PDKC2M.QKC (POW)
OLENICR@dteenergy.com
OLENICR@dteenergy.com
09 Mar 99 14:15:22 -0500
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Hi Allison!
Up to this point I have stayed quiet on this debate because figured it was a=
moot point and a screen based dictionary manager was not forth coming, end
of
discussion.
No matter how you try to justify it (historically, logically, technically or=
otherwise) VMS user had a very useful tool and it is no longer there.
To say
"PowerHouse 8.10 is not currently a direct upgrade path for 7.10 customers
because of this and other machine specific differences between the two
product
versions."
is silly and so much vendor baffelgab. Is there an alternative upgrade path=
for version 7.10??
Is it possible to provide? Obviously it is. The code and basic logic is in=
the Architect, a product Cognos charges for. Cognos has decided to make
that
feature an additional cost on every platform but VMS.
It is annoying, but not the end of the world. Learn to use PDL or pony up
the
money for Architect.
My opinions are my own and therefore subject to change and possibly total
reversal without notice.
Ron Olenic
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Date: 09 Mar 99 13:30:26
From:"Hamilton, Allison" <Allison.Hamilton@Cognos.COM>
To:powerh-l, "'Kevin.Gordon@seacontainers.com'" <Kevin.Gordon>
Subject:RE: PDKC2M.QKC (POW)
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I'm going to reply to only a couple of the comments included here...
> 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.
>
PowerHouse 8 is a common-code version of PowerHouse. For numerous
historical reasons, which I won't get into, the UNIX/HP code base (which was
already merged) was used as the code base. Those platforms have never had
POW, and have always been a script based, not dynamically updateable
dictionary environment. (Architect has existed on HP for a long time, and
it provides a screen-based dictionary maintenance facility - but it
generates QDD/PDL code and then compiles the dictionary.) PowerHouse 8.10
is not currently a direct upgrade path for 7.10 customers because of this
and other machine specific differences between the two product versions.
PowerHouse 8.10 does, however, provide access to additional databases. The
dictionary for PowerHouse 8.10 was not 'changed' in the sense that it has
always been the format supported by the UNIX/HP environment, and is now that
supported on VMS for 8.10 using the common code version of PH.
The 7.10 dictionary format was changed to enable support for Y2K features.
It meant expanding element/item/usage and system options for the new
features. The two dictionary format changes are totally different issues,
althought I admit, without the history, it would not appear that way.
> 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!
>
While I understand what you are saying about this, because of the change in
code base, POW would have to be 'put back in' for VMS because the underlying
environment of the UNIX/HP code base never had it. That is one of the
reasons why it is not considered a direct upgrade path for 7.10 customers at
this time.
...but the whole underlying format was changed to make it
> accessible to the standard PowerHouse tools like QSHOW and QUIZ ...
>
The opening of the dictionary format to QSHOW was an internal switch, and
did not require a change in format in any way. It was a policy decision
change. I'm not sure if this change has been made in PH 8 or not. I will
pose the question internally.
Allison Hamilton
As always - my opinions are my own, and not necessarily that of my employer.
> ----------
> From: Kevin Gordon[SMTP:Kevin.Gordon@seacontainers.com]
> Sent: Monday, March 08, 1999 9:37 AM
> 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.
>
>
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> =3D
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