On Tue, 24 Dec 1996 10:33:49, Deane Bell <[log in to unmask]> writes:
>
>I've been asked to find out about a product called QUIZ for the HP.  Is
>it a 'language', like COBOL sold by HP or is it a report-writer sold by
>a third-party?  Any idea how to contact the vendor?  Any words-of-wisdom
>re it's use/user friendliness/reasons NOT to use it?  Thanks.

Deane:

While it's been a while since I have used QUIZ, here is what I remember
about it:

It's great for quick and dirty reports; but, can also be used to create
complex reports.

It requires its own data dictionary (which can be generated from the
Image schema).  This data dictionary must be maintained separately
when changes are made to the underlying data structures.

If not coded "correctly" the reports can take forever to run (or at
least seem to take forever).  Case in point:  At one client (during
my contracting days) I was asked if I could speed up a complex
three-pass report (written in QUIZ) which was taking 6 to 8 hours
to run on the then-top-of-the-line Series 70.  I rewrote the report
in COBOL and in ran in 2 hours. YMMV.

We have QUIZ (via another application system) but it's only used for a
handful of reports.  If I need a Q&D report, I use QUERY.  However, the
reason we don't use it more is because I don't feel like maintaining the
data dictionary.

Hope this helps.

Jim Phillips                            Manager of Information Systems
E-Mail: [log in to unmask]      Therm-O-Link, Inc.
Phone: (330) 527-2124                   P. O. Box 285
  Fax: (330) 527-2123                   Garrettsville, Ohio  44231