A.C.E. 2/ACE CD 2.iso/FILES/DOCS/SBASEP4D.LHA/SuperBasePersonal

Text File | 1994-11-27 | 37KB | 799 lines

            SUPERBASE PERSONAL

Ported from an AMIGA disk to the ST and back again. Edited by Parasite.


PART 1

WELCOME TO SUPERBASE

This Introductory session with Superbase will give you an understanding of
how to perform some of the basic database operations of the Superbase system.
Some more complex functions are explained in the section Working with
Superbase.

We'll assume you know how to do a number of things which are either essential
to the ST operating system or common to almost all ST programs:

 Switching on the power.
 Using the mouse to point, click on Icons or menu items, and drag  Icons or
   windows around the screen.
 Resizing windows.

If you don't know how to do any of these, refer to the ST User Guides.
In addition, you should have a thorough understand of elementary file
operations, such as copying files, renaming files and deleting files.

THE SUPERBASE MENUS

The Superbase menus are obtained in the same way as for all ST GEM based
programs.  Move the mouse to the title-bar and the menu will appear.
Simply click on the appropriate item.

GHOSTED ITEMS

A standard intuition feature is the "ghosting" of menu items that are
temporarily unavailable.  We use this feature in Superbase, most obviously
during this start up phase when no file is open.

To see this, move the pointer to the menu bar, and move the pointer across
until it's on the work Record.  You'll see that all the items on this menu
appear to be faint,  as if only half the dots that make up each letter were
being used.  If you try to select a ghosted item, nothing will happen.
A quick look at the Control Panel at the bottom of the screen will reveal
the most of the control buttons are also ghosted while no file is open.

OPENING A FILE

If you look at the top left-hand corner of the screen you will see a message
that reads "Superbase: Please open a file".  You always see this message
when you start Superbase up, or when there is no file open.  Since you can't
do any work without a file, let's open one and take a look at it.

Files can only be opened from the Project menu.  This is the first menu on
the menu bar.

Move the mouse pointer to the top of the screen so that it highlights the
work Project. As you do this the Project menu appears. The item you
want is open.  Move the pointer down the menu, and highlight open. As you
do so, you'll see four subitems appear to the right, three of which,
Fields, Index, and Query are ghosted.  The only one available is File
which is the one you want to select.  So, keeping Open highlighted,
move the pointer slowly to the right until the File subitem is also
highlighted.  Now, press the left mouse button, and the item is selected.
All menu items are selected in the same way, and we won't give detailed
instructions for the dozens of menu selections discussed elsewhere in the
manual.

SUPERBASE REQUESTERS

Superbase now requestes the name of the file you wish to open.  Requesters
like this one (some are more complicated) are used in most Superbase
operations.  They also communicate messages to the user.  They are
known as requesters because their function is to request specific action
from the user. Usually the action involves making selections by clicking
the mouse or typing in a number of a text value of some kind.

Many requesters show a panel that contains a list of items such as file
name or field names.  The panel may be only a few lines long, so there may
be more files or fields than can be shown at one time.  If there's
a gap at the bottom of the scroll bar there are more items to be viewed.
You can show them by dragging down the scroll bar at the right of the
panel, or by clicking on the downwards pointing arrow gadget below the
scroll bar.

One very important fact about requesters is that you must respond to them
before you can do anything else. Most requesters have a Cancel button.
Clicking on this returns you to whatever you were doing previously. If
there's no Cancel button there is certain to be an OK button, and you can
safely click on this once you've read the requester.

Many Superbase requesters include a Clear button. This has the effect of
removing anything that's in the Selection Box, and can be used at any time.

CHOOSING THE ADDRESSES FILE

Move the pointer into the panel which contains a list of file names.
Move it  over the file name Addresses.  This is the demonstration file
you'll be using  for the rest of this session.  Using the left-hand button,
click once on the name Addresses. Superbase copies the name of the file
you've selected into  the Selection Box -- that's the box underneath the
panel of tile names.  (If  you see the wrong file name in the box, move the
pointer carefully onto the  right file name, and click again.)  Once
you've selected the file, move the pointer onto the OK button and click
once. Superbase now opens the Addresses file.

THE MAIN DISPLAY

When Superbase opens a file from the start up screen, it automatically reads
the first record in the file and shows it on the Main Display screen.
You'll see the name of the file appear on the title bar at the top of the
window, followed by the name of the field on which the file is currently
indexed.

The Main Display is Superbase's permanent window onto your database. It's
like a large worksheet, 273 colulmns across; the number of lines you can see
depends on the size of your window.  Surperbase uses the Main Display
to show you the records in the current file, as well as the results of some
other operations. At the bottom of the Main Display is the Control Panel,
which we'll be looking at in a minute.

On the Main Display, the field names for each record in the Addresses file
appear down the left-hand side of the screen. The data for each field is
displayed to the right of its field name.  If the data for a field is
wider than the window, it extends off to the right. You can bring it into
view using the scroll bar at the bottom of the window.

Remember that if there were more fields in the record than you could see,
you could view them by dragging the scroll bar at the right of the window
downwards, or by clicking on the downward pointing arrow.

RECORD VIEW, FORM VIEW AND TABLE VIEW

The record format you're looking at now is only one of the three possible
ways of looking at your file.  It's called Record View. This view shows
the records one at a time, restricting the format by keeping the field
names on the left and limiting you to one field per line. This restriction
allows records to be scrolled up and down the screen with the Control
Panel buttons.

In Form View, you also see one record at a time.  Each record is like a
form or page and, as you'll see later, you can drag the fields around to
create a worksheet desinged to suit your application.

The third display format is Table View.  This displays the field names
across the top of the screen with the data appearing in rows and columns,
each record occupying one line.

SWITCHING TO TABLE VIEW

Select Table View from the Set Menu.  You will see the field names appear
across the top of the screen. The same record is shown, but each item of
data appears underneath its field name.  As with Form View, there are ways
of changing this row and colulmn display to suit your own preferences which
we'll explain later.

SCROLLING THE SCREEN

While you are viewing your record in Table View you will notice that the
field names do not all fit onto the screen. The fileds to the right can be
viewed using the arrow at the right of the bottom scroll bar. Move the
pointer onto this arrow, and click on it once. The display shifts five
columns to the left. Click once on the left-hand arrow to shift right
and restore the display. If you want to shift the display by larger areas,
drag the bottom scroll bar with the mouse.

CONTROL PANEL

Now that you've opened a file, and discovered how to change the way in
which records are displayed on the screen, let's look at the Control Panel.
This is your means of controlling the main display.  As you can see there
are 12 buttons, most of them modelled on the controls for a video cassette
or tape recorder, so you should find these conventions easy to learn and
remember.

Each button has a special purpose, and together they fall into three groups.
On the left are the Pause and Stop buttons. Followed by seven buttons for
browsing through the file.  On the right are three special purpose
buttons which we'll examine later. The functions of some controls are more
intuitively obvious than others, so we'll take a look at the first nine
now, one by one.  Make sure you've set Table View for this exercise.

 ^ Current Record: This button is used to display the current record.
When Table View has put a lot of records on the screen it can be helpful
to select the current record as the top record in the display. Also, you
can only Edit the current record, and this button is a useful way of
ensuring that you've got the right record. If you click on this button
you will notice that Superbase clears the screen and then displays the
current record.

 > Next Record: Allows you to view the next record in the file. The order
in which the records appear is decided by the current index, which is shown
by the message on the title bar of the main display window.  Try this
now, and you'll see the data for the next record come onto the screen. In
Table View it appears underneath the previous record. In Form View it
replaces the previous record.

 < Previous Record: This gets the previous record in the file, relative to
the current record.

 >> Fast Forward:  Instead of moving forwards through the file one record
at a time by pressing the Next button, you can move much quicker using the
Fast Forward button.  Click on this button, and Superbase gets the next
records in the file, displaying them row by row until the screen is full,
when it selects the Pause button.

 || Pause: When the Pause button is selected, you cannot select any menu
item until you either release it or click on the Stop button next to it. You
can, however, use the other Control Panel buttons. So, to view the next
screen of records, release the pause by clicking on the Pause button.
Superbase continues with the Fast Forward display of records, stopping when
the next screen is full, or when it reaches the end of the file. Pause is
useful when you're searching for a record and you want to stop from time to
time to read the screen.

 << Rewind: This does the opposite of the Fast Forward button. You will see
the data appear from the top of the screen,in reverse index order. If you do
this immediately after Fast Forward there will be an apparent delay while
Superbase displays records over the text of the existing display.

 |< First:  Pressing this button automatically displays the first record in
the file, according to current index order.

 >| Last:  Pressing this button automatically displays the last record in
the file, according to current index order.

 | Stop:  If you want to stop the Fast Forward or Rewind display, click on
Stop.  You must also click on Stop if you want to interrupt Pause when it's
selected.

OPENING FIELD TO VIEW

As Superbase imposes no limit on the number of fields per record, you need
to have a way of restricting the fields that actually appear on the Main
Display. You can do this with the Open Field option on the Project Menu.

Display the Project Menu, and select Open Fields. The basic procedure for
selecting fields is very simple:

1.  Click on a field name in the left-hand panel.  Superbase copies it
    into the right-hand panel.
2.  Repeat until the selection of fields you want is in the right-hand
    panel.
3.  Click on OK.

The list of fields in the right-hand panel is called the Open Fields List.
Let's make one now.  Move the pointer onto the list of fields names, and
click on City.  Notice how Superbase copies it across.  Now click on
Lastname.  When you have both names in the list, click on OK. (If you make
a mistake, DEL removes the current field from the right-hand panel; Clear
removes the whole list.)

Superbase immediately returns to the Main Display showing the data for the
two open fields. Try out the Control Panel buttons to see their effect.
Experiment with Record View as well as Table View.

When you've finished, restore the full set of fields by selecting Close
Fields from the Project menu.

PAGING

This is another feature which gives you control over the Main Display:
the Paging option.

If Record View is not set, select it now from the Set Menu. Then go back
to the Set menu, and move the pointer down to the Paging item, which should
have a check mark against it.  Release the mouse button while Paging is
highlighted. You've now turned the paging option off. (You can check this
by looking at the Set menu again; there should be no check mark against the
Paging item.)

Now, select the first record in the file by clicking on the First Record
button. Then click on Fast Forward, and watch the display. You'll see that
Superbase doesn't pause when the screen is full -- It just goes on
displaying records. You can still use pause to halt the display, but the
automatic pausing at the end of each "page" of data no longer occurs. The
same applies when Rewind is in use, except that the records appear at the
top of the screen.

If you now switch back to Table View and try out some of the Control Panel
buttons, you'll see that with Paging off the difference is similar to that
in Record View. Each record appears below the last, without clearing the
screen. Rewind displays records from the top down, as in Record View.

MOVING COLUMNS

For this exercise you need to be able to see all the fields on the screen,
not just those in the Open Fields list, so if you have an open Fields list
in use, close it now by selecting Close Fields from the Project Menu.

You can see that if you have all the fields open in Table View, some of
the field data is very likely to be hidden from view. Normally, to see
hidden fields you have to scroll the screen to the right. However, Superbase
provides a way of closing up columns to get more data on the screen.

Assuming you're in Table View -- set it if you're not -- click on the First
button, then the First Record button on the Control Panel in order to get
the first record of the Addresses file on your screen.

MOVING A COLUMN TO THE LEFT

Now move the pointer so that it is on the space to the right of "M" in the
Title Field.  Once you have done that press and hold down the left-hand
button of the mouse.  As you do this you will see two vertical lines
appear, forming a column beneath the Title field. There are also lines
extending off to the right of the screen.

Keeping the left button depressed, drag the pointer a little to the left,
then release the mouse. You will see that the column moves, and when you
release the mouse the data beneath the field name has shifted to the left.
All columns to the right have also moved leftwards.

Now try the same with the Forename field. This time over the column so that
it is just to the right of the "e" in Title. If you also try this with
Lastname and Street you will see that as you move the columns over to the
left the field name City appears on the right of the screen.

If you now move the City column to the left, the Code field will appear on
the screen.  Finally, if you move the Code field, Country will appear on the
right-hand side. So by moving the columns you've got all the fields on one
screen instead of two.

Notice that you can move a column so that it overlaps the column to its left,
truncating the data. This can be useful.

MOVING A COLUMN TO THE RIGHT

If you move a column back to the right, the truncated field name and data are
not automatically restored to their full length. A quick way of restoring the
length of a field is to double click in its column. Then if you click on the
Current Record button the full field name and data will reappear. But as this
only displays one record you will have to use Fast Forward if you want to
redisplay a screen of Record data.

FORM VIEW DESIGN

Superbase allows you to rearrange the positions of the fields in Form View,
setting more than one field on a line, creating columns of field to resemble
invoices or other business forms, and generally talloring the system to
suit your own application. The full 273 column woeksheet is available for
Form View, and you can vary the depth by dragging fields downwards, creating
new lines.

You can use Form View for creating new records and editing them, as well as
for display. By setting the Printer option on, you can copy the visible
portion of the worksheet to the printer.

Select Form View now from the Set Menu.

Make sure you've got the Addresses file open, and that the current record is
the first record in the file.

DEFAULT FORM VIEW

If you look at the screen you can see that the fields names already appear
in a Form View. This is the default Form, which we have predefined for this
demonstration file.  You can change it, and then save it with Project
Save File. Once a Form has been saved, the fields will appear in that
layout every time you open the file.

MOVING FIELDS

Let's move the Lastname field to another position on the screen. Move the
pointer so that it's on the field name Lastname.  Then press and hold down
the left-hand button of the mouse.  Superbase outlines the field name and
its data area. (If you see a cursor instead, you've started editing by
mistake.  Carefully click again on the field name itself.)  Now drag the
outlined box to a new position two lines above its present position.
Release the mouse button. As you can see, the field name and data have
moved to this new position.

Now, if you want to, you can arrange the Form View for Addresses in any way
you like. This can be just an experiment, but if you want to save the
present arrangement, you can do so.  Select Save File from the Project
Menu. Superbase stores the File Definition, which contains the Form View
location of each field, on disk.

Although you have freedom to drag fields to any position on the screen,
there are as usual a few limits to what you can do.

You cannot place a field on top of either the name or the data area of
another field. If you try this, Superbase leaves the field you tried to
drag in its original position.

Superbase won't let you move a field off the right or left-hand end of the
worksheet.

To gain more lines, move a field down into the Control Panel. Then use the
vertical scroll bar on the Main Display window to bring it back into view.
Move it down again if you still need more lines.

To move a field over to the right of the worksheet, position it near the
right-hand edge of the screen, then shift the display with the scroll bar,
and drag the field further over.

Only the open fields are shown, so close the Open Fields List if you want
to see all the fields in Form View.

Finally, a small but entertaining feature. Select Fast Forward, and drag
the fields around as described above.  No problem.

SUMMARY

Time for a check list of what you should know before we proceed.

* How to open a file
* How to switch between Form View, Table View, and Record View
* How to switch Paging off and on
* How to drag columns around in Table View
* How to Open and Close a list of fields
* How to select the Current record
* How to move to the First record
* How to move to the Last record
* How to move to the Next record
* How to go to the Previous record
* How to use the Fast Forward to move forwards through the records
* How to Rewind to move backwards through the file
* How to Pause
* How to Stop

Understanding all these actions is essential if you want to be able to work
easily with Superbase. If you do not understand them or are uncertain then
take a little time to go back and re-read the appropriate sections before
continuing.

THE KEY LOOKUP BUTTON

 ? Key Lookup:  This is for the retrieval of individual records. You enter
a value for the field on which the file is currently indexed, and Superbase
uses the index to find and display the record. You can only use one index
field at a time -- the Filter button is used for multiple value searching.

When you click on the Key Lookup button you'll see a requester for the
entry  of a key value.

TYPING IN YOUR KEY

To be able to type in the box, you must move the pointer into it and click
the mouse once. This produces the cursor, and you can then type in your
Index Key.

Suppose you want to find the record for Julie Kasper. The file is indexed on
the Number field, so we can use the current index to search for individuals
by their Reference Numbers. Click in the box and then type in "KAS0001"
(omit the quotation marks).  This is the Index Key.

RETRIEVING THE RECORD

When you press Return or click on OK, Superbase looks up the first record
for which the Number field has the value "KAS0001". If there were more than
one with this value, you would have to browse through the file with the
Next Record or Fast Forward button to find the exact record you wanted.

KEY LOOKUP WITH A DIFFERENT INDEX

You're not restricted to one index. Superbase allows you to have up to 999
indexes for each file, all automatically updated when you add or modify
records. We've provided indexes on the other fields besides the number
field: Lastname, City and Country. Let's try one of these. Select Open index
from the Project Menu.

Click on the field name Lastname; this is copied into the Selection Box.
When you're ready, click on OK. You've selected the Lastname index, and if
you look at the title bar at the top of the window you'll see that the
message now reads "Superbase:  Addresses Indexed on Lastname".

The record on the main display has not changed. Click on the Key Lookup
button, and Superbase produces the Record Key requester. As you did above,
click in the box and type in a key value, only this time type in "Forge".
Press Return or click on OK, and Superbase looks up the first record with
Forge in the Lastname field.

ENTERING PARTIAL VALUES

You don't even need to type the full index key in many cases. Try Key
Lookup once more, but type in "Hut" and press Return. Superbase finds the
first record for Huttermann.  For your information, Superbase tells you
that it didn't find the exact match.

THE FILTER BUTTON

 = Filter:  This is a very powerful feature. You may have thousands of
records in a database file, yet you may often want to review them (or print
them out) on a selective basis. The Filter allows you to enter a set of
values, as simple or a comprehensive as you like, to restrict the display to
only the records that match those values.

THE FILTER REQUESTER

Move the pointer and click on the Filter button on the Control Panel. This
requester looks more complex than the ones you have seen so far, but after
a little practice with the demonstration file you'll find that you can
remember how to use it easily. It's important that you learn how to use the
Filter, because Superbase uses filters in several other functions.

The requester has four main parts: the Field Name Panel, the Operators, the
Value Box, and the Main Box.  A Filter is created by a combination of
clicking on field names and operators and typing in values. These actions
produce the Filter Command Line in the Main Box. Let's look at each
component of the Filter Requester in turn.

FIELD NAME PANEL

This appears on the left-hand side of the requester. You can scroll the
list of field names up and down in the usual way, using the scroll bar and
arrows at the right of the Field Name Panel. You specify that a field is
to be used in the Filter by clicking on its name in this panel.

The list of field names is complete. It's not affected by whether you have
an Open Fields List, so the fields that specify the Filter neen not be the
same as the ones that are shown in the Main Display.

OPERATORS

These appear to the right of the Field Name Panel, and can be divided into
the Relational Operators, Logical Operators and Mathematical Operators.
We'll see how these are used below.

VALUE BOX

This is the box with the word "Value" next to it. You use it for typing in
values such as names, numbers, and dates, which will form part of the
Filter.

Always remember to press Return after typing in the Value Box. You must do
this to ensure that the contents are copied to the Main Box.

MAIN BOX

This is the long box that appears below the Field Name Panel and extends
across the whole requester. When you make selections with the mouse or type
values into the Value Box, Superbase copies them into the Main Box,
building up the Filter Command Line. In this way you get immediate feedback
about the results of your selections. The maximum length of the Filter
Command Line is much greater than the apparent length of the box -- up to
255 characters are allowed.  You can type directly into the Main Box, but
in these exercises we'll stick to making selections with the mouse.

USING THE OPERATORS

The Operators are the most complex aspect of the requester. They are used
to relate field names to other fields or values. For example, if we wanted
to set up a Filter to show only the addresses in West Germany, we would
need the expression: Country LIKE "West Germany". Here, Country is a field
name obtained by clicking in the Field Name Panel; LIKE is selected by
clicking on the LIKE Operator button; and "West Germany" is typed into the
Value Box.

TEXT STRING AND PATTERN MATCHING:  LIKE

When you're searching for names or text strings, uyou should avoid using
the equals sign operator, and use LIKE instead. This is because only LIKE
accepts matches on either upper or lower case characters; it's said to
be "case insensitive". The equals sign operator, on the other hand,
requires exact matches for what you type in: It is "case sensitive".

LIKE also permits searches for text strings that include pattern matching
characters. These allow you to enter incomplete words for the Filter. For
example, to find all the records where the Lastname begins with "C" you
need the Filter Command Line: Lastname LIKE "C". To specify a range add
square brackets to the value:  Lastname LIKE"[A-D]*"; this finds all the
records where the Lastname begins with "A", "B", "C", or "D". Note that
the Asterisk is placed outside the brackets.

There are several other things you can do with the LIKE operator. You'll
find a complete list and a number of examples in Appendix B.

THE RELATIONAL OPERATORS

 = This specifies that the field is to be EXACTLY EQUAL TO the following
value or field:  Balance = 2000.

 <> The field is to be NOT EQUAL TO the following value or field:
Country <> "France".

 > The field is to be GREATER THAN the following value or field: Balance
> 1000.

 < The field is to be LESS THAN the following value or field: Balance <
1000.

 >= The field is to be GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO the following value or
field:  Balance >= 1000.

 <= The field is to be LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO the following value or
field:  Balance <= 1000.

THE LOGICAL OPERATORS AND, OR AND NOT

These provide links between different expressions like the ones given
above. You use them to specify alternatives and ranges for the Filter,
either for a single field or for a number of interrelated fields:

 AND Both of the conditions linked by AND must be satisfied for the record
to be accepted by the Filter:  Country "West Germany" AND Balance  >=
5000.

 OR Either of the conditions linked by OR is sufficient to make the record
acceptable to the Filter:  Country LIKE "West Germany" OR City LIKE
"Geneva".

 NOT NOT is slightly different. It negates the effect of an expression:
NOT (Country LIKE "West Germany" AND Balance > 5000). This will find all
the records other than the ones where the country is West Germany and the
balance is greater than 5000.  Note the use made of Parentheses with NOT.

PARENTHESES

The ( and ) operators are used in the normal way, to give priority to one
part of the expression over another.

( The following expression has a higher priority for evaluation than the
preceding expression.
) Required to end a higher priority expression.

The numbers of opening and closing parentheses must be equal.

THE MATHEMATICAL OPERATORS

 + This is used to express addition:  Balance > Amount + 1000.

 - The minus sign expresses subraction:  Balance >  Amount - 1000.

 * The asterisk is used for multiplication:  Balance > Amount * 1.15.

 / The slash represents division:  Balance < Limit / 10.

TYPING IN THE MAIN BOX

The great power and flexibility of the Filter system is only achieved by
giving the user control of every aspect of the operation. Because you
type into the Main Box you include all kinds of expressions which are not
available from the buttons on the requester itself, and all kinds of text
and numeric values.

The price you pay for this flexibility is an increased risk of making
mistakes. This is not too serious, as you cannot harm your data by using
a Filter (although you can discard records using the Remove Records Filter).
However, you may see a Superbase "Can't do this" message concerning an
error in the Filter Command Line in two possible situations:

 When you click an OK after creating or editing a Filter Command Line.

 When you use a Filter after changing the definition of a field with
 Project Edit.

If you see a "Can't do this" message you must either change the Filter
Command Line or change the file definition. Here's a summary of the
editing facilities available when typing inside the Main Box:

FILTER COMMAND LINE EDITING

You can remove everything from the Main Box by clicking on the Clear
button.

If you have clicked in the box, hold down the Alternate Key and press X
to delete its contents. (Note: we refer to this key combination as
Alternate-X).

Provided you have not left the box -- the cursor is still visible --
Alternate-Q will restore the contents you deleted with the Alternate-X.
This does not work after clicking on Clear.

If Superbase won't let you make an Operator selection when you return to
modify an existing Filter Command Line, click in the Main Box and press
Return. Now you can go ahead.

Shift key and cursor right arrow and shift key and cursor left arrow move
the cursor to the end and beginning of the Filter Command Line
respectively.

The DEL key romoves the character to the left of the cursor. Backspace
repeats its action if held down.

USING A FILTER

The Filter Command Line is made active by clicking on OK. Whenever a Filter
is in use, Superbase highlights the Filter button on the Control Panel. You
can perform all but one of the Control Panel record selection operations
we've discussed, and Superbase will restrict the records displayed to the
ones that match the Filter values. For example, if you have specified the
Country LIKE  "West Germany" and you click on the First Record button,
Superbase will go and find the first record in the file, according to the
current index, which has the value "West Germany" in the Country field.

The Key Lookup button is an exception to the filter effect. You can still
recall individual records by entering an index key value, whether or not
they  match the Filter.

SUSPENDING A FILTER

There wil be times when you want to remove the Filter effect so that you
can review all the records in the file again. To do this, just click on the
highlighted Filter button. It reverts to normal, and you'll find that when
you use the Control Panel Superbase acts as if there were no Filter.

MODIFYING OR RE-ACTIVIATING A FILTER

If you've set up a Filter and then suspended it, you can bring it back into
operation by clicking once more on the Filter button. Superbase displays the
Filter requester, with the Filter Command Line in the Main Box just as you
left it.

If you want to, you can add to the Filter Command Line by clicking on more
field names and operators (you may need to click in the Main Box and press
Return first), or edit it after clicking in the Main Box, as described
above.

Whether you've made any changes or not, just click on OK to use the Filter
again.

FIFTEEN MINUTE TUTORIAL

Make sure you've got the Addresses file open, indexed on Lastname. Set Table
View with Paging off. Go into Project Open Fields and open these fields:
 Forename
 Lastname
 Street
 City
 Country

In Table View, drag the Lastname column a few columns to the left, and then
do the same for City, overlapping the Street column if necessary, until the
Country column comes into view.

Click on the Filter button.

We are going to search for those name and address records where the person
lives in the USA or West Germany.  So we'll use the Country field, and LIKE
operator, and the Value Box.  You'll see the results of your selections
appear as a Filter Command Line in the Main Box.

Move the pointer into the Field Names Panel, and click once on the down
arrow to bring Country into view. Then click on Country. The name appears
in the Main Box.  Next, move the pointer to the right and click on the
LIKE button. This also appears in the Main Box. Now you must type in "USA".
This goes in the Value Box.  Move the pointer into the Value Box and click
on the mouse to produce the cursor. Type in "USA" (no quotation marks).
Press Return -- this is essential, or the contents of the Value Box will
not be copied into the Main Box. Your Filter Command Line should read:

Country LIKE "USA"

Next, you need the OR operator. Click on it and Superbase copies it into
the Main Box. Now you must click on the Country field name again. This is
important. A Filter Command Line like this is not allowed:

Country LIKE "USA" OR "West Germany"

So, click on Country, as before, followed by LIKE. Then, as before, click
in the Value Box, and type in "West Germany". Press Return. Your Filter
Command Line should look like this:

Country LIKE "USA" OR Country LIKE "West Germany"

If there are any mistakes click on Clear and repeat the steps above until
you get it right.

You have built your Filter Command Line, so now you can put it into action.
Click on the OK button. Superbase activates your Filter and displays the
first record in the file that matches the Filter. Click on Fast Forward.
Superbase shows all the records that match the Filter.

Now de-activate the Filter. Click on the Filter button so that it's not
highlighted. Now click on Rewind. You'll see all the records in the file
appear as normal.

Let's go back and add another condition. Click on the Filter button to
recall the requester. Click on the OR operator, then on Country, then on
LIKE, then in the Value Box, type in "France", and press Return. Your line
should read:

Country LIKE "USA" OR Country LIKE "West Germany" OR Country LIKE "France".

Now click on OK and when Superbase shows the first record, click on Fast
Forward. You will see that Superbase has added the addresses in France to
the display.

That concludes our short tutorial.

OTHER FILTER BASED OPTIONS

You should have acquired a feel for the way the Filter requester works, and
you can experiment freely with the Addresses file to deepen your knowledge.
When you're ready, you can start using the Process options, all of which
are selected from the Process menu.

 Remove: Allows you to delete groups of records from the file. You can use
the Control Panel Filter to view them first -- the Filter Command Line is
preserved for you to use in the other Filter functions.

 Import:  When you need to read in records from other systems, the import
Filter provides a means of rejecting records that don't match the conditions
you set up.

 Export: The opposite of Import, Export lets you create a disk file
containing selected fields and records.

 Print:  A quick and easy way of obtaining a permanent list of all the
information contained in the selected fields and records.