Snowflake Software announces GO Loader 1.4 - continuing its commitment to supporting multiple GIS packages and open technology through the introduction of Fan-Out, and enhanced CAPS UNI-form support.

Snowflake Software's recent announcement that the GO Loader product suite now supports GML 3 is further proof that the company is a forerunner when it comes to technology. However, it still only reflects some of the recent engineering developments that have been taking place at the company's facilities in Southampton . The release of GO Loader 1.4 also provides two new major advantages to the user base: the introduction of Fan-Out support, and the ability to connect to CAPS UNI-form .

A major development in the new release of GO Loader 1.4 is the ability to 'Fan-Out'. This extends GO Loader's data modelling capabilities to allow users to organise data storage based on values of OS MasterMap attributes. For example, users can subdivide a feature type such as 'TopographicArea' into roads, building and water, and store them in separate tables. This feature enables the provision of more flexible and high performance access to the data by multiple GIS packages.

The importance of opening up the GIS system and not being reliant on any one GIS vendor has never been so apparent. As the adoption of open standards becomes a reality, users are starting to enjoy the fact that they are no longer "tied in" to any single supplier but are open to flexibility of choice, enjoying the independence of technology going forward.

Snowflake Software's latest release of GO Loader further defines this strategy with additional support for the CAPS UNI-form product suite. "Our support for CAPS UNI-form was the direct result of requests from our user base," explains Ian Painter, Managing Director of Snowflake Software, "They recognised a shortfall in the ability to connect and integrate multiple GIS packages and were faced with one of two alternatives: either running two or more GIS implementations simultaneously or having to re-train their staff. With GO Loader's ability to connect multiple GIS packages, this dilemma is taken away from them."

GO Loader 1.4 is available now.