[Courtfields]

About the company

Foreword

If this page appears mundane by comparison with some offerings it is with good reason. This page is not "Netscape enhanced" or "best viewed with" any particular brand or version of web browser. The site is currently updated to take advantage of html 4 constructs (and specifically CSS) but careful attention is being paid to maintaining backward and downward compatibility with older or non-graphic browsers, only once the fundamental documents work sufficently without such visual enhancements. Since the purpose of the web is flexibility, and accessibility to as wide an audience as possible it makes very little sense to demand that one's readers utilise a specific configuration of hardware and software in order to appreciate your presentation, especially when the extra facilities are little more than cosmetic - a fact frequently missed, if not deliberately ignored, by contemporary web designers.

Bottom line: "If it won't Lynx it's broke."

What is Courtfields?

Courtfields is a small enterprise specialising in information processing and data communications consultancy and solutions development in a number of fields. Particular fields of expertise are network and systems engineering and administration, multi-value database technologies (Pick/D3, Unidata, uniVerse, etc.), and Free Licence Open-Source Software (FLOSS) solutions for server and desktop use (e.g. GNU/Linux operating system platforms in the form of Centos for the server and Fedora or Ubuntu for the desktop), and systems integration, data manipulation, and migration. The company was established over 10 years ago in 1995, and is based in Chessington, Surrey (at the southern end of the borough of Kingston on Thames), inside the M25 just a couple of miles from junction 9 (Leatherhead), making for convenient access to London, the South East and beyond.

In-house experience includes close involvement with both core DP assignments, and some rather more esoteric projects integrating all manner of unusual or "un-cooperative" peripheral devices. The interfacing projects have included touch-tablets used for menu item selection in purchase order processing, and automated connections to fax, telex and credit card machines. In the matter of DP and "pure" analysis/programming applications have ranged from common and bespoke commercial ledger systems, sales and purchase order-processing, retail sales, and stock control, to time/fee accounting for various professional markets, travel systems, bulk mail sorting and telephone direct selling.

Our services are ideal for charities and other non-profit organisations, especially those having to stretch slim IT budgets. The expertise in free licence and open-source alternatives to proprietary commercial operating systems and office utility software, and our low-cost user support services for qualifying organisations may make it possible to do more with available resources than ever imagined. One of the company's guiding principles is to contribute where we can, and we aim to assist to the best of our ability, wherever possible. Got a question? Write to us.

What services are available from Courtfields?

Installation, commissioning, configuration and systems' administration for several versions of Pick ®, and for Unidata ®, Universe ®, and underlying Linux/unix operating systems (where appropriate).
Systems analysis and program design, implementation and maintenance.
Hardware/software troubleshooting.
Systems testing and documentation.
Application integration with external facilities (e.g. modem; fax; telex; credit-card; e-mail).
Data transfers and conversions between many operating systems and platforms.
LAN and Internet connectivity solutions.
Web authoring services.
Instruction and support for in-house staff.

Other commercial sites of interest to the Pick and multi-value database community

This is a VERY old page. Many - perhaps all - of these links are now obsolete. ₂₀₂₂

NB: An entry in this list does not necessarily amount to an endorsement by Courtfields or its representatives.

Some of the company's own sample utility sources, written in generic Databasic (convert dynamic array to CSV record, credit card number Luhn check, etc.).
Raining Data (formerly Pick Systems, where it all started), now producing - if not focussed on - a much wider range of products than just the D3 (formerly Pick) database. The site presents a friendly face to graphical browser users, whilst being well enough ordered in its construction that text only browser users are not handicapped. Some of the resource files available are PDF documents requiring Adobe's Acrobat reader, and a windowing platform. One definite plus: most links are text and all the graphics have ALT tags so no need to load them just to guarantee comprehension of the site.
IBM's U2 data management products (formerly Informix, who acquired Ardent Software, itself formerly a merger of Vmark - of uniVerse fame - and UniData). Extensive documentation, pricing information, and case studies of these and other related products can be found here.
Prospectus Registrations' jobs and recruitment oriented site, with a particular leaning toward multi-value development positions. Based in the United Kingdom, but with an international reach.
GNU/Linux continues to gain favour as a cost-effective base operating system for servers, and increasingly as a desktop platform. It comes in many differing distributions all of which have their strengths and weaknesses. Most of the major commercial application developers have chosen to focus their development and support on just one of the many available distributions of GNU/Linux - namely RedHat.
Modular Software, the creators of PicLan - an IPX-based network terminal service for native Pick - and more recently IP-based services which operate on and integrate with contemporary MV platforms directly.
Quovadx (formerly Pixel Innovations, developers of TERMiTE and its successor Hostaccess many terminal emulation and front-ending solutions for desktop PCs).
The UK Pick User Association, which used to be very active and produced a regular magazine then simple newsletter (entitled "The Multivalue News"), but has published neither newsletter nor web updates since 2002.
Still have questions? Take a peek at this FAQ.

The above list of URLs is not intended to be either definitive or exhaustive. It is presented as a simple navigational aid to the seeker of information in the Multivalue world. The impressions given of the sites listed are personal, and measured against the standards of this site's author's own design philosophy for web pages.

All trademarks acknowledged.

For further information contact: