Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!apple!ames!zodiac!weaver!rlee
From: rlee@weaver.ADS.COM (Richard Lee)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: DBs for the ST
Message-ID: <8057@zodiac.UUCP>
Date: 2 Jun 89 22:01:11 GMT
Sender: news@zodiac.UUCP
Reply-To: rlee@ads.com (Richard Lee)
Organization: Advanced Decision Systems, Mtn. View, CA
Lines: 53

I'm in the market for a DB program for my ST, and from just reading
articles and product boxes I'm having trouble deciding which products,
if any, would fit my needs.  I would be using it for a wide variety of
DBs, and I've come up with the following questions to ask of any
candidate:

1. What are the limits for:
   # of Records/DB
   # of Fields/Record
   # of Characters/Field
   # of Characters/Record
   # of fields to select records on
   # of fields to sort records on

2. What kind of capabilities are provided for displaying and printing
reports; how can you specify:
   Fields to include.
   Tests on fields for selecting records to include.
   Sorting of records.

3. DB format definition:
   How hard is it to define the format for a new DB?
   How hard is it to change that definition before you've entered
records? After?
   Can you specify the layout of the record entry form, or is it just
the order you specified the fields when defining the DB format?  Can you
change that once it's defined?
   Can you have more than one entry form for a DB?

4. Record entry and editing:
   While entering a new record, can you go back to an earlier field to
edit a typo?
   Can you edit a field, or do you have to retype it?

5. Can you specify the type of fields to be the record ID of another
record, then generate a report in which each record is followed by the
one specified by such a field?

The candidates appear to be:
   dBMan 5.0
   Data Manager 1.1
   Regent Base 1.1
   DB Master One
   Base Two

I'd be very grateful for any answers to any of these questions for any
of the above products, or your favorite if it's not on the list.  Any
other input you can provide on them would be appreciated, too.  (I don't
want much, do I. :-)

     RICHARD LEE  | ARPA: rlee@ads.com          | 1500 Plymouth St.
	          | UUCP: ...!{sri-spam, ames}! | Mtn. View, CA
     415-960-7300 |           zodiac!rlee       |   94043-1230