DIZ2CSV VENDINFO-to-Database Converter Released

Parker, Colorado -- July 31, 1995 -- Rams' Island Software today releases
its DIZ2CSV utility. This is the second of a series of VENDINFO utility
releases this season. While these tools are available for retail purchase,
they will be provided free to subscribers of the VENDINFO Auto-Upgrade
Plan. RIS intends to make the VENDINFO Auto- Upgrade Plan the best buy in
the shareware industry.

DIZ2CSV is a simple, but useful, utility which scans a collection of one or
more VENDINFO.DIZ files, creating a quoted, comma-delimited ("CSV") record
for each one. The resulting records can be imported into essentially any
database. The DIZ2CSV program reads a simple script prepared by the user,
which specifies the fields to be extracted, and provides detailed control
over format and the extraction process. DIZ2CSV is very fast, handling
about 200 VENDINFO files per minute on a Pentium/60.

DIZ2CSV works especially well in conjunction with the VIExtract utility,
previously released. VIextract extracts VENDINFO.DIZ files from all ZIP
files in a specified directory tree. Using these two tools, it takes less
than 30 minutes to scan the 1500 products on the ASP CD-ROM, and build a
customized database for those containing VENDINFO files.

DIZ2CSV and VIextract were included in the upgrade just mailed to all
Auto-Upgrade subscribers. Another script-driven utility, DIZ2TXT, is
nearing completion, and will be sent to Auto-Upgrade subscribers with
their next update. The program produces text files (letters, lists,
catalog entries, reports, etc.) from one or more VENDINFO files.

VENDINFO is a system for conveying software product information and
distribution permissions from the author to distributors and users. A
standard file format allows a VENDINFO.DIZ file to carry extensive
information in a compressed, efficient form. VENDINFO provides
unprecedented capabilities for

    o  Communication of product information and distribution policies
       from author to distributors and users.

    o  Enforceable distribution policies.

    o  Automation of many aspects of package handling by shareware
       distributors of all types, including sysops, disk vendors, and
       CD-ROM publishers.

Basic VENDINFO packages (shareware and freeware) include:

    VNDINF10.ZIP -- VENDINFO.DIZ standard and information
    VNDNFO13.ZIP -- VENDINFO Toolkit (editor, processor)
    VNDVUE13.ZIP -- VendView end-user's viewer.
    VNDUTL13.ZIP -- Utilities and frequently-updated data files.

VENDINFO information and tools are available electronically from Rams'
Island Software (see below) and from many other sources, including:

    CompuServe ASP (lib 5), UKSHARE (lib 12), and EDFORUM (lib 2)
    Ziff-Davis Interactive
    Public Brand Software BBS
    ASP CD-ROM, PsL CD-ROM, SDN and ADN BBSes

 Rams' Island Software    Member: ASP ESC STAR
 7644 E. Lakecliff Way
 Parker, CO 80134-5904    CIS:  76244,324   BBS: 303-841-6269
 USA                      Fido: 1:104/333   RIME: 1235
                          Inet: ramsisle@abwam.com
 303-841-2848             FTP:  ftp://ftp.abwam.com/pub/ramsisle
 303-841-6269 (Fax)       WWW:  http://delta.com/ramsisle/ramsisle.htm
 
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