Mind your own business records
THE Mailist system was designed with the primary aim of producing
address labels on a printer. It can also be used as a simple name
and address file on which various sorts and searches can be made.
The program is available on disc and tape but, again, is not
a true disc-based system, as the entire datafile has to be in
memory.
Several files could be used, and according to Gemini the system
allows a maximum of 220 records to be on each file on the 32k
machine (50 records on the 16k).
Each record has fields for name, title, two general address
lines — each field with room for up to 22 characters - town, county
- up to 18 characters each - post code and telephone number.
There is also room for a what is called a searchkey, which will
be discussed later.
All the basic functions of adding, amending and deleting records
are available, together with the ability to browse through the
file.
There is also the facility to sort the file on any one of the
fields such as into alphabetical order of name, and it is perhaps
here that we begin to feel the limitations of the system.
When we say alphabetical name order we would normally use the
surname to define this. However mailing lists would almost certainly
include initials or forenames and we might also want to include
the form of address to be used (Mr, Dr, Ms and so on).
As there is only one field available for all of the name data
and as the sort treats the leftmost characters as the most significant,
the results of a sort will probably not be as required, all Drs
being listed before all Misses and so on.
Curiously, a sort seems to be undone if a record is deleted
without the file having been saved in its re-sorted form and then
read back.
A search facility allows the user to select records which have
certain values in any given field. For example, we could look
for all addresses in which the town was London.
It is possible to search on any one field or on the searchkey
or on both.
The searchkey is an additional field which can hold up to 10
characters and each character position can code for a given quality.
The first position could be used to describe a person's credit
rating (for example, 1-6), the second position could describe
the type of business (such as A-K) and so on.
A search can make use of any number of the character positions
in the searchkey.
Once again the system could be limited in some areas, particularly
when using the name field, as it looks for a match in the leftmost
character positions.
So if we wanted to select the record of Mr Brown, who was stored
on the file with an unknown initial, we could not use the search
facility to do this.
Two types of printout are offered - a full address label (multiple
copies if wanted) or a telephone list. In both either the whole
file can be printed or only those records which have been found
in a search.
The program is easy to use and has attractive use of colour.
Bearing in mind the limitations mentioned, the program can handle
simple mail list applications competently. See, however, my comments
at the end of the review of Gemini's Database program.
Ken Garrett
