Btrieve® Developer's Journal
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Btrieve ® Winter Developer’s Journal (Jan-March 1994) Vol. II No. 1 THE INDEPENDENT SOURCE OF NEWS AND INFORMATION FOR BTRIEVE DEVELOPERS AND USERS When we began working on the idea of creating In March of 1993, an article called Inside Btrieve Files BTRIEVE DEVELOPER’S JOURNAL last year, we never was published in Dr. Dobb’s Journal by Doug Reilly. In his realized what a large void we would fill by publishing infor- original article, Doug explored the internal structure of Btrieve mation written specifically for people who develop and use files to demonstrate various methods of Btrieve data recovery. Btrieve applications. Since the distribution of our free premier We are pleased that we have been given the opportunity to issue to our list of over 32,000 active Btrieve developers, we show you more of what we have discovered about Btrieve files have had a large number of positive comments about our and possible data recovery methods. actively promoting Btrieve. We also received many subscrip- I can’t begin to tell you how excited we are about what’s tions, including yours, for which I am very grateful. We cannot going on with Btrieve for 1994… There is a lot of information continue to promote Btrieve without your continued support. and activity about Btrieve that you will not find anywhere else With BTRIEVE DEVELOPER’S JOURNAL, we are but in BTRIEVE DEVELOPER’S JOURNAL. We know that working hard to strike an even balance between articles of a you will not want to miss it! technical nature and those articles that focus on products with Btrieve support. We want to present information to those of you who are technically oriented and also to users of Btrieve applications who are interested in products that will allow them to make better use of the information stored in their Scott A. Smith Btrieve applications. Publisher This issue of BTRIEVE DEVELOPER’S JOURNAL focuses on one of the most asked questions with respect to Btrieve products: “What report writer should I use to access IN THIS ISSUE my Btrieve data.” Our Report Writer Roundup section takes a look at seven commercial report writers that can make orga- Btrieve Announcement… nized sense out of information in Btrieve files. From those Novell has announced plans to spin off their database products into a new company that are Windows applications to those which are character- headed by Doug and Nancy Woodward called Btrieve Technologies, Inc. Read all about how this will affect the future of Btrieve, and YOU as a Btrieve user..................Page 3 based DOS applications, you will be able to choose the best tool available to manipulate your Btrieve data. Btrieve News... We begin our technical analysis of Btrieve with Doug Doug Woodward reports on the Btrieve Developer’s Kit for Windows version 6.1 and the status of BTRIEVE.EXE... Plus more product news from Reilly’s Inside Btrieve column that explores Btrieve file com- the Btrieve marketplace...............................................................................Page 2 pression. How does compression work and how is it activated in various Btrieve environments? What are the pitfalls of com- Report Writer Roundup... pression? How does compression affect Btrieve’s perfor- We take a look at seven commercial report writers that make organized sense out of information in Btrieve files ....................................Page 5 mance, reliability, and error recovery? BTRIEVE DEVELOPER’S JOURNAL Editor, Steve Inside Btrieve... Mook, begins a new column called Data Types: Ins and Outs Doug Reilly explores Btrieve file compression ..........................................Page 19 that explores how to decode data stored in Btrieve files using Data Types: Ins and Outs... the different data types that Btrieve applications may use. Steve Mook explains how to decode data stored in Btrieve files Steve also explores the new features of Btrieve version 6.1 in using different Btrieve data types........................................................Page 11 his special feature, What’s New in Btrieve. DDF’s Explained... In my DDF’s Explained special feature, I explain every- Scott Smith details the structure of the files that make up the thing that we know about the structure of the much asked Btrieve Data Dictionary File set...........................................................Page 16 about, and little known, Btrieve Data Dictionary Files. You What’s New in Btrieve... will know the structure of the files that make up the standard Steve Mook takes a close look at what is new in Btrieve version 6.1..............Page 20 DDF set, how to read and create them yourself, and about the Btrieve Recovery Techniques... new extended DDF set that has been created to support addi- We make the first detailed analysis of the internal structure of tional non-standard Btrieve data types and field comments. Btrieve files to explore various methods of data recovery ............................Page 23 NEWS FROM NOVELL AUSTIN... According to Doug Woodward, Novell’s Vice President of Advanced Technology for Database Products, they are getting good results for the latest round of beta testing on the new local DLL for Windows, WBTRCALL.DLL, that will support Btrieve version 6.x files. Look for the product to be released in the early to mid portion of the second quarter of 1994. On the EXE front, Doug said that the new EXE version of Btrieve that will support the 6.x format is currently in Alpha testing at Novell. Apparently, the new EXE will be making a mid-year debut after the testing cycle is complete. Doug also hinted that we should be ready to see a lot of new positive activity for the Btrieve product line in 1994. Low-end Windows Accounting tool ships... There is a new arrival in the crowded accounting software field: Zebra Express from the product’s namesake, Zebra Express, Inc. of Tampa, Florida. In addition to being Btrieve-based, Zebra Express was written in Visual Basic 2.0, and includes general ledger, accounts receivable, and six other modules. The package sells for $399.95. Zebra Express may be reached at (813) 888-7500. HP prepares to ship its PA-RISC server with support for PIN and Btrieve... HP will release in the first quarter of 1994 a network super-server that is based on its PA-RISC microprocessor and that will support Novell’s Processor Independent NetWare (PIN) network operating system. The server and operating system will provide an alternative to Intel’s platforms. The server is code-named “Piranha” and will be released with a version of PIN. The “Piranha” will support about 1,000 users and prices will start at less than $10,000 for a 100-MHz version with 32 MB of memory and 2 GB of storage. More than 50 Novell NLMs, including Btrieve, should be available for HP’s PIN server when it ships. HP can be reached at (800) 637-7740. Platinum Software Announces Platinum for Windows... Platinum Software Corporation has unveiled the Windows version of its Platinum line called “Platinum for Windows.” The accounting package, which is set for release during the second quarter of 1994, is intended for users who require a strong LAN-based system and a Windows front end without the SQL database option that comes with the company’s client/server “SeQueL To Platinum” series. Prices will range from $1,500 to $15,000. Platinum for Windows continues Platinum’s traditional use of Btrieve as its record manager. Platinum of Atlanta, Georgia may be reached at (404) 392-4237. New Forms Generation Software Supports Btrieve... WordPerfect Corporation’s InForms is a versatile forms generation package which features a variety of options for creating on-line or printed forms and for linking these forms to a number of popular databases, including Btrieve. Controls such as action buttons, radio buttons and drop-down lists are included for on-line forms. InForms version 1.0 is priced at $495. WordPerfect of Orem, Utah may be reached at (801) 225-5000. NLM’s Backup Open Btrieve Files... Emeritus Technologies and Cheyenne Software have improved their backup NLM’s for NetWare servers. Emeritus Technologies has released version 4.2 of TapeWare/LAN-NLM, its backup-and-restore software. In addition to several new features, this version supports Btrieve 6.0 open-file database backup and NetWare 4.x Directory Service support. List prices range from $299 to $1,299. Contact Emeritus Technologies, Inc. at (800) 228-9236. The Btrieve Database Agent Option for ARCserve by Cheyenne Software ensures data integrity by utilizing Btrieve’s continuous mode operations. Price ranges from $495 to $4995. Reach Cheyenne at (516) 484-5110. Btrieve Developer’s Journal Btrieve Numbers: Btrieve Developer’s Journal (ISSN 1071-7463) is published BDJ Phone: 615-860-3500 quarterly by SMITHWARE, Inc. BDJ FAX: 615-665-2383 Subscriptions: $49/year inside the United States. $79/year BDJ CompuServe Account: 73173,2731 outside the United States. Payment is acceptable via check or Novell Developer Support: 800-638-9273 money order, MasterCard, Visa, or American Express, or by 801-429-5588 Purchase Order for approved accounts. Send payment informa- tion to Btrieve Developer’s Journal Subscriptions Post Office Novell Support FAX: 512-794-1775 Box 50002, Nashville, TN 37205 FAX: (615) 665-2383. Novell CompuServe Account: 76701,171 MCI Mail: 590-5654 Back Issues: Back issues of Btrieve Developer’s Journal are Address: You may address news items, new product announcements, tips, advice, available for $20.00 per issue. Contact Cindi Gourley at comments, or any other correspondence to: Btrieve Developer’s Journal, Post (615) 860-3500 for more information. Office Box 50002, 713 Lynnwood Blvd., Nashville, TN 37205. Postmaster: First class postage paid at Nashville, TN Send address changes to: Staff: Publisher: Scott Smith Btrieve Developer’s Journal Circulation Control Post Office Box 50002, Editor: Steve Mook Nashville, TN 37205.