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Badge-O-Magic 1.1 User's Guide Copyright (c) Ward Mundy, 1989. All Rights Reserved. Ward Mundy Software 4160 Club Drive Atlanta, GA 30319 USA Chapter 1 Preliminaries 1.1 What Is Badge-O-Magic Anyway? Badge-O-Magic is a dBASE-compatible, badge and nametag generator designed for use with an IBM PC-compatible computer and an HP LaserJet II or 100% compatible laser. Using any dBASE III or IV data base (one is included with the software), Badge-O-Magic generates one to four line badges with an optional header and footer line. The badges can be printed using type styles of 20 to 40 points. Five fonts are included with the program. Each badge is 3" x 4" with six badges being printed on each 8-1/2 x 11 inch page. Badge-O-Magic also includes the necessary software to download the soft fonts to your laser printer and to print a perforation template suitable for ordering perforated name tag stock from your local printer. The perforated paper and badge holders also are available from us when you register. Please request pricing information when you register. Badge-O-Magic also includes powerful file management utilities which permit you to edit and add data to any dBASE file without leaving Badge-O-Magic. Typical uses for this software would be to prepare name badges for participants at a conference, convention, family meeting, social event, etc. The major difference in Badge-O-Magic and commercial badge-making systems is cost. This program is distributed as ShareWare, which means you can "try before you buy." We aren't worried. Typical badge-making software costs from $500 to $1000. Commercial badge-making houses usually charge more than $1 per badge to do what you now can do yourself ... with equivalent quality in the end-product plus CONVENIENCE. You are licensed to use the ShareWare version of Badge-O- Magic for up to 90 days to determine whether it meets your needs. Once you are satisfied with the software, you need to obtain a license before continuing to use Badge-O-Magic. The fee is modest to say the least: $45 per single-user PC or $95 per network (with unlimited users) plus $5 shipping ($10 foreign). Payment of this license fee plus the applicable shipping charge entitles you to your choice of one of the latest versions of Badge-O-Magic. You may request either Clipper-compatible or dBASE III-compatible indexes. In addition, registered users receive free technical support for one year, access to our computer bulletin board, and a complimentary copy of the ShareWare version of our powerful data base manager, WAMPUM. 1 1.2 Legal Stuff The world is not a simple place any more, so we have to tell you a few things you need to know before you start using Badge-O- Magic. First, a few disclaimers are in order. We provide the same, fine software warranty that all the big-boys do: NONE! In short, you use Badge-O-Magic at your own risk. We make no representations regarding its fitness for any particular purpose or its merchantability. Nor do we provide any warranties, express or implied, that the software will work. That is solely for you to decide! The good news is that the price is definitely right! You do not have to shell out $500 only to find that the software doesn't meet your needs. You can use Badge-O-Magic for up to 90 days without charge and make up your own mind. Once you are satisfied that it works and meets your requirements, then you must register. You will receive all sorts of additional goodies as explained above. Finally, for all you honest people out there, please bear with us. You may have heard that there still are a few good crooks who live amongst us. They try to take other people's work and pass it off as their own. This is a no-no in most parts of the world for which people get put in jail. If someone other than Ward Mundy has asked you to pay them a license fee for using Badge-O-Magic, then we'd like to know about it. Some suggest that you pay them, and they will pay us. Guess what gang? We don't have any distributors of this variety. And, we will take the necessary legal steps to curtail their activities. The reason this all matters to you honest folks is that if we don't receive some compensation for writing good software in the ShareWare market then guess who won't be writing any more software for the ShareWare market. Let us hasten to add that we do receive support from thousands of ShareWare distributors around the globe who charge a modest "copying fee" for distributing ShareWare. This fee should never exceed $10 in Yankee dollars, and Badge-O-Magic should always be distributed on a single diskette. If not, let us know. 1.3 A Word About ShareWare ShareWare is a unique marketing concept which permits you to "try before you buy." It doesn't mean FreeWare! Badge-O-Magic is a copyrighted work for which we retain all rights. You or your company are licensed to use it up to 90 days to determine whether Badge-O-Magic meets your requirements. If it does, then you need to register and obtain a license if you intend to continue to use the software. If it doesn't meet your needs, then give it to a friend, your local User's Group, or your friendly trash can! You may pass Badge-O-Magic along to others so long as you distribute it exactly in the form it was received. The next 2 section describes the files which should have been on the distribution diskette or in the archive file if you downloaded the program from a bulletin board. If your copy doesn't match the list, do yourself a big favor: DON'T USE IT or you may be VERRRRRRY SORRRRRRY! There are also some folks who pride themselves in design of CrippleWare. If there is any doubt in your mind about the reliability of your copy of Badge-O-Magic, please drop us a note. We also will be glad to send you a home-grown copy of Badge-O-Magic if you include five yankee dollars. Please let us know where any questionable copy came from. 1.4 Files on Distribution Diskette What follows is a list of files which are included on the Badge-O-Magic 1.1 ShareWare distribution diskette or archive. FILE NAME FILE SIZE FILE FUNCTION ------------ --------- ------------------------------ BADGE.EXE 230080 Badge-O-Magic program BADGE.DOC 54090 Badge-O-Magic documentation FONT1.POR 78020 Soft Font #1 for Badge-O-Magic FONT2.POR 52620 Soft Font #2 for Badge-O-Magic FONT3.POR 37350 Soft Font #3 for Badge-O-Magic FONT4.POR 33897 Soft Font #4 for Badge-O-Magic FONT5.POR 12073 Soft Font #5 for Badge-O-Magic BADGES.DBF 483 Badge-O-Magic Sample Data Base LASTNAME.NTX 2048 Last Name index for Data Base BADGES.BOM 6612 Default Configuration File BHELP.DBF 155 Badge-O-Magic HELP File BHELP.DBT 9432 Badge-O-Magic HELP File Text 1.5 Registration The terms of Badge-O-Magic's ShareWare license already have been outlined. An order and invoice form is included in this documentation for your convenience. We do not accept credit cards or purchase orders (without advance approval). We do accept personal checks drawn on U.S. banks in U.S. dollars, money orders, and cash in U.S. currency. 1.6 Credits Names of computer hardware, software, and computer companies are used solely for the purpose of identification. With the exception of Badge-O-Magic, dLITE and WAMPUM, all remaining references to products and companies are trademarked by their respective companies. 3 Badge-O-Magic, dLITE and WAMPUM are trademarks of Ward Mundy. PKXARC and PKUNZIP are trademarks of PKWARE, Inc. IBM, IBM-PC, and PC/AT are trademarks of IBM Corporation. dBASE, dBASE III, dBASE IV, RunTime and Ashton-Tate are trademarks of Ashton-Tate. HP LaserJet II and LaserJet+ are trademarks of Hewlett- Packard Corporation. MS-DOS is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Chapter 2 Getting Started 2.1 System Requirements Badge-O-Magic is designed to run on an IBM-compatible PC, PC/AT, or PC/386. It requires DOS 2.1 or higher and approximately 350K of memory. While the software can be run without a laser printer, name badges cannot be printed without an HP LaserJet II or compatible printer. The original LaserJet will not suffice since fonts cannot be downloaded to this printer. A LaserJet+ can be used; however, soft font 1 will not work due to its font size. 2.2 Installing the Software If you received Badge-O-Magic on diskette, then type A:INSTALL for instructions on installation of the software. If you received Badge-O-Magic from a BBS, then follow the steps outlined below. Badge-O-Magic is distributed in compressed form to better protect the integrity of its various program and data files. These archives come in three flavors: a file with an extension of .ARC, a file with an extension of .ZIP, or a file with an extension of .EXE. The .EXE variety is self-unarchiving. The .ARC variety requires that you use a program such as PKXARC from PKWare to unarchive the files. The .ZIP variety requires that you use a program such as PKUNZIP from PKWare to unarchive the files. STEP 1. Creating A Directory Regardless of which version of the archive you have, you will need to first create a directory on your hard disk to store the software. For floppy disk users, you will need to format a diskette. If you plan to use data bases other than the one included with the software, then this directory must be part of your DOS PATH to get the most out of Badge-O-Magic. 4 For hard disk users, type MD C:\BADGE at the DOS prompt to create a new directory on your hard disk. Add the following command to the top of your AUTOEXEC.BAT startup file using any editor: PATH=C:\BADGE. If you already have a PATH command in your startup file, then add C:\BADGE to it. For floppy disk users, format a system floppy with the command FORMAT A:/S. Type the following commands exactly as they appear to create the startup file: COPY CON AUTOEXEC.BAT A:BADGE Now press CTRL-Z and <ENTER> to save the file. STEP 2. Loading the Software from .EXE archive If you have the .EXE archive variety, then list the directory and write down the name of the Badge-O-Magic archive. It should be named BADGE11.EXE unless the name was changed. If the file name is BADGE11.ARC or BADGE11.ZIP then go to Step 3. If you have a hard disk, move to the \BADGE directory by typing CD \BADGE at the C> prompt. Insert the floppy with the archive file in Drive A and type A:BADGE11 to unarchive the software and copy it to your C:\BADGE directory. If you have a floppy disk system, insert your new system disk in Drive B and insert the floppy with the archive file in Drive A. Now type B: <ENTER> to position to Drive B. Then type A:BADGE11 to unarchive the software and copy it to your B: floppy. STEP 3. Loading the Software from other archive If you have the .ARC or .ZIP archive variety, then list the directory and write down the name of the Badge-O-Magic archive. It should be named BADGE11.ARC or BADGE11.ZIP unless the name was changed. If the file name is BADGE11.EXE then go to Step 2. If you have a hard disk, move to the \BADGE directory by typing CD \BADGE at the C> prompt. Insert the floppy with the archive file in Drive A and copy PKXARC.COM onto this floppy if the archive file extension is .ARC. If the file extension is .ZIP, then copy PKUNZIP.COM onto this floppy. Now type one of the following to unarchive the files: A:PKXARC A:BADGE11 (if you have BADGE11.ARC) A:PKUNZIP A:BADGE11 (if you have BADGE11.ZIP) 5 If you have a floppy disk system, insert your new system disk in Drive B and insert the floppy with the archive file in Drive A. Copy PKXARC.COM to the floppy in Drive A if you have BADGE11.ARC. Or copy PKUNZIP.COM to the floppy in Drive A if you have .ZIP. Now type B: <ENTER> to position to Drive B. Then type one of the following: A:PKXARC A:BADGE11 (if you have BADGE11.ARC) A:PKUNZIP A:BADGE11 (if you have BADGE11.ZIP) STEP 4. Checking Your PATH Before you attempt to load Badge-O-Magic into memory, check your DOS PATH by typing PATH at the DOS prompt. Make certain that C:\BADGE is included in the path if you have a hard disk. If not, reread STEP 1 above and create the necessary PATH command in your startup file. 2.2 Loading the Software into Memory Badge-O-Magic can be loaded into memory by typing BADGE and pressing <ENTER> at the DOS prompt. If you receive a message "File Not Found" then you have not created the necessary PATH for DOS to find the program. Reread the steps in section 2.1 above. If you want to use the sample data base, then move to the \BADGE directory on your hard disk before typing BADGE. This is accomplished by typing CD \BADGE and pressing <ENTER>. If you are using a color adaptor with a monochrome monitor, you will improve the readability of the program by starting it with the following command: BADGE MONO <ENTER>. Chapter 3 Badge-O-Magic Tutorial 3.1 Overview Badge-O-Magic is completely menu-driven. It also has context-sensitive HELP which is available by highlighting the option with which you need help and pressing the F1 function key. This chapter walks you through every function on Badge-O- Magic's menus using the sample data base included with the software. After completing this tutorial, you probably can set the User's Guide aside and master the software simply by reading the menus and pressing F1 if you get stumped. 6 3.2 Loading Badge-O-Magic If you are using a hard disk, move to the \BADGE directory by typing CD \BADGE <ENTER>. Then run the Badge-O-Magic program by typing either BADGE or BADGE MONO and pressing <ENTER>. The Main Menu will display shortly. 3.3 File Management Preliminaries Badge-O-Magic is structured to permit you to use virtually any dBASE-compatible data base which you may already have. If you don't use dBASE data bases, then you may use the data base which is included with the software. Using the included data base will enable you to generate virtually any kind of name badges desired. Because of its flexibility, Badge-O-Magic necessarily needs to know a few things before it can print your name badges. These are listed below in the order you would typically enter them. Once the information has been entered, you can save all your choices as a "configuration" which can be recalled with just a couple of keystrokes. Even though the system already is configured, let's walk through the process once just to familiarize you with the necessary steps. First, move to the File Management Menu by typing F when the Main Menu displays. Note that on the Main Menu, you do not have to press <ENTER> after typing the first letter of your choice. On sub-menus (such as the File Management Menu), you must type the first letter of your choice or highlight your choice using the <Up> and <Dn> cursor keys AND then press <ENTER>. Now execute the following steps in the order listed. 1. Choose FILE CHANGE to pick the data base to be used in generating your name badges. Highlight the file named BADGES using the <Up> and <Dn> cursor keys, then press <ENTER> to make the choice. 2. Choose INDEX CHANGE to pick an index file. For those new to dBASE, these files are used to sort your data base and hence your name badges. If you haven't already built an index for the file you selected, then you would first choose CREATE NEW INDEX, highlight the field to be used for sorting, and press <ENTER>. Otherwise, choose INDEX CHANGE, highlight the index desired and press <ENTER>. Since an index file already exists to sort the BADGE file on LASTNAME, simply highlight LASTNAME and press <ENTER>. Notice the bottom of the File Management Menu shows the name of the file and index currently in use. The Main Menu also does. 3. If you need to ADD new records to the file or change information on any records already in the file, this can be done by choosing ADD or EDIT records, respectively. If you just want 7 to look at the records in the file, choose BROWSE. Use the <ESC> key to exit from any function at any time. If you choose to EDIT or BROWSE, you will get a sub-menu allowing you to select your starting position in the file. This could be the first or last record in the file, a particular record number in the file (if you know it), or you can move to any index key in the file by entering all or part of a LASTNAME to find. Badge-O-Magic is designed to find the closest match to what you enter. You then can move through the file records by pressing <PgDn> or <PgUp>. Pressing the <ESC>ape key lets you exit without resaving the currently displayed record. 4. Now you must decide whether you want a name badge printed for every entry in your file. If so, skip the rest of this step. If not, you must SET DATA FILTER to narrow down the group of records which will be used to print name badges. A filter allows you to create a sub-set of your data base. Choose the SET DATA FILTER option and read the instructions which display on the screen. Pressing <ESC>ape while in the FILTER menu cancels any FILTER! If you enter a filter which is not syntatically correct, Badge-O-Magic will notify you and give you another chance. This completes the steps for getting your data base ready for use in printing name badges. Now press the <ESC>ape key to exit to the Main Menu or highlight RETURN MAIN MENU and press the <ENTER> key. 3.4 Badge Making Preliminaries Now, of course, Badge-O-Magic needs to know what information from each record in your file should be printed on each name badge. Choose the REVISE SETTINGS option by typing R. As distributed, Badge-O-Magic is set up to print a three-line name badge with a header and footer for each entry in the file. It also prints a two-line name badge with header and footer for every spouse entry in the file. Within the SYSTEM SETTINGS screen, you define which fields or pieces of information should be printed on which lines of the name badges. You also tell Badge-O-Magic what size type to use for each line of the name badges. For now, just examine the entries which already appear on the screen. Notice that the entries on LINE1 through LINE4 are dBASE character expressions. This means that these expressions define printed output which will be character data as opposed to a number, a date, or a logical expression. If you are new to dBASE, defining a character expression is as simple as typing the name of any character field (designated by C) from your data base. All the fields in the current data base can be displayed by pressing the F10 function key. You can also link more than one character expression together. This is known as concatenating and is accomplished by typing the names of two 8 character fields separated with a + sign, e.g. FIRSTMI+LASTNAME. Normally, you probably would want to trim off trailing spaces of fields to be concatenated so that a badge doesn't print like the following: JOHN SMITH. You also would want to add a space between the words once the spaces were trimmed off. To trim spaces, you use a function called TRIM(). The syntax would be as follows in our example: TRIM(FIRSTMI)+" "+LASTNAME. The final step is defining your badge output is to choose the appropriate size for the type on each line of the badge. The lower the number, the bigger the type style. Size 1 is 40 point type while size 4 is 24 point. With Badge-O-Magic, you need not worry about getting a type style small enough to match your longest entry on each line since the software automatically adjusts the fonts downward where necessary to make certain a full name prints on the badge. Leave the type styles the way they are for now and press <PgDn> to return to the Main Menu. 3.5 Getting Your Laser Printer Ready Each time you turn off your laser printer, you will need to DOWNLOAD FONTS by typing D on the Main Menu. This copies the necessary soft fonts distributed with Badge-O-Magic to your laser printer. If you forget this step, you will get another chance to do it when you choose BADGE GENERATOR. After making certain that your LaserJet is turned on and is on line, choose the DOWNLOAD FONTS option and type Y to download the soft fonts. When asked whether to print a perforation template, type Y. This template will show you how to order perforated paper for use with the Badge-O-Magic software. Once the fonts have been loaded into your LaserJet, the Main Menu will reappear. 3.6 Printing the Badges Now choose BADGE GENERATOR by typing B. If asked whether to download fonts, type N if you did so above. When prompted whether to print the name badges, type Y to proceed. That's all there is to it! If you enjoy technical manuals, then read through the remainder of this documentation several times. It will acquaint you with all the magic that Badge-O-Magic offers. Then use the software for up to 90 days to evaluate the simplicity and ease of use of this great new software tool. We hope you'll elect to register and that you'll pass a ShareWare copy of Badge-O-Magic along to your friends. 9 Chapter 4 Using Badge-O-Magic 4.1 Navigation Keys for Badge-O-Magic Once you load Badge-O-Magic into memory, a light bar menu appears known as the Main Menu. You can highlight the option desired by using the <Dn> or <Up> cursor keys on the numeric keypad. Then press <ENTER> to execute your choice. Alternatively, you may simply type the first letter of the choice desired. In this case you do NOT need to press <ENTER>. While positioned on the Main Menu, you can highlight any option on the Main Menu and press the F1 function key for HELP on the highlighted topic. This is known as context-sensitive HELP, and is available on every screen of the program. The <HOME> key moves the light bar to the first option on the menu. The <END> key moves the light bar to the last option on the menu. The all-purpose, get-out-of-trouble key is <ESC>ape. Pressing <ESC> always moves you backwards one level in the menu system of Badge-O-Magic except when you are positioned on the Main Menu. TO exit from the Main Menu, type an E. Within the file management system, Badge-O-Magic uses the same conventions as dBASE for most data entry. The <ENTER> or <Dn> cursor key moves you to the next field. The <Up> cursor key moves you to the previous field. The <PgDn> key moves you to the next record in the file. And the <PgUp> key moves you to the previous record in the file. Both <PgDn> and <PgUp> save any changes you have made to the data for the displayed record. To exit back to the File Management Menu, press <ESC> AFTER saving your changes by pressing either <PgDn> or <PgUp>. In the BROWSE mode, <PgDn> displays the next 20 records in the file while <PgUp> displays the previous 20. <Ctrl-Home> moves you to the first fields of the record while <Ctrl-End> moves you to the last. You can scan the fields horizontally by pressing the <Right> and <Left> cursor keys on the numeric keypad. <ESC> gets you back to the File Management Menu. 10 4.2 File Management Menu The File Management Menu provides the basic file management functions necessary to manipulate dBASE-compatible data bases. You can use virtually any existing dBASE III or dBASE IV data base with Badge-O-Magic. If you need to create a new one, we recommend you try our full-featured data base manager, WAMPUM, which is available through most ShareWare distributors and BBS's. Insist upon version 3.3 or later. If you can't find it, send us $5 and we will be happy to send you a ShareWare copy with a 90 day evaluation license. The ShareWare version is fully-functional and will work with any 512K PC-compatible with dual floppies or a hard disk. The following functions are supported on Badge-O-Magic's File Management Menu. a. ADD records to file. Permits you to add new data to any existing data base. Make certain you are using the proper data base before adding records to the file. b. EDIT records in file. Allows you to revise existing data in your data base. When this option is chosen, you can position the system to a starting point in the file in several different ways: 1. Top of file. Moves you to the first record in the file UNLESS a filter is in use. Then it moves you to the first record matching the filter's conditions. 2. Bottom of file. Moves you to the last record in the file UNLESS a filter is in use. Then it moves you to the last record matching the filter's conditions. 3. Pick record number. Moves you to the record number matching the number you enter UNLESS a filter is in use. Then it moves you to the specified record number ONLY IF that record matches your filter expression. 4. Matching key. If an index is in use, you can move to the closest entry in the index which matches the value you type for the key UNLESS a filter is in use. Then it moves you to the closest entry matching your filter. Note that filters come in handy when you need to edit the contents of a particular group of records such as all those persons from a particular city. When you <PgDn> through the records with a FILTER in use, the next record displayed will always be one matching the specified filter expression. 11 While in EDIT mode, you can mark a record as DELETED by pressing CTRL-U. This doesn't really delete the record until you PACK the file. It does keep the record from printing a name badge. Before choosing PACK, you can undelete a record by pressing CTRL-U again while the deleted record is displayed. c. BROWSE records. This function allows you to examine data in your file 20 records at a time. See the discussion above regarding the navigation keys for use with the BROWSE option. As with EDIT, you can position the system to a particular starting point for browsing. And you can set up a FILTER to narrow down the group of records displayed when you choose the BROWSE option. d. FILE change. When chosen, this function displays a light bar menu with all existing data bases in the default directory. Highlight the file desired using the <Dn> or <Up> cursor keys. Then press <ENTER> to pick the file. e. INDEX change. When chosen, this function displays a light bar menu with all existing indexes in the default directory. Make certain that you know which indexes go with which files or you will get a mess. If you are unsure whether an index goes with a particular file, create a new index to be on the safe side. Highlight the index file desired and press <ENTER> to pick it. f. PACK INDEX/FILE. This option allows you to rebuild your data base and the associated index. It permanently deletes all records marked for deletion and reindexes the data base. g. ZAP DATA BASE. This option should be used with EXTREME caution. It PERMANENTLY deletes ALL records in the file but not the file itself. In short, it EMPTIES your data base to allow you to reenter new data. Always make a backup of your work BEFORE choosing this option. h. CREATE NEW INDEX. Choosing this option displays a list of all the fields in the current data base. Highlight the field on which you wish to create an alphabetical index and press <ENTER> to create the index. For those unfamiliar with dBASE indexes, a word of explanation is in order. dBASE indexes take the place of the sorting step which typically is used on larger computer systems to order a file in a certain way. The advantages of indexes are many. First, they are automatically updated whenever a new record is added to a file or an existing record is changed. Thus, the end- user need do nothing to assure that the data base is 12 properly sorted. Second, because indexes are always current, any output can be produced in the order of any existing index without the need to sort the data base. This saves a tremendous amount of time with large data bases. Third, indexes permit retrieval of information in many different ways almost instantaneously. i. SET DATA FILTER. If you want to narrow down the group of records with which to work in a particular file, you can specify a filter expression. When you choose this option, detailed HELP is provided on screen to assist in specifying a filter. You can cancel a filter by choosing this option and then pressing <ESC>ape. If you type an incorrect filter, a warning will display after which you can revise your filter expression. 4.3 FILTER Tutorial For those that have forgotten college Algebra and Boolean logic, here is a brief refresher course. If you need more, visit your local library. Typically a dBASE filter consists of three parts: (1) Field name (2) Relational operator (3) Value The FIELD NAME is the exact name of the field from your data base, i.e. it is one of the field names displayed at the top of the screen. The RELATIONAL OPERATOR is one of the following: (1) = (EQUALS) (2) <> (NOT EQUALS) (3) > (GREATER THAN) (4) < (LESS THAN) (5) >= (AT LEAST) (6) <= (AT MOST) (7) $ (CONTAINED IN) (8) .NOT. $ (NOT CONTAINED IN) 13 The VALUE is just that, the value to find for the field specified by field name. Here are some examples to get you started. English: FIND ALL THE RECORDS IN ZIP CODE 30319. Expression: ZIP="30319" Comments: Notice that the zip code is in quotes since ZIP is a character field. English: FIND ALL THE ENTRIES WITH AUGUST 1988 CONTACT DATE Expression: CONTACTDT >= CTOD("08/01/88") .AND. CONTACTDT <= CTOD("08/31/88") Comments: More than one expression can be joined with .AND. This means BOTH expression must be TRUE for a record to be output. Notice that spacing doesn't matter. English: FIND ALL THE CODE1'S CONTAINING THE WORD "CLONE" Expression: "CLONE"$UPPER(CODE1) Comments: Since clone could be in upper, lower, or mixed case, we want to find them all. By using the dBASE function UPPER(), we can convert the CODE1 entries temporarily to upper case and then search for entries containing the word "CLONE." Since CODE1 is a character field, the value must be enclosed in quotes. English: FIND ALL THE ENTRIES WITH NO CONTACT DATE Expression: DOW(CONTACTDT)=0 Comments: The easiest way to check for a blank data field is to search for those where the day of the week is 0. In dBASE, a 0 day of the week is a blank date. The DOW() function returns a number corresponding to the day of the week of a date field. English: FIND ALL ENTRIES WHERE CATEGORY CONTAINS THE WORD dBASE OR THE IDCODE IS dLITE Expression: "dBASE"$CATEGORY .OR. "dLITE"$IDCODE 14 Comments: Here we were looking for terms which could have appeared anywhere within the two fields. Thus, the CONTAINS operator is better than EQUALS. Notice that when two expressions are joined with .OR., a record will qualify for output when EITHER expression is True. 4.4 Badge Settings Name badges generated by Badge-O-Magic are laid out as 3 inch by 4 inch rectangles in two columns on 8-1/2 x 11 inch paper. Three rows of two name badges are printed per page. A typical badge looks like the following: Badge Header Line JOHN CAMERON SWANKY, JR. U.S. FREQUENT FLYER AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS NEW YORK, NEW YORK Badge Footer Line The header and footer lines are free-form text which appears as is on each name badge. Graphics macros numbered 1-9 also are supported as headers or footers. Both may be omitted if desired. The other four lines of the badge are dBASE character expressions. This means each line may consist of one or more fields from your data base. As the records in your data base are scanned, the contents for each name badge line will be extracted from the data in the current record. Let's assume your data base file structure looked something like the following: FIELDNAME TYPE LENGTH DECIMALS ---------- --------- --------- -------- FIRSTMI Character 15 0 LASTNAME Character 15 0 TITLE Character 25 0 SPOUSE Character 25 0 ADDRESS Character 30 0 CITY Character 18 0 STATE Character 15 0 15 Let's assume you wanted to generate name badges of the format displayed above. For the HEADER field, you would enter BADGE HEADER LINE and for the FOOTER enter BADGE FOOTER LINE. The expressions for the Main Badge would be as follows: LINE1: TRIM(FIRSTMI)+" "+LASTNAME LINE2: TITLE LINE3: ADDRESS LINE4: TRIM(CITY)+", "+STATE For typical name badges, we recommend font size 1 for LINE 1 and font size 4 for the remaining lines. You can experiment with this to find the combination that best meets your needs. Badge-O-Magic also lets you generate a second name badge for each record in your data base. This is called the SPOUSE badge although it could be any combination of fields and information desired. It also could be a duplicate of the first badge. A typical spouse badge could be generated with the following expressions for the Spouse Badge: LINE1: SPOUSE LINE2: ADDRESS LINE3: TRIM(CITY)+", "+STATE LINE4: leave it blank The font sizes would correspond to those designated for the Main Badge. A filter also can be specified on the MODIFY SETTINGS screen although we recommend you do this from the FILE MANAGEMENT MENU since it provides helpful hints for correct syntax. If you are a dBASE guru, feel free to enter the FILTER on this screen. Once you have completed all of the entries on the MODIFY SETTINGS screen, press <PgDn> to return to the Main Menu. 4.5 SAVE Badge Settings Obviously, if you had to pick your file, index, filter, and enter all of the badge-specific data each time you wanted name tags, you probably would want to look elsewhere for your badges. Therefore, Badge-O-Magic allows you to save all of your work in a configuration file using any file name you want. Once you have completed all the steps outlined above, choose SAVE SETTINGS from the Main Menu. You will be prompted to enter a file name for your new configuration file. Type a legal DOS file name (i.e. no embedded spaces) and press <ENTER>. If the file already exists, you will be asked whether you want to overwrite the existing file. If so, type Y. Otherwise, type N and enter a new file name. 16 You may find it desirable to create a number of configuration files with the only difference in the configurations being the FILTER. Or you may want one configuration file which prints badges for participants and spouses while another prints badges only for participants. Similarly, if you use multiple data bases, you may want a number of different configurations for each file. 4.6 RESTORE Badge Settings Choosing the RESTORE BADGE SETTINGS option will display a listing of all your configuration files which have been saved. Use the <Dn> or <Up> cursor keys to highlight the configuration file desired. Then press <ENTER> to execute your choice. All of the settings from the configuration file will be loaded into the memory of Badge-O-Magic. Unless you need to change something, you can print the badges without further effort. 4.7 EXIT to DOS When you finish using Badge-O-Magic, highlight the last entry on the Main Menu and press <ENTER> to return to DOS. Should you have problems with the software, the closing screen will display the version number of the software you are running. Make a note of this version number before calling for help. 4.8 When All Else Fails If you get an error which appears strange or confusing, please give us a call any weekday evening between 6 and 9 p.m. EASTERN time. The number is 404/237-9420. Please note that the phone number is being provided to assist in detection of errors not as an offer to provide unlimited free technical support to unregistered users. We are more than happy to assist anyone with any problem AFTER you have read the User's Guide! You are welcome to explore all of the features of Badge-O-Magic and are encouraged to register if you enjoy the program and continue to use it after your 90-day evaluation license expires. 17 Chapter 5 Other Product Offerings We have developed a number of reasonably-priced, ShareWare products which we think you will find are comparable to commercial products except in one respect: price. A brief summary of these offerings follows. WAMPUM is a full-featured, menu-driven, dBASE-compatible data base management system. It permits even novices to develop powerful applications in minutes instead of months. Virtually every dBASE command and function is supported using easy-to-use menus. Versions are available for stand-alone PCs or NetBIOS- compatible networks. In addition, users may choose between Clipper, dBASE III+, and FoxBASE+ compatible indexes. The FoxBASE version also supports a simulated dot prompt which permits a user to enter virtually any dBASE command. Simple programs up to 500 lines also can be written and executed using the FoxBASE version. Requirements: 512K PC, DOS 2.X or higher, dual floppies or hard disk. Network version requires 640K plus DOS 3.1 or higher. dLITE is a pop-up desktop file manager which permits a user to access up to 10 different dBASE-compatible data base appli- cations from within almost any text-based application. In addition to powerful file management functions, it also includes a unique PASTE function permitting users to extract data from any data base and stuff it into a word processing document, spreadsheet, or any other foreground application. Requirements: 160K or 100K with 3.2 or 4.0 EMS memory, DOS 2.1 or higher, and dual floppies or hard disk. MenuMaker is a data entry screen generator for use with WAMPUM or dLITE. The developer draws the data entry screen as it should appear to end users. Then MenuMaker writes the necessary code to support either WAMPUM or dLITE applications. WAMPUM Form Letter Editor provides an easy-to-use editor for use in developing form letter applications. An order form to simplify ordering and registering our software is included on the next page. Please feel free to make as many copies as you need. Custom logos can be included on your name badges using the macro option for either a badge header or footer. One good source for these is Orbit Enterprises, PO Box 2875, Glen Ellyn, IL 60138. Their phone number is 312/469-3405. Typical pricing for a digi- tized logo is about $150. This is a one-time charge. 18 WARD MUNDY SOFTWARE, 4160 CLUB DRIVE, ATLANTA, GA 30319 C U S T O M E R I N V O I C E +---------------------------------------------------------------+ |Customer: |Order Date: | | |---------------------------| | |Shipped Dt: | | |---------------------------| | |Invoice No: | | |---------------------------| | |P.O. Number | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ +---------------------------------------------------------------+ |QUANTITY |DESCRIPTION |UNIT PRICE| AMOUNT | |---------|------------------------------|----------|-----------| | |*Badge-O-Magic License per PC | 45.00 | | | | | | | | |*Badge-O-Magic Network License| 95.00 | | | | | | | | | dLITE ShareWare Disk | 5.00 | | | | | | | | | dLITE Single User License | 25.00 | | | | | | | | | MenuMaker for dLITE/WAMPUM | 20.00 | | | | | | | | | WAMPUM ShareWare Disk | 5.00 | | | | | | | | |*WAMPUM Single User License | 25.00 | | | | | | | | |*WAMPUM Network License | 75.00 | | | | | | | | | WAMPUM Form Letter Editor | 20.00 | | |---------------------------------------------------------------| |*Specify INDEX: Clipper ( ) dBASE III+ ( ) FoxBASE+ ( ) | |---------------------------------------------------------------| | | Foreign Shipping Surcharge | 5.00 | | | | | | | | | Shipping & Handling Charges | 5.00 | 5.00 | | | |----------|-----------| | | | TOTAL | | +---------------------- Thank You! -----------------------------+ TERMS: Please make check payable to Ward Mundy, 4160 Club Drive, Atlanta, GA 30319. Checks drawn on U.S. banks only!