Amiga ISO Collection/AmigaUtilCD2.iso/Misc/INS-QFI3.LHA/QuickFile3/AboutQuickFile

Text File | 1995-09-13 | 10.8 KB | 240 lines

  QuickFile 3.00 Description

There are now many low cost data bases available for the Amiga. Why should
anyone choose to use QuickFile over one of the others?    This is an attempt
to explain its features and give a brief comparison to other data base
programs.

Significant features are:

Ease of Use
    I have tried to make QuickFile easy to use, although there has to be
    some trade-off between power and ease of use. Apart from text entry,
    all operations are done by pointing and clicking, using menus, buttons
    and selection from lists.

Capacity.
    Many low cost data bases work well on the typical sample file, but
    rapidly slow down, or run out of memory when you throw a larger
    file at them.  QuickFile can cope with a respectable number of records
    on a 1 meg system. One user sent me a copy of his data base containing
    6700 records. Even on my 1 meg floppy based system, you could find any
    record in under 1 second.

Random Access with buffering
    Most cheap data bases are either random access (disk based) or
    sequential (memory based). QuickFile combines these. It is random
    access, but holds as much of the file as it can in memory. This makes
    access much faster, and reduces wear and tear on your disks and drives.
    It also allows files to be larger than available ram. You can control
    how much memory it uses.

Multiple indexes.
    Your records are automatically kept in sequence. You can have any
    number of indexes if you want to see your records in different
    sequences. Each index can be based on any number of fields in
    ascending or descending sequence. You can prevent or allow duplicate
    index entries.

Multiple Views
    QuickFile provides both Form and List displays. You can use the default
    view (format), or define and save any number of your own views for a
    file. For example you can have one view that shows all fields to enter,
    display and alter records, another to list only names and phone
    numbers, and yet another for a mailing label format.

    A view includes field positions and lengths, report details, window
    position and size.

Field Formats
    Field types include character, integer, number (float), calculation,
    date, cycle, image, and external. Any of these field types can be used
    in an index.

    You can add, delete, or change fields at any time. You can even change
    the type of an existing field, provided the actual content is
    compatible with the new format.

Searching
    QuickFile has powerful search facilities. You can combine conditions to
    find, for example, all males with a  postcode 4001 born between 1960
    and 1965, with a name that sounds like Smith.

Sorting
    Fast sorting over multiple fields in one pass. The sort can be
    restricted to a portion of large fields to reduce memory requirements.

Printing
    Includes form and list reports, and multi-column labels. A page heading
    with page number, date and a user specified report title is optional.
    Pica, Elite and Condensed print can be used. Control breaks and
    totalling are supported.

Import/Export
    Allows records to be moved between applications to easily load large
    numbers of records.

    Creates text files in a number of formats including mailmerge files for
    WordWorth, Final Copy, InterWord and Kindwords 3. Export can also
    create files for loading into spreadsheets or other databases.

ARexx Port
    Provides macros (run from within program) and external commands (run
    from another program). This doesn't make it a programmable database
    but it does allow you to extend the functionality and talk to other
    applications.

In writing QuickFile, I have attempted to provide enough functionality to
make it usable for real work, while keeping resource requirements as low
as possible. Ease of use has also been a primary objective.

It certainly has its limitations;  some of the more obvious being:

    You cannot link different files together.

    It uses separate files for definition, data, indexes and views. This
    can get a bit confusing if you have a number of data bases in the same
    directory.

Below is a summary of database programs I have looked at. Some of these
are very good, but they all have their shortcomings.

HyperBase.
    Awkward interface and easy to crash. Pretty well unusable.

DataEasy.
    Easy to use and it seems quite solid. Probably the best of the ones I
    looked at originally but rather slow. Sorting is extremely slow. Has a
    primitive unformatted list display. Reasonable capacity on 1 meg. Only
    character data type.

bBaseII.
    Good looking and fast sorting but limited in capacity and no list
    style display or reports. Only character data type and only 9 fields.

bBaseIII (3.01)
    Good looking, easy to use and a good range of features. List style
    display is unformatted only. Has a range of reporting options. Only
    has character string fields but now provides 16 fields plus notes.
    Limited capacity and uses a fixed amount of memory whether you have 5
    or 500 records. High memory requirements - it uses over 1 meg on my
    system for the small sample databases.

AmiBase 3.76
    Very primitive database. Doesn't seem to work under WB2.

AmiBase Pro II
    More advanced version of AmiBase 3.76. I haven't actually looked at
    it, as the disk I got was corrupted. It has a number of good features
    but seems to be a fairly crude implementation. It is memory resident
    so is probably better than Pro III.

AmiBase Pro III.
    This is a licenceware program and is what inspired me to write
    QuickFile. Random access with no buffering, disk sorts (s..l..o..w),
    no field editing (you have to retype the whole field), one data base
    per disk. Reasonable searching (although slow), but poor printing.

ProData 1.18
    Powerful but with dated interface and fiddly to use. Far too much disk
    access to use with floppies. Does a ridiculous amount of i/o when
    filtering, and even when turning off filtering - it seems to set a flag
    in each record on disk. Interestingly it has no sort - you have to set
    up an index for each sequence you want. If you add an index, it
    rebuilds ALL indexes - slowly. Files are not limited by amount of ram.

InfoFile
    Good basic program. Can do most things but the interface is a bit
    dated. Poor memory management. You have to specify how much memory to
    use before you open the file and it allocates it in a single chunk.
    Unless you have just booted your system (or have lots of memory),
    memory will be fragmented and it may not find enough for a large file.
    File size is limited to available ram. It does have calculated fields,
    sounds, and pictures and a list display.

AmigaBase
    Powerful, but freely distributed version has limited docs. Looks
    comprehensive but seems to need programming. Hierarchical structure
    is interesting (shades of IMS/DB). Impressive but rather intimidating.

DataBench
    Quite powerful but has a limited list display and high memory
    requirements. File size is limited to what will fit in ram. I managed
    about 280 records on my 1 meg. It reduced free memory by 1K for each
    two 115 byte records I added. It also loses your changes if you don't
    press RETURN on a string gadget - one of my pet hates. Good range of
    field types, including calculation but you have to specify the formula
    in each record!!! List display is rudimentary and is limited to 15
    characters per field.

    Can relate files, but this is disabled in freely distributed version
    which also lacks documentation, but is reasonably easy to use.

Flexer
    This is a good looking program with good features. Screen refresh is a
    bit slow and capacity may be a bit limited with 1 meg. File size is
    limited by ram. One major problem - I couldn't find any facility for
    printing. Good sort and search. No calculation or pictures. Supposedly
    written in AMOS but it doesn't show - now that's impressive.

WBase
    Limited to 150 records, very basic editing.

SuperBase Personal 2
    By far the most powerful of those I have tried. Has indexes, cross file
    look-ups and validation, queries with control breaks and summaries etc.
    In fact just about everything you need.

    But the LIST display is downright poor - you only get one line at a
    time unless you choose CONTINUOUS. If you change direction it shows
    the same record twice (or more times). You can't select a record for
    detail display from the list.

    Annoying redraws of borders for toolbar and main window each time you
    swap between them - and those 'For your info' requesters that keep
    popping up!!!

    Powerful query facility and cross file lookups and reasonably easy to
    use if you know what you are doing.

DDBase
    A good looking program but the interface is a bit awkward. eg To
    define a field you get a series of requesters instead of a single
    requester. No list display although you can list records to the
    screen. Sort is over single field only. It has grouping and totalling
    but grouping is horrendously slow - it seems to read the whole file
    for each group. Nice gadget and box options.

db 2.8
    Simple to use basic database that is more powerful than you might
    first think. Fast searching and sorting. It does have Localisation and
    clipboard support but lacks some basic bits such as printing and field
    types, and files must be defined using a text editor. Limited ARexx
    port. It now has a limited but useful list display.

AFile
    Simple random access data base that lets you use an image as a
    backdrop. Being disk based without indexing, it would be painful on
    floppies. Its outstanding feature is its ARexx interface which should
    make it quite flexible and extendible. Otherwise quite basic in
    features and interface. Generally quite fast but tends to be disk
    intensive. Uses fixed length records.

Datastore 1.0 (Demo from Amiga Format cover disk)
    Just a simple memory resident flat file database that can display
    pretty forms. Easy to use but main form display and editing are poor.
    Sluggish feel and sorting is a bit slow on large files. No list
    display. Needs plenty of memory for larger files - it is a large
    program. Cannot print forms or labels, only lists. Good range of field
    types and fields are not limited to one line. Good image support. I
    could only get it to use Topaz 8 for data fields. The demo had plenty
    of minor bugs. Disappointing after the hype the mags gave it.

PowerBase 3.4
    It has a good list of features but is written in AMOS and it shows in
    the non-standard interface and multi-tasking problems. I lost the
    PowerBase screen a couple of times and couldn't get it back. It lets
    you change field lengths but trashes your file because it doesn't
    adjust existing records.