Vero Beach, FL - Thursday, May 17th, 2001: Deep Sky Technologies, Inc., today announced the release of beta 1 of TCP Deux v1.0.0 for Macintosh and Windows. TCP Deux is a 4th Dimension component which provides cross-platform TCP wrappers for different TCP plugins available for 4th Dimension. The plugins supported within TCP Deux include 4D Internet Commands v6.7.x, Internet ToolKit v2.0.x, and Internet ToolKit v2.5.x.

With the TCP Deux component, a 4th Dimension developer can code TCP level routines without worrying about which particular plugin is going to be used. TCP Deux provides a very simple upgrade path for developers to write one set of code. With TCP Deux, a 4D developer can begin by using the free 4D Internet Commands for all TCP communications and upgrade to the commercial Internet ToolKit plugin when the needs arises, all without changing a single line of code.

"TCP Deux is a foundation for many new components which will soon be made available", said Steven G. Willis, President, Deep Sky Technologies, Inc. "With TCP Deux in place, we can release higher level protocols for developers to more easily implement in their 4D projects. TCP Deux is the basis for us to provide a comprehensive solution to difficult protocol issues that many 4D developers regularly experience."

"We are very happy to see the addition of another component product to the 4D product community," said Brendan Coveney, President and CEO, 4D, Inc. "TCP Deux is an exciting new product that will provide 4D Developers with valuable functionality to add to their applications through the simplicity of components."

The beta for TCP Deux is open to the public. The TCP Deux beta archive contains serialization for using the component through the end of June 2001. A full manual, explaining every call and feature available in TCP Deux, is included with the component.

Separate 4D components for higher level TCP protocols will be released by Deep Sky Technologies, Inc., in the coming weeks. Common TCP protocols which will be made available will include SMTP, POP3, FTP client, HTTP/HTTPS client, and many more.

Features in the TCP Deux component

TCP Deux provides cross-platform, plugin independent routines for handling all TCP communications in 4D. The functionality available in the TCP Deux component include:

• - Stream and listener openers and closers;
• - Stream status checking, individually or for all open streams;
• - Processor friendly stream status waiting routines;
• - Full support for sending and receiving text and binary data;
• - Full support for sending and receiving directly from documents;
• - Full management system for TCP communication streams;
• - Full multiple 4D process (handler) support for TCP servers;
• - Accessor methods for updating and extracting stream information;
• - Accessor methods detailing TCP environment on local machine;
• - Transparent support for IC v6.7.x, ITK v2.0.x, and ITK v2.5.x;
• - Full SSL support when using ITK v2.5.x.

The TCP stream management system, entitled TCPd Streams Stack, built into TCP Deux provides a complete management and tracking system for 4D developers to use for handling all TCP streams. The TCPd Streams Stack provides transparent management of all TCP streams, allowing the 4D developer to concentrate on management the higher level TCP protocol being coded for instead of the direct management of the TCP connection streams. And, the TCPd Streams Stack even provides full support for common TCP serving options (e.g. distributed process handlers within 4D).

The TCP Deux component requires the BASh component be installed to operate properly. BASh is available for free from Deep Sky Technologies, Inc., and provides essential routines needed by all 4D programmers.

Pricing and Availability

TCP Deux will be released commercially with separate development and deployment licensing. Development licensing will include all updates released within a year of purchase for free and allows for unlimited development by a single developer for a period of one year from the date of purchase. Renewals of the development license will be provided at a discounted price. Deployment licensing is a one time fee per application which will allow unlimited deployments to run indefinitely.

The pricing for the different options available for purchasing TCP Deux are as follows:

TCP Deux provides full support for Internet ToolKit (ITK) v2.5.x. Deep Sky Technologies, Inc., is an authorized, worldwide distributor of ITK v2.5.x. Developers that purchase ITK v2.5.x through DSTi receive the following discounted prices for when purchasing TCP Deux, as well:

* All prices are in US dollars.

The TCP Deux component can be downloaded by following the Downloads link on the Deep Sky Technologies, Inc., web site, located at:

     http://www.deepskytech.com/

About Deep Sky Technologies, Inc.

Based in Vero Beach, Florida, Deep Sky Technologies, Inc., provides software development, consulting, hosting, and colocation services. Founded in 1997, Deep Sky Technologies, Inc., develops and supports a wide variety of software development tools and services to aid in the creation of custom applications and web sites for the Macintosh and Windows platform. For more information, please visit our home page at http://www.deepskytech.com/.

For more information contact:

Steven G. Willis
President, Deep Sky Technologies, Inc.
sgwillis@deepskytech.com
http://www.deepskytech.com/
(561) 794-9494

All trade names referenced in this document are the trademark or registered trademark of their respective holder.

BASh and TCP Deux are copyright Deep Sky Technologies, Inc.

4th Dimension, ACI, ACI US, 4D Compiler, 4D, 4D Server, 4D Client, and 4D Insider are trademarks of 4D, Inc.

4D Internet Commands plugin is provided courtesy, and with permission, of 4D, Inc.

Internet ToolKit plugin is provided courtesy, and with permission, of Christian Quest.

Macintosh and MacOS are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc.

Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.

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