PDKC2M.QKC (POW)

[Walker, Chris]

I agree wholeheartedly with Kevin.

Everywhere you look, the software industry is migrating to visual data
definition tools and away from scripts.  While I wouldn't call "POW" a
visual tool, it's years ahead of PDL.  (Actually, I wouldn't call it "POW",
either - we've always called it "PHD").

I find PDL awkward, fussy and error-prone.  Maybe if I spent more time using
it I'd grow familiar with it, but I can see no real benefit in time spent
this way.

Why can't the VMS dictionary format be extended to the other platforms
Powerhouse runs on?  The dictionary maintenance utility is just a Powerhouse
application, after all.

Chris Walker
Tate & Lyle
London

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Kevin Gordon [SMTP:Kevin.Gordon@seacontainers.com]
> Sent:	Monday, March 08, 1999 2:37 PM
> To:	powerh-l@lists.swau.edu
> Subject:	RE: PDKC2M.QKC (POW)
> 
> I know this has been said before, but to those of us that have only used
> PowerHouse on VMS, the concept of not having "POW" available for
> dictionary
> maintenance is almost inconceivable. It has certainly never been thought
> of
> as an "add-on" to be withdrawn at some future date and was never presented
> as such by Cognos - it was part of the original package we were sold. For
> the sort of things I routinely have to do I find PDL virtually unusable
> with
> all its idiosyncrasies and restrictions. PDL has some use for selectively
> updating production dictionaries on remote machines but it is ludicrous
> that
> even PDL is only available in the full development licence, so the
> dictionary still has to be copied back to the development machine anyway.
> 
> I do not see why we should have to "ask" for POW in version 8. Cognos has
> withdrawn a fundamental (IMHO) feature of the product and we would like it
> put back!
> 
> Another thing I don't understand is why, knowing that the dictionary
> format
> was about to be totally changed in version 8 (one of the reasons given for
> the withdrawal of "POW"), it was also changed radically between versions
> 7.10.F and 7.10.G. I know that some change was required to accommodate the
> Y2K enhancements, but the whole underlying format was changed to make it
> accessible to the standard PowerHouse tools like QSHOW and QUIZ (and,
> ironically, POW, but this probably isn't a good idea). This was a welcome
> improvement that allows the development of user-written dictionary
> reporting
> tools, but all this is (presumably) lost again in version 8. Weird.
> 
> Kevin Gordon, Sea Containers, London
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-powerh-l@sphere.swau.edu
> [mailto:owner-powerh-l@sphere.swau.edu]On Behalf Of Hamilton, Allison
> Sent: 05 March 1999 17:55
> To: powerh-l@lists.swau.edu; 'STEWARTM@dteenergy.com'
> Subject: RE: PDKC2M.QKC (POW)
> 
> 
> On VMS, where POW was created, the dictionary is a set of indexed files,
> allowing for easy access and update through a set of QUICK screens. (VMS
> originally had no other dictionary interface.)
> In PH 8 (and previous PH versions on UNIX, HP/IX and MPE/V platforms) the
> dictionary is a single direct (or relative?) file.  It's format does not
> allow for updating and expansion through POW in the straight-forward
> manner
> that it does on pre-PH 8 VMS with indexed files.  It was not designed to
> be
> dynamically updateable and expandable.
> 
> BUT - keep asking for POW on PH 8, and if enough people want it, there
> will
> be a business case for finding a way to get it into PH 8.
> 
> Where there is a will --- there is always a way...
> Allison Hamilton
> As always - my opinions are not always that of my employers, but are mine
> alone.
> 
> 
> = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
> =
> Subscribe: "subscribe powerh-l" in message body to
> majordomo@lists.swau.edu
> Unsubscribe: "unsubscribe powerh-l" in message to majordomo@lists.swau.edu
> powerh-l@lists.swau.edu is gatewayed one-way to bit.listserv.powerh-l
> This list is closed, thus to post to the list, you must be a subscriber.
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Subscribe: "subscribe powerh-l" in message body to majordomo@lists.swau.edu
Unsubscribe: "unsubscribe powerh-l" in message to majordomo@lists.swau.edu
powerh-l@lists.swau.edu is gatewayed one-way to bit.listserv.powerh-l
This list is closed, thus to post to the list, you must be a subscriber.