RagTime (computer program)

RagTime is a computer program primarily used for desktop publishing. The software combines spreadsheet features with word processing and embedded multimedia.

Documents created with RagTime can combine within a single file multilingual word processing, spreadsheets, graphics, databases, and programmable objects.

The current version for Mac OS and Windows is 6.5.2.

RagTime is also extensible via plugins. For example, geo-referenced map rendering is supported using a plugin developed by a third party that reads and transforms DXF and shape files and articulates them to data in a spreadsheet.

History and Use

In 1984, RagTime was initially developed by German software company B und E Software GmbH for Apple Macintosh computers. Subsequent versions for Windows-operated machines were released beginning in 1998.

While successful in Europe from its inception, the program is less widely used in the United States and the Americas. Potential barriers to acceptance for RagTime might include its unusual genre, perceived as a spreadsheet/desktop publishing hybrid, or the daunting feature set and its correspondingly demanding learning curve.^{[citation needed]}

1. ^ RagTime developers at one time offered a fully functional version of the version 5.6 of the program (Ragtime Solo 5.6.5) that could be downloaded and installed free of cost for private use, i.e., not in a network. There is no equivalent offer in the current version (6.5), although a short-lived fully functional copy of the application can be downloaded from the web.
2. ^ The plug-in is GeoInsight, developed in Florida, USA by Comgrafix.