RE: SV: Embedded SQL

[Joel Cochran <jrc@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On Thu, 2005-05-12 at 20:43, rob@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
> Joel,
> 
> I too use an external DS, even when I only select a portion of the fields. 
>  However, that doesn't guarantee field definitions are correct.  One of 
> our packages changed all the field sizes, including the key to the item 
> master, (which, in an ERP package, is a big thing).  I could continue to 
> use the same program without recompiling and accept truncation, etc. Using 
> the external DS does help you keep it simple by just recompiling.

Sorry, I should have specified that the defininitions are correct at
compile time... 

> And this is one of those places where externalizing your I/O still doesn't 
> change your work fields.  I suppose you could issue the corporate edict 
> that you can't use any of the new positions.

True enough.  Using techniques like externalizing don't shield you from
every possible change, but they can make recovery from such changes a
lot easier.  Yes, significant changes are still going to require some
work.  As an ISV, I don't like to change field descriptions in existing
layouts because of the problems it may cause my users.  I'd rather
re-work my own code than to get a reputation for "screwing things
up"[1].

[1] Screwing things up: a technical term used by software users to
describe a scenario where things that used to work no longer function
because of a vendor upgrade[2].

[2] Vendor Upgrade: another term issued by software users to indicate a
process where the software is altered by the manufacturer in such as way
that it no longer functions in the manner to which the user had becomed
accustomed.  Frequently derogatory.

Just a little ISV humor for a friday morning...

Joel Cochran
http://www.rpgnext.com