[pilot-db-list] pdbtools questions

[<aji...@t-...>]

Hi,

I have a few questions re. the new pdbtools:

**********
Question 1
**********

In the manual it says:

quote:
 The items in capitals are parameters which you should replace with
 actual values. Replace NAME with the name of the field. The TYPE of
 the field should be "string", "boolean", or "integer" if the type of
 the field is a string, checkbox (true/false), or a number
 respectively. The ARGUMENT parameter is used to pass informations
 about the field:
     string:     ARGUMENT = default value (string)
     integer:    ARGUMENT = default value (integer)
     float:      ARGUMENT = default value (float)
unquote:

Well, in the first part of the explanation, float is missing, and
float works, so it should read

 The items in capitals are parameters which you should replace with
 actual values. Replace NAME with the name of the field. The TYPE of
 the field should be "string", "boolean", "integer" or "float" if the
 type of the field is a string, checkbox (true/false), a whole number
 or a floating-point number respectively. The ARGUMENT parameter is
 used to pass informations  about the field:
     string:     ARGUMENT = default value (string)
     checkbox:   ARGUMENT = default value (boolean)
     integer:    ARGUMENT = default value (integer)
     float:      ARGUMENT = default value (float)

I would also add that the float must be entered with a "." and not
a "," if that is correct.

**********
Question 2
**********

Are other types supported too, such as date?

**********
Question 3
**********

I have created file called in.ifo:

title "Demonstration"
field "String" string "Str"
field "Check" boolean "-1"
field "Int." Integer "45"
field "Float" float "1.2345"
view "special" "String" 60 "Check" 20 "Int." 25 "Float" 55
format date %d/%m/%Y
extended on
separator ,
option backup on
option inROM off
option copy-prevention off
option systemPWD on
option read-only off


and a text file called in.txt:

"Teststring1","-1", "12","1.233"
"Teststring2","0", "24","2.344"

what is the difference between
 option inROM off
and
 option read-only off?


**********
Question 4
**********

the option
 option systemPWD on
does not have any effect! Why is this?

I created a general csv2pdb.bat file with the foll line in it:

csv2pdb -i in.ifo in.txt out.pdb

whereby the -i stands for "Read the info FILE for the metadata"

I renamed the created file to in.pdb

I created a pdb2csv.bat file with the line

pdb2csv -e in.pdb out.txt out.ifo

and executed the pdb2csv.bat file.
The created out.ifo file reads:

title "Demonstration"
field "String" string "Str"
field "Check" boolean
field "Int." integer "45/0"
field "Float" float "1.2345"
view "special"  "String" 60 "Check" 20 "Int." 25 "Float" 55
option backup true
extended on
format time "%H:%M"
format date "%m/%d/%Y"
csvfile "out.txt"

This shows that time can be formated separately. This is not mentioned in
the manual.

**********
Question 5
**********

Is there a reason for not mentioning time separately?

**********
Question 6
**********

what does the default value "45/0" mean? what does "/0" stand for.
I had not defined it in the original ifo file!

You will find these files in the attachment.

It might be a good idea to add these bat files and the example files to
the distributed version since it is easier to edit an existing file for
someone new to command-line based programs than to make one from scratch!

Please comment!

Thanks,

Hans