Re: Database Preference? -- Manuel, Michael, Miles

I appreciate all your thoughts. Miles, regarding the price-per-seat issue, it isn't a question of the number of developers but the number of simultaneous connections to the database. For example, a 64-user Informix license is over $5,000 ... While I doubt we will need to maintain persistent connections, I could envision longer transactions creating a queue in the WAIT line. While most of our SQL code is fairly vanilla, the code has lots of sub-queries, unions, outer joins, and transactions, etc. That appears to rule-out MySQL. Regarding a database abstraction package: does Metabase handle all "standard" SQL constructs (as opposed to vendor-specific SQL extensions)? The GUI applications to be ported were built with JAM, which basically provides an abstraction layer via its JPL language. JPL has not been restrictive in terms of required functionality, nor was there any real performance hits. Can the same be said of Metabase? Also, would Metabase present a significant learning curve for experienced C and SQL programmers? I will download PostgreSQL and check it out. Again, your input is appreciated and helpful. James Potts "Miles Thompson" <milesthompson@ns.sympatico.ca> wrote in message news:5.0.2.1.0.20010829072100.0244bcc0@pop1.ns.sympatico.ca... > > If you are used to Informix, MySQL will be unsatisfying - no stored > procedures, outer joins, sub-queries, transactions. MySQL is much like > early dBase II. > > I'm not familiar with MS SQL on a price per seat basis, but how many > developers do you have? If you are doing this web-based you don't have that > many "seats". Given that your developers are used to working in MS SQL it > may be cheaper in terms of overall developer costs. > > The downside of that course is that you are locked into MSFT's plans for > the product and Windows NT/2000/XP. > > A robust and reliable open source alternative is PostgreSQL. It has > features your developers are used to, is adequately fast, and is certainly > robust. It would probably be the easiest port. Drivers are kept current in > PHP, Python, Perl and of course ODBC. > > Regards - Miles Thompson > > At 09:50 PM 8/28/01 -0400, james wrote: > >We have several GUI applications that we are preparing to convert to > >web-based applications, based primarily on PHP. The applications are based > >on Informix On-Line (on a SCO Unix server) and MS SQL (on NT). Since we > >will be doing a port, in any case, I am wondering your thoughts on whether > >MySQL may be a better database solution. This is particularly important > >from a price-performance point of view since the other two databases are > >quite pricy on a per-seat basis. > > > >TIA, > >James > > > > > > > >-- > >PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) > >To unsubscribe, e-mail: php-general-unsubscribe@lists.php.net > >For additional commands, e-mail: php-general-help@lists.php.net > >To contact the list administrators, e-mail: php-list-admin@lists.php.net >