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S C R A P S 1.7 "Back-up Your Brain" Program and documentation (C) Copyright Raymond Lowe 1991 All Rights Reserved Disclaimer Raymond Lowe makes no warranty of any kind, neither express nor implied, including but not limited to implied warranties of fitness for any particular purpose nor of security of operation, with respect to this software and accompanying documentation. IN NO EVENT SHALL RAYMOND LOWE BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES (INCLUD- ING FINES, CRIMINAL DAMAGES OR OTHER PECUNIARY LOSS OR OTHER LOSS OF ANY KIND) ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR OPERATION (WHETHER CORRECT OR INCORRECT) OF THIS PROGRAM OR INABILITY TO USE THIS PROGRAM, EVEN IF RAYMOND LOWE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. License A limited license is hereby granted to COPY this program, the accompanying associated utilities and sample files and documentation (THE PACKAGE) provided that it is not modified in any way. The package may be repacked in a different form provided the contents remains the same. Additional quick start ("GO.BAT") files may be added to the package. A limited license is further granted to USE the package for a trial period, not to exceed 30 days (consecutive or otherwise), for the sole purpose of determining whether the package is suitable for your use. Should you decide that it is suitable for your use and wish to continue using it after the trial period then you are REQUIRED to obtain a full license by REGISTERING the package. Credits. OMOUSE by John W. Small of PSW/Power Software. EXECSWAP by Kim Kokkonen of TurboPower Software. LZEXE by Fabrice BELLARD. DESQ42 by James H. LeMay of Eagle Performance Software. DESQview is a trademark of Quarterdeck Office Systems. Windows is trademark of Microsoft. Other products named may be trademarks of their owners. S C R A P S Page: 2 Table of Contents ----------------- Table of Contents..........................................3 Introduction ..............................................5 Shareware .................................................7 The Metaphor ..............................................8 Installation .............................................10 Using Scraps .............................................11 The Menus ................................................12 Edit menu ................................................13 Find menu ................................................15 Scrap menu ...............................................17 Group menu ...............................................18 Tools menu ...............................................20 Monthly calendar.......................................20 Calculator ............................................20 Phone Dialer ..........................................21 DOS Shell .............................................21 ToDo list .............................................21 Launch application ....................................22 Appointment Calendar ..................................22 SetUp menu ...............................................23 Setup Country .........................................24 AutoDialer ............................................24 Registration ..........................................24 Security ..............................................25 Reminders and Alarms .....................................26 /R switch .............................................27 SAlarm ................................................27 ScrDV .................................................28 ScrWIN.................................................28 Import and Export ........................................29 Import Scrap ..........................................29 Export Scrap ..........................................29 Export Group ..........................................29 Import Group...........................................30 Importing YOUR information ...............................30 dBase phone directory .................................31 Word processor files ..................................32 Security .................................................33 Password ..............................................33 Scrap encryption ......................................33 Problems with security ...................................34 Projects .................................................35 ToDo List ................................................36 Application launcher .....................................38 Help within Scraps .......................................41 Hints on usage ...........................................42 Scraps with task switchers ...............................44 S C R A P S Page: 3 Known problems ...........................................45 Word processor input ..................................45 /O switch .............................................45 Country specific settings ................................46 Coping Scraps data .......................................47 Changes in v1.7 ..........................................49 Error messages ...........................................51 ScrFix utility ...........................................55 Support ..................................................57 The Interface ............................................58 Registering ..............................................64 Sysop deal ............................................65 Registration form .....................................66 S C R A P S Page: 4 Introduction ------------ Scraps is a Freeform Personal Information Manager (PIM) for your PC. You can use Scraps to store all those odd facts and bits of information that you come across in your busy life. Scraps will then give you rapid access to those facts. Features: * Free text database. Every word in the database is `indexed' for retrieval. * Powerful search functions using the Boolean operators AND and/or OR. Allows short synonyms for AND and OR. * 'History' on search command to easily repeat previous search with or without changes. * Fast and simple text editor with block operations, import/export. Supports direct import of common word processor files. * Common User Access style Pull-down menu interface with dialogue boxes. All fully mouse controllable. * Reminders associated with text entries accurate to the minute. Option to automatically search for due reminders at program startup. * External SAlarm module for reminder alarms even while not running Scraps. * DESQview specific alarm module provides advanced alarm support for DV users. * Microsoft Windows specific alarm module provides advanced alarm support for Windows users. * Four function calculator with `tape' display that can be annotated and pasted into the editor. * Perpetual calendar. * Telephone dialer. Picks telephone numbers directly out of text. * DOS shell. Swaps program out to EMS or disk for more room. * ToDo List. * Application launcher. S C R A P S Page: 5 * Appointment Calendar. With alarms. * 43/50 line support. Will use as many lines as are shown on the screen. * Releases time slices under DESQview. * Option for direct video writes or BIOS video for compatibility with windowing systems. * Special design allows retrieval of data even from badly damaged data files using special FIX utility. * Password security and data encryption. * Full Context Sensitive Help. S C R A P S Page: 6 Shareware --------- Scraps is a user supported or "Shareware" package. Shareware is a new way of buying software. With Shareware you as the buyer can thoroughly evaluate software before making your purchase decision. You are granted a licence for a 30 day trial period during which you may use Scraps to decide if you want to use it permanently. By distributing programs via the Shareware system software authors avoid the high overheads involved in conventional commercial distribution. These savings are passed on to you, the buyer, in the form of low registration fees. Shareware is not free software. Shareware is copyright software just like the packages you buy in shops, you must pay for it if you use it. All copyright laws apply to Shareware as they do to programs distributed through other channels. It is only through your registration that the author receives any support for his work. So if, following your evaluation of the Shareware software, you choose to continue using please pay the registration fee to the author. Not only does it support the author but it also gives you a legal licence to use the software. Any fees you may have paid to a Shareware distributor to obtain the Shareware package on a disk is a copying fee and does not constitute registering. The author does not receive any part of the copying fee; registration fees must be paid directly to the author. If, following the evaluation period, you decide that the software is inappropriate for your needs then you must stop using it. In which cause you will not have to pay anything to the author. At any later time you are free to pay the registration fee to receive a licence to use the software. Shareware differs from `conventional' software only in the distribution method used. While the author retains full copyright on the program, and reserves all rights, to allow for Shareware distribution, a universal licence is granted to copy and distribute the software. You are free to copy the software and to share it with others regardless of whether you use it yourself. See the section on Registering for details on how to obtain your full licence. S C R A P S Page: 7 The Metaphor ------------ To understand how Scraps works and, more important, how best to use it, it is helpful to have a physical `metaphor' or analogy. Imagine a big pile of small scraps of paper. Each piece of paper has some important bit of information written on it. Most pieces are quite small but some are largish, holding up to a thousand words or so. Imagine an assistant who's full-time job it is to manage these pieces of paper. When you come across a significant piece of information; an appointment, an address or telephone number, the command to do a DOS backup, the name of your next door neighbor's dog or any other piece of information you might want to recall, you write it down on a scrap of paper which you hand to your assistant. Items that you need to be reminded of, the date of the next board meeting, your mother's birthday and so on, you also note down together with a date on which you want be reminded. These you also hand to your assistant. Some time later you say to your assistant; "Get me everything you have on Johnson and the Xyz project" or you say "Anything I should be reminded of right now?" Your assistant finds and hands you a small bundle of appropriate notes to read. Enter Scraps ------------ Imagine all that. Now imagine that we throw everything - pieces of paper and the assistant too - into your PC, and now you have Scraps. Except that now the pieces of paper never get rumpled or smudged, are never lost behind your desk or thrown away accidentally, and your assistant never rests, asks for a raise or goes on holidays. Scraps is an invaluable tool for the busy computer user who deals with large amounts of unstructured information. A note on PIMs -------------- There are many different programs that fall into the category of Personal Information Managers. An important division among them is between Structured and Freeform PIMs. S C R A P S Page: 8 Scraps is very much a Freeform PIM. It leaves it up to you how you should arrange your information and how much structure you should place on it. On the one hand this gives you much greater freedom, but on the other it lacks some of the convenience of a structured approach. If your life is filled with PostIts and notes written on the backs of envelopes, your desk covered with aging newspaper cuttings and notebooks full of ideas, and your hard disk full of captured E-Mail messages then you will find that Scraps can finally bring some organization to your information. Take advantage of the 30 trial licence granted to you under the Shareware system to see if Scraps is your kind of PIM! S C R A P S Page: 9 Installation ------------ Files ----- The Scraps package consists of the following files; SCRAPS.COM The main program file. SCRAPS.DAT A dummy file. SCRFIX.COM A utility. SCRAPS.DOC This documentation file. SCRAPS.HLP The Scraps help file. REGISTER.FRM Registration form. README Startup instructions. README.BAT File to display the README file. SCRAPS.PIF Default Scraps setup for Windows. SC-PIF.DVP Default Scraps setup for DESQview. INSTALL.EXE Automatic installation program. SAMPLES.DAT Set of example data. STARTING.DOC A "quick start" abstract of the manual. TUTORIAL.DOC Tutorial manual. SCRDV.EXE DESQview specific alarm module. SA-PIF.DVP DV configuration for SCRDV.EXE. SCRWIN.EXE Windows 3 specific alarm module. If you do not have all these files please go back to the source where you found this file and obtain all parts of the package before continuing. Installation and Setup ---------------------- The Scraps Install program will take care of installation for you, and do a lot more besides. Just run INSTALL.EXE and select the appropriate options from the menu. You may choose to make a special directory for Scraps, such as C:\SCRAPS, or it can happily run from any convenient directory. The supplied SCRAPS.DAT data file on the distribution disk is a dummy showing that Scraps is not yet installed. Scraps will automatically replace it with the set of sample data in SAMPLES.DAT if you try to run it with the dummy file still in place. If you use Windows, DESQview or a task switcher then you may want to install Scraps as one of the programs that can be run from that environment. Default settings files for using Scraps with Windows and DESQview are supplied. S C R A P S Page: 10 Using Scraps ------------ Scraps is essentially a database of free form text. Each piece of text is a `scrap', each scrap is of length limited only by memory (free memory is displayed on the About box from the Help menu). The heart of the program is the Find command, this quickly allows you to search for scraps containing a particular word or phrase. When a find command finds scraps that contain a specified word, or match some other requirement, they are all gathered into a `Group'. You may then view the scraps in the group by paging to the next or previous scrap in the group with the GREY Plus and Minus keys. There is always one blank scrap, the `New' scrap, for you to enter new data on. The new scrap is not a part of the data file until it is explicitly saved. Other scraps are all stored in the data file and any changes are saved on the fly. The 'scrap editor' which you use to enter, view and change scraps is a kind of mini-word processor. For large or complex pieces of text you may choose to use your normal word processor or text editor. Then use the editor 'import' command to read the text into the scrap editor. Every scrap and all the information used by the Scraps program is saved into a single data file called SCRAPS.DAT. This file is always stored in the same directory as the Scraps program files. The data file also contains a proprietary indexing system, this is what allows the scraps to be searched at high speed for any word or phrase. As well as locating scraps by word or phrase you can also find them by specifying creation, last-modified or reminder dates. With a set of handy built-in tools including ToDo List, Calculator and Phone Dialer you will find that Scraps provides all the facilities to manage your personal information. If you feel uncomfortable with the user interface read the section of the manual entitled The Interface for general instructions on how to get around the menus and dialogue boxes. At any time press the F1 key to receive Context Sensitive Help. S C R A P S Page: 11 The Menus --------- Scraps is a menu driven program. All functions are available through one of the main menus. For the experienced user there are also keyboard and mouse shortcuts to provide easy access to common functions without going through menus. Activate the menus by pressing Alt-n where n is the highlighted letter in the name of the menu at the top of the screen. Alt-E is for the Edit menu, Alt-F for the Find menu and so on. Once a menu is activated choose one of the options either by moving the selection bar to the desired option and pressing the Enter key, or by typing the highlighted letter in the option name. Commonly used menu options have keyboard shortcuts listed on the right of the menu. For example Find by word is linked to the F2 key. You can access functions that have keyboard shortcuts by pressing the keyboard shortcut key either while editing or while any menu is active. Once a menu is active you can use the left and right arrow keys to move to other menus. You may also Alt-n as appropriate to move directly to another menu. To abort a menu without choosing an option press the Esc key. Mouse users can access menus and options by clicking on them with the left mouse button. They can also use the highlighted options in the base bar at the bottom of the screen by clicking on them with the left mouse button. The right mouse button escapes or cancels. S C R A P S Page: 12 Edit menu --------- The edit menus provides functions for editing the scrap which is currently shown on the screen. They will not function if the scrap is `protected'. See the Scrap/Settings option to toggle protection. Mark a block of text F10 Delete marked block Alt-F10 Copy marked block to clipboard Ctrl-F10 Paste from clipboard to cursor Shft-F10 Write marked block to text file... View clipboard ----------------------------------------- These options provide for block operations on text. To operate on a block of text first move the cursor to the beginning of the block, then select Mark a block of text (or press F10) and move the cursor to the end of the block. While the block is highlighted you may delete, copy or write it to a file. If copied to the clipboard the paste command can be used to paste the block back into this or another scrap. Text deleted with the Delete block command is also placed onto the clipboard for later pasting. View clipboard shows what is currently on the clipboard. Results from the calculator can also be transferred into scraps via the clipboard and the paste command. Import text file at cursor... F5 ----------------------------------------- See the manual section on importing for more on how this command allows you to import text or word processor files directly into a scrap. Insert Now date/time at cursor ------------------------------ Enters the current date and time in the format: 14 Sep 1991 12:53. Delete Line Ctrl-Y Delete Word Ctrl-T or Ctrl-BS ----------------------------------------- Options for handy text deletion. Deleted text is not saved. S C R A P S Page: 13 Find text within this Scrap... ------------------------------ With long scraps this option allows you to search for a specific piece of text in the scraps. Not case sensitive, does not extend to multiple lines. The cursor is placed on the found text. S C R A P S Page: 14 Find menu --------- The find menu provides various commands that search for scraps and loads matching scraps into a group for viewing and manipulating. All finds excludes those scraps belonging to projects that have been de-activated. See the section on projects for details. Find scrap by word... F3 Find scrap by word at Cursor... Alt-F3 ---------------------------------------- Functionally equivalent these commands allow searching for words, phrases or combinations of words and phrases. The Boolean AND and OR operators are supported. The second option automatically loads the word the cursor is on into the find field. This is good for hypertext-like jumps as you trace a topic through its associations. Enter things such as "JOHN AND PHONE" or "MEETING AND WIDGET PROJECT" to perform searches. Searches are not case sensitive and search for whole words only. Find by Date range ... ---------------------- Specify ranges from the creation, last-modified and reminder dates. The default dates match any scrap so result in loading all scraps. Most commonly used to find reminders for the future. Set the range for reminders to be between now and 12/31/99 and all future reminders will be loaded. Date fields have pop-up calendars for easy point-and-shoot selection of dates. Find reminders for Now ---------------------- This is a shortcut way of checking for reminders that are due now. Activated automatically by the /R switch and the "Check for reminders at startup" option. Vital for the operation of SAlarm and the reminder chimes. See the section on reminder alarms for more details. S C R A P S Page: 15 Load All scraps Ctrl-F3 ---------------------------------------- A pseudo find this matches every scrap and results in loading a group consisting of every findable scrap. S C R A P S Page: 16 Scrap menu ---------- The scrap menu controls the particular scrap shown on the screen. Save scrap F2 Delete scrap F4 ----------------------------- These are self explanatory. Saving a new scrap will result in a prompt for a reminder date. Delete will prompt for confirmation unless Expert mode is turned on in which case the delete is immediate. Deleted scraps are not preserved in any way. Set Reminder date... Shift-F2 ----------------------------- The reminder date is the date on which the scrap becomes due. Date fields have pop-up calendars for easy point-and-shoot selection of dates. Entering a new reminder date will update the alarm function, if it is activated, without the need for an explicit reminder search. Settings... Ctrl-F2 ----------------------------- Shows scrap dates and gives three toggle options. Protect causes the scrap to become read-only so it cannot be edited or deleted by accident. Unindex removes the scrap from the index so that it cannot be found by word searches. Encrypt causes it to be saved in encrypted form; see the section on security. Print scrap ----------- Print the scrap to the default printer. S C R A P S Page: 17 Group menu ---------- The group menu allows manipulation and management of scraps as a group. A group of scraps is creates as a result of a find command, all scraps matching the find become a group. New scraps that are saved or imported are added to the current group. + Next scrap in group Gray + - Previous scrap in group Gray - ----------------------------------- Move back and forward in the group. Normally you just use the grey plus and minus keys, the ones on the far right of the keyboard. Mouse users may use the small plus and minus buttons near the bottom right of the screen. Reject scrap from group ----------------------- Discards this scrap from the group. The scrap is NOT deleted, just rejected from the current group as though it had not been found in the first place. Normally used to reject some irrelevant scraps before performing an operation on the whole group. Import group from text file... Export group to text file... ------------------------------ The main import and export functions these read and write ASCII files which contain the full text of scraps, special settings indicators and separators between scraps. The import command can also read various word processor file formats. See the section of the manual about import/export. Delete all scraps in group... ----------------------------- Deletes all scraps in the group. Will prompt for conformation, can be set to delete protected scraps or to ask on each one. Conformation defaults to OFF if Expert mode is ON. List scraps in group F6 ----------------------------------- Go into special list mode where each scrap is shown on one line. This is handy for quickly moving to the scrap you want. Most helpful if you make sure each scrap has a recognizable `title' or subject as its first line. S C R A P S Page: 18 Clear group Select this scrap only ---------------------- Respectively empty the group and reduce the group to only this scrap. As with Reject this does not affect the actual scraps, merely whether they are part of the current group. Override settings ----------------- This powerful command allows you to change the `Settings' of all the scraps in the group with one command. The four things you can change are Protected, Unindexed, Encrypted and Project status. For each of these you can either Leave the current setting as it is, or set it On or Off. In the case of the Project you have to state what Project the scraps should be assigned to. You have to choose whether all scraps should be updated or only those that are not yet assigned to a project. S C R A P S Page: 19 Tools ----- The Scraps Tools menu gives access to a set of general purpose functions which are not directly related to scraps but which you may find useful to have readily at hand while working on your scraps. Monthly calendar ---------------- The calendar is a simple perpetual calendar for quick reference. It shows one month to one page. The Page up and Page down keys move the display to the previous or the next month. The Home key returns the display to the current month. The current date is highlighted. The Escape key or the right mouse button exits. You can click with the mouse on the Next and Prev buttons to change month. Calculator ---------- The Calculator is a simple four function calculator with a `tape' display. The tape simulates the paper tape produced by some mechanical calculators. Just type in equations such as 1+2, 3-5+2 and so on. Type = or press the Enter key for the total. The NumLock on the keyboard is forced on while in the calculator to make it easier to use the numeric keypad with the calculator. NumLock returns to its original state when you exit the calculator. As equations are entered the equations and results are stored on the tape for reference. The Tab key will move the cursor between the window showing the tape and the window in which you enter your equations. You can also click on those windows with the mouse. Similarly the up and down arrow keys can be used to move the cursor from one window to the other. The tape can be of any length though only a small portion is shown at a time. You can scroll easily in it and even type in notes and annotation using the same keystrokes as you do in the S C R A P S Page: 20 scraps editor. When you exit the calculator, either by pressing the Esc key or by clicking the right mouse button, you have the option of copying the tape onto the clipboard. If you choose to save the tape then you can use the Paste command from the Editor menu to paste the tape into the scrap. Phone Dialer ------------ The automatic telephone dialer will use your modem to dial a specified telephone number. The telephone number can be picked out of the text of a scrap by placing the cursor on the number before you pull down the Tools menu. The Setup autodialer dialogue box must be set up correctly for this to work. After dialing the number you can click OK to make the modem hang up, either when the other party answers or if you want to abort the call. The modem init string is used to reset the modem before dialing. It is also used to reset the modem to hang up the telephone line. DOS Shell --------- The DOS shell gives you access to DOS. When selected as much as possible of the Scraps program is swapped out to EMS memory or disk space to make room for a DOS shell. You can perform any DOS function while in the DOS shell except load a TSR program such as PRINT.COM or SideKick. Type EXIT at the DOS prompt to return to Scraps. ToDo list --------- This is a complete ToDo list application which is described in a separate section of the manual. S C R A P S Page: 21 Launch application ------------------ This is a complete application launcher which is described in a separate section of the manual. Appointment Calendar ------------------- This is a complete Appointment Calendar which is described in a separate section of the manual. S C R A P S Page: 22 SetUp menu ---------- There are seven options on the SetUp menu, each one leads to a dialogue box of settings for you to adjust. In the first box there are six options that control general functions. Check for reminders at startup ------------------------------ If you activate this option then every time you start Scraps it will check all of your scraps to see if any have a `reminder date' that is BEFORE the current date. Set this option on if you are going to use Scraps primarily as a reminder system. Even if you don't you can always use the command from the Find menu to search for your current reminders. See the section on reminders and alarms for how this updates the alarm list. Expert mode; less prompts ------------------------- Initially this setting is off. You may want to turn it on after you are totally familiar with Scraps operation. When expert mode is on there are less prompt messages shown. For example when picking the command to delete a scrap you will not get a chance to cancel the operation if expert mode is on. List found scraps ----------------- If this is turned on then Scraps will go into List mode after a successful find command. Alarm on due reminder --------------------- If this is turned on then Scraps will chime when a reminder is due. Provided that the alarm list has been loaded by a check for due reminders. For this reason it is best used with the "Check for reminders at startup" option. See the section on reminders and alarms. Use BIOS Video writes --------------------- Normally leave this option set at the default of NO. But if you are using a windowing system and do not want Scraps to write directly to the screen you may set it to Yes. If you change this setting it comes into effect at once. This S C R A P S Page: 23 can cause strange video effects in some situations. Exit the program and restart to fix this. Colours ------- Initially set to Force Mono you can change this to Autoselect unless you have a colour video card with a mono monitor as that combination might produce unreadable `colour' text. Setup Country ------------- Scraps normally checks the DOS settings to see what country your machines is set for. This allows it to customize the date, time and number formats to match local conventions. Most importantly the short date format is either Day/Month/Year, Month/Day/Year or Year/Month/Day. From this setup dialogue box you can override the DOS entry and select the date format yourself. AutoDialer Setup ---------------- On the autodialer set up box you will be able to install scraps autodialer for use with your modem. Set the "Serial Port" as appropriate. You will not need to change either the Modem init string or the Modem dial string unless you have unusual requirements in which case you should refer to your modem manual. Registration information ------------------------ Set up the registration information when you register Scraps. You will need to enter your name and the registration code you have been given. When entered correctly these will be `locked' and will not be changeable. S C R A P S Page: 24 Setup Security -------------- This dialogue box allows you to activate the security system of Scraps. The first option is for a password. The second is for the default of the scrap Encrypt setting. See the section on "Security" for details. Project names edit... Active projects edit... ----------------------- These two options control the `projects', a way of assigning your scraps to different categories. The first option allows you to name the 20 different available project numbers while the second lets you activate or deactivate each project. While a project is not active any scrap that belongs to that project is ignored by all `find' commands, it is treated as though it doesn't exist. Use the Scrap/Settings dialogue box to assign a single scraps to a project or Group/Override settings to assign a whole group. See also the section on Projects. All Scraps settings, including registration information, is stored in the SCRAPS.DAT file together with your data. Should you ever erase this file you will need to re-do your settings and re-enter your registration information. S C R A P S Page: 25 Reminders and Alarms -------------------- Scraps allows you to specify a reminder date and time for any scrap. You can then search for scraps with reminders within a set range or reminders that are now due. Scraps can also be set to give audible alarms when a reminder becomes due. Reminder alarms can also be heard while outside of Scraps by making use of the SAlarm module or, while in DESQview, the ScrDV module or while in Windows using the ScrWIN module. Reminders --------- When a scrap is first saved you may enter a reminder date or, at any later time, you can use the Set reminder function from the Scrap menu to set, change or remove the reminder. To remove a reminder set the reminder field to blank by using the delete or backspace keys. At any time you can run the Find reminders for Now command from the Find menu to locate due reminders. This function is performed automatically if you run Scraps with the /R switch or set the "Check for reminders at startup" in the Setup Scraps dialogue box. Alarms ------ Scraps provides for audible alarms when a reminder becomes due. There is no audible alarm on an overdue reminder, only on those as they become due, though overdue reminders are found and shown by the Find for Now command. If you set on the "Alarm on due reminder" option on the Setup Scraps dialogue box then Scraps will chime when a reminder is due and display a warning box. Inside the DESQview multitasking environment the Scraps window will become the topmost window in the system. While outside Scraps you can still have alarms if you load one of the three external alarm modules. 1) SAlarm is a TSR program for use in normal DOS environments. Load it in your AUTOEXEC.BAT to have alarms regardless of what program you are running. See details below. S C R A P S Page: 26 2) ScrDV is a DESQview specific program that provides the functions of SAlarm plus features that take advantage of the DV multitasking environment. See details below. 3) ScrWIN is a Microsoft Windows 3 specific program that provides the functions of SAlarm plus features that take advantage of the Windows multitasking environment. See details below. Before Scraps or SAlarm can generate alarms they must be loaded with the reminder date and times. This is done by doing a "check for reminders" either using the Find for Now function, the "Check for reminders at startup" setting or the /R switch. /R switch --------- If you run Scraps with the /R switch it will load and go into the check for due reminders function. If due reminders are found then it will display them, if none are found then it will exit at once. This function allows you to place SCRAPS/R in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file so Scraps will run and check for due reminders every time you boot the PC. Yet if there are no reminders due your PC will not be held up. The switch can also by used to set the SAlarm external chime feature. SAlarm ------ SAlarm is an external feature of Scraps that allows you to have reminder chimes even when you are using some other program. So if you set a reminder in Scraps for 1:30 and at that time you are using your word processor or database program you will still hear the reminder chime telling you that a scrap is due. SALARM.EXE is the program that provides this feature. It is a Terminate and Stay Resident program (TSR) that is loaded into your PC memory and stays there until you reboot your PC. When the appropriate time comes it will chime. Before it can chime it must be SET with the date and times of reminder. To set SALARM run Scraps and do a search for due reminders. The simplest way to do this is to run SCRAPS/R. S C R A P S Page: 27 You may set in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file the lines; C:\SCRAPS\SALARM C:\SCRAPS\SCRAPS/R to cause this to happen automatically. The Scraps Install program will set this automatically for you if you choose. Once SAlarm has chimed the next alarm will be set. Each time the Scraps/R (or equivalent) is run the next 19 alarms are loaded into SAlarm. The SAlarm chime is disabled while you are in Scraps, so if you also want to receive chimes when Scraps is running you must set the "Alarm on due reminder" option on. After installing SAlarm you may run it again to see what the next due alarm is. ScrDV ----- ScrDV.EXE is a module designed to provide advanced alarm functions while you are in the DESQview multitasking environment. Run ScrDV using the supplied SA-PIF.DVP to open a small window, in terms of memory used, that will constantly monitor the Scraps reminders. It always displays the next due reminder. When a reminder becomes due ScrDV will chime and try to run Scraps/R in a new window. If it fails, normally due to not enough memory, it will make itself the top window. ScrWIN ------ ScrWIN.EXE is a module designed to provide advanced alarm functions while you are in the Windows multitasking environment. Run ScrWIN to open a small window that will constantly monitor the Scraps reminders. It always displays the next due reminder. When a reminder becomes due ScrWIN will chime and prompt you to load Scraps/R in a new window. S C R A P S Page: 28 Import and Export ----------------- Scraps supports Importing and Exporting of data at two levels. At a low level you can import and export text from a single scrap. At the high level you can import and export whole groups consisting of multiple scraps. Import Scrap ------------ To import data from a text file into a scrap use the "Import text file at cursor" command from the Edit menu. The data is placed at the cursor position; roughly as though you had typed it in yourself. The file you specify may be an ASCII file or a word processor file. See the section on "Word processor files" for details. Export Scrap ------------ To export text from a scrap, mark it as a block using the "Mark a block of text" command and then the "Write marked block to text file", both on the Edit menu. The resultant file will be a plain ASCII text file image of the block you marked. Export Group ------------ To export all the scraps in the current group to a text file use "Export group to text file" from the Group menu. You must specify the name of the file into which the text is to be saved, a "Scrap separator string" and whether you want to "Include settings". The scraps will be saved into the named text file with each one separated from the next by a line consisting of the separator string. If "Include settings" is on then special lines will also be included to show the various settings of each scrap. A file formatted in this way, with settings on, can be directly imported into Scraps and will retaining all dates and setting information. This provides a convenient way of transferring scraps data from your system to a colleague's system without loosing important date or setting information. The file generated by Group Export will be a plain ASCII text file. S C R A P S Page: 29 Import Group ------------ To import a group of scraps from a text file use the "Import group from text file" command from the Group menu. You must specify the file name of the text to be imported and a separator string. The two options "Include separator in scrap" and "Read settings" may be set on or off. The separator string is a piece of text that indicates the end of each scrap in the file. If include separator is on then the separator is included in the scrap otherwise it is deleted but anything else on that line is retained as part of the scrap. If read settings is on then Scraps will check for the special settings lines created by Group Export and set the settings of the new scraps appropriately. You may specify DOS `wild card' characters, `*' and `?', in the file name field when using this command. Scraps will read in each file that matches the file specification. If the separator scrap does not occur in the files then you will end up with one file in each scrap. Normally when you specify a wild card for a file name and then press the Enter key Scraps will show a list of matching files for you to pick from. To avoid this, as you want to do when you are actually specifying a group of files, use the Tab key to move to the next field of the Group Import dialogue box before pressing Enter. Importing YOUR information -------------------------- You get the best out of Scraps when there is a lot of information stored in it. Of course as a regular computer user you already have a lot of information on your system. So the trick is to get that information into Scraps as soon as you can and with the minimum effort. Exactly how you do this depends upon how your information is stored. No universal directions can be given but here are some examples which include general tips. S C R A P S Page: 30 dBase phone directory --------------------- A lot of people have names, addresses and telephone numbers in dBase format files. Those are the database files with names ending .DBF that are generated by dBase and compatible programs. If this data is stored in Scraps instead you gain greater flexibility, easier searching, association with other information and the use of the telephone dialer. The easiest way of transferring .DBF information to Scraps is to use the LABEL FORM .. TO FILE .. command to create a text file containing the records. So that you will be able to import the file using the Import Group command put a unique string at the bottom of each record. So that you can find the information when you want it also include the field names. For example, create a label format of one label across with contents along the lines of; +------------------------------------------------+ | Label contents 1: "Name: "+NAME | | 2: "Phone: "+PHONE | | 3: "Address: "+ADDRESS1 | | 4: ADDRESS2 | | 5: "~" | +------------------------------------------------+ The last line contains the "~" or squiggle character, the character Scraps uses as the default separator string for Group Import/Export. Use this label form to create a text file; LABEL FORM <LabelFileName> ALL TO FILE <filename> The text file generated will look like this; Name: John Smith Phone: 123 456 Address: 1 The High Street Middle Town ~ Name: Mary Doe Phone: 234 467 Address: 2 Main Street Central City ~ Name: Jane Brown S C R A P S Page: 31 Phone: 345 678 | | And so on. Then from within Scraps use the Group Import command and specify the <filename> you created using dBase and "~" (a squiggle) as the separator string. The result will be a group of scraps each containing a single name and address. Word processor files -------------------- Notes stored in word processor files are a common way of dealing with random textual information. Of course Scraps does this a lot better with its ability to deal with whole groups of scraps at a time. The Group Import command can import several word processor file formats directly. The supported word processor file formats are WordStar, WordPerfect, Windows Write/Microsoft Word and XyWrite. Plain ASCII text files are also supported. Any number of files can be imported at one time by specifying a wild card name when Group Importing. Of course the file names must be arranged so only those files you want imported match the wild card you specify. Files may contain a single scrap or multiple scraps if they are separated by a separator string, the default is the "~" or squiggle character. Scraps automatically detects the type of each file so different files matching a wild card do not need to all be of the same type. See "Known Problems" for limitations of word processor input. S C R A P S Page: 32 Security -------- Scraps provides two security measures: encryption of scraps and password protection of access to the program. Disclaimer THESE ARE STRICTLY `CASUAL' SECURITY MEASURES AND SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS A MEANS OF MAINTAINING ANY SIGNIFICANT DEGREE OF PRIVACY. From a cryptographic standpoint they are ludicrously weak. They do however provide practical protection against people `peeking' at your data either by running Scraps while you are away from your machine or by using a file viewer to examine SCRAPS.DAT. Password -------- From the Setup security dialogue box it is possible to specify a password. If a password is specified then Scraps will prompt for that password when it first runs and require that it be entered correctly before it continues. Passwords are not case sensitive. Passwords can contain any printable characters including spaces and punctuation and can be up to 36 characters long. Passwords are recorded, in encrypted form, in the SCRAPS.DAT file. If the password field is left blank then Scraps runs without asking for a password. Scrap encryption ---------------- Each scrap has an Encryption setting which may be either on or off. The default is specified in the Setup security dialogue box. When the encrypt setting of a scrap is on, Scraps will save the text of the scrap in loosely encrypted form instead of as plain text. The encryption process does not effect your finding, viewing or editing the scrap in any way. THE PURPOSE OF THIS IS SOLELY TO PREVENT CASUAL `PEEKING' INTO THE FILE. The encryption could easily be broken by anyone given time and the right tools. S C R A P S Page: 33 Problems with security ---------------------- * The password feature can easily be defeated by using SCRFIX to extract the textual data from SCRAPS.DAT into a plain text file. Passwords are not recovered by SCRFIX. * When SCRFIX `rescues' a damaged SCRAPS.DAT it will recover the settings data if it can, but if it cannot then it will not be able to tell if a scrap is encrypted or not. If the scrap is encrypted and it is loaded as plain text then it will appear as garage on the screen yet be quite visible if the file is `peeked at' using a file viewer. To avoid this, edit the text file created by SCRFIX and manually locate the encrypted scraps; each should start with an <<ENCRYPT>> setting flag so Scraps will process them correctly when it imports them. * When setting the encryption setting on an existing scrap the `old version' of the text may still exist in the SCRAPS.DAT in unencrypted form. To avoid this always start with a blank scrap set with the encrypt setting on and never turn the setting off. S C R A P S Page: 34 Projects -------- Scraps uses a concept called `projects' to give you greater control over how your information is organized. Each scrap you enter can be assigned to a particular project, think of projects as different categories. You might for example have different categories for work and personal scraps. The term `projects' of course comes from the fact that this is a good way of separating information on different projects that you might have running in parallel. Before you can use projects you need to give names to the different project numbers. Use the Setup/Project names edit dialogue box. There are a maximum of 20 projects each of which can be given a different name. Each project can be either active or not active, by default all projects are active. When a project is not active then all scraps belonging to that project become un-findable, scraps will treat them as though they do not exist. The main purpose of this is to be able to "turn off" an entire category of scraps. You might want to do this for two reasons; either because you are getting a lot of `false positives' (for example searching for "apple" and finding things about the computer when you wanted to know about the fruit) or because you have a very large category that you don't want Scraps to waste time searching. You can assign a scrap to a particular project by using the Scrap/Settings dialogue box. To set a whole Group of scraps to a particular project use the Group/Override settings function. To activate or deactivate a project use the Setup/Active projects edit. Beside each project is a tick box which is marked `X' for active projects. Each scrap is assigned to a project by number, the name is only for your convenience. S C R A P S Page: 35 ToDo List --------- The ToDo list option from the Tools menu gives access to the Scraps ToDo List manager. This is a complete application within Scraps that provides all the facilities to create, maintain, view and print lists of tasks to be done. This ToDo list tool provides a structured way of keeping track of tasks you need to perform. This is in contrast to the unstructured, freeform, way in which Scraps Reminders can be used to track things you need to do. Items may be added to the list by pressing the Insert key or `A' for Add. Existing items can be edited by moving the selection bar to the item and pressing Enter. When an item is done it can be deleted by pressing the Delete key or `D' for Delete. Any to do item may have an attached scrap. This allows you to attach a large amount of text to an item. The `V' for view command will search for and display the scrap attached to the item. The items can be sorted to more easily see which items you should deal with first. Press P for print to print the entire list on the default printer. Press Escape to exit the ToDo list tool and return to Scraps. Each entry in the list has six fields that can be entered. First is the description of what it is that has to be done. Next is the date at which this task is due. This is for reference only. Following that is a single character indicating the priority of this item. The `who' field takes a three character string indicating who this is involved in this item. This is for reference only. The created date field is automatically set to the date the item is created. It is for reference only. It can be changed, but this is generally not reasonable. S C R A P S Page: 36 Lastly is the `attach scrap' tick box. If you tick this box then a scrap will be attached to this item. The attached scrap can then be located by pressing `V' for view while the selection bar is on that item. You may either attach one of the scraps currently in the Group or you may attach the next NEW scrap created, whenever that might be. When you decide to attach a scrap to a to do list entry you must select how you are going to specify which scrap to attach to this item. You may either attach a scrap that is currently in this group or you may attach the next new scrap. If you select next new scrap then the next time you save a NEW scrap it will be attached to this item. It must be a NEW scrap, not re-saving an old one, for this to work. You can sort the to do list by description, due date, priority or who fields. The list will then stay sorted but may become disorder due to additions and deletions. Then sorting again will bring it into sorted order. S C R A P S Page: 37 Application launcher -------------------- The Tools\Launch Application tool provides a way to run any program from within Scraps. You may add various programs to the launcher menu then select them from the menu to run them. Each program has a two letter code. Type this code to select the program or move the selection bar using the cursor keys then press the Enter key. Select AP to add a new program, CP to change an existing program or DP to delete a program from the launcher menu. When adding a new program you must enter two letters that will be used to select the program from the launch menu. Then a descriptive name of the program. Next is the name of the program file to be run, an .EXE, .COM or .BAT file. May include the full path as in C:\PATH\FILENAME.EXE. Finally enter the directory to change to before running the program. For example C:\PATH. When an application is selected first Scraps will swap itself out to EMS or disk, change to the indicated directory for that application then run the program. While running a program through the launcher you may use the PrintScreen button as with the DOS shell to capture the text screen to the Editor Clipboard. S C R A P S Page: 38 Appointment Calendar -------------------- The Tools\Appointment Calendar tool provides a basic calendar that allows you to note your appointments in a structured format. All items entered into the appointment calendar will cause an alarm when due if one of the alarm systems is being used, see the section on alarms and reminders. Month view ---------- The main calendar view is a whole month view. To enter an appointment move the cursor to select a day and press Enter. Or double click on the day with the mouse. Move to a new month with PageUp and PageDown, Ctrl-PageUp and Ctrl-PageDown move one year. In each day box the dots show available appointment hours between 6:00am and 9:30pm in hourly blocks, the top row showing the morning and the lower the afternoon. Small dots indicate free hours while large dots denote used hours. To erase old appointment entries use the F4 key to purge. Either one day or all dates before a specified day can be purged. Entering appointments --------------------- To enter appointments select the appropriate day and press Enter or double click with the mouse. This brings up the day view for the particular day. Each day is devidied into time slots of half hour incements, enter appointments in the appropriate time slots. Each entry will produce one alarm sound if the "Alarm on reminder" option is on, or if SAlarm is used. Edit or delete appointments as required using the normal cursor controls. Use TAB and Shift-TAB to move between half-hourly slots. S C R A P S Page: 39 Purging ------- Occasionally it is necessary to purge old appointsments from the system. Purging removes (deletes) all appointment calendar entries for the specified day or days. Enter either the date you wish to purge, or the day up until which you wish to purge. Then select one or the other option before selecting OK. Example: To delete appointments for the day 01/01/92 enter this date and then select "This date only". To delete all appointments occuring before 01/01/92 (e.g. those in 1991 and before) enter this date and select "Before this date". S C R A P S Page: 40 Help within Scraps ------------------ Scraps has two systems of Help. The first is the Help Menu which contains a number of help topics. Read the help various help topics for instructions and tips on how to make the best use of Scraps. Secondly there is `Context sensitive help'. This is pages of help that relate directly to the particular part of Scraps that you are using. At any time you may press the F1 key to receive context sensitive help about the part of Scraps you are using. To access the Help Menu first pull down the menu by typing Alt-H. That means hold down the key marked 'Alt' and type the letter 'H'. When the menu has pulled down you may select one of the items by pressing the key corresponding to the highlighted letter in the topic name. Alternately you may move the selection bar to the topic using the up and down arrows and then selecting it with the Enter key. Once selected the help appears in a box in the middle of the screen. Use the Page Up and Page Down keys, marked PgUp and PgDn to move through the help screen. Use the Escape key to remove the help screen. To use the Context Sensitive Help press the F1 key while working in Scraps. A help window will appear with information about the menu item or field you are currently using. Use the Escape key to remove the help screen when you are finished. S C R A P S Page: 41 Hints on usage -------------- As a freeform data base Scraps relieves you of the straight- jacket imposed by most data base programs but, at the same time, it takes away a lot of the structure and safeguards with which you may be familiar. To help you get the best out of Scraps here are some hints on usage. Keep retrieval in mind ---------------------- The real importance of the stored information is not the storing but the retrieving of it. That being the case it is worth always considering how you might want to look something up when you enter it. Use standard words ------------------ Sprinkle your scraps liberally with standard keywords, pick those words yourself so they make sense to you. For example you might choose to put the word "PHONE" in every scrap that contains a telephone number, and "ADDRESS" in ones that holds an address. This ensures that you will not fail to find something because you used a term in the scrap different to that which you are using to search for it. Throw in keywords ----------------- When several different words can be used to describe a key concept put all of them into the scrap. In a scrap about cheap airline tickets type "AIR PLANE AIRPLANE CHEAP ECONOMY TICKETS FARES" across the bottom of the scrap. That way you can be sure that you'll find the scrap when you need it, regardless of how you ask for it. Use project keywords -------------------- If you have a whole bunch of scraps revolving around a single task or project try putting a standard code word in each. Every scrap about the West District Housing Project might have "WDHP" or "WESTHOUSING" in it. That way you can quickly find all the those scraps by searching for this key word. S C R A P S Page: 42 By using an invented word or acronym you can be sure that no other scrap will accidentally happen to include the word. Scraps as an index ------------------ Scraps is best used to deal with lots of small items. If you have some very big documents you may find it better to leave those as word processor files and write a small scrap for each file that states the subject of that files and where it is. When used in this way Scraps becomes an index system to your files. This allows it to maintain the high speed you get from only having short scraps while still letting you find you data when you need it. S C R A P S Page: 43 Scraps with task switchers -------------------------- Scraps is most useful as a tool if it is constantly available whenever you are using your computer. Unfortunately PCs can normally only run one program at a time. There are, however, some systems that allow you to have two or more programs loaded into memory at the same time so that you may switch between them nearly instantly. These systems are known as Task Switchers. Other programs allow not only this but also for more than one program to run at the same time. These are called multitaskers; for our purposes they are the same. Using Scraps with one of these systems offers many advantages. If you have such a system then it may be worth using Scraps with it. Scraps is supplied with configuration files for use with two such systems; the file SC-PIF.DVP is for DESQview while the file SCRAPS.PIF is for Windows. Other programs such as Software Carousel, Back&Forth and WordPerfect Office can also provide similar abilities. MS-DOS 5.0 Shell also includes a task switcher. When setting up these systems for use with Scraps you may need to know a few things about the technical requirements of Scraps. You need refer to these points only if the information is demanded by your task switcher configuration. * Scraps normally writes directly to the screen and so cannot be run "in a small window". You can alter the normal Scraps behavior to BIOS video from the Scraps SetUp menu but will suffer a reduction in display speed. * Scraps needs at least 230K of RAM to run in and can make sensible use of up to 300K. If you want to process very large scraps then you may wish to give Scraps up to 640K to work in. * Scraps will use the mouse. * Scraps will use the communications (COM) port if you are using the AutoDialer tool. * Scraps will run in 43/50 line video modes if you have an EGA/VGA and start Scraps in the appropriate video mode. * Scraps operation should not be terminated except by using the Scraps Exit option. e.g. "Don't allow close window" S C R A P S Page: 44 Known problems -------------- * Scraps is not designed to handle very large single scraps. It can handle them if there is enough memory but screen display and editing may become sluggish depending upon your machine. * The import of word processor files is less than perfect due mainly to the lack of published reference on word processor file formats. ASCII, WordStar and XyWrite file will import `perfectly'. WordPerfect 5+ and Write/Word files will import well while others may not be so good. No attempt is made to import formatting or layout information; only body text is processed. * In a multitasker environment the mouse cursor is written directly to video memory regardless of the "BIOS writes" settings. This means that you may be unable to use the mouse, or its use will be confusing, if you run Scraps in a small window. * In DESQview Hercules 43 x 90 graphic text mode the mouse cursor will not be displayed properly. Mouse control in this mode is currently impractical. * Security is cryptographically weak. See the section on Security for details. * Scraps does not work well with some older mouse drivers. If you find that your mouse doesn't work with Scraps or Scraps crashes when you use the mouse try running Scraps with the /O switch (parameter) to specify Old mouse driver. If any of these points is a significant problem for you then please let the author know. The priority assigned to fixing the problem can then be increased. S C R A P S Page: 45 Country specific settings ------------------------- For those outside the USA Scraps will configure itself according to the COUNTY=<CountryCode> line in the CONFIG.SYS file on your boot disk. This setting allows DOS and Scraps, as well as many other programs, to configure date, time and number formats to that used in your country. Consult a DOS reference book for more details on the COUNTRY= settings. You may override the date setting using the option Setup/Country info. Tick the override box ON and select either M/D/YY, D/M/YY or YY/M/D order. If you are outside the USA then it is better to use the COUNTRY= system as Scraps will not only configure the date ORDER, but also the date, time, decimal and thousands place separator characters. S C R A P S Page: 46 Copying Scraps data to another system ------------------------------------- It may be at times necessary to move the whole data base of scraps from one PC to another, when you move to and from a laptop for example. This section gives details on how to use DOS commands to copy the Scraps data files to a floppy disk, erase .cp2 your data from the hard disk, then return the data to another hard disk. All your scraps are stored in a file called SCRAPS.DAT located in the same subdirectory as the Scraps program. To take your scraps with you to another machine you need to copy this file onto a floppy disk, take it to the second machine and then copy it onto the hard disk there. 1) Copying the file onto floppy. This is the command you need to type at the DOS prompt to copy the scraps data file from the hard disk to a floppy disk. C:\> COPY C:\SCRAPS\SCRAPS.DAT A: | ---- --------- ---------- -- | | | | | This is the drive onto which you | | | | wish to copy the file. | | | | | | | | This is the name of the scraps file. It is | | | always the same. | | | | | | This is the drive and directory in which you scraps | | program is stored. You specified this when you | | first installed Scraps. If you used a different | | directory then give the name here. | | | | This is the DOS copy command. It causes the file name | to be copied to the floppy disk drive you specify. | | This is the DOS prompt. You don't type this. It is just here to show that you should enter the COPY command while at the DOS prompt. After you have given the COPY command make sure that the file is on the disk by using the DIR command. C:\> DIR A: ------ S C R A P S Page: 47 The display will look like this. Volume in drive A has no label Directory of A:\ SCRAPS DAT 137178 8-14-91 5:04p 1 File(s) 531968 bytes free The exact sizes and dates will differ. Check the date - it should be the date on which you last used Scraps. Once you are sure the file is on the disk put one of the little silver 'write protect' stickers over the notch in the disk, label it and put it away safely. You might want to make two disks just to be on the safe side. 2) Erasing your scraps data from the hard disk. Just use a scraps floppy to Install Scraps again. It will warn you that scraps is already installed and that there is already a scraps data file on the disk. If you insist on going ahead then it will overwrite the old scraps data file with the set of sample scraps. You can then use scraps again to make sure all your personal scraps have been erased. 3) Copying your scraps data from the floppy disk to the new hard disk. First install Scraps normally on your hard disk using a Scraps floppy disk. If you install it in a directory other than C:\SCRAPS (which is where it normally goes) substitute the alternate directory name in the commands listed below; the underlined portion is the one you may need to change. Delete the sample set of scraps on the hard disk. To do this use the following command. C:\> ERASE C:\SCRAPS\SCRAPS.DAT --------- Then copy your personal scraps data file from the floppy disk onto the new hard disk. To do this use the following command. C:\> COPY A:\SCRAPS.DAT C:\SCRAPS\SCRAPS.DAT --------- Then run Scraps to make sure all your data is in place on the new hard disk. S C R A P S Page: 48 Changes in v1.7 --------------- Bug fixes: Leap year bug. ScrFIX encryption problem fixed. Appointment Calendar Tool added. ScrWIN module added to support alarms within Windows. Several internal changes providing much better file space usage and reusage. Help system extended to give more general advice. Word-Star/SideKick style editing keystrokes suported. Changes in v1.6 --------------- This version improves on the various alarm functions. Instead of not just the next due reminder the alarm now reads and remembers the next 19 reminders. True of the internal Scraps alarm, SAlarm and the new ScrDV alarm module. The alarm list updated dynamically as alarms are set or reset as well as by the "Find Now" commands. ScrDV module added for alarm support inside DESQview. Reliability and compatibility of SAlarm module greatly improved. Better DESQview support with DV specific sound calls for thud and alarms. Bug fixed in the DESQview "raise window" code. Changes in v1.5 --------------- ToDo list application added. Swap to DOS overhead reduced to 9K. PrintScreen frame grabber while shelled to DOS. Autodialer "Dialing..." pops before starting to dial. Tweaked XyWrite file format guesser. Wall-to-Wall context sensitive help. DESQview time slice more consistent. Tweaked WordStar reader. Drop shadows on dialogue boxes. Country independence for all date, time and number formats. DESQview "raise window" on reminder alarms. Changes in v1.4 --------------- Bug fixes. View clipboard now works correctly, Ctrl-Y will delete blank lines, mouse control is not lost after a DOS shell. Spaces after , & + | in Find no longer cause an error. Calendar shows correct `today' mark. Project concept added. See section on Projects for details on S C R A P S Page: 49 how to use this new category concept. Group/Override settings option added. Global settings change command, particularly useful in setting up Projects but also good for doing group conversions to Protected/Encrypted status. Removed Shareware reminder for the 30 day evaluation period. Changes in v1.3 and before -------------------------- Bug fixes. Alt/Ctrl/Shift-F10 now work. Internal change to Find by word means up to 20% faster searches, particular if you have many very short scraps. Bug fixes. Editor support for extended characters (accented vowels and so on). /R reminder check switch. Improved appearance in both mono and colour modes. Opening screen OK box and shareware reminder boxes now timeout. Date fields support `fuzzy dates'. e.g. do not require strict MM/DD/YY format. Date fields support PopUp calendar for point-and-shoot date selection. Find reminders is now more general Find by date range. Option to automatically list found scraps. Calculator results carry forward to next equation. Real-time alarm for reminders. TSR real-time alarm for reminders when external to Scraps. /O switch to support non-compliant mouse drivers. S C R A P S Page: 50 Error messages -------------- Scraps may issue various warnings or error messages during normal operation. This is a list of all such messages, their meanings and what to do about them. Most users will never see the majority of these messages. Access to SCRAPS.DAT denied! The SCRAPS.DAT file is unavailable, probably because it has been opened by a program on another workstation of a LAN or in another window of a multitasker. Close that other task then try again. If you are using the ScrDV or ScrWIN module then that may be what has the data file open, if so try again in a few moments. Clipboard empty! You tried to paste something from the clipboard without first copying anything onto it. Mark a block and copy or delete it to put it on the clipboard before trying to paste again. Comm port error While trying to use the autodialer Scraps was unable to initialize the communications port. Either something is wrong with the communications port or you have specified the wrong port in SetUp Dialer. Check that you specified the correct port and if so check the port. Could not find! You tried to search for a piece of text within the scrap shown on the screen but the required text was not there. Cursor not on word You tried to use the Find word at cursor option but the cursor was not on a word. Move the cursor onto a word and try again. Executable file damaged! The Scraps program file, SCRAPS.COM, has been damaged. This may indicate that your system has been infected by a virus. Scraps will take suitable precautions. Reboot your system and get a new copy of the Scraps program from your distribution disk or archive. S C R A P S Page: 51 Failure reading ASCII file! Scraps was unable to read the ASCII file you specified. Possibly you specified a non-existent file name. Make sure you specify a valid file name. Failure writing ASCII file! Scraps was unable to write to the ASCII file name you specified. Possibly you specified a non-existent subdirectory or you included wildcards (*, ?) in the file name. Make sure you specify a valid file name. File already exists. Aborting. You attempted to overwrite an existing file. Choose another file name. File corrupted: BADFID File corrupted: BADSIG File corrupted: FIDNEG File corrupted: FSCE There is a serious problem with the data file. It has become corrupted beyond the ability of Scraps to understand it. You'll need to use the SCRFIX utility to process the file and recover your information. File problem: ESLOOP There is a minor problem with the data file, probably caused by rebooting the computer while Scraps was writing to the data file. The error message will probably appear several times. You should use the SCRFIX utility to process the file and recover your information. File error! Scraps had a problem with the data file. If it happens repeatedly you should use the SCRFIX utility to process the file and recover your information. Group Empty! You tried to do something that requires scraps in the group but the group was empty. Use the Find command to find a group of scraps before trying again. S C R A P S Page: 52 No block marked! You tried to delete or copy a block of text but had not yet marked a block. Use the mark block command to mark a block of text before trying again. Not enough memory to load page! There is not enough memory to load a scrap. You are probably running Scraps in a multitasking partition that is too small. Try increasing the amount of memory allocated to Scraps. Consider splitting large scraps into several smaller ones. Protected scrap, cannot delete! You tried to delete a scrap that has the Protected setting. Remove the protected setting before trying again. Read error: FHED There is a serious problem with the data file. It has become corrupted beyond the ability of Scraps to understand it. You'll need to use the SCRFIX utility to process the file and recover your information. Restart to view new colors You changed the color settings. You will need to exit Scraps and then restart for Scraps to use the new setting. SetUp Dialer first! You tried to use the phone dialer without first setting it up. Use the Setup phone dialer option to set up the dialer first. Unable to allocate swap space You tried to shell to DOS but there was not enough space in EMS memory or on the disk drive to hold the necessary swap file. Make more room on the disk or in EMS memory before trying again. Unable to fully index this scrap The scrap you are saving is particularly long and Scraps is unable to make index entries for the whole scrap. Only the first two thousand words are indexed. Only indexed words are examined by the Find command. Any scrap long enough to cause this error can probably be sensibly cut into two or more small scraps. Unable to open file "{filename}"! Scraps was unable to open the named file. S C R A P S Page: 53 Unable to Shell Scraps was unable to shell to DOS. S C R A P S Page: 54 ScrFix utility -------------- Scraps is most useful when a lot of information is stored in it. This makes the Scraps data file quite valuable; if you lost the file then you might have a lengthy job recovering the information manually. Making regular backups of not only Scraps data but your whole hard disk is good computing practice, yet it frequently won't save you when you really need it. Hard disk crashes, electrical or mechanical failures, software conflicts, network crashes: all these things could lead to damaged data files. To deal with the more common problems that might befall your Scraps data the ScrFix utility is supplied with the Scraps program. Unlike Scraps this utility can read a SCRAPS.DAT data file even if it has been badly damaged. It hunts through the file and spots all of the intact text of scraps and saves them into a text file. This text file can then be imported into a new copy of Scraps using the Group Import command. The existence of ScrFix should not be taken to mean that the Scraps data file is easily damaged. It is no more likely that the Scraps data file be damaged than your database files, spread sheet files or any other complex files. Unlike the files from those other application programs the Scraps data file is deliberately designed to allow recovery of data should damage occur. Usage: SCRFIX SCRAPS.DAT > SCRFIX.TXT This creates a TEXT file called SCRFIX.TXT with all the savable data from your SCRAPS.DAT. First use a file viewer to check that SCRFIX.TXT contains the recovered information. Then erase the damaged SCRAPS.DAT and run Scraps to make a fresh blank SCRAPS.DAT. Use Group Import to import the data from SCRFIX.TXT. S C R A P S Page: 55 The file created by ScrFix uses the characters ~!~ (squiggle, exclamation mark, squiggle) as a separator between scraps. Make sure that the "Scrap separator string:" is ~!~ and that "Include separator in scrap" is off and "Read settings" is on when you Group Import the file. When you have finished with it erase the SCRFIX.TXT file. You may choose to copy it to a floppy disk first to provide an additional backup copy of your data. One can never have too many backups. S C R A P S Page: 56 Support ------- If you have any difficulties with Scraps or any comments or suggestions you may drop the author a line at the address below. Scraps is very much a USER supported package. All your comments, both positive and negative, on the program, packaging, distribution or anything else are very welcome. In particular if you found that Scraps was nearly, but not quite, what you are looking please let the author know. Many things can be easily added if they are requested. Mail: (Please enclose a self addressed stamped envelope if you would like a direct reply) Scraps P.O. Box 2, Cheung Chau, Hong Kong. The author makes every attempt to respond to all enquiries but registered users will have priority. If you are reporting a problem don't forget to include as much information as possible about your computer system and about the exact conditions that produced the problem. If the problem relates to importing a file then consider sending that file on a floppy disk; doing so will greatly increase the chance that the author will be able to rectify the problem. Registered users please state your registration code. S C R A P S Page: 57 The Interface ------------- Scraps uses a form of the Common User Access (CUA) interface that is increasingly becoming the standard for all programs. This interfaces is based largely on "pull down menus" and "dialogue boxes". If you are not familiar with this kind of interface then reading this section will explain the key features of how it is operated. Being familiar with your user interface can make the difference between using this (or any other program) productively and on it being a drain on your time. The Editor ---------- Scraps are written using the built-in editor. This is a very simple text editor with some word-processor-like features. It is not intended to replace your word processor; rather it is meant for quick note taking. Longer pieces of text can be prepared in a full text editor or word processor and imported into Scraps. The Mouse --------- Throughout Scraps the mouse is used as a pointing device. The left button selects things that are being pointed to, either by pressing it, clicking it or double clicking it. The right button cancels things. When this manual refers to `clicking' on something, it means moving the mouse until the highlighted mouse cursor on the screen is on the thing to be clicked then pressing and quickly releasing the mouse button. Double clicking is the same except you must press, release then press and release the button again. While you are typing a scrap the mouse cursor will be turned off to avoid distracting you. Moving the mouse or clicking either mouse button will restore it. The Menus --------- The Scraps commands are all menu based. Along the top of the screen is a highlighted bar showing the names of all the available menus. S C R A P S Page: 58 In the name of each option one letter is high-lighted, hold down the Alt key and press the key on your keyboard corresponding to the high-lighted letter to pull down the menu. This is a typical menu. It is the Edit menu which is pulled down by holding down the Alt key and pressing the E key. +-------------------------------------------+ | Mark a block of text F10 | | Delete marked block Alt-F10 | | Copy marked block to clipboard Ctrl-F10 | | Paste from clipboard to cursor Shft-F10 | | Write marked block to text file | | View clipboard | | Import text file at cursor F5 | | Insert Now date/time at cursor | +-------------------------------------------+ Each line describes one option available from this menu. One line will be high-lighted by a selection bar. You can move the selection bar up and down with the up and down arrow keys. Pressing the up key while on the first option moves the selection bar to the last option, and visa versa with the down key on the last option. To select an option either move the bar to the option and press the Enter key or press the key corresponding to the high-lighted letter in the name of the option. This latter way of selecting an option works regardless of where the selection bar is. When there is a key or key combination specified at the right of an option this indicates a Keyboard Shortcut. Pressing this keyboard combination will select the command while on any menu, or in the Editor, without the need to pull down the menu first. Keyboard shortcuts can save you a lot of time. It is a good idea to remember at least the most commonly used ones. Use the left and right arrow keys to move to different menus. The Escape key will cancel the menu and return you to the scrap editor. Dialogue boxes -------------- When using the various commands selected from the menus in Scraps you will often see "Dialogue boxes". These are boxes that appear in the middle of the screen with places for you to select options and specify things such as words, dates or file names. S C R A P S Page: 59 For example this is the SetUp Scraps dialogue box. If you pick the SetUp Scraps option from the SetUp menu this dialogue box is displayed. +----------------------------------------------------------+ | Scraps program SetUp options | | | | [ ] Check for reminders at startup | | | | [X] Expert mode; less prompts | | | | Use BIOS Video writes: | | (+) No ( ) Yes ( ) Only in DV | | | | Colors: | | (+) Force Mono ( ) Force Color ( ) Autoselect | | | | #========# +--------+ | | H OK H | Cancel | | | #========# +--------+ | +----------------------------------------------------------+ There are five fields in this box and each one allows you to make a choice. The flashing cursor indicates which field is selected. When a dialogue box first appears it is normally the first field that is selected. Use the Tab key to move to the next field or Shift-Tab to move to the previous field. If you go beyond the last of the fields you will return to the first field and visa versa. You can also select a field that is not selected by clicking on it with the mouse. If the field is already selected then clicking with the mouse will change its value. When you have selected a field, and the flashing cursor is on that field, you can change the content of that field. The first field is "[ ] Check for reminders at startup". This is a tick box field. Tick box fields have a box which may or may not contain a cross to show that the field is active. The example above is shown OFF; when this option is ON an `X' appears. Turn the X on and off by using the space bar. Clicking on the field with the mouse also turns the X on and off. The next field is also a tick box. This one is ON. S C R A P S Page: 60 The next field is: "Use BIOS Video writes: (+) No ( ) Yes ( ) Only in DV" This is an item selector or "radio button" field. Like the buttons on a car radio only one `button' can be active at a time. In this example the `No' button is active. Press the space bar to change to the next button. Keep pressing the space bar until you have the correct button pressed. You can click with a mouse to select a button. The last field is a set of selection buttons. The box with the double line around it is the default. #========# +--------+ H OK H | Cancel | #========# +--------+ Press Enter to select the default, OK, or press the Tab key to move the default to Cancel and press Enter there. Or type `O' or `C' to select OK or Cancel. When the options are OK and Cancel pressing Esc is the same as picking Cancel. You can click these buttons with a mouse. Every dialogue box has at least one of these selection buttons. The only way to leave a dialogue box is to pick one of the selection buttons or to press the Escape key. Some fields allow you to type in information, an example of this is the first field in the Find dialogue box that you see when you pick the Find command. +--------------------------------------+ | Find words: | | ___________________________________ | | Combine words with AND or OR. | | Use UpArrow for previous find words. | | | | #========# +--------+ | | H OK H | Cancel | | | #========# +--------+ | +--------------------------------------+ You can type anything you want into the field; provided, of course, that it makes sense to the command. A special form of this is the file selection field as in the Import text file at cursor command. S C R A P S Page: 61 +--------------------------------------+ | Import text file to cursor | | | | File name: | | C:\TP\_____________________________ | | | | #========# +--------+ | | H OK H | Cancel | | | #========# +--------+ | +--------------------------------------+ In such a field if you press Enter with either a wild card or a directory name with a trailing back slash in the field then a file selection box will pop up with all files in that directory or that match that wild card. If you want to leave a wild card in the field, such as when using the Group Import command, then enter your wild card and move to the next field with the Tab key. If you press Enter or double click with the mouse while there is a wild card in the file name a file selection box will appear. You can move the highlight cursor to any file using the arrow keys or by clicking on the file name with the mouse. Press Enter or double click on a file name to select a file. Press the Escape key or click the right mouse button to exit the file selection box without choosing a file. Another kind of string field is the date field. This is present on the Find by date range and the Set reminder date dialogue boxes. The full date format is M-D-YY HH:MM with the time in 24 hour `military' format. You can, however, enter the date more roughly and Scraps will use its `fuzzy date' system to turn it into a full date. If you are in a country other than the USA then the date format may be different. Slashes are treated the same as hyphens. Enter For ----- --- 1 First of this month 1-1 First of January this year 4/15 Fifteenth of April this year --92 First of January 1992 As soon as you move to another field, such as by pressing Enter, the full date will be displayed. If you want to enter a time you then have to go back and edit the time field. S C R A P S Page: 62 You may also select the date by using the pop-up calendar. Either press F10 or click on the field with the mouse to display this calendar. Choose the date you want and press enter or double click on it. S C R A P S Page: 63 Registering ----------- Scraps is a 'Shareware' or user supported package. This means that it is a commercial copyrighted program which is being distributed using the Shareware system. Shareware is a try-before-you-buy system. You have 30 days in which to use this program to see if you like it. If, after the trial period, you decide to continue using the program you need to pay the registration fee. Paying this fee not only helps support the author, who receives nothing unless you register, but also gives you a perpetual legal licence to use the program. If you find the program is not to your liking then you may just stop using it. You may give copies of this program to your friends and associates, upload it to bulletin boards or other on-line services. The only requirement is that you must distribute the whole package together; either on one set of disks or in one set of archives. By paying for Shareware you support this system of software distribution. A system that allows you to evaluate software and then purchase at low cost. When you pay your registration fee you will receive a registration code which, when entered into Scraps, will remove the reminders to register. The license you receive when you register covers the current and all future versions of Scraps. Registration fees: HK Dollar US Dollar GB Pound ---------------------------------------------------------- A) Registration only: | $150 | $25 | GB£18 ---------------------------------------------------------- B) Registration and disk | | | with latest version: | $250 | $37 | GB£25 ---------------------------------------------------------- C) Recalculating lost | | | registration code: | $50 | $11 | GB£9 ----------------------------------------------------------- Note: Payment is cheapest in HK$ due to bank charges incurred in converting foreign currency cheques. You may send HK$ even if you are outside Hong Kong, your bank can write out a draft for S C R A P S Page: 64 you. Disks: Scraps comes on your choice of two 5.25 inch 360K disks or one 3.5 inch 740K disk. Name: Your registration code is matched to your name. Please make sure you print your name clearly exactly as you want it displayed in the Scraps registration box. If you loose your registration code then send your name and address, exactly as you sent when registering, together with the recalculation fee to receive a copy of your registration code. Sysop deal ---------- If you are the System Operator of a BBS or similar service you are eligible for the Sysop deal that gives 50% discount. Only one Sysop registration is accepted per BBS. To take advantage of this offer you must a) make Scraps available for download from your system by all normal users, b) give the author normal access to your system and c) have on-line in your files list a full description of Scraps. You may use the following or some appropriate part extracted from this manual which is of similar or greater length to this extract: "Scraps Freeform Personal Information Manager. Pull-down menu operated free text database with powerful search functions. Reminders and alarms associated with text entries. DV alarms, WIN alarms. Integrated useful tools; calculator, appointment calendar, phone dialer, DOS shell, ToDo list, Application Launcher. Full mouse support. Import/export data. Read word processor files directly. Very simple to use. Full Context Sensitive Help. Shareware. No Crippled features." Send a Print-Screen screen dump of a session with your BBS showing this description together with your registration fee marked clearly "Sysop deal", together with a user logon name and password for the author. S C R A P S Page: 65 S C R A P S R E G I S T R A T I O N F O R M v1.7 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Name __________________________________________ Address ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ____________________ E-Mail address: _________________________________________ (FidoNet, internet/UUCP, CIS) HK Dollar US Dollar GB Pound --------------------------------------------------------------- Registration only: | HK$150 | US$25 | GB £18 --------------------------------------------------------------- Registration and disk | | | with latest version: | HK$250 | US$37 | GB £25 --------------------------------------------------------------- Recalculating lost | | | registration code: | HK$50 | US$11 | GB £9 --------------------------------------------------------------- Disk Size : | 5.25 inch | 3.5 inch --------------------------------------------------------------- Please circle appropriate choices above. Number of cheque or draft: ______________________ For Sysop Discount only: include your BBS details overleaf. Please send this form together with cheque or bank draft to: Scraps, P.O. Box 2, Cheung Chau, Hong Kong. Make cheque or bank draft payable to "Raymond Lowe". ------------ Allow 2-3 weeks for processing registrations. o X o Please include any comments or suggestions concerning Scraps overleaf. The author would appreciate knowing from where you obtained your copy of Scraps. This will aid him in making sure that new versions are made available through the same channels. code 1 - Please do not edit this form