Permanent names contain added items using dbinfo

Panorama X
1

I am getting some strange variable names returned when using dbinfo("permanent","mydatabase"). Here is what was returned when used with the Panorama Help file:

_FontHarmony
_PageFormat (List)
_PageFormat (Custom Function)
_PageFormat (Images)
_FindSelectQueryHistory
GenericFieldsDictionary
_ManipulateData_t_History
_PageFormat (Reference)
_ManipulateData_t_Favorites
DatabaseAttributeDictionary
_FindSelectHistory
_FindSelectFavorites
_ShowHideFavorites

You will notice some variable names include a space along with another name in parenthesis. If I try to get a value for any of these types of permanent variables I get a syntax error. If I only us the first part of the name before the space I get the “variable does not exist” error. I’m befuddled.:rolling_eyes:

2

I think it just means that those variables were declared but never given a value. Using a throwaway copy of Pan x I tried putting a text display object in a new form I gave that database. The formula was

«_PageFormat (Images)»

and I got the field or variable does not exist error. Then I ran this procedure

«_PageFormat (Images)» = "xyz"
showvariables «_PageFormat (Images)»

and the text display showed xyz.

I never declared the variable before assigning the value to it, so it must have existed all along.

3

These permanent variables were all created by Panorama. The PageFormat variables are for holding Page Setup information. *FontHarmony holds information that Panorama 6 uses to resolve fonts (Panorama X does not use this variable once the file is converted). The others are pretty much self explanatory. There are others generated by other wizards, for example the Text Import and Export wizards have special variables that they use to hold templates.

In general you don’t want to touch any of these variables.