home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
ftp.whtech.com
/
ftp.whtech.com.tar
/
ftp.whtech.com
/
articles
/
Sughrue
/
moretib.txt
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
2006-10-19
|
9KB
|
275 lines
.IF DSK1.C3
JACK'S JOTTINGS
by Jack Sughrue
Box 459, E.^Douglas, MA 01516
[This copyrighted article originally
appeared in ASGARD NEWS and may be
reprinted in non-commercial TI
newsletters.]
GOOD TIBINGS!
In some recent articles we talked
about the best buy of the year for
99ers: Dennis Faherty's TI-BASE
(TEXAMENTS, 244 Mill Rd., Yaphank, NY
11980 - $24.95 plus $1.50 S&&H for
two disks [one a tutorial] and
78-page manual).
It still is.
In the interim between articles
Dennis has improved his
already-superb program remarkably.
He readily incorporated many good
suggestions made by newsletter
authors around the whole country. At
the time of this writing (March 1989)
TI-BASE is at Version 2.1. The
manual - now almost double in size -
has been completely done over, too
(except that it is still printed blue
on grey), and contains much better
explanations and tutorials and some
descriptions of the added and changed
items.
These changes were done so
quickly and so professionally that my
original very high assessment of this
data base rose even higher.
This base is becoming so popular
that many templates are being created
to provide easier and better access
to all users. Soon there will be
templates in every club library in
the world, the way there are
TI-ARTIST pictures and TI-WRITER
letter files and MULTIPLAN setups.
It will stand alongside TI-ARTIST as
a standard for this computer. It
probably already has.
Now that we've opened up TIB by
designing our own template (see last
ASGARD NEWS and/or recent IMPACT/99
columns in newsletters), we should be
able to tie up the rest of the uses
of this program fairly easily.
But, first, a little review.
Always make backups of your originals
before doing anything else;
particularly as TIB requires the
write-protect tab to be off so
changes can be made right on the
disk. Next initialize a disk for
your data. If you have two or more
drives you can do this DURING the
program with the FORMAT command, but
it's still more convenient to have
one or more ready.
Okay. Now boot the disk. Note
that it is much faster than the
original version. You'll be prompted
for date (Just type in 03/17/89 or
whatever.) and all files created
during this time will contain this
date. ENTERing this will bring up
STATUS report:
DATDISK=DSK2. (your DB files
will go on Drive 2)
PRGDISK=DSK1 (Drive 1 for your
TIB system master)
PRINTER=PIO. (port)
LINE^^^=080 (number of columns
wide)
PAGE^^^=056 (number of lines
long)
HEADING=ON (all headings will
be printed)
TALK^^^=ON (commands on screen
during execution)
SPACE^^=01 (spaces between
fields)
RECNUM^=ON (displays record
numbers from 0)
LSPACE^=0256 (space made for
LOCALS)
DATE^^^=03/17/89 (as mentioned
above)
FCTN/7 will bring up some handy
DV/80 "Help" files at most points
along the way or you could print them
out as docs through your FUNNELWEB or
TIW.
On the STATUS listed above, all
that is necessary to make changes is
to use the SET command at the dot
in the lower left of the screen. To
change your datadisk from Drive 2 to
Drive 3, for example, all you have to
type is SET DATDISK=DSK3.^and press
ENTER. Next, to see that all is A-OK,
just type CLEAR (and ENTER each time
to perform the function) to get rid
of all the junk on the screen, and
then type DISPLAY STATUS. Your setup
will be redisplayed with your changes
listed. Very easy and quick.
Last time we made a database of
videos. I chose to do that rather
than the simpler address base because
I wanted to show how such a base
could be used in a personal,
different way. Most of the letters
I've received seem to be more
concerned about whether the writer
could find a USE for TIB. Trust me:
the uses are as unlimited as your
imagination.
Most people collect things:
videos, stamps, teapots, watercolors,
records/tapes, books, candle
snuffers, quotations. TIB can help
you put order into your collection.
If it's at all valuable, it's
important to have records in case of
fire or theft or wills.
TIB could also be used to sort
important household items:
insurances, car papers, and so on.
It is ideal for taxes. It's perfect
for businesses. Exceptional for
names and addresses. Wonderful for
inventories. For making labels. For
identifications. For mathematical
(spreadsheet-style) computations.
For teachers. For secretaries. For
plumbers. For housewives and
househusbands. For clergymen. For
butchers, bakers, and candlestick
makers. In short, I can't think of
an occupation (or hobby) where TIB
wouldn't be very handy.
As I promised last time, though,
I would list and define of the common
commands used by TIB.
The DISPLAY and PRINT commands
are powerful tools. They let you
display on screen (or print
hardcopies) of any combinations of
displays you wish. If you have done
a LASTNAME, FIRSTNAME, STREET,
CITY, STATE, ZIP, PHONE, COMMENT file
and sorted it on LASTNAME, you could
display in columns any combination of
the above. At the dot, just type
DISPLAY ALL FIRSTNAME LASTNAME PHONE.
What I will get is a listing of the
first name, last name, and phone
number of everyone in the base as
SORTed on the last name in
alphabetical order. I could just as
easily asked for the STATE sorted on
CITY or whatever. I can have as much
or as little information displayed or
printed out as I want and sorted any
which way. If I said PRINT ALL
FIRSTNAME LASTNAME PHONE, I would
have gotten a hardcopy of the above.
SNAP instantly dumps the current
screen to your printer, so you can
DISPLAY and SNAP for a quick
hardcopy.
For you PRBASE, CFS, NAVARONE, DB
500 or whatever owners, TIB will
CONVERT your files. Whew! That
saves a lot of sweat and time.
FCTN/9 will abort a process;
SPACEBAR will pause it; S will
continue execution.
The * will permit comments (but
they hog memory); the ";" will permit
continuation of commands to another
line; the "|" is like && in XB
(sticks together things).
The PRINTER control codes include
FF, formfeed; LF, linefeed; CR,
carriage return; DS, doublestrike;
UL, underline; EX, expanded; CM,
compressed (and very useful); IT,
italics; B, bold; SPS, superscript;
SBS, subscript; HT, horizontal tab;
ST, set tab; NM, normal. You can
also go into Draft or Near Letter
Quality modes.
You can APPEND records or APPEND
BLANK (s), CATALOG DISK, FORMAT (to
initialize), change COLOR (s), DELETE
DATABASE or RECORD or FILE; RECALL
deleted files; COPY files, MOVE
files, MODIFY STRUCTURE; PACK, WAIT,
LIST, SCROLL, SELECT (a different
active database), READ, EDIT, FIND,
SORT. Expressions such as ELSE, IF,
WHILE (and corresponding ENDWHILE and
ENDIF) are also part of TIB's massive
open structure.
The powerful DO command acts like
RUN in BASIC or XB. When you have
created a template you wish to
activate (such as a label program),
DO LABEL is the way you would execute
it (if "LABEL" was what you had named
it).
The best way to learn to use
TI-BASE is to own it and play with
it.
Right now it is one of the safest
small investments in the TI World.
The returns for such an extraordinary
program are enormous, and the wealth
of information surrounding it
continues to grow by leaps and
bounds.
There has been a large number of
tutorials and reviews and template
creations published worldwide on this
program. Martin Smoley and Bill
Gaskill have written the most
extensive and lucid and intelligent
articles I have seen to date on TIB.
Smoley, whose articles originally
appeared in Northcoast 99ers'
newsletters, has a DSSD disk
available in user groups that not
only includes his excellent tutorials
(which may be printed freely by any
TI newsletter), but he has also
created many, many templates. TIB
templates (such as labels) make the
work easier and the value greater.
Gaskill has written TIB reviews for
MICROpendium, but he has written some
very fine tutorials in the
L.A.^TopIcs newsletter, another great
resource. Harry Brashear of the
Western New York 99ers has been
putting together disks of everything
written about and for TI-BASE.
Getting any (or ALL) the materials
mentioned above would be the very
best way to develop the best possible
TIB use for your own personal and/or
business needs.
[If this article is reprinted, please
be kind enough to place the author on
your newsletter subscription list.
Thank you. J.S.]
ÇçǼçïÉòƒ⌐╒╒╒╒╒╒╒╒╒╒Çï