Navigation: Guide to Examples >======  Solodex ====== |    |
Think of Solodex as your personal electronic Rolodex file. Like a Rolodex, Solodex provides a finger-tip reference for mailing addresses, phone numbers, and any other information indexed by a name or company. Solodex saves this information in a special file format usually (but not necessarily) designated by a file extension of .SOL. You can create as many Solodex files as you want, Solodex always “remembers” the last file you were using.
“Cool Stuff” in Solodex:
Free-Form Card Layout
Solodex is a convenient electronic file of free-form cards. You can enter your anniversary on your wife's card. Or you can keep track of your kids' social security numbers. You can save an internet address. Or the names of an associate's wife and kids. It's completely free-format.
Built-in Memory Queues
Memory queues that “live” on the heap are built in to the Clarion language. Queues are processed like files with ADD, DELETE, GET, PUT, and FREE statements. Clarion list boxes are populated from queues and can be scrolled without program intervention. Queues are one reason Solodex is so fast. At start-up, Solodex reads every record and constructs a memory queue of names and companies. Pressing a Tab controls constructs a category queue which is a subset of the “ALL” queue. No disk activity is required. Moving the selector bar accesses a single record that is displayed in the text controls.
Unlimited “Undos”
Solodex deletes a record by marking it as “deleted”. Solodex saves records by adding a new record and marking the old record “deleted”. Records marked as “deleted” are purged from the file when it is processed at start-up. The “Undo” queue simply contains record and queue pointers, the actual pre-images are stored in the file. As a result, Solodex imposes virtually no limit to the number of operations than can be reversed.
Replicating Files
You probably have more than one computer. With Solodex you replicate your changes so each machine always has the latest data. If you make any changes, export them to a floppy disk. Solodex remembers all records that have been added or changed since the last export. Then import the diskette to your other systems. If you misplace a disk, don't worry about it because every record is date and time stamped. Import will never replace a newer record with an older one.
Scrolling Tabs
Now the perfect Window control for selecting a sub-category is scrollable. When a new category is entered. Solodex creates a new tab control. If all cards in a category are changed to other categories, Solodex destroys the tab control. It's really quite simple.
Animated Icons
The image of the Rolodex file is animated by a timer event that displays a different icon 5 times a second. To stop the animation, simply click on it.
See \(CLARION ROOT)\EXAMPLES\SOLODEX