Magellan Explores, Organizes Data

Some people just don’t have the heart to throw out an old computer file. Any program or data that winds up on their hard-disk storage equipment stays there.

Trouble is, that hard disk can become an unwieldy mess. And when the time comes to find a file whose name you no longer remember, you’re in trouble.

Lotus Development, the publisher of the best-selling spreadsheet program 1-2-3, has come up with a solution. Lotus Magellan, named after the 15th-Century Portuguese explorer, helps you sail through the “unchartered territory” of your hard disk.

Magellan is more than the run-of-the-mill “disk organizer.” There are lots of programs that share Magellan’s ability to show directory listings sorted alphabetically, by size or by date of last change to perform such useful but mundane tasks as copying, moving, renaming and deleting files. Magellan’s genius is its ability to organize your files based on their content.

When you first use the program, it creates an index of your hard disk by examining every file and recording information about each file’s contents. This one-time process can take up to an hour.

Magellan’s screen is divided into two vertical windows. The left window shows a list of file names while the window on the right shows the contents of the file that is highlighted.

Many Junk Files

That right-hand window display is no mere summary. It’s the complete file, just as it looks when displayed by the program that created it. A Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet actually looks like a spreadsheet. Same is true with a dBase database file, a WordPerfect document and other data files that were created with one of the programs that Magellan works with.

This browsing feature can be enormously helpful. If nothing else, it’s a great housecleaning tool. I was shocked at how many junk files Magellan helped me discover. Fortunately, you can delete files while Magellan is running.

A program similar to Magellan, called ViewLink, recently was released by Traveling Software. Like Magellan, ViewLink lets you organize information by subject rather than by the physical location of your files on the hard disk. ViewLink also lets you set up links between files so that you can quickly jump from one related file to another, even if they were created by different programs. Unlike Magellan, however, the program doesn’t let you display the contents of files, and thus isn’t as useful for some people.

(ViewLink has a suggested retail price of $150 and is available from Traveling Software at 18702 North Creek Parkway; Bothell, Wash. 98011. Phone: (206) 483-8088 or (800) 343-8080.)

Ordinarily, Magellan’s left window lists all the files on your disk. Needless to say, that can be unwieldy. To prevent information overload, the program allows you to create an “explore path” to limit the number of files listed in that window. The explore path is set by pressing a function key that takes you temporarily to a screen where you specify the type of files you wish to see.

The most impressive part of the explore command is its ability to find files based on any text or numbers that appear in the files. This way, you can locate data even if you don’t know the name of the files or where they are located. And it’s not just limited to word processing. It will find information in spreadsheets, databases or any other application that it knows about.

Automatically Loads It

The process is amazingly fast. It took Magellan less than 5 seconds to scan my 20-megabyte hard disk to find 26 files containing the words “desktop publishing.” Once the search was complete, only the files that met the search criterion remained in the left window.

Those files can be browsed within Magellan or you can use the program’s “launch” function to bring up the program that created the file. Magellan then will automatically load the specified file into memory.

Once you’ve located a group of related files, you can assign a name to the group and add that name to a menu. Then, if you need access to files on the specified subject, you can merely select the menu item and Magellan limits its file display to the relevant files. This allows you to organize your files by subject without having to physically move them into a special directory.

A grouping can be created using the search command or by specifying files by name. And you can always add files later on.

Another useful feature is the ability to gather bits and pieces of information from various files and turn it into a single file. This can be a very good way to quickly assemble notes on a subject. You might not be interested in every detail that Magellan uncovers, but with the gather command, you can pick and choose. When you’re done, you’ll have a new file with just the information you need.

If you’re lost in a sea of data, then you need the help of an experienced explorer such as Magellan. Lotus Development has given the program a suggested retail price of $195 but is offering it at an introductory price of $139 until the end of June.

Computer File welcomes readers’ comments but regrets that the authors cannot respond individually to letters. Write to Lawrence J. Magid, P.O. Box 620477, Woodside, Calif. 94062, or contact the L. Magid account on the MCI electronic mail system.

MAGELLAN: THE SPECS

Features

A disk organizing program that allows you to find, view and organize information on your hard disk. The program displays the contents of a file without having to run the program that created it. A find feature quickly locates files based on any word or phrase in the file. You also can use the program to create groups of related files and to access these groups through a menu. Magellan can be used to launch other programs and to rename, copy, move or delete files and directories of files. Magellan works with files from a wide variety of word processors, spreadsheets, database management systems and other programs.

Requirements

IBM PC or compatible personal computer with a hard disk, 512K of memory and at least one megabyte of free disk space. DOS 2.1 or higher.

Publisher

Lotus Development, 55 Cambridge Pkwy., Cambridge, MA 02142. Phone: (617) 577-8500

Price

$139 through June. After that it will have a suggested retail price of $195.