Re: 4J's Compiler for 4GL anyone?

Nils.Myklebust@ccmail.telemax.no wrote: : > "4J's compiler for 4GL"? : For us they are a complete dead end! They do *not* give you a true GUI : interface, and no ability to write Windows programs running on the PC (at : least not when we did our evaluation. This depends on what you want to achieve. If the 4GL functionality is enough for your needs, and you only want to satisfy your user's irrational crave for graphical environments, this product looks like a possible way to go. : As opposed to Informix 4GL/GX the 4GL program still runs on the Unix : server and only comunicates with a special display front end running : under MS-Windows. In many cases this is ok, but it does mean you get now : way to write Windows programs with their tools. When we spoke to them : they had no plans to change this, nor any understanding of why we would : want to write true Windows programs. : And remember, whatever their claim, your program is not truly event : driven as it must still be written in 4GL. See above. I consider it a possible advantage being able to still use my 4GL skills and experience and not having to learn something new. : You may think it's too hard to convert to NewEra, but down the line : this *is* the only solution (other than going to a completely new : language). Full support of event driven programming in the language : is the *only* option you have for proper GUI programming! Since the majority of database frontend applications is only dealing with text I/O, a GUI doesn't give too much benefit. This is more a question of marketing and/or joining the bandwagon. If Informix were offering an easy-to-use and effective migration tool from 4GL to NewEra, I might re-think this position. Otherwise, 4J's appears to me as an opportunity to give my users what they think they want and saving myself of putting lots of time and effort into learning a new development system. I will probably have to do it anyway in the long run, but this might give me a little relief for the time being. : It where also to expensive to us at the time. Yes, the prices are almost prohibitive :-( We'll have to work on that. Regards, Richard -- +----------------------------+-------------------------------------------+ | Dr. Richard Spitz | INTERNET: spitz@ana.med.uni-muenchen.de | | EDV-Gruppe Anaesthesie | Tel : +49-89-7095-3421 | | Klinikum Grosshadern | FAX : +49-89-7095-8886 | | 81366 Munich, Germany | | +----------------------------+-------------------------------------------+