Art,

> I certainly seem to have unintentionally started a small
> storm! A few comments:

As Jason said, this is a worthwhile discussion. How else is Jason
going to decide how to setup his packages etc if we dont discuss these
issues in a full and open manner. So I do hope you understand that my
responses are intended as "full and open" discussion, and not intended
in any way to offend or belittle your opinions.

> An example of the mental clutter: IBO has five data-aware grids
> (six if you include TIB_Ledger). Delphi has only two, and the
> distinctions between those two are quickly apparent. I found
> the distinctions among the IBO grids to be obscure.

An excellent observation. I think I have only ever actually used
TIB_Grid. I may have looked at the others now and then, but never
implemented in an application.

> Have you not noticed that Borland/Inprise has always sold
> three different flavors of Delphi? We might quibble (should
> the ADO components be in Professional rather than Enterprise?),
> but distinctions can be made.

Are you suggesting that Jason do something similar? I know v4 is
already being planned with isolation of various components into
separate packages, but should they be *sold* separately?

> Helen and Geoff, clearly I am in the minority here.

I doubt if the minority situation is so clear. It is just that Helen
and I tend to be rather more outspoken than many. Everyone - PLEASE,
PLEASE dont be put off by postings that I make - especially in
discussions such as this, which are clearly matters of personal taste
and preference.

Jason needs to know what people think so that he can make the
appropriate decisions regarding IBO.


Geoff Worboys
Telesis Computing