Microsoft KB Archive/11929

Command Performance: dBASE PSS ID Number: Q11929 Article last modified on 10-13-1986 PSS database name: PRESS

COMMAND PERFORMANCE: dBASE III by Douglas Hergert Price: $22.95 Pages: 504 ISBN: 0-914845-63-2 Pub. Date: December 18, 1985

Microsoft Press Introduces the COMMAND PERFORMANCE SERIES of Desktop Dictionaries and Cross-Reference Guides

First Book in the Series to Cover Top-Selling dBASE III

Today’s microcomputer software is more powerful than ever, and added power often means that a program has command structures that are difficult to learn, use and remember. This December, Microsoft Press will introduce the COMMAND PERFORMANCE series, a line of unique desktop dictionaries and cross-reference guides designed to be the only reference guide users of such popular software as Microsoft Multiplan for the Apple Macintosh, LOTUS 1-2-3, and dBASE III will ever need. The first book in the series is devoted to Ashton-Tate’s dBASE III, the top-selling database-management program (with over one million users to date). COMMAND PERFORMANCE: dBASE III has been chosen as an Alternate Selection of Macmillan’s Small Computer Book Club. In addition, Microsoft Press will support the COMMAND PERFORMANCE series with a major advertising and promotional campaign. Written by Douglas Hergert, COMMAND PERFORMANCE: dBASE III contains conveniently organized information on the entire dBASE command set for both the dBASE programming language and the application program. The unique format of the COMMAND PERFORMANCE series provides quick access to needed information. Arranged alphabetically, each entry gives a thorough description - including a representation of actual syntax - of all commands and functions. Doug Hergert offers detailed information about each command, gives examples, and warns of situations to avoid. He also provides dBASE II equivalents and notes important differences between the two programs. To help illustrate important commands and concepts, one specific application - a menu-driven real-estate management database - runs throughout much of the book. A complete ready-to-use listing of this program can be found in the Appendix. Conceptual topics, such as linking databases, customizing data entry, and transferring data to other applications, are also covered in the book, and are alphabetically indexed. Multiple cross references invite quick access to additional information on all entries. In all, COMMAND PERFORMANCE: dBASE III is the only reference book dBASE newcomers, as well as experienced dBASE users, will ever need. A native Californian, Doug Hergert received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and French from Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri, in 1974. After graduation, he spent five years in the Peace Corps, teaching English in Afghanistan and Senegal. Doug is the author of several books, including Mastering Framework, BASIC For Business, and Doing Business with Pascal. Microsoft Corporation, based in Bellevue, Washington, develops and sells a wide range of operating systems, languages, applications programs, and hardware products, as well as books, for the microcomputer marketplace.

Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1986.