MacInTouch Reader Reports: ODBC and the Mac
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Reader Reports: ODBC and the Mac
Initial Letters
Augsoft Letter
Xcatalog
ODBC SDK
Merant Announcement
Stasko Letter
MetaComm. patch
ODBC Router
Metro Distributes Merant
Part II...
Initial Letters
Date: Tue, 06 Jul 1999 23:25:13 -0400
Subject: ODBC on the Macintosh
From: "Doug Norton"
Ric
I thought you would be interested in some bad news on the ODBC front. The
last vendor of ODBC driver manager software, Merant (was Intersolv) will be
done supporting the Macintosh end user at the end of this year.
They will still sell to and support OEM customers (ie Filemaker must be an
OEM since they distribute Intersolv software with their new ODBC driver for
FilemakerPro), but Intersolv is getting rid of their lone Macintosh
developer as we speak. (no I am not that developer, but I do depend on that
developer's software). But one has to wonder how much support OEM's will be
getting if they have no Macintosh developers...
Not only that but finding ODBC drivers from database vendors is becoming
difficult or impossible. Microsoft SQL Server 6.5 for example was supported
if you bought Office98 (I just wanted the driver but had to buy several
copies of Office98 just to get drivers). No that they've released SQL
Server 7.0 this driver no longer works... The 6.5 driver was from a company
called Visigenic, who no longer does ODBC software. As far as I know
Microsoft has no intention of updating the driver... big surprise.
I have emailed dts at Apple and got the following reply...
Unfortunately, Merant is the last source of ODBC drivers for the Mac that
we know of. Sorry that I don't have better news for you.
If you would like to offer feedback about the lack of ODBC drivers for the
Mac you can do so via our feedback web page - using this page helps insure
that your feedback is directed to the appropriate group here at Apple:
http://developer.apple.com/contact/feedback.html
I strongly encourage that anyone who uses ODBC or cares about the Macintosh
in the enterprise, give feedback to Apple.
-doug
--
Doug Norton
Agile Enterprise, Inc
Nashua, NH 03063
Subject: Doug Norton - ODBC
Date: 7/7/99 9:34 AM
Received: 7/7/99 9:47 AM
From: Mark Rogers
Hi,
You might want to look into Openlink Software
as a source of Macintosh ODBC drivers.
I am not sure that their support for the
Mac is any better than Intersolv's. You
might want to look into this though.
Mark Rogers
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Subject: ODBC on the Macintosh
Date: 7/7/99 10:09 AM
Received: 7/7/99 10:09 AM
From: Glenn Tucker
Actually ODBC on any platform is on the way out. Microsoft has two new data
access methods OLE DB and ADO (Active Data Object). ADO sits on top of OLE DB, both use Microsoft COM (Common Object Model) technology.
Subject: ODBC on Macintosh
Date: 7/7/99 11:14 AM
Received: 7/7/99 11:18 AM
From: John Gilmore-Baldwin
This may be of some interest to people who need database access from the Macintosh.
I work with Sybase, and have been able to use MacPerl and DBI (using a
DBI proxy server) to connect to the database. Others report similar
success with Oracle. The topic was recently discussed on the MacPerl
mailing list.
Also, the JDBC drivers for Sybase work with the Macintosh as well, since
they are 100% pure Java.
John Gilmore-Baldwin
Date: 07 Jul 99 13:19:32 -0500
From: Jason Cetina
Subject: ODBC Drivers for the Mac
I read your note about the declining state of ODBC software for the Mac, and while we haven't evaluated this product yet, it seems like the last hope for ODBC on the Mac. It is called ODBC Router and comes from August Software. They do have evals on their website available for download. It appears to function similarly to Sequelink Server from Merant, and is probably supported more competently as well.
From: Darcy_Horrocks
Date: Wed, 7 Jul 1999 15:52:12 +0100
Subject: RE: ODBC Drivers in sunset mode
Hi Ric
Just a note
Ideallly Merant could OpenSource this driver when it reaches the end of its
commercial life.
They have nothing to lose, and could likely gain due to their ongoing OEM
support costs dropping.
The Mac community gains through committed people producing quality work in
the usual OS way.
Apple gains through retaining some corporate credibility.
Win-win all round, in other words. This is a classic candidate for genuine
OpenSource release.
Perhaps Apple could even negotiate with Merant on our behalf?
cheers
Darcy
Date: Wed, 07 Jul 1999 10:36:59 -0700
Subject: More on ODBC
From: "Eric Jungemann"
Here's another JDBC/ODBC source for the Mac. I haven't tried it yet but am
downloading the trial.
[JDBC/ODBC SQL plugin]
Eric
Date: Wed, 07 Jul 1999 17:25:28 -0700
Subject: ODBC on Macintosh
From: (Marvin Price)
Doug Norton's concern for ODBC on the Macintosh echos my own concerns.
Oddly, this has been a
problem for me for years, not just recently. Recently, however it is
getting much worse. Very few true
database management system vendors provide connectivity solutions for
Macintosh of any kind.
As a corporate IT director, I'd be very hard placed to suggest using
Macintosh in any kind of enterprise
level information management or database application. The ability to
develop solutions to enterprise
problems using Macintosh is all but non-existant.
FileMaker is *NOT* a viable solution. FileMaker provides little if any of
the features I need from a high
end relational database such as SQL access, transaction level control,
referential integrity, scalability, the
ability to build intuitive interfaces, etc. FileMaker is fine for small
databases, but not for enterprise
solutions.
The Macintosh suffers greatly here. It's not just enterprise solutions
either. All the things you need to build
solutions for vertical markets are the same and missing.
There seem to be a few developers out there creating good working versions
of BASIC for the Macintosh.
It would be nice if these developers would take of the mantle of providing
access to enterprise level
RDBMS platform.
Microsoft knows this is a weakness of the Macintosh. I believe it's the
main reason that there is no MS
Visual Basic for Macintosh. This weakness is why, even in companies that
are very pro-Macintosh at the
executive level, we still wind up having to put the administrative ,
accounting, and marketing departments
on Windows.
Building Web based applications may be a viable solution, but access to
the database management systems
is still the most important part. My only real solution in this area is
using Oracle. I have to develop under
Oracle using WebDB or Developer 2000 ( on Windows mind you) and create Web
based apps that are
compatible with the Mac.
Speed is also vital. Web based apps are cool and platform independent, but
still slow even on my 450mhz
G3, and everybody in the company ain't gettin' one of those!
Currently my only solution for this is to build expensive thin client
solutions based on Citrix
ICA/Metaframe running under WindowsNT Terminal Server Edition. This allows
me to build solutions
using Windows and deploy on the Macintosh, even though on the Mac they are
running a Windows
session and using Windows rather than the Macintosh itself.
Glenn Tucker mentions OLE DB, and Microsoft's Common Object Model
technology. That's "nice" but it
doesn't address Macintosh issues. Microsoft is busy offering more and more
bloated versions of Office
and Internet explorer, but not providing the serious apps for Macintosh
(and who can blame them?)
So in this extremely important area, the Mac has a very significant
weakness. It's becoming a very small
niche platform. iMac are cute, but Apple really needs to push for
viability in the area of professional
business database applications. It's really frustrating when the headline
on Apple's website is some new
version of Tomb Raider when I know that I'm being forced to consider
deploying more Windows solutions
in order to save time and money.
Marvin Price
Date: Wed, 07 Jul 1999 16:49:24 -0700
From: Bob Murphy
Subject: ODBC on the Mac
I sent the following note to developer feedbaack and
leadership@apple.com:
I recently read that Intersolv is dropping development of their ODBC 3.0
driver manager for the Mac. Since MacODBC is also defunct (yes, you can
download it from the Apple web site but it hasn't been worked on in
years)... this is a disaster!
The Mac needs a straightforward, OS-supported way for client programs to
talk to database servers in a server-agnostic manner, and ODBC has
filled the bill nicely. It has two signal advantages:
- You can easily port the client code between Mac, Windows, and Unix
clients.
- Its server-independence lets a single client program talk to anything
from a small, local database like Filemaker or Access to a high-end
relational database such as Oracle, Informix, or Sybase. This provides
both flexibility and scalability that's not possible with
server-specific client tools such as PL/SQL or ESQL/C.
There are a lot of Mac products, such as Imation Media Manager, and big
Mac shops which depend on having ODBC available. If Intersolv isn't
going to continue to support ODBC on the Mac, Apple needs to do it, or
arrange with someone else to do it.
Date: Wed, 7 Jul 1999 10:40:16 -0400
From: "Mark J. Lilback"
Subject: ODBC on the Macintosh
Cc: Doug Norton
I've found the state of ODBC on the Mac to be much worse than Doug Norton
describes. I've ported the native drivers for mSQL and MySQL (two popular
Unix SQL databases) to the Mac, and have had a large demand for ODBC drivers
for them. I've been trying to get my hands on an ODBC SDK for over a year
and I've either told that one is not available or my calls aren't returned.
I brought this up as the first question at the "Apple Handshake" session at
MacHack. I was surprised at the number of attendees who applauded in
agreement and was very disappointed that this issue didn't make the Top
Issues list. Steve Glass said he had already been "beaten up" by others at
the conference about the ODBC issue, but no commitment to action was made.
Ideally I'd like to see Apple pick up the driver manager and driver SDK from
Merant and keep them up to date. But if that's not an option, the least
Apple could do is try to work out a deal that would transfer the current
software to a third party developer to maintain. There certainly seems to be
enough demand out there to pay for ODBC development on the Mac.
As to the availability of ODBC drivers, the number one reason for their
unavailability is the lack of a driver SDK. Once that is available, it would
be rather simple work to create a generic ODBC driver for almost any
database by using JDBC (Java Database Connectivity) via MRJ. I can't think
of a single SQL database that doesn't have a JDBC driver.
Also, this same problem applies to MacOS X Server. I have to do my
WebObjects development on NT because there is no way to connect to ODBC,
Oracle, or Sybase databases on MacOS X Server. There apparently is an Oracle
driver, but it hasn't been released because of licensing issues. It has been
in this state since before WWDC -- you'd think Steve Jobs and Larry Ellison
could get this worked out.
Mark J. Lilback
From: "Erik Adams"
Subject: JDBC / ODBC on the Mac
Date: Wed, 7 Jul 1999 09:16:45 -0700
Ric -
I just wanted to add something to the discussion of ODBC on the Mac. I've
used Oracle's "thin" JDBC drivers (thin = pure java, for the uninformed) on
the Mac with no problems.
From a programmer's perspective, I think the slow decline of ODBC is a good
thing anyway. ODBC is somewhat trickier to program than more
object-oriented technologies like JDBC (or even Microsoft's ADO). It's easy
to say that the loss of native ODBC drivers is "yet another example of the
MacOS's decline", but I like to think of it as another example of the MacOS
leading the way ;-)
Erik Adams
Internet Developer
petsmart.com
Date: Thu, 08 Jul 1999 16:49:50 +1200
From: bryan
Subject: ODBC Drivers
I have also been searching for ODBC drivers for the Mac recently. I need
to provide access to PRO-ISAM files on a SCO server to Excel users.
Although I also found that Merant/Intersolv, after taking on Visgenic's
Mac drivers is to cease support, there are other solutions.
Augsoft sell a Mac ODBC driver for their
windows based ODBC gateway/router. This allows a networked Mac to tap
into any ODBC data source accessible from the PC. Middleware specialist
Transoft tell me that they have access to a comparable solution.
Bryan
July 9 Update
Date: 8 Jul 99 10:29:27 CDT
From: Matt Kime
Subject: ODBC
I'm currently attempting to connect a graphic arts dept.'s FileMaker Pro
database to the company's AS/400. Somewhere in there, I beleive they are
running Microsoft's SQL Server 7. Anyways, the software that we use is
[MacMidrange Client by NLynx]
This product takes care of terminal, printer, file server and ODBC
connections to AS/400 machines. It took me a little while to figure out
the ODBC connection settings, but after that, I've had no problems.
--Matthe
Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 10:42:19 -0500
From: richmccc
Subject: ODBC
I don't know if this really helps, but along the theory that more
information never hurts, here goes. We have been using Visigenic's
ODBC to connect to a SQL databse that serves our digital library.
This came in a package with our Telescope software from
North Plains Systems
Other than the installer dumping both
the 68k and PPC versions of the drivers into our system folders, I
haven't had any real problems. We do all of our data entry on the
Mac, and use the WINNT box to run the SQL server.
If I can be of any further help, I would be happy to. I read your
website almost daily, and have gleaned a ton of information from it.
Any opportunity to repay you would be welcome.
Rich McCormick-Carroll
Date: Thu, 08 Jul 1999 09:46:51 -0600
From: Mark Chally
Subject: Mac is Dead, Long live Mac
I read [Marvin Price's letter] which was posted on your web
site, and couldn't help but respond. Mr. Price asserted that "As a
corporate IT director, I'd be very hard placed to suggest using
Macintosh in any kind of enterprise level information management or
database application. The ability to develop solutions to enterprise
problems using Macintosh is all but non-existant." ...and... "All the
things you need to build solutions for vertical markets are the same and
missing."
Mr. Price should be made aware that there is at least one notable tandem
of alternatives to FileMaker available for development on the
Macintosh--OMNIS 7 and OMNIS Studio. In fact, not only are they
Macintosh solutions, but Cross-platform. I'm talking MacOS, Windows
(3.11, 95, 98, NT) and Linux. I strongly suggest anyone who thinks
there are no solutions should look at these tools (at
http://www.omnis-software.com). Also, these applications are not
slow--they are quite a bit snappier than Web solutions. Additionally,
the set of screen design tools is extensive enough to put Java
developers to shame. The biggest worry OMNIS developers have seems to
be that Microsoft will notice OMNIS and buy them just to scrap the
(Windows platform) competition! Our department finds this approach to
enterprise computing invaluable.
The big problem in reference to THIS topic is that OMNIS boasts that
they can connect to any database with ODBC support (in addition to all
the databases they directly support through SDKs, such as ORACLE,
Sybase, DB2, etc.). So the lack of ODBC on the Macintosh will
eventially cause many developers a problem in this area.
Mark Chally
Date: Thu, 08 Jul 1999 09:04:40 -0500
Subject: ODBC and Filemaker issues
From: "Steve Lane" [Stratisoft Ltd.]
Hi, Ric:
This is just a quick response to Marvin Price's comments in your ODBC report, specifically:
"FileMaker is *NOT* a viable solution. FileMaker provides little if any of the features I need from a high end relational database such as SQL access, transaction level control, referential integrity, scalability, the ability to build intuitive interfaces, etc. FileMaker is fine for small databases, but not for enterprise solutions."
I work for perhaps the largest FIleMaker consultancy in the English-speaking world, so I am not unbiased, but there is more to FileMaker than Mr. Price's remarks allow.
1. SQL access. FileMaker Inc. has released a technology preview that allows FMP to act as an ODBC data source. It is hard to say when this technology will be incorporated into a released version of the software, but it is clearly indicative of a direction, and it might even show up in the upcoming version 5, due sometime this fall, though they haven't said so.
2. Transaction level control: if this is referring to concurrency controls, this criticism is absolutely correct. A good programmer can always lock individual transactions in FMP if isolation is necessary, but this has to be done procedurally.
3. Referential integrity: FileMaker directly implements only one of the four basic referential integrity constraints, but the others can all be implemented procedurally. It is true that if you give users access to the FileMaker menus and let them delete records willy-nilly, you have no referential integrity to speak of, but most applications I am familiar with in FMP turn off all menu access and implement everything through programming. So a good FMP app will implement restricted deletes, for example.
4. Scalability: this is the area where I most agree with Mr. Price. FMP "Server" currently tops out at 100 users, and it offloads many duties to the client that would be better performed on the back end (hence the quotes on the name "server"). FMP would not be appropriate to replace SAP or any other ERP software that needs thousands of simultaneous accesses.
5. Ability to build intuitive interfaces: this is a curious criticism of FileMaker, since even those who oppose using the software for enterprise solutions generally concede that FMP is hard to match in development speed and excellence of the final product from an interface standpoint. nNe of the reasons we win contracts is because we can build software quickly and cheaply compared to, say, an Access or Oracle developer, and produce a nicer interface as well.
As far as appropriateness for the enterprise, we regularly build mission-critical enterprise software in FileMaker. There are many ways in which FMP is a frustrating development tool, but the speed and ease of development often outweigh those. With Professional Data Management's SQL Plug-in, we can write apps that pull data from bigger enterprise sources, and FileMaker has indicated a direction that should soon allow FMP to act as an ODBC data source.
I am by no means a "football-club" style FMP booster. In fact I've been critical of some of FMI's choices and directions. But I don't believe the product should be sold short as a powerful development tool.
Date: Thu, 08 Jul 1999 18:32:55 -0400
Subject: ODBC and Macintosh
From: "Matthew Dinmore"
Ric -
As a database developer, I've worked extensively with ODBC on Windows, while
sorely missing an equivalent capability for the Mac, my preferred platform.
In general, there aren't many client/server and database tools for the Mac,
and I'm not sure if the lack of ODBC (or other connectivity support) is the
cause or the result. Apple did try to play in this arena in the past -
remember the Data Access Manager/Data Access Language in the original System
7 release?
I doubt Apple or anyone will pick up ODBC, at least in terms of client
access. As was mentioned, ODBC is on the way out (it is a Microsoft
"standard," after all, and they are replacing it with OLE DB, etc.) The
focus has really shifted away from client-based DB access to middleware
solutions with the client being browser based. This eliminates the need to
deploy and maintain drivers and all of the other runtime-related software at
each client - a big plus in an enterprise environment. Apple is clearly
behind this model with WebObjects. Of course, they need to push for drivers
for Mac OS X server, but they should be encouraging native driver
development, not development to an intermediary API. ODBC, even on Windows,
is always the slower alternative if a native driver is available. I can't
imagine trying to use a JDBC/ODBC bridge driver, or even a pure Java driver,
in a production enterprise environment. And, since OS X is Unix-based,
porting existing Unix drivers for major databases shouldn't be as
challenging.
For the folks who want to do desktop/workgroup DB development and looking
for a VisualBASIC for the Mac, try RealBASIC -
it's arguably better than VB in many respects, actually imports VB projects
and, in the just-released version 2, generates both Mac and PC executables
and includes database connectivity (including support for ODBC).
Matt Dinmore
Subject: ODBC for Mac
Date: Thu, 8 Jul 99 11:10:27 -0400
From: Darwin Caverly
Ric,
In response to Marvin Price's note.
4th Dimension does everything he's looking for and is a viable option.
Native SQL Server, and Oracle. If you can find a driver for your
database, ODBC also.
Version 6.5 is simply outstanding.
Best Regards
Darwin Caverly
Husqvarna Forest & Garden
Date: Thu, 08 Jul 1999 08:56:54 -0500
Subject: re: ODBC on the Macintosh
From: "Geoff Perlman"
[Re: Marvin Price's comments]
Ric:
Please pass on to him that REALbasic provides a Visual Basic like
environment for the Macintosh with Enterprise database access (natively and
via ODBC) and a Windows compiler. I don't believe he aware of this.
Geoff Perlman
REAL Software, Inc.
Subject: RE: Mac ODBC
Date: 7/9/99 3:16 AM
Received: 7/9/99 6:26 AM
From: Troy Cobb
I can declare with certainty that ODBC for the Macintosh
IS NOT DEAD! We've licensed the appropriate ODBC components
and plan on releasing several new drivers for
the Macintosh in short order. The Macintosh ODBC Driver
for MySQL is a commercially-supported product and pricing
will be $249.95. We expect to go to Beta in just a few
days now. It WILL work with Lasso and it WILL work with
Filemaker 4.1.
-Troy Cobb
Circle Net, Inc.
http://www.circle.net
Subject: ODBC on the Macintosh
Date: 7/9/99 7:39 PM
Received: 7/9/99 11:09 AM
From: Doug Norton
Ric,
I've been very happy to see so many responses, but after reading them my
level of comfort has not increased...
I think it is important to remember that ODBC doesn't just provide database
access but also is an excellent cross platform api.
I work for a company which develops work group solutions for the publishing
industry (yes Apple, designers working on a Macintosh need to talk to a big
database). We use ODBC because of its cross platform api, and being the
lone Macintosh developer makes my life _much_ easier. Using an alternative
like JDBC is extra work especially since I need to call it from C/C++. I'm
also sure it would be slower than ODBC.
Using server applications like Intersolv's Sequlink, OpenLink to get access
to a database do work well, (I use Intersolv) but is an additional cost for
the Macintosh client.
RealBasic is an _excellent_ tool but even it will have trouble doing ODBC if
there is no ODBC support on the Macintosh. RealBasic coupled with ODBC has
some big potential and I hope Apple recognizes this relation.
And yes, Microsoft is stressing the use of OLE DB and ADO but don't forget,
these are built on top of ODBC, so for now ODBC is alive and well on
Windows. Yeah, it'd be nice to have OLE DB (or whatever Microsoft is
calling it today) but again, ODBC is not going anywhere anytime soon.
The note about Circle Net doing ODBC is encouraging and I hope it means that
they will also be writing their own driver manager software. But someone,
like Apple, needs to organize the effort to provide some kind of ODBC
solution for the Macintosh.
It would be nice if Apple would let developers know where they stand on
ODBC, right now my impression is that Apple thinks ODBC has been obsolete
for some time...
-doug
Subject: Open Letter to Steve Jobs regarding the state of ODBC on MacOS
Date: 7/9/99 4:10 AM
Received: 7/9/99 7:15 AM
From: Matias Larsson
Hello Steve,
I'm a Swedish Internet developer, working (and serving) for the
most part on the MacOS platform. I (and many others) have a problem.
As the Microsoft SQL Server 7 is going mainstream we're cut off from
connecting to it from our Mac servers and workstations. It is
critical for the Macintosh platform to be able to connect to at least
the mainstream DBMS's if it's going to be a viable solution for
advanced web application development.
I've discussed this with Merant. They hinted that there have been
some discussions between you about funding a port. (see below)
Someone at Merant said:
"Matias, Thanks for the feedback. The resurgance of iMac is
definately fueling some interest. We have been in discussion with
Apple about funding the port, but I don't know where this stands at
this time. I have copied our product managers for Connect and
SequeLink on your reply. Please check back on our web site later in
the summer to check for new product news.
"As I'm sure you discovered, there is no SQL Server 7 driver for
MacOS at this time. We simply did not see enough demand to make this
a commercial product. We do offer custom engineering services that
have Mac experience and we could port our latest 3.5 driver for SQL
Server 7 to MacOS. I estimate that this would take about 1 month to
complete. Generally these projects are priced above 100K US - but it
all depends on how many clients will be involved."
It seems to me that 100K US is a small price to pay for letting people
use their Mac's to build really cool web applications WITH connections
to DBMS's created in the late nineties.
What I think you should do is to release an "Apple ODBC Connectivity"
package (together with Merant/Apple branded or something) since John
Doe with his iMac probably won't be interested in ODBC but the Apple
professionals need and demand connectivity. Also please make this
a priority.
I develop most of my applications in Pervasive's wonderful Tango Enterprise environment.
They're saying that they can't officially commit to the MacOS X Server
platform yet, partly because it lacks an ODBC interface. I'm guessing
this will be fixed in the next OS X Server release, right?
Please don't force me to switch to Linux or NT.
/Matias Larsson, Sweden
Subject: ODBC on the Mac
Date: 7/9/99 8:08 AM
Received: 7/9/99 11:35 AM
From: Jim Repsher
A letter from Doug Norton was posted on your Web site at 23:25:13 on 7/6
concerning MERANT's support of connectivity standards on the Mac. It
incorrectly stated that MERANT did not have developers working on this
platform. While it is correct a Mac developer recently left the company, he
is being replaced with a new developer on July 12th. It is also true that
going forward we will only support the Mac through our OEM channel but we do
have current products that support standards based access to local and
remote databases.
Regards
Jim Repsher
*********************************
* Jim Repsher
* VP, Business Development
* MERANT
* DataDirect Division
* 919-461-4472 (office)
* 919-349-2040 (mobile)
Jim.Repsher@merant.com
July 10 Update
Subject: Re: ODBC on the Mac
Date: 7/10/99 8:37 AM
From: Peter Kaplan
I have watched this thread with some amusement since it's inception, but I
have kept quiet until now. The reason I'm adding to the fray at this point
is because many people here either don't know or are misstating the facts.
The history of ODBC on Macintosh goes something like this:
ODBC is a Microsoft Technology. For version 1 & 2 of ODBC Microsoft had
licensed the rights (and source code) to Visgenic for platforms other than
Windows. It was this version that Microsoft and Apple blessed as MacODBC. It
is this version that Apple distributed for use on the Macintosh. (it is
still available as an obsolete product on Apple's web site.)
At that point (version 1 & 2) Merant (then named INTERSOLV) had it's own
version of ODBC which it sold with it's drivers--even though Visgenic's was
the officially sanctioned version.
But when version 3.0 of the ODBC specification came out Merant (INTERSOLV)
obtained the rights (and source) to ODBC for platforms other than Windows
from Microsoft. What makes things confusing is that while Microsoft
"blessed" Merant's (INTERSOLV) version of ODBC 3.0 (It is ships with Office
98 for the Mac) no deal was ever completed with Apple. So it was never
Apple's official version of ODBC.
Why a deal was never reached between Apple and Merant. Who knows?. That was
up to sales teams on both sides. I do know that if it were up to the
development teams a deal would have been made in about five minutes. Both
sides wanted it.
People on this thread have said that Apple should take over ODBC for the
Macintosh. This is plainly out of Apple's hands. If they want to do anything
with ODBC they have to deal with Merant and/or Microsoft for it.
Additionally, it has been said that Merant is dropping ODBC for the
Macintosh on Nov 1. This is not true, ODBC Connect for the Macintosh has NOT
been a retail product for about the past year. It HAS been available through
the OEM channel and to my knowledge nothing is changing with that. What IS
being dropped is Sequelink for Macintosh. It will stop being a retail
product and will only be available through the OEM channel.
For users who want access to ODBC, both Microsoft Office and FileMakerPro
bundle the Merant ODBC. So buying one of those packages will give you access
to ODBC. For developers who want to write and sell custom ODBC drivers, ODBC
can be licensed from Merant.
Finally, I need to comment on the letter from Merant as that represents the
companies official position. I believe the comments made by Jim [Repsher]
are misleading and disingenuous.
You see, his comment that "it is correct a Mac developer recently left the
company" is quite misleading. Implicit in his use of the words "a Mac
developer" is that there are more than one Macintosh developers for
Macintosh ODBC. Sadly, I was the only one.
Furthermore, Jim says "It [Doug's Letter] incorrectly stated that MERANT did
not have developers working on this platform." I was the only developer, I
am gone. How was it incorrect? While it may be true that Merant has hired a
new developer to take on the Macintosh platform (along with other
platforms). Until that person starts the statement is/was true.
Finally, Jim says "but we do have current products that support standards
based access to local and remote databases." BUT NONE OF THEM WORK ON THE
MACINTOSH WHICH IS THE WHOLE POINT OF THIS THREAD!
Personally, it pains me to see Macintosh ODBC in the state it is in. It is
an important piece of software and it was "my baby". In fact, I stayed on at
Merant a lot longer than I should have simply because I thought ODBC was
important to the Macintosh platform. I hope that Jim is being forthright
about hiring someone new and I hope that person has the Macintosh experience
to move the product forward.
Peter Kaplan
PennyWise Software
www.pennywise-software.com
Subject: ODBC For The Mac
Date: 7/9/99 2:06 PM
Received: 7/9/99 9:37 PM
From: Joel Benisch
Folks:
Another item on the ODBC page.
NeoLogic provides NeoOpen for the hard core developers among your
readers. It provides ODBC access to their object oriented data base
product, NeoAccess and NeoShare.
It's pretty powerful stuff, but very useful for in-house and commercial
developers writing Mac based applications.
http://www.neologic.com
Regards,
Joel
July 12 Update
Date: Fri, 09 Jul 1999 15:16:22 -0400
From: "Michael W. Hulsey"
Subject: Followup to your ODBC discussion.
I haven't seen any mention about Oracle's SqlNet which is the network
interface required to connect an ODBC driver with Oracle databases.
One of the problems I have experienced is that Oracle will update
SqlNet, but Merant/Intersolv doesn't update their ODBC driver so
there is a compatibility issue. Merant. Then Merant updates their
ODBC driver at some future point, only to find another version of
SqlNet, and the cycle repeats itself. This combination is also slow
when compared to a Windows machine using their SqlNet/ODBC
connection. It "feels" like one of the components is not PowerMac or
OpenTransport native.
I would like to see Oracle take a bigger role in this. After all,
they provide their ODBC drivers for free in the Windows version of
SqlNet while they don't even offer a Mac version. In addition,
Oracle could also do a much better job of making SqlNet look more
like a Mac application/connectivity tool. The installation,
directory structure, and overall interface is one of the worst I have
seen for a piece of Mac software. Maybe Jobs could use his
relationship with Elison to improve these areas.
As for the comments on Augsoft's solution, we tried this at our
installation but found it to be very slow. Much slower than the
SqlNet/ODBC solution since you had to go through a NT box as the
middleman. In addition, we had problems using Filemaker with this
setup. There is not a lot of documentation on using Filemaker to
query the Oracle databses in this way so we may have had something
setup wrong which is easy to do. Hopefully the documentation, query
tool interface and integration, and speed will improve in later
versions of Filemaker.
Thanks for covering an important issue. If this doesn't get
resolved, I fear it will be harder and harder to keep Macs in the
enterprise.
Mike Hulsey
July 13 Update
Date: Mon, 12 Jul 1999
From: [MacInTouch reader]
Subject: ODBC - Who needs it?
I don't see what the big deal about ODBC is, Just don't use it!
I work for a large company and have accessed Db2, Sybase and Oracle for
many years on my Macintosh. Of course I do NOT use ODBC, I use the
API's provided by Oracle and Sybase.Usually referred to as SQL*Net and
Open Client.
Currently I run a third party application called Clearaccess from
Sterling Software which communicates to both the API's (Oracle & Sybase)
and to applications of the likes of Word and Excel. Clearaccess acts as
middleware. Example: Excel sends a request to Clearaccess, Clearaccess
then send it to Oracle, which in turn sends the data back to Clearaccess
and then Clearaccess forwards it to Excel. Excel is my GUI frontend and
as well as my development environment. I've used Clearaccess since the
late 80's and have had much success with it.
I have written full blown applications in Excel using Excel's Macro
language. Uploads, downloads and report writing. I haven't used VB
very much, but I have seen it work very well.
Date: Mon, 12 Jul 1999 09:30:21 -0700
To: note@macintouch.com
From: Warner Engineering
Subject: mySQL for MOSXS
I thought I remembered seeing a link for someone keeping track of open source software on MOSXS, although I cannot seem to find it. On that page, I remember reading how that person wanted to get the popular free (for non-commercial use) DBMS mySQL for MOSXS. This also goes hand-in-hand with the recent discussions about ODBC drivers on the Macintosh since the client for mySQL is in the Public Domain (different than Open Source). The client provides direct access to the mySQL server and it can no doubt be used as the basis for a dedicated client for the Macintosh, thus avoiding the ODBC issues (AFAIK). mySQL will run on just about anything with Unix underpinnings. Commercial licenses are based on the number of servers you have running mySQL, with no restrictions on the number of server processors or number of clients.
Instructions on how to get mySQL compiled under MOSXS.
http://www.prnet.de/RegEx/mysql.html
Someone has already ported the client API for mySQL to the MacOS. They also have a more complete client that allows you to send SQL statements to the server from the MacOS.
http://www.lilback.com/macsql/#drivers
The mySQL page is at http://www.mysql.com
And no, I am in no way involved with any of these people.
Regards,
Matt Warner
Date: Mon, 12 Jul 1999 08:01:33 -0500
To: sw.license@apple.com
From: Eric Weidl
Subject: URGENT: Licensing MacODBC
Cc: macintouch.com
Hello,
This is the third time I have sent this message to Apple over the past
three weeks. I have called the software licensing department numerous times
during the same period. To date, I have received no response to our
request. Unless we have a response today, we will miss our ship date and
official product roll-out next week at MacWorld in New York. We *want* to
make our product available on the Mac, but right now I'm pretty frustrated.
We've developed an application for the Mac which requires ODBC. The best
version we have found is MacODBC 2.1. Unfortunately, that version is 5
years old and in considered unsupported and obsolete by Apple.
Nevertheless, we have tested our product with MacODBC 2.1 on a variety of
machines and versions of the MacOS and are satisfied that it meets our
requirements.
The question is, what do we need to do to distribute MacODBC with our
product? Is the standard SDA applicable?
Also, if we are granted a license to distribute the software, can we
distribute individual components, or do we have to distribute the software
as we receive it? I ask this second question because there is a known bug
in the Installer included with MacODBC which causes it to crash the machine
under current versions of the MacOS (>7.5). Info on this bug is at
http://til.info.apple.com/techinfo.nsf/artnum/n30022. The workaround is
simple, but it requires us to write our own installer (which we have
already done and tested).
An immediate response would be appreciated. Thanks for your attention.
Eric Weidl
President, Intersites, Inc.
July 14 Update
Date: Tue, 13 Jul 1999 11:37:58 -0700
From: Bob Murphy
Subject: More on ODBC
In the discussion so far, two major alternatives to ODBC have been
suggested. I don't think they solve the same problems as ODBC, and
here's why:
1. Use a "middleware" program, often on an NT server, that forwards
information between the end-user program and the database.
This can work fine, but at the cost of a major performance hit. That
may be okay if you have a quiet network, your database operations
involve small amounts of data, and response time isn't too important.
However, a lot of Mac database applications involve graphics and
multimedia, and moving a multi-megabyte graphic over the network twice
via an intervening server is usually more than twice as slow as just
going straight from the database server to the Mac. And this can mean
the difference between a workable solution and one that's too slow to
use.
2. Use a database-specific tookit such as SQL*Net, PL/SQL, or ESQL/C.
This solves the performance problem, but locks you into that
particular database. This can be a real problem for commercial
developers who need to meet the requirements of customers using a
variety of databases. Also, it leaves you at the mercy of database
vendors who may orphan you - I've spoken with two different potential
clients in the last month who've found themselves in that position.
Date: Tue, 13 Jul 1999 12:50:17 -0700
From: John Tangney
Organization: Sybase, Inc.
Subject: ODBC? JDBC!
Don't use ODBC, use JDBC!
Sybase has a JDBC driver, which is 100% Pure Java, called jConnect. Yes,
it runs on the Mac. (I occasionally run our full regression test suite
on the Mac.) You can use it to access any Sybase server, and it's way
faster than using an ODBC bridge, because it talks directly to the
servers.
It was announced at JavaOne that jConnect would be free - actual date
TDB. In the meantime, you can download a 30-day trial version at
http://www.sybase.com/products/internet/jconnect/jdbcreg41_50.html The
4.2/5.2 versions are going beta very soon (today?)
--johnt
jConnect Team
July 15 Update
Date: Thu, 15 Jul 1999 06:57:40 +0200
Subject: Mac ODBC
From: "richy" [richard.bruch at fbb.gut-sg.de]
Ric,
We write database-based applications, which use databases as a better
alternative to files, storing persistent objects, preferences and documents
there and saving troubles with user and transaction management. Since we had
to have a standard database interface, SQL*Net, OCI or Open Client were not
an option. We chose ODBC 2.1 since one of our major databases - Sybase SQL
Anywhere - comes with an ODBC 2.1 driver. Yet we had to write an Oracle
driver and a text file driver ourselves using the Visigenic SDK. It's tricky
sometimes to write an ODBC driver , when you try to implement dynamic
keysets or drop column with Oracle etc, but the most important (and most
exploited) features are relatively easy to implement. So our drivers are not
fully complete, but one can use them, they work well also with other apps
such as PowerBuilder. If you don't need such features as scroll library or
data source management , you can use a simple ODBC driver loader which loads
the needed driver dynamically and passes all ODBC calls to it without you to
have a complete ODBC installation on your machine . Apropos our Oracle
driver is implemented using OCI and doesn't have any compatibility problems
with SQL*NET as the Intersolv driver does. What are the drawbacks of using
OCI against SQL*NET ?
So if you are interested we have an ODBC2-compliant Oracle driver and a text
driver, and could even write another one, if demand is there. Essentially, i
can imagine that we (i mean our company) take care of the Mac ODBC as the
whole since we are very bullish about the databases and the Mac. We should
only try to bring them together.
On the other hand it is really disappointing that they at Apple don't have
any database strategy. There are indeed not many native database client
packages for the Mac and without support by the major vendors even our best
efforts of supporting or maintaining ODBC won't help much. There will be
simply not enough market for this to pay off.
Richard Bruch
project manager
FBB GbR, Germany
Augsoft Letter
Date: Sun, 25 Jul 1999 10:02:57 -0700 (PDT)
From: AugSoft - Tom
Subject: ODBC ROUTER
Dear Ric:
We just tuned-in on the www.macintouch.com/odbc.html discussion on
your excellent website and wanted to contribute the following vital
information to your user community.
ODBC ROUTER is a service for all Windows NT servers that enables them
to "serve" their ODBC32 drivers to MacODBC applications such as Excel
and FileMakerPro on all 68K and PowerPC Macs via either TCP/IP or (in
the case of NT Server Edition) AppleTalk. As ODBC is a Microsoft
technology, Windows NT will always have the latest and greatest ODBC32
drivers and highly-supported database client software available. Via
ODBC ROUTER, this unprecedented level of industry support is further
extended to Macintosh in such a way as to provide additional benefits
of central administration and reduced deployment cost.
ODBC ROUTER is fully supported and under active continuing development
on Windows 2K Beta3 and MacOS X, as well as new client components on
BeOS R4.5 (PPC/Intel), Linux (PPC/Intel), and WindowsCE (MIPS/SH3). ODBC
ROUTER currently interfaces with MacOS via either INTERSOLV ODBC 3.x
(bundled with MacOffice98), VISIGENIC ODBC 2.1.2 (bundled with many
other applications), or the original Apple MacODBC 1.0.1 driver managers
that were included in the millions of copies of the last version of
MacOffice to support 68K machines.
There is no relation between MERANT/INTERSOLV SequeLink-ODBC and the
AUGSOFT ODBC ROUTER, other than SequeLink being a 12 year old product
that was acquired by INTERSOLV and retrofitted to support ODBC, whereas
ODBC ROUTER was designed from the ground-up to be an ODBC-centric
technology based specifically on Windows NT and Macintosh.
In addition, third-party Mac software developers may now freely
license and distribute AUGSOFT'S client driver for direct integration
into their MacOS, MacOS-X and BeOS based applications, such that they
will no longer need to depend upon the presence or support in any
INTERSOLV, VISIGENIC or Apple ODBC driver manager.
For more information on the exciting ODBC ROUTER solution, please see
our cool website at http://www.odbc.net/router
Very Best Regards,
Tom Gray
AUGSOFT TekTeam
Cross-Platform Database Access Solutions
ODBC ROUTER (http://www.augsoft.com/router)
AUGUST SOFTWARE CORPORATION
12 Mauchly, Building I, Irvine, CA 92618
Tel. +1 (949) 450-2450 x511, Fax. +1 (949) 450-2444
Xcatalog
From: "Chris Ryland"
Subject: Mac ODBC -- new support in our Xcatalog product
Date: Tue, 3 Aug 1999 19:58:19 -0400
Ric--
We believe that Mac ODBC is still alive and kicking, even if it doesn't have
the latest and greatest drivers, and we've just released new MacOS ODBC
support in beta form in our Xcatalog XTension for QuarkXPress (used to
connect documents to databases, including "big iron" via ODBC now).
Your readers are welcome to beta-test it from our web site, as we're running a public beta.
We're using fairly simple SQL that should work with a variety of servers,
including MS SQL Server 6.5 and 7.0.
Cheers!
Chris Ryland, President
Em Software, Inc.
www.emsoftware.com
Attempts to license ODBC SDK
Date: Wed, 4 Aug 1999 20:01:25 -0400
From: Douglas Godfrey
Subject: ODBC on the Macintosh
I am a software engineer working at Computer Corporation of America.
Computer Corporation of America develops 2 high end DBMS products:
Model204 (for the IBM Mainframe) and DBC1032 (for the VAX). We offer
ODBC client access and SQL/CLI access to both DBMS products for the
MS Win16 environment on Windows 3.11 and Windows 95 and also for the
MS Win32 environment on Windows 95, Windows 98 and Windows NT 4.0.
We have a large customer base that includes Scientific/Engineering
companies and Universities that have large numbers of Macintoshes.
We want to give our customer's Macintosh systems ODBC access to our
products, but we are having difficulty getting access to the tools
we need to port our ODBC client drivers to the Macintosh.
I have been in contact with both Microsoft and Merant (Intersolv)
and have not been able to get a meaningful answer about which
company (if any) can or will sell or license the ODBC driver software
and SDK to allow us to port our ODBC client drivers to the Macintosh.
I spoke with Microsoft at the Macworld Expo and they said that there
was a ODBC Client driver SDK and that CCA would have to license it
from Merant.
I spoke with Merant and they cannot seem to understand that I want to
to develop a NEW client driver for Mac ODBC. Either that or they do
not want to do business with other companies that want to port ODBC
clients to the Macintosh.
============================================================================
The following is a log of my communications with Merant:
Doug- I just read the note again, and it said you preferred email. I'm
confused as to whether you are interested in our Mac drivers, or if you are
looking to port drivers to Mac. Let me know what you are looking for from
us, and how you envision us helping you. Thanks.
Regards,
ECP Account Executive
MERANT, Inc.
Computer Corporation of America develops high performance DBMS software
for IBM mainframe (Model204) and VAX (DBC1032) systems. We offer an ODBC
client driver for MS Win16 and Win32 systems for each database. We want to
port both ODBC 3.0 Win32 client drivers to the macintosh. We have a number
of Universities and Scientific/Engineering companies that license our DBMS
software that have a large number of Macintosh computers. These clients
are insisting that we offer an ODBC client driver for the Macintosh.
I have the Metrowerks CodeWarrior 5.0 compilers for Macintosh and Windows.
I will be trying to get the Microsoft Foundation Classes for Macintosh from
Microsoft. I will need to get the ODBC 3.5 development kit for Macintosh
from Merant.
Doug- I'm sorry if someone misled you into thinking we had a development
kit. We don't have any kind of development kit, and we didn't upgrade our
Mac drivers to the 3.5 spec. Our latest Mac drivers are at version 3.02.
We've never had a development kit for Mac. The only thing I can offer to you
are the drivers themselves, and that would only be if you planned to
redistribute the Mac drivers with a commercial application. That doesn't
sound like what your intent is. Let me know if I've missed something here.
When I spoke to the Microsoft reps. at the Macworld Expo they said that,
if I wanted to ship a product that contained a Macintosh ODBC client for
my companies database, I would need to license the Mac ODBC 3.0 code from
Merant. They also said that Merant offered development tools such as the
shared libraries and header files for developing a ODBC client driver.
Computer Corporation of America would license the DataDirect Connect code
or SequeLink ODBC code for distribution along with a direct connect driver
for the Model204 and DBC1032 database systems.
The intent is to create a "no gateway, 2-tier" connection that can deliver
maximum performance for our Macintosh customers.
OK - Thanks for the clarification. I know as part of the Mac ODBC pack, we
ship sql.h, and other header files and make files, etc. The issue is, that
we don't support the 2 databases you specify below. My understanding is
that the Model204 is pre DB2, and we couldn't even find info. on the other
database you make reference to. Are you going to supply the driver piece
for those 2 backends, and you just need the header files, etc. from us, to
make that possible?
Both Model204 and DBC1032 supply direct TCP/IP SQL/CLI connection support.
Our ODBC client driver for win9x/win32 uses the SQL/CLI connection to forward
ODBC requests as if they were SQL/CLI requests and adjusts the return codes
and SQLCODE values to match IBM's DB2 for MVS. The intent is to port both ODBC
client drivers to the macintosh with the minimum possible changes to support
running on the Mac OS and the PPC CPU.
Model204 is listed as one of the ODBC databases on Microsoft's ODBC web site.
DBC1032 is not listed (possibly because the client has only been available for
3 years).
Model204 supports SQL 89 level SQL/CLI requests with extensions for nested
tables within a row (array fields) and has about 3 times the performance of DB2
and 18 times the performance of Oracle 8i.
Doug - I've checked into your inquiry with a support engineer, as well as the
head of our custom development organization. They have both come to the
conclusion that we have little to offer you that would be of any help in
helping you gain access to Model204 or DBC1032 data sources via ODBC. I
don't have any products or tools that could help you build your own ODBC
driver, as we are not in that business. Neither our sequelink product nor
our connect ODBC product can connect you to either of these backend
datasources that you are trying to get to. I don't know where we can go from
here.
============================================================================
Thanx...
Doug
Merant Announcement
From: Jim Repsher
Subject: Apple/MERANT ODBC relationship
Date: Wed, 11 Aug 1999 17:11:01 -0400
I am pleased to announce that MERANT has entered into an exclusive
multi year technology agreement with Apple Corp. to guarantee that the
MERANT ODBC, JDBC and OLE DB technology will continue to be available on the
Mac platforms. This includes Mac OS X, when it is released next spring and
all future releases of the MERANT technology. For the time being there will
be no change in our current channel policy of making this technology only
available to software companies to embed these drivers into their
applications for resale. That policy may change and I will post that
information, if and when it occurs. You can expect to see MERANT at future
Macworlds as both an exhibitor and speaker.
Regards
Jim Repsher
*********************************
* Jim Repsher
* VP, Business Development
* MERANT
* DataDirect Division
Stasko Letter
Date: Sun, 23 Jan 2000 21:53:31 -0600
Subject: Follow up to Mac & ODBC
From: Greg Stasko
Dear MacInTouch readers,
There was recently a lengthy discussion here on MacInTouch about ODBC on the
Mac. However, it has been quiet for a while.
Things have been happening, though! Merant's recent press release about
their plans for the macintosh and their presence in the
Developer Central area at Macworld San Francisco mark their return to the
Mac community.
Merant has also hired me as a consultant to help them be successful in the
Macintosh Market. Given that, I'd like to make my self available to the
Macintosh Developer and End User communities regarding the subject of Merant
and ODBC on the Macintosh. Who am I? I'm a 10 year Apple veteran (recently
departed), with stints as a Systems Engineer supporting the enterprise needs
of accounts like Fedex and Northern Telecom, a period in evangelism working
with enterprise developers, and a brief time working with Apple's Enterprise
Software (WebObjects) organization.
An update on where things stand with Merant and the Mac:
1. Merant's ODBC drivers for the Mac are currently (emphasize the word
"currently") only available through licensed Merant OEM software partners.
These partners provide the drivers as part of their solution, as is the case
with FileMaker and Tango. These drivers cannot be used with other
applications, due to both technical and licensing restrictions. If you are
a developer and interested in pursuing such a licensing arrangement, please
contact me at mailto:greg.stasko@merant.com. Note that this licensing is
available for all client platforms supported by Merant. This also includes
their Sequelink product, which provides ODBC access to an even larger number
of databases.
2. Merant does want to provide a mechanism for end-users to purchase their
product; however, they feel that this is best accomplished through one or
more channel partners better tuned to the needs of the Macintosh community.
This is being worked on as you read this, and we will inform you about
changes in this area as they develop. If you are interested in investigating
becoming part of the Macintosh ODBC channel solution, or can suggest someone
who we should be talking to, please contact me, as well.
3. Merant is working to ensure that the current Macintosh ODBC product is
fully compatible with today's releases of Macintosh operating systems (Mac
OS 8.x and 9.x). They will also be announcing plans re support of future Mac
operating systems, as well as additional database access. No date for the
announcements or future products at this time.
4. If you are a developer interested in simply providing ODBC capability in
your application(s) without licensing the drivers, please contact me, as
well. We will get you what you need.
Please feel free to contact me [greg.stasko at merant.com] if I can
provide any more information. Also note that this is applicable to Macintosh
developers around the world.
Greg Stasko
MetaCommunications Patch
Date: Wed, 02 Feb 2000 10:58:47 -0600
Subject: PR - Macintosh ODBC Fix Announced.
From: Bob Long
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
METACOMMUNICATIONS ANNOUNCES IT IS SHIPPING A FREE FIX FOR MACINTOSH ODBC
CONNECTIVITY TO MICROSOFT SQL SERVER 7.0.
IOWA CITY, IA - February 2, 2000 - MetaCommunications announced today that
it has developed and is shipping a free fix for Macintosh ODBC connectivity
to Microsoft SQL Server 7.0. This fix allows users of products like
Microsoft Office 98 to connect and extract information from Microsoft SQL
Server 7.0 databases. This functionality was previously available to
Macintosh users using Microsoft SQL Server 6.5, but was lost during the
recent release of Microsoft SQL Server 7.0. The software is a server side
fix and is easy to install and remove.
AVAILABILITY
The installer software may be downloaded from the MetaCommunications web
site at http://www.meta-comm.com/odbcpatch/
ABOUT METACOMMUNICATIONS
MetaCommunications is a leading software developer of client server business
solutions for the graphic arts industry. Founded in 1991, MetaCommunications
is headquartered in Iowa City, Iowa.
For additional information, please call 800-771-6382 (Int'l: 319-337-8599)
or visit our web site located at http://www.meta-comm.com.
For more information:
Mark A. Guthart
MetaCommunications
2415 Heinz Rd
Iowa City, IA 52240
319-337-8599 ext. 187
ODBC Router
AugSoft Press Release
Feb. 25, 2000
Macintosh Gains Total Database Compatibility with Windows 2000 based ODBC
ROUTER.
LAS VEGAS, NV: AUGUST SOFTWARE CORPORATION (AUGSOFT.COM), a global
provider of Internet database software, today announced new initiatives to
offer premium-level support for Apple's upcoming MacOS X operating system
and expanded database compatibility for all current Macintosh systems.
Available now at the company's ODBC.NET website,
AUGSOFT'S ODBC ROUTER gives networks of Mac desktop applications and web
servers access to virtually all SQL database systems, including
MS-SQLServer 7 and ORACLE 8, for under US$1000. ODBC ROUTER effectively
eliminates the need for any Mac-specific ODBC drivers or supporting
database client software by using standard ODBC drivers on a Windows NT or
Windows 2000 Server.
By Spring 2000, AUGSOFT will further extend ODBC ROUTER to include an Open
Database SDK enabling all MacOS developers, including web masters, to gain
this total database compatibility without the need to rely upon
Mac-specific ODBC driver managers.
Explains Thomas Gray, an AUGSOFT Technology Director:
"In mid-1995, Apple began to rely on third-parties to maintain the Mac's
ODBC driver manager component. However, with major competitive pressure
from Microsoft SQLServer and new technology pushes underway in the areas
of XML and Java, it is unlikely that any database vendor will stop to
support MacOS even if that platform's ODBC driver manager were now to
become a part of the operating system again. Even ORACLE, which shares
some common board members with Apple, relies upon Microsoft to support
ODBC on its Windows platform and so it would seem unlikely that they would
decide to directly support a third-party ODBC driver manager on any other
platform. As a result, Mac users have, until now, been quite isolated from
mainstream database systems."
"Therefore, AUGSOFT today announced that it will offer all Mac developers
a way to bypass the third-party Mac ODBC components and directly use the
well-supported ODBC drivers on Windows NT and Windows 2000 servers. End
users and IT managers will also appreciate this initiative because it
shifts the entire support-burden for configuring and maintaining ODBC
components onto a low-cost, centrally administered PC server."
Early adopters of ODBC ROUTER on the Macintosh include: The State of
Minnesota, Housing Development Agency Berkeley National Labs NY University
Department of Nuclear Medicine Jackson Hole Ski Corporation
Complete information on ODBC ROUTER, including white papers and a facility
to securely order a Product Evaluation Key are available on-line at
http://odbc.net/router.
CONTACT:
THOMAS GRAY
Tel. +1 (702) 733-6990 x511
Fax. +1 (702) 733-7642
August Software Corporation
Founded in 1990, August Software is a global provider of Internet database
software. Located at Howard Hughes Center in the Southwestern United
States, August Software maintains a dedication to providing the highest
performing customer solutions with the service and support for-profit
businesses demand.
Metro Distributes Merant
Metro Technologies Press Release
May 5, 2000
Metro Technologies Lands Exclusive North American Distribution Rights To
Coveted Merant Mac Obdc Drivers
GURNEE, ILLINOIS. Metro Technologies, L.L.C. a national, full-service
consulting and development firm, announced today that they will begin
offering MERANT's DataDirect ODBC products for both domestic and
international sales starting May 15, 2000. Among the MERANT (NNM: MRNT; LSE:
MRN) products to be distributed by Metro Technologies are the highly
sought-after DataDirect Connect(R) ODBC drivers for Macintosh and the complete
end-to-end middleware technology -- DataDirect SequeLink(R) 4.51 for
Macintosh. With this agreement, Metro Technologies will be the exclusive
authorized reseller in North America for MERANT's new ODBC Macintosh
products and will also provide support to its customers for such products.
The MERANT DataDirect(R) product line covers a wide range of standards,
platforms, and data stores, ensuring the flexibility and reliability needed
for critical business systems. More than four and a half million customers
and over 500 leading vendors, including Computer Associates, Microsoft, Sun
Microsystems, Oracle and Sybase, IBM, and Informix have established MERANT
DataDirect as a standard for quality, support, and technology leadership.
Now they bring this same standard to the Mac community.
Metro Technologies is the fastest growing team of database driven Web
Application developers in the nation, demonstrating superior strengths in an
wide array of cross-platform programming and scripting skills, including
Visual Basic, Java, JavaScript, C++, HTML, DHTML, XML, FileMaker(R), Lasso(R),
SQL, ColdFusion(R) and others.
"We are extremely excited to be the sales and support organization for
MERANT's new Macintosh ODBC product line and look forward to working with
the Mac community to satisfy this crucial need," says Gary Dotzlaw,
Executive Vice President of Metro Technologies.
[...]
Feb. 16 (2001) Update
Date: Thu, 15 Feb 2001 10:41:55 -0500
From: Jeffrey Muehlfeld
Subject: ODBC
I read all of the letters sent regarding ODBC for the Mac.
Unfortunately, the last letter was dated a year ago and was Metro Technologies press release about DataDirect and SequelLink. Since that last letter on the subject, has there been a real answer about whether ODBC drivers for the Mac can be obtained for less than the cost of a new house? I am in need of a ODBC driver that can access a remote MS SQL Server 7.0 database from a Filemaker Pro app running on a G3 (OS9). I was hoping that a driver to fit this has been made and doesn't cost a fortune."
Thanks
Jeffrey A. Muehlfeld
Project Supervisor
Office of Information Technology
Miami-Dade County Public Schools
Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2001 09:36:11 -0800
From: Scott Spencer
Subject: Mac ODBC
In regards to the article concerning Mac ODBC for FileMaker, I suggest
checking out the FileMaker SQL Plugin available from PDM or Rumora Automatisering en Advies
The SQL plugin is capable of using JDBC drivers which can be used easily on
the Mac. This works well -- better than the ODBC drivers.
BTW, there are no Mac ODBC drivers for MS SQL Server 7. But there are many
JDBC drivers for MS SQL Server 7 which work on the Mac. The SQL Plugin is a
much better alternative.
---
Scott Spencer
SJ3
Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2001 11:02:29 -0400
From: Geoff Perlman
Subject: ODBC on the Mac
I saw mention of the state of ODBC on the Mac on macintouch today. You might
want to mention to people interested in ODBC that August Software makes an ODBC gateway that allows Macs to use ODBC drivers
on an NT box allowing Macs to then access any ODBC database.
Also, Barry Software makes a plug-in for REALbasic
and a gateway for NT that allows REALbasic applications to do the same
thing.
--
Geoff Perlman
President & CEO
REAL Software, Inc.
Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2001 08:51:03 -0500
From: [Anonymous]
Subject: ODBC for the Mac
With regard to Jeffrey Muehlfeld's concern about Mac ODBC drivers, I can
suggest two options:
For FileMaker Pro, the Professional Data Management ODBC Plug-in reportedly provides excellent
support for connecting FileMaker Pro files to SQL databases via ODBC. Note that this is a FileMaker Plug-in and NOT a driver set. I believe there are even training classes for developers in using this plug-in.
Rumor in the FileMaker developer community has it that the next release of FileMaker Pro, reportedly version 5.5, will provide 2-way SQL support instead of the one-way support currently available.
Please post this anonymously. Thanks
Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2001 11:16:35 -0500
From: Tim Fisher
Subject: ODBC for the Mac
I just want to add my voice to the thousands of others out there that feel
the same way about this situation. I periodically will write a letter to
some newsgroups or to Microsoft, hoping that someone somewhere will read
it and care. Nothing ever comes of it. I always get the same old responses
that either don't work or involve some kludge that costs way too much
money.
Unfortunately the situation between Macintosh and Microsoft SQL Server
7.0, (and now SQL Server 2000) has not improved over the past year. No
news. No products. Nothing. It's not a pretty sight. I wish there were
something that could be done to ease my suffering. Now it looks like Mac
OS 9 will be gone before anything happens with this issue. Times are bleak
indeed.
Tim Fisher
Network Administrator
Paradigm Properties, Inc.
Gainesville FL
Feb. 21
Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2001 08:32:52 -0600
From: Uriah Carpenter
Subject: State of ODBC for MS SQL Server 7
Hi Ric,
On the question of Mac OS ODBC availability for MS SQL Server 7 the
situation has gotten worse then before. The ODBC only driver that I
knew that worked with MS SQL Server 7, the Visigenic 6.0 driver (circa
1995/1996), has finally been broken in Mac OS 9.1. (I don't know if you
can even get this driver any more -- I received it OEM in another
software package.)
I made an inquiry to Metro Technologies around 1/16/2001 about updated a
"DataDirect Connect ODBC" package for Mac OS 9.X and received this
response:
Uriah,
Thank you for your inquiry as to the Merant ODBC drivers for the Mac
client. I would assume that any new drivers for Connect will be
compatible to OS X.
What they will be able to connect to and when they will be available has
not been made available. You can connect to SQL 7 today with Data Direct
SequeLink. Go back to our e-store and under product choose Data Direct
Sequelink. You need to download the Mac OS and the server software. Good
luck.
Regards, Randy DiVito
Thanks, Uriah Carpenter
Date: Fri, 16 Feb 2001 23:52:28 +0000
From: Giuliano Gavazzi
Subject: ODBC MacOS and MS SQL7
I have read comments from your readers complaining that there are no
Mac ODBC drivers for MS SQL7.
I found this strange as I have an application I developed for a
client of mine over a year ago that happily connects to an SQL 7
server and that runs on MacOS from 8.1 to 9.1. All using OpenLink
ODBC drivers (and that ancient Visigenic Driver Manager).
OpenLink has been mentioned twice in the past in your report, why do
people keep ignoring it?
(The only drawback is that we will not probably see a Carbon version,
unless they develop their own driver manager).
Giuliano Gavazzi
Feb. 27
Date: Tue, 27 Feb 2001 12:29:38 -0500
From: Ted Thibodeau Jr
Subject: ODBC report followup
Greetings, Ric --
I recently joined the OpenLink Software team, and have good news for the entire Macintosh community.
As we demonstrated to several hundred folks at the MacWorld Expo in San Francisco in January, we've brought ODBC back to the Mac in style, for Mac OS X and Mac OS Classic -- downloadable today for Mac OS 7.5.5 thru 9.1! (If you need any assistance to get your connection rolling, our free web-support will walk you through.)
Our Multi-Tier Universal Data Access suite (UDA-MT Release 4.0) is compatible with Merant and Visigenic Driver Managers and Administrators (currently distributed with most ODBC consuming applications), and comes with our iODBC Driver Manager, supporting older ODBC 2.x applications and current ODBC 3.x applications equally -- again, on both Mac OS Classic and Mac OS X! iODBC enables cross-platform data access, and provides an open SDK that developers may use to freely develop ODBC-aware applications and additional drivers for many platforms, including the Mac.
We support connections from FileMaker Pro 4.1 and 5.0, MS Office 4.2.1, MS Office 98, Office:Mac 2001, and any other ODBC consumer, to backends including Oracle, Informix, Sybase, MS SQL Server, DB2, Progress, and more -- right up to the latest versions! -- running on several OS platforms. (Our Professional Services team is available for custom ports not already in the works, or to help migrate your data from an ancient legacy system to a modern DBMS.)
Pricing of our solution is based on concurrent connections to the back-end -- client installations are always free -- so using our solution will not break your operation's bankroll. (Custom ports or migrations must be priced on a project basis, but are well within industry standards.)
In early March, we will release our Driver Administrator and SDK (Classic, Carbon *and* Cocoa versions), and there will no longer be a need for any of the old Driver Manager components from Merant, Intersolv, or Visigenic, though you can still use their Drivers if you wish.
OpenLink Software is firmly committed to supporting Data Access on the Mac, and will be releasing additional products for Mac OS X in the near future. We deliver ODBC, JDBC, XML, and database software for Mac, Windows 95/98/NT/2K, Linux, and most flavors of Unix.
Check us out at http://www.openlinksw.com!
Best regards,
Ted
Ted Thibodeau Jr
Technology Evangelist
OpenLink Software, Inc.
ODBC, XML & E-Business Infrastructure Technology Providers
[this is an updated version of Ted's original note - Rick]
Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2001 12:59:18 -0600
From: Jay Sones
Subject: ODBC driver question
I read the ODBC section with interest, but it didn't seem to answer this
question: Will the availability of these drivers allow, say, Macromedia, to
improve database connectivity with Dreamweaver? The RmiJdbc solution they
offer now is severely limited.
Thank you, Jay Sones
Date: Thu, 22 Feb 2001 18:14:10 -0600
From: Steven Noreyko
Subject: [ANN] Purity Software reintroduces ODBC connectivity for WebSiphon
========================================================================
PURITY SOFTWARE, INC. PRESS RELEASE
========================================================================
RELEASED 02/22/2001
Purity Software reintroduces ODBC connectivity for WebSiphon
Following the release of WebSiphon v2.0, Purity Software is proud to
reintroduce ODBC connectivity for WebSiphon with the WebSiphon
Enterprise Module.
The WebSiphon Enterprise Module is an enhancement for Purity's
premiere web development environment. Using the WebSiphon Enterprise
Module, developers can easily connect to any ODBC-compliant data
sources. For example, using the Merant DataDirect Connect ODBC v3.11
driver manager you would have access to any of the following database
systems:
dBASE IV, V
FoxPro 2.5, 2.6
Microsoft SQL Server 6.5
Oracle 7.1, 7.2, 7.3
Oracle 8
Sybase SQL Server 4.92
Sybase System 10, 11, Adaptive Server 11.x, 12
Text
In addition, any DBMS that fully conforms to the ODBC 3.0
specification should work (PrimeBase, etc.) with the WebSiphon
Enterprise Module.
The WebSiphon Enterprise Module also supports round-robin connection
management to any number of different data sources. Simply open
multiple persistent connections to your datasource and the WebSiphon
Enterprise Module will route incoming ODBC calls to the first
available connection.
Pricing:
Purity Software is reintroducing the WebSiphon Enterprise Module for
only US $499.00. With WebSiphon and the Enterprise Module, you get
incredible server-side scripting power (225+ functions), a high-speed
built-in database, access to FileMaker Pro, and access to any ODBC
datasource. Definately a "Best Buy" for enterprise level capabilities
(WebSiphon + Enterprise Module = US $994.00).
Download:
Download a fully functional (time-limited) demo version of the
WebSiphon Enterprise Module.
History:
WebSiphon Enterprise Edition was first introduced at MacWorld Expo in
1999. Due to issues with ODBC driver availability for the MacOS,
Purity Software did not feel it was appropriate to fully release the
software until functional ODBC drivers for MacOS were widely
available. Now with the availability of Merant's DataDirect Connect
ODBC and DataDirect Sequelink ODBC products from Metro Technologies as
well as products from OpenLink
Software, we feel comfortable fully releasing the WebSiphon
Enterprise Module. The WebSiphon Enterprise Module has been tested
and used on the Purity websevers for over two years.
About Purity Software:
Purity Software, Inc., founded in 1995, is a privately-held
corporation based in Austin, TX. The company is committed to
producing really cool stuff.
Contact:
Purity Software, Inc.
PO Box 151385
+1.512.349.7772
FAX +1.512.349.7762
http://www.purity.com/
Steven Noreyko
On to Part II...
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