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From: hlt@iapic (Harold L. Trammel)
Newsgroups: comp.databases
Subject: Re: Information wanted on FileMan
Keywords: FileMan   info   database   public-domain
Message-ID: <1990Jun12.154826.4884@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>
Date: 12 Jun 90 15:48:26 GMT
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terry@sunquest.UUCP (Terry Friedrichsen) writes:

>I am posting this for a friend with no net access; I don't know anything
>about databases myself.

>He came to me with a story about a database system called "FileMan" or
>perhaps some approximation thereof, which he claims to be a public-domain
>database system, and asked if I would find out about it.

>So, if anyone reading this has a clue what he is talking about, I would
>appreciate mail.  (I'll try to watch this newsgroup for a week or so,
>but I might miss it, so please mail if you can.)

>Thanks.
>Terry R. Friedrichsen

Fileman is a database manager for MUMPS systems.  It is public
domain as far as I know.  The Medical Records system in the Vet
Clinics and the Diagnostic Lab here at Univ of Illinois College of
Vet Med is based on public domain MUMPS and Fileman.  

From what I have seen of the code and its implementation, I would
suggest that your friend have a good understanding of what he
wants the user interface to be before trying to learn this system.
Also it is a sorta hierarchical, sorta relational, sorta network
mix, I think.  I believe that hierarchical is its natural flavor.
It has many of the strengths and weaknesses of MUMPS, so that must
be figured in as well.

I'm interested in other opinions and actual programming
experiences.  I have tried to stick with Informix and 4th
Dimension so I may have an inadequate appraisal of Fileman.  I am
willing to be educated.

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Harold L. Trammel	hlt@iapic.cvm.uiuc.edu 
IAPIC-CVM
Univ. of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
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