On File
On File Database Management System was released in June 2024 by KSL in order to celebrate the anniversaries of CPC (40 years!) and CP/M-80 (50 years!). On File is a business application similar to the MSDOS-era PC applications and one of the most recent (2024) projects developed for CP/M.
As per Cosmos, On File has been developed on the basis of the hardware peripherals as well as the software that were (contemporary) available for the CP/M and the CPC6128: the 512 KB Dobbertin Memory Expansion, the ParaDOS or X-DDOS ROMS for the external (800 KB) floppy drive, the 20 MB Dobbertin Harddisc, the Amstrad Serial Interface, the Amstrad Parallel Printer Port, the CTM640/CTM644 colour monitor, the AMX Mouse, the MicroScript (142 KB), the WordStar (706 KB), the Protext (406 KB), the Multiplan (208 KB), the SuperCalc 2 (240 KB), the dBase II (272 KB), the DR Draw (235 KB), the DR Graph (306 KB), the MAXAM (206 KB), the Atlast Plus (224 KB) and other Programming software. On File includes its own graphics routines (similar to GSX), is based on the Dobbertin version of CP/M 2.2 (v1.2) which provides 59 KB TPA, supports the RAM expansion and the 20 MB hard disk.
On File is quick and reliable. It uses the CPC screen (80x25) as a single record; thus there is plenty of space to edit many different fields and store large amount of data. Every screen (record) is stored automatically in the disk with a different name, so that it can be accessed by other programs, like word processors. In order to set up a new database: 1) Start a new file system by resetting the database and the master record. 2) Frame and/or draw the master record. 3) Edit the fields and the structure of the master record. 4) Append the records in the database on the basis of the master record.
Relations: The database can be either flat or relational. Children records include the ^ symbol followed by the relational key and one space, for example ^Z80 . The relational key can contain up to 15 symbols (A..Z, a..z, 1..0,+,?, etc.). Parent records include the relational key (not the ^ symbol) followed by one space, for example Z80 . If a record contains more than one relational key, the key at the lowest field is set as the active key. In case of large databases move the parent records at the start of the database list.
Notes: On File capacity is 200 records (equal to 400 KB). The original disk contains some demo master records (*.002 files) as well as the boot sectors for CP/M 2.2 (v1.2)
