Fulcrum SearchBuilder For Java Allows Developers To Create Robust,
         Web-Based Applications That Access Fulcrum's Industry-Leading
                         Information-Retrieval Software

    OTTAWA, Canada, Mar. 12 /PRNewswire/ - Fulcrum Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:
FULCF; TSE: FUL) today announced a Java SDK that allows developers to create
custom applications that access the industry-leading information-retrieval
software from Fulcrum.  Fulcrum SearchBuilder(TM) for Java will allow Java
developers to create robust, Web-based solutions that address their business
needs.
    ``This is another in our history of firsts - the first Java developers'
toolkit in the information retrieval segment,''  said Mike Laginski, president
and chief operating officer of Fulcrum.  ``It should come as no surprise. We
delivered an API and simple-to-use developers' toolkits long before anyone
else in this industry, and that helped to secure our leadership position for
rich knowledge access applications in the corporate world. Fulcrum
SearchBuilder for Java will allow developers to build custom Web interfaces to
their Fulcrum applications more easily.  This solidifies our leadership as
more and more corporate knowledge-sharing applications are appearing on
Intranets.''
    Fulcrum SearchBuilder for Java is based on the JDBC standard to allow
developers to build advanced, fully customized Web-based applications that
leverage the strengths of Java and Fulcrum's proven information-retrieval
software.  With Fulcrum SearchBuilder for Java developers can build Fulcrum
applications in Windows-based or UNIX development environments, and Java
applications are inherently portable across server platforms.  In addition,
line-of-business applications created with Fulcrum SearchBuilder for Java can
be connected to the Fulcrum Knowledge Network(TM), through the Knowledge
Activator for SearchServer(TM).  The Fulcrum Knowledge Network is a recently
announced product that provides a consolidated point of access into enterprise
information assets.  The SearchBuilder for Java toolkit also enables Fulcrum
customers to provide a Web interface to their existing SearchServer
applications.

    Fulcrum SearchBuilder for Java includes:
    JAVA OBJECT CLASSES - Developers can use Java's familiar, object-oriented
language to develop a robust information-retrieval application quickly and
effectively.  The important features of Fulcrum's software provided as
development objects in the kit include on-the-fly conversion of typical office
document formats - over 80 file types - to HTML, enhanced with search-term
highlighting and navigation; query parsing; result list building; and more.

    SAMPLE APPLICATIONS - Developers are provided with examples of application
components built with Java.  These sample application pieces help developers
get started quickly, by allowing them to incorporate certain pieces of
functionality, or to modify them to fit the specific needs of their own
application.

    FULCRUM'S DOCUMENT VIEWER - The Java kit includes the FulView(TM) document
viewer to support high-fidelity rendering of over 150 popular document
formats, including all the common office formats and Adobe PDF, with
search-term highlighting and navigation.

    KEY BENEFITS OF SEARCHBUILDER FOR JAVA
    RICH INFORMATION ACCESS - Fulcrum SearchBuilder for Java lets developers
build the industry's most advanced information-retrieval functionality into
applications.  Features supported include all the search basics - like
searching using Boolean operators, as well as phrase, proximity and wildcard
searching - along with more advanced functionality, such as search-term
highlighting, relevance ranking, Intuitive Searching(TM) (Fulcrum's exclusive
similarity searching feature), linguistic expansion, natural language
searching, and an international thesaurus that supports all major European
languages.

    INHERENT SECURITY - Fulcrum SearchBuilder for Java benefits from the
security features inherent in Java which prevents applications from writing to
the user's computer by controlling where the application writes to and which
networks it can connect to.

    MULTI-LINGUAL APPLICATION SUPPORT - In the increasingly global ``World
Wide'' Web, Java's support for Unicode character sets goes hand-in-hand with
Fulcrum's proven ability to index and search documents in multiple languages,
including all major European languages and Japanese.

    STANDARDS-BASED DEVELOPMENT - SearchBuilder for Java is based on industry
standards like the Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) and SQL specifications.
This means that organizations can tap into the existing skills their
developers' have acquired building applications with JDBC (or ODBC) and SQL.
This adherence to standards also allows organizations to maximize their
existing investments, by allowing Fulcrum's software to integrate with other
JDBC, ODBC and SQL data sources.

    PORTABILITY - One of the key strengths of Java is portability, which means
that customers will not need to invest time porting Fulcrum applications that
have been built with Java.  Custom Web applications built with SearchBuilder
for Java will run on any server that Fulcrum's software runs on, including
multiple UNIX platforms and Microsoft Windows NT.

    EASE OF ADMINISTRATION - SearchBuilder for Java creates a
information-retrieval application that runs on the server, which greatly
reduces the expense and administrative burden of deploying custom clients to
multiple desktops.  As with all Java applications, new versions are
automatically ``pushed'' by the server to the desktop, so that administrative
overhead is kept to a minimum.

    PRICING AND AVAILABILITY
    Fulcrum SearchBuilder for Java is scheduled to ship in the second quarter
of 1997 and North American pricing begins at US$995.
    For 14 years, Fulcrum Technologies Inc. has led the way in building
innovative and effective knowledge management solutions for some of the
world's most important companies.  Fulcrum counts major corporations and
industry leaders like Fujitsu, Microsoft Corp., Nabisco, and Novell among its
customers.  Headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, Fulcrum extends its global reach
with offices throughout the United States, Europe, and in Australia and Japan,
and through a network of partners worldwide.  Fulcrum is publicly traded on
the Nasdaq National Market (``FULCF'') and on the Toronto Stock Exchange
(``FUL'').  For more information on Fulcrum and Fulcrum products, visit
Fulcrum's Web site: http://www.fulcrum.com.
    Fulcrum is a registered trademark of Fulcrum Technologies Inc. and
SearchBuilder, Fulcrum Knowledge Network, SearchServer, FulView, and Intuitive
Searching are trademarks of Fulcrum.  Other trademarks used throughout this
document are trademarks of their respective owners.

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