[485] in comp.os.os2.announce archive
SOLICITATION: Athena Design requests "killer" spreadsheets
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (bill@athena.com)
Fri Dec 15 20:48:48 1995
To: os2ann.DISCUSS@bloom-picayune.MIT.EDU
Date: Fri, 15 Dec 1995 10:18:41 GMT
From: bill@athena.com
Reply-To: bill@athena.com
Submitted by: Bill Watt (bill@athena.com)
Source: Tracy Kugelman (info@athena.com)
Date received: 1995 December 12
Date posted: 1995 December 15
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PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
Contact: Tracy Kugelman
1-617-426-6372
1-617-426-7665 fax
info@athena.com
Athena Design Announces Request for Killer Spreadsheets
Boston - December 12, 1995 - Athena Design, Inc. announced today
that it is actively seeking "killer" spreadsheets to stress-test
and tune its Mesa<TM> spreadsheet application for OS/2<R>. Users
can submit large or complex worksheets to Athena Design over the
Internet to allow Athena Design's quality assurance team to test
Mesa's robustness and to benchmark Mesa's performance against
other spreadsheet applications.
"We are striving to make Mesa a totally solid and robust product,"
said David Rodger, Product Development Manager. "To that end, we
are seeking real-world examples from spreadsheet power-users to
help ensure that Mesa continues to improve."
Improvements to Mesa's performance and robustness will benefit
users of the Mesa spreadsheet application and the Mesa Developer
Object Kit (Mesa DOK<TM>). Because the application is built using
the Mesa DOK spreadsheet objects, enhancements to the underlying
objects translate to benefits to both the application and Mesa
DOK. Mesa DOK allows corporate developers or independent software
vendors to integrate full spreadsheet functionality into their
applications with as little as 20 lines of C++ programming code.
"Beta testers of Mesa DOK have been very pleased with its
functionality," said David Kahan, Chief Operating Officer.
"Delivering an enhanced version with better performance will be
icing on the cake."
In order to submit a spreadsheet, users can access Athena Design's
ftp server to upload the file into a holding directory. Files
placed in the holding directory are not accessible by anyone
outside of Athena's staff and Athena Design will treat the files
as strictly confidential. Users interested in submitting examples
of killer spreadsheets should place the files in
ftp://ftp.athena.com/pub/submissions, and send an email message to
m2-support@athena.com indicating that they have done so.
Alternatively, users may UUENCODE the file and email it to the
above internet address, or place the files on a floppy disk and
send them via regular mail to: Athena Design, 332 Congress Street,
Boston, MA 02210.
Mesa is a full-featured, 32-bit spreadsheet offering huge, three
dimensional workbooks. It also provides unlimited undo/redo,
multi-threaded recalculation and Workplace Shell interaction with
OS/2's color and font palettes. Mesa for OS/2 uses OS/2's REXX
scripting language. The application includes many unique
usability features including SmartFill<TM>, Formula
Inheritance<TM> and drag and drop color and fonts. Mesa also
supports real-time data feeds from a variety of sources including
financial markets.
Mesa DOK is built from the same core set of 32-bit spreadsheet
objects as the Mesa application. This enables users to quickly
and easily to deploy the advantages of a powerful spreadsheet
within their own applications. With as few as 20 lines of code
application developers or ISV's can embed an object, such as a
spreadsheet window, in their applications.
Athena Design, Inc. has been creating object-based spreadsheets
since 1992 and is a leader in object technology. Its core
spreadsheet objects are portable across platforms and can be
integrated into custom applications. Using these core objects has
provided faster time to market and an accelerated release schedule
for product enhancements. The company is currently focusing on
bringing its spreadsheet objects to market in the form of Mesa
DOK.
Mesa, SmartFill, Formula Inheritance, and Mesa DOK are trademarks
of Athena Design, Inc. OS/2 is a registered trademark of
International Business Machines Corporation. Other trademarks
which apply belong to their respective companies.
