RE: Survey for AS/400 Developers (ISERIES) DB2/400RE

[Lou Forlini <lforlini@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 12:15 PM -0400 10/27/00, Buck Calabro wrote:
>It is EXTREMELY unlikely that the companies that are averse to using SQL
>will ever want (for example) to manipulate BLOBS in native RPG.  They will
>never find a need to add "advanced function" to their files.  They won't be
>buying Package X from a vendor and then try to manipulate those files
>themselves, because they're too cheap to buy the SQL precompiler, much less
>a package.  The fact that these companies can't get at advanced DB function
>without SQL simply is a non-issue for them.  Many of them have yet to
>discover OPNQRYF, much less DATE fields.

    Unfortunately, you have just described a large number of my 
customers.  THEY will not put "advanced" functions into their files, 
but their 3rd party vendors will.  And as soon as they receive even 
ONE of those files, our software breaks.

    It's not access to the new feature that's the problem, it's the 
part where IBM says:

    "However, if a new SQL view is created or an existing SQL View is 
recreated to use a new database feature delivered in a release after 
V4R5, the open will fail.  Native opens also may fail against SQL 
Views created and shipped by software vendors - if their view uses a 
database feature not available in V4R5."

>The client is always right about their business.  They are most certainly
>NOT always right about programming.  If they were, why would they need me?
>If the client can't afford to buy SQL, what can they afford?

    I certainly can't require an IBM feature that in all likelihood 
costs more than my software does as a prerequisite.  No customer is 
going to go through the aggravation of ordering and installing it 
just to try out my software.

    Regards,

    - Lou Forlini
      Software Engineer
      System Support Products, Inc.

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