************************************* * * * DB/C Newsletter * * June 1996 * * * ************************************* Editor's Notes This month's newsletter describes a new product that is currently under development at Subject, Wills & Company. The product is an ODBC server for the DB/C file system. We plan to begin customer testing of this product in the next few months and to ship the production version of it by the end of 1996. Pricing will be announced prior to shipment of the production version. If you are interested in testing a pre-production version of this software, please contact me. don.wills@swc.com The DB/C File System Server The DB/C File System Server (FSS) is an ODBC server for DB/C text, ISAM and AIM files. The DB/C FSS allows applications like spreadsheets and report writers to access DB/C files without having to have a DB/C specific interface. This opens up many new opportunities for integration of systems written using DB/C with other software systems. ODBC is a software standard that was authored primarily by Microsoft. It defines an interface between client software and server software for accessing information stored in databases, ISAM type file systems, and flat file systems. ODBC defines a dynamic interface that uses the SQL language to specify database or file operations. ODBC client and server software is available on most major platforms, including Windows (3.1, 95, NT), UNIX (most variations), OS/2 and Mac OS. The DB/C FSS product will initially be available for the Windows operating environments, and will eventually be available for UNIX, OS/2 and Mac OS. There are two general types of ODBC server products: one-tier and multi-tier ODBC servers. A one-tier ODBC server resides completely on a single machine. All database or file accesses are handled by the ODBC server software which runs on the same computer as the client software. In a multi- tier ODBC server, interface software runs on the client computer. This interface software communicates with a server task that runs on a different computer. The server task typically runs on a computer that is dedicated to running only the database server software. Note that both types of ODBC servers support multi-user operation. The initial release of the DB/C FSS will be a on-tier ODBC server. ODBC server products exhibit varying levels of capabilities with regard to the SQL standard. This variance was expected and planned for by the designers of ODBC. The ODBC standard defines three levels of conformance with SQL - minimum, core and extended. The DB/C FSS will support all minimum and many of the core level capabilities of ODBC. The ODBC interface provides a method for client software to query the capabilities of the server. This allows client software to adjust its SQL statements to the capabilities of the server. Most mass-market client software (e.g. Excel and Crystal Reports) works fine with ODBC servers that conform only at the minimum level, so the conformance level of the DB/C FSS should be acceptable. Many books are available to help you learn more about ODBC and SQL. Two authoritative books are "Inside ODBC" by Kyle Geiger (Microsoft Press) and "Understand the New SQL: A Complete Guide" by Jim Melton and Alan R. Simon (Morgan Kaufmann Publishers). DB/C Class Schedule Class Date Location DB/C 9 Fundamentals September 1996 Oak Brook, IL DB/C 9 Advanced Features October 1996 Oak Brook, IL For information, contact Judi Tamkevic at: voice 708.572.0240 fax 708.572.0390 email dbc@swc.com