Antiquated Software

Mon Jan 16 11:41:41 PST 2006

I'm been using filePro since the late 1970's. If it wasn't for Nancy I would 
not have stayed with it in those early years.

We hire young people who came from other firms using windows. When they come 
to us, the training is much easier and we always get comments on how simple 
it is to use. Furthermore, the largest bank's in the country come on site to 
audit us. They also reconfirm the ease of use. They come from banks that 
would never use filePro because it is virtually unknown. A major bank can 
not take the risk to invest in an unknown product (but that's a different 
problem).

I have been able to do most of the things that the list complains about. I 
do not use memos but use a 50 character line to enter comments. This works 
well and I can scroll through hundreds if not thousands of comments. I am 
also able to pass these comments to the outside world.

I interact with the outside work by sending and receiving data with no 
problem, which involves a little filePro programming. I am able to access 
off the shelf software for imaging etc. which interacts seamlessly with 
filePro. I can also use any type of windows printer on my system. That only 
involves the tweaking of UNIX (AIX in my case). I can run many different 
reports at the same time.

Besides what Ken does, we need programmers like John and his pals to tweak 
additional modules to do other things that the list wants. He started that 
with the PIG.

There are also outside vendors such as Sound Ideas. They have some great 
utilities that work very well with filePro. Dave, the owner, was a filePro 
user. Also many of the members of the list also sell products that interact 
seamlessly with filePro. It is a matter of organizing the talent we have and 
using it. For example, if we need a particular add on to filePro which 
filePro does not have the resources to accomplish we should find out how 
many of us would want it. We could put money in a kitty and designate 
someone from the list with the talent to accomplish it to do it. They would 
estimate what the development costs would be. They would own the rights to 
the software. We would agree as to what they would sell it to us for after 
it was completed. There is so much talent here it just needs proper 
management.

Absolutely, filepro has its place in my business coupled with other programs 
we need. The only point that was mentioned that has validity for me are size 
the screens.

We need to think about ways things CAN be accomplished not why it can't. It 
is always easy to point fingers and degrade a well meaning attempt to solve 
problems.

Viva La filePro.

Dennis Malen
516.479.5912

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Anthony Terrible" <tony at vegena.net>
To: "File Pro List" <filepro-list at lists.celestial.com>; "Tips" 
<tips at stanlyn.com>
Sent: Monday, January 16, 2006 1:00 PM
Subject: Re: Antiquated Software

>I wasn't going to enter this flame although I have thought that Filepro is 
>antiquated for some time now. So I am going to address some of the things 
>that have been said and state my opinions. But before I begin let me state 
>that  I have the utmost respect for all of you on this list and believe 
>that all of you are better programmers than I.
>
>
>
> 1)      Data entry in text mode (mouse less) is faster than a GUI or using 
> a mouse.
>
>
>
> While I believe this to be true you can design Windows data entry forms 
> very easily that can be used without a mouse just like a text based 
> screen. The tab key works very well and the tab stop can be set any way 
> you want.
>
>
>
> 2)       Quoting Laura Brody, " I would bet cold-hard cash in a 
> non-trivial amount
> that a top-level data-entry gal who has been at it since Eisenhower was 
> president would have a drop of productivity of around 50% or more if she 
> had to navigate through the exact same screen with a mouse on some GUI 
> database."
>
>
>
> While this is true, wake up Laura. The people entering data now are in 
> their 20's and grew up with Windows and can navigate it quite easily, as 
> well as that person using a text based system. Read  #1 above.
>
>
>
> 3)      Quoting Bill Campbell, "I've never supported Windows, and 
> seriously think that anybody who entrusts corporate assets and data to a 
> Windows systems is guilty of malfeasance, and I refuse to be an accomplice 
> to that. Even if Windows were secure, and no data were ever lost to 
> software crashes or random reboots, the employee time lost due to these 
> crashes and reboots, when reliable alternatives are available, isn't 
> something that should be tolerated by anybody who is responsible for an 
> organization's bottom line."
>
>
>
> I have been around Filepro for 20 years and the crashes from it, broken 
> freechain, index corruption etc. is to me, no worse then Windows. However 
> I do not promote a Windows based server. People today use PC's which I 
> would venture to say are 99% Windows based. These machines have become 
> very powerful over the years and people have become accustomed to using 
> programs like Excel and Word. Use the power of the PC. Write you program 
> to run on a Windows desktop but the database it's self can reside on Unix 
> or Linux and be safe and secure while using that powerful PC. I believe 
> anyone in this day and age who sells a client Filepro is guilty of 
> malfeasance.
>
>
>
> 4)      Quoting Ken Brody, "Umm...  Printing of memos has been in since 
> 5.0.14.  Did you miss that?"
>
>
>
> As John said, yes I guess we did. The memo field has never worked properly 
> and I, and I assume that others have just given up on it. Compared to 
> other databases the memo field is a bad joke, always has been. I embraced 
> it when it came out but years later after working with it, well lets just 
> say it's problems are too many to list.
>
>
>
> 5)      For years I have listened to the list ask when is there going to 
> be an ODBC driver for Filepro. The reason Filepro has never made an ODBC 
> driver for Filepro is that they are very much aware that by doing this 
> would be their death. If you could access the data stored in a Filepro 
> file from any programming language why would you use Filepro? It would 
> just be a matter of time before you totally get rid of Filepro. The only 
> thing holding most people to Filepro is all the data they have in it's 
> files that they can't get out without Filepro. Given the out, most would 
> take the option. Filepro's file system is slow and clunky compared to 
> modern data bases.
>
>
>
> The world is changing. We need more data in many different formats then we 
> ever did. People expect it, they demand it. We need pictures, email, 
> internet access, the ability to open, view, modify  and run reports on 
> several different files at the same time. This is just not possible with 
> Filepro. It is however easily done with current day data bases running on 
> PC's with Windows. What you have now with Filepro is a small ugly screen, 
> long learning curve for new employees, no real ability to view or save 
> photo's, little to no ability to create text documents, lots of clumsy 
> menus, the lack of ability to be in several files at the same time, 
> inability to access the internet, reports that look like they came off a 
> 1950's typewriter, the inability for management to create their own 
> reports, inability to sort or group data without running a report, slow 
> and clunky searches unless you use an index selection, no integration with 
> current technology. And programming? There is more to life then IF-THEN. 
> Using Filepro or thinking that it has anything to offer is like the person 
> who refuses to give up on that 1960's automobile. Automobiles have come a 
> long way in 20 years, they are computer controlled in every aspect. They 
> are faster then the cars of the 60's and 70's, get better gas mileage, 
> don't pollute, safer, handle and drive better, last longer. So why would 
> you want automobiles to go back to the way they were? Filepro was good 
> when it was made but it's time is done, has been. Now is the time to 
> figure out how to migrate from Filepro. Total integration is the way. With 
> Windows this can be done. Your clients never have to learn anything else 
> but your program  No more switching to a picture viewer, an email program, 
> a writing program, a web browser. All of this is done seamlessly and 
> easily. Menus, right clicks, real help files make it easy to use and 
> learn, tabs make it easy to enter data. Use the power of the PC. It will 
> make your company better, your people more productive.
>
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