ALEXANDRIA, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 29, 1998--

New database modeling features strengthen award-winning design tool

Visible Systems Corporation (Visible) today announced the general availability of EasyER/EasyOBJECT 2.0, a significant upgrade to its award-winning database design and data modeling tool. Version 2.0's capabilities now include new support for the design and specification of database views, compare and alter of database schemas for iterative development, reverse-engineering of SQL DDL scripts, and HTML web publishing. EasyER/EasyOBJECT has all of the competitive features of more expensive database design tools is priced at only $1,695.

EasyER/EasyOBJECT is a powerful, multi-level database design tool that allows users to create logical data models and also specify physical database design information. The product features automatic database and schema generation, accurate reverse-engineering of databases, powerful reporting facilities, and extensive on-line documentation. EasyER/EasyOBJECT is built on a client/server data dictionary, which functions as an integrated repository for the central storage of charts and object definitions. The repository allows stored information, such as entities, attributes, object-oriented (OO) classes, OO methods and relationships, to be quickly and easily accessed and used on any number of charts. Another competitive advantage is the inclusion of extensive supportVisual Basic, Delphi, and PowerBuilder.

"EasyER/EasyOBJECT has gained increasing respect with designers in the data modeling and database design community for its ease-of-use and attractive pricing. The new 'database views' and 'compare and alter' features address the key needs our current and prospective customers have been waiting for," said Keith Harmon, Product Marketing Manager. "In addition, the decision to bundle the EasyOBJECT product with the EasyER product gives our users an unmatched transition to object capability that is not available from anyone other than Visible. This proves Visible's commitment not only to keeping current with today's technology, but forging ahead to display that we are the technology leaders."

EasyER/EasyOBJECT 2.0 operates under Windows 95 and Windows 98 or Windows NT (3.51 or 4.0) and supports all major desktop and client/server databases (over 20 DBMSs). It targets the needs of database administrators, developers, data architects, and database designers who design or maintain complex databases for data warehouse and OLTP applications.

Major New Features:

-- Database Views: Support for database views gives users greater flexibility in designing relational databases. You can select columns from other tables, rename the columns to meet your needs, define column expressions, and create a table that contains only the information you want. Using the View Editor dialog box, you can fully define Views and then add, delete, move, and edit View objects on charts, and include them when you generate your database schema. Alternately, you can enter or edit SQL View query statements directly using the User Defined SQL option available from the View Editor.

-- Compare & Alter: Compare and Alter technology compares your existing database structure with a current (physical) model in EasyER/EasyOBJECT then generates Alter statements to synchronize the database with the design in the model. Now you can easily perform iterative database design and update a database to match your model, without losing existing data.

-- Reverse Engineering of SQL DDL Scripts: With version 2.0, you can reverse-engineer SQL DDL scripts without having to use ODBC and JET connections (the only options prior to 2.0). This means you can get information about your database structure from an SQL DDL (Data Definition Language) text file, eliminating the need to establish an ODBC connection to the target database. You can recover design details about the Tables and Columns, Default and Check Constraints, Primary and Foreign Keys, Indexes, Triggers and Stored Procedures.

-- Enhanced Reporting: An enhanced reporting capability lets you generate project information quickly using predefined reports. Choose between reports based only on the objects in a particular chart or reports for the entire data dictionary. With Crystal Reports 6.0 (included), you can select your printing options then send reports to the printer, to the screen, or to a file. You can also export reports in various file formats or you can publish data dictionary reports to internet standard HTML. For an additional fee you can also publish to the widely used (proprietary) PDF format.

-- Powerful Interfaces Included: EasyER/EasyOBJECT now includes 3 application generator interfaces - Visual Basic, Delphi, and PowerBuilder. The VB interface gives you greater flexibility in generating classes, in mapping relationships, and in generating forms. Now you can easily generate VB projects, forms and classes from your EasyER/EasyOBJECT models. Alternately, you can quickly reverse-engineer an existing database design into EasyER/EasyOBJECT, then generate Visual Basic projects, classes and forms for the existing design.

-- EasyOBJECT now bundled with EasyER: With EasyOBJECT included with EasyER, you can quickly transition your relational ER diagrams to the new UML object oriented class diagrams and take advantage of the capabilities of the object oriented paradigm. Visible is the first and only company to integrate traditional relational ER capabilities with OO modeling in the same, integrated tool. Visible Analyst, another Visible product, is the only other product that has this unique capability.

System Requirements and Database Support:

EasyER/EasyOBJECT 2.0 runs on 32-bit windows platforms, including Windows NT 3.5/4/5 and Windows 95/98. The product supports data modeling and database design using entity relationship diagrams (ERDs) notations/methods by Martin, Bachman, IDEF1X, or Shlaer-Mellor. It also supports integrated object oriented class diagram modeling using the notations/methods by Coad-Yourdon and Rumbaugh OMT, as well as the new standard Unified Modeling Language (UML).

EasyER/EasyOBJECT supports a wide range of desktop and client/server database types including: Informix 5, 6, 7.x; Watcom/SQL Anywhere 3 - 5.5; SQL Server 4.2 - 6.5; SQLBase; Access 1.x, 2.0, 95, 97 (ODBC or JET Mode); Visual FoxPro 3.0, 5.0; Oracle 6, 7, 8; IBM DB2 2.1x; DBASE III - Visual dBASE 5.5; InterBase 4.x; Progress 6, 7, 8; Ingres; Paradox 3-7; FoxPro 2.x; Visual FoxPro 3.0 and 5.0; Raima Velocis; R:BASE 5.x; Netware SQL; Rdb; Xdb and more.

EasyER/EasyOBJECT is available immediately from Visible Systems Corporation and authorized resellers and international distributors. Customers currently on annual maintenance shall receive the new release free of charge. Interested parties can download a free 30-day demonstration copy from the Visible web site at www.visible.com.

Visible Systems Corporation

Visible is a leader in application development tools, training, and consulting with almost 100,000 users of its products worldwide and an extensive product line ranging from low-cost to medium-priced, to full-featured tools. Visible provides analysis, modeling, and design tools for software engineers, analysts and designers interested in taking an architected approach to quickly developing quality software. For more information on Visible's products and services, visit the Visible web site at www.visible.com.

EasyER/EasyOBJECT is both a trademark and registered trademark of Visible Systems Corporation. All other trademarks are the recognized property of their respective owners.

CONTACT: Carol Read

Visible Systems Corporation

(425) 455-5561, ext. 25

carol.read@visible.com

or

Kelly Frissora

Rainier Corporation

(for Visible)

(978) 464-5302 ext. 112

kelly@rainierco.com