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.
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
