zApp Press

Bits and Pieces

Inmark Sponsors Blood Drive

Because of the acute shortage of blood in the California area due to recent natural disasters and the advent of the cold season, at Software Development '94 in San Jose, Inmark will be sponsoring the First Annual "I gave to the last drop" Blood Drive benefiting the Stanford Children's Hospital. If you are attending the show, come by and give a pint and get a fee zApp T-shirt as well. We are proud to be sponsoring this worthy cause.

The zApp Interface Pack -- a Roaring Success

Inmark's collection of custom controls has been a smash hit in the zApp community. Facilities in the zApp Interface Pack (ZIP) include: a spreadsheet-like table object with a variety of cell types that allows you to easily display textual, numeric and image data in a matrix format. You have complete control over individual cell attributes such as font, color, numeric formatting, width and height, and can create new cell types using inheritance mechanisms. This powerful table object will shortly become the standard by which all others in the industry are measured. The Interface Pack also provides classes for the creation of visually appealing Toolbars and Status Lines with the new 3D look. (Several Beta testers have remarked that ZIP's implementation of toolbars and status lines is generations ahead of existing technology.) A host of 3D Custon Controls are also provided, including Frames, Panels, Static Text, Radio Buttons, and Check Boxes.

CompuServe

More and more people are opting to get technical help and download files via CompuServe. To access Inmark's forum, type GO INMARK. Technical support logs on and answers messages daily. In addition, support services are offered on the Inmark BBS as well. The Inmark BBS is also a great place to get all the most recent zApp updates. It supports up to 14.4 and can be reached at 415-691-9990. Internet inquires can be addressed to support@inmark.com.

zApp Around the World

As of the end of 1993, zApp was in use in 60 countries around the world. It was being used on all the continents except Antarctica (but we are trying to get those people at the research station to try it, perhaps to create a penguin tracking program!).

zApp Consultant List

As a service to our customers, Inmark maintains a list of consultants who can help newer users do anything from getting up and running under zApp to developing complete applications. If you are a consultant or VAR who does extensive work with zApp, we would like to hear from you to discuss adding you to our list. Please call Monica Yarnot at 415-691-9000.

zApp Excellence Awards

If you have developed an application using zApp that is in use today, we would like to honor you. Please send us a brief letter describing your application and what it does, as well as how you used zApp to develop it. In turn, we will send you a handsome plaque commemorating your achievement with zApp. We will also enter you in our "Best zApp App of the Year" contest.

Japanese Version of zApp

Inmark is proud to announce the release of a Japanese version of zApp. Our partner, Pacific Software, translated over 1,200 pages of documentation into Kanji. The first indication of sales results is that zApp-J is a big hit in Japan.

Inmark Celebrates 10th Anniversary

It is hard for us to believe, but it has been ten years since we first opened our doors! Back in the early days of Inmark, we were the leading developer of real-time financial applications for Wall St. In 1986, we developed a great application that ran on an obscure operating system called Microsoft Windows v1.01. But because no one else was using the OS, no one would buy the software. That is when we began thinking that it would be great if the application vendors of the world were not in the position of dictating to the customer what OS they should have. In 1988, we standardized on a new emerging language called C++, well before Microsoft or Borland even had C++ compilers. Out of all that came zApp. Part of the reason why zApp was so sucessful is that we drew on our experience as application makers, and had a good feel for what real-world developers wanted in tools.

zApp Training

Inmark Development is pleased to announce that we will be offering a training seminar April 13, 14, and 15, 1994. This 3 day seminar will focus on using a combination of zApp, a screen designer/code generator, and the zApp Interface Pack to create applications. The intensive course will begin with an introduction to zApp and conclude with intermediate development of applications. Upon completing the course, each participant will be proficient in using zApp to create GUI applications. Please call Monica Yarnot at (800) 346-6275 to register or receive more information and for future seminar dates.

Customer Profile

An Award Winning Commercial Product

Home improvement is a pastime as old as homes themselves. But Books that Work has found a way to integrate it with the modern world of computers. They are releasing a line of home improvement titles designed to let anyone with a home computer, a home, and the do-it-yourself streak to plan and execute a major improvement to their home.

The first product in the Home and Yard line is Design & Build Your Deck, a product that allows people to interact with a 3D version of the back of their house, and then design a customized deck around it. When they are happy with the way it looks, they click a button, and presto -- they get a detailed construction plan, drawings required for a city permit, a budget, and a list of exactly what lumber to buy. In addition, full motion instructional video clips (with audio) are provided to make sure the user does the job right. The only thing it doesn't do is go out and hammer the nails into the wood.

This powerfull product was created almost entirely within the zApp environment. Matthew Self, who was the chief engineer on the project, explained how zApp was chosen:

"We looked at many different portable class libraries, and narrowed it down to zApp and XVT. We finally settled on zApp for two reasons: First, zApp clearly had the most object-oriented approach out there, and second, we were very impressed with the breadth of functionality available in zApp."

But it wasn't just the power and portablility that made them go ahead and develop Design & Build Your Deck in zApp. Matthew explains:

"What was really impressive about zApp was the intuitive nature of its classes. Things just worked the way you'd expect them to work in a perfect world. And things that MFC and OWL didn't even do at all were easy to do in zApp. In fact, I hardly cracked the manuals at all. And when I did run into a problem, the source code was so well written that it was easier to look at the source than call technical support."

The results speak for themselves: Not only is Design & Build Your Deck a softwear phenomena, but it was a finalist in PC Magazine's Technical Excellence Awards and was judged "New product of the year" at the 1993 National Hardware Show.

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