The first thing you'll think when you use DAtabase is why didn't anyone do this before? A flat-file manager that is always available on the Apple menu is just too good an idea lo have taken so long to appear. Why no one thought of it before is a mystery, but it's here now, and it's a winner.
DAtabase is a collection of programs. The centerpiece is of course, the DA itself, which lets you browse, search, and update databases at any time. DAtabase Builder is the application that you use to design and lay out databases, define and name fields, and so forth. DAtabase Converter, another application, helps you move existing data into new databases. Converter can process text files (you can define the delimiters), so you can import data from other database programs. It also handles pictures as Scrapbook or Picture Base files and can be used to merge DAtabase files or import QuickDex files. DAtabase Utility is a HyperCard stack that exports data from HyperCard into a text formal that DAtabase Converter can handle.
DAtabase databases don't have to be simplistic or small.
DAtabase supports color graphics as backgrounds and fields. Besides graphic and text fields, DAtabase supports check-box (on or off), pop up-list, and calculated fields. A DAtabase file can contain 2,500 records with 50 items (fields and/or labels) per record.
If you need another feature, DAtabase lets you add it through the Xtra feature mechanism. Xtra features are special programs, such as a phone dialer, a paint or text grabber, or a calendar (these and many others are supplied), that can be added to a DAtabase file. Programmers can write their own Xtra features. DAtabase also comes with an application, FKEY to Xtra, which translates function keys into Xtra features.
Using DAtabase is easy. Start by using DAtabase Builder to design a database. DAtabase comes with example databases that you can examine for ideas, and if you want to copy a layout, just do a Save As; DAtabase Builder will reproduce the layout but nor the data. Builder has a tool palette that helps you do your layout work, or you cart use Command keys or the menu items, which correspond to the tools. As you lay out the fields, you can specify the font, size, style, color, and justification of each field. Each field can have a specified border, background pattern, and color. When you’ve finished the layout, you can control the tabbing order of the fields. Once the database is built, you can enter data or import it, using DAtabase Converter.
Now you're ready to use the DAtabase DA. When you open DAtabase, you see the DAtabase MiniFinder. This window operates much like HyperCard’s Home card; you can install up to five pages of nine DAtabase file icons each, and DAtabase will remember where the files are. You can also set one file as your auto-open file; whenever you open DAtabase, that file automatically opens.
When you select a DAtabase file, you open the DAtabase program. Like DAtabase Builder, DAtabase has a tool palette that duplicates many of the items from the DAtabase menu. By clicking on the tool icons, you can open a view-by-list window, add a record to the end of the file, delete a record, search the database, sort the file, print selected records, go to a specific record, or mark and unmark records.
DAtabase has many features you don’t expect to find in a DA. It sorts on up to three fields, in ascending or descending order. The searching capability lets you search on a single field or on all fields, using standard comparisons. Marking records is another powerful feature. Searches can mark records, or you can mark and unmark records manually. Once a number of records have been marked, they can be searched, printed, or exported separately.
DAtabase can print records either as a list or as “cards” (records as they appear on-screen). DAtabase determines the page size (allowing for any enlargement or reduction) and calculates how many records will fit on a page. When printing a list, DAtabase prompts you for the fields you want to print if they will not fit on a page,
DAtabase's sole weakness is its documentation. The manual spends so much space in a good but superfluous introduction on how to use a Macintosh and a mouse that it omits important information, such as the fact that you need to move the Help file into your System folder if you want to avoid hanging your machine when you invoke Help. The tutorial HyperCard stack is no help at all, since it presumes you can read only two words a minute and forces you to wait so long to get any information that you're better off just experimenting on your own.
DAtabase is an outstanding program and a good value. It compares well with stand-alone file managers such as Microsoft File and FileMaker II, If you’ve been looking for a file manager, a good phone hook, a clip-art inventory, and a weekly calendar, take a look at DAtabase. It may be exactly what you've been looking for — and in a DA to boot.
Wiggins, Robert R. (July 1989). DAtabase. MacUser. (pgs. 45-46).
Andrew Welch
Applications
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2020-09-14 / 
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DAtabase_v151.zip
Emulating this? It could probably run under: 
Mini vMac
