As I prepare to move to the next generation of R:Base (9.0 Extreme) I realized how spoiled we, R:Base developers, have been. By and large we have a complete development environment that allows us to create entire applications without the need of external programs and/or utilities. However, this will not last forever. In the last year I have had several requests to incorporate/interface applications/utilities developed in many other languages, into/with a database application.
I am sure that the answer is that not only it can be done but that it is already being done. Having said that, I have not found a comprehensive guide that outlines the required procedures. One of the requests I get (in my area of work anyway) is mapping. It is not uncommon for a client to indicate that they have a specific applications developed as an applet, java bean, servlet, dll library, C++ library, VB utility and so on, that they would like to incorporate into an existing R:Base database application. It would be really nice if there would be a manual that would guide us through the procedures needed to incorporate these (foreign source) application into R:Base. My guess is that in the future there will be a greater need to interact with these applications, particularly with the increasing role of the internet and the future role of Cloud Computing. From what I read so far, it seems that 9.0 Extreme is geared towards facilitating this purpose. Some of the programming environments mentioned include VB, C++, Perl, Python, Java, PHP,.NET, Ruby as well as variations and or sub/super sets of the other programs. I believe that Mike Byerley has been advocating the use of scripting for a while; I am now beginning to understand the importance of his advice. My question is: - Are you currently interfacing with other applications, other than through ODBC? - What programming/scripting environment do you use? - If you would have to start from scratch, which of the new programming environments would you select to complement R:Base? - What guides/resources/training would you recommend? I understand that this is a very broad subject; hopefully this post will generate a healthy discussion on how we move forward into the second decade of the 21st century. Javier, Javier Valencia, PE 913-829-0888 Office 913-915-3137 Cell 913-649-2904 Fax [email protected]
