Data Based Advisor articles from February 1991

Data Based Advisor archives from February 1991

Dataline.
February 1, 1991... Microrim Updates Developers LAS VEGAS, NV - Forty or so R:BASE developers and Microrim executives met at the R:BASE Developers Council during Fall Comdex. President Jack Noonan gave a brief run-down of the company's status, which...

On the eve of destruction. (Ashton-Tate versus Fox Software)
February 1, 1991... Initial court ruling declares Ashton-Tate's DBASE copyrights invalid .. In December 11, 1990, the bottom fell out of Ashton-Tate's world. That's the day United States District Judge Terry J. Hatter, Jr. declared A-T's copyrights on dBASE...

Feedback.
February 1, 1991... More on the Client/Developer Pact It was with great interest that I read Pat Adams' article, "Put It In Writing!" in the December issue. We recently entered into an agreement with a developer who used 'client management" techniques...

RTlink/Plus forges ahead. (Pocket Soft Inc.'s RTLink/Plus 4.1 utility program) (product announcement)
February 1, 1991... If you're a Clipper developer, you probably try to keep up with the latest developments in the raging Clipper linker war. Every new linker released ups the ante of new features and advantages. Pocket Soft has been keeping itself quite busy in...

Integrated Development Corp. (Integrated Development Corp.'s IDL for Clipper 5.0) (product announcement)
February 1, 1991... Integrated Development Corp. announced IDL Clipper 5.0. IDL for Clipper 5.0. is a function library that the company claims allows you to compile your Summer '87 programs under 5.0 without rewriting a single IDL function call--which means your...

Geller Software Labs. (Geller Software Labs's The Spell Checking Engine) (product announcement)
February 1, 1991... Geller Software Labs announced The Spell Checking Engine, a libra that lets Clipper and C developers add spell checking to their applications. This function library is made up of object modules that you link into your applications, it also...

AREV users connect at conference. (Advanced Revelation)
February 1, 1991... Palm Beach Gardens, FL--The second annual National Revelation Conference (NRC) has come and gone, leaving over 200 satisfied attendees in its wake--and demonstrating the growing presence of Advanced Revelation (AREV) in today's database...

Flow Charting III updates an age-old tradition. (Patton & Patton's Flow Charting III) (evaluation)
February 1, 1991... In the dark ages, developers started working on a program by painstakingly constructing a flow chart--you know, those little boxes connected to circles, diamonds, and other symbols with lines and arrows that make programs easy to understand?...

Blue Sky Software Corp. (Blue Sky Software Corp.'s WindowMAKER Professional program development software) (product announcement)
February 1, 1991... Blue Sky Software Corp. announced WindowsMAKER Professional, a programming tool that runs under Windows 3.0. With WindowsMAKER Professional, developers and users can design screens, menus, and data entry forms by picking choices from...

FYI.
February 1, 1991... Shipping front ends for Microsoft's SQL Server as of December 17, 1990:49 Total front ends in the works:60 Shipping front ends for Oracle Server as of December 20, 1990: 41 Total front ends in the works: 62 Percentage of...

Get reverse reports with Monarch and Extract. (Software Review) (Datatrope Corp.'s Extract and Personics' Monarch utility programs) (evaluation)
February 1, 1991... How many products can turn out reports from data files? Probably thousands, right? But what about that process in reverse? Two new offerings, Datatrope's Extract and Personics' Monarch, run backwards. Consider this typical scenario: Your...

Making sense with Packrat. (Software Review) (Polaris Software's Packrat 3.0 desktop accessory software) (evaluation)
February 1, 1991... Let's see... I was supposed to write an article about this personal information manager I've been using. How long did my editor say it was supposed to be? I think she said something about a due date... I better call to get some more...

Get an education in SQL. (Structured Query Language)
February 1, 1991... Using SQL, written by James R. Groff and Paul N. Weinberg, provides detailed information about SQL for anyone--from nontechnical users to application engineers. The book includes information on topics like the history of SQL and its...

Remember the people factor. (The VAR Report)
February 1, 1991... When you're doing a new installation, don't forget that people provide the key to your success... A client pulled us aside in his warehouse. We had been discussing the five-user network we were to install in his office. He was worried,...

Meaningful pauses. (tutorial)
February 1, 1991... Here's how to create very short timing delays in your programs Recently, I needed very tiny timing delays in an application--delays much shorter than a second. Since the BEEP command has some inherent errors, I had to find another way. Of...

How to sort arrays. (Mac Rubel's Power Tools)(includes related articles on leap year feedback, solution to last month's brain teaser) (tutorial)
February 1, 1991... Suppose you've just loaded a list of file names into an array. Before you show it to your user, you'll want to sort it alphabetically. What do you do? If you're using Clipper you don't need to read any further. ASORT() will order the contents...

Code block basics. (Hardcore Clipper) (tutorial)
February 1, 1991... Don't be intimidated by code blocks. This article will teach you what they are and how to use them, and how to make your code more efficient with a couple of code block tricks... While code blocks are one of Clipper 5.0's most important...

User's choice. (The Fox Files) (tutorial)
February 1, 1991... This month's programming lesson builds on your BROWSE expertise Last month we covered some techniques to create a power search program. In this article we'll use those techniques to write a program that allows the user to select from...

Database experts open Windows. (includes a related article on glossary terms)
February 1, 1991... A new environment brings new needs and opportunities. If you're willing and able to master Windows database products tight now, you have a waiting marketplace When Microsoft announced Windows back in 1984, it sounded appealing. Sort of a...

When will the big companies tackle GUIs? (graphical user interfaces; includes related article on meaning of 'Windows-compatible,' dBFAST compiler)
February 1, 1991... Users are demanding graphical user interfaces--especially Windows. Here's what the major database vendors are doing about it .. Everyone knows users are creatures of habit. They panic at the thought of learning something new. Enter...

A corporation opens Windows. (JC Penney)
February 1, 1991... When you're JCPenney, you have to make sure your computing choices fit company strategy .. After a large company places computing power on the user's desktop, they still have to face the daunting task of choosing or developing a platform...

Picking the right interface.
February 1, 1991... Remember, Windows 3. 0 isn't your only option when it comes to multi-tasking and a graphical user interface... File CONTACTS DESQview Quarterdeck Office Systems (213) 392-9851 Ensemble GeoWorks, Inc. (415) 644-0883...

Russian developments. (Soviet database market)
February 1, 1991... Several major database vendors see the Soviet market as a tremendous opportunity--if you don't mind being paid in rubles... N By Mike Lewis What part of the world will be the number one database market by the end of the decade? A few...

Exploring MDXs. (multiple indexes in dBASE IV) (tutorial)
February 1, 1991... Multiple indexes are unique to dBASE IV. Here's what's hidden in their headers... n By R. Russell Freeland In the August issue of Data Based Advisor, I wrote an article about how to list the headers of xBASE index files. I promised to...

Recalcitrance. (programming conventions)(Opinions) (column)
February 1, 1991... Hang around programmers for a while and the talk inevitably turns to the "c" word-conventions, as in programming conventions. Mention these words at a computer gathering and watch as the room symbolically divides up into two groups. Group...

The language crusades. (Opinions) (column)
February 1, 1991... A war beyond logic--dBASE vs. SQL Have you ever noticed that certain computer cultists actually refer to themselves as "missionaries" or "evangelists?" I see this most in the SQL community--shades of Jim and Tammy Faye! These folks are...

Hot air rises. (Opinions) (column)
February 1, 1991... The computer industry, and the PC industry in particular, has been buoyed by lots of hot air for years, but in recent months this seems to have reached a new high or is that low?) in speculation over FoxPro 2.0 and its Rushmore technology....

Ashton's Gate. (Opinions) (column)
February 1, 1991... "I attended Julliard. I am a graduate of the Harvard Business School. travel quite extensively. I lived through the Black Plague, and I had a pretty good time doing that. Not to mention the fact that you're talking to a dead guy. Now what do...

Choosing right. (selecting a database management system)(Opinions) (column)
February 1, 1991... So you're trying to choose between C and dBASE, Clipper and Fox, Clarion and R:BASE. You would hire a high-powered consultant if you could, but you don't have the budget. What are you going to do?. Every magazine, including this one, has...

Accounting firms face xBASE divergence.
February 1, 1991... It used to be easier for accounting software companies that wrote their products in an xBASE language. Most started with dBASE, then offered a compiled version in Clipper. Then maybe they updated to be compatible with dBASE III PLUS. Later,...

Paging Revelation right. (setting up linked windows in Advanced Revelation database management system) (tutorial)
February 1, 1991... Here's a technique for AREV to let you move through a series of pages only when u want to ..N John Gunther In Revelation version G, it was easy to set up linked windows that let you move through a series of pages only when you wanted...

Programming for the future with RDDs. (replaceable database drivers) (tutorial)
February 1, 1991... Over the years, Nantucket has consistently fueled the programmer fire with ammunition like user-defined functions (UDFs) and third-party library support. Now, Clipper 5.0 continues the tradition and offers up new and even more dazzling bits...

Memory matters. (Hands-On Paradox) (tutorial)
February 1, 1991... Prevent recursion problems with these simple techniques... N By Robin Rowe If you develop large Paradox applications and dread seeing the Memory resources exceeded" message, this technique should eliminate that problem. It works for...

How to share applications. (Mac Master; includes a related article on FoxPro/Mac) (column)
February 1, 1991... Making things work on both Mac and DOS platforms isn't so tough. it just takes a little planning... * By michael P. Masterson Porting a file or application means moving it from one type of computer to another. In the December issue I...

Start with what you know. (Clipper Developer) (tutorial)
February 1, 1991... Let's look at three of the major issues that will confront you as a Clipper programmer and the code you write. make your code robust. The code in functions must be adaptable to the manner and the environment in which they're called. Instead...

Justmice and Justmenus; JASCO Consulting. (Software Review) (JASCO Consulting's Justmice and Justmenus libraries) (evaluation)
February 1, 1991... JASCO Consulting P.O. Box 1335 Pleasantville, New Jersey 08232 (609) 645-7979 As the names imply, Justmice lets you use a mouse in Clipper applications, and Justmenus provides functions to create pop-up menus that take...

Use hotkeys to save keystrokes.
February 1, 1991... Even though R.BASE's editor won't let you save blocks of code to re-use, here's how you can create the same effect... All programs have certain blocks of code or patterns of code that are repeated in other programs. With a word processor...

Five RAM rules. (random access memory; includes related articles on mail-order and on reading numbers) (column)
February 1, 1991... This month I'm going to look at RAM, a topic that seldom receives the attention it should. You may consider RAM a consumable you simply throw into a machine. In this article I hope to convince you to give RAM chips more attention. We'll cover...

Beginner's luck. (DB Connections) (column)
February 1, 1991... Whether you're a novice or an old pro, posting a question on the Forum can get you the answer you need. Here's proof... To me, one of the most admirable things about the culture of CompuServe Forums is the almost limitless willingness to...

User groups.
February 1, 1991... User Group listings are a free service of Data Based Advisor. Please note: Listings are on a space availability basis. individual User Group Coordinators are resPonsible for keeping listings up to date. To list a new User Group or to update a...

Database confidential.
February 1, 1991... So the judge threw the book at Ashton-Tate. Do they deserve it? Hawkeye Hawkins explains the facts in the front of this issue, but Buzzy's been doing his own digging. HeeHeeHee... Check this out. In 1983, Bob Byers, eventual author of the...