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                    INTRODUCTION TO THE LIBRARY


     'The Library' is a collection of over 300 functions, covering 20
     areas and SQL technology, designed to enhance the capabilities of
     Clipper applications written on IBM PCs and 100% compatibles.

     'The Library' ships with the original source code for all the
     functions except the SQLBase API.  The source code is well
     documented and should act as a tutorial to .C. Assembler and The
     Extend System.  By reading through the source code and seeing how
     many of the problems have been tackled and solved it is hoped
     that you may be able to improve your own skills as a programmer.


     Organisation

     Each chapter has its own list of contents and introduction.  In
     many cases, the functions have been grouped by type in the
     introduction of that section.  The introduction will contain any
     information which is specific to that area.  The actual function
     details then follow.

     The syntax and purpose of each function is detailed along with
     any arguments and return values.  In most cases where a use for
     the function is not obvious a possible usage is suggested with an
     example of its use.  Other functions of a similar nature are
     provided for cross-referencing.  All the functions in The Library
     are prefixed with L_ except the SQL functions which are prefixed
     with "S_".  This is simply to avoid confusion with any other
     future or existing libraries.


     Error messages

     Error messages are provided at the end of the manual in
     Appendices D and E.  The error messages returned by the functions
     are largely determined by the language used to write that
     function.  For example, the Assembler Language macros in
     EXTENDA.INC ensure compatibility between the function type
     declaration and the data type the function attempts to pass back
     to Clipper; this would preclude the returning of a character
     string as an error from a function which would normally return a
     numeric value.


     Syntactical conventions

     The following conventions for specifying data types have been
     adopted throughout the manual.

          <expC>    - used to denote character strings.
          <expD>    - used to denote dates.
          <expL>    - used to denote logical values.
          <expN>    - used to denote numeric expressions or
                      numbers.
          <array>   - used to denote the use of an array.
          <value>   - used to denote any value to be placed
                      in the array


          <>, signifies that a data item is to be entered by the user
          and is mandatory.
          [], signifies that a data item is an optional item.

     By way of example, L_ATTRIB(<expC1>, <expC2> [,<expC3>]) would
     expect the user to mandatorily enter two character strings and
     optionally a third character string to the L_ATTRIB() function.


     General Note

     Many of the functions have code examples.  Some of the lines in
     those examples are very long.  As a result, in the production of
     this documentation, some of the lines have wrapped onto the next
     line.  It is nearly impossible to advise you on where the real
     carriage should occur, so please take care when reading the code
     examples.


     Support

     Although we have extensively tested the functions, there is
     always one situation we could not or did not test or overlooked
     which caused the software to fail for you.

     It is hoped that you will accept our apologies in advance.  We
     appreciate that time means money to many of you and hope that you
     will take a few moments to ascertain that there is in fact a bug
     in the function by double-checking the documentation.  The type
     of parameters and the order in which they are passed to the
     function are important. Equally important are the range and type
     of values that are returned.

     Before wishing you all happy programming, it is worth mentioning
     that in order to be eligible for 1 month.s telephone support you
     MUST register your purchase with us.  Keep your serial number in
     a safe place and have it handy when phoning for support.  When
     returning your Registration Form you may care to indicate your
     desire for a support contract which offers you unlimited
     telephone support.  This in fact may be taken out at any stage
     but only after registration has taken place.