Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!ginosko!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!apple!usc!henry.jpl.nasa.gov!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!hacgate!ashtate!dbase!awd
From: awd@dbase.UUCP (Alastair Dallas)
Newsgroups: comp.databases
Subject: Re: dBASE IV problems/questions
Summary: 1.1 is coming...
Keywords: dBASE
Message-ID: <252@dbase.UUCP>
Date: 23 Sep 89 20:03:11 GMT
References: <234@cerc.wvu.wvnet.edu.edu>
Organization: Ashton Tate Devlopment Center Glendale, Calif.
Lines: 47

In article <234@cerc.wvu.wvnet.edu.edu>, coop@cerc.wvu.wvnet.edu (Boris Pelakh) writes:
> A problem with dBASE IV :
> 
> 	When a error occurs in a program (still developing ...), and
> I choose the Cancel option from the menu that pops up, dBASE occasionally
> locks up with an annoying beep, and the only way to get out is with
> Ctrl-Alt-Del (pretty ugly). When the system comes back up, some of the files
> that were open at the moment (especially .MDX files) end up scrambled
> and need to be recovered with CHKDSK (even uglier). Any suggestions ?

Ctrl-Alt-Del can do some pretty ugly damage, allright.  The lock-up and beep
are only indirect causes of the problem.  Can you give me more information
about how to reproduce the lock-up?  You might also want to SET AUTOSAVE ON, 
which will minimize the damage by flushing files to disk whenever they are
written.

> A couple of questions :
> 
> 	1. I hear all this great stuff about 1.1. And the question is -
> 			WHEN ???!!!
> 	   Sorry. Just a little anxious. 

We're anxious, too.  We're in "we will ship no dBASE before its time" mode
here--what we have in hand is very good, but we want to ship a product that
will completely refute any notions that Ashton-Tate is not committed to
quality.  Answer: not this month; possibly not next month; soon.  We have
to go through Beta-test before we ship, and that takes some minimum time.

> 	2. We are writing a system in dBASE IV that requires security.
> 	   The logon security is nice, but what if a person leaves his
> 	   terminal unattended for a while - we want to put a screen
> 	   that will make him to enter a password after let's say 5 min
> 	   with no key press. Can that be done without tying an extra
> 	   program to the clock and keyboard interrupt handlers ?

This is a good idea for 1.2--we could generalize it to something like:
ON TIME