Monster Media 1994 #1

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▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒█▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀█▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒█ FCC FREQUENCY RETRIEVAL SYSTEM █ ▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒█ VERSION 2.0 █ ▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒█ █ ▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒█ ScanWare Associates █ ▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒█ 7910 NE Double Hitch Court █ ▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒█ Bremerton, WA 98310-3801 █ ▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒█ █ ▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒█ Copyright (c) 1993-1994, ScanWare Associates █ ▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒█▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄█ ▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ Welcome to the FCC Frequency Retrieval System User's Guide. This manual will show you how to use the FCC Frequency Retrieval System (FCC FRS) commands to find the data you are seeking. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE: Voice: (206) 698-1383 - Mon-Fri from 6PM to 9PM Pacific (206) 871-7099 - Mon-Fri from 6PM to 9PM Pacific Fax: (206) 698-8207 24hrs daily BBS: (206) 871-4228 (1200-14400 bps 8N1) 24hrs Mail: 7910 NE Double Hitch Court Bremerton, WA 98310-3801 USA Table of Contents Chapter 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Introduction to ScanWare and the FCC FRS. . . . . . . . . 5 FCC Database Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 The FCC Database Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 What Does the FCC FRS Do? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Improvements Since FCC FRS Version 1.0. . . . . . . . . . 6 What Is on the Registered Disk? . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Organization of the User's Guide. . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Chapter 1 - Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Chapter 2 - Getting Started. . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Chapter 3 - Sample Session . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Chapter 4 - FCC Frequency Retrieval System Basics. . 9 Chapter 5 - Special Features . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Chapter 6 - Techno-Babble. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Chapter 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 What Do You Need to Run the FCC FRS?. . . . . . . . . . . 11 Installing FCC FRS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Chapter 3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Starting the FCC FRS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Sample Session. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Getting Help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Selecting a Database. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Creating Indexes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Browsing the Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Chapter 4. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 FCC Frequency Retrieval System Basics . . . . . . . . . . 16 The FCC Frequency Database. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Basic Operating Guidelines. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Elevator Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Tagging Multiple Fields. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Progressive Searching. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Screen Savers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Clearing The Screen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Custom Color Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Window Borders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Browse Window Commands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Swapping Indexes <Alt-I> . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Editing Individual Fields. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Left/Right Arrows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 System Main Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Browse Window Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Custom Report Generator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Viewing and Selecting a Custom Report . . . . . . . . . . 23 Creating a New Query. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 A) Viewing Field Names and Descriptions. . . . . . 24 B) Selecting an Operator . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 C) Selecting a Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 D) Selecting a Boolean Operator. . . . . . . . . . 25 E) Ending the Query. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Selecting a New Database. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Indexing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Combining Databases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Separating Databases by Counties. . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Utility Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Remove Deleted Records. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Rename a Database File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Delete a Database File. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 System Configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Password Protection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Mouse Sensitivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Shell to DOS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Chapter 5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Special Features. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Notepad Editor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Edit Window/Status Line. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Current Directory/Wildcard . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Files - Changing, New, Default . . . . . . . . . . . 30 <Alt-B>: Block Commands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 <Alt-F>: Field Insertion for Mail Merging. . . . . . 31 Insert/Wordwrap. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 <Alt-K>: Cut and Paste . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 <Alt-I>: Insert Buffer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 <Alt-L>: Page Length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 <Alt-M>: Margins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 <Alt-P>: Printing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Mail Merging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 <Alt-R>: Search and Replace. . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 <Alt-V>: View Buffer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 File Size Limitations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Memo Field Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Calculator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Memory Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Print - Adding machine mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 User-Defined Color/Position. . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 On-Line Help and Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 System Error Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Reporting Errors or Discrepancies . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 FCC FRS Keys. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Query by Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Chapter 6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Memory Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Techno-Babble . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Dual Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 ScanWare Associates End User License Agreement. . . . . . 42 1. License . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 2. Copyright and Other Proprietary Rights. . . . . 42 3. Additional Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 4. Term. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 5. Limited Warranty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 6. Shareware License . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 7. Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Addendum. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Trademark Acknowledgements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Chapter 1 Introduction This introductory chapter gives you an overview of the package and explains how to utilize the rest of this User's Guide Introduction to ScanWare and the FCC FRS. ScanWare is the name of a partnership formed in 1993 by two Amateur Extra Class hams, Matt Amis - AA7LP, and Gene McAvoy - KG7XD. We see no sense in boring you with the lurid details of our respective backgrounds in electronics, computer programming, and scanning. The program will speak for us. Numerous comments have been received comparing this work with some of the other frequency database programs available. Perhaps the one we are most fond of compares the FCC FRS with the 'others' simply by saying that the FCC FRS is like driving a Mercedes while the 'others' are just Volkswagens. FCC Database Information The database structure used in FCC 2.0 is nearly two and one-half times larger than the one which was provided with FCC 1.15 In order to enable the user to fully appreciate the significance of this greatly expanded dataset we are providing detailed explanations of each field of the database along with other information to make this data more useful to all. It is important to note from the beginning that the data which ScanWare provides to the user is direct from the FCC Master Frequency List. No alterations, changes, corrections, or additions have been made except as noted in the following paragraphs. Any errors you may find in the data originated with the FCC or the person preparing the license application which was then accepted by the FCC. We do not intend to imply that the data is flawed, only that it is the work of many persons throughout the country and its accuracy only reflects the care taken by the licensees and the FCC administrators. Conversations with FCC Field Engineers have verified to us that some of the data from their files is quite inaccurate and in some cases missing. The FCC Database Structure The FCC frequency lists used in this program were extracted from a database totaling greater than 1700 megabytes and containing over 3 million individual records. These records are divided by the FCC into various subsets. They have numbered and named each subset as shown in the following table. Subset Name 1 Broadcast Services 2 Earth Station & Common Carrier 3 Common Carrier 4 Experimental 5 Common Carrier 6 Land Mobile 470-512 Mhz 7 Industrial & Business Services 8 Public Safety & Land Transportation 9 Industrial & Business Services 10 Special Mobile Radio (SMR) & 900 MHz Services 11 Aviation & Marine Services Some interest has been expressed in how these subsets are arranged in the FCC FRS Version 2.0 file structure. In order to use the FCC data as received, certain format conversions must be made. These conversions are accomplished with a custom program written and used exclusively by ScanWare. The conversion process and more specific information about the database and the individual data fields used in the program can be found in Chapter 4. What Does the FCC FRS Do? The FCC Frequency Retrieval System (FCC FRS) is the Complete Database Manager for your IBM / INTEL compatible computer. You can search, sort, extract, and generate frequency lists of many types. You can output to disk or printer, and manage your favorite frequency files as never before. In short, the FCC FRS makes the FCC Master Frequency List very easy to work with. Improvements Since FCC FRS Version 1.0 It's now Mouseable! The FCC FRS supports mouse action in many areas of the program. If you have a mouse and mouse driver installed, you will find this a new and exciting way to run FCC! New look, with graphic screens and menus. The FCC FRS is a frequency retrieval system for scanner buffs, so we created a scanning scanner for the opening intro screen. Program now supports 25, 43 or 50 line screen modes (depending on your hardware). 5 new screen savers! Everything from our own custom opening screen, stars, smiley faces, and sliding boxes like the ones you've seen in that "other" program. New and improved method for selecting active databases. Change directories up or down, change drives, search by letter, all within the selection window. Conditional Indexing! Previously, you were forced to use the 6 default indexes as provided by the program. You can now select any number of indexes to use, from 1 to 12. This can reduce the disk space requirement because you no longer have to build indexes on fields you don't want or don't care about. Direct method of handling databases. In prior versions, when you selected a new database, the program would copy it to a "FCC.DBF" file. Not only was this slow, it also required double the disk space for any database in use. The program now allows you to select any valid FCC FRS database and use that file without copying it. Changing files has never been faster! Once selected, the only requirement is to build new index(es) for the newly selected file. Each entry in the database now contains a memo field. With this, you can pop-up a window and add any notes or comments you want. This note is attached to that individual record, so each record in the database can have as detailed a note as you wish. The size of your note is limited only by available memory on your system. Improved Custom Report Generator. Additional operators have been included to help you define a listing that is "just right" for your needs. Screen layouts have been improved and its easier that ever to define your own custom output. Full screen pop-up notepad editor! Create and maintain your own extensive notes on anything you wish. Includes block copy/move/delete, mail merge and much more. You can edit any standard text files using the notepad editor. They don't even have to be a part of your FCC FRS files. Pop-up calculator. What can we say...ScanWare only wants to give you the best we can offer, and what program would be complete without a calculator. Separate any database into individual county databases. This feature allows you the freedom to work with only specifically- selected databases which you have defined. Combine two or more databases into one. Extract specific pieces of different databases and combine them all into one to meet your individual needs. Renaming databases within the program is easily accomplished in the Utility section. You can also delete unwanted records or entire databases. A DOS shell capability has been added to the program to provide you with complete access to every part of your system. Many system settings are now user definable. Along with complete color control, you can change delay speeds, screen savers, background graphics, sound (on or off), and more! FCC can be run in either full color or black and white to enhance it's viewability when used with a portable PC. The entire system was restructured internally to optimize code and reduce system memory requirements. In the rare event that an error might occur, a new and improved error handler has been added. The context sensitive help screens have been greatly expanded and completely rewritten to reflect the latest improvements. The new install program allows you to install only the FCC subsets you are most interested in and it will tell you just how many records are being installed as well as how much memory space you will be using. This method will allow you to optimize your system and avoid loading thousands of listings which may be of no interest. The new, improved and updated documentation file. Extensively re-written to be more detailed and more complete than ever before. The registered version also includes FCC icons and a PIF file for use with Windows(r) 3.1. What Is on the Registered/Shareware Disk(s)? The files included on your registered or shareware version program disk(s) and their descriptions follows: The SHAREWARE archive should have the following files: FCC.EXE <-- The main executable FCC.OVL <-- Overlay file FCC.CFG <-- System file containing colors FCC.DBF <-- Sample SHAREWARE database FCC.DBT <-- Support memo file for FCC.DBF HELP.DBF <-- Guess what? Help file HELP.DBT <-- Yup, goes with help file QUERIES.DBF <-- Sample pre-defined queries QUERIES.DBT <-- Used with queries.dbf FCC2.DOC <-- FCC FRS Documentation File ORDER.FRM <-- Order form for Registered versions README.DOC <-- This file DOS_6_0.TXT <-- Text file for DOS 6.0 users FILE_ID.DIZ <-- BBS File Description insert PRINTDOC.BAT <-- Batch file to print FCC FRS documentation REVISION.HST <-- Revision history file SCANWARE.BBS <-- ScanWare's BBS information If you are running a REGISTERED version of FRS, you will also have: INST.EXE <-- Main install executable program INSTALL.DAT <-- Data file used during install INSTALL.BAT <-- Main installation batch file for install INSTAL1.BAT <-- Secondary batch file for install INSTHELP.DAT <-- Help file for install program FCC.REG <-- Personalized registration file FCC.PIF <-- FCC Pif file for Windows 3.1 FCC.ICO <-- FCC Icon for Windows 3.1 Once run, the following files will also be created: FCC.SET <-- System file containing global settings HELP.NTX <-- Index file for Help system QUERIES.NTX <-- Index file for Queries program (When used) ????????.NTX <-- Various index files depending on your selections Organization of the User's Guide. The FCC FRS User's Guide is organized into seven chapters: Chapter 1 - Introduction getting to know ScanWare and the FCC Frequency Retrieval System Chapter 2 - Getting Started provides basic instructions on how to install and start the FCC FRS. Chapter 3 - Sample Session is a short tour which illustrates the basic capabilities of the FCC FRS and may be the only instruction you will require. Chapter 4 - FCC Frequency Retrieval System Basics introduces some basic concepts and explains the basic operating principles of the FCC FRS. Chapter 5 - Special Features focuses on techniques for the advanced user and the user who wants to get the most out of the FCC FRS. Chapter 6 - Techno-Babble is a special section written by the programmer which explains a lot of the very complex workings deep within the FCC FRS. The following conventions are used throughout the User's Guide: Keys - the actual key you should press is indicated by the name of the key in brackets such as: <F10>, <Q>, or <Enter>. Commands - the actual command you should enter is always introduced by the instruction "type:" or "enter:". Steps - the steps you should follow to accomplish a desired task are set out by indentation and consecutively numbered. Important Points - comments, instructions, or warnings which are of particular importance are introduced with the word "NOTE" preceding the important information. If you should find any errors in this user's guide, or desire to make a comment on how much you did or did not like any part of the FCC FRS, please contact us: ScanWare Associates Voice: (206) 698-1383 7910 NE Double Hitch Court (206) 871-7099 Bremerton, WA 98310-3801 Fax: (206) 698-8207 BBS: (206) 871-4228 Chapter 2 Getting Started This chapter explains how to install and start the FCC FRS. Please remember that the installation of your program must be accomplished successfully in order to use the FCC database for your state. Chapter Contents What Do You Need to Run the FCC FRS? What Does the INSTALL Program Do? Installing FCC FRS What Do You Need to Run the FCC FRS? You need the following equipment: An IBM PC, PC/XT, PC/AT, PS/2, or 100% compatible personal computer A 3.5" diskette drive on the PC to run the FCC FRS Install program and to load the FCC Data into the computer. A hard drive with sufficient free space to contain the program and data you need for the FRS. 640K bytes or more of available memory. A black & white or color monitor. A printer while optional is highly recommended. You also need the following software to run the FCC FRS: DOS version 3.0 or later. Note: The program has been extensively tested on 286, 386 and 486 systems with CPU speeds from 4.0 to 66 Mhz. This program was not designed to operate on a MacIntosh or Commodore computer running in DOS-Emulation mode and ScanWare will take no responsibility for programs run on these platforms. Installing FCC FRS As you have seen, FCC is not a small program. Although Version 2.0 deals with some extremely large databases, the program continues to outperform all of the competition. In your registered package, you received several disks. Disk one (1) contains all of the necessary install and program files, as well as helps, documentation (this file!) and notes. Supplementary disks contain the FCC Master Frequency List subsets for the state(s) you purchased. The first thing you should do is make a backup copy of the program and data disks. Always use these copies for any work you do with FCC. This way, if the work disks are damaged or erased, you can easily rebuild them from your originals. To begin the installation, we recommend that you ensure that you remove any Terminate and Stay Resident (TSR) programs that might be in memory. While we have never seen any conflicts between FCC and any TSR, it's always better to be safe than sorry. You can always re-install your TSR after you are sure that FCC is in place and functional. Additionally, please ensure that your AUTOEXEC.BAT file does NOT contain any SET CLIPPER= commands. We have created both the install program and FCC with the necessary SET CLIPPER commands already burned in. Each time FCC is run, the program will look to see that your CONFIG.SYS file has the proper files and buffers settings (at least 50 files and 10 buffers.) If it does not, the program will ask if you wish to change the file to replace or insert the correct values. If you opt not to make any changes at the time you run the program, it will continue to run, but be aware that you may run into problems later. It is strongly recommended that your CONFIG.SYS contain (at a minimum) the following settings: FILES=50 BUFFERS=10 STACKS=9,256 Finally, please be sure you are running a DOS Version 3.30 or greater and that you have a minimum of 2 megabytes of hard disk space available. This does NOT include space for the data subsets. They will require additional space as identified by the install program. Users of Microsoft DOS Version 6.0 are reminded to read the DOS_6_0.TXT file provide on the program disk. NOTE: Due to the size and complexity of FCC Version 2.0, it will NOT install on a floppy disk. You must have a hard disk on which to install the program. To install FCC FRS Version 2.0, place the program disk into a floppy disk drive of your choice and change to that drive. If you are installing from your Drive A:, place the program disk in drive A: then type 'A:' and pres <Enter> or <Return>. This will set your current path to the correct drive. Next, place your Program Disk in drive A:, type 'INSTALL x:', where 'x' refers to the hard drive name where you want FCC to be installed. NOTE: You MUST include the ':' when specifying the drive or the install program will terminate. During the install process, the program will check to ensure that you have sufficient hard disk space for the FCC FRS program to be installed. In addition, the install program will check that all necessary files were properly copied, etc. If any were not found, the program will inform you of the missing file(s) and return to DOS. During the install, the program will copy all required files from the program disk onto the drive you have specified and into the FCC2 directory (which install will create). Once all of the program files have been successfully copied, a special program will execute that will prompt you for the various FCC frequency subsets to install. The install program is complete with on-line help screens (at any prompt simply press <F1> for help.) In the subset install portion of the program, you will be given the choice to select any (or all) subsets you wish to install. The selection screen provides you with a short definition of each of the 11 subsets and the number of records contained in each. At the bottom of the screen the program will report the total number of records to be installed, the amount of hard disk space available, as well as the total hard disk space required for all selected subsets. NOTE: As we do not know beforehand just which or how many indexes you may wish to create, we could not anticipate the additional hard disk space required for your indexes. Be warned, that building indexes for FCC requires additional hard disk space beyond that which is displayed for you! For example: If you have 50 megabytes of hard disk space available, and select 49 megabytes of files, you will NOT have enough room to build ANY indexes and FCC will terminate with an 'insufficient hard disk space' error. Be sure to factor this into your selections as you choose which subsets to install!! When installation is completed, you will be placed in the FCC2 directory on your hard drive. To run the FCC FRS, simply type <FCC> at the DOS prompt and press <Enter>. The rest is easy! Be sure you remove your master Program Disk and place it in a safe keeping. Chapter 3 Chapter Contents Starting the FCC FRS Sample Session Getting Help Selecting a Database Creating Indexes Browsing the Database Starting the FCC FRS To begin using the FCC Frequency Retrieval System change directory to C:\FCC2 and type: FCC <Enter>. The FCC2 directory does not have to be in the Path statement to use this method. Sample Session The following section is a tutorial which illustrates the basic capabilities of the FCC FRS and may be the only instruction you will require to begin realizing the programs full potential. The first screen you will see after starting the program will be the ScanWare Scanner. Displayed on the scanners readout will be your registration information and ScanWare's phone numbers and address. If you should need to contact ScanWare for any assistance, please have your registration number available. After viewing this intro screen, press any key to continue. You can display your program registration information at any time by pressing <Alt-F8>. Getting Help As mentioned above, help can always be obtained by contacting ScanWare by phone, fax, or BBS. Immediate help can be obtained from almost any screen in the program simply by pressing <F1>. When viewing the Help Screens you can scroll forward and reverse as well as using the Page Up and Page Down functions. Each Help Screen can be immediately output to your printer by pressing <Alt- P>. In addition, more help can be gotten by pressing the <F1> key a second time. This will bring up the Help Index from which you can view or print any Help Screen from anywhere in the program. Selecting a Database As you continue beyond the intro screen you will first encounter the Main System Menu. Choose selection two from the Main Menu to select your active database. If no database is found, the program will ask if you wish to create one. The correct answer to choose is 'YES'. Creating Indexes After you have selected your first database, the program will ask you what indexes you wish to build. Any field of the database can become the basis for an index. You may create up to 12 individual indexes. While you are learning to use FCC, we recommend that you build only three indexes, Freq (MHz) (the frequency), Licensee Name, and Transmitter City. As the indexes are being built you will see the Index File Status progress bar. The progress bar will indicate which index is currently being built and how far along you are in the entire indexing process. When this procedure is finished you are returned to the System Menu. More information regarding the indexes can be found in chapter four. Browsing the Database After you have selected a database and created your desired indexes you may Browse the Database. Your first screen after selecting choice number 1 on the System Menu will allow you to tag the database fields which you wish to include in this browse session. We suggest for this session that you tag 'All Fields'. You are now operating with the browse window. In this window the database is displayed much as data within a spreadsheet is displayed. Using the arrow keys your can scroll the view left, right, up and down. The Home, End, Page Up and Page Down keys, as well as Ctrl-versions of these keys are all functional and serve to move your view to different positions in the database. In a box at the bottom of the screen you will see the common commands available at this point. Feel free to experiment with these keys. The assigned function of each is given later in Chapter 5. As you begin to browse the data, you will notice that the first column does not scroll to the right or left as do all the others. This feature can be changed to Lock a different number of columns on the left side of the screen by pressing 'L' and specifying the desired number of columns. Chapter 4 FCC Frequency Retrieval System Basics This chapter introduces information about the FCC databases and explains the basic operating principles of the FCC FRS, including the menu system and use of the keyboard. Chapter Contents The FCC Frequency Database Basic Operating Guidelines Browse Window Functions Custom Report Generator Selecting Active Database Creating New Indexes Combining Databases into One Separating Data into Counties The Utility Menu The FCC Frequency Database The Federal Communications Commission is a bureau of the government which in part is composed of a number of Field Offices. These offices are staffed by personnel who perform a variety of functions from public relations, complaint handling, frequency monitoring, and public assistance in the filing of license applications. Although the data contained in the FCC database comes from a central location near Washington, DC, most of it originates locally with the licensees. Because there is a large number of persons involved in the gathering of this data it inherently contains a number of errors. To the casual users these errors may be no more than a curiosity, to a professional seeking specific information they can be quite troublesome. ScanWare makes no attempt to correct any of the data received from the FCC. In preparing the FCC data to be used with the Frequency Retrieval System, the datasets are limited to the standard range of 10 kHz through 2036 MHz, (unlimited frequency datasets which generally cover from 0 to 300 GHz are optionally available). A utility function is used to provide counties and zip codes in some cases where this information is missing and can be supplied from a known correct source. Next, a complete character-by-character comparison is made of each data element and any records which are exact duplicates of any others are eliminated. After converting the database to the format used by the FCC FRS, we make NO OTHER MODIFICATIONS to the original FCC data. In extracting data for a given state from the master file two fields are used as indexes, the Licensee State and the Transmitter State. This method ensures that a complete picture of the data for each state will be obtained. Each data subset is given a unique filename which identifies both the state and the subsets which it contains. For example, the FCC FRS Version 2.0 Subset 1 for Washington State is given the filename, WA2_S1. Subset 10 of the same state would be WA2_S10. Some states, such as California and Texas have certain subsets which are too large to fit on one floppy disk. These are identified in a similar manner but with an additional code. California Subset 9 is one such large dataset and has been named CA2_S9A and CA2_S9B. No ordering or sorting of the files is done during the conversion process. The reason for this is that FCC FRS uses the indexes that you select for sorting. After your indexes are prepared, FCC can instantly find the items you are seeking. Even on the slowest of computers you will not notice any delay as the program executes searches at your request. Much thought and planning has gone into the preparation of this data and in the formats of each element as used in the FCC FRS. The key to understanding the FCC data supplied with your program is a fundamental knowledge of the FCC subsets, the fields comprising the data structure and the meaning of the information contained in each field. Listed below are the individual data fields supplied with the FCC FRS and information on each to help you better appreciate their meaning. The FCC FRS database structure contains 31 fields of fully editable information for each individual record. The fields and a brief description of each follows. FREQUENCY - This field contains the frequency of operation for each individual record. For some records the listed frequency may not reflect an actual operating frequency but may only indicate the band in which the licensee was granted operation. This often occurs when a candidate submits an application for licensure in a particular radio service prior to completing a frequency study to determine the exact operating frequency desired. Another item which may be found in this position is the lower end of a band of frequencies in which the licensee may operate. This kind of entry will appear in digits that are brighter than the others indicating that a frequency range is associated with this entry. The upper-end limit of the range will then be shown in the field labeled FREQ HIGH LIMIT. CALLSIGN - Most often the format of a callsign will identify it as either a base or a mobile station. Callsigns always begin with a characters and end with numerals. The usual pattern for a fixed base station is three-by-three or four-by-three such as KMA357 or KKNB262. Most mobile units are identified as a two-by-four or two-by-five such as KA2356 or KB46634. At the present time the FCC is assigning one callsign to entire systems of base and mobile units which explains why mobile units may sometimes identify with the same callsign as the base station. Stations are required to identify on a regular basis. This is often accomplished automatically with a CW identification. LICENSEE NAME - The name under which the licensee is doing business (DBA Name). This field contains only the first 40 characters of the FCC's 100 character field. LICENSEE CITY - The home city of the licensee as it appears on the station operating license. This might not be anywhere near the location of the actual transmitting facility. LICENSEE STATE - This is the state shown on the FCC license. LICENSEE ZIP CODE - As above. SERVICE CODE - The FCC designation for the radio service in which this license is granted. See the on-line help file for a complete listing of the FCC service codes. STATION CLASS - This field defines the class of station licensed, such as; FB - Fixed Base, MO - Mobile, FX3 - Fixed Repeater Station. See the on-line help for a complete listing of station classes. XMIT CITY - The city in which the transmitter is located. XMIT COUNTY - The county in which the transmitter is located. XMIT STATE - The state in which the transmitter is located. XMIT LAT - Transmitter latitude given in HHH MM SS format. XMIT LONGITUDE - Transmitter longitude in HH MM SS format. XMIT ELEV - Transmitter location elevation in feet above sea level. XMIT HGHT - Radiating antenna height above ground level in feet. XMIT HAAT - Antenna height above average terrain in feet. XMIT EFF - Height above ground to the center of the radiating antenna in feet. XMIT STRUH - Height in feet of the of the entire structure on which the antenna is mounted or height of the tip of the highest antenna on the structure. RADIUS OF OPERATION - Radius of operation of the station in miles from the given latitude and longitude. ANTENNA POLARIZATION - Electrical orientation of the antenna. This information is helpful to know when determining proper antenna mounting orientation, i.e. H-Horizontal, V-Vertical, etc. ERP - Effective radiated power as calculated from transmitter power output, feedline loss, and antenna gain. POWER OUT - Transmitter power output Note: The ERP and POWER OUT were two areas that FCC Field Engineers verified as being particularly error prone. EMISSIONS - Coded listing of licensees bandwidth and emission type. See on-line help for examples and further information. Number of Vehicular, Portable, Air Mobile, Marine Mobile, and Pager type units licensed for operation on a given system. FREQ HIGH LIMIT - High end of licensees allowable frequency range. PL - Field provided by ScanWare for PL codes which can be added by the user as desired. This field currently accepts only numerical PL values which corresponds with the actual tone frequencies used. For users who desire to use other coding methods such as alphanumerics or alphabetic, ScanWare suggests using the Memo field for each record concerned. The Federal Communications Commission does not track PL codes at all. NOTES - A free-form memo field provided by ScanWare for the convenience of the user. Actually a small but fully functional word processor. See Memo Field Editor later in the documentation for more information. Basic Operating Guidelines Elevator Bar As you scroll up and down through the window, the indicator will move up and down on the status bar, showing you where you are relative to the first and last fields. If there are more options above the first field shown in the window, an up arrow will be displayed at the upper right corner of the box. If there are more options below the last element shown, a down arrow will be drawn at the lower right corner of the box. Tagging Multiple Fields You can tag any items by highlighting an item and pressing the space bar. If you press <F8>, you will tag all items in the window. If you press <F9>, you will untag all items. Pressing <F10> will toggle each tagged item to the opposite of what it was; i.e., if item 1 was tagged and item 2 was not tagged, after pressing <F10> item 1 will not untagged and item 2 will be tagged. In addition to the <F8>, <F9>, and <F10> keys, you also can do a group tagging with the <F7> key. Highlight the first item to be tagged and press <F7>. Then move to the last item and press <F7> again. Progressive Searching When you press a letter key, you jump to the next field that begins with that letter. As you continue to enter letters, the program will continue to search, performing a progressive search on the string. This search function is not case sensitive. Screen Savers Many people leave their workstations in the middle of a program and forget to come back until much later. Blanking the screen is useful for saving wear and tear on the monitor, and is just plain entertaining in these situations. The program will wait a specified number of seconds for a keypress, and if none is detected, clears the screen. It then displays one of five different screen blankers now built into the FCC FRS. Selecting your screen saver is easily accomplished in the System Configuration mode. The screens available are numbered 1 through 5 and are described below: 1) The FCC FRS Scanning Scanner Graphic. 2) Clears the screen and displays a saved message. "Press any key to return to the program" 3) A small smiley-face dancing randomly on the screen. 4) The planetarium screen saver complete with twinkling stars. 5) A Sliding Block screen saver. Clearing The Screen This function lets you choose nine interesting ways of clearing the screen. 1) Window shade being pulled down 2) Window shade being yanked up 3) Barn door being closed to the right 4) Barn door being closed to the left 5) Curtains opening from center of screen 6) Curtains closing to center of screen 7) Camera lens shutting 8) Diagonal Wipe 9) Vertical halves Custom Color Configuration This function allows you to view, modify, and optionally save all of the color settings. You may also toggle between color and monochrome via this function. It displays all the internal color settings on the screen. To modify a color setting, use the arrow keys to move to the desired setting and press <Enter>. This will pop up the color palette and allow you to change the setting to your favorite color. FCC 2.0 allows you a wide latitude when changing your color scheme. With this much flexibility, it is entirely possible to mess the colors up so bad, that you wish to start all over. Simple. To restore the colors to their default, simply delete the file FCC.CFG and re-start FCC. All colors will be reset to their original state (where you can do it all again!) Also, if you do not select a main screen background character, then the color choice for the screen background will only show the chosen background color. Window Borders Most "windows" in the program can have the borders re-defined to suit your particular tastes. Six border types are available: Border Border Type Example 1) Double ╔═════════╗ ╚═════════╝ 2) Single ┌─────────┐ └─────────┘ 3) Double Horiz., Single Vert. ╒═════════╕ ╘═════════╛ 4) Single Horiz., Double Vert. ╓─────────╖ ╙─────────╜ 5) Thick Line ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ █▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄█ 6) No border Most windows can have a delay set, which is used to delay the "explosion". The larger the delay, the longer the box drawing operation will take. We recommend using values between 1 and 20, but you should experiment with this to discover what setting works best with your particular hardware. Browse Window Commands This is a powerful database browser, which includes locking columns and viewing data subsets without setting filters. The following keys are active while in the browse window: Key Action Left Arrow Move left one column Right Arrow Move right one column Up Arrow Move up one row Down Arrow Move down one row PgUp Display previous screen PgDn Display next screen Ctrl-Home Move to leftmost column Ctrl-End Move to rightmost column Ctrl-PgUp Move to top of file Ctrl-PgDn Move to bottom of file Ctrl-Left Pan entire screen left Ctrl-Right Pan entire screen right Enter Edit current cell Alt-I Switch active index Key Action Home Jump to beginning of previous subgroup (w/ active index) End Jump to beginning of next subgroup (w/ active index) L Lock columns Alt-I Switch active index Alt-S Create subset (w/ active index) + Expand current column by one - Shrink current column by one Alt-Plus Expand current column by five Alt-Minus Shrink current column by five Swapping Indexes <Alt-I> If you have two or more index files open, you may switch between them by pressing <Alt-I>. This means that you could have one index on Frequency and another on Licensee Name, etc., and switch back and forth between them for searches. Editing Individual Fields When you highlight a field and press <Enter>, you can edit it directly without going to a full screen view. If you wish to edit the same field in a series of records, you can terminate the edit on that one field by pressing the down arrow, which will move you down one record and pop you immediately into edit mode. Left/Right Arrows If there is data off the screen to the left or right, an arrow will appear on the bottom row at the left or right corner, respectively. System Main Menu The system main menu is described in the following section. The main menu supports the following keys: Key Action Up Arrow move up one option, or if at first option, jump to last option Down Arrow move down one option, or if at last option, move to first option Home jump to first option End jump to last option PgUp jump to first option PgDn jump to last option Enter select highlighted option & exit Esc exit and return to DOS It should be clear that if an option has been selected which does not seem to perform as understood that the user is always free to abort the function by pressing <Esc> and beginning a new operation or by pressing <F1> to seek help. Browse Window Functions The Browse Window as the name implies is where most casual 'looking around' is done in the FCC FRS. This is the area to enjoy while simply wandering through the many database entries. The arrow keys and the page keys provide for movement and the operating keys are shown in the box below the browse window. Specific keypress actions are covered in Chapter 5. Custom Report Generator The Custom Report Generator is the area in which you may define specific parameters for the data to be output into a report of your own choosing. This is also the area where you may define a custom database for your own specific purposes. This powerful utility allows you to create and save complex queries (filters) for any database file. The queries are stored in the files QUERIES.DBF and QUERIES.DBT. These files will be created automatically if they don't already exist. Viewing and Selecting a Custom Report When you enter the query builder, you will see a window containing descriptions of all available queries which are connected to your currently active database. Available Options Up Arrow Move highlight bar up one query Down Arrow Move highlight bar down one query <F7> Count records matching current query <F8> Delete current query <F9> View criteria for current query <F10> Create a new query Enter Run current query Esc Exit the query module Press <F7> to count the records that match the criteria for the highlighted query. This may take a few moments for large files because the program must scan the entire active database. Press <F8> to delete the highlighted query. You will be asked to confirm your request. Please note that this option will physically delete the query and pack the memo files as well, rather than simply marking the record for deletion. Pressing <F9> will pop up a window showing the criteria for the highlighted query. You may use the up and down arrow keys to scroll through the criteria. Press <Esc> to return to the query window. Pressing <Enter> will run the query on your active database file. If no records fit the criteria, you will receive a message to that effect. Creating a New Query A) Viewing Field Names and Descriptions Pressing <F10> from the query window will bring up the criteria screen. A scrolling window containing the field names of the selected database (or alternate descriptions) will appear on the right side of the screen. The following commands are available: Enter Select current field Up Arrow Move highlight bar up Down Arrow Move highlight bar down Letters (A-Z) Move highlight bar to the next field that begins with letter If you attempt to move past the first or last query description, you will get a reminder tone. B) Selecting an Operator Pressing Enter will bring up the operators selection window, which contains the following choices: 1) Equal to 2) Less than 3) Greater than 4) Less than or equal to 5) Greater than or equal to 6) Not equal to 7) Contains 8) Sounds like Use the up and down arrow to select the desired operator, then press <Enter> to continue. C) Selecting a Value When you have selected an operator, another window will appear beneath the operators window. This window will contain the field name and the operator. Type in the desired value for this field, then press <Enter> to continue. If you wish to see all of the available values in your database, you may press <Alt-V> to pop up a scrolling window of values. You may select one of these as the value for your query by highlighting it and pressing <Enter>, or you may press <Esc> to exit without making a selection. D) Selecting a Boolean Operator When you have entered the value, another window will appear below the value window. This window will contain the following choices: 1) "Discard" 2) " .AND. " 3) " .OR. " 4) "( ... .AND. " 5) "( ... .OR. " 6) " .AND. (" 7) " .OR. (" 8) ") .AND. " 9) ") .OR. " 10) ") .AND. (" 11) ") .OR. (" 12) "<done>" Move the highlight bar to the desired selection and press <Enter>. Note: The two options with leading open parentheses can only be used on the first query criterion. The options involving a closed parenthesis will be unavailable unless there is at least one open parenthesis in the query criteria. E) Ending the Query When you have finished building the criteria for this query, select "<done>" from the Boolean operator window. You will then be asked to enter a description for this query for your future reference. This description may contain up to 50 characters. Press <Enter> when you are finished entering the description, and you will be returned to the query window. If you want to exit without saving this query, press <Esc>. If you wish to run this query immediately without saving it for future use, simply leave the description empty and press <Enter>. Selecting a New Database During the option of selecting a new active database, you are given the opportunity to change drives and directories. Should you do this, be aware that any indexes you had in the previous directory will not be deleted. The program will delete/build indexes only in the directory which contains the database selected. To prevent running out of disk space, we suggest that if at all possible, you leave all data files in the same directory. With the ability to switch between files, extract counties and combine files, you will have far less problems with all data in the same directory. It's important to note that you cannot combine databases on different drives or directories. For example, the pick window will give you a listing of all database files in one directory only, so you will be unable to tag files that may reside elsewhere. Indexing The indexing concept used in the FCC FRS is a unique ScanWare innovation designed specifically to enable faster searches of the database and to save the user much hard drive space. You may construct from 1 to 12 indexes using any combination of fields.Although for general record searching it is handy to have a number of different indexes with which to work, it must be remembered that each additional index requires a large portion of your hard disk memory. See Advanced Memory Management later in this document. Combining Databases Another feature unique to the FCC FRS is the ability to combine two or more databases into one database. This allows you to create your own very specific databases and then to eliminate from your system any areas of non-interest. The construction of custom databases requires some knowledge of database management which is beyond the scope of this documentation. Separating Databases by Counties As an adjunct to the above function the FCC FRS provides you with a utility which will divide a database into individual county databases. Any record where no county information is given will be placed in a database called NONAME.DBF. Users may prevent this from happening by editing the database from the browse window to eliminate blank county fields before executing the Separate into Counties function. NOTE: Because of the criteria used by ScanWare to select records for each state database, it is possible that a very large number of individual counties may be represented in a database. Utility Menu A Utility Menu selection has been provided which will take you to another program level where utility functions are performed. Each is outlined in the following paragraphs. Remove Deleted Records Individual records in a database may be marked for deletion while in the Browse Window by pressing 'D'. These records are not physically deleted until you enter the Utility Menu and choose selection one, Remove Deleted Records. Once deleted, these records cannot be recovered without reloading the original database. Rename a Database File This selection allows you to rename any of the database files on your system. This is particularly useful when constructing custom databases. Delete a Database File This selection allows you to delete any unwanted database files. System Configuration Many of the system operating parameters may be modified to suit the users individual taste. Since there are so many variables involved it is quite possible that even the expert user might not be satisfied with his modified configuration. You can restore your program to the original ScanWare defaults simply by exiting the program, deleting the file named FCC.SET, and then restarting the program. The original defaults will be restored. Password Protection FCC FRS 2.0 includes a simple password protection routine that can be used during program startup. This password scheme conforms to NO encryption standards and is supplied only as a very minor, simple method to keep unwanted prying eyes from gaining access to your program. If you opt to use a password in FCC, it will be stored in the FCC.SET file. Should you ever forget your password, the easiest fix is to delete the FCC.SET file and re-start FCC (pretty simple, huh?) This will build a default configuration file with system defaults (which does not include a password). You must then run the system configuration option to re-set any specific settings you may have had. Mouse Sensitivity If you have a mouse installed in your system, you will have the mouse cursor visible at program start-up. The mouse can be used for menu selections, browsing, and highlighting. Within the System Configuration menu you will find a setting for Double Click Sensitivity. This allows you to set double-click sensitivity. By default, this sensitivity level is 250 milliseconds. Shell to DOS Choosing this selection will transfer you from the FCC FRS into a DOS screen where you can perform most ordinary DOS functions. To exit from DOS and return to the Utility Menu type: 'EXIT' <Enter>. Chapter 5 Special Features This chapter deals with many of the Special Features of the FCC FRS. These enhancements have been added for the convenience of the user. Some are highly modifiable and can become quite useful with just a bit of familiarization. Chapter Contents Notepad Editor Memo Field Editor Calculator One-Line Help and Error Messages FCC FRS Keys Function Keys Notepad Editor The Notepad Editor is in fact a small and highly functional word processor. It can be used to edit any text-based file both within the FCC FRS or anywhere on the users system. To access the notepad editor anywhere in the program, simply press <Alt-F9> to bring it up. This notepad lets you do text block commands (move/copy/delete), cut-and-paste from the underlying screen, the ability to create and do mail merging by inserting fieldnames into your documents and much more. Active Keys Alt-A (A)ppend a file to current file Alt-B Place block marker (or execute block command if both block markers have already been placed) Alt-F insert (F)ield (for mail merging) Alt-G (G)oto line number Alt-H (H)elp screen listing all commands Alt-I (I)nsert buffer Alt-K (K)ut and Paste Alt-L page (L)ength for printing Alt-M change (M)argins Alt-N edit (N)ew file Alt-P (P)rint file Alt-Q (Q)uit but save edits Alt-R search and (R)eplace Alt-S (S)ave file & continue Alt-T (T)oggle wordwrap on/off Alt-V (V)iew buffer Alt-W (W)rite to new file Alt-X e(X)it immediately without saving Alt-Y change director(Y)/wildcard Edit Window/Status Line When you enter the notepad, the edit window takes up nearly the full screen. You will be prompted to enter the name of the file you wish to edit. There is a status line at the bottom of the screen, which displays the name of the file being edited (minus the directory), the current line and column position of the cursor, the left and right margins, and the status of wordwrap and insert modes (displayed when active as "<Wrap>" and "<Ins>" respectively). When a file has been edited, an asterisk will appear at the right side of the top row next to the "Alt-H=Help" message. Current Directory/Wildcard The notepad gives you the ability to change the working directory and/or filemask at any time. When you first enter the notepad, the current directory will be set to the default DOS directory, and the wildcard will be set to "*.*". If you would like to change either the directory where the notepad looks for files or the wildcard used (e.g., "*.TXT", "*.DOC"), press <Alt-Y> and enter the new information. You do not have to enter slashes in front or back of the directory name UNLESS you include a wildcard. For example, to change the current directory to "\FCC2\" you need only enter "FCC2". However, if you want the notepad to look for all the .TXT files in subdirectory FCC2, you must enter "\FCC2\*.TXT". If you enter just the wildcard, the current directory will remain unchanged. If you enter a directory name only, the wildcard will be reset to "*.*". If you press <Enter> without typing in anything, neither the current directory nor the wildcard will be changed. Examples: let's suppose that your application is in a subdirectory named \FCC2. The initial current directory/wildcard will be set to "\FCC2\*.*". If you press <Alt-Y> and type "*.DOC" then press <Enter>, the directory/wildcard will be changed to "\FCC2\*.DOC". If you wish to change to the \WASH subdirectory, press <Alt-Y> and type "WASH" then press <Enter>. The directory/wildcard will then be changed to "\WASH\*.*". Suppose then you want to look at only the .DOC files starting with the letter 'P' in the directory \FCC2\NOTES. You would press <Alt-Y> again, and type in "\FCC2\NOTES\P*.DOC". Files - Changing, New, Default When you press <Alt-N> to edit a new file or <Alt-W> to write to another file, a scrolling window will appear containing all files that match the current directory and wildcard mask. The directory and wildcard mask will be shown at the top of this window for reference. Note that files with the following extensions will not appear in this directory, based on the assumption that there should be no need to edit binary files: .EXE, .COM, .DBF, .NTX, .DBT, .NDX, .OBJ. To select a file, move the highlight bar to it and press <Enter>. To create a new file, select the option "NEW FILE", then enter the filename. Pressing <Esc> will abort the file selection process. If you attempt to write to a file that already exists, or append from a file that does not exist, you will get a non-fatal error message to that effect. <Alt-B>: Block Commands Blocks of text may be deleted, copied, moved, printed, or case converted. You must first mark a block by pressing <Alt-B> at the beginning, and again at the end of the block. If you wish to move or copy this text block, move to the target location. Then press <Alt-B> again to get a pop-up menu of block commands ("Move", "Copy", "Kill", "Print", "Uppercase", "Lowercase", "Erase Markers"). Select one by highlighting it and pressing <Enter>. <Alt-F>: Field Insertion for Mail Merging You can easily insert fields from any or all open databases into your documents to create merge mailings. Note that this feature will only be available if a database is open when the notepad is called. First, move the cursor to the location where you wish to insert the field. Then press <Alt-F> to display a window containing all available fieldnames (along with the corresponding database or alias names). Move the highlight bar to the desired field name and press <Enter> to insert it, or press <Esc> to exit without inserting a field. Notice that the alias and fieldname are surrounded by curly braces, "{" and "}". When the document is printed, anything that is surrounded by curly braces will be replaced by the actual contents of the appropriate field. However, you can also embed function names within the curly braces. For example, if you wanted to make sure that a field NAME was printed in upper-case, you could modify "{NAME}" to read "{UPPER(NAME)}". As you will discover, this will open up many avenues of customization. If you decide to insert function names such as this, you should be sure that the function(s) called has been linked into your program. But have no fear; if an undefined function or expression is inserted, rather than crashing your program when you try to print, the notepad will merely replace that expression with a null string. Insert/Wordwrap The start-up values for these modes is on. They may toggled off and on at any time by pressing <Insert> and <Alt-W>, respectively. The status of these modes appears at the right side of the status line. Also, the cursor size will change from large (insert) to small (overwrite) based on the current mode, just like a "real" word processor. <Alt-K>: Cut and Paste You may cut and paste portions of the underlying screen into the paste buffer, which can then be inserted into your document. Press <Alt-K> to restore the underlying screen. Use the arrow keys to place the cursor at the beginning of the block to be marked. Then press <Enter> to begin highlighting the block. Move the arrow keys to highlight the desired block and press <Enter> once again when you are finished. This block will then be loaded into the paste buffer for future insertion with <Alt-I>. If you begin to highlight an area and then change your mind, you can press <Esc> to exit without changing the contents of the paste buffer. <Alt-I>: Insert Buffer This option allows you to insert the contents of the paste buffer into your document at the current cursor location. The paste buffer will contain either the result of a kut-and-paste <Alt-K> operation, or a text block <Alt-B>. If you want to see what is in the buffer before you insert it, press <Alt-V> to view it. <Alt-L>: Page Length The start-up page length for printing is 60 lines. You can change this at any time by pressing <Alt-L>. <Alt-M>: Margins The start-up margins are 1 and 80. However, you may change these margins at any time by pressing <Alt-M> and entering the desired values. When you change the margins, the on-screen display will adjust to reflect the new margins. You may use larger values for the right margin than would appear on the 80-column screen. In such instances, you should toggle wordwrap off and scroll to the right to display text beyond the on-screen right margin. The current values of the margins appear on the status line. <Alt-P>: Printing You may print the current file at any time by pressing <Alt-P>. Printing may be aborted at any time by pressing <Esc>. The format of the printed page is determined by the current settings of the margins and page length. Mail Merging If you have inserted fields in this document and wish to print a merge mailing for more than one record in your database, you can make one quick and easy modification to allow your users to select which records in the database should be processed. <Alt-R>: Search and Replace You can search and replace for all or for only a specific number of occurrences of a character string. When you press <Alt-R>, you will be prompted first to enter the search string, then the replacement string. You will then be asked if you want to replace all occurrences of the search string. If you answer "N", you will be prompted to enter the number of occurrences to replace. Please note that the search begins at the top of the file and continues either to the end of the file or until the specified number of occurrences have been replaced. <Alt-V>: View Buffer Use this option if you want to view the contents of the paste buffer. This will show you what will be inserted into your document if you press <Alt-I>. File Size Limitations Although theoretically you could load and edit files up to 64K It is certainly possible to run out of memory when loading a file much smaller than that. As a rule of thumb, you must at least twice the size of the file to be edited available in RAM; for example, to edit a 20K file, there should be 40K available. Memo Field Editor The Memo Field Editor is much like the Notepad Editor described above however its functional area is limited to the Memo Fields within the FCC FRS. To facilitate editing the text, there are a number of different navigation and editing keys: Key Action Up arrow/Ctrl-E Move up one line Dn arrow/Ctrl-X Move down one line Left arrow/Ctrl-S Move left one char Right arrow/Ctrl-D Move right one char Ctrl-Left arrow/Ctrl-A Move left one word Ctrl-Right arrow/Ctrl-F Move right one word Home Move to beginning of current line End Move to end of current line Ctrl-Home Move to beginning of current window Ctrl-End Move to end of current window PgUp Move to previous edit window PgDn Move to next edit window Ctrl-PgUp Move to beginning of memo Ctrl-PgDn Move to end of memo Return Move to beginning of next line Delete Delete character at cursor Backspace Delete character to left of cursor Tab Insert tab character or spaces Printable characters Insert character Ctrl-Y Delete the current line Ctrl-T Delete word right Ctrl-B Reform paragraph Ctrl-V/Ins Toggle insert mode Ctrl-W Finish editing with save Esc Abort edit and return When the user is entering text, there are two text entry modes, while the rest of the text buffer remains in its current position. As the user enters text and the cursor reaches the edge of the MEMO window, the current line wraps to the next line in the text buffer. To explicitly start a new line or paragraph, the user must press <Enter>. Word wrap: The MEMO editor inserts a soft carriage return/linefeed at the closest word break to the window border or line length, whichever occurs first. Reforming paragraphs: Pressing <Ctrl-B> reformats the text buffer until a hard carriage return (end of paragraph) or the end of the text buffer is reached. Calculator The Calculator utility was included simply for the convenience of the user. To access the notepad editor anywhere in the program, simply press <Alt-F10> to bring it up. The calculator includes all the basic operators: addition(+), subtraction(-), multiplication(*), and division(/). It also has some other goodies, including exponentiation (^), percentages (%), configurable decimal display and rounding, a paste function and a full-featured memory. Plus, whenever you press an operator ('+', '-', '*', '/', or '^'), the previous number is shown above the display window. This is handy for when you are processing a list of numbers and forget where you were. Finally, if the calculator is blocking some important information on the screen, you can move it out of the way with the navigation keys! The maximum value that can be stored in the calculator is 99,999,999,999.9999. Active Keys '+' addition '-' subtraction '*' multiplication '/' division '^' exponentiation '%' percentage Other Active Keys 'C' clear current number 'E' clear entry 'D' change number of decimals displayed 'R' round to specified number of decimals 'P' print (adding machine mode) 'M' Memory operations '=' process operation Enter process operation Backspace erase last digit entered Esc exit Calculator Memory Functions To access memory functions, press "M" then one of the flashing function keys. The function keys are: 'R' recall number stored in memory 'C' clear memory (reset to zero) '+' add current number to memory '-' subtract current number from memory '*' multiply memory by current number '/' divide memory by current number Print - Adding machine mode By pushing "P" for Print, the calculator emulates an adding machine. This will be noted by a small "P" to the right of the number window. Each calculation will be sent to the printer (if it is on-line). After all, if you have invested several thousand dollars in PC hardware (and software), why spend more money on a ten-key adding machine? Press "P" again to toggle adding machine mode off. User-Defined Color/Position The color and screen position of the calculator window may be changed "on-the-fly". The following keys may be used: UpArrow move calculator up one row DnArrow move calculator down one row LtArrow move calculator left one column RtArrow move calculator right one column Ctrl-LtArrow move calculator to far left Ctrl-RtArrow move calculator to far right Home move calculator to top left corner End move calculator to bottom right corner PgUp move calculator to top row PgDn move calculator to bottom row Alt-F10 change color of calculator window Pressing Alt-F10 will display the interactive color palette. You may change the color by using the arrow keys to navigate through the palette. Press Enter to select the desired color. If you press Esc, the color will be unchanged. Any changes made will only be good for that session. On-Line Help and Error Messages The FCC FRS is equipped with a universal key for On-line Help. Pressing <F1> from almost any screen location will bring up a help file for the area in which you are working. If no specific help is available you may access the Help Index at any time. This is done by pressing the <F1> a second time. System Error Messages Any errors encountered will display a box with a descriptive message in it, along with several beeps, and will pause program execution until you press any key. We have enabled a powerful error message utility within the FCC FRS. Despite exhaustive alpha and beta testing periods there may always be an unplanned or unattempted operation which just hasn't been seen before. If such an event occurs and results in the program aborting, a built-in error documenting utility will take over and generate a diagnostic file to enable ScanWare to eliminate the problem encountered. Should this event occur a file called FCC.ERR will be generated and placed in your FCC2 subdirectory. The user is asked to contact ScanWare and forward a copy of this FCC.ERR via disk or upload to the BBS. In this way, updated program files can be made available for all users. Reporting Errors or Discrepancies ScanWare stands behind its products 100%. Should you experience any difficulties, PRIOR TO CALLING SCANWARE, PLEASE BE SURE YOU HAVE READ ALL OF THE DOCUMENTATION (THIS FILE)! FCC FRS Keys A]dd / E]dit A table of 'hot-keys' is shown at the bottom of the browse window. These powerful keys control the major functions of the program. Some, such as Add and Delete need little explanation. You can Add new records to the database whenever you wish to do so. When using this function you must be aware that only those fields which you selected to view will appear on the Add-Record Screen. All other fields will be available but must be entered either from an All Fields add mode or from an All Fields edit mode. The Edit mode operates similar to the Add mode but presents the currently selected record for editing. D]el The Delete key serves to physically delete any unwanted records from the database. Be aware that once a record has been deleted from the database it cannot be recovered except by reloading the entire data file. The program will ask you to verify each deletion before it is done. Q]ry / S]rch Two very powerful commands, the Qry (query) and Srch (search) allow you to track down specific records. They function in different ways and are very useful. The Qry command will present you with an empty record structure just as the Add and Edit commands do. Within this structure you may enter as much or as little information as you have available and Qry will attempt to locate the closest matching record. The query function will accept wildcards in place of any information. The rules defining these wildcards are found below: Query by Example By pressing "Q" you can do a query-by-example to find the next record matching their specific criteria. All you need do is fill in the blanks. Fill in as many fields as you want to narrow the search criteria. Note that all query-by-example searches are case-insensitive. If you want to search for a field that contains a certain value, you may enter that value surrounded by two periods ("..") on either side. For example, if you wanted to find the next record that contains the word "STREET" in the address field, you could enter "..STREET.." for that field. After you perform a query-by-example, the next time you press "Q" you will be given the option to repeat the search using the same criteria (which will save you the bother of re-entering it). The Srch command operates from the browse window and performs an intuitive search using the currently selected index. For example: suppose you have selected the Licensee Name field as your active index. When you press <S> a small window in the upper margin of the browse screen will open. Within this window you may enter a data item corresponding to the selected index. You will notice as you enter each letter the database view is instantly shifted to match your entry. You may press the backspace key to reverse your search at any time. NOTE: If you are performing a search using the Freq (MHz) Field as your index, you must enter '000' as the first three digits before the program will respond. Example: To search for '158.880' you must enter '000158.88'. V]iew The View command presents you with a complete picture of the selected data item. All fields and their contents are shown on the screen. From this screen you may use the up or down arrows or press <N> or <P> to view the Next or Previous record. O]ut You can output to print either all records, or those matching the active query condition (if you have defined one). Output will respect any data subset that you may have set with the Alt-S function described below. L]ock The Lock feature allows you to lock a number of the leftmost columns on the screen while you continue to horizontally scroll the rightmost columns. <Alt-S> The subset selection function allows you to define a specific portion of the active database for exclusive viewing. Using the currently selected index as a criteria, the <Alt-S> function will bring up a window where you may define the limits of your subset. The default low value and high value settings are equal to the currently highlighted record. These may be changed as desired. <Alt-I> The <Alt-I> cycles you to the next available index file if more than one index was created. Chapter 6 Advanced Memory Management Techno-Babble Advanced Memory Management FCC 2.0 has been developed with the best possible runtime settings. Unfortunately, not every machine runs the same nor are they configured for optimum performance. If you have the necessary resources, you can control many of the more advanced memory management settings prior to and during execution of FCC 2.0. The number one improvement that a user can make to speed program execution is to allocate as much memory as possible. This includes both conventional and expanded memory. If you have insufficient resources to run FCC in protected mode, the program will allocate your computers expanded memory (if available) to allow FCC to run in a dynamic overlay mode. Depending upon your system configuration, expanded memory may be allocated up to a maximum of 2,048KB at startup (the FCC default maximum). FCC can use memory configured as expanded memory according to the Lotus-Intel-Microsoft (LIM) Expanded Memory Specification (EMS) version 4.0 or higher. The maximum amount of expanded memory that can be allocated is limited by the following four factors: The amount of expanded memory available The CLIPPER environment setting ( //E:nnnn) A theoretical maximum of 32MB The amount of conventional memory available You should be aware that a certain amount of conventional memory must be used to contain management tables for the virtual memory system; the more total memory (both conventional and expanded), the more taken up by this control information. The amount of expanded memory used may be less than the amount available if there is insufficient conventional memory to hold the tables. To find out exactly how much expanded memory (if any) has been allocated on your machine, you can start FCC with the //INFO command line switch. This will return a display which provides (among other things) the total EMM setting for that session. A sample of the //INFO results could look like the following: C:\FCC2> FCC //INFO Clipper (R) 5.2c (Rev. 204) ASCII DS=615F:0000 DS avail=37KB OS avail=146KB EMM avail=2048KB FCC Frequency Retrieval System, Version 2.00 Copyright (c) 1993-1994, ScanWare Associates All rights reserved. This example identifies the 2,048KB of expanded memory has been allocated to FCC at startup. C:\FCC2> FCC //INFO Clipper (R) 5.2c (Rev. 204) ASCII DS=01BC:0000 DS avail=37KB OS avail=1023KB EMM avail=0KB FCC Frequency Retrieval System, Version 2.00 Copyright (c) 1993-1994, ScanWare Associates All rights reserved. This particular example shows that FCC has started in protected mode (note the OS avail=1023KB...That's over 1MB of conventional memory after loading!!!) To change the amount of expanded memory to an amount different than 2MB, start FCC with the command line switch: FCC //E:nnnn (where nnnn is the maximum amount of expanded memory you wish to allocate) For example, FCC //E:1024 would only allocate 1,024KB of expanded memory while FCC //E:0000 could be used to allocate no expanded memory. As noted above, the advantage of reducing the amount of expanded memory used is to save conventional memory usage. As noted above, you may allocate up to a theoretical maximum of 32MB. NOTE: It is NOT recommended that you change this setting unless you are having problems. Reducing EMM usage could potentially result in a performance degradation. Additionally, unpredictable results may occur if all available expanded memory is allocated at startup. Most CA-Clipper compiled programs function very well with an expanded memory setting of between 1,024 and 2,048KB. Techno-Babble Version 2.0 of the FCC Frequency Retrieval System was written and compiled in CA-Clipper, Version 5.2c and linked using the Blinker linker, Version 3.0 in Dual mode (see below). Extensive use is made of the Grumpfish Library, Version 4.02, without which this program would never have been possible. All programming was done on a 486DX2-66 machine, running DOS 6.2. The text editor of choice for FCC (and all ScanWare projects) is The SemWare Editor (TSE) by SemWare Corporation. The documentation for FCC was written using WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS and exported to this Ascii file. Testing for FCC 2.0 was done on 3 different platforms. As noted above, all development and testing was performed on a 486-66. The primary system testing was done on 386-33 and 286-8 machines. In all cases, each machine handled and processed the data/program with flying colors. While it should be noted that the performance on the 286-8 machine was less than ideal, it ran all functions without any problems. ScanWare cannot guarantee the suitability of FCC when running on any machine less than a 286. Unfortunately, we did not have access to a 8088 machine with which to test FCC. Be advised that FCC 2.0 may not run on these computers. Dual Mode Blinker is an award-winning DOS dynamic overlay linker, a 286 DOS extender and a Windows linker. Blinker is the best way to create a single program which will automatically run in both real and protected mode DOS. When run in protected mode, FCC will instantly have access to up to 16MB of available memory for both code and data. Protected mode allows FCC to run in many environments, including: DPMI, for running in a DOS box of Windows and OS/2 VCPI, for running under memory managers which do not provide DPMI XMS, for simple 286 memory managers When run in protected mode, FCC is loaded into extended memory and run from there, providing the rest of available memory and 64MB of virtual memory to FCC for its data. This means that code swapping is eliminated, and data swapping is virtually non-existent provided sufficient extended memory is available. FCC, upon startup, will detect whether there are enough system resources to run in protected mode. If there are insufficient resources, then FCC will run as a normal dynamically overlaid program. The complete FCC System currently consists of over 10,000 lines of code in all of the program modules. (This does not include the thousands and thousands of lines of code contained in the Grumpfish and Nanfor Libraries). The memory requirements reported by Clipper at the end of compilation are about 323K while the entire compiled EXE stands at about 700K. ScanWare Associates End User License Agreement Copyright (c) 1993-1994, ScanWare Associates, Gene McAvoy and Matt Amis. All Rights Reserved. 1. License ScanWare Associates grants you a non-exclusive and non- transferable limited license to use one (1) copy of the computer program contained on the diskettes in this package ("Software") on a single computer, and to use the written materials ("Documentation") accompanying the Software, in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Agreement. You may not share the Software on a network or otherwise use it on more than one computer or computer terminal. This license is for a single individual only. Each individual who desires to use this Software must obtain a licensed copy of the Software from ScanWare Associates. 2. Copyright and Other Proprietary Rights The Software and Documentation are owned by ScanWare Associates, and are protected by United States copyright laws and international treaty provisions, and may also be protected by other laws. You may either (a) make ONE copy the Software solely for backup or archival purposes, or (b) transfer the Software to a single hard disk or other storage device of a single computer provided that you keep the original solely for backup or archival purposes. You may not copy the Documentation. No part of the Software and/or Documentation may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, photocopied or stored in a retrieval system or translated into any language in any form by any means without the prior written consent of ScanWare Associates. ScanWare Associates retains all rights, title, interest, and ownership of, in, and to the Software, copies of the Software, and the Documentation. ScanWare Associates reserves their right to modify and/or enhance the Software or Documentation without obligation to notify you of such changes or to furnish them to you. 3. Additional Restrictions You may not loan, rent, lease, or distribute the Software and/or Documentation. You may not assign or transfer this license, the Software, any copies of the Software, and/or the Documentation without first obtaining prior written permission from ScanWare Associates. Requests for such permission should be sent to ScanWare Associates, at the address listed in this Agreement, and should: (a) set forth the name and address of the proposed transferee of this license, the Software, and the Documentation; (b) state that you agree to retain no copies of the Software or the Documentation upon such transfer; and (c) include a statement signed by the proposed transferee indicating agreement to the terms and conditions of this Agreement. Any unauthorized attempt to sublicense, assign, or transfer any of your rights, duties, or obligations under this Agreement is void. You may not reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the Software, and you may not modify, translate, or create derivative works from the Software or Documentation. You agree to protect the Software and Documentation from unauthorized publication, use, reproduction, and/or distribution. You may not use, copy, or transfer the Software, any copies of the Software, and/or the Documentation, in whole or in part, except as expressly provided in this agreement. 4. Term This license is effective from the date you receive the Software and continues until terminated. You may terminate this Agreement at any time by destroying the Software, all copies of the Software, the Documentation, and all other materials accompanying the diskette package. This license shall terminate immediately if you fail to comply with any term or condition of this Agreement. Should termination occur for this reason ScanWare Associates shall have the right to seek any legal damages or equitable remedies that may be available to ScanWare Associates. 5. Limited Warranty ScanWare Associates warrants that the physical diskette(s) (meaning the diskette(s) itself, not the Software) on which the Software is provided will be free from defects in material and workmanship under normal use for a period of thirty (30) days from the date you received delivery. Except as expressly set forth above, ScanWare Associates makes no other warranties of any kind, and ScanWare Associates hereby disclaims all other warranties, both express and implied, including but not limited to warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular use or purpose, and any implied warranty arising from course of performance. The software provided on the diskette(s) and the documentation are provided "as is" without further warranty of any kind. ScanWare Associates does not warrant that the Software or the Documentation will meet your requirements, that the operation of the Software will be uninterrupted or error free, or that all defects in the Software and/or Documentation will be corrected. You assume sole responsibility for the selection of the Software and Documentation to achieve your desired results and for the installation and use of the Software and Documentation. Should the Software prove defective, repair or replacement will be made by ScanWare Associates. The cost of all necessary servicing, repair, or correction will be borne by the purchaser and not by ScanWare Associates. If the disclaimer of implied warranties is not permitted by applicable law, then any warranties implied by law, including, but not limited to, warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, are hereby limited in duration to thirty (30) days from the date you received delivery. 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Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages and other limitations or exclusions may apply. Consult your own state laws. By your initial use of this program you acknowledge that you have read this agreement, understand it, and agree to be bound by its terms and conditions. Furthermore, you agree that this is the complete and exclusive statement of the agreement between you and ScanWare Associates and that this agreement supersedes all prior agreements, whether verbal or written, and any other communications relating to the subject matter of this agreement. This agreement may not be modified by any party except ScanWare Associates. 6. Shareware License You are granted a license to distribute the SHAREWARE version of the Software to anyone to whom you see fit. The Software may not be "resold" by SHAREWARE distributors for a cost exceeding $5.00. The SHAREWARE distributor should have a notice prominently displayed in their advertisement that the programs they distribute are Copyrighted by others and by paying the SHAREWARE distributor a fee to purchase the disk does not constitute the registration of the Software. 7. Restrictions If you use the Software to produce electronic files of any format or in any other form, you must include in plain text within said file the following copyright text: Produced by the FCC Frequency Retrieval System Copyright (c) 1993-1994, ScanWare Associates All rights reserved. Further, under no circumstances are you authorized to use the Software to generate any documents or files that are not for personal use, or to produce any files or information of any format, by any means, in any form or language for reproduction, publication or transmission. You may not sell or give away any documents or information to anyone for any reason, and you may not provide any information to anyone which may be contained within the FCC Frequency Retrieval System without the prior written consent of ScanWare Associates. If you receive written authorization to produce such files as described above, and if you print for publication, reproduction or transmission any data derived from the FCC Frequency Retrieval System, you must also include in plain text within said publication an acknowledgement that the information contained therein was developed using the FCC Frequency Retrieval System. The suggested format shown below is considered sufficient acknowledgement. Electronic assistance provided by the: FCC Frequency Retrieval System Copyright (c) 1993-1994, ScanWare Associates Bremerton, WA 98310-3801 In addition you must also agree to make available to ScanWare Associates one copy of said publication without charge to be used for archival purposes. Addendum Note from Matt Amis I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank Greg Lief of Grumpfish Inc. of Salem Oregon for his Clipper Library. Without this tool, programming this project would have been impossible. Thanks Greg, I owe you one. Trademark Acknowledgements Grumpfish is a registered trademark of Grumpfish, Inc. CA-Clipper is a registered trademark of Computer Associates BLINKER is a registered trademark of Assembler Software Manufactures, Inc. TSE and Qedit are registered trademarks of SemWare Corp. WORDPERFECT is a registered trademark of WordPerfect Corp. PKZIP and PKUNZIP are registered trademarks of PKWARE, Inc. MS-DOS is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation Other products and marks mentioned in this documentation are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.