quickreportlib.sml

[JD Kromkowski]

I see reference to the |quickreportlib.sml| and in fact I see the .sml in the lib folder. But, this does not exist as a project, so I am a bit confused on how to use it in application I am working on. Are there any examples?

[Michael]

On 25/06/2012 21:15, John D Kromkowski wrote:
> I see reference to the |quickreportlib.sml| and in fact I see the .sml in the lib folder. But, this does not exist as a
> project, so I am a bit confused on how to use it in application I am working on. Are there any examples?

I don't know that there are any examples of using it yet. If you add it to a project, you can examine the functions and types by
switching to the types view in the left-hand panel where you normally see your project tree.

Ciao, Neil

[JD Kromkowski]

On 7/4/2012 2:10 PM, Neil Robinson wrote:
> I don't know that there are any examples of using it yet. If you add
> it to a project, you can examine the functions and types by switching
> to the types view in the left-hand panel where you normally see your
> project tree. Ciao, Neil

I did that before I sent the message. There is really no way to
intuitively figure out how the types and functions work without either
an example or examining the underlying SMAs that go into making the
quickreportlib.sml

[JD Kromkowski]

Let me try a different tack.

In personal, you can do a quick report (of sorts – there are some
deficiencies and bugs but it is first cut). F5

It would be nice if you could expose that code. So that one could start
adding that functionality to nascent attempts to build SIMPOL applications.

I just turned 50. Apparently, if I'm lucky I have another 20 years to
run my law office. My Superbase 2.0 application(s), which I began
writing 20 years ago, functionality do the job, but I am fast
approaching an OS wall, where I'm not going to be able to use it on
newer machines.

I feel rather lonely as the only person posting here.

In experimenting with trying to recreate my office payroll app (which is
the simpliest thing) I can see the light at the end of the tunnel of a
path to convert my more complex application, but until I can create
reports (the least complicated but most important for example would be
the capacity to BILL and thus get paid), I am wary of stepping further
down the tunnel for fear that the light is actually another train and
not the exit. On the other hand, if I can do this then surely there is
a market for real programers to use SIMPOL.

Not withstanding 20 years of messing around – programming is not an end
for me (except for a couple of small odds jobs), it is just a tool to
help me run my law office. The more people really building and making a
living using SIMPOL the better for me because there is likely someone
out there that can help me. But I've seen the number of downloads and
am worried. I can't help but think basic report function is at least
part of the issue. (I can even see the way down a path to writing my
own report function which would include calculated columns, but I
shouldn't have to be doing that, should I? A lawyer stumbling around? I
only just learned how to "text" in the last couple of months from my 11
year old.)

JDK

[Michael]

On 11/07/2012 16:09, John D Kromkowski wrote:
> Let me try a different tack.
>
> In personal, you can do a quick report (of sorts – there are some deficiencies and bugs but it is first cut). F5
>
> It would be nice if you could expose that code. So that one could start adding that functionality to nascent attempts to build
> SIMPOL applications.
>
> I just turned 50. Apparently, if I'm lucky I have another 20 years to run my law office. My Superbase 2.0 application(s),
> which I began writing 20 years ago, functionality do the job, but I am fast approaching an OS wall, where I'm not going to be
> able to use it on newer machines.
>
> I feel rather lonely as the only person posting here.

Sorry about that. The current ecosystem is still small, but interest is growing. In many cases, I find people don't come onto the
forums until they hit a problem.

> In experimenting with trying to recreate my office payroll app (which is the simpliest thing) I can see the light at the end
> of the tunnel of a path to convert my more complex application, but until I can create reports (the least complicated but
> most important for example would be the capacity to BILL and thus get paid), I am wary of stepping further down the tunnel for
> fear that the light is actually another train and not the exit. On the other hand, if I can do this then surely there is a
> market for real programers to use SIMPOL.

The final step in the process is the Graphic Report Designer. That is planned, but will be in the release after the next one. It
builds on the Print Form Designer, which *is* in the next release.

> Not withstanding 20 years of messing around – programming is not an end for me (except for a couple of small odds jobs), it is
> just a tool to help me run my law office. The more people really building and making a living using SIMPOL the better for me
> because there is likely someone out there that can help me. But I've seen the number of downloads and am worried. I can't
> help but think basic report function is at least part of the issue. (I can even see the way down a path to writing my own
> report function which would include calculated columns, but I shouldn't have to be doing that, should I? A lawyer stumbling
> around? I only just learned how to "text" in the last couple of months from my 11 year old.)

Like I said, these sorts of things are coming. There is a library included in the current release called calceval.sml, and as far
as I can remember, it includes the source as a project. That has been created to allow for runtime evaluation of a string
containing a calculation of some kind and to return the correct answer. I will be enhancing that one over time.

Ciao, Neil

[JD Kromkowski]

On 8/2/2012 9:41 AM, Neil Robinson wrote:
> Like I said, these sorts of things are coming. There is a library
> included in the current release called calceval.sml, and as far as I
> can remember, it includes the source as a project. That has been
> created to allow for runtime evaluation of a string containing a
> calculation of some kind and to return the correct answer. I will be
> enhancing that one over time. Ciao, Neil

There is a tiny bug in the calceval project file: A bad reference to X
drive and dir in the line:

SML_FILE2 =

It looks like the reference might actually be the same as the the next
line SML_FILE1, but that seems redundant?
What should it be?

I've looked at the sma, its rather dense for me in part because I'm
dense and in part because I don't know the context in which it is being
used.

What would be useful to me is to see what code is actually running when
you select F5 (quick report) in Personal.

The thing I want to "fix" or "extend" is the Calculate button which is
not hooked up to anything.

[Michael]

On 08/08/2012 14:42, John D Kromkowski wrote:
> On 8/2/2012 9:41 AM, Neil Robinson wrote:
>> Like I said, these sorts of things are coming. There is a library included in the current release called calceval.sml, and
>> as far as I can remember, it includes the source as a project. That has been created to allow for runtime evaluation of a
>> string containing a calculation of some kind and to return the correct answer. I will be enhancing that one over time. Ciao,
>> Neil
>
> There is a tiny bug in the calceval project file: A bad reference to X drive and dir in the line:
>
> SML_FILE2 =

That is an installer bug (thanks for finding it!). These paths have to be adjusted for each project that we ship, since the entry
contains the path to a library or include file and the location is not known until the installation occurs.

> It looks like the reference might actually be the same as the the next line SML_FILE1, but that seems redundant? What should it
> be?

It probably should be the same path as the line above. It is just looking for the location of a specific library file.

> I've looked at the sma, its rather dense for me in part because I'm dense and in part because I don't know the context in which
> it is being used.

Basically there is one function. You pass it a string containing a calculation, possibly using some of the SQL92 functions. You
can also pass a record object in as a parameter and use SQL92 syntax to manipulate the record. The function returns the result of
the calculation.

> What would be useful to me is to see what code is actually running when you select F5 (quick report) in Personal.
>
> The thing I want to "fix" or "extend" is the Calculate button which is not hooked up to anything.

The quick report code is considerable more complex than the calceval library, and at this stage is not ready to be released. The
Calculate button does need to be done, but requires another dialog, similar in design and complexity to the filter dialog, and it
will use the calceval library to carry out the resulting calculation formula.

Ciao, Neil

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