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DOCUMENT CONTROL "In Real Life There will Always Be Paper" Steve Griffiths S.G. Engineering 2308 Barbara Drive Camarillo, CA 93010 (805) 388-8099 Document Control Users Manual Page # Table of Contents. Introduction............................................Page 3 Registration............................................Page 4 Installation............................................Page 5 System Requirements Copying Files Config.Sys File Using Document Control..................................Page 6 Getting Started Page 6 Menu Structure..................................Page 6 Keyword Window Menu.............................Page 6 Adding a Document...............................Page 7 Searching Documents.............................Page 8 By Keyword..............................Page 8 By Author...............................Page 8 Adding Keywords.................................Page 9 Archiving Documents.............................Page 9 Deleting Documents from Archive.................Page 9 Document Control is designed create a simple yet effective environment for keeping large quantities of paper documents in an orderly manner, and to allow any combination of documents to be retrieved with a minimum of effort. The basic premise of this application is to enter a number of keywords describing the document (up to ten per document), along with a brief description, author and date, at which point the computer will issue a number to be attached to the document, which can then be filed in numerical sequence. To find a document, or collection of documents, enter the relevant keywords and receive either a printout or screen display of all documents matching those particular keywords, along with the description, author and date of entry. Alternatively the document file may be searched by the author, and in both cases the search may be limited to a specific date range. The Menu Structure of Document Control is designed to allow extremely fast entry of keywords, both for adding and searching for documents. A keyword need only be entered once. After a keyword has been entered, it is available in a pop-up lightbar menu. When adding documents to the system keywords may be entered "on the fly" as required with no previous planning. There are many advantages to this type of system. Firstly, only one copy of each document is required, no matter how many projects it may relate to. Because of this there is no risk of one copy being updated with others being out of date and causing confusion. Secondly, if a document is updated it is easy to see which is the current version as it will have the higher number. Thirdly, because documents are stored in a totally random fashion, the physical filing cabinets maintain a certain amount of security, in that a person looking through the files can make no sense out of the information without spending a considerable amount of time. To keep search time to a minimum, "dead" documents relating to finished projects etc. may be moved to a separate archive file. If necessary this file may also be searched in the same manner. Documents that are completely "dead" - i.e. in the trash can - may be deleted from the archive file. Registration Document Control is a Shareware Product, which allows the user to "Try before You Buy" an application. To register the product print out the registration form by typing "TYPE REGISTER.DOC > PRN" (no quotes required. Fill the form out and send it in. Registered users will receive the registered version of Document Control, along with complete documentation, and telephone support. In addition, registered users will be notified of upgrades, which will be made available for a nominal handling charge. The Unregistered version of document control is not restricted in any fashion, and may be put to full use. However, the registered version does have some additional features including those listed below. 1) Opening Screen is Removed 2) Registered Version is Serialized 3) Password Protection is included as an option 4) Documents may be deleted from Archive File When Should I Register? A Shareware product should be registered if it becomes an application that is used on a regular or semi-regular basis. Running the application for a couple of weeks is no problem. I it does not do what you want, pass it on to a friend. If you decide to use it, then it should be registered. Please remember, Shareware allows people to pick and choose their software carefully, and for the most part at a very reasonable cost. If people do not register their products, the concept may not survive. Installation System Requirements. Document Control requires an IBM (or true compatible) PC, XT, AT or 386 Computer with at least 256K of TPA (Transient Program Area). This is the amount of memory left after DOS and any Memory Resident programs, device drivers etc. have been loaded. The program will run under DOS 2.10 or higher. Also a Hard Disk is required. Copying Files To install the system onto a hard disk, firstly switch to the directory to which the files are to be copied. Place the distribution disk in drive A: and type "COPY A:*.*" (Do not include the quotes.) Config.Sys File To use Document Control, there must be three lines in the Config.Sys file. These are as Follows:- FILES=20 BUFFERS=22 DEVICE=ANSI.SYS If you already have a Config.sys file, these lines may be added using any ASCII word processor. If there is no Config.sys file, switch to the root directory (floppy disk users should place the DOS Boot disk into Drive a: and switch to it) and type the following:- COPY CON CONFIG.SYS FILES=20 BUFFERS=22 DEVICE=ANSI.SYS ^Z (^Z means hold down the Control key and press the Z key, and then the Enter key) Now re-boot the computer and Document Control will be ready to run. Using Document Control Getting Started. To run Document Control, switch to the directory containing the files and type "DOCUMENT" (No Quotes Required). After displaying an opening screen, the main menu will be displayed. Menu Structure Document Control uses window menus with a highlight bar. To select an option, either move the bar using the UP or DOWN Cursor Keys to highlight the choice desired and press return, or simply press the first letter of your choice (all Menu choices have unique first letters). Most of the Main Menu choices will bring up a sub-menu, which works in the same manner. When this is the case, the highlight bar on the Main Menu will remain at the choice made, so that it is east to find out where you have come from. To return from a sub-menu to a higher menu, press the escape key. Keyword Menu Window. When adding documents to the system, or when searching for documents using Keyword Selection, the Keyword Selection Window will appear. The window is similar to the regular menus with some additional features. The window will display the first 16 Keywords (in alphabetical order. Use the following keys to move around:- UP Arrow Move Highlight up by one Keyword DOWN Arrow Move Highlight down by one Keyword HOME Key Top Keyword in Display END Key Last Keyword in Display PAGE UP Previous 16 Keywords PAGE DOWN Next 16 Keywords CTRL + PAGE UP First 16 Keywords CTRL + PAGE DOWN Last 16 Keywords a - z OR A - Z OR 0 - 9 First Keyword with a matching first Letter or Number. (If there are no matches the highlight bar will not move). Using Document Control Adding a Document To add a Document to the system, select "Add Document" from the main menu by highlighting this selection or by pressing "A" (This may be lower or upper case). Two windows will appear. The first is the Keyword Select Menu described above, and next to this is another window which will display selected keywords as they are chosen. To select keywords, move the highlight bar to the keyword desired using the methods described above and press return. TIP:- The fastest method of finding a keyword is to start by pressing the first letter of the keyword desired and then scrolling through the keywords. If the keyword that you wish to use is not available, press the ESCAPE key. A third window will open and prompt for a keyword. Enter the new keyword (upper or lower case), press Return and the highlight will return to the Keyword Selection window. At this point, the new keyword is not visible, but as soon as you look for it again it will appear, in the correct alphabetical position. After each keyword is selected, it will appear in the "Selected Keyword" window, and the highlight bar will return to the empty position at the top of the Keyword Selection window. When all the desired keywords (up to 10 per Document) have been chosen, make sure that the highlight is in the empty space and press the return key. A third window will appear and prompt for the author of the document and for a short additional description. TIP:- Something must be entered into both these fields. Because Document Control allows a fast search by Author, this field can alternatively be used as a secondary keyword for batching projects etc. Also the authors name can be a regular keyword like any other. After the Author and Description have been filled in this window will be replaced with the "Document I.D." window, which contains the number assigned to this document. Identify the document with the number and file it. (Adding Documents using the system is much faster than reading this page of instructions). As an aid to searching for documents, the date that the document was entered is also stored with the rest of the information. Searching Documents. By Keyword Select "Search Documents" from the main menu, and a sub-menu will appear. Select "Keyword Search" from this menu, and the Keyword Select and Keywords Chosen windows will appear. Choose the desired keywords (See "Adding Documents" for more information) and then press return. A third window will appear, allowing a Date Range to be set (the default is from the earliest document to the current date), and to allow the information to be routed to the screen or the printer. Once this is done, a listing will appear of all documents that match the search criteria, showing the Document number, the Date of Entry, the Author, and the Description. Now it is a simple matter of going to the filing cabinet and pulling the documents with the numbers shown on the list. NOTE 1:- The search is based on an .AND. basis, meaning that ALL the selected keywords have to match a document for it to be displayed. In short, the more keywords chosen, the narrower the search will be. However, the search time is a constant of about 3 seconds per 100 records. Setting a date range will shorten the search time. NOTE 2:- If the document that you are looking for is not displayed, but you know it is in there somewhere - i.e. you can't remember the keyword(s), press return at the keyword selection window without selecting any keywords. This will display ALL documents in the specified date range. Searching Documents. By Author Select "Author Search" from the Search menu. You will be prompted for an Entry, and then for the Date Range and Display or Print option. Once this is done, the matching documents will be displayed in the same way as before. NOTE:- The difference between this and the keyword search is that this is a high speed index search. For this reason, it can be a good idea to type in a major keyword in the Author field, and to include the authors name in the description field. Adding Keywords. This is a useful feature when the program has just been installed. Select "New Keyword" from the main menu, and the New Keyword window will appear. Type in the Keyword and press return. By adding a series of common keywords in the early stages, documents may be added to the system without adding keywords "on the fly". Archiving Documents After the system has been running for a few months, and documents have been added daily, search times will start to get longer as the database gets larger. (Bear in mind that it is still much faster than searching through files by hand!). Many of the documents in the database will be no longer necessary, unused until the end of the year, or kept for historical purposes only. These documents may be Archived to a separate database, thus keeping the current database smaller and faster. The Archive file can be searched in the same way as the main file, with the exception that the "Author Search" option is not available at this time. (It may be added later if users request it.) To use the archive system select "Document Archives" from the main menu, and then select "Move Documents from Archive" from the Sub-Menu. A list of Documents starting from the oldest will appear, 1 page at a time, with a strip to the left. Enter a "X" by each document to be archived. After each page has been completed, the date of each document selected will be replaced with the word "Archived". At this point you will be prompted to go to the next page, or to press "X" if you have finished. This will continue until the database reaches the last record. At this point (or if "X" has been entered) the selected documents will be moved to the archive file, deleted from the current file, and both files will be re-indexed. All document numbers will be unchanged, so there is no need to move the "Real" Documents. NOTE:- To maintain the numerical integrity of the document files, it is not possible to archive the last entry in the current document file. Deleting Documents from Archive. This feature uses exactly the same interface as is used when moving Documents to the Archive. Select "Document Archives" from the Main Menu, and then select "Delete Documents from Archive" from the Sub-Menu. A list of Documents starting from the oldest will appear, 1 page at a time, with a strip to the left. Enter a "X" by each document to be archived. After each page has been completed, the date of each document selected will be replaced with the word "Deleted". At this point you will be prompted to go to the next page, or to press "X" if you have finished. This will continue until the database reaches the last record. At this point (or if "X" has been entered) the selected documents will be deleted from the archive file. The Document numbers that are deleted will not be reused. NOTE:- To maintain the numerical integrity of the document files, it is not possible to delete the last entry in the archive document file.