[Info-vax] VMS Software: New US Mailing Address

[Bill Gunshannon]

On 10/12/22 19:22, Arne Vajhøj wrote:
> On 10/12/2022 6:58 PM, Bill Gunshannon wrote:
>> On 10/12/22 17:33, Arne Vajhøj wrote:
>>> On 10/12/2022 4:20 PM, Bill Gunshannon wrote:
>>>> Using a compatibility layer and trying to make PostGres look like
>>>> RDB (or Oracle) would be a major mistake. Better to bite the bullet
>>>> and move into the current century.
>>>
>>> It is a tradeoff.
>>>
>>> There are benefits from doing things the standard way instead of
>>> doing it the compatibility way.
>>>
>>> But there are also huge cost of changing the client applications.
>>
>> Maybe and maybe not as much as you think.  Granted, most of my
>> experience doing it has been with COBOL but I have been able to
>> take programs using databases from other systems and moved them
>> quite easily.  I would  love to have someone send me a COBOL
>> program that uses RDB just for a look-see.
> 
> Cobol embedded SQL is probably one of the more portable. But it is
> not supported by PostgreSQL project itself.

No, but this is the Open Source world.  A need arose and someone
rushed in to fill it.  And it works quite well.

> 
> An extremely simple Cobol embedded SQL to Rdb example:
>    https://www.vajhoej.dk/arne/articles/vmsdb.html#rdb_cob_emb

I saw nothing in there that would not compile using ESQL and GnuCOBOL
with PostGres.  Even the module stuff (which I am not familiar with)
could be set up to work with PostGres rather than RDB in maybe an hour.

> 
>>>>                                  I have never used RDB (I have
>>>> used Oracle) but I assume it supports EXEC SQL and the usual SQL
>>>> syntax.  If so, moving could be fairly easy.  If not, could be a
>>>> problem.  Of course, probably also depends on the language being used.
>>>
>>> It will indeed depend on the language and the API used.
>>>
>>> embedded SQL/C => relative easy (PgSQL has precompiler)
>>>
>>> embedded SQL/Cobol => maybe easy (an open source precompiler 
>>> supposedly exist and work)
>>>
>>> embedded SQL/Pascal, Fortran ... => major rewrite (precompilers are 
>>> not available)
>>
>> Yes, but I would imagine given the two existing pre-compilers coming
>> up with one for Pascal and Fortran would not be all that difficult.
> 
> Maybe not. But so far it has not been done.

Probably because there has been no need to do it yet.  I have seen
no evidence that it would be needed on VMS but is any OS is still
using now obscure legacy languages it would be on VMS.  :-)

> 
>> Of course, I would wonder how many people there are still using Pascal
>> and Fortran for database applications.  :-)
> 
> VMS applications are done in many languages. I would expect some
> to exist. VSI seems to expect that as well since SQLRelay come
> with API examples in Fortram, Pascal and Basic (besides Cobol, C
> and C++).

What, no Ada?

bill