April 14, 2009 at 8:25 am
hello,
I have recently been appointed onto a project which currently uses a SQL 2005 database with an iBase front end. The database was created via iBase and all its assosciated stored procedures are generated automatically.
iBase also allows you to create a front end GUI to allow users to input data into the DB
The business have realised that iBase has too many limitations (licensing issues, thick client applicaion) and now wish to replace the iBase front end with a .Net solution.
They wish to keep the database however which was originally created via iBase.
Just wondering if anyone has any experience of this tool (iBase) and could advise if this would be possible or if a complete re-design of the database would be more suitable.
I noticed that only the select stored procedures are present in Management studio which perhaps indicates that any inserts/updates are carried out behind the scenes via iBase.
Furthermore, there are no foreign keys in any of the tables. Relationships are managed via a link table.
any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Marc
April 14, 2009 at 10:54 am
Furthermore, there are no foreign keys in any of the tables. Relationships are managed via a link table.
I know nothing about iBase but this would be enough to tell me that a complete rearchitecture is in order. It seems that the business is looking for something more scalable and maintainable. That type of thing will just cause more headaches down the road. :w00t:
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April 14, 2009 at 11:43 am
I don't know anything about iBase either. I went and read through their literature. I suspect you would have a great deal of trouble using the iBase database as is based on the literature on their site. It's likely laid out to support their proprietary processes and it's going to be very easy for you & your developers to make mistakes. Since there's no referential integrity in the db, those mistakes will be very costly. If you're throwing out the proprietary tool, you may need to toss the proprietary db as well.
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April 14, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Grant Fritchey (4/14/2009)
I don't know anything about iBase either. I went and read through their literature. I suspect you would have a great deal of trouble using the iBase database as is based on the literature on their site. It's likely laid out to support their proprietary processes and it's going to be very easy for you & your developers to make mistakes. Since there's no referential integrity in the db, those mistakes will be very costly. If you're throwing out the proprietary tool, you may need to toss the proprietary db as well.
Throwing out the proprietary db may be required - depends upon how iBase licenses their system. I know most vendors do not allow you (the customer) to keep the physical structure of the database if you are no longer using their application.
Yes, the data is yours - but you have to move that data out of the proprietary system and into the new system (or some other format). And, don't expect a lot of help from the old vendor when doing this - they really are not going to want to help you move away from their product. 😉
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April 15, 2009 at 2:46 am
Thanks for the replies so far.
My initial thoughts have been confirmed by the responses given.
Maintainability is an area which I thought would cause problems at a later stage if we were to stick with the schema created by iBase.
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