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OS/2 Help File | 1993-05-31 | 31.0 KB | 822 lines

ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1. Overview ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Little Black Book is a personal information manager which may be used to store and manipulate the names, address, phone numbers, and other pertinent information about groups of individuals. It is capable of storing up to five different groups of people in each phone book. These groups could be business contacts, friends, relatives, Christmas card lists, etc, they are determined solely by you. It is also capable of dialing the phone, and printing mailing labels for any individual or group selected. Little Black Book is provided "as is" without any warranties (or conditions), expressed or implied with respect to the software, including the implied warranties (or conditions) of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. The entire risk arising out of use or performance of the program remains with you. In no event will the copyright holder be liable for any lost profits, lost savings, incidental or indirect damages or other economic consequential damages, even if I have been advised of the possibility of such damages. In addition, I will not be liable for any damages claimed by you based on any third party claim. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2. File ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The File menu contains commands that allow you to create, open, and save data files. The following commands appear in the File menu: New Creates a new untitled file Open Opens an existing file Import Brings data into Little Black Book from an external source Export Transfers data out of Little Black Book into another format Save Saves any changes to the current file Save As Saves the current file under a different title Quit Exits Little Black Book ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3. File New ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ You can create a new phone book by using the File New command. To create a new phone book, do the following: o Select the File menu item and choose the New command. The word "Untitled" will then appear in the title bar of the Little Black Book window. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4. File Open ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ You can open a phone book that exists on any drive in any directory by using the File Open command. To open a file, do the following: 1. Select the File menu item and choose the Open command. 2. A dialog box will then appear showing you a list of files in the current directory. 3. Select the file to be opened by clicking on the appropriate directory and file names. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 5. File Save ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ You use the File Save command to save changes you've made to your phone book. To save changes to the current file, do the following: o Select the File menu item and choose the Save command. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 6. File Save As ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ You use the File Save As command to name and save your database in a new file. To do this, perform the following: 1. Select the File menu item and choose the Save As command. 2. A dialog box will then appear showing you a list of files in the current directory. 3. Select the appropriate directory folder and then type in the new file name. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 7. Quit ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ To exit Little Black Book, do the following: o Double Click on the Icon in the upper left-hand corner of the Little Black Book screen. o Or, Select File Quit from the menu bar. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Help for Open ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Help for Open ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1. Select the down arrow to the right of the Drive list to display all the drives on your system. 2. Select a drive from the Drive list. 3. Select a directory from the Directory list. 4. Select a file name from the File list or type in a file name and select the Open pushbutton to display the file you want to edit. For specific help, select a topic below. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> List of Fields ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ File name Type of file Drive File Directory Open pushbutton ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Help for File name ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Help for File name ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Type the name of the file you want to open in the File name field and select the Open pushbutton. For more help, select a topic below. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> List of Fields ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ File name Type of file Drive File Directory Open pushbutton General help ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Help for Type of file ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Help for Type of file ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Select the down arrow to the right of the Type of file field to display the available file types. The sample has set this field for all file types. For more help, select a topic below. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Help for Drive ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Help for Drive ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The Drive list displays the drives on your system. Select the drive that contains the files you want to edit. For more help, select a topic below. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Help for File ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Help for File ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The File list displays all the files in the directory you selected from the Directory list. Select the file you want to open. For more help, select a topic below. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Help for Directory ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Help for Directory ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The Directory list displays the directories on the selected drive. Select a directory to display the list of files from that directory in the File list box. For more help, select a topic below. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Help for Open ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Help for Open ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Select the Open pushbutton to display the file you want to edit. For more help, select a topic below. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Help for Save ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Use Save to store the file you are editing. After the file is saved, the text remains in the window so that you can continue editing it. Note: If you are editing a new file, select the Save or Save as choices to display the Save as pop-up so that you can name the file you are editing. A file must have a title to be saved. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Help for Save as ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Use Save as to name and save a new file or to save an existing file under a different name, in a different directory, or on a different disk. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Help for Save as ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Help for Save as ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1. Select the down arrow to the right of the Drive list to display all the drives on your system. 2. Select a drive from the Drive list. 3. Select a directory from the Directory list. 4. Type the name of the file you want to save in the File name field and select the Save pushbutton. For specific help, select a topic below. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> List of Fields ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ File name Type of file Drive File Directory Save pushbutton ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Help for File name ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Help for File name ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Type the name of the file you want to save in the File name field and select the Save pushbutton. For more help, select a topic below. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> List of Fields ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ File name Type of file Drive File Directory Save pushbutton General help ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Help for Type of file ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Help for Type of file ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Select the down arrow to the right of the Type of file field to display the available file types. The sample has set this field for all file types. For more help, select a topic below. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Help for Drive ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Help for Drive ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The Drive list displays the drives on your system. Select the drive that contains the files you want to save. For more help, select a topic below. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Help for File ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Help for File ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The File list displays all the files in the directory you selected from the Directory list. Select the file you want to rename and save. For more help, select a topic below. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Help for Directory ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Help for Directory ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The Directory list displays the directories on the selected drive. Select a directory to display the list of files from that directory in the File list box. For more help, select a topic below. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Help for Save ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Help for Save ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Select the Save pushbutton to save the file to the drive and directory you selected and with the file name you specified. For more help, select a topic below. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 8. Update ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The Update menu has commands which allow you to create new records, delete unneeded records, and modify existing records. The following commands appear in the Update menu: Add a record Creates a new entry in the database Delete a record Removes an unneeded entry in the database Modify a record Changes an existing record in the database ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 9. Add a record ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ You can create a new entry in the database by using Add a record. To do so, perform the following steps: 1. Select the Update menu item and choose the Add a record command. 2. Fill-in the record as appropriate 3. Select whatever group the person is a member of. 4. Press Add to update the database or press Cancel to abort the procedure. 5. You may continue adding records until all names are entered, press Add after you have entered the data for each record (including the last) and then press Cancel to take you back to the main menu. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 10. Delete a record ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ You can permanently remove an entry from the database by using Delete a record. To do so, perform the following steps: 1. Select the record you wish to delete by highlighting it with the horizontal scroll bar. 2. Select the Update menu item and choose the Delete a record command. Warning: Once a record is deleted there is no method of retrieving it. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 11. Modify a record ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ You can change the contents of a record by using the Modify a record command. To do so, perform the following steps: 1. Select the record you wish to modify by highlighting it with the horizontal scroll bar. 2. Select the Update menu item and choose the Update a record command. 3. Modify the data as appropriate 4. Press Modify to update the database or press Cancel to abort the procedure. 5. You may continue modifying records until you have made all desired changes, press Modify after each record is changed (including the last) and then press Cancel to take you back to the main menu. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 12. Search ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The Search menu has commands which allow you to locate a record which has as any field or substring within any field the string specified. Find Specify a substring to search for, and locate the next occurance within the database. Find Prev Locate the substring specified by the Find command closest to the current pointer in the reverse direction. Find Next Locate the substring specified by the Find command closest to the current pointer in the forwards direction. Find First Locate the first occurance in the database of the substring specified by the Find command. Find Last Locate the last occurance in the database of the substring specified by the Find command. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 13. Find ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Specify a substring to search for, and locate the next occurance within the database. o The substring is initially set to a blank value on program initiation, however, once it is entered the program will remember that value until it is either changed or the program is terminated. o The default value for searches is case insensitive, for example the search string abc will match the string This is a test of our ABC's. o Case sensitive searches may be turned on by placing a check mark in the Case Sensitive block. In this case the prior example would NOT produce a match. o Only the group currently displayed on the screen is searched, data which does not belong to this group is not searched. o All records within a database entry are searched for a match, not just those displayed on the screen. Searches should not be made which span more than one record within a database entry, said searches will produce unreliable results. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 14. Find Prev ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Locate the substring specified by the Find command closest to the current pointer in the reverse direction. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 15. Find Next ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Locate the substring specified by the Find command closest to the current pointer in the forwards direction. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 16. Find First ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Locate the first occurance in the database of the substring specified by the Find command. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 17. Find Last ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Locate the last occurance in the database of the substring specified by the Find command. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 18. Dial ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The Dial feature attempts to dial the phone based upon parameters established by the Setup Dialing feature. o The phone number dialed is the one belonging to the record currently highlighted. o If work phone is currently selected, and there is no entry for work phone, but there is an entry for home phone you will be prompted to determine if you wish to dial the number listed for the home phone. o The previous also applies for the home phone dialing the work phone. o The phone numbers in the database should exactly specify the number to be dialed including the dialing prefix. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 19. Print ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The Print menu allows you to print either the currently highlighted entry or all entries in the currently displayed group. Current Prints the entry currently highlighted using specifications determined by the Setup Printing function. All Prints all entries in the currently displayed group using specifications determined by the Setup Printing function. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 20. Print Current ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Prints the entry currently highlighted using specifications determined by the Setup Printing function. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 21. Print All ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Prints all entries in the currently displayed group using specifications determined by the Setup Printing function. The Setup Display function determines which group is currently active. The same group that is currently on the screen will be the group which is printed. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 22. Setup ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The Setup function is responsible for how information is displayed on the screen, how phone numbers are dialed, and how labels are printed. Display Determine record types displayed, set group names, and determine which group(s) is displayed. Dialing Determine if Pulse/Tone dialing method is used, determine if the Home/Work number is to be dialed, and set the COM Port to which the modem is attached. Printing Determine label making parameters and set printer port. Sort Order Determine display, printing, exporting order of the database. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 23. Setup Display ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Determine record types displayed, set group names, and determine which group(s) is displayed. o You may check as many boxes as you wish within the Fields displayed section. Checking a box merely affects what is shown on screen, it does not affect the data, searches upon the data, or the printing of labels. o The Label Making/Viewing Categories section allows you to create separate, logical groups within the database for assigning people. These groups may have names such as Family, Business Acquaintances, or Christmas Card List. People may be assigned to zero or more (up to 5) groups for display. This feature is intended to help you keep your data organized, and to allow you to do mass label printing for any one group. o The Group to View section allows you to specify which group is curently the active one for viewing. You may of course, select All to see all individuals regardless of their group membership. o In the event that you need more groups than 5, Little Black Book fully recognizes the ability to have more than 1 database file. The database filename is of the format *.lbb with it's associated configuration in the form *.cnf. o Little Black Book remembers the last database you were working on the last time you were in the program, and opens the most recently used database the next time the program is run. To swap to a different database file use the File Open command to open a new database file. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 24. Setup Dialing ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Determine if Pulse/Tone dialing method is used, determine if the Home/Work number is to be dialed, and set the COMM Port to which the modem is attached. o The Dial select feature allows you to switch between Tone and Rotary/Pulse dialing. Your telephone line and your modem must both support whichever method is chosen. In the event that problems arise, check your modem documentation and ensure that your modem's non-volatile memory is setup with the correct parameters for your local phone system (it usually is). o The Number select feature allows you to determine if the Home or the Work phone number is dialed when the Dial button is pressed. o The COMM Port select feature allows you to tell the computer which port your modem is attached to. If you select an incorrect port usually OS/2 will detect this when you attempt to dial and give you an appropriate error message. o The Modem Initialization String is useful if you wish to alter the configuration of your modem's preset settings, or if you require special settings for dialing. This setting is normally not used. o The Dialing Prefix is the command string used to control your access method to the phone system, for instance many PBX systems require you to dial 9, to reach an outside line, this is where you would put the 9,. Warning: In the event you get a nasty message from the operating system when you attempt to dial, select Return Error Code to Program and Little Black Book will not terminate abruptly. At this time you should go to Setup Dialing and correct the Comm Port setting. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 25. Setup Printing ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Determine label making parameters and set printer port. o Labels may be up to 4 lines. - The first line may be either Name, Title and Name, or Company. - The second line may be either Name, Title and Name, Company, or Street address. - The third line may be either Street address, or City, State, Zip - The forth line may be either Blank, or City, State, Zip o The Left Margin setting allows you to tell the printer in which column to start printing your labels. o The Lines per Label setting tells the computer how many lines are printable on the label you are using. This is necessary because labels come in many sizes and the computer has no way of knowing the label size unless you tell it. o The LPT1 ... COM4 buttons are used to tell Little Black Book which port the printer is attached to. Should you select an incorrect port, unpredictable results may occur. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 26. Setup Sort Order ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Changing the sort order for your data is easily accomplished by selecting Setup Sort Order. In this window simply click on the the primary, secondary, and tertiary keys (that is the most important sort criteria to least important) in the window, and then select Accept. As an example, if you want to list people by the state they live in, the city, and then alphabetize them by name select the following: o Select State as your Primary key o Select City as your Secondary key o Select Name as your Tertiary key Normally, Name would be selected as the primary key, usually the other keys don't matter in this case because names tend to be unique. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 27. Help ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Registered users may request help at a phone number provided in the registered version. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 28. Product information ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Little Black Book Version 1.10 Copyright (C) 1993 by James E. Johnson Jr. Little Black Book is shareware and must be registered for continued use. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 29. Registration ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Little Black Book may be registered by mailing a check for $10 to: James E. Johnson Jr. 6924 Vancouver Road Springfield, VA 22152 Upon registration you will receive the latest version of the Little Black Book software along with a registration key which entitles you to free upgrades to all version 1.xx releases (you must download the future versions from your favorite BBS at your own expense). Please state floppy drive size needed when ordering. Thank-you. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 30. Shareware Concept ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Shareware is the try it before you buy it concept of software marketing. It is freely available by downloading it from various BBS's or one can easily and legally give a copy to a friend. If you like the software and intend on continuing to use it after the trial period of typically 30 - 45 days, you are expected to register the software with the author. Shareware is not freeware. It's continued use implies that it is a viable and needed tool. Registration encourages the author to enhance the software's features, making it a better tool for you the user, and also to create new software in the future. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 31. Fields ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Fields have a maximum length of 32 characters. They may contain any combination of upper or lower case alphabetic characters, numbers or other printable characters such as #, *, %, etc. What you type is what you get, there is no character conversion. Fields are larger than the box they are in on screen, the box size is irrelevant. All fields within Little Black Book are 32 characters regardless of the size allocated on screen. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 32. Records ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Records are a conglomeration of fields. o They are made up of First and Last Names, and other information about an individual or company. o If the record contains information about a company and not an individual, then the Last Name field should contain the word Company or whatever type of entity it is, with the First Name field containing the other information. This will ensure a consistent data presentation for both display and printing purposes. o If there is no information for a given field within a record, leave it blank, there is no harm in doing so. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 33. Groups ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ A Group is a logical entity which is used to designate a subcategory within your Little Black Book database. o A group would be such entities as Relatives, Friends, Co-Workers, Business Contacts, Sunday School Class, or a Christmas Card List. o The purpose of using groups is to limit what is displayed on screen to a single category of individuals to simply the database's usage. The groups are also useful when printing labels, their usage allows you to print labels for all members of a group. o You may select the All groups displayed feature to deal with the database as a whole. o Both the group name and the active group may be set by using the Display Setup function. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 34. Import ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The Import function is responsible for bringing data into your Little Black Book database from an outside source. The outside source may be either in a plain text ASCII format where the data is aligned in columns with no embedded special characters, or the data may be in a comma-delimitted (again straight ASCII) format. Import Comma Delimitted Import Column Formatted ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 35. Import Comma Delimited ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The Import Comma Delimitted feature is useful for bring data into your Little Black Book database from another database. This is easily done by exporting your other database in comma delimitted format, and then having this application read that data in. The field order of the file to be imported is unimportant to this program so long as you know what it is, merely give the field order of the file to be imported to the corresponding field in the import procedure. For example, if LAST NAME was your first record element in the file to be imported, put a 1 by LAST NAME, if it were the fifth item in the record then put a 5. Fields that are not used by Little Black Book are just ignored in the file being imported. If a field in LBB is not present in the file being imported, then leave the corresponding value by it as 0 and it will receive blank values in your new database. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 36. Import Data in Columns (ASCII) ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ Importing data from a file where the data is in columns is a little more difficult than importing it Comma Delimitted and that method should be used if your data is available in that format. To import columns of data, first determine the character starting position of each element type (e.g. LAST NAME, HOME PHONE, etc), and the number of characters that field is wide (not the ending column). Then fill in the blanks on the form and select IMPORT, this will allow you to choose the appropriate file. If the data does not align properly there may be unprintable characters in your file being imported such as <TAB>s, just remove them with your favorite editor and try again. Fields in Little Black Book which are not present in your file to be imported should be left with 0 in their starting position and also in their width field, they will then be ignored during the import. Fields which are present in your file being imported but not in Little Black Book are harmless and will be ignored during the import procedure. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 37. Export ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The Export function is useful for transfering data from your Little Black Book database to an outside source. The outside source may be either in a plain text ASCII format where the data is aligned in columns in tabular format, or the data may be in a comma-delimitted format suitable to be transported to another database. Export Comma Delimitted Export Column Formatted ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 38. Export Comma Delimited ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The Export Comma Delimitted feature is useful for transfering the contents of your Little Black Book database to another database. This is easily done by selecting Export Comma Delimited and then selecting the export order from your database to the new database format. For example, if LAST NAME was your first record element in the file to be exported, put a 1 by LAST NAME, if it were the fifth item in the record then put a 5. If you do not wish to export a data element then put a 0 in it's field. Please note that both Setup Display and Setup Sort Order will affect both what is exported and it's order. Warning: When you select EXPORT be careful not to select an existing file unless you wish to overwrite it, because once you select EXPORT (within the file select box), everything is exported and the existing file (which you selected) is overwritten (if it exists), if it does not exist then it is created. ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 39. Export Columns of Data ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ The Export Columns of Data feature is useful for transfering the contents of your Little Black Book database to either a spreadsheet, a document to be imported by a word processor, or even just printed for an easily readable report. This is easily done by selecting Export Columns of Data and then filling in the blanks on the form. First determine the order of the data elements and fill that in on the left column on the form (if a data element is not desired in the output file then put a 0 in it's column), then fill-in the right column stating the data element's width (including spaces). Then select Export, you'll be prompted for a data file name, after you enter it your exporting will be accomplished. If the column width which you specify is not wide enough to hold the elements in a given field then that element will be truncated at the specified character count. Please note that both Setup Display and Setup Sort Order will affect both what is exported and it's order. Warning: When you select EXPORT be careful not to select an existing file unless you wish to overwrite it, because once you select EXPORT (within the file select box), everything is exported and the existing file (which you selected) is overwritten (if it exists), if it does not exist then it is created.