InformationWeek

November 17, 1997

New Look For Flowcharts

Update to AllClear is more customizable

tatistical Products and Service Solutions, a developer of statistical software, next month will ship AllClear 4.0, the latest version of the flowcharting software it acquired from Clear Software Inc. last year for $4.5 million. It's been three years since the last full version upgrade, and SPSS has ambitious plans for the latest version of the product.

"We see this is as a basic business communications tool used enter- prisewide," says Stacey Hicks, marketing manager at SPSS, in Chicago. "Flowcharts are an integral part of documentation."

Version 4.0 has a redesigned user interface that's compatible with Windows 95, and a more customizable work environment. Its Outliner feature has a tree-like structure that allows for multilevel charts, to which users can add notes, data, and hyperlinks to each box of the outline.

AllClear 4.0 also lets users import Visio and Micrografx files, and it supports Microsoft's OLE object technology, which means u sers can open an application within a diagram. Also, Drag-and-drop options have been expanded to include task-specific shapes for auditing, computer networks, IS, and manufacturing.

"You can use flowcharts to convey some very strong points," says Richard Kertesz, ISO coordinator at cable manufacturer Amphenol Corp.'s communications and network products division in Danbury, Conn., which is testing the product. "It's much easier to take a look at a process in a picture and the way it flows instead of reading it in text."

Tester John Adams, a programmer analyst at investment firm Invesco Retirement Plan Services in Atlanta, uses AllClear to show interdepartmental workflow of software programs and other projects. "If you're doing an organizational chart, you can click on it and show different levels, because you can collapse and expand charts," Adams says.

AllClear 4.0 will be available for Windows 95 and Windows NT for $395 per license.

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