Re: DBMS' and datawarehouse combinations. (Management and ad-hoc information)

From: Brian Capstick <capstick_at_inforamp.net>
Date: 1996/05/09
Message-ID: <31922D18.74C1_at_inforamp.net>#1/1


F.J. VERDUIN wrote:
>
> Greetings,
>
> I'm presently working with an insurance company in the Netherlands
> that's taking its first careful steps towards integrating the
> principle of datawarehousing in its information gathering proces.
> To realize this they regularily 'dump' a hefty chunk of their
> mainframe-data on a Sybase SQL server which is part of the PC-LAN
> through a TPC-IP protocol. The only way then to access this raw data
> is by means of their own DBMS -namely Access (2.0, Windows) or even
> Excell (4.0)- combined with an ODBC-driver to gain a little processing
> speed on the network. This method is hardly optimal, but the only
> thing they have at the moment.
>
> The only real advantages, however, seem to be in answering the
> on-the-fly or ad-hoc questions though the tools are frequently used to
> create management information. This takes a lot of time to do, and
> people end up doing more 'cutting-and-pasting' than the actual running
> of queries do. And those take forever at times.
>
> My view on this is that it should be possible to use this data-store
> in another way, by combining the use of pre-programmed queries and a
> GUI to create an all-round management information system, reporting
> (monthly?) changes in premiums, damages and the like (off hand, but
> the items are too divers to fully describe here)
>
> One of the major drawback, besides convincing my boss and the people
> who're doing the job manually now, is processing time. Programming isn't
> the problem, but the time it takes Access 2.0 to sieve through the data
> on the Sybase is a real pain.
>
> So, my questions:
>
> 1. I really need an DBMS alternative to Access 2.0, something that's
> not *too* expensive but cuts processing time by a reasonable amount. I
> was thinking about a system with a native Sybase-driver myself, but
> anyone with a suggestion/opinion and/or experience is welcome to share
> it. My own experience with other DBM-programs is negligable.
>
> 2. I would like to discuss this idea with others, people who've
> thought of something similar, introduced a similar idea or are
> willing to ponder a bit on it.
>
> Anyone?
>
> Reactions are welcome at : F.J.Verduin_at_kub.nl
>
> Frits Verduin
> The Netherlands

If your looking for an alternative to Access 2.0 - try Visual Basic and then take it a step farther and code the SQL statements through the ODBC API. I agree that data access through the JET engine is a performance bottleneck especially if that db is Sybase. VB will allow you to preserve some of the skills that you have built up with your Access programming and still give you the flexibility to play with the back-end as your data warehouse effort grows.

There is a series of articles in the May 1996 edition of Visual Basic Programmers Journal on benchmarked performance of VB code. Various methods are examined JET and ODBC API being two. In the benchmarks, the ODBC API came out on top even considering the added programming effort to get it working. (The magazine is published by Fawcette Technical Pubs and they're at www.windx.com. If you can't get a copy of this in the Netherlands: The article 'Clocking Data Access' written by Steve Jackson 72040.1640_at_compuserve.com , maybe he has an electronic copy)

If you're looking at something with a native Sybase driver look at Powerbuilder - they would likely have more of an advantage in specs for Sybase. (Sybase owns PB)

I'm trying to take my firm down the same path you're pondering. I just might succeed so I'd be willing to continue an email discussion. Received on Thu May 09 1996 - 00:00:00 CEST

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