JES & Associates, Inc. http://www.jes.com Digital Quarterly Update 7.4 [This document looks best in a Courier 10-point font.] This newsletter is also available on the Web at the URL: http://www.jes.com/dqu/dqu_74.html CONTENTS: 1. jBASE!: Next up, jBASE! 2. Thanks Again: From JES 3. jBASE: In Their Own Words ** Course Dates and Locations 4. Windows NT 5. Visual BASIC 6. jBASE 7. Unidata 8. Pick/Advanced Pick/D3 9. UniVerse 10. wIntegrate 11. Free Stuff on the Web 12. How to reach us 13. To Unsubscribe from the DQU mailing list ************************************* 1. Next up, jBASE! We recently spent an intense several days with the staff of James Anthony Computing (JAC) studying their hot new jBASE product. Our opinion? We like it. It could easily turn out to be the easiest method of porting a legacy application to a pure Windows NT environment. But that's not all. Once you have "green screened" your application, bringing the old character-based applications over to NT, it's wide open to hook in all of the hot new technologies for making it mainstream, including ActiveX, Java, CGI, Perl, C++, Visual J, and just about anything else you can imagine. We see a bright future for this product and the creative staff at JAC. Watch this space for more announcements. 2. Thanks Again! As we wind up our fifteenth year of service to the "Community Formerly Known as Pick", we once again extend our sincere appreciation to our loyal customers, who made it possible. We strive to continue to stay ahead of the technology curve - or at least as close to the edge as possible - to continue bringing you state of the art information in our training courses. Thank you, and have a safe and prosperous New Year! Jon Sisk, and the Associates of JES 3. jBASE: In Their Own Words Here is some background information, borrowed from their Web site: The product was conceived as a much better way to get applications into a UNIX or Windows environment than emulating a Pick system on the target system. jBASE is not Pick, is not emulating Pick, and fits much more easily into the UNIX or Windows development tool mode. However, the development language (jBC) and supporting interpreters and tools, allow the Pick developer to migrate into Windows or UNIX without an expensive re-write. If we examine the elements of a Pick application, we can divide them up (simply) into a number of "pieces": - The Application Development Language BASIC in some form or another - A simple hashed file database - A Query language and data dictionary -- English/Access/etc. - A job control language -- Proc - A number of supporting commands -- Verbs - A number of utilities -- Spooler, batch processor etc. So, if we were to implement this in UNIX or Windows, without regard to the operating system parts of Pick (there are arguments for and against Pick as an OS vs Database as the reader is no doubt aware), we would want to make the best fit without compromising compatibility. In this case we would have: - A compiler that compiled the original source code to machine code that was linkable with any other compiled language on the system. - A hashed file that was implemented on top of the OS file system. - A compatible query language executable from a standard shell (the data dictionary can obviously be implemented on top of the files system above. - An interpreter for Proc that behaved just like any other script interpreter on the system. - A set of binaries named the same as the old verbs, executable from a UNIX shell, that performed the equivalent of the old "verbs". - A set of binaries that performed the equivalent of the old utilities, but that whose interface was as compatible as possible with the old utilities; Simply put, this is jBASE. Over time JAC has provided 100% compatible tools to replace all the elements of the Pick system (except one with better replacements). All are standard binaries and are executed from any shell or component system jBASE will also use ODBC and other database independent systems This concept is radically different from alternative solutions and totally distinguishes the product as a pure UNIX system; NOT an emulator. Summary We believe, and so do many well-respected industry people, that jBASE is the way to move forward with your Pick based applications. We have tried to remove limitations and provided new integration possibilities for your applications. Please call 800-275-2317 to discuss other jBASE functionality such as SQL and database independence, or visit their Web site at the URL: http://www.jac.com. ** Course Dates and Locations -- http://www.jes.com/ 4. Windows NT -- http://www.jes.com/nt_cd.html 250nt Windows Server NT Administration -- Newport Beach, CA -- Jan 20-24, Mar 10-14, May 12-16 250vnt UniVerse for NT -- Newport Beach, CA -- Jan 27-29, Mar 17-19 250jnt jBASE for Windows NT -- Newport Beach, CA -- Feb13-15, Mar 20-22, Apr 9-11, Jun 4-6 5. Visual BASIC -- http://www.jes.com/vb_cd.html 360vb Intro to Visual BASIC 4.0 -- Newport Beach, CA -- Feb 3-7, Jun 9-13 6. jBASE -- http://www.jes.com/jb_cd.html 250jnt jBASE for Windows NT -- Newport Beach, CA -- Feb13-15, Mar 20-22, Apr 9-11, Jun 4-6 7. Unidata / Unix -- http://www.jes.com/ud_cd.html 200d Unidata Fundamentals -- Newport Beach, CA -- Jan 6-10, Feb 24-28, Mar 24-28, Apr 28-May 2, Jun 23-27 200x Unix Fundamentals -- Newport Beach, CA -- Feb 3-7, Apr 14-18, Jun 16-20 250d Unidata Administration. -- Newport Beach, CA -- Feb 19-21, Apr 21-23, May 28-30 315d Unidata BASIC Programming -- Newport Beach, CA -- Jan 13-17, Mar 3-7, May 5-9 8. Pick/Advanced Pick/D3 / Unix -- http://www.jes.com/rp_cd.html 200p Pick/AP Fundamentals -- Newport Beach, CA -- Feb 10-14, Mar 31-Apr 4, Jun 2-6 -- Mississauga, Ontario -- Feb 24-28 -- San Ramon, CA -- Jan 27-31 -- Portland, OR -- Apr 14-18 200x Unix Fundamentals -- Newport Beach, CA -- Feb 3-7, Apr 14-18, Jun 16-20 245p Intro to ACCESS -- San Ramon, CA -- Feb 11 250a Pick/AP System Administration & Maintenance -- Newport Beach, CA -- Mar 19-21, Jun 30-Jul 2 -- San Ramon, CA --Feb 12-14 318p Pick/AP BASIC Programming -- Newport Beach, CA Feb 17-21, Apr 7-11, Jun 9-13 -- Portland, OR -- Feb 21-25 -- Mississauga, Ontario --Mar 3-7 ** All students attending our Pick/AP/D3 courses receive a free, single-user copy of AP/DOS, courtesy of Pick Systems. 9. UniVerse / Unix -- http://www.jes.com/uv_cd.html 200v UniVerse Fundamentals -- Newport Beach, CA -- Jan 6-10, Feb 24-28, Mar 24-28, Apr 28-May 2, Jun 23-27 200x Unix Fundamentals -- Newport Beach, CA -- Feb 3-7, Apr 14-18, Jun 16-20 250v UniVerse System Administration -- Newport Beach, CA -- Feb 10-12, May 28-30 250vnt UniVerse for NT -- Newport Beach, CA -- Jan 27-29, Mar 17-19, May 19-21 315v UniVerse BASIC Programming -- Newport Beach, CA -- Jan 13-17, Mar 3-7, May 5-9 10. wIntegrate -- http://www.jes.com/win_cd.html 200w wIntegrate Fundamentals -- Newport Beach, CA -- Feb 17-18, Apr 24-25, Jun 30-Jul 1 11. Free Stuff on the Web -- Jon Sisk's: "Pick/BASIC: A Programmer's Guide", the full text of the first textbook on the subject. http://www.jes.com/pb -- The comp.databases.pick Usenet newsgroup is archived in its entirety on the Deja News site: http://www.dejanews.com -- and the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) is on the JES site: http://www.jes.com/cdp -- A large collection of Jon Sisk's columns and tech tips are available on the JES site. http://www.jes.com/techtips.html -- The "Pick(-like) Publications Database" is also on the JES site. It lists all known information about every Pick book ever written, including where you can get them, if they still exist. http://www.jes.com/picklist.html -- There are nearly 100 links to Pick-Related businesses at http://www.jes.com/linklist.html 12. How to reach us: URL: www.jes.com Snail: P.O. Box 19274, Irvine, CA 92623 Thanks again!