Re: Seeking feedback on Client-Server development tools

From: Allan Marcus <allan_at_est.lanl.gov>
Date: 1995/04/11
Message-ID: <allan.1148004308L_at_newshost.lanl.gov>#1/1


In Article <9504110245.AA20031_at_ithaca.actech.com>, gaarder_at_actech.com (Steve Gaarder) wrote:

>We are now making a reassessment of our goals, methods, and resources.
>To this end, we have several questions:
>
>1. What level and number of human resources do you assign to your
>client-server database projects? What skills do you look for in your
>developers and like to see in your development team?

For a small project (less that 20 tables) one programmer should be enough.

>
>2. How much "out-of-the-box" functionality does your client-builder
>*really* have (as opposed to what the marketing materials imply it does
>for you)? Can you declaratively define your database in this tool, as
>you can with Uniface?

We use Omnis 7 (Mac/Windows/Unix(soon)). Omnis is a rather free form front end that lets you do just about anything. It took me about 3 months to get really proficient at it (I have a lot of 4D and Sybase background). Runtimes are free too.

>
>3. For inner-entity queries, what does your tool offer and what
>limitations does it present?

You can do whatever searches you want. You can declare variables, create a screen for the user to fill in the variables, then include the variables in your query. It's not automatic, but you can do any query you want and display the result anyway you want.

You can reach Blyth (makers on Omnis) at 800-346-6647.

For those of you who have not seen Omnis 7.3, it's a lot different than past versions of Omnis! I used to be quite a 4D snob, but I rather like Omnis 7. It has an integrated multi-user development envoronment and an option change management system. I never have to use "sneaker-net" to deploy an upgrade; Omnis upgrade the clients automatically. This feature alone is what sold us on Omnis.

Thanks,

Allan Marcus
"My opinions are my own, I think..."

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Received on Tue Apr 11 1995 - 00:00:00 CEST

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