ASP Advantage 1993

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CATALOG-ON-A-DISK For viewing/making a catalog on your computer. Version 3 EmmaSoft Software Company, Inc. PO Box 238 Lansing, NY 14882 Voice: 607-533-4685 BBS: 607-533-7072 CompuServe: 71460,2644 GENIE: D.VEANER1 Copyright ■1991-1992, EmmaSoft CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 2 =================================================================== TABLE OF CONTENTS LICENSE AGREEMENT AND WARRANTY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 ABOUT THIS MANUAL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 1.1 WHAT IS THIS THING FOR????!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 1.2 SETTING UP THE PROGRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 1.3 USING THE PROGRAM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 1.4 CATALOG STYLES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 1.5 WHO USES CATALOG-ON-A-DISK?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 1.6 DEFINITIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 CHAPTER TWO: VIEWING A CATALOG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 2.1 HOW TO READ A CATALOG. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 2.2 VIEWING CATALOG INFORMATION AND ORDERING . . . . . . . . 12 2.3 THE EXIT MENU. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 2.4 THE HELP BAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 2.5 PRINTING THE CATALOG . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 2.6 SEARCHING FOR PRODUCTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 CHAPTER THREE: MAKING A CATALOG. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 3.1 CATALOG FILE NAMING CONVENTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 3.2 FILES IN YOUR CATALOG. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 3.3 THE MAIN MENU. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 3.31 "CAT" COMMANDS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 3.32 SPECIAL FUNCTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 3.33 VIEWING A FILE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 3.34 HIGHLIGHTING A MENU ITEM. . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 3.4 USING COLOR PALETTES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 3.5 PUTTING YOUR TEXT ON THE INFO SCREEN . . . . . . . . . . 19 CHAPTER FOUR: CATALOG FILES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 4.1 HOW TO MAKE AN OPENING (FIRST) SCREEN FILE . . . . . . . 20 4.2 HOW TO MAKE A HEADER FILE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 4.3 HOW TO MAKE A CATEGORY FILE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 4.31 PRODUCT BLOCKS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 4.42 DESCRIPTION BLOCKS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 4.43 PUTTING IT TOGETHER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 4.4 SAMPLE CATALOG FILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 4.5 HOW TO MAKE AN EXIT SCREEN FILE. . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 4.6 HOW TO MAKE ORDER INFORMATION FILES. . . . . . . . . . . 24 4.7 HOW TO MAKE COUPONS AND OTHER SPECIAL FORMS. . . . . . . 24 4.8 AUTOMATING SALES TAX AND SHIPPING/HANDLING . . . . . . . 25 4.9 CHANGING HELP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 4.10 CODING THE ORDER FORM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 4.11 HOW TO ASK SPECIAL QUESTIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 4.12 HOW TO CHANGE INTERNAL PROGRAM TEXT IN CATALOG.EXE. . . 28 4.13 FORMATTING THE ORDER FORM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 3 =================================================================== CHAPTER FIVE: THE COMPANION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 5.1 COMMAND LINE FUNCTIONS:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 5.2 INTERACTIVE MODE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 5.21 NAVIGATING CATCOM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 5.22 CATCOM MENUS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 5.3 THE SETUP MENU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 5.31 COLORS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 5.32 HELP BAR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 5.33 NATIONALITY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 5.34 TAX ONE OR ALL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 5.35 WHAT TO TAX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 5.36 CURRENCY CHARACTER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 5.37 DATE SETUP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 5.4 THE FILES MENU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 5.41 COMPRESS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 5.42 IMPORT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 5.43 EXPORT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 5.44 DELIMITERS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 5.55 VIEW CATALOG. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 5.5 THE OPTIONS MENU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 5.51 COLORS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 5.52 FRAMES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 5.53 SOUND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 5.54 PATHS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 5.55 REVIEW. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 5.6 THE QUIT MENU. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 5.7 THE HELP MENU. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 CHAPTER SIX: COMMANDS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 6.1 COMMAND SUMMARY (CATALOG.EXE): . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 6.2 COMMAND LINE FLAG SUMMARY (CATCOM.EXE):. . . . . . . . . 41 CHAPTER SEVEN: ADVANCED FEATURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 7.1 PRICING TECHNIQUES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 7.2 ADDING SPECIAL FUNCTIONS TO THE MENU. . . . . . . . . . 42 7.3 RUNNING PROGRAMS FROM YOUR CATALOG. . . . . . . . . . . 43 7.4 MULTI-DISK CATALOGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 7.5 DECOMPRESSING FILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 7.6 DISCOUNT MULTIPLIER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 7.7 LAST AND SPECIAL ORDERS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 APPENDIX A: DISTRIBUTING CATALOGS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 APPENDIX B: FILES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 APPENDIX C: PROGRAM LIMITS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 INDEX. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 4 =================================================================== LICENSE AGREEMENT AND WARRANTY License 1. You may use the program on a single computer at one time. You may not copy the program and accompanying materials. See Appendix A for Catalog Distribution License. 2. You may not make copies of the program for sale. 3. This software is copyrighted, and all rights therein are reserved for EmmaSoft. Registration or purchase of this product does not transfer any right, title, or interest in the software except as specifically set forth in this agreement. You are hereby notified that the software product is protected by United States Copyright Law, and you may be held by responsible by EmmaSoft for any infringement of such rights or violations to this agreement. 4. This license is effective until terminated. You may terminate it at any time by destroying the program and all copies of it. It will also terminate if you fail to comply with any term or condition on this agreement. You agree upon termination to destroy the program together with all copies of the program. See Appendix A for Catalog Distribution License Information. Warranty 1. This program is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including any warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. In no event shall EmmaSoft be held liable for any loss of profit, special, incidental, consequential, or other similar claims. 2. EmmaSoft does warrant that the magnetic media on which the software is furnished is free of defects of materials and workmanship under normal use for 60 days, provided that EmmaSoft provided your copy of the program on such media. If during this period the diskette should become defective it may be returned to EmmaSoft for replacement without charge. Governing law shall be that of New York State. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 5 =================================================================== ABOUT THIS MANUAL We have tried to keep the manual as simple as possible. You probably don't need the manual to view a catalog. If you can find the (Enter) and (Escape) keys, and the arrow keys, you can browse for products and order them with no instructions. You will need the manual to make your catalog, but you'll find that once you get the hang of it this will go very smoothly. You will find Chapter 3 very important because it tells you how to make your own catalog. Another important section is 5.41, which tells you how to compress your catalog files. Almost every file CATALOG-ON-A-DISK uses must be compressed. We suggest you read Chapter 1 to get set up. Then browse Chapter 2 while you try out the sample catalog. Chapters 3 tells you how to make your own catalog. Chapter 4 tells the file formats you must use for each type of catalog file. Chapter 5 is a guide to using the Companion program to compress your files and to set your catalog settings. Use Chapter 6 as a quick reference for CATALOG and CATCOM. Finally, Chapter 7 covers some advanced topics that will help you fine tune your catalog. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 6 =================================================================== CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1 WHAT IS THIS THING FOR????! CATALOG ON A DISK makes it easy for your customers see your catalog on their computers and order from it. It is so easy to use that customers won't put off ordering from you. They can find items by browsing or searching, and generate an order form that can be mailed, faxed, or sent to you by modem. You can configure your catalog to give it your company's distinctive look. You make your catalog files using your favorite text editor. These files are then compressed and distributed with the catalog reader to your customers. Compressed files let you fit more products on a disk and provide security for your prices and other data. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK is perfect for any product oriented company. It gives you a lot more flexibility than a print catalog in maintaining updates, and is less expensive to produce. It offers more distrib- ution options as well, because the disk catalog can be sent by modem as well as through the mail. Your customers will order more often because CATALOG-ON-A-DISK doesn't place obstacles in the way of ordering from you. 1.2 SETTING UP THE PROGRAM Use SETUP.EXE to install CATALOG-ON-A-DISK on your hard disk. To start the program type: SETUP (Enter) Simply follow the prompts to install the program. At the main menu you can read updates about this version of the program, brand your copy, and install it. Updates: Information that didn't make it into this manual will be found here. SETUP makes it easy for you to view these files. Branding: CATALOG-ON-A-DISK requires a Custom Message which appears at the top of the catalog screen and on the order form. Registered users can install their own message using SETUP. This is often your company name, a slogan, and/or a phone number. This is not an option on evaluation copies. Install: When you install CATALOG-ON-A-DISK the SETUP program does the following: 1. Copies and/or decompresses files to the drive and directory you specify. 2. Decompresses the catalog files to make text versions that you can use as examples when creating your own catalog. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 7 =================================================================== The SETUP program does not touch your system configuration files, and in most cases you do not have to do anything to your system to run CATALOG-ON-A-DISK. In some cases you may have to add a line to AUTOEXEC.BAT if CATCOM doesn't run. The line should say: SET TEMP=C:\ This is NOT necessary for the catalog reader, CATALOG.EXE, that your customers use. 1.3 USING THE PROGRAM CATALOG-ON-A-DISK is two programs. The first, CATALOG.EXE is a catalog reader. This is what you send to your customers. It displays your catalog, and lets your customers browse or search for items to order. It prints out order forms, coupons, and it can even print the catalog on a printer. To start the catalog type: CATALOG (Enter) CATCOM.EXE is the companion program that assists you in creating and maintaining your catalog. It is for your use only and you do not send this to customers. To start CATCOM type: CATCOM (Enter) For building and maintaining catalogs you should have a catalog directory on your hard disk (you may do this on a floppy disk if it is large enough). You should keep all of the text files you use to make your catalogs here as well as the CATALOG and CATCOM programs, the compressed (.CM) files, and any related files. You then copy the files you need onto a master disk (a floppy) which you will then duplicate for your customers' copies of the catalog. CATALOG.INI is a very important file for both programs. It is the initialization file that tells CATALOG.EXE which screen colors to use, and holds other important information the program needs internally (such as date and country format, help bar and tax settings). CATCOM.EXE is used to set these values, so it is VERY IMPORTANT that both CATALOG and CATCOM are accessing the same version of CATALOG.INI. 1.4 CATALOG STYLES CATALOG-ON-A-DISK has many options. You can make all kinds of screens, using all kinds of characters and all kinds of colors. This can result in an exciting catalog that sells well for you. It can also result in a confusing mess! CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 8 =================================================================== We suggest that you keep it simple. Use the same principals you would use in creating a print catalog. Here are some ideas to help you make the best looking catalog: __ Remember that in most cases you don't know what equipment your customers have. Make sure you build your catalog for the lowest common denominator. OK, so you think everyone has 3 1/2" drives. What about the potential customer who doesn't? So you think everyone has 640KB or lower RAM memory. What about the sale you may loose because you made a category too big to fit into 512KB of RAM? Above all you want your customers to buy from your catalog. It's up to you to produce a catalog they can all access, no matter what configuration their computer has. __ Tell your customers how your catalog works. Put the instructions on the screens you create. Don't be afraid to be redundant about this: people forget what to do and they like it when you help them along. Space permitting we suggest using all the available help files to give the best possible context sensitive help. Also, put the keystrokes in your header screen. (Note: we don't do this internally in the program because you may not want to use every capability of the program. Tell your customers about the ones you want them to use.) This advice also applies to the disk label. Use your company logo and put instructions on the label about how to run the catalog. __ Make sure your colors work together. Don't use colors that clash. Use color combinations that are striking, but readable. If the text on the screen is too bright people may not like reading it. __ Use color combinations that can be read on a monochrome screen. It is always a good idea to test your catalog on machines with several different configurations before sending it out. __ Using upper ASCII characters can enhance the look of your catalog. Be aware that 1) some printers can't print these characters correctly (or aren't set to do so), and 2) that these characters are not necessarily the same in different countries (so if you send your catalog outside your own country you should avoid them). __ Test, Test, TEST! Always test your catalog on as many different systems as you can get your hands on before sending it to customers. If you have set the catalog up incorrectly it will affect the calculations or appearance of the order form. Make sure the colors you have chosen will show up on all systems (or at least tell customers they can start the program with "CATALOG -m" to force a monochrome catalog. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 9 =================================================================== __ Keep each screen simple. Each screen should make a point clearly, and not try to jam a lot of unrelated information together. You can have quite a few individual screens in CATALOG-ON-A-DISK, so arrange the information where it is easy to find and in a way that is easy to read. __ Smaller categories are recommended. Customers can zero in on these to find products or information they want. Also, if you are distributing your catalog on a floppy disk (especially 5 1/4") the disk access time to read the category file can be several seconds for large files, even compressed ones. A lot of people believe in the "KISS" ("Keep it simple, Stupid!") theory. We suggest applying it to your catalog. The simpler it is the more sales you will get from it. This doesn't mean your catalog should be dull. Many of our customers have sent us their very striking catalogs with interesting, creative screens, that are clear and informative. 1.5 WHO USES CATALOG-ON-A-DISK? Many different kinds of company use CATALOG-ON-A-DISK, and they distribute it in many different ways. Many companies provide the catalog on floppy disks, which they inexpensively mail to their customers. One notebook computer manufacturer puts a catalog of related hardware and accessories on the hard disk of each machine they sell. One software company is distributing their catalog on Bernouli cartridges. Salespeople take their notebook (or laptop) computers with them. CATALOG- ON-A-DISK lets them take orders at any site. They can print out the order form (if they have a portable printer), plus a copy to their hard disk. The disk copies can all be uploaded to the company in the evening when the phone rates are lower. Some companies (including a travel company) put their catalogs on a BBS for customers to download. This makes it easy to provide up-to- date catalogs, and these customers can upload their orders to the BBS as well. You can find many creative ways to distribute your CATALOG-ON-A-DISK. 1.6 DEFINITIONS Ascii Delimited A file that has been saved in pure ascii (American Standard Code for Information Exchange) format (most word processors, data bases, etc. can do this), that has one or more data fields delimited by quotation marks and commas. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 10 =================================================================== Catalog File Files containing catalog information. Almost all the catalog files are compressed (these files have the ".CM" extension) so you can fit more in your catalog, and for security for your prices and other catalog information. With the exception of "category files" these files may be a maximum of 500 lines long. Category File Files that contain Product Blocks and/or Description Blocks are called "Category" files. It is suggested that you use them as such: they make a convenient way to divide your catalog into categories to make it easier for your customers to find your products. The length of these files is determined by the amount of memory available. Description Block This appears like a product, but is simply text that explains something. You can put Descriptions all together in one category file, or mix them with products. A description block can be a maximum of 500 lines long. Exit Menu At the main menu if you press the (Esc) key the "Exit" Menu is displayed. This menu lets the customer print or review the current order, go back to the catalog to order more products, view or print special forms or coupons, or exit the program. Exporting CATCOM can read the text version of a Category file and export the data in ascii delimited form. The original file is not changed. The new data file can be imported into a data base program, if that program accepts data in this format. Field A database term meaning a type of information (such as a name, address, etc.). Importing CATCOM can write the text version of a Category File using data in an ascii delimited data file. Main Menu This menu contains the list of product categories, and optionally can contain files to read or program function choices. Menu A box in CATALOG ON A DISK containing several items that are chosen by placing the menu bar over the item you want. Palette The colors that can be used to display files in your catalog. Each palette has a Normal Color and a Bold Color. In the text versions of your files you tell CATALOG.EXE to display a block of text in the Bold Color by surrounding it with a single quote symbol `. (Do not use the unquote symbol by mistake '.) Product Block A Product is a listing in a category in your catalog. It consists of four parts: 1. The Order Number --- These three equal 2. The Short Description |- a total of 76 3. The Price --- characters maximum 4. The Long Description --- Up to 500 lines max Products can be together in a category, or mixed and matched with Descriptions. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 11 =================================================================== Special Forms A type of catalog file that appears on a special menu that is accessed from the Exit Menu. This can be any text you want. Many companies use these files to describe their company, important ordering information, or for discount coupons that customers can print out and send with their orders. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 12 =================================================================== CHAPTER TWO: VIEWING A CATALOG 2.1 HOW TO READ A CATALOG Start the program by typing CATALOG (Enter). The Opening Screen Comes on. This will be one or more screens full of company information, instructions, or other information. To go to the next screen press any key until you get to the main menu screen. At any menu you may use the following keys: (Alt) (x) Exit the program (F10) Exit the program (F1) Context sensitive help (Esc) Back out of current window or toggle between main and exit menus (F1) Help (Alt) (i) Program Information (Alt) (p) Print the whole catalog (Alt) (h) Display a Help Bar (PgUp) More Categories or Products (PgDn) More Categories or Products If you are at the Main Menu press (Esc) to get to the Exit Menu. Press (Esc) again to return to the Main Menu. When viewing the category menu or categories that are larger than one screen the arrow keys work as follows: (Up) Up one choice. Scrolls to next screen full. Stops at first choice. (Down) Down one choice. Scrolls to next screen full. Stops at last choice with a message. (Left) Same as up arrow, but wraps to the bottom of the window instead of scrolling. (Right) Same as down arrow, but wraps to the top of the window instead of scrolling. 2.2 VIEWING CATALOG INFORMATION AND ORDERING The Main Menu Screen may have information on the left of the screen and a menu at the right. The menu shows up to twenty categories of items at a time you may look up and order. If there are more than twenty use the arrow keys, (Home) (End) (PgUp) and (PgDn) to view more. To choose a category place the menu bar over it, using the arrow keys to move the bar and press (Enter). CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 13 =================================================================== Now you will see a screen full of catalog items. If there are more items than you can see on one screen use the (PgUp) (PgDn) (Home) (End) keys to see more items. When you see an item of interest place the menu bar over it and press (Enter). (To return to the main menu press (Esc).) You may search for an item by pressing (alt) (s). This is not a case sensitive search. If you are looking for an item called "widget" type "widget" when prompted. Type (Enter) to search forward from the current item, or (b) to search forward from the beginning of the file. This search will find "WIDGET" or "Widget". The search function looks through the entire catalog entry. This means that if a word, or part of a word exists anywhere in the order number, short description, price, or long description CATALOG-ON-A-DISK will find it. This is perfect for product listings that use key words in the long descriptions. Now you will see a product description (if it is present in the file). To order this product press (Enter), or press (Esc) to back out. Type the quantity you want to order. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK confirms your order and gives you the total for that number of items. To accept press (Enter) . To change the quantity press (r) and re- enter the quantity you want. To exit without ordering this item press (Esc). You may back into the main menu screen to choose other categories to order from. When you are done ordering go to the main menu screen and press (Esc) to go to the Exit Menu. You may order up to 200 different items in one session. 2.3 THE EXIT MENU Now you see the Exit Menu. From Here you may print an order form, view your order, go back to the main menu screen to order more items, enter your name and address, or leave the program. Printing an Order Form: You can print the order form to your printer (to mail or fax) or to a file on your disk (to send by modem if the company accepts orders this way). If printing on your printer MAKE SURE YOUR PRINTER IS ON LINE AND READY. When printing to a file you will be prompted for a file name. A catalog can be set up to work in a few different ways that affect how you must deal with sales taxes and shipping/handling charges. If the order form prints without asking you for any information you may have to fill in the taxes and shipping/handling charges by hand, and add the final total yourself. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 14 =================================================================== A catalog may be set up so it will check the state or province you entered in your address (see section on name and address below), and if it finds a match it automatically charges the appropriate sales tax. If you are ordering from a different state or province it will not charge the tax. Another way a catalog may be set is to ask you how much tax to charge. In this case a window pops up, and you fill in a percent. Press (Enter) for no sales tax. Some catalogs will have a menu of shipping and handling options. If so, a menu of these options will pop up while the order form is printing, so you may make the appropriate choice. Reviewing Your Order: Here you can see what you have ordered with the subtotal for the whole order (tax, shipping, etc. is not included here). If there are more items than can be seen on one screen you may view the rest by using (PgUp) (PgDn) (Home) (End). To delete an item press (Del) and type the number of the item you want to delete. The subtotal will be adjusted. Press (Ctrl)(Del) to delete the entire order. Go Back To Catalog: If you want to add items to your order you can go back to the main menu screen and order more products. Name and Address: CATALOG-ON-A-DISK will remember your name and shipping address, and print it on your order form whenever you order if you enter it here. This is great if you order from the catalog a lot, or even if you only order once. If set to tax one state (or specific states) CATALOG-ON-A-DISK looks for a match in the State/Province field. Special Forms: If special forms, coupons, company descriptions,and so on have been included with a catalog this menu item will appear on the exit menu. When you choose it a menu appears with a choice of forms to print out. First make sure your printer is ready, then place the menu bar over your choice and press enter. Exit: You may exit the program by choosing this option. You may exit to DOS at any menu by pressing (Alt) (x). CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 15 =================================================================== 2.4 THE HELP BAR To display a bar at the bottom of the screen with reminders of the most used keystrokes press (Alt) (h). To get rid of it press (Alt) (h) again. 2.5 PRINTING THE CATALOG You can print the whole catalog on your printer, or you can print individual categories.Make sure your printer is ready (and has plenty of paper). This takes some time, so you should be sure you want to do it before starting. Catalogs can only be printed on printers attached to LPT1. To print one category go to the main menu, place the menu bar on the category you want to print and press (Alt) (p). To print the whole category go to the Exit menu and press (Alt) (p). You can also put printing the entire catalog as a choice on the main menu. See section 7.2 for instructions. 2.6 SEARCHING FOR PRODUCTS The search function lets you find any text in a category file including the long and short descriptions, order number and price. Use (Alt) (s) to search for any text while viewing a category menu, or from the main menu. A window pops up asking for the text to search for. After typing it in, press (Enter) to search from the current location, or (b) to search from the beginning. If text is found you may view the long description, and if found in a Product Block you may order the product. The search string will be highlighted on the screen. You may want to use key words to identify groups of products. This gives customers a way of finding special interest products. If searching in a category menu you will be returned to the product found. If searching from the main menu you can search across the whole catalog. If the search string is not found in one category you can press (n) to search the next category. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 16 =================================================================== CHAPTER THREE: MAKING A CATALOG To make your catalog you create catalog files, and use the companion program (CATCOM) to compress them. You also use CATCOM to configure your catalog. Catalog files are compressed files that either contain product data and information, or tell the program how to behave. They are created in two steps: Step 1: Create the text files using your favorite text editor. This chapter describes the format of the various kinds of files. Step 2: Compress the files using CATCOM.EXE. The catalog reader only reads compressed files. (See section 4.1) In your working directory you will have two versions of each catalog file. The text version is the one you can create and edit. The compressed version is the one the catalog can read. You only distribute the compressed version of each file when you send out your catalog. When you make a catalog the main part of your work will be creating the category files with your product information in them. You will also create special forms, informational files, and help files that display on the screen. In addition you will create other catalog files that tell the catalog how to deal with shipping and sales tax, how to format the order form, and what text to display inside the program. An important part of making your catalog is creating the disk label. Make sure that it has instructions for starting the program. For example: "To start type CATALOG and press the Enter key. (Type CATALOG -m for monochrome)" IMPORTANT NOTE: Do NOT rename CATALOG.EXE or CATALOG.INI. The program looks for itself under these names. 3.1 CATALOG FILE NAMING CONVENTIONS As you create your catalog you MUST observe certain file naming conventions. CATCOM processes files in different ways depending on their extensions, so you must use the following file extensions when you name your text files: .TXT Use this for category files. A "category file" is any file that contains your product information or Description blocks. These files are automatically added to the main menu (the file CATALOG.TL). .FRM Use for "Special Forms" and "Coupons." These files are automatically added to the "Special Forms" menu (the file CATALOG.FM). CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 17 =================================================================== .CAT Any file that is shown on the screen in CATALOG.EXE, but is not a category or "special form" gets this extension. FIRST.CAT is an example. .CTF Files that are used to configure the catalog, but are not displayed on the screen get this extension. TOTAL.CTF is an example. Any ASCII characters may be used in these files. However, you should be aware that some printers don't print the upper ascii characters (128-255) as expected. If printing catalogs is very important for your customers you'll want to stick to the lower 127 (of course upper and lower case letters, normal punctuation, and numbers are all contained within the lower ascii set). For more information see your printer manual and your DOS manual. You could note in a prominent place in your catalog that if a printer has an "IBM" setting it will probably print all the ascii characters. Daisy wheel printers will not print the upper characters. 3.2 FILES IN YOUR CATALOG When making a catalog these are some of the text files you should create: FIRST.CAT You first screen or screens HEADER.CAT The text that appears next to the main menu CMOSHLP.CAT The main help screen EXIT.CAT A 10 line message for the exit menu screen XXXXXX.TXT At least one category file. Replace the Xs with your own file name. XXXXXX.FRM If you want the Special Forms menu you should create at least one form. Replace the Xs with your own file name. (Special Forms are optional). TOTAL.CTF The file that controls sales tax and shipping After you create these files they are compressed. All compressed files have the ".CM" extension. 3.3 THE MAIN MENU There are two text files that CATALOG.EXE reads to create menus (they are not compressed). CATALOG.TL contains the titles for the main menu, and CATALOG.FM for the "Special Forms" menu. When you compress your category files and forms files they are automatically added to the appropriate one of these menu files, and alphabetized. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 18 =================================================================== CATALOG.TL an be edited to add many powerful features to your catalog. Use your favorite text editor to edit this file. First, a word about the format: each line contains the text that actually appears on the menu plus the name of the file to be read if that menu choice is chosen. The menu text and the file name are separated by a vertical line (|). Example: Boating Accessories | BOATACC.CM The files all have the extension ".CM" because they are compressed files. Any file with a ".CM" extension on this menu is a Category File. That means it contains Product Blocks or Description Blocks, or both. 3.31 "CAT" COMMANDS If the file name on a line in CATALOG.TL has the ".CAT" extension CATALOG.EXE will treat it as a "Special Catalog Command." Special Catalog Commands either add a function to the menu, or tell it to show a file in the catalog viewer. Section 7.2 explains how to put these commands on the menu. You can also look at the original CATALOG.TL that came with your distribution disk to see how "CAT" commands are used. 3.32 SPECIAL FUNCTIONS There are several special functions that can be attached to your menu. These can be used in addition to the key combinations that call the functions. See section 7.2 to learn how to add these menu items. 3.33 VIEWING A FILE You can also put files to view on the main menu as long as they do not have any of the reserved names from section 7.2. Even though you give these files the ".CAT" extension in CATALOG.TL, the real files have the ".CM" extension. So, for example, if you wanted to view a file that describes your shipping policy from the main menu this line would call a compressed file called "SHIP.CM": Shipping Information | SHIP.CAT In fact you can display files from your special forms menu, a help file, or even redisplay your FIRST file. Notice in the sample catalog on your distribution disk that we do just that. 3.34 HIGHLIGHTING A MENU ITEM If you want a menu item to stand out from the rest you can use the highlight color from the MAIN palette. Just use the ` symbol on either side of the text you want highlighted. Examples: `Specials of the Month | SPECIAL.CM CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 19 =================================================================== The above example highlights "Specials of the Month" on your menu. `Specials` of the Month | SPECIAL.CM The above example highlights "Specials" and displays "of the Month" in the regular menu color. 3.4 USING COLOR PALETTES CATALOG-ON-A-DISK uses 6 color palettes (see section 5.31), and each palette has two colors in it, a Normal color and a Bold color. When typing your catalog files you use the single quote mark (`) on either side of the text you want to appear in the Bold color. This symbol is on the same key on your keyboard as the tilde (~) character. Example: This is normal. `This is Bold!` This is normal again. You choose which color palette you want associated with each file when you compress it. 3.5 PUTTING YOUR TEXT ON THE INFO SCREEN When a user presses (Alt) (i) the information screen pops up. This is used to show your custom message, the program version number, and ESC's copyright notice. Registered Users can also show up to six lines of informational text here. Normally this will contain your company name, address and phone number so if your customers have a question about their order they can contact you. To insert your own text into the information screen: Type your text in lines on lines 152-157 in the file CATALOG.CTF. (We strongly suggest using CATTXT.EXE for this purpose to make sure this file is not corrupted. If you are CAREFUL you can do this with an ascii text editor.) Use CATCOM to compress CATALOG.CTF. (see section 5.41, "COMPRESS" below). CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 20 =================================================================== CHAPTER FOUR: CATALOG FILES 4.1 HOW TO MAKE AN OPENING (FIRST) SCREEN FILE The Opening Screen file is the first information your customer sees when he or she starts the catalog program. This can be your company name, a brief general description of how to order, something about your products or whatever. You will want to keep this fairly short. Using an ASCII text editor you can create the opening screen(s) that your customers will see. This information will be shown, a screen at a time, to your customers when they first start the program. Make sure that no line is wider than 76 characters, and that you press Enter at the end of the last line to put a newline character there (otherwise the last line won't show up on the screen). Each screen has 23 lines (rows), so if you have more than one screen you should start screen 2 on line 24, screen 3 on line 47, and so on. When the file is finished you must compress it (see section 5.41, "COMPRESS" below). The name of this file MUST be "FIRST.CAT". 4.2 HOW TO MAKE A HEADER FILE The HEADER is the information that appears on the menu screen, just beside the menu choices. Use an ASCII text editor to create a file. This can have your company name, a slogan, special help, advertising, or whatever you want. Make sure that no line is wider than 40 characters, and that you press (Enter) at the end of the last line to put a newline character there (otherwise the last line won't show up on the screen). This information appears on the left of your screen, while the categories menu appears on the right. If you only have a few categories you may make the lines below the menu 78 characters wide to give additional information. Experiment with how this looks. This file should be 23 or fewer lines long. When the file is finished you must compress it (see section 5.41, "COMPRESS" below). The name of this file MUST be "HEADER.CAT". 4.3 HOW TO MAKE A CATEGORY FILE Using an ASCII text editor it is easy to make a category file. There are three parts of a catalog file: The category title, the header line, and product or description blocks. Just follow this format: CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 21 =================================================================== Title: Line one of the file is the category title. Type your title, and if you want to password protect your file type a vertical line and your password. Example: Art Books|mypassword Header Text: Line two can be a line for the category header. This is optional, and it can contain any text. It should begin with a double tilde symbol so CATALOG-ON-A-DISK will know it is for your header. These symbols will not appear on the screen. For example you might want the header to say: ~~Order #: Product Description: List: Your Price: Another choice is to use it for an advertising banner: ~~===WIDGETWARE is Your Choice In Tee Shirts!=== Product These are followed by one product or description block and per item in your catalog. A product or description Description block consists of from 1 to 501 lines. On the top line Blocks: is the marker, item number, a short product description, and the price. These items must be in this order. This is followed by a zero to 500 lines of text (long description). 4.31 PRODUCT BLOCKS Marker: You have to use a tilde (~) symbol at the beginning of the top line of each product or description block. It must be the left most character on the line with no other characters or spaces in front of it. This is mandatory. Order Number Can be any combination of numbers, letters and punctuation. Must have NO blank spaces. If you do not use order numbers you must leave one blank space at the beginning of the line, after the marker. Order numbers are optional. Short Desc: Can be any number of letters, numbers and words as long as it fits with the Order Number and Price on 1 line (75 characters total maximum). This is mandatory. Price: Must be numbers and decimal point only. The best format to use is XXX.XX where you show two numbers after the decimal point, even if it is an even dollar figure. This is mandatory. Some good examples: .55 132.12 12.00 CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 22 =================================================================== Freight: You can attach a freight charge to each product. If you do it will be multiplied by the quantity of that product that is ordered, and added to the subtotal for the product. You do two things to attach a freight charge: First type two vertical lines and then the price of the freight. Use only numbers and a decimal point - do not include the currency character. ( | | 12.95). The second step is to tell your customer this charge is being added. Make sure to put this information near the top of your long description for this product so it can be seen in the first screen of your description. Long This can be any text, from 0 to 500 lines long. If you Description: don't want to use long descriptions, you don't have to. This is optional. EXAMPLE: ~ABT147-730 Industrial Metal Shelving 77.95 The long description goes here, and can be from 0 to 500 lines long. 4.42 DESCRIPTION BLOCKS Marker: You have to use a ~+D+ symbol at the beginning of the top line of each product or description block. It must begin with the left most character on the line with no other characters or spaces in front of it. This is mandatory. Title: Any Text can be used. This is what will appear on the category menu. If this were a Product Block the order number, short description and price would appear here. Long Description: This can be any text, from 0 to 500 lines long. EXAMPLE: ~+D+All About Widgets... The long description goes here, and can be from 0 to 500 lines long. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 23 =================================================================== 4.43 PUTTING IT TOGETHER Line# What To Type: # of chars Description ------+----------------------------+-----------+----------------- 1 |~Menu Title | Password |28 | 20 |Title | Password ------+----------------------------+-----------+----------------- 2 |~~Header Text (optional) |76 |Category Header ------+----------------------------+-----------+----------------- 3 |~Order# Short Desc Price |75 |Product 4 |Product Description |75 |Block 5 |Product Description |75 | 6 |Product Description |75 |(500 Line Maximum) etc. | | | ------+----------------------------+-----------+----------------- 3 |~+D+Text |75 |Description 4 |Description |75 |Block 5 |Description |75 | 6 |Description |75 |(500 Line Maximum) etc. | | | ------+----------------------------+-----------+----------------- Etc. A category text file may be any length, depending on disk space and memory available. Because you don't know what equipment your customer may have it is best to keep the size down. For example, a 2000 line category file (with long lines of text) will run fine if the computer has 640KB of RAM memory, but is too much for a machine with only 512KB. Make sure that you press Enter at the end of the last line to put a newline character there. When the file is finished you must compress it (see section 5.41, "COMPRESS" below). The file name MUST have the ".TXT" extension (ex: SINKS.TXT). 4.4 SAMPLE CATALOG FILES See the sample files that come on your distribution disk for examples of category files. Each example provided shows a different way you can use these files, but the basic format is identical in all of them. Category Text Files have the ".TXT" extension. 4.5 HOW TO MAKE AN EXIT SCREEN FILE The Exit Screen File controls what your customer sees beneath the exit menu when it is displayed on the screen. Use an ASCII text editor to create this file. This can have your company name, a slogan, special help, advertising, or whatever you want. You may want to talk about special forms, or give ordering instructions. When the file is finished you must compress it (see section 5.41, "COMPRESS" below). The name of this file MUST be EXIT.CAT. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 24 =================================================================== 4.6 HOW TO MAKE ORDER INFORMATION FILES When CATALOG ON A DISK prints an order form it can print extra information on your order form. This can be any information you want including shipping information, your company name and address, and special ordering information. It uses two files to do this. You should keep these files short, to keep the order form to one page, if possible. Normally, one of these files will be printed at the top, and one at the bottom of the order form. Make sure that no line is wider than 78 characters, and that you press Enter at the end of the last line to put a newline character there (otherwise the last line won't show up on the screen). When the file is finished you must compress it (see section 5.41, "COMPRESS" below). The name of the files MUST be: PHEADER.CTF Normally printed at the top of the form. ORDERINF.CTF Normally printed at the bottom of the form. 4.7 HOW TO MAKE COUPONS AND OTHER SPECIAL FORMS CATALOG-ON-A-DISK can display a menu of special forms, coupons and so on. These can contain special offers, company description, special instructions, and so on. If forms exist CATALOG-ON-A-DISK adds a special menu item to the Exit Menu that reads Special Forms. The customer can choose from a menu of forms and print them to a printer (the printer must be attached to LPT1 for this to work: this prevents coupons from being printed to a file and changed by the customer). Using an ASCII text editor you can create a Form file. Type any printable ascii characters to make your form. Make sure that no line is wider than 78 characters, and that you press Enter at the end of the last line to put a newline character there (otherwise the last line won't show up on the screen). It is suggested that you keep forms below 60 lines. (59 lines is one printed page. These files can be a maximum of 500 lines long.) When the file is finished you must compress it (see section 5.41, "COMPRESS" below). The name of this file MUST have the extension .FRM in order for CATALOG-ON-A-DISK to place it in the Forms menu and treat it as a form. Example: COUPON.FRM CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 25 =================================================================== 4.8 AUTOMATING SALES TAX AND SHIPPING/HANDLING You may choose the way your catalog handles sales taxes and shipping and handling charges on the order form. The simplest way to handle this is to do nothing. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK will print out blank spaces for sales taxes, S&H, and the final total that your customers can fill in manually. In this case be sure to put your tax and S&H information in the ORDERINF file. If you include a file called TOTAL.CM you can have CATALOG-ON-A-DISK figure sales tax and/or S&H automatically or semi-automatically. +--------------------------------------+ | t NY | 7 | | s USPS (US) 3.00 | 3.00 | | s USPS (Canada) 5.00 | 5.00 | | s USPS (Elsewhere) 9.00 | 9.00 | | s UPS Ground (US) 3.00 | 3.00 | | s UPS BLUE (48 Sts) 6.00 | 6.00 | | s UPS BLUE (AL HI PR) 8.00 | 8.00 | | s UPS RED (US) 15.00 | 15.00 | | s UPS RED (AL HI PR) 19.00 | 19.00 | | s Customer Pick Up 0.00 | 0.00 | | | +--------------------------------------+ This file must use a specific format. If you want to automatically charge a specific sales tax percent for your state or province include a line that has a t at the beginning of the line (no spaces before it), then the name of the state or province (if a US state you should use the two letter indicator recommended by the post office. Example: NY for New York). Next there should be a pipe symbol (|) with a space on either side of it. Finally the sales tax percent age that applies to your state. Example: t NY | 7 Some states have different taxes in their various regions. If this is the case in your state you set your tax line to 999. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK will ask the customer to enter the tax rate only if he or she resides in the chosen state. Example: t NY | 999 If you collect tax in multiple states, or if you think your customers may type variations of the state/province name in their address you can use as many "t" lines as needed. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 26 =================================================================== Example: t NY | 999 t New York | 999 t N Y | 999 t NJ | 999 t N J | 999 t New Jersey | 999 To include shipping and handling options you use a similar format. You start with the letter s at the beginning of the line. Next you type in the shipping option you want to appear on the shipping menu (it is recommended that you include the price here so your customers can see what they have to pay for various shipping options. Follow that with a pipe symbol (|) with a space on either side of it. And then type in the shipping price for that entry. Example: s FedEx 8.50 | 8.50 You may have up to 12 options on this menu. You are not required to have any if you don't want the shipping menu to appear in your catalog. CATALOG-ON-A- DISK can be set to charge sales tax in just one state, or in all states. You set this using interactive menus or by calling CATCOM with the -sa flag (for all) or the -so (for one) from the DOS command line as follows: catcom -so (Enter) If you set CATALOG-ON-A-DISK for ALL states a window will pop up asking the customer to fill in the correct percentage of sales tax for his or her state. (Any states or provinces set up in the TOTAL file will have the tax automatically added.) You may still set one state to automatically charge a set percentage (using the total file) if you want to. If you do the sales tax will automatically be figured in without asking for input from customers in that state (or in any state in the tax list in the TOTAL file). Some states charge sales tax on shipping and handling as well as merchandise. Use interactive menus or the -mo flag for merchandise only, or the -mb flag to set CATALOG-ON-A- DISK to charge tax on both. When you are done typing this file you must compress it using the -c option (see section 5.41, "COMPRESS" below). The name of the file must be TOTAL.CTF. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 27 =================================================================== 4.9 CHANGING HELP CATALOG-ON-A-DISK can have context-sensitive help if you create more than one help file. Minimally you must have two help files: The first, CMHLP.CM, holds the text you see if you ask for help at the command line (by typing "CATALOG -h"). The second, CMOSHLP.CM, has the text you see when you press (F1) while viewing a catalog. If you want to customize your own help files, create text files containing your help information. When they are as you want them compress them. (see section 5.41, "COMPRESS", below). It is suggested that you use the "HELP" palette when compressing these files so all your help files will have the same appearance. Help text file names MUST be: CMHLP.CTF Help from calling -h CMOSHLP.CAT General Program Help MMNUHLP.CAT Main Menu Help CMNUHLP.CAT Category help EMNUHLP.CAT Exit menu help PRNTHLP.CAT Printing help FINDHLP.CAT Text search help CRVWHLP.CAT Review screen help CMOSHLP.CAT will be used if any or all of the other files do not exist. 4.10 CODING THE ORDER FORM In some circumstance you may want to code your order forms. This is most often done when a commission is involved and you want to know which salesman generated that form. You can add such a code using a 1 line ascii file called "UNIQUEL". In your favorite text editor type up to one full line of text, press (Enter) at the end of the line, then save the file. DO NOT compress the UNIQEUEL file. 4.11 HOW TO ASK SPECIAL QUESTIONS Every business has special information they want on their order forms. It may be a credit card number and expiration date. Software vendors might want to know what disk size the customer uses. Others may ask for a purchase order number. You can set up your own questions so they will be asked when an order is about to be printed. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK can be set to always ask about tax and shipping. If a file called EXTRA.CM is present it will ask additional questions as well. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 28 =================================================================== Each line in the EXTRA file contains four pieces of information, separated by a vertical line (|): 1. The question to appear on the screen. (Mandatory) 2. A header to appear before the answer on the order form (optional) 3. A number (1-80) indicating the maximum allowed length of the answer (mandatory) 4. A number (0-79) indicating how many spaces to the right to indent the answer on the order form (optional) Example: Visa # (Enter for None) | CC Number: | 20 | 40 The above example places "Visa # (Enter for None)" on the screen and gives the customer a 20 character space to put the number in. When it prints the credit card number on the order form it indents to the middle of the page, then prints "CC Number: " and the number. 29 When you are done typing this file you must compress it using the -c option (see section 5.41, "COMPRESS", below). The name of the file must be EXTRA.CTF. 4.12 HOW TO CHANGE INTERNAL PROGRAM TEXT IN CATALOG.EXE If your catalog is not in English you will want to translate the internal program text to the language you are using. You can also rephrase the text in English if other words are more appropriate for your business. To change the text, copy the file CATALOG.CTF from your distribution disk. ALWAYS KEEP A COPY OF THE ORIGINAL FILE. You can edit the original file using your favorite text editor, or use the utility program CATTXT.EXE to edit the file. Do NOT create this file from scratch. Always edit a copy of the original. ----------------------------- IMPORTANT NOTE!!! CAUTION!!! ----------------------------- The format of this file is very specific, and if CATALOG.EXE doesn't find the text in the correct order and length it could cause severe problems with the operation of the program. For this reason we strongly suggest you use CATTXT to safely edit the file. If you do use a text editor you must be VERY CAREFUL to keep each line of text on the same line you found the original version on, AND do not exceed the length of the original text. (CATTXT is a bonus utility that is provided to registered customers.) When you are done editing this file you must compress it using the -c option (see section 5.41, "COMPRESS", below). The name of the file must be CATALOG.CTF. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 29 =================================================================== 4.13 FORMATTING THE ORDER FORM You can set the order in which items appear on your order form using a file called CATPRINT. You create this file in your favorite text editor. It consists of several key words, all typed in UPPER CASE letters. Each key word refers to a section of the order form, and the sections will be printed in the order you place them in this file. If you want blank lines to appear after a section you use the BLANK# keyword, replacing "#" with the number of blank lines you want printed. Here is list of the keywords: ORDRTOP Prints "ORDER FORM" (or whatever is on line 147 of CATALOG.CTF) HEADING Prints the PHEADER file if it exists MESSAGE Prints the custom message PRNDATE Prints the date ADDRESS Prints the customer's Address PNPHONE Prints the customer's phone number PNORDER Prints the order (item, quant ordered, price, etc.) PNTOTAL Prints the total, tax and shipping information ANSWERS Prints the answers to the questions asked in the file EXTRA.CM, if it exists UNIQUEL Prints the UNIQUEL file if it exists ORDRINF Prints the ORDERINF file if it exists CTITLE1 CTITLE2 Optionally you can have a one or two line header above the order section of your order form. Typically the first line tells what the columns are for, "NUM ORDER # DESCRIPTION" and so on, and the second line is used to underline these choices. You can put anything you want on these lines. The text that appears should begin right after the "1" or "2" with no spaces (unless you want the header to begin with spaces). CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 30 =================================================================== You can also determine the spacing of the order information in the PNORDER section by adding a line to the bottom of this file that begins with the keyword "OCONFIG". On the same line follow this with the following key words (replace the # with the number of spaces from the left margin you want each piece of information to start on): OINM# The order item number ONUM# The order number ODES# The short description OQNT# The quantity ordered OPRI# The price OSUB# The subtotal for that item At the end of the last line in this file press Enter, then save the file. For an example of how to make this file see the sample file called "CATPRINT.CTF" on your distribution disk. When you are done editing this file you must compress it using the -c option (see section 5.41, "COMPRESS", below). The name of the file must be CATPRINT.CTF. EXAMPLE: +---------------------------------------------------------------+ |ORDRTOP BLANK1 | |HEADING | |MESSAGE BLANK1 | |PRNDATE BLANK1 | |ADDRESS | |PNPHONE BLANK1 | |PNORDER BLANK2 | |PNTOTAL BLANK2 | |ANSWERS BLANK1 | |UNIQUEL BLANK1 | |ORDRINF | |OCONFIG OINM1 ONUM7 ODES17 OQNT50 OPRI68 OSUB77 | |CTITLE1# ORDER NO. DESCRIPTION QUANT PRICE TOTAL| |CTITLE2--- --------- ----------- ----- ----- -----| +---------------------------------------------------------------+ CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 31 =================================================================== CHAPTER FIVE: THE COMPANION The CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Companion (CATCOM) is a program that helps you make your catalog. It sets the parameters of your catalog, and acts on catalog files that you have created with your word processor or data base program. Catalog parameters include the nationality settings, the colors in your catalog, tax and date setups, and help bar setup. When building your catalog you make catalog files in a text editor or word processor that has the capability to save text in pure ascii format. Then you use CATCOM to compress your files into a form that CATALOG.EXE can read, and that take up less space on your disk. You can also use CATCOM to import and export catalog files to a data base or other program. CATCOM can be run in two ways. Command line mode lets you use CATCOM'S capabilities using flags on the DOS command line. For example, to compress a file you would type: catcom -c myfile.txt (Enter) CATCOM also has an interactive mode that allows you to perform tasks interactively within a menu driven program. If you are new to CATALOG-ON-A-DISK you'll probably want to start with interactive mode. To start the Companion in interactive mode type: CATCOM (Enter) If CATCOM does not start you may have to set a TEMP variable. Although you can do this from the DOS command line you should load it each time you start your computer, using the autoexec.bat file. Add a line to that file that reads: SET TEMP=C:\ Then reboot your computer so the command will take effect. 5.1 COMMAND LINE FUNCTIONS: CATCOM's catalog making functions can be called from the command line. It is very easy to use these functions. You call CATCOM as follows: catcom [flags] [filename] (Enter) NOTES: ■The flags can be upper or lower case (ex. -E or -e). ■You may use / instead of - in flags (ex: -e or /e). ■The filename may come before or after the flag. (You only specify a file name with -c, -e, or -i) CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 32 =================================================================== -c Compress a text file to make a catalog file -e Export a compressed catalog file to ascii delimited format -i Import an ascii delimited file to a text file -t# Expand tabs to # spaces -h+ Set Help Bar On (-h- Sets Help Bar Off) -nu Set Nationality address format to US style -ne Set Nationality address format to European/Canadian style -so Charge Sales Tax in One State -sa Charge Sales Tax in All States -mo Tax merchandise only -mb Tax both merchandise and Shipping & Handling -*a Set currency character using ascii number (numbers in decimal. 32 for blank) EX: -*a36 -*s Set currency character using symbol EX: *s$ 5.2 INTERACTIVE MODE CATCOM is a fully interactive program with easy to navigate menus, context sensitive help, and mouse support. You can configure it to your preferences. 5.21 NAVIGATING CATCOM You can use your keyboard and/or mouse to navigate CATCOM. The program uses pull-down menus to access its functions. You can use the following keys at any time: (Enter) Chooses a menu choice or accepts a setting (Esc) Backs out of a menu item, or aborts a setting (when this happens your old setting is preserved). (F1) Help. (Alt) (r) Shows the Review screen with a summary of all current settings. (Alt) (x) Exits to DOS. If you have a mouse use the following buttons: Left Chooses a menu item Right Backs out of a menu item (same as (Esc) ) 5.22 CATCOM MENUS When you first start CATCOM you see a menu bar at the top of the screen and a message bar at the bottom. The Menu Bar contains choices, each of which has a pull down menu with more choices. The Message Bar is used to tell you when something you tried to do worked or did not work. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 33 =================================================================== On the extreme left of the menu bar is a triple line. This choice gives you information about CATCOM, including the version number. The other menus do the following: Setup: Sets CATALOG.EXE parameters such as color, nationality, help bar. Files: Lets you act on catalog files, plus view the catalog. Options: This is for setting CATCOM, and viewing the review screen. Quit: Exit to DOS. Help: You may get general help or choose from an index. 5.3 THE SETUP MENU The Setup Menu is used to set the parameters of your catalog. When you change an item in this menu the information is written to the file "CATALOG.INI." This is the file that CATALOG.EXE reads to know how to behave. Make sure you copy the right version of CATALOG.INI with your final catalog files. Also check your CATCOM setup (in the Options Menu) to make sure the correct path, if any, is set for this file. You set colors, the help bar, nationality format, tax format, the currency character, and date format from this menu. 5.31 COLORS CATALOG.EXE supports six color palettes. The first three are used for specific purposes in the program. These and the other three palettes can also be assigned to each catalog file that appears on the screen. You set the actual colors for each palette here. When you compress catalog files you are prompted to select one of the palettes for that file. NOTE: If you decide to change the colors in a palette AFTER you have already compressed files using that palette you do NOT have to compress those files again. They will automatically be displayed in the new colors. Here is a list of the palettes and what they are used for: Palette |Program Use |Your Use --------+-------------------+------------ MAIN |Screen, menus |Your files HELP |Help screens |Your files HILIGHT |Special Messages |Your files ONE | |Your files TWO | |Your files THREE | |Your files CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 34 =================================================================== When you pick a color to choose you are presented with a screen showing examples of all the possible color combinations. Using the arrow keys (or your mouse) place the box over the color you want for each palette choice and press (Enter). Or press (Esc) to keep the old color. 5.32 HELP BAR The help bar appears at the bottom of the catalog screen. It contains text that you determine, usually reminding the customer of the functions of the most used keys. Pressing (Alt) (h) toggles it on and off. You use the "Set Help Bar Default" choice to tell the catalog to display the help bar when CATALOG.EXE is first started (ON) or not (OFF). Choose "Help Bar Text" to change the text that appears in the Help Bar. When you are finished typing your help text press (Enter) to accept it, or (Esc) to keep the old text. 5.33 NATIONALITY The "Nationality" function affects the address format. On the Exit Menu of the catalog the customer is asked to type in his or her name and address. This is saved and printed on each order form. If you choose "US Style" United States state and area code formats will be used. Choose "International" for a more free- form approach that allows for many styles of address and phone number (you can choose "International" if you are in the US). 5.34 TAX ONE OR ALL Depending on your obligation you can set the catalog to add sales tax for one state or province, all states or provinces, or none. When the customer fills in his or her address CATALOG.EXE looks at the State/Province line and tries to match it with a list set up in the TOTAL file. If you have set your catalog to tax ONE state it will automatically fill in the tax (or pop up the tax box for the customer to fill in) if it finds a match. If you are not obligated to collect sales tax there is a simple trick to setting the catalog. Choose "One State or Province" on this menu. Then, in your TOTAL file define a nonsense state ("ghasgqfvs", for example) with a tax of 0. Because there will never be a match the tax is never added. 5.35 WHAT TO TAX As of this writing most states in the US only charge sales tax on merchandise. Recently the New York State tax department required businesses to also tax shipping/handling. Make the choice that matches your tax collecting obligation. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 35 =================================================================== 5.36 CURRENCY CHARACTER If you want your currency character (the "$" sign in the US) to appear you can set the one for your country here. If you do not want it to appear make it blank. 5.37 DATE SETUP CATALOG-ON-A-DISK tries to accommodate itself to any country format. You can set up the date display that appears on the order review screen and on the order form. "Month Style" lets you use a number (5) or text (May) to represent the month. (Note: Month text is stored in CATALOG.CTF.) "Order" lets you choose between Month-Day-Year, and Day-Month-Year "Separator" is the symbol, if any, that separates the Day, Month, and Year. 5.4 THE FILES MENU The Files Menu has the functions that act on your catalog files, including compressing, importing and exporting. In addition it allows you to view your catalog without leaving CATCOM. If you need to import or export text, the best way to see how this works is to export one of the sample text files, and then to import it again. 5.41 COMPRESS Compressing your catalog files is the most important function of CATCOM. CATALOG.EXE cannot read your files unless they are compressed. This allows a much larger catalog to fit on a disk than would otherwise, and provides some security for your catalog data. DOS file names are made of a name and an extension, separated by a period. The name may be from 1 to eight characters long, and the extension (which is optional) begins with a period followed by 1 to 3 characters. There are four kinds of catalog files. CATCOM recognizes them by their three-letter file extensions, and embeds special codes in them that tell your catalog how the file is to be displayed. In the case of Category Files it also tells how prices should be calculated, how many products are contained in the file, and other information CATALOG.EXE needs. When you choose this option you are first asked for a "File Mask." This is the three letter extension. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 36 =================================================================== For: Type: -------------------------------------------------- Category Files TXT Special Forms FRM Other files that Display On The Screen CAT Files that DO NOT Display On The Screen CTF When you press (Enter) you are presented with a list of all the files with the extension you chose. Use the arrow keys (or point and click with your mouse) to highlight the file you want to compress and press (Enter) (or press the left mouse button). Since the first three kinds of file all display on the screen you have to assign a color palette to each one. A box pops up showing samples of each palette. Type the number of the palette (1 through six) that you want to use when displaying this file. Now the screen will change and information on the progress of the compression is displayed. It tells you the size of the original text version of the file, and the reduced size of the compressed version. this does NOT erase your text file. It creates another file with the same name, but with ".CM" for its extension. If you have compressed a category file it will tell you how many products were compressed. Press any key, when prompted, to return to CATCOM. You may choose another file mask, or press (Esc) to return to the "Files" menu. ------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: You may notice some codes have been added to the very first line of your text file. Other than this no changes are made to the file. You can ignore the codes, or erase them. If you re-compress the same file, but choose another palette the old codes are ignored, and replaced with new information. If the codes are driving you crazy use an ascii text editor to edit the file called CATCOM.INI. Go down to the line that says "KEEPFLG" and replace the "1" with a "0" - DO NOT make any other changes to this file!!! This causes your original file to stay the same, but a copy that contains the codes is created with the ".TTI" extension. ------------------------------------------------------------------- 5.42 IMPORT If you have product data in a database that stores the data in ascii delimited files CATCOM can convert the data to the text version of a category file. Before importing make sure that the delimiters set (in the "Files" menu) are the ones used for the ascii delimited file you are importing. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 37 =================================================================== When you first choose "Import" you have to fill in the Menu Text (this is what appears on the main menu of your catalog), and the Header (when you view a category this appears on the top of the screen). If you have processed the file before CATCOM remembers your old settings and displays them on the screen. You may press (Ctrl) (Enter) to accept the old text or edit it first. Your data base may not have saved the fields in the order CATCOM expects them. CATCOM will display the fields from the first record so you can mark them as the order number field, price field, and so on. A window entitled "Set Data Fields" is displayed, showing the first data field. Press (s). Now you are asked to mark the field. Type one of the following symbols and press (Enter): n if the field is the order number s if the field is the short description p if the field contains the price x if the field is not to be used for the catalog xx if the current field and every field following it are not used You can handle the long description fields one of two ways: If all the fields are in the order you want them displayed, just leave them blank. If they are mixed up number each field, starting with "1". After you have marked the first field you use the arrow keys, (Home), and (End) to view and mark the other fields. When you are finished marking the fields press (Esc). A window will appear that tells you the name of the new ".TXT" file and reports on each record as it is imported. If there was already a file of that name with the ".TXT" extension it will be backed up with an extension of ".001" If that file exists ".002" will be used and so on. 5.43 EXPORT You can export your catalog data to an ascii delimited data file, which can then be imported into most popular data base programs. Before proceeding check to make sure CATCOM is using delimiters compatible with your data base (see your data base manual for this information). When you choose "Export" from the menu you are presented with a list of files with the ".TXT" extension (category files). Once you have chosen a file to export you are asked how many long description lines to use. It is important that you type the number of lines in the LONGEST long description in the file. It's OK to specify extra lines. If you specify fewer you will loose some data. Type the number and press (Enter). CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 38 =================================================================== A new file with the same name and the ".ASC" extension will be created, containing the data fields, separated by the delimiters you specified. If there was already a file of that name with the ".ASC" extension it will be backed up with an extension of ".001" If that file exists ".002" will be used and so on. 5.44 DELIMITERS Ascii Delimited data files are supposed to be a standard format, but in the computer world the word "standard" is often loosely used! The standard should be a quotation mark (") to delimit the beginning of a field and a quote with a comma (",) to mark the end of a field. Some data bases, however, use different symbols, and some even use different delimiters for text than they do for numbers or currency. Because of the differences in the "standard" CATCOM lets you fill in the delimiters in as flexible a way as possible. You set delimiters for numbers, text, and currency. For each of these you set three delimiters: Before Used to begin a field After Used to end a field Last Used to end the last field in a record Check your data base manual to see what delimiters are needed. If your data base ends the last field in a record the same as all the other fields, be sure to fill the "After" and "Last" boxes identically. "Spaces" sets how many blank spaces go between each field. Normally this is set to 0. 5.55 VIEW CATALOG While setting up your catalog with CATCOM you can view your catalog as you go along. CATCOM swaps out to memory (or disk, if there is not enough memory) and shows the catalog. When you are done with the catalog you are returned to CATCOM. 5.5 THE OPTIONS MENU The Options Menu lets you set up CATCOM. These settings affect CATCOM only, and are not used in your catalog. In addition you may view the Catalog Settings Review Screen. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 39 =================================================================== 5.51 COLORS If you don't care for the colors in CATCOM you can change them with this menu choice. When you choose to change a color a screen is displayed showing all the possible color choices. Using the arrow keys (or your mouse) place the box over the color you want for each choice and press (Enter). or press (Esc) to keep the old color. 5.52 FRAMES This sets the kind of frame that appears around your CATCOM menus. 5.53 SOUND When CATCOM sends a message on the message bar it sounds an alarm. You can turn off this alarm by choosing "Off." 5.54 PATHS Normally you will keep your catalog - in - progress on the same drive and directory as CATCOM. If you decide to put them in separate directories you must explicitly tell CATCOM where to find them. You are asked to fill in three paths - under normal circumstances they will be identical. For example, if the catalog is kept on drive C: in a directory called \CATALOG you would type: C:\CATALOG If your catalog IS in the same directory as CATCOM you can either fill it in, or leave it blank. Note: When compressing from the command line you should have NO path set for "Files To Compress." 5.55 REVIEW This choice displays the Review screen, which reports on all your current settings (that you set using the "Setup" menu). It is identical to pressing (Alt) (r). The review screen shows all your catalog settings on one screen. This lets you see at a glance if anything needs to be changed. 5.6 THE QUIT MENU Choose "Yes" to exit to DOS, or "No" to return to CATCOM. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 40 =================================================================== 5.7 THE HELP MENU If you choose "General Help" you will be shown basic information on getting around CATCOM with your keyboard and mouse. If you choose "Index" you will be shown an index of topics from which to choose. With your keyboard: (Tab) Next topic (Shift) (Tab) Last Topic (Enter) Choose a topic (PgUp) Up 1 page (PgDn) Down 1 page (Home) 1st press: Top of screen 2nd press: Top of help topic (End) 1st press: Bottom of screen 2nd press: Bottom of help topic (Esc) Leave help With your mouse just point to the topic or action you want and press the left button. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 41 =================================================================== CHAPTER SIX: COMMANDS 6.1 COMMAND SUMMARY (CATALOG.EXE): Command Line: -h Help -m Force black and white color display In the program: (Esc) Exit (alt) (i) Program Information (alt) (x) Exit (Alt) (p) Print the whole catalog (Alt) (h) Display a Help Bar (F1) Help (PgUp) (PgDn) See more than 20 Categories or Products (Up) (Dn) Up or Down 1 Category or Product (Lt) (Rt) Up or Down 1 Category or Product 6.2 COMMAND LINE FLAG SUMMARY (CATCOM.EXE): -c Compress a text file to make a catalog file -e Export a compressed catalog file to ascii delimited format -i Import an ascii delimited file to a text file -t# Expand tabs to # spaces -h+ Set Help Bar On (-h- Sets Help Bar Off) -nu Set Nationality address format to US style -ne Set Nationality address format to European/Canadian style -so Charge Sales Tax in One State -sa Charge Sales Tax in All States -mo Tax merchandise only -mb Tax both merchandise and Shipping & Handling -*a Set currency character using ascii number (numbers in decimal. 32 for blank) -*s Set currency character using symbol CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 42 =================================================================== CHAPTER SEVEN: ADVANCED FEATURES 7.1 PRICING TECHNIQUES For most applications you want CATALOG-ON-A-DISK to multiply the price of each item by the quantity ordered, and add this sum to the total order. To use this "normal" pricing option type the word "NORMAL" (upper case required) on line 142 of CATALOG.CTF, and recompress the file. (NOTE: CATALOG-ON-A-DISK ships with this option enabled, so if you haven't changed this line you do not have to do anything.) You can set CATALOG.EXE to simply count items, and multiply the quantity by a single price. This might be useful in a shareware business where all the disks cost the same, but some programs are on multiple disks. Instead of prices you would type the number of disks per product in the category files. Then, to enable this pricing option, type "COUNTUP 4.95" (upper case required) on line 142 of CATALOG.CTF, and recompress the file. Replace "4.95" with your own disk price. Finally, you can set CATALOG.EXE to not use prices. This is useful when you are using the program to generate requests for estimates. The customer goes through the catalog as usual, "orders" products and prints an order form. This is sent to the company, and returned with the estimate for those products. To set this option type "NOPRICE" (upper case required) on line 142 of CATALOG.CTF, and recompress the file. Note that these are GLOBAL pricing options. This means that they affect all categories in your catalog. You can't use NORMAL for one category and NOPRICE for another, for example. NOTE: It is strongly suggested that you use the CATTXT utility to change your CATALOG.CTF file. 7.2 ADDING SPECIAL FUNCTIONS TO THE MENU There are several special functions that can be added to the main menu besides viewing category files. These are easy to set up using the CATALOG.TL file, which contains the menu information. This is an ascii file that is NOT compressed. When you look in this file you'll notice the format is simple: the text that will appear on the menu is first, followed by the name of the category file that menu choice calls. These are separated by a vertical line. Example: Aviation Supplies | AIRCRAFT.cm All the file names end with the ".CM" extension which indicates they are compressed category files. To add special functions you type any menu choice you want, the vertical line, and a file name ending with the ".CAT" extension. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 43 =================================================================== ".CAT" file listings are not real file names. They are instructions to the catalog to perform certain tasks. There are just a few reserved names that attach internal functions to your menu. These are: STRDORD.CAT When this is chosen a standard order is added to the current order if the standard order file exists. (See section 7.7) SPECIAL.CAT This calls the SCMD file and performs any dos commands contained in it. This is a way of running other programs from inside your catalog. (See section 7.3) LASTORD.CAT When this is chosen the last order is added to the current order if the last order file exists. (This file is automatically created when printing an order form IF this menu choice is in your CATALOG.TL file. (See section 7.7) PRINTER.CAT This choice is for printing the whole catalog to a printer attached to lpt1 (it is identical to choosing alt-p from the "exit" menu. EXITMEN.CAT This lets you go to the exit menu by choosing it on the main menu. It is identical to pressing Esc at the main menu. You can also view compressed files that have a ".CM" extension using the ".CAT" extension in CATALOG.TL, as long as they do not have any of names listed above. Good examples: The following lets the customer view FIRST.CM by choosing "View Opening Screens" from the main menu: View Opening Screens | FIRST.CAT The following lets the customer go to the exit menu from a main menu choice: Quit and Order | EXITMEN.CAT 7.3 RUNNING PROGRAMS FROM YOUR CATALOG You can actually run other programs from inside your catalog. This is done using one or more of four small "command" files. Each file contains a command or a list of commands. If the file exists and enough memory is available the catalog will run the commands in it, one at a time. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 44 =================================================================== If you want more than one program to be run you must put each dos command on a line by itself. For example, lets say you want to show a pcx of your company logo, then an animation with music right after your "First" screen appears, but before the main menu. You would create a file called "ACMD" with two lines in it: CATPCX LOGO.PCX ESHOW -n0 -c0 -b0 These are the file names to use and when the catalog runs them if they are present on the disk. BCMD Before the opening screen appears. ACMD After the opening screen appears. ECMD When "Exit" is chosen from the "exit" menu. SCMD A choice on the main menu. If you use the SCMD file you also need to add it to the menu file, CATALOG.TL. Place it in that file like this: Run A Slide Show | SPECIAL.CAT The menu title can be whatever you want it to be, but after the vertical line you must type SPECIAL.CAT (it can be in upper or lower case). If you like you can create versions of each of these files for monochrome use. Just add a "M" to the file name and call your programs from that file with their monochrome flags. When CATALOG.EXE is called using the -m flag to force monochrome it will look for the monochrome version of your command file and run it if present. Otherwise it will run the color version (if it is present). Example: In SCMD: eshow mybanner In SCMDM: eshow mybanner -m 7.4 MULTI-DISK CATALOGS If your catalog is too big to fit on one disk you can use multiple disks. When CATALOG can't find a category on the current disk it asks the user to insert another. There are a few considerations when you distribute multi-disk catalogs. First, CATALOG.EXE and CATALOG.INI should be on disk one along with all the most used files. When entering the "Exit Menu" the program looks for itself. This insures that all the files it needs for ordering are present. Second, any file used for ordering (like TOTAL.CM and CATPRINT.CM) should be on the same disk with CATALOG.EXE. In addition, any special forms files should be on that disk. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 45 =================================================================== Third, some files should be on all disks in the catalog. These include the help files, the CMD files (see 7.3), and any utilities that are run from CMD files. 7.5 DECOMPRESSING FILES A utility called CATCM.EXE is included with your package. You can decompress your catalog files using it. the syntax is: CATCM [-d -pxxxxx] newfilename -d Tells CATCM you are decompressing a file -pxxxxx Only used if the file was compressed with a password. Replace the xs with the password. newfilename The name of the uncompressed file (Note: CATCM expects a file of the SAME name with the ".CM" extension as the file to decompress. Decompressing does NOT affect the original .CM file. Examples: CATCM -d FIRST.CTF The above example decompresses FIRST.CM into FIRST.CTF CATCM -d -pSECRET WIDGETS.TXT The above decompresses a file called WIDGETS.CM that was originally compressed with the password "SECRET." The resulting file is called WIDGETS.TXT. 7.6 DISCOUNT MULTIPLIER Some businesses give their customers an across the board discount, or a discount that increases as the customer buys more. You can set up CATALOG.EXE to do this for up to three levels of discount. To enable this feature you create a small ascii file called MULTI.CTF. For each discount level you type two numbers, separated by a single space. The first number is the order total, and the second is the percent of the discount. Here's an example file: +-------+ |20 5 | |50 15 | |100 20 | +-------+ (note: the +,-, and | symbols are just a border in this manual and do not go in the actual file.) CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 46 =================================================================== Line one means if the order is $20 or more give a 5% discount. Line two means if the order is $50 or more give a 15% discount. Line three means if the order is $100 or more give a 20% discount. Remember, you can have a maximum of three levels. If the file contains more than three lines they will be ignored. Also, make sure the levels progress from line one (lowest value) through line three(highest value. Reversing lines 2 and 3 could cause problems. Now use CATCOM to compress the file. If the file is present on the Catalog disk the program automatically uses the multiplier(s) it contains. If not the full price is charged for all totals. If you do use this feature you should change the text on line 23 of CATALOG.CTF to say that the discount is not included (this is for the review screen only). If you give different discounts to different customers you can use the same catalog for all customers, only changing the MULTI file for each one. 7.7 LAST AND SPECIAL ORDERS You can set up CATALOG.EXE to add products to the current order. There are two ways to do this. You can use either or both in a catalog. The first method saves the order information from the last ordering session. The customer can choose, from the main menu, to include his or her last order in the current one. Each time the customer orders the old "last" order is replaced with the new one. All you have to do to enable this option is add the LASTORD.CAT option to the menu file (CATALOG.TL). See section 7.2 for instructions on how to do this. The second method lets you provide a standard order for your customers. Perhaps this is a special kit that your company offers, or a specific collection of products. Enabling this involves three steps: 1. First set up your catalog to use the LASTORD feature. Go through the catalog yourself, ordering the products you want included. 2. Exit the catalog, and rename the file LASTORD to STRDORD. 3. Add the STRDORD.CAT option to the menu file (CATALOG.TL) as shown in section 7.2. If you don't want the LASTORD feature in your catalog, delete the option from CATALOG.TL at this time. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 47 =================================================================== APPENDIX A: DISTRIBUTING CATALOGS CATALOG-ON-A-DISK is protected by US Copyright law. This section tells how you may distribute catalogs. Distribution of your catalog must follow these rules to avoid infringement of EmmaSoft's copyright. If you have any questions about catalog distribution requirements, call EmmaSoft Software Company, Incorporated (ESC) for clarification. First, some definitions: CATALOG-ON- The software package including CATALOG.EXE, A-DISK CATCOM.EXE, and their accompanying files as shipped from ESC. Your Catalog Your company's catalog which included CATALOG.EXE, CATALOG.INI, and the files you have created to display your catalog using CATALOG.EXE. 1. A registered user is an individual or company who has paid a registration fee to ESC and received a registered copy with a valid serial number from ESC. 2. Only registered users may distribute catalogs using CATALOG.EXE. If you are a registered user you may make unlimited copies of your catalog, including CATALOG.EXE and CATALOG.INI. Associated individuals or companies not part of the registered user must be registered users before distributing catalogs with CATALOG-ON-A-DISK. For example, each member of a franchise must individually buy a copy of the program. An easy way to distinguish: if you or your company can receive catalog orders directly from a customer you must be a registered user. 3. If you charge a fee for your catalog it should be explicitly understood that you are not selling a copy of the CATALOG-ON- A-DISK product, but are simply charging for a copy of your catalog. 4. When distributing catalogs CATALOG.EXE MUST be included, unchanged from its original form. In addition you must include the file CATALOG.INI for the program to work correctly. Your FIRST, HEADER, ORDERINF, TL, FM, help, and CM files should be included as needed. Other parts of the package including CATCOM.EXE, CATCM.EXE, and the manual must not be sent with your catalogs. 5. Unregistered Users: Unregistered users are invited to experiment with a trial copy CATALOG-ON-A-DISK for no longer than 30 days to see if the program meets their needs. However it is a violation of EmmaSoft's copyright for an unregistered user to distribute catalogs using the program. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 48 =================================================================== APPENDIX B: FILES B.1 WHAT MAKES A CATALOG? CATALOG-ON-A-DISK has many features, and you probably don't want to use all of them in a single catalog. Minimally you MUST have the following files in a catalog: CATALOG.EXE The catalog reader. CATALOG.INI The initialization file. CATALOG.CM The catalog program text file. CMOSHLP.CM The default help file. CATALOG.TL The title file for the main menu PLUS you must have at least one category file. In addition you can have many other files, listed below. When you want to look at a catalog, CATALOG looks for files have the .CM extension, indicating they have been compressed. Special Forms files are optional. They contain anything: an explanation of your company policies, special coupons, whatever you want to use them for. These compressed files have the .CM extension, and they are listed in the file CATALOG.FM, along with the menu title used to call them. Important NOTE: if CATALOG.FM does not exist on your disk, the Special Forms menu item in the exit menu does not appear. B.2 FILE NAMES As you create your catalog you should observe certain file naming conventions. Use the following file extensions to take maximum advantage of CATALOG-ON-A-DISK's automatic file compression features: .TXT Use this for category files. These files are automatically added to the main menu. .FRM Use this for "Special Forms" and "Coupons." These files are automatically added to the "Special Forms" menu. .CAT Any file that is shown on the screen, but is not a category or "special form" gets this extension. .CTF Files that are used to configure the catalog, but are not displayed on the screen get this extension. TOTAL.CTF is an example. When these files are compressed they are all given the extension: ".CM" IMPORTANT NOTE: When naming your catalog files do NOT use any of the file names listed below except for the purpose listed. For example, don't name a category "TOTAL.TXT" or "CATALOG.TXT". CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 49 =================================================================== The following files are used to show or create your catalog: CATALOG.EXE The main program (THIS FILE MUST BE PART OF YOUR CATALOG) CATALOG.INI Contains initialization data, name, address, help bar (THIS FILE MUST BE PART OF YOUR CATALOG) CATCOM.EXE The catalog building companion program (Do NOT include this with your catalog!!!) information such as color The following files are small ascii files that are not compressed. The inclusion of these files with your catalog is optional. BCMD, BCMDM Contains DOS commands to be executed before the opening screen appears. ACMD, ACMDM Contains DOS commands to be executed after the opening screen appears. ECMD, ECMDM Contains DOS commands to be executed when "Exit" is chosen from the "exit" menu. SCMD, SCMDM Contains DOS commands to be executed from a choice on the main menu. The following files are your catalog. They should be created in a text editor capable of saving files in ascii format. Before CATALOG.EXE can read the files they must be compressed using CATCOM.EXE. The following files should have the ".TXT" extension (example: WIDGET.TXT): All category files. The following files should have the ".FRM" extension (example: COUPON.FRM): All special forms/coupons files. The following files should have the ".CAT" extension (example: FIRST.CAT): FIRST.CAT The opening screen(s) in your catalog HEADER.CAT The Text that appears on the main menu screen EXIT.CAT The 10 line closing message on the exit menu screen CMOSHLP.CAT General Help (THIS FILE MUST BE PART OF YOUR CATALOG) MMNUHLP.CAT Help for the main menu CMNUHLP.CAT Help while in a category EMNUHLP.CAT Help for the "exit" menu PRNTHLP.CAT Help for the "print" menu FINDHLP.CAT Help for the "search" function CRVWHLP.CAT Help for the "Review Order" screen. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 50 =================================================================== In addition, any file you want to display in a catalog that appears on the screen not counting category and "Special Forms" files (accessed on the main menu by using a .CAT extension in the CATALOG.TL file) should have the ".CAT" extension. The following files should have the ".CTF" extension (example: ORDER.CTF) All but CATALOG.CTF are optional files. CATALOG.CTF Contains all internal text that appears in CATALOG.EXE (THIS FILE MUST BE PART OF YOUR CATALOG) CATPRINT.CTF Configures the way the order from is printed CMHLP.CTF The help file displayed when catalog is called with the -h flag from DOS EXTRA.CTF A configuration file that defines extra questions to be asked when printing the order form. (Charge card information, for example) ORDERINF.CTF Text that appears in the order form. PHEADER.CTF Text that appears in the order form. TOTAL.CTF Configures S&H and sales tax MULTI.CTF Discount multiplyer data CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 51 =================================================================== APPENDIX C: PROGRAM LIMITS Maximum Number of Categories: 500 Maximum Lines in Category File: Limited by memory only* Maximum Lines in Product Block: 500 Maximum Lines in Description Block: 500 Maximum Lines in any catalog file (not including category files): 500 Maximum products ordered in 1 session: 200 *More specific information may be in the readme file. CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 52 =================================================================== INDEX Animation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Ascii. .8-10, 17, 19, 20, 23, 24, 27, 31, 32, 36-38, 41, 42, 45, 49 Bold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 19 Branding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Catalog File . . . . . . . . . . .5, 10, 11, 16, 20, 32, 33, 41, 51 CATALOG.EXE. . . . . . . 7, 10, 16-18, 28, 31, 33-35, 41, 42, 44-50 CATALOG.INI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 16, 33, 44, 47-49 CATCM.EXE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45, 47 CATCOM.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7, 16, 41, 47, 49 Category File. 8-10, 12, 15-18, 20-23, 27, 35-37, 41, 42, 44, 48-51 CATTXT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19, 28, 42 Coding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 8, 10, 19, 31, 33, 39 Command line mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Companion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5, 7, 16, 31, 49 Compress 5,16, 17, 19, 20, 23, 24, 26-28, 30-33, 35, 36, 39, 41, 46 Countup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Currency symbol. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22, 32, 33, 35, 38, 41 Decompressing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Delimited. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9, 10, 32, 36-38, 41 Description block. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 21, 22, 51 Discount . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11, 45, 46, 50 Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4, 18, 23, 28, 30, 47 DOS. . . . . . . . . . . .14, 17, 26, 31-33, 35, 39, 43, 44, 49, 50 Estimate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 Exit . . .10-15, 17, 23, 24, 27, 33, 34, 39, 41, 43, 44, 46, 48, 49 Exit Menu. . . . . . . . .10-15, 17, 23, 24, 27, 34, 43, 44, 48, 49 Field. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 14, 37, 38 File naming. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16, 48 First. . . . . .7, 12, 14, 17, 18, 20, 22, 27, 29, 32-37, 42-47, 49 Freight. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Header . . . . . . . . . . . .8, 17, 20, 21, 23, 28, 29, 37, 47, 49 Help bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7, 12, 15, 31-34, 41, 49 Highlighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Interactive Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31, 32 Last order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43, 46 License. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Limits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Main Menu. . . . . . . . . . 6, 10, 12-18, 27, 37, 42-44, 46, 48-50 Monochrome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8, 16, 44 Multi-disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Multiplier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45, 46 Music. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Nationality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31-34, 41 Order Form . . . 6, 8, 9, 13, 14, 16, 24, 25, 27-29, 34, 35, 42, 50 Order Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24, 30, 46 Order Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 13, 15, 21, 27, 30, 37 Palette. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 18, 19, 27, 33, 34, 36 Price. . . . . . . . . . .10, 13, 15, 21-23, 26, 29, 30, 37, 42, 46 Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13-15, 17, 27, 43, 50 Product block. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10, 15, 22, 51 Running programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 CATALOG-ON-A-DISK Page 53 =================================================================== Sales Tax. . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 16, 17, 25, 26, 32, 34, 41, 50 Scrolling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7, 13, 15, 27, 49 Shipping . . . . . . . . . . . 13, 14, 16-18, 24-27, 29, 32, 34, 41 Special Forms. . . . . . . 10, 11, 14, 16-18, 23, 24, 36, 44, 48-50 Special Functions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18, 42 Special Questions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Standard order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9, 38, 43, 46 Total. . . . 10, 13, 17, 21, 25, 26, 29, 30, 34, 42, 44, 45, 48, 50 Utilities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Viewing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1, 12, 15, 18, 27, 33, 42