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From:   Jonathan Knights
Sent:   Thursday, August 15, 1996 3:49 PM
To:     Multiple recipients of list HP3000-L
Subject:        HP3000 + Delphi ODBC Access
 
Is is possible to access an Image database on an HP3000 via Delphi using an
ODBC driver?
 
Jonathan,
 
Yes, it is possible, with the following restrictions:
 
1.  Using the soon to be obsolete PC/API (current version), you are restricted to
Delphi 1.0 (16-bit).  Using ODBCLink, you can use Delphi 2.0 for 32-bit apps.
 
2.  ODBC is used through BDE (Borland Database Engine) instead of through
Microsoft's JET DB Engine - which adds a layer of overhead.
 
For both, you need to register your ODBC driver with BDE, then create an
alias for it using the BDE Configuration Utility.  It's rather easy to do.  First,
create the entry in the Database Link, then create an alias which is used in
your programs.
 
As for reliability, etc - it's no less/more reliable than the ODBC driver.  The nice
part of using Delphi is speed.  You get a true .EXE as opposed to to an pseudo-
interpreted app as in Visual Basic.  This, and the fact that Delphi is truly OOP,
are the two biggest factors for using Delphi.
 
I'm almost finished a piece for Interact on it - and I enjoyed using it quite a bit.
I will say this - I would use it for application development - and I was quite a
Visual Basic bigot.
 
Best,
Joe Geiser