OVERVIEW.............An overview of the dCLIP tutorial system
OVERVIEW
An overview of the dCLIP tutorial system
Description:
The dCLIP TUTOR is a program designed to help you learn to use
dCLIP and Clipper much faster than by reading the manual,
guides or experimentation. The tutor is NOT an on-line
reference manual such as the HELP system or the Expert Help
guides but is instead designed as a learning or teaching tool
by utilizing LBE (Learn-by-Example) tutoring techniques.
To start the dCLIP tutorial program simply enter the command
TUTOR at the dot prompt or select Tutorial from the ASSIST
menu.
The tutor is a program that uses the dCLIP interpreter or the
Turbo- Compile-Link mode to execute code samples. The tutor
will remember where you left off at your last tutoring session
when you return to the tutor with the TUTOR command.
The tutor screens and command lists are all stored in the
DCTUTOR.DBF database and are classified as General Information,
Commands, Classes, Data Types, Statements, Operators,
Directives, or Pictures.
To demonstrate how each command or function works, the tutor
program will extract the command list from the DCTUTOR.DBF
database and execute each command in one of three (3) modes:
Interpret - This mode will cause the list of commands to be
parsed out to the dot-prompt interpreter for execution.
Interpret mode is the predominate mode of operation because
it utilizes a SET ECHO ON feature to show you the command
followed by the results of the command all on the same
screen.
Compile - This mode will cause the list of commands to be
compiled, linked into memory and executed. Some commands can
be tutored in Compile mode only because of the nature of the
command. For example an DO..WHILE loop, a FOR..NEXT loop or
a CASE statement can be executed in compiled mode only.
Compile and Code View - This mode will cause the list of
commands to be compiled, linked into memory and executed
while in STEP mode of operation to view the code while it is
running. You may also invoke Code View mode for any Compile
type screen by pressing the (ALT-S) key before pressing
(ENTER) to execute the code.
The tutor does not simulate any commands, but instead uses the
dCLIP DC_INTERPRET() function or DC_COMPILE()/DC_OBJLOAD()
functions to run the code.
Each code-sample in the tutor is responsible for creating it's
own environment to insure that the command or function will
work properly, therefore it is not necessary to execute the
commands or functions in any specific order unless it is a
GENERAL INFORMATION screen.
If the tutor screen name has a number behind it such as dCLIP
PROGRAMMING 4 or TURBO LINKING 3, then it is important that you
do not execute the commands in this screen until you have
executed the previous screens in proper sequence or your
environment may not be setup to function properly.
There are a number of assumptions made to insure that this
tutorial executes properly and that all the commands and
functions will execute satisfactorily from the dot prompt.
Several demo or example files are included in your dCLIP
distribution and will be used in this tutorial. Make sure that
the following files are located in the directory defined by the
SET DCLIP=(directory) DOS command.
BASEBALL.DBF, TEAM.NTX, PLAYER.NTX, SALES.DBF, BASEBALL.LBL,
BASEBALL,FRM, DEMO.PRG, DEMO1.PRG, DEMO.OBJ, DEMO1.OBJ,
DEMO2.PRG, DEMO2.OBJ, READ.ME
Also, make sure that the following executable programs are in
your dCLIP directory or any other directory which is in your
dos path.
DCLIP.EXE, DLIB.EXE, DLIBE.EXE, CAT.EXE CLIPPER.EXE, RTLINK.EXE
or BLINKER.EXE
Navigating the Tutor
Use the up arrow key to display the previous tutor screen and
the down arrow key to display the next tutor screen. To BROWSE
a list of all the tutor screens, press key (B) then select the
command, function, etc. information from the list with the
ENTER key.
Locating a Tutor screen
The dCLIP Tutor supports two methods of locating a desired
screen for tutoring - the FIND method and the LOCATE method.
The FIND method looks for a screen by searching the index.
This is very fast but will only find screens by the command or
function name. For example, if you want tutoring with the
DBEVAL() function, you will press key (F) for FIND, then enter
DBEVAL in the space provided. The tutor will instantly seek to
the screen which contains the DBEVAL() function.
Sometimes you want tutoring information which is not specific
to a command or function but is more general. The LOCATE
method looks for a screen by searching the text and command
list of every tutor record for the desired text. For example,
if you want to locate the first screen which uses the word CODE
BLOCK, you will press key (L) for LOCATE, then enter CODE BLOCK
in the space provided. Tutor will search for the first record
which has any reference to the word CODE BLOCK. To continue on
to the next record which references code block press the (C)
key to CONTINUE.
Executing a Tutor Screen
After you select the desired tutor screen, simply press the
(ENTER) key and the commands listed will be either interpreted
or compiled, linked and executed.
Exiting the Tutor
Press the ESCAPE key to exit the on-line tutorial. This will
mark the current record in the DCTUTOR.DBF database and Tutor
will pick up from this record the next time you enter the TUTOR
command at the dot prompt.
** NOTE TO BETA-TESTERS **
The tutor-system is a "data-driven" system. The code for the
engine is completed and tested, however, the database is not
yet completed. The database supplied is the same database as
was supplied with version 2.50 and will be upgraded and
fully-tested in future releases.
Source/Library:
DCTUTOR.DBF
See Also:
TUTOR
dc_tutor()