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Alchemy Goes Online

Doug Henschen

Alchemy Gold is like the Ford pickup truck of document storage and retrieval: itıs utilitarian, itıs reasonably priced and itıs a perennial best seller that just keeps getting better and better. An open document database manager for Windows NT, Alchemy was reintroduced in October as Alchemy Gold Release 6. Developer Information Management Research (Englewood, CO 303-689-0022) simultaneously introduced Alchemy Web Server (AWS), which supports browser-based query, retrieval and viewing of files stored in Alchemy databases.

Alchemy Gold builds document and data repositories and provides a variety of retrieval and output options. It manages data, full text and images together, so itıs ideal for combining PC files, images, text and COLD/Enterprise Report Management. IMR pioneered storage to CD, but Alchemy gives you a choice of storage options also including RAID, DVD and tape.

The upgrades in Release 6 are extensive, and they start with an ODBC 2.50 Core Level compliant driver. This driver translates Alchemyıs hierarchical data structure to a relational tabular form so you can query and retrieve from SQL. Extensions to SQL make Alchemy databases available through any ODBC-compliant application.

ODBC support adds versatility, but it is ironic that IMR touts Alchemy as a scalable, yet affordable alternative to these expensive relational databases. The 80 percent of organizations with low- to mid-range demands donıt need high-powered relational databases, IMR contends. Alchemy Goldıs flat file structure can manage millions of records, and most of the companyıs 3,000 installations support 10-25 users.

Other upgrades to Release 6 include new types (e.g., integer, floating point and date) that can be associated with custom fields. This helps support numeric and date-range searches of values greater than, less than and/or equal to a specified value or date. A MAPI interface lets you select documents and email them to multiple recipients. A CD copier tool was added to let you make copies of an Alchemy database once it is built.

Customization features have been added in Release 6 with Profile Views. This lets you specify the view of the document and folder profile. You can select Template Fields to see the selection of custom and default fields as designed by the database creator. You can select Custom Fields to view the document title followed by any user-defined selection of additional fields. You can select all fields to see everything.

Alchemy Gold Release 6 starts at under $4,000 for one database server with 10 concurrent users. This includes a database administrator license, a full-text indexer, drivers for CD writers, 250 document viewers, PDF support and database access licenses for 10 users. There are no limits on the number of CDs, DVDs or databases you can create, and the company does not charge storage fees.

Alchemy Web Server (AWS) automates the conversion of more than 250 file formats into HTML. It works with Alchemy and can be purchased as an upgrade to existing Alchemy databases above version 3.0.

Designed for Internet and intranet applications, AWS provides a Web-based file system and the same look and feel as an Alchemy Windows client. One query searches both the full-text content and the metadata associated with the document, tackling one of the shortcomings of other Web solutions. Metadata can be viewed along with the document.

The AWS server component is installed on a Windows NT server running both Internet Information Server and Active Server Pages. This component can request data from any Alchemy database accessible to that NT server. The AWS client component is downloaded from the server to the browser (Explorer or Communicator v. 4.0 or higher). The client sends requests to the server, which accesses the appropriate database and converts and exports the results back to the client in HTML.

A 100-concurrent-user Alchemy Web Server system is priced at $150 per user. IMR also offers a new ıuniversal user accessı plan in which user licenses purchased with Alchemy Web Server and Release 6 can be assigned to Web clients, Alchemy desktop clients or clients in other applications that integrate with Alchemy, such as PC Docs.

--Doug Henschen

At a Glance

Information Management Research
Englewood, CO 303-689-0022
Product: Alchemy Gold Release 6
Description: Open document database for Windows NT that manages data, full text and images together.
Price: Less than $4,000 for 10-concurrent-user system

Product: Alchemy Web Server
Description: Server software installs on NT Servers to provide Internet/intranet browser access to Alchemy databases. Automatically converts 250+ file formats to HTML and provides full-text/metadata queries.
Price: $150 per user on a 100-concurrent-user installation.