A6014RVD@HASARA11.BITNET (Raymond) (09/18/90)
I am interested in buying a relational database for my Mac IIci and looking for suggestions. When I mean relational, it has to have SQL as query language (stated as in the ISO/ANSI standards, f.e SQL/DS and DB2). As far as I know neither databases like 4th Dimension, Foxbase nor Omnis 5 have these capabilities (only a SQL interface to other databases). Am I wrong? Which other databases are commercially available with the requirements as mentioned above? Raymond J. van Diessen Bitnet : a6014rvd@hasara11 University of Amsterdam Internet : a6014rvd@vm1.sara.nl Department of Information Systems The Netherlands
marti@mint.inf.ethz.ch (Robert Marti) (09/18/90)
In article <9009181240.AA00676@lilac.berkeley.edu> A6014RVD@HASARA11.BITNET (Raymond) writes: >I am interested in buying a relational database for my Mac IIci [...]. >It has to have SQL as query language (stated as in the ISO/ANSI standards, >f.e SQL/DS and DB2). That's a pretty tall order. As far as I know, neither the SQL offered by SQL/DS nor the one offerd by DB2 comply to any ISO/ANSI SQL standard. Note the word *any*: There are at least the '86 and '89 ANSI SQL standards. On top of that, there is also an X/OPEN SQL standard, and IBM's SAA SQL standard. Finally, there is a proposed SQL2 standard. I think I can safely claim that no pair of the above mentioned SQL versions are identical. (As they say: The good thing about standards is that there are so many of them ... ;-) >Which [other] databases are commercially available with the requirements >as mentioned above? Strictly speaking, none (see above). For practical purposes, the only Mac DB supporting SQL on the Mac (under MacOS aka System/Finder) is -- to the best of my knowledge -- Oracle. Robert Marti Phone: +41 1 254 72 60 Institut fur Informationssysteme ETH-Zentrum Internet: marti@inf.ethz.ch CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland UUCP: ...uunet!mcvax!ethz!marti
alexis@panix.UUCP (Alexis Rosen) (09/25/90)
Currently, only Oracle has a MacOS SQL product. It's a real monster, though it seems to work OK. Note that it does *not* correspond to their unix or PC products in terms of the supplied tools. They are working on a V6 SQL*Net server, release date unknown, but it was being shown in a working form at the August MacWorld. If I can find the time and energy I might beta-test it. There is a small, high-quality company currently working on a Mac SQL product. It will be back-end only, supporting ANSI level 1 and some of L2. You can talk to it with DAL (CL/1), using products like Clear Access (and presumably HyperCard, Omnis, etc.), or write your own DAL code. This company already has one superb Mac product on the market, so they're not a couple of untried dreamers. My understanding is that this product will be shown at MacWorld Toronto for the first time. With any luck, it should be done around the end of the year. --- Alexis Rosen cmcl2!panix!alexis ***YES! Back on the net at last!!!
mmt@client2.DRETOR.UUCP (Martin Taylor) (09/29/90)
Currently, only Oracle has a MacOS SQL product. It's a real monster, though it seems to work OK. Note that it does *not* correspond to their unix or PC products in terms of the supplied tools. (Alexis Rosen) ============================ People might like to look at GQL, by Andyne Computing Ltd, Kingston, Ontario (613) 548-4355. It is a Graphical Query Language that translates into SQL. Ingres, I gather, has an OEM agreement with Andyne. GQL provides a means for easily designing, filling, and querying a relational db. The relational db may reside on a mainframe or (I think) locally on the Mac. It has been well reviewed in various trade journals. Disclaimer: I was "Scientific Authority" on a contract with Andyne that resulted in the precursor of GQL, so I have something of a vested interest in the human-computer interaction concepts that led to it. -- Martin Taylor (mmt@ben.dciem.dnd.ca ...!uunet!dciem!mmt) (416) 635-2048 There is no legal canon prohibiting the application of common sense (Judge James Fontana, July 1990, on staying the prosecution of a case)