Percussion Software Products Make Linking Lotus Notes with Enterprise
Relational and Flat-File Data Faster, Easier and Less Expensive

PC EXPO, NEW YORK CITY, June 20 -- At PC Expo June 20 - 22, Percussion
Software, Inc., is demonstrating new versions of its Notrix Composer and
Notrix products that enable Lotus Notes users to quickly, easily and
cost-effectively exchange data between Notes and enterprise relational and
flat-file databases -- regardless of their format or hardware platform.
Among the new features is a $2,500 Notrix Composer Base Package that gives
Notes users all the tools they need to link Notes with virtually any
enterprise database. The new products improve the ability to move vital
corporate relational and flat-file data in and out of Lotus Notes, the
leading client/server platform for developing and deploying strategic
groupware applications. Percussion is a Lotus Business Partner.

With Version 2.0, Notrix Composer and Notrix are now available on the
Windows NT platform. Version 2.0 of Notrix Composer additionally
features:

a Notrix Composer Flat File Driver
a Notrix Composer Notes-to-Notes Transfer Facility
a Notrix Composer ODBC driver

The new Notrix Composer Base Package resides on the Notes server and
supports multiple users without requiring additional license fees or
client software. The base package includes Notrix Composer, Notrix, the
Notrix Event Manager, the Notrix Composer Flat File Driver, the Notrix
Composer Notes-to-Notes Transfer Facility, and the Notrix Composer ODBC
driver.

Notrix Composer is a non-programming, "Notes-centric" tool that enables
fast, cost-effective bi-directional data integration between Lotus Notes
and any enterprise relational or flat-file database. Users build links to
external data sources using a simple Notes form. Notrix is a
fourth-generation programming tool (4GL) for building Notes server add-in
applications. Notrix is included with the Notrix Composer Base Package and
may also be purchased separately. To complement the Notrix Composer Base
Package, Percussion offers special drivers for Sybase and Microsoft SQL
Server, DB2/2 and Oracle7 databases and for the following middleware
access gateways: Information Builders' EDA/SQL, IBM's DDCS/2, and the MDI
Database Gateway. All Percussion products run on either a Windows NT or
IBM OS/2 Notes server and work with any Notes-supported client, including
Windows and Macintosh, without additional interface programming or client
software.

"Notrix and Notrix Composer answer customers' demands for an easy,
efficient and secure way to get enterprise data in and out of Lotus
Notes," said Barry Reynolds, Percussion's president. "These new versions
offer two important additional advantages. First, we've made it possible
for Notes users to quickly integrate data from virtually any external data
source, regardless of platform or file format. Second, we've ported Notrix
Composer and Notrix to the Lotus Notes Windows NT server, as part of our
strategy to provide complete cross-platform coverage in the Notes arena."

Said Sally Blanning DeJean, senior contributing editor for The Notes
Report, "Hardly any organization keeps all of its data in one location and
one type of program, and that is not going to change, because different
kinds of databases are needed to handle data differently. In the future,
more Notes applications will be interrelated with other applications,
regularly exchanging data to and from mainframes, flat-file databases and
client/server databases.

Notrix and Notrix Composer allow organizations to incorporate the legacy as
well as the newer database data, and they do so within a flexible Notes
database that supports bi-directional updates and synchronization between
records. Although it can be set to run data exchange tasks at prescribed
times, it has a useful ad hoc quality that allows users to change the data
quickly and easily, and best of all, without calling in the dreaded and
expensive C programmer. Yes, it really is designed to use out of the
box!"

Notes to Any Data Source

Notrix Composer for Flat Files allows Notes users to access information
stored in a variety of sources, including mainframes and minicomputers,
and in a variety of data formats such as ASCII, binary or EBCDIC. With
Notrix Composer for Flat Files, Notes users can access any and all data
formats, whether from legacy systems or other data sources.

Using standard Notes forms provided with Notrix Composer, Notes users can
move data into and out of Lotus Notes easily and quickly. Because Notrix
Composer is server-based, data transfer rates can be faster than with
desktop-based data access tools. For example, Computer Sciences
Corporation uses Notrix Composer to regularly bring employee data from its
corporate relational database into a Lotus Notes-based online employee
telephone directory. The company can update as many as 26,500 records in
about an hour and fifteen minutes, enabling it to frequently update the
directory without tying up the Notes network.

As part of its "Notes to Any Data Source" strategy, Percussion has provided
an Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) driver for Notrix Composer. A popular
programming interface for accessing databases on a network, ODBC provides
a consistent method of accessing different databases. Percussion's
addition of ODBC to its line of Notrix Composer direct database links
(DB2/2, Microsoft and Sybase SQL Server, and Oracle7) and gateway links
(IBM DDCS/2, Information Builders' EDA/SQL, and the Sybase MDI Database
Gateway) allows customers to select from a variety of choices for Notes
data interchange.

"Percussion Software's approach to data integration increases options for
Notes users who want to access and manipulate data -- regardless of where
it is stored," said Jeff Papows, vice president, Lotus Communications
Product Group. "This latest set of Percussion Software enhancements is
evidence of how our Business Partners are adding value to Lotus Notes."

Notes-to-Notes Transfer

The Notrix Composer Notes-to-Notes Transfer Facility simplifies managing
another important enterprise data asset: large, complex Notes databases.
Using a simple Notrix Composer form, Notes administrators and authorized
users can easily restructure Notes data for improved database performance
or to conserve system space. They can also archive Notes databases
-important because administrators who oversee large Notes databases often
find that outdated or seldom-used information within a database needs to
be moved into another Notes database for archiving or maintenance.

With the Notes-to-Notes Transfer Facility, administrators can easily move
or copy entire documents from one Notes database to another. Built-in
mapping lets administrators copy partial documents by selecting which
fields (one or more) they wish to copy and mapping values from one field
into a different field name in a target Notes database. Administrators can
elect to run the archiving job immediately or schedule it to run on a
periodic basis. All of this work is done using a simple Notrix Composer
form -- no programming is required.

The Notrix Composer Notes-to-Notes Transfer Facility enables administrators
to perform all archiving tasks from a single form in a one-step process,
and reduces the chance of data loss in moving data in the Lotus Notes
environment. The facility is included in Version 2.0 of all forms of
Notrix Composer.

Windows NT Lotus Notes Server

Notrix Composer and Notrix are now available for the Lotus Notes Server for
Windows NT, joining Percussion's OS/2 family of products. The same Notrix
Composer and Notrix install scripts and functionality are featured on both
the Windows NT and OS/2 platforms.

A Cost-effective, Practical Approach to Notes Data Integration

Notrix Composer and Notrix provide a powerful, practical and cost-effective
approach to integrating and managing data within Lotus Notes. Notrix
Composer offers a simple, affordable and highly customizable way to move
large amounts of information between Lotus Notes and enterprise databases,
including Sybase and Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle7, IBM DB2/2 and more
than 50 other databases. Using Notrix Composer, users can map fields,
select records, calculate new fields, determine job frequency and perform
other data-integration tasks using a familiar Lotus Notes Form. All Notrix
Composer activities are logged in a standard Lotus Notes database, which
serves as a repository for replication and management purposes.

Notrix helps Notes administrators and database designers quickly build new
Notes applications and easily manipulate large and complex Notes
databases. Notrix can reduce application-development time by as much as
80% because developers don't need to know the Lotus Notes API or do
complex C programming.

Notrix Composer and Notrix feature the Notrix Event Manager, an active
information agent that lets customers automatically trigger events within
Notes or in outside applications in response to designated events within
Lotus Notes databases, documents, and document fields. The Event Manager
allows customers to build advanced Notes applications that manipulate data
in news ways for improved corporate productivity and competitiveness. For
example, a company could use Notrix Composer to build a Notes application
that ties the field sales force into a sales order entry system, which is
stored in an IMS database on an IBM MVS mainframe. Salespeople enter and
track customer orders in the Notes application on laptop computers, and
dial in once a day to a Notes server at company headquarters. Once the
sales order information is replicated on the Notes server, event triggers
built into the Notes application using the Notrix Event Manager and Notrix
Composer automatically transfer the new sales orders into the
corresponding fields in the IMS database. Because sales information is
entered only once when the actual transactions occur, the chance of human
error is reduced and the order-fulfillment process is streamlined.

Pricing and Availability

Notrix Composer and Notrix are currently available for both NT and OS/2
Notes servers. The Notrix Composer Base Package is priced at $2,500. Each
additional driver package, including Oracle7, DB2/2, SQL Server and
EDA/SQL, is priced at $2,495. Driver packages require the Notrix Composer
Base Package. Notrix as a stand-alone package is priced at $1,495. A
Notrix license for development-only environments is $195. System
requirements for the NT versions of Notrix Composer and Notrix are Windows
NT Version 3.5 or later, and Lotus Notes Version 3.2 or later. Notrix
Composer Version 2.0 and Notrix Version 2.0 are available immediately.

Percussion Software, headquartered in Stoneham, Massachusetts, develops
software products to help customers access, integrate, and manipulate
information they need in their day-today business operations. Percussion
is a Lotus Business Partner and a member of the Lotus Professional
Developer's Program, the Sybase Open Solutions Program, Oracle's Business
Alliance Program, and the IBM Developer Assistance Program. Percussion
offers programs for Lotus Notes VARs and consultants who wish to use its
products in their solutions for a price/performance advantage. Percussion
is located at 92 Montvale Avenue, Suite 2100, Stoneham, Massachusetts
02180, telephone (617) 438-9900, FAX (617) 438-9955.

June 1995
All prices are quoted in U.S. dollars.

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