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S C A N N E R B U F F ! (tm) Professional User Operation Manual Version v3.70 Special Edition ***************************************************************** Scanner Buff! The Ultimate In Communications Databases ***************************************************************** T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 License . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Warranty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Registration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Registration Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 System Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Using A Hard Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Use On A Floppy System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Using A RAM Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Running The Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 The Help System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 The Main Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Adding, Editing, Deleting & Tagging Records . . . . . . . 10 Editing Data . . . 10 Deleting Records . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Tagging Records For Print . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Editing Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Searching For Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Searching By Agency Name / Usage . . . . . . . . . . 12 Searching By Frequency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Searching By Callsign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Searching By Municipality . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Searching By Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Searching By Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 The View All Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Building A Query . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Modifiers .AND. / .OR. . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Adding New Records and Merging Data Files . . . . . . . . 18 Merging A Data File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 The Scanning Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 The Codes Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 The Print Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Printing By Agency Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Printing By Frequency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 ***************************************************************** A Radio Frequency Database For The Demanding Listener ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** Scanner Buff! The Ultimate In Communications Databases ***************************************************************** The Print Menu (cont) Printing By Callsign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Printing By City . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Printing By Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Printing By Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Print A Query . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 The File Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Changing The Active Data File . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Creating A New Data File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Changing The Drive/ Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Reindexing The Data File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Opening A Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Closing A Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Saving Your Set-Up & Undoing Your Set-Up . . . . . . 24 Quitting Scanner Buff! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Exit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Shell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Resume . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Parting Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 File Conversion Routines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 ***************************************************************** A Radio Frequency Database For The Demanding Listener ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** Scanner Buff! The Ultimate In Communications Databases ***************************************************************** P R E F A C E Scanner Buff! has really come a long way. Not only have we seen three prior releases, each with many improvements, but now we're off on almost a brand new start with a complete rewrite of the entire program. Scanner Buff! is for you if you are a person that enjoys sitting for hours listening to police and fire calls, chasing covert low frequency 'numbers' stations, listening in on the shortwave bands, and even amateur radio (although there are programs written specifically for the Hams). Scanner Buff! Professional is an easy to learn, multi-capability database program that allows you to catalog radio frequencies. You may have as many records as you would like and are only limited by your disk space. Version 3.70 also allows you up to 64k of comments per record, something no other program we've seen has. In fact, we have yet to see a program that even comes close to what Scanner Buff! has to offer! (Modesty has never been a strong point of mine). It has been a pleasure putting this software together, in spite of the fact that many users are using it without paying for it. As a result any future releases will either be commercial or (maybe) Crippleware. I dislike Crippleware, but also dislike working hard for nothing more than personal gratification. Regardless, it truly has been a pleasure writing Scanner Buff! . I look forward to hearing any comments you the users may care to offer. Unlike some programmers, I rely on your input. Thank you one and all for your support. I would also like to thank the following beta testers for their devotion to Scanner Buff!, and for helping me weed out those pesky bugs: John Robertson Thomas Hart Special thanks also go to my loving girlfriend for her understanding of a 'programers dream' by sacrificing some of our time together. For those of you that seldom read doc files, Scanner Buff! Professional now includes context-sensitive help that is actually a mini-doc file... one way or another I'm going to get you folks to read this stuff! Robert W. Ricci November 1991 ***************************************************************** A Radio Frequency Database For The Demanding Listener 1 ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** Scanner Buff! The Ultimate In Communications Databases ***************************************************************** L I C E N S E SCANNER BUFF! is distributed as SHAREWARE and isn't free. It is copyrighted by Vista Communications. Users may freely distribute this program, provided that it include all files, including the docs, and that no fee be charged for it. Registration is required if you continue to use this program. You may use the registered copy on as many computers as you would like to. SCANNER BUFF! may not be used with, or in connection with, any commercial enterprise acquiring revenue as a direct or indirect result of the use of this program without first contacting the authors of this program and obtaining a specific site license. There may or may not be a fee assessed, depending upon the proposed use of this program. Inquiries may be sent to the address given on the last page of this manual. Use of this program implies that the program will not be modified or altered in any way, including de-compiling, disassembly or reverse engineering of this program. ***************************************************************** A Radio Frequency Database For The Demanding Listener 2 ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** Scanner Buff! The Ultimate In Communications Databases ***************************************************************** W A R R A N T Y SCANNER BUFF! is provided as is without any warranty, expressed or implied. Although we have tried diligently to debug this program, the user assumes all responsibility for the use of this program. No warranty as to the fitness for any particular application by the user is in effect. The user assumes all responsibility for any indirect, direct, or consequential damage that may be caused by this program including the loss of data, lost profits, lost savings, or any other damage not included herein, and agrees that Robert W. Ricci, Thomas D. Hart and Vista Communications shall at all times be held harmless. R E G I S T R A T I O N This program is NOT FREE. For several years I used shareware programs without even acknowledging the tedious, hard work that went into the development and support of a product. This went on until "I" became a programmer and discovered that I really owed it to the programmer to repay them for the many sleepless nights that passed by, or the toll that it placed on their loving family... I know because now I've been there. This is not a sob story, but one with a point... I had a very liberal approach to registering my product. Previous versions allowed users to send in any amount below $25.00 if they felt the program was not worth that much. This is no longer the case. Registration is now $25.00 without exception. This includes unlimited support, direct input into future releases, $10.00 up-grade fee's, instead of the going rate of the new release, free bug fixes, and more. If you do not feel that this program is worthy of $25.00, tell me why, then stop using the program. Only registered users can expect me to return their telephone calls. All others are welcome to call me. All users with questions are encouraged to to read the documentation. I love to answer questions, but only if you aren't able to answer it for yourself. ***************************************************************** A Radio Frequency Database For The Demanding Listener 3 ***************************************************************** R E G I S T R A T I O N F O R M Detach this small form and send with your check or money order for $25.00 to: Robert W. Ricci 172 North Lima Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 (818) 355-2365 NAME : ADDRESS : CITY : STATE : ZIPCODE : TELEPHONE : VERSION : OBTAINED FROM : COMMENTS : Please give me the name and telephone number of a local BBS to you so that I can send updates to your neighborhood. This must be a free, unlimited access BBS allowing all board functions on the first call. Contact your Sysop and make special arrangements if necessary. I log on as BOB RICCI. BBS TELEPHONE NUMBER : ***************************************************************** Scanner Buff! The Ultimate In Communications Databases ***************************************************************** I N T R O D U C T I O N SCANNER BUFF! is intended for use by those that actively monitor the public safety/local government/amateur/business radio bands, but may also be used where ever else applicable. The program is able to use either color or monochrome, and may be run with or without a hard drive. The total number of records possible is a maximum of 14 million, and is really only limited by available disk space. Features available in version 3 are quite extensive... 1) You may search by agency, by frequency, by callsign, or display all records to the screen. 2) You may add, edit or delete individual records. 3) You may print lists of data to any IBM graphics printer based on agency name, frequency, or callsign. You have a choice also of printing to an ASCII text file. 4) You may search for any radio codes you have placed into the code database, whether they be police, fire, public works, etc. Additionally, you may add, edit, or delete individual codes, or display all to the screen. 5) You can clone an empty database file with a new name and its own set of index files. This enables you to have separate data files for different needs, such as a police only file, fire only, etc. You may also switch data files at any time, or pack and reindex the files. 6) You can establish drive and path information and save the configuration for use at future boot-ups and have your most frequently used data file opened automatically. 7) A new feature called Groups has been added. Groups set a filter so that only records belonging to a specific type of service are accessed. This is a powerful feature! 8) Lastly, for now at least, is the DOS shell. Depending on the RAM available in your computer you may shell to DOS and perform DOS level functions... also handy! Read on now, or until you get bored and want to play! If you're like me, you've already run the program and won't need to read a lot of what I'm taking the time to write. In fact, as we wrote the program, we did it in a manner that would allow the user to trash the docs... nearly anyone can run the program. ***************************************************************** A Radio Frequency Database For The Demanding Listener 5 ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** Scanner Buff! The Ultimate In Communications Databases ***************************************************************** S Y S T E M R E Q U I R E M E N T S SCANNER BUFF! can be run on any IBM compatible, or near compatible computer with at least 384k of available RAM, although program execution is faster and data integrity is improved with a minimum of 400k of RAM. SCANNER BUFF! is both monochrome and CGA compatible. All colors, of course, will not be visible with monochrome, although text will always be readable. SCANNER BUFF! will automatically detect color. Printer requirements are simple... any IBM compatible printer emulating the generic IBM Graphics Printer commands. If your printer has an IBM mode you'll need to switch to this. For those that have less than standard printers, DOS text files may be created and printed as such. One 360k floppy is required, however, a hard drive, a 720k, a 1.2m. or a 1.44m disk may be used. Storage space required for floppy disk use is a minimum of 288k, so plan on storing your data on a separate disk. A hard drive drastically speeds up data access. I N S T A L L A T I O N Again, real simple stuff. Extract the archive to, or place all files beginning with SCAN37 on the same disk and in the same directory. HELP.DAT and HELP.DBT may be removed if desired, but on-line Help will not be available. Also, SCAN37.001 and SCAN37.002 may be removed, but the Codes Menu will be inactive. Files used by this program are: SCAN37.EXE Executable file * SCAN37.001 Codes File * SCAN37.002 Codes File SCAN37.003 System File * SCAN.MDF Default data file (Created Automatically) * SCANA.IDX Default index file * SCANB.IDX Default index file * SCANC.IDX Default index file * SCAND.IDX Default index file * SCANE.IDX Default index file * SCANF.IDX Default index file * SCAN37.CFG Set-Up File (User Created) * HELP.DAT On-Line Documentation * HELP.DBT On-Line Documentation * Optional - See Documentation ***************************************************************** A Radio Frequency Database For The Demanding Listener 6 ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** Scanner Buff! The Ultimate In Communications Databases ***************************************************************** I N S T A L L A T I O N (cont) USING A HARD DRIVE To create a special directory on your hard drive, switch to your C: drive (or whichever you'd like) and type the following: CD\ MD\SCAN COPY A:*.* Data access will be reasonably fast using a hard drive, but will still depend on two factors: the clock speed of your computer, and the data transfer rate of your drive, NOT just its access time. See the notation below for use of a RAM disk. Use On A Floppy System Install all files in the root of a 360k floppy disk, a 720k disk, or whatever size you choose. Data files must all reside in the root directory unless configured from within the program. See the section on set-up and restoring for more information. Nearly all database programs are disk intensive, meaning that they call data from the disk on a regular basis. Because of the slower access times of floppy drives of any size, the program may appear to read data in a 'patch' at a time. Consider a RAM disk instead. Using A RAM Disk One way to increase the speed at which your computer access your data is to create a virtual disk, which resembles an actual disk in the sense that it bears a disk identifier, such as B: or C: (in the absence of a hard drive). This is really nothing more than an area of your RAM set aside for use as a disk drive. To install a RAM disk, simply install the system driver VDISK.SYS in CONFIG.SYS file : device=vdisk 64 512 16 . This establishes a 'fake' disk drive with 64k storage space, a sector size of 512, and a directory maximum of 16 files. Refer to your DOS manual for more on how a virtual disk functions. Once you have created your RAM disk, copy your database file and its six index (.IDX) files to your new drive, lets say drive C:, assuming that you have no hard drive. Enter the program as you normally would and use the commands in the File Menu section to change your drive and path to this disk. You will now access data at an incredibly fast rate since there is no disk access time to speak of. Read the Utilities section for more on changing drives and paths. CAUTION! If you do choose to use a RAM disk it is important for you to copy the files over to a real drive BEFORE removing the RAM disk. Since this is just RAM memory being used, any added data will not be saved! ***************************************************************** A Radio Frequency Database For The Demanding Listener 7 ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** Scanner Buff! The Ultimate In Communications Databases ***************************************************************** R U N N I N G T H E P R O G R A M Well, here we go... log on to the disk with all the files and type SCAN37 [ Enter ]. The disk will whir while the files are read, then finally you will enter the program from the title screen. Right from the start, the program will verify the presence of all required data files. If the default SCAN.MDF file is not located a window will appear with names of files you have created. If you have not created any, SCAN.MDF will be created for you. Two DOS command line switches are available: /C and /M . /C forces color on a system with CGA or above; /M forces monochrome. These should only be used when a video error occurs. T H E H E L P S Y S T E M Context-sensitive Help is available at nearly every point in the system and always at places where you are asked to enter data. Pressing F1 activates the help window. Use the cursor keys to move through multi-page screens. ESC returns you to the program. This Help system is actually an on-line instruction manual that can be used instead of this document. As such, and since it takes additional RAM and disk space, it may be deactivated by removing HELP.DAT and HELP.DBT from your directory containing the other program files. DO NOT DESTROY these files, but put them in a safe place. T H E M A I N M E N U This menu is the parent of all other menus. Exiting any subordinate menu will always return you here. Additionally, should any unaccounted for error or condition occur during program execution, you will automatically be returned to this screen. Functions available are: SEARCH Menu CODES Menu PRINT Menu UTILITIES Menu QUIT to Dos The Search Menu From the Search Menu you may search for data based on any of the fields of information. ***************************************************************** A Radio Frequency Database For The Demanding Listener 8 ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** Scanner Buff! The Ultimate In Communications Databases ***************************************************************** The Codes Menu From the Codes Menu you may add, edit, or delete codes, as well as search for them. All are done from one View All type screen. You may disable Codes by removing SCAN37.001 and SCAN37.002 from your program directory. The Print Menu From the Print Menu you may select the sort order of a printout. You may also build a query condition and print it, if found, or print only tagged records. The Utilities Menu From the Utilities Menu you may open a new data file, change your DOS path or drive, open or close Groups, reindex the open data file, or save or delete your set-up file. The Quit Menu From the Quit Menu you may exit to DOS, shell to DOS, depending on the amount of RAM in your computer, or return to the program without any action. ***************************************************************** A Radio Frequency Database For The Demanding Listener 9 ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** Scanner Buff! The Ultimate In Communications Databases ***************************************************************** The majority of your time will be spent in the Search Menu, so let's discuss the many features of this section. Adding, Editing, Deleting & Tagging Records Scanner Buff! is basically a recursive program, meaning that there are several ways to accomplish the same task. This was done deliberately. This was done to make it easier for you to move around within the program. Although SCAN.MDF is provided for you with various data already filled in, you undoubtedly will want to add your own. For the sake of brevity we will use this file for instruction. There are two ways to add data. The first method involves the View All Records screen in the Search Menu area. Pressing the INSERT key activates the editor and allows you to fill in data for the new record. Pressing F10 will save the record, while ESC will abort without saving. You may also use the editing keys described below to move around the blank record. The second method of adding records is actually two methods in itself. Both are done from the Search Menu and Entering Records menu choice. First, you may add a single record by highlighting the menu item and pressing [Enter]. A blank record identical to that which is called by the View All Records screen will appear. Enter your data, then press F10 to save it, or ESC to abort. The second method involves appending records from another data file from any prior Scanner Buff! version, or any current version file. You will be prompted for the full drive/path/filename of this file. (Appended records will automatically be added in proper index order, however, it is a reasonable practice to reindex the data file.) The prompt will accept any drive/path/filename up to 60 characters in length. Looking at the prompt you may notice that it isn't wide enough... it is and it will scroll as you enter the information. Pressing [Enter] will accept the information, while ESC will abort the process. Editing Data You may edit data from the View All screen by placing the highlighter on the appropriate record and pressing [Enter]. You may also edit data from the Scanning screen, but this will be covered elsewhere. F10 will save the changes. Deleting Records You may delete a record by pressing the DELETE key. DELETED will ***************************************************************** A Radio Frequency Database For The Demanding Listener 10 ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** Scanner Buff! The Ultimate In Communications Databases ***************************************************************** Adding, Editing, Deleting & Tagging Records (cont) appear in the upper left corner of your screen. This function is a toggle function, meaning that as you depress the key repeatedly the record becomes deleted, then undeleted... back and forth. Records may also be deleted from the Scanning screen, but this will be covered elsewhere. Tagging Records For Print Records may be tagged for printing (Print Menu) from the View All screen by using the ALT-P key combination. PRINT will appear in the upper right of your screen. This is a toggle function, meaning that is alternates between tagged and untagged with each depression. You may also tag records for printing from the Scanning screen, but this will be covered elsewhere. Editing Commands SCANNER BUFF! v3.60 uses the popular WordStar (tm) editing commands. Actually, they're not identical, but follow the structure. Listed below are the commands to facilitate faster movement through the record while editing or adding records. Up-Arrow or ^E Move Up One Line Dn-Arrow or ^X Move Down One Line Left Arrow or ^S One Character Left Right Arrow or ^D One Character Right ^Left or ^A One Word Left ^Right or ^F One Word Right Home Left Side Of Line End Right Side Of Line ^Home Beginning Of Record ^End End Of Record ^N Insert A Blank Line ^Y Delete Line ^T Delete Word ^U Restore Current Line F10 Save Record/Changes ESC Abort Editing/Restore In addition to these commands you may move through the View All screens, as well as the Help System using the PgUp, PgDn, Ctl-PgUp, Ctl-PgDn key combinations. ***************************************************************** A Radio Frequency Database For The Demanding Listener 11 ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** Scanner Buff! The Ultimate In Communications Databases ***************************************************************** Searching For Data Now that we've entered data into our database we need to learn how to search for it using simple commands. Scanner Buff! Professional allows us several unique methods by which to accomplish this. Searching By Agency Name / Usage This is a multi-usage field. You may use it to store the agency name, or you may use it to store the usage and then activate a Group (Groups will be discussed shortly). During data entry you have the choice of entering data in any combination of upper or lower-case. This is important to recall at this time because in order to locate any record THE SAME CASE MUST BE USED. With this fact in mind we begin our search by placing the highlighter on Agency Name and pressing [Enter], or by pressing the first letter of the menu item. You will then be prompted to enter a maximum of 25 characters. You may enter the search data exactly as you would like to find it, or as a partial string. More on partial strings in a moment. Having done this, press [Enter]. If any number of matching records is successfully located you will be shown them one at a time on the Scanning screen. Because the Scanning screen performs several tasks, sorry folks, but you'll have to wait just a bit for more on this, also. Searching A Partial String This applies to all of the search types except Position. The nature of the Search function is such that you may enter a partial string, such as TEM and locate all records beginning with the three left most characters of TEM. The more characters you add, the more precise the search condition. In this example and using the supplied L.A. County Sheriff data file, Temple City Station and Temple City Tac will be located. NOTE: All searches are case-sensitive. You must search in the same case as the record was initially entered. Searching By Frequency There is no difference between search by agency and frequency, except that with frequency we are using numbers. Because a great deal of latitude has been given the user as far as how a frequency is entered the frequency field is a character field. This allows us the ability to search for exact matches, or also by a partial string. ***************************************************************** A Radio Frequency Database For The Demanding Listener 12 ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** Scanner Buff! The Ultimate In Communications Databases ***************************************************************** Searching By Frequency (cont) After selecting the Frequency menu item by placing the highlighter on it and pressing [Enter], or by pressing the first letter of the menu item, you are presented a prompt allowing you to enter a maximum of 10 characters. You may enter data with as many decimals as you have entered during data entry. After filling the prompt and pressing [Enter] you will be shown all matching records one at a time from the Scanning screen. Partial Strings And Frequencies As with an agency name, you may search by a partial string. With a frequency this has the added benefit of establishing a small query. For example, rather than entering the entire frequency you simply enter 482. . Now all records beginning with the first three numbers of 482, followed by a decimal, will be shown to you. Frequencies less than 482 and greater than 483 will be excluded. Searching By Callsign Though it may seem redundant there is no difference between searching by agency name and a callsign. You will be prompted for a maximum of eight characters or a partial string. All matching records will be shown to you one at a time. Searching By Municipality This is the City / Town field and is now different during a search from the other fields. You will be prompted for a maximum of 20 characters or a partial string. All matching records will be shown to you one at a time. Searching By Group The Group field is where you place the name of an identifying string categorizing the particular record. This Group may be any combination of characters or numbers, upper or lower-case. As with other searches, you will be prompted for a maximum of 20 characters or a partial string. All matching records will be shown to you one at a time. In another area of this instruction manual you will be shown how to set up a controlling Group, or "filter". A Group search is not affected by any Group filter set. ***************************************************************** A Radio Frequency Database For The Demanding Listener 13 ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** Scanner Buff! The Ultimate In Communications Databases ***************************************************************** Searching By Position The Position field is where you may store your monitors memory position number. Although this field is a character field also, it does not conform to the previously learned methods of searching. You are able to search for a partial string, but will find this practice somewhat limited. In any case, at the prompt you may enter a maximum of three digits. All matching records will be shown to you one at a time. For a more effective method of searching the Position field, see the section on Building A Query. The View All Screen We've previously mentioned that the View All Records screen is one method of adding, editing, print tagging, deleting, or just plain viewing of records. A few thoughts beyond this are in order. All records in the currently selected data file will be shown alphabetically, even if an individual record is tagged for deletion. (v3.60 now allows the View All screen to follow a Group. This is selected by answering a prompt when opening a Group. Performance does slow down, however.) This differs from previous versions where after deleting a record it no longer appeared and was reoved during reindexing. This is no longer the case. To delete a record press the DELETE key. The word DELETED will appear in the top left of your screen. Pressing the DELETE key again will recall the record and remove the delete tag. Placing the highlighter on any record and any field of that record will allow you to edit the record once you press [Enter]. Pressing F10 after the edit will save the changes, while ESC will abort and return you to the View All screen. Remember also that the ALT-P key combination will tag a record for printing from the Print Menu. All print tags are removed after printing. ***************************************************************** A Radio Frequency Database For The Demanding Listener 14 ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** Scanner Buff! The Ultimate In Communications Databases ***************************************************************** Q U E R Y B Y E X A M P L E Building A Query This is perhaps the most powerful feature of this program! Using just this feature you can selectively sort through similar and dissimilar data very quickly and view only those records that meet your conditions. This is rather a lengthy topic, but is necessarily so in order for you to take full advantage of its inherent power and flexibility. A Query is nothing more than one or more 'conditions' that, when evaluated, must return a logical true, or, 'yes, that's what I wanted to find'. This is done by mating various fields with Operators. If we intend to establish more than one condition to evaluate these conditions are then linked by way of Modifiers. A discussion of both Operators and Modifiers is in order: Operators Remember when you were in school and were trying to think of a good reason to know about such things as > Greater Than, <> Not Equal To, and the other assorted symbols? Well, you've now found a use for them! Although we may be dealing with text as data, it is important to understand that our computers are dealing only with numbers. For example, the upper-case A has a value to our computer of 69. This means that if we were to replace the text we are working with its numerical value string one of ABC would look like 697071. We can now compare string one against string two of ACB, or 697170. In doing so, we would ask, "Is 697071 equal to 697170?" The answer would be false. This is a logical operation based on the numerical value of the alphabet, but also applies to numbers. Turn to the next page and let's take a close look at each of the Operators: ***************************************************************** A Radio Frequency Database For The Demanding Listener 15 ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** Scanner Buff! The Ultimate In Communications Databases ***************************************************************** Operators = Equal To A Value Must Exactly Equal <> Not Equal To A Value Must Not Equal < Less Than A Value Must Be Less Than > Greater Than A Value Must Be Greater Than <= Less Than or Equal A Value Must Be Less Than or Equal To >= Greater Than or Equal A Value Must Be Greater Than or Equal To $ Contains String A Value Must Contain This String Equal To When comparing a value for an equal condition an exact match must occur. If were using the agency name field and we are looking for all records matching TEMPLE CITY STATION, only those records in all capitals worded exactly the same would be found. Not Equal When comparing a value that is not equal to we are essentially excluding a particular record, such as TEMPLE CITY TAC. All other records would meet our condition and would be found. Less Than When comparing a value for a less than condition we will only locate records of a lesser value, such as TEMPLE CITY TAC will only show us records up to TEMPLE CITY, but nothing beyond this. Remember that our comparisons are done from left-to-right, one position or character at a time. As long as the condition remains true the comparison continues. Greater Than Identical to the above, except we're looking for a value that is greater than TEMPLE CITY, such as TEMPLE CITY TAC. Less Than / Greater Than or Equal These are the same as the last two example, but they will include our comparison value in the search. ***************************************************************** A Radio Frequency Database For The Demanding Listener 16 ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** Scanner Buff! The Ultimate In Communications Databases ***************************************************************** Query Operators (cont) Contains Suppose we know that a particular record contains somewhere in its agency name field the letters of DET. Using this operator we can locate all DETECTIVE, DETENTION, SPECIAL INVESTIGATIONS DET. , etc, because they contain the string as a whole anywhere in the agency name field. Modifiers .AND. / .OR. So far we've only looked at a single condition query. Let's say that we want to locate all records with an agency name of TEMPLE CITY TAC and a frequency of 483.2625. This would look something like: Agency Name = TEMPLE CITY TAC .AND. Frequency = 483.2625 ^^^^^ In order for this condition to be true, both elements must be true. Otherwise the entire expression is false. Why? Because the .AND. modifier was used. The remaining modifier is .OR. . Changing the above example just a bit we can create an either/or condition so that: Agency Name = TEMPLE CITY TAC .OR. Frequency = 483.2625 ^^^^ would reveal a true condition if either one of the values was true. The best way to understand these is to try them for yourself. They really aren't as cryptic as one might think. To do so, highlight the menu item Build A Query and press [Enter]. Select the field you would like to work with and supply an operator from those detailed above. Once you've done this you will be prompted for a value to compare against. The length of the prompt will vary dependent on the field selected. Finally, select a modifier. You will then be asked to build another condition. You may choose Done at this point to begin a single field query if you'd like also. Pressing ESC at any point in the query set-up will return you to the calling menu, otherwise, the queried search will begin. All matching records will be shown to you one at a time. This type of search is slower than any other type of search, due to its nature. Because of this, queries on a large data file of more than 1000 records or so will show a noticeable loss in speed. You may build a query with up to three conditions. ***************************************************************** A Radio Frequency Database For The Demanding Listener 17 ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** Scanner Buff! The Ultimate In Communications Databases ***************************************************************** Adding New Records and Merging Data Files Included in the Search Menu is a sub-menu Enter New Records. One might think that this type of function really belongs elsewhere, but consider the fact that the majority of your time will be spent in the Search Menu. Does it sound logical now? I'm glad we agree. Although you may add individual records from the View All screen you may also add them from here. To do so accept the menu item and a blank record will appear. Press F10 to save the new record, or ESC to abort. Merging A Data File This feature first appeared in v1.0 with many capabilities, but was removed in v1.1 . A conversion utility was released, but has seen little usage. v3.70 now includes the ability to merge any lesser version into a v3.70 data file. Not all information will appear however, since different versions contained different fields. Merging a data file is as simple as accepting the menu item and answering the prompt asking for you to enter the COMPLETE drive/path/filename of the data file. Enter this information and press [Enter]. The prompt accepts this information up to 60 characters, although the prompt is only 20 characters wide. It will scroll to accommodate larger paths. The data file being merged must be a Scanner Buff! data file. The file header is checked, but only marginally. Attempting to merge any file other than the accepted type will cause a fatal error and abort you to DOS. Provided that you've met these basic requirements your data file will be merged into the current data file in correct index order. You will want to manually edit each record and add additional data, such as Group information. ***************************************************************** A Radio Frequency Database For The Demanding Listener 18 ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** Scanner Buff! The Ultimate In Communications Databases ***************************************************************** The Scanning Screen A great deal of work is done from this screen. Each time you search for data or build a query and successfully locate data it will be shown to you on this screen. From this screen you may: Edit - Placing the highlighter on Edit and pressing [Enter] will allow you to edit the record. Next - Placing the highlighter on Next and pressing [Enter] advances you to the next match. Previous - Placing the highlighter on Previous and pressing [Enter] advances you to the last record. Delete - You may delete or recall this record. Comment - You may insert many pages of comments. Refer to the Editing Commands for help on moving around. List - Tags a record for printing from the Print Menu. ***************************************************************** A Radio Frequency Database For The Demanding Listener 19 ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** Scanner Buff! The Ultimate In Communications Databases ***************************************************************** The Codes Menu As with the Edit/Delete functions, all features are identical here, except that the edit function also doubles as the search routine. This was done because generally codes are exclusive... each code usually only has one meaning and vice versa. A great deal of discussion really isn't necessary in this area. Of importance to those of you that have up-graded from v1.xx, you you must run SCANCNVT on your code files before attempting to use them with Version v3.70. If your code files are version 2.0 files you may simply rename them to SCAN37.001 for the Code.Dat file, and SCAN37.002 for the Code.Ndx file and v3.70 will do the rest for you. Additional information has been included in the file structure and failing to convert the files properly will cause a fatal error. v3.60 cannot convert v1.0 or v1.1 files. ***************************************************************** A Radio Frequency Database For The Demanding Listener 20 ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** Scanner Buff! The Ultimate In Communications Databases ***************************************************************** The Print Menu Print features have been enhanced considerably and allow several pre-defined sort orders, but also the ability to build a query and print the results. To print any type of list choice its type from the menu and press [Enter]. Printing on any IBM compatible will begin. Pressing ESC will stop printing once the current line is printed. Printing By Agency Name You may print an alphabetic list based on the agency name by selecting this menu item. All records in the data file will be printed. Printing By Frequency You may print a numeric list based on the frequency, but also sub- sorted on the agency name. All records in the data file will be printed. Printing By Callsign You may print an alphabetic list based on the callsign, but also sub-sorted on the agency name. All records in the data file will be printed. Printing By City You may print an alphabetic list based the city, but also sub- sorted on the agency name. All records in the data file will be printed. Printing By Group You may print an alphabetic list based on the group, but also sub- sorted on the agency name. All records in all groups will be printed. Printing By Position You may print a numerical list based on the scanner memory position. All records in the data file will be printed. Print A Query You may build a query and print the results sub-sorted on the agency name. Only those records matching the query will be printed. A condensed list may now be printed also. ***************************************************************** A Radio Frequency Database For The Demanding Listener 21 ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** Scanner Buff! The Ultimate In Communications Databases ***************************************************************** The File Menu Here is where we get into the hard-core database tools. This is also where this program out does all other scanner frequency database programs, but also gets its hefty size from. Changing The Active Data File Selecting this menu item will allow you to choose from a pop-up list another pre-existing data file. Only v3.xx are available to select from. To select a file place the highlighter on its name and press [Enter]. If not all of the index files are found a complete set of new ones will be recreated. All will be recreated to prevent against corrupt data. Comments from versions less than v3.70 can not be read. Merge lesser versions into a v3.70 file if you desire Comments. If no data files exist in the current drive/path in use you will be prompted accordingly. If you haven't guessed at this point, your path must be changed prior to attempting to select another file if you have placed your own files in another sub-directory or on another disk. Creating A New Data File If you have at least 14k of disk space available you may create an empty data file. You will be asked to provide a seven character file name that is acceptable to DOS. Although DOS allows eight characters the program will be stripping off the last character anyway, so this method was used so that you would be more familiar with your file names. If the file does not currently exist in the drive/path in use it will be created, along with its six associated index files. If it does exist you will be asked to over-write it and the program will do as you ask. Changing The Drive/ Path As a default Scanner Buff! will look for and store all files in the program directory. You may change this at any time by entering a new drive / path at the prompt. The prompt will accept a maximum of 60 characters, although the actual prompt appears to only be 20 characters wide. The prompt will scroll to the right as you enter the characters. If you select either drive A: or B: you will be asked to insert a disk in the appropriate drive and press [Enter]. A drive error may or may not be returned, so it is your responsibility to make sure a disk is in the drive in order to avoid a possible fatal error. ***************************************************************** A Radio Frequency Database For The Demanding Listener 22 ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** Scanner Buff! The Ultimate In Communications Databases ***************************************************************** Reindexing The Data File There are six index files associated with each data file you create. This is where the speed of Scanner Buff! is obtained, and without them searches of as few 100 records would take several seconds to several minutes. This is also where all the hard work is done, yet it goes unseen -- their function is transparent to the user. Because these files are vital they must be protected and conditioned. The process of reindexing does just this, but is also what permanently removes individual records from the data file that you have previously tagged for deletion. To perform this operation select the menu item and reindexing will begin. Extensive timing tests on a 7mhz 8088 computer indicate that reindexing 3000 records takes approximately 7 minutes. Results will differ for you based upon your specific hardware configuration. Additionally, if you are using a RAM disk the results will improve even more. Opening A Group Groups are a new feature to Scanner Buff! and offer a great deal of selectivity to your operations. During the entering of data into new records you were encouraged to assign each record to a 'Group' categorizing the record into a type. This type can be anything that means something to you, or one that is more common, such as POLICE, FIRE, MEDICAL, TAXI, etc. A Group acts as a filter. You may have a data file containing 3000 records, all of different types. Opening a group to that of a type you have assigned to any number of records restricts your operations to just those records of the same type, such as FIRE. When performing a search only those records will appear. What this means is that you can assign multiple records the same agency name / usage, but to different groups, and thus restrict which ones you work with. Let's try an example for this: Agency Name : TAC 1 Agency Name : TAC 1 Group : L.A.S.O. Group : L.A.P.D. Although both have identical agency names the group name is different. By opening one group or another you can view only those records belonging to, for example, L.A.S.O. To open a Group select the menu item and press [Enter]. At the prompt enter then name of a group. If it is found the filter will be set, otherwise you will be informed and no group filter will be set. ***************************************************************** A Radio Frequency Database For The Demanding Listener 23 ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** Scanner Buff! The Ultimate In Communications Databases ***************************************************************** Closing A Group Closing a group releases any active Group filter you have previously set and allows access to all records. Saving Your Set-Up & Undoing Your Set-Up By default Scanner Buff! makes several assumptions. It is assumed that the inuse data file will be SCAN.MDF, the drive / path will be the program directory, and no group is open. You, however, may reconfigure Scanner Buff! during normal program execution and prior to exiting save new default values. By selecting this menu item, whatever data file is in use from any drive / path, and whatever group is open at the time will become the defaults for the program when initialized at any time in the future. This will occur until you release the set-up by selecting the Undo Set-Up menu item, or by erasing SCAN37.CFG from DOS. ***************************************************************** A Radio Frequency Database For The Demanding Listener 24 ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** Scanner Buff! The Ultimate In Communications Databases ***************************************************************** Quitting Scanner Buff! Several options are available for exiting the program. Exit - You may exit completely without leaving Scanner Buff! in memory. Shell - You may shell to DOS and load a second copy of Command.com and perform numerous DOS level functions, including running other programs. To do this you must have declared in you Autoexec.bat file that COMSPEC=[drive\path\filespec] using the DOS SET command. Refer to your DOS manual for instructions on doing this if you are not familiar with it. The DOS shell also requires that you have enough free RAM to load another copy of command.com. Scanner Buff! requires approximately 384k of RAM to operate, so if you are using a system with only 384k you will not be able to perform this function. If you do all is well. You may increase the amount of RAM that is available for a DOS shell by including in your Autoexec.bat file SET CLIPPER=r160. This is a compiler command that releases certain portions of the program during a shell. You may have to experiment with the value used, such as r150, or r200. Using 640k of RAM to begin with I have been able to shell into approximately 200k of usable RAM after loading a second copy of Command.com . Resume - This returns you to the main menu without any action. ESC may also be pressed. ***************************************************************** A Radio Frequency Database For The Demanding Listener 25 ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** Scanner Buff! The Ultimate In Communications Databases ***************************************************************** P A R T I N G N O T E S This concludes your guided tour through all of the features contained in Version v3.70 . SCANNER BUFF! has taken countless hours of writing code, countless hours of re-writing code, and so on, but there is no guarantee of complete error-free success. My vanity and pride will suffer, but I must ask that those of you interested in a professional quality program of this nature to contact me regarding any bugs found, or suggestions for improvements. I have no present intent to charge more than $25.00 for this program, but do solicit this token amount from those of you that can appreciate the sleepless nights that have gone into the making of SCANNER BUFF! (it's now 5:30am!). Registered users that submit ideas for additions or improvements will receive the next release free of charge if their idea is used in any way, shape or form! Version 4 is already being dreamed up, so let's hear from you!!! Any comments or suggestions may be addressed to the following: Robert W. Ricci Vista Software & Communications 172 North Lima Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 (818) 355-2365 I can be reached by E-Mail on The Ledge at (818) 352-3620 under the name of Bob Ricci. Customized versions are available for a nominal fee. If you are a licensed amateur, or a Communications Technician with a public safety agency in any state and have a more specific need, please contact me. Many things can be done for you for the mere price of registration, depending on what you would like. Thank You for taking the time to read this far! Best of luck. Robert W. Ricci Thomas D. Hart SCANNER BUFF!'s ***************************************************************** A Radio Frequency Database For The Demanding Listener 26 ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** Scanner Buff! The Ultimate In Communications Databases ***************************************************************** S C A N N E R B U F F ! File Conversion Utility Version 1.01 February 19, 1991 [ THIS UTILITY IS NOW INCORPORATED WITHIN SCANNER BUFF ] This utility was put together quickly as a tool for Scanner Buff! users. The purpose of FILECNVT is to convert ASCII delimited files to Scanner Buff! .MDF files, as well as to output ASCII delimited files from Scanner Buff! .MDF files. As a bonus, FILECNVT will also reorganize an ASCII delimited file so that FILECNVT can convert its new order to an .MDF file. Although FILECNVT was put together quickly, it does exactly what it is supposed to do. This is a beta release, however, and users are encouraged to provide me with suggestions, comments, or bug reports. Instructions aren't really necessary for most operations, but I'll give a little explanation regardless. Converting A .MDF File To Sequential Almost every database program I have seen or used is able to read delimited ASCII files. These are the files that contain field data between quotation marks, and each field is separated by a comma. FILECNVT is able to read a Scanner Buff! .MDF file and output a delimited ASCII file so that you may use the contents of the new file in another program, such as Scanner Buff! On-Line v3.xx (this is the door version). To do this, the .MDF file must be in the same directory as the FILECNVT program. Accept the first menu item and you will be asked for the name of the file to convert. Enter this name without the .MDF extension. If the file is not found you will abort to the main menu, otherwise, you will be asked to input the name of the delimited ASCII file to create. Once you have done this a delimited ASCII file with an extension of .TXT will be created. All fourteen Scanner Buff! fields will be exported, regardless of their value to you. Converting A Sequential File To .MDF Many users of Scanner Buff! have delimited ASCII files obtained from other sources. These files may be converted to .MDF files that Scanner Buff! may read. This is assuming that the order of the data ***************************************************************** A Radio Frequency Database For The Demanding Listener 27 ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** Scanner Buff! The Ultimate In Communications Databases ***************************************************************** is in the proper order of Agency, Frequency, Callsign, City, County, State, Group and Comments. There are other fields used by Scanner Buff!, but these given here are the only significant ones. If your file contains this information, but is in a different order, see the next section called Reorganizing. Otherwise, follow these instructions to convert your sequential file to a .MDF file: Selecting the menu item Sequential To MDF will prompt you for the name of the sequential file to convert. Enter this file name without the extension. If this file exists in the program directory you will be asked to enter the output .MDF file name. Enter this name without the extension. Your sequential file will be converted to a .MDF file. YOU are responsible for the order that data appears in the .MDF file. If you use a file with a different field order weird data may appear in Scanner Buff! fields. Reorganizing A Sequential File This is probably the most useful function to you. It will allow you to create a Scanner Buff! ordered sequential file from nearly any delimited ASCII file. Once you have accomplished this, you may also convert the created file to a .MDF file. There are several steps required to do this: Step 1: View your sequential file with an editor and determine what fields appear in what position. An example of this would be Agency = position 1 --> "Temple City Station","483.2375","WII803" , Callsign = position 3, and Frequency is in position 2. You will need to know this information for the next step to work, so view your file and write down the order on a piece of paper. Step 2: Accept the menu item Reorganize and enter the file name of your sequential file without the extension. If this file exists you will be asked to enter the name of the sequential file to create. Enter this without the extension. Once these names have been determined you will be shown a screen asking you to enter the position information that you determined on your own. Enter this field information where indicated. All cursor keys are available to you to move around the screen. Enter a zero (0) for any field that does not exist in your data file and empty data will be placed in the converted file to hold its place when merging into a .MDF file. Zero's were previously not allowed. The last item asked for on this screen is the total number of fields in YOUR sequential file. FILECNVT will be creating a temporary database and your data will be read in. By telling FILECNVT how many fields you have your chances increase for a successful reorganization. You may have up to 99 fields in your sequential files, although I doubt any of you have files this large. Regardless, FILECNVT will now read your sequential file and transpose the order of each record to Scanner Buff! order of Agency, Frequency, Callsign, City, County, ***************************************************************** A Radio Frequency Database For The Demanding Listener 28 ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** Scanner Buff! The Ultimate In Communications Databases ***************************************************************** State, Group, and Comments. As you can see, even if you have 99 fields only the Scanner Buff! significant fields will be transferred to your output file. Step 3: Once you have reorganized your sequential file you can then convert it to a .MDF file by following the steps required in menu item 2. FILECNVT will always alert you if your outfile file is going to be overwritten, or your input file does not exist. FILECNVT will not monitor disk space, so if you are in doubt do some house cleaning (what do you expect for quick and dirty programming... and free?). CHANGES The file conversion routines have now been included in v3.6x of Scanner Buff! Execution of commands is identical to the instructions contained in this document. Future versions of the Scanner Buff! documentation will include this file. Basically, if you're using a current version of Scanner Buff! you will no longer need FILECNVT in order to convert your data files. I locked out these routines in version 3.55 - 3.56, but enabled them when Scanner Buff! was proposed as a nationwide standard for the exchange of data files. As long as users continue to register I will keep these routines available for use. They will be the first ones locked out of unregistered versions in the future if the required registration is not received by a decent number of users. Let's face it, I know that GENIE and some of the other networks have several hundred downloads -- have YOU registered your copy yet? This covers your quick tour through FILECNVT, the Scanner Buff! file conversion utility. Robert W. Ricci A Scanner Buff! ***************************************************************** A Radio Frequency Database For The Demanding Listener 29 *****************************************************************