More info (Q&A) on the CSQUEL SQL Development Kit

More info on CSQUEL ------------------- This is an update to the previous posting of the news "CSQUEL Client & Server (shareware) SQL Development Kit for C Programmers." We were amazed at the raved response to CSQUEL. We were overwhelmed at the number of IBM AIX (RISC/6000), Sunsoft/Interactive, and SCO users out there using the Informix RDBMS. This article will provide some of the faq we got via email. Q. I tried downloading the CSQUEL software from ~ftp/pub/yuware and got the message "cannot access /usr/ftp/pub/yuware". What seems to be the problem? A. There was a glitch in our instruction on how to download the CSQUEL shareware software via anonymous ftp. Here is the correct procedure: $ ftp netcom.com > bi ( to download the AIX version type ) > get /pub/yuware/csq.aix.tar.Z ./csq.aix.tar.Z ( to download the Sunsoft/Int version type ) > get /pub/yuware/csq.isc.tar.Z ./csq.isc.tar.Z > get /pub/yuware/READ.ME ./READ.ME > bye Q. I got the software and want to print the documentation. What kind of postscript printer will I need to print the docs? A. The CSQUEL documentation comes with the shareware archived. It is in postscript output. Any HP postscript or Apple postscript compatible printer will do. Postscript emulation software (i.e. Goscript) works too. We have also printed the documentation using an IBM 4019 postscript printer. Q. I don't have a postscript printer. How can I print the manual? A. As a friend who has one. There's a lot of pages to print so you may have to compensate for the material and his time. For a few, we can have a printed copy send to you. Please send us mail if your interested. Q. Does CSQUEL support other RDBMS (i.e. Oracle, Sybase, Ingres)? A. There are plans to support the other RDBMS. No definite dates or promises. However, CSQUEL fully supports the Informix RDBMS engines. Q. I'm using Informix ESQL/C, Informix I-STAR, Informix I-net, and Informix OnLine to develop our client-server database application. How does CSQUEL compare? A. If you have read the Introduction of the CSQUEL documentation, CSQUEL has all the client-server connectivity built in to the API. With CSQUEL, you call C API functions instead of embedding SQL in your C program. There is no preprocessing of embedded SQL statements. Your client programs will be smaller in size. To develop and run CSQUEL programs, all you need is the CSQUEL development kit, CSQUEL runtime server (included in the development kit), and a development or runtime license of the Informix database engine (ie. Informix OnLine). There is no need to purchase Informix I-star or I-net. Q. What support is available with the CSQUEL software? A. The shareware version is unsupported. If we find a question or bug reported by a user, we will take into consideration and may respond with a workaround. Timely reported bugs will be fixed and incorporated into a future production version release. Supporting a software is very time consuming and costly. We cannot offer the service for free and to shareware users. When the production copy becomes available, maintenance and update support can be purchased. To inquiry, send email to us. Q. What are the cvurrently available ports? A. Sharewares can be downloaded for the IBM RISC 6000 AIX 3.2 and for the Sunsoft/Interactive Unix 386/486. Production versions for these platforms are in their final testing and document revision phase. Next ports will include USL/Univel, SCO, and Microsoft MSDOS 5.0 (client). Plans for porting to Miscrosoft Windows NT will come later next year. Q. It looks like CSQUEL is targeting the PC Unix and small systems? Why not large systems (ie. Mainframe, DB2)? A. CSQUEL is an economical solution for small businesses and software developers who has small systems that needs to access a large database system like Informix or has a LAN of Unix PC with a remote database. A company large enough to purchased high end system can afford to pay the high prices of RDBMS and tools. This does not say that they will not consider CSQUEL. CSQUEL is powerful and robust. C programmers will like the API. YUWARE yuware@netcom.com