[H-GEN] [ANNOUNCE] Screen Manager 2.6

[Bob Hepple]

Begin3
Title:          SCRMGR
Version:        2.6
Entered-date:   03FEB99
Description:    A curses-based (text screen) screen manager and data
entry
                system.
Keywords:       text entry, curses, screen management
Author:         bhepple at bit.net.au (Bob Hepple)
Maintained-by:  bhepple at bit.net.au (Bob Hepple)
Primary-site:   sunsite.unc.edu /pub/Linux/apps/???
                280kB scrmgr-2.6-1.tgz
                480  scrmgr.lsm
Platforms:      Linux (x86), most Unix
Copying-policy: GPL
End

The README:

SCRMGR Version 2.6
==================

A curses-based (text screen) screen manager and data entry
system. Makes heavy use of "softkey labels" and "softkeys"
(a.k.a. function keys F1-F10) to guide the user.

The initial inspiration for this was:
        o something a bit like dBase IV for Unix and for the PC
        o regular expression search and replace functions a
        o quick-to-use screen, menu and softkey label generator
        o support different record formats in a file e.g. header
          record, detail record etc
        o emacs-like key bindings (I never got around to customisabel
          bindings)
        o support for multiple data files rather like a heirarchical
          database

I ended up writing rather more than I anticipated.

The main event:
smdata          - uses screen layouts to edit data (flat) files such
                  as /etc/passwd or address books/rolodex

Some other examples of its use:
smedit          - a text editor driven by softkeys
smsort          - a text-gui for the Unix sort command
smfind          - a text-gui for the Unix find command

Development tools:
smcreate        - create screen layouts
sm2c            - converts screen layouts to c skeleton
sm2awk          - converts screen layout to awk skeleton
smquick         - generates screen layouts from an examination of the 
                  data fields

These utilities may be old and clunky but they serve me well when I
want a quick and easy way to build and edit flat files. I have used
them for about 8 years or more and the main program 'smdata' is pretty
clean and bug free - I've not lost data for many years. The others
vary. You can send me bug reports and fixes.

Why put it out now when everyone is using GUIs? Well, I was going to
ship it out under GPL several years ago but I wanted to shake out the
last bugs. It seems that somehow I never got around to that and
somehow never shipped it. Better late than never - well I hope someone
else finds this useful! I ran into someone at the local LUG who only
runs text console - doesn't run X at all - so maybe there is still an
audience out there!  He was under 25 years old, too!

Some examples of use:
=====================

o a rolodex-type address list manager - I've included the address book
  datafile that I use. Just run 'smdata addr.dat'

o a simple to use editor for the /etc/passwd file (or any file with a
  similar format). Just run 'smdata passwd.dat'. Be careful if you're
  root as it will actually edit /etc/passwd!!!

Some Historical bits & pieces
=============================

At one time, the system was used as a network database capable of
managing multiple 'master' and 'slave' datasets and the relation
between them. e.g. a master set of customer details with a unique
customer id and a slave file of invoices posted against that
customer. The classic database thing that was so easy in HP's Image
database and so hard in dBase and relational databases. It may still
work but it became rather too difficult to use and to maintain so it
would probably be best to stay with the simple, single file
applications. Use something else for complex multi-relation databases.

There were also Xaw and Openview versions of this but I have not used
them for some time now, finding the curses user interface adequate for 
the simple applications. Tk/tcl would be a better bet if you really
want a true GUI. I wrote a version of that too - I called it datatool
- but it appears to be broken. If I can get it up and running again,
I'll post it on my homepage below.

It is quite possible that SCRMGR could be interfaced to mysql or some
other true database system instead of using flat files but I have not
tried that yet.

Oh yes - nearly forgot. This whole thing also ran on MSDOS and could
read and write the same datafiles (it converts Unix<->MSDOS
automatically). For a long time, I had to use MSDOS at work and this
was how I could keep one set of datafiles at home, at work and on the
road in sync - one address book everywhere. I don't use any MS
products now but I do have a Psion which can read these flat files
into its address book. If you want an MS version, I can send binaries
but 'smcreate' is not as clean as the Unix version.

SCRMGR also ran on SunOS under XView/OpenView using a tool called
xctool instead of xterm. This gave it a nice GUI.

I doubt that the MSDOS or SunOS ports will compile using the supplied
makefiles but it shouldn't be too hard to get them going. I no longer
have access to MSDOS or Sun development environments and cannot
support them.

An interesting little twist (to me, anyway) was using SCRMGR to build
its own screens, menus, softkey labels and other facilities. An
exercise in bootstrapping itself. The first, primitive version was
build with a hand-coded .dat file. This was then used to develop
better versions. Cute. The present 'make install' process still uses
this approach compiling sm2c first and using that to process various
screen files for use in the system.

Getting SCRMGR
==============

The latest version will always be at the site below and hopefully at
sunsite.unc.edu too.

Bob Hepple, Brisbane, Australia 3 Feb 1999
bhepple at bit.net.au
http://www.bit.net.au/~bhepple

-- 
Bob Hepple
mailto:bhepple at bit.net.au