Re: Info on modeling tools for New Era, View Point Pro

prajesh@ix.netcom.com(Jim Prajesh) wrote: >Hi: >Would like to know if anybody has successfully used New ERa/View Point >Pro for building Informix applications and if it is any better than >other C/S tools out there such as Powerbuilder Oracle Developer 2000 >etc. >Also, are there any modeling tools geared towards New Era and >Superviews and such. VPP is completely inappropriate for multiple-pass reporting (i.e. for comparative reporting). The SQL Direct Entry is severely crippled and will forever (yes, "forever", officially) be incapable of UNLOADing or OUTPUTing from temporary tables. Moreover, the SQLDE program cannot print anything whatsoever. On the other hand, if you are looking at simple joins and queries, it does the job adequately. The product broke down on a 13-table join, but handled 12 tables well. I nevertheless remain an Informix fan, but front-ends have never been the company's strongest suit. I hear good things about Crystal Reports. My company uses Gupta for production reports. The biggest difficulty is that where management typically thinks a report is a slam-dunk, it frequently requires sophisticated programming to get the desired results. You are well-advised to inquire extensively as to the scope of the reports you will be expected to produce and base your report tool requirements on that. Good luck.