Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!dewey.soe.berkeley.edu!oster
From: oster@dewey.soe.berkeley.edu (David Phillip Oster)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Address Book Plus vs. DynoDex vs. ?
Message-ID: <33406@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: 30 Dec 89 05:01:43 GMT
References: <1882@lafcol.UUCP> <269@limbo.Intuitive.Com>
Sender: usenet@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Reply-To: oster@dewey.soe.berkeley.edu.UUCP (David Phillip Oster)
Organization: School of Education, UC-Berkeley
Lines: 95

I am the programmer of Address Book Plus from Power-UP! Software, San
Mateo, CA.,  so you can tell where my biases lie. I think it is a great
program, I use it myself.

Address Book is out, I've been told that some of the larger dealerships
have even re-ordered because they've sold out their first shipments.

Here are some of the data entry features:

17 text fields, each can hold up to 255 characters, many of which you
rename away from our suggestions to use for your own purposes. Two are
predefined as comments fields. Three are predefined as phone number
fields.

Pattern matching data entry, so, if you want to, you only need to type
a short, unambiguous prefix, and the program will look up the entry and
put it in the data entry field.

The "state" field has a predefined database of all the American states,
but you can add your own. The "country" field has a predefined database
of the world's countries.

Customizable popup menus on the data entry screen, so you can put
common items in the menu, to get at them quickly without typing.  (but
you can do data entry using only the keyboard, if you prefer.)

A "Yellow Pages" feature so that a single person's data entry record
can appear by name, by company, and by profession, if you so choose.

Import/Export features:  Import and export to tab or comma delimited
text files. You can merge files by importing into an existing file. You
can include/exclude fields from the import/export.

Here are some other features:  A dialer desk accessory. If you move the
same file between work and home, you can independently set up the
telephone parameters for each place.

A "Categories" feature that give you ten checkboxes that you can name
to divide your personal address book into groups. (When my wife prints
our Address Book, she excludes those people who are just in there
because they are my business contacts.)

The search command has a checklist of which fields to look in.

You can sort by most fields, ascending or descending. Address Book has
a predefined set of primary and secondary keys, so when you sort by
state, it uses the zip code as secondary key, and the city as a
tertiary key, then last name, then first name. You can sort birthdays
either by year, to find which of your contacts is oldest, or by month,
to find which have birthdays coming up.  (You can omit the birthday, or
just the year, of course.)

We include a file of the addresses of all the U.S. Senators and
Representatives, to make it easier to be more politically active.

We also include a directory of 800 numbers.

There is extensive on-line help.

It is really pleasant to use: there is cut/copy/paste & UNDO on every
dialog, including the "save as" dialog. You can work with multiple files
simultaneously.  If you've been following my writing in
comp.sys.mac.programmer, I recently wrote about more than one dozen user
interface features Address Book has, that make it more in accordance with
Apple's User Interface Guidelines. If there is interest, I can post that
list here.

But the best thing Address Book Plus does is print. I know from
personal experience that it will print on any printer Apple makes, and
the beta sites tell me it works fine on other brands, including
Hewlett-Packard.

You can define your own paper formats, though it comes with 12
predefined ones.  You can use it with a DayTimer/FiloFax book. In fact,
Address Book Plus is available in two  flavors, one with a leather
Daytimer book included, and one without. (At least the leather book I
have says "Daytimer" in small gold letters in the inside.)

You can set the font/style/size of each field. (I put my comments in
italics.) You can put the phone numbers after each address, or in a
separate column, to the right.

It comes with a very clever spiral binding system. The "Jr. Address
Book" size paper comes with vinyl binders in the paper package, so you
don't need a leather binder, and it produces a book half the size of a
standard checkbook, which is just right for a wallet pocket. A leather
binder is also available for this size. 

In addition to Address Books, it also prints Phone Number Lists, rotary
cards, envelopes, and mailing labels.


--- David Phillip Oster            --  No, I come from Boston. I just work
Arpa: oster@dewey.soe.berkeley.edu --  in cyberspace.
Uucp: {uwvax,decvax}!ucbvax!oster%dewey.soe.berkeley.edu