Data Data Data!

Data is fast becoming the hot application of the moment! If you, like me, thought of Data as nothing more than the code-word for your address book - then think again!

The advent of the website has galvanised the inventiveness of EPOC 32 owners.... and all kind of material in Database form is now coming on stream.

It was the lack of a Jotter on my Geofox which started me off.....        I was converting my Psion 3c files and moving them onto my new Fox..... and I thought "What the heck.... let's see what happens if I try!"..... so I dragged the Jotter file over, and instead of crashing the system it popped up as a Data file. When I opened it the neat jotter interface was missing, but it was all there and ready to roll! I am still using it to store all those bits of information, new books I hear about, references to look up, comic comments, notes to myself, reminders etc which comprises my Jotter.

Jotter v Agenda

I prefer to use my Jotter  rather than adding a Word object to Agenda - for a start you can't easily see the contents of a Word object - you can't print them out - and often the note is not referring to any particular diary event. If it is, I just put a J beside the entry to remind me to go look! More importantly in Agenda you can't search for information in the embedded objects..... in my Jotter I can locate entries quickly and easily.

Customising the look

I also like the display interface of Data. In card view you can get most of the text at a glance.... and to make a full jotter-type view all you need to do is change the size of the card... make it fit the whole available screen choose 85%   in  Menu, View Preferences, and there is your full Jotter..... you can move between card and list view, or use the search function, or just scroll through all the entries. You can put Word objects in, clipart illustrations, sound files.... you can copy and paste from other apps - it really is versatile!

Make your own Databases

One of the lovely things about data is that you can custom design the whole thing. You get to choose how many labels you want, what to call them, in what order they appear, and what type .

A quick guide to setting up a Jotter ......

When you create a new Data file it comes up with an address book as a default design. You need to go Menu - Tools - Change Labels. Here you can edit add, delete and choose the order of the labels too. This is the point at which you need to do most thinking.... because once you have set the labels it is difficult to change your mind..... so a clear idea of what you want can save you time and trouble later!

For a Jotter I find a simple 4 label Note - Date -  Source -  Memo  format is quite enough.

Note  choose text type (max 250 characters)

Date gives you a date stamp

Source choose text type ( max 250)

Memo choose memo type (unlimited)

then choose the display you prefer.... I use the max 85% label..... and there it is! You can further customise by going into Menu Label preferences and alter the font point size italic bold underline etc

Then you can add clipart or sketch objects.... you can insert a Word text... e.g. a ReadMe text. a sound file..... you can design yourself a Title Page too!

The only down side I find to this form of Jotter is entering the text..... the text can be small and faint on the screen, and there is no zoom available. Often I don't pick up on typing mistakes until I see it after "save" - the best thing here is to choose a larger point size for your font than the default 9 and even bold it..... it helps!

Online Databases

Having started to experiment with databases, I started looking around on the Web. There are lots of databases made by other Psion and Fox users which are freely available to download onto your Fox. Pocket Info is a new and growing database resource ( though it does include sheet format too) 5Alive has a database section too.

To give you an idea of the range on offer, here is a small taster

Psion 5 FAQ  -  PS5Tips  -   PsionKing database  -  EpocFree developers database

Acronyms  -  Collective nouns   -    Aromatherapy oils and their properties

A huge Film database  -   First Aid   -    UK STD codes

Some, like Trivia,  QuoteOn and the comprehensive  UK Pocket Directory run as apps from your Extras bar.

If like me you keep on trying to find the time to catalogue the articles and reviews to locate them easily Palmtop have just done it for you. There is a complete database catalogue of vol 1 - 19 . Just the basic info. -  no comments - but so useful!

The latest is the book in database form - the new online book purchasing venture is offering management books downloadable in Data format!   I assume that the product is Geofox compatible - as usual the Geofox is not mentioned! But this must be one way forward for the EPOC 32 -----