RE: Common Object Management/Data Access Methods

I used to work on a WANG 2200 MVPC...pretty cool box at the time.

> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Re: Common Object Management/Data Access Methods
> From: rob@xxxxxxxxx
> Date: Thu, November 11, 2004 3:06 pm
> To: "Midrange Systems Technical Discussion" <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> 
> Not that I've heard anything negative, but I've never yet heard a positive 
> from a DEVELOPER who had to use these COM's.  I hear lots of good things 
> from people who want to be the DESIGNER for COM's for their applications. 
> How it's the greatest thing and all the benefits it provides.
> 
> Maybe it's like hearing how important security is from a security officer 
> and not hearing how frustrating it is from the developers who do not have 
> *ALLOBJ, *SPLCTL, access to joblogs from jobs running under *ALLOBJ, etc.
> 
> Closest thing I've come to using this is practice was about 20 years ago 
> on a WANG 2200.  The COM's from the TOM package were pretty low level. 
> More like giving you a record chain versus however it was done in native 
> 2200 Basic.
> 
> I would have some performance concerns about it.  Some COM's want to be 
> able to do something like
> GetRecord(MyFile:MyKey);  // first position the file and read a record, 
> but don't put the data into any fields.
> GetField(MyFile:ThisField);  // now start putting the data into fields.
> GetField(MyFile:ThisOtherField);
> ...
> And instead of thinking how I need this data and how simply I could get 
> all the data with a simple SQL cursor, I now need to do all these COM 
> calls.
> 
> I don't know...  Maybe it's easier in practice with their COM application, 
> than my perception.
> 
> Rob Berendt
> -- 
> Group Dekko Services, LLC
> Dept 01.073
> PO Box 2000
> Dock 108
> 6928N 400E
> Kendallville, IN 46755
> http://www.dekko.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "Dave Odom" <Dave.Odom@xxxxxxxxxxxx> 
> Sent by: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> 11/09/2004 03:16 PM
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> Common Object Management/Data Access Methods
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> 
> Folks, I'd appreciate a thoughtful but rapid response:
> 
> Has anyone had experience with using "objects" to create a layer around
> their databases, a Common Object Module(COM) as it were, that supposedly
> makes access to databases easier for end-users and applications
> developers alike.   We have been approached by a vendor that says he has
> built and can build around each of our divergent databases within
> different database machines, a "data access COM" made up of objects
> built on "object technology" similar to CORBA or Microsoft's derivative,
> that will contain the necessary data access methods and logic able to
> mask having to know the underlying data structures of any database and
> any complex operations of any application front-ends now existing for
> applications against those databases.   Once built, this COM, he claims,
>  would make it be much easier and faster for applications and queries to
> be built.   I'm skeptical and hear "silver bullet" talk but I'm willing
> to be convinced. 
> 
> If anyone has had such an experience, how did the objects work, how
> were they built, how complex a task was that, what languages and data
> access methods are usually involved, what kinds of resources and skills
> were involved, roughly, how long does each "object" take to create, what
> are the support, performance, security, and management ramifications,
> what is the "good news, bad news" of which someone should be mindful? 
> I did hear ODBC mentioned by him, which gave me shivers.
> 
> Any other thoughts?
> 
> Thanks in advance,
> 
> Dave 
> Arizona 
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