Developing a Database Application:
The dBASE PLUS 9 Tutorial

Paul McGee, dBase LLC
August 1, 2014

Based on the original work of
Ken Mayer, Senior SQA Engineer, dBASE Inc.
Michael Nuwer, dBASE user
Previous Version
November 11, 2002

Phase X
Closing Comments

Cleanup

After everything we've done, we have some settings in dBASE PLUS 9 that we may not want to leave around.

These settings have to do specifically with the custom forms and custom reports.

The next time you go to create a form or report, dBASE PLUS 9 is going to assume you want to use the custom one in the tutorial directory that you last used. You may want to solve that NOW by doing the following:

Repeat the above for a report, or you will run into the same issue there.

This will save you some frustration when you next go to create a new application.

One other thing you should do is to type, at the command window:

   CLOSE DATABASE

This will ensure that the tutorial database is closed, and that the next time you go to create tables you don't accidentally save them to that location ...

What Have We Learned?

First we have learned that dBASE PLUS 9 is a powerful software package and object oriented programming is it's foundation. We learned about classes, properties and events.

Next, we learned about Re-Usability! That is what all that stuff with custom datamodules, custom forms, custom controls, and custom reports is about. You should always try to use these, and try to design any code that you place in your custom objects so that it is as generic or re-usable as possible. We learned about (although these terms weren't used) inheritance, polymorphism, and encapsulation.

We learned how to create an MDI application that works like most other data driven applications.

We learned how to create database aliases and use them as databases.

We created some parent/child relationships among our query objects (in the datamodules). We created forms that showed these relationships as well as reports that used them.

We used datamodules in forms and reports, and in one case the same datamodule was used in both a form and a report.

We created forms with child-forms or dialog forms, whatever you want to call them.

We created reports with groups, with totals, and more.

In the process we learned something about how the Object-Oriented Database Manipulation Language (OODML) is used, and created code to manipulate data using it.

And we learned about how flexible and powerful dBASE PLUS 9 can really be.

Believe it or not, we really only scratched the surface of the abilities of dBASE PLUS 9 with this tutorial. While we sometimes scratched fairly deeply, there's a lot more going on under the hood. There are objects in dBASE PLUS 9 we haven't touched. We didn't write any code that was independant of forms and reports to manipulate data. We didn't use any ActiveX controls, OLE abilities, and so on.

When it comes right down to it, every time one of the authors use dBASE to write a new application we learn more about what it can do. So will you.

Now What?

You should get used to the following misc. bits of information (provided in no particular sequence):

Note: You are hereby granted full permission to use any or all of the code in this tutorial for any application you write. If the code is in the .CC (Custom Control) files or the Preview.wfm, please make sure you credit the authors, and if the code comes from instructions in the tutorial, assume the authors to be either Gary White, Peter Rorlick, Ken Mayer or a combination of the three.

Ok, We're Really Done

With luck, you learned something about creating applications in dBASE PLUS 9.

The process of creating this tutorial has caused both authors to stretch their own knowledge, and in some cases we have actually changed some of our own development techniques based on what we learned in building this project for you.

After you get over the learning curve, you will find that development in this product is largely enjoyable process. Enjoy it, and maybe we'll see you out in the newsgroups!


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Last Modified: August 1, 2014

The Legal Stuff: This document is part of the dBASE PLUS 9 Tutorial from dBase, LLC.

This material is copyright © 2002-2024, by dBase, LLC.

dBASE PLUS 9 is copyrighted, and trademarked by dBase, LLC.

The BDE (Borland Database Engine) and BDE Administrator are copyrighted, trademarked by Embarcadero.

This document may not be posted elsewhere without the explicit permission of dBase, LLC. who retains all rights to the document.