Microsoft Corp and Pioneer Software have joined forces to offer Pioneer’s Q+E version 2.1 database query tool, which links Microsoft Excel to external databases: it makes full use of the Windows environment to make database browsing as easy as pointing and clicking, greatly simplifying query construction, the firms say; Q+E extends Excel’s built-in database to any dBase file on disk by automatically generating structured query language to extract from any dBase-compatible file, and dynamic data exchange links between spreadsheet cells and the database ensure that the data is accurate; Q+E is claimed to look like Excel so that it will present users with a familiar unser interface; new Excel users can get it as a special offer at $10 by completing a coupon in the Excel box, but current registered users will have to pay $50 for Q+E.
