Alpha files information to Web

Alpha Software has joined the rush to the Internet with the Webfiler, a new tool that targets small and midsized companies looking to move information onto their Web sites from "almost any desktop database or spreadsheet."

The beta version of Webfiler is the first product to emerge from Alpha's month-old Internet Services Division.

The Webfiler allows the technically uninitiated to use File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and regular email to move company database information onto the Web, where it can be viewed using a standard browser. The product is integrated with Microsoft FrontPage and includes some security features. Order entry, contact management, human resource, and other online applications can be built using the database tool as a foundation.

Webfiler works with Windows NT and 95 operating systems, delimited text, dBase, and Access databases and supports the FTP, HTTP, SMTP, and POP3 Internet protocols.

Webfiler can be downloaded for free from the company's Web site. It is scheduled to ship in December for a starting price of $499. A client-server edition compliant with the Open DataBase Connectivity (ODBC) interface will be ready in the first quarter and start at $995, the Burlington, Massachusetts-based company said.

Another Internet product currently undergoing beta testing is version 3 of the Alpha Five Professional Edition, an enhanced version of its database tool for Windows 95 systems.