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500 MB Nyheder Direkte fra Internet 2
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500 MB nyheder direkte fra internet CD 2.iso
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1994-09-21
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BEYOND Q&A
Q&A is the best database program I've ever seen. It's easy to
learn, costs little, and includes a word processor. You can make
Q&A perform many fancy tricks, by using the customize menu and
macros. By choosing ``A - Assistant'' from the main menu, you can
even teach Q&A to understand English, so you can type commands in
ordinary English instead of using function keys. On a scale of 1
to 10, Q&A deserves a 9 ___ and I haven't yet found a system that
deserves a 10.
Q&A has a few weak spots. If they bother you, explore Q&A's
competitors instead. . . .
Reflex
Reflex is a database program that lets you view the data in
five ways: it lets you see a form view (a filled-in form showing
a record), a list view (a large spreadsheet showing the entire
file), a graph view (a graph of all the data), a report view (a
report on the entire file, with subtotals), and a crosstab view
(a table of totals for statisticians).
Reflex can show you many views simultaneously, by dividing your
screen into windows. As you edit the view in one window, the
views in other windows change simultaneously. For example, if one
window shows numbers and another window shows a graph, the graph
changes automatically as you edit the numbers.
Reflex is partly a database program and partly a spreadsheet.
Many of Reflex's features were copied by Microsoft's spreadsheet,
Excel.
Reflex is published by Borland; but Borland has stopped
bothering to market it anymore, because the competition from Q&A
and other database programs is too fierce.
Relational databases
Reflex is a simple flat-file system, which means it manipulates
just one file at a time. Q&A goes a step further: while you're
editing a file, Q&A lets you insert information from a second
file.
Software that goes even further than Q&A and lets you edit two
files simultaneously is called a relational database program (or
relational database management system or relational DBMS). The
most popular relational database programs for DOS are DBASE,
FOXPRO, and Paradox. You can customize them to meet any need,
because they include complete programming languages.
Windows wars
Recently, programmers
have been trying to invent database programs for Windows. Going
beyond DOS programs such as Q&A, Windows database programs let
the screen display pretty fonts and photographs.
For example, Borland has
invented a Windows version of Paradox and is developing a Windows
version of DBASE. Microsoft has invented a Windows version of
FOXPRO and a new Windows database program called Microsoft
Access.
The most popular
database program for the Mac is Filemaker Pro. It's as easy as
Q&A! It's published by Claris, which is owned by Apple. Recently,
Claris has invented a Windows version of Filemaker Pro.
To battle all those new
competitors for the Windows database market, the first popular
Windows database (Approach) has been improved.
All those Windows
database programs are excellent. Filemaker Pro and Approach are
the easiest to learn but also the most limited. Microsoft Access
can perform a greater variety of tasks but is harder to learn.
The Windows versions of Paradox, DBASE, and FOXPRO can perform an
even greater variety of tasks but are even harder to learn.