Information Today
              Volume 17, Number 1 • January 2000		 ParaSoft’s SiteRuler Automates HTML Validation and Web Publishing

ParaSoft Corp., a provider of software error prevention and detection solutions, has announced that it has released SiteRuler 1.1, an Internet tool that finds and fixes errors in corporate Web sites. ParaSoft’s flagship Internet tool detects and repairs all major Web site glitches, such as broken links and anchors, bad HTML, and orphaned files. In addition, SiteRuler streamlines the site-development process by automating all essential aspects of Web site management, including editing, source control, and publishing.

“Identifying and preventing errors is critical not only to effective Web-based e-business, but also to survival and sustained success in today’s new Internet economy,” said ParaSoft CEO Adam Kolawa.

SiteRuler checks all links, including internal anchor references, unique browser links, Web server links, and malformed links that may otherwise be unrecognizable. SiteRuler also checks off-line links or links that go outside a site’s domain.

ParaSoft reports that SiteRuler’s publishing features help developers transfer documents to a variety of targets with efficiency and ease. SiteRuler allows developers to package a site during publishing by including only the files that are relevant to or appropriate for a particular audience. By setting properties for a target, users can automatically publish selected files to a particular target each time they update a site. Developers can instruct SiteRuler to skip a file when it publishes to one site, but to include the file when publishing to another. SiteRuler can also rename a file when it is published to a particular audience, or localize a site’s links so that clients can view a limited version of the site on a CD without relying on Internet access.

Furthermore, SiteRuler can simultaneously publish an entire site to multiple targets, such as an http and an ftp location. Users may also copy a site to a local directory for future reference or to guard against data loss. SiteRuler allows developers to select pass/fail filters that prevent pages containing certain kinds of errors from reaching the public. In short, SiteRuler ensures that a Web site will reach its entire audience in exactly the formats chosen by the developer.

According to the announcement, ParaSoft utilized SiteRuler to conduct its just-released Web Audit, which highlights the importance of error detection and just how pervasive and damaging Web site errors are across industries. After scanning 95 of the Fortune 100 company Web sites for coding errors and other functional and aesthetic glitches, including link errors, HTML errors, and technology usage, SiteRuler uncovered Web site link errors every three and a half pages, and over 12 HTML coding errors per page. The study evaluated nearly 300,000 Web pages and found more than 84,000 link errors and over 3.6 million HTML coding errors.

“Web site errors matter because they can cost companies productivity, customers, and profits,” said Arthur Hicken, executive vice president of ParaSoft. “Considering that corporations are spending anywhere from $5 million to $20 million to establish a differentiated Web presence, it’s astonishing that so many corporate Web sites are riddled with embarrassing flaws that can trip up key constituents like customers, employees, and shareholders.”

SiteRuler is currently available, and runs on Windows NT/95/98, Linux, and Sun Solaris. Pricing begins at $1,499 and up. More information is available at http://www.siteruler.com.

Source: ParaSoft Corp., Monrovia, CA, 888/305-0041; http://www.parasoft.com.

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