Sylvan Ascent, Inc. Cybercartographers of Planet Earth

News Release

Santa Fe, NM, December 3, 1997 -- Sylvan Ascent, Inc., the pioneer in embedded mapping controls, has joined the Open GIS Consortium (OGC). The consortium is responsible for the development and release of interface specifications which will allow interoperability among Geographic Information Systems. Sylvan Ascent has committed to converting its entire SylvanMaps line to fall within the new specifications.

Currently, most GIS data resides in proprietary formats, making it nearly impossible to share among various Geographic Information Systems. The OGC’s Simple Feature Specifications, due to be released this month, represents the first step toward reversing this situation on an industry-wide basis.

"It was natural for Sylvan Ascent to embrace the standards set out by OGC," according to company President, Roger Bedell. "Our entire approach to the GIS marketplace has always been to follow open standards wherever possible." Bedell currently sits on the committee which is making the final standard revisions prior to release.

Three sets of specifications are due to be released, encompassing the vast majority of distributed computing platforms. The first one, which is for data residing in SQL database servers and accessed via the ODBC interface, is strikingly similar to the interface currently implemented in SylvanMaps/OCX®, Sylvan Ascent’s embedded Active Mapping™ control. "We just have to modify one of our data fields, change our field names and we’re done." Bedell expects to release a fully SQL specification-compliant version of SylvanMaps/OCX in January, 1998.

The second spec is for OLEDB/COM. COM is currently the most widely used desktop computing environment, while OLEDB is the centerpiece of Microsoft's universal data access strategy. Both SylvanMaps/OCX Version 3.0 and SylvanMaps/ASP, Sylvan Ascent's new ActiveX mapping control for Internet applications, will meet the OLEDB/COM specification. Market release for both products is expected in January, 1998.

The third spec will address CORBA, an object-based architecture for distributed computing over enterprise networks and the Internet. The CORBA spec is being written by another consortium, the Object Management Group, and is not addressed by any SylvanMaps products at this time.

"We heartily welcome the move toward an open environment by the rest of the GIS industry," Bedell said. "This has been our approach to GIS all along."

Sylvan Ascent, Inc. introduced the first embedded ActiveX Mapping control in 1995. It is used inside such visual tools as Microsoft Visual Basic, Borland Delphi and Powersoft’s Powerbuilder for developing Windows-based, desktop GIS applications. For more information about SylvanMaps/OCX, or the upcoming Active Mapping controls for Internet applications, contact Sylvan Ascent, Inc. at P.O. Box 8658, Santa Fe NM 87504. Telephone (505)986-8739 or 800-362-8971, or email llpaul@sylvanmaps.com.

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SylvanMaps/OCX is a registered trademark of Sylvan Ascent, Inc. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective holders.