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MD VersaForm User Manual - CompuMed Consulting Online!

1. LASTLI le Number of column lines MAXLINE Fl File Maximum lines on form SEARCHLINE File FORMITI Finds particular line EX1 EX2 VCOLTOTAL File FORMIT Returns column total 220 VersaForm XL ENTERING AND TRANSFERING DATA Procedures Action ASSIGN File name N item Assigns a value ELLMSG ex msg Popup msg with bell RSCREEN Clears the screen RMSG ex msg Popup error message PRINTFILE ex fil Extends text file str code kval Gets a response item User enters item H ch code keyvalue Reads KB no echo XY item x item y Gets cursor location TOXY ex x ex y Moves the cursor to x y FOMSG ex msg Popup message RINT ex Writes to printer or file FILE ex Opens text output file PT ex Writes message to screen Writes to the screen item Reads text file line R Restores colors foregnd backgnd Sets screen colors RIB attributes Sets screen colors UT ex Opens text input file ex Writes to printer or text file Reads text file character AO Ww AC x Q E E E H zZ 4 H G W W O E E E E O F GI G GI G I P P P P R R S S I V V A Functions Action ERMSG ex msg ex default Popup msg with answer _FILENAME ex ex ex ex Ask for filename ORITEM name
2. Here lines 2 5 play the role of a single statement in the IF THEN of line 1 REPEAT and WHILE The REPEAT and WHILE statements provide a way of performing loops groups of statements that are executed over and over d REPEAT statement statement statementN UNTIL condition Example L LASTLINI BAT Each line on the primary form is to be compared If the date is earlier than or equal to the variable TEMPDATE the line should be removed This action is to repeat using the next previous line until there are no lines left to process NOTE Ina REPEAT loop the statements ALWAYS execute at least once whether they actually repeat depends on when the UNTIL condition becomes true All the statements between REPEAT and UNTIL are executed each time Writing Procedures 203 e WHILE condition DO statement Example While LASTLINE A gt L DO BEGI END As long as column lines remain on the primary form that is the number of lines is greater than the current line the value in L the statement which follows should be executed NOTE A WHILE statement differs from a REPEAT statement in that the statement may not execute at all depending upon whether or not the WHILE condition is true This is because the WHILE statement tests the condition before executing the statement that f
3. Example R S CODE KEY declaration of three variables ET S CODE KEY will do the following If operator types S CODE KEY ABC ABC 0 undefined PgUp ext code 73 1 73 Esc 2 27 If the operator typed in an alphanumeric value then that value will be in S and CODE will be 0 If the operator pressed PgUp Extended key code 73 234 VersaForm XL then KEY will contain 73 and CODE will contain 1 to indicate that the 73 is an Extended key code and not an ASCII code ASCII code 73 would be the capital letter I If the operator pressed ESC ASCII code 27 then CODE will contain 2 and KEY will contain 27 Note The keyboard codes are listed in the IBM Technical Reference Manual If you don t have a reference manual write a procedure that will show you the codes as you press the keys FGET is used when you want the operator to press a function key in response to your procedure The more usual GET does not allow use of function keys or Escape FILING COMMAND PROCEDURES The following procedures perform a VersaForm command on either the primary A or secondary B file using the current values of the key items to locate a form GETFORM File REMOVEFORM File FIRSTFORM File SAVEFORM File CLEARFORM File LASTFORM File NEXTFORM File BACKFORM File ERASEFORM File Undo Example Assuming that PART is the key for form A PART 55 GI A Gets form for part number 55 ERROR THEN E gt 10 00 T
4. Figure 7 10 Report with repeated Tax field In this case the dollar amount calculated for the tax on each line actually represents the total TAX for ALL the items on the form in Figure 7 9 Thus if you request totals for QTY and TAX you will be given a correct total for QTY but an erroneous total for TAX Figure 7 10 VersaForm XL will catch this error and print a warning message but it s better to avoid the problem DO NOT ask for the total of a single field item from a form if you are going to have it printed on a report with print items which are column items AVERAGES You may request the average of each totalled item by entering Y in the Average column for that item 102 VersaForm XL SORTING You may request that VersaForm XL sort items on a report Look again at the report in Figure 7 8 The report shows hammers chisels and wrenches sold but the items appear in the report in the random order they were found in the file which happens to have each customer s purchases together But we d really like to see the items grouped by item instead of by customer To have the products grouped according to their description you would instruct VersaForm XL to Sort by entering 1 in the column Srt and to indicate a low to high sort in the column Dir Direction as in Figure 7 11 Because VersaForm XL defaults a sort low to high the Direction option could be left blank Screen 1 Form Id SALES1 Titlel SALES RE
5. Figure 11 1 Setup Options Name In this field enter the user name an eight character unique identifier In the file SYSSETUP VES there will be only one user form that belonging to MANAGER In the file SETUP VFS each user may have his own setup options saved in a form with his user ID Sharing Mode This field may be marked Share Exclusive Read only or 2 S E R with Share being the normal multi user mode A user in exclusive mode causes VersaForm XL to run as a single user system denying access to all other users while he has exclusive access to the file A read only user may get data from a file but make no changes For example a read only user may run reports knowing that his data may not be current to the latest transaction yet allow other users to continue making changes in the same file By entering a in this field you tell VersaForm XL you want to select your sharing mode when you log on to the system For a more complete discussion see the section titled sharing Operational Modes in Chapter 12 Setup and Security Use Reverse Dummy Characters Forms Validated Data Error_Box Info_Box Menus Menu_Hilite Menu_Bold Zoom PRINTER Device Name Fill Character Default_width Default_length Test_ready Form_Feed Send_Line_Feed Left_Margin 157 Entering a Y in this field will tell VersaForm XL to use reverse video a monochrome display is light on dark for item names and unvalidated data
6. NOTE You may want to set up your Report Options in the same way on most of your reports To avoid having to fill in these options on each report you can set default values on page 2 of the System Setup SYSSETUP VES or User Setup SETUP VEFS Options entered in a report override those entered at the user level which override those entered at the system level For more about user and system level Report Control Options see Chapter 11 Print Control Sequences Screen 3 Screen 3 REPORT DEFINITION PRINT CONTROL SEQUENCES Use ASCII codes separated by as 27 34 139 Titles_on Titles_off Body_on Body_off Totals _on Totals off Trailer_on Trailer_off Use_default Y N to use default print control seq Figure 7 25 Print Control Sequences Screen 3 To display the Print Control Sequences Figure 7 25 press the keys and together Press to return to Screen 1 Sequences of ASCII codes which control the printer are called Print Control Sequences Most printers can change fonts print bold italics or underscore if given the proper sequence Print control sequences for your printer must be found in your printer manual Enter the ASCII code sequences to turn on and off the printer functions you want to use in these fields Each is a sequence of numbers or letters almost always beginning with ESCAPE ASCII code 27 or another number Enter a sequence of numbers by placing a backslash between numbers For example
7. L lt LASTLINE A DO process all column lines B Y A ORDER B DISPLAY I TE VDATE ERROR THEN SAVEFO B iDA O ROMPT Form not found quit processing Y N ESNO THEN CANCEL doing this will exit A L 1 go to next line end of while loop DISPLAY A PROMPT Done processing Figure 16 5 Built In Procedures 277 EXPLANATION Ol 02 04 05 06 07 08 09 11 12 14 16 17 Begin at first line on primary form Repeat lines 04 to 15 for each line Prepare to get a secondary form by clearing anything not needed Set the key on the secondary form so a GETFORM will work Read and display the secondary form with the key just set up Post today s date as the closing date If no error in reading the form then save it But if there was one Tell the operator and ask whether to cancel If so then cancel Go to the next line Re display the primary form And tell the operator we are done 278 VersaForm XL Global Changes to a File This procedure will start at the beginning of a secondary file and make a change to the item PRICE on each form The field Secondary File is filled in with the file to process SOMEFILE but Key from is left blank so no automatic
8. Similarly the Remove command does not actually erase the removed record immediately In both cases the information is saved until the transaction ends When Save is executed however the transaction is ended All the foregoing file changes are committed that is the locations of the previous versions of the changed records are forgotten and the disk space they used is freed At transaction end all outstanding locks that this user holds are released except for the form on the screen The lock on that form becomes a shared lock Next Back Next Continue Back Continue Next and Back automatically perform a Commit before fetching the next Multi User Operation 169 form Thus all locks are cleared Next_Continue and Back _Continue like Save_Continue do not end the transaction and leave all locks in effect LOCKING IN PROCEDURES Automatic locking controls how the system behaves when procedures are running If automatic locking is on the system locks records and files automatically for procedures just as it does for interactive use Locking in Global procedures Global procedures those that change many records in a file will run progressively more and more slowly because the system will lock each record individually and save all the changes for a possible rollback To run in a multi user system you should modify these procedures as follows 1 At the beginning of the procedure lock the entire file and turn both rollback a
9. 1 Key in any number It will automatically be placed in the left hand space in the calculator display area Calculator functions can be performed regardless of the position of the cursor 2 Press gente The cursor will return to its previous position on the form 3 Key in another number The first one will move to the right Press pte If you re going to perform arithmetic operations you don t need to press first 4 Key in multiply or divide VersaForm XL will calculate the answer and display it in the left hand space Arithmetic operations are performed on the two numbers to the left Numbers on the right remain unchanged but move to the left after a calculation is performed Addition and multiplication are done in the usual way In division the number to the left is the divisor In subtraction the number to the left is subtracted from the number on the right ERRORS If an error occurs you ll hear a beep Usually you ll realize what s wrong perhaps a number is too large for the space you re trying to assign it to or maybe you ve tried to divide by zero If you don t understand though press to see an error message on the screen indicating what is wrong NOTE In order to receive an error message you must press RIGHT AFTER the beep To continue press peter Filing Data Entry and Retrieval 77 OTHER CALCULATOR COMMANDS CLEAR C erases the number in the lef
10. 133 Test_Printform 257 Text 53 Textinput 257 Textinput Procedure 208 Then Statement1 201 Time_Character 159 Todaysdate 90 Total T 77 Totaling 99 Totaling In Reports 112 Trace Activity 291 Trailing Blanks 198 Transactions 165 Transactions 166 Transfer Data With Copy By Name 144 Transfer Utility 291 Transferring A Value 199 True 200 257 Truncated Character Strings 199 Truncation 197 Tutorial Files 280 Two Part Keys 57 Index 311 U ndo E 67 nindexed Forms 288 nlock Locks 172 nlockfile 257 nlockform 257 ntil 202 ppercase 191 ser Authorities 162 ser Commands Hot Keys 190 ser Id 155 ser Procedures 190 ser Procedures Chaining 204 ser Registration Form 162 ser_Did_Escape 257 ser_May_Escape 253 ser_May_Escape 257 serid 161 sers Vfs 161 tilities Menu 287 tility Functions 287 tility Popup Menu 292 Geer ea ena eS oo COoea eee Cae ee ae V V Getarg 133 248 V Line 133 V Lines 133 V Page 133 V Pages 133 Validate 20 In Procedures 181 Valneeded 258 Variable In Reports 44 Variables In Procedures 194 Variables In A Start Procedure 188 Vclose 211 258 Vclose_List 258 Vclose_Win 258 Vcoltotal 258 Vcompare 258 Vecopy 259 Vcount 259 Vdate 133 214 260 Vday 260 Vdelete 260 Vdisplay 261 Vexit 261 Vmonth 261 Vnokey 262 Vopen 211 262 Vopen_List 262 Vopen_Win 262 Voutput 262 Vpfmtobj 262 Vpfmtsrc 263 Vpic
11. By entering the a word or phrase beginning with amp you tell VersaForm XL to ask you for a value which will replace that word or phrase at the time the report is run Use the amp character with an expression that represents the information you wish to replace For example amp the Title will cause VersaForm XL to prompt Enter the Title The exception to this is the variable amp date VersaForm XL will always replace amp date with the current date in your computer To be prompted to enter a date use a phrase like amp Todays date or amp Beginning date Report Variables can also be used to change printer font when a report is run Specifying fonts in reports will be discussed in the section Print Control Sequences Screen 3 The Report Definition Form The Report Definition form has three parts each on a separate screen Report Definition Report Options and Print Control Sequences Only the first screen was used in the previous example use of the other screens will be clear from the explanation below All three screens are explained in detail in this section Form Id Titlel Title2 More Options gt Title3 ctrl gt Page Format Width Length Left Margin Skip lines after titles Counts Y N Print item Options 1 99 Y N Y N Y N J S Srt Dir Sub Ttl Avg To choose more print items use the command Fill Alt F10 Enter Print Control Sequences below ctr1 PgDn Figure 7 23 Report Definiti
12. FALSE to the system Required for a correct return from a COMMAND procedure Ifa RETURN is not issued the default value returned is TRUE This is reset at the beginning of each chain of procedures Example return false See also COMMAND procedures in Chapter 14 REVERSE_VID Function Returns current reverse video attributes as a single number ROLLBACK Procedure Multi user version only Performs a rollback Example rollback Built In Procedures 251 ROUND ex1 n Function Returns the value of EX1 rounded to N decimal places Example ROUND 8 1234567 4 This returns the value 8 1235 Note that the value was rounded not truncated RPAD ex1 ex2 Function Returns the value of EX1 right justified in a string with a length of EX2 characters Example PRINT amp RPAD 10 55 7 This example prints the value 1Q 55 RTRIM ex string Function Removes the trailing blanks from a string and returns a new string Example var s begin S rtrim VersaForm prompt s end The result is VersaForm RUN_REPORT File Report name Function Runs a report The report must have been defined previously as there is no provision for defining a report from a procedure This function does not lock either the report or the file you must do that yourself Nor does it print labels you must also do that see the built in Print_labels If the report is in export format a file n
13. Figure 2 8 L QTY STOCK DESCRIPTION PRICE AMOUNT 1 1 100 Hammer SUBTOTAL TAX TOTAL Entries checked OK Figure 2 8 VersaForm XL has removed the dots or highlights i e displays in reverse video or in a different color the characters in Line 1 to show they are valid Which it does depends on how your screen is set up We chose VersaForm XL s automatic filling feature CALCULATE to compute the SUBTOTAL based on the amount you keyed in the TAX and TOTAL and fill them in Also the figures in the PRICE and AMOUNT columns were moved to the right because we chose the JUSTIFY option for those items Notice the down arrow J next to the STOCK column heading This indicates that a pick list has been set up for STOCK Press for list will display UN the pop up list that was set up in Automatic Checking and Filling for this field 24 VersaForm XL Items are selected from the list by highlighting the entry using the up and down arrow keys and then pressing pte or by using the mouse 2 While on line 2 select A44 from the STOCK list and VALIDATE You ll see Figure 2 9 L QTY STOCK DESCRIPTION PRICE AMOUNT 1 1 100 Hammer 2o oas SUBTOTAL TAX TOTAL Figure 2 9 QTY is another MANDATORY entry 3 Key in 2 under QTY then VALIDATE again Notice what happens The system automatically fills in DESCRIPTION and PRICE based on the STOCK It found these items on a Lookup Table that was prepared
14. File Capacity Form Size Numbers The Enter Key ASCII Files Backup and Copying Installation Equipment Required Equipment Optional Equipment DOS Configuration Check User Available Memory DOS and Memory Size Installing on a Hard Disk System Installing on Microsoft Windows Mouse Installation Networks Setting Up Serial Printers Installation of Color Displays Starting Up VersaForm XL Chapter 2 HANDS ON EXERCISE Fill in the Single Items Enter Data in the Column Lines Save the form The Filing Commands Locate Forms in Your File Change a Column Line Remove a Form Chapter 3 HANDS ON EXERCISE PREPARING A REPORT Choose the Items to Report on How Will the Data Be Printed Selecting Items to Subtotal and Total OR W Ww 10 10 10 10 11 11 11 12 12 12 12 12 12 13 13 13 13 14 14 15 15 15 15 15 17 18 22 28 28 29 34 35 37 37 39 Select the Data You Want Produce the Report PART Il USING THE VERSAFORM XL DATABASE Chapter 4 CREATE A FILE AND DESIGN A FORM Form Design Overview Designing a Form Text and Single Items Text Single Items Examples of Single Items Enter Text and Single Items The Key A Key Item Two Part Keys Choosing The Key Columns Entering Column Headings Column Lines Change The Design Of A Form Copy an Existing Form Design Delete an Existing Form Design Checking and Automatic Filling Print the Form Definition Chapter 5 FILING DATA ENTRY AND RETRIEVAL VersaFor
15. If on the other hand your statement was you would get an error when you saved your procedure because VersaForm XL assumes you are trying to assign a value to a built in function which is not allowed VersaForm XL determines what an identifier refers to by following these rules 1 A qualified form item name e g B CUSTOMER is searched for on the appropriate form If the item isn t found a warning is issued For example WARNING A CUSTOMER not found on form Continue Y N See The Continue Message below 2 If the identifier is found on both forms a warning is given but VersaForm XL assumes you mean the primary form Writing Procedures 215 WARNING DATE is on both forms primary assumed Continue Y N 3 Ifan item name on either form has the same name as a built in procedure or function variable or constant an appropriate warning is given One example of such a conflict has been given above VDATE For another the statement VAR ADDRESS would cause an error message if it was also a form item WARNING ADDRESS variable has same name as form item Continue Y N 4 When a variable or constant is given an error message appears if it duplicates another variable or constant local or global or a standard function For example ERROR Identifier already global or ERROR Identifier is a reserved word S For an unqualified identifier i e a form item not identified by A or B
16. PEN_LIST Opens list PEN_WIN x y wid ht attr Opens window title PROGRAM CONTROL Procedures Action CANCEL Ends procedure returns control to user HAIN Procedure name Runs another procedure RN ex Ends procedure returns ex EXI Exits to the Main Menu VQUIT Returns to DOS Functions Action CALL File EX1 EX2 Calls one procedure from another DOS_EXEC EX1 DOS will execute the command EDIT File window Allows entry in indicated file GETPARAM Gets passed parameter in called procedure Built In Procedures 223 OTHER PROCEDURES AND FUNCTIONS Procedures Action ELL Rings bell or beeper ISPLAYFILI Displays text file T CLEAR POP auto_prompt Controls automatic prompting iT CLEAR POP padding Controls blank padding of expression iT CLEAR POP rounding Controls rounding in calculation T CLEAR POP silent Controls user s ability to escape iT CLEAR POP user_may_escape Controls user s ability to escape Functions Action CHANGED FORMIT I True if item changed CHR EX Returns character value DATAPATH Returns default path FORMATSEQUAL F1 F2 True if forms are the same IOERROR True if I O error occurred LASTCOMMAND Last command requested MAX EX1 EX2 Larger of EX1 and EX2 MIN EX1 EX2 Smaller of EX1 and EX2 O
17. Title2 More Options gt Title3 ctrl gt Page Format Width Length Left Margin Skip lines after titles Counts Y N Print item Options 1 99 Y N Y N Y N EP egot Print items Si2e seereis Titles sesessi J S Srt Dir Sub Ttl Avg 1 CUSTOMER 30 CUSTOMER 2 QTY 5 QTY 3 DESCRIPTION 10 PURCHASES 4 AMOUNT 10 AMOUNT 5 Figure 7 5 SALES REPORT CUSTOMER QTY PURCHASES AMOUNT Wrench 30 00 Chisel 15 00 Hammer 15 00 Chisel 12 00 Hammer 25 00 Chisel 15 00 Hammer 10 00 Wrench 20 00 Chisel 9 00 Smith Smith Smith Jones Jones Brown Brown Green Whyte 3 5 3 4 5 5 2 2 3 Figure 7 6 Report according to definition in Figure 7 5 When you validate your entries VersaForm XL will now tell you how many characters and how many lines on the report page you have used TOTALING You could also ask for the total of both the quantity of items sold and the dollar amounts of sales To do this enter Y in the option Ttl for the Print items QTY and AMOUNT as in Figure 7 7 VersaForm XL would produce the report shown in Figure 7 8 100 VersaForm XL eRe een ren Le cre ee ears Screen 1 sates eaten tenant enti Form Id SALES1 Titlel SALES REPORT Title2 More Options gt Title3 ctrl gt Page Format Width Length Left Margin Skip lines after titles Counts Y N Print item Options 1 99 Y N Y N Y N EP egot Print items Si2e ots Titles 68 J S Srt Dir Sub Tt
18. Type MANAGER and press ENTER wi N When prompted Enter your password type VF and press ENTER WN Select 2 Filing from the VersaForm XL Main Menu Select your data file Accept the default drive letter by pressing pte To alter system parameters enter the file name SYSSETUP VFS To alter user parameters enter the file name SETUP VFS 156 VersaForm XL SETUP OPTIONS Most setup options appear on both SETUP VFS and SYSSETUP VES Function keys however can be configured only in SYSSETUP VES If you specify an option in both places the one in SETUP VFS prevails This allows you to set up defaults for everyone in SYSSETUP VES and special setup for each user in SETUP VFS Some of the setup fields control the REPORT function Report options chosen in individual reports will override both SETUP VFS and SYSSETUP VES report options VersaForm System Setup Name MANAGER Sharing Mode S Share Excl Readonly Display Use_Reverse Y Y or N Dummy_character Colors Forms 30 Validated_Data 48 Error_box 52VInfo_Box 48 Menus 112 Menu_Hilite 23 Menu_Bold 116 Zoom 11 Printer Device_name Fill_character Default_width 80 Default_length 66 Test_ready Y Y N FormFeed Y Y N Send_Line_Feed N Y N Left Margin Default_prt_ctl User_file_path Work_file_ path Auto_last_line N Y N US Date Y Y N Decimal Date_Character Time_Character Auto_Prompt Pulldown_Menu Y Y N Rollback_Enabled Y Y N
19. Validated data is displayed dark on light If you have a color monitor using reverse video will allow more color combinations Often VersaForm XL must display a character to indicate a blank space on a form Normally this will be a blank space shown in color or reverse video If you do not use color or reverse video you may want to enter a different default fill character in this field If you have a color monitor you may select the colors you want to use Different color combinations may be selected for different uses Each of these fields have pick lists EENE which provide a menu of colors Reserved for future use VersaForm XL can use a character to indicate a blank space on a printed form Normally this will be a blank space You may enter a different default fill character in this field This is the page width that will be used by the REPORT Function unless the Report Control Instructions specify otherwise It can be any value between 20 and 200 This is used by the REPORT Function in the same way as default page width It can be any value between 3 and 255 Normally VersaForm XL will test the printer before printing Some compatible computers do not execute this test correctly This option is provided so the test can be bypassed in such cases If the test is not made VersaForm XL will always assume that the printer is ready Enter Y in this field to select the printer test If your printer honors the ASCII form
20. VersaForm XL will find this information the Result value when you enter information into another item the Lookup value REMEMBER Specify Lookup for the item you want filled in automatically NOT the item that will trigger the lookup In Figure 6 5 the DESCRIPTION may be filled in by VersaForm XL from a table which lists the values for STOCK and DESCRIPTION Figure 6 6 shows the Lookup Table prepared for DESCRIPTION in which the user has entered stock numbers Lookup Values and descriptions Result Values Automatic Checking And Automatic Filling 89 ALPHA TOOLS INC Serving the Bay Area Since 1925 CUSTOMER William Marshall ACCT MAR3247 ADDRESS 321 Central St PHONE 622 2384 CITY Columbia STATE GA ZIP 32478 ORDER DATE 6 30 1984 CLERK George L QTY STOCK DESCRIPTION PRICE AMOUNT 01 1 3204 Figure 6 5 TABLE LOOKUP The data for this item will be obtained by looking it up in the table below The item to get the lookup value from is Item name STOCK Look Up Result L L R 01 3204 CLAW HAMMER 02 1394 WRENCH 03 0422 NAILS 6d 04 0423 NAILS 8d This item DESCRIPTION Figure 6 6 k DESCRIPTION is the item to be filled in the lookup option was specified for this item on the checking and filling menu 4 STOCK is the item that will provide the Lookup Value How to Fill in the Lookup Table 1 Key in the first lookup and result values on Line 1 2 VALIDATE ff A second line will
21. Y N This allows you to hand feed each sheet of paper into the printer 2 Key in Y if you want to use separate sheets of paper such as letterhead stationery and press gener OR Check to see that the continuous feed paper is correctly adjusted then key in N and printing will begin NOTE You can temporarily halt printing by pressing any key on your keyboard press to continue If you want the report displayed on your screen When asked if you want the output report sent directly to your printer key in N when asked if it s to be sent to your screen Key in Y If you want the report sent to a disk file t When asked if you want the output sent directly to your printer and to your screen key in N when asked if you want it sent to a disk file key in Y Follow instructions given for locating and naming the file to send the report output TO After the report is either printed displayed or sent to a disk file and depending on your Report Options VersaForm XL asks Print the report again Y N This enables you to look at the report on the screen first and then have it printed or to print the summaries first and then the details or to obtain multiple copies All of these options which govern how the report is printed can be pre set on the Report Options screen By pre setting the options you can arrange for printing of the report to begin with no questions at all Thus you need not be present when printing occ
22. example The key item is the account number John Smith s account number is SMI22438 You can t remember the whole key but you know that it starts with SM 1 Key SM into the account number make sure the rest of the account number is blank Filing Data Entry and Retrieval 71 2 Use the command NEXT VersaForm XL will search the index for a key of SM then display the next form whose key comes after SM alphabetically It s just like using a dictionary Perhaps the next one isn t John Smith s but Charles Smathers with a key of SMA21003 This form would be found first because its key is between SM and SMI Just continue to use NEXT until the form you need is displayed If the key is a number you must use a full length number as a starting point For instance if you know that the key you want is a three digit number in the nine hundreds key in 900 not 9 If you keyed in 9 NEXT would look for 10 not 901 SEARCH FORMS MENU Function key SEARCH is the command to use when you don t know the key at all It is slower than INDEX GET or NEXT but it can locate forms based on any item on the form In fact you can test more than one item and you can look for items that are greater than or less than a value you specify or even items that contain or don t contain certain letters When a blank form from the file you want to examine is displayed 1 Move the cursor to the item which will contain the information to searc
23. n Where is cursor EM File formitem n Enter a data item YPE File name Locates a field EM File formitem ex Moves the cursor UCK TRUE if key pressed _VID Normal video attributes ABELS file file ex Prints labels EVE File name n Gets a value SE_VID Reverse video attributes EPORT File Report name Runs a report EEDED File Has form changed ER_DID_ESCAPE Did user escape Waits for a Y or N ex msg Popup waits for Y or N Built In Procedures 221 MANIPULATING STRINGS Functions Action DUP ex length Duplicate a string FORMAT format ex Change string format JUSTIFY ex length type Return a justified string LASTPOSN ex1 ex2 Position of last ex1 in ex2 ENGTH ex Current string length LTRIM ex Removes leading blanks PAD ex length Pad with trailing blanks POS ex1 ex2 Position of ex1 within ex2 ex1 ex2 Non case sensitive position PAD ex length Pad with leading blanks IM ex Removes trailing blanks ECT ex exl ex2 Uses ex to choose ex1 or ex2 E item Maximum item length ex start length Return a sub string E File ex Maximum item length APPLICATION MAINTENANCE FUNCTIONS These functions can operate on data forms reports print formats procedures etc Function Action VCOLTOTAL file column Colum
24. numbers are considered the smallest followed by dates then words and phrases Less Than LT The first item is less than the second Less Than Or Equal To The first item is not greater than the second LE Greater Than Or Equal The first item is not less than the second To GE Saas CO The second item appears in the first item e g EVE appears in EVENING Excludes EX The second item does not appear in the first e g ADJ is not contained in the data field PAYCODE Combining Files in a Report Sometimes several files need to be combined into a single report As long as all of the files have the same form design this can be done 1 Choose Option 3 on the Report Menu Include Additional Files 2 Enter each of the paths and filenames as they are requested 3 Press Escape when you are done You will see the form in Figure 7 29 4 Check the filenames and make corrections if necessary 5 SAVE EZI the form Instead of entering a filename you may simply enter a in the Additional Files form This tells VersaForm XL to ask you to designate the additional files at the time the report is run 122 VersaForm XL Hagen ane eee Screen 1 REPORT DEFINITION ADDITIONAL FILES FOR THIS REPORT FORM ID SALEST1 De ebb hia ada nA ee eee oe Oe PATH FILENAME 0 cece eee eee eee 1 filenamel 2 filenamel 3 Figure 7 29 Additional files After the Instructions are Entered Choose option 4 Run the
25. part 1 part 2 VF_MAIN Standard VF Main Menu Table 17 1 Menu Functions BACKGROUND FILES Menu background files are simply ASCII files These are text files that can be edited by any MS DOS word processor The only requirement is that each line in the menu be followed by a CR and LF carriage return and linefeed characters The file should be free of other control characters that some word processors use for document formatting Your word processor probably has a text non document mode If not you can still create the menus by using the the utility editor VFEDIT which comes with VersaForm XL 286 VersaForm XL CONTEXT SENSITIVE HELP You may provide context sensitive help for your application The file VF HLP is provided and contains the help text and additional text that is used in the auto prompt mode This file has a key composed of a file name and the name of a field If the user requests context sensitive help f4 f when the cursor is in a field the record for that file and field will be retrieved and the help text will be displayed in a window If there is no help text and there is prompt text the prompt text is displayed Place the help file VF HLP in the subdirectory containing the data file that you need help on If the system is in the auto prompt mode the prompt text is automatically displayed whenever the cursor enters a field In both cases if the cursor is not in a field the system loo
26. than two files by chaining to one or more other procedures This is explained in the section Procedure Chaining in Chapter 14 NOTE DO NOT designate your primary file as the secondary file in a procedure The two must be different files If you are working with one file only you do not need to name a secondary file In order to use the procedure illustrated here you must have the VersaForm XL program disk and your primary and secondary files all on line at the same time If you re using a hard disk system you ll have no problem With a diskette system if your primary and secondary files are on the same disk then two disk drives are sufficient otherwise you must have three drives or a RAM disk THE PROCEDURE 1 From the Main Menu choose 8 Enter or Change a Procedure VersaForm XL will ask for the drive containing your primary file 2 Enter the name of the primary file i e SAMPLE when requested and press ENTER WN 3 From the blank procedure screen press to enter a new procedure Changing a procedure is described in Chapter 14 VersaForm XL will display a menu of procedure types Figure 13 5 Introduction to Procedures 179 PROCEDURE TYPE MENU Checking Procedure Filling Procedure Command Procedure Start Procedure Edit Procedure Pick Procedure Save Procedure Stop Procedure User Procedure 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Figure 13 5 Only one procedure of each type may be chosen f
27. the file as long as it is locked Multi User Commands Several commands specifically support multi user operation SAVE SAVE_CONTINUE There are two forms of the SAVE command SAVE SA and SAVE_CONTINUE TJE SAVE saves a form and ends the current transaction releasing all locks except the lock on the current form If the lock on the current form is exclusive it is downgraded to a shared lock since the form has not been changed in the now current transaction SAVE_CONTINUE saves a form but does not end the transaction and releases no locks The screen is unchanged NEXT NEXT_CONTINUE BACK BACK_CONTINUE Similarly there are two forms of the NEXT and BACK commands NEXT_CONTINUE PJE and BACK_CONTINUE PEJE supplement WT NEXT and BACK NEXT and BACK end the current transaction releasing all locks except for a shared lock on the now current form The CONTINUE forms do not end the transaction and release no locks LOCKS Esc U L To issue the LOCKS command you must be in Filing on the file whose locks are to be checked The LOCKS command has 5 options 172 VersaForm XL Commit the current transaction Accept the current transaction s activity to this point and release all of its locks Rollback the current transaction Undo the current transaction s activity and release all of its locks List all locks in effect on this file Unlock locks Can unlock any locks on this file no matter who holds
28. 138 139 141 141 141 141 142 142 142 143 143 144 145 147 149 149 149 150 155 155 156 160 Report Options 160 Adding Users Security 160 The User Registration Form 162 Chapter 12 MULTI USER OPERATION 165 Multi User Features 165 Transactions 166 Locking 167 Locking On Interactive Commands 168 Locking In Procedures 169 Locking in Reports 170 Operational Modes 170 Technical Note 171 Multi User Commands 171 Save Save_Continue 171 Next Next_Continue Back Back_Continue 171 Locks 171 PART Ill VERSAFORM XL ADVANCED FEATURES 173 Chapter 13 INTRODUCTION TO PROCEDURES 175 A Simple Look Up Procedure 175 Primary and Secondary Files 177 The Procedure 178 Procedure Names 180 Secondary Files 181 Key From1 and Key From2 181 The Procedure 181 Procedure Statements 182 Using Form Items in a Procedure 183 Identifying Form Items With the Same Name 183 Form Items With Spaces or Symbols 183 Chapter 14 WRITING PROCEDURES 185 Changing a Procedure or Writing a New One 185 Procedure Types 186 Checking Procedures 186 Edit Procedures 187 Filling Procedures 187 Pick Procedures 188 Start Procedures 188 Save Procedures 189 Stop Procedures 189 Command Procedures 189 User Procedures 190 Elements of a Procedure Procedure Syntax 191 Identifiers 191 Form Id Notation AorB 191 Form Items Notation Formitem 191 Column Items in Procedures 191 Comments 192 Literals 193 Constants 193 Variables 194 Reserved Words 195 Buildi
29. 3 perform automatic filling according to the options chosen when the form was designed Here VersaForm XL would use the value in PRICE which was just transferred to that item by your procedure to calculate and fill in the AMOUNT QTY X PRICE on the Invoice Any other automatic filling such as computing a column total also takes place after a CHECKING procedure runs Introduction to Procedures 181 SECONDARY FILES If information is to be looked up from another file its name will be entered here Remember that it must be a different file from the primary file You may delay choosing from among several possible secondary files until the procedure runs Instead of filling in the name of the secondary file on the Procedure Instructions form type a question mark At execution VersaForm XL will ask you to name the file You may also follow the question mark with the name of a file For example CUSTOMER or B CUSTOMER In this case VersaForm XL would prompt the operator for a secondary file name at execution and use CUSTOMER as a default These options enable you to use different secondary files at different times KEY FROM1 AND KEY FROM2 These are the items on your PRIMARY form that contain the values VersaForm XL will use as key values to look up the correct form in your secondary file If the forms in the secondary file have two part key items then two values must be supplied In this example we have told VersaForm XL
30. 66 Details Start At 22 Width of Form 80 Number of Details 10 Lines per Detail 1 Top Margin Left Margin Pause Between Pages Y N Ask For Form Change Y N Enter Font Overlay amp Escape Sequence Information Below Ctrl PgDn Figure 8 3 Print Format 130 VersaForm XL There are a number of options that you can choose by filling in other fields in the print format An explanation of all the fields in the print format follows THE PRINT FORMAT Length of Form Details Start At Width of Form Number of Details Lines per Detail Top Margin Left Margin Pause Between Pages Ask for Form Change COLUMNAR ITEMS Number of lines on the page to be printed Mandatory Line number on the page where the first detail line column line is to be printed Mandatory if there are columns on this print format Number of spaces characters across on the form to be printed Mandatory Maximum number of detail lines to be printed on each page Mandatory if there are columns on this print format Number of lines on the printed page to be given to each detail line on the data record Mandatory if there are columns on this print format Number to be added to each line number on the print format If top margin is 3 then a field specified to print on line 4 will actually print on line 7 Shifts the whole print format up or down Default is 0 Number to be added to each column number on the print format
31. A and the report INCOME on are equal This example would compare the report SALES on file A to the report INCOME on B If VCOMPARE returns 0 there was no error and if the NUMCOMPARED was equal to NUMEQUAL then all the forms compared were equal VCOPY from file to file formtype oldkey ex newkey ex replace ex num item Function Copies the form of the given type in the FROM file with the OLDKEY to the TO file with NEWKEY The two files may be the same REPLACE must be either TRUE or FALSE if TRUE existing forms on the TO file are to be replaced VCOPY Returns an error code as the function result if no error has occurred then NUM contains the number of forms copied Error codes 0 no error 1 reserved 2 the index for the FROM form type was not found 3 the index for the TO form type was not found Example if VCOPY A B VREPORT SALI then if NUMCOPIED gt 1 then the report SALES was copied This would copy the report SALES on file A to INCOME on file B replacing any old reports of the same name If VCOPY returns 0 there was no error and if the NUMCOPIED was 1 or more then the report was found and it was copied VCOUNT file formtype key ex1 num item Function Counts the number of forms of the given type in the given file with the given key If KEY is all forms in that index are counted Returns an error code as the function result if no e
32. Alt F3 Utilities Alt U SPACE report on file Utils zoom a column line Alt 2 UNDO unvalidated data Edit Context sens help Alt H VALIDATE Edit F1 Pick List Alt L IL n Figure 5 1 To display the command menu just press Escape Then enter the command you want and press pte You will see the main command menu at the top of the screen From this menu choosing an item causes a drop down menu to appear As you move trough the items you can see the submenus Choose the command you want from the drop down menu The mouse can also be used call up the command menu If you move the mouse to the top line of your form outside of any field and click the command menu will pop up Then you can choose commands by clicking on them Clicking outside the menu will remove it Data Entry Commands ZOOM Function key The ZOOM function allows editing of a column line in the single item format This is a great convenience when the column area is too wide to fit on a single screen Filing Data Entry and Retrieval 65 ZOOM actually creates a small form that contains all the column items and pops it up in a window that the user can edit When the user validates the data are moved to their normal place on the form ZOOM is activated and de activated by fat Z When zoomed PgUp and PgDn are used to move up or down a line QE and EIES can be used too Any command that changes the form on display Next Clear etc forces deactivation of
33. Change a Procedure option from the Main Menu and then pick the one you want to see from the procedure index You can then use the Next and Back commands to see other procedures Of particular interest is the procedure MAIL MERGE This procedure will print a letter using the name and address from the current invoice on the screen and merging it with a DOS text file LETTER TXT also distributed with the system SAMPLE APPLICATION FILES Among the sample files included with the system are three that demonstrate a comprehensive example of procedures These files show a skeleton example of an Invoicing and Accounts Receivable application An invoice file INVC SPL A customer ledger CLEDGER SPL An inventory file INVENTRY SPL The invoice file has four procedures CHECKING Chains to the USER procedure CUSTNAME if the customer ID is changed on the invoice and then chains to the USER procedure GET INVENTORY if the column item ITEM is added or changed CUSTNAME Looks up a customer s shipping and billing address and transfers them to the invoice If the customer is not found a new customer ledger record can be created GET INVENTORY Looks up an item number in the inventory file and gets the unit cost and description If the item is not found the procedure is CANCELed with an error message Item not found SAVE This procedure takes the invoice amount and posts it to the customer ledger by adding a line to the l
34. DOS memory block size This indicates an error in the DOS Memory Control Block chain This is unlikely 2 Unable to save the program to either extended memory expanded memory or disk The new program was not executed 3 Unable to execute the new program Example begin if dos_exec Copy sample txt new txt lt gt 0 then prompt Unable to copy file end These statements would perform a DOS copy of the file named SAMPLE TXT to a file named NEW TXT and then return to VersaForm DUP ex1 ex2 Function Returns the value of EX1 replicated out to a length of EX2 characters Example PRINT DUP CR 5 amp DUP 60 This example prints 5 carriage returns and then a row of 60 asterisks EDIT File window Function Allows the operator to enter data in the indicated file optionally in a window The file must be open If the window parameter is not zero then it must be the handle of an open window The file may not be file A The operator may end the editing session with either the SAVE or EXIT commands If SAVE then EDIT will return TRUE if EXIT EDIT will return FALSE It is up to the caller to actually save the form EDIT does not do it WARNING When EDIT ends it does not re display the original form The programmer must remember to do this 232 VersaForm XL NOTE When using the EDIT function the CHECKING EDIT FILLING and PICK procedures of the edited file are executed When enterin
35. Design 59 Constants In Procedures 193 Constants In Procedures 194 Contains Co 121 Context Sensitive Help 286 Continue Message 215 Control gt And lt 9 Control Home And End 9 Control Pgup And Pgdn 9 Convert Print Format 134 Copy Form Design 61 Copy By Name 144 Forms Manual Selection 142 Forms Duplicates 142 Print Format 134 Print Formats 143 Printing Control Instructions 143 Report Control Instructions 143 Copy Forms And Data 141 Copycols 228 Copyform 228 Counts 106 Cr 229 Create A Print Format 125 Cursor 9 Cursor 9 Cursoritem 229 Custname Sample Procedure 280 Custom Menu And Context Sensitive Help 281 D Damaged Files 288 Data Items To Print In Reports 110 Database Format Export 114 Datapath 114 229 Date 159 306 VersaForm XL Arithmetic 199 In Procedures 193 Date Setting In Utilities 287 Date_Character 159 Dates Non U S Convention 10 Dates 10 Deadlock 167 Decimal 159 Declaration Of Identifiers In Procedures 193 Default Disk Path Name 287 Default Values 94 Default_Length 157 Default_Width 157 Delete D 67 Delete Form Design 61 Delete Line In Procedures 182 Deleteline 229 Example 196 Depth 230 Design A Print Format 125 Designing A Form 51 Detail Lines In Reports 122 Diagnostic File Recovery Function 288 Disk Drives 10 Disk Path Names 158 Diskettes 10 Display 230 In Procedures 181 Display Di 75 Display_
36. If Report Options are not entered in a report VersaForm XL uses a set of default options In this example we will be asked to answer the default Report Options All VersaForm s Report Options and how they may be entered will be discussed in Chapter 11 Setup and Chapter 7 Reports 1 Make sure your printer is turned on Choose Option 4 Run the Report from the report menu 2 Key in Y and press pte A printed copy of the Report Control Instructions is a useful reference It is a summary of the instructions you entered and saved for this report Sample You will then be asked to supply the value for any variables you have specified in this case the values for ORDER DATE amp date from and amp date to Enter date from 3 Key inthe value 11 15 80 and return You will be asked Enter date to 4 Key in 11 15 80 Once the instructions have been entered VersaForm XL can produce the report 5 Press ENTER You ll see a message similar to the following WN Hands On Exercise Reports 47 Report Complete There are 21 detail lines to be printed Print all the detail lines or summaries totals etc only D S D 6 Key in D Details to have all the lines in the report printed Another time you may want to choose S to print just the Summaries subtotals and totals only You ll be asked Output to the Printer Screen or to a File P S F P 7 Press Enter and VersaForm XL will print the report Whe
37. If left margin is 3 then a field specified to print at col 4 will actually print at col 7 Shifts the whole print format left or right Default is 0 Y es will always pause between pages N o won t A question mark will cause the system to ask which you want to do Default is No Y es will ask for a form change on the first form printed with this format Default is No These describe the items to be printed which can be data items text or computed values Fill in one line for each Pg Page that this item should be printed on A Allpages F First page only L Last page only NF All but first page NL _ All but last page Print on Preprinted Forms 131 Line Col Sz Print items PAGE 2 ITEMS Secondary File Key From1 Key From2 N No printing at all Line number to print on Leave this column blank when the item you are printing is a detail columnar item on your form since details are printed on several lines of the printed form Exception if each detail line of the original takes up more than one line on the printed form you need to tell which of those lines to print this item on In this case enter D1 D9 to indicate line 1 9 of the detail Column number for this item to start printing at Mandatory Number of characters or spaces for this item Values must be between 1 and 80 Default is field or string length Mandatory for other expressions Justification L Left justify in size R Right
38. Note that character strings must be enclosed in single or double quotation marks When a VersaForm XL procedure gets a value from an item on a form all leading and trailing blanks are removed It is possible to preserve these blanks by using the SET PADDING statement See the section on AUTOMATIC PADDING Technical Note Order of Evaluation When evaluating an expression VersaForm XL performs operations in this order First it performs the operations x DIV MOD AND Next it performs Pj sy OR amp Finally it evaluates For example since multiplication is done first 2 3 5 will yield 17 If you want the addition done first write 2 3 5 which will yield 25 COMPUTATION EXCEPTIONS VersaForm XL automatically recognizes what type of data it is using when doing a computation It will handle addition and subtraction between dates and numbers see also Date Arithmetic below Here are some exceptional situations When VersaForm XL encounters a a character string during addition or subtraction it treats the non numeric as zero and proceeds with the rest of the calculation Writing Procedures 199 F If a non numeric value is encountered during multiplication VersaForm XL treats it as 1 which allows the rest of the calculation to proceed as if the non numeric was ignored If a procedure divides a number by zero the result will be the largest number possible in VersaForm XL Dat
39. Numbers I1 CREDIT OP 1 I2 DEBIT OP 2 I3 BALANCE 1 OP 3 I4 OP 4 I5 OP 5 I6 This item Figure 6 11 If you have chosen to carry running totals when you are entering data into your form filing you may change or delete only the last line To correct a previous error an adjusting entry must be made Suppose in Figure 6 10 an error of 20 was made on the first entry Rental income The amount and balance should have been 120 00 Since it is possible to change only the last line you could add a fourth line that reads DATE DESCRIPTION DEBIT CREDIT BALANCE 1 31 83 Adjustment 20 00 145 00 Use Justify for Decimal Places when VersaForm XL performs automatic calculations as many decimal places are included in the answer as there are spaces available A number may be rounded if necessary The Justify option may be used to control the number of decimal places For example if HRS has a value of 3 5 and RATE has a value of 1 25 then AMOUNT will have a calculated value of 4 375 VersaForm XL will round this figure to 4 38 if Justify has been chosen for AMOUNT and specified as 2 You can ensure that decimals on a report will be aligned when you choose Justify for numerical items during form design NOTE Calculated fields do not include money symbols or separators commas between hundreds and thousands 94 VersaForm XL DEFAULT VALUES You may choose calculation to have the system
40. PGUP A PICKFIELD file fieldname exp Function Pickfield is used to pick a field from a given form If the form is not already displayed it will display it A field is selected by moving to the field and typing the letter X Fieldname if not empty is the name of the field you want the cursor to start at Example var xX begin xX pickfield b City display a infomsg You selected the field named amp xX end Built In Procedures 245 PICKFILE ex window handle ex starting point Function Presents the contents of a text file in the given window and returns item that the operator chooses The file used is TEXTINPUT Returns a null string if the operator presses Escape Example silent user_may_escape tinput choices txt not ioerror then begin start answermsg Enter starting point start win vopen_win 2 2 44 20 reverse_vid Choices if win gt 0 then begin choice pickfile win start if vclose_win win then if choice lt gt then newvalue choice end end textinput close pop user_may_escape pop silent PICKINDEX file ex index name ex window handle ex start point Function Offers a list to the operator in the designated window The list is the index of the designated file and starts at the given starting point The index name specifies which index to display vfdata for the data index vpfmtobj for th
41. PRO for report print format copy selection condition print selection condition and procedure menus respectively Comments For your use Borders Enter Y if you wish to place a border around your menu Use_Reverse Enter Y to display the menu in reverse video Caption This text will be centered in the top line of the border Background_file The name of a text file that supplies a background for the 284 VersaForm XL Clear_screen x_origin y_origin width height Numbers Menu_text Function Argl Arg2 menu You can use it to add text to the menu screen Enter Y if you wish the screen to be cleared before the menu is displayed The location of the top left corner of the menu window The width and height of the menu window Enter Y to have VersaForm XL number the menu items and accept numeric choices from the operator The default is N The text of each menu item If an ampersand amp appears in the text the character that follows it will be a hotkey for that menu item and will be displayed in the menu_bold color The ampersand itself will not be displayed The function that is to be performed if the item is chosen On a main menu or a submenu the valid choices are given in Table 17 1 On report print format copy selection condition print selection condition and procedure menus the menu is used only to choose a particular report print format etc In these cases use the appropriate
42. Print items Following each print item there are nine options which can be changed to control the formatting sorting and totaling of each print item in the report Option name Description Print Item The first report option will list the Print items to be included in your report The Print items will appear in columns on your report automatically arranged in the order in which you selected them You may insert and delete lines from the print item column using the commands D and I as in VersaForm XL s filing mode Size The size option allows you to specify the width of the column You may specify a column width larger or smaller than the actual print item s width VersaForm XL will automatically separate columns in a report by at least one space Keep this in mind when you set the overall Reports Title Srt Dir Sub 111 page width of your report The default column setting is the width of the named print item You may enter any title you choose as a column heading for each print item Remember however that your title may only be as long as your column is wide The default column title is the name of the print item J is for Justify In the option headed J you tell VersaForm XL how to print your data within the report column Enter L for left flush margin left justified R for right flush margin right justified C for centered with equal margins or a number of digits to indicate decimal places Numeric data with
43. RECOVERY When a file is damaged but not irretrievably lost the recovery facility can often recover the data It does so by reading through the file and attempting to identify data records then writing them to a new file The file being recovered does not need to have a readable form design present But if it doesn t you must provide an empty file with the correct form design to receive the records found Such a file can usually be built from an older backup of the lost file by use of the Copy an existing form design subfunction of Form Design Unless you are an experienced technician use this program only as instructed by VersaForm XL Tech Support If you are asked to run file recovery by VersaForm Tech Support follow these steps Note For this illustration we will assume that the name of your damaged file is LEDGER VFM 1 If you are on a Multi User System make sure no one is using or trying to access the damaged file LEDGER VFM 2 Back up LEDGER VFM 10 11 12 13 Utility Functions 289 Rename LEDGER VFM to LEDGER BAD If you already have a file named LEDGER BAD it must be deleted before you can success fully execute the RENAME command WARNING If the file LEDGER BAD contains information that should not be deleted stop here and call AST for help The commands are Delete DELETE LEDGER BAD Rename RENAME LEDGER VFM LEDGER BAD Start up your VersaForm System Select the option for VersaForm XL
44. St PHONE 456 7890 CITY Centerville STATE MN ZIP 34567 ORDER DATE 11 15 80 CLERK Joe L QTY STOCK DESCRIPTION PRICE AMOUNT 11 B55 Nails 0 24 2 64 6 A44 Elec Drill 47 00 282 00 4 V33 Screws 0 09 0 99 A99 Metric Skts 33 00 3267 20 Ratchet Wr 9 SUBTOTAL 3751 00 TAX 187 55 TOTAL 3938 55 Figure 2 23 This form John Cooper s was located by asking for the next form after COO Even though there is no such ACCT as COO in the file the system can find the value COO in the Index and locate the next form You may wonder if you have altered Jane Steel s form in any way by using the key item to locate forms without clearing the screen first Jane Steel s form remains in the file with its original number unless you deliberately remove it the command REMOVE is discussed later Ifyou keyed in a different account number a new key item over the original and then SAVEd the change you would simply add another form with the same information but a new account number 34 VersaForm XL CHANGE A COLUMN LINE Now that John Cooper s form is displayed practice changing some data on it Suppose after Mr Cooper placed his order he called back and said Change my order from 20 Ratchet Wrenches to 25 and cancel the 4 screws How do you make the changes on the form 1 Move the cursor to Line 5 and key in 25 over the 20 under QTY 2 VALIDATE E Notice the AMOUNT SUBTOTAL TAX and TOTAL change Figure 2 24 ALPH
45. VersaForm XL identifies each form in the file 3 AUTOMATIC SELECTION You may set up selection conditions This is the same process used for generating reports Chapter 7 Reports The Print on Preprinted Forms 137 same variable option applies allowing you to defer the choice of selection conditions NOTE Since entire forms are selected for copying or printing only single items may be used in the selection conditions not column multiple items For example you may ask to have the form in Figure 8 5 selected for printing if ZIP EQ 04938 but you may NOT ask to have it selected if QTY EQ 3 ALPHA TOOLS INC SERVING THE BAY AREA SINCE 1925 CUSTOMER Seymour Brothers ACCT3 SEY 8807 ADDRESS 9201 West Hazel PHONE 803 4752 CITY Hammond STATE In ZIP 04938 ORDER DATE 6 12 82 CLERK Andy L QTY STOCK Y DESCRIPTION PRICE AMOUNT 1 7 321 Pliers 10 95 76 65 2 3 340A Shovels 15 00 45 00 SUBTOTAL TAX TOTAL Figure 8 5 SPECIFY YOUR SELECTION CHOICE Select Copy or Print Forms from the Main Menu Choose the option to print From the form selection menu choose Automatic Selection From this point the routine is the same as in the REPORT function described in Chapter 7 You will tell VersaForm XL if you want to use an existing set of instructions as is or modified or if you want to name and design a new set of instructions The only control instructions needed by the printing process are the
46. VersaForm XL to ask you how many copies to print at the time you run the report enter Pause between Enter Y if you need to pause after each page to insert pages single sheets of paper in your printer Trailer page Prints the file name report date and time number of form items read and written on a separate page at the end of the report Detail or Summary A Summary report prints only sub totals and totals and D S B counts and averages if chosen VersaForm s default is to ask you just before printing which you want Enter D S or B to avoid being asked choosing Both will cause both detail and summary versions to be printed Work Disk In order to produce the report VersaForm XL needs extra disk space on which to sort the information you have selected this is the Work Disk VersaForm XL will use the hard disk as the Report Work Disk If you have a RAM disk using it will decrease the report processing time Unless you have entered a Work file path in your SETUP VFS file VersaForm will ask which disk to use when the report is run To suppress this question enter N 114 VersaForm XL Export The Export option will write your report data to a disk file This makes it possible to produce files which can be used with other MS DOS programs Four export file formats are available 1 VE Merge values separated by tabs each record on a new line The first line consists of the field names the symbol is here used to represe
47. and AMOUNT and pressing X to indicate your selection 5 Press the key Q Q done after you ve chosen the last item to be printed VersaForm XL will display the Report Definition form listing the Print items you selected as in Figure 7 4 Form Id SALES1 Titlel Title2 More Options gt Title3 ctrl gt Page Format Width Length Left Margin Skip lines after titles Counts Y N Print item Options 1 99 Y N Y N Y N J S Srt Dir Sub Ttl Avg CUSTOMER 30 CUSTOMER QTY 5 ory DESCRIPTION 33 DESCRIPTION AMOUNT 10 AMOUNT Figure 7 4 Report Definition VersaForm XL has filled in several parts of the form the print items you indicated and their sizes and default column titles This is actually all that needs to be done in order to run the report But there are a number of other choices that we could make that would make it more useful From this point on you can enter your choices directly on this form One thing we can do is to improve the titles We could have an overall title on each page of the report by entering it in the Title field and we can separately change the Title and Size of each column On our report the DESCRIPTION column is too wide and a better name for it on this report would be PURCHASES After changing the Print item Options Figure 7 5 the report would appear as in Figure 7 6 Reports 99 Peta rer ured eras wre EE Screen 1 pe A SE Ae ee ee Form Id SALES1 Titlel SALES REPORT
48. and functions In addition to the usual operators add multiply subtract divide there are three other operators DIV MOD and amp DIV and MOD are operators that perform integer whole number arithmetic DIV is like divide but the result is always a whole number not a decimal MOD provides the remainder after division For example 11 DIV 4 has a value of 2 11 MOD 4 has a value of 3 If the numbers being operated on are not whole numbers they are truncated to whole numbers before the operation of MOD or DIV is performed For example 3 5 would become 3 before being used in DIV or MOD String Expressions The amp operator allows you to combine concatenate character strings into longer strings Strings can be concatenated to a total length of 80 characters Characters beyond that will be ignored Here is an example of concatenation using the amp operator If A TOTAL is 11 50 and A DUEDATE is 12 15 85 then the concatenation Please pay amp A TOTAL amp by the following date amp A DUEDATE would appear as 198 VersaForm XL Please pay 11 50 by the following date 2 15 95 To use an arithmetic expression within a string expression surround it with parenthesis Example It has been amp VDATE A PAYDATE amp days since your last payment In the above example the expression VDATE A PAYDATE is computed before the string expression is composed
49. any number Operations Number on left is divisor or number subtracted N changes sign I divides into 1 R rounds S gets self check digit P picks up a number and T picks up a column total puts the first number back onto the form C moves each number left To clear all repeat C help Q quit V Validate Press return to continue Figure 5 4 Figure 5 5 summarizes the steps to follow for calculation CALCULATE Get Calculator by using CA command Key in number and press return or use P to pick up from cursor location Repeat step 2 for second number Press the operation key etc 5 Press to move answer to your form Figure 5 5 Chapter 6 AUTOMATIC CHECKING AND AUTOMATIC FILLING You set the rules for the accuracy of the data that is entered into the forms you have designed VersaForm XL enforces them In addition you can have the system automatically fill in items further reducing the margin for error Overview When you select FORM DESIGN from the Main Menu you will see a FORM DESIGN menu with several options including Checking and Automatic Filling When your form is displayed on the screen you will choose the items for which you want to establish checking and filling rules For each item you choose a checking and filling menu Figure 6 1 is displayed and you select the option s you want for that item When you enter data on your form and VALI
50. are bypassing 3 Repeat step 2 until you ve made all your choices for the item named 4 Optional Use the PRINT 8 command to get a printed copy of your choices for that item for reference Checking and filling choices may also be printed later by using the option Print the form definition from the FORM DESIGN menu 5 Use the SAVE f2 command to have your choices filed Note Don t make conflicting choices For example TODAYSDATE asks the system to automatically fill in an item and MANDATORY specifies that you must enter the data manually therefore these two options should not both be chosen for the same item Automatic Checking And Automatic Filling 83 Checking Options MINIMUM LENGTH Entries must contain at least the minimum number of characters specified You might enter 5 for a ZIP code to help avoid errors Specify Minimum Length as 99 to prevent any manual data entries into an item This gives you a protected field that can only be filled automatically MAXIMUM LENGTH Entries may contain no more than the maximum number of characters specified The number must be greater than zero JUSTIFY Aligns the data you enter Justify will move your data to the left or right side of an item on your form so it will line up in columns on your reports Justify can also line up the decimal points Rounding off occurs as needed Key in L left or R right or a digit between 0 and 8 to specify the number of
51. at one time When you press Fl you ll see the menu of commands PROCEDURE STATEMENTS The procedure we re writing in this example moves values from one form to another In this case the values from PARTNAME and STDPRICE on the INVENTORY form Figure 13 2 will be moved to DESCRIPTION and PRICE on the INVOICE form Figure 13 3 01 DESCRIPTION PARTNAME 02 PRICE STDPRICE Figure 13 7 The two statements in Figure 13 7 are called assignment statements because they assign the value of one item to another Assignment is represented by the following symbol These statements tell VersaForm XL that DESCRIPTION is to be assigned the value from PARTNAME j PRICE is to be assigned the value from STDPRICE Enter each statement by typing the item to be filled in followed by the assignment symbol a colon followed by an equal sign followed by the item that contains the data Every complete statement must be followed by a semicolon After completing each statement line press ENTER to continue on the next line WO You do not need to validate after entering each line When you are finished SAVE your procedure Introduction to Procedures 183 When you write procedure statements Each statement must be followed by a semicolon More than one statement may occupy a line Uppercase or lowercase letters or a combination may be used Spaces within statements are ignored Therefore each of the l
52. be written at the bottom of the screen PUT ex Procedure Writes a value to the screen at the current cursor location Example Enter new price for item no amp IT If ITEMNUM is A66 then Enter new price for item no A66 will be written on the screen See the example procedure MENU READ item Procedure Reads a line of data from a text file into ITEM Example Reads a line from the currently open TEXTINPUT file into the form item A NAME EAD A NAME 250 VersaForm XL Note Only 80 characters at most are read in at a time A subsequent READ command will read the next 80 characters or until an end of line a carriage return character is encountered REMOVEFORM File Procedure Example See FILING COMMAND PROCEDURES above Note You must use GETFORM or another form retrieval command before using REMOVEFORM RESTATTR Procedure Restores the screen attributes in force before SETATTR was issued RETRIEVE File item name N Function Finds item name in File and returns the value Item name can be a string or a variable If item name is a field name it is the contents of that field that is denoted not the field itself Example var xX y begin x address y retrieve a x 0 If there is a single item on the form called address y will now have whatever was in it RETURN ex Procedure Exits from the procedure immediately Returns the value usually TRUE or
53. chosen for that item and you didn t override it L QTY stocKk DESCRIPTION PRICE AMOUNT 1 100 Hammer 5 95 5 95 2 A44 Elec Drill 47 00 94 00 2 All Hammer 12 50 25 00 2 SUBTOTAL TAX TOTAL Entries checked OK Figure 2 13 12 In Line 5 key in 3 under QTY A55 under STOCK 22 50 under PRICE VALIDATE your entries VersaForm XL will fill in the DESCRIPTION AMOUNT SUBTOTAL TAX and TOTAL as shown in Figure 2 14 Hands On Exercise 27 QTY STOCK DESCRIPTION PRICE AMOUNT 5 95 94 00 00 100 A44 A11 A11 Hammer 5 95 Elec Drill 47 00 Hammer 12 50 Hammer 7 95 Carbide Set 22 SUBTOTAL TAX TOTAL Entries checked OK Figure 2 14 Now suppose you decide you want to have VersaForm XL put in the PRICE instead using the Table Lookup feature 13 Move the cursor back to Line 5 then press until the cursor is in the item called STOCK 14 Key in A55 again over the A55 already entered 15 VALIDATE your entry PRICE AMOUNT SUBTOTAL TAX and TOTAL will all be changed to agree with the STOCK as they appear on the Lookup Table Since you did not key in a value for PRICE yourself VersaForm XL automatically filled it in and recalculated the other items Figure 2 15 QTY STOCK DESCRIPTION PRICE AMOUNT 100 A44 A11 A11 Hammer 5 95 Elec Drill 47 00 Hammer 12 50 Hammer 7 95 Carbide Set 52 50 SUBTOTAL TAX TOTAL Entries checked OK Figure 2 15 95 94 00 0
54. course depend on the installation Thus to display a window in the current reverse video attributes you would write VOPEN_WIN REVERSE_VID INCLUDE Procedures may include source statements from external files This gives you a way of using a standard editor or word processor that will save files in ASCII format one such is VFEDIT a text editor included on your VersaForm directory on your procedures To include a set of procedure instructions written with an external text or do the following 1 Create a new procedure or get the old procedure you want to update 2 Inline 1 or wherever you want to insert the instructions you have written enter the following statement by itself at the beginning of the line I filename Where filename is the name of the ASCII file containing the procedure statements to be included Be sure to include the curly brackets 3 Press to compile the procedure and save it Any text following the comment bracket on the same line is ignored FILE HANDLING When opening a file that is already open the caller gets the existing file The file is not re opened This is implemented by means of an open count When closing a file it is actually closed only if the open count is 0 VOPENed files stay open until explicitly closed Data buffers for files without details are only as big as the single item portion of the file A screen buffer for a file is not allocated
55. cr Enter your choice E 1 THEN CHAIN POST no semicolon before ELSE 2 THEN CHAIN GLOBAL Figure 16 1 Built In Procedures 269 EXPLANATION 01 The variable will hold the operator s choice 02 BEGIN signals the end of the variables and the beginning of the procedure 03 07 These statements first clear the screen and then write the menu 08 The operator s choice is read from the keyboard 09 11 A pair of nested IF statements determine what action to take If the operator has keyed in anything other than 1 or 2 nothing will happen 12 END indicates the end of the procedure 270 VersaForm XL Invoicing Sequential Numbering PROCEDURE INSTRUCTI Procedure Name SAV Secondary File Key froml RM A PT Prepare next invoice ESNO THEN BEGIN if user says yes INV INV 1 increment invoice mber REFORM A EMPINV put back new invoice mber Figure 16 2 This procedure will run during a FILING session When the user SAves an invoice the procedure automatically prepares the next one by clearing the form and setting up the next invoice number F The Secondary File item is left blank since none is being used in this procedure The Key from items a
56. decimal places will print right justified If you do not use this option data will be printed exactly as it appears in your file The S option allows you to suppress the printing of data items that have been printed in the previous line of the report By entering Y in this option you tell VersaForm XL not to print duplicate data items within the same column Suppression may be used to emphasize sorting or sub total breaks within the report VersaForm s default is not to suppress You may sort up to 50 print items within a report They may be sorted alphabetically or numerically By entering a number in the sort column you select the order in which the print items on the report will be sorted If sorting has not been specified VersaForm XL will not sort report lines they will be printed in the order encountered If you have entered a number in the Srt column you can indicate the direction in which the data will be sorted by entering or If this column is blank VersaForm XL will automatically sort data items Low to High Low to High is A to Z or 1 10 You may specify a High to Low sort by entering a You may specify up to ten Subtotal breaks in the report These are used to organize data in a format that summarizes important parts of the overall report Use Y to specify a subtotal break or P to indicate that each subtotal break should begin a new report page If you entered Y for counts the number of data items in ea
57. designation RPT FMT CPC PRC and PRO and use VF to call the standard VersaForm menu for that function Check the picklist for acceptable values The first argument for the menu item On main menus and submenus this is the file name of the primary file for the function On report print format copy selection condition print selection condition and procedure menus this is the name of the report etc The second argument for the menu item On main menus and submenus this depends on the function If the function is Filing you may use Arg2 to name a procedure to be automatically executed For other functions it is the file name of the secondary file for the function if any On report print format copy selection condition print selection condition and procedure menus Arg2 is not used Custom Menus and Context Sensitive Help 285 FUNCT Function to be performed DESIGN Form Design FILING Filing File name Procedure name REPORT Reports File name Report name PFMT Print Format Design File name CP Copy or Print Forms File name CPCOPY Copy Forms File name CPRINT Print Forms File name LABELS Mailing Label Printer UTILS VersaForm Utilities PROCS Enter or Change Procedures File name RELOGIN Log in again SHELL Shell to DOS File to be executed USERFUN Call a linked user function First argument Second argument EXIT Return to calling menu or OS SUBMENU Call another menu Menu_file key Menu_type key
58. device VersaForm XL will ask Output directly to printer Y N 1 Enter Y if you want to print immediately Or enter N if you want the output to go directly to a disk file or to another device The next steps depend upon special print fonts character style your printer may have and the instructions you have given VersaForm XL for the use of a print control sequence See Chapter 11 Setup and Security If your system is configured for a print control sequence you will be asked Send a control sequence to the printer Y N 2 Enter Y if you wish the pre defined control sequence to be sent to the printer Print on Preprinted Forms 139 Whether you require a sequence or not VersaForm XL will ask Pause between pages Y N 3 Enter Y if you are using hand fed forms Enter N to use continuous feed paper VersaForm XL will ask whether you want to have a single test form printed Test Form alignment Y N 4 Enter Y so you can adjust the paper if necessary If you re sure of the alignment enter N and VersaForm XL will begin printing If you are using single sheets that must be fed by hand press after each page If you are NOT directing the output to a printer now you need to tell VersaForm XL where to send it Follow the prompts to identify the file that is to contain the output MANUAL SELECTION IN COPY PRINT FORMS If you have chosen manual selection VersaForm XL will identify each form in succession by key
59. display type Trace Functions allows starting and ending the programmer s trace Part IV Appendices Appendix A 297 Appendix A FORMATTING AND BACKUP Formatting Diskettes Diskettes floppy disks must be formatted before they are used Refer to your operating system manual for complete instructions Whatever you do though do not inadvertently format your hard disk This is an error with disastrous consequences and DOS does not protect you against it Backup Both diskettes and hard disks are backed up using DOS utilities or other backup products The importance of backing up your work cannot be overemphasized Sooner or later your hard disk will fail Keeping backup copies is the only way to ensure that you don t lose important information due to equipment troubles or accidents Backing up on tape is preferable to backing up on diskette We recommend that you use the structured backup procedure and maintain two copies of all files Under this procedure you keep three tapes or disks which you label A B and C Back up to diskette set A on the first day Use set B on the second day set C on the third day and then return to set A again Back Up To disk A disk B disk C Every month take one of the backups home and buy a new tape or disks to replace it This will protect you in case of fire Every three months hold a fire drill Make sure that you can actually use your backups to restore from But be e
60. displayed form or use any of the usual commands to work on your file After you examine one form you may clear the screen and resume the search You may resume a search at any point in the file Simply use the last key that was found as the starting point for the next search The search can be interrupted by pressing Esc You will be prompted with the question End the search Y N N By responding Y you can stop the search Search tests may be entered in a number of ways as illustrated in Figure 5 3 Instruction Search the value that contains 99 Search the value that equals 99 Search any value less than 99 Search any value less than or equal to 99 Search any value greater than 99 Search any value greater than or equal to 99 Search any value which begins with 99 Search any value which ends with 99 Search any value not equal to 99 Search any value which contains 99 Search any value not containing 99 Figure 5 3 The symbol not could be used in all the examples as illustrated by the two values at the bottom of the table You can put in more than one value for VersaForm XL to search for Keying gt T into NAME and 95030 into ZIP would instruct VersaForm XL to search and display the forms of all clients in Zip code 95030 whose names begin with T or any letter that follows T in the alphabet If more than one item in the column area is being searched the system will stop on the first form with correct sing
61. dots will reappear after the design is confirmed 2 Check the design of your form Are all the columns set up the way you want them to be Is there at least one space between each column heading 3 Key in Q if you want to quit and cancel this form design X to see instructions on the screen ii R to redesign the form C to confirm you will be given information about the size of the form you ve designed Figure 4 8 60 VersaForm XL The form has now been designed Form display size XXX characters wide by XX lines If not compressed form requires at lease XX bytes X storage units Column line size XXX characters Maximum possible column lines per form XXX If desired enter limit on the number of column lines XXX Press Return to continue Figure 4 8 Your may limit the number of column lines that can be stored on any form by entering a limit as displayed in Figure 4 8 Press to continue designing the form If you confirm the design but want to redesign it later follow the instructions in the section of this chapter called Change the design of a form When you confirm your form is established and you will be asked two more questions Figure 4 9 Do you want to prevent form deletions and column line changes Y N N Is this file to be protected Y N N If you want users to be able to change information in the column area of the form and delete forms from the system press Enter in re
62. enter default values Up to 20 characters of information standard words phrases or numbers may be selected for automatic filling to fill in any items on your form When the Calculation form is displayed key the value in I1 the first item on the Calculation form Do not specify any operation The value may be numeric or non numeric for example N C No Charge F An example use this feature to fill in the name of a clerk who handles most of your orders t Manual entry always overrides defaults when you enter data COLUMN TOTAL You may have a total filled in by choosing Column Total from the checking and filling menu When the column total form is displayed enter the name of the column which is to be totaled In Figure 6 12 it is AMOUNT VersaForm XL will add the AMOUNT values and place the result in the item called SUBTOTAL COLUMN TOTALS Enter below the name of the column whose total is to be kept in this item Item name AMOUNT This item SUBTOTAL Figure 6 12 T The item you use to hold the total of a column must be a single item on your form Since a column total will be a number you may also want to choose Justify for the item SUBTOTAL Figure 6 5 would be justified to two decimal places since it s a dollars and cents item Numbers will be justified and rounded if necessary to the proper number of decimal places after each operation Only the justified results of calculations will be
63. existing file and FALSE if you want the name of a new one Example var inp inp Ask_filename For the next file The reply will be assigned to the variable inp ASSIGN File ex item name N ex value Procedure Finds item name in File and gives it the value Item name can be a string or a variable If item name is a field name it is the contents of that field that is denoted not the field itself Example var X begin x Customer Assign A x 0 Robinson Places the value Robinson in the field called Customer on form A assuming that Customer is there and it isn t a column item This is useful when you don t know at the time you are writing the procedure which field will be accessed Built In Procedures 225 AUTOPROMPT Flag Used to disable or enable the autoprompt feature Use SET AUTOPROMPT to turn on auto prompting use CLEAR AUTOPROMPT to turn it off BACKFORM File Procedure Example See FILING COMMAND PROCEDURES below BELL Procedure Sounds bell or beeper Example BELL PROMPT WARNI Sounds the beep and prints the message WARNING on the screen BELLMSG msg Procedure Displays a message in a pop up box sounds the bell and waits for the user to press ENTER Example CALL File ex procedure name ex parameter Function Calls one procedure from another The called procedure may be on the same file as the caller or
64. features 1 From the Main Menu figure 2 1 select 2 for Filing VersaForm XL Main Menu Form Design Filing Reports Design a Print Format Copy or Print Forms Mailing Label Printer VersaForm Utilities Enter or change a procedure Exit ODATNHDHUBWNHEe Figure 2 1 2 Press ENTER This message or a variation will be displayed wi N Enter the drive letter or path name of your file or press escape to return to the menu C 18 VersaForm XL 3 Press penter to accept the default drive If the default drive is incorrect enter the appropriate drive letter Now you ll be asked to identify the file you want to work on You ll see Enter file name or press return to accept default Wildcard characters and may be used Press escape to select new path Enter file name 4 Key in type on the keyboard SAMPLE use either capitals or small letters then press ff SAMPLE is the name of the exercise file ZO You will see a form displayed like the example in Figure 2 2 ALPHA TOOLS INC SERVING THE BAY AREA SINCE 1925 CUSTOMER Figure 2 2 When the blank ALPHA TOOLS form is displayed we can begin Figure 2 3 shows a partially filled in form The following instructions will tell you how to make the same entries Fill In the Single Items The single items are the items which will be filled in just once on each form On the Alpha Tools form these are the items at the top an
65. feed character this characteristic may be used by VersaForm XL to speed printing Enter a Y in the Form_Feed field if appropriate The Send_Line_Feed field is currently not used The left margin indents reports by a specified number of characters The default is 0 If you want to print reports 158 Default_Prt_ Ctl VersaForm XL left indented 1 inch and you are using 10 characters per inch on your printer for instance Pica enter 10 in this field Some printers can print characters of different sizes For example in compressed mode printing 132 characters are printed across an 8 1 2 inch page instead of 80 pica type or 96 elite VersaForm XL can instruct the printer to activate special features such as changing the character size via a print control sequence The numbers that make up the sequence for your particular printer must be found in your printer manual Here you can enter a default print control sequence to be used by VersaForm XL Enter the sequence in ASCII codes and separate each number with a backslash character For example to enter a default sequence for compressed printing on Epson printers enter 27 15 Alternatively you may enter a character string in the print control sequence For example to change an HP LaserJet to compressed mode enter the control sequence 27 amp k2S For more detalil see the chapter on Reports Note that Reports may have several print control sequences to contr
66. file to delete then press Checking And Automatic Filling Automatic checking and filling options can be added to or changed on your form at any time whether or not data has been entered The procedure is described in Chapter 6 Automatic Checking and Automatic Filling Print The Form Definition You may have VersaForm XL print a copy of the form design a complete record including the layout of items and all the checking and automatic filling rules 1 From the FORM DESIGN menu choose Print the form definition 2 Turn on the printer 3 Enter the file name when requested The form design will be printed immediately You will then be asked if you also want to print the checking and filling options you have chosen It s wise to print the form definition soon after the form is designed and keep the printout as a hard copy reference Chapter 5 FILING DATA ENTRY AND RETRIEVAL After you ve created a file and designed a form use the Filing function to enter data This function is also used to retrieve forms from your file and to examine update print or remove them 1 Start up the system Select FILING from the Main Menu 23 Enter the name of the file if asked When a blank form is displayed you may begin entering data Keying information into a form is like typing The cursor marks the place where the next character will be entered The tab key moves the cursor from item to item If the next item is
67. in the string Converts a date into long form spelling the month Converts date as full 10 character date Converts to lower case Removes all characters except 0 to 9 and Converts to upper case Removes all characters except A to Z and 0 to 9 Blanks all characters except A to Z or 0 to 9 Format a date as YY YYMMDD Kes CZORUAD gt Enter Y in order to have fonts and overlay files if any downloaded before the first form of this format is printed or when print format setup is requested Name of up to 3 files of fonts and overlays if any to be downloaded before the first form of this format is printed or when print format setup is requested The printer control sequence sent before the first form of this format is printed It precedes downloading as well The printer control sequence sent before each form of this format is printed The printer control sequence sent after each form of this format is printed These printer control sequences are sent when their number 1 through 9 is indicated in the S or E columns above Print on Preprinted Forms 133 Use Default If Y the default printer control sequence from the Setup file is sent before anything else OPERATOR ENTERED VALUES You can have the operator enter values that you need in a print format but which you don t know until run time To do this enter V GETARG 0 message in the Print_item field At the time of printing VersaForm XL will then ask you
68. item Procedure Gets value from console typed in by the user Example Enter new price E After writing Enter new price VersaForm XL waits for the operator to enter a value The value will be placed in PRICE GETCH ch code keyvalue Procedure Reads a character from the keyboard and does not echo it to the screen Returns If code is Built In Procedures The character in CH is a valid alphanumeric character that is one that VersaForm XL would accept as data The user pressed a non alphanumeric key Keyvalue contains a key value which was prefixed i e an IBM PC extended key code The function keys F _ F behave this way The user pressed a non alphanumeric key Keyvalue contains a key value which was not prefixed Most control key combinations as well as Escape behave this way This command is useful ina START procedure to get a password from the operator Example var char code key begin getch char code key if code 0 then process the character else if code 1 then begin if key 59 then process function key F1 end else if code 2 then if key 27 then process escape 237 GETFORM File Procedure Example See FILING COMMAND PROCEDURES above GETXY x item y item Procedure Returns the current cursor location in the two parameter items Example var X Vy txy x y gets cursor location toxy x y return to w
69. item and ask if you want to print it For example if the key item is ACCT VersaForm XL will ask ACCT account number Print the form Y N Q Quit Enter Y to print or enter N if you don t want the form printed Q will return to the original menu After each form is printed VersaForm XL will display a tally 3 printed of 5 Chapter 9 COPY FORMS AND DATA Overview There are two separate functions that can copy forms or other information from one file to another Use the COPY OR PRINT FORMS function to Copy filled in forms from one file to another You could use this to begin a new file or to copy forms from an active to an inactive file you may copy all forms in a file or choose selectively Copy print formats or control instructions for reports copying and printing on preprinted forms Use the COPY BY NAME function to Copy all data from an existing file to a file with a new form design The new file may contain more or fewer fields or a different key Copy Filled in Forms A filled in form can be copied to another file which contains a form of the same design To copy the form design refer to Chapter 4 Create a File and Design a Form the section called Copying an Existing Form Design 1 Select COPY OR PRINT FORMS from the Main Menu 2 From the Copy Print function menu select option 1 Copy Forms SELECT THE FORMS TO BE COPIED You may specify either automatic manual or no selection
70. lator Utils CLEAR to blank forn fOrns Colunns Up Down Ta DELETE a line fOrns DISPLAY primary second form Edit EXECUTE a procedure Procs EXIT to main menu File FIRST LAST form in file fOrns GET a forn fOrns HELP Help INDEX list fOrns INSERT a line Edit NEXT form Continue fOrns Page Forward Backward Sn FRINT current form fOrns REMOVE the current form fOrns SAVE a form fOrns SEARCH all forms for value fOrns SPACE report on file Utils UNDO unvalidated data Edit VALIDATE Edit FUNCTION KEY gt gt gt VersaFornm XL v FS Alt F5 To RETURN press ESC F F9 Ctr l1 F5 F6 Alt F Alt F10 Alt F1 Alt F3 F10 F4 Alt F8 F6 Pg Dn Up F Alt R FZ Alt F3 F1 To MOVE THE SCREEN Up Ctr l1 FgUp Down Ctr1l PgDn Right Ctrl gt Left Ctrl lt To MOVE THE CURSOR Arron key This line Corners Home Home End End To From Command Esc Next item Enter with scroll Back Tab to last detail Alt F4 Home End Utilities Zoom a column line Context sens help Pick List Alt U Alt 2 Alt H Alt L Figure 2 17 You may issue a command while viewing the menu by entering its abbreviation or using the function key To go back to your form simply press escape LOCATE FORMS IN YOUR FILE The quickest way to display a particular form in the file is by using the key item The key item is specified when a form is designed and it is the data item by which the file is indexed For ex
71. lookup is done IOERROR becomes TRUE after trying NEXTFORM on the last form in the file Note This procedure will work properly only if the key item on the second file is not altered during the REPEAT loop If it were the form would be saved in a different place than it came from PROCEDURE INSTR Procedure Name GLOBAL Secondary File SOMEF Key froml IRSTFOR F NOT IOERRO E EPEAT DISPLAY 1 B PRICE SAVEFOR IF NOT IOERI E EXTFORM UNTIL E Figure 16 6 Built In Procedures 279 EXPLANATION 01 The procedure begins with the first form on the secondary file 02 Ifthe first form has been read then repeat lines 3 7 for each form on the file 03 Display the form Doing this slows things down In a production version you would remove this statement perhaps substituting a short prompt 04 Raise the price by 10 05 Save the form 06 And read the next one 07 After the last form has been saved the attempt to read the next one will cause an error and this will terminate the repeat loop 280 VersaForm XL SAMPLE PROCEDURE FILES One of the VersaForm XL files distributed with the system is called PROCFILE It contains several sample procedures that demonstrate features of VersaForm XL s language You can browse through these procedures by selecting the Enter or
72. made in upper case with multiple blanks compressed to one and according to the ASCII collating sequence John Smith John Smith JOHN SMITH The ASCII American Standard Code for Information Interchange collating sequence as used by VersaForm is shown below NOTE VersaForm uses codes 32 127 inclusive 302 VersaForm XL Ww N WWW WW WwW oOorAtnaun ss W Ww WO N an ANKK SEQ GHNDADO VU gt i lt gt A B C D F G H a A A MAMAMA OO MOANA OF WN ODrkwrwr eAnK KM EPC ETH KR QOWTOS BrWUr D WA OP WBNF O ss ann on uo wo are wWhNhd FR C 1 ASCII table Appendix D FILE FORMATS IN EARLIER VERSIONS The original VersaForm program before November 1983 created UCSD Pascal not DOS files The Apple versions created Apple Pascal files However beginning with version 2 7 VersaForm created DOS files Files created with VersaForm and VersaForm XL through Version 4 all have the same structure These releases were all compatible in the sense that each release could use files from earlier releases This is true even for the Apple versions Apple II files transferred by modem or network to a PC using DOS were immediately usable Version 5 of VersaForm XL is not compatible with files created using earlier versions You must upgrade these files before using them with Version 5 Index 303 Version 6 of VersaForm XL is file comp
73. names must match if data is to be transferred The screen will resemble Figure 9 3 TRANSFER LIST lt CUSTOMER gt WILL BE TRANSFERRED lt ACCT gt WILL BE TRANSFERRED lt ADDRESS gt WILL BE TRANSFERRED lt CITY gt WILL BE TRANSFERRED lt STATE gt WILL BE TRANSFERRED lt ZIP gt WILL BE TRANSFERRED lt AREA CODE gt NOT PRESENT IN OLDDISK SAMPLE amp WILL NOT BE TRANSFERRED 8 lt PHONE gt WILL BE TRANSFERRED 9 lt EXT gt NOT PRESENT IN OLDDISK SAMPLE amp WILL NOT BE TRANSFERRED 10 lt BILLING DATE gt WILL BE TRANSFERRED 11 lt CODE gt WILL BE TRANSFERRED Figure 9 3 After listing the items COPY BY NAME will begin the actual transfer and will list the forms identified by their key items being transferred Figure 9 4 146 VersaForm XL TRANSFERRING FROM OLDDISK SAMPLE TO NEWDISK SAMPLE2 lt ACCT gt CAR12344 TRANSFERRED lt ACCT gt CAR33251 TRANSFERRED lt ACCT gt C0045678 TRANSFERRED lt ACCT gt FLE34521 TRANSFERRED lt ACCT gt JOY34521 TRANSFERRED lt ACCT gt MAS24521 TRANSFERRED lt ACCT gt SAW33521 TRANSFERRED 7 FORMS TRANSFERRED x x TRANSFER COMPLETED Figure 9 4 Figure 9 5 shows how a form might look in the original file ALPHA TOOLS INC Serving The Bay Area Since 1925 CUSTOMER Bill Carpenter ACCT CAR12344 ADDRESS 321 Maple St PHONE 445 0809 CITY Jackson STATE MI ZIP 44567 BILLING DATE 11 15 80 CODE 54 7Y Figure 9 5 Figure 9 6 shows how the new versio
74. not visible on the screen the screen will scroll to make that item visible The penter key acts similarly but does not scroll You may also move the cursor by pressing the space bar but remember that this will erase any data you space over VERSAFORM XL COMMANDS In VersaForm XL there are two ways to enter a command pressing a function key and using the command menu 1 Most of the commands can be activated by pressing a function key The list of commands and function keys is shown in Fig 5 1 64 VersaForm XL COMMAND MENU FUNCTION KEY 3 VersaForn XL v BACK one forn Continue fOrns FS CAIt F5 To RETURN press ESC CALCu lator Utils F CLEAR to blank form fOrns F9 To MOVE THE SCREEN Colunns Up Down Ta Ctrl F5 F6 Up Ctr l1 FgUp DELETE a line fOrns Alt F Down Ctr1l PgDn DISPLAY primary second form Edit Alt F10 Right Ctrl gt EXECUTE a procedure Frocs Alt F1 Left Ctrl lt EXIT to main menu File Alt x FIRST LAST form in file fOrns To MOVE THE CURSOR GET a form fOrns F3 Arron key HELP Help F1i0 This line Home End INDEX list fOrns F4 Corners INSERT a line Edit Alt Fs Home Home End End NEXT form Continue fOrns F6 To From Command Esc Page Forward Backward Sn Pg Dn Up Next item Enter PRINT current forn fOrns F8 with scroll Back Tab REMOVE the current form fOrns Alt R to last detail Alt F4 SAVE a form fOrns F2 SEARCH all forms for value fOrns
75. on a file other than the primary file the first one opened and command EXIT you get the same menu of files as you get when you switch files If you choose a file from this menu i e if you don t escape the file you EXIT from is closed There are three ways to switch to a new file without leaving Filing by the SWITCH FILE command fmf by EXITing PTK from a file other than the primary file That file will be closed and the list of open files will be presented as for SWITCH FILES s by calling a procedure that displays a secondary file This works because the last secondary file is left open when the procedure chain ends if it is displayed A procedure s secondary file that is not displayed when the procedure chain ends is automatically closed this is a change from earlier versions The display command will no longer automatically switch to the old secondary file you must name it The Calculator VersaForm XL provides a calculator for scratch pad calculations while the form is displayed CALCULATE UTILS MENU Function key When you use the Calculate command the normal line at the bottom of your screen is replaced by the calculator display area 76 VersaForm XL You may key in to see the calculator command line which will appear in place of the calculator display area Calc P S R I N T C V Q If you type again you will see a more detailed help screen PERFORM ARITHMETIC OPERATIONS
76. on another If it is on another file that file must already have been opened either as a secondary file or with VOPEN The name of the called procedure must be given in a variable or item or in quotes The parameter is available to the called procedure via GETPARAM The value returned by the CALL function is the value returned by the procedure The called procedure is executed before the next statement in the calling procedure Example returned_value CALL a subroutine parameter CANCEL Procedure Immediately leaves current procedure and returns control to the operator All procedures that have been CHAINED see below are ignored Example 226 VersaForm XL OERROR THE BEGIN OMPT I O R ANCEL END Prints the message I O ERROR on the screen and stops the procedure if an I O error has occurred CHAIN ex Procedure name Procedure Adds the procedure whose name is given to the list of procedures to be run when this one finishes The name of the procedure chained to FILLCUST must be in quotes if it is given literally like any other string Example The USER procedure FILLCUST is chained only if the item CUSTNUMBER has been changed IF CHANGED CUSTNUMBE CHAIN FILLCUST CHANGED formitem Function Returns TRUE if form item has been modified since the last validation Used mostly in CHECKING procedures since they run b
77. on the printer Writing Procedures 209 B MEMO TXT i ERROR THE DATA F L H DATA lt 80 THEN PRI CR print carriage return END UNTIL ERROR EXTINPUT CLOSE remember to close the file Note that in the above example a new line character CR is printed only when the length of DATA is 79 characters or less It generates both a carriage return and line feed when printed The function IOERROR will be TRUE when the READ procedure tries to read beyond the last line of MEMO TXT or if there is an error reading the file IOERROR will also be TRUE if you forgot to open the TEXTINPUT file The VREADCH function will read a single character from the currently opened textinput file The following example will read 1 character from COM1 and write the value on the screen at the current cursor location textinput while not COM1 loerror do put vreadch textinput close WRITING ASCII FILES You can write data to a text file by first using the PRINTFILE procedure to create the file and the PRINT procedure or the PRINTFORM procedure to write the data This can be useful for exporting data for use by other programs such as spreadsheets or word processors The PRINTFILE procedure redirects output from a PRINT statement normally going to the printer to a file on disk It also r
78. or greater than the target or lines that contain or do not contain the target Specify the type of search by the first one or two characters of the target according to the same rules as the SEARCH command Exception the two dots indicating a leading or trailing substring may not be used Example linenum SEAI INE b amount 1 gt 1000 if linenum gt 0 This searches the column headed amount in the form B for a value greater than 1000 starting at line 1 If the target in this case 1000 is in a form item or a variable construct the target string dynamically For instance if the variable were called target you could write INE b amount 1 gt amp target Built In Procedures 253 SELECT ex boolean ex value if true ex value if false Function Returns the value specified by value if true if bool evaluates to true otherwise it returns the value specified by value if false Example var xX y begin prompt Enter x val gei prompt Enter y val get y prompt select x y Numbers are equal Numbers are different end SET CLEAR POP mode Procedure Set ROUNDING or PADDING Example ET ROUNDI SET CLEAR POP auto_lock Procedure Turns automatic locking on or off or returns the flag to its previous state Multi user version only SET CLEAR POP autoprompt Procedure Turns autoprompting on or off
79. page after each group of sorted items Use P instead of Y in selecting the subtotal item Reports 105 You can subtotal even if you haven t asked for totals Subtotaling in this case is used to set up the report in paragraph format though no subtotal values are printed Figure 7 16 SALES REPORT CUSTOMER PURCHASES Whyte Chisel Jones Chisel Brown Chisel Smith Chisel Brown Hammer Smith Hammer Jones Hammer Green Wrench Smith Wrench Figure 7 16 Report in paragraph format Since sorting brings all the items of a kind together it will often not be necessary to print the item name on each line If you want to print it only on the first line of each group use the Suppress option enter a Y in the column headed S in Figure 7 15 Figure 7 17 shows the result SALES REPORT CUSTOMER QTY PURCHASES AMOUNT Whyte Jones Brown Smith Chisel 00 00 3 4 5 00 5 17 Chisel Hammer Hammer Wrench Wrench Totals Figure 7 17 Report with suppression of repeated items 106 VersaForm XL COUNTS You may also want to include COUNTS in your report Counts will perform a tally for each sub total break Y entered into the Counts field will cause counts to be printed below each sub total group in a detail report as in Figure 7 18 For our example Sales Report we have sub totalled by DESCRIPTION A count requested here would provide us with the number of sales sub totalled for each value of DES
80. recheck the values that are transferred thus they will still follow the checking and calculation rules of the old form Chapter 10 PRINT MAILING LABELS PROGRAM FEATURES AND OVERVIEW F Prints up to nine labels across paper nine items per label nine lines per label Compresses information by removing excess blanks and blank lines 5 Skips exact duplicates if you choose Mailing Labels are produced in three steps 1 1 Create and run a report that produces the information that you want on your labels This produces an export file the label text file containing the data to be printed on your labels 2 Enter the instructions for printing the items on your labels using the Mailing Label Printer function 3 Print the labels CREATING THE LABEL TEXT FILE WITH A REPORT Before printing labels you must prepare a label text file containing the data from which your labels will be produced The file is created by using the Export option of the VersaForm XL Report function Follow the instructions in Chapter 7 Reports When entering the Report Control Instructions Choose just the items to be printed for example NAME ADDRESS CITY STATE and ZIP for an address label e Enter 1 beside Export on the Report Definition form when it s displayed If you wish you can choose File output and enter the label text file name on the Report Definition Form You may enter selection conditions and choose sorting in the man
81. report from the Report Menu VersaForm XL will read the Report Control Instructions and check them for accuracy In addition if you ve used any report variables you ll be asked to supply their values VersaForm XL will ask if you want the Report Control Instructions printed If you do turn on the printer and key in Y It s useful to have a printed copy as a record of the information requested in the report VersaForm XL reads through the file and displays the number of forms scanned and the number of records selected so you can watch the selection process as it happens If you ve requested sorting the process may be only partly finished when VersaForm XL finishes reading your file The remainder of the work called merging will be done automatically VersaForm XL is then ready to print the results For example if 120 records were selected and you ve requested totals you ll be asked 120 records in this report Print all the detail lines or summaries only D S If there are many records you may decide to print only the summary lines that is the totals and subtotals Press D to print the entire report or press S to print just the totals and subtotals A report may be printed displayed on your screen or sent to a disk file You ll be asked Output directly to Printer Y N If the report is to be printed 1 Turn on the printer then key in Y Reports 123 VersaForm XL will ask Pause between pages
82. selection conditions When you choose automatic selection of forms for copying or printing you will be asked to fill in the same selection condition form required for a report if the Control Instructions are new If you have entered or changed any selection conditions VersaForm XL will ask 138 VersaForm XL Control Instructions Entered Do you want to run the copy print now Y 1 Enter Y if you want to continue If you chose automatic selection the printing control instructions will now be processed These can also be printed VersaForm XL will ask Print the control instructions Y N N 2 Turn on the printer and enter Y to have the printing control instructions selection conditions printed Or enter N and they will be displayed on the screen The Printing Process As the program runs it displays the key item of each form and shows whether or not the form was printed This is an action log which can also be printed or placed on a text file so you will have a permanent record VersaForm XL will ask if you want to use a print format If you do you will see a menu of all the print formats you have defined from which you may choose the one you want to use If you don t use a print format your forms will be printed as they appear on the screen Next you must choose where you want the output to go Usually output will be sent directly to the printer but sometimes you may want it saved for printing later or sent to a remote
83. setup_copyform kay a TRANSFER O Example b trans then while not ioerror do begin clearform copyform saveform nextform end close_copyform if vclose trans end end a b b b b then The above procedure will copy the fields specified in Example in the transfer file from the primary file to the secondary file SETUP_PRINTFORM File ex pfmtname Function Setups up a print format before issuing the printform statement It need only be used if the print format contains escape sequences or downloads font or overlay files to the printer It returns TRUE if it was successful FALSE otherwise Example firstform b setup_printform b while not ioerror do begin printform nextform end b b SIZE formitem Function Invoice Invoice ae Returns the maximum number of characters that an item on a form can hold Example IZE A PART 256 VersaForm XL If the item PART has space for 5 characters on the form SIZE has a value of 5 STR ex1 ex2 ex3 Function Returns a sub string of EX1 where EX2 is the starting position and EX3 is the maximum length of the result If EX2 or EX3 are zero or negative or EX2 is out of bounds the result is an empty string EX3 may indicate a length that is greater than the length of EX1 In that case only the remaining portion of EX1 is returned Example If
84. shown on the screen Column totals will be the totals of the justified values in the columns Chapter 7 REPORTS VersaForm XL s Report Function selects data which you have entered into a file and organizes it into reports You can use the reports you create to analyze and evaluate any information in your files Reports can be saved and used repeatedly Report Variables may be entered to make changes easily when the report is run Summary reports which print only sub totaled and totaled data can be specified There is no limit to the number of reports you can create and there are few limits to report layout and style VersaForm XL produces reports in two phases 1 You create the report by entering the Report Control Instructions 2 VersaForm XL follows your instructions and extracts the data you selected sorts it into the order you specified and prints the report REPORT CONTROL INSTRUCTIONS Report Control Instructions are the instructions VersaForm XL follows for producing a report They are entered on a set of forms which you fill on the screen There are three forms Report Definition Form identifies which data items to print and how they will be formatted sorted and totaled Selection Condition Form sets the conditions that must be met for a data item to be included in your report Additional Files Form a list of additional VersaForm XL data files you want included in this report 96 Ver
85. text files may be read into or written from a procedure To do this use the Print command It keeps the file name and uses it as a default when writing To read a file 1 Clear the form 2 Type your procedure name in the Procedure Name field 3 Place the cursor on column line 1 4 Press Print 5 Choose the Read option 6 Enter the file name Since the procedure editing area is only 77 characters wide lines longer than 77 characters are automatically split To write the file simply press again and choose the Write option This facility permits you to edit ASCII files such as AUTOEXEC BAT while in the VersaForm XL Procedure entry mode as well as to import and export text files Refer to Chapter 14 under the heading INCLUDE on how to use the Include statement to compile a procedure in an ASCII file Chapter 14 WRITING PROCEDURES Chapter 13 introduced a simple procedure This chapter describes more advanced uses of VersaForm XL procedures and discusses the language used to build procedures It isn t necessary to learn all the terms and options described in this manual before starting to use procedures Begin with simple operations then build on your knowledge and experience Changing A Procedure Or Writing A New One After you choose Enter or Change a Procedure from the Main Menu and select your file a blank Procedure Instructions form will be displayed Figure 14 1 You may change or remove procedures ju
86. that even if you only rearrange declarations in a START procedure you should re SAVE other procedures which refer to them This does not need to be done if you are only changing the assignment of initial values as in the third line of the above example RESERVED WORDS These words play special roles in procedures and may not be used as identifiers If a form item name is the same as a reserved word you must use exclamation marks around the form item name PADDING ROUNDING CLOSE A B form ID The following words are reserved for future implementation Do not use these names as variables in your procedures 196 VersaForm XL Building Procedure Statements BUILT IN PROCEDURES AND FUNCTIONS Certain often used operations can be performed by built in routines procedures and functions You can call them by using the procedure or function name and giving the values you want it to work with these are called parameters A Procedure Example The built in procedure deletes a line from a form For example you may use it by writing to delete from the secondary form whichever line is indicated by the variable LINENUM 5 and LINENUM are the parameters The procedure call illustrated above forms a complete statement A Function Example Functions are procedures that return a result When
87. the ZOOM VALIDATE EDIT MENU Function key The VALIDATE command does three things 1 It checks your data entries against the checking specifications that were set up when the form was designed 2 It performs any calculations and automatic filling that you requested when you designed the form Automatic checking and automatic filling are discussed in Chapter 6 3 Ifyou have written any procedures that were intended to be executed during the validation process VALIDATE will invoke them See Part III for information about procedures For example if you used the Mandatory check to specify that an item MUST be filled in VersaForm XL won t allow you to leave the item blank If you haven t entered data VersaForm XL will detect the error when you attempt to VALIDATE You ll hear a beep and see an error message You may then return to the item and add the required data TO ENTER DATA ON A FORM 1 Key data into the single items on the form and fill in the first column line if the form has columns On forms with automatic filling you will see only one blank column line at a time new ones will appear after each validation The column area can be moved up and down one line at a time Function keys E E and E E are assigned to perform this function 2 VALIDATE ft VersaForm XL will tell you if your entries do not meet the data checking specifications you have set 3 Continue to fill in column lines
88. the value of EX1 is ABCDEFGHIJ then returns the value ABC returns the value HIJ returns the value If you wish to always have a result be a specific length say 10 characters in cases where the input value may be longer or shorter combine the STR and PAD or RPAD functions as follows PAD STR EX1 1 10 10 If EX1 is longer than 10 characters STR will truncate it if shorter PAD will extend it SYSTEM_COLOR ex system color number Function Returns the value of the system color attribute corresponding to the given system color number as set by the currently effective user or system setup The system color numbers are 1 Menus attribute 2 Menu hilite attribute 3 Menu bold attribute 4 Information box attribute X Error box attribute 6 Zoom attribute If any other argument is given the function returns 0 Example get the current menu hilite attribute attrib system_color 2 TEST Flag Function Returns a value TRUE if Flag is ON or FALSE of Flag is OFF depending on test result All flags that can be set using SET CLEAR POP procedures can be tested using this function Built In Procedures 257 TEST_PRINTFORM File ex1 Procedure Prints a test form according to the format named by EX1 stored in the named file TEXTINPUT ex Procedure Opens a file that can be read with the READ command If EX is the reserved word CLOSE the file is close
89. they are designed or re designed using VersaForm XL s form design function 162 VersaForm XL Name File AUTHORITIES Filing Reports USER REGISTRATION Password for report access lists only All Design Rpt_Fmt_Design Copy_Utils System_Utils Access List for Files and Reports File Other_Name Read RdwWrt Rpts Figure 11 4 User Registration Form THE USER REGISTRATION FORM Name File Password Authorities All Design Rpt_fmt_Design Filing Reports Copy_Utils System_Utils File Other_Name Name USERID is the primary key and File is the secondary key To set up a new user fill in only the Name field and leave the File field blank This is the primary user registration form for that user it is used to grant permission to use specific VersaForm XL functions and to grant access to specific files The File field is used only to create secondary user registration forms These are used to specify access to specific reports within that file If entered this becomes the password for this user Only enter a password on the main registration form for the user that is the form with the user NAME but with a blank FILE field To give a user access to all of VersaForm XL s functions enter a Y in the ALL field Otherwise specify access to individual functions with a Y or N On the main user registration form this field specifies the list of protected files to which this user can ha
90. to supply a value and it will use whatever the message is to ask For example if you entered V GETARG 0 Enter the warning message then VersaForm XL would ask the operator Enter the warning message and if the operator entered Second Notice or Final Notice that is what would be printed SYSTEM GENERATED VALUES The function VDATE gives the current date Wherever VDATE is used in a print format the current date will be printed The function V PAGE gives the current page number of a multi page form The function V PAGES gives the number of pages in the form This enables you to print phrases like page 2 of 3 in a print format The function V LINE gives the current detail line number The function V LINES gives the number of details column lines in the form GLOBAL VARIABLES Print formats can recognize global variables the same variables that procedures do This provides a means of setting print format data which may have been obtained from a data file or other source To provide a way to set such variables when forms are printed in batch mode any procedure named STARTPRINT will be automatically run at the beginning of batch printing 5 on the Main Menu Variables declared in such a procedure will be global To use this feature use your global variable as a print item in the print format OTHER OPTIONS ON THE PRINT FORMAT MENU Test VersaForm XL will print one form with asterisks instead of data so you ca
91. value was assigned to a missing item the assignment operation is ignored Chapter 15 BUILT IN PROCEDURES AND FUNCTIONS NOTATION As explained earlier you can call built in procedures and functions by name giving them the values parameters you want them to work with The notations defined below are used to identify the language elements which replace them in procedure statements For instance Somefunction AorB EX1 formitem means that Somefunction has 3 parameters the first of which is either A or B the second can be any expression and the third of which must be an item from a form AorB Identification for either the primary form A or secondary form B FILE Either the primary form A or secondary form B or a file handle opened by VOPEN FORMITEM An item on a form May be qualified by A or B as A QTY or B PRICE VACCUM VPFMTSRC VPFMTOBJ ITEM Either a form item or a variable L Current line number You can set L only to values between 1 and LASTLINE 1 For example A L 1 sets the primary form current line number to 1 FORMTYPE A VersaForm form type these are VFDATA VFORMAT VREPORT VPRINTCTL VCOPYCTL VPRINTFMT VPROCSRC VPROCOBJ VMISC VCHECKS VRANGES VLISTCHECK VTABLE VCOMP VFMT 218 VersaForm XL Built in Routines MANIPULATING FORMS Procedures CLOSE_COPYFORM COPYCOLS j COPYFORM DISPLAY PAGE PgDn PgUp Fil PRINTFORM Fil Fil Fil Fil Fil
92. we know we will want to run this same report every day and sometimes every week Using report variables will allow us to replace the date each time we produce the report without changing or re entering the report instructions 10 Enter the report variable symbol amp immediately followed by the variable to be replaced date from amp date from The amp as used here is a symbol It allows you to change the value to be tested against each time you run the report VersaForm XL will replace amp with the word Enter In this example when you run the report VersaForm will ask Enter date from Any word can be used following the amp 11 Press ENTER You will see the message WO Selection Condition 1 Test 3 Choose item to test Rtn Choose Help Q done 12 Press to choose another item We will select ORDER DATE again so we may specify a date range Move the cursor to ORDER DATE and press X 13 Enter the comparison type LE Less than or Equal to Press pte 14 Select V for value and press peter 15 Enter the value amp date to Press and read the prompt displayed at the bottom of the screen 16 Key in Q to indicate you are done and press peter After a moment a Selection Condition Form filled in will be displayed Figure 3 7 Hands On Exercise Reports 45 REPORT DEFINITION SELECTION CONDITION FORM ID sampleS1 Screen 1 Is Test_Against an Item Name or a Value Tests for th
93. you make a typing error just reposition the cursor over the incorrect character s and retype If the new characters don t completely cover the old erase any that are left over by spacing over them Filing Data Entry and Retrieval 67 UNDO EDIT MENU The UNDO formerly ERASE command erases all data entries that haven t yet been validated It returns your form to its state following the last validation DELETE D Function key The DELETE command removes column data that has already been validated NAME A B Smith PHONE 415 207 3049 ADDRESS 123 Main St CITY Anytown ST CA ZIP 93028 1374 ACCT 00 30595 L DATE CODE SERVICE CHARGE 01 04 06 83 4398 Complete Workup 25 00 02 05 07 83 4270 Examination 15 00 03 07 01 83 4376 Blood Test 20 00 Figure 5 2 In Figure 5 2 suppose you decide to remove the data on Line 2 But since you have already validated that line you cannot UNDO the entries You may return the cursor to Line 2 and key different information over what you ve already entered Or use the DELETE command to remove all the entries in the line Delete will ask for the line number 2 in this case After entering it you will be asked to confirm Delete line number 2 OK Y N Enter Y Line 2 will be deleted and Line 3 will be moved up to its position and renumbered 2 CLEAR EDIT MENU Function key The CLEAR command replaces the current form showing on the screen with a blank form If the
94. 0 Whenever you change or re enter data on a form VersaForm XL will adjust everything that depends on that entry 28 VersaForm XL Save the Form The SAVE command writes the entries you make into your data file 1 Press to SAVE Alternatively you could use the command menu with the mouse or from the keyboard ESC O fOrms S You will see the message New Form Saved WARNING Ifyou don t SAVE your entries they won t be stored on the disk Once the computer is turned off or your screen is cleared without the SAVE command the new data will be lost The Filing Commands Unless you re using a function key to activate a command you ll use the command menu either with the mouse or from the keyboard When using the keyboard you must enter three keys first ESC to get the menu bar Validate lt Fi gt Insert line lt A1tFE gt Delete line lt AItF gt Undo Clear form lt F9 gt New Line lt ALtF4 gt then the command The mouse can also be used call up the command menu If you move the mouse to the top line of your form outside of any field and click the command menu will pop up Then you can choose commands by clicking on them Clicking outside the menu will remove it All available commands and their function keys can be seen when you ask for help function key fF The Filing Commands will be displayed Figure 2 17 Hands On Exercise 29 COMMAND MENU BACK one form Continue fOrns CALCu
95. 0 characters to print on Enter the column number where you want this item to print At the bottom of the screen you will see Print on Preprinted Forms 129 Choose Print Item 2 Rtn Choose item Q done Help Notice that the item number has increased to 2 Each time you select another item the Print number will be incremented 3 Continue choosing Print items by moving the cursor to the items you want pressing X to indicate your selection 4 Enter Q quit done after you ve chosen the last item to be printed VersaForm XL will display the Print Format form listing the Print items you selected as in Figure 8 3 5 Complete the Print Format as follows Enter the length and width of the form in the respective fields Tf you want to print any columnar information Enter the line where the columns should start in Details Start At Enter the number of details to print on each preprinted form in Number of Details At the time of printing VersaForm XL will print multiple pages if needed to accommodate all the column lines included from the original form If each column line will occupy more than one line on the paper form enter the number of lines in Lines per Detail 6 For a simple print format this is all you need to do You may however make any changes in the print format in the usual way Press to SAVE Print Format Definition Screen 1 Form ID Invoice Type P More Options gt ctrl right Length of Form
96. 267 Sample Application Files 280 Save In Procedures 181 Save Sa 66 Save Procedures 189 Saveform 234 Saveneeded 252 Scrolling 9 Search Se 71 Search Command 30 Searchline 252 Secondary Files 181 Secondary Files 177 Secondary Form B 191 Security 164 Protected Files 161 User Authorities 162 Security 160 Select 253 Select Data For Reports 118 Select The Forms To Be Copied 141 Selection Condition Form 95 Selection Conditions Multiple 119 Selection Conditions 116 Selfcheck Digit S 77 Self Checking 84 Self Checking Numbers 299 Semicolon 201 Serial Printer 15 Set 206 Set Padding 207 Set Clear Pop 253 Set_Attrib 254 Setattr 254 Setfldinfo 254 Setting The Date 287 Setup Adding Users 160 Display 157 Function Key Options 160 Other Options 159 Printer 157 Read Only 156 Report Options 160 Users Vfs 161 Setup_Copyform 254 Setup_Printform 255 Sharing Mode 156 Silent 253 Single Items 18 Single Items 53 Size 255 264 Sorting In Reports 102 Space Report Sp 74 Spaces In Form Design 54 Special Symbols In Procedures 191 Spreadsheet Format Export 114 Start Procedures 188 Starting Up Versaform XI 15 Stop Procedures 189 Str 256 Structured Backup 297 Sub Expression 200 Subtract 197 Summaries Reports 122 Syssetup Vfs 155 System_Color 256 System Generated Values In Print Formats 133 T Tab 9 Table Lookup 88 Test 256 Test The Print Format
97. 57 Printfile 247 Printfile Procedure 209 Printform 247 Printform Procedure 209 Printing Control Instructions 143 Procedure Call 196 Procedure Calling 204 Procedure Chaining 204 Procedure Handling 214 Procedure Names 180 Procedure Post Sample Procedure 276 Procedure Statements 183 191 Procedure Statements 196 Procedure Statements 182 Procedure Types 186 Procedures Look Up 175 Programpath 249 Prompt 249 Put 249 Quit Q 74 Range Check 84 Read 249 Read Procedure 208 Recovery 288 Redesign The Form 59 Remove Print Format 133 Remove R 73 Remove A Form 35 Remove A Report 123 Remove Forms With Copy Print 143 Removeform 234 250 Removing Selected Lines Sample Procedure 272 Rename Print Format 133 Repeat 202 Repeat Loop 202 Report Definition Form 98 Definition Form 95 Definition Form 109 Displayed On Screen 123 Sent To A Disk File 123 Variables 108 Variables 120 Report 112 Re Save Procedures 195 Reserved Words 195 Reserved Words In Procedures 191 Restattr 250 Restrictions On Checking Procedures 187 Retrieve 250 Retrieve Forms 69 Return Procedure 250 Reverse Video 157 Reverse_Vid 250 Roll Back 166 Rollback 250 Rollback_ 159 Rollback_On 253 Round 251 Rounding 206 253 Rounding R 77 310 VersaForm XL Rpad 251 Setup 155 Rtrim 251 Setup Vfs 155 Run_Report 251 Running Totals 92 Sample Menus 282 Procedure Files 280 Procedures
98. 76 76 77 78 78 81 81 81 83 83 83 83 83 83 84 84 84 84 85 86 88 88 90 90 92 94 94 95 95 96 99 101 106 107 108 109 116 Multiple Selection Conditions Variables in Selection Conditions Note Combining Files in a Report After the Instructions Are Entered Remove a Report Chapter 8 PRINT ON PREPRINTED FORMS Create a Print Format Print Line and Column Numbers Enter a Print Format The Print Format Columnar Items Page 2 Items Page 3 Items Operator Entered Values System Generated Values Global Variables Other Options on the Print Format Menu Electronic Print Formats Electronic Print Format Fields Columnar Items Page 2 Items Page 3 Items Print The Forms Select the Forms to Print Specify Your Selection Choice The Printing Process Manual Selection in Copy Print Forms Chapter 9 COPY FORMS AND DATA Overview Copy Filled in Forms Select the Forms to Be Copied The Copying Process Manual Selection Duplicates Use Copy Print to Remove Forms Copy Print Formats and Control Instructions Transfer Data With Copy By Name How To Use Copy By Name Changing the Key Item Chapter 10 PRINT MAILING LABELS Program Features and Overview Creating the Label Text File With a Report Entering the Instructions Chapter 11 SETUP AND SECURITY How To Do Setup Setup Options Function Key Options 119 120 120 121 122 123 125 125 126 127 130 130 131 132 133 133 133 133 134 135 135 136 136 136 136 137
99. A TOOLS INC SERVING THE BAY AREA SINCE 1925 CUSTOMER John Cooper ACCT C0045678 ADDRESS 45 Church St PHONE 456 7890 CITY Centerville STATE MN ZIP 34567 ORDER DATE 11 15 80 CLERK Joe QTY stocKk DESCRIPTION PRICE AMOUNT 11 B55 Nails 0 24 2 64 4 V33 Screws 0 09 99 A99 Metric Skts 33 00 3267 L 1 2 6 A44 Elec Drill 47 00 282 00 3 4 5 25 Ratchet Wr 9 6 SUBTOTAL 3800 75 TAX 190 04 TOTAL 3990 79 checked OK Figure 2 24 Now you need to DELETE the order for the screws 3 Move the cursor to that line line 3 Use the command DELETE press PEH 4 VersaForm XL will blank out line 3 and ask for confirmation Correct Y N At this point you may change your mind If you key in N Line 3 will remain If you key in Y the line will be deleted and the totals on the form will be recalculated automatically Figure 2 25 Hands On Exercise 35 QTY STOCK DESCRIPTION PRICE AMOUNT 11 B55 Nails 0 24 2 64 6 A44 Elec Drill 47 00 282 00 99 A99 Metric Skts 33 00 3267 00 25 Ratchet Wr 9 95 248 75 SUBTOTAL 3800 39 TAX 190 02 TOTAL 3990 41 gt Line deleted Figure 2 25 Now you must SAVE the changes to make them permanent 5 Use the command SAVE fF The screen will be cleared REMOVE A FORM At times you ll want to REMOVE a form from your permanent records Suppose you want to remove a form with an ACCT of FLE34567 First retrieve it with GET as you did before 1 Move the cursor to ACCT
100. ATTRIB attributes Procedure Sets the screen attributes color blinking etc Both foreground and background are combined in one number between 0 and 255 What this number actually represents depends on your display adapter It combines foreground and background attribute in one number by multiplying the background number by 16 and then adding the foreground number Example SET_ATTRIB 31 Sets the screen attributes to white on blue SETFLDINFO File ex field name ex what to set ex value to set Function Sets the attribute of the given field to the desired value Returns the previous value of that field attribute Example x SETFLDINFO a customer vpick true SETUP_COPYFORM source file target file trans file Function Tells the copyform procedure to copy only the fields specified in the transfer file to perform a copy by name or both It does so by building a transfer list in memory that copyform will follow The trans file argument contains the file handle to the transfer file If you put a O in the trans file argument Built In Procedures 255 copyform will do a straight copy by name If it can successfully build a transfer list it returns TRUE otherwise it returns FALSE This function is not needed if the source and target form designs match Example var trans begin firstform a trans vopen if trans lt gt 0 then begin assign trans getform trans if
101. AVE your entries 2 Choose the EXIT command You may use the Filing program to select and work on another file or you may use another VersaForm XL function or turn the system off Procedures Procedures are short programs you can write to link one file to another or to do things that can t be done by the standard VersaForm XL commands They are discussed fully later in this book Some procedures called User procedures can be executed on command RUN PROCEDURE RUN MENU Function key This command formerly EXECUTE is used to run a VersaForm XL user procedure After the command VersaForm XL will ask Execute what procedure Enter the name of the user procedure you want to execute or use a question mark to have VersaForm XL display a menu of available procedures After the first time you EXecute a procedure the name of that procedure becomes the default name and is displayed each time you type EX You can just press to execute the default or enter the name of another procedure Filing Data Entry and Retrieval 75 SWITCH FILE FILE MENU Function key VersaForm XL has the capability to edit i e to enter data and to make file changes in more than one file This command formerly DISPLAY presents a list of the open files and lets you open new ones Once you switch to a new file you can use all the filing commands on it including VALIDATE and SAVE You can execute procedures on the new file as well If you are
102. CRIPTION SALES REPORT CUSTOMER QTY PURCHASES AMOUNT Whyte 3 Chisel 9 00 Jones 12 00 Brown 15 00 Smith 5 Count for Chisel 4 Totals 17 Chisel Brown Hammer Smith Jones Count for Hammer Totals 10 Green 2 Smith 3 Count for Wrench Totals Figure 7 18 Detail Report with Counts If you would like counts included in a summary report you can have counts printed as a separate column Figure 7 19 Enter the word Count as an additional Print item as in Figure 7 20 When you print summary lines only VersaForm XL will create an additional column for the counts which you can title and size just as any other column Entering Count has no effect on detail printing and no effect on the Counts field described above Reports 107 SALES REPORT CUSTOMER QTY PURCHASES AMOUNT 17 Chisel 51 00 10 Hammer 5 Totals 32 Screen 1 Form Id SALES1 Titlel SALES REPORT Title2 More Options gt Title3 ctrl gt Page Format Width Length Left Margin Skip lines after titles Counts Y N Print item Options 1 99 Y N Y N Y N Srt Dir Sub Ttl Avg CUSTOMER CUSTOMER QTY QTY DESCRIPTION PURCHASES AMOUNT AMOUNT COUNT COUNT Figure 7 20 Definition of summary report with Counts PERCENTAGES Reports can calculate percentages of numerical fields that are totalled It prints the percentages in a separate column which may be placed anywhere on the report For our example Sales Report w
103. Character to a Carriage Return Line Feed sequence VPFMTOBJ Function Yields a value that internally denotes the compiled or object form of a print Built In Procedures 263 format Used in VCOPY and other routines that call for the type of a VersaForm object VPFMTSRC Function Yields a value that internally denotes print format source VPICK Function Designates the pick list field attribute for use with SETFLDINFO Fields with this attribute set have a down arrow displayed next to them on the screen This is meant to indicate the presence of a pick list or a pick list procedure Example INFO a customer VPUT X position ex Y position ex color attribute ex message ex Procedure Writes the message at the given coordinates with the color attribute specified May be used within a window VQUIT Procedure Abruptly terminates the entire VersaForm XL program and returns to DOS VREADCH Function Reads a single character from the currently opened textinput file and returns it Example textinput COM1 while not ioerror do put vreadch textinput close VRENAME file formtype oldkey ex1 newkey ex2 num item Function Renames the form of the given type in the given file with the given key Returns an error code as the function result if no error has occurred then NUM contains the number of forms deleted Error codes 0 no error 1 reserved 2 the index for the for
104. DATE it VersaForm XL will Check the entries according to your rules Perform the automatic filling you have specified such as looking up prices in a table and computing taxes or making other calculations Choosing Checking And Automatic Filling Checking and filling options may be chosen at the time you design your form or they may be added or changed at any time even after you ve entered data into the file 1 Select FORM DESIGN from the Main Menu 2 From the Form Design menu select the option Add or change checking and automatic filling If required enter the file name Your form design will appear on the screen and a message at the bottom will instruct you 82 VersaForm XL Move cursor to item X choose checking D delete checking Q done To perform checking and filling for an item 1 Move the cursor to the item and press X The Checking and Automatic Filling menu Figure 6 1 will be displayed CHECKING AND AUTOMATIC FILLING Minimum length Maximum length Justify L R Selfchecking Y Numeric Y Y Yes or no Y Mandatory Y EXTENDED CHECKS Ranges Y Format Y AUTOMATIC FILLING Lookup Y Todaysdate Y Calc Y Column Total Y This item CUSTOMER Figure 6 1 2 Move the cursor to the option you want to choose Enter the appropriate character usually Y but could be L or R for Justify or a number DO NOT key in anything beside options you
105. Data Entry and Retrieval 69 form or label See Chapter 8 Print on Preprinted Forms for instructions on how to create a print format PRINT FORMS MENU FUNCTION KEY 1 Make sure the paper is aligned and the printer is on 2 Command PRINT VersaForm XL will ask for the name of a print format you can either type the name or just type to get a list of the print formats you have established If you choose not to use a print format the form will be printed just as it appears on the screen If you have chosen to use a print format the next time you print VersaForm XL to accept will display the name of the print format last entered Just press peter the default print format or type in the name of a new one Retrieve Forms THE ARRANGEMENT OF FORMS IN A FILE VersaForm XL establishes an Index when a file is created and automatically updates it when forms are added or removed The Index lists all the key items in order Numeric keys are indexed from low to high dates are in chronological order words names and other character strings are indexed alphabetically For example if NAME is the key item the forms will be arranged in this order 1 Betty Smith 3 William Ames 2 Jack Jones 4 Yolanda Wells If you want the forms indexed by last name then enter the NAME as 1 Ames William 3 Smith Betty 2 Jones Jack 4 Wells Yolanda If more than one type of key appears in an index the numeric keys will be
106. ER DATE Acct failed format check for pattern amp amp amp H Figure 2 5 7 Key in STE12345 The format we specified is three letters followed by five numerical digits VALIDATE ft your entry VersaForm XL will tell you that everything checks Figure 2 6 22 VersaForm XL ALPHA TOOLS INC SERVING THE BAY AREA SINCE 1925 Cursor CUSTOMER Jane Steel ACCT E12345 ADDRESS 123 Main St PHONE CITY Elm Park STATE IL ZIP 23456 ORDER DATE 10 21 83 CLERK L QTY STOCK DESCRIPTION PRICE AMOUNT Message ntries checked ok Figure 2 6 Notice that ORDER DATE now shows the current date or whatever date DOS finds on your computer s clock We chose the TODAYSDATE feature in automatic checking and filling for this item 8 Tab to CLERK key in Sam and VALIDATE Ft Enter Data in the Column lines 1 Move the cursor to Line 1 in the item called QTY Fill in the first line as shown in Figure 2 7 Hands On Exercise 23 ALPHA TOOLS INC SERVING THE BAY AREA SINCE 1925 CUSTOMER Jane Steel ACCT STE12345 ADDRESS 123 Main St PHONE CITY Elm Park STATE IL ZIP 23456 ORDER DATE 10 21 83 CLERK Sam L QTY STOCK DESCRIPTION PRICE AMOUNT 1 1 100 Hammer AMOUNT Figure 2 7 When you VALIDATE your entries a second line will appear You must validate after filling in each column line before you can enter data into another line Note several changes in the form when Validation occurs
107. EXTFORM File Procedure Example See FILING COMMAND PROCEDURES above NORMAL_VID Function Returns current normal video attributes as a single number ORD value Function Returns the ASCII value of the character passed as the value If the value passed to ORD is not exactly one character long then ORD will return a value of 1 Example Converts upper case to lower PAD Ex1 Ex2 Function Returns the value of EX1 left justified in a string with a length of EX2 characters Example Prints the value ABC PRINT PAD ABC 5 amp VersaForm XL Note Ifthe length of EX1 is greater than EX2 no truncation or padding takes place PAGE File Ex Procedure Displays a form starting with a line number given by EX Example will display the secondary form starting at line number 10 PAGE B 10 Note PAGE performs the same function as DISPLAY B except that you can control which page of the column area is shown You can use this procedure to display the appropriate range of lines before values are assigned to column items This allows the user to see the assignment take place During validation the top line to be shown given by EX cannot be changed Any value supplied will be ignored PAGE should not be used in a CHECKING procedure PgDn File Procedure Has the effect of the Page Forward command PgUp File Procedure Has the effect of the Page Backward command Example
108. Fil TEST_PRINTFORM VDISPLAY File File EX1 E Functions Action Removes transfer list from memory Copies column lines Copies a form between files Displays the form Displays form starting at Line Page Forward Page Backward Prints form with format Test print form with format Displays form at coordinates Action DINFO File EX1 Sets field attribute EX3 P_COPYFORM File F File Sets up for COPYFORM P_PRINTFORM File EY PICK Sets up print format before PRINTFORM Sets whether data can be entered in field Sets PICKLIST field attribute These procedures perform a VersaForm command ETFORM File SAVEFORM File EXTFORM File le le FIRSTFORM Fil ERASEFORM Fil REMOVEF ORM CLEARFORM BACKFORM LASTFORM Built In Procedures 219 Manipulating Column Lines Procedures and functions that deal with column lines on a form include Procedures Action CLEARCOL File Removes all column lines LSORT File f1ld1 ord1 Sorts column area of form fld2 ord2 fld3 ord3 ETELINE File N Deletes column line ERTLINE File N Inserts a blank line Functions Action COLTOTAL FORMIT Returns column total DEPTH File Maximum lines displayed FINDLINE FORMITE EX Finds particular line Fi
109. For example VAR AVGPRICE TODAY BEGIN GLOBAL VARIABLES In general each time a procedure runs the variables and constants in it lose any previous value they may have had However you may keep a variable throughout a filing session by declaring it ina START procedure which runs when FILING is first entered A variable thus declared automatically becomes global and VersaForm XL won t subsequently erase it The following example illustrates the declaration of global variables in a START procedure to establish a continuously increasing serial number ERIAL 1000 Here the variable SERIAL is global SERIAL will be assigned an initial value of 1000 when this START procedure runs and could be used later in another Writing Procedures 195 procedure e g you could increase it by 1 each time you used it without re declaring it CAUTION If you later modify a START procedure by removing renaming or even rearranging the declaration of constants and or variables you must correct any references to them that occur in other procedures To do that first retrieve each procedure by using the INDEX or GET command and change the Procedure Instructions form to make it consistent with the modified START procedure Then have VersaForm XL recompile translate into an executable form each changed procedure by using the SAVE command or use to recompile all procedures on the file Note
110. HEN RICE raise the price th When these procedures are used the IOERROR function should be used to test whether the operation was successful For example FADING FORM ELSE RM was successful 235 Built In Procedures FIELDTYPE File item name 0 1 or 2 Function Returns 0 if the field named is not present 1 if it is a single item 2 if it is a column Finds out whether item name is one of the fields in File Item name can be a string or a variable If item name is a field name it is the contents of that field that is denoted not the field itself Example A Customer gt 0 then If fieldtype will find out if there is a field named customer on this form Example var x address begin x a x 0 then on this if fieldtype infomsg There is no field named amp x amp f rm y will inform the user that no field named address exists on the form FINDLINE formitem ex Function Finds the line number for column item FORMITEM that is equal to the value of EX Example B L is the line on which the column item B Qty is 10 If the value is not found B L gets a value of zero 0 FIRSTFORM File Procedure Example See FILING COMMAND PROCEDURES above FORMAT ex forma
111. HI GET CUSTOME IF CHANGED ITEM THE PROMPT Lookup part F YESNO THEN CHAIN ET PART END The first statement will cause the USER procedure GET CUSTOMER to run when the user enters a new account number The second statement will cause the USER procedure GET PART to run if the user keyed in a new ITEM and responded Y to the prompt If both user procedures are chained they will be run in turn after the CHECKING procedure has been executed Each procedure may access a different secondary file All chaining is done on a first in first out basis If a procedure that was chained to also does a chain that request will be met after all pending requests are satisfied If procedure A chains to procedures B and C and B chains to procedure D the order of execution will be ABCD After exiting a chain of procedures the last secondary file is closed unless it is on display this is a change from earlier releases This means that no longer goes to the last secondary file automatically and unsaved changes in the last secondary file are lost Calling Procedures Procedures can call other procedures When one procedure calls another the called procedure executes immediately and when it ends control returns to the caller A single variable can be passed to the called procedure which is retrieved Writing Procedures 205 by using the GETPARA
112. He He He He ke ke ke ke k k k CITY kkkkkkkk STATE ZIP kkkkkkk AREA CODE PHONE k x EXT kxx SALES REP k k ke de de de ke ke He He He He He He He de de ke k k k ke ke ke k k k SUBTOTAL xx TAX kKkKKKKK TOTAL kxkkK C Confirm R Redesign Q Quit Help Figure 4 5 3 Inspect the form for correctness and choose one of the options at the bottom of the screen If you key in Help instructions will be displayed Q the file will be erased and you will be returned to the FORM DESIGN menu R you ll be able to redesign the form C the form will reappear on the screen with the dots in place and you ll go on to the next step choosing a key item The Key The key is the item or pair of items VersaForm XL uses to identify each form in a file VersaForm XL always stores forms according to their key item Create A File And Design A Form 57 A KEY ITEM e Must be an item or combination of two items that is UNIQUE for each form i Must contain BETWEEN 3 and 40 CHARACTERS Is usually placed near the top of a form for quick reference In the Alpha Tools form in Figure 4 3 ID would make a good key item NAME wouldn t be quite as good since two people could have the same name It could be used if one were sure this would not happen TWO PART KEYS If a single item will not be sufficient to identify a form two different items may be chosen as the key Together they may contain u
113. Help 230 Displayfile 230 Div 197 Divide 197 Divide By Zero 199 Do Statement 203 Documentation Files 280 Dos Command Line 291 Dos Configuration 13 Dos_Exec 231 Dots In Form Design 53 Dummy Characters 157 Dup 231 Duplicate Forms 288 Duplicate Forms 147 E Edit 231 Edit A Procedure 195 Edit Procedures 187 Else 201 End 201 End Key 9 End End Key 9 Enter A Print Format 127 Enter Data On A Form 65 Enter Key 12 Enter Single Items 55 Enter Text 55 Entering Column Headings 58 Entering Procedures 178 Enteritem 232 Equal Eq 121 Equal To In Procedure Statements 200 Equipment Optional 13 Required 12 Erase Command 24 Eraseform 232 234 Errormsg 232 Errors In Designing A Form 55 Esc 25 Evaluating An Expression 198 Ex Notation 217 Exclamation Marks 195 Excludes Ex 121 Execute Ex 74 Expressions 197 Ext_Printfile 233 Extended Checks 84 False 200 233 Fget 233 Field Names 53 Fieldtype 235 File Size 11 File 217 File Functions 288 File Capacity 11 File Formats 303 File Handling 213 File Integrity 288 File Names 52 Files Protected 161 Files 12 Files 10 158 211 Filetest Can Be Used To Test File Integrity Separately You Could Run It At Night The Syntax Is 288 Filing 17 Filing Command Procedures 234 Filing Commands 28 Fill Character 157 Filling 88 Filling Index 307 See Automatic Checking And Filli
114. IMIT 4 FIRSTDATE 6 30 80 i abbreviation identifier value identifier value for CONSTANT In a declaration the abbreviation for constant CONST is always used It appears once only regardless of how many constants you re declaring and precedes the first identifier Each identifier is followed by an equal sign the value you re giving it and a semicolon 194 VersaForm XL In the example above if you wanted to change the value for LIMIT from 4 to 5 you would only need to change it in the declaration VARIABLES Variables are declared just after constants They retain their values only during the time that the procedure that uses them is running Exception see Global Variables below In the example that follows the variables AVGPRICE and TODAY are declared VAR AVGPRICE TODAY abbreviation ntifiers for VARIABLE The abbreviation for variable VAR is always used in a declaration It appears only once before the first identifier regardless of the number of variables being declared in this procedure Each identifier is followed by the required semicolon The value of a variable can be a number character string up to 80 characters or date VersaForm XL will automatically handle different types of data when doing computations or moving data between variables and items on forms After declaring the variables you MUST signal the beginning of your procedure with the word BEGIN
115. L to sort our print items by the values in DESCRIPTION We use a number to indicate our SORTing choice and order because it is possible to sort by more than one item Items can be sorted alphabetically or numerically in either direction 2 Key in under the column Dir to tell the system you want DESCRIPTION sorted from low to high i e A to Z SELECTING ITEMS TO SUBTOTAL AND TOTAL VersaForm also allows you to specify which items will cause page breaks subtotals Sub totals Ttl and averages Avg 40 VersaForm XL We want subtotals printed for each different product DESCRIPTION i e for each different product 3 Move the cursor to the Sub column and enter Y Description is a text data field it is helpful to think of this type of a subtotal as telling VersaForm where to break In some reports this might also be where we would want a page break we would indicate this by entering P For this report however we have just indicated a subtotal or paragraph break Filling in a Report Definition is similar to entering data through VersaForm XL When you finish making changes to a line in the Report Definition form you must Validate E1 before making changes to a different line 4 Press to Validate the choices you made in L 1 Now we will tell VersaForm XL what items to total This is done by moving the cursor to the line which contains the field we want to total and entering Y in the Ttl column 5 Move the c
116. LE CO EX 4 Key in GE Greater than or Equal to then press pte GE is the test At the bottom of the screen you ll see Compare to Rtn another Item on the form V a Value Help 5 Keyin V and press Rtn This tells the system that you want to enter a value V to test AMOUNT against An item can be tested either against another item on the form or against a value which you enter 6 When you are told to Type the value key in 10 00 Press gente You have just finished setting up one test of a selection condition Each test consists of three parts the item to test AMOUNT the test itself GE and the item or value to test against 10 00 This tells VersaForm XL to extract the data from each form if AMOUNT is Greater Than Or Equal To 10 00 Now you will be asked if you want to enter a second test Each selection condition can consist of up to 99 tests We will enter two more tests following the same steps as above Selection Condition 1 Test 2 Choose item to test Rtn Choose Help Q done ep Press penter to choose another item to test Move the cursor to ORDER DATE and press the letter X to indicate your choice Read the prompt at the bottom of the screen 8 Enter the comparison type GE Greater than or Equal to and press peter 9 Enter V to tell VersaForm we will be comparing to a Value 44 VersaForm XL Suppose we want to select orders processed on a specific day but
117. M function A single value can be returned using RETURN to the caller since the built in routine CALL is a function The called procedure does not have to be on the same file as the caller It can be on the secondary file or a VOPENed file If you call a procedure on another file be sure that the file is open Secondary files are automatically opened by the system The called procedure can itself have secondary files and other files Item names e g AA CUSTOMER B ADDRESS in the called procedure refer to the same files as they would normally Global variables in the called procedure refer to START variables in the CALLed procedure s file If the CALLed procedure is on a file other than the original primary file the START procedure for that file won t have been run and therefore the globals for that file won t have been initialized If you want to initialize them you must do so explicitly Warning Procedures are not recursive That is a procedure should not CALL itself or a procedure that calls it etc CHAINS from a called procedure occur only at the end of the top level calling procedure For example if SAMPLE is the original file and procedure X on SAMPLE chains to Y on SAMPLE and then calls Z on INVENTORY Z will run before X finishes and of course before Y If Z refers to an item called A CUSTOMER that denotes an item on INVENTORY not SAMPLE Likewise if Z refers to a global variable that would be a global establis
118. Main Menu from the Main Menu This step applies to MD VersaForm users only VersaForm XL users should proceed to step 6 Choose option 1 Form Design from the Main Menu Choose option 3 Copy an Existing Form Design from the Form Design Menu Enter the drive letter or path of your file The system is asking you for the path of the new file If you would like to create this file in the default directory press penter to accept the default Enter new file name The new file will be used to hold the recovered data Enter LEDGER VFM for new file name Note If the system beeps and prompts LEDGER VFM already exists Remove it it means your RENAME command did not work Answer N and go back and try renaming your file again Or call Tech Support Enter the drive letter or path of your file The system is now asking you for the path of the damaged file Press if LEDGER BAD is in the same directory as LEDGER VFM Otherwise enter the appropriate drive letter or path name Enter LEDGER BAD in response to Enter file name This is the file you are copying the form design FROM Answer Y to the question Do you want to copy reports procedures etc Y N Answer Y to the question Do you want to copy checking and filling information Y N 290 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 VersaForm XL The system will ask you two more questions after copying the form design If y
119. Many diskettes have a small write protect notch on the right side When the notch is covered on a 5 1 4 diskette or if there is no notch no data can be written on the diskette WARNING DON T REMOVE DISKETTES WHEN A PROGRAM IS RUNNING Incorrect diskette removal could cause the program to record data in the wrong place or erase data already entered Also DON T SHUT THE SYSTEM DOWN WHEN A PROGRAM IS RUNNING You could lose data FILES A VersaForm XL file is a collection of business forms such as invoices customer files collection catalogs freight documents or personnel records stored on a magnetic disk Like standard paper business forms the forms in a VersaForm XL Introduction to VersaForm XL 11 file contain printed information such as messages and titles and blank lines to fill in Some forms also have columns for multiple entries A form need be designed only once for each file and then a blank form may be requested at any time When a form is displayed on the screen information may be keyed in Forms that have been filled in can be retrieved examined updated or deleted whenever required All the forms in a single VersaForm XL file are of the same design For example one file contains purchase order forms another inventory records FILE CAPACITY VersaForm XL supports files up to 2 000 000 000 bytes 2 gigabytes in size The number of forms that can be stored in this space varies because forms are compr
120. Multi user operation is supported only on DOS 3 1 and later versions the DOS SHARE command or its equivalent must be in effect The networks used must support the DOS record locking facility Interrupt 21H Function code 5CH All networks that we are aware of at this writing provide this facility Some networks automatically provide SHARE if yours does you need not issue the SHARE command Use the Test subcommand of the LOcks command see Chapter 12 Multi User Operations to find out if your system is providing the required multi user support OPTIONAL EQUIPMENT e Printer parallel or serial DOS CONFIGURATION Be sure that you have a CONFIG SYS on your DOS boot disk and that it specifies enough files Fifteen is plenty See your DOS manual on Configuration if this is new to you look at the FILES statement Try FILES 15 CHECK USER AVAILABLE MEMORY Make sure there s enough user available memory 1 Start up DOS 2 Use the DOS utility CHKDSK to determine memory available The number of bytes free should be 440 000 or greater Applications with large VersaForm XL procedures may require 500 000 If you don t have enough memory see the DOS and Memory Size section below Otherwise continue with the instructions DOS AND MEMORY SIZE Even if your computer has 640K RAM or more you still may not have enough user available memory DOS may be larger than normal if you have configured extra buffers Or you may be usi
121. NITION SELECTION CONDITION FORM ID SALES1 Is Test_Against an Item Name or a Value Tests for this Selection Condition DESCRIPTION Figure 7 26 Selection Condition 6 Examine the form If it s okay SAVE it F21 If you wish you may make changes by entering information directly into the Selection Condition Form or by using the special command FILL 4 jfFt0 When you use FILL VersaForm XL will asks for more selection tests Alternatively you may enter them directly on the Selection Condition form A selection condition form can contain up to 99 tests ALL the tests in a selection condition form must be satisfied for a data item to be chosen For example Select If STATE EQ KS 1st Test And CITY EQ KANSAS CITY 2nd Test Data will be selected only if BOTH tests of this condition are met Figure 7 27 Data from this form Data from this form WILL be selected WILL NOT be selected OMER John Doe CUSTOMER John Doe ESS 123 J St ADDRESS 123 J St CITY KANSAS CITY CITY ST KANSAS CITY E KS ZIP 66109 1234 STATE MO ZIP 63106 1234 Figure 7 27 Data selected only if both tests met Reports 119 A common mistake is to enter two conflicting selection tests in the same condition form For example Select If STATE EQ KS lst Test And STATE EQ TX 2nd Test Nothing at all would be selected because no one lives in both states The writer of this condition probably
122. OCEDURES A CHECKING procedure runs during validation after all data checking has been done but before any automatic filling occurs When a CHECKING procedure changes the value of an item on the primary form it triggers automatic filling just as if the user had typed in a new value For example look at the following line L QTY STOCK DESCRIPTION PRICE AMOUNT 01 30 A44 Elec Drill 20 00 600 00 Suppose a CHECKING procedure changes the value in PRICE to 15 00 VersaForm XL will recalculate the AMOUNT during automatic filling just as it would if the 15 00 had been keyed in L QTY STOCK DESCRIPTION PRICE AMOUNT 01 30 A44 Elec Drill 15 00 450 00 WARNING A changed value like the one shown in this example triggers automatic filling ONLY on the primary form Writing Procedures 187 If you were transferring data to a secondary form and the procedure changed a similar value your procedure would have to contain statements for recalculating the amount on that form RESTRICTIONS on checking procedures These restrictions apply not just to CHECKING procedures but to any procedures CHAINed to by a CHECKING procedure The value of A L cannot be changed during data checking The item A L the current line number is either zero if no lines were changed or the line number of the column item s that were keyed into by the user just before the validation command was issued Only items on the current line of the column area c
123. OTE In the descriptions of these options we refer to preprinted forms but the discussion applies to printing on blank paper as well PRINT LINE AND COLUMN NUMBERS The printing position of an item will usually be different from its position on the screen In order to tell VersaForm XL exactly where to print each item on the form you ll need to give the line and column number for each item 1 Insert a form or letterhead etc in the printer If your printer has more than one character size make sure it is set correctly Line up the form so the printer will print at the top Choose some mark on the printer and some line or mark on the form so you ll be able to insert each form in the printer exactly the same way 2 Choose number from the menu and press peter You ll see How many lines are there top edge to bottom 3 Enter the number of lines that can be printed on the form For example if your printer prints 6 lines per inch most do and the form is 11 inches from top to bottom enter 66 The number need not be exact at this point as this is only a test to see where things come out on the paper and you can do it over You ll be asked How many print positions are there across the page 4 Enter the approximate number Most printers print either 10 12 or 15 characters per inch Try 80 or 85 characters across for standard 8 5 x 11 inch paper Press peter VersaForm XL will ask you to make sure the Print on Preprinted F
124. PARTNAME fills in description on Invoice E STDPRICE enters price from Inventory Whichever symbol you choose to begin your comment must also be used to close it LITERALS Literals are explicit values they can be numbers dates or strings of characters You may use a literal in your procedure either directly in a statement or by making it a constant constants are explained below Numbers must start with a digit or a leading plus or minus sign and can contain up to 13 digits and 8 decimal places Some valid examples are 21 321 50 1234567890123 12345678 0 159 Note that 327 is NOT a valid number Since a digit must precede the decimal point the number must be written as 0 327 Dates and character strings must be enclosed in single or double quotes and can include leading or trailing blanks as you want them to print abcdef or tax or you re late Dates 2 25 84 or 12 31 99 Character strings may consist of up to 80 characters and must be contained on one line CONSTANTS You may designate declare an identifier as a constant at the beginning of a procedure and ONLY at the beginning Thereafter the name of that constant rather than its value may be used in statements A value that is used repeatedly in a procedure will be easier to change when necessary if it has been made a constant In the following example two constants LIMIT and FIRSTDATE are declared CONST L
125. PORT Title2 More Options gt Title3 ctrl gt Page Format Width Length Left Margin Skip lines after titles Counts Y N Print item Options 1 99 Y N Y N Y N J S Srt Dir Sub Ttl Avg CUSTOMER 30 CUSTOMER QTY 5 QTY Y DESCRIPTION 10 PURCHASES AMOUNT 10 AMOUNT Figure 7 11 Report Definition with Sorting by Description Sorted this way the chisel sales would be listed first followed by all the hammers then the wrenches Figure 7 12 SALES REPORT CUSTOMER QTY PURCHASES AMOUNT Chisel 15 00 Chisel 9 00 Chisel 12 00 Chisel 15 00 Hammer 25 00 Hammer Wrench Wrench Smith Whyte Jones Brown Jones Smith Green Smith I wnwaa4 bwu w e Totals Figure 7 12 Sorted by Description Reports 103 It s often useful to sort on more than one item In Figure 7 13 both DESCRIPTION and AMOUNT within DESCRIPTION have been sorted Items are sorted in the order specified by the number you enter in the option Srt In Figure 7 13 DESCRIPTION was sorted first Srt 1 then AMOUNT within DESCRIPTION Srt 2 SALES REPORT CUSTOMER QTY PURCHASES AMOUNT Whyte Jones Brown Smith Brown Smith Jones Green Smith Chisel 00 Chisel 00 Chisel 00 Chisel 00 Hammer 00 Hammer 00 Hammer Wrench Wrench WNHUWN UB W Totals Figure 7 13 Report sorted by Description then Amount Reports may sort on line number If you want to sort on a field that you don t want to print just
126. Procedure 185 195 Change A Column Line 34 Change The Date 287 Change The Design Of A Form 60 Changed 226 Changing The Key Item 147 Character Strings In Procedures 193 Check Digit 299 Checking See Automatic Checking And Filling 81 Checking Index 305 Procedures 186 Sample Procedure 280 Checking Procedure Chaining From 204 Chkdsk 13 Choosing The Key 57 Chr 226 Clear 67 77 206 227 In Procedures 182 Clear Padding 207 Clearcol 227 Clearform 234 Clearscreen 227 Cledger Spl Sample File 280 Close_Copyform 227 Color 254 Color System 256 Color Display 15 Colsort 227 Coltotal 196 228 Column Items In Procedures 191 Column Lines 22 59 Column Total 94 Combine Character Strings 197 Combining Files In A Report 121 Command Procedures 189 Command Line Dos 291 Command Line 63 Commands Print 69 Commands Back 73 171 Back_Continue 171 Calculate 75 Clear 67 Delete 67 Display 75 Execute 74 First 73 Get 70 Index 70 Insert 68 Last 73 Multi User 171 Next 70 171 Next_Continue 171 Page Backward 68 Page Forward 68 Quit 74 Remove 73 Save 66 171 Save_Continue 171 Search 71 Space Report 74 Undo 67 Comments In Procedures 192 Commit 166 Commit 228 Comparison 301 Comparisons 200 Compound Comparisons 200 Compound Statements 200 Computation Exceptions 198 Concatenate Strings 197 Config Sys 13 Confirm Form
127. RD Returns ASCII value PREVENT_DELETE Are deletions prevented PRINT_CTL_STR Returns printer control str PROGRAMPATH Returns VF path of program files ROUND EX N Round EX to N decimals EM COLOR ex System color attribute depending on ex TE Flag Returns value depending on test result VCLOSE EX Close handle EX VDATI Current date VDAY 1 Day number VMON I Month number VOPE Open file EX return handle VTIMI Current time VUS User ID VYE i Year number TR FO E Return special values 224 VersaForm XL Alphabetical Listing of Built in Routines ANSWERMSG msg default answer Function Displays a message in a pop up box and waits for the user to enter a reply Example var inp inp ANSWERMSG Enter the name MYFILE The default reply is MYFILE The reply will be assigned to the variable LAB inp APPENDLIST ex list handle ex list entry Function Adds the list entry to the list Returns a handle for the list entry returns 0 if the entry was not added to the list At most 127 entries can be added to a list For an example see PICKLIST ASK_FILENAME msg default path default name existing file Function Requests a file name in the standard pop up box and waits for the user to enter areply The last parameter should be TRUE if you want the user to enter the name of an
128. RICE AMOUNT 01 30 A44 Elec Drill 20 00 SUBTOTAL Figure 13 3 When you re ready to write a procedure see Entering a Procedure below VersaForm XL will display a Procedure Instructions Form for you to fill in Figure 13 4 PROCEDURE INSTRUCTIONS Procedure Name CHECKING Secondary File INVENTRY Key from1 STOCK Key from2 01 DESCRIPTION PARTNAME 02 PRICE STDPRICE Figure 13 4 The completed Procedure in Figure 13 4 tells VersaForm XL all it needs to know to locate the right form in the Inventory file and transfer data from it to the Invoice form in Figure 13 3 We ll see below how this procedure was written PRIMARY AND SECONDARY FILES A look up procedure such as the one we re illustrating here uses two files a primary A file and a secondary B file 178 VersaForm XL The primary file is the one you ll be working on when the procedure is executed When you enter a procedure into a file that is its primary file In this example the invoice file called SAMPLE is your primary or current file and the particular form you re working on from this file is the primary form The secondary file is the one VersaForm XL uses to get the data that you want transferred In this example INVENTRY Inventory is the name of the secondary file and the particular form in this file that has the correct data is called the secondary form Each procedure may use only one secondary file However you may access more
129. S command called MODE Instructions are found in your DOS user s guide You will initialize the Asynchronous Communications Adapter and then redirect the parallel printer output to it INSTALLATION OF COLOR DISPLAYS If you have a color display you may select the colors you wish to use Each user can have his or her own colors See Chapter 11 Setup and Security for instructions Starting Up VersaForm XL If you are using DOS boot the DOS system if you haven t already and then continue with these steps The following assumes that you have installed VersaForm XL on drive C and subdirectory VF 1 If you re not there already change to the VF directory on drive C C gt CD VF 2 Type VF at the prompt If you are using Windows select double click the VersaForm program group and then select the VersaForm icon In either case you will be asked for your user ID Enter and then enter VF when asked for the password VF is the initial password for Manager If security is a consideration it should be changed as soon as possible You will now see the Main Menu Figure 1 6 VersaForm XL Main Menu Form Design Filing Reports Design a Print Format Copy or Print Forms Mailing Label Printer VersaForm Utilities Enter or change a procedure Exit OMAATA ON BWN EF Figure 1 6 You may now begin to use the system To change user setup information such as screen colors see Chapter 11 Setup and Security To a
130. TIL L 0 until we are done BALANCEDUE COLTOTAL AMOUNT recompute column total Figure 16 3 NOTE An unusually long line in a procedure see line 5 above may be entered on two lines breaking at any point which would allow a space Indenting the second line further is a matter of preference This procedure removes column lines from a form selected by date In this example a statement is to be generated showing activity after greater than a user specified date The user will make available the form to be prepared and then EXecute the USER procedure REMOVELINES As in the previous example Secondary File and Key from items are not filled in because the procedure does not involve another form or a lookup Built In Procedures 273 EXPLANATION 0l VAR TEMPDATE variable temporary date 03 06 The operator is asked for the date which will control the removal process The request will be repeated until a date after 1 1 80 and before 12 30 99 is keyed 07 11 Removes the lines DELETELINE that meet this criteria repeating until all such lines are located by counting down from the last line on the form until L 0 12 After removing the lines the current balance due must be computed by the procedure before the form can be printed 13 Comment 14 End of procedure 274 VersaForm XL Posting Several Transactions to an Inv
131. TOMER Jane Steel ACCT STE12345 ADDRESS 123 Main St PHONE CITY Elm Park ORDER DATE L QTY STOCK DESCRIPTION PRICE AMOUNT 01 30 A44 Figure 13 1 You ve filled in QTY and STOCK and now you d like VersaForm XL to fill in DESCRIPTION and PRICE automatically You know that the values for those items can be found on some particular form in your Inventory file even though the item names are different Notice that DESCRIPTION and PRICE in Figure 13 1 correspond to PARTNAME and STDPRICE in Figure 13 2 INVENTORY PARTNO A44 PARTNAME Elec Drill ONHAND 136 BACKORDERED STDPRICE 20 00 Figure 13 2 By writing a procedure you can have VersaForm XL 1 locate the correct form in the Inventory file and 2 transfer the data you want to the proper items on your Invoice form In this example you need to tell VersaForm XL to locate the Inventory form whose PARTNO value matches the STOCK value A44 on the current Invoice form PARTNO is the key item that identifies each form in the Inventory file Introduction to Procedures 177 You must also specify which data to transfer and where to put it In this case VersaForm XL will use the values in PARTNAME and STDPRICE to fill in the DESCRIPTION and PRICE items on your Invoice form Figure 13 3 ALPHA TOOLS INC SERVING THE BAY AREA SINCE 1925 INVOICE CUSTOMER Jane Steel ACCT STE12345 ADDRESS 123 Main St PHONE CITY Elm Park ORDER DATE L QTY STOCK DESCRIPTION P
132. Use the ROUND function to control the number of decimal places displayed The ROUND function not only changes the display precision of the value but also rounds the value as well Example ROUND 2 3 4 has a value of 0 6667 AUTOMATIC PADDING When a form item is used in an expression or an expression is assigned to an item all leading and trailing blanks are removed To leave these blanks unchanged use the following statement in a procedure SET PADDING To turn this feature off and allow the blanks to be removed use the statement CLEAR PADDING At the start of a filing session PADDING is cleared If a procedure sets PADDING it will stay set until explicitly cleared Automatic padding is useful when you wish to export data in a column format or write a procedure to print a custom report or form You may also use the PAD 208 VersaForm XL function See the sample procedure EXPORT DATA in the VersaForm XL sample procedure file PROCFILE to see how the PADDING flag is used READING OR IMPORTING ASCII FILES You may read data from an ASCII file into a variable or form item one line at a time with the READ procedure This file may have been created with a word processor or other program An ASCII file is no more than a sequence of characters separated by carriage return and line feed characters whenever a new line is wanted The TEXTINPUT procedure names the file that will be opened for input Lines of text may be rea
133. VALIDATING after each line 66 VersaForm XL NOTE The VALIDATE command CHECKS the entries you ve made it DOES NOT save them You must use the SAVE command to save your entries on the disk SAVE FORMS MENU Function key Use the SAVE command to have VersaForm XL store the data on the disk Otherwise your entries will be lost Tf you haven t VALIDATEd first SAVE will VALIDATE your entries automatically You can SAVE 2 at any time you needn t fill in a form completely before using the SAVE command After you SAVE VersaForm XL will respond Form saved In the multi user version of VersaForm XL there are two forms of the SAVE command SAVE SA or function key fA fF2 and SAVE CONTINUE SC or function key E2 SAVE saves a form and ends the current transaction releasing locks on all forms but the form on the screen and downgrading that lock to a shared lock SAVE CONTINUE saves the form but does not end the transaction and releases no locks The screen is unchanged See Chapter 12 for more about transactions and locks A word of caution If you turn off the computer before you SAVE the data you ve just entered will NOT have been stored and the lock is not removed If you use another command such as CLEAR or GET VersaForm XL will warn you with the message Form not saved OK to go on Y N If you reply Y VersaForm XL will continue with your instruction without saving WHAT IF YOU MAKE A MISTAKE If
134. VersaForm XL User s Guide for MS DOS and Microsoft Windows VersaForm Systems VERSAFORM XL USER S GUIDE Copyright 1991 1994 1998 VersaForm Systems This software product is copyrighted and all rights are reserved by VersaForm Systems Lawful users of this program are licensed only to read the program from its medium into memory of a computer solely for the purpose of executing the program In the case of a multi user program users are licensed only to read the program into a single network file server Copying duplicating selling or otherwise distributing this product is a violation of the law This manual is copyrighted and all rights are reserved This document may not in whole or in part be copied photocopied reproduced translated or reduced to any electronic medium or machine readable form without prior consent in writing from VersaForm Systems Revised 11 91 5 92 12 92 9 94 7 98 Printed in U S A VersaForm is a registered trademark of VersaForm Systems MS DOS and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation VERSAFORM SYSTEMS 591 W Hamilton Ave Suite 201 Campbell CA 95008 Voice 800 678 1111 Fax 408 370 3393 Technical Support 800 999 6081 CONTENTS PART INTRODUCTION Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION TO VERSAFORM XL What VersaForm XL Can Do How You ll Use VersaForm XL General Information The Screen and the Cursor Dates Disk Drives Diskettes Warning Files
135. VersaForm XL first determines 1f the identifier has been declared as a function variable or constant If it has not first the primary form then the secondary form if available is searched If the item isn t found a warning is issued WARNING CUSTOMER not found on form Continue Y N THE CONTINUE MESSAGE When you SAVE a procedure you may see a WARNING message followed by a Continue prompt If you respond Y VersaForm XL will continue to check other items in the procedure and then SAVE it Later when you enter the FILING program and this procedure is loaded VersaForm XL will once again check to see if the items are on the form s You ll see the same message again This time a Y response tells VersaForm XL that it s okay to run the procedure If you reply N to the Continue prompt when attempting to SAVE a procedure the cursor will be returned to the last line on the procedure instructions form and you ll have a chance to fix the error If the error occurred in an included ASCII file then you ll have to fix the error using VFEDIT or your own word processor If a line number is given make a note of it before you switch to your editor so you can locate it more quickly A response of N to Continue during the FILING session will usually return you to the Main Menu 216 VersaForm XL When a procedure runs if it makes reference to an item that has not been found the item will return a null value a blank If a
136. a procedure can transfer a price and product description from an inventory file to an invoice Thus the operator need only key in an item code and the computer will fill in the description and price automatically Figure 1 5 INVOICING INVENTORY CONTROL APPLICATION CUSTOMER FILE INVOI CE PROCEDURE GETS CUSTOMER Ship to DATA PROCEDURE UPDATES INVENTORY Figure 1 5 Introduction to VersaForm XL 9 General Information THE SCREEN AND THE CURSOR In VersaForm XL a form is usually 160 characters wide and 60 lines high Of course the screen on most computers isn t this big so you will normally see only a part of your form Imagine that the screen is a window that lets you see a portion of your form that is 80 characters by 23 Moving this window is called scrolling The cursor is the marker on the screen that shows where the next character will appear It can be moved by pressing the arrow keys and a number of others maj gente e and fe ER and Fe ew These keys move the cursor from one data item to the next If the form is larger than the screen will cause scrolling i e move the window penter will WN not Moves to the previous item just the opposite of Move to the left and right ends of the visible part of the line They do not move the window Pressing twice moves to the upper left and lower right corners of the visible screen pr Moves the cursor to the next empty colum
137. ame the name can be up to six letters so SAMPLE would be a good choice VersaForm XL will confirm your choice for a new report Answer Y the report menu figure 3 1 will appear Report Menu Set Up the Report Enter Selection Conditions Include Additional Files Run the Report Remove this Report Rename this Report Copy Another Report Choose Another Report Return to the Main Menu I 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Figure 3 1 There are two main steps in creating a report First we must tell VersaForm which items to print and second under which conditions to include the items in the report CHOOSE THE ITEMS TO REPORT ON 3 Select 1 Set up the Report from the Report Menu 38 VersaForm XL When you press penten a blank ALPHA TOOLS INC form will be displayed Figure 3 2 ALPHA TOOLS INC SERVING THE BAY AREA SINCE 1925 CUSTOMER Choose print item 1 Rtn Choose item Q done Help Figure 3 2 The instruction at the bottom of the screen tells you to press to choose the first item to print on the report The order in which you choose the items is the order in which they ll be printed across each printed report page 1 Press until the cursor is at DESCRIPTION Tf you mistakenly go past the item you want use the arrow keys to move the cursor up then press ENTER again Note the message at the bottom of the screen Press X Then you ll be asked to repeat the same steps for the se
138. ame should be defined in the report definition too prevent the user being asked by the system whether he wants to print labels now Run_report returns a code that indicates whether the report was run successfully The codes are 0 report was produced 1 report failed because input parameters were not processed successfully 2 report failed because file was not read successfully 3 report failed because file was not sorted successfully 252 VersaForm XL report failed because output was not printed successfully user_halted_the report during file processing user_halted_the report during printing no_records_were selected there is no outputExample NAN RA if run_report a slsrpt 0 then infomsg Report produced else errormsg Report failed SAVEFORM File Procedure Example See FILING COMMAND PROCEDURES above SAVENEEDED File Function Returns true or false according to whether the form has been changed since it was last saved Example if saveneeded a then saveform a SEARCHLINE File ex item name ex line to start at ex target Function Like FINDLINE SEARCHLINE finds the first line meeting the given test Extensions are As in ASSIGN and RETRIEVE the item name must be in a variable or in quotes SEARCHLINE works on files opened with VOPEN and can start searching at any line SEARCHLINE can search for lines meeting other than equality It can search for lines with values not equal less
139. ample to locate the form with the key JOY34521 start with a blank form 1 Press clear you ll see a blank form 2 Move the cursor into ACCT and type in JOY34521 3 Now press fF3 This tells the system to the form with this account number Figure 2 18 30 ALPHA TOOLS INC VersaForm XL SERVING THE BAY AREA SINCE 1925 CUSTOMER Chas Joyner ADDRESS 458 Bog Way CITY Wheeling ORDER DATE 11 15 80 QTY STOCK DESCRIPTION 11 B55 6 A44 8 A66 13 A22 7 All L 1 2 3 20 V33 4 5 6 7 6 8 ACCT JOY34521 PHONE 453 5580 STATE WV ZIP 24567 Nails 0 24 Elec Drill 47 00 Screws 09 Measur Tape 75 Chisel Set 00 Hammer 50 Screwdriver SUBTOTAL TAX TOTAL Last Updated 11 15 80 13 45 00 Figure 2 18 CLERK Art PRICE AMOUNT 64 00 80 00 00 839 94 42 00 881 94 Another way to retrieve a form from a file is to use the SEARCH command This can be used when you do not know the key item for the form but can remember some of the information on it For example suppose you want to locate Jane Steel s form but remember only that Sam was the clerk who waited on her and sold her an electric drill Again you ll start with a blank form use the command CLEAR function key fF _ ds 8 Hands On Exercise 31 ALPHA TOOLS INC SERVING THE BAY AREA SINCE 1925 CUSTOMER ORDER DATE L QTY STOCK DESCRIPTION PRICE AMOUNT Lars Figure 2 19 Move the cursor to the
140. an be modified You cannot add or insert lines to a form during checking The PAGE procedure will not change the currently displayed page on the primary form Saving the primary form during checking will not save any changes that your procedure has made to the form since validation has not yet been completed These restrictions do not apply to secondary files nor do they apply to procedures chained to by a FILLING procedure To get around them use a FILLING procedure instead of a CHECKING EDIT PROCEDURES The EDIT procedure for a file is executed every time the user starts FILING on or switches to the file It gives the programmer a way to perform setup activity before the user uses a file For instance if the user switched to a new file using PEET the EDIT procedure for that file would be executed before editing on that file began FILLING PROCEDURES A FILLING procedure also runs during validation but after both checking and automatic filling have occurred This type of procedure can be used to perform additional calculations or a file lookup after automatic filling has taken place NOTE If the procedure changes a value which contributes to a column total the procedure MUST include statements to do its own recalculation of that total since Validation s calculation phase has already taken place 188 VersaForm XL PICK PROCEDURES Pick Lists are popup lists that let the user make a choice They are implemented b
141. ase as file damage may result Call AST regarding the program upgrade 304 VersaForm XL INDEX Checking Sample Procedure 280 Checking Procedure 186 Command Procedures Edit Procedures 187 Filling Procedures 187 Pick Lists 188 Pick Procedures 188 Save Sample Procedure 280 Save Procedures 189 Start Procedures 188 Stop Procedures 189 A Activity Trace 291 Add 197 Adding Users 160 Additional Files Form 95 Aging 280 Alt F4 9 And 200 Answermsg 224 Aorb 191 217 Appendlist 224 Arithmetic Operations 76 Arrow Keys 9 Ascii 12 Ascii Files 208 Ascii Files Exporting 114 Importing 208 Ascii Files 184 Ask_ Filename 224 Assign 224 Assignment Operator 199 Statement 182 Assignment Statements 199 Assignment 78 Attributes 254 Auto_Last_Line 159 Auto_Lock 253 Auto_Prompt 159 Automatic Checking And Automatic Filling 81 Automatic Filling 88 Automatic Lookup 179 Autoprompt 253 Autoprompt 225 Averages 101 Back B 73 Backform 234 Backup 297 Begin Statement 194 Begin 201 Bell 225 Bellmsg Msg 225 Built In Functions 217 Functions 196 Built In Routines 196 Built In Procedures 196 217 C Calculate Ca 75 Calculation Order 198 Calculation 90 Calculator 75 Calculator Commands 77 Call 225 Call_External 225 Cancel 225 Cancel Form Design 59 Cancelling Procedures 205 Chain 226 Chain Calculations 78 Chaining 204 Change A
142. at to DD MM YY Decimal These three fields contain the fill character to be used by Date_Character VersaForm XL whenever the program automatically Time_Character calculates or uses decimal numbers dates and times The default values are a for the decimal character for the date fill character and for the time fill character Auto_Prompt If the system is in the auto prompt mode the prompt text is automatically displayed whenever the cursor enters a field Pulldown_Menu If you prefer the old style command menus that were standard on VersaForm before Version 7 enter N here These menus of course do not recognize mouse clicks This field is present only on SYSSETUP Rollback_ Controls whether Rollback is enabled It is possible for an Enabled installed user to have no rollback capability Table of Assignable Function Keys FunctionName ASCII ExtendedCode Validate 59 Y Save 60 Y Figure 11 2 Function Key Options 160 VersaForm XL To enter or change display colors enter a in N_Letters and then validate F1 To enter or change function key assignments place a in the ASCII column of the function you want to change Then validate and you ll be asked for the key assignments Report Option Defaults Print Control Instructions Y Y N Ask for Work Disk Y N Details Summaries Both D S B Number of Copies Print Trailer Pages Y N Suppress Dittos Y N Pause Between Pages Y N Pr
143. ath Name 287 File Integrity Test 288 File Recovery 288 Transfer Utility 291 Activity Trace 291 Activity Trace 291 DOS Command Line 291 Utility Popup Menu 292 PART IV APPENDICES 295 APPENDIX A FORMATTING AND BACKUP 297 Formatting Diskettes 297 Backup 297 APPENDIX B SELF CHECKING NUMBERS 299 The Check Digit 299 APPENDIX C COMPARISON AND ORDERING 301 APPENDIX D FILE FORMATS IN EARLIER RELEASES 302 INDEX 304 Part Introduction Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION TO VERSAFORM XL What VersaForm XL Can Do VersaForm XL is a database that emulates common business forms and ledgers It deals with data the way you do on paper but with the speed and power of the computer This makes it especially suitable for business accounting bookkeeping and paperwork tasks Your present knowledge of business data and record keeping tasks is all the preparation you need VersaForm XL can replace your file cards ledgers and paper worksheets It easily adapts to the paper forms you are already using VersaForm XL is especially designed for such jobs as Invoices Personnel Records Inventories Collection Catalogs Mailing Lists Work in Process Reporting Sales Analyses Capital Equipment Tracking Customer Files Accounts Payable and Receivable Labor Accounting Student Records and Transcripts How You ll Use VersaForm XL You will follow five general steps 1 First you ll design a form that fits your data processing job You pr
144. atible with Version 5 However at release 6 12 the file format was changed to speed allocation and free space management Files from version 5 and earlier releases of version 6 are automatically upgraded to the new format To return to the old format one must re create the file with VersaForm File Recovery under the earlier version Version 7 is file compatible with the later Version 6 file format Custom menus from earlier versions are honored but use of the mouse requires new custom menus to be made in the new format If you write procedures to access files that were created on VersaForm release 2 7 or earlier you should re install any Justify instructions using the Automatic Checking and Filling option in the VersaForm XL Form Design function If you are upgrading from Release 3 xx to a later release all your old procedures must be re saved You must save the START procedure first If you have files from before release 3 23 we recommend that you re create all your old files by copying the form design then copying all the data to the new file thus created This will enable the system to automatically extend your files If you have release 2 1 or earlier you will need to convert your data disks from the Pascal format to the DOS 2 0 format Contact AST regarding file conversion WARNING If you have a release of the Medical Billing or Legal Billing Applications earlier than release 5 do not use them with the current VersaForm XL rele
145. be displayed 3 When finished PRINT f8 optional SAVE f2 your entries 90 VersaForm XL Some Lookup Table Pointers A Up to approximately 300 lookup items may be entered Each Lookup Value may contain up to 10 characters each Result up to 25 characters The Lookup Table may be updated at any time F You may establish more than one Lookup Table on a form An item may be used more than once as the lookup item For example STOCK may be used to look up both DESCRIPTION and PRICE i In data entry if a lookup value is entered incorrectly and has no corresponding result value VersaForm XL will leave the item blank and continue with the next operation The List Check can be used to prevent errors when entering lookup values The use of List Check for STOCKH would ensure that all the stock numbers keyed in on a form are valid If the lookup table doesn t provide enough items or they aren t large enough use a lookup procedure instead These can look up data on a file that can hold up to 4 million bytes of information and are discussed in the section of this manual on Procedures TODAYSDATE This tells VersaForm XL to fill in a date on a form using the current system startup date Only an item that has no data in it will be filled in An existing entry will not be changed a The item must contain at least eight spaces CALCULATION VersaForm XL can add subtract multiply divide find the larger or smaller o
146. ch sub total will be counted Summary Reports will print only the print items for which a Sub total has been 112 Ttl Avg VersaForm XL requested VersaForm XL does not set default sub totals Note Use this item to tell VersaForm WHEN to subtotal not WHAT to subtotal For instance if you want to have a subtotal of Cost for each inventory part number you would enter Y in the total Ttl column for Cost and enter Y in the Subtotal column for part number Then each time part number changes VersaForm will print a subtotal of Cost Use Y to indicate that an item should be totalled Report totals print at the end of the columns for which a total has been selected VersaForm XL does not set default totals If a non numeric value is entered for an item you re totaling it will be valued at zero For example if the words No Charge appear in an item to be totalled VersaForm XL will rightly count the entry as zero An incorrectly typed number such as 2A4 40 instead of 295 40 is also counted as zero causing errors You may avoid this problem through data entry checks chosen in Automatic Checking and Filling for the form design VersaForm will perform a check to assure entries contain valid numbers in an item that will be totalled later You may total up to 50 print items Entering Y in the option Avg will cause VersaForm XL to calculate an average for numeric data Averages will print at sub total breaks and at the end of th
147. colon Notice that when the word BEGIN is used it must be paired with an END IF Statements b IF condition THEN statement1 Example If the date on the primary form is earlier than or equal to the value held in TEMPDATE then delete the current line on that form c IF condition THEN statement1 ELSE statement2 Example EN PROMPT ERROR STDPRICE If the previous I O operation was not successful and produced an IOERROR then the user should see the prompt ERROR otherwise PRICE should be assigned the value in STDPRICE IMPORTANT Note that NO punctuation separates the THEN and ELSE statements There should never be a semicolon directly before an ELSE The statements called for in an IF statement may themselves be IF statements as well as other types This allows you to form compounds of the pattern 202 VersaForm XL IF TEMP gt 100 THEN PROMPT TOO HOT ELSE IF TEMP lt 50 THEN PROMPT TOO COLD ELSE PROMPT JUST RIGHT In this case the ELSE clause of the first statement is itself an IF statement Anywhere a simple statement can be used a compound statement can be used instead This allows you to form nested statements such as IF X gt Y THEN BEGIN B NAME A NAM IF X gt 10 THEN CANCEL ELSE PROMPT Cont IF NOT YESNO THI END
148. cond item Move the cursor to QTY and press X You ll be asked for your third choice In the same way choose AMOUNT and CLERK Note the message at the bottom of the screen Press Q to show that you re finished A Report Definition form will be displayed showing the items to be printed Figure 3 3 Move the cursor into the item called Title1 Hands On Exercise Reports 39 7 Keyin SALES ANALYSIS This title will appear on each page of the report VersaForm XL allows you up to three titles For our example we will use only one PRS OE a ee ES a Oo Ee Pe PO Screen 1 E Form Id sampleR1 Titlel SALES ANALYSIS Title2 More Options gt Title3 ctrl gt Page Format Width Length Left Margin Skip lines after titles Counts Y N Print item Options 1 99 Y N Y N Y N LE 4 44 34 Print items SiZe 2444454 TICLES seunas J S Srt Dir Sub Ttl Avg 1 Description 33 Description 2 Qty 5 Qty 3 Amount 10 Amount 4 Clerk 8 Clerk 5 To choose more print items use the command Fill alt F10 Enter Print Control Sequences below ctr1 PgDn Figure 3 3 HOW WILL THE DATA BE PRINTED VersaForm XL allows you to specify how the data will be printed on your report You may specify Justify J Suppress S Sort Srt and Sort Direction Dir These features are explained in detail in Chapter 7 We will sort by DESCRIPTION 1 Move the cursor to L 1 under the Srt column Key in 1 This tells VersaForm X
149. condary form is initially zero It changes value only when you assign a valid line number to it Remember therefore to assign a number to B L if you want to refer to a column item on the secondary form The value of B L is re set to 0 if another secondary file is accessed NOTE If you refer to a column item without explicitly using a line number the current value of L is used Examples of L use are L 1 Set current line to 1 on the primary form B L K Set current line to K on the secondary form B If K is 5 then B L will now be 5 B AMOUNT If B L is 5 BAAMOUNT 5 is assigned the 20 55 value 20 55 B AMOUNT is the AMOUNT column on the secondary form The L will be whatever value you ve assigned it in the procedure AMOUNT The current line in the AMOUNT MOUNT TA column on the primary form is assigned a value from line 2 in the AMOUNT column AMOUNT The current line in the AMOUNT AMOUNT L 1 column on the primary form is assigned the value from AMOUNT on the previous line NOTE When the primary and secondary forms both have column lines you must qualify L with the letter A or B as shown in the second and third examples above COMMENTS Comments are notes which you may include freely in a procedure they are for your reference only and no action is taken on them They are set in braces or parentheses with asterisks For example Writing Procedures 193 RIPTION
150. create custom menus Copy the file APPMENU on the program directory to the directory where you want to use it Rename it to APPMENU VFS Start VersaForm XL and enter Filing on APPMENU VFS You will see the menu form as in figure 17 2 Figure 17 2 shows the menu form for the custom menu in Figure 17 1 VersaForm Menus Page 1 More CTRL gt Menu_file vf Menu_type main Comments Sample custom main menu Borders Y Use_Reverse Caption Sample Custom Main Menu Background_file Clear_screen y x_Origin 15 y Origin 7 Width 50 Height 8 Numbers y Enter Invoices FILING Add payments to customer ledger FILING c cledger Update inventory file FILING inventry spl Invoice Reports REPORT invc spl Batch print invoices CPRINT invc spl Copy active accounts to new ledger CPCOPY cledger spl VersaForm XL Main Menu VF_MAIN Return to DOS EXIT L 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Figure 17 2 3 Fill in the menu form The fields are defined as follows Mentu_file For the main menu enter VF For submenus use any name you like except VF For report menus procedure menus etc this must be the name without extension of the file to which the menu applies If the file name has a suffix remove it For example if your file is named INVC VFX remove the VFX suffix Just enter INVC Menu_type Use MAIN for the custom main menu For submenus of custom main menus create an appropriate name don t use MAIN Use RPT FMT CPC PRC and
151. crewdriver Screwdriver Screwdriver Screwdriver Totals for Screwdriver Figure 1 3 The information you select will be sorted and printed in any manner you specify in summary or in detail Introduction to VersaForm XL 7 4 Print the forms that help you communicate with customers suppliers and others You may print on plain paper Figure 1 4a on mailing labels Figure 1 4b or on preprinted forms INV 2 INVOICE INV_DATE MAY MM ea CUST_ID 101 CR_DR_MEMO SOLD_TO Able Enterprises SHIP_TO Able Enterprises ADDR1 102 6 th Ave SHIPAD1 44 Dockside St ADDR2 SHIPAD2 Pier 44 CITY Gotham City SHIPCITY Gotham City ZIP 12345 ZIP 12346 SALESPERSON VIA Motor Freigh ERMS N30 REMARKS UNITPRICE EXTPRICE Chisel 11 40 22 80 Hammer 12 95 38 85 SALES_TX AMT_PAID SALE_AMT 61 65 FREIGHT DIS_TAKEN AMT_DUE 61 65 Figure 1 4a William R Hutchinson Mary Blake Mr John Pasquale 123 Main Street 5961 Millich Ave 961 Front Street Cupertino CA 95014 Campbell CA 95008 San Jose CA 95128 Figure 1 4b Figure 1 4 a b Select just the information you want printed Add timely comments and change them at will Print on mailing labels up to nine labels across the paper up to nine items and nine lines per label 5 Link your files together VersaForm XL has its own simple programming language You can write procedures using this language that can move information from one file to another For instance
152. cter The special character a delimiter is determined by you by making it the first character in EX2 An example illustrates what is required To include variables in Print Formats you must include a V GETARG statement in your print format The V GETARG allows you to pass parameters through a PRINTFORM statement The V GETARG statement does not need to be in a specific order in the PRINT FORMAT you can place it anywhere because you specify the order in the print format as one of its arguments The syntax for a V GETARG is as follows V GETARG 1 x The 1 tells the PRINTFORM statement that x is the first parameter to pass through the printformat The x is the parameter to be passed x can hold any value To pass any other parameters through the PRINTFORM statement simply use another V GETARG 2 y The 2 in this statement specifies that y is the second parameter to be passed through the printform statement In the PRINTFORM statement you could have PRINTFORM A INVFMT amp x amp amp y amp If you wanted to print x or y more than one time you simply need to include additional V GETARG statements for each variable For example V GETARG 1 x gt Pass x first V GETARG 2 y gt Pass y second V GETARG 3 x gt Pass x again for third parameter V GETARG 4 y gt Pass y again for fourth parameter This would work with the above PRINTFORM statement You need to
153. current form has not been SAVED VersaForm XL will issue a warning message 68 VersaForm XL INSERT EDIT MENU Function key The INSERT command inserts a new empty column line at the location you designate PAGE FORWARD Function key PgDn If you are filling in a form column line by line and a new line does not appear when you validate use to get another page PAGE BACKWARD Function key PgUp To return to a page you ve previously completed use PENG HN To Fill In Another Form In The Same File After you ve saved a form you may want to fill in another one For each new form repeat these steps 1 Use the CLEAR command A blank form will be displayed and you may enter data as before 2 VALIDATE if you want VersaForm XL to check your entries and perform automatic filling and calculations 3 SAVE_CONTINUE when you re finished entering data to have your form filed If most of the data on one form is to be repeated on another you can save time by retaining the information that is the same Do not CLEAR the screen Just delete the information you don t want to include on the second form and enter whatever new data you want to add VersaForm XL will recognize this as a new form because the key item will be different To Print the Form You can print a copy of a form at any time A form may be printed just as it appears on the screen or in a special print format so that it matches a preprinted Filing
154. d Example INPUT A OUTPUT TXT opens file DATA reads a line INPUT CLOSE closes file TRUE Function Returns a value denoting truth when used in an expression Though TRUE is technically a function it behaves like a constant Example FLAG TRUE set the value IF FLAG THEN BEGI test the flag IF FLAG TRUE EN BEGIN means the same TRUE has an internal value of 1 and may be used in expressions or comparisons UNLOCKFILE File Procedure Multi user version only Unlocks a file Example UnlockFile a UNLOCKFORM File Procedure Multi user version only Unlocks the current form Example UnlockForm a USER_DID_ESCAPE Function If USER_MAY_ESCAPE is set the user may press Escape in response to certain functions such as ANSWERMSG If he does USER_DID_ ESCAPE will return TRUE USER_MAY_ESCAPE Function Used with SET CLEAR and POP When set the user may press Escape in response to certain functions such as ANSWERMSG 258 VersaForm XL VALNEEDED File Function VALNEEDED is used to determine if the current form on the specified file needs to be validated If the form needs validation VALNEEDED returns TRUE otherwise it returns FALSE VCLOSE Ex File_handle Function Closes a file and returns true if the file was closed false otherwise The parameter is the handle NOT the file name Example if vclos
155. d in that position Format amp amp amp This Item ACCT Figure 6 3 The use of permits optional leading digits a format such as VF allows entries of 1 VF to 999VF A allows an entry of A 495 but not A 49 amp S allows you to enter any digit followed by any letter followed by a period followed by the letter S so 4F S or 5A S would be acceptable 1 Key in Y beside Format on the checking and filling menu 2 Key ina format for the item when the Format checking form is displayed 3 SAVE the information NOTE Make sure the format you specify isn t longer than the number of dots for the item on your form will allow LIST CHECK This ensures that all entries into an item appear on a user prepared list of acceptable values Automatic Checking And Automatic Filling 87 When you choose the List Check and then SAVE you ll be asked to fill in a List Checking form Figure 6 4 LIST CHECKING Input will be checked against the values that you enter on the lines below Only input that matches one of the values below will be accepted ACCEPTABLE VALUES Shirts Hose Sweaters Jackets Neckties Blankets Tablecloths This item DESCRIPTION Figure 6 4 Once the list has been defined a down arrow J will appear on the form indicating that a pop up pick list is available During filing the pick list can be displayed using the key combination Items are selected from the list by
156. d also subtotal tax and total at the bottom 1 If the cursor is not at the single item CUSTOMER move it there Hands On Exercise 19 If you can t find the cursor press one of the arrow keys to make it move ALPHA TOOLS INC SERVING THE BAY AREA SINCE 1925 CUSTOMER Jane Steel ADDRESS 123 Main St CITY Elm Park ORDER DATE Figure 2 3 Key JANE STEEL into CUSTOMER If you make a typing error backspace until the cursor is on the incorrect character then key the correct one over it Notice that backspacing over characters does not erase them To remove a character position the cursor on it and press the space bar Press or the tab key once to move the cursor into the next item ACCT Don t key anything here yet The tab and penter keys move the cursor to the next item Press or tab to move to ADDRESS and key in 123 MAIN ST Tab twice to CITY and key in ELM PARK tab to STATE and key in IL tab to ZIP and key in 23456 Compare your screen to the illustration in Figure 2 3 the items you ve keyed in should look the same Continue pressing ENTER or tab and notice that the cursor moves to each item in WO N turn Eventually it moves back to CUSTOMER 5 Press ESC once to display the command menu at the top of the screen The command menu is the place where all VersaForm XL commands are entered unless a function key is used 20 VersaForm XL Validate lt Fi gt Insert line lt A1tFE gt Delete l
157. d from this file using the READ procedure The READ procedure will read up to 80 characters or until a carriage return character is encountered You will know that a carriage return has been found if the line read is less than 80 characters in length Example EXTINPUT EMO TXT this opens a file called MEMO TXT on Drive B a line of text is read from MEMO TXT EAD DATA into the variable DATA INPUT CLOSE this closes the fil MEMO TXT so that another file can be opened It is now possible to assign the value of DATA to an item on your form You can also use the STR function to extract parts of DATA to be assigned to several items See the sample procedure IMPORT DATA on PROCFILE on how to do this Since a variable can hold at most 80 characters the READ procedure will only read at most 80 characters at a time If a line is 80 or more characters in length it will take more that one READ to process that line Lines of any length may be handled by doing several READs By testing the length of DATA you can determine when the end of the line has been reached If you READ a line and its length is 80 you must perform at least one more READ to reach the end of that line If the length of DATA on the next READ is zero you then know that the line just read was exactly 80 characters long The following example shows how to read and faithfully reproduce a text file
158. dd user IDs or change passwords see the same chapter We recommend that you read Chapter 11 soon At the Main Menu Figure 1 6 enter the number of the function you want After you make this choice VersaForm XL will ask what file you will use Enter the drive letter or path name of your file or press escape to return to the menu C VF Press E to indicate that your file is on the path displayed or enter the path that contains your file VersaForm XL will ask for the file name Enter file name or press return to accept default Wildcard characters and may be used Press escape to select new path Enter file name Introduction to VersaForm XL 17 Enter the file name If you don t know the file name enter a question mark or a filename with wild cards such as to see a list of the files on the hard disk From this list select the file you wish to work on To return to the previous prompt and enter a new drive letter or path press the Escape key Chapter 2 HANDS ON EXERCISE The Hands On Exercise allows you to begin using VersaForm XL immediately and see how the program works It covers filling in and retrieving forms If you are using diskettes refer to Appendix A Follow the instructions in Chapter 1 to install and start up the VersaForm XL System We ve already designed a form for you to work with which will show you how to use VersaForm and demonstrate just a few of its useful
159. decimal places for your entries For dollars and cents items key in 2 Tf 2 is keyed in entries of 3 and 2 996 will both be changed to 3 00 2 decimal places and right justified NUMERIC Entries must be numeric Digits decimal points and leading and signs are accepted Use of this checking feature prevents the entry of non numeric values into items that should contain a number usable in an arithmetic calculation An incorrectly keyed entry such as 2R5 98 would not be allowed Neither would a social security number or a phone number because they re not truly numbers for instance you can t add them up YES OR NO Entries are limited to Y or N only 84 VersaForm XL SELF CHECKING Important numbers entered on a form such as account numbers can be checked for accuracy by the use of an additional calculated check digit when this option is chosen The method of calculating the check digit is described in the Appendix Self Checking Numbers Entries must be in date format see About Dates in Chapter 1 The item must contain at least eight spaces MANDATORY The item must be filled in This prevents inadvertently skipping the item when data is entered NOTE Mandatory means that the user must fill in the item DO NOT choose Mandatory for an item you want VersaForm XL to fill in automatically EXTENDED CHECKS The Extended Checks Range Format and List test data for accuracy before it is validated Choose
160. des a column total If a form contains more than one page of columns the computed total is for the entire column spanning all the pages If there are any items in the column that are not all numeric they will be disregarded when the total is computed First position the cursor on any number in a column Then press T The column total will appear at the bottom of the screen on the leftmost space 78 VersaForm XL If all the spaces are full the total will occupy the left space and the others will move over with the last number dropping off ASSIGNMENT puts a number onto the form from the calculator display area you needn t rekey it For example after performing a calculation you may move the number in the left space of the display area back onto the form First position the cursor in the item where you want the number to be placed then key in The number will be moved to that item me QUIT Q returns you to the normal screen when you re finished using the calculator Pressing Escape will do the same CHAIN CALCULATIONS The VersaForm XL calculator makes it especially easy to do multiple calculations Suppose for example that you must calculate 1 2 5 7 To do this Calculator HELP Command If you key in when the calculator command line is on the screen you ll see the menu of Calculator Operations Figure 5 4 Filing Data Entry and Retrieval 79 Calculator Operations Key in
161. e 136 PAGE 2 ITEMS Secondary File Key From1 Key From2 Initial Procedure Detail Procedure Ending Procedure PAGE 3 ITEMS Redefine N VersaForm XL This field is currently not used This field is currently not used This field is currently not used The name of a VersaForm procedure to execute before the print format is written The name of a VersaForm procedure to execute before each detail line in the print format is written The name of a VersaForm procedure to execute after the print format is written Redefinition condition number N Controls whether any line with N in the R column will be output Output will take place only if this condition is true Write the condition as you would an IF condition in a procedure For instance if a Print item refers to redefinition condition 3 and redefinition condition 3 is State NY then that item will be printed only if the form item State is indeed NY Print The Forms To print forms using a format you have designed you may use the PRINT command when you are keying data into a form See Chapter 5 But if you have many forms to print you may also use the VersaForm XL Copy Print function Select the Forms to Print The Copy Print function provides three ways to specify which forms to print 1 SELECT ALL FORMS VersaForm XL will print all the forms in the file 2 MANUAL SELECTION You may select the forms to be printed one by one answer Y es or N o as
162. e lookupfile then prompt File closed VCLOSE_LIST ex list handle Function Closes a list and returns TRUE if the closure was successful VCLOSE_WIN window_handle Function Closes the window and returns TRUE or FALSE Example if vclose_win winhandle then VCOLTOTAL ex file ex column name Function Computes the total of the column whose name is given As in ASSIGN and RETRIEVE the column name must be in a variable or in quotes VCOLTOTAL works on files opened with VOPEN See also COLTOTAL Example myfile vopen filename if myfile gt 0 then total VCOLTOTAL myfile amount VCOMPARE from file to file formtype oldkey ex newkey ex numcompared ex numequal item Function Compares the form of the given type in the FROM file with key OLDKEY to the form in the TO file with key NEWKEY The two files may be the same VCOMPARE returns an error code as the function result if no error has occurred then NUMCOMPARED contains the number of forms compared and NUMEQUAL contains the number of those forms that were equal Error codes 0 no error 1 reserved 2 the index for the FROM form type was not found 3 the index for the TO form type was not found Built In Procedures 259 Example if VCOMPARE B VREPORT SALES INCOME NUMCOMPARED NUMEQUAL 0 then if NUMCO ED gt 0 and NUMCOMPARED NUMEQUAL the the report SALES on
163. e print formats etc Returns the item chosen as the function value the null string if no choice was made Honors the USER_MAY_ESCAPE flag Example set silent filehandle vopen datafile if filehandle lt gt 0 then begin win vopen_win 2 2 40 w 10 h reverse_vid Choose Print Format if win lt gt 0 then begin set user_may_escape print_fmt pickindex filehandle vpfmtobj win pop user_may_escape end if vclose_win win then if vclose filehandle then pop silent end 246 VersaForm XL PICKLIST ex window handle ex list handle item Function Offers a list to the operator in the designated window The list must have been made previously with VOPEN_LIST and APPENDLIST Returns as the function value the number of the item chosen 0 if no choice was made Honors the USER_MAY_ESCAPE flag The choice itself is returned in the third parameter Example list vopen_list if list gt 0 then begin dummy appendlist dummy appendlist dummy appendlist dummy appendlist win vopen_win if win gt 0 then begin set user_may_escape choice picklist list win dummy pop user_may_escape if vclose_win win then end if vclose_list list then end list blue list green ct ct list red list yellow ie 2a 6 vevers_vid 4 Choices ct ct N POP flag Procedure Returns an
164. e Arithmetic VersaForm XL procedures can automatically add and subtract dates and numbers when meaningful For example DATE1 DATE2 Yields the difference in days DATE1 number These yield a date treating the number DATE1 number as a number of days DATE number All other combinations involving dates are undefined Dates between 1 1 100 and 12 31 9999 may be used in date arithmetic ASSIGNMENT STATEMENT Assignment is the operation of transferring a value from an item or variable or the result of an expression to a form item or variable It is stated in the following way RBG RE KYA y identifier xpression The symbol is the assignment operator Note the required semicolon at the end of the statement In an assignment statement the form item or variable to the left of the assignment symbol receives the value of the item or expression on the right Here ABC will receive the value of the expression XYZ Moving Data Onto Forms When moving data to an item on a form VersaForm XL will justify it according to the Justify L R specification made for that item when the form was designed If a character string value is too long to fit in an item it will be cut off on the right A numeric value will be rounded as necessary down to 0 decimal places to make it fit Sometimes a date or rounded number may still be too large to fit in an item in that case the value will be
165. e column for which an average has been requested Counts as a Separate Column Count is a special print item you may use to list counts in a separate column It is used only in when printing Summary lines only When printing details it is ignored It is unrelated to the counts field described above which will print counts on a separate line in each sub total break If you wish to have a separate counts column in summary report include a print item called Count Count can be inserted anywhere in the list of Print items and all of its options may be changed or left as defaults just as any print item Reports 113 Report Definition Options Screen 2 To display the Report Options Figure 7 24 press the keys and gt together Press to return to Screen 1 If left blank the default settings are those given by the User and System Setup screens Screen 2 Control Instructions Y N Number of Copies Pause Between Pages Y N Trailer Page Y N Detail or Summary D S B Work Disk Y N Export 1 5 1 VF Merge 2 Commas 3 Commas Quotes 4 Fixed width 5 1 per 1n Print on Printer Screen or File P S F Printfile name Disk Path Filename Figure 7 24 Report Options Control Instructions Enter Y to print a record of all the Report Control Instructions Options and Sequences you have selected for this report Number of Copies Enter the number of copies of your report to be printed To instruct
166. e copied forms on the secondary file IRSTFORM EPEAT IF B TOTAL gt 1000 THEN if total gt 1000 we will BEGIN copy the form from B to A COPYFORM B A SAVEFORM A IF NOT IOERROR THE EMOVEFORM B END EXTFORM B NTIL IOERROR or end of file iloerror signals end of file NOTE The built in COPYFORM can be used to perform a copy by name or to copy only certain fields or both To do this you use an auxiliary file to control the action of COPYFORM The auxiliary file must have the same fields as the TRANSFER file that is shipped with the system Built In Procedures 229 CR Function Returns the ASCII carriage return character 13 which will cause a carriage return on the printer or console VersaForm also adds a line feed character positioning the printer for the next line Example See FORMFEED CURSORITEM item itemname item detailnum Function Returns a value of 0 if the cursor is not in a field 1 if it is in the field name portion of the field 2 if it is in the data area If the returned value is not 0 indicating that the cursor is indeed in a field then the first parameter will contain the name of the item Further if the returned value is 2 the second parameter will enable you to distinguish between a single item and a detail It will contain O if the item is a single item and the line n
167. e could calculate percentages for the quantity and amount columns Figure 7 21 108 VersaForm XL SALES ANALYSIS Customer Chas Carpenter Chas Joyner Ed Cartwright Geo Sawyer John Cooper Mary Mason Will Fletcher Totals Figure 7 21 Summary Report with Percentages To print percentages enter the percentage command as a separate Print item as in Figure 7 22 The characters tell VersaForm that you want to calculate a percent and they are followed by the name of the field for which you want the percentages calculated The field you refer to must be numeric and must be totalled The Percentage field itself should also be totalled and should be at least 5 characters wide Screen 1 Form Id SALES1 Titlel SALES REPORT Title2 More Options gt Title3 ctrl gt Page Format Width Length Left Margin Skip lines after titles Counts Y N Print item Options 1 99 Y N Y N Y N J S Srt Dir Sub Ttl Avg CUSTOMER CUSTOMER QTY QTY Y ZQTY SQTY Y DESCRIPTION PURCHASES AMOUNT AMOUNT AMOUNT SAMT Figure 7 22 Definition of report with Percentages REPORT VARIABLES VersaForm XL has a way of allowing you to enter changes into your report at the time it is run Sometimes a simple change is necessary to a report For example you might wish to change the title of a report to reflect the purpose for which it is being run Trial Balance at one time and Audit at another Reports 109
168. e file explicitly to avoid the slowdown that would be caused by many records being locked individually Transactions end o Automatically by a commit when a Save command 4 ifF2 is executed if there is no Save procedure Save Continue ED does not commit O Automatically commit when a Clear Next or Back command is executed Not of course when the Continue version is o Automatically commit when the user EXITs Filing o When a user requests either Rollback or Commit o When a procedure requests either Rollback or Commit Multi User Operation 167 LOCKING On a multi user system some mechanism is needed to prevent users from interfering with each other Imagine the following situation User A reads an invoice While he s deciding what to do User B reads it too User B changes it and saves it Now user A makes his change and saves the invoice This would be a serious error User B s change is now lost it s been overwritten and the file is incorrect To ensure correctness of transactions VersaForm XL locks forms so that when one user has a form the other can t change it The system provides locks for both individual forms and entire files In the remainder of this discussion locks on forms are called Record locks for consistency with industry terminology File locks allow quicker file access but record locks allow two users to access different records in a file without interfering with each other Bo
169. e line number before executing an INSERTLINE in a procedure For example line line number for the third file E stmtfile cline WINDOWING ROUTINES Four simple routines INFOMSG BELLMSG YESNOMSG and ANSWERMSG display a message in a pop up box and wait for the user to answer or press ENTER For examples see the routine descriptions in Chapter 15 For more general window usage functions are provided to create and delete a window of arbitrary size and color The function VOPEN_WIN x y width height color title opens a window of the given width and height with its upper left corner at x y When a window is open GOTOXY GET PUT and CLEARSCREEN operate within the window Only the last window opened is active The total size of all windows open at once is limited to approximately 1800 characters The function VCLOSE_WIN handle closes the window The windowing functions use a single number for the attributes which is the same as the VersaForm setup uses This leaves the SETATTR function as the only one which uses separate arguments for foreground and background To be consistent a new version of SETATTR has been provided which uses the single number form It is called SET_ATTRIB Example Writing Procedures 213 SET_ATTRIB 31 sets the screen attributes to white on blue The argumentless functions NORMAL_VID and REVERSE_VID will give you the current video attributes which of
170. e that you have opened in this mode will not be told that you have locked the file He will simply receive a message indicating that access to this file is denied Read only access disables locking and does not permit writes to any file Thus users can look at files without the overhead of locking but still permit the file to be shared They must realize that information so obtained may be inconsistent because nothing prevents the file being changed while it is being examined for instance during a report but they cannot do any damage Choose the sharing mode in the setup file SETUP VFS or SYSSETUP VES See Chapter 11 to see how to do this Multi User Operation 171 TECHNICAL NOTE Since the locks described above are within the file itself VersaForm XL must gain exclusive control of the file at a lower level while it is setting and testing the locks To do this it uses the record locking function of DOS This is provided by DOS in Interrupt 21H function call SCH Only one byte of the file is locked at this level and this byte provides a semaphore which tells VersaForm XL whether it can proceed with its locks If this lock cannot be obtained the system retries several times Since the DOS lock is never held for long the lock should be granted shortly If the lock fails the operator is informed and has the option to retry or to exit from VersaForm XL There are no other options because no further file activity can be undertaken on
171. edger The customer ledger file CLEDGER SPL has two procedures in it CHECKING This procedure takes a payment credit and applies it successively to the oldest balance starting with the item OVER 90 AGING This procedure will age the receivables for the entire file MONTHEND This procedure will clear the column lines on all forms on the ledger file The inventory file has no procedures Custom Menus and Context Sensitive Help 281 Chapter 17 CUSTOM MENUS AND CONTEXT SENSITIVE HELP VersaForm XL allows you to replace its menus with your own custom menus This gives you the ability to develop applications specific to the needs of your office or to develop a product that you wish to sell It even permits you to produce your own runtime system without form design and procedure design features that your users do not need Contact VersaForm Systems regarding runtime licensing OVERVIEW Custom menus work like this When VersaForm XL needs to display the Main Menu it searches for a file called APPMENU VFS on the default data directory Initially the default data directory is the current directory APPMENU VEFS is the file that contains the custom menus for an application If it doesn t find APPMENU VES it looks for the file called VMENU VES this time on the program directory VMENU VEFS contains standard Main Menu and the other VersaForm XL menus Since APPMENU VEFS is standard VersaForm file you can create your
172. edgerfile gt 0 then ledger is open begin if call ledgerfile nextaux vfile_handle vfile_name a then display a end VMONTH ex Function If value of EX is a date this returns a number from 1 12 otherwise 0 262 VersaForm XL Example IF VMONTH VDATE 12 AND VDAY VDATE gt 9 THE PRI SEASONS GREETINGS Prints greetings if the date is between December 10th and December 31st VNOKEY Function Designates the no key field attribute for use with SETFLDINFO This controls whether data can be entered into the field Example ETFLDINFO a customer EY true VOPEN Function Opens a file and returns the handle Returns 0 if file was not opened Example lookupfile vopen lookup vf if lookupfile lt gt 0 then begin VOPEN_LIST Function Opens a list and returns the list handle Returns 0 if the list was not opened VOPEN_WIN x y width height color title Function Opens a window of the given width and height with its upper left corner at x y The values of x y width and height must be such that the window fits on the screen Example var winhandle begin winhandle VOPEN_WIN 6 31 VF WINDOW if winhandle gt 0 then begin VOUTPUT string exp Procedure Writes the given string to the printer or textoutput file but does not convert the Carriage Return
173. edirects output from a PRINTFORM statement in a procedure or the PRINT command issued from the command menu At the start of the filing session output from the above statements is sent to the printer 210 VersaForm XL If the file named in the PRINTFILE statement already exists its current contents are erased Example PRINTFILE B OUTPUT TXT this creates a file on drive B erasing any previous file by that name Output from the following statements is now sent to the file OUTPUT TXT TC Hello amp CR lt F FORM A INVFMT FILE CLOSE statements will now send data to the printer To append to an existing file use the EXT_PRINTFILE built in see Chapter 15 NOTE The current print file stays open until a procedure statement closes it If the output file is never closed any PRINT or PRINTFORM statement in any procedures executed later during the same filing session will continue to write its data to the output file At the end of the filing session the print file is automatically closed I O ERROR HANDLING The IOERROR function tells whether or not the most recent I O input or output operation was successful Its value is reset to TRUE or FALSE each time a procedure performs an operation that transfers data between memory and a disk or printer The IOERROR function will be set to TRUE if an attempt is made to read past the end of a file It will also be set to TRUE
174. edure Removes the transfer list from memory and returns copyform to its normal function See SETUP_COPYFORM for an example COLSORT File ex fieldnamel1 ex order1 ex fieldname2 ex order2 ex fieldname3 ex order3 Procedure Sorts the column area of a form in either ascending or descending order The order argument can be either for ascending order or for descending order Example colsort a Date t a display a saveform i a This would sort the column area of the primary form The date column would be in ascending order and if two lines have the same date then the line with the highest qty would come first 228 VersaForm XL COLTOTAL formitem Function Returns the total of a column item See also VCOLTOTAL Example A TOTALCOST COLTOTAL A AMOUNT The total of the AMOUNT column is placed in TOTALCOST COMMIT Procedure Multi user version only Commits the current transaction Example Commit COPYCOLS File File Procedure Copies all the column lines and only the column lines from the first form to the second form Note that the two files must have the same form design Example Copycols a b COPYFORM File File Procedure Copies the entire form from primary to secondary or vice versa File formats must have the same single item length and column line length for this to work No other checking is done Example Copy selected forms from secondary to primary Remov
175. efore validation is complete Example Recomputes AMOUNT but only if the operator didn t key anything into AMOUNT IF NOT CHANGED AMOUNT THE AMOUNT QUANTITY PR This routine can also be used to prevent unnecessary procedure invocations Example The USER procedure FILLCUST will be run only if the item CUSTNUMBER has been changed This saves using the procedure FILLCUST when it isn t needed IF CHANGED CUSTNUMBE CHAIN FILLCUST CHR ex Function Returns the character that corresponds to the value of EX when EX has a value in 0 255 Example CHR 65 is the character A The CHR function can be used to send a control sequence to your printer to change the font PRINT CHR 15 Built In Procedures 227 Using this statement will put most IBM PC printers into compressed mode By contrast the statement PRINT 15 would simply print the two characters 15 on the printer CLEAR flag Procedure Clear an internal flag See SET for a list Example CLEAR ROUNDING CLEARCOL File Procedure Removes all column lines from a form Example CLEARCOL B Removes all existing column lines from the current form on the secondary file CLEARFORM File Procedure Example See FILING COMMAND PROCEDURES below CLEARSCREEN Procedure Clears the screen Example CLEARSCREEN CLOSE_COPYFORM Proc
176. ength of Record Length of output record in bytes The record will be padded with spaces or truncated to this length Length of Detail Length of output detail in bytes The detail will be padded with spaces or truncated to this length Details Start At Offset in the output record where the first detail line column line is to be written Mandatory if there are columns on this print format Number of Details Maximum number of detail lines to be written to each output record Mandatory if there are columns on this print format Offset Number of bytes to offset each output data record within the given output record length Results in the specified number of blank bytes at the beginning of the output COLUMNAR ITEMS R Blank or 1 9 Used only if Redefine area on Screen 3 is TRUE for that line number D Y or N Y if this is a detail item Pos Position in the record where the field begins Sz Number of characters or spaces for this item Values must be between 1 and 80 Default is field or string length Mandatory for other expressions J Justification See the justification codes for paper print formats above Print items The expression to be printed It can be a field name a word or phrase in quotes or any expression that would be legal if used to denote a value in a procedure Examples Customer Merry Christmas no semicolon Coltotal Amount no semicolon Format See the format codes for paper print formats abov
177. enter data under the control of a procedure By using them you can allow users to enter data into a secondary form ERASEFORM filename Procedure Example See FILING COMMAND PROCEDURES below ERRORMSG msg Procedure Displays a message in a pop up box and waits for the user to press ENTER Uses the current error box color Built In Procedures 233 Example ERRORMSG I O Error EXT_PRINTFILE filename Procedure Behaves just as PRINTFILE if the file does not exist But if the file does exist PRINT output will be appended to it instead of deleting the existing file and creating a new one as PRINTFILE does Example ext_printfile myoutput txt FALSE Function Returns a value when used in an expression FALSE has an internal value of zero Example See TRUE below FGET S item code item keyvalue item Procedure Gets a response from the keyboard The user may key in a string or if no characters have been keyed in may press a function key or a control key combination or the Escape key FGET echos alphanumeric characters only Returns If code is 0 The string in S is valid and was ended with a CR the Enter key The CR is not echoed 1 The user pressed a non alphanumeric key Keyvalue contains a key value which was prefixed i e an IBM PC extended key code 2 The user pressed a non alphanumeric key Keyvalue contains a key value which was not prefixed
178. entory PROCEDURE INST Procedure Name SAV Secondary File Key froml A gt A L 1 A POSTED lt gt Y THEN B PART ITE GETFO 1 IF IOERRO 1 ERROR ELSE I B THE B L LASTLINE B NE B B L INV A INV B TDATE A DATE BOTY 2 AsOTY 3 B TOTALOTY COLTOTAL B QTY SAVEFORM B IF NOT RROR THEN A POSTED Y Figure 16 4 In this example all the column line items on an invoice are to be posted to an inventory file For each line the procedure looks up a PART in INVENTRY If the inventory form is found and the form is not full a line is added to it with particulars on the part order The item A POSTED on the invoice will record a successful order Built In Procedures 275 EXPLANATION Ol 02 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 The current line number for the primary form is set to 1 Here begins a loop which will be executed until L reaches the last line on the primary form Lines 05 to 21 will not be executed if posting has already occurred The value of A TTEM is moved to B PART A new secondary form B PART is the key is retrieved If an I O error has occurred then
179. eport SALES from file A If VDELETE returns 0 there was no error and if the number of forms deleted was 1 then the report was found and it was deleted Built In Procedures 261 In addition for VDELETE only formtype can have the value VDOS indicating the DOS operating system and its files VDISPLAY File ex1 ex2 Procedure Displays the form either A or B placing the column given by EX1 and the row given by EX2 at the upper left corner of the screen Example VDISPLAY A 80 0 This example would display form A starting at column 80 and row 0 in other words the right half of the first 24 lines of the form Release 4 1 and later only VEXIT Procedure Exits to the Main Menu VEXIT when used in a START procedure enables the programmer to deny the operator entry to the Filing function It is useful for implementing password protection and other applications in which a procedure should remain in complete control Example VEXIT VFILE_HANDLE file Function Given a file name returns the file handle if it is open If the file is not open returns 0 Example ledgerfil vfile_handle ledger vfm VFILE_NAME ex Function Given a file handle returns the file name Example The fragment below finds the handle of the primary file in order to use the CALL function for a procedure called nextaux which requires a file handle argument ledgerfil vfile_handle ledger vfm if l
180. er be transferred only between items of the same name so do not change the names of items you want to keep 3 Use the COPY BY NAME function described in Chapter 9 Copy Forms and Data to transfer data from the old file to the new one Copy An Existing Form Design Once you have designed a form for one file you may also use it in another file by copying the design It s better to copy a form than to design it again since a copy is sure to match the original To copy a form design 1 From the Form Design menu select Copy an existing form design 2 Enter the name of your new file just as if you were designing a new form VersaForm XL will create the file and begin the copying process Checking and automatic filling specifications will also be copied onto the new file If you wish Report Control Instructions Print Formats and Procedures will be copied too This procedure does NOT copy data when it copies the form design To transfer data from one form to another use the COPY BY NAME function See Chapter 9 Copy Forms and Data Delete an Existing Form Design There is no command in VersaForm XL to delete a form design or an entire file This should be done from DOS with the DELete command Be sure to have a 62 VersaForm XL good copy of the form design and any data that you want to keep transferred to a new file before DELeting a file From the DOS prompt type DEL followed by a space then the name of the
181. esented whenever Range is chosen as an option Figure 6 2 RANGE CHECKING On each line type the limits of one range Input will be OK if it falls in any one range If you give only the low high value any input higher lower will be accepted Low Value High Value L L H 01 1 1 84 6 30 84 This item ORDER DATE Figure 6 2 When the Range Checking form is displayed 1 Key in a low limit and or a high limit AT LEAST ONE LIMIT must be specified 2 VALIDATE H A second line will be displayed and another range may be entered The VALIDATE command checks your entries and provides additional lines for you to fill in 3 PRINT 81 optional then SAVE F2 FORMAT CHECK Entries must follow certain rules or patterns such as letters or digits only or a particular combination Do NOT use the Format Check for dollars and cents items 86 VersaForm XL How To Establish the Format When you select the Format check after you complete your other choices for the item the form shown in Figure 6 3 is displayed In this example Figure 6 3 amp amp amp H specifies that the ACCT must consist of three letters a hyphen and three digits FORMAT CHECKING The following characters may be used to specify a required format Any letter of the alphabet is OK Any digit 0 9 is OK Optional leading digit 0 9 Any character is OK Any other characters mean that only that particular character will be accepte
182. esigning a Form 1 From the Main Menu select 1 Form Design The Form Design menu will be displayed Figure 4 1 52 VersaForm XL Form Design Menu Design a new form Change an existing form design Copy an existing form design Add or change checking and automatic filling Print the form definition Return to Main Menu Figure 4 1 2 Select Design a new form from the Form Design menu VersaForm XL will ask for a name for the new file that will be created when the form is designed It must start with a letter and may contain up to 8 characters Optionally you may add an extension to the file name consisting of a period and three characters e g FILENAME VFM Don t use a slash or backslash or Name files according to their contents such as PAYROL83 3 Enter a name for the new file You will see a simple form design and you ll be asked if you need additional help designing forms Figure 4 2 Basic instructions Your form can be up to 160 spaces wide and 60 lines high Watch the ruler lines 1 2 to see where you are Begin by typing text and single items on the screen where you wish them to appear For example STUDENT FORM If you plan to have columns on this form don t put them in now Leave room to type them in later Special keys you can use Ins Del Insert and delete characters Alt F8 and Alt F7 Insert and delete lines The arrow keys Move the cursor Ctrl A
183. essed before they are stored on disk FORM SIZE Each form may contain up to 20 000 bytes of data before compression NUMBERS In VersaForm XL a number may include up to 13 digits to the left of the decimal point and up to 8 decimal places The largest number that can be used is therefore 9 999 999 999 999 99999999 almost 10 trillion A leading or sign may be used 05 5 3345 2 and 1 88888888 are valid numbers Money symbols e g and separators e g commas between the hundreds and thousands as in 10 000 are not allowed Some common numbers such as telephone and social security numbers are not considered to be true numbers by VersaForm XL because they cannot be used in arithmetic Only numbers which can be added and subtracted qualify Numbers are compared by VersaForm XL on the basis of their true values Thus 0 is equal to 00000 and 0 00 9 9 9 90 and 009 900 are all equal For use outside the U S the decimal character may be changed See Chapter 11 Setup and Security for instructions THE ENTER KEY On many computers this key is also called the Return key Most of the time you ll need to press the Enter key after giving instructions or responding to the system to indicate that your instruction or response is complete Some exceptions is when you choose items from your form by pressing X e g selecting items to report on or when you use the command menu The system will recognize these resp
184. establishing selection conditions 1 From the Report Menu Fig 3 1 select 2 Enter Selection Conditions 42 VersaForm XL ALPHA TOOLS INC Serving the Bay Area Since 1925 Clistomer cr et as i an ian eee es ACCEP ariran Addresse 6255 oe ee Be eee eee Phone City sors ce scars eps ters es sone State Zip Order Date Clerk isosti L Qty ISCOCK is shanuuiuuas Description Price Amount Le geeks aeea SERS ee eee eee ee Ses te hee scars eee eats a a Eee cece tee tee PE a a em OE PR PR E E Sir AIEE ete eee en ee ee ee ee eer ee Dees eee Sub Total TAK voce Seo eee dk Total nce Selection Condition 1 Test 1 Choose item to test Rtn Choose Help Q done Figure 3 5 2 Press gente Again the ALPHA TOOLS form will be displayed with an instruction at the bottom of the screen Figure 3 6 ALPHA TOOLS INC Serving the Bay Area Since 1925 Move cursor to item then press X Figure 3 6 3 Move the cursor to the item called AMOUNT When the cursor is in the amount column press X The dots will turn to stars indicating you have made a choice This tells VersaForm XL you want the item called AMOUNT on each form to be tested if the data meets the test you specify you want the information extracted for the report Now the following tests will be displayed at the bottom of your screen Hands On Exercise Reports 43 Enter comparison type EQ NE GT GE LT
185. eter on the command line that isn t one of the above VersaForm assumes it is a filename and uses it as the default path and file name vf id joe filing ledger vfm will automatically answer the signon prompt with joe and make ledger vfm the default file and directly enter Filing The utility popup menu allows access to printer and trace control DOS date setting procedure debugging and shelling to DOS The menu pops up when you press PTE Utility Functions 293 UTILITY MENU Turn procedure Debug on Printer Functions Set the Date Shell to DOS Turn Autoprompt on turn Memory Saver on System Information Trace Functions turn procedure Debug on allows starting and ending the procedure trace This displays each procedure statement as it is executed and variables as they change Printer Functions allows switching between LPT1 LPT2 LPT3 and a file Report printing however is not affected You can send a printer control sequence and test the printer Set the Date allows you to set the DOS date Shell to DOS allows you to suspend VersaForm XL and escape to a DOS command line You can issue DOS commands or run other programs Return to VersaForm by using the DOS command EXIT If Autoprompt is ON and you have provided context sensitive help for your application the help text will appear on the user s screen during filing System Information reports on your system configuration including installed memory and
186. f two numbers and carry running totals Taxes and totals can be computed When you choose Calculate from the checking and filling menu you ll be shown a Calculation form to fill in In the example shown in Figure 6 7 VersaForm XL is instructed to calculate the hours per job HRS PER JOB by dividing the total hours TOT HRS by the Automatic Checking And Automatic Filling 91 number of jobs NO JOBS using the values entered for those items on the form Figure 6 8 CALCULATION The calculation may be made by adding subtracting multiplying or dividing two items or one item and a number Operations are Low L High H Operations Items numbers I1 TOT HRS OP1 I2 NO JOBS OP2 OP3 OP4 OP5 Figure 6 7 NAME Mary Hutchinson ID HUT137 DEPT Service BLDG D 1 MGR Stevens EXT 1378 DATE 8 23 84 HR START 7 30 HR END 3 30 TOT HRS 8 00 NO JOBS 16 HRS PER JOB 50 Figure 6 8 Up to six items and five operations may be entered on a Calculation form The operations are addition division subtraction low the lower of two numbers multiplication high the higher of two numbers Operations are performed from top to bottom with no parentheses or operation priority assumed In another example Figure 6 9 VersaForm XL has been asked to calculate the lower or higher of two numbers In this case the tax charged is to be at least 10 of a price but no less than 2 00 VersaForm XL must ca
187. first then the dates then any others 70 VersaForm XL INDEX FORMS MENU Function key WS One of the easiest ways to retrieve forms is to use the INDEX command Index will display a menu of all forms in the file arranged by key item Just choose the form you want and it will be immediately displayed When you choose the INDEX command you ll be asked for a starting point If you just press pte you ll start at the beginning of the index But if the file is large and you re looking for say Smith John you don t want to scan the entire index In this case you would just respond with S or maybe SM to see the index beginning at that point If the index extends to more than one page the PgUp and PgDn commands can be used to page through the index entries USING THE KEY ITEM DIRECTLY You may request a particular form by using the key item Use the CLEAR command first to get a blank form If you know the exact key you can use the GET command If you don t know the exact key but you do know it approximately you can use NEXT GET FORMS MENU Function key The command GET uses the key item to locate and display a form 1 Enter the entire key item data for the form you want to see directly into the appropriate blank s on the screen If your form has a two part key enter BOTH items 2 Press Esc O G or fF3 NEXT FORMS MENU Function key NEXT can be used to retrieve a form when you don t know the exact key For
188. formation For example if you have set up Report control Instructions on one file and would like the same instructions available on another file with the same kind of form you may copy them from the first to the second The following options are listed on the Copy Print menu in addition to filled in forms i Report Control Instructions Print Formats Printing Control Instructions Copying Control Instructions Procedures both source and code Procedures code only When you copy procedure code only your procedures will be operable but no one will be able to read or change them The steps are the same as for copying forms except there is no automatic selection You must either copy all the instructions or formats or select them manually Report Control Instructions Printing Control Instructions and Copying Control Instructions are all stored in filled in forms Each set of instructions may require more than one instruction form For example 144 VersaForm XL F A set of Report Control Instructions called SALES would be contained on forms identified as SALESR1 the form that tells which items to print SALESS1 the form that tells which items to select and SALEST1 the form that specifies sorting and totaling ii Thus in order to copy the complete set of instructions you would copy all Report Control Instruction forms whose names begin with SALES Transfer Data with Copy By Name COPY BY NAME allows you to t
189. fy Condition 2 STATE must be filled in with CA When two conditions are specified VersaForm XL will extract data IF EITHER CONDITION IS MET COMPLETELY VARIABLES IN SELECTION CONDITIONS When you precede a selection test value with amp on the Selection Condition form you ll be asked to specify the value WHEN THE REPORT IS RUN This allows you to change a selection condition to meet different requirements For example STATE Equals amp THE STATE can become STATE Equals TX on one day and STATE Equals NY on another You would be asked each time to enter THE STATE NOTE You may fill in up to nine separate Selection Conditions If no selection condition is specified the items you ve chosen to print will be extracted from ALL the forms in your file Items included in selection conditions need not be print items They can be any item on your form Comparisons are not case sensitive In other words values will be compared as if all letters were capitals both in the form and in the test regardless of whether the data was entered in caps or small letters Reports 121 Eight comparison tests may be used Equal EQ The two items must be the same Not Equal NE The two items must not be equal Greater Than GT The first item is greater than the second Greater means a later date or higher in the alphabet When numbers dates and words are compared with each other
190. g data under EDIT the filing commands that change to another form get next etc may not be used The START STOP SAVE and COMMAND procedures are not executed CHAINs and CALLs are handled normally Example Enter data on form B There is no window so B is displayed full screen if yesnomsg Enter new data now Y N Y then begin if edit b 0 then saveform b display a end ENTERITEM File formitem exp Function Moves the cursor to the formitem If the formitem is a detail item exp is the line number and must be between 0 and the depth of the form If the location is legal and visible then the operator may enter data into the formitem If the operator just presses Enter the formitem is not changed The cursor is not permitted to move out of the formitem as it would be if GET were used ENTERITEM returns TRUE if the item was found was visible and was indeed changed by the user FALSE otherwise It is the programmer s responsibility to make sure that the item is visible Use VDISPLAY to control which part of the form is on screen Example This moves the cursor to the item PART in line 2 on the secondary form and lets the operator key in data If there is no line 2 or if the PART in the secondary file is not being displayed or if the operator doesn t key in any data i e just presses Enter it will be FALSE ENTERITEM and GOTOITEM are useful for having users
191. h for and enter just the values you want found 2 Command SEARCH For example enter BAKER in the item NAME VersaForm XL will display one by one all forms which contain those letters in the item NAME Both JIM BAKER and JANE S bakery would be found You can also search on column items Before it starts the search VersaForm XL will ask you where to start the search If you can give a key from which to start this will save time For instance if the file you are searching is indexed by zip code and you know that the record you are searching for is on the West Coast you could start your search with 90000 and the system wouldn t have to search the zip codes between 00000 and 89999 Remember this only applies to values of the primary key field VersaForm XL will scan the file and display the first form that matches the values you entered and ask if you want this form If the data that matched was a column line you have a choice of going on to the next matching line the next form or stopping the search 72 VersaForm XL 3 Reply E F or L If you reply L next Line VersaForm XL will continue the search beginning at the next line of the current form and display the next match If you reply F next Form VersaForm XL will continue the search beginning at the first line of the next form and display the next match If you reply E End search VersaForm XL stops the search You may enter or delete data on the
192. he components of the expression To turn off automatic rounding use the statement CLEAR ROUNDING NOTE At the start of a filing session ROUNDING is always cleared If you set ROUNDING in any procedure it will stay set for all procedures until you clear it Normally you need to be concerned with precision only when performing multiplication or division When two numbers are multiplied the precision of the result is greater than each of the components Example 1 01 1 01 has a value of 1 0201 If ROUNDING is set the number will be displayed as 1 02 because each of the components has a display precision of 2 decimal places Division can also result in greater precision Writing Procedures 207 Examples of ROUNDING set and cleared ROUNDI CLEARE 15 08 2953 ji 66666666 2 000 3 666660666 0 0000 2 3 666660666 ROUND 2 3 5 x 66667 There are three ways to control the precision of a result 1 Ifthe result is to be assigned to an item on the form change the JUSTIFY L R field in the item s checking and filling specifications to the number 0 through 9 of decimal places to be displayed for the item 2 With ROUNDING set use a constant e g 0 000 in an arithmetic expression that has as many decimal places as you wish the result to have The result will have that display precision unless some other component of the expression has more precision 3
193. he key item s on the file you re copying TO must be found on the file you re copying FROM Otherwise the program will not be able to perform the copying operation You may choose a different key item when you redesign the form Then when COPY BY NAME is run the new forms will be listed during the transfer process by their new key s Suppose that when the Alpha Tools form was redesigned we replaced ACCT as a key item with CUSTOMER and BILLING DATE as a two part key When the forms are transferred the function will acknowledge the new keys in a display resembling Figure 9 8 148 VersaForm XL TRANSFERRING FROM OLDDISK SAMPLE TO NEWDISK SAMPLE2 1 lt ACCT gt CAR12344 gt lt CUSTOMER gt Chas Carpenter lt BILLING DATE gt 11 15 80 TRANSFERRED 2 lt ACCT gt CAR33251 gt lt CUSTOMER gt Ed Cartwright lt BILLING DATE gt 11 14 80 TRANSFERRED N N NINININININININININININININS N NININININININININININININININS 7 lt ACCT SAW33521 gt lt CUSTOMER gt Geo Sawyer lt BILLING DATE gt 11 15 80 TRANSFERRED 7 FORMS TRANSFERRED x TRANSFER COMPLETED Figure 9 8 WARNING Transferred values won t be recalculated or rechecked If the form you re copying TO was designed with DIFFERENT checking or calculation options than the form you re copying FROM data that is transferred might not be correct according to the checking or calculation specifications in the new form The program does not recalculate or
194. hed by INVENTORY s START not SAMPLE s This would be true whether INVENTORY s START procedure had run or not CANCELLING PROCEDURES You may want to cancel further procedure execution under certain circumstances For example when looking up a PART on an inventory form from ITEM on an invoice you would want to stop validation if the matching PART was not in the inventory file The user procedure GET PART would have the following statements in it to handle this situation 206 VersaForm XL ITEM lt gt B PART THE EGIN ROMP T Item not fou If the PART cannot be found a message appears the bell sounds and the procedure is cancelled Any other procedure that might run as the result of a CHAIN command and in this case any further validation is also cancelled The operator will see the error message Item not found at the bottom of the screen AUTOMATIC ROUNDING AND NUMERIC PRECISION When VersaForm XL performs a calculation the number of decimal places in the result can be up to 8 digits of precision Less precision will be used if possible You may alter the way precision is determined by using the following statement SET ROUNDING When the ROUNDING flag has been set all expressions computed in procedures will have an internal accuracy of up to 8 digits and then be rounded to the number of decimal places determined by the maximum precision of t
195. here you were GETPARAM Function Used in a CALLed procedure to get the passed parameter 238 VersaForm XL Example if SQRT is a procedure that was called by LE CALL ay SORT TI then then in SQRT x GETPARAM will assign 7 to x GOTOITEM File formitem exp Function Moves the cursor to the formitem If the formitem is a detail item 1 e a columnar item exp is the line number and must be between 0 and the depth of the form If the location is legal and visible then GOTOITEM returns TRUE else it returns FALSE It is the programmer s responsibility to make sure that the item is visible Use VDISPLAY to control which part of the form is on screen Example B PART 2 THE This example moves the cursor to the item PART in line 2 on the secondary form If there is no line 2 or if the PART in the secondary file is not being displayed it will be FALSE GOTOXY exp1 exp2 Procedure Moves the cursor to the exp1 th column and the exp2 th line Example GOTOXY 5 0 This statement moves the cursor to column 5 the sixth column row 0 the top row on the screen GOTOXY would be useful when constructing a menu inside a procedure INFOMSG msg Procedure Displays a message in a pop up box and waits for the user to press ENTER Example INFOMSG Hello World INSERTLINE File N Procedure Inserts a blank column line before line N Built In Procedu
196. highlighting an entry using the UP and DOWN arrow keys and then pressing return When you enter data in your records only those entries that match the ones on the list will be accepted When the List Checking form is displayed 1 Key in the first value on Line 1 Each value may contain up to 20 characters 2 VALIDATE E you ll be given a second line to fill in Key in up to 300 values 3 PRINT f8 optional SAVE when you re finished NOTE A list of values must have at least one entry in it or you will not be able to validate entries on your forms later 88 VersaForm XL Three VersaForm XL commands explained in Chapter 5 will be used often when you make or change entries on the List Checking form Tf anew line doesn t appear on the List Checking form when you validate the last line use the PAGE FORWARD PgDn command Use the PAGE BACKWARD PgUp command to return to previous pages Use DELETE ESC E D to remove data you don t want Automatic Filling Automatic filling options instruct VersaForm XL to fill in items on a form MANUAL ENTRY ALWAYS OVERRIDES AUTOMATIC FILLING so even if you choose automatic filling you may later key in data yourself LOOKUP VersaForm XL can look up and automatically fill in information for one item from data entered into another item using a table that you have prepared On the checking and filling menu specify Lookup for the item you want filled in automatically
197. ile APPMENU SPL To see or modify these menus just use VersaForm XL to access that file To actually use these sample menus rename the file APPMENU SPL to APPMENU VFS and start VersaForm XL Rename the file back to APPMENU SPL to return to normal operation The sample menus are A sample Main Menu which appears when the program is started Its key a two part key is VE MAIN The key VF MAIN always identifies a main menu A menu for reports in the sample invoice file INVC SPL Its key is INVC RPT A menu of print formats for INVC SPL Its key is INVC FMT A menu of user procedures for INVC SPL Its key is INVC PRO A menu of copy control instructions for the sample customer ledger file CLEDGER SPL Its key is CLEDGER CPC To try out the sample CUSTOM system do the following 1 Copy the file APPMENU SPL on the program directory to APPMENU VFS 2 Start VersaForm from the DOS prompt by typing VF lt cr gt After you log in the custom Main Menu will appear You may select any of the options Each option has a VersaForm file that will automatically be selected Sample Custom Main Menu Enter Invoices Add payments to customer ledger Update inventory file Invoice Reports Batch print invoices Copy active accounts to new ledger VersaForm XL Main Menu Return to DOS Figure 17 1 3 To restore the standard menus delete APPMENU VFS Custom Menus and Context Sensitive Help 283 CREATING CUSTOM MENUS To
198. ime For example when you re working on an invoice file a two line procedure can automatically look up a description and a price from a large inventory file and the example in the next chapter shows you just how to do that Procedures may be simple or complex depending on your needs They enable you to Look up data in another VersaForm XL file and transfer data to and from your current file e Perform calculations and or make logical decisions Change data automatically throughout your file Conduct a dialogue between VersaForm XL and the operator through a series of on screen questions and operator responses e Run a report from within a procedure Read and write to ASCII files Print very complex forms With this added flexibility in meeting your particular forms processing needs you ll be able to integrate different VersaForm XL files into a comprehensive application system A Simple Look Up Procedure In this chapter we will illustrate a simple look up procedure and explain how to enter it 176 VersaForm XL You can use a VersaForm XL procedure to look up data in another VersaForm XL file and transfer it to the file you re working on For many applications a look up procedure may be the only one you need The procedure illustrated in this chapter is only two lines long Suppose you re presently working on your Invoice file Figure 13 1 ALPHA TOOLS INC SERVING THE BAY AREA SINCE 1925 INVOICE CUS
199. include the parameters to be passed in the PRINTFORM statement only one time For each additional time you need to pass the parameter just include another V GETARG statement to your Print Format in the order you want it to appear in the print format Built In Procedures 249 If the parameter is equal to the empty string a window will pop up and prompt the user to enter a value for that parameter PRINT_LABELS file1 label definition file file2 label setup file Ex name of the text file with the label data Function Runs the label printer Usually you would want to run a report first to produce the label file The function returns either TRUE or FALSE indicating whether it ran successfully To prepare for running the label printer you must have two files each open to the correct form one defining the physical characteristics of the label and one defining the setup of the label These files must have form designs that match LABELDEF VFS and LABELSET VES respectively Example if print_labels deffile setupfile label_file_name then infomsg Labels printed successfully PROGRAMPATH Function Returns the path of the VersaForm program files PROMPT ex Procedure Puts message EX at bottom of screen Example PROMPT The new price for item no amp TEMNUM amp is amp PRICE If ITEMNUM is A66 and price is 33 then The new price for item no A66 is 33 will
200. ine lt AItF gt Undo Clear form lt F9 gt New Line lt ALtF4 gt Press V for VALIDATE You may hear a beep and a message will appear Figure 2 4 Note Another way of invoking a command is to use the function key Most commands have function keys Note on the menu above that the function key for VALIDATE is 1 ALPHA TOOLS INC SERVING THE BAY AREA SINCE CUSTOMER Jane Steel ADDRESS 123 Main St PHONE CITY ELM PARK STATE IL 4 ORDER DATE Message gt Item must be entered Acct Figure 2 4 The VALIDATE command asks VersaForm XL to check and accept your data entries When we designed this form we specified in VersaForm XL s automatic checking and filling that the item called ACCT is MANDATORY it must be entered When a message like the one above appears the cursor will automatically be positioned at the item to be filled in so you can enter the required data Hands On Exercise 21 VersaForm XL s automatic checking and filling feature will be explained at length in Chapter 6 6 Key STE 101 in ACCT Now try to VALIDATE your entries by pressing ff Another message now tells you that all entries into ACCT must follow a particular format or pattern Figure 2 5 We used automatic checking and filling to specify a FORMAT check for ACCT The cursor is again positioned at ACCT ALPHA TOOLS INC SERVING THE BAY AREA SINCE 192 CUSTOMER Jane Steel ACCT STE 101 ADDRESS 123 Main St PHONE CITY Elm Park ORD
201. ine for that form Example DISPLAY B This statement will display the secondary form starting at line 1 If DISPLAY is used during CHECKING the currently modified line is displayed The PAGE procedure should be used instead to control which lines to display DISPLAYFILE value Procedure Displays the text file whose name is given as the parameter on the screen Useful for menus help screens etc Example clearscreen displayfile helpfile txt repeat until keystruck This command is useful for quickly displaying screens stored as ASCII text files DISPLAY_HELP filename exp fieldname exp H exp Procedure Displays context sensitive help which it reads from the file VF HLP The key on VF HLP has two parts filename and fieldname If H is TRUE the help text from VF HLP is displayed if H is FALSE the prompt text is displayed Example Display_help sample customer true Built In Procedures 231 This example displays the help for the customer field on the sample file if it exists DOS_EXEC command line exp Function DOS_EXEC will execute the given command as if it had been typed in at the DOS command line and then return to VersaForm It will swap VersaForm into XMS or Expanded memory or create a swap file on disk to free almost all memory If the DOS_EXEC function is successful it will return 0 otherwise it will return one of the following error codes 1 Unable to shrink
202. ine of the next Continuous_feed Y Y if labels are continuous N if on separate pages Num_down Number of labels down the page only if not continuous Top_margin Number of lines before printing only if not continuous Escape Sequences Reset Esc Seq Initial Esc Seq Ending Esc Seq Figure 10 2 Label Definition 152 VersaForm XL In Figure 10 2 the fields are Num_across Label_width Left_margin Label_spacing Label_height Continuous_feed Num_down Top_Margin Reset Esc Seq Initial Esc Seq Ending Esc Seq The number of labels across the paper The number of characters that will fit on one line of one label The number of characters that should be skipped before printing the first character on the leftmost label Used only if there is more than one label across the paper Enter the number of characters between labels The number of lines between the first line of one label and the first line of the next Enter Y if the labels are continuously mounted as for a dot matrix printer Enter N if they are on separate sheets If the labels are on separate sheets how many are there down the sheet For instance if each page has 30 labels three across and 10 down enter 10 If the labels are on separate sheets how many lines should the program space down at the top of each sheet You may enter printer escape sequences the reset and initial escape sequences are sent before printing begins the end
203. ines below are equally correct ION PARTNAME ION PARTNAME Using Form Items in a Procedure IDENTIFYING FORM ITEMS WITH THE SAME NAME What happens if an item name on the secondary form has the same name as one on the primary form When there is a possibility of confusion identify the primary form with A and the secondary form with B For example if the Inventory form had an item called PRICE instead of STDPRICE you d make the assignment statement read A PRICE B PRICE Primary Secondary FORM ITEMS WITH SPACES OR SYMBOLS What if an item name has a space hyphen colon or other symbol in it e g PART NAME or STD PRICE or Price Each VersaForm XL is flexible about spaces or symbols in item names on forms but in a procedure these could cause confusion e g STD PRICE could be interpreted as STD minus PRICE To avoid this problem when an item name includes a space or a symbol enclose it in exclamation marks STD PRICE or Address or PART NAME If the item needs to be additionally identified by A or B as explained above the letter is NOT enclosed B STD PRICE 184 VersaForm XL n Exception Two symbols are acceptable in form item names They are _ underscore and Therefore item names such as STD_PRICE and STOCK would not have to be enclosed in exclamation marks READING AND WRITING ASCII FILES ASCII
204. ines this form can contain Example L LASTLINE E L lt MAXLINE N L 1 ERTLINE A L EF o 0 END This example adds enough lines to the form to completely fill it starting with LASTLINE 1 and ending with MAXLINE and sets PRICE on each new line to 0 MIN ex1 ex2 Function Returns the smaller of EX1 and EX2 Example Replaces PRICE with NEWPRICE or the old PRICE times 1 1 whichever is smaller Built In Procedures 243 MENU File handle of an open menu file ex2 part 1 of the key of the menu record on the menu file ex3 part 2 of the key of the menu record file on the menu file item function chosen by the user item arg 1 of the function chosen by the user item arg 2 of the function chosen by the user Function Displays a menu as defined on a custom menu file which must be an open file and returns a code indicating whether the menu was displayed successfully and three codes indicating the choice made The menu definiton form on the custom menu file must match that of the files APPMENU and VMENU VFS Example var funct argl arg2 if menu menufile menukeyl menukey2 funct argl arg2 then if funct then infomsg no choice was made else infomsg Choice was made Function chosen amp funct amp v argl amp argl amp Np arg amp arg2 N
205. ing sequence is sent after printing When you are done entering the description Save E21 Then you ll see the form for entering the label setup the relation between the fields and the label The fields you ve chosen for your labels will already be entered on the form Figure 10 3 Print Mailing Labels 153 Label Setup Copies 1 Number of copies of each label Print_dups N Should duplicates be printed Y N Field_Name Line_of_the_Label Customer Address City State Zip Figure 10 3 Label Setup Use the label setup to specify which line to print each item on and whether any of the items are to be printed on the same lines For example you may want CITY STATE and ZIP together on a single line as in the above example You may also choose how many copies of each label to print and whether you want the system to eliminate duplicate labels on your file Only exact duplicates can be eliminated When you Save ff printing will begin Chapter 11 SETUP AND SECURITY The setup functions allow you to configure the system to suit your equipment and your users On a multi user system each user can have his own setup Different users can have different color schemes default directories printer control sequences and so forth There is also a system setup file so you can set up defaults for all users HOW TO DO SETUP 1 Start your VersaForm XL system When asked Enter your user ID log on as MANAGER
206. int Counts Y N Figure 11 3 Report Options FUNCTION KEY OPTIONS Function key assignments Figure 11 2 may be set only on SYSSETUP VES not in SETUP VFS Use Control PgDn to see the portion of the screen that contains these items VersaForm XL is delivered with function key assignments as described in this manual You may change these by entering the keyboard codes you want to use or by entering a question mark in the ASCII column of the command you want to change When you validate you will be asked to press the key you want to use and the field will be filled in automatically REPORT OPTIONS Use Control right arrow to see the portion of the screen that contains report options Figure 11 3 These are the default options for your reports they may be overridden by choices made on each report See the Reports section of these notes Adding Users Security The Security subsystem allows you to control access in several ways You may allow a user to use only certain VersaForm XL functions e g Filing and Reports but not Form Design or only certain files or only certain reports on those files Setup and Security 161 Each user must log on to the system before the Main Menu appears and you can require that the user enter a password A security file called USERS VFS See figure 11 4 below must contain at least one form for each user if the user s name is not in this file he will not be able to log on Along with the use
207. int file is closed and any further PRINT statements will go to the printer See also EXT PRINTFILE Example A OUTPUT TXT this opens a file on drive A ELLO amp CR writes a line to OUTPUT TXT LE CLOSE closes the file ELLO amp CR this will appear on the printer PRINTFORM File ex1 ex2 Procedure Prints according to the format named by EX1 stored in the file If EX1 is blank or null the screen format is used just as in the PRINT command EX2 is a string expression containing the values of variable comments that would otherwise be prompted for by the print format Example Prints the data currently on the primary form using the format INVFMT EX2 is null because we assume there are no variable comments in this format 248 VersaForm XL PRINTFORM A INVFMT Note If a print format has been designed with variable comments these values can be supplied when the form is printed When the PRINT command is issued from the command menu in filing and a print format name is given the user will be prompted for values to variable comments if the print format has them The user may enter a value or press to ignore the comment When a procedure invokes a print format it supplies the values for the variable comments as a string expression which can be up to 80 characters in length Each comment in EX2 is separated by a special chara
208. internal flag to its previous state before the last SET or CLEAR POS ex1 ex2 Function Returns a number indicating the first position of EX1 within EX2 If EX1 is not contained in EX2 the value returned is 0 Example POS 12345 78 This example returns a value of 6 WARNING This function is case sensitive The statement POS a CAT returns 0 not 2 POSN pattern target Function This is like POS but it is not case sensitive If you re looking for Bob POS will find only Bob but POSN will find bob BOB BoB etc Built In Procedures 247 PREVENT_DELETE File Function Returns True if the file has been set up in the Form Design process so that deleting lines and removing forms are prohibited Procedures need to know this to avoid deleting lines and forms when they really shouldn t PRINT ex Procedure Writes a value given by EX to the printer Example INT The new price for item no amp TEMNUM amp is amp PRICE If ITEMNUM is A66 and price is 33 then The new price for item no A66 is 33 will be printed PRINT_CTL_STR Function Returns the current user default printer control string PRINTFILE ex Procedure Opens a file usually on disk that will receive any data from a PRINT statement The data is redirected to this file instead of going to the printer An existing file is overwritten If EX is the reserved word CLOSE the current pr
209. ion Conditions 118 Multiply 197 Multi User Features 165 N Negative N 77 Nested Statements 202 Next N 70 73 Nextform 234 243 Non Numeric Values 198 Normal_Vid 243 Not 200 Not Equal Ne 121 Not Equal To In Procedure Statements 200 Notation 191 Numbers 11 In Procedures 193 Numeric 83 Numeric Precision 206 O Operational Modes 170 Operator 195 amp 197 197 197 Div 197 Mod 197 Operators 197 In Procedures 191 Or 200 Ord 243 Order Of Evaluation 198 Ordering 301 Pad 243 Padding 207 253 Page Length 157 Width 157 Page 244 Page Backward Pb 68 Page Forward Pf 68 Parameters 196 217 Index 309 Parentheses 197 Password 161 V Bat 163 Path 114 Path 229 Percentages 107 Pedn 68 244 In Procedures 182 Pgup 68 244 In Procedures 182 Pick Procedures 188 Pickfield 244 Pickfile 245 Pickindex 245 Picklist 246 Pickup P 77 Pif 15 Pop 246 Pos 246 Posn 246 Prevent_Delete 247 Primary Files 177 Primary Form A 191 Print 247 In Procedures 182 Print Pr 69 Print Control Sequence 158 Print Control Sequence 115 287 Print Format 125 Design 126 Form 129 Print Formats In Procedures 248 Print Line And Column Numbers 126 Print Mailing Labels 149 Print The Form 68 Print The Form Definition 62 Print_Ctl_Str 247 Print_Labels 249 Printer Configuration 157 Print Control Setup 158 Test Ready 1
210. is Selection Condition DP siese Item_Tested Test Test_Against N V 1 Amount ge 10 00 Vv 2 Order Date ge amp date from Vv 3 Order Date le amp date to Vv 4 Data will not be selected unless it passes ALL tests above Edit this form or use the command FILL alt F10 to add more tests to this condition When it is OK SAve F2 this form To add another selection condition SAve or use the command Next Figure 3 7 17 SAVE f21 your entries You ll be asked Enter another selection condition Y N N Up to nine selection condition forms may be entered for each report but we ll just enter one here 18 Press ENTER VersaForm XL will return you to the Report Menu Now we wi N are ready to produce the report Produce the Report The current file you are reporting from and the current report are named at the top of the screen It should look similar to Figure 3 8 showing the file and report name as Sample 46 VersaForm XL Report Menu H Set Up the Report Print Items Sorting Totals etc Enter Selection Conditions Include Additional Files Run the Report Remove this Report Rename this Report Copy Another Report Choose Another Report Return to the Main Menu 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Figure 3 8 When we produce the report i e print it VersaForm XL will ask you to specify Report Options Report Options are a set of instructions you may enter when a report is designed
211. item CLERK on the blank form and key in Sam Then move the cursor to L 1 under STOCK and key in your code for the electric drill A44 Figure 2 19 Press SEARCH VersaForm XL will ask you where to start the search use this only if you know something about the key such as it begins with W In this case you would just press pte VersaForm will scan the file display the first form that contains the values you entered and ask if you want this form You will find that Sam has sold at least two other electric drills First you will see the form for Chas Carpenter ACCT CAR12344 Forms are searched according to their key items alphabetically and numerically Answer F to continue the search VersaForm XL will continue the search and display the next form with those values which is Geo Sawyer s ACCT SAW33521 Answer F the third form displayed will be Jane Steel s ACCT STE12345 Answer E to end the search The symbols and instructions used to tell VersaForm XL what to SEARCH for when using this command are described in Chapter 5 Filing Data Entry and Retrieval Also explained in Chapter 5 are other commands used for the easy retrieval of forms FIRST LAST NEXT BACK and INDEX 32 VersaForm XL You may also use the GET command to find a form without clearing the screen to a blank form Try it with Jane Steel s form ALPHA TOOLS INC SERVING THE BAY AREA SINCE 1925 CUSTOMER Jane S
212. justify in size C Center within size Z Right justify and zero fill on the left The expression to be printed It can be a field name a word or phrase in quotes or any expression that would be legal if used to denote a value in a procedure Examples Customer Merry Christmas no semicolon Coltotal Amount no semicolon The number 1 9 of the starting printer control sequence for this print item The actual sequences are on Page 3 of the print format The number 1 9 of the ending printer control sequence for this print item The actual sequences are on Page 3 of the print format This field is currently not used This field is currently not used This field is currently not used 132 Initial Procedure Detail Procedure Ending Procedure Format PAGE 3 ITEMS Overlay Files Download File Reset Esc Seq Initial Esc Seq Ending Esc Seq Esc Sequence VersaForm XL The name of a VersaForm procedure to execute before the print format is written The name of a VersaForm procedure to execute before each detail line in the print format is written The name of a VersaForm procedure to execute after the print format is written Contains a code or series of codes that control the format of the data to be printed 0 9 Specifies the number of decimal places for a number Removes all characters not between 0 and 9 Removes all characters not between A and Z Capitalizes the first letter of each word
213. k 263 Vput 263 Vquit 263 Vreadch 263 Vrename 263 Vtime 264 Vuser 264 Vyear 264 W Warning Totaling Single Items In Reports 100 While 202 Whole Numbers 197 Windowing Routines 212 Windows 14 With Reports 114 Word Processor Format E Export 114 Writing Ascii Files 209 Y Yes Or No 83 Yesno 265 Yesnomsg 265 Z Zoom 64
214. k or commit To roll back a transaction is to undo it All affected files are returned to their state as far as this transaction is concerned as of the beginning of the transaction Committing a transaction makes the transaction permanent After a commit you can no longer roll back When a transaction ends all locks acquired in the course of that transaction are released except for the current form in each open file Locks on the current forms are not released but exclusive locks become shared locks Thus each transaction starts with shared locks on the current forms if any Normally locks accumulate as records are read and written until the end of the transaction Holding locks until transactions end is a good practice as it prevents users from altering each other s data while the transaction is in progress oO If the transaction is rolled back all records for that transaction are returned to their state as of the beginning of the transaction Any records that were added to the file are removed and any records that were removed are restored o If the transaction is committed all records that were saved to provide rollback capability for that transaction are freed When a transaction accumulates 50 record locks in a file VersaForm XL will attempt to lock the file automatically This prevents a buildup of locks which would slow the program and reduce available memory Procedures that would retrieve many records should lock th
215. k or other error 168 VersaForm XL Two important switches are the Locking switch and the Automatic locking switch Locking is normally on It can be turned off from a procedure If locking is off the system does not try to ensure the correctness of transactions it s up to the user Once locking is off it stays off until it is turned on again or until you exit Filing You should never need to turn locking off Automatic locking controls how procedures lock your records It may be turned off safely in some procedures This is discussed further below LOCKING ON INTERACTIVE COMMANDS Get Next Back First Last Index Search Before a record is read from the file a shared lock for that record RS is requested If it is not granted the command is not executed Data Entry When data is validated an exclusive lock for the record on the screen RX is requested Thus an early warning will be given if the record is already in use Save Continue Remove Save Before the record is written to the file an exclusive lock for that record is requested If it is not granted the command is not executed Normally i e if ROLLBACK is on Save Continue does not actually write over the previously existing record in the file Instead updates are written to new locations on the disk This takes longer but it preserves the data for a possible rollback The system keeps in RAM the locations of the previous versions of the updated records
216. key in FLE34567 and use the command GET E The system will locate the form and display it with the message Last Updated date amp time You need to GET the form first because the REMOVE command removes the CURRENT form the one displayed on the screen Use the command REMOVE fT Now you ll be asked Destroy this form Y N VersaForm XL is giving you a chance to change your mind Key in Y to indicate you do want this form removed Even though you ve removed the form from the file it will still be displayed on the screen At this point before you clear the screen or turn off the computer you may still change your mind If you see it on the screen you can keep it Command SAVE 21 You ll see the message New Form Saved and the form will be restored to the file You may check the Index to make sure as explained in Chapter 5 36 VersaForm XL To return to the Main Menu use the EXIT command ESCAPE F X or ETIKI You may see the message Ending transactions You have finished the Hands On Exercise in entering information Chapter 3 HANDS ON EXERCISE PREPARING A REPORT Follow the instructions in Chapter 1 to start VersaForm XL 1 Select 3 Reports from the Main Menu After you enter the drive and file name use the same file SAMPLE as in the previous exercise you will see the following message Enter report name up to 6 letters or for a list gt 2 Enter a new report n
217. ks for a record indexed by the name of the file only Chapter 18 UTILITY FUNCTIONS Several utility functions are accessed from the Utilities Menu Figure 18 1 VersaForm Utilities Copy by name Set the date Send print control sequence Change default disk path name File Diagnostic functions File Integrity Checks File Recovery Return to Main Menu 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Figure 18 1 Utilities Menu This chapter discusses each of these functions with the exception of Copy by Name which was discussed in Chapter 9 SETTING THE DATE You may set the date directly from the Utilities Menu This action changes not only the date in VersaForm but the DOS date as well Network dates if any do not change If you re not using the true date remember to change it back when you return to DOS SEND A PRINT CONTROL SEQUENCE If you need to temporarily change the setting of your printer you may enter a print control sequence and it will be immediately sent to the printer The sequence does not change any sequence entered in the setup file Refer to the section on print control sequences in the chapter on Reports for instructions CHANGING THE DEFAULT DISK PATH NAME When VersaForm asks for a user file name it offers a default disk or path name This is either last path name used the default in SYSSETUP VES or the default in SETUP VFS or the current drive in order of preference This default can be temporarily
218. l Avg 1 CUSTOMER 30 CUSTOMER 2 oTy 5 QTY Y 3 DESCRIPTION 10 PURCHASES 4 AMOUNT 10 AMOUNT Y 5 Figure 7 7 Adding totals to the report SALES REPORT CUSTOMER QTY PURCHASES AMOUNT Wrench 30 00 Chisel 15 00 Hammer 15 00 Chisel 12 00 Hammer 25 00 Chisel 15 00 Hammer 10 Wrench Chisel Smith Smith Smith Jones Jones Brown Brown Green Whyte WNHNOU BW UW Totals Figure 7 8 Report with totals Avoid adding single field items from your forms into a total more than once When you ask VersaForm XL to print both single item fields and column items from your form that single item will appear once for each report column line Figure 7 9 shows a total TAX item of 1 50 for all items sold If you request a report in which the items to be printed are the STOCK QTY DESCRIPTION and TAX see Figure 7 10 then TAX which is a single field Reports 101 item will appear on each line one line per item sold in Figure 7 9 instead of once per form as it did originally ALPHA TOOLS INC SERVING THE BAY AREA SINCE 1925 CUSTOMER STAR DOUGLAS ACCT STA75791 ADDRESS 7 Mayfield Rd PHONE CITY Mayfield STATE NH ZIP ORDER DATE 8 9 65 CLERK Abbey L QTY STOCK DESCRIPTION PRICE AMOUNT 01 1 Al Hammer 10 00 10 00 02 1 A2 Wrench 10 00 10 00 03 1 Chisel 04 SUBTOTAL 30 00 TAX 1 50 TOTAL 31 50 Figure 7 9 Invoice showing Tax single item STOCK QTY PURCHASES A1 Hammer Chisel A3 Wrench Totals
219. lculate the higher of 10 and 2 00 To do this VersaForm XL will compute 10 x PRICE compare that result with 2 00 and enter the higher of the two numbers as the value for TAX 92 VersaForm XL CALCULATION The calculation may be made by adding subtracting multiplying or dividing two items or one item and a number Operations are Low L High H Operations Items numbers I1 0 10 OP1 I2 PRICE OP2 OP3 OP4 OP5 This item Figure 6 9 RUNNING TOTALS Running totals may be kept for information entered in columns In Figure 6 10 the BALANCE is the running total of the DEBIT and CREDIT columns calculated by adding a new amount to the previous value of the balance DATE DESCRIPTION DEBIT CREDIT BALANCE 1 12 83 Rental income 100 00 100 00 1 15 83 Permit fee 15 00 85 00 1 26 83 Royalty payment 40 00 125 00 Figure 6 10 Figure 6 11 shows the information which would be entered on the Calculation Form to calculate the BALANCE in Figure 6 10 In figure 6 11 11 is CREDIT and I2 is DEBIT 13 BALANCE 1 tells VersaForm XL to add the latest credit or debit figure to the value of the previous line 1 in order to obtain the running total Automatic Checking And Automatic Filling 93 CALCULATION The calculation may be made by adding subtracting multiplying or dividing two items or one item and a number Operations are Low L High H Operations Items
220. le items and with at least one column item that matches all the criteria You can also use a to represent any single character or number Filing Data Entry and Retrieval 73 979 would locate forms with 909 919 929 939 etc Peters n would produce all forms with either Peterson or Petersen in the item you have chosen for the search Browse Through a File The commands FIRST LAST NEXT and BACK allow you to scan a file form by form FIRST FORMS MENU The command FIRST displays the first form in a file LAST FORMS MENU The command LAST displays the last form in a file NEXT FORMS MENU Function key The command NEXT discussed above displays the form with the next higher key BACK FORMS MENU Function key WT The command BACK allows you to examine the previous form in a file the one with the next lower key Other Commands REMOVE FORMS MENU Function key When you want to remove a form from a file have it displayed and then use the REMOVE command NOTE After removing a form it will still be on the screen WHILE THE FORM IS STILL DISPLAYED you may change your mind about removing it Once the screen is cleared it s too late 74 VersaForm XL If you change your mind just SAVE the form SPACE REPORT UTILS MENU The SPACE REPORT command tells how much of the available storage in a file has been used EXIT FILE MENU Function key When you want to stop working on a file 1 S
221. ling Locking in Reports When you run a report the file is automatically locked with a shared lock Others can run reports or inspect forms but they cannot change them since that would involve getting an exclusive lock System Failures If a system failure occurs or if you re boot any locks that were in force will stay in force as they are written on the disk Other users will still experience them When you re enter Filing for that file your locks will be removed automatically For emergency use there is a command on the Filing screen LOcks that lets you remove locks that are stuck Rollback information does not survive system failures since it is in RAM Thus any file changes that partially completed transactions made will still be in your files OPERATIONAL MODES There are three modes of file access sharing exclusive use and read only Sharing mode is the normal mode for a multi user system and uses all the locking and transaction processing features described above Exclusive use mode gives you single user operation in the multi user system It opens all files in such a way that no one else can use them at all It uses the Deny Read Write option of the DOS Open function Locking and rollback are disabled When you use this mode the system will run faster but of course you are essentially using the system in single user not multi user mode Note that since locking is disabled another user who tries to open a fil
222. ly you could not retrieve certain records verify that they can be retrieved now If you saw duplicate items in reports run the same report and confirm that this no longer occurs This is the time to make the necessary checks to be satisfied with your rebuilt file If you feel uncertain for any reason call Tech Support Back up your rebuilt file Utility Functions 291 TRANSFER UTILITY The Transfer utility has the capability of transferring data from one file to another and allowing the user to specify which fields to transfer to which In other words it s like Copy By Name but you aren t restricted to copying only fields that have the same name This utility is implemented entirely as a VersaForm procedure Thus you can study it it s an excellent example of the use of a third and fourth file in a procedure or modify it To use it Enter Filing on the file TRANSFER There is one form already on the file which contains an explanation of how it is filled Get a clear form and fill it out indicating the transfer you want to do which files and which fields Then run the procedure copy forms There is also a procedure which will remove all the forms on the target file in case you make a mistake and want to try again ACTIVITY TRACE The activity trace produces a trace of file reads and writes of significant entities e g forms print formats report instructions locks and index events It is initiated by including the word
223. m XL Commands Data Entry Commands Zoom Validate Edit Menu To Enter Data on a Form Save Forms Menu What If You Make a Mistake Undo Edit Menu Delete Edit Menu Clear Edit Menu Insert Edit Menu Page Forward Page Backward To Fill in Another Form in the Same File To Print the Form Print Forms Menu Retrieve Forms The Arrangement of Forms in a File Index Forms Menu Using the Key Item Directly Get Forms Menu Next Forms Menu Search Forms Menu Browse Through a File 41 45 First Forms Menu Last Forms Menu Next Forms Menu Back Forms Menu Other Commands Remove Forms Menu Space Report Utils Menu Exit File Menu Procedures Run Procedure Run Menu Switch File File Menu The Calculator Calculate Utils Menu Perform Arithmetic Operations Errors Other Calculator Commands Chain Calculations Calculator HELP Command Chapter 6 AUTOMATIC CHECKING AND AUTOMATIC FILLING Overview Choosing Checking and Automatic Filling Checking Options Minimum Length Maximum Length Justify Numeric Yes Or No Self Checking Mandatory Extended Checks Range Check Format Check List Check Automatic Filling Lookup Todaysdate Calculation Running Totals Default Values Column Total Chapter 7 REPORTS Report Control Instructions Creating a Report Totaling Averages Counts Percentages Report Variables The Report Definition Form Selection Conditions 73 73 73 73 73 73 74 74 74 74 75 75 75
224. m type was not found 264 VersaForm XL Example if VRENAME A VREPORT SALES INCOME NUMRENAMED 0 then if NUMRENAMED 1 then the report SALES was renamed This would rename the report SALES on file A to INCOME If VRENAME returns 0 there was no error and if the number of forms renamed was or more then the report was found and it was renamed VTIME Function Returns current time obtained from the operating system in the form HH MM SS Example INT The time is amp VTIME At noon this will print The time is 12 00 00 VSIZE File Fieldname Function Returns the maximum number of characters that an item on a form can hold Example VSIZE thisfile PART If thisfile is open and the item PART has space for 5 characters on the form VSIZE has a value of 5 VUSER Function Returns the ID of the current user Example Prompt your name is amp vuser amp isn t it VYEAR ex Function If value of EX is a date this returns a number from 1900 to 1999 Example If X is a variable and this is 1984 and FIRST YEAR contains 6 16 64 then EAR VDATE IT HAS BEE This will print IT HAS BEEN 20 YEARS Built In Procedures 265 YESNO Function Waits for a Y or N response from the user followed by RETURN returns True if the user pressed Y
225. make the column width zero VersaForm XL can print subtotals of the items that are to be totalled for each group of sorted items To include subtotals in the report as in Figure 7 14 you d enter Y in the report option Sub Figure 7 15 Note that you request subtotals based on the item being sorted not the item that is being totalled You tell VersaForm XL WHEN to subtotal not what to subtotal Thus in Figure 7 13 if we want subtotals of Amount for each different Purchase type we would subtotal on Purchases VersaForm XL knows that Qty and Amount are the columns to be subtotaled since we have already asked for totaling of those columns 104 VersaForm XL SALES REPORT CUSTOMER QTY PURCHASES AMOUNT Whyte Chisel 9 00 Jones Chisel 12 00 Brown Chisel 15 00 Smith Chisel Chisel Hammer Hammer Hammer Hammer Wrench Wrench Wrench Totals Figure 7 14 Report with subtotals NOTE It isn t practical to ask for subtotals of items that aren t sorted since they won t be together in the report Screen 1 Form Id SALES1 Titlel SALES REPORT Title2 More Options gt Title3 ctrl gt Page Format Width Length Left Margin Skip lines after titles Counts Y N Print item Options 1 99 Y N Y N Y N S Srt Dir Sub Ttl Avg CUSTOMER 30 CUSTOMER QTY 5 QTY DESCRIPTION 10 PURCHASES AMOUNT 10 AMOUNT Figure 7 15 Definition of report with subtotals You may direct VersaForm XL to start a new
226. meant to include everyone who lives either in Kansas OR in Texas To do this you need to use two selection conditions Multiple Selection Conditions If you want to select data that meets ANY of several tests rather than ALL of the tests you must put each test on a separate Selection Condition form You may specify up to nine selection conditions by filling in up to nine separate Selection Condition forms For example you may specify Condition 1 Select If STATE EQ TX Or Condition 2 Select If STATE EQ CA Data will be selected if it meets EITHER condition Figure 7 28 Data from this form Data from this form WILL be selected WILL be selected CUSTOMER John Doe CUSTOMER John Doe ADDRESS 123 J St ADDRESS 123 J St CITY Dallas CITY Anaheim STATE TX ZIP 72301 1234 STATE CA ZIP 90031 1234 Data from this form Data from this form WILL NOT be selected WILL NOT be selected CUSTOMER John Doe CUSTOMER John Doe ADDRESS 123 J St ADDRESS 123 J St CITY Houston CITY Santa Cruz STATE MI ZIP 15241 3421 STATE FL ZIP 90031 5678 Figure 7 28 Data selected if either condition is met When more than one selection condition is specified each can consist of one or more tests For example 120 VersaForm XL Condition 1 Select If STATE EQ TX and CITY EQ DALLAS Condition 2 Select if STATE EQ CA For a form to satisfy Condition 1 STATE must be filled in with TX and CITY must be filled in with DALLAS To satis
227. n Total VCOMPARE file file ftype keyl key2 n neq Compare Forms VCOPY file file ftype keyl key2 repl Copy Forms VCOUNT file ftype KEY n item Count Forms ELETE file ftype KEY n item Delete Forms ENAME file ftype keyl key2 n item Rename Forms LOCKING AND TRANSACTION Procedures Actions COMMIT Commits the transaction ROLLBACK Performs a rollback SET CLEAR POP locking Turns all locking on or off T CLEAR POP auto_lock Turns auto locking on off T CLEAR POP rollback_on Turns rollback on or off S 5 UNLOCKFILE File Unlocks a file UNLOCKFORM File Unlocks current form Functions Actions OCKFILE File exclusive shared Requests file lock LOCKFORM File exclusive shared Requests form lock 222 VersaForm XL WINDOWS AND PICK LISTS Functions Action APPENDLIST list handle list entry Adds entry to list DISPLAY HELP file field H Displays context sensitive help MENU ex eX eX item item item Displays menu user choice PICKFIELD file field Picks a field from a form PICKFILE win handle start point Picks item from text file in window PICKINDEX file index name Picks form from index list win handle start point PICKLIST win handle list handle Picks item from previously item created list OSE_LIST ex list handle Closes list OSE_WIN ex window handle Closes window
228. n line EIIE and Scroll move the window right and left fs and Move up or down to the next visible column line and Move to the next column line either up or down If not visiible the next line is made so g EET and 7 land Scroll up and down Move the cursor all the way left and right then when pressed a second time to the upper left or lower right corners of the form If the edge or corner of the screen isn t visible at the moment scrolling occurs DATES A date is always written numerically as month day and year Use either slashes or hyphens as separators Use one or two digits for the month and day and either two or four digits for the year For example 4 18 90 or 11 9 1991 or 04 02 91 or 12 21 2002 These formats enable VersaForm XL to recognize dates and put them in chronological order You may modify the system to choose the dates non U S convention of day month and year Refer to Chapter 11 Setup and Security DISK DRIVES The two diskette drives are referred to as A and B The designation for hard disk drives varies with the machine but is usually drive C In this manual we will assume that your hard disk is drive C DISKETTES Handle your diskettes gently and keep them clean Refer to your computer handbook for information on diskettes Label each file diskette with both a diskette number and file name Write witha soft felt tip pen not a ball point pen
229. n make sure everything appears in the right place s Remove The program will remove the print format from the file a Rename You may rename a print format 134 VersaForm XL F Copy You may copy another print format from the same file to this one Then of course you can follow the instructions above to make changes to it Convert old print format If you are upgrading from version 5 xx to the current version use this option to convert the print formats Electronic Print Formats You can also use print formats to help prepare files for electronic transmission of data NOTE The print format controls the order in which data within a form is placed on a file To open the file write headers and trailers and control which forms are written you must use a VersaForm XL procedure Writing procedures is explained in Part III of this manual When you answer E to the question Is this a Paper or an electronic format P E P VersaForm XL proceeds as before but uses a different print format form Figure 8 4 The fields on this form are explained below File Format Definition Screen 1 Form ID Electronic Type E More Options gt ctrl right Length of Record Length of Detail Details Start At Number of Details Offset L RD Pos Redefinition Conditions ctrl pagedown Figure 8 4 Electronic Print Format Print on Preprinted Forms 135 ELECTRONIC PRINT FORMAT FIELDS L
230. n the report is printed you ll be asked Print the report again Y N N You can have the report displayed on the screen once and then printed or vice versa Or you may want to have more than one copy 8 Enter Y and the report will print again OR enter N to return to the report menu 9 Press Esc Escape to return to the Main Menu You have finished the Hands On Exercise in creating and running a report Part Il Using The VersaForm XL Database Chapter 4 CREATE A FILE AND DESIGN A FORM Form Design Overview When you select FORM DESIGN from the Main Menu you will be able to choose from several options on the Form Design menu You may design on the screen a new form that meets your special needs Anew file will be created X Change an existing form design Add or delete data items fields or change field lengths as your requirements change i Copy a form design from another file This creates a new file with an existing form design gt Select checking and filling options for any items on your form When data is later entered into the form through the FILING function VersaForm XL will check for accuracy and fill items in automatically Print the form definition A hard copy of your form design is a useful reference All these are described in this chapter except for the checking and filling option This is described separately in Chapter 6 Automatic Checking and Automatic Filling D
231. n would look after the transfer ALPHA TOOLS INC Serving The Bay Area Since 1925 CUSTOMER Bill Carpenter ACCT CAR12344 ADDRESS 321 Maple St CITY Jackson STATE MI ZIP 44567 1234 AREA CODE PHONE 445 0809 EXT BILLING DATE 11 15 80 CODE 54 7Y Figure 9 6 Copy Forms and Data 147 Note that all the data items with corresponding names have been filled in even though they are not in the same position AREA CODE and EXT have not been filled in since they are new items Remember if the item you re copying data FROM is longer than the item you re copying TO the system will transfer the data but will truncate it DUPLICATE FORMS When the transferring process begins the system will notify you if there are duplicate forms forms with the same keys as in Figure 9 7 TRANSFERRING FROM OLDDISK SAMPLE TO NEWDISK SAMPLE2 If you 1 lt ACCT gt CAR12344 answer Y IS ALREADY IN NEWDISK SAMPLE2 you will REPLACE WITH NEW FORM Y N see 1 lt ACCT gt CAR12344 lt TRANSFERRED If you 2 lt ACCT gt CAR33251 answer N IS ALREADY IN NEWDISK SAMPLE2 you will REPLACE WITH NEW FORM Y N see NOT TRANSFERRED lt Figure 9 7 If you reply Y to have the form transferred it will replace the form and any data on it that is already on the file you re copying TO and the old data will be lost CHANGING THE KEY ITEM COPY BY NAME permits new forms to have different keys from the old ones NOTE The data for t
232. nd automatic locking off 2 At the end of the procedure turn both rollback and automatic locking back on Then unlock the file Procedures so modified will run at full speed For more information about how to set and clear automatic locking and rollback and about locking see Chapter 16 Getform Nextform Backform Firstform Lastform Before a form is read from the file a shared lock for that form is requested If it is not granted the user is informed and told who holds the lock and asked whether to retry the lock roll back the transaction or simply accept what has been done so far i e commit Saveform Removeform Before the form is written to or removed from the file an exclusive lock for that form is requested If it is not granted the user is has the same choices as above Saveform in a procedure is equivalent to Save and Continue TIEZ in Filing Following the SAVEFORM A or B command with a COMMIT command will save the form and end the transaction This is equivalent to the Save command ff in Filing When automatic locking is off the programmer must request his own locks Built in routines are available to do this Both file locks and form locks can be requested When a lock fails the built in routine returns the current lock holder s 170 VersaForm XL name to your procedure which can then inform the operator Once automatic locking is off it stays off until it is turned on again or until you exit Fi
233. nd change any data at all Chapter 12 MULTI USER OPERATION Multi User Features VersaForm XL supports multi user operation by 1 Providing a way of locking both files and individual records so one user can update data without interfering with another 2 Dividing the work that a user does into transactions A transaction is a logical unit of work in a database maybe an order or payment entry that you want to succeed or fail as a whole 3 Providing a security system to prevent unauthorized access and to allow different users to have different access capabilities Design features are Existing applications will run correctly in a multi user environment without change Note however that VersaForm XL procedures may require some modification to enhance their performance Multi User VersaForm XL assures correct operation by performing the required file and record locking automatically without any action on the part of the user Programmers may disable automatic locking and control the multi user functions themselves VersaForm XL will run on a wide variety of networks The system is designed for fast networks such as IBM or Novell Although VersaForm XL may run on RS 232 no slot LANs good performance on these LANs was not a design goal and is not assured 166 VersaForm XL Transactions A transaction begins at Filing startup or when the previous transaction ends Transactions can end in two ways rollbac
234. nd line INSTALLING ON MICROSOFT WINDOWS The steps outlined in the previous section can be followed under Windows by executing them in an MS DOS window If you prefer you can leave Windows and execute them under DOS Then Under Windows from the Program Manager click File then Run In the Command Line box enter C VF WVFSETUP making the usual assumption about the drive and path This will create a program group for VersaForm XL Introduction to VersaForm XL 15 containing a VersaForm icon and another for the Readme file VersaForm may now be invoked as any Windows application As installed VersaForm will run within a window If you wish it to run in full screen mode you may change VF PIF in the usual way To use the mouse in VersaForm under Windows you must install the mouse drivers in DOS See below MOUSE INSTALLATION If you intend to use a mouse you must install its driver in your DOS configuration or Autoexec file This is true even for Windows the mouse facilities of Windows will not be usable in VersaForm XL unless the mouse driver has been installed to operate under DOS NETWORKS Unless your network specifies otherwise for multi user operation you should put the DOS SHARE command in the AUTOEXEC BAT file on each of the network workstations SETTING UP SERIAL PRINTERS Almost all printers on IBM PC compatibles are parallel printers but serial printers may be used To install a serial printer use the DO
235. nd zero filled The string returned will be the length specified Type can be one of the following C Center the string L Left justify the string R Right justify the string Z Right justify the string and fill the blanks with zeros 240 VersaForm XL Example var S begin clearscreen gotoxy 0 12 s justif Hello World 80 C put end The result is Hello World centered in an 80 character string KEYSTRUCK Function Returns TRUE if a key has been pressed and ignores the character that was entered Example EYSTRUCK THEN ECIN PT Printing halted Press any key to resume EPEAT empty loop waits for user UNTIL KEYSTRUCK END This will send the prompt only if the user has pressed a key and then allows the user to resume by pressing another key This function can be used in a loop to allow the operator to quit the process LASTCOMMAND Function Returns a value see Command Procedures above indicating which was the last command requested Example LASTFORM File Procedure Example See FILING COMMAND PROCEDURES above LASTLINE File Function Returns the current number of column lines on a form Example 9 PR L 1 IL L gt LASTLINE Built In Procedures 241 This example reduces the PRICE on each line including the last line by 10 LASTPOSN s1 s2 Function Retur
236. ner described for reports 150 VersaForm XL As VersaForm XL reaches the final stage of producing the report you ll be asked if you want to print the labels immediately If you do answer Y and you ll go directly to the Label Description step below If you want to print the labels later you ll be asked to identify the output file which will hold the labels until you want to print them When asked to enter a file name enter a suitable file name LABELS will do just fine VersaForm XL will create the text file which you will use with the MAILING LABEL PRINTER function to produce labels ENTERING THE INSTRUCTIONS Select Mailing Label Printer from the Main Menu When requested by the system enter the name of the text file you ve created and press Enter VersaForm XL will ask for the information it needs to correctly position and print the items on your labels There are two kinds of information it needs a label description how wide the labels are how tall etc and label setup information where to print the individual fields on the label Label Description You ll see a list such as the one below label definition a label definition Remove a label definition Print line and column numbers If you have already entered a label description for the label that you are using simply choose that label from the list To enter or change a label description choose the appropriate o
237. ng 31 Filling Procedures 187 Findline 235 First In Procedures 181 First F 73 Firstform 234 Form Design Maximum Size 9 Form Design Columns 57 Form Design Menu 51 Form Feed 157 Form Id 191 Form Items 191 Form Names In Procedures 183 Form Size 53 Form Type 217 Format 235 Format Check 85 Formatsequal 236 Formatting Diskettes 297 Formfeed 236 Formitem 191 217 Formtype 217 Function Keys Filing Commands 64 Functions 197 G Get 236 Get G 70 Get Command 29 Get Inventory Sample Procedure 280 Getch 236 Getform 234 Getparam 237 Getxy 237 Global Changes 278 Global Variables 133 Global Variables In Procedures 194 Gotoitem 238 Gotoxy 238 Greater Than In Procedure Statements 200 Greater Than Gt 121 Greater Than Or Equal To In Procedure Statements 200 Greater Than Or Equal To Ge 121 H Home Key 9 I VO Error Handling 210 Identifiers 197 Identifiers 191 Identifiers Procedure 191 If Statement 200 Import Data 208 Import Long Lines 208 Include 213 Index In Procedures 182 Index I 70 Infomsg 238 Insert In 68 Insert Line In Procedures 182 Insertline 238 Installation Color Displays 15 Memory Required 13 Serial Printers 15 Installation 12 Integer 197 Inve Spl Sample File 280 Inventry Spl Sample File 280 Invert I 77 Invoicing Sequential Numbering Sample 270 Joerror 239 Function 210 Item In Procedure Statements 217 J J
238. ng Procedure Statements 196 Built In Procedures and Functions 196 Computation Exceptions 198 Assignment Statements 199 Compound Statements 200 Procedure Chaining 204 Calling Procedures 204 Procedure Calling 204 Cancelling Procedures 205 Automatic Rounding and Numeric Precision 206 Automatic Padding 207 Reading or Importing Ascii Files 208 Writing Ascii Files 209 T O Error Handling 210 More Than Two Files 211 Windowing Routines 212 Include 213 File Handling 213 Procedure Handling 214 Errors and Exceptions 214 The Continue Message 215 Chapter 15 BUILT INPROCEDURES AND FUNCTIONS 217 Built in Routines 218 Manipulating Forms 218 Manipulating Column Lines 219 Entering and Transfering Data 220 Manipulating Strings 221 Other Procedures and Functions 223 Alphabetical Listing of Built In Routines 224 Filing Command Procedures 234 Chapter 16 SAMPLE PROCEDURES 267 A Menu Procedue 268 Invoicing Sequential Numbering 270 Removing Selected Lines Prior To Printing Statements 272 Posting Several Transactions to an Inventory 274 Procedure Post 276 Procedure Post 276 Global Changes to a File 278 Sample Procedure Files 280 Sample Application Files 280 Chapter 17 CUSTOM MENUS AND CONTEXT SENSITIVE HELP 281 Custom Menus 281 Overview 281 Sample Menus 282 Creating Custom Menus 283 Background Files 285 Context Sensitive Help 286 Chapter 18 Utility Functions 287 Setting the Date 287 Send a Print Control Sequence 287 Changing the Default Disk P
239. ng one or more resident programs If the DOS area is too large you must either 1 Reconfigure DOS with fewer buffers etc to free some user available memory OR 2 Install additional memory and if necessary software to configure your system to make it available INSTALLING ON A HARD DISK SYSTEM Before you can install VersaForm XL you must have set up DOS on your hard disk Refer to your DOS manual for instructions To install either the single or multi user version of VersaForm XL follow the instructions below If you are installing VersaForm XL on a network or you have more than one hard disk drive you may be installing on a drive other than C Or you may install to a directory other than VF The instructions below assume drive C and directory VF 1 Start up your system and change to drive A 2 Insert the first diskette and run the INSTALL program This will create the necessary VF directory and copy all the VersaForm XL files Existing files will be overwritten A gt INSTALL 3 If you re not there already change to the VF directory on drive C A gt C C gt CD VF After you install VersaForm XL if there is a file called README VF7 or a similar name in your VF directory read it Changes to the system which were made after this book was printed are described there To print a copy of the README file type COPY README VF7 PRN and press gente To view a copy type TYPE README VF7 MORE at the comma
240. nits position and every alternate position hundreds ten thousands etc in the basic number are multiplied by 2 2 These products and the un multiplied digits from the basic number are added together 3 The resulting sum is subtracted from the next higher multiple of 10 or from itself if it is a multiple of 10 The result is the check digit The following examples illustrate correct and incorrect Modulus 10 self checking numbers 300 VersaForm XL Numbers to be checked 456261 730743 Basic number 45626 73074 Check digit 1 3 Computing The Check Digit number is 45626 number is 73074 take 4 6 6 leaving 5 2 take out 7 0 4 leaving 3 7 4 6 6 x 2 8 12 12 7 0 4 x 2 14 0 8 841241 2 39 14 0 8 3 7 32 40 39 1 40 32 8 Result 456261 Result 730748 Number is Correct Incorrect To assign a self checking number compute the proper check digit and add it to the end of the original number You may use the VersaForm Calculator feature to calculate the check digit Appendix C COMPARISON AND ORDERING VersaForm s rules for comparison and ordering applied in sorting selecting and indexing are Items recognized as numbers are compared algebraically 9 lt 7 2 007 200 lt 7 2001 Dates are compared chronologically as month day year 7 2 38 lt 7 2 39 07 02 1939 7 2 39 Anything not recognized as a number or date is considered a string Comparisons are
241. ns the location of the last occurence of s1 in s2 See POSN LENGTH ex Function Returns the length of EX Example PRINT LENGTH 12345678 This prints the value 8 because the length of the string 12345678 is 8 characters LOCKFILE File exclusive shared Function Multi user version only Requests a lock of the current file Returns blank if the lock was granted holder s name if not Example VAR X Begin X LockFile A exclusive if X lt gt then infomsg this lock is held by amp x else the lock was granted begin LOCKFORM File exclusive shared Function Multi user version only Used to request a lock of the current form returns blank if the lock was granted or the holder s name if someone already holds the lock Example VAR X Begin X LockForm A exclusive if X lt gt then infomsg this lock is held by amp x else the lock was granted begin LTRIM ex string Function Removes the leading blanks from a string and returns the new string 242 VersaForm XL Example var Ss begin s ltrim VersaForm prompt s end The result is VersaForm MAX ex1 ex2 Function Returns the larger of EX1 and EX2 Example This example replaces PRICE with NEWPRICE or the old PRICE times 1 1 whichever is larger MAXLINE File Function The maximum number of column l
242. nt a tab Name Address City State Zip Sam Smith 123 Main Street Clovis CA 98906 This format must be used in order to create mailing labels to be printed by VersaForm XL It can also be used together with the mail merge option of some word processors such as Microsoft Word which can recognize the field names 2 Commas values separated by commas each record begun on a new line Sam Smith 123 Main St Clovis CA 98906 Joe Smith 456 Elm St Covina CA 91722 3 Commas quotes same as above but non numeric values are enclosed in quotes Sam Smith 123 Main St Clovis Ca 98906 4 Fixed width no field separators Sam Smith 123 Main St Clovis CA 98906 Joe Smith 456 Elm St Covina Ca 91722 5 Each value on a separate line Sam Smith 123 Main St Clovis CA 98906 To use this option enter the number of the desired export format in the field Export on the Report Options screen When the report is to be produced the system will note your export instructions You may specify a path and Printfile name for the export data If you have not specified Printfile name and path in the Report Options VersaForm XL will ask where you want the output sent Disk Path Path for the report file amp Datapath and Reports 115 amp ProgramPath may be entered to refer to the current data file path and the VersaForm XL program s path respectively See Chapter 15 for explanation of these
243. obably already have a paper business form that is suitable sketch it quickly on the screen Figure 1 1 ALPHA TOOLS INC SERVING THE BAY AREA SINCE 1925 CUSTOMER T tee Figure 1 1 Introduction to VersaForm XL 5 2 Enter data on the form you ve designed VersaForm XL will check your entries for accuracy and perform calculations you ve requested then save the filled in form on your hard A collection of saved FORMS make up a FILE Figure 1 2 ALPHA TOOLS INC SERVING THE BAY AREA SINCE 1925 CUSTOMER JOHN COOPER ACCT C0045678 ALPHA TOOLS INC SERVING THE BAY AREA SINCE 1925 CUSTOMER ED CARTWRIGHT ACCT CAR33521 ALPHA TOOLS INC SERVING THE BAY AREA SINCE 1925 CUSTOMER Jane Steel ACCT STE12345 ADDRESS 123 Main St CITY Elm Park STATE IL ZIP 23456 ORDER DATE 10 21 83 CLERK Sam L QTY STOCK DESCRIPTION PRICE AMOUNT T obs 100 Hammer 5 95 5 95 SUBTOTAL 5 95 TAX 0 30 TOTAL Figure 1 2 These forms may be retrieved inspected or changed at any time The information on the forms can be moved from one form to another or printed in any format 3 Request reports to analyze the data in your files VersaForm XL will organize information you select and print it Figure 1 3 07 28 98 SALES ANALYSIS Description Chisel Set Chisel Set Totals for Chisel set Metric Skts Metric Skts Totals for Metric Skts Ratchet Wr Ratchet Wr Ratchet Wr Totals for Ratchet Wr S
244. of the forms to be copied If you choose automatic selection you can use a selection condition to copy the forms These options are the same as the options you have when using selection conditions in a report Detailed instructions on using selection conditions is given in Chapter 7 Reports 142 VersaForm XL The Copying Process As the Copy Print Program runs the key item of each form in the original file is displayed with a message indicating whether the form was copied In addition you may have a printed record of which forms were copied Before beginning the copying process VersaForm XL checks that the form design in the file you re copying TO matches the one in the file you re copying FROM If they don t match in all important respects you ll see Warning Forms don t match Continue anyhow Y N If you key in N the copy function will terminate k It is possible to override this warning and begin copying forms despite the mismatch However this should be done only in unusual circumstances and when you are certain of the results for you risk destroying the usefulness of the file you are copying TO As an alternative you may use the COPY BY NAME function described later in this chapter to transfer data from one form to a another form which is different NOTE The best way to ensure that the forms match is to begin the program by copying the form design from the old file to the new as recommended at the beginning of
245. ol printing Setting up print control sequences in reports is discussed in the Reports chapter This default sequence if entered can be used in any portion of the VersaForm XL program that outputs to the printer FILES User_File_Path Work_File_Path These tell VersaForm XL where to find user data files and the report work disk or files When VersaForm XL asks you for a file name it offers a default drive letter or path name usually c If your files are in a subdirectory or on a different disk you may change this default In this field you may enter the drive letter and full path name to use as a default path for accessing data files For example c vf data In this field you may enter the drive letter of the disk which is to be used for Report Work files if you don t want to use the default disk Only the drive letter needs to Setup and Security 159 be specified When running reports in VersaForm XL the program will use available storage on the specified disk drives to produce the report SETUP OTHER If a form design contains a column area VersaForm XL OPTIONS will always display the form beginning with the first Auto_Last_Line column line on the form Enter a Y in this field to have VersaForm XL display a form with the cursor on the last column line instead US_Date VersaForm XL will automatically use the US date format convention for all date fields MM DD YY Entering N in this field will change the date form
246. ollows whereas a REPEAT tests the condition afterward Notice too that a WHILE compound executes only one statement If more are needed they should be grouped into one statement by BEGIN and END as shown in the following example In this case lines 2 through 5 make up one compound statement Lines 3 and 4 are executed as long as X is greater than Y It is important when writing a loop to make sure that the loop does not go on forever as the following example would gt 0 DO PROMPT HELLO Some statement in the loop must change the variables so that the loop condition will eventually fail and the loop end For example to fix the previous example so that the message HELLO would print only nine times you could write 204 VersaForm XL Procedure Chaining Chaining allows several VersaForm XL procedures to execute in sequence thus permitting you to control which procedures execute and when NOTE You may only chain to a USER procedure Suppose an invoice form needs to look up items in both a customer file and an inventory file but only when certain items on the invoice have been changed by the user The appropriate time for this to happen is during validation after data checking but before automatic data filling and calculation A CHECKING procedure might then contain the following statements IF CHANGED ACCOUNT T
247. on 110 VersaForm XL Report Definition Screen 1 Figure 7 23 Title1 Title2 Title3 The title to be printed on your report may be up to three lines Title lines will be centered on the page Report Variables can be used to change a title from the keyboard when the report is run Page Format These fields allow you to set page Length Width Left Length Margin and number of lines to Skip after titles have been Width printed Page Width and Left Margin are set in character Margin width increments e g if you are printing at 17 Skip characters per inch compressed mode and you want a one inch left margin you would enter 17 in the Left Margin field Width must be between 10 and 255 characters Length between 10 and 100 lines If you select a page width that is narrower than the width of all the characters and spaces in your report VersaForm XL will wrap the report lines that is the characters in excess of the report page width will print on the following line Counts Enter Y to tell VersaForm XL to count the number of data items included within each group of each sub totalled print item A total count appears at the end of the report with totals and averages if you have specified them also Print items and associated options The columnar section of the Report Definition form tells VersaForm XL which data items to print and how to print them The data items you select to print are fields on your form and will be Listed as
248. onses by performing the appropriate action immediately ASCII FILES When VersaForm XL sends information to a disk rather than to a printer it creates a DOS ASCII file Such a file can be used to produce form letters labels and other documents and to interface with other DOS programs VersaForm XL procedures can also be used to read and write ASCII files BACKUP AND COPYING The VersaForm XL program is protected by copyright It may be copied only for your own use as backup copies You can use the DOS utility DISKCOPY to make these copies If you have a hard disk you may copy VersaForm XL to it but if you have a second computer you must purchase a second copy of VersaForm XL The rule is that only one copy may be in use at any one time Keep your backup copies in a safe place If your program disk is damaged and you do not have a backup copy a replacement may be ordered Installation 1 Make sure you have the required equipment 2 Back up your VersaForm XL disks 3 Complete and return the Registration Card so you will receive notices of system updates and additional features REQUIRED EQUIPMENT e IBM PC PC XT PC AT PS 2 or compatible computer e 440K available RAM For large applications 500K may be needed Introduction to VersaForm XL 13 VersaForm XL requires a hard disk capable of holding all of the program files A hard disk of at least 40MB is recommended VersaForm XL requires DOS version 2 1 or later
249. ontrol Sequence should be sent NOTE if you do not turn off a print control at the end of your report the printer will remain in the mode of the last sequence it received Selection Conditions Often you want a report that focuses only on a particular subset of the data in a file perhaps you only want to see the invoices for this month or the sales of only one type of merchandise VersaForm XL lets you select just which data you d like included or excluded in your report You do this by entering Selection Conditions Suppose you wanted a report like the one in Figure 7 17 but which only included sales of hammers Follow these steps 1 Select 2 from the Report Menu Enter Selection Conditions A blank form from your file will be displayed VersaForm will prompt Selection Condition 1 Test 1 Choose item to test Rtn Choose Help Q done Each test consists of three parts The item to be tested e g PRICE Reports 117 The comparison type e g EQ The item to compare to either another item on the form E G AMOUNT or a value that you enter e g 15 00 In this case you d want to set up a test that would require the DESCRIPTION field to be EQUAL to HAMMER 1 Press penter until the cursor moves to the item to be tested in this case DESCRIPTION Then press X Now you ll be asked to specify the comparison type Enter Comparison Type EQ NE GT GE LT LE CO EX Eight different comparison type
250. or y Example MPT Update the form Y N LE YESNO THEN B EGIN update the form WARNING GET ITEM and YESNO are normally preceded by a message to the user e g a PROMPT If this isn t done the system will appear to the operator to have stopped running YESNOMSG msg default_yes_or_no Function ESNOMSG Continue Y then The default reply is Y If the user enters Y or just presses return the program will execute what follows the then Chapter 16 SAMPLE PROCEDURES This chapter illustrates a few advanced uses of procedures by presenting several examples A line by line explanation follows each procedure Many more sample procedures may be found in the VersaForm XL file PROCFILE The reader is encouraged to study and use these examples especially if he or she is not an experienced programmer Each example and its explanation are printed on facing pages for easy examination 268 VersaForm XL A Menu Procedure This procedure puts a menu on the screen and allows the user to select one of two USER procedures The Secondary File and Key from items are left blank as there is no look up PROCE 1 INSTRUCTI Procedure Name M Secondary File Key froml 1 Update functions available amp cr amp cr 1 Post several transactions amp cr 2 Perform global update amp cr amp
251. or a file except for USER procedures All the procedure types shown in Figure 13 5 are fully explained in Chapter 14 Option 1 a Checking procedure specifies that the procedure will be executed every time you Validate after VersaForm XL checks for errors but before automatic filling or calculation occurs That s the option to choose for this procedure as you want to have data automatically filled into each column line on the Invoice form 4 Choose 1 Checking VersaForm XL will fill in the Procedure Name on the Procedure Instructions form see Figure 13 6 5 Ifyou want to have a secondary file for this procedure type a in the Secondary File field and validate You ll be asked for the location of the disk and the name of the file In this example the secondary file is named INVENTRY Both the primary and secondary files should be on line at this time You may delay naming the secondary file until the procedure is executed This is discussed later in this chapter Now you ll be asked if you want VersaForm XL to locate the correct form in the secondary file automatically Do you want automatic lookup Y N N 6 Answer Y Since automatic lookup is done so often VersaForm XL provides an especially easy way to set it up Another way to locate the form is by writing your own instruction statements This is explained in Chapter 14 When you press Y you ll see a blank form from your primary file and this message 180 Ve
252. or from using the REMOVE command begin if lastcommand R then begin bellmsg Illegal Command return false don t execute command end else return true let the command execute end USER PROCEDURES USER procedures may be executed at any time They may be run by chaining from other procedures or by using the EXecute command See Procedure Chaining Only USER procedures have names assigned by you A name must begin with a letter A Z A procedure isn t loaded until it s needed so there s a delay the first time it s executed Thereafter unless forced out by another procedure it remains in memory so the next time it s used there s no delay in execution Up to 10 procedures may be implemented to be activated by hot keys They must be named User Cmd 1 User Cmd 2 and so on Hot keys for these procedures may be defined in SYSSETUP VES using the procedure name in column 1 Aside from the hot key connection these procedures are the same as any other user procedures Writing Procedures 191 Elements of a Procedure Procedure Syntax Procedure statements are made up of identifiers literals reserved words special symbols such as and etc By combining these you can form expressions comparisons assignment statements and compound statements IDENTIFIERS Identifiers can be item names on forms variables or constants Variables and constants are discussed in subsequent
253. or returns the flag to its previous state SET CLEAR POP locking Procedure Turns all locking on or off or returns the flag to its previous state Multi user version only WARNING Using this command is not foreseen or recommended It is provided for the use of experienced programmers only when the other facilities will not serve SET CLEAR POP rollback_on Procedure Turns ROLLBACK capability on or off or returns the flag to its previous state Multi user version only If ROLLBACK_ON is cleared the system will not remember the information that would be needed for a ROLLBACK SET CLEAR POP silent Procedure Normal operational messages such as form found or form not found and the associated beeps are suppressed SET CLEAR POP user_may_escape Procedure Turns USER_MAY_ESCAPE capability on or off or returns the flag to its previous state 254 VersaForm XL SETATTR foreground background Procedure Sets the screen attributes color blinking etc Both foreground and background should be numbers less than 16 What these numbers actually represent depends on your display adapter For the CGA values are O black 8 gray foreground only 1 blue 9 light blue 2 green 10 light green 3 cyan 11 light cyan 4 red 12 light red 5 magenta 13 light magenta 6 brown 14 yellow 7 white 15 bright white Example Prints Hello world in yellow on blue 14 1 lo world SET_
254. orms 127 paper is set correctly and then press peter The grid will print directly on 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012 LNVOICE34568890 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 234ALPHA TOOLS 1INC345678901234567890123456Invoice Number 1479 Alexander Street 4 5 Invoice Date 234Campbell CA 950085678901234567890123456Account Number 2 3 2345678901234567890123456789 2 3 2345678901234567890123456789 P 2 3 In this example information for Invoice Number will print on Line 4 column 73 Figure 8 2 The grid in Figure 8 2 is printed on a form that is 85 columns wide and 36 lines long When you look at a spot on the form with the grid overprinted you can tell what its line and column numbers are relative to your printer by noting the digits printed on that space Make sure the printed area is wide enough to cover all the items on your form Also check to see that the correct number of lines were printed If you are using continuous forms the paper should have advanced to exactly the same place on the next form as it began on the first one If either the width or the length of the printed area is incorrect try again When you are finished keep your overprinted form You ll use it to design your print format The print format menu Figure 8 1 will again be displayed ENTER A PRINT FORMAT VersaForm XL needs to know a The number of lines on each page The number of column items to print on each form
255. ossible to perform a variety of functions at the beginning of the filing session Some of these are demonstrated in the file of sample procedures See Chapter 15 When you switch from one file to another by using the DISPLAY command the START procedure for that file will be run unless the file was already open When you close that file the STOP procedure will run If you CANCEL in a START procedure the system will return to the main menu NOTE This is a change from earlier versions CANCEL in a START procedure used to terminate the program Writing Procedures 189 SAVE PROCEDURES This procedure runs when you use the SAVE command during a FILING session It executes in place of the usual SAVE command If validation is needed it will occur and any checking or filling procedures will be executed before the SAVE procedure runs Any error detected during validation cancels the SAVE procedure This procedure does not automatically save a form To do that you must write a SAVEFORM A statement in either the SAVE procedure or ina USER procedure that it chains to Procedure Chaining is explained later in this chapter Because you have control over when your form is saved you can do operations both before and after saving STOP PROCEDURES This procedure runs at the end of a FILING session when you execute the command EXIT COMMAND PROCEDURES COMMAND procedures allow you to take control whenever the operator execute
256. oth by the system and by procedures Ifa file has a PICK procedure it will run whenever the user types or double clicks the mouse This will occur ypes ph HN wherever the cursor is at the time Thus the first thing a PICK procedure must do is determine where the cursor is and so whether to respond Procedures can turn the pick list indicator the down arrow on for any field using SETFLDINFO If the PICK procedure returns FALSE 0 the validation needed indicator will be turned on causing validation to occur the next time it is requested Normally the system regards data changed by a procedure as not requiring validation If it returns TRUE 1 validation will not be required If it returns 1 the system s pick list consisting of the items on a list check will be allowed to function START PROCEDURES This procedure runs when you begin FILING operations before the first form is displayed Variables in a START procedure are global that is they retain any value given to them for the duration of a FILING session For example you could set up a running counter to keep track of the number of forms processed during a FILING session NOTE If you add global variables to a START procedure all procedures that use any global variables must be recompiled A secondary file may not be used with a START procedure However a START procedure can CHAIN to a user procedure which in turn can access a secondary file It is p
257. ou do not want to implement file security for this file answer N to both questions Note At this point you have made a copy of the form design of the file LEDGER BAD It is called LEDGER VFM Now you will use the File Recovery Utility to recover the data from LEDGER BAD and copy it to LEDGER VFM Choose option 6 Return to Main Menu Choose option 7 VersaForm Utilities from the Main Menu Choose option 7 File Recovery from the Utilities Menu Answer N to the question Do you wish to create a new file Enter the drive letter or path name of your file The system is asking for the path of your new file Press to accept the default or enter the correct path of LEDGER VFM Enter file name Enter LEDGER VFM for the file you are recovering TO Enter the drive letter or path name of your file Enter the appropriate path of your damaged file You may press to accept the default if LEDGER BAD is in the same directory as LEDGER VFM Enter file name Enter LEDGER BAD for the file you are recovering FROM Note The File Recovery Utility is now rebuilding your file Your computer may beep and ask you to press several times through this process This is normal When the recovery is finished print the log Since you copied reports procedures etc in step 12 there will be a number of duplicates reported on the log Don t worry about these Examine your rebuilt file LEDGER VFM thoroughly For example if previous
258. overridden using this function Just enter the path name desired 288 VersaForm XL FILE DIAGNOSTIC FUNCTIONS The File Diagnostic function contains a number of tools useful to a programmer or a technician It can print information about form designs and list the contents of entire indexes It can dump files in hexadecimal format to the printer or the screen FILE INTEGRITY TEST In versions of VersaForm XL before 5 0 running a report automatically verified file integrity because the report writer read through the file by following the index In release 5 the report writer was changed to make it faster and it no longer follows the index Thus reports no longer provide the verification that the index is complete It is useful to check file integrity periodically as various DOS events can result in file damage and you want to find out about it while you still have backup for the file The integrity test can test the form design the free storage chain the main index and the linkage of the forms to the index It can also test for and eliminate duplicate records A batch version can be used to test file integrity separately you could run it at night The syntax is C gt vf filetest fix filename The filename may contain a path and wild cards If the fix parameter is used do not include the brackets the program will eliminate and unindexed forms if it can A log is produced which may be printed when the program terminates FILE
259. own and have a custom Main Menu You can also have custom menus for other functions like Reports Your Main Menu can invoke all the VersaForm XL functions and it can also display your company and product name AST s copyright will also appear at the top of the screen we must insist on that Custom menus may be created for the following The Main Menu This appears instead of the standard VersaForm XL Main Menu Users may select options corresponding to Filing Reports etc Sub menus of the main menu These may be called from the main menu and have the same options Reports Used when you select the Report function Print Formats Used when you print a form either from the Filing function or the Copy Print function Copy Control Instructions Used when you select the Copy Print function and ask for automatic selection when copying forms Print Control Instructions Used when you select the Copy Print function and ask for automatic selection when printing forms 282 VersaForm XL Procedures Used when you select the Filing function and issue the Execute command For example when it is time for a user to choose a report VersaForm XL will look in APPMENU VEFS for a report menu If it does not find one no harm the system will behave normally However if it does find the menu it will be displayed and the user may choose which report to run SAMPLE MENUS A set of sample menus has been included They are found in the f
260. p to 40 characters For example NAME and ID could be used as a two part key item This would have the advantage that the file would be kept in alphabetical order by NAME making searching easy CHOOSING THE KEY 1 Press penter until the cursor is at the item you want to use as the key item 2 Press X to indicate your choice 3 Key in Y to confirm your choice Then you ll be asked Add a second part to the key Y N N 4 Keyin Y or N If you choose a second item confirm it as you did the first NOTE If you find that the form does not contain an item suitable as the key redesign it and add one You may key in for instructions on redesigning items Columns The system will now ask you if the form is to have columns If you reply N your design is complete and you will be given information about the size of the form Figure 4 8 58 VersaForm XL If you reply Y the form will reappear on the screen showing the single items and text you will be instructed to move the cursor to the line on which you want the column headings Columns may be placed on any line of the form except a line containing single items ENTERING COLUMN HEADINGS 1 Press the up or down arrow until the cursor is on the line where you want to place the column headings Press X VersaForm XL will automatically fill in the notation L on the line you select Enter all column headings on the same line Figure 4 6 Each column must ha
261. paragraphs An identifier must begin with a letter which may be followed only by one or more letters or digits 0 thru 9 or the special characters _ underscore or It may contain up to 20 characters UpperCase and LowerCase letters may be used interchangeably Exception Names of form items containing blanks hyphens or other symbols may be used as identifiers so long as they are enclosed in exclamation marks For example STD PRICE or price each or PART NAME or Address FORM ID NOTATION AorB Identifies the primary form A or the secondary form B FORM ITEMS NOTATION FORMITEM A form item is an identifier that refers to an item on your form For example these statements include four form items ON PARTNAME B STIDPRICE COLUMN ITEMS IN PROCEDURES A form has two kinds of items or fields single and column A column may contain up to 99 values In a procedure you may refer to a specific column line For example to refer to the 10th line of the column item AMOUNT on a primary form you may write AMOUNT 10 The line number is enclosed in brackets and preceded by the column name 192 VersaForm XL VersaForm XL uses the special identifier L to refer to the current line Except in a checking procedure you may change its value On a primary form the default L is whatever line you re entering when the procedure runs The value of B L the current line on a se
262. ption Before you do that however you may need to print line and column numbers on your labels so you will know how many characters will fit on them To do this Place your mailing labels in the printer and adjust the paper so that the printer is ready to print at the top of the paper Choose Print line and column numbers VersaForm XL will ask about the width of the paper you re using Print Mailing Labels 151 Print how many columns 40 Max 200 Enter the number that equals the width the number of characters wide of the paper the labels are on or use the default 40 As instructed by an on screen message turn on the printer and press peter The system will print line and column numbers on the labels so you can easily see where the items will be positioned Figure 10 1 456789012345678901234567890123456 48 901234567890123456789012345678991234567890 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 45678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890 Figure 10 1 When you enter or change a label description you ll see the screen in Figure 10 2 Label Definition Label_Name Pinfeed Label_Type 3 1 2 x 15 16 Num_across 1 Number labels across the paper Label_width 35 Number characters to be printed on one line of each label Left_margin 0 Number characters before printing starts Label_spacing Number characters between labels Label_height 6 Number of lines from first line of one label to first l
263. r s name an 8 character identifier the USERID the user s record in the USERS VFS file may contain a password a checklist of the system options that he has authority to use and a list of protected files that he may access If there is a password in the user s registration form it must be entered when he or she logs on To add users to VersaForm XL 1 When asked Enter your user ID Type MANAGER and press pte When prompted Enter your password Type MANAGER s password VF and press pte 2 From the VersaForm XL Main Menu select 2 Filing VersaForm will ask for the drive letter path and then the name of your file Enter USERS VFS and press enter Each time a unique name is entered into the field Name and the form is saved a new USERID is added This form is called the primary user registration form The user may now login with the USERID and password in his primary user registration form USERS VFS has a two part key composed of the USERID Name and a file name In the user s primary registration form only the USERID is used the file name must be blank The file name part of the key is used only in a secondary registration form see below Normally users may access files whether or not the file name appears in the security file But if the file was designated as protected only users who have the file name in their security file record can use it Files can be designated as protected files only when
264. ransfer data from an existing form to a new and different form wherever the item names match Figure 9 1 shows an existing form ALPHA TOOLS INC Serving The Bay Area Since 1925 CUSTOMER BILLING DATE Figure 9 1 Figure 9 2 shows the same form with two new items added AREA CODE and EXT The length of CUSTOMER ADDRESS and ZIP have been increased PHONE has been moved and the order of some items has been changed ALPHA TOOLS INC Serving The Bay Area Since 1925 CUSTOMER AREA CODE BILLING DATE Figure 9 2 To redesign a form in a new file when you plan to transfer data 1 Copy the existing form design to a new file discussed in Chapter 4 Create a File and Design a Form 2 Change the design in any way but be sure item names match where data is to be transferred Copy Forms and Data 145 You may increase or decrease the length of items and change their positions on the new form but information transferred into items that have been shortened will be truncated if necessary NOTE A different key item may be designated for the new form HOW TO USE COPY BY NAME 1 Select 7 from the Main Menu for VersaForm XL Utilities then select 1 Copy by name 2 VersaForm XL will ask for the name of the file you are copying TO then you are asked for the name of the file you are copying FROM COPY BY NAME will list all items from both forms and indicate which will be transferred Remember item
265. re also left blank since no lookup from a secondary file is to be done Built In Procedures 271 EXPLANATION Ol 02 03 04 Establishes the variable TEMPINV to hold the invoice number temporarily Indicates the beginning of a sequence of statements The statements in this sequence are indented for clarity A semicolon is not required after BEGIN VersaForm XL will save the current A form and then Ask on the command line if the user wants to prepare a new invoice Note the use of comments Comments placed in braces are only for reference No action is taken by the system 05 06 07 08 09 10 A response of Y will begin a second sequence by doing everything listed from the BEGIN until the first END Increments raises the previous invoice number by 1 and places it in the variable TEMPINV Clears the form Enters the new number in the proper place for the next invoice Ends the sequence begun in line 05 Ends the sequence begun in line 02 272 VersaForm XL Removing Selected Lines Prior To Printing Statements PROCEDURE INSTRUCTI Procedure Name Secondary File Key froml Enter removal date mm dd yy get date from user 1 1 80 AND 12 30 99 EN DATE THEN DELETELINE A L 1 go to next earlier date UN
266. res 239 Example BALANCE FORWARD This inserts a blank line as the first column line on the form before existing line 1 and sets up a balance forward charge on that line In order to insert a line after the last column line on a form do the following B L LASTLINE NSERTLINE B On a form with 10 lines this would first make B L have the value 11 and then insert a new line before line 11 i e after line 10 INSERTLINE B 12 would be illegal You cannot assign a value to an item on a new line until the INSERTLINE procedure has been used to add the line to the form When a procedure first runs L is assumed to be zero 0 on the secondary form You must assign a legal line number value to B L before referencing column lines on the secondary form IOERROR Function Returns TRUE if an input output error has occurred when reading or writing a form or a DOS file IOERROR also becomes true when trying to read or write after end of file is reached Thus it can be used to stop procedures that repeat until the end of file is reached Example EPEAT EXTFORM A NTIL IOERROR This reads each form in the file until the last form has been read or an error occurs reading a form JUSTIFY ex string ex length ex type Function Returns a string that is justified left right center or right justified a
267. rm 55 EXAMPLES OF SINGLE ITEMS Each single item consists of a unique name a single space and a row of dots No space after NAM or between STATE a ZIP ADDRESS is used as a name twice One line of dots has no name In the example above VersaForm XL will call attention to the omission of the space after NAME and automatically insert the space when you press genten Most other errors in defining single items will cause the system to issue an error message For example the second mistake in the form above would cause an error message similar to Figure 4 4 Error in designing the following item ADDRESS This item name has been used twice Each item must be given a unique name If you want to go back and change it type R If you want to cancel this form definition type Q Figure 4 4 Enter Text and Single Items 1 Key in text and single items Tf you make a typing error just reposition the cursor and type over the wrong characters Use the space bar to get rid of extra characters 56 VersaForm XL 2 When you are done press Escape then press Enter VersaForm XL will process the form design and display it Asterisks replace dots when the items have been designed correctly Figure 4 5 ALPHA TOOLS INC Vendor List NAME kkxkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk ID tot kkk ADDRESS KX k de de de He He He He He He He He e de de ke ke He
268. rror has occurred then NUM contains the number of forms Error codes 0 no error 260 VersaForm XL 1 reserved 2 the index for the form type was not found Example if VCOUNT A VREPORT SALES NUMCOUNTED 0 then NUMCOUNTED has the number of report forms encountered that belong to the report SALES This would count the forms in the report SALES on file A If VCOUNT returns 0 there was no error and if the number of forms counted was 1 or greater then the report was found There may be more than one form in a report because of selection conditions etc VDATE Function Returns current date Example If the date is 12 17 84 BILLING DATE 12 17 84 will be printed VDAY ex Function If value of EX is a date returns a number from 1 31 otherwise 0 Example See the example for VMONTH VDELETE File Formtype Key Ex1 Num Item Function Deletes the form of the given type in the given file with the given key If KEY is all forms in that index are deleted Returns an error code as the function result if no error has occurred then NUM contains the number of forms deleted Error codes 0 no error 1 reserved 2 the index for the form type was not found Example if VDELETE EPORT SALES NUMDELE then if NUMDELETE then the report SALES was deleted fro This would delete the r
269. rrow Move the entire screen right and left Ctrl PgUp and PgDn Move the entire screen up and down Home End Ctrl Home End Upper left Bottom right of screen or form Do you need additional instructions Y N N Figure 4 2 Create A File And Design A Form 53 1 Press Y or N and then pte Selecting Y will produce instructions for designing a form similar to those printed in this manual 2 When you are finished reading instructions you ll be asked to specify the form width and depth Enter the form width 160 Enter the form depth 60 3 After specifying the form size you will have a blank screen on which to design your form The cursor will appear at the top of the screen and at the bottom will be the message below Design the single items Press Esc to end or for help NOTE You may use a 160 column wide by 60 lines high display space to design your form This is of course too big for the screen When you move the cursor to the edge of the screen it will automatically scroll Scrolling may be controlled by using the cursor control keys discussed in Chapter 1 Neither of these limits affect filling out your pre printed form as you will later design a print format which can print forms much wider than the screen TEXT AND SINGLE ITEMS TEXT refers to words such as headings messages and comments which do not contain data SINGLE ITEMS are non columnar fields which are going to be filled in with data Columnar field
270. rsaForm XL Press RETURN to choose item that supplies lookup value for B PARTNO Here B indicates the secondary file and PARTNO is the key item for forms in that file The item that supplies the value for locating the correct form is STOCK In other words you want VersaForm XL to use the value in STOCK on your Invoice form to find the Inventory form that has that same value in its key item PARTNO Ti Move the cursor to STOCK then press X Figure 13 6 shows the information that VersaForm XL has been given thus far about the two files PROCEDURE INSTRUCTIONS Procedure Name CHECKING Secondary File INVENTRY Key from1 STOCK Figure 13 6 The single items at the top of the form in Figure 13 6 tell VersaForm XL what the procedure name is when to execute it at validation because it s a CHECKING procedure the secondary file you re using INVENTRY and where to get the key for the INVENTRY file from STOCK PROCEDURE NAMES Each procedure has a name either assigned by VersaForm XL or given by you according to the type of procedure you select Figure 13 5 VersaForm XL assigns the names to all but USER procedures In this case the name CHECKING was automatically assigned In this example at validation VersaForm XL will 1 check your data entries for accuracy then 2 execute the procedure which will cause it to look up data in the Inventory file and enter DESCRIPTION and PRICE on the Invoice form and then
271. s can be used Equal EQ Less Than or Equal to LE Not Equal NE Greater Than or Equal to GE Greater Than GT Contains CO Less Than LT Excludes EX 2 Key in the letters of the comparison type you want to use then press peter You ll be asked for the item to compare to Compare to Rtn Another Item on the form V Value Help If you want to test against an another ITEM from the form 3 Press peter VersaForm XL will display the form Move the cursor to the item you wish to compare against Press X to indicate your choice Or If you want to enter a VALUE to compare against In this case HAMMER 4 Enter V VersaForm XL will ask you for the value Enter the value to compare against and press E You may use a report variable a word beginning with amp to defer entering a value until the report is actually produced In this case VersaForm will ask you to enter the value when the report is run The special variable amp DATE will automatically be replaced by the current date 5 When you ve finished entering Test 1 VersaForm XL will ask if you want to specify another test If so reply Y 118 VersaForm XL The rule is all comparisons specified on a single Selection condition form must be satisfied in order for the data to be included in the report If you do not want to specify another test Key in N The Selection Condition Form will appear on the screen Figure 7 26 REPORT DEFI
272. s one of a number of commands When the operator gives a command the COMMAND procedure is invoked before the command itself In addition to the normal capabilities of a procedure the COMMAND procedure can decide whether to allow the given command to be executed The command will be allowed to proceed only if the procedure returns a value of TRUE via the built in RETURN procedure When a form is fetched i e read the COMMAND procedure is invoked after the form has been read as well as before the command itself so you can examine it in the procedure In this case RETURN TRUE tells the system to keep the form RETURN FALSE will clear the form You can use the LASTCOMMAND built in to find out what the command that the user gave via either the command menu or the function keys was or if the invocation of the COMMAND procedure is the result of a fetch COMMAND procedures also are invoked whenever a new form is fetched i e read from the file to become the current form This often occurs as the result of a GET NEXT or similar command but it can also occur as the result of an INDEX or SEARCH operation The commands that invoke a COMMAND procedure are Command LASTCOMMAND Yields 190 VersaForm XL Help 4 Space SP Index I Remove R Exit Q Clear CL Search SE Print PR Delete line D Get G First F Last L Next N Back B Save SA SaveContinue SC Fetch FE Example This command procedure will prevent the operat
273. s will be discussed later TEXT Place it anywhere on a form F Separate text from single items by at least TWO spaces SINGLE ITEMS Consist of a NAME and a ROW OF DOTS separated by one blank space 54 VersaForm XL T Each name must be UNIQUE should start with a letter of the alphabet and can contain up to 20 characters ALPHA TOOLS INC SERVING THE BAY AREA SINCE 1925 SINGLE SINGLE SINGLE SINGLE AREA CODE SINGLE SALES REP Space left for columns SINGLE ITEM gt gt SUBTOTAL SINGLE ITEM gt gt SINGLE ITEM gt gt Figure 4 3 A row of dots represents the length of the data item Each dot is a space which may later be filled in by a letter or digit The name and row of dots are SEPARATED BY A SINGLE SPACE There must be at least ONE space between the end of the row of dots and the name of the next item when they are on the same line If the item names are short there will be room on the form and in the computer s memory for more items Combining items or reducing the amount of text will also allow more room NOTE In the sample form Fig 4 3 columns are planned for the space between single items and SUBTOTAL Remember to leave space where you plan to insert column headings as discussed later When designing a form you may insert and delete lines using and PEL These only affect the screen in view not the whole form Create A File And Design A Fo
274. saForm XL Examples showing how to create each of these forms will be followed by detailed information about the items on each Creating a Report Suppose you have a file of invoice forms like the one in Figure 7 1 and you want a simple report showing what you have sold how many and to whom like the report in Figure 7 2 ALPHA TOOLS INC SERVING THE BAY AREA SINCE 1925 CUSTOMER Carpenter A ACCT CARO56 ADDRESS 33 Bridge St PHONE 234 5678 CITY Bigtown STATE CA ZIP 90909 CLERK Joe ORDER DATE 11 11 80 L QTY STOCK DESCRIPTION PRICE AMOUNT 01 3 A55 Hammer 5 00 15 00 02 2 A45 Chisel 3 00 6 00 03 Wrench 04 SUB TOTAL 41 00 TAX 2 67 TOTAL 43 67 Figure 7 1 SALES REPORT CUSTOMER QTY DESCRIPTION Wrench Chisel Hammer Chisel Hammer Chisel Hammer Wrench Chisel Smith Smith Smith Jones Jones Brown Brown Green Whyte WNHNHOU BW UW Figure 7 2 Sales Report Reports 97 To create this report you would follow these steps 1 From the VersaForm Main Menu select 3 Report VersaForm will ask for the drive letter path and then the name of the file to report from 2 Enter a name let s suppose you choose SALES for the new report instructions The name can be up to six letters You will see the Report Menu Figure 7 3 Report Menu Set Up the Report Print Items Sorting Totals etc Enter Selection Conditions Include Additional Files Run the Report Remove this Repor
275. specially careful not to restore over your active data files which would destroy them 298 VersaForm XL There are two good reasons for using structured backup 1 If something goes wrong with a diskette or a file you may not know it until you try to do a backup If you have only one backup diskette the bad disk will be copied to the good one Suddenly you would have no backup at all With three copies of each diskette or hard disk file this is less likely to occur 2 Rotating the backup diskettes gives you a chance to spread the wear and to make sure that the backup copies are readable Appendix B SELF CHECKING NUMBERS Self checking numbers is an option which may be chosen under VersaForm s Checking and Filling system to guard against data entry errors Items chosen for this option are usually numbers such as account codes and part numbers by which records will be repeatedly identified for updating or printing The procedure helps to prevent keying errors such as single digit typos or the transposition of adjacent digits THE CHECK DIGIT Self checking numbers include a calculated check digit The computer will repeat the calculation that produced the check digit and then test whether the check digit in the self checking number matches the one that it has calculated Check Digit Calculation In the Modulus 10 system used by VersaForm the check digit is calculated from the basic number in the following way 1 The u
276. sponse to the first question If you want to restrict form access to only those users specified in the USERS VFS file answer Y to the second question Under normal circumstances your response will be N See Chapter 11 Setup and Security NOTE It is a good idea to print the form definition when you are finished designing it or changing it it is a useful reference for many operations Refer to the section later in this chapter called Print the form definition Change The Design Of A Form You may redesign the items on a form ONLY BEFORE data has been stored From the FORM DESIGN menu choose Change an existing form design You ll go through the same process as designing a new form Create A File And Design A Form 61 After changing the form itself you will have an opportunity to change its size that is to make it wider than 160 characters up to 255 or longer than 60 up to 255 lines provided that the width times the length is not greater than 9600 If you want to change the design of a form to add or delete items or to change the length of one or more items AFTER data has been stored 1 Copy the form design to another file choose Copy an existing form design from the Form Design menu the procedure is discussed below The form design but no data will be copied 2 Choose Change an existing form design from the FORM DESIGN menu to redesign the layout of items on the copy Data from the old file will lat
277. st as you would any other form in your VersaForm XL files You can even copy a procedure on the same file by changing the Procedure Name then hit to SAVE the procedure PROCEDURE INSTRUCTIONS Procedure Name Secondary File Key from1 STOCK Figure 14 1 When entering a procedure you can compile all the procedures in a file This is useful when making major changes in an application Use PTFE To write a new procedure enter the procedure name either one of the procedures shown in Figure 14 2 or a user procedure where you provide the procedure name Then you ll be asked to supply the information for filling in the remaining items see Entering the Procedure in chapter 13 186 VersaForm XL Procedure Types Figure 14 2 shows the types of procedures you may write The type of procedure determines when it is executed Otherwise there are few differences between them PROCEDURE TYPES Type Name When Executed CHECKING CHECKING at validation after checking but before automatic filling calculation EDIT EDIT when a file is switched to FILLING FILLING at validation after automatic filling PICK PICK when is pressed START START at Filing startup SAVE SAVE when form is SAVED STOP STOP at Filing termination COMMAND COMMAND when certain commands are used USER any name when directly invoked Figure 14 2 A file may have only one procedure of each type except for USER procedures CHECKING PR
278. t Rename this Report Copy Another Report Choose Another Report Figure 7 3 Report Menu 3 From the Report Menu select 1 Set Up the Report VersaForm XL knows that this is a new report so the first thing it will do is ask you for the names of the print items You enter these by simply pointing to them So you can do this VersaForm will display a blank form from the file you are reporting on This message will appear at the bottom of your screen Choose Print Item 1 Rtn Choose item Q done Help Press fenter to indicate that you wish to choose a Print item Watch the bottom of your screen you will see the message Move cursor to item then press X Press the tab key or any other cursor motion keys to move the cursor to the data field you want printed as the first column on the report in this case it would be CUSTOMER Press the key X to select a print item The spaces following your data field name will change to asterisks indicating that you have selected that data item as a print item At the bottom of the screen you will see 98 VersaForm XL Choose Print Item 2 Rtn Choose item Q done Help Notice that the Print item number has increased to 2 Each time you select another Print item you will see this prompt and the Print number will have been incremented 4 Continue choosing Print items by moving the cursor to the items you want in our example these would be QTY DESCRIPTION
279. t ex string Function Format is used to change the format of a given piece of data For example it is used to convert a string to uppercase or strip non numeric digits If two codes are given they are applied in left to right order Format Codes specifies number of decimal places for a number 0 9 remove all characters that are not between 0 and 9 236 VersaForm XL A remove all characters that are not between A and Z or a and z D converts a date into its text equivalent for example 7 3 95 would be converted to July 3 1995 L converts a string into lower case N remove all characters that are not between 0 and 9 or U converts a string to upper case V removes all characters that are not between A and Z or 0 and 9 W replaces by a space all characters not between A and Z or 0 and 9 Y formats a date as YY YYMMDD Example format DU 4 1 95 returns APRIL 1 1995 format 1 123 4567 returns 123 4 format 2 344 3241 returns 34432 FORMATSEQUAL File1 File2 Function Returns TRUE if the form designs of the two files Filel and File2 are the same For this purpose only data fields are considered FORMFEED Function Returns the ASCII form feed character decimal value 12 which causes a form feed on most printers Example of FORMFEED and CR PRINT FORMFEED amp Top of page amp CR amp Next line would print at the top of a page Top of page Next line GET
280. t The line on which the columns begin 128 VersaForm XL F The line and column where each single item will start From the Print Format menu 1 Choose option 2 Enter or Change the Print Format from the menu VersaForm will ask Is this a Paper or an electronic format P E P Answer P to create a paper format VersaForm XL knows that this is a new format so the first thing it will do is ask you for the names of the print items You enter these by simply pointing to them So you can do this VersaForm will display a blank form from the file you are reporting on This message will appear at the bottom of your screen Choose Print Item 1 Rtn Choose item Q done Help Ds Press ENTER to indicate that you wish to pick a Print item Watch the WN y p bottom of your screen you will see the message Move cursor to item then press X Press the tab key or any other cursor motion keys to move the cursor to the data field you want to select suppose it s CUSTOMER Press X to select a Print item The spaces following your data field name will change to asterisks indicating that you have selected that field There is no need to select items in any particular order you can print any item anywhere VersaForm will ask Enter the line number you want Customer 30 characters to print on Enter the line number where you want this item to print VersaForm will ask Dn Enter the column number you want Customer 3
281. t entries that do not meet the specifications set up in automatic checking and filling when a form is designed 8 Key in 2 over the A under QTY NOW validate and watch L QTY STOCK DESCRIPTION PRICE AMOUNT 1 100 Hammer 5 95 5 95 2 2 1 2 A44 Elec Drill 47 00 94 00 3 4 SUBTOTAL TAX TOTAL Entries checked OK Figure 2 12 The DESCRIPTION PRICE AMOUNT SUBTOTAL TAX and TOTAL will all be filled in calculated totaled and justified Figure 2 12 26 VersaForm XL When you design your own forms you can set up specifications like these in automatic checking and filling so your data will be automatically checked computed and filled in Although a Lookup Table another automatic checking and filling option was prepared for DESCRIPTION and PRICE when this form was designed you may override it if you wish 9 In Line 4 key in 2 under QTY and A11 under STOCK 10 Move the cursor into the PRICE column Key in 7 95 under PRICE This is not the price on the Lookup Table but the system will accept whatever is keyed in Remember manual keying overrides automatic lookup and filling 11 VALIDATE your entries The system will fill in the DESCRIPTION and calculate the AMOUNT SUBTOTAL TAX and TOTAL based on the QUANTITY and PRICE that you keyed in Figure 2 13 Though the system didn t fill in PRICE since you keyed it in yourself it still filled in DESCRIPTION Hammer since automatic filling had been
282. t hand space in the calculator display area Numbers on the right will move to the left Using CLEAR repeatedly empties all the spaces ROUNDING R asks VersaForm XL to round a number for example Key in 98 8999 Press pte Key in R You ll see the message Round to how many places Key in the number Thus if you key in 2 the number will be rounded to 98 90 NEGATIVE N changes the sign of a number for example Key in 25 Press genten Key in N 25 will become 25 Press penter and key in N again The minus sign will be removed and 25 will be positive again INVERT I divides a number into 1 for example Key in the number 5 Key in I The number 0 2 will be displayed 1 5 0 2 SELFCHECK DIGIT S calculates a self check digit When setting up a self checking number you may use this command to pre calculate the check digit For example key in the number 1234 Key in S 1234 will now be replaced by the digit 4 the self checking digit The entire self checking number is 12344 More information is contained in the Appendix Self Checking Numbers PICKUP P picks up a number from your form and brings it down to the calculator display area without requiring that you rekey it For example position the cursor over a number you want to pick up The entire item must be numeric e g AB 1234 is not allowed Press P The number will be placed in the left hand space in the calculator display area TOTAL T provi
283. teel ACCT C0087655 ADDRESS 123 Main St PHONE CITY Elm Park STATE IL ZIP 23456 ORDER DATE 10 21 83 CLERK Sam L QTY STOCK DESCRIPTION PRICE AMOUNT 1 1 100 Hammer 5 95 5 95 2 2 A44 Elec Drill 47 00 94 00 3 2 A11 Hammer 12 50 25 00 Figure 2 20 9 Move the cursor to ACCT key in C0087655 over the old number Figure 2 20 10 Command GET F21 You ll see the message in Figure 2 21 ALPHA TOOLS INC SERVING THE BAY AREA SINCE 1925 CUSTOMER Jane Steel ACCT C0087655 5 3 A55 Carbide Set 52 50 157 50 SUBTOTAL TAX TOTAL gt Form not in file Figure 2 21 This tells you that the ACCT you entered doesn t belong to any of the forms in this file And VersaForm XL leaves the current form on the screen We re looking for John Cooper s form but we ve forgotten his ACCT You can find the form another way 11 Move the cursor back to the 8 in ACCT DO NOT erase the first three characters COO Space over the digits 87655 to remove them Figure 2 22 Hands On Exercise 33 ALPHA TOOLS INC SERVING THE BAY AREA SINCE 1925 CUSTOMER Jane Steel ACCT COO ADDRESS 123 Main St PHONE CITY Elm Park STATE IL ZIP 23456 ORDER DATE 10 21 83 Clerk Sam Figure 2 22 12 Use the Command NEXT 5J You ll see the NEXT form the form that follows one with an ACCT of COO in the file s index Figure 2 23 ALPHA TOOLS INC SERVING THE BAY AREA SINCE 1925 CUSTOMER John Cooper ACCT C0045678 ADDRESS 45 Church
284. tem is delivered only the user name MANAGER has access via Filing MANAGER s password is VF You may change this password in order to prevent anyone else from logging on as MANAGER When you change this password don t forget it The system won t tell you what it is There is a file called V BAT which demonstrates how to bypass entering the USERID and password In effect this makes starting VersaForm XL the same as in earlier releases When you design a form you may also request the system to prevent deletions on a file This renders the Delete and Remove commands inoperable and prevents changes in column lines already entered This feature is useful for accounting applications 164 VersaForm XL USER REGISTRATION Name CJA Password File LEDGER V5A for report access lists only AUTHORITIES All Design Rpt_Fmt_Design Filing Reports Copy_Utils System_Utils Access List for Files and Reports DH ee Mek eet eet File Other_Name Read RdWrt Rpts charges aged Figure 11 6 Authorizing specific reports Note filename is filled in WARNING This security function is designed to make unauthorized attempts to use the VersaForm XL system more difficult It is not absolute however and VersaForm Systems makes no representation or guarantee that it cannot be broken It should be understood that the underlying operating system DOS is itself not secure and permits anyone with sufficient technical capability to access a
285. th record R and file F locks may be either shared locks S or exclusive X locks Shared locks allow others to also have shared locks on the same resource Exclusive locks permit no other locks whether shared or exclusive Thus there are four types of locks File Shared FS File Exclusive FX Record Shared RS and Record Exclusive RX The first lock requested on a file will of course always be granted Succeeding locks are granted according to the rules in the table below First Lock RX FS FX Second Lock N Y N Different user N N N N Y N N N N Locking introduces the possibility of deadlock This happens if two users each hold a lock on data that the other needs in order to continue For instance User A updates and locks record 1 and User B updates and locks record 2 So far so good But now suppose User B wants to update record 1 and User A wants to update record 2 Neither can go on because he is blocked by the other But neither user is done with his transaction In this situation one transaction must either be committed accepting the transaction so far or rolled back have its files restored to their state as of the beginning of the transaction Either of these actions will release the outstanding locks for that user s transaction and thus permit the other user s transaction to continue Rollbacks and Commits can be initiated by the user or by a procedure Rollback is intended to be used only in case of a deadloc
286. the Extended Checks in the same way as the others Then provide the system with additional information by establishing a RANGE of values a LIST of acceptable entries or a FORMAT for a specific pattern VersaForm XL will ask for the information it needs after you SAVE your choices for each item For example if you have chosen the RANGE check you ll be shown a Range Checking Form after you ve made and saved all of your choices for that item Then you ll be asked to specify the range s to check for You may use the normal VersaForm XL commands when entering data on the extended check forms RANGE CHECK This ensures that entries are within specified lower and upper limits A range may be open ended with only one limit set For example If entries must be between 5 95 and 50 00 specify a lower limit of 5 95 and an upper limit of 50 00 For entries of 50 00 or less you may set just an upper limit of 50 00 When a low limit is not specified anything below the upper limit will be accepted Automatic Checking And Automatic Filling 85 Tf forms are being filed by CUSTOMER a lower value of A and an upper value of LZ would allow entry of names beginning with A through L A range of M to ZZ would cover the remaining names Decimals are recognized and put in proper order within a range Thus if a range of 25 to 100 is specified entries of 37 21 and 66 43 are accepted How To Establish The Range A Range Checking form is pr
287. the normal way within the VersaForm XL language You must use ASSIGN and RETRIEVE to access these fields For instance if the field TOTAL is in a secondary file you can write X B TOTAL But if it is in a file opened with VOPEN say D you cannot say X D TOTAL instead you must say X RETRIEVE D TOTAL 0 Example var lookupfile lookupfile vopen lookup vf opens the lookup file if lookupfile lt gt 0 then begin put cust name in the key field key assign lookupfile key 0 a customername getform lookupfile if not ioerror then begin get the data B name retrieve lookupfile name 0 B addr retrieve lookupfile address1 0 end if vclose lookupfile then prompt File closed Be sure to VCLOSE files that you have VOPENed VersaForm won t do it for you 212 VersaForm XL To use ENTERITEM on a third file you need to declare a variable and set it equal to the name of the field you want to fill in Then use that variable as a parameter in the ENTERITEM statement For example prompt Calculate interest Y N Z Interest if enteritem stmtfile Z 0 then where stmtfile is the name of the variable assigned to the third file Z is the variable to hold the field name Interest on the third file O indicates that the field is a single item field To use INSERTLINE on a third file you need to declare a variable and set it equal to th
288. the operator is warned otherwise all the statements through line 20 will be executed If there is room on the secondary form for another line then all the statements through line 19 will be executed The current line number on B is advanced to the next available line A new line is inserted on B 13 15 Values for INV TDATE and QTY on the secondary form are 16 17 18 transferred from the primary form The total of the column B QTY is recomputed and placed in B TOTALQTY This is necessary since there will be no validation on the secondary form to compute totals The secondary form is saved If no I O error has occurred then we record that this inventory posting operation has indeed taken place This will prevent posting the same amount twice 19 20 21 Match the BEGINs on lines 4 8 and 10 22 23 Advance to the next line on the primary form Matches the BEGIN on line 3 thus closing the WHILE statement in line 2 276 VersaForm XL Procedure Post This procedure has a secondary file ORDERS but Key from is left blank which means no automatic look up will take place It isn t needed because the procedure does a GETFORM The primary form has a column item named ORDER which has been filled in with several order numbers that are to be looked up and closed by posting a closing date to each order PROCE 1 INSTRUCTI Procedure Na Secondary File Ol Key froml
289. the print control sequence to change an Epson dot matrix printer to compressed mode is ESC 27 followed by 15 which is entered as 27 15 116 VersaForm XL If the sequence is given as letters or if part of it is just enter the letters For example to change an HP LaserJet to compressed mode one possible control sequence the number of characters per inch which is 16 66 The entire sequence is 27 16 66H Another sequence to set compressed mode on an HP LaserJet is 27 amp k2S In these sequences 27 is the only ASCII code the rest of the characters represent themselves If you need to enter a numeric character following an ASCII code use a quote mark to set them apart Thus 15 2 denotes the ASCII code 15 followed by the character 2 while 152 denotes the ascii code 152 You can use different styles for the titles the report body the totals and the trailers If you want only one style for the entire report enter it in the Body_on field and enter the sequence for turning that style off in the Trailer_off field Report Variables can be used to prompt the user for a Print Control Sequence when the report is run You may instruct VersaForm XL to automatically use a default Print Control Sequence entered in the File SETUP VFS or SYSSETUP VFS by entering Y in the field Use default If you do not mark this field N and a Print Control Sequence is entered into one or both of these files VersaForm will ask if the Print C
290. them Only Manager can invoke this function Test your network s locking capability Verify that your network implements the DOS record locking facility Interrupt 21H function code SCH Without this function VersaForm XL multi user facilities don t work To perform this test bring up two work stations on your network Choose VersaForm XL Filing on both stations for the same file any file From the command menu Utils line choose the Locks command on both stations Now on the first station choose the Test option from the Locks command submenu If DOS record locking is working you will get a message saying that the file has been locked if you don t maybe you don t have a SHARE command in effect on your machine or your network doesn t have DOS record locking support active Next go to another work station and do the same The system should report that the file is already locked and ask if you want to abort or retry Do neither now but go back to the first work station and press pte This releases the lock Back to the second station and retry This time the second station should acquire the lock successfully Part Ill VersaForm XL Advanced Features Chapter 13 INTRODUCTION TO PROCEDURES Procedures are sets of instructions which you give VersaForm XL They are the most powerful feature of VersaForm XL Using procedures there is virtually no limit to what you can do Procedures can access more than one file at a t
291. this chapter If the forms match VersaForm XL will begin the copying process displaying the key item of each form as it is read MANUAL SELECTION If you chose manual selection of forms to be copied VersaForm XL will identify each form by its key item and ask if you want it copied Depending on whether you answer Y es or N o VersaForm XL will either copy the form or go on to the next form After each form is copied you will see a running tally 3 copied of 5 DUPLICATES If a form you ve chosen to copy has a key item identical to one in the file you re copying TO VersaForm XL will tell you Duplicate key on index Delete the old form Y N In this case you have two choices Copy Forms and Data 143 Respond Y to remove the old form and replace it with the new copy ss Respond N skip copying this form In either case the action log will record your choice NOTE Copying forms does not change the original file The forms you copied may be kept in that file or removed using the Filing function USE COPY PRINT TO REMOVE FORMS One way to remove forms from a file is to use the Copy Print Program again copying to a DIFFERENT file all the forms that weren t copied the first time In this way your original file containing ALL the forms could be archived and the two new files retained for daily use Copy Print Formats and Control Instructions The COPY OR PRINT FORMS function may also be used to copy control in
292. to use the value in STOCK on the invoice form to locate the correct inventory form the one with the matching value in its key item PARTNO THE PROCEDURE In the column headed Procedure you ll write a sequence of statements which make up the procedure See for example Figure 13 7 The usual VersaForm XL commands are available as you fill in your Procedure Instructions form e VALIDATE provides on screen help for filling in procedure and file name SAVE saves your procedure for later use Before doing so VersaForm XL translates it compiles it into an executable form If any error is detected you ll see an error message and you ll be able to rewrite the procedure If no errors are found VersaForm XL will save both the translated code and untranslated source versions of the procedure on your primary file e You can interrupt a procedure compilation by pressing Escape DISPLAY may be used to display either your primary or secondary form so you can verify item names and their spelling FIRST NEXT and GET are used to retrieve procedures 182 VersaForm XL INDEX lists procedures by their key item Procedure Name You can retrieve a procedure you want to change directly from the index e INSERT LINE and DELETE LINE do what their names imply CLEAR PRINT and REMOVE serve their usual functions e PgUp and PgDn Page Up and Page Down are used to scroll up or down since only 16 lines of a procedure are visible
293. trace in the command line and is directed to the DOS standard output It may be redirected to the printer or to a file in the usual way VF trace gt filename WARNING Do not use the name of an existing file you ll destroy it if you do DOS COMMAND LINE When VersaForm XL is initiated it inspects the DOS command line for several parameters The complete command line description is VF trace strace prtrace input filename id name password filing filetest fix filename The parameters may appear in any order and they are not case sensitive 292 Parameter trace strace prtrace input filename id fi iling letest filename Example UTILITY POPUP MENU VersaForm XL Usage turns the activity trace on turns the programmer s trace on with output to stdout It is thus redirectable turns the programmer s trace on with output to the printer directs VersaForm to read input from the named file instead of the keyboard When end of file is reached VersaForm accepts input from the keyboard A colon can be used in place of the equal sign this is useful to have the parameter passed through a DOS batch file the user s id and if needed password the system will bypass the main menu and go directly into filing the system will bypass the main menu and execute the filetest function If the fix argument is present certain records will be fixed by filetest If there is a param
294. umber always gt 0 if the item is a detail line Example a help function var name number If cursoritem name number lt gt 0 then if name salary then prompt Enter the employee s base salary This command is useful when used with a COMMAND procedure to create context sensitive help DATAPATH Function Returns the current value of the default pathname for data files Example If datapath is currently C data then displayfile datapath amp mymenu will display the contents of C data mymenu DELETELINE File N Procedure Deletes column line N WARNING Column totals are NOT recomputed You must include the specific instructions to recompute them in your procedure Example DELETELINE A 3 A TOTAL COLTOTAL A PR Line 3 is deleted from the primary form The column total is recomputed by the second statement to keep the total correct 230 VersaForm XL DEPTH File Function Returns the number of column lines that can been seen on the display DEPTH will be 0 if the form has no column lines Example The DEPTH function is useful when it is necessary to determine when to page forward the column area If a procedure is processing column lines the following statement determines when to display the next page IF L MOD DEPTH A 1 THE PAGE A L DISPLAY File Procedure Displays the form starting with the first column l
295. until it is needed This means that files opened with VOPEN that don t have details are fairly ight memory users A similar advantage may be gained on files with details if the number of details is limited 214 VersaForm XL PROCEDURE HANDLING At end of procedure chain all procedures on open files are removed from memory except for procedures on the the original file All validation information on open files is removed from memory except for the original file At the end of any procedure not on the original file all procedures on that file not currently in use are removed from memory When memory is short procedures not in use may be removed from memory at any time Errors and Exceptions If your form contains an item that has the same name as a function constant or variable you must qualify the item name with a FORM ID Use either A ITEMNAME if it s on the primary form or B ITEMNAME if it s on the secondary form If this isn t done you may only get a warning when you save your procedure but when it runs you won t be referencing a form item For example VersaForm XL has a built in function called VDATE which yields the current date If an item on your primary form is also called VDATE then if you wrote this statement you would only get a warning about VDATE when your procedure is saved but later when your procedure executes SHIPDATE would get today s date instead of the value of the form item VDATE
296. urs REMOVE A REPORT When you are finished with a set of instructions you may remove them from your file Select option 5 Remove This Report Chapter 8 PRINT ON PREPRINTED FORMS This chapter tells how to set up printing on preprinted forms and how to do the printing Print information from your files on standard forms or on forms you have created Tell the system what to print and where to print it These instructions are called a print format a Include messages comments or other text change them at each printing to suit the occasion s Direct information to a file for electronic data interchange instead of to a paper form F Save print formats for repeated use Create A Print Format 1 Select DESIGN A PRINT FORMAT from the Main Menu 2 Enter the path and file name if required VersaForm XL will ask Enter a new print format name or to select an old one gt gt 3 Press penter to see a list of existing formats If you are defining a new print format enter a name up to 35 characters for the new print format The print format menu Figure 8 1 will appear 126 VersaForm XL PRINT FORMAT MENU Print Line amp Column Numbers Enter or Change the Print Format Test the Print Format Remove This Print Format Rename This Print Format Copy Another Print Format Convert Old Print Format Choose Another Print Format T 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Figure 8 1 Print Format Menu N
297. ursor to L 2 QTY and tab to the Ttl column Enter Y and Validate fF 6 Move the cursor to L 3 AMOUNT and tab to the Ttl column Again enter Y and Validate E1 It is possible to choose additional items to be totaled but we ll stop with two Your Report Definition screen should look like the one in Figure 3 4 If it does not move the cursor to the fields on the screen and key in the information from Figure 3 4 Remember to Validate when you make changes to a line Hands On Exercise Reports 41 Pere reer nE Screen 1 Form Id SAMPLER1 Titlel SALES ANALYSIS Title2 More Options gt Title3 ctrl gt Page Format Width Length Left Margin Skip lines after titles Counts Y N Print item Options 1 99 Y N Y N Y N ee Print items SiZe sirene ms Title seres J S Srt Dir Sub Ttl Avg 1 Description 33 Description 1 Y 2 Qty 5 Qty Y 3 Amount 10 Amount Y 4 Clerk 8 Clerk 5 Figure 3 4 We have finished the first step in creating our report telling VersaForm XL which items to print and how they should be printed In the next section we will discuss the second step telling VersaForm XL under which conditions items should be selected 7 Command SAVE 21 VersaForm XL will save the Report Control Instructions in your file and return to the report menu Figure 3 1 SELECT THE DATA YOU WANT Now you will specify which data to extract from your file by
298. used A warning message will be displayed and a beep will sound but the procedure will continue to run 200 VersaForm XL Comparisons Comparisons are expressions that can be either TRUE or FALSE Symbols used in comparisons are VA ll V The use of these symbols is illustrated in the following examples a COST 4 b coltotal B AMOUNT gt 400 c COST 4 or PRICE gt 10 d STATE lt gt NY and INCOME gt 10000 Comparisons are most commonly used to make a decision using an IF statement IF STDPRICI EN PRICE STDPRICE If the value in STDPRICE is greater than 4 then that value is to be assigned to PRICE Compound Comparisons Compound comparisons are built by surrounding each sub expression with parentheses The logical operators AND OR and NOT are used between sub expressions Examples c and d above are compound comparisons COMPOUND STATEMENTS Compound statements allow you to construct complex statements from simple ones You may form compound statements in these ways BEGIN and END a BEGIN statement1 statement2 END Writing Procedures 201 Example LASTLINE 1 INE B B L A INV B TDATE A QTY LOTY COLTOTAL B QTY EFORM B OT IOERROR THEN A POSTE This compound statement is made up of eight other statements each ending with the required semi
299. ustify 83 239 Key Field 56 Key From1 181 Key From2 181 Keystruck 240 L 192 217 Label Text File 149 Labels 149 Large Character Strings 199 Last L 73 Last Column Line 159 Lastcommand 240 Lastform 234 Lastline 240 Lastposn 241 Leading And Trailing Blanks 198 Left_Margin 157 308 VersaForm XL Length 241 Modify A Start Procedure 195 Less Than Monthend Sample Procedure 280 In Procedure Statements 200 Less Than Lt 121 Less Than Or Equal To In Procedure Statements 200 Less Than Or Equal To Le 121 Line Numbers In Procedures 192 List Check 86 Literals In Procedures 193 Literals In Procedures 191 Lockfile 241 Lockform 241 Locking 253 Errors 170 Technical Note 171 Locking 167 Locking In Procedures 169 Locking In Reports 170 Locking On Interactive Commands 168 Locks Test 172 Locks 171 Log Printing Forms 138 Log Copying Forms 143 Log On 155 161 Bypass 163 Logical Operators 200 Lookup 88 Look Up Procedure 175 Loops 202 Lowercase 191 Ltrim 241 M Mail Merge 280 Mailing Labels See Labels Mailing Labels Label Text File 149 Manager 155 161 Mandatory 84 Max 242 Maximum Form Size 53 Maximum Length 83 Maxline 242 Memory 13 Menu 243 Menu Sample Procedure 268 Min 242 Minimum Length 83 Mod 197 Mode 253 Mode Command 15 Mouse 15 Move Data 144 Moving Data With Procedures 199 Moving The Cursor 9 Multiple Select
300. ve a heading Each column heading must be separated from the one next to it by at least one space No spaces are allowed WITHIN column headings To separate words use an underscore recommended or a hyphen or slash not a dot or space A column name can contain up to 20 characters Use dots as shown in Figure 4 6 to extend the column width to contain more characters than the column name VersaForm XL will automatically center the headings ALPHA TOOLS INC SERVING THE BAY AREA SINCE 1925 AREA CODE SALES REP L QTY STOCK DESCRIPTION PRICE AMOUNT SUBTOTAL Figure 4 6 Create A File And Design A Form 59 NOTE A form can have more column line entries than fit the LENGTH of the screen Additional pages are provided by VersaForm XL as data is entered If DATE is a column item allow at least 8 spaces for the correct VersaForm XL format Figure 4 7 PATIENT NAME Jones John Morris ADDRESS 748 Park Avenue CITY Webster STATE CA ZIP 95729 L DATE DESCRIPTION CHG PMT 1 10 31 83 Office Visit 30 00 2 11 07 83 Check Received 30 00 3 11 14 83 Office Recheck 15 00 Figure 4 7 COLUMN LINES 1 Press ENTER after keying in column headings VersaForm XL will process WN your entries centering column headings and adding numbered column lines Your form will be displayed on the screen The dots will be replaced by asterisks and column lines will be added The
301. ve access Figure 11 5 On a form on which the File field see above is filled in this field specifies the list of reports on that particular file that the user can access Figure 11 6 Setup and Security 163 Rpts When there is a file name in the first column enter Y here to grant access to all reports Read These fields are reserved for future use RdWrt USER REGISTRATION Name CJA Password ME File for report access lists only AUTHORITIES All Y Design Rpt_Fmt_Design Filing Reports Copy_Utils System_Utils Access List for Files and Reports File Other_Name Read RdWrt Rpts c cja ledger v5a y c cja ledgtst2 n Figure 11 5 Filled in user registration form Note filename is blank Reports can be individually protected Ifa file is not protected then anyone who has authority to run reports can run any report If it is protected the user must have permission either to run that report or to run all reports on that file The list of files in the user s security record has a field that grants permission to use all the reports on that file If there isn t a Y in that field then the user can only use specific reports The specific reports that he can run must be listed by name in a second record on the security file one with the same USERID but which has the file name entered in the file name field the one that forms the second part of the key see Figure 11 6 below The security file USERS VFS is protected When the sys
302. when a form is not found or a form cannot be read because of bad data When writing data the IOERROR function will be set to TRUE if the file or disk is full or the file was not open for output When opening a text file the IOERROR function will be set to TRUE if the file does not exist in the case of a TEXTINPUT file or the file name or drive designator is invalid The IOERROR function may be tested e g IF TOERROR THEN as many times as you wish and will not change its value until the next I O routine is performed Here are the built in procedures that reset the value of IOERROR Form I O FIRSTFORM LASTFORM GETFORM SAV NEXTFORM BACKFORM REMOVEFORM Text I O TEXTINPUT PRINTFILE PRINT R NOTE In the statement Writing Procedures 211 FIRSTFORM A IF IOERROR THEN PRIN FIRSTFORM had an error IF IOERROR THEN PRINT PRINT had an error the value of IOERROR is changed by the first PRINT statement so the second test refers to the result of the PRINT statement not the FIRSTFORM MORE THAN TWO FILES You may have up to 10 VersaForm files open in a procedure The primary and secondary files behave as described above To open more than two files two built in routines VOPEN and VCLOSE are used Files opened with VOPEN can be manipulated with any function that uses a file as an argument Fields in these files cannot however be accessed in
303. when we chose LOOKUP as an automatic filling feature VersaForm XL also supplied the AMOUNT QTY times PRICE Then it updated the SUBTOTAL computed the TAX and filled in the correct TOTAL It lined up justified all the figures checked your entries and provided a third column line Your form now looks like Figure 2 10 L QTY STOCK DESCRIPTION PRICE AMOUNT 11 100 Hammer 5 95 5 95 22 3 A44 Elec Drill 47 00 94 00 SUBTOTAL TAX TOTAL Entries checked OK Figure 2 10 You already know you can type or space over characters However if you have a lot of data to remove you may use the UNDO command on entries that have not yet been validated UNDO removes all entries back to the last validation Hands On Exercise 25 4 In Line 3 key in 1 under QTY A54 under STOCK Hammer under DESCRIPTION and 32 50 under PRICE 5 Press ESC then E for the Edit menu 6 Key in U for Undo and press genten To remove data that has already been validated use the DELETE command discussed later 7 Key in the letter A under QTY Key in A11 A eleven under STOCKH Try to VALIDATE You ll see the message shown in Figure 2 11 QTY STOCK DESCRIPTION PRICE AMOUNT 11 100 Hammer 5 95 5 95 22 3 A L A44 Elec Drill 47 00 94 00 SUBTOTAL 99 95 TAX 5 00 104 95 Qty must be numeric Figure 2 11 Another data entry check was set up for QTY all entries into that item must be NUMERIC Remember the system will not accep
304. you supply a function with values or items arguments it uses them to compute a result which it returns to you as its value For example COLTOTAL is a function that computes the total of a column Thus COLTOTAL B COST computes the total of the column called COST on the secondary form To use it you might write A TOTALCOST COLTOTAL B COST Here the item TOTALCOST on the primary form would be assigned the value of the computed total of the COST item on the secondary form Note that functions can be used in assignment statements while procedures cannot Functions do not form complete statements by themselves they must be used in other statements such as the assignment statement above A list of built in procedures and functions is presented in Chapter 15 Writing Procedures 197 Expressions Expressions are computations to be performed that result in a value The value of the expression can then be assigned to a variable or item or compared to another expression or passed to a built in procedure or function Examples of expressions are PRICE 1 2 50 COST 4 2 TOTAL a dastamt coltotal b amount tax The above expressions imply that the value computed will be a number but you can also use values like dates and character strings in expressions The resulting value depends upon what operations are performed Expressions are built using identifiers operators parentheses

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