Re: [MacPerl] Database Connectivity

[Paul Miller <pmiller@spectrumtelecorp.com>]

>Please no flames.  I am at the beginning stages of trying to figure 
>out a way to  connect Macintosh Clients to SQL Servers run on Unix 
>Systems and it seems as if there are not a lot of OBDC Drivers 
>available for the Mac.
>I have come up with a couple of possibilities both relying on Macperl 
>DBI connections:
>A) A Macperl based GUI Client to access the Server.
>B) A Database Client (Filemaker or 4D) interacting with Macperl 
>interacting with the Server.
>Constructive criticism please.

I admit bias against ODBC because it's very MS-centric and not well 
supported on
the Mac.  The main advantage of ODBC is the ability to connect to 
different kinds of
databases. This is also an advantage of DBI, so ODBC is redundant 
(assuming
you can find, buy, or build a DBD for the database you want).

DBI looks kinda like this:

Your App -> MacPerl / DBI / DBD -> real database drivers -> database

ODBC would just add another layer:

Your App -> MacPerl / DBI / DBD -> ODBC -> real database drivers -> 
database

My past experience with ODBC on PC's was not impressive. ODBC tends
to be slow, difficult to set up and hard to maintain. Unfortunately, to 
many people,
your app can't support multiple databases unless it uses ODBC >sigh<. 
Marketing
over logic, yet again....

If you have the option, I would suggest using DBI and leaving ODBC out of
the equation all together.

As for the front end, I have heard that MacPerl gives you access to the 
toolbox
in a powerful and useful way. I don't remember hearing any claims that 
it's
easy to use :) Generally, though, the fewer layers the better, so I'd 
lean towards
writing a GUI in MacPerl--besides, you can learn lots of neat stuff!

Hope this helps,
paul




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