Welcome to the GOLD UTILITIES !

Copyright 1990-1992, all rights reserved.

The Gold Utilities were written by :

Harry Goldman
DataBase Designs, Inc.
450 Caren Dr.
Buffalo Grove, Il. 60089.

Voice - 708-634-9355
FAX - 708-634-9357

Compuserve : 75300,1733


The Gold Utilities have been released to the public domain as
freeware. There is no charge to use them. You may copy and
distribute GOLD Utilities freely. If you would like to suggest
changes, additions or spot problems, please let me know.

The Gold Utilities are a series of PAL based procedures to
document your tables, reports and forms. GOLD Utilities will
document the following information for you :

- Record size
- Block size
- Records per block
- Wasted space per block
- Current file size
- 'Optimal' file size
- Unclaimed disk space
- Report and form descriptions
- Report and form images
- Embedded tables on forms
- Linked tables on reports
- Field types and locaions on forms and reports


To install the Gold Utilities use the command :

PKUNZIP -d GOLD


Running The Gold Utilities
==========================

Once installed the Gold Utilities will run from within Paradox.
when you run the utilities for the first time it will create an
.LIB file.

The Gold Utilities can be run from inside Paradox by using the
{Scripts} {Play} menu choices. At the SCRIPT prompt enter :

\Gold\Gold

The drive specifier is optional unless the \Gold subdirectory
is not on the current drive.

Path Specifiers
===============


The Gold Utilities will prompt you for the working directory to
search, and the data directory to search. This is to comply with
RDA. If you do not use RDA leave the working and data directories
the same.


Output Files
============

The Gold Utilities will create an output file to store
information about your tables. At the beginning of each menu
option you will be prompted whether to delete or append to the
output file. Each menu option has a separate output file. If you
are not prompted, no file exists yet.

At the end of each option you will be prompted if you want to
print the output file to a printer. The print routine uses the
DOS command :

COPY filename PRN > NUL

This should work for most printers, and most PCs.

In version 1.2 GOLD utilities added a configuration routine that
can be used to store information about your setup. This information
includes your name and company name.

In version 1.3 the configuration was updated to add a printer setup
routine. The printer setup codes are stored in a table called PRINTERS
in your \GOLD subdirectory. If your printer is not included in this
list you can edit the table and add or change any of the setup codes.
When doing so make sure that the printer abbreviation is unique as
this is a key value.

Once a printer is selected, a printer setup string, page length and
page width information will be stored and used in outputing reports
from GOLD Utilities.


Version Changes
===============

Version 1.1 - Released 5/12/91

This version added a bounce bar menu utility to the system. The
menu utility consists of three parts : An array to store menu
items, a procedure to draw the menu on the screen, and a procedure
to control key movement inside the menu. This menuing utility can
be used for other applications by copying the relevant procedures.
The menuing array allows an unlimited number of menu selections,
but they must start at an array position divisible by 10. The
first menu selection will be the menu title. The menu drawing
routine will continue to draw menu selections to the screen until
it locates an undefined array element.

Also added to this version is better handling of remote SQL
tables. In previous versions remote SQL tables when located were
treated as an error, and skipped.

-------------------------------------

Version 1.2 - Beta 7/19/91

Changes for version 1.2 include an enhanced menuing system. The system
will now prompt the user for the working directory, and then display
in a scrollable menu all subdirectories found. The user can highlight
a directory and press [Enter] to select it, or the user can press [F2]
to loop through all subdirectories listed.

The prompting scheme has been changed a bit to accommodate the new
directory prompts, but the overall effect is still similar.

In the printout of table structures, the fields have been widened to
allow 4 more digits to be displayed. This should accommodate tables with
up to 9,999,999,999 records.


To configure and run GOLD Utilities for the first time, please run the
script INSTALL.SC This script will create the procedure libraries and
then prompt you for your name and company name. While this information
is not required to be completed, it is expected that in future releases
this information will be used.

Once the INSTALL routine has finished it will remove itself from the
system. To use GOLD Utilities in the future you need only run the script
GOLD.SC

-------------------------------------

Version 1.3 - 12/06/91


In version 1.3 the following items havebeen added or iproved :

The format of the VALCHECKS report has beenchanged to a matrix
design. This format has been found to be easier to read, and use
less paper. Each table will print on a seperate page. This was
done to accomodate system documentation needs.

The report will allow varying field widths depending on the width
of the printer that was selected in the configuration routine. The
minimum width is 15 characters for field names, lookup table names
and pictures, 6 characters for all other fields. If your fields are
longer then the allowed width they will be truncated.

Reports and Forms documenting have been upgraded with two major
enhancements :

Report and Form Images : Each report and form will now be copied
to your output file as an image. In forms fields will appear as
underscores "_" as they do when you look at the form through the
forms editor. In reports fields will appear as either "A" or "9"
depending on the type of data displayed.

The other major upgrade is the addition of field detail for each
form and report. The field detail will give you the full
coordinate of each field (page, row, column) as well as the field
display type and the field contents or name.

The wish list for version 1.4 is already in the works. Items
that have been submitted so far include :

- Enhanced report generation
- Multiple printers
- Multiple fonts
- Documenting of scripts

If you have additions please let me know. I will continue to
work on GOLD Utilities as time permits, and hope that together
we will be able to build this into a truly great piece of
software.

Thanks to some generous time from Phil Goulson, Brian Bushay and
others, the menu system has been revamped and is now smoother
then it was before.

=========================================================================

Non commercial use and distribution of GOLD Utilities and all routines
included in GOLD Utilities is encouraged. No warranty is given as to
the effects or contents of this program. Commercial reproduction of
GOLD Utilities in whole or in part is prohibited without written
consent of the author.

Use and distribute the Gold Utilities freely. If you have
questions or comments feel free to let me know.

Harry Goldman