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ConceptDraw World Conference, held on March 28-30, 2002 in Odessa, Ukraine, was the first software-related international event organized in Eastern Europe. CS-Odessa, the organizer of the conference, welcomed guests from all over the world to Odessa and ConceptDraw World – an event devoted to ConceptDraw and the solutions it can provide to various organizations. This conference focused on the rich technical capabilities and hundreds of case studies that CS-Odessa has received from individuals and organizations around the world, who every day creatively solve a broad range of graphic, presentation and development needs with ConceptDraw. March, 28, 2002 On Friday 28, March 2002 ConceptDraw World Conference opened with the speech of Gregory Zhukov, the President & CEO of Computer Systems Odessa. In his address at the Conference opening Mr. Zhukov warmly welcomed the participants of the first Conference in the history of ConceptDraw Product Line and stressed the importance of this event in the 3 years’ history of ConceptDraw. 
“This Conference is the crucial landmark in the history of development of ConceptDraw product family, which made the way from a single productivity application to the family of products providing technologies and solutions,” – said Zhukov, “It marks the time when ConceptDraw is getting mature turning into the platform for corporate visualization solutions.” Who is Behind ConceptDraw? A report devoted to the history and realities of Computer Systems Odessa, the producer of ConceptDraw, was presented by the PR manager Irina Nazarova. 
The company was founded in 1993. Initially it worked as a provider of complex software and hardware solutions for corporate businesses and small offices. The first project of CS-Odessa was MacPublisher published by MacSoft in 1994. Until 1997 CS-Odessa acted mostly as developer of customized software for Macintosh, Windows and Unix platforms. The software ranged from 3D and CAD products to games. In 1997 the idea of creating ConceptDraw – a multi-purpose tool for common use, which would be developed, introduced and distributed independently by CS-Odessa, was born. A talented, creative and purposeful leader Gregory Zhukov is at the head of the unanimous team. The flagship product ConceptDraw was successfully published in November, 1999. 
It developed into 5 related editions: ConceptDraw Standard and Professional, ConceptDraw MEDICAL and ConceptDraw MINDMAP Standard and Professional are available now. Currently Computer Systems Odessa team has grown from 8 to 57 people. In spite of growth of the number of employees, all of us stay good friends. Birthdays are traditionally celebrated together. We visit swimming pool and sauna, play basketball, and jog near the sea. Walking-tours and trips are frequently launched. 
CSO offers a rich library and frequently holds colorful seminars, so the proficiency of workers is taken into account. During its history CS-Odessa has participated in international computer exhibitions: MacWorld SF, NY 2001 and MacExpo UK, London 2001. At MacExpo in San Francisco Apple particularly emphasized ConceptDraw as one of the first products for OS X. Special presentations and lectures on ConceptDraw technology were organized. The flagship product ConceptDraw can boast awards from ZDNet, VersionTracker, MacAddict. 
The keynote speech of Stanislav Sedashov, the head of Product Planning Department, uncovered the history of how the ConceptDraw Line grew from a single diagramming application to the suite of productivity software and revealed the current strategies and plans for further development of ConceptDraw Line. Stanislav touched upon the first projects carried out by CS Odessa team and how the previous extensive experience in developing 2D and 3D applications prepared the ground for the release of the company’s flagship product ConceptDraw in 1999. The desire to make ConceptDraw a really convenient and powerful tool stretched out the development terms for ConceptDraw, still after its release CS-Odessa team had to make a way from the idea to produce powerful software to the good understanding of actual customer problems and needs and the importance of correct positioning and promotion of its products. That brought to life the line of specialized editions targeted to specialists in particular spheres. The ideas of some of the products like ConceptDraw Professional and ConceptDraw MEDICAL were conceived inside the company, while other, like ConceptDraw MINDMAP, - with the advice of international partners. All these products are ConceptDraw compatible and are based on ConceptDraw powerful engine. Initially targeting to the Windows market ConceptDraw grew more and more popular with Macintosh users and put CS Odessa among the leading developers of office applications on the Macintosh platform. This made the company adapt its further strategies and point them to the Macintosh and cross platforms markets. CS-Odessa gained experience in promoting its products, participated in major events, established relations with partners all over the world. Guided by the commitment to extend its Productivity Line, CS-Odessa plans to release a powerful presentation software ConceptDraw Presenter. At the same time the company launches the program aimed to support the developers of corporate solutions using ConceptDraw as a visualization platform. ConceptDraw & ConceptDraw Pro Presentation This report by Valeriy Ryazanov, the VP of Marketing for Computer Systems Odessa, provides an overview of ConceptDraw and ConceptDraw Pro, cornerstone of ConceptDraw product line. 
ConceptDraw is the only professional diagramming program that works under Windows, Mac OS and OS X. The product was initially released in November 1999, and was thought to become a lower-priced alternative to MS Visio on the Windows platform. However, it became especially popular on the Macintosh. ConceptDraw was one of the first OS X-ready products presented at MacWorld Expo SF, 2001. ConceptDraw is used by managers, IT specialists and programmers, network administrators and educators. Apart from single users, many organizations including Apple, NASA, Motorola and others use ConceptDraw in their daily work. ConceptDraw includes powerful drawing tools, coupled with rich object libraries for drag-and-drop diagramming. It allows for programmable objects, and lots of tools for precise drawing. 
Documents can be exported to HTML, PDF or PowerPoint, for dynamic presentations. ConceptDraw is the major diagramming app on the Mac side, and one of the most powerful on the Windows, with Visio and SmartDraw as main alternatives. The program has room to grow – the nearest update will add XML support and Altima NetZoom integration, which brings over 40,000 dedicated networking objects into it. And of course, everyone’s waiting for the major upgrade, scheduled by the end of the year, which will include database connectivity and re-worked interface, along with lots of other great features. ConceptDraw MEDICAL Helen Nersesova, the Product Manager of ConceptDraw MEDICAL, introduced her product. This software was being thought over since 1997 in CS-Odessa as a set of anatomical images on CD. 
Released in 2001, ConceptDraw MEDICAL is a powerful graphics program that gives users a quick way to lay out and draw up the necessary medical flowcharts, diagrams, schemes or create presentations. It is the simplest method to share your ideas with other people. And you don’t have to be an artist to create a good-looking flowchart or scheme. 
ConceptDraw MEDICAL lets you draw with symbols any document, from medical reports to orgcharts, flowcharts and illustrations for medical teaching. It can be used for anatomical presentations that might be found in a medical legal nurse consulting. The software includes several hundreds of anatomical images for illustrative example, covering such fields as Human Body, Blood, Cardiovascular, Muscles, Nervous, Sensory, etc. ConceptDraw MEDICAL is a must-have type of program for immunology laboratories, Microbiology, Biology, Chemical, Biochemistry depts., for large percentage of medical workers, clinical personnel, medical managers and more. Some ConceptDraw MEDICAL users: Weill Medical College, Vanderbilt University, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Internal Medicine Associates, University Hospital Zurich, University of Chicago, Children’s Hospital, Medical Center of Cincinnati, UNC-Gene Therapy Center, Physicians Insurance. ConceptDraw Presenter ConceptDraw Presenter is a new product for creating presentations, and also Flash animations and interactive Web pages. 
At the conference it was introduced by the Manager of this project, Pavel Skurtul, in a vivid metaphoric way. He described how this program first began “growing like mushrooms”, and how much effort it took to get rid of the “toadstools” (it means extensive but unstable functionality) and make sure to have only good and useful “mushrooms” in the ConceptDraw Presenter “forest glade”. So, what are those “good mushrooms”, the necessary, powerful and user-friendly features? The first is the powerful vector drawing engine. This is a set of drawing tools, lots of smart connectors and dozens of object libraries, enabling users to create all kinds of schemes (orgcharts, network diagrams, Web site maps, timelines, etc.), with all the facilities of ConceptDraw at your disposal! Then comes the “mushroom” for beginners: the Presentation Wizard and the New Slide Assistant. So, you can create a presentation from the task-related template in several clicks, and when adding new slides, you can choose an automatic layout. And for living in harmony with other apps on our user’s computer, we offer advanced import/export capabilities, and, what is most important for onceptDraw Presenter, - the PowerPoint integration (import and export). A separate group of “mushrooms” adds vividness and dynamics to the presentation, with full timing control: The Macromedia Flash export makes your dynamic show viewable with any Web browser! You can share your shows easily in the compact ConceptDraw Show format viewed by the free ConceptDraw Player utility. In the Windows version the software comes with customizable toolbars and menus, and in the Mac version - more convenience and harmony with the Mac OS X style. These are just the major features of ConceptDraw Presenter. Our team hopes these “mushrooms” will be found nice by all users. ConceptDraw MINDMAP 
A Mind Map is a tree of ideas radiating from the central theme in all directions, and enhanced by images, code signs, and all kinds of arrows showing the relations between concepts. The ideas can be reinforced by different colors, fonts and figures. The outstanding benefits of Mind Mapping are creativity and the clear view of the whole matter. Recording random ideas in any suitable way, you are not limited by any form of expression (such as sequence of sentences). Then you can organize the ideas, seeing the entire structure of the topic. This saves your time and helps you get the most of the potential of your mind. ConceptDraw MINDMAP has been created to meet the increasing demand for a Mind Mapping program working across the Macintosh and Windows platforms. This is a comprehensive tool which is powerful and at the same time easy-to-use. Besides specific features for Mind Mapping and Brainstorming, the program provides you with an excellent vector drawing engine, enabling you to create all kinds of charts and diagrams (e.g. show the facts supporting your ideas). For professional needs, there is also the Professional version of ConceptDraw MINDMAP, offering more advanced features (such as additional formats and support for multi-paged Mind Maps). 
ConceptDraw MINDMAP offers you a wide range of convenient features, such as Mind Map Assistant, Brainstorming mode, quick symbols and Text Notes, hundreds of ready-made objects for illustration. The outstanding Web capabilities let you create and use hyperlinks, and obtain a Web-ready document in seconds. Thanks to the Outline support users can save the Mind Maps in text form, and vice versa, generate a Map from text outline. It is easy to set the format, arrangement and style for the whole Mind Map – it takes several clicks only. Prospects. ConceptDraw 2.0 Presentation 
They can be grouped into 4 major categories: As for the interface, the toolbars and dialogs have been reworked dramatically. A lot of convenient floating palettes have been added, and toolbar buttons are now customizable. The WYSIWYG concept means that when you edit objects or text, you see them exactly as you get them in the output. New powerful features include optimized resource management, improved text handling, color management, support for over 40 file formats, and more. ConceptDraw 2.0 offers great possibilities to developers - thanks to the built-in scripting language and XML support ConceptDraw becomes a new and prospective environment for developers of cross-platform visualization solutions, and more. March, 29, 2002 The second day of ConceptDraw World Conference was devoted to announcement and detailed presentation of using ConceptDraw as a platform for developers of corporate solutions. ConceptDraw Developer solutions One of the key Conference announcements was the introduction ConceptDraw Developer Solution Program made by Oleg Bocharnikov, the Product Manager of ConceptDraw v. 1.x. 
Being a powerful drawing and diagramming application, ConceptDraw serves the perfect visualization platform for development of specialized solutions. ConceptDraw Developer Solution is aimed at providing third party developers with comprehensive information and documentation on opportunities ConceptDraw products offer of corporate solutions development. As a part of ConceptDraw Developer support CS Odessa offers ConceptDraw Software Developer Kit, which contains detailed documentation, additional applications and samples of usage. The documentation contains descriptions of technologies and specification of formats implemented into ConceptDraw products, which can be used for development of specialized solutions. In particular there are descriptions of Outline, FlowData and XML formats. ConceptDraw SDK also includes samples of diverse solutions supplied together with source codes. Most of the samples are given for both Macintosh and Windows platforms. ConceptDraw SDK will be available for download and on CDs. Object Table Pavel Skurtul demonstrated ConceptDraw advanced technologies, which provide with unlimited control over the properties of objects. This is the Object Parameter Table, which lets you set the values or determine the formulas for any parameter describing the object. We all know those graphic applications with lots of drawing tools and rich sets of ready-made library objects. But it is often needed to create a custom object, or make some changes in existing library object, e.g. customize a pie chart, or adjust the view of the measurement elements in a drawing. So, how to simplify this procedure? And further, how to enable the users to create objects of their own, and the third-party developers to create customizable objects for their clients’ orders? The solution is the Object Parameter Table: it brings together all the parameters describing the object properties and behavior. They are conveniently grouped in sections: Transform, Geometry, Controls, Connect, Line Properties, Fill Format, Protection, Text Field, Actions, etc. You can create smart objects with control handles: by dragging the control handle, the users can customize some properties of the object (e.g. the size of a sector in a pie chart, the position of text, the form of an arrow or callout, etc.). They can also create inter-dependent objects, making the properties of an object depend on the parameters of another object according to some formulas.) For setting the formulas, ConceptDraw offers a large set of functions: mathematical, trigonometric, logical, textual, functions for all kinds of transforms and approximation, for getting the document properties, date and time, etc. So, by means of the Object Table and formulas ConceptDraw provides with extensive ways for programming the behavior of objects and creating all kinds of custom solutions. FlowData format Oleg Bocharnikov, the Product Manager of ConceptDraw v 1.x, told about the support for the FlowData format in the current versions of ConceptDraw, gave the general format description and samples of usage. The support for a textual format made the data exchange between ConceptDraw and third party applications a way more efficient. The data from textual files, generated out of ConceptDraw documents, can be read by other applications, as well as importing textual files allows ConceptDraw to visualize various data from spreadsheets, data bases and other sources. 
Initially, FlowData support was implemented to provide data exchange with MS Visio. Owing to its simplicity the format was selected as the basis for text files support. Unlike Visio, ConceptDraw supports both import and export of textual files, which considerably extends the data exchange opportunities. XML for ConceptDraw This is the beginning of a new era in ConceptDraw development. XML for ConceptDraw is the crucial technology that makes it possible for developers to use ConceptDraw as a tool to visualize their data. As the binary format of ConceptDraw documents is too complex for other applications to support, an open format is needed to pass ConceptDraw data to some other program. Flow Data and Outline formats in ConceptDraw solve this problem, but their capabilities are too limited. For this purpose, XML for ConceptDraw was developed. XML allows to describe all the necessary properties of ConceptDraw documents, thus allowing a third-party application to read ConceptDraw data without losing anything. Likewise, any other program can generate XML for ConceptDraw and describe its own documents in it, and this description can be very detailed - including colors, fonts, patterns and so on. Then data from such program can be visualized in ConceptDraw. XML for ConceptDraw will be implemented in the product starting from ConceptDraw 1.8, expected to release in a couple of months. It’s notable, that current version of XML for ConceptDraw is fully compatible with XML for ConceptDraw 2.0; moreover, this format was designed with the object model of ConceptDraw 2.0 in mind. So, XML for ConceptDraw is the bridge between these two versions. ConceptDraw SERVER ConceptDraw Server was presented by Alexander Dymerets, the leading developer of this product. ConceptDraw Server is a program for publishing ConceptDraw documents on the Web. It makes the ConceptDraw documents viewable through the Internet with the help of any Web browser. You already know that ConceptDraw lets you create all kinds of business and technical drawings (orgcharts, timelines, technical schemes) and export them to HTML for placing them on the Web. But in this case, two files are generated for each page: the HTML file and the picture (GIF or JPEG). This may present a difficulty when you need to update the information: you’ll have to make the changes in these numerous files, and some of them are likely to be forgotten. 
The solution is ConceptDraw Server which lets you work with the ConceptDraw document directly. This is especially helpful for updating the documents, and, certainly, for sharing and group work. ConceptDraw Server lets you limit the access to the documents if necessary. For each document, you can associate the list of the authorized users and their passwords. It is created easily with the ConceptDraw WebAssistant: you just fill in the needed entries. The access information is stored in a separate file with the same name and the .cww extension, which is placed on the Server together with the document. You can configure the settings for ConceptDraw Server through the Control Panel: set the options for statistics, parameters for clearing the cache, and change the root directory if necessary. As to the prospects, it is planned to port ConceptDraw Server to the Macintosh and Unix platforms after the release of ConceptDraw 2.0 with its new internal engine and advanced capabilities. This will turn ConceptDraw into a powerful platform for Web development. Data Visualization The introduction of Flow Data format in ConceptDraw Professional, which allows for importing textual data into the program, means a new level in ConceptDraw evolution. It dramatically expanded data visualization capabilities of ConceptDraw. Now it’s possible to automate creation of graphs, schemes, tables and diagrams, passing information from other applications into ConceptDraw. Notice, that Flow Format is the simplest of the means, offered to developers. XML for ConceptDraw and the built-in scripting language will give developers new, much more flexible interfaces for data exchange with other applications. A number of examples demonstrated at the conference showed the powerful possibilities of such a relatively simple format as Flow Data, which uses ConceptDraw library objects to create a document. They demonstrated the interaction of ConceptDraw with Microsoft Office applications: MS Word, MS Excel and MS Access. The examples are written in the built-in language Visual Basic for Applications. They get current information from Microsoft Office files or the local network, after which they show it in a visual way, using ConceptDraw capabilities. If the data is changed, you can update their visual representation by a couple of mouse clicks. As the users can choose the objects, used in the scheme when importing data, they can get the diagrams that look exactly as they want. That’s why in some cases ConceptDraw is an efficient tool, than the standard tools of common office packages. WebMapping Users often need to visualize data automatically in ConceptDraw. Now the Professional version of ConceptDraw is enabled to exchange data with the user’s custom applications by means of open formats: Outline, Flow Data, and XML. Oleg Fokin presented samples of such custom solutions. 
Site Mapper is intended for building the map of a Web site. It analyses the site structure to the given depth or within the given host. The structure is saved in the Flow Data format, and then visualized in ConceptDraw Professional. Then, you can edit the visual map: add or delete elements, change their subordination and formatting (fonts, text and scale). The map can be exported to different popular formats. And by using the hyperlinks in the map, you can view the documents in the Web browser. Site Mapper is a C++ program with the fully cross-platform engine, so it works both under Windows and Mac OS/Mac OS X. The program is available in source code in two variants: with console and dialog interface. This program saves the site structure in the Flow Data format. By analyzing the structure, the program automatically selects the optimal-sized template, and adjusts the coordinates of objects representing the documents. For the links, the connectors are added. To reduce the connectors for the refer links, the latter are replaced by additional objects shown in grey. So the structure of the site becomes clear. Basing on the given sample, a number of similar programs can be created: e.g. you can make a program find and map the sites having the content of given type. The source code of this sample can be adapted for local networking, databases, and for analyzing any structured data. SiteBuilder is another sample program working Web site maps. It parses the existing map of the Web site (in Flow Data), and generates a site template: a set of blank HTML documents hyperlinked according to the map. The only thing left is to fill the documents with content! March, 30, 2002 Training and Workshops On March 30th trainings and workshops on the practical usage of ConceptDraw programs were performed. The professionals taught how to create orgcharts, workflows, mind maps, etc. Different ways of interface modelling were introduced. The hall was equipped with computers, so everybody present was welcome to try creating own documents in ConceptDraw. The executives were unveiling secrets needed for getting the best out of ConceptDraw. 
A series of presentations created with the help of a beta version of ConceptDraw Presenter were produced. Conference Special Events Sightseeing tours Conference attendees took part in sightseeing tours about Odessa and its most popular places, visited museums and art galleries.
Odessa Gulf Boat Party (04/29/02) On March 29, 2002 those who are fond of adventure set off for Odessa Gulf Boat Party. The party was launched on the catamaran “Khadzhibey”. It is popular among Odessians to sail around Odessa Gulf in good weather. The guests enjoyed the beauty of Odessa Sea harbor and indented coastline. 
ConceptDraw World Party (04/30/02) Finally ConceptDraw World Conference closed with the great event ConceptDraw World Party. The beautiful hall, decorated with CS-Odessa flags and other company symbols, was crowded with conference attendees. 4 cuisines popular in Odessa (Ukrainian, Caucasian, Jewish and Odessian) were presented. Odessa, being an international city, offers a mixture from different world cultures. This can be also said about food served in Odessa restaurants and cafes. Each participant was able to find anything to his taste. Professional dancers, magicians and even the live bear gave a special exquisite coloring to ConceptDraw World Party. The next ConceptDraw World!!! Conference Kit A conference kit with diverse ConceptDraw products information and case studies; collection of conference keynotes, speeches and trainings is available online at: http://www.conceptdraw.com/en/products/CDWorldKit/ The set of materials is accompanied by:
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