Hi Everyone,
I thought I would share this application with the group. I often use the
STE-MGR program to document databases. Although it documents database
completely the results are not so easy to read.
For those not familiar with the STE-MGR.COM application and the companion
STE-BASE.STR. Its a program for documenting your DataPerfect database and even
for making changes, and it is extremely useful. To use it is very simple, you
execute the STR-MGR program, and select the STR of the DP application you are
wanting to document. The STE-MRG program creates a file which is has the same
base filename as your DP application with the extension {L}. This file is a
synthetic DP Transaction Log.
Once you have this file you import it into the STE-BASE.str application. Open
DP and the STE-BASE application, and if its the first time recreate all the
indexes etc when it prompts you. Import the transaction log you created with
Shift-F9 - Import transaction log. This populates the various panels of the
STE-BASE application with details of your application.
I have modified the STE-BASE application to add a couple of more links, and the
addition of two more panels, plus I have added a report which exports much of
the data as an XML file. The basic functionality of the STE-BASE is unchanged
it just has a few more things. It started out as an
The new reports produces a file STE.XML. The application also includes an XSLT
file to style the document so it can be displayed in a browser, there are a
couple of Javascript files that do things such as making the STE-BASE's
representation of field formula easy to work with.
The links to the complete application is
http://www.brileigh.com/dpweb/STE-DEF_019.zip it contains
STE-MGR.COM (standard, same one that is supplied with DP.Only later versions
came with this)
STE-BASE.str (modified from the original than comes with DP)
STE-Def.xsl ( this file is the transformation that will generate HTML)
STE.js (some basic Javascript, mainly to tidy up DP formula's which are
normally very hard to read in the STE-BASE program)
wz_tooltip.js (open source HTML tool tips, open it to view its credits)
All files should be unzipped into the same folder. together with your DP
executables and your applications STR. You run the STE-MGR as I have noted
above, and then run the Report "XML Database descriptor"
The STE.XML includes a processing instruction to tell it to use the STE-DEF.xsl
to transform it. Depending on how big your application is it might take a
little while to generate the file. When it does you will see the structure of
your application. You can selective show or hide various parts of the
definition, so that if you choose to print it it will not take up so much
paper. You can open up all the formulas to view, or click on individual formula
to see their contents.
I have modified the STE-BASE application to add a couple of new panels. One for
adding comments to Panels, and the other for adding comments to Fields. If you
are developing a DP application you might want to make more notes about a
fields purpose, etc. When viewing the results in your your browser if you pass
your mouseover any red print (eg panel names, field names and fields used in
formula) it will show you more information or notes about the item..
The STE-BASE is generally a one shot program in that once you import the data
you need to empty the database before you import a new log file. Emptying the
database completely would remove your additional notes that have been made, so
I have made some changes so that if you delete the STE-BASE-HDR record, it will
cascade delete through the rest of the definition data except the notes, ready
for a new import. The notes will be preserved for the new import, although if
you delete fields, or change their purpose, you will need to change or delete
the notes. (its not a Perfect world).
Apart from being useful application for documenting your applications, it shows
what can be done with a simple XML file and transforming it with XSLT.
My original goal before I wrote the application was to write a program to
graphically display a DP Entity Relation diagram, much like DPLinks does,
except that Panels could be dragged into place so you could choose the layout,
and additionally the diagram would contain information about the Panel or Data
link, and the panel's fields. Much like say a Microsoft Access Relationship
screen. I haven;t yet finished that.
I intend to write an application which will also document reports more
throughly. Some of my reports are absolute nightmares to later decipher.
Regards
Brian_______________________________________________
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