PC-Track 3.1 Mini User Guide


Sometimes it is difficult to know where to begin when first trying a new 
software package. This is true of any package, no matter how simple or how 
complicated. There always is some sort of learning curve associated with 
it. The goal of this document is to "level out" that learning curve by 
getting you focused on the most important items of the program.  This will 
assist you in your evaluation of the product prior to registration.


Ready To Run

PC-Track is extremely versatile, and has many options that are changeable 
by the user. But it is configured to be essentially "ready to go" when you 
load it on your computer. Only a few minor things need to be setup prior 
to using the program. Once you are up to speed on the basic operation, 
then you can explore more of the deeper features of the program and see 
how powerful it really is. 

Eight Basic Steps 

There are eight basic steps to getting familiar with the product: 
	
1    Get familiar with the basics
2    Select and Configure printer
3    Select Parameter File
4    Configure System Settings
5    Select Active Sites
6    Track in Graphics Mode
7    Track in Text Mode
8    Scan for available passes


Step One - Get Familiar With The Basics - F1

While PC-TRACK has been written to use many convenient methods of 
displaying and controlling the information available, it would be 
beneficial to you to review the help screens dealing with the various 
parts of the program (windows, dialog boxes, scroll bars, etc.) to become 
familiar with how they work. Once you gain that familiarity, it will be 
much easier for you to navigate your way through the program and 
understand the various terms and phrases used. Press the F1 key for help 
anywhere in the program. 



Step Two - Set Up the Printer 

A major thing you want to do is to select the printer that you will be 
using (assuming you have a printer). 

First, select the "Options" option from the main menu. Then select the  
"Select Printer" option.  You will now see a list of printers that is 
available for use. Find your printer, or one that your printer emulates 
(acts like) and then press the "Select" button, (or double click on it). 

You should then select the "Options" main menu option, and then "Page 
Setup" option. Set the desired page settings with this dialog box.

You will then be ready to do most of the basic printing available in PC-
Track. 

Step Three - Select A Parameter File

PC-Track allows you to have different parameter files. Each parameter file 
contains all of the parameters that define what PC-Track is configured to 
do. All attributes, colors, paths, active sites and satellites, times, 
views, etc. are contained in the parameter files.

Several different sample parameter files are provided for you to see how 
flexible PC-Track is. Examples of parameter files provided are:

AMATEUR.PRM :	
	Configured to display some amateur radio satellites
WEATHER.PRM :	
	Configured to display some weather satellites
GPS.PRM : 	
	Configured to display some global positioning satellites

To select a sample parameter file, select the File main menu option, then 
select the Open option. You will see a list of *.PRM files in the file 
selection box. Press the TAB key to move the cursor to the files list box. 
Highlight the one you wish to try. When highlighted (make sure it also 
appears in the input line at the top of the dialog box), press the RETURN 
key. The parameters will be loaded and you will be ready to proceed.


Step Four - Configure System Settings

It will be important to configure PC-TRACK for the proper time zone, and 
to display dates and distances the way you wish. This is done using the 
System Config dialog box. 

First, select the "Options" option from the main menu. Then select the  
"System Config" option. You will now see the System Configuration dialog 
box. This is where you can set up the date format, time frame, and time 
zone. It is particularly important to make sure the time zone is correct, 
so that predictions will be correct. Remember that the number entered here 
is the number of hours that UTC time is AHEAD of you. For example, Eastern 
Standard Time for the US would require a 5. 

You can ignore the image path for now, it should already be correct.


Step Five - Select Primary, Secondary, and Active Sites

PC-Track maintains a large database of sites for use (up to 200). From 
this database, you may select up to 200 "active" sites, along with a 
"Primary" and a "Secondary" site. 

Active sites are the ones that will appear in the graphics tracking 
option. If the Line Of Site attribute is enabled, these sites display Line 
Of Site lines to satellites that are visible to them.

The Primary and Secondary sites are special sites used in graphics 
tracking and the Mutual Pass Scan option.

Active sites are selected from the Select Active Sites dialog box.  This 
is accessible using the "Active" button. Now with the > and < keys (or by 
doubleclicking the mouse on the desired site names) you can select the 
desired active sites. When finished with this, press the Done button. Then 
press the Done button again to close the Edit Sites dialog box.

The primary and secondary sites are selected from the Edit Sites dialog 
box. You can access this dialog box by selecting the "Edit" main menu 
option then the select the "Sites" sub option. Pressing the F5 hot key 
from the main screen will also bring up the Edit Sites dialog box. Select 
a primary site in the "Primary Site" and "Secondary Site"input line.


Step Six - Track in Graphics Mode

To access the Graphics Tracking Mode, select the "View" main menu option, 
and then the "Track(Graphics)" option. You may also access this by 
pressing the F2 hot key from the main screen. The graphics tracking mode 
will then be activated. For details on options available in graphics track 
mode, see the chapter dealing with that mode. You may also press the F1 
key for a list of available options.


NOTE:
PC-TRACK makes use of pre-drawn globe views and maps to 
speed graphics displays while at the same time providing 
versatility in the viewpoints available to the user. The 
unregistered release of PC-TRACK provides you with 4 globe 
views and one world mercator views. The colors and 
geographic features are pre- determined by Acme Workshops 
as those that would best serve as trial displays. They are 
intended to allow an adequate demonstration the 
capabilities of PC-TRACK prior to registration.  

The registered package, however, includes a utility program 
 that allows you to develop your own globe views and 
mercator projection world map. With this utility, you have 
the capability of defining the viewpoint (point in space 
from which the globe is viewed), offset (point on the 
screen where the center of the earth is), colors and 
geographical features (coasts, islands, lakes, rivers, 
country boundaries, and state boundaries) of the views. You 
can define multiple sets of globe views, each with up to 30 
different views. PC-TRACK can load and make available up to 
30 views at a time.  

Please consider these items when evaluating PC-TRACK, and 
realize that the 4 views of the globe that you get with the 
pre-registration copy is only the beginning. 

Step Seven - Track in Text Mode

To access the text track mode, select the "View" main menu option, and the 
"Track(Text)" option. You may also access this mode by pressing the F3 hot 
key from the main screen. This mode displays current or future position 
data for the Primary Satellite and the Primary and Secondary Sites.


Step Eight - Scan for mutually visible passes

To access the scan mode, select the "View" main menu option, and the 
"Scan(Text)" option. You may also access this mode by pressing the F4 hot 
key from the main screen. This mode allows you to can for satellite passes 
that are mutually visible between the Primary and Secondary sites. All 
active satellites are scanned.


Additional Experiment:
		Select Other Primary and Active Satellites

PC-Track maintains a large database of satellites for use (up to 300). 
From this database, you may select up to 300 "Active" satellites to track 
and visualize, along with a "Primary" satellite. 

Active satellites are the ones for which positions will be computed and 
will appear on the graphics track screen. They are also the ones that will 
be scanned in the Mutual Visibility Pass Scan option (see below).

The Primary satellite is used in the text tracking mode
as the satellite that will be analyzed.

Active satellites are selected from the Select Active Satellites dialog 
box.  This is accessible using the "Active" button. Now with the > and < 
keys (or by doubleclicking the mouse on the desired satellite names) you 
can select the desired active satellites. When finished with this, press 
the Done button. Then press the Done button again to close the Edit 
Satellites dialog box.

The primary satellite is selected from the Edit Satellites dialog box. You 
can access this dialog box by selecting the "Edit" main menu option then 
the select the "Satellites" sub option. Pressing the F5 hot key from the 
main screen will also bring up the Edit Satellites dialog box. Select a 
primary satellite in the "Primary Satellite" input line.


Register

If you decide to continue to use PC-Track after the trial period, you will 
need to register your copy of PC-Track. When you register, you will 
receive many benefits, as well as additional software that will make 
PC-Track even more flexible and powerful.

See REGISTER.TXT for information on registering.

You can easily fill out your registration form using the on-line form. To 
access the on-line form, press the ALT and F9 keys together while in PC-
Track.



Enjoy!

You should now have enough of an introduction into PC-Track to begin using 
it with confidence. Remember to use the F1 key when in doubt about 
anything. Complete help is available on all parts of the program.  And now 
that you've got a feel for how PC-Track works, it might be a good time to 
read the rest of The PC-Track User Guide.  For a more detailed information 
about the features and capabilities of PC-Track, read the PC-Track 
Reference. (Provided in the registered user package).

NOTE:
Remember that the satellite data provided with PC-TRACK was 
fresh when packaged, but most likely will not be when you 
receive it. It is important to get fresh satellite data in 
order to have accurate predictions since most satellites 
undergo periodic maneuvers to maintain proper orbits. See 
the chapter called Data Sources for information on how to 
obtain the latest satellite data for your predictions.




Basic Concepts of Operation

PC-TRACK 3.1 utilizes two databases (sites and satellites) and a set of 
operational parameters to control program operation. All of the parameters 
and each of the databases are easily controlled and edited by the user, 
making the program extremely flexible and easily configured to operational 
needs.  Each of the databases are easily edited and updated from within 
PC-TRACK using available main menu options and can be updated by direct 
import of new data in several different file formats.

Databases

PC-TRACK maintains two databases, one for satellites and one for sites. 
These databases contain all of the satellites and sites that PC-TRACK will 
work with. Each of the databases has a limit of 200 items.

Satellites

The satellite database contains data for all of the satellites that will 
be available to PC-TRACK. This database holds the keplerian elements for 
each satellite, as well as two downlink frequencies. The database also 
holds other operational information for each satellite, not visible to the 
user.

The satellite database may be edited using the F5 key from the main menu 
(or selecting the Edit | Satellites option). This opens up the Edit 
Satellites dialog box which allows you to Add, Edit, and Delete individual 
satellites. Each of these options are described in Chapter 4 under 
Satellites.

Sites

The site database contains data for all of the sites that will be 
available to PC-TRACK. This database holds location for each site. The 
database also holds other operational information for each site, not 
visible to the user.

The site database may be edited using the F6 key from the main menu (or 
selecting the Edit | Sites option). This opens up the Edit Sites dialog 
box which allows you to Add, Edit and Delete individual sites. Each of 
these options are described in Chapter 4 under Sites.

Parameters

"Parameters" is the term given to the collective group of program 
attributes and colors that determine program operation. Each parameter 
controls a specific aspect of the program such as operational properties, 
display characteristics, and colors. These parameters can be saved to and 
loaded from disk as separate text based data files using the Files option 
from the main menu. This gives you the ability to have several different 
"personality" files available for several different operational profiles. 
Parameters can be changed from various places within the program, 
depending on what portion of the program is operational at the time. There 
are two different categories of parameters used in PC-TRACK; attributes 
and colors, described as follows.

Attributes

Program attributes control how the program operates, what is to be 
computed, and what is to be displayed.  Most of them in turn are grouped 
in several categories depending on which aspect of the program they 
control.  Each of these attributes are described in Chapter 3 under 
Editing Parameters. Attributes associated with a particular graphics 
display mode may be edited while within that mode by pressing the F8 key. 

Other attributes exist that are considered program-wide attributes. These 
affect the time base (UTC or Local) and distances (Meters or English), 
date format and time zone. These may be edited in the Options | System 
Config main menu option (F8). These are described in Chapter 3 under 
System Settings. 

Graphics Colors

The other category of parameters used in PC-TRACK control the colors that 
will be used to display all of the various items displayed in graphics 
mode. This includes things like the color of the window frames, satellite 
names, line colors, etc. These color parameters are grouped in several 
categories. The purpose of each of these colors are described in Chapter 3 
under Editing Parameters. Most colors associated with the graphics 
tracking mode may also be edited while within that mode by pressing the F9 
key. Pressing the F7 key from the main menu (or selecting the Edit | 
Graphics Colors option) opens the Edit Graphics Colors dialog box which 
presents the frame, help window, and the track window colors for easy 
editing.

NOTE:
Text mode colors may be edited by pressing SHIFT-F7 from the main menu (or 
selecting the Edit | Text Colors option). These colors, however, are NOT 
saved in the Parameters file, but in a separate file on the disk.

Active Satellites

PC-TRACK maintains a list of what is considered "active satellites" for 
use in various modes. These active satellites are selected by the user 
from the satellite database and determine which of the satellites in the 
database will be used. These are the ones that will appear on the screen 
when in the graphics track mode. They are also used during the scan 
process, with each active satellite being scanned for the designated 
period of time to determine visibility times. Active satellites are 
selected by the user using the F5 key from the main menu (or selecting the 
Edit | Satellites main menu option). The names of each of the active 
satellites are stored in the parameter file along with the attributes and 
colors, allowing you to save complete operational packages under separate 
files for studying different groups of satellites with different display 
characteristics. 

Primary Satellite

The text track process available with the F3 key (or by selecting the View 
| Text Track option) uses one satellite. This satellite is known as the 
Primary Satellite. This satellite can be selected from the satellite 
database by the user using the F5 key from the main menu (or selecting the 
Edit | Satellites option). The name of the primary satellite is stored in 
the parameter file. The primary satellite is also displayed in graphics 
track mode.

Active Sites

PC-TRACK also maintains a list of what is considered "active sites" for 
use in graphics tracking mode. These active sites are selected from the 
site database and determine which of the sites in the database will be 
used for tracking purposes.  Active sites are selected by the user using 
the F6 key from the main screen (or selecting the Edit | Sites main menu 
option). The names of each of the active sites are stored in the parameter 
file along with the attributes and colors.

Primary & Secondary Sites

The graphics tracking mode utilizes one or two specially selected sites 
called the Primary and Secondary Sites, they are used for the ground site 
displays in graphics mode tracking, for text tracking, and for mutual 
visibilty scanning.  The primary and secondary sites can be selected from 
the site database by the user using the F6 key from the main screen (or 
selecting the Edit | Sites main menu option). The names of the primary  
and secondary sites are stored in the parameter file.

Program Organization

All of PC-TRACK 3.1 functions are organized into four main menu options. 
These menu options are organized to make finding and selecting the desired 
function simple and quick. They are File, Edit, View, and Options. The 
following descriptions give an overview of all of the operations provided 
by each of the menu options.

File 

The File menu option provides menu options that allow you to create a new 
parameter set, load an existing one, save the current one, or save the 
current one with a different. Also available is an option that allows you 
to import site and satellite data from other sources, such as NORAD, 
AMSAT, and PC-TRACK format files. The options available are:

File | New 

Allows you to reset all program parameters to their default conditions. 
The new parameter filename will be DEFAULT.PRM. 

File | Open 
Allows you to open and load an existing parameter set. 

File | Save 
Allows you to save the current parameter set with the current parameter 
filename. 

File | Save As 
Allows you to save the current parameter set as a new file with a new 
parameter filename. 

File | Import | Satellites | NORAD 
Allows you to import satellite data from NORAD two-line element text 
files.  See Appendix 5 for file format information.

File | Import | Satellites | AMSAT 
Allows you to import satellite data from element text files in the Amateur 
Satellite (AMSAT) file format.  See Appendix 5 for file format 
information.

File | Import | Satellites | PC-TRACK 
Allows you to import satellite data from PC-TRACK version 1.x and 2.x  
OBJECTS.DAT files.

File | Import | Sites | PC-TRACK 
Allows you to import site data from PC-TRACK version 1.x and 2.x 
OBSERVER.DAT files.

File | Import | Sites | Site File
Allows you to import site data from comma delimited site data files. See 
Appendix 5 - Import File Formats for file format information.

File | Exit 
Terminates PC-TRACK 3.1 option and returns to DOS. Pressing ALT-X will do 
the same thing. 

Edit 
The Edit menu option provides menu options that allow you to edit 
satellite and site databases, and change some colors. 

Edit | Satellites - F5
Allows you to enter and edit satellite data for individual satellites, 
select active satellites, and select the primary satellite to be used in 
tracking and scanning.  Immediate access to the Satellite Edit Option is 
provided by the F5 key.

Edit | Sites - F6
Allows you to enter and edit location and sensor data for individual 
sites, select active sites, and select the primary and secondary sites to 
be used in tracking and scanning. Immediate access to the Site Edit option 
is provided by the F6 key.

Edit | Graphics Colors - F7
Allows you to edit some of the colors used in the various graphical 
displays available in PC-TRACK 3.1. Immediate access to the Graphic Color 
Edit option is provided by the F7 key.

Edit | Text Colors - F8
Allows you to edit the colors used in the displays available in PC-TRACK 
3.1 while in text mode. Immediate access to the Text Color Edit option is 
provided by the F8 keys.


View 
The View menu option provides menu options that allow you to access the 
graphics track mode, text screen numerical track mode and the mutual 
visibility pass scan mode. 

View | Graphics Track - F2
Activates the graphical tracking mode available in PC-TRACK 3.1. While in 
tracking mode, most program parameters are changeable to enable you to 
customize the display to your need. This mode is capable of displaying 
current satellite position for all active satellites, the view angles from 
all active sites, ground site views for the primary and secondary sites, 
and current track time. Earth views are in a three dimensionally projected 
Earth Centered Fixed view frame, with the viewpoint from space being user 
selected or in a mercator projection flat map of the world. Both can show 
satellite footprints and line of site lines for all active satellites and 
sites as well as many other items. Immediate access to the Graphics 
Tracking option is provided by the F2 key.

View | Text Track - F3
Activates the text tracking mode. This mode provides tracking capability 
without the use of graphics presentation. This mode is provided for 
situations where numerical presentations are desirable, and where hard 
copy predictions or track logs are needed. The text tracking mode uses the 
primary and secondary sites designated in the Edit Sites dialog box (F6), 
and the primary satellite designated in the Edit Satellites dialog box 
(F5). Information available includes satellite latitude, longitude, 
altitude, and orbit phase. For both sites the current view azimuth, 
elevation, and slant range are presented, as well as current range rate 
and doppler shifted downlink frequencies for the satellite. Immediate 
access to the Text Track option is provided by the F3 key.

View | Scan - F4
Activates the Mutual Visibility Scan Window. This option allows you to 
scan a particular time frame for satellite passes that are mutually 
visible between the Primary and Secondary sites. Every active satellite 
will be checked and the mutually visible passes will be listed by date and 
time of AOS in the list box. When completed, the computed pass summaries 
will be able to be printed, and displayed. Immediate access to the Scan 
option is provided by the F4 key.

Options
The Options menu allows you to change certain parameters which affect the 
way time and distances are displayed, and to configure where the map data 
will be found. The available options are:

Options | System Config - F9
Allows you to change certain parameters which affect the way time and 
distances are displayed, and to configure where map data will be located. 
Immediate access to the System Config option is provided by the F9 keys.

Options | Page Setup 
Allows you to configure the layout of the printed page for use in text 
tracking and mutual visibility scan modes. Such items as margins, page 
size, line spacing, character size, and page advance method can be 
configured here. 

Options | Select Printer 
Allows you to select the appropriate printer driver for your printer from 
a list of available printer drivers. 

Options | Printer Codes 
Allows you to edit the printer control codes used in the printer driver. 
This permits you to customize the default driver for special print formats 
you may have.

Interacting With PC-TRACK In Text Mode
PC-TRACK 3.1 operates primarily in text mode, and then launching into 
graphics mode for visual presentations such as graphics tracking. Database 
management take place primarily in text mode. Text mode operation is built 
around a "windowed" user interface, providing powerful features for the 
manipulation of data and control of the program. The following text 
discusses these text-based features.

A Window Based User Interface
All of the work done in this program is done in one form of window or 
another. Windows (not to be confused with Microsoft Windows (R)) used 
while in text mode have a few features in common which make them easy to 
work with, such as the ability to be moved around on the screen and 
closed. Some, such as the help window, are resizable. 

Windows are simply boxes on the screen which contain groups of related 
pieces of information. They have a double line frame around them and 
usually show a shadow over any window or text beneath them. This gives a 
visual effect which is pleasing to the eye and organizes information into 
easy-to-use chunks. 


Closing Windows 
Closing a window means to stop doing whatever the window was doing and 
make it disappear from the screen.  Most windows can be closed by clicking 
the left mouse button while the mouse cursor is on the little block 
positioned at the upper left corner of the window frame. A window can also 
be closed by pressing the ESC key or one of the other buttons in the 
window  ( such as the Done or Cancel buttons, covered in more detail 
below). Some windows are designed not to be closeable since it is 
important for proper operation of the program to remain open, such as they 
have information which is important to remain displayed. These will not 
have the close box displayed in the upper left hand corner of the window 
frame. 

Moving Windows 
Most windows are designed so that you can move them around on the screen. 
This is done with the mouse. To move a window, just position the mouse 
cursor somewhere along the top frame of the window (not on the close block 
though) and then press AND HOLD the left mouse button down. While holding 
it down, move the mouse. The window will move with the mouse. When it is 
in the desired position, release the left button. In most cases moving 
windows is not necessary, but there may be some situations where you wish 
to see what was on the underneath window and this will enable you to do 
this. 

Resizing Windows 
Most of the windows used in this program are not resizable, since it would 
not make sense to do so. But at least in the case of the help window, 
resizing is sometimes helpful, since the help system is basically a text 
display system and some of the text displays are wider than the standard 
help window. You can tell if a window is resizable or not by looking for a 
little up arrow in the upper right corner of the window frame. This is 
your clue that the window can be resized. You can make the window full 
screen size by clicking on that arrow. If you desire to again make it the 
original smaller size, just click on the double arrow which then appears 
in the same spot. You can also custom size it by positioning the mouse 
cursor on the very lower right corner of the window and then pressing AND 
HOLDING the left mouse button. Then as you move the mouse, the window size 
will follow. When the window is the desired size, release the mouse 
button. 
  
Using A Mouse
The user interface is made simple and powerful by the use of a mouse. The 
mouse provides the mechanism to rapidly point to something on the screen 
and tell the program to perform certain operations. 

When the mouse is available to use, (by having the proper mouse driver 
installed and the mouse connected properly) a rectangular square will be 
visible on the screen. This rectangle is called the "mouse cursor" and 
moves around on the screen as you move your mouse. Moving this mouse 
cursor to the points of interest on the screen is your way of telling the 
program what you are interested in. Pressing the left mouse button tells 
the program to do something, depending on what is visible on the screen 
and where the mouse cursor is when you press the button. Other areas of 
the on-line help describe what will happen when you use the mouse in 
particular ways with particular things on the screen. 

Throughout the program documentation and the on-line help screens you will 
see references to the use of the mouse, but may not refer specifically to 
the mouse cursor or the buttons on the mouse. Instead, you will be told to 
" click on ...". This always means to position the mouse cursor to the 
(whatever it is) on the screen by moving the mouse until it is on top of 
the item of interest, then press the LEFT mouse button. This is the major 
method of using the mouse to interact with the program. 

Using the MENU system.
The menu system provides a convenient and simple way to get to each of the 
different options available. Please note that the menu system is only 
available when there’s nothing else happening in the program. For example, 
if you are in the middle of editing something, the menu system won’t work 
because none of the main menu options are available to use. You must be 
completed with any of the main menu options available before selecting 
another one. There are a number of ways to access the options in the menu 
system. Let’s explore them: 



Shortcut Keys 
First of all, notice that each of the options at the top of the screen has 
one of its letters displayed in a different color. That letter is known as 
the "shortcut" letter. This letter is kind of a "hot" letter which will 
access that particular option when you use the ALT key along with that 
shortcut letter. For example, to access the Edit option, you would press 
the ALT key at the same time you press the E key. This will open up the 
Edit sub-menu with all of its options. 

F10 Key 
By pressing the F10 key you gain access to all of the main menu options 
shown on the top line of the screen. One of the options shown will become 
highlighted. To access that option, just press the RETURN key. You will 
then see the sub-menu options that are available from that option. If 
however, you desired to access one of the other options, you may use the 
left or right arrow keys to change the highlighted option. You may also 
press the shortcut key as described above. Once you have the sub-menu 
options displayed, you may again press the appropriate shortcut key to 
select the desired option. You may also use the up and down arrow keys to 
highlight the option and then press the RETURN key to select it. 

Mouse 
Finally, you can simply click the left mouse button while the mouse cursor 
is on top of the desired option. 

Working with Dialog Boxes
Dialog boxes are simply specialized types of windows used to display and 
input information. A dialog box consists of a variety of different parts 
which make this possible. These parts include buttons, input lines, pick 
lines, static text, labels, scroll bars, list boxes, radio buttons, and 
check boxes.

Each of these items, when used in a dialog box, can be selected for use by 
one of several methods. One method is to click on the item with the left 
mouse button when the mouse cursor is positioned somewhere on the item. 
Each item shown in a dialog box has a label associated with it. You will 
notice that there is a different colored letter within the label. This is 
the shortcut letter. You can select a desired item by pressing either ALT 
and the shortcut letter or the letter alone. You will need to use the ALT 
key with a shortcut letter if you have something that is expecting regular 
letters to be inputted (such as an input line). Finally, you can select 
different items in a dialog box by pressing the TAB key or the SHIFT and 
TAB keys. This will step the focus (item of interest or the one that will 
operate with the RETURN key) from one item to the next in the dialog box. 

Once the item desired is highlighted by using one of these methods, you 
are ready to use that item. 

NOTE: 
You may be tempted to press the RETURN key when you are done entering 
information into an input line or using one of the other items in a dialog 
box. This will probably result in more than you expected. Not only will 
you be indicating to the program that you are done inputting the line, but 
you will also be indicating to the program that you wish to take the 
default action defined by one of the buttons in the dialog box (see 
buttons for information on what default actions are). In some cases this 
may be to Edit whatever is selected. In other cases, it will be to 
indicate that you are done with the dialog box and it will close on you 
because the default button was the DONE button. 

Summary: Don’t press the RETURN key unless you want to perform the default 
action of the dialog box. This is probably the biggest difference between 
the way the windows and dialog boxes work in this program and the way 
older programs worked. 

  
Buttons
Buttons are used primarily to allow you to tell the program to do some 
pre- programmed action, such as Edit, Delete, Scale, Convert or something. 
Each button consists of a small box with a text label on it and a shadow 
around it. In each dialog box, there is usually one "default" button and 
other " normal" buttons. A default button is one which is automatically 
selected when you press the RETURN key if you have not selected some other 
button. Like the menu and other parts of the program, buttons can be 
selected (highlighted) by any of the three methods described above 
(Shortcut key, TAB, or mouse). 


To "press" a button, you can press the ALT key along with the shortcut key 
shown on the button. You can press RETURN with the appropriate button 
selected. Finally, you can position the mouse cursor on the button and 
press the left mouse button. Notice that as you press and hold the mouse 
button, the screen button "shadow" goes away, along with its position 
shifting to the right, giving the effect of having depressed it. When the 
mouse button is released, the button action will take effect. If you have 
pressed a button and have not yet released the mouse button, and for some 
reason do not wish to continue with that action, you can move the mouse 
cursor off of the button BEFORE RELEASING THE MOUSE BUTTON. This will 
cancel the button press. 

Input Lines
Input lines are used to allow you to enter information directly from the 
keyboard. 



If an input line is selected and there is existing information, it will be 
displayed as "selected text". This means that if you press any key except 
the HOME, END, left arrow, or right arrow, the existing text will be 
deleted and you will be able to reenter new information from scratch. If, 
however, you wish to just edit what is there, just move the cursor with 
the arrow keys to the point you wish to edit. You will notice that the 
color changes to the normal text color and you can now add to or delete 
characters from what is there. 

In some cases, the length of the information you can enter into an input 
line will be longer than the box displayed on the screen. When this 
occurs, an arrow will appear at either end of the input box indicating the 
information in the box is longer than the what is displayed. If you 
position the mouse cursor on the arrow and press the left mouse button, 
the text will scroll across the box. You may also use either the left or 
right arrow keys to position the cursor to the proper point in the text to 
continue editing. 

When you are done using an input line, you can move to the next one by one 
of the three methods described in Working With Dialogs above (shortcut 
keys, TAB or mouse). 

Static Text 
Static Text is simply text that does not have any "action" attached to it 
and is used to just display information in the dialog box. 

Labels 
Labels are used to make it possible to select various items in a dialog 
box for use. For example, Input Lines (described above) usually have a 
label associated with them. Within the label is the shortcut key which can 
be used to select the desired input line for use. The label can also be 
used to select the desired item with the other two selection methods (TAB 
key and the mouse). 

Scroll Bars
Scroll bars are devices used to allow you select or identify one item out 
of many. Sometimes it is used to change a value of some piece of 
information. A scroll bar is made up of three basic parts: the slider bar, 
the slider, and the direction arrows. 



The direction arrows are attached to each end of the slider bar, and the 
slider moves along the slider bar. There are several ways to move the 
slider (and thus control the item the scroll bar is attached to). One way 
is to use the arrow keys (up and down for vertical scroll bars, and left 
and right for horizontal scroll bars). Holding the CTRL key down while 
pressing an arrow key will make the slider move in larger increments. You 
may also move the slider by positioning the mouse cursor on one of the 
direction arrows at the ends of the scroll bar and pressing the left mouse 
button. The slider will move in the direction selected (and will change 
the associated item). Release the mouse button when the slider and 
information is in the desired position. If you position the mouse cursor 
on the slider bar (between the slider and the direction arrow) and press 
the left mouse button the slider will move in greater increments (the same 
as pressing the CTRL and arrow keys). You may manually position the slider 
by positioning the mouse cursor on the slider and while PRESSING AND 
HOLDING the left mouse button, moving the mouse (and thus the slider) to 
the desired position and then releasing the mouse button. 

Pick Lines
Pick lines are a special kind of input lines. They look somewhat like an 
input line in that it contains text and has an associated label. Once 
selected and activated (by pressing any key) however, an additional 
feature is revealed, which is a list box. This list box contains all of 
the choices available to be placed into the associated input line. Instead 
of typing the information directly into the input line, you select from 
the list box. The list box closes when you select the desired item from 
the list or press ESC or click on the close box. 

List Boxes
A list box is a box that contains a list of items, usually sorted, which 
are used to select one of the items within the list. The list box is 
"smart" and has several methods available to make it simple to select one 
of the items in the list. One of these methods is to use the scroll bar 
associated with the list. Moving the slider will change the selected item 
in the list. Another one method is to use the up and down arrow keys or 
the HOME or END keys. HOME will select the top item in the list. END will 
select the last item in the list. You may also just type the letters in 
the item that you wish to find. For example, suppose the list is a list of 
recipe ingredients, and contains the following items: 

Apples
Bread
Butter   
Eggs   
Milk     
Yogurt

If you press the ‘b’ key (either upper or lower case, it doesn’t matter) 
the ‘Bread’ entry will be highlighted. The cursor will be underneath the 
‘r’ in ‘Bread’, indicating that it is waiting for the second letter to be 
pressed. If you press the ‘u’ key, the ‘Butter’ entry will be highlighted. 
So you can see that you can get to the desired item very quickly just by 
pressing a few keys. Once the desired item is highlighted, you can select 
it by pressing the Return key or the appropriate dialog box button. This 
technique works for any item in the list, whether visible or not. 

Finally, you can select an item that is visible in the list box by moving 
the mouse cursor somewhere on the line that contains the desired item and 
double clicking with the mouse. 

Double Clicking
This is a way of using the mouse to indicate to the program that you wish 
to both select and activate whatever item it is on (if that item 
understands double clicks). This is done by rapidly pressing the left 
mouse button twice. Just what "rapidly" means depends on your computer and 
can be determined by experimentation. Double clicking works on some data 
entry lines (those that open selection list boxes and in the list boxes 
themselves. 

See Using The Mouse above.


Radio Buttons
Radio Buttons are devices organized as short lists of text items with 
parentheses () next to them. A group of radio buttons is known as a 
"cluster." They act together. Within one cluster of radio buttons, only 
one of the buttons can (and will) be selected.


To change selections, you can click on the desired choice with the mouse, 
or pressing the appropriate shortcut key. 

Remember that radio button clusters have a label associated with them 
which makes it possible to select it before working on it. Pressing the 
ALT key along with the shortcut key will also work. 

Check Boxes
Check Boxes work exactly like radio buttons except that you may select 
any, all, or none of the items in the cluster.

Working with Message Boxes
Message Boxes are used simply to advise you of some condition which needs 
attention or to inform you of some situation which has occurred and needs 
a decision made. Usually a message box will have several simple buttons 
associated with it. Those buttons could be YES, NO, OK, or Cancel. These 
buttons are usually provided for your response to a question stated in the 
box. 

Program Status Line
The program status line is the very bottom line of the screen and presents 
brief help messages or a few available hot keys. This is a method of 
providing just a bit more information to you as you are working in order 
to provide a good understanding of what is happening or where you are in 
the program. Hot keys may be used by either pressing the displayed key, or 
clicking on the item with the mouse, or using the shortcut key shown. 


Changing Text Screen Colors
The Colors dialog box accessed by the Edit | Text Colors (or by pressing 
the SHIFT-F7 key) allows you to change the colors of the items displayed 
on the screen while in text mode. This dialog box consists of two list 
boxes, a text display area, the standard OK, Cancel, and Help buttons, and 
one of the following:

On color and black-and-white systems, it also contains two color palettes. 
On monochrome systems, it contains a set of radio buttons instead of the 
palettes.


The Group list box contains the names of the different regions of the 
program that you can customize. When you select a group from the Group 
list, the Item list box displays the names of the different views in that 
region. To change colors of a particular item, highlight the item in the 
Item list box, then select the colors (or gray shades) desired from the 
forground and background palettes to the right. 
 
On color and black-and-white systems, you use the Foreground and 
Background palettes to modify colors. On monochrome systems, you use the 
Colors set of radio buttons to modify the character attributes. On all 
systems, the display text shows the current color or settings.

When finished changing colors, press the OK button to save the new 
settings. If it is desired to quit without saving changes, press the 
Cancel button. Changes do not take effect until you close the Colors 
dialog box by choosing OK.
 
Using the HELP system
The help system is designed to get you the help you need on whatever topic 
you wish. The help system takes you directly to the topic of interest just 
by pressing the F1 key from wherever you are in the program. If there are 
related topics which might be of interest to you, the help system provides 
the means to easily jump to that topic and see that information. To get 
help, just press the F1 key. Appropriate information will be given for the 
topic you are on. If there is no specific topic to be addressed (such as 
from the opening screen), the main Table of Contents will be presented, 
from which you may select any of the topics listed for further 
information. 

The help will appear in a window in the middle of the screen. Most of the 
text will wrap around in the window so all of it is visible. Some 
specially formatted text may be outside the window. In this case, just use 
the scroll bars at the bottom or right side of the help window to scroll 
the text until it is visible. 

You may also make the help screen appear full size by moving the mouse 
cursor to the little up-arrow positioned on the frame in the upper right 
hand corner of the help window and clicking the left mouse button. 

When you are done with the help, it can be removed by simply pressing the 
ESC key or clicking the left mouse button while the mouse cursor is on the 
close box positioned at the upper left of the window. 

To view the next highlighted topic in a help window (one that is a 
different color than the rest of the text) just press the TAB key or the 
SHIFT and TAB keys to make the desired topic highlighted. When it is, just 
press the RETURN key. You may also select a desired topic by double-
clicking on it with the left mouse button. 


File Select Dialog Boxes
File select dialog boxes are special dialog box which are used to allow 
you specify a particular file that you wish to access. The file select 
dialog box contains: 

An input box with a history list
A list box to browse the directory
The standard Cancel button
Open action button
An information panel that describes the selected file

You may exit the File Open command by pressing the ESC key or clicking the 
mouse on the CANCEL button. 

Name Input Box
The Name input box is where you enter the name of the file to load, or the 
file-name mask to use as a filter for the Files list box (for example, 
*.*). 

A valid filename consists of a drive letter followed by a colon, a 
subdirectory name(s),  a filename (8 characters or less),  and an 
extension ( a dot followed by up to 3 letters).  For example: 

   c:\pct3\data\tle.txt

WARNING: 
Do not use the following  filenames: 
  		CON AUX 
		COM1 COM2 COM3 COM4 
		PRN LPT1 LPT2 LPT3 NUL 
		CLOCK$

Do not use the following extensions:
		.EXE .$$$ .BAK .BAS 
		.BAT .COM .CPI .SYS

Do not use the following characters:
  		< > = , ; : . ? [ ] ( ) / \ + *  
	
If you enter *.*, then all files in the current directory will be shown in 
the Files box below. 


Files List Box
The Files list box lists the names of files in the current directory that 
match the file-name mask in the Name input box, plus the parent directory 
and all subdirectories. 

File Information Panel
The File information panel shows the path name, file name, date, time, and 
size of the selected file. None of the items on this information panel are 
selectable. They are there for information purposes only. 

Open Button
The Open button picks the highlighted file and places the full path and 
filename in the filename line. 

Cancel Button
If you choose Cancel, nothing changes and no action occurs, and the dialog 
box is put away.  (Esc always cancels a dialog box, even if a Cancel 
button does not appear.) 


Path Select Dialog Box
Path select dialog boxes are special dialog boxes which are used to allow 
you to easily type or select specify a particular path name that you wish 
to use. The path select dialog box contains an directory name input box, a 
directory tree list box, the standard Select, Chdir, and Cancel. 

The path select dialog box looks like this:

Directory Name Box
The Directory Name input box is where you type in the path of the new 
directory. 

Directory Tree List Box
The Directory Tree list box enables you to navigate directories by using 
the selecting bar and pressing Enter. 

Select Button
The Select button exits the dialog box with the new path that is currently 
showing in the Directory Name input box. 

Chdir Button
The Chdir button puts the path that is highlighted in the Directory Tree 
list box into the Directory Name input box. 

Cancel Button
The Cancel exits the dialog box without making any changes to the data 
path. 


Output Destination Dialog Box 
This dialog box allows you to select whether or not printer output goes to 
a text file or to the printer. In the case that printer output is to go to 
a file, it allows you to enter or select a file to be used for that 
purpose. To facilitate this, a radio button and input line are used: 

Print To 
This radio button is used to select where this output is to be sent, 
either to the printer itself or to a disk file. The options are 
[  ] Printer
[  ] Disk File

Disk File To Print To
This input line defines the file that will be used if output is to go to a 
disk file (ie by having the Disk File option selected under Print To 
above). 

This is a standard file input line that will allow you to enter or select 
the name of a disk file that output will be sent to if you have the "disk 
file" button selected. If you do not enter anything in this box, and you 
select disk file as the destination of this output, the default name given 
in the input line will be used.  

To activate the File Select Box, press the Down Arrow key, double click 
the left mouse button while the mouse cursor is on the line, or click on 
the down arrow in the small box to the right of the input line. See File 
Select Dialog Boxes above for details on how to use the file selection 
dialog box.

Done Button
Pressing this button closes the dialog box and saves all changes and 
entries made. Printing will commence when this is done. Pressing the 
RETURN key is the same as pressing this button. 

Cancel Button
Pressing this button closes the dialog box and ignores all changes and 
entries made. The printing operation will be canceled. Pressing the ESC 
key is the same as pressing this button.