Jeff: > Don't get me wrong. I love our Pick database model, but in the > modern usage of the word "database" our database model is at best > very "light." I would hazard to say it is really a file base or a > record base. For as flexible as it is, it still lacks in many ways > that can be taken for granted in other database models.
I would suggest the opposite: MV databases provide much MORE than relational databases. Most of the RDBMS products are thought of as simply "data stores" while an MVdbms is really a data store and an application server in one. What makes it "lite" is the fact that the applications programer is responsible for "optimization" and "consistency" rather than the dbms. Think about how much work it takes to blindly "optimize" all queries when nothing is known of the application or the use of the dbms. > As for companies going "belly up" when converting, well, to me > that is a reflection of the design of the original database, not how > the data is stored. A complex, convoluted multivalue style > database may be a tough nut to crack. Multivalued data can be corrupt. It has been suggested, and I would agree, the cause of companies going out of business is bad management (plus bad luck). The reason I add the luck factor is because a lot of companies survive for quite a while with bad management, although at some point management will have to improve. :-) > If the Pick model provided the same "uniform" level of security > that standard relational databases do then the rest of the world > might look at it differently. Truth be told, I want a black box > database. I do not care how the grand designers implemented the > internal structures, i.e., records composed of delimited strings, > hashed files... If I have to know that then I have to know to > much. Knowing it may have its advantages. Hacking the data being > one of them, i.e., with the editor. Every single Pick style app I > have used requires application level security. So if the app has > no bugs, and you can never leave the app, you're good to go. > Personally, I have never seen either of these cases with a Pick app. Considering that (1) most SMBs (small to meduim businesses) run Windows and (2) U2 dbms products don't really have their own security (yet are the mvDbms market leader) it doesn't appear security is a top priority. But you raise an important point: an mvDbms needs to have better access using standard RDBMS methods. I've been testing the Pick Data Provider .NET lately and it seems to provide a good method for data access via .NET. This is good. In addition, it is promising for adding a graphical UI to a standard mvDbms enterprise application. > If the multivalued platforms incorporated modern security, a > better native language(s), built in integrity, constraints, and other > features that can be taken for granted in other world class > databases then the throngs (probably) would not be abandoning ship. > Unidata (or Universe, maybe every Pick type) can not pass a > rigorous security audit. If you work with privileged information you > need a better platform. One of the reasons the mvDbms model produces a large number of enterprise class applications is it allows those who know the business to be involved in the development of the application. This is good! However, I believe you are correct in stating the mvDbms model needs to offer the applications developer more tools to provide access and security to their applications. > But when you have statements like the one below from a Gartner > Group review how will you "ride the wave?" I personally would love to > salvage multivalue... This is the usual, database-centric, comments that make little sense to business people (especially in the SMB market). ROI is important, as the Gartner comments suggest. Every SMB is scrambling to control climbing costs and the mvDbms model is particularly well suited for this. Yes, green-screens are out, but with your suggestions of increased access and security an mvDbms application can offer a lower cost and more stable enterprise solution. Bill ------- u2-users mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.u2ug.org/listinfo/u2-users
