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GOVDOX release 8.20 (c) 1992, Clyde W. Grotophorst GMUtant Software Route 1, Box 296 Hamilton, VA 22068 USA GOVDOX GOVDOX is SHAREWARE...not FREEWARE or PUBLIC DOMAIN Non-registered users of this software are granted a limited license to make an evaluation copy for trial use on a private, non-commercial basis, for the express purpose of determining whether GOVDOX meets their needs. At the end of this trial period, (30 days) you should either register your copy or discontinue use. Registration licenses you to use the product on a regular basis. Registration also provides you with access to the GMUtant Online BBS ((703) 993-2219) as a registered user--where you may receive support, leave questions, requests for enhancements, or download the latest release of the program. The registered version offers expanded capabilities. Once registered you will receive the latest version of GOVDOX by return 1st class mail (please specify disk size). Registration fee...............$ 75.00 includes diskette by return mail, printed documentation, 30 days telephone support and one (1) instant update diskette. Extend instant update plan 12 additional months (2-3 disks)....$ 25.00 Under the instant update plan, you receive any new release of GOVDOX without having to call our BBS or send the $ 5.00 per update fee. We typically issue an update every 2-3 months (adding features, correcting problems, etc.) Send your name, address and registration payment to: Clyde W. Grotophorst Route 1, Box 296 Hamilton, Virginia 22068 USA Introduction GOVDOX is an easy to use yet powerful system for checking-in U.S. Government documents. Beginning with release 7.0, GOVDOX was completely redesigned--keeping those features that helped make the earlier versions popular and improving the product in a number of areas. Abandoning compiled dBASE has enabled us to improve the performance of the program in every area. Not only does this version of GOVDOX run much faster than earlier releases, it offers many more features: GOVDOX features include: o Completely menu-driven. Bounce bar menus (with initial letter activation) are used throughout the system. o Full mouse support o GOVDOX produces a true sort on SUDOC numbers without resort to complicated data entry requirements or use of a stand-alone utility. System 'normalizes' user input during data entry. o If desired, GOVDOX can be run in read-only mode. Users may search the database and extract reports but they may not add, modify or delete records. Allows GOVDOX to serve as an OPAC for your documents collection. o Search database(s) by any word found in a record. o Descriptor field supports free-text searching with each term indexed for fast retrieval regardless of database size. o Move forward and backward or jump randomly through all matching records. o GOVDOX supports boolean AND, OR, or NOT searching. You may also, if desired, limit matches to whole words (just append a /w to your search term). o When no match is found for an indexed term, GOVDOX shows the user terms that file before and after the term that was not found. o Produces a wide variety of reports (database(s) sorted by Sudoc Number, list of descriptors used in each database, sorted list by Title, Sorted list by Title, etc). o Online verification of descriptors during data-entry if desired (support for controlled vocabulary). o Export data in comma-delimited format accepted by most dbms packages (e.g., dBASE, FoxBase, Paradox, etc). o View ASCII files of any size without leaving GOVDOX. o Global change capability provided. Change any text in any field across the database. GOVDOX shows each change before it is made, allowing you to skip record(s) if desired. o Progress graphs for indexing/reindexing. o User may modify help screen. Any ASCII file may serve as online help for system. o Five indexes are stored in a single file. This reduces DOS overhead (file handles) and speeds indexing operations. o SHELL TO DOS without exiting the system. System compresses GOVDOX in memory to free more RAM for your dos prompt. o Database (and index) may be stored on drives other than that used to store program file (e.g., on a LAN). o Automatic date stamping of records during data entry. o Deleted records are reused before new records are added (minizing disk space and eliminating need to 'pack' file. o Full b-tree indexing speeds retrieval. o Boyer-Moore search algorithm used on full record search, improving retrieval by 200% over brute force (field by field) comparison. o Reports from GOVDOX are written to ASCII files, enabling use of any word processor for production of final printout. o GOVDOX produces a list of unique item numbers on demand...including the number of documents using each number. INSTALLATION First, make sure your system has the following 2 statements in your CONFIG.SYS file: Files=20 Buffers=20 To find out whether your machine has a CONFIG.SYS file, issue the following commands at a DOS prompt: PROMPT $P$G [press return]. You may already be using this prompt string, but if not, at least from here on out you will know what drive and directory you are defaulting to. C: [press return...we want to log onto the C: drive] CD\ [press return], this should put us in the root directory a 'C:\>' prompt should appear. If so, type the following command: DIR C*.SYS [press return] If you do not see a file named CONFIG.SYS in the newly displayed text, you can safely assume that one does not exist. To Create a CONFIG.SYS file, issue the following commands at C:\> prompt (to be a bit more technical, while logged onto the root directory of the boot drive (typically C:) of your system): Copy Con: CONFIG.SYS [press return] FILES=20 [press return] BUFFERS=20 [press F6] CONFIG.SYS file is read only during initial boot of your system. Questions about this can be resolved by looking at your DOS manual. Files needed to run a GOVDOX system Installing GOVDOX is simple. You need only two files to run the system (GOVDOX.HLP and GD.EXE). If you are familiar with DOS, just create a subdirectory (e.g., GOVDOX) and copy the two files to that subdirectory. Type GD at the DOS prompt when you're ready to begin. The first time you run the program, you'll be prompted to create a database. We suggest you use the name GOVDOX for your database but it's not required. Any word (up to 8 characters) may be used. GOVDOX will create the database using the name you give, adding a DAT extension file for the datafile and an IX extension for the index. Command Line Switches (DatabaseName /p /m ) OPAC (Online Public Access Catalog) . If you want to have others use your GOVDOX database but don't want them adding, deleting, or editing records, begin GOVDOX with the /p switch. This activates OPAC mode, disabling the Add function and Maintenance Menu. /m forces monochrome operation. GOVDOX will automatically sense a mono card and use the appropriate colors. You may need to use the mono switch if you're using a monochrome VGA system--which appears as a color monitor at the hardware level. OPENING MENU When you type GD at the DOS prompt, several things happen... 1) the program allocates RAM for in-memory storage of the indexes. 2) if you are using the SHAREWARE version, a reminder to register screen appears (actually appears about 50% of the time). 3) the program next checks your disk to see how many *.DAT files can be found... a) One *.DAT file found, GD opens that database. b) More than one, a pick-list appears. Select the file you want to use by moving the light bar with the cursor arrows until desired file is highlighted--then press RETURN (or double-click mouse on desired file). 4) the main menu appears. Main Menu Options L List items in the database. This option allows you to move through the database a record at a time. The records appear in the order in which they were entered into the system. Pressing L on the main menu takes you to the last record in the file (the assumption being that you are probably more interested in the more recent records). You may move about the file via the J (Jump) command--which 'jumps' you to the record number you enter. S Search a database. Supports a variety of search types. E Export data. Enables user to produce a variety of reports, including bibliographies. V View ASCII file(s). Allows user to look at an ASCII file. M Maintenance functions. This function provides a variety of support operations (adding records, rebuilding indexes, creating new databases, deleting databases, Shell to DOS, etc). Disabled if /p (read-only) switch is used at startup (e.g., GD /p [return]). D Database selection. Once you have created a second database, this function allows you to move between database files. I Information on GOVDOX. Pressing I on the Main Menu causes the file GOVDOX.HLP to display in a window on your screen. To create your own help file, make an ASCII file and name it GOVDOX.HLP. You do not have to worry about page breaks or other formatting. Q Quit to DOS. Closes all files, halts program and exits. 1. ADDING RECORDS Adding records to your database is fairly simple. Press A on the main menu or move the highlight bar to the top of the menu (highlighting "A Add an item to the file") and press return A blank record will appear on the screen. You can begin entering data for that item. Two keystrokes activate special windows during data entry and/or editing: F1 displays a chart of keystrokes supported by the GOVDOX data entry/edit function. ALT-V Compares the terms entered in the descriptor field with those already in use. If the term(s) you're using in this record have been used before, they'll have a check mark beside them. You can use this function to help maintain a controlled vocabulary. Note that GOVDOX performs a bit of post-edit processing on a SUDOC number. First, all spaces (except the one that must appear between the initial letters (for agency) and the first integer of the SUDOC number. GOVDOX will strip all other spaces out of the number as it is filed. The date field will automatically show today's system date. You can edit this if desired but pressing RETURN while the cursor is on the field accepts the default date shown. Once you have completed entering data in a particular record, you must press ESCAPE -- or press return when the cursor is in the location field. As an alternative, you can press ^KD or ^Enter. Any of these keystrokes halts the add/edit process and presents you with a menu along the status line at the bottom of the screen: Save & continue Carry after saving File & stop Abandon this You can press the highlighted character associated with each option to activate it (e.g., S for Save & continue) or move the highlight bar via the cursor arrow key--pressing RETURN when the desired option is highlighted. If you have a mouse, you can click on the desired option. Save & continue: Files record, then brings up another blank record. Carry after saving: Files this record, then copies the data in this record to a new record. This is useful for those instances where you have several items to enter that vary only slightly. File & stop: Files this record then exits the add function. Abandon: Discards the data just entered and exits the add function. 2. SEARCHING Pressing S on the Main Menu activates the Search Menu. You can search a GOVDOX database in several ways: Sudoc Number (indexed). This searches the sudoc number index. Retrieval is very quick (under 2 seconds regardless of database size). You can enter a STEM and GOVDOX will match all records that begin with the stem. Matching occurs from the left hand margin of the Sudoc number field. When no match occurs, GOVDOX displays near misses. Title (indexed). Like Sudoc number searching, this field is indexed for fast retrieval. You must enter the beginning text of a particular title. When no match is found, GOVDOX will show you those titles that file both before and after where your title search text would have appeared had it been in the file. Keyword (indexed). Again, like Sudoc and Title searches, the keyword(s) field is indexed. Each term in the field (a term being anything with a space on either side of it, up to a total of five terms per field) is indexed. You can search for any individual term that appears in the keyword field. The 'near-miss' display (mentioned above) appears when no match is found. Boolean. Unlike the first three search methods, Boolean is a non-indexed search. It is slower than indexed searching but it has the virtue of finding matches *anywhere* in a GOVDOX record. When B is pressed on the Search Menu, a boolean function screen appears. You must first tell the system whether you want an AND search, an OR search or a NOT search. You can press the highlighted letter if desired (A, O or N). You'll be shown a screen with four blank fields: Term 1 > Term 2 > Term 3 > Term 4 > You enter each individual term (or phrase) in the fields. If you want to limit a particular term to whole-word matching, append a /w on the end of the term (as shown for the second term in the example below): Term 1 > Asia Term 2 > Handbook/w When you have entered all desired terms, press ESC (pressing RETURN when the cursor is in the 'Term 4 > ' field also completes the data entry phase). You will next be asked whether matches should go to disk (an ascii file, suitable for printing or distribution) or screen. You can hit RETURN and the default (screen) will be selected. If you want the matches to go to disk, press D or move the highlight bar to DISK and press RETURN. A graph will appear and GOVDOX will report progress as it moves through the database looking for matches. The entire file is searched, then the matching records (gathered into a set) are presented. GOVDOX will show up to 5000 matches for any given search. If your search results in more than 5000 matches, you'll be shown the first 5000 and warned that more matches were found. You should narrow your search. Note: When sending to disk, the 5000 match limit is waived. All matching records will be written to disk. Full-record searching Like Boolean searching, Full-record searches enable you to match for text anywhere in a record. You can, as with boolean, add a /w to your search term to limit the system to whole-word matches. Non-Indexed Searches (switches): There are 2 switches that can be added to your search statements: /w /p (/w) Whole-Word Matching When you add a /w to your search term under either FULL or BOOLEAN searching, you're asking GOVDOX to ignore those instances where the text you enter appears in a record but not as a whole word (e.g., you've entered hand but don't want matches on handbook). GOVDOX uses the following definition for a word: any text with a space (or punctuation) on each end of the term. (/p) Matches to printer Adding the /p switch will cause GOVDOX to send matching records to the printer instead of the screen (single line of output per record). If your printer is malfunctioning (or not turned on), you'll receive an error message--offering you the option of fixing the problem and continuing or abandoning the search. You can use both switches if desired (e.g., hand/w/p would send matches on the whole-word HAND to the printer). DISPLAY of MATCHING RECORDS Once the set of matches has been assembled, the matching records will be presented to you. The lower center of the display window will report which record is being viewed (e.g., Match 1 of 31). You have several options (shown on the menu along the status line): F or Forward - moves to the next record B or Backward - moves to the previous record E or Edit - allows you to EDIT the displayed record D or Delete - allows you to DELETE the displayed record S or Save - writes the record to an ASCII file (named QUERY.TXT) T or Transfer - writes the record in GIX format to TRANSFER.GIX P or Print - prints the displayed record J or Jump - allows you to jump to another record in the set. When you press J a window appears. Enter the number of the record you want to move to and press return. 3. EXPORT The export option is activated by pressing E on the Main Menu. You are shown several report options. All reports that go to disk are written as plain ASCII files--suitable for import into your favorite word processor. S - Sudoc Number. All records in the file are written to disk in SUDOC number order. You're offered the choice between brief and full format. Here's a sample of each FULL format (3 lines per entry) GS 1/29:NO 0580-A-01 02Feb90 Federal Travel Directory STACKS HE 3615/2:88-10 0508-H-01 06Mar89 Indoor Air Pollution Part 1: Radon MED Brief format (1 line per entry) A 57.38: C 87/988 SOIL SURVEY OF CROCKET COUNTY, TENNESSEE A 67.7/2: VOL/# FOREIGN AGRICULTURE (CHANGED TO AGEXPORTER 1989) Note that brief format makes a nice shelflist if all you need is sudoc number and title. You can use TITLE (option 2) to create a shelflist sorted by title. If you also want the item number to appear, use option M to create the shelflist. Option M also adds a '___' before each line to enable you to use the list to check-off selected entries: ___ A 1.2:C18/7/FOLDER 0010 Careers USDA ___ A 1.2:C18/8/Admin. 0010 Administration ___ A 1.2:C18/8/BUS. 0010 Business and Industry ___ A 1.2:C18/8/SCIENCE 0010 Science and Technology ___ A 1.2:C18/DIR. 0010 Directory GOVDOX will perform a sudoc number sort for these shelflists that is better than 99% accurate. Any numbers that don't sort correctly will likely appear at the head of the list--an excellent way to find typos. Other export reports of interest: Keywords: Generates an ASCII file of all keywords currently in use. Beside each term a number appears letting you know how many records use this term. UNIQUE ITEMS: This report produces a list of all unique item numbers in your database. BIBLIOGRAPHY: This option creates a file of all records containing a particular string in a particular field. GIX FILE: If you need to archive a database, you can create a GIX file. This will be smaller than your database since only the fields that have data are stored (not the blank spaces or empty fields). You can read a GIX file into GOVDOX via the Maintenance menu. COMMA-DELIMITED: Use this option if you want to move a GOVDOX database to some other package (e.g., dBASE). Each field is written surrounded by quote marks, with a carriage return/line feed at the end of each record. If you use with dBASE, you can append this file using the 'delimited' keyword (e.g., APPEND FROM GDOX.TXT DELIMITED). 4. VIEW ASCII FILE(S). This option provides a viewer for small ASCII files (e.g., GOVDOX.DOC). If a file in your GOVDOX subdirectory has a DOC, GIX, TXT or RPT extension, it will appear in the view pick-list. Move the highlight bar to the desired file and press RETURN. An ASCII file viewer will allow you view the file's contents. Press PgUP and PgDn to move inside the file. NOTE: This viewer can not view files larger than available RAM. If the file is large, you'll have to use your word-processor or a utility program like LIST.COM. 5. MAINTENANCE The Maintenance menu (reached by pressing M on the Main Menu) offers several options. Each is discussed below (in the order of appearance on the menu): List Records in the database. Pressing L on the Maintenance Menu moves you the end of the database and displays the final record in the file (the assumption being that you want to review records you've just added). You can move freely through the database or use the J (JUMP) command to move to a particular record. Rebuild Index. This function purges deleted records (not necessary if you're typically adding records to your file...GOVDOX reuses deleted records before physically adding a new record to the file) and rebuilds the *.IX (index) file. You must run this option if you rebuild/repair a database using GRX.EXE (as that program does not do a complete job of rebuilding the GOVDOX index(es). Shell to DOS. This function compresses the heap (to free up additional RAM) then shells out to the DOS prompt. Type EXIT to return to GOVDOX. Make a New Database. Use this function to create a new database. You supply up to an 8 character name and GOVDOX creates an empty DAT and IX file. After creating this file, you'll have to use the DATABASE SELECTION option on the main menu to make it your active file. Delete an Existing Database. Deletes a database and its associated IX (index) file. You can not delete your active database with this option. Global Find & Replace. Allow you to make changes to a particular field across your database. The indexes are updated dynamically during this process. Operation of the Find & Replace function is straightforward: 1. Select the field you want to modify from the menu that displays (sudoc, item number, title, and so on. 2. Enter the text you want GOVDOX to find, then enter the replacement text. Take care to insure that your replacement text does not contain your find text string--lest you set off an endless loop of changes. Note that GOVDOX will only change text when an EXACT match for your search text is found. CASE is significant! 3. GOVDOX will show you your 'find' and 'replace' strings. Once you agree that they are correct, the search begins. Each record that contains your 'find' search string will cause GOVDOX to display the old field and the proposed new field. If you agree with the change, press Y. If you want to skip the change for this record, press N. If, after reviewing several proposed changes, you decide that GOVDOX can proceed making the change automatically across the database, press A. Import ASCII (GIX) file. Use this option to read a GIX file into a database. 6. DATABASE SELECTION Pressing D on the main menu activates the DATABASE SELECTION function. If you have more than 1 database in your GOVDOX subdirectory, a list of databases will appear. Move the highlight bar to the desired database and press return. That file is now your active database. Note: The GOVDOX status line always reports the active database and the number of records contained in that file). 7. INFORMATION ON GOVDOX. This option (I on the Main Menu) brings up a copy of the ASCII file GOVDOX.HLP. You can substitute any ASCII file for GOVDOX.HLP if desired. Miscellaneous information 1. Using GRX.EXE If you experience a failure with a GOVDOX database (for example, an error message informing you that the index is corrupt), run the GRX utility. This file will read your existing database (*.DAT) and rebuild the proper structure. It will also create an empty index (*.IX) file. Once GRX has run you must rebuild the index for the database using GOVDOX (option R on the Maintenance Menu). The most common cause for database corruption is turning the PC off during data entry or reindexing...under normal operating conditions (where the user always exits the program from the main menu), you should never have to rebuild a file. 2. Backup? Many users have found that using the GIX option under Export provides a space-saving means of making a backup copy of your database(s). Since only the data from your database is exported (not the empty spaces inside each record), the resulting file is usually about 40% smaller than your database. With ASCII Import (on Maintenance menu), you can read this file back into GOVDOX should you ever need to reconstitute your database. You may also use LHA.EXE, included on your distribution diskette. LHA will backup a GOVDOX database...saving approximately 80% of the space required to store the uncompressed data. Syntax for using LHA: The basic syntax for using LHA is as follows: LHA (action) (archive name) (list of files to include) For example, to compress (backup) a database named GOVDOX (e.g., GOVDOX.DAT and GOVDOX.IX) into an archive file named GDOX.LZH use the following command: LHA A GDOX.LZH GOVDOX.DAT GOVDOX.IX [return] To decompress this file at a later date, enter: LHA E GDOX.LZH [return] The files GOVDOX.DAT and GOVDOX.IX will be decompressed and extracted from the archive file GDOX.LZH. 3. GOVDOX Memory Requirements: GOVDOX requires 420K of free RAM at the DOS prompt. If you have more RAM, it will be used for in-memory storage of the indexes. 4. GOVDOX Record Structure: Here is the pascal structure for a GOVDOX record: document = RECORD recordstatus : longint; { deleted?} sudoc : string[30]; itemno : string[10]; Title : string[70]; subject2 : string[50]; note1 : string[40]; mediatype : string[1]; datefld : string[7]; loc : string[1]; END; Sample file sizes (9013 records): Datafile (e.g., GOVDOX.DAT): 1992094 bytes (1.9 Mb) Index file (e.g., GOVDOX.IX): 3097560 bytes (3.0 Mb) Thus, to store 9000 records, you need approximately 5 Mb of disk space. While the index is larger than the datafile (primarily because it is also storing the sortable sudoc number), it does not grow in a 1:1 relationship with an added record. 5. GIX file format? Here is the format of a GIX file. Note that each field has a 2 character label followed by a colon and a space. Each record is separated by two asterisks (**). ** SD: GA 1/13:HRD-86-20(MF) IT: 0546-D TI: GAO Report, Second-year Implementation of the Federal Manager's Financ KY: Microfiche NO: Sent to Film area each June TY: A LO: C DA: 19Feb90 ** Many users find GIX files are great for doing massive edits across a database (assuming you have an ASCII editor or know how to save an ASCII file from within your favorite word-processor). Just export your database as a GIX file, then use your editor to make global changes across the file. When you're finished, save it back as a plain ASCII file (e.g., CTRL-F5,Text,Save in WordPerfect). Create a new database structure within GOVDOX to hold this new data (we don't want to import it into the same database we used to get the GIX file or we'll have duplicates). Import it into the new database via Maintenance. When you're convinced it all worked correctly, just delete the older version of the database. 6. GOVDOX.INI (the display text configuration file) To speed data entry and conserve a bit of disk space, GOVDOX uses codes to determine the proper display text for the media type and location fields. For each field, you can have 25 different values (letters A-Y). The Z value for each is reserved for those records that don't have any value entered in the field during data entry. GOVDOX assigns the display text to each code based on the configuration file named GOVDOX.INI (a plain ASCII file that *must* be in the same subdirectory with GD.EXE and GOVDOX.HLP. You can create GOVDOX.INI with the GE (GMUtant Editor) program provided with the registered version, or any word processor capable of producing ASCII files. If using a word processor, be sure to save the file in ASCII form (e.g., save via CTRL-F5 if using WordPerfect). Here's a sample GOVDOX.INI file * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GOVDOX.INI * * GOVDOX configuration file for display text. LOCATION values * * stored in "LOCA=" thru "LOCY=". The LOCZ= value will be used * * whenever a record has no entry (A-Y) in the location and/or * * mediatype field. You may put comments in this file, just be * * sure the line begins with a * in the first position from the * * left. If you edit this file with a word processor, be sure * * to save it to disk in pure ASCII form (e.g., CTRL-F5 not F7 * * when using WordPerfect * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * OPAC=No Change to YES for OPAC mode LOCA=Stacks. General circulation LOCB=Documents room. LOCC=Reference desk. LOCZ=Documents. Non-Circulating (default) TYPA=Microfiche TYPB=Microfilm TYPC=Serial TYPD=CD-ROM TYPZ=Monograph (default) As you can see, you don't need to enter a value for every letter under the two types. When GOVDOX first initializes, it assigns the text "Not Specified" for every letter. Then GOVDOX.INI is read and any letter that's referenced gets overwritten with the new value. If GOVDOX finds a record with no value in either the location or mediatype fields, then the Z value is assigned (for display purposes only). The record *does not* have a Z added. The important point here is to remember that the Z text will be used for records without a code. Enter only one location or media type per line. The significant text for each line begins in the 6th position of the line. For location display text, you may have up to 40 characters following the "=" sign. For media type display text, you may use up to 15 characters following the "=" sign. In each case, text that exceeds the limit is ignored. When doing data entry or editing, pressing F3 will put a copy of your GOVDOX.INI file in the file viewer... GOVDOX.EXE has been compressed with PKLITE version 1.15 Questions, comments, praise, complaints: Contact Clyde Grotophorst, Route 1, Box 296, Hamilton, Virginia 22030 phone: 703 993-2239 email: wallyg@fen1.gmu.edu CompuServe: 70404,3376