SelectStar Ships StarTrieve Version 1.5; Relational OLAP Tool Offers Power And Simplicity.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--October 19, 1995--SelectStar Inc., one of the first software companies to introduce mainstream business users to the power of on-line analytical processing (OLAP) for relational databases, today announced the immediate availability of StarTrieve, Version 1.5. StarTrieve now features enhanced "drill- down" and comprehensive data ranging and grouping capabilities. Representative StarTrieve user sites include: American International Group (AIG); Philip Morris; Seagrams; Loral; Ketchum Communications, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

StarTrieve's improved dynamic drill-down provides complete control over the ordering and format of detail records. With StarTrieve's Data Ranges, users can now summarize numeric or date dimensions automatically-converting days into months or quarters, for example. StarTrieve Data Groups provide automatic summarization of text values, such as assigning the states of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia to a region called Mid-Atlantic.

StarTrieve offers powerful analytical capabilities without sacrificing ease of use.

According to Dr. Paul Dorsey, assistant professor of computer information systems at Rider University and president of the International Ad Hoc Query SIG, "The need for OLAP-style applications demands that we have the ability to generate multidimensional result sets against the traditional relational engine. SelectStar's technique gives users an alternative to other tools on the market that minimizes the need for powerful clients and should be able to meet the requirements of many, if not most organizations."

David Grubman, SelectStar's president, added that "StarTrieve 1.5 builds on SelectStar's commitment to simplicity, openness and maintainability. The primary difference between StarTrieve and competitive products is that our software delivers the power of relational OLAP, including multidimensional `slice and dice' analysis, without the IS setup hassles, consulting fees and intensive training required to use most OLAP tools."

Simplicity - StarTrieve Provides OLAP for Mainstream Business Users

With StarTrieve 1.5, users can easily drill-down to supporting data by clicking on a summary calculation to see the detail behind it. For example, a user can click on an item called `Average Sales' to bring up the individual sales orders that contributed to the average. StarTrieve's drilldown also allows for browsing of free- form data such as description fields to provide for qualitative as well as quantitative analysis. "This feature is essential for business users who must understand information at both the summary and detail levels," Grubman said.

Openness - StarTrieve Leverages Existing Technology Environments

Unlike proprietary OLAP solutions, StarTrieve 1.5 does not require an additional server or pre-aggregated database. Instead, it maintains a simplified, multi- dimensional representation of data within an existing relational database. This representation-or metadata-provides users with considerable flexibility to analyze any information within relational databases or data warehouses, without conversion into pre-aggregated tables or datacubes. StarTrieve also supports the star schema which is often used for decision support with relational databases. Use of standard databases, middleware and schemas ensures that StarTrieve has broad applicability to organizational requirements.

Maintainability - StarTrieve Empowers End-Users Without Burdening IS

StarTrieve Administrator, a complementary product, allows Information Systems professionals to set up and control the StarTrieve environment, without prior training or the need for consultants. StarTrieve Administrator creates the metadata that defines data dimensions and business descriptions of the database, and can limit or expand user access as required.

StarTrieve and StarTrieve Administrator are designed to streamline installation, setup and user training. "Our latest version of StarTrieve dispels the myth that making relational OLAP easy to use comes at the expense of complex configuration and administration by IS," Grubman said.

Availability and Pricing

StarTrieve, Version 1.5 is available for Microsoft Windows and Apple Macintosh, and is compatible with leading relational databases including Oracle, Sybase, Informix, Red Brick, IBM DB2, IBM SQL/DS, Ingres, and Microsoft SQL Server. StarTrieve supports a variety of middleware and connectivity software including ODBC and DAL. SelectStar maintains industry partnerships with leading third-party vendors to ensure support for, and compatibility with, the latest database and middleware technologies.

A single-user StarTrieve license lists for $595; volume and site licenses are available. The StarTrieve Administrator license is $1995.

About SelectStar

SelectStar Inc. was founded in 1991 to develop and market decision support software that significantly improves its customers ability to understand and interpret data. SelectStar's products deliver the benefits of on-line analytical processing (OLAP) on relational servers through easy-to-use yet powerful analytical tools.

SelectStar is a privately held corporation with a growing portfolio of corporate and government clients. The company reports that it has more than doubled in both size and revenue in the last year.

For more information, contact SelectStar Inc., 240 West 23rd Street, Suite 3A, New York, New York 10011.

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