Original review published on Steve Litchfield's 3-Lib.

Purple Software has just released the long awaited PowerBase application, the first DataBase Management System (DBMS) for the EPOC platform. As usual, a very welcome 30-day trial version is available for download from Purple Software's web site.

PowerBase is a much more powerful application than the built-in DATA application. I would have to say that if DATA is like having a card file system (maybe that is why the icon is one?) then PowerBase would equate to having a hand held computer, it is so much more advanced! Let me say this, however. If you have never, ever used a 'real' database, PowerBase can be a bit daunting. Such things as: tables, fields, views, groups, schema - this may all be new lingo to you. If you use Access, FoxPro, Approach, dbase, SQL, Oracle etc., you'll have no problems.

I have to say I was impressed with the user manual, the first 3 pages ('Introduction') give a wonderful explanation of what a relational database is. There are no assumptions that you the user know what this marvel of computing is, and there is no talking down. This type of explanation is a rare thing in the current world of technology. The manual then walks you through some key concepts and how to then use the application to its fullest. It's easy to follow, with screen shots where illustration is required. I personally hate reading electronic documentation - my brain just does not process it. The PowerBase user manual comes in PDF format, which is easy to print out and read at your leisure (I happened to do it while also watching a bit of television). The manual even walks you though importing your address book from a DATA file.

PowerBase has some great features, such as import or merging of DATA files or text files into a table. If you are importing or merging a text file, you can specify the field separators and text qualifiers; and if you have the field labels in the first row, PowerBase will create the appropriate labels for the new table. You can even go in the other direction and export a PowerBase table.

PowerBase comes with templates that will generate some databases for you, complete with sample data. These sample files are a great way to learn more about the functionality of the program. In the samples, there are fields that show the results of a calculation or expression and how this expression can use values from one or more fields. Field values are also used from other tables in the database. This type of field is sometimes called a lookup value, though PowerBase calls it a relational field, since the value in one table relates to a field in another table. Another feature is the ability to make a Group, which is really just a saved filter, so it can be used again. Thus, if you have a customer database, you can use Groups to show just customers in each of your sales regions.

There is also the facility to drag and drop fields as well as resize fields and columns, all with the pointer/pen. The application works wonderfully on the Geofox too, filling the entire screen. Us Fox owners love it when that happens!

I have built several databases so far and have found a problem when using date fields in an expression. Dates are all stored as serial dates, so if you then use a date field in a function it's in its native format and you have to convert it back into a standard MM-DD-YY format. There are also problems when trying to use a date value in a string concatenation, you end up getting an error.

Purple Software state on their web site that PowerBase will "bring true PC-style power to your Psion" - well, working with PC databases daily has allowed me to see that PowerBase is still missing such things as indexes and primary keys. Indexes allow for faster data finding and primary keys help to prevent repeating data. It is also missing the ability to easily convert to and from some of the standard PC database file formats. The leading PC and server-based databases (Access, FoxPro, Approach, dbase, SybaseSQL, SQLServer, Oracle) all provide the ability to look up and use a value from one table in another, but this is just the tip of the iceberg as to what a relational database should be able to do. In most computer databases you can have views that join 2 or more tables, without having to build the tables first to see the results - you just build the view. Filters or queries can be built that will select rows from one or more tables based on the value or calculation in field(s) from another. These things are not possible in PowerBase - yet.

This version of PowerBase is called the 'Personal' edition. There is a more powerful version, 'PowerBase Pro', due in the first quarter of 1999 (according to Gunnar Larsen of Purple Software). The Pro version will provide some of the missing functionality, such as interoperabilitiy with the leading desktop databases. It will also be client/server based.

If you found DATA lacking and SHEET limiting then PowerBase will fill much of the void. Overall, I think this is a good application for the EPOC platform (Series 5 or Geofox), though if you have worked with a relational database before you might find some things missing. I am going to be using it for a while and hoping that the Pro version is released very soon!

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