[comp.sys.atari.st] Good database software wanted.

klute@tommy.informatik.uni-dortmund.de (Rainer Klute) (04/15/91)

In article <5459@wucc.waseda.ac.jp>, ytsuji@wucc.waseda.ac.jp (Y.Tsuji) writes:
|> Some time ago, somebody said a database program sold by Regent Software or
|> something was very similar to SQL and was relatively cheap, could anyone
|> let me know the name and address of the software company?

USA/Canada:                     Germany/Austria/Switzerland:

Regent Software                 Computerware Gerd Sender
P.O. Box 14628                  Moselstrasse 39
Long Beach, CA 90803            5000 Koeln 50
(213) 439-9664                  +49 221 392583

-- 
  Dipl.-Inform. Rainer Klute      klute@irb.informatik.uni-dortmund.de
  Univ. Dortmund, IRB             klute@unido.uucp, klute@unido.bitnet
  Postfach 500500         |)|/    Tel.: +49 231 755-4663
D-4600 Dortmund 50        |\|\    Fax : +49 231 755-2386

shawl@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu (04/15/91)

> |> Some time ago, somebody said a database program sold by Regent Software or
> |> something was very similar to SQL and was relatively cheap, could anyone
> |> let me know the name and address of the software company?
> 
> USA/Canada:                     Germany/Austria/Switzerland:
> 
> Regent Software                 Computerware Gerd Sender
> P.O. Box 14628                  Moselstrasse 39
> Long Beach, CA 90803            5000 Koeln 50
> (213) 439-9664                  +49 221 392583
> 


Apparently, (and unfortunately), I think Regent Software went out of ST
business.  BUT, apparently, a dedicated user of their materials, has
taken it over.

REGENT BASE is really good in many ways.  One of the best ways was in the
fantastic user support given by Frank Cohen; such support was important because
the documentation was poor.  (To give an idea as to the wonderful support
Frank gave, I was a problem I could not solve; he had me send him my
application; he found a bug in Regent Base itself, made the correction, and
sent me the corrected version!  Can't be beat!)

The other problem was speed.

BUT, once you know what you are doing, it is pretty nice.  Again, the learning
curve, at least for me, was steep.

goo@hpindda.cup.hp.com (Michael Goo) (04/19/91)

>/ hpindda:comp.sys.atari.st / shawl@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu / 11:07 am  Apr 15, 1991 /
>> |> Some time ago, somebody said a database program sold by Regent Software or
>> |> something was very similar to SQL and was relatively cheap, could anyone
>> |> let me know the name and address of the software company?
>
>Apparently, (and unfortunately), I think Regent Software went out of ST
>business.  BUT, apparently, a dedicated user of their materials, has
>taken it over.

Does anybody know who this dedicated user is.  Regent Base can still be found
(my local dealer has a copy), but is it still being actively distributed?

I upgraded to version 1.1 a long time ago.  At that time Regent Software was
starting to hype up Regent Base II.  RBII was supposed to add a lot of features
like full SQL compatibility.  I didn't order it at the time, because I didn't
have a need.  If it is still available, I might consider picking it up.

>The other problem was speed.

I seem to recall that one of the services offered by Regent Software was
the compilation of RB applications into .prg form.  This would probably help
with the speed problem.  Then again, I could be mistaken about the whole thing.
(Maybe it was a run-only module)  Anyway, maybe the new support guy has the 
compiler (if it exists) and can distribute it.

On a related note, has anyone tried out Timework's new Data Manager 
Professional?  Any thoughts you'd care to share?

whitcomb@aurs01.UUCP (Jonathan Whitcomb) (04/22/91)

goo@hpindda.cup.hp.com (Michael Goo) writes:

[Gobs of stuff deleted]

>On a related note, has anyone tried out Timework's new Data Manager 
>Professional?  Any thoughts you'd care to share?   ^^^

Do you mean that there is a new version of Data Manager Professional?
I bought mine about a year ago, and although I haven't spent a great
deal of time with it, it does seem like a nice vanilla database. 

The thing is completely GEM driven, but the menus and documentation
are very "British", and some of the terms were less than intuitive
in American English.  

(Funny how the languages have diverged!  Usually the changes I've
noticed are in developments in technology made since the turn of
the century...truck vs. lorry, trunk/hood vs. boot/bonnet and
so on.  I was in England on business a year ago and had to
translate British English to American English for my partner.
Reminds me of a quote from "My Fair Lady". :^) )

Once you get used to the terminology it is easy to use, and relatively 
powerful.  You have to live with the built in features though, because 
there is no associated command language.

You also have to make sure you plan out your data fields well in
advance, because you can't easily add new ones or change parameters
of existing ones once you've gotten started.  It should be
more than adequate for all but the most advanced users.

The program is not copy protected, so you can use it on your
hard disk.  It comes on two floppy disks, and is not bad to
operate off of floppies (I did so before I bought my hard
drive).

-Jonathan
**********************************************************************
Jonathan Whitcomb                    UUCP: <whitcomb%aurgate@mcnc.org>
Alcatel Network Systems, Raleigh, NC                    Delphi: JBWHIT