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1991-05-29
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LOOKSEE:
OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS
Version 1.1 - May 1991
(C) Copyright Mike Lewis Computing, 1991
This SHAREWARE program may be freely copied and distributed
on a non-commercial basis. If you wish to use it regularly,
please register as a user. For details, see page 1 of this
manual, or press Shift-F1 while LookSee is active.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
About this version 1
Introduction 2
What you need to know 2
System requirement 2
Installing LookSee 2
Using LookSee 3
Loading LookSee into memory 3
Activating LookSee 3
Navigating 3
Searching 4
Additional features 5
Changing databases 5
De-activating LookSee 5
Unloading LookSee 5
Getting More From LookSee 6
Using LookSee in non-resident mode 6
Screen colours 6
Date formats 6
Popping up in graphics mode 7
Using LookSee with Windows 7
Using LookSee with SideKick 7
LookSee Operating Instructions Page 1
ABOUT THIS VERSION
This manual describes the SHAREWARE version of LookSee.
The shareware version is intended to help you to evaluate
the program before buying it. If you wish to continue to
use LookSee after you have evaluated it, you should
register as a user.
By registering, you are not only legalising your use of
the program (failure to register constitutes an
infringement of our copyright), you are helping to ensure
the future development of LookSee and other useful
programs. You are also supporting the entire shareware
concept, without which many excellent software products
would never become available.
To register, send your name and address, together with the
appropriate fee, to the address at the foot of this page.
The fees are as follows:
From the US: $49
From the UK: 37.60 pounds (incl. VAT)
From any other country: US$65 or 39 pounds sterling
You may make your payment in sterling (cheque or draft on
a British bank) or in US funds (IMO, or check on a US
bank). Sorry, we cannot accept credit cards at present.
In return for your registration, you will receive:
- A new copy of LookSee (including any recent
enhancements), with a printed manual and dual-
media diskettes, despatched by air mail or first
class post
- Free technical support, by phone, mail or e-mail
- Notification of any future upgrades
The above information is valid until the end of 1993.
After that, please enquire.
And thank you for your support.
Mike Lewis Computing
2 Hatton Place, Edinburgh EH9 1UD, United Kingdom
Phone: (44) 31 667 7685
LookSee Operating Instructions Page 2
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to LookSee. LookSee is a pop-up file viewer which
enables you to browse or search your dBASE databases, even
while you are working in another program. There are many
ways in which you can use it, for example:
- You can look up names and addresses while you are
using your word processor.
- You can quickly deal with telephone enquiries without
having to load up your full database system.
- You can search for customers even if you only know
part of their name.
- You can make your data available across a network,
without risk of other users altering it.
LookSee is also a handy debugging tool for dBASE
programmers. It can often provide a very quick way of
examining the state of your databases while your are
testing your application.
LookSee works with any database created by dBASE III Plus,
dBASE IV, FoxPro, Clipper, dBXL, and many similar packages
(it accesses databases only, not index or memo files).
What you need to know
In these instructions, we have assumed that you have a
basic understanding of Dos, directories and filenames. In
particular, you will need to know the names and locations
of the databases you wish to access. On the other hand,
you do not need to know anything about dBASE - indeed, you
do not even need to have dBASE installed on your PC in
order to use LookSee.
System requirement
LookSee runs on the IBM PC, IBM PS/2, and most compatible
computers, under MS-DOS or PC-DOS, version 2.0 or above. A
hard disk is recommended but not essential. The program
takes about 44K of RAM
Installing LookSee
The LookSee program consists of a single file, LOOK.EXE.
To install it, simply copy this file from the diskette on
which you received the program to any suitable directory
on your hard disk.
LookSee Operating Instructions Page 3
USING LOOKSEE
Loading LookSee into memory
Before you can use LookSee, you must load it into memory.
Once you have done this, you can call it up at any time.
LookSee will remain in memory until you decide to remove
it, or you switch off or reset your PC.
To load LookSee into memory, you simply type:
LOOK
from the Dos prompt. You will see a copyright notice,
after which the Dos prompt will re-appear. You may now use
your PC for other work until you are ready to use LookSee.
When loading LookSee, you can optionally specify the name
of a database that you wish to view. For example, to use
LookSee with the CUSTOMER database in the \SALES
directory, you would type:
LOOK \SALES\CUSTOMER
(The .DBF extension in the database name is not required.)
Activating LookSee
Once you have loaded LookSee into memory, you may invoke
it at any time. To do this, press "Ctrl-LeftShift-1" (that
is, hold down the Ctrl and left shift key, then press "1",
then release all three keys). Use the "1" on the top row
of the main typewriter keyboard, not the numeric pad.
We have purposely chosen this unusual key combination so
as to reduce the risk of it clashing with key combinations
in other programs. In the unlikely event that "Ctrl-Shift-
1" has some other use in your main application, you will
still be able to use the right shift key, or the "1" on
the numeric pad, for that purpose.
You can only activate LookSee while the main application
is in text mode, not graphics mode.
Navigating
When you activate LookSee, a "window" will pop up on the
screen. If you specified a database name when you loaded
LookSee (see above), the first record of that database
will appear in the main part of the window. If you did not
specify a database name, you must do so now. Press F8 and
LookSee Operating Instructions Page 4
type the name in response to the prompt (see also page 5).
You may use the following keys to move around the
database:
Up, Down cursor keys Scrolls the window vertically
(if the record is too big to fit
in the window)
PgDn, PgUp Scrolls the window by one page
or record at a time
Home, End Goes to the first or last record
in the database
spacebar Flips between the last two
records displayed
F3 or J Jumps to a specific record (you
will be prompted for the record
number)
Searching
To search the database for a word, character string,
number or date, press F5 (or S), then type the required
text in response to the prompt. LookSee will search from
the start of the database, and will highlight the first
field containing the text.
To continue searching for the same text, press Shift-F5
(or C). LookSee will search for the next occurrence,
starting from the current record.
Note the following points:
- Searches are field-independent. A search for, say,
"London" would find any record containing that word,
whether it is part of a name, address, comment, or
any other field.
- Searches are case-insensitive. So searching for
"London" might also find "LONDON" or "london".
- Dates and numbers are treated in the same way as other
text. A search for "91" would find that value whether
it was part of a date, a numeric field or a character
field.
LookSee Operating Instructions Page 5
Additional features
The following keys are also available within LookSee:
F1 or H Displays a brief help screen
Shift-F1 or A Displays information about
LookSee
F2 or I Displays basic information about
the database
Shift-F2 or D Displays the database's field
structure (if this is too large
to fit in the window, use the
cursor keys to scroll it)
Changing databases
You can switch to a different database file at any time.
To do this, press F8 (or F). LookSee will prompt you for
the file name. You may precede the name with a drive
letter and/or directory path. The .DBF extension is not
required.
De-activating LookSee
When you have finished with LookSee, press ESC to return
to your main application. The next time that you activate
LookSee, you will be at the same point at which you left
off.
Unloading LookSee
If you wish to remove LookSee from memory (for example, to
make more space available for other programs), press Alt-
F10, then answer "Y" to the prompt. LookSee will only
remove itself if it was the last memory-resident program
loaded.
LookSee Operating Instructions Page 6
GETTING MORE FROM LOOKSEE
Using LookSee in non-resident mode
There may be times when you wish to use LookSee, but do
not want to load it as a memory-resident program. To use
it as a normal (non-resident) program, load it in the
usual way (page 3), but add /N to the command. For
example:
LOOK \SALES\CUSTOMER /N
This will invoke LookSee immediately. When you have
finished with it, press ESC to return to the Dos prompt.
Screen colours
LookSee runs in either monochrome or colour, depending on
the display adapter installed in your PC. On some systems,
however, it may mistakenly use colours which are not
completely legible. To overcome this, you can force it to
run in monochrome. Simply add /M to the command which
loads it into memory. For example:
LOOK \SALES\CUSTOMER /M
Alternatively, you can toggle between monochrome and
colour by pressing F6 (or T) while LookSee is active.
Date formats
LookSee displays dates in the format appropriate to your
country, as determined by the COUNTRY parameter in your
Config.Sys file. You can override this format by adding
one of the following parameters to the command which loads
LookSee:
/A for American format (MM-DD-YY)
/E for European format (DD/MM/YY)
/J for Japanese format (YY-MM-DD)
These parameters may be combined with /N and /M. They may
either precede or follow the database name (if any). For
example:
LOOK /ANM D:\DBASE\ORDERS
This loads LookSee as a non-resident program, in mono
mode, with American date formats.
LookSee Operating Instructions Page 7
Popping up in graphics mode
As mentioned earlier, LookSee can only be activated if the
main application is in text mode. If you try to invoke it
in graphics mode, you will just hear two short beeps. To
overcome this, you will have to exit the application's
graphics function (which, in many cases, will mean closing
the entire application). Alternatively, if you can run
another program from inside the application (with a "Shell
to Dos" command, for instance), you can use this to invoke
LookSee with the /N parameter (see page 6).
Using LookSee with Windows
Because LookSee can only be invoked in text mode, you
cannot use it as a pop-up within Microsoft Windows.
However, you can still run it from Windows, by using the
/N parameter (see page 6). If you are using Windows in its
386 Enhanced Mode, you can configure LookSee to run in its
own window (see your Windows manual for further details).
Otherwise, LookSee will take over the entire screen,
returning to Windows when you press ESC.
Using LookSee with SideKick
Users of Borland's SideKick should note that this program
only works if it is the last memory-resident program to be
loaded. To help avoid conflicts, LookSee checks for the
presence of SideKick, and refuses to load if that program
is already resident. If you wish to use both SideKick and
LookSee, be sure to load LookSee first.
