ProVUE Development has released Track Magic Pro,
a Mac OS X based management and analysis tool for
Ruby on Rails. Track Magic Pro allows developers
and administrators to access, analyze and modify
database tables directly, bypassing the standard
Rails web interface.

Track Magic Pro works with existing Rails
applications without modification, and can be
used both during development and with live
production Rails applications. Features include:

° Rapid data analysis with no coding, including
crosstabs, charts and interactive data outlines;
° Local RAM caching of open tables for fast searching and analysis;
° “Round Trip” data modification, both on and off-line;
° Quickly pre-process and import legacy data
without programming; ° Interactive graphical
interface for creating printable mailing labels,
forms, and reports;
° Automatically create test fixtures;
° Build hybrid web/desktop applications;
° Visually catalog and organize all of your Rails applications and hosts;
° Interactive graphical user interface for Rake,
which eliminates the need to use the command line
to create and modify Rails applications.

ProVUE Development is also releasing Track Magic
Lite, a limited free version that implements a
graphical user interface for Rake. This allows
you to create Rails applications and tables, set
up and modify table structure, manage hosts,
freeze and unfreeze, perform migrations, and
generally set up and maintain the structure of
Rails databases. (These features are also
available in the Pro version.)

Track Magic Pro accesses database tables through
Active Record, so it will work with any Rails
compatible database host (SQLite, MySQL, Oracle,
etc.). Track Magic requires OS X 10.5 (“Leopard”)
or later, and works with Rails 2.0 or later.
Track Magic Pro is normally US$299 but is for a
limited time is available at an introductory
price of $99.95. A 30-day trial version, along
with screencasts and complete documentation, is
available at http://www.provue.com/trackmagic