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32-bit ODBC driver market gets low-cost alternative

Minisoft's offering set to go online this month with free demo


In a market where application development is as common as snowdrifts in February, having a single source for a tool is better than none. But it's not as good as competing sources -- which is what MPE/iX developers will soon get for their 32-bit ODBC needs.

HP 3000 customers can order another choice for a 32-bit ODBC TurboImage driver this month, as Minisoft (800.682.0200) introduces ODBC/32 for use with networked Windows 95 and NT clients.

The software relies on the engineering that powers Minisoft's MiddleMan, the middleware suite that connects both 16- and 32-bit clients with TurboImage databases. ODBC/32 adds the ability to work the Microsoft Open Database Connectivity standard, so it will enable HP 3000 applications to exchange data with PC clients using the Office 97 suite, Microsoft Access, Visual Basic (VB), PowerBuilder and FoxPro at introduction. Joe Grimm, the Minisoft designer who's architected ODBC/32, said the new driver owes a lot to its predecessor.

Grimm said ODBC/32 works as two modules, one residing on the HP 3000 and the other on the client PC. "The stuff that accesses the 3000 is MiddleMan, and there are improvements to that software to handle some of the ODBC driver," he said. "A lot of the code that's been in use for a long time in MiddleMan is used by this ODBC driver."

Looking to create a niche in an ODBC marketplace still waiting on HP's bundled 32-bit ODBC driver, Minisoft is introducing the product for the first 90 days at $995 for any size HP 3000 with unlimited clients. A 45-day full version of the product is scheduled to be available at the Minisoft Web site sometime this month. After the introduction, the software will sell in three tiers based on CPU size for $2,000 to $4,000, with unlimited clients and a 25 percent right to copy discount.

The dominant 32-bit ODBC product choice in today's market today is M.B. Foster's DataExpress with ODBC/Link, a software suite that sells for $3,000 to $16,000. Comparisons between the two products are appropriate at some levels, because each will make it possible for TurboIMAGE database users to connect with 32-bit clients such as Access or VB. Meanwhile, HP's bundled driver will require users to convert their TurboIMAGE databases to IMAGE/SQL databases, using the SQL engine from HP's Allbase/SQL database.

HP's forthcoming driver is licensed from M.B. Foster (800.ANSWERS), which has stripped out some functions of ODBCLink to create ODBCLink/SE. The software is in beta test at HP this month, awaiting the appropriate vehicle in HP's MPE/iX release cycle. (See "32-bit ODBC marches through development" in the December 1996 NewsWire.)

While the HP testing takes place, the full ODBCLink has been the only choice for TurboIMAGE developers who want to deploy VB clients or link data with Windows 95 applications. ODBC/32 changes that, offering KSAM and MPE file support, multiple database access, third-party indexing (TPI) awareness, encryption of passwords and support for any Winsock network stack.

The Minisoft driver won't provide both 16- and 32-bit connectivity in a single product, and it won't work over serial connections through DTCs. Minisoft is supporting HP's TurboIMAGE and IMAGE/SQL databases with the product.

Minisoft's Doug Greenup knows that his product is out of position on the 16-bit and serial support features, but says that ODBC/32 follows the company's model of offering products with a functionality set that meets the broadest base of needs.

"We're trying to be real pragmatic about it, to fit the broad majority," Greenup said. While there is a need for a 16-bit ODBC driver in organizations without much development funding, more extensive development environments in the 3000 community are embracing Windows 95 and NT at a surprising rate.

"The amount of NT we're running into in the past couple of months is extraordinary," Greenup said. Likewise, speed advantages over networked links are making serial 3000 clients less common than a few years ago.

Grimm said the ODBC/32 design focuses on three objectives -- simple installation, affordability and providing the speed of ODBC links without ODBC overhead.

"We see this like our network printing product, something you install and never think about," he said. Chief among its benefits is shielding HP 3000 customers from learning another set of database routines, something that's a part of IMAGE/SQL and the bundled HP driver.

"These customers know Access and they know the 3000," Grimm said. "They shouldn't have to go back to their 3000 and learn how to do an IMAGE/SQL database to be able to access that data."


Copyright 1997, The 3000 NewsWire. All rights reserved.