This is not about the program itself but the documentation.

Add bookmarks to the PDF.  Also create an "embedded index".  It indexes all text in the document, which massively speeds up searches.

Related to that, start page numbering with the cover as page 1, i.e., no roman numerals for the Preface, etc.  That way, Page 7 in the Table of Contents will be Page 7 in the PDF.

lksseven wrote on Sep 23^rd, 2011 at 3:52am:


We might be able to add something like this.

Quote:


Again, pretty doable.

Quote:


I believe Sesame2 can do this now. Look into the "On Draw" event.

Quote:


There are two ways to do this, one of which is already available in Sesame2. You can use a texting service. This is a web page with a form that accepts a short message and sends it out to a recipient's phone. Such services can also receive messages for subscribers. Sesame2 can use this sort of service using the HTTP commands in SBasic. The other way is to actually connect a phone to the computer and use it like a text message modem, by sending "AT" commands to the phone through its serial (USB) port. The phone then sends the message. In either case, there needs to be some way for Sesame to "talk" to the cell network.

Quote:


This is easily the hardest request you have requested. There are some small handheld devices that run intel compatible code for either Windows or Linux that will run Sesame, and may double as phones. In fact, a handful of people on this forum have such devices and have run Sesame on them, though I don't know if they are or can be used as phones.

Rewriting Sesame to run on iOS (which requires a rewrite into Objective-C) or on Android (which requires a rewrite in Java) is a goal I would love to take up, but it is very daunting. Perhaps a somewhat less functional mini-client may be pretty doable. Of course, with the free API and a fairly simple requirement set, getting Sesame data on an Android phone would be easy. And there are a number of VNC that allow you to "run" Sesame on your phone now, at least as far as the screen and keyboard are concerned.

Look cool!! Are we going to implement this in Sesame 3?

Inputting data on a remote client (offsite) and printing that record to a printer available to the host Sesame server would be fantastically useful (to my sphere, anyway).  And the field wordwrap ability in tableview form also would give (me, anyway) tremendous flexibility with product - services description field issues.

You guys are magic!

Anything that improves report creation would be great.

Stemming from the other thread, as someone new to Sesame and currently working to get up to speed with it and convert our existing Q&A databases, it would be great to see demo videos maybe even added to the help menu. Or a demo video "quick start" guide.  It all seems so overwhemling right now, since I've been working in Q&A for so long, but I'm sure once I get up to speed it will be great!

"2 + 2 = 4" video .... the most basic building blocks:  demonstrate how to add a field from a clean slate,  how to change its properties, how to change navigation order (when it's not the only field), how to add programming to several of the field events, how to save it, and then how to reconcile the changes to the database.


   

waldingrl wrote on Sep 26^th, 2011 at 7:48pm:

Thanks for the input! In the meantime, this might help - http://www.lantica.com/Support/kb/article/000147

Hammer wrote on Sep 26^th, 2011 at 1:01pm:


Awesomeness. Screen captures any time soon? 

A video of how to do a mass update. This would be particularly relevant to people converting from Q&A. For instance, when our QA program was written around 1998 all our clients were in Texas.  We now have a substantial number of accounts from out of state but only about 3-4 clients per state in Oklahoma and Arkansas. After converting from Q&A we would want to add a State field and then do a mass update: State = "Texas" If Client contains "XYZ" then State = "Arkansas"; If Client contains "ABC" then State = "Oklahoma"

A nice future developers tool for a future version might be a button (or right click option) that turns all the element labels on a form temporarily to the element name. I find I use the F5 feature to Identify the real Element Name constantly when working in Sbasic or modifying Sbasic code. It would be really nice to have a quick visual in designer to see the underlying Element name. I have made some subroutines that use sbasic to rename all the labels to the element name (ran in realtime app or Sdesigner preview) and then I print screen, but it is not very clean and not as efficient as what it could be in designer.

Just a wishful tool to add to the Best, Already the Most USER FRIENDLY, product of Its kind!

Rick_R wrote on Sep 28^th, 2011 at 9:11pm:


That would be nice a feature.

Great!!  Thanks.

Data Exchange between different platforms and systems are vital part for any system, looking forward. Printed materials are used less and less. Up till now we were depending on CSV, ASCII, ANSI, etc. but now XML seems to be more widely used. Sesame 2.xx has some tools to deal with XML files. I would like to request more tools to prepare XML files effortlessly and tools to read and incorporate XML with Sesame data. What new do we have in terms of XML in Sesame3 so far?

I have not really worked with XML that much but now instead of ANSI file, they have been requesting XML file data submission for  medical bills, prescriptions, medical records, various requests, etc.  So I think, any tools that help to prepare XML file from sesame data with ease and ability to read and incorporate incoming XML file (that parsing) will be very useful.

Whatever tools you can provide to facilitate XML file creation and parsing with ease will be extremely useful going forward. Are there other users who have input about XML use and commands related to XML in Sesame?

Thanks Erika for giving concrete example of assembling XML file with SBasic.

BOBSCOTT wrote on Oct 2^nd, 2011 at 12:24am:

Actually, this ties in with my suggestion to have bookmarks and an embedded index in the PDF of the SBasic manual. With bookmarks it's easy to jump to the "Commands by category" section and with an embedded index search results are basically instantaneous no matter how large the PDF is.  Just keep the manual open in Adobe Reader. Once you know the name of the command you want it's easy to select it from the list.

Rick_R wrote on Oct 3^rd, 2011 at 2:39pm:


The Programming Editor in Sesame 3 already has basically this functionality in it. You can right click in a Sbasic Function or Subroutine and on the drop down menu the choice "About this Function" will be available. Clicking on it will bring up the List Browser with that Sbasic command highlighted and the description about it showing. The information provided below in the description box is the same that appears in the Programming Manual.

-Ray

For date fields:

1) Ability to enter T for Today, Y for yesterday, NW for next week and the date will automatically be calculated.

I previously discussed in another thread a problem with "next month" or "one month ago".  What date is "next month" for January 30 or 31 or "one month ago" for March 30?  Although a programmer could arbitrarily pick a standard definition, there's no guarantee that users would apply the same definition.

2) Ability to set a field so it automatically picks only a weekday. The programmer has to be able to specify "move forward" or "move back". For example, for filing deadlines (court, tax, government reports, etc.) you probably would want to move back to Friday, but for sales call follow-ups you would probably prefer to move ahead to Monday.

Related to that, it could check against a table of pre-defined "special" dates such as Christmas and dates the programmer adds. For instance, years ago we went down to the state court in Houston to file something and were surprised that the courts were closed. It was a state holiday that is a legal holiday only in Texas.  (Yes, the programmer could write a "CheckHoliday(Date)" function, but this is such a common need it would be nice to just select the option when creating the field.)

tcgeo wrote on Oct 13^th, 2011 at 1:19pm:

That would be very helpful. I often need to move a group of elements around together. Right now, I need to repeatedly move one element at a time.

I agree with tcgeo for the above post, that would be helpful. Also when you search for the command in list browser, the search button seldom takes you to the command you are searching or anywhere close by. You have to move the side bar to get to the command. Please look into this. Thanks.

Bharat_Naik wrote on Oct 13^th, 2011 at 7:09pm:


Hello Bharat,

I am not sure what you mean by seldom takes you to the command you are searching for? Is it not scrolling properly or highlighting a command you don't want it to?

The Search in the List browser searches both the Description and the function names so the first result may be a related command or contain an example of the command you are looking for. But if you keep pressing search, you'll move to the next result and so on until you wrap around.

PS. What I normally do in the list browser is when I bring it up I just type the first few characters of what I'm looking for. So if I'm looking for XLookup() I just type 'xlo' and the list browse scrolls down to the first command starting with 'xlo'.

-Ray

The Cow wrote on Oct 13^th, 2011 at 7:15pm:


Probably the best way to handle that would be a Preferences setting--either the parameters for all insertions or for none, rather than, for instance, a right-click with two options.

While working with form, I would like see element in focus to be more conspicuous. What tools can I use in Sesame 2.xx to achieve this?

Also, while working with tab pages, one has to use one tab key for cursor to take focus on the first element on that tabpage. I happen to have a subform at the top of a tabpage, and subform always has a black solid bar on the first record. Using or not using tab key visually does not cause any change but If I use F3 key in order to delete the first record of the subform and the focus is not in the first record of the subform, I end up deleting the whole record (Parent Record) before I know it. I have muted the delete message in subform using sbasic as I have to delete quite a few records of subforms while working with records.  What can I do to prevent this other than unmute to the delete message?

I'm with Bharat; the WriteLn window (slate) is a great tool for displaying info to the user.

I would love to see it become more powerful; display hyperlinks/html, have more memory to display more data, give it some basic editing tools, etc.

Perhaps keep the slate as-is and add a new 'html_popup' editor option.

Just my .02 cents.

Srikeout text as opposed to deleting the record:
Sometimes, we cancel the prescription or change it. It would be nice to see it being strikeout instead of removing the record for the record keeping and tracking purpose. I do not know how it could be implemented but it would be nice if this could be accomplished some kind of way.

Thanks Robert for feedback. I also use prescription as subform. I do change color in various elements as needed to highlight and raise a red flag. Unfortunately, that would not show up in the printed material or pdf file when we have to reproduce the record.

Changing Attribute to make it strikethrough font might just do. When printed out or while making pdf file (using printstring commands), hopefully retain the the strikethrough property. I will look into it and report back for more guidance as needed. Thanks.

Not asking too much, but much of what you are asking for is already there. In the programming editor, right click and select "List Browser" from the popup menu. From the list browser, select the "Switch" button and you will toggle through:

SBasic Commands
Element Names
Font Names
Menu Tree Items

Once the elements names are displayed, double click on one of them and it will be inserted at the current cursor position.

As to adding all of the elements from all the other forms - I'll look into how hard that'll be.

You're welcome. Keep the suggestions coming!

Bharat_Naik wrote on Nov 2^nd, 2011 at 6:38pm:


Considering... Ok, done.

One of the following (or both and the programmer gets to set which one):

1) End subroutine, End procedure and End Function require the subroutine/procedure/function name.

This makes it easier to figure out where you are in a long program, particularly with s/p/f's that span more than one page.

2) If a line begins with End subroutine, End procedure, or End function, everything after that is ignored.

This would allow "End Procedure MyProc" without needing to have MyProc commented out.

In-line If:

x = iif(a > b, ValIfTrue, ValIfFalse)

I have set up a bunch of functions like that but it requires one for IfDate ..., another for IfString ..., etc. The languages I have seen with an iif function automatically determine the data type and return the correct type. Of course, you can't use x = iif( comparison, IntegerIfTrue, DateIfFalse)

Gender = @AccessStringArray("Male;Female;Unknown;Multiple", position)
 

if you are fond of term "select", you could:

#define @select @AccessStringArray

var aa as int

aa = @select("1;2;3;4", 3)
writeln(aa)
 

...or use an array:

var aa as array[3] of string

aa[1] = "Girl"
aa[2] = "Boy"
aa[3] = "Undetermined"

bb = aa[position]
 

We understand what these constructs are for, Rick. We do speak a programming language or two around here.   

Mark was just letting you know that you do have some current options, if this is something you need in Sesame 2.

Is there anyway, we can make the Element and/or Label to blink using sBasic to draw the user's attention as required in Sesame3? Is it possible to do the name in Sesame2.xx without using RunEntryOnInterval ( )?

how about the ability to copy records from one database to another like we could in q&a.  i run a vending company and would have 2 seperate databases one with current customers and then when customer cancelled would then copy the info to a inactive database then i would delete from the current database.

i dont do reports of the customer information but what i do is reuse the account numbers. 

will look into the export/import my needs are very small regarding what i need to do and sesame is so much more then q&a

Not sure if anyone else has said this or wants this, but the ability to edit and do full reports from the program instead of having to go to designer.  I do a lot of reports that sometimes are changed just slightly and I don't want to have save all of them.  In Q&A I would just edit, print and not save.

Steve_in_Texas wrote on Jan 9^th, 2012 at 11:34pm:


Yeah, that would be a really nice feature. Seconded.

Sometimes I will change a break point or the placement of a column or make a column invisible or visible......Or even add a quick derived column.  But these changes are  are used rarely so I don't want to bother saving them.  I have a full feature report that I have set up with nice headings, columns, etc. that I just tweak once in awhile.

Steve_in_Texas wrote on Feb 27^th, 2012 at 10:03pm:


Sesame 3 Static text boxes can already do this, Steve. You can display bound HTML in a static.

Steve_in_Texas wrote on Feb 27^th, 2012 at 10:17pm:


You may have limited success with that, Steve. it's meant for very simple HTML. It's not a full rendering engine. It doesn't support CSS or that sort of thing. If you have complex HTML, use your browser - that's what it's for.

However, Sesame's HTML Viewer can do one thing your browser can't. It can run SBasic when you click a link. Turn your creativity in that direction instead. 

Hi Brandon,

The new element should only go to the top of the navigation order if you have a custom navigation order set on that form. Given that the navigation is custom, I'm not sure if putting it at the bottom or roughly where it should be is the right call, as that might also be wrong spot. Which would lead to you getting a call saying that it's going to new element X right before old element Y after leaving element Z as X is in the second column and Y and Z are in the first(Can you tell I've gotten this call before?)

-Ray

lol Nope. I'm saying I've gotten those calls too having done the exact same thing myself.

-Ray

A "loose date" data type.  This is commonly needed in databases that deal with historical or prospective date information that requires accuracy even if that accuracy is only approximate. For instance, if the best you know is "approximately March 1985", you can't put "15 Mar 1985", since that would give the false impression you know the exact date.

The problem with using a string field for such data is that you can't perform any date math. Databases that need this data type are litigation databases, historical databases, authors' research notes, genealogy, collections of newspaper and similar articles, photo collections.

Common formats and how they would generally be treated for date-math purposes are as follows:

Note	Entry	Meaning	Treat as
(1)	Abt/ca/approx May 1928	Available information produces an approximate date	1 May 1928
(2)	est 1928 / est May 1928	Estimate based on general information	1 May 1928
--	29 Feb 1921 / 31 Mar 2002	Project rules require "enter as written"	nearest valid prior date, here 28 Feb or 30 Mar
--	May 1928	Sometime in May	1 May 1928
(3)	bef May 1928	Before May 1928	30 Apr 1928 (or 1 May 1928)
--	poss/prob May 1928	Possibly, probably May 1928	1 May 1928
--	May 1928 ? / May 1928(?)	Possibly, probably May 1928	1 May 1928
(3)	aft May 1928	After May 1928	1 June 1928 (or 31 May 1928)
--	7-10 May 1928	The period May 7 thru May 10	7 May 1928
--	1928	Sometime in 1928	1 Jan 1928

Notes:

(1) Often available information produces an approximate date.  For instance, census records on a specific date often include the subject's age, which allows calculating an "about" birth year.

(2) The difference between "about" and "est[imate]" is that an estimate uses general, not specific information. For instance, if someone is born in 1950, their parents probably were in their early 20's, so an estimate would be that the parents were born around 1927. With life expectancy being around 72 (using a common genealogy approximation), the parents probably died around 1999.

"About/ca" basically says, "I don't know the exact value but available information specific to this case lets me set some likely limits." "Estimate" basically says, "This is an educated guess based on general information."

(3) Because by the approximate nature of the input data the result can only be approximate, oftentimes a "before" or "after" is ignored. For instance, when Ancestry.com calculates age, "bef May 1928" will be treated as "May 1928", not "Apr 1928".

---

As you can see, for date math with a "loose date" the basic rule is, "If a date isn't specified, use the first day of the month/year." The exception would be "before" or "after".  Also, there is a fairly limited number of widely-accepted qualifiers, so parsing for those would not be overly complex:

• abt / about (I have only seen "abt" used on Ancestry.)
• aft / after
• approx / approximately
• bef / before
• ca / circa
• poss / possibly
• prob / probably
• ? / (?)

Although the field can take other text, any other text (such as "maybe", "unk" or "tbd" for "to be determined") produces an error in date math--not a crash, but something like ########.

Let me 2nd the loose data type request.  I use a Sesame database to track historical research and a date field as described would be invaluable.  The same would be true for my law firm's case management application.  Having said that, the idea has gotten me thinking (a dangerous and not so valuable event).  For now, I think it might be possible to mirror a loose data function by having a "shadow" date field incorporate infomation from a text field that is populated by dropdowns or @calendar plus a text dropdown with the appropriate prefix. Whatever is entered would then be parsed by programming and entered into the strict date field from which all sorting is done. 

It's great that a user can work with a batch (in Add mode) directly after importing from a text file.

If possible, being able to SORT and use Table mode on the new batch (directly after importing) would be handy.

Thanks, as always, for a great product!

Steve