Date:         Wed, 5 Aug 1998 19:58:02 -0500
Reply-To:     "Bassett Consulting Services, Inc."
              <BASSETT.CONSULTING/0002395748@MCIMAIL.COM>
Sender:       "SAS(r) Discussion" <SAS-L@UGA.CC.UGA.EDU>
From:         "Bassett Consulting Services, Inc."
              <BASSETT.CONSULTING/0002395748@MCIMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: runtime SAS/AF

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CONTENT:      re: run-time SAS/AF thread
NAME:         Michael L. Davis
INTERNET:     Bassett.Consulting@worldnet.att.net
AFFILIATION:  Bassett Consulting Services, Inc.
P-ADDR:       10 Pleasant Drive, North Haven, CT  06473
PHONE:        (203) 562-0640
FAX:          (203) 498-1414
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I noticed today the re-emergence of the wish for a run-time license
for SAS/AF applications.  I don't think SI is likely to make a
dramatic change in this area in the future given their business
model.  As I understand the model, customers pay fees to SI each
year, the amount of which based on the number of users or the
capabilities of the computers on which SAS is run.
 
Perhaps our friends in Cary are leaving money on the table.  However,
given the consistent growth of SI's revenue and profits, I think that
financially, they are doing fine.  If SI has a problem, it might be
attracting technical specialists in some areas of the country to
further support their growth.  The shift from selling just the tools
to selling comprehensive business solutions might be another place
where SI is encountering growing pains.
 
If one is looking to develop a run-time application that can be
redistributed without additional license costs or an annual
application of the dreaded SETINIT, perhaps some other computer
languages might do.  If you need SI software's computational and
analysis capabilities, you may be stuck.
 
In those situations, one might consider embracing "thin client"
architecture where one codes the viewer layer using a combination
of HTML, Javascript, and Java to launch SAS applications on a server
running SAS/AF, macros, and other SAS products in all their glory.
The SAS software would implement the model and controller aspects of
applications within the MVC architecture.
 
While I don't seee SI offering free redistribution of applications
developed using SAS/AF, I do see the prospect of SI offering tools
to help create the viewer layer in other languages.  That is one of
the premises behind JAZZ.
 
As section chair for Systems Architecture at SUGI 24 in Miami Beach,
I can tell you that we have requested at least one paper invited
presentation from SI on how to implement "thin client" applications
with SAS Institute software using JAZZ.  I am sure the other sections
will have plenty more papers on techniques and strategies to implement
"thin client" applications using SAS Institute and other, complimentary
software.