Re: Powerbuilder problems?

In article <CpwJMG.AtI_at_stortek.com> v045101_at_procyon.stortek.com (Sean Stasica) writes:
>deflenniken_at_biivax.dp.beckman.com wrote:

[stuff deleted]

>> 2. ORACLE binds variables in the Database server;
>> Powerbuilder binds them on the client.
>
>If this was the cause of slowdown with concurrent users, wouldn't it be just
>as evident with one user? The benefit of client/server is that most of the
>work is done at the client.

Not right. Repeated execution of a similar statement with/without bind variables shows the performance advantages to using bind variables (done on the client, not the server, to avoid work being done on the server) even when running as the only user on the server -- more so with multiple users running different applications, and most when multiple users are running the same application.

When a SQL statement is submitted to the server, it needs to be parsed, optimized, bound (qualifications like WHERE EMPID=20), and then executed. By using bind variables, you can avoid the first two steps (VERY expensive from a performance standpoint -- often the vast majority of the CPU cycles and perceived/user time) most of the time (as long as the statement exists in the cache. If you don't use bind variables (in other words, if you submit the statement with literal values instead of bind variable "place holders"), if you scrolled to the next row and reexecuted the query, you must go through the entire process again -- wasting time and wasting server resources. The more times a single user submits similar queries, the more evident and costly this will become; when you have 200 users executing the same order entry/customer service application, the difference is enormous -- not only saving all that work, but also leaving statements in cache longer and avoiding swapping effects!

[other stuff deleted]

I don't want to get into marketing wars on some of Sean's other points, as I want people to use the right tool for the job with Oracle7, whether that tool is PB or Forms. Forms is the right tool for portable, multi-lingual, or enterprise-scale applications; PB may be the right tool for other jobs.

I believe that PowerSoft are working on some of the bind variable issues -- 3.0a uses bind variables in a small number of situations, and I would suspect that they will improve this in 4.0 or beyond.

Good luck with whichever tools you use.

• Dennis Moore, my own opinions, etcetcetc