VistaDB Roadmap
See the VistaDB 4.1 Beta Announcement on our blog. The blog also has a category to view the current version build notes.
Subject to Change
Everything discussed on this page is subject to change, these are all forward thinking statements that are not commitments to produce any single feature or item.
VistaDB 4.1
New Data Types - Adding SQL Server 2008 data types for Date, Time, DateTime2, DateTimeOffset to the engine.
More Data Builder UI Changes - We still have a number of additions for the Data Builder planned. Most of them are cosmetic in nature, but we want to improve the useability of the application for customers.
Internal Optimizations - We are working on a number of internal changes to allow faster loading of indexes and partial index loads at the low level to speed up several different operations. We also are changing the way we load CLR Procs and SQL Procs to require less reloads from disk.
Internal Tree Changes - We have been experimenting internally with changes to tree structures. We feel that we can probably minimize some tree contention and lower the overall memory usage through some alternate structures.
Sync Framework Version 2
Two tier is the name Sync Services uses to describe when the machine performing the sync has direct connectivity to the server endpoint of the sync operation. This server has to either be exposed on the Internet, or you have to provide a way for users to VPN and perform their sync. Of course this always works great within an office where you have direct connection to a SQL Server also.
There are several other models for Sync (including an N Tier model through proxies), but we are not committing to those other models for the initial release. By far the largest number of users said they needed two way sync with SQL Server, so that is our primary user story for this release. We would like to be able to sync to other services (like SQL Azure), but that will all happen after this initial release cycle.
Two way sync with SQL Server
Two way sync with SQL Server is our primary goal for Sync 4.1. SQL Server schema is close to ours, and queries will be more portable between the two engines. We have not nailed down if SQL Server 2005 will be supported, it will come down to the Sync provisioning system and if SQL Server 2005 will work correctly or not.
Two way sync with VistaDB 4 databases
And of course we also plan to support sync between VistaDB 4 databases. This does not appear as useful to most people at first, but there are many customers who do not have a local SQL Server. They are simply using VistaDB on a shared drive and want some way to take that data offline. We will support the ability to put a database locally on the desktop and have it sync to that shared drive database.
Traveling Salesman Scenario
Let’s use a common scenario discussed with Sync; the traveling salesman. Your company has a salesman named Bob who is in the office occasionally, but his typical work week involves flying to potential customer locations and trying to input orders. Now Bob usually has internet access from his hotel, but not while on a plane or at the client site. He still needs to be able to input his data while offline, and then have it sync the next time he is connected. Many companies build solutions around Microsoft Outlook just because this model is the default behavior for that type of application syncing to Exchange and Sharepoint.
In this scenario your application is always talking to the local VDB4 database for Bob to do his work. Maybe Bob has a way to VPN to the office (for accessing the Intranet), or he has to wait until he physically is present on the office network. While he is connected to the office network he can then have his app Sync with the home database server. Bob’s changes are pushed up to the server, and any changes from the server are brought to his laptop as well.
We will post follow up blog entries about Sync and the usage scenarios as we get closer to rolling out the beta.
NTier Sync Information
N Tier Sync is a scenario where the remote sync endpoint is not accessible directly through the local application and a proxy or stub is required. ADO.NET Data Services is one such stub, the is also a WCF Sync Proxy endpoint under development by Microsoft.
We internally implement what is needed from our side for such a scenario, but have no remote end point through a proxy to test. Perhaps as VS 2010 gets closer to release some of these smaller tools from Microsoft will be more complete for us to test them.
SQL Script Generation
A new SQL script generator is being added that allows for a programmatic way to generate scripts. Building your scripts through code allows you to get the schema for a database and check it into your revision control system (as an example).
Our new script syntax also generates best practice code with try / catch blocks in the SQL for attempting certain operations. This prevents the dreaded script failures for small logic errors, and provides a structured way to handle them within the SQL script.
Our goal is to get the script generator to handle any syntax differences between us and SQL Server. There are some cases where syntax just does not match up and those should be handled in special blocks. We also want to allow the developer to tell us what level of compatibility they need within the script (maybe you don’t care about SQL Server compatibility and only need the VistaDB SQL for example).
Data Generation Tool and API
We are adding a new product that allows you to generate sample and test data into your databases (current plans are to work with VistaDB and SQL Server). This tool and API allow you to visually create your test data through a UI and save the project for later running through a continuous integration suite. A key feature of the system is repeatability of the random data. All sets of data are seeded through a controllable seed value in order to make building repeatable NUnit type database tests easier.
Our initial support for types of data generated include all the base types with random information of course, but the more useful ways to generate data are based off real world data. You generate a list of customer names using a First and Last name generator. Generate lists of birthdays with constraints as to valid date ranges. And we include the ability to just point the generator to a flat file (csv, crlf delimited) with a list of entries you want it to choose, and those custom data rows will be used for the insertions.
Data Migration Tool and API
The Data Migration Wizard is also getting an overhaul to move the core logic into an API rather than a captive user interface. Right now you can save the migration scripts and execute them from the command line, but you can’t build that ability into your own app without a lot more work.
We want users to be able to use the wizard to build the scripts, and then call them from within their own applications using the new API. This allows for a more integrated migration experience for your customers, and the ability to display progress feedback, error messages, etc all within your application. We include a sample command line app showing how to execute the migration scripts output by the wizard.
Data Builder Updates
The VistaDB Data Builder includes to get improvements in UI, new SQL Script plugins for handling some advanced text processing, and many other new features within the application. Some of these will only be available in the Data Builder for this release, but many we are also going to migrate to the Visual Studio plug-in as well. In fact we are working to unify the two codebases to use the same user controls for a lot of actions.
Help integration changes inside Data Builder are also new. We have a new local database that includes all the help topics in a searchable manner within Data Builder (using FTS actually). We are working on a way to sync that independent of the build release cycle so users can always have local help that is up to date. We hope to also be able to incorporate user feedback within the help and have it pushed back through sync to our servers for others to see. Remote help sync is a great way for us to use the sync system within VistaDB to improve the user experience in Data Builder.
Pricing and License Changes
Of course with all of these new features and add-ons pricing is going to change as well. Professional subscribers continue to get access to all of our tools and features. Many of these new tools and APIs will be available with source as well redistribution rights.
The renewal price for a current developer stays the same at $150 per year. Corporate renewal prices also stay the same as their current rate.
Personal Editions
The Personal Edition is the minimum set of tools and features to make a stand alone developer productive with the VistaDB Engine in Visual Studio. Optional tools like Sync support, Data Migration API access, Data Generator, SQL Script Generation will all be add-ons for the Personal edition. Each of these products and features will be a new line item with a separate purchase price.
Personal Editions are meant for single developers who have short term projects or do not wish to receive support or updates. The Personal edition is intended to be used by stand alone developers, or very small teams (1-3 people) who do not need advanced capabilities or redistribution of tools like the Data Migration Wizard. I like to think of this as the Visual Studio Standard users compared to the Visual Studio Pro teams who need the more advanced features.
Some options are not available with Personal Editions (things like Build Licenses, Embedded Assembly Licenses, redistribution of certain tools and APIs, advanced samples, etc).
Professional Subscriptions
Purchasing a Professional subscription will always be the best value and the easiest way to gain access to all of our tools and APIs.
Pricing for VistaDB 4.1 new developer subscription price subscription will be $750. Subscriptions will now include 2 years of maintenance, support tickets, and updates by default. Some of the new tools will also include source and redistribution rights at the Professional level.
Developers who have a valid subscription will be automatically upgraded to the current version when available, and new tools are included. Now is a great time for developers to get the current subscription and be upgraded to 4.1 for free.
We have had some internal discussions about a base and premium version of the Professional subscription. The base subscription would be for those developers who just want the core engine with updates and support, versus those who also want all the tools. All existing subscribers would be upgraded to the Premium level automatically if we were to implement such a two tier system. I am not convinced that the price point would make enough of a difference in sales to justify complicating the SKUs.
More Subscriber Hardware Installs
The current license allows for a single developer to install on two machines at the same time, as long as the credentials are the same and they are the user of the software. This is to avoid companies who purchase 5 licenses for 10 developers thinking that each developer license can be on two machines. That is not the intent of the two machine license. It was meant to cover developers with a desktop and laptop where they are the primary user. In almost all reported cases where the credentials do not match it is because the developers are different. Since this system seems to working so well, we may relax the number of concurrent hardware installs a developer can use and activate at the same time. The exact number is still being discussed, but more than two machines – as long as all the credentials match.
Certain scenarios are going to be restricted in the next release to avoid abuse scenarios. Right now we see a number of installs to Citrix and Terminal Server machines, or local user installs as Administrator so all the developers can use the same license. That will be blocked as it is outside the acceptable usage of the current license. The price of building and managing a Citrix or Terminal Server is literally hundreds of times the price of VistaDB Corporate. Only Corporate users will be able to install on these environments.
Personal Editions will have one hardware license to match the lower price point. Each developer will only be allowed one hardware install by default, additional licenses for the same credentials will be available for an extra fee.
Royalty Free Runtime
We charge nothing for our runtime, it has always been royalty free. We have had many companies tell us this has saved them tens of thousands of dollars per year in license fees they were paying to another database vendor. The additional technology samples (like the DBA Sample Tool) also add tremendous value over having to start from scratch on their own DBA tools they would need to build with typical “free” products. Building those tools adds to the total cost of ownership for any product. Our legendary ease of deployment also means a lower support cost for your product in the field.
New Ticketing System
Around the same time as we start the new beta, a new ticketing system will go live on the Account Manager site. Tickets will be tracked through the website, and only notification emails will be sent to the users email address. Tickets will also be available for purchase if the customer is out of their support period, or have used all their included default tickets. Support costs are by far the highest cost center we have here at VistaDB, and we have to get some control over the number of tickets. Many customers will open a ticket to ask a question already answered in the help system.