Based on my experience with OverVue, I thought I would just jot down & upload several OverVue tips and bugs which I have discovered, for those AMUG members who are interested and/or in need of them.
1. If you have macros or reports installed in your database, if you use the Save As.. feature to rename or make a duplicate of your database, your macros and reports will be obliterated. A workaround to this is to use the Finder or a Desk Accessory to duplicate or rename your files.
2. When you SortUp, your keyboard and cursor will freeze if you try to drag the view box to the middle of your file. It will unfreeze in five to ten minutes, but if you drag the box all the way to the end of the file before trying to drag it to the middle, you will not get any freeze at all.
3. To delete all records, first "Set Summaries" and then "Delete Summaries."
4. Here are a couple of simple Macros for a simple mailing list database. There are several good macros which come with the program, too. I have found that the best way to write macros and installing them is a desk accessory text editor like MockWrite or MiniWriter.
Do "Add new record/R"
Eof;Return
Do "Alphabetize Names"
Hide
Column "First Name"
SortUp
Column "Last Name"
SortUp
Show
Do "Select different" * Select Records with different value from current cell
Copy
NotEqual
Select "[]"
5. If you have reports installed, changing column structures will reorder the fields in your reports.
6. Although there is a pre-installed "Word Merge" option in the report "Special" menu, it doesn't work right. Rather than using this, to create a text only document with tabs delineating fields, follow these instructions:
a. Place the field boxes which you want in your text document next to each other on the first line of the report window with only one space in between them. Make certain that you have allocated a large enough number of characters in length for the longest entry in each field to fit into your field boxes. Field boxes which will not be included in your text document should be dragged to somewhere in the bottom of the window.
b. Type the symbol "~" in each space between field boxes to indicate that OverVue should place a Tab there.
c. In the Attributes menu, select "Floating Length" only for the first field, "Floating Position" only for the last field, and both "Floating Length" and "Floating Position" for all fields in between.
d. Drag the size box up so that only the first line is visible.
e. Select "Header" from the Template Menu. Set the Page Length at 10000, and the top margin at 0.
f. Type the your field names across the top line with only the "~" character separating their names.
g. Drag the size box up so that only the first line is visible.
h. Name your report with the "Report Title" feature in the Template menu.
i. Quit back to the main data sheet image.
j. Make certain that your report is selected in the print menu, and the records which you want included in the report are selected and then "Print Report on Disk." OverVue will name this document, and it will be called the name of your data file plus ".report" (example: Mailing List.report). OverVue will automatically overwrite any other document with that name, so if you want to save the document, you should make certain that you have changed its name.
