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From: mheins@prairienet.org (Mike Heins)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.perl.announce,comp.lang.perl.misc
Subject: MiniVend 1.03 released
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Date: 31 May 1996 20:51:47 GMT
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Version 1.03 of MiniVend, the freely-redistributable Perl shopping cart,
is now available on CPAN.  As usual, it will take some time to get to
all of the mirror sites -- the first to have it will be ftp.funet.fi, of
course.

You can see information about MiniVend at:

    http://www.iac.net/~mikeh/mvend.html

and download it from:

    http://www.iac.net/~mikeh/download.html

Many improvements have been made.  In particular, it should now
run trouble-free on Solaris 2 -- as long as you have the File::Lock
module installed.

Among many other new features, MiniVend now supports cookies (but still
works well with all browsers), quantity pricing, non-taxable items,
credit card verification, and a multi-server mode that makes it capable
of serving VERY large sites and catalogs.  It's search capability is
powerful enough to serve a catalog with 500,000 items while still
keeping search times under a second on a fast machine.

-------------------------------------------------------------

                        M I N I V E N D
                                       
   MiniVend is a full-featured electronic catalog system (commonly known
   as a shopping cart) with online ordering capability. It is designed to
   provide an interface complete with SSL security and full database
   support.
   
   MiniVend is freely-redistributable under the GNU General Public
   License -- you can download it via FTP.

  IMPORTANT NOTE:  MiniVend works best with Perl 5.002 -- if you are
  having problems, get it. It does work with 5.001m, but some features
  are not enabled and you may have some difficulty installing.
   
     Features

     * Users maintain a "shopping cart" for ordered items
     * SSL support means secure and practical credit card ordering
     * Catalogs can be of almost unlimited size with excellent
       performance
     * Powerful search capability including a complete Glimpse
       interface, one-click search profile capability, and independent
       field search selection
     * Multi-server mode for very high capacity on systems with
       sufficient memory
     * Forked searches for consistent response time in
       single-server mode
     * Cookie support allows browsers to leave catalog and come
       back without losing session state
     * Full frames support
     * Catalog pages automatically selected -- either built "on the fly"
       from the database or pre-made for popular items
     * Works well with all browsers
     * Complete addressable database support with virtually unlimited
       rows and columns
     * Fully-configurable quantity pricing
     * Easy back end order entry
     * Full client-side imagemap support, including frame targets and
       form submits
     * Automatic installation and configuration
     * Remote administration via the web using MAT
     * Runs under Perl 5 and almost any UNIX
     * Designed to be secure, runs with taint checking enabled
     * Built-in online help capability
     * Central control of buttonbars
     * Sales tax calculation, with fully independent non-taxable
       item and taxed shipping
     * Shipping calculation (quantity and/or weight)
     * Blank field checking
     * Fully configurable order reports
     * Much more
       
   Andrew Wilcox wrote Vend, the copylefted shopping cart software.
   MiniVend is based on Vend V0.2, but enhanced considerably, adding
   support for frames, search capability, remote administration,
   superfast server mode, client-side imagemaps, user-customizable help
   and displays, and more. 


Regards,
Mike Heins                          http://www.iac.net/~mikeh ___       ___
                                    Internet Robotics        |_ _|____ |_ _|
Few blame themselves until they     131 Willow Lane, Floor 2  | ||  _ \ | |
have exhausted all other            Oxford, OH  45056         | || |_) || |
possibilities.                                               |___|  _ <|___|
 -- anonymous                       mikeh@iac.net 513.523.5028   |_| \_\


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