Re: ASTA
From: Lauchlan M (LMackinnon_at_NOSPAMHotmail.com)
Date: 12/01/03
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Date: Mon, 1 Dec 2003 21:04:35 +1000
> I see (somewhat). I'm not really used to this n-tier stuff. In all the
> projects I've done for clients, it's always been a simple client-server
> structure, usually with a Linux server, and many Windows clients. I've
> never quite understood what the advantage was of making it n-tier.
If you go to the website http://www.components4developers.com/ , click on
the "products" link, click on "KbmMW", then "documentation" then
"whitepapers" (sorry, I can't just give you a link to this site due to the
frame structure. If you want to skip the frame navigation structure the
direct link is
http://www.components4programmers.com/products/kbmmw/documentation.htm#Whitepapers)
you will find a white paper article "Using kbmMW as a query server". This is
from a competitor to ASTA called KbmMW, and the bulk of the article is
specific to that product, but the first two pages or so of the article lists
some advantages of n-tier over client-server, which might be helpful to you.
Basically the idea of n-tier is that you seperate your application into
three logical levels: the persistence (database) layer, the business logic
layer, and the presentation layer. In C/S by contrast the business logic and
the presentation are both bundled together in the client. Shifting the
business logic to the server makes administration easier.
> So from your explanation, it seems that ASTA simply lets you edit data
> locally (in a sort of cache), and then in the background, sends the
> updates to the server. This sounds kind of like a limited version of
> IBReplicator! What's the advantage? I guess there's probably something
> I'm not understanding, but...
Well, if you have say a bunch of travel agents in different offices around
the state or country or the world and you need to get them all the latest
info about flights and let them make bookings, and you will need to add new
functions and procedures in as the industry keeps changing (government
regulations, new opportunities and practices etc) how do you go about it?
Typically, an n-tier architecture is best for this sort of thing. If you go
thin-client, it is probably n-tier, if you go fat client with lots of
functionality built into a full-on Delphi application that just accesses a
database server online somewhere, it may well be client/server. It basically
depends where you put your business logic, and to what extent you seperate
the business logic or rules from the presentation issues.
> Also, I guess ASTA interfaces with real datasets (BDE, IBO, FIBPlus,
> etc). How does it go about this?
Well, yes it does. Basically the ASTA server is hooked up to a database and
you get this data back to datasets on the client and do what you need to do
with it (edit it, update it, insert new data etc) like you normally would
with data that you get from a database for your app, and the changes are
executed onto the central database when you tell it to.
> > Another way of thinking about it is to think of ASTA as a product
competing
> > with Datasnap, but not requiring an Enterprise version of Delphi.
> Quite frankly, DataSnap is another product I never much understood.
OK. ASTA's major two competitors are in my opinion KbmMW who I referred to
above, and RemObjects with Data Abstract at www.remobjects.com.
HTH
Lauchlan M
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