Software Features
Easy to Use
Viewpoint is a user friendly DTP style multimedia database. It
has been extensively tested in both the classroom and in regular
office use. Viewpoint has been carefully designed to be easy to
use whilst still incorporating all the powerful features you would
expect from a top database. This ensures that as an experienced
or inexperienced user, you can be quickly up and running with full
control over your data.
To create a database, you simply open a new window, click once
to place your fields on the page, then type in the field name. When
you are finished, you simply save it and it is ready for you to
enter your data. At anytime, you can go back, add or delete any
fields, or change the appearance, however you like.
Powerful Form Designer
Viewpoint has a built-in 'form designer' with DTP style borders
and frames that lets you lay out the pages of your databases, just
as if you were using a wordprocessor or DTP package. This means
it is an ideal way to design questionnaires, certificates, invitations,
student record forms, record of achievement forms, attainment target
forms or even your local club membership form, the only limit is
your imagination. You can use a range of styles, size and colours
and even incorporate your school or department logo.
- Easy Data Entry
Entering data into your database couldn't be easier. This can be
done by either typing in the data or importing files containing
text or graphics straight on to the fields of the database. When
you are setting up a database, you can specify which type of data
is going to go into each field, from a choice of text (with true
multi-line text fields that word wrap like a word processor) integers,
decimals, boolean (tick boxes), time and dates, time intervals,
pictures/graphics, file and formula (calculated) fields. You can
set a default value (or formula) for any field, you can have a pop
up value list for multiple-choice answers, and you can even make
fields compulsory to ensure that they are completed. All your fields
can also have validation formulae specified individually, to ensure
correct validity of the data being entered.
- Flexible Importing and Export
Data can be entered directly or imported from a whole range of
standard data files such as CSV (Comma Separated Values) files,
TAB Separated files, Junior Viewpoint files, Junior PinPoint files
and more than 10 others, including a number of Acorn formats. Viewpoint
also exports in all the standard formats, for easy data transfer.
- Multimedia
It's not just text you can put in your Viewpoint databases, they
can be used to store pictures, animations, films, sounds, and all
sorts of files. It's a truly multimedia database! All your graphics
are automatically compressed when you import them in to your database
and decompressed when you remove them, saving you valuable disk
space. Imagine a database of all your Clip Art pictures with
text fields so that you can include a title and description for
each picture; you can then search your entire collection at the
press of a button. What a great way to catalogue a CD collection,
or keep a record card of all your pupils including a picture of
them.
- Drag and Drop
Viewpoint features an intelligent 'Drag and Drop' system, allowing
any selection of data to be dragged from one Viewpoint window directly
into another or beyond into another application such as a wordprocessor.
Pictures can also be dragged directly into graphic applications
and so on. Text can be dragged and saved straight into a text editor
or wordprocessor.
Fast Powerful Searching
Viewpoint uses a 'state of the art' file structure to ensure that
searching your data is very fast. All you need to do to search your
file is to type in what you are looking for on the blank card in
the search window and the database will quickly and easily form
a subset of the ones that match. You can type a full expression
into any or all fields and even use a wildcard for more complex
searches. Once a subset has been found you can search the set until
you have the group that you want. This can be printed out, saved
or graphed.
Active sorting
When Viewpoint sorts any set of record it also sets the sort order
so that any new records entered or edited are automatically sorted
into the right position. This guarantees that your records are correctly
sorted whenever you look at them.
Mail merging and WYSIWYG Labels
Mail merging is possible with a whole range of word processors.
With Viewpoint's multiple views you can view and edit your labels
on screen in columns in just the same format as they will appear
when they are printed. So What You See Is What You Get!
Professional Report Facilities
Once you have entered your data it can be viewed in many different
ways; in columns; in multiple record format; in card format; as
a report with headers and footers and so on. It can also be sorted
by as many fields as you require. The headers and footers can contain
pictures, text, the time and date of printing, the page number,
the total number of pages and it will even calculate field summaries
for you. These can show the average, maximum and minimum, sum or
count of any field in your database.
Multiple Views
You can create as many different layouts as you like for a set
of data so that you can view the data in a variety of different
ways. Viewpoint lets you create pages with the required amount of
rows and columns so that producing labels, spreadsheet views, invitations,
ID Cards, is straight forward.
- Impressive Graphing
Viewpoint has built-in graphing that lets you produce a whole range
of graphs, from pie charts to bar charts. These can be normal, stacked
or clustered, frequency graphs, histograms, scatter diagrams with
or without line of best fit, line graphs and more. Graphs can be
displayed in 2D, 2D outline or 3D with shading. A grid and a key
can be added and any text on the graph can be moved or have its
style changed. Graphs can be printed directly from Viewpoint or
saved in a variety of formats, providing an ideal way to analyse
and present your data.
- Relational Capabilities
Viewpoint has been designed to be as easy to use as possible, and
it is deliberately set up so that if you don't need the relational
features they won't get in the way. However, if you're going to
invest time and effort in setting up a database, it's important
to know that the system you choose has the power to deal with whatever
new features you might need to add in the future. That's why, underneath
the friendly user interface, Viewpoint has a powerful database engine
that's capable of meeting your needs well into the future.
Special Features
Viewpoint is a new relational database, designed with the power
of a relational database engine behind it.
Viewpoint allows you to create any number of tables in a database
file, each of which has its own set of fields and records. So for
example in one database you could have a table of pupil records,
and a table of teachers, where previously they might have been two
separate databases. The advantage being that the two can be linked
to show which teachers take which pupils.
You can also create any number of layouts, but instead of all the
layouts presenting data from the same table, each layout can be
based on any of the tables in the database file.
By simply dragging fields from one layout to another, you can also
create a layout that refers to more than one table at the same time.
Viewpoint will automatically create a relational link between the
two tables, which determines how the records are matched up.
What actually happens is that Viewpoint creates what is called
a 'query', which specifies which tables are to be joined and which
fields must match.
Search and Sort can also be used to create a 'query' which is both
a search and a sort at the same time. These queries can then be
saved and reused later. This means that multiple indexes can be
created to allow you to instantly switch from one sort order to
another, or to search and sort at the same time. This means that
if you search for a value in a field that is indexed, Viewpoint
can perform the search much faster, since it can automatically use
the sort order of the record to go directly to it, rather than searching
through all your records.
Using the Update window allows you to perform search and replace
operations on a whole table or query.
The beauty of Viewpoint is that you can combine the simple methods
of searching, sorting and editing layouts to create your tables
and queries. More advanced users can then edit them using the additional
tools such as the layout query editor, which displays the tables
involved in a query and the relational links between them.
For the more technical user, queries can also be edited in the
industry-standard SQL query language, and changes you make are automatically
converted between the SQL and the layout representations. (The layout
query editor can also be used to set up relational integrity rules,
which you can use to ensure that, where two tables are linked, each
record in one table must reference a valid record in the other.)
Match and Merge - To let you merge two databases
together without getting duplicate records.
Action Buttons with Scripting Language - To give you a
degree of programmability.
A Formula editing window - For easy creation and editing
of formulas.
Print Current Record button - For quick printing of your
current page.
Update Query - Ideal for updating a block of records or
the entire database.
Sort and search filters for any given layout - This lets
you set up layouts, such as a report, that will automatically
have the right subset and sort order.
- Multiple tables per file
Viewpoint can store information about related things in the same
file, eg. pupils, classes and teachers, with the layouts based on
the tables.
Drag & drop relational links
Simply drag and drop fields from one layout to another to create
a join between the underlying tables.
Subviews
Where a single record relates to multiple records in another table,
you can use a scrolling subview to display all the records that
this one refers to. For example, if you have a table with a record
for each class in a school, you could have a subview showing the
pupils in each class.
Relationships
A graphical table view allows you to define the linking fields
that relate the various tables in your database.
Integrity constraints
You can set up integrity constraints to ensure that the linking
fields always refer to a valid record in the related table. Cascade
update and delete options extend this by automatically updating
or deleting related records when a record's linking field is altered,
or the record is deleted.
Smart value lists
A value list is a list of field values displayed in a menu, that
allows you to enter data into a field without actually typing it
in - simply click on the item you want, and the value will be entered
for you.
Viewpoint's unique 'smart' value lists take this much further,
by using its knowledge of the database structure to decide which
values to put in the menu, and what to do when you click on an item.
Depending on the nature of the join being shown, this may involve
entering a value in the field, moving to a different record in the
table, or even entering data into a field in a different table!
For example, you could set up a subview where only pupils whose
'class' field matches the name of the class in the current master
record are shown. A value list on the 'pupil name' field inside
the subview would show a list of all pupils in the school, and if
you choose a pupil name from the list, Viewpoint will actually alter
the class field for that pupil to make the pupil record appear in
the subview.
Queries
A query can be a combination of sort, search, join, summaries etc.
and you can store any number of them in the database for future
use.
You can also attach each layout to any of your stored queries,
so for example you could have a layout that showed overdue library
books sorted by author.
Queries can perform actions as well as simply searching the database
- you can define 'update' queries that search for a given set of
records and update the values in them, or a 'delete' query can be
defined that searches for a given set of records and deletes them.
For queries that take a long time to execute, you can also specify
that you want to keep the results, so that next time the query is
used the results will be available instantly.
When searching, Viewpoint can often make use of pre-existing sort
indexes, which allow it to find records instantly rather than having
to search through the whole table.
SQL
SQL, or Structured Query Language, is the industry standard database
query language that is used by most of the relational database systems
in the world.
You can define your queries using Viewpoint's graphical tools and
then switch to the SQL editor - changes you make in one are automatically
translated by Viewpoint and reflected in the other.
SQL queries can be used in just the same way as any other queries
you create.
Script language
You can create 'buttons' on your layouts and then program them
to execute script commands when the user clicks on them.
The object-oriented script commands available range from simply
switching to another layout to defining and executing user-defined
procedures and functions, creating and deleting queries, and directly
manipulating the contents of the database.
Your user-defined functions can also be used by formula fields.
Formula editor window
Viewpoint gives you a full editor window for entering formulae
and scripts. The window supports full cut/paste and drag/drop, and
also allows you to choose commands from a pair of scrolling lists
above the window, which saves you having to remember them all!
|
