Gold Medal Software 2/Gold Medal Software Volume 2 (Gold Medal) (1994).iso/tutor/suds20.arj/SUDS.DOC

Text File | 1993-05-02 | 23KB | 513 lines

                            SUDS version 2.0
                           Copyright (C) 1993
                                   by
                            Michael C. Taylor




                              Introduction

           The key to successful brewing lies in keeping good
      records of each batch!  Like most, I tend to learn from my
      experiences (good and bad).  My weak point has always been
      in locating the scraps of paper where I invariably kept my
      brewing notes.

           This was the inspiration for SUDS - the brewers
      cookbook and log program.  From a simple attempt to
      coordinate some recipe and log notes, SUDS turned into a
      year-long project and has resulted in an extremely
      comprehensive brewer's program.

      SUDS includes the following features:
      o    DBASE III compatible recipe and log files which can be
           browsed by any utility capable of viewing DBASE III
           file formats.
      o    Multi-windowing editor featuring undo, full cut and
           paste capability between windows, mouse support and
           WordStar key-bindings.
      o    Ability to import and export standard ASCII text files
           to and from the SUDS recipe database allowing recipes
           to be shared with SUDS and non-SUDS brewers.
      o    Ability to import and export formatted SUDS SXF-files
           allowing you to share your recipes easily with other
           SUDS users.
      o    Recipe and log printing and reporting capabilities.
      o    Ability to search recipes by category, alcohol content, gravities and/or by
           text contents.
      o    Categorization of recipes by type (ie Pale Ale, Stout
           and any categories you may have defined)
      o    Built-in pop-up calculator to help with calculations.
      o    Built-in pop-up calendar
      o    Hop-IBU spreadsheet to calculate hop IBUs for beer
           batches.
      o    Printing of beer labels.




      SUDS is not, nor has it ever been free software or "Public
      Domain".  SUDS is being distributed as shareware and
      continued use beyond the 30-day trial period is prohibited.

      Unlike a new recipe, SUDS is a no-lose proposition!  You're
      free to try out SUDS for a 30 day period after which you can
      pay the nominal $20 registration fee if you are satisfied.

      Because SUDS is distributed as shareware, you are strongly
      encouraged to share SUDS with other brewers.  I would ask
      only that if you do use the program, you pay the
      registration fee.  Shareware only works as well as it is
      supported and this helps keep software prices reasonable!

      In exchange for your registration:
        o You will receive full support for the product.
        o You'll be notified of any upgrades or new releases.
        o You'll receive discounts on any subsequent add-ins, etc.
        o You'll be supporting the hundreds of hours that went into this program!
        o You'll encourage the continuation of the 'shareware' status of SUDS.

      This is the fifth release of this tool.  I hope that with
      your comments and suggestions that SUDS will continue
      to be enhanced.  A Windows version is also available as
      SUDW20.EXE (self-extracting archive) or SUDW20.ZIP.

      Hardware requirements - SUDS will run on any IBM compatible
      PC with at least 640K of memory and a hard disk.  A mouse,
      though not required, is strongly recommended.


                             Installing SUDS

      SUDS is distributed in either a ZIP file or a self-
      extracting archive file called SUDS20.EXE.  If you have
      SUDS20.ZIP, you will need a utility to "UNZIP" the file
      (PKUNZIP, XTGold, etc.).

      To install SUDS do the following:

        Create a directory on your hard disk called "SUDS"
        Copy the SUDS20.EXE or SUDS20.ZIP file into the
        directory.
        Change into the directory (ie CD \SUDS).
        Type "SUDS20" at command line to extract SUDS20.EXE
        or "unzip" SUDS20.ZIP with your unzip utility.

      SUDS should now be installed on your computer.  You may want
      to add the SUDS directory to your path in your AUTOEXEC.BAT
      file to let you execute SUDS without having to change into
      its directory (see DOS manual on PATH).

      NOTE - If you are currently using SUDS, you need to run
      SUDSCVT to convert 1.2 and earlier versions to new file



      format (See README.TXT).

      Now that SUDS is on your system, you should type "DIR" and
      see at a minimum the following files:
        SUDS.EXE       - SUDS program file
        SUDSCVT.EXE    - SUDS conversion program from 1.2 and earlier
        SUDSHELP.HLP   - On-line Help file for SUDS
        SUDS.DOC       - Documentation file for SUDS
        README.TXT     - Short introduction to SUDS release
        REGISTER.TXT   - SUDS registration form
        RECIPES.SXF    - "Starter" set of recipes to import into
                         SUDS.

      Once your installation is complete, type SUDS to begin the
      program.  This will put you into the multi-windowing SUDS
      desktop.

      Select the "Options" menu with the mouse or arrow keys and
      then select the "Import SXF file" option.  This option is
      used to import recipes that have been saved in the SUDS
      "SXF" file format.  The file RECIPES.SXP provided with SUDS
      contains several recipes to get you started.  Select the
      "RECIPES.SXP" file from the Import list.  This will load the
      SUDS database with the starter-set of recipes.


                          The SUDS environment

      If you've ever used Microsoft Windows, or any Borland
      product, the SUDS environment should look very familiar.
      You have full mouse support, a menu along the top of the
      screen with pull-down options and several options along the
      bottom of the screen.  You also have a clipboard for
      transferring text to and from windows.

      Whenever you are editing recipe or log information, you will
      find vertical and horizontal "scroll-bars" along the free-
      form editing areas.  You can page through textual
      information with the standard keyboard keys, by clicking the
      mouse on the scroll-bars or by dragging the scroll-bar
      indicator (small box) with the mouse.

      The editor used in SUDS is extremely easy to use and has
      full editing features in the Edit menu including an "UNDO"
      command that will undo changes made.  In addition to the
      menu options for the editor, the editor will also respond to
      most "WordStar-like" key commands.  One thing not available
      in this release is word-wrap.  This feature may be added to
      SUDS in a subsequent release!

      By the way, a mouse is not required.  There are no functions
      in SUDS that require a mouse.  Personally, I find the system
      much more intuitive with a mouse, but to each his own.




      The right mouse button in several places is active to
      provide a "shortcut" to one of the menu options.  For
      example, while editing an existing recipe, pressing the
      right mouse button will display a list of log entries for
      the recipe (if any exist) providing a means to edit or add
      new log entries for the recipe.  The right mouse button is
      also active in date fields and the HOP IBU field in the log
      detail screen.

      The SUDS environment allows any number of windows to be open
      at one time (limited only by the memory on your PC).  The
      best way to get familiar with this is to experiment with the
      program.  Open one or 4 windows!  You can switch between
      windows by clicking on any exposed portion of a window, or
      by pressing Alt and the window number.  If a window is not
      visible (ie is covered by another), use the Cascade or Tile
      option from the Windows menu at the top of the screen to
      rearrange the windows.

      When saving recipe information or log information, SUDS uses
      dialog boxes to enter field by field information.  Use the
      tab and back tab keys to skip from field to field.  If you
      use to mouse to go directly to a field, hold down the left
      button and drag across the field if you intend to change it.
      If you then type something, the field will change to the new
      information (you could also press delete to remove the old
      value before typing).  If you use tab and back tab, you
      won't have to worry about this.  Again, explore and have a
      home-brew!

      All SUDS screens provide on-line help available by pressing
      the F1 key!  This provides context sensitive help particular
      to the function you are attempting.  Use this frequently!

      The SUDS database stores information in DBASE III compatible
      files.  Information within SUDS is organized into recipes
      within beer categories and log entries for recipes.  To
      enter a log entry requires that a recipe entry first exist.
      Hop information can also be entered for any log entries.
      You must first have a log entry before using the HOP IBU
      spreadsheet.

      You can transfer text to and from different SUDS windows (or
      within the same SUDS window) by using the commands found
      under the Edit menu.  SUDS, like Windows, uses what is
      commonly referred to as a "Clipboard" to allow you to Cut,
      Copy and Paste text information to and from windows.

      To copy text into the "clipboard", you first must mark the
      block to copy.  With the mouse this is done by holding down
      the left button and dragging across the desired text.  With
      the keyboard, press Ctl-KB and move with the arrow keys to
      the end of the block and then press Ctl-KK.  Once the text
      is marked select the Cut command to MOVE the text into the



      clipboard, or the Copy command to COPY the text into the
      clipboard.

      To copy text from the "clipboard", move the cursor to the
      desired location for the text and select Paste from the Edit
      window.  After one or two tries, this should be intuitive.


                       Entering Recipes

      Recipes can be entered into SUDS in many ways.  You can key
      in a new recipe entirely from scratch.  You can open any
      ASCII file (for instance a recipe downloaded from
      CompuServe) and then save the recipe into the SUDS database.
      You can also do combined functions such as opening a file,
      selecting recipe information and copying the information
      into another window (ie for Internet newsletters).

      To enter a recipe from scratch, you would select New Recipe
      from the File menu of SUDS.  This opens up a blank edit
      window into which you would enter your recipe text.  When
      you complete your keying, pressing F2 or selecting the Save
      option would display the Recipe details screen.  Here you
      enter any pertinent information about the recipe such as
      starting and finishing gravities, category (Pale Ale, etc.),
      method (ie Extract, Full Mash).  Selecting OK would then
      save the recipe into the SUDS database.

      To import a recipe from a file you would select the Open
      File option from the File menu.  This would bring up a list
      of files in the current directory.  You can select files
      from other directories by using the Change Directory option
      or by clicking on any directory names from the Open file
      window.  Once you select a file, an edit window will be
      opened showing the contents of the file.  Here you can edit
      or change any recipe information and then save it back to a
      file or into the SUDS database from the File menu.

      A good source of recipes is the Internet newsletter
      available by Internet Email or on CompuServe in the Beer
      forum.  These newsletters often contain a wealth of
      information as well as recipes.  To extract a recipe from
      within a file proceed as follows:

      o Use the Open File option to open the file
      o Find the recipe in the file
      o Mark the recipe with the mouse or keyboard commands
         (See above)
      o Select the Copy command from the Edit menu at the top of
        the screen.
      o Select New Recipe to open another empty window.
      o Select the Paste command to copy the text you previously
        copied into the "Clipboard" into the new window.
      o Save the recipe from the new window into the SUDS



        database.

      This really is much easier than it sounds.  With a little
      trial and error, you'll find that cutting and pasting is
      usually the easiest way to create a new recipe since most
      recipes are variations of one kind or another.

      With SUDS you can also import recipes from other SUDS users!
      This is nicer than importing ASCII files since SUDS "SXF"
      files already include any Recipe detail information.  From
      the SUDS Options menu, you can export your database to any
      "SXF" file or import any "SXF" file.

      The import will list any "SXF" files in the current
      directory.  Selecting a file will load any non-existing
      recipes into your database from the "SXF" file.  If the
      recipe name already exists in your database, it will not be
      replaced!  This is how the SUDS STARTUP recipes are
      distributed (in file RECIPES.SXF).

      You are encouraged to share any "SXF" files you wish with
      other users via BBS's, CompuServe or just among friends.
      Please be sure to let users of your "SXF" files know that
      SUDS is required to use the files.  Actually "SXF" does not
      use a complex file format at all, so non-SUDS users could
      read the contents with any browse utility!


                   Editing Existing Recipes

      To edit existing recipes, you select the Get Recipe option
      from the File menu or press the Get Recipe "Toolbar" button.
      This brings up a list of all available recipes or a limited
      list if a Filter is active.

      To limit the number of Recipes displayed, you would select
      the Filter SUDS Recipes option from the Search menu.
      This will display the Filter dialog box.  Here you can enter
      search criteria to limit the number of recipes displayed in
      the recipe list.

      You can limit recipes to specific Categories (Pale Ale, etc),
      Brewing methods (Extract, Full Mash, etc), gravities, alcohol
      content and/or specific contents in the recipe text.  If you
      can, you should always specify anythin outside of the recipe
      text contents to speed up the Filter search.  To be listed,
      a recipe must meet all of the non-text contents that you enter
      and must contain at least one of the text strings that you
      specify.

      For instance, to list all Pale Ales using Cascade hops, you
      would specify on this screen the category of Pale Ale and would
      key "Cascade" in the text portion.  All recipes listed would be
      Pale Ale recipes using Cascade hops.  Your recipe list can grow



      quite large, so you will probably find this to be a useful
      function!

                          Entering Log Entries

      Log entries can be entered into SUDS only for recipes in
      your SUDS database.  NOTE - If you wish to enter log entries
      for recipes that you do not wish to enter into SUDS, you
      will have to create a "dummy" recipe.  To do this, just
      create a recipe with no text, and give it a name when you
      save it.

      To enter a log entry for a recipe, you must first open the
      recipe file (see above).  When the desired recipe is
      displayed, either click the right mouse button, or select
      the Open Log option from the SUDS File menu.  If any log
      entries exist for this recipe, a list will be displayed
      which allows you to select existing log entries or add new
      ones.  If no log entries existed for the recipe, you are
      taken directly to the log detail screen.

      The log detail screen contains a number of fields pertaining
      to a particular batch of the selected recipe.  These
      include: Date started, date bottles, Starting and Finishing
      gravities, Hop IBUs and free form notes.

      Here you fill in or update any information pertaining to
      your recipe batch.  Several "shortcuts" or help functions
      exist for these fields to assist you in entering.

      Date fields: pressing "+" or "-" in a date field will
      increase or decrease the date by one day.  Pressing either
      with a blank date will fill in the current date.  Clicking
      on the right mouse button while in a date field will display
      a pop-up calendar (You can also select Calendar from the
      Tools menu option at any time).

      Hop IBUs: Pressing the right mouse button or selecting HOP
      IBU Spreadsheet from the tools menu will bring up the HOP
      IBU spreadsheet used to calculate HOP IBUs (International
      Bittering units).  The Hop IBU spreadsheet allows you to
      enter up to 4 different hop lines to calculate the IBU
      value.

      Log Notes: The log notes field works exactly like the recipe
      edit windows (see above).  The only difference is that the
      tab key will jump you out of the log note field to the next
      field.  This is where you will enter any comments about the
      batch you are brewing.

      If no recipes are open when you select the Open Log option
      from the SUDS File menu, you will get a chronological list
      of all log entries in your database.  Here you can edit any
      existing log entry.




                 Printing Recipes, Log Entries or Labels

      Selecting Print from the SUDS File menu (or pressing Alt-P)
      will bring up a print confirmation box for the current
      recipe or log entry.

      For a log entry, selecting "Yes" or clicking on the Yes
      button will print the current entry.

      For a recipe, 3 check boxes are displayed allowing you to
      specify whether to print recipe text, stats and log entries
      for the recipe.

      When a log entry is displayed, you can select print labels
      from the SUDS tools menu.  This will display a sample label
      that you can customize.  SUDS will print labels on standard
      1-up mailing labels.  You can edit any of the information
      shown on the sample label and can override the number of
      labels to print.


                   Appendix A - Technical information

      Suds was developed using Borland Pascal with objects 7.0,
      Turbo-Vision and Topaz 4.0 database manager.

      The files used are standard DBASE-III+ compatible files.
      However, the index files (*.IND) are not DBASE compatible.
      If you intend to use DBASE against the files, you will have
      to index the files yourself.  If you wish to run an external
      database program against the SUDS files, please observe the
      following steps:
        1.  BACKUP the DBF and DBT files in your SUDS directory.
        2.  Go into the external program and make any desired updates.
        3.  Be sure that if you delete a Recipe from the SUDSRCP.DBF file
            that you also delete corresponding log entries from SUDSLOG.DBF
            (Compare ID_RCP to match these).
        4.  When finished, erase all IND files from SUDS directory.  SUDS
            will need to rebuild these indexes and will do so when you
            start it up.
        5.  Select Pack database from Options menu.

      You should periodically select the Pack option from the SUDS Options
      menu to optimize indexes and reclaim deleted space.

      Suds should work fine as a DOS application under Windows 3.0
      or 3.1.  You should run SUDS in full-screen mode if using
      Windows 3.0 to allow mouse-support.  A windows version of Suds
      is currently available as SUDW20.EXE or SUDW20.ZIP.


                      Appendix B - Troubleshooting

      o SUDSW displays fatal error message box - Its likely that the
        indexes somehow got corrupted (power outage, reboot or other
        cause).  Delete all SUDSW index files :
            DEL *.IND
        SUDSW will rebuild all indexes when it starts up.

      o No recipes appear after initial install - Use the Import
        option from the Options menu to load in the RECIPES.SXF file.

      If you still experience problems and are a registered user,
      don't hesitate to contact me.  I limit support to non-registered
      users to questions related to installing the product.




                     SUDSW REGISTRATION FORM.

      If you register before 12/31/93 and enclose one of your own recipes
      to be included with future releases of SUDS (your name will also
      be included) you can register SUDS for $15 rather than the full
      price of $20.

      To register, just copy this file to your printer, fold, and mail to:

                         Michael Taylor
                         1626 Main Street
                         Bethlehem, PA  18018-1905


   Enclosed please find $____ for the following:

           [ ] $20 to register SUDS 2.0

           [ ] $15 to register SUDS 2.0
               (I am enclosing recipe with order)
               $15 offer expires 12/31/93.


   Name:        ________________________________________________
   Address:     ________________________________________________
                ________________________________________________
     State:     ___________________________ Zip:_______________

   SUDS 2.0 was acquired from:

         [ ]  friend
         [ ]  free BBS, name and phone #
         [ ]  pay BBS (i.e., CompuServe) name __________________
         [ ]  disk duplicating service, name
         [ ]  user group
         [ ]  other_________________________________________

   Comments, suggestions: