Re: [NTLK] Soups and the Newton's downfall

From: Jon Glass (jonglass_at_usa.net)
Date: Thu Sep 06 2001 - 16:43:21 EDT


on 9/6/01 3:09 PM, Michael J. Hu=DFmann at michael_at_michael-hussmann.de wrote:
> Databases can be quite sophisticated, so I don't understand what you are
> getting at. It might be a good idea to get more technical, I guess.

Can a record in a database contain another record? Can you add fields to on=
e
record but not add them to another. Can you put a work phone in a phone
field in one record, but a work field in the same place in another record,
and have the database automatically keep them straight? I have some Newton
names that have more phones than most desktop apps have allowed for years.

I do agree, however, that desktop apps are getting more sophisticated. I
noticed that MS OE can do some of this stuff.

I believe you have done some programming for Newton? Do you have the Guide
to Newton Programming (or whatever its name is. I can't find my copy) It ha=
s
an excellent description of the soup concept and a little about the
differences between the two. Worth reading.

> Union soups are mostly transparent for the developer, so where's the
> problem? The OS takes care of all the low level stuff so you (as a
> developer) don't have to.

Except when you remove a card and sync. What does the developer do with a
missing record? Delete it from the desktop app? I wish it were that simple.
:-)

> NCU works fine for me, but then I don't sync at all. (As I said, my Visor
> refuses to sync -- it did originally, so I don't know what's wrong with
> my setup. As its batteries are dead and its memory gone whenever I pick
> it up, I stopped bothering. It was a review unit I was allowed to keep,
> so it doesn't really matter.)

I have been able to sync with a Now Contact file--once. And, actually, it
was to an empty file. Unfortunately, my version of Now is newer than what
NCU syncs with, so I can't do two-way. I do have Claris Organizer with the
name of Palm Desktop, which I have synced the first time, and then one othe=
r
time. Unfortunately, it took me multiple attempts both times. It is a
nightmare, as is backing up, because every backup, I have to move out the
old backup and create a new file, which is a hassle, and takes forever, eve=
n
over appletalk. Why do I have to create a new backup? Because if you don't
NCU somehow seems to randomly corrupt incremental backups, and you never
know it has happened until you need to restore, and then it's too late.
Horrible in comparison to the Palm. Again, not that I'm switching any time
soon. I'm a bit beyond that. :-) It's just that, when the Palm came out, an=
d
it did all this stuff and it actually worked!! People went to it, and
overlooked the lack of true handwriting, the flexibility and capabilities o=
f
the applications, lack of storage and memory--simply because it worked as
advertized, and it SYNCED!! :-)
--=20
-Jon Glass
Krakow, Poland
<jonglass_at_usa.net>
<glasshaus5_at_aol.com>

"Our Constitution was made
only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the
government of any other." --John Adams

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