foley@helix.nih.gov (Charles K. Foley) (12/04/90)
My wife doesn't have access to the net so I am posting the following question for her. Problem: I presently use Excel 2.2 for managing scientific data. Lately I have been wondering if a database would better suit my data management needs. I have done some research on available database software for the Macintosh and it appears that 4th Dimension is the top rated program. In reading about the database software, it appears one needs to be able to do some programming to get the program to conduct searches. I am not a programmer and do not wish to be. That is why I have continued to use Excel. I can enter my data and do searches by setting up various sorting patterns and just print out what I need. When I ask people around my Institute if they prefer a spreadsheet or database program for handling data I do not get a good response because nobody uses a database. Can database programs remember specific fields for each record entered or do you have to enter something into each field every time a seperate record is added? Please respond if you would continue to use Excel or would you switch to a databse program and why. Also, if you would use a database program what do you recommend? Since I don't often read this newsgroup, please respond to: foley@iris03.niehs.nih.gov I will summarize if there is enough interest. Thanks, Charles Foley National Institutes of Health National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Research Triangle Park, NC U.S.A.
bmartin@uhccux.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu (Brian Martin) (12/09/90)
In article <702@nih-csl.nih.gov> foley@helix.nih.gov (Charles K. Foley) writes: >Problem: > >I presently use Excel 2.2 for managing scientific data. Lately I have >been wondering if a database would better suit my data management needs. >I have done some research on available database software for the >Macintosh and it appears that 4th Dimension is the top rated program. >In reading about the database software, it appears one needs to be >able to do some programming to get the program to conduct searches. Switch to 4D. The searching, sorting and reporting capabilities are unmatched. I have all cases from the Hawaii Tumor Registry up through 1988 on my mac II in a 4D database. I use 4D to create crosstabs and datasets which I then transfer to one of my statistics packages or my spreadsheet for analysis. Best regards, Brian K. Martin, M.D. 1103 9th Avenue, Suite 203 Honolulu, Hawai`i 96816-2403 Voice (808) 733-2003 Fax (808) 733-2011 INTERNET: martin@medix.pegasus.com, bmartin@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu ARPA: uhccux!bmartin@nosc.MIL