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Simple Database to Use in Puppy 5.1.1?

Posted: Wed 15 Dec 2010, 15:46
by discombolixt
I’m looking for a simple data sheet. I’ve been using the MSWorks 8.5 DS which suits me perfectly. Is there a similar DS I can download?

I did search the Puppy Pkg Mgr and if there was one I didn’t see it. Is there another place to look?

Re: Simple Data Sheet to Use in Puppy 5.1.1?

Posted: Wed 15 Dec 2010, 19:33
by aragon
discombolixt wrote:I’m looking for a simple data sheet. I’ve been using the MSWorks 8.5 DS which suits me perfectly. Is there a similar DS I can download?

I did search the Puppy Pkg Mgr and if there was one I didn’t see it. Is there another place to look?
Don't know exactly what a data sheet might be, but if you're looking for a spreadsheet application look at the business-menu. it's called gnumeric and it's preinstalled.

aragon

Posted: Wed 15 Dec 2010, 20:21
by discombolixt
Oops! I wrote Data Sheet instead of Database - Ahhh So. Didn’t even know it was one word. Sorry about that. :) Hmmm. Maybe I should just repeat the question correctly. Here goes:
---------------------------------------------------------------------
I’m looking for a simple Database. I’ve been using the MSWorks 8.5 Database which suits me perfectly. Is there a similar Database I can download?

I did search the Puppy Pkg Mgr and if there was one I didn’t see it. Is there another place to look?
--------------------------------------------------------
I have used the Gnumeric SS.

Posted: Thu 16 Dec 2010, 04:30
by muggins
discombolixt,

I've never used the works database, (or for that matter any other!), so
don't know whether any of these compare, but some people have said
on the forum that they found Portabase to be a small, easy to use database.

Unfortunately I couldn't find a portabase .pet, so you can either try downloading & extracting a portabase .deb file, or wait until I, or someone else, puts Portabase into puppy .pet format. (Not sure whether, with Lupu, it's available using the puppy package manager & ubuntu repositories?).

There is also the SqLiteManager plugin for firefox, but I have no idea on whether it's easy to use.

Ditto for SqLiteStudio or OpenOffice's SBase.

Also see http://puppylinux.org/wikka/Database

Posted: Fri 17 Dec 2010, 01:44
by discombolixt
Well I downloaded Portabase to windows see how it went and it didn't for me. Never could get it to cough up any columns ie create a usable file. Got em named and all that good stuff but when I said OK it just coughed up No Result. 25 of those is enough to make a feller say, "Durn!" Looks like a neat program.

I did download and install it into Puppy and I understand I should have also downloaded a source file of which I don't have the foggiest what that means. There was one in the list of downloads.

I hope you don't put more effort into this - don't like to see anybody work on my problems. I'll find another way.

Posted: Fri 17 Dec 2010, 02:47
by wdm
discombolixt,

If you like msworks and have the installation disk for it you could see if it will run in wine.

Posted: Fri 17 Dec 2010, 07:02
by 8-bit
I had one from a while back that seemed to be developed on Puppy.
I do not remember how many features it had, but it is small and if you want to try it, it is attached.

Posted: Fri 17 Dec 2010, 16:11
by jemimah
GnomeDB might also be a good option. It is part of Gnome-office along with Abiword, and Gnumeric.

Posted: Fri 17 Dec 2010, 21:33
by discombolixt
Thanx all for your help and suggestions.

8-Bit I downloded and tried your DB but it wasn't what I had in mind.

At this point I've used linux a few days and it's like pushing string. I can almost use Puppy except for this DB, can't get it to recognoze my cameras, haven't tried the printer yet.

I can open/transfer some of my stuff via flash drive and use it OK.

Other than that I could go ahead and forget windows maybe. I'd sure like to. Right now I simply haven't the time to thrash around anymore.

See you next year.

Posted: Sat 18 Dec 2010, 03:06
by Lobster

Posted: Sat 18 Dec 2010, 03:56
by glenco
LOBSTER
ROFLMAO I remember that “ Puppy Database “ thread very well. The bottom line is most people do not know the difference between a database and a spreadsheet template for data input. This was Microsoft’s doing by buying out Ashton-Tate dBASE ;(

discombolixt

The bottom line is, if you want a real database running under Linux is to install WINE and run dBASE, FOX, and even old Clipper.

Give me a *.DBF,NDX file anyday
At a DOT prompt of course ;)

Posted: Sat 18 Dec 2010, 04:17
by Flash
Just to flesh out this discussion and make it useful to everyone, will someone please explain what a database is, and what a database program might be used for? Maybe I need one and don't even know it. :lol:

re simple database

Posted: Sat 18 Dec 2010, 04:48
by JohnJS
Hi discombolixt,
What to you want to keep in a database?.

I've been using sqlite3 with Puppy 5.11 (4.31 has a gui) and with Tiny Core.
Mostly for bookkeeping. (check register in gnumeric and sqlite3 to search sort and get totals).
Used MSWorks4.5 with Win98 for years. It was a great flatfile database but later versions of Works were a disappointment.
Edit: sqlite3 is in base of Puppy 5.11 4.31 can be accessed thru console.
Type "sqlite3" then ".help" for info. (no quotes). Or go to sqlite.org for more info.

Posted: Sat 18 Dec 2010, 05:48
by DaveS
How come nobody mentioned Open Office? It has a great database.

Posted: Sat 18 Dec 2010, 05:53
by DaveS
Flash wrote:Just to flesh out this discussion and make it useful to everyone, will someone please explain what a database is, and what a database program might be used for? Maybe I need one and don't even know it. :lol:
One of the most useful programs ever devised. The digital equivalent of a filing cabinet. I bet you use them every day. Ebay is a huge database. The phone book on your mobile is a database, same for your contacts in your email program, your browser bookmarks, flashblocked pages, on and on, all databases.

A database program allows you to build a custom storage system for whatever you want, photos maybe. The only limit is your imagination.....

Posted: Sat 18 Dec 2010, 06:04
by 8-bit
Just to be clear, I had no part in writing the database program I attached.
The credit for it as well as more info can be found here.

Posted: Sat 18 Dec 2010, 08:36
by Lobster
Ah good find 8-bit, well done, had forgotten about that . . .
Guy (gposil) is on extended leave in a place outside the kennels
known as 'Real Life' (personally I do not believe in its existence . . .)
so from what I remember features such as the ability to create a database have not yet been implemented.
For a lot of uses it will be ideal even as is

Most people including myself have no need for a database,
which is about manipulating and processing data.

Template front ends give little more than simple input and presentation
and if lucky some form of sorted output export.
That is what most people understand as a database.

Open/libreOffice database is big and probably stable?
Not sure never used - it does have macro language I believe?
Fast and powerful DOS database programing languages are usually beyond most peoples needs if used to the MS Works database - which I remember for its simplicity and stability.
Using MS Works in Wine is fine.

Puppy Linux
Penguin Provisions

Posted: Sat 18 Dec 2010, 22:41
by hillside
If all you need is a flat file database, most people can get by quite nicely with a spreadsheet. If you need a relational database, things get a little more tricky.

The database system in Open Office is pretty good for simple relational databases where the relationships are at only a couple to a few levels. If you want to go closer to whole hog, try SQLite or use the implementation in sqlitestudio. The biggie is MySQL.

Anything beyond Open Office may require that you know some fairly serious programming.

Posted: Sat 18 Dec 2010, 22:47
by hillside
Most people including myself have no need for a database,
which is about manipulating and processing data.
Wait a minute. I thought most everyone had a need for at least some basic databases! Are you sure we live in the same universe?

Posted: Sat 18 Dec 2010, 23:11
by discombolixt
JohnJs - U hit the nail on the head!

>Used MSWorks4.5 with Win98 for years. It was a great flatfile database but later versions of Works were a disappointment.<

Man 10-4 on that. I’ve been using MSWorks 4.0 checkbook on W95, W98, WXP(barely) all these years and it just suits me to a T. Don’t want nuthin else. I figured at the worst I could copy the headings into another DB.
Many don’t like the MS Works but I do for me and yes the later versions suck compared the old.
===========================

I hate OO with a pashion. Why buy the Queen Mary when rowboat will do? Don’t need all that stuff. To invasive. Too massive a program - for me.
===================
I still have a MSWorks 4.0 disk and will try it in Wine When I come back to this all next year. Not sure what Wine is or how to get there. Later on that. Also the other stuff mentioned.

I did get the printer to function.

Careful perusing of the camera list revealed only 2 cameras NOT on the list - mine. ;)

Thanx again. I’ll come back to this thread soonz I can in 2011.
-bye