Online library systems

[David P. Bunnell]

BASIC is a very under appreciated language.  When most people shudder about
BASIC they are remembering the early microcomputer BASICs that where
interpreted, slow, and very limited.  BASIC is now more as it was
originally designed.  Most modern BASICs are structured, create tight
compiled or pseudocompiled code, and are very easy to use.  All you have to
do is look at the popularity of Visual BASIC and the BASIC like macro
languages of all the major productivity suites (Lotus Script,
PerfectScript, Visual BASIC for Applications) to understand the power of
application programming with BASIC.

Steve is right about the nature of Pick as a Operating System/Database.
The underlying Universe Database is written in C and is designed to work
with the ported operating system.  Pick BASIC is an application environment
on the same par with Access BASIC or Visual BASIC for Applications in
Microsoft Access.

At 07:16 PM 7/14/97 -0700, Steve Thomas wrote:
>At 8:15 AM -0700 14/7/97, Anna Schwind wrote:
>>On Mon, 14 Jul 1997, Ken Feser wrote:
>>> Dynix runs on a relational database called UniVerse which a company called
>>> Vmark sells.  I never heard of Universe or Vmark before I started working
>>> at a Dynix library.
>>> I have heard that part of the function of UniVerse is
>>> to port old Dynix code from the Pick mainframe operating system over to
>>> Unix, but I don't know if that is accurate.
>
>Actually, not really. UniVerse is a relational database system derived from
>the Pick operating system and running on Unix and NT platforms. Pick is
>designed as a complete operating system _including_ a relational database.
>UniVerse is essentially the database portion of Pick. OK?
>
>The Dynix system was originally written for Pick, and UniVerse has allowed
>Dynix to run on a wider variety of platforms (e.g. Unix). Its not a
>question of porting old code -- Dynix is still developing, and makes use of
>UniVerse features not available to Pick systems.
>
>>
>>UniVerse is written in Pick BASIC (*shudder*).  It runs on unix boxes and
>>NT boxes.  So I guess if the old dynix code is in Pick Basic what you
>>have been told about porting probably makes sense.
>
>A bit of confusion here: as far as I know, UniVerse is written in C (or
>maybe C++). Where BASIC comes in is that Pick uses BASIC for applications
>development within the database. I.e. Universe/Pick is the relational
>database, applications using that database (such as Dynix) are written in
>BASIC.
>
>I understand the "shudder" at the thought of BASIC, but this actually has
>lots of advantages. The BASIC used is really very powerful, with lots of
>functions provided specifically to deal with the database's record and file
>structures. BASIC makes it really easy to prototype and develop
>applications, and end users (like me) can easily provide add-on
>functionality to the system.
>
>BASIC programs are compiled, not interpreted (although they may be compiled
>into pseudocode), so execution is very fast.
>
>>From the point of view of this Systems Administrator, UniVerse is great --
>easy to use, easy to develop on, and fast.
>
>>
>>...  And I don't have
>>a lot of faith in the Universe print spooler.  It works some complete
>>voodoo and bypasses my unix print queue.
>
>We don't use it. When we first got it (seven years back) we couldn't get it
>to work, so we 'bypassed' it. Universe allows you to have all prints go to
>a 'hold' file instead of direct to a printer, so we do that -- it means you
>can print them later from unix and you can reprint if necessary.
>
>>However, to be absolutely honest, UniVerse has never given me any
>>trouble.  It runs smoothly and without hassle.  It recovers well from
>>crashes (or has for me), seems not to be a processor hog and returns
>>user transactions in a timely manner.
>
>I second that.
>
>None of this is relevant to web4lib, but I had to correct these small
>misunderstandings.
>
>
>Steve
>
> ___________________________________________________________________________
> Stephen Thomas, Senior Systems Analyst
> Mail : Barr Smith Library, The University of Adelaide, South Australia 5005
> Phone: (08) 8303 5190                                   Fax: (08) 8303 4369
> Email: sthomas at library.adelaide.edu.au
> URL  : http://library.adelaide.edu.au/ual/staff/sthomas.html
> ** Unless otherwise stated, the content of this message reflects only my **
> ** own opinion, and not the policy of the University of Adelaide Library.**
>
> "I must Create a System, or be enslav'd by another Man's" -- William Blake
>
>
>
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
David P. Bunnell			Mercer University
Head of Public Services			1300 Edgewood Avenue
Main Library				Macon, Georgia 31207

tel: (912) 752-2031			fax: (912) 752-2252
email: bunnell_dp at mercer.edu or bunnelldp at worldnet.att.net