> From: Jim Starkey

Hi,

> I suggest we spend a little time talking about Java integration
> issues.

I think before we get carried away we need to define the 'issues' that need
'integration' :-) For the previous posts there seam to be three areas that
need, or would be great to have, some form of 'language' enhancements,
UDF's, Stored Procedures and 'Scripting'

UDFs - Java would be great, just the sort of thing Java was designed for,
small, dedicated class/applets etc. But my main worry is about the virtual
machine/JDK version. If at all possible it needs to be separate from IB,
for a number of reasons. Firstly, not everybody will want to use Java and
will not require all the extra baggage. Secondly, and more importantly, I
have lost count of the number of JVM/JDK's I have on my system, both in
version numbers and 'makes', it seams every Java tool/development
environment I have requires a different one, which is a pain in the backside
to say the least. Even Borland can't get it right, Visibroker for Delphi
needs a different JDK to the main Visibroker product, so developing clients
and servers on the same machine is not possible. I don't know if having an
'external' JVM is possible or if it has other issues (e.g. security etc.),
but it would be preferable for me. While I am on the subject of Visibroker,
Oracle have started to bundle Visibroker with 8i, and have provided CORBA
interfaces etc, which is certainly an attractive 'feature' for distributed
system developers. If Java was integrated into IB, CORBA interfaces would
certainly be possible. There are a number of Open Source ORBs available if
Borland did not fancy give VisiBroker away :-)

Stored Procedures/Triggers - I think that with a broad range of UDFs around,
a few minor language/feature enhancements would be enough in the short term
(obviously Java would be great in the medium to long term), My two top
enhancements would be the ever popular CASE statements, and the ability to
reference field/table names as variables. This last one would be a god send
as currently I do a lot a Audit logs in my system and current have to hard
code a million IF Old.Field1 <> new.Field1 then ..., I dream at night for
the ability to so a FOR SELECT on the Releation_fields table and just loop
through every field in a couple of lines of code!

'Scripting' - This should be client side, and should be an embedded
scripting/macro language in ISQL (or whatever). The language should be
platform independent and quick and easy to use. From personal experience I
like Tcl, it has been put to good use in several tools I use, WinCVS is a
good example. It (or whatever) would allow us to create very powerful
condition based 'scripts' e.g. run sub-script A if condition B is met etc.
It would also allow us to write small macros for speeding up everyday tasks
like.

Just my personal thoughts....

Cheers

Phil