<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN">RE: Cognos ADT Update & Plans Sorry for the delay, but to answer Robert's questions...
1) There will be no specific features added to QUIZ in the first release
of PowerHouse Web to enable it to produce HTML output. We are
considering what we might do in follow-on releases, but there are no
solid plans yet. A technique for generating an HTML file from QUIZ
was published in Supportlink (Vol.8 No.1 p.38), which simply
uses the available QUIZ headers and footers to set up HTML tags, etc.2) I'm not sure what you mean by "more tightly integrated". We currently
have no specific plans for integration between Impromptu Web Reports
or Impromptu Web Query and the PowerHouse family, other than it
should be possible to call one of these tools and pass parameters
simply by correctly formatting a URL which you might display in a
PowerHouse Web screen (which based on how the user got to that screen
would probably be parameterized for the report/query to be run).3) We are always looking at ways to improve PowerHouse as a product, and
simplify the language where possible. Obviously the inconsistencies
in the language, especially between QUIZ and QTP, are annoying -- I
know, I worked in our professional services group in the UK for nine
years dealing with them. However, as thousands of customers have
applications which rely on the current syntax it is difficult to
introduce change without either breaking programs which already work
(which is NOT an option), or having the product support both the
'old' and the 'new' ways of doing things. We are studying what might
be possible in these area, but customer demand for new features and
better file/database support tends to be stronger than for tidying
up the product inconsistencies.4) Everyone contemplating putting applications on the web must
understand the differences between the permanently-connected, state
driven terminal or Windows client users and the occasionally-
connected, stateless Web users. It is for these reasons that we were
compelled to introduce the LINKSCREEN statement and DEFER LINKSCREEN
verb. A discussion of this topic appears in the PowerHouse Web Guide,
which will be part of the PowerHouse Web documentation set, and in
the Introducing PowerHouse Web white paper, which can be downloaded
from our web site, at http://www.cognos.com/phweb. We do not see
customers wanting to move all of their existing PowerHouse
applications to the web. The web isn't suitable for all applications,
just as Windows isn't suitable for all applications. This has nothing
to do with the tools used to build the applications and everything to
do with the differences between the user interfaces. Just as you
wouldn't deploy heads-down data entry to Windows, you won't deploy it
to the web. We will all be going through a learning curve as we find
out what sorts of applications work in the occasionally-connected web
environment, which ones are more suited to a permanently-connected
Windows client, and which ones are still best dealt with by good ol'
green-screen terminals.5) Clusters for SECONDARY files are supported in the first release of
PowerHouse Web. We are currently investigating how to support DETAIL
files for a subsequent release. I am uncertain what you mean by real
time updates and reads. PowerHouse Web reads from the database/file
system whenever a particular program is run. The data retrieved is
then formatted into the associated HTML template and returned to the
user's browser as an HTML page. Similarly, if the user enters data
into the HTML page they are presented with (or modifies the data
retrieved) and then clicks on one of the available buttons
(representing the available activities in the QUICK program) that
data is sent to PowerHouse Web, via the web server, which runs the
appropriate program, initiates the requested user action and passes
the data from the HTML page -- which will result in the database or
files being updated and a new HTML page being passed back to the
user, at which point the QUICK program is unloaded by PowerHouse Web.
So there are no deferred updates or reads with PowerHouse Web...as
soon as the user clicks that button the database will be updated,
assuming the data provided actually passes all of the validation
checks implemented by the program, data dictionary or database.
Best regards,
Conrad
Conrad Whittall
Marketing Manager, Application Development Tools
Cognos Incorporated, 3755 Riverside Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, K1G 4K9,
CanadaTel : + 1 (613) 738-1338 Ext.4804
Fax : + 1 (613) 228-3149E-mail : mailto:conrad.whittall@cognos.com
For information on the Cognos PowerHouse family of high-productivity
development tools for mission-critical business applications visit our
web site at http://www.cognos.com/powerhouse
-----Original Message-----
From: Robert J.M. Edis [mailto:Robert.Edis@creatcomp.com]
Sent: Monday 15 March 1999 11:40 AM
To: 'powerh-l@lists.swau.edu'
Subject: RE: Cognos ADT Update & Plans
G'day Conrad
Thank you very much for the 'heads up' on the current state and future plans
for PowerHouse. I have a couple of questions though.1. What web features will be added for QUIZ to be able to produce an
HTML formatted report?
2. If QUIZ is to be replaced with Impromptu Web (for web reports) as I
heard a while back, will Impromptu be more tightly integrated with QUICK,
QTP and PDL?
3. Are there any plans to simplify PowerHouse syntax? I.e. having the
same reserved word in one product behave the same way in another like the
SUBFILE statement.
4. Bob Deskin mentioned that PH Web doesn't use the RUN SCREEN or
SUBSCREEN statements but rather LINK SCREEN. Doesn't this imply that we
can't simply add the new web syntax to our existing systems to make them web
enabled? It this is true it implies major redesign or creation of a
parallel system for web users.
5. In what version will PowerHouse Web allow functionality such as
clusters and real time updates/reads?Robert Edis
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PowerHouse consultant
Creative Computing, Inc.
Rhode Island, USA