************************************* * * * DB/C Newsletter * * June 1999 * * * ************************************* News and Comments The beta testing of DB/C DX 10.0 continues. We now plan to release it in July. One of the reasons for its delay is that, based on the positive feedback we received about support for PDF files, we decided to include support for printing directly to PDF files in DB/C DX 10.0. We'll provide complete information about DB/C DX 10.0 in next month's newsletter. There were many announcements made at the just-concluded JavaOne Conference. Most interesting to me was the Sun-3Com announcement of plans for Sun to make a reference port of Java available for the 3Com PalmPilot line of PDAs. See www.palm.com/pr/sun2.html for more information. One new Frequently Asked Question is included at the end of this newsletter. This month's short article isn't technical. It's about the Internet. I know you're thinking - I've heard plenty about the Internet - I already know all I need to know. That may be true. Even so, I suggest you read this article and mentally answer the three questions that are asked at the end. Answering these questions could be the most important thing you do at work this week! don.wills@swc.com ***************************************************************************** More Musings On The Internet One of my favorite words used in conjunction with the Internet is "disintermediation". The dictionary defines disintermediation as The process whereby savers bypass banks and savings and loan associations and lend money directly to borrowers. In the context of the Internet, disintermediation means The process whereby consumers bypasses retailers and wholesalers to purchase products, property and services directly from manufacturers, owners and providers. The airline travel industry was one of the first industries to be affected by this phenomenon. Travelers are now purchasing more tickets directly from the airlines using the Internet, and are thereby bypassing traditional sales outlets like travel agencies. At first glance, Internet sites like priceline.com and travelocity.com would seem to be safe from disintermediation of airline tickets. However, even Internet sites like these are vulnerable if they don't provide real added value. Travelocity.com now provides the added value of continuously checking ticket prices and then sending updates to the consumer by email. Note that this service isn't directly connected with actually purchasing tickets - it can just as easily be done by an automated software agent that is controlled by the consumer. In the long run, as airlines shrink the commissions paid to ticket sales agents, even Internet-based travel agencies will fade away. Similar stories of disintermediation can be told about personal computer manufacturers, music publishers, book publishers, stock brokerage firms and others. Don't misunderstand what disintermediation is - it is much more than just moving existing sales channels to the Internet. Disintermediation will truly change the very nature of many businesses. Wholesalers will disappear in some industries. Other industries may be even more affected - today's market leading companies may themselves disappear unless radical changes are made to their business models. How will disintermediation affect your company? When will you start to feel the effects? Are you going to be leading or following your competitors? ***************************************************************************** One New Frequently Asked Question Question: When attempting to access a DB/C FS database from certain query tools like Crystal Reports and Microsoft Access, this error message occurs: [SWC][FS2 ODBC Driver]NAME is invalid Answer: As defined by Microsoft, the ODBC interface does not specifically require that the client program actually login to the database that will be accessed. Some client software programs require the user to provide a login name and password, whereas others don't. This is a security risk. To alleviate the problem, when no user name is provided by the client software, the DB/C FS ODBC driver will login to the DB/C FS server with the user name 'DEFAULTUSER' and the password 'PASSWORD' (without the quote characters). Thus, to allow Crystal Reports, Microsoft Access and other client programs to login, add a name and password entry to the dbcfspwd.cfg file for user 'DEFAULTUSER' with password 'PASSWORD'. Be sure to specify the access= parameter for 'DEFAULTUSER'. ***************************************************************************** DB/C Class Schedule Class: DB/C DX and JX Language Fundamentals Date: July 7-9, 1999 Location: Oak Brook, Illinois For information, contact Judi Tamkevic at: voice 630.572.0240 email dbc@swc.com ***************************************************************************** Subscribing to the DB/C Newsletter If you don't already have the DB/C Newsletter delivered to your email address and would like to have it emailed to you when it is produced, just send an email message to 'request@swc.com' and put the line 'subscribe dbcnews' in the body of the email message (omit the ' characters). 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