Software Vault: The Sapphire Collection

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Software Vault: The Sapphire Collection / Software Vault (Sapphire Collection) (Digital Impact).ISO / cdr49 / sphon133.zip / SP.DOC < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1994-12-10 | 61KB | 1,456 lines

=========================================================================== ======================= ======================= ====================== SMARTPHONE ====================== ===================== ===================== ====================== (A.K.A. AREA CODE HUNTER) ====================== ======================= ======================= =========================================================================== - More than 360 area and country codes, with time zones - More than 19000 towns and cities listed - News of projected area code changes - Zip and postal code information - World-wide overview of capitals and languages - "The Five-Minute Database" - Pop-up (TSR) Operation - Runs under DOS and Windows - Independently researched data eliminates "copycat" errors - Our relentless triple-checking of data ensures accuracy SmartPhone (Area Code Hunter) is Copyright (C) 1986, 1994 by: Pinnacle Software, CP 386 Mount Royal, Quebec Canada H3P 3C6 U.S. Office: Box 714 Airport Road, Swanton, Vermont 05488 USA Support Line: (514) 345-9578 Free Files BBS: (514) 345-8654 CompuServe: 70154,1577 Internet: 70154.1577@compuserve.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - This is a SHAREWARE product. That means we would like you to pass around unregistered copies to other people. If you have a modem, please upload it to your favourite bulletin board system, or give a copy to a friend who you think might need a program like this. Shareware means sharing! Pass it on! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - =========================================================================== === === === 1. TABLE OF CONTENTS === === === =========================================================================== 1. TABLE OF CONTENTS 2. A QUICK OVERVIEW OF SMARTPHONE 2.1 Area Code Listings 2.2 "The Five-Minute Database" 2.3 Features 2.4 TSR Capabilities 2.5 System Requirements 3. HOW TO CONTACT US 4. INSTALLING SMARTPHONE 4.1 Installation of an Archive File After Download 4.2 Installation of a Disk from a Shareware Vendor 4.3 Super-Quick Install: Pinnacle Diskette to Hard Disk 4.4 Basic Installation Concepts 4.5 Step-by-Step Installation Instructions 4.6 Upgrading from Earlier Versions 4.7 Running SmartPhone under Windows 5. USING SMARTPHONE 5.1 Starting SmartPhone 5.2 The Main Menu 5.3 The Area Code Hunt Screen 5.4 The Area Code Browse Screen 5.5 Quick-Reference Database 5.6 Other Features 6. TSR (POP-UP) OPERATION 6.1 What is a TSR? 6.2 TSR Startup 6.3 Technical Considerations 7. THE FIVE-MINUTE DATABASE 7.1 What is The Five-Minute Database? 7.2 Quick-Learn Method 7.3 Applications 7.4 What is a FIV File? 7.5 Database Format 7.6 Sample Database 8. SMARTPHONE LICENSING 8.1 Licenses for Individuals 8.2 Corporations and Institutions 8.3 Technical Support 8.4 Warranty 9. NOTES ABOUT THE LISTINGS 9.1 Time Zones 9.2 Spelling 9.3 International Dialing Codes 10. BACKGROUND INFORMATION 10.1 Product History 10.2 About Pinnacle Software 10.3 Some Examples of How SmartPhone Can Help You =========================================================================== === === === 2. A QUICK OVERVIEW OF SMARTPHONE === === === =========================================================================== ----------------------- 2.1 AREA CODE LISTINGS ----------------------- - Complete area code information for North America and the Caribbean - Every country code in the world - Town and city listings - World-wide time-zone information - Projected new area codes - "Sounds like" searches ------------------------------- 2.2 "THE FIVE-MINUTE DATABASE" ------------------------------- - Quick reference database - Area and Zip Codes - Cities, Populations, Languages - Design your own pop-up databases - Most people can set up their first database in only 5 minutes ------------- 2.3 FEATURES ------------- - Easy to install and use - Area Code search has exclusive multi-tasking hunt 'n' browse feature - Editor allows you to add your own comments to each area code - Can be run stand-alone or as a TSR (pop-up) --------------------- 2.4 TSR CAPABILITIES --------------------- - Pop-up without leaving your application program - Resident portion takes only 7K - RAM disk and EMS support for lightning-quick response ------------------------ 2.5 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ------------------------ - IBM PC compatible computer with 640K RAM - MS-DOS or PC-DOS version 3.00 or higher - Color or monochrome display - Hard disk (RAM disk or EMS recommended for pop-up operation) =========================================================================== === === === 3. HOW TO CONTACT US === === === =========================================================================== If you have any questions about SmartPhone, or about any of our other products, we'd like to hear from you. Mail ............... Pinnacle Software CP 386 Town of Mount Royal Quebec, Canada H3P 3C6 Phone .............. 514-345-9578 (Business hours, Eastern Time) BBS ................ 514-345-8654 (24 hrs per day, any speed above 1200 bps) CompuServe ......... 70154,1577 Internet ........... 70154.1577@compuserve.com NOTE: If you have a modem, we invite you to call our BBS. You can download on your first call: sign on as GUEST and get some excellent shareware and freeware. Business programs, games, reference, modem software, programming tools, utilities, and more. There is no charge for this service. =========================================================================== === === === 4. INSTALLING SMARTPHONE === === === =========================================================================== NOTE: If you are upgrading from an earlier version, please see the section entitled "Upgrading" before proceeding with your installation. --------------------------------------------------- 4.1 INSTALLATION OF AN ARCHIVE FILE AFTER DOWNLOAD --------------------------------------------------- If you have downloaded SmartPhone via modem and have dearchived the file into a directory, the product will install itself as soon as you run it. To run it, type SP at the DOS prompt. If SmartPhone does not ask for installation information the first time you run it, it means you are running a "used" copy. This doesn't present any problems, though: simply select the SPEC option on the main menu. --------------------------------------------------- 4.2 INSTALLATION OF A DISK FROM A SHAREWARE VENDOR --------------------------------------------------- If you got your copy of SmartPhone on a disk from somebody other than Pinnacle Software, refer to any special installation instructions that accompany the diskette. Once the files have been copied to their destination, you can start up SmartPhone by typing SP at the DOS prompt. --------------------------------------------------------- 4.3 SUPER-QUICK INSTALL: PINNACLE DISKETTE TO HARD DISK --------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: If you find that this section is not detailed enough, skip ahead to the next section for a complete explanation. If you're an experienced computer user, you can install SmartPhone quickly by inserting one of the diskettes into the A: drive and typing: A:GO If the diskette can only fit into your B: drive, insert it there and type: B:GO -------------------------------- 4.4 BASIC INSTALLATION CONCEPTS -------------------------------- NOTE: The information in this section will help you understand the section that follows. If you are an experienced PC-compatible user, you can safely skip this part. A diskette is sometimes called a floppy disk. If your computer has one diskette slot, it is known as "drive A:". If your computer has two diskette slots, they are "drive A:" and "drive B:". If your computer does not have a "hard disk", the A: drive is the one that you put your DOS diskette into when you turn on your computer. SmartPhone is available on two different types of diskettes. The larger diskette fits 5.25 inch diskette drives, while the smaller diskette fits into the newer 3.5 inch diskette drives. Hard disk users are strongly urged to look up the PATH and AUTOEXEC concepts in their DOS manual. 4.4.1 Formatted Disks ---------------------- (If you have a hard disk, you can skip this part) If you have ONE diskette drive, you will need a NEW diskette formatted for the A: drive. If you have TWO diskette drives, you will need a NEW diskette formatted for the B: drive. To learn how to create formatted disks, look up the FORMAT command in your DOS manual. (Briefly: remove all diskettes from your computer, insert your write-protected DOS diskette into the A: drive, type A: to log to the A: drive, then type FORMAT B:) Be very careful when formatting diskettes! Any data on the diskette will be lost. 4.4.2 Inserting a Diskette --------------------------- A diskette goes into the diskette drive slot with very little effort; don't force it! If it doesn't go in properly, or if the computer refuses to recognize the disk, try removing it and inserting it differently: flip it over or turn it around. (Hint: The label on the diskette is always the last part to go into the slot.) The larger 5.25 disk drives sometimes have a little flag or tab which must be closed before the computer will recognize that you've inserted the disk. ------------------------------------------- 4.5 STEP-BY-STEP INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS ------------------------------------------- 1. Select the SmartPhone diskette that fits into the A: drive, and insert it into that drive. Log to (i.e. select) the A: drive. You can do this by typing A: at the DOS prompt. 2. If you are installing to diskette, make sure you have a new formatted diskette handy (see "Formatted Disks", above). 3. Now run the GO program in the A: drive. You can do this by entering GO at the DOS prompt. If you are running a "DOS Shell" program, you will have to select the A: drive, then select the GO program. 4. You will then be shown a menu. Select "Install" by pressing F2. 5. You will then be shown a suggested destination for the files. In most cases, you can simply press Enter to accept the recommended destination. But if you wish to change it, it can be edited using the insert, delete and arrow keys. 6. Once the program has finished copying the files, it will return you to DOS (or your DOS shell). To start up SmartPhone, run the SP program (type SP at the DOS prompt or select SP.EXE from your DOS shell). ------------------------------------ 4.6 UPGRADING FROM EARLIER VERSIONS ------------------------------------ The instructions below assume that you are installing SmartPhone into a new diskette or directory. Don't install it in your old directory. If you were using Area Code Hunter version 3.0 or earlier, there are no special procedures to follow. (Note that SmartPhone version 1.0 came AFTER Area Code Hunter version 3.0, since SmartPhone replaced Area Code Hunter) AC Hunter version 4.0 introduced the "Notebase" (Comments window), which enabled you to attach notes to each area code. If you want to retain your notes, switch to your Area Code Hunter directory and make a backup copy of the files: COMMENTS.DAT and COMMENTS.IDX Proceed with SmartPhone installation as described in the previous sections. Then copy in the two COMMENTS files. ------------------------------------- 4.7 RUNNING SMARTPHONE UNDER WINDOWS ------------------------------------- To add SmartPhone to Windows, click on the program group you want it added to, then select the File/New function of the Program Manager. Type in the description, then the command line. If you have installed SmartPhone in a directory named C:\SP, the command line would be C:\SP\SP.EXE. You can also click on "Change Icon". Select the browse function and point to the custom icon file SP.ICO (included with SmartPhone). Since SmartPhone is a DOS program, certain Windows functions will not be available. For example, to exit from SmartPhone, you will press the Esc key instead of Alt-F4. Apart from a few minor differences, SmartPhone works very well under Windows. NOTE: Do NOT install SmartPhone in "resident" (TSR) mode if you are using Windows. If you pop up a TSR over Windows, the results are unpredictable. =========================================================================== === === === 5. USING SMARTPHONE === === === =========================================================================== ------------------------ 5.1 STARTING SMARTPHONE ------------------------ NOTE: Starting up SP for TSR (pop-up) operation is a bit different than for stand-alone operation. This is described in section 6. 5.1.1 Starting SmartPhone from the DOS Command Line ---------------------------------------------------- 1. (If the directory into which you installed SmartPhone is in your DOS PATH, this step is not necessary.) If you're not already there, change to the drive and directory in which you installed SmartPhone. For details about changing directories, refer to your DOS manual's description of the CD command. You now have three options: 2A. Type SP at the DOS prompt. This will pop up the main SmartPhone menu. 2B. Type SP ? at the DOS prompt. This will display some helpful information about starting up SP. 2C. Type SP followed by a "hunt" command. A "hunt" command is precisely the same as you would type in the Area Code Hunt Screen (described later). For example, to search for area code 514, you would start up SP like this: SP 514 Or if you were looking for cities that sound like "New York", you would start up SP this way: SP ?New York (The "?" indicates a "Sounds like" search. Hunt commands are described in more detail, later) When started up in this manner, SP returns to the DOS prompt as soon as you have finished viewing the area code information. 5.1.2 Starting SmartPhone from a DOS Shell ------------------------------------------- DOS shells vary in design, so it is impossible to give instructions that will apply to all of them. In general, however, you will follow these basic steps: 1. Select the drive and directory in which you installed SmartPhone. 2. Select the program SP.EXE You will then see SP's main menu. ------------------ 5.2 THE MAIN MENU ------------------ The main menu lists the following options: F1 HUNT - Area codes and notebase F2 DATA - Quick-reference database F4 SPEC - Specify location of data file, and so on F5 FORM - Display or print order form for SmartPhone F10 QUIT - Leave SmartPhone and return to DOS The first column (F1, F2, etc.) lists the function keys corresponding to each selection. The second column (HUNT, DATA, etc.) allows you to spot the item you want quickly. The third column is a detailed description of each function. To select a function, you can either: 1. Press the corresponding function key (e.g. F4 for SPEC), or ... 2. Move the cursor-bar (highlighted line) up and down with the arrow keys, then press Enter when it is highlighting the item you want. At any time, you can press Esc to back up. For example, if you press Esc at the main menu, you will be returned to what you were doing when you started up SP. ------------------------------ 5.3 THE AREA CODE HUNT SCREEN ------------------------------ 5.3.1 The Two Parts of the Hunt Screen --------------------------------------- The Hunt screen is displayed when you select the "HUNT" option on the main menu (F1 key). The screen is divided into two parts. The top part of the screen gives examples of "Hunt Commands". The bottom part of the screen is where you actually type your hunt command. 5.3.2 Editing Keys ------------------- While typing the hunt command, you can edit what you type by using the following keys: NAME OF KEY WHAT IT DOES ------------ --------------------------------------------------- Left arrow Moves the cursor one position to the left Right arrow Moves the cursor one position to the right Backspace Deletes the character just before the cursor Delete Deletes the character on top of the cursor Insert Turns Insert Mode on and off While in Insert Mode, you can move your cursor back with the left arrow key and insert characters where you type. Any characters you type push the other characters over to the right to make room. When Insert Mode is off, however, any characters you type on top of other characters will replace them. If you want to return to the main menu, you can "Escape" from the Hunt screen by pressing the Esc key. 5.3.3 Hunt Commands -------------------- You can search for information in a variety of ways. You let SmartPhone know what you are looking for by the format of what you type in. This is easier than it sounds! For example, if you want to find out where area code 908 is, you simply type 908, then press Enter. If you wanted to find out which area codes are used in California, you'd type California and press Enter. SmartPhone can tell the difference between numbers and letters, so it doesn't think you're looking for a city named "908" when you type 908. If you type only two letters, SmartPhone assumes you are looking for a two- letter mailing abbreviation. For example, "NY" would be found as "New York", "NJ" would be found as "New Jersey", and so on. Country codes are a little different. Since it's possible to confuse a country code with a North American area code, you must put a plus (+) sign in front of the number you asking about, so that SmartPhone knows that it's a country code. So if you wanted to find out which country used the code 63, you would enter it as +63, then press Enter. (It's the Philippines, by the way) Country names are usually distinctive, so you don't have to indicate them in any special way. If you're searching for Germany, simply type Germany, then press Enter. If you only happen to remember PART of a name, you can still search for it, by putting an equals-sign (=) in front of the part you do remember. For example, if you remember that the town ended in "octon", you would type =octon then press Enter. Note that this kind of search is considerably slower than the previously mentioned searches, because the computer has more work to do. Finally, if you don't know anything about the name of the place except an approximate pronunciation, you can use the "sounds like" search by putting a question mark (?) in front of the search text. For example, let's say somebody left a message on your answering machine but didn't say it clearly enough. All you heard was "Nork" or something like that. You would enter ?nork then press Enter. SmartPhone would find some likely candidates, such as "Newark" and "Norwich". The "sounds-like" search is slower than any of the previous search methods mentioned so far, because the computer has to evaluate the many possible ways to pronounce -- and mispronounce -- each place name. -------------------------------- 5.4 THE AREA CODE BROWSE SCREEN -------------------------------- 5.4.1 The Three Parts of the Browse Screen ------------------------------------------- After you've typed in a hunt command (see the previous section), the Area Code Hunt Screen will be replaced by the Browse Screen. The Browse Screen is divided into three parts: - The Area Code Window - The City Window - The Comments Window You can make any one of these parts "active" by pressing the Tab key. When you press Tab (located on the left side of your keyboard, usually marked either Tab, or with two arrows, each pointing at a line), the active window will change to the one below it (or the top window, if the active window is the last one on the screen). Shift-Tab does the same thing, but in the other direction. For example, if the second (City) window was active and you pressed Shift-Tab, you would switch to the first (Area Code) window. An active window is surrounded by a double line; the other two (inactive) windows are surrounded by a single line. Thus, you can always tell at a glance which window is active. When the Browse Screen first appears, the Area Code Window will usually be active. One exception: if you searched for a specific area code (example: your Hunt Command was 305), then the City Window will be active. Each window is described in more detail, below. 5.4.2 The Area Code Window --------------------------- The top window of the Browse Screen is the "Area Code Window". This window will display one or more area codes that match what you're hunting for. For example, if you were searching for area code 908, the number 908 would appear in the Area Window. If you were searching for all area codes in New York (i.e. your hunt command was "New York" or "NY"), you'd see several area codes in this window, because New York State has several area codes. If there are more area codes than can be displayed in the area window (which is only a few lines high), you can "scroll" the window by using the down arrow key. If there are more than one area code in the area window, when you push the Down Arrow key, you will notice that the highlighted bar moves down. When it reaches the bottom of the area window, the area codes scroll up. This enables you to highlight any area code in the area window. To move backwards in the list of area codes in the area window, press the Up Arrow key. The area code window also contains time zone information for any areas using North American time zones, such as Atlantic Time, Pacific Time, etc. For other areas, refer to the City Window. 5.4.3 The City Window ---------------------- The middle part of the Browse Screen is the "City Window". This window displays a list of cities in the area code highlighted in the Area Code Window (described previously). If there are more cities than can fit in the window, you can "scroll" the list by pressing the Up and Down arrow keys. In most cases, the cities are listed in alphabetical order. However, if there is a logical way to break up an area code into regions, and reliable data about such a division is available to us, the list may be broken up into sections. In this case, each section of the listing is separated from the other sections by a row of dots. For areas outside North America, time zone information appears in the City Window, at the end of the list of cities. This information is given as an "offset" from a standard North American time zone. For example, the United Kingdom shows a time listing as follows: Pacific + 8.0 Rocky + 7.0 Central + 6.0 Eastern + 5.0 Atlantic + 4.0 If you lived in the Pacific Time Zone, you would add 8 hours to your time to find out what time it is in, say, London. So if it was noon, it would be 8 PM in London. If it was 6 PM in the Pacific Time Zone, it would be 2 AM the next day in England. 5.4.4 The Notebase ("Comments") Window --------------------------------------- The bottom part of the Browse Screen is the "Comments Window". You can write notes in this window, and every time you call up a particular area code, the notes that are associated with it will also appear. You can write up to 25 lines of notes. For example: You enter the Hunt Command "New York". SmartPhone displays several area codes in the Area Code window (described previously). You use the Up and Down arrow keys to highlight one of the area codes. Once you've selected the one you want, you tap the Tab key twice to get to the Comments Window. You type a brief note. If you make a mistake, you can use editing keys (see "Editing Keys", described previously). When you press Esc to leave the Browse Screen, your notes are saved and associated with the area code that was highlighted in the Area Code window. So whenever you select that area code in the Browse Screen, you will also see the notes that you typed. 5.4.5 Leaving the Browse Screen -------------------------------- To leave the Browse Screen and return to the Main Menu, press Esc. One exception to this: if you started SP at the DOS command line with a Hunt Command (for example: SP Georgia), you will be returned to the DOS prompt when you press Esc. ----------------------------- 5.5 QUICK-REFERENCE DATABASE ----------------------------- F2 on the main menu brings up a quick-reference menu. This section features several databases containing information about the world. The databases provide information about population, capitals, zip codes, language and more. When you are displaying a database, you can scroll back and forth using your arrow and page keys. Some databases allow you to sort the data in various ways. But all that data can be a bit overwhelming. That's where the (F)ind command comes in handy. When you press the "F" key, you will be asked for some text to search for. Type in the item you're interested in. The data is then redisplayed, showing only the records that contain that data. The other data didn't get deleted, though -- it's just hidden. You can then scroll through the reduced list of data in the usual way. To restore the data to the complete list, press "F" again, then press Esc. You will once again see all the data records. SmartPhone REALLY gets smart when you write your own Quick-Reference Databases! Using a text editor and following a few simple rules, you can create your own databases, which will then be available to you to "pop-up" at any time. For details, see the section entitled "The Five-Minute Database". ------------------- 5.6 OTHER FEATURES ------------------- 5.6.1 The SPEC Option ---------------------- F4 on the main menu brings up a configuration screen. You can use this to customize SmartPhone's operation. For example, you can switch the display from color to monochrome (i.e. no color), or turn the sound effects on or off. 5.6.2 The FORM Option ---------------------- F5 on the main menu will either display or print an order form for ordering registered copies of SmartPhone. 5.6.3 The QUIT Option ---------------------- F10 on the main menu will return you to whatever you were doing before you started (or popped up) SmartPhone. As an alternative to pressing F10, you can press Esc. =========================================================================== === === === 6. TSR (POP-UP) OPERATION === === === =========================================================================== NOTE: TSR support is available only in the Pop-Up version of SmartPhone; it is not available in the Personal version. If you're not sure which version you have, start up SmartPhone like this: SP ? ------------------- 6.1 WHAT IS A TSR? ------------------- If you want to be able to call up SmartPhone at any time, you can install it as a "Pop-up", also known as a TSR (Terminate and Stay Resident) program. This will enable you to start up SP even if you're already in another program, just by hitting a special key combination. When you're finished with SP, you'll return to your original program as if nothing had happened. ---------------- 6.2 TSR STARTUP ---------------- To start up SmartPhone as a TSR, you have to start it up in way that is slightly different from the usual (non-TSR) start-up. At the DOS prompt, enter the command: SP -R After doing this, you will be able to "pop up" SmartPhone at any time, simply by pressing Alt-Space. Then when you've finished with SmartPhone, you will be returned to what you were doing before you popped it up! If for some reason you wish to remove SmartPhone from memory (perhaps because you need the memory for a particularly large program), enter the following unloading command at the DOS prompt: SP -U If you wish to permanently change the pop-up key from Alt-Space to something else, start up SmartPhone as follows: SP -N You will then be asked to press the key combination you want to use. ----------------------------- 6.3 TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS ----------------------------- When operated in pop-up mode, SmartPhone needs about 275K of free disk space on a hard disk or RAM disk. (SmartPhone also uses disk space for storing up to 25 lines of your comments for each area code.) "Pop-up" programs interact with other programs and each other in ways that DOS was not designed for. We can not guarantee that the pop-up feature will work on your computer in any or all circumstances. As with all pop- ups, in order to get the SmartPhone TSR working properly, you may have to experiment a bit with the settings. We particularly recommend using a RAM disk as your "swap" drive, if possible. =========================================================================== === === === 7. THE FIVE-MINUTE DATABASE === === === =========================================================================== -------------------------------------- 7.1 WHAT IS THE FIVE-MINUTE DATABASE? -------------------------------------- Our experiments have shown that a moderately experienced computer user who wants to create databases for SmartPhone can learn the required techniques in two minutes and fifteen seconds. But we couldn't very well call our system "The Two Minute and Fifteen Second Database", could we? Thus was born "The Five-Minute Database"! ----------------------- 7.2 QUICK-LEARN METHOD ----------------------- If you are an experienced computer user, load a copy of the file 10CODZIP.FIV (included with SmartPhone) into your favourite text editor program. The comments at the beginning of that file explain how you can make your own Five-Minute Database file. ----------------- 7.3 APPLICATIONS ----------------- The Five Minute Database is designed for small collections of tabular data -- usually around 300 items. When you create a database in your SmartPhone directory, it will become available via SmartPhone. This means that you could have pop-up (TSR) access to such lists as: - Salespeople for your company, listed by region - Commonly used phone numbers - Product information - Inventory codes - Telemarketing scripts and so on. We recommend that you create a small database -- a phone list of your friends, for example -- to see how easy it is. After that, we're sure that plenty of other applications will occur to you. ------------------------ 7.4 WHAT IS A FIV FILE? ------------------------ Databases for The Five-Minute Database are text files with a .FIV extension. For example, SmartPhone would recognize the file MYFILE.FIV as a database, but it would not recognize the file MYFILE.TXT. FIV files are created -- and updated -- using a text editor and viewed using the DATA feature of SmartPhone. A text editor is a program for creating standard DOS text files. You can use DOS's EDLIN or EDIT, a programmer's editor (such as the Turbo Pascal editor or QEdit), or a word processing program in non-document (generic DOS text) mode. SmartPhone looks for FIV files in its home directory. So if you installed SmartPhone in a directory named C:\SP you should place your FIV files there. If there are 9 or less databases, SmartPhone will display the titles of each one on its selection menu. If there are more than 9, SmartPhone will show the first 9 that appear in the DOS DIR command. The Five-Minute Database is optimized for databases of around 200-300 records. You can define more records, but performance will be degraded. (In later versions of SmartPhone, we will allow more databases and make it practical to have more records.) -------------------- 7.5 DATABASE FORMAT -------------------- NOTE: You may find it useful to print out a copy of the file FRIENDS.TXT (included with SmartPhone) and compare it with the information presented here. A FIV file is divided into several sections, each of which start with a special "control word" that SmartPhone recognizes. These sections are: CONTROL WORD DESCRIPTION OF SECTION ------------ ---------------------- ; (semicolon) Comment line >>TITLE Title of the database >>VERSION Version of SmartPhone required to read database >>SORT Describes the ways the data can be sorted >>HEADER Titles that describe each column of data >>FRAME Lines that are drawn around the data >>DATA The actual data These sections are described in more detail below. 7.5.1 Comments --------------- Any line in a FIV file that begins with a semicolon (;) is ignored. This lets you insert comments in the file. Here is an example of a comment: ; This is a comment The semicolon must appear in column 1. Comments may appear anywhere in the FIV file. 7.5.2 The >>TITLE Section -------------------------- The >>TITLE section defines the title of the database. This is displayed on the database selection menu when you select the DATA section of SmartPhone. One exception: if there is only one FIV file, SmartPhone selects that automatically. Here is an example of a >>TITLE line: >>TITLE My friends and their phone numbers The >>TITLE can be in upper case or lowercase, and may be abbreviated to >>TITL. It must begin in column 1, and must appear before any other control words in the file. 7.5.3 The >>VERSION Section ---------------------------- The >>VERSION section defines the version of The Five-Minute Database required to read the database. Here is an example of the >>VERSION control word: >>VERSION 1.00 The version number given reflects the version of The Five-Minute Database, not the version of SmartPhone. The Five-Minute Database is provided as part of SmartPhone, but we consider it a separate product with its own version number. The current version is 1.00. The >>VERSION control word can be in upper case or lowercase, and may be abbreviated to >>VERS. It must begin in column 1, and must appear immediately after the >>TITLE control word. 7.5.4 The >>SORT Section ------------------------- The >>SORT section describes the various ways the data can be sorted. Here is an example of a >>SORT section: >>SORT 1 14 Sort by first name 15 28 Sort by last name 29 44 Sort by phone number The format of each sort definition line is: <Start column> <End column> <Menu description> When the user selects a database in the DATA section of SmartPhone, they see the menu descriptions you have specified. (They do not see the start and end column information). The >>SORT section is optional. If you do not specify a >>SORT section, the data will not be sorted in any way but will be presented in the order it appears in the FIV file. If you specify only one sort line, that will be chosen automatically and the user will not be presented with a menu. The >>SORT control word can be in upper case or lowercase. The >>SORT control word and the lines following it must begin in column 1. 7.5.5 The >>HEADER Section --------------------------- The >>HEADER section specifies up to 8 lines of text that will appear at the top of the data when it is displayed. For example, if you had three columns of data in a database containing phone numbers for your friends, you would want to define a >>HEADER section like this: >>HEADER First Name Last Name Phone Number ---------- ------------- --------------- In this example, we have indented the column headings by two spaces because the data, when displayed, is also indented two spaces. See the >>FRAME and >>DATA sections for details. The >>HEADER control word can be in upper case or lowercase. It may be abbreviated to >>HEAD. The >>HEADER control word must begin in column 1. 7.5.6 The >>FRAME Section -------------------------- The frame section defines lines that are drawn around the data when it is displayed. The >>FRAME section MUST be three lines long (not counting the >>FRAME control word), as in the following example: >>FRAME +-------------------------------------------+ | | +-------------------------------------------+ The first line shows the text that forms the top of the box, the second line shows the lines drawn with the actual data, and the third line defines the bottom of the box. In the example given in the >>HEADER section, we described a phone-number database. Combining the two together, we could have something like this: >>HEADER First Name Last Name Phone Number >>FRAME +-------------+-------------+---------------+ | | | | +-------------+-------------+---------------+ The column headers in the >>HEADER section are indented by two spaces because the data, when displayed, is also indented two spaces, in order to allow a frame line to appear on the left side. The >>FRAME control word can be in upper case or lowercase. It may be abbreviated to >>FRAM. The >>FRAME control word must begin in column 1. 7.5.7 The >>DATA Section ------------------------- The >>DATA section lists the actual data, with one data record per text line. Null (empty) lines are ignored. The >>DATA control word can be in upper case or lowercase. It must begin in column 1. Bear in mind that the data following it will be indented two spaces when displayed, to allow the >>FRAME section to define a vertical line on the left side of the data display. -------------------- 7.6 SAMPLE DATABASE -------------------- Combining the concepts described in the preceding sections, we produce a text file that looks like this: ; This is my database ; >>TITLE My friends and their phone numbers >>VERSION 1.00 >>SORT 1 14 Sort by first name 15 28 Sort by last name 29 44 Sort by phone number >>HEADER First Name Last Name Phone Number Comments >>FRAME +-------------+-------------+---------------+------------------------+ | | | | | +-------------+-------------+---------------+------------------------+ Timothy Campbell 514-345-9578 Pinnacle Software Leonardo Da Vinci 208-555-2343 Helicopter Repair Inc. Ronald Reagan 310-555-2922 Anecdotes 'R' Us Ronald McDonald 908-555-1414 Burger Labs This example is indented for clarity. In the actual text file, all of the control words would start in column 1. You'll notice that the data does not align with the frame; it will be indented two spaces when displayed. The example given above can be found in the file FRIENDS.TXT, included with the SmartPhone package. If you wish to experiment with it, rename it to FRIENDS.FIV so that SmartPhone will recognize it as a Five-Minute Database file. =========================================================================== === === === 8. SMARTPHONE LICENSING === === === =========================================================================== ----------------------------- 8.1 LICENSES FOR INDIVIDUALS ----------------------------- SmartPhone and its related files, data and programs are not free. The entire SmartPhone package is a copyrighted software product created and owned by Pinnacle Software of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. SmartPhone is distributed as shareware. This means that you may freely evaluate the SmartPhone package for up to 45 days. At the end of this time, if you wish to continue using SmartPhone, you must purchase a registered copy from Pinnacle Software. To print out (or display) the order form, select "FORM" from the main SmartPhone menu. If you do not have a printer, it will appear on your screen. ---------------------------------- 8.2 CORPORATIONS AND INSTITUTIONS ---------------------------------- After the 45-day evaluation period, corporations and institutions must purchase a license to continue using SmartPhone. This license allows internal use and copying of the SmartPhone package by as many machines as are licensed. The license fee is based upon the number of machines on which SmartPhone will be running. See the order form for details. Regardless of the quantity licensed, one diskette containing the registered program and documentation will be sent to you. Upon receipt, you may make as many copies of the package as are licensed. Non-exclusive licenses for corporations and institutions to distribute, repackage or resell SmartPhone to third parties are available. Contact us for details. Disk vendors, clubs, user groups and computer bulletin boards may distribute the UNREGISTERED version of the software without a distribution license provided the entire unaltered SmartPhone package is included in the distribution and a fee not to exceed U.S. $9 is charged for each copy so distributed. Distribution of registered versions of SmartPhone is strictly prohibited and will result in legal action against the distributor. ---------------------- 8.3 TECHNICAL SUPPORT ---------------------- If you need technical support for SmartPhone or any of our other products, you may call or write to us (see "How to Contact Us"). You do not have to be licensed to call for technical support. Support requirements exceeding one half hour per client per product are billed at a rate of $45 per hour. ------------- 8.4 WARRANTY ------------- SmartPhone is licensed "as is", without any warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose, performance, or otherwise. All warranties are expressly disclaimed. By using SmartPhone, you agree that neither Pinnacle Software nor any officers, directors, employees, shareholders, affiliates, owners, or other related parties will be liable to you or any third party for any use of (or inability to use) or performance of this product, or for any damages whatsoever whether based on contract, tort or otherwise even if we are notified of such possibility in advance. (Some states and provinces do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so the foregoing limitation may not apply to you.) =========================================================================== === === === 9. NOTES ABOUT THE LISTINGS === === === =========================================================================== --------------- 9.1 TIME ZONES --------------- All time zone information is listed in relation to North American standard times. No adjustment is made for "Daylight Savings Time", since this is not used everywhere, even in North America. (For example: Newfoundland experimented with "Double Daylight Savings Time".) Standard times should be interpreted as in the following example: - Pacific 8 AM - Rocky 9 AM - Central 10 AM - Eastern 11 AM - Atlantic Noon For an explanation of how SmartPhone treats time-zones outside the standard North American time zones, refer to the section entitled "The City Window". ------------- 9.2 SPELLING ------------- There are frequently several commonly used spellings for a foreign name. Consider Beijing versus Peking, or Rejkjavik versus Rekyavik. In some cases, we provide alternative spellings in parentheses. All occurrences of "St." and "Ste." are replaced with "St-" and "Ste-" as this is a common feature of many phone books. "San" (as in San Francisco), is left as is. Accents and other special characters are always omitted. In transliterating other names into English, various authorities apply various "rules" with varying degrees of enthusiasm. If you wish to research this dilemma, you can sometimes obtain a "style book" from your local newspaper which explains how they transliterate names. Transliteration is a problem that seriously affects SmartPhone, but we can't claim that we've come up with a solution. The problem plagues all media. A good example in recent memory is the spelling of the name of the leader of Libya. His last name was spelled "Kaddafi", "Qadaffi", with countless variations on either spelling. -------------------------------- 9.3 INTERNATIONAL DIALING CODES -------------------------------- The international codes listed (e.g. +299 for Greenland) have been checked only insofar as they are useful in North America and the Caribbean. They may be used in other countries, but we have no way of checking the direct- dialing service offered by every country. When in doubt, consult your local telephone operator. =========================================================================== === === === 10. BACKGROUND INFORMATION === === === =========================================================================== --------------------- 10.1 PRODUCT HISTORY --------------------- SmartPhone is based on a program we wrote named Area Code Hunter. AC Hunter Version 1.0 was given some minor distribution in 1988 as a simple command-line reference work. It proved both useful and popular, so we added some "friendly" features (such as a main menu) during 1990, and launched Version 2.0. Some additional fancy items were added to make Version 3.0, which was selected by "Compute" magazine to be the top-billed program of its "On Disk" feature. (See "Compute", February 1991.) At that time, we only listed major population centers, giving us a database of no more than 5000 cities and towns. Version 4.0 brought in TSR support and the notebase. We were now receiving high quality, current information from various sources, enabling us to increase the database to over 11,000 cities and towns by version 4.2. After version 4.2, we added the "Five Minute Database" feature, and it became obvious that the product was more than an "Area Code Hunter", so we renamed it to "SmartPhone, Version 1.00". In 1994, SmartPhone version 1.32 was selected by National Systems Technology for retail marketing. Thousands of copies have been sold by NST and others. ----------------------------- 10.2 ABOUT PINNACLE SOFTWARE ----------------------------- Pinnacle Software is a computer consulting company based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and Swanton, Vermont, U.S.A. We have been issuing shareware since 1986 and are generally considered to be the most prolific authors of shareware in Canada. -------------------------------------------------- 10.3 SOME EXAMPLES OF HOW SMARTPHONE CAN HELP YOU -------------------------------------------------- 10.3.1 Get Fast Answers ------------------------ You have a problem with a computer program, and the manual gives the address of the company -- but no phone number. Use SmartPhone to zero in on the area code, then call long-distance information (1-XXX-555-1212) to get the phone number of the company. Much faster than writing a letter! 10.3.2 Fill in Missing Information ----------------------------------- You get this message on your answering machine: "My name is Fred Jones, calling from Pensacola, Florida. Please call me back at 555-3866." He forgot to leave his area code! With SmartPhone, that's not a problem! 10.3.3 Avoid Wasted Calls -------------------------- You check a customer's number with SmartPhone and notice that the time zone is three hours later than yours. It's 9:15 AM, so you hold off placing the call, since he's probably out having lunch. 10.3.4 SmartPhone Can Save You Money! -------------------------------------- SmartPhone can pay for itself if you sometimes work late. If you have to return calls to time zones further West, you can wait until the long- distance rates go down. For example, if you're in New York (Eastern Time), you can save money by waiting until dinner time to return calls to California (Pacific Time). When it's 6:30 PM in New York, it's 3:30 PM on the West Coast. People on the West Coast can save money when they start working a little early. If it's 7:30 AM in Anaheim, it's 10:30 AM in Boston. So you can call a wide-awake client on the East Coast while taking advantage of low off-prime-time long-distance rates.