dCLIP Review

Continued from Page 6.

as well as a fully interactive

debugging utility and a query

manager. There are several

other utilities supplied with the

software to assist the program-

mer in developing his code,

without the need to exit and

access other applications, but we

don’t have the space to cover all

of these features at this time.

They are: a 100-line command

stack, allowing you to move

through commands and reissue

them; trace, allowing you to

write the contents of memvars

and your source code to a trace

file during execution; pop-up

tables for INKEY() values,

CHR() value and color strings,

and an ASCII table; and import,

allowing you to move data

between databases of different

data structures.

Some nitty-gritty about the

hardware requirements of dClip:

For best performance and

productivity it is recommended

that a computer with at least a

80286 microprocessor chip be

available with a hard disk storing

40mb or more and a minimum

disk access time of 28ms. Ran-

dom access memory (RAM)

should be at least 640k, along

with 384k extended memory for

utilization as a RAM disk. A

color monitor would also be

helpful as it produces a more

efficient working medium.

The user’s manual accompanying

the dClip system is very thor-

ough. It includes a well thought

out index and table of contents

which allow easy cross referenc-

ing. I found the reference guide

a pleasure to read. It was infor-

mative, straight to the point and

avoided those annoying vague

references, often found in

software documentation, which

result in thoughts of physical

violence while attempting to

decipher the author’s meaning.

(I’ve destroyed more manuals

that way.) Speaking of damage,

dClip costs $249.95, including

the reference manuals, the dClip

development and runtime

systems. If you want to distribute

an application utilizing the dClip

runtime system, there is a one

time licensing fee of an addi-

tional $150.00, allowing unlim-

ited distribution rights in con-

junction with any of your own

applications.

So what do you think? Hope-

fully, you’re impressed. As a

professional programmer, I’ve

found dClip a needed tooL Sure,

we can do all those things I’ve

talked about without dClip, but

why should we? The program

allows more power, with less

work, while providing maximum

output. With that closing state-

ment, I end my discussion and

await the results of YOUR

evaluation of this product. Let

me know what you think!

Robert 3. Kantor is the founder of RJ

Software Limited, based in Dayton, Ohio.

This company provides software consulta-

tions, custom programming, and end-user

hardware/software solutions for its clients.

Mr. Kantor may be reached through: RJ

Software Limited, WBPO Box 351, Dayton,

Ohio 45409-0351, or through Compuserve:

72060,262

SAA WORLD

Conference &

Exposition

Digital Consulting, Inc. is spon-

sering the Systems Application

Architecture (SAA) Conference

and Exposition on September 25

and 26 at the Los Angeles

Airport Hilton and Towers, 5711

W. Century Blvd. in Los Ange-

les.

Free passes are available to

DLaP members. If you don’t

receive one in the mail, look for

some at the September meeting.

DCI promises over 40 vendors

giving one-on-one demonstra-

tions of SAA compatible soft-

ware plus free technical work-

shops.

Workshop topics for Tuesday

include “SAA & Systems Man-

agement,” “Developments and

Trends in Enterprise Systems,”

and “The Four Components of

SSA.”

Wednesday’s topics are “Frame-

work for Information Systems

Architecture,” “IBM’s Office

Vision,” “SAA & Systems Man-

agement,” “A Buyers Guide to

SAA Tools and Applications,”

and “SAA Practicum: Applica-

tion Development in the DOS!

Windows Environment.”

As a service to user groups, DCI

sponsers user group meetings at

the exposition. DLaP will be

holding a bonus meeting there

on Wednesday, September 26

from 2:00 to 3:00 pm. This

session will feature John Kinney

discussing the use of application

generator STAGE to design a

CUA compliant interface.

The Newsletter of the Dbase Language Professional Developers Group, September 1990

Page 7