On 02-01-95 LANCE LEONARD wrote to JOE BARR... 
 
 LL>  JB> I need to provide callers on a multi-line BBS access to 
 LL>  JB> Paradox for queries, reports, file downloads.  Has 
 LL>  JB> anyone out there successfully done this? 
 
The Ont. Fed. for Cerebral Palsy was trying to get a Paradox database onto  
the Ability Online BBS (416 650-5411  or Brian.Hillis@Ablelink.org) but 
apparently ran into difficulties so they are now trying to do it with a  
dBASE database.  I didn't ask what the specific problems were.  Even so I  
kinda wonder why dBASE would be any better? 
 
Quite some time ago I spoke with a BBS sysop about putting some software on  
his BBS (I think it was WordPerfect ... so anyone could read my WordPerfect  
report files ...) and he said there were problems with the transmission.   
Again I didn't go into details, but it appears you can put all kinds of  
"doors" on a BBS to let you do all sorts of wild and wonderful stuff  
without having to buy the executable software for your own machine, but  
some things just don't work out...WP being one and maybe PDOX being  
another. 
 
If you could set up the functions you would allow the users to do in some  
kind of text menu structure it might be possible to install a door that  
simply puts up the questions, accepts the callers responses, passes those  
into a script that then structures the ASK appropriately and generates a  
text report of the ANSWER.  The communications aspect of the BBS is only  
passing ASCII text back and forth.  Paradox isn't "running on the BBS", but  
it would be running on the machine the BBS is using. 
 
That's just a guess, and assuming the problem is in the communications  
aspects of the BBS.  If the problem is just that the BBS operating system  
(is there such a creature?) can't run Paradox then my suggestion doesn't  
help at all.  It also is a real kludge and severely limits what your  
callers can pull up from the database. 
 
See if you can connect with Brian Hillis at Ability Online (which is, I  
think, located at the Hospital For Sick Children in Toronto).  He'd be more  
likely to be able to tell you what the real problems are. 
 
Good Luck! 
Mike Kimball 
 
... OFFLINE 1.50  "I'm not schizophrenic ... just multi-faceted!" 
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