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1992-12-03
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G-BASE
Users Manual
Version 1.0
Contents
Introduction 2
Files 3
Enter 4
Print 5
Sort 6
Distribution Policy 8
Appendix 10
G-BASE
Users Manual
Version 1.0
Introduction
G-BASE is an easy to use data base manager available on
CP/M and MS DOS machines. This program is distributed free
to the public and its distribution is encouraged. Source
code may be licensed from Jansma Consultants. See
Distribution Policy, below.
Every attempt has been made to make this program bug
free and to function properly. Jansma Consultants takes no
responsibility for any problems encountered when using this
program. If problems are found and reported they will be
fixed as quickly as possible. Notices of upgrades including
bug fixes will be made to licensees as indicated in the
section on Distribution Policy.
G-BASE uses menus which are displayed on the top line.
A menu item is selecte by pressing the first letter of the
option. The ESCAPE key is equivalent to the last option
which is usually Quit. The menus have the following
appearance:
G-BASE Menu: <E>nter <P>rint <F>iles <S>ort <H>elp
Overview
GBase is capable of handling up to 9000 records. This
limitation is due to the size allocated for the sort index.
If you wish to use a larger file, the souce code can be
altered, depending on the size of the system you are using
it on. The 9000 record limit is about maximum for the Epson
QX10/16 computers and a file with 9000 records may take a
while to sort.
The printing capabilities are limited at this time to
columnar lists with the option to total numeric fields at
the end of the listing. You are encouraged to make fancy
report writers. See the appendix for the format of the data
files.
(Field Types: C=Char N=Numeric M=Money
Note: Can't enter type M directly. Use N & redesign to M)
Files
The Files option brings up the following sub-menu:
Files Menu: <O>pen <C>reate <D>ir <I>mport <R>edesign
<C>reate: The create option is used to define a data base
dictionary. When selected you will be asked for a
file name which should include 8 characters with
no extension. The .GDF extension will be added
automatically.
<O>pen: The open option allows you to switch from the
currently open data file to another. An open
procedure is done on most other procedures if
there is not an open data file. Use this option
to switch to another file.
<D>ir: This displays a list of data files.
Note: the directory is a list of filenames
stored in the file GBASE.DIR. If you delete or
rename files, this directory will be out of date.
You may want to edit the directory to keep it up
to date.
<I>mport: The Import option allows you to read in a data
file stored in ASCII format. The file must have
the following information, separated by commas:
First line: Number of fields,
Number of records.
Lines 2-Nfields Field name
Field type (C,N,M)
Width of field
Number of decimals
Lines Nfields+1 Data for each record
to end separated by commas
<R>edesign: The Redesign option allows you to make minor
changes to the data base definitions. You can
change the field name, the field type, but you
cannot change the field width.
Enter
The Enter option displays the entry screen showing the
fields of the current data base. You will be prompted for
infomation in each field in the order they were defined.
You may use the normal edit keys including the backspace,
but not the arrow keys. If you make a mistake after
pressing return on a field, you will need to select the EDIT
option to correct the entered information. (see edit below).
To stop entering data or to make changes in the data
entered, press the back-slash key (\) and then press RETURN.
Note, the current release uses the back-slash to exit data
entry and thus cannot be used in the data base as a valid
character (since it cannot be entered in the entry screen).
Later releases will allow you to define the "hot key" or you
can purchase the source code and change it yourself. Once
you enter the "hot key" you will see the following sub-menu:
Edit Menu: <E>dit <D>elete <F>ind <Q>uit
<Q>uit: This exits the data entry screen option and
returns to the main menu.
<E>dit: This option is used to change the information in
the data record. You will be asked for the record
number. The information in the record will be
displayed on the screen and you will prompted for
new information for each field. To leave a field
unchanged, press RETURN on the field without
pressing any other keys.
<D>elete: This option will delete or undelete a record. You
will be prompted for the record number to delete
or undelete. Deleted records are not removed from
the data base but are marked "deleted" by
inserting a dollar sign as the first character in
the first field. You can delete or undelete a
record by editing the the record and adding or
removing the dollar sign. Note, this release uses
the dollar sign to mark deleted records, thus you
cannot use the dollar sign as the first character
in the first field. Future releases will allow
you to change the delete flag or you may purchase
the source code and change it yourself.
<F>ind: The find option is actually a SORT option. It is
included in the EDIT sub-menu for convenience.
See <S>ort, <F>ind below for information on this
option.
Print
The print option is used to list the data records to
the screen, the printer, or to a file. Records are listed
in the current sort order as defined under the SORT option.
<F>orm: The Form Option on the Print sub-menu allows you to
select which fields will be printed. There is one
option to selecting a field for display this is to
add a sum at the end of the form for a column.
Select fields to print or the sum option by
entering the number of the field. Press RETURN
with no value to complete the form.
Note: A bug is known to exist on Epson QX10/16 computers
when selecting print to disk. In some cases the
program will 'hang' and show the banner
continuously. Press Control-C to exit this
condition; however, data may be lost so it is a
good idea to make backups of your data files
before attempting a print to disk operation.
We will try to find the source of this problem
and provide a correction as soon as possible.
Sort
The Sort option brings up the following sub-menu:
Sort Menu: <S>ort <F>ind <M>ake Index <R>etrieve Index
<S>ort: This option displays the fields on the screen and
asks for the number of the field on which to sort.
It creates a sort index based on the field
selected. If the field type is numeric, the
records are sorted from the smallest number to the
largest. If the field type is character, the
records are sorted from the smallest ASCII code to
the largest ASCII code. ASCII codes can be found
in many computer manuals. The sorting on ASCII
codes results in uppercase Z comes before lower
case a and numbers come before letters. Other
characters also have specific positions.
<F>ind: The find option is used to select a record or
subset of records from the data base. The Find
option displays an entry screen with the fields
for the current data file. You are asked to enter
a search filter. The search will use all fields
in which you entered data and will then display
all matches to your filter. The filter includes
any operator which can be any of the following:
= equals
! not equal to
> greater than
< less than
If you leave a filter field blank, it will ignore
that field in the search. Thus if searching for a
last name of Martin without regard for the first
name, the filter would be:
LAST NAME: = Martin
FIRST NAME:
Note that uppper/lower case differences are
important.
<M>ake Index: This option prompts for a file name to save
the current sort index or current selection subset
created with Sort or Find. Stored indexes are
helpful because they can be read quickly and used
to display information without waiting for the
sort to be done.
<R>etrieve Index: This option prompts for the file name of
a stored index.
Distribution Policy
G-BASE was written by Jansma Consultants, Eugene Oregon
using the basic compiler ZBasic by Zedcor. G-BASE is
available in MS DOS format or CPM80 format for computers
such as the Epson QX-10. Jansma Consultants provides this
program free in its compiled form and encourages its free
distribution. It is illegal to resell the compiled version.
The source code can be licensed from Jansma Consultants for
$50.00. The users manual is included on the disk. Please
send a check or money order payable to Jansma Consultants,
1200 High Street, Suite #4, Eugene Oregon 97401. Please
specify which format you would like to receive. The
available formats are:
* Epson QX-10/16 DSDD or DSQD
* Other CPM80 5.25 DSDD
* MS DOS 5.25 DDSD or DSQD
* MS DOS 3.5 DSDD
The source code can be compiled using the Zedcor ZBasic
compilers. Contact Zedcor, Tucson, AZ. Use with BASICA or
Quick Basic will require changes which Jansma Consultants
will not support at this time.
Jansma Consultants encourages the improvement of the G-BASE
system and development of add-on products such as report
writers. Jansma Consultants will try to incorporate changes
and additions which are suggested by users or submitted by
source code licensees. Upgrades and add-ons will be
distribued to all source code licensees at the cost of
distribution (about $2.50 per disk). Notices of upgrades
will be distributed free.
............................................................
. G-BASE .
. Order Form .
. .
. Please Send me the source code for GBase in the .
. following formats: .
. MS DOS DSDD 5.25 .
. MS DOS DSQD 5.25 .
. MS DOS DSDD 3.50 .
. CP/M DSDD 5.25 .
. Computer: .
. Epson DSQD 5.25 .
. .
. Total Number of copies .
. Amount enclosed ($50/copy) .
. .
. Send to: .
. Name: .
. .
. Address: .
. .
. City, State, Zip: .
. .
............................................................
............................................................
. GBASE .
. Comment Form .
. .
. Good .----. Bad .
. ................ .
. Program ease of use . . . . . . .
. ................ .
. Program usefulness . . . . . . .
. ................ .
. Bugs and problems . . . . . . .
. ................ .
. Documentation/Help . . . . . . .
. ................ .
. .
. .
. Comments: .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
. .
............................................................
Appendix
GBase File Format
Every GBase data base file consists of two files, the
header and the data file, these are designated by the
extensions .GDH and .GDF, respectively.
The header file contains the information on the number
of fields, the number of records, as well as the name, type,
width, and number of decimals for each field.
The data file (*.GDF) holds the data according to the
infomation in the header file. Each field is stored as an
ASCII string of n characters where n=width of the field.
Even the numeric and money fields are stored in this
fashion. To read a record you must read t bytes where t=sum
of width of all fields. Then you can parse the data into
the respective fields. All data is stored by padding to the
correct field width with blanks (ASCII 32).
Deleted records are marked by adding the dollar sign
character ($) as the first character of the first field.
Records can be undeleted by removing this character.
characters may be lost at the end of the field when the $ is
added and these cannot be recovered.
