SET TYPEAHEAD

Topic group Related topics

Sets the size of the typeahead buffer, where keystrokes are stored while dBASE Plus is busy.

Syntax

SET TYPEAHEAD TO <expN>

<expN>

the size of the keyboard typeahead buffer, any number from 0 to 1600.

Default

The default size of the typeahead buffer is 50 characters. To change the default, set the TYPEAHEAD parameter in PLUS.ini.

Description

The keyboard typeahead buffer stores keystrokes the user enters while dBASE Plus is busy, for example while reindexing a table. When the processing is complete and the application is ready to accept keystrokes, dBASE Plus fetches and deletes the values in the buffer in the order they were entered. Any keys typed while there are still keystrokes in the buffer are added to the end of the buffer.

If the size of the typeahead buffer is set to 50, dBASE Plus can store values for 50 keypresses; further keystrokes are ignored without any warnings. A large typeahead buffer is useful if the user does not want to stop typing when dBASE Plus is unavailable for processing direct keyboard input.

For some programs, you may want to disable the typeahead buffer with SET TYPEAHEAD TO 0. This ensures that user input comes directly from the keyboard, rather than from the typeahead buffer.

For example, if you want to be able to fill in multiple forms quickly, one after the other, you might SET TYPEAHEAD to a relatively high number during form processing. This would let you continue typing data while one form was being saved and the next (blank) one being displayed. The data you entered during processing would be entered onto the new form when it appeared. On the other hand, if you want to make sure that no data is entered until the form is displayed on the screen, you can issue SET TYPEAHEAD TO 0.

You can also clear the typeahead buffer manually with CLEAR TYPEAHEAD.

SET TYPEAHEAD limits the number of characters you can put into the typeahead buffer using KEYBOARD.