We've tried Progress dataserver for Oracle, and you may see some of the same problems.
First of all Progress promised, that running 4GL on an Oracle Database was as easy as 1-2-3 - BUT!! it is not. :blue:
To use a Progress Dataserver we had to create a Schema-Holder database. This is a mapping between Progress Tables/Columns and Oracle Tables/Columns. Since there are different naming conventions in Progress/Oracle, this was not straight-forward, and now, whenever we're changing the schema we have to carefully check the mapping MANUALLY.
When char fields is converted to Oracle the tool uses the display format to create VARCHAR2 fields in Oracle, only this will result in a field being able to hold NO MORE than the specified number of chars.
Logicals in Progress is mapped to integers in Oracle - Sometimes.
We have a distributed production environment with some programs running on UNIX (Appserver and C) and some 4GL clients running on NT. But every type of client has to have access to both the schema database AND Oracle. This meant eighter starting a server process for the Schema holder (meaning more licenses to buy) or having a R/O database on both UNIX and NT (more administration).
Together with a Progress consultant, I spend 3 weeks this Christmas to set the Dataserver up. - - - as easy as 1-2-3?????
Finally, and most important to us:
Contrary to what the Progress consultant told us ESQL89 and SQL92 is NOT supported with Dataservers only pure 4GL.
We're seriously considering rewriting our entire application so that we can use any database - In reality, this means writing everything in Java and C/SQL92.
As you can see, I'm less than impressed with the Progress Dataserver product, in my opinion it is to difficult to use and administer to be practical.
Hope this is useful!
Regards
Mike
