NAME
gdbload - load ASCII formatted data into an HP 100LX database
SYNOPSIS
gdbload [-an] database [ input ]
DESCRIPTION
gdbload loads ASCII formatted data into an HP 100LX database. database
is the name of the 100LX database to modify. input is the name of a
file of ASCII data to load into the database. If no input file is
specified, the standard input is used. The ASCII file format is one
exported by many database packages as well as by gdbdump(1).
Options
gdbload recognizes the following options:
-a Add the records from the ASCII file to the database,
keeping the records already present in the database. By
default, the records in the ASCII file replace those
already in the database.
-n Do not back up the database file. By default, the
original, unmodified database file is left in a file with
the same name and a .bak extension.
Input Format Description
The input to this program is an ASCII text file which starts with a
line containing field names. This line indicates the order in which
fields appear on subsequent lines. Not all fields of the database need
be specified; unspecified fields will be left blank in all added
records. Field names are not case distinct and ampersands (&) are
ignored in comparing field names.
This first line is followed by one line for each record of the
database. Note that any of these lines may be split into multiple
lines if needed, by placing a backslash (\) at the ends of lines which
are continued. Also note that string fields may span multiple lines
provided they are quoted. Apart from line splitting according to these
rules, each "logical" line contains all of the fields whose names were
listed on the first line, in the same order as on the first line. The
fields (and the field names, on the first line) are separated by
commas.
Exactly how each field should appear depends on its type. Text fields,
category fields, number fields, and note fields should have their text
quoted if it contains commas or newlines. The following escape
sequences are understood:
\r Carriage return (ASCII 13).
\n Line feed (ASCII 10).
\nnn nnn are octal digits representing a character.
\xnn nn are hexadecimal digits representing a character.
Any other character following a backslash is treated as a standard
character with no special meaning, i.e., backslash and quote marks can
be escaped by preceding them with a backslash.
Date fields should appear in the format YYYYMMDD; for example, August
15, 1993 should appear as 19930815. Time fields appear in the format
HHMM, where HH is in the range 00-23. Date and time fields may also be
left blank, i.e., nothing between the commas.
Radio buttons and check boxes are turned off if the field is empty or
contains a 0; they are turned on otherwise.
No other field types, including application-defined types, are accepted
by gdbload.
The output from gdbdump(1) matches this input format, unless the -n
flag is given to gdbdump(1).
WARNINGS
When the newly constructed database is first opened by the 100LX, it
will (erroneously) be reported as being empty. This is because gdbload
does not construct database indexes, and the 100LX expects the index
for the current "subset" to be valid. The situation is remedied by
pressing F6 and selecting any "subset" (even the current one!) This
will rebuild the index for that "subset", causing records to display
normally. The delay caused by the rebuild depends on the size of the
database (among other things), and ranges from imperceptible for small
databases up to several minutes. This delay will occur whenever a new
"subset" is selected for the first time.
gdbload will not attempt to modify HP 100LX Appointment Book and World
Time databases.
gdbload will not allow you to specify data for application-defined
fields of a database.
This program cannot handle password-protected databases. Attempts to
load data into password-protected databases will have unpredictable
results.
AUTHOR
gdbload was written by Steven Roth, stever@cup.hp.com, and is being
maintained by Arne Christensen, arc@pine.dk. Contact the latter for
bug reports, enhancement requests, or to get a copy of the source code.
DISCLAIMER
This program is released into the public domain and neither the author
nor the maintainer place any restrictions on its use. We make no
warranties or guarantees for this program and you use it at your own
risk. This program is supplied by us personally and not by Hewlett-
Packard Co. or Pine Tree Systems, which incur no obligations pertaining
to it.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Many thanks to Andy Gryc for publishing the details of the database
file formats!
SEE ALSO
gdbdump(1).