The Sinclair QL Forum

Hi,

I started the Archive tutorial recently with a view to learning this properly next weekend, and have come up against a problem early on.

I am on page 11 of the QL manual's Archive section, "Creating a File"

I type to reset Archive and then create the books file by typing:
At this point I would expect books_dbf to be created on FLP2_, but instead I get: Setup is Qemulator: 1.3 on macOS 10.14.6
mdv/flp 1 set to the Zip file of Archive 2.3.8 (floppy version) downloaded from Dilwyn's site
mdv/flp 2 set to a folder on macOS

I have set PROG_USE to flp1_, DATA_USE to flp2_, just in case that was the issue, but no change

Anyone have any thoughts as to what I am doing wrong?

Thanks

PS - has anyone else read "Database Management on the Sinclair QL" from the "Sinclair QL Series"? I had to start laughing at one point as the author really does not seem very happy with Archive at all. On about 4 or 5 occasions he has a little rant about why he thinks something has been implemented very, very badly
Also the book is terribly edited, with a missing section between chapters 1 and 2 and chapters not in the order that the author refers to them - ie he refers to a procedure created in the previous chapter, except it's created in the same chapter, only later on.
Despite that, very useful book with lots of good insights.

Sparrowhawk wrote:Hi,

I started the Archive tutorial recently with a view to learning this properly next weekend, and have come up against a problem early on.

I am on page 11 of the QL manual's Archive section, "Creating a File"

I type

Code: Select all

new

to reset Archive and then create the books file by typing:

Code: Select all

create books  <ENTER>
  author$  <ENTER>
  title$  <ENTER>
  subject$  <ENTER>
  isbn  <ENTER>
  endcreate  <ENTER>

At this point I would expect books_dbf to be created on FLP2_, but instead I get:

Code: Select all

Error 100: Can not open file

Try

I just tried with the MDV version 2.3.8 instead of the FLP version, and it works. Hey ho. No idea why, but at least I can resume my adventures in Archiveland.

I dont know much about other databases, (I had some run-ins with M$'s Access and PostgreSQL back in the day, but theyre in a different league.) but Archive is quite competent for smaller projects. In its day I thought it was fabulous and fun! But after a while one may start to feel a bit claustrophobic, as theres no way to expand it. (I only found out about the usr function many years after Id given up on it. I dont know if it would have helped..)

Hi pjw - my update to my original post must have overlapped with your response as I updated the code in to what you had - it was a transcription error on my part, I had indeed used the quotes in the original attempt, so it was not that. I have no idea why the mdv version works, but happy it does.

Yes, it does seem very competent, and amazing when you consider the size of the executable.

Re Access: I've spent my working career building databases (SQL Server, Postgres, MySQL, Oracle, SQLBase etc) and back end code, as well as loads of projects coding Access too on the desktop. Access is pretty much Archive for Windows, but of course much more powerful. It has a terrible reputation, mostly undeserved in my opinion - like many tools, it is fine if you know how to handle it, but also far too easy to create an absolute mess if you don't, which is a maintenance nightmare.

I once turned up as part of a team (I was the sole developer) at a large US bank's offices in London, to start a highly sensitive project. We had been told C# and SQL Server would be available to build the tool, but all computers used would be supplied and no source code allowed outside their network. We get to the office to be told that the request for these dev tools had had not been approved (or requested, I forget). As this was a multi million pound project involving financial compliance, not starting that day was out of the question. We were not allowed to install anything whatsoever on the provided desktops. After a little while, I asked if they had Office Pro installed. They did. And that's how I ended up writing a 20 concurrent users Access system to handle what I can only describe as the most sensitive financial data I have ever seen in my nearly three decades of working with big institutions
We did have some record corruption, it was Access after all. But only 2 in 6 months of the project's lifespan. Mostly because I did get the client to upgrade to v2003 from v2000 which was awful in a multi-user setting.

pjw wrote:I only found out about the usr function many years after Id given up on it. I don't know if it would have helped..

Hi pjw - I can't find that function mentioned - can you explain what it does and maybe show an example? Thank you!

I don't think the USR function is available in the original versions of the "Psion 4" (Free the Psion 4!) as it was, I think, later part of the "Exchange" 4-in-one version. I think. (I'm over 60 now, so things are aging out of cache, I might be wrong, but at the moment, I'm 99% sure!)

Cheers,
Norm.

Runtime QL Archive - http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/psions/archrtm.zip

Example USR function: http://www.dilwyn.me.uk/psions/usr.zip

Yup, the above about as much as I know about it. Good luck!

Thanks everyone. This is really a great community of people here - always so helpful. (we really need a thumbs up or clap emoji!).

NormanDunbar wrote:I'm over 60 now, so things are aging out of cache

That made my day!