You should also consider Firebird.  It runs natively on both Windows and
Unix and has all the features you are looking for.  Anyway, all responses
below refer to PosgreSQL and Firebird only.  I don't know enough about MYSQL
since we don't use it.

> 1. Does Firebird and PostgreSQL support table-locking and record-locking?
This
> feature is important in multi-user record resolution.
YUP.

>
> With Progress database, I code these statements if I simply want to search
and
> read the record, and display the result onscreen:
>
> FIND record WHERE criteria = "" NO-LOCK, NO-ERROR.
>         IF NOT AVAILABLE record THEN
>            DO:
>       MESSAGE "Record not found" VIEW-AS ALERT-BOX INFO.
>               RETURN NO-APPLY.
>            END.
>         ELSE
>     DISPLAY record WITH FRAME frame-name.
>
> If I want to lock the record and update the desired fields. It's as simple
as
> changing the NO-LOCK to EXCLUSIVE-LOCK:
>
> DO:
>   FIND record WHERE criteria = "" EXCLUSIVE-LOCK, NO-ERROR.
>   UPDATE record/fields.
>   DISPLAY record WITH FRAME frame-name.
> END.
>
> Are there similar, simple, equivalent SQL queries like this in Firebird or
> PostgreSQL?
ANSI SQL is used for both databases which is simple enough.

>Does Firebird and PostgreSQL support
> transactions (in database parlance)?
Yup.

> 3. Can a Firebird or PostgreSQL database grow from 500kb to gigabytes
without any
> administrative conversion and maintenance? Progress database is a
> deploy-once-then-forget type of database. It grows to any size without
> needing any administrative tweaking at all.
I've seen it rapidly grow to gigabytes without any problems, however, the
expectation of "deploy-once-then-forget" is a bit unrealistic.  I've worked
with Progress on a VAX VMS for a few years and it required
maintenance/tuning and was actually a pain in the xxxx to work with.

> 4. Does Firebird and PostgreSQL support database triggers? Stored
procedures?
Yup.

> 5. Does Firebird and PostgreSQL enable before-imaging and after-imaging?
Are
> there any equivalent technologies that ensures transaction/database
integrity
> in these databases?
Not quite sure about the internals, but I haven't experienced any corruption
from either database even with all the brownouts we experience here in the
Philippines.

> 6. Can I issue SQL commands through ODBC in the client GUI to Firebird or
> PostgreSQL Linux databases, so that the client can dynamically open and
close
> database connections?
Yup.

> 7. Does Firebird and PostgreSQL support multiple database connections?
Yup.

> > 8. Can Firebird and PostgreSQL store BLOBS (binary, large objects)?
>
Yup.


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