LispMe HanDBase interface

The data model of HanDBase is very simple: A table in the relational model is a "database" in HanDBase jargon. It consists of a number of rows of identical format. Each record is identified by a number in the range [0..n-1]

To access a field value, you have to specify database name, record number and field number. The function hb-info retrieves catalog information of a database like number of records and types names and attributes of all fields.

There are no selection or filter functions, you have to traverse the entire database table to find a record.

Unfortunately, there's no clear distinction between internal and external data formats (all data is stored as strings in HanDBase), type conversion and syntax checking is done in various places in HanDBase. These problems get worse, as the formatted data is stored, so databases using different locales are not easily exchangable. Have a look at the sample how to parse the strings returned from HanDBase.

HanDBase provides limited relations between tables, i.e. a 1:n relationship. A record in table A can reference a set of records in table B and you can use the function hb-getlinks to retrieve the entire set. Unfortunately there's no function to go backwards, i.e. find the owner of the current record.

DDH Software changed the HanDBase API structures totally when introducing version 3. LispMe now supports both versions 2 and 3 of HanDBase. It automatically detects the version installed. If both versions are found, V3 is used. Use hb-version to detect the version used.

HanDBase types

numerical value	symbol	description
0	HB_FIELD_NOT_USED	unused
1	HB_STRING_FIELD	string
2	HB_DECIMAL_FIELD	numeric decimal (includes int)
3	HB_FLOAT_FIELD	numeric floating point
4	HB_POPUP_FIELD	selection list
5	HB_CHECKBOX_FIELD	boolean
6	HB_UNIQUE_FIELD	unique int given by system
7	HB_IMAGE_FIELD	image, not supported
8	HB_DATE_FIELD	date
9	HB_TIME_FIELD	time
10	HB_LINK_FIELD	1:n relation
11	HB_LINKED_FIELD	target of 1:n relation
12	HB_NOTE_FIELD	string
13	HB_HEADING_FIELD	header in HanDBase editor
14	HB_LINKLIST_FIELD	value read once from another table
15	HB_CALCULATED_FIELD	calculated by HanDBase

HanDBase error codes

error code	description	remarks
2	Couldn't find database	Names are case-sensitive
3	Couldn't open database
4	Error reading record info
5	Error reading record	Index out of range
6	Not a link field	Can't use hb-getlinks

You should never see another error code, please mail me.

Associated language elements