[comp.sys.atari.st] SuperBase

pritchaj@thor.acc.stolaf.edu (John Pritchard) (02/08/90)

I have been using Superbase Personal 2.0 for about a year.  While I have liked
it, I would like to get more control over entry forms and reports.  Looks
like Superbase Professional 3 is the way to go.  Does anyone know of an
upgrade policy?  Can I get credit for Personal?

ljdickey@water.waterloo.edu (L.J.Dickey) (07/23/90)

Someone mentioned a program called SuperBase.
I have not heard of this.
Can anyone give me more information about this?

andyc@hplsla.HP.COM (Andy Cassino) (07/25/90)

ljdickey@water.waterloo.edu (L.J.Dickey) writes:

>Someone mentioned a program called SuperBase.
>I have not heard of this.
>Can anyone give me more information about this?
----------

Funny you should ask - I just bought a copy of SuperBase Personal II by
Precision Software this weekend. I am still familiarizing myself with 
it. Here's what I think I have:

* a fairly sophisticated, menu-driven relational data base

* data is stored and accessed on disk, so the size of the database is limited
  not by available memory (as in, say, Base Two) but by your mass storage
  media

* can import and export ASCII, DIF, dBase III, dBase IV and Lotus 123 files

* has been implemented for Amiga, IBM PC clones, and Macintosh

My impressions thus far are very positive. I think this is a MUCH more 
capable program than Base Two, yet you can safely ignore much of the complexity 
if you so wish. One thing for sure, the FILTER options are much nicer 
and flexible. My sole complaint so far is that the program doesn't use 
the built-in TOS file selector, but some custom dialogs instead. This 
must be a reflection of designing the program to be ported to many platforms. 
Oh well, that's what UIS III and the CALL_UIS.ACC are for.  I don't see 
this as a big problem - I don't do much file manipulation when I use a 
database, I tend to be working with the program mostly, not the file
system.

The reason I chose this program is to answer some problems which Base Two has
sensitized me to:

1) It can import data in many forms; Base Two can't even read in ASCII.
2) It can export to Lotus (and hence, LDW Power); Base Two can't.
3) If I move to a PC/Amiga/Mac (oh, I hope I don't have to!), I can move 
   my data base to Superbase or dBase on those platforms.
4) It's gotta have better report generation (couldn't be worse)!

If there's interest, I'll post more as I learn about it.

Disclaimer: The opinions above are solely those of the author, who has no
            pecuniary interest in any of the companies mentioned.

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