NAME

       gdbload - load ASCII formatted data into an HP 100LX database

SYNOPSIS

       gdbload [-an] database [ input ]

DESCRIPTION

       gdbload loads ASCII formatted data into an HP 100LX database.  database is the name of the 100LX database
       to  modify.   input  is  the name of a file of ASCII data to load into the database.  If no input file is
       specified, the standard input is used.  The ASCII file format is one exported by many  database  packages
       as well as by gdbdump(1).

   Options
       gdbload recognizes the following options:

              -a     Add the records from the ASCII file to the database, keeping the records already present in
                     the  database.   By  default,  the  records  in the ASCII file replace those already in the
                     database.

              -n     Do not back up the database file.  By default, the original, unmodified  database  file  is
                     left in a file with the same name and a .bak extension.

   Input Format Description
       The  input  to  this program is an ASCII text file which starts with a line containing field names.  This
       line indicates the order in which fields appear on subsequent lines.  Not all fields of the database need
       be specified; unspecified fields will be left blank in all added  records.   Field  names  are  not  case
       distinct and ampersands (&) are ignored in comparing field names.

       This  first  line  is followed by one line for each record of the database.  Note that any of these lines
       may be split into multiple lines if needed, by placing a backslash (\) at the ends  of  lines  which  are
       continued.   Also  note  that string fields may span multiple lines provided they are quoted.  Apart from
       line splitting according to these rules, each "logical" line contains all of the fields whose names  were
       listed  on  the  first line, in the same order as on the first line.  The fields (and the field names, on
       the first line) are separated by commas.

       Exactly how each field should appear depends on its type.  Text fields, category fields,  number  fields,
       and  note  fields  should have their text quoted if it contains commas or newlines.  The following escape
       sequences are understood:

              \r     Carriage return (ASCII 13).

              \n     Line feed (ASCII 10).

              \nnn   nnn are octal digits representing a character.

              \xnn   nn are hexadecimal digits representing a character.

       Any other character following a backslash is treated as a standard character  with  no  special  meaning,
       i.e., backslash and quote marks can be escaped by preceding them with a backslash.

       Date fields should appear in the format YYYYMMDD; for example, August 15, 1993 should appear as 19930815.
       Time  fields appear in the format HHMM, where HH is in the range 00-23.  Date and time fields may also be
       left blank, i.e., nothing between the commas.

       Radio buttons and check boxes are turned off if the field is empty or contains a 0; they  are  turned  on
       otherwise.

       No other field types, including application-defined types, are accepted by gdbload.

       The output from gdbdump(1) matches this input format, unless the -n flag is given to gdbdump(1).

WARNINGS

       When  the  newly  constructed database is first opened by the 100LX, it will (erroneously) be reported as
       being empty. This is because gdbload does not construct database indexes, and the 100LX expects the index
       for the current "subset" to be valid.  The situation  is  remedied  by  pressing  F6  and  selecting  any
       "subset"  (even  the  current  one!)   This  will rebuild the index for that "subset", causing records to
       display normally.  The delay caused by the rebuild depends on the  size  of  the  database  (among  other
       things),  and ranges from imperceptible for small databases up to several minutes.  This delay will occur
       whenever a new "subset" is selected for the first time.

       gdbload will not attempt to modify HP 100LX Appointment Book and World Time databases.

       gdbload will not allow you to specify data for application-defined fields of a database.

       This program cannot handle password-protected databases.  Attempts to load data  into  password-protected
       databases will have unpredictable results.

AUTHOR

       gdbload  was  written  by  Steven  Roth,  stever@cup.hp.com, and is being maintained by Arne Christensen,
       arc@pine.dk.  Contact the latter for bug reports, enhancement requests, or to get a copy  of  the  source
       code.

DISCLAIMER

       This  program  is  released  into  the  public domain and neither the author nor the maintainer place any
       restrictions on its use.  We make no warranties or guarantees for this program and you use it at your own
       risk.  This program is supplied by us personally and not by Hewlett-Packard Co.  or  Pine  Tree  Systems,
       which incur no obligations pertaining to it.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

       Many thanks to Andy Gryc for publishing the details of the database file formats!

SEE ALSO

       gdbdump(1).

Steve Roth et.al.                                 February 1996                                       gdbload(1)