Tidestone Ships Formula One for Java 8.0

Tidestone Technologies Inc shipped an upgrade to its Formula One for Java reporting and analysis tool that will ease the integration of its spreadsheet engine with outside data sources.

Version 8.0 will enable businesses to build reporting and analysis applications that analyze and convert raw business data on servers into reports that leverage users' existing expertise and desktop software such as Microsoft Excel and Web browsers.

"No other technology enables companies to directly leverage their large installed base of Excel users from a server on the Web in an automated fashion like Formula One," said Mike Gassman, Tidestone president and CEO. "They do not have to train their users on new client-side technology as is the case with many high-end reporting systems, and they do not have to struggle with the Windows dependency and programming limitations of the desktop bound Excel on the back end. Formula One is clearly unique in its ability to bridge the gap between server-side data and Excel users."

Enhancements include support for XML, XSL/XSLT, increased Excel compatibility The new Version 8.0 will include the ability to bind spreadsheet cells to delimited text files and XML, expanding the number of external data options beyond existing support for Excel spreadsheets and JDBC-compliant databases.

"The expansion of data sources available for direct use with our Formula One spreadsheet engine will further our mission of bringing the power of spreadsheets into the Internet era, particularly in the case of XML documents," said Joe Erickson, Tidestone's vice president and chief architect. "For the first time, it will be possible to connect XML documents to a spreadsheet for processing, analysis and calculations and then export the results as an Excel spreadsheet. These are significant advantages."

Many of the other enhancements of version 8.0 build on Formula One for Java's ability to be embedded in Web, application, and database servers, access raw business data, perform analysis, and generate reports as richly formatted Excel spreadsheets or HTML.

Some of these enhancements include:

• "Data Pipes" architecture. Developers no longer need to write any Java code to connect Formula One to external data sources. The menus and dialog boxes in the spreadsheet interface of Formula One's Workbook Designer collect all the information required to automatically connect to externally updated data.
• An internal XSLT processor and XML schema. With associated XSL files, incoming data can be filtered and formatted into F1J spreadsheets and the data can be updated with a simple refresh command.
• Increased Excel compatibility. Version 8.0 adds conditional formatting, outlining, merged cells, and rotated text to its GUI spreadsheet editor (the "Workbook Designer") and the Excel files Formula One generates from servers.
• Enhanced charting. Version 8.0 includes a new API for building charts programmatically, read/write support for several new Excel 2D chart types, and a Chart Wizard.
• Separation of GUI and spreadsheet engine: Version 8.0 provides a new class that completely separates Formula One's spreadsheet engine from its GUI. This allows Formula One to perform with high efficiency, minimal overhead, and a light footprint in server-side projects.

Free 30-day trials available at Tidestone Web site

Free demos, code samples, and fully functional 30-day trials of Formula One for Java 8.0 are available for download from the company's Web site at www.tidestone.com.

Developer-only, non-deployment licenses can be purchased at the company's site for US$399 per developer. Deployment licenses can be purchased by contacting the Tidestone sales department, 913-851-2200, 800-884-8665, sales@tidestone.com.

About Formula One and Tidestone

Tidestone's Formula One provides an embeddable, Excel-compatible spreadsheet engine for Web, database, and application servers. An API-driven, 100% Pure Java certified technology, Formula One can be used to access raw business data on servers, perform scalable calculations and analysis, and dynamically generate and edit richly formatted Excel spreadsheet reports and HTML. Formula One's Workbook Designer application simplifies the construction of data analysis and business logic templates and, like the embeddable spreadsheet engine, edits and dynamically creates richly formatted Excel files without dependence on Excel or Windows.

Tidestone is headquartered in Overland Park, KS, with office locations in New York and the United Kingdom. For more information, contact Tidestone at 800-884-8665 or 913-851-2200, sales@tidestone.com , or visit www.tidestone.com.

Contact Tidestone Technologies Inc, Mark Spencer, 913-851-2200 x233, mspencer@tidestone.com or S&S Public Relations, Jeremy J. Ahto, 800-287-2279 x232, jeremy@sspr.com.