Fwd: query support software

• Forwarded message ---------- From: Thomas Day <tomday2_at_gmail.com> Date: Mar 14, 2006 2:01 PM Subject: Re: query support software To: Dennis Williams <oracledba.williams_at_gmail.com>

 We are devloping a decision support database. There is no application (and no developers - oh joy!).

The query tool must be simple enough for the end users to use with a minimum of support and training but sophistocated enough that it's output could be mistaken for an application's output.

The evaluation criteria (in working draft format) is:

*Other Features*

Relate tool architecture to the IIDS environment (our integrated decision support database).
Operating System Support
AIX, Lunix, Unix
Windows 2000, Windows 2003, Windows XP
Supports Oracle Data Source
Native access
ODBC access
Abel to access external tables
OCI access
Geospatial Metadata
Uses bind variables.

*Output*

Flat Files
HTML, XML
Comma delimited
Web Services
Email
Messaging, paging
Layout, fonts, titles, page numbering, date format, author ... query result set cache.

Is the trial software/evaluation version the same as a full version? Tool can be extended by purchasing add-on modules.

*Administration.*

Supports functional area/workgroup query sharing. Ability for user to define subsets of IIDS to be searched. Ability to construct query filter, select from predefined list of searches, or otherwise limit data to be searched
Ability for DBAs to define and control user access to parts of the IIDS (from data warehouses down to data content of a particular row) apart from native Oracle tools.
Retrieval of images using metadata, annotation data, structured capture data.
Automatic optimization of queries based on data structure. Performance monitoring, statistics, and metrics.

*Parallelsim
*Ability to execute multiple steps, jobs, or modules concurrently. If the
query is a union or join can the product produce the intermediate results concurrently or must if do them sequentially? How the tool scales on a multiple CPU/multiple server platform. Is the tool inherently single-threaded?

Ability to search defined fields (ie, pull-down lists) (in combination with free text), including meta tags and keyword-only searches.

Ability to express queries in:
  Natural language
  Set logic operators
  Boolean logic operators
  Special pattern matchers (regular expressions, quantities, fuzzy patterns - wild-carding)
  Proximity operations
  Thesaurus mode
  or any combination of these

Ability to present results in:
  Relevance-ranked order, automatic
  Relevance-ranked order, at user request only   Date-ranked order

Ability for DBAs to define and control user access to parts of the IIDS (from data warehouses down to data content of a particular row) apart from native Oracle tools.
Ability for end user to easily customize query and results interfaces. Support for long-running query monitoring.

*Ease of Use*

Masks fields to prevent incorrect querying Context sensitive help with related topics for browsing Clear, intuitive forms
Tutorials
Documentation
Guided tour of features
Control of format
Control of screen colors
Windows look and feel.
Drag-and-drop tables and views
On-Line Help

Scheduling capability. Can the user schedule queries or jobs to run in non-peak hours without knowledge of OS Utilities?

Debugging capabilities. Can the user write a query that won't run? Can the user modify an existing query that is not returning the desired data?

Command-line support. Can the user run the product outside of the Windows-like environment?

*Analysis and Reporting*

Library of standard reports
Customizable report structure
Ad hoc query support
New report design feature
Spreadsheet format report structure availability Ability to sort and select data for reports Annotate reports
Preview reports on-line
Export report to other formats including ASCII

*Interfaces*

Run on standard platforms
Filter export data
Import/Export to other vendors software
Integration with third Party Tools

*Support*

Vendor support program
Hot line for technical questions
Clearly stated upgrade policy
User's group
Training and consulting available
Cost of license/renewals
Cost of technical support subscription
Cost of any necessary hardware purchases or enhancements

Should not preclude use of any hardware platform or server software under consideration for future deployment.

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