I need to use a front-end Paradox for DOS 4.0 application to access tables in a SQL Server 2xxx (any version) database. Any ideas? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
please be more specific.. do you need to know how to connect? do you need to learn the SQL syntax? do you need one of the old SQL Link files? do you know the DOS app, too, or is it just the data target? etc, etc..
first and foremost.. if this isn't said up front, I'm not doing my job correctly..
you really, really, really need to replace that PdoxDOS app.. I'm one of only a handful of people on the entire planet that can support you in an emergency, and I honestly don't want to do that kind of support anymore, either..
now.. that said..
anything you do now, in regards to the SQL, will be a kludge.. the actual SQL Link drivers that are available for PdoxDOS directly are almost 20 years old, and rely on SQL platform versions from that time.. I don't know of any way to use them with the newer systems.. anything that needs to connect to newer versions will have to manually deal with potential connection changes, field type changes, format changes, syntax changes, etc, etc, etc..
sure, you can probably use the same old PdoxDOS code to fire off the same old SQL statements against the newer system, if the PdoxDOS app is doing it that way.. I did it for years, as an Oracle database evolved, and never had to change a single line of code.. but as that company upgraded Oracle, they never changed the field types, field names, table names, etc..
but it all comes back to my original statement.. that old PdoxDOS app must go, before some body or some thing gets hit by a bus, and it all comes falling down..
Unfortunately, in this case, the client has politely thanked me for my concern and diplomatically informed me that they intend to do it anyway.
that's where my clients found out that they were no longer clients.. a few years ago, I finally had to take the position that, if my clients were gonna use me as a crutch to avoid the inevitable, I would walk away.. I formally notified every one of them, and gave them one year to start down the replacement trail, with or without me..
I used to take the same approach as you, however, I found that the client would just find somebody else that would do the job if I didn't.
I guess I'm "special" in that regard.. there really isn't anyplace else for people to turn, for heavy-duty PdoxDOS support like I do.. the rest of my peers moved on to other things long before I did, or they've passed.. when I sent out my ultimatum, my clients really *did* have to take the action that I'd been trying to force on them for many years.. and my blood pressure dropped significantly (grin)
please be more specific.. do you need to know how to connect? do you need to learn the SQL syntax? do you need one of the old SQL Link files? do you know the DOS app, too, or is it just the data target? etc, etc..
Okay... Specifically...
The Paradox for DOS 4.0 application is currently connecting to a Sybase back-end database using the INTERSOLV Paradox 4 ODBC driver. The data from the Sybase database is going to be migrated to a SQL Server 2xxx database. It can be any version of SQL Server (from 2000 on). The client doesn't care. They would just like not to have to rewrite their entire Paradox for DOS 4.0 application, which they like, simply because they change the back-end database.
The question is...
Is there an ODBC driver for Paradox for DOS 4.0 that will connect to a SQL Server 2xxx database in the same way that the INTERSOLV Paradox 4 ODBC driver connects to the Sybase database? If not, what would be the best way to accomplish this?
I wish I could be more specific than that, however, I haven't actually seen the Paradox code or the Sybase database structure. At this point, it's an academic discussion as to whether they can even do this, i.e., "is it possible?".
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Tom
P.S. No... I don't need to learn SQL syntax... I've been working with SQL since about 1984... LOL! :)
I've always felt that part of my job as a Consultant was to "protect the client from themselves". Unfortunately, in this case, the client has politely thanked me for my concern and diplomatically informed me that they intend to do it anyway.
I have had discussions with the engineering group that wrote the original INTERSOLV Paradox 4 ODBC driver, since my last post, and to my surprise they are willing to develop a custom driver that would connect the Paradox for DOS 4.0 application to a SQL Server 2xxx database and would require minimum code change to the Paradox for DOS application code. Apparently, they have done this before. Of course, the price is appropriately exorbitant. Unfortunately, again, the end client has more dollars than sense (cents) and will probably take this option.
I can hardly wait...
Thanks for your help, and advice re garding getting off of the DOS platform. It is appreciated.
Having done due dilligence by laying out all of the options, along with my recommendations, I have no problem pursuing the option chosen by the client. In this case, they are fully aware of the risks, and costs, involved. I used to take the same approach as you, however, I found that the client would just find somebody else that would do the job if I didn't. These days I just make sure I fully explain the risks, gain agreement from them that thier approach is not the best one and then console myself (as I drive to the bank with the check) that it was going to go that way whether I did it or not.
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