께께 께 께께 께께께 께께께 께께께 께께 께같께 께� 께같 께같께 께같께 께같께 께같께 께같 같 께� 께� 께� 께� 께� 께� 께� 께갛께 같 께� 께� 께� 께께껐� 께께껐� 께께껐� 께� 께� 께� 께� 께같같 께같께 께같께 갛께 께 께 께� 께� 께� 께� 께� 께� 께갛� 께� 께께같 께께께 께께 께께 께께께같께께께같 께께같 같같 같같같 같같 같같 같같같 같같같 같같 Volume 1, Number 4 18 February 1991 (c) Daniel Do놽kal, All Rights Reserved The BBS Clipper magazine, published PERIODICALLY, later WEEKLY...... Some of the material used comes from scanning CLIPPER echoes which are carried in various BBS throughout the World. These Echoes are very often the source of the most often asked Questions and Answers about Clipper. Other material, which is fully signed or abbreviated is the copyright of the appropriate persons. The publisher is not responsible for other authors submissions.... Published material is not necessarily the opinion of the publisher. Redaction: Publisher...................................Daniel Docekal Chief editor ...............................Daniel Docekal Language editor .................................Dave Wall Table of Contents 1. ARTICLES ............................................................. 1 Hungarian identifier naming conventions .............................. 1 DOSRCS - Revision Control System - part (2) .......................... 6 The Programmer's Guide to CLIPPER Linkers - part (1) ................. 9 2. SOFTWARE ............................................................. 13 DANIEL.LIB - Network locking and opening ............................. 13 DANIEL.LIB - Configer function ....................................... 15 STRUCTURE DUMP - programmers utility ................................. 19 3. ADVERTISEMENT ........................................................ 22 What was in previous number, number 03? .............................. 22 4. ECHODUMP ............................................................. 23 CONFERENCE DUMP part (3) ............................................. 23 5. CLIPPER NET .......................................................... 28 Index of described files in Clipper BBS Magazine ..................... 28 Clipper File - CLIPLINK.ARJ .......................................... 28 ClipNet - HGLASS.ZIP ................................................. 29 ClipNet - NOTATION.ARJ ............................................... 29 ClipNet - PACKUP.ARJ ................................................. 29 ClipNet - ADHOC302.ARJ ............................................... 30 ClipNet - ALTDO328.ARJ ............................................... 30 ClipNet - CL5REP6.ARJ ................................................ 31 ClipNet - CL5103.ARJ ................................................. 31 6. CLIPBBS .............................................................. 32 CLIPBBS distribution ................................................. 32 CLIPBBS 1-04 Table of Contents (...) 18 Feb 1991 CLIPBBS, how to write an article!!! .................................. 33 - - - - - CLIPBBS 1-04 Page 1 18 Feb 1991 ============================================================================= ARTICLES ============================================================================= Hungarian identifier naming conventions Part 2 Variable Naming Conventions =========================== This is the heart of a well HUNG system. Variable names must give the most amount of information possible in its name while using the minimum number of characters possible. Variables will have one mandatory character, the "Type Prefix". But will usually have a combination of tags that will in most cases appear in this order. 1. A single lower case variable defining its type as returned by a Type() function called a "Type Prefix". 2. An Optional state called a "State Qualifier" 3. A "Standard Qualifier Tag". 4. An Optional "Pointer Reference". Type Prefixes ------------- a - Array b - Code Block c - Character d - Date h - Handle l - Logical n - Numeric ( nX is optional where X is the number of decimal places ) o - Object v - having a Variable type as in a macro or changing value For temporary variables of distinct type or pointers this single prefix can be used by itself. Consider this example. for n := 1 to nFldMax aFldName % [n] := Field( n ) next Sample "State Qualifiers" ------------------------- New - a New state Sav - a Saved state Tem - a Temporary state CLIPBBS 1-04 Page 2 18 Feb 1991 Sample "Standard Qualifier" tags -------------------------------- Attr - Attribute Ar - Array Clr - Color Crs - Cursor Dbf - of or pertaining to a DBF F - First as in cFName File - Any type of file Fld - Field L - Last as in cLName Msg - Message Name - a name Ntx - of or pertaining to an Index ( or Idx|Mdx|Ndx etc. ) Rec - Record Number Ret - Return value ( lRet := .f. ) Scr - Screen Str - String T - Top L - Left B - Bottom R - Right Row - Row Col - Column X - Row Y - Column Please note that Standard Qualifiers can be used in combinations as in the following examples. nTRow - Top Row cFName - First name cDbfFile - a Database file cNtxFile - an Index File Sample "Pointer References" --------------------------- 1,2,3 - State pointer references as in cSavClr1, cSavClr2, etc. Max - Strict upper limit as in nFldMax, maximum number of Fields Min - Strict lower limit as in nRecMin, minimum number of Records These lists are to serve as samples and building blocks. They can and should be added to. Lets look at a few examples of the conventions at work. This should dispel the myth that notation conventions cannot be applied to variables with a 10 character maximum length. Poorly HUNG and well HUNG Examples ---------------------------------- WRONG RIGHT WHY ========== ========== =============================================== nFldNum nFld Number is indicated by the Type Prefix making the word Num redundant and a needless use of character space. CLIPBBS 1-04 Page 3 18 Feb 1991 Count n n serves as a temporary count index. Count has no Type Prefix. Last_Name cLName This is one of the most horrendous mistakes. First we do not specify the variable type. Second we needlessly spell out LAST and worst of all we use up a precious character by using and underscore instead of using the upperLower combination. SaveScreenA cSavScr1 No Type Prefix, needless use of characters. The SaveScreenB cSavScr2 alphabetical reference is allowable though I prefer SaveScreenC cSavScr3 to use a numeric reference. ColorStr cClr No Type Prefix. Needless use of characters. Colors are indicated as a string by the Type Prefix. nRecNo nRec The use of "No" is redundant. PrintReset cPrnReset Also could have been shortened to cPrnRst. MessageStr cMsg These are starting to become obvious, don't you think? Lets take a look at how a function can be rewritten using the HUNG conventions for xBase. Examine this Function closely. Variables, Commands and Function name do not conform to "Well Hung" coding techniques. This Function has been written in Clipper and is actually a Sample program slightly modified. Those of you that do not understand Clipper should still be able to see the benefits. /*** * LISTASARRY( , ) --> str_array * Convert a delimited string to an array */ FUNCTION LISTASARRAY( list_str, delimiter ) LOCAL position LOCAL str_array := {} // Define an empty array to return IF delimiter = NIL delimiter := "," ENDIF DO WHILE !EMPTY(position := AT(delimiter, list_str)) * ..... Add a new element AADD(str_array, SUBSTR(list_str, 1, position - 1)) list_str := SUBSTR(list_str, position + 1) ENDDO AADD( str_array, list_str ) // Add final element RETURN str_array // Return the array Now take a look at the properely formatted equivelant. /*** * Str2Arr( , ) --> aRet * Convert a delimited string to an array CLIPBBS 1-04 Page 4 18 Feb 1991 */ FUNCTION Str2Arr( cStr, cDelim ) local nPos local aRet := {} // Define an empty array // fill and return. if cDelim == NIL cDelim := "," endif do while !empty( nPos := at( cDelim, cStr ) ) * ..... Add a new element aadd( aRet, substr( cStr, 1, nPos - 1 ) ) cStr := substr( cStr, nPos + 1 ) enddo aadd( aRet, cStr ) // Add final element RETURN aRet // Return the array DEBUGGING EXAMPLES ================== Hung Notation allows us to readily see errors in our routines that might otherwise take quite a bit of hunting around. Why does this snippet of code bomb? * Begin Fragment IF type == "EDIT" LOOP ENDIF DO WHILE MONTH == 9 * End Fragment Are you able to tell me? Ofcourse not, we are not given enough information. If we had used Hung Notation, however, the error would have been obvious. * Begin Fragment if nType == "EDIT" loop endif do while cMonth == 9 * End Fragment Ahh, now we are getting somewhere. The program has TWO errors. It is trying to evaluate the numeric against the string "EDIT". We know is a numeric because of its Type Prefix. Look a little farther and we can see the exact reverse of the error with the character being evaluated against a numeric constant 9. CLIPBBS 1-04 Page 5 18 Feb 1991 This paper is by no means comprehensive but should still be able to guide a programmer towards a standard Typing Convention for xBase. I realize that this is not for everyone but find it to be a productive method for myself. If you have any questions or additions please respond to me on the DBA forum at my COMPUSERVE ID# listed at the top of these Txt file. Robert A. Difalco Fresh Technologies Special Thanks to Tom Leylan and Matt Maier Revision History: 11/30/90 1.00 Original Draft 12/05/90 1.01 Changed Database Standards 12/10/90 1.02 Added some Clipper specific examples 12/13/90 1.03 Added special handling for exported instance variables ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- CLIPBBS 1-04 Page 6 18 Feb 1991 DOSRCS - Revision Control System - part (2) _____________________ RCS Keywords (macros) 袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴� DOSRCS system is offering possibilities to use some kind of MACRO codes in your programs/texts which are during CO (CheckOut) operation filled with correct values connected to macro name. Those macros have this syntax: $macroname$ or $macroname: value$ Second syntax is syntax used AFTER filling correct value from all data about appropriate file. Possible keywords are (correct letter casing is MANDATORY) $Author$ login name of user who checked in given revision $Date$ date and time when revision was checked in $Header$ Standard header contains full pathname, revision number, date, author, state and locker (if locked) $Id$ Stanard Id Header contains file name, revision number, date, author, state and locker (if locked) $Locker$ Login name of user who locked the revision (if locked) $Log$ Log messages supplied during check in, preceeded by header with file name, revision number, author, date. Existing log messages are NOT replaces, therefore this command is just inserting NEW log message - complete LOG BOOK can be created with this keyword (see example). $RCSfile$ Name of RCS file without path $Revision$ Revision number of this revision $Source$ Full pathname of RCS File $State$ State assigned to revision with "-s" option in RCS or CI command (see articles about them) In case of Clipper .PRG file programmer can use following example of beginning every program to put all informations from RCS system in every source: 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� 개/************************************************************************� 개$Author$ � 개$Date$ � 개$Revision$ � CLIPBBS 1-04 Page 7 18 Feb 1991 개$RCSfile$ � 개$Source$ � 개$State$ � 개$Locker$ � 개$Log$ � 개************************************************************************/� 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� For displaying a example, i named above defined header as TEST.PRG and used it for first CHECK IN and then CHECK OUT, result is: 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� 개/************************************************************************� 개$Author: DANIEL $ � 개$Date: 91/09/14 23:09:00 $ � 개$Revision: 1.1 $ � 개$RCSfile: test.prg $ � 개$Source: c:/daniel/clipbbs/rcs/test.prg $ � 개$State: Exp $ � 개$Locker: DANIEL $ � 개$Log: test.prg $ � 개Revision 1.1 91/09/14 23:09:00 DANIEL � 개Initial revision � 개 � 개************************************************************************/� 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� Now i will make some change and create NEW revisions. I will write simple program of few line in our example. When used PUT, answer for LOG message was filled with text prefixed with string "* " for keeping "*" characters before some informations. Result is: 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� 개/************************************************************************� 개$Author: DANIEL $ � 개$Date: 91/09/14 23:12:14 $ � 개$Revision: 1.2 $ � 개$RCSfile: test.prg $ � 개$Source: c:/daniel/clipbbs/rcs/test.prg $ � 개$State: Exp $ � 개$Locker: DANIEL $ � 개$Log: test.prg $ � 개Revision 1.2 91/09/14 23:12:14 DANIEL � 개* Added TWO lines with "?" commands and changes in header � 개* � 개 � 개Revision 1.1 91/09/14 23:09:00 DANIEL � 개Initial revision � 개************************************************************************/� 개? "Sample program" � 개? "--------------" � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� You see? After $Log keyword is slowly created complete log book of all recorded changed. And all other keywords are correctly replaced with new values, revision number is now 1.2 (because of one CLIPBBS 1-04 Page 8 18 Feb 1991 change). This is a way how to use keywords inside of your program. Of course is then possible for example use this line: 개 ? "Sample program $Revision$" With result of 개 ? "Sample program $Revision: 1.2 $" Or better in following example: 개 static cRev := "$Revision:" 개 cRev:=substr(cRev,12) // get "1.2 $" 개 cRev:=substr(cRev,1,at(" ",cRev)-1) // get "1.2" This code will put in static variable cRev real number of complete revision of your program and this can be used later in displaying or any other operation. Automatic update in case of new versions is nice job for little playing with string, i guess. See you later.... .DD. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- CLIPBBS 1-04 Page 9 18 Feb 1991 The Programmer's Guide to CLIPPER Linkers - part (1) 袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴 The Programmer's Guide to CLIPPER Linkers THE NEW DIRECTION OF CLIPPER DEVELOPMENT 袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴 Since the introduction of the Clipper-compiler in Winter, 1985, a plethora of Clipper third-party products have flooded the Clipper aftermarket. These add-on libraries have successfully extended the Clipper language into the most powerful database development system for microcomputers. Applications developed with Clipper and third-party libraries are growing larger and more powerful, thereby causing some new development problems: 1. Slower development time 2. Excessive application memory usage The new direction of Clipper Add-on products is to help solve these new problems. The most popular of the new products are those which work towards improving the speed of development and the memory usage at runtime - "dynamic" linkers. In this article, I hope to be able to convey information based on my own experience as a Clipper developer. In my opinion, there is too much discussion about future products, and too little discussion about products which are solving big development problems - right now! The development community is moving away from software packages which promise a "complete database solution" to those which offer an "open architecture" so we developers are free to choose our own tools, libraries and development environment. As the developer of dCLIP, a Clipper development platform, we have used or are using at least 12 different Clipper linker products. Case studies of successful Clipper applications point to the fact that the developer has learned not only to become a "librarian" but is also "multi-linkeral". The professional Clipper developer is now accustomed to using more than one linker in development projects. One of our development projects consists of 5 Clipper .EXE programs and uses the technology of 4 different linkers. The discussion of linkers raises a lot of questions. Why can't a developer use a single linker for all of his projects? If new linkers are getting better, then why not ring out the old and ring in the new? Are not linkers just a final process in converting the compiled object code to be machine readable code? The purpose of this article is to help dispel a lot of the myths, CLIPBBS 1-04 Page 10 18 Feb 1991 hype, and (most-of-all) fears that confront the Clipper developer today when it comes to the subject of linking. I am constantly amazed at the amount of time a professional Clipper programmer will spend in learning the nuances and power of the the Clipper language, yet that same professional probably has the equivalent of a kindergarten education in the subject of linking. Today, the Clipper developer must be more educated about linkers to remain competitive. If you ask the Clipper programmer about his biggest frustrations, he/she will virtually always answer the same way - memory usage and development time. The new series of linkers are designed to address these problems and many others. Some do it better than others. Some will use "dynamic" techniques, others will use "static" techniques. Some are designed to work best with only Clipper code, others are designed to work best with applications that are Clipper/C/ASM. Some are designed to link very fast, others are slow but produce better memory management. Some are designed for small applications, others are designed for huge applications and networks. Some are designed to help with distribution and disk usage, others are designed to help with debugging. Some are designed for ease-of-use and quick-starting, others are designed to solve complicated memory and symbol issues. Some are designed to work well with any combination of library and object format, others will choke on just about anything. Some linkers are mature, slow and reliable, others are young, frisky and not very well-behaved. As a developer who creates programmer's tools, I talk to many Clipper programmers every day, because I also handle technical support for our product, dCLIP. I am constantly amazed at the number of Clipper programmers who still use only one linker - PLINK86. Why is this so? Are their applications so small that they don't need better memory management? Is their time so well managed that the speed of linking is not important? Most often, the answer is none of the above. Clipper programmers, like many other professionals, are afraid of making a wrong choice, and feeling like a fool for spending good money on a folly. You have heard it said that "the only stupid question is the one that is never asked". Well, I my philosophy is "the only folly is one that is never ventured". My knowledge of linkers came from purchasing every one and using each one. Over the years I have developed an understanding of linking by trial and error and have gained quite an education. To the Clipper developer, the quality of his/her end product is everything, that is why Clipper is the most popular database development language for microcomputers. Choosing the right linker for each job will improve the performance and quality of your applications. This article is designed to help you make those choices. It is not the intent of the author to dump a lot of sophisticated "linking terms" on the reader of this article. I am a Clipper programmer who has had to work out a knowledge of linkers all by myself. There is still a lot I do not understand about linking, but what I have learned has helped me develop a CLIPBBS 1-04 Page 11 18 Feb 1991 sufficient competitive edge and made it possible to produce a product such as dCLIP. I expect that I will learn a lot more as you, the reader, responds with your own experiences and knowledge, therefore I welcome any feedback. Together, I think we can battle our way through this linker "war zone" and emerge victorious. The subject of linkers will be addressed in 5 sections: 1. Introduction/Background a. What is linking? b. Glossary of linking terms 2. Linking tips for memory management a. Static Overlays b. Reloadable Overlays c. Dynamic Overlays d. Dynamic Linking e. Virtual Memory Linking (VML) f. Symbol Management 3. Linking tips for productivity and project management a. Pre-linked Libraries b. Dynamic Linking c. Incremental Linking d. Speed-Linking e. Library-Module Linking 4. Feature, price, performance comparison and chart a. RTLINK, RTLINK/Clipper 5.0, RTLINKplus b. PLINK86s87, PLINK86plus c. BLINKER d. ALINK e. TLINK f. MS-LINK g. WARPLINK h. NOLINK i. dCLIP, dCLIPRUN 5. Choosing a linker for your projects a. Case studies of 6 projects 袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴 Introduction/Background 袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴袴 = WHAT IS LINKING? = Linkers are a subject which most Clipper programmers don't like to talk about because of a "fear" that the technology CLIPBBS 1-04 Page 12 18 Feb 1991 will be too sophisticated to understand. The process of linking is no more sophisticated than the compiler itself, it is just done at a lower level and produces machine-readable code. It is really the compiler which produces the machine readable code, but the linker has the responsibility of insuring that the compiled code is accessible or "linked" to other code segments. Linking or "fixing up" references made by the the code to external variables and functions is necessary to insure that the program will address or call other programs, including DOS functions. Linking can be accomplished at many different stages in the development or running of an application. Most linking occurs at the time that an .EXE file is created. This is usually the most sophisticated and time consuming of linking processes. Linking also occurs during "load-time" when an application is being loaded into memory for execution. Even DOS has a built-in linker. It fixes up references to specific code segments in an .EXEcutable file at the time that it loads the .EXE into memory. Some linkers provide additional load-time linking by using pre-link libraries and fixing up references between several files at load-time. Other linkers are "dynamic" and load code into memory during the running of the application. Each one of these linking techniques provides a specific advantage to the developer. If you don't understand what these advantages are, your development projects are probably not "state-of-the-art" and may be lacking at some level of performance, usually, in the management of memory at runtime. A linker's basic job is to combine objects which have been compiled separately. Objects contain symbols of three types: a. PUBLIC symbols - those symbols which are callable from other objects b. STATIC symbols - those symbols which are callable only from within the same object c. UNDEFINED symbols - symbols which exist in other objects and are referenced or used by this object (also referred to as EXTERNAL symbols). The linker "resolves" an object's external symbols by scanning the other objects public lists either in their object files or in library cross-reference indexes. Linkers usually accomplish this task in "2 passes". The first pass is to locate all the symbols by reading the symbol references into memory from all the object files and libraries and assigning a segment address to each symbol. The second pass is the actual "fixing up" of the symbols and generation of the .EXEcutable program. During pass 2, the linker searches all the object files and libraries again to see if one contains a PUBLIC definition for each unresolved symbol. When it finds one, it links the object by assigning an address or "fixing-up" the reference from the calling symbol to the called symbol. If none of an object's PUBLIC symbols are referenced by another object, that object is not linked into the .EXEcutable. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- CLIPBBS 1-04 Page 13 18 Feb 1991 ============================================================================= SOFTWARE ============================================================================= DANIEL.LIB - Network locking and opening Following is well simple set of functions used for file and record locking and opening databases in network environment. They are very simple (i have also set of more difficult), but enough to control network application with NOT often possible conflicts. <------------------------code starts here-----------------------------> #include "inkey.ch" #include "daniel.ch" // // most easy application of Append Blank command (or function in 5.01) // which just MUST append record, without any other possibility // *********************************************************************** function appendblank // function is appending record *********************************************************************** append blank // till is really appended while neterr() DD_inkey(1) // this is ONLY wait, can be also append blank // normal INKEY(), see other sources end RETURN .T. // always successfull in this case // // record locking is more specific. It's checking user wishes about // trying to lock a record. When no problem to lock, user is not asked // when problem, user will be notified and can press Esc key for // interrupt this. In program is always used // // if Reclocked() // action... // endif // ************************************************************************ FUNCTION RECLOCKED // function for locking a record ************************************************************************ local Net_netwscr := savescreen(0,0,maxrow(),maxcol()),; Net_retval := .t. // it's saving screen of course while .t. // look until lock or Escape if rlock() // lock, everything is OK exit elseif LockKO('1> Record') // ask a user he must take decision Net_retval:= .f. // user asked for cancel tries exit // go out from while block endif end restscreen( 0,0,maxrow(),maxcol() ,Net_netwscr) // put back screen for sure CLIPBBS 1-04 Page 14 18 Feb 1991 return Net_retval // .T. is locked, .F. is not // // similar function is used for locking whole file. It's the same // engine, only different function for locking - flock() // ************************************************************************ FUNCTION FILELOCKED // function for LOCK whole file ************************************************************************ local Net_netwscr := savescreen( 0,0,maxrow(),maxcol()),; Net_retval := .t. // screen save while .t. if flock() // lock whole file exit elseif LockKO('2> File ') // ask user for next tries Net_retval:=.f. // when was ESC then go out exit endif end restscreen( 0,0,maxrow(),maxcol() , Net_Netwscr ) // put back screen return Net_retval // // Function for opening file in SHARED mode. It's just interface // for USE and it's used in this way: // // if UseShared("TEST.DBF") // If File("TEST1.NTX") and File("TEST2.NTX") // set index to ("TEST1.NTX"),("TEST2.NTX") // else // ..error of missing index files.. // endif // else // ..error of opening database.. // endif // ************************************************************************ FUNCTION USESHARED(filenaam) // opening database in shared ************************************************************************ local Net_netwscr := savescreen( 0,0,maxrow(),maxcol() ),; Net_retval := .t. // screen saving while .t. if file(FileNaam) .or.; file(FileNaam+'.dbf') // test of EXISTENCY file or .DBF use (FileNaam) new shared // try to use this file if ! neterr() // not error in network exit // will return .T. (above) elseif LockKO('3> File') // ask user for repeating Net_retval:=.f. // or pressing ESC to stop exit endif else Net_retval:=.f. // file not exist, return FALSE CLIPBBS 1-04 Page 15 18 Feb 1991 exit endif end restscreen( 0,0,maxrow(),maxcol() , Net_Netwscr ) return Net_retval // and put back screen // // and of course, the same is here for EXCLUSIVE USE, it can be // joined in one common function with parameter telling if SHARED // or exclusive, but this is just mine library // ************************************************************************ FUNCTION USEEXCL(filenaam) // use database exclusive ************************************************************************ local Net_netwscr := savescreen( 0,0,maxrow(),maxcol() ),; Net_retval := .t. // screen saving while .t. if file(FileNaam) .or.; file(FileNaam+'.dbf') // test of existency of file use (FileNaam) exclusive new // use exclusive if ! neterr() // no error exit elseif LockKO('4> File') // ask user for tries Net_retval:=.f. // no more please exit endif else Net_retval:=.f. // file not exist at all exit endif end restscreen( 0,0,maxrow(),maxcol() , Net_netwscr ) return Net_retval // and put back screen <-----------------------end of source file-----------------------------> Function LockKo, DD_INKEY is part of another source file. It's coming in some other article. Daniel ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- DANIEL.LIB - Configer function In many of my applications i found a desperate NEED of configuration file OUTSIDE of application which can change a parameters, defaults or just set needed information for application running. My trying of configuration files had several phases: 1) file .MEM, just save memory variables. Configuration change was written inside of program (or outside) 2) kind of text file, but variables are fixed length part of this CLIPBBS 1-04 Page 16 18 Feb 1991 file and are read by special routine, must have correct order and so on. It was only for eliminating some side effects of .MEM 3) complete ASCII, descriptive configuration file. Something like this: MAIN DIRECTORY C:\APPLICATION TABULATOR SIZE 8 FULL PROCESSING NO Following commented code is FIRST version of this configer reader and writer. It's using codeblocks as well for all definitions and is at this moment used in most of my programs. It has still few limitations: a) "FULL PROCESSING" cannot be used as "FULL PROCESSING", NOTE number of spaces b) no error checking in case of setting wrong kind of data (string for numeric for example) But still, after this, it's great. Because everybody can use any editor to change configuration of program. <--------------------------code starts here-------------------------------> // i have of course my own personal .CH file // one can find it in another article i hope #include "daniel.ch" Function RdConfiguration(cFilename,aKeyword) ***************************************************************************** * Usage RdConfiguration('CONFIG.MON',array) * array field { "RETRY COUNT",{|x| GretryCount:=x},"N",10} * default val * value type * assigning code block * keyword text * Configuration file then can look: * // Set number of retries * RETRY COUNT 100 * USER NAME "Peter Van Der Valk " * USER NAME Peter Van Der Valk local cText , cLine, Cnt AssignDefaults(aKeyword) // initialize all default // values to variables if file(cFilename) // config file must be cText:=memoread(cFileName) // get complete text while !empty(cLine:=GetNextLine(@cText)) // now, get one line // and do it for all for Cnt:=1 to len(aKeyword) // scan array if ScanKey(aKeyword[Cnt],cLine) // for valid key aKeyword:=ADel(aKeyword,Cnt) // ALL FOUND KEYS // are removed - SPEEDUP CLIPBBS 1-04 Page 17 18 Feb 1991 aKeyword:=ASize(aKeyword,len(aKeyword)-1) // array is shrinking if len(aKeyword)==0 // and can happend cText:=NULL // that all are done endif // before text is done exit endif next // scanned all or found end // scanned file or all endif return NIL // static function which is getting ONE line from cText (config file) // and making cText smaller for this one line. It's often used in places // where i'm reading text files. Incoming text is coming down, outcoming // is coming bigger, it can save memory and speed also. // static function GetNextLine(cText) local i,j:="" i:=at(chr(13),cText) // check for CR if i=0 // no CR i:=at(chr(10),cText) // then check for LF if i=0 j:=cText // LAST line is here! cText:="" return(j) endif endif j:=substr(cText,1,i-1) // text to CR (or LF) cText:=substr(cText,i+1,len(cText)) // cut out from big one if left(cText,1)=chr(10) // if LF on beginning cText:=substr(cText,2,len(cText)) // strio it out also endif return (j) // function for scanning one line (cLine) for one keyword (Feld) // returning .T. if was success and of course is setting if needed // ***************************************************************************** static function ScanKey(Feld,cLine) ***************************************************************************** local nSkipLen, vAssigner, lRetVal := FALSE nSkipLen:=len(Feld[1]) // size of keyword if UPPER(substr(cLine,1,nSkipLen))==Feld[1] // in case of existence cLine:=ALLTRIM(Substr(cLine,nSkipLen+1,len(cLine))) // extract value do case case Feld[3]$'Cc' // should be CHAR if left(cLine,1)='"' // separate '"' on start cLine:=substr(cLine,2,len(cLine)) endif if right(cLine,1)='"' // separate '"' on end cLine:=left(Cline,len(cLine)-1) endif vAssigner:=cLine // CHAR of assigning CLIPBBS 1-04 Page 18 18 Feb 1991 case Feld[3]$'nN' // should be NUMERIC vAssigner:=val(cLine) case Feld[3]$'Ll' // should be LOGICAL cLine:=upper(cLine) // TRUE or .T. only vAssigner:=iif('TRUE'$cLine .or. '.T.'$cLine,.T.,.F.) endcase Eval(Feld[2],vAssigner) // assign value lRetVal:=TRUE // via CODEBLOCK! endif return lRetVal // .F. or .T. ***************************************************************************** static function AssignDefaults(aKeyword) ***************************************************************************** * assigning default values for all keywords from array * just for initializing them on defualt values. Point is, that * config reader will then read text file and never mind if some * keywords are not inside. They are setted via this way to default * values (see array definition) AEVAL(aKeyword,{|x| assignt(x)}) return NIL static function Assignt(x) if valtype(x[4])!="U" EVAL(x[2],x[4]) // just assign via EVAL endif return NIL // this is opposite function. It's writing existing configuration into // text file. It's simple of course // ***************************************************************************** function WrtConfiguration(cFname,aKeywords) ***************************************************************************** local cOut := "" // whole array is stepped, record by record and will make complete // text file in Cout variable. Just like: // keyword value CR+LF // AEVAL(aKeywords,{|x| Cout:=Cout+padr(x[1],20)+WriteOne(x)+chr(13)+chr(10)}) memowrit(cFname,cOut) // and then will write file return NIL // it's needed function for convert value of keyword to string to write out // called from AEVAL above static function WriteOne(feld) local value value := Eval(feld[2]) // get value do case case valtype(value)='C' value := value // character will stay case valtype(value)='N' value := str(value) // number will come number CLIPBBS 1-04 Page 19 18 Feb 1991 case valtype(value)='L' // logical TRUE or FALSE value := iif(value,'TRUE','FALSE') otherwise value := "" // all others not implemnted yet endcase return (value) // back is coming text <-----------------------------end of source code------------------------> That's all. And using? Let see: RdConfiguration(ConName, {; {'RETRY INTERVAL' ,{|x| RETRYINTERVAL:=x},'N',5} ,; {'FAX LEFT MARGIN' ,{|x| FAXLMARGE :=x},'N',7} ,; {'IDDLE TIME' ,{|x| IDLETIME :=x},'N',3} ,; {'TASK LIST' ,{|x| TASKLIST :=x},'C','010203040506070809'},; {'COLOR1' ,{|x| KLEUR1 :=x},'C','w/gr'} ,; {'COLOR2' ,{|x| KLEUR2 :=x},'C','w+/gr'},; {'COLOR3' ,{|x| KLEUR3 :=x},'C','w/b'},; {'COLOR4' ,{|x| KLEUR4 :=x},'C','n/g'},; {'COLOR5' ,{|x| KLEUR5 :=x},'C','rb/w'},; {'COLOR6' ,{|x| KLEUR6 :=x},'C','rb/w+'},; {'COLOR7' ,{|x| KLEUR7 :=x},'C','W+/r+'},; {'COLOR8' ,{|x| KLEUR8 :=x},'C','w/b'},; {'PASSWORD OUT' ,{|x| PWD_OUT :=x},'C',NULL},; {'PASSWORD CONFIG' ,{|x| PWD_CNF :=x},'C',NULL},; {'PRIORITY TOP' ,{|x| OUTPRI_TOP :=x},'C','9'},; {'BATCH PROCESSING',{|x| BATCH_SEND :=x},'C','YES'},; {'LOG' ,{|x| HistName :=x},'C','monitor.log'},; {'DEBUG LEVEL' ,{|x| DEBUG_LEVEL :=x},'N',0} }) See you later..... Daniel ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- STRUCTURE DUMP - programmers utility Following is quite simple, but many times used utility. STRUDUMP.EXE created from STRUDUMP.PRG will after running on any .DBF file create ARRAY definition for direct use in Clipper with DBCREATE function. <-----------------------------here it is coming----------------------> //*************************************************************************** // // Clipper programmer utility STRUCTURE DUMP // // (c) Daniel Docekal, Netconsult, 1991/05 // // released for Public Domain by author 1991/05 ;-) // // This simple function is making file DUMP.DMP which contains // COMPLETE structure definition of database (parameter of program) CLIPBBS 1-04 Page 20 18 Feb 1991 // this definition is in form of Clipper 5.0x array which can // be directly used in your program for function DBCREATE // // Use: // CLIPPER /M/N/W/L STRUDUMP.PRG // RTLINK FI STRUDUMP OUTPUT STRUDUMP /PLL:BASE50 // when using /PLL: final .EXE is about 10KB!!! // //*************************************************************************** //*************************************************************************** Function StruDump(name) //*************************************************************************** // definition of symbolic constants #define CRLF chr(13)+chr(10) #define QUOTE '"' #define COMMA ',' local aRR, TTT, i // all vars are local if valtype(name)!="C" ? '' ? 'This program is dumping to file DUMP.DMP complete structure of' ? 'database in format immediately for use in DBCREATE(name,struc)' ? '' ? 'Usage:' ? ' STRDUMP filename.dbf ' ? '' quit endif if !(file(name) .or. file(name+'.DBF')) ? '' ? 'Database file NOT exist!' ? '' errorlevel(1) quit endif ?? 'Processing.' use (name) shared new // open requested database, no check aRR := DBSTRUCT() // get structure database use // close database TTT := "// definition of database "+name+CRLF TTT+= " { ;"+CRLF for i:=1 to len(Arr) // creating a output structure text ?? '.' TTT+=" { "+QUOTE+; padr(arr[i,1]+QUOTE,14)+COMMA+QUOTE+arr[i,2]+QUOTE+COMMA TTT+=str(arr[i,3],5)+COMMA TTT+=str(arr[i,4],3)+' ' if i!=len(arr) TTT+= " },;"+CRLF else TTT+= " }; "+CRLF endif next TTT+= " }"+CRLF+CRLF // close structure text memowrit('DUMP.DMP',TTT) // write it, no check for errors CLIPBBS 1-04 Page 21 18 Feb 1991 ? '' ? 'Done.' ? '' return NIL <--------------------------here it ends----------------------------------> And result? For example: STRUDUMP \ncom\a\qbase.dbf, created file dump.dmp // definition of database \ncom\a\qbase.dbf { ; { "GSN" ,"C", 6, 0 },; { "ADDRCODE" ,"C", 12, 0 },; { "PRIORITIES" ,"C", 29, 0 },; { "CURRENTQ" ,"C", 1, 0 },; { "OUTPRIOR" ,"C", 1, 0 },; { "MSGNR" ,"C", 6, 0 },; { "SDATE" ,"D", 8, 0 },; { "STIME" ,"C", 8, 0 },; { "RDYDATE" ,"D", 8, 0 },; { "RDYTIME" ,"C", 8, 0 },; { "DATUM" ,"C", 8, 0 },; { "DATUMNL" ,"C", 20, 0 },; { "DATUMENG" ,"C", 20, 0 },; { "TIJD" ,"C", 5, 0 },; { "FAILCODE" ,"C", 6, 0 },; { "STATIONID" ,"C", 20, 0 },; { "RA" ,"C", 6, 0 },; { "RI" ,"C", 20, 0 },; { "RN" ,"C", 100, 0 },; { "RL" ,"C", 6, 0 },; { "IS" ,"C", 6, 0 },; { "DU" ,"C", 6, 0 },; { "MS" ,"C", 6, 0 },; { "SS" ,"C", 6, 0 },; { "SQ" ,"C", 6, 0 },; { "LN" ,"C", 6, 0 }; } Simple, isn't? .DD. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- CLIPBBS 1-04 Page 22 18 Feb 1991 ============================================================================= ADVERTISEMENT ============================================================================= *What was in previous number, number 03? New things are coming Hungarian identifier naming conventions DBEVAL() or classic WHILE ! EOF() ?? RCS - Revision Control System DANIEL.LIB - RMAKE file for build library DANIEL.LIB - ISPRINTER2() universal function DANIEL.LIB - SCREEN shadowing module M&T Books: Clipper 5 - A Developer's Guide Why is .EXE in 5.0x so big What was published in previous number? SOLUTION of preprocessor limitation for recursion CONFERENCE DUMP part (2) ClipNet - CLPFON.ARJ ClipNet - COND.ARJ ClipNet - INDXSL.ARJ ClipNet - IOBASYS9.ARJ ClipNet - MK30.ARJ ClipNet - MOVEGETS.ARJ ClipNet - READPW.ARJ ClipNet - SYMBOL.ARJ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- CLIPBBS 1-04 Page 23 18 Feb 1991 ============================================================================= ECHODUMP ============================================================================= CONFERENCE DUMP part (3) Subj: IS CLIPPER SUITABLE? Prvt: N Read: N -- although it's true that 5.0 is powerful and flexible, I think you're underestimating the power of the Fox. BTW, I'm speaking from the point of view of a Fox Beta tester who works full-time as a Clipper programmer, so I do have a fair amount of experience with both. With C5, as you correctly point out, you can do almost anything. Unfortunately, you HAVE to... You have to either write or buy a great function library (or several of them) for C5 to be able to do many of the things that are built into FP. A simple example of the FP built-ins versus the C5 flexibility: in FP (since FP 1.0, in fact) you can say @ 10,10 GET mvar VALID whatever ; ERROR "Correct values are.....(whatever)" and if the VALID clause evaluates to .F., you get an automatic pop-up box with your custom error message in it. You COULD, with a certain amount of effort, write that capability (or almost any other capability) into your own custom version of GETSYS.PRG, but you get it "free" with FP. Why spend either lots of development time reinventing the wheel, or lots of money buying extra ones (i.e., 3rd-party libraries)? Perhaps a couple of automotive analogies will make sense. Automatic transmissions don't give you the fine control that a five-speed stick shift will -- but just try driving a stick all day in New York City traffic. Automatics are also superior in a variety of other situations, such as low traction (ice and snow, for example). But they don't put them in most race cars, do they... And yet, a famous race car driver was once asked what car he would pick to drive from New York to LA. The interviewer was obviously expecting him to choose a Ferrari or some other exotic. The driver replied, "An air-conditioned Cadillac, of course." Remember that in the end, we're selling applications, not languages. The end-user doesn't care if it's written in BASICA as long as it works the way it should. As for our preferences for tools, sometimes one is best, sometimes the other. A good craftsperson can use ALL of the tools in the art, and knows WHEN one is better than the others. Sometimes that "automatic transmission" (Fox) takes you through a long development session where the "stick shift" (C5) would have worn you out. Sometimes you need the extra control and flexibility. But any programming in which I (or anyone else) can successfully do major application development (as I can in FP) deserves a better tag than "as a programming language it misses the mark." CLIPBBS 1-04 Page 24 18 Feb 1991 All of the above notwithstanding, as I asked you as part of my question before, do you have a well-thought-out rationale about why, apparently, Clipper is THE ONE for you? Why not C, for example, if you really want power and flexibility? Or you could code in ASM.... But be careful. Once you can argue for a higher-level language (Clipper) over C/ASM, you have to be able to say why we should all stop exactly THERE on the low-to-high-level scale, and not at any other position. P.S. -- one of the normal Clipper-vs.-Fox games we're constantly playing where I work is "I can do this in Clipper/Fox. Can you, in Fox/Clipper?" Nobody's won one yet, _in_FUNCTIONAL_terms_!!! Except that: the ONLY place where one truly wins is when someone mentions a database with 500,000 or a million records, and everyone looks at everyone else, and in a unison stage whisper, we all say "Rushmore....." Subj: IS CLIPPER SUITABLE? Prvt: N Read: N First of all, I think you have missed the mark with Clipper 5 if you feel that adding an ERROR clause to the GET command would be difficult or time consuming. It is very simple and would take me less than 5 minutes to write and test. Second of all, and this is a _VERY_BIG_ pet peve of mine, is that Rushmore is _NOT_ a new invention of Fox Software and that it's techniques are not new to many of us who have been writing professional software for any length of time. Just because Fox was the first xBase language vendor to build in this capability and give it a name (Rushmore) does not mean they invented it or that it is the solution to the problem of dealing with a subset of records in a large database. My report writer and query engine (written in Clipper S'87, BTW) has had this capability for several years now and I'm quite confident that it is more reliable in a network environment and just as fast as what Fox built in, if not faster. I think that one of the real benefits of Borland buying Ashton-Tate will be the level of professionalism that will come to the xBase market. I have observed over the years that a great number of xBase programmers are not qualified programmers at all but semi-self-taught users of dBASE some of whom compile in Clipper or use Fox. One of the big jokes of the industry is the folks (I'm sure you know of a few) who claim to have invented methods of doing things that are supposed to be such great discoveries that they copyright them and even try to patent them only to later realize that their method is identical to or inferior to a method which is generally accepted by the C, ASM, FORTRAN, COBOL, etc.. programmers and has been used for many years and maybe even written up in multiple algorithms books or journals. I'm not knocking xBase programmers here but trying to make the point that we all need to make an effort to continually further our education and abilities and to look beyond the xBase language for solutions to our problems. Borland has the ability to raise the common programmers awareness of other languages and their abilities and to make us aware of techniques used by other CLIPBBS 1-04 Page 25 18 Feb 1991 disciplines. The biggest problem I encounter with Clipper programmers is that they often treat Clipper as only a dBase compiler and don't realize that it can interface with C and ASM code (you don't have to make the decision to choose between them, but rather you can use them together) and they often are not even aware of the language extensions that Nantucket has provided. It will be interesting to see how the new Borland will affect sales of Nantucket and Fox products but I am confident that it will change the way many view these products and how they are used. I am also compelled to respond to your comments that one needs to be able to justify that their choice is the best for all programmers. The fact is that no one language is the best for everything, there are tradeoffs of every language and every language has it's place. The one that gets the job completed first may not be the same one that alows you to do the best job or the one that executes the fastest or the most reliable or configurable, etc.. (what are you going to do if your customer demands that you move or alter the behavior of that ERROR window in the Fox get system?) Sorry, didn't mean to ramble soo long but I just get soo frustrated when I read messages containing product information that appears to be misleading or incomplete (whether intentionally or because the writer does not understand the product). Subj: IS CLIPPER SUITABLE? Prvt: N Read: N I have to disagree with you. I was also a beta tester for FoxPro and I really to find the language aspect of it to be miserable. My God! Everything is implicit or even explicit. Forget about gernericity or modularity, chamelleon like capabilities or modularity. FoxPro is overburderned. Especially the read command. What about event loops with a BROWSE windows. Sheesh. You can do some great stuff with the C API and events, but you really do have to use C to do some decent event driven loops. Nah, give me Clipper 5.01 anytime. I can't imagine programming in a language that can't even return an array much less support lexical scoping or a robust ( much more than Cs ) preprocessor. Have you studied OOPs much? I think you would take back some of your arguments on Fox's behalf if you had. Direct support is really the kiss of death when you are talking about a general language. FoxPro has direct support for just about anything. Just try to create a dBaseIV compiler with FoxPro, you CAN NOT, you can, however with Clipper. Why? Because it is a MUCH more flexable language. Subj: IS CLIPPER SUITABLE? Prvt: N Read: N I think you have missed my point. I didn't say you couldn't do it, and I didn't say I couldn't do it. I only said that in FoxPro I didn't HAVE to. Obviously, if I want one in Clipper, I will. In fact, I intend to. But sometimes, it's handy not to have to continually "roll your own". I'm very happy that your report writer is a quality piece of software that will do all of the things that Rushmore will (such as running a COUNT FOR in a million-record database in a few seconds, I assume?). Please post the information about your CLIPBBS 1-04 Page 26 18 Feb 1991 company so that the MIS department where I work can contact you for more information (as I said in the previous message, the place where I work is an all-Clipper shop). As you will see if you actually read the message which you are commenting on, that's what _I_ said, too -- something about good developers knowing _all_ of the tools so that they can choose the best one for the job. We don't disagree here at all. ;-> Subj: IS CLIPPER SUITABLE? Prvt: N Read: N Believe me, the ability to (re)create a dBase IV compiler isn't real high on my list of priorities. If you re-read what I said, my POINT was that while Clipper is very flexible and powerful, sometimes the "pre-canned" stuff in Fox comes in very handy. And you were mentioning OOPs. Don't tell me that you'd put Clipper 5.01 in a class (pun intended) with a real OOP???? Subj: IS CLIPPER SUITABLE? Prvt: N Read: N That isn't the point. Good languages can be used to compile themselves, and any language that can't is missing serious functionality. What does the amount of handy pre-canned stuff have to do with how good the language is? Using this standard you might think C is a terrible language if you looked at the "bare bones" Watcom compiler, and you would think C is an excellent language if you looked at the "feature rich" Borland compiler. Yet it is the exact same language, and there are good reasons for Fox Software choosing to use the Watcom compiler. ANSI C has long been considered a language in which you can do object oriented programming because it supports statics. Of course the new C++ compilers elaborate on this concept a lot, but the fundamental ability to do object oriented programming was always there. Every hour I spend programming with Clipper 5.0 I find myself saying "Thank God Clipper has static variables now." Subj: IS CLIPPER SUITABLE? Prvt: N Read: N No, but trying to use the stupid Summer 87 complier was enough to drive me to tears. And I would have switched to C if it had been my decision. It may be nice that FoxPro has this feature, but it has zero impact on how good the Fox language is. CLIPBBS 1-04 Page 27 18 Feb 1991 A GOOD application development package isn't necessarily a GOOD language. I am not giving FoxPro a bad rap. They have a good product that does what it meant to do. But judged as a language it is inferior to the summer 87 implementation of Clipper, and the summer 87 language was only half a language that was only released to form a bridge to the newer stuff. Subj: IS CLIPPER SUITABLE? Prvt: N Read: N "Good" if the application you want to create is a compiler, not necessarily so good if you want to create some other application. Almost ALL languages "pre-can" stuff. ASM pre-cans some things, compared to machine language. C does, compared to ASM. Clipper does, compared to C. FoxPro does, compared to Clipper. Like I said before, you just have to make the choice about what point in that spectrum is suitable FOR THE TASK AT HAND. Analogy: those really fancy Swiss Army knives sure have a lot of stuff, but sometimes they get in the way (big bulge in the pocket, too heavy for the purse, whatever). I think we've been discussing things from different paradigms here, anyhow, (sister, can you spare a paradigm?) and all points have been made on all sides. Time to go back to coding.... Subj: IS CLIPPER SUITABLE? Prvt: N Read: N Right, you are saying that you like fox better than clipper, and I am saying that even if fox is better than clipper it doesn't necessarily follow that fox has a better language. It is an entirely academic point. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- CLIPBBS 1-04 Page 28 18 Feb 1991 ============================================================================= CLIPPER NET ============================================================================= Following is COMPLETE list of all published file descriptions in Clipper BBS magazine in previous numbers. Purpose of this index list is to allow anybody find needed file descriptions in growing number of described files. Short description after name will give first possible close image about file. Number enclosed in "[]" will mean number of Clipper BBS magazine. 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴쩡컴컫컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴쩡컴컴커 쿑ileName 쿞rc 쿏escription 쿥here � 쳐컴컴컴컴컴컴탠컴컵컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴탠컴컴캑 쿎LPFON.ARJ 쿎ln 쿞et of fonts for EXPAND.LIB from author �[1-03]� 쿎OND.ARJ 쿎ln 쿍uilder of conditional indexes like SUBNTX �[1-03]� 쿔NDXSL.ARJ 쿎ln 쿢ser Fields selection builder for index generate�[1-03]� 쿔OBASYS9.ARJ 쿎ln 쿏emo of S87 library and calling Clipper from C �[1-03]� 쿘K30.ARJ 쿎ln 쿘ouse library demo version �[1-03]� 쿘OVEGETS.ARJ 쿎ln 쿒ETSYS change for moving between gets via VALID �[1-03]� 쿝EADPW.ARJ 쿎ln 쿒ETSYS change for password invisible reader �[1-03]� 쿞YMBOL.ARJ 쿎ln 쿏umper of symbol tables of Summer87 .EXE �[1-03]� 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴좔컴컨컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴좔컴컴켸 Src can be: Cln File is accesible on ClipperNet Cbs File is accesible in HQ BBS of CLipper BBS Magazine ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Clipper File - CLIPLINK.ARJ File Name: CLIPLINK.ARJ Other Names: File Size: 38,148 bytes File Contents: CLIPLINK.DOC 129329 Complete text of R.Donnay article (explanation) about linkers for Clipper. Maybe it's well know for all of you, but still must be somebody who doesn't know it. It's for CLipper 5.0 actually, but it's still giving 90% of valid informations about 5.01 also and all valid informations about linkers for Clipper and way of linking. This is also going to be reprinted in Clipper BBS Magazine. File is located on ClipperBBS HQ system and also on Lobster BBS, Schiedam, 31-10-4271432, 2:285/610, 24 hours online with other many Clipper Files. CLIPBBS 1-04 Page 29 18 Feb 1991 .DD. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ClipNet - HGLASS.ZIP File Name: HGLASS.ZIP Other Names: File Size: 5,852 bytes File Contents: go.bat 51 hglass.prg 13938 readme 409 HGLASS.PRG contained inside archive is listing of example program for displaying real working Hour Glass on screen of your computer when Clipper Application is creating indexes. It's alternative of status bar indicator for displaying a progress of any action. It's code for CLIPPER 5.0 and can be used as example, but i'm afraid not as serious indicator in serious aplications. But it's nice, get it for teaching how to use semigraphics symbol from IBM PC character table for simulating graphics processing on screen. .DD. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ClipNet - NOTATION.ARJ File Name: NOTATION.ARJ Other Names: File Size: 6,156 bytes File Contents: HUNG.TXT 15203 Don't need any special additional descripting. It's original file with Hungarian notation. Complete HUNG.TXT if also reprinted in Clipper BBS magazine (numbers three, four and five). .DD. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ClipNet - PACKUP.ARJ File Name: PACKUP.ARJ Other Names: File Size: 5,958 bytes CLIPBBS 1-04 Page 30 18 Feb 1991 File Contents: PACKSCRN.DOC PACKSCRN.8 UPACSCRN.8 PACKSCRN.OBJ UPACSCRN.OBJ Two ASSEMBLER (source included in .8 files) functions for using instead of SAVESCREEN and RESTSCREEN functions in Clipper. Point of this two functions is, that they are using some method of packing screen for save space used by string used for normal screen. Everybody know, standard screen is 25lines and 80characters, it's 'only' 2000 characters and then 2000 color codes for whole screen. One your saved screen is 4000bytes. Imagine how often one saving screen! That's why people are trying to make packers for this. This one can be very fast because written in assembler. .DD. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ClipNet - ADHOC302.ARJ File Name: ADHOC302.ARJ Other Names: File Size: 42,347 bytes File Contents: DEMO.STR 1527 MAKEDEMO.BAT 764 7100.PRT 133 DEMO.DBF 5272 ALL.PRT 107 ADHOC.OBJ 70962 AUGUST.PRT 129 READ.ME 763 DEMO.PRG 2008 ADHOC.ASC 39242 Summer 87 report program. It's intelligent utility to generate printed reports also with printer codes support and with special meaning of allowing normal end user of program generate what they need with simple set of menus. This file is including .OBJ version of function with demo program. Source is available from autor for purchase. .DD. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ClipNet - ALTDO328.ARJ File Name: ALTDO328.ARJ Other Names: File Size: 25,805 File Contents: README 3001 CLIPBBS 1-04 Page 31 18 Feb 1991 ADS.EXE 42448 ALTDOT.KEY 2871 Alt DOT is TSR utility for viewing, editing, printing .DBF files after pressing one key from every place in your PC in or outside of programs. It's profesionally made utility with good possibilities. .DD. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ClipNet - CL5REP6.ARJ File Name: CL5REP6.ARJ Other Names: File Size: 7,485 bytes File Contents: FRMRUN.PRG 26533 Replacement of REPORT command for Clipper 5.0 (5.01) sixth version. It's fixing several bugs in REPORT command and adding some another possibilities how to control this kind of printed (generated) output. .DD. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ClipNet - CL5103.ARJ File Name: CL5103.ARJ Other Names: File Size: 28,749 bytes File Contents: CL5103.NG 42241 CL5103.TXT 44889 Well know, JO FRENCH (Compuserve, otherwise Canadian), un official report of discovered anomalies (we all know already, that they are not bugs, they are just anomalies..) in Clipper 5.01. Serie of closely named files is available for CLipper 5.0 and was growing every week. This is only third (and latest now) version of the same for Clipper 5.01 and is very small. Real bugs (big ones) are still far away with comparation to 5.0 version. Two files inside, one with .NG extension is popular norton guide database file, second is just text version of the same file. .DD. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- CLIPBBS 1-04 Page 32 18 Feb 1991 ============================================================================= CLIPBBS ============================================================================= CLIPBBS Distribution CLIPBBS is special magazine about CLIPPER and CLIPPERing (or about another related problems and xBASE languages). This magazine is for free and articles aren't honored. Nobody can make a profit from the distribution of this magazine. CLIPBBS can be freely downloaded and uploaded to any BBS or any other public system without changes of original contents or number of files in original archive (kind of archive can be changed, but we are sup- porting ARJ archive because is best and smallest). If you are interested in CLIPBBS and would like to become a DISTRIBUTION site, contact publisher on 2:285/608@fidonet or 27:1331/4412@signet or just call to 31-10-4157141 (BBS, working 18:00->08:00, 2400bps) or voice to 31-10-4843870 in both cases asking for DANIEL (Docekal). Distribution sites: United Kingdom Welsh Wizard, SYSOP Dave Wall, phone 44-656-79477 United States of America The Southern Clipper, SYSOP Jerry Pults, phone 1-405-789-2078 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- CLIPBBS 1-04 Page 33 18 Feb 1991 How to write articles in CLIPBBS? Submission of articles to CLIPBBS is really easy: Maximum of 78 characters per line, as long or as short as you like ASCII text. Choose from the list of extension which most describes your text, or just name it .ART as ARTicle and send it to publisher or to any distribution site via modem to BBS or with mailer as file attach. Article will come automatically appear in the next free issue. Extensions are: Articles (anything) .ART Software .SOF News .NEW Question and Answers .Q&A Letters to editors .LET Advertisement .ADV Wanted .WAN Comments .CMS DUMP from conferences .DMP Clipper Net .CLN That's all at the moment, there will probably be changes later, as the magazine evolves. If you have any ideas for a new section of CLIPBBS, please tell us, or just write an article about it. Daniel, publisher -----------------------------------------------------------------------------