CAMPBELL MASTERFILES SPECTRUM

ANYONE who has used The Fast One, a filing system for the ZX-81, and has now upgraded to the Spectrum will be pleased to hear that Campbell Systems has a similar program, Masterfile, for the 48K Spectrum. The author describes the program as a business and domestic filing system which allows files to be SAVEd and LOADed independently of the program.

The program is menu-driven. Files are made up of records which can be designed in any way the user chooses. Each record can contain up to 26 items of up to 128 characters for each item.

There are several options which allow the user to manipulate a file or a record. They include searching by character or numeric value, updating or copying a record, totalling or averaging items, and erasing records.

If a user has special requirements the program can be tailored to suit through the User Basic option. The program is also open-ended. That means a Microdrive option can be written into it.

On average, there is 32K of memory space available for data storage. That makes the system ideal for business use so far as memory is concerned but for full advantage the program needs to be run with a mass storage device, such as the Microdrive, with fast access to large amounts of data.

Masterfile is available from Campbell Systems, 15 Rous Road, Buckhurst Hill, Essex, IG9 6BL. It costs £15.