March 12, 1999 For Immediate Release Contact: Channa Omkar, Marketing Coordinator (301) 220-1919

Empress Triples SQL Operations Speed, Broadens Programming Environment in Version 8.20 Release

Greenbelt, MD -- Empress announces the immediate availability of Empress RDBMS V8.20, now with the fastest ever Dynamic SQL and ODBC-based SQL operations, plus a host of new features for the embedded systems marketplace. The new Empress capabilities include:

• 300+% speed increases for Dynamic SQL and ODBC-based repetitive SQL operations
• Database Internet object technologies such as Data Streaming and a Pure Java Client
• A thread safe environment for invoking Empress routines in multi-threaded applications
• A fork safe environment that allows execution of subsequent initialization procedures in complex autonomous, fire-and-forget embedded applications
• Open connectivity with wider array of third-party software

A recent breakthrough in Empress technology now allows looped SQL operations, invoked through Empress interfaces for Dynamic SQL or the Empress ODBC Interface, to run at significantly greater speeds than ever before. Speed increases range from 300% for repeated Deletes, to over 1000% for Inserts.

Data Streaming allows large amounts of text or large binary objects (BLObs, bulk data) to be manipulated in small streams and within a greatly reduced memory space. Now a massive stream of data can be updated easily without loading or transferring the entire object, resulting in 2 times to 3 times throughput increases in LAN-based bulk data operations.

"Data streaming is a new, unique feature in Empress that can greatly improve throughput, especially in multimedia and Web applications," states Empress CEO John Kornatowski. "With the new performance enhancements, Empress is ideal for embedded /real-time repetitive SQL-based applications."

Empress RDBMS V8.20 has broadened its operations into multiple development programming environments. For those who wish to write portable Java programs, Empress JDBC Interface's Pure Java Client enables applications to run on any OS that has a Java Virtual Machine (JVM). Empress-based applets can run inside any browser that conforms to the Javasoft specification for JVM. The Threadsafe feature enables developers to safely and transparently use Empress routines in multi-threaded programming. The Forksafe feature provides the capability to re-initialize Empress related resources between parent and child process; this allows parallel or asynchronous programming.

Empress RDBMS V8.20 also offers connectivity with major third-party tools. These include Adobe FrameMaker, Allaire's ColdFusion, Borland Delphi, MS FoxPro, MS Office (Access, Excel, Word), MS Query, MS Visual Basic, MS Visual C++, Rogue Wave DBTools.h++, Sybase PowerBuilder, and Sybase PowerDesigner (formerly S-Designor).

Empress Software develops and supports the Empress Relational Database Management System. The Empress RDBMS V8.20 is one of the most powerful and cost-effective databases designed especially for embedded systems developers working with Unix, Windows or real-time environments. Empress is used successfully in many fields, including image and voice management, telecommunications, medical systems, telephony systems, multimedia applications, geographical information systems and network management.

For more information about Empress, please call 301-220-1919. Check our web site at www.empress.com or send e-mail to info@empress.com. You can write to us at Empress Software, 6401 Golden Triangle Drive, Greenbelt, MD, 20770.

Empress Software Inc.                 Empress Software Inc.
3100 Steeles Ave East                 6401 Golden Triangle Drive
Markham, Ontario, Canada              Greenbelt, MD 20770, USA
Phone: (905) 513-8888                 Phone: (301) 220-1919
Fax:   (905) 513-1668                 Fax:   (301) 220-1997
http://www.empress.com/               http://www.empress.com/
sales@empress.com                     sales@empress.com