Re: alternatives to Firebird: sqlite [was: Firebird doesn't support MSVC 2015]

On 10/03/16 08:51, Lionel Elie Mamane wrote:
> > > Pick, now generically known as MultiValue, is an n-dimensional
> > > database, and can be shown to be a proper superset of relational.
> Sorry to be blunt, but as long as it can be used as relational through
> SQL in a way that is close to the consensus of "the usual suspects" of
> relational SQL databases, it is acceptable. If it is better, but
> different, I don't think it is a good match for Base, an application
> and framework built around SQL.
>
> If it can do more, but we can use the "relational SQL subset"
> reliably, then fine. But we *do* *need* to address it through SQL, not
> some other API/language that is more general.

Well, all modern Picks implement SQL access.

And as far as I'm aware, all modern RDBMS implement some form of stored
procedure, ie have some form of internal programming language. I suspect
end users will find the Pick way of dealing with it is a lot easier than
the relational way, but hey, give them the choice!

And it would be nice to include an "easy to use" database with LO. imho
that means "something that is NOT relational"! Why do most people use
Excel instead of Access? Because Access is too hard!
> > > So. My plans. Implement a string class (...). Implement the data
> > > store (...)
> > > On top of that, an integrity layer that enforces datatypes. (...)
> > > On top of that we'll need a Pick shell, and a SQL shell.

> You mean none of these is done yet? That looks like something for a
> somewhat distant future (on the scale of LibreOffice releases), then.

Well, if you think back, I've been a bit diffident about coming forward
in the past, for precisely this reason. On the other hand, if I can get
the bit between my teeth, re-implementing an existing design is usually
pretty easy. And this design is tried and tested and 40 years old ... :-)

I'm hoping this will be the "kick up the backside" that really gets me
going.
> So on the LibreOffice side, we should probably use something else in
> the short term. When your thing is ready, we can integrate it.
>
> As I wrote previously, we can offer the choice between several
> embedded formats.
>
> > > I'll then need a Basic compiler. (...)
> > > The wikipedia page (what else :-)
> > > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pick_operating_system
> I didn't go see a page about an "operating system" when looking for a
> DBMS...

"The database is the computer"? Pick is a database from the ground up,
but it was originally designed to run on bare metal so it had to
implement some operating system functionality. That was offloaded to an
off-the-shelf operating system as soon as it moved to general-purpose
hardware. Oddly enough, that off-the-shelf OS was Red Hat Linux :-) As a
commercial database available on Linux, Pick predates Oracle by about a
year :-)

I gather (I've never used it) the IBM AS/400 is the same sort of "the
database is the computer" mentality.

Now to go and do some work on the system ... :-)

Cheers,
Wol