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The Pathways CD-ROM Publisher (a.k.a. Pathways Lite) was developed to facilitate the generation
of electronic database products for distribution on CD-ROM. The electronic products produced using the
software will include publisher's data as well as easy to use software that will provide access to the
data for the buyer of the electronic product. Using the CD-ROM software's intuitive graphical interface,
the buyer may select any subset of the database and may then generate mailing labels or export electronic
files from the database. Electronic files may be exported in any number of common formats including comma
delimited, fixed length SDF, DBFs, XLS (Excel spreadsheets), etc.
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By using the CD-ROM Publisher, it is no longer necessary for publishers to have custom written software
applications to produce individual products utilizing data from their directory databases. Any publication
database that has been defined within the Pathways Database Publisher software can be used to generate
a CD-ROM based directory product.
Creation of new CD-ROM products using the software is quite
simple. First, an extraction process is run to select one or more publications from the Pathways databases.
During the extraction process, publishers may indicate which data is to be available on the CD-ROM and
which is not. As an example, publishers may keep non-verified information about companies in their database,
but want to ignore the information when publishing the CD-ROM product. Once data has been extracted
from the Pathways databases, the software will automatically encrypt it and prepare it for placement
on the CD-ROM. By encrypting the data, publishers are assured that the data placed on the CD-ROM is
not available for unauthorized uses.
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Once extracted, the publisher will place the data, along with the Pathways supplied software modules,
on the CD. The actual CD can be generated using any CD-ROM authoring tool and a CD-ROM writer. The
user simply copies three folders, or directories, to the CD-ROM. One folder contains the encrypted databases,
another contains bitmaps that are used by the application, and the last contains the installation software.
The new CD-ROM product master is then ready for duplication and distribution. The CD-ROM Publisher software
license allows publishers to sell unlimited copies of their electronic products with no royalty
fees.
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The electronic database products produced using the CD-ROM Publisher may be sold by the publisher using
a number of pricing options that are fully supported by the software. These pricing options allow publishers
to develop one CD-ROM product, while limiting access to certain functions, or groups of data, based on
the price a customer pays. The software will assign a unique serial number based on the options purchased
by the buyer. The serial number is used to limit the capabilities or data access allowed the buyer.
If a buyer wishes to purchase additional capabilities or data access for an electronic product; publishers
need only supply them with a new serial number. It is not necessary for the buyer to reinstall any software,
or for the publisher to re-distribute a different CD-ROM product.
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For more detailed information about this software product, please follow the links provided in the
left margin of this page, or contact us directly using the information found on our Contact page.
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