Syntax

Options

*
Specifies all columns.

,
Indicates that this part of the command is repeatable.

colname
Specifies a 1 to 18 character column name. In a command, you can enter #c, where #c is the column number shown when the columns are listed with the LIST TABLES command. In an SQL command, a column name can be preceded by a table or correlation name and a period (tblname.colname). You can enter tblname.* to specify all columns in the table.

=color
Sets the background display color for the column to black, blue, brown, cyan, gray, green, magenta, or red. Enter an equal sign followed by the name of the color.

corr_name
Correlation name. A nickname or alias for a table or view name. Use corr_name to refer to the same table twice within the command, or to explicitly specify a column in more than one table.

DISTINCT
Suppresses the display of duplicate rows.

(expression)
Determines a value using a text or arithmetic formula. The expression can include other columns from the table, constant values, functions, or system variables such as #date, #time, and #pi.

FROM tblview
Specifies the table or view.

MDI
This option is used in R:BASE for Windows only; specifies a modeless window-a modeless window allows you to access other windows without closing the current window first.

NOCHG
Prevents changes to the issued BROWSE command; stops users from reaching additional data by adding columns to the command or changing the command's WHERE clause. When the NOCHG option appears in the command, users cannot toggle from BROWSE to EDIT by pressing [F4], nor by using the Editmenu in R:BASE for Windows. NOCHG is particularly useful when the BROWSE command is issued within an application or command file.

NOQBE
Prevents users from switching from the Data Browser to Query By Example. Like the NOCHG option, this option provides security because it stops users from changing the scope of the BROWSE and EDIT commands. Unlike the NOCHG option, however, users can switch between editing and browsing data in columns. Data in columns specified as read-only with the =READ option cannot be edited.

=NOSCROLL
Locks the specified column on the left margin of the screen so that you can move other columns next to it. Other columns you set to NOSCROLL appear beside the first NOSCROLL column. R:BASE reorders the NOSCROLL columns into a block. A border separates non-scrolling columns from scrolling columns. The number of non-scrolling columns you can include is limited by the width of your screen. If there is not enough room on the screen to display the non-scrolling columns plus the current scrolling column, R:BASE ignores the =NOSCROLL option.

ORDER BY clause
Sorts rows of data. For more information, see the "ORDER BY" entry.

=r =w
Sets the display area for data for columns with the TEXT or NOTE data types. If you specify r, you must specify w. Enter an equal sign followed by the number of screen rows for the depth, then a second equal sign followed by the number of characters for the width.

=READ
Specifies that the column is read-only, preventing changes to data.

tblname.
Specifies a column using the table name. Use tblname.* to specify all columns in the table.

WHERE clause
Limits rows of data. For more information, see the "WHERE" entry.

About the BROWSE Command

The BROWSE command starts the Data Browser and displays the information you specify.

Examples

The following command displays all columns in the transmastertable and sorts the rows by the customer identification numbers contained in custid column.

BROWSE * FROM transmaster ORDER BY custid

The following command displays the custid, company, custaddress, custcity, custstate, and custzipcolumns in the customer table. Only the rows where the customer identification is equal to 100 are displayed. The custid column has a cyan background. The display for company is 10 characters wide.

BROWSE custid=CYAN, company=10, custaddress, custcity,+
 custstate, custzip FROM customer WHERE custid = 100

The following command displays the custid column in cyan and restricts editing. Do not place a delimiter, such as a comma or a space, between options prefaced with an equal sign when you are building a command.

BROWSE custid=CYAN=read, company=10, custaddress, custcity,+
 custstate, custzip FROM customer WHERE custid = 100