Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!ames!elroy!hacgate!ashtate!dbase!awd
From: awd@dbase.UUCP (Alastair Dallas)
Newsgroups: comp.databases
Subject: dBASE Memvars
Keywords: Glad you asked...
Message-ID: <493@dbase.UUCP>
Date: 11 Jan 89 20:24:13 GMT
Organization: Ashton Tate Development Center Glendale Cal.
Lines: 39

> I hope this is the proper place for my question.  Is there any method that
> *anyone* can recommend for naming the memory variables used in
> programming?  I am not a programmer but my job involves programming in
> dBAse3+, and soon, 4.  
> 
> I use memvars mostly for '@say..get' commands, and other
> user-input-to-search type stuff.  
> 
> Answer by posting or mail.

One convention is to prepend an 'M' to each variable name.  Your @..SAY/GET
forms then break into four parts:

	Mname = space(30)
	Mcity = space(30)
		...
	@ r,c GET Mname
	@ r,c GET Mcity
		...
	<Validate>
		...
	REPLACE Name WITH Mname, City WITH Mcity, ...

If a reference is made to an identifier (e.g., Name) that is both a field
in the current workarea and a memvar, the field takes precedence.  To get
around this, when you mean to reference the memvar, use the M->Name syntax.

Hope this helps.


Alastair Dallas
ASHTON-TATE Glendale


PS> By the way, who is the MDBS guy on this newsgroup plugging MDBS with 
self-serving comments like "I doubt dBASE or Paradox can handle 20M
records; you should try MDBS"?  If MDBS was so great (i.e., was powerful
and accessible to mere mortals) one would think their market share would
be a little larger.  dBASE is not limited to 20 million records, period.