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1989-10-04
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dBB (DataBase Browser) Version 1.2
Copyright (C) 1988,1989
H. A. Fox
This program is NOT public domain software. It is, nonetheless, provided
free of charge for all private, non-commercial use. However, if you find
dBB useful and would like to support the continued development of it and
other useful utilities (as well as the Shareware software system, in
general), you are encouraged to send a contribution of any amount to:
H. A. Fox
P. O. Box 10036
Daytona Beach, FL 32120
Contributions of ten dollars ($10) or more will allow me to notify you of
any future releases (which will be offered at a very nominal cost). Many
additional features and capabilities are planned for dBB but interest shown
by support will ultimately determine its future.
If you use this software in a commercial environment or would like to
distribute it as part of another software system you MUST contact the
author for licensing terms either at the above address or by EasyPlex to
70741,3602. Source code will be available in the future for a fee.
dBB is offered with no warranties, expressed or implied, and responsibility
for its use lies solely with the individual user. I will, nonetheless,
attempt to correct any problems with the program when reported by
registered users. (If you don't want to pay, fine. Just be happy with what
you've got.)
You are free to copy dBB and pass it along to friends and co-workers as
long as you don't charge them anything for it. If you do make copies,
please be sure the program is distributed with this small documentation
file.
dBASE is a registered trademark of Ashton-Tate.
Description:
dBB is a program that simulates the dBASE(tm) BROWSE command and
allows dBASE III or III Plus files to be viewed (BUT NOT EDITED) without
the need to run dBASE. It can browse files of any size and includes
commands to scroll fields horizontally in much the same way as dBASE. It
also provides a structure display which can be viewed at any time. There is
no support for memo fields other than displaying them as simply 'Memo'.
Neither does dBB support the use of indexes while viewing databases. dBB
does properly handle character fields of any length. dBB sports few
elaborate features but is small and good at what it does. It is especially
useful when used in conjunction with DOS shells and file managers that
allow the use of external programs for operating on selected files.
Operation:
dBB is very simple to use. From the DOS prompt enter the command:
DBB <filename>[<.ext>]
where <filename> is the name of the dBASE III file to be browsed and <.ext>
is an optional file extension. If no extension is given dBB assumes the
standard dBASE 'DBF' extension. A path is optional if the file is not in
the current directory but dBB will not resolve ambiguous pathnames (ie.
those that use '.' and '..'). Please see 'Technical Notes' below for other
command line parameter information.
If the file is found, dBB will show the first 21 records of the file
fitting as many fields as possible on the screen. Field display and column
widths are exactly as in dBASE; field names are never truncated. The top
line of the screen is a status line that shows the selected filename, the
date the file was last updated, the record number of the first record being
displayed and the total number of records in the file. If the file is empty
(no records) the status line will indicate such and the file structure will
be automatically displayed. The bottom two lines of the display show the
keys that can be used to view the database. Here also is a summary of
available commands (The '^' symbol indicates the <Ctrl> key):
<Up> and <Down> cursor keys-
Scrolls the display to the next or previous record.
<PgUp> and <PgDn>-
Displays the next or previous 20 records in the file.
<^PgUp> and <^PgDn>-
Moves to the first or last record in the file respectively.
<Left> and <Right> cursor keys-
Scrolls the field display one field to the left or right.
<^Left> and <^Right>-
'Pages' the field display to the left or right multiple fields.
<Home> and <End>-
Repositions the field display to the first and last fields of the
structure respectively.
<^Home> and <^End>-
Combines the effects of the <Home> and <^PgUp> keys, and the
<End> and <^PgDn> keys.
<S>-
Invokes the file structure display. Large structures can be
viewed with <Up>, <Down>, <PgUp>, <PgDn>, <Home> and <End>. To
return to the record display, press <Esc>, <Q>, or <X>.
<Esc>-
Exits dBB and returns to the DOS prompt leaving the browse
display on the screen.
<Q>-
Exits and returns to DOS clearing the screen in the process.
<X>-
Exits and returns to DOS restoring the screen to its contents
just prior to running dBB.
Please note that when scrolling records with any of the above commands, dBB
will always show as many records as possible.
Technical notes:
This version of dBB does no internal buffering of the browsed file.
Consequently, it reads the file each and every time that the browse display
is changed in any way. This enables dBB to handle the largest possible file
but, obviously, leads to a large number of disk operations. This, in turn,
can result in some pretty mediocre performance on anything other than a
'286 or '386 machine with a relatively fast hard disk and/or a good disk
cacheing program. I definitely don't recommend the use of dBB on floppy
based systems. This is one of those enhancements that is planned and/or in
the works, the completion of which depends on interest and support.
dBB supports all text modes and most any type of display
adapter/monitor combination. If you use a composite color display setup you
must use the command line parameter '/B' or ('/b') to force dBB into black
and white mode. If used, this paramater must appear as the last entry on
the command line and must be separated by at least one space from the rest
of the command line. If you would like to make this the operational default
of dBB (so you don't have to use the parameter every time) you can contact
me via EasyPlex and I will forward the necessary information that will
enable you to patch the program accordingly.
I hope you find dBB a useful addition to your utility library.
----------------end-of-author's-documentation---------------