FRANK'S REVIEWS

for the NJPCUG

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Program:

 askSam 5.1 with TextPipe

www.askSam.com 

Halleluiah!  I have finally found a program that is effective in letting me save information and access it when and how I want.   I am an information junkie - saving information from many sources including Word,  PDF documents, spreadsheets, e‑mail, the web, newspapers and magazines.   askSam allows the information from these disparate sources to be stored in one file and accessed  for searches and reports.  Amazingly, the program searches all the text, not just some keywords, and performs the searches lightning quick.  This program will be very useful and definitely is a keeper. 

askSam was introduced in 1985 and is used by government and military agencies, colleges, research facilities, large and small companies and individuals.  TextPipe is an add-on to askSam. It won the 2003 SIAF [Shareware Industry Awards Foundation] People's Choice Award in the "Best Application" category.  askSam  is considered by many to be an affordable choice for those who need to organize information that is not structured or who don't want to commit to the learning curve of a typical database program.

 askSam is described as a Free-Form Database Manager.   It is a textual database for unstructured information (text, e-mail, correspondence, poems, research, legislation) as well as structured documents (address lists, client profiles, statistical data). You can create a database, and keep adding documents as necessary, on any subject.

askSam can collect a variety of documents into a database file, and allow a full-text search by any words used.  However, it is a flat file database not a relational database - it works with the information only in the open askSam file. 

The program has the look and operations of a word processor with similar Menu and Task bars, with tasks and  icons added specific to the  program.  It has a limited [one-step back] undo feature, which is not always active. I would find a multiple step-back feature helpful, but that may be due to my inexperience with the program. 

askSam is loaded with features to facilitate its use.  Its terminology uses plain, everyday words - “Entry Form, Reports, Lists”, etc., that makes it easier to learn and use.  However, because of the many features some time was needed to learn to use

While this is a free-form database it does allow structure for entering data into an Entry Form.  For example, I have to tabulate the various drug prescriptions for myself and my wife.  [At my age I use a lot medicine to make it through the day.]  askSam makes this easy to do.  I set up an Entry Form with “fields” for the data to be entered for each prescription.  Because of  askSam’s free-form nature I was able to set up this form any way I wanted.  And while I was using it I made my entries just like in a word processor - nice and easy.  askSam does not limit the length of a field, so if a Field is set up and then a longer entry is required - just keep on typing.  Multiple Entry Forms can be created and used for each askSam file. 

One of  askSam’s ease of use features is setting up a Pick List in the Entry Form.  When I move to the “Doctor” field a list automatically opens and with a single click I enter the doctor’s name.  I also set up Pick Lists for the medications and the pharmacy used.  

Then I created a Report form to tabulate all the prescriptions.    I can set this up any way I want and have the Report create cost sub-totals and totals.  Formatting alternatives are almost as complete as in Word and the material can be located wherever I chose on the page. The Report can be run for the entire file or parts of it, viz. for a range of dates. 

Data can be input directly into askSam or obtained from other programs’ files.  askSam first has to import the other files into its file.  This means the askSam file can get rather large.  It does have a feature to compact the files - in my case it reduced a file from 5.5 MB to 3.5 MB.   Once an askSam file is established it can be updated by adding later files. 

askSam can import and use the text from many other programs, see the  table, although it is not compatible with many earlier versions of these programs.  Also, importing from spreadsheets requires some extra understanding and procedure, which I have not yet mastered.  An remarkable feature is that one askSam file can include files from all these different types of programs. 

Once imported,  askSam can SEARCH all the text in every imported file and generate its reports and lists.  askSam then can export its data in files using a limited set of formats, see Table. 

The SEARCH feature is especially powerful with options for Wildcards, Boolean Search [and, or, not], Fuzzy Search, Case or Non-Case Sensitive, Numeric and Value, Dates and Date Range and Proximity which allows selecting a file when a word is positioned with respect to a second word - so many words, lines sentences or paragraphs - before, after or either, relative to the first word.  askSam’s SEARCH is fast - for instance going through over 1,500 files in a blink of the eye. 

The SEARCH result is shown in a dual pane window.  The lower pane shows the initial line and context of each document found to meet the search criteria. [It does not show the file’s name nor its location.]  Selecting one of these documents displays it in the upper pane - with the search term highlighted.  This SEARCH results List can be remembered and recalled.

 askSam has Templates available to start a database, see the Table, and the variety of subjects indicates how flexible and useful the program is.  Each of these templates has pre-constructed forms for the Entry Form and Reports.  Of course, these can be modified as desired.  However, once a database file is started it is difficult to change the Entry Form for data already entered. askSam also offers a Wizard to set up a new database, or one can start with a blank file.  

The web site has three completed databases available for free download: 1] Books: A list of recommended reading for college and high school students in college bound programs; 2] The Holy Bible: contains the Old and New Testaments, arranged with one chapter per document; and 3] USA Patriot Act:  which contains the text from the USA PATRIOT Act as Passed by Congress.

For security, askSam provides multiple levels of password protection.  For instance, one group could be authorized only to add and edit data, and another group permitted only to read the data.  However, passwords are likely to be broken by determined hackers and some viewing programs are able to access password-protected files.  These problems  can be handled by encrypting the files.  

 System Requirements for askSam version 5.1 are:

·        An IBM compatible computer with at least a P90 processor

·        Windows 95, 98, 98SE, 2000, ME, XP or Windows NT

·        16 MB of RAM

·        30 MB of free disk space plus more for the job files 

The program is available in two versions, askSam Standard at $149.95 and askSam Pro at $395.00.  The Standard version should be suitable for home users and small businesses.  The company offers a full 90-day money back guarantee, no questions asked - they obviously believe in their product.  askSam is available from the web site, www.askSam.com.  The company is Ask Sam Systems, PO. Box 1428,  121 S.  Jefferson St, Perry, FL 32348; telephone is  800-800-1997. 

A CD and manual will be mailed.  The program also can be downloaded.  The latest is Version 5.1.2.625.  It appears there have been numerous updates since 5.1 was issued.  The latest updates can be downloaded for free. 

 Yes! They have real manuals, a 92 page Getting Started manual and a 420 page User's Guide which also is on the web site.  Unfortunately, I did not get the Manual with my download version.  I wish I had. Some others report that the “Manuals are only fair, the information arranged by category so that you get first-use information along with advanced information —confusing when you are starting and hard to find months later.”  Reportedly the support is good and I found the staff quite helpful. 

The program has many learning aides.  The web site has: an overall description; a Quick Tour; a Tutorial; a library of Tips; a User Guide; and a Discussion Forum; as well as the usual FAQs and Release Notes.  The program has an extensive Help file with 26 Sections, some with over 20 sub-sections.  So it took me a while to get acquainted with the program and start using it.   I expect  I will continue to learn more about it as I keep on using it - and I will.  A free monthly e‑mail newsletter is available with hints and tips.   

The Pro version is targeted to larger companies with very, very large databases - up to 16 terabytes [that’s 16,000,000,000,000 bytes].  askSam Pro includes all the features of askSam 5 plus full text indexing for even faster searches and the ability to search hundreds of megabytes and thousands of documents in a matter of seconds. The Pro version also has a Word List that displays every word in an indexed file. The Word List also shows you the number of documents in which each word appears. askSam Professional includes an ActiveX control that can be accessed from Visual Basic  (and other programming languages) to create customized applications that enhance work with askSam.  Network options  are available for larger companies. AskSam  provides companies with free, Live On-line Personal Demos of askSam Products.  

TextPipe for askSam is a data manipulation tool that pre-processes text, HTML, and XML files before importing them into askSam. It can reformat and add structure and fields, remove unnecessary data and garbage characters, add field specifiers to identify fields in unstructured data and much more. For example, e‑mail messages can be massaged to turn the words like To: From: Subject: into fields for easier use. While I am using version 6.4.1 the latest is version 6.4.2. The cost for TextPipe is $89 with a PRO version costing $279. 

At their web site one can download a free Viewer for askSam databases. This allows browsing and searching through information distributed in askSam databases but does not allow editing or adding information. WordPipe at $49.99, allows using the Find/Replace function across multiple Word files.  A less expensive program is SurfSaver Pro  at $29.95. It is a browser add-on which allows saving, organizing and searching  the data from the Internet.  It stores Web pages directly from a browser into searchable folders. Web Publisher, at $1,495 is a publishing tool for corporate intranets & the Internet to create and publish documents and databases on the Internet.  Users then  can access the wide variety of askSam searches.  Other products include Citation and Resume Tracker.   

askSam was named by the creator and his wife.  They selected “ask” for Accessing Stored Knowledge and added Sam to sound friendly; they later determined askSam to be an acronym for Accessing Stored Knowledge (via) Symbolic Access Method.  The company’s logo is a dolphin jumping over papers with the dolphin representing “that which is fast, friendly, flexible and a known helper to people everywhere” and the dolphin is jumping over some papers to “symbolize something magical and imaginative”.  Seems the  askSam people are creative free thinkers

If you haven’t noticed yet - I am quite impressed with askSam and expect I will be using it for a variety of purposes.  I believe many NJPCUG members also would find it useful.  With the online demonstrations, free trials and money back guarantees the company has made askSam easy to try.