Using the Table Planner

The DP4 Table Planner utility prints out the tables and fields in your database. This is a simplified table plan for the SALESORD database:

1. On the DP4 System Main menu, select the Database Management option

2. On the Database Structure Management menu, select the Make table plan option

3. Select the database. DP4 displays this menu:

   

   Click on the appropriate areas of the illustration above for further information

4. Select option 1 - Full scale or option 2 - Layout mode. The Table Planner main screen is displayed and the cursor is positioned in the editing screen:

   

5. To move to the menu bar, press the <Esc> key. To move to a menu directly, press the <Alt+mnemonic> keys. <Alt+T> takes you into the Table menu:

   

   Click on the appropriate areas of the illustration above for further details.

   <Alt+O> takes you into the Options menu:

   

   Click on the appropriate areas of the illustration above for further details.

6. To generate a single-column plan of all the tables in the database, use these steps:

   • Select the Add all option from the Table menu. DP4 creates a list of all the tables in the database in a single column
   • Select the Print option from the Table menu and select the output destination. If you want to be able to edit the table plan in future, save the plan to a file (see Editing an Existing Table Plan )

   • Select the Exit option from the Table menu and leave the utility

   To control the appearance and layout of the table plan, follow steps 7 to 11 below.

7. From the Editing window, use the editing keys to move to the position at which the top left corner of a table is to appear

8. Press <F2> to pop up a list of tables on the database. Use the cursor keys and <Enter> to add a table to the table plan. You can use the text editing facilities described in Editing a Text File to add text, draw lines and colour your table plan

9. Having completed the table plan, you can print it at layout size or full scale. (Note that <F4> expands the table plan to full scale when working in Layout mode)

10. Press <F5> to print the table. DP4 prompts you to select an output destination. Select the combination of output devices to which you wish to print. To retain your table plan for future editing, make sure you include the 'file' output option among your selected destinations:

    

11. Press <F8> to leave the Table Planner utility