Progress vs Informix Reply

Subject: Informix SE vs. Progress >Sender: Lisa C. Pickel <pickel@alvin> >Organization: Center for Microelectronics, MCNC; RTP, NC > > >I have spent the last three weeks playing with evaluation copies of >both Progress and Informix SE. I have some observations/claims-from- >literature that I would like your comments on: > >Maintainance: > Progress claims "...backups can be done...while the database is still > open for processing" Is this true? Can Informix SE do this? > > Progress claims "In the event of transaction conflicts > or system failure, a before-image file is used to automatically back out > incomplete transactions, assuring database integrity". .... Works pretty good but under 4.?? we are still getting some data corruption from time to time. Believe it is the code (inherited) rather than the Progress. > > Changing tables: > Suppose you are talking about data dictionary changes... We do some alter table (increasing a field by one character) from within isql and rebuilding the table in Informix without recompiling the code. > BIG QUESTION: If you were me (a C programmer who knows next to nothing > about DBA) which would you pick and why? We don't need a 24-hour db. > We may have maybe 12 simultaneous users. Small system, right? > I like Progress. Trouble is, if you have a back-ground in 3GL SQL it takes a long time to unlearn some SQL in our version of Progress. Understand in version 5 up you can use SQL as well as the 4GL script code to write screen and report programs without using the C interface. With Progress there is great transaction locking and scoping. The trouble I have had is how to keep it from automatically doing so many things for me. Informix is easy to pick-up. Believe that someone with a SQL background could be writing code in a couple of hours. >Security: > Informix 4GL won't let me use a variable for "user-list" in the > GRANT priv TO user-list statement. Am I supposed to write a special> 4GL routine everytime I want to add some user into the system? If > so, the data dictionary in Progress is really much better for this purpose. > SQL's are fairly easy to write - passing a variable, in shell or ESQL/C in Informix. > Progress allows for in-code permission checking--how does one keep > unauthorized users from running Informix applications? (The UNIX > permissions may not be specific enough--unless I want to create > a hundred different little groups!) > C Functions can check *getlogin() and abort under certain conditions using the generic perform screens. >Multiple DBs: > Progress can access multiple dbs from the same application. > Informix can't. > This really depends on the Application. A C program can run a menu that accesses several different databases, regardless of the type. Setting up the DBPATH and other application variables when necessary. Calling different applications and passing variables, and receiving data into structures. The problem with any of thes "nice to have" cross-database query programs is that it looks good in a brochure but does it apply to the "real world". Often a type of transaction file entry/update using a "C" program will work better than an "on-line" "real-time" multi-database application. ....No comment on the rest...Not using 4GL Informix but 3GL. We use both here, I really like Progress, but we do our grunt work in Informix. Cheryl Gross Red River Army Depot Texarkana, Texas (903) 334-3518