Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!van-bc!twg!bill
From: bill@twg.UUCP (Bill Irwin)
Newsgroups: comp.databases,connect.audit
Subject: Re: Is Unify perfect?
Message-ID: <209@twg.UUCP>
Date: 30 Jun 90 10:16:44 GMT
References: <1990Jun29.170422.3296@ibmpcug.co.uk>
Organization: TWG The Westrheim Group, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Lines: 45

In <1990Jun29.170422.3296@ibmpcug.co.uk> raelun@ibmpcug.co.uk (Paul Ellis) writes:

[..]
>I notice alot of users querying Oracle/Informix/Sybase etc

>Did you know Accell sits on top of the above Databases ? and enables easy
>intergration of applications accross these backends .

IMHO Unify's decision to unbundle their Accell 4GL frontend from their DB
engine  was  one  of  the best marketing strategies I've  seen  in  quite
awhile.   Unify  developed an excellent development environment and  user
interface in the Accell product, but their market share in DB sales was a
fraction of what it once was.

Other  DB  vendors  had gained market share for their engines,  but  were
lacking  the  sophistication  in the 4GL arena.  Their  decision  not  to
reinvent the wheel was a wise one, which when coupled to Unify's decision
to  sell Accell without the Unify engine, is in the process of  producing
one of the most exciting environments since C.

A  developer now has the ability, once he has selected Accell, to develop
applications  that  can  run on any of the major  DB  platforms...without
rewriting  the  application!   From what I have gathered  at  user  group
meetings,  one  only has to be careful not to use structures for  one  DB
that  are not available in other DBs.  Even so, porting to another DB and
having to rewrite some sections of code to use the new engine's syntax is
a far cry from rewriting the entire application.

We  have  had  Unify in-house for over seven years now and  added  Accell
about two years ago.  Unfortunately, other demands have precluded us from
developing  in Accell as much as we had planned, but I've seen enough  of
it to know it is the right choice for a portable 4GL application.

Once  I  start  converting  some Unify applications into  Accell  I  will
probably have some questions to bounce off those of you who are using it.
I'm going to take the developer's training at Unify first to get grounded
in the basics.

Teaser:  Do you know how to get an SQL to run from cron that can make use
of the system date for determining valid records for processing by RPT?
-- 
Bill Irwin - TWG The Westrheim Group - Vancouver, BC, Canada
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