The new object tutorials. (tutorial samples in CA-Clipper 5.2e) (Hardcore Clipper)(Column)(Tutorial)

A new series of tutorial examples has quietly hit the street with the release of CA-Clipper 5.2e. These sample programs are designed to teach programmers the fundamentals of the original Clipper predefined classes: Error, Get, TBrowse, and TBColumn.

All the files listed here should be useful with CA-Clipper 5.3 also, although 5.3 programmers will need a similar set of examples to demonstrate the use of all the new classes found in 5.3. (The initial 5.3 release doesn't include such examples.

The sample files are thoughtfully produced (aside from the misspellings and grammatical errors found in the code, redundant modules, and curious groupings) and would have been a real asset to the product's initial release years ago. One could certainly learn about the techniques illustrated in these tutorials by examining various third-party libraries, books, newsletters, and online resources, but now you no longer have to look beyond the base product itself for this information. In this column, I discuss these files grouped by class: Error, Get, TBrowse, TBColumn.

Tutorial files directory setup

When you install (or apply the patch available from various sources including the CompuServe CA-Clipper forum) the new 5.2e version, you'll notice several new directories underneath the standard \CLIPPER5\SOURCE directory.

\CLIPPER5\SOURCE\ERRORSYS

\CLIPPER5\SOURCE\GETSYS

\CLIPPER5\SOURCE\TBROW\ARRAYS

\CLIPPER5\SOURCE\TBROW\BROTEXT

\CLIPPER5\SOURCE\TBROW\GENERAL

\CLIPPERS\SOURCE\TBROW\LIB

\CLIPPER5\SOURCE\TBROW\N_COMMDR

\CLIPPERS\SOURCE\TBROW\SKIPDBF

\CLIPPICRS\SOURCE\TBROW\SPRDSHT

\CLIPPER5\SOURCE\TBROW\TBRNET

In each directory is a series of program files, most of which are serially numbered, that contain sample …