Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!usc!wuarchive!uunet!tellab5!wiseman
From: wiseman@tellabs.com (Jeff Wiseman)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.apps
Subject: Re: Dollars & Sense 4.x Archives - What good are they ?
Message-ID: <5007@tellab5.tellabs.com>
Date: 9 Jan 91 18:43:27 GMT
References: <44440@mips.mips.COM> <4936@tellab5.tellabs.com> <20989@.la.locus.com>
Sender: news@Tellabs.COM
Distribution: usa
Organization: Tellabs, Inc. Lisle, IL
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In article <20989@.la.locus.com> matth@locus.com (Matt Hardin) writes:

>This is pretty scary stuff. This set of "work-arounds" seems to be rather
>extensive. Do the databases really get trashed so easily? Frankly, number 2

Note that the operations that I mentioned were operations that noramlly are not
performed. The interface to the product simply ALLOWs them to be performed.
Note that other budget packages don't even allow some of these things to be
performed.

>seems to imply that D&S will trash its database at the least possible excuse
>and also seems to be a real pain in the rear to do.

The reason I do the save-as's is because it speeds up the accesses mainly.
However, from my own experiences as a software engineer, I know that a sorted
database is far likely to NOT exposes any strange side-effect bugs. Since I
have been doing this, I have had NO problem at all.

>I was considering buying D&S, but after hearing this, I am thinking again.
>Does anyone else have similar experience that backs up what Jeff says? Is
>there a later version of D&S that fixes the problems that these workarounds
>are designed to avoid? How about it Monogram? Did you guys really release
>a program that eats its databases as often as the above workarounds imply?

Matt, this is indeed an interesting issue. For the past year I have been
talking to many D&S users about it. A nutshell summary follows:

If you want a very solid program with top notch, excellent customer support,
DON'T BUY Dollars and $ense (Please note that I am only referring to version
4.1c and NOT version 5.0 which is now being sold by Software Toolworks and
contains a totally refurbished database. Many of the problems of the old 4.1c
were database problems).

HOWEVER

I talked to at least 5 people who indicated that they (like myself) had tried
to move away from D&S (for example to MacMoney which I understand to be an
excellant product by the way with good support people). They eventually came
back because of the intuitive and FLEXABLE user interface that D&S has. D&S
seems to have the best feature set, even though parts of them are broken
(again, version 4.1c).

Since 5.0 came out recently, I have heard of some minor problems (I have not
upgraded yet, think I'll wait for 5.1) but the main thing is the dangerous
database problems (the cyclic reference ones) have been fixed with the new
database. I suspect that since 5.0 is basically the same feature set and
interface as 4.1c only with the database problems fixed, if Software Toolworks
(or whatever their name is) can provide top notch customer support, We could
see D&S really give some other products like MacMoney and Managing your money a
RUN for their money!

And in the meantime, If you have a copy of 4.1c, just knowing what creates the
"dirty database" condition is enough to allow you to avoid it.

Hope this helps!


-- 
Jeff Wiseman:	....uunet!tellab5!wiseman OR wiseman@TELLABS.COM