Data Based Advisor articles from March 1991

Data Based Advisor archives from March 1991

Dataline.
March 1, 1991... DATALINE GUI "Starter Set" MENLO PARK, CA -- Gupta Technologies, Inc. now offers the "SQL Windows Client-Server Starter System," which includes SQL Windows, five runtime versions of SQL Windows, and a five-user DOS version of SQLBase...

The secret of success. (how to succeed as an independent consultant) (editorial)
March 1, 1991... The Secret of Success I'm a computer consultant. I'm also Executive Editor of this magazine. So people ask me, "How can you do both..and why?" Good questions. What better place to answer than in an issue focused on the nuts and bolts...

Feedback. (letter to the editor)
March 1, 1991... FEEDBACK FoxPro and Con Regarding Alan Schuetz's October "Feedback," here's how I get a zero-padded customer number using dBASE's RECNO() function: cust id = transform (Recno (),'@L 999999') Under FoxPro I use: cust id = padl...

hyperkinetix, Inc. (SymPacPL symbol-table tool) (product announcement)
March 1, 1991... hyperkinetix, Inc. hyperkinetix, Inc. released SymPacPL for Clipper Summer '87 and PLink86. This "symbol table cruncher" goes into the symbol table of your EXE file and removes duplicate symbols from the symbol table, reducing memory...

Looking at your database from the Outside In. (utility program from Systems Compatibility Corp.) (Software Review) (evaluation)
March 1, 1991... Looking at Your Database from the Outside In Ever wanted a quick, easy way to import specific records from your database into documents? If you don't like the idea of shelling out the dollars for Windows (and the hardware you'll need to run...

QNE International. (Q-PRO 4 4.1 application development language) (product announcement)
March 1, 1991... QNE International QNE International announced version 4.1 of Q-PRO 4, their multi-user, fourth-generation application development language. The Q-PRO 4 environment includes 115 commands and functions, a screen painter, table-driven screens,...

FYI: the books experts turn to most.
March 1, 1991... FYI The books experts turn to most: X-Base consultant Jordan Powell--FoxPro Handbook, by Tom Rettig, Ellen Sander, and Debby Moody (Bantam) Paradox SQL-Link pro Ben Tandowski--All of C. J. Date's books, especially A Guide to...

Doing flashy dialog boxes. (Flash Creative Management's Code In a Flash template for FoxView) (product announcement)
March 1, 1991... Doing Flashy Dialog Boxes According to the Laws of Inevitable Disappointment with Software (LIDS), it's always the next version of your favorite package that will finally have all the features you just can't live without. FoxPro is no...

Grumpfish, Inc. (Grumpfish Library 3.0) (product announcement)
March 1, 1991... Grumpfish, Inc. Grumpfish, Inc. announced an update to their Grumpfish Library. Version 3.0 features a revamped GET system and Clipper 5.0-specific functions intended to ease the transition from Summer '87 to 5.0. It also includes a database...

R!Genesis attempts to offer an R:BASE app starting point. (program development software from Custom Database Solutions) (product announcement)
March 1, 1991... R!Genesis Attempts to Offer an R:BASE App Starting Point Don Whitecar of Custom Database Solutions claims that, on average, one-fourth of R:BASE application development time is spent implementing basic administrative features that aren't...

Gupta Technologies, Inc. (SQLBase Server 4.1) (product announcement)
March 1, 1991... Gupta Technologies, Inc. Gupta Technologies, Inc. announced SQLBase Server 4.1. This version provides cursor context preservation, which should increase speed, since it reduces the overhead work involved in data commits. New router...

A Force-ful library from Jeff Davis. (the Jeff Davis Library for Force compiler from Jeff Davis and Associates) (Software Review) (evaluation)
March 1, 1991... A Force-ful Library from Jeff Davis The Jeff Davis Library for Force is the first third-party library developed strictly for the Force compiler--welcome news for developers not-so-patiently awaiting add-on products. The functions it includes...

genSoft Development Corp. (dBFast for Windows 1.5 development language) (product announcement)
March 1, 1991... genSoft Development Corp. genSoft Development Corp. announced version 1.5 of dBFast for Windows. This stand-alone development language lets X-Base developers convert or create applications to run under Windows 3.0. This upgrade is free if you...

Hunter Systems. (DOS-to-UNIX porting service)
March 1, 1991... Hunter Systems Hunter Systems will port your DOS applications to UNIX with their XDOS porting service. Developers supply a binary copy of their application with test programs. Engineers at Hunter Systems convert the application, preserving the...

SIR: a hierarchy of heart attacks. (SIR USA Inc.'s SIR database management system ported to DOS-based microcomputers; it was used to develop a database for a medical research study on heart attacks)
March 1, 1991... SIR: A Hierarchy of Heart Attacks Three years ago, I had to decide what hardware and software to use to manage the database for an upcoming medical research study on heart attacks. It was called the Myocardial Infarction, Triage &...

Contributors.
March 1, 1991... Contributors Wayne N. Kawamoto is a writer specializing in DOS and Macintosh applications. He's also a manager in new product development for a navigation systems manufacturer, where he designs equipment and writes manuals. He can be contacted...

Pop-up messages using windows. (Mac Rubel's Power Tools)(column) (tutorial)
March 1, 1991... Pop-Up Messages Using Windows If you're not programming in windows, you are: a) behind times, and b) not making the most of your programs. I resisted windows when Ashton-Tate introduced them to the language, but now I'm a convert. I use...

Word-wrap a character string. (solution to a programming problem) (tutorial)
March 1, 1991... * Word-Wrap a Character String I feel guilty about last month's homework assignment. You were supposed to do two things. First, you had to figure out how to extract lines of a given length from a character string. Second, you had to...

WAITing for trouble. (PAL's WAIT command) (The Paradox Programmer)(column) (tutorial)
March 1, 1991... WAITing for Trouble The WAIT command, which lets a user look at or change a field, record, or table, is one of the most useful and powerful commands in the PAL language. It makes writing data entry programs a snap. On the face of it, WAIT...

The secrets of array handling, part 1. (of two parts) (Hardcore Clipper)(column) (tutorial)
March 1, 1991... The Secrets to Array Handling, Part 1 In this first part of a two-part article, we introduce Clipper 5.0's powerful new array handling capabilities. We start by showing how to create arrays, continue by showing how to change their size...

Set up your accounting records, part 1. (includes related articles on billing clients and a sample chart of accounts) (How to Succeed in Business special section) (tutorial)
March 1, 1991... Set Up Your Accounting Records, Part 1 One of the most difficult aspects of running a business is setting up a coherent set of accounting records. Yet they're important because they form the keystone to solid business management. Accounting...

Small satisfactions. (consulting for small, or "micro-based", businesses) (includes 15 related articles on consulting tips and one on writing good specifications) (How to Succeed in Business special section) (tutorial)
March 1, 1991... Small Satisfactions CONSULTING WISDOM 1 Before you start, know what it takes to "succeed." Understand the real objectives and solve the right problems. 2 Know your limitations--any your strengths. Reconcile objectives with your...

Big game hunting. (getting big businesses as consulting clients) (includes related articles giving consulting tips) (How to Succeed in Business special section) (tutorial)
March 1, 1991... Big Game Hunting When you decide to sell your services independently, one of your business decisions should be what size clients to seek out, large or small. Each has its good and bad points. Small businesses, according to common...

Contributors. (How to Succeed in Business special section)
March 1, 1991... Contributors Menachem Bazian is a CPA with a specialty in Management Advisory Services and Systems. He's an avid FoxPro programmer and has experience in software selection, design, and development. He can be reached via CompuServe (76366,42),...

Flex reports, part 1. (includes related article on FoxPro 2.0 Report Writer changes) (Hands-On FoxPro)(column) (tutorial)
March 1, 1991... Flex Reports, Part 1 At October's Fox Developer Conference, attendees were inspired by the improved tools that FoxPro 2.0 will provide--and the Report Writer was no exception. But I heard attendees asking for capabilities they already have...

Putting OOP to work for you. (object-oriented programming) (includes related article defining OOP and discussing why it should be used) (Clipper Developer)(column) (tutorial)
March 1, 1991... Putting OOP to Work for You Now that Nantucket is touting the object-oriented programming features of Clipper 5.0, it's time to look at what OOP is all about and how you can take advantage of it in your next application. Over the next few...

JPLDIS: The first dBASE? (a court decision finds dBASE had its origins in the JPLDIS public-domain mainframe program)
March 1, 1991... JPLDIS December's court decision against Ashton-Tate by Judge Terry Hatter (see "Editor on the Go" in our February issue) declared, in part, that dBASE had its origins in a public domain mainframe program, JPLDIS. JPL Data-management and...

dSTORY; how I really developed dBASE. (author of dBASE tells of the database management system's history)
March 1, 1991... dSTORY: How I Really Developed dBASE Whenever I read any mention of the origins of dBASE, I get agitated about the inaccuracies and errors. I suppose I'm being sensitive, but the errors do seem to be at my expense, and I'm amazed at how the...

Bogosity. (suspect advertising slogans) (Opinions) (column)
March 1, 1991... Bogosity You've all seen it. It's published in magazines, it's printed in newspapers, it's broadcast on television, and all too often it's extolled by people who ought to know better. Manifested in the form of things made to sound factual,...

Sloppy Joe coding. (fixing poor applications written by consultants) (Opinions) (column)
March 1, 1991... Sloppy Joe Coding These days about 60 percent of my consulting business involves fixing or completely rewriting applications attempted by others. Over the years, as such work has increased for me, I've noticed an alarming pattern emerge. I'm...

The great divide. (relational database management systems compared with X-Base DBMSs) (Opinions) (column)
March 1, 1991... The Great Divide The X-Base world and the relational world are separated by a chasm of suspicion and ignorance. On one side, the X-Basers are convinced that their particular version of the language, with its glorified file manager, is the be all...

Anything can happen day. (possible results of Ashton-Tate's trademark lawsuit) (Opinions) (column)
March 1, 1991... Anything Can Happen Day Today is Wednesday. It's Anything Can Happen day. I've been hearing people say that the dismissal of Ashton-Tate's trademark lawsuit on the dBASE language is great news. Maybe it is. So let's plead that case first....

The end of interpreters. (vs. compilers) (Opinions) (column)
March 1, 1991... The End of Interpreters I love interpreters. You just type in your code and start it running. It's simple. It's fast. And the day of the interpreter is over. You will not complain. In fact, if you program in any of the X-base dialects,...

Is Judge Hatter mad? (Ashton-Tate vs. Fox Software court case) (Opinions) (column)
March 1, 1991... Is Judge Hatter Mad? Recently many of us were tricked into thinking the case of Ashton-Tate vs. Fox Software had been resolved. Right after the case was dismissed, phone calls were fast and furious--everyone in the press wanted to make their...

Create the truly reusable routine. (design of Clipper Winter '84 and Clipper 5.0) (Clipper Developer)(column) (tutorial)
March 1, 1991... Create the Truly Reusable Routine Let's define a few terms and ideas. To start with, turn to the beginning of Clipper. In most of our X-Base experience, we've been programming procedures and procedure files. This came down to us from the...

Color blind; manage your monitor mode automatically. (Clarion Tip)(column) (tutorial)
March 1, 1991... Color Blind Clarion can detect the current video mode and translate all screen colors accordingly. Therefore, if you set the video mode to monochrome (using "MODE BW80" at the Command Line) before running a Clarion program on a color...

Countdown; reset report page numbers when you want.... (PAL Tip)(column) (tutorial)
March 1, 1991... Countdown PAradox's report writer lets you add page number fields to your reports. You just can't reset the page numbers when you start a new group--unless you know about a little-known addition to the COUNT command. This addition will...

Dressing applications: pictures in the right places can spice up your application and improve its usability.... (Mac Master)(column) (tutorial)
March 1, 1991... Dressing Applications Start-up screens are as important for FoxBASE+/Mac applications as for word processors and spreadsheets. Since menubars look alike after awhile, users can have trouble remembering that there's even an application...

Control the cursor: this routine prevents the user from scrolling the cursor below a memo field. (Clipper Tip)(column) (tutorial)
March 1, 1991... Control the Cursor This routine prevents the user from scrolling the cursor below a memo field. Ed.'s note: The following tip integrates the explanation of the program into the code, for obvious reasons. CLEAR TEXT By Michael J. Magan...

Data dictionaries and demos. (using the Data Based Advisor Forum on CompuServe) (DB Connections) (column)
March 1, 1991... Data Dictionaries and Demos Nobody can say data dictionaries are a dry topic after visiting CompuServe's Data Based Advisor Forum Section 12--rowdy home of the "X-base DD Project." Ringleader Adam Green is corralling opinion on a variety of...

Fast work. (the North Carolina Developer's Competition)
March 1, 1991... Fast Work This past January, software developers from Colorado, New Jersey, Maryland, and North Carolina squared off to determine who could create the best application in six hours. They used the tools of their choice: Clipper, (Summer '87...

Database confidential. (rumors)
March 1, 1991... Database Confidential Anybody else want a piece of Wayne Ratliff? While Ed Esber was still at the helm, Ashton-Tate called Wayne. Not really interested in his Emerald Bay technology (though they should have been), they just wanted to rent...

Get clear on CLEAR VAR. (removing variables with the % wildcard) (R:Base Tip) (column) (tutorial)
March 1, 1991... Get Clear on CLEAR VAR A barely documented feature of R:BASE 3.1, which appears useful on the surface, can cause hidden problems when used in combination with programs to which you've passed parameters. In all releases of R:BASE, you can...