I need to move the database I use to run my business to linux soon and am starting to look at the options. Now, the backend power is clearly there but there seems to be a lack of good front ends - and by "good", I mean something that can produce a high-quality printed report. Almost everything that I've seen is fine for on-screen work, when all that is needed is a row-and-column representation. The best I've found so far is Knoda, but I'd prefer something gtk based (because I use Gnome as my desktop). Does anyone know of anything that produces good, WYSIWYG reports with graphics, page layout and text formatting? TiA John -- John Pettigrew Headstrong Games john@headstrong-games.co.uk Fun : Strategy : Price http://www.headstrong-games.co.uk/ Board games that won't break the bank Fields of Valour: 2 Norse clans battle on one of 3 different boards
John Pettigrew wrote:
I need to move the database I use to run my business to linux soon and am starting to look at the options.
Now, the backend power is clearly there but there seems to be a lack of good front ends - and by "good", I mean something that can produce a high-quality printed report. Almost everything that I've seen is fine for on-screen work, when all that is needed is a row-and-column representation.
The best I've found so far is Knoda, but I'd prefer something gtk based (because I use Gnome as my desktop). Does anyone know of anything that produces good, WYSIWYG reports with graphics, page layout and text formatting?
TiA
You gloss over a few parameters in your discussion, especially about which back-end database, and whether you intend to stay open source on this. If you are looking at Oracle as the back end, then I recommend the entire Oracle 9i tech stack stream ... Oracle9i Database, Oracle9i App Server and Oracle9i Developer Suite. If not, no need to read on ........ The app server provides full reports, ad-hoc query, message queueing and workflow - all web based, all interactive, supporting multiple output formats including PDF/compressed PDF/CSS/paper. Down sides for the Oracle stuff - potentially expensive (especially compared to free/open source), not the easiest to install, fairly resource intensive. Up sides - reliable, supported, large community, commercial quality, integrated, yadda, yadda, ya ...
In a previous message, Hans Forbrich wrote:
John Pettigrew wrote:
I need to move the database I use to run my business to linux soon and am starting to look at the options.
You gloss over a few parameters in your discussion, especially about which back-end database, and whether you intend to stay open source on this.
True - largely because I don't care :-) I'm more interested in whether it does what I need than whether it's MySQL, postgreSQL, Oracle or whatever. My only other preference is that it be free or cheap, but I'm not averse to paying a reasonable amount (reasonable, that is, for a single-user licence - not a developer licence). John -- John Pettigrew Headstrong Games john@headstrong-games.co.uk Fun : Strategy : Price http://www.headstrong-games.co.uk/ Board games that won't break the bank Valley of the Kings: ransack an ancient Egyptian tomb but beware of mummies!
You might try Rekall from theKompany.com. Works quite well for me in both windows and linux. Art John Pettigrew wrote:
In a previous message, Hans Forbrich wrote:
John Pettigrew wrote:
I need to move the database I use to run my business to linux soon and am starting to look at the options.
You gloss over a few parameters in your discussion, especially about which back-end database, and whether you intend to stay open source on this.
True - largely because I don't care :-)
I'm more interested in whether it does what I need than whether it's MySQL, postgreSQL, Oracle or whatever. My only other preference is that it be free or cheap, but I'm not averse to paying a reasonable amount (reasonable, that is, for a single-user licence - not a developer licence).
John
http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/2213911
It's not Suse, but hey, it's another byte in the M$ pie...
Best regards,
--
Sourian
John Pettigrew wrote:
In a previous message, Hans Forbrich wrote:
John Pettigrew wrote:
I need to move the database I use to run my business to linux soon and am starting to look at the options.
You gloss over a few parameters in your discussion, especially about which back-end database, and whether you intend to stay open source on this.
True - largely because I don't care :-)
But it does make a difference in the answer.
I'm more interested in whether it does what I need than whether it's MySQL, postgreSQL, Oracle or whatever. My only other preference is that it be free or cheap, but I'm not averse to paying a reasonable amount (reasonable, that is, for a single-user licence - not a developer licence).
Reasonable varies a lot in definition. a) Database ...... However, Oracle does have a special database license called 'Oracle9i Personal'. This is a full version of Oracle, 100% compatible with the Standard and Enterprise versions - designed for developers but permitting single user deployment. One nice thing is the built in analytics that tend to save huge amounts of time coding stuff like period-over-period comparisons, etc. The built in document indexing and keyword search capability is very useful as well - seen many developer duplicate that at an enormous cost because they didn't realize it's there. Finally the built in data-versioning capability (called Workspace Management) has some interesting uses, especially in what-if scenarios. For me the price is reasonable, so I own a copy, and I pay the annual support - putting that monkey on some else's back and giving me 'free' updates, patches, calls into support for any assistance (including SuSE Linux - SLES8) at any time at no additional charge. That said - if you really want only a SQL-based data store, the others you mention are great as well. b) Reporting, access & tools (following valid if you decide to go Oracle database) ... With an Oracle database decision you have a lot of flexibility in tools - 3rd party, open source and Oracle supplied. Oracle supplied: Oracle9i Application Server is a very complete set of middle tier products - somewhat resource intensive (understatement) and seemingly relatively expensive until you really look at what you get - web cache, reporting tools, adhoc query, full java/J2EE environment, portal, workflow, messaging and queueing, integration, single sign on, LDAP, etc. ad nauseum. Likely (definitely?) overkill for a one man shop, but often overlooked because of the assumption that Oracle is expensive. I've watched with considerable chagrin as I've seen people get all the components individually and then try to wire them together. The maintenance and wiring is the 'hidden' cost of Open Source (which I firmly believe in and support). Depends entirely on what your time & the experience is worth to you and your company.
In a previous message, Hans Forbrich wrote:
John Pettigrew wrote:
True - largely because I don't care :-)
But it does make a difference in the answer.
Not really - if something fulfils my needs, I am happy for recommendations whether it's based on SQL, Oracle or anything else. In this, I am entirely user-focused. I am happy to learn a new dbms in order to construct the db, because I'll have to do that whatever route I take. Once that's done, though, my day-to-day interaction with the system is at the level of forms and reports only, so these are my priority.
a) Database ......
However, Oracle does have a special database license called 'Oracle9i Personal'. This is a full version of Oracle, 100% compatible with the Standard and Enterprise versions - designed for developers but permitting single user deployment.
Oracle is rather expensive for my needs, even the Personal edition. I need few of the advanced features - just a relational dbms with decent reporting facilities and easy form entry. John -- John Pettigrew Headstrong Games john@headstrong-games.co.uk Fun : Strategy : Price http://www.headstrong-games.co.uk/ Board games that won't break the bank Valley of the Kings: ransack an ancient Egyptian tomb but beware of mummies!
John Pettigrew wrote:
Oracle is rather expensive for my needs, even the Personal edition. I need few of the advanced features - just a relational dbms with decent reporting facilities and easy form entry.
As I said - the choice of RDBMS does make a difference. Since you have eliminated Personal Oracle the rest of my discussion is useless for your situation. I'd be interested in your final selections, if you would to share them sometime. /Hans
In a previous message, Hans Forbrich wrote:
I'd be interested in your final selections, if you would to share them sometime.
Following the suggestions made here, I suspect that one of two products is going to be closest to what I need. Once I've made a decision, I'll let you know :-) I've downloaded the Rekall demo, and it looks quite good. There are a few things that I need to clear up, but it looks promising, especially the python scripting. It certainly has good database-design features coupled with nice forms and reports. It just remains to be seen whether the forms/reports are flexible enough for my needs (viewing and changing data on the same layout through queries, attractive report printing based on queries, data entry through popup lists based on tables etc.). On the free side, I'm also looking at OOo + ODBC + MySQL. Unfortunately, the instructions on getting this set up are for RH not SuSE and I couldn't make it work on the quick play I had. One important oddity I found is that the SuSE MySQL install doesn't seem to include the "mysql" command. At least, I get nothing if I try using it, and can't locate it on my system. MySQL itself is working, because I can use MySQLcc and Rekall. But I can't get OOo to connect. Has anyone had success doing this? John -- John Pettigrew Headstrong Games john@headstrong-games.co.uk Fun : Strategy : Price http://www.headstrong-games.co.uk/ Board games that won't break the bank Knossos: escape the ever-changing labyrinth before the Minotaur catches you!
John Pettigrew wrote:
In a previous message, Hans Forbrich wrote:
John Pettigrew wrote:
I need to move the database I use to run my business to linux soon and am starting to look at the options.
Checkout Quasar from (as I remember) "www.linuxcanada.com". It is rather cheap and full featured. It ran under SuSE 7.2,7.3 and 8.0 plus likely 8.2. It has POS, and Act.s rec./payable and more.
I'm more interested in whether it does what I need than whether it's MySQL, postgreSQL, Oracle or whatever. My only other preference is that it be free or cheap, but I'm not averse to paying a reasonable amount (reasonable, that is, for a single-user licence - not a developer licence).
A nice frontend for MySQL is phpMyAdmin. easy to setup and admin. -- 73 de Donn Washburn __ " http://www.hal-pc.org/~n5xwb " Ham Callsign N5XWB / / __ __ __ __ __ __ __ 307 Savoy St. / /__ / / / \/ / / /_/ / \ \/ / Sugar Land, TX 77478 /_____/ /_/ /_/\__/ /_____/ /_/\_\ LL# 1.281.242.3256 a MSDOS Virus "Free Zone" OS Email: n5xwb@hal-pc.org Info: http://www.knoppix.net
In a previous message, Donn Washburn wrote:
A nice frontend for MySQL is phpMyAdmin. easy to setup and admin.
AFAICT, though, none of the web-based SQL front ends offer anything like decent reporting tools for print. They are ideal for on-screen work, but not for output for clients. What I need is something like FileMaker, Datapower or even Access - something that can create easy-to-use, flexible forms and produce attractive, businesslike reports. I've been surprised that there is so little middle-level database stuff for linux. There are the high-power SQL back ends, and powerful command-line or web-based front ends, but little that's actually sat down and tried to implement a user-based database rather than a developer-based one. Thanks for the pointers so far - I'll look into them. Any other ideas? John -- John Pettigrew Headstrong Games john@headstrong-games.co.uk Fun : Strategy : Price http://www.headstrong-games.co.uk/ Board games that won't break the bank Fields of Valour: 2 Norse clans battle on one of 3 different boards
Hi! I have a scanner - Acer (now Benq) S2W3300 - USB. It is detected, even the name is found, but I don't know wich driver to choose from. In the Benq section of Yast2 there are some drivers, none for this particular scanner. Any of you know how to make it work? I searched google for answers, it seems to be fully suported, but all the links towards detailes were broken :(( Best regards, Sourian
Sourian wrote:
Hi!
I have a scanner - Acer (now Benq) S2W3300 - USB. It is detected, even the name is found, but I don't know wich driver to choose from.
In the Benq section of Yast2 there are some drivers, none for this particular scanner.
Any of you know how to make it work?
I searched google for answers, it seems to be fully suported, but all the links towards detailes were broken :((
Best regards, Sourian
I have the very same scanner, and it works fine here; automatically set up in 8.2 as ACER S2W -3300U-4300U. I've been using it since 7.1 (7.1, 7.3, 8.1) and some tweaking was necessary back then. Tell me which version of SuSE you are using. fx -- ______________________ Courtesy of SuSE Linux http://www.nibz.org
On Thu, 2003-05-29 at 14:52, Sourian wrote:
Hi!
I have a scanner - Acer (now Benq) S2W3300 - USB. It is detected, even the name is found, but I don't know wich driver to choose from.
In the Benq section of Yast2 there are some drivers, none for this particular scanner.
Any of you know how to make it work?
do on search on the internert for a file called acerfirm it should tell you what driver you need
John Pettigrew wrote:
In a previous message, Donn Washburn wrote:
A nice frontend for MySQL is phpMyAdmin. easy to setup and admin.
AFAICT, though, none of the web-based SQL front ends offer anything like decent reporting tools for print. They are ideal for on-screen work, but not for output for clients.
What I need is something like FileMaker, Datapower or even Access -
You got that right!!!!!! If they'd only port FileMaker!!!
something that can create easy-to-use, flexible forms and produce attractive, businesslike reports. I've been surprised that there is so little middle-level database stuff for linux. There are the high-power SQL back ends, and powerful command-line or web-based front ends, but little that's actually sat down and tried to implement a user-based database rather than a developer-based one.
Thanks for the pointers so far - I'll look into them. Any other ideas?
This has been one of my complaints, as all I, and I suspect the majority of users want and need, is a FileMaker for Linux, and there's NOTHING available, not even on the horizon. Fred -- Fred A. Miller Systems Administrator Cornell Univ. Press Services fm@cupserv.org, www.cupserv.org
On Thursday 29 May 2003 15:17, Fred A. Miller wrote:
John Pettigrew wrote:
In a previous message, Donn Washburn wrote:
A nice frontend for MySQL is phpMyAdmin. easy to setup and admin.
AFAICT, though, none of the web-based SQL front ends offer anything like decent reporting tools for print. They are ideal for on-screen work, but not for output for clients.
What I need is something like FileMaker, Datapower or even Access -
You got that right!!!!!! If they'd only port FileMaker!!!
something that can create easy-to-use, flexible forms and produce attractive, businesslike reports. I've been surprised that there is so little middle-level database stuff for linux. There are the high-power SQL back ends, and powerful command-line or web-based front ends, but little that's actually sat down and tried to implement a user-based database rather than a developer-based one.
Thanks for the pointers so far - I'll look into them. Any other ideas?
This has been one of my complaints, as all I, and I suspect the majority of users want and need, is a FileMaker for Linux, and there's NOTHING available, not even on the horizon.
Fred
What about the database coming along in the KOffice suite? It's called Kexi and may prove to be what we all are looking for there. I haven't played much and the few times I have trying to get it to use their experimental base, cql, it crashes on me with a Sig6. I have yet to try it with MySQL as a base yet, but you might want to give it a look. Patrick -- --- KMail v1.5.2 --- SuSE Linux Pro v8.2 --- Registered Linux User #225206 On any other day, that might seem strange...
Hi! Did you try: http://www.unixodbc.org/doc/OOoMySQL9.pdf And/or http://www.mysql.com/products/mysqlcc/index.html Sorry if you allready did ;) Radu John Pettigrew wrote:
In a previous message, Donn Washburn wrote:
A nice frontend for MySQL is phpMyAdmin. easy to setup and admin.
AFAICT, though, none of the web-based SQL front ends offer anything like decent reporting tools for print. They are ideal for on-screen work, but not for output for clients.
What I need is something like FileMaker, Datapower or even Access - something that can create easy-to-use, flexible forms and produce attractive, businesslike reports. I've been surprised that there is so little middle-level database stuff for linux. There are the high-power SQL back ends, and powerful command-line or web-based front ends, but little that's actually sat down and tried to implement a user-based database rather than a developer-based one.
Thanks for the pointers so far - I'll look into them. Any other ideas?
John
participants (10)
-
Art Fore -
BandiPat -
Donn Washburn -
Fred A. Miller -
FX Fraipont -
Hans Forbrich -
illustre -
John Pettigrew -
Radu Voicu -
Sourian