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Software Vault: The Gold Collection
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Software Vault - The Gold Collection (American Databankers) (1993).ISO
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DATEINFO.DOC
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1993-06-07
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463 lines
===============================================================================
Date Infominder v1.1 (Shareware Version)
(C) Copyright 1993 ARAD Software. All Rights Reserved.
Programmed by Brian Gugliemetti.
===============================================================================
* T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S *
I. Purpose of Date Infominder................................1
II. Setting Up Date Infominder and Requirements...............1
III. How Date Infominder Works.................................2
IV. Adding/Editing Events.....................................2
V. Deleting Events...........................................3
VI. Printing Events for a Month...............................3
VII. Saving Event Files........................................3
VIII. Exiting Date Infominder...................................3
IX. Inquiring for Events......................................3
X. Command Line Parameters...................................4
XI. Using Date Infominder with Windows........................5
XII. Special Notes about Date Infominder.......................5
XIII. Registering Date Infominder...............................6
XIV. Contacting the Author.....................................6
XV. Disclaimer................................................6
- i - Date Infominder v1.1
I. Purpose of Date Infominder
------------------------------
Date Infominder was created to help recall important dates, such as
birthdays and upcoming events. It's main purpose is to be used in the
AUTOEXEC.BAT or Windows' Startup so that each time you turn on your
computer, any events which you want to be notified of appear on screen.
II. Setting up Date Infominder and Requirements
------------------------------------------------
In order to run Date Infominder, you will need DOS 3.3 or higher, at least
192k of free memory, an IBM compatible (8086+ processor), around 100,000
bytes free disk space, and an EGA or better video card. Date Infominder
does not require the use of a hard drive, but it is strongly recommended for
speed. Date Infominder supports the use of a Microsoft compatible mouse.
When you first run Date Infominder, after the title screen appears,
a box will appear which says "EVENTS.DAT File not found. Create new
one (Y/n)?" Date Infominder defaults to the current directory for the
event file, so if that is not where you want to file to be created, change
to another directory and rerun the program. If you are in the desired
directory, answer yes or hit return. It is recommended at you keep both
the DATEINFO.EXE and event file in the same directory.
Select "Configure" from the main screen and answer yes. Specify the full
path where the event file is found, i.e. C:\DOS. Date Infominder defaults
to LPT1. If you wish to change to LPT2, in the configure screen, press
the TAB key to move to the printer port area, then press the space bar
to toggle the printer port. When you are satisfied with the configuration,
hit return to save.
Note: The Configure option is disabled when you override the event file.
If you see "Could not locate DATEINFO.EXE, configuration not saved", it
means that the program could not find DATEINFO.EXE in the default directory,
thus no changes were saved. Make sure you are in the same directory as
DATEINFO.EXE before configuring. Also, do not rename DATEINFO.EXE to any
other name. The program searches for it when it saves the new configuration.
If you see "Fatal error: Could not write to DATEINFO.EXE" it most likely
means that the write protect is on. Date Infominder will override the
read only attribute on itself when it saves the configuration, so under
normal circumstances you shouldn't see this message.
- 1 - Date Infominder v1.1
III. How Date Infominder Works
-------------------------------
Date Infominder uses a perennial system, which means it is not year
dependent for events. (i.e. You can't specify to be notified of an event
on March 6, 1996. You can only specify to be notified on March 6th.)
The user specifies the events for the year that he/she wants to be notified
of. For the events, the user selects a notification period which tells
how far in advance the user is notified of the event. When the program
is run in the inquiry mode, it reads the computers internal calendar,
checks for events which are within the notification range, displays those
events, and then exits. If no events are found, it displays "No
notifications."
When in the editing mode, Date Infominder again reads the internal calendar
and displays the edited month accordingly. If the selected month is the
current month or in the future, it displays the calendar as it appears for
that year. If the selected month has already passed, it displays the
calendar as it appears next year. Example: The current date is 5/6/93.
You select June to edit. The program displays the month of June formatted
to calendar year 1993. Afterwards, you select April to edit. The program
displays the month of April formatted to calendar year 1994. This allows
you to see which day of the week the event will fall upon the next time it
arrives. The calendar year for the month displayed is in the upper right
hand corner of the edit screen. This is just a point of reference for the
user and does not indicate that events are being defined for that year.
Date Infominder can hold up to 300 events with a maximum description length
of 400 characters. The totaled description lengths must be under 65,535
characters. If the totaled lengths go over 65,535, the program will not
allow any more events to be defined.
IV. Adding/Editing Events
--------------------------
You need to use the editing mode of the program, which means you do not
use the "/I" command line parameter. From the main selection screen, you
need to select edit (ALT-E). Choose a month using the mouse or keyboard.
The edit screen should come up and display the month selected. Use the
cursor keys or mouse to select the day to edit. If the day has a predefined
event, you will see the description in the event description box near the
bottom of the screen and the notification period in the box to the right of
the screen. If you wish to edit the day, simply hit return or click on the
left mouse button. The cursor will appear in the event description box.
Type in the description of the event. (The event editor has automatic
word-wrapping. It allows a maximum description length of 400 characters.)
When done with the description, hit the F5 key. Selector arrows should
appear in the notification box. Again, use the cursor keys or the mouse
to select the notification period. Either click the left mouse button or
hit return to complete the event definition. If you wish to go back and
change the description, hit the ESC key. Then hit the F5 key again to
select the period.
- 2 - Date Infominder v1.1
V. Deleting Events
-------------------
To delete events, select edit (ALT-E) from the main selection screen. Next
choose the month in which the event you wish to delete falls. Finally,
select the day the event in on and press the DELETE key. A box will appear
asking if you really want to delete the event. Answer yes to delete it or
no to abort the delete.
VI. Printing Events for a Month
--------------------------------
First, select the Print option from the main selection screen (ALT-P),
and then choose the month you wish to print all events for.
If you see "Error: Printer Not Ready", check to make sure the printer is
turned on and is on-line. If it is, next check the default printer port in
the configure screen. If both are set correctly, hit return to retry the
printer. If the error continues, check your printer cable.
Note: If you used control codes in your event description, they will
be replaced with asterisks before being printed.
VII. Saving Event Files
------------------------
To save the current event file, select the Save option from the main
selection screen (ALT-S), and answer yes.
VIII. Exiting from Date Infominder
-----------------------------------
To exit Date Infominder, select the Exit option from the main selection
screen (ALT-X), and answer yes. If changes have been made to event file
and have not been saved, a warning message will appear asking if you wish
to save the changes before exiting. Answer yes to save changes and exit,
or no to exit without saving.
IX. Inquiring for Events
-------------------------
To inquiry for events, use the "/I" command line parameter.
i.e. type "DATEINFO /I" at the C:\> prompt. If any events are found,
it will display them on the screen.
To print the events to the printer, type the following:
DATEINFO /I /S > PRN
- 3 - Date Infominder v1.1
X. Command Line Parameters
---------------------------
Command line parameters are items that can be placed behind the program
name on the command line (C:\> prompt). They allow certain functions to
be performed when the program is entered. Date Infominder has four main
command line parameters. They are as follows:
DATEINFO [/I] [/P] [/S] [/E:[drive:][path]event file]
The [] mean the command line parameter is optional.
/I
--
/I puts Date Infominder into the inquiry mode. It checks the event
file and displays any events which fall within the notification period.
/P
--
/P causes Date Infominder to wait for a key to be hit before exiting
the program. This option is only for inquiry mode; it is ignored by the
edit mode. Windows users should use this option for the Inquiry icon of
Date Infominder. (i.e. [drive:][path] DATEINFO /I /P)
/S
--
/S causes Date Infominder to write the events found during an inquiry
as strings. This allows redirection of output. You can print the events
to the printer by typing: DATEINFO /I /S > PRN
/E
--
/E is used to specify an alternate event file. This option can be used
for both the edit and inquiry modes. You must specify the complete path
AND filename. i.e. DATEINFO /E:C:\MISC\MYEVENTS.DAT
If the specified event file does not exist, the program will ask if you
wish to create the specified file. Answer yes if the event file is a new
one, otherwise check the path and file name.
Note: When using the /E parameter, the configure option is disabled.
You can only configure when you use the default EVENTS.DAT file.
However, the printer port defined is used for all files.
Examples:
---------
DATEINFO /I /P
This will do an inquiry and ask for a key to be hit before exiting.
DATEINFO /I /E:D:\OTHER.DAT
This will do an inquiry on the event file D:\OTHER.DAT
DATEINFO /I /S > PRN
This is do an inquiry and print the results to the printer.
DATEINFO /E:A:\MYEVENTS.DAT
This will use A:\MYEVENTS.DAT for the edit mode functions. If the file
does not exist, the program will ask if you want it created. When you
save, the events will be saved to this file.
- 4 - Date Infominder v1.1
XI. Using Date Infominder with Windows
---------------------------------------
Included in DATEINFO.ZIP is DATEINFO.PIF. This .PIF file should be copied
to your \WINDOWS directory. This configures Windows to use a window for
Date Infominder. You should set up two icons for Date Infominder; one for
the edit mode and another for inquiries. For the inquiries icon, remember
to specify /I and /P as command line parameters. You may want to create
a third icon for printing inquiries to the printer. The command line for
that icon should be: DATEINFO /I /S > PRN
Mouse support for Date Infominder is lost when used under Windows.
XII. Special Notes about Date Infominder
-----------------------------------------
Do NOT rename DATEINFO.EXE. When you configure Date Infominder, it writes
the new configuration to DATEINFO.EXE. If you rename the file, it won't
be able to locate DATEINFO.EXE and save the new configuration.
Do NOT use programs such as PKLITE, DIET, or other self-extracting .EXE
program creators. When you configure Date Infominder, it writes the new
configuration to DATEINFO.EXE. The offset in the file where the
configuration is stored will be changed after using one of the above
programs and Date Infominder will be corrupted.
Date Infominder is written entirely in assembler. Why? Mostly to keep
my assembler skills intact. Also, it generates compact code. Finally,
I like to program in assembler! :)
For those of you who are curious or would just like to program their own
inquiry handler, here is the file structure for the event files.
HEADER {
Start of free space in 64k description block dw (?)
RESERVED dw (?)
} Totals 4 bytes.
EVENT TABLE (repeated 300 times, kept in month/day ascending order) {
Month db (?)
Day db (?)
Notification status db (?) <see table below for values>
RESERVED db (?)
RESERVED dw (?)
description displacement in 64k description block dw (?)
} Totals 8 bytes*300=2400 bytes.
EVENT DESCRIPTIONS (up to 65535 bytes, variable length. Each
description is an ASCIZ string.)
Notification Status Table
-------------------------
0 - Same day 30 - 1 month before
1 - 1 day before 60 - 2 months before
5 - 5 days before 90 - 3 months before
7 - 1 week before 180 - 6 months before
14 - 2 weeks before
- 5 - Date Infominder v1.1
XIII. Registering Date Infominder
----------------------------------
Date Infominder is shareware. If you use it beyond a 21 day trial period,
you must register. Registration is $15 (US$). Include $5 extra if you
wish to receive the lastest version along with a printed manual. (Foreign
orders include $10 extra for S&H.) Please specify 3 1/2" or 5 1/4" DD/HD
diskette. Print out DI_ORDER.FRM and mail to the specified address to
register. All funds must be in US currency. Checks and money orders only.
You may distribute this file to your friends and BBS' as long as all files
are included and none of the files are modified.
XIV. Contacting the Author
---------------------------
If you have questions, comments, or bug reports, please contact me at
one of the following addresses:
CompuServe 71754,2237
Internet BGUGLIE@HOLONET.NET
U.S. Mail Brian Gugliemetti
c/o ARAD Software
5011 Fletcher Place
Rockford, IL 61108-4171
I've tried to test the program thoroughly, but I can't guarantee all of
the bugs were caught. If you find a bug, report what you were doing when
it happened, and the results of the bug.
XV. Disclaimer
---------------
ARAD Software is not liable for any problems that you may incur while using
Date Infominder. This includes psychological and physiological problems.
:-) (Not that any should arise!) You agree to the terms of this disclaimer
and use the program at your own risk.
Special thanks goes to David Puckett for his suggestions, encouragement,
and beta testing of version 1.1.
- 6 - Date Infominder v1.1