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1994-11-13
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THE INTERNET PEARLS DATABASE MANUAL
(By either clicking the mouse in the upper left corner, or
by pressing the F1 key, while in the program, you can call
up "Help" that displays these same paragraphs.)
The Internet Pearls Database is navigated by the use of
buttons and fields. Select the button you are interested in
by pressing the TAB key to reach the button, and pressing
Enter, or click the mouse on the desired button. This text
box will then show the desired information. Selecting the
[Return] button will take you back to the page that you were
on before entering the Help section. What is actually
happening is that you are going to the "page" devoted to
that topic. All of the pages are contained in one "pad" or
file. Scroll down this text window to learn about the
commands on the menu bar. Remember, use the [TAB] key to
enter fields and type in them. If you are using the mouse,
simply click the left mouse button over the field you want
to enter or the button you want to take action. One
reminder: the text fields scroll! Each field usually
contains much more information than what you can see in the
small window area. Use the scroll bars and the mouse or the
Up and Down arrow keys to move within the field. Avoid
trying to use the [PgUp] and [PgDn] keys to move within the
field as they are used for going forward and backward in the
database.
There are several ways to navigate through the pages of this
or any other pad. The [PgUp] key goes backward, as in
"Previous", in the stack of pages, while [PgDn] goes forward,
as in "Next", through the stack of pages. The [Ctrl]+[PgUp]
keys go to the first page in the pad. The [Ctrl]+[PgDn] keys
go to the last page in the pad. Clicking the mouse on the
desired button is a rapid way to move through the pages.
Clicking on [Next] and [Previous] also moves forward and
backward through the stack of pages.
You can also use the bar menu at the top of the page to
navigate. The menu bar is displayed by pressing the [Alt]
key. Click on "Go" and you will see the navigation options
Help, Home, Back, Next, Previous, First, and Last with their
respective short-cut keys. Help takes you to this page. Home
will take you to the introduction screen, while Back moves
you to your previous location. Next means next page and
Previous means previous page. First means the first page in
the pad, and Last means the last page in the pad.
When the Menu Bar at the top of the screen is displayed, you
are given a choice of selecting "File", "Edit", "Go", and
"Workspace". Under the "File" setting, the possible
selections are Open, Compress, Run a Program, and Exit.
Selecting "Open" brings up a list of files belonging to the
current directory. Only files with ".pad" can be
opened."Compress" removes free space in a pad left over when
a page is deleted. "Run a Program" allows you to enter a
command and have it executed as if you were at the DOS
prompt."Exit" takes you immediately out of the program.
Under the "Edit" menu, "New Page" adds a page, while "Delete
Page" removes the current page, and its contents are lost.
You can mark a block by clicking the mouse over the text you
want to mark and dragging the mouse with the left button
depressed. The areas marked will be hilited and available to
be manipulated by the other menu entries under "Edit". These
commands are dimmed until a block is marked, then they
appear as normal menu text. "Cut" removes the hilited area,
copies it to an internal clip-board and is available to be
"Pasted". The "Copy" command copies the text without
disturbing it. It can then be "Pasted" in the field that you
desire by selecting "Paste" from the menu or pressing the
Ctrl-V keys. The "Delete" command removes the hilited text
and does not copy it to a clipboard, but discards the text.
The "Go" commands are explained above. "Workspace" lets you
select whether or not you want to keep the menu bar as part
of the regular display. The status bar is located on the
bottom and tells which pad and which page you are working on.
This can also be made visible as part of the regular display.
The message box lets you see the result of operations as
they are performed. The "Result" is usually a yes, no, 0, 1,
or "Ok".
Although the menu bar can be helpful, almost all of the
needed commands to operate the program are included as
"Buttons" that perform a specific action. These buttons will
be outlined next. Click on the button that you want to know
more about, or press the TAB key, and then enter over the
button you desire.
The "Import" command allows you to transport text from
outside of the program into a field within the program. This
allows you to quickly add information to the database, by
importing the text instead of having to type it in. By using
the "cut" and "paste" features in the menu bar, you can
import text into one field, hilite text you want to move to
another field, select "cut", move the cursor to the other
field (by mouse or TAB), and select "Paste" or use the Ctrl-V
keys to have the text transferred to the desired field.
For instance, you can capture the session you have on the
Internet with your communications program. This is usually
stored as a text file. You can select portions of text that
you want to be able to refer to later, and move them into
the database with the "Import" command. Each field,
"Addresses", "Notes", and "Directories" can hold up to 30k
of text at a time.
As you would guess, the "Next" command takes you to the next
page (record) in the database. The "Previous" command takes
you to the previous page (record) in the database.
The "Export" command takes all of the text in one field and
places it into a text file outside of the program,
accessible by any DOS program. You will be asked to give a
name to the text file, which can be any DOS compatible name
of eight-characters or less.
Sort allows you to arrange the pages in order, based on the
contents of one of the fields. Most often, you will choose
the "Address" field to sort on, as this will put all of the
ftp, gopher, http (www) pages together. On the other hand,
you may decide to begin a field with a certain name, such as
the topic name, or the extension of the site (.gov, .edu,
.com, .net), and place it in the field "Notes" or
"Directories". You can then choose one of these fields to
sort on. The program reads the text of the field and sorts
according to the first text found there.
The "Print" command allows you to obtain a hard copy of
information in the database. The program will ask you to
select between "One Field", "This Page", or "All Pages".
Choosing "One Field" will allow you to specify one field,
"Address", "Notes", or "Directories" to print. Choosing
"This Page" will print all 3 fields of the current Page.
Choosing "All Pages" will print all 3 fields of all of the
pages in the database. Make sure your printer is "On", and
the paper is aligned, and then select "Ok" when asked "Ok to
Print?".
The "Query" command can be extremely useful. While the
"Find" and "Find Next" commands search for and hilite
specified text, the "Query" function gathers pages from the
pad together that match certain criteria. You can then work
with the subset of pages as if they were the only pages in
the pad. An example would be to select the "Query" command,
and then the program inquires as to which field you want to
use for the query, click on "Address", and then you will be
asked what text you want to use as criteria to include in
the query. Enter "ftp" and press enter. You have asked the
program to gather all of the pages that match the criteria
of having "ftp" in the field "address". This can greatly
speed your work if you are wanting to review just certain
items, such as "Address" fields that have ".edu" as part of
their name, or contain "finger". You could also create a
subset of pages with "NASA" in the "Directories" field. This
subset continues to be all that you can access, until you
use the "Clear Query" command, which will then return you to
working with all of the pages in a pad. When you use the
query function, flip through the pages gathered by using the
"Next" button. If you see a page that does not seem to meet
the criteria, use the "Find" command and it will locate and
hilite the proper text for you. Remember, the text fields
scroll! So, do not assume that the query command is not
working prematurely. Your text is there, guaranteed. Use the
"Find" command to locate it on the page you are on, use the
"Find Next" command to find and hilite the text in the pages
that follow.
"Clear Query" allows you to clear the current query. See the
"Query" button notes. Query gathers pages out of the
database into one set. The whole database is no longer
available to act on, only the subset defined by "Query".
"Clear Query" eliminates the subset of pages and allows you
to access the whole database again.
The "Find" command finds the first instance of the specified
text and hilites this text, showing you the location of it
in the field. You do not have to tell the program which
field to search in, as it automatically searches in all
three fields for the desired text. The "Find Next" command
is what you use if you want to keep searching. Selecting
"Find Next" will begin searching on the very next page from
where "Find" located text. Notice that you do not have to
type in the text to search for again, when you use "Find
Next", as it is already entered for you.
"Find Next" is the command you use to continue searching
after you have used the "Find" command. Once you use the
"Find" command, and your text has been found and hilited,
pressing "Find" again will only return you to the same spot.
Instead, you would use the "Find Next" command to continue
searching on other pages. The "Find" and "Find Next"
commands find the first instance of the specified text in a
file.
The "Calendar" button is included because of the large
numbers of times that I personally have had to leave the
program to look up days and dates information. Sure, there
are pop-up, TSR Calendars, but they are sometimes
inconsistent in their behavior. Notice that "Today" is
displayed. You can go to the first day of the next month, by
selecting "Next Month", and to the first day of the previous
month by selecting "Previous Month". The "Put Calendar Away"
button will cause the Calendar to be hidden until you next
request it. It is not a TSR, and does not stay resident in
memory. Using the "Next Month" command repeatedly takes you
to the calendars that lay ahead, many years into the future.
The "Find File" feature is also included because of the
convenience that it offers in not having to leave the
program. I have found that I can work with files and locate
items for importing into the database easily with the "Find
File" button. Notice that the file list presented shows all
the files that match the search criteria on the specified
hard drive. Wildcards are allowed, so "*.txt", "record*.*",
and "datafile.*" are all acceptable entries to search on.
You can view a file in the list by hiliting the file, and
then selecting the "View File" button.
The "View Directory Tree" button takes you to a page where
you can ask the program to read the directories of a
specified hard drive and then display it in tree format. The
directory that you hilite can have its files listed by
pressing the "View Files in Directory" button. You can
hilite a file in this listing and then select "View Hilited
File", to actually view the contents of the text file that
is hilited.
When in the "File Viewer" page, the [Home] key takes you to
the top of the file, the [End] key takes you to the end. The
Up and Down arrows scroll the file, while [PgUp] and [PgDn]
move the file a screen at a time. The [Enter] key lets you
see the full path name of the file, and the [View File
Again] button displays the file once more.
A file utility called "Padcheck.exe" is included to allow you
to check the integrity of the pad files when needed. The pad
files write their information to the file when the program is
closed. If your machine has the power cut-off or if you have to
reset your computer while still in the program, the odds are good
that the file you are in has become corrupt. It will behave
erratically, and most likely not run. The solution to this is
(1) back-up your files with the pad extension. (2) Use the
padcheck.exe file to check the integrity of the file. It is
used in the fashion "padcheck sites.pad", and will tell you if
the pad file is ok or whether it is corrupt.
SHAREWARE CONCEPTS
This program is distributed as Shareware. The shareware
method of distribution allows you to evaluate a program
prior to purchasing it. The Internet Pearls Database is not
free and it is not in the public domain. It is a copyrighted
product that is protected by U.S. Copyright Law. First time
users of Internet Pearls DB are granted a license to use the
program on a trial basis, without cost or obligation, for
the sole purpose of determining whether or not it meets
their needs. Any and all other use after a trial period of
30 days requires registration to obtain a license for
continued use. Non-registered use of Internet Pearls DB
beyond the trial period is strictly prohibited.
LIMITED WARRANTY
SoloTech Software and William E. Hogg make no warranty of
any kind, express or implied, including without limitation,
any warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for
a particular purpose. SoloTech Software and Wm. Hogg shall
not be liable for any damages, whether direct, indirect,
special or consequential arising from the use of, or
inability to use this program by any user. In no event will
SoloTech Software and Wm. Hogg be liable to you for any damages,
including lost profits, lost savings, or other incidental or
consequential damages arising out of your use or inability
to use the program, or any claim by any other party, even if
it has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
HARDWARE/SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
The following are the system requirements for using Internet Pearls DB:
* Personal computer: IBM PC, PC-XT, PC-AT, IBM PS/2, Compaq,
or 100% compatible system; 386 or 486 recommended.
* Drives: Two 5.25", 360K floppy drives; or at least one 3.5",
720K floppy drive; or a hard disk and at least one floppy drive
(hard disk recommended).
* Memory: 640K of DOS memory installed.
* Display and display adapters: Any color or monochrome display
or adapter
* Operating system: DOS 3.3 or later; DOS 5.0 or 6.2 recommended.
* Mouse: Microsoft Mouse or 100% compatible recommended.
* Printer (optional): HP LaserJet series, IBM Graphics Printer,
IBM Proprinter, IBM Color Printer, Toshiba P351, Epson FX/MX/LQ,
Okidata 92/93, Okidata 192/193, Panasonic KX-P4450, Canon LPB-8,
NEC Pinwriter P6/P7, DEC LA-50, or any printer capable of
emulating one of the preceding printers.
*********************************************************************
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
Internet Pearls Database v1.0
Copyright (c) 1994 by William Hogg M.D.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED