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PDX2WP A Paradox to WordPefect Translation Utility Shareware Version 1.10 Copyright (c) 1990 S.L.S. Systems All Rights Reserved. TABLE OF CONTENTS License and Warranty Information . . . . . . . . . . . 1 What Is PDX2WP? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Installing PDX2WP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 How to Use the PDX2WP Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Running the PDX2WP Utility From the DOS Command Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Running the PDX2WP Utility From a Paradox PAL Script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Running the PDX2WP Utility From Interactive Paradox 7 How to Use the WP2PDX Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Running the WP2PDX Utility From the DOS Command Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Running the PDX2WP Utility From Paradox . . . . . . 10 Limitations of PDX2WP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Suggestions and Hints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Final Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Invoice/Registration Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── PDX2WP Page i License and Warranty Information ================================ PDX2WP is not in the public domain. This is a shareware product. It is fully protected by copyright law. You are granted without charge a license which permits (a) use of the program for a reasonable period for evaluation and testing; (b) making copies for distribution to others without charge, provided the program and the accompanying documentation and other files are distributed together and without modification; (c) posting the program, together with the accompanying documentation and other files, on electronic bulletin board systems. How long is a reasonable period? The idea of shareware is that you should be able to try a program before deciding to buy it. Once you have tried PDX2WP and found that it is useful to you you should begin to realize its benefits. A period of two weeks after first use should be sufficient to determine the program's usefulness. Any time after the two weeks is unreasonable. Use after the reasonable evaluation and testing period re- quires payment of a license fee. For a single copy (plus necessary archival copies), to be used on only one computer at a time, the fee is $30.00. For your convenience, an invoice form is included at the end of this documentation. For large quantities, discounts and site licenses are avail- able. Write for information. PDX2WP is licensed, and the documentation and other included files are provided "AS IS," without any warranty as to performance, accuracy, or freedom from error, or as to any results generated through use of such material, including, without limitation, any implied warranties of merchantabili- ty or fitness for a particular purpose. Paradox is a trademark of Borland International WordPerfect is a registered trademark of WordPerfect Corpo- ration S.L.S. Systems 13 Shirley Ave. Kingston, Massachusetts 02364 617-585-3620 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── PDX2WP Page 1 What Is PDX2WP? =============== PDX2WP is actually a pair of utilities, PDX2WP and WP2PDX, which will perform translation of Paradox tables into Word- Perfect documents or WordPerfect secondary merge documents into Paradox tables. The documents created by PDX2WP are meant for use with WordPerfect version 5.0 or later, while the documents converted by WP2PDX must already exist as WordPerfect version 5.0 or later secondary merge documents. It is important to note that neither PDX2WP nor WP2PDX require the presence of either Paradox or WordPerfect. All that is required to run PDX2WP is an existing Paradox table which will be translated, while WP2PDX only requires an existing WordPerfect secondary merge document. It must also be noted that neither PDX2WP nor WP2PDX affect or alter the original Paradox table or WordPerfect document in any man- ner. The WordPerfect document which is created by PDX2WP may be any of three formats: -- A WordPerfect table, with rows and columns, similar in appearance to a spreadsheet. In this format, each Paradox record becomes a row in the WordPerfect table, with each column representing a field of the record (up to the WordPerfect limit of 32 columns). The maximum number of rows in a WordPerfect table is 32,765. WordPerfect tables may be used only with versions 5.1 or later of WordPerfect. -- WordPerfect parallel columns, where blocks of text are separated into columns which are printed side- by-side. With PDX2WP each field of the Paradox record is entered into a column, with as many col- umns as there are fields in the Paradox table (up to the WordPerfect limit of 24 columns). -- WordPerfect secondary merge file, where a secondary merge record is created for each record in the Paradox table. A merge field is created for each field in the Paradox record. There is no limit on the number of fields for a secondary merge record. ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── PDX2WP Page 2 The WordPerfect document to be converted by WP2PDX must be a secondary merge document, created by WordPerfect version 5.0 or later. It must be a document set up with individual re- cords, separated by WordPerfect "end of record" merge codes (either ^E or {END RECORD}). Each record must be broken into fields, each separated by WordPerfect "end of field" codes (either ^R or {END FIELD}). This shareware version of PDX2WP and WP2PDX are command-line oriented programs. This means that there are no menus, win- dows, data entry forms, or other user interface. All op- tions to the programs are specified as parameters to the programs when run from the DOS command line. Installing PDX2WP ================= As mentioned earlier, PDX2WP is actually two utilities. Each of these utilities is a self-contained executable program file, PDX2WP.EXE and WP2PDX.EXE. Simply insert the distribution disk into your floppy disk drive and copy these two programs from the distribution disk to a directory which is included in your DOS path. For example, if you have a directory named \UTILITY in which you keep all utilities, copy the two program files into the \UTILITY directory using the DOS "copy" command, as follows: copy a:*.exe c:\utility Included with the two executable programs are the following files: PDX2WP.DOC This documentation file. PDX2WP.SC A Paradox script which can be used to execute PDX2WP from within interactive Paradox. INIT.SC A Paradox startup script which, when placed in the Paradox startup directory (i.e., \PARADOX3) will assign the PDX2WP.SC script to the Shift-F5 key. This file should be modified to direct Paradox to the directory to which PDX2WP.SC was copied. CONTACTS.DB A sample Paradox table for use as an example for PDX2WP. ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── PDX2WP Page 3 MAILLIST.DOC A sample WordPerfect secondary merge document for use as an example for WP- 2PDX. Copy the above files to appropriate directories, and both PDX2WP and WP2Pdx will be ready to run, from either the DOS command line or from within Paradox. How to Use the PDX2WP Utility ============================= PDX2WP may be run from either the DOS command line or from within a Paradox PAL script. By creating a short PAL script and attaching the script to a key combination in Paradox using the SETKEY command, the program may also be run from interactive Paradox. (Although WordPerfect provides the capability to run a DOS command, there is not enough memory available to run PDX2WP while WordPerfect is running.) Running the PDX2WP Utility From the DOS Command Line ---------------------------------------------------- When running PDX2WP from the DOS command line, you must specify the name of the WordPerfect document you wish to create, the name of the Paradox table you wish to trans- late, and a "switch" specifying which type of WordPer- fect document you wish to create. The syntax for PDX2WP is: PDX2WP document-name table-name /type "Document-name" is the name of the WordPerfect document you wish to create. You may include a drive specifier, a full path name, and a file name. The file name fol- lows standard DOS naming conventions: a name of up to 8 characters, followed by an optional period and an exten- sion of up to 3 characters. The following are all valid names for a WordPerfect document: MY-FILE PDX-TABL.DOC B:NAMES C:\WP\DOCUMENT\MAILLIST.WP ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── PDX2WP Page 4 "Table-name" is the name of the Paradox table which will be translated. This name may be the name of any valid Paradox table. As with the document-name, you may include a drive specifier and a full path name. An extension of "DB" is assumed. Therefore, do not include an extension. If an extension is included, an error message will be displayed. "Type" represents the type of translation you wish to perform, and is always preceded by a "/". Valid types and there meaning are: T Create a WordPerfect Table (Version 5.1 only) C Create parallel columns (Version 5.0 or later) M Create a secondary merge file (Version 5.0 or later) The following are examples of valid command-line entries for the PDX2WP utility: PDX2WP CONTACTS.WP CONTACTS /M PDX2WP \ACCOUNT.TBL \PARADOX\FILES\ACCOUNT /T PDX2WP A:MERGE.NMS NAMES /M PDX2WP PARTLIST \PARADOX\INVENTORY\PARTS /C After typing the appropriate command-line entry and pressing ENTER, several lines of copyright information are displayed. After the copyright lines is a line which displays the progress of the conversion process, showing the record number of each Paradox record as it is translated. Upon completion, a message indicating the total number of records translated is displayed. This number indicates the number of rows in the WordPer- fect table or column structure, or the number of merge records created in a secondary merge file. Running the PDX2WP Utility From a Paradox PAL Script ---------------------------------------------------- By using the PDX2WP utility within a PAL script, the translation of a Paradox table can be made to execute automatically, without user intervention. PDX2WP can be run within a PAL script using the PAL command "RUN BIG" ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── PDX2WP Page 5 followed by the command-line entry for PDX2WP described in the previous section. A common application of this use would be to translate a Paradox ANSWER table which is created as a result of a query. This allows for the translation of a selected subset of records from a Paradox table. Following is an excerpt of a simple PAL script performing such a query. The line numbers are shown for information only, and are not part of the script 1 query 2 3 contacts |Name |Address |City | 4 |check |check |check | 5 | | | | 6 | | | | 7 8 9 contacts |State |Zip Code | 10 |check, MA |check | 11 | | | 12 | | | 13 14 endquery 15 16 Do_It! 17 18 If Istable("Answer") then 19 run big "pdx2wp contacts.wp answer /m" 20 endif In this example, the first portion of PAL code, from line 1 to line 14, is a script which was generated using the Paradox QuerySave command. The script queries the Paradox table "Contacts," requesting the fields Name, Address, City, State, and Zip Code, where State is equal to "MA." By editing the script with the Paradox Script/Edit command and adding lines 15 through 20, the script can be made to perform both the query and the PDX2WP translation of the resulting Answer file. The "Do_It!" command on line 16 causes Paradox to per- form the query specified on lines 1 through 14. If there are any records which satisfy the criteria in the query command, the Answer table will be created with ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── PDX2WP Page 6 those selected records and will become the current table. Otherwise, no Answer table will be created and the current table will still be the Contacts table. Line 18 checks to see if the current table is the Answer table. If so, then line 19 is executed, which actually runs PDX2WP as if it were entered at the DOS command line. When PDX2WP completes the translation, control will return to the PAL script, and any further commands will be executed. Running the PDX2WP Utility From Interactive Paradox --------------------------------------------------- There are two methods of running PDX2WP from the inter- active Paradox environment. It may be run as a "mini- cript" using the same statement shown on line 20 of the above script, or it can be attached to a Paradox "hot- key" with the SETKEY command. To execute PDX2WP as a mini-script, access the PAL menu by pressing Alt-F10. Choose the MiniScript option from the menu. A message prompting for a command will be displayed. Type in the command using the RUN BIG com- mand, as in the example on line 20 of the script above. Be sure to substitute the appropriate document-name, table-name and translation type in the command, then press Enter to execute PDX2WP. The second method for running PDX2WP from the interac- tive Paradox environment is by assigning the PDX2WP command to a key combination. This is done by using the Paradox SETKEY command in a special PAL script named "Init." The Init script resides in the default data directory for Paradox, and includes any number of functions to be performed automatically when Paradox is first loaded. By including a SETKEY command for PDX2WP in the Init script, the PDX2WP utility may be executed simply by performing the keystroke to which the program was as- signed. The following line assigns the PDX2WP command to the Shift-F5 key combination: setkey "F15" run big "pdx2wp " + table() + " " + ta- ble() + " /t" ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── PDX2WP Page 7 This example again uses the RUN BIG command, as well as the TABLE() function, which returns the name of the cur- rent Paradox table, to create a WordPerfect file with the same name as the Paradox table. Although this is a simple example, it does not allow the flexibility of choosing which type of translation to perform once Paradox is running. By using a combination of the SETKEY command in the Init script and a separate script which performs the translation, the choice can be made at the time the key combination is pressed. Rather than having the assigned key combination do the actual translation, a separate script may be played by the as- signed key combination. The SETKEY statement in the Init script would then look more like the following: setkey "F15" play "\\paradox3\\pdx2wp" The section of the line in quotes after the PLAY command is the directory and file name of the script to be played. (When specifying a path or directory in a script, the subdirectory names must be separated by 2 backwards slashes.) A complete sample PDX2WP script is included with this package, and may be used as is or as an example which may be expanded upon. The sample script first verifies that a table image is on the Paradox workspace. If there is no image on the workspace, a message is dis- played and processing stops, returning to the previous state. If there is an image on the workspace, a Paradox menu is displayed. The menu allows the selection of the translation type which PDX2WP will perform. Once an option is chosen, the appropriate translation is per- formed. The WordPerfect document is given a file name which is the same as the Paradox table name, and an extension of .COL, .MRG, or .TBL for a parallel columns document, secondary merge document, or WordPerfect table, respectively. By copying the sample script to your Paradox directory and adding the SETKEY statement to the existing Init script (or creating an Init script which includes the SETKEY statement), the PDX2WP translation utility will be continuously available from within the interactive Paradox environment. ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── PDX2WP Page 8 How to Use the WP2PDX Utility ============================= WP2PDX may also be run from the DOS command line or from Paradox, either within the interactive environment or from a PAL script. While the operation of WP2PDX from the DOS com- mand line is very similar to that of PDX2WP, the use of WP2PDX from within Paradox is somewhat different. Again, as with PDX2WP, there generally is not enough memory available to run WP2PDX from WordPerfect's "Go To Dos" or "Dos Com- mand" options. Running the WP2PDX Utility From the DOS Command Line ---------------------------------------------------- When running WP2PDX from the DOS command line, you must specify the name of the WordPerfect secondary merge document you wish to convert and the name of the Paradox table you wish to create. Since there is only one type of Paradox table, there are no additional parameters to the WP2PDX utility. The syntax for WP2PDX is: WP2PDX document-name table-name "Document-name" is the name of the WordPerfect document you wish to convert. You may include a drive specifier, a full path name, and a file name. The file name fol- lows standard DOS naming conventions: a name of up to 8 characters, followed by an optional period and an exten- sion of up to 3 characters. The following are all valid names for a WordPerfect document: MY-FILE PDX-TABL.DOC B:NAMES C:\WP\DOCUMENT\MAILLIST.WP "Table-name" is the name of the Paradox table which will be created. This name may be any valid Paradox table name. As with the document-name, you may include a drive specifier and a full path name. An extension of "DB" is assumed. Therefore, do not include an exten- ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── PDX2WP Page 9 sion. If an extension is included, an error message will be displayed. The following are examples of valid command-line entries for the WP2PDX utility: WP2PDX CONTACTS.WP CONTACTS WP2PDX \ACCOUNTS.MRG \PARADOX\FILES\ACCOUNTS WP2PDX A:MERGE.NMS NAMES WP2PDX PARTLIST C:\PARADOX\INVENTORY\PARTS After typing the appropriate command-line entry and pressing ENTER, several lines of copyright information are displayed. WP2PDX then performs the first of three steps: veryifying that the specified document is a WordPerfect secondary merge document. This is done by scanning the document for either "end of field" or "end of record" merge codes. If no such codes are found, an error message is displayed and the WP2PDX program termi- nates. If the appropriate merge codes are found in the speci- fied merge document, the next step in the conversion process is performed. In this step, the document is analyzed to determine the structure of the individual records in the merge document. The structure specifies how many fields are in each record, how long each field is (up to the Paradox maximum of 255 characters), and what type each field is. While this analysis is being performed, the following message is displayed: Analyzing WordPerfect document. Please wait followed by a rotating dash or slash character. The rotating character is displayed as a visual confirmation that the program is actually working. After the analysis is complete, the actual conversion step begins. During the conversion, a line is displayed which shows the progress of the conversion, showing the record number of each Paradox record as it is being created. Upon completion, a message indicating the total number of records translated is displayed. Running the PDX2WP Utility From Paradox --------------------------------------- ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── PDX2WP Page 10 Since WP2PDX creates a Paradox table, rather than ex- tracts data from one, there are fewer practical uses of WP2PDX within the Paradox environment. One example would be to use the miniscript option from the PAL menu (Alt-F10). At the "Command:" prompt, use the Paradox RUN BIG command, as follows: run big "wp2pdx my-doc.mrg tablname" This would create a Paradox table which could then be viewed and manipulated within the Paradox environment. The same command could be similarly used within a PAL script. Limitations of PDX2WP ===================== This version of PDX2WP is a shareware product, and has several limitations. Though it is a totally functional and useful program, there are several limitations and default settings which may not be overridden. Most of these will be addressed in a forthcoming commercial version of the prod- uct, which should be available sometime in the first half of 1991. Where appropriate, the differences between the share- ware version and the commercial version are noted. -- Paradox date fields are translated to the standard MM/DD/YY format. The commercial version will pro- vide the choice between this format and several others. -- When translating to a WordPerfect table, number fields are decimal aligned in the cell, with 2 decimal places. The commercial version will allow selection of numeric formats, including commas, decimal places, and currency notations. -- All fields in the Paradox table are translated and placed into separate columns or fields, and in the same order as they appear in the Paradox table structure. The commercial version will allow the selection of specific fields in a user-defined order. It will also allow the joining of two or more fields together, separated by a carriage re- turn, a space, or other special characters or codes. ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── PDX2WP Page 11 -- When translating to a WordPerfect table, the Paradox field names are entered into the first row of the WordPerfect table to serve as headers for the table structure. This will be an option in the commercial version. -- When translating to a secondary merge file, no field names are defined. Translation occurs using the standard ^E and ^R separators used in versions prior to 5.1. The commercial version will provide an option to use the version 5.1 {FIELD NAMES}, {END FIELD} and {END RECORD} codes. -- When translating to a parallel columns format, only the first 24 fields from the Paradox table are con- verted. This is a limitation in the number of columns that WordPerfect allows, rather than a limitation of PDX2WP. -- When translating to a WordPerfect table, only the first 32 fields and the first 32,765 records are translated. Again, this is a limitation in the number of columns and rows that WordPerfect allows, not a limitation of PDX2WP. -- Since PDX2WP has no knowledge of printer definitions used in a particular installation of WordPerfect, there is no printer information included in the created document files. This restricts these docu- ments from being printed from the List Files mode of WordPerfect. They must first be retrieved into WordPerfect, so they may be formatted for the de- fault printer then printed. -- When translating to either parallel columns or a WordPerfect table, the document is created with a portrait page layout with 1" left and right margins. The columns are all created the same size, based on the page layout and margin size. The commercial version will allow selection of portrait or land- scape mode, as well as user-definable left, right, top, and bottom margins. -- Password protected tables are not supported by this version of PDX2WP. The commercial version will pro- vide facilities for accessing protected tables. ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── PDX2WP Page 12 -- Access to Paradox tables on a local area network is not supported by this version of PDX2WP. Again, network support will be available in the commercial version of PDX2WP. -- Access to protected WordPerfect documents is not supported. A message stating that the WordPerfect document is password protected is displayed, and the program terminates. -- The WP2PDX utility currently interprets all fields in a secondary merge document as alphanumeric. This means that the Paradox table will not have any numeric, dollar, or date fields. Future versions of WP2PDX will provide support for these field types. -- With both utilities, if the document or table to be created already exists, the existing file will be replaced by the newly created file. Suggestions and Hints ===================== Listed below are some helpful ideas and suggestions for get- ting the most from PDX2WP. -- If you are already using Paradox, you can translate only the fields you need by using the query-by- example capabilities of Paradox. When querying, use the F6 key to check only those fields which you wish to be translated into WordPerfect. The resulting Answer table will only include the fields that have been checked with the F6 key. Then use PDX2WP to translate the Answer table. -- When creating a WordPerfect table, all columns are set to equal widths. Once the document has been created, the column widths may be easily changed using table edit mode (Alt-F7). All aspects of the table may be changed in this manner. -- Similarly, when creating parallel columns, all columns are set to equal widths. Column widths and margins may be set using the Column Definition ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── PDX2WP Page 13 command (Alt-F7). This is a bit more cumbersome than changing column widths in a table. -- It may be useful to change the orientation of the page from portrait mode to landscape mode by select- ing a different paper size using the Page Format command. This will allow the use of wider columns in both tables and parallel columns. -- When creating a WordPerfect table, be aware that there are considerably more codes required to create a table than to create parallel columns. Your final document may be as much as 7 to 10 times larger than the equivalent Paradox table translated to parallel columns. -- When initially creating a secondary merge document within WordPerfect, don't put too much information into a single field. For example, split the mailing address into four or five fields: Street, City, State, Zip code. This will not only allow more flexibility within the created Paradox table, it will also allow greater flexibility within WordPer- fect when using selection and sorting capabilities while merging. It will also reduce the possibility of having information beyond 255 characters in a single field trimmed from the field when converting to a Paradox table. Final Comments ============== As mentioned earlier, this version of PDX2WP is a shareware product. It is not in the public domain, nor is it "Free- ware." As such, you are expected to register your copy of PDX2WP by filling out the Invoice/Registration Form which appears at the end of this document. As a registered user, you will be made aware of all future versions of PDX2WP, commercial as well as shareware. If you decide to upgrade to the commercial version when it becomes available, your registration fee will be credited toward the price of the commercial version. You will also be made aware of other utilities and programs from S. L. S. Systems as they become available. ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── PDX2WP Page 14 Your comments and suggestions regarding PDX2WP are welcome. You have the opportunity to impact the future of this pro- gram, as well as provide input for the development of other useful utilities and programs. S. L. S. Systems may be reached through Electronic Mail on Compuserve (account number 76104,2074) or by mail at the address on the Invoice/Registration Form. ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── PDX2WP Page 15 Invoice/Registration Form ========================= Date: __________ S. L. S. Systems 13 Shirley Avenue Kingston, MA 02364 SOLD TO: Name: ___________________________________ Company: ___________________________________ Address: ___________________________________ ___________________________________ Phone: (_____) ___________________ FAX: (_____) ___________________ ┌────────────────────────────────────────┬─────────────────┐ │ Description │ Price │ ├────────────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────┤ │ License for PDX2WP Version 1.10 │ $ 30.00 │ │ │ │ │ ____ additional licenses @ $30.00 │ _________ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └────────────────────────────────────────┼─────────────────┤ Total Amount Enclosed │ $ │ └─────────────────┘ Please make checks payable to: S. L. S. Systems 13 Shirley Avenue Kingston, MA 02364