Brains and Brawn: A Summary of @BASE Features
@BASE is a Lotus add-in program that turns 1-2-3 into a powerful relational database that can work with industry-standard dBase III Plus data files. With @BASE running from within 1-2-3 on your Palmtop you can do the following, and much more.
- Read, write and modify dBase III Plus compatible files (also known as *.DBF files) that are up to 32 megabytes in size.
- Bi-directionally transfer data. Instantly transform an on-worksheet database to a dBase-compatible database on disk or instantly transfer data from a dBase III file to a 1-2-3 worksheet.
- Use 1-2-3 as a front end for existing dBase databases. You can also build complicated databases from scratch using 1-2-3 to control database functions with @Base's familiar Lotus 1-2-3-like formulas and menus. Use 1-2-3s macro capabilities and @Bases special @functions to create menu-driven databases to guide inexperienced users through data entry or data query tasks, to format reports, and to implement some of the data-entry controls @BASE lacks.
- Set up dynamic links from 1-2-3 to a dBase III file that will update information from the database III file every time a worksheet is recalculated.
- Open and use multiple database files from single 1-2-3 spreadsheet. For example, you might create a customer order form in 1-2-3 that accesses data from separate customers, products, and orders database files.
- Sort a database alphabetically, numerically or chronologically on as many as 128 fields (1-2-3 only allows you to sort on two fields).
- Analyze data in a database to provide fast responses to questions, such as what sales people in each division earned more than $20,000 in commissions this month? or what customers are in California?.
- Enter and browse database records in table view (a one record to a line format similar to a database in 1-2-3) or form view where each record occupies an individual screen.
- Easily and rapidly cross-tabulate your data either as counts (frequency distributions) or sums (subtotals) to find trends.
Because of these features, and more, I view @Base as a must-have utility program for any user of database files that are in a dBase III format, and all 1-2-3 users with database needs.