HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: ppoh@amethyst.tcs.tufts.edu (Paul B. Poh)
Newsgroups: comp.databases
Subject: dbf format
Date: 28 Aug 92 21:16:32 GMT
Organization: Tufts University - Medford, MA


I wondering if there is a paper or book that describes the dBASE database
and index format. Since there are multiple vendors offering products that
claim to be compatible with the dBASE dbf format, am I correct in assuming
that the file format is public domain. Or do all these folks just reverse
engineer the stuff.

Any thing that describes Clipper or Foxpro index format would also be great.

--
Paul Poh                        Unix Systems Programmer
ppoh@amethyst.tcs.tufts.edu     Computer Services, Tufts University
Newsgroups: comp.databases
From: engp2190@nusunix3.nus.sg (ZENG YONGNING)
Subject: Temporal Database
Organization: National University of Singapore
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 1992 08:09:44 GMT


I need technical reports, thesises on temporal database. If anyone 
has some or know how to get them, please send me a mail. your
help is highly appreciated.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
zeng yongning                        
dept. of computer science                 zengyong@iscs.nus.sg
faculty of science
national university of singapore
lower kent ridge rd
singapore 0511
From: aahz@netcom.com (Aahzmandius)
Newsgroups: comp.databases
Subject: Re: Yet Another Simple (?) Question on Paradox
Keywords: Unique Record Field, Paradox
Date: 1 Sep 92 01:56:33 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Bill 'n' Opus for Prez

In article <1992Aug31.195806.13243@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU> cyj9h@csissun12.ee.Virginia.EDU (Charles Y. Choi) writes:
>
>Here's a question that I've yet to figure out.  When creating a new record,
>how can you get a field in that record (say ID) to automatically be filled
>in with the record number?  For example

Contact Borland's Tech Fax service at 800-822-4269, and order document
number 662.
-- 
                         --- Aahz (the *other* Dan Bernstein)
                             @netcom.com 

Hugs and backrubs -- I break Rule 6

So much Astroglide.  So little time.
Newsgroups: comp.databases
From: gengenba@forwiss.uni-passau.de (Michael Gengenbach)
Subject: Does FairCom Corporation have an e-mail address?
Organization: University of Passau, Germany
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1992 19:15:19 GMT

Hi,

does FairCom Corporation (maker of c-tree Plus) have an e-mail address?
The service from our german distributor is very bad, so I would like
to contact them directly.

Thanks

   Michael
-- 
"You may say I'm a dreamer. But I'm   |  Michael Gengenbach, FORWISS Passau
not the only one."   -- John Lennon   |  gengenbach@forwiss.uni-passau.de
Newsgroups: comp.databases
From: aahz@netcom.com (Aahzmandius)
Subject: Re: Simple Question on Paradox
Date: Fri, 28 Aug 92 11:24:19 GMT
Organization: Bill 'n' Opus for Prez

In article <1992Aug27.203615.26902@dcatlas.dot.gov> joet@dcatlas.dot.gov (Joe Trott) writes:
>
>If this is to be a multi-user application, and the table to be appended is
>_NOT_ a temporary scratch table, RTFM on the subject of Form Locking.  You
>_cannot_ override a Paradox form lock.  If the table you are adding _to_
>is to be accessed simultaneously with a form, you will not be able to
>append to the table by any means _but_ that form if anyone is coediting it.

Unless, of course, he upgrades to Paradox 4.0.
-- 
                         --- Aahz (the *other* Dan Bernstein)
                             @netcom.com 

Hugs and backrubs -- I break Rule 6

So much Astroglide.  So little time.
Newsgroups: comp.databases
From: ddurbin@is.rpslmc.edu (Dave Durbin)
Subject: research Database needed - help!
Reply-To: ddurbin@is.rpslmc.edu
Organization: Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 15:24:27 GMT

Help!

I'm looking for a database management system to use to manage data for health
and aging statistics. This is for a Sun Sparcstation 2. I'm familiar with
Informix, Sybase, and Oracle, however, these DBMSs cost alot of money and may be
overkill for what we need to start. 

1) what are other research (medical and otherwise) areas using to manage data?

2) what are some decent inexpensive DBMS's for the Sun platform?

I'd be glad to forward the responses I receive to those interested.

Thanks in advance.

Dave Durbin
From: amigan@cup.portal.com (R Michael Medwid)
Newsgroups: comp.databases
Subject: Re: List Popups from dbase 4 screens
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 92 11:08:20 PDT
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Distribution: na

I spoke to someone from a dB IV help desk last week.  They inform me that
instructions for such pop-ups-from-tables are in the read-me file that
come with v1.5 of dBase IV.  I haven't had a chance to verify this (other
projects).  
Xref: sparky comp.databases:6373 comp.databases.theory:409 comp.databases.oracle:1401
From: csa09@seq1.keele.ac.uk (Paul Singleton)
Newsgroups: comp.databases,comp.databases.theory,comp.databases.oracle
Subject: Re: Is this a bug or a limitation of the SQL language
Date: 27 Aug 92 15:47:01 GMT
Organization: University of Keele, England

The problems with

>   |select * from emp 
>   |where salary between
>   |(select salary from emp where ename = 'Larry')
>   |and
>   |(select salary from emp where ename = 'John')
 
partly stem from SQL being insufficiently _abstract_: there are
unnecessarily many ways to express the same query.

After some experience with Prolog, I now resort to a predicate-calculus-like
notation at the thinking-on-paper stage, e.g.

	answer( A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H) :-
		emp( _, 'Larry', _, _, _, S1, _, _),
		emp( _, 'John', _, _, _, S2, _, _),
		emp( A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H),
		between( S1, S2, F).

Now I'm not seriously proposing that as a query language, and maybe I'm
just familiar with that idiom anyway, but it seems closer to the truth
of what I want, with fewer premature evaluation decisions.
(the less said about Prolog's efficiency in this case, the better :-)	

A better example:

	answer( A) :-
		table1( A),
		not table2( A).

which has as least three SQL equivalents (and three plans under Oracle V6):

	select A from TABLE1
	minus select A from TABLE2;

		projection
		 \--minus
		     \--sort(unique)
		     |   \--table access(full) TABLE1
		     \--sort(unique)
		         \--table access(full) TABLE2

	select A from TABLE1 X
	where A not in ( select A from TABLE2 where A =X.A );

		filter
		 \--table access(full) TABLE1
		 \--table access(full) TABLE2

	select A from TABLE1
	where not exists ( select A from TABLE2 );

		filter
		 \--table access(full) TABLE1
		 \--index(range scan) TABLE2_INDEX

I want to be able to say WHAT I WANT, without having to decide HOW TO GET IT.
----
  __   __    Paul Singleton (Mr)           JANET: paul@uk.ac.keele.cs
 |__) (__    Computer Science Dept.        other: paul@cs.keele.ac.uk
 |  .  __).  Keele University, Newcastle,    tel: +44 (0)782 621111 x7355
             Staffs ST5 5BG, ENGLAND         fax: +44 (0)782 713082
From: wang@latcs1.lat.oz.au (Xianjin Wang)
Newsgroups: comp.databases
Subject: for help on KBMS
Date: 4 Sep 92 00:56:43 GMT
Organization: Comp Sci, La Trobe Uni, Australia

Hi ! netters,

I have heard about a knowledge-based management system tool : KBMS,
which was developed by Stanford University.

If someone has experience with it or has any information about it,
I would appreciate that you can send me some basic comments.

Thank you very much in advance !

 -x. Wang
From: vanzwol@bcstec.ca.boeing.com (Ted Van Zwol)
Newsgroups: comp.databases,comp.databases.sybase
Subject: POWERBUILDER & SQL WINDOWS
Date: 28 Aug 92 15:53:48 GMT
Followup-To: poster
Organization: Boeing Computer Services, Seattle


I'm looking for some feedback regarding two products:  POWERBUILDER from
Power Soft and SQL WINDOWS from Gupta Tech.  These products are essentially
development tools for creating OS/2 and Windows apps that interface with
Sybase SQL server.

Has anyone really played with these?  It's difficult to find any real life
experience with these products to determine if they match up to their
literature.  Any feedback appreciated.  Thanks.

BTW, please reply via e-mail, I don't get the opportunity to stay current
in this newsgroup.  Thanks.

					-tcvz

-- 
Ted C Van Zwol                           |    Genius does what it must,
uucp:      {...!}uunet!bcstec!vanzwol    |    Talent does what it can.
internet:  vanzwol@bcstec.boeing.com     |                  -Emerson
From: cnb@cnbisis.lerctr.org (Nelson Baird)
Newsgroups: comp.databases
Subject: Re: Standard for Data Dictionary
Date: Thu, 03 Sep 92 19:34:05 CDT
Organization: ISIS, Inc, Ferris TX

wai@csuvax1.csu.murdoch.edu.au (Julian Wai) writes:
> 
> Is there a standard for data dictionary?  Any information, references are
> appreciated.

Is there a Standard?  There is not even agreement on what things should 
be held in a data dictionary.  

Personally I think the datadictionary should be self defining, and be 
able to define the entire enterprise as well as the enterprises 
constituant parts.  I think it should be extremely active.  Others only 
want the data dictionary to store passive data. I feel like I should be 
able to describe access mechanism and other constraints.  Others would 
drop these in favor of "portability" or generality.  
 
Many environments succeed quite nicely without.  Their position is often 
"Why should I bother?" 
 


 Thanks,
 C. Nelson Baird
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
      Opinions expressed are MINE. (not necessarily the company's)
            cnb@cnbisis.lerctr.org    cnb@lerami.lerctr.org
 - - - - - -Intelligent  Solutions In Software, Inc. - - - - - - - - -
Xref: sparky comp.databases:6552 comp.databases.ingres:1310
From: dl1@ukc.ac.uk (Duncan Langford)
Newsgroups: comp.databases,comp.databases.ingres
Subject: databases & ethics teaching
Date: 4 Sep 92 15:44:23 GMT
Organization: Computing Lab, University of Kent at Canterbury, UK.

We are putting together an introduction to computer ethics, to be
given to third-year computer science students. The 'umbrella' for
our course is to be the final year database sessions...

Are there any issues which database specialists feel should be
particularly addressed in an ethics course? We don't want to automatically
go through the 'hackers' approach, and are badly in need of some
specialist input from practitioners in the, uh, 'real world'.

Any suggestions, case histories or comments appreciated!

duncan langford
judith wusteman
Newsgroups: comp.databases
From: cslib@cc.newcastle.edu.au (DOUGLAS SCOTT)
Subject: Help with Clipper5.01!!
Summary: Multiple-to-single reads and knowing the variable's value
Keywords: Clipper, Read
Reply-To: john@pleiades.newcastle.edu.au
Organization: University of Newcastle, AUSTRALIA
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 1992 06:19:28 GMT


	I am new to clipper and have one major question. How can I perform
  a multiple read and still be able to obtain the variables that are read?

  Example:    @ 1,1 SAY "Enter first variable:" COLOR "w+/b"
	      @ 1,20 GET M->var1 PICTURE "XXXX" COLOR "bg+/b"
	      
	      IF M->var1 == "TEST"
	         @ 2,1 SAY "Enter second variable:" COLOR "w+/b"
	         @ 2,20 GET M->var2 PICTURE "9999" COLOR "bg+/b"
              ENDIF

	      READ


	All I want to do is to be able to check each variable as it is entered
  in the respective field. Is there an easy way?

	I tried LOOPER() in the super.lib, but although it will give the effect
  of multiple reads with a single read statement, it still does not allow you
  to obtain the entered value before terminating the complete read.

	If anyone knows of an easy way of doing this I would appreciate it if
   they could tell me how, or even better show me some source code.

	Thanks for any help.

		Jonathan Coombes
Newsgroups: comp.databases.oracle
From: mharper@well.sf.ca.us (Michael J. Harper)
Subject: Dropping All Tables
Organization: Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1992 00:11:16 GMT

In a situation where you have a database class which has 30 students, each
with their own Oracle logins, you end up with alot of tables at the end
of the class.  When the class is over, you want to remove any traces of
the 30 students.  So, you revoke resource & connect on all of them, but
their tables persist!

What is the easiest way to remove all tables, views, synonyms, etc. owned
by a particular user?

Michael J. Harper
mharper@well.sf.ca.us
Newsgroups: comp.databases.oracle
From: colten@cbnewsb.cb.att.com (marc.colten)
Subject: Need help with forms and OCI
Organization: AT&T
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1992 03:41:10 GMT


Well here I am again.  I've been using olsqlform30 to create forms
and the OCI (in "C" language) to insert and extract information.
I've been hitting some problems and would appreciate some advice.
Please e-mail and responses and I will summarize and post.

thanks in advance,

marc colten


1)  I created a table with a LONG field for comments.  I can
    add and edit that field just fine (I have a 
    ON-NEW-FIELD-INSTANCE trigger with EDIT_FIELD in it).
    However, my C program will not extract that field in any
    way.

    Some code is :

     struct {
            ...
            ...
            ...
            ...
            ...
	    char TROUBLE[65535];
	    } attr[3];


     odefin(C0,5,attr[1].TROUBLE,(int) strlen(attr[1].TROUBLE),LONG,
                   -1,dum,NULL,-1,-1,&dum2,&dum3);

    
   When I fetch the data, everything else comes up okay, but
   I get a message that the field has been truncated.  I
   print it out character by character (assuming it was not
   NULL terminated) and it's empty.  I have tried putting the
   field length directly into the odefin, and the field length
   in the structure has been anywhere from 100 to 67000.   I have
   used LONG and STRCHR as identifiers.  Nothing.


2) I have used structures with no array:

     struct {
            ...
            ...
            ...
            ...
            ...
	    } attr;


and it does not work.  If I use attr[3], I can't get the
data into attr[0].  But if I use a number > 1 and assign
the output to attr[1].<field>, it always works.  Can anyone
explain this?

3)  Can you do a query on a detail block and have the relevant
    information come up in the master block?  It works fine
    the other way.  I do a query in a master block and it brings
    up two records in the detail (which it should).  I've tried
    doing the reverse and it won't work.  I set up a KEY-ENTQRY
    trigger on the detail block with various commands:

         go_block('<master>');
         :<master>.field := <detail>.field;
         execute_query;
    
    But no luck.  execute_query wipes out the master block
    before it does anything. What I wind up with is the
    detail block shows the information what I wanted, while
    the master block shows the data you'd get from a blank field.
    
    What I want to do is:
        enter the query in the detail block.
        execute the query.
        The master block queries it's table to come up
          with the appropriate information based on the data
          placed in the detail.
        The master executes a query so the master and the detail
          (two records now) show the matching data.

    Is this possible?


4)  Can you do a LOV on a block, or failing that on a non-enterable
    field?  I just want a list relevant to the data I've queried
    as an alternative to a second page, which is not really necessary
    and really slows things down.



Thanks



Newsgroups: comp.databases.oracle
From: M.W.Stern@massey.ac.nz (M.W. Stern)
Subject: Re: SQL*plus -- limiting maximum number of returned rows?
Organization: Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
X-Reader: NETNEWS/PC Version 2c
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 92 22:35:20 GMT


> In SQL*Plus (not embedded SQL!) is there any way of limiting the number
> of rows returned by a query?

> I am working on a report that is supposed to find the "top 5" items in 
> a catagory.  The query returns 0 or more rows based on the selection
> criteria, sorted in the appropriate order.  Some queries return a dozen
> or more rows, but I'm only interested in the first 5.

I believe the answer to this goes something like this,

SELECT value FROM table WHERE ROWNUM <= 5

> If I were using embedded SQL in a C program (or a perl script using 
> oraperl) the solution would be trivial.  For internal reasons, however,
> I'm stuck with using SQL*Plus.

I think the above solution is pretty trivial as well.

> Any ideas?


> --
> Bill Meahan
> -- 
> Bill Meahan			|EFHD Information Systems Staff
> Technical Consultant		|Ford Motor Company
> wwm@ef2007.efhd.ford.com      	| +1 313 487 6122
> ...!fmsrl7!ef2007!wwm           |I'm not paid to speak for Ford!


==============================================================================
Mark Stern              | "There are holes in the sky,
Analyst/Programmer      |  where the rain gets in,
Massey University       |  but they're ever so small,
NEW ZEALAND             |  that's why rain is thin"
Internet:               |  ...
M.W.Stern@massey.ac.nz  |     by Spike Milligan
==============================================================================
From: pihlab@hhcs.gov.au
Newsgroups: comp.databases.oracle
Subject: Re: Hash clustering vs Indexing in ORACLE7SKIP
Date: 4 Sep 92 08:52:37 +1000
Organization: Aust. Dept. Health, Housing and Community Services

>>I believe hashing is only available for clusters and not for individual
>>tables. 
> 
> No.
> 
> 	Hashing is an optional way of storing table data to improve the
> 	performance of data retrieval.  To use hashing, a HASH CLUSTER
> 	is created and a table (or multiple tables) is loaded into the
> 	cluster.  The rows of a table in a hash cluster are physically
> 	stored and retrieved according to the results of a hash
> 	function.  A HASH FUNCTION is used to generate a distribution of
> 	numeric values, called HASH VALUES, which are based on specific
> 	cluster key values.  [...]
> 				-- page 7-74, Oracle7 DBA Guide
> 
> So you can hash a single table.

YES, but I think what they actually mean is that you have to create a CLUSTER
consisting of only one TABLE and that's the only way to use HAS INDEXES.

If you look at the syntax of the CREATE INDEX and CREATE CLUSTER commands you
will notice that HASH INDEXES can only be created on CLUSTERs.

> 
> You also mention the use of indexes for enforcing primary key
> uniqueness.  You're better off defining a PRIMARY KEY constraint instead
> of an index -- indexes for lookup speed; constraints for uniqueness etc.
> (my interpretation of what's on p. 7-41, ibid).

The PRIMARY KEY constraint actually creates a UNIQUE Index in Oracle7 otherwise
how would it ensure uniqueness (a full table scan?).  

-- 

Bruce...        pihlab @ hhcs.gov.au
                 ^^
*******************************************************************
* Bruce Pihlamae  --  Database Administration                     *
* Commonwealth Department of Health, Housing & Community Services *
* Canberra, Australia                             (W) 06-289-7056 *
*******************************************************************
* These are my own thoughts and opinions, few that I have.        *
*******************************************************************
From: pihlab@hhcs.gov.au
Newsgroups: comp.databases.oracle
Subject: Re: how to compress database and move indexes to different tablespace
Date: 4 Sep 92 09:06:36 +1000
Organization: Aust. Dept. Health, Housing and Community Services

> However, how to I move the corrisponding indexes? I have tried using the
> "show" option of IMP to generate a file, but this file is in such a poor
> format I cannot use it without EXTENSIVE editing. Does anybody have a
> utility that will take the file generated by the "show" option and make it
> usable? The format I get is ONLY 80 column records and EVERY line is
> enclosed in double quotes.

I don't have any formatter for you.

There is an INDEXES=file (can't remember the exact name) parameter for IMPORT
which pulls out the TABLE and INDEX definitions to a flat file automatically.
It is mentioned in the V5 to V6 upgrade documentation because you had to check
that INDEX names were unique across all objects for each user.  If you can get
that working then you need only add the TABLESPACE component.

You but you might consider creating a script of CREATE INDEX statements
directly from the INDEX definitions in the database.

-- 

Bruce...        pihlab @ hhcs.gov.au
                 ^^
*******************************************************************
* Bruce Pihlamae  --  Database Administration                     *
* Commonwealth Department of Health, Housing & Community Services *
* Canberra, Australia                             (W) 06-289-7056 *
*******************************************************************
* These are my own thoughts and opinions, few that I have.        *
*******************************************************************
Newsgroups: comp.databases.oracle
From: fragante@unixg.ubc.ca (Gv Fragante)
Subject: SQL*Report ... how to print detail records across
Organization: University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1992 17:00:47 GMT

I have a master/detail relationship which I have to print in the following
ways:

- master records print downwards
- detail records print across each master record and *must* be on the same line

For example, I have the following master records and corresponding details

MASTER          DETAIL

American Cars   Ford
                GM
                Chrysler

Japanese Cars   Honda
                Toyota
                Mazda

German Cars     Mercedes
                BMW
                Audi


So in my report output, it should look like this:

American Cars  Ford, GM, Chrysler
Japanese Cars  Honda, Toyota, Mazda
German Cars    Mercedes, BMW, Audi


I have come close to achieveing this but the problem is that the detail records
are printed below the master record. This is not quite what I need.

The reason why I need this output format is because the data will be imported
into an Excel spreadsheet wherein one Excel row will contain one Oracle master
*AND* it's details. BTW, the max number of details in my situation is 6, so I'm
not worried about the variable length of the SQL*Report width.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Newsgroups: comp.databases.oracle
From: ebd@fang.att.com (Elliot B Dierksen)
Subject: Loader vs. Sequence number & resource file question
Reply-To: e.dierksen@att.com (Elliot Dierksen)
Organization: AT&T Tax Systems Development, Maitland FL
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1992 16:02:48 GMT

I am having 2 problems that I have been unable to resolve as yet.

1) I have a couple of tables that will be partly populated by programs &
partly populated by input via SQL*Loader. The table contains a column which I
populate via a sequence number. Is there any way to make the loader look at a
database sequence number instead of it's own function?? Maybe through a view
or something??  Any ideas?

2) A resource file for a PC running vt102|vt320 emulation (MS-Kermit 3.11).
Anybody out there got one they are willing to share?? Another idea. Could
there be a an FTP site set up for resource files? Then people could just go
grab one if they have an off the wall terminal.

Thanx in advance,

EBD
-- 
Elliot Dierksen   "Is that a real poncho... I mean is that a Mexican poncho or
                   is that a Sears  poncho?  Hmmm... no foolin'..." -- F. Zappa

W) e.dierksen@att.com  (407) 660-3377     H) elliot@alfred.UUCP  (407) 290-9744
Organization: Queen's University at Kingston
Date: Tuesday, 25 Aug 1992 18:48:55 EDT
From: <CHARLESW@QUCDN.QueensU.CA>
Newsgroups: comp.databases.oracle
Subject: Re: Tab-delimited files & ODL (Oracle Data Loader)
 <92237.183542CHARLESW@QUCDN.QueensU.CA>
 <1992Aug25.130904.25788@homebase.vistachrome.com>

Re: using actual tab (HT) imbedded in ODL file

Yup, first thing we tried.  Apparently it is removed as white space.  (Btw, we
are using Oracle under VMS in case this has worked in other systems.)
Thanks.

.../dave   Dave Charlesworth
Newsgroups: comp.databases.oracle