Carl Tyler's Blog :: Using your email as a database?

Category None
This article covers the concept of using your mail file as a storage file. Is this news? I've been doing this for I don't know how many years. I was just chatting with my buddy in the UK Cali, and it turns out we both still have all our mail.nsf files from starting in 1991 when we first started using the notes client in Lotus. Turns out the first email in her inbox was one from me, when we used to send "Calls of the day around the hotline", this was the call...

Customer: I have Lotus 123/G installed on my Compaq portable running OS/2. I would like to know if there is any way to turn the GUI off as I am very disappointed with the display quality of 123/G on my display, ie. is there any way I can use 123/G with a CUI front end.

I then explained that IBM recommend Presentation Manager for OS/2 development due to issues such as SAA and CUA and that I did not believe Lotus would provide a CUI interface to OS/2 apart from the one provided in 123 3.0

Customer: I have 123 3.0 installed also but I don't like it as much as 123/G because I cannot work with my large model databases. If Lotus cannot come up with someway to let me use my 123/G as a CUI then I will be very tempted to move to Microsoft Excel.

I then explained that by moving to Excel he would not be gaining anything as Excel is still based on the Presentation Manager GUI.

Customer: Long pause..........Oh yes I see what you mean.

I admit that was a pretty boring call of the day.

Comments

1 - I'm willing to bet a pint you probably have more information in that mail file on Smartsuite than the current knowledge base (or maybe even the dev team)

Posted by Adam Osborne At 05:13:44 PM On 02/09/2005 | - Website - |

2 - That could be true.

Not to mention the emails with sales trying to stop them from removing SmartSuite from sales folks quotas (the rest as they say is hsitory for SmartSuite)

I also have on a zip disk somewhere the backups of the individual desktop product databaes before I merged them into two, went from something like 17 down to 2. An then off course with Todd Headrick and Bas Van Der Hoek it eventually got merged with Comms Sales Discussion and we did cool things like integration Sametime into one db.

Posted by Carl At 06:14:05 PM On 02/09/2005 | - Website - |

3 - This one was better...

PROBLEM: How do you get the pound sign under Ami Pro

SOLUTION: Hold down Shift and press the 3 key

Customer did this and said, "brilliant that's done it, i've been wondering how to do that for hours"

Posted by Cali At 11:25:13 AM On 02/10/2005 | - Website - |

4 - Do you remember the borland call? It was to do with a typewriter, tv and a box of Quattro pro.

Posted by Carl At 11:57:32 AM On 02/10/2005 | - Website - |

5 - No, but I do remember Ashmore getting a call on the 123 line from an irate lady asking when we were going to fix her roof. Somehow I don't think she listened to the greeting message

Posted by Tony Palmer At 04:55:36 PM On 02/10/2005 | - Website - |

6 - That's like the funeral homes calls that used to come through on the Amstrad line cos it was one digit out.

So did Steve ever fix her roof?

Posted by Carl At 05:09:18 PM On 02/10/2005 | - Website - |

7 - mnletomol.com which is a movie I liked, although http://adele-stephens.letomol.com/adele-stephens.html adele stephens a part of that is certainly because http://aneta-smrhova.letomol.com/aneta-smrhova.html aneta smrhova it was a movie about, partially http://jana-cova.letomol.com/jana-cova.html jana cova gallery for, and potentially by, music http://roxi.letomol.com/roxi.html roxi people. I want to read the book http://silvia-saint.letomol.com/silvia-saint.html silvia saint it was adapted from, too...the http://sara-st.-james.letomol.com/sara-st.-james.html sara st. james original setting of London as http://cassidey-rae.letomol.com/cassidey-rae.html cassidey rae opposed to Chicago is bound to http://sophia.letomol.com/sophia.html sophia read differently. Doing this would http://alyssa_lovelace.letomol.com/alyssa_lovelace.html alyssa_lovelace be a good exercise. That brings http://penny-flame.letomol.com/penny-flame.html penny flame letomol.comnm

Posted by Jelena Jensen At 09:16:12 AM On 07/23/2005 | - Website - |