Re: Unix- HELP! Are we being bluffed?

a better solution than ms-kermit, though not free, is the chameleon nfs package. it's a windows package, and quite full-featured. among other things, it includes telnet software, ftp software, www client, www server (small one), archie clients, etc. -joe- (huddles@hasting.com) ---------- From: ilist To: informix-list Subject: Re: Unix- HELP! Are we being bluffed? Date: Thursday, July 06, 1995 10:07AM watjep@emspo01.hasting.com ("Watje, Paul") writes: }Greg }You are being bluffed! I would find another local dealer, they }don't know there head from a hole in the ground. }:We are a multi-branch retail company, Buildware Market, in South Africa. }: We purchased Fourgen as the software to run our business, including }aspects. }:such }:as point-of-sale, financials, stock control, etc. We are in the process of }:implementing }:the software at our first branch. Fourgen is written in Informix, which }runs }:on Unix. }: }:Our local dealer assures us that several things we thought were possible }:are not possible. I'm not convinced, and I would appreciate some external }:opinion. }: }:We want to link our office LAN (Microsoft Win for Workgroups) to the }Fourgen }:system }:running on Unix. We are told that Win for Workgroups does not have }suitable }:terminal }:emulators to log in to the Unix box, and that we need to purchase terminal }:emulation }:software called I-Net for EACH PC on the LAN, at a cost of US$235 per PC. }:This sounds excessive. }They have it all wrong. The only time you need I-Net is for client/server }type }products, Powerbuilder, Infomaker, ERWin, etc. What you need is software }and hardware that allow you to talk to a Unix box normally. Cheapest }example, }but not a good on is a simple direct serial connection from the PC to the }Unix }box and a use a good terminal emulator, could be Windows or DOS based, and }the right type of serial cable. Could be expensive, get a good TCP/IP stack }for }windows, some Telnet software, and network card and telnet to the Unix box. }All you need is normal connectivity to the Unix box, Fourgen is character }based, we do it all the time. }:Furthermore, we are told that it is NOT possible to re-map keyboard keys. }:Currently, the }:Unix box uses F3 and F4 for Page up and Page down. We have purchased Wyse }:terminals }:that have a normal PC-style 101 key keyboard. We're told that we can not }:re-map }:the PgUp, PgDn, End, Home and other keys so that they would perform the }:functions one }:might expect in, say, a Windows application. This applies both to the dumb }:terminals as well }:as the PCs on the LAN. }The key mapping depends on the terminal/telnet software you buy, and if }you are willing to work with the informix termcap entries. }:Does FourGen have any GUI which can act as a front end to users on a }Windows }:network? }:Would X-Windows work with Fourgen & Informix? Are there any other ways to }:operate }:the Fourgen box via Windows? }I am not aware of a GUI front end for Fourgen, but I am not an expert on }there }products. Yes, X-windows works with Fourgen, but just as a xterm }charactered }based app, like the terminal/telnet software above. I am doing this }currently. I }use some windows based X windows software and it works fine. }:Another problem we have is that our Unix box operates VERY slowly. We have }a }:486DX2-66 }:with 36MB ram & VESA local bus, 128KB cache, a 2GB SCSI-drive with fast }SCSI }:controller, }:and a 2GB DAT streamer. We have the Informix Online engine, SCO Unix }:(the latest version, I'm not sure of the number), and the latest version of }:Fourgen Tools }:(I think it's 4.12). When we only have four users logged on, and we're }doing }:purchase orders, }:the system nearly grinds to a halt. Our item master consists of about 6000 }:stock items, and we }:have about 200 suppliers; so our database is not really that large. Why }:could the system be so }:slow? PLEASE help us with this, as we have to go live in about 2 weeks }:time!!! (20 July is LIVE date) }Our experience with fourgen was that the packages were slow, but there } were not any indices in the original system we got. But even after the }addition of indices, the process was still not as fast as we would have }liked. }:I have a further question: apparently a Unix drive can get fragmented just }:like a FAT drive can. }:How does one fix this? How does one tidy up all the fragments of mess that }:may be lying around? }Don't Know. }:Any help greatly appreciated, and if you're in South Africa, we'll invite }you }:to our opening party, }:which promises to be one to remember! }:Greg Frank If you are looking for a terminal-emulation program I can recomment MS-KERMIT. Beside that it is a communication package with the kermit protocol, it also has a excellent VT320 terminal emulation. And you can get it FREE. It is NOT a windows-program but it runs fine in a DOS-box. You can redefine EVERY key on the keyboard. It has build-in macro-language and runs on tcp/ip connections as well on serial lines. I'm using this program for some years now in accessing a UNIX-machine and running Informix-4gl programs. MS-KERMIT is available at www.columbia.edu ----------------------- Bernard Speekenbrink bernards@xs4all.nl -----------------------