Relational database management systems (RDBMSs) are importantbuilding blocks of any modern information system. Sybase has been one ofthe best RDBMSs, although Oracle has taken the lead in certain respects.This book highlights most of the features of Sybase XI and compares themwith the previous version, System 10.

Chapter 1 starts with the history of Sybase, covering Sybase XI,Power Builder, and Watcom. The author claims that Sybase was a leader inthe concepts of stored procedures and triggers in the mid-1980s. SybaseAdaptive saver (version 11.5) is the package described in the book,starting with chapter 2. In accordance with recent trends, Sybase XIsupports online transaction processing, decision support, massdeployment, and complex data types. It is also JDBC-compliant, fordevelopment of Internet-based applications.

The next three chapters give overviews of Sybase XI, Sybasedatabase objects, and other standard facilities.

Chapter 6 is in the format of a typical handbook. It describes morethan 100 systems procedures in the standard Sybase XI format. Chapter 7covers Transact SQL (T-SQL), the Sybase query language. Chapter 8 dealswith details of System XI installation and is intended specifically forsystem administrators. These three chapters constitute about 40 percentof the book.

The behavior of queries in Sybase XI is the subject of chapter 9,which contains the guideline “commit early and commitoften.” The next two chapters concentrate on improving theperformance of Sybase XI by tuning the system parameters and makingintelligent use of T-SQL commands.

Sybase is committed to an open client and client/serverarchitecture, which is emphasized in chapter 12. Chapter 13 describesthe facilities of the CT-Library, for application program interfaces,and the DB-Library, which consists of functions for interfacing a clientto the Sybase server. A sample C program interface is included in thischapter. The next chapter deals with the relevance of System XI toworkflow automation, middleware, and open server architecture. A Cprogram illustrates a typical open server application.

Chapter 15 covers Omni Server, which enables clients to accessdifferent computers. Replication and consistency facilities, importanttodistributed databases, are described in chapter 16. The details of theinstallation, monitoring, and performance of the replication facilitiesare covered.

Access to Sybase databases for users using varied systems is animportant topic of chapter 17, which covers SQL Anywhere (formerly knownas Watcom). It can provide access for users with DOS or Windows systems.The next chapter describes the dbAgent utility, developed by theauthor’s company, as a third-party tool for the maintenance of a Sybasedatabase.

With the current emphasis on upper-level management in RDBMSs, newconcepts and tools such as data warehouses and online analyticprocessing are becoming relevant to every information system design.Related Sybase facilities are covered in chapter 19. Chapter 20concludes the book with some important observations: Sybaseis still a good competitor to Oracle. According to the author, 3-tiermay be a good concept, but it is sometimes unwieldy to implement. SybaseXI provides both page locking and row locking. The author includes aninteresting analysis of a hypothetical merger of Sybase withLOTUS.

The book has a good glossary and index, but the lack of references,particularly from Sybase, is strongly felt. Even though it is written asa handbook, it also has some features of a text and of a reference book.While it is not a textbook for any course, it will be a good referencefor graduate students and practitioners who have access to Sybase. Anintegrated example would have helped readers. The attached CD-ROM addsvalue to the book, since the author was involved in the development ofthe utilities included on it. This book can be a good addition to anRDBMS library.