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The Quick and Dirty Report/Summary Utility for PC-FILE+ Databases (QDRSUM, Version 3.0) QDRSUM performs two functions: 1) detail reporting and 2) summary report- ing. Either or both functions may be requested. If a detail report is cho- sen, summary statistics are only compiled for up to two fields, the primary and secondary keys. Otherwise, statistics are generated for all specified fields. The detail report mode is chosen by specifying the /D (details) option. QDRSUM can create up to a two-tiered report for a PC-FILE+ database, using the first two fields named as the primary and secondary keys, and other fields for the report's detail lines. Whether to have keys (and tiering) is selected by the /1[s] and /2[s] options. Adding the "s" after the /1 or /2 causes summary subtotals to be included in the report. The output has a new page for each change in the primary key, unless the /R option is specified, and a new heading for each change in the secondary key. All other fields have their values printed as detail lines beneath any heading lines for each selected record in the data base. Blank lines from the detail fields are not printed. Options can be used to control indentation, and to print new lines as needed within the detail area. A title is specified by the /T option, and is printed with any primary key details or on a separate line if the /N option is used. Field headings may be printed at the top of each page, by use of the /H option. If headings are not used, detail information from fields can have trailing blanks removed, by use of the /B option. The file SELECT.DOC tells how to select the records for the report, and CATEGORY.DOC explains the special treatment of a field named CATEGORY#. The option /C turns off CATEGORY# translation. Fields with tilde (~) will usually be printed with that part following the tilde first, unless the /~ option is given. Call QDRSUM with no arguments to get a usage display screen. Call it with a question mark (?) to get full help screens. If no fields are given on the call line, QDRSUM shows the database structure, detailing field names, their sizes, the primary sort key for the index, if sorting has been done, and the approximate number of records in the database. QDRSUM examines the device characteristics of the standard output device and determines whether it is the console (screen) or some other device. If it is the console, the user is prompted at each "page" break. The /P overrides this, eliminating prompts and adding a formfeed. Use of the /F option avoids the formfeed. For all other devices, the page length is changed to 63 charac- ters, no prompts are used, and formfeeds are printed at each page break. If the page length is set to 0, page breaks will not be noted, and title breaks occur only when a primary or secondary key changes. (If this is confusing to you, imagine how it is to the program!) The next page shows the command line usage details. The letter n is used to indicate a decimal number is expected. Note that all options must be sepa- rated from other arguments, including other options, by at least one space. Wherever a quoted string is shown, spaces may appear between the quotation marks. The square brackets indicate optional parameters. QDRSUM Page 2 QDRSUM COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS QDRSUM DATABASE [OPTS] [FN[/"Label"] [OPT] ...]] [!FL] [@REL [@RF [@OPT] ...] [>OUTPUT] where: " ... " indicates possible additional parameters similar to those pre- ceding the periods, and DATABASE is the name of the PC-FILE+ database, excluding extension. OPTS are from the following possible options: /- Database record structure display starts with byte 0, not 1 /~ Do not perform tilde inversions on the contents of fields /# Place a page number at the top of each report page. Unless the galley option (/G) is used, it is always right-aligned. /1[S] Use first field named as a primary key. If S included, shows sum- mary statistics for the primary key. S is assumed if /D not used /2[S] Use second field as a secondary key, turns on /1 option. If S is included, shows secondary summary statistics, and turns on /1S. Detail lines are indented two spaces when /2 is on and /H is not specified. S is assumed if /D option not used /B Remove trailing blanks in field values. /H overrides this option /C Do not perform CATEGORY# translation (see CATEGORY.DOC) /G Perform galley proof function: even numbered pages will not have a left margin applied, and any page number is at the left on top. /L# Number of lines per screen/page (default = 24) /M# Number of spaces to precede each print line (left margin) /P Change defaults to those for a printer file, i.e. assume /L63, if /L not given, do not pause at each page break, and use form feeds, unless /F follows--not needed for redirected output. /F Do not use form feeds, even when /P is given /R Run various primary key header and detail lines together on the same page--do not force a new page at such database "breaks" /T"Title string" [/N] The title for top of each page (quotes required). Title is centered. If /N specified, title is printed separately, Otherwise, any primary key is printed next to the title. /U Perform case-sensitive comparisons with selection criteria /W# Screen or page width (default = 79). Controls centering of titles, make smaller with shorter detail lines for better appearance QDRSUM Page 3 QDRSUM COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS, continued /D Include detail lines in the report. Makes options below valid: /A# Number of records to print across a page. Default is 1 /H Print header line of field labels. Labels are, by default, the field names, overridden by any label string following a field name FN The name of a field in the database, selects the first field whose leading characters match those given on the command line "Label" A label to use in place of the field name within the report OPT is one of the following options: /I# Number of spaces to indent prior field (default is one space) /Ec 'c' is a character to print after prior field (overwrites /N) /N Place a new line after prior field (overwrites /E). FL File from which to read additional command line arguments. The only arguments not permitted in the file are the database name, another !FL specification, or redirection (which is handled by DOS). More than one line of arguments is allowed in the file FL. REL The name of a related database with a field identical to the first field (primary key) given for the database DATABASE. See page 10 RF The name of a field in REL database, selects the first field whose leading characters match those given on the command line. OPT is as shown above, applied to the related database fields' displays >OUTPUT Sends report's output to a file named OUTPUT. If no redirection is specified, report goes to the screen. QDRSUM will take note if the output is redirected, and assume printer output format, using form feeds, length of 63 lines, if /L is not given, and will not pause at the end of each page. To set the stage for further explanations, let's use the output of a call on QDRSUM with only a data base name. The following, captured by redirection, shows the EMPLOYEE database layout: Field # 1 = Name is 20 bytes long, starting at byte # 1 Field # 2 = Position is 26 bytes long, starting at byte # 21 Field # 3 = sex is 1 bytes long, starting at byte # 47 Field # 4 = dept is 16 bytes long, starting at byte # 48 Field # 5 = empnum is 4 bytes long, starting at byte # 64 Total record length = 68 Database is unsorted Database has 1 records (some may be deleted) QDRSUM Page 4 As you can see, it is a small company. Actually, we just took the snap- shot after only one entry was put in. It is also unsorted--PC-FILE+ has not marked the index with a sort key. The above layout only shows the structure, not how the database is used. Below is the intended use for each field: NAME: Last name, followed by ~, followed by First name POSITION: Job title SEX: F(emale) or M(ale) DEPT: Name or number of department EMPNUM: Employee Identification Number As mentioned above, QDRSUM has two main functions, summary and detail report creation. Let's first examine the summary functions, using the above database, plus two others. SUMMARY REPORT FUNCTION Subtotals are maintained for all fields named, if detail reporting is not requested. At most two subtotals are maintained for detail reporting. A sub- total is produced for a field whenever its value or that of an earlier named field changes. The point in the database where such a change takes place is called a break. Subtotals are printed for the rightmost field on the command line and back to the leftmost field for which the break applies. Using the EMPLOYEE database, let's fill in a few entries and see how the subtotals go. The listing below shows the database: Report for database EMPLOYEE Dept Position S Name EmpN ================ ========================== = ==================== ==== Bear Family Bottle Washer M Father Bear 0001 Bear Family Chief Cook F Mother Bear 0002 Bear Family Food Eater & Bed Messer F Sister Bear 0005 Bear Family Food Eater & Bed Messer M Baby Bear 0003 Human Family Food Eater & Bed Messer F Goldilocks 0004 ======================================================= There are a total of 5 matching records in the database The database was sorted by Dept, Position, Sex, and then Name, so it was easiest to display it in the same order. It's a silly example, but bear with me (sorry about that) and maybe things will become clearer. To get meaningful summary statistics, fields should appear on the call line in the same order they were specified to the PC-FILE+ SORT procedure. The summary report shows totals, subtotals, etc., for each of the fields named on the call line, including every record chosen by the selection criteria. QDRSUM Page 5 With the database sorted by DEPARTMENT, POSITION, and SEX, the call: QDRSUM EMPLOYEE /B D P S >C:DEPTSUM shows how many female employees hold a particular position in a department, how many males hold the same position, and a subtotal of how many employees hold that position in a department. The next level subtotal tells how many employees are in the department, then similar summaries are given for other departments, and the grand total gives the total employees in the database. Below is the result from our sample database: Report for database EMPLOYEE 1 record has Sex=M & Position=Bottle Washer & Dept=Bear Family ---------------------------------------------------------- 1 record has Position=Bottle Washer & Dept=Bear Family 1 record has Sex=F & Position=Chief Cook & Dept=Bear Family ------------------------------------------------------- 1 record has Position=Chief Cook & Dept=Bear Family 1 record has Sex=F & Position=Food Eater & Bed Messer & Dept=Bear Family 1 record has Sex=M & Position=Food Eater & Bed Messer & Dept=Bear Family -------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 records have Position=Food Eater & Bed Messer & Dept=Bear Family ----------------------------------- 4 records have Dept=Bear Family 1 record has Sex=F & Position=Food Eater & Bed Messer & Dept=Human Family --------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 record has Position=Food Eater & Bed Messer & Dept=Human Family ------------------------------------ 1 record has Dept=Human Family ======================================================= There are a total of 5 matching records in the database To produce a report summarizing employees by sex and by position within a department: sort the database by SEX, POSITION, and DEPARTMENT. The call: QDRSUM EMPLOYEE /B SEX POS DEP >C:EMPSEX.SUM produces a summary showing how many female employees hold each position within each department, and subtotals of how many female employees hold each position within the company, and a final subtotal of how many female employees there are in the database. Then the same information would be given for the male employees. Finally, a grand total of how many employees are in the employee database is printed. The listing on the next page shows the output for our sample database: QDRSUM Page 6 Report for database EMPLOYEE 1 record has Dept=Bear Family & Position=Chief Cook & Sex=F -------------------------------------------- 1 record has Position=Chief Cook & Sex=F 1 record has Dept=Bear Family & Position=Food Eater & Bed Messer & Sex=F 1 record has Dept=Human Family & Position=Food Eater & Bed Messer & Sex=F --------------------------------------------------------- 2 records have Position=Food Eater & Bed Messer & Sex=F ------------------------ 3 records have Sex=F 1 record has Dept=Bear Family & Position=Bottle Washer & Sex=M ----------------------------------------------- 1 record has Position=Bottle Washer & Sex=M 1 record has Dept=Bear Family & Position=Food Eater & Bed Messer & Sex=M --------------------------------------------------------- 1 record has Position=Food Eater & Bed Messer & Sex=M ------------------------ 2 records have Sex=M ======================================================= There are a total of 5 matching records in the database For a second example, consider a database, CATALOG, taken from my CATDISK template, whose records have the following fields: FILENAME: file name, including extension VOL_NAME: volume label of diskette containing the file SIZE: size of the file DATE: date of creation or last update for the file) CATEGORY: type of file--Communications, Database, etc. CAT_GRP: used to group many files of one category together DESCRIPTION: Describes the specific function of the file The database layout shown by QDRSUM CATALOG is: Field # 1 = File_Name is 12 bytes long, starting at byte # 1 Field # 2 = Date is 8 bytes long, starting at byte # 13 Field # 3 = Size is 6 bytes long, starting at byte # 21 Field # 4 = Vol_Name is 11 bytes long, starting at byte # 27 Field # 5 = Category is 10 bytes long, starting at byte # 38 Field # 6 = Cat_Grp is 2 bytes long, starting at byte # 48 Field # 7 = Description is 37 bytes long, starting at byte # 50 Total record length = 87 Database is sorted by File_Name Database has 4181 records (some may be deleted) QDRSUM Page 7 The following produces a summary of the number of files per category, plus a count of all files in the catalog: QDRSUM B:CATALOG CATEGORY The printout below is the tail end of the output from the call above: 6 records have Category=PROJ.MGMT. 11 records have Category=RAM DISK 15 records have Category=SORT UTIL. 35 records have Category=SORTED DIR 19 records have Category=SOUND EFF. 12 records have Category=SPOOLER 121 records have Category=SPREADSHT. 29 records have Category=STATISTICS 5 records have Category=SUPT.DECIS 111 records have Category=TEXT EDIT. 59 records have Category=UNKNOWN 211 records have Category=VARIOUS ========================================================== There are a total of 4181 matching records in the database Full field names are not required, just enough characters to distinguish field names from each other. The call above could have been: QDRSUM B:CATALOG C The following call produces a summary of the number of files per volume per category, plus associated subtotals, for categories beginning with the letter "A" to categories beginning with the letter "P": QDRSUM B:CATALOG CATEGORY VOL_NAME/"Volume Name" CATEGORY>="A" & CATEGORY<="P" The printout below shows the first few lines of output from the above call: Report for database B:CATALOG 1 record has Volume Name=023WPC701 & Category=AID: ASSMY 1 record has Volume Name=024WPC702 & Category=AID: ASSMY 2 records have Volume Name=028WPC902 & Category=AID: ASSMY 1 record has Volume Name=037LANG01 & Category=AID: ASSMY 1 record has Volume Name=052MISCEL03 & Category=AID: ASSMY 9 records have Volume Name=070BCGI10 & Category=AID: ASSMY 9 records have Volume Name=085BCGI25 & Category=AID: ASSMY 7 records have Volume Name=119NY83JUL & Category=AID: ASSMY 3 records have Volume Name=121NY84JAN & Category=AID: ASSMY 1 record has Volume Name=141NY86AUG & Category=AID: ASSMY --------------------------------------- 35 records have Category=AID: ASSMY 3 records have Volume Name=004WPC303 & Category=AID: BASIC 1 record has Volume Name=005WPC304 & Category=AID: BASIC 6 records have Volume Name=023WPC701 & Category=AID: BASIC QDRSUM Page 8 In both of the above cases, the database CATALOG should be sorted with CATEGORY as the primary sort key. In the second case, VOL_NAME should be a secondary sort key. By using a primary key, you can get a less repetitious printout: QDRSUM CATALOG CAT VOL/"Volume Name" /1S /P /L0 /F /T"CATALOG" /W44 The above call eliminates form feeds and page breaks. As the line is shown, no redirection takes place, so output comes to the screen. Use Ctrl-S to stop the output as you wish, and Ctrl-C to terminate the program. I often use this technique to check out formats of output before final printing. The following shows the first few lines of the output from the above command: CATALOG, Category = AID: ASSMY 1 record has Volume Name=023WPC701 1 record has Volume Name=024WPC702 2 records have Volume Name=028WPC902 1 record has Volume Name=037LANG01 1 record has Volume Name=052MISCEL03 9 records have Volume Name=070BCGI10 9 records have Volume Name=085BCGI25 7 records have Volume Name=119NY83JUL 3 records have Volume Name=121NY84JAN 1 record has Volume Name=141NY86AUG ------------------------------------- 35 records have Category=AID: ASSMY CATALOG, Category = AID: BASIC 3 records have Volume Name=004WPC303 1 record has Volume Name=005WPC304 6 records have Volume Name=023WPC701 QDRSUM Page 9 DETAIL REPORTING FUNCTION Let's now turn to the subject of detail reports. When /D is used on a call to QDRSUM, subtotals are not kept unless either /1S or /2S is used as well. The listing of the EMPLOYEE database on page 4 was created by: QDRSUM EMPLOYEE /D /H DEPT POSITION SEX NAME EMPNUM At the start of each new page, a title, either that given by the /T op- tion, or the phrase "Report of database" followed by the name of the database will be printed, centered within the limits given by the page width option, whose default value is 79 characters to prevent "bouncing" at end of line. Subtotals are maintained the same way as described above, and are shown after printing any requested detail fields for each selected record. Whenever a key field changes, any requested subtotals are printed. The subtotal is separated from the lines above by a line of dashes, and followed by a blank line. The key field for which the subtotal applies is shown, with the asso- ciated value. If only the secondary key changes and there is room on the page, a new subtitle line is printed with any associated detail lines from the current record. A subtitle line is not printed without the selected detail fields if there is not room before the bottom of the page. If subtotal lines do not all fit at the bottom of a page, a new subtitle will be printed on the next page with the subtotal. In the case of only the total for a primary key being pushed to the next page, only a title, and no subtitle line, precedes the total lines. The call below produces a listing of all employees, arranged by position within departments. A form feed is emitted for each new department, and sum- mary information follows each position and department listing: QDRSUM EMPLOYEE /D /B /2S DEPT POS NAME >DEPTPOS.LST QDRSUM Page 10 Report for database EMPLOYEE, Dept = Bear Family Position = Bottle Washer Father Bear ------------------------------------- 1 record has Position=Bottle Washer Position = Chief Cook Mother Bear ---------------------------------- 1 record has Position=Chief Cook Position = Food Eater & Bed Messer Sister Bear Baby Bear ------------------------------------------------- 2 records have Position=Food Eater & Bed Messer ------------------------------- 4 records have Dept=Bear Family (A Form Feed was here) Report for database EMPLOYEE, Dept = Human Family Position = Food Eater & Bed Messer Goldilocks ----------------------------------------------- 1 record has Position=Food Eater & Bed Messer ------------------------------ 1 record has Dept=Human Family ======================================================= There are a total of 5 matching records in the database To get a listing of each department's job positions and names of employ- ees holding each position followed by a comma after each name and the sex of the employee, sort the database by department, position, and employee name, then use the following: QDRSUM EMPLOYEE /D /2 DEPT POSITION NAME /E, SEX >DEPTPOS.LST The output is written to the file DEPTPOS.LST with form feeds at pages. The following is the result of running against our meager database: QDRSUM Page 11 Report for database EMPLOYEE, Dept = Bear Family Position = Bottle Washer Father Bear, M Position = Chief Cook Mother Bear, F Position = Food Eater & Bed Messer Baby Bear, M Sister Bear, F (A Form Feed was here) Report for database EMPLOYEE, Dept = Human Family Position = Food Eater & Bed Messer Goldilocks, F ======================================================= There are a total of 5 matching records in the database For another example, let's use a database named BOOKS, laid out like the the BOOKINV example from CATEGORY.DOC. Following is the database record struc- ture for BOOKS: Field # 1 = AUTHOR is 40 bytes long, starting at byte # 1 Field # 2 = CATEGORY# is 2 bytes long, starting at byte # 41 Field # 3 = TITLE is 60 bytes long, starting at byte # 43 Field # 4 = COVER is 1 bytes long, starting at byte # 103 Field # 5 = COST is 6 bytes long, starting at byte # 104 Field # 6 = LOCATION is 17 bytes long, starting at byte # 110 Field # 7 = ON_LOAN is 1 bytes long, starting at byte # 127 Field # 8 = CR_DATE is 4 bytes long, starting at byte # 128 Field # 9 = COMMENTS_1 is 65 bytes long, starting at byte # 132 Field # 10 = COMMENTS_2 is 65 bytes long, starting at byte # 197 Total record length = 262 Database is sorted by CATEGORY# Database has 388 records (some may be deleted) Category # 1 = COOKBOOKS Category # 2 = CHILDRENS Category # 3 = CRAFT/HOBBY/DECORATING Category # 4 = FARM/PETS/DO IT YOURSELF Category #16 = HISTORY Category #17 = DO IT YOURSELF/SKILLS Category #18 = ART Category #19 = SCIENCE FANTASY The Category# translation list can be bypassed by calling QDRSUM with BOOKS /C QDRSUM Page 12 The following call: QDRSUM BOOKS /D CAT AUTH TITLE /T"MY BOOKS" prints MY BOOKS , centered, at the top of each screen, CATEGORY = description or CATEGORY# = nn centered, authors from that category followed by the titles written by each author, pausing at the end of each full screen. For the next example, assume a file named ARTSEL contains the following: CAT="03" CAT="18" The following selects those books in the CRAFT/etc. and ART categories: QDRSUM BOOKS /D /T"ARTS & CRAFT BOOKS" /2 CAT AUTH TITLE <ARTSEL >PRN The output is sent to the printer (PRN), with form feeds issued at the end of each page. Each page has the title ARTS & CRAFT BOOKS. In our next example, detail lines from fields COMMENTS_1 and COMMENTS_2 are printed below the books title, indented two additional spaces. If either field is blank, its line is not printed in the report. Since the COMMENTS fields are the longest, the page width is changed to account for this, so titles will be better centered on the report. An inch margin is made on the left for hole-punching. Output goes to a file named RPT: QDRSUM BOOKS /M10 /D /H"MY LIBRARY" /W69 C A T /N COM /I4 /N COMMENTS_2 /I4 >RPT Returning to the CATALOG database, the following call, applied to the database after it was sorted by CATEGORY, CAT_GRP, and then FILENAME: QDRSUM CATALOG /F /D /H /1S CAT F/"FILE NAME" D S V/"VOLUME NAME" DE /W80 produces a report looking like the following excerpt, with no form feeds: Report for database CATALOG, Category = AID: X-REF File Name Date Size Volume Name Description ============ ======== ====== =========== ===================================== XC .ARC 87-06-21 28288 162TURBOC C Cross-reference Utility XREF .BAS 83-05-05 6016 023WPC701 Cross references variables in BASIC p XREF .DOC 80-01-01 888 023WPC701 Documentation & instructions for XREF XREF .EXE 82-08-31 28800 023WPC701 Faster cross referencing of BASIC var ------------------------------------- 4 records have Category=AID: X-REF QDRSUM Page 13 The following shows multiple records per line, with header lines: QDRSUM CATALOG /D /H F/"FILE NAME" V/"VOLUME NAME" C /A2 /W76 F>="COMPUSRV" & F<="COMSPEC" produces a report looking like the following: Report for database CATALOG FILE NAME VOLUME NAME Category FILE NAME VOLUME NAME Category ============ =========== ========== ============ =========== ========== COMPUSRV.ARC 147COMMUN02 COMM.PROGM COMPUSRV.CMD 047PROCOMM COMM.PROGM COMPUSRV.TXT 013WPC401 INFORMATN. COMSPEC .ASM 121NY84JAN DOS UTIL. COMSPEC .DOC 121NY84JAN DOS UTIL. ========================================================== There are a total of 5 matching records in the database To show a use for the /G option, let me describe how I use it for making a listing of my PC Club's library, using a laser printer. We currently have about 4200 files in the library, spread across 170 diskettes. I can cause my laser printer to print 174 columns by 109 lines on an 8-1/2 by 11 inch paper, and still have it readable without a magnifying glass. I can put the entire library catalog, sorted by category on 24 pages by the following command: QDRSUM catalog c /1s f/"File Name" d s v/"Volume Name" des /D /H /# /G >PRN /T"PC Club Library" /M9 /A2 /W165 /L109 /R The above call comes close to the limit of 128 characters per input line, but it makes it. Using the more arguments file parameter (!filename) would allow for a cleaner and clearer invocation, as follows. Create a file called CATG.ARG with the following contents: /D /H /# /G /T"PC Club Library" /M9 /A2 /W165 /L109 /R CATEGORY /1S FILE/"File Name" DATE SIZE VOLUME/"Volume Name" DESCRIP Call the program with the following: QDRSUM CATALOG !CATG.ARG >PRN It produces a printout with a left margin wide enough for hole punching, and puts it in a galley proof format, so I can do two-sided photo-copying, and have the even number pages set up properly. Even numbered pages do not get indented, and the page number is put on the left side, preceding the centered title consisting of the phrase "PC Club Library, Category = " followed by the particular category starting at the top of the current page. The /R assures that a short category is not put on a page all alone. Categories will be run together, separated by two blank lines and headed by a new title and header lines. When the printed output is copied, odd numbered pages on the front and even numbered pages on the back, it produces a compact catalog on only twelve sheets of paper. QDRSUM Page 14 I also use the following to create a listing of the database sorted by filename and volume name, which results in 11 pages, only 6 sheets of paper: QDRSUM catalog f/"File Name" v/"Volume Name" c /D /H /# /G /M15 /A4 /W156 /L109 /T"PC Club Library Files" >PRN The above will show four columns of file name, volume name and category, of all files in the database. Notice that the placement of >PRN is different than on the prior call. At least for my versions of MSDOS 3.1 and 3.2, this works fine--you might want to check whether it matters for what you have. Notice that /R is not given--it has no meaning when there is no primary key. Note that the !moreargs provides for a clearer call line. Create a file named FILE.ARG, with the following lines: /D /H /# /G /M15 /A4 /W156 /L109 /T"PC Club Library Files" FILE/"File Name" VOLUME/"Volume Name" CATEGORY Call QDRSUM as follows to get the same effect: QDRSUM CATALOG !FILE.ARG >PRN RELATED DATABASE LOOKUP Arguments preceded with the '@' sign are for related database lookups. The first argument must give the name of a related database. The database named must have a field which has exactly the same name (except for capitaliza- tion) as that of the primary key specified for the primary database. The field must also be identical in size to the primary key. A relational lookup is performed by finding the first record in the relat- ed database which has the same value in the primary key field as that of the current record in the primary database. The contents of any of the fields in the selected record can be displayed whenever the primary key value changes, or at the start of a new page. The @/ options specify how to display the values, just as the correspond- ing / options do for the primary database's records. The following example is drawn from the CATDISK database. To make a Table of Contents file for one or more diskettes, create a file named TOC.ARG containing the following lines: /D /T"Table of Contents" /N /H V/"VOLUME" /1 F/"FILE NAME" /I0 S/SIZE /I1 D/DATE /I1 C/CATEGORY /I1 DE/DESCRIPTION /I1 @DISK @/E- @FREE @/N @DESC Calling with the following will make a Table of Contents for the diskette in my club's library labeled 001CATALOG: QDRSUM CATALOG @VOLCAT !TOC.ARG >001.TOC V="001" The output is shown at the top of the next page QDRSUM Page 15 Table of Contents VOLUME = 001CATALOG Double-Sided 9-sect - 133K free Library Catalog Listing: Category < Games FILE NAME SIZE DATE CATEGORY DESCRIPTION ============ ====== ======== ========== ======================================= CATGORY1.LST 213555 87-09-19 DSK.CATLOG Catalog Listing: Categories < Games ELITE .COM 256 85-03-27 PRINTER UT Sends code to Printer for Elite print FF . 1 87-09-19 PRINTER UT Form Feed Character LIST .COM 8191 87-07-05 FILE UTIL. Lets you browse through a file on scrn PRINT .BAT 25 86-03-24 PRINTER UT Prints catalog listing in elite font SEE .BAT 11 86-03-24 FILE UTIL. Lets you browse thru Catalog listing ========================================================== There are a total of 6 matching records in the database The "Double-Sided 9-sect " is the value of the field named DISK_TYPE in the database VOLCAT, for the record whose VOLUME_LABEL field has the value "001" in the first three characters. "133K free" came from the field named FREE_SPACE, and the line following was produced from a field named DESCRIPTION. You might notice that I did not put quotes (") around all of the labels. You really only need to use quotation marks if the label has spaces inside it, like "FILE NAME". I hope the above examples give you some idea of how you can use QDRSUM to get more out of your PC-FILE+ databases. If you have any comments or sugges- tions, please send them to me via COMPUSERV's EASYPLEX electronic mail. Archie Strong, COMPUSERV USERID: [73167,1205]