OBERON INTRODUCES "OBERON PROSPERO", VISUAL SOFTWARE FOR INTEGRATING DATA
AMONG LOTUS NOTES, DATABASES AND DESKTOP APPLICATIONS

Prospero, a Windows 95 Application, Boosts Business Efficiency

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS - October 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. 

About Oberon

Oberon Software, Inc., headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, develops
and markets easy-to-use data and application integration tools for
developers and power users. Founded in 1989, Oberon Software is a
privately held company with 20 employees. Oberon's major shareholders
include Toyo Information Systems Company, Limited ("TIS"), a Tokyo,
Japan-based publicly held company traded on the First Section of the Tokyo
Stock Exchange. Oberon Software is a Lotus Notes Business Partner and a
Microsoft Office Compatible Product. 

Oberon Software
222 Third St, Suite 3100
Cambridge, MA 02142
617-494-0990,  fax 617-494-0414
 
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