Monster Media 1996 #15/Monster Media Number 15 (Monster Media)(July 1996).ISO/database/eb106a.zip/PACK1.PRG/EB2.REP

PC-File | 1996-04-02 | 177KB | 3,275 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
            External File Access.........................  43
            Data File Format.............................  45
            System Requirements and Limitations..........  46
            DOS Filename Convention......................  47
            Selected Programming Topics..................  49
      Easy Base is copyright (c) John Turnbull 1994 published by:-
      Easy Software                  Tel/FAX (044) (0) 1625 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 -
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     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 -
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     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 -
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                             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 -
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     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 go to the relationships form
     Which you would do if the relationship had not yet been
     entered)
     If you opt to go to Relationships Easy Base will transfer you
     to the relationships form and back again via a macro.
                                 - 10 -
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                 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.
     From V9 the lookup function also accepts a third parameter with
     which you can specify the display of a field other than that
     which is being looked up. See "Lookup" in Programmers Reference
                                 - 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
     45 and the length of the "Type" field as 14 the new fields
     attributes are:-
     Name         Typename
     Type         Text
     Length       59
     Mandatory    No
     Unique       No
     Indexed      Yes
     User Entry   No
     Display      Invisible
     Derived      Yes
     The derivation formula is:-
     Jointext(spacepad(type,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".
     Note:
     From Version 7 Procedures with input screens can be innitiated
     with any of the function keys 2,4,5,,7,8,9 or 10
     See Programmers Ref. Procedure command "Run"
                                 - 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
              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.
                                 - 42 -
................................................................................
                      EXTERNAL FILE ACCESS
     In order to provide flexible import and export to data files
     external to your applications, Easy Base includes a complete
     set of low level file access commands. :- Open, Close, Seek
     Read, Write, Find, Shell and Erase.
     Full details of the commands and how to use them are given in
     the programmers reference but please read the following notes.
     You can only open one external file at a time but you can
     transfer data either way between it and any number of Easy Base
     files.
     You can open any number of external files within one procedure
     but you must close each before you open the next.
     In Easy Base all data is converted to a common type for
     processing. Within the system this has the advantage that you
     never need to worry about what type of data you are handling.
     You can assign a text field's value to a numeric field and you
     can assign the result of a calculation to a text field.
     However, in order to do this Easy Base pre processes text
     variables. If you are accustomed to file access, string
     manipulation and trimming functions then you may get unexpected
     results.
     Here are the rules:
     If you read a string to an Easy Base text field all leading and
     trailing spaces are removed. If the remaining string is longer
     than the declared field length then it is truncated to the
     field length.
     If you read a string to an Easy Base text variable then all
     trailing spaces are removed. Text Variables are variable
     length.
     If you wish to create a string with leading spaces for a write
     command then you must do it in a text variable. Text fields do
     not accept leading spaces. You can pad strings with spaces
     using the Spacepad and Jointext(stringof()) functions.
     If you read an ASCII line then it is read without the Cr/Lf
     sequence.
     You can read ASCII directly into numeric fields.
     The data in an Easy Base Text Block field is formatted with a
     single Chr$(13) wherever a new line is to be forced.
     To read ASCII to a Text Block field, read lines to a variable
                                 - 43 -
................................................................................
     then join the variable to the field with an intervening
     CHr$(13).
     Ex.
     read line to LineVar
     Pupils.notes = Jointext(pupils.notes,Chr$(13),Linevar)
     To Write a Text Block field as ASCII lines use the keyword
     Line_Len in the write command.
     Ex.
     write Pupils.Notes Line_len 60
     You cannot write quotation marks within quoted text. Whenever
     Easy Base processes a text field, variable or read in string it
     substitutes Chr$(127) for internal quotation marks and replaces
     them after the process. This substitution is not done for
     direct assignments. TextVar = "Fred said "Hello"" is not
     allowed. If you need to make such an assignment then you must
     replace the internal quotation marks with Chr$(127) yourself.
     To create CHR$(127) in the procedure editor, hold down the ALT
     key and type 127 on the numeric keypad.
                                 - 44 -
................................................................................
                    EASY BASE DATA FILE FORMAT
     Easy Base data files are fixed length record files with no
     field separator. There is no file header.
     There is a three byte record header. Byte one is "L" for a live
     record and "D" for a record marked for deletion. Bytes 2 and 3
     are null.
     The field order is top left to bottom right from the default
     input screen.
     All text fields are ASCII.
     All numeric, date and time fields are Microsoft 8 Byte double
     precision numbers.
     In the case of dates, this represents the number of days from
     the first of January 1981 and in the case of time, the number
     of seconds from midnight.
                                 - 45 -
................................................................................
                         SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
     Required.
         IBM or compatible 286 or higher
         1Meg Ram
         540k free conventional memory   (570k in Network Version)
     Preferred.
        4 Meg expanded memory with 2 Meg allocated to PC-Cache
     NOTE:-
        If you have 2 Meg of expanded memory then certain EMS
     managers can cause Easy Base not to load with the error message
     "Insufficient EMS to load overlays". If this happens to you
     then you can load Easy Base in conventional memory by remming
     out the EMS driver in your Config.Sys file.
                         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
                                 - 46 -
................................................................................
                       DOS FILENAME CONVENTIONS
     The Easy Base system files are:-
        EB.EXE     The program file     (EB.OVL Network)
        EB.CUR     Initial screen setup
        EB.SET     Configuration file   (EB.C0, EB.C1 Etc. Network)
        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      Procedure output (Pre Network Versions)
        PROC(No).R(No)    Procedure output (Network versions)
     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.
     From V9 each form and procedure input screen also has a pre
     processed file: BASE(NO).PPR - PROC(NO).PPR.
     From Network V1 Private data and index files take the main file
     name overstamped from the second character by the terminal
     number. The file name for Terminal 12's private data for
     BASE6.DAT  is B12E6.DAT
                                 - 47 -
................................................................................
     Easy Base is a registered trade mark of John Turnbull.
     Easy Base documentation is copyright John Turnbull 1994. It may
     be freely distributed as part of the Shareware program and
     users of Easy Base may print a single copy of the documentation
     for their own use. All other rights are reserved.
     Trade marks of any other company included in the documentation
     are acknowledged.
     John Turnbull disclaims all warranties as to this software,
     whether express or implied, including without limitation any
     implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular
     purpose, functionality, data integrity or protection.
                                 - 48 -
................................................................................

                     SELECTED PROGRAMMING TOPICS

                  Address Labels                50
                  Automatic Lookups             52
                  Batch Starting                53
                  Check Off Fields              54
                  Compound Index                55
                  Compound Lookups              58
                  Conditional Lookups           59
                  Correcting Stats.             60
                  Creating Runtime              61
                  Customize Help Line           62
                  Cyclic Procedures             63
                  Data Type Conversion          64
                  Duplicate Prevention          65
                  Form Letters                  66
                  Global Defaults               68
                  Input Screen Format           69
                  Invoicing/Ordering            70
                  Keyword/Text Search           73
                  Linking Applications          75
                  Maximizing Speed              76
                  Multiple Columns              78
                  Printing System Val.          79
                  Q And A Input Screen          80
                  Runtime Auto Start            81
                  Set System Values             82
                  Tabulation                    83
                  Totals & Sub Totals           84
                                - 49 -
................................................................................
      ADDRESS LABELS
ADDRESS LABELS
      The following procedure prints two columns of address labels
      from a "Addr" form.
      .......................Procedure code................
      Declare output fields
         Addr.name : Addr.street : Addr.town : Addr.pcode
         Lname : Lstreet : Ltown : Lpcode
      end
      for Addr
         if Lname = blank then
            Lname = Addr.name : Lstreet = Addrstreet
            Ltown = Addr.town : Lpcode = Addrpcode
         else
            print list items
            Lname = blank : Lstreet = blank
            Ltown = Blank : Lpcode  = blank
         end if
      next
      if Lname <> blank then print list items
      ....................Output Format........................
      .List Items
           {Lname field        }       {Addr.name field    }
           {Lstreet field      }       {Addr.street field  }
           {Ltown field        }       {Addr.town field    }
           {Lpcode field       }       {Addr.pcode field   }
      .end
      The field positioning and the distance between the .List Items
      and .end can be adjusted to fit the label paper.
      If your label paper has three columns then you could use the
      following procedure.
      declare output fields
         Addr.name : Addr.street : Addr.town : Addr.pcode
         Mname : Mstreet : Mtown : Mpcode
         Lname : Lstreet : Ltown : Lpcode
      end
      declare variables
         x as number
      end
      Continued.
                                - 50 -
................................................................................
      ADDRESS LABELS
ADDRESS LABELS
      for addr
         x = x + 1
         if Mod(x,3) = 1 then
            Lname = Addr.name : Lstreet = Addr.street
            Ltown = Addr.town : Lpcode = Addr.pcode
         end if
         if Mod(x,3) = 2 then
            Mname = Addr.name : Mstreet = Addr.street
            Mtown = Addr.town : Mpcode = Addr.pcode
         end if
         if Mod(x,3) = 0 then
            Print list items
            Lname = Blank : Lstreet = blank
            Ltown = blank : Lpcode = Blank
            Mname = Blank : Mstreet = blank
            Mtown = blank : Mpcode = Blank
         end if
      next
      If Lname <> blank then print list items
      .........................output format...................
      .list items
         { Lname       }    { Mname       }   { Addr.name   }
         { Lstreet     }    { Mstreet     }   { Addr.street }
         { Ltown       }    { Mtown       }   { Addr.town   }
         { Lpcode      }    { Mpcode      }   { Addr.pcode  }
      .end
      See Also:- Form Letters
                                - 51 -
................................................................................
      Automatic Lookups
Automatic Lookups
      Normally, when a user initiates a primary lookup in a text
      field he will enter a few characters followed by the * in order
      to narrow down his choice list. If, however, the possible list
      is fairly small you may wish to have it displayed automatically
      as if it was the list for a choice field.
      For example, you have a departments form with a field "name"
      and there are only twelve records.
      When entering records to your "Employees" form which has a
      field for his department, you wish to lookup the department
      name. If you derive the Department field on this form as
      "Lookup (Departments,name) and allow user access to it then the
      user must type at least an * and press return to bring up the
      list of department names.
      You can make this list pop up automatically by setting user
      entry to the department field to "no" and deriving it with the
      formula:
      If(Department = Blank,"*",Lookup(Departments,Name))
      In other words the derivation formula automates the typing of
      the *.
      Please note that all forms and input screens must have at least
      one field to which the user has access. If you wish to make an
      automatic lookup on a procedure input screen that only has one
      field then you must add a second field purely to hold the
      cursor. This can of course be invisible.
                                - 52 -
................................................................................
      BATCH STARTING
BATCH STARTING
      You can by pass any or all of the sign on parameters either by
      setting them in the environment or by supplying them on the
      command line.
      To log on as terminal one in the sub directory accounts using
      the password "Fred", add the following lines to your
      autoexec.bat file:-
      SET EBT=1
      SET EBD=ACCOUNTS
      SET EBP=FRED
      Or start Easy Base with the command line :-
      EB T=1 D=ACCOUNTS P=FRED
      The terminal number parameter applies to network versions only.
      Any parameters which are not supplied either in the environment
      or on the command line will be asked for on start up.
      If you have set the start up parameters in the environment and
      you start Easy Base with different parameters on the command
      line, The parameters on the command line override those in the
      environment.
      If your application has different passwords for different menu
      structures you can set the terminal number and directory and
      leave the user to supply the password.
      If the user has access to different directories then just set
      the terminal number and the user can choose the directory and
      enter the password.
      See also Runtime Autostart
                                - 53 -
................................................................................
      Check off fields
Check off fields
      Occasionally you may wish to have a field which is simply used
      to mark or "Check off" items to be done or printed. There is no
      graphical output from Easy Base but you can create a reasonable
      check off field by making it a choice field and using the two
      choices ASCII 255 and ASCII 251.
      You must use ASCII 255 as the blank as a "Blank" choice is
      deleted at run time and ASCII 251 (
) which is actually the
      square root sign makes a reasonable "Tick".
      To enter the characters, hold down the Alt key and type the
      number on the numeric key pad.
      To have a form or input screen display with the items ready
      ticked, just define the tick fields with this choice list,
      derive them as Default(
) and make the color Text, Alt1 or
      Alt2. Easy Base will automatically display the help line "Press
      the space bar to change".
                                - 54 -
................................................................................
      COMPOUND INDEX
COMPOUND INDEX
      If you need to list records from a form in such a way that they
      are grouped by one field but with each record in the group
      ordered by another then you can either use a compound index
      field or "Subindex" the group during the procedure.
      A compound index field is simply an additional field in which
      the contents of two or more fields are compounded using the
      "Jointext" function. The field is indexed and the index on that
      field can then be used to select records with the desired group
      ordering.
      For example:- A "Videos" form has fields for "Title",
      "RentalPrice" and "Category".
      To list the records grouped by "Category" but with the "Titles"
      in each category in alphabetic order you add another field to
      the form which is Text, Indexed and long enough to hold the
      contents of both the "category" and "Title" fields. The field
      is derived by joining the text of the "Category" and "Title"
      fields.
      There are a couple of minor complications in creating compound
      index fields. Firstly the "Jointext" function by default strips
      any trailing space characters from the text it is joining. If a
      straight "Jointext" function was used and the first two videos
      entered were "A Bridge Too Far" and "Snow White" then the
      compound fields would derive as:-
      "WarA Bridge Too Far"  and
      "CartoonSnow White"
      When what you need is:-
      "War      A Bridge Too Far"  and
      "Cartoon  Snow White      "
      To produce the desired spacing in the compound field use the
      "Spacepad" function.
      If the length of the "Category" field is 15 then derive the
      compound field with - Jointext(spacepad(category,15),title)
      If you are compounding more than two fields then "spacepad" all
      the fields being joined to their own field's length except the
      last one.
      The maximum length of a text field in Easy Base is 80
      characters. If the fields you need to compound total more than
      80 then you must reduce the length of the field names. Compound
      indices in Text Block fields should not be used.
                                - 55 -
................................................................................
      COMPOUND INDEX
COMPOUND INDEX
      Once you have created a compound field and checked that it
      derives correctly it is normal to define it as invisible and no
      entry anyway as it is not its contents that are of interest but
      the order which its index produces.
      Ex.   Assuming the compound field was called "catgroup"
      ..........................code..................
      for videos with catgroup in order
         print list items
      next
      ........................format.................
      .List Items
            {Videos.Category Field}     {Videos.Title Field}
      .End
      Ex.
      ...........................code....................
      declare variables
         catcheck as text
      end
      for videos with catgroup in order
         if catcheck <> videos,category then print group header
         catcheck = videos.category
         print list items
      next
      ..........................format...............
      .Group Header
         -------------------------------------
         Films categorized as {category field}
         -------------------------------------
      .List Items
                    {Title field}
      .End
      There is yet a further complication if one or more of the
      fields to be compounded is numeric. Easy Base index files are
      sorted alphabetically if the field is text and numerically if
      the field is numeric. A compound field is always text so if you
      need to compound a numeric field you have to ensure that it
      will sort alphabetically to the same order that it sorts
      numerically. The text of numeric values sort alphabetically to
      the same order as their values only if they all have the same
      number of digits either side of the decimal point.
      6  12 and 34 sort alphabetically as 12  34  6
      but
      06 12 and 34 sort alphabetically as 06  12  34
                                - 56 -
................................................................................
      COMPOUND INDEX
COMPOUND INDEX
      Easy Base provides the function "Zeropad" to pad numbers to the
      same length for compounding.  The "Zeropad" function has three
      parameters - The number to be padded, the number of digits left
      of the decimal to pad to and the number of digits right of the
      decimal to pad to. All three parameters must be supplied. If
      the number is an integer then the third parameter is 0.
      Ex. To list the "Videos" records grouped by rental price with
      the titles in each price group in order you would create a
      compound field derived with:-
      Jointext(zeropad(rentalprice,2,2),title)
      Ex.
      A "Ships" form has fields for "Type" and "Displacement"
      To list the ships grouped by type with the Displacement in each
      group in order you would create a compound field derived with:-
      jointext(spacepad(type,15),zeropad(displacement,8,0))
      In many cases where you wish to compound a mixture of text and
      numeric fields you will require the numeric values to be listed
      in descending order while the text value is to be in alphabetic
      order.
      In the above example for ships, had you wished each group to
      be listed with "Displacement" in descending order you would
      derive the compound field as:-
      jointext(spacepad(type,15),reverse(zeropad(displacement,8,0)))
      The "Reverse" function simply inverts the ACSII number of each
      character in its parameter so that it will sort in reverse
      order in the index file.
      The "Reverse" function works equally well on text values
      although reverse alphabetic lists are seldom required.
      The "Zeropad" function will only pad out a number to the size
      required. It will not trim the number if it is already longer
      than one of the pad lengths. You should not therefore create
      compound fields with Floating Point numbers.
      If you compound a date or time field you should zeropad it to
      5,0 as the text which will be used is actually the date or time
      fields numeric value.
                                - 57 -
................................................................................
      COMPOUND LOOKUPS
COMPOUND LOOKUPS
      Occasionally, in an input screen, you will wish to lookup
      details from a form whose unique field is a compound of two
      others.  As an example, if you wished to lookup details from
      the "Userlist" form, mentioned in the manual, then you would
      have to base the lookups on a relationship between a field on
      the input screen and the "UNI" field in "Userlist". The "UNI"
      field in userlist is a combination of the "Aircraft" forms
      "Knownas" field and the "Airlines" form "Name" field.
      Although you could simply use a field "UNI" on the input screen
      and derive it :- Lookup(userlist,uni) - this would mean that
      the end user would have to enter the whole of the aircraft
      Knownas part plus part of the airlines name part plus the "*"
      in order to get the lookup.
      This would not only be awkward to use but would also entail
      explaining compound fields to the end user.
      You can avoid this situation by providing two fields, one in
      which the user looks up the aircraft knownas field and one in
      which he looks up the airline name. These are based on separate
      relationships between the input screen and the "Aircraft" and
      "Airlines" forms.
      The input screen's "UNI" field can now be made invisible with
      no user entry and derived:- Jointext(knownas,name).
      A relationship is entered between the input screen and the
      "Userlist" form linking the "UNI" fields and all the required
      details can then be derived :- lookup(userlist,whatever).
                                - 58 -
................................................................................
      Conditional Lookups
Conditional Lookups
      Occasionally you may wish to use a single field either to
      initiate a lookup or to accept direct input from the keyboard.
      For example on an input screen to a procedure that enters
      invoice lineitems there is a field Partname which is related to
      the Name field in the "Parts" form. The entry to this field
      initiates a primary lookup for its own value and a secondary
      for the Price field. The user enters the first few characters
      of the part name followed by an *, then chooses the part name
      from the lookup list. If you also wish the user to be able to
      enter a partname that is not in the parts form then derive the
      partname field:-
      If(Intext(Partname,"*") > 0,Lookup(Parts,Name),Partname)
      If the user enters an * anywhere in the field then a lookup
      will be done from the parts form, but if he does not enter an *
      then the field will retain whatever name he entered.
      If you wish to be able to tell whether or not a lookup has been
      made for use in the procedure code - perhaps to add the new
      part to the parts form - then use a special character other
      than the * as the condition.
      For example, if you derive Partname as:-
      If(Lefttext(Partname,1) = "+",Partname,Lookup(Parts,Name))
      then any entry to the field which starts with the "+" character
      will not initiate the lookup. You can then use the fact that
      the partname starts with a + to enter a new record in the parts
      form.
      Declare variables
         NN as text
      end
      NN = Input.partname
      If Lefttext(NN,1) = "+" then
         NN = righttext(NN,Lengthtext(NN)-1)
         For parts new record
            Parts.name = NN
         Next
      End if
      for Invoicelines
         copy all from input
         Partname = NN
      next
                                - 59 -
................................................................................
      CORRECTING STATS.
CORRECTING STATS.
      If you write an application in which records are entered via
      procedures and "running" statistics are kept, you will have to
      provide procedures which allow the user to correct any mistakes
      he has made.
      For Example: - In a "Time Sheets" application the user enters a
      time and customer on the input screen of a procedure. The
      procedure then calculates the charge, writes the charge and
      customers name to the "Timesheet" form, adds the charge to the
      "Balance" field in the "Customers" form and also adds it to the
      "Total" field in the "Workinhand" form.
      If the operator makes an error then correcting the entry in the
      "Timesheet" form is simply a case of updating it but to correct
      the "Balance" and "Total" fields you must add the corrected
      value and subtract the old incorrect value.
      To get the two values together for your procedure, create an
      input screen where the operator enters the "line" ("line" is
      the unique sequenced field in "Timesheet").  Then create two
      fields for the values. The first, "oldval" is derived
      lookup(timesheet,charge) and the second, "newval" is derived
      default(lookup(timesheet,charge).
      The "Oldval" field can be invisible and has no user entry.
      You would also add two similarly derived fields "Oldcustomer"
      and "Newcustomer".
      When the user edits the "Newval" and/or "Newcustomer" field and
      presses F2 , all the required values are available to the
      procedure code:-
      pause off : escape off
      for timesheet with line = input.line
         timesheet.charge = input.newval
         timesheet.customer = input.newcustomer
         update record
      next
      for customers with name = input.oldcustomer
         customers.balance = customers.balance - input.oldval
         update record
      next
      for customers with name = input.newcustomer
         customers.balance = customers.balance + input.newval
         update record
      next
      for workinhand
        workinhand.total = workinhand.total+input.newval-input.oldval
        update record
      next
                                - 60 -
................................................................................
      CREATING RUNTIME
CREATING RUNTIME
      To create a distributable application with the Easy Base
      Royalty free Runtime Module, first, ensure that your
      application has a user menu with a start up password. If you
      wish your runtime application to start without a sign on screen
      then this password should be "Autostart".
      Make a new directory for your module and copy all the files
      from the Easy Base sub directory in which you developed the
      application to it.
      Copy the Configuration file "EB.SET" from your Easy Base
      directory to this directory.
      Insert the Runtime Module disk in a floppy drive. Change to
      that drive and type "MODULE".
      The "Module" program will first ask you for the path to the
      application files. Once you enter this it will unpack the
      runtime files into your new directory.
      It will then ask for the name of your application. The name you
      supply here will be displayed on any sign on screens and also
      on the shutdown "Thank you for using - " line.
      It will then ask you for your copyright line. The text you
      enter here will replace the line "Application of Easy Base -
      Not for Resale" which appears above your menus.
      Finally, you will be asked for the Executable file name you
      wish to use for your program.
      When you have entered the details - Press F2 and your
      application will be complete and ready to sell.
                      --------------------------
      EASY INSTALL UTILITY
      For professional distribution disks just like the ones Easy
      Software is distributed on, you can purchase Easy Install.
      This utility will compress your application and create a
      distribution disk with an install program customized for your
      application.
                                - 61 -
................................................................................
      CUSTOMIZE HELP LINE
CUSTOMIZE HELP LINE
      You can replace the default help line (bottom line) in both
      data entry and procedure input screens.
      Press F6 in form or input screen design to access the help
      line.
      If you wish to revert to the default help line just erase your
      customized one.
      The line which you enter here becomes the default but is
      overridden when the cursor is in any field with a Help prefix.
                                - 62 -
................................................................................
      CYCLIC PROCEDURES
CYCLIC PROCEDURES
      In many applications you will come across the situation where
      you need a procedure which will perform the same actions on a
      given set of records. For example, in a payroll system the
      procedure which calculates the employees wage and deductions
      has to be repeated for each employee so that their hours can be
      entered. If you simply enter each employees Worksno and lookup
      his or her details then it will be easy to miss an employee or
      to do one twice.
      To avoid this you can create a procedure which will cycle each
      employee through the input screen and terminate when all
      employees have been processed.
      On the employees form, add a field "Cycled" which is a single
      character indexed field derived :- Default("N").
      On the procedure input screen add an invisible field "Cycled"
      which is derived "N"
      You now enter two relationships between the procedure and the
      employees form. The main relationship "Employees" links the
      fields "Worksno" and the second, lets call it "Cycled" links
      the "Cycled" fields.
      On the input screen you derive the "Worksno" field as
      Lookup(cycled,worksno) and all the other details as
      lookup(employees,Whatever).
      When you run the procedure, the first employees details will be
      loaded automatically and all you have to enter are his hours.
      To have the next employee loaded after you run the procedure,
      the procedure code simply includes the lines:-
      for employees with worksno = input.worksno
         employees.cycled = "Y"
         update record
      next
      When all employees have been processed the "Worksno" field will
      derive blank as there are no employees with "N" in the "Cycled"
      field. You can therefore pass a "finished" message by altering
      the derivation of "Worksno" to :-
        if(lookup(cycled,worksno)=blank,blank[beepAll Employees have
        now been processed],lookup(cycled,worksno))
      To reset cycling for the next payroll you write an additional
      procedure with the code:-
      for employees
         employees.cycled = "N" : update record
      next
                                - 63 -
................................................................................
      Data Type Conversion                        Data Type Conversion
      In Easy Base, modifying the structure of a data file after it
      contains data is very easy and flexible. If you select Modify
      Existing Form from the Forms menu you can add fields, delete
      fields, change field order, change field lengths and Easy Base
      will reformat your existing data automatically.
      You can NOT however change data types simply by changing the
      field type. If you change a field type and save the form you
      will almost certainly lose the data that was in that field.
      (Other than changing from one numeric type to another)
      If you work entirely within Easy Base there is no reason why
      you should ever need to change a field type. However, if you
      have imported data from Dbase or Fixed Length ASCII you may
      find yourself with numeric or date values held in text fields.
      The procedure for converting data from one type to another is
      as follows:-
      1.   Select Modify Existing Form
      2.   Add a new field of the desired type with a derivation
           formula such that it will derive its value from the field
           of the old type.
      3.   Save the form.
      4.   Select Modify the form again.
      5.   Cancel the derivation formula in the new field and delete
           the old field.
      6.   Re save the form.
      To derive a numeric field from a text field the derivation
      formula is simply the text field name.
      To derive a date field from a Dbase imported date in a text
      field called DT the formula is:-
      Makedate(midtext(DT,5,2),midtext(DT,7,2),midtext(DT,3,2))
      Version 3.10
      From V3.1 you can change field types between text and numeric
      and retain any numeric values that were in the field
      automatically . You still cannot change a field type from date
      or time to text or vice versa without following the above
      procedure.
                                - 64 -
................................................................................
      DUPLICATE PREVENTION                        DUPLICATE PREVENTION
      1.  Where "Blank" values are acceptable.
      Quite often you will come across a situation where a field must
      not have duplicate entries but can still be left blank. You
      cannot define this field as unique because that would prevent
      more than one blank entry.  A good example of such a situation
      is in the "Menus Form" of Easy Base. The definition and unique
      field is the "Menu Title" but no two records may have the same
      entry in the sign on "Password" field.
      To prevent duplicate entries other than blanks you must enter a
      relationship between the form and itself with the field to be
      tested as the related field in both primary and secondary
      forms.
      The field is then derived as :-
      If(lookup(menus,password) <> blank,blank[beepDuplicate Password
               !],password)
      2.   When entering records via procedures.
      When you use a procedure to enter a new record to a form it is
      not automatically checked as "Unique".   To ensure that
      duplicate entries are not entered via procedures you must check
      that the data entered on the procedures input screen is unique
      to the form you are about to enter it to before running the
      procedure.  For example: If you were about to enter a record to
      the "Manufacturers" form in which the "Name" field was unique
      then the "Name" field on the input screen would be derived:-
         if(lookup(manufacturers,name) <> blank,blank[beepDuplicate
                    Name !cursor name],name)
                                - 65 -
................................................................................
      FORM LETTERS
FORM LETTERS
      To print form letters (circulars) with a different address and
      salutation for each entry in an address form simply type the
      entire letter between the .List Items and .End of the output
      format.
      .........................procedure code........
      Declare output fields
         Addr.name : Addr.street : Addr.town
         Addr.salutation
         date
      end
      date = datetext(system date)
      for addr
         print list items
         page feed
      next
      .........................output format........
      .List Items
                                             My street
                                             My county
                                             {date field  }
      {Addr.name field    }
      {Addr.street field  }
      {Addr.town field    }
      Dear {Addr.salutation},
          You are invited................................
      ...................................................
      ...................................................
      ..........................................
      Yours faithfully,
      Fred A Blogs
      .End
      Although this is the fastest way to produce a short form
      letter, the Format Editor is not the nicest place to write
      text. If you want the benefits of word wrap and spell checking
      then you can create a form in which to write the letter. Create
      text block fields to hold a page of text and a name field so
      that you can store many different letters and print them with
      the same procedure. If your letters are to be more than one
      page long then put the same name on each page.
                                - 66 -
................................................................................
      FORM LETTERS
FORM LETTERS
      To print the form letters from the "Letters" form your
      procedure must now have an input screen which looks up the name
      of the letter to be printed.
      '............................CODE.....................
      declare output fields
         addr.name : addr.street : addr.town :addr.salutation
         date :letters.block1 :letters.block2 :letters.block3
      end
      declare variables
         page as number
      end
      date = datetext(system date)
      for addr
         page = 0
         for letters with name = input.name
            page = page + 1
            if page = 1 then print list items
            if page > 1 then print extra
            page feed
         next
      next
      The output format is similar to that shown on the previous page
      but the text in the .list items section is replaced by the text
      block fields Letters.block1 ,letters.block2 and letters.block3
      and an additional section .extra is added which has the same
      text block fields but no address or salutation.
                                - 67 -
................................................................................
      GLOBAL DEFAULTS
GLOBAL DEFAULTS
      In many instances, an application will use the same default
      values in many procedures and field derivations. If you
      "hardwire" these as constants into your procedures and code
      then they will all have to be changed when the default value
      changes.
      Easy Base is supplied with a single global defaults form for
      VAT rates but you can create your own for any particular
      application.
      For instance, should you write a payroll system you would wish
      to be able to update the tax rates and bands globally
      throughout your application when they change.
      To do this, create a form to hold all the global defaults. In
      addition to the default fields add a single character text
      field derived "X" and index it. You then enter a single record
      with all the default values. The "X" field is there to create
      an artificial relationship between any input screen and the
      defaults form in order to lookup defaults.
      Wherever you need one or more global defaults in an input
      screen you simply add an invisible "x" field and enter a
      relationship between the procedure and the defaults form
      linking the "x" fields.
      The field "Tax" can now be derived:-
         taxablepay * lookup(defaults,taxrate)
      Similarly, you can pre load variables in procedure code for the
      default values:-
      Declare variables
        Taxrate1 as number:Taxrate2 as number
        Taxband1 as number:Taxband2 as number
      end
      for defaults
        Taxrate1 = defaults.taxrate1 :Taxrate2 = defaults.taxrate2
        Taxband1 = defaults.taxband1 :Taxband2 = defaults.taxband2
      next
      When the taxrates change you only have to alter them once in
      the Defaults form.
                                - 68 -
................................................................................
      Input Screen Format
Input Screen Format
      All form and input screens can be presented either mounted in a
      window against a mottled background or exactly as drawn in form
      design. The windowing effect is done automatically if you leave
      a clear border around all text and fields. If you place fields
      or text anywhere against the edge of the screen (even invisible
      fields) then the window effect will not be invoked.
      If you do not want the window effect but you still wish to
      leave a clear border then you should place the invisible text
      character (ASCII 255) in the top left hand corner of the
      screen to disable it. To produce the invisible character hold
      down the Alt Key and type 255 on the numeric keypad.
                                - 69 -
................................................................................
      Invoicing/Ordering
Invoicing/Ordering
      To create a simple order processing or invoicing system you
      need forms for :
         Stock     (ID#,descrip,price,qtyonhand etc)
         Customers (ID#,name,address etc)
         Lineitems (Customer ID,Item ID,Qty,price)
         Last      (Single record with Last invoice/order number)
         Current   (Single record for current Cust ID/Invoice No)
      Both of the forms "Last" and "Current" also have a field called
      "X" which is a single character indexed text field containing
      the character "x"
      You also need three procedures:
         SelectCustomer
         EnterItems
         PrintInvoice
      The first procedure has an input screen on which you verify the
      Customers ID# for the invoice. Whether you do this by entering
      the ID# and looking up the name and address to verify it or by
      using a primary lookup on the customers name is up to you.
      The input screen also has an invisible single character text
      field which is derived "X" and an InvoiceNo field. As well as
      the relationship to lookup the customers name, the input screen
      is also related to the Last form linking the "X" fields.
      The InvoiceNo field is derived Lookup(Last,InvoiceNo) + 1
      When you have looked up the Customer you run this procedure
      which has the code:
      ...................................................
      For Last
         Last.Invoiceno = Input.Invoiceno : Update Record
      Next
      For Current
         Current.Invoiceno = Input.Invoiceno
         Current.CustomerID = Input.CustomerID
         Update Record
      Next
      Run EnterItems
      ..............................................
      The second procedure "Enteritems" now takes over and it has an
      input screen where you lookup items from your stock form
      together with their price, and enter the quantity. This
      procedure has a repeating input screen. It is used to enter one
      line at a time into the LineItems form. You must also nominate
      a function key which will be used to run the PrintInvoice
      procedure when all invoice items have been entered. A suitable
      default help line might be:-
                                - 70 -
................................................................................
      Invoicing/Ordering
Invoicing/Ordering
      "F2=Enter Invoice Item   F4=Print Invoice  F10=Cancel"
      It is important that the user should not terminate this
      procedure with the escape key so you should disable it and the
      other function keys in one of your field derivations:
      Disable "Esc5789"
      Like the SelectCustomer procedure this screen also has an
      invisible "x" field - no entry and derived "X". This time it is
      related to the X field in the Current form. There are fields
      for InvoiceNo and CustomerID. Both are no entry and are
      derived: Lookup(Current,InvoiceNo)  Lookup(Current,CustomerID)
      The main relationship of course is to the Stock form to lookup
      the stock item and price. Again, like the first procedure, it
      is up to you whether you enter stock ID#s and lookup the
      description and price or do a primary lookup on the Stock
      Descrip field. This procedure writes a new record to the
      LineItems form if F2 is pressed, runs Printinvoice if F4 is
      pressed and "Tidies Up" if F10 is pressed.
      ................................................
      If Fun_Key = 4 then run Printinvoice
      If Fun_Key = 10 then
         for LineItems with InvoiceNo = Input.InvoiceNo
            Delete Record
         Next
         For Last
            Last.Invoiceno = Last.Invoiceno - 1 : Update record
         Next
         Run SelectCustomer
      End if
      For LineItems new record
         Copy all from Input
      Next
      ..............................................
      The third procedure "PrintInvoice" is run when the user presses
      F4 and has the Following code.
      Declare output fields
         Customers.Name : Customers.Address
         LineItems.StockID : LineItems.Descrip : LineItems.Qty
         LineItems.Price
         LineTotal : SubTotal : Tax : GrandTotal
         InvoiceNo : CustomerID
      End
      '............Get Nos from Current
      For Current
         InvoiceNo = Current.Invoiceno
         CustomerID = Current.CustomerID
      Next
                                - 71 -
................................................................................
      Invoicing/Ordering
Invoicing/Ordering
      '.......Print Customer details to invoice header
      For Customers with ID = CustomerID
         Print Report Header
      Next
      '.................Print Invoice Lines...
      For LineItems with InvoiceNo = InvoiceNo
         LineTotal = LineItems.Price * LineItems.Qty
         SubTotal = Subtotal + LineTotal
         Print List Items
         '........Update Stock on hand
         For stock with ID = LineItemsID
            Stock.Qtyonhand = Stock.Qtyonhand - LineItems.Qty
            Update Record
         Next
      Next
      ,..................Report Footer
      Tax = VATon(SubTotal)
      GrandTotal = Subtotal + Tax
      Print Report Footer
      Page Feed
      Notice that the Quantity on hand field in the stock form is not
      updated until you actually print the invoice. You could have
      done it while you were entering the Line Items but it would
      make the tidying process more complicated if the invoice were
      cancelled with F10 after items had been written.
                                - 72 -
................................................................................
      Keyword/Text Search
Keyword/Text Search
      If you have a database with a large number of items where the
      user would be unlikely to know exactly what he is looking for
      you will need to provide a search facility based on text
      supplied by the user. There are two main ways to do this and
      both have advantages in different situations.
      Suppose you have a form for technical publications. There are
      fields for Name, Publisher, Price, Short Description Etc. A
      user wishing to search this form will not know the contents of
      any of the fields - he will only know the topic or subject
      which he wants to look up.
      You need to get some search text from the user, find the names
      of any publications which may cover the subject then make a
      short list of them in the PickList form.
      The simplest way is to have an input screen field where the
      user can enter search text, then search the "ShortDescrip"
      field for the occurrence of the text he has entered. Wherever
      his text is found you add a new record to the PickList form.
      The user can then mark the titles which interest him and you
      can print out the short descriptions of the publications he has
      chosen.
      Clear records from PickList
      for Publications
         If intext(shortdescrip,input.searchtext) > 0 then
            for PickList new record
               PickList.Item = Publications.Name
            next
         end if
      next
      Show Picklist
      For PickList with Mark = Chr$(251)
         For Publications with Name = Picklist.Item
            Print List Items
         next
      next
      The advantage of this method is that the user is free to enter
      any text and will get a "Hit" if it exists anywhere in the
      description. The disadvantage is that every record in the
      publications form has to be searched. This form of searching
      becomes too time consuming if there are many thousands of
      records. You can overcome the time problem in a large database
      by adding a KeyWord form.
      A KeyWord form has two fields, one for the publication name and
      one for a key word. Each publication can have several entries
      in this form with different key words. The Keyword field is
      indexed so if you now search this form for the entered text you
      will get a list of publications with the entered keyword very
                                - 73 -
................................................................................
      Keyword/Text Search
Keyword/Text Search
      quickly. The disadvantage of this method is that the user will
      only get a "Hit" if he enters a word that you have chosen as a
      KeyWord.
      You can optimize this method by choosing Keywords that might
      contain text the user might enter within them. Eg use the
      keyword "Installation" rather than "Install" and make your
      routine select with >= rather than =
      Declare variables
        Len as number
      end
      Len = lengthtext(input.searchtext)
      For Keywords with Key >= input.searchtext
         if lefttext(keywords.Key,Len) <> input.searchtext then
            exit for
         end if
         for PickList new Record
            Picklist.Item = Keywords.Publication
         next
      Next
      Show Picklist
      For PickList with Mark = Chr$(251)
         For Publications with Name = PickList.Item
            Print List Items
         Next
      Next
      Entering Keyword records can be incorporated into the procedure
      which writes the Publications record to save time when entering
      data.
      For Publications new record
         Copy all from input
      Next
      for Keywords new record
         Keywords.Publication = Input.Name
         Keywords.Key = Input.Keyword1
      next
      If Input.Keyword2 <> blank then
         For Keywords new record
            Keywords.Publication = Input.Name
            Keywords.Key = Input.Keyword2
         Next
      End if
      Repeat last section for the number of keywords on the input
      screen.
                                - 74 -
................................................................................
      LINKING APPLICATIONS                        LINKING APPLICATIONS
      Procedures in one directory can access forms in another
      directory or disk by placing the external forms path in
      brackets immediately after the form name at the start of a For
      Loop.
      Ex.
      For payroll (c:\pay) with posted = "No"
         for purchaseledger new record
            copy all from payroll
         next
         payroll.posted = "Yes"
         update record
      next
      The above procedure, in an accounts application, imports data
      from a payroll application in C:\PAY and updates the "Posted"
      field in the payroll application.
      Ex.
      for sales (A:\) alias import
         for sales new record
           copy all from import
         next
      next
      The above procedure is used to import data transferred from one
      machine to another on floppy disk.
      Note:-
      1.   If transferring data on floppy disk the floppy must hold
      the forms .DAT and .DEF files together with the BASE.DIR from
      the source application. If you need to move large amounts of
      data on floppy it is much quicker to simply overwrite an import
      forms .DAT file and then pack it to rewrite the indices.
                                - 75 -
................................................................................
      MAXIMIZING SPEED
MAXIMIZING SPEED
      Because the procedures you create in Easy Base have to be
      interpreted each time they are run they will tend to be slower
      than similar routines created in a compiled system. This is the
      unavoidable cost of ease of use. You can increase speed vastly
      by having the best DOS environment and by the way in which you
      write procedure code.
      DOS Environment.
      1.   Do not use a disk compression system.
      2.   Always load "Fastopen"  - The default settings are fine -
           just add the line "fastopen C:" to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file.
      3.   Use a Disk Cacheing system - The more memory you can
           allocate to it the better. Easy Software recommends
           PC-Cache from Centre Point with 2 Megabytes of expanded
           memory allocated. Smartdrive (Version supplied with
           Windows 3.1) was slightly faster but caused widespread
           disk corruptions during test "Power Failures".
      4.   Do not run any TSR programs (Especially Virus Checkers).
      Procedure Code.
      Avoid making calculations and derivations within "For" loops in
      procedures.
      If, for example, you had a form in which was recorded the
      length, breadth and depth of various blocks and you knew that
      at some point you would write a procedure which listed their
      volume. Add a field for volume to the form and derive it from
      the other fields. When you write the procedure you will simply
      list this field. If the field had not been added to the form
      then you would have to calculate its value on each iteration of
      the "For" loop.
      The time taken to derive each individual "Volume" field during
      record entry will not be noticeable but the time taken to
      derive the volume for every record during the procedure will.
      Keep "Running statistics".  If your program requires statistics
      derived from many hundreds or even thousands of records then
      having to wait for a procedure which calculates them each time
      you want up to date figures is a real pain.
      To keep "running statistics" create a form with a field for
      each statistic you require and enter a single record with zero
      values in each field. Make all entries, modifications and
      deletions to your data via procedures and you can update your
      statistics each time a record is added, modified or deleted.
      Example on next page.
                                - 76 -
................................................................................
      MAXIMIZING SPEED
MAXIMIZING SPEED
      The following procedure code enters a record (collected via the
      input screen) to a purchases ledger and updates statistics used
      in the profit and loss account. It also updates the balance for
      the suppliers account.
      pause off : Escape off
      for purchases new record
         copy all from input
      next
      for stats
         if input.type = "Invoice" then
            stats.creditors = stats.creditors + input.amount
         end if
         if input.type = "CreditNote" then
            stats.creditors = stats.creditors - input.amount
         end if
         if input.type = "Payment" then
            stats.creditors = stats.creditors - input.amount
            if input.paidby = "cash" then
               stats.cashbalance = stats.cashbalance - input.amount
            else
               stats.bankbalance = stats.bankbalance - input.amount
            end if
         end if
      next
      for ACbalances with supplier = input supplier
         if input.type = "Invoice" then
            ACbalances.balance = ACbalances.balance + input.amount
         else
            ACbalances.balance = ACbalances.balance - input.amount
         end if
      next
      Whenever you need to know statistics for "Debtors", "Cash
      Balance" etc you can produce them instantly with a procedure
      which simply lists data from the statistics forms.
      Whenever you use running statistics in this way you should also
      create a procedure which does calculate them from the raw data.
      If you ever, for one reason or another, have to edit data
      directly in "Data entry" then your "running statistics" will no
      longer be accurate. You can run this procedure to correct them.
                                - 77 -
................................................................................
      MULTIPLE COLUMNS
MULTIPLE COLUMNS
      You may occasionally need to list data in order but in more
      than one column. Indexes for technical manuals are a common
      example. It would be nice if you could send the printer head
      back to the top of the page for each column but you can't. You
      must therefore get all the data for each horizontal line into
      memory at the same time and then print it.
      The following example prints the "Title" field from a "Films"
      form in alphabetic order in two columns with fifty lines on
      each page. To do this a field "No" is added to the form. This
      is an integer field and it is indexed.
      declare output fields
         films.title : righttitle
      end
      declare variables
         x as number  : y as number : lasttitle as text
      end
      '................UPDATE THE No FIELD......
      for films with title in order
         y = total records
         x = x + 1
         display status "Updating No field record" + x + "of" + y
         films.No = x
         update record
      next
      '.................PRINT IN TWO COLUMNS.................
      x = 0                        'reuse x as counter
      do
         for films with title > lasttitle
            x = x + 1
            for films alias col2 with No = films.No + 50
              righttitle = col2.title
            next
            print list items
            lasttitle = righttitle : righttitle = blank
            if mod(x,50) = 0 then
               page feed : Exit for
            end if
         next
         if lasttitle = blank then exit do
      loop
      ........................Format..................
      .list items
            { Films.title field  }      {  Righttitle Field  }
      .end
                                - 78 -
................................................................................
      Printing System Val.                        Printing System Val.
      In Easy Base procedures most system values are supplied as
      fields and can be declared as output fields. Others are
      internal values and cannot.
      The internal values are:-
      System Date
      System Time
      Pi
      Terminal Number
      To print an internal value you must declare an ad hoc field and
      transfer the system value to it.
      Declare output fields
         date
      end
      date = system date
                                - 79 -
................................................................................
      Q AND A INPUT SCREEN                        Q AND A INPUT SCREEN
      If, for a procedure you have to collect many items of data via
      an input screen, then presenting all the fields and their
      labels at once can be confusing to an operator.  You can start
      with an empty screen other than the first field and its prompt
      then have each subsequent prompt "Pop up" when the previous
      field has been filled.
      To do this you make all your input fields without a background
      (Text, Alt1 or Alt2) and you create fields for the prompts
      which have no user entry and also show no background.
      Ex.
      To collect data for paymethod, customer, and amount lay out the
      following fields:-
              Enter Method of payment....     { Paymethod Field }
              { Pop1 Field               }    { Customer Field  }
              { Pop2 Field               }    { Amount Field   }
      The "Pop1" field is derived:-
         If(Pop1 = blank and paymethod = blank,blank,"Enter Customers
                 name.........")
      and the "Pop2" field is derived:-
         If(Pop2 = blank and customer = blank,blank,"Enter Amount...
                ...............")
                                - 80 -
................................................................................
      RUNTIME AUTO START
RUNTIME AUTO START
      If you intend to distribute an application using the Easy Base
      Runtime Module, you can have the module start automatically on
      a particular user menu by giving that menu the sign on password
      "Autostart".
      Each time the runtime module starts it searches for a menu with
      this password. If it finds one, it skips the sign on screen and
      starts automatically on this menu.
      The "Autostart" password has no significance while developing
      in Easy Base. It is treated as any other sign on password.
                                - 81 -
................................................................................
      SET SYSTEM VALUES
SET SYSTEM VALUES
      The System values System date, System Time and Output can be
      set within procedure code.
      Ex.
         System Date = input.date
      Ex.
         If input.print = "Yes" then Output = "Printer"
      Setting the output from an input screen field means that the
      user can change the output destination without having to exit
      back to the menu in procedures which have repeating input
      screens.
      If you have several procedures which are individually run to
      the screen but you also wish to batch execute them to the
      printer, you can achieve this by including the line:-
         If Global number = 2 then output = "Printer"
      then placing the procedures on a batch execute menu which
      begins with a procedure setting Global Number to 2. and ends
      with one re setting it to zero.
                                - 82 -
................................................................................
      TABULATION
TABULATION
      To create a printout in which fields are enclosed within a
      lined table use the linedrawing facility in the format editor
      to create a page header and page footer containing the top and
      bottom of the table and insert only the vertical lines between
      the fields in the list items section.
      Ex.
      Declare output fields
         stock.name : stock.price
      end
      print page header
      for stock with name in order
         if bottom margin < 0.7 then
            print page footer
            page feed
            print page header
         end if
         print list items
      next
      print page footer
      Page feed
      ........................format.........................
      .page header


 Name
  Price

      .list items

 {Name Field     }
 {Price Fld. }
      .page footer

      .end
                                - 83 -
................................................................................
      TOTALS & SUB TOTALS
TOTALS & SUB TOTALS
      To produce totals and sub totals in printouts use ad hoc fields
      to hold the values and increment them during each iteration of
      the output loops. The following code lists all entries in a
      clients time sheet form with the cost of work in hand totalled
      and sub totalled for each client.
      Declare output fields
        Clients.Name:Timesheet.Hrs:Timesheet.Mins:Timesheet.Amount
        Timesheet.date : Subtotal : Grandtotal
      end
      Print Report Header
      for Clients with name in order
         Print Group Header
         Subtotal = 0
         For Timesheet with Acno = Clients.Acno
            Subtotal = Subtotal + timesheet.amount
            Grandtotal = Grandtotal + Timesheet.amount
            Print List Items
         next
         Print Group Footer
      next
      Print report footer
      .......................Output Format.........................
      .Report Header

                   Work in Hand Totalled by Client

      .Group Header

      .List Items


Mins
      .Group Footer

          Total for


      .Report Footer

         Total Work In Hand

      .end
      The field in the Group Header is Clients.name
      The fields in List Items are Timesheet.date, Timesheet.Hrs,
      Timesheet.Mins and Timesheet.amount.
      The fields in Group Footer are Clients.name and Subtotal.
      The field in Report Footer is Grandtotal.
                                - 84 -
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