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Newsgroups: comp.sys.next.announce From: jesper@cooper.xanthus.se (Jesper Lundh) Subject: SHIPPING: Xanthus Ships Questor Spreadsheet for NEXTSTEP Organization: Next Announcements Approved: sanguish@digifix.com For more information please contact: Jesper Lundh phone: +46-8-635 30 62 fax: +46-8-98 70 67 email: questor@xanthus.se Xanthus Ships Questor Spreadsheet for NEXTSTEP Stockholm, May 14, 1993 - Xanthus International AB today started to ship Questor, its spreadsheet application for the NEXTSTEP computing environment. Aimed at everybody that has been waiting for a high quality matrix-based spreadsheet application tailored for the NEXTSTEP environment, Questor offers the ease-of-use of traditional spreadsheet applications combined with the extra power offered by NEXTSTEP. For example, Questor can easily retrieve data from relational databases like Oracle and Sybase using the Database Kit in NEXTSTEP and display the data in full color charts that can be placed in other documents and automatically updated by the Object Linking mechanism of NEXTSTEP. "Questor brings the power of the Database Kit to everybody," says Jesper Lundh, marketing manager at Xanthus."Questor will increase the productivity of anybody with a computer running NEXTSTEP on their desk." Questor is the perfect tool for all the things traditionally done with spreadsheet applications, like budgets, scientific calculations, creating tables and charts for presentations etc. In addition to the basic spreadsheet power, Questor comes with user interface objects like buttons and sliders as well as a powerful and easy-to-use scripting language called QScript. These tools will allow users to customize spreadsheets to perform very specific tasks. The open architecture of Questor, with an extremely powerful API, also lets users control spreadsheets from other applications written in Objective-C. In addition, Questor can control any other application with a Speaker/Listener interface through the QScript language. QScript is an extended version of Xanthus Common Language (XCL), a uniform scripting language used in all Xanthus software products with scripting capabilities. XCL gives you a uniform scripting syntax and a common set of basic functions. In addition, XCL allows you to write external functions in XCL or in Objective-C that can be used by any XCL-based application from Xanthus. Selected Questor features: - A 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 a 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 a worksheet and connected to cell areas by control-dragging for continuous updating. - Many graph types are supported, including bar, stacked bar, line, combination, stock, area, stacked area, scatter (xy-plot) and pie. - Hot-links to the business graphics application Graphity from Xanthus. Graphity is a business graphics application from Xanthus that supports 3D graphs. - Seamless connections to SQL databases like Oracle and Sybase using the Database Kit in NEXTSTEP. - Timers that can trigger complex calculations, database queries, and any other event at regular intervals. - 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. - A ToolBox that includes object palettes and a number of other tools that removes the need for modal panels for filling, searching and sorting data. The ToolBox also includes complete scripting support. - Full support for user palettes. You 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 a worksheet to create stunning documents with graphics and sound effects. - Reads the 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 WK1 file-format, which enables you to export worksheets to Lotus 1-2-3, Lotus Improv, Microsoft Excel and Wingz. - Full support for Lotus 1-2-3 bracket macros. - Multi-level undo. All commands can be undone and the number of undos are user defined. - Powerful report layout functions that gives you total control over the layout of your document, including direct manipulation and drawing tools. - Full support for object linking. Graphs, cell areas and graphics can be copied and linked into other documents for continuous updating. Questor is not a port from another computing environment and has a true, well designed NEXTSTEP user interface. Questor is available now for NEXTSTEP (NeXT and Intel) through selected resellers worldwide. Retail price: $595/license Academic discount: 50% Volume discount: 5-10 licenses, 20% 11-15 licenses, 30% Special intro offer: $99 (1-user license only, no academic discount, valid until June 30 1993) Xanthus International, headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, is a privately owned software development company that specializes in the NEXTSTEP platform. Questor is the fourth in a series of general-purpose productivity tools for NEXTSTEP. In May 1992, Xanthus started to ship its first product CraftMan, the multimedia programming tool for the NEXTSTEP. The second product was LaserMan, a tool for controlling Laser Disc Players and other devices from a NEXTSTEP computer. The third product was SplitBuilder/Receiver, a tool for sending large files via NeXTmail. LaserMan and SplitBuilder/Receiver started to ship in September 1992. Xanthus International was founded in 1990.
These are the contents of the former NiCE NeXT User Group NeXTSTEP/OpenStep software archive, currently hosted by Marcel Waldvogel and Netfuture.ch.