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Text File | 2006-10-19 | 13KB | 391 lines

 .IF DSK1.C3
 .CE 2
    *IMPACT/99*
     by Jack Sughrue

     TI-BASE
     PART TWO
 .IF DSK1.C2
     

     Last time in IMPACT I waxed
 enthusiastic over Dennis Faherty's
 TI-BASE.  In the few days since I
 wrote Part I of this review I have
 grown even more fond of this
 fantastic database.
     You can throw out all your
 others, just as you did your old TI
 WRITER cartridge after FUNNELWEB came
 out.
     TI-BASE is perfect for business,
 school, home, and playtime.  This can
 handle anything you want a database
 for and lots of things you didn't
 know you wanted one for before seeing
 the creative possibilities built in.
     But before I list a pile of its
 operational properties, it might be
 better to start (as I had to) with
 the simple things.  Last month I said
 I wanted to create a personal library
 catalog of works by comedy author
 P.G.^Wodehouse.  It could just as
 easily be a video library or recipes
 or a checkbook or mailing addresses
 or whatever.  It does all these
 simple tasks more easily than any
 other database I have used for the
 TI.  Its input has no restrictions,
 nor does its output, as you will
 see.
     The Wodehouse collection I have
 includes paperback books, hardbounds,
 multi-book anthologies, short
 stories, tapes, videos.  I have a
 numerically assigned bibliography.  I
 also have sheets of paper with the
 various titles under which the same
 books were printed.  And I have a lot
 of various pieces of information
 about many of the printed materials
 from different sources, including
 some library research.  And, of
 course, I have many of the books.

     So I first had to decide how I
 wanted this information collected and
 how I wanted it to appear in final
 screen display and hard copy forms.
     I have over 200 separate items,
 but for our purposes I'll use the
 first few. All books.
     At first glance I realized that
 the pre-computer layout is similar to
 many databases.  I have to designate
 a field (title, original publication
 date, assigned number for
 cross-referencing [like K235 for
 Mozart's works] and so on).
     I'm allowed 17 different fields
 on each record page.  More than I'll
 ever use.  I'm allowed up to 255
 characters for each field.  Again,
 more than I'll use.  And I'm allowed
 over 8,000 records per database.
 Definitely more than I'll ever use.
 And I can create an infinite number
 of bases.
     So, I put my TI-BASE in Drive 1
 (though I can assign it to any drive
 or RAM) and my initialized blank disk
 for creation of the database in Drive
 2 (though I could initialize it from
 inside the program itself while I'm
 using it).  I load it automatically
 by choosing Extended BASIC.
     It takes about 97 seconds to
 fully load.  Then you are asked for
 the date in this form: 09/18/88. This
 info goes onto your disk and
 database, so be sure the
 write-protect tabs are not on either
 disk.  And be sure you made backups
 (as recommended by Faherty) and keep
 your originals safe.
     Next you'll be presented with a
 STATUS report with these defaults:
   ^^DATDISK=DSK2.
   ^^PRGDISK=DSK1.
   ^^PRINTER=PIO.
   ^^LINE=80
   ^^PAGE=56
   ^^HEADING=ON
   ^^TALK=ON
   ^^SPACES=1
   ^^RECNUM=ON
   ^^LSPACE=256
   ^^DATE=09/08/88

     I stuck with the Data and Program
 drives and with the Printer.  I
 changed Line to 134 because I wanted
 a condensed printout.  I kept the
 Page length of 56 lines.  I shut OFF
 the Heading because I planned to
 print out lots of different
 hardcopies and didn't need the
 heading.  I retained TALK which
 displays the commands as they are
 being executed.  And the Spaces
 between columns at 1 and the 256
 character Lspace for the variables I
 was about to create.  I shut OFF the
 Record Numbers because my assigned
 numbers (which start at 1 instead of
 0) would give me a cleaner, more
 relevant printout, as well as screen
 display.  There is no cursor here.
 Just a dot in the lower left corner.
 That means TI-BASE is ready for your
 command.  I had to make those changes
 above, so I just typed SET LINE=134
 (ENTER) and SET HEADING=OFF (ENTER)
 and SET RECNUM=OFF (ENTER). I then
 typed at the dot DISPLAY STATUS just
 to see that everything got in okay.
 It did.
     Now I typed CLEAR to clear the
 screen (and ENTER, of course, after
 each command).
     But I don't like the screen
 colors of white on dark-blue.  So at
 the dot I type COLOR BLACK
 DARK-YELLOW.  Voila!  A nice crisp
 black-on-yellow screen, though I
 could have chosen any combination I
 wanted.

     Have you noticed that at the
 Command Dot I simply type in a word
 or two that DIRECTLY and INSTANTLY
 performs the operation?  At last, I
 am ready to create a structure for my
 P.G.^Wodehouse database.
     At the dot I type CREATE
 DSK2.WODEHOUS (8-Letter DB title).
 This sets up the base automatically
 for my personalized structure.

     Up on the screen comes a 1
 followed by a long slash and a couple
 short ones. I type NUMBER in the long
 slash and ENTER.  The cursor jumps to
 the first short dash.   I type N over
 the default C because this is to be a
 number instead of character.  When I
 get to the next small dash I type 3
 because my numeration will never
 reach into the thousands, so a
 three-place digit is sufficient for
 my needs.  An extra box appears.
 This is for decimals.  I type 0
 because I'm only going to deal with
 whole numbers.  (When I eventually do
 my CHECKBOOK database someday, I will
 use this.)  When I press ENTER here,
 the cursor jumps down one line and a
 2 and similar slashes appear.
     The top line now reads like this:
 1 NUMBER (This is the field for the
 biographically assigned
 numbers)^^N^^3^^0.  The next line
 will be typed in as this: 2
 ORIG_DATE^^N^^4^^0^^for the original
 publication date and a number which
 will take up four spaces.
     The next six fields (all
 characters) are done as follows:
   ^^3 TITLE^^C^^26
   ^^4 H_P_T_S_O^^C^^1
   ^^5 JV_BL_OTHR^^C^^2
   ^^6 FIRST?YNM^^C^^1
   ^^7 OWN?YN^^C^^1
   ^^8 COMMENTS^^C^^255

     I assigned Title 26 characters
 because that is the most characters
 any novel or play title has; #4
 merely tells me in one character if
 the material is Hardbound, Paperback,
 Tape, Story, or Other; #5 lets me
 know in two characters if the item is
 about JeeVes, BLandings, or OTher; #6
 asks if this is a first edition.  The
 M is for Maybe (to check later).  #7
 wants to know if I own it; and #8
 lets me input comments up to 255
 characters long.  That way I can list
 alternate titles, descriptions,
 characters, plot, whatever.
     So my very personal 8-field
 record structure is finished in about
 a minute.  Before we leave this,
 though, I check it out.  The cursor
 can be run all over the screen for
 any changes easily.  Now I Execute
 (Fctn/8) to continue the process of
 creating my database.  At this point
 I was asked if I wanted to input
 data.  I did, so I pressed Y.  (At
 this point I could have created
 another structure or a few more.
 TI-BASE handles 5 databases
 simultaneously by providing slots for
 each base.)
     My next step (as record #1
 appears on the screen) is to simply
 fill in the blanks I created.  Here
 is what I type for the first record:
   ^^1 001 (for bib #)
   ^^2 1902 (orig pub date)
   ^^3 POTHUNTERS, THE (title)
   ^^4 P (paperback)
   ^^5 OT (other than Jeeve or Bland)
   ^^6 N (not first edition)
   ^^7 Y (I own this book)
   ^^8 First book of PGW.  " Turn of
 the century" English public school
 tales.  Mostly boxing.  St.^Austin's
 boarding house.  In single-book
 collection with A PREFECT'S UNCLE &&
 TALES OF ST.^AUSTIN'S (#2 && 3).

     I check it out, make any changes,
 and press ENTER.  It automatically
 records on DSK2, my "WODEHOUS" data
 disk.
     This TI-BASE is fast, simple, and
 direct.  My second record template is
 waiting for me to just fill in the
 blanks.  I continue on and on until
 about two dozen records are
 established.  Then I quit for dinner
 by typing CLOSE ALL.  The program
 takes care of all my database
 records.  Then I type QUIT.

     Stuffed with roast turkey, I
 return to my TI, load up TI-BASE and
 type again the date.
     Once the command dot appears I
 type USE DSK2.WODEHOUS.  Bang!  It's
 ready for me.  I type DISPLAY
 STRUCTURE just to see my template.
 Still there.  Perfect.  I type EDIT 5
 just to see if it'll pull up my fifth
 record page.  It does.  Instantly.  I
 run my cursor around just playing
 with the editing functions.  The
 program comes with a key strip and
 most functions (such as INSERT
 [FCTN/2]) just toggles on and off.
 In the EDIT mode I page FORWARD and
 BACK with the 5 && 6 keys.  Neat and
 easy.  And instantaneous.
     But I'm ready to add more.  I
 just type APPEND and the next blank
 record comes up.  I just go on
 filling up record after record as
 effortlessly as buttering hot corn
 muffins.  This is fun.
     All the time I'm doing this stuff
 I keep thinking of more and more uses
 for TI-BASE.
     After a while I stop (after 83
 records) to try out some other
 features.
     First, I want to get some screen
 displays.
     I type SORT ON TITLE.  Zip!!!  My
 83 records are now sorted
 alphabetically by title.  To prove it
 I next type DISPLAY ALL TITLE NUMBER.
 You guessed it.  This gives me two
 columns: the titles alphabetically
 with its biblio number in a neat
 column just to the right in the 27th
 screen column.  So I type DISPLAY 10
 and get the first 10 records
 displayed alphabetically with all 8
 fields.  Then I type SORT ON NUMBER.
 Zip!!!
     I type DISPLAY ALL TITLE NUMBER
 ORIG_DATE OWN?YN [I must type my
 original template names.] Now I get
 four nice columns all in numerical
 order.
     I play, thus, for about a half
 hour trying all kinds of
 configurations.

     How do you suppose one goes about
 getting a hardcopy?  Right!  I type
 PRINT with all the same combos as
 DISPLAY.  With the identical results
 on paper.  The printer is on and
 starts right up printing exactly what
 I asked for in numeric order: PRINT
 ALL NUMBER TITLE ORIG_DATE OWN?YN.  I
 had already set my NX-1000 for
 condensed.  A beautiful four-column
 readout is in my hand.  I type SORT
 ON TITLE; then PRINT ALL TITLE
 COMMENTS and get a quick,
 alphabetical column of titles
 followed by my complete comments.

     I guess I don't have to go on
 with this, but if I want to delete I
 type DELETE (and what I want deleted)
 and later I can recall it (by typing
 RECALL and the item).

     I cannot imagine what could be
 easier.  This is wonderful!  And I
 haven't even tried the Tutorial Disk
 yet, nor have I even begun to explore
 even a small part of what this
 database does.  This is going to take
 me months.  I don't care.  I can use
 it instantly for 99% of all my
 database needs without even looking
 at the manual any more.  It's that
 easy.  But I still want to discover
 the secrets of TI-BASE still hidden
 from me.

 However, most TI users (if you're
 like me), will need just the stuff I
 dealt with during these first four
 hours with this new software.  For
 those people who need a professional
 database of the highest order, they
 are in luck.  It's here, also.

     I've never unconditionally
 recommended any commercial software
 in the 7 years I've been reviewing
 stuff for the TI.  But I do with
 TI-BASE.  The price of $24.95 is
 ridiculously low for such software
 and is offered even lower to user
 groups ordering in any size bulk. It
 comes with two disks, a 40-page
 manual (which I wish were bigger, in
 black and white instead of blue, and
 had some step-by-step tutorial type
 instructions), and a function key
 strip.  Send your order (with $1.50
 S&&H) to Texaments, 53 Center Street,
 Patchogue, NY 11772 or credit charge
 at 516-475-3480.

     I think we're going to be seeing
 lots of companion disks, templates,
 and textware for TI-BASE from users
 world-wide.
     Excuse me.  I think I'll get
 started on a few more templates.

     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

     [Jack Sughrue, Box 459,
 E.Douglas, MA 01516]

  If any newsletter editor prints
  these articles, please put me on
  your mailing list.  Thanks - JS

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