tomr@dbase.a-t.com (Tom Rombouts) (06/19/91)
In article <1991Jun16.135458.19176@anomaly.sbs.com> mpd@anomaly.sbs.com (Michael P. Deignan) writes: >tomr@dbase.a-t.com (Tom Rombouts) writes: > >>Like it or not, dBASE III PLUS is the de facto >>standard of the X-base world. > >I would certainly agree that when people think xBase, they think of the >dBase III programming language. I do not, however,believve that they think >of the dBase III product itself. Generally, the dBase III language is the >lowest common denominator of all xBase products. Yes, of course. I should have said something like: "The language syntax found in dBASE III PLUS...." And this was really my main point in the (heated) series of recent posts, that Clipper 5.0 encouraged you to move away from this de facto "standard" Whether this is "good" or "bad" depends on your individual situation, which is obviously influenced by many, many factors. I had no intent to start a debate in this newsgroup - it has probably been forgotten that I was trying to end the Fox vs. Clipper posts that had been going on. The larger issue, methinks, is questions like "Do we need an X-base standard a la C or Ada? Do we need a "standard" data dictionary like those found in large system DBMS products?," etc. I can not really participate in such debates, but the rather outspoken Adam Green is actively gathering input on this. He can be reached on Compu$erve at 72417,1137 or FAX at (617)742-3431 for those who wish to put in their .02 of a dollar. (I am only mentioning this as an outlet to reduce dBASE/xbase debate in comp.databases ) Finally, for those with specific Ashton-Tate product questions, we are now informally monitoring the DBASE-L e-mail list. If you post there, you will likely get a response. If you want to be insured of a response, our BBS numbers are 1200 baud: (213)538-6196; 2400 baud: (213)324-2188; 9600 baud:(213)538-6157. Or, contact Errol Jackson at 76702,1631 or Dave McNeill at 76702,1053 on CIS. (I mention this in response to some who are concerned about the percentage of dBASE/xbase traffic in comp.databases) Tom Rombouts Torrance 'Tater tomr@ashtate.A-T.com