Labels:text | screenshot | font OCR: || Approach for Windows by Tony Curro Database programs have been around for some time. It is an excellent way to keep name and address information, inventory, catalog items you own and so on. You can keep track of just about anything using a database program. DOS users have an abundance of databases to choose from. Windows users have not had that luxury. There are several database programs that will come to market this year or early in 1993. Right now, however, the few that are out there are either cumbersome or require much learning. Approach is on the market now and does not require a lot of learning or is it cumbersome. Requiring only 1.8MB of hard disk space for a full installation, it does more than its size would indicate. The manual says you need 2MB RAM, but also recommends that you have at least 4MB RAM. SHARE must be use with Approach. This is done automatically for you during installation. In Approach you don't open a database file directly, instead you open a view file as a window "into" a data file. From one view file you can create numerous forms, reports, and mailing labels. Approach will work with dBASE III+, dBASE IV, Paradox and Oracle SQL file types. When you first start Approach you are in Browse mode. This is where you enter, organize, and present data. To change the way a form looks you switch to Design mode, where there are tools to add or remove fields, draw graphics, change field attributes such as color, and add borders. You can import Bitmap, Windows Metafile, EPS, TIFF, and PCX graphic formats . You can manipulate your fields in any way you choose. Set the way you wish to have the fields indexed. They do NOT have to be indexed as you see them on the screen. You can also move fields to different locations. Ising the arrow keys is the best way for more precise movement. Creating labels is a very easy process when using Approach. It supports all size Avery labels. You just need the Avery label # when creating labels in this fashion. The only thing you have to do is place the fields where you want them to appear on the label. I had a database of almost 1,000 records in Q&A. I exported the file from Q&A into dBASE IV format, and then had Approach import it. Searching and sorting is case-sensitive, which gave me the only problem. I had many fields in all capital letters. When I imported it, I did use the field option in Approach to change it to have only the first letter in caps. I saw it like this on the screen. However, when I added data in this format and then sorted alphabetically, it would place these new records at the end. They were not sorted with the other records that had the same last name. One way around this is to enter ALL data in the same format that the original data was entered. One of the options in a field is calculations. You can have Approach enter the information in one field based on the formula you use For example, if you have three fields named: #item, price each, total price, Approach can put in the total price based on # of items times the price each. In text fields you can enter specific values for certain fields to avoid errors in inputting data, or you can make sure that a certain field contains data before you move onto the next entry. There are a few things I would like to see changed. One is the sort option. Approach will NOT retain a sort. So each time you start it you must re-sort your entire database. You can get by the configuring of this by sing a macro. But, this is just a short way around and not a solution. I also had some problems when moving a field. When you move a field, it can appear on screen a little off-centered from the rest. When you print, you can adjust this by selecting from several options. The fact remains though, on screen it is not uniform to the other fields. This applies if you want to say swap the location of fields 1 and 3. If you are moving ALL the fields, you can select them all and move the whole as one unit. When viewing a report on screen, the PageDown key moves you through he file one line at a time. I want to move a page at a time. Approach is listed as being easy to use for non-programmers. While it is not that hard to create a form, and even a report, the user should have some knowledge of databases and their terminology. For example you can create shaded boxes with Approach. In simplest terms, you would create a box. Then type text in, and then changing color of box text will appear in the box. This is actually two different items, and can be move as one or individually. The explanation and it use may be a little beyond a novice to ntermediate user . Approach comes with out-of-the-box network support, with no additional setup required. It also comes with a 90-day money-back guarantee. I had a few problems with using Approach, which I finally found out to be my setup, and not even related to Approach. Calling their technical support line was very helpful and I was able to work through these problems. Overall, the product was good and I do like the way databases are oing in Windows . Product Information Approach for Windows List Price $399 Approach Software Corp. 311 Penobscot Drive Redwood City, CA 94063 415-306-7890
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