Alastair -
Will you be at the conference this year? If so, bring your converted
databases and schedule some R:Clinic time for some one-on-one pointers and
how-to's.
Sami
----- Original Message -----
From: "Alastair Burr" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Tuesday, September 04, 2001 4:48 AM
Subject: Re: v6.5++ for Windows - 2 problems
> Thanks, Brent, Sami, JM, & Razzak for your responses.
>
> Brent, thank you, your solution was perfect. As you may have guessed I was
so
> frustrated (to say the least) by the prospect of having to search for and
> replace all the foreign characters in my Dos database to get them correct
in the
> Windows one that I forgot to look at how R:Base could help me with the
immediate
> problem. Changing the quotes setting was a dead simple solution and one I
should
> have seen for myself - but that's one of the joys of this list where
people help
> and encourage one another simply because they can.
>
> Sami, I have been opening tables to view/edit from the Object Manager
rather
> than from a command at the R:> prompt. I'll try your suggestion later
today and
> see what happens. I have managed to get the layout constant with the SET
LAYOUT
> ON setting and also to move columns permanently into a different order by
> locking them so it's just the number of lines per cell that's (apparently)
not
> being saved.
>
> JM, many thanks for your offer. I should be able to do a search and
replace
> fairly easily but if I get stuck I'll get in touch with you.
>
> Razzak, I knew I could count on help from RBTI & this list - that's why I
put my
> personal money where your mouth is. You said it was good and it is good.
In
> fact, I'm delighted. As you know, I was more than a little apprehensive
about
> going from Dos to Windows - and this character problem was exactly the
sort of
> thing I was trying to prepare for then.
>
> Now, without hesitation, I would already recommend anyone creating a new
> database did so in the Windows version. I suspect that when converting a
Dos
> database the best solution is to completely re-write it - and that is what
> concerned me earlier this year. I've now converted my 3 smaller databases
but it
> is quite obvious that they are just that - conversions - rather than
> up-to-the-minute creations. Perfectly workable but even with a few tweaks
the
> "thinking" behind the designs of my forms and reports and, probably,
> applications, just looks old compared to a fresh approach. That's why I've
> chosen to "do it properly" with my main database.
>
> There are some things which are different in Windows that I need to
understand
> better and some which are different and I simply don't like. There are
also a
> few things which, at the moment, seem to be problems that I may have to
come
> back to you (RBTI) or this list about. Overall, however, there are a lot
more
> plusses than minuses - even if the minuses do bug me at the moment. I
expect to
> have more time from next month onwards to really get to grips with all the
> improvements and changes so I want to wait until I know what I'm talking
about
> (some hope!) before I ask anyone for more help.
>
> Nevertheless, mine is no monster database, but is ODBC a better way to
convert
> my data from Dos to Windows? As you can see from the above, Brent has
given me a
> solution to the import problem and JM has offered a solution to the
character
> conversion problem if I can't resolve it myself, but if the ASCII-ANSI
> conversion was done by ODBC it could save me a lot of time.
>
> Just one other thing, do you think we could have a SET TBREAK ON/OFF
command,
> please? There used to be time to go and make a cuppa while R:Base worked -
now
> it's so damn quick I never seem to get time to go and make one! With
Brent's
> solution, those 30-odd thousand rows were loaded before I hardly had time
to
> take my hand off the mouse! With TBREAK set on perhaps R:Base could do
some
> database maintenance, or chat about the weather or something while taking
its
> time for a few minutes!! Well, you do keep saying "if you can dream it..."
<g>.
>
> Thanks & regards, Alastair.
>
>
>
>
>
