I am sorry to say I have actually lost faith in Dataease, I understand that building software is a resourceful and time consuming task but the time its taken to get to this stage from a load of early promises is not the best advert for a product.  I have given up waiting and I know many others who will have done the same over the same period, in particular a regular poster on the forum who understandably gets angry and frustrated over the delays, after delays.  This is usually followed up by Dataease replying in a similar manner which probably does not help matters. The original intentions were probably ambitious but the outcome has not been.  I wish you all the best for the future and hope you can achieve what you set out to do.  

Hi Steve.
As we are all previous users that got togehter to take over DataEase from Sapphire we know very much the feeling you have. 
When you mention a "regular poster that get frustrated" I thnk you must mean Ihor and I must disappoint you in that regards. We are great friends with him but we do admit that some times the tone can get a little frustrated both ways ;-)

DataEase is now over 45 years old and we have customers that use versions from 4.53 to LE9 with everythng in between.

We have had solutions for web/apps/integration REST etc for over 10 years but the problem is what to productise. When the new team took over the first priority was to support exsisting customers and very much of the development and resources has gone towards helping them out hence the focus on L4D and the first increment of DE9 being called LE9 (LegEasy9).

The sad truth is that since DataEase for WIndows was launched with the challenges that was for both customers and DataEase the focus has been on supporting exsisting users rather than build a product for new users.

DataEase for WIndows is a massive and complex product that is very hard to tailor both for existing legacy usres while a the same time be an attractive solution for new users.

Another problem is that based on previous experiences with migrating from DFD to DFW and from 6 to 7 etc. a lot of users are "afraid" of upgrading and the "original" generation of DataEase developers/users mostly want things to work as before rather than spend time on moving fowards etc.

LE9 (DE9) is the easiest and most advanced version of DataEase that has more new and improved features than all previous DataEase versions put together but we haven't "blown the trumpet" as we still don't think that its a version that will recruite new users.

DataEase work with large customers in the UK and around the world that has DataEase as a business critical application. You migh tnot believe it but there are still large corporations out there with thousands of DFD users as well as DFW applicaitons. Most of them have tried to get rid of DataEase since the 1990s but they never found anything that could do the job the same way so they have stayed.

The main driver for them movign forward with DataEase is a change in the generation that support DataEase internally with them. They get young people that undestand that this app - though old and outdated - do something that most modern tools they have seen can't so rather than replace DataEase they want to modernise and use it more.

The main hurdle is that the systems are in daily use and the "migration/redevelopment" is a death trap. 

Nobody like migration old code so we decided that we would rather allow them to keep running their old apps (LE9) and then we could support them with building around the app on top of the dame data.

So LE9 is in many ways a "trojan horse" as it open up the database to modern tools. We now run hybrid apps including DFD/LE9/Web and apps with itegration to online services and other databases.

We are aware that there has been many "false starts" with DataEase and that is why we have not updated the website and treat it more like a communication hub with existing users and a resource to buy DataEase for the people in the know and for users to download upgrades etc.

The simple truth is that its very costly both in money and resources to support any product and hence we have to take the time needed to get the right prouduct out there that we can support. 

So the future of DataEase is very much divided with LE9 being the product to support existing users - which has been and always will be a priority for us - and a new product for new users that hopefully will succeeed in going back to the roots of simplicity and rapid development.

We obviously know more about what is coming but as you have pointed out - there has been to many promises and previews that didn't materialise so we now think its better to wait till we are ready rather than stir the pot.

At the moment we concentrate on being here for the ones that already use DataEase and make sure they can keep using it as they have and want to and also help them moving forward but our long term goal is still to claw back the position DataEase once had but only time will tell if we get there.




 

Hi again Steve.

I used to be in your position - throwing stones at Sapphire and being frustrated with every new version not doing what I wanted.

Its easy to be frustrated at both ends so I will went "our" frustration too...(Not the way you fear ;-))

LE9 (DE9) while still looking deceptively like DFW can in reality to almost anything and have non of the limittation of previous DataEase versions.

However it is not a "magical" tool that just do it for you, so one have to invest in figuring it out and using the new stuff etc.

That has been very much our frustration that most users focus on everything that is "not as before" whille not spedning much time on anything new or wanting to learn new way to do things.

Obviously that is our "problem" as its our job to educate and motivate so I'm not telling anyone off but rather quite openly say it how it is.

You have a DE9/LE9 license so obvioulsy have full access to all the new stuff etc. but you are still disappointed.

Can you eleborate?

Forget about the company etc and lets focus on the product. What is it specifically you are disappointed with in LE9? What is it you would have like it to do for you?

And lets dream a little! 

What had you pictured that DataEase would have looked like in 2026 and again what would you like it to do and in what way?

It's not a trick question, we are genuinely interested and wouldn't it be fun if it already did what you want it to do?

We invite anyone to write the same and we will respond with an open mind and if LE9/DE9 already do it we will provide a sample for you on how you can do the same.

Most people that use LE9 absolutely love it - and that is not he normal spinn, its the truth - but its easy to fall into the trap and think its just another repainted DFW version which couldn't be further from the truth.

Lets start a dialogue on here on what you want and then we can provide the solution. 

If you come up with good ideas we haven't though about then we will consider making that part of the product too.

Mates! The war here is the only reason for frustration… at last I’ve got the sequence tool I needed a lot …. But blackouts, missiles and etc. shortened my time devoted to development with newly released DataEase 7441 … as to what I need it is iOS & Android DataEase app . Glory to DataEase team!