dStruct (c) Time & headache saving tools!



                           Gary Herbstman
                        1065 S. W. 30th Ave.
                   Deerfield Beach, FL 33442-8104

                         cServe: 76056,512

                         phone: (305) 429-2886
                         fax:   (305) 429-3658



Disclaimer:

         Use at your own risk.  The software and accompanying written materials
         are provided "as is".  In no event shall The author be liable for any
         damages, claims or losses whatsoever including but not limited to any
         special, incidental, consequential, indirect, or similar damages due
         to loss of data or any other reason.


Retribution:

        If you put this program to good use,  buy me lunch.  Five (5) dollars
        will help me to keep dStruct up to date and create future programs for
        the programmer.

        Yes, let me know if you find any "B" words, or any ideas you have
        for improvement.



What is dStruct?

    dStruct is a utility for Clipper programmers.  dStruct creates Clipper
    header files containing #define statements of the field positions in your
    database files.  Sooo what?   Well along with the 3 small functions
    included with this utility, you can easily copy your current record to
    an array, edit the array as the record, and then save it if you want to.

    Where does the header file help?  The header file #defines are used as the
    index pointers into the array.  With this you do not need to remember the
    field positions in the array.  If you modify the structure of the Database
    array all you need to do is recreate the header file with dStruct and
    recompile.  No time!  No headaches!  No problems!

    dStruct can also be used to document datafile structures and to just plain
    look at the structure.


Why edit arrays?

        Two good reasons for copying the record to an array:

        1)      You can discard the changes by not saving the edit.
        2)      The record does not have to be locked while it is being
                edited.


Usage:

        dStruct [options] <path> [> outfile]

        Options:
                -p[text]        Set the #define prefix text.  By default the
                                prefix = "D_".  The length may be from 0 to 14
                                characters.

                -f[n]           The number of chars to include in the #define
                                from the filename.  The default is 2 chars.
                                n can be between 0 and 8.

                -i              This will cause information about the fields
                                to be commented with each #define.

                path            Any DOS path including the global characters
                                ? and *.

                outfile         Use dos redirection to send the output to a
                                file.  Typically a dedicated clipper header
                                file to include in your application.  dStruct
                                sends its output to Stdout allowing dStruct to
                                display file structures to the screen.


Typical program output:


    // Database field #defines,  Produced by dStruct,  11-9-1990


    // Datafile DSDEMO.DBF
    #define F_DSDEMO_FC     7
    #define F_DS_CUSNUM     1       // Width 10     Dec 0   Type N
    #define F_DS_NAME       2       // Width 30     Dec 0   Type C
    #define F_DS_ADDR1      3       // Width 30     Dec 0   Type C
    #define F_DS_ADDR2      4       // Width 30     Dec 0   Type C
    #define F_DS_CITY       5       // Width 30     Dec 0   Type C
    #define F_DS_STATE      6       // Width 2      Dec 0   Type C
    #define F_DS_ZIP        7       // Width 10     Dec 0   Type C


    // END: Database field #defines.


The helper functions:

        getRec()

                Parameters:     None.

                Returns:        An array as an image of the current record.

                Notes:          getRec will return an array containing the
                                data from the current record.  getRec may be
                                aliased to acquire a record from another area.

                Usage:          LOCAL   ary := {}
                                ary = getRec()

                                    .... edit the array

                                saveRec( ary )


        blankRec()

                Parameters:     None.

                Returns:        An array as an image of a database record.

                Notes:          blankRec will return an array containing an
                                image of an empty record from the current
                                or an aliased database.

                Usage:          LOCAL   ary := {}
                                ary = blankRec()

                                    .... edit the array

                                saveRec( ary )



        saveRec()

                Parameters:     A record array.

                Returns:         NIL

                Notes:          saveRec will replace each field in a record
                                with the data in the corresponding array
                                element.  The array must be an image of the
                                record you are replacing to avoid any type
                                mismatches.


                Usage:          LOCAL   ary := {}
                                ary = blankRec()

                                    .... edit the array

                                saveRec( ary )