Relational Databases for Microport Unix V/386 3.0e

[Brandon S. Allbery]

As quoted from <313 at nosun.UUCP> by neighorn at nosun.UUCP ( SE Sun/PDX):
+---------------
| I did a project on uport Unix using Unify's Unify/Accell package. The DB
| 
| I was put in the unenviable position of using the first V/386 port of Accell,
| and it showed. I dealt with numerous unexplainable, untraceable, fixed-by-
| phase-of-moon core dumps, statements that simply did not work, printer
| support problems, and numerous other gotchas. The school did not have
| the funds at that time for the $1500 (no discount) support/upgrade
| offer, so they are still running the first release on the 80386 (also
| called Accell 4.0)
+---------------

No, it wasn't; it was Accell 1.3 running over Unify 4.0.  (Accell is a user
interface; Unify is the DBMS which Accell 1.x interfaces to.)

Accell 1.3 had lots of bizarre problems on our 386 system.  However, at
least some of them are the result of the 386 OS ([non-SCO] Xenix 5.2/386)
in question having a broken C compiler and broken malloc.  We just -finally-
got Accell 1.4; it's a MAJOR improvement.

+---------------
| got the project done. Accell has a pretty nice curses-based applications
+---------------

Ah, no.  Curses would optimize out some of the extra window redraws that get
rather painful when I try to access our application over a 2400-baud modem.
(Hint, hint, Unify!)

+---------------
| around many of the problems in the applications generator itself. Their
| C-attachments are plentiful and in my experience seem to work pretty
| well. I lost count of how many times the apps generator simply locked
| up, and I had to go to a virtual console and kill several processes.
+---------------

Fixed in 1.4, at least on Altos System V and Interactive 386/ix.  (The SCO
version got errors accessing shared memory on our system; we haven't yet
been able to upgrade to a version that supports a true 386 ABI, for various
reasons.)  Also look for Unify 2000 and Accell/SQL soon (but don't buy
it yet; *any* product is unusable in Version 1.0!).

++Brandon (a consultant who happens to think Accell is the greatest thing
since sliced bread)
-- 
Brandon S. Allbery, moderator of comp.sources.misc	     allbery at ncoast.org
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