Superbase 4 Windows
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COPYRIGHT NOTICE © Precision Software Limitcd North America: 6 Park Terrace Precision Inc. Worcester Park 8404 Sterling Street Surrey Irving, TX 75063 England KT4 7JZ USA (081) 330 7166 (214) 929 4888 First Edition January 1991 This manual, and the Superbase software ('Superbase') described in it, contain confidential information proprietary to Precision Software Limited and are copyrighted with all rights reserved. Neither the whole nor any part of the manual or of Superbase may be copied, reproduced, transmitted, transferred, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any language or computer language, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, magnetic, optical, chemical, manual, or otherwise, without the prior written authorization of Precision Software Limited. Conditions of Anthorization of Backup Copy - You may make one backup copy of Superbase, but not of the manual. Every copy must include the same proprietary and copyright notices as the original. Installation of a copy of Superbase on your hard disk is permitted subject to these conditions. You may not make an extra copy of Superbase for the purpose of using it on another computer. You may not sell, loan, or give away a copy of Superbase. Resale or Disposal- The Software is licensed only to you, the Licensee, and may not be transferred to anyone else without the prior written consent of Precision Software. Any authorized transferee of the Software shall be bound by the terms and conditions of the Licence and Limited Warranty. Upon authorized transfer you shall destroy all copies of the Software not transferred and any written materials not transferred. In no event may you transfer, assign, rent, lease, sell or otherwise dispose of the Software on a temporary or permanent basis except as expressly provided herein. Trademarks Superbase, Superplan, Logistix and the VCR Browsing Control design are trademarks of Precision Software Limited. Windows, MS-DOS and Excel are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. IBM-PC is a trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. Lotus 1-2-3 is a trademark of Lotus Development Corporation. dBase is a trademark of Ashton-Tate Inc. PC Paintbrush is a trademark of Zsoft Corporation. GIF is a trademark of Compuserve Inc. AmigaDOS, Workbench and Intuition are trademarks of Commodore Amiga Inc. Xerox is a trademark of Xerox Corporation. Enable is a trademark of The Software Group. , SUPERBASE AND AMIGA WORKBENCH To run Superbase under Amiga Workbench, you need to license and install Amiga Workbench Release 1.3 or later. LIMITED WARRANTY If there is a physical defect in the Superbase program disk or manual, Precision Software Limited will replace the defective item free of charge, provided you return the item to be replaced with proof of purchase to Precision Software Limited within 90 days of the date ofpurchase. In some countries the replacement period may be different; check with your software supplier. The contents of this manual are subject to change without notice and do not represent any commitment on the part of Precision Software Limited. No warranty is made with respect to Superbase, its quality or performance. Any and all warranties for merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose are expressly excluded. The Superbase software is sold 'as is,' and you, the purchaser, are assuming the entire risk as to its quality and performance. In no event shall Precision Software Limited be liable or responsible to the purchaser or any other person or entity for direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages, including but not limited to interruption of service and loss of business or anticipatory profits, resulting from any defect in or misunderstanding of the software or its documentation, even if Precision Software Limited has been advised of the possibility of such damages. The warranty and remedies set out above are exclusive and in lieu of all others, oral or written, express or implied. Some countries do not allow the exclusion or limitation of implied warranties or liabilities for incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitation or exclusion may not apply to you. REGISTRATION AND SUPPORT Please complete and return the Registration Card, which is included in your Superbase package. Only registered users are eligible for 30 days' free software support from time of registration.lfyou do not return the card, we will not be able to help you. Please remember, when requesting support, to make available: Your registration number. See your program disk or registration card. The version number of your copy of Superbase. This is displayed in the 'About' requester available from the Project menu. A clear statement of your problem. ii While we are proud of our ability to help users solve their problems, we ask you to remember that only a precise description of a problem can lead to a precise solution. Before You Begin ••• Read Me First With this package you will find a set of pages titled IMPORTANT: READ ME FIRST. You should read them before starting to use Superbase. The Read Me First pages include: Package Contents check list. Instructions for installing Superbase. Instructions for running Superbase. You should have already installed Superbase. Ifyou haven't done so, the procedure is simply a matter of running the Setup program on the Superbase setup disk: 1. Insert the Superbase Setup disk in any floppy drive. 2. Open the disk window by double-clicking on the disk icon. 3. Double-click on the "Setup" icon. 4. Follow the installation instructions as they appear on screen. README.TXT The Superbase program disk includes a document called README. TXT. This document describes the changes made to Superbase between the time your Superbase User Guide went to press and the time the final modifications were made to the software. README. TXT is an ASCII text file. You can read it either with the Superbase Text Editor or by double-clicking on its icon. The Superbase Documentation The Superbase manuals are designed to allow several ways of becoming familiar with the program. Volume 1 is a User Guide for the Database and Text Editor, with an introductory tutorial and a reference summary. The User Guide is structured around practical iii topics, so that you can locate 'how to' instructions easily. The Table of Contents shows the arrangement of topics. Volume 2 contains a User Guide for the Form Designer, a Keyword Reference Guide for Superbase' s Database Management Language (DML), and Advanced Topics chapters. Volume 2 also includes an Applications Guide, in which a range of worked examples shows how Superbase can be used to build effective database applications. Compatibility Superbase Professional 3.02 and Earlier Superbase Professional 4 Amiga represents the latest in Superbase software technology, and is functionally equivalent in most respects to Superbase 4 Windows. Because it is not derived from Superbase Professional 3, some existing applications developed under that system may require some minor modifications to make them work with Superbase Professional 4 Amiga. Database files, text files, forms, and other ancillary files created under Superbase Professional 3 should require no moditications. However, DML programs may require some changes. See the README.TXT file on the program disk for details. Files, forms and programs created under Superbase Professional 4 Amiga should be regarded as not compatible with Superbase Professional 3. However, if you use a file originally created in Superbase Professional 3 in Superbase Professional 4 Amiga you may continue to read it with Superbase Professional 3 provided you do not reorganize it. Files used in this way may not take advantage of any of the features introduced with Superbase Professional 4 Amiga. Superbase 4 Windows Database files, text files, and other ancillary files created under Super base 4 Windows 1.2 or 1.3 may be used with Superbase Professiona14 Amiga without modification. DML programs may require some changes, as some commands are irrelevant in the Amiga environment. DML programs written under Superbase Professional 4 Amiga will be largely compatible with the Windows version. However, forms created in either environment are not compatible with the other. See the README.TXT file on the program disk for further details. iv CONTENTS Before You Begin ... 1-iii Read Me First ........................................... .iii README. TXT .......................................... .iii The Superbase Documentation ...............................iii Compatibility ............................................ .iv 1 GETIING TO KNOW SUPERBASE 4 1-1 The Workbench Database ................................. 1-1 The Primary Work Surface .......... , ..................... 1-2 The Superbase Menus .................................... 1-5 The Super base Work Area. .. 1-7 Opening a File .. 1-8 Using a Fonn ......................................... 1-14 Exiting from Superbase .................................. 1-15 Invoking the Superbase Fonn Designer ..................... 1-15 Where To Go From Here ................................. 1-15 2 DEVELOPING AN APPLICATION 2-1 3 DEFINING NEW FILES 3-1 Files and Fonns . 3-1 The File Definition Requester .............................. 3-3 Creating a New Field ..................................... 3-4 TextlLogical Field ....................................... 3-5 Numeric Field .......................................... 3-6 Date Fields . 3-10 TimeFields ..........................................