Argus Technologies announces data visualization software for Oracle MultiDimension.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 28, 1995-- Argus Technologies Corp. announced that its ARGUS 4.0 software has been enhanced to be a totally seamless front end data visualization tool for the new Oracle MultiDimension relational database management system (RDBMS).

"All of those companies with Oracle databases that have been waiting to build a geographic information system or executive information system (GIS/EIS) now have the tools," comments Rod Munro, CEO of Argus Technologies Corp.

Oracle MultiDimension is an extension of the Oracle7 database server, and is sold as an RDBMS option. It attains a high degree of efficiency with multidimensional, or spatiotemporal data through the use of a new encoding algorithm known as HHCODE. Traditionally, geographic data has been difficult to store and access in relational databases due to the need for multiple indexes and relational tables, both of which greatly increase data processing time as the database grows. The HHCODE eliminates both the need to define the database size in advance and for an external index structure.

"For over 10 years the world has been told that geographic data belongs in the proprietary databases of the legacy GIS vendors," comments Munro. "Argus Technologies has been the lone voice advocating the use of relational databases and open architecture for spatial data storage and management. Now our work with Oracle, the largest relational database vendor in the world, is a major step toward efficient storage of geographic data in relational databases. The next few years will see a dramatic change in the GIS industry as companies move to adopt this new way of thinking."

ARGUS is a Windows-based, GUI front end for SQL-type relational databases, such as Oracle7, which connects directly to multiple data sources simultaneously, eliminating the need for downloading and data conversion. Rapid, real-time spatial analysis of geographic databases is possible, all in a client/server, open-architecture environment. ARGUS is the only software tool currently available that permits dynamic geographic data visualization.

The ARGUS software enhancement for Oracle MultiDimension is the result of a development program undertaken in close cooperation with Oracle.

"Customers looking to build a new geographic database, or make existing spatially-related data available to workgroups across the enterprise will immediately benefit from Oracle MultiDimension," comments Frank Bishop, Oracle vice president, Government Products Division. "ARGUS is the front end that will exploit the ability of Oracle MultiDimension to utilize geographic data, and allow the Oracle user to visualize their data, looking for trends, patterns and relationships. Oracle users can now build geographic databases," adds Bishop.

ARGUS was developed initially as a result of Munro's engineering and software development work in the oil and gas industry, dating back to 1976. Up until the early 90s, his firm had been building applications for the collection and management of data. Much of this was geographic data. He found that although his customers had abundant data, what was lacking were the tools to develop insights from the data. As Munro evaluated the data analysis needs of many industries, he noticed that much of their data had a locational component, and there was the lack of a tool that combined both GIS (geographic information system) and EIS (executive information system). Munro developed ARGUS to fill this need. ARGUS is currently in use in more than 50 countries within companies such as Amoco, British Gas and Texaco.

Argus Technologies has also recently announced the release of Argus Census Map USA for Windows. This is a self-contained version of ARGUS, bundled with the key variables from the most recent census for the entire United States. It is available on a single CD-ROM at US$99.95.

Argus Technologies Corp.'s worldwide sales and marketing offices are headquartered at One Speen Street, Framingham, Mass. 01701-4644 Tel: [phone], Fax: [phone].

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Trademarks:

Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corp. Oracle7 and MultiDimension are trademarks of Oracle Corp. ARGUS, Argus 4.0 and Argus Census Map USA are registered trademarks of Argus Technologies Inc.

CONTACT: Argus Technologies Corp.

Theresa Erskine, 416/512-1887