Found in the junk room, but not junk

I found three old package today. All great ol' packages for their time and in their own  way.

1. DataPerfect.
A DB package that started life as a legal office package, then moved to a more general application.

2. R:Base for Dos
A fabulous RDMS for Dos, I believe it could handle up to 80 tables. This book came with a 5.5 inch floppy disk. I have R:Base on 3.25 floppies, but probably unrunnable now. Also a couple of R:Base report writing and database management utilities. Same problem. But a pity as this Microrim product was fabulously powerful for its day.

3. t/b/m The Business Manager
This was a system by ABC Systems, Ltd. I think an Australian product that sought to be the be all and end all tool for the low power systems of the day (1987). The forerunner of SAP, I daresay!

Again, on 5.5 inch floppies and unrunnable today, but looks like a great concept.

Another wonderful package from 1988 was 'MyAssistant' a type of notebook, diary, calendar, contact list, todo list.

Plenty of flexibility for an all-in-one tool that ran as a TSR (terminate stay resident) package in a DOS system. Forerunner of...maybe Agenda, but less powerful, maybe Outlook and OneNote combined and to run in a mini memory footprint by today's standards.

Beyond PowerPoint - Graphics

Powerpoint has useful graphics capability in a restricted, superficial non-professional sense. But I'm tired of being restricted, superficial and non-professional.

I've downloaded and have embarked on the learning process for

Inkscape - vector graphics

Blender - 3D modelling

Gimp - photo ed and raster graphics

LibraCad - precision 2D graphics

Krita - bitmap painting

This should improve things; more flexibility, more subtlety, more better!

I had a look at BRL-Cad, but while it looks powerful, its rather more than I think I need.

My graphics background is Microstation CAD. Thus I'm used to precision and total control over everything. LibraCad might move in this direction, but it won't be the max as Microstation is.

One thing that I'm not sure the non CAD packages have, and I'm almost certain that Krita doesn't have is what in Microstation was called 'precision placement'. This is where you chose a function, identified a point in the design file and keyed in X and Y coordinates for the next point, e.g. to place a line, rectangle, etc.

For some art work this would be just the think I'd like, particularly in a paint program. Paint like a painter wants it is insufficient for me, I sometimes need to 'paint' like a drafter: precisely.


Another couple of great features of CAD, but Microstation in particular:

1. multiple, active view windows. Microstation supports two screen and each can accommodate floating image windows all of the single design file; all windows are active and can be edited, with edits showing in all windows where they would be seen. The windows call  be different parts of the design file, at different zooms and with different levels (layers) displayed.
2. reference files. In Microstation one can look at and use (e.g. 'snap to' objects in) other design files and can print the current and reference file as one. Brilliant for productivity.

And, PowerPoint still has some need graphics tools: spacing, alignment aids and alignment types: left, right, top, bottom, centre, middle. Very useful and would be great in a vector or raster package too.

Key Project Manager

It took me a little while to get the idea of this straight. Having been familiar with Primavera scheduling packages, this was a new approach.
These days we'd call it a task manager, and at that it seems to touch a point that is omitted by the very popular task manager category today: tasks have durations. We estimate these, then can give 'actuals'. Tracking both against a type category system would allow one to calibrate one's performance at estimating and get better at it.
It also fails to link tasks in a dependency relationship. I wouldn't want anything like P6 here, but to keep track of the mountain of tasks in a live work system (with serious volume) it is essential. Linking to document would also be important.
Those crits made, I like the interface and concept, although, naturally it is nowhere near as elegant or cross-platform/cloud useful like my current tool Pagico.

AskSam

This seems to have a single window interface, and relies on its search capability to find entries. It has a type of card file metaphor, but far less useful than Zoot, for example.

RFF

RF Flow: a flow charting package that just dipped its toe into the Windows world. I used it quite a lot for work process maps.

Zephyr

Another of Ward Mundy's great database packages. This was menu driven and could build applications from the menu.

I've only got a demo version...must write to Ward for an unlock so I can further experiment.

InfoSelect

This had to be my favourite package in the late 80s early 90s. It ran as a 'TSR', terminate and stay resident application, so it could be 'popped up' over a foreground program for intermittent use. I've mentioned it before, but here are some screen shots. Note the quirky menu item names.