Odesta Helix is an interactive information-management system designed to take special advantage of the Macintosh windows, icons, pull-down menus, and mouse. The program allows flexible, give-and-take interaction for activities such as free-form, data-base management, text processing, statistical analysis, and a wide range of form-based input, query, and reporting.

The program does not require that the user learn a programming language or set field parameters before beginning to use the software. Free-form entry is possible, or the user can choose from many common forms that are already built into the system. There’s even a “form palette” with boxes and lines that can be called out, ex¬ panded, shaped, contracted, and entered into a form. Drawings from MacPaint can also be incorporated.

The program automatically creates icons to represent pieces of the user’s information. The icons can be moved, hidden, or rearranged among forms. There are many other graphic features that make this powerful data-management program a unique Macintosh product, and the mouse is used extensively to make information management a less tedious chore.