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Conference ulysse::rdb_vms_competition

Title:	DEC Rdb against the World

Moderator:	HERON::GODFRIND

Created:	Fri Jun 12 1987
Last Modified:	Thu Feb 23 1995
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	1348
Total number of notes:	5438

891.0. "portability of ingres tools" by WARNUT::BRYAN () Tue Mar 19 1991 11:24

    Hi, I'm currently in the throes of a protracted discussion about 
    application portability. I'm working on a bid where we are proposing
    a cobol/decforms/sql solution, our competitor is proposing ICL UNIX/
    Ingres tools. The customer likes our software but, there are very 
    acquisitive by nature and it is important to them that the system
    they are about to purchase will run on as many platforms as possible.
    DEcforms is the main sticking point. The bid is worth alot of $$$.  
    
    I've put forward the digital view as well as I'm able but matey on the
    far side of the table has dug his heals in over the portability benefits
    he expects to get from the use of Ingres tools.
    
    So, how portable is Ingres tools, which platforms do they run on
    and what are the current Ingres software revisions levels on those
    platforms and can Ingres ports be upwards or downwards  through 
    different versions of their software.  
    
    Anybody had any experience of doing this ?
    
    Not much to ask is it !
    
    Any help appreciated.

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
891.1	and don't forget...	BROKE::HIGGS	SQL is a camel in disguise	`Tue Mar 19 1991 16:57`	8
	So, how portable is Ingres tools, which platforms do they run on and what are the current Ingres software revisions levels on those platforms and can Ingres ports be upwards or downwards through different versions of their software. Which databases do INGRES tools support? Or is he only interested in INGRES databases, anyway? In which case, to him, portability really means operating with INGRES-supported databases.
891.2	DB2, Rdb, SQL/DS, VAX RMS, V6.0	IJSAPL::OLTHOF	Henny Olthof @UTO 838-2021	`Wed Mar 20 1991 09:52`	11
	From the good_old ButlerBloor report, Ingres tools run on top of Ingres, DB2 and Rdb via gateway's; also SQL/DS and VAX RMS is supported (page 147 of the report). Caution: sometimes Ingres sales reps tell our customers that although other than Ingres databases are supported, porting the application can mean a rewite of parts of the application! Guess they tell this in order to sell their own database. Henny Olthof, TP-DB Netherlands
891.3	or is this Pollyanna speaking?	WIBBIN::NOYCE		`Wed Mar 20 1991 16:09`	3
	Note that there's an ANSI standard for each of COBOL, SQL, and FORMS. If your customer writes code to comply with the standard, they should be able to move to other complying implementations...
891.4	Tool Rev Compatibility	SMURF::FRIEDMAN	Joshua Friedman	`Thu Mar 21 1991 00:21`	15
	At least on the UNIX(R) side, Ingres provides upward compatibility features (message/forms files, header files) to allow 6.0, 6.1, or 6.2 tools to run on top of 6.3. I don't think Ingres Rev 5 Tools will run on Ingres Rev 6.*. This is of course, only in the context of their own base engine. I know that Ingres Tools for Rdb essentially packages "behind the scenes" a sizeable portion of their full RDBMS system to go between the tools and Rdb/VMS, and so they may be able to support these sorts of compatibility modes when talking to other RDBMS's as well. In general, they try to support this upward compatibility. They do not support backward compatibility (eg. 6.3 tools running on 6.2). I can only guess that their VMS product follows the same scenarios. --Josh (from the ULTRIX/SQL project)
891.5	any more ?	WARNUT::BRYAN		`Thu Mar 21 1991 12:55`	7
	Thanks for the replies so far. BTW they also have Teradata gateway now. Nobodys commented on the h/w platform support yet ! Lets see, we know they will run on VMS,Ultrix, HP UNIX, ICL VME(?), ICL UNIX ... anymore ? All comments appreciated.