Qna Digest, Vol 4, Issue 2

[Ken Doucet]

Thanks Michael et al re this topic. Since I started with 5.5 and have ZERO
knowledge on previous iterations I have tested designing a database that
what was a formidable challenge in the original DOS version. I initially
tackled this in Alpha5 and was merrily going down that path until a thread
in that forum (by Pete Shuder) mentionning a ram based datab base got me
into this new world. Using 5.5 I recreated the complex database (table in
the other worlds) and am now seeing Panorama as my database of choice.

>From this thread I am gathering that:

1- If I want to have windows clients accessing Panorama database I need to
go "back" to Pan 4 under Classic?
	--Can someone translate this for me? How do I develop under Pan 4 Classic?
	--How is server side handled? Is there an Enterprise version for Pan 4
Classic?
2- Given the amount of lead time I may have with designing an integrated
database that currently is residing in 3 separate databases am I perhaps
better off concentrating on that side of it with the hope :) that the pan
5.5 windows client side will be released in the near term?
3- The critical database that is pivotal in solving my client's imminent is
largely relying on the lookup function and the ?(  which are not new to 5.5.
Since I haven't gotten into extensive forms yet I may still have a raw
database that would be viable in the current Win client.


Thanks

Ken




--------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Tue, 1 Apr 2008 14:13:12 -0500
From: Michael Correll <mcorrell at memphisbusiness.com>
Subject: Re: Mac to Windows
To: "Panorama Questions & Answers \(Discussion\)" <qna at provue.com>
Message-ID: <815A8E10-C91D-4A50-A202-41358D65C916 at memphisbusiness.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed


If I may, a quick .02 or .03 cents worth on the topic since within
the past few months I competed a similar process in developing a
commercial product for Pan 4 Win. that is designed to run from an
encrypted non-duplicatable CD and is currently in use in a number of
corporate & business environments.  (And which is doing quite well,
by the way.  Few complaints, and even a few complements.)  So using
Pan 4 in a Win environment is quite doable.  And will probably be
even more so with the new release.

If you are going to develop something beyond a very simple
distributed DB with a couple of simple procedures, then face it, you
most likely will have to do your work in Pan 4 under Classic.  You'll
have the Pan 4 Reference there, so there wont be any confusion about
compatible commands and functions.  And it will make you appreciated
even more OSX and Pan 5.

You will need a full version of Pan 4 Win to test your concoction on
as things progress.  Depending on what you are developing, you'll
probably want to have several PCs handy to test under Pan 4 demo
mode.  And you will also most assuredly want to test  under Vista as
well as XP and maybe Win98.   Keep the flash drive handy as you will
be moving files around a lot as you test and check.

You may find (as I did) that things that seem to work flawlessly on
Mac seem to break on PC.  It' not Pan's fault.  It's probably yours.
It seems that Pan Mac is sometimes a bit more forgiving of some
procedural sloppiness.  Once you tighten up your code it will work.
Have a licensed  copy on your PC so you can test and refine there
when necessary.   When transferring you changes from PC back to Mac,
remember you can use Pan 5 to force open and save the PC file,

The whole process can be quite tedious and frustrating at times, if
like I was, you're a total novice.  But it's nonetheless doable.
Bottom line....90 % of everything any (...well....most) of us will
ever do in Pan is based on Pan 4 and earlier.   Once you can make Pan
4 work -- and work cross platform -- the rest will probably be easy
when Pan 5 Win is released.   But for now...you're stuck with working
in Classic and moving a lot of files back and forth.   Good luck with
it.  Hang tough.   Be moderate in your use of caffeine and
alcohol....;-)

MC>

Michael Correll
--

BTW.... On the Pan Ref Wiz....I guessing that the display of the
various versions on the menu was initially designed to show what
specific commands/funcitons were introduced with each version --
rather that a display of commands/functions that are *compatible
with* each listed version.   The latter would be much more useful.
Maybe the Pan update genie could whip up something like that when he
has a spare moment....????

--------------------------




On Mar 31, 2008, at 10:32 PM, Ken Doucet wrote:

> I can appreciate that 5.5 will have stuff not in windows 4 but how
> am I to
> know what they are? Without a background in Windows 4, or a history
> of using
> Panorama prior to 5.5 I am not clear on how to develop in a way
> that won't
> create problems. Are Windows clients a viable option in 5.5
> environment, or
> are the issues you can run into enough to lead to a conlusion that
> a Mac
> based client environment is the effectively the only route? My
> client is a
> PC based shop and I could sell them on having to have an Apple
> server but I
> need to be clear on what the Windows client pros/cons are.
>
> Ken