willson@seas.gwu.edu (Stephen Willson) (08/15/90)
In dBase IV 1.0's assist mode, when you create a calculated field, the field name can't be a reserved word. You end up with a bunch of errors making no sense unless you realize that you are working with a reserved word. My question is: Since assist mode is intended for users who do not have that much dBase background, why doesn't assist mode check to see if a word is reserved. Is it to difficult to check these field names for such a problem, or was it just never considered? I realize that dBase IV 1.1 is already out, so my question might be irrelavant, but unfortunately I'm still working with version 1.0.
dukel@dbase.A-T.COM (Duke Luper) (08/22/90)
In article <2077@sparko.gwu.edu>, willson@seas.gwu.edu (Stephen Willson) writes: > > In dBase IV 1.0's assist mode, when you create a calculated field, the > field name can't be a reserved word. You end up with a bunch of errors making > no sense unless you realize that you are working with a reserved word. My > question is: Since assist mode is intended for users who do not have that much > dBase background, why doesn't assist mode check to see if a word is reserved. > Is it to difficult to check these field names for such a problem, or was it > just never considered? I realize that dBase IV 1.1 is already out, so my > question might be irrelavant, but unfortunately I'm still working with version > 1.0. Stephen, I played around in Assist for awhile to try to reproduce your error. I used the reserved words COUNT and BROWSE. There is no use of calculated fields in using or creating a database that I could find. There is, however, in the query sections, reporting, etc.... I used COUNT and BROWSE as field names in the QUERY section and could not get any "bugs" or strange actions to appear. If you could be more specific about the type of actions you took to get dBASE to act funny, then I might be able to give you a specfic answer to your question. Unfortunately, I am a consultant at Ashton-Tate and will be leaving to return to graduate school on Friday so, if you respond quickly, I will give it my best shot. Duke Luper ** Disclaimer: I guess I need one of these to protect myself. Ashton-tate's ** ideas and thoughts are theirs, mine are mine. Don't take mine for theirs. ** Is that good enough?