Review By Steve Singer
CE Software
238 Exchange St.
Chicopee, MA 01013
A Data Management System performs for the User the housekeeping chores associated with record keeping. Primarily...
The CCA Data Management System does all of these functions and more. It is the first truly generalized data management system available for the Atari 800 computer. System requirements are a minimum of 40K of memory and at least one disk drive. Two disk drives are recommended. A printer is highly desirable but not required.
There are some very powerful and unique features in this data management system. Records of up to 249 characters may be used. Each record may have up to 24 fields. Fields may be defined as alphabetic, numeric, reserved (fields which may not be updated) or may be computed using other fields, numerical operators (+-*/v) and constants. Example: TC=CE*Q:TC=TC*.9 (total cost = unit cost times quantity. Total cost is then multiplied by .9 to yield a discounted value). This computation feature is one of the most powerful I've seen in a micro data base system. Unfortunately, the manual was a bit weak here in describing how and when formulas are evaluated.
To perform maintenance on a record, it must be accessed using the record number. If you don't know it or can't find your print out, you can scan the file for any records which have a specified entry in a specified field - for example: to find Palm Drive in the address field you might scan for 'alm' until you find the record you want. You would then note record number and perform your update by record number. Unfortunately, scanning the file is relatively slow. A very valuable related function is the scan/mark function. This enables you to create a sub file of records which meet scan criteria for subsequent reporting. Since the results of more than one scan can go into one output file, a very extensive selection capability results.
The system supports up to a 10 level sort - each level may be either ascending or descending. No one needs any more power than that. The sort is rather slow, however, and if you want to feel like the proverbial paper hanger, run the sort with one disk drive. I was up to 14 disk swaps for my 150-record sort when I stopped counting. In fairness, two disk drives are recommended. However, this was the only part of the system that. I felt truly required two drives.
The report capabilities are excellent. Fields may be specified in any order. Alpha fields can be truncated. Numeric fields can be edited and totaled. One break field may be specified. Report formats are easy to set up and may be saved for subsequent use. A from/to selection using one field (alpha or numeric) tops off what may be the best report writer around.
All in all, this is an excellent product that is very much needed. The rank amateur will need help. A pretty good idea of where you want to get is a must. Setting a data base up is complicated. It would be a wise investment in time to set up the files and enter only a handful of records so that the interaction of all the system's features can be observed. This approach might eliminate the need to enter a large data base twice because all of the nuances weren't known.
48K Disk $99.95