Cardbox for Windows
I have no direct connection with
Cardbox Software Ltd.: these are my own thoughts!
If you haven't heard of Cardbox, you should check it out. It's a well-established database system ideal for text and image storage. It's used for library catalogues, contact and enquiry tracking, and all sorts of list management tasks.
It's not cheap, but you get what you pay for!
If you're interested, you can scroll down this page for a longer description of the program, or you can link to their web site. Failing that, you can return to my home page.
Cardbox for Windows is extremely easy to use and set up, and it's very fast in operation. When training new users, they don't even need an intermediate course. No other system comes close to it in flexibility and compatibility with other systems. I use it for my main aviation database (over 70,000 records and growing - see below) and its searching and reporting facilities are simply wonderful.
It's been around since the days of CP/M and MP/M, and was fully multi-user even then. Since then it has evolved through DOS and VAX versions, and now, of course, Windows.
Its ease of use starts at format design, where you just drag and drop fields on the screen, give them a name and a type (e.g. Text or Picture), and, for advanced users, some validation rules. That's it. You can completely re-jig everything even after you've entered tons of data, and it really doesn't mind.
Doing even complex searches on your data is very simple, and you have very little to learn. What you do need to know are the principles, not silly 'programming-like' codes like you have to use with Approach or Access.
Minutes after seeing the system for the first time, new users can do a search like: all contacts I'm calling next week in Kent and Sussex, except in Dover and Margate, and except people I called this week.
Another example of a search (for estate agents, this time) might be: list all the properties for sale in a particular price range in a particular postcode, which have four bedrooms, a double garage, and a study. It can also store photos of the houses, and location maps - you can link many images (of one house) with a record, or one image (a town map) with many records.
Other nice features include: relational searching, multiple windows on one or many different databases, easy label printing and mail-merging, batch updating, and multi-level access security.
Cardbox have an excellent web site where you can learn much more, check out their users, and download demos. Check it out when you've finished reading my stuff!
I've been fascinated by aircraft ever since I lived directly (actually about 50ft) under the flightpath of the Bristol 170 and ATL Carvair Freighters which were lugging cars from Southend to France in the 50's and 60's.
I've collected Flight International and other aviation books and magazines for many years but when I want to do some research, they are pretty useless because there are just so many places to look!
So I've created a database of all the major articles: features, photos and news items, contained in every issue of Flight International since 1965 (and a few before that). It now contains over 39,000 items from Flight International (that's an average of about 16 items per issue). It lists the contents, not necessarily the headline, and categorises and dates each of them. It's kept in Cardbox, which makes finding any information an absolute doddle! It also contains references to all issues of Airplane, and 1994-2008 issues of Aeroplane Monthly.
I wanted a cutaway drawing of the DC9, so this record was found by selecting the Subject "DC9" and then selecting from the found records a Type of "C"utaway - 2 steps only. This search also found a cutaway drawing of a DC9 Super 80 in 1979.
The actual steps required to do this are (without the quote marks): right-click anywhere in the Subject box, type "dc9", press Return. Right-click anywhere in the Type box, type "c", press Return. Could it be any easier?
Non-UK readers note that the publication date is in UK format: day/month/year, but you can search in month-day-year or year.month.day format if you wish.
Another possibility is to use the Sector field, possibly with the Beginning and End Span fields: you could select Sectors of Engines, Rotorcraft, and R&D to find items about the development of helicopter and VTOL aircraft engines, and then restrict it to items about the 1970's and 80's. This example is one of the 19 items that it found.
