IQue Server 4.0, Harris & Baseview’s major revamping to the world’s most popular editorial product line, is now shipping. You can sign up for a demonstration at the upcoming NEXPO and America East trade shows at our Web site, https://www.harrisbaseview.com.
IQue Server 4.0 runs on either Windows 2000 or higher or Mac OS X. It uses a MySQL database and a JBoss foundation for its application server. Its new three-tiered structure means that the database can be hosted on the same machine as the server or on a separate machine, giving both a boost of power. Also, multiple servers can connect to the same database, offering a solution that can scale from a dozen seats to hundreds.
“The cross-platform functionality has worked out great at our beta sites,” said Victor Cardoso, editorial product manager for Harris & Baseview, a division of MediaSpan. “The Little Rock Democrat-Gazette in Arkansas has been running IQue Server on Windows while the Burlington, Iowa, Hawk Eye has been using Mac OS X. The performance is stellar in both cases.”
“And we don’t force you to use a command-line,” Cardoso said. “Our IQue product line has always been about powerful solutions that are user-friendly. JBoss and MySQL are both operated by our own GUI front-end.”
The MySQL and JBoss pairing has been a welcome change, Cardoso said. The affordable MySQL is powering more than 5 million installations worldwide, proving it’s a winner; MySQL partners include Intel, Veritas and Novell. A major plus with the JBoss foundation for the application server is that it’s free, but it’s also easily deployed and has enterprise-strength capabilities. This open-source solution is now the preferred Java application server, easily outselling proprietary systems including IBM and Oracle.
IQue Server 4.0 can also be administered remotely, from any machine, whether Mac or PC, a major benefit for the IT departments at the beta sites, Cardoso said. “They’ve been able to handle changes and fixes from anywhere in the plant; even from home,” he said.
Publishing functions revamped in IQue version 4.0 include “Publication Profiles,” giving each publication its own set of metadata. Categories, Priorities and Workflow Stages – publishing functions that increase IQue’s efficiency – are unique and easily set up for each publication working off the same database.
“We’re truly a multipublication database,” Cardoso said. “We let our customers consolidate their operations without making them feel like they’ve lost their own system.”
EditionBuilder (now available for QuarkXPress and coming soon for Adobe’s InDesign) automatically generates page folios and breaks multipage documents into single documents for easier pagination.
New zoning options include “Zone Document” and “Zone Story” commands, available for both QuarkXPress and InDesign. This feature allows you to duplicate pages at any workflow stage so you can create zone-specific editions or zone stories, as you need to, including when you drag them to the page.
Another feature new to IQue Server 4.0 is a robust Control-and-Release system, where stories placed on a page are basically “locked” until told otherwise so only one person at a time can access them. That way, a paginator can’t be editing the same story at the same time as an editor.
IQue Server 4.0 offers “temporary” licenses, so sites with a need for additional workstations for events like the Super Bowl, the Olympics or anything else that calls for an influx of reporters can easily set up workstations, and then disable them at the end of the event.
Version Histories have been upgraded to include multiple metadata changes, Users & Groups have many new functions available to them and Categories can be set for multiple levels, such as Sports/Prep Sports/Hockey to make searching that much more efficient.
The shipping version of IQue Server 4.0 will, of course, be demonstrated at NEXPO and America East, but you will also be able to get a peek at features for upcoming releases, including InCopy support, Database-Related Items, jumping among multiple documents and more. Schedule a personal demonstration at your convenience by going to https://www.harrisbaseview.com.
For more information on Harris & Baseview, contact Peter Cooper at (321) 242-4382 or pe**********@************ew.com or visit our Web site, https://www.harrisbaseview.com.
Harris & Baseview provides software tools for publishing, including Editorial, Advertising, Circulation Management, Production and Internet solutions. Harris & Baseview has more than 2,800 customers around the world.
Harris & Baseview is a division of MediaSpan. MediaSpan is a diversified media technology company delivering solutions that bridge offline and online business functions for traditional media companies.
This article was last modified on March 5, 2025
This article was first published on February 8, 2005
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