Data Based Advisor articles from July 1995

Data Based Advisor archives from July 1995

Gupta inks deal with Computer Associates.(Brief Article)
July 1, 1995... As part of its strategy to infiltrate all computing environments--including a wide array of desktop computing environments from workstations to mobile computers--CA inked a US$17 million deal with Gupta. The deal lays out US$7 million in cash for...

Scalable Quadbase-SQL 3.1 runs on laptops.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 1995... Quadbase-SQL 3.1, the relational database engine for PC-based client-server application development, has been redesigned for notebooks to desktops and peer-to-peer and client-server LAN topologies. It comes in two versions: Quadbase-SQL Server is...

Sybase adds replication to DB2. (Sybase Replication Agent for DB2)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 1995... Sybase Replication Agent for DB2 1.0 uses Sybase's Replication Server to replicate changes from mainframe DB2 data to enterprise client-server systems. Replication Agent for DB2 continually monitors the DB2 log, extracts changes, converts that...

Clarion for Windows adds 32-bit optimizer. (Clarion for Windows 1.5)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 1995... A 32-bit optimizing compiler has been incorporated into Clarion for Windows 1.5, and is being tested as part of the Clarion 1.5 32-Bit Subscription paid program. Clarion for Windows is a rapid application development system, with application...

Platinum gets RelTech and Answer. (acquires RelTech Group, Answer Systems)(Brief Article)
July 1, 1995... PLATINUM technology, inc. is at it again, this time acquiring RelTech Group and Answer Systems. RelTech, developer of data warehousing software and DB EXCEL data repository, will join forces with recent PLATINUM acquisition BrownStone Solutions...

Windows vs. Windows: and DBA clarifies its mission.(magazine name change)(Editorial)
July 1, 1995... Notice the cover of this magazine? (Hey, it's a valid question; some people flip through a magazine back to front!) The logo DATA BASED ADVISOR has been sliced in two, and APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT has been slipped in between. Pretty dramatic, huh?...

Design and document your systems using English-language syntax.(THE Database Designer for Windows 2.0.) (Software Review)(Evaluation)
July 1, 1995... Developers have traditionally had three major problems to deal with on a regular basis. First is the design and creation of a multi-table (relational) database system. Then you have to explain to users how the database fits together. The last...

Dive into your data for business insight.(CrossTarget 3.0) (Software Review)(Evaluation)
July 1, 1995... CrossTarget is an end-user tool that allows the aggregation and drill down of data across various dimensions. Examples of dimensions are customers, sales people, regions, products, etc. Using a point-and-click interface, a user can see a list of...

Coming events.(CrossTarget 3.0) (Software Review)(Evaluation)
July 1, 1995... ACCESS/VISUAL BASIC ADVISOR CONFERENCE & EXPOSITION, Orlando, FL, 18-21 June--Major technical education conference on developing applications with Microsoft Access, Visual Basic, Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Mail), Microsoft...

Have card, will travel. (SCM Microsystems SwapBox Classic PCMCIA card adapter) (Hardware Review)(Evaluation)
July 1, 1995... More and more computers are coming equipped with an interesting peripheral: a PCMCIA desktop card drive. These card drives let you utilize the entire array of PCMCIA devices--IDE hard drives, flash disks (solid state hard disks), fax/modem...

.VBX control suite elicits mixed feelings.(Marasco Newton Group ADE VBX) (Software Review)(Evaluation)
July 1, 1995... Marasco Newton Group's ADE VBX is a mixed bag of good, average, and disappointing custom controls for Visual Basic. ADE is a nine-VBX control suite targeting Visual Basic database developers and users. The ADE controls include five that you...

SQL Programmer 1.8 for Windows announced.(Sylvian Faust Inc)(Product Announcement)(Brief Article)
July 1, 1995... This back-end programming development tool for Microsoft SQL Server and Sybase SQL Server developers uses SQL-Programmer Batch Objects to integrate the maintenance and administration of batch objects in a central repository contained in SQL...

See for yourself. (dBsee++ 5.0)(Inernational Software Assoc)(Product Announcement)(Brief Article)
July 1, 1995... Automatic code generation goes visual with dBsee++5.0, a CASE tool which can serve as a development platform for multiplatform, client-server applications. It can program for several languages, including CA-Visual Objects and C++, and separate...

BPwin 1.5 upgrade announced.(Product Announcement)(Brief Article)
July 1, 1995... BPwin now includes a bi-directional link to ERwin, multi-dimensional displays to analyze business processes, team modeling support, and compliance with Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) for IDEF modeling. The bi-directional link...

Print form and data together on laser printers. (Visual Forms)(Product Announcement)(Brief Article)
July 1, 1995... Visual Forms lets programmers design and integrate forms for Windows and DOS apps without having to hard code escapes or modify software designed for end users. It generates a Printer Control Language (PCL) file containing the escape codes for...

Extend Windows DDE capabilities across networks. (Wonderware NetDDE)(Product Announcement)(Brief Article)
July 1, 1995... NetDDE establishes multiple DDE conversations between Windows, Windows NT, UNIX, and VMS programs operating on different computers on a network. Software Development Kits (SDKs) are provided to do this, and any program that currently supports DDE...

SQL OLE. (Intelligent Objects Corp) (Product Announcement)(Brief Article)
July 1, 1995... SQL OLE is an intelligent object that supports OLE automation, giving any Windows-based application, development tool or language access to SQL Server, Sybase, Oracle, ODBC and more. Provides an OLE automation and OLE custom control interface to...

Versant provides repository for Informix-NewEra. (Versant Object Technology)(Brief Article)
July 1, 1995... The Informix-NewEra object-oriented development environment will use the Versant ODBMS as an embedded distributed object repository. Reasons for this decision are Versant's heterogeneous platform support, distributed database support, cache...

KI SHELL supports Sybase. (UES Inc generic workflow development tool)(Product Announcement)(Brief Article)
July 1, 1995... KI SHELL is a generic workflow development and enaction tool for the management of work activities. Designed for multiple platform, client-server and networked environments, it can span and integrate multiple applications into a cross-functional...

Softel announces new custom control. (SftTree)(Product Announcement)(Brief Article)
July 1, 1995... SftTree 1.0 is a tree control for Windows. Supports hierarchical data display, with multiple data columns, multiple text lines per item, built-in column headers (optional buttons), user resizable columns, grid lines, 3D item display, sorting, and...

Bypass help hassles with WhizNotes. (sticky notes utility) (Software Review)(Evaluation)
July 1, 1995... WhizNotes is a "sticky notes" utility in which you jot down messages, memos, reminders, and to-do lists. But that's not what makes it interesting to developers. What sets WhizNotes apart from a hundred similar programs is its secondary...

CBTs for PowerBuilder 2.0. (computer-based training software)(Product Announcement)(Brief Article)
July 1, 1995... The PowerBuilder CBT 4.0 is computer-based training for Powersoft's PowerBuilder. The CBT for version 4.0 is available on CD-ROM, and contains over 1,600 screens of text and graphics and provides an in-depth explanation of all PowerBuilder...

SQA ships new version of SQA TeamTest. (TeamTest 3.1)(Product Announcement)(Brief Article)
July 1, 1995... SQA TeamTest 3.1 integrates six major testing areas: test planning, development, execution, results analysis, defect tracking, and summary reporting and analysis. Tests any Windows product or application, and offers special integration with...

Learn CASE by computer. (CASE Essence 2.1)(Product Announcement)(Brief Article)
July 1, 1995... CASE Essence 2.1 is an electronic book that teaches the concepts of information theory that support information engineering and object-oriented analysis. It discusses measurement (domains) and objectification (entities or objects) of experience,...

Graphical DOS applications. (Schooner 2.5) (Jonathan Cook)(Product Announcement)(Brief Article)
July 1, 1995... Schooner 2.50 creates graphical user interfaces for DOS Xbase applications. It has an "instant run" environment for running code without having to resort to a compile-and-link process. It supports the integration of .PCX images, wallpaper...

DB2 access tool. (StarSQL licensed by Microsoft)(Brief Article)
July 1, 1995... Microsoft has licensed the StarSQL database access product for distribution with the Microsoft SNA Server. StarSQL is an ODBC driver for accessing IBM midrange, mainframe, and UNIX systems using IBM's DRDA technology. The bundled version allows a...

Manage projects. (Project Integrator)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 1995... Project Integrator is a Windows real-time project management tool. You use the Project Integrator's "Project Roadmap" to create an integrated business process flowchart, and attach any Word, Excel, or other OLE-based application document to each...

Migration tool for SQL Server. (DBArtisan 2.0)(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
July 1, 1995... DBArtisan 2.0 has a copy management facility that allows for cross-server database migrations and the synchronizing of development, test, and production databases. It also sports integrated support for the PowerBuilder catalog, with features for...

New data translation engine. (DataExport Engine)(Product Announcement)(Brief Article)
July 1, 1995... The DataExport Engine lets developers export data from Windows-based applications to 37 spreadsheet and database formats including Excel, Lotus 1-2-3, Access, Paradox, and Xbase formats. The engine uses an ASCII source file and an Export...

EasyCASE Database Engineer for PowerBuilder. (Evergreen CASE Tools)(Product Announcement)(Brief Article)
July 1, 1995... EasyCASE Database Engineer for PowerBuilder is a link between the EasyCASE Professional CASE tool and PowerBuilder. Developers can now visually define the system, documentation, and maintenance specifications, and exchange design information...

Imaging and multimedia OLE controls. (MediaDeveloper)(Product Announcement)(Brief Article)
July 1, 1995... MediaDeveloper OLE Controls is a package of six video, audio, animation, graphics, and database OLE2 tools. The Database OLE Control lets you store any type of data in a BLOB database field which simplifies storing and retrieving multimedia...

C++ class library for drag-and-drop UI.(Drag-It 2.0) (Software Review)(Evaluation)
July 1, 1995... Drag-It 2.0 is an MFC-based C++ class library that adds a drag-and-drop user-interface to applications created using MFC's document-view architecture. This is accomplished by extending the MFC CView and COleServerDoc classes, so that the features...

Dr. DeeBee Tools for NT. (SYWARE Inc)(Product Announcement)(Brief Article)
July 1, 1995... This suite of utilities is intended for developers and product support organizations to monitor ODBC-enabled 32-bit applications and drivers running under Windows NT. Dr. DeeBee Tools is a suite of seven utilities. Dr. DeeBee Check semantically...

SAS Institute delivers JMP software for Windows.(Product Announcement)(Brief Article) (Product Announcement)
July 1, 1995... JMP Software brings tools for data visualization and integrated design of experiments to Windows 3.1 running with 32s, Windows NT, and Windows 95. Is designed to provide a highly interactive, intuitive, and graphical environment that encourages...

Who's in charge? (certifying programming consultants)
July 1, 1995... In the last issue, I talked about vendor certification programs that provide a service to both the holder of a certification and to the public. Used with other information, certification says something about the knowledge base of the individual....

Health care industry uses expert systems technology.(Case Study) (Evaluation)
July 1, 1995... In the health care industry, having fast access to key information is not only essential--it's required. New government mandates and increased auditing practices are forcing insurance companies to maintain detailed information about the type and...

Getting started on the Net.(Tutorial)
July 1, 1995... There's this little-known new technology that's slowly starting to generate some whispers, but unfortunately, it's really just a big fad. I'm talking, of course, about the Internet. Just kidding. The Internet has been around for 25 years, and...

And the winner is...(1995 Data Based Advisor Readers Choice Awards)
July 1, 1995... One of the best ways to find out which application development products are really outstanding is to ask other developers what products they use and depend on to provide solutions to their users. We know you don't have the time to query a slew of...

New. (new products)(1995 Data Based Advisor Readers Choice Awards)
July 1, 1995... At the start of the Readers Choice Awards contest, this year's Best New Product category was wide open! With the release of several significant upgrades to major products and two new development environments from industry leaders, it was...

Client server.(1995 Data Based Advisor Readers Choice Awards)
July 1, 1995... Ah, the challenge of building distributed client-server applications. It isn't just a matter of choosing the server platform, database server software, network operating system, front-end development tool, administration utilities, and design...

Windows.(1995 Data Based Advisor Readers Choice Awards)
July 1, 1995... In an encore performance from last year's contest, Microsoft dominated in this category. Microsoft Access 2.0 walked away with the top spot in the Best Database Manager category, with FoxPro 2.6 (slipping from number 1 last year) garnering an...

DOS.(1995 Data Based Advisor Readers Choice Awards)
July 1, 1995... Deja vu with DOS? Well, it's a year later, and DOS remains the environment of choice for many professional developers. In fact, we almost had a mirror image of last year's winners as Microsoft's FoxPro 2.6 and CA-Clipper 5.2 win again as Best...

Tools and utilities.(1995 Data Based Advisor Readers Choice Awards)
July 1, 1995... The development language only provides a foundation upon which the best applications are built. Companies wisely refrain from building the ultimate development language, a.k.a. everything except the kitchen sink syndrome--that's where tools and...

Best of breed.(1995 Data Based Advisor Readers Choice Awards)
July 1, 1995... For the Best of Breed category, votes can include DOS, UNIX, and Windows software (depending on category); winners are a signpost showing the direction readers are going when they develop applications, and Windows software has dominated the last...

Build a menu system that makes sense to users.(Interface Design)(Tutorial)
July 1, 1995... Now that you've read my earlier articles on how users act and react to automated computer systems and menus (see DATA BASED ADVISOR, May and June 1995), I want to give you more ideas on how to build the ultimate user interface. This issue's ideas...

Total Access Analyzer straightens out Access apps. (FMS Total Access Analyzer 2.01) (Software Review)(Evaluation)
July 1, 1995... When you need to figure out what the last programmer has done or make changes to an application, you may have to trace existing and new fields through a maze of forms and queries and reports. The best insurance Access programmers and developers...

New life for legacy applications.(includes product directory)
July 1, 1995... Client-server computing is racing through the industry with the momentum of a freight train, and just about everyone is looking for a way to hop on board. Companies with substantial investments in host-based systems are having the most difficulty...

Bridging the gap with middleware.(includes product directory)
July 1, 1995... Today, there are countless types of computers, operating systems, and networks online at your average company. The potential number of data sources continues to grow, from mainframe production databases, to departmental relational databases, to...

Where is that yellow sticky? You know the one... (project management software)(Directory)
July 1, 1995... Are you running so far behind schedule that you haven't found the time to find out that you are behind on the project? You call Ted for that section of code you told him to fix last week, and he reminds you that he was in Bongo Bongo without his...

Seeing stars. (multidimensional data models)(Client/Server Advisor)(Tutorial)
July 1, 1995... The "star schema" and multidimensional data models are building momentum, but very little has been written about how to create them. Star schemas are frequently used in data warehouse implementations. They're also at the heart of multidimensional...

Data entry on the World Wide Web: part 1.
July 1, 1995... In the March 1995 issue of DATA BASED ADVISOR, I showed how to write Windows-based Internet client and server appplications using Microsoft Visual Basic. The response to that article was overwhelming, so I decided to follow up with another...

Binding logic to data in Visual FoxPro.(FoxPro Developer)(Tutorial)
July 1, 1995... Afundamental challenge facing developers is ensuring that application data always stays in compliance with business rules. Xbase developers used to be on their own when it came to enforcing rules and maintaining the integrity of an application's...

Looking under the hood at Notes replication.
July 1, 1995... One of the most powerful features of Lotus Notes is its ability to distribute information across an organization. This is done by replication, which creates and maintains multiple copies of the same Notes database on different machines in...

What's new in SQLbase 6.0.(Inside SQLWindows)
July 1, 1995... SQLBase was initially designed as a PC-oriented relational database that included attributes of its mainframe and mini-computer cousins. Even with such attributes as transaction control and cost-based optimization, as well as recovery mechanisms...

Use bar codes to automate data entry in VB apps. (Visual Basic)(Visual Basic Expert)(Tutorial)
July 1, 1995... They're used for pricing books, groceries, clothing, and videotapes. You can also use them to track the shipment of letters, overnight packages, and airline luggage. George Bush, in the eyes of some commentators, hurt his chances for reelection...

Leap tall buildings with .DLLs.(dynamic link libraries)(Tutorial)
July 1, 1995... In this article, I show you how to access Windows dynamic link libraries (.DLLs) from CA-Visual Objects. I discuss the Visual Objects language features that makes using .DLLs possible, and show you how to convert Visual Objects data types into...

Overloading PowerBuilder internal functions.(Tutorial)
July 1, 1995... Recently, I had the pleasure of speaking on a traveling PowerBuilder tour. So far, the tour hasn't taken me out of the United States, but I'm looking forward to traveling to Europe, Asia, Australia, and South America. (If this hint to the tour's...

Client-server, the next generation? (interview with Compuware VP Anu Shukla)(Interview)
July 1, 1995... Representatives from UNIFACE, recently acquired by Compuware, often speak of their unique approach to client-server tool design. I talked to Anu Shukla, vice president of worldwide marketing for Compuware Client-Server Systems Group, to find out...

What's new in the CA-Clipper 5.3 debugger?
July 1, 1995... The new Windows debugger in CA-Clipper 5.3 Workbench debugger is a refreshing update to the dated CLD, DOS technology available with prior 5.x releases. The enhanced facility helps solve the programmer's lament, "But I only changed one line!?" by...

dBASE's native multimedia support.(dBASE Developer)(Tutorial)
July 1, 1995... In the last issue of DATA BASED ADVISOR, I discussed techniques for integrating multimedia elements, such as sound and video, in dBASE for Windows applications using the Windows API multimedia functions. In addition to the Windows API, dBASE for...

Database confidential.(rumors)(Column)
July 1, 1995... San Diego's seaside setting periodically causes Buzz to swap his fedora for a sailor's cap and join swashbuckling friends on the open seas. While cruisin', Buzz encountered strange occurrences such as aircraft carriers and uneven weather...