RISC DISC 2/RISC_DISC_2.iso/commercial/mewsoft/DMXdemo/Manual

Text File | 1995-03-23 | 16.4 KB | 324 lines

                         DIET MANAGER Xtra (C)
                             MEWsoft 1993

  The Diet Manager  is a multitasking application. It should be installed on
  the Icon Bar by  clicking  the Diet Manager icon from Desktop. This should
  be followed after a few seconds by the Diet Manager icon appearing on  the
  Icon Bar.  When printing, or displaying pie/bar Charts the Diet Manager will
  try to use the Corpus and Trinity Outline fonts. It is therefore a good idea
  to instal the Corpus and Trinity Fonts  (not provided) before loading the
  Diet Manager.

  As with all applications, the programs and data files making up the
  application can be revealed by double clicking the application icon on disc
  while holding down the SHIFT key. This is a necessary operation if you wish
  to examine the food or target databases.

  Making Backup copies

  As you probably realise, MEWsoft discs are  not  copy  protected. I fully
  expect purchasers to make backup copies of the disc for their own use. Anyone
  (and this  includes schools) who makes unlicensed use of copies of  this
  program  is  liable  to prosecution and under the new copyright act the
  penalties could be substantial. Site licences are available from MEWsoft.
  Please note that  the purchasers name and I.D number have been encoded onto
  the disc (more  than once!) and backup copies will carry the same
  identification. Any attempt to delete the identification codes may result in
  the disc becoming unuseable!

  My thanks to Simon Huntingdon for the excellent Interface Manager module
  which allows the program to use particularly attractive buttons and icon
  frames.

  A note to physicists and students.

  The use of calories for energy content is bad physics but unfortunately is
  still the widely accepted practice in many diet  manuals.  More  correctly
  they  should  be  called kilocalories (kcal), and even better would be the
  more widespread acceptance of the kilojoule as the standard unit  of  food
  energy. The conversion factor is:
               1 dietary calorie (1 kcal) = 4.184 kJ.
         The Diet Manager gives you the option of using either unit.


                  A BRIEF GUIDE TO DIET MANAGER Xtra


  The Diet Manager is designed to enable the user to find out the main
  nutritional components (calories, proteins, carbohydrates,fats,
  fibre,vitamins and minerals) of a meal or set of meals (the Diet) and of the
  individual foods making up the meal. Target Daily Intakes for each of these
  components can be set. Nutrient values can be saved as a CSV (comma separated
  value) file for loading into a word processor, and especially into MEWsoft's
  Forms Designer.  They can also be viewed in Bar or Pie Chart form.

  Upon clicking the icon on the icon bar, the three main windows  of the Diet
  Manager are opened. The top left hand window is referred to as the "Larder",
  and consists of a number of icons representing the main food categories.
  These icons can be dragged onto the right hand window which is called the
  "Tray". At the left of the Tray are 10 square buttons. These might be though
  of as "Plates".

  Food should be dragged from the Larder onto one of the Plates on the Tray. A
  food selection window then opens on the left. The foods for which data exists
  in the food data base can be examined by scrolling through the list using the
  up/down arrow icons. Alternatively the window can be enlarged and the desired
  food clicked, when it should then appear in the selection slot. Click the OK
  icon to place the desired food on the plate.

  Once a food has been placed on the plate, its name and standard portion size
  appear beside the Plate button. If the Plate button is clicked using the
  mouse SELECT button, the third main window, the Analysis window shows
  graphically and numerically the main nutritional components of the selected
  food. A % icon toggles the numerical display between absolute and
  percentage-of-daily-target display. By selecting plates using the mouse
  ADJUST button, the total nutrient values for a number of foods can be added
  together.   Extra windows can be opened to show information on vitamins and
  minerals and targets .

  Up to four "meals" can be in memory. The meals together are referred to as
  "The Diet".

  Each of the windows will now be described in more detail.

  THE LARDER

  The food database contains nutritional information on over  two hundred and
  fifty different foods. This database can be edited or added to and advice on
  how to do that is given later. The foods are grouped into categories and each
  category is represented by an icon and a name. When  the cursor moves over a
  food icon it changes to a hand. This is to remind  you that the food can be
  dragged onto the tray. If the food you want is not in the Larder you should
  obviously choose the most similar.  New foods can be added (see below).

  THE TRAY

  Up to 10 foods can be placed on the Tray. This is more than enough  for all
  but the most gluttonous of meals.  Food is transferred  from the Larder onto
  the Tray by dragging the dotted box onto a plate (the square buttons on the
  left). The finger tips of the hand icon should be over the plate before
  releasing the SELECT button. Food is selected, for analysis and also for
  wiping, by clicking on the plate button using  either the SELECT or the
  ADJUST mouse button.

  The meal has a name shown at the top of the Tray. The name can be edited by
  moving the cursor onto the name and clicking the SELECT button. Four
  different meals can be in memory at the same time. The current meal is
  selected from the Main Menu (click MENU while the cursor is over the Tray).


  Editing the portion:

  The text caret can be placed in the food portion slot by clicking when the
  pointer is over the portion. Only the number part of the portion can be
  changed.  Thus 100g can be changed to 200g.  The changed portion is used  by
  the Analysis procedure in working out the nutritient values of the portion.
  The database food portions are based in most cases on what I consider to  be
  average portions. In the Analysis window comment slot you may find more
  information on the food selected.


  Selecting a food for analysis or for deleting:

  Clicking SELECT on a Plate button selects the food for analysis or for wiping
  . Clicking the Wipe button at the top causes the selected food to be deleted
  from the Tray.  Clicking ADJUST on a Plate causes its selection state to be
  toggled (without affecting other selected foods). The  food Analysis window
  now shows the nutritional information for all of the  foods which have been
  selected. Thus by using the ADJUST button you can  select some or all of the
  foods on the Tray for analysis.

  Selecting a different food:

  Clicking the MENU mouse button while the cursor is over a Plate button  opens
  the food selection window allowing a different food (but within the  same
  category) to be selected. If you want to change the food category  then you
  must drag the desired icon onto the Plate as before.

  Serving (Portion) / Nutrient Display - Bar/Pie Chart:

  To the left of  the  "Serving" header box at the top right hand of the Tray
  is an arrow. Clicking the arrow changes the display in the Serving column to
  show nutrient values. Successive clicks cycle through the different
  nutrients. (Clicking the serving box returns to show the serving).

  The list of foods and the nutrient values displayed can be exported as a csv
  (comma separated value)  file to a graph program (eg Presenter or Graphbox).
  The Export option is on the Main Menu.

  From the Main Menu you can choose to display the nutrient information in Bar
  or Pie Chart form.  If you click MENU with the cursor over the displayed
  chart you can save the chart as a Sprite file.

  Outputting Meal and Diet Information:

  Clicking MENU anywhere in the Tray window (except over a Plate) gives The
  Main Menu including the following output options :
                Export (described above)
                Save the Meal.
                Save the Diet
                Send information to a printer.

  Saving and Loading a Meal:

  The foods which have been loaded onto the Tray and are shown as the current
  meal can be  saved as a meal file. A suitable name should be entered and the
  file saved  in the normal RISCOS way (ie drag the meal icon, the knife and
  fork, to  your disc directory window). Once saved the meal can be reloaded by
  dragging the icon from the disc directory window onto the Tray. Some  sample
  meals are provided on the Diet Manager disc in the MEALS directory.  Up to
  four meals can be held in memory at the same time. The Main Menu provides the
  option to select the current meal. When a meal is loaded it overwrites the
  current meal.

  Saving a csv nutrition information file:

  Nutritional information on the selected foods can be saved as a comma
  separated value file. Each food has its name, portion and nutritional
  analysis saved as text, with a comma between each value and a carriage
  return to end. The totals and targets are also saved. If the
  extra-information window is open the totals for the vitamins and minerals
  will be saved. If you don't want that information saved simply close the
  window.

  Because the Diet Manager is a multitasking application you can  transfer this
  file straight into another application such as !Edit or a  Word Processor.

  Saving and Loading a Diet:

  The Diet consists of all four meals together.  It is saved in the same way as
  the Meal described above. In this case the names of each meal are also saved.
  The Diet icon is similar to the Meal icon but has a double border.

  Sending Output to a printer:

  Choose Print from the Main Menu. Select either RISCOS or MEWsoft printing and
  Targets / Extra Information as required.

  The MEWsoft Printer Driver  provides a fast functional printout for Dot
  Matrix or Bubblejet printers.

  Alternatively you can select the RISCOS option in conjunction with a RISCOS
  Printer Driver. If you are printing a Meal  you can select  either  Pie
  Charts or Bar Charts  to be printed as well as the nutrient information.

  THE FOOD ANALYSIS

  The nutrient analysis for either a single selected food or the totals for  a
  number of foods is shown  both numerically, and graphically (as a horizontal
  bar). Each of the  nutritional categories has a target which is shown
  graphically by a small white "T"  on the bar chart. To see the current
  Targets click on one of the bars. A Target window should open.

  Clicking on the small button beside the % sign  toggles the numerical display
  between percentage and absolute values.  These latter are all in grams with
  the exception of the Energy value which is  given in conventional Calories
  (more accurately in kilocalories) or in kilojoules (see below). The buttons
  marked "Meal" and "Diet" will total the foods in  the current meal or all of
  the meals.

  If you wish to see the information on vitamins and minerals select "Show
  Extra" from the menu. As with the main analysis window the extra-information
  window gives data for the currently selected foods or for the complete meal
  or diet. The RDAs can be changed and the new values saved as described below.
     Changing  targets or energy units:

  Click MENU with the cursor in the analysis window. This results in a  target
  window opening allowing new targets ( recommended daily intakes) to be set.
  The default targets  (loaded when the application is first installed) can be
  saved by pressing  the button at bottom right of the Analysis window (make
  sure the Diet  Manager disc is in the disc drive, with write protection off).
  Recommended daily amounts (RDA) of the most important vitamins and minerals
  can be changed on the Extra Information window. These are saved in a separate
  file called "Target_RDA" along with the Targets saved as just described.

  Alternative targets are available in the Targets Directory. If preferred,
  they can be dragged onto the analysis window. These targets have been
  produced using a specially written program which is called "Targets" which is
  provided on the Diet Manager disc. These targets do not include the vitamins
  and minerals RDAs which can only be changed as just described. (Computer
  experts can load the Targets_RDA file in the Resources directory into Edit
  for modification.)





  EDITING THE FOOD DATABASE

  NB: The !DietEdit application discussed below is not provided with the demo version.

  Run the !DietEdit application. This loads the Food Data and Extra Information
  files and displays them in two windows. At the top of the Food Editor window
  is a set of "tape recorder" arrow icons. These move to the ends of the file,
  to the next category and to the next food. The data can be edited by clicking
  on the box to be edited and entering text as required. Clicking MENU produces
  the Main Menu.

  Notes:
   1.   If you click on the category box you will be presented with the list of
        categories. This enables you to change the category of a food (not
        something you will often wish to do I imagine). If you do change the category
        you should sort the foods (from the Main Menu) after doing so.

   2.   To enter a new food click on the New Food icon.
        After entering the data make sure you sort the data (from the Main Menu).

   3.   After entering new data please click on the OK icon before moving to
  a new food. This ensures that the new information is read into the data base.

   4.   The up/down cursor keys move the cursor up and down the data boxes.

   5.   The Food List option from the Main Menu provides a list of all of the
  foods. Clicking on one of the foods in the list moves the editor to that
  food. With ARM2 it is rather slow.

   6.   Make sure that before quitting the program you choose "Save Data"
  from the Main Menu or from the IconBar Menu. The Diet Manager disc must be in
  the drive and be write enabled. If you do not do this your changed database
  will not be saved!




                   THE DIET MANAGER PROGRAM PHILOSOPHY

  All of my MEWsoft packages have been produced in the first place to  satisfy
  a personal need. For some time I have been keen to check my  energy intake.
  However I found that  looking up foods in books, converting portions into 100
  gram units and  adding it all together, was just too tedious. hence the Diet
  Manager.

  Checking various books on nutrition suggest that in addition to calories  one
  should monitor protein input, carbohydrates, fats, essential vitamins,
  minerals and so on. Other factors  of importance in a balanced diet are the
  amounts of sugars and  saturated/unsaturated fats. About some of these latter
  there seems to be  considerable controversy and to keep the program
  comparatively simple I  have left them out.  The extra information window has
  three blank lines for notes which allow you to add your own information if
  you wish.

  As I am not a trained dietician I must advise you that I take no
  responsibility for any ways in  which the Diet Manager is used. The nutrient
  information has, in the main, been obtained from manufacturers' food labels
  but there is much variation  between similar products and I cannot guarantee
  the accuracy of the figures. For really accurate analysis you need to weigh
  your portions which is rarely feasible. However the package should give  you
  a good basis upon which to plan a more healthy diet.

  You should refer to one of the many books on Nutrition and Dieting for advice
  on recommended daily intakes and setting your own daily targets. The Targets
  application referred to above may be of help.


  A note on accuracy:

  All figures used in diet calculations should be regarded as approximate.
  There is much variation between similar foods, and few dieters weigh portions
  accurately.  Small quantities of nutrient (eg less than 1g) are completely
  ignored by the program. If you switch between Joules and Calories there might
  be small differences owing to rounding down when calculations are carried out
  by the computer. Please ignore these. Targets for daily intake should also be
  considered to be approximate and you should certainly not worry if you are a
  few percentage points over or under the target.