Helix Technologies is gone. Helix (the application) was begun in 1983 and continued to be developed by successive companies in the Chicago, Illinois area until December of 1997.

In January, 1999, another company, based in San Diego, California, acquired the Helix software code and marketing rights for Helix. They released three maintenance releases: v4.5.3, v4.5.4, and v4.5.5, which we offered as free updates to existing customers for almost two years. Helix 5.0 was released by them in September, 2000.

In May, 2002, their parent company ran into serious financial difficulty (eventually leading to bankruptcy and disbersement of their assets) and they chose to hand the day to day operations of Helix Technologies over to Gil Numeroff and Matt Strange, who produced Helix 5.1 and 5.2 from 2002 through 2004.

In August, 2004, the bankruptcy alluded to above was finalized and QSA ToolWorks, LLC acquired Helix. Matt and Gil continue to direct day to day operations.

For most of the 90s, the core code of Helix was left to languish, falling further and further behind the state of the art. More recently efforts have been devoted to fixing the problems in the existing code and bringing it up to date. Since Helix is so far behind the times, we haven't felt comfortable marketing Helix.

Another reason you may not have heard from us is that when the previous owner acquired Helix, they received a customer list that was not in very good shape. We have attempted to reconstruct the customer data, but if you haven't heard from us, please take a moment to visit our web store and check your customer record and make sure we have accurate contact information for you. To access your customer record, you need to know your customer number (as provided by the former company) and an 'identifier' from your record. The identifier is any single word from your name, company name, or address.

Once you have your customer number, log into our customer database and access your customer record information to update your customer information.

As we add structure to the company, The Latest Word page is how we communicate these developments to the Helix community. Links in the left-hand column of this page will take you to previous postings, with the most recent being at the top.

Just visit our store and create a customer record for yourself. There is no obligation to purchase; just fill out a customer record, select "Inform me of Helix Updates," and you will be included in future mailings.

We do not share your contact information with any other company. We use your contact information only for purposes directly related to your use of Helix. This includes upgrade offers, user advisories in the event that a "data threatening" problem with Helix are discovered, and other similar needs. Also...

If you select "Inform me of Helix Updates" we will use your email address to send you the newsletter.

If you select "Inform me of Interesting Offers" we will use either your email or mailing address to make you aware of products you may be interested in that complement Helix.

If you select "I am a developer and I want to be placed on a referral list" your company name, address, telephone, email, and website information will be published in our developer directory.

If you provide us with website information, your URL will be published on our "Helix Customers' Websites" page.

Under no circumstances will we give your telephone number to any other party. (Except for the above mentioned developer referral list.)

Under no other circumstances will we use or give out your name, company name, mailing address, or email address without first amending this policy and providing opportunity for you to decline the offer.

Currently, Helix is only available for the Macintosh. QSA ToolWorks plans to develop a multi-platform version of Helix (Helix 7) following the release of Helix 6. No timetable is currently available, but it is a top priority

Helix Power Mover is not compatible with Mac OS 9 and has been taken off the market. At this time, the company has no plans to update it. Third party options exist that replicate PowerMover's features.

One reason why a premature connection failure may be occurring is due to the amount of memory allocated to your browser. If you continue to have difficulty downloading our products, please call customer service at (800) 784-7018.

We provide various installers, customized for the typical customer's product upgrade needs. If you are in doubt, we recommend downloading the Helix Full Install. This installer includes the entire Helix application suite (Helix RADE, Server, Client, & Engine) along with Update Collection, Helix Utility, and the all of the published documentation. If you know you don't need the full product suite, download one of the smaller customized installers.

Problems installing Helix are, unfortunately, quite common. There are a variety of reasons why. Here is a guide to troubleshooting your installation problems.

1. If you received a printed invoice, or a pdf of an invoice, be sure to note that the Serial Number appears in the line items section of the invoice, to the right of the Product Number and above the line with the Enablement Key.
2. If you copied your Enablement Key from our website, you may have inadvertently copied a return character at the end of the line. Try pasting your Enablement Key into a word processor or text editor and then reselect it before pasting it into the Installer dialog.
3. If you are typing your Enablement Key, please note that a what appears to be the letter "O" should be typed as a "0" (zero).
4. Many people appear to have the misconception that when they download a new Helix installer, it replaces their old copy of Helix. This is not true. This deduction usually results from double-clicking a Collection right after downloading and installing a new version of Helix. A Helix Collection will almost always appear to "look" for the newest copy of Helix on your hard drive. If you haven't updated your Collection, you will be lead through the upgrade process.
5. Each Serial Number/Enablement keyset goes with a particular Helix application. You cannot, for instance, use a RADE keyset on Helix Server.
6. When attempting to enable a copy of a Helix product, make sure the keyset you are using is for that version. We often get calls from people trying to use a keyset from one version in another version's installer. This will not work.

Installation instructions are included with each installer.

Download the free Stuffit Expander or purchase the full Stuffit Deluxe package from the Allume Systems web site.

The Helix Translator is needed to upgrade collections created in Helix versions prior to Helix Express 3.5. Helix Translator is available in all Helix Installers via the "Custom Install" option.

You should carefully read the release notes that come with the installation package. There are comments regarding changes in the product and known problems in these notes.

Note however, that because we acquired the Helix product in January of 1999, we do not have access to much information about earlier versions of Helix. There may be problems we know nothing about in older versions that will cause problems when you upgrade. We are not aware of any such problems, but we can't guarantee a flawless upgrade process.

Helix RADE is used to design and implement an application from start to finish, creating all necessary database components, building the user interface, and putting it to work in a single user implementation. Helix Client/Server enables any Helix Collection (with Custom Mode users defined) to run in a network configuration with multiple users (clients) accessing the database simultaneously.

Under the terms of the Helix Server license, the Helix Client can be distributed to all of your computers. Access to the database is limited by the Server application: it will only allow Client logins up to the limit as specified in the license. Once a Client has logged in, the user is able to access the database and make changes in real time. Helix Client/Server includes a number of multiuser innovations, including real time data view updating and referential integrity, collection and user level password protection, and more. Helix Client/Server provides the most seamless transition from single user design mode to multiuser deployment in the industry.

A multiple seat RADE license allows multiple copies of the RADE application to run concurrently on one network or one computer. This allows multiple users to open private databases, and gives the collection designer the ability to copy and paste data and structure between collections.

Although we don't have a comprehensive demo application, there are a number of small sample collections on our ftp server. These samples are provided by independent developers and are designed mostly to illustrate specific techniques. If you have a collection that illustrates a Helix programming technique, please contact us so we can arrange to put it on our ftp server.

Our manual "The Helix Reference" is available for download in pdf format from our downloads page. This is a comprehensive reference manual for Helix users, but it is not a tutorial on using Helix

Our Links page provides a number of references under the Learning Helix section. The resources referenced there are not officially affiliated with QSA ToolWorks, but the information and services they provide are very helpful to those who wish to learn about and experiment with Helix RADE. Many of the web sites listed also provide a taste of Helix programming via tutorials and demonstrations.

Note: If you are aware of other websites that provide Helix tutorial information, please let us know.

The Helix Reference is our current manual in Acrobat (pdf) format. It is available for download on our Downloads page. We no longer print the manual as it has become too costly to do so. If your browser has an Adobe Acrobat plug-in, you can read it online by clicking the link at the beginning of this paragraph.

We maintain a reasonably currrent list of Helix Developers and Consultants on this web site. We also recommend subscribing to the Helix List, where you may post your request and specify your database needs. The Helix List is an email discussion forum (not hosted by QSA ToolWorks), with users ranging from the novice to the professional developer. On this list, you will find programmers and developers discussing all aspects of Helix, as well as applications that they are using, providing, or looking to use. Information on joining the Helix List is found on our Links page.

Helix Client/Server includes a robust TCP/IP networking option, that allows you to configure your Server so that anybody with the Helix Client application and an internet connection to log into your Helix Server based database. See our FAQ on TCP/IP networking for more details.

If you want to make your collection available to others via a web browser, there are a number of third party options...

• CommonGround Softworks offers products "intended for the Helix user who needs Internet/Intranet connections to their data base."
• Autograph Systems also develops and sells a products for accessing Helix based data via AppleScript, which serves as a conduit between Helix and a wide variety of applications, including the internet.
• A full list of resources can be found in the Extending Helix section of our Links page.

These companies are independent of QSA ToolWorks and have no official affiliation with our company. We do not provide technical support for their products and strongly suggest that you use them in conjunction with the support and consultation of those companies and/or an experienced Helix developer.