SYMPHONY

It is important to clarify that although we are studying database systems, Symphony is not exactly one of them. Symphony is an integrated software package.

What is an integrated package?

In simple terms, it is a single block of software capable of performing tasks that would normally require several separate programs.

Thus, Symphony includes:

• A spreadsheet: used for mathematical, statistical, and financial operations, automatically recalculating when data changes and enabling projections with ease.
• A word processor: for writing and editing documents.
• Graphics tools: for creating graphical representations of numerical data.
• A database: to store information, classify it, and retrieve it according to chosen criteria.
• Communications features: to exchange information with other computers.

Many programs perform these tasks separately.
The advantage of Symphony is the integration of all functions in one package, along with communication between its components (for example, the spreadsheet can use information stored in the database). Integration also offers another advantage: the user only needs to learn how to operate one program.

Symphony is a fairly powerful work tool; using it is not difficult thanks to its menu system. Let us look at how it operates.

Symphony’s workspace

Symphony is organized around the worksheet, a large table made up of cells (8,192 rows by 256 columns). All operations are performed on this worksheet.

Symphony offers five different types of windows, each presenting the same data in different ways.

Depending on the type of window in use, the user is placed in a specific “working environment,” which determines the tasks that can be executed.

A worksheet of this size cannot be fully displayed on the screen. To solve this, Symphony uses the “window.” A window is a rectangular portion of the screen through which the user views part of the worksheet. To define a window, we select the WINDOW option in the main menu.

Working environments

• SHEET: allows spreadsheet operations.
• DOC: used for word processing.
• GRAPH: used for producing graphical representations of data.
• FORM: for database operations.
• COMM: to manage communication with other computers.

Any of these environments can be selected from the menu that appears under the WINDOW option. Since we are studying databases, we select FORM, which allows us to work with the database. Once in this mode, we set the size of the window and place it anywhere on the screen. From this environment, we can carry out standard database operations simply by choosing from the available menus.

Symphony’s menu system

Symphony’s menus are somewhat unusual: they do not occupy the full screen, only the first two or three lines at the top.

To begin database operations, the first step is to create the structure of the records. This is done by defining the fields in the first line, specifying character type and length. When entering data, the fields appear inside the window, prompting the user to complete them. All data is entered into the file through this characteristic window.

Once the file has been created, the user can operate on the data using the available options. The corresponding menu highlights the action to be executed.

Beyond typical operations—such as entering new data, modifying existing data, or applying selection criteria—Symphony also allows indexing and sorting of records.