Stressing its commitment to the MS-DOS market, Borland International Inc last week released Paradox 3.0, which is a new version of Paradox that introduces basic relational extensions, Query By Example, QBE, enhancements, cross tabulation, and presentation graphics. Running on a hard disk, Paradox 3.0 is substantially different from version 2.0, and has undoubtedly been developed with an eye on Ashton Tate’s dBase IV. In describing the multi-table forms and reports that version 3.0 offers, Borland raised the intuitive forms concept as being the most appropriate way for users to view information held on a database. Consequently, Paradox 3.0 enables users to combine information easily on one screen from both multiple detail records and the master record concurrently. Referential integrity is maintained on multi-table forms by the automatic updating of all corresponding values in detail records when a master record changes. The most striking development of this latest version of Paradox, however, is the adoption of one-touch graphing of data, which can then be displayed in a number of ways, including bar and pie charts. This enables the user, with only one key stroke, to get a visual graphic representation of a query using data from different tables, and precludes the need to learn multiple products. The Query By Example features, originally pioneered by Borland and now adopted by many other database packages, have also been substantially revised on version 3.0 to enable the user to make very complex queries without having to resort to programming. For example, using the new Outer Join and Set capabilites, a much broader set of questions can be asked than before, enabling users to find a list of customers who have purchased every one of a company’s products, or a list of those who only purchased widgets. Borland claims that the QBE enhancements outperform those of dBase IV because Paradox 3.0 features dynamic heuristic query optimisation. This optimises a query run and helps it keep pace with constantly changing data. Borland has also announced that Paradox will support Structured Query Language before the end of this summer. When this support is implemented, users will be able to set up a query in the QBE system, and that query will be transparently translated into SQL and transmitted to an SQL server, such as the IBM OS/2 Extended Edition. The answer to this SQL query will then be presented to the user as a Paradox answer table. While this method enables users with no SQL programming knowledge to work with SQL databases, it complements rather than replace SQL. Borland has no plans to release its own SQL server but, apart from the IBM database manager, intends to support Novell’s XQL server, as well as the proprietary Microsoft and Oracle servers. As well as simplifying ordinary user requirements, Paradox 3.0 is also claimed to provide programmers with the tools to prototype and change applications quickly, by using the Paradox Application Language to support all of the features of the new version 3.0.
Hooks to Turbo languages According to company president Philippe Kahn, Borland also plans to provide hooks between Paradox and Borland Turbo programming languages. These hooks would allow Turbo C, Pascal, and Basic programmers to access Paradox databases directly from their programs, the ultimate goal being to provide the Paradox database engine as the fundamental data structure connecting all Borland products. This concept has already been put into practice in Borland’s SideKick for Presentation Manager, where data created in SideKick is stored in Paradox database format and can be directly accessed by Paradox databases. The company also said it has a Unix version of Paradox, which is essentially ready and awaiting distribution and a marketing vehicle, while a graphically interfaced version of Paradox for the Macintosh and Presentation Manager is also under development. Borland topped off the unveiling of Paradox 3.0 with the release of the Paradox LAN pack, which enables users of any existing Paradox multi-user vers
ion to increase the number of simultaneous users on a local area network by up to five counts. When this product is used with version 3.0, the changing graphical presentation of real time data can be watched on screen. Paradox 3.0 uses the same hardware and memory as version 2.0, is available now and retails for UKP595. Existing users of Paradox can upgrade for UKP195, but if they bought Paradox 2.0 within the last month, upgrading comes slightly less expensively at UKP145.
