IRI Introduces ``RowGen'' Custom Data Builder; New, Fast File Synthesizer for Application Prototyping, Format Sharing, and Performance Testing.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Innovative Routines International (IRI), Inc. (The CoSORT Company, Oracle OpenWorld Booth 802), a leader in sorting and manipulation software for data warehouse ETL applications, today announced a comprehensive random data generator and report simulator for DBAs, programmers, and system administrators. IRI's RowGen(TM) builds files of the correct content, layout, and size for sharing and testing applications and hardware under UNIX and Windows.

According to IRI's Business Development VP David Friedland, "RowGen generates records and reports in the form and format of real data to provide an early view of a finished project or confidential file. By giving users this high degree of data and file customization (including transformations), RowGen becomes a perfect assistant for building and testing applications and platforms that will later process real data."

Sizes and Ranges: RowGen allows users to generate data files with various data boundaries, along with unlimited maximum field and file sizes - all with randomized data configured and transformed to user specifications (see Multiple Targets, below). This is ideal for creating more realistic data values for application prototyping and testing, and for evaluating the performance of new hardware and software.

Custom Report Formats: In addition to basic data generation, RowGen can create structured, custom-formatted output reports using text files (job scripts) written in the same explicit fourth generation language (4GL) as IRI's CoSORT package. By easily simulating specific report formats with randomized (but realistic) field data elements, RowGen users can share their actual file formats with other developers and outside vendors when the actual data are either confidential or not yet available.

Multiple Sources: RowGen can generate rows (records) whose data fields are within given ranges and consist of random:

1. ASCII alpha characters

2. ASCII numeric characters

3. EBCDIC characters

4. Binary values

5. COBOL values

RowGen can also randomly draw field values from user-supplied set files.

Multiple Targets: RowGen can create several output file formats - Fixed, Line and Record Sequential, MFVL, CSV, ELF, ACUCOBOL Vision, and others. In addition to special formats, RowGen can simultaneously generate multiple output targets (file, pipes, etc.) in a single job script, with each output target having its own format and customized report layout - including headers and footers, multiple data types, literals, conditional logic, math functions, cross calculation, plus sorted and/or aggregated output. This feature allows users to segment data according to specific conditions, and/or produce multiple-use outputs from the same generated data at the same time.

Database Targets: Large, pre-sorted RowGen outputs can also be used to populate relational databases (RDBs) like Oracle, Sybase, DB2 and SQL Server. By importing RowGen'd files through database load utilities, DBAs and ETL architects can build simulated (sorted) tables in simulated query order to test database procedures and performance without requiring, or compromising, actual production data. RowGen includes a metadata converter to automatically build RowGen layouts from the table layout statements contained in Oracle SQL*Loader control files. This saves DBAs' time in writing RowGen jobs.

Centralized Metadata: Because RowGen allows multi-phase applications to be developed concurrently, re-usable field (file layout) descriptions can be saved in centralized text files (shared repositories) for reference in several jobs. Metadata updates can then also keep all dependent applications synchronized. RowGen also includes separate metadata conversion utilities for Oracle SQL-Loader Control Files, MF COBOL copybooks, W3C ELF web logs, and Microsoft CSV.

Transformation-Ready: Because RowGen control language (RCL) uses the same field layout and manipulation syntax as CoSORT's sort control language (SCL), RowGen job scripts are ready for use in CoSORT when real source data become available, and when there is a need to transform that data. For more information on data transformation through an (discounted) upgrade to CoSORT's SortCL program, visit: http://www.cosort.com/public/solutions/cosort/whse.htm and sortcl.htm.

RowGen is available now on UNIX/LINUX and Windows platforms for both leased and perpetual use. Permanent copy pricing ranges from $1,000 to $6,000 depending on hardware configuration. Free trials are also available under NDA. More product information is available at http://www.cosort.com/rowgen.

About CoSORT / Innovative Routines International (IRI), Inc.

For 26 years, IRI has developed high-performance data manipulation and management software. IRI's flagship CoSORT, and related products (like FAst extraCT for Oracle and RowGen) are designed for high-volume, mission-critical, commercial and government environments. IRI customers are involved in data warehouse ETL, VLDB reorgs, reporting, mainframe migration, and application development on UNIX/LINUX and Windows platforms. Licensing and support services are provided through more than 30 international agencies. For more information about CoSORT/IRI, Inc. and its family of data management products, visit http://www.cosort.com or call 1-800-333-SORT.