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This powerful option allows you to export all of the data in the Elebase
database for numerous additional purposes, to give it to your customers
or business partners and to support different industry standard data formats
that are available in Elebase. This option can be activated for a small
additional license fee.
This allows you to make full use of your data in Elebase and of all of
the many features of Elebase such as the different grouping systems supported.

Please read all details about the many comfortable features of Elebase
on the special product web sites www.elebase.com und www.elebase.de and
from the many films that explain Elebase to you in a few minutes. Regarding the server:
Every website has its file server (such as Apache or IIS).
The first three Elecat versions only need this file server.
The versions Advanced and Professional additionally need
the Elecat server (application server), which sits behind
the file server. It connects Elecat with the database and executes
the application logic. Installing and operating the Elecat server
is extremely simple. There is no server administration needed! The portal versions are typically configured individually
for every application. You should please contact us
regarding your requirements after you have had
a closer look at Elecat. OmniFind consists of a separate server software.
This software must be installed and configured,
Which means some work that is invoiced separately.
This is why the OmniFind option is not part of the
standard Elecat packages. Video films can also be shown directly from your own server.
This is much more professional than using YouTube but it
needs some additional software in the client (not on the server).
This is why this option is not part of the standard Elecalc packages.Elecat presents paper catalogs in the browser,
its fast, intuitive and very comfortable. Elecat is
the better alternative to the PDF reader in the browser. The Elecat reader is much faster than the PDF reader
both in loading as well as an operating. Additionally,
operating Elecat is much more intuitive, because it works
like a desktop software with many different tabs for
lightning fast navigation and viewing of all data. The Elecat reader is much more comfortable and faster than the PDF reader,
because the user can have many pages opened simultaneously in many
separate tabs and can switch quickly between them. As a result, navigating
in pages is much quicker in Elecat than in the PDF reader and delivers
a much better user feeling. In the Elecat reader you can work with several catalogs at the same time
while the PDF reader in the browser is limited to one single catalog only. The Elecat reader is either available with one user interface language only
(depending on your decision) or in the multi-lingual version. Of course,
there are different languages available. The world is multilingual and therefore Elecat is available in many languages for international use!
The Elecat reader is either available with one user interface language only (depending on your decision)
or as a multi-lingual version. Of course, there are different languages available. The language files
(translations) can be modified very easily by the website operator or you can even translate everything
yourself into your own language. All translations are stored in simple ASCII files.

Alternatively, Elecat is available with a multi-lingual user interface so that the end-user in the browser
can switch to any of the supported languages. At start-up, the browser's language is also set for Elecat. This is the most important speciality of Elecat: Elements in pages are links
such as article numbers, page numbers or images. It is a very powerful and
unique feature of Elecat that most of these links are generated automatically
from imported PDF content. Additional links can be added manually to pages. The Elecat reader offers several windows for presenting detailed product data
beyond the catalog pages. This data is loaded from ASCII files or from the
server database depending on the Elecat version. Like this you can easily enhance
and refine your printed catalogs, because on the Internet additional data or pages
doesn't cost you anything. If you want your users to register and to log in, this requires the Elecat application
server that administrates the data in its database. Normally, the user registration is
an option offered to frequent users and it is the technical precondition for several
additional applications. Of course, registration and login can also be made mandatory
if you want to restrict the use of your web application to known users. The basket is used to remember selected products and to use them for an enquiry or
as an order to the operator of the website. The basket is the simple solution
and EleOrder is the more complex alternative. EleOrder can be integrated into Elecat. Both applications together offer a very
comprehensive and custom not comfortable entry, enquiry and processing of all data
types within order processing, starting with an enquiry. Please find further details
on www.EleOrder.com. Elecat can also present pure HTML catalogs. Their HTML pages can be produced in
any possible way but the simplest and the most automatic is through the Elecat-Publisher,
through EleExxel, ElePricelist or Elepub all from the data stored in Elebase, which is also
used by the Elecat-Producer. Of course, you can also use Elecat only with HTML catalogs
(i.e. without any imported PDF pages). The Elecat producer converts the content that was imported from PDF into HTML pages
but only for use by the search engines (such as Google) so that they are indexed to the
best possible. These HTML pages are never seen by any visitors of your website. If one
of your pages is called from Google, the normal page view in Elecat will be presented instead. The manufacturer version contains a couple of specialities such as selecting dealers,
sending enquiries etc to dealers. These specialities can be configured in the Elecat-
Producer software at the discretion of the website operator. The dealer version contains a couple of specialities such as selecting catalogs and
products by manufacturers. These specialities can be configured in the Elecat-Producer
software at the discretion of the website operator. The portal version combines the manufacturer and the dealer specialities in one version,
because it is assumed that a portal typically presents data from manufacturers as well as
from dealers or distributors. As the website operator, you can configure these specialities
individually in the Elecat-Producer software. The following subjects refer to the left part of the Elecat browser where
a couple of accordion windows present data for selection and navigation.
This is where the user can quickly select data, which is then presented
in full in the main part of the Elecat browser. In the left part of the Elecat browser there is a selection of catalog pages
of the currently selected product catalog in the form of icons, of small views
of the catalog pages. When one clicks on one of these icons, the related page
is opened in the main part. One accordion window in the left part of the Elecat browser presents a list
of the pages of the currently active catalog. When clicking on one of the items
in this list, the related page is opened in the main part. In the left part of the Elecat browser there is a selection of the catalogs
in the form of a list. on the user selects an item from this list, the related
catalog is opened in the main part of the browser. One accordion window in the left part of the Elecat browser presents a list
of the companies whose catalogs are available in this Elecat reader.
This is an option especially for dealers who work with the catalogs
of their manufacturers or suppliers and who wants to make them selectable
by company name of the catalog publishers. A compact view of the basket is shown in one of the accordion windows
in the left part of the Elecat browser. This serves as a permanent
overview and for a quick selection. A compact view of the most important user settings is presented
in an accordion window in the left part of the Elecat browser. A list of manufacturers is shown in an accordion window
in the left part of the Elecat browser. It can be used
to select the product data of one of these manufacturers,
which is then presented in the main part. This is useful
for dealers and portal versions, which present data from
different manufacturers. The user of the Elecat browser can activate the use of ToolTips for stock
or availability data and for pricing information.

This data is then presented when the mouse is moved over relevant links
such as article numbers. There is no need to click on it, moving the mouse
is sufficient. The actual data is instantly loaded from the server. Up-to-date stock information or, depending on the Elecat user,
more general availability status in the form of a red light
are presented in a ToolTip when the mouse is hovering over an
article number.

This is available only to registered users who have logged in
and it also depends on the settings that you have as the website
operator for this particular user.

These settings are made in the Elecat-Producer software. This is also
where you decide if the user sees exact stock data or only the more
general red light availability information, or nothing at all
in this respect. General pricing data applicable for all customers can also be shown
in a ToolTip when the mouse is over an article number. This adds prices
to all catalogs that were printed without and it refines and/or updates
outdated catalogs by current pricing information. Prices specific to a single customer or a customer group can also be shown
in a ToolTip when the mouse is hovering over an article number.

This depends on the settings made by the website operator for the
particular user of the Elecat browser. These settings are made in
the Elecat-Producer software. Links on pages, most of which are generated fully automatically from
the imported PDF data, or one of the most important specialities of Elecat
and they are the precondition for using paper catalogs for e-commerce.

Elecat supports several different types of links. Most of these are
listed here below. Please see further details in the next subject items. The Elecat-Producer software converts article numbers in PDF pages
fully automatically into links to the database when the
PDF pages are imported into Elecat.

Elecat is the only software worldwide that performs this
task fully automatically!

This converts stupid PDF pages into intelligent Elecat pages,
because links are the precondition for using paper catalogs
in e-commerce. When article numbers are clicked, a window
with additional detailed data is opened and this is where
all further processing takes place. If only the mouse is moved
over an article number, this can invoke the presentation
of additional data in a Tooltip and this brings up-to-date
stock or availability data or current pricing directly
onto your catalog pages. This is essentially the same as placing automatic links
(please read subject above) but it supports the manual placing
of links on pages in the Elecat-Producer software.

Depending on the Elecat version, this is either for adding
additional article numbers, which are not contained in the
original pages, or it is the alternative for placing article
numbers on pages in the free Elecat version. Very similar to article numbers, Elecat also converts page numbers
from PDF pages fully automatically into page links. The Elecat user
in the browser can click on these links and this invokes the opening
of the referenced page. The manual placing of page links into Elecat pages is another way
of adding additional references to other pages. This is very useful
when there are no page numbers contained in the imported pages
but when pages are referenced by some words. This manual linking
is very much similar to adding a hyperlink in HTML. This is also
done in the Elecat producer software. In the Elecat producer software you can also add additional pictures
or high-resolution images to the imported PDF pages. This must be
done manually, because PDF delivers no information whatsoever about
the image data. If you have added such image links to Elecat pages,
the Elecat user can click on them and this opens a window with the
related picture or picture gallery. Image can also be enlarged in
this separate window. This is another way of substantially extending
and upvaluing your original PDF catalogs when used inside Elecat. Catalogs become outdated quite quickly. It is therefore very useful
to add additional or more up-to-date information in the form of
Yellow Notes to Elecat pages in order to keep the catalogs
up-to-date and to improve them. Paper is expensive and this is why one limits the information
in printed catalogs to what is really necessary. Often, there
is a lot more data available and also desirable from the reader's
point of view.

You can easily add such additional data to Elecat pages that
were imported from PDF. This additional information can be
formatted in HTML pages. Typically, such HTML pages are generated via database publishing, either with the Elecat publisher,
with EleExxel, ElePricelist, or Elepub, all fully automatically.

The references to these additional HTML pages are added to
the pages imported from PDF. With this Elecat feature you can place references to video films on YouTube
on imported pages. When the user clicks on one of these links, a window is
opened and the video film is loaded from YouTube and played inside your catalog. If you don't want to use YouTube you can present video films from your own server.
There is no additional software needed on the server, only another module for
the Elecat-Reader client. This is much more professional and more elegant than
using films from everybody's YouTube. The main window represents the actual working area in Elecat.
This is where most of the very different types of content
is presented in several tabs and sub tabs.

Especially the number of page tabs depends on the user's actions.
The many tabs are of the greatest advantages of Elecat,
its ability to present many different pages simultaneously in
different tabs. The user can switch very quickly between these tabs.

Elecat is a lot faster, more intuitive and much more comfortable than
the PDF reader where only one page can be seen at a time and where
navigation is a lot slower and more complicated.

The following section lists most of the possible tabs of the main
window. The scope of available tabs depends also on the Elecat version.
 The homepage is the first one to be presented to a user after loading.
This is an HTML page, which can be designed individually. This tab enables the selection of the catalogs either by viewing icon images
or from a detailed and wide list with all the relevant data of the provided
catalogs. This tab is available in Elecat reader versions, which support
several catalogs. The page views are the core part of Elecat. This is where catalog pages
are presented and used. The user can open a large number of different tabs
each holding a separate page view and he can switch quickly between them.
This form of using an electronic product catalog is much quicker, much
more comfortable and more professional than the PDF reader. In most Elecat versions the help system is directly integrated into the reader.
It depends on the last user actions, which page will be shown in the help tab.
Beyond this help tab there is the external help on www.EleHelp.com, which can
be opened what via one of the menu items. The tab holding the details data is divided into several different sub tabs,
each of which can present different types of data depending on the user actions.
This is also where most of the pop-up windows can be parked so that they are
permanently visible. Of course, the user can also close all of these details
windows. The following section explains the available types of sub tabs. Additional article details data is presented in an additional tab window
with several sub tabs. This article details data can consist of HTML pages
or it can be loaded from ASCII data or from the server's database.

These HTML pages are typically generated by the Elecat-Publisher or one of
the other database publishing products of EleFamily. They are generated
automatically from the content of Elebase, which is also used be the
Elecat-Producer software. Article data that is loaded directly from the database is presented
in a separate special window, which communicates directly with the
Elecat server via Ajax. The design of this article form can be defined
by the operator of the website so that these forms can suit the individual
needs of your Elecat users very individually. Additional or enlarged image as are presented first in the pop-up window.
This window can be parked by the user as another details window
so that it stays permanently visible. EleOrder is presented and processed in a separate details window.
This EleOrder window has its own sub tabs. Some Elecat versions support the selection of products and
catalog pages from a tree of product groups. This is typically
quite a lot of data so that we are using a separate tab view in the
main part of Elecat. The data that is selected from this tree is then
presented in detail in one of the other details windows or it is
added to the basket or used in Eleorder. Elecat versions that support manufacturers present another details tab
with a list of the support manufacturers. This is especially useful for
dealer versions where the selection of products is often done via
the manufacturer. Very similar to the product groups, the selected product
data is then processed in another details window or added to the basket
or used in EleOrder. The Elebase product management and database system is part of the
Elecat-Producer software. This section lists some the most important
features of Elebase, which are available to you as part of the
Elecat-Producer software.
Elebase is a lot more comprehensive and comfortable than one would
imagibe from reading this short list.

Please read more details about Elebase from the websites www.elebase.com
and www.elebase.de. This is also where you find numerous video films
that explain Elebase and its many features to you in a few minutes. The simple search is performed on the server by searching HTML files.
The server searches all of your website's HTML files, which were converted
from PDF, as well as those that were generated from database content.

The result is presented in a separate window in the browser and the user
can select one of several search results to be opened in separate windows.

The search is fast enough for small websites while for larger websites
the OmniFind search engine is the preferred solution. The simple search
will be sufficient, always depending on how busy the server is, for websites
with up to a few thousand HTML pages (inluding the database data in html).
For larger websites this you should use the OmniFind search engine. OmniFind is the professional and extremely fast Yahoo! search engine
that is also used by the Yahoo website. It is sold and supported by IBM.

OmniFind searches in indexes created from all HTML pages that were imported
from PDF and from those pages that were generated from database content
in Elebase especially for being searched.

OmniFind searches in indexes and this is a lot faster and offers more possibilities
than the sequential search in HTML files that is used by the simple search. Additionally to searching in HTML files the database search is available,
which requires the Elecat server with its integrated database management
system. The user enters search terms in a simple form in the browser.
The database search is performed on the server by using SQL. This feature
offers another very comprehensive form of searching beyond HTML. Additional detailed data is first shown in pop-up windows. This is typically
opened by clicking on some links in catalogue pages. Most of these pop-up windows
can then be parked as a permanent details tab so that this data remains directly
accessible and permanently visible.

Please find a list of most of the pop-up windows in Elecat with additional
information about their purpose. Articles (products) can have lots of additional detailed data in the Elebase
product management system. This additional detailed data is presented in Elecat
in a separate pop-up window when the user clicks on an article link on a page.

There are not only plenty of database fields related to an article but one can
also store several text and spreadsheet files in MSWord and MSExcel.

This article details data can consist of HTML pages or it can be loaded from ASCII
data or from the server's database into special data forms.

The HTML pages are typically generated by the Elecat-Publisher or one of
the other database publishing products of EleFamily. They are generated
automatically from the content of Elebase, which is also used be the
Elecat-Producer software.

This allows you to substantially enhance the data are in the printed catalogues
by adding lots of additional and more detailed information. Every article (product) can be presented with several detailed texts from MSWord
or MSExcel. Elebase offers plenty of different possibilities, to store additional
information in different formats (MSWord, MSExcel, or database) for supplying
more information about a product.

These additional texts are presented in Elecat in separate tab windows. There
are several different subjects by which these texts can be separated such
as technical details, commercial details, technical standards etc.

This gives you any imaginable possibility to present as much information about
your products as required by the visitors of your website. This data is
typically generated fully automatically from the Elebase contents into HTML
by the Elecat publisher or by one of the other database publishing software
products of EleFamily.
 You can also add additional product images to catalogue pages, which are not
contained in the printed pages. These images or image galleries are presented
to the Elecat user in a separate window where they can also be enlarged.

These separate windows first appear as a pop up and they can then be parked
by the Elecat user to remain permanently visible. Stock and availability information cannot only be presented in Tooltips
when the mouse is moved over the article number on a page but it can also
be displayed in separate pop-up windows in a data form.

This allows for more detailed presentation of up-to-date stock or availability
information, because there is more space available then there is an tooltip.

Of course, this is only possible with the Elecat server in the background
and it requires that the user has logged in and that a user has received the
permission to view such data from the website operator. Such permissions
are managed in the Elecat producer software. Elecat can present general prices and, depending on the version, also individual
customer or customer group prices in separate windows.

Customer specific prices also require that the user of first logs in and it
technically relies on the Elecat server.

This feature enables you to add and enhance a printed catalogue, which does not
contain any prices, or you can update an outdated catalogue by actual pricing
data without changing the layout.
 Elecat allows you to substantially enhance your printed catalogues on the Internet
by adding plenty of additional product images.

You add links to pages in the Elecat producer software. When the user clicks on one
of these links on a page a separate pop-up window is opened to present the
additional image or image gallery. The user can then park such pop-up windows
as a permanent tab in order to have it constantly visible and directly accessible.
 An Elecat user can make different types of entries and messages in the browser.
In order to support this, there is a comfortable text editor available inside
the Elecat browser, which can well be compared with a wordprocessing software.

This editor can be used to enter formated texts and messages to the catalog publisher
or to one of the dealers listed in an Elecat version for manufacturers who want
their website visitors to communicate directly with their local resellers. You can add links to films on YouTube and place them on pages.
When the user clicks on one of these links a pop-up window
is opened and the YouTube film is played inside this window. If you prefer a to have video films presented from your own file server
without having YouTube involved, you can also place such a link on pages
that opens a window to present these video films from your own server.

This is more professional and does not involve the widespread YouTube logo.
The films come from your web server. There is no additional software needed
on your web server, only another module for playing the films in the browser
that is loaded into the browser clients. The Elecat producer software is installed on your desktop PC and it is used
by the website operator to prepare the data for Elecat. Essentially, the
Elecat producer software consists of Elebase (see above) and of modules
to import, convert and process PDF pages for use in the Elecat browser client.

Five Elecat versions

You can choose between five Elecat versions. Their features are listed further below:

Version

Server

Short description - more details further below
Free
(no charges)		 File server
only 		This free version replaces PDF in the browser, its better and faster than the PDF reader
in den browser, with quick page viewing, yet still without most special Elecat features;
Elecat is absolutely virus-safe - in contrast to PDF, because Elecat uses only Html and JavaScript, the essentials of the Internet and Elecat needs no plug-ins like PDF.
Basic File server
only 		Delivers the most powerful Elecat features: links inside pages automatically converted from article numbers in imported PDF pages, several catalogs in one reader, many tab views, lots of other advantages over PDF, with detailed article data and additional HTML pages,
needs only your website's file server (exists anyway), works with ASCII data on the server
Standard File server
only		 The more comfortable Elecat version, additionally with quick searching in all pages and data and with all features that are technically possible without the Elecat server
Advanced Elecat-Server

The Elecat server solution: the reader communicates with the database on the server, supports user registration, login, user profiles, querying of database data and a lot more, optionally with EleOrder for full order entry and order processing in the browser

Professional Elecat-Server The most complete catalog application in the browser with all available Elecat features, data from the database server, selection by product groups and manufacturers, the most advanced application in the browser around catalogs imported from PDF and/or in HTML

Features of the Elecat versions

Here is a list of most of the features and modules of the five Elecat versions. You will see more details when you move the mouse over the various subjects.

Move you mouse over the titles to see further explanations: Free Bsc Strd Adv Prof

General features

         
Presents catalogs in the browser, importied from PDF
Fast presentation of catalog pages
Any number of tabs for viewing different catralog pages
Several catalogs simultaneously in use in one Elecat-Reader
Single language Elecat-Reader (uder interface) in different languages
Multi language Elecat-Reader with multiligual user interface and switching
Catalog pages with integrated links
Article (product) details data in separate windows (beyond catalog content)
User registration, login, profiles
Basket
Eleorder order entry
Html catalogs presented beyond the pages imported from PDF
Html pages generated for the search engines (Google etc) from PDF
Version for manufacturers
Version for dealers
Version for portals

Left-hand accordion windows for data navigation
Page icons for selecting pages
Page titles list for selecting pages
Selecting different catalogs from a list
Companies list (for catalogs)
Basket
Settings
Manufacturers (for selecting articles/products)

Tools
Search (simple searching in Html files on the server)
OmniFind the IBM/Yahoo! search engine
Database search (internally via SQL)

Main windows
Homepage - individual welcome page in Html
Selecting catalogs from icons and from a detailded list
Page views imported from PDF 100% true to the original
Integrated help system (plus external help on www.elehelp.com for all versions)

More data in windows in sub tabs for:

          
Window for article details in Html- and ASCII files
Window for article details from the database
Window for images
Window for Eleorder
Window for selecting via produt groups
Window for selecting from manufacturers

Links in pages
Article links in pages generated automatically
Article links in pages added manually
Page links in pages generated automatically
Page links in pages added manually
Image links to view enlargements and image galleries
Yellow notes on pages
Additional Html pages placed as links on pages
YouTube films placed as links on pages
Video from your server placed as links on pages

Short infos in tooltips shown on mouse over

          
Stock / avilability
Pices (general)
Prices (specific for customer or customer group)

Popup window with more data

          
Article details
Article texts (long texts in html)
Article pictures and gallery
Stock / availability in list form
Prices (general) in a separate window
Prices (specific for customer or customer group) separate window
Extra image gallery (independent from articles)
Tex editor for formatted text messages
YouTube window
Video window presenting video files from your server

Elebase

 Elebase is part of the Elecat-Producer software. Here are only a few of the most important and very comfortable features of Elebase:
          
Comprises of the Elebase Product Management System with database
Support for multi-level data inheritance
Over 20 different types of article numbers supported
Automatic data import
Automatic data export beyond the needs of Elecat
Data management also (not only) with integrated MS Excel as data editor
Full integration of MS Excel and MS Word
Links in pages are generated automatically
Many different types of links between article objects
Elerobot for fully automatic product data management
Several grouping systems, eClass, Etim and your individual systems
 

Elecat-Producer

          
Editing catalog titles (are not contained in PDF)
Editing page titles (are not contained in PDF)
Links in pages are converted automatically from PDF content
Links in pages can be set manually
Adding images to pages
Adding Yellow Notes to pages as links
Adding separete html pages to imported pages as links
Marking table of contents, keyword index and other special pages

 

 

The whole family

For further details please refer to the other web sites of this unique software family:
Elebase Product Content Management administrates all product data and catalog content for multiple re-use and data exchange
EleAIS Article Information System web server presents Elebase product data and Elecat catalogs on the Internet
Elepub Database Publishing software generates publications and product catalogs for paper, e-paper, HTML, Flash
EleFamily gives you an overview on the other products and links to the other product websites