Re: General WebCatalog Questions

This WebDNA talk-list message is from

1997

It keeps the original formatting. numero = 14792
interpreted = N
texte = >At present I am not a WebCatalog user, but am at the brink of purchasing>the application (especially after a very informative conversation with Jay>Gonzalez at StarNine). I just have a few questions about the application's>capabilities and its ease-of-use.>>There are a few requirements I have set for the sites I am developing, and>I wonder if WebCatalog can fulfill them:>>1) A customers database. Can WC do it, and how easy/hard is it to do? ie.>customers purchasing habits/addresses/CC#'s would be stored for their>re-use upon repeat visits.WebCatalog can do this. How easy it is depends on your databaseprogramming experience. The best technique is to plan everything outfirst, before you start creating your databases and templates. If youneed help after you get WebCatalog, let me know ... :)>2) Sustainability of Shopping Cart items. Will WC remember a visitor's>order if they go away and come back later? It doesn't seem to do this>automatically--how hard is it to set up?WebCatalog can put anything that's stored in the shopping cart into adatabase. Shopping carts are automatically deleted 24 hours afterlast modified, but databases are not. So if you're planning forrepeat visitors to retrieve a shopping cart they created earlier,then you have to tell WebCatalog to put those items into a database(or a text file) for future use by those same visitors.>3) Can WebCatalog import further records after an inital database has been>set-up. Does it do this itself, or must you open the .db files and import>using either Excel or FileMaker?You cantell WebCatalog to do this with the [apppend] or [appendfile]contexts, provided the appendable records are in the propertab-delimited format. And you can always add individual records viastandard html forms whenever you want to ...>4) Addition of fields to a database--can you adds fields to a database>after the database has been created?Yes, but you have to do it manually. This is NOT something that'srecommended, because proper planning in the beginning will eliminateyour need to do this. The best technique is to decide how many fieldsyou need in the beginning, because records are easy to add, butfields are not.Still, if you have to add fields later, it's very easy to import yourWebCat database into Panorama and add a field, then export it. Theprocess takes me less than a minute with Panorama. FileMaker might beable to do this too.>5) General comments--how does everyone like working with WebCatalog?It's the best Web database software I've ever used, and I've usedeverything less than $10,000 on the market. It's faster than everyother Web database software out there. People are switching fromother database solutions to WebCatalog all the time, but I'm stillwaiting for a single WebCatalog user to tell me he/she has switchedfrom WebCat to one of these other solutions.>Does anyone have any misgivings about WebCatalog?I don't, that's for sure. I can do almost everything I need to on myweb server with WebCatalog. It just keeps getting better, and thetech support is excellent. Get on the WebDNA-Talk list to see foryourself!> or are there any outstanding shortcomings with the product?Of course there are. WebCatalog has shortcomings too. Nothing'sperfect. You have to decide what's most important to you, then don'tget distracted by another product that's 'almost' good enough foryou. But for those who value extremely fast, stable, and ultimatelyflexible database solutions with built-in eCommerce features for thefuture, WebCatalog is the best way to go.Sincerely, Ken GromeWebDNA Solutionshttp://www.smithmicro.com/webdnasolutions/. Associated Messages, from the most recent to the oldest:

Re: General WebCatalog Questions (Olin 1997)
Re: General WebCatalog Questions (Kenneth Grome 1997)
General WebCatalog Questions (Internet Yukon Admin 1997)

>At present I am not a WebCatalog user, but am at the brink of purchasing>the application (especially after a very informative conversation with Jay>Gonzalez at StarNine). I just have a few questions about the application's>capabilities and its ease-of-use.>>There are a few requirements I have set for the sites I am developing, and>I wonder if WebCatalog can fulfill them:>>1) A customers database. Can WC do it, and how easy/hard is it to do? ie.>customers purchasing habits/addresses/CC#'s would be stored for their>re-use upon repeat visits.WebCatalog can do this. How easy it is depends on your databaseprogramming experience. The best technique is to plan everything outfirst, before you start creating your databases and templates. If youneed help after you get WebCatalog, let me know ... :)>2) Sustainability of Shopping Cart items. Will WC remember a visitor's>order if they go away and come back later? It doesn't seem to do this>automatically--how hard is it to set up?WebCatalog can put anything that's stored in the shopping cart into adatabase. Shopping carts are automatically deleted 24 hours afterlast modified, but databases are not. So if you're planning forrepeat visitors to retrieve a shopping cart they created earlier,then you have to tell WebCatalog to put those items into a database(or a text file) for future use by those same visitors.>3) Can WebCatalog import further records after an inital database has been>set-up. Does it do this itself, or must you open the .db files and import>using either Excel or FileMaker?You cantell WebCatalog to do this with the [apppend] or [appendfile]contexts, provided the appendable records are in the propertab-delimited format. And you can always add individual records viastandard html forms whenever you want to ...>4) Addition of fields to a database--can you adds fields to a database>after the database has been created?Yes, but you have to do it manually. This is NOT something that'srecommended, because proper planning in the beginning will eliminateyour need to do this. The best technique is to decide how many fieldsyou need in the beginning, because records are easy to add, butfields are not.Still, if you have to add fields later, it's very easy to import yourWebCat database into Panorama and add a field, then export it. Theprocess takes me less than a minute with Panorama. FileMaker might beable to do this too.>5) General comments--how does everyone like working with WebCatalog?It's the best Web database software I've ever used, and I've usedeverything less than $10,000 on the market. It's faster than everyother Web database software out there. People are switching fromother database solutions to WebCatalog all the time, but I'm stillwaiting for a single WebCatalog user to tell me he/she has switchedfrom WebCat to one of these other solutions.>Does anyone have any misgivings about WebCatalog?I don't, that's for sure. I can do almost everything I need to on myweb server with WebCatalog. It just keeps getting better, and thetech support is excellent. Get on the WebDNA-Talk List to see foryourself!> or are there any outstanding shortcomings with the product?Of course there are. WebCatalog has shortcomings too. Nothing'sperfect. You have to decide what's most important to you, then don'tget distracted by another product that's 'almost' good enough foryou. But for those who value extremely fast, stable, and ultimatelyflexible database solutions with built-in eCommerce features for thefuture, WebCatalog is the best way to go.Sincerely, Ken GromeWebDNA Solutionshttp://www.smithmicro.com/webdnasolutions/. Kenneth Grome

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Re: General WebCatalog Questions

1997

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