Sybase Watch

Timestamps - laugh or cry

The Sybase ASE TIMESTAMP datatype causes more confusion to developers than any other data type. The expectation is that it has a "meaningful" date/time which tells you when the column was last modified. Of course - it's completely different and I've yet to work on a database where it was required.

I suspect that the confusion comes from the prevalence of MySQL, where their TIMESTAMP datatype behaves like a DATETIME which is set to the current time when a record is modified.

Anyway, when looking up the MySQL timestamp on the web, I came across this irate post on the MySQL official support site. How I laughed - what would the poster make of the Sybase timestamp?

Subject: F*** You

The MySQL datatype isn't a timestamp.  A timestamp should be a second count from the beginning of the unix epoch.  This allows for linear math application of that data in geometric equations.  The current "Timestamp" datatype is simply a renamed date datatype.  Advertising the existence of a timestamp datatype when none exists in a commercial product could also be seen as fraud.

Suggested fix:

Provide a valid timestamp integer... or remove the datatype all together and stop making up datatypes that don't exist.

And the official MySQL Support reply?

Thank you for taking the time to write to us, but this is not a bug. Please double-check the documentation

missing dlls, version 15

I installed DBArtisan on my laptop and tried to connect to my 15.0 database server.

Error: "Can not load Open Client, please verify that libct.dll and libcs.dll are in your path". Turns out that Sybase have changed the names of the open-client dlls for version 15.

There is a batch file that will copy the "new" dlls to the "old" dlls. Its under $SYBASE\OCS-15_0\scripts. There's a README file in the scripts directory with more inf.

Run copylibs.bat to copy the files and get DBArtisan to work.

MS Word, isql and quotes

I'm creating test cocuments in Microsoft Word and once again am tripping over the issue of quotes ("", '). I document a simple insert statement in MS Word and copy-and-paste into isql and it fails.

insert into product (product_name) values ('ACME Corporation')

The error message is Unclosed quote before the character string '), a sure sign that the quote in the Word document isn't recognised. The problem is that Microsoft uses its own Ascii coding for quotes, and by default will replace the "straight" quote with its "smart" quote (known by everybody else as a "curly" quote - one commentator says that as a rule of thumb, every time Microsoft uses the term "smart" look for a gotcha).

One solution is not to use MS Word (Wordpad doesn't do this).

Another solution is to disable the curly quote in MS Word: under Tools; AutoCorrect Options; AutoFormat As You Type; deselect Replace Staight Quotes with Smart Quotes

Make sure that you are on the "AutoFormat As You Type" tab, not the Autoformat Tab.

New DBMS: Advantage

I was surprised to see a newsgroup post from a TeamSybase member that included the statement

Sybase has three different database products : Adaptive Server Enterprise,  SQL Anywhere and  Advantage Database Server.

"Advantage Database Server"? What on earth is that? For a moment I thought that the much-missed SQL Advantage GUI (not provided with ASE 15.0 clients toos) had been reinvented as a full-blown DBMS...

A bit of digging - this is another acquisition by Sybase Inc which they've folded into the iAnywhere group. A client-server DBMS apparently popular in the Borland world (Delphi and C++ coders) - "3 million deployed seats" is impressive. Interestingly, its ISAM-based i.e. like MySQL. So no, not a rival for the ASE space.

Intersolv ODBC driver

One of the developers who has the thankless task of supporting an "old" Sybase 11-based application came looking for an installation of the "Intersolv" Sybase ODBC driver. He showed me the documentation - sure eneough, the original developer (long since left) has specified Intersolv. The Intersolv name rang a bell from my spell of Powerbuilder development eight years ago, but I haven't heard the name in a long time.

After a bit of digging I found that Intersolv is now DataDirect. I installed the ODBC driver from one of my old Sybase 12.0 PC Client installation disks - and no problems so far. I see from Five Salmon's Sybase Zone that Merant, another old name, is also now part of DataDirect.

Sybase ranked 21st in CIO poll

The annual poll from "CIO Insight" has ranked Sybase Inc 21st out of the top 40 I.T. vendors. At least Sybase has maintained consistent form, it was 21 last year too.

I've never heard of the top two vendors (CDW and Trend Micro) but kudos to the giant Cisco Systems at #3 and double kudos to Red Hat for joining Cisco on 3rd position. More directly related to Sybase...IBM is at #16, Microsoft at #24 and Oracle #32.

Looking a little closer at the Sybase results (and noting a total sample size of 826 CIOs), its interesting to see the highs and lows of the Sybase score. Its highest ranking is "meets ROI expectations" and the lowest is "meets commitments on time and on budget". May we surmise that Sybase "big database" projects are more complex than initially scoped, but eventually deliver?

MySQL chasing Sybase customers

MySQL AB has launched a new enterprise license priced at $40,000 including support. The company is specifically targeting Oracle, MS SQL Server, Sybase and DB2 customers.

Will there be a rush of Sybase ASE customers to MySQL? Dan Farber figures that it will probably do more in the short term to attract MySQL enterprise database customers who download the software but don't pay MySQL a cent for service and support.

I tend to agree with Dan. I reviewed industry research last year into MySQL and the global DBMS wars - I've come to the conclusion that medium-to-large enterprises run a product mix with at least two different platforms. Increasingly, mySQL is the second (or third) platform - but I don't see it currently replacing the big three in the Unix world (Oracle, DB2, Sybase).

Sybase gets into Podcasting

I listened today to a podcast from Sybase on "The Art of Performance and Tuning - General Best Practices". Historic in its own way as I believe its the first ever podcast released by the company, certainly for ASE.

Sybase has also been trying its hand at webinars, and the tech team have their own blogs. Combined, these techniques could prove to be a breakthrough for experienced DBAs who have long ago "finished" the phase of the five-day formal training course. Podcasting can chunk up about an hour's worth of good training material - tips & tricks, real-world case studies and the like.

Its usually the Java programmers who wear earphones all day, I welcome the chance to don a pair now and then for some useful podcasts from the mother ship.

Developers Edition

Why doesn't Sybase Inc make it easier to find the free Developers Edition of ASE? Its very handy to install this version on a PC for tinkering and testing data models etc. Its here by the way

Searching for "Developers Edition" on the Sybase website throws up the ASA (Adaptive Server Anywhere) download, not the ASE version. I spent a good hour following various links on www.sybase.com to no avail. Kudos to Rob Verschoor at www.sypron.nl, who maintains an updated link.

It rankles somewhat that Microsoft's SQL Server developers edition is much easier to find, search for it on the microsoft site to get immediate results.

ASE demand grows 30%

The latest financial news from Dublin, California is good news for Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise DBAs worried that ASA was taking all the company focus.

John Chen (CEO) states that the strong financial performance in 4th quarter 2006 was "driven largely by robust demand for our flagship ASE database and IQ analytics server, which grew 30% and 22%, respectively, over the same quarter a year ago.”

Sybase has been reporting growth in China for ASE in recent years. I wonder what proportion of that 30% growth is China-side.