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Quickbooks qodbc performance

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    Quickbooks qodbc performance

    Hi,

    I'm looking at building an application using AlphaFive (v9.0), Quickbooks, and qodbc. I'm wondering if someone who is currently using this combination could comment on what I've run into.

    First, I'm using only the trial version of Qodbc and that in itself, might be the biggest part of my problem.

    Right now, I'm trying passive link tables just to get the feel of it. When I link to the accounts or customer table in quickbooks, performance is very good. When I try to link to Invoices (I'm working with a copy of the clients data so there's a good amount of data in the table already) the link seems to fail. The qodbc icon in the systray just keeps running it's animation but never seems to bring in any data. I've let it go for over 10 minutes without any response from the system. I'm wondering if when you exceed the trail version allowed record count if this is what happens.

    Can someone who's worked with this combination let me know if this in normal behavior or if there is a performance problem with this combination?

    Thanks in advance for your input.

    Regards,

    Bill

    #2
    Re: Quickbooks qodbc performance

    Originally posted by wmarquardt View Post
    First, I'm using only the trial version of Qodbc and that in itself, might be the biggest part of my problem.
    No the trial is fully functional.

    The first refresh of data takes the longest.

    You may want to use a QB sample company file - with a lot less data - and give yourself some confidence.

    The transaction tables (ie invoice/lines) have the most data and take the most time.

    You can also use a select clause and/or arguments to limit the number of rows that are returned. I typically bring across only the columns and rows that I need to for invoices.

    Depending on the number of records and the power of the machine, you may take an hour or two to get all of the invoice lines. On the other hand I have seen machines that are truly server class - fast CPU, 4 gb memory, Server version of Windows, that load a 100,000 lines of invoices in a few minutes.
    Al Buchholz
    Bookwood Systems, LTD
    Weekly QReportBuilder Webinars Thursday 1 pm CST

    Occam's Razor - KISS
    Normalize till it hurts - De-normalize till it works.
    Advice offered and questions asked in the spirit of learning how to fish is better than someone giving you a fish.
    When we triage a problem it is much easier to read sample systems than to read a mind.
    "Make it as simple as possible, but not simpler."
    Albert Einstein

    http://www.iadn.com/images/media/iadn_member.png

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Quickbooks qodbc performance

      Al,

      Can you give me an estimate of what the refresh rate would be like after the first connection? I figured performance would be good... it's only an odbc connection to a data source. I wasn't expecting such a delay.

      Bill
      Last edited by wmarquardt; 02-18-2009, 10:49 AM.

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Quickbooks qodbc performance

        Originally posted by wmarquardt View Post
        it's only an odbc connection to a data source. I wasn't expecting such a delay.
        Bill

        It's way to difficult to estimate the performance that you are going to have.

        And if you look closely at the model that Intuit is using to provide an open data source, it is much more than an odbc connection to a data source...

        You can find info here or at the Intuit site about the SDK.
        Al Buchholz
        Bookwood Systems, LTD
        Weekly QReportBuilder Webinars Thursday 1 pm CST

        Occam's Razor - KISS
        Normalize till it hurts - De-normalize till it works.
        Advice offered and questions asked in the spirit of learning how to fish is better than someone giving you a fish.
        When we triage a problem it is much easier to read sample systems than to read a mind.
        "Make it as simple as possible, but not simpler."
        Albert Einstein

        http://www.iadn.com/images/media/iadn_member.png

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Quickbooks qodbc performance

          Bill,

          I just posted an ODBC issue.

          I lock up period with a59 version 3252 which is the latest version on the web.
          I have version 3197 in the office and with the same connections no problem..........


          Nicholas
          Nicholas Wieland
          LedgerSuite.com Corp
          [email protected]
          http://www.ledgersuite.com

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Quickbooks qodbc performance

            I guess I'm really quite surprised (disappointed) in the performance both as a passive link and active link. I was expecting something more in line with the standard Alpha response (okay... I'd live with a little slower but the load times just seem really extreme.

            Do you find the same performance issues? I am doing something wrong or are my expectations out of line for this product?

            Bill

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Quickbooks qodbc performance

              One more question to get me in line with this product... I set up an active link table from the invoice table (in Qbooks) grabbing only the fields that I need (about 10 fields). Watching the qodbc monitors it was bringing in records at about 1000 per 5 minutes. Unfortunately I 'played' with the quickbooks file by trying to run a report while it was connected and I blew it up before it finished.

              The question is this... once the data is in Alpha, what is the performance really like? There are about 5000 invoices in the clients quickbooks data. I certainly can't ask them to wait 25 minutes just to run this software I'm trying to build for them. Is the performance close to normal Alpha5 performance once the table is fully built or is there a long delay for refreshing the table as things change?

              Thanks for any advice you can provide.

              Regards,

              Bill

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Quickbooks qodbc performance

                Performance using active link tables to the Quickbooks invoicelines table -- in a word, DISMAL!

                This is including a filter that will extract only around 300 records with a dozen fields. I've been through this up and down and sideways, and I can't get around the fact that performance at each step in the process of simply exporting certain records and fields to an ascii file takes forever. I've gotten used to the fact that when it seems frozen, if I wait 1/2 hour or so, it may actually perform the operation I asked for.

                I see no practical way to put this capability in the hands of users. All I'm asking it to do at this point is to simply create an ascii export file during the night (scheduling to open Alpha with an autoexec script that does the export, then closes Alpha). I haven't put this in place yet, but hope to do so shortly and can report back my findings.

                One thing before I do the unattended procedure is to be sure this simple export operation runs silently. So far, even though I check in the options tab to run silently, I still get two prompts that should not appear when running silently. Maybe version 9 has a problem with the silent option -- I don't know -- but I'm crossing my fingers that there is a solution to running silently. Otherwise, even overnight processing of this simple request will not be possible.

                I've always been very fond of the great strides forward made by the Alpha Software team, but I must say that active link tables used with Quickbooks is so far a tremendous failure, in spite of the hype you see over active link tables. I sure hope they have the ability to overcome the speed issue, especially since I committed a certain capability to a client prior to jumping in to see how it really measures up. There is so much that can be done with Alpha active link tables and Quickbooks, but I don't see how to harness this power at this point.

                Hopefully,

                Jeff Fried

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Quickbooks qodbc performance

                  William/Jeff

                  For reporting purposes, active links are over kills.

                  Active links are designed to read and write. Given the QuickBooks model for creating invoices, you shouldn't use an active link table to write to QB invoices anyway.

                  Just because Active links are the latest tool doesn't make it the right tool for your job.

                  Use a passive-linked table instead. Refresh only when needed.

                  QReportBuilder is based on that model too.

                  Have you looked at QReportBuilder? It's a Alpha 5 application to produce reports from QuickBooks.

                  Might be another place for you to start.

                  Note webinar every Thursday - you are welcome to attend.


                  Originally posted by wmarquardt View Post
                  One more question to get me in line with this product... I set up an active link table from the invoice table (in Qbooks) grabbing only the fields that I need (about 10 fields). Watching the qodbc monitors it was bringing in records at about 1000 per 5 minutes. Unfortunately I 'played' with the quickbooks file by trying to run a report while it was connected and I blew it up before it finished.

                  The question is this... once the data is in Alpha, what is the performance really like? There are about 5000 invoices in the clients quickbooks data. I certainly can't ask them to wait 25 minutes just to run this software I'm trying to build for them. Is the performance close to normal Alpha5 performance once the table is fully built or is there a long delay for refreshing the table as things change?

                  Thanks for any advice you can provide.

                  Regards,

                  Bill
                  Al Buchholz
                  Bookwood Systems, LTD
                  Weekly QReportBuilder Webinars Thursday 1 pm CST

                  Occam's Razor - KISS
                  Normalize till it hurts - De-normalize till it works.
                  Advice offered and questions asked in the spirit of learning how to fish is better than someone giving you a fish.
                  When we triage a problem it is much easier to read sample systems than to read a mind.
                  "Make it as simple as possible, but not simpler."
                  Albert Einstein

                  http://www.iadn.com/images/media/iadn_member.png

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: Quickbooks qodbc performance

                    Al,

                    OK, I will try passive link. And I have looked at the demo of Qreportbuilder. It is not appropriate for my intended uses. I'm not sure, though, that having Qreportbuilder is going to speed things up unless, as you state, passive link is the more appropriate vehicle. I do, then, need to concern myself with refreshing the table, no big deal (I hope).

                    Regardless, the fact remains that active link is very, very slow. I intend, later, to write back to the Quickbooks file, and my understanding is that active link would be the better approach. If not, then what is active link for?

                    Thanks for the reply. I didn't see the time and place for the webinar.

                    Jeff

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: Quickbooks qodbc performance

                      Originally posted by Jeff Fried View Post

                      Regardless, the fact remains that active link is very, very slow. I intend, later, to write back to the Quickbooks file, and my understanding is that active link would be the better approach. If not, then what is active link for?

                      Thanks for the reply. I didn't see the time and place for the webinar.

                      Jeff
                      For the webinar, please click on the link below my name.. a web page will appear with the information. Currently it is on Thursday @ 2pm EST and it has the gotomeeting connection information. (another click)

                      As stated before, active links are not the only answer to a situation. The Intuit SDK controls the interaction with QB data. Active links are designed to work directly with a database source. The connection to QB is emulating a database source via QODBC. It is a more complicated connection that is dictated by Intuit.. You either play their game or sit on the porch.

                      Incorrect expectations make for disappointment. Active links are designed for general database connections and work very well.

                      The Intuit SDK makes QB look like a ODBC source, but is not a direct database connection. It is talking to the QB program to ensure data integrity. So it is a very specialized animal...

                      You can fight the model and be disappointed or work with it and be very happy...
                      Al Buchholz
                      Bookwood Systems, LTD
                      Weekly QReportBuilder Webinars Thursday 1 pm CST

                      Occam's Razor - KISS
                      Normalize till it hurts - De-normalize till it works.
                      Advice offered and questions asked in the spirit of learning how to fish is better than someone giving you a fish.
                      When we triage a problem it is much easier to read sample systems than to read a mind.
                      "Make it as simple as possible, but not simpler."
                      Albert Einstein

                      http://www.iadn.com/images/media/iadn_member.png

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: Quickbooks qodbc performance

                        Originally posted by wmarquardt View Post
                        I guess I'm really quite surprised (disappointed) in the performance both as a passive link and active link. I was expecting something more in line with the standard Alpha response (okay... I'd live with a little slower but the load times just seem really extreme.

                        Do you find the same performance issues? I am doing something wrong or are my expectations out of line for this product?

                        Bill
                        Bill/Jeff

                        I have to say that ODBC is a layer and is controlled by the opsys and dll's on a particular PC etc..... I have been frustrated why, I could not connect with an active link through odbc at a customer yesterday (no problem in office) maybe because of w/s setups etc.. I just finished a marathon session getting 14 databases summarized into 1 database, how I did it was the import genie worked ok with passive-link tables and runs faster as passivelink using the alphaado choice. I am connecting to PSQL which is a little tricky to update/etc....especially with an odbc driver because of legacy data types. ODBC drivers are by nature fussy. QBooks database is slow and does not handle a lot of transactions we have customers in 1 year that have to switch to another acctg software or upgrade to the enterprise edition. If you have a QB DB that is over 100mb and try running reports it is painful.....And starts to fail/bombout around 300mb.

                        I just learned last nite that a passive link table is refreshable very easiliy.
                        I agree with AL use the passive links.

                        Nicholas
                        Good Luck
                        Nicholas Wieland
                        LedgerSuite.com Corp
                        [email protected]
                        http://www.ledgersuite.com

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: Quickbooks qodbc performance

                          Al,

                          That's a very good explanation regarding the way QODBC works with Quickbooks and why active link is not appropriate.

                          Meanwhile, I've been doing the setup using passive link. So far it's well-behaved but I haven't gotten to the heart of it yet. One thing I noticed: I have two operations set up, one to export from the active link connection, the other to export from the passive link connection. The mere act of editing the operation has major time differences. Again, with active link, it takes maybe 15 minutes just to get into the editing window. With passive link, it popped right up. I guess it's all that real-time stuff going on with active link that keeps it real slow with Quickbooks as it works through the layers of interference while accessing the data.

                          Jeff

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Re: Quickbooks qodbc performance

                            Originally posted by NicholasWieland View Post
                            If you have a QB DB that is over 100mb and try running reports it is painful.....And starts to fail/bombout around 300mb.
                            Nicholas

                            With a little tender-loving-care, I have reports coming from 4 GB company files in a very acceptable time frame. minutes

                            It requires that you get only the data that you need - use a where clause in the SQL, select on a QB index, and select only columns that you really need.

                            I thought 300 mb was a huge QB file. Until I found these other clients...

                            I've also found that server class machines with 3 or 4 GB of memory work with the files much better. I think the server OS is much better than an XP OS. (Still need to prove that theory).
                            Al Buchholz
                            Bookwood Systems, LTD
                            Weekly QReportBuilder Webinars Thursday 1 pm CST

                            Occam's Razor - KISS
                            Normalize till it hurts - De-normalize till it works.
                            Advice offered and questions asked in the spirit of learning how to fish is better than someone giving you a fish.
                            When we triage a problem it is much easier to read sample systems than to read a mind.
                            "Make it as simple as possible, but not simpler."
                            Albert Einstein

                            http://www.iadn.com/images/media/iadn_member.png

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Re: Quickbooks qodbc performance

                              Very interesting. The export operation I set up to export Quickbooks data to a comma-delimited ascii file was instantaneous with the passive link setup. With active link, I may have waited 1/2 hour for it to complete.

                              This does not include refreshing the data, which is the next test, but it is encouraging to see performance within the range of acceptability.

                              The other interesting thing I noticed is that it runs silently with the passive link set up but did not with the active link set up. I don't know why this should matter, but in the end it serves the need and that's what counts.

                              I can't speak to other operations using passive link tables since I am presently focused on getting certain data out of Quickbooks as input to other procedures I am developing. As I find performance results with passive link tables and Quickbooks, I'll let you know.

                              Jeff

                              Comment

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