Date : Fri, 18 Apr 1986 05:06:00 MST
From : Keith Petersen <W8SDZ@SIMTEL20.ARPA>
Subject: Text database program wanted
The following is a file relayed from my RCP/M.
--Keith
--cut here--NOTEFILE.TXT--cut here--
NOTEFILE TXT
Notes toward an imaginary--and much needed--text database program in the
public domain.
*
I am not a programmer. But I know of a program that would be welcomed by a
great many writers using CP/M systems. Perhaps I could try to learn how
to program it, but that would take too long: I want to USE it before
then. What is needed is a public domain text database file. Notebook, a
commercial program from Pro/Tem, accepts only 9 lines of text in the CP/M
version, which is far too limited. What I propose is a program that makes
use of the model of Dirfiles.com. Dirfiles, a public domain program, creates
a listed directory of all files on a disk, to which a line of comment can
be appended. It is used on most boards and by many individuals to identify
the purpose of the various programs on the disk. This is how I suggest
Dirfiles be modified to create NOTEFILE.COM:
1) Make it possible to invoke Dirfiles from within a single file, rather
than drawing on the directory of the whole disk.
2) Make it possible to enter a list of subfile names at an opening menu,
with one line of descriptive text, as in Dirfiles.
3) Make it possible to access any of these subfiles, and there enter text.
It need not have word-wrap, but basic editing capacity would be useful. How
about finding a way to incorporate Vdo.com as the editing-arm of the text
database? It is only 6-8k. Or perhaps NOTEFILE can permit access to Vdo via
a Run (R) function, as in Wordstar. That way it could run other relevant
utilities like Find or Free Filer. That would give the program elementary
database capacities.
Once the individual NOTEFILE database had been entered, it would provide the
list of all the subfiles at the menu. Other database programs operate
in much this way, but the key difference is that NOTEFILE would permit
unstructured text entry of any kind. (Eventually there should be the
capacity to draw up some kind of structured fields, if desired, as
in Notebook or Datastar.) Dbase2 might offer the most natural way to
write this program, but something like a Turbo Pascal compiled file would
really be preferable, a text database that might get as much use as
Wordstar for those in the no-man's land between word processors and
databases. In any case, stick to Wordstar commands and make it
version of Vdo.
4) These subfiles should be able to hold at least three pages of text--
preferably something more like ten pages.
5) Other database capacities, such as the ability to sort and print out
fields, could be improved on in later versions of the program, as well as
expanding the editing tools.
*
PURPOSE OF NOTEFILE.COM
Many editing projects require working on a cluster of related files. In
fact, this is the best kind of outlining of all, where you can create 10,
20, or even more categories (i.e., subfiles), all listed at the opening
menu as with dirfiles, where they can be quickly accessed for data entry or
scanning. It seems to me that 20 subfiles would be a minimum for a single
file, but a total of 30 or 35 subfiles that could be created would be much
more useful, if it is necessary to set a limit on the number of subfiles at
all.In any case, each subfile could be expanded as needed and the more this
becomes possible, the more useful and used the program will be.
*
When I am doing research, information comes to me in snatches. Once I have
entered a NOTEFILE database, I would like to be able to access any subfile,
enter the information, and close it again, then have quick access to another
file within that text database. It should be possible to go back to the
opening menu by saving the individual subfile or abandoning the edited
version of it. That way things won't be slowed down too much as the text
file grows larger. Exiting one subfile should return to the main menu, where
another subfile can be accessed, or the entire program exited--with a built-
in save, if possible. It would be great if the individual NOTEFILE database
could be as large as the diskspace, but it would still be practical if it
were at least able to expand beyond the size of the program itself by at
least 40K and hopefully even more. If the program were no more than 20 or so
K, then the program and 40K or so of text could fit into memory, making it
possible to make between files very quickly. However, it might be better to
have the larger file capacity, even at the expense of slowing the program
down. In any case we would have a cross between a word processing
program and a database, a category into which a lot of text and note
material falls.
*
If you decide to take a crack at writing this program (for CP/M, of course!)
please upload to the St. Louis Kaypro board, 314-821-0638, or the local
Epson board, 314-961-4594, where I will be sure to find it. Even if you are
not a programer, if you like the idea and want such a program, please
upload this note wherever you can, and hopefully it will fall into the
right hands. I am freely putting this idea into the public domain, and all
I ask is that it be kept there, where CP/M lives.
Howard Schwartz
Department of English
8001 Natural Bridge Rd.
St. Louis, Mo.
63121