Cool Tools for Clickers and Coders
by: Rich Castagna
Patience is a virtue that does not go unrewarded. DBASE application developers waited a long time for the Windows version of dBASE that finally appeared last August. The wait was worth it for those reluctant DOS jockeys. But with the introduction of the new dBASE version, Borland shows that it has the knack for good timing after all.
Version 5.0 successfully straddled the fence that divides the end-user and application developer camps. Visual dBASE 5.5 builds on both ends, with new features to please both data dabblers and application pros. Whether you like to point and click your way to a finished app or find comfort in code, this version tosses a few more tools into dBASE's already capacious kit.
Visual dBASE 5.5's new or improved Experts help make short shrift of otherwise laborious tasks.
At a project's start, you get help from the new Table Expert. When you create a new table, this Expert provides a list of samples. As you select one of the generic samples, the table's fields are displayed, and you can scroll through the field list and choose the ones you want. There were 23 sample tables in the beta I tested. All can be modified, and you can add your own to the list. It's possible to mix and match, too, selecting fields from as many tables as desired. I created a basic PIM by selecting fields from three of Voyager's tables without having to create any fields from scratch.
You save your table in either dBASE or Paradox file formats. After saving, you can continue to tweak the table layout, or just run it and start adding records. Voyager displays the table structure in a grid that shows field number, name, type, length, decimal places and index fields. You can drag around and rearrange fields, and double-click on any field to change its properties.
The improved Form Expert is now customizable and offers a simple step-@step procedure to get to a finished form. You select one or more tables or queries on which the form is based, choose the fields to place on the form and pick a layout style. If you have more fields than can fit on a single screen, the new multipage feature will accommodate the overflow by creating tabbed sections or enabling vertical scrolling.
Another new Form Expert feature lets you associate specific controls with certain field types. For example, you can choose spin boxes for numeric and date fields or check boxes for logical fields. Also, the fonts and colors set for your form can be saved as reusable schemes that appear in a drop-down list.
The Report Expert is brand new. It works much like the Form Expert, with the same basic steps. What's most appealing is that it's now possible to cobble together a report without launching dBASE's report generator, Crystal Reports. This makes it easy to design simple or ad hoc reports, and to prototype more complex efforts before doing the heavy-duty work.
Like the other Experts, the new Label Expert uses sparse dialogs that require only a couple of clicks. This Expert's biggest time-saver is Quick Address. Click on this button and dBASE does most of the work for you--and does it intelligently. It picks up table fields that are likely to be included on a label and arranges them appropriately. It even puts the city, state and zip code fields on the same line with proper punctuation.
Version 5.5 adds some goodies for more advanced users, too. Perhaps the most useful is the new compiler. You can turn your efforts into executables without having to mess with a lot of complicated compile and link syntax. You can add some professional flair to your .EXE files by adding a custom program icon or opening splash screen. But you can keep it simple, too, and just compile a form, for example, to create a quick, distributable application. (You do have to include a file, DBWC.EXE, with your executable.)
There are dozens of other improvements in dBASE 5.5, most of which are more evolutionary than revolutionary. After a year of exploring dBASE 5.0's nooks and crannies, you should be ready for version 5.5's timely arrival.
--InfoFile--
Visual dBASE 5.5
Price: $350
In Brief: The newest version of dBASE adds ease-of-use features for both end users and application development professionals.
Borland International
800-233-2444, 408-461-9000
Slick Celebris Smokes
by: Janice J. Chen
The closest I've come to breaking the time-space continuum is when I turned on the Digital Celebris XL 5120. It is fast. But that's not surprising for a 120MHz Pentium. When I ran the WINDOWS Magazine Wintune benchmarks, this machine cooked. However, when I tested it with real-life business applications, it merely simmered.
My mini-tower test system came with a 1GB SCSI hard disk, a triple-speed SCSI CD-ROM drive, 16MB of RAM, a 256KB synchronous burst cache, Ensoniq's Soundscape wave table sound board, two Labtec LCS-800 speakers, a Diamond Stealth 64-bit PCI video accelerator and a 17-inch Energy Star-compliant monitor.
Getting inside the Celebris is as easy as turning a key ... literally. A chassis key on the back of the system unlocks two side panels that slide off easily--you don't have to turn a single screw. Whoever designed the security features on this system must live in New York City: The chassis key is only one of several protective measures built into the Celebris. A locking tab that pulls out of the bottom of the case lets you physically anchor the computer with a padlock. You can set two password levels before your system boots to prevent unauthorized access to your BIOS setup utility and hard disk. The BIOS setup utility also lets you set your diskette drive to a write-protected state to prevent unauthorized file copying from your hard disk to diskette.
Once inside, you can see that the Celebris is worth protecting. A modular motherboard/daughtercard design provides processor upgrade capability. It's no surprise that Digital would want to provide an easy upgrade path to its Alpha processors. The system leaves plenty of room for expansion, too. It comes with three front-accessible, 5.25-inch bays, one of which houses the CD-ROM drive. Two 3.5-inch bays--one internal, one front accessible--hold the SCSI hard disk and diskette drive, respectively. There are six expansion slots, five of which were available: three ISA, two PCI and one combination ISA/PCI slot. On the unit's back are one parallel and two serial ports, a fast SCSI-2 port, and keyboard and mouse connectors.
The first thing I did before getting too settled in with my speedy companion was to change the keyboard and mouse, both of which were too mushy for my liking. On the other hand, the Taiwanese-made OEM monitor was excellent, with easily accessed controls and an on-screen display menu. You can quickly adjust horizontal and vertical shift and size, image rotation, geometry correction and input selection.
The Digital Celebris isn't just another pretty face, though. It packs a lot of horsepower. On the WINDOWS Magazine Wintune benchmarks, it was a speed demon. The CPU clocked a hot 129.6MIPS, compared to 126.50MIPS scored by the Micron P120 Millennia we tested earlier (First Impressions, June). The floating-point score for the Celebris was 25.8MFLOPS; on the video torture test it came in at 17.19 millions of pixels per second. The 13,462Kbps hard disk access score was substantially lower than the Millennia's 21,462Kbps score, but that's not surprising since the NCR SCSI hard disk in the Celebris doesn't have drivers for 32-bit disk access yet.
In real-world business app tests, the Celebris scored well, but not incredibly. It took two seconds more to run our Microsoft Word and Excel macros than the Millennia did, and was also a second or so slower on our Fractal Design benchmark. The Celebris was able to beat the Millen-
nia's AutoCAD benchmark score by over three seconds.
There is excellent documentation for all peripherals, as well as online documentation for the preinstalled MS-DOS and Windows for Workgroups. Other software includes QA Plus diagnostic software and Digital's own Getting Started software, which helps you set up the system. You can access a DOS-based diskette backup utility from within Windows.
This system was so easy to set up that I could hardly believe how much power I got out of it. The decent monitor and exceptional documentation were pleasant surprises that made the Celebris a pleasure to use.
--InfoFile--
Digital Celebris XL 5120
Price: As reviewed, $6,132
In Brief: A fast performer that's well-built, loaded with security features and packaged with excellent documentation. A class act all the way.
Digital Equipment Corp.
800-722-9332, 603-884-4304
DTP on Paper or Online
by: James Bell
The new FrameMaker covers all the bases--from pixels to printed pages. The program has always been one of the best desktop publishing choices for churning out long, structured printed documents. FrameMaker 5, which I looked at in beta, is just as capable of creating electronic output.
FrameMaker 5 lets you distribute documents as Windows Help files, Adobe Acrobat 2.0 Portable Documents and HTML documents. It also provides an electronic distribution solution with its FrameReader and FrameViewer utilities.
The program now runs on more platforms, too, with versions for Windows 3.x, Macintosh, Power Mac, SUN OS, Solaris and HP-UX. OS/2 and DEC Alpha versions have also been promised. While the company hasn't announced Windows 95 or NT versions, I expect those platforms to be supported because FrameMaker 5 is a Win32 application.
FrameMaker's focus remains on complex technical publications. Its extensive controls--including multiple master pages, auto-numbered headings, multiple indices, cross references, conditional text and sophisticated editors for tables and mathematical equations--are ideal for longer, heavily formatted projects. This version fine-tunes, rather than overhauls, many of these features.
You create FrameMaker 5 documents by defining frames on each page and then filling them with text or graphics. You can do everything with FrameMaker, either by using its capable word processing and vector drawing tools or by importing files into your publication.
Another option is to set up read-only links to external files. This feature, available for graphics only in previous releases, now works with text files. I liked the fact that you can convert linked text at any time into unlinked, but editable, text.
The program imports a short list of text file formats--ASCII, .RTF, WordPerfect, Word and Ventura Publisher--but it handles these with aplomb, letting you convert almost all original formatting. It supports a wider range of graphics file formats, and FrameMaker can translate proprietary vector and bitmap formats into its own exchangeable formats.
Text frames can now hold more than one column of text. This can speed page layout and makes it easier to include side headings and run-in graphics. Straddling, another new feature in this version, allows a frame containing a paragraph, table, footnote or graphic to span multiple columns and adjusts the text around it.
For quick and consistent formatting, FrameMaker provides paragraph and character tag catalogs. Although paragraph tags are common, the handy character tags are a rare treat.
FrameMaker 5 still lacks conveniences such as automatic drop caps, adjustable guidelines and rulers, and OLE 2 support. It includes hypertext-based online manuals, but doesn't have hint lines or balloon help for its Quick Access bar and tool palettes.
But this release has some welcome enhancements, such as the ability to wrap text around a graphic frame or along the contours of the graphic itself. It also offers you the option to group or permanently join drawn objects.
Besides traditional printed output--including spot or process color separations--FrameMaker now offers more options for electronic document distribution. Its powerful hypertext controls and the FrameReader and FrameViewer utilities have been enhanced. A license for unlimited distribution of FrameReader is included with the CD-ROM version.
FrameMaker 5's new links to other electronic output solutions--HTML, Adobe Acrobat's .PDF and Windows Help's .RTF--are not quite seamless. You'll need to run your .PDF and .RTF output files through Adobe Distiller and the WinHelp Compiler before they're usable.
With version 5, FrameMaker shores up its position as a powerful solution for long document publication, whether your final product gets distributed on paper, electronically or over the Internet.
--InfoFile--
FrameMaker 5
Price: $895; upgrade, $225
In Brief: FrameMaker 5 makes creating long, structured technical documents easy and provides options for output to paper or electronic media.
Frame Technology Corp.
800-843-7263, 408-975-6000
General Legerdemain
by: Joel T. Patz
SBT wants to make it easy for your company to move its mainframe-based accounting to Windows. SBT Professional Series 3.0i is a flexible accounting suite that can run concurrently on Windows and DOS workstations, allowing a gradual conversion to graphical high-end accounting--without crippling your financial system.
This accounting package is built around the System Manager component and includes modules for General Ledger, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Sales Orders, Purchase Orders and Inventory Control. The Unlimited version is available with a single-installation license for unlimited users. It comes with source code, so virtually any aspect can be customized. SBT's Multiuser version supports five users per block license, to a maximum of 20, but doesn't include the source code.
This program is one of the most feature-intensive applications I've seen. Every module function has a full complement of screens and dialog boxes to ensure that data is entered accurately and information is available.
The System Manager can handle up to 99 companies. The administrator sets up the program's specifications and workstation parameters in the System Manager. The module also lets you determine access and use privileges, IDs and passwords, workstation identification, custom menu options, databases and indexes. You can also set up rules for valid field entries, fiscal calendars and accounting periods, and methods for sales tax calculation. This master module provides access to administrative tasks, like purging obsolete information and closing current accounting periods or years. The System Manager also houses the Message Center--for user-to-user communications--and the online help facility.
In the General Ledger, you can have account identifiers up to 24 characters long, with as many as six account segments for tracking subaccounts, divisions, departments or cost centers. Consolidating and reporting information for multiple companies and various periods is a straightforward process. You can import data to General Ledger from spreadsheets and in various formats and, before posting, you can review and print the data.
The Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Inventory, Sales Order and Purchase Order modules handle as many customers, vendors, items and transactions as disk space will allow. Pick lists ease data entry on screen forms, and customers, vendors and inventory items can be added on the fly. You can jot text notes and keep them with customer and vendor accounts or inventory items. Up to 26 tax rates can be applied to A/P, A/R and Sales Orders. Bank reconciliation--integral to the program--lets you easily track cash activity against the bank statements of an unlimited number of checking accounts. Drill-down inquiry in all modules provides complete account detail. A cumulative, real-time business-activity analysis across system modules is also provided.
Each module includes an extensive array of reports--more than 250 in all. You can modify reports and customize their formats. If you have Excel 5.0, Professional Series 3.0i can create graphs showing A/P and A/R activity.
This program is a comprehensive high-end accounting package. In my testing, I didn't find anything it couldn't do. If there's room for improvement, it would be the interface. The uniform gray screens are rather dull and the toolbar icons lack bubble help. But the documentation was comprehensive and technical support answered my questions expeditiously. Installation wasn't as smooth, however, requiring an on-site visit from one of SBT's local representatives to iron out problems.
SBT Professional Series 3.0i offers ample accounting power for processing thousands of daily transactions.
--InfoFile--
SBT Professional Series 3.0i
Price: Primary platform, $1,295 per module; secondary platform, $395; multiuser pricing also available
In Brief: SBT Professional Series 3.0i is a high-end, comprehensive accounting system that you can customize with the available source code.
Disk Space: 100MB (recommended for System Manager, all modules and sample data)
System Resources: 20%
RAM: 12MB
SBT Accounting Systems
800-944-1000, 415-444-9900
Lofty Telecom, Lowly Price
by: Sara G. Stephens
You don't have to be a rocket scientist to use the Phone Blaster, but this package's price and power will launch your company into a communications realm that rivals even the brawniest of today's big-business systems. The engine of this system--a 16-bit telephony card with connectors for joystick, Wave Blaster, PC speakers and CD-ROM--is fueled by a creative collection of call- and voice-processing programs that take full advantage of the hardware's capabilities.
Think of Ancilla as ground control, a call-processing system whose intricate structure is outdone only by its simple, intuitive setup. All you have to do as a system administrator is record the general greeting and assign mailboxes to the users. Assigning mailboxes means simply typing a name next to the number that callers will press to reach each user. Each user then records his own personal greeting and sets up other individual preferences.
Users can set up their mailboxes to forward incoming voice calls to another destination. They also can have Ancilla notify them of new messages by checking the appropriate box and designating a phone or pager number.
Ancilla comes with a generous set of prerecorded voice prompts ("Good morning," "To reach ..." and so on), which are strung together to form sentences that navigate callers through your system. You can view this menu of prompts in the system administrator's dialog box, where they can be played, viewed in full text format and rerecorded.
The system's simplicity does cost you flexibility. You can't deviate from the Ancilla script, which is fine everywhere except right up front, where you might want to eliminate one of the voice strings. Callers have little patience for a long series of prompts, so the rule of KISS (keep it simple, stupid) strongly applies to developing call-processing front ends.
Ancilla distinguishes this product from other shrink-wrapped integrated messaging products on the PC market by letting each user set up a separate branch in his mailbox to store documents as faxable files. The system administrator can set up these fax-on-demand applications to work as either one-call (the caller pays for the fax transmission) or two-call (you pay for the transmission) faxes.
I'd be hard-pressed to say which was my favorite feature: either fax-on-demand or support of VoiceView. The latter is an innovative tool that lets you interrupt a phone conversation to send a file to or receive a file from the person on the other end of the line. It only works if both callers have VoiceView software and compatible hardware. But it's a cinch to use and makes a powerful extension to this comprehensive set of communications tools.
Finally, it comes as no surprise that Creative Labs, pioneers in PC-based speech technologies, bundles Phone Blaster with two speech applications. VoiceAssist is a speaker-dependent voice recognition tool that lets you train your system to respond to spoken commands. You can record macros for up to 29,792 actions, give those actions a command name and train the system to recognize your voice. This enabled me to overcome one big obstacle to using macros: remembering the key command.
The second speech app is TextAssist, a text-to-speech program that lets you drag text files from File Manager and drop them onto the TextReader button bar to have them read aloud. An Advanced option lets you alter voice smoothness, richness and so on, but text-to-speech technology still has a way to go. What TextAssist offers is better than the "drunken" sound of yesterday, but it comes nowhere near the polished Eliza Doolittle I hope to someday hear.
Whether you're a home office businessperson or a multisite medium-sized company, the Phone Blaster will let you complete your communications mission without blowing your mind or your budget.
--Info File--
Creative Labs Phone Blaster
Price: $250 (street)
In Brief: The Phone Blaster's telephony board and software comprise a comprehensive communications package that any business can afford.
Disk Space: 14MB
System Resources: 10%
RAM: 8MB
Creative Labs
800-998-LABS, 408-428-6600