A BYTE SHORT TAKE: PC-File 5.0
PC-File Grows Up
 
Microbytes Daily News Service
Copyright (c) 1989, McGraw-Hill, Inc.
What began as a simple flat-file database originally sold as
shareware is now ready to take on other dBASE-compatibles. It's
faster, larger, and a little easier to use.
 
I've used PC-File+ to build a database of all products and
companies mentioned in What's New over the last five years. It
started as a simple method of fact-checking and has blossomed
into a valuable resource of information contained in about 3000
records. And as any database gets larger and more complex, its
uses grow and the need for a sophisticated yet simple method of
managing the information becomes crucial. I now need to import
and export files from other databases over a network and I was
afraid I'd chosen the wrong product for the job. But along came
PC-File 5.0.
 
In order to import my old PC-File records, I learned through a
kind of klutzy processs that I couldn't just import the
original records. I first created an empty database structure
with fields that matched the original, then went back to the
original and converted the old records to dBASE format before
finally importing them. Once I figured it out, the process went
quickly. But it wasn't intuitive nor was it explained clearly
enough in the manual.
 
Once the records were imported, I was able to produce reports
faster and more easily than with PC-File+. Searches were also
amazingly fast, as long as I searched on the indexed field. You
choose the field or fields you want indexed (up to 9) when you
define the database. Searching through almost 3000 records on
an unindexed field was so slow that I decided that I'll never
do that again.
 
Just of few of the new features added to version 5.0 of PC-File
include a maximum of up to 128 fields per database (up from
70), mouse support, autodialing, and a new Drop to DOS feature.
This feature is handy if you have to free up as much as 500K
bytes of RAM in order to run another application. Another
addition is a Global find, which looks in all fields. The user
interface appears very much the same as in earlier versions,
but it is refined somewhat and easier to use. One vast
improvement is the ability to perform an Add right after a
Find, when in the past you had to drop back to the main menu
and start all over.
 
The only trouble I had using PC-File 5.0, other than importing
my old records, was having enough memory to do some searches
and print a pretty involved report. After uninstalling a few
resident programs I had room to spare.
 
The manual is well-written and organized with simple install
instructions, a tutorial, and fairly straightfoward
explanations of the database's functions. However, I would have
been happier if it were clearer on how to import data from
earlier versions of the program.
 
When it comes to function, version  5.0 is no longer in the
shareware league but has stepped out to take its place among
the leaders of the flat-file database pack. And its price is
about $200 less than some of its leading competitors in the
market.
 
The Facts:
PC-File 5.0
$129.95
 
Requirements:
IBM PC or compatible with 1 megabyte available on the hard
drive, at least 512K bytes of RAM, DOS 2.0 or higher.
 
ButtonWare, Inc.
P.O. Box 96058
Bellevue, WA 98009-4469
(206) 454-0479
 
 
                              --- Anne Fischer Lent
 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
