******************************* * * * Text aus der Serie * * (c) GERMAN (Copyright) * * RHEIN-MAIN-SOFT * * Oberursel * * * ******************************* bBase II ======== Why bBase II? Just my initials. No delusions of grandeur in my family. bBase is a full-featured, intuitionized, fast and, I think you will agree, a quite easy to use database program. What it does is store, sort, sift, and search for information, (but it won't dial your telephone). Once a database has been loaded from disk, all modifications are done in RAM:, and will NOT be permanently saved until the database is Saved to disk. This can be done using the Menu, the Function Keys, or upon Quiting. All functions of bBase may be accessed from either Function Keys or Menus. It multi-tasks extremely well, as it does not burn up CPU time while not performing operations. Care should be taken not to access Menu items while the requester is open, as inappropriate items may not always be ghosted. This program is written in BASIC, compiled with the HiSoft BASIC Professional compiler - an excellent compiler with some limitations. The MENU OFF statement is one of those limitations. bBase uses two requesters, the ARP requester for filenames, and my own for general input. This requester has full editing capabilities. It may be blanked at any time by pressing . Also, any time the requester is open, pressing will close it. MENUS ----- bBase is best described by the operation of the Menus. Project Menu ------------ Create a New Database (F1) This will bring up the ARP file requester, asking for a name for your new database. Any legal path name of 20 characters or less will do. The requester will then ask how many fields the new database will require. bBase will accept up to 9 fields, each field Title being a maximum of 19 characters long. If an existing database has been altered, you will be asked if you want to Save it before creating a new one. bBase will then build the Template (or list of titles) for the database. A "(1)" will appear, along with the requester. Enter the title of your first field, ie. Last Name, First Name, Company, Address, or anything else. When it is correct, hit , and a "(2)" will appear with the requester. Enter the title of the second field. Enter all field titles. The screen will now show all field titles, an Instruction Box, the File Name as first entered, a blank data area, and the Record Number. At this time, the Record Number will be "1". The Instruction Box will instruct you to press " to Enter Data". Do so, and the requester will appear in the first field. Enter the data. A data entry may be a maximum of 46 characters long. When it is correct, hit again, and the requester will move to the second field. When all fields are complete, the Record Number will indicate "2", and the data field will blank, in prepatation for the entry of the second record. Hitting again will start the process of entering data into the second record. Complete all records in this manner. There is no limit to the number of records. (See the 'Change' Menu). -2- At any time (unless a requester is open), pressing the Cursor Up key will take you directly to the First Record. The Cursor Down key will display the Last Record (with any information in it), the Cursor Left key the Previous numerical Record, and Cursor Right will show the Next Record. You can also move through the records using the mouse (See Screen Gadgets). The VERY last record is always blank, which is where additional records may be entered. This blank record is accessed by pressing Cursor Right while the Last Record is displayed. Open an Existing Database (F2) If you have previously created a database, and the "Database_name.bbase" file is stored on a disk, then use this item to access that database. If an existing database has been altered, you will be asked if you want to Save it before loading another. Enter the path to the database file in the requester, and that database will be retrieved and shown on screen. Only files having the extension ".bbase" will be accepted. Use the Cursor keys or mouse to move about the database. While a record is displayed, the Information Box will instruct you to press " to Change Data". Do so, and the requester will appear in the first field, with that field's data. down to the field you want to change, make the changes, and through all fields. The altered record will be displayed. Save the Current Database (F3) Saves the database to disk under the name shown, without confirmation. The bBase file will have the extension ".bbase" automatically appended. Save As You will be prompted for a name to Save the database. The ".bbase" extension will be automatically appended. About The usual stuff. Quit (Escape) If the database has been altered, you will be asked if you want to Save it before Quiting. -3- Sort Menu --------- You may sort the records in the database based on the data in any field. The Sort routine seems to be fairly efficient for a BASIC program. It will sort 100 records in less than 15 seconds on a standard A2000. Incremental Sort (F4) The requester will ask which field you want to sort on. The records will be incrementally sorted on that field, and Record Number 1 of the new list will be shown. Decremental Sort (F5) Same as above, but records are sorted and displayed from Z-A, or 9-0. Search Menu ----------- Select Search Criteria (F6) The requester will appear in the first field of a blank record. down to the field that contains the data you want to search for. Enter the search string in that field. A search string may be entered in more than one field. through all the fields. All records that match ALL the search criteria will be displayed, one by one. When a record is found, you may Print it, cancel the Search, or continue searching. Change Menu ----------- Template Titles Use this item to change the Template, ie. the Titles of your fields. The NUMBER of fields may not be changed. The data itself is unaffected by this procedure. Maximum No. of Records If your database becomes full, you will either have to Delete some records, or increase the maximum number of records the database will hold. The maximum number is 99 records, until you change it. Just select this item, and follow the prompts. Note: IF you are making the database SMALLER, you WILL LOSE the data stored in those records with a number higher than your new database size (naturally). The other records will be preserved. Note: The database size may be changed only ONCE per invokation of bBase. Attempting another resize crashes the program. For this reason, the Change "Maximum No. of Records" feature is disabled after the database size has been changed. To change the size again, simply Quit the program, and re-load it. I don't think this will be a problem, as most people will probably never have occasion to change it even once. -4- Print Menu ---------- Displayed Record (F8) This item will send the displayed record to the PRT: device. The Whole Database (F9) This item will send the entire database to the PRT: device. Delete Menu ----------- Displayed Record (F10) After confirmation, the record currently displayed is Deleted. SCREEN GADGETS -------------- The Information Box at the bottom of the screen contains a / \ gadget that looks something like that shown a the right. | | This gadget represents the Cursor Keys, and you can move <== G ==> about the database using these gadgets and the mouse | | instead of the Cursor Keys if you so desire. Clicking on \ / the Up Arrow will take you directly to the First Record. Clicking on the Down Arrow will take you to the Last Record, (except for the blank one used to enter a new record). The Left Arrow will show the Previous numerical Record to the one currently displayed, and the Right Arrow will show the Next Record. If the Last Record is currently displayed, this will take you to the blank record, where a new record may be entered. Clicking on the "G" in the center of the arrows will bring up the requester, asking for the number of a record to "Goto". After entering a legal number, the requested record will be displayed. EXAMPLE DATABASE ---------------- There is an example database included in this package. Everyone uses the Name and Address example, so I opted for something different. The file "Recipes.bbase" is a sample database showing one way of keeping track of recipes, without having to re-type them all. It merely shows where they can be found when needed. With this database you can Sort the recipes by Name, Catagory, or anything else. You can Search for all recipes containing a listed ingredient, recipes you have already served to given people, or just the name of the recipe if you have forgotten which of your 647 recipe books it is in. I have found this to be very useful. -5- REQUIREMENTS ------------ The "arp.library" will have to be in your libs: directory, because of the ARP file requester - but everyone should have that there by now, right? Comments and bug reports are welcome. Name and address in "About". Hope someone finds this useful. Bob