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Quark's place: Pongrass, a longtime developer of advertising systems, introduced a new editorial system based on Quark XPress, which uses the company's database expertise. |
Australian supplier introduces
news system based on XPress
LAS VEGAS -- Today's publishing systems market takes patience, wherewithal and guts. Intestinal fortitude is extremely important if you announce a new editorial system based on Quark XPress. But that's exactly what happened at NEXPO 2003.
Pongrass Publishing Systems introduced a new editorial system using XPress -- bucking the trend toward integrating Adobe InDesign. However, the decision to incorporate XPress instead of InDesign had more to do with business than technology.
"We went with Quark XPress because of our existing customers," said Shelley Hando, general manager at Pongrass. "It's because of our installed customer base."
Indeed, existing Pongrass customers already have a history with XPress and Pongrass applications. Pongrass' advertising suite of products employs XPress and they include a display ad tracking system, a reporting and ad monitoring tool, an ad layout system, classified pagination, ad makeup system and a display ad booking system.
Sydney, Australia-based Pongrass' strength can be found in how it uses database technology. And that's really where the magic happens in any well-built system. Once a system can store, share and transfer components, making them look pretty isn't all that difficult to do.
"We embrace the database," Hando said. "We wanted to bring all the components together."
But XPress and databases have had issues in the past. Storing components from an XPress page can be cumbersome and downright difficult. However, Pongrass has written numerous XTensions during its tenure using XPress. The cost for the long-awaited Version 6 upgrade to XPress is reasonable; the cost for the complete application is on the steep side. But Pongrass is confident that it can and will be successful with XPress integrated into its newspaper publishing systems.
Pongrass' XPress XTension Coogee "extends" Quark components from the database to the page. This XTension also provides connectivity between the editorial system and the ad layout system. The ad layout system is integrated to push ad information to editorial, production and advertising. The Coogee XTension allows for complete tracking and reporting from the database.
The editorial system supports Sybase ASA (Adaptive Server Anywhere) and Microsoft SQL Server. Pongrass has focused on providing SQL-compliant database technology that is considered a standard and that most newspapers already have SQL resources on staff. All metadata is stored in the database and it is capable of exporting XML for whatever purpose is needed down the road.
The Sybase ASA database will run on all types of platforms from HP-UX to IBM AIX. Pongrass integrated Sybase throughout its application offerings. In addition, Sybase now handles Binary Large Objects (Blobs), which match perfectly with a newspaper's environment of text and graphic images. Blob support allows for the database to remain streamlined and process requests faster. Sybase also supports data warehousing for aggregating reporting information that is regularly used.
A major plus for using Sybase is its easy-to-use synchronization capabilities. Sybase also allows Pongrass to take advantage of remote and wireless technologies. With this type of built-in technology, information can be published and exchanged to a variety of devices including cell phones and PDAs. The synchronization is bi-directional independent of the remote device. Remote workers can use their devices while at the same time being live on the database.
"It can port to Linux," Hando said of the Sybase database.
When Hando said Pongrass embraces the database, she wasn't just giving quotable material. Pongrass has been focusing on its database unification for some time. The unified database that Pongrass has developed is an enticing feature to its products. It serves as the backbone to all the applications. The seamless interchange of information from classified to advertising to editorial provides the newspaper with all the information it needs on advertisers and subscribers.
In addition to being able to run the database on a variety of platforms, the clients for the new editorial system can run under Windows or Macintosh.
Pongrass' other products include the Pongrass Classified Ad Booking and Classified Pagination. Both applications utilize Pongrass' single database scenario. The database is based on SQL.
For display ad systems, Pongrass offers an ad booking system, which is "PC-based" and an ad layout application also based on a single database scenario. Sybase is a proven database technology in the newspaper publishing environment and it further strengthens Pongrass' position of delivering usable, growable systems.
Pongrass Publishing Systems' products seem to satisfy customers. And with the introduction of the editorial system, Pongrass offers a complete newspaper publishing system. The Pongrass systems work well and allow newspapers to produce and manage quality productions. However, will the decision to build a pagination system around Quark XPress prove to be troublesome for either Pongrass and its clients? Only time will tell.
-- J.Z.
Pongrass Publishing Systems,
{011} (61) 2 9369 3111,
e-mail: sales@pongrass.com.au.
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