Re: Database Publishing Suggestions

[Dan Emory <danemory@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 03:00 PM 2/8/99 -0500, David Evans wrote:
>----------------Snip
>############################################################################
>#####
>
>	FML's experience has been that business's are only interested in ROI, not
>the methodology of accomplishing the task. How PatternStream accomplishes
>its tasks are part of our patent application (PatternStream is Patent
>Pending technology) submitted early last year.  None of our current
>customers have inquired about the how -- just about "can it do" this (what
>they need to get done). 
**********************************************************
Not good. You say you are concealing from the end user, for patent
protection purposes, the underlying behavior of the product. In my
experience, developers need to know as much as possible about that behavior
in order to figure out how to make the software product produce what the
developer wants. That's the whole advantage of UniMerge's command language.
Everything about it is known. There are no trade secrets. Using those
commands, singly or in combination, to create processing actions unque to
each application can often, in my experience, do magic. 
>
>	After a bit of research, FML found a document in which Dan outlined the
>Unimerge capabilities.  In this document, Dan suggested that Unimerge uses
>a MIF format.  Now correct me if I am wrong, MIF is a tagged information
>file format -- isn't it?  My assessment of what Unimerge does was NOT
>incorrect -- at least by Dan's own admission with in this document.  But I
>will hold out that Dan's document could be incorrect -- he was about
>PatternStream.
************************************************************
But UniMerge doesn't create a MIF file in the conventional meta-tagging
approach you've previously described. It creates the merged output file from
the FrameMaker report template (created as an ordinary FrameMaker file and
saved in MIF format). UniMerge creates MIF by cloning the MIF statements
that wrap each field (or set of concatenated fields) in the report template,
replacing the field name(s) in wrapped in the MIF with their values at merge
time. In this way, UniMerge exactly replicates the MIF statements from the
report template MIF in the merged output. From the standpoint of the end
user, the distinction between producing a FrameMaker file in MIF rather than
native binary format is meaningless. Both open in FrameMaker. The advantage
of using MIF the way UniMerge does is that a merged output can be produced
much faster.
>------------------------Snip
**************************************************************
>I'm sure you understand that the words "it does everything
>PatternStream does faster
>and better" may be a point of contention. I was responding to this, which I
>think you must admit is fair.
*******************************************************
Ok, I've proven that UniMerge produces pages much faster than
PatternStream's best performance of 72 pages per minute. I'm willing to
modify my claim to say that UniMerge can do about 95% of what PatternStream
can do, but I also claim that PatternStream can probably do no more than
90-95% of what Unimerge can do.
******************************************************************
>######	Have I stated how much data we condition and format? We typically
>access databases containing Gigabits of data and format it into 1000+ page
>books (e.g., Baseball Encyclopedia [3,026], CBI CPA and NTPA directories
>[1200+], catalogs [1200+], etc.).
****************************************************************
Anyone who wants to see what UniMerge can do should go to any Barnes & Noble
bookstore and ask for a copy of Luckman's World-Wide Web Yellow Pages, a
1216-page compendium of 10,000 web sites, with screen shots. I've done that
one with UniMerge for the last 3 years. Look on the Credits page. The latest
issue (it may not yet be in the stores) shows my name. Earlier issues show
Integrated Micro Solutions (that was me in an earlier incarnation).  
###################################################################
>For the publishing of forms, like the sample Dan sent me, I believe
>products like UniMerge will serve certain customers well. PatternStream was
>NOT developed to do that. Though it has the capability to easily publish
>things like Dan's example, its cost will not provide the appropriate ROI
>for customers -- and we admit that!
*****************************************************************
In an earlier post, you stated that:
>>And be assured, PatternStream can
>>compete everywhere, from the simple to the very complex.

So now, you're qualifying the above statement, and admitting that
PatternStream is inappropriate for some applications?
>#####################################################################3
>Lets be clear, Dan's sample, nicely laid out as it is, doesn't
>dispute my point.  As I see it, most the content in Dan's example is
>published using insitu information -- very little data is placed.
This permits the use of many different master
>page calls if desired.  It also provides 100% dynamic table generation.
>This means the number of columns needed are
>created on-the-fly, the number of header rows needed are created
>on-the-fly, the number of rows needed are created on-the-fly based on the
>data coming from the database!  This is important to major publishing
>entities like corporations because they only want to enter new data -- not
>determine a complex set of values like: 
> *	how many columns and rows are needed
> *	do I need to create a special table
> *	do I have to included all of this information in my database etc. (very
>time consuming)
********************************************************************
I gave you that questionnair sample to show UniMerge's upper-end performance
capability of 1000 page per minute (You're the one who called for the pages
per minute criterion, I simply proved that UniMerge is faster no matter
which criterion you choose.
If you want to see examples of pages produced by UniMerge that are densely
packed with data that is variably structured and formatted, depending upon
the content of individual records, I'll be happy to oblige.
***************************************************************
>######	Yes, PatternStream's cost is not advertised on the site, just like
>other software products at other sites (i.e., Oracle). This is a business
>decision we've made. We take great pride in being customer focused -- we
>want to make sure that our product brings them value for what they need to
>accomplish. Additionally, this also allows us to explain what they can do
>using PatternStream within their database publishing environment - like new
>and derivative product creation.
***************************************************************
That's just a lengthy way to say you're afraid of sticker shock.
*********************************************************
     ____________________
     | Nullius in Verba |
     ********************
Dan Emory, Dan Emory & Associates
FrameMaker/FrameMaker+SGML Document Design & Database Publishing
Voice/Fax: 949-722-8971 E-Mail: danemory@primenet.com
10044 Adams Ave. #208, Huntington Beach, CA 92646


** To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@omsys.com **
** with "unsubscribe framers" (no quotes) in the body.   **