This page provides a "short form" summary of Manifold Database Commander features. Click on a thumbnail to expand it for a view of the screen shot. The dialog and console views include various major dialogs but still represent only about a tenth of the available dialogs in Database Commander. Complexity is well hidden behind a well-organized system of menus. Most panes in Commander can be popped open and left "alive" even while work continues in other views and consoles.
Sample Views, Consoles and Major Dialogs
(The numbers in parentheses show the size of each thumbnail image in Kbytes.)
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More Like This 28K 27K 29K |
Manifold Database Commander's More Like This
function uses a blend of artificial intelligence and automatic
"fuzzy" query searches to find more records like the one being
viewed..
The first thumbnail shows the Customers table from Microsoft's Northwind sample database for Access. We see a mix of customers from various countries, and we would like to find more customers like the one highlighted. In the second thumbnail, we've right clicked on the row marker and are choosing More Like This Row (Sorted) to have the database re-sorted with records "like" the one we see at the top. The third thumbnail shows the result, with the top ten records already highlighted for us. Note that the top 11 are all of the French records in the database. We didn't have to tell Commander we were interested in French customers. This was inferred by examining the fields we have turned on for display in that Table (Commander can show or hide fields in a table as we desire) and the contents of those fields when examining the entire database. If desired, we could have right-clicked on a field cell for a particular record and chosen More like this Cell to find records with values like those in a particular cell, or we could have used the general More Like This... choice for manual control over the "more like" options. |
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Formula Builder and Active Columns 33K |
Add a column to a Table or Query that shows the
results of a formula with the Formula Builder. The thumbnail
shows how a new column, Discounted Price is added to a table to
report the results of applying the Discount in the record to the UnitPrice.
The Discounted Price column is computed "on the fly" for each
record just like a spread sheet. That's why they are called Active
Columns.
Formula Builder makes it easier to create an ActiveX / VB scripting formula by dragging and dropping standard syntax items into the formula. Formulas can use any ActiveX expression, including definition of Functions and calling Subs ... 'way cool! Forgetful about Basic syntax? No problem: Templates provide a cool collection of "fill in the blank" scripts for common financial and business tasks. Just drag and drop the fields you want to use into the Template. Amaze your friends! ... you don't have to tell them you used a Template. |
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Overall View 81K |
An annotated view of the main Commander display
at 1024 x 768 resolution. Shows database tree, properties, data
Table View, Selection, Analysis bars and Active Columns.
We've tried to show everything all at once in this thumbnail (simple uses would have fewer panes open), so the view is busier than usual. |
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Simple Chart 19K |
Click on any column head in the main table or
the Selection table view to display that field as a chart. Image
shows two fields plotted as a bar chart, showing records that were placed
into the Selection.
Charts are dynamic windows that are automatically updated with changes in the main database or selection display. Resort the selection and the bar elements in Chart will automatically resort themselves. |
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"Drill Up" Chart 24K |
Here are the same records grouped by OrderID in
a "drill up" grouping. Commander provides different ways
to aggregate records when grouped in a chart. This chart groups records by
taking the average value of records grouped and showing the bars in
that height.
Database Commander charts are "two way": click on a bar to highlight the records back in the main table view that make up that bar. Ever see an unusual data point in a chart and wanted to see what records made up that point? Simply click with Commander and you'll see. |
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Radial Chart 18K |
The same chart displayed using "radial" style. This style is good for some types of database and less good for others. Note that highlighting records by clicking on them in the chart still works. To keep track of what records have been highlighted (use SHIFT-click and CTRL-click to choose more than one), the parts of the chart that are clicked will highlight in an alternate color. |
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SQL Query Builder 11K |
Database Commander's SQL Query Builder includes
a series of SQL "templates" that provide a framework for
building common types of SQL queries. These provide a guide for
beginners and a handy reminder of precise SQL syntax for experts.
Items from the menu tree at the left can simply be dragged and dropped
into the template to create an accurate SQL query. Queries, of
course, will then be a part of the database and displayable in the table
views.
Database Commander includes full SQL. Imagine: even text file databases can now be organized with sophisticated SQL. |
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SQL Assistant 13K |
The SQL Assistant is an sub- panel in
the Query Builder that may be used to assemble simple SQL queries
consisting of "one line" criteria. The names of tables and
fields may be dragged and dropped into the SQL Assistant panel together
with criteria, sort order, whether or not to display the field, etc. Press
Compose and the SQL Assistant will write a correct SQL query for
you. The example shown fetches the name and telephone numbers of our
contacts in the UK.
Surprisingly many SQL queries are examples of "I want some of this and some of that ordered by this over here." SQL Assistant will build such queries for you automatically so you can create nice Query tables without hassles. |
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Analysis Bars: Statistics and Math 49K
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If Active Columns report the results of
formulae in a column, Analysis Bars are like "active
rows" that report the results of simple analysis in a row at the
bottom of the table.
Choose a field, an operator, a parameter if required and the Analysis bar will constantly report the result of that operator applied on that field. The bar can report on either the entire database or only on those records in the Selection. Change what's in the Selection and the Analysis bar will automatically update its report. Over 100 operators are available for numbers, text, dates, currency, boolean types and more, including sophisticated statistics operators like Correlation and Covariance. Want to know the average value of Quantity or UnitPrice? It's a snap. Open up two analysis bars, one reporting on the entire database and one reporting on the Selection. You can then Select, say, sales by a particular sales rep or region and see right away the difference between the overall average and that rep's average. No programming required... just point and click. |
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Analysis Bars: Selection 26K 26K |
Some analysis rows have a Highlight Result button. This
button will highlight records back in the main table view that are
involved with that analysis bar result.
In the previous section, the last Analysis bar reported that there were 838 records for which the Discount was greater than zero. Clicking on the Highlight Result button for that bar will highlight those 838 records in the main table view. (Upper thumbnail).
The Highlight Result button makes it possible to use the results of Analysis Bars like a "handle" to grab associated records. For example, we could grab all records where EmployeeName contained "Fuller". In this way, the Analysis bar is both a report of analysis as well as a handle to grab the subject records. |
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Analysis Bars: Adding an Analysis Bar 44K |
Add an Analysis Bar in ten seconds or less.
This example finds the average of Unit Price in our database Order Details table in ten seconds or less. We could have just as quickly and easily performed any of hundreds of other analyses. |
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Transformer Toolbar 31K |
The Transformer toolbar makes it easy to transform, copy and otherwise manipulate fields without any update queries. Change values in a database column throughout the entire database in seconds, using any one of hundreds of point-and-click operators for numbers, text strings, dates, and other types. The example shows how to increase the Discount field by 10% throughout the entire database in less than five seconds. No more update queries for routine data changes! |
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Decision Support System 5K 9K 6K 11K |
SQL works great if you know exactly what it is
you are looking for. The Manifold Decision Support System makes it
possible to search databases using flexible criteria when you are not
exactly sure of the bounds of what you seek.
To do this, it uses artificial intelligence with automated "fuzzy" logic. Instead of searching for income above 100,000 in a query, DSS can draw a curve automatically that shows values above 100,000 are much more preferred as "high" income, but that some values below 100,000 are acceptable in compound queries. The first screen shot shows a demographics database for southeastern US counties. The second thumbnail shows a the DSS Console loaded with a query called HighHispanic that searches for counties where Hispanic income is "high" and White income is "low". Pressing Save in the DSS console adds an Active Column to the table called HighHispanic that ranks each record by how well it meets the "fuzzy" criteria defined in DSS. The third thumbnail shows the database sorted by the values in the HighHispanic column. Note that the counties at the top have unusually high Hispanic income and unusually low White income. Such relationships are impossible to find with traditional SQL searches. The last thumbnail shows the Profile definition dialog in DSS. Manifold DSS provides "presets" such as Average that will automatically scan the database (the bar chart in the background of the profile is a histogram of values in the database) to create sensible profiles for desired searches such as "Average", "High" and "Low." Alternately, flexible criteria can be defined by giving confidence ratings on what is sought or manual specification. |
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Selection 60K |
The Selection is a place to keep records
that have been picked out of the main database table or query. We
can highlight records in the main table and then add them to the Selection
or subtract them from the Selection. We can even do more
sophisticated combinations, such as "intersecting" what's
highlighted with what's already in the Selection.
Many Database Commander operations, such as Calculator toolbar, Chart or the Analysis bars can be applied only to those records in the selection. The Selection lets us pick out a subset of records in a sophisticated way and then view, change or analyze only those records. The thumbnail shows a how highlighted records may be combined into the selection using the Selection combination buttons. Highlight some records and press a Selection combination button to combine those highlighted records into the Selection. |
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Search and Replace
25K |
Wouldn't it be great to search and replace
within any database Table or Query just as you do with a word
processor? Database Commander's Replace... function works
just as you expect. Use it to Find Next, Replace, or Replace
All just as you would with Word. It's that easy! Any
fields replaced are automatically highlighted with a different background
color so there's no guessing about what's been changed.
The thumbnail shows a Replace operation in the Microsoft Northwind sample databases's "Customers" table. We're replacing "France" with "Gaul" using the one-at-a-time Replace button. We've replaced in two records and are about to do a third. We could have pressed Replace All to do all at once. C'est si bon! |
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"Full Frame" Charts
10K 9K |
Double-clicking into the background of a Database Commander Chart will change the chart dialog so that no title bars, menu times, or other controls are visible. This makes it easy to use ALT-PrintScreen to copy the chart image into the Windows clipboard for pasting into any other application, such as Microsoft PowerPoint, a web page or Word. |
For more screen shots, see a Case Study of "harvesting" a competitor's dealer database from the web. The Case Study presents a step-by-step procedure with thumbnail illustrations (click to see full-sized screen shots) of harvesting data from a web site, converting the dealer list into a handy database, and making formatting conversions for easy use.
A Steal at Twice the Price!
- Manifold Database Commander is priced at only $145: that's the best deal ever in
database software!
Call 800-556-5919 today to order your copy of
Database Commander. Manifold Database Commander ships from stock same day
on orders received before 2:00 Pacific Time.
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We can then click the Replace Selection button to put all those 838
highlighted records into the Selection. (Lower Thumbnail) Note how
all the records in the Selection now have Discount values and that the
status bar reports 838 records in the Selection.
