What is SQL Anywhere?
Sybase SQL Anywhere is the new name for the
5.0 version of the Watcom product Watcom SQL. Eventually Sybase may change
the name of a future release to something like Adaptive Server Anywhere.
SQL Anywhere is aimed primarily at the PC Database / Workgroup database
users. In the 5.0 release, among the many enhancements made to Watcom SQL
4.0, a prominent one is support for Sybase's Transact SQL. This makes SQL
Anywhere a developer's database for building Sybase applications.
SQL Anywhere is a feature rich RDBMS. It provides
many of the standard features usually found in the larger high-end RDBMS
products, like:
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Primary Key/Foreign Key relationship enforcement
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Declarative constraints
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Triggers
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Stored Procedures
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Security and Roles
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Connectivity via ODBC
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SQL and procedural language support for stored procedures and triggers
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Transaction management
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Replication capabilities
It also has some fantastic features which even some of the high-end RDBMS
do not support, like:
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Declarative update propagation i.e. RESTRICT, CASCADE, NULLIFY
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Extensive set of SQL functions
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User defined functions
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Before and After triggers
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Table Level as well as Row Level triggers
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Multiple Triggers attached to the same Event
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SQL extensions like IF - ELSE and even CASE statements in a SQL statement
like SELECT
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Calling external functions from Stored Procedures
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MAPI e-mail interface from stored procedures
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Distributes transactions and Two Phase commits
A developer's copy of SQL Anywhere 5.0 ships with PB5.0 and comes with
the following components -
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The engine
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ISQL
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SQL Central, a simple GUI administration tool.
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Utilities like backup, compressing tools etc.
SQL Anywhere Books
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SQL Anywhere - Secrets of the Watcom Masters By Joe Celko, from
SYS-CON.
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SQL Anywhere Developers Guide from Thomson
Publishing Thanx to Taras Domansky for this info
Reviews for these books are invited. Send your reviews to jiggys@usa.net
SQL Anywhere Forums
-
There are two forums at forums.powersoft.com -
sybase.public.sqlanywhere.general
sybase.public.sqlanywhere.replication
You will need a news reader to access both of these.
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SQL Anywhere issues are regularly posted and discussed on the PB-L list
server.
SQL Anywhere Sites and Resources
-
PowerBuilder Developer's Journal and Sybase Developer's Journal feature
a column by Joe Celko called SQL Anywhere Corner. The online
versions of these magazines are available at the SYS-CON
web site.
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