General Discussion Topics

[jbuddecke]

Does anyone know when the schema browser will be supported on a 64 bit machine?

[DGill]

Whooa!  You're kinda jumping the gun there a little aren't you? 

When will it be updated to a 32 bit application?  

[DFeller]

I wish it were able to run on a 64-bit machine too.  I don't like switching to another server just to run the schema browser.  Is there another workaround?

Dawn

[jnoll]

You can generate something on your own using various tools but you will lose the drawing if you will but still have the links so to speak between the tables and views. We also do the same with the stored procedures. You can do this with some code using Subversion I believe it is called or you can get a tool like Red-Gate SQL Docs.

[Wei]

The current schema browser has some 16bit components, we were not able to configure it to run on the 64bit OS, not even the 32bit WOW64 subsystem. Only workaround is that run it in a 32bit VPC on the 64bit host. 

Wei Li

Advisory Architect, MAS 500

Message Edited by Wei on 01-20-2010 09:10 AM

[JohnHanr]

Wei,

Is Sage going to buy an updated Schema Browser at some point?

Thx.

John

[DFeller]

I would think that if they need to say they support 64 bit that the Schema browser too should support 64bit.

Dawn

[oyama]

16bit? Does it mean it would run on Windows 3.1?  

The Schema Browser basically is a Microsoft Multimedia Viewer version 2 (MVIEWER2.EXE) using "objects.mvb" or "objectsw.mvb" (work tables) files. It seems Microsoft finished developing the Microsoft Multimedia Viewer version 2 in 1992 or 1993.

So, as long as Sage using this particular program we do not have too much chance to use it under 64 bit. However, this explains the old school look and why it has such a limited searching capabilities. 

[SHulme]

The value of the Schema Browser to both customers and partners is clear given the importance of understanding how data is stored in MAS 500. We are currently looking at a number of options for supporting this functionality in 64-bit environments. Ideally, our aim is to build on what is already a valuable tool to make it simpler to use,. more flexible, and to ultimately provide even better information rather than simply update it to support 64-bit.

To this end, what improvements would anyone want to see in the Schema Browser? How important is the graphical representation of the table relationships? Are there any examples we should be looking at as models of the types of additional functionality that would be particularly useful? Has anyone used Business Insights Explorer (BIE) to supplement the information provided by the Schema Browser?

[oyama]

It would be nice to have a similar search types as the Crystal Reports or the Windows XP help has. Context, Index, Search and Favorites. 

While many times the explanation of a certain field is well explained there are a few fields that are lacking proper explanation.  (Of course now I cannot find any examples)

I found the graphical representation is very important. That makes much easier to understand how the tables are related or connected.

Will the "Schema Browser - Work Table" have field explanation? Right now there is no info regarding the fields.