Lotus Approach

Description

A dual-platform Windows and OS/2 end user database with multi user capabilities. Uses a .dbf back-end which makes moving basic file formats and relations to and from xBase development tools easy, but is not an xBase tool itself but rather uses a graphical tool for building up relationships and basic automaton and offers programming via LotusScript, a Basic like language.

The primary advantage of Approach and the reason for its utter refusal to die even if it has been on life-support by IBM for years, is that it is simply unusually easy to use for a relational database, even easier that applications like Microsoft Access or semi-compatible products like Apache OpenOffice Base or Ability Database. This is especially so when it comes to working with relationships and multi-user databases, but in addition co connecting to a server, Approach can also work in peer-to-peer mode which can be very advantageous in a small office or offline networks.

History

Lotus Approach was initially developed for Windows 3.1 by a company called Approach and caused quite a stir when it was introduced in 1991 as all the other available GUI databases used propriety file formats while the Approach database engine used the dBase file format that was by far the most used format at the time. The company was purchased by Lotus Development Corp. in 1994, who ported the tool to the 32 bit versions of Windows and OS/2, improved the graphical database designer, integrated it into their SmartSuite office suite and strengthened its programmability by introducing LotusScript instead of the fairly rudimentary macro system the original offered.

Versions

Last OS/2 version is a part of the Lotus Smartsuite 1.73 package and was not supplied separately. Any 1.7x version can be updated into 1.73 via free fixpacks. Note that OS/2 and Windows version numbers are not in sync, 1.7x versions of the OS/2 product share a codebase with the 9.8x version for MS Windows.
Last MS Windows 3.x - WinOS/2 version: 3.02, a free update available for those using 3.0 or 3.01. As those latter two were somewhat buggy and most of the bugs got fixed in 3.02, you should definitely upgrade if you are still using that version. Note that the Approach 3.x versions do not work well with any 32 bit MS Windows operating system and not at all with 64 bit versions of Windows but databases created with it will work fine with 9.x versions of Approach for Windows or 1.x versions for OS/2.
Last MS Windows 32 bit versions: 9.8.61 for English language Passport Advantage licence holders. 9.8.6 for International Passport Advantage licence holders. 9.8.1 is the last GA version (No Passport Advantage licence needed).

Author

Approach (Original Author)
Lotus Development Corp.
IBM

License

Commercial

Publications

XRF Identification of Alloys using Lotus Approach 97 Database with ASM International Data - Real world example of Lotus Approach in action.