Accessing ODBC drive from ADA

Accessing ODBC drive from ADA

[Jin Xue Kuang]

Hi Everyone,
  I am new in ADA95.  My company wants me to create Windows NT 
application using ADA 95.  My development platform will be
Thomson Ada compiler.  Does any one knows how to make a connection
with the ODBC driver in general from the ADA codes.  I know how to
do it in Visual C++ and Borland C++, but ADA seems like a monster
to me at the moment. :)  Thank you very much.

jin

Re: Accessing ODBC drive from ADA

[Larry Kilgallen]

In article <54gen2$f6q@hecate.umd.edu>, jinxue@Glue.umd.edu (Jin Xue Kuang) writes:

>   I am new in ADA95.  My company wants me to create Windows NT 
> application using ADA 95.  My development platform will be
> Thomson Ada compiler.  Does any one knows how to make a connection
> with the ODBC driver in general from the ADA codes.  I know how to

According to http://www/thomsoft.com/products/ada/oa/family.html
the ODBC bindings (moral equivalent of a C header file) are in
even the lowest cost of the Thomson ObjectAda compilers, so it
looks like you have that part on hand already.  The fact that
it was easier for me to look at their web page than to look at
my copy of the software says quite a bit about their concept of
not providing _any_ printed documentation.

> do it in Visual C++ and Borland C++, but ADA seems like a monster
> to me at the moment. :)  Thank you very much.

But I think that if Ada (some are fussy about the capitalization)
seems like a "monster" right now, you might be better off to defer
the ODBC part and get your feet wet by doing whatever _else_ is
supposed to be in this program, like building a GUI interface,
reading a file, or whatever else your program is supposed to
do.  By the time that is done, you will have the experience
in the environment to more confidently attack the ODBC part.

Be sure to subscribe to the Thomson ObjectAda mailing list.
There is no track record yet to indicate whether you will
get good answers there, but if you indicate problem areas
then Thomson will know what to improve for the next version.

Larry Kilgallen

Re: Accessing ODBC drive from ADA

[Dave Wood]

Larry Kilgallen wrote:
> 
> In article <54gen2$f6q@hecate.umd.edu>, jinxue@Glue.umd.edu (Jin Xue Kuang) writes:
> 
> >   I am new in ADA95.  My company wants me to create Windows NT
> > application using ADA 95.  My development platform will be
> > Thomson Ada compiler.  Does any one knows how to make a connection
> > with the ODBC driver in general from the ADA codes.  I know how to
> 
> According to http://www/thomsoft.com/products/ada/oa/family.html
> the ODBC bindings (moral equivalent of a C header file) are in
> even the lowest cost of the Thomson ObjectAda compilers, so it
> looks like you have that part on hand already.  

True, ODBC bindings may be found in the Win32Ada folder.

>The fact that
> it was easier for me to look at their web page than to look at
> my copy of the software says quite a bit about their concept of
> not providing _any_ printed documentation.
>

Ouch, Larry, you cut me to the quick!

The industry trend is definitely toward "paperless" documentation,
but like many (most??) people, I like to sit down with a book in
my lap (not a laptop) in addition to enjoying the fruits of on-line
docs.   To that end, a full, hardcopy document set will be
available for the next release of ObjectAda for Windows (v7.1).

In the meantime, we're making available a draft set of docs,
(8.5x11, 3-hole punch, shrink-wrap) for a nominal fee to cover
reproduction and shipping.  Call your sales rep and ask for 
product 1102-DRFT-DC.

In terms of content, it won't be significantly different from
the on-line help files for the Professional Edition (our goal 
is to put *everything* on-line), but you may find it more 
pleasant to read if you're reclined on your couch.

> 
> Be sure to subscribe to the Thomson ObjectAda mailing list.
> There is no track record yet to indicate whether you will
> get good answers there, but if you indicate problem areas
> then Thomson will know what to improve for the next version.

The OA mailing lists are intended to be essentially self-
sustaining.  They are just now building up to a critical
mass where users can help one another as they might here on
c.l.a.  We think it best not to have product-specific 
discussions on a general newsgroup because it can clutter
up discussion of the main topic (hint, hint...)

Our development and support engineers monitor the groups and
you will find that often your questions will be answered in
this way (but not always - customers are always innovative
and trying things we never thought of - if you're a pioneer,
the quickest answer may be one you will find on your own,
which you will hopefully then share with the rest of us.)

-- Dave Wood
-- Product Manager, ObjectAda for Windows
-- Thomson Software Products
-- http://www.thomsoft.com

ObjectAda paper documentation and c.l.a vendor-specific content

[Larry Kilgallen]

In article <32715EA1.2109@thomsoft.com>, Dave Wood <dpw@thomsoft.com> writes:

> The industry trend is definitely toward "paperless" documentation,

For several years the industry trend has been toward C++, but that
does not make C++ something I want :-)

> but like many (most??) people, I like to sit down with a book in
> my lap (not a laptop) in addition to enjoying the fruits of on-line
> docs.   To that end, a full, hardcopy document set will be
> available for the next release of ObjectAda for Windows (v7.1).
> 
> In the meantime, we're making available a draft set of docs,
> (8.5x11, 3-hole punch, shrink-wrap) for a nominal fee to cover
> reproduction and shipping.  Call your sales rep and ask for 
> product 1102-DRFT-DC.

It is Saturday morning, and if you had spent the extra few
keystrokes to include the price, our check would have been
in the mail by noon.  Please post the price, and _I_ will
take the heat for having supported such commercialism in
c.l.a.  After the amount of time we have spent discussing
the fact that Tenon's next price will _not_ be $695, I think
a quick documentation price is acceptable.  Besides, if your
price is too high, we can have another one of those neat
discussions about hidden modulo 32-bit arithmetic :-)

> The OA mailing lists are intended to be essentially self-
> sustaining.  They are just now building up to a critical
> mass where users can help one another as they might here on
> c.l.a.  We think it best not to have product-specific 
> discussions on a general newsgroup because it can clutter
> up discussion of the main topic (hint, hint...)

There will, however, always be some degree of product-specific
discussion appropriate to c.l.a, and progress toward universal
preference for Ada is such that it would be unwise to turn away
questions with a curt "go ask in the vendor-specific forum".
Certainly the existence of a GNAT mailing list does not exclude
GNAT questions from c.l.a.

I imagine it would be a good idea to have product-specific
mailing list signup information written out explicitly on
the Home of the Brave Ada Programmers web site so that
those interested would not have to clamber through a
vendor-specifc web-site hierarchy to get that information.

Larry Kilgallen

Re: ObjectAda paper documentation and c.l.a vendor-specific content

[Dave Wood]

Larry Kilgallen wrote:
 
> It is Saturday morning, and if you had spent the extra few
> keystrokes to include the price, our check would have been
> in the mail by noon.  Please post the price, and _I_ will
> take the heat for having supported such commercialism in
> c.l.a.  After the amount of time we have spent discussing
> the fact that Tenon's next price will _not_ be $695, I think
> a quick documentation price is acceptable.  Besides, if your
> price is too high, we can have another one of those neat
> discussions about hidden modulo 32-bit arithmetic :-)

Not that I want to deny being too lazy to type the 
xtra kystrks, but I wasn't sure of the price at the time
I was typing.  It's $30.

-- Dave Wood
-- Product Manager, ObjectAda for Windows
-- Thomson Software Products
-- http://www.thomsoft.com

RE: ObjectAda paper documentation and c.l.a vendor-specific content

[Neil O'Brien]

On Saturday, October 26, 1996, Larry Kilgallen wrote...
> In article <32715EA1.2109@thomsoft.com>, Dave Wood <dpw@thomsoft.com>
writes:
> 
>
[SNIP]
 
> I imagine it would be a good idea to have product-specific
> mailing list signup information written out explicitly on
> the Home of the Brave Ada Programmers web site so that
> those interested would not have to clamber through a
> vendor-specifc web-site hierarchy to get that information.
> 
> Larry Kilgallen
> 

A good idea, if someone (Magnus Kempe?) contacts me I'll provide that info
for the aforementioned site. And I completely agree that there is no
reason to discuss ObjectAda issues only on our mailing lists, feel free to
discuss them wherever, I try to advertise them when I get a chance by
tagging a subscribe message when I can, I even modified my .sig to say how
to do that at Larrys suggestion.


--

=========================================================
Neil O'Brien			obrien@east.thomsoft.com
Customer Support		(617) 221 7320
Thomson Software Products

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