When HP killed the HP3000 in 2001 we had about 500 customers for 
QueryCalc, the graphics report writer we'd written for IMAGE and the HP3000. 
The first question I asked myself wasn't what do we do now? Rather it was, if 
we were going to rebuild QueryCalc, who do I trust?

After a few days thought, I decided that the only person I truly trusted any 
longer to maintain his platform was Bill Gates. Backend servers have now 
become interchangeable and unidentifiable, thus I certainly didn't want to 
become too entangled with any single server vendor again. But the PCs are 
obviously different. Although there are an enormous number of PC 
manufacturers, there's really only one system, and I very much believe in Bill's 
plans for World Domination. Because of that belief, the newest version of 
QueryCalc, which we now call QCReports, was translated onto the PC.

95% of the QCReports' code now runs under Windows, and that will stay the 
same as we move from host platform to platform. Only 5% of the code has to 
be built to run on a specific host. Because Summit's Credit Union represented a 
significant proportion of our customer base in November, 2001, and because 
they migrated as a unit whole, that's the target audience we decided to go 
after first.

Summit chose Eloquence and HP-UX, and our first host code was therefore 
constructed so that it runs equally well on:

   o Eloquence on HP-UX
   o Eloquence on Linux
   o Eloquence on Windows Server

Once we complete the first pass at the PC client software, which is now 
Version 0.98, we will start adding other platform OS's and databases, and 
that's a good part of the reason why I'm writing. The question is: is there any 
interest (meaning money) in us putting together host code for the HP3000 and 
IMAGE? I estimate that it would only take us a couple of months (in the 
Atmarian Calendar) to get it up and running on the HP3000. We already have 
all of the database query code written for the HP3000. It's only a matter of 
rewriting it for the new communications protocols.

You can actually demonstrate the current beta version of QCReports to 
yourself if you like. Download the client from:

   http://aics-research.com/qcreports/index.html

QCReports communicates with its host, which can be anywhere in the world, 
by either telnet or SSH, so we're inherently compatible with an HP3000. 

Because you won't have a host defined when you use the client, QCReports 
will automatically sign onto the Invent9k HP-UX machine that HP has made 
graciously available to developers and will use a Eloquence demonstration 
database, which was migrated from our HP3000s in just a matter of minutes.

This database, now called QCDEMO, is an actual construction company's 
database, which they allowed us to have in 1985. We've used it ever since for 
training purposes.

When I was designing QCReports early in 2002, right after the death of the 
HP3000, I wrote that I wanted people to be able to put a new PC on their new 
desk in St. Louis, so that once they've downloaded the PC client, they would 
be up and connected with their home office host server in less than 30 
minutes.

What you'll do in this client download is demonstrate this capability to 
yourself. Once you have the client downloaded, launch the client and open the 
file:

   training-macro

Now double-click on the "demo macro." As soon as you've done this, 
QCReports will log onto the Invent9k machine, load the first report to be run, 
download the schema of the database into the PC, and begin its query 
executions. Once finished, it will print the derived results out onto your default 
printer.

I wrote the original version of this report in HP3000 BASIC/V in 1982, and it 
was printed out onto a 132-column dot matrix printer at the time. This is 
exactly the same report, migrated through many versions of the HP3000 and 
now to QCReports/HP-UX, and it will now print in simulated 132-column line 
printer mode.

On our original Series 33, the report required 34 minutes to complete. You 
should see it now execute in less than 20 seconds, of which most of that time 
is consumed in the speed of light propagation delays between wherever you 
are and Cupertino. If you were adjacent to the machine, it would execute in 
about 10 seconds.

If you right-click the "demo macro" button, you'll be able to see the macro 
commands. They are exactly identical to those that were was used in 
QueryCalc on the HP3000. They are:

The first set downloads the original 1982 income report for the construction 
company, recalculates it and then prints out pages B and C to the currently 
selected system printer (most likely your PC's default printer):

  /load training-incomerp
  !!
  /print b,c s

The second phase loads an advertisement for QueryCalc that I put together in 
the mid-late 1990's, after we had provided QueryCalc with PostScript 
capabilities. We no longer require the use of PostScript; PCL is just as 
acceptable, but the output is identical. If your printer has a duplexer on it, the 
output will be double-sided:

  /load training-oldad
  /duplex long
  /print a,b s

The last document is a training document that I've just put together explaining 
how to use QCReports' graphics. Three selected pages are printed, Q, T, and 
V. The last two are just newer, prettier versions of the 1982 income report, 
with Page V having had lines, boxes and graphs added:

  /load quicktour-graphics
  /print q,t,v s

When all of this is done, the macro re-loads the original report, which is merely 
a few boxes and a macro button:

  /load training-macro

...and quits.

On one hand you might ask why spend any money on a dead platform, and 
that's certainly a reasonable question. But on the other, if you're intending on 
staying with MPE for a little while longer, QCReports would be a way to 
significantly upgrade and modernize your capabilities with the HP3000. And, if 
and when you do migrate, if you move to a platform which Eloquence 
supports, your total migration time for your database and reports will honestly 
be only a one or two hours. Other than changing the IP address of the new 
host, you'll never notice a single difference.

Wirt Atmar

AICS Research, Inc.
University Park, NM  88003-4691
(800) AICS-INC
(575) 524-9800
(575) 526-4700 fax
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