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Belgian Amiga Club - ADF Collection
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CU Amiga 15b.adf
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houseinvq.doc
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1991-06-04
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Query Instructions
The Query program will allow you to produce a report based on
your selection, sorting and formatting specifications. Upon
entry, you will be presented with a data dictionary and string
gadgets for entering your record selection criteria, sort
sequence and output report format.
The data dictionary presents you with a list of data names that
can be used to display or print values contained in the database.
The Select string gadget will allow you to specify some selection
criteria to be used to determine which database entries will be
included in you output display or report. For example,
SELECT:
(Article = "computer" or "printer") and Orig > 1000.00
specifies that the database is to be searched for any Article
that contains the words "computer" or "printer" that also has an
Original Cost greater than $1,000. Remember that in order to
enter data into a string gadget you must first position the
pointer within the gadget and depress the left button on the
mouse. Note that the Select parameters contain parentheses to
prevent ambiguities. If there is a possibility that the key word
or phrase you are looking for contains occurrences with both
upper and lower case letters, you must check for both, e.g.,
"Computer" or "computer". Another method is to use the wild
character, e.g., "?omputer".
The Sort string gadget will allow you to specify the sequence in
which the selected records are to be displayed or printed. For
example,
SORT:
Article
specifies that the selected database entries are to be sorted in
Article name sequence. Only one sort field may be entered.
The Report string gadget will allow you to specify the format of
the output display or report. For example,
REPORT:
Article, col 22, Description, col 70, Orig
specifies that the Article name, Description and Original cost
for the selected records are to be displayed. Further, it is
specified that the Description is to be displayed beginning in
column 22 and that the Original cost is to be displayed beginning
in column 70. The Report specification parameters may be very
simple or very complex depending upon the skill of the user.
Upon entering the Query program, you will find that the Report
string gadget already contains some parameters. You may use
these parameters or enter your customized report specifications.
To erase the content on the Report string gadget, first select
the gadget and then depress Right AMIGA - X. To undo (cancel)
the last editing change to the string, depress Right AMIGA - Q.
The Report specification parameters can be classified as either
describing "when to do it" or "what to do".
When To Do It:
page_top - specifies that the following functions are to
be executed at the top each printed page or screen.
page_bottom - specifies that the following functions are
to the executed at the bottom of each printed page or
screen.
report_top - specifies that the following functions are
to be executed only at the beginning of the output
report.
report_bottom - specifies that the following functions
are to executed only at the end of the report.
top(<data-name>) - specifies that the following
functions are to be executed after there has been a
change in the content of <data-name>. For example,
top(Article). Normally, the specified data-name will be
the same as the sort sequence.
bottom(<data-name>) - specifies that the following
functions are to be executed before there is a change in
the content of data-name. For example,
bottom(Category).
detail - specifies that the following functions are to
be executed for each selected database entry.
What To Do:
print - specifies that all output is to be routed to the
printer.
display - specifies that all output is to be routed to
the screen. "Display" is the output default.
<data-name> - causes the specified data name to be
printed or displayed. For example, "Condition" is a
data-name.
"literal" - causes the specified literal to be printed
or displayed. For example, "The result is:" is a
literal.
total(<data-name>) - specifies that the summed value of
<data-name> is to be printed or displayed. An numeric
data item from the dictionary must be substituted for
"<data-name>, e.g., Orig.
col nn - causes the following data item to be displayed
or printed in the column specified by nn.
skip n - causes n lines to be skipped before displaying
or printing the next data item. If n is not provided, 1
is assumed.
pause - causes a pause in the output process until a key
(any key) is depressed.
eject - if "print" has been specified, this command
causes the paper to be ejected to the top of the next
page; otherwise, the screen will be cleared.
EDITING MASKS
Editing Masks may be used to cause predefined characters
to be imbedded within displayed or printed numeric
values. The masks must be constructed as an
alpha-numeric literal whose first character is "%". If
the second character of the mask literal is other
than a numeric character, that character will be placed
in the next left most position before the resulting
edited numeric value.
Examples:
Input Values Mask Output
01000 "%9,999" 1,000
25245 "%$99,999" $25,245
-5643 "%$999,999" $-5,643
Here is an example of a more complex query construction:
SELECT:
(Description = "gold" or "silver") and Orig >= 100
SORT:
Article
REPORT:
bottom(Article) Article total(Orig) "%$99,999" report_bottom skip
1 col 5 "Total " col 22 total(Orig) "%$99,999"
This query will display the total original value for each article
type and display an overall total value at the end of the report.
Rules:
(1) The Select statement may contain these operators:
= Equal to
<> Unequal to
< Less than
> Greater than
<= Less than or equal to
>= Greater than or equal to
(2) The field on the left side of the operator must be a
data name from the dictionary.
(3) The field on the right side of the operator may be
either a data name or literal. Literals must be enclosed in
double quotes.
(4) In the case of equal and unequal, the data name on the
left side of the operator is searched for any occurrences of the
data specified on the right of the operator.
(5) The length of the item to the right of the operator may
not be greater than the length of the item to the left of the
operator.
(6) When used in a literal, the "?" is wild. For example,
to select all records in the database enter:
SELECT:
Article = "?"
(7) Commas may used to improve readability; otherwise, they
serve no useful purpose.
(8) All data names must be capitalized. All other commands
must be in lower case.
If your printer carriage is 80 columns in width, try setting your
printer preferences for compressed mode in order to print reports
that are greater than 80 characters in width.