(e-mail address removed) wrote...
i just think that instead of going on this XML bender-- i wish that MS
had taken the DB industry seriously.
They are as THEY see it. Whether for good or ill, most companies are
attracted to what they perceive as flexibility and openness. For the
most part, XML provides both, and proprietary format disk files in
which dbms's store company data don't. Same goes for XLS and DOC
formats.
Microsoft has many highly-paid employees whose jobs depend on knowing
what their customers want to buy, NOT what someone else who lacks
buying authority may believe would be better for them to use.
Microsoft really knows how to make money. Making software is
incidental.
I mean-- I have a system that works FLAWLESSLY in importing
spreadsheets and cataloging them in a datamart. It works pretty well--
I just wish that more people would understand the inefficiency of
using Excel-- i mean-- even simple tasks-- keeping track of what
reports im working on for example-- most people would make a
spreadsheet to keep track of this kindof errata.
I'd use a text file and store it locally. Why? Because I really
wouldn't want anyone else to see it, even the DBAs, AND so I could read
it even when the network goes down (not necessarily because the servers
crash - network outages can be caused by utility crews accidentally
severing trunk lines and other land-line snafus).
Simple lists are best handled using simple tools, like text editors.
I put ALL my information inside a SQL Server database-- and that way I
can re-use it in multiple places.
Most business users, so most spreadsheet users, can't create or modify
centrally stored dbms tables, so the only benefit they might gleen from
using databases would come from pulling centralized data via queries
rather than rekeying it. That's a BIG help, but how would they save
their work to reuse it if they can't send ANYTHING back to the dbms?
That's the critical flaw in your world-view.
I just think that Excel isn't DB-driven enough. And I wish that MS
would take the ADP model and apply it to Excel-- have people still
create worksheets; but each worksheet is just a pointer to data in a
database.
Of course Excel isn't DB-driven. It's not supposed to be. It can use
DAO and ADO from VBA, and it's still possible to load the XLODBC.XLA
add-in to get the SQL.REQUEST udf. But that's the extent of it's
intended db functionality, and that's intentional.
If you want to use a database, use a database. If you want to use a
spreadsheet, don't use a database, use a spreadsheet.
As I mentioned in a different thread, there have been several attempts
to sell multidimensional modeling tools to replace spreadsheets. Lotus
Improv was the first to have any significant market share, but it still
died. TM/1 as an add-in for 123 proved a much more attractive product
for most people who needed this functionality. Other multidimensional
analysis and OLAP products are still around, but they're not widely
used because they're not perceived as flexible. More bluntly, THEY
DON'T SELL.
Give excel people real tools to automate their work-- and to use a
_REAL_ datastore.
Excel users already have means to pull data from dbms sources and OLAP
cubes, and (given a bit more work than should be needed) SQL.REQUEST to
pull data using formulas. Fetching data isn't an issue.
As for storing data, most companies give most non-IT employees NO WRITE
ACCESS to dbms servers. If you just think for a moment how much disk
space could be consumed by a poorly constructed pivot table you'd be
able to see why this is so. If you can't store data centrally, what's
the point to using Access? Millions of almost but not quite duplicate
MDB files running around. And this would be an improvement over
millions of redundant XLS files how?!
Instead of making the over-worked db people do more work to import your
spreadsheets.
Ough-tay It-shay.
If db people gave end-users write access to central dbms's, you might
have a point. But if db people did that they'd likely lose their jobs
within a week given all the problems it'd cause, so not too likely.
make excel into a complete frontend to SQL Server.
If you were capable of learning how to use Excel properly, you could
already do so. Most Excel users wouldn't want to do so, so the odds are
it ain't gonna happen. If you want that to change, become world
dictator and force your will on the rest of us. Until then, kindly hold
your breath.
