Michael Gueterman said:

> I've used Librarian/iX from Tidal Software (formerly OCS) for many years
> and can give it a very good recommendation.  It can handle MPE/iX (both
> CI and HFS files), and HP-UX systems, as well as multi-system controls
> and distribution.  The only sour point on it for me is that it doesn't
> support NT (which I believe VCS does).  Except for that one thing, it does
> very well, and you don't have to get deep down into any scripting to make
> heavy usage of it.

In a prior life, we used Librarian from OCS (now Tidal Software) for many
years with great success.  My only beef was when we were using a faulty
:STORE program, it would not store all of the databases, and one day -
*crash* - requiring reload...

The data is stored in an Image/SQL database under MPE, and it's all pointer
oriented, therefore, it's not easy to clean up after a disaster...  To this,
(at the time) OCS wanted $$$ to fly out and do it on site...  It cost a lot
less to let them through the firewall and do it over the internet - either
way, if you have any trouble with the database, it will require them to get
in and tweak the database, and it's not covered under the support agreement.

Other than that, it's a good product.

I would also recommend VCS wholeheartedly.  It does support NT as well, and
has a much easier interface - and is just as robust (if not more so), than
Librarian.  I also know that Diamond Optimum Systems will work very closely
with any user who might be starting up, or who runs into a problem - their
support is top notch (a credit to Igor Yasno and his team).

VCS is, I believe, less expensive than Librarian/iX, although I've not had
the chance to compare pricing lately - my recollection is of about a year
ago.

Best Regards,
Joe