Jim Phillips wrote after I wrote about b-trees and Superdex:
> What about those of use using the "free" version of Superdex?
> I don't recall if that is Level 1 or not (I think it is, but
> I'm not 100% sure).  This is the version of Superdex that was
> given away free for the asking as part of the TPI project.
> (I just looked, and this Superdex is labelled the "Core
> Superdex Version", so maybe it's not Level 1!).  Anyway,
> in our case, we are using this free Superdex and it's not
> costing us anything.  I always assumed that there would come
> a day when the free Superdex would stop working (due to changes
> in Image, etc.) and we would have to do something.  Perhaps
> that day is here.

Ah, CoreSuperdex is different than L1.  This level (as I remember) provides the
basic b-tree features (I don't think you can concatenate or use grouped
indexes), plus I believe you have the item truncation feature.  It was (is?)
"free", with a shipping & handling cost of @$135 (which was the estimated cost
of tapes, labor, shipping, etc.) because the DOJ doesn't like anyone "pricing"
below cost of production for an extended length of time (you can do this
temporarily without too much threat of an issue -- the old "loss leader").
 Since CoreSuperdex wasn't expected to be pulled anytime soon, it was priced to
not be a loss leader.

Assuming there are not drastic changes in IMAGE, and you are not paying
support, it should continue to work for many more years.  If your paying
support, I would suspect that Bradmark would still maintain it, since it truly
is the "core" of Superdex.

As far as the statement, "Perhaps the day is here."  In the design of Image
b-trees, continued support for TPI products was a requirement (with over 6,000,
at least in 1995, users of TPI products, we couldn't break these products).  In
fact, Stan can clarify this, I'm pretty sure you can actually use a TPI product
and Image b-trees on the same database.

LB