Felix wrote:

>>>My target platform is Win32 (i.e. 2000/XP/ and maybe 98). Multi-
>>>platform capability would be a STRONG plus, however. [Does this
>>>automatically mean Java? or .NET+Mono?]
>>
>>No it doesn't mean anything automatically. You have many, many
>>alternatives (C++, Python, PHP...)
>
> As I understand it, PHP is reserved for browser-basd apps. I'm
> looking to code native Win32 apps.

Yep.

> If I were to code in C++ (notwithstanding the steep learning curve)
> I'd be forced to (AT LEAST!) write a different front-end for each
> platform. That would be a pain.

No. You can use C++ with wxWidgets or GTK. The same code compiles and
run on both Windows and Linux, only makefiles are different.

>>I suggest you to also try:
>>IBForms (from IBExpert) freeware, but no free support, integrated
>>IBO and FastReports. This is probably the easiest to learn
>>solution, since for simple projects you don't need to program at
>>all (something like M$ Access).
>
>
> I'm downloading this as I write. Thanks for the tip. Unfortunately,
> there doesn't seem to have been an update since September 2002.

True. And there probably won't be any (ever).

> It will be intersting to see what this can do . . .

>>wxWidgets with wxODBC driver and some good tool to develop gui like
>>wxDesigner, and some good ODBC driver for Firebird (there are free
>>ones and commercial ones, so price may vary).
>>The same, but with native IBPP access library.
>>wxPython with kinderbasdb (I hope I got that name right), which is
>>completely free. There are many RAD IDEs for wxPython. I haven't
>>tried any (since I don't program in Python), so you'll have to try
>>which suits you best.
>
> Good tip! These options might be good royalty-free alternatives to
> Rekall.

Well, we're developing FlameRobin with wxWidgets and IBPP combination.
But it is not RAD. We had to develop components that glue together GUI
and database access. For example, I wrote from scratch a component which
covers the functionality of Delphi's TQuery + TDBGrid.

--

Milan Babuskov
www.flamerobin.org