Copyright: Helpfile Generated by VB HelpWriter!


q&dBase 2.0 for Windows

Menus

      Create A New Table...

      Open An Existing Table...

      Delete An Existing Table...

(C)1994 Q&D Software Development - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Delete An Existing Table

Choose this option from the Main Menu in order to delete a table that you've previously created.  WARNING: By deleting a table, not only will you lose all of the data in the table, but you will also lose the form design for that table as well as any reports stored for that table.

(C)1994 Q&D Software Development - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Create A New Table...

Choosing this option from the Main Menu causes the 'New Table Structure' window to be displayed:

   	Table Name (New Table Structure)

Field Name

Field Length

Standard field type

Memo field type

Add Field >>

Field Grid

Edit Selected Field (New Table Structure)

Delete Selected Field (New Table Structure)

OK (New Table Structure)

(C)1994 Q&D Software Development - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Open An Existing Table
Open An Existing Table...

Menus

File

      Print Preview...

      Print...

Table

      Add A Record...

      Search/Edit A Record...

      Modify Table Structure...

      Change Form Design...

Reports

      Design A New Report...

      Change Existing Report...

      Delete Existing Report...

(C)1994 Q&D Software Development - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Print Preview...

Choosing this option from the File Sub-Menu will open the Print Preview window, displaying a screen image of what your printed report will look like.

  Printer Button

  Zoom In

  Zoom Out

  First Page

  Previous Page

  Next Page

  Last Page

  Exit Print Preview

(C)1994 Q&D Software Development - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Print...

Choosing this option from the File Sub-Menu will cause the chosen report to be sent to the default printer.  You may change the default printer from within the Control Panel on your Windows desktop.

(C)1994 Q&D Software Development - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Add A Record...

Choosing this option from the Table Sub-Menu causes the Add A Record window to be displayed:

You may add records to your table from this screen.  Enter data into the appropriate fields.  Clicking the OK button will save the your current record and bring up a new blank form.  Clicking the Cancel button will bring you back to the Main Menu.

(C)1994 Q&D Software Development - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Search/Edit A Record...

Choosing this option from the Table Sub-Menu causes the Search screen to be displayed:

To search for records that meet a certain criteria, you may enter the search criteria in the appropriate field(s).  For example, let's say you had a table of all of your customers consisiting of the fields "Last Name", "First Name", "City", and "State", and you wanted to see all of the records for people from New Jersey.  To do this, you would enter "NJ" in the state field and click the Search button.  You would then receive a set of all matching records in your edit screen.

Now let's say you wanted to see all people living in New Jersey with the last name of Smith.  You would simply enter "Smith" into the "Last Name" field and "NJ" into the "State" field, click the Search button, and there you are.

After clicking the Search button, the Edit screen is displayed:

 	You can scroll between records one at a time, or move to the first or last record in the set  using the Data Control  at the top of the window.  (The Data Control is similar in appearance to a scroll bar.)  If a record is edited, the changes can be saved either by clicking OK, or by moving off of the record with the Data Control.

A powerful q&dBase tool when performing searches is the wildcard .  A wildcard can be used in any field and is denoted by the asterisk (*).  For example, if you are looking for all customers whose last names begin with "J" you would enter "J*" in the "Last Name" field.  Wildcards can be placed anywhere in a field; at the beginning ("*es"), in the middle ("J*s"), or at the end ("Jo*").  Each of the three previous examples would return all "Jones" records, as well as a few others.

(C)1994 Q&D Software Development - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Modify Table Structure...

Choosing this option from the Main Menu causes the 'Modify Table Structure' window to be displayed:

 	Table Name (Modify Table Structure)

Field Name

Field Length

Standard field type

Memo field type

Add Field >>

Field Grid

Edit Selected Field (Modify Table Structure)

Delete Selected Field (Modify Table Structure)

OK (Modify Table Structure)

(C)1994 Q&D Software Development - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Change Form Design...

Choosing this option from the Table Sub-Menu will cause the Form Design window to be displayed:

The Form Design window allows you to re-locate fields and/or labels to any location on the form by dragging and dropping the particular object.  To "drag" an object to a new location, click on the object, hold down the mouse button, and move the cursor to the new location.  You "drop" the object at the new location by letting go of the mouse button.

It is helpful when moving an object to grab it near the end that is closest to the direction in which you are planning on moving it, especially when you are only going to move it a short distance.  In other words if, for example, you are going to move an object only 1/4 inch to the right, you should click on the object near its right edge.

Clicking the OK button will save all the changes you've made and close the Form Design window.  Clicking Cancel will close the window, but will disregard any changes.

(C)1994 Q&D Software Development - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Design A New Report...

Choosing this option from the Report Sub-Menu will cause the Report Criteria window to be displayed:

To report on records that meet a certain criteria, you may enter the search criteria in the appropriate field(s).  For example, let's say you had a table of all of your customers consisiting of the fields "Last Name", "First Name", "City", and "State", and you wanted a report of all of your customers in New Jersey.  To do this, you would simply enter "NJ" in the state field.

Now let's say you wanted to see all customers in New Jersey with the last name of Smith.  You would simply enter "Smith" into the "Last Name" field and "NJ" into the "State" field.

Once you have finished entering your report criteria, clicking the Continue... button will present you with an input box in which you must enter a title for this report.  This title will appear at the top of the report whenever it is printed.

After having entered the report title, you will be presented with the Report Design Window which will allow you to select the fields that will appear in the report, select fonts and font sizes, select a sort order  for the report, and arrange the fields in whatever order you like.

(C)1994 Q&D Software Development - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Change Existing Report...

Choosing this option from the Reports Sub-Menu will cause the Report Criteria window to be displayed:

When changing an existing report, the Report Criteria window is displayed containing your existing report criteria.  You may modify this criteria if you so desire.

Clicking the Continue... button will bring up the Report Design window, in which you can change your report layout.  You can not save your report criteria from the Report Criteria window.  You must continue to the Report Design window and save it from there, regardless of whether you actually make any changes to the report layout.  Clicking Cancel in either the Report Criteria window or the Report Design window will cancel all changes.

(C)1994 Q&D Software Development - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Delete Existing Report...

Choosing this option from the Reports Sub-Menu will delete the selected report.

Deleting a report will cause the report criteria as well as the report layout for the selected report to be erased.  Deleting a report does not effect the data in the current table.

(C)1994 Q&D Software Development - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Sort Order

Clicking on the Sort... button in the Report Design window causes the Sort Order window to be displayed:

To create a sort order  for your report, select a field from the Available Fields listbox and click the Add >> button.  This will add the field to the Sort Order listbox and remove it from the Available Fields listbox.  Your final sort order will consist of the fields in the Sort Order listbox in the order in which they appear there.  To remove a field from the Sort Order listbox and return it to the Available Fields listbox, select the field and click on the << Remove button.

When you have finished creating your Sort Order, click the Continue... button to return to the Report Design window.

(C)1994 Q&D Software Development - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Report Design

Clicking on the Continue... button from within the Report Criteria window will cause the Report Design window to be displayed:

Designing a report layout with q&dBase is easy.  You can include or exclude any fields you like, place them in any order you like, and assign fonts and font sizes as you like.

When the Report Design window is first opened, the title of the report appears in the Title section  of the layout screen.  To begin inserting fields (columns) into the report , select a field from the Fields Listbox  in the upper left corner of the Report Design window, then press the Insert button  (located beneath the Fields Listbox).  The field you've chosen will appear in the Detail section  of the screen, and a corresponding column header appears in the Header section .  You can repeat this process for each additional field you decide to add.  (To delete a field from the report layout, simply double click on that particular field in the Detail section.)

You may assign a font and a font size to each section of your report.  There are three short steps required to do this.  First, select the section you wish to work with by clicking either the Title, Header, or Detail option button at the left of the layout screen.  Second, select the font, font size, and font style(s) you wish to assign to the section you've chosen using the Fonts Listbox  at the top of the Report Design window.  Third, click the Select button  located beneath the Fonts Listbox, and you're finished!  You may view an example of your chosen font and font size prior to assigning it by looking in the Sample Font window at the bottom of the Report Design window.  (Please note that changing a font, font size, or font attribute can have an effect on the width of your report.  Make sure that you haven't over written the edge of the page.)

The default page setup for all q&dBase reports is Portrait .  You may change to Landscape  if desired by clicking the Landscape option button in the Page Setup  section, located in the upper right corner of the Report Design window.

You may also assign a sort order  to your report.  To do this, click on the Sort... button which will bring up the Sort Order window.

Clicking the Save button saves all the information entered in the Report Design window, Sort Order window, and Report Criteria window.  Clicking Cancel causes any changes in these windows to be ignored.

(C)1994 Q&D Software Development - Helpfile generated by VB HelpWriter.


Glossary

A

Add Field >>

D

Data Control

Delete Selected Field (Modify Table Structure)

Delete Selected Field (New Table Structure)

Detail section

E

Edit Selected Field (Modify Table Structure)

Edit Selected Field (New Table Structure)

Exit Print Preview

F

Field Grid

Field Length

Field Name

Fields Listbox

First Page

Fonts Listbox

H

Header section

I

Insert button

L

Landscape

Last Page

M

Memo field type

N

Next Page

O

OK (Modify Table Structure)

OK (New Table Structure)

P

Page Setup

Portrait

Previous Page

Printer Button

S

Sample Font

Select button

sort order

Standard field type

T

Table Name (Modify Table Structure)

Table Name (New Table Structure)

Title section

W

wildcard

Z

Zoom In

Zoom Out


OK (New Table Structure)

Clicking the OK button from the 'New Table Structure' screen will create an empty table structured exactly as you've specified.  To add records to your new table, choose Table | Add Records from the Existing Table Screen.  You may design a data entry form for your new table by choosing Table | Change Form Design from the Existing Table screen.


Edit Selected Field (New Table Structure)

Clicking the Edit Selected Field bar brings up the Edit Field window, allowing you to change the size or type of an existing field.


Delete Selected Field (New Table Structure)

Clicking the Delete Selected Field bar in the 'New Table Structure' window will delete the selected field from the Field Grid.  Only fields appearing in the field grid when the information is finally saved will become part of the new table.


Add Field >>

The Add Field button in the 'New Table Structure' and 'Modify Table Structure' windows causes a new field with the name, type, and size you've specified to be added to the Field Grid.


Table Name (New Table Structure)

The Table Name field in the 'New Table Structure' window allows you to enter the name of your new table.


Field Length

The Field Length field in the 'New Table Structure' and 'Modify Table Structure' windows allows you to enter the maximum number of characters that the field in question will be able to contain.


Memo field type

The Memo option button in both the 'New Table Structure' and 'Modify Table Structure' windows tells q&dBase to create the new field as a memo field.  A memo field can be used as a free form text entry field, and has a limit of approximately 64,000 characters, hence you do not need to specify a field length.  Use Memo fields only when necessary, as they take up more memory than Standard fields.


Field Grid

The Field Grid in the 'New Table Structure' and 'Modify Table Structure' windows lists all fields in a particular table along with the length and type of each field.  To edit a field definition or to delete a field from a table, click on the appropriate field name, then click either the Edit Selected Field bar or the Delete Selected Field bar.


Standard field type

The Standard option button in both the 'New Table Structure' and 'Modify Table Structure' windows tells q&dBase to create the new field with a specified length.


Table Name (Modify Table Structure)

The Table Name field in the 'Modify Table Structure' window allows you to view the name of the table to be modified.  You may not change the name of an existing table.


Field Name

The Field Name field allows you to enter a name for a new field.


Edit Selected Field (Modify Table Structure)

Clicking the Edit Selected Field bar brings up the Edit Field window, allowing you to change the size or type of an existing field.  You are not permitted to change the name of an existing field.  You may delete an existing field and add a new field in its place with a different name, but this will result in losing all data in the old field.


Delete Selected Field (Modify Table Structure)

Clicking the Delete Selected Field bar in the 'Modify Table Structure' window will delete the selected field from the Field Grid.  Only fields appearing in the field grid when the information is finally saved will become part of the new table.  Deleting a field from a table will result in the loss of all data in that field.


OK (Modify Table Structure)

Clicking the OK button from the 'Modify Table Structure' screen will modify the structure of the existing table as you've specified.

WARNING: Modifying the structure of a table will result in the loss of the form design for that table, as well as the loss of all report definitions and layouts for that table.  The actual data stored in the table will be maintained.


Printer Button

Clicking the Printer button in the Print Preview window will cause the entire report to be sent to the printer.


Zoom In

Clicking the Zoom In button in the Print Preview window will cause the report image to appear magnified.


Zoom Out

Clicking the Zoom Out button in the Print Preview window will shrink the report image.


First Page

Clicking the First Page button in the Print Preview window will cause the first page of the report to be displayed.


Previous Page

Clicking the Previous Page button in the Print Preview window will cause the page previous to the current page to be displayed.


Next Page

Clicking the Next Page button in the Print Preview window will cause the page following the current page to be displayed.


Last Page

Clicking the Last Page button in the Print Preview window will cause the last page of the report to be displayed.


Exit Print Preview

Clicking the Exit Print Preview button in the Print Preview window will close the Print Preview window without sending the contents to the printer.


Data Control

The Data Control allows you to page or scroll through a set of records in the Search/Edit Window.  It will also allow you to move to the very first record or the very last record in a set.  Clicking on the appropriate arrows moves the record pointer accordingly.


wildcard

A wildcard can be used when creating a query either in the Search/Edit Window, or in the Design A Report Window.  A wildcard placed within search criteria means that any character(s) will qualify for inclusion in the resulting recordset.  A wildcard is indicated by an asterisk (*).  For example, in a table having fields called "Name" and "Address", you could retrieve all people whose names begin with "V" by entering "V*" as the search criteria for the "Name" field.  If you wanted to retrieve all records for people living on Elm Street, you could type "*Elm St*" as the search criteria for the "Address" field.  You may enter as many wildcards as you wish in as many fields as you wish to achieve your desired result.


sort order

The sort order of a report refers to the order in which records appear in the report.  In a report based on a table which contains fields called "Last Name", "First Name", "Address", "Phone Number", "City" and "State" for example, you may want to sort by any one or any combination of these fields.  If you wanted an alphabetical listing you could sort by "Last Name" + "First Name".  If you preferred records sorted by state, but with the names listed in alphabetical order within each state, you would sort by "State" + "Last Name" + "First Name" using this example.


Title section

The Title section in the Report Design window holds the report's title.  The Title section can be assigned its own font and font size, separate from the rest of the report.


Fields Listbox

A selectable listbox containing all of the fields in the current table.


Insert button

Clicking the Insert button in the Report Design window causes the field selected in the Fields ListBox to be added to the report layout.


Detail section

The Detail section of the Report Design window contains the actual data to be printed in a report.  The Detail section can be assigned its own font and font size, separate from the Title and Header sections.


Header section

The Header section of the Report Design window contains the the column headings to be printed in a report.  These headings are derived from the corresponding field names.  The Header section can be assigned its own font and font size, separate from the Title and Detail sections.


Fonts Listbox

Located in the Report Design window, the Fonts Listbox contains all fonts, font sizes, and font styles which are applicable to the default printer assigned through the Control Panel in Windows.


Select button

The Select button in the Report Design window assigns the chosen font, font size, and font style to the selected report section.


Sample Font

The Sample Font window located within the Report Design window provides an example of a particular font, font size, and font style for viewing prior to actual selection.


Portrait

Standard 8.5" x 11" printer setup.


Landscape

Choose Landscape from the Page Setup section in the Report Design window to cause your report to be printed in wide page format (11" x 8.5").  This will allow for more columns in your report, while permitting less records per page, thus possibly causing your report to take up additional pages.


Page Setup

The Page Setup section in the Report Design window allows you to dictate whether your report will be setup as Portrait or Landscape.