bredmond@dit.ie (03/15/90)
In article <1990Mar12.153202.1088@xenitec.on.ca>, timk@xenitec.on.ca (Tim Kuehn) writes: > > How fast are you taking data? How extensive do you expect the loading from > the users to be? Well, we expect the serial protocols to be able to run at 19.2kBd but it is not required that the database machine transmit bytes head-to-tail. In other words, the 386 will have to be able to deal with bytes coming in at 19.2kBd with no gaps between them, but the 386 would be permitted to leave "reasonable" gaps when transmitting. The serial protocol(s) will be master/slave with a poll & answer format. The loading from the users will be fairly light, as they will normally be connected via dial-up modems at 2400Bd. >> -Comprehensive report generation facilities (automatic & requested); > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > Do you mean that (1) you're looking for a DBMS with report-writer capabilities, > or that you want the system to generate a standard (set of) reports either > on-demand or at a specified time? A mixture I think. I don't fully understand what is implied by 'report-writer capabilities' in a DBMS context. The user will most often request existing (pre-defined) reports, giving specified fields from records matching specified search criteria. Some of these reports will also require to be automatically generated (by time and by event) and transmitted to specified destinations. The automatic transmission of the reports will require communications facilities such as autodialling and using backup destinations if primary is unobtainable. A privileged user should have password-protected access to facilities which will allow him to define new report formats, which may then be requested by normal users. > +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ > |Timothy D. Kuehn timk@xenitec.on.ca | > |TDK Consulting Services !watmath!xenitec!timk | > |871 Victoria St. North, Suite 217A | > |Kitchener, Ontario, Canada N2B 3S4 (519)-741-3623 | > |DOS/Xenix - SW/HW. uC, uP, DBMS. Quality SW Guaranteed | > +-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Thank you for taking the time to help me. Maybe you, or someone else, could answer one more question: Based on what I've said about the project, what criteria should we use to evaluate the suitability of different DBMSs? One of the most imporatant from our point of view is the speed with which we could begin to use the DBMS effectively. That is, we need a DBMS which will give us what we need without complicating life with lots of stuff we don't need. Barry Redmond bredmond%dit.ie@cunyvm.cuny.edu Dept of Electronics & Communications bredmond@dit.ie Dublin Institute of Technology Kevin St Dublin 8 Ireland