NOT

Performs a Boolean NOT of a logic expression.

Syntax

NOT expression

Parameters

expression

A logic expression using conditional and Boolean operators. If the expression is complex, it must be enclosed in parentheses.

Return Value

Logical.

Comments

If expression is logically true, the entire expression, including the NOT, is logically false.

If expression is logically false, the entire expression, including the NOT, is logically true.

Example

not Population > 250000

 

See Also

Boolean Expressions

Conditional Expressions

$Editor

The name of the text editor software for editing programs.

Syntax

$editor

Return Value

A character string. Can be reset by an application program.

Description

The name of a text editor.

Each time you start a new application session, $Editor is set, by default, to the name of an editor commonly used on the current operating system, or to the value of the editor in the registry. The variable is often reset by the application program to the name of the preferred text editing package.

Since Zim-X 9.50, the default editor is set to “IDE”.

The name should include the full disk path, if necessary. The special file path indicator characters can be used.

The value of this variable is used by the EDIT command.

Example

let $editor = "c:dosedit.com"

See Also

EDIT

SET MESSAGES

Enables or suppresses the display of all system messages.

Syntax

SET MESSAGES ON|OFF

Comments

The MESSAGES option is set ON by default.

When MESSAGES is ON, all system messages (errors, warnings, information) are displayed. Setting MESSAGES to OFF suppresses the display of all messages.

The display of specific message types may be turned on or off using the SET ERRORS, SET INFORMATION, and SET WARNINGS commands.

The SET MESSAGES command has no effect on the logging of messages in the “error trace” file. Message logging is governed by the configuration option error trace.

Example

set messages on
set warnings off

The preceding commands set error and information messages on, but warnings off.

 

See Also

SET ERRORS

_ (Wildcard)

Used with the LIKE operator to construct patterns for matching.

Comments

Used with the LIKE operator in logic expressions, the _ wildcard matches any single character when the pattern on the right is compared to expression.

Example

"_ob%"

Matches any character string whose second and third letters are ob, followed by zero or more characters (i.e., “Robert”, “Bob”, “Cobbler”, etc.).

compute Employees where LastName like "_a%n"

Processes all records whose LastName values are three characters or more, the second character being an a and the last character being an n.

Grade like "100\%"

Shows the per cent sign being used literally in a string. (The first backslash “escapes” the second backslash, which, in turn, “escapes” the per cent sign, turning it into a literal character.)

find Parts where PartDesc like "%\\%"

Finds PARTS whose part description contains a backslash.

FirstName like $concat("S_e%p",SuffixVariable)

Assuming that SuffixVariable is “%”, then the above expression is logically true if FirstName matches the pattern “S_e%p%”.

SET ERRORS

Enables or suppresses the display of error messages.

Syntax

SET ERRORS ON|OFF

Comments

The ERRORS option is set ON by default.

When ERRORS is ON, error messages are displayed. Setting ERRORS to OFF suppresses the display of such messages. Error messages are of the form:

*** Error*** . . .

or:

***Zim System Error*** . . .

All types of messages can be simultaneously turned on or off with a SET MESSAGES command.

SET ERRORS has no effect on the logging of messages in the “error trace” file as this logging is always on and cannot be disabled.

Example

set messages on
set errors off

The preceding commands set warning and information messages on, but error messages off.

 

See Also

SET INFORMATION

SET WARNINGS

$ticks

Extracts “ticks” information from a standard time value.

Syntax

$ticks(time)

Parameters

timean 8-digit number, or an expression that evaluates to an 8-digit number, expressing valid time in the form HHMMSSTT

Return Value

Number.

Comments

The system variable $Time is often used for time.

With operating systems whose clocks do not support hundredths of a second, $ticks($Time) evaluates to 0, because the last two digits of $Time are always zeros.

Example

$ticks($Time)

Evaluates to 99 when $Time has the value 23595999.

See Also

$hours

$minutes

$seconds

UNCOMPILE

Uncompiles an application program.

Syntax

UNCOMPILE progdocname

Parameters

progdocname

The name of the application document containing the program to be “uncompiled”.

Comments

The UNCOMPILE command marks the specified application program as “not compiled”. If progdocname had not been compiled (using the COMPILE command) when the UNCOMPILE was issued, the software raises a warning.

The UNCOMPILE command has no effect on the disk file that contains the compiled version of the program, but prevents the file from ever being used.

 

See Also

$compilestatus

COMPILE

SET RUNTIME

SET SQLCOMPILE

$ObjCreate

Creates the named ActiveX object.

Syntax

$ObjCreate (ProgId)

Parameters

ProgIda string or an expression that evaluates to a string

Return Value

Returns an object that can be assigned to a variable of type object.

Comments

An ActiveX or COM object is identified by a GUID (a globally unique number). A ProgId identifies a COM object with a meaningful name. It looks like vendor.component.version or vendor.component.

When you assign to an Object variable using $ObjCreate, the existing COM object referenced by the Object variable (if any) is released.

Before your program terminates, it’s a good idea to set any Object variables to $Null, so that the objects your program used can be released.  Otherwise, even after your program terminates, because the Zim variables still exist and still reference the COM objects you used, the objects will still be active and consuming memory and resources.

This does not apply to the OLE control form variable, since when the form is closed the OLE control is automatically released, but it does apply to any objects returned from an OLE control via $ ObjRunMethod or $ ObjGetProperty.

Warning

COM objects are being discontinued by Microsoft and may not be available in future releases of Zim-X.

SET WARNINGS

Enables or suppresses the display of warning messages.

Syntax

SET WARNINGS ON|OFF

Comments

The WARNINGS option is set ON by default.

When WARNINGS is ON, warning messages are displayed. Setting WARNINGS to OFF suppresses the display of warning messages. Warning messages are of the form

***Warning*** …

All types of messages can be simultaneously turned on or off with a SET MESSAGES command.

The SET WARNINGS command has no effect on the logging of messages in the “error trace” file. Message logging is governed by the configuration option error trace.

Example

set messages on
set warnings off

The preceding commands set error and information messages on, but warnings off.

 

See Also

SET ERRORS

SET INFORMATION

en_CAEnglish