Re: Equivalent products to SQR?

[cshelton <cshelton@INDIANA.EDU>]

Integrating graphs with text is certainly possible with perl, although it
may not be as fully integrated as with SQR.  You may need to write some of
your own code to integrate the output, or use the HTML::Template or
HTML::Mason modules to build a nicer layout for the results.

The options for producing graphs from perl are numerous, as can be seen
here:
http://search.cpan.org/search?mode=module&query=graph

chris

On Tue, 10 Oct 2000, Randy Kirkpatrick wrote:

> What about graphs?
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Discussion of SQR, Brio Technology's database reporting language
> [mailto:SQR-USERS@list.iex.net]On Behalf Of John Milardovic
> Sent: Tuesday, October 10, 2000 8:13 AM
> To: SQR-USERS@list.iex.net
> Subject: Re: Equivalent products to SQR?
>
>
> I would second that suggestion.  I recently created 5 operational reports in
> perl and it was a snap.  I also benchmarked a perl report against an
> identical SQR report (see attachment).   I found also that I could
> DRASTICALLY increase the time that perl reports took if I scrapped joins and
> instead joined the rows programmatically (one report went from 2-3 minutes
> to about 30 seconds - although perhaps better indexing of the tables and
> better use of existing indexes would have worked also).
>
>
>  <<Perl vs SQR Benchmarking.doc>>
>
> HTH
> John Milardovic
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: cshelton [SMTP:cshelton@INDIANA.EDU]
> > Sent: Monday, October 09, 2000 10:34 AM
> > To:   SQR-USERS@list.iex.net
> > Subject:      Re: Equivalent products to SQR?
> >
> > I'd suggest looking at perl.  I've been working with both sqr and perl for
> > about 4 years now. Even though perl might have a slightly steeper learning
> > curve than sqr, it can do everything that I know that sqr can do and a
> > whole lot more.
> >
> > Try starting at www.perl.com and www.perl.org for researching perl.  In my
> > experience, support for perl is significantly better than with sqr,
> > especially if you are able to search on the net for answers.
> >
> > The two biggest issues that I see in favor of perl over sqr are total cost
> > of ownership and control of software.  For the cost of one SQR license,
> > you can buy quite a library of perl books, as well as attend training
> > sessions or even bring in an on-site firm to train people in perl.  Since
> > perl is open source software, you don't have to pay any organization for
> > the right to use it.
> >
> > Eric Scott Raymond described the control issue well, in his recent talks
> > about this issue:
> >
> > "An executive who allows his company to becomes dependent on software he
> > is not allowed to see inside, let alone change, has lost control of his
> > business, and is on the wrong side of a monopoly relationship with a
> > vendor who can thereby control his business. With open source, the
> > executive is in control, and nobody can take that away. "
> >         - Eric Scott Raymond, "Meme Hacking for Fun and Profit"
> >
> > Chris Shelton
> >
> > On Mon, 9 Oct 2000, Chris Gin wrote:
> >
> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > We have been forced into looking at replacing SQR due to the change in
> > the
> > > licencing structure by Brio. Currently we run SQR on Unix and we're
> > looking
> > > at migrating to an NT environment.
> > >
> > > Are there any products out there that even come close to SQR in terms of
> > > functionality?
> > >
> > > The reason we're looking at using something else is because we're told
> > that
> > > the cost of a user licence is now based on the power of the machine it's
> > > running on. For us, this means an increase of 1000% which is ridiculous.
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > > Chris
> > >
> > >
>
>

Chris Shelton                          cshelton@indiana.edu
Financial Management Services          812/855-0404
Poplars 507