Continuum® Corner — Real-Time Access of VOS Data Using Microsoft® Tools

Jim Mc Fadden
President
WhiteCap Applications

Synopsis
Real-Time Access of VOS Data Using Microsoft® Tools
Would you like to access VOS data from a Microsoft® SQL Server, Microsoft Access, or Microsoft Visual FoxPro database? How about accessing real-time VOS data from a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet? Maybe you are thinking about web-based access for VOS? Now you can do that, and more, with the Periscope Open Database Connection.

Article
In the last newsletter, I introduced readers to the new Periscope file access technology. Periscope links the VOS file system directly into an Oracle® database. This lets you directly access the VOS file system with SQL based applications. Now I want to take that conversation a step further, and talk about what this means for Microsoft® environments.

We begin by linking our VOS files directly into the Oracle database with Periscope. We can do this pretty quickly with Periscope's external drivers. It takes a couple of hours to download and setup Periscope, but it's all pretty straightforward with step-by-step instructions. You won't have to modify any programs on your VOS platforms.

Once you have your VOS files "appearing" as an Oracle table, you set up an Oracle ODBC connection to the VOS tables. Oracle makes this step pretty easy with just a few clicks of the mouse. This ODBC connection lets you "link" your Oracle tables into Microsoft environments. Since Periscope makes the VOS file system appear as if it resides within Oracle, you can now directly access VOS data from any application that can interface to Oracle via ODBC. This may sound complicated, but the following diagram should give you a high level picture for reference.

Let me give you a few examples of what you can do with Periscope ODBC:

Microsoft Excel supports ODBC data access. This feature allows you to populate Excel cells with real-time VOS data. You can also update VOS data directly from Excel spreadsheets. No more batch extracts and FTP transfers of comma-delimited files.

Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Access, and Microsoft Visual FoxPro all support ODBC data access methods. This feature lets you directly access VOS data and have it appear as if it's directly linked into these database products. Your applications that work within these environments will behave as if the VOS data had been loaded directly into their local database structures. Remember, the data remains within VOS yet can be accessed real-time from these Microsoft database products.

Microsoft Word lets you insert an object that links directly to VOS data. Once again, information inserted into your documents can now be based upon real-time VOS data.

The Microsoft ASP.NET environment lets you directly access ODBC and Oracle from web-based applications. With Periscope ODBC, your new applications can directly access the VOS file system. Access is "full function" (Select, Insert, Update, Delete), and real-time.

The key point I want to make is that your established VOS environments running your core applications and generating key business data, can now be directly accessed from the full set of Microsoft-based development tools. Access is immediate. There is no programming required on the VOS platform to allow file system access. Everything is done from external drivers and will have a minimal impact on VOS platform performance.

I think this is a MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH for VOS users. I can't begin to tell you how many VOS customers I have worked with over the years to design and implement technology to bulk load VOS data into open platforms. Even my work in the Disaster Recovery field can be improved with this type of technology. Think about how much VOS performance capacity you can recover by offloading your screen handling, data extraction, and data reporting functions to a Windows® or UNIX® server! By using common Microsoft tools, your implementation costs go way down.

This effectively opens up the VOS file system to the Microsoft world. You can keep your applications hosted within VOS, yet have wide open access to the data. You no longer have to invest in specialized extraction and replication techniques to move your data to other platforms. You can leave your data where it "lives", yet still access it real-time.

Highlights

It's pretty amazing to see VOS data being accessed from common Microsoft tools. And if your new applications are mission-critical, Periscope will run on the Stratus® ftServer® V Series system to give you a complete fault-tolerant environment.

Keep your critical applications running on VOS, generating data in VOS flat files. You don't have to rewrite your programs and move them to other platforms. You now have instant access to your VOS data from Microsoft tools for new open platform applications.

You can find more information about this technology at (www.whitecapapplications.com/products.php).

Interested in an evaluation?
Send me an email Jim.McFadden@WhiteCapApplications.com or contact Marty Mulvey at Stratus Technologies Martin.Mulvey@stratus.com.

Jim McFadden, President
WhiteCap Applications
+1 (402) 968-3674
www.WhiteCapApplications.com

All information, materials and opinions in this article have been provided by the author and are held exclusively by said individual.

Specifications and descriptions are summary in nature and subject to change without notice.
Stratus is a registered trademark of Stratus Technologies Bermuda, Ltd.
Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates.
All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective holders.