32-bit Wonderware InTouch version 6.0 introduced; offers distributed features for Windows NT 4.0 use.

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 1, 1996--Wonderware Corp. (NASDAQ:WNDR) has introduced Version 6.0 of its industry-leading Wonderware InTouch human-machine interface (HMI) software for industrial automation application development.

The new version is a 32-bit implementation designed to run on the newest Windows NT 4.0 operating system from Microsoft Corp. InTouch 6.0 provides a broad range of distributed features that includes distributed historical functions, distributed alarm handling, a graphical Alarm Object, dynamic resolution conversion, distributed SPC (statistical process control), dynamic tagname referencing and remote development features.

"This combination of features gives application developers the tools to create sophisticated supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) configurations in large PC-based networks to handle entire factories in one system," said Carl Henning, Wonderware director of InTouch marketing.

"This new 32-bit system integrates with other products in the Wonderware Factory Suite to provide a comprehensive set of solutions to virtually any production application system."

The distributed historical trending system allows users to dynamically specify different historical file data sources for each of the pens on a trend chart. Since InTouch 6.0 permits the use of multiple pens per trend chart, users can have an unprecedented amount of historical data available for viewing at any given time.

"The Alarm Object supports multiple alarm servers or `providers' simultaneously, which gives operators the ability to view alarm information from multiple remote locations at the same time," Henning said.

"Combined with the distributed alarm functions, users can implement `point-and-click' alarm acknowledgment, alarm scroll bars and many other new features for networked use."

The Dynamic Referencing feature lets users change database references to input/output tags at runtime, Henning noted. "This means that users can change data references on-the-fly for things like PLC addresses, Excel spreadsheet cells, and Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) references, so that a single tag can be used to `view' any register in a PLC, for example."

The dynamic resolution conversion feature means that users can develop applications using one screen resolution and then run them at another resolution without changing the application itself.

The InTouch 6.0 WindowViewer module can scale and compile an application at runtime, without the WindowMaker development module being present, for viewing in standard VGA (640x480 pixels), SuperVGA (800x600 pixels), 1024x768 pixel or custom screen resolutions.

"The distributed statistical process control (SPC) module is a network-enabled version of Wonderware's powerful standard SPC product," he added. "It is supplied in both client and server modules so that multiple clients can now share SPC information from a single common server."

The remote development features have been added to accommodate large, multi-node network installations, and include features such as application updating of all nodes on a network, either automatically in a time-based fashion or in response to operator triggers or application events.

The new package will be formally unveiled in the Wonderware booth (No. 264) at the ISA Show in Chicago, Oct. 7-10, 1996.

InTouch 6.0 is scheduled to begin shipments during the fourth quarter of 1996. It is list priced at $9,500 for a full 32,767-tag development system, packaged on Wonderware's Professional Developers Kit (PDK) CD-ROM. FactoryFocus for InTouch 5.6 (16-bit) will begin shipping in September.

Wonderware is the leading independent supplier of Windows-based software for the industrial automation marketplace. The Wonderware Factory Suite of integrated application generation tools is changing the way people work.

Founded in 1987, the company is headquartered in Irvine, and has regional offices in the United States, Europe, South America and Asia to provide support to its worldwide network of nearly 150 distributor offices. The company reported revenues of $30.8 million for the first half of 1996.

For more information, contact Matthew Stein, Public Relations, Wonderware Corp., 100 Technology Drive, Irvine, Calif. 92718. Phone: [phone]. Fax: [phone]. E-mail: [e-mail]

Visit the Wonderware home page at: http://www.wonderware.com/

CONTACT: Wonderware Corp., Irvine

Matthew Stein, public relations

714/727-3200 (phone) or 714/453-6693 (fax)

e-mail: [e-mail]