CP/M/CPM_CDROM.iso/lambda/soundpot/a/dbsource.lbr/DBSOURCE.HZP/DBSOURCE.HLP

Text File | 1993-10-26 | 5.3 KB | 196 lines

              DBSOURCE HELP  1-6-85

     DBSOURCE will take a dBASE II command file that has been
encoded with ENCODE , Ashton-Tates's DBCODE or with Gene Head's
DB-SQZ5 and generate a runable source file.  DBSOURCE can also
send the output to the printer or you may view the output on your
console.
     This type of file is encoded for one of two reasons.  First,
it protects the program file from being viewed or modified.  Second,
The encoded programs run about 30% faster.  I feel that the latter
reason is far more important.  The level of protection that this
type of encoding offers is only moderate.  Programs run faster
because the files are partially tokenized and all comments are
removed.
     Encoded command files are for use with dBASE II version
2.4 or higher.  A decoded file might require some translation to
run on an earlier version of dBASE II.



           Calling a Directory Listing

     To call a directory from the title screen simply enter the drive
you wish to list.

Filename.CMD or Drive:? A:

   This will list the directory of drive A and give the prompt again.

Directory of drive A:
FOO    .CMD    DBSOURCE.BAS    DBSOURCE.COM    BRUN    .COM    A10    .CMD
ENCODE    .BAS    ENCODE    .COM    MBASIC    .COM    D    .COM    SAMPLE    .CMD
BOOKS    .DBF    BOOKS    .FRM    DBASE    .COM    TERM    .DAT    CLEARSET.BAS
CLEARSET.COM    DBASEMSG.TXT    DBASEOVR.COM    B4    .CMD    R2D2    .CMD
INDENT4    .BAS    INDENT4    .COM    ELIZA    .BAS    A10    .SRC    A10    .BAK
CLONE    .CMD    TEST    .CMD    CLONE    .SRC    A10    .OLD    DBSRC2    .BAS
DBSRC2    .COM
Filename.CMD or Drive:?



    The ZCPR like drive call of A; will also work to call the directory,
even if you are not running ZCPR.

















        Viewing an Encoded dBASE II File

    To view the encoded dBASE II command file "SAMPLE.CMD", simply type
in the file name at the title screen prompt.

Filename.CMD or Drive:? SAMPLE.CMD

     Just use control S to stop the scrolling of the file or control C to
quit the program.  The file to be viewed must have the extension .CMD











                 Options

P    Send the output to the printer.  Does not generate a file.
F    Send the output to a file.
N    Turn off console output.  May be used only in combination
    with P or F options.

     All options must preceded by a space.  Extra spaces entered with
the options do not matter.  SAMPLE.CMD P F N is equivalent to
SAMPLE.CMD PFN.










             Direct output to Printer

     Use the P option to direct the output to the printer:

Filename.CMD or Drive? SAMPLE.CMD P

     This does not generate a disk file.  It will only print the file and
display the output on the screen.












            Generating a Source File

     To generate a runnable source file from an encoded dBASE II program,
use the "F" option.

Filename.CMD or Drive:? SAMPLE.CMD F

     This will write a file called SAMPLE.SRC.  If SAMPLE.SRC already exists,
you will be prompted with the message:

            []=========[]
            [] WARNING []
            []=========[]

           SAMPLE.SRC already exists!


Do you wish to overwrite SAMPLE.SRC?


     If you answer YES, the old SAMPLE.SRC will be erased and a new
SAMPLE.SRC will take it's place.  If you answer NO, the old SAMPLE.SRC
will be renamed to SAMPLE.BAK and you will have a new file named
SAMPLE.SRC.  If a file named SAMPLE.BAK is already was present on the disk,
it will be erased.
     All of the erasing and file name changes are done after the generation
of a SAMPLE.TMP file.  If there are no errors, the SAMPLE.TMP file is
renamed to SAMPLE.SRC and all other file changes done.  This prevents the
replacement of a file with a half finished one.  If all goes well, you should
never see the temporary file.  It will be present on the disk after DBSOURCE
is run only if you are running it in the MBASIC interpreter and stop the
operation in mid stream with control C.  In the compiled version, the
temporary file is erased when a control C is entered and the entire operation
is aborted.  This can not be done with the interpreter  as control C suspends
operation of DBSOURCE.  If you wish to continue with the interpreter,
type in CONT.  This will pick up operation where you left off and finish the
file.



     If everything goes OK and you have a SAMPLE.BAK on the disk, you should
see the following messages:

Erasing SAMPLE.BAK
Changing SAMPLE.SRC to SAMPLE.BAK
Changing SAMPLE.TMP to SAMPLE.SRC

     This is just to let you know what is going on.  With many programs
there is a rush to check the directory after operation to see if everything
went OK.  Using DBSOURCE you will know what file operations have been
done.
     The "F" option may be used with the "N" option to suppress the console
output.  Just enter:

Filename.CMD or Drive:? SAMPLE.CMD FN

to have the output go only to the new file.  The new SAMPLE.SRC file will
be generated slightly faster with the "N" option.


     To run the source file, you mast rename it to SAMPLE.CMD.  Do this only
if you first either move the file to another disk, or erase the existing
SAMPLE.CMD file.
     If you want a prettier source file.  Use DBIndent to generate a file
with the amount of indentation you like.







              END OF THE HELP FILE

rything goes OK and you have a SAMPLE.BAK on the disk, you should
see the following me