Re: Forms 4.5 vs Powerbuilder

jstarwoo_at_haven.ios.com (Jim Starwood) writes:

>Matthew M. Lih (matt.lih_at_trw.com) wrote:
>: In article <3qnjjp$ckt_at_hazel.Read.TASC.COM>, Bob Ward <rjward_at_tasc.com> says:
>: >
>: >We are a ORACLE SQL*Forms IS shop and are evaluating Powerbuilder as an
>: >alternative to building client-server apps. Has anyone out there gone
 

>: I'm working on a project developing a distributed system with over
>: ~10Gb data using Oracle 7.1.4, Oracle Forms 4.5. I'm also taking
>: a client-server class which is giving me some Powerbuilder exposure.
 

>: up Powerbuilder. Powerbuilder seems to require a substantial
>: amount of code to do things like connect to the database, which
 

>If six lines overall is substantial, one of us needs to go back to class.
 

>: If you're currently an Oracle shop and want to continue to use
>: Oracle servers exclusively, I would say Forms is a good choice.
>: If you need to access non-Oracle databases, you may want to go
>: to Powerbuilder.
 

>This is stupid rationale. Take a quick look at the product yourself,
>it's manageable for the kids of things Forms does, and has good
>integration potential to other Windows applications. Don't be an island.

In fact I think both Forms and Powerbuilder are execelent for a large number of general administrative solutions. I would though be more worried about maintanance. Here Forms 4, as previous SQL*Forms versions, has (if you like) all its information stored in database tables, which makes it very easy fast to track down a small number of forms with a certain problem to solve. Although I must say that the encoding of literal strings sure has made life more difficult for us.

I do not know if Powerbuilder offers similar cross referencing functions, that will allow us to maintain hundreds of forms without having to enter each and every of them?
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Jim Starwood I like a chromatic love affair...
>jstarwoo_at_haven.ios.com one half-step at a time.

Best wishes - Martin Jensen

-- 
Martin Jensen,  Dansk Data Elektronik A/S, Herlev, Denmark
E-mail:         mj_at_dde.DK
                        ---
Don't take life too seriously -- you'll never get out if it alive.