suran@nff.ncl.omron.co.jp (Suran de SILVA) (09/11/90)
We are trying to find a client-server database to run on both Unix and Mac. Access to the database will be achieved using client C-library routines. The server and clients will be connected over an ethernet. In the end it is hoped that clients can be anything from Unix workstations to Macs to PCs. If anyone can help me to find such a database, I would be grateful. regards, Suran de Silva Omron, Japan suran@nff.ncl.omron.co.jp
grahams@milton.u.washington.edu (Stephen Graham) (09/11/90)
In article <SURAN.90Sep11103556@banquo.nff.ncl.omron.co.jp> suran@nff.ncl.omron.co.jp (Suran de SILVA) writes: > >We are trying to find a client-server database to run on both >Unix and Mac. Access to the database will be achieved using >client C-library routines. The server and clients will be >connected over an ethernet. In the end it is hoped that clients >can be anything from Unix workstations to Macs to PCs. If anyone >can help me to find such a database, I would be grateful. > Wingz by Informix may be such a database. At least, they have Wingz for the Mac and Wingz for various Unix platforms (Suns at a minimum). The Unix-based version is a client-server database. Check with them. Steve Graham graham@isis.ee.washington.edu
rad@genco.uucp (Bob Daniel) (09/11/90)
In article <SURAN.90Sep11103556@banquo.nff.ncl.omron.co.jp> suran@nff.ncl.omron.co.jp (Suran de SILVA) writes: > >We are trying to find a client-server database to run on both >Unix and Mac. Access to the database will be achieved using >client C-library routines. The server and clients will be >connected over an ethernet. In the end it is hoped that clients >can be anything from Unix workstations to Macs to PCs. If anyone >can help me to find such a database, I would be grateful. > Look into Oracle. Oracle on Mac can tie into a UNIX server that is running the database engine. If you decide to use Oracle on Mac, you must use Hypercard or 4th Dimension as a front end. I would suggest 4D, Hypercard is not meant for high end database applications like 4D is.
jay@argosy.UUCP (Jay O'Conor) (09/12/90)
In article <32@genco.uucp> rad@genco. (Bob Daniel) writes: < stuff deleted > >If you decide to use Oracle on Mac, you must use >Hypercard or 4th Dimension as a front end. I would suggest 4D, Hypercard >is not meant for high end database applications like 4D is. Is this absolutely true? I was under the impression that Oracle also supplied an MPW interface to allow you to write code in a normal 3GL. If Oracle on the Mac limits you to just a 4GL, that would really be a bummer. Jay O'Conor jay@maspar.com
rad@genco.uucp (Bob Daniel) (09/13/90)
In article <673@argosy.UUCP> jay@idiot.UUCP (Jay O'Conor) writes: > >Is this absolutely true? I was under the impression that Oracle also >supplied an MPW interface to allow you to write code in a normal 3GL. >If Oracle on the Mac limits you to just a 4GL, that would really be a bummer. > Yes, that is not absolutely true. You an use a 3GLfor a front end.
domo@tsa.co.uk (Dominic Dunlop) (09/17/90)
In article <32@genco.uucp> rad@genco. (Bob Daniel) writes: > In article <SURAN.90Sep11103556@banquo.nff.ncl.omron.co.jp> suran@nff.ncl.omron.co.jp (Suran de SILVA) writes: > >We are trying to find a client-server database to run on both > >Unix and Mac. > > Look into Oracle. Oracle on Mac can tie into a UNIX server that is running > the database engine. Yes, but... I deinstalled the 1.0 Oracle front end from my Mac some time back, as it was so clunky, and because Oracle failed to come through with the promised implementation of Oracle for A/UX (Apple's UNIX implementation), citing ``operating system bugs''. (I'd have given more creedence to ``minimal market penetration'': A/UX, while old fashioned, seems solid enough to me, but I've yet to see any evidence that significant numbers of Apple users are running it, or that steps are being taken to make its name spring to prospective purchasers' minds.) I belive that Oracle has either been delivered of, or is heavily pregnant with, version 1.1. Hopefully, this will be to version 1.0 as dBASE IV 1.1 is reputed to be to dBASE IV 1.0. (i.e. Much better, and what they should have come up with in the first place.) Oracle has also annouced that, come spring 1991 or so, there will be a native Mac version of the database server (Mac IIfx with 8M RAM recommended!). This might give the current preferred native Mac database managers -- Omnis 5, 4th Dimension and Double Helix -- something to think about. (Of these, Omnis 5 is also available for MS-DOS. None, to my knowledge, is available for UNIX, or can be neatly integrated with UNIX-hosted servers from other suppliers.) Mentioning dBASE reminds me that FoxBASE is available for PCs, Macs, and a number of UNIX platforms. It's a good product, provided that you don't have any religious attachment to SQL. (I do.) Another respondent has mentioned Wingz. Well, yes: it's available on the Mac and on (a currently small number of) UNIX platforms. (A Windows 3 version for MS-DOS has just hit the streets, too.) But no: it's not a database manager, but a spreadsheet package -- albeit one dripping with features, some of which are applicable to flat-file database applications. As such, it's probably unsuitable for large or complex databases. There has been serious talk of Wingz as a front end to servers running ``traditional'' SQL-based, UNIX-hosted software from Informix -- or, indeed, from other suppliers. You might want to ask your local Informix sales office how close these are to delivery. -- Dominic Dunlop
rad@genco.uucp (Bob Daniel) (09/18/90)
In article <1990Sep17.095900.24253@tsa.co.uk> domo@tsa.co.uk (Dominic Dunlop) writes: >recommended!). This might give the current preferred native Mac >database managers -- Omnis 5, 4th Dimension and Double Helix -- >something to think about. (Of these, Omnis 5 is also available for >MS-DOS. None, to my knowledge, is available for UNIX, or can be neatly >integrated with UNIX-hosted servers from other suppliers.) Of the above, I prefer 4D. Actually, I would recommend it over Oracle but 4D ties you down to Mac only. There is a 4D front end available to Oracle which will allow to tie into another platform but you will need to stick with an Oracle engine from what I understand. If you end up with a database just on Mac, go with 4D! The 4D compiler is incredibly fast!!! >Mentioning dBASE reminds me that FoxBASE is available for PCs, Macs, >and a number of UNIX platforms. FoxBase is OK but isn't as flexible as 4D and really bogs down after 10,000 records. 4D handles large numbers of records with ease. 4D is also powerful in multiuser capabilities <looking over shoulder for the 4D flamer> if used correctly. > It's a good product, provided that you >don't have any religious attachment to SQL. (I do.) Another I've been working with Oracle in UNIX for about a year and a half and just can't get used to using a query language (SQL) as a programming language. Sooo many restrictions. I have come to terms with its limitations though. You may want to take another look at Oracle for Mac if you're wanting to tie Mac into another platform. It's really the only decent alternative I know of in order to use a central database engine on cross platforms. _____ disclaimer: moof moof