NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #26/NN_1992_26.iso/spool/comp/database/7757

Text File | 1992-11-10 | 17.5 KB | 510 lines

Newsgroups: comp.databases
Path: sparky!uunet!munnari.oz.au!hp9000.csc.cuhk.hk!cucs5.cs.cuhk.hk!shlam
From: [e-mail] (Alan S H Lam)
Subject: Public domain DBMS
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Keywords: public domain
Sender: [e-mail]
Organization: Faculty of Engineering, The Chinese U. of Hong Kong
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 03:52:53 GMT
Lines: 498


About two week ago, I had posted a question for asking any public domain database on unix platform. And I received serveral useful mails. Here I would like to express my gratitude to the persons who had send me e-mails. Thanks. Some netters request me to post the reponse to this news group. Hence, I summarize the response as below.

My boss seems to pick up the POSTGRES. Does anyone have any comment on that? I will very appreciate it if you could send me any comment on  POSTGRES. Thanks.

Alan.


Response
==========


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Date: 4 Nov 1992 13:46:54-GMT
To: shlam <[e-mail]>
Subject: PD DB
From: ags <[e-mail]>

Alan,

I have recently ftp'd Postgres and I've read the documentation.

Postgres is a large database system produced at UCLA Berkley,
available free.

It is not "small, simple" as you asked, it may be easy to use (I
haven't installed it yet). It required about 8 Meg of RAM and 45
Meg of disc space. It's available for SUN, SEQUENT and DEC
workstations.

It's multi-user, client-server (I think). It is described as
"relational or object-oriented - pick your favorite buzz-word".
It isn't SQL - the authors of Postgres are very critical about SQL
and IMHO they're quite right.

It looks pretty good on the whole. I'm not intending to install it,
as it's too big for my fairly trivial application.

I am looking for something simpler - ideally available free in source
form (I want to run it on a Sparc and also possibly port it to a PC
running Linux). Could you let me know if you find anything which
fits this description?

Thanks, Gavin.


-- The above may not represent the views of GEC Marconi, but is probably
   Copyright (C) 1992 GEC Marconi Ltd.
Gavin Spittlehouse, Software Engineering Group, GEC Marconi Research Centre,
Chelmsford, Essex UK CM2 8HN. 0245 73331 x3245   [e-mail]-mrc



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Subject: anonymous ftp'able database

Dear Alan,

I just read your News request for a public domain database.
You might like to take a look at REQUIEM - it's available
by anonymous ftp from dcssoft.anu.edu.au in the pub/requiem
directory.

There are two versions available, a multi-user one and one that
allows embedded queries in a standard C program.  My advise would
be to get the latter one.

If you are running on a Unix machine, you should have no problem,
but let me know if you do.  The README files are pretty helpful.
The query language is RQL (Relational Query Language) based on the
Relational Algebra and similar to SQL.  There is a file GRAMMAR
that describes it fairly well.

Hope it's what you're after.


Robert Power

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
[e-mail]
CSIRO Division of Information Technology
PO Box 664                     tel: [phone]
Canberra ACT 2601 AUSTRALIA.            fax: [phone]
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


Date: Thu, 5 Nov 92 13:20:46 EST
From: [e-mail]
Message-Id: <9211050220.AA19187@carina>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: anonymous ftp'able database

I developed The embedded version of REQUIEM as my honours
thesis last year.  My supervisor was the co-author of the
system, Mike Papazoglou.  I don't actually use it for
personal or work purposes but I do offer a casual support
for anyone who uses it - if they find any bugs in it, I
try and fix them (when I get time).

I think REQUIEM is a good relational database.  Having worked
with SQL, the RQL language provides an alternative approach
to an interactive relational query language, one that I
believe is worth knowing.

The embedded query language that I developed was influenced
more by INGRES than ORACLE, and I think it is a better
coupling of C and a database language than either of those
two systems provide.  It is this which motivates me to keep
an eye out for potential users of REQUIEM and to tell them
about it.

As for performance, I can't really say.  REQUIEM was developed
as a research and educational tool, but is being used by a
number of people world wide.  One of its benefits is that the
source code is written in C and is freely available.

Let me know of any other Dbases you find out about.  I would
be interested in any evaluation/comparisons you do.


Robert Power

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
[e-mail]
CSIRO Division of Information Technology
PO Box 664                     tel: [phone]
Canberra ACT 2601 AUSTRALIA.            fax: [phone]
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Date: Thu, 5 Nov 92 20:20:55 +1100
From: SiewSiong Tan <[e-mail]>
Message-Id: <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: Any public domain database on the net?
Newsgroups: comp.databases
References: <[e-mail]>

In comp.databases you write:


>I want to know if there is any public domain
>database (which is small, simple, and easy to
>use) on the net that I can download to
>use. I heard of postgress. Does anyone use
>it? What is your comment on that?

Hi Alan;

I am using POSTGRES (obejct Oriented DBMS) and GEO++.
GEO is a GIS front end to postgres DBMS. My comment
is they as as good as any other commercial DBMS.



>If you know any public domain database,
>please send me a e-mail. I will very
>appreciate it. Thanks.

You're welcome. The other P D DBMS that I know of is the
ENCORE OO DB, I haven't try it so I can't comment.
it is available at
    wilma.cs.brown.edu in pub as encore.tar.Z

hope this help.

cheers
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
|  SiewSiong TAN                               GPO Box 252C       |
|  University of Tasmania                      Hobart, Tasmania   |
|  Dept of Surveying & Spatial Info Science    Australia 7001     |
|  email: [e-mail]         fax: [phone]  |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+

From: [e-mail] (Banchong Harangsri)
To: [e-mail]
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 92 22:07:01 +1100
Message-Id:  <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: Any public domain database on the net?

Path: usage!metro!munnari.oz.au!yoyo.aarnet.edu.au!news.adelaide.edu.au!drawing.adelaide.edu.au!andrew
From: [e-mail] (Andrew Trotter)
Newsgroups: comp.databases
Subject: P.D Databases
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 9 Oct 92 07:53:01 GMT
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--
I'm new to this news thing but I am interested in relational data bases
with sql, similar to Informix, etc. Are there any public domain data bsaes
with this type of capability.

Infact I would be interested in any database (public domain at present)
that is compilable for Unix, DOS and Apple. This is most likely
impossible but you can only ask.

I need this as is to be one of two interfaces for a graphically and
texturally driven Facilities Management system.

Any polite pointers will be received with thanks, others will be ignored.

Thanks in advance.

*********************************************************************
***  Andrew Trotter                  *        email :-      ***
***  CADD Manager. Buildings Branch  *                  ***
***  University of Adelaide          * [e-mail] ***
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Newsgroups: comp.databases
Path: usage!metro!munnari.oz.au!hp9000.csc.cuhk.hk!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uwm.edu!linac!att!cbnewsc!cbfsb!att-out!pacbell.com!decwrl!netcomsv!netcom.com!stevedav
From: [e-mail] (Steve Davidson)
Subject: Public domain DATABASE SYSTEM. (Responses)
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Keywords: database public domain copyleft ingres requiem postgres exodus mbase 4BSD
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest)
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 03:34:04 GMT
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This is a compilation of responses to my original post regarding
free database systems.  I start with the original post and follow
with a summary of the results.  The last part includes the
responses verbatum.

ORIGINAL POST:

Can anyone suggest a free, public domain, or copylefted
database system that meets the following requirements:

It is multi-user with record locking.
It must have fast indexing including a B-tree and a hash.
It needs to maintain a large and growing collection of data.
It should interface well with Unix utilities.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

I will re-post results if anyone shows interest.

Steve Davidson
[e-mail]

=================================================================
SUMMARY OF RESPONSES:

The responses included the following software:

4BSD O/S layers
Postgres
Ingres
Mbase
Requiem
E/Exodus


My interpretation of the more-interesting points follows:

The 4BSD O/S provides O/S "primitives" in support of databases
such as low-level indexing schemes and structured files.  Read
the email response on this one.

Postgres is my favorate in large part due to the current activities
surrounding the project.  This has obvious benefits of support and
improvement.  The Postgres project may be related to 4BSD.

I did not have to time to research Ingres, Mbase, Requiem or
E/Exodus.

======================================================================
THE REPLIES:

From: [e-mail] (Justin Seiferth)

Try mbase (comp.sources.unix Vol 28).  If you find something better,
please let me know.


======================================================================
From: Tero Laakkonen <[e-mail]>

ingres? look in archie where you can get it.


======================================================================
From: Stefan Grefen <[e-mail]>

Try Postgres from postgres.berkeley.edu.
There is a perl and tcl interface to postgres.
Hope this helps
 Stefan
--
Stefan Grefen   ---   Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz   ---    Germany
Email: [e-mail]



======================================================================
From: M{nnist| Tatu <[e-mail]>

You should try postgres which is a next generation DBMS. It is about
200000 lines of C code and available free of charge by anon ftp from:
  postgres.berkeley.edu      (128.32.149.1)

It is still under development, has few bugs but anyway it is the best
I've seen for $0.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tatu Mannisto                                   Tampere Univ. of TeXnology
[phone]    home                           Internet: [e-mail]
[phone]    work (HB230)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

======================================================================

From: mike acklin <[e-mail]>
Subject:      Re: Public domain DATABASE SYSTEM.
To: [e-mail]
Status: R

Hi
Try CBASE from Simtel20 archive. It'll need some tweaking, and I don't know
for sure about multiuser yet, but it's a pretty nice design if you're a
C-programmer...if not, it's a good place to become one....

Let me know what other responses you get, as I'm doing an evaluation similar
to yours. If I find others myself, I'll let you know.

Michael Acklin
Research Analyst
Office of Institutional Research
University of Arkansas, Fayetteville
[e-mail]

======================================================================

From: <[e-mail]>

First, so you can stop reading quickly, the system I'm going to
direct you to does NOT have record locking in the production
version.  Record locking has been done, but it's still a prototype.

That said:

The 4BSD system now has the underlying layers (C application layers)
of such a beast.  The upper layers will be added in the next year or
so, including full transaction support.  It's freely redistributable,
like all Berkeley software.

It has B+tree and extended linear hashing implementations, as well as
an interface to fixed and variable length records (the latter is
intended to permit use of UNIX files as databases).  The interface is
consistent across all access methods.  The hashing and B+tree
implementations are at least as fast as any others we have found.  The
hashing implementation has record locking completed, the B+tree has a
prototype.  The record interface has not had locking implemented,
although, since it's built on top of the B+tree code it wouldn't be
difficult to do.  There is an underlying shared memory buffer pool used
by all of the access methods.

If you want more information, let me know, or, you can get details on
the intended transaction support from the LIBTP paper in the Winter
1992 USENIX Proceedings.  Details of the hashing implementation are
in the Winter 1991 USENIX Proceedings.

        uunet!bostic
        [e-mail]

        Keith Bostic                    [phone]
        457 Evans Hall
        CSRG, CSD
        University of California
        Berkeley, CA  94720


======================================================================

From: [e-mail] (Augustine Cano)

Some months ago I looked into mbase (metal base 4) originally written for
the atari, but version 4 meets, if I remember correctly, all the requirements
above.  I is a relational database engine, no fancy user interface.  It is
shareware and can be found at the wuarchive ftp site.  I'd be interested in
whatever you can find out.

Thanks.

--
Augustine Cano          INTERNET: [e-mail]
                        UUCP:     ...!{ernest,egsner}!shibaya!afc

======================================================================

From: [e-mail]

Look at the following recent post on Requiem.  I have found it to
be very stable in previous releases (far more so than Metalbase
or other PD/ShWr products that are available).   Its only drawback
is that it uses Quel, not SQL (although I am trying to implement
a SQL front-end which I may distribute).

Good luck.

Jon

>>From: [e-mail] (Robert Andrew Power)
>>Subject: Extensions to RDBMS REQUIEM
>>Date: Wed, 30 Sep 1992 23:51:25 GMT

REQUIEM (RElational Query and Update Interactive systEM) is an
extensible, relational DBMS developed in C with a query language
based on the relational algebra called RQL (Relational Query
Language).  Descriptions of REQUIEM can be found in :

        `An Extensible DBMS for Small-Medium Scale Systems',
         Papazoglou, M.P., IEEE Micro, April 1989.

        or the book :

         Relational Database Management - A Systems Programming
         Approach, Papazoglou, M.P. and Valder, W.,
         Prentice Hall International, UK, 1989.


The original version has been extended in the following ways :

        - to make it a multi-user system and

        - a preprocessor to allow embedded queries
          in standard C programs.

These changes are as yet mutually exclusive.

The source code for these extensions have been made available by
anonymous ftp to :

        dcssoft.anu.edu.au

The respective compressed and tar'ed files are

        - REQUIEM.tar.Z (muli-user version)

        - Requiem.tar.Z (includes preprocessor)


Any queries with the embedded version of requiem can be directed
to :

[e-mail]
CSIRO Division of Information Technology
PO Box 664                                      tel: [phone]
Canberra ACT 2601 AUSTRALIA.                    fax: [phone]

The person who wrote the multi-user version is no longer at the ANU
and is in fact out of the country.  He will be starting a PhD at
Queensland University of Technology in 93 (or so I'm told).  Any
queries regarding this version of Requiem will have to wait until
then.

Robert Power


======================================================================

>From maney Mon Oct  5 09:53:26 1992

Try E/Exodus at ftp.cs.wisc.edu.  Exodus is an industrial strength
storage manager.  E is persistant C++ based on gcc 2.2.2.  The
persistant C++ pardigm makes for rapid transaction processing system
development.  Exodus has state-of-the-art concurrecy, consistency
and recover featrues including automatic self repair.  Binaries
are posted for Suns.

-George

======================================================================

--
Alan S. H. Lam
Department of Information Engineering, CUHK, Hong Kong
E-mail: [e-mail]
Tel: [phone] Fax: [phone]