home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Magnum One
/
Magnum One (Mid-American Digital) (Disc Manufacturing).iso
/
d7
/
ac_11feb.arc
/
AC.DOC
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1991-02-18
|
14KB
|
302 lines
- AC -
The Comprehensive Area Code
and Exchange Locator
<11feb91>
(C) Copyright 1991
Robert K. Ricketts
AC is a comprehensive area code, state, city (central office),
and exchange locator. The data files accessed by AC were compressed
from the telephone company VNH tables which is nearly two megabytes
of raw data containing directory information for our country's
telephone system. Other area code programs simply show you the state
and a few larger cities. But AC goes WAY beyond that!
For instance, you can locate all area codes in a state, display
the central office cities owning those area codes, and even display
all the valid exchanges belonging to the CO city! Even podunk-hollow
will show up if it has a telephone company central office.
You can search based on state or area code. You can narrow the
search by specifying a city search mask. You can search for CO
cities having a certain number of exchanges - or search for a range
of exchanges. You can find a city and it's state even if all you
know is the area code and phone number. And once all this is found,
you can display either with exchanges listed or not listed.
Parameter overview
------------------
Syntax for executing AC:
AC (state|areacode)[.city|.xchg] [-P] [-X] [-Cx:y]
( ) = required parm.
[ ] = optional parm.
| = select one from listed parms.
where: state : Two letter postal code or portion of state
name for a search.
areacode : Three digit area code.
city : Find only CO city names starting with this.
xchg : Find only CO cities having at least this
exchange.
-P : Pause after every twenty lines of output.
-X : Also display all valid exchanges found.
-Cx:y : Only look for CO cities with between x and y
exchanges.
Paramter detail
---------------
state (either state or areacode required)
Official USPS two letter postal code representing the state that
you wish to search. If the two character abbreviation is not located
as a state postal code or if you specify three or more characters,
then AC will invoke a character by character search - looking
anywhere in the state name for a match. If AC finds more than one
state name matching your search specification, it'll display what it
finds and instruct you to narrow your search a bit more.
Once AC finds your state, it will display all area codes and CO
cities that have at least fifteen exchanges. Having this minimum
prevents AC from flooding you with output. You can specify different
minimum and maximum exchange values - more on this under '-Cx:y'.
areacode (either state or areacode required)
Three digit area code that you wish to search. AC will show the
state owning this area code as well as all CO cities having at least
five exchanges. Use this parm if you are not sure of the state.
city
AC allows you to narrow your search to only those CO cities
whose name begins with what you specify here. You must specify
either a state or area code along with this parm. When specifying a
city, the minimum exchange value automatically defaults to one to
yield the greatest chance of locating your item.
xchg
AC also allows you to specify the exchange (first three digits
of the local phone number) as the search criteria. This is most
useful if you have only an area code and phone number - and wish to
know it's location (state and CO city name). As with the 'city'
parm, you must specify either a state or area code along with this
parm. When specifying an exchange, the minimum exchange value
automatically defaults to one to yield the greatest chance of
locating your item.
-P
Pause after every twenty lines of output. AC is capable of
generating huge amounts of output if you widen the search too much.
But sometimes a sidw search is necessary. You can either redirect
AC's output to a file or use the -P switch.
-X
Normally, AC only shows the state name, area code, and CO city
in it's output. By using this switch, AC will also display all
exchanges belonging to the located CO cities. Be advised that this
option can generate ALOT of output if the search specification is too
wide.
-Cx:y
AC allows you to locate CO cities with at least x number of
exchanges but no more than y number of exchanges. This is useful if
you wish to locate CO cities of an approximate size. ie: You could
specify -C10:999 to find mostly larger CO cities, or -C1:2 to find
smaller CO cities. If you do not specify this parm, then AC will
select values based on your other search specifications as follows:
parm slected minimum maximum
------------ ------- -------
state 15 999
areacode 5 999
city 1 999
xchg 1 999
The lowest value calculated based on your search specification
will be used. To widen the search where a minimum other than one is
calculated, simply include '-C1:999' on the command line.
Example
-------
The command 'ac 713.buf -x' will display:
TX Texas
A/C Central Office Current Valid Exchange(s)
--- --------------- -------------------------------------------------------
713 buffalo 293 493 496 497 531 556 558 584 588 589 596 870
done
This shows you: The state of Texas has a central office called
'buffalo' in the 713 area code and has twelve exchanges listed.
The most common way you're likely to execute AC is by specifying
just a state or an area code - with no additional parameters.
By specifying a city search mask after the state or area code,
you'll narrow the search to only those cities. This is useful if you
get gobs of output otherwise. The default minimum of fifteen is
lowered to one to ensure the greatest possible chance of locating
your city. Since city searches add overhead to AC, you'll likely
notice a small delay between city displays while AC accesses the data
files. This delay is more noticable on XT type mechines. On ATs and
386's, this delay is much less noticeable regardless of how narrow
the search.
By specifying an exchange after the state or area code, you'll
narrow the search to only those cities having that exchange. This is
especially useful if all you have is a phone number with area code
and you wish to locate the city. As with the city search mask, this
parm may delay the output slightly.
Operational notes
-----------------
You must minimally specify either the state or areacode to
search. All other parameters are optional.
PLEASE NOTE:
The cities displayed are not technically cities per se - but
rather the telephone company's CENTRAL OFFICE designation from the
VNH tables. As it happens, CO designators are generally the city
name - but not always. Take the Buffalo example above. There is no
Buffalo in texas (well, maybe some buffalo chips - wear boots, heh
heh). The Buffalo CO is *inside* the Houston city limits. But the
CO designator is Buffalo. If you make an L/D call to any exchange in
that CO, you'll see Buffalo (not Houston) on your L/D phone bill!
This may change - but for now, it's Buffalo!
Also, some city names may appear to be spelled incorrectly.
Again, this is due to it being a CO designator. If it appears to be
misspelled, it's not. The CO is spelled that way. This is why the
city specific parameter is a search mask - not an exact match. It
helps you to locate a city that may not be spelled the 'regular' way.
But it only locates from the first character forward - not a sliding
match. ie:
you specify: tx.ros
Texas has two CO's with 'ros' in the name: Crosby and Rosharon.
But only Rosharon will be displayed. Obviously, I could have coded
AC to find both - but I figured that this way is more useful. If you
want to find Rosharon but were not sure of the spelling, 'ros' would
find it for you. You almost certainly weren't looking for Crosby -
or you'd have specified 'cro' (or the like) instead.
You can terminate AC at anytime during execution by striking any
key (other than shift, alt, etc.). Because AC aborts when any key is
struck, you cannot stack keystrokes after entering your AC command or
you'll immediately abort.
Configuring path for data file
------------------------------
AC has a setup option that allows you to configure the drive and
path location of the AC-DATA.* files. Until you configure AC to look
on a specific drive/path, it will look only in the current directory.
Suppose you have a subdirectory called 'c:\text'. You can
configure AC to always look there - regardless of what drive or
directory is current. To invoke the configuration option, just
enter:
AC -setup (enter)
You'll be shown the old path, if one exists, and prompted to
enter a new one. The setup option actually patches the AC.EXE
program file with the path you specify, so AC.EXE *must* be in the
CURRENT subdirectory for the setup option to work. Also, it must not
be write-protected. Once AC.EXE has been configured, you can execute
AC from any drive/directory (as long as it's on the path, of course)
and the data files can be placed on the drive/directory you
specified.
Miscellaneous
-------------
AC, like many other programs, flies under the shareware banner.
If you like and use AC, then *please* register. You've heard this
before, so.... Please register - it's is only affordable way to
bring software to you.
The shareware copy you have before you functions the same in
every respect as the registered version - but with an opening
'register-me' screen that appears randomly (approx. 50% of the time)
at the beginning of execution. This screen will forcibly remain for
ten seconds, after which you can press a key to continue to display
your data.
Registration is twenty five dollars. For your $$$, you'll
receive a non-advertising copy and free updates for one year. You
can register by sending check, money order, and even cash (imagine
that, ha ha) to the following address. Or you can register using
Visa/MC by calling the following number.
Robert K. Ricketts
PC Consultant
P.O. Box 42086
Houston TX 77242-2086
Ph. 713/826-2629 (v-mail no answer)
BBS 713/870-1508 (thats in Buffalo, no chips here!)
Thank you for using AC and for registering if you like it!
∙-═≡═-∙ Other products offered by the PC Consultant ∙-═≡═-∙
« TimeLock »
TimeLock is a tiny memory resident security utility that locks
the PC keyboard after a user pre-specified period of inactivity,
thereby protecting a sensitive LAN/mainframe userid or application
program from spying eyes and curious fingers while you are away. An
invaluable addition to your company's PC security arsenal!
TimeLock can be instantly locked via hot-key, batch file, or
through keyboard inactivity. The *only* way to gain re-access to the
PC once the keyboard is locked is by entering your secret password.
Otherwise the PC must be cold-booted (powered off & on). And that,
of course, will terminate your sensitive LAN/mainframe connection -
protecting your userid from intrusion!
TimeLock is written entirely in assembly language for optimum
speed and size. Uses only 2K RAM!
Please telephone at the above number for more details on
TimeLock. If you are a corporate network administrator in charge of
company PCs or PC products manager charged with software evaluation
and recommendation, I'll send you a diskette free of charge so you
can evaluate TimeLock for yourself. Or, if you wish, you can
download TimeLock from my support BBS. You need register only if you
decide to use TimeLock.
Thank you once again for choosing software by the PC Consultant!