Progress
Results User’s Guide
for UNIX


Glossary

Active Field

A field you can modify or enter information in, or a currently selected field. In Results, an active field is underlined or highlighted, depending on your terminal type.

Active File

The file that is currently in use.

Application

A set of programming language instructions that accomplish a specific task.

Array

A field or variable containing multiple elements. Each element in an array has the same data type.

Array Extent

The number of elements contained in the array.

Ascending

An increasing order of fields. Numeric or alphabetical order. For example, names in ascending order are listed alphabetically.

ASCII Character

A seven-bit code representing upper and lower case letters, numbers, symbols, and punctuation marks. ASCII is an acronym for the American Standard Code for Information Interchange.

Break Group

A section in a report. For example, all records for customers in a particular sales region.

Calculated Field

A field you create within a Results module using a math function. For example, a percent of total field.

Character Data Type

A property of a field or variable that determines that only character data can be stored in it. Characters cannot be arithmetically manipulated.

Column Label

A label displayed above a column of data (field values).

Command

An instruction to the system.

Comparison Expression

A combination of constants, variables, operators, and parentheses used to compare values.

Constant

A value that does not change.

Data Dictionary

A menu-driven utility in Progress used to maintain the structure of a database. In lowercase, data dictionary is a synonym for schema; that is, it refers to the actual database structure definitions. Typically in Progress, Data Dictionary refers to the Progress program, while the terms schema and data definitions are used to refer to the database structure.

Data Format

The display layout of the data in a field. Different types of data have different data formats. (See Appendix C for more information.) See also Display format.

Data Integrity

Certainty of data accuracy or validity.

Data Type

The type of data contained in a field. There are several types of data: decimal, integer, logical, character, and date.

Database

A collection of files that relate to a broad subject area.

Database Administrator

An individual responsible for maintaining a database management system. This person is authorized to grant and revoke access to the system and select options for users.

Date Data Type

A property of a field or variable that determines that the stored data is a date. For example, a date data type might contain a date and time from 1/1/32768 B.C. through 12/31/32767 A.D.

Decimal Data Type

A property of a field or variable that determines the stored data is a decimal.

Descending

A decreasing order of field values. For example, numbers listed from the largest to the smallest.

Deployment

The process necessary to port applications developed with one system to another system.

Developer

The person who creates an application for the end-user. The developer is typically a programmer.

Device

See Output device.

Directory

A structure that organizes files and possibly other directories.

Display Format

The way data appears on screens and in printed reports. Results automatically supplies a default display format for each data type, but you can change it. You specify display formats through the Data Dictionary, or with the Formats and Labels option.

Edit area

The area between the two horizontal lines in the Progress screen where you enter and edit Progress code.

Editor

See Progress Procedure Editor.

End-user

The person who uses the application.

Expert Mode

A feature available in some windows that enables you to override a menu-driven process and enter information directly. For example, there is an Expert Mode in the WHERE clause builder.

Expression

A combination of constants, variables, operations, and parentheses used to perform a calculation. An expression can consist of anything from a single constant or variable to a complicated arrangement of operators and functions that produce a value in a single program statement.

Extent

See Array extent.

Field

A specific item of information. A record typically contains several related fields.

Field Delimiter String

The set of data export characters used to denote the beginning and end of each field value.

Field Separator String

The set of data export characters that separate each field value within a record.

File

A collection of records containing similar information. For example, a customer file is a collection of customer information records.

Footer

Information located at the bottom of each page of a report. A footer typically contains a page number.

Form

A screen layout used in the Query module to display record information.

Format

See Display format.

Function Keys

Special keys that perform certain actions. For example, the GO key (F1 or CTRL-X).

Header

Text, such as a page number, title, or date, placed on the top of each page of a report.

Horizontal Menu

A strip menu of options you can select from a horizontal line that runs across the screen. The options are lined up next to each other.

Include File

A separate file containing Progress code that you can add or call from within Results (u-browse.i, for example).

Index

A field or combination of fields used to rapidly retrieve a particular record in a file.

Initialization String

A set of data export characters that precede the record data on each line of a data export file. For example, an asterisk (*) might indicate the beginning of a line.

The value for the field when it was created.

Insert Mode

One of two text entry modes in Results. In insert mode, each character you type is inserted in the position where the cursor is located. The cursor and the character under it move one space to the right. The MODE (F9 or CTRL-T) key enables you to toggle between the text entry modes. See also Overstrike Mode.

Integer Data Type

A property of a field or variable that determines the data that can be stored there can be an integer. In Progress, an integer can be a positive or negative whole number, within the range of -2,147,483,648 through 2,147,483,647.

Integer Field

A field having an integer data type.

Integrity

Accuracy or completeness of data.

Label

Text that appears with a field on a report or form that describes the field. Also a mailing label.

Logical Data Type

Can be one of two values consisting of yes/no, true/false, or any other logical value pairs that you define.

Menu

A list of options that perform various actions, such as run a report or display another menu. See also Horizontal menu and Vertical menu.

Menu Option

One choice in a menu listing. A menu option can display another menu, produce a report, answer a query, or exit from the application. See also Menu.

Message Area of Screen

An area at the bottom of the screen where system messages and help messages appear.

Operating System

Software that controls and manages the execution of computer programs and services.

Operator

A symbol or word used to make comparisons or perform calculations. For example, LESS THAN (<), EQUALS (=), GREATER THAN (>), or MINUS (-).

Output Destination

See Output device.

Output Device

The output destination of a report, label, or data export definition. For example, an output device can be a terminal, a printer, or a disk file.

Overstrike Mode

One of two text entry modes in Results. In Overstrike Mode, each character you type replaces the character at the position of the cursor. Overstrike Mode is the default. The MODE (F9 or CTRL-T) key enables you to toggle between the text entry modes. See also Insert Mode.

Parsing

A process that breaks the command string into its elements to examine and interpret it.

Pathname

Specifies the complete name of a directory or file by starting at the root directory or disk volume and tracing the hierarchy of the file.

Procedure

The steps taken to perform a task. A series of programming language commands and statements that perform a desired data processing task. The procedures referred to in this book contain Progress commands and statements.

Progress Command

The command you use to start Progress.

Progress Procedure Editor

An editing tool that enables you to create and edit Progress procedures. You can also compile and test Progress procedures from the Progress editor, or escape to the operating system.

Progress Session

A Progress session begins when you start Progress and ends when you exit Progress.

PROPATH

A Progress environment variable that defines a list of directories that Progress searches by default. Progress uses the PROPATH value to determine the path to use when searching for the procedure file you name.

Qualification

A search criteria that limits the data displayed on a report or in a query from a database. Typically, a qualification consists of a field name, a comparison operator, and a field name or constant. For example, a request for records where the state begins with m is a qualifier. In complex qualifications, logical operators are used to join several qualifications.

Query

To access specific information in a database.

Query-by-example

To select specific database records by entering selection criteria into an empty form.

Record

A collection of items of information. A file typically contains many records that contain similar information.

Record Termination String

The set of data export characters that indicates the end of each record in an export file.

Related Files

Files that share some information. Two or more files that use similar fields to join one file with another.

Relational Operator

A symbol such as = (equal to), < (less than), or > (greater than) that is used to compare two values. It specifies a condition that can be either true or false.

Report

An organized display of data. The Results Reports module enables you to create and edit reports that display and summarize the data from one or many files in a database. Reports can contain text, fields, variables, and aggregates.

Startup Command

A command that starts a software package. For example, the commands that start Progress and Results.

Submenu

A menu that you access through another menu. See also Menu.

Summary List

A Browse list that shows some, but not necessarily all, of the fields in the record.

User File

A file that stores user IDs, passwords, and user names in each database.

User ID

User identification stored in the _User file of the Data Dictionary. At start up, a user ID is used in conjunction with a password to ensure that only known users can start the application. At runtime, the application can check the user ID established at startup to determine that only authorized users can run individual procedures. In Progress, a user ID is a 32-character string. Like filenames, user IDs must begin with a character from a-z (or A-Z). The name can consist of alphabetic characters, digits, and the characters #,$,%,&, -, and _. User IDs are not case-sensitive; they can be uppercase, lowercase, or any combination of these. A user ID can be blank, or written as the string “ ”, but it cannot be defined this way through the Data Dictionary.

Vertical Menu

A series of options you can select from a vertical list that runs down the screen. The Results Main Menu is an example of a vertical menu. See also Menu.

WHERE Clause

A phrase that enables you to qualify or limit a set of information. For example, you can build a WHERE clause to show information for customers WHERE the customer number is greater than ten. (The WHERE clause builder is available in the Query, Reports, Labels, and Data Export modules.)


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