I have experience (and the discs) for Paradox 3.5 and 4.0 - all of which are at least 15 yrs old collecting dust. I am using Win Xp and I am considering purchasing a version of Paradox that is more current. I continue to be disappointed with Access and have decided to stay with Paradox. In addition to the routine needs for basic reports and scripts, will Paradox 5 likely work with the follow constraints: current data is in mostly in Excel 2003, in the future I will need to include dynamic links in the tables as well as the ability to download data from the web on a regular basis. I will be the only user of the data base. Your thoughts and recommendations are greatly appreciated.

Nomad-2

Paradox for Windows is just as much of a dead-end as Paradox for DOS.. the last real version was 10, in 2002.. everything since then is called "version 11", which is just a few external service patches to 10.. if you're not someone who is already up to your elbows in an existing Paradox project, you should pick something else

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the reply. I am not wedded to anything at this point. Since my experience years ago with Paradox was good, that was the direction I was leaning (this was true primarily because it met some specific needs I had right out of the box with the data I had in hand). I've experimented with Access off and on recently and I am left with the feeling that it is more of a "data base design" tool where the creator of the data base plans for its use by others (sort of a front end for users to enter data that senior managers will ask for in the form of reports).

My interest is in querying a structured collection of information that includes specific scientific data, publications, FDA status of clinical trials, types of drugs under development, patents etc. I have been collecting and managing the information in Excel for a while. Its awkward at best and not easily linked from one collection to another.

What data base application do you recommend ?

David

I understand where you're coming from, but I don't think you realized the dead end it is.. I can't make a specific recommendation, for many reasons.. all I can recommend is that you put that effort into a path with a future.. good luck

I regretfully agree with "Dead End". Please see my recent posts which apparently reflect numerous Paradox problems. It was at one time the cutting edge of db technology, but Corel has done very little to keep it 100% compatible with current operating systems.
What's more, when it is broken, there are ever fewer people "out there" willing and able to tackle the problems.]
I have worked with Access, which seems both more demanding and more forgiving than Paradox, but I suspect that Access, too, will soon give way to all SQL databases. Unfortunately I am locked in to 25 years of technical time investment, but I would never, ever start out with Paradox after my recent experiences.
I think your better question would be which Databases would best suit your purposes.
I mourn the program. I do think it had magnificent potential and when it worked it was exceptional.