FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 18, 2000
Raosoft, Inc.
releases Raosoft® INTERFORM® 99, a new program
that provides Web form design for data collection of complex questionnaire-type
applications. It is a brand new program, designed with powerful options for Web
use not available elsewhere. Response counts can be tracked also during data
collection.
Shipping date: February 21, 2000 New
W
Contact person to obtain an evaluation copy, or for questions:
Catherine McDole Rao, CEO Raosoft, Inc.
SEATTLE, January 18, 2000— Raosoft®
InterForm®99 gives new capacity to Web-based application
developers to build attractive, inviting data collection forms that have strong
validation power to guide data entry correctly. The forms may be unlimited in
number and size of fieldnames, the number of participants is unlimited, and the
design functionality includes sophisticated branching features and many
validation options for data fill-out guidance. Options allow fast form design,
including global-type commands. Design wizards lead the developer through
question and response set creation to provide an easy design environment.
The flexible screen design is highly customizable and the set
of attributes of font, location, and format may be saved as a Style for re-use
as wanted. Screen `pages' may be copied as wanted, with new fieldnames
automatically created for succeeding screens. New form control options such as
If-Then-Show branch participants to desired form locations, and the
If-Then-Error can provide customized pop-up guidance if the participant
incorrectly fills out an answer. An AutoNextPage
option lets participants jump immediately to the next screen on filling out a
question, instead of being obliged to click on the Next button, as with most
current web applications. The data entry screens may provide many powerful
validation options for each question, and different branching may be assigned
to separate response elements. Designers are able to select design options
quickly from menus during form design.
Shipping for InterForm99 begins February 21, 2000. The
price is $20,000 for the application developer seat. It allows posting of
unlimited applications on a server, for unlimited participants. The
number of fieldnames and number of records is unlimited. It is written in C++
and authored by Windows 95/98 and NT, and requires only 2MB of hard disk space.
All standard web servers are supported, including Apache (Windows, UNIX and
LINUX) and Microsoft IIS (Windows NT). Also, the Raosoft EZSurvey99 for the
Internet (for smaller usage) and the SURVEYWin databases can be appended with
the InterForm99 database, and a form can be transferred among the programs.
InterForm99 creates a Web-server program in the form of a CGI-script
that provides security for your data and allows form flexibility. Data is saved
after each screen is filled, so that if the internet connection fails, the data
is secure. The destination database can be defined for any location, including
directories not accessible through the web. Data is stored in DBF format and
can be exported/ imported in ASCII. InterForm99 will automatically back up your
data in a second database. Incomplete forms are not added to the master
database until finished.
To summarize, major features include:
• Interface wizards lead you through all the steps
necessary to compose each question and its responses, along with validations.
• You can decide whether to show or hide a page based
on previous responses with If-Then-Show. You can decide to jump to
another page based on the response to a question using the Skip-by-Response feature.
• Use validation options to guide participants
accurately through the form. The If-Then-Error feature prompts an
invalid response, and the wording of the prompt can be customized.
• The Bookmark option allows the participant to
reenter the form after leaving.
• Save question and page formatting options as Styles
to give your form consistency, and speed the design process greatly. Formatting
is highly customizable so that forms achieve a new level of elegance for web
display appearance.
• The Link option in form design activates the AutoNextPage jump so that participants move
immediately to the next page instead of having to click the `Next' button, to
ease entry.
• You may enter your own HTML tags in questions to
insert unique items or images, or for form banners, horizontal rulers, etc., to
give a special feel to your form.
• Use CGI tools to keep track of your web form, viewing
real time statistics such as how many persons have
filled out the form, are taking it currently, have unfinished forms, etc.
• The Percent Completed feature provides a
running status bar so the participants can view degree of form completion as
they move through the form.
Sample usage: The Chief of Staff of the Air Force has just
used InterForm99 successfully in a world-wide data collection for a combined
Climate review and Quality of Life survey, with more than 130,000 participants
answering, in a form of approximately 500 questions.
Beta user reference for Raosoft InterForm99 is: Capt.
Scott Hopkins, AFMIA, Randolph Air Force Base,
Demo copies and screenshots are available to the press at
http://www.raosoft.com.
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