---- Original Message ----
From: "Keven Miller" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2003 1:26 PM
Subject: Re: [HP3000-L] Comparing database structures.

> well, not to start any product wars,
> but I do the same thing -- using Adager.

In Flexibase, I might be tempted to exploit its one enormous advantage over
Adager, and  TRANSMUTE one database into the other (but not for real).

The changes that Flexibase suggests making, if any, will tell you if the
databases agree or not.

> You could another list utility like DBHTML.
> Or output from Query -- FORM ALL

This is what I use. But FORM ALL means 'FO ALL open databases' - not 'FO
everything you've got'. So on one database, you can FO, to see the sets and
paths, and then you need to FO ITEMS to get those. And I FO SETS as well, to
pick up gross differences very quickly.

I use file equates on QSLIST to get these as files, and then I use Reflection
to copy them as ASCII files to my PC. (Roaming over 17 HP3000s, it's the one
central point I have). But I'd probably still do this even if all the
databases were on one HP3000, because my comparison tool is Winword.

Read one 'schema' in normally, and read the other in through what, on Word97,
is Tools/Track Changes/Compare Documents. It's in a similar, and perhaps less
well-hidden, place on later Winwords....

The visual presentation of the differences is excellent, and the colouring
helps a great deal.

If my databases are radically different sizes (e.g. test and production), I
normally use an Alt-Shift selection to remove the Current Capacity and Entry
Count columns off the FO SETS results (before using either schema in the
compare), which makes it a lot easier to compare when these unimportant
differences are removed.

The only other thing to know is about sorting, if your items aren't in the
same sequence. Personally, I always operate the strict rule of sorting Items
in Adager, with @, and of sequencing sets according to Auto, Manual and
Detail, with alphabetical order within each. But perhaps you have an
HP3000-sorted list of Items, and the database you want to compare with has an
unsorted, or only partially sorted list of Items. And you want to sort these
in Winword, to make the comparison better. In which case, you need to be aware
that the HP3000 sorts '-' before A-Z, and Winword sorts it after A-Z. Usually
only leaves a couple of items dissimilar though. And if it worries you, sort
both on the PC, to get the same collating sequence.

BTW, when I just do 'FO' on a database, I see a set-by-set display, followed
by what FO PATHS gives. Anybody know how I ask for the '@ sets' bit on its
own? (Or at all?) Seems odd I can't do this......

--
Roy Brown
Posting with the OEnemy, tamed by OE-QuoteFix 1.19.1
http://jump.to/oe-quotefix

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