SUMMARY: 3rd-party Front Ends for Oracle (long)

Hi folks,

The deluge of replies has finally died down, so here's my summary. I asked the following question on June 11:

> After gaining 300 more gray hairs learning to design Oracle*Forms
> applications (and THEN trying to convince disgruntled users that
> THIS was the state-of-the-art), I've decided there's GOT to be a
> better way.
>
> So, what Third-party Oracle GUIs do you know about? I'm interested
> in products for Mac OS, Windows, X11, Motif, and OpenLook -- take
> your pick.

Here is a summary of the replies I got:

1. POWERBUILDER is "a graphic PC-based client/server application development environment. Using PowerBuilder, you can develop object-based windows database applications without coding in C."

Well integrated into MS Windows, with OLE, DDE, and DLL; talks to MS SQLServer, Oracle, DB2, Gupta's SQLBase, and others. 16-bit APIs. Price: $3,395 for Oracle Server version; others $1,495-$3,895.

Recommended to me by Paul Krikorian <paulk_at_spock.dis.cccd.edu> and Brian Green <bgreen_at_nisgpost.daytonoh.ncr.com>.

   Powersoft Corporation
   70 Blanchard Road Burlington, MA 01803    (617) 229-2200 / (800) 937-7693 / FAX: (617) 221-7192 2. SMARTSTAR VISION uses compile-time object referencing (as opposed to compiled, "static" binding) for rapid development. To minimize the amount of code to be written, it uses a repository of reusable functions and several "template" windows.

Runs on Suns and DECs under X/Motif (& IBM RS/6000s Real Soon Now).

Release 2 will run on MS Windows and Macintosh. Talks to Oracle, Ingres, Rdb, Sybase. 32-bit APIs. Price: $12,000, single developer's license;

       $75-600 each add'l license.

Recommended to me by David Rackley <drack_at_mars.tsd.arlut.utexas.edu>.

    SmartStar Corporation -- info_at_smartstar.com     (805) 685-8000 / (800) 677-7827 / FAX (805) 562-1111     8 U.S. and 13 international locations.

3. ACCELL/SQL supplements a "default-form generator" with 250+ 4GL statements and an interactive debugger.

Runs the same applications on Motif, OpenLook, and MS Windows, and in character mode - simply by setting an environment variable.

Runs on most UNIX workstations (incl. 486/SCO), plus MS Windows Talks to Oracle, Informix, Sybase, and Ingres. Price:- On "typical" UNIX boxes, $6-9,000 for a developer's license,

       $2-3,000 for the debugger, $3-4,000 for each runtime license.
      - On MS Windows, $2,500 for the Unix-to-Windows porting tool,
       plus about $375 for each PC runtime license.

Recommended by Chris Anderson <caa_at_asgard.unify.com> & Sandeep Kundra <gatech!phantom.unify.unify.com!sk> ( -- both Unify employees).

   Unify Corporation
   (916) 928-6400 / (800) 24-UNIFY / FAX (916) 928-6401    Several U.S. locations, plus uk,jp,fr,de,and nl locations

4. UNIFACE is a GUI/4GL which works with Oracle & other databases; runs on Unix-X-Motif and MS Windows (Mac version Real Soon Now). SmartStar acknowledges Uniface as its primary competitor.

(I haven't yet received their literature so my knowledge is limited.)

Recommended by Someone in Australia <uucp_at_warrane.connect.com.au>.

    Uniface Corporation
    Alameda, CA
    510-748-6145, fax 510-748-6150

5. SQLWINDOWS is a Windows application generator and 4GL which talks to Oracle, MS SQL Server, DB2, and others. It has a point-n-click programming environment and "includable objects."

(I haven't yet received their literature so my knowledge is limited.)

Recommended by Ian Hope <ina_ian_at_actew.oz.au> and Evan Yates <yatese_at_ruakura.mafqual.govt.nz>.

    Gupta Technologies, Inc.
    Menlo Park, CA
    (415) 688-0210 / (800) 876-DBMS / FAX (415) 321-5471 6. JAM/PRESENTATION is a GUI add-on to JYACC's JAM forms-building toolset. JAM applications are portable (without code changes) to "hundreds of hardware platforms and 10 operating systems." Database interface JAM/DBi lets JAM talk to commercial RDBMSs.

(I haven't yet received their literature so my knowledge is limited.)

Runs on MS Windows and Unix-X-Motif (sorry, I don't know what platforms yet); OpenLook and Mac releases Real Soon Now. Talks to Oracle, Ingres, Sybase, Rdb, MS SQL Server, others.

Recommended by David Bath <dtb_at_otto.bf.rmit.OZ.AU> and Ian Hope <ina_ian_at_actew.oz.au>.

    JYACC
    New York, NY
    (212) 267-7722 / (800) 458-3313 / FAX (212) 608-6753 7. iXVIEW/SQL lets you do queries via a point-and-click interface and format the output in various ways. Facilitates queries, views, joins, printing, and import/export.

Runs on Sun and IBM RS/6000 with X11/Motif; also on 486 PCs running SCO Unix or SVr4.
SCO version talks to Informix; others talk both to Oracle & Informix. Price: Single user license, $995; Quantity discounts available.

Recommended by Shirley Kumamoto <shirleyk_at_qualix.com>, of Qualix.

For more info, send email to

    info_at_qualix.com.

8. I-BRIDGE is a client-server "bridge" between Windows applications and Oracle and Sybase databases. "Breaks" the Windows 16-bit barrier for data transfer by transparently managing 64k chunks. I-Bridge for Excel is highly integrated with MS Excel. I-Bridge for Unix also provides access to Unix executables from Windows.

(I don't have detailed glossies so my knowledge is limited.)

Runs on MS Windows and Sun 4, with HP-UX and Solaris next year. Talks to Oracle or Sybase over "all" TCP/IP implementations (ftp, sun, novell, etc.). Full Windows DDE support.

    I-Kinetics --- e-mail: sales_at_I-Kinetics.com     Cambridge, MA
    800-457-4555 / 617-661-8181 / Fax: 617-661-8625,

9. ODB++, an object-oriented database class library for rapid RDBMS application development in MS Windows environment. Built on Q+E Database library.

(I don't have detailed glossies so my knowledge is limited.)

Runs on MS Windows, with OS/2 PM and OSF/Motif "later on." Talks to ORACLE, Ingres, Sybase, MS SQLServer, DB2, Informix, others.

Recommended to me by Kari Valkonen <Kari.Valkonen_at_relatech.fi>.

     Relatech Ltd  ---  e-mail: odb-support_at_relatech.fi
     Jyvaskyla, FINLAND
     Phone int'l +358 41 650 200 / Fax int'l   +358 41 650 120

1. Of course, Oracle is an important player in this market, with Oracle Card, Oracle DataBrowser, and Oracle Graphics. Also, SQL*Forms V3.0, the reason for all my headaches and the impetus for all this research, will be replaced by SQL*Forms 4.0, A Completely Different Product which will Change The World.

Recommended to me by Steve Muench <smuench_at_oracle.com>.

    (You all know how to contact Oracle, right???)

1. For further information, you can send away for two catalogs:
   • Microsoft's SQL Server Applications and Services Directory. (This booklet focuses on products which talk to its SQL Server database engine from a Windows front-end, but it includes many products which also talk to Oracle, and a few which also run under X/Motif.) Call your local Microsoft distributor to order this booklet.
   • Oracle's also got a Third party products catalog. Most of these are VARs, but there a few pages on third-party interfaces. Again, call your local Oracle distributor to order this thing.

There you have it. Any questions or complaints, send me e-mail.

Cheers,

John E.              Een schip op het strand is een baken in zee.
                [A ship on the beach is a lighthouse to the sea.]
                                                  - Dutch Proverb