Re: Delphi Roadmap (by David I)

Eric Grange wrote:

> > Look at Crystal / BusinessObjects, Brio, Cognos Business
> > Intelligence, and Actuate, to name a few off the top of my head.
> > Every one of them includes database-like query systems (in some
> > cases quite powerful, but specialized for reporting, e.g., no
> > transactions per se).
>
> You're answering off the point. Database-like query system doesn't
> mean they aren't using streaming whenever appliable, nor that they
> built a DB engine functionality of their own.

I am not speculating about the above; I am stating a fact: All of the
systems I mentioned have an internal engine built in which can do
queries with grouping, filtering, sorting, and joins. They can run the
same report on a collection of text files (to give one example) that
they can on a DB server.* They will generally try to do the things
which can be done on the server on the server, but many servers do not
have the ability to do heterogeneous JOINs, multidimensional cubes, and
the like, and this is part of the reason that people buy the reporting
tools to begin with.

* This turns out to be a fairly significant feature when you need to
design a report against a "database" which doesn't exist yet, like an
ActiveX RecordSet you'll be passing at runtime.

> You're mixing up the specification of what should be reported with
> how the reporting happens, which would be a bit like saying an SQL
> parser is a database

No. Read the post again. Then try the tools. A database without an SQL
parser is mostly useless. An SQL parser without a database engine is
not useful for data storage. The only complete solution has both.
Similarly, a reporting system without any sort of data transformation
capability is, well, QuickReports.

> Besides, external observation of software doesn't mean you understand
> how they work (and you chose that as a way of demonstration is telling
> IMO).

Having written a system to transform the SQL use and data sources of
Crystal reports at runtime, I am *quite* familiar with what Crystal
does on the server vs. what it does internally. I have, of necessity,
carefully analyzed the SQL written in reports vs. what is actually run
on the server, since it isn't well-documented. Do *you* know,
precisely, under what circumstances Crystal will express its selection
formula in SQL vs. performing it locally when the report runs? How can
you change the SQL of a report at runtime whilst preserving the
selection formula?

If not, why are you implying that I don't?

-Craig

--
Craig Stuntz [TeamB] · Vertex Systems Corp. · Columbus, OH
Delphi/InterBase Weblog : http://blogs.teamb.com/craigstuntz
Borland newsgroup denizen Sergio González has a new CD of
Irish music out, and it's good: http://tinyurl.com/7hgfr
.

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