[Info-vax] FMS and Datatrieve

[Richard Maher]

"JF Mezei" <jfmezei.spamnot at vaxination.ca> wrote in message 
news:4dd7e481$0$2235$c3e8da3$9f400e27 at news.astraweb.com...
> Keith Cayemberg wrote:
>
>> However, in what sense is DECforms or TDMS a replacement for FMS,
>
> DEC miscalculated that one. It saw FMS as "legacy" and wanted a new
> forms management with different philosophy and potential to support both
> character cell and x windows.
>
> In hindsight, it should have upgraded FMS to support decwindows (and
> there are rumours that this was done but never released)

I believe the FMS to Motif converter was released and available to 
customers. It came from DEC France.

>
> DEC underestimated the amount of FMS in use. It didn't even realise that
> its own ALLIN1 intrinsically relied on it.

I remember a recording of a DECUS DECforms announcement where the exact 
terminology from Digital wa "DECForms will supplant FMS and TDMS".

To me this signalled the beginning of the end for DEC (mid to late 80s?) 
You'll still find people today on the payroll who'll prattle on about IFDL 
and the FIMS standard :-(
>
>
> Remember that in the early 1990s, Windows Weenies were used to having to
> start everything from scratcg with every new release, so I guess DEC
> thought it could do the same.
>
> Like many of Palmer's moves, they were made from such a detached high
> level that they were bonehead moves. (Like abandonning DECdocument
> without realising that all of DEC's own documentation was written in it
> and it would cost a huge amount of money to convert it all).

Dark days indeed. The sickening thing is that many who were involved in such 
decisions are still on the VMS payroll now even after most of the technical 
people were axed.

Regards Richard Maher
>