Panorama Classic FAQ (v6 and earlier)

To: Panorama 6 Users
Date: September 30, 2018
Subject: Retiring Panorama 6

The first lines of Panorama source code were written on October 31st, 1986. If you had told me that that line of code would still be in daily use all across the world in 2018, I would have been pretty incredulous. Amazingly, the code I wrote that first day is still in the core of the program, and that specific code I wrote 32 years ago actually still runs every time you click the mouse or press a key in Panorama 6 today.

Of course Panorama has grown by leaps and bounds over the ensuing years and decades:

  • Panorama 1.0 was first released for 68k Macs in November 1988. Panorama 2 and 3 greatly expanded the functionality, user interface and programmability.
  • In 2000, Panorama 4 added native PowerPC support, and also was the first version of Panorama for Windows PC's.
  • Panorama 5.0 added support for OS X (using the Carbon API's), as well as full menu customization and the ability to extend the programming language.
  • In 2007, Panorama 5.5 introduced Panorama Server for multi-user and web based applications.
  • Finally, in 2010 Panorama 6 introduced native Intel support on the Mac.

Along the way Panorama was highly reviewed in major publications, won awards, and gained thousands of very loyal users. It's been a great run, but ultimately there is only so far you can go with a technology foundation that is over thirty years old. It's time to turn the page, so we are now retiring the "classic" version of Panorama so that we can concentrate on moving forward with Panorama X.

If you are still using Panorama 6, you may wonder what "retiring" means for you. Don't worry, your copy of Panorama 6 isn't going to suddently stop working on your current computer. However, Panorama 6 is no longer for sale, and we will no longer provide any support for Panorama 6, including email support. However, you should be able to find any answers you need in the detailed questions and answers below.

The best part of creating Panorama has been seeing all of the amazing uses that all of you have come up with for it over the years. I'm thrilled that now a whole new generation of users are discovering the joy of RAM based database software thru Panorama X. If you haven't made the transition to Panorama X yet, I hope that you'll be able to soon!

Sincerely,

etka audi usa

Jim Rea
Founder, ProVUE Development

Etka Audi Usa -

The collision repair industry has its own relationship with “ETKA Audi USA.” After a crash, a body shop needs to order structural parts—crash boxes, radiator supports, side panels—that are often specific to US-safety standards. The US has no ECE (European) crash compliance; instead, FMVSS (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards) govern. While many body structures are identical, reinforcements like door beams and bumper absorbers differ. ETKA, when correctly set to USA, displays these unique parts. But here again, access is gatekept. Many body shops rely on third-party estimating systems like CCC or Audatex, which pull parts data from ETKA but with delays and occasional errors.

To understand “ETKA Audi USA” is to first understand what ETKA is not. It is not a consumer-friendly online store, nor a unified public database. It is a subscription-based, dealer-and-independent-shop tool, updated frequently, designed for precision parts identification. When a user—a parts manager, a mechanic, or a DIY enthusiast with illicit access—launches ETKA, they select a brand, model, model year, and engine code. The software returns exploded-view diagrams with part numbers. That part number is theoretically global: an Audi A4’s water pump, designated 06L 121 011 C, should be the same in Ingolstadt as in Illinois. However, the “USA” qualifier matters enormously because of homologation, emissions equipment, lighting regulations, and crash safety standards.

Today, accessing the genuine “ETKA Audi USA” experience is restricted. Audi dealers subscribe to the official system, often accessed via a web portal called ETKA Web, which is tied to the VW Group’s global servers. Independent shops may use aftermarket alternatives like Alldata, Mitchell1, or the open-source “ETKA 7.5” (unofficial, often pirated copies that float around forums like Ross-Tech or AudiWorld). These unauthorized versions can display part numbers, but they lack real-time updates, supersession chains, and crucially, US pricing and local stock checks. A mechanic with an illicit copy of ETKA might find a correct part number for a 2018 Audi S4’s thermostat, only to discover that the number has been superseded three times—or that the US importer never brought that particular variant into the country. etka audi usa

For enthusiasts, the absence of a public-facing “ETKA Audi USA” has spawned an entire gray market. Websites like parts.audiusa.com offer a simplified, consumer-oriented parts search, but it is incomplete—missing many exploded views and supersession histories. Genuine ETKA access requires a subscription that costs hundreds or thousands of dollars per year, typically unavailable to individuals. As a result, online communities have reverse-engineered parts lookup: users cross-reference part numbers from European ETKA screenshots, then call dealers with those numbers to check US availability. This workflow is inefficient, error-prone, and yet it persists because Audi has never released a direct-to-consumer version of ETKA for the American market.

The historical context of ETKA’s adoption in America is telling. Before the 1990s, Audi parts identification in the US was a messy hybrid of microfiche, printed catalogs, and telephone calls to Germany. Mistakes were common; a mechanic might order a European-spec control arm only to find that the ball joint taper differed for US-built suspension. The launch of ETKA in the early 1990s—first on CD-ROM, later web-based—standardized the process. But even then, the US market posed challenges: Audi of America, based in Herndon, Virginia, had to maintain its own parts validation team to ensure that ETKA’s European part numbers mapped correctly to US vehicles, many of which were assembled in Mexico (e.g., the Audi Q5 until 2015) or came from Neckarsulm with NAR-specific wiring harnesses. The collision repair industry has its own relationship

The United States, along with Canada, forms a distinct market region for Audi, known internally as NAR (North American Region). Vehicles destined for NAR receive specific part numbers that differ from their European, Asian, or Rest-of-World counterparts. For instance, an Audi Q5’s headlight assembly for the US market includes different light distribution patterns (asymmetric low beams that shine to the right, per US regulations) and may incorporate amber side reflectors that are absent in European models. In ETKA, when a user selects the US market flag, the system filters parts accordingly. Thus, “ETKA Audi USA” effectively refers to the subset of the global ETKA database that corresponds to vehicles built for, or imported to, the United States—plus the associated supply chain, pricing, and availability.

In the global ecosystem of automotive manufacturing and repair, few names carry as much weight in the parts catalog domain as ETKA. Developed by the Volkswagen Group, ETKA (from the German Elektronischer Teilekatalog , or Electronic Parts Catalog) is the proprietary software that lists every single component for VW, Audi, SEAT, Škoda, Bentley, Lamborghini, and other group brands. For Audi specifically, ETKA is the digital bible—a meticulously detailed, VIN-specific map of every screw, sensor, seal, and subframe that constitutes an Audi vehicle. Yet the phrase “ETKA Audi USA” is a peculiar construct. It suggests a nationalized version of a fundamentally global system, pointing to deeper truths about automotive regulation, market divergence, and the practical realities of repairing German luxury cars on American soil. ETKA, when correctly set to USA, displays these unique parts

In recent years, the phrase “ETKA Audi USA” has also become a shibboleth for the tension between official dealer networks and the right-to-repair movement. Independent Audi specialists argue that genuine ETKA access should be made available at reasonable cost to anyone, as is already the case with Toyota’s TIS or BMW’s ETK (which is publicly accessible via bmwfans.info). Volkswagen Group has resisted, citing intellectual property and security concerns. In the US, this has led to lawsuits under state right-to-repair laws, particularly in Massachusetts. The 2020 Data Access Law requires automakers to provide telematics and parts information to independent shops. As a result, Volkswagen Group has begun offering a web-based ETKA lite for registered independent shops in MA—a localized, grudging concession that might foreshadow a broader “ETKA Audi USA” public rollout in years to come.