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2.
Overview
 2.1
Platform Support
2.2
Features
2.3
Database Modes
2.4
DBMaker Interface and Tools
2. Overview
The physical
organization of data across the files that make up a database can become
quite complex. A DBMS, such as DBMaker, isolates your view of the data
from the implementation of the database on your computer. Instead, you
view the database as a collection of two-dimensional tables that contain
data values in rows and columns. These tables are easy to visualize
and flexible to data modeling.
DBMaker
provides a number of ways to retrieve the data from your tables. You
can use interactive SQL to do daily transaction processing or ad hoc
queries, or use the DBMaker application program interface (API)
to develop applications quickly and easily. DBMaker also comes with
easy-to-use graphical tools that are consistent across platforms.
2.1 Platform Support
DBMaker
provides extensive cross-platform support, which allows you to deploy
your database applications across several platforms, or to develop for
multiple platforms quickly and economically. For example, if your database
server is on a computer running Windows NT, you can access that database
from computers running Windows 98, Linux, and all supported versions
of UNIX simultaneously. You can write your database code once, and use
it on any platform supported by DBMaker. This helps reduce your costs
by letting you use your existing hardware during development, and upgrading
or expanding as your database grows. The DBMaker CD-ROM contains versions
for the following platforms:
Microsoft Windows 95/98/NT
Sun Solaris (Sun Sparc)
Linux
Sun Solaris (Intel x86)
Sun SunOS
FreeBSD
SCO OpenServer
Data General DG/UX
DBMaker
is also available for the following platforms by special request. To
obtain a version that is not included on the CD-ROM, you should contact
the distributor you purchased DBMaker from.
Hewlett-Packard HP/UX
IBM AIX
SCO UnixWare
SGI IRIX
Tatung Mitux
Unisys SVR4
2.2 Features
As an SQL
database management system, DBMaker has all of the features traditionally
found in a relational database management system. DBMaker is also enhanced
with many powerful and advanced features. These enhanced features not
only increase performance , but also provide DBMaker with capabilities
not normally found in traditional database management systems, especially
in the area of multimedia support.
Multimedia Support
Powerful
multimedia management capabilities built into the database engine allow
you to efficiently store and manipulate large amounts of multimedia
data including text, graphics, audio, video, and animations. These multimedia
management capabilities also provide a great deal of flexibility, allowing
you to store multimedia data in different ways depending on your needs.
Multimedia features include:
Binary Large OBjects (BLOBs) and File Objects (FOs)
Multiple BLOB and FO columns in a table
File Objects can be edited with existing multimedia tools
Built-in full-text search engine
You can
store multimedia data directly in the database as Binary Large Objects
(BLOBs). This data is protected by the full spectrum of security, reliability,
and integrity features provided for conventional data types. In addition,
you can store your multimedia data as File Objects, which allows third-party
multimedia tools full access to your multimedia data while keeping it
under database control.
Open Interface
Using the
native ODBC 3.0 compatible interface and ANSI SQL-92 support, you can
quickly create high-performance applications. Build your applications
using a wide variety of popular development tools, including Visual
C++, Visual Basic, Delphi, and AcuBench. DBMaker lets you work with
the tools you already have, and doesn't restrict you to a proprietary
development environment. Open interface features include:
ANSI-92 entry level compliance
ODBC 3.0 support
ESQL/C preprocessor
The included
ESQL/C preprocessor simplifies the development process for programs
written using a traditional C development environment. Write your database
application using the power of the high-level Embedded SQL query language,
and the DBMaker preprocessor will automatically translate it to the
appropriate ODBC function calls.
Data Integrity
DBMaker
also provides a full range of traditional data integrity features. The
integrity of your data is ensured by primary and foreign keys, with
full support for referential actions. User-defined data types, together
with domain, column, and table constraints ensure only valid values
can be entered in each field . Data integrity features include:
Integrity checking of primary and foreign keys
Full support for referential actions
Table and column constraints
User-defined data types
Default column values
Data Reliability
Your data
will always be safe thanks to advanced data protection facilities, such
as automatic crash recovery, database consistency checking, and automatic
backups. These features ensure data consistency and safety in the event
of operating system or disk failures. Data reliability features include:
Online transaction processing
Online full and incremental backup
Automatic crash recovery
Automatic incremental backup
Automatic statistic updates
Database consistency checking
Multiple journal files
Optional BLOB backup
Storage Management
Modern
storage management facilities provide flexible data storage with simple
management and configuration. There is no practical limit on the number
of rows you can have in a table, or on the number of tables in a database.
You can even spread a table over multiple disks! DBMaker also allows
you to alter your table schema online, resulting in the ability to develop
applications that can dynamically adjust to user needs. Storage management
features include:
Autoextend and regular tablespaces
Raw device support on UNIX
Maximum database size of 32TB
No practical limit on the number of tables in a database
No practical limit on the number of records in a table
Online table schema redefinition
DBMaker
can dynamically extend the storage space of your database, up to the
limits of available disk space. You can also use fixed-size storage
space manually. On UNIX platforms, DBMaker supports raw devices, which
lets you bypass the file system and write directly to the raw device
for maximum performance.
Security Management
The centralized
and multi-user nature of a DBMS requires that some form of security
control is in place, both to prevent unauthorized access and to
limit access for authorized users. User- and group-level security privileges
control who accesses your database, while privilege management on tables
or individual columns control what they access. Security management
features include:
User- and group-level security
Nested groups
Privilege management on both tables and individual columns
Privilege management on stored commands and stored procedures
Network encryption
Advanced Language Features
Advanced
language features complement traditional database functions. You can
easily extend and customize the capabilities of DBMaker using stored
commands, stored procedures, triggers, and user-defined functions. This
lets you integrate your business logic directly into the database engine,
centralizing the logic in the database so it is easier to manage and
maintain. Advanced language features include:
Built-in functions
User-defined functions
Stored commands
Stored procedures
Triggers
2.3 Database Modes
DBMaker
allows you to start your database in one of several different database
modes. Each mode provides different options for connecting to and accessing
your database, giving you the ability to scale your database from a
simple single-user system on one computer to a large multi-user system
distributed across several computers.
The database
modes available to you depend on the platform your database server runs
on, and where you want to connect from. DBMaker has three different
database modes: single-user, multiple-connection, and client/server.
Single-User Mode
Single-user
mode is only available on the UNIX/Linux platforms. This is a simplified
version of DBMaker for non-sharable databases. The main advantages of
this mode are the smaller application size and faster execution speed
for most database operations, since locks, security, and network support
are not required for a single user database. A limitation of this mode
is that since only one connection can be made to the database at a time,
the database cannot run any of the extra servers or daemons, such as
backup server, replication server, or global transaction server. Another
limitation is that you must access the database from the host machine,
since the database is not available over the network.
Multiple-Connection Mode
Multiple-connection
mode is only available on the Windows platform. One advantage of this
mode is that you can have multiple connections to a database, with the
full range of security and reliability features of DBMaker. Similar
to single-user mode, all connections must access the database from the
host machine, since there is no network support. A limitation of this
mode is that the database does not support any of the extra servers
or daemons, such as backup server, replication server, or global transaction
server.
Client/Server Mode
Client/server
mode is available on all platforms. This mode permits multiple connections
to a database from any computer connected to the host computer via a
TCP/IP network, and provides the full range of security, reliability,
and concurrency control features of DBMaker. In addition, data sent
across the network can be encrypted for additional security. This mode
supports all of the extra servers and daemons, such as backup server,
replication server, and global transaction server.
2.4 DBMaker Interface and Tools
DBMaker
comes complete with an application program interface and several tools
and utilities you can use to manage your database. These tools range
from a command-line based interactive SQL query tool, all the way to
a graphical tool for managing multiple servers. Novice database users
will appreciate the simple management features and graphical tools that
are consistent across platforms.
Application Program Interface
The application
program interface (API) is a library of low-level routines which operate
directly on the database engine. The API is usually used when creating
software applications with a general-purpose programming language such
as C++ or Visual Basic. DBMaker provides an ODBC 3.0 compatible interface,
and currently supports all core-level functions and most extended-level
functions.
dmSQL Interactive Query tool
dmSQL is
a character-based, interactive interfaces that let you use the full
power and functionality of DBMaker directly. You can use dmSQL to manipulate
the database and perform ad-hoc queries and see the result sets immediately.
dmSQL is often the only method of exploiting the full power of the database
without creating programs using a conventional programming language.
DBATool
DBATool
is a graphical, interactive tool you can use to maintain and monitor
a database. DBATool hides the complexity of the DBMS and query language
behind an intuitive, easy to understand, and convenient interface. This
allows casual users the ability to access the database without having
to learn the query language, and it allows advanced users to quickly
manage and manipulate the database without the trouble of entering formal
commands using SQL. DBATool also provides statistical data and information
on who is using your database with its monitoring functions.
Server Manager
Server
Manager is a graphical, interactive tool you can use to create and maintain
databases. Server Manager provides one central location for creating
and managing all of your database servers at once. You can change settings
for your database server in a convenient graphical interface, instead
of changing hard-to-remember keywords in the configuration files. Server
Manager also allows you to change some settings during run-time, which
is not possible using any other method.
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