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1993-08-10
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Data Master Version 3.1
Copyright 1990-93 Robert K. Summers - All Rights Reserved.
Distributed by: RKS Software, Inc.
3820 North Dittmar Rd., Arlington, VA 22207
703-534-1726 (Voice) 703-534-4358 (FAX) 703-534-7812 (BBS)
DISCLAIMER
Data Master is provided "AS IS". It is licensed without any
warranty of merchantability, fitness of particular purpose,
performance, or otherwise; all warranties are disclaimed. By
using Data Master, you agree that Robert K. Summers and RKS
Software, Inc., will not be liable to you or any third party for
any use of (or inability to use) this software, or for any
damages (direct or indirect) whatsoever, even if RKS Software,
Inc. or Robert K. Summers are apprised of the possibility of such
damages occurring. In no event shall Robert K. Summers or RKS
Software, Inc. be liable for any loss of profit or any other
commercial damage, including but not limited to special,
incidental, consequential or other damages. The entire risk
related to the quality and performance of the program is on you.
LICENSE STATEMENT
Registered owners are licensed to use their registered copy on a
single machine and to make archival copies for the sole purpose
of backing up the program. Data Master may be moved from one
computer location to another, so long as there is no possibility
of it being used at one location while it is being used at
another.
SHAREWARE TRIAL
You may have procured this software from another source such as
the libraries on Compuserve, a BBS, a shareware disk vendor, or
from a friend. That's fine!. We encourage registered users to
introduce new users to Data Master by providing them with an
unregistered copy. Try it out for up to 30 days, and if you
decide to continue using it, pay the license fee of $39. You'll
receive a registered copy and other benefits described below.
Shareware gives users a legal but limited trial period to test
the software before purchase. Data Master in shareware form is
fully functional and completely documented. However, telephone
support is not available to unregistered users. You must purchase
the program (called "registering") before you can get telephone
support.
HOW TO REGISTER
Call 703-534-1726, or send in the registration form at the end of
this User Manual.
BENEFITS OF REGISTRATION:
1. FREE LICENSED COPY OF THE MOST RECENT VERSION OF DATA MASTER,
sent to you immediately by first class mail.
2. PRINTED USER MANUAL, containing complete information on Data
Master operations.
3. TECHNICAL SUPPORT by phone, FAX, Compuserve E-mail, the RKS
Software BBS, or by regular mail.
4. DISCOUNT on upgrades of future versions of Data Master.
If you have received Data Master through a user group, a
shareware distributor, or an electronic bulletin board, please
remember that any diskette fee you paid DOES NOT constitute
licensing the software, and you are still obligated to register
if you decide to use Data Master after the 30 day trial period.
HARD DISK INSTALLATION
Data Master must be installed in a hard disk directory called
\DM. The two required files are DM.EXE and README. DM.EXE is the
Data Master program. README is this information file, which
displays on the screen when you press F1. Just copy the DM.EXE
and README files into the \DM directory and type DM to start the
program.
If you have received Data Master on a distribution disk from RKS
Software, a shareware vendor, or computer club, there will be an
installation program on the disk. To install:
1. place the working disk in drive A.
2. at the A:> prompt, type A:INSTALL and follow the on-screen
instructions. The default installation directory is C:\DM. You
may change the drive letter, but please leave the directory name
as \DM.
3. to start Data Master any time in the future, type \DM\DM at
any C:\> prompt. If you place the \DM directory in your path
statement, just type DM at any C:\> prompt.
The installation procedure will also create a sample database
called NAMES.DBF which you can use as-is to build a name and
address file. You can use Data Master to modify this file to
add, delete, or change any of the data fields.
DOS uses the CONFIG.SYS file to set certain defaults for your
computer. It MUST be in the root directory of your fixed disk. If
you do not already have a CONFIG.SYS file you MUST create one
that has these two lines, and place it in your PC's root
directory:
FILES=21
BUFFERS=16
If you already use a CONFIG.SYS file that does not include
settings for files and buffers, you MUST add the two lines above
to the file. You can do it with any text editor. If your
CONFIG.SYS file already contains settings for files and buffers
greater than these, you can leave them as they are.
DEFINITIONS
Database: A database is an organized collection of information or
data. A simple example of a database is a mailing list. Dbase
database files always have a file extension of .DBF.
Record: All the data for a particular entry is called a record.
In a mailing list, each record contains all the name & address
data for one person.
Field: Each item of information within a record is called a
field. In each mailing list record, for example, there may be
fields for last name, first name, street, city, state, and zip
code. A database can contain one or more of five types of fields.
These five are:
1. Character - This type of field allows entry of all the
letters, numbers and symbols you see on your keyboard. In a
typical mailing list, all the fields would probably be
character type fields.
2. Numeric - This type of field allows only entry of
numbers. Use it only for numbers you want to calculate.
Put zip codes or phone numbers in a character field, not a
numeric field.
3. Date - This type of field allows only date entries.
4. Logical - This type of field allows only a true/false
entry.
5. Memo - This type of field is an elastic character field.
Whereas character fields must be defined as a fixed length,
e.g., 20 characters long, memo fields have no fixed length.
Instead, memo field data is stored in a companion file, with
a .DBT (DataBase Text) extension, and takes up no disk space
unless data is entered into it.
Indexes: An index is a file which controls the order in which
database records are displayed and printed. Persons working with
a mailing list database would normally create an index file based
on the last name field and an index file based on the zip code
field (assuming these two fields are included in the database
structure).
Index files created and used by Data Master have a file extension
of .PCB. Creation and use of index files is explained below.
USING DATA MASTER
Type DM at the DOS prompt of the DM directory to start Data
Master, or type \DM\DM if you are not in the DM directory.
In most cases, Data Master will be able to detect whether you
have a color or monochrome monitor. If you have a monochrome
monitor and the Data Master screen is not clear, type DM M to
start Data Master. The extra M tells Data Master to use
monochrome, not color.
When the program starts, you will see that the Main Menu presents
five options. These are discussed in turn below.
You may select any main menu option by pressing ALT plus the
first letter of the option. Example: press ALT S to select the
Services option. Main menu sub-options may be selected by
pressing the highlighted letter for that option.
You may press ALT X to quit the program.
You may also select main menu and sub-options by using the arrow
keys to highlight the option and then press Enter to select the
highlighted option.
Files
Use this option to display a menu of six sub-options.
Open: Select this option to open a database file in the current
directory. Data Master will load this file and display it on the
screen in browse mode where you may add, edit, delete, etc.
records. Select the Quit option to return to the main menu.
IMPORTANT TIP: ONCE A FILE IS LOADED, YOU MAY JUMP INTO BROWSE
MODE AT ANY TIME FROM THE MAIN MENU BY PRESSING THE F2 KEY.
The Status box at the bottom of the screen will always display
the currently loaded database.
Note: Data Master is installed with one example database called
NAMES.DBF which you can use to build a name and address file.
Modify/Create: Use this feature to modify the structure of an
existing database, or to create a new database. You can add,
edit, or delete fields of the five types described above.
Instructions for use are provided on the screen. Once created,
you cannot modify a field name. Instead, create a new database
with the field name(s) you want, and use the Append File option
to move records from the old file to the new file.
Close Database: Use this feature to close the currently active
database. The Status box will show that no database is active.
Append File: Use this feature to append (merge) records from
another database or ASCII file into the currently active
database. When appending ASCII records, the fields in the ASCII
file must be in exactly the same sequence as the fields in the
active dbase file.
Save As: Use this feature to save the currently active database
to a new dbase file or to an ASCII text file.
eXit: Select this option to quit the program. You may also press
ALT X to quit the program.
Indexes
You do not have to use an index file to control your database,
but it will make working with a database a lot more pleasant if
you do. You must have already selected a database in order for
this option to work. When you select this option you will be
presented with three choices:
Select Index(es): When you select this option, Data Master will
present you with a list of existing index files. The index
file(s) you select must have been created for the currently
active database. Data Master will tell you if it does not match.
You can have more than one index active at the same time. Data
Master will automatically update all active indexes as records
are added, changed, or deleted.
Create New Index: Use this feature to create a new index file.
Data Master will prompt you to select the field(s) to index on.
Data Master will then ask you to name the index file, and create
it. When you create a new index file, that becomes the
controlling index for the active database.
Select Controlling Index: When using more than one index, use
this option to tell Data Master which index is the controlling
index. For example, if you have selected a last name index and a
zip code index using the Select Index(es) option above, and you
want to work with the records in last name order, use this option
to tell Data Master that the last name index is the controlling
index. Data Master will display the records in last name order,
and will automatically update both the last name and zip code
indexes as you add, edit, delete, etc. records.
Rebuild Open Index(es): Use this feature to rebuild all active
index files. This means that Data Master will make sure that
there is a correct entry in each index file for each record in
the database file. You may need to do this, for example, if you
forgot to have your LNAME.PCB and/or ZIP.PCB files active when
you added, deleted, or edited data in your mailing list.
Data Master will automatically maintain your index files if they
are active when you are using the database. If you are ever
unsure whether a database's index files are current, just select
the database, select the index files, and select Rebuild Open
Index(es).
Use
Use this feature to display a menu of options for using the data
in the database.
Browse Records: Select this option to browse the currently active
database. You may add,edit, delete, locate, and view all the
records in the database. NOTE: a shortcut for displaying records
in browse mode is to PRESS THE F2 KEY.
Sum/Average Data: Use this option to sum or average data in
numeric fields.
Replace Data: Use this option to replace the data in a specified
field in ALL the records in the currently active database. Be
sure you have a backup copy of your records in case you make a
mistake using this option.
Check for Duplicates: Use this option to find duplicate records
in the currently active database.
Frequency Analysis: Use this option to see what the frequency of
data is in a specified field.
Delete Records: Use this option to delete all the records in your
database. If a filter/query is active, only those records meeting
the filter/query condition will be deleted.
Pack Records: use this option to physically purge records
'deleted' in the browse mode. Records deleted in browse mode
still occupy disk space. This pack recovers the disk space.
sTatistics: use this option to display a variety of stistical
information about your database.
Mailing Labels: use this option to print mailing labels from the
currently active database.
Form Letters: use this option to compose and print letters or
memos. You can merge database data into your letters and memos.
Query Builder
Use this feature to create a query condition, or filter, so you
can work with any subset of records you want to. When a query
condition is active, Data Master will only display or print
records meeting the query condition. The Status box will display
any query condition. To turn off the query, select the Turn Query
Off option.
Services
This feature presents a menu of support services:
Spreadsheets: Use this option to convert a dbase file to a
spreadsheet, and to convert a spreadsheet to a dbase file.
When converting from a spreadsheet to a dbase database file, you
can specify the range of cells you want converted, e.g., B1..F10.
Data Master uses the first row in the range to determine the
field types (character, date, numeric, etc.) in the new database.
An "Indeterminate Cell Type" message means that Data Master could
not determine the correct data type for a column because some
cell in the first row did not contain data. Add appropriate data
and the conversion will work.
If you want the entire spreadsheet converted into a database,
just leave the cell range empty, and press the Enter key.
Report Writer: Select this option to use the Report Writer. The
Report Writer allows you to create custom reports, output the
reports to printer or disk, and save the report specifications
for future use.
Read a Text File: Use this option to read any text file which may
be on your disk.
Erase a File: Use this option to erase any file on your disk.
Change Directory: Use this feature to change to any other
directory on your hard disk. The currently active database will
be closed when you select this option.
Format Dates: Use this option to select the date format you want
to be used in your database fields.
Weights and Measures: use this handy conversion utility to
convert a variety of weights and measures.
Create Mailmerge File: use this option to create a mailmerge file
for your favorite word processor.
Time Period Anaylsis: use this option to conduct a time period
analysis of your records.
Communications: If you do not have a modem, this feature will not
affect you. If you do have a modem, this new feature allows you
to tell Data Master what COM port your modem works on and what
your modem's baud rate is, to call RKS Software's private
Bulletin Board, and to call RKS Software's Remote Control tech
support line.
FUNCTION KEYS
F1- Use this to read the Users Manual on-line
F2- Use this to invoke the browse mode.
F3- Use this to temporarily exit to DOS. You could use this
feature to temporarily leave Data Master and, for example, run
your favorite spreadsheet program or word processing program. To
return to Data Master, type EXIT at the DOS prompt and press the
Enter key.
F6- Use this to display a pop-up printing calculator.
F7- Use this to display a current record count.
F8- Use this to display a calendar.
TECHNICAL SUPPORT
We do not charge a fee for normal technical support. You may
reach us via:
1. Compuserve: 72357,2034
2. Mail: Correspondence answered daily.
3. Voice... 703-534-1726
4. FAX..... 703-534-4358
5. BBS..... 703-534-7812
-- DATA MASTER REGISTRATION --
Please call 703-534-1726 to register. If you prefer to pay by
check, please complete this form and mail to RKS Software, Inc.,
3820 N. Dittmar Rd., Arlington, VA 22207.
Enclose your check for $39.00, plus $4.00 shipping/handling for
U.S. and Canada, or $6.00 shipping/handling for other
international orders.
We accept all U.S. and foreign Postal Money Orders, and will also
accept checks drawn on foreign banks.
SEND TO:
Name: _________________________________________________________
Address: ______________________________________________________
City: _______________________ State: ________ ZIP: ___________
Phone:_________________________________________________________
Send: ___ 5 1/4 inch disk __ 3 1/2 inch disk
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