2005 has been again a successful year for theQueensland Ingres User Group.

The QIUG continues to be seen as one of themost active user groups within the Ingres community, and one of the most activein all of the CA User Groups, of which there are now about 300. The AustralianUser Groups have in the past been held up as a model around the world , ofproactive, active and useful User Groups. We will have to wait and see what therecent Ingres Corporation moves will mean for the User Groups.

In summary, our membershiphas declined again slightly this year, but our User Group Meetings remain as wellattended as ever, with attendances varying from 15-30. The level and quality ofpresentations has remained high.

Highlights during the yearhave included Ð

á         5Meetings.

á         TheUser and CA presentations made during the year, as detailed below

á         Acontinuation of our promotional materials designed to try and help raise theprofile of Ingres in the workplace. There will be a new range of absolutelyexclusive and desirable designer QIUG products next year, and you will have tobe there to get them!

á         Ingresgoes it alone!

 

My thanks as President go to many people andorganisation in making the year a success again. These include Ð

á         Adilia, Jason, Jeff, and Mat and Minh, for their tireless and very practical support in keeping the wheels turning. It is not a President who makes a group such as this successful, it is the committee as a whole, and the members for whom the organisation exists.

á         Thank you also to you, the members for whom we exist.

á         Our thanks go also to CA who provide, as you know, the refreshments we enjoy after each meeting, as well as the speakers at many meetings.

Thank you one and all, and please keep up the good work!

 

 

 

Tony Shellshear

 

Meetings Held - 2005

April 6th

  • Presentation:  "Ingres R3 - The Nuts and Bolts"  (60 mins)
    by Dennis Doolette, Computer Associates
    • Dennis is a well known presenter and educator with CA and will be known to many of you.
    • Dennis will cover the technical capabilities of R3 Ingres, as well as covering the current development status of OpenRoad and eClient.
    • The primary focus will be a technical presentation on the detail features with R3, which continues to attract a great deal of attention from the Open Source community.

 

  • What We Hope to Cover This Year  (10 mins)
    • A quick roundup of what topics we are working towards presenting this year, and your chance to have some input into what you would like to hear.  

June 1st 

  • Open Forum :  " What Are You Doing With Ingres ? "  
    Introduction by  Acraman - Natural Resources and Mines
    • We will be holding this meeting as an open discussion forum, focussed on what you, the members, are doing with Ingres, what your future directions are, and what problems you are currently finding with your Ingres release.
      Our guest speaker, Rob Acraman, from Natural Resources and Mines, will present a session on his experiences with Ingres in a variety of environments, (and countries).
    • We then propose to move to an open discussion , based on the following general topics.

      - What are you and your employer currently doing with Ingres?
      - What future plans do you currently have for Ingres?
      - What versions have you used and how have you found them?
      - What types of applications have been built?
      - Who is using OpenRoad and what have your experiences been?
      - Is anyone using Ingres R3.0 yet?
      - Have you tried the new Visual DBA?
      - What has been the best Hardware / OS environment under which you have used Ingres?
  • Open Discussion - "What Problems Are You Experiencing With Ingres ?"  
    • We also plan to discuss specific problems people are facing with current versions of Ingres; i.e. 2.5, 2.6 (SP2!) or 3.0. in the hope that others may have already solved them and can through some light on the issue.

      As a starter, we have had the following submitted for discussion - 

      - Problems when using the SELECT CASE statement under certain conditions - (Jeff Hill)
      - Recording time values down to milliseconds - (Adilia Murabito)
      - Bulk loading of data containing 'long varchars'; (seems to be related to the use of named pipes)

August 3rd

  • Presentation :  " Hibernate - A Java-Based Database Mapping and Communication Tool (In Part)"  David Springfield - Natural Resources and Mines
    • Hibernate is Java-based middleware designed to complete the Object Relational mapping model. It is very popular in the Java open source community. David Springfield from NR&M will describe one implementation within the department and will share some tips for DBAs.
    • From the Hibernate website - "Hibernate is a powerful, ultra-high performance object/relational persistence and query service for Java. Hibernate lets you develop persistent classes following common Java idiom - including association, inheritance, polymorphism, composition, and the Java collections framework. Hibernate allows you to express queries in its own portable SQL extension (HQL), as well as in native SQL, or with Java-based Criteria and Example objects. Unlike many other persistence solutions, Hibernate does not hide the power of SQL or JDBC from you and guarantees that your investment in relational technology and knowledge is as valid as always."
  • Open Discussion - "What Problems Are You Experiencing With Ingres ?"  
    • This is the one we didn't have time to address last meeting!
    • We plan to discuss specific problems people are facing with current versions of Ingres; i.e. 2.5, 2.6 (SP2!) or 3.0. in the hope that others may have already solved them and can through some light on the issue.

      As a starter, we have had the following submitted for discussion - 

      - Problems when using the SELECT CASE statement under certain conditions - (Jeff Hill)
      - Recording time values down to milliseconds - (Adilia Murabito)
      - Bulk loading of data containing 'long varchars'; (seems to be related to the use of named pipes)

November 2nd  

  • Presentation :  "SQL Server Reporting Services"  
    Ashok - Senior Computer Systems Officer, Department of Natural Resources and Mines.
    • Ashok will discuss the departments use of Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services, drawing data from the Ingres databases and other sources. SQL Server Reporting Services enables organizations to transform valuable enterprise data into shared information for insightful, timely decisions at a lower total cost of ownership.
    • SQL Server Reporting Services is a comprehensive, server-based solution that enables the creation, management, and delivery of both traditional, paper-oriented reports and interactive, Web-based reports. An integrated part of the Microsoft business intelligence framework, Reporting Services combines the data management capabilities of SQL Server (or any other DBMS) and Microsoft Windows Server with familiar and powerful Microsoft Office System applications to deliver real-time information to support daily operations and drive decisions. 
  • Open Discussion - "What Problems Are You Experiencing With Ingres ?"  
    • We have had the following submitted for discussion - 

      - Problems when using the SELECT CASE statement under certain conditions - (Jeff Hill)
      - Recording time values down to milliseconds - (Adilia Murabito)
      - Bulk loading of data containing 'long varchars'; (seems to be related to the use of named pipes)

November 30th  

  • Update:  "CA World 2005, Ingres Corporation, and the Future"  (10-15 mins)
    by Kevin Prior, Manager CA Technical Services,  Brisbane.      
    • Kevin will give us an update on CA World 2005, the Ingres incorporation, and where CA and Ingres Corporation are headed.  
  • Presentation:  "Software Quality; the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) - A Closer Look at Level 3"  (30-40 mins)
    by Angela Tuffley - Senior Consultant - The Software Quality Institute      
    • Angela provided us with a memorable presentation at our Christmas party last year on an overview of the CMMI approach to software quality. (She also won the Christmas raffle!). Angela returns this Christmas to provide us with a closer look at the CMMI Level 3 specification; the level to which all good software developers and organisations should be aspiring at a minimum!
    • Angela is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Computing and Information Technology, Griffith University and Senior Consultant with the Software Quality Institute. Her field of interest is model-based process improvement using the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) and the International Standard for Process Assessment ISO/IEC 15504 (SPICE). She is a Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, Authorised Introduction to CMMI Instructor, Intermediate Concepts of CMMI Instructor and SCAMPI Lead Appraiser.
  • QIUG Annual General Meeting Business  
    • Presentation of Annual Report
    • Election of Office Bearers
      • President
      • Vice President
      • Secretary
      • Treasurer
      • Members at Large (2)
    • Drawing and presentation of several Prizes.
    • Lucky Door Prizes courtesy of CA
    • Most meetings attended draw
    • User presentations draw  
  • Questions and Answers
  • CHRISTMAS PARTY ! - Networking and refreshments sponsored by your User Group... Our chance to thank CA for their sponsorship during the year.

 

 

QIUG Committee - 2005

 

Position

Name

President

Tony Shellshear

Vice-President

Jeffrey Hill

Secretary

Jason Rees

Treasurer

Adilia Murabito

Members at Large

Mathew Bryan

Minh Dao

Interested

 

 

 

QIUG Membership

Corporate Membership

Currently 6 corporatemember organisations, accounting for 120 members.

 

Corporate membershipfee is currently $200.

Individual Members

Currently 9 individualmembers are financial.

 

The current individualmembership is currently $20.

Mailing List

There are presently 38corporations / organisations on our mailing list, comprising a total of 151individuals. All have a valid email address.

 

QIUG Accounts

TreasurerÕs Report

Adilia Murabitotabled the following report at our last committee meeting:

                   

BalanceSheet                           As of October 31, 2005

ASSETS

      Current Assets

          Chequeing/Savings

                  Suncorp Cheque Account  5,790.70

                   PettyCash                 68.20

                Total Chequeing/Savings    5,858.90

 

              Total Current Assets         5,858.90

            TOTAL ASSETS                  5,858.90

LIABILITIES & EQUITY

      Equity

                Opening Bal Equity        1,691.07

                Retained Earnings          4,111.05

                Net Income                   56.78

              Total Equity                5,858.90

            TOTAL LIABILITIES & EQUITY     5,858.90

Profit andLoss          November2004 through October 2005

 

         OrdinaryIncome/Expense

           Income

            Funding for Group Activities                     1,700.39

            Membership Subscriptions

              2005                                 1,080.00

            Total Membership Subscriptions                   1,080.00

           TotalIncome                                       2,780.39

 

           Expense

            Bank Service Charges                                 3.00

            Insurance

              Liability Insurance                    613.09

            Total Insurance                                    613.09

            Meeting Expense

              miscellaneous                           24.12

               Drinks                                 167.26

              Food                                 1,038.07

            Total Meeting Expense                            1,229.45

            National President's Meeting                       119.20

            Post Box Rental                                     89.00

            Postage and Delivery                                 5.00

            Prizes & Trophies                                  354.61

            Professional Fees

              Accounting                             243.10

              Professional Fees - Other               35.10

            Total Professional Fees                            278.20

            Taxes

              Government Debit                         9.50

            Total Taxes                                          9.50

           TotalExpense                                      2,701.05

         Net OrdinaryIncome                                     79.34

         Other Income/Expense

           OtherIncome

            Interest Income                                     27.39

           TotalOther Income                                    27.39

         Net OtherIncome                                        27.39

        Net Income                                              106.73