What is an Infobase?

 An infobase is a single-file electronic repository for large volumes of dynamic reference information that is primarily free-format or semi-structured and not well suited for traditional databases. An infobase is to free-formatted information what a database is to structured data.

Infobases store text and multimedia information which is highly compressed, full-text indexed, and multi-user editable. In addition to instantaneous searching, infobases provide real-time information updating, sophisticated hypertext linking, topical grouping, and automatically generated tables of contents.

Placing information into a Folio infobase actually adds value to that information. Because every word in an infobase is automatically indexed , any piece of information can be found in an instant using the infobase's powerful search engine. Folio infobases are platform-independent—any infobase can be simultaneously accessed by people using Windows, DOS or Macintosh machines across a LAN, WAN, a CD ROM . . .and with Folio's siteDirector™ , even across the Internet.

Using Folio infobases, workgroups can access and adapt information in ways that make it more valuable to them. Corporations, workgroups and individual users all benefit from Folio's unique ability to index and retrieve information rapidly, store and display multimedia objects, link information together, update information on-the-fly and present a variety of contexts in which to view large collections of information.

So go ahead. Put your information—your documents, manuals, reports, guides, lists, tables, tips, memos, and just about anything and everything else—into an infobase. Once it's there, everything you need to know, you'll find . . . right there, in your infobase.

Folio Infobase Technical Details

Dynamic, Scalable Storage. A record-based format composed of idea-sized information chunks—each with a unique ID. These chunks form the basis for the dynamic updating and multi-user access and editing that infobases provide.

Virtually Unlimited Capacity. The infobase architecture is based on a virtual file system that allows for extremely large infobases—up to 16 TB.

Underhead Technology. Folio Corporation's proprietary Underhead Technology compresses the source text and its associated index into an infobase that is up to 50% smaller than the original source file.

Collaborative Editing. Multi-user record locking allows infobases to be searched, browsed, edited, and updated by many people simultaneously.

Powerfully Simple Navigation. Infobase levels and a dynamic Table of Contents support browsing, searching, and range searching.

Fast, Flexible Searching. Full-text indexing with all contents automatically indexed and compressed the instant the information is added to the infobase.

Multimedia Interface Support. Multimedia object support which allows graphics, audio, video, and other objects to be stored either in the infobase itself or linked to the infobase as an external file.

Cross-Platform Compatibility. Folio infobases provide true cross-platform support, enabling users on DOS, Windows, and Macintosh platforms to simultaneously access and annotate the same infobase.

Real-Time Updating. Instant updating for infobase additions/deletions/modifications, with changes available immediately for searches by other users.

User Personalization. Shadow file modifications including user annotations, personalization (sticky notes, bookmarks, etc) without affecting master file integrity. Shadow files also survive updates to the original file.

Robust Security Features. Seventeen security options can be set for users, user groups and guests with password protection to prevent unauthorized access or adaptation of infobase files.

How to search an Infobase

 Press the Query button to display the search dialog box. Using the syntax in the table below, enter the information you are looking for and press the search button.

Folio Infobase Query Syntax
Operator or Scope Examples
And one two     one & two     one and two
Or me | you     me or you
Not ^him     not him     her^him
Exclusive Or (XOR) apples~oranges     apples xor oranges
Phrase "to be or not"     "fourscore and seven"
Single Character Wildcard wom?n     g??b?r
Multiple Character Wildcard work*     h*t*
Ordered Proximity "united states of america"/10
Unordered Proximity "uncle sams army"@7
Stem (Word Form) run%     great%
Thesaurus (Synonym) flying$     alteration$
In Fields [field weapon: knife gun (club|bat)]

Infobases In Action

The Michie Company Law Publishers:
Commercial Publishing on CD ROM

Walk into a law library and you'll find hundreds of books filled with "the law"--court decisions, federal and state statutes, treatises, handbooks, looseleaf binders. Doing research for an important court case can take hours, even days. So the Michie Company created Michie's Law on Disc (TM), the first CD ROM product using Folio VIEWS®.

Now, using Folio® infobases, legal researchers can query entire libraries in minutes--with results that are far more accurate, comprehensive, and less time-consuming than manual book research.

"Folio VIEWS provided the answers we needed for getting Law on Disc off the ground. Four years later, Folio infobases make all of our CD ROM products user-friendly and powerfully effective. Our developers love Folio VIEWS, our customers write fan letters about it, and we don't think there's a better way to access information than Folio VIEWS. Quote me."

Andy Wyszkowski
VP/Director of Electronic Publishing
The Michie Company Law Publishers

Powersoft Corporation:
CD ROM Technical Support

When you're supporting a complex product, you need to give your users every tool you possibly can to support their development efforts. That means information--a lot of it. Too much to put in the box. So Powersoft sends this vast bulk of necessary information out as Folio VIEWS infobases, on a CD ROM.

Thin and light-weight, the CD ROM goes in every package—providing users with all the information they need, in a way that makes it easier to find and use. So easy, in fact, that Powersoft's own support reps use the infobases, too--fast, easy access to the information in the infobases allows them to handle 37% more calls, drop 33% on the time spent on each call, and save an hour a day in research. "Getting information out to customers using Folio Infobases is very competitive. By including the Powersoft Infobase CD ROM in every PowerBuilder Desktop package, it's like providing an on-site technical support engineer."

Paul Barron
Manager of Call Center Information & Technologies
Powersoft Corporation

Unocal Corporation:
Infobases as Dynamic Information Pools

Some companies use infobases to form corporate-wide information pools. Unocal, a company that develops and produces energy resources, is using infobase technology to transfer their technology around the world. Some of their infobases include a corporate phone & organizational directory, a list of joint industry abstracts, patent portfolio and patent filing, chemical inventory, management and safety procedures manual, software licensing quarterly reviews, drilling production newsletters, corrosion bulletins, DOT codes, a telecommunications glossary, and a bank of technical memos.

"Our biggest challenge is to get our technical information out to the field both quickly and easily. Folio Infobase Technology makes that possible."

Fred Dearman
Senior Applied Scientist
Unocal Corporation

Aetna Life & Casualty:
Saving Millions of Dollars of Printing Costs Annually

Aetna put their property/casualty underwriting documentation in a series of infobases that they can update instantly and get out to their networked employees. Putting their manuals into infobases allowed Aetna to jettison 85 million bound pages. Now their employees can answer questions in seconds instead of days--every time, for every one that asks.

"Folio permits us to index by every word in the document and search on that basis. And the search response time is so fast that you could go through 100,000 pages in about five seconds."

Bill Hayhurst
Assistant VP, Insurance Department Affairs
Aetna

Nintendo:
Infobases Improve the Quality of Customer Service

With more than 3,000 games to support, Nintendo of America couldn't expect every one of its phone support operators to know the answers to every challenging hurdle the players of their games would get into. So they put all the answers (including video windows of the games themselves) into Folio VIEWS infobases. With a few quick keystrokes, operators can get even the most advanced Nintendo game players out of the stickiest situations, from every level of every game they produce--even if the operators have never played the game they're supporting!

"Used to be, operators could only really answer questions about the games they had played themselves. Now operators can answer questions on games they haven't even played. It's increased response incredibly."

Geoff Rainville
Manager, Gameplay Consumer Services
Nintendo

Chemicals and Plastics Company, Inc. (Union Carbide):
Infobases Provide Timely Access to Business-Critical Information

Government regulations come out every Federal workday in the Federal Register. Some are important enough that not complying with them could shut a company down. But Union Carbide keeps compliant every day, using Folio VIEWS infobases. The company gets the Register by modem every day and imports it into an infobase. Union Carbide's regulation experts then use the infobase to identify the regulations that pertain to the company's operations and provide additional comments. Using the infobases to receive, interpret, and distribute the regulations, Union Carbide can get the government's rules and the company's guidance out to field managers every day.

"Before the infobases, the people who needed the new regulations just couldn't get them in hand. The Register was routed like regular mail and shared from person to person. It could take weeks or even months to get it out to field managers. Now, we get the Register by modem every day and have it imported into an infobase by eight o'clock each evening. Since the infobase is on the network, everyone has immediate access to it."

Gary Whipple
Assistant Director of Environmental Affairs, Health, and Safety,
Union Carbide

Folio Infobase Solutions

 Hundreds of successful companies are using Folio infobases as part of a complete solution for compiling, accessing, and adapting electronic reference information. The mini-case studies detailed above are only a few of the ways that cutting-edge organizations are adopting Folio Infobase Technology within their organization.

At the Folio Corporation Web Site, you'll find additional information—in the form of technical whitepapers and detailed case studies—that detail how infobases are used by a wide variety of organizations in a multitude of markets.

Find out more about Folio Infobases

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