Too Big for Commodore?

by Rolf L. Miller

That there are some jobs too big for Commodore is a given. There are some jobs too big for any home
computer, megagobs of memory notwithstanding. 

But before assuming that a 64 is too small to handle a large task, consider partitioning the work into its
various elements. After all, every job consists of the sum of its parts. Take publishing a newsletter for
example. Regardless of its size, the final result is made up of its individual pages. Attempting to do all
the pages at once would in most cases overpower the 64. But accomplishing one page at a time is
easily within the 64's capacity. 

A data base is another application which can quickly burst the seams of a 64. However, all data bases
consist of individual records. A 64 can easily deal with one record at a time. An objection often heard
to the one-record-at-a-time data base approach is that it doesn't allow record comparison functions
such as searches. This, though, is a misconception. Comparison applications do not need the entire
record, only a given field. 

There are two file types available to Commodore users that allow addressing individual fields: the
random or user (USR) file and the relative (REL) file. Even so, many data base programs are structured
around sequential files. Sequential files must be read and written in their entirety. In other words, the
entire file must be loaded into the computer for use. This, obviously, limits the file size a 64 can handle.
And it is pretty certain that a data base program uses sequential files if it does not permit addressing the
individual fields of a file without accessing the entire file. 

In spite of that, a data base utilizing sequential files can be manipulated to accommodate larger
applications. Instead of trying to deal with all the records in one large file, the records can be partitioned
alphabetically or numerically into several smaller files. And for comparison applications, the better
programs with those options allow creating files of just the fields selected. After all, a 1541 disk can
accommodate 144 different file names. And if the data is too large for one 1541 disk, there is no rule
against using more than one disk. 

Spreadsheet applications can also push the 64 to its limits. And while a spreadsheet may at first appear
indivisible, a little reorganization of categories or time frames often provides the solution. 

Not to be overlooked in the quest for fitting tasks to the Commodore are alternatives to the "standard"
way of doing things. For instance, there existed a roster of nearly 300 names along with pertinent
information. A data base program seemed to be called for. Instead, a word processor was chosen. As
a general rule, a word processor is able to hold more data in the computer than either a data base or
spreadsheet program. The reason is that word processors do not require the variables needed by data
base and spreadsheet programs. Variables themselves consume memory, thus reducing the amount of
information the computer can hold. 

The rational behind the choice, though, had to do with ease of manipulating the data. The information
consisted entirely of text. Regardless of how a data base handles the files, editing is done a record at a
time. A word processor on the other hand can hold a large number of records as one document. In this
case, the entire roster existed as one document. This allowed moving around the whole and editing at
will. And the word processor allowed searches, sorts and, of course, printing in various formats. 

A similar situation involved a large inventory. The layout suggested a spreadsheet. However, except for
the number of items, no other numerical data existed. And except for reducing or increasing the number
of individual items, it required no other calculations. In other words, the numbers could just as easily be
entered as text. Furthermore, because of the size of this inventory, using a spreadsheet would require
creating more than one file. The word processor handled it as one document, again serving to make less
work.

(From CIVIC 64/128 Gazette, via C= The News Internet Article Repository, via the Commodore
Information Center http://home.att.net/~rmestel/commodore.html)