Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!apple!usc!hacgate!ashtate!dbase!awd
From: awd@dbase.UUCP (Alastair Dallas)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: dBASE IV features
Message-ID: <114@dbase.UUCP>
Date: 15 Jun 89 17:37:51 GMT
Organization: Ashton Tate Devlopment Center Glendale, Calif.
Lines: 55

In article <109@dbase.UUCP> I wrote:
> If there's something you need to
> do and dBASE IV can't do it for you, I'd like to hear about it :-).

Tom Haapenen of the University of Waterloo wrote:
: Just some gripes about dBASE III+ that may or may not have been fixed...
: How about letting me trap function keys other than F1?

dBASE IV supports ON KEY LABEL PgUp, Ctrl-F8, etc.

: Or having consistent syntax for assigning to variables and fields?
: Or being able to nicely handle multiple files?

Not sure what you mean here--we deliberately make fields and variables
different to make it clear when you're changing data files or just RAM.

: Or having all indices automatically updated without having to open
: each one (and thus running into DOS's open file limits)?

Thanks for the setup.  One of the best features of dBASE IV is MDX, or
multiple index files that do just what you want.  You can have up to 47
indexes in a single file and that file can be associated with a DBF data
file and be automatically opened and updated.  We also get around DOS's
open file limits and let you open 99 files (memory permitting).

: <Example with something called 'Progress' omitted>
: Is this all possible in dBASE IV?  If so, I guess I better upgrade, since
: I've got this one application that turned into a massive hack in dBASE III+
: because of problems like those mentioned above.

I think you'll find that dBASE IV is worth a closer look.  There are dozens
of new commands and functions.  I think people read a claim like that in an
ad and gloss over it, but with a mature product line like dBASE, one new
command tends to be highly leveraged.  Here's some new commands/functions
off the top of my head:

	SCAN...ENDSCAN	 - performs a group of commands on a set of data
	LOOKUP()	 - finds a value in another table (typically to
			   validate data entry)
	CALCULATE	 - statistical/financial analysis of a set of data
			   (many calculations with a single pass thru the file)
	GOTO TOP IN Employee, ? EOF(3) - remote workarea access w/o SELECT
	and MENUs, POPUPs, ARRAYs, (of course)

: I hope you don't take this personally, but I'm quite frustrated with
: dBASE III+.
:
:					\tom haapanen

Under the circumstances, I quite understand.  :-)

/alastair/

Disclaimer: This is unofficial dBASE-boosting.  Ashton-Tate doesn't speak
for me, and I return the favor.