Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!apple!usc!hacgate!ashtate!dbase!awd
From: awd@dbase.UUCP (Alastair Dallas)
Newsgroups: comp.databases
Subject: Re: dBASE IV - is this for real?
Summary: Can you support these allegations?
Message-ID: <137@dbase.UUCP>
Date: 5 Jul 89 17:01:29 GMT
References: <9383@xanth.cs.odu.edu> <661@levels.sait.edu.au>
Organization: Ashton Tate Devlopment Center Glendale, Calif.
Lines: 63

In article <661@levels.sait.edu.au>, marwk@levels.sait.edu.au writes:
> In article <9383@xanth.cs.odu.edu>, aiko@cs.odu.edu (John K Hayes) writes:
> > This is to anyone at Ashton-Tate who may be listening.  I cannot believe...
> >
> >	...[stuff deleted]...
> >
> I can hardly believe that people are still buying Ashton-Tate products,
> especially dBASE products:  These have more bugs and cause more problems than
> any other product I have ever used.  I have hundreds of examples but here is
> one:
> 
> dBASE III+ was used last year by 2nd year computing studies students for their
> group project.  Many students came to me saying they counld not understand the
> errors they were getting.  I ran the programs myself and discovered that the
> ELSE clause is sometimes bypassed in an IF statement when the if condition
> fails.  

I would like to see a specific failing test case for this.  Looking at the
code which searches for an ELSE, it's very hard to imagine that you weren't
seeing the result of some other operator error.

> I did not find a pattern as to when this effect would occur, so I suggested
> that the students use a DO CASE statement instead, for all instances of IF
> statements.

In any event, this is poor workaround--if flow of control commands don't work,
they don't work.  Are you really teaching your 2nd year students "voodoo
programming"--if it doesn't work, recite some magic incantations?  It only
seems to work on Thursdays, so all computing must be done then?

> This makes the product dBASE III+ UNRELIABLE and it is my opinion that it
> should not be used.

To paraphrase, opinions are like noses...everyone has one.

> Furthermore, having spoken to both Ashton and Tate some years ago while I
> was developing a moderately large system, I am very dissatisfied with their
> attitude. 

I can wholeheartedly apologize for our attitude.  We have been steadily working
on it, but arrogance seems to be unavoidable for very successful startups
with extremely steep growth curves.  We are maturing, however, and I think I
can speak for the entire company and say that we recognize that customer
satisfaction is paramount.

As for speaking to both Ashton and Tate, I'm sure you did if you say so.
Ashton, however, is a parrot.

> I recommend to all my students (and anyone else who mentions a dBASE product)
> to steer well clear of their products.  There are plenty of better products on
> the market.
> 
> Ray Kennington

It's a free world, Mr. Kennington.  I wonder--are these other products
supported on UseNet?  Do they have as many books and training materials
available as dBASE?  I guess I have my opinions, too...

/alastair/

Big Disclaimer: These are my opinions.  It is not part of my job to monitor
UseNet; I am not an Ashton-Tate spokesman and my comments are entirely
unofficial.  (I hope that does it, because I can't think of more weasel-words.)