Organise your records using File Amigo

At its most basic level, a database is an electronic card index. Each card, or record, contains information split into categories, known as fields, that organise information in a logical and easy-to-access way.Databases can have both professional and personal uses, from storing customer details and product inventories to a list of your favourite recipes or all the CDs in your music collection. In this Workshop we will explain how to set up a database for the first time.We will be using a free program called File Amigo LE. To keep things straightforward, we will create a simple database of individuals to form a family tree and show how to search records and produce reports based on criteria you choose.To begin download the Fileamigo setup file to your Windows Desktop.After you have completed the step-by-step guide you may want to follow the hints below.Create a custom report The following example produces a report based on all the male members of your family who don’t share a particular surname. Click the Filters button and tick both Gender and Surname boxes.Select Gender, make sure Condition is Equal and Compare To is set to Constant Value, then type ‘M’ into the ‘Enter a value’ box. Now select Surname, change Condition to Not Equal and Compare To to Value Entered By User, then type ‘Enter surname’ into the ‘Enter a prompt for the user’ box. Finally, click Save twice. Back up your database By default, File Amigo saves all databases into a folder called Userfiles7 inside the its own installation folder (typically C:\Program Files\FileAmigo 7). The location of this folder cannot be changed in the free version of the program, so be sure to back up the Userfiles7 folder regularly.Baffled by jargon? See our free online jargon buster