CD ROM Paradise Collection 4/CD ROM Paradise Collection 4 1995 Nov.iso/misc/eb5.zip/PACK1.PRG/EB/EB2.REP

Text File | 1994-12-03 | 106KB | 2,621 lines

                          EASY BASE USERS MANUAL
                          ══════════════════════

                                Contents
                                ────────




            System Overview..............................   1

            Data Management Principles...................   2

            Form Design..................................   6

            Relationships and Lookups....................  11

            Data Entry...................................  15

            Procedures (Reporting).......................  20

            Procedures (Transactional)...................  36

            User Menus...................................  39

            System Requirements and Limitations..........  43

            DOS Filename Convention......................  44


      Easy Base is copyright (c) John Turnbull 1994 published by:-

      Easy Software                   Tel/FAX (044) (0) 625 614669
      3 Brookside Court               CIS 100410,717
      Prestbury Road
      Macclesfield
      SK10 3BR
      UK
................................................................................




                               TERMINOLOGY
                               ═══════════


     Field          The storage space for an individual data item.
     ─────

     Record         A set of related data items.
     ──────

     Form           The storage space for a set of records.
     ────

     Procedure      A set of instructions which manipulate the data
     ─────────      stored in forms.

     Relationship   A record in the relationships form recording
     ────────────   a link between forms.

................................................................................


                      EASY BASE SYSTEM OVERVIEW

     Easy Base is a complete rapid programming system for data
     management. Virtually every data management problem can be
     broken down into three areas. Creating disk files (referred to
     as "Forms" in Easy Base) in which to store data, creating
     procedures which manipulate that data and presenting those
     forms and procedures in a logical menu system for use.

     In Easy Base you create the forms in which to store data in a
     simple screen-painting environment which not only designs the
     data file but at the same time provides a default data entry
     screen for your data. As you place the "Fields" in which data
     is to be stored you can use relational links ("Lookups") to
     import data from other forms. Each field you create for data
     storage is also treated as a deriveable "Cell" similar to a
     spread sheet. You can make almost any calculation or derivation
     within a field as, apart from all arithmetic, relational and
     logical operators, Easy Base also provides a set of over fifty
     functions covering everything from Modulo arithmetic to
     spelling out dates. Once you have created your forms you can
     use the default screen to enter and view your data using the
     "Data Entry" system.

     Once you have data stored you will need to be able to
     manipulate it and report on it. Easy Base provides a combined
     transaction and reporting system ("Procedure Generator"). With
     the procedure generator you can use the default screens you
     have designed or create custom screens in which to gather input
     either from the keyboard or from relational Lookups. You then
     instruct Easy Base what to do with this information using a
     simple "Basic" like programming language. If your procedure is
     transactional you have commands to enter, modify or delete
     records in any number of forms within a single procedure. If
     your procedure is reporting then there are commands to group,
     order and list data in almost every conceivable way.

     You now have all the "Parts" required to create a useful data
     management program. All that remains is to tie your procedures
     to a menu system so that other people can use your application
     without having to know anything about Easy Base. Creating an
     end user menu system in Easy base is as simple as filling in a
     form with the text you wish to display and the procedure or
     form you wish to run. You give at least one of your menus a
     start up password. If you then restart Easy Base but sign on
     with that password instead of your developers password then you
     will be running your own custom designed program.







                                 - 1 -
................................................................................


                     DATA MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES

     In Easy Base, creating forms and entering data is very easy.
     You will be tempted to rush on and create programs for yourself
     without reading the "Bumf". However, unless you are an
     experienced data programmer, you should at least read this
     section and the one on Relationships before embarking on any
     serious project.

     The crux of data management is "Data Integrity" or "Data
     Verification".  You might know that "A Smith", "Smith's Garage"
     and "Smith and Son" are all the same customer of yours but your
     computer definitely does not! If you have a small business you
     might wish to use Easy Base to create invoices - you might be
     tempted to start by creating an invoice form in which you enter
     your customers name, work done and price. - DON'T - Start
     instead by creating a form to hold each of your customers'
     names, addresses, credit limit etc.  If you sell things then
     create a form to hold each of your stock items with their name,
     partno, price etc.  These are your "Core" data forms from
     which you "Lookup" data for other purposes. Each of your "Core"
     data forms has a "Unique" field which defines the record as an
     entity. "Smith's Garage" will always be "Smith's Garage" and
     the lookup function described later will not allow any other
     representation to be entered.

     Although of less significance than "Data Integrity", the names
     which you give to forms and fields are very important and worth
     mentioning now. When you come to write "Lookup" derivations and
     later, Procedural code you have to refer to your data by a
     combination of its form and field names. Please give
     considerable thought to the names you use. Each name should be
     short but fully describe the form or field. The names of forms
     should be plural and the names of fields singular. For example
     - a form which is to hold details of your customers should be
     called "Customers", the name field should be called "Name" and
     the credit limit field should be called "Creditlimit" . When
     you need to lookup data from this form the lookup function will
     be written - Lookup(customers,name) and when you write
     procedures the data will be referred to as customers.name ,
     customers.creditlimit etc.  If you did not follow this naming
     convention and called the form "F1" , the name field "customer"
     and the credit limit field "Max cred" then writing procedure
     code would be extremely frustrating.

     It is equally important to give the same name to fields which
     hold the same data in different forms. If you already had a
     form called "Employees" which had fields "Worksno", "Name",
     "Address" and "Taxcode" and you then created a "Payslips" form
     the fields which hold the employee's name and taxcode should
     also be called "Name" and "Taxcode". This not only makes it
     easier to remember field names but when you come to write


                                 - 2 -
................................................................................


     procedure code, data can be transferred between one form and
     another with the command "Copy all from". This command only
     transfers data between fields with the same name. If you have
     given different names to the fields in the two forms you will
     have to transfer each individual field separately.

     The fields which you create are of four general types - The
     definition (unique) field, grouping fields, ordering fields and
     descriptive fields.

     When you create your "Core" data forms it will be fairly
     obvious which is the definition field. In the "Employees" form
     "Worksno" defines the record. In a "Manufacturers" form "Name"
     defines the record. As a general rule, each form should have a
     definition field. There is an exception to this where a form is
     used to store temopary lists (described later) but for the
     moment you should expect to have a definition or "Unique" field
     on each form to prevent duplicate entries. When you create
     secondary forms which lookup data from your "Core" forms the
     data which defines the record as an entity will not necessarily
     be contained solely in one of the fields you wish to display.

     As an example - A magazine wholesaler has two "Core" forms, one
     containing details of the magazines he supplies and one
     containing customers details. He creates a form on which to
     record orders from his customers. This "orders" form has three
     fields, "Name"(for the customer), "Magazine" and "Quantity".
     When a customer phones in an order for a particular magazine
     the wholesaler will need to be warned if this particular
     customer has already ordered this particular magazine but no
     one field defines the record. In fact the record is defined as
     unique by a combination of the two fields "Name" and "Magazine"
     In this case, a fourth field should be added to the form in
     which the two fields "Name" and "Magazine" are combined using
     the "jointext" function. This field is then the "Unique" field
     and no duplicate entries will be allowed.

     In many secondary forms the records definition will be even
     less obvious but if you are to create data storage for flexible
     reporting you should always attempt to create a suitable
     "unique" field.

     For example :- An "Aircraft" form has a field "Manufacturer"
     which is looked up from a "Manufacturers" form. It also has
     fields for "Name" and "Mark". The definition of an aircraft is
     what it is known as. If it has a name then it is known as a
     combination of the manufacturer and the name (Supermarine
     Spitfire) but if it does not have a name it is known as a
     combination of the manufacturer and mark (English Electric P1b)
     Even in these more complicated situations you can still create
     a unique field to prevent duplicates. In the above example you
     would create the unique field "Knownas" and derive it with the


                                 - 3 -
................................................................................


     formula - Jiontext(manufacturer,if(name = blank,mark,name))

     When you define a field as unique Easy Base automatically
     indexes this field.

     The second type of field is a "Grouping" field. This is a field
     which will be used in procedures to select subsets of records.
     In the "Aircraft" form you might add a field "Type" which would
     qualify each record as belonging to a group - "Fighter",
     "Bomber", "Transport" etc. Grouping fields should also be
     defined as indexed and should always be subject to data
     integrity checking. Where the number of groups is small (17 or
     less) Easy Base provides a quick method of data verification in
     the "Choice" field type. If the number of groups is larger than
     17 then you should create a "Core" form to hold the group names
     and look them up into the secondary form.

     The third type of field is used for ordering data. In many
     instances the order in which you wish to print or view data
     will be that of the definition field or one of the grouping
     fields but not always. In the "Aircraft" form you might wish to
     list them by the dates they were first introduced or by the
     total production runs. In order to do this you would have to
     add fields for "Date" and "Production". You would later write
     procedures to list the aircraft with "Date in order" or
     "production in order". Ordering fields should also be indexed
     but they need not necessarily be checked for data integrity.

     Fields which are not used for ordering or grouping are
     descriptive and need not be indexed or integrity checked.

     One of the most common mistakes made by beginners to data
     management is to create different forms for the same data.
     With the "Aircraft" form above you might be tempted to save all
     the military aircraft of World War 1. Later you might create a
     second form for the aircraft of World War 2. This would be a
     mistake. The data you are recording is "Aircraft". The era to
     which they belong should simply be another "Grouping" field.
     If having saved your data you were asked for a list of all
     "Boeing" military aircraft showing which wars they were used in
     then this could be achieved with one simple procedure if they
     were in one form but would be rather more difficult if they
     were in two.

     That example was fairly obvious but on many occasions it will
     be easy to assume that two or more sets of data are separate
     when in fact they are simply groups of the same.

     Should you decide to write your own accounting program (Which
     is not as daunting a task as it might seem on the surface) You
     might be tempted to create forms for a Sales Ledger, Nominal
     Ledger and Customers Accounts. In fact the entries in the


                                 - 4 -
................................................................................


     Nominal Ledger and Customers Accounts are simply sub groups of
     the entries in the Sales Ledger. Provided that you include
     grouping fields for the customers account number and nominal
     account name you can construct customers and nominal accounts
     when required by extracting and totalling the sub sets. There
     is no need to save them as separate data.

     The final problem you will encounter when deciding how to store
     data is that of "Related Lists".  Consider the "Aircraft" form.
     If you had a grouping for "Airliner" you might wish to record
     all the airlines which operate each aircraft. You cannot just
     add fields to the "Aircraft" form - One airliner might only be
     operated by one airline and another might be operated by fifty.

     To store this data you need another form let's call it Userlist
     with fields "Aircraft" , "Airline" and "Uni" which is the
     unique field derived by joining the other two. The "Aircraft"
     field is looked up from the "Aircraft" forms unique field
     "Knownas" and the "Airline" field is looked up from the
     "Airlines" form "Name" field which is also unique.

     In this form you enter one record for each combination of
     aircraft and airline. When you come to report on your data you
     can list single records from the main "Aircraft" form together
     with all related records from the "Userlist" form.

     ...................PROCEDURE CODE.............
     declare output fields
        aircraft.knownas : Aircraft.production :aircraft.seats
        userlist.airline
     end
     for aircraft with knownas = input.knownas
        print formfields
        for userlist with aircraft = aircraft.knownas
           print userfields
        next
     next

     ...................FORMAT.....................

     .formfields
                       { Aircraft.knownas field }

           Production { Prodn. field}    Seats  {Seats field }

                             Operated by :-

     .userfields
                      { Userlist.Airline field  }
     .end




                                 - 5 -
................................................................................


                             FORM DESIGN

     To start designing your forms select "Form Design" then "Design
     new Form" from the menu system.  You are presented with a blank
     form. Each form has four pages. To move from one page to the
     next use the PgDn and PgUp keys. To move the cursor around on a
     page use the arrow keys. Designing your form is a bit like
     designing a form on paper. If you were to type on a paper form-

              Name     .................
              Address  .................
                       .................
                       .................
                       .................

     Then in Easy Base you type Name and Address as above but
     instead of typing the dots you define fields for the data to be
     entered to.

     Easy Base provides several facilities for "Polishing" the
     presentation of your forms and these are covered first before
     moving on to field definition.

     If you wish to enclose your text within boxes or in some
     tabular format Press F3 and select "Line Drawing".  To draw
     lines on the screen hold down the Alt key, The Ctrl key or both
     and drive the cursor around with the arrow keys. The Alt key
     draws double thin lines, the Ctrl key draws single thin lines
     and a combination of both draws a thick single line. Press Esc
     when you are finished line drawing to return to normal editing.

     If you wish to shade areas of the screen then again press F3
     and select "Shading". Shading works much the same as Line
     Drawing.

     If you require Greek, Mathematical or International characters
     which cannot be typed directly from the keyboard then press F3
     and select either "Greek and Mathematical" or "International" A
     menu of all such characters provided by your PC will appear.
     The one you select is printed to your form at the cursor
     position.

     If you wish to use other than the default text colour then
     press F4 after you have typed your text. In each Easy Base
     screen colour set you can select one of two alternate text
     colours or "Blink" - choose 1, 2 or 3 .  To change the colour
     of your text or lines just hold down the shift key and drive
     the cursor over the text you want to change with the arrow
     keys. Press Esc when you have finished colouring your form.

     Text input in the form designer has "overtype" as the default.
     If you wish to move text (or fields) to the right press the


                                 - 6 -
................................................................................


     Ins key. Insert mode is indicated by a block cursor and
     Overtype by an underscore cursor. (This is the opposite to all
     other editors in Easy Base as it keeps the underscore cursor as
     the default)

     To insert a blank line above text or fields press F1. You
     cannot scroll text or fields between pages in form design.

     If you need to move areas of your form then press F9, shade the
     rectangle you wish to move and move it around with the arrow
     keys. You can also transport the rectangle between pages with
     the PgUp and PgDn keys.  F9 can also be used to erase areas of
     the screen.

     When you are ready to define the data fields, position the
     cursor where you want the field to start and press F10.
     A window opens into which you enter all the attributes for the
     field.

     The first attribute is "Field Name". If you have typed text to
     the left of the field then Easy Base will have inserted this as
     a default in the Field Name attribute. If it's not the name you
     want just edit it. When you are happy with the field name press
     return or the down arrow to the "Data Type" attribute. A menu
     appears with the nine different field types. (The field types
     are described fully in the Programmers Reference)

     When you have chosen a field type the cursor automatically
     moves down to the "Field Length" attribute if you have chosen
     "Text", "Integer", "Fixed Point" or "Floating Point" and to the
     "Mandatory Entry" attribute if you have chosen one of the
     others. Enter the field length you require in characters. If
     you have chosen "Fixed Point" as the field type there are two
     entries, one for the digits left of the decimal point and one
     for the digits right of it. If your field is to hold a currency
     value then the second entry will of course be 2.

     You must supply values for the first three field attributes.
     The others all have preset defaults so you can save your field
     at this point if none of the others have to be changed.


     The next Field Attribute is "Mandatory Entry" which has a
     default of "No".  You can set this to "Yes", "No" or "If". If
     you set it to "Yes" then Easy Base will not allow a record to
     be filed with this field left blank.  If you set it to "If"
     then the "Code Snippet" editor opens up and you can enter the
     condition under which an entry becomes mandatory. If you were
     designing a "Payments" form and one of the fields "Paymethod"
     could be filled with either "Cash" or "Cheque". Then the field
     "ChequeNo" would have to be filled only if the "Paymethod"
     field had "Cheque" entered in it.  To make an entry mandatory


                                 - 7 -
................................................................................


     in the "Chequeno" field only if "Paymethod" is "Cheque" enter -

     paymethod = "cheque" in the Code Snippet editor.

     When you use the Code Snippet editor for Mandatory Entry and
     for User Entry, only the condition is entered :-

           total < 100
           name = blank
           length = blank or breadth = blank

     the "if" is assumed.

     If you set the "Mandatory Entry" attribute to either "Yes" or
     "If", a window will open into which you can type the message
     which you wish to be displayed should an attempt be made to
     file a blank entry.  If you leave the message blank Easy Base
     will supply the default message "This field must be filled !".

     The next attribute is "Unique". This can be set to "Yes" or
     "no".  You can only have one unique field on a form. If you
     have already defined a field as the unique field and you change
     your mind and define another then Easy Base will automatically
     cancel the unique attribute on the first field.  Indexing is
     automatically set to "Yes" for the unique field.

     The next attribute is "Indexed". Select "Yes" or "No"
     When you set "Index" to "yes",  Easy Base Creates a separate
     "Index" file in which the contents of the field are kept in up
     to date order. Index files are used by Easy Base in exactly the
     same way that you would use an index in a book to find things
     quickly.

     The next attribute is "User entry".  This has a default of
     "Yes" but can be set to "No" or "If".  If you set this
     attribute to "No" then the cursor will not visit the field
     during record entry so the user cannot alter its contents. You
     would normally set this to "No" if the contents are derived or
     calculated from the values of other fields. You can set this
     attribute to "If" if the value entered in another field makes
     this one superfluous. For example, in the "Aircraft" form, if
     you had a field "Passengers" and the type had been entered as
     "Fighter" there would be no point in the cursor moving to the
     "Passengers" field.  When the Code Snippet editor opens you
     could type:-

           type = "Transport" or type = "Airliner"

     The next field attribute is "Display".   When the cursor
     reaches this attribute a menu appears with the seven different
     ways in which the field can be displayed.



                                 - 8 -
................................................................................


     The field display attribute settings have the following
     meaning.

     1.  FIELD

         The field's size is displayed as a block which shows
         up against the screen background.

     2.  TEXT

         The field size does not show up against the screen
         background and the contents are in the default text colour.

     3.  1ST ALT COL.

         As Text but with the contents in the first alternate colour

     4.  2ND ALT COL

         As Text but with contents in the second alternate colour.

     5.  BLINKING

         As Text but the contents blink.

     6.  INVISIBLE

         Neither the size nor the contents can be seen.
         Invisible fields are used to hold compound index fields and
         the results of intermediate calculations which the user
         need not see.

     7.  CODEWORD FIELD

         The size of a codeword field shows against the screen
         background but its contents are masked by stars.
         Codeword fields are used to collect passwords for
         restricted menus or procedures. An onlooker cannot see the
         password which is being entered.

     The final field attribute is "Derived". If you set this to
     "yes" then the Code Snippet editor opens and you can enter the
     formula by which the fields contents are to be derived.

     In the Code Snippet editor you can enter almost any derivation
     formula. Formulae consist of field names operators and
     functions.

        price * markup
        VATon(net,vatrate)
        datetext(system date)
        if(sex = male,"Mr","Ms")


                                 - 9 -
................................................................................


     All the operators and functions are fully described with
     examples of how they are used in the Programmers Reference.

     If in the Code Snippet editor you cannot remember a field or
     function name then Press F1 for the reminder lists.

     There is a cut and paste facility in the Code Snippet editor.
     To mark text hold down the shift key and move the cursor with
     the arrow keys. When you release the keys the "Cut" or "Copy"
     choice will appear. To paste text, position the cursor at the
     insertion point and press Shift + Ins.  Text which is cut or
     copied from the derivation of one field can be pasted into the
     derivation of any other field in any other form.

     When you have finished entering the field attributes press F2
     to save the field. When you have defined all the fields press
     F2 to save the form.

     There is one other facility in the Form Design editor.  If you
     press F5 at any time you enter "Derivation Test Mode".  In
     derivation test mode you can enter data to your fields and
     check if your derivations work correctly.  Any fields which you
     have defined as invisible are not hidden in test mode.  The
     main advantage of test mode as opposed to testing in Record
     Entry comes not when you are designing new forms but when you
     wish to modify one after you have saved many records in it.  If
     you add, delete or alter the length of a field then the entire
     data file has to be reformatted and this takes time.  With
     "Derivation Test Mode" you can ensure that the modifications
     you have made are correct before reformatting.

     The only exception to test mode is if you have added a new
     lookup function and you have not yet entered the relationship.
     If you select test mode with a relationship missing you will
     get an error message and be returned to Form Design.

     When you save your form Easy Base tests it in derivation test
     mode before saving. If it cannot find a relationship you will
     be given an error message and offered the choice to remain in
     Form Design (which you would do should you know that the
     relationship exists and you must therefore have mistyped a
     lookup formula) or to save and exit anyway. (Which you would do
     if the relationship had not yet been entered)











                                 - 10 -
................................................................................


                 RELATIONSHIPS AND THE LOOKUP FUNCTION

     In Easy Base the Lookup Function together with pre-recorded
     relationship links provide two of the most important facilities
     of a data management system.

         1. Reuse of previously entered data.
         2. Verification of text data.

     Consider the situation where you have designed a form to hold
     information about your business's customers. The form has an
     "accountno" field which has been derived as "Sequence" and this
     is therefore the "Unique" field on the form.  It also has
     fields "Name" and "Address".  All your customers have now been
     recorded in this form.  You now want to create an invoice form.
     Each invoice issued will have to have a customer's name and
     address entered on it.  All the names and addresses are already
     filed in Easy Base so they do not have to by typed again.
     Provided that Easy Base knows which customer's name and
     address is required it can copy it automatically from the
     "Customers" form to the "Invoice" form.

     The way in which Easy Base accomplishes this is exactly the
     same as you would accomplish the task manually in a hand
     written system. If you knew where to find the book in which
     your customers names had been written and you knew the
     customers account number then you could find the customers name
     and address.

     The only slight difference for the computer is that while you
     would consider it "Obvious" that the account number on the
     invoice would be the same as the account number in the
     addresses book your computer does not - You have to tell it.

     To tell Easy Base where to look and that the "accountno" is the
     link, you enter a record in the "Relationships" form.

     When you select "Relationships" from the main menu you will see
     five fields to be filled.  The first field is the name of the
     form which data is to be copied to. In this case you will enter
     "Invoices".  You will notice that easy base has displayed a
     list of all your form names and that you must choose one.  You
     cannot enter the name freehand.  This "internal" data
     verification is the same as you will be doing for your own data
     later.

     The second field is for the name of the form in which the data
     can be found.  In this case select "Customers".

     The next two fields record which fields in the primary and
     secondary form hold the "Linking" data. In this case select
     "acountno" in both.


                                 - 11 -
................................................................................


     The final field is the name of the relationship record.  You
     will notice that Easy Base has already entered a default name
     of "Customers".  The relationship name can be anything you like
     but as the "Lookup" function which you are about to use quotes
     the relationship name as its first parameter and the field to
     be copied as its second then Lookup(customers,name) has to be
     more meaningful and easy to remember than any other name you
     could give.

     When you have entered all the fields press F2 to save the
     relationship, return to Form Design and load your "Invoice"
     form.

     All that remains to do now is edit the field attributes of the
     "Name" and "address" fields.  To edit a field you can either
     press F10 with the cursor on the form background and select the
     field to edit by name, or you can position the cursor within
     the field you wish to edit and then press F10, in which case
     the field attribute window will open automatically.  Position
     the cursor in the "Name" field and press F10. Move the cursor
     to the "Derivation" attribute and set it to yes. (you can move
     the cursor from the "Name" attribute directly to the "Derived
     attribute by pressing the up arrow)

     When the Code Snippet window opens type -

          Lookup(customers,name)

     and press F2.  If you had not already done so then set the
     "User Entry" attribute to "No".

     Press F2 to save the new field attributes and then do the same
     for the "Address" field, this time entering the derivation -

         Lookup(customers,address)

     To test that you have typed the lookups correctly press F5 for
     Derivation Test Mode. Enter a customers account number in the
     "Acountno" field and press the return key. If your formulae are
     correct the customers name and address will appear in the
     "Name" and "Address" fields.

     In this example you have performed two "Secondary" lookups.
     Both the "Name" and "Address" fields were found using the
     "accountno" link which you had to enter correctly in order
     to find the other two fields.

     The real power of the Lookup function is only realized when you
     perform "Primary" and "Secondary" lookups.  In a "Primary"
     lookup the field whose value is to be looked up is also the
     "Link".  It is "Primary" lookups which are used for data
     integrity checking.


                                 - 12 -
................................................................................


     Consider the "Aircraft" and "Manufacturers" forms which were
     discussed earlier.  Suppose that you want to lookup the
     manufactures name and the name of his base airfield into the
     "Aircraft" form.  The definition field in the "Manufacturers"
     form is "Name" - There is no handy "accountno".  You are going
     to have to enter a relationship between "Aircraft" and
     "Manufacturers" linking the two fields "Manufacturer" in the
     "Aircraft" form with "Name" in the "Manufacturers" form.

     Having done this you could derive the "Base" field in the
     "Aircraft" form with - Lookup(manufacturers,base) - and it
     would be looked up when you entered the manufacturers Name just
     as in the invoice example.  But what of the "Manufacturers"
     field itself.  Was the name you entered in the manufacturers
     form "A.V.Roe", "A.V.Roe & Co." or "AVRO A/C Co.".

     Easy Base provides a simple solution to this problem.

     Having entered the relationship, return to Form design and
     enter the lookup derivations. Derive the "Base" field with -

         Lookup(manufacturers,base)

     and the "Manufacturers" field with

         Lookup(manufacturers,name)

     This time, leave the "User Entry" attribute set to "Yes" in the
     "Manufacturers" field.

     Press F5 for "Test mode".  When the cursor enters the
     "Manufacturers" field type -  AV*  - and press return.

     Provided there is only one manufacturer whose name begins with
     "AV" the Avro name will be looked up into the "Manufacturers"
     field and its representation will always be exactly the same as
     the original entry in the "Manufacturers" form.  If there are
     several manufacturers whose names begin with "AV" then a menu
     will appear listing all of them and you can choose the one you
     want. As soon as you select the name the secondary lookup
     "Base" will fill automatically.

     If you cannot remember the first letters of the name you want
     to look up - say for example that you could only remember that
     "Roe" was in the name - then type Roe* and press return.  If
     any manufacturers names begin with "Roe" they will be displayed
     first. If not Easy Base will fill the "Manufacturer" field with
     the first name it finds with the letters roe in it.  If this is
     not the one you want press F3.  Each time you press F3 Easy
     Base will find the next name containing the letters until you
     find the one you want.   As a final resort - if you really
     can't remember what you are looking for - just enter an "*" on


                                 - 13 -
................................................................................


     its own and press return. Easy Base will then list all the
     manufacturers names for you to choose from.

     There is no limit to the number of secondary lookups which can
     be made from each primary and there is no limit to the number
     of different forms you can look data up from.

     If you have many different forms which all look up data from
     the "Customers" form then they can all use the same
     relationship name "Customers" but if you have more than one
     relationship between the same two forms then they must have
     different names.

     If you had a "Stock" form with the unique field "Item" and
     another field "Price" then you could add four fields to your
     "Invoice" form - "Item", "Quantity" "Price" and "Total".

     You would enter a relationship "Stock" between "Invoice" and
     "Stock" with the related fields being "Item" in both forms.

     In your invoice form you would derive :-

        Item as    Lookup(stock,item)
        Price as   Lookup(stock,price)
        Total as   quantity * price

     When you entered the "Item" field (primary lookup) the price
     field would fill automatically and when you entered the
     "Quantity" the "Total" field would be calculated.

     However, if you now add four more fields "Item2", "Price2",
     "Quantity2" and "Total2" you will need another relationship
     between "Invoice" and "Stock" this time linking "Item2" in the
     "Invoice file" with "Item" in the stock file and you cannot now
     use the default name "Stock" for the relationship.

     Although you can give your additional relationship any name you
     like, the best name will be "Stock2".

     Please note that this example is used purely to show the use of
     multiple relationships between the same two forms.  If you are
     intending to write an invoicing system then unless you know
     that there will only be a limited number of items on each
     invoice this is not a practical way to tackle the problem.

     In a flexible invoicing system each item and quantity is
     entered via a procedure to a temporary list form whose contents
     are then printed to the invoice.






                                 - 14 -
................................................................................


                               DATA ENTRY

     As soon as you have designed forms you can enter and view data
     directly using the default screen you created.  To enter data
     to a form select "Data Entry" from the main menu and choose the
     form you wish to use.

     Your default entry screen will appear with the cursor in the
     top left field. The top line of the screen shows the name and
     page number of the form you are using together with the system
     date and time. Line 2 shows the number of the record you are
     creating or editing on the left hand side. It is also the line
     on which any error messages are passed. The bottom line lists
     the most used function keys and is also the line on which help
     prompts are displayed.

     To move the cursor around between fields you can use all of the
     cursor control keys which work as follows:-

     The Return key moves from field to field in the order top left
     to bottom right unless you have overridden this in form design
     by deriving fields with "Goto (fieldname) Next".

     The Tab key moves the cursor from field to field in the order
     bottom right to top left (reverse of Return).

     The arrow keys move the cursor in the direction indicated.

     The Home Key moves the cursor to the beginning of the current
     field if it is not already there and to the first field on the
     page if it is.

     The End Key moves the cursor to the end of text if it is in a
     text field and to the last field on the page if it is not.

     The PgUp and PgDn Keys move between pages if your form has more
     than one.

     When you have entered the data for your first record press F2
     to save it to disk. The screen will clear, the message "Record
     1 has been added" will appear briefly on line two and you will
     be ready to enter the next record.

     If some of your fields are primary lookups then you use them
     exactly the same as was described for "Derivation Test Mode" by
     entering part of the text followed by a star and pressing the
     Return Key.

     Once you have saved a few records to disk you may wish to view
     or edit them. You can bring previously entered records back to
     the screen for editing in several ways.  From record creation
     the F5 Key brings up the first record and subsequent presses


                                 - 15 -
................................................................................


     bring up the next record. Similarly, from record creation the
     F4 Key brings up the last record and subsequent presses bring
     up the previous record.

     Once you have entered several records this process becomes
     impracticable and you "search" for the record you wish to view
     or edit.  Position the cursor in any field and type part of the
     field contents you wish to search for followed by a star and
     press F3.

     Searching for records within a form is a similar process to
     looking up data except that you press the F3 rather than the
     Return Key to initiate the process. If the field in which you
     are searching is indexed and more than one record matches the
     data you have entered then Easy Base will make a list of all
     the field contents which match for you to choose from.  If the
     field is not indexed then Easy Base will bring up the first
     record it finds a match in. If this is not the record you want
     then press F3 again. Easy Base will find another match on each
     successive press of the F3 key until you find the record you
     want. As with lookups, Easy Base will search for "Part Matches"
     after it has exhausted all the records where the entered data
     matches the beginning of the field and if you enter a star on
     its own and press F3, Easy Base will list all the field
     contents for you to choose from.

     When you have brought a previously entered record back to the
     screen you will notice that line 2 now displays "Editing Record
     x of y " rather than "Creating New Record x ".  Easy Base
     automatically changes from "Create" to "Edit" mode when you
     view a record.  The changes which you make on screen are not
     entered to the record on disk until you press F2.

     To clear the contents of the field in which the cursor lies
     rather than delete each character press F6. To return to
     "Create" mode press F6 twice.

     Not all of the active function keys are listed on the prompt
     line. To see a full menu of the function key uses press F1 for
     the Function Key Menu.  The following is a summary of the
     function key usage in Data Entry:-

     F1

     The F1 Key brings up the function key Menu.

     F2

     The F2 Key writes a new record from "Create" and updates the
     record on screen from "Edit" mode.




                                 - 16 -
................................................................................


     F3

     The F3 key initiates searches for previously entered records
     based on the data entered in the current field.

     F4

     The F4 key moves to the previous record when in "Edit" mode and
     to the last record from "Create" mode.

     F5

     The F5 Key Moves to the next record when in "Edit" mode and to
     the first record from "Create" mode.

     F6

     The F6 key clears the current field on the first press and
     returns you to "Create" mode on the second press.

     F7

     The F7 key deletes the record currently on screen in "Edit"
     mode.  When you delete a record with the F7 key it is not
     actually erased from the disk. It is simply "Flagged" for
     deletion at the next "Pack" operation. If you delete a record
     accidentally you can reinstate it any time before the form is
     next packed.

     F8

     The F8 key creates a new record by copying the record currently
     on screen. If a new record you wish to create contains similar
     data to one already entered then you can find the previous
     entry, change the unique field and copy it with F8 rather than
     type it all again.

     F9

     If you know the number of the record you wish to view or edit
     you can press F9 and enter the record number. Easy Base will
     then bring the record whose number you have entered to the
     screen.

     F10

     When you press the F10 key Easy Base searches for records which
     are "Flagged" for deletion.  When it finds one it will bring it
     to the screen. You can reinstate a deleted record by pressing
     F2 while it is on screen. The F5 key searches for the next
     deleted record and the Escape key returns you to "Live
     Records".


                                 - 17 -
................................................................................


     F11

     If you have been viewing records and you wish to return to one
     which you had on screen earlier then press F11 and Easy Base
     will back step through the records you have viewed.

     F12

     The F12 key brings up the form's "Options". There are four
     options in Data Entry.

        1. Clear screen on Adding Record.             (Default Yes)
        2. Confirmation Required to delete Records.   (Default Yes)
        3. Confirmation Required to abandon Edits     (Default No)
        4. Clear Field on Editing                     (Default No)

     If you change "Clear Screen on adding Record" to "No" then,
     when you press F2 to file a new record, the data which is
     written to disk remains on screen ready for the next new
     record. This is useful if you are entering several records and
     many of the fields in each record contain the same data. You
     only have to overwrite the fields which are different each
     time.

     If you have many records to delete then set option 2 to "No"
     and you will be able to delete them without having to confirm
     each one.

     If you set option 3 to "Yes" then Easy Base will ask you to
     confirm that you wish to leave a record which you have edited
     but not updated to disk.

     If you set option 4 to "Yes" then Easy Base will clear the
     old contents of any field you start to edit.  This is most
     useful when used in conjunction with option 1. You can file a
     record, retain the contents for the next record and when you
     edit the fields which are different you do not have to first
     delete the data in them.

     The options you set for any given form remain with it until
     changed. They do not revert to the defaults when your computer
     is turned off and each form can have different option settings.

     Ctrl + E

     If you press the "E" key while holding down the Ctrl key you
     will get the extended "Greek" and "International" characters
     menu which was discussed in form design.






                                 - 18 -
................................................................................


     Ctrl + S

     If you press The "S" key while holding down the Ctrl key you
     start the Spell-checker.  The Spell-checker will check the
     current field. If it finds a word not included in the Easy base
     dictionary it will offer you the choices to leave the word and
     continue, add the word to the dictionary, or choose one of the
     suggestions for replacement.

     The Spell checker does not automatically move from field to
     field but once you have started it, it remains active and will
     immediately check the next text field you move the cursor to.

     The Spell-checker is cancelled if you press the Escape key or
     if you press the F2 key to update the record.







































                                 - 19 -
................................................................................


                        PROCEDURES (REPORTING)

     The Easy Base procedure generator is the means by which you
     manipulate and report on your data.

     Each procedure has at least one part, the procedure code.  The
     procedure code contains the instructions you write to tell Easy
     Base what you want done.

     If your procedure has an "output", in other words your
     instructions tell Easy Base to send data to the screen or to
     the printer, then the procedure must also have an Output
     Format. The Output Format is where you show Easy Base how you
     want the data you are about to "output" arranged on the screen
     or page.

     If what your procedure is to do depends on variables, ie it
     requires information from the operator or from Looked up data
     from one or more of your forms then it also requires an "Input
     Screen".  The Input Screen is where you gather the variable
     information that your procedure needs in order to carry out its
     task.

     Select "procedures" from the main menu and have a look at the
     items on the procedures menu.

     You will notice that the menu has pre-selected item 2 "Load
     Existing Procedure". Other than your first procedure this is
     the most useful starting point.  Item 1, "Create New Procedure"
     is only required if you wish to start a new procedure after you
     have another one loaded. The three parts to a procedure
     mentioned above are created and edited at items 3,4 and 5.

     Procedures, like forms, are saved to disk and can be re-used
     repeatedly. Item 6 runs the current procedure and item 7 saves
     it to disk.

     Item 8 deletes procedures which are no longer required and Item
     9 copies an existing procedure. Often you will require a
     procedure which is similar to one you have already created. It
     is much quicker to copy the first procedure and then edit it
     than to start a new procedure from scratch.

     Item 10 recalls the last output from a procedure to the screen.
     If you need to see the output from a procedure but it is not
     imperative that you have the most up to date information,
     (close of business / month end figures Etc) then it is much
     quicker to view the last output than to re-run the procedure.

     Finally, a small window just below the menu shows the name of
     the currently loaded procedure. In this case it is "Untitled".



                                 - 20 -
................................................................................


     If you have not already done so, read the descriptions of the
     Declare, For..Next, If..Then, Print and Printer Control
     commands in the Programmers Reference now. These are the basis
     of all "reporting" procedures and should be thoroughly
     understood. If you are a programming beginner then some of the
     examples in the For..Next section may seem a bit advanced -
     Just ignore them - for the moment it is only important that you
     understand the principle of the loop and the qualifications
     that can be applied to it.

     Now select item 4 to write your first Procedure Code.
     The next few pages will describe simple reporting procedures
     based on the "Aircraft" form. To write like procedures for the
     forms you have designed all you have to do is substitute your
     form and field names.

     Before you start, have a look at the function key list on the
     bottom line. F2 saves your code and checks it. If you press the
     Escape key your code is still saved but the checking routine is
     bypassed. If you have written code and find that it is not
     passed on F2 because, for example, one of your form fields
     needs to be indexed, then you can still save the code you have
     written while you modify the form.

     F3 and F4 provide search and replace facilities similar to a
     word processor.

     There is a cut and paste system.  To mark code for cutting or
     copying hold down the Shift key and shade the code with the
     arrow keys.  As soon as you release the keys a menu will pop up
     with three options - Cut, Copy or Indent. The cut and copy
     options work exactly the same as in the Code Snippet editor
     with Shift + Ins used to paste the text. If you select "Indent"
     then you can indent all the selected lines at once with the
     left and right arrow keys.

     If you want to print out your code then press F10.

     The F1 key, labelled "Help" is the key you use when you can't
     remember something.  It has all the names of your forms, the
     names of the fields in each form and the names of all Commands,
     functions, and System values.  If Easy Base recognizes the
     context of your procedure when you press F1 then it will list
     the names you need (Formnames, fieldnames or Commands). If not
     a menu will appear from which you can pick which you need.

     With the cursor at the start of the top line on your blank
     procedure screen press F1.

     The "Commands" reminder list appears on the right hand side of
     the screen.  The command you want is the first one , "Declare
     Output Fields" but before selecting it have a look at how to


                                 - 21 -
................................................................................


     select from the reminder lists. There are over fifty commands
     on this list but only the first seventeen are shown. You can
     scroll though them with the arrow keys but you can also use the
     inbuilt alphabetic search facility. If you type "o" then the
     highlight bar will move directly to the "Odd Page Print"
     command.

     Take the highlight bar back to the "Declare Output Fields"
     command either by scrolling or by pressing the Home key and
     press return.  The command will be inserted on the first line,
     the cursor will move to the second line and the "Forms"
     reminder list will appear.  Select the form which you wish to
     report on. In my example case this will be "Aircraft".
     "Aircraft." is inserted on the second line and the "fields"
     reminder list appears. I select "Knownas".  I also wish to list
     the aircraft's mark and type so I write.

     Declare output fields
        Aircraft.knownas : Aircraft.mark : Aircraft.type
     end

     Declare the fields you wish to list either by typing them
     freehand or by pressing F1 for reminders.

     Now complete your procedure code:-

     Declare Output fields
        Aircraft.knownas : Aircraft.mark : Aircraft.type
     end
     for Aircraft
        Print list items
     next

     and press F2 to check and save the code.

     If you have typed everything correctly you will be returned to
     the Procedures menu.  If you have misspelled something then the
     line with the error will be highlighted and you will get an
     error message. Correct the error and press F2 again.

     Easy Base now knows that it is to list the three fields
     Knownas, Mark and Type from all the records in the "Aircraft"
     form.  It does not know how they are to be arranged or whether
     they are to be printed or just shown on screen. This
     information must now be recorded on the procedures "Output
     Format".

     Select item 5, "Output Format", from the procedures menu and
     have a look at the screen. As usual the bottom line shows the
     function key usage. To insert a blank line you use F1 as in
     form design. F2 saves the format and the Escape Key abandons
     it. F3 gives you a line drawing facility similar to that in


                                 - 22 -
................................................................................


     form design and Ctrl + "E" brings up the Greek and
     International characters menu.  The F10 Key is used to place
     your output fields.

     The upper status line shows the paper size you have selected at
     the left hand edge. If you scroll to the right it also shows
     where the right hand edge of your paper will be at the three
     different print sizes 10, 12, and 17 characters per inch.

     On the right hand side of the screen a small menu will have
     appeared offering you a choice of Format Section names. You do
     not have to use one of these they are just to save you time.
     For the moment select "List Items" from this menu.

     .List items  will appear on the first line and the cursor will
     move to the second.  For a first procedure we will simply list
     the fields required in columns. To do this move the cursor in
     along the second line to leave a reasonable margin and press
     F10 to place the first field.  A menu appears listing the three
     fields which were declared in the procedure's code. I select
     "Aircraft.knownas".  As soon as The field has been selected a
     window opens showing the default type and length of the field.
     You can change these defaults if you wish the printed length or
     type(for numeric fields) to be different in the report to what
     it is in the form. This window also presents an extra attribute
     marked "Trim Trailing Spaces" which defaults to "No". If you
     set this to "Yes" then any blanks at the beginning or end of
     the fields contents will not be printed at run time. This
     facility is used mainly for inserting numbers or names into
     form letter text.

     Press F2 to accept the defaults. The area which the field will
     occupy is shown on screen. Now move the cursor to the right and
     place the other two fields. Finally, press the return key to
     take the cursor to a new line and type a full stop ".".  The
     section names menu appears again.  This time select "End".

     The format screen now looks like this.

     .List Items
          ██████████████    ████████████   ████████████
     .End

     Press F2 to save the format. When you do, a new menu will pop
     up with four choices for the output destination. The exact
     meanings of these selections will be discussed shortly.  For
     the moment select "Output to Screen". When the Procedures menu
     appears select item 7 and save your procedure to disk.

     Now select item 6 and run the procedure.

     The fields from each record of the "Aircraft" form are listed


                                 - 23 -
................................................................................


     down the screen. When the list reaches the bottom line the
     screen starts to scroll.  When all records have been listed the
     screen returns to the start of the list from where you can
     browse the report. If the list is long you can pause the output
     by pressing the return key while it is still running. Once the
     report is complete you can browse through it using the PgUp,
     PgDn and arrow keys.  You can also use the text search facility
     at F3.

     When you have finished reading the report press Escape to
     return to the procedures menu.  You can browse the report again
     at any time by selecting item 10 (Recall Last Output). Try it
     now.  While browsing a report you can also print it out by
     pressing F10.  If you press F10 to print a report from browse
     mode you invoke a low level print driver which prints the
     report at 10 CPI, 6 LPI in draft mode. Other font sizes and
     effects such as Bold and Underline are only available when you
     direct the report output to the printer at run time.

     To try printer effects select "Edit Procedure Code" and change
     The code to:-

     Declare output fields
        Aircraft.knownas : Aircraft.mark : Aircraft.type
     end
     Bold on
     12 CPI
     for aircraft
        print list items
     next

     Save the new code and select "Edit Output Format". There is
     nothing to change in the format itself but when you press F2 to
     save it, this time choose "Choose at Run time" for the output
     destination.

     When you now select "Run Procedure", the computer will beep and
     you will be asked whether the output is to be to the screen or
     printer. Choose printer and easy base will print your report in
     bold at 12 characters to the inch. (Assuming you have installed
     the correct printer driver from the utilities menu)

     You will notice that while Easy Base was printing your report
     it also output it to the screen but on completion it returned
     you to the procedures menu without invoking Browse mode.

     The output destinations which you choose when saving the output
     format are not "Either or" choices.  Irrelevant of your choice
     the output is always sent to both the screen and the disk file.
     It is the disk file that you browse when you select "Recall
     Last Output".  The differences between the choices are that
     only an output to the screen invokes Browse mode on completion


                                 - 24 -
................................................................................


     and only an output to printer prints the report. Output to disk
     is only selected if you want to update reports from a Batch
     Execute menu.

     Now let's try something a bit more interesting. So far the
     report simply lists the aircraft in the order in which the
     records were filed.  To list them in alphabetic order, edit the
     procedure code and change the "For" line to:-

     for aircraft with knownas in order

     Save the code.  Easy Base can only list in order if the field
     you wish the order to be done by is indexed.  If the field you
     have chosen is not indexed you will get an error message.  If
     this happens, save the code by pressing the Escape Key - Save
     the procedure at item 7 then return to form design.  Load your
     form - edit the attributes for the field changing Indexed to
     "Yes".

     You can now reload your procedure and run it. This time the
     aircraft names will be in alphabetic order.

     Because a procedure has up to three parts it may not at this
     stage be obvious how Easy Base is handling the "Saving" or
     "Abandoning" of separate parts.  Here is a quick explanation.
     If you escape from either the output format or later the input
     screen and choose to "abandon" it you are abandoning it in the
     version of the report you are editing only. If you escape from
     the procedures menu and choose to "abandon" the procedure then,
     if it is a new "Untitled" procedure it is lost but if it is a
     procedure which you have loaded for editing then it is only the
     edits which are abandoned - The original procedure remains
     unchanged on disk. A procedure which you have loaded for
     editing is only changed on disk when you save it with item
     seven from the procedures menu.  At any time during the editing
     of a procedure you can throw away all your edits and return to
     the original version by reloading it from disk and replying
     "No" when you are asked if you wish to save the currently
     loaded version.

     Suppose now that we wished to list the aircraft in groups by
     type - all the bombers together - all the fighters together
     Etc.

     To do this, edit the procedure code again and change the "For"
     line to: -

     for aircraft with type in order

     This time, when the report is run, all the airliners come first
     followed by the bombers etc. but the group field "Airliner" ,
     "Bomber" etc. is listed on each line and it would be much


                                 - 25 -
................................................................................


     neater if it could be separated or printed in Bold or
     underline.

     Edit the code again, this time to:-

     Declare output fields
        Aircraft.knownas : Aircraft.mark : Aircraft.type
     end
     declare variables
       lasttype as text
     end
     for Aircraft with type in order
        if aircraft.type <> lasttype then print group header
        lasttype = aircraft.type
        print list items
     next

     In this code we have introduced a text variable "lasttype".
     During the "For" loop the list items will be printed on each
     iteration but the group header will only be printed when the
     type changes

     Now edit the output format to:-

     .group header

         ████████████████
     .list items
                 ███████████████     ██████████████
     .end

     The group header starts with a blank line which will separate
     the groups. It contains only the "Type" field.  The list items
     section contains the "Knownas" and mark fields.

     When you run this report the output will be:-

        Airliners
                Boeing 707
                Dehaviland Comet     Mk4
                Boeing Jumbo Jet     747

        Bombers
                Boeing B52
                Avro Vulcan
                Avro lancaster       2


     If you want the group header to be in bold or underline then
     all you have to do is insert the on and off commands before and
     after the "Print group header" command using the block If then
     construction.


                                 - 26 -
................................................................................


     Declare output fields
        Aircraft.knownas : Aircraft.type : Aircraft.mark
     end
     declare variables
        lasttype as text
     end
     for Aircraft with type in order
        if aircraft.type <> lasttype then
           bold on : underline on
           print group header
           bold off : underline off
        end if
        print list items
     next

     As a beginner, you are probably wondering about the reason for
     the indentations after the "for" and "if" lines. The code will
     work perfectly well without them. When you come to write more
     advanced procedures you will have many For loops, Do Loops and
     If conditions interwoven with each other.  If each has its own
     indentation then you will be able to see at a glance which
     commands occur within which loops and conditions and your code
     will be very easy to read and edit.

     Going back to the "Aircraft" listing procedure, we now have
     each group separated but the aircraft names themselves are no
     longer in alphabetic order.  This is because we changed index
     files when we selected "With Type in order".  It is now the
     "Type" groupings which are in alphabetic order.  Suppose that
     we want to keep this grouping but still list the aircraft in
     each group with their names in order.  Neither of the index
     files on the "Knownas" or "Type" fields can produce this order.
     We need a combined or "Compound" index on both fields

     To construct this index, save the present procedure and return
     to form design.  Load the "Aircraft" form and add a new field
     anywhere on it. Assuming the length of the "Knownas" field as
     20 and the length of the "Type" field as 15 the new fields
     attributes are:-

     Name         Typename
     Type         Text
     Length       35
     Mandatory    No
     Unique       No
     Indexed      Yes
     User Entry   No
     Display      Invisible
     Derived      Yes

     The derivation formula is:-
     Jointext(spacepad(category,15),knownas)


                                 - 27 -
................................................................................


     Test that the derivation formula is correct by pressing F5 for
     test mode. When you type a name into the "Knownas" field and a
     type in the "Type" field the new field should derive as a
     combination of the two.

     Escape from test mode and press F2 to save the form. Easy Base
     will first re-format the data file to incorporate the new field
     and then write the new index file.

     When this is complete, return to the procedure and edit the
     "For line of the code from:-

     For aircraft with type in order

     to

     For Aircraft with typename in order

     No change is necessary to the output format.  The output will
     be laid out as before but the names in each group will be in
     alphabetic order.

     To "Polish" the "Aircraft" report it would be nice if it had a
     heading. We would also like to prevent the list from running
     off the end of the page when printed and add a page number at
     the foot of each page.

     To do these things edit the code to:-

     Declare output fields
        Aircraft.knownas : Aircraft.type : Aircraft.mark
        page number                  'New Field
     end
     Declare variables
        lasttype as text
     end
     bold on
     print report header
     for aircraft with typename in order
        if bottom margin < 1 then
           bold on : print page footer
           page feed : print page header : bold off
        end if
        if aircraft.type <> lasttype then
           bold on : underline on
           print group header
           bold off : underline off
        end if
        print list items
     next
     print report footer



                                 - 28 -
................................................................................


     Now edit the output format to:-

     .Report header
         ════════════════════════════════════════════════════
                     AIRCRAFT LIST BY TYPE
         ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
     .Group Header

         ████████████████
     .List Items
                 ████████████████     ██████████████████
     .Page header
         ════════════════════════════════════════════════════
                  Aircraft List By Type (Cont)
         ────────────────────────────────────────────────────
     .Page Footer

                             - ██ -
     .Report Footer
         ════════════════════════════════════════════════════
     .End

     The new print sections Report Header, Report Footer, and Page
     Header contain only fixed text.  The new section Page Footer
     contains the new field "page number" and the "Trim trailing
     spaces" attribute should be set to "Yes" in this.  This will
     keep the correct spacing of   - 9 -    and   - 10 -    when the
     page numbers are printed.


     So far all the fields we have printed are from the same form
     "Aircraft".  Suppose that we also wanted to list the country of
     origin for each aircraft.  The "Aircraft" form does not hold
     this information but the "Manufacturers" form has a field
     "Nationality". To incorporate this field into the report all we
     have to do is declare it as an output field and then arrange to
     have that field in memory when we print the list items. We can
     load the correct record from the "Manufacturers" form by using
     the linking data "Name" in the manufacturers form and
     "Manufacturer" in the "Aircraft" form.  This is a similar
     process to looking up data except that a pre defined
     relationship is not necessary. We can tell Easy Base exactly
     what we want within the code.

     Declare output fields
        Aircraft.knownas : Aircraft.type : Aircraft.mark
        Manufacturers.nationality : Page number
     end
     Declare variables
        Lasttype as text
     end



                                 - 29 -
................................................................................


     '.....................PRINT REPORT HEADING...
     print report header
     '.................
     for aircraft with typename in order
        '..................PRINT HEADERS AND FOOTERS...
        if bottom Margin < 1 then
           bold on : print page footer
           page feed : print page header : bold off
        end if
        '..................PRINT GROUP HEADERS.........
        if aircraft.type <> lasttype then
           bold on : underline on
           print group header
           bold off : underline off
        end if
        '...............LOAD MANUFACTURERS NATIONALITY..
        for manufacturers with name = aircraft.manufacturer
           Print list items
        next
        '..............
     next
     print report footer

     Because the procedure code is becoming longer, remarks are
     added to make it easier to see which parts of the code do what.
     You can add remarks to your code anywhere by prefixing them
     with an apostrophe.

     At the point where we are about to print the list items we
     start another "For" loop.  This time "For Manufacturers".  When
     one "For" loop is "Nested" within another, the record currently
     loaded by the first loop remains in memory while the records
     selected by the "Nested" loop are processed and all the fields
     of both records are available at the same time.

     As we have qualified the "Manufacturers" loop:-

     for manufacturers with name = aircraft.manufacturer

     only the single record in which the "Name" field matches the
     "Aircraft.manufacturer" field which is currently loaded by the
     outer loop will be selected from the "Manufacturers" form.

     While we have both the required records in memory we print the
     list items.

     All that remains to do now is to edit the output format and add
     the "Manufacturers.nationality" field to the .List Items
     section.





                                 - 30 -
................................................................................


     By nesting loops in this way, you can list data from any number
     of different forms which have "Linking" data in one of their
     fields.  Where only one record matches as in the example above
     then the required fields go in the .List items section with the
     other fields.  Where there are many matches (Related list) the
     fields from the secondary loop have their own print section.
     (See example on page 5)

     Now we can print any of the fields from any "Related" forms in
     any order.  We are still, however, listing all the records from
     the "Aircraft" form and we may for example only wish to print
     those records which are in the "Bomber" group.

     Start a new procedure and enter the code:-

     Declare output fields
        Aircraft.knownas : Aircraft.type : Aircraft.base
     end
     for aircraft with type = "Bomber"
        print list items
     next

     Create the output format placing the three output fields within
     the .List Items section.

     When you run this report, only the bombers will be listed but,
     once more, the aircraft names will be in the order in which
     they were entered to the form.

     To get them in alphabetic order we must again use the compound
     index on the "Typename" field. This time we have to ensure that
     the loop starts with the first "Bomber" and ends with the last
     "Bomber".

     Declare output fields
        Aircraft.knownas : Aircraft.type : Aircraft.base
     end
     declare variables
        group as text
     end
     group = "Bomber"
     for aircraft with typename > "Bomber"
        if aircraft.type <> group then exit for
        print list items
     next

     Before starting the "For" loop we set a variable "Group" to the
     value "Bomber". The "For" loop is then qualified such that the
     records will be processed with "Typename" in order but starting
     with the first occurrence of "Bomber" in the field.  To stop
     the loop when all the bombers have been processed we test the
     contents of the "Aircraft.type" field on each iteration of the


                                 - 31 -
................................................................................


     loop and when the first record is loaded which is not a bomber
     we stop processing the loop with the command "Exit For".

     As in the first procedure, we could now add Page headers, Page
     footers and number the pages Etc.

     Suppose however that having created this procedure we now
     wanted a list of all the "Airliners".

     We could achieve this by changing "Bomber" to "Airliner" within
     the code but this would be time consuming. It would be much
     better if we could tell Easy Base which type group we wanted at
     the start of the procedure and have Easy Base make the
     necessary changes.

     To supply "Variables" to a procedure before running we use an
     "Input Screen", the third part of a procedure.  Save the code
     and select item 3 (Create Input Screen) from the procedures
     menu.

     As soon as you select item 3 Easy Base will ask if you wish to
     copy an existing form. Type "N" for no.  The next screen will
     be familiar to you.  It is exactly the same as the form design
     screen.

     When you first designed your forms, the form design routine
     performed two tasks. It created your form and also a default
     input screen from which to enter data. Now that you are about
     to create input screens for procedures, the same routine is
     used to design the screen.  It does not, of course, create a
     parallel form.

     All the facilities for "Polishing" your forms - all the
     facilities for deriving, calculating looking up and testing
     derivations which you had in Form Design are also available for
     Input Screen design.

     The only difference you will notice is that when you define a
     field, the "Unique" and "Indexed" attributes are marked "Not
     Applicable" and when you run the procedure, only the "Options"
     "Clear Screen after Running Procedure" and "Clear Field on
     Editing" are available.

     Move the cursor to somewhere near the middle of the screen and
     type:- "Which Aircraft type would you like listed".  Then press
     F10 to define a field.

     If, in the aircraft form the "Type" field had been defined as a
     choice field, then we would define this field as a choice field
     and use the same list.

     If, on the other hand the "Type" field in the "Aircraft" form


                                 - 32 -
................................................................................


     looked up its contents from a core data form containing the
     type names then we would set the attributes:-

     Name            type
     Data type       text
     Field Length    15    (Same as the "Type" field in "Aircraft")
     Mandatory       Yes
     User Entry      Yes
     Display         Field  (or text or Alt colours as you wish)
     Derived         No

     The field will of course be derived:- Lookup(Aircraft,type)
     but as we have not yet entered the relationship, we will leave
     the derived attribute set to "No" to prevent an error message
     when we save the screen.

     Save the screen.  When you do, you will be asked to select
     between "Repeat Screen after F2" and "Run Once and Exit".

     If you choose the first option then the procedure will repeat
     until you press the Escape Key. If you choose the second
     option, control will return to the procedures menu after the
     report has been run.

     Now save the procedure.  Let's call it "Aircraft By Type".

     You may have noticed that all Form, Field and Procedure names
     so far have been single words.  There is no restriction on
     using multiple words in names but single ones make code much
     easier to read. The only good reason to use more than one word
     is in a reporting procedure name. After the procedure has been
     run the status line in Browse mode will be "Procedure:-
     Aircraft By Type" which makes more sense to an end user than
     "Procedure:- ACbytyp".

     Now go to Relationships and enter the relationship "Aircraft"
     between "Aircraft by Type" and "Aircraft" linking the two
     fields "Type".

     Reload the "Aircraft by Type" procedure and edit the Input
     screen setting the derived attribute to "yes" and entering the
     derivation formula:-  Lookup(aircraft,type)

     Save the screen again and select "Edit Procedure Code".

     To use the Input screen quickly you could change the two
     occurrences of "Bomber" to input.type. However, now that we
     have an input.type field the variable "group" is superfluous.

     The finished procedure code and Output format are shown on the
     next page.



                                 - 33 -
................................................................................


     Declare output fields
        Aircraft.knownas : Aircraft.base
        Page number : input.type
     end
     Print report header
     for aircraft with typename > input.type
        if bottom margin < 1 then
           print report footer
           page feed : print page header
        end if
        if aircraft.type <> input.type then exit for
        print list items
     next
     print report footer
     page feed


     ......................Output Format.........

     .Report Header
            ══════════════════════════════════════════════
                          ████████████ LIST
                          ════════════
                Name                   Built at
            ──────────────────────────────────────────────
     .Page header
            ──────────────────────────────────────────────
                Name                   Built at
            ──────────────────────────────────────────────
     .List items
                ████████████████████   █████████████████
     .Page Footer

                             - ██ -
     .Report Footer
            ══════════════════════════════════════════════
     .End


     The field in the Report header is input.type.  The fields in
     the list items are Aircraft.knownas and Aircraft.base.
     The field in the page footer is Page number.

     Suppose now that we print out the report and find that we had
     entered all the "Aircraft" "Knownas" fields in Upper case and
     all the "Base" fields in Lower case.  This would make the
     report quite untidy.  There is no need however to change the
     original data. To print both fields in Upper case all we need
     to do is alter each of the "Base" field contents using the
     "Upper" Function before printing it.

     To do this insert the line:-


                                 - 34 -
................................................................................


        aircraft.base = upper(aircraft.base)

     immediately before the print list items command.

     As well as simply "Listing" data you can manipulate it in many
     different ways.  You can do any form of arithmetic on numeric
     fields and you can alter text, date and time fields with over
     fifty different functions.

     A function is a small internal routine which returns a value
     derived from one or more other values (Parameters) which you
     supply.  For Example, in the code line:-

     date = datetext(invoice.date)

     "Datetext" is a function to which you are passing the parameter
     "Invoice.date".  If invoice.date is 02/02/94 then the function
     "Datetext" will derive the text "2nd February 1994" and
     "Return" this as if it were a variable. The output field "Date"
     will therefore become "2nd February 1994".

     A functions parameters are always passed to it enclosed in
     brackets.  If there are more than one then they are separated
     by commas.

     The next section of the Manual introduces you to Procedures
     which perform transactions.  You should now read the
     descriptions of the following commands in the Programmers
     Reference.

     Copy All From
     Delete Record
     Clear Records From
     Update Record
     Pause On/Off
     Escape On/Off

     Together with the field control "Beep".
















                                 - 35 -
................................................................................


                     PROCEDURES (TRANSACTIONAL)

     In Data Entry you make a "Transaction" when you add, update or
     delete a record.  You can make the same transactions in
     procedures.  There are, however, two major advantages to
     making your transactions via procedures.

     1.   You control which transactions can and cannot be made.

     2.   You can make any number of different transactions in any
          number of different forms.

     Consider the "Customers" form.  You would want any of your
     staff to be able to add a new customer in your absence. If you
     allow them to do this in Record Entry then they could also
     (deliberately or inadvertently) alter or delete other customers
     records.

     To prevent this, create a new procedure.  Create an input
     screen.  When you are asked if you wish to copy an existing
     form - reply "Yes" and select the customers form.  Save the
     input screen and select Create Procedure Code. Now enter the
     procedure code:-

     for customers new record
        copy all from input
     next

     Save the procedure - Let's call it "Enter customers".  You can
     now call this procedure from your "User Menus" described in the
     next section and your staff will be able to enter new customers
     without the opportunity to make any other transactions.

     You can also control parts of a transaction.  If your
     "Customers" form had a field for "Creditlimit" then, in the
     form, you would wish to be able to enter any credit limit you
     wanted, but you might wish to restrict the amount your staff
     could enter for a new customer.

     To do this you simply edit the field attributes for the
     "Creditlimit" field in the input screen.

     To set a fixed credit limit of say £500.00 set the user entry
     attribute to "No", the derived attribute to "Yes" and enter the
     derivation formula:- 500.

     To restrict the entry to a maximum of say £1000.00 you would
     leave the user entry attribute set to "yes" but derive the
     field:-  If(creditlimit > 1000,blank[beepMaximum credit £1000
              for new customers],creditlimit)

     There might also be fields on the "Customers" form which are


                                 - 36 -
................................................................................


     irrelevant to the transaction of adding a new customer.  You
     might also have fields for personal comments which you do not
     wish your staff to see.  You can simply delete these from the
     input screen or change them to invisible.

     In other words you can limit a transaction in any way you wish
     and the final input screen can be totally different to the
     original form.

     Transaction procedures which delete or update records are
     created in a similar manner but are slightly more complicated.

     To create a procedure which allows your staff to delete
     customers, you would again copy the customers form as the input
     screen.  This time, the only field to which you allow User
     Entry is the "acountno" field.  You enter a relationship
     between this report and the "Customers" form linking "acountno"
     and derive all the other fields you wish to show as:-

     lookup(customers,name)
     lookup(customers,address)
     Etc.

     Your staff now enter the account number to be deleted. The
     other "looked up" fields are only there so that the name and
     address will appear confirming that the correct account number
     has been entered.

     The procedures code to delete the record is:-

     for customers with acountno = input.acountno
        delete record
     next

     As with the procedure to add a record you are still in complete
     control of what can or cannot be done.  Suppose that you had a
     field on the "customers" form which you kept updated with his
     account balance.  You would not want anyone to delete a
     customer who still had an outstanding balance on his account.

     To prevent this, just change the derivation for the "balance"
     field to :-

     if(lookup(customers,balance) <> 0,blank[beepCustomers cannot be
     deleted until their A/C is clear],0)

     You would also set the Mandatory attribute to "Yes" to prevent
     anyone from ignoring the warning.

     If you wanted a procedure which allowed staff to change a
     customers address but no other fields, then you would create
     the same input screen as for the delete record and the same


                                 - 37 -
................................................................................


     relationship but this time you would allow user entry to the
     address field and derive it:-

     Default(lookup(customers,address))

     When the operator enters the account number for the customer
     whose address he wishes to change, the old address will appear
     to confirm that he has the right customer, but he will be able
     to edit it.

     The procedure code would be:-

     for customers with acountno = input.accountno
        customers.address = input.address
        update record
     next

     The second advantage of making transactions via procedures is
     that you can perform several tasks at once. Consider a Video
     Library hiring films to its members. There will be a form for
     the films, one for the members and one for daily takings.

     The procedure used for hiring out the films will have an input
     screen with a field for the members number, possibly three
     fields for the film numbers being hired, three more fields in
     which the films rental prices are looked up and one in which
     these three fields are totalled.  When the operator runs the
     procedure all the necessary transactions are performed by the
     procedure code:-

     for members with number = input.member
        if input.film1 <> blank then members.film1 = input.film1
        if input.film2 <> blank then members.film2 = input.film2
        if input.film3 <> blank then members.film3 = input.film3
        update record
     next
     if input.film1 <> blank then
        for films with number = input.film1
           films.hiredto = input.member
           films.datehired = system date
           update record
        next
     end if
     for daily takings
        total = total + input.total
        update record
     next

     The mid section of the code updating film1's record would of
     course be repeated for film2 and film3 but has been omitted for
     clarity.



                                 - 38 -
................................................................................


                            USER MENUS

     Once you have created forms and procedures you can create an
     end user menu system to run them.  You could wait till all your
     procedures are finished but you will get a much better feel for
     how your program is developing if you start and use a menu
     system as you go.  Easy Base includes a User Menu call to its
     system menus so you can work from your own developing menu
     system while you are still developing your program.

     Select "Menus" from the main menu and have a look at the
     screen.  The Menus screen is an internal form just like the
     ones you have created. You have all the same facilities to
     enter, update and delete menus that you have in Data Entry to
     one of your own forms.

     Let's create a menu based on some of the forms and procedures
     previously discussed.

     The first field on the menus form is "Menu Name".  This is the
     unique field and a name must be supplied.  We'll call it
     "Customers".  The next field is "Menu Type". This is a choice
     field with two options, "Normal" and "Batch Execute".  The
     "Batch Execute" option will be discussed later.  For now,
     select "Normal".

     The third field is "Menu Title". Whatever you enter here will
     be displayed as a title (or heading) above your menu.

     The fourth field which is untitled on the screen is a choice
     field with the options, "Run on Number Key" and "Run on Return
     Key".  If you choose the first option then the items on your
     menu will be run as soon as the item number is pressed and if
     you choose the second option then typing the item number will
     move the highlight bar to the selection but the item will not
     be called until the return key is pressed.  In either case you
     will still be able to select items with the cursor control keys

     The next field asks for a "Sign on password" if a startup menu.
     You can start your application (program) on any menu that has
     a sign on password by restarting Easy Base and using that
     password instead of your developers password.  In this case we
     are going to menu the reports which add, delete and alter a
     customers address. This will be a sub menu so we leave this
     field blank.

     The main section of the "Menus" form has three columns of nine
     fields.  The first column is for the text to be displayed on
     the menu.  The second is for the type of action (function)
     which is to be called.  The third is for the individual item.




                                 - 39 -
................................................................................


     With the cursor in the first text field we type:-

     Enter a New Customer      and press return.

     As soon as the cursor moves to the first "Function" field a
     menu appears listing all the different functions that can be
     called.  The first four choices allow you to:-

     1.   Run one of your procedures.
     2.   Recall the last output from one of your procedures.
     3.   Call the data entry screen for one of your forms.
     4.   Call another of your menus.

     The other functions are selected utilities from the system
     utilities menu which you may wish to provide to the
     end user without allowing him access to the entire system.

     Select "Run Procedure" and press return.

     When the cursor moves to the "Item" column Easy Base will list
     all your procedures. Choose "Enter customers".

     on the next two lines enter:-

     Delete Existing Customer   Run Procedure    Delete Customers
     Change Customers Address   Run Procedure    Address Change

     and press F2 to save the menu.

     Now let's make a start to the main "Startup" menu.  We may not
     have any procedures to put on it yet but we can get started
     with an item to call data entry to "Customers" and one to call
     the "Customers" sub menu.

     Fill in a new menus record using the name "Main Menu", Type
     "Normal" and Title "- M A I N   M E N U -".  This time enter a
     startup password, say "Fred".  Complete the Items section
     with:-

     Customers Records          Data Entry       Customers
     Customer Updates           User Menu        Customers
     Program Development        System menus

     Press F2 to save this menu then press escape all the way out to
     the DOS prompt (or your hard disk menu system).  Restart Easy
     Base.  This time, when the sign on screen appears, enter "Fred"
     and press return.

     Instead of the system menus, you will see your "Main Menu".
     If you select item 1 the "Customers" form will come up. If you
     select item 2 your sub menu will be overlaid and you can run
     any of the three procedures on it.  If you select item 3 you


                                 - 40 -
................................................................................


     will be transferred to the Easy Base System menus where you can
     continue with the development of your program.

     Whenever you create new procedures or forms you can add them to
     your menu system.

     Suppose you would like the utilities, Backup Data, Restore Data
     and Install Printer to be available from your menu system.
     Create a new menu, let's call it "Utilities" with the items:-

     Backup data to disk        Backup Data
     Restore data from disk     Restore Data
     Install Printer            Install Printer

     Save this new menu then edit your main menu to include the new
     item:-

     Utilities                  User menu           Utilities

     When you have called the Easy Base system menus from one of
     your own menus then pressing escape does not exit the program,
     it returns you to your own menu.  You close down by pressing
     escape from your main menu.  When you get back to your "Main
     Menu" you will notice that the new "Utilities" item is not
     there. New Menu items cannot be added while the program is
     running. To incorporate the "Utilities" item you must again
     exit the program and restart with the password "Fred".

     As your program develops you can create as many menus as you
     need. Your "Main Menu" can call up to nine sub menus. Each of
     those can call another nine sub sub menus Etc Etc. You can also
     have additional startup menus with different passwords. These
     can either run completely different menus or can restrict
     different parts of the menu system to different users.

     When you start up on one of your menus systems Easy Base
     creates a default "Tree" structure for it.  From whichever menu
     is on screen the escape key backsteps down the tree until you
     reach your "Main Menu" and then exits the program.

     If one of the "forward" menu calls crosses branches, ie it
     calls a menu which is also called from a lower level then
     subsequent presses of the escape key backstep down the current
     branch and not back "cross tree".

     You can also make menu calls from low to high levels. (a sub-
     sub- sub menu can have an item which calls the main menu).

     In some circumstances you may prefer a hierarchical rather than
     a tree structure where the main menu is recalled after each
     individual procedure.  To accomplish this, each final item is
     placed on its own menu followed by a call to the main menu and


                                 - 41 -
................................................................................


     the menu type is changed to "Batch Execute".

     When you create a "Batch Execute" menu then instead of
     displaying a menu for you to choose from, Easy Base
     executes each item on the menu in sequence and then returns to
     the menu which called it.

     With batch execute menus you can automate many of the processes
     in your application.  If you have several printouts to be done
     each day you can have them all done from batch execute menus.
     Similarly, if you need to update many reporting procedures for
     later "Recall" to the screen, these can all be done at once.
     There is no limit to the number of procedures which can be
     batched - One batch menu can call another.

     If you create a "Startup" batch menu then, provided it does not
     call a "Normal" menu, Easy Base will perform all the tasks on
     the menu and then exit to DOS.

     If you create a "Startup" batch menu which eventually calls a
     "Normal" menu then the batch process stops at that point and
     the "Normal" menu becomes the main (root) menu.  Pressing
     escape from this menu exits to DOS. it never returns to the
     startup batch menu which called it

     Start up batch menus are useful for running regular daily
     procedures and for forcing the user to check the system date
     and time.

     There are many other uses for batch execute menus.  You can
     automate menu changes. If, for example, running one particular
     procedure is invariably followed by  running one from a choice
     of three others then the menu containing the others can be
     batched after the first procedure.

     In Easy Base you can create quite long and complex procedures
     but they are eventually limited by memory constraints.  If you
     ever run out of memory creating a long procedure then just
     split it and batch the parts.

     Don't forget to set the output of non print reports to "Disk"
     otherwise Browse Mode will be invoked.












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                         SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

     Required.

         IBM or compatible 286 or higher
         1Meg Ram
         600k free conventional memory (for DOS5 and later this
                 requires the lines:-
                 device=c:\dos\himem.sys
                 DOS=high
                 in your config.sys file)

     Preferred.

        3 Meg expanded memory with 2 Meg allocated to PC-Cache



                         SYSTEM LIMITATIONS

     Fields per Form         500
     Indexes per Form        500
     Record Length           Limited by display of 4 screen pages
     Records per Form        Limited by Maximum data or index file
                             length of 2,100 Megabytes

     Forms per application       }     Total of 500 in
     Procedures per application  }     any combination.
     Menus per application             500

























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                       DOS FILENAME CONVENTIONS

     The Easy Base system files are:-

        EB.EXE     The program file
        EB.CUR     Initial screen setup
        EB.SET     Configuration file
        EB.MEN     User Menus form
        EB.REL     Relationships form
        EB.MSG     Text and error messages
        EB.PRS     Printer drivers
        EB.D01     Main dictionary
        EB.DO2     Personal dictionary

     The files which are created in the data directories have the
     following filename convention:-

     Forms:-

        BASE(No).DEF      The entry screen definition.
        BASE(No).DAT      The data file.
        BASE(No).(No)     Index files.

     Choice field lists

        LIST(No).DAT

     Procedures

        PROC(No).PRO      The procedure code.
        PROC(No).DEF      The input screen.
        PROC(No).REP      The output from the procedure.

     There are also six individual files:-

        MENUS.DAT         The menus you create.
        RELATION.DAT      The relationships you create.
        CHOICES.DIR       The choice list directory.
        BASE.DIR          The forms directory.
        PROC.DIR          The procedures directory.
        RECOVER.INF       Recovery information to reinstate a form
                          should you suffer a power failure during
                          a pack or reformat operation.











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