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User Interface Levels
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We want to make it easy for you to quickly take advantage of the added
functionality provided in CA-Clipper 5.2. In order to effectively use
the RDDs, you should read the following discussions. They are provided
as a means of identifying the degree of programming knowledge or
CA-Clipper experience that will let you effectively use the RDD
features.
For this purpose the RDD feature set is arbitrarily divided into levels
A and B. Tables listing the commands or functions that comprise these
access levels are also supplied. In addition, an RDD Features Summary
is provided in table form which outlines the features available in each
driver. The commands and functions in both of these levels of access
are described in the Reference chapter of this guide.
Level A - Command-Level Interface
Level A. a simple command-level interface very similar to those
found in other languages (e.g., dBASE IV, FoxPro). This is the primary
access for new CA-Clipper users who may or may not be familiar with
other languages.
The following table lists the commands and functions accessible by the
CA-Clipper programmer with background in languages such as dBASE or
FoxPro. The commands and functions in this table provide access to the
additional features without requiring an advanced knowledge of
CA-Clipper or other programming concepts.
Basic Commands and Functions
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Command/Function Changes
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DELETE TAG Delete a Tag
GOTO Move the pointer to the specified identity
INDEX Create an index file
SEEK Search an Order for a specified key value
SET INDEX Open one or more Order Bags in the current work area
SET ORDER Select the controlling Order
DBAPPEND() Append a new record to the current Lock List
DBRLOCK() Lock the record at the current or specified identity
DBRLOCKLIST() Return an array of the current Lock List
DBRUNLOCK Release all or specified record locks
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Level B - Function-Level Interface
Level B. CA-Clipper also adds a function level interface that not
only allows access to the enhanced functionality of the drivers, but
permits the building of higher-level functions using these composing
behaviors. This level is meant for more experienced CA-Clipper users
who need to take advantage of the full power of the driver and Order
Management System.
The following table lists the DML and Order Management functions
recommended to the intermediate to advanced CA-Clipper programmer.
These functions provide the greatest flexibility in accessing the
extended features of these drivers
Advanced Functions (including Order Management)
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Command/Function Description
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DBAPPEND() Append a new record to the current Lock List
DBRLOCK() Lock the record at the current or specified identity
DBRLOCKLIST() Return an array of the current Lock List
DBRUNLOCK() Release all or specified record locks
ORDBAGEXT() Return the default Order Bag RDD extension
ORDBAGNAME() Return the Order Bag name of a specific Order
ORDCREATE() Create an Order in an Order Bag
ORDDESTROY() Remove a specified Order from an Order Bag
ORDFOR() Return the FOR expression of an Order
ORDKEY() Return the Key expression of an Order
ORDLISTADD() Add Order Bag contents or single Order to the Order
List
ORDLISTCLEAR() Clear the current Order List
ORDLISTREBUILD() Rebuild all Orders in the Order List of the current
work area
ORDNAME() Return the name of an Order in the work area
ORDNUMBER() Return the position of an Order in the current Order
List
ORDSETFOCUS() Set focus to an Order in an Order List
RDDLIST() Return an array of the available Replaceable
Database Drivers
RDDNAME() Return the name of the RDD active in the current or
specified work area
RDDSETDEFAULT() Set or return the default RDD for the application
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RDD Features
The following decision table summarizes the availability of key features
across RDDs. It lists the features available in each RDD so you can use
it as an aid in correct RDD implementation and data access.
RDD Features Summary
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Item NTX NDX MDX CDX DBPX
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Implicit record unlocking in Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
single lock mode
Multiple Record Locks Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Number of Concurrent Record Locks *1 *1 *1 *1 1
Order Management (Tag support) Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Orders (Tags) per Order Bag (File) 1 1 47 50 N/A
Number of Order Bags (Files) 15 15 15 15 N/A
per work area
Conditional Indexes (FOR clause) Yes No Yes Yes No
Temporary (Partial) Indexes Yes No No Yes No
(WHILE, ... )
Descending via DESCENDING clause Yes No Yes Yes No
Unique via the UNIQUE clause Yes Yes Yes Yes No
EVAL and EVERY clause support Yes No No Yes No
Production/Structural Indexes No No Yes Yes No
Maximum Key Expression length 256 256 220 255 N/A
(bytes)
Maximum FOR Condition length 256 N/A 261 255 N/A
(bytes)
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*1 determined by available memory.
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