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Grades Version 2.51
(c) Copyright 1987-1989 By Manu Singh.
All Rights Reserved.
Released April 12, 1989
Topics in this Manual:
1......Introduction...........................2
2......Quality Points.........................3
3......Updating the Database..................4
4......Viewing a Regular Listing..............6
5......Viewing an Extended Listing............6
6......Deleting a Class.......................7
7......Changing Recorded Information..........8
8......Computing the Grade Point Average......9
9......Saving the Database....................9
10.....Quitting Grades........................9
11.....Converting from v2.00 to v2.51.........10
12.....Registering............................11
13.....Update Notes...........................11
14.....Miscellaneous......................... 13
15.....Warranty...............................14
This ARC file contains the Bulletin Board version of Grades.
You are free to upload it and distribute it anywhere you like
as long as modifications are not made. This includes
modifications to the contents of the ARC file, or it's
time/date stamp.
Grades·Version·2.51· ·1···········
Grades
Version 2.51
By Manu Singh
Grades is a very simple database, for...grades.
This program is primarily intended for students who wish to
keep track of all the courses that they have taken, their
course numbers, and their grades. In addition, the program can
calculate the Grade Point Average. You can change any
information recorded in the database. This allows you to enter
your current class, but substituting a <?> for the grade if it
is unknown at the present time.
Since the program can calculate the G.P.A., you can use
the program to predict your G.P.A. for the end of the year,
using the grades you expect to receive. Or if you need to
maintain your G.P.A., or raise it, you can add realistic
grades that you need to receive in order to do this. In effect
you are predicting how well you must do in order to satisfy
yourself, or your parents.
There are three ways that you may enter in your grade.
1) In letter form A,B,C,D,F...etc.
2) Entering a <?> for an unknown grade,causing the
program to ignore it.
3) Entering a P/F for a Pass/Fail course.
Again this is ignored since most colleges do not
include these grades in the computations of the G.P.A.
(Please see note about this)
Grades·Version·2.51· ·2···········
The G.P.A. is calculated in the following way:
G.P.A. = Quality Points / Credits.
The Quality Points are determined by the following method:
A+, A : 4.0 Points
A-: 3.7 Points
B+: 3.3 Points
B : 3.0 Points
B-: 2.7 Points
C+: 2.3 Points x # of Credits for the course
C : 2.0 Points
C-: 1.7 Points
D+: 1.3 Points
D : 1.0 Points
F : 0 Points
These values have been found to be consistent with most
schools/universities/colleges. However, all schools are
different. In particular, these values will NOT be consistent
with the Junior High or High school levels. Most of these
schools base their G.P.A. calculations on strange criteria. In
addition, some don't even give a G.P.A. calculation.
Obviously, this can be a problem. However, if you
register, please specify that you need to change the Quality
Points assigned to the grades, and you will be sent a version
that allows you to specify the Quality point assigned to each
letter grade.
Finally, some colleges/universities give different quality
points for courses of less than 4 credits. This is another
problem. If you are in this situation, please tell me so and if
possible fully describe your schools policy. I will try to
tailor a program for your special needs.
Grades·Version·2.51· ·3···········
The opening menu gives you the following choices:
Update the Database.
View a Listing of Entered Classes.
View an Extended Listing. (This will be explained)
Delete an Entered Class.
Change a Certain Aspect of a Recorded Class.
Compute G.P.A.
Save and Quit.
Quit.
You may notice that a certain letter is highlighted. If you
press this key (either uppercase or lowercase) it will select
that function.
You may use the cursor keys to navigate the menu. A
highlight bar will indicate the current function. You may use
the cursor up/down keys, and the Home, End keys. The cursor
right/left keys are not used.
A small Help line is displayed at the bottom of the screen.
This will give you an idea of what the function does. If you
need more help, press <F1> to bring up a CONTEXT-SENSITIVE help
screen. Or, press <Alt-F1> to bring up a Help Index.
Pressing <Esc> at any time within the program will always
back up one action. (The true meaning of <Esc>... you "Escape"
out of the current area). If you are at the Main Menu, <Esc>
will automatically select the QUIT option. (This does NOT save
the Database)
Updating the Database:
When you choose to update you will be asked for the
number of classes for the semester. Enter <Esc> or <0> to quit.
Next you will be asked for the Semester and Year. Enter both
of these on the same line. For example: Spring 1988 <RETURN>
Next you will be asked to enter the Class Section
Name. This is usually the first three letters of the
course. Ex: Physics is PHY. You have up to FOUR characters
for this entry. Try to keep the codes that your
school/university/college uses. If the code is MATH, then use
that. If it's MAT then use that.
Grades·Version·2.51· ·4···········
After this, enter in the Section Number. Both the
Section Name and the Section Number are VERY important! They
will form the basis on which the search is performed when you
Change or Delete a class.
Following these, you will be asked to enter the
Teacher's Name (up to 25 characters), then the number of
Credits for the course. Currently the maximum number of Credits
that you may specify for a course is 9. I have not yet come
across a school that gives more than 9 credits for a single
course.
Next enter in the Grade. You may enter either up to two
characters. E.g. A, A- , C etc. or P/F or ? for Unknown. The
program will ignore the P, F, and ? when computing the
G.P.A.
Finally you will be asked to enter in the full
Course Name. You have up to 40 characters to do this.
Note!!!!: Most schools/universities/colleges will give you
credit for a Pass/Fail course, but will not include that course
into the G.P.A. calculation. As such, this program will also
NOT include that course into it's calculations.
However, there have been some schools that WILL include the
course into the G.P.A. IF you have Failed it. (Time to get
out!) This program will also do this. I realize that most
schools/universities/colleges will NOT do this; however, there
have been LOTS of cases where user's have complained.
If this should cause problems for you, please tell me so when
you register, and you will receive a version that will not do
that.
To clarify: If you take a course and pass it, you enter in <P>
for the grade. The program will ignore that class in it's
G.P.A. calculation. Now let's assume you entered in <F>, the
program WILL include that class in the G.P.A., and give you 0
quality points.
Grades·Version·2.51· ·5···········
Viewing a Regular Listing:
When you choose this function you will be shown a
display consisting of the following items, in the order listed:
Semester (including the Year).
The Section Name.
The Course Number.
The Class Name.
The Grade.
The Number of Credits.
The listing is shown eleven classes at a time. Then
you will be asked "Press any key to continue....<Esc> to quit".
If you wish to continue viewing, press any key. Or you may
press <Esc> to return to the Main Menu.
Viewing an Extended Listing:
When you choose this display, you will be shown a slightly
different listing consisting of:
The Class Name.
The Teacher's Name.
The Section Name.
The Course Number.
The listing is shown eleven classes at a time, and
again you are asked "Press any key to continue....<Esc> to
quit". Press <Esc> to return to the Main Menu, or any other key
to view more classes. (If there are any)
Grades·Version·2.51· ·6···········
Deleting a Class:
When you choose this function, you are shown a
regular display listing, then "Press any key to continue
viewing or <D> to Delete or <Esc> to Quit". If the class you
wish to delete is NOT on the list, press any key to see a
listing of the next eleven classes. If the class you wish to
delete IS on the list, press <D>. Or if you wish to quit,
press <Esc>. Eventually, if you run out of classes, you will be
returned to the Main Menu.
If you press <D> then you will be asked to enter in the
Course Number of the class you wish to delete. Then Enter
the Section Name of the course. (The search for the matching
Section Name is done case INSENSITIVE. That is "mat" is matched
with "MAT"). The program will now try to find that class in
its records. If it does not, it will display "No match
found.....It does not exist!!....Press any key." You will be
returned to the Main Menu. You may return to the display and
try again if you wish.
If the program does find the class, it will
display "Deleted.....Press any key". You will then be
returned to the menu.
Note: If you already know the name/number of the class you want
to delete you do NOT have to wait until the class is shown.
Just press <D>, <d> any time that you want. (The statement
above about having to be viewing the class is misleading. Only
if you do NOT know the necessary information must you be
viewing the class)
Grades·Version·2.51· ·7···········
Changing Recorded Information:
If you choose this option, you will be presented with the
following menu:
Course Section Name.
Course Number.
Number of Credits.
Teacher Name.
Grade.
Course Name.
Semester.
View an Extended Listing.
View a Regular Listing.
Quit.
This menu is displayed "Lotus Style" at the bottom of the
screen. That is, it is Horizontal instead of Vertical. Again, a
mini-help screen is displayed on the next line.
Choose the highlighted letter to activate the function,
or move the Highlight bar just as you did in the Main Menu. If
you wish to scroll the information, press <Page Down>. This
will display the next eleven classes. Once you have reached the
end, pressing <Page Down> will cause the program to Beep.
If you choose to change the Teacher's Name, you will be
shown the Extended Listing and then the "Course Section Number"
prompt. You may do one of the following:
1) Enter in the Course Number.
2) Press <Esc> to return to the Change Menu.
3) Press <Enter> to view the next eleven classes.
If you choose <Enter>, the next eleven classes will be
displayed in the Extended format. You may keep pressing <Enter>
until the end of the list. If you press <Enter> after this
point, the program will just Beep.
If you choose to enter in the Number, you will be given
another prompt for the Course Section Name. Here, you may only
enter in the name, or <Esc> to return.
Once you have entered in both the Section Name and Number,
the program will try to find the match. If it doesn't it will
inform you of the error.
Grades·Version·2.51· ·8···········
If it IS found, the program will "jump" up to the display of
that class, and display an entry field for the information. On
color monitors this will appear as Yellow text on a Black
background. Press <Esc> to abort any change, or type in the new
information. The display will remain in this "inverse" to
remind you that you have changed that information.
Note 1: You MUST be displaying the class you want to change,
since the program will "jump" to the display as described
above. If you are not displaying the class, the program will
inform you of the error.
Note 2: Once you leave the Teacher Name change area, the
program will return to the Change Menu as stated above.
However, the display will revert back to the Regular Display
listing, and will start at the first class recorded in the
Database.
Computing the Grade Point Average:
You will be shown the number of Credits on which
the program based it's calculations, and then the G.P.A. it
computed. Just press any key to return to the Main Menu.
Please note the warning about Pass/Fail courses that was
given earlier.
Saving the Database:
This option will save all current changes, and then
return to DOS, or whatever called the program.
Quitting Grades:
This option will NOT save your changes. Make sure that
you do not wish to keep any of the information! The program
will ask you to confirm the No Save. Press either <Y> or <N>.
(Or the lowercase equivalents). If you press <Y> then you will
be returned to DOS, or whatever called the program.
Grades·Version·2.51· ·9···········
Converting from v2.00 to v2.51:
Please follow the following steps very closely!!
1) Make a backup copy of CLASS2. (This should go without
saying.)
2) Make sure that you are in the SAME directory that CLASS2 is
in, otherwise you will receive an error message.
3) Type <CONVERTG>. (Leave out the <> )
4) The program will respond with "Done..." or an error message.
5) If you received an error message, fix the error and go to
Step 8.
6) Enter <GRADES25> and verify that the Conversion was correct.
7) If not, then go to Step 8, else you are done.
8) Type in <DEL CLASS25>. Next restore your backup copy of
CLASS2.
9) Goto Step 3.
Note1: A bug fix from v2.00: Though the documentation stated
that an <A+> was treated the same as an <A>, this was not the
case. In fact an <A+> got ignored. In v2.50 this has now been
fixed.
Grades·Version·2.51· ·10···········
Registering:
This program has become quite popular. I guess that there
are many students out there who have a vested interest in
maintaining a record of their courses, or an intense need to
better themselves.
Personally, I have found that user's have found themselves
better able to make a decision as to which class to concentrate
on. Most students don't realize that if they get a B in a 5
credit course, and a C+ in a 4 credit course, that their
G.P.A. will be higher than if they got the B in the 4 credit
course and the C+ in the 5 credit course.
If you find this program to be of use to you, you are
asked to Register it. Registering will give you any support
that you may need. (And you may need more than you think.)
Also, you will be informed of any future updates to the
program. In addition, any Bug fixes will be provided at the
time you register.
To Register, send $10 to:
Manu Singh
1 Fairlawn Parkway
Rye Brook, NY 10573
Please send me your Name, Address, Telephone Number, the
Version you have, and where you obtained it from. Also, include
any problems or special needs that you may have.
Print out the supplied GRORDER.TXT to print out a Quick
Order form.
Update Notes:
Many user's have asked for some information regarding the
various releases of Grades.
Actually, there has only been one official release of
Grades. That was Grades v2.00. It was distributed with B.A.M.
(Bank Account Manager) through PC-SIG and various Bulletin
Board Systems. It was included as as "bonus" for trying B.A.M.
Grades·Version·2.51· ·11···········
Suddenly, I found that people liked Grades every bit as
much as B.A.M. Both programs pride themselves on their ease of
use without losing their functionality. Since I had not
anticipated that Grades would be so popular, I had abandoned
the project years ago. That is why it has taken so long to
update the program. (B.A.M. has had three updates, while Grades
got no attention) This is the second "official" release of the
program, and the time lines are as follows:
July 1987: B.A.M. v1.00 and Grades v1.00 are given to
"friends"
December 1987: B.A.M. is updated to v1.50. Still not an
"official" release. (Though it got out)
January 1988: Grades is updated to v1.50.
February 1988: B.A.M. is updated to v1.70. Posted on three
BBS's. (And subsequently three million more)
May 1988: Grades is updated to v2.00, B.A.M. is
updated to v2.00.
July 1988: After Beta testing, B.A.M. v2.00 and
Grades v2.00 are "officially" released.
September 1988: B.A.M. v2.01 is released for "Bug" fixes.
October 1988: B.A.M. v2.10 Beta Test version is released.
At the same time Grades v2.01 is released to
REGISTERED user's.
November 1988: Grades v2.02 is released for those "strange"
user's.
December 1988: B.A.M. v2.50 is "officially" released.
Grades goes through full update process.
March 1989: Grades v2.50 is "officially" released to
all.
April, 1989: Grades v2.51 "maintenance" release. Fixed
some Bugs from v2.50.
Grades·Version·2.51· ·12···········
Miscellaneous:
Some more things that you should be aware of:
1) Pressing <F1> at ANY time during the program will bring
up a context-sensitive help screen for your specific area.
2) If you wish to view an index of all Help Topics, press
<Alt-F1> when at the MAIN MENU ONLY! This will not work in any
other area of the program.
3) EGA/VGA detection as well as Monochrome detection has
been added. However, if you are using a color adapter (CGA,
EGA, VGA, MCGA, PGA, etc) with a MONOCHROME display, the
program will adjust itself for a color adapter. There is NO way
for a program to determine this possibility. Therefore, you
must EXPLICITLY put the adapter in Monochrome mode. Type MODE
BW80 (or 40) to place it in this mode. The program will then
run fine.
4) Memory requirements. This program will take over ALL
available memory. Why? Well, the program isn't interfaced as of
yet to handle single classes. Instead the entire Database is
handled as one entity. This requires that all of available
memory is available in order to prevent errors. This will
change in a later release.
5) Grade entry: You will notice that the grade is FORCED to
uppercase when you enter it. Many user's used to enter this in
lowercase, and the program didn't recognize the grade since it
expected it to be uppercase. This will no longer be a problem.
6) Finally, you will notice that there is now a running time
and date display in the Main Menu. This is just a "frill" that
user's had requested. Unfortunately, this has helped make the
opening screen VERY busy. This will be changed in a later
release.
Grades·Version·2.51· ·13···········
Warranty:
There is NO Warranty either expressed or implied. The
Author shall not be responsible for any damage that use of this
software may bring unto the user's system.
Your use of this program indicates acceptance of the above
disclaimer.
The program is hereby placed into the Shareware arena. It
is NOT Public Domain software. If you use the program you are
expected to register and pay for it.
The program is Copyright 1987-1989 by Manu Singh.
All Rights Reserved.
Grades·Version·2.51· ·14···········