Company Background

About 4D.

4D is the first company to offer a single, integrated Web development tool capable of designing cross-platform, standalone, multi-user and Web server applications with just one set of code. As a result, developers and businesses of all types and sizes, from single-person operations to Fortune 500 companies, use 4D products to build better Web applications quicker, more securely, and with greater ease and accuracy than with other products on the market. 4D's comprehensive and complimentary development technologies allow users to produce complex Web sites without purchasing additional tools and to migrate easily from single-user to client-server to Web-based applications.

4D, formerly ACI , has been thinking big and opening development possibilities for developers and businesses around the world for more than a decade.

The 4D Foundation of Innovation and Experience

4D SA was founded in 1984 in France as Analysis Conseils Information (ACI), launching an innovative desktop relational database management system (RDBMS), 4th Dimension (4D). Laurent Ribardiere, president of 4D since its inception, is the original author of 4th Dimension and the primary designer and programmer for other products in the 4th Dimension environment.

The company's growth and longevity are due to the stability and long-term investment of its engineering design team, with core engineers averaging more than nine years with the company. As a result, 4D continues to provide innovative products enabling developers and businesses to compete in today's fast-moving business environment.

Product Evolution

Since 1984, the 4D product line has evolved from a desktop relational database to include an integrated client-server solution, a SQL front-end, numerous productivity plug-ins, an ODBC driver, and an Internet development environment with a built-in Web server.

Already widely accepted as a top performing RAD/RDBMS tool, the company's revenues grew significantly in 1993 with the release of 4D Server, the client/server version of 4th Dimension. That year, 4D Server accounted for 40 percent of the company's revenue. Since 1995, all 4D's products have been cross-platform. Anticipating future business trends, 4D migrated to the Web in 1996 with the release of the first version of 4D to contain a fully integrated Web server. This allowed developers to quickly translate 4D forms into HTML using only the 4D language. 4D was also one of the first to offer WAP/WML capabilities, enabling companies to connect to databases from anywhere, and at anytime.

4D's recently released product suite, 4D version 6.8, outperforms other RAD/RDBMS tools, with SSL encryption, WML, WAP, XML, CGI, HTML tag-driven access, 16 million keys per index, faster queries and a flexible set of professional-level tools. Building upon its strong history in database and Web development tools, 4D released 4D Business Kit in 2002, an integrated, multi-language, multi-store eCommerce development tool, designed for rapid development of Web storefront solutions. Today, 4D boasts an unsurpassed award-winning development environment with more than 7,000 software houses, 55,000 developers, and more than two million users internationally.

In 2000, 4D acquired StarNine Technologies and the WebSTAR product line, a Macintosh-based suite of servers, complete with Web, FTP, Proxy and Mail Servers, to compliment 4D's own Web server and provide a wide range of Web development options. Engineering efforts have developed the next generation of WebSTAR, 4D WebSTAR Server Suite V. Built for Mac OS X, 4D WebSTAR V remains the fastest, easiest to administer, and most secure server for the Mac due to many new feature enhancements. A new administration, advanced caching, and a multi-threaded process architecture are among the chief new improvements. Support for Unix CGIs (including Perl 5), AppleEvent CGI, Tomcat, Java Servlets, and JSP have all been added. A new WebDAV file-sharing service has been built-in, and a new, faster indexing system has also been included. 4D Mail, the powerful mail server featuring support for POP, IMAP, and SMTP protocols, aggressive spam filtering, virus scanning, and more, offers users the ultimate in mail serving capabilities, as an individual product or as part of the legendary 4D WebSTAR V Server Suite.

The Products

Development Tools
4th Dimension Standard Edition- The efficiency of a RAD tool including a high level development language, a powerful RDBMS and strong Web publishing capabilities. Unlimited interpreted Runtime included.

4th Dimension Developer Edition- The power and efficiency of a complete development environment system.

4D Server Standard Edition- Powerful development and deployment client/server solution. 4D Server allows users to deploy 4th Dimension solutions in multi-user versions without the need for middleware or any re-engineering

4D Server Developer Edition- Complete solution for multi-user RAD development of 4th Dimension solutions.

Advanced Kit for 4th Dimension - includes 4D Insider, 4D Compiler, 4D Write, 4D Draw, 4D Backup and 4D Open Suite

Deployment Tools
4D Server Application- allows deployment of multi-user applications in compiled mode.

4D Engine - allows unlimited deployment of compiled applications.

4D Compiler - native code multi-target compiler

4D Insider - code management system

4D Runtime Classic - allows deployment of compiled applications

4D Internet Extension- Enables developers to use 4th Dimension, 4D Runtime or an executable application generated with 4D Engine as a Web server.

4D Server Internet Extension - Enables developers to use 4D Server as a Web server. 4th Dimension or 4D Server then become complete Web servers of static and dynamic pages.

4D Client Expansion Pack - Enables developers to expand the number of users on a system.

Productivity Plug-ins
4D Draw- powerful drawing package to present data graphically.

4D Write- fully programmable word processor integrated with the database.

4D Backup - complete backup module for 4D.

Connectivity Plug-ins
4D ODBC
ODBC Driver
4D ORACLE
4D Open (API)

The WebSTAR Server Suite
WebSTAR Server Suite - WebSTAR Server Suite is a complete set of powerful and easy-to-use Internet servers for the Mac OS. Effortlessly serve web pages, host email accounts, publish databases, and share files all with the same software package on one Mac!

Distribution Channel

4D is supported by an established distribution channel in over 30 countries in North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. The 4th Dimension product line is localised in 15 languages, including: English, French, German, Japanese, Hebrew, Arabic, Korean and Farsi.

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