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From: aland@informix.com (Colonel Panic)
Newsgroups: comp.databases
Subject: Re: Relational Database info needed.
Message-ID: <1991Jun22.023640.21523@informix.com>
Date: 22 Jun 91 02:36:40 GMT
References: <5383.28501503@miavx1.acs.muohio.edu> <1991Jun09.222112.10715@chinet.chi.il.us> <1991Jun13.182129.21197@dbase.a-t.com>
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In article <1991Jun13.182129.21197@dbase.a-t.com> awd@dbase.a-t.com (Alastair Dallas) writes:
>dBASE IV is implementing a broad cross-platform strategy to satisfy just
>this sort of requirement: One database across many environments.  We
>are currently shipping on DOS, VMS, Macintosh and several flavors of
>Unix (such as SCO Xenix imminent if not already).  Windows has been
>announced for year's end (I believe).  These flavors of dBASE read
>each other's application object code (.dbo) without recompilation.
>I think product compatibility across platforms is going to be a
>significant factor to everyone eventually--apparently Ashton-Tate
>agrees with me and they are investing heavily now to get there first.

"Get there first"???   I think you're a tad too late.

Informix-4GL has been pcode platform-compatible (between dozens of
UNIX environments and DOS) for over two years.  I suspect others
of our competitors may have as well.

>The second poster ("Someone else," above) made the comment that other
>xBase vendors might have cross-platform products by next year.  To
>which I answer, "Not if they're doing anything else right now," 
>because this stuff is HARD.

Not if portability is designed into the language in the first place...

>/alastair/

--
Alan Denney      aland@informix.com      {pyramid|uunet}!infmx!aland

"To be labeled as a jazz singer is limiting.  I like to think of myself
as one who has simply been infused with a lot of music."
                                                       - Bobby McFerrin