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* AmigaWorld *
created by Wolfgang Lug
Documentation of version 2.0
1. What is AmigaWorld?
======================
AmigaWorld is a database program that contains information about every country
on Earth. It enables you to have a look at the data of one country, or to
compare several ones. Among other things it displays location, capital, area,
population, languages, currency and the flag of each country.
AmigaWorld is very easy to handle, and you can use it with your favourite font,
screen mode and colors. You can also choose between German, English, Swedish,
and Dutch output.
AmigaWorld works on every Amiga that has one MByte of memory and Kickstart 1.2
or later.
2. How do I start AmigaWorld?
=============================
It's really easy: Just double-click the AmigaWorld icon. That's all.
If you would like to start AmigaWorld from a CLI window you have to make sure
that you are in the same directory as AmigaWorld (e.g. "cd df0:AmigaWorld").
Otherwise the program cannot find its data files.
AmigaWorld looks best if you use it with its special "Lucifer" font that comes
along with the program. If you want to install it in your system you can do so
by double-clicking the InstallFont icon.
Unimportant which font you use, the diskfont library has to be on you boot
disk. It is included in every standard Workbench disk.
3. How do I make AmigaWorld "speak" other languages?
====================================================
After having started AmigaWorld, everything is displayed in English. But you
can switch to another language! Just chose the item "Language" from the menu
"Configuration". A new window pops up, and you are asked to enter the name of
the new language. At the moment you can choose between English, German, Dutch,
and Swedish, and I hope that future versions of AmigaWorld will give you even
more choice.
If you would like to translate AmigaWorld into a new language, feel free to do
so! It is not very difficult, but it means a lot of work. See chapter 7 for
details.
4. How to use AmigaWorld
========================
Just try and find out! Most features are easy to understand, but you might not
notice some of the less intuitive features. Therefore here comes a quick survey
about the AmigaWorld screen:
The list of countries
---------------------
The list of countries is on the right side. It contains all the countries that
are selected. You can either select one country at a time (with the right
mouse button) or groups of several countries, e.g. with the help of the
"Selecion" menu or the search gadget.
If you move the mouse on a country's name and press the left button, a new
window pops up where the available data for this country is displayed.
With this method you can open up to ten country windows at the same time, thus
enabling you to compare their data.
You close the windows by hitting the close gadget in the upper left corner.
The proportional gadget
-----------------------
The proportional gadget in the middle of the screen enables you to move up and
down in the country list.
The map
-------
The map has two functions, that are quite useful after having searched:
If you move the mouse upon the map and click the left button, the selection of
the continents is restored as it was before the last search.
If you hit the right mouse button over the map, all countries are selected
(and thus displayed). The "Selection" menu is not influenced by this.
The search gadget
-----------------
The search gadget is below the map. If you type in some text and hit return,
AmigaWorld searches for a country with the name you entered. If you have
entered e.g. "Belgium", only Belgium will be selected and the data about it
will be displayed in a new country window. If you enter "Guiana" AmigaWorld
will select the independent state of Guyana, French Guiana and Suriname.
If you're too lazy to type in the whole name or if you don't know it com-
pletely, it is sufficient to enter the first letters and a star '*'. If you
enter e.g. "fra*", France will be displayed. AmigaWorld knows several names for
many countries: It doesn't matter if you enter "UK", "England" or "Great Br*";
the result is equal.
Before starting a search, you should remember that AmigaWorld searches only
the selected countries. If only European countries are selected, AmigaWorld
won't find China or Mexico. Therefore it is usually necessary to restore the
old selection after every search: Just click on the map.
It is not only possible to search for a country's name: You can also search
for a country, if you know its capital; or you can search for all countries,
where a specified language is spoken; or you can search for all countries in
South East Asia, e.g. This depends on your selection in the "Search for"
menu.
By the way: The search function is still enabled when you have already opened
some country windows.
5. The Menus
============
A speciality, that should not be that special
---------------------------------------------
Intuition gives you two ways of choosing a menu item:
1st) You press the right mouse button, move the mouse upon the item and then
release the right button. That is nothing new to you, I suppose.
2nd) You press the right mouse button, move the mouse upon the item and then
hit the LEFT button, without releasing the right one.
Probably you wonder why the guy is telling you this rather boring story. Well,
with the second method it is not only possible to select one item, but three
or four at a time. So you can make your choice in the "Display" menu with one
turn, or you can choose "Font" and "Colors" and "Save" from the configuration
menu all at once. Especially if you use this on the "Selection" menu, you will
notice that it works a lot faster than selecting five menu items one after
another, each time waiting until the program has processed the input.
Although it is an intuition feature, it is not supported by many programs.
Registered users can have a look at the source code to see how it works; it's
really simple.
Coming next there is a description of all the menu items:
The "AmigaWorld" menu
---------------------
"About" whodunnit
"User" tells how (and why) to become a registered user. If you
have registered you will find your own name.
"Translation" tells you about the brave men who translated everything
into their native languages.
"Quit" does what it is supposed to do. WITHOUT any stupid
questions if you really, really, really want to exit.
The "Selection" menu
--------------------
The upper six items tell AmigaWorld which continents shall be selected and
thus displayed in the country list. If you want only information about African
countries, just switch off the rest of the world!
"Dependencies" If this item is activated, not only independent states are
selected but all the other countries and territories,
too, e.g. Greenland or Hong Kong.
The "Sort by" menu
------------------
If you select an item from this menu, the country list will be sorted. The
order depends on the item you have chosen. If you choose "Area" the biggest
countries are displayed first and the tiny ones last.
"Name" The countries are sorted alphabetically.
"Area" Russia is displayed first, the Vatican last.
I think you can guess what the other items do.
The "Display" menu
------------------
This menu determines the looks of the country list. It is interesting especial-
ly in connection with the "Sort by" menu.
"Rank" The country list will be numbered. This is helpful when
comparing countries. An example: You have chosen only
"Europe" in the "Selection" menu and "Population" in
the "Sort by" menu. The beginning of the list will
look like this:
1 Russia
2 Germany