mark@intek01.UUCP (Mark McWiggins) (05/18/88)
I've seen some rather disturbing feedback on Oracle products here, but no specific mention of this product. Has anyone here tried it? Does it work? Does it perform well? Is the user interface flashy? We're VARs, and I'm pretty jaundiced by now after looking at scads of database products, but hope springs eternal. Thanks in advance for any feedback. -- Mark McWiggins UUCP: uunet!intek01!mark DISCLAIMER: I could be wrong. INTERNET: intek01!mark@uunet.uu.net (206) 641-5014
wew@naucse.UUCP (Bill Wilson) (05/18/88)
We have tried out Oracle on the PC and are not impressed.
The version we tried needed to be run on a machine with over a Meg
of memory, I ran it on the AT that I use (IBM, 2 meg onboard) and
thoings did not work out well. The installation failed a number
of times before taking and once it took, the test programs bombed.
We were not impressed to say the least!
--
Bill Wilson (Bitnet: ucc2wew@nauvm)
Northern AZ Univ
Flagstaff, AZ 86011
{These views are mine and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer}DMasterson@cup.portal.com (05/19/88)
In message <296@intek01.UUCP>, mark@intek01.UUCP writes: >I've seen some rather disturbing feedback on Oracle products here, but >no specific mention of this product. Has anyone here tried it? Does >it work? Does it perform well? Is the user interface flashy? > >We're VARs, and I'm pretty jaundiced by now after looking at scads of >database products, but hope springs eternal. Thanks in advance for any >feedback. > I tried Oracle on both an IBM-PC and a VAX recently with disappointing results. Don't get me wrong, the system works and provides all the database capabilities that Oracle is (in)famous for. The user interface, though, leaves a lot to be desired (definite room for a VAR to work on). I understand that they will be releasing a new version of their Report Writer with a much flashier interface (I played with their demo), but I haven't heard anything about the rest of their system. The areas that Oracle suffers most for in either the PC or Vax version are: 1. Documentation - the documents I worked with looked like they had been put together by first year techies. They had dozens of instances of unfinished sentences, half complete paragraphs, two halves of two separate paragraphs joined, circular references (sec. A says see sec. B which says see sec. A), duplicate sections (right next to each other), and others I can't think of off hand. 2. System setup - Unlike the usual "load and go" methodology on a PC, Oracle has a number of pitfalls that can really hurt unless your experienced enough to know what you're doing. Things like system setup and database structure are not explained very well. I had one Oracle rep. intimate to me that this is the way they keep the Education department in business (if they don't understand it, they'll come to us to explain it). Oracle has lost a few accounts because of this. 3. User Interface - the main problem here is that Oracle does not take advantage of the presentation capabilities of the system they are running on (the new Report Writer changes this). Also, the various components of the system look like they were written by different people (we all know that something this big is going to be written by different groups, but the casual user shouldn't notice this in using it!). You get the idea. David Masterson DMasterson@cup.portal.com
bobd@bloom.UUCP (Bob Donaldson) (05/19/88)
In article <296@intek01.UUCP>, mark@intek01.UUCP (Mark McWiggins) asks
for feedback on the $199 Oracle PC special.
We have it and have used it some. It requires AT LEAST 1MEG of extra
memory configured in the ?extended/expanded? (I never can remember which
is which, but it is NOT the Lotus/Microsoft standard) mode. It seems to
run very slowly on anything other than a tiny database, but that is also
a complaint from many other PC databases when you get into multiple
megabytes.
One note of caution, the fine print in the ad (backed up by a very obvious
on screen display at runtime) reminds you that it is a DEVELOPMENT LICENSE
ONLY - if you use the thing to actually store real data, you have to fork
over for the full license (@ $1200 if memory serves).
----------------------------------------------------------------
Bob Donaldson ...!ut-emx!juniper!radian!bobd
Radian Corporation
PO Box 201088 (512) 454-4797
Austin, TX 78703
Views expressed are my own, not necessarily those of my employer.kworrell@urbsdc.Urbana.Gould.COM (05/21/88)
I have the original Oracle 5.0, which does have an error riddled set of manuals although they do explain most of what you need. Setup: I thought the setup was reasonable. Given that the system comes on 20 disks, their system was ok. It does kinda suck to have to install this on a PS2 when the disks are 5-1/4". Memory: There is a reason why they need extended memory. The protected mode executive is just what it purports to be. It runs totally in protected mode (buffers, code). This leaves all the memory < 640KB for standard dos programs. Try to run db3 on a 640KB machine with 500K of buffers. This also lets you do other things while the database hangs around in memory. Errors: I have seen some errors in the application tools/applications but haven't seen any (which I vividly remember) in the sqlplus part. I always remind myself that I have the original version for the PCs. I tend to ignore update requests. Speed: Overall, the only thing I don't really like about the modules I have used (sqlplus, sqlforms, proc) is that it all seems a bit slow. This can be fixed. I have 2MB so maybe I need more buffers. C Interface: I was suprised that they didn't have a version of C-codable triggers which worked with MSC (just lattice). All the other tools seem to work with MSC. I am told this is alleviated with the release which is supposed to be coming out sometime (or maybe it just came out). Price: Remember that the $199 price is for developers only. If you want to use this to do actual db stuff (other than development) you either have to upgrade or buy the 'real' version at the start. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Kurt J. Worrell USEnet1: ihnp4!uiucuxc!ccvaxa!kworrell Gould CSD-Urbana ARPAnet: kworrell@gswd-vms.arpa 1101 E. University !ARPAnet1: kworrell@Gould.COM Urbana, IL 61801 !ARPAnet2: kworrell@gswd-vms.Gould.COM **** Standard Disclaimer *** BELLnet: (217) 384-8500, x740
sys_ms@bmc1.uu.se (05/25/88)
In article <715@naucse.UUCP>, wew@naucse.UUCP (Bill Wilson) writes: > > We have tried out Oracle on the PC and are not impressed. > The version we tried needed to be run on a machine with over a Meg > of memory, I ran it on the AT that I use (IBM, 2 meg onboard) and And when we are discussing PC SQL products. Have anyone seen SYBASE. A SQL database that Apple say is implemented for the Macintosh and for VAX. We are looking for something to start learning SQL on. It should have a network interface to a SQL server on VAX. Mats
thad@cup.portal.com (06/01/88)
one quick comment re: SYBASE: Nice product, but you BETTER have lots of memory on your VAX; it locks up 4MB exclusively.