I have been using "DataBASIC" to mean the language that Ken Simms wrote
that we refer to by product specific terms such as UniBasic (for
UniData). I was just told by someone in a U2 User Group board meeting
that this term belongs to Northgate, the Reality folks.

Can anyone confirm that? Is there another generic term for the
language? I think someone has MV BASIC, while RD has PICK BASIC.

Of course we cannot refer to the query language easily either. --dawn

dawn wrote:

I think any of the variants serve to identify the language generally as
distinct from ordinary Basic and sometimes as specific to one of the
Pick/MV variants. DataBasic was the original, and so would have best
claim to the right to be used as a generic name. My first experience
with any of the variants was on MicroData kit so I naturally used
DataBasic for the first few years. I began to use the appropriate
variant in my CV to show I had a breadth of knowledge and experience.
Then, when MicroData (or whatever name it was using at the time) went
belly-up everywhere except the UK, I think PickBasic assumed the
"generic" mantle. Nowadays I tend to use PickBasic generically (rightly
or wrongly), or as specific to D3, and the others as appropriate
depending on forum and context.

Mike.

On my bookshelf here, I have the Basic manuals for all the various
flavours of Pick and MultiValue system.

Reality is the only one that actually uses the name DataBasic.
Although an old ADD MENTOR manual uses the name Data/Basic

Regards

Malcolm Bull

MBTraining (AT) aol (DOT) com wrote:
Hi Malcolm -- do you know if they have a trademark on the use of the
term? Also, I have the full list of names that I could find for the
query language (they are on my poster at

http://tincat-group.com/mv/MVFamilyTreeColor.pdf

I haven't investigated names for DataBASIC. Do you have a list?
Thanks. --dawn

Dawn:

Know that I am not an attorney and that I am not giving legal advise.
Note also that my comments only pertain to the USA. That Northgate
has certain right in the UK does not mean they have the same rights in
the USA.

To be a trademark one needs to identify it as such with a tm, no later
than one year from its first use. One can have it registered with the
US Patent Office and it becomes a registered trademark that needs to be
identified with a circle R. My search of the US Patent Office datavase
indicates that the term DataBasic was never registered, At the time,
there would also have been a requirement to confirm the registration
every five years.

Northgate may have assumed that they have exclusive rights to the name
as part of acquiring certain assets but, under US law, one has to have
an interest in something in order to convey such an interest.
Therefore, if the selling company had not laid claim to the name, they
cannot convey that name.

The term DataBasic has been used as a generic term for a long time and
I have never seen it uses with a tm or circle R mark and therefore it
seems that Northgate's claim to DataBasic does not have a leg to stand
on.

May I suggest you forward this to the person at Northgate who made that
claim and let's see what shakes out.

Henry Keultjes
Microdyne Company
Mansfield Ohio USA


dawn wrote:

Like Henry, I haven't seen to (C) or (TM) symbols on the name, and I
can't find any in their literature. The best thing would be to
approach Northgate and ask them.

I think the de facto use as a generic name for the language is much
like the way in which so many people call the query language English,
even when it has a distinct name such as Access, AQL, UniQuery,
RetrieVe, or whatever.

Regards

Malcolm Bull

csigline (AT) hotmail (DOT) com wrote:
Thanks, Henry. That is what I came up with when I used the term in my
flashcards a few years ago too.

It was not a Northgate employee who made the claim, but an IT pro from
the UK who had done research on this end to see if he could identify a
generic term for the language. So, it might be that outside the UK we
can use this as generic, but inside there could be an issue. I doubt
that Northgate has an issue with the use of the term and didn't mean to
imply otherwise.

[a bit of a dirgression follows]
So, now what about that query language. That one really bugs me. I
don't even like referring to it as the languages that are based on the
GIRLS document (that someone passed me and intend to put on my web
site, but I lost their e-mail address and have not said "thank you" to
my satisfaction -- so if you are reading this, please e-mail me), That
is because I have learned that when Don Nelson chose this term, he was
likely basing it on a query language that is related to RPG and another
langauge whose name is escaping me right now. I don't know if he based
any of his spec on it that, but folks published on GIRLS before Nelson
used the term, it seems.

Cheers! --dawn

If I had it "my way" (which of course I don't), *every* MultiValue
platform these days would use the terms mvBASIC and mvQUERY, or some
semblance thereof.

Dave Weaver, Weaver Consulting


dawn wrote:

Dave Weaver wrote:

Oops! I think that's taken.

Mike.

PS. & OT. What were all the ...Mentor names again? Thinks like
DocuMentor? I remember (sorta - from 17 years ago) there were a few of
them, but I can't remember what they were.

DocuMentor (JET)
AccuMentor (spreadsheet)
Office AugMentor (D3's PA)


Mark Brown
<michael (AT) preece (DOT) net> wrote