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Reality vs Rocket D3

Reality: The original commercial Pick MultiValue database (1973), still sold and updated by NEC Software Solutions. Rocket D3: The direct descendant of the original Pick system: a MultiValue database and environment on Linux and Windows.

key differences

  • Reality is built for larger datasets (≤ 10 TB) than Rocket D3 (≤ 100 GB).
  • Transactions: Reality offers full ACID; Rocket D3 offers limited.
  • Only Rocket D3 has triggers.

choose reality for

  • +Running established Pick-based public-sector and housing applications
  • +Line-of-business systems already written in DataBasic
  • +Migrating Pick applications between hardware platforms

best at · OLTP

choose rocket-d3 for

  • +Running legacy Pick business applications
  • +Distribution and accounting packages built on D3
  • +Staging migrations from D3 to jBASE or SQL databases

best at · OLTP

RealityThe original commercial Pick MultiValue database (1973), still sold and updated by NEC Software Solutions.
Rocket D3The direct descendant of the original Pick system: a MultiValue database and environment on Linux and Windows.
overview
Primary model
Multivalue (Pick)
Multivalue (Pick)
Also supports
Relational
–
Type
Database engine
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
NEC Software Solutions UK (formerly Northgate Public Services)
Rocket Software (originally Pick Systems)
First release
1973
1993
Latest version
V15.5 (Sep 2024)
10.4.0.3 (Windows) (Sep 2026)
License
ProprietaryProprietary
ProprietaryProprietary commercial license
Free tier
—
—
popularity
WhichDB Score
0.0
0.0
Rank
#799
#803
GitHub stars
–
–
Stack Overflow questions
–
–
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Medium (≤ 10 TB)
Small (≤ 100 GB)
Horizontal scaling
None
None
Multi-region
None
None
ACID
Full
Limited
Consistency
Strong
Strong
Schema
Flexible
Flexible
Architecture
Single node, Client server
Client server, Single node
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
—
—
Serverless
—
—
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
–
–
capabilities
Transactions
✓
✓
Joins
—
—
Secondary indexes
✓
✓
Full-text search
—
—
Vector search
—
—
Geospatial
—
—
JSON
—
—
Change data capture
—
—
Triggers
—
✓
Stored procedures
—
—
Materialized views
—
—
TTL / expiry
—
—
Pub/Sub
—
—
Columnar storage
—
—
In-memory
—
—
Durable persistence
✓
✓
Compression
—
—
Encryption at rest
—
—
Role-based access
—
—
Time travel
—
—
Branching
—
—
Online schema changes
—
—
Streaming ingest
—
—
Offline sync
—
—
Runs in WebAssembly
—
—
interfaces
Query languages
DataBasic, ENGLISH, SQL
Pick BASIC (FlashBASIC), ACCESS query language
Client languages
–
C, Python, C#, Visual Basic
Best for
OLTP
OLTP
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

Reality vs Rocket D3: FAQ

What is the difference between Reality and Rocket D3?

Reality: The original commercial Pick MultiValue database (1973), still sold and updated by NEC Software Solutions. Rocket D3: The direct descendant of the original Pick system: a MultiValue database and environment on Linux and Windows. Reality is built for larger datasets (≤ 10 TB) than Rocket D3 (≤ 100 GB). Transactions: Reality offers full ACID; Rocket D3 offers limited. Only Rocket D3 has triggers.

When should I choose Reality over Rocket D3?

Choose Reality for running established Pick-based public-sector and housing applications; line-of-business systems already written in DataBasic; and migrating Pick applications between hardware platforms. Choose Rocket D3 for running legacy Pick business applications; distribution and accounting packages built on D3; and staging migrations from D3 to jBASE or SQL databases.

Is Reality or Rocket D3 more popular?

Reality ranks #799 on the WhichDB Score (0.0/100) and Rocket D3 ranks #803 (0.0/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are Reality and Rocket D3 open source?

No. Reality is proprietary, closed-source software. No. Rocket D3 is proprietary, closed-source software.