Re: [Dataperf] New way to run DP

[Chris Pedersen]

Hey Don

Yes, still in Florida.  Funning to think that when last we really talked – your 
boys were little.

Even funnier – I posted about Vdos here several years ago – and completely 
forgot I had.

Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for Windows 10

From: Don Friedman<mailto:d...@professionalrecords.com>
Sent: Thursday, August 3, 2017 9:48 PM
To: Dataperfect Users Discussion Group<mailto:dataperf@dataperfect.nl>
Subject: Re: [Dataperf] New way to run DP

Chris - VDOS is a very handy and dependable "front end" tool to use DP in a 
Windows environment. Easy to setup and configure once you've done it once or 
twice, really allows a better visual image on the screen and keeping reports 
accessible from Windows or DOS. Takes up very little overhead. The downside is 
that despite some improvements in this area, it is very slow to import data and 
run longer reports. For a quick posting and even a short report it's fine, but 
most of my work is with large databases and the differences are stunning. I 
don't have my stats handy but when I'm importing 500K voters it could take an 
hour running under Win10 32-bit command prompt, a full day running under VDOS. 
It's that dramatic.

I know so little about underlying programming that my assumption is however Lew 
and Forth managed memory and buffering transactions has some serious conflict 
with VDOS and other DOS boxes I've tried. Whatever, I run a couple of 32-bit 
machines just for that purpose. We use VDOS to actually post transactions 
(generally voter contacts, etc.). Most people who end up working on this data 
during an election cycle never see anything except VDOS.

Hope all is well with you. Still in Florida?


Don

Don Friedman
ProfessionalRecords.Com LLC
PRS Data Systems
205 S Main Street
Pittsburgh, PA   15215
1-800-PRS-FILE
412-784-1615 Fax
412-400-3881 Cell/Text


On Thu, Aug 3, 2017 at 1:54 PM, Chris Pedersen 
<chrispeder...@hotmail.com<mailto:chrispeder...@hotmail.com>> wrote:

Hey guys.  Has Vdos and Vdos plus been discussed here?



Based on DosBox, they offer the ability to print to windows GDI printers, 
scaleable dos windows.   Might be worth a look.




From: Dataperf 
<dataperf-boun...@dataperfect.nl<mailto:dataperf-boun...@dataperfect.nl>> on 
behalf of Ralph Alvy <ra...@ralphalvy.com<mailto:ra...@ralphalvy.com>>
Sent: Monday, July 17, 2017 12:04 AM
To: dataperf@dataperfect.nl<mailto:dataperf@dataperfect.nl>
Subject: Re: [Dataperf] Recompute a field when a selection is made in a 
data-linked field?

Dave,

Think of it as working DURING Create, instead of ON Create.

Ralph



On July 16, 2017 10:25:22 AM Tim Rude 
<timr...@hotmail.com<mailto:timr...@hotmail.com>> wrote:

> Dave,
>
> Yes, I believe that's intentional behavior. It's always worked like that
> as I recall.
>
> Sounds like you've got your simple solution. :)
>
> Tim Rude
>
> On 7/16/2017 9:37 AM, Dave Britten wrote:
>> Thanks Tim. That exact approach had crossed my mind, and I think it would
>> work in most cases, but there's always a catch. If I want to do some kind
>> of special promotion like "Buy 3 get 1 free", then I wouldn't be able to
>> set a $0 price on the items that were free due to the promotion.
>>
>> I've been playing around with DP this morning (a rather pleasant way to
>> spend a quiet morning at our camp site), and I've found a rather
>> interesting DP behavior that I'd like to confirm is intentional, or whether
>> I've discovered some kind of bug/unintentional feature. In short,
>> "Automatically computed when record is created" seems to have functionality
>> beyond what the name suggests.
>>
>> I made a test database with two panels: ITEMS.DAT and SALES.DAT. The Items
>> panel has two fields:
>> P2F1 - A20 - Item
>> P2F2 - G$ZZ9.99 - Price
>>
>> There is one index on the Item field.
>>
>> The Sales panel has four fields:
>> P3F1 - A20 - Item
>> P3F2 - G$ZZ9.99 - Sell Price
>> P3F3 - GZZ9::I - Sale ID
>>
>> There is one index on the Sale ID field, and Item is a data link back to
>> the Item field in the Items panel.
>>
>> The Sell Price field is computed as simply "P3F1P2F2", i.e. the Price field
>> from the Items panel. This field is set to "Automatically computed when
>> record is created". You would think that the field would only be computed
>> when pressing F9 to create a record, but it actually recomputes any time
>> you select a new linked record for the Item field, you are in CREATE mode,
>> and you have not made any changes to the Sell Price field manually. You may
>> reselect a linked Item as much as you want, and the price will update
>> automatically, but as soon as yo

Re: [Dataperf] New way to run DP

[Brendan Magill]

Hi Don and all,

Yes Don, it was a pity that we never got a Windows version of DP as it is still 
the best database package I’ve ever come across.  We did give it a good try 
through the DP Cooperative, but it just wasn’t meant to happen.

I started using DP in about 1983/4 when it was still SSI Data and for several 
years I ran it under DOS, Concurrent CP/M and Multiuser CP/M.  The great 
advantage of using Multiuser CP/M was that I was able to offer remote support 
to my DP customers as early as 1988 and that proved to be a very good selling 
point.  In those days my DP applications were mostly for local government 
departments and for real estate agents;  I only got rid of my last DP customer 
in 2010 even though my business had migrated from IT to employment and 
disability work from about 1996.  I have so many wonderful memories of our 
online discussions about DP via CompuServe and then via direct emails.  Those 
were great times.  I did meet up with Ralph Alvy a couple of times when he came 
over here to the UK.

Cheers,

Brendan.
--

BRENDAN MAGILL
Business, Employment &
Disability Consultancy

14 Barry Street
Worcester
WR1 1NR
England

Phone(UK): 01905 28286
Phone(International): +44 1905 28286

Email: bren...@magill.co.uk

Web: www.magill.co.uk
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Re: [Dataperf] New way to run DP

[Don Friedman]

Brendan,

Glad you see you're still out and about! Yeah, I would sooner withdraw from
my political analytics business than learn another DP to create that
information. I've talked with Jos who developed VDOS about the issue and
even sent him sample large databases to test on but apparently the issue
isn't solvable as long a DP uses memory as it does. It was the same problem
that Lew actually talked about decades ago when we wanted DP ported to
Windows. God, when I think of how long ago that was (and how old I've
gotten since) it's sort of a shocker.

Don




*Don FriedmanProfessionalRecords.Com LLCPRS Data Systems*



*205 S Main StreetPittsburgh, PA   152151-800-PRS-FILE 412-784-1615 Fax*
*412-400-3881 Cell/Text*


On Fri, Aug 4, 2017 at 7:38 AM, Brendan Magill  wrote:

> Hi Don and all,
>
> Yes, when I started using it I noticed that VDOS was slow sometimes,
> particularly when running large reports.  Fortunately most of my reports
> are fairly short:  things like customer invoices and statements are just
> about all the printing I do from DP.  I’m hoping that I can keep my DP
> going until I retire as I simply couldn’t contemplate the possibility of
> replacing it.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Brendan.
> --
>
> BRENDAN MAGILL
> Business, Employment &
> Disability Consultancy
>
> 14 Barry Street
> Worcester
> WR1 1NR
> England
>
> Phone(UK): 01905 28286
> Phone(International): +44 1905 28286 <+44%201905%2028286>
>
> Email: bren...@magill.co.uk
>
> Web: www.magill.co.uk
>
> ___
> Dataperf mailing list
> Dataperf@dataperfect.nl
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>
>
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Re: [Dataperf] New way to run DP

[Brendan Magill]

Hi Don and all,

Yes, when I started using it I noticed that VDOS was slow sometimes, 
particularly when running large reports.  Fortunately most of my reports are 
fairly short:  things like customer invoices and statements are just about all 
the printing I do from DP.  I’m hoping that I can keep my DP going until I 
retire as I simply couldn’t contemplate the possibility of replacing it.

Cheers,

Brendan.
--

BRENDAN MAGILL
Business, Employment &
Disability Consultancy

14 Barry Street
Worcester
WR1 1NR
England

Phone(UK): 01905 28286
Phone(International): +44 1905 28286

Email: bren...@magill.co.uk

Web: www.magill.co.uk
___
Dataperf mailing list
Dataperf@dataperfect.nl
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Re: [Dataperf] New way to run DP

[Don Friedman]

Chris - VDOS is a very handy and dependable "front end" tool to use DP in a
Windows environment. Easy to setup and configure once you've done it once
or twice, really allows a better visual image on the screen and keeping
reports accessible from Windows or DOS. Takes up very little overhead. The
downside is that despite some improvements in this area, it is very slow to
import data and run longer reports. For a quick posting and even a short
report it's fine, but most of my work is with large databases and the
differences are stunning. I don't have my stats handy but when I'm
importing 500K voters it could take an hour running under Win10 32-bit
command prompt, a full day running under VDOS. It's that dramatic.

I know so little about underlying programming that my assumption is however
Lew and Forth managed memory and buffering transactions has some serious
conflict with VDOS and other DOS boxes I've tried. Whatever, I run a couple
of 32-bit machines just for that purpose. We use VDOS to actually post
transactions (generally voter contacts, etc.). Most people who end up
working on this data during an election cycle never see anything except
VDOS.

Hope all is well with you. Still in Florida?


Don




*Don FriedmanProfessionalRecords.Com LLCPRS Data Systems*



*205 S Main StreetPittsburgh, PA   152151-800-PRS-FILE 412-784-1615 Fax*
*412-400-3881 Cell/Text*


On Thu, Aug 3, 2017 at 1:54 PM, Chris Pedersen 
wrote:

> Hey guys.  Has Vdos and Vdos plus been discussed here?
>
>
> Based on DosBox, they offer the ability to print to windows GDI printers,
> scaleable dos windows.   Might be worth a look.
>
>
>
>
> --
> *From:* Dataperf  on behalf of Ralph
> Alvy 
> *Sent:* Monday, July 17, 2017 12:04 AM
> *To:* dataperf@dataperfect.nl
> *Subject:* Re: [Dataperf] Recompute a field when a selection is made in a
> data-linked field?
>
> Dave,
>
> Think of it as working DURING Create, instead of ON Create.
>
> Ralph
>
>
>
> On July 16, 2017 10:25:22 AM Tim Rude  wrote:
>
> > Dave,
> >
> > Yes, I believe that's intentional behavior. It's always worked like that
> > as I recall.
> >
> > Sounds like you've got your simple solution. :)
> >
> > Tim Rude
> >
> > On 7/16/2017 9:37 AM, Dave Britten wrote:
> >> Thanks Tim. That exact approach had crossed my mind, and I think it
> would
> >> work in most cases, but there's always a catch. If I want to do some
> kind
> >> of special promotion like "Buy 3 get 1 free", then I wouldn't be able
> to
> >> set a $0 price on the items that were free due to the promotion.
> >>
> >> I've been playing around with DP this morning (a rather pleasant way to
> >> spend a quiet morning at our camp site), and I've found a rather
> >> interesting DP behavior that I'd like to confirm is intentional, or
> whether
> >> I've discovered some kind of bug/unintentional feature. In short,
> >> "Automatically computed when record is created" seems to have
> functionality
> >> beyond what the name suggests.
> >>
> >> I made a test database with two panels: ITEMS.DAT and SALES.DAT. The
> Items
> >> panel has two fields:
> >> P2F1 - A20 - Item
> >> P2F2 - G$ZZ9.99 - Price
> >>
> >> There is one index on the Item field.
> >>
> >> The Sales panel has four fields:
> >> P3F1 - A20 - Item
> >> P3F2 - G$ZZ9.99 - Sell Price
> >> P3F3 - GZZ9::I - Sale ID
> >>
> >> There is one index on the Sale ID field, and Item is a data link back
> to
> >> the Item field in the Items panel.
> >>
> >> The Sell Price field is computed as simply "P3F1P2F2", i.e. the Price
> field
> >> from the Items panel. This field is set to "Automatically computed when
> >> record is created". You would think that the field would only be
> computed
> >> when pressing F9 to create a record, but it actually recomputes any
> time
> >> you select a new linked record for the Item field, you are in CREATE
> mode,
> >> and you have not made any changes to the Sell Price field manually. You
> may
> >> reselect a linked Item as much as you want, and the price will update
> >> automatically, but as soon as you manually enter a value Sell Price, it
> >> stops updating automatically. Also, in EDIT mode, the field does not
> update
> >> automatically at all. In other words, that's pretty much exactly what I
> >> want it to do.
> >>
> >> Before I rely on this too heavily, can anybody confirm that this is
> >> intended (but seemingly undocumented) behavior? I don't believe I've
> seen
> >> it mentioned anywhere in either the DP manual, or "Mastering
> DataPerfect".
> >>
> >> -Dave Britten
> >>
> >>> On Jul 8, 2017, at 9:54 AM, Tim Rude  wrote:
> >>>
> >>> You don't need a hidden field on the Invoice Line Item panel to hold
> the
> >>> desired price since that info is readily available through the item
> link.
> >>>
> >>> Simply set the formula on your 'selling price' field in the Invoice
> Line
> >>> Item 

Re: [Dataperf] New way to run DP

[Brendan Magill]

Hi Chris and all,

I learned about VDOS from someone on this list and I’ve been using it for the 
past eighteen months under Windows 7 where it works very well.  Until about 
twenty years ago I used to do a lot of DP development but these days I just use 
it for my own business database, the original of which I wrote back in 1986;  
that database is the heart and soul of my business.

Cheers,

Brendan.
--

BRENDAN MAGILL
Business, Employment &
Disability Consultancy

14 Barry Street
Worcester
WR1 1NR
England

Phone(UK): 01905 28286
Phone(International): +44 1905 28286

Email: bren...@magill.co.uk

Web: www.magill.co.uk
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