Auto-trol Technology Enters Into Strategic Partnership with Leading Vendor of Computer Graphics Metafile Technology
PR Newswire - November 13, 1998 14:23
Tech Illustrator for Windows NT Family Offers Customers Compatibility with Latest Official Version of CGM
DENVER, Nov. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Auto-trol Technology Corporation today announced that it has entered into a sublicensing agreement with Inso Corporation to embed Henderson Software's CGM libraries -- which are the basis of numerous NIST-certified products on the market today -- into the current CGM converter revision of Auto-trol's Tech Illustrator(TM) for Windows NT(R) (TI NT) product family. The agreement enables the bi-directional converter in TI NT products to read any valid CGM in a consortium publishing environment, and provides Auto-trol customers compatibility with the latest official CGM version.
"We are very pleased to be partnering with Inso and Henderson to provide first-rate CGM import and export capabilities to our customers," said Jeff Courtney, Director of Research and Development for Auto-trol. "With the continuous evolution of the CGM standard and various industry-specific profiles, it is imperative that solutions providers be able to respond with high quality, reliable data exchange filters. By embedding HSI's proven CGM technology into our technical illustration products, we can leverage the strengths of both companies to provide the best possible illustration and graphics exchange solutions to our customers."
Lofton Henderson, Director of Advanced Graphics Development at Inso adds, "Auto-trol's commitment to provide state-of-the-art technical illustration products is well-supported by their decision to integrate the latest in CGM technology. We view such quality commitments as important milestones in the electronic publishing industry, and are enthusiastic to be working with them to combine our respective leading edge technologies."
Since the 1970s, Auto-trol has delivered leading edge software to the technical illustration market that is easy to use, powerful, and compliant with adopted industry standards. A copyrighted article in the July 1998 issue of Engineering Automation Report recognized Auto-trol as the first vendor to offer native Microsoft NT technical illustration products. In addition, the products also comply with standards such as CALS, AIA/ATA-2100, and EPA/SAE J2008. Along with CGM, popular converters such as PostScript(R), IGES, DXF, TIFF, and CCITT-G4 are also supported on the NT platform.
The CGM format emerged in the 1980s and was developed as a platform- independent publishing mechanism for exchanging editable 2D composite artwork among different graphics applications. An article on CGM standards in the August 1998 issue of Engineering Automation Report quotes an Auto-trol Technology white paper (Standards Based Electronic Technical Publishing) which states, "CGM's primary publishing function is that it performs a reliable job of exchanging complex editable (composite) artwork views throughout their respective life-cycles; no other exchange standard adequately performs this function."
As mentioned in the same article from Engineering Automation Report, many software vendors in the CAD and electronic publishing industries support Version 1 CGM, and a few such vendors also support Version 3 CGM. However, the proliferation of mixed-version CGMs have historically caused data exchange problems within certain consortium publishing environments involving multiple companies -- using multi-vendor publishing solutions -- who collaborate in producing and documenting complex products. Both the Global Express business jet and the EuroFighter projects typify large-scale consortium publishing enterprises utilizing CGM graphics. Auto-trol's TI NT products meet the ISO (International Standards Organization) specification (ISO/IEC:8632) for CGM Version 1; they will be Version 3 compliant when the converter revision is complete early in 1999. Also, TI NT's Version 3 converter is now well- positioned to be certified by NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) when the organization's Version 3 compliance testing begins.
In November 1997, Inso Corporation, a leading global provider of electronic publishing and management tools for critical business information, acquired Henderson Software, Inc., a leading provider of CGM solutions. Lofton Henderson, founder and president of HSI, became Director of Advanced Graphics Development for Inso's Electronic Publishing Solutions unit.
Auto-trol Technology Corporation is a major global developer and integrator of documentation, information, and process management systems for discrete manufacturing, process manufacturing, and other contemporary businesses worldwide. Based in Denver, Colorado, Auto-trol employs professionals in offices throughout the world and has installed systems for thousands of customers in both domestic and international markets. Auto-trol is a full service provider, supplying software, integration and consulting services, training, and software support.
Information about Auto-trol Technology and its products and services can be found on the World Wide Web at auto-trol.com. Information about the Tech Illustrator product line can be found on the World Wide Web at tech-illustrator.com.
Tech Illustrator is a trademark of Auto-trol Technology Corporation. Windows NT is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
SOURCE Auto-trol Technology Corporation
/CONTACT: Jeffrey Kumm, Product Manager, 303-252-2389, fax, 303-252-2249,
jefkum@auto-trol.com, or Douglas K. Lange, Marketing Communications,
303-252-2358, fax, 303-252-2249, doulan@auto-trol.com, both of Auto-trol
Technology Corporation/ |
