2000 Back issues

D e c 00	• How to use a formatted Q&A document file or plain ASCII (text) file as an XLookup source for a database, just as you would XLookup to another database or run a Lookup to a lookup table. • Tips for keeping your macros from breaking or running wild. • Printing out your data, Part III -- Using Print Specs. • Find Record by date range. • Change default Table View. • When Q&A doesn't sum fields properly and how to fix. • Some new PC's can't supply Expanded Memory required for Q&A 5.0 for DOS. • How to copy programming statements from Online Edition Acrobat Reader documents. • Creating dynamic record navigation menus.
N o v 00	• Simplify Christmas card and other mailings. • Databases that serve as report generators and XLookup sources. • Printing out your data, Part II -- Mail merge and mailing labels. • Windows ME and Expanded Memory. • Windows 2000 vs. Windows 98SE. Which is better for running Q&A for DOS? • How to reset the user count when running Q&A from a network server. • What causes Q&A Write for Windows to lockup. • Sophisticated duplicate record searches with DTFDATA. • How to use extra hard disk space to perform more intellient backups.
O c t 00	• Simplify data entry with wide DTFTALK pick-lists. • Stamp records with date, time, and who last modified them. • Printing out your data, Part 1-- form printing. • Running Q&A in Windows ME. • Error message 06A8. • How many records can Q&A handle? • Combining several fields into one. • Lookup Table extraction glitch. (How to extract data from a Lookup Table). • Including graphics in your Q&A DOS output without using FORMAGIC • Print four database form pages on a single sheet of standard paper. • Retrieving records by alphabetical ranges (A-E, F-G, H-L, etc.)
S e p 00	• How to design a Q&A 5.0 database that can search all your document files for the ocurrance of a word, phrase or name. • Even in the middle of the year 2000, Y2K issues can still come up. What you need to watch out for. • Trouble printing from Q&A for Windows to Acrobat PDF format. • What you need to do when Q&A for DOS won't launch Alternate Programs or External Programs. • Why do reports omit dates and other recurring values in a column? • Database corruption can prevent you from copying the database's design. Where to look for the source of the corruption. • Why many Q&A for DOS users are also installing and using Q&A for Windows. • More on the 'Disk Drive Door Open' error message. • Why you can't print to a specialized label printer in Q&A for Windows. • Programming Basics, Part 2. Good primer on programming your Q&A databases. • How to 'Stack' fields in a report column.
A u g 00	• Creating Tab pages in Q&A for Windows data entry/search forms. • New Q&A-compatible database product announced. Q&A User Conference announced for January 2001. • Tips for navigating multi-page databases in Q&A for DOS. • A safer backup method. Backing up database data separately from the database design helps insure data integrity. • What it means when Q&A won't copy a database's design. • Protecting your network setup from changes. • 'Drive Door Open' error message. • Making your Network (User) IDs stick. • Q&A for Windows doesn't have 'Print-to-Disk' option like Q&A for DOS • Programming Basics, Part 1. Good primer on programming a Q&A database.
J u l 00	• Using DTFDATA to extract records from multiple databases, then bringing the the combined output file into a Q&A database for manipulation. • How to keep your reports separate from everybody else's by coding them at the List of File screen. • Gateway PCs come with internal card that must be disconnected to get Expanded Memory for Q&A. • How unauthorized eyes can view your programming even if you've locked the database. • Line-wrapping a report column • Q&A and Server memory in Windows NT • Q&A screens in Windows 2000 • Getting started with Q&A Reports. (Good primer on the basics.)
J u n 00	10th Anniversary issue: June 1990 - June 2000 • How to extend Q&A's functionality by using Windows Scripting Host to create powerful scripts you can run from Q&A. • Tracking down the source of database corruption. (Technique for isolating a corrupt record that's causing the entire database to crash.) • A Retrospective (Editorial) • Why you can't find your fonts anymore. • What accounts for "Too Many Users" error message on the network. • Another Y2K bug found in Q&A 5.0 Crosstab reports. How to work around it. • When Batch Posting is better than XPosting. • How to have Q&A auto-stamp records with the UserID. • How to create a really wide pick-list. • Technique for avoiding duplicate "open work orders." • Network Server databases and hard drive size. Using LESSPACE on the workstations. • Dave Dvorin's Top Ten favorites from The Quick Answer's first 10 years. • Special commands you need when running batch files via Q&A 5.0's @Shell command. • Why users need to set their Network IDs when sharing databases on a network. • Alec Mulvey's 10 best tips for Q&A users. • Special printer control code technique for auto-printing multiple copies of a report or database record. • Alec Mulvey's favorite Quick Answer articles from the first 10 years. • A (partly) Q&A Crossword Puzzle.
M a y 00	• A review of installing and running Q&A in Windows 2000. (See June 2000 issue for correction.) • How to calculate a weighted average, such as average interest paid over multiple charge cards. • How to print a merge document without having to exit the database record you're viewing. • Various methods for controlling what users can enter into database fields. • What causes spurious "Network Busy" messages and how to correct the problem. • How to fix a Q&A for DOS document that only partially appears when opened in Q&A for Windows • How to resolve interoperability problems associated with using a Q&A database in both Q&A for DOS and Q&A for Windows. • Sorting Address fields on just the street number portion of the address. • Explanation of what causes passwords to be mysteriously applied to (or changed for) databases. • How to force entry of a value in a field even if it's a Read-Only field. • How to isolate "printer-not-printing" problems. • How to have Q&A automatically add new selections to a pop-up Key value pick-list as you add new records to the database. • How to fix the problem of Q&A creating an initial report column that contains nothing but the "Total:" label. • How to get Expanded memory on new computers that "don't support it."
A p r 00	• How to design and use a one-record XLookup database (and why you'd want to) • How one Q&A user tracked down the unexpected cause of database corruption on his extensive network. • The latest version of Acrobat Reader (4.0 at this writing) improves viewing and printing of Online Edition of The Quick Answer • Algorithms for parsing multi-value strings. Techniques to create and take apart text strings containing multiple values such as a name, address, city, state and zip. • Isolating and marking duplicate records. Lets you choose the duplicate record to remove instead of Q&A removing all but the first duplicate record it finds during a "Remove Duplicate Records" operation. • Generating text files on-the-fly for a Word mail merge. A discussion of the limitations of the technique. • More on Q&A and large hard drives (+2G) • More on Q&A and the Expanded Memory issue. (Why Expanded Memory is essential for Q&A 5.0) • The fundamentals of data retrieval. Basic techniques for finding / including only the records you want. • Solving problem with Preview Mode in Q&A for Windows. • More on QABACKUP not working after December 31, 1999 • How to prevent the "Generations" problem that comes from multiple redesigns of mainly Q&A 5.0 databases.
M a r 00	• Technique that validates Keyword field entries (for consistency) and programming that returns the full Keywords to the field on entry of Keyword abbreviations (saves typing). • How to ensure that 20th century dates aren't accidentally entered in a Date field that should contain a 21st century date. • How to specify a report sort that places the current month at the top, followed by the earlier months in chronological order. • Various aspects and techniques to help design a booking (or reservations) application in Q&A. • How to have Q&A automatically pass field values to a DOS text file on-the-fly. • How to Mass Update a database to fill several date fields that are dependent on a "master" date field. • Installing Q&A 4.0 for DOS to a hard drive that's larger than 2G (You can't, but there's a remedy.) • Changing database Sharing Mode to "Allow" when running Q&A on a peer-to-peer network. • 11 rules for running Q&A on an NT network. • Database form design basics. Creating a contact database, what fields you need, special formatting, etc. • Fix date-related (Y2K) bug in Q&A 5.0 Crosstab reports that shows up when printing data that spans the two centuries.
F e b 00	• How to set up a database in Q&A 4.0 that enables you run alternate programs and pass your Q&A data to them. How to build this capability into existing databases. • How to quickly print just the selected text from a Write document, expanded database field, macro file, or database program. • XLookup bug unearthed. Why an XLookup in Q&A for Windows might not find the matching record even though it's there. • Installing and Configuring Q&A 4.0 & 5.0 for DOS. Tips, tricks, insights to maximize performance. Emphasis on installing on Windows 95/98 PCs. • Y2K in reverse -- Why your 1999 dates are showing up as 2099. • How to bring a balance forward from one database record to the next one. • Can't print to USB printers in Q&A for DOS. • How Q&A for Windows can mess up your Word for Windows documents. • From standalone to networked PC -- why Q&A suddenly can no longer find your files.
J a n 00	• Print your merge letters on the fly (without leaving the record you're working on). • Recap of main Q&A Y2K issues in this first month of the new Millennium. • Using Linked Lists, Part 3. • Migrating to Q&A for Windows (re-creating your Q&A for DOS forms in Q&A for Windows), Part 2. • Why upgrading from Q&A 4.0 to 5.0 can suddenly cause "out of memory" problems. • Database corruption has nothing to do with Year-2000 issues. • Recovering databases on Novell networks. • Why Q&A for Windows prints blank reports and how to remedy.