Monster Media 1994 #1/monster.zip/monster/WIN_UTL1/CBWIN1.ZIP/CBWIN.DOC

Text File | 1994-02-03 | 24KB | 523 lines

          Client Book - Address and Photo Database Software
          -------------------------------------------------

SHAREWARE NOTICE:

Client Book has been released as shareware. This does not mean it is free,
rather that you are welcome to try the software before purchasing it.

We at Whiz Kids Software have done our best to create a quality product for
a low price and will provide enhancements to all of our products as long as we
can afford to.

However, for the shareware concept to work, you must register Client Book.
If you feel that you can use Client Book and would like to be eligible for
upgrades such as Caller ID, Enhanced Reporting, and Built in Modem
Communications, register NOW!!

Registration Price is $35.00. You can register through Compuserve or by
calling [phone] or by sending $35.00 to the following address:

                         Whiz Kids Software
                         5309 Plymoth St.
                         Boise, Idaho 83706

You may contact Whiz Kids Software at any time through compuserve. Send mail
to the following address: 75020,3404. Compuserve's on-line registration is
available.

Registration ID: 1955
Author's User ID: 75020,3403
Title: Client Book Ver. 1.0
Fee: $35.00


1.0 Installation

Installation

Unzip the CBWINx.ZIP file into the directory of your choice.

Running Client Book

To run client book, select the "Client Book" icon from program manager or use the Run
command in Program Manager's FILE menu. The command line shoul be something like:

C:\CBW50\CBWIN.EXE

Automatic Setup

Client Book has been equiped with an automatic setup facility. When it senses that it has
just been installed, it will prompt you for some setup information.

Network Configure:
The Network Configure Dialog is displayed the first time Client Book is run or when the
Network Configure selection is made from Client Book's FILE menu.

Use this dialog to specify the path and network options for Client Book.

Multi-User:
The first item is a radio button labeled  Multi User. To activate the multi user featurs of
Client Book, select this radio button.

Private Path:
The Private Path field specifies the location of the private database for each user. This
path must be common to all users on the network and must be physically located on their
computers. It is suggested that it be on C:.




2.0 System Overview

Tour Of The Main Window

The Main Window of client book is the focal point of the entire program. Since the
primary function of Client Book is to keep track of people and their contact information,
the Main Window is a complete view of the basic data for a particular person. The client
displayed in the Main Window is called the current client.

As you can see, the current client's name and address data appears on the left. The phone
numbers are near the bottom. And the picture is in the upper right.

As you can see there are a number of buttons spaced throughout the display. Each button
performs a task such as adding to the database or editing the current record.

Actions:
Add - Opens the Add Dialog box and appends the new client to the database
Edit - Opens the Edit Dialog box and allows changes to current client
Search - Opens the Search Dialog for searching the database
Browse - Opens the Browse Dialog box for viewing the client list

Other:
Notes - Starts Notepad to allow editing of client notes
Schedule - Opens the Scheduler
Picture - Opens the Picture Window for image maintainence

Pictures

Client Book will keep a color picture for each person in the database. You can capture
them with your Video Blaster or paste them from a paint program. Client pictures can be
any size but 320x200 256 color images are recomended.

To use your Video Blaster or PCVIDEO compatible capture card, it must be installed
properly and configured using the setup software that was included with you capture card
package.

Scheduler

Client Book includes a daily appointment schedule with alarms. An alarm may be set at
any time for any appointment and will identify the appointment when the alarm is
activated. The alarm system uses windows sound, so it is recomended that you have the
PC speaker sound driver loaded or that you have a soud card such as the Sound Blaster.

Multi-User

Client Book is network ready and can support multiple users on a public database. Each
user will also have a private database and work area.

To use client book as a multi user package it is recomended that the system be installed on
the server in a public access path. Client Book will create a work area on the user's local
drive (defult C:).

All images for the public database are kept in the public path. All note files for the public
database are kept in the private or user path.

3.0 Client System

Client Fields

The following information is kept in the client database:

1. First Name
2. Last Name
3. Company
4. Street
5. City
6. State
7. Zip
8. Phone
9. Aux Phone
10. Fax
11. Picture
12. Notes

The picture and notes fields are not directly modifiable. You must use the NOTES or
PICTURE sub-system to create/modify these items.

Adding Clients

To add clients to the database, select the Add button or select Add from the DATABASE
menu. The Add Dialog Box will appear. Enter the data for the client in the appropriate
edit fields. You do not have to fill the entire form in, but a name or company is strongly
recomended.

To move from field to field, use the [UP-ARROW] and [DOWN-ARROW] keys. To
move to the next field, use the [ENTER] key. You can also use the standard [TAB] key to
move from field to field.

To add the new data, select the Ok button. To abort, select the Cancel button.

Editing Clients

To edit a client, make sure that that client is currently displayed in the main window and
select the Edit button or select Edit from the DATABASE menu. The Edit Dialog Box
will appear. Notice that it is esentially the same as the Add Dialog Box but that the fields
are filled in and ready to be changed.

To move from field to field, use the [UP-ARROW] and [DOWN-ARROW] keys. To
move to the next field, use the [ENTER] key. You can also use the standard [TAB] key to
move from field to field.

To save the new changes, select the Ok button. To abort, select the Cancel button.

Searching For A Client

You can locate and retrieve a client by searching for some peice of information in the
database. Client Book allows you to search using name,company,city,state,zip, and phone
number. To search for a client select the Search button or select Find from the SEARCH
menu.

The Search Dialog Box will appear. You must first select the field you will be searching
for by selecting one of the radio buttons on the right.

For example, if you were going to search for all the people with the phone number "939-
0087", you would select Phone. Name is automatically selected.

Notice that when you change the field selection, the label for the edit box on the left
changes accordingly. This edit box is where you will enter the criteria for your search.
When searching for a name, there are two edit boxes, one for first name and one for last
name.

When you have entered the criteria, select OK to begin the search or select Cancel to
abort it.

The search will attempt to find the closest match to your criteria. This means that you
should enter as much of the field that you are sure of. For example if you were not sure
how to spell the name "BRIAN", you would enter somthing like "BRI". In this case, all
peope with a first name starting with "BRI" would be found. The first one with that macth
would be retrieved. You could then use the browse facility to retrieve the desired record.
You can also use the PGUP and PGDN keys to move forward and backward in the
database.

Please note the the sort order of the database changes with each of the search field
selections. Selecting Phone sorts the database by phone number. Like wise each of the
other selections sort by those criteria.

You can sort and search by last name, first name or both. You do this by entering a
criteria only into those fields that you wish to sort/search on. In the previous example,
searching for "BRI" would search only on the first name field and would sort the database
by first name.

Browsing Clients

The browse facility allows the user to view the client list in the sorted order and select
records from it. It is most often used to select a record when a search did not result in an
exact match. To browse the database, select the Browse button or select Browse from the
SEARCH menu. The Browse Window will appear.

Use the arrow keys to scroll through the list and place the box around the desired person.
Press [ENTER] or select Ok to select the person.

You can position the scroll bar in an arbitrary position. The database will be positioned
accordingly. To do this, grab the thumb control in the scroll bar by holding the mouse
botton down and moving to a new position. Release the mouse button and the database
will be positioned to the same relative position as the scroll bar.

Deleting Clients

To delete a client, be sure that the client you wish do delete is currently being displayed
and select Delete from the DATABASE menu. The client will be deleted. Please note that
the client will still be in the database until it is packed. Packing compresses unused entries
form the database.

Packing The Database:
To pack the database, select Pack from the DATABASE menu. Client Book will
compress the database and delete all unused records.

NOTE: This process can take some time if you have a large database.Please allow time
for the system to complete this task and NEVER turn the machine off (deliberatly) wihle
packing the database.

Editing Client Notes

To edit notes on any particular client, select the Notes button or select  Notes from the
Windows menu. Notepad will execute and load the notes for the current client. You will
only have access to you notes for any client. (See the Notepad documentation included
with your Windows 3.1 package)


Client Pictures

Capturing A Picture:
Client Book can utilize your Video Blaster or (PCVIDEO compatible) capture card to
capture images for each client. Your capture card should be installed and setup according
to the documentation you recieved with it. Be sure the image capture operates properly by
testing it with the configuration software included with the capture card package.

To capture a picture for a client, select the Picture button (or select Picture from the
WINDOWS menu). The Picture Window will appear. If there is a picture for this client, it
will be expanded to fit this window.

Select Live Video from the FILE menu in the Picture Window. The widow will activate in
a live video mode. If it is blank, your camera or video device is probably not powered on
(or your lens cap is on??).

To save any image to the current client, select Save Live form the FILE menu in the
Picture Window. The image will be replaced by the saved picture and live video will be
cancled.

You can cancel live video by selecting Quit Live from the FILE menu.

Pasting A Picture:
Client Book will accept clipboard input for any Device Independant Bitmat copied to the
clipboard from another application. Please note that DIBs are the standard bitmap format
for complex bitmaps with their own color table, however some applications do not utilize
DIB fromats. If you have a paint program, you can usually cut or copy an image from that
program and then paste it into Client Book.

Client Book will resize any picture that you past, but remember that disk space is
precious. We recommend that you use only 320x200x256 color images.

To paste a picture to the current client record, open the Picture Window as described in
the capture section and select Paste from the FILE menu. If you do not have a DIB in the
clipboard, you will be notified and nothing will occur.

If you have a valid DIB in the clipboard, Client Book will write it to the current client
record and save it automatically.

Loading A Picture To/From Paintbrush:
Because all of our Windows 3.1 users will have Paintbrush available. You can use paint
brush to capture a picture directly. Select Paint from the FILE menu in the Picture
Window. The current image will be loaded into Paintbrush. If there is no picture a
320x200 picture will be created with a white background.

Paintbrush has the ability to scan and edit pictures. This offers users an exciting extention
to the normal storage of client pictures.

Switching Databases

If your Client Book system is installed for multiple users, there will be a public and a
private database available for your use.

The public database will be available to all the users on a network and should contain
information that is common to all users, such as a corporate phone directory.

The private database is your own working database. You can store any records in this file
that you feel are necessary. This file can only be accessed by one person and is not
available on the network. To assure this, it can be kept on a local drive.

To switch from one database to the other, select Public or  Private from the
DATABASE menu. A check mark will indicate which database you are currently using.
The title bar for the Client Book main window will also indicate which database you are
using.

Copying From Public To Private

You can copy a record from the public database to the private. This feature allows you to
modify the data for a person and add information that should not be public (such as a
home phone number). You should avoid the temptation to arbitrarily copy data from the
public to the private databases without a compelling reason.

To copy a record from the public database to the private database, select the public
database and then select Copy to private from the EDIT menu. A new record will be
appended to your private database and the picture and notes will be copied appropriatly.

4.0 Printing

Printing A List Report

To print a lis report, select the appropriate report from the REPORT menu under  Lists.

There are three different reports:

1. Contact List - Lists the client name and company with the phone number
2. Name & Address List - Lists the client name and address
3. Company & Address List - Lists the company and address

The report dialog box will appear so that you can specify query, sort, and output options.


Report Dialog Box

The report dialog box specifies the options for your report.

You must choose the destination of your report by selecting either Screen or Printer. The
default output device is the screen. You may want to run the report on the screen before
sending it to the printer.

Screen Output:
If the Screen radio button is selected the output of the report will go to a full screen
window.

Printer Output:
If the Printer radio button is selected the output of the report will go to the printer. The
standard Print Dialog Box will allow you to select the printer options.

Query Selection:
A query is the criteria for deciding which records will be added to the report. A query is a
combination of words that represent the criteria. You do not have to specify a query but, if
you do not, all the records in the database will be reported.

Each field in the database has a special name that is used by Client Book to referr to that
field. The query section will translate the normal english words to these field codes.

An example of a query that would include only those people that had the last name of
"WILLIAMS" would be: (PHN->A is the code for the "LastName" field)

PHN->A="WILLIAMS"

In the above example PHN->A represents the LastName field in the database. Do not
worry, the query system will determine which field name you want to use.

To specify a query for a report, select the Query button from the Report Dialog Box. The
Query Dialog Box will appear. Notice that there are two list boxes in the dialog. The first
lists all of the fields that are available to query with. The second lists the operators that can
be used to build a query string. Also notice that there is an edit box below. You will need
to alternate from the list boxes to the edit box to build your query string.

The best way to show this process is to show an example. Let's build a query that will
select all the people that have the last name of "WILLIAMS" and the first name of
"JENNIFER":

1. The first step would be to select the LastName field from the dialog box by double
clicking on it. Notice that the word "PHN->A" is added to the edit control.

2. The second step would be to select the equal sign from the second list box. Notice that
the "=" sign will be added to the edit control after the field reference.

3. The third is to specify the value for the field. To do this, click the mouse on the edit
control and move past the equal sign. Then enter "WILLIAMS". You must include the
quotation marks. The first part of the string should look like this:

PHN->A="WILLIAMS"

Now we will add the second part to the string:

4. In step four we must incude some logical operator. Logical operators are operators that
specify how additional criteria are to be handled. The logical operators that you have
available to you are AND, OR, and NOT.

AND specifies that the additional criteria AND the previous criteria must be true before
the record will be selected. In our example LastName must equal "WILLIAMS" and
FirstName must equal "JENNIFER" before the record will be printed.

OR specifies that the additional criteria could be true or the pervious criteria could be true.
In either case the record would be printed. If we used an OR in our example, then all of
the WILLIAMS and all of the JENNIFERS would be printed.

NOT specifies that a condition must be false. If we used a NOT for the FirstName criteria
in our example, we would list all of those people that had WILLIAMS as the last name
except all of the JENNIFERS.

As mentioned, we are going to use the AND. In our query string AND is specified as
".AND.". So double clicking the mouse on the AND in the list box will add the ".AND."
to the query string.

The whole strng would look like this (so far):

PHN->A="WILLIAMS".AND.

Now we must specify the last part which is similar to steps 1,2,3. Double click on the
FirstName selection in the list box. Then double click on the equal sign. Then enter the
criteria in quotation marks. In this case the criteria is "JENNIFER".
The complete string looks like this:

PHN->A="WILLIAMS".AND.PHN->B="JENNIFER"

Executing The Report:
To execute the report, be sure that the desired destination is selected then select Ok from
the Report Dialog Box.
If your output is going to the screen, a window will appear and your report will be listed
in it. You can select Next Page to see successive pages of your report. Select Close
Window when you are finished.

If the report is going to the printer, the Print Setup Dialog Box will appear before
anything is sent to the printer.

Printing An Envelope

To print an envelope for the current client, select Envelope from the REPORTS menu.
You must tell your printer to be ready to accept an evelope by using the Setup option in
the Print Setup Dialog Box. For most people this will involve setting the Media and
Media Source options in the setup box.

Print Setup Dialog Box

The Print Setup Dialog Box will appear just before any report is sent to the printer. This
dialog box allows you to set any special options for your printer.

The Orientaion selection is sometimes important for report printing because some reports
will not fit on a portrait mode page. If your printer does not support landscape orientation,
some reports will not output properly.

Select Ok to begin printing or Cancel to abort.

While the report is being sent to the printer, a Cancel button will appear in a small
window. Select it to abort the report. Please note that once the Cancel Box has
dissappeared, the program no longer is in control of the printer and you will have to reset
the printer to stop printing

5.0 Scheduler

Client Book's appointment book is a snap. Each user can have one scheduler. All of this
data will be stored in the user's private. To access the scheduler, click on the Scheduler
button or select Schedule from the WINDOW menu.

Scheduler Window

The Dalily Schedule Window will appear. This is the focus of the appointment system.
The window contains a list box showing the entire day in 15min intervals. At the top are
the selected (or current) date and time.

Selecting The Date

To select the date to view, select the Date button from the Daily Schedule Window. The
Monthly Calander Dialog will appear.

To select a day in the month, select the date with the mouse. To change the month, select
the Next or Prev month buttons. To change the year, select the Next or  Prev year
buttons.

After selecting the day, the dialog box will appear and the Daily Schedule Window will
contain that day's appointments.

Adding An Appointment

To add an appointment to a slot, double click on the time that you want to schedule it for.
The Add/Edit Appointment dialog will appear. If the selected timeslot was filled, the
dialog will contain information on that appointment. If the appointment slot was empty,
the dialog will be empty except for the current client's name.

Time:
You may change the time list box to the time you wish to schedule the appointment for.
The default selection will be the time you selected from the Daily Appointment Window.

Alarms:
You may set an alarm for this event at any time on the schedule. To set an alarm, select
the Alarm radiobutton and then set the time with the Alarm list box. The alarm will go off
at the specified time and display the appointment information. You must specify an alarm
sound in your personal configuration. (See "Personal Configure").

Contact:
The contact information will be filled in automatically with the name of the current client.
You can edit this if you wish. An attempt will be made to locate this name in the client
database and display the contact's record when you view the appointment in the future.

Decription:
You may enter a description of the appointment or event. This will be displayed when the
alarm is activated. It will also be displayed in the Daily Schedule Window's list box.

Viewing And Editing An Appointment

To view or edit an appointment, double-click on the time slot in the Daily Schedule
Window. The Add/Edit Appointment dialog box will appear with the information on the
appointment.

The scheduler will attempt to find the contact in the client database. If it can locate this
person, it will update the Main Window with their record.

Removing An Appointment:
To delete an appointment, select Delete from the Add/Edit Dialog box. The appointment
will be removed.