At 12:24 2001-10-11 +0100, you wrote:

> > This is one of the main reasons why we will probably swutch to another
> > database, e.g. SQL Server, etc. It will be a great pity, because I really
> > like IB and the projects I have done on it run beautifully...
>
>1. I don't think SQL Server will allow you to do metadata changes on fly,
>but please correct me if I am wrong. Certainly Sybase didn't.

I am not 100% sure myself, but my wife works with it and says it can. Still
need to investigate though...

>2. If you switched to SQL Server how much would it cost you?

In terms of server licences, not much in terms of money. I would still use
IB for small-medium projects. Something else for large projects though.
Then cost isn't really too much of an issue anyway. In terms of
development, it will cost a little bit, but I would only do it on new
projects. Training will obvoisly cost some money...

> > Isn't there a way to as an optional feature, propagate SP changes
>immediately??
>
>IBPhoenix currently generates some money to try and support the work that is
>done here by Ann, Claudio, John, Mike, Mark etc but we are not exactly a
>cash rich organisation. If you wanted to sponsor, i.e. pay for a feature to
>be developed I am sure we would be delighted to directly allocate resources
>to the task and try and find a solution. This goes for anybody who has a
>specific desire to see something fixed or added. Otherwise we rely on what
>the developers want to do, and feel like fixing :-)

I appreciate the work that has (and still is) going into IB/FB. I one can
get rid of the "$%# object in use" situation, I will be very happy. This is
a regular pain in the butt... but then maybe I am the only one finding this
frustrating. When I developed a large system on my own, it was OK, but with
a large team it takes a lot more management. However, we have put
development procedures in place that gets around this problem.

I find IB *very* reliable and hassle free once the system runs, but often
there are a lot of niggly things when you do changes. E.g. changing a SP
arguments when other depend on it causes a lot of problems that IB does not
catch. I know it is something that has to be managed with proper
development procedures, but sometimes junior programmers are a bit too
quick with their keyboard....

Incidently, do you have any idea what the cross section between Delphi and
IB users are? Or are the only IB user Delphi users?

Thanks