Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!ut-emx!xdaa374
From: xdaa374@ut-emx.UUCP (William T. Douglass)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: FoxBase vs 4D functional comparision request
Message-ID: <12306@ut-emx.UUCP>
Date: 22 Apr 89 02:24:27 GMT
References: <44629@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu>
Reply-To: xdaa374@emx.UUCP (Bill Douglass)
Organization: UTexas Computation Center, Austin, Texas
Lines: 44

In article <44629@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu> Steve Neruda writes:
>How does FoxBase compare with 4D functionality wise?  How difficult is it to 
>  implement a multiuser database using Foxbase (do you have to do all the file
>  and record locking or does foxbase handle that,
We were programming the single-user version for about a half year, before
upgrading to the multi-user version.  While the amount of recoding needed
was fairly minor, it certainly required some additional work to migrate the
applications for multi-uesr operation.  You need to set locks for some 
commands to work, while other operations do automatic locking.  It is not
completely transparent (I do not believe that 4D is, either.)

> is foxbase still fast
>  running multiuser?).
Not nearly as fast.  We were very impressed initially with the performance
of FoxBase+/Mac, but the multi-user version has so far been rather 
disappointing.  Running FoxBase off a LocalTalk-commected fileserver, I find
the performance slower but adequate in exclusive (single-user) mode, and
bad impaired in multi-user mode.  I have been told that lack of index caching
is to blame;  if so, I hope Fox can overcome this in future versions.  I have
some reports that take 5 times longer to run under multi-user mode (as opposed
to single-user off the file server.)

>Can you send information to external ports from within
>  the program?
Supports sending data out the serial port.  In fact, we print mailing label to
the ImageWriter this fast.  Works well.

>What about import export capabilities?
Tab & comma-delimited files, and SDF.  More would be nice, but not essential.
 
>Also I was told by our local (and less than helpful) software dealer
>  that you can only purchase the multiuser version through the company.
>  Is this true?  Can I get a demo instead?  Does the regular documentation
>  contain information on multiuser considerations?
>
We got our upgrade through Fox itself.  No real problems there.  I believe the
new (rewritten) documentation includes the chapter on multi-user operation.

As usual, these are my opinions.  Other comtributions welcome.
-- 
Bill Douglass, TCADA

"I dreamed I was to take a test,
 in a Dairy Queen, on another planet."      L. Anderson