Home > More Information

The askSam Database Engine
The Flexible Full-Text Engine to Drive Your Applications

The askSam database engine is a flexible, full-text searchable, database engine designed to deal with both structured and unstructured information. Unlike traditional databases, the askSam engine frees you from tables and pre-defined structures. There's no better tool for handling applications with free-form data, data with differing formats, or data that needs to be quickly and easily searched - applications that organize email, medical records, legal texts, resumes, imaged or scanned documents, meta-information, and document management. askSam will save you time and money in your development efforts.


The askSam advantage
The askSam Engine was designed to be fast and flexible. It provides a different approach from traditional databases for managing and searching information.

Flexibility

  • askSam was designed to deal with unstructured and structured information.
  • A single database can contain data with multiple structures. The askSam Engine is a great met repository for applications that gather different types of information.
  • Save text, data, and information without pre defining structure or tables.
  • The askSam Engine can automatically use structure inherent in your data as fields. For example, the words Subject:, Date:, To:, and From: in email messages can be used as fields in an askSam database. Similarly, Web Forms can post directly to an askSam database with tags for the information.
  • No predefined field lengths and no limits to field size.
  • Support for repeating fields (for example multiple fields for a contact history).
  • Import API supports importing different data types text, RTF, HTML, Word, Delimited, and more.
  • Sort and Output fields or output document fragments from your data (for example hit context).
Ease of Development
  • Import and publish the askSam Engine is ideal for database-driven Web sites. It can import a variety of common formats into the database and natively return data in HTML format.
  • Flexibility leads to simplicity. Because askSam does not require structure, field lengths, or tables, you'll find that many applications are quick and easy to get up and running. They are also easy to maintain and modify.
  • Native support for outputting data in Text, HTML, or RTF format.
  • Simple, but powerful reporting features are built into askSam.
Searches - Powerful & Fast

  • Extremely fast full text searches.
  • Full text indexing of entire database askSam can search in specific fields or through any field or text in the entire database.
  • Support for Text, Date, Numeric, Proximity, Wildcard, Fuzzy, & Boolean Searches.
  • Search in Remembered Document Sets.
High Performance / Low Resources

  • Database engine size - approximately 1.3 MB
  • Low memory requirements for server connections
  • Supports a large number of users and many databases on a single server.

System Requirements

To create Web-based applications...

  • IIS Web server running Windows 95, 98, NT, 2000, XP, or 2003 (We recommend Windows NT, Windows 2000, XP Professional or Windows 2003 running NTFS)
  • IDE (Integrated Development Environment) such as VisualStudio.NET, Visual Interdev or Notepad (ASP applications)
To create Windows applications...
  • IDE such as VisualStudio, Visual Studio.NET, or Borland C++
Programming Languages/Platforms Supported..
  • Visual Basic, ASP
  • .NET, C#
  • C++
Plus, the askSam SDK includes sample applications and code.


Features
The askSam engine is feature rich.

Entering & Editing Data

askSam is extremely flexible in dealing with data. Information is stored in documents rather than in tables, and the database can return specific fields, document fragments, or all data from a document. askSam can return data as text, HTML, or RTF.
Ideal for Unstructured Data and Multi-Structured Data
askSam has features to simplify working with unstructured data. Structure inherent in documents (for example words like "To:", "From:", and "Subject:" in an email message) can be used as fields by askSam. askSam allows documents with different structures to be stored in a database.
Fast, Powerful Searches
AskSam uses a powerful and efficient indexing routine to make all information in a database instantly accessible. AskSam searches through huge databases instantly. In addition, askSam offers a wide variety of searches: full-text, date, numeric, proximity, fuzzy, and more.
Flexible Search Results
Search results can include document names, specific fields, hit content, and fragments from a document. The results can be sorted by relevancy, date, or by any other field.
Report Features
Powerful reporting features are built into askSam. askSam can group and sort data, total fields, and more.
Security / Encryption
AskSam allows you to password protect and encrypt your databases. AskSam supports 128 bit encryption.
Email Applications
askSam supports features that make it an ideal tool for applications to organize and manage email. Special filters for importing email, capabilities to recognize To:, From:, Subject: and Date: as fields in email messages. In addition, askSam properly interprets the date format used in email messages and can search and sort using this date format.
Bibliographic and Library Applications
Bibliographic and library applications often require flexibility not found in standard databases. The ability to easily handle multiple data types (books, journals, reports, articles, etc.), capabilities to support multiple authors, long titles, and more. askSam provides features to handle bibliographical information.
Hypertext
askSam supports hypertext links. You can include links in document that help navigate through your databases. You can also include links to Web pages.
Return Data as Text, HTML, or RTF
You can return data from askSam in several different formats: Text, HTML, and RTF. askSam's Export API allows you to export an individual document, selected documents, a remembered subset of documents, or an entire database.
Self-maintaining databases - No DBA
askSam databases do not need to tuned or optimized by a DBA (database administrator). Indexes automatically update, and an optimization routine can automatically pack and optimize databases.
Graphics / Images
You can include graphics and images in your databases. askSam supports a variety of graphic formats as well as OLE.
Attachments / BLOBs
You can attach files to your askSam documents. This attachments are handled as blobs and askSam can return them in their original format.
Support for Large Databases
askSam can support databases up to 16 terabytes in size.
Multi-user support
The askSam database supports multiple users.
Web-Ready
Easily create Web applications with the askSam database. Since askSam can return data in HTML format, it's quick and easy to Web-enable your askSam applications.


Sample applications

Westinghouse Owners Group

The Westinghouse Owners Group used the askSam Database Engine to organize the thousands of Nuclear Regulatory Commission documents that affect license renewal applications for nuclear power plants. The documents included in the database came from a variety of sources: text files, HTML files, word processing files. askSam has import filters which simplifies turning information from a variety of formats into a searchable database. The documents were imported into a central database, and a search interface was created using Active Server pages. This Web-based system provided all Westinghouse Owners Group members full-text searchable access to the relevant documents.

Orange County District Attorney

The Orange Country District Attorney's Office uses TracKRS, a powerful Web-based criminal information system based on the askSam database engine. TracKRS contains investigative information from thousands of violent sex crimes and gives over 250 investigators immediate access to this information. Combining askSam's powerful searches with innovative user interface design, Trackers allows investigators (without computer training) to query the database and link cases based on similar characteristics. The askSam engine was ideal for the TracKRS application because of its flexibility in organizing and searching information. In TracKRS, investigators track information about suspects, victims, weapons, and DNA, as well as a description of the M.O. (over 100 separate fields). In structured databases, this application would require multiple tables and a much more complex set of database queries. With askSam, this information (including information about multiple victims, suspects, etc.) can be stored in a single database record. This makes programming and searching much less complex. Additionally, as the system evolves, new fields can be easily added without forcing the developers to restructure the database schema. The Trackers system has been a tremendous success in assisting investigators in solving numerous cases.

State of Florida, Dept of Revenue

The Florida Department of Revenue (DOR) publishes its complete on-line Tax Law Library (TLL) using a system based on the askSam database. All statutes, legal rulings, and other tax related material are publicly available for citizens, state auditors, and accountants. The information is imported from word processing documents, HTML files, and PDF files into the askSam database. The TLL is available on the Internet (accessible through a front end created using Active Server pages as well as on CD ROM.

gameproducer.com

Gameproducer is the leading business destination for the interactive entertainment industry. Gameproducer provides resources and an on-line market places for computer game publishers and developers. The askSam database engine powers this marketplace - helping match up qualified developers with project proposals submitted by game publishers.

Punch Software

Punch! Software creates the bestselling home design software products. To provide quality on-line support they use a Web-based solution with an askSam backend for managing technical support inquiries. The askSam system increased the efficiency of their support staff and also allowed them to automatically publish knowledgebase articles based on replies by the support technicians.

 askSam Developer News
Subscribe today to receive askSam's free newsletter of product upgrades, discounts and special promotions. Sign up today!
 

The askSam Database is ideal for applications that organize:
  • Email
  • Medical Records
  • Legal Texts
  • Resumes
  • Imaged or Scanned Documents
  • Meta-Information
  • Document Management
  • Regulatory texts
  • and any other unstructured data
Read about some current applications...
"If you need a database program, look no further askSam is the 800 pound gorilla of databases. It features ease of use, plus it is flexible enough to be customized for specialized uses." -- Michael Dulin, President, A1 Shareware Evaluations, SharewareJunkies.com

askSam Systems, P.O. Box 1428, Perry FL 32348.
Phone: 800-800-1997 or 850-584-6590 Email: info@askSam.com Support: http://developer.asksam.com/forums  
© Copyright 1985-2006 || Privacy Statement