4.3.3.2 Adaptability of Databases
The redesigned version of ESCAPE could be automatically exported to a database format,
and the accessibility of the data allowed the system to be available in a wider
variety of settings. This allowed the ESCAPE team to "escape" from the constraints
of using any particular vendor's hardware or software. The restructured system was
better in a fundamental way beyond portability which was usability by virtue of
consistency.
Over the course of transferring ESCAPE to the Sun, it was clear that the heart
of the problem of exporting and storing the data was the issue of formats and
standards. The distinction also became blurred between the mid-development
platform change which was the initial cause of porting and a deeper adaptability
issue. The new ESCAPE addressed the issue of creating a way for exporting the
data that at that up to that point was only stored within HyperCard in an
inconsistent format. Even if the ESCAPE project had not changed platforms,
there was going to be an inevitable long term adaptability problem in the
earlier version. The ESCAPE data could have been easily lost if it was trapped
in its previous inconsistent and proprietary format within HyperCard.
The new verison of ESCAPE provided a database with the "adaptability" of
providing availability of the data on another platform. The ESCAPE data
was also incidently guaranteed to remain usable on a long term basis because
it was maintained outside HyperCard in consistent, commonly accepted,
non proprietary format. Technically oriented people associated with
the ESCAPE project applauded the fundamental benefit of the redesign
that allowed exportation to a standard database format. In a the following
conversation between Lawler and Hopper (personal interview, July 20, 1992)
this point is highlighted:
Lawler: One of the general issues that is part of the business
world is the portability of systems. As a database designer, I was always
concerned with tradeoffs, and whether or not the knowledge that you've
invested in when you bring up a system on one piece of hardware would be
portable to a different vender's computer at a minimal cost. That is a
central concern for people who manage computer resources in a business community.
A second point is that businesses usually deal with important information.
They never want to lose data. So it's very important that if you have files,
you back them up in such a way that they can be restored in case of a system disaster.
This embodies a whole mind set: that what you have as a system is only one image
of the reality of what data is. The practice of down loading files, and recreating
files at need, is functionally central. This focus gives a kind of access to
cross vendor portability.