GRAPHS IN FASTBASE

     Fastbase  now incorporates a powerful,  multi-range  graphing 
function.  To appreciate the graphs at their best you will require 
GDOS,  or one of the equivalents such as G+Plus or  NVDI.  Indeed, 
GDOS is required to get any form of printed output.

THE GRAPH CONTROL PANEL
     To  draw a new graph,  or amend an existing one,  select  the 
"Graph" option from the "Process" menu,  or press  Alternate-G.  A 
panel will appear at the bottom of the screen.

The "NAME:" FIELD
     Every  graph must have a unique name,  which may be up to  20 
characters long. The name is for your reference only, and is of no 
significance to the computer.

The "FILTER:" FIELD
     The  filter is a formula that is applied to every  record  in 
the database, in the same way as the query function. If the result 
of  the  filter  is  not  zero,  that  record  passes  the  "entry 
requirement" for graphing,  and the "operation:" is applied to it. 
As  you  will see,  each of the six available ranges has  its  own 
unique "filter" and "operations".

THE "OPERATION:" FIELD
     The "operation:" is a formula that is applied to each  record 
that  passes the "filter:" test.  The result of this operation  is 
what is actually plotted on the graph.  For example, just entering 
a  single  field  name will plot the value of that  field  on  the 
graph.  Complex  formulae  referring to  many  fields,  from  many 
databases are perfectly possible.

SELECTING ANOTHER RANGE
     You may have up to six ranges plotted on a single graph. Each 
range has its own filter and operations,  and its own  styles.  By 
default,  you  start entering information for range "A".  To  edit 
another  range click on the "Range" button and select a new  range 
from the popup menu.  A common error is to forget which range  you 
are editing,  and thus enter the wrong data.  Try not to fall into 
this trap.

CHOOSING A DATABASE TO GRAPH
     Even  though your filter and operations may contain  explicit 
references  to database names using the "."  character,  you  must 
still  tell FastBase which database you are graphing from.  To  do 
this,  click  on  the  "Misc." button and  select  the  "Database" 
option.  Remember  that each range (A..F) has its own  filter  and 
operations,  so  don't forget to set a database for each one  that 
you are using.  You will probably find that the default offered by 
FastBase is correct for your needs.
     The  database  that you enter here is the one  that  FastBase 
applies the filter to.

SCALING
     To  select the way that your graph is scaled,  click  on  the 
"Misc" button and choose either "Range",  "From zero" or "Manual". 
These options control the way that the Y-axis is  scaled.  "Range" 
means  that  the  lowest and highest values on the  axis  are  the 
lowest  and highest values to be plotted.  "From zero" means  that 
the lowest value is always zero.  The highest value is the highest 
value to be plotted.  To enter your own high and low  values,  use 
the  "Manual"  option.  You should then select  the  "Set  manual" 
option to enter your values.

CHOOSING A GRAPH TYPE
     To  select  the type of graph to draw,  click on  the  "Type" 
button  and select the required type.  The most appropriate  graph 
for your data will be found by experimentation with the  available 
types. All ranges (A..F) will be graphed using the same type.
     If  you select a 3D graph type,  then you should be aware  of 
the  "3d ratio" option under the "Misc" popup  menu.  This  option 
allows you to set the relative depth of the 3D bars. Experiment to 
find the best option for you.

STYLES
     Each range (A..F) has its own fill and line styles. Naturally 
the line style is only relevant to line graphs.  To edit a  style, 
click  on  the  "Styles" button and select the  either  "fill"  or 
"line"  from  the popup menu.  An appropriate  dialogue  box  will 
appear  from which you may edit a new style.  The Atari  operating 
system  is  at present incapable of printing thick  lines  in  any 
style apart from solid.  FastBase is ready for the day that  Atari 
fix this problem, and will work correctly when they do.

TEXT COMMENTS
     You may have up to ten text strings on each graph.  These are 
commonly  used  for titles,  comments and anything else  that  you 
want.  Click  on the "Text" button to add a text comment.  If  you 
have already defined some text,  then select the one to edit  from 
the popup menu.  The dialogue box allows you to set the text font, 
colour, styles and rotation angle.
     The "Add" button adds your text to the graph,  in addition to 
those  already  there.  The "Amend" button amends the  text  being 
edited  with the new settings.  "Delete" removes the  text  string 
from the graph.

THE Y-SCALE
     To change the attributes of the numbers on the Y-axis,  click 
on  the  "Y" button.  A popup menu will  appear.  All  the  normal 
options  relevant  to number formatting appear within  this  menu, 
together with some extras.
     The "Y-scale" option determines whether a Y-scale is actually 
printed.
     The  "With lines" option determines whether a line  is  drawn 
across the graph from each number on the axis.  This can help  you 
identify  the value of the points in the graph.  The "Line  style" 
option  in the "Set..." sub-menu allows you to set the  style  and 
colour of these lines.
     The  "Points" option in the "Set..." sub-menu allows  you  to 
set the number of values actually printed on the Y-axis,  and  the 
"Font" option sets the GDOS font used on the Y-axis.
THE X-SCALE
     To  change the way text labels are printed along the  X-axis, 
click on the "X" button. A popup menu will appear.
     The   "X-scale"  option  determines  whether  anything   will 
actually be printed along the X-axis.
     "This range" will be ticked if the labels for the axis are to 
come from the database specified in the current range.
     Select  the "Field" option to change the field that is to  be 
used  as  labels  on the X-axis.  This field will  come  from  the 
database specified using the "The range" option, above.
     The  "skipping"  option is used to set the number  of  points 
that are skipped over in between each label.  The more points that 
you  have  on  your graph,  the more you are  likely  to  set  the 
"skipping" value to.
     The "Font" option sets the GDOS font and size that is used on 
the X-axis.

GRAPH MANAGEMENT
     To add your newly defined graph to memory, click on the "Add" 
button.  You  may have up to 5 graphs in memory at  once.  If  the 
named graph already exists,  you are given the chance to overwrite 
the one already in memory.
     To  choose  a  graph definition from  memory,  click  on  the 
"Select"  button.  A  popup menu will appear from  which  you  may 
choose a graph name.  All the settings will be set to those of the 
graph that you choose.
     To  delete  a  graph definition from  memory,  click  on  the 
"Delete"  button.  A  popup menu will appear from  which  you  may 
choose a graph name.  The graph will be irretrievably removed from 
memory.
     To save a graph definition to disk, select the "Save" button. 
You  will  have to pick a graph name to save,  then use  the  file 
selector  to choose a file name.  All graphs should be saved  with 
the extension ".GRF".
     To  load a graph from disk,  select the  "Load"  button.  You 
should  use  the file selector to pick the name of  the  graph  to 
load. Any graphs saved in the same directory as the "FASTBASE.PRG" 
file will be auto-loaded when you run FastBase.  This auto-loading 
may  be  overridden  by  holding down the  left  Shift  key  while 
FastBase is loading.

DISPLAYING YOUR GRAPH
     To show your graph in a window,  click on the "Okay"  button. 
If the named graph already exists in a window,  you will be  given 
the option to open a new window.  For much the same reason as  DTP 
programs are slow, so is the redrawing of graph windows. With this 
in mind,  it can be unwise to have more than one graph window open 
at  any one time.  Of course,  if you own a TT or a souped-up  ST, 
then speed probably is not a problem to you.
     If  you  have any text comments on your graph,  they  may  be 
dragged to the correct position with the mouse.  To amend the text 
in any way,  double click on it.  The text amendment dialogue  box 
will appear from which you may make the necessary changes.

ADDING A BACKDROP IMAGE
     You  can add a backdrop image to your graph by selecting  the 
"Add image" option from the "Process" menu, "Graphs" sub-menu. Use 
the file selector to select the image file; the usual file formats 
are supported.  When the image appears in the background,  you may 
use your mouse to drag it to the correct position.
     The  "Remove image" option allows you to remove the  backdrop 
image.
PRINTING YOUR GRAPH
     You  can print your graph out by selecting the "Print  graph" 
option from the "Process" menu,  "Graphs" sub-menu. Note that GDOS 
is required to use this option. After the printer driver and fonts 
have been loaded,  you will be presented with a dialogue box  from 
which  you may set the size and position of the printed  image  on 
the  page.  Use  the mouse to drag and resize the shaded  area  to 
where you want it.
     To  obtain the best results,  set the width to  whatever  you 
desire,  then select the "Square" height button.  This results  in 
your graph appearing square on the page.
     Due to GDOS not being able to print bitimages correctly,  any 
backdrop  image  that  you  may have to your  graph  will  not  be 
printed.