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GCN Home > 02/24/03 issue

Personal DBMSes gain power

By Carlos A. Soto, GCN Staff

GCN Lab tests five new database management programs and finds progress

A few years ago, the poor quality of interfaces for desktop database programs discouraged many workers from getting rid of their filing cabinets and Rolodexes.

Now most programs are easier to use, and database software is no exception. Up-to-date desktop databases let users import various kinds of files, build with templates or custom-build, and post their databases online.

But not all users need to do all those functions. The work you do is key to choosing the right program, and most often users need ease of use, flexibility and scalability.

The GCN Lab tested five leading desktop database programs for easy use and convenience in editing templates, importing a diverse range of file extensions, and adding graphics and data tags.

We particularly wanted to see HTML output generation, as well as Web services capability via the Extensible Markup Language and Extensible Stylesheet Language. XML tags make content reusable, whereas XSL specifies the layout of the content for different kinds of displays.

All five databases we tested were relational. That means, for example, that if you keep an expense report database and a separate personnel database in your RDBMS, and you change an address, it automatically changes in the other database.

We assigned final grades based on these features and our top criterion—ease of use. The last time we tested FileMaker, we found two problems with the Pro 5 version. Its Sliding option, which was supposed to eliminate gaps between lines of text for printing, didn’t work. And, despite claimed compatibility of Microsoft Windows and Mac OS versions, only one out of five files we generated under Mac OS would open on a PC.

But FileMaker’s ease of use, logical interface, simple installation and robustness made putting up with the glitches worthwhile.

Steps forward, mostly

Despite our best efforts, we couldn’t find much wrong with FileMaker Pro 6. It continues to be the easiest relational database to learn and use. The tutorial no longer appears whenever a new database is created from a template, however, which is a small step in the wrong direction. Likewise, a user can’t click on the template window after creating a database but must access it the first time by going to “Records, New Record.”

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