Re: Macintosh Report/Query Product Needed

In article <1994Nov30.140728.5965_at_mcnc.org>, phunt_at_mcnc.org (Phil Hunt) wrote:

> Please respond by E-Mail to phunt_at_mcnc.org.
>
> We are in search for a product that will allow our Macintosh base users to
> access our Oracle database using a GUI to Report and/or Query. This product
> needs to have the ability to download data from the Oracle database to a MAC
> application like EXCEL. We have looked at Oracle's Data Browser and have
> found it lacking in the area of security across the network. The product in
> addition to the above needs to run on SUN Solaris v2.3.
>
> We thank you for your considerations.

We bought Oracle's Data Browser too, and the product really s*cks if you'll pardon me French.

We've been looking at several products over time and here's what we've found.

GQL by Andyne. Very nice and extensive as far as it's modeling of data (graphical representation of data!). You can setup documents that users can query with using whatever restrictions you like. The whole idea is a bit unwieldly at first to use, but it does grow on you. Probably the most full featured product from top to bottom with clearly defined places for Administrators, Designers, and users who can change and not change data. (Full developers kit costs $4999, other sections start at $495) Call them at (800) 267-0665

ClearAccess by Knowledgeware. Much more traditional reportwriter and query tool but probably less intimidating to users. This product does allow you to setup users with varying access to the data but the manager version of this product is currently available only under Windows (a Mac version is forthcoming). Ths manager software is also very expensive (>$3500) Also a nice all around full-featured product. (Users software is $495) Call them at (515) 472-7077.

Dataprism by Brio. Probably the oldest and least capable of the bunch. This product is alot like the Oracle Data Browser except it handles Publish and Subscribe so you could go to Excel this way. It is being replaced by a far more capable upgrade called BrioQuery that is due any day now. BrioQuery is supposed to have features mimicking GQL and ClearAccess. (Cost about $395) Call them at (415) 961-4110

Voyant by Brossco. My personal favorite for creating reports that needs whizzy charts and graphs from Oracle data. Not a traditional query tool in the ClearAccess sense, but it could save you alot of trouble in making charts and analysis graphs that you would have Excel do anyway. it is very easy to make something look pretty in Voyant. And at $495 a copy, it has Oracle DBA features that others charge $$thousands$$ more for. You probably should have a copy just to muck around with your own database if anything else. Call them at 415-694-7100

I hope this information helps. Their are other tools available, but these seem to be the biggies and I haven't gotten to the others yet. Incidentally, I'm not sure what you meant by "This product has to run on SUN Solaris v2.3" as far as connecting to a Sun, or if there is a Sun version of any of these pieces of software.

Rick Ewing
Vanderbilt Health Plans
ewing_at_vhp.vanderbilt.edu

-- 
--Rick Ewing
  Vanderbilt University
  ewing_at_vhp.vanderbilt.edu