IBUC 2006 Abstract

MultiRelaX with BCP as a Replacement for Cameleon
Marien Lina & Richard Frey ; Statistics Netherlands, The Netherlands

This paper deals with the question whether the Blaise Component Pack (BCP) could be a replacement for
Cameleon or not. Since Blaise 3, Cameleon is available in the Blaise system to retrieve meta descriptions from the
Blaise meta file and translate them into meta-descriptions and formats for ASCII and ASCII-relational output, and
for writing set-up files for SAS, SPSS, oracle and paradox. With the flexible Cameleon language you can control
your output to create set ups for many other software applications. Blaise Data can be exported according to these
formats with Manipula.

The more recently developed Blaise Component Pack gives an opportunity to address data and meta information
in one run without using Cameleon or Manipula. The BCP enables you to create applications that prepare meta
descriptions for many software packages and write data in the related format. It is possible that the retrieval of
some information may be arranged differently in Cameleon and the BCP, or even, some information available in
Cameleon may be absent in the BCP.

This presentation will show the outcome of an experiment in which a BCP application developed in VB which (like
Manipula) writes data and (like Cameleon) writes the related meta information.

Contact: clna@cbs.nl