NAME

       gdbload - load ASCII formatted data into an HP 100LX database

SYNOPSIS

       gdbload [-an] database [ input ]

DESCRIPTION

       gdbload loads ASCII formatted data into an HP 100LX database.  database is the name of the 100LX database
       to modify.  input is the name of a file of ASCII data to load into the database.  If  no  input  file  is
       specified,  the  standard input is used.  The ASCII file format is one exported by many database packages
       as well as by gdbdump(1).

   Options
       gdbload recognizes the following options:

              -a     Add the records from the ASCII file to the database, keeping the records already present in
                     the  database.   By  default,  the  records  in the ASCII file replace those already in the
                     database.

              -n     Do not back up the database file.  By default, the original, unmodified  database  file  is
                     left in a file with the same name and a .bak extension.

   Input Format Description
       The  input  to  this program is an ASCII text file which starts with a line containing field names.  This
       line indicates the order in which fields appear on subsequent lines.  Not all fields of the database need
       be  specified;  unspecified  fields  will  be  left blank in all added records.  Field names are not case
       distinct and ampersands (&) are ignored in comparing field names.

       This first line is followed by one line for each record of the database.  Note that any  of  these  lines
       may  be  split  into  multiple lines if needed, by placing a backslash (\) at the ends of lines which are
       continued.  Also note that string fields may span multiple lines provided they are  quoted.   Apart  from
       line  splitting according to these rules, each "logical" line contains all of the fields whose names were
       listed on the first line, in the same order as on the first line.  The fields (and the  field  names,  on
       the first line) are separated by commas.

       Exactly  how  each field should appear depends on its type.  Text fields, category fields, number fields,
       and note fields should have their text quoted if it contains commas or newlines.   The  following  escape
       sequences are understood:

              \r     Carriage return (ASCII 13).

              \n     Line feed (ASCII 10).

              \nnn   nnn are octal digits representing a character.

              \xnn   nn are hexadecimal digits representing a character.

       Any  other  character  following  a backslash is treated as a standard character with no special meaning,
       i.e., backslash and quote marks can be escaped by preceding them with a backslash.

       Date fields should appear in the format YYYYMMDD; for example, August 15, 1993 should appear as 19930815.
       Time  fields appear in the format HHMM, where HH is in the range 00-23.  Date and time fields may also be
       left blank, i.e., nothing between the commas.

       Radio buttons and check boxes are turned off if the field is empty or contains a 0; they  are  turned  on
       otherwise.

       No other field types, including application-defined types, are accepted by gdbload.

       The output from gdbdump(1) matches this input format, unless the -n flag is given to gdbdump(1).

WARNINGS

       When  the  newly  constructed database is first opened by the 100LX, it will (erroneously) be reported as
       being empty. This is because gdbload does not construct database indexes, and the 100LX expects the index
       for  the  current  "subset"  to  be  valid.   The  situation is remedied by pressing F6 and selecting any
       "subset" (even the current one!)  This will rebuild the index  for  that  "subset",  causing  records  to
       display  normally.   The  delay  caused  by  the rebuild depends on the size of the database (among other
       things), and ranges from imperceptible for small databases up to several minutes.  This delay will  occur
       whenever a new "subset" is selected for the first time.

       gdbload will not attempt to modify HP 100LX Appointment Book and World Time databases.

       gdbload will not allow you to specify data for application-defined fields of a database.

       This  program  cannot handle password-protected databases.  Attempts to load data into password-protected
       databases will have unpredictable results.

AUTHOR

       gdbload was written by Steven Roth, stever@cup.hp.com, and  is  being  maintained  by  Arne  Christensen,
       arc@pine.dk.   Contact  the  latter for bug reports, enhancement requests, or to get a copy of the source
       code.

DISCLAIMER

       This program is released into the public domain and neither the  author  nor  the  maintainer  place  any
       restrictions on its use.  We make no warranties or guarantees for this program and you use it at your own
       risk.  This program is supplied by us personally and not by Hewlett-Packard Co.  or  Pine  Tree  Systems,
       which incur no obligations pertaining to it.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

       Many thanks to Andy Gryc for publishing the details of the database file formats!

SEE ALSO

       gdbdump(1).