Feature List

Publishing Data

Importing Data

Communicating

Automation

Reporting

Customisation

CatBase Works with all the Most Popular Publishing Solutions

Publish your data to a variety of publishing destinations:

• QuarkXPress
• InDesign CS
• FrameMaker
• XML
• HTML
• Delimited Text Files
• RTF tagged files (for use with word processing programs such as Microsoft Word)
• PageMaker
• An ODBC-compliant database or spreadsheet (Data Chameleon Edition)

There are lots of options for formatting your data:

• Build paragraphs using any combination of seven different Element types:
  • data from a field
  • static text
  • formulas (tell CatBase how to make intelligent decisions about what to publish and/or how to format it)
  • punctuation (such as a tab character, page break, etc.)
  • calculation (mark up or discount prices, for example)
  • pictures
  • relations (include data from related tables)
• You can have mixed formatting within a paragraph (one element in the default style for the paragraph, and another in a different character style)
• Automatically leave out a paragraph if some vital data is missing (e.g., don't put in a blank line if there's no Address Line 2)
• Insert tags for automatic updating of data in the page layout document (for example, to do last-minute pricing updates) - this works with QuarkXPress and InDesign CS, and requires an additional plugin. See the Round-Tripping Tutorial.
• Dynamically create all kinds of tables (with Adobe InDesign):
  • Specify different stylesheets for different columns and column headers
  • Specify a different background colour for each column
  • Specify a set width for each column or let CatBase calculate the width according to the column contents
  • Automatically create the correct number of columns for each table
  • Specify different column headings for different product types

For more info about publishing, see the Publishing Style Sheets Tutorial.

Importing Data

You can import data from just about any other source:

• tab-delimited text files
• comma-delimited (csv) files
• fixed-length text files
• text files with custom delimiters
• XML files
• MySql databases
• Microsoft Sql Server database
• any ODBC-compliant data source
• DBF files

For more information about importing data, see the Importing Data tutorial.

Communicating

If you have data that contains contact details, you can communicate with those contacts via CatBase:

• send emails
• receive emails
• send merged letters
• print labels

Automation

CatBase offers a number of ways that you can be more efficient through automation:

• Define Sets that can be automatically updated
• Create Publishing Projects so you don't have to remember which Set of data to use, or which Publishing Style Sheet, or which publishing destination, for a particular project
• Create Scheduled Events to automatically perform functions such as import or publishing data or retrieving emails at specified intervals
• Automatic updating of data in the page layout program after it has been published - for example, for last-minute pricing updates. This works with QuarkXPress and InDesign CS - see the Round-Tripping Tutorial.
• Set up an automated backup schedule to ensure the safety of your database

Reporting

• Quickly create columnar reports using the Quick Report Editor
• Create graphs and charts

Customisation

CatBase is highly customisable:

• name your tables
• add fields of various types
• set properties for each field
• design your data entry and list view forms
• we can write scripts to perform special functions

What to do next ...

• See some Tutorials that demonstrate how CatBase can help with your project
• Download a fully functional Demo and try it for yourself!
• Contact us if you have any questions
• Order your copy now!