jBase : Beginner tutorial
Hadi Teo
I am new in using JBase. Currently i have installed JBase in the
Windows platform and i have installed the client trial license
properly using jLicClient. The jLicServer has been started properly.
The licensing process has been performed succesfully.
I have looked at the documentation page : http://www.jbase.com/support/documentation.html,
but i feel overwhelmed and confuse as how to perform certain things
post database installation.
My objectives are :
1) Create a new database
2) Create some testing tables
3) Insert some data into testing tables
4) Perform CRUD (Select, Update, Delete, Create) to the respective
tables
All those 4 tasks are very basic tasks to familiarize myself in using
JBase. May i know is there any beginner tutorial or something like
"getting started" for the beginners, before moving on to the complex
tasks, such as advanced query with relationships etc.
Regards,
hadi teo
x
You can inquire the data base using specialized query language
commands referred to as jQL.
To update the database you have to use programs written in jBASE BASIC
also known as jBC.
The data is not organized as tables or at least not in the relational
sense therefore the term file is more appropriate.
The basic file consists of 2 parts; dictionary section and data
section.
The dictionary is used by the query language, jQL, to access and
format the data.
So you have to start your learning with jQL and jBC.
It's easier to use the old documentation found here "http://
www.jbase.com/knowledgebase/manuals/3.0/30manpages/man/manpage.htm"
and you may find useful generic information here
"http://www.jes.com/pb/"
Before you try your hand at doing anything you should ask your system
administrator to setup a test account for you to play with.
Also you have to be familiar with your shop standards about file
names, source control, compilation, what editors to use etc.
The following is an example of what you may try to do.
At the prompt create a new data file:
CREATE-FILE MYFILE 1 7
With whatever editor create the following program that will populate
your file with some data.
You have to put the source code in some other file that you create
like this:
CREATE-FILE MY-BP TYPE=UD
Here is said program:
EQU NAME.AMC TO 1
EQU CITY.AMC TO 2
OPEN 'MYFILE' TO FILE ELSE STOP
PRINT 'To exit data entry leave the CODE or the NAME blank and press
<Enter>'
LOOP
PRINT 'Personal CODE ':
INPUT CODE
IF CODE = '' THEN EXIT
PRINT 'Enter NAME ':
INPUT NAME
IF NAME = '' THEN EXIT
PRINT 'Enter CITY ':
INPUT CITY
REC = ''
REC<NAME.AMC> = NAME
REC<CITY.AMC> = CITY
WRITE REC ON FILE, CODE
REPEAT
END
Read about BASIC and CATALOG or better ask your administrator how to
compile and catalog as it may be some framework for that.
Then run the program by typing the name of the program at the prompt
then answering the questions.
For each CODE you now have NAME and CITY information so you may
proceed with inquiring your data base.
LIST MYFILE *A1 *A2
Note that *A1, *A2, *A3 etc. are generic names for nondescript data.
Regards,
Lucian
baffled
At the risk of getting flamed here <grin> you will find some free
learning materials on the U2UG website.
That is for IBM UniVerse which is a database following the same
MultiValue model - though there are some implementation differences.
The Learner Pack gives background on how the database model works and
explains most of the core concepts, though you will of course need to
adapt the examples to their jBASE equivalents.
Overall, from the point of basic learning the similarities should
outweigh the differences.
You will find further learning material for UniVerse, including the
UniVerse Basic language that is very close to jBC and the enquiry
language that is again very similar to jQL on my website
(www.brianleach.co.uk).
Brian
Hadi Teo
Thanks for your detail reply. I will follow up and inquire more if i
have any more doubts. Currently i am playing with JBase installed in
the Virtual PC with the trial license obtained from the jbase site. So
currently i am the administrator as well (i hope so, since i am not
sure whether i have assigned myself as the db admin, but i am the one
who install it).
Regards,
hadi teo
Tony G
> At the risk of getting flamed here <grin> you will
> find some free learning materials on the U2UG website.
In 2005 I got an excellent, generous, two-day, one-on-one
training session with Dan Ell from jBase International. Despite
the fact that I had been working with other Pick/Multivalue
platforms for over 20 years before that, I still considered
myself a complete noob with jBase - in part because as Jim says
"jBase isn't Pick" - and I really needed a sit-down with someone
before I could "get it".
After my great experience with Dan, I wrote many notes which I
forwarded to people at jBase, with specifics about gaps in the
documentation and issues with the new user experience. My view
was and is that jBase doesn't get as many migrations from other
MV environments, or from the mainstream, because it's simply
unapproachable. The installation and configuration can only be
done properly by someone who already works with the platform.
The documentation is often cryptic and inaccurate. It's mostly
reference material for someone who already knows the platform.
There are are few tutorials, and those were written by field
employees out of need, not by jBase Marketing as a means of
facilitating an introduction to the platform. With the resources
available, the undocumented and poorly documented "gotchas" are
so numerous that anyone but the most highly motivated is more
likely to give up than to forge forward. That's really a shame
because the platform truly is a worthy competitor to other MV
platforms and to the DBMS market as a whole.
The response to my comments included "great idea" and "we should
do that" - but no one has done anything in the last four years.
The documentation is still old, the website a poor resource, and
people asking for a tutorial in the product forum have to get
referred to competing products to get something that may help.
The people at jBase are great, and guys like Dan Klein are well
versed and will help people through anything. But documentation
should come from the vendor as part of the product. In the
absence of any such help from the vendor, it seems the community
will need to provide whatever tutorials or supplemental
documentation that it finds valuable. My recommendation is to
make use of PickWiki.com, where I hope people will post their
helpful notes about how to use this platform. Others can add to
it, correct it, format for readability, etc. It's completely
free, easy to register, and I'll be happy to help with any
contributions. It would be nice if there was a jbasewiki.com or
something similar, but I'm unaware of such a resource. Other
suggestions are welcome for increasing the volume of information
available to user/developers.
Tony Gravagno
Nebula Research and Development
TG@ remove.pleaseNebula-RnD.com
Nebula R&D sells mv.NET and other Pick/MultiValue products
worldwide, and provides related development services
remove.pleaseNebula-RnD.com/blog/
Visit PickWiki.com! Contribute!
Dick Thiot
Top posting because the comments are generic to the topic (mostly). Also, I'm just being a little lazy.
I completely agree with your insights about jBASE, their product and resources. Unfortunately, that makes them similar to other Multivalue vendors with the exception of U2 but it isn't IBM that is making the difference in that community. The big difference with jBASE besides the architecture of the product itself is their support staff. The two Dan's have been very helpful for several years and those that proceeded them were most helpful too.
I find it interesting that while the OP has been redirected to a competitors website for a tutorial, that tutorial was not created by the vendor but from the community. No one in the jBASE community has donated time to the community like Brian Leach has to U2. Imagine a jBASE users group driven by the users and supported by the vendor, not driven by the vendor. That is what U2 has.
Why don't you post your jBASE notes that you turned over to PickWiki?
Dick (not Pick) Thiot