, Inc. The Small Computer Company (212) 889-1200 (914) 769-3160 Small Computer Company Introduces Most Advanced Version of filePro Plus DBMS/Applications Development Environment Release 4.0 includes new windows and fuzzy search capabilities Hawthorne, N.Y.; November 1, 1989 -- The Small Computer Company, Inc., has introduced the latest version of its filePro Plus database management system. filePro Plus 4.0 now allows developers to create a common windows-type user interface to applications, while providing enhanced browsing capabilities, including phonetic search, and improved report generation features. Release 4.0, which is currently shipping to beta sites, and will be commercially available Jan. 15, is designed to provide a more elegant operating environment for UNIX and other database applications. It enhances the features of filePro Plus 3.0, by extending the successful "look-up browse" feature of the product into a pop-up window feature designed to give users and developers greater flexibility and performance. "We're looking to provide users with a more elegant way to handle data and develop applications," said Marc Koppelman, vice-president of sales and marketing for The Small Computer Company. "We believe the new features included in Version 4.0 of filePro Plus--particularly the ability to easily create pop-up data windows and the inclusion of phonetic searching--give small and medium- sized businesses, and departmental workgroups, the enhanced 4GL capabilities they've requested from us." This pop-up window feature is available across all workstations running filePro Plus. It will look the same to the user on each operating system platform supported by filePro Plus -- DOS, OS/2, VMS, and many different flavors of UNIX, including XENIX, AIX, ULTRIX and SUN OS. The applications developer can now include customized pop-up commands and pop-up windows in specific applications, since the system offers control over the size and location of the various wlndows. The company also has enhanced the "Browse" function of the product. Through a new feature, called FUZZY Search, users can search data phonetically, instead of having to make the request using properly spelled names, addresses and other data. The Small Computer Company has licensed this patented technology, called "fuzzy scan," from Proximity Technologies. It is the first 4GL vendor to incorporate this technique into a commercially-available product across multiple operating systems. In addition, underflePro Plus 4.0, the user has greater control over the "Look-up Browse" feature. He can now modify the size and location of the window, and add data headings. Meanwhile, the developer can control the availability of any "Browse" window. Version 4.0 also includes enhanced forms creation capabilities. Users can now use box and line commands from an on-screen toolbox to create forms and reports more elegantly than was possible with previous versions. The software supports all major dot matrix and laser printers, and can take advantage of the print and format commands of those products. Other major features new to fllePro Plus 4.0 include: Double the number of system-maintained indexes. It now has 16, providing for a total of 26 per record; An increase in the number of characters per record to 64K; and The ability of the system to support over 1 billion records per file. "This latest release of filePro Plus continues the tradition of benefits users have come to expect from our software products," noted Koppelman. "The key function is its portability--an application developed on one platform can be easily ported to any operating system filePro Plus runs on." filePro Plus 4.0 is priced from $990 to $40,000, depending on the operating system and computer platform used. Upgrades are available for $150 to users without a maintenance contract, and $50 for users with a maintenance contract, irrespective of operating system or computer. The Small Computer Company, Inc., located in Hawthome, N.Y., is a privately-owned software developer and Value Added Reseller of hardware and software systems. Established in 1977, it is best known as the developers of Profile, a DBMS system for Tandy/Radio Shack and as the developers of fllePro. The success of Profile made The Small Computer Co. the largest supplier of DBMS systems to Tandy/Radio Shack.