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M a c r o P I K ' r
(the data Picker with Macros)
User's Manual (Version 1.5)
January 1993
For the IBM Personal Computer family and compatibles.
The MacroPIK'r program and this manual, are
copyrighted, and all rights are reserved by Samkhya.
Express permission is granted to make copies of this
program and documentation -- please see the "Shareware"
information on page 4.
Copyright (c) 1985 1986 1992 1993 Samkhya
S A M K H Y A // Software Research & Development
27005 Highway 1
Post Office Box 13
Tomales, CA 94971
Phone: 707-878-2914
Fax: 707-878-2802
Compuserve: 71016,460
MCI Mail: SAMKHYACORP
_______
____|__ | (R)
--| | |-------------------
| ____|__ | Association of
| | |_| Shareware
|__| o | Professionals
-----| | |---------------------
|___|___| MEMBER
MacroPIK'r (tm) and PIK'r (R) are trademarks of
Samkhya. Other marks are the property of their
respective holders.
Contents
Chapter 1 Introduction 2
MacroPIK'r . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Chapter 2 Shareware 4
The ASP Ombudsman . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Shareware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Chapter 3 Quick Overview 7
Starting MacroPIK'r . . . . . . . . . . 8
Getting Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Leaving MacroPIK'r . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Cursor Movement . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Picking Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Chapter 4 Tutorial 11
Chapter 5 Commands 16
Starting MacroPIK'r . . . . . . . . . 16
The MacroPIK'r Screen . . . . . . . . 18
Column Markers Line . . . . . . . . 19
Column Widths in the Paste Area . . 19
Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Xit-F9 Exit MacroPIK'r . . . . . . . 21
Hlp-F10 Help . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Pick Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Col-F2 Pick a Column . . . . . . . 22
Row-F4 Pick a Row . . . . . . . . 23
Cel-F6 Pick a Cell . . . . . . . . 23
All-F8 Pick Entire Area . . . . . 23
Menu Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
In-F3 The Input Sub-Menu . . . . . 24
Pst-F1 Go To the Paste Area . . . 24
Rpt-F1 Go To the Report Area . . . 25
Out-F3 The Output Sub-Menu . . . . 25
Fix-F5 The Fix Sub-Menu . . . . . 26
Cut-F7 The Cut Sub-Menu . . . . . 26
File Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
i
Input Commands . . . . . . . . . . 27
Flt-F1 Flat (input) . . . . . . 27
Wks-F3 WKS (input) . . . . . . 27
Dif-F5 DIF (input) . . . . . . 27
Csv-F7 CSV (input) . . . . . . 27
Slk-F9 SYLK (input) . . . . . . 27
Fxl-F2 FXL (input) . . . . . . 27
Dbf-F4 DBF (input) . . . . . . 27
Fnd-F5 Search for a String in the
Input File . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Pag-F7 Goto Another Page . . . . . 30
Output Commands . . . . . . . . . . 31
Flt-F1 Flat (output) . . . . . 31
Wks-F3 WKS (output) . . . . . . 31
Dif-F5 DIF (output) . . . . . . 31
Csv-F7 CSV (output) . . . . . . 31
Slk-F9 SYLK (output) . . . . . 31
Fxl-F2 FXL (output) . . . . . . 31
Dbf-F4 DBF (output) . . . . . . 31
Fix Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Mrg-F1 Merge Two or More Columns . 34
Div-F3 Divide a Column . . . . . . 35
Edt-F5 Edit data . . . . . . . . . 35
Num-F7 Convert Data to Numbers . . 36
Txt-F9 Convert Data to Text . . . 38
Cut Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Mov-F1 Move Data . . . . . . . . . 39
Cpy-F3 Copy Data . . . . . . . . . 40
Trn-F5 Transpose Columns and Rows . 40
Ins-F7 Insert Empty Columns or
Rows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Del-F9 Delete Data . . . . . . . . 41
Miscellaneous Commands . . . . . . . . 42
Ctrl-G Goto . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Ctrl-R Record a Macro . . . . . . . 43
Ctrl-X Execute a Macro . . . . . . 43
Ctrl-R Resume a Macro . . . . . . . 44
Ctrl-S System Command (DOS) . . . . 44
Ctrl-W Repaint Screen . . . . . . . 45
Chapter 6 Macros 47
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . 47
The Record Command . . . . . . . . 47
The Execute Command . . . . . . . . 47
Macro Execution From DOS . . . . . 48
Special Key Functions . . . . . . . 48
Macro Command Grammar . . . . . . . 49
ii
Macro Coordinates . . . . . . . . . 50
Absolute Coordinates . . . . . . . 51
Macro Subroutines . . . . . . . . . 51
Macro Parameters . . . . . . . . . 51
Macro Command Summary . . . . . . . . 52
Chapter 7 Errors & Questions 62
Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Common Questions . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Chapter 8 Technical Details 74
Command Line Arguments . . . . . . . . 74
Temporary Files, DOS, and File
Handles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Memory Usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
File Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
File Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Flat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
WKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
DIF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
CSV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
SYLK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
dBASE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Fixed Length . . . . . . . . . . . 82
The Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Numbers and Text . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Chapter 9 License, Warranty & Support 85
License . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Warranty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Disclaimer . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Guarantee . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Upgrades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Chapter 10 Order Form 89
Index 91
iii
Chapter 1 MacroPIK'r User Manual
Introduction
Chapter 1
Introduction
MacroPIK'r
MacroPIK'r is a data conversion program you can use to Browse,
Cut and Paste, Edit, and Reformat data between popular file
formats for spreadsheet and database programs.
You can record Macros to make repetitive tasks fully automatic.
MacroPIK'r can easily deal with data that was meant for humans
(not computers), like reports from mainframes or other programs,
data with embedded commas, European formats, etc.
Whether your data comes from a mainframe computer, laboratory
instruments, industrial monitoring equipment, or another program
on your personal computer, MacroPIK'r can help you load that data
into your spreadsheet or database program quickly, easily and
without rekeying.
MacroPIK'r will convert data to and from these formats:
o The Flat (standard, printable ASCII text) format used by
most text editors and, in one way or another, most other
programs too. Mainframe reports are often available in
this format.
o The Lotus 1-2-3 worksheet formats, compatible with most
other spreadsheets as well.
o The DIF (Data Interchange Format) -- once used by Visicalc
-- is used by hundreds of programs.
o The CSV (Comma Separated Values) format (also called PRN,
or System Delimited, or ASCII Delimited) used by many
spreadsheet and database programs.
Page 2
Chapter 1 MacroPIK'r User Manual
Introduction
o The SYLK (SYmbolic LinK) format used by Microsoft
products.
o The FXL (Fixed-Length Record) format used by many
mainframe systems and some personal computer database
applications.
o The dBASE DBF format used by all of the dBASE compatible
databases and many other programs.
MacroPIK'r allows you to mix data in several different formats in
one session: load portions of a mainframe report, combine it with
a memo from your word processor, then save the combination for
1-2-3.
MacroPIK'r is menu driven, and uses a full screen interface that
allows you to see your data at all times. For automating
sequences of commands or even entire sessions, you can record
commands given to MacroPIK'r as you type them (a "learn" mode)
then play them back, either from within MacroPIK'r or from a DOS
batch file. Detailed on-line Help, the Quick Reference Guide,
and this manual, guide you through these and all other aspects of
operation.
But don't feel as though you must read every page of the Manual
before you get started. The "Quick Overview" section covers the
basics of solving simple data conversion problems. Then, as you
grow more experienced, use the manual as a reference guide to
solve more complex problems.
"Samkhya" is an ancient Sanskrit term denoting
'precision', 'enumeration', and 'exactness'.
Page 3
Chapter 2 MacroPIK'r User Manual
Shareware
Chapter 2
Shareware
The ASP Ombudsman
Samkhya is a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals
(ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works
for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related
problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP
may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a
dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide
technical support for member's products. Please write to the ASP
Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442 or send a
CompuServe message via CompuServe Mail to ASP Ombudsman
70007,3536.
Shareware
The following information is provided courtesy of the Association
of Shareware Professionals (ASP). This describes what shareware
is and how you benefit:
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Shareware distribution gives users a chance to try software
before buying it. If you try a Shareware program and continue
using it, you are expected to register. Individual programs
differ on details -- some request registration while others
require it, some specify a maximum trial period. With
registration, you get anything from the simple right to
continue using the software to an updated program with printed
manual.
Copyright laws apply to both Shareware and commercial
software, and the copyright holder retains all rights, with a
Page 4
Chapter 2 MacroPIK'r User Manual
Shareware
few specific exceptions as stated below. Shareware authors
are accomplished programmers, just like commercial authors,
and the programs are of comparable quality. (In both cases,
there are good programs and bad ones!) The main difference is
in the method of distribution. The author specifically grants
the right to copy and distribute the software, either to all
and sundry or to a specific group. For example, some authors
require written permission before a commercial disk vendor may
copy their Shareware.
Shareware is a distribution method, not a type of software.
You should find software that suits your needs and pocketbook,
whether it's commercial or Shareware. The Shareware system
makes fitting your needs easier, because you can try before
you buy. And because the overhead is low, prices are low
also. Shareware has the ultimate money-back guarantee -- if
you don't use the product, you don't pay for it.
This is a "shareware program" and is provided at no charge to
you for evaluation. Feel free to share it with your friends,
but please do not give it away altered or as part of another
system. The essence of "user-supported" software is to
provide personal computer users with quality software without
high prices, and yet to provide incentive for programmers to
continue to develop new products.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
If you find MacroPIK'r useful and find that you are using it and
continue to use it after a reasonable trial period, Please make a
registration payment of $35.00 US to SAMKHYA. The $35
registration fee will license one copy for use on any one
computer at any one time. You will receive a receipt, a copy of
the current version of MacroPIK'r, one year of support and
upgrades, and a bonus package of useful utilities. See the Order
Form (file MP-ORDER.FRM) for details.
Site-License arrangements may be made by contacting SAMKHYA.
This is very economical if you plan to license more than one or
two copies.
Anyone distributing MacroPIK'r for remuneration must contact
SAMKHYA for authorization.
This authorization will be automatically granted to distributors
recognized by the ASP as adhering to its guidelines for shareware
Page 5
Chapter 2 MacroPIK'r User Manual
Shareware
distributors, and such distributors may begin offering MacroPIK'r
immediately (However SAMKHYA must still be advised so that the
distributor can be kept up-to-date with the latest version of
MacroPIK'r).
If you are in the business of distributing shareware, please
contact SAMKHYA so that you can be sure to get the most recent
version and updates. See the files "VENDOR.DOC" or "SYSOP.DOC"
for more information. Call or write if you have questions or
suspect that files may be missing or damaged.
Note that even if you paid a small amount of money for the disk
that included MacroPIK'r, that does not mean that you have
registered. There are many businesses that sell bundles of
shareware for a small fee to cover the cost of the diskettes and
other overhead. Also, hard disk vendors may include a collection
of shareware with each hard disk they sell. In each case, you
are encouraged to try whatever programs look useful, but you
still have to register if you end up using it.
You are encouraged to pass a copy of MacroPIK'r along to your
friends for evaluation. Be sure you include all of the files
that came with MacroPIK'r when you pass it along -- or just give
them the self-extracing archive "MPIK.EXE" so that all the files
and documentation are kept together in the least amount of space.
And please encourage them to register their copy if they find
that they benefit from it.
Page 6
Chapter 3 MacroPIK'r User Manual
Quick Overview
Chapter 3
Quick Overview
This section is a quick overview of how to use MacroPIK'r:
starting and stopping the program, how to use the commands and
cursor functions and how to display on-line help. For more
information on each of MacroPIK'r's commands, turn to the Command
Summary section.
Print out the "MacroPIK'r Quick Reference Guide" and keep it
handy for this discussion. You can use any of these commands to
do so, or any other procedure you may normally use for printing
text files:
PRINT MPQUICK.PRN
or
COPY MPQUICK.PRN PRN:
MacroPIK'r will convert data from and to six of the most commonly
used data formats in use on personal computers. To manage this
process, it uses two "work" areas: the Report Area (where you see
your input files) and the Paste Area (where you build your output
files).
In the Report Area you can look at the file you want to convert
from, select (or "pick") any rectangular piece of it, and copy it
to the Paste Area where it is saved along with any previous data
you have picked. You can pick data from several places in a
file, or from several different files.
In the Paste Area you can look at the data, edit and rearrange
it, and convert all or part of it for your spreadsheet or
database program. Your original input files are not altered;
MacroPIK'r copies the data into a form that the other programs
can use.
The function keys represent MacroPIK'r's menu of commands. These
commands can be used in two ways: you can press one of the
function keys on the keyboard, or you can move the cursor (say
Page 7
Chapter 3 MacroPIK'r User Manual
Quick Overview
with a mouse) to the picture of the function key on the screen
and press DO-IT (e.g. the left mouse button, or the Enter key --
either one "does" it). Whenever the cursor enters the on-screen
key, MacroPIK'r displays a brief description of the key's command
in the status line at the top of the screen.
Some of MacroPIK'r's commands are accessed from Sub-Menus. To
select one of these commands, first select the command that
displays the appropriate Sub-Menu, then select the command. To
return to the original menu press Esc.
Starting MacroPIK'r
Check the Quick Reference Guide for details, or exceptions that
may apply to you, but normally all you need to do is type the
name of the MacroPIK'r program file, MPIK'R.EXE, at the DOS
prompt:
C>mpik'r
You may need to also type a command line switch after "mpik'r"
and before the Enter, such as:
C>mpik'r -bw
You can also type the name of an input file you want to view, or
you can start MacroPIK'r first and then use the Input commands to
open the file. This command will start MacroPIK'r with the
sample data file "TUTOR1.DAT":
C>mpik'r tutor1.dat
This sample file happens to be a plain (ASCII) text, or "flat",
file. If you wanted to start out browsing a dBASE compatible
file called "MYDATA.DBF" you would enter it like this:
C>mpik'r -dbf mydata.dbf
Once MacroPIK'r starts, you will see the startup copyright screen
for a few seconds, then the regular Report Area screen. Your
data will be displayed if you specified it on the command line,
like above, or you can press the F3 function key to go to the
Input Menu, then use one of the commands there to bring up your
data.
Page 8
Chapter 3 MacroPIK'r User Manual
Quick Overview
MacroPIK'r will display directory information so you can choose
your file from a list. Specify a "wildcard" file name, like *.*,
or data??.dbf, and MacroPIK'r will show you all the matching
entries from the current directory. Simply move the cursor to a
file and press DO-IT.
Getting Help
To display Help information from any menu, press function key
Hlp-F10. A Help Page describing the commands that are currently
available is displayed along with instructions on how to see
other related Help Pages. To return to where you left off in
MacroPIK'r, press Esc.
Leaving MacroPIK'r
To stop MacroPIK'r, press Esc enough times to take you out of any
sub-menus, back to either the Report Area or Paste Area Menu.
Then press function key Xit-F9. MacroPIK'r will ask if you have
saved any data from the Paste Area - type a Y (or the right
button on the mouse) to exit; or anything else to stay in
MacroPIK'r. To make sure that you have saved any data you want
to keep before exiting, use one of the Output commands.
Cursor Movement
The cursor is displayed as either a blinking box or cross on the
screen. The arrow keys (Up-Arrow, Down-Arrow, Right-Arrow,
Left-Arrow) move the cursor to any position on the screen, while
the other cursor movement commands move the cursor (and the Text
Window) to any position in the Report Area or Paste Area. Also,
when the cursor is near the edge of the Text Window, DO-IT will
move the Text Window so that it's centered over the cursor.
Also, notice that there is a "map" of the input file at the lower
left edge of the display. Assume that the entire map box
represents the entire input file (or page) -- then the
highlighted portion shows roughly the fraction you currently see
in the main window. You can move the cursor into the map area,
then press DO-IT on the portion you want to see. The display
will scroll to show that portion of the input.
Page 9
Chapter 3 MacroPIK'r User Manual
Quick Overview
Picking Data
Many of MacroPIK'r's commands need a region of data to be picked
first. You can pick any rectangular region of data, then
"adjust" or stretch the picked region if need be.
To pick a column, row, or cell, first press the function key
Col-F2, Row-F4, or Cel-F6, then move the cursor to the data and
press DO-IT. To pick the entire page in the Report Area, or the
entire Paste Area, press All-F8. To cancel the picked region of
data, press the function key again.
To adjust (stretch) a picked region, hold down the Shift key and
move the cursor to the boundary of the picked region (or hold
down the left mouse button and move the mouse). The boundary
will move with the cursor until Shift (or the mouse button) is
released. This is easier to do than to describe.
Page 10
Chapter 4 MacroPIK'r User Manual
Tutorial
Chapter 4
Tutorial
This is a detailed description of exactly how to use MacroPIK'r
to move data from a sample ASCII text file (included on the
distribution disk) to spreadsheet or database programs. We won't
try to demonstrate all of MacroPIK'r's capabilities and commands,
but enough so that when you are finished with the tutorial you
will be able to explore MacroPIK'r on your own, with the help of
the Help key and this manual.
We assume that you are somewhat familiar with your PC: how to
start it up, how to use the simple DOS commands such as 'copy',
'type', and 'dir', how to start programs, and that you have to
press the Enter key at the end of a DOS command.
We will try to define new terminology as it comes up, but if you
are confused about what something means, check your DOS manual or
any of the popular books on DOS.
Make the directory where you have installed MacroPIK'r the
default directory. For example, if MacroPIK'r is installed in
directory \MPIK on drive D:
d:
cd \mpik
Be sure that the files mpik'r.exe, mpik'r.hlp, tutor3.dat, and
the batch files such as mpikc.bat, mpikm.bat, etc. are present.
We will be using these files in the tutorials.
This is a fairly complex example, but it is a good tour of
MacroPIK'r. Here we go.
In this tutorial we will look at a yearly revenue report and save
part of its data using the CSV format for 1-2-3, and part of it
using the Flat format for a word processing program.
Page 11
Chapter 4 MacroPIK'r User Manual
Tutorial
We will use the report in the file "tutor3.dat". Again, this is
a wide report. We don't have room to show its full width here,
but here's what the first few lines look like:
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
NORTHWEST REGION PAGE 01
FOR THE PERIOD ENDING SEP 84 REVENUE(IN DOLLARS) FOR PRODUCT ...
CORPID COMPANY NAME OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB
------ ------------------ --- --- --- --- ---
AB1223 BADD CORP 0 0 0 0 0
BC1459 HENRY'S POWER VAC 95214 88814 91664 131782 88270
CD5569 BENNIE GROUP LIFE 217 299 320 249 262
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
We'll be using MacroPIK'r to save the data in the "CORPID" column
and all the monthly revenue figures for 1-2-3. Then we'll save
the monthly revenue totals for a word processor.
Start MacroPIK'r:
mpik'r tutor3.dat
After the greeting message appears, press any key. Your screen
should show the upper right portion of the report.
The monthly revenue columns cover a fiscal year starting in
October. Press the End key to verify this for yourself, then
press Home to return to the top.
Let's start by picking the rows from "CORPID" through "TOTAL".
Move the cursor with the down-arrow key to "CORPID", then press
Row-F4. Press the DO-IT key and the row is displayed in inverse.
Stretch the picked row down to include all the data, through the
"TOTAL" row, by holding down the shift key and pressing down-
arrow eleven times.
Now we'll copy these rows to the Paste Area. Press Pst-F1. You
should see the same data divided into columns in the Paste Area.
Next, we'll save just the corporate ID's ("CORPIDs") and the
monthly revenues, without the "TOTAL" row, for 1-2-3. For our
Page 12
Chapter 4 MacroPIK'r User Manual
Tutorial
purposes, we don't need the "COMPANY NAME" column or the row with
the dashes in it, so we'll delete both of them.
First, move the cursor to the top left by pressing Home. Then
move to column B by pressing Tab. (Each press of the tab key Tab
moves the cursor one column to the right, until it reaches the
end; then it jumps to the first column of the next row. Back-Tab
-- the shifted tab key -- goes to the left and up instead.)
Select the column by pressing Col-F2 and then the DO-IT key. The
column should "select" in reverse video. Next, go to the Cut
Sub-Menu by pressing Cut-F7, then press Del-F9 and Y. This gets
rid of column B, and the columns to the right shift over to the
left to fill in the space.
Next we'll delete the row of dashes. Move down a row with down-
arrow so the cursor is on the dashes, then press Row-F4, DO-IT,
and Del-F9.
Press Y to finish the deletion, then Esc to return to the Paste
Area Menu. The row of dashes should disappear. This is roughly
what you should see at this point:
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
CORPID | OCT | NOV | DEC | JAN | FEB |
AB1223 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
BC1459 | 95214 | 88814 | 91664 |131782 | 88270 |
CD5569 | 217 | 299 | 320 | 249 | 262 |
DE3507 | 167 | 167 | 167 | 167 | 167 |
EG2259 |114456 | 98952 |105888 |103670 | 95234 |
FR4563 | 2922 | 1957 | 2158 | 1931 | 1937 |
GG4550 | 786 | 782 | 767 | 962 | 503 |
HT9921 |467282 |403648 |439084 |454124 |453687 |
LR6666 | 255 | 266 | 263 | 199 | 188 |
TOTAL |681299 |594885 |640311 |693084 |640249 |
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Now we'll save the corporate ID's and monthly revenues. If it
isn't already there, move the cursor to the row beginning with
"AB1223". First select the data to output: Press Row-F4 followed
by DO-IT. Adjust the picked row down through the "LR6666" row by
holding the shift key and pressing down-arrow eight times. Then,
Out-F3 to select the Output Sub-Menu, then press Csv-F7 and type
Page 13
Chapter 4 MacroPIK'r User Manual
Tutorial
in the output file name "t3.dat". Use the default delimiter
(commas).
Press DO-IT and MacroPIK'r will output the file.
Next we'll delete the rows we just saved, then save the totals
for a word processing file.
Press Esc to get back to the Paste Area Menu, then press Cut-F7,
and Del-F9. Press Y to complete the Delete command, then press
Esc to get back to the Paste Area Menu, followed by Fix-F5. Move
the cursor to the upper left by pressing Home, then select the
"CORPID" cell (we want to edit it to say "MONTH") by pressing
Cel-F6, then DO-IT. Press Edt-F5 and type in the new contents of
the cell: " MONTH":
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
MONTH | OCT | NOV | DEC | JAN | FEB |
TOTAL |681299 |594885 |640311 |693084 |640249 |
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Then press the Edt-F5 key again to make the change permanent.
What we want to include in the document we're word-processing is
a two column summary of total sales by month, but what we have is
two rows instead. MacroPIK'r can switch rows into columns, or
columns into rows, as part of a Move or Copy command. This is
called "transposing" rows and columns.
So we'll start a Move command, then use the Transpose command to
transpose the two rows into two columns. Press Esc to get back
to the Paste Area Menu again, then Cut-F7. (This is where the
move and transpose commands are.) Select the entire Paste Area
with All-F8, then press Mov-F1 to begin a move operation. (Note
that the move can be to the same place it started from, which is
what we will do here.) Press Trn-F5 and an outline of where the
data will move will appear in columns A and B. Press Mov-F1
again to finish the move-transpose:
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
MONTH| TOTAL|
OCT| 681299|
NOV| 594885|
DEC| 640311|
JAN| 693084|
FEB| 640249|
MAR| 682286|
APR| 557487|
MAY| 623551|
JUN| 551325|
JUL| 551055|
AUG| 552412|
SEP| 418970|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Now we need to save our work. (Notice that the transposed data
is still "picked".) Press Esc to get back to the Paste Area
Menu, then Out-F3. Press Flt-F1 for the "Flat" word-processor
format, and type the file name "t3.flt".
Press DO-IT to finish the command. Then, when MacroPIK'r is
finished saving the rows, press Esc to return to the Paste Area
Menu. Press Xit-F9 and Y to exit from MacroPIK'r back to DOS.
The two files we created, "t3.dat" for 1-2-3 and "t3.flt" for a
word processing program, can now be used by their respective
programs.
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Chapter 5
Commands
Starting MacroPIK'r
For installation, please follow the instructions in the
README.DOC file that comes with MacroPIK'r. (This will put all
the MacroPIK'r files in a directory, such as "\MPIK".) You can
start MacroPIK'r like any other DOS program, by simply typing its
name at the command prompt. You may have to type the "path" to
the MacroPIK'r directory too:
\mpik\mpik'r
We have provided a number of simple Batch files that will run
MacroPIK'r and pass some hardware support switches to it:
mpikc.bat color graphics adapter (VGA, EGA, CGA) with
color monitor (fastest, uses direct hardware
access for screen display) Same as "-hdwr -
color".
mpikm.bat monochrome display adapter (also uses
hardware) Same as "-hdwr -mono".
mpikbw.bat color graphics adapter with black-and-white
monitor (Handy for laptops) Same as "-hdwr -
bw".
mpikb.bat IBM-PC compatible BIOS monochrome (slower,
uses BIOS for screen display) Same as "-
bios -mono".
mpikd.bat IBM-PC compatible DOS monochrome (slowest,
uses DOS ANSI for screen display) Same as "-
dos -mono".
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If you want to use one of these, instead of passing command line
switches to mpik'r.exe, just copy it to a directory in your PATH
(or add the directory that MacroPIK'r is in to your PATH). Note
that MacroPIK'r will do a good job of figuring out what kind of
display adapter you have, so you normally don't need these. The
default video access mode is "-bios", using the BIOS for screen
display.
After the program is loaded from the disk you should see the
copyright screen, within a few seconds at most.
As an option, you may type one of the commands above followed by
a "flag" and then the name of an input file on the same line,
before pressing Enter.
-flt Flat (Standard ASCII text)
-wks WKS (Lotus WR1, WK1, WKS formats)
-dif DIF (Data Interchange Format)
-csv[X] CSV (Comma Separated Values, optional
delimiter character [X])
-slk SYLK (Microsoft)
-fxl[N] FXL (Fixed-Length Records of length [N])
-dbf dBASE "DBF" file
For example
mpikm -wks myfile.wk1
will display the upper left portion of the WKS (Lotus worksheet)
file "myfile.wk1" after the program starts.
The -csv flag may optionally be followed by a single character to
use as a field delimiter. For example
mpikm -csv: register.csv
will display the first part of the CSV file "register.csv"
interpreting colons (:) in the file as the separator character
instead of commas (the default).
The -fxl flag must be followed by a number which indicates the
length of each record in the file, since record termination
characters (such as carriage returns and newlines) are not used
in this format. For example
mpikm -fxl80 report.fxl
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will display the first part of the 80 character per record FXL
file "report.fxl".
If you omit the flag, the file is assumed to be in the Flat
(standard ASCII) format. If you omit the file name, you can use
the Input command after MacroPIK'r starts to display a file.
Once you are in MacroPIK'r you may open, in succession, as many
files, of any type, as you like.
If you are setting up batch files that invoke MacroPIK'r, you can
also start MacroPIK'r and begin a Macro, with parameters, from
the command line:
mpikc -dbf mydata.dbf @mymacro out.dat 42
This runs MacroPIK'r in color, opens the input file 'mydata.dbf'
as a dBASE file, then loads and runs the macro 'mymacro.mp' and
passes it the two parameters 'out.dat' (possibly a file name?)
and '42'. You can set up your macros to be as complex as you
wish -- they can call other macros, open and close input and
output files, run DOS commands, and so on.
The MacroPIK'r Screen
o Top left: the Esc key is used to cancel commands and Sub-
Menus. You can either click the mouse on the Esc field in
the screen, or press the Esc key on the keyboard.
o Top left, just below Esc: the Menu Indicator shows the
name of the menu currently displayed.
o Left side of screen: the Function Keys show the current
menu of commands.
o Bottom left: the highlighted portion of the Map Area shows
what part of your data is currently displayed in the Text
Window.
o Top of screen: the Status Line displays current status
information or brief descriptions of function key
commands.
o Second line, below Status: the Column Marks or Column
Names -- where the data is divided into columns -- press
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DO-IT to toggle a ">" mark to change a Report column
division, or to adjust column widths in the Paste Area
(select columns first). See below.
o Main part of screen: the Text Window is a window into your
data; it can be moved or "scrolled" to look at different
parts of your data.
o Data in a picked region is always HIGHLIGHTED (dark
characters on a light background).
Column Markers Line
Setting Column Markers (Dividers) in the Report Area: MacroPIK'r
will set the column dividers based on whatever the input file has
for the "structured" formats CSV, SYLK, DIF, WKS, and DBF. It
will try to guess for flat and fixed-length record files. In any
case you can adjust the column dividers yourself.
To change the column markers, move the cursor to the line above
the Report Area where the ">" marks are -- actually either of the
top two lines. Pressing DO-IT will "toggle" the mark under the
cursor -- if it was there it will go away, if it wasn't there one
will be put in. Adjust them until they are OK, then once you
have selected the data you want, you can issue the Pst-F1
command. The selected data will be copied into the Paste Area
based on the indicated column divisions.
To restore all column markers to their original positions, move
the cursor to the first (leftmost) column marker and press DO-IT.
Information in the input file is used to determine where the
column markers are initially placed. If the file contains data
in the Flat (standard ASCII) or FXL (Fixed Length Record) format,
MacroPIK'r makes its best "guess" as to where the markers should
be placed based upon the distribution of the letters and numbers
in the file. If the file contains data in one of the
"structured" formats (WKS, CSV, DIF, SYLK, DBF), the column width
information encoded in the file itself tells MacroPIK'r where to
place the markers.
Column Widths in the Paste Area
MacroPIK'r allows you to control the width of each column in the
Paste Area. Each column's width is automatically set only when
it is empty and new data is placed in it. For example, when new
data from the Report Area is copied to the Paste Area using the
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Paste command and no data previously occupied a column, that
column's width is set to the width of the column being copied.
Column widths may also be set to a particular value, incremented
or decremented by one, or set to the widest cell in that column,
either individually or as a group. To set the width of a single
column, deselect any region that may be picked by pressing
whichever function key is "lit": Col-F2, Row-F4, Cel-F6 or All-
F8. Next, move the cursor to the "column heading" just above the
column whose width you want to change. For example, to set the
width for column F, move to the area just above the column
containing the letter "F". (Note that the cursor may also be
moved to either of the two lines above the column heading for
ease of use with a mouse.) Press DO-IT (the return key or the
left mouse button) and MacroPIK'r responds by asking "Set width
of column F to (N/<-/->): ". To set the width to, say, 12
characters, enter 12 followed by return.
To increment or decrement a column's width, enter the number of
characters you want the column incremented or decremented by,
followed by the right-arrow or left-arrow key on the keypad, then
finish by pressing return. You may also increment or decrement a
column's width one character at a time by pressing the right-
arrow or left-arrow key until the column reaches the desired
width, then finish by pressing return.
To set the width of a column to the widest cell in the column,
enter a 0 then return.
To set the widths of a group of columns, pick a region with the
Column, Row, Cell or All command, then proceed as described
above. All columns in the picked region will be set to a
particular width, incremented, decremented or set to the widest
cell in each column.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Commands
The following section describes each command in detail. To issue
one of these commands, press (or click the mouse on the picture
of) the indicated function key. As you go into a sub-menu, the
picture of the function keys on the screen changes to show you
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the new menu as well as the menu you came from. Use Esc to leave
a sub-menu.
Xit-F9 Exit MacroPIK'r
When Use the Exit command when you're finished using
MacroPIK'r and have saved any Paste Area data you wish
to convert with one of the Output commands.
What The MacroPIK'r program terminates execution, clears the
screen and returns you to DOS. MacroPIK'r may display a
screen of registration reminder information -- press any
key to continue. If you haven't already done so, please
register your copy of MacroPIK'r; if you have, sorry for
the interruption.
How Press Xit-F9 from either the Report Area or Paste Area
Menu. MacroPIK'r will ask you if you are sure -- type a
Y or press the right button on the mouse if you are, or
anything else to cancel the command.
Notes The Exit command does not automatically save any data
for you. You must first do this yourself with one of
the Output commands.
Hlp-F10 Help
When Use the Help command when you need help using
MacroPIK'r.
What The Help command temporarily clears the text window on
the screen and displays some information related to what
you are currently doing. At the bottom of each Help
Page is a list of related Help Pages that can be
displayed by pressing one of the function keys.
Some of the Help Pages contain more information than
will fit on the screen at one time. To display the
areas you can't see, press PgUp or PgDn.
How Press Hlp-F10 from any menu in MacroPIK'r. To return to
where you left off, press Esc.
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Notes From each Help Page, pressing function key Bgn-F1 will
always display the first Help Page. Function key Prv-
F10 will display the previous Help Page.
The help information is stored in the file "mpik'r.hlp".
MacroPIK'r attempts to locate this file first in the
same directory that MacroPIK'r (mpik'r.exe) started
from, then in the current directory, then in any
directory in your PATH.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Pick Commands
Col-F2 Pick a Column
When Many of MacroPIK'r's commands need a picked region of
data first. Use the Column command when you want to
pick columns of data.
What In the Report Area, MacroPIK'r selects the column that
lies between the nearest Column Markers to the left and
right of the cursor, and highlights it (see the
description of the Column Markers Line). The height of
the column is the full height of the current page. (The
height of the current page is determined by the input
file's page length as described under Input Commands.)
In the Paste Area, MacroPIK'r selects the column under
the cursor and highlights it.
How Press Col-F2 from any menu, move the cursor to the
desired column, and press DO-IT. The column is
highlighted to show that it's been picked. To "unpick"
the column, press Col-F2 again. To adjust (stretch) the
picked region, hold down the Shift key and move the
cursor to the boundary of the picked region (or hold
down the left mouse button and move the mouse). The
boundary will move with the cursor until Shift (or the
mouse button) is released.
Notes MacroPIK'r divides the input file into pages whose
length is specified in the Input command used to display
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the file. See the individual Input commands, Flt, WKS,
DIF, CSV, SYLK, FXL, and DBF.
Row-F4 Pick a Row
When Many of MacroPIK'r's commands need a picked region of
data first. Use the Row command when you want to pick
rows of data.
What The picked row is highlighted to show that it's been
picked.
How Press Row-F4 from any menu, move the cursor to the
desired row, and press DO-IT. To "unpick" the row,
press Row-F4 again. To adjust (stretch) the picked
region, hold down the Shift key and move the cursor to
the boundary of the picked region (or hold down the left
mouse button and move the mouse). The boundary will
move with the cursor until Shift (or the mouse button)
is released.
Cel-F6 Pick a Cell
When Many of MacroPIK'r's commands need a picked region of
data first. Use the Cell command when you want to pick
cells of data.
What In the Report Area, MacroPIK'r selects the cell that
lies between the two closest Column Markers on either
side of the cursor and highlights it.
In the Paste Area, MacroPIK'r selects the cell under the
cursor and highlights it.
How Press Cel-F6 from any menu, move the cursor to the
desired cell, and press DO-IT. To "unpick" the cell,
press Cel-F6 again. To adjust (stretch) the picked
region, hold down the Shift key and move the cursor to
the boundary of the picked region (or hold down the left
mouse button and move the mouse). The boundary will
move with the cursor until Shift (or the mouse button)
is released.
All-F8 Pick Entire Area
When Many of MacroPIK'r's commands need a picked region of
data first. Use the All command when you want to pick
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the entire page in the Report Area, or all rows and
columns in the Paste Area.
What The entire page in the Report Area, or all Paste Area
rows and columns are highlighted as soon as All-F8 is
pressed.
How Press All-F8 from any menu. To cancel the picked
region, press All-F8 again. To adjust (stretch) the
picked region, hold down the Shift key and move the
cursor to the boundary of the picked region (or hold
down the left mouse button and move the mouse). The
boundary will move with the cursor until Shift (or the
mouse button) is released.
Notes MacroPIK'r divides the input file into pages whose
length is specified in the Input command used to display
the file. See the individual Input commands, Flt, WKS,
DIF, CSV, SYLK, FXL, and DBF.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Menu Commands
In-F3 The Input Sub-Menu
When Use the Input command when you want to display or browse
another (or the first) file, or if you wish to see a
directory listing.
What The Input command displays the Input Sub-Menu.
How Press In-F3 from the Report Area Menu. To return to the
Report Area Menu, press Esc.
Notes See the individual Input commands Flat, WKS, DIF, CSV,
SYLK, DBF, and FXL for information on displaying a file
or directory listing (page 27).
Pst-F1 Go To the Paste Area
When Use the Paste command when you are in the Report Area
and want to switch over to the Paste Area. If there is
a picked region of data in the Report Area when the
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Paste command is used, it will be copied to the Paste
Area.
What MacroPIK'r takes you to its other main work space, the
Paste Area: the input file is erased from the screen and
the accumulated rows and columns of data that you have
selected from the Report Area are displayed.
If there is a picked region of data in the Report Area
when the Paste command is used (see the Column, Row,
Cell, and All commands), MacroPIK'r will ask which
"direction" to copy the data: down or to the right. If
you select "down" (with the Down-Arrow key) the data is
copied below any data that was already in the Paste
Area. If you select "right" (with the Right-Arrow key)
the data is copied to the right. As it is being copied,
MacroPIK'r will split the data into Paste Area columns
at each of the Column Markers in the Report Area (see
the Column Markers command above).
How From the Report Area Menu, press Pst-F1. To return to
the Report Area after using the Paste command, press
Rpt-F1.
Rpt-F1 Go To the Report Area
When Use the Report command when you are in the Paste Area
and wish to go to the Report Area.
What The Report Area is displayed. If you had been looking
at a file previously in the Report Area, it is displayed
just the way you left it.
How From the Paste Area Menu, press Rpt-F1. To return to
the Paste Area after using the Report command, press
Pst-F1.
Out-F3 The Output Sub-Menu
When Use the Output command when you want to save some or all
of the data in the Paste Area for a spreadsheet,
database or word processor program.
What The Output command displays the Output Sub-Menu, from
which you can select one of several formats for saving
the picked region of data in the Paste Area.
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How From the Paste Area Menu, press Out-F3. To return to
the Paste Area Menu, press Esc.
Notes See the individual Output commands Flat, WKS, DIF, CSV,
SYLK, DBF, or FXL for information on saving all or part
of the Paste Area (page 31).
Fix-F5 The Fix Sub-Menu
When Use the Fix command when you need access to one of the
following commands: Merge, Divide, Edit, Number, and
Text.
What The Fix command displays the Fix Sub-Menu.
How From the Paste Area Menu, press Fix-F5. To return to
the Paste Area Menu, press Esc.
Notes See the individual Fix commands Merge, Divide, Edit,
Number, and Text (pages 34 - 38).
Cut-F7 The Cut Sub-Menu
When Use the Cut command when you need access to one of the
following commands: Move, Copy, Transpose, Insert, and
Delete.
What The Cut command displays the Cut Sub-Menu.
How From the Paste Area Menu, press Cut-F7. To return to
the Paste Area Menu, press Esc.
Notes See the individual Cut commands Move, Copy, Transpose,
Insert, and Delete (pages 39 - 41).
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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File Commands
Input Commands
Flt-F1 Flat (input)
Wks-F3 WKS (input)
Dif-F5 DIF (input)
Csv-F7 CSV (input)
Slk-F9 SYLK (input)
Fxl-F2 FXL (input)
Dbf-F4 DBF (input)
When Use one of the Input commands Flat, WKS, DIF, CSV, SYLK,
DBF or FXL when you want to display another (or the
first) file into the Report Area, or if you want to see
a directory listing of the files on a disk.
What The Input commands display another (or the first) file,
or a directory listing of files on a disk.
How All six Input commands except CSV and FXL are used the
same way. Press In-F3 from the Report Area Menu to
display the Input Sub-Menu, then press the key
corresponding to the format of the file you want to
display:
Flt-F1 Word processors, mainframe reports, most
any printable report file.
Wks-F3 Lotus (1-2-3, others)
Dif-F5 Data Interchange Format -- Many older
programs (e.g.: Visicalc)
Csv-F7 BASIC, many others
Slk-F9 Multiplan, Excel
Fxl-F2 Fixed-Length Format
Dbf-F4 dBASE files
MacroPIK'r will respond by asking for the name of a file
to display. Type the file name followed by Enter. If
the file does not exist, MacroPIK'r will display an
error message.
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Wildcard File Names:
If you're not sure what your input file is named, or if
you want to see what files are on a disk, display the
Input Sub-Menu as described above and press one of the
input commands (Flt-F1, Wks-F3, Dif-F5, Csv-F7, Slk-F9,
Fxl-F2, or Dbf-F4). Then, instead of typing a file
name, type a DOS file "specification", just as you would
for the DOS "dir" command. For example, to see a
directory of all files on disk A having an extension of
".dat", type "a:*.dat".
To select a file to display from the directory, move the
cursor to the file name and press DO-IT. (Remember, the
file must be in the proper format for the input command
you used to display the directory. For example, use the
WKS (input) command to display a WKS format file.) To
erase the directory and return to where you left off
instead of displaying a new file, press Esc.
Next, MacroPIK'r asks you to enter the page length to
use for the input file. If you enter a negative number,
each page will be 66 lines long (the number of lines on
a "standard" printed page -- with this option, Flat
format files will have a page break every 66 lines, or
at every formfeed character, whichever comes first). If
you enter a number from 1 to 32,767, each page will
contain that many lines. If you enter 0, the page
length is set to the length of the entire file. The
default page length for all file types is 0 (no paging)
except for flat files, where it is 66.
For the CSV command only, MacroPIK'r will next ask for
the field delimiter to look for. To select the default
delimiter (a comma) press DO-IT. To specify a different
character, type the character followed by DO-IT.
For the FXL command only, MacroPIK'r will next ask for
the length of each record in the file. Enter the length
followed by DO-IT.
If you don't know the record length, you can experiment.
Start with a guess and look at the screen. If the
information looks like diagonal stripes going up to the
right (///) try a slightly smaller number. If you see
diagonal stripes going down to the left (\\\) try a
slightly larger number.
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To return to the Report Area Menu from the Input Sub-
Menu, press Esc.
Notes Many of MacroPIK'r's commands operate on the current
page. These include the Column and All commands which
pick a column of data and all the data on the current
page, and the Home and End commands that move the cursor
to the upper left and lower right of the current page.
The number you enter for the page length determines how
many lines constitute a page.
When you do an input command, the new file will replace
the previous file in the Report Area. You can view as
many files in succession as you like.
Fnd-F5 Search for a String in the Input File
When Use the Find command when you want to locate a "string"
of characters (for example, someone's name) in the file.
What The Find command attempts to find a string in the file
by searching either forward or backward from your
current position in the file. If the cursor is inside
the text area on the screen, the search begins from the
location of the cursor. Otherwise, the search begins
from the upper left corner of the text area. If the
search string is found, the cursor is moved to the
beginning of it; otherwise the cursor is returned to its
original position.
The Find command is "case insensitive", which means that
if you search for "price index", the command will match
the strings "PRICE INDEX" as well as "Price Index", etc.
in the file.
How Press Fnd-F5 from the Report Area Menu. MacroPIK'r will
ask you for a string by displaying "Find: " at the top
of the screen. Use the following keys to complete the
command:
S Left-Arrow Search backward for string "S"
Left-Arrow Search backward for PREVIOUS string
S Right-Arrow Search forward for string "S"
Right-Arrow Search forward for PREVIOUS string
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If you terminate the search string by pressing Enter,
MacroPIK'r will ask for the search direction. Answer
with one of the arrow keys.
Notes The Find command will search all the way to the begin-
ning or end of the file, which may take a long time if
the file is large. You can interrupt a long search by
pressing Esc.
Pag-F7 Goto Another Page
When Use the Page command to display another page in the
file.
What The Page command displays the requested page from the
file, if possible. Thus, asking for page 80 in a 3-page
file will display the last page of the file instead,
along with a message that MacroPIK'r can't get page 80.
How Press Pag-F7 from the Report Area Menu. MacroPIK'r will
ask you for a page number by displaying "Page: " at the
top of the screen. Use the following keys to complete
the command:
N Enter Display page N
N Left-Arrow Display Nth page before current one
Left-Arrow Display previous page
N Right-Arrow Display Nth page after current one
Right-Arrow Display next page
Enter Do nothing -- keep the current page
Notes MacroPIK'r divides a file into pages whose length is
specified by one of the Input commands (see the
discussion above on the Input commands).
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
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Output Commands
Flt-F1 Flat (output)
Wks-F3 WKS (output)
Dif-F5 DIF (output)
Csv-F7 CSV (output)
Slk-F9 SYLK (output)
Fxl-F2 FXL (output)
Dbf-F4 DBF (output)
When Use one of the Output commands Flat, WKS, DIF, CSV,
SYLK, FXL, or DBF when you are ready to save some or all
of the data in the Paste Area to a file to be loaded
into your spreadsheet, database or word processor
program.
What MacroPIK'r saves each cell in the picked region as
either a number or a label (text). Any cell with quotes
around it is saved as a label, regardless of its
content, while any cell without quotes around it is
saved as a number if it "looks like" a number, otherwise
it is output as a label. A cell "looks like" a number
if it contains only digits and possibly a decimal point
or minus sign (numbers in "scientific notation" are OK
too). That is, any number with dollar signs ($), commas
(,) and other punctuation will be output as a label --
only "clean" numbers will be output as numbers unless
the Number command is explicitly used first.
For the WKS command only, these rules are relaxed
somewhat to allow leading dollar signs, embedded commas
and trailing percent signs in a number using the U.S.
numeric format convention. (See the Number command for
an explanation of numeric format conventions.)
MacroPIK'r supports all Lotus Worksheet numeric display
formats (for all versions of 1-2-3 and Symphony) except
HIDDEN and TEXT when displaying worksheet files in the
Report Area. (The HIDDEN format is for hiding cells in
the worksheet so that they don't appear in the display -
these cells will appear in MacroPIK'r. The TEXT format
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displays formulas as they were entered, instead of as
their value - MacroPIK'r always displays the formula's
value.)
MacroPIK'r does not support the conversion of formatted
(human readable) dates and times to their serial and
fractional numeric worksheet representations with the
WKS (output) command. Instead, dates and times are
saved as labels in the worksheet file which can then be
converted to their numeric equivalents if need be with
1-2-3 Release 2 or greater, or Symphony -- if you are
using Symphony, the Query Parse command will perform
this conversion. In 1-2-3, use the /Data Parse command.
If there is not enough room available on the disk, only
as much data as will fit on the disk is saved, and
MacroPIK'r displays an error message.
How All six Output commands are used the same way. Pick a
region of data in the Paste Area to be saved with the
Column, Row, Cell, or All command, and press Out-F3 from
the Paste Area Menu to display the Output Sub-Menu.
Then press the key corresponding to the format suited to
your spreadsheet, database or word processor program:
Flt-F1 Word processors
Wks-F3 1-2-3 & Symphony
Dif-F5 Visicalc & others
Csv-F7 dBASE, BASIC
Slk-F9 Multiplan, Excel
Fxl-F2 Fixed-Length Records
MacroPIK'r will respond by asking for the name of a file
for saving the data. Type the file name followed by
Enter.
If a file of the same name as the one you specify
already exists, MacroPIK'r will display a message asking
if you want the existing file to be replaced by the new
one. By typing a Y in response, the old file is erased
and the new one (with your Paste Area data) is created.
Typing anything else cancels the command and MacroPIK'r
asks for another file name.
For the CSV command only, MacroPIK'r will ask for the
field delimiter to use. To select the default delimiter
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(a comma) press DO-IT. To specify a different
character, type the character followed by DO-IT.
For the FXL command only, MacroPIK'r will ask for the
length of each record in the fixed-length record file
you are creating. To accept the default length of the
sum of the widths of the columns in the picked region,
press DO-IT. Otherwise, enter the length to use
followed by DO-IT. Note: If this number is less than
the default, records will be truncated (from the right)
to the length you specify. If this number is greater
than the default, records will be blank-padded to the
length you specify.
For the DBF command, if you specified an EXISTING file
MacroPIK'r will ask whether you want to APPEND to it,
preserving its structure, or REPLACE all of its records,
but preserving its structure, or CREATE a new file,
structure and all.
When you are creating a new DBF file, the width of each
column in the picked region determines the size of the
corresponding field in the DBF file. (See also "Setting
Column Widths in the Paste Area", page 19). MacroPIK'r
determines the data types of the fields (character,
numeric, logical or date) by looking at the data in the
first row of the picked region: If a cell contains the
single letter Y, y, N, n, T, t, F or f, the field's type
is logical. If a cell contains a date in the form
MM/DD/YY (for example, 10/22/86), the field's type is
date. If a cell contains a "clean" number the field's
type is numeric. Otherwise, the field's type is
character. In any case, a field may be forced to the
character type by surrounding a cell's contents with
quotes.
When new data is either appended or replaces data in a
DBF file (without altering the structure of the existing
file) the new data is made to "conform" to that
structure by padding each cell on the right if necessary
with blanks, or truncating the data to fit into the
structure. An error message is displayed if MacroPIK'r
had to truncate any data, but the command is completed
in case this was the intended effect.
To return to the Paste Area Menu from the Output Sub-
Menu, press Esc.
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Notes MacroPIK'r allows you to name your files however you
like, but many spreadsheet and database programs require
that file names have certain extensions. For example,
1-2-3 (v1A) requires the extension .WKS, 1-2-3 (Release
2) requires .WK1, Symphony (v1.0) requires .WRK and
Symphony (v1.1) requires .WR1. Check the instructions
for the program you are using to see if it has any such
restrictions on file names.
See also the Number and Text commands which explain how
to control numeric and text (label) conversions.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Fix Commands
Mrg-F1 Merge Two or More Columns
When Use the Merge command when you want to merge two or more
Paste Area columns of data into one column.
What The merge command merges two or more columns into a
single column. Columns to the right of the merged
columns are shifted appropriately. For example, if
there are four columns of data, A, B, C and D, and
columns A, B and C are merged, there will be two columns
after the merge: columns A, B and C merge into A, and
column D is shifted to B.
How Select the columns of data to be merged with the Column
command. The columns to be merged must be adjacent --
if they're not, you can use the Move command to
rearrange them. From the Paste Area Menu, press Fix-F5
to display the Fix Sub-Menu, pick the columns to be
merged, then press Mrg-F1. MacroPIK'r will ask you if
you are sure -- type a Y or press the right button on
the mouse if you are, or anything else to cancel the
command.
Notes MacroPIK'r limits the width of each column in the Paste
Area to 2000. If the sum of the widths of the columns
to be merged exceeds this amount, MacroPIK'r displays an
error message and cancels the command.
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See also the Divide command below:
Div-F3 Divide a Column
When Use the Divide command when you want to divide a Paste
Area column of data into two columns.
What The column is divided to the immediate left of the
cursor location when DO-IT was pressed. For example, if
the cursor is on the "z" in "kazoo", the column is split
into "ka" and "zoo". Columns to the right of the
divided columns are shifted appropriately. For example,
if there are three columns of data, A, B, and C, and
column B is divided, there will be four columns after
the divide: column C is shifted to D, and column B is
divided into B and C.
How Select the column to be divided with the Column command.
From the Paste Area Menu, press Fix-F5 to display the
Fix Sub-Menu, pick the column to be divided using the
Column command, then press Div-F3. Move the cursor to
the place in the column where you want it divided and
press DO-IT.
Notes See also the Merge command above.
Edt-F5 Edit data
When Use the Edit command when you want to edit existing data
in the Paste Area, or if you want to enter new data from
the keyboard.
What The Edit command functions like a very simple text
editor: it allows you to "fudge" data in the Paste Area
or enter new rows or columns of data from the keyboard.
How From the Paste Area Menu, press Fix-F5 to display the
Fix Sub-Menu. Pick a region of data using the Column,
Row, Cell, or All command, then press Edt-F5.
MacroPIK'r pauses for a moment while it makes a "backup"
of the data in the picked region (in case you later want
to "undo" your editing changes).
When the cursor is placed inside the picked region of
data, characters typed on the keyboard replace the
characters under the cursor. If the cursor is outside
the picked region, or on the vertical "divider" line
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between columns, characters typed on the keyboard have
no effect. The mouse, arrow keys and other cursor
controls (except the + "More" key) can be used to
position the cursor. In addition, DO-IT will move the
cursor to the "next" cell from left to right, top to
bottom in the picked region.
To stop editing and keep the changes you made, press
Edt-F5 again. To stop editing and restore the old
contents of the picked region, press Esc. The following
table summarizes the keyboard characters and their
functions while editing:
Letters, Overstrike character at cursor
Digits, and
Punctuation
Enter Go to next cell
Backspace Delete character left of cursor
Ins Insert space at cursor
Del Delete character at cursor
Edt-F5 Exit editing session
Esc Undo editing session
Notes MacroPIK'r limits the width of each column in the Paste
Area to 2000. If you attempt to increase the width of a
column with the Ins key past this amount, MacroPIK'r
will display an error message.
Num-F7 Convert Data to Numbers
When Use the Number command when you want to convert part or
all of the Paste Area to numbers. When you save your
data with one of the Output commands, MacroPIK'r does
its best to determine whether a cell is a number or a
label (see the Output commands). To gain some control
over this process, you can explicitly convert the data
in a picked region to numbers using the Number command.
What The data in the picked region is converted to numbers.
These are the rules MacroPIK'r applies to each cell
during the conversion:
Dollar signs ($) and other non-numeric characters are
deleted from the beginning and end of the cell. If
there are any decimal digits (0-9) left, the cell is
considered to be a number if it follows the numeric
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format conventions you specify (see "How to use it"
below).
In addition, the number is negative if there is a
leading minus sign (-), or if the number is enclosed in
parentheses, or if the number has the letters "CR" (or
"cr") after it. Numbers in scientific notation, for
example, "6.63E-34" or "3.00e+08", are also supported.
Warning: combinations of parentheses, minus signs, and
"CR" will produce a negative number if the sum of the
combinations is odd. That is, (4.95) and 4.95 CR are
-4.95, (4.95 CR) is +4.95, while (-4.95 CR) equals
-4.95.
If the cell satisfies these rules, it is converted to a
"clean" number: leading dollar signs, embedded commas,
parentheses, "CR"'s, etc., are removed. If a cell in
the picked region does not satisfy the rules for ANY of
the numeric format conventions, the Number command will
remove all characters from the cell (except decimal
digits and, possibly, a decimal point) in order to make
a more "vigorous" attempt at the conversion.
If there are no decimal digits in the cell at all, it's
converted to zero (0). Note that blank cells become
zeros (0).
How From the Paste Area Menu, press Fix-F5 to display the
Fix Sub-Menu. Pick a region of data using the Column,
Row, Cell, or All command, then press Num-F7.
If you respond to the Number command prompt "Convert the
picked cell(s) to numbers? (U/E/M/A)" by typing a "A",
MacroPIK'r will Automatically determine which format
convention the numbers use, and will use that convention
for the conversion. With this option, MacroPIK'r will
ask which format convention to use if more than one type
is used in the picked region, or if any number could be
interpreted differently depending on which convention is
used.
To tell MacroPIK'r explicitly which convention to use,
you can type the letter "U" to use the U.S. convention
of using a comma (,) as the thousands separator and a
dot (.) for the decimal point, or type "E" to use the
European convention which reverses the role of these two
characters, or type "M" to use the Metric convention
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which uses a space ( ) for the thousands separator on
both sides of the decimal point and a dot for the
decimal point:
A Automatic (best guess)
U U.S. 1,234.56
E European 1,234,56
M Metric 1 234.56
You can cancel the conversion by typing Esc to the
U/E/M/A prompt.
Notes The Number command is essentially irreversible, although
you could always go back to the Report Area and pick the
data again. See also the Output commands Flat, WKS,
DIF, CSV, SYLK and FXL (page 31).
Txt-F9 Convert Data to Text
When Use the Text command when you want to convert part or
all of the Paste Area to labels (text).
When you save your data with one of the Output commands,
MacroPIK'r does its best to determine whether a cell is
a number or a label (see the Output commands). To gain
some control over this process, you can explicitly
convert the data in a picked region to labels using the
Text command. This is handy for things like part
numbers.
What The data in the picked region is converted to labels
(text) by surrounding each cell with quote marks (").
This becomes significant when the Paste Area is saved
with one of the Output commands; any cell with quotes
around it is saved as a label (text), regardless of its
content, while any cell without quotes around it is
saved as a number if it looks like a number -- otherwise
it is saved as a label. A cell "looks like" a number if
it contains digits with perhaps a minus sign and decimal
point. That is, any number with dollar signs ($),
commas (,) or other punctuation will be output as a
label -- only "clean" numbers will be output as numbers.
(See the discussion of the Number command, page 36.)
How From the Paste Area Menu, press Fix-F5 to display the
Fix Sub-Menu. Pick a region of data using the Column,
Row, Cell, or All command, then press Txt-F9.
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MacroPIK'r will ask you if you are sure -- type a Y or
press the right button on the mouse if you are, or
anything else to cancel the command.
Notes The Text command is essentially irreversible, although
you can always go back to the Report Area and pick the
data again, or use the Edit command to manually remove
the quotes -- or the Number command.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Cut Commands
Mov-F1 Move Data
When Use the Move command when you want to move data in the
Paste Area (without leaving a copy of it behind).
What The Move command moves the data in the picked region to
another place in the Paste Area.
How From the Paste Area Menu, press Cut-F7 to display the
Cut Sub-Menu. Pick a region of data using the Column,
Row, Cell, or All command, then press Mov-F1. The
picked region of data changes to an inverse outline to
indicate where you are (tentatively) going to move to.
Move the cursor to the upper left corner of the place in
the Paste Area you wish to move the data to and press
DO-IT. The inverse outline is moved to this place, but
no data is moved yet. Continue to move the cursor and
press DO-IT until you are satisfied with where the data
will be moved, then press Mov-F1 again to complete the
move. To "undo" the Move command once it has been
started (but before it has been completed) press Esc.
Notes The Move command allows you to partially, or even
completely, overlap the "source" and "destination" of
the move. However, if you try to move data in such a
way that any part of it is beyond the maximum limits of
the Paste Area, MacroPIK'r will display a warning
message and give you a chance to move the data somewhere
else.
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Cpy-F3 Copy Data
When Use the Copy command when you want to make a copy of
data in the Paste Area.
What The Copy command copies the data in the picked region to
another place in the Paste Area.
How From the Paste Area Menu, press Cut-F7 to display the
Cut Sub-Menu. Pick a region of data using the Column,
Row, Cell, or All command, then press Cpy-F3. The
picked region of data changes to an inverse outline to
indicate where you are tentatively going to copy to.
Move the cursor to the upper left corner of the place in
the Paste Area you wish to copy the data to and press
DO-IT. The inverse outline is moved to this place, but
no data is copied yet. Continue to move the cursor and
press DO-IT until you are satisfied with where the data
will be copied, then press Cpy-F3 again to complete the
copy.
To "undo" the Copy command once it has been started (but
before it has been completed) press Esc.
Notes The Copy command allows you to partially, or even
completely, overlap the "source" and "destination" of
the copy. However, if you try to copy data in such a
way that any part of it is beyond the maximum limits of
the Paste Area, MacroPIK'r will display a warning
message and then let you copy the data somewhere else.
Trn-F5 Transpose Columns and Rows
When Use the Transpose command when you want to change Paste
Area columns to rows, or rows to columns.
What If a column is being transposed, it is "rotated"
counterclockwise, i.e., the topmost cell in the column
becomes the leftmost cell in the row. If a row is being
transposed, it is "rotated" clockwise, i.e., the
leftmost cell in the row becomes the topmost cell in the
column.
How From the Paste Area Menu, press Cut-F7 to display the
Cut Sub-Menu. Pick a region of data using the Column,
Row, Cell, or All command, then begin a Move or Copy
command by pressing either Mov-F1 or Cpy-F3. The picked
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region of data changes to an inverse outline to indicate
where you are (tentatively) going to move or copy to (as
usual). Then press Trn-F5. If the inverse outline was
a column, it changes to a row, or vice versa. To
restore the inverse outline to its original "shape",
press either Esc or Trn-F5 again. Move the cursor to
the upper left corner of the place in the Paste Area you
wish to move or copy the data to and press DO-IT. The
inverse outline is moved to this place, but no data is
copied yet. Continue to move the cursor and press DO-IT
until you are satisfied with where the transposed data
will be moved or copied, then press either Mov-F1 or
Cpy-F3 again to complete the command.
To "undo" the Move or Copy command once it has been
started (but before it has been completed) press Esc.
Notes See the Move and Copy commands above.
Ins-F7 Insert Empty Columns or Rows
When Use the Insert command when you want to insert one or
more empty columns or rows into the Paste Area.
What If one or more columns were picked, that many empty
columns are inserted to the immediate left of the picked
region, and all columns to the right are shifted to the
right. If one or more rows were picked, that many empty
rows are inserted immediately above the picked region,
and all rows below are shifted down.
How From the Paste Area Menu, press Cut-F7 to display the
Cut Sub-Menu. Pick one or more columns or rows using
the Column or Row command, then press Ins-F7 from the
Cut Sub-Menu.
Notes If you attempt to use the Insert command in such a way
that a column or row would be shifted past the limits of
the Paste Area, MacroPIK'r displays a warning message
and cancels the command.
Del-F9 Delete Data
When Use the Delete command when you want to erase data from
the Paste Area.
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What The data in the picked region is erased. If the picked
region was a column (or columns) spanning the entire
active area, the column "closes up", i.e., columns to
the right shift over into the deleted column. If the
picked region was a row (or rows) spanning the entire
active area, the row "closes up", i.e., rows below shift
up into the deleted row. Otherwise, if the picked
region is smaller than the active area, the data is
deleted and nothing is shifted.
How From the Paste Area Menu, press Cut-F7 to display the
Cut Sub-Menu. Pick a region of data using the Column,
Row, Cell, or All command, then press Del-F9.
MacroPIK'r will ask you if you are sure -- type a Y or
press the right button on the mouse, or anything else to
cancel the command.
Notes Once the data is deleted there is no way to recover it,
short of going back to the Report Area and picking it
again.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Miscellaneous Commands
These are all commands that you perform with the Control key plus
a letter:
o Ctrl-G: "Goto" a specified location in the Report or Paste
area.
o Ctrl-R: Begin to record a Macro.
o Ctrl-X: Execute a prerecorded Macro.
o Ctrl-Q: Resume a suspended Macro.
o Ctrl-S: "System" -- escape to DOS.
o Ctrl-W: Repaint the screen.
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Ctrl-G Goto
When Use the Goto command when you need to move the cursor to
a new position and you know its exact coordinates
(location).
What The Goto command moves the cursor to the position you
specify.
How Ctrl-G: press and hold the Ctrl key, then press G.
Enter the new position to move the cursor to, column
first, then row separated by a space. In the Report
Area use column numbers 1-2000. In the Paste Area use
column letters A-ZZ. Use row numbers 1-32767 in the
Report Area and 1-9999 in the Paste Area.
Notes See also the cursor movement commands in the "Quick
Overview" section (page 9).
Ctrl-R Record a Macro
When Use the Record command when you want to record a series
of commands that will later be played back.
What The Record command saves all subsequent commands until
(but not including) the next Record command.
How Ctrl-R: press and hold the Ctrl key, then press R.
MacroPIK'r asks for a name to use for storing the macro
- enter any legal DOS pathname, with or without an
extension, and press Enter. If you don't include an
extension, MacroPIK'r will use the extension ".mp". To
stop recording, press Ctrl-R again (or exit from
MacroPIK'r).
Notes See also the "Macros" section (page 47).
Ctrl-X Execute a Macro
When Use the Execute command when you want to play back a
series of commands that were previously stored with the
Record command (or created using a text editor).
What MacroPIK'r will play back (or "execute") each of the
commands in the macro until it reaches the end of the
macro.
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How Ctrl-X: press and hold the Ctrl key, then press X.
MacroPIK'r asks for the name of the macro - enter any
legal DOS pathname, with or without an extension, and
press Enter. If you don't include an extension,
MacroPIK'r will use the extension ".mp".
To stop the macro while it is running, press Esc.
MacroPIK'r will give you the opportunity to (C)ancel the
macro and return to regular processing, (R)esume
execution of the macro from where it left off, (P)ause
from execution temporarily (to execute regular commands
then later resume execution with Ctrl-R) or to (S)tep
through the macro, displaying each command in turn and
waiting for a key to be pressed before executing it.
Notes See also the "Macros" section. A suspended macro may be
resumed, even after you have entered other commands,
with the Ctrl-Q command.
Ctrl-R Resume a Macro
When Use the Resume command when you want to resume a macro
that you have interrupted with Esc, and you have given
MacroPIK'r some manual commands since, so the 'R'
response can't be used.
What MacroPIK'r will resume playing back the interrupted
macro from where it left off.
How Ctrl-Q: press and hold the Ctrl key, then press Q.
Ctrl-S System Command (DOS)
When Use the System command to temporarily leave MacroPIK'r
and enter DOS. This is handy if you suddenly need to do
DOS things and don't want to leave MacroPIK'r.
What MacroPIK'r will free up as much memory as it can then
run a new copy of DOS in that space.
How Ctrl-S: press and hold the Ctrl key, then press S. You
can perform any DOS functions you like, but be sure NOT
to start any "Terminate-and-Stay-Resident" programs,
such as PRINT -- if you do, the system may crash or hang
when you exit DOS back to MacroPIK'r.
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To leave DOS and go back to MacroPIK'r where you left
off, type the "exit" command to DOS.
Notes MacroPIK'r takes about 200k bytes when you do this,
which usually leaves enough RAM for most programs.
The "System" command, allows you to temporarily suspend the
operation of MacroPIK'r and directly access DOS. When you press
Ctrl-S MacroPIK'r saves its current state and lets you interact
directly with DOS. This is very useful if you find that in the
middle of a session with MacroPIK'r you need to format a floppy
disk or work with other programs without exiting first. When you
have finished working with DOS, type the DOS command "exit" to
leave DOS and return to where you left off in MacroPIK'r.
Though the System command can be very useful, please remember
that it can also be somewhat dangerous. This is because while
you are in DOS, MacroPIK'r is suspended and can't perform checks
on your actions. In general, whatever DOS configuration was in
existence when you left MacroPIK'r, must exist when you resume.
If, for example, you delete the file you were looking at in the
Report Area or install a "memory resident" TSR program,
MacroPIK'r may behave unpredictably (or not at all) after you
type "exit". Also, never issue the DOS "print" or "mode"
commands (or other TSR programs) while MacroPIK'r is suspended,
unless you have already done so before starting your current
session with MacroPIK'r (these commands load TSRs the first time
they are used). However, it is safe, and often quite useful, to
change the current directory while MacroPIK'r is suspended -
MacroPIK'r will keep track of where its files are.
Note: The System command uses the DOS environment parameter
"COMSPEC" to locate the command processor (usually command.com).
See your DOS manual for details.
Ctrl-W Repaint Screen
When Use the Repaint command if your screen gets messed up by
other programs while you are in MacroPIK'r, such as
TSRs.
What MacroPIK'r simply "repaints" the screen like it thinks
it should look.
How Ctrl-W: press and hold the Ctrl key, then press W.
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Notes This is rarely necessary. However, if something else
"pops-up" and then goes away leaving the screen messed
up, it is handy to be able to repaint it.
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Chapter 6
Macros
Introduction
MacroPIK'r has a facility for performing commands automatically,
using a set of commands as its guide. Once the set of commands,
called a "macro", has been created, you can execute it:
MacroPIK'r reads the macro and executes the commands without
further intervention from you.
(This is why MacroPIK'r is called MacroPIK'r. It has macros, and
it picks data.)
To create macros, MacroPIK'r has a Learn Facility for recording
commands as they are typed. You can also customize the macros
that MacroPIK'r records or create them yourself using any text
editor that creates standard ASCII files (the "non-document mode"
in WordPerfect, for example). A macro can do anything you can do
manually with the keyboard and mouse. The only exception is the
Edit command -- there is no way to record or execute this
command.
The Record Command
To start recording a series of commands to a macro, press Ctrl-R
(press and hold the control key, then press R) and type a file
name that MacroPIK'r will use to store the macro. If you don't
include a file name extension, MacroPIK'r will automatically add
the extension ".mp". To stop recording commands to the macro,
press Ctrl-R again (or exit from MacroPIK'r, which does an
automatic Ctrl-R).
The Execute Command
To execute a previously recorded macro (even if you are currently
recording a macro) move the cursor to the position you want the
macro to start from, then press Ctrl-X and type the macro's name
followed by an optional series of parameters (described in the
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"Macro Parameters" section below). If you do not include a file
name extension, MacroPIK'r will add the extension ".mp" to the
name you give. Each of the commands in the macro is played back
just as it was recorded by MacroPIK'r (or created by you) until
the end of the macro is reached.
Macro Execution From DOS
To execute a macro from the DOS command line, type the name of
the batch file appropriate for your system (i.e. mpikc, mpikbw,
mpikb or mpikd) followed by @name par1 par2 ... where "name" is
the name of your macro and "par1 par2 ..." are optional
parameters to be passed to the macro. For example, on a color
monitor system, type:
mpikc @tutor3
to execute the macro file "tutor3.mp" included on the
distribution disk.
Note that if the file name extension of your macro file is ".mp"
(the extension used by MacroPIK'r whenever you don't specify a
different one) you may omit the extension. Thus if you have a
macro file called "my_macro.jan" you must include the extension:
mpikc @my_macro.jan
Special Key Functions
Pressing the Esc key during macro execution causes MacroPIK'r to
stop the macro at the end of the current command and display the
message "(C)ancel,(R)esume,(S)tep,(P)ause: " in the Status Line.
To cancel macro execution and return to normal processing, press
C. To resume execution from where the macro left off, press R.
To put MacroPIK'r into single-step mode, press S. To enter pause
mode (to execute ordinary keyboard commands for a while), press
P.
When MacroPIK'r is in single-step mode, it displays each command
on the Status Line waiting for a key to be pressed before
executing it. To return to normal macro execution or cancel
execution entirely, press Esc again followed by the appropriate
letter as described above.
When MacroPIK'r is in pause mode, you can resume execution of the
macro from where it left off by pressing Ctrl-Q (press and hold
the Ctrl key, then press Q). Before resuming execution, however,
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be sure to return to the Sub-Menu that was in effect when pause
mode was entered, otherwise the macro may terminate with a
"sequence error" message.
Macro Command Grammar
Each macro command you create must be grammatically correct;
incorrect grammar will cause an error when you execute the macro.
The general format of a macro command is:
cmd arg1 arg2 ... argn
cmd is a command keyword that you must type exactly as shown in
this section; uppercase and lowercase letters are equivalent.
arg1, arg2 ... argn are command arguments separated from the
command keyword and from each other by spaces or tabs.
Grammatically speaking, a macro command keyword is like a verb in
a sentence. Arguments are like objects. They complete a command
by indicating the what or where of an action.
MacroPIK'r's rules of macro command grammar are:
o Each command must be contained on a single line of no more
than 250 characters.
o Each command must begin with a macro command keyword,
optionally followed by one or more arguments.
o Each argument must be separated from the command keyword
and from each other by spaces or tabs.
o Blank lines may be inserted in your macros to make them
easier for you to read -- MacroPIK'r ignores them.
o Each command must have the proper number and type of
arguments.
o Most commands may appear only in the context of their
Sub-Menu. For example, the Div macro command must appear
within the Fix Sub-Menu (see the "Command Summary" section
in this manual and the "Macro Command Summary" section
below for details.)
There is no limit on the number of commands contained in a macro
or on the number of levels of macro subroutines (executing a
macro from a macro).
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Macro Coordinates
Many commands in a macro operate on a picked region of data. For
example, the Pst macro command copies a picked region of data
from the Report Area to the Paste Area. In a macro, these
regions are specified as four numbers giving the upper left and
lower right boundaries of the region. For example, one use of
the Text macro command might be:
Txt 4 1 3 7
Instead of (or in addition to) using numbers such as this, the
special keywords _left, _top, _right and _bottom, in conjunction
with a numeric offset may be used. For example, to transfer all
of the current Report Area page to the Paste Area:
Pst _left _top _right _bottom R
and to delete all except the first column and the last two rows
of the Paste Area:
Del _left+1 _top _right _bottom-2
Usually the numeric coordinates (as in the first example above)
are expressed relative to a fixed reference point called the
Current Absolute Position (CAP), so that the same macro can be
used on a different region of data by moving the cursor to the
new region, then re-executing the macro. Thus, using relative
coordinates, (0 0 3 5) specifies a region four units wide and six
units high whose upper left corner is at the CAP.
To maintain independence between the Report Area and Paste Area,
MacroPIK'r actually has two CAP's, one in each area. Some of
MacroPIK'r commands (and their macro command counterparts) have
the effect of moving the Report or Paste Area CAP to a new
position:
o The Execute command sets the Report or Paste Area CAP to
the position of the cursor when the macro begins
execution.
o The Find command, if successful, sets the Report Area CAP
to the beginning of the string.
o The Goto command sets the Report or Paste Area CAP to the
specified position.
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o The Home (and End) keys set the Report or Paste Area CAP
to the upper left (lower right) of the Report or Paste
Area.
o The Input commands (Flat, WKS, DIF, CSV, SYLK, FXL) and
the Page command set the Report Area CAP to the top left
corner of the page.
o The Paste command sets the Paste Area CAP to the upper
left corner of the region that was just "pasted".
Absolute Coordinates
MacroPIK'r uses the "relative method" of specifying coordinates
described in the previous section when it records commands. The
other method of specifying coordinates is the "absolute method".
If you are creating your own macros you have the option of using
either the relative or absolute version of each macro command.
The absolute version of a macro command is exactly the same as
the relative form, except that the special character "$" appears
in front of the command. Thus the macro command "Pst" is the
relative form, while "$Pst" is the absolute form. Using this
method, the coordinates (1 2 8 3) specify a region nine units
wide and two units high whose upper left corner is at column 1,
row 2. This method is particularly useful when you know the
precise layout of your data and are designing a macro to convert
certain parts of that data.
Macro Subroutines
"The Execute Command" section above describes two ways of
executing a macro. A macro may also execute another macro. This
is called executing a macro subroutine. To do this you use the
Exe macro command, for example, "Exe my_macro". When MacroPIK'r
executes this macro command it continues executing commands from
macro "my_macro". When "my_macro" is finished, MacroPIK'r
returns to the original macro just where it left off. One macro
can execute another at any time.
Macro Parameters
In most macro commands, you specify a keyword followed by one or
more arguments. Similarly, you can give values to a macro that
you have created. This is called passing parameters to a macro.
To do this type each parameter separated by spaces following the
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macro name. If you have created a macro called macro1, you can
give it values to use when it executes:
mpikc @macro1 wks csv
This will pass the values "wks" and "csv" to macro1. Likewise,
this same method is used for MacroPIK'r's Execute (Ctrl-X)
command and the macro command Exe.
To signify a parameter in the macro itself, use ^1 for the first
parameter, ^2 for the second and so on (similar to the use of %1,
etc. in a DOS batch file). Parameters can be simple strings or
even refer to other parameters, for instance:
mpikc @macro1 wks csv summary.^1 summary.^2
would become "wks csv summary.wks summary.csv". Think about it.
Up to 99 parameters can be specified, with the following
limitations:
o When you use the DOS command line method of executing a
macro, DOS can only pass a total of 9 parameters to
MacroPIK'r and one of these is used by the macro name
itself, leaving a maximum of 8 parameters to be passed to
the macro.
o When you use the Execute (Ctrl-X) command to execute a
macro, only as many parameters as will fit on MacroPIK'r's
Status Line can be passed (100 characters).
o When you pass parameters to a macro subroutine (with the
Exe macro command) the only limit is that after all
parameters have been substituted, the line must be no more
than 250 characters long.
Macro Command Summary
The section below describes each of the macro commands. For
readability the first letter of each macro command is shown in
uppercase, but lowercase and uppercase letters may be used.
Optional elements are contained in square brackets []. Choices
are indicated with the vertical bar |, for example, L|R means
type either L or R. Where the double quotes " are shown, for
example the argument "string" in the Fnd command, the quotes are
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Macros
part of the command and must be included. Ellipses ... are used
to indicate a series of items similar to those preceding.
See also the "Command Summary" section in this manual for further
information relating to the commands below.
! Comment line
MacroPIK'r ignores any line beginning with an exclamation
point. You can (and should) use comment lines to document
your macros. Comment lines may appear anywhere in a macro.
MacroPIK'r will always insert a comment line when it records
a macro, which tells the time and date the macro was
recorded.
Beep Ring the bell
Make a tone on the PC's speaker. The Beep command may be
used anywhere in a macro. This is useful for getting an
operators attention after a long macro or command is
complete.
Cmark n1 n2 ... Report Area column markers
Override the Report Area column marker positions set by
MacroPIK'r. Column markers are set to n1 n2 .... The Cmark
command may be used anywhere in a macro; the settings remain
in effect until the next Cmark command.
Cmarka n1 n2 ... Add Report Area Column Markers
Add the specified Report Area Column Markers to those
already in effect. For example, the following commands:
Cmark 4 8 12
Cmarka 10 30
would set the column markers to columns 4, 8, 10, 12 and 30.
The Cmarka command has been added to overcome the
limitations of the Cmark command. When a macro was being
recorded and the Paste command was used on a very wide input
file, the Cmark command generated would occasionally be
"truncated" to the 250 character line length limit with an
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error message to that effect. MacroPIK'r now avoids this
problem by generating the proper sequence of Cmark and
Cmarka commands to keep each line to a reasonable length.
The Cmarka macro command may be used anywhere in a macro;
the settings remain in effect until the next Cmark command.
Cpy [T] xlo ylo xhi yhi x y Copy data (optional transpose)
Copy the data in the Paste Area picked region (xlo ylo xhi
yhi) to the region whose upper left corner is (x y). If the
T option is used, the data is transposed as it is copied.
The Cpy command may be used only in the Cut Sub-Menu.
Csv f n [c] Display (input) from CSV file
Display the CSV (delimited) file 'f' in the Report Area.
The page length is set to n. If n is negative, the page
length is set to 66 lines. If n is 0, the page length is
set to the length of the entire file. The delimiter
character is set to "c". If c is missing, the delimiter
character is set to a comma (,). The Csv (input) command
may be used only in the Input Sub-Menu.
Csv xlo ylo xhi yhi f [c] Save (output) to CSV file
Save the data in the Paste Area picked region (xlo ylo xhi
yhi) to the CSV (delimited) file 'f', using the delimiter
character c. If c is missing, the delimiter character is
set to a comma (,). The Csv (output) command may be used
only in the Output Sub-Menu.
Cut Display the Cut Sub-Menu
Display the Cut Sub-Menu. The Cut command may be used only
in the Paste Area main menu.
Cwidth xlo xhi n [L | R] Set Paste Area column widths
Set the width of the Paste Area columns between xlo and xhi
to n. If the L option is present, decrement the width of
the columns by n. If the R option is present, increment the
width of the columns by n. If n is 0, the width of the
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columns is set to the widest cell in each column. The
Cwidth macro command may be used only in the Paste Area.
Dbf f n Display from DBF file
This will display the DBF file named 'f' in the Report Area.
The page length is set to n. If n is negative the page
length is set to 66 lines; if n is 0, the page length is set
to the length of the entire file. The Dbf (input) macro
command may be used only in the Input Sub-Menu.
Dbf xlo ylo xhi yhi f n A|R|C Save to DBF file
This will save the data in the Paste Area picked region xlo
ylo xhi yhi to the DBF file named 'f'. The argument 'n' may
be either the number 2 or 3 to indicate a dBASE II or dBASE
III/IV file. The last argument may be either the letter A,
the letter R, or the letter C to specify (if the output file
already exists) whether the data in the picked region should
be Appended to the existing file (without altering the
structure of the file), Replace all records in the file with
the new data (without altering the structure), or to Create
an entirely new file and structure (overwriting the existing
file). The Dbf (output) macro command may be used only in
the Output Sub-Menu.
Del xlo ylo xhi yhi Delete data
Delete the data in the Paste Area picked region (xlo ylo xhi
yhi). The Del command may be used only in the Cut Sub-Menu.
Dif f n Display (input) from DIF file
Display the DIF (Data Interchange Format) file 'f' in the
Report Area. The page length is set to n. If n is
negative, the page length is set to 66 lines. If n is 0,
the page length is set to the length of the entire file.
The Dif (input) command may be used only in the Input Sub-
Menu.
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Dif xlo ylo xhi yhi f Save (output) to DIF file
Save the Paste Area picked region (xlo ylo xhi yhi) to the
DIF (Data Interchange Format) file 'f'. The Dif (output)
command may be used only in the Output Sub-Menu.
Div x n Divide a column into two
Divide Paste Area column x at n characters into the column.
The Div command may be used only in the Fix Sub-Menu.
End Move to lower right corner
Move the cursor to the lower right corner. The End command
may be used anywhere in a macro.
Esc Exit from the current Sub-Menu
Exit the current Sub-Menu back to the previous one. The Esc
command may be used anywhere in a macro.
Exe macro [par1 par2 ...] Execute a macro subroutine
Execute the named macro subroutine, optionally with one or
more parameters. MacroPIK'r begins executing commands from
the new macro. When the new macro is finished, MacroPIK'r
returns to the original macro where it left off. The Exe
command may be used anywhere in a macro.
See also the "Macro Subroutines" and "Macro Parameters"
sections above.
Fix Display the Fix Sub-Menu
Display the Fix Sub-Menu. The Fix command may be used only
in the Paste Area main menu.
Flt f n Display (input) from Flat file
Display the Flat (standard ASCII) file 'f' in the Report
Area. The page length is set to n. If n is negative, the
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page length is set to 66 lines (or a formfeed, whichever
comes first). If n is 0, the page length is set to the
length of the entire file. The Flt (input) command may be
used only in the Input Sub-Menu.
Flt xlo ylo xhi yhi f Save (output) to Flat file
Save the Paste Area picked region (xlo ylo xhi yhi) to the
Flat (standard ASCII) file 'f'. The Flt (output) command
may be used only in the Output Sub-Menu.
Fnd ["string"] L|R Search for a string
Search for a string in the Report Area input file. If the
"string" option is used, it must be enclosed in quotes. If
"string" is missing, search for the previous search string.
The L ("left") option searches backward; R ("right")
searches forward. The Fnd command may be used only in the
Report Area main menu.
Fxl f n1 n2 Display Fixed-Length Record file
This will display the Fixed-Length format file named 'f' in
the Report Area. The page length is set to 'n1'. If 'n1'
is negative the page length is set to 66 lines; if 'n1' is
0, the page length is set to the length of the entire file.
The record length is set to 'n2', which must be greater than
0. The Fxl (input) macro command may be used only in the
Input Sub-Menu.
Fxl xlo ylo xhi yhi f [n] Save to Fixed-Length Record file
This will save the data in the Paste Area picked region xlo
ylo xhi yhi to the Fixed-Length format file named 'f'. If
the 'n' option is used, the record length is set to 'n',
which must not equal 0. If 'n' is missing or negative, the
record length is set to the sum of the widths of the columns
in the picked region xlo ylo xhi yhi. The Fxl (output)
macro command may be used only in the Output Sub-Menu.
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Goto x y Move to a new position
Move the cursor to column x, row y. The Goto command may be
used anywhere in a macro.
Home Move to upper left corner
Move the cursor to the upper left corner. The Home command
may be used anywhere in a macro.
In Display the Input Sub-Menu
Display the Input Sub-Menu. The In command may be used only
from the Report Area main menu.
Ins C|R n1 n2 Insert empty columns or rows
Insert one or more empty Paste Area columns or rows. If the
C option is used, (n1 n2) specifies the range of columns to
be inserted. If the R option is used, (n1 n2) specifies the
range of rows to be inserted. The Ins command may be used
only from the Cut Sub-Menu.
Mov [T] xlo ylo xhi yhi x y Move data (optional transpose)
Move the data in the Paste Area picked region (xlo ylo xhi
yhi) to the region whose upper left corner is (x y). If the
T option is used, the data is transposed as it is moved.
The Mov command may be used only from the Cut Sub-Menu.
Mrg xlo xhi Merge two or more columns
Merge the Paste Area columns in the range (xlo xhi) into one
column. The Merge command may be used only from the Fix
SubMenu.
Num U|E|M xlo ylo xhi yhi Convert data to numbers
Convert the data in the Paste Area picked region (xlo ylo
xhi yhi) to numbers using the specified numeric convention
option. Use the U option for the U.S. numeric convention of
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using a dot (.) for a decimal point and a comma (,) as the
thousands separator. Use the E option for the European
convention which reverses the role of these two characters.
Use the M option for the metric convention which uses a dot
(.) for a decimal point and a space for the thousands
separator on both sides of the decimal point. The Num
command may be used only from the Fix Sub-Menu.
Out Display the Output Sub-Menu
Display the Output Sub-Menu. The Out command may be used
only from the Paste Area main menu.
Pag [n] [L|R] Display page from input file
Display page n in the Report Area input file. If the L
option is used, display the page n pages before the current
one. If the R option is used, display the page n pages
after the current one. If n is missing, display the
previous page if the L option is used, or the next page if
the R option is used. The Pag command may be used only from
the Report Area main menu.
Pst [xlo ylo xhi yhi D|R] Go to the Paste Area
Go to the Paste Area, optionally copying the data in the
Report Area picked region (xlo ylo xhi yhi). If the D
("down") option is used, the data is copied below any
existing data in the Paste Area. If the R ("right") option
is used, the data is copied to the right of any existing
data in the Paste Area. The Pst command may be used only
from the Report Area main menu.
Rpt Go to the Report Area
Go to the Report Area. The Rpt command may be used only
from the Paste Area main menu.
Run n command [arg1 arg2 ...] Run a DOS command
Run a DOS command from within a macro. After the command
completes, control is returned to the macro. The argument
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'n' specifies the time in seconds for MacroPIK'r to wait
after running the command and before resuming execution of
the macro, in case the operator needs to see the screen for
a while. The argument "command" may be any valid DOS
command, including a program or batch file in the current
directory or path. "Arg1 arg2 ..." are arguments supplied
to the program or batch file and are not interpreted by
MacroPIK'r in any way. The Run macro command may be used
anywhere in a macro.
Slk f n Display (input) from SYLK file
Display the SYLK file named 'f' in the Report Area. The
page length is set to 'n'. If 'n' is negative, the page
length is set to 66 lines. If 'n' is 0, the page length is
set to the length of the entire file. The Slk (input)
command may be used only in the Input Sub-Menu.
Slk xlo ylo xhi yhi f Save (output) to SYLK file
Save the Paste Area picked region (xlo ylo xhi yhi) to the
SYLK file named 'f'. The Slk (output) command may be used
only in the Output Sub-Menu.
Step Enter single-step mode
Put MacroPIK'r into single-step mode, the same as pressing
Esc followed by S. (See the Special Key Functions section
above.) The Step command may be used anywhere in a macro.
This is very useful for debugging macros that you have
written yourself.
System Directly access DOS
Temporarily suspend the executing macro and directly
interact with DOS. The difference between this and the Run
command is that the Run command executes a single DOS
command then returns to the executing macro. The System
command, on the other hand, suspends the executing macro
until you type the DOS command "exit". See also the
"Perform Any DOS Command from MacroPIK'r" section for more
details and cautions relating to this command. The System
macro command may be used anywhere in a macro.
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Txt xlo ylo xhi yhi Convert data to text
Convert the data in the Paste Area picked region (xlo ylo
xhi yhi) to text. The Txt command may be used only from the
Fix Sub-Menu.
Wks f n Display (input) from WKS file
Display the WKS (Lotus Worksheet) file named 'f' in the
Report Area. The page length is set to n. If n is
negative, the page length is set to 66 lines. If n is 0,
the page length is set to the length of the entire file.
The Wks (input) command may be used only in the Input Sub-
Menu.
Wks xlo ylo xhi yhi f Save (output) to WKS file
Save the Paste Area picked region (xlo ylo xhi yhi) to the
WKS (Lotus Worksheet) file named 'f'. The Wks (output)
command may be used only in the Output Sub-Menu.
Xit Exit MacroPIK'r to DOS
Exit MacroPIK'r and return to DOS. The Xit command may be
used either from the Report Area main menu or the Paste Area
main menu.
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Errors & Questions
Chapter 7
Errors & Questions
Error Messages
Whenever you ask MacroPIK'r to do something it just cannot do, or
if an error condition arises, it will beep and display a brief
message at the top of the screen. To continue working, press any
key on either the keyboard or the mouse. Before trying the
command again, try to fix whatever caused the error. Below is an
alphabetical list of MacroPIK'r's error messages with suggestions
for what to do.
Can't create file F
This usually means there's not enough room on the disk to
store file 'F', or there's something wrong with its name
(spelling?). It can also happen when DOS runs out of file
handles -- it helps if CONFIG.SYS on your boot drive sets
'FILES=' to at least 20.
Can't DIVIDE the picked column -- Paste Area full
Column ZZ contained one or more non-blank cells that would
have been shifted off the right edge of the Paste Area when
the Divide command was used.
Can't find S
The string 'S' being searched for with the Find command was
not found; the cursor is returned to its original position.
Can't get file F
The file 'F' you asked for with one of the Input commands
does not exist, or there were no files matching the wildcard
specification. You can find out what files are on a disk by
using one of the Input commands with the DOS wildcard
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Errors & Questions
characters "*" or "?" (as in the DOS "dir" command). It can
also happen when DOS runs out of file handles -- be sure
CONFIG.SYS on your boot drive sets 'FILES=' to at least 20.
Can't get page N
The page asked for with the Page command is not a valid page
number.
Can't goto X Y
One or both of the coordinates specified in the Goto command
is invalid. Check for a typing error; valid coordinates in
the Report Area are from (1 1) to (2000 32767); in the Paste
Area from (A 1) to (ZZ 9999).
Can't insert -- cell is too wide
The cell being edited with the Edit command already contains
the maximum number of characters allowed by MacroPIK'r
(2000).
Can't INSERT -- too many columns
You tried to move non-blank columns off the right edge of
the Paste Area using the Insert command. Try inserting
fewer columns or save some of the Paste Area with one of the
Output commands, then use the Delete command to make more
room.
Can't INSERT -- too many rows
You tried to move non-blank rows off the bottom edge of the
Paste Area using the Insert command. Try inserting fewer
rows or save some of the Paste Area with one of the Output
commands, then use the Delete command to make more room.
Can't open macro F
Indicates a potentially serious problem with macro, or your
disk. While executing the macro file 'F', a macro file that
previously existed was not found -- perhaps a nested macro
deleted it. It can also happen when DOS runs out of file
handles -- it helps if CONFIG.SYS on your boot drive sets
'FILES=' to at least 20.
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Can't set page length to N
The page length given to one of the Input commands is not a
valid page length -- check the descriptions of the input
commands for details.
Can't write macro F -- file full
Free disk space has been exhausted. All commands since
recording was turned on have been saved, but nothing more
can be saved. Try storing the macro file on another disk.
Columns to MERGE are too wide
The sum of the widths of the columns you asked MacroPIK'r to
merge with the Merge command is greater than 2000
characters.
Conversion to NUMBERS needs a picked region
The Number command requires a region of data to be picked
before it is used.
Conversion to TEXT needs a picked region
The Text command requires a region of data to be picked
before it is used.
COPY 'to' region is beyond Paste Area boundary
You used the Copy command in such a way that part of the
destination is beyond the Paste Area boundaries (702 columns
by 9999 rows).
COPY needs a picked region
The Copy command requires a region of data to be picked
before it is used.
DELETE needs a picked region
The Delete command requires a region of data to be picked
before it is used.
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Disk file full
Free disk space has been exhausted. If the error occurred
when you used one of the Output commands, try storing the
output file to a disk on another drive with more free space
(but do not remove the disk containing MacroPIK'r's
temporary files -- usually the same disk MacroPIK'r was
started from). Also, see the discussion of the '-t' switch
in the Technical Details section -- MacroPIK'r may have run
out of room in one if its temporary files.
DIVIDE needs a picked column
The Divide command requires a column of data to be picked
before it is used.
EDIT needs a picked region
The Edit command requires a region of data to be picked
before it is used.
F is not a valid DIF / SYLK / WKS / DBF file
The file 'F' you attempted to display with one of the Input
commands DIF, SYLK, WKS, or DBF does not contain a valid
file header.
File F not found
The file 'F' highlighted in the directory listing created by
one of the Input commands was not found.
Inconsistent format -- U(S), E(uropean), M(etric):
The Number command found numbers in the picked region using
more than one type of format, or one of the numbers would
have a different value depending on which format is used.
Select a format by typing U, E or M.
INSERT needs a picked region
The Insert command requires a region of data to be picked
before it is used.
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Macro F, N: file F2 not found
While macro file 'F' was executing one of the Input commands
at line 'N', file 'F2' could not be found on the disk.
Macro F, N: command error
An illegal command was encountered in macro file 'F', line
'N'.
Macro F, N: execution canceled
An error has occurred during the execution of macro file
'F', line 'N'; macro execution is stopped. The error
message displayed immediately prior to this should indicate
the nature of the problem.
Macro F, N: parameter error
A parameter passed to a macro has exceeded the maximum
number of characters allowed (approximately 250), or a
parameter has been defined in terms of itself (for example
passing "file^2" as parameter ^2).
Macro F, N: range error
One of the values specified as part of a command in macro
file 'F', line 'N', is outside its valid range.
Macro F, N: recursion error
Macros are not allowed to execute themselves; they may,
however, execute other macros.
Macro F, N: sequence error
The command in macro file 'F', line 'N' is not a valid
command in this context (for example a Cut Sub-Menu command
from the Input Sub-Menu).
Macro F, N: syntax error
The command in macro file 'F', line 'N' does not conform to
its proper syntax.
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Macro file F not found
The macro file 'F' you have asked to execute does not exist.
Also, there may not be enough DOS file handles.
MacroPIK'r: can't create tmp file
This message occurs on program start-up; it usually means
there are too many files on your disk, or that there are not
enough DOS file handles (check your CONFIG.SYS "FILES="
command).
MacroPIK'r: can't initialize virtual memory
This message occurs on program start-up; it usually means
there is not enough free space on the disk. Use the DOS
"dir" command to see how much free space is on the disk.
MacroPIK'r will run (barely) with as little as 4096 bytes of
free space on a disk; a recommended minimum would be at
least 10K bytes, but the virtual memory file can grow to as
much as 2M bytes. It can also happen when DOS runs out of
file handles -- it helps if CONFIG.SYS on your boot drive
sets 'FILES=' to at least 20.
MacroPIK'r: not enough memory
This message occurs on program start-up. See the error
message "Memory full" for details.
Memory full
MacroPIK'r's internal work space is full. (1) You may not
have enough memory installed in your system. Use the DOS
"CHKDSK" command to see how much memory is available in your
system for running programs; the last line displayed by
chkdsk showing "N bytes free" will give a good indication of
whether you have enough. For MacroPIK'r, this number should
be at least 256K bytes. (2) You may also be out of free
disk space for the virtual memory files.
Memory full (Edt-F5 to exit, or Esc to undo EDIT)
This message is displayed when the Edit command is being
used and MacroPIK'r's internal work space becomes full.
After pressing any key on the keyboard or mouse to erase
this error message, press either Edt-F5 to save your editing
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changes, or Esc to undo them. See also the error message
"Memory full" above.
MERGE needs picked columns
The Merge command requires two or more columns of data to be
picked before it is used.
MOVE needs a picked region
The Move command requires a region of data to be picked
before it is used.
MOVE 'to' region is beyond Paste Area boundary
You tried to move data in such a way that part or all of the
destination is beyond the Paste Area boundaries (702 columns
by 9999 rows).
Out of memory for directory of F
MacroPIK'r's internal workspace became full while reading a
disk directory during one of the Input commands. Try a more
restricted wildcard name (e.g. "*.wks" instead of "*.*").
See also the error message "Memory Full" above.
OUTPUT needs a picked region
The Output command requires a region of data to be picked
before it is used.
Page N is beyond end of file
The page asked for with the Page command is past the end of
the file. MacroPIK'r gets the last page of the file
instead.
Part of DIF / SYLK / WKS file F is missing
The file 'F' you attempted to display with one of the Input
commands DIF, SYLK or WKS contained a valid header, but the
file was damaged in some way. See also the error message "F
is not a valid DIF / SYLK / WKS file".
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Picked region to MERGE must be two or more columns
Pick a column then adjust (stretch) it to the left or right
to include two or more columns before using the Merge
command.
Press Edt-F5 to exit or [Esc] to undo EDIT first
All other commands are "blocked" while you are using the
Edit command. To stop using the Edit command, press Edt-F5
to save the changes you have made, or Esc to undo the
changes you have made.
Press [Esc] to undo directory first
All other commands are "blocked" while a directory is being
displayed by one of the Input commands. You may either
choose a new file to display by moving the cursor to its
name in the directory display and pressing DO-IT, or return
to the previous file being displayed by pressing Esc.
Sorry, Help is not available
MacroPIK'r could not find its Help file (mpik'r.hlp) or the
Help file has been damaged in some way. Use the DOS "dir"
command to make sure the help file is in MacroPIK'r's home
directory (the directory that you started mpik'r.exe from).
If the help file is damaged in some way, get a fresh copy of
the Help file from your backups or distribution files.
Too many columns -- Paste Area full
MacroPIK'r was unable to complete the Paste command because
there are not enough empty columns in the Paste Area to
accommodate the picked region. Pick a smaller region (with
fewer columns in it) or delete some columns from the Paste
Area.
Too many rows -- Paste Area full
MacroPIK'r was unable to complete the Paste command because
there are not enough empty rows in the Paste Area to
accommodate the picked region. Pick a smaller region (with
fewer rows in it) or delete some rows from the Paste Area.
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TRANSPOSE needs a MOVE or COPY first
A Move or Copy command must be in progress before the
Transpose command can be used.
Common Questions
This section covers many of the common questions people ask and
has been gathered mostly from our customer support files. If you
have a question about MacroPIK'r, it may be answered here.
Q When I start MacroPIK'r the screen either goes blank or
displays strange characters that don't make sense. I have to
either reboot the computer or turn it off then on again.
A You have probably used the wrong command switch or batch file
to start MacroPIK'r. Try '-bios', '-dos', or '-bw' (or files
'mpikb.bat', 'mpikd.bat', or 'mpikbw.bat') for more
compatible ways of accessing the display. If none of these
work, try using the "no-mouse" switch (-nm), since MacroPIK'r
may erroneously think a mouse is present.
Q How can I see a directory of the files on my disk?
A Use one of the Input commands Flat, WKS, DIF, CSV, DBF, or
SYLK. At the file name prompt, type a file specification
such as "a:*.doc" to display a directory. Choose a file to
display by moving the cursor to it and pressing DO-IT, or
return to where you left off by pressing Esc.
Q I can't seem to "adjust" or "stretch" a picked region.
A Try turning off NumLock -- press the NumLock key. This only
happens if you are running MacroPIK'r with the "-dos" switch
(for compatibility with non-IBM compatible DOS computers).
Q When I use the Column command, only the first 66 lines of the
column are picked. How can I pick a column for the whole
file?
A You can pick a column for the whole file by setting the
file's page length to the length of the entire input file.
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To do this, use one of the Input commands, and at the page
length prompt type 0.
Q Using the Paste command, my columns are split at the wrong
places. How can I tell MacroPIK'r where to place the column
breaks?
A The horizontal line near the top of the screen in the Report
Area is the "column markers" line. Each marker represents
the first character position of a column and can be toggled
on and off by moving the cursor to the position to insert or
delete a column marker and pressing DO-IT.
Q Using the Paste command, the "Too many rows/columns -- Paste
Area full" message appeared even though there seemed to be
plenty of room in the Paste Area.
A The Paste command adds the data you have picked in the Report
Area to the right or below the existing data in the Paste
Area. Delete some rows or columns using the Del command,
then try again.
Q After using one of the Input commands, strange characters
appear on the screen that don't make sense.
A The file you are attempting to display is not in the proper
format for the Input command you are using. If you can use
the DOS "type" or "print" command to display the file, you
should use MacroPIK'r's Flat (input) command to display the
file. If the file is in one of the other formats supported
by MacroPIK'r (WKS, DIF, CSV, DBF, or SYLK), use the
corresponding (input) command. Sometimes you will need to
experiment.
Q I have a report containing numbers in metric [or European]
format. Will MacroPIK'r handle these properly?
A Yes. Use the Num command to convert them into "clean"
numbers before saving them with one of the output commands.
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Q Using the WKS (output) command, MacroPIK'r displayed the
message "Can't create <file>". [This can happen with any
output command.]
A This can occur for two reasons: either you are trying to
store too many files on a disk or DOS has run out of "file
handles". Check the amount of free space on the disk you are
using with the DOS "dir" command, or use one of MacroPIK'r's
input commands with a file name such as "a:*.*" to display a
directory (and the amount of free space) on disk "a:". Make
sure you have enough DOS file handles allocated. MacroPIK'r
uses, at most, 5 file handles. Certain "resident" programs
(Prokey, for example) use up additional file handles. Try
including the line "FILES=20" in your CONFIG.SYS file (see
your DOS manual for an explanation of the CONFIG.SYS file).
Q How do I use the macro facility?
A See the "Macros" section in this manual. Also, if you are
having difficulty with a macro command, try recording the
command using MacroPIK'r's Record command (Ctrl-R), then
study the macro file produced.
Q How can I take a file prepared for mailing labels -- each
name and address takes six lines -- and get at the individual
fields?
A Here is a "trick". It will work for any sort of file of
information formatted like addresses:
First of all, input the file as a flat file with page length
zero. Remove any column markers that MacroPIK'r may try to
insert. Then select the whole thing and copy it to the Paste
Area. It should all be in one column. Widen the column to
some easy to remember number, such as 80. Then output it as
FIXED LENGTH, using a new name. Now go back to the Report
Area and input the new fixed length file with a record size
of (say) 6*80 -- the number of lines per label times the
field width of the new file. You should now see each field
in its own column. Setup the column markers as you like, and
proceed as with any other kind of file -- Paste the parts of
it you want, edit/cleanup as necessary, and output in the
format you need.
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The only problem that may come up is with mailing labels that
have the extra space squeezed out of the City/State/Zip line
-- you'll have to deal with those some other way, depending
on what your labels look like.
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Chapter 8
Technical Details
This section can safely be skipped by the average user of
MacroPIK'r. It is included here primarily for the technically
minded as an aid for "tuning" MacroPIK'r. The following topics
are covered here:
o Command Line Arguments
o Temporary Files, DOS, and File Handles
o Memory Usage
o File Names
o File Formats
o The Mouse
o Numbers and Text
Command Line Arguments
Included with MacroPIK'r are several "batch" files that you can
use to tell MacroPIK'r a little bit about the computer you are
using, for instance, whether it has color or black and white
hardware. Together these batch files cover just about any
combination of hardware elements in your PC.
If, however, you choose not to use one of these batch files to
start MacroPIK'r, or none of them seems to fit your computer
system, you can create your own batch file. To do so you will
need to use an editor, for instance the "edlin" or "edit" editors
that comes with DOS, to create a file with a name that ends with
".bat", like "pikx.bat". Once created, you can then run
MacroPIK'r by typing "pikx".
This batch file should contain a command line for MacroPIK'r,
though it may have other DOS command lines in as well. A
MacroPIK'r command line has up to four parts: the program name
"mpik'r", optionally followed by a series of "flags" (the flags
all start with a dash), optionally followed by the name of a file
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to display when MacroPIK'r starts (hint: use a DOS parameter like
'%1'), optionally followed by an "@" sign and a macro name with
optional parameters.
You have three choices of "video type" flags...
-mono use monochrome color scheme
-color use colors
-bw use monochrome color scheme for color display
adapter with a black & white monitor
...and three choices of "access method" flags:
-hdwr access video hardware directly (fastest)
-bios "BIOS" to access the hardware (a little slower)
-dos "DOS" to access the BIOS (slower still)
...and, finally, several miscellaneous flags:
-h H use file "H" as help file
-t D use the directory path "D" for temporary files
-nm do NOT look for a mouse
-plN use page length 'N' for the input file
-flt F display the Flat file 'F'
-wks F display the WKS file 'F'
-dif F display the DIF file 'F'
-csvC F display the CSV file 'F', delimiter character
'C' (default is comma)
-slk F display the SYLK file 'F'
-fxlN F display the Fixed-Length record file 'F' with
record length 'N'
Unless you tell it otherwise with the "video type" flags,
MacroPIK'r will try to determine the color capabilities of your
computer by examining memory. If your computer tells MacroPIK'r
that it has color, MacroPIK'r will assume that's true and display
its screens in color. However, many people have mono displays on
color adapters (e.g.: most laptops, many generic VGA equipped
clones). In cases where a monochrome monitor is attached to a
color adapter you can get a display that is hard to read. Use
the "-mono" video type flag to force MacroPIK'r to display in
monochrome -- use one of the other two flags if you have a color
display adapter card in your PC and MacroPIK'r's built-in
checking doesn't work (as when the -bios or -dos flags are used).
The "-bw" is especially useful for a black-and-white video
monitor on a CGA adapter.
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The "-bios" and "-dos" access method flags produce screen display
that is somewhat slower than with the "-hdwr" flag, but are
useful for computer systems that are not completely hardware
compatible with the IBM-PC. If you omit this flag, MacroPIK'r
will access the display using the BIOS. The "-dos" flag assumes
you have "DEVICE=ANSI.SYS" in your CONFIG.SYS file.
The "-h" flag is useful if the disk you use to keep the help file
on is in a different directory than where mpik'r.exe is.
MacroPIK'r will use the disk drive, directory, and file name you
specify by the "H" following the flag (e.g. b:mpik'r.hlp) when
looking for its help file. If you omit this flag, MacroPIK'r
will assume the help file is named "mpik'r.hlp" and is in the
same disk drive and directory as MacroPIK'r was started from.
(Actually, MacroPIK'r will also look in the default directory and
then through all the directories in your PATH, if you have one.)
The "-t" flag is useful when disk space is running low, or when
you want more performance. MacroPIK'r will use the disk drive
and directory path you specify by "D" for its temporary files;
for example, you can have MacroPIK'r put its temporary files on a
virtual disk. If you omit this flag, MacroPIK'r will use the
default disk drive and directory for its temporary files. If you
normally use MacroPIK'r to convert files on floppies, and have
that as your default, you will benefit greatly by using the -t
switch specifying a hard disk. See the next section for a
discussion.
If you omit a file name on the command line, you can use the
Input command to display a file after MacroPIK'r has started.
By way of example, here is a command line to run MacroPIK'r with
direct hardware access, on a monochrome system, with temporary
files on disk drive C:'s root directory, using the flat file
"Q4SALES.DAT" on drive 'A' (defaulting to 66 line pages):
mpik'r -hdwr -mono -t c: a:q4sales.dat
This command line, from a Batch File, will run MacroPIK'r with
the same flags as above, but with a parameterized file name and
an optional flag:
mpik'r -hdwr -mono -t c: %2 %1
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Temporary Files, DOS, and File Handles
MacroPIK'r creates two temporary files to reduce the amount of
main memory it uses. The files are named:
MPIK.TMP
VMEM.TMP
They are removed when MacroPIK'r exits. If you abnormally
stopped MacroPIK'r by rebooting or turning off the power, these
files will be left around, taking up space. (MacroPIK'r will
automatically delete them the next time it runs in the same
context, or you can delete them yourself if you wish.)
If MacroPIK'r runs out of disk space while writing to either of
these files, it will display an error message and the command
that caused the error will not complete. Try using the "-t" flag
described in the section above to put the temporary files on a
disk with more space, or install MacroPIK'r on a disk with more
room, or delete unnecessary files to make more room. It can use
up to 2M bytes.
Normally, MacroPIK'r uses five file handles, plus the three that
DOS allocates for console i/o. Nested Macros will use more, one
per level of nesting. Also take into account that TSR utilities
may also keep file handles for themselves. Be sure your
CONFIG.SYS has a "FILES=" line in it that is at least 20.
Memory Usage
While MacroPIK'r will run in a 256k system, it will benefit from
any extra it has access to, up to a full 640k. It will NOT
directly use extended or expanded memory.
MacroPIK'r itself, and its data, use up around 200k bytes. The
rest (up to 640k) is used to buffer information from the
temporary VMEM file for "Virtual Memory". This file will expand
as you store more data in the Paste Area, up to a maximum of 2
megs. Since indexes are also stored there, you can have up to
slightly less than 2 megs in the Paste Area at once. Many narrow
columns will use up memory faster than a few wide ones since
there is an overhead per cell of about 6 bytes.
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File Names
File names can be any file name acceptable to DOS, including disk
drive, directory path names and the file name itself (e.g.
"f:\report\sales.dat"). This is for input, output, temporary
files, the help file (if you rename it), and macro file names.
File Formats
Flat
Input: When the Flat (input) command is used to display a Flat
(standard ASCII) file, MacroPIK'r makes very few assumptions
about the file's contents. That is, it does very little
"filtering", or make other changes that would change how the file
looks.
It does, however, assume that lines are terminated with some sort
of carriage-return and/or linefeed combination and that pages are
delimited by a formfeed (or the number of lines specified by you
in the Flat (input) command). If the page length is set to 0,
there are no "pages" as such, but MacroPIK'r marks each formfeed
in the file with a horizontal line of dots. Tab characters are
replaced by spaces with tab stops every eight columns. The
maximum line length is 2,000 characters.
Output: When the Flat (output) command is used, MacroPIK'r
creates a Flat (standard ASCII) file containing the data in the
picked region in the Paste Area. This file contains one line for
each row in the picked region with a space between each cell.
Except that leading and trailing quotes (") are removed, each
cell is saved exactly as it looks in the Paste Area. The maximum
size of any one cell is 2,000 characters.
A carriage-return/line-feed pair is written at the end of each
row, including the last.
WKS
Input: Files in the WKS (Lotus worksheet) format contain three
distinct types of data: values (numbers and labels), formulas
(calculations upon values) and formats (how values are
displayed). MacroPIK'r supports a subset of this file format
that deals with values only. Thus, when the Wks (input) command
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is used to display a WKS file, MacroPIK'r displays only the
VALUES in the file. The main restriction imposed by this method
is that when a cell contains a formula, the formula's value is
displayed, not the formula itself.
MacroPIK'r supports all Lotus Worksheet numeric display formats
(for all versions of 1-2-3 and Symphony) except HIDDEN and TEXT
which are interpreted as follows: The HIDDEN format is for
hiding cells in the worksheet so that they don't appear in the
display -- these cells WILL appear in MacroPIK'r. The TEXT
format displays formulas as they were entered, instead of as
their value -- MacroPIK'r always displays the formula's value.
Keep in mind that if you can see a cell's value, even if it's not
displayed quite the same as in your worksheet, MacroPIK'r will
convert the value you see without any difficulty.
Output: When the Wks (output) command is used, MacroPIK'r creates
a WKS (or WRK, WK1, WR1) file containing the data in the picked
region in the Paste Area. The file extension you type is used by
MacroPIK'r to create the exact format required.
MacroPIK'r looks at each cell in the picked region to determine
which of the following formats should be saved along with the
cell's value: FIXED, SCIENTIFIC, CURRENCY, PERCENT, COMMA
(PUNCTUATED) or TEXT (LITERAL). If a number adheres to the U.S.
convention of (optionally) using a comma (,) as the thousands
separator and a dot (.) as the decimal point, the cell is saved
using one of the numeric formats above; otherwise it is saved as
a left-aligned label. If you are dealing with data that uses the
European or Metric numeric format conventions, see the discussion
of the Number command (page 36). In addition, the width of each
column is saved so that each column, as viewed from 1-2-3 or
Symphony, will have the same width as in the Paste Area. The
maximum size of any one cell is 2,000 characters. (1-2-3 and
Symphony, however, impose a maximum label length of 240
characters. MacroPIK'r makes no attempt to shorten or otherwise
warn you that a cell is longer than this.)
MacroPIK'r does not support the conversion of formatted (human
readable) dates and times to their serial and fractional numeric
worksheet representations with the WKS (output) command.
Instead, dates and times are saved as labels in the worksheet
file which can then be converted to their numeric equivalents if
need be with either Symphony or 1-2-3 Release 2. If you are
using Symphony, the Query Parse command will perform this
conversion. In 1-2-3 Release 2, use the /Data Parse command.
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DIF
Note that this is the original "Data Interchange Format" used by
Visicalc, and adopted by many programs since then. It is not the
"Navy DIF" format used for word processing in the military.
Input: When the Dif (input) command is used to display a DIF
file, MacroPIK'r assumes that the data in the file is in row
order: all the cells in the first row come first, then the second
and so on. The width of each column is taken to be the width of
the widest cell (plus one) in that column; the smallest column
width is 9 characters. All labels are displayed left-justified;
numbers are right-justified. The string values NA, ERROR, TRUE
and FALSE are not supported (0 is displayed instead for NA, ERROR
and FALSE; 1 is displayed for TRUE). Vector labels are not
supported. The maximum line length is 2,000 characters.
Output: When the Dif (output) command is used, MacroPIK'r creates
a DIF file containing the data in the picked region in the Paste
Area. The cells in the picked region are saved in row order: all
the cells in the first row are saved first, then the second and
so on. Leading and trailing spaces and all quotes (") are
removed from labels. The maximum size of any one cell is 2,000
characters.
CSV
Input: When the Csv (input) command is used to display a CSV
(Comma Separated Values, Delimited) format file, MacroPIK'r
assumes the data in the file is in row order: all the cells in
the first row come first, then the second and so on. The width
of each column is taken to be the width of the widest cell (plus
one) in that column; the smallest column width is 9 characters.
Labels must be delimited by either the single quote (') or double
quote (") character. All labels are displayed left-justified;
numbers are right-justified. The maximum line length is 2,000
characters. The delimiter characters separate columns, except
they are ignored inside a quoted label. Lines are separated by
some sort of carriage-return and/or line-feed combination.
Output: When the Csv (output) command is used, MacroPIK'r creates
a CSV file containing the data in the picked region in the Paste
Area. The cells in the picked region are saved in row order: all
the cells in the first row are saved first, then the second and
so on. Leading and trailing spaces and all double quotes (") are
removed from labels before output, then the labels are delimited
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by the double quote (") character. The maximum size of any one
cell is 2,000 characters.
SYLK
Input: When the Slk (input) command is used to display a SYLK
(SYmbolic LinK) format file, MacroPIK'r uses the width of the
widest cell (plus one) in each column as the width of that
column; the smallest column width is 9 characters. Similar to
the WKS format (see above), formula values are displayed instead
of the formula itself. All labels are displayed left-justified;
numbers are right-justified. Cell formats, error and logical
values are not supported. The maximum line length is 2,000
characters.
Output: When the Slk (output) command is used, MacroPIK'r creates
a SYLK file containing the data in the picked region in the Paste
Area. Leading and trailing spaces and all quotes (") are removed
from labels. The maximum size of any one cell is 2,000
characters.
dBASE
Input: When you display a dBASE file in the Report Area, the
dBASE field names are displayed as the first row. The data in
each column is displayed appropriately for the type of that
field. If you copy the data into the Paste Area, be sure to
exclude the first row (unless you need it).
Output: When a DBF file is created (either for the first time or
with the "C" option) the width of each column in the picked
region determines the size of the corresponding field in the DBF
file (see also the "Setting Column Widths in the Paste Area"
section). MacroPIK'r determines the data types of the fields
(character, numeric, logical or date) by looking at the data in
the first row of the picked region: If a cell contains the single
letter Y, y, N, n, T, t, F or f, the field's type is logical. If
a cell contains a date in the form MM/DD/YY (for example,
10/22/86), and you specified a dBASE III/dBASE IV file, the
field's type is date. (The date type is not supported in dBASE
II.) If a cell contains a "clean" number, the field's type is
numeric. Otherwise, the field's type is character. A field may
be forced to the character type by surrounding a cell's contents
with quotes with the Text command; similarly, the Number command
will clean up "dirty" numbers.
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Chapter 8 MacroPIK'r User Manual
Technical Details
When new data is either appended to or replaces data in a DBF
file (without altering the structure of the existing file) the
new data is made to "conform" to that structure by padding to the
right if necessary with blanks, or truncating the data to fit
into the structure. An error message is displayed if MacroPIK'r
had to truncate any data, but the command is completed in case
this was the intended effect.
Fixed Length
Input: No carriage-return/line-feed line termination is assumed.
MacroPIK'r will strictly apply the record length you specify. If
you don't know the record length, you can experiment: Start with
a guess and look at the screen. If the information looks like
diagonal stripes going up to the right (///) try a slightly
smaller number. If you see diagonal stripes going down to the
left (\\\) try a slightly larger number. Commonly record lengths
tend to be the same size as printed reports: 80, 128, 132, ...
MacroPIK'r can handle anything up to 2000 characters per record.
Once you get the record length, MacroPIK'r will try to determine
the column markers, based on any blank spaces in the records.
You will probably need to adjust them.
Output: The data in the picked region determines the record
length -- the cell content is output as you see it, with no added
information between cells or lines. You can specify a record
length on output to override the width of the picked region. If
the specified length is less, the record is truncated on the
right. If it is greater, the record is padded with spaces on the
right.
The Mouse
MacroPIK'r is compatible with nearly all PC mice, including mice
from Logitech, Mouse Systems, and Microsoft. When MacroPIK'r
starts, it checks to see whether a mouse driver is installed in
your computer and, if so, it will try to use the mouse (in
addition to the keyboard) to allow cursor movement and provide
other commands. You can disable the mouse checking with the -nm
command line flag (see above); you might need to do this if
something other than a mouse driver uses INT 33 (the Microsoft
standard is that programs communicate with a mouse through
INT 33; if something else uses it, a "mouse-aware" program can be
fooled and issue calls that can crash the computer).
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Chapter 8 MacroPIK'r User Manual
Technical Details
Numbers and Text
When MacroPIK'r outputs data in one of the structured formats, it
needs to specify whether the cell is a numeric or text item. It
examines the cell contents and uses these rules:
Any cell with quotes around it is saved as a label, regardless of
its content, while any cell without quotes around it is saved as
a number if it "looks like" a number, otherwise it is output as a
label. A cell looks like a number if it contains only digits and
possibly a decimal point or minus sign (numbers in "scientific
notation" are OK too). That is, any number with dollar signs
($), commas (,) and other punctuation will be output as a label
-- only "clean" numbers will be output as numbers unless the
Number command is used to explicitly make the numeric conversion.
These are the rules PIK'r applies to each cell during the Number
command conversion:
Dollar signs ($) and other non-numeric characters are deleted
from the beginning and end of the cell. If there are any decimal
digits (0-9) left, the cell is considered to be a number as long
as embedded commas (,) and decimal points (.) follow certain
rules. That is, the U.S. convention of separating thousands with
a comma (,) and using a period (.) as a decimal point is valid.
As an option, MacroPIK'r can also follow the European convention
whereby the role of the comma and period are reversed. In
addition, the number is negative if there is a leading (or
trailing) minus sign (-), or if the number is enclosed in
parentheses, or if the number has the letters "CR" (or "cr")
after it. Numbers in proper "scientific notation", for example,
"6.63E-34" or "3.00e+08", are also supported. If the cell
satisfies these rules, it is converted to a "clean" number:
leading dollar signs, embedded commas, parentheses, "CR"'s, etc.,
are removed. Otherwise, the cell becomes zero (0). Notice that
empty cells become numeric 0's.
Warning: combinations of parentheses, minus signs, and "CR" will
produce a negative number if the SUM of the combinations is ODD.
That is, 4.95 CR or (4.95) equals -4.95, (4.95 CR) equals +4.95,
while (-4.95 CR) equals -4.95.
Use the Text command when you want to convert part or all of the
Paste Area to labels (text).
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Chapter 8 MacroPIK'r User Manual
Technical Details
The data in the picked region is converted to labels (text) by
surrounding each cell with quote marks ("). This becomes
significant when the Paste Area is saved with one of the Output
commands; any cell with quotes around it is saved as a label
(text), regardless of its content, while any cell without quotes
around it is saved as a number if it "looks like" a number --
otherwise it is saved as a label.
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Chapter 9 MacroPIK'r User Manual
License, Warranty & Support
Chapter 9
License, Warranty & Support
License
MacroPIK'r(tm) is "shareware". It is not in the public domain,
nor is it free.
MacroPIK'r is Copyright 1985 1986 1992 1993 by Samkhya.
"MacroPIK'r" is a registered trademark.
You must treat this software just like a book. An example is
that this software may be used by any number of people and may be
freely moved from one computer location to another, so long as
there is no possibility of it being used at one location while
it's being used at another -- just as a book cannot be read by
two different people at the same time.
MacroPIK'r is provided to you under the terms of this license.
You may use MacroPIK'r on a trial basis, to determine whether it
meets your needs. You are not permitted to use MacroPIK'r beyond
this trial, unless you register.
To register, fill out the Order Form (file "MP-ORDER.FRM", also
as an appendix in this Manual) and send it to Samkhya along with
the registration fee, in US funds.
You assume responsibility for the selection of software to
achieve your intended results, and for the installation, use and
results obtained from the program.
You may not modify the MacroPIK'r program itself, nor may you
disassemble it or reverse engineer it. (Source code licenses,
consulting, and technology transfer services are available should
you need to modify the program's function.)
You may make copies for others to use on a trial basis, subject
to the terms of this license, provided that all of the files that
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Chapter 9 MacroPIK'r User Manual
License, Warranty & Support
are provided with MacroPIK'r are also included, including this
license, and that you do not charge others -- beyond a reasonable
media and handling fee -- for providing them with the copy of
MacroPIK'r. (Please see the files VENDOR.DOC or SYSOP.DOC for
more information if you are in the business of distributing
shareware.)
This agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of
California and shall inure to the benefit of Samkhya and any
successors, administrators, heirs and assigns. Any action or
proceeding brought by either party against the other arising out
of or related to this agreement shall be brought only in a State
or Federal Court of competent jurisdiction located in Marin
County, California. The parties hereby consent to in personam
jurisdiction of said courts.
Warranty
Disclaimer
This software and manual are sold "as is" and without
warranties as to performance of merchantability or any
other warranties whether expressed or implied. Because
of the various hardware and software environments into
which this program may be put, no warranty of fitness
for a particular purpose is offered. Good data
processing procedure dictates that any program be
thoroughly tested with noncritical data before relying
on it. The user must assume the entire risk of using
the program. Any liability of the seller will be
limited exclusively to product replacement or refund of
purchase price.
Guarantee
Samkhya will replace any defective media or manual (that Samkhya
produced) within one year of purchase. You must first contact us
for return authorization and instructions, then send the
defective item(s). After examining the item(s) we will replace
it (them), at no charge to you.
If you obtained MacroPIK'r from a different vendor, please
contact them for replacement of defective media, or if you have
not already done so, you can register and receive the latest
version directly from us.
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Chapter 9 MacroPIK'r User Manual
License, Warranty & Support
Samkhya also offers a 30 day money-back guarantee on MacroPIK'r,
in case you obtained it by direct purchase instead of shareware.
If you are not satisfied with the product you should contact
Samkhya within 30 days of registration (or purchase) for
instructions on how to return the product and obtain a refund.
Support
Samkhya will provide one year of free support to any registered
user, including up to one hour of free telephone support, and
unlimited support by correspondence (mail, e-mail, fax). After
the one hour of telephone support, you may obtain additional
support for a fee (currently $60/hour). When you purchase an
upgrade, you are eligible for an additional year of support.
"Support" means assisting you in resolving difficulties in using
the program, and fixing "bugs". If a bug is discovered that
impairs your ability to benefit from using the program, we will
try to reproduce it, then fix it. If we are unable to fix the
bug, we will offer to refund your registration fee.
You can reach Samkhya during normal business hours of 9-5, M-F,
Pacific Time. We have an answering machine on at all other times
(or when no one is available to take calls) -- please leave a
CLEAR message about how and when to reach you, and what sort of
help or information you need. You may send us a facsimile at any
time:
707-878-2914 voice
707-878-2802 fax
71016,460 Compuserve
Lastly, please look at the "feedback" questionnaire that is part
of the order form. It is a good way to let us know what sorts of
improvements you'd like to see.
If MacroPIK'r is no longer supported at the time you send in your
registration, your payment will be returned.
Upgrades
From time to time (usually about once a year) we will upgrade
MacroPIK'r. As a registered user, you are entitled to purchase
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Chapter 9 MacroPIK'r User Manual
License, Warranty & Support
upgrades at a substantial discount from the regular registration
fee. In any case, you will always receive any major upgrade that
comes out during the one year after your registration, at no
charge.
Please let us know if there is some feature or change you'd like
to see in MacroPIK'r. That way the upgrades are more relevant to
YOUR needs.
If you are using a version that is more than two or three years
old, you should probably upgrade (or register!) to receive the
benefits of whatever new features have been added, or bugs that
have been fixed.
We will keep you on our mailing list for three years from the
time we last hear from you. We will send cards advising of the
availability of upgrades to everyone on this list. Note that
since mail forwarding expires much more quickly than this, you
should keep us advised of your address if you move.
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Chapter 10 MacroPIK'r User Manual
Order Form
Chapter 10
Order Form
The following page is a copy of the Order Form you should use for
registering your copy of MacroPIK'r. It is identical to the file
"MP-ORDER.FRM" which is included with MacroPIK'r. You may print
that file out and use it, or photocopy the following page:
Page 89
ID: M15B930690014 MacroPIK'r ORDER FORM // INVOICE
remit to:
SAMKHYA __________________________________
27005 Highway 1 Company Name
PO Box 13
Tomales, CA 94971 __________________________________
Contact Individual's Name
707-878-2914 phone
707-878-2802 fax __________________________________
Shipping Address
Date: __________________ __________________________________
City State Postal Code
Your PO Number: ________ __________________________________
(if needed) Country
disk format 5.25" ____ _________________________
3.5" ____ Phone Number
MacroPIK'r for DOS
-Registration $35.00 ea ________
(includes one year upgrade service)
-California deliveries add Sales & Use Tax: ________
-Shipping & Handling (per order): $5.00 ________
or
-$10.00 per order outside USA, Canada, Mexico $10.00 ________
Total: ________
Terms:
Purchaser acknowledges that the goods have already been
delivered on a trial basis, and that this is payment for
acceptance.
Please remit payment with a copy of this Invoice.
Cash, Check or Money Order (drawn on a U.S. bank, in U.S.
funds). Corporate Purchase orders (net 30 days) accepted from
large corporations within the US. All orders outside of the US
must be prepaid. (SAMKHYA Tax ID 550-68-4565.)
If MacroPIK'r is no longer supported at the time you send in
this registration, your payment will be returned.
Contact Samkhya for money saving Site License fee schedule.
Prices are subject to change without notice. (15a)
MacroPIK'r User Manual
Index
Index
1-2-3 78 C
-bios 75 Cel-F6 23
-bw 75 cell
-color 75 pick 23
-csv 17, 75 Cell command 23
-dbf 17 CGA 16
-dif 17, 75 Col-F2 22
-dos 75 color 16
-flt 17, 75 column
-fxl 17, 75 pick 22
-h 75 Column command 22
-hdwr 75 column dividers 19
-mono 75 Column Divisions
-nm 75 See Also:
-plN 75 Column Markers
-slk 17, 75 Column Height 22
-t 75 Column Markers 19
-wks 17, 75 column markers
changing 19
A restore 19
addresses 72 column widths
all adjusting 19
pick 23 Comma Separated 17
All command 24 Comma Seperated
All-F8 24 Values See: CSV
ASP 4 Command Line
ASP Ombudsman 4 Arguments 74
Association of Command line
Shareware switches 17
Professionals 4 compatible BIOS 16
compatible DOS 16
B CONFIG.SYS
batch 18 ANSI.SYS driver
Bgn-F1 22 76
BIOS 16 FILES= 77
black-and-white Copy command 40
monitor 16 CSV 80
CSV (input) 27
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MacroPIK'r User Manual
Index
CSV (output) 31 EGA 16
Csv-F7 27 European format 79
Ctrl-G Goto 42 european numbers
Ctrl-R Record a 38
Macro 43 Excel 27
Ctrl-R Resume a Execute command 43
Macro 44 Exit 9
Ctrl-S 45 Exit MacroPIK'r 21
Ctrl-S System
Command 44 F
Ctrl-W Repaint 45 field delimiter 28
Ctrl-X Execute a File Commands 26
Macro 43 File Formats 78
Cursor 9 file handles 77
File Names 78
D Find command 29
Data Interchange Fixed-Length 27
Format 17, 80 Fixed Length files
dBASE 17, 27 Column
dBASE field names divisions 19
81 fixed length
dBASE files 81 record files 82
DBF 17, 81 Fixed-Length
DBF (input) 27 Records 17
DBF (output) 31 Flat (input) 27
Dbf-F4 27 Flat (output) 31
default delimiter Flat file 78
28 Flat files
default page Column
length 28 divisions 19
Delete command 41 Flt-F1 27
Delimited See: CSV Fnd-F5 29
DIF 17, 80 formfeed 28, 78
DIF (input) 27 FXL (input) 27
DIF (output) 31 FXL (output) 31
Dif-F5 27 Fxl-F2 27
directory 28
directory display G
28 Goto command 43
DO-IT
defined 8 H
DOS 44 Help 9, 21
DOS Commands 45 help file 76
Hlp-F10 21
E
edit data 35 I
undo 35 In-F3 27
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MacroPIK'r User Manual
Index
Input Commands 27 pick
Insert command 41 all 23
INT 33 82 cell 23
column 22
L row 23
label 31 Pick Commands 22
laptops 16 Picking Data 9
Left-Arrow 29 Prv-F10 22
Lotus 17
Lotus format 78 Q
Quick Reference 7
M
Macro 18 R
mailing labels 72 Record command 43
map area 9 Record Length 28
Memory Usage 77 Repaint command 45
Metric format 79 Report Area 7
metric numbers 38 Resume command 44
monochrome 16, 75 Right-Arrow 29
mouse 82 row
Move command 39 pick 23
MPIK.TMP 77 Row command 23
Multiplan 27 Row-F4 23
N S
negative numbers Search 29
37 Search backward 29
number 31 Search forward 29
number command 36 Set Column Widths
Numbers 20
conversion 83 group 20
numbers shareware 4
european & Slk-F9 27
metric 38 start MacroPIK'r
negative 37 16
string 29
O SYLK 17, 81
Ombudsman 4 SYLK (input) 27
Output commands 31 SYLK (output) 31
SYmbolic Link See:
P SYLK
Pag-F7 30 System 45
page break 28 System command 44
Page command 30
page length 28, 78 T
Paste Area 7 Temporary Files 77
temporary files 76
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MacroPIK'r User Manual
Index
Text Virtual Memory 77
conversion 83 VMEM.TMP 77
Text command 38
Transpose command W
40 Wildcard File
transpose command Names 9, 28
example 14 WKS 17
TSR 45 WKS (input) 27
WKS (output) 31
U Wks-F3 27
undo WKS format 78
editing 35 worksheet 78
V X
VGA 16 Xit-F9 21
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