dBMANV INSTALLATION ------------------- This file describes the system-independent improvements. *** -> Amiga users: please read the file "amiga.5.3" on this disk! **** New in version 5.3 **** Sorting and Indexing are faster. How much faster depends on your particular data and sorting/indexing condition. Other factors that affect speed are the BUFFERS variable in CONFIG.DBM and the particular performance of your hard/floppy/ram disk. Given all these variables, the speed increase should be between 20% and 3x faster. *************************************************************** The remainder of this file refers to changes in 5.2 and before: ****Note to PC-DOS and all UNIX/XENIX version users**** Changes in the way dBMAN V 5.2 looks for the config.dbm file and other overlays. dBMAN version 5.2 now looks for all overlay files (i.e. ASSIST.DBM, HELP.DBM, CONFIG.DBM, ITEMR.DBM, DBM_REP.DBM, all DBM_FUNC files, DBM_OVL1.DBM, ERR.DAT, and ERRHELP.DAT) to be loated in the path specified by the environment variable called, "DBMANOVL". If you don't specify the DBMANOVL variable, dBMAN will expect the files to be in the current directory for PC-DOS and in a directory called, "/usr/lib/dbman" for UNIX/XENIX users. Refer to your Operating System manual for information on creating environment variables. On some UNIX versions of dBMAN V, there is a file called, "ibmset.dbm". This file, tells dBMAN V which terminals support the IBM Graphics Character Set. You can add more terminal name to the list ass needed with any text editor. The ibmset.dbm file is located in the /usr/lib/dbman directory. ****** For Commodore AMIGA users ****** The AMIGA version of dBMAN V, uses the Shift-Right Arrow and Shift-Left Arrow keys to pan in BROWSE, DISPLAY and SHOP. The manual states that the pan keys are Control-Right and Left Arrows. This is incorrect. Also, the file selector on the AMIGA currently doesn't show a ./ meaning to go up a directory level. To change the level of the directory you want displayed, press the TAB key while in the File Selector and type in the path name you wish files to be displayed in. To speed up some operations of dBMAN V, you may want to set the default for "system" to RAM:. This will cause temporary files created by dBMAN V to placed on the RAMdisk. You may also want to copy ASSIST.DBM, DBM_OVL1.DBM, ERR.DAT and DBM_REP.DBM to the RAMdisk and set the "dxx" to default to RAM:. Example: SET DEFAULT SYSTEM TO RAM: SET DEFAULT DXX TO RAM: &&Be sure all of the neccessary .DBM files &&are copied to the RAMdisk. FOR ALL dBMAN V USERS ****NOTE**** IF you are using the REPORT FORM command, you MUST set the relations yourself before issueing the REPORT FORM command. The SET DB3 ON command now compares strings and creates memory variables in the same manner as dBASE III Plus. Example: ? "ABC" = "A" &&If DBS is ON True, False if DB3 is OFF. company = company &&If DB3 is ON and a database field with the &&name of company is present, a memory &&variable will be created called, "company". &&If DB3 is OFF, dBMAN will just store the &&contents of the database field back into the &&database field. Following are commands and functions that were not included in the manual: Syntax: ASC(Cexp>) Description: This function is the same as rank in the Reference Manual. This was added for dBASE III+ compatibility. Syntax: ASSIST Description: This command will execute the ASSIST.RUN program. The ASSIST program is an easy-to-use menu driven interface that allows you to execute dBMAN V commands. With ASSIST you can create, modify and delete databases, indexes and records. Syntax: AVERAGE [] [] [TO ] [] [] Description: This command adds the numeric value in the , divides it by the number of records added and stores the result in the . If the is not specified, the first eight fields in the file will be averaged. A maximum of 64 fields can be averaged. The number of expressions in the must match the number of variables in the . The default for is ALL. Example: ITEM CATEGORY UNITPRICE 1 NAVEL ORANGE FRUIT .50 2 CHERRIES FRUIT .75 3 CHICKEN:WHOLE FRUIT 1.05 4 STRAWBERRIES FRUIT .99 AVERAGE UNITPRICE TO TTL ?TTL .82 Syntax: REFRESH GETS Description: This command causes dBMAN V to redraw all of the gets for the READ command. Use this command if you have a GET-file and change the contents of a GET field. Syntax: RESUME Description: The command RESUME is currently not supported by dBMAN V. You can use the key outlined in KEYBOARD DEFINITIONS of the supplemental manual. Syntax: RW [] FORM [FOR ] Description: This command is the same as REPORT FORM except the databases, index files, and report page information is loaded from the FRM file. Syntax: SELFILE("","") Description: The SELFILE function will display a list of file names in the pathname of , with the filenames matching . The variables must be predefined and enough space reserved for a 32 character pathname () and a 13 character filename (). If the user aborts the file selector, the filename variable will be empty. Example: path = 'C:\dbman' + space(30) filen = '*.dbf' + space(11) assign selfile("path","filen") if trim(filen) <> '' ... ... endif Syntax: SET EXCLUSIVE ON|OFF Description: This command is used on multi-user versions of dBMAN V. If on, all database and index files will be opened and locked. This is a dBASE compatibility command that enables single user code to work with file locking on a multi-user system. There are some good points to having EXCLUSIVE ON (or USE EXCLUSIVE). If a database is used exclusively, the database and index information will be cached in memory. This will make some commands operated up to 4 times faster than a non-exclusive operation. Example: SET EXCLUSIVE ON USE TEST &&(4,000 records USE TEST EXCLUSIVE would work too) REPLACE ALL DFIELD WITH DATE() &&This might take 1:00 SET EXCLUSIVE OFF USE TEST &&(Now it will not cache in memory) REPLACE ALL DFIELD WITH DATE() &&This will take at least 4:00 ***NOTE*** By default EXCULSIVE is ON. Syntax: RECEIVE(,,"") Description: RECEIVE enables you to get information from a serial port. is the device number to get the data from. is the number of characters to get. is a predefined variable enclosed in quotes that will contain the data received. Note: You should issue the COMSTAT() function call to see if there is data waiting. Otherwise, dBMAN will wait until data is received before returning control. Example: buffer = space(50) assign receive(0,50,"buffer") On the PC version of dBMAN V the device numbers are 0 for COM1: and 1 for COM2:. On the Atari ST version 1 is for the serial port. Syntax: SEND(,,"") Description: SEND enables you to send information to a serial port. is the device number to send the data to. is the number of characters to be sent. is a predefined variable enclosed in quotes that contains the data. Example: buffer = 'This is a test.' assign send(0,len(buffer),"buffer") On the PC version of dBMAN V the device numbers are 0 for COM1: and 1 for COM2:. On the Atari ST version 1 is for the serial port. Syntax: SET MEMOWIDTH TO Description: SET MEMOWIDTH TO allows you to specify how many characters wide the memo field is to be displayed when the @ SAY command is used. Syntax: UNIQUEFN([]) Decsription: This function returns a unique file name. If the optional pattern is specified, it will be prepended to the file name returned. Example: var = UNIQUEFN("TEST") ? var TESTaaaa0123 Syntax: USE [INDEX ] [EXCLUSIVE] Description: The exculsive option has now been added to the USE command. See SET EXCLUSIVE ON|OFF for a description on useage. New directives in CONFIG.DBM. A new directive called "PRINTER" has been added. This specifies the default printer for dBMAN. This is the default for the SET PRINT TO command. Special notes Be sure not to use the minus "-" mathematical operator in file names. This will cause will problems when you are using the alias identifier. i.e. IN-OUT.DBF will cause dBMAN to think that you want to subtract IN from OUT. If you are using the relation type SCAN, you must not position the child databases yourself. i.e. GO %CHILD TOP. This will cause the relationship between the parent and the child to be incorrect until the parent database is skipped. If you have a SCAN relation set up, you must not BROWSE, SHOP, or DISPLAY the parent database. Doing this will cause the parent reocrd to be repeated as many times as the child record matches the parent. ***WARNING!!*** If you want to encrypt a database with the ENCRYPT command, be sure that it is NOT A dBASE III+ database. It WILL CORRUPT THE DATABASE PERMENENTLY!! To ENCRYPT the database do the following: SET DB3 OFF USE COPY TO USE ? LOGIN(,,) SET ENCRYPT ON ENCRYPT Now use the as your encrypted database. dBMAN BBS FOR TECHNICAL SUPPORT AND PRODUCT UPDATES! We have a bulletin board that you can use to get the latest information and product updates of dBMAN. As new revisions are made we will place the update on the board and if you have the access you can download the file. The BBS operates 24hrs a day 7 days a week. Accepted baud rates are: 2400, 1200 and 300. Settings are: 8-bit, NO parity and ONE stop bit. Phone number is: (408) 723-9047 Technical support hours are 9:00 am - 12:00 noon and 1:30 pm to 3:00 pm PDT. The phone number is: (408) 723-8384.