wally@pallas.athenanet.com (Wally Hartshorn) (03/13/91)
In article <27839@netcom.COM> rodent@netcom.COM (Ben Discoe) writes: >Once again, allow me to mention dBMan 5, a dBaseIII clone with enough extra >features to compete with dBaseIV, Clipper, etc. I've been using FoxPro (v1.0) at work on a Compaq. Do you know enough about FoxPro to make a comparison to dBMan 5? I have Superbase Personal on the Amiga and have been debating upgrading it to professional (3.0), but I want to do a bit more investigation of the competition before I do that. I don't need dBaseIII compatibility, nor a dBase "look and feel", but I like the features and power that FoxPro has (along with the FoxDoc and FoxView utilities). I particularly like FoxPro's "memo" field type -- a text field of any length, which doesn't use any more space than what is actually in the field. Thus one record can have a memo of 500 bytes, while another record has a memo of only 20 bytes and a third has no memo at all. Also, just as a thought, does/will dBMan support ARexx? Please note the "followup to" on this article. -- Wally Hartshorn (uunet!pallas!wally or wally@athenanet.com) President, Amiga Computer Enthusiasts of Springfield (ACES) Chronicler, Shire of Swordcliff, SCA Sysop, The Quest, F&SF BBS, Citadel-68K node US (217) 546-7608
rodent@netcom.COM (Ben Discoe) (03/14/91)
wally@pallas.athenanet.com (Wally Hartshorn) writes: >In article <27839@netcom.COM> rodent@netcom.COM (Ben Discoe) writes: >>Once again, allow me to mention dBMan 5, a dBaseIII clone with enough extra >>features to compete with dBaseIV, Clipper, etc. >I've been using FoxPro (v1.0) at work on a Compaq. Do you know enough >about FoxPro to make a comparison to dBMan 5? On MSDOS machines, Fox Pro is a bit faster since they code heavily in assembler. However, dBMan's advantage is it isn't limited to MSDOS machines: we run on Amigas, Atari, the Mac, Sun/Dec/IBM/Motorola workstations, minicomputers and even a few mainframes. Total file compatiblity across all platforms. > I have Superbase Personal >on the Amiga and have been debating upgrading it to professional (3.0), >but I want to do a bit more investigation of the competition before I >do that. If you don't need DBaseIII/FoxPro/dBMan features and don't care about following any business standard, Superbase is pretty good. It's just very limited. >I like the features and power that FoxPro has [...] >I particularly like FoxPro's >"memo" field type -- [description deleted] Memo fields are part of the dBase standard. Clipper and dBMan have the most complete menu field functionality. >Also, just as a thought, does/will dBMan support ARexx? It will if you ask for it. Let me know how you could use it, and I'll toss on an ARexx port in a jiffy. >Wally Hartshorn (uunet!pallas!wally or wally@athenanet.com) >President, Amiga Computer Enthusiasts of Springfield (ACES) Ben Discoe, main programmer and long-time Amiga fanatic at VersaSoft, makers of dBMan for the Amiga.
cs326ag@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Loren J. Rittle) (03/14/91)
In article <28219@netcom.COM> rodent@netcom.COM (Ben Discoe) writes: >>Also, just as a thought, does/will dBMan support ARexx? > > It will if you ask for it. Let me know how you could use it, and I'll >toss on an ARexx port in a jiffy. An application without an ARexx [from Wishful Thinking, Inc.] interface is like `a day without sunshine', `ice cream without cherries', <or more practically put :-> `a car without gas', `a startup company without an angle'. I don't own a data base program for the Amiga (save the little one builtin to Advantage [from Gold Disk, has an ARexx port, BTW]), but I can think of many uses of such a creature... Oh, you want to know what some of the uses are! :-) Well, for one: I would like to be able to hit one key in CED [from ASDG, full ARexx interface], and have the address of the person whose name is under the cursor get plopped down in TeX format. If I had a data base engine (a good one that ran in the background with only its ARexx port always open waiting for requests), then this would be easy, my ARexx glue would request info from your data base engine and format into TeX format and stick into my CED document right past the name. Hate to say it, but I don't think what your company sells would satify me, unless it had a background mode, as I described above. This means that I should be able to say something like: `runback <null: >null: dbMan -r' (-r for rexx server mode, of course :-) This would start up dbMan in the background (no cute windows or anything!). Then, I would be able to interact with dbMan as follows (from ARexx, of course): /* sample ARexx program */ /* PersonAddress.ced ... ARexx Program to obtain a person's address while in CED! */ status 87; bytepos = result; status 55; line = result; parse var line curline '0a'x do i = 1 to words(curline) if wordindex(curline, i)-1 > bytepos then break end item = compress( word( curline, i-1 ), ' ~`,./<>?;:"[]{}!@#$%^&*()+|=\' ) /* the name under the cursor is now in item, boy there should be an easier way of doing this... */ if item = '' then exit address 'dbMan' openDB 'root:user/ljrittle/address/AddressBook.db' address 'dbMan' lookUp item person. /* person. is the stem variable we want the result in */ 'text' '\vbox{\hbox{'person.name'} \hbox{'person.address1'} \hbox{' person.address2'} \hbox{'person.address3'}}' /* this is rough, but you get the idea... */ How many others out there would like a plain Data Base Engine with a FULL ARexx interface (like CED or TxED, etc)? I think every non-trivial program for the Amiga should have *full* ARexx support. The WorkBench (tm) should have an ARexx port for heaven's sake! If anyone from C= can explain this one, I'd like to hear it! Final thought! No one has an excuse for not adding an ARexx port, as MinRexx has been placed in the Public Domain [by Radical Eye Software, maker of AmigaTeX]. You can use MinRexx for any blasted thing you want to, there are no restrictions. If you are an application writer, do yourself a favor and get MinRexx (and do us a favor by adding an ARexx port! Be sure it is complete (see CED, ProVector and others) ARexx support.) It took less than one weeks time to add an ARexx port to ISpell (most of that time was spent figuring out how ISpell worked, hopefully you know how your application works! :-). Loren J. (if you don't fully support ARexx, I won't buy your product) Rittle -- ``NewTek stated that the Toaster *would* *not* be made to directly support the Mac, at this point Sculley stormed out of the booth...'' --- A scene at the recent MacExpo. Gee, you wouldn't think that an Apple Exec would be so worried about one little Amiga device... Loren J. Rittle l-rittle@uiuc.edu
giguere@csg.uwaterloo.ca (Eric Giguere) (03/15/91)
In article <1991Mar14.042035.20543@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> cs326ag@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Loren J. Rittle) writes: >Final thought! No one has an excuse for not adding an ARexx port, as >MinRexx has been placed in the Public Domain [by Radical Eye Software, >maker of AmigaTeX]. You can use MinRexx for any blasted thing you >want to, there are no restrictions. If you are an application writer, >do yourself a favor and get MinRexx (and do us a favor by adding an >ARexx port! Be sure it is complete (see CED, ProVector and others) >ARexx support.) It took less than one weeks time to add an ARexx >port to ISpell (most of that time was spent figuring out how >ISpell worked, hopefully you know how your application works! :-). True, there is no excuse anymore. However, I encourage people to use SimpleRexx by Mike Sinz instead of MinRexx. SimpleRexx was published in an issue of Amiga Mail and is available on BIX and elsewhere. And coming soon, SimpleRexx v.2, with expanded functionality --- it can also be used to call external functions, add/remove clip/lirary list items, and also be used to implement function hosts. Also, I would encourage everyone adding ARexx functionality to an application to follow the guidelines in Commodore's new user interface style guide, which provides a minimum set of commands "friendly" apps should support. -- Eric Giguere giguere@csg.UWaterloo.CA Unlike the cleaning lady, I have to do Windows.
cs326ag@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Loren J. Rittle) (03/15/91)
In article <1991Mar14.203948.22356@maytag.waterloo.edu> giguere@csg.uwaterloo.ca (Eric Giguere) writes: >In article <1991Mar14.042035.20543@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> cs326ag@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Loren J. Rittle) writes: >>Final thought! No one has an excuse for not adding an ARexx port, as >>MinRexx has been placed in the Public Domain [by Radical Eye Software, >>... > >True, there is no excuse anymore. However, I encourage people to use >SimpleRexx by Mike Sinz instead of MinRexx. SimpleRexx was published >in an issue of Amiga Mail and is available on BIX and elsewhere. And >coming soon, SimpleRexx v.2, with expanded functionality --- it can >also be used to call external functions, add/remove clip/lirary list items, >and also be used to implement function hosts. > Why is SimpleRexx better than MinRexx? Also what are the restrictions on SimpleRexx? MinRexx is nice because you get full PD source. Some people may not want to put someone else's copywritten code in their application... If SimpleRexx comes with source and is truly better than MinRexx, I'm converted :-). BTW, great Rexx article in the March issue of `Computer Language', Eric. `Rexx: Not Just a Wonder Dog', great name too. >Eric Giguere giguere@csg.UWaterloo.CA Loren J. Rittle -- ``NewTek stated that the Toaster *would* *not* be made to directly support the Mac, at this point Sculley stormed out of the booth...'' --- A scene at the recent MacExpo. Gee, you wouldn't think that an Apple Exec would be so worried about one little Amiga device... Loren J. Rittle l-rittle@uiuc.edu
giguere@csg.uwaterloo.ca (Eric Giguere) (03/17/91)
In article <1991Mar15.014621.6680@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> l-rittle@uiuc.edu (Loren J. Rittle) writes: >Why is SimpleRexx better than MinRexx? Also what are the restrictions >on SimpleRexx? MinRexx is nice because you get full PD source. >Some people may not want to put someone else's copywritten code >in their application... If SimpleRexx comes with source and is >truly better than MinRexx, I'm converted :-). As far as I know, there are no restrictions on SimpleRexx. The original version by Mike Sinz was published in Amiga Mail, Commodore's developer's newsletter, and the modified version is part of (and documented) in the upcoming "ARexx Programmer's Guide to the Amiga". I will be releasing the source for distribution as soon as the book is done, which it almost is.... I wouldn't call it "better" than MinRexx, but I think it's more flexible. Actually if someone already has MinRexx and is familiar with it, they might as well stay with it. The important point to emphasize is that as many apps as possible should be built with an ARexx port.... to whit, you should have a look at the style guide Commodore's releasing next month... it has a chapter devoted to ARexx interfaces. >BTW, great Rexx article in the March issue of `Computer Language', >Eric. > >`Rexx: Not Just a Wonder Dog', great name too. Thanks! Haven't seen the issue yet... hope the listings came out OK. -- Eric Giguere giguere@csg.UWaterloo.CA Unlike the cleaning lady, I have to do Windows.
mpierce@ewu.UUCP (Mathew Pierce) (03/17/91)
In article <28219@netcom.COM>, rodent@netcom.COM (Ben Discoe) writes: > wally@pallas.athenanet.com (Wally Hartshorn) writes: > > >In article <27839@netcom.COM> rodent@netcom.COM (Ben Discoe) writes: [Whole bunch of stuff about DBman compared to DBase and FOXbase deleted] > >Also, just as a thought, does/will dBMan support ARexx? > > It will if you ask for it. Let me know how you could use it, and I'll > toss on an ARexx port in a jiffy. OK, here is how you could use an ARexx port: Say you are in a radio dispatch center at a busy Police Dept. You have the dispatcher working the radio, and the computer. A hot call comes in, an officer needs info on a Joe Blow whom he is actively pursuing. The dispatcher flips her word processor to the back, calls flips her trusty dirtbag-info-retrieval system to the front, and types in Joe Blow's name, then hits the panic gadget with her mouse. The trusty informations system checks the local database for the personal info on sir Joe Blow, and once it retrieves it, it calls up the trusty NCIC and WASIC telecommunications program (via the) Arexx port) and sends the info across the lines. While the NCIC and WASIC computers are checking their files, the local database calls up DIGIVIEW, ^^^^^^^^ (via its Arexx port) or someother graphics program and loads up the digitized mugshot of Joe Blow and sends it to the printer so that there is a copy to circulate amongst the other officers incase he gets away. Once the NCIC and WASIC computers return from their search, they send their info to the telecommunications program, which sends it to the database program (via the arexx port) which formats the information and displays it for the dispatcher to relay to the troops. And when all is said and done, all relevant information is sent to the dispatcher in the form of a document which was formatted by a wordprocessing app that was controlled by the database program through the use of its Arexx port. This is a real scenario, I worked there, I quite working there to return to college to get the education necessary to make an application like the one (actually several linked via Arexx) above. With an Arexx port, one can create very extravagent applications out of existing software, in a minimal amount of developement time. The place I worked used 4 IBM compatible computers to do the above scenario, because one computer couldn't do it. And that was mainly because the telecommunications couldn't talk to the database, which couldn't talk to the word processor or the jail records. An Arrex port could really be useful. > >Wally Hartshorn (uunet!pallas!wally or wally@athenanet.com) > >President, Amiga Computer Enthusiasts of Springfield (ACES) > > Ben Discoe, main programmer and long-time Amiga fanatic at > VersaSoft, makers of dBMan for the Amiga. -Matt Pierce