Piper's Pit BBS/FTP: ibm 0010 - 0019/ibm0010-0019/ibm0010.tar/ibm0010/MSWBASE2.ZIP/README.TXT

Text File | 1990-03-28 | 24.3 KB | 697 lines

===============================================================================
                MICROSOFT DATABASE VERSION 1.00 March 20, 1990
===============================================================================

This document contains information which could not be included in
the User Guide.

FUTURE RELEASES OF MICROSOFT WINDOWS
------------------------------------
Microsoft Database is designed to be compatible with future releases of
Microsoft Windows. In the event of a future release of Microsoft
Windows not being compatible with your copy of Microsoft Database, contact
your supplier for details of forthcoming updates of Microsoft Database.

ADDITIONAL AND EXTENDED DML COMMANDS
------------------------------------
The SET EDIT ATTR ON command forces all form data editing into monochrome:
black text on a white background.  The purpose of the command is to
provide an editing focus for the user where the presence of colored fields
on a form could be confusing.

The command may be executed either before an enter command or before native
mode data entry.

SET EDIT ATTR OFF makes data entry use the colors originally defined for
the field.

CALL
----
CALL may be modified to force a called application to open its window
in a pre-defined mode. The extended syntax for this command is:

     CALL strexpr [,nexpr]

Nexpr may have the value 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4.

     0    Application runs in a minimized window
     1    Application runs in a normal window
     2    Application runs in a minimized window as an icon
     3    Application runs in a maximized window
     4    Application runs in a deactivated normal window

EJECT GROUP
-----------
The EJECT command has an optional parameter GROUP, which should be
used to suppress the EJECT for the last group in a report. This
avoids the unnecessary printing of a blank page after the last
group.

EXPORT ENABLE
-------------
The EXPORT command allows you to specify a dBase destination file.
By including the parameters "2" or "3" you may distinguish between
dBase II and dBase III.

You may also export Enable files. If you wish to create an Enable
file definition ($BF extension), use the parameter "0" instead of
"2" or "3".

SET FN KEY
----------
The SET FN KEY ON/OFF command allows the WAIT KEY command to detect the
depression of a function key. If you want to be able to detect
function keys with WAIT KEY, execute SET FN KEY ON prior to the WAIT
statement itself.

Use SET FN KEY OFF to disable the detection of function keys by WAIT
KEY.

When you are using Function Keys inside of a DML program, it is necessary to
remember that, unlike in the Menu driven level, commands stored in Function
Keys are not executed.  Instead, the first character of the function key is
returned to the WAIT KEY or GET command that normally looks at keyboard
input.

For this reason, the use of function keys inside of a program must be
limited to to those applications where it is possible to pause and look at
keyboard input.  The following example shows an example of using function
keys inside a DML program:

Example
        REM *** Setup
        CLS
        ? "Press Shift-F10 to quit"
        REM *** Set up Shift-F1 to Shift-F10 as ASCII 129 to 138
        FOR x%=1 TO 10
                Key x%, CHR$(x%+128)
        NEXT x%
        REM *** Turn on FN Keys
        SET FN KEY ON
        REM *** Wait for a key
     GetKey:
        WAIT KEY a$
        IF ASC (a$) < 129 OR ASC (a$) > 138 THEN REQUEST "Normal Key
                hit","",113: GOTO GetKey
        ? "Shift-F";LTRIM$ ( STR$ ( ASC (a$) - 128,"99."));" key pressed."
        IF ASC (a$) = 138 THEN END
        GOTO GetKey

FN alpha
--------
The function FN alpha (x$) returns a string containing only
alphabetic characters (a-z, A-Z) from x$.

     x$ = "abcd-123;"
     y$ = FN alpha (x$)

     y$ contains "abcd"

FN ansi
-------
The function FN ansi (x$) returns a string in which all IBM characters
are converted to the ANSI character set.

     y$ = FN ansi (x$)

Converts any IBM specific characters to their ANSI equivalent. See
also FN ibm (x$).

FN ibm
------
The function FN ibm (x$) returns a string in which all ANSI characters
are converted to the IBM character set.

     y$ = FN ibm (x$)

Converts any ANSI specific characters to their IBM equivalent. See
also FN ansi (x$).

FN numeric
----------
The function FN numeric (x$) returns a string containing only
numeric characters (0-9) from x$.

     x$ = "abcd-123;"
     y$ = FN numeric (x$)

     y$ contains "123"

FN path
-------
The function FN path (x$) returns a string containing all pathname
characters including final backslash from x$. x$ should be a
filename together with its path.

     x$ = "c:\data\myfile.sbf"
     y$ = FN path (x$)

     y$ contains "c:\data\"

FN root
-------
The function FN root (x$) returns a string containing the root of
the a filename from x$. x$ should be a filename together with its
path.

     x$ = "c:\data\myfile.sbf"
     y$ = FN root (x$)

     y$ contains "myfile"

FN name
-------
The function FN name (x$) returns a string containing a filename
together with its extension from x$. x$ should be a filename
together with its path.

     x$ = "c:\data\myfile.sbf"
     y$ = FN name (x$)

     y$ contains "myfile.sbf"

FN ext
------
The function FN ext (x$) returns a string containing the extension
of a filename from x$. x$ should be a filename together with its
path.

     x$ = "c:\data\myfile.sbf"
     y$ = FN ext (x$)

     y$ contains ".sbf"

FN dec
------
The function FN dec (x$) returns the decimal equivalent of a string
presumed to contain hexadecimal.

     x$ = "1F"
     y% = FN dec (x$)

     y% has the value 31

FN hex
------
The function FN hex (x%) returns a string containing the
hexadecimal equivalent of a decimal.

     x% = 31
     y$ = FN hex (x%)

     y$ contains "1F"

FORMAT$
-------
The FORMAT$ function may be used to force query and report output
to wordwrap within a column. The full syntax is:

     FORMAT$ (strexpr, nexpr1 [,nexpr2])

FORMAT$ formats a text field or variable to a specified width by
inserting carriage return characters.

Strexpr is normally the fieldname of a text field, which may be up
to 4000 characters long (see Note below). Nexpr1 defines the width
of the column in characters.

Nexpr2 specifies the line of the field to be output, allowing you
to position formatted text precisely. If nexpr2 is omitted, the
formatted text will be output in its entirety before any other
items are output.

1.   SELECT name.CLIENTS, @30 FORMAT$(comments.CLIENTS,40,1),
     telephone.CLIENTS, @30 FORMAT$(comments.CLIENTS,40,2),
     @30 FORMAT$ (comments.CLIENTS,40,3), @30 FORMAT$
     (comments.CLIENTS,40,4), @30 FORMAT$(comments.CLIENTS,40,5)

Prints name, first line of comments field, and telephone number,
then prints the next four lines of comments. The text in the
comments column will be wordwrapped.

2.   ? FORMAT$(field1,25)

Prints the contents of field1 in a columns 25 characters wide,
wordwrapping text when necessary.

Note. Because FORMAT$ actually inserts formatting information into
a field or variable, the formatted length may exceed 4000
characters. In this case, characters beyond the 4000 maximum will
be discarded.

ORDER
-----
ORDER as a system variable.  When used as a system variable, ORDER
allows you to determine the data entry order of the last field edited
on a form.

Normaly the ORDER system returns the data entry order number of the last
field or variable entered during Form data entry.  However, if the user
presses ESCAPE to terminate data entry, ORDER returns a negative number.

If data entry is being done in Page or Record view, there is no data entry
order number as this feature only applies to Forms.  ORDER returns 1 when
data entry ends after the last field has been completed, or -1 of ESCAPE
has been used to terminate data entry.

ORDER as a DML command.  ORDER is a Query Language command and can only
be used in a Query or Report section (i.e, in conjunction with the Query
Language command SELECT).

SET POSITION
------------
The optional extension FOR windowname may be used to set the window
position of an application invoked with CALL, such as Microsoft
Windows Control Panel.

     SET POSITION FOR "control" x%,y%,w%,h%

The string "control" matches the text in the center of the window's
title bar.

STORE
-----
The STORE command has additional syntax which allows you to store
records faster than usual, with the drawback that the data is not
secured automatically. This means that you can enter a batch of
records and wait until you are ready to secure them, thus saving time
during data entry. The extended syntax is:

     STORE [,0/1/2] [FORM/FILE sbfname]

STORE,1 stores the current record without updating the file header.
The time taken to save the data on disk will be reduced, but the data
is not secure. A power loss, for example, would result in the entered
data being lost. Note that the command only operates on the current
record, i.e. it does not set this mode for future STORE commands.

STORE,2 makes the file secure. It does not save the current record as
such, but updates the control information in the file header. YOU
MUST EXECUTE  STORE,2  AFTER  STORE,1  IN ORDER TO SECURE THE DATA.

STORE,2 does NOT take the FORM or FILE parameters. It secures all
unsecured data automatically.

STORE,0 is optional and therefore is the same as STORE on its own.
Data is secured as it is written directly to disk.


WAIT PANEL LOCK
---------------
The optional parameter LOCK may be used with WAIT PANEL. This prevents
the user from switching to another page of the form while using the
browsing controls under program control.

NOTE: If you wish the browsing controls without the panel showing up on
the screen AND you do not wish to have the user flip back and forth
between form pages, use the command: WAIT PANEL OFF LOCK

FURTHER NOTE: When you are in a program, several error conditions may
occur that will terminate program execution unless you specifically
look for them. A small program to do this would be:
    OPEN FORM "BrwsForm"
    ON ERROR GOTO CheckTrap
   AlowBrowsing:
    FORM 1
    WAIT PANEL OFF LOCK
    GOTO AllowBrowsing
   CheckTrap:
    IF ERRNO=8 THEN REQUEST "No such record.","",2,n%:RESUME AllowBrowsing
    IF ERRNO=10 THEN REQUEST "End of File.","",2,n%:RESUME AllowBrowsing
    IF ERRNO= THEN REQUEST "Break detected.","",2,n%:END
    REQUEST "Unexpected error has occured:",ERR$(ERRNO),113,n%
    END


PROGRAMMED DATA ENTRY
---------------------
The BREAK ENTER OFF/ON Command
------------------------------
The ESCAPE key method of terminating data entry may be disabled with
the BREAK ENTER OFF command. CTRL+C can still be detected after BREAK
ENTER OFF has been executed, unless BREAK OFF has been executed
separately.

BREAK ENTER ON re-enables ESCAPE data entry termination.

Using CTRL+C to terminate data entry
------------------------------------
Unless the BREAK OFF command has been executed, CTRL+C can be detected
during data entry.

CTRL+C generates error number 11, which may be trapped following the
ON ERROR GOTO command.

Using ORDER with ESCAPE key termination of data entry
-----------------------------------------------------
Normally the ORDER system variable returns the data entry order number
of the last field or variable entered during Form data entry.

If the user presses ESCAPE to terminate data entry, ORDER returns a
negative number.

If data entry is being done in Page or Record view, there is no data
entry order number, as this feature only applies to Forms. ORDER
returns 1 when data entry ends after the last field has been
completed, or -1 if ESCAPE is used to terminate data entry.


STARTING MICROSOFT DATABASE BY OPENING A FILE
------------------------------------
The WIN.INI [extensions] section includes four Microsoft Database file
extension settings. You may run Microsoft Database by opening any of these
types of file:

     SBV  Form
     SBP  Program
     SBF  Data file
     SBD  File definition


STARTING MICROSOFT DATABASE WITHOUT RUNNING THE MS-DOS EXECUTIVE
-------------------------------------------------------
You can run Microsoft Database from the MS-DOS command line with the
following option:

     WIN:MSDB

The colon instructs Microsoft Windows to run without the MS-DOS
executive, thus making more memory available to the system. However,
this option makes it impossible to use the DML CALL command.


REORGANIZE BACKUP FILE
----------------------
The name of the backup file used by the Process Reorganize command has
been changed.

If you reorganize a file using its original name, Microsoft Database first
makes a backup copy of it under the filename DBXREORG. The SBF,
SBD, and all index files bear this root name during the process.
DBXREORG is deleted after the reorganization is completed.


PRINTING
--------
Process Print in Table View
---------------------------
You may need to drag columns to the right on screen to set a
width sufficient to avoid truncation when printing in some
proportional fonts.

Printing Object Classes in DML
------------------------------
The PRINT CURRENT or PRINT FILE commands may have an optional PAGE or
ALL parameter to print the current page or all pages of a form. This
may now be followed by USING with up to seven optional parameters to
specify centering and object class selection.

Each parameter may have the value 1 or 0 to signify whether the object
class should or should not be printed. The parameters may be numeric
expressions. The order of the parameters is as follows:

     1    Centering
     2    Areas
     3    Boxes
     4    Lines
     5    Text
     6    Images
     7    Fields


     PRINT CURRENT PAGE USING 1,0,0,0,1,0,1

Prints the current page centered, showing only text and field data.

If all parameters are set to 0, the default dialog is presented so that the
user may choose desired options.

ALIGNMENT OF OUTPUT
-------------------
Three modifiers are available for the & formatting parameter to specify
left, right, or centered output of a field or variable.

 &[nn  Left aligned output within a column nn characters wide.
 &|nn  Centered output within a column nn characters wide.
 &]nn  Right aligned output within a column nn characters wide.

For example, to force a date to be left aligned in a column 20
characters wide, use a command of the form:

     ? &[20 datefield.FILENAME.

Note. Proportional fonts are not supported with this feature.

The modifiers may be set from within the Report Generation part of the
Form Designer. To specify the type of alignment required, select the
item or items required, and click the justification tool in the
toolbox to the left, vertical (centered), or right pointing position.

IMPORTING DIF FILES
-------------------
The character set used by DIF files is assumed to be the IBM
character set, unless the ANSI conversion option has been selected
or the header of the DIF file has the title "Excel."

DDE SYSTEM TOPIC
----------------
The Microsoft Database system topic has been extended. This allows the DDE
programmer to obtain information about the Microsoft Database system and use it
to control Microsoft Database more precisely as a DDE server application.

To use the system topic from within a DDE client application such as
Excel, simply specify `system' in place of the filename that usually
appears as the topic. Follow this with one of the following items:

   Item name:      Returns:

   Topics          All open Microsoft Database files plus `system' itself
   Formats         CF_TEXT (the only format supported by Microsoft Database)
   Status          `Ready' or `Busy' or `Active'
   ReturnMessage   `OK' or Microsoft Database error message
   Fields          All fields for the current file
   (expression)    Variable values

An example program that uses all of these functions follows.

 REM *** Written by: Mark C. Johnson
 PANEL OFF
 STATUS ON
 CLOSE ALL
 MOUSE ON
 SET PAGING OFF
 CLS
 winver% = 2:REM if you have the next version of Windows, set this to 3
 flg% = - 1
 ON ERROR GOTO DDECheck
 SET HEADING "Attempting to contact other Microsoft Database..."
 SET POSITION FOR "Attempt"0,0,640,250
Start:
 DDEINIT 3,"MSDB","System"
 DDEEXEC 3,"set heading " + CHR$ (34) + "Slave Task:" + CHR$ (34)
 DDEEXEC 3,"set paging off"
 SET HEADING "Contact Established."
 DIM rt$(10)
10 :
 n$ = ""
 flg% = 0
 SET HEADING "Enter Command:"
 GOSUB GetLine
 IF n$ = "" GOTO 10
 IF UCASE$ (n$) = "EXIT" OR UCASE$ (n$) = "QUIT" THEN DDEEXEC 3,"QUIT":DDETERM 3:SET HEADING "":END
 REM *** First try and see if it is a valid system topic
 DDEREQ 3,n$,rt$(0),rt$(1),rt$(2),rt$(3),rt$(4),rt$(5),rt$(6),rt$(7),rt$(8),rt$(9),rt$( 10)
 ? "Reponse to `"n$"' was:"
 FOR x% = 0 TO 10
        IF rt$(x%) <> "" THEN ? rt$(x%)
 NEXT x%
 IF winver% = 2 THEN SET STATUS "Press any key...":WAIT KEY a$:SET STATUS ""
 GOTO 10
20 :
 REM *** Nope, was not a valid Request.  Maybe it is a command?
 flg% = 1
 DDEEXEC 3,n$
 ? "Command Accepted."
 IF winver% = 2 THEN SET STATUS "Press any key...":WAIT KEY a$:SET STATUS ""
 GOTO 10
SetupOther:
 REM *** Error routine for setting up other Microsoft Database if not found
 CALL "MSDB",1
 DDEINIT 3,"MSDB","System"
 DDEEXEC 3,"set heading " + CHR$ (34) + "Slave Task:" + CHR$ (34)
 SET POSITION FOR "Slave"0,250,640,150
 DDETERM 3
 RESUME Start
GetLine:
 REM *** Routine to get a command line - since Windows 2.11 is slower
 REM *** than the later versions of Windows, we suggest you not use it
 REM *** (set the winver% variable to 2)
 n$ = ""
 IF winver% = 2 THEN
        REQUEST "Enter Command:","",4,n%,n$,60
        RETURN
 END IF
GL1:
 SET STATUS ">" + RIGHT$ (n$,58) + CHR$ (5)
 WAIT KEY a$
 IF a$ = CHR$ (8) GOTO BSpace
 IF a$ = CHR$ (13) GOTO EndLine
 IF a$ = CHR$ (24) GOTO WipeLine
 IF ASC (a$) < 32 OR ASC (a$) > 127 GOTO GL1
 n$ = n$ + a$
 GOTO GL1
BSpace:
 IF LEN (n$) = 0 GOTO GL1
 n$ = LEFT$ (n$, LEN (n$) - 1)
 GOTO GL1
EndLine:
 SET STATUS LEFT$ (n$,60)
 SET HEADING "Sending command..."
 RETURN
WipeLine:
 n$ = ""
 GOTO GL1
DDECheck:
 REM *** Check to see if it was a valid DDE error, if so handle it
 REM *** otherwise - tell user what happened and stop
 IF ERRNO = 156 THEN
        IF flg% = - 1 GOTO SetupOther
        IF flg% = 0 THEN RESUME 20
        DDEREQ 3,"ReturnMessage",rt$
        ? "Invalid Command: "rt$
        IF winver% = 2 THEN SET STATUS "Press any key...":WAIT KEY a$:SET STATUS ""
        RESUME 10
 END IF
 IF ERRNO = 160 THEN REQUEST "Application Busy!","",2,n%:RESUME 10
 IF ERRNO = 154 THEN DDEEXEC 3,"QUIT":DDETERM 3:RESUME Start
 REQUEST "Unexpected Error:", ERR$ ( ERRNO ),113,n%
 DDETERM 3
 END


Notes
-----
1. Status. The `ready' status indicates that Microsoft Database is doing
   nothing, i.e. waiting for an event. The `busy' status indicates
   that Microsoft Database is executing a DML program. The `active' status
   indicates that Microsoft Database is executing some other process.

   The system topic status item should be used to ensure that
   Microsoft Database is ready to receive DDE commands. For example, if the
   DDE client application were to execute a DDE command that instructed
   Microsoft Database to run a DML program, Microsoft Database would
   initiate a process of indeterminate duration. Therefore the client
   application should use the status item to check that Microsoft Database
   is `ready' and not `busy' before sending any other DDE commands.

2. (expression). When using `expression', the parentheses are
   compulsory. The expression itself may be a string variable such as
   x$ or a system variable such as FILE. This is the only way to
   obtain the value of a Microsoft Database string variable in another
   application.


USER GUIDE ERRATA
-----------------
Volume 1       Database and Text Editor
--------
Page      Erratum
----      -------
3-2       In Creating an Empty Copy, change "see Chapter 15 Reorganizing
          the Database" to "See Chapter 16 ...".

3-3       Add to end of Caution that "Also note that passwords are case
          sensitive.".

5-6       Add note to end of page: "If you change the calculation formula
          for a virtual field, the index will not be updated and will not
          work as expected. The correct procedure is to remove the index
          first, edit the calculation and then rebuild the index.

6-7       Delete second occurence of "Beginning of Field" in table.

8-4       The figure $9.20 in the example should be $19.20.

16-2      Delete Paragraph 4, The & Length parameter may not be used to
          set a field's format in the new file.
16-4      Paragraph 2, delete the first sentence and substitute: "If you
          reorganize a file using its original name, Microsoft Database
          first creates a backup copy of it under the file name DBXREORG.
          The SBD, SBF and all index files bear this root name during the
          process. DBXREORG is deleted after the reorganization process is
          complete.

28-1      Text files heading, paragraph 3: change "255" to read "4000".

33-2      Paragraph 2, point 5 ("Print out file definition") to 6 and
          insert new Point 5: "Save the file definition".
          Paragraph 7: add sentence to end "Remember that passwords are
          case sensitive.".

33-30     Paragraph 5, change "click the * button (for multiplication) and
          then type 1.01" to read "click the + box (for addition) and then
          type 1".
          Paragraph 6, change example to read: "Interest_rate =
          Interest_rate + 1".
          Paragraph 7, change "multiply the value in each selected
          Interest_rate field by 1.01" to "add 1 to the value in each
          selected Interest_rate field.".

33-32     After the example in Paragraph 5, add "You may not be able to
          see the entire report line in the window due to its size. You
          will, however, be able to scroll through the entire line using
          cursor keys so you may view or edit it.".

34-6      Under "Utilities Directory List" change "KEYS: CTRL + D" to read
          "CRTL + L".

34-8      Menu Selection.
          Add:
                        F1                   HELP
          Change:
                        ALT + F2             DML Edit
                        CTRL + Y             Utilities Status File
                        CTRL + Z             Utilities Status System

34-9      At bottom of page, change "SHIFT+ENTER" to read "CTRL+ENTER"

Volume 2        Form Designer, Programming Language and Applications Guide
--------
10-1      Point 2 (bottom of page): all after "report."

10-2      Insert new point 12: "Use Define SB Links to link the form's
          database files.".
          Change existing point 12 to 13.

17-70     Change "where nexpr - 1 = 1" to read "where nexpr - n = 1".

17-70     The significance of the type parameter in the financial
to        functions FN fv, FN nper, FN pmt, FN pv, and FN rate is
17-73     reversed. The correct significance is:

               0    Computes for end of month
               1    Computes for beginning of month

17-120     Under MODIFY, delete reference to "IXU"
           add: "NOTE: This command cannot be used to modify an indexed
           field or to add an index to a field.".

17-133     Under "Comments," change "param 10" and "param 11" to read
           "param 12" and "param 13" respectively, and insert:
           param 10:    Chop (0 for OFF, 1 for USE)
           param 11:    CR/LF (0 for conversion, 1 for NO conversion)

17-148     Delete text in "Syntax" section and replace with the syntax below
and
18-6       Paragraph 14, showing the syntax for the use of the PRINT
           command, delete and change to read:

           PRINT CURRENT [PAGE/ALL[USING nexpr1 ...nexpr7]]/FILE
           [PAGE/ALL[USING nexpr1 ...nexpr7]] sbfname [INDEX indexname]
           [DESCENDING][WHERE conditions/ASK]/[expressionlist]


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                                END OF README.TXT
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