PC-File (original) (raw)
PC-File was a flat file database computer application most often run on DOS. It was one of the first of three widely popular software products sold via the marketing method that became known as shareware. It was originally written by Jim "Button" Knopf in late 1982, and he formed the company to develop, market, and support it. After PC-File version 3.0, Buttonware released PC-File/R, which had limited "relational" capabilities. In 1987, PC-File+ was rewritten to use the popular dBASE III file format.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| dbo:abstract | PC-File was a flat file database computer application most often run on DOS. It was one of the first of three widely popular software products sold via the marketing method that became known as shareware. It was originally written by Jim "Button" Knopf in late 1982, and he formed the company to develop, market, and support it. The program was usually distributed for the cost of diskettes by local PC . There was no copy protection and a manual was distributed as a file on the same diskettes as the program. It was extremely simple to use and extremely stable. It ran on just about any PC, while competing commercial products costing hundreds of dollars were often picky and full of bugs. Knopf originally wrote the software for his own use to manage a church mailing list, on an Apple II. Later, he ported it to CP/M, and then to DOS. Other people heard about it, and started requesting copies. Eventually, the cost of sending out update disks inspired Knopf to include a note requesting a small cash donation to offset the expenses. The response was overwhelming, and when his income from PC-File exceeded "ten times" what he was making from his job at IBM, he decided to turn into a full-time business. After PC-File version 3.0, Buttonware released PC-File/R, which had limited "relational" capabilities. In 1987, PC-File+ was rewritten to use the popular dBASE III file format. PC-File for Windows v8 was published by Outlook Software / Ace Software (previously Good Software) in 1994. This version works on Windows 3.1, 95, 98, and XP, but uses the 8.3 file naming convention. PC File will not run on Windows 7 64 bit, even in the XP compatibility mode, but will run in 'XP Mode'. (en) |
| dbo:wikiPageExternalLink | http://www.ddj.com/184403976%3Fpgno=2 |
| dbo:wikiPageID | 573836 (xsd:integer) |
| dbo:wikiPageLength | 3113 (xsd:nonNegativeInteger) |
| dbo:wikiPageRevisionID | 1084959047 (xsd:integer) |
| dbo:wikiPageWikiLink | dbr:Bob_Wallace_(computer_scientist) dbr:Computer_application dbr:Computer_bug dbr:Copy_protection dbr:Andrew_Fluegelman dbr:Apple_II dbr:Marketing dbr:8.3_filename dbr:CP/M dbr:Dollar dbr:DBASE dbr:DOS dbr:Flat_file_database dbr:PC-Write dbr:PC_Magazine dbc:Shareware dbr:Jim_Knopf dbr:Diskette dbr:Microsoft_Windows dbr:Software dbr:Shareware dbr:PC-Talk dbr:User_groups dbr:Buttonware |
| dbp:wikiPageUsesTemplate | dbt:R dbt:Reflist dbt:Short_description |
| dct:subject | dbc:Shareware |
| gold:hypernym | dbr:Application |
| rdf:type | dbo:Software |
| rdfs:comment | PC-File was a flat file database computer application most often run on DOS. It was one of the first of three widely popular software products sold via the marketing method that became known as shareware. It was originally written by Jim "Button" Knopf in late 1982, and he formed the company to develop, market, and support it. After PC-File version 3.0, Buttonware released PC-File/R, which had limited "relational" capabilities. In 1987, PC-File+ was rewritten to use the popular dBASE III file format. (en) |
| rdfs:label | PC-File (en) |
| owl:sameAs | freebase:PC-File wikidata:PC-File https://global.dbpedia.org/id/4sjXZ |
| prov:wasDerivedFrom | wikipedia-en:PC-File?oldid=1084959047&ns=0 |
| foaf:isPrimaryTopicOf | wikipedia-en:PC-File |
| is dbo:wikiPageWikiLink of | dbr:List_of_programmers dbr:PC-Write dbr:Jim_Knopf dbr:Home_computer dbr:Shareware dbr:Flat-file_database |
| is foaf:primaryTopic of | wikipedia-en:PC-File |