Imagine, if you can, that you are sitting at your computer using your wordprocessor and entering your latest masterpiece. The telephone rings, and a friend asks if you can supply him with the telephone number of a mutual friend. Like a good computer user, your telephone list is of course stored on a database. You then have to save your current text to disc, find your database disc, load up the software and read in your telephone database, then find the desired entry. The wordprocessor disc then has to be re-installed, the wordprocessor entered, and the text re-loaded off disc.

The above operation can take many minutes, especially if you can't find your database disc! Now, imagine that at a press of a key (or three) you could instantly enter a database containing all your telephone numbers (and much more besides). A quick search could be carried out, and the required telephone number retrieved and relayed to your friend. At the press of a few more keys you could be back in your wordprocessor exactly where you were before.

Permanent Memory Systems have conjured up Genie to offer just such a facility. Genie consists of a small module which contains the necessary firmware (64K of RAM, 32K of which is battery-backed, and 32K of machine code in ROM), and a length of ribbon cable with a 28 pin header.

Installation is straightforward, with the 28 pin header being plugged into a vacant sideways ROM socket on the main circuit board (for technical reasons, Genie should not be inserted into a ROM socket on an expansion board). The Genie circuit board is contained within a small plastic case measuring 3.5" square by 1" deep, and this can either be left inside the computer, or placed outside.

The Genie environment can either be entered by typing *GENIE or by pressing Shift-Ctrl-G. Once this is done, there is a slight pause while the whole of the computer's memory is copied into Genie's 32K on-board RAM. Once you have finished using Genie, the computer's memory is restored to its former state, and the previous application continues running as if nothing had happened.

From the main menu it is possible to enter any one of Genie's six applications, namely the address book, calendar, calculator, desk diary, note pad, and phone book. Throughout, the screen display is divided into four main areas - the Genie logo, the menu area, the work desk, and the function key strip. The work area conveniently contains details of the cursor control keys.

The menu area shows the title of the current utility, with details of which options are available. The current date and time are constantly displayed at the bottom of this area. When used on a Master 128 this is initialised from the in-built real-time clock, otherwise it will have to be entered manually when Genie is first selected after power-up. The work desk occupies most of the screen, and the utilities run in this area.

The function key area at the bottom of the screen is used to display the options (if any) that the function keys evoke in the current application. This saves the need for those annoying function key strips that are all too easily misplaced.

The most used facility on Genie will probably be the address book, which is accessed from the main menu. The work area is filled with a 'card' type display divided up into 5 fields: Name (24 characters), First Name (14), Address (6 lines of 30), Phone Number (15),and any other details (2 lines of 30 characters).

There are options to browse, work (i.e. edit), find an entry (with the use of wildcards for ease of operation), and to print out an entry (to produce an address label, for example).

Editing throughout Genie is consistent. The cursor keys are used to move the cursor around the screen allowing text to be entered at the desired place. Text entry is always in 'insert' mode. The function keys are used for ancillary functions, Delete-character-right uses the familiar Copy or Ctrl-A keys (as with Wordwise/Inter-Word). Once an address has been entered, it will be stored alphabetically in Genie's 32K of battery-backed memory.

The phone book option causes a list of the addresses, names and phone numbers to be displayed, and these can be scrolled to find the desired entry.

Whenever the diary is selected, any entry for that day will automatically be displayed on the screen. Like the address book, you may browse, search, and edit entries in the diary. An entry for a specific date may be chosen in browse mode, and this can then be edited by selecting the work option. Entries are in a free format display of 10 lines of 34 characters, and word-wrap is automatic.

The calendar can be entered either from the main menu, or from within the desk diary. When entered from the diary, any dates with a corresponding diary entry are highlighted.

The notepad facility offers the ability to store up to 99 free format entries of 16 lines of 40 characters. There are, in common with the other modules, facilities for browsing, editing, and searching through the entries.

The calculator operates like a normal desktop model, and offers simple arithmetic operations. It has 10 digit entry, and the usual memory and percentage facilities. From the calculator menu it is also possible to 'pull up' a units conversion table detailing metric to imperial conversion factors, and an ASCII table (should you ever have the desire for one).

The options menu is accessed from the main menu and is used to alter various Genie parameters. The system date and time can be entered from here (unless using a Master 128), and the date display is entered in a similar fashion as for the calendar. The paper and ink colours for the main display can be altered to suit your personal preferences, although there is no way to alter the colours of the Genie logo or function key area.

At any time you can discover how memory is being used. The status option will show how many entries there are in each of the notebook, desk diary, and address books, and how much memory each of these occupies.

Like all databases, there may be information of a sensitive or confidential nature that you would not wish to be divulged to anyone else. For this reason, Genie can be protected by a password of up to 10 characters in length. Once 'locked' in this way the correct password has to be entered before any of the modules, and hence your data can be accessed. If you should forget your password, then there is a means by which PMS can decode this for you if you can establish yourself as the true owner!

The entire contents of the battery-backed RAM contained within Genie can also be saved to disc as a backup to safeguard against failure. The files are of course in an encoded format.

Genie is both extremely versatile and very useful, and should prove helpful to most users, in a manner comparable to the popular 'SideKick' utility for the IBM PC and its clones. As a rule I am very wary of most battery-backed devices. After all, what's the use of having battery-backup if it only lasts for a few months and then fails? However, Genie is guaranteed for five years use, so it should not cause any problems in that area.

PMS are planning to bring out a series of disc-based utilities for use with Genie. These will include the ability to import and export data with other databases such as ViewStore, Masterfile, and other such popular databases.

PMS are also planning to produce an Electron compatible version. Apart from the split mode operation it will in all essence be just like the BBC/Master version.

Genie is indeed a most useful piece of firmware, albeit at quite a high price, that will readily become an indispensable aid for many BBC users.

Product: Genie
Supplier: Permanent Memory Systems, 38 Mount Cameron Drive, East Kilbride G74 2ES. Tel: (03552) 32796 (24 hours)
Price: £79.35