Unibase by DMAC / Unibase Imaging Tutorial Movies

DMAC provides these movie tutorials to enable a trainee to go from knowing little about data entry to becoming skilled in the Unibase environment. The trainee learns about Unibase by DMAC in as simple of a way as DMAC knows.

The majority of the movies use the Menu User Interface (MUI) rather than the Graphical User Interface (GUI) of Unibase by DMAC. All the MUI movies, created by Tina Kay, cover the same material as a week of hands on training in the basics of Unibase by DMAC. The trainee can take the knowledge learned in the MUI environment and transfer it to the GUI environment. One advantage of learning in the MUI environment is that the choices are limited at any point in the teaching screen and there is only one way to accomplish a particular task. This is not true in the GUI environment.

These MUI tutorial movies are older and refer to Unibase by DMAC release 7.4i. The information still applies to the Unibase Environment. Enhancements may exist which are not discussed.

These movies are QuickTime movie (.mov) files that used to need Apple’s QuickTime in order to view them. Now they have been uploaded to Youtube, so you can view them in your browser.

The Graphical User Interface (GUI) movies were created by Rick Tarbox. Currently, the GUI movies describe the GUI record format generator which is much easier to use than the MUI record format generator.

  • The MUI Movies

    • Introduction (MUI)

      What is Unibase (MUI)
      An overview of how Unibase is used.
      Tour of Unibase Menus
      Logging in, Main Menu, Add Operator, File Functions.
      Unibase Structure
      Subfolders under Unibase folder.
      More Help
      Available Support for Unibase

    • Data Entry

      Menu Items
      How to Navigate Unibase Menus
      Top Line of Work File
      Layout of Information about Location in Work File
      Cursor/FldRel/Rel Keys
      How Cursor Keys work in Unibase and which control keys are called Field Release and Release.
      Reset Key
      Function Key used to reset the keyboard after viewing an error message.
      Auto/Duplicate Keys
      Archaic concepts from the days of keypunch machines that punched holes in cards, but very useful in some situations.
      Record/Field/Tab Keys
      Function Keys that allow you to move among fields in a record or between records in a file/batch.
      Format Select Key
      Allows a keyer to select among multiple screens/formats in a job.
      Location Return Key
      Function key that returns keyer to where they were before they backtrack in the file to check a prior record.
      Over Sign Key
      Over 50 years ago, a negative number on an 80 column card was indicated by keying a minus sign over the units digit of the number. The Unibase Oversign Key performs the same function since that's what older mainframe programs expect.
      Correct/Insert/Delete
      These are Function Keys in Unibase Data Entry that aid in fixing keying mistakes.
      In Verify Mode
      Verification is the process of keying a completed batch of work a second time. As you key, your keystrokes are compared to the already keyed file. So long as they match, you keep key-verifying. If they don't match, an error tone sounds, a message displays, and the keyboard locks. Then you get to either fix the error or try again.
      Function Key Help
      Displays how different keyboards are mapped.
      Data Entry Help List
      A menu of items that lets you decide what to do when working with a batch of records. It is presented when you press the Help Key (esc key).
      Search Functions
      Allows searches for specific types of records in a file.
      Keyboards-In Practice
      How different keyboards affect what shows up when you key in a field

    • File Functions

      Menu Items
      Management of the data entry files
      Display Files
      Listing file names and number of records in each file
      Display File Information
      Displaying detailed information about the file that is stored in the header of the file.
      Display File Log
      Display data from file log created when operator closes a file, provided a file edit program was written and attached to the job data for the file.
      Copy/Rename
      The many ways to copy and rename selected files.
      Delete/Selective Delete
      The many ways to select files for delete or selective delete
      File Protection
      Setting requirements to delete, edit, sort, and display files.
      Dump a File
      Displaying the contents of a selected file.

    • Job Make

      What is a Record Format?
      Describes the basic element of a screen on which to enter data.
      Paint Screen-Simple
      Learn about fields (where you key data) and tags (describes what to key) to create a data entry screen.
      Paint Screen-Block Functions
      How to move/replicate/delete large sections of a data entry screen.
      Paint Screen-Color Settings
      Emphasize screen entries with different colors.
      Paint-Screen-Hidden Fields/Keying Order
      Create fields keyers cannot see to store data or Change the keying order of the fields.
      Paint Real Screen
      Create a useful data entry screen from supplied specifications.
      Key With Screen
      Test the screen you created by actually entering data with it.
      Create Standard Job
      Connecting multiple data entry screens for keying complex jobs.
      Check Box Edit Tour
      Adding additional checks on fields being keyed by choosing check box attributes.
      Edits-Projects, Field Type
      Limit what may be keyed in a particular field by assigning a field type.
      Edits-Must Enter To Fill No Data
      Six more attributes to assign to a field with a check box.
      Edits-Verify, Re-Verify, Update
      Check box attributes associated with verification and update modes.
      Edits-Range Checks To Attributes
      LImiting range of data to key and changing color of tags and fields.
      Edits-Value Tables To Help
      Using other Unibase files to check data keyed in a file and putting additional help about a file either on the first line of the screen of retrieving it from another file.
      Edits-Rcd/Rcd Auto To Tab
      Describing fields that may not need to be keyed
      Edits-Batch Balance To Aux Dup Number/Text
      Using batch totals to eliminate some verification, adding field edits, changing keying order, and setting auxiliary duplication data.
      Edits-Added Fld to Image Data
      Adding a missing field to already keyed files, output a field as packed decimal, setting output placement of data, image zones.
      Job Test
      What happens if you enter incorrect data into a screen that uses enhanced record formats.

    • EZ Edit

      What is EZ_Edit?
      The Unibase text editor used to create job field edit, file edit, output edit, and sort edit features in the AID language.
      Program Tour
      Viewing a sample of an operating file edit.
      Insert/Delete/Block
      How to make changes to an existing AID language program
      Search/Replace
      How to repair an error that occurs multiple times in a program.
      Buffers
      Accessing up to three more programs while creating/changing a fourth program.
      Help for EZ_Edit Function Keys

      How to displaying brief descriptions of EZ_Edit functions while you are coding a program..

    • Programming

      AID Language Overview
      The AID Language has a sentence structure with verbs, adverts, objects, etc.
      Types/Forms of Data
      Types of data: alphanumeric & numeric Forms of data: literals, variables, arrays, fields, expressions, functions
      Hello World Program
      Teaches how to display constant data to the screen
      Control Function
      How to alter placements of messages on the screen
      Verb Show
      Display information on the screen
      Field Display
      Showing the contents of a field from a record in the file.
      Output Program
      AID Program to move keyed data from inside Unibase to a file outside of Unibase so another program can process it.
      Devices
      Specifying location of output data
      Standard Job/Actual Output
      Move data from Unibase files to an external file.
      Conditional Verbs
      Make decision about what to output based on obtaining information about the data.
      Verb Accept/Subroutines
      Ask for data from operator while program is executing and write short routines that may be incorporated into other programs.
      Output Generation
      Using a built-in process to write the skeleton of an output program you may then modify as needed. This may be easier than writing a program from scratch.
      Generator Code
      Looking at the generated code.
      Field Edit Generation
      Viewing a Unibase generated field edit, which checks various fields immediately after each field has been key-entered.
      Non-Generated Field Edit
      Writing a field edit from scratch without the use of a generator.

  • The GUI Movies

    • Introduction (GUI)

      What is Unibase? (GUI)
      An overview of how Unibase is used.
      Data Entry Workflow
      Making human information useful for a computer.
      The Unibase Environment
      An overview of what Unibase looks like.

    • Wrfmouse (Record Format / Template Generation)

      Introduction to Wrfmouse
      Viewing a Data Entry Screen That Already Exists.
      Paint the Screen-Composition
      How to create the tags and fields for a keying screen using the gui interface.
      Paint the Screen-Advanced Features
      Useful Ways to Re-Adjust Field Placement on a Screen
      Check Box Edits-Display Edits
      Information about how the field is displayed to the data entry operator - its length, location, and color attributes.
      Check Box Edits-Type Edits
      How to limit the types of characters allowed in a field by specifying a field type.