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.<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
.<<<<<<<<< CP/M Athens Newsletter >>>>>>>>>>
.<<<<<<<<< Vol 2, No 8, August 1985 >>>>>>>>>>
.<<<<<<<<< P.O. Box 2121, Athens, GA 30612 >>>>>>>>>>
.<<<<<<<<< Pat Boyle @ Phone 404-549-9586 >>>>>>>>>>
.<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
MAKING DBASE MENUS
By Pat Boyle
Many methods of menu design for dBASE employ heavy use
of @ row,col SAY/GET which require that you know the
coordinates of the desired rows and columns for the
text that you want printed on the screen. Since working
with raw screen coordinates can get tedious, I've
developed a method of MENU design using the dBASE
commands 'TEXT/ENDTEXT.' Some of the advantages of my
method (my apologies to others who have developed
similar methods) are:
1 - 'What you see' in your editor 'is what you get'
when you execute your command file in dBASE.
2 - You need to determine only one set of row,col
coordinates (the GET in the choice DO WHILE loop)
simplified if you use an editor such as WordStar.
3 - Menu editing is simplified since only one set of
coordinates needs adjusting when changes are made.
4 - This method when used with the substring logical
operator ($) prevents continuous rewriting of the
menu to the screen when incorrect or non active
choices are made by the operator.
The following is a simple dBASE II command file
demonstrating this technique of menu generation.
SET TALK OFF
STORE T TO menurepeat
DO WHILE menurepeat
ERASE
TEXT
========== Example Menu For dBASE II ==========
Q - QUIT
1 - OPTION 1
===============================================
Enter Your Choice -->
===============================================
ENDTEXT
STORE " " TO choice
DO WHILE .NOT. choice$('Q1')
STORE " " TO choice
@ 5,39 GET choice PICTURE "!"
READ
ENDDO choice
DO CASE
CASE choice = 'Q'
STORE F TO menurepeat
CASE choice = '1'
ERASE
? 'Command such as DO OPTION1 might go here'
WAIT
STORE T TO menurepeat
ENDCASE
ENDDO menurepeat
SET TALK ON
