Relational contact manager is feature-rich but a bit unwieldy
By Ross Scott Rubin
Hoping to make the task of managing contacts and appointments as easy as
dragging and dropping, FIT Software has released Full Contact 2.01, the latest
in a growing number of contact managers available for Macintosh users. A
follow-up to FIT's sales-oriented Field Assistant 1.0, Full Contact offers
powerful relational-database capabilities along with some of the advanced
linking features and flexibility of sophisticated personal information
managers. The $169 program is available in versions for Power Macs and
680x0-based Macs.
Interface
At first blush, Full Contact displays most of the characteristics of a
traditional contact-driven PIM and activity scheduler, such as Symantec Corp.'s
$395 ACT!. Full Contact tracks six items -- Activities, Addresses, Companies,
Contacts, Notes (handy for free-form tidbits) and Phones -- in a single
database file. Each item has its own SuperList window, which displays all the
item's records in a spreadsheetlike view, and a Detailed Editor window, which
shows specific information about a particular record.
Full Contact also includes daily, weekly and monthly calendars; a word
processor for creating mail-merged letters and cover sheets; a tacked-on
terminal emulator for accessing text-based telecommunications services; a label
editor with eight Avery standard-size templates; and a phone dialer. Full
Contact can automatically create a log of phone calls and letters initiated
from the program.
Two palettes help you navigate the program. You use the icon bar to display
SuperLists and calendars, and you use the tool bar to create new database
entries, dial phone numbers, import and export data, print labels, and delete
items.
Lists of steel
You can use the Detailed Editor or a Quick Entry form to enter data. The latter
presents a unified window for contact entry. Full Contact has a complete set of
data-entry aids for most data fields. Names, titles, cities, states and
countries are automatically capitalized, while dates, times and phone fields
are automatically parsed. We especially like how the application handled pop-up
data-entry lists, which could be defined on the fly instead of through a
separate setup window. Full Contact will type ahead to anticipate items when
you enter data or perform searches.
The main method of viewing records in your database is through the SuperLists,
which you can sort with an unlimited number of criteria by Shift-clicking
column titles. As in Now Software Inc.'s Now Contact, you can edit text in
SuperLists without opening the individual records. A split bar lets you lock
columns so you can keep contact names in view while scrolling to see other
fields. You can relabel any field name, but the procedure is one of the few
nonintuitive operations in Full Contact.
Double-clicking the diamond icon to the left of each record in a SuperList
opens the Detailed Editor for that record. Any records linked to that record
are listed in a large field at the bottom of the window. Double-clicking on a
linked record opens its Detailed Editor.
You can customize SuperLists through views and filters to display only the
information relevant to you. Filtering controls for SuperLists are impressive.
You can search with as many as three criteria, which can include fields in the
lists or records attached to the list. You can even switch the order in which
the criteria are applied with a single click.
No missing links
Full Contact's unorthodox separation of contact information into distinct
categories lets you create interesting and flexible combinations of data.
Extending beyond the contact and appointment linking that occurs between Now
Software's Now Up-To-Date and Now Contact or Aldus Corp. Consumer Division's
DateBook Pro and TouchBase Pro, Full Contact lets you link any two records of
any type in its database. You can, for example, link contacts to each other to
designate people on the same committee or link free-lancers to several
companies with which they work.
In addition, instead of confining contacts to one or two addresses and phone
numbers, you can link each contact to numerous sets of data. For example, Full
Contact's Detailed Editor for Phones lists 14 phone number categories, such as
fax, pager or telex, that you can link to a contact.
To link items, you simply drag and drop them from one view to another. For
instance, to schedule a meeting with XYZ Corp. on May 15, you drag the
company's record from the Companies SuperList to that date in the monthly
calendar.
Unfortunately, the reliance on linking can be a double-edged sword. It's often
necessary to create several links for a record just to maintain basic
information, and Quick Entry forms also create several links among addresses
and phone numbers. While SuperLists let you see some linked information, you
must open a record's Detailed Editor to see all its associated links. This
leads to a proliferation of windows that Full Contact inadequately manages. A
Tile Windows command would provide some relief, but SuperLists would benefit
greatly from some kind of outline facility.
We compared the performance of Full Contact's versions for 680x0-based Macs and
Power Macs; the Power Mac version was faster, except in the Import test, where
it was slightly slower (see benchmarks, left).
Quibbles and bits
Full Contact is rich with nice touches and vexing distractions. The program's
calendaring facility has only minor limitations. The monthly calendar cannot
wrap long event descriptions, nor does it offer the convenience of duplicating
an event by holding down a modifier key while dragging the event. You can,
however, create events with simple recurring patterns. Full Contact can
repeatedly remind you of appointments with beep sounds, icon flashes or
detailed messages. It can designate multiday events with banners that can span
weekends or even months.
While dragging and dropping a contact onto an appointment lets you quickly
designate a day for an event, you must still type in the start and end times of
an event or deal with the frustrating daily calendar. The graphical depiction
of events in the daily view is difficult to read and manipulate.
Full Contact's Import and Export capabilities provide extensive field mapping
controls for information exchange, but, surprisingly, there's no way to copy
and paste an address as in DateBook Pro or Now Contact.
Unlike other contact managers, you cannot access Full Contact from a systemwide
pop-up menu, but with an application size of 650 Kbytes and a suggested RAM
allotment of 1 Mbyte, it's not unreasonable for most users to keep it open all
the time.
Full Contact ships with a clear manual, but its index could use some work. The
program also comes with an on-line guided tour instead of a written tutorial.
When we called FIT for technical support we were forced to leave a message, but
our call was returned the following morning, and we received courteous help.
Conclusions
Lean, convenient and feature-rich, Full Contact is the integrated software of
contact managers. Its exceptional filtering and linking controls should delight
anyone who doesn't have time to learn the philosophy behind some advanced PIMs.
Good data-entry aids and diverse information types create a well-rounded,
single-application solution. Although Full Contact could use some improvement,
such as better window management, it might take no more than a minor revision
to make it stand out in a crowded field.
FIT Software is at 3255-1 Scott Blvd., Suite 104, Santa Clara, Calif. 95054.
Phone (408) 562-5990; fax (408) 562-5970.
SCORE CARD
Full Contact
Version Tested: 2.01
List Price: $169.00*
Overall Value: 3 Diamonds
Full Contact is a feature-rich contact manager that builds upon a relational-database engine to organize contacts, companies, activities and notes into SuperLists with flexible columnar views and powerful filtering. By storing phone numbers and addresses in separate yet linkable lists, Full Contact makes it easy to track contacts with extensive, detailed information. The program's relational nature, combined with the capability to link one record to another by dragging and dropping, lets you build a web of information that can be powerful but tricky to manage. The program could use better controls for managing its numerous windows.
Performance: 3 Diamonds
Features: 4 Diamonds
Ease of Use: 3 Diamonds
Documentation/Support: 3 Diamonds
*Free upgrades for Field Assistant users who purchased it on or after Dec. 5, 1993; $39.95 for other users; competitive upgrades, $79.95.
(c) Copyright 1994 Ziff-Davis Publishing Co. All rights reserved. This material
may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
