Re: Ad-Hoc query tools

In article <3ri0dc$e79$1_at_mhafc.production.compuserve.com>, Don Burleson <76443.2751_at_CompuServe.COM> writes:

>I am evaluating Crystal Reports and Business Objects for end-user
>Oracle query tools.
>
>Does anybody have experience to share?

I have not worked with Crystal Reports at all, but can share information about BusinessObjects. BTW, I should point out that I work for a company that does a significant amount of business with BusinessObjects, so I am not entirely objective ;-).

Incidentally, the June 1995 issue of "Byte" (page 217) has an article on BusinessObjects, Esperant, Andyne GQL and IQ for Windows, while the June 13, 1995 issue of "PC Magazine" (page 209) reviewed Report Smith 2.5, BusinessObjects 3.1, Crystal Reports Pro 4.0, Esperant 2.1, InfoMaker for Windows, and Intersolv Q+E. I won't bother rehashing the articles here. Also, I seem to recall that somebody was setting up and Ad-hoc query tools newsgroup; if you can find it, that would be an obvious place to look for additional information.

One down-side of BusinessObjects is the cost: it is likely to be more than many of the other tools. (Crystal Reports lists for $395, BusObj for $3495 plus $595 / user). However, BusinessObjects does not typically target a 2-5 person installation, but rather is looking at larger installations.

Price aside, BusObj has a number of excellent features. It requires at least one administrator, but the management and distribution of updates - once the initial installation is done - requires no effort whatsoever. BusObj creates a 'universe' against a set of tables in your database - essentially a universe typically maps to an application. (For example: a GL universe, AP universe...) This provides one level of security. Once a user has BusObj installed on their PC and has been granted access to the universe, they simply open the universe receive the latest version. As future updates are applied, they are downloaded (distributed) to the user the next time they open or select that universe. Saves a lot of email and/or floppy shuffling. This was one feature that PC Mag was very high on.

BusObj does not support multiple developers on the same universe very well. You have to resort to a sharing mechanism to ensure that only one person works on the universe at any given time. There is really no easy means of source control.

Once everything is set up and running, however, BusObj provides an extremely easy to use, point and click interface for the users. One universe can be distributed over Motif, Windows, and Mac interfaces, which is another boon if you're in a mixed platform environment. Advanced users can even be allowed to edit the SQL that BusObj creates prior to executing the query - this is at the administrator's discretion. I don't want to take up much more space here, but feel free to email me if I can provide further information.

Dave Rathbun
Integra Solutions, Inc
Dallas, TX
DRathbun_at_AOL.com Received on Mon Jun 12 1995 - 00:00:00 CEST