CompuServe Thread

Frank, I have some (well, ok, a lot of) experience with an authoring system from Sony called FTR. I can say without hesitation that it meets all of the requirements you outline. Currently available only on the PC, it is in the final stages of Beta testing (I understand) for release in a MAC version as well. I have to give it a mixed review though. It _IS_ powerful. It _IS_ flexable. But, it also _IS_ difficult to learn, and expensive. Once you understand it, you can do killer applications, but expect a trial by fire during the first development cycles. There are two major hurdles to the development task, and this is true of all such systems. First, you must learn how to tie the functions available in the software system into your interface design. Second, you must learn how to prepare and tag the source materials so that they are read and interpreted correctly by the software. With FTR, the documentation is poor so you'll struggle with the learning curve on both fronts. So you have a complex task, made more difficult by poor documentation, made costly by the the licensing fees. But when you get done, assuming you can design a good application, you've got a nice piece of work. Here are some of the positive features of the FTR system: * Full text indexing and retrieval with all the bells and whistles. * Full multimedia capability – sound, still images, animation, motion video, etc. Some of these must be supported by external software elements, but the flexability is there to hook in any kind of routine or element which can be controled by software. * Capability to handle fielded data as well as text. The tagging for fielded data is a bit daunting, but it works. * Its fast, _very_ fast. For more information, I can point you two directions. The FTR software is available from: Sony Electronic Publishing Corp. (SEPC) 1 Lower Ragsdale Drive Monterey, CA 93940 1-408-372-2812 voice 1-408-375-7130 fax Rick Fisher is the National Sales & Marketing Manager in Monterey. (The above is not a plug, I'm only a client of theirs, not their sales rep. The following _is_ a plug. Take it for what its worth.) The second pointer is to my own company. We've developed one finished application with FTR, prototyped others, and have others in development. But since we're not supposed to unabashedly plug ourselves here, I'll contact you via EMail with some further information about my company. Good luck with your project!