Key Feature: Serves PowerVista applications and software updates over the Internet with reliable performance even on low-bandwidth connections. 

PowerVista enables results-oriented developers to build beautiful database applications for the Microsoft Windows platform faster than ever before. These applications can be deployed over a wide range of configurations, from single user to client/server and over the internet.

PowerVista has two major components: PowerVista Application Server and PowerVista Bridge. PowerVista Application Server is analogous to a web server. In the same way a web server allows web pages to be viewed by browsers, so PowerVista Application Server transforms PowerVista applications into Internet database applications. PowerVista Bridge is used to create your database application. It is comprised of an authoring tool, PowerVista Markup Language and PowerVista Application Browser. Analogous items in Internet design are authoring tools, HTML and an Internet browser.

PowerVista Application Server has three outstanding features:

1. Internet Deployment: PowerVista Application Server instantly transforms your completed PowerVista application into an Internet database application. 

2. Zero-Cost Administration: When updated PVML scripts are copied to the PowerVista Application Server, they are automatically transferred to each user as they access the application - whether that access is across the Internet or via a local area network. 

3. Low Bandwidth Friendly: PowerVista Application Server is great for occasional or traveling users who must use low bandwidth connections. One customer using PowerVista Application Server for their PowerVista application was able to manage several branch locations on their sales automation software using dial-up 56Kb lines!

A majority of a project's total expense is in the maintenance and enhancement of software over its lifetime- not its initial development. There are fundamentally three ways to implement changes to software today: re-install the application, use a terminal server application and download applets each time the user accesses the application.

• Software Re-installation uses either an electronic file download or media, such as CD or diskette, to update software. Since most of the current development tools create very large applications with many DLL's, this option is time consuming. Timing is critical, especially if there are database schema changes. The update has to occur exactly on schedule to go smoothly. For Value Added Resellers (VARs), this presents a significant challenge. Every part of the application has to be changed simultaneously. In practice, this means that software changes are made and tested, but held until the next release cycle. PowerVista Application Server removes these obstacles. It transfers updated individual PowerVista Bridge resources to users as they access the application. Once you post a change, every user gets that change before they operate the application again. 

• Terminal Server applications such as WinFrame deploy applications by exporting the screen image and applying keyboard/mouse changes. It's a very fast way to serve large applications, but requires a large investment in the server and its maintenance. A high-bandwidth connection is required, and adding users or application features can be an issue once server resources are maximized. PowerVista makes use of local resources for processing the application. Server resource usage is minimized.  

• JAVA Applets are small programs that are delivered to users when they access the application over the Internet. They are always current since they are downloaded each time the user accesses the program. However, very complex or large applications take up valuable connect time. Low-bandwidth users are not well served by this approach. In addition, you are restricted to the capabilities of Java - and must invest the time needed to create applications from a very low level. PowerVista Application Server presents highly complex, feature-rich applications that behave exactly the same way in a single user environment as over the Internet. Only changed resources are transferred to the user - in about the same time as it takes to transfer a changed Web page.

PowerVista Application Server is the optimal choice for maintaining a large installed base of users who access a trusted server. It provides zero-cost administration of your applications, supports a wide variety of user connection strategies and maximizes performance for remotely connected users.

PowerVista Application Server is similar in concept to a Web server. PowerVista Application server is installed on a Windows NT server (often the same machine used to host the Web site) with defined port resources for each PowerVista Bridge application to be served. Clients connect to the server's IP address and port number. The binary (packed) version of the PowerVista Bridge application, along with report files, help files and any other auxiliary files are copied to a server directory. When a client accesses the PowerVista Application server, scripts are downloaded to the client and cached on the local PC. Each time a client opens a window, any changes to that resource are downloaded. PowerVista Application Server includes administration tools and statistical usage reports to help manage the user base.

Your PowerVista application can be deployed in a variety of ways. Single users can install and use the application locally. LAN users can install the application on each workstation and use a centralized database. LAN and Internet clients use Application Server to take advantage of automatic PowerVista Markup Language (PVML) script updating and can access either a centralized server database or their local database. For VAR's especially, the ability to efficiently manage many customer networks with customized applications translates into a significant benefit.

PowerVista Application Browser is used on each client machine to render the served PowerVista Bridge applications. It is incredibly simple to add clients to a PowerVista Application Server. Users only need to download a copy of the PowerVista Application Browser and enter the domain name and port number of the destination PowerVista Application Server.

The user experience with a PowerVista Bridge application is not changed - at all- from a local implementation to a global implementation. Your PowerVista application can contain any control or behavior considered standard for today's database applications; from configurable, filterable and sortable lists to tree controls, from drag and drop capability to forms, reports and business graphics. When current Web-based tools are used to solve database application issues, the result is often no more sophisticated than early text applications built in the mid-1980's.

PowerVista Application Server is intended for distributing applications between trusted servers and their clients. A client connects to the PowerVista Application server using the port number and the domain name of the target server. In addition, the data visible and updateable by the user can be restricted by database security options, all of which are supported by PowerVista Bridge. Optional encryption of data is also supported.