This Know-It-All Program Offers Order From Chaos
The trouble with having so many choices among word processing, spreadsheet and database programs is that you end up with a wide variety of incompatible software.
It’s bad enough if you work alone and only have to contend with your own collection of text and data files created with different programs. But if you work in offices where competing brands of software are in use, the result can be chaos.
One solution is yet another program: Outside In, at $99, from Systems Compatibility Corp. of Chicago. It runs on PC-compatible computers.
The sole purpose of Outside In is to act as a translator, letting you insert text into word processing files directly from 33 different kinds of word processing file formats, three Macintosh word processing programs, 12 PC spreadsheet programs and eight PC database programs.
Word processing files are complicated. Not only must they store the words in the document, they must also store the position of the page margins, tab stops, special character attributes such as boldface, underlines and italics, type styles and sizes, and often much more. Not surprisingly, most word processing publishers do all that differently than their competitors. As a result, their files are not compatible with each other.
Of course, spreadsheet and database files are totally different from text files, so, unless they were designed by the manufacturer as part of an integrated system of programs, such as in Microsoft Works or Ashton-Tate’s Framework, it is tough to bring such data into a text document.
When it transfers text from one word processing program to another, Outside In preserves the tab settings and the character attributes of bold, underline and italic type. And for spreadsheet and database files, it transfers the data in a tabular structure, as it appears in a typical spreadsheet.
A common need in business reports is the inclusion of numbers stored in a spreadsheet file. Without Outside In or integrated software that enables such transfers, you would have to plan ahead and prepare special “print files” of the portions of the spreadsheets you wished to incorporate in your document. It is not hard to do, but you can’t do it while you are in the middle of the document where you want it to appear.
Outside In makes the task much easier and gives you some options you would not otherwise have.
The program is memory-resident, requiring about 70 kilobytes of your computer’s operating memory. You must load it into memory before beginning to use your word processing software.
Once loaded, you call Outside In from within the word processing document when you reach the spot where you would like to insert material. Pressing Control and I simultaneously does it.
Then, following a menu of choices across the bottom of your screen, you tell Outside In which directory to search for the spreadsheet file. It will display the file names for you. As you move the cursor highlight down the list of names, you will see the top of each file in an adjacent window.
Outside In automatically recognizes what program created the file and displays it just as it would look in the program. When the right one appears on the screen, tab over to that window and scroll side to side or up and down through the file to find the section you want. Then mark it with special keystrokes and press Insert to have the marked section copied into your word processing document. The original, of course, remains undisturbed.
A particularly nice feature of Outside In is its ability to select non-contiguous sections of the spreadsheet for transfer. You could, for instance, just copy the labels along the left column of the spreadsheet and the summary data from a column farther to the right. You can even mark and copy a patchwork of data from every other row and every other column or any variation on that theme.
The material you move into your word processing document will take on the margins and tab settings of that document, so be careful not to move in material too wide to fit. And take care with tab settings if you want numbers to line up.
Database material is treated as if stored in a table, like a spreadsheet. If you have special entry or report forms for your data, they will not be recognized. The non-contiguous selection process works the same as for spreadsheets.
Databases recognized are dBASE, Data Ease, dBXL, Enable, FoxBase, Framework, Works and SmartWare II.
When you choose text created by other word processing programs, the rules are a little different. You must select contiguous text. If you want non-contiguous text, you must go back to the source file as many times as necessary to retrieve the separate segments. It’s easy to keep going back for more, however, because Outside In takes you back to the last place you were in the last file you copied from each time you call it into use.
The list of word processing programs supported is printed on the back of the package.
OUTSIDE IN A $99 file merging utility.
Features: Merge text and data into popular word processing documents from 33 word processors, 12 spreadsheets and eight databases. Copy non-contiguous spreadsheet and database segments.
Requirements: IBM PC or compatible with at least 70 kilobytes of spare memory beyond that required by your word processing software.
Publisher: Systems Compatibility Corp., 401 N. Wabash, Suite 600, Chicago, Ill. 60611. Phone: (312) 329-0700.
