Re: [libreoffice-users] Re: OO Base has serious critical issues...

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On 2/7/2011 11:37 AM, Andreas Säger wrote:
> > A warm welcome to all frustrated Base users,
> >
> > IMHO, LibreOffice should cut off embedded HSQLDB, together with
> > the idea of a "database document" and all the useless wizards.

Let me take the opposite side of this to some extent.

I run a law office and have developed a case management database using
the built-in functionality of hsqldb and it works great. I've been
using it for five years now with no major problems (and the problems
that I did have were due to my relative newness to database work). As
a somewhat entry-level database user, I greatly appreciate Base. In
fact, it's one of the main reasons I've used OOo/LibO over other
packages.

Is it limited? It absolutely is. But it's still the easiest DB to use
that I've been able to find without having to spend a ton of time
studying SQL. I've been able to do everything with the forms, with
only minor SQL alterations that I've been able to glean from various
sources (like the OOOforum website).

I haven't encountered any problems that I can recall with data being
erased, or problems with the files becoming corrupted upon being
rezipped. That's not something I've heard much about from other
people, either.

There's no reason to throw the baby out with the bathwater; it's my
understanding that advanced users can set up mySQL or PostgreSQL or
virtually any other database they want and connect to them with OOo as
the front end (although the connectivity could be better). Entry-level
users (such as myself) depend on HSQLDB and the forms and wizards to
create solutions that work without spending a ton of time and/or money
to get the job done. I would never have been able to figure out how to
set up a mySQL database, let alone figure out how to transfer the data
from my computer at my office to my computer at home.

And, yes, I also had to skip OOo 3.2 for the reasons you mention (in
fact, I think I was the first one to report that particular bug), but
I believe those issues have been fixed in OOo 3.3 and Libo 3.3.

That's not to say I don't agree with a lot of what you say. I'd like
the table designer to have more options, I'd like to be able to do
mail merges from spreadsheets (I'd like that a LOT, actually), I'd
like it if relationships were easier to define, and so on. Absolutely.
But I spent years looking for a self-contained, portable database like
Base (the old Microsoft Works database was the closest I could find,
and it was horrible), and I've been very happy with OOo/LibO's
integration.


- -- 
Steven Shelton
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