Global Data Server (GDS) is a database system which can connect to multiple databases (read only), yours and internet based databases. From this data, you can run SQL like queries and other lookup functions. GDS includes a very high performance SQL engine, optimised towards the read only environment removing load from production databases.

The high performance database engine, combined with lightweight network protocols allow analytical presentation of current OLTP data, without the high costs usually associated with doing this.

In order to allow speed of delivery and ease of implementation, GDS includes several presentation tools, HTML, XML, AJAX, Microsoft Excel Addin among others.

Many of the client tools, such as the Excel Addin are free and can be used without charge or connecting to a private GDS server.

If you are wanting to connect your own OLTP and DW databases to GDS, then you require a private GDS server. There is no purchase price or capex expenditure, only annual maintainence fees. The fees are set around the size of input data and approximate number of users. Specifically, we do not charge you more for using a larger or faster computers to run GDS.

1. Open Microsoft Excel with Fieldpine the Global Data addin installed

2. Enter a list of City Names in Column A and values beside each city in Column B

3. Select the cells you have entered data into

4. From the menu bar, select "GlobalData" and "Plot Map", the system draw a default map plotting your values.

5. Change the map as required

How to Validate a list of Names

1. Open Microsoft Excel with Fieldpine the Global Data addin installed

2. Enter the name to be validated in Cell A1

3. In Cell B1, enter the formula
   =NameValidate(A1)

Where can I find sample Excel spreadsheets?

Providers of your software should be able to provide you with sample spreadsheets for their application. However, we are able to place in public domain some samples for applications and databases

TECHNICAL
As a software vendor you have several choices:

1. You can pre define the structure of your database(s) into model files, which define how your data is to be used and presented. With the model files your customers can rapidly install their own GDS server and utilise your information. This is a good choice if you have large databases (500Gb+) or not all your end customers will require GDS but you wish to offer it as an option.

2. GDS is also available in a restricted form, controlling the ability to connect any random database. This option is available to OEM vendors who wish to deploy GDS to all customers for a single application. Contact sales directly for conditions and pricing.

3. If your data can be centrally deployed to customers, such as a bureau providing data, then you can install a single GDS server and provide subscription services to this data. As your end customers connect to your GDS server, there is only one GDS system and end users do not require a server.

What do all the city and colour names mean?

Within the GDS server there are a large number of optimisations choices. Rather than use highly technical and meaningless names the engineers decided to name storage techniques after colours and processing decisions after city and town names. This information is only useful to support and having memoriable names ensures better accuracy of communication.

For example, when you see "mauve" optimisation you know this is a way of storing data or index information. In this example, mauve indicates values that have been fully optimised to a mathematical formula, allowing the original values to be discarded.

Equally, when you see "Budapest" being used to process an SQL query, this indicates the runtime decision made to solve this particular SQL at this instant in time. Budapest indicates in this case that the SQL was resolved from query cache.

Very few GDS servers will use the full range of colours (storage) or city/towns (optimisations) as some are extremely specific, such as converting an IN predicate to a faster form. The technical descriptions of each technique is not available.