Software Reviews : The Smart System,Version 3.0 Reviewed by Stanley P. Littlefield,North Carolina State University Publisher: Innovative Software,P.O. Box 15998,Lenexa,KS 66215-9990 (telephone: [phone]) Year of Publication: 1986 Materials: 12 floppy disks (System Disk,Spreadsheet and Spreadsheet Graphics,Database Manager,Wordprocessor,Communications and Time Manager,three tutorial disks,and disks for printer drivers and fonts;4 manuals. Additional Spellcheckers are available in French or Spanish. Individual applications,i.e.,the Spreadsheet,may be purchased and run independently of the full system. Price: $895 (includes Spellchecker). Machine Specificity: IBM PC or 100% compatibles System Requirements: SMART will operate on a 256K IBM PC or 100% compatible;a hard drive is recommended. Most major peripherals,i.e.,printers,plotters,graphics cards,and modems are supported via an extensive installation program. Effectiveness: Excellent User-Friendliness: Excellent (Hotline support is provided free during the 90-day warranty period,at 1-913-492-2086. Additional 24-hour electronic bulletin board with information about SMART User Groups is available at 1-913-492-2089. Documentation: Overall good;however,since each applications manual repeats many of the basic features there is much redundancy. Manuals fail to aid the user in creating specific formulas and calculations. These are placed in a separate formulas section in the system manual,which requires considerable cross-checking

Abstract

Summary: SMART is for those with a need to transfer data between applications or via modem (the SEND command). Other features include the ability to insert graphs in word processing documents, calculation and drawing features in word processing; a REMEMBER command that aids in establishing project files for complex or repetitive data manipulations; extensive macro capability that permits defining almost the entire keyboard; compatibility with leading software (SMART easily converts WORDSTAR files, supporting even most dot commands in transfer; can load files in LOTUS 1-2-3 format or write SMART files to 1-2-3, and load dBASE ii files) permits extensive use with existing data. SMART is an excellent purchase if you require sophisticated data manipulation and have held off buying major software.