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pg. 1
Stowit! Ver. 1.0 Database Generator
c 1993 by Peter Neuendorffer
_____________________________
MANUAL
-------------------------------------------------|
| Stowit! allows you to set up four files for |
| a basic database. The files could be for your |
| audio collection, a list of Boats, or an |
| employee file, or a list of ideas, or a file |
| of books, or a film digest, or |
| whatever list you choose. |
|------------------------------------------------|
Table of Contents page
SHAREWARE INFORMATION and INSTALLATION 2
OVERVIEW 3
DEFINE.EXE PROGRAM 4
=== what it does ===
=== file menu ===
=== defining your file ===
=== the rest of the fields ===
STOWIT.EXE MAIN PROGRAM 8
=== General information ===
=== "ALL" ===
=== SEARCH" ===
=== "ADD" ===
TIPS 11
GLOSSARY 12
SHAREWARE INFORMATION pg. 2
---------------------
This software is presented as is, with no warranty as to
suitability. I welcome your comments on RIME, or
Interlink bbs networks. I am logged on at Channel One bbs
(617-354-8873). Please note that you need to be verified
on Channel One in order to download Stowit! copies.
You are free to distribute this software AS IS, and you
may use it for say a month or so. If you continue to
use Stowit!, please send $25.00 registration fee to
Peter Neuendorffer
1399 Commonwealth Ave #11
Allston MA 02134
Important: I will not send any disks or media, as the program
is complete as is.
To run this software:
1. Copy the files to a Hard Drive sub directory
2. Read this manual
3. use this software from it's own directory.
4. Run DEFINE.EXE
5. Run STOWIT.EXE
OVERVIEW pg. 3
--------
"A file is a collection of related records"
"A record is a collection of related fields"
"A field is an item of data"
Welcome to Stowit! database generator, a program that allows
you to design your own records for storage. If this manual
seems overly simple, it is because I am trying to make clear
what the program does.
What Stowit! is: a way to file away records in four separate files.
The way the records are formed is up to you. You set up the
record structure in DEFINE.EXE. You enter in data, and
maintain the four files from STOWIT.EXE You can
search any field in any record for a word or words you
choose. For example in a file of music Albums, you could
search on Composer to find "Stravinsky" records. It accepts your
database data from your keyboard. What it is not: It is
not an e-mail reader. It is not a program to change one type
of a file to another (file formatter). It is not a file
compression program.
You use the DEFINE.EXE program to set up the structure of
a record to be used in one of the four files of STOWIT.EXE.
The fields in a record fit on one screen, so define.exe will
allow only so many fields, depending on how they fit on
one screen. Here is a typical record structure you might define
using DEFINE.EXE:
file title------> RECORDINGS
record title----> Name of album: ________________________
field-----------> Artist: -------------------
field-----------> Songs: ------------------------
(same) field----> ------------------------
(number of dashes is the field length)
(same) field----> ________________________
The Record Title is your "key field" The actual data you enter
there from Stowit! should be, but need not be different
for each record. The records are sorted for you alphabetically
by this key field. Two nearly full screen Comment pages
are attached to each record in Stowit!.
Once you set up your record structure or "define the record"
in DEFINE.EXE, you may execute STOWIT.EXE to "ADD"
records- after all, even though there is a record structure,
you still haven't entered in any Albums information.
Once records are added, you may view them using "ALL" or "SEARCH".
One term that may be confusing, that is used in the Define.exe
program is "field length". The field name is what the
field (a line for you to enter data) is called, such as
the words "Name of album". The "field length" is how many
letters you can enter in for a field- the longest the
data can be. This will be apparent by a highlighted bar
in a STOWIT.EXE record as displayed on the screen.
DEFINE.EXE PROGRAM pge. 4
------------------
=== What it does ===
You can build a record structure for any of the four files.
This must be done before entering in information into
Stowit.exe. The program expects answers to a list of
questions about the record structure. The questions
are by and large repeated for each field.
The field names are your choosing. The field length,
or maximum number of characters allowed for each field
are your choice. You can mark which fields are to be
searched on, and whether the search is for an exact
match or not. You can attach more than one data entry
field to each field, and you may decide where the data
entry part of the field should start on the Stowit! screen.
On pages 5 and 6 is a breakdown of the questions you are asked
within DEFINE.EXE. Creating these record definitions
is a once-through experience. That is you can not
add on to a definition later- especially if data is
entered to this file in STOWIT.EXE. However if you
press Enter on the Field Name prompt (not the first
one) you are given the option to save the record structure
as far as you got. Otherwise, answer no ("N") when you
see the "Add a field?" prompt if you are done then.
===Files menu===
File1
File2
File3
Employees <----this would be a Stowit! file that already exists
And may contain data. Take caution
not to erase named files, if it contains
information already.
Press enter after selecting a File slot.
There are a total of 4 files allowed at any one time in
Stowit!. Therefore, if you chose Employees (a file you
had already created, lets say), you would get this
screen:
File exists Overwrite it?
<Y>es <N>o
Choosing <Y> will throw the existing file, and data
into oblivion (delete them). So that slot should be
used only if you do not care about your previous
"Employees" file. Choosing <N> will throw you back
to the file menu. The <Y> choice will allow you to
continue. Choosing File1, File2 etc. is no problem.
DEFINE.EXE PROGRAM continued: pg. 5
=== Defining your file ===
Define program:RECORD DESCRIPTION
In the top left corner of the window, "Lines Left 21"
"Field #1" are there for your information. Lines left
refers to the lines on a full screen record that you are
building , and not to the lines in the Define.exe program.
QUESTION ASKED WHAT IT MEANS
============== =============
File Title The name of your file, say
"Dentists" or "MOVIE"
Record Title A name for the first field of your
record. This is the "key" field
Field Length How many characters the user
of Stowit! can enter for this
field. This first field is
limited to a number up to 50,
to allow sorting of the records.
=======> note: if you press Enter without
giving a number, the file structure
will not be saved.
Search Field: Yes These two items are automatically
Exact Match: Yes filled in for the first field of
your record.
Add a field? <Y>es <N>o (finished) <C>ancel
Do you want to add more fields
to this file's record structure?
If you are done, press <N> if
you want more, press <Y>, otherwise
scrub the file with <C>ancel.
Note any overwritten files as mentioned
above will NOT be restored.
DEFINE.EXE continued pg. 6
=== The rest of the fields ===
QUESTION ASKED WHAT IT MEANS
============== =============
Field Name Choose the name for this
field, as you wish. It
could be "experience"
for an employee file,
or "Tuba" for a music file
Field Length (1 to 255) The maximum length
of text the user of
the database can type in
Note a 1 here will make
the field a Yes/No field.
=========> Note: If you press enter
without a number entered,
the file structure will
not be saved.
Field on Same Line? If you answer yes to this
the data entry part of
this field will be on the
same line as the field name.
(starting at column 19)
If you answer No, the data
entry part will start on the
next line, at column one.
Search on this Field? A "Y" answer here
makes this field
searchable from within
Stowit. Up to 10 fields
may be so marked as
search fields.
Exact Search? This will pop up only
if you answered "Y" (yes)
to the last question.
An exact search means to find record fields
containing only the
word(s) your request.
Add a field? so this whole page has been
setting up one line in the
record. Now, do you want
to add another field to the
record structure you are
building?
DEFINE.EXE program continued: pg. 7
A couple of added features of this program.
On any field description other that the Record Title, you
may have a "hidden name" , so as to make the field data
entry bar part of the previous field. This is useful for
extending the data entry on a field beyond 255 characters,
and for searching the field. You accomplish this by entering
the word "same" (no quotes) instead of a field name. A clone
of the last field will be made on the next available line in the
record. The "same" cannot be used after a Search/Search Exact
field.
To make a Yes/No field, simply specify a field length
of 1. The name of the field might be "Has a car?"
Some other prompts you may encounter in your defining a file
record in DEFINE.EXE:
"Too many lines!"
"<R>edo field <S>ave record <C>ancel" Your last field
goes over the size of the screen display of Stowit.exe,
So. You are given the option to redo the last field, making it
less lines, or saving the record up to the last field, or
cancelling out altogether on this record.
At other times, you may have just squeezed in the limit of
lines for a record, and the record will be saved up to where
you are in defining it.
STOWIT.EXE MAIN PROGRAM pg. 8
-----------------------
=== general information ===
This is the program where you enter in data and retrieve it.
Once your record structures are set, you need not start
with DEFINE.EXE.
You may have discovered that when you first ran Stowit! it
didn't let you get very far in the program. You may have gotten
the error message "File not defined". This is because the
record structure of each of the four files is set up by
running DEFINE.EXE first. The whole point of this package
is that I the programmer do not decide what types of records
you will have, you decide that.
So after defining a record in DEFINE.EXE as described above,
you are ready to run STOWIT.EXE.
Stowit! allows you to enter in data to records for four files.
When you run it, you get a FILES menu which could read
File 1
File 2
Record Albums
File 4
Quit
Move the arrow keys up and down to select. Quit leaves the
program. After running the program and going deep into the
menus, press Escape to get you out to this first menu.
The Record Albums file is our example, and would contain records
according to a set up in DEFINE.EXE. The others are undefined.
Upon selecting Record Albums, you will get the main menu
for the Record Albums file.
All: shows you a list by the first field
of every record in this file.
Search: you can search for information
in the file.
Add: allows you to add new information
to the file.
This is the first option you choose
with a new file.
Exit: exit back to the files menu.
If you are just getting started, and have already defined
your file in DEFINE.EXE, then start out with the "ADD" option.
This is described below, on page 10 of this manual.
STOWIT.EXE MAIN PROGRAM continued pg. 9
=== "All" ===
By selecting the All option, if there have been records entered
in already (SEE "ADD" below), you would get a list of
all these records by the record titles.
for ex:
Beethoven
Brahms
Chopin
Jagger
If this list is bigger than the current screen, you can
use the Page Up and Page Down keys to move through the
list. Once you have the one you want, press Enter.
Alt-P (press the Alt and P keys both at once) will
allow you to print the list.
Upon selecting one of these names, you are into the
actual record for that name. This record screen might look
something like this:
Composer: Beethoven
Famous works: Fifth Symphony
Recordings: Angel release No. 2138
You can edit these fields, by moving the arrow key to
the field you wish and typing. Note the field will be
blank if you start typing on the first letter of
the field.
To save your changes, press F10, or Escape if you don't
want your changes in the record to be saved. To Delete
the record data entirely, press F6.
To print the record, press Alt-P.
There are two near-full screen pages for your comments attached
to each and every record. Just press Page Down to
get to them, and Page Up to return to the main part of the record.
STOWIT.EXE MAIN PROGRAM cont. pg. 10
=== "SEARCH" ===
The Search menu selection will allow you to search for
information in the current file. To enter SEARCH, you must have
already entered in data under the ADD option. Otherwise
the error message "NO RECORDS IN BASE" will pop up.
Now, to Search, you are presented with a list of fields to
search as set up in the DEFINE.EXE program. You cannot go
back to the define.exe program for this, after you have
entered in data in STOWIT.EXE.
Press enter on one of these menu fields, and you will be
asked to enter in the word(s) to be searched for. They may
be in upper case or lower case, it doesn't matter. If you
choose Whole Record, the entire records will be searched,
but NOT the comment screens attached.
If records are found for your request, a record list
will appear, just as in ALL, but probably much shorter.
Move the arrow keys to select a record, and press ENTER.
Note, as in ALL, and ADD, you may print this list as
well with Alt-P.
Going back to the Search menu, you may have some stars (*) next
to certain fields. This indicates that those searches must
be an exact match. Thus a * Composer search for
Stravinsky will only find a Composer field that is
entirely made up of the word Stravinsky.
=== "ADD" ===
This is where you initially enter in new records to your
Stowit! file. This is different from DEFINE.EXE where you
designed the structure of the files. Here you are entering
in items of information.
field title-----| |--------------data
(preset by you) | | (your information)
v v
Composer: Donald Duck
Move the arrow key up and down to select a field to enter.
Also, the Enter key here will move to the next field.
When you are done (you can always return to it later, from
ALL, SEARCH, or ADD), press F10 to save your changes.
To Cancel the recent changes (since the last time you have
moved to this screen), press the Escape key instead.
F6 will delete the record entirely. Gone.
To get to the comment screens for this record, use the Page Down
and Page Up keys. PLEASE REMEMBER, if you enter in comments in
those comment screens, you must, must press Pgup back to the main
record and press F10 to save your changes. In comment screens,
Alt-N will insert a blank line, Alt-Y will delete the current line.
TIPS pg. 11
----
This section may not tell you how much to give the wait person at
the World of Pancakes on route 1, but it may help you avoid
certain pratfalls while using this software.
Stowit! allows at most 1000 records for each file. If you
get a "Cannot Access Disk" error message, nine times out of ten
the files are not damaged. Make sure your drive door is closed,
and that you are not out of disk space, before re-running.
Right after you set up a file with DEFINE.EXE,
it is a good idea to enter a few test records to your file
from STOWIT.EXE. This way, if you are unhappy with the structure,
you may go back to Define.exe and redo the structure. Once you
have volumes of data in a file, you cannot change the record
structure without losing the data. In other words, you cannot
make changes in a file's record structure without starting fresh
with the data for that file.
Quirks of DEFINE.EXE:
The program will not allow you to use
a "same" field immediately after a field you defined as
Search AND Exact Search. The idea is if you wanted an exact
search on a field, why would you then add more lines to it?
As mentioned above, if you define a field length as only 1,
it automatically becomes a Yes No field, so a name for
such a field as "ZIP CODE" (Yes No) would make no sense,
whereas a field as "Own Transportation" (Yes No) would.
Since fields normally begin at column 19, choose a field length
that will not dangle into part of the next line. This is
precisely why the question "Field on same line? <Y>es <N>o" is
there. If you say <N> (no) to this, you could have a field length
of 160, taking up exactly two lines.
NOTE: When you name each file, avoid "File1", "File2", File3",
or "File4" for names, as these are used by this software to
indicate empty files.
Quirks of STOWIT.EXE: (not to be confused with Captain Quirks).
Lets say you only have one record entered in under your
"Record Albums" file. When you choose ALL, you still get
a list of records, but now it is only one. Just press
enter on this to get to the record.
Do not forget when you enter in Comment pages to Page up to
the record screen and press F10 to save. The comments
will not be saved automatically. This applies
to any changes you make to the Record. Press escape cancels
them, so you have to press F10 to save any changes.
During a Stowit search, you may view a record, and decide
to change the search field data. When you escape, this record
will still be in the list of search records. Once you press
escape again, if necessary, the list will be updated.
GLOSSARY pg. 12
________
data Items of information
data entry Where the user types in information to the record
define
a record Set up the structure of a record for a file
exact search The user has to enter in a search word(s) to look
in the file for exact matches on the field data.
field A named item of information in a record,
that the user types in from Stowit!
field length How many characters user can type in a field
field name That portion of a field that gives a title to the data.
file A named collection of records
key field The first field of each record. The records
will be listed by this field, say "Last Name".
record A collection of fields or items of data
record list The screen in STOWIT.EXE that shows a
list of records, listed by their first
field, or "Record title".
record structure
The named fields and their length as set up in a
record (by using DEFINE.EXE)
search The user types in a word(s) to search for in the
database
Yes/No field A field that only excepts "Y" or "N" for data,
indicating a yes or no answer to the field name
