-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=¢ SEARCH SYSTEM II¢ Rev 2.1¢ BY PAUL ALHART¢ 12/31/88¢¢ (HIT SPACE BAR WHEN IN THE MAIN MENU¢ TO RUN "SEARCHII.BAS", Editor)¢¢SEARCH SYSTEM II is a very flexible¢data-base program designed to make¢your ATARI work for you. Record format¢is LEFT UP TO YOU, not dictated by the¢program. Menu driven "ONE KEY"¢commands make it easy for you to get¢started right away. Although you could¢probably use this program without any¢instructions, you should review this¢documentation in order to become¢familiar with some of the not so¢obvious features that will help you to¢get the most out of Search System II.¢¢¢ Requirements¢¢Any 8-bit ATARI Computer with BASIC¢and at least 48K. One disk drive (any¢density). Printer (optional).¢¢¢ Getting started¢¢When Search System II is RUN you will¢be presented with the Main Menu.¢¢¢ Main Menu¢¢The Main Menu screen presents you with¢information and command selections.¢Commands are entered by typing the¢first letter of the desired selection.¢The first letter of each selection is¢displayed in inverse video. If you¢make a selection and change your mind,¢don't panic. Just press RETURN until¢you have come back to the main menu¢and your data will not be lost or¢altered. Following is a detailed¢description of each menu item in the¢order that they appear.¢¢¢ Q: Quick Search.¢¢This allows you to search the "current¢file" for any combination of from 1 to¢38 characters. A "LIMIT" of from 1 to¢10 characters may then be entered to¢narrow the Search. Both groups of¢characters must be found in the same¢record to obtain a match. If the¢"LIMIT" is not to be used, just press¢RETURN at the ENTER SEARCH LIMIT¢prompt. Any and all characters are¢valid. If a match is found the whole¢record containing the match will be¢printed to the screen. A sub-menu will¢then appear at the top of the screen.¢Your choices will now be:¢¢ P: Print this record. Be sure¢your printer is on and press "P". The¢displayed record will be printed (see¢note) and you will be returned to the¢sub-menu.¢¢¢***NOTE*** Since files can be made up¢of any characters, including inverse¢video and the special ATARI characters¢your printer must be able to cope with¢them if you use them in your records.¢¢¢ E: Edit this record. The cursor¢will be placed on the first character¢of the displayed record. You may now¢edit the record using any of the ATARI¢edit functions. ex. Backspace, Insert,¢and Type over. Line length can be¢changed, Lines can be added or¢deleted, and the record size will¢automatically adjust. If a line is to¢be left as is, just press RETURN when¢the cursor is anywhere on that line.¢Pressing RETURN on an empty line ends¢the record at that point and returns¢you to the Search Menu.¢¢ D: Delete this record. You will¢be asked to confirm this choice, then¢that record will be deleted from the¢file in memory.¢¢ M: Menu Typing M or ESCAPE will¢return you directly to the main menu.¢¢ S: Search Typing S or any key¢other than those listed above will¢cause the search to pick up where it¢left off. A match may be found in¢several records and they will all be¢found and displayed with the sub-menu¢as the search continues.¢¢¢ P: Print File¢¢There are two printing formats¢available to you.¢¢(1) If ASCII Sort is OFF then the file¢will be printed starting from the¢first record and continuing till the¢last record has been printed or the¢printing process is aborted.¢¢(2) If ASCII Sort is ON you will be¢asked for a starting character. You¢may choose any character or just press¢RETURN for a default character of 0¢(ASCII 33). The records will now be¢sorted by their first character and¢printed in order beginning starting¢character you selected. Printing will¢continue till the last record in the¢sort has been printed or the printing¢process is aborted.¢¢As each record is printed it is echoed¢to the screen. Printing may be paused¢by pressing any key. Resume printing¢by pressing any key or press ESCAPE to¢abort the printing process and return¢to the Main Menu.¢¢¢ V: View File¢¢View File works exactly the same as¢Print File except that the records are¢sent to the screen only and not to the¢printer. The display may be paused or¢aborted just like in the printing¢mode. It may also be sped up by¢holding down the space bar.¢¢¢ L: Load File - Display¢Directory.¢¢Typing L will first display the¢directory of all data files on the¢currently selected drive and then ask¢which file you want to load. Type in¢the desired file name or just RETURN¢to go back to the main menu. If you¢entered a valid file name you will be¢asked if it is OK to replace the¢current file (if one exists) with the¢new file. If you answer yes the old¢file will be erased and replaced with¢the new file. Be sure you have saved¢a file before loading in a new file.¢When ever a file is loaded the date¢tag is displayed on the Main Menu¢screen under REVISION.¢¢¢ S: Save File.¢¢Before a file is saved, several checks¢are made automatically. A file must¢exist in memory and have a valid file¢name. A check is then made to see if a¢file by that name all ready exists on¢the disk. If so, you will be asked if¢it is OK to over-write that file with¢the new data. If you answer no, you¢will be asked for a new name to save¢your file with, and the same checks¢will be made again. Whenever a file is¢saved it is tagged with the current¢date. The first time the Save File¢function is used you will be asked to¢enter the current date. This date will¢be tagged to any file that is saved in¢this session and will be displayed¢under REVISION on the Main Menu. The¢date can be in any format of up to 12¢characters.¢¢¢ E: Enter Data¢¢If there is no file in memory, you¢will be asked to enter a file name¢before entering data. If there is a¢file in memory you will be asked¢whether to erase it or not. If you¢answer yes the file in memory will be¢erased and you will be asked to enter¢a file name before entering data. If¢you answer no, the current file name¢is retained, the file in memory is¢left intact, and your new data will be¢added to it. Enter your data one line¢at a time, ending each line with¢RETURN. Typing RETURN on an empty line¢ends the record and clears the screen.¢You will then be ready to enter the¢next record. Entering an empty record¢(typing RETURN as the first character¢of a record) will return you to the¢main menu.¢¢¢ A: ASCII Sort¢¢Pressing "A" will toggle ASCII Sort ON¢or OFF.¢¢¢ Current File Information¢¢The next few lines tell you the name¢of the file currently in memory, it's¢REVISION Date, and the number of bytes¢left in memory that can be used for¢this file. If available memory should¢drop below 256 bytes while you are¢entering data, a warning will sound¢and you will be returned to the Main¢Menu.¢¢¢ D: Drive #.¢¢Typing D will increment the number of¢the drive to be selected. Drives 1-8¢are supported and may be Floppy¢Drives, RAM Disks or Hard Drives. The¢default is Drive #1.¢¢¢¢ Helpful Facts¢¢Files can contain as many records as¢the memory capacity of your system¢will allow. If you create large files¢on a 64K ATARI they may be too big to¢load on a 48K ATARI. Keep this in mind¢if you plan to be using your files on¢more than one machine.¢¢Records can be any length from 1 to 20¢lines. Each line in a record can be¢from 1 to 38 characters in length. All¢lines are terminated by an EOL¢character, and all records are¢terminated by two EOL characters.¢¢When you enter the Edit mode the¢record you are editing is first¢printed on to the screen and then¢deleted from memory. You are actually¢Entering data as if you had selected¢Enter Data. The only difference is¢that the old data is on the screen.¢This data will be put back in memory a¢line at a time just as in the Enter¢Data mode. Just press RETURN to re-¢enter the data that is on the same¢line that the cursor is on. Make any¢changes to that line first of course.¢¢Data can be made up of any printable¢characters. Remember, some printers¢will have trouble with inverse video¢though.¢¢Files can have any valid 8 character¢ATARI filename.¢¢All Data files are given an extension¢of ".DAT". and stored as ATASCII text¢files. You may access them from DOS¢and most word processors. It is¢advised that you do not edit the data¢files with a word processor because¢the byte count for the file is stored¢as part of the file and would have to¢be changed accordingly for the file to¢load properly with Search System II.¢¢ Possible applications¢¢Here are a few possible uses for¢Search System II. I am sure you will¢come up with a few more of your own.¢¢Keep track of audio or video tapes.¢Use Quick Search to find out if you¢have a particular song and which tape¢it is on.¢¢Use it as an Address/Phone book. Don't¢forget to put birthdays in there too.¢¢Appointments. Start each entry with¢the month, then Quick Search for that¢month to get a list of all the¢appointments in that month. Use the¢Delete function to remove past¢appointments.¢¢Make address labels. Enter your¢addresses with the number of lines¢required for your labels. Then use¢Print File to print them all or Print¢from Quick Search to make one or more¢copies of selected addresses.¢¢Automotive maintenance records. Use¢Quick Search to find out when the oil¢was changed last, what the filter part¢number is, and information like dwell¢and gap settings.¢¢Make up your own uses for Search¢System II. It is flexible enough to¢help you keep track of almost¢anything.¢¢ *+*+E*N+D*+*+*