Some Basics
This page contains some basics for the U2 system that I commonly see searched for at this site.
If you have any you want added, please send them to ‘u2tech’ at ‘y7mail.com’.
Where should I start?
So your new to UniData/UniVerse?
If you cannot find the appropriate manuals already installed on your system, you can easily download them from Rocket Software’s U2 site. Do not forget you can also jump on over to the U2 Developer Zone to get yourself acquainted with the system.
You can visit U2UG.org and browser around or go and ask questions at StackOverflow (programming related Q’s), ServerFault (admin related Q’s) or SuperUser (end-user related Q’s)
Writing new records
This one might seem obvious to anyone who has used MV databases before, but given how SQL works with SELECT/INSERT/UPDATE it is easy to see how non-MVers can be quite easily confused.
The first thing SQL orientated people should note is that UniQuery/RetrieVe does not work the same way. Although the U2 system is a database, it is much more and is used in a slightly different way.
UniData does not have an equivalent of INSERT. Generally, you would be using a UniBasic program to read/write the records, not the query langauge. When using a U2 system as a database for an external applications, UniBasic can be thought of being U2’s equivalent to TSQL.
Modifying records is also generally done in a program, but the query language also supports it if the appropriate dictionary items are created. For UniData you would use the ‘MODIFY’ verb and in UniVerse it is ‘REVISE’. REVISE allows records to be added and deleted as well.
From ECL/TCL you can also manually add, modify and delete records using ED, AE or UNIENTRY
How to create new dictionary items
Dictionary records are no different from regular items really. You can add, modify and delete them exactly the same way as regularly records using ED, AE or UNIENTRY. Say you want to create a dictionary item for a file called STAFF you would type ‘UNIENTRY DICT STAFF’. It would then prompt you for a record name and prompt for each piece of information required. You should consult your manuals for what these are.
U2Tech 