Subject: btrieve free ride ends
network world fusion focus : dave kearns on novell netware
today ' s focus : btrieve free ride ends
03 / 14 / 00
dear wincenty kaminski ,
today ' s focus : btrieve free ride ends
by dave kearns
netware has shipped with btrieve ( originally a flat - file database
system , now grown into a full - fledged relational database system ) since
the days of netware 2 some 12 years ago . many independent software
vendors have relied on this and constructed their netware applications
to use the built - in facilities btrieve afforded .
originally licensed from its creator , softcraft , novell bought btrieve
outright in the late  + 80 s , then sold it off 10 years later to some of
the original developers , now incorporated as pervasive software .
pervasive has , essentially , retired the btrieve name in favor of
" pervasive sql 2000 , " a true relational database system which
nevertheless still purports to support applications written to the
btrieve 6 . x specification .
a major change has been introduced in netware 5 . 1 , however . there is no
longer an unlimited - use version of the database included . novell still
uses btrieve technology for ( among other things ) its installed products
database ( sys : system \ products . dat is the file ) , but netware 5 . 1
includes only a two - user license for sql 2000 enough for the
administrator to add new products and services , but not enough for any
btrieve - based applications the network might be running .
there is an unlimited - use version of sql 2000 included , but it  , s an
evaluation version only . it will time out after 90 days . full - use
licenses may be purchased from pervasive software ( or your software
vendors may provide them ) , but unsuspecting network administrators
could be caught off - guard when applications stop working .
for the adventurous , there is an unlimited - use version of btrieve 6 . 10
included with the netware 5 . 1 distribution . but novell admits it hasn ' t
tested the software with netware 5 . 1 , it may not work , and the real
killer most current applications ( such as computer associates
arcserve ) require btrieve 6 . 15 .
check the applications you ' re using before doing that upgrade to
netware 5 . 1 , and calculate the additional costs of obtaining the
requisite number of sql 2000 licenses . then , decide if that ' s what you
want to do , or if switching to a different application is the better
choice .
to contact dave kearns :
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dave kearns is the word wrangler for virtual quill , a writing agency
serving the computer and networking industries . if your target
customer doesn ' t know your product , doesn ' t know its uses and doesn ' t
know he needs it , he ' s not going to buy it . from books to reviews ,
marketing to manuals , vq can help you and your business . virtual quill
- " words to sell by . . . " find out more at : http : / / www . vquill . com / , or
by e - mail at mailto : info @ vquill . com .
for related links - - click here for network world ' s home page :
http : / / www . nwfusion . com
pervasive . sql  v 2000 product family sdk
understanding pervasive . sql 2000 , a white paper ( pdf )
migration guide 6 to pervasive . sql . doc
% 20 to % 20 pervasive . sql . pdf
other netware - related articles from network world :
active directory upgrade requires strong game plan , network world ,
03 / 13 / 00
microsoft exec sketches future for win 2000 , network world , 03 / 13 / 00
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