Category : Dbase (Clipper, FoxBase, etc) Languages Source Code
Archive   : RLIB.ZIP
Filename : DEMO.DBT

*e string in the form of either 'Jan 1, 1987' or
'January 1, 1987' to a date type variable.


Syntax: STR2DATE( datestring )
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9#ALNXY!9#$*L#Y CR DBTFÚÄ¿³ÙÄÀ³ÉÍ»º¼ÍȺ COMSPEC/c
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ìCzVn&‡òöRY'ddÌ Y'd I
_/zV 8This function provides a convenient method of printing a date in the form
January 1, 1988. If you frequently print out dates as text strings in your
application, typing the following code gets old quick: CMONTH(date) + ' ' +;
LTRIM( STR( DAY(date) ) ) + ', ' + STR( YEAR(date),4,0 )


Syntax: ALPHADATE( [date] )
CNLDMAUEUIUHELP




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9#ALNXY!9#$*L#Y CR DBTFÚÄ¿³ÙÄÀ³ÉÍ»º¼ÍȺ COMSPECThis function takes screen coordinates, a color setting, and a string as
parameters and displays the string at the specified location in the color
setting specified. (AT IN SAY )


Syntax: ATINSAY( row, column, color, string )
disk fulldisk full.NTXdisk full->->->CNLDMAUEUIUHELP




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9#ALNXY!9#$*L#Y CR DBTFÚÄ¿³ÙÄÀ³ÉÍ»º¼ÍȺ COMSPEBARMENU makes horizontal light bar menus a snap. Although this has been
simplified with Clipper's PROMPT and MENU TO commands, this function offers
additional flexibility to keep your coding to a minimum.


Syntax: BARMENU( row, options [, columns [, choice [, altkeys [, exitkeys
[, prompts [, prompt_row [, colors ] ] ] ] ] ] )
] ] )
(R)disk fulldisk full.NTXdisk full->->->CNLDMAUEUIUHELP




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This function merely rings the system bell a specified number of times. It is
useful in replacing the sequence ?? CHR(7) + CHR(7) + CHR(7) with BEEP(3).
Although you may not find this function very sophisticated, you will probably
use it frequently.


Syntax: BEEP( [number] )
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9#ALNXY!9#$*L#Y CR DBTFÚÄ¿³ÙÄÀ³ÉÍ»º¼ÍȺ COMSPEC/c BOXASK presents a painless way to pop up a dialogue box in the center of the
screen to ask for a keypress response. The intended use is for displaying
error messages of some sort while usually asking if they want to continue. Up
to nine lines may be included with the color used for the box being optional.


Syntax: BOXASK( [color,] line1 [,line2 .... ,line9] [,timeout] )


(R)disk fulldisk full.NTXdisk full->->->CNLDMAUEUIUHELP

BOXMENU combines the usefulness of Clipper's ACHOICE() function and MENU TO
command to give you a convenient way to pop up menus in a box. Some of the
features of BOXMENU are: automatic highlighting of the selected option,
automatic dulling of the menu box when finished, and multiple valid option
strings to allow not only the first letter of the options to be picked, but
also a list of option letters you pass as a parameter.

Syntax: BOXMENU( row, column, options [, choice [, altkeys [, exitkeys;
[, prompts [, prompt_row [, colors ] ] ] ] ] ] )
(R)disk fulldisk full.NTXdisk full->->->CNLDMAUEUIUHELP




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9#ALNXY!9#$*L#Y CR DBTFÚÄ¿³ÙÄÀ³ÉÍ»º¼ÍȺ COMSPEC/c
"[]|<>+=;,.DBF.DBF.DBF.DBF.DBT.DBT.DBT.DBT.TXT.TXT.MEM.MEM.FRM.LBL.TMP.PRN\/:\/:\/:*.*ÍÑÍ ³ This function returns the bright color attribute setting for either the
current color or the optionally supplied color parameter. This is useful for
switching around color combinations without having to clutter up your code
with all that SUBSTR(SUBSTR(... garbage.


Syntax: BRIGHT( [color] )
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9#ALNXY!9#$*L#Y CR DBTFÚÄ¿³ÙÄAlmost everyone has a function to center text on the screen. So why should
RLIB have one also? RLIB's CENTER() not only returns the column position to
center a string on an 80 column display, but it will also display the string
for you. This replaces "@ 1,CENTER(string) SAY string" with CENTER(1,string)
which helps cut down on wordy code.


Syntax: CENTER( [ row, ] string )
disk fulldisk full.NTXdisk full->->->CNLDMAUEUIUHELP CHANGED() is designed to be a replacement for the Clipper UPDATED() function
when used in conjunction with the MEMORIZE() function. It may also be used to
compare the contents of all fields in a record to previously MEMORIZEd()
copies to determine if changes have been made to the record since it was last
MEMORIZEd(). CHANGED() must be used in conjunction with MEMORIZE(),
MREPLACE(), and FORGET() functions. These functions take all the fields in
the current database and store the field values to memory variables of the
same name prefaced by M->.

Syntax: CHANGED()(R)disk fulldisk full.NTXdisk full->->->CNLDMAUEUIUHELP




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9#ALNXY!9#$*L#Y CR DBTFÚÄ¿³ÙÄÀ³ÉÍ»º¼ÍȺ COMSPEC/c
"[]|<>+=;,.DBF.DBF.DBF.DBF.DBT.DBT.DBT.DBT.TXT.TXT.MEM.MEM.FRM.LBL.TMP.PRN\/:\/:\/:*.*ÍÑÍ ³ CLOSEAREA allows you to close up to nine database files at one time with one
line of code without having to leave the currently selected work area. This
is useful when you have several database files open and you want to close all
but one or two of them.


Syntax: CLOSEAREA( [ work_area [, work_area ... ] ] )
sk full.NTXdisk full->->->CNLDMAUEUIUHELP




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9#ALNXY!9#$*L#Y CR DBTFThe is the companion to the RLIB ENCRYPTED() function. It is used to decrypt
strings encrypted with RLIB's ENCRYPT() function. See the ENCRYPTED()
function that follows.


Syntax: DECRYPTED( string )
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9#ALNXY!9#$*L#Y CR DBTFÚÄ¿³ÙÄÀ³ÉÍ»º¼ÍȺ COMSPEC/c
"[]|<>+=;,.DBF.DBF.DBF.DBF.DBT.DBT.DBT.DBT.TXT.TXT.METhe are several Encrypt/Decrypt functions out there most of which are written
in assembly or C. This is a simple Encryption scheme done entirely in
Clipper which makes it functional and also allows the source code to be
modified to provide unique algorithms. Data encrypted with this function is
Decrypted with the companion DECRYPTED() function.


Syntax: ENCRYPTED( string )
ll.NTXdisk full->->->CNLDMAUEUIUHELP



This function extracts the date from the given file's directory entry
information. It is useful for comparing the dates of two files or for using
the file date for a variety of purposes. I have used it in conjunction with
FILETIME() to determine if an index file is current with the associated .DBF
file. FILEDATE() simplifies all the ADIR() and associated lines of code to
get the file date.


Syntax: FILEDATE( filename )
 fulldisk full.NTXdisk full->-This function tests for the existence of multiple files at one time. It is
useful for reducing a wordy FILE() concoctenation.


Syntax: FILES( filename [, filename...filename ] )
)disk fulldisk full.NTXdisk full->->->CNLDMAUEUIUHELP




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9#ALNXY!9#$*L#Y CR DBTFÚÄ¿³ÙÄÀ³ÉÍ»º¼ÍȺ COMSPEC/c
"[]|<>+=;,.DBF.DBF.DBF.DBF.DBT.DBT.DBT.DBT.TXT.TXTThis function extracts the time from the given file's directory entry
information. It is useful for comparing the times of two files or for using
the file time for a variety of purposes. See the discussion of the
associated FILEDATE() function.


Syntax: FILETIME( filename )
fulldisk full.NTXdisk full->->->CNLDMAUEUIUHELP




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9#ALNXY!9#$*L#Y CR DBTFÚÄ¿³ÙÄÀ³ÉÍ»º¼ÍȺ This function is designed to be used in conjunction with the CHANGED(),
MEMORIZE(), and MREPLACE() functions they are all a team. Put together they
simplify the tedious task of making a memory variable copy of each field in a
database record to work with (some languages call them temporary field
variables) and then replacing the fields with the associated memory copy
after edits. FORGET() is used to release the PUBLIC variables created by
MEMORIZE() when your editing is finished. (This is required because you
cannot RELEASE ALL LIKE s_* if they are public variables.)

Syntax: FORGET()
(R)disk fulldisk full.NTXdisk full->->->CNLDMAUEUIUHELP




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9#ALNXY!9#$*L#Y CR DBTFÚÄ¿³ÙÄÀ³ÉÍ»º¼ÍȺ COMSPEC/c
"[]|<>+=;,.DBF.DBF.DBF.DBF.DBT.DBT.DBT.DBT.TXT.TXT.MEM.MEM.FRM.LBL.TMP.PRN\/:\/:\/:*.*This function is used to retrieve a comma delimited parameter from a
character string. The ways in which this can be used are unlimited but as
an example several RLIB functions use GETPARM() to retrieve color settings
from the strings provided.


Syntax: GETPARM( position, string )

sk fulldisk full.NTXdisk full->->->CNLDMAUEUIUHELP




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9#ALNXY!9#$*L#Y CR DBTFÚÄ¿³ÙÄÀ³ÉÍ»º¼ÍThere is no built in way of allowing key input while echoing dots on the
screen to prevent on-lookers from seeing what is being typed. SETting COLOR
TO X will blank out the screen but then you cannot see how many characters
have been entered. You may want to see dots echo (as most BBS' do) so you
can tell how many characters we have entered. With KEYINPUT() you can easily
do this while also determining the maximum length of the input string. You
can also control if the input it is to be all upper case and whether or not
to echo the actual characters on the screen or just dots.

Syntax: KEYINPUT( length, upper_case, echo_chars )
(R)disk fulldisk full.NTXdisk full->->->CNLDMAUEUIUHELP




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9#ALNXY!9#$*L#Y CR DBTFÚÄ¿³ÙÄÀ³ÉÍ»º¼ÍȺ COMSPEC/c
"[]|<>+=;,.DBF.DBF.DBF.DBF.DBT.DBT.DBT.DBT.TXT.TXT.MEM.MEM.FRM.LBL.TMP.PRNMARKREC() provides an easy way to select multiple records from a database to
be included in some subsequent processing operation. One natural use is for
prompting the user for records to include in a report. They cursor up and
down through a menu consisting of field expressions, and press a designated
mark key to select the record. The record then displays in bright or
blinking video, depending if it is highlighted or not. When the user
terminates by pressing the Enter key your application receives a string list
of record numbers selected.

Syntax: MARKREC( top, left, bottom, right, output [,markkey [,colors ]] )(R)disk fulldisk full.NTXdisk full->->->CNLDMAUEUIUHELP




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9#ALNXY!9#$*L#Y CR DBTFÚÄ¿³ÙÄÀ³ÉÍ»º¼ÍȺ COMSPEC/c
"[]|<>+=;,.DBF.DBF.DBF.DBF.DBT.DBT.DBT.DBT.TXT.TXT.MEM.MEM.FRM.LBL.TMP.PRN\/:\/:\/:*.The MEMORIZE() function copies database field contents into memory variables
for editing purposes (some languages call them temporary field variables).
What MEMORIZE() does is to create a PUBLIC memory variable with the same name
as each of the fields in the current record of the currently selected
database file and assign to that memory variable the value of its associated
field. You then GET the contents of the memory variable rather than GETting
the field directly. After your READ is finished you can easily update the
database record by issuing an MREPLACE().

Syntax: MEMORIZE( [ blank ] )
(R)disk fulldisk full.NTXdisk full->->->CNLDMAUEUIUHELP




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9#ALNXY!9#$*L#Y CR DBTFÚÄ¿³ÙÄÀ³ÉÍ»º¼ÍȺ COMSPEC/c
"[]|<>+=;,.DBF.DBF.DBF.DBF.DBT.DBT.DBT.DBT.TXT.TXT.MEM.MEM.FRM.LBL.TMP.PRN\/:\/:\/:*.*This functions is designed to be used in conjunction with MEMORIZE(),
CHANGED(), and FORGET() functions; they are all a team. Put together they
simplify the 'scattering and gathering' of database field contents into and
from associated memory variables (some languages call them temporary field
variables). What MREPLACE() does is to replace each field in the current
database record with the associated field memory variable that was created
with MEMORIZE() and usually recently edited.

Syntax: MREPLACE()(R)disk fulldisk full.NTXdisk full->->->CNLDMAUEUIUHELP




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9#ALNXY!9#$*L#Y CR DBTFÚÄ¿³ÙÄÀ³ÉÍ»º¼ÍȺ COMSPEC/c
"[]|<>+=;,.DBF.DBF.DBF.DBF.DBT.DBT.DBT.DBT.TXT.TXT.MEM.MEM.FRM.LBL.TMP.PRN\/:\/:\/:*.*ÍÑÍ ³ Abort Edit? ()MULTIMENU is a Multi-column menu selection function. Many programs offer a
list of options to choose from displayed across the screen allowing you to
cursor up down left and right to navigate around the options. This function
takes an array of character strings and displays them in this format.


Syntax: MULTIMENU( top, left, bottom, right, options [, columns ;
[, messages [, message_row [, colors ] ] ] ] )

)
(R)disk fulldisk full.NTXdisk This function is useful for parsing names to split up into the lastname
firstname components. What NAMESPLIT does is let you type in a name in the
form RICHARD LOW, and it returns LOW, RICHARD. This is particularly useful
for SEEKing names from an index that was indexed on PAD(TRIM(Lastname) + ', '
+ Firstname, 32). Such an index will insure correct ordering of names.


Syntax: NAMESPLIT( name )
fulldisk full.NTXdisk full->->->CNLDMAUEThe NTXKEYVAL() function simplifies retrieving the value of the index key for
the current database record. This value is most often needed to save the old
value to test against any changes in order to determine if an index file was
updated or changed. This is especially important in PICKREC() and DBEDIT()
applications where you want to refresh the display screen if a user changed
an index key that may affect the order in which records were displayed.


Syntax: NTXKEYVAL()This function returns the name of the parent directory to the current default
directory. If the optional directory name is given PARENT() returns the
parent directory.


Syntax: PARENT( [directory] )
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9#ALNXY!9#$*L#Y CR DBTFÚÄ¿³ÙÄÀ³ÉÍ»º¼ÍȺ COMSPEC/c
"[]|<>+=;,.DBF.DBF.DBF.DBF.DBT.DBT.DBT.DBT.TXT.TXT.MEM.MEM.FRMThis function searchs the current DOS path to find the path pointing to the
indicated file. This may be used to build a fully qualified filename
('d:[path]filename') as a character string to be used to open a file.

Syntax: PATHTO( filename )
e drive and directory as the
program (.EXE) file. The path to the .EXE file is found and used to point to
the help file. This way, the help file can be located at runtime, provided
the directory it is in is in the path.

To perform the pull down menuing function after having been initialized with
PDOWNINIT(). This function simplifies creating 'pull down' menus.


Syntax: PDOWNMENU( @menu, @item, menus, items, columns, startnums;
[, prompts [, exit ] ] )
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9#ALNXY!9#$*L#Y CR DBTFÚÄ¿³ÙÄÀ³ÉÍ»º¼ÍȺ COMSPEC/c
"[]|<>+=;,.DBF.DBF.DBF.DBF.DBT.DPICKFILE() will display a boxed file directory listing from which to choose a
file. This functions allows you to easily build pop-up file listings when
you need to prompt the user for a filename.


Syntax: PICKFILE( [ filespec [, top, left, bottom [, colors
[, expanded ] ] ] ] )
ll->->->CNLDMAUEUIUHELP




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9#ALNXY!9#$*L#Y CR DBTFÚÄ¿³ÙÄÀ³ÉÍ»º¼ÍȺ COMSPICKREC() provides a simple yet versatile method of PICKing RECords from a
database. It can be used to produce windowed listings for on-line help, or
for supplying a menu of database records that can be used to select records
for further processing. You simply provide PICKREC() with the four screen
coordinates defining the window and the field list or expression to display,
and it lists these expressions in a box. You can then cursor up and down to
find the record you want and select it by pressing ENTER.

Syntax: PICKREC( top, left, bottom, right, fieldlist, [, procname; 
[, condition [, rownumber ] ] ] )This function moves trailing blanks in a string to the front of the string
which right justifys the string in display or printing.


Syntax: RJUSTIFY( string )
ring )

ldisk full.NTXdisk full->->->CNLDMAUEUIUHELP




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9#ALNXY!9#$*L#Y CR DBTFÚÄ¿³ÙÄÀ³ÉÍ»º¼ÍȺ COMSPEC/c
"[]|<>+=;,.DBF.DBF.DBF.DBF.DBT.DBT.DBT.DBT.TXT.TXT.MEM.MThis is similar to the BOXASK() function but instead of waiting for a
response like BOXASK() SAYINBOX() merely puts the message up on the screen.
Where a BOXASK() message disappears when a key is hit, SAYINBOX() messages
stay (unless the optional timeout is used). Up to nine lines may be
included, with the color used for the box being optional.


Syntax: SAYINBOX( [ color, ] line1 [, line2...line9 ] [ timeout ] )
eout ] )
)
(R)disk fulldisk full.NTXdisk full->-This function converts a date string in the form of either 'Jan 1, 1987' or
'January 1, 1987' to a date type variable.


Syntax: STR2DATE( datestring )
ull.NTXdisk full->->->CNLDMAUEUIUHELP




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9#ALNXY!9#$*L#Y CR DBTFÚÄ¿³ÙÄÀ³ÉÍ»º¼ÍȺ COMSPEC/c
"[]|<>+=;,.DBF.DBF.DBF.DBF.DBT.DBT.DBT.DBT.TXT.TXT.MEM.MEM.FRM.LBL.TMP.P