Re: QuattroPro

["J. R. Fox" jr_fox@xxxxxxxxxx]

Patricia M Godfrey wrote:

> WordPerfect Office includes the present incarnation of QP, so I'm pretty
> sure it can READ the old files; writing I'm not so sure of, and haven't
> got WP reinstalled yet.
>     Though Access is a database and QP a spreadsheet, most spreadsheets can
> import database files. I hate to say it, but Microsoft's Excel (about the
> only decent product Gates & Co. makes) might well be able to import them
> too. Furthermore, if the version of QP you're using can read dBase .dbf
> files, you could export from Access, Excell, or the current QP in that
> format. Or, of course, as comma- or tab-delimited ASCII files, but if
> there are any blank columns, things can get skewed when doing that kind
> of an import-export.

Another possible avenue of investigation occurs to me. The massive, multi-platform
StarOffice Suite (in the same genre as MS. OFC., though reportedly less polished)
has what are said to be a pretty good set of import / export filters for its Word
Processor module, and I bet its Spreadsheet and Database modules follow suit.
After all, document exchange and inclusivity are a major raison d'etre for a
package like this. I seem to recall some newsgroup postings a while back, to the
effect that some folks installed this package just for the conversion filters.
There are extant versions for Win-32, Linux, and OS/2. Some of these versions were
free, although some may no longer be so. (I believe development ceased a year or
so ago on the OS/2 version.) Even when you could download a particular version for
free, it was large enough to take you a good couple hours, even at broadband
speeds. And it would take up quite a bit of hard disk real estate. Those were the
major drawbacks.

Similar functionality _might_ also be found in Lotus SmartSuite, the other major,
non-MS player in this category. That suite is definitely not free; however, an
OS/2 version does come bundled with ECS, and various Win-versions of it can often
be found at local computer shows deeply discounted. (I've seen older versions sold
in the $25. to $50. range.)

Jordan