IBM and its 10%-held partner Metaphor Computer Systems Inc, Mountain View, have extended their relationship with formation of a marketing partnership in which Metaphor and IBM will jointly market IBM’s Data Interpretation System. The system is a suite of software tools that enable users in manufacturing, retail, finance, process, transport, insurance and other businesses to access and interpret data and transform it into usable information. IBM and Metaphor also plan to migrate Metaphor’s present Data Interpretation System components to the IBM Personal System/2 and to provide gateways to non-IBM hosts and databases. IBM’s version of the Data Interpretation System is designed to enable PS//2 Model 70 and 80 users to interpret data from 370 host databases, using icons and a mouse. It includes the Capsule application development tool that captures the operational steps leading to an analysis so that the user can use the mouse to move the necessary icons into a Capsule window and connect them with electronic arrows depicting the desired sequence of operations. Such a sequence can then be stored as a singleicon and reactivated with a single click.
