rbloom@Apg-1.ARPA (08/06/84)
From: Robert Bloom DRSTE-TOI 3775 <rbloom@Apg-1.ARPA> Long message for dBase II People: I need up to four dBase II knowledgeable persons to be willing to Beta-test a dBase II program I've written. The program will be released to the PD community after test. (This will be the first time I've released a major effort to the world - I'd like to know if there are any bad bugs before the unsuspecting world gets it.) The program is called "PMS" for "Project Management System" and is used to manage the milestones, financial info, and other data of interest on a project basis. Additional information and parameters are attached below. Testers should have a good knowledge of dBase II command files as some (and up to a great deal of) customization is to be expected. (Nobody's milestones will be identical to mine and the "data of interest" will vary based on the type projects tracked.) A hard disk is recommended as a complete PMS system with all options activated, the documentation, and several project files may take a mega-byte or more. For instance, a file list on my HD (4k block size - 18Meg HD divided into 13 "Logical" drives of 1 and 2M bytes) shows the PMS related files as: Drive:B User:1 Files:35 Space used:360k (572k Free) (16 PMS Project dBases) Drive:D User:1 Files:104 Space used:952k (940k Free) (dBase II and all of the *.CMD and *.DOC files of PMS) Drive:E User:1 Files:33 Space used:440k (516k Free) (15 PMS Project dBases) Drive:G User:1 Files:29 Space used:256k (488k Free) (13 PMS Project dBases) Drive:J User:1 Files:5 Space used:20k (360k Free) (1 PMS Project dBase) Don't let these figures scare you completely off - the 66 .CMD files alone take "only" ~325k and the whole thing is highly modulized so that it may be trimed down for particular applications. One does not needs the multiple disks as shown above - a megabyte should hold a nice size working system.) After I sort out the replies (if any) to this message, we'll work out a method to transfer the files to the testors machines. (I've a NorthStar so there is a definite media problem.) PROJECT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (PMS) Copyright (c) 1984 by Robert W. Bloom All Rights Reserved PMS is a set of dBase II "command files" that serve to manage milestone schedules, financial actions, and administration data on a project by project basis. The full-blown system includes facilities for: (limits are program limits - disk size limitations will probably be the driving factor.) * Up to 800 milestones per project, each with an original date, actual date, up to 10 revisions, and each date may have an optional cross-reference number to a comment. * routines for easy revision and completion of milestones, each with the capability of adding comments as part of the revision/completion. * up to 99 comment records per project with up to 150 characters per comment. * unlimited number of projects, however, only 30 may be displayed in the project selection menu. (There is a way to call projects not in the menu.) * All the information for one project is held in one file (and one .ndx) * completely menu driven - the user need not know anything of the underlying dBase II structure, programming language, or commands. (Knowledge of these is necessary to modify the system however.) * Two levels of prompting - "expert and novice". * A unlimited number of Points-of-contacts may be held for each project, each containing name, agency, address, attention line, and phone number. * Adminstrative type data is held for each project - names, numbers, responsible persons and agencies. * Financial actions - requested, received and distributed funding, are held for each project. * A financial plan, i.e. how much is planned to go for what, is held for each project. * 10 different reports in three major areas (administration, milestones, and financial) are available. Reports may be "stacked", in which multiple reports on multiple projects may be all output continuously without additional user input. * reports may to output to printer, terminal or file. * (rudimentary) facilities for retrieving information from a project historical file. * highly modular, easily modified. The total coding size is >300k, but may be reduced by eliminating modules. * facilities for viewing a correctly any record in the data base without resort to any of the dBase II editing commands. Documentation files include: READ-ME.PMS - facilities of PMS, where to look for more help, and short instructions on how to install PMS.DOC - user documentation PMS.INS - detailed installation instructions PMS.HLP - help for customization, program notes PMS.STR - table of the structure of the project files PMS.RPT - Sample reports *dBase II is a trademark of Ashton-Tate
Chapman.ES@XEROX.ARPA (08/14/84)
I am quite knowledgable about DBase II and would be interested in helping you beta test, but I currently only have a dual single-sided single-density system (i.e. max 500K online at any time). I am looking into getting a 10 meg hard disk, but it might be a couple of months before I have it running, if I get it at all. Would it be possible for me to be of use to you? Cheryl P.S. I have an Imsai 8080 with a Z80 processor board added, 8K of ROM and 56K of RAM.