Re: DSII: Vehicle Generation Programs

On Mon, Jul 28, 1997 at 7:16:44 AM, "Geo-Hex" <geohex@teleport.com>
wrote:

> > Date:	   Tue, 15 Jul 1997 23:42:02 -0400 From:	  Gordon

> > Peterson <gpeterson@voyager.net> Reply-to:	    FTGZG-L@bolton.ac.uk

> > To: 	   FTGZG-L@bolton.ac.uk 
> > Subject:	   Re: DSII: Vehicle Generation Programs 
>  
> > I'm certainly not trying to start a platform war, but I certainly
hope 
> > that whatever is on the CD, it will not be Windows only.  I know I'm

> > not the only Mac user here. 
> > Gordon Peterson 
> I've missed the release date on the CD to hopefully add more to the 
> package, but a Mac app is still on the distant horizon. 

I'm joining this discussion real late, but if I were doing this project,
I 
would seriously explore doing such utilities in FileMaker Pro.	It's
fast, 
easy to use, and cross-platform (databases created on Mac will run on
Windows 
and vice versa).  With the Claris Solutions Development Kit you can
attach a 
runtime engine to the database to create standalone apps.  (You have to
do a 
separate one for each plaform, although the database is the same -- big
deal.) 

FMP also gives you the ability to print out information in a variety of 
formats and, perhaps most importantly for us, you can export a record
(i.e., a 
design) as text, which can then be emailed to others and then imported
into 
their copy of the database.  You get lookups, pulldown menus,
checkboxes, 
text, graphics, etc. -- basically, anything that Excel can do, FMP can
do, and 
you don't need the app to do it.

The main app is $200, with the membership in the Claris Solutions
Alliance and 
the Solutions Development Kit adding another $700-1000 more.  This
sounds like 
a lot of money, but it's significantly cheaper than most development 
environments, and the CSA/SDK agreement includes unlimited distribution
rights 
to the runtime engine.	In other words, this is a one-time cost.

[For the record, I have been known to answer the question "What is your 
favorite computer game?" with "Filemaker Pro."]

--Chris Weuve		[My opinion, not my employers.]
mailto:caw@ascend.com (wk/day)		mailto:caw@wizard.net (h)
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