Mind your own business records
THE program Database allows a file of data to be set up, manipulated
in a variety of ways and saved for future use.
The user begins by deciding on the record layout. This is done
by defining the number of fields there are to be in each record
and, for each field, its length and whether it is to hold alphabetical
data.
A field is a distinct piece of data such as a name or a price.
Gemini says the only restriction on record layout is that there
can be no more than 12 fields for each record.
When a file's format has been set it cannot be altered other
than by going back and starting again.
Once the record layout has been defined the user can add, delete
or amend the records and can display on the screen or print whole
records or any one field of the records.
There is no facility to format the output of records on screen
or printer, the fields appearing as a list in their input order.
The file can be sorted on any single field into ascending or
descending order and there is also the facility to search for
records which have fields conforming to user-defined limits.
The search can be performed using up to eight selection criteria.
For example, if on the name field the limits are A and C and on
an age field the limits are 20 and 30 then the search will give
all those records in which the person has a name beginning with
A, B or C and who is aged between 20 and 30.
In other words, the search gives the records which are the intersection
of the selection criteria.
Another facility offered by the program is that of performing
two types of calculation on any one numeric field.
In the first type a field can be totalled and its sum and average
displayed. In the second, a field can be used as a variable in
a Basic calculation and the answer stored in another, or the same,
numeric field.
This type of calculation can be applied to any range of records
on the file.
To be used by the program a file of data has to be copied into
memory and this will limit the size of file that can be dealt
with.
As a rough guide there is room for about 120 records on a file
consisting of records containing about 50 characters each.
To sum up, this is an easy to use but rather unsophisticated
database program. I think it a pity that Gemini could not have
offered a system which integrates the facilities available in
Mailist with those available on Database, as so many of the processes
are similar.
For if a user wants to hold a lot of detailed data on a customer
the Database program would probably have to be used, despite the
searchkey on Mailist.
This data would almost certainly include names and addresses,
but as there is no way in which these fields could be used by
Database to produce address labels it would have to be duplicated
on the Mailist file to produce labels.
There would need to be a continuing effort to ensure that data
was amended consistently on both of the files.
Many users, I feel, would find such duplication of effort unacceptable.
Ken Garrett
