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Text File | 1993-03-27 | 20KB | 431 lines

NOTIFY Version 2.1 A date reminder program Copyright 1988, 1993 Jules Brenner Runtime module copyright Microsoft, Inc. v2.0 Released 3/93 as SHAREWARE. Users are invited to freely distribute this program in unaltered form for non-commercial use. If you find yourself using this program regularly (as in adding and leaving it in your AUTOEXEC.BAT), please send $15 with registration form (REGISTER.FRM) to: Jules Brenner P.O. Box 46116 Los Angeles, CA 90046-0116 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ WHAT IT DOES: It notifies you of dates and messages you put in a file it creates and maintains (NOTICE.LST). It does this automatically if you install NOTIFY in your AUTOEXEC file. That way, NOTIFY is invoked every time you boot up. If it's added as the last item in AUTOEXEC, the notification will be on your screen before you go to work. Alternately, it can be invoked from the command line. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Installation: NOTIFY is installed merely by copying NOTIFY.EXE and BRT71EFR.EXE (the runtime module) to your hard drive. For best and easiest results, copy them to a directory that is in your path or in the root directory. If you need help with this, please let us know and we'll send you a detailed, step-by-step description. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SYNTAX: The format, including optional [bracketted] parameters: C>NOTIFY [mo/day message] [CANCEL [mo/day]] [I] [E day] [R] [L [day/mo]] [S] [D] Where: NOTIFY w/o params & w/o notices prints this syntax message NOTIFY w/o params & w/ notices presents MENU NOTIFY (date) (message) adds message (notice) from command line I prompts for date and message for new insert E (day) (message) adds notice for every (day)s R reads and reports all notices for current date (used in AUTOEXEC) L (date) lists notices for given date (must use mm/dd date format) L (month) lists notices for given month (must use month only format with month number & ending with "/") L lists all notices CANCEL [date] deletes notices for date or month specified or today S displays this syntax message on your monitor D displays the program documentation (this file) V tells you which version of NOTIFY you're using Notice that the delimiter is a space. You do not use slashes except in the date field. One of my programming philosophies is to require as few keystrokes as possible. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ There are two modes for input: directly from the DOS command line and from the menu within the program. To use in conjunction with AUTOEXEC.BAT, NOTIFY.EXE should be placed either in your root directory, in a directory that is in your path or the NOTIFY command must contain the path. NOTIFY creates and will read only the NOTICE.LST that is in the same directory that NOTIFY is in. If NOTIFY is moved without also moving NOTICE.LST, a new NOTICE.LST will be created and will not contain the notices in the original. The file NOTICE.LST is created by the program when you enter your first notice. This is done automatically. Don't look for it in NOTIFYxx.ZIP. DOS COMMAND LINE INPUT SAMPLES: C>NOTIFY 8/25 8:00 - Buy 200 shares MICROSOFT Everything after the date and a space is the message -- no matter how many more spaces or other characters are used. Length is limited to 256 bytes including the date. This notice (string) will be posted to NOTICE.LST and be brought up on the date indicated. The year is not a parameter since many notices, such as in a birthday list, are recurring. Deletions are done by you, not by the program. When the program finds a match between the current date and a date in the notice list, the appropriate notice(s) for that day will be printed on your screen. In the above example, when booting on 8/25 and only on 8/25. You can notify yourself not only for birthdays, but what day to shop for the birthday card, what day to mail it for best effect, what day to call the birthday boy or girl to needle them about their age. Whatever you find useful. OTHER EXAMPLES: NOTIFY 11/5 Shop for XMAS cards NOTIFY 12/26 Call Tracy to confirm New Year's Eve NOTIFY 8/2 Send check for NOTIFY (only fair) NOTIFY 7/16 SELL MICROSOFT IF BELOW 90 There's more: you can also post recurring notices. To remind yourself about paying the rent on time, enter: NOTIFY E 25 SEND RENT CHECK The `E' stands for Every. That is, on the day specified (25th) for every month. `I' is the alternate way to insert a new message. With: NOTIFY I (cr) the program will prompt you for the date and for the message. You'll be returned to the DOS prompt. Note concerning upper and lower case: If the notice is posted on the command line (not using 'I') the result will always be in upper case even if input in lower case. Entering notices under the 'I' parameter, however, will preserve whatever case you input. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The preceding switch options all pertain to entering your notices into NOTICE.LST. The following pertain to reading and/or listing existing notices: In order to (R)ead NOTICE.LST for the current date's messages, you must use the `R' switch. If you add NOTIFY to your AUTOEXEC.BAT, be sure to include it in order to get the desired results. As: NOTIFY R (cr) Just plain NOTIFY does something else as the syntax description above indicates. To list ALL the members of the notice list, use the `L' switch. To list all notices for a given date use: NOTIFY L 4/15 To see all notices for a give month use: NOTIFY L 11/ Listing notices for a specific day or month is available only from the command line and is not yet provided as a menu choice. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Those are the reading and listing options. The next set of options relate to maintaining the notice list and program operation & info: To check the syntax from the command line, use the `S' switch. You may cancel notices at will. If you type NOTIFY CANCEL all notices for the current date (if your system has a clock or if you entered the date) will be CANCELLED. If you type NOTIFY CANCEL 6/28 all notices for 6/28 will be CANCELLED. And, NOTIFY CANCEL 8/ will delete all notices for August. Simple? We hope so. To make it even more so, you can do most of the above from the handy, internal menu. Just type NOTIFY M (cr) and it will be accessed. Various error conditions will bring you to the menu, as well. You can read this documentation file with NOTIFY (rather than with a text editor or word processor). This is the 'D' option: NOTIFY D When you use this option, NOTIFY will look for NOTIFY.DOC in the current directory. But, if it's not found, it'll prompt you for another directory or drive. That means you need to invoke NOTIFY while in the directory with NOTIFY.DOC or know where it is. The prompt gives you the opportunity to place a floppy in a drive, then enter the drive spec. To abort the readout, press the [ESCAPE] key. Use any other key to scroll down. It will not scroll back, however. That's where you need that text editor or word processor. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The V switch: V is for Version. Just in case you want to check to see which version you're using, this switch will tell you. It would be nice if all shareware had this option as a universal standard. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- COLOR: NOTIFY now takes advantage of color monitors. It does this automatically by looking into your system to see if color is implemented. If you have a black & white system, it won't attempt to print in color. The only thing that needs to be pointed out is that monochrome VGA monitors will be seen as color monitors to NOTIFY. Owners of this kind of video will be familiar with shades of grey representing different colors. Expect, then, that the menu choices will not read as distinctly as on a pure black and white monitor but that scrolling with the up and down arrows will show a slight change of grey intensity to indicate the active selection. If you have a color or black & white monitor this small problem won't apply to you. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- PRINTING HARDCOPIES: The syntax screen may be sent to your printer by using NOTIFY S and then typing your SHIFT-PRTSC keys. This is known as a screen dump. Be certain your printer is on and connected before doing so. To print the registration form or this document file, type: COPY REGISTER.FRM LPTx: or COPY NOTIFY.DOC LPTx: where the 'x' is the number of the LPT port your printer is connected to. In most cases, it'll be number 1. Alternatively, try: COPY REGISTER.FRM PRN: COPY NOTIFY.DOC PRN: It can, of course, be printed through your text editor or word processor, as well. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- EDITING NOTICE.LST Your list of notices is maintained in a data file called NOTICE.LST and will be created and stored on the same directory with NOTIFY.EXE. It is an ASCII file, meaning that it can be easily modified with any text editor. While NOTIFY itself controls what goes into it and out of it, there may be some things NOTIFY can't do. If you add a notice with the wrong syntax, for example, a line may be added that isn't a notice. To remove it, use your text editor. NOTIFY can not yet remove errant lines. Remember, you can use your registration to request modifications. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- UPDATES: The best way to get the latest version of NOTIFY is to register it. Watch for later versions on the BBSs you contact but BBSs may not get upgrades and improvements as promptly as registered users. If you're a registered user (if you send in your $15 payment), you'll get the registered version of the latest version. It may or may not be more current than the unregistered version you've been using, but all those annoying extra messages and pleas for fees will be gone! As a registered user, the next upgrade will be sent you free. After that, you'll be notified when significant upgrades become available. Another advantage of registering is that you can request a standalone version not requiring BRT71EFR.EXE. Yet another is that you get to make suggestions for future upgrades that will be taken seriously (though not necessarily used). Be sure to mention the version number you're using on the registration form (REGISTER.FRM). --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our catalogue: If you like NOTIFY and find it useful you may well find some of our other utilities equally so. We urge you to read UTILITY.LST to see all the ways we've found to make your computing better. Our utilities usually, if not always, do things that are both unique and needed. The needs may not be yours, but the list is certainly worth checking out. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Update history: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 3/26/93 2.1 Cancel all notices in a specified month. Bug corrections. V switch added to tell you the version number. 2/28/93 2.0 Color is added. Creating and reading NOTICE.LST on same directory as NOTIFY rather than on the default directory. This allows placement in any directory. More error trapping added. 7/1/92: 1.1 Added the listing of date & month notices. Compiled under BASIC 7.1 7/5/91: Version 1.03: Additions to file archive and to this document file, including registration option below. Registration form now included. 1/15/89: Version 1.02: Compiled by QuickBasic 4.5 therefore smaller .EXE file and quicker. 10/10/88: Version 1.01: Small bug corrected. I welcome your comments, reports on bugs and suggestions. You can write even if you're not registered -- you won't be reported to the BBS police. If you do register, please send a feed back note with your registration check. REGISTRATION OPTION: As an alternate to remitting a fee, you may purchase our book, THE BRENNER RESTAURANT INDEX, A Computerized Guide to Selected Restaurants in the Greater Los Angeles Area. Its cover price is $12.95, plus $1.07 sales tax if you live in California, plus $1.05 shipping. The book may be ordered directly from us and all you have to do is enclose a check or MasterCard/Visa authorization. With your order, just mention that you wish to have your copy of NOTIFY.EXE registered. As a registered user, you will receive an update as well as additional JB Utilities. By ordering the book, you get two for one: the book AND the registration. And, now, the commercial: Among restaurant books, this one is quite unique. It's organized in such a way that it will help you pick your restaurant according to what considerations are important on any given occasion. In L.A., with its massive size, it's common to find yourself in a part of town you don't know too well. Just check the restaurants in the Location section for those in that specific area, and you get an immediate summary of the selected restaurants there (and, on your way there). Another section sorts the restaurants by cost in case you're on a budget or want to just consider a certain price range. If you're in the mood for a particular kind of food, check the Cuisine section. Finally, there's the alphabetical listing. All restaurant listings include vital details, including special dishes, hours, parking, credit cards, and more. THE BRENNER RESTAURANT INDEX is available in some Los Angeles bookstores, so if you live here, you can also ask for it in your local bookstore. If you obtain it that way, just send us a note that you request registration for NOTIFY and include a photocopy of your receipt. CHARGE YOUR REGISTRATION: Note to those using credit cards: Please include the following with your order: your name (printed) as it appears on the card (include middle initial), the card number, the expiration date and your signature. (See the registration form included in the NOTIFY library (zip) file). WARRANTY: No warranty expressed nor implied. To our knowledge, there is nothing in this program that can be considered a risk under normal usage, but the risk of using it falls entirely to the user. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: This was written with an assist by Jake Angelin, who is credited also with doing the BBS uploading. APOLOGEA: Because of time constraints, I've gotten the program to work the way I essentially need it, but haven't totally polished it. I therefore have some trepidation about how bug free it is. One thing I know: you should stick to the prescribed syntax carefully. Any departure from it may cause unknown results. I take no responsibility, but I do recommend you practice on a dummy file to learn your way around the program. I hope you'll find the effort worth while. The program is polished a little more with each registration. I guess you could say that I need to know that others care and that users do their duty by paying the modest fee. In the meanwhile, I use it constantly and it certainly makes my life and appointments a whole lot easier. TECHNICAL NOTES: NOTIFY was originally written with QuickBasic 3.1, under DOS 2.1. Of course, it works under subsequent versions of DOS, although it has not been tested on OS/2. It should run under real mode of that operating system. This edition was compiled under BASIC 7.1. LAST WORD: I have a preference for utilities that are simple, flexible and not memory resident. I wrote this program as an alternative to a similar program I had problems with. Mainly it was too verbose. You'd get a report even when booting on a day for which there were no notices. You'd also get a large logo and another appeal for the registration fee. No good. Outside of the extra time it takes to boot the program from your AUTOEXEC.BAT and have it check for messages, you won't be aware of NOTIFY until you get a date match or if you want to use it intentionally, like to add or delete notices. It is otherwise invisible and, best of all, does NOT take away those increasingly precious bytes of memory! I hope you find it useful. Jules Brenner Los Angeles 1993