Re Printer database

[Patricia M Godfrey pmgodfrey@xxxxxxxx]

Jordan wrote (re my database suggestions): ≪Unless it could be handled
via some sort of fill-in Form that could be agreed on,≫
Yes, it would have to be, I think, to avoid user input error, which is
the BANE of database. Could such a form be constructed in XPL? I rather
think it could, though it would involve some tedious coding, I should
think (have RC accumulate values until CR/LF entered, then write the
accumulated values to a file, append a tab, request the next value in a
CL prompt, and so on). It's rather maddening that XyWrite's own Form
routine just fails by reason of its inserting the spaces for the prompts.
I suppose one could use that to get the data, then write an XPL routine
to strip out the extraneous spaces and insert the tabs.
	Another possibility: the version of dBase I have (5 for DOS) can--at
long last--create standalone executables. I could (eventually; much too
much on my plate right now) write a data-entry routine in that, but 1) I
have no idea how well such an EXE would run under Nt/2K/XP (they run fine
under Win 9x), and I strongly suspect it wouldn't run at all under OS/2
or Linux; 2) people are, understandably, leery of EXE files; 3) xBase is
deader than Linear B.
	It would almost certainly be possible to write such a routine in XML,
but I certainly don't know enough of that language to do it.
Patricia