Customer Solutions - Directories

This page presents four directory database publishing customers. Directories can range in scope from a personnel listing to the presentation of complex intellectual property information. Each case presents a different application of the PatternStream database publishing solution.

Directory Solution One

AIMR provides Certified Financial Advisor (CFA) certification and other services to its more than 37,000 members in 74 countries worldwide. Its members include some of the world’s top investment advisors, bankers, and financial planners.

As part of its member service, AIMR publishes a printed directory which it distributes to its members. AIMR previously used in-house resources and an external service bureau/printer to publish the directory. External service costs exceeded $37,000 per year and required two to three in-house personnel to be allocated for seven weeks or more.

Using the PatternStream desktop database publishing solution, AIMR realizes substantial cost savings from the elimination of external services and a significant decrease in personnel time commitment (one person, two weeks). In addition, AIMR is using the solution to publish and distribute new, society specific electronic (PDF) directories for its more than 80 affiliated worldwide societies.

Directory Solution Two

CBI is a Washington, D.C. based directory publisher. CBI publishes five products annually that provide information to a variety of organizations including:

• Associations
• Corporations
• Lobbyists
• Political

Before 1999, CBI was maintaining its intellectual property in a proprietary database structure that was maintained by a vendor. To publish its products, CBI had to send its database dump to the vendor, have them process it and send printed copies back for review. This was an expensive process with long lead times and low productivity. In addition, CBI’s valuable property and publishing process was in the hands and under the control of an outside vendor.

FML set up and published the five directories for CBI in-house using the PatternStream desktop database publishing solution. FML designed, developed, and implemented a Microsoft SQL Server directory database, PowerBuilder-based database applications, and database import applications. Using the book layout developed by CBI’s consultant, FML developed FrameMaker templates and created the pattern set template files to publish the directories.

The directories contain unique queries and formats that were implemented using PatternStream. As an example, a four column table, within the two column text flow is used to delineate political contributions in CPA, if applicable, to an organization. All of the directories contain a series of indices that were automatically created from the markers placed in sections from the database.

After the individual FrameMaker directory files were created, they were assembled into FrameMaker books. PatternStream generated index sections were updated, and a table of contents was created. PDF files were then created from the FrameMaker files and ftp’ed to the printer for printing direct to plate.

Michael Goldman, CBI’s President and Publisher, has stated that this new solution has dramatically changed their business. Gone are the days of costly outsourcing, physical markup, and long lead times. Editors can make changes up to the last minute, printing problems can be corrected in minutes, and they can print actual pages for review. Mr. Goldman is extremely happy because he has more accurate books, experiences smaller publishing lead time, retains his intellectual property in-house, and has cut costs.

Directory Solution Three

S & P is one of the county’s oldest and most prestigious financial service companies. Located in Manhattan’s financial district, S & P publishes electronic and print information for investors, corporations, regulators, and other customers worldwide.

FML is using FrameMaker and PatternStream to provide a database publishing solution to publish S & P’s Daily Newsletter and Corporate Description Directory. PatternStream obtains information from an object-based Oracle database and uses FrameMaker to publish to print, PDF, HTML, and SGML.