HIPPARCHUS GIS Enabling Software Technology

Product Information Bulletin -- 22 February, 1993.

New Release! Geodyssey Limited of Calgary today announced Release 2.1 of
their remarkable Hipparchus computer software technology. Named after the
Greek mathematician and astronomer, Hipparchus offers an entirely new
approach to working with geographic data. Now, with today's release,
Hipparchus includes powerful new capabilities that enhance the modeling of
three dimensional geographic features.

Who Can Benefit? Anyone developing computer applications that deal with the
"where" of things can benefit. Hipparchus-based computer applications can
unlock the spatial meaning of data as never before. And help you to
communicate that meaning with stunning graphic presentations. As an
integral part of your application, the Hipparchus "engine" handles the
geographic computations required.

About Hipparchus -- Hipparchus is a library of object and source program
modules for use by C and C++ language programmers in developing computer
solutions. The Hipparchus "engine" can be combined with your present
graphical user interface and database management software to prepare
impressive geographic applications. Itself written in ANSI C, the
Hipparchus Library consists of over 250 functions pre-compiled from nearly
twenty thousand lines of tightly-optimized code.

Using your existing graphical user interface and database management
technology, you can now implement application-specific geographic
information systems, bypassing the costly use of conventional monolithic
geographic information system (GIS) solutions.

About the Technology -- Hipparchus is based on a novel approach to
accessing and manipulating geographic data. Unlike "flat-earth" systems
that use planar coordinates, Hipparchus works with direction cosines and
3D vector algebra to calculate true distances and locations on an
ellipsoidal model of the Earth. Seamlessly applicable to things,
conditions or events anywhere on the surface, Hipparchus works equally
well with objects below the surface, in the atmosphere or even in near
space. Also, a satellite orbit modeler permits accurate prediction of the
coverage of remote-sensing satellites. If required, Hipparchus can work
with millimetric precision.

With Hipparchus, data objects are modeled as unrestricted sets of points,
lines, or regions. Objects such as utility poles, coastlines, satellite
paths and property boundaries can be related to one another using spatial
operators similar to AND, OR and NEAR. Your raw data is input to
Hipparchus in any of the common coordinate systems such as lat/long or
UTM. Numeric results can be output in familiar terms. Graphic results can
be displayed in a variety of cartographic projections at any scale and
viewpoint. Your clients will be able to roam freely, unfettered by pre-set
views.

When it comes to organizing your data, Hipparchus' unique spatial indexing
scheme provides truly impressive access speed. Based on the Voronoi
polygon principle, Hipparchus spatial indexes are readily tailored to your
application. In addition, they can provide unparalleled access
efficiencies for distributed multi-theme geo-referenced databases.

Platforms -- Hipparchus Release 2.1 is immediately available for use on
Intel 80286/287 hardware in DOS real mode. We call this Hipparchus DRM
Release 2.1. Other versions now in beta test work with 32-bit extended
DOS, Windows, NT, OS/2 and UNIX platforms such as the Sun SPARCstation and
the HP 9000X. A DEC VMS version is also now under test.

The Package -- Hipparchus comes with extensive documentation and support.
You get the Hipparchus Tutorial (210 pages, 29 illustrations, ISBN
1-895723-01-9), its companion, the Hipparchus Application Prototyper Guide
(60 pages), the Hipparchus Library Reference Manual (390 pages, ISBN
1-895723-00-0) and on-line help notes. More than 20,000 lines of sample C
language source materials illustrate use of the library functions while
providing you with immediately useful data utilities and interactive,
scriptable, geographic application prototyper programs.

Minimum Requirements You will need an Intel 80286 processor with an 80287
compatible coprocessor, 640K of RAM, and 3MB of hard disk storage. Any
ANSI C or C++ compiler and linker compatible with Microsoft C/C++ 7.0 or
Borland C/C++ 3.1 will do. Between 50K and 150K of run-time RAM is
required for Hipparchus functions. A 3 1/2" HD floppy drive is needed for
installation.

Prices -- Hipparchus DRM Release 2.1 is available to one developer/user for
just $US475. If you require Hipparchus for development by more than one
person or at more than one site, please call for a price quotation. If
your resulting Hipparchus-based application will be used by more than one
person, then you will need to purchase a site license ($US2500). If your
Hipparchus-based application is to be distributed or networked for use
beyond the licensed site, then you will need to purchase our unrestricted
application distribution license ($US7500). For price information
concerning other versions of Hipparchus, please call

Support Services -- Support information will be mailed or faxed
periodically to all registered developers for a period of one year from
the date of purchase of the product. Warranty service is provided to
registered developers for 90 days following purchase. If you require
individual service beyond this period, you will need to purchase our
annual maintenance service ($US300). In addition, we offer related
application development services.

Prices quoted will apply until 30 June, 1993. Quotations are FOB Calgary,
Alberta, Canada. Pre-paid shipping charges are extra. For Canadian orders
please add 33 % for exchange and GST. Payment may be made by corporate
check or Visa.

Additional Information -- To help you evaluate Hipparchus, we offer the
Hipparchus Tutorial and Application Prototyper for just US$49.95 plus
shipping. (Cdn$59.95 +GST). The Tutorial explains the concepts while the
Prototyper lets you explore interactively how Hipparchus can be used in
support of your application. Supplied demonstration scripts get you
started, then you can script your own demos.

Geodyssey Limited
500, 815 Eighth Ave SW, Calgary, Alberta, Canada T2P 3P2
Telephone 1-403-234-9848, FAX 1-403-266-7117
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