Advantage Database Server is normally called iAnywhere or now
SQLAnywhere and is a Sybase subsidiary. They basically run what is
generally acknowledged as the best mobile and database-syncing
software. SQLAnywhere is the regular backend SQL database but really
it syncs with any SQL database like Oracle, MySQL, etc. As Beatrix
mentioned it really depends on what you want to do and what your
needs are (as the latter might change the former). Like Beatrix I've
found that I run into all kinds of limitations with FM both in terms
of scalability as well as the programmability of the interface. So
now I only use FM for smaller, single user desktop solutions.
Anything larger goes to Servoy. Servoy uses iAnywhere as its default
database but really works with any SQL database as its backend and,
as a tool written in Java, it is completely cross-platform for
development, deployment as well as clients. Plus it has the added
advantage of being a very rapid and intuitive development tool. It
is almost as easy as FM to learn and once you get going with it
complicated projects are actually much easier and faster to develop.
It also has the added advantage of using only de facto standards
(SQL, JavaScript for scripts, SOAP, XML, etc.) so, if there are
additional skills that you need to develop as you make more
sophisticated solutions, those skills can be used in much more
universal way than say FM with its proprietary database and scripting
language.
For single user, quick solutions though I find FM is the better choice.
John Allen
Software Developer
Division of Oncology
Stanford School of Medicine
Stanford University
On Feb 8, 2007, at 8:55 AM, Beatrix Willius wrote:
Disclaimer: I'm mostly a Realbasic developer with Valentina as a
single user database.
With a full programming language you have to do a lot more work
yourself, but you aren't limited by Filemakers restrictions.
Filemaker development is very fast and then - at least I did - you
run into limitations, which may be hard to overcome or not at all.
With Realbasic/Valentina I can mostly do what I want. For this
reason I do most of my work in Realbasic/Valentina and the result
of this is put into a rather simple Filemaker database. For me this
is the best of both worlds and I know I have a lot of users using
Filemaker.
I've been playing around with php/mySql a bit. The documentation
for mySql is 2000 pages alone! But setting up a MAMP system and
running Mantis - a bug tracking database - was very easy.
As usual it comes down what you need/want. How are your programming
skills? But I have never heard about Advantage Database Server...
On 08.02.2007, at 16:08, John Eiseman wrote:
I'm strictly an FM-PRO amateur/hobbyist, who has been using FM
for about 10 years. A co-worker is trying to educate me regarding
Advantage Database Server, used in conjunction with Delphi and/or
SQL. I'm completely ignorant of these. Can someone please
explain, VERY briefly, the basic conceptual difference(s) between
using FM versus ADS? Most critical: is there any reason why our
company should NOT use FM Pro to manage several large databases,
in favor of ADS or some other solution? Is there any intrinsic
deficiency with FM when compared to an ADS (Delphi/SQL) solution?
Thanks !!
Mit freundlichen Grüßen/Regards
Trixi Willius
http://www.mothsoftware.com
Mail Archiver X: archive, clean and search email
http://www.beatrixwillius.de
Fractals, 3d landscapes etc.
