TOLAS PACKAGE

[Steve ward_3]

Has anyone worked on maintaining/enhancing a TOLAS package? If so, how can I learn the basics of it?

What is does? Basic vms commands for it? Etc

[Hein van den Heuvel · Accepted solution]

My customer uses Tolas, and I just observed how often they use un-tuned RMS indexed file with minimimal bucket sizes (2 or 3) cause excessive IO and locking overhead.

So I fyou have any performeance issues with a Tolas application, than I would certainly recommend to review the RMS file tuning (or lack there of) in place.

fwiw,
Hein.

[Steve ward_3]

No I just want to know what it is? What kind of software is it? Who uses it and why? Etc

[Jon Pinkley]

Steve,

Based on your previous questions, it appears you are planning to interview for a job that requires experience with this package.

If you don't know what the package is, it is going to be hard to bluff your way through an interview.

BTW, I had no idea what the TOLAS package was, but a 5-minute search with Google found a link that had a description.

I will leave it up to you to find that link, because learning to find things on the Internet is a very useful skill to have, and there is no better way to learn than to do it.

As far as learning the basics of TOLAS, unless you can find someone that has it, I don't think you will have much luck, since the product is no longer for sale, and as such there isn't a lot of info about it on the Internet.

Good luck,

Jon

[Steve ward_3]

Why I want to know about it shouldn't concern anyone. Gee, I feel like I am being cross examined! LOL

ALl I asked was if someone has any experience using it!

[Jon Pinkley]

I can think of three reasons for the question:

1. Someone preparing for an interview that lists TOLAS experience as a requirement or plus.
2. Someone that has received a resume with TOLAS experience listed, and they want to know how that experience would transfer to the job in question.
3. Someone that has hacked into an under protected VMS system that has TOLAS running, and wants to know if this is a worthy target for exploitation.

There are probably others, but without any more information, those are the ones that come to my mind.

The point being that "Why I want to know about it shouldn't concern anyone." may or may not be a valid statement.

Jon

[labadie_1]

Hello

I have worked with Tolas, but all the Tolas sites seem to modify heavily Tolas, as usually they buy the sources, and tailor it for them.

Hope you know Basic :-)

[Barry Alford]

Yes I know TOLAS extensively. I worked for the company that made & sold it for ten years and I rose to the role of Product Manager.

Now, what exactly did you want to know?

[Barry Alford]

Got a bit more time to fill in the gaps.

TOLAS (Transcomm On Line Accounting System) was developed by a Transcomm, based in Pittsburgh, PA, who were later taken over by a French company, gsi, who were sold to ADP (US). Subsequently the TOLAS division was sold to Bull who were later consumed by Steria.

Despite the acronym, TOLAS comprised of linked packages not only for accounting (Sales, Purchase and General Ledger) but also for Sales & Purchase Orders, Inventory Management and Warehousing, Distribution Requirements Planning.

The package was indeed written in VAX Basic and was usually modified by some degree by the local country company office (France, UK, USA, Germany, Belgium) or by the customers themselves. I was proud to run the "Programming With TOLAS" courses for may years to customers in the UK & Ireland.

The TOLAS user interface was a character terminal with limited use of SMG; there were no "VMS commands" as such.

I've no idea how you would go about learning TOLAS now; having the sources may help! I doubt that I have any material from that time and probabably not in electronic form.

You could try contacting Steria, but the product is long dead as far as I know; after an initial flirtation with Baan, the group that I was with transformed into a business consultancy in partnership with Oracle.

[Ian Miller.]

IIRC There has been mention of TOLAS on comp.os.vms recently. Someone appeared to be offering a contract position.

[Steve ward_3]

Thanks everyone especially Brain for the info!

[Steve ward_3]

Sorry I meant to say thanks to Barry!!!

[Barry Alford]

... Brain will do! :-D

[keyflow]

I actually did that couse "Programming With TOLAS" with you Barry.
Very good course. Enjoyed very much. Worked with a company called Sola in Ireland