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QuestorSpreadsheet.txt
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1995-06-12
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
For more information please contact:
Xanthus International Xanthus USA
Jesper Lundh David Peter
Phone: +46-8-635 30 62 Phone: +1-619-632-9700
Fax: +46-8-98 70 67 Fax: +1-619-632-9702
Email: info@xanthus.se Email: info@xanthus.com
Xanthus Ships v 3.0 of Questor Spreadsheet Application for NEXTSTEP
Includes high level Excel 4.0 file compatibility
Stockholm, June 15, 1994 - Xanthus International AB today announced
that it has begun shipping version 3.0 of Questor, its spreadsheet
application for the NEXTSTEP computing environment.
Registered users of Questor 2.0 will automatically receive an
upgrade offer to version 3.0.
Questor 3.0 is delivered as 'fat' (MAB) binaries for Motorola,
Intel and PA/RISC processors.
Questor 3.0 will be shown in the Alembic booth at NEXTSTEP Expo and
in the Xanthus Suite at the San Francisco Marriott near Moscone
Center.
_________________________________________
Questor 3.0 is the most user-friendly and powerful spreadsheet
application for NEXTSTEP. It combines the intuitive metaphor of
"matrix-based" spreadsheet programs with a number of unique features
and a true NEXTSTEP user interface. Together with the OpenWrite
word processor, Questor is one of the cornerstones in the Open
Office product suite from Xanthus.
The backbone of Questor 3.0 is a conventional matrix-based spreadsheet
that can easily be used by anybody who has once used spreadsheet
programs like Microsoft Excel, Lotus 1-2-3 or Wingz.
To this backbone is added a number of unique features, including
easy-to-use SQL database access, a powerful scripting language,
multi-level undo and a versatile API.
Questor 3.0 is designed to be extremely easy to integrate with SQL
databases and custom-made applications on NEXTSTEP.
Questor 3.0 is the third release of the application. Questor 1.0
was released in May 1993.
--- New features in Questor 3.0 include:
- Significantly improved performance regarding worksheet recalculation
and file access, especially for large documents.
- Very high level of Microsoft Excel 4.0 file compatibility. Excel
4.0 files can actually be imported into Questor, edited, and exported
back to Excel 4.0, without losing any formatting or style information.
- Full support for Excel 4.0 compatible cell styles.
- More than 100 new functions to better support the Excel 4.0
function set in the area of finance, math and statistics.
- Full support for the new Open Object Embedding (OOE) standard
from Xanthus. Worksheets can be created and edited from within
OpenWrite word processor documents.
- Print/scrolling titles.
- Improved user interface. Easier access to commonly used functions,
and improved menu structure.
--- Standard Questor features:
- A state-of-the-art user interface for easy access to all features,
including a ToolBox with object palettes and a number of other
tools that removes the need of modal panels for filling, searching
and sorting data.
- Multi-level undo. All commands can be undone and the number of
undos are user defined.
- Reads the BIFF2-4, WKS, WK1 and SYLK file-formats, which enables
you to import worksheets from Lotus 1-2-3, Lotus Improv, Microsoft
Excel and Wingz.
- Writes the BIFF4 and WK1 file-format, which enables you to export
worksheets to Microsoft Excel, Lotus 1-2-3, Lotus Improv and Wingz.
- Powerful report layout functions that allows total control over
the layout of your documents, including direct manipulation and
drawing tools.
- Many graph types are supported, including bar, stacked bar, line,
combination, stock, area, stacked area, scatter (xy-plot) and pie.
The components of a graph can be edited separately.
- Hot-links to Graphity (like Lotus Improv and Presentation Builder).
Graphity is a business graphics application from Xanthus that
supports 3D graphs based on Renderman.
- Seamless connections to relational databases like Oracle and
Sybase using the Database Kit in NEXTSTEP.
- Timers that can trigger complex calculations, database queries
or any other event at regular intervals.
- A powerful structured scripting language - QScript with an
"intelligent" editor, including automatic pretty-printing and
programming support. QScript allows you to customize your worksheet
to perform very specific tasks.
- Input controllers like buttons, text-fields and sliders can be
drag-and-dropped anywhere on the worksheet, and connected to QScript
code or directly to cells by control-dragging.
- Output objects like graphs and gauges can be drag-and-dropped
anywhere on the worksheet, and be connected to cell areas by
control-dragging for continuous updating.
- A powerful double-directed API that allows Questor to easily
control and send data to other applications. The API also makes it
easy for other applications to control Questor and to feed data
into worksheets.
- External functions can be written in C or in QScript and be loaded
into Questor for easy extensibility.
- Full support for user palettes. Users can easily create new
palettes with customized graphs, graphics and control objects.
- Drawing tools that allows you to draw directly on the worksheet.
- Images and sound can be drag-and-dropped anywhere on the worksheet
to create stunning documents including graphics and sound effects.
- Full support for object linking. Graphs, cell areas and graphics
can be copied and linked into other documents for continuous
updating.
Xanthus International, headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, is a
privately owned software development company that specializes in
the NEXTSTEP platform.Xanthus was founded in 1990, and shipped its
first product, CraftMan, an award-winning multimedia programming
tool for NEXTSTEP in 1992. The product line now includes Questor,
a spreadsheet; Graphity, a 3D charting program that supports
RenderMan; the new OpenWrite word processor, and OpenBase, a
flat-file database.