SEYBOLD SEMINARS BOSTON

HexMac Brings Web Production
Into Full Swing

When we first discovered HexMac at last year's IFRA show, we were very impressed with both its Xpress to HTML program and its Web database. At Seybold, HexMac showed some enhancements to its products and shared some user success stories. (Its authoring and filtering products are covered here, the HexBase database is covered later, under Web repositories.)

HexWeb XT. As you may recall, HexWeb XT is a Quark Xpress Xtension that generates HTML files from Xpress pages, allowing you to map Xpress styles to HTML tags, apply headers and footers to pages and assign pages to different categories. (See SRPS, Vol. 25, No. 5.) Because the product is aimed at newspapers and magazines with, potentially, a large number of files to convert, HexMac has added some productivity features specific to this market.

HexWeb Index. Perhaps the most significant enhancements are in HexWeb Index, a small, stand alone application included with the Xtension. As previously reported, HexWeb Index automtically generates an index file for all files located in a specified folder Files are organized by the category assigned to them, such as Sports, Cover Story, etc. For file export, HexMac calculates next and previous files using variables. HexWeb Index uses this information to ensure that files are properly linked to each other.

At any time, operators can add stories to be indexed and rerank the stories.HexWeb Index will reindex all the pages, updating all the next and previous links. This is extremely helpful for those converting several files on a daily basis or for anyone who wants to avoid the tedium of manually fixing all the links to and from each document.

HexWeb Index has more user customizable preferences. It is possible to choose bullet styles for the index or have the index files generated in a frame interface (see photo).

Another nice function that HexWeb Index performs is links checking. The program will search through alI files in a given folder and ensure that all loca andrelati ve paths are valid. (A future version will check external links as well.) A message window informs you if an error has been found, what file has the error and where in the file the error has occurred. Double clicking on the file name in the message window launches an editor enabling you to correct the links.

Other new features include support for progressive JPEG image and the ability to embed ou side elements, such as Shockwave files, Java applets, OuickTime movies and VRML files, into an HTML document as you export articles from Xpress.

We remain impressed with this product and are happy to hear that HexWeb has generated a lot of interest from newspaper and magazine publishers.

One example is The Detroit News,which is using HexWeb XT to generate more than 200 HTML pages a day. It also plans to incorporate one or two HexBase (see below) databases. You can check out the site at: www. detnews. com

Miller Freeman is also using the Xtension to generate pages from its Unix Review and LAN Magazine publications.

HexMac Profiles HexBase Customers

In addition to its Quark Xtensions, HexMac showed its Web database, HexBase, which has been ported to the Apple Network Server platform. The HexBase system does not rely on CGI soripts to generate or respond to queries. Queries made through an HTML form can be used to retrieve information from the database or even post new information to it.

Several publishers in Germany have already incorporated HexBase into their online offerings. Gruner and Jahr's TV Today used HexBase to develop the IQ Ad System. It is possible to search or submit advertisements online. Categories include everything from computer sales and real estate to personal ads and employment opportunities. What is unique about t is setup is that responses and posting to the ads can be anonymous. For example, companies can post job listings anonymously to keep applicants from phoning them directly. Users are assigned a password to retrieve messages.

Ad placement is free for text-only ads. Fees are applied for the addition of any images. Ads are automatically deleted after two weeks unless specified by the user. Banner ads supply financial support for the page.

HexMac also provides an online administration tool for news papers to manage the database. It allows authorized users to add new categories to database popup menus, to proof ads before posting to the Web and to retreive statistics regarding of number of deleted ads and total number of ads broken down by category.

All though it's in German, you can visit the site at this address: http://www.iqanzeigen.de

Focus Online has created The Flight Database for searching 120 airlines (370,000 records). Users simply put in flight dates, departure location (from Germany only) and destination, and the database retrieves a list of applicable fights sorted by the cheapest airfare. If you know only the country or continent you wish to visit, the database will retrieve a list of cities in that country with airports. Focus Online's system has more information than the travel agencies, we were told. Unfortunately, you can't book your flight over the Net.

Here is the address: http://db.focus.de:8080/E/EA/ea.htm

Focus also used HexBase to create a database of 82 different credit cards, ranking them based on the services they provide, such as interest rate, annua fee, etc. Users can choose the options they want from their card and the database finds the most suitable ones. Another Focus database tracks social services for the elderly, etc.

HexMac plans to integrate Java into HexBase to provide what it calls dynamic form processing, for faster response to queries.

HexBase is distributed by Managing Editor worldwide except in Germany, Sweden and Norway.