A utility filing program for the Oric 1 costing less than £5? Can it be true? So it was with some enthusiasm I tried to load the program into my Oric.

Half an hour later I was still trying, and my enthusiasm was much diminished. A further 15 minutes went by before my Oric received an error-free program.

No instructions were provided with the program, so, if the word 'field' means little more to you than acres of grass, you may have problems.

However, once in use, the program proved to be a quite powerful computer filing system. All the usual features are there; enter, delete, sort, list, search, save file and load file. The sort option operates on any field and is very fast.

The program is 'menu-driven', and the on-screen instructions make it easy to use. You can select the number and names of fields you require.

The screen layout is unimaginative, and I thought the use of sound (e.g. SHOOT and EXPLODE) was misplaced in a 'serious' application program.

However, if you have the patience to load the program, you could make a back-up copy, and have a simple, but effective, and flexible database system for your Oric.

D.N.