Hi, Bob.

BL> FM> My original intention was to create a message base manager for
BL> FM> the stuff I keep, so stuff was going to end up in my own format
BL> FM> anyway. (Yeah, yeah I know - reinventing wheels.)

BL>  That's on my list of things to learn. I've successfully avoided
BL>spreadsheets and databases for a long time, but I can feel them,
BL>closing in on me...

Do you mean using them, or writing a program to do that? A spreadsheet
is a piece of piss to use, you don't need no book or nuffin - just do
it. Corse to use *well*, well that's a different question.

A database program can be easy or hard to use, depending on its human
interface. I like Paradox which is very intuitive. Rod does too. Since
you're into VB, you should probably look at MS Access.

As for programming these things, well a basic spreadsheet implementation
isn't that difficult - Borland actually include a reasonably
comprehensive one as example code with the Turbo Pascal compiler. Of
course if you want a flash GUI and all the stuff that Excel or Quattro
for Win have, that's a lot harder. I know, I've done it.

I don't think I would bother writing a database manager. There's a
*hell* of a lot to think about if you want speed and reliability.

Regards, FIM.

 * * One who is always in a stew generally goes to pot.
@EOT:

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