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TM S C B A T R A K I N S T R U C T I O N M A N U A L Version: 2.50 Feb. 22, 1996 Copyright 1993-1996 Raymond A.J. Pesek All Rights Reserved This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at: 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442-9427 or send a CompuServe message via CompuServe mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. You can also reach the ASP via a FAX machine at (616) 788-2765. Written by: Raymond A.J. Pesek 4706 Cottonwood Lane Brunswick, Ohio 44212-2412 Voice/FAX: 216.225.0248 CompuServe Mail: 72270,650 Internet: 72270.650@compuserve.com FIDO Netmail: 1:157/200 RAYMOND PESEK FIDO FireNet Echo: RAYMOND PESEK TABLE OF CONTENTS ---------------------- End User License Agreement ........................... Page 3 Warranty Disclaimer .................................. Page 4 Help!!! .............................................. Page 4 Equipment Requirements ............................... Page 5 Installation ......................................... Page 5 Introduction ......................................... Page 8 General Information Applicable To The Entire Program . Page 9 Dialog Boxes ......................................... Page 9 Key Combinations ..................................... Page 10 Field Characteristics ................................ Page 10 General Screen Navigation ............................ Page 12 Mouse Operation ...................................... Page 14 Using The List Boxes ................................. Page 15 General Menu Operation ............................... Page 15 Fast Quit Option ..................................... Page 16 User-Defined Query Instructions ...................... Page 16 Differences Between Registered Versions And Trial Versions When Using The Query System ................. Page 17 Getting Started With The Query System ................ Page 17 A Few Important Definitions .......................... Page 18 The Query List Manager ............................... Page 19 To Run A Query ....................................... Page 21 To Create A New Query ................................ Page 21 Page 1 To Create A Query By Copying ......................... Page 22 The Filter Building Dialog ........................... Page 22 Button Action Description ............................ Page 23 Relational Operator Descriptions ..................... Page 23 Character Field Operator Descriptions ................ Page 24 Numeric Field Operator Descriptions .................. Page 25 Notes Field Operator Descriptions .................... Page 26 Date Field Operator Descriptions ..................... Page 26 Logical Field Operator Descriptions .................. Page 27 Making The Right Connections ......................... Page 27 Knowing Your Data Is Important ....................... Page 29 A Practical Query Example ............................ Page 29 Shell To DOS ......................................... Page 30 Printing The Manual .................................. Page 31 What Happens To My Dates In The Year 2000 ? .......... Page 31 Network Use & Common Network Problems ................ Page 32 Printing To A Disk File .............................. Page 33 Error Handling ....................................... Page 34 Upgrading To A Newer Version ......................... Page 34 Using Borland dBase, Microsoft FoxPro, or another database program to directly modify the data files ... Page 35 Running SCBA Trak from Microsoft Windows ............. Page 36 Registration ......................................... Page 37 Automatic Upgrade Plan For Registered Users .......... Page 37 Order Form ........................................... Page 38 Page 2 END USER LICENSE AGREEMENT -------------------------- SCBA Trak (TM) is NOT a public domain program. It is NOT "freeware" nor has it ever been. It is copyrighted by Raymond A.J. Pesek. This software and accompanying documentation are protected by United States copyright law and also by international treaty provisions. Raymond A.J. Pesek will be referred to as LICENSOR. You or your organization will be referred to as the LICENSEE. The SCBA Trak computer program will be referred to as the SOFTWARE. This SOFTWARE remains the property of the LICENSOR. Upon registration, you are NOT purchasing this SOFTWARE, but are purchasing a license to USE this intellectual property. As such, there is NO transfer of title. Registered LICENSEES are granted a license to USE the SOFTWARE for perpetuity on only one computer at a time, although the SOFTWARE may be INSTALLED on as many computers as needed. Multiple (site) licenses are available to registered users at a discount. Please see the registration form for details. Each license will have a separate and distinct serial number. Unregistered LICENSEES are granted a thirty (30) day license for evaluation purposes only. You may enter data and use the program as you normally would for this thirty (30) day period. At the end of this evaluation period, you must either register the SOFTWARE or discontinue using the SOFTWARE permanently. You may not use, copy, rent, lease, sell, modify, decompile, disassemble, otherwise reverse engineer, or transfer the licensed program except as provided in this agreement. Any such unauthorized use shall result in immediate and automatic termination of this license. All rights not expressly granted here are reserved to Raymond A.J. Pesek. U.S. Government Information: Use, duplication, or disclosure by the U.S. Government of the computer software and documentation in this package shall be subject to the restricted rights applicable to commercial computer software as set forth in subdivision (b)(3)(ii) of the Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software clause at 252.227-7013 (DFARS 52.227-7013). The Contractor/ manufacturer is: Raymond A.J. Pesek 4706 Cottonwood Lane Brunswick, OH 44212-2412 Page 3 WARRANTY DISCLAIMER ------------------- LICENSOR HEREBY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES RELATING TO THIS SOFTWARE, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. LICENSOR WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT OR SIMILAR DAMAGES DUE TO LOSS OF DATA OR FOR ANY OTHER REASON, EVEN IF LICENSOR OR AN AGENT OF LICENSOR HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. IN NO EVENT SHALL LICENSORS LIABILITY FOR ANY DAMAGES EVER EXCEED THE PRICE PAID FOR THE LICENSE TO USE THE SOFTWARE, REGARDLESS OF THE CLAIM. THE PERSON USING THE SOFTWARE BEARS ALL RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE. IF THE DISCLAIMER OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES IS NOT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ARE HEREBY LIMITED IN DURATION TO THIRTY (30) DAYS FROM THE DATE YOU RECEIVED DELIVERY. THIS SOFTWARE IS OFFERED "AS IS" ONLY ! Some states do not allow the exclusion or the limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages, so the above limitations may not apply to you. This agreement shall be governed by the laws of The State of Ohio and shall inure to the benefit of Raymond A.J. Pesek and any successors, administrators, heirs, and assigns. Any action or proceeding brought by either party against the other arising out of or related to this agreement shall be brought only in a STATE or FEDERAL COURT of competent jurisdiction located in Medina County, Ohio or Summit County, Ohio. The parties hereby consent to in personam jurisdiction of said courts. If any provision of this agreement is held void or unenforceable, the remainder shall remain valid and enforceable according to its' terms. YOUR USE OF THIS SOFTWARE CONSTITUTES YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THESE TERMS. HELP!!! ------- Context sensitive help is available throughout the program by pressing the F1 key. If the message "Help is not available" appears, that topic was too complex for on-screen help and is covered in this document instead. Pressing the Esc key clears the help screen and returns you to the program. Page 4 EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS ---------------------- This program will run on any IBM-compatible computer. A hard drive is required. A color monitor is also recommended, but not required. DOS version 3.3 or later is required. Approximately 480K of available RAM memory may be required. A hard drive cache will noticeably speed things up. The available file handles number must be at least 40. This setting is usually found in the CONFIG.SYS file in the root directory of your hard drive. The line should read FILES=40 or have a number higher than 40. The optimum computer will have at least a 286 processor and at least 512K of EXTENDED memory, two megabytes preferred. If this configuration is detected, SCBA Trak will automatically switch itself into "DOS Protected Mode" operation. This will speed the operation up somewhat, but more importantly, it will allow the use of the program on computers that may have only 200K of free memory available (in the lower 640K). Users running on networks or with lots of TSRs loaded may find themselves in this low memory situation. If the optimum configuration is not present, but expanded memory is available, SCBA Trak will use it for storing data and program code to achieve faster operation. Upon start up, 1024K of expanded memory is allocated for use. This amount of memory can be changed by the user, if desired. A command line switch, //E:xxx , where the xxx's are replaced by a number, effects this change. EXAMPLE: Starting the program with the command SCBATRAK //E:0 <enter> will disable all use of expanded memory. Starting the program with the command SCBATRAK //E:512 <enter> will allocate 1/2 megabyte of expanded memory for use by the program. You might want to allocate more memory if you have several hundred or thousand items in at least one of the inventory files. INSTALLATION ------------ An automatic installation program is provided with some of the trial versions and all of the registered versions, except for those supplied on 360K diskettes. Change to the floppy drive where the SCBA Trak disk is inserted, type INSTALL and press Enter (INSTALL /M if you don't have a color monitor). If you have absolutely no idea what the instructions on the screen are telling you, just keep pressing the Enter key or answering Y to the questions and the program will be installed. To run the program, change to the directory where SCBA Trak is installed, type SCBATRAK at the DOS prompt and press the Enter key. Page 5 If you received the program in an archived format (usually from a computer bulletin board or on program copies supplied on a 360K diskette size), the file README.1ST has the instructions on installing the program. If you're reading this manual, you already know how to extract the files from the archive. If you are a REGISTERED user of my program SCBABOTL, you can use your current data files with SCBA Trak. You have two options: 1. Change the installation program default directory from \SCBATRAK to the one used by SCBABOTL, or ; 2. Install the program into the new directory and then manually copy the following data files from the SCBABOTL directory to the new SCBATRAK directory: DEPTNAME.DAT SCBABOTL.DBF SCBABOTL.FPT FILL_LOG.DBF If you are using SCBABOTL version 1.3 or later, also copy these two files: PASSUNIT.DBF PASSUNIT.FPT When SCBA Trak starts for the first time, it will detect the presence of the SCBABOTL-style data files. You will be asked if you want the data files converted. If you have already copied the SCBABOTL data files to a floppy disk for backup purposes, just follow the directions on the screen. If you elect to proceed with the conversion and have not backed up the files, you run the risk of losing all of your data if the conversion should be interrupted by a power failure, etc. If you are an unregistered user of SCBA Trak, the files will NOT be converted and you'll have to manually reenter all of your data (or register). Each time the program starts up, it tests for the existence of the required data files. If they cannot be found in the current directory, the program will automatically create new ones. These data files are: 1. SCBABOTL.DBF the air bottle inventory file 2. SCBABOTL.FPT the "maintenance notes" file for the air bottle inventory 3. FILL_LOG.DBF the fill log file 4. SCBATRAK.CFG the file which holds the "F" key programming and other program configuration information Page 6 5. PASSUNIT.DBF the PASS unit inventory file 6. PASSUNIT.FPT the "maintenance notes" file for the PASS units 7. SCBAMASK.DBF the mask inventory file 8. SCBAMASK.FPT the "maintenance notes" file for the mask inventory 9. BACKPACK.DBF the back pack inventory file 10. BACKPACK.FPT the "maintenance notes" file for the back pack inventory 11. EXPIRED.DBF the file which holds the maintenance expiration dates of all the equipment 12. NAMELIST.DBF the file that holds the list of names used to speed up entries of apparatus designations 13. SCBAHELP.DBF One of the two online help files 14. SCBAHELP.FPT Second of the two online help files 15. QM_DICT.DBF Query system data dictionary 16. QM_ID.DBF Part of the query system 17. QM_LIST.DBF Part of the query system When the program starts for the first time, "index" files are created. These file names have an extension of .CDX and are used to keep track of where the information in each (.DBF) file is stored, for quicker access. These index files are critical. If one or more of the index files are accidentally or deliberately deleted, new ones will be created the next time the program is used. If the program is acting weird, like it can't find an item you "know" is entered, one of the index files may have been damaged. From the main menu, press and hold the Alt key, then tap the R key (ALT+R). This will cause all new index files to be created. DO NOT copy the (*.DBF and *.FPT) data files via DOS to another computer for use by a second copy of the program. SCBA Trak maintains internal counters regarding the storage of your data in the SCBATRAK.CFG file. This file also contains program and computer configuration information. If you use the main menu "COPY . . ." and "RESTORE . . ." functions to transfer data between computers, everything will remain in sync. If you want to transfer the query system files to another installation, ALL files beginning with the letter "Q" must be copied as a group. The query system files are not handled by the BACKUP & RESTORE system. Because of the temporary files used in this program, your CONFIG.SYS file should have a FILES=xx statement, where the xx is replaced by a number of 40 or higher, or the program may not run. Page 7 INTRODUCTION ------------ This program was written to allow easy record keeping of your Self Contained Breathing Apparatus and PASS (Personal Alert Safety System) units. It comprises five distinct modules, one for keeping track of air bottles you own, one for keeping records of all bottles you fill, whether for your organization or for someone else, one for keeping track of your PASS units, one for keeping track of your SCBA masks, and one for keeping track of your back packs. Because most departments have more than one mask per back pack (either spares or masks assigned to individuals), the mask records are kept separately from the back pack records. Information you enter in the "fill log" relating to when one of your air bottles was filled and where the bottle is physically located will be transferred automatically into your air bottle inventory file to keep your records up to date. Air bottle hydrostatic test dates, fill dates, and ultimate life dates (if applicable) are tracked to help assure your bottles are safe to use. A "visual inspection" date can also be used if you perform these types of inspections. Visuals can be for the external or internal condition of a bottle. Masks and back packs are assigned a "certification date" used to keep track of repetitive maintenance requirements, such as annual bench tests. The term "certification" is intended to refer to the comprehensive disassembly of the mask or back pack into its major components. Certification would include, but not be limited to, the inspection of all straps, metal structures, welds, rivets, and for back packs, include the annual flow test. The phrase "certification" can be changed to something more meaningful to your operation on the Options screens. A "visual inspection" date can also be used to track the routine checks of the equipment. Visual inspections are normally accomplished at the beginning of each shift on full-time departments, but may not be done for as long as a month on part time or volunteer departments. The back pack module includes places for recording the last flow test, last pressure reducer regulator overhaul, and the last mask regulator overhaul. If your units don't have a separate mask-mounted regulator, just leave those entries blank. Page 8 The mask module includes places for recording the repetitive "fit test" required by NFPA 1404, 1500 and OSHA programs. PASS units are tracked to assure their batteries are not older than a user-specified age. Generally, PASS unit batteries are changed every twelve months, but you can set any interval you need. Functional tests are normally accomplished at the beginning of each shift on full-time departments, but may not be done for as long as a month on part-time or volunteer departments. When the program first starts, a special file containing all of the maintenance due dates is scanned. If anything is almost due or overdue, a screen will pop up giving you a summary report. At the bottom of the screen, you're given three selections, one to continue on with the program, one to print the summary (what you're looking at), and one to print the detailed list, which will show you exactly what pieces of equipment are due or coming due for maintenance. REMEMBER!!!! IF YOU DON'T KEEP THE COMPUTERIZED RECORDS UP-TO- DATE, THIS PROGRAM IS USELESS! AND IF YOU'RE RELYING ON OUT-OF- DATE RECORDS, IT CAN BE DANGEROUS! THIS PROGRAM CANNOT READ YOUR MIND OR YOUR WORK ORDERS. THE INFORMATION IT PROVIDES IS ONLY AS ACCURATE AND USEFUL AS THE INFORMATION YOU ENTER INTO IT. GENERAL INFORMATION APPLICABLE TO THE ENTIRE PROGRAM ==================================================== THIS SECTION IS IMPORTANT ! If you don't read anything else, read the next few sections. DIALOG BOXES ------------ Dialog boxes are simply pop-up boxes that ask you to either enter information or make a selection from those presented in the box. Pressing the Esc key will cancel the box. If you are asked to make a selection from those presented, you can do so by using the "up arrow" and "down arrow" keys to position the cursor bar over the desired item and pressing Enter, by tapping the first letter of the desired item, or by clicking on the selection with the mouse. Page 9 KEY COMBINATIONS ---------------- Throughout this manual you'll see references to "key combinations." It'll be shown as (for example) Alt+X . This means you should hold down the Alt key, tap the X key, then release the Alt key to get the desired function to work. FIELD CHARACTERISTICS --------------------- The collection of information relating to a particular item is known as a "record." Example: If you have two hundred bottles in your inventory, you have two hundred records, one per bottle. Data is entered into a record by a "fill in the blanks" method. These "blanks" are known as "fields." The fields share certain behavior characteristics. If the field allows you to enter both upper case (capitalized) and lower case (uncapitalized) letters, the extreme left-hand character is automatically capitalized for you. You don't have to hold down the "shift" key. An example of this type of field is the "Manufacturer:" field. If a field requires all of the characters to be capitalized, there is no way you can force it to accept uncapitalized characters. An example of this type of field is the "Serial Number:" field. If a field is generally required to be all numbers, it may or may not allow you to enter letters. If it does, the cursor will not leave the field until all of the characters are of the proper type. An example of this type of field is the "Duration In Minutes:" field in the air bottle inventory. This field will accept either numbers (e.g. 60 for a sixty minute duration bottle) or the letters N/A to indicate a cascade or bank bottle. If you try to enter an invalid sequence, like 6/0 , the characters will display on the screen, but the cursor will not advance to the next field until you correctly enter the duration. A very few fields are "required entry" fields. This means you cannot leave these fields blank. An example of one of these is the "Last Filled:" date field in the fill log. Obviously, if you are logging the filling of bottles, you cannot leave the date that you filled it blank. Page 10 If the cursor will not leave a field, it's because you have tried to leave a "required entry" field blank or because you have entered obviously incorrect data, like a date of 14/33/92. All dates are entered in the format selected on the main menu "Options" screen. The above example would be obviously incorrect for any of the date format options. Note that several of the date fields have a validation check and will not allow you to enter a date that is in the future. SCBA Trak uses the date as reported by your computer's clock/ calendar to perform this validation. EXAMPLE: If today is 02/14/94, MM/DD/YY format, and you try to enter 03/15/94 into a "Last Certification" field, you'll get a warning box and the cursor will not leave the field. If you've entered the correct date, your computer's clock/calendar may need to be reset. When the battery in the computer starts to fail, often the first symptom is an inability to keep the date and time accurate. Refer to your DOS manual for details on setting the DATE and TIME. If you change the extreme left-hand character of a field that already has data entered in it, the rest of the field will be erased. Example: if you want to erase the "Manufacturer:" field, you would move the cursor to the beginning of that field and tap the space bar. All of the previously entered characters in the field will be immediately erased. If you are just correcting a typo that is not the extreme left hand character, no other characters will be affected. If you have inadvertently changed the data in a field, you can press the Esc key WHILE THE CURSOR IS STILL IN THAT FIELD and the old data will be restored. If you have moved the cursor out of that field, you will have to go back and reenter all of the previous data. Note: Pressing the Esc key, while restoring the previous data, will also take you back to the menu. Note #2: The bit about tapping the space bar does not work on certain fields, like the "Certified Every xx Months". For these fields, you must use the "Delete" (Del) key to erase the characters, or position the cursor at the extreme left character and use the Ctrl+Y key combination. Page 11 The Serial Number and I.D. Number fields will not have all of their characters erased simply by tapping the space bar. If you accidentally touch a key while browsing through the inventory, you'd most likely erase the serial number or I.D. number by accident otherwise. If you attempt to change either a Serial Number or I.D. Number, the program will ask you to confirm that action. GENERAL SCREEN NAVIGATION ------------------------- The little blinking line or box is known as a "cursor." It shows you where the characters you type will appear on the screen. The cursor has two modes (shapes): a "single underline" known as "overstrike mode" and a "small box" known as "insert mode." The cursor mode is changed by pressing the key labeled "Insert" or "Ins." When the cursor is in the "overstrike" mode, any characters you type will replace the one currently above the cursor. When the cursor is in the "insert" mode, the characters you type will be "inserted" just before the character that the cursor is on, with the characters to the right of the new character being shoved to the right one position. Try it, you'll see what I mean. To move the cursor around the screen, you use the "up" and "down" arrow keys. The "up arrow" will take you backwards to the previous item while the "down arrow" will take you to the next item. This holds true even if the next or previous item is on the same line. You cannot use the "left/right" arrow keys to move around the screen. Or just use the mouse to click on the field where you want to go. When adding NEW records into an inventory, pressing the PgUp or PgDn keys will take you from any item on the data entry screen to a new, blank screen. This allows you to easily enter many items into an inventory at one time. Pressing the Esc key will take you back to the menu you started from. If you have entered new information into a particular field, and the cursor is still in that field, pressing the Esc key will cause the new information to be erased and the old information restored (if any), before it returns you to the menu you started the entries from. Page 12 When browsing EXISTING records, the PgUp key will take you "backwards" in the inventory to the previous record. The PgDn key will take you "forward" to the next record. Pressing the Esc key will return you to the menu you started the browse from. There is usually a message at the top of the screen showing you which record number you are on and the total number of records to be browsed. If, for some reason, either of these numbers should be incorrect, you can reset the counters by copying all of the data files to a floppy disk (via the main menu "Copy...") function, and then immediately restoring all of the data files (via the main menu "Restore...") function. During the "restore", all of the record counters are reinitialized to the proper value. If you've entered new information or changed existing information in an existing record, a dialog box will appear as you leave the record. The dialog box will ask you if you want to print a new maintenance history report for the record you just added or changed. Tapping the Y key or the Enter key will print the report; tapping the PgUp, PgDn, or Esc keys will skip the printing. This dialog box can be turned OFF by using the main menu "Options" screens. The program has been written to minimize the number of times the Enter key needs to be hit. If an entry accepts a certain number of characters and you type that many characters, the cursor automatically advances to the next item. Example: the WORKING PRESSURE entry accepts five digits. When you type the fifth digit (if any) the cursor moves to the next item. If you type less than five digits, you must press the Enter key to continue with the entries. When viewing the listings of different items, you can press the Ctrl+PgUp key combination to be taken to the top of the list, or the Ctrl+PgDn key combination to go to the bottom of the list. Page 13 MOUSE OPERATION --------------- If you have a mouse available, and haven't turned it OFF on the "Options" screens, you can "point and click" on almost any field or menu selection. Double clicking with the left button is the same as pressing the Enter key. The scroll bars seen on some screens and list boxes can be a convenient way to move about a listing. If you single click in the middle of a vertical scroll bar, you're taken to the middle of the listing, etc. The mouse speed can be set on the "Options" screens. Normally, the mouse cursor is a graphical arrow, however some video systems don't work properly with it. If moving the mouse across the screen "tears up" the display, quit the program and then restart it with the command SCBATRAK /NG . This will cause the mouse cursor to display as the more traditional "block" cursor. The mouse has "auto-positioning." It will automatically place itself where it thinks it's needed. For example, if you have the mouse cursor in the lower left corner of the screen, and a dialog box pops up, the mouse cursor will jump to the immediate vicinity of the dialog box. After you acknowledge the dialog box, the mouse cursor will return to its original position. This should save on a lot of wrist movement. IF MOVING THE MOUSE ARROW CURSOR ACROSS THE SCREEN CAUSES DATA TO BE DISPLAYED IN OTHERWISE BLANK DATA ENTRY FIELDS, YOU PROBABLY HAVE DAMAGED DATABASE FILES!!! I have utilities that can repair most of this damage. Please contact me if you see this happening. This type of damage is most commonly caused by using another program, such as Borland's dBASE, to directly modify the SCBA Trak data files. If you're running the program from inside Windows, you MUST have a mouse driver (MOUSE.COM, MOUSE.SYS) loaded before Windows starts. This is usually done in your CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT files. Page 14 USING THE LIST BOXES -------------------- SCBA Trak also makes use of "list boxes" to ease data entry. A list box operates like a menu. When the cursor enters certain blank fields a list box will appear, giving you different selections to choose from. If you like one of the selections, move the cursor bar over the desired one using the "up arrow" and/or "down arrow" keys, and press Enter, or double click on the selection with the mouse. You also have a "speed search" feature available. When the list box appears, press the F1 key for the instructions on using it. All sections of the program have a "Last Known To Be On:" or an "Assigned To:" field. Both are used to record the last known location (either on a truck or assigned to an individual) of the particular item. This list box is not pre-programmed, but adds new selections as you enter them into the program. The list of names used in the "Last Known To Be On:" and "Assigned To:" fields are stored in a file named "NAMELIST.DBF." If this file is not present in the current directory when SCBA Trak first starts up, all of the inventory files will be scanned and a new list box generated from those records. If you're on a network, and someone else is using the program, the file they have opened will not be scanned. SCBABOTL USERS NOTE - SCBABOTL did not allow lower case entries at all. If you like to see lower case entries in the list box, you can use the main menu selection "Name list changes and corrections" to change them to what you want. GENERAL MENU OPERATION ---------------------- To make a selection from a menu, tap the space bar, the "up arrow" or "down arrow" keys to move the cursor bar over the desired item and press Enter or place the mouse cursor on it and single click. Optionally, you can just type the very first letter of the desired item and the selection will be made for you. Example: You want the "Erase selected items from the data files" item from the main menu. You could either tap the cursor arrow key until this selection was highlighted and then press Enter, or you could simply tap the E key. If there is more than one item on a given menu beginning with the same letter, you can only select the first item this way. The second item can only be selected by manually moving the cursor bar with the arrow keys or space bar and then pressing Enter, or using the mouse. Page 15 Since all of the module menus are pretty much identical, you can use some shortcuts. Example: You want to add new bottles into the fill log. You start the program and from the main menu you tap the F key to get to the fill log menu. From the fill log menu, you tap the A key to add new entries. With just two keystrokes, you're ready to get to work. If you were adding new PASS units, from the main menu you would tap the P key to get into the PASS unit module. From the PASS unit menu you would tap the A key to add new PASS units into the inventory. Pressing the Esc key from a menu will take you back to the menu you just came from. If you are at the main menu and press the Esc key, a dialog up box will ask if you want to quit the program. Press the Esc key, the Enter key or the Y key to quit the program. Pressing the N key or moving the cursor bar over the NO block and then pressing Enter will cancel the program termination. FAST QUIT OPTION ---------------- Available from all menus and most places in the program is a "fast quit" option. Instead of hitting the Esc key or the Q key repeatedly to quit the program, you can use the key combinations Alt+X or Alt+F4 . These will save all of your data and immediately quit the program. If this function doesn't work, it's because you're in a part of the program where it isn't safe to use it. USER-DEFINED QUERY INSTRUCTIONS ------------------------------- A limitation of any program is a need to get information other than what's provided in the canned reports and screens. An example would be the need to check your equipment inventory for a specific run of serial numbers which have become subject to a recall. "User-defined queries" allow you, the end user, to specify a condition using plain English and simple relational statements, and then display or print the results. The definition of relational operator (or just plain "operator") is given a bit later. You can find data by picking up to 18 different comparison operators. Operators use English terminology like: Begins with, Ends with, Exactly matches and Sounds like. Page 16 Each query can contain up to 10 conditions (such as "Date of Manufacture is later than 04/01/1993"). Furthermore, you can connect the conditions with AND/OR logic and specify parentheses to clarify the order of operations for your conditions. For example, "Pressure = 2216 AND (Assigned To MATCHES Truck-7 OR Assigned To MATCHES Engine-1 OR Assigned To MATCHES Engine-4"). This query would show you all 2216 bottles on just these three trucks. IMPORTANT NOTE: The total number of conditions that any individual query can contain is determined by the overall complexity of the query. The more complex, the fewer conditions. The Query Manager keeps track of the complexity automatically and will issue a warning when the query has become too complex. The warning will indicate that the query length exceeds 254 characters. This is not a count of the characters you see on the screen, rather it is a count of the number of characters needed to build the query. Generally deleting one condition will fix it. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN REGISTERED VERSIONS AND TRIAL VERSIONS ---------------------------------------------------------- Registered versions automatically save your built and tested queries in the Query List Manager so you won't have to respecify them every time you run a query. You can give each query a descriptive title to make it easy to recognize every time you need it. Trial versions allow you to explore the full power of the Query List Manager, but will not save any queries for use in a future session. GETTING STARTED --------------- To select or build a query, use the "Set/clear a user-defined query" menu selection. "Set" means you want to use a query to display just records that meet the conditions of the query. "Clear" means a query is now in effect, and selecting "Clear" will disable the query, giving you access to all records. If a query is already set, you'll get a dialog box asking if you want to set a new query or just clear the existing query. If you select "Clear", the query will be cleared and you will remain in the current menu. If you select "Set", the current query will be cleared and you will then be able to set a new query. Page 17 A FEW IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS --------------------------- FIELD: A field is a category that holds information about your records in a file known as a "table." For example, in a table that holds air bottle information, there would be a field to hold Owner names, a field to hold Pressures, a field to hold Locations, etc. FILTER: A filter is a set of criteria or conditions that lets you indicate which records to include in your query results (e.g., "Only back packs assigned to Station 1 and needing flow tested in July.") OPERATOR: (a.k.a. relational operator) An operator describes how records are compared with given conditions or otherwise isolated. Examples are "greater than", "equal to", "contains text", etc. The available operators depend upon the data type of the field being worked on. The five data types are: NUMERIC: a number which can be multiplied, added, etc. Example: "Last Hydro Cost" CHARACTER: Simple text. Example: Serial Numbers, I.D. Numbers, Manufactured By LOGICAL: always either TRUE or FALSE Example: "within lead time" or "now overdue" DATE: A date. NOTE: Because of the mechanics involved in making date calculations, the "Last Hydro Test Date" field will be displayed in a MM DD YY format, with the "day" always being 01 . If you're looking for a specific hydro test date, such as 12/95, you must specify it as 12/01/95, or it won't be found. The correct operators are automatically selected for you based upon the data type of the field you're working with. QUERY: A query is a specialized view of information in your database. It may contain all fields and records or a filtered subset. Page 18 REPORT: A report is the output of a query. Once the query is set, all reports, browses, etc. will show ONLY those records meeting the query condition. A footer is added to the bottom of each screen to remind you that a query is in effect. The header of each printed report will have the query title printed on it to remind you that the report only contains records meeting the query condition. USING BUTTONS: Query Manager operations are activated by "pressing" on-screen "buttons". Some people call them push buttons because they look like the three-dimensional buttons you find on mechanical devices. For example, when we say, press or click an button, you select the button by: USING THE MOUSE --------------- Click on the desired word with the primary mouse button (the left mouse button on most computer systems). Not all actions are mouseable. Most notable is when you're entering a new query title. USING THE KEYBOARD ------------------ Move to the desired button by pressing Tab or the cursor arrow keys until a darkened border appears around the word. Then press the Enter key. Additionally, a single letter in each button is displayed in bright white. Typing that letter on the keyboard is the same as tabbing to the button and pressing Enter. THE QUERY LIST MANAGER ---------------------- The Query List Manager is a Query Manager control panel. It is a screen showing titles of previously saved queries. To choose an existing query to work with, you must first highlight its title with an arrow key or with the mouse. Page 19 You can then perform an action on this highlighted query by "pressing" one of the buttons listed horizontally across this screen's bottom, or select it for use by double-clicking on the title with the mouse. When in the Query List Manager, you can create new queries. When creating a query, you can either build it from scratch or you can copy an existing query and then modify it. If using a keyboard, you can switch between the query list and the buttons with a left or right arrow key. SELECT: Selects the highlighted query and runs it. You're returned to the previous menu and the query is put in effect. ADD: Allows you to create a new query. EDIT: Allows you to modify the highlighted querys' filter condition. COPY: Makes a copy of the current query. Useful if you need a new query, but with slightly different conditions. After copying, use RENAME to change the title and then use EDIT to modify the conditions. RENAME: Changes title of the current query. DELETE: Permanently removes the current query, after prompting for confirmation. QUIT/DON'T SELECT: Returns you to your prior menu without setting the query. ADD and EDIT will take you to the Query Overview Dialog Box. If you have at least one query displayed in the Query List Manager, you can run a query to analyze your data. Page 20 TO RUN A QUERY -------------- In the Query List Manager, highlight the query you want to run. Press SELECT to put the highlighted query into effect. NOTE: If using a mouse, you can select a query by double clicking on its title. If using a keyboard, you can select a query by first highlighting it and then pressing the left or right arrow key to go to the Select button and pressing Enter. QUERY OVERVIEW DIALOG BOX ------------------------- This dialog guides you through a step-by-step process of building a query. When done, press OK to return to the Query List Manager. TO CREATE A NEW QUERY --------------------- To Create a Query from Scratch: STEP 1 : Go to the Query List Manager and press ADD . Type in a title for this new query. Press Enter to save the title. Press Enter again when the OK button is highlighted. When done, you will be taken to the Filter Building dialog. STEP 2 : Input from one to ten filter conditions to indicate which records should appear in the query results. When done, press OK to return back to the Query List Manager. STEP 3 : Press the SELECT button to put the query into effect. Page 21 TO CREATE A QUERY BY COPYING ---------------------------- STEP 1 : Go to the Query List Manager and highlight the query you want to copy. Press COPY to bring up a title dialog box. Type in a title for this new query. When done, you will be returned to the Query List Manager. You will now have an exact copy of the query you selected, but under a different title. STEP 2 : Press RENAME to change the name of the copied query to what it's really going to do. Press the Enter key twice to save the new name. STEP 3 : Press EDIT to go to the Filter Building dialog to modify the copied query's filter conditions if necessary. When done, press OK to return to the Query List Manager. STEP 4 : Press SELECT to run the query. THE FILTER BUILDING DIALOG -------------------------- Every query is an attempt to extract a subset of information contained within your database system. The Filter Building dialog is where you specify a set of conditions to determine the subset you are seeking. This set of conditions is your filter. You can access this dialog from the Query List Manager by pressing the ADD or EDIT button. A condition is a phrase that defines the set of data you are seeking. For example, "Pressure = 4500". A condition consists of: 1. a field name (e.g., "Pressure") 2. a relational operator (e.g., "equals") 3. a comparison value (e.g., "4500"). Each condition you add can narrow the results of the query. That is, fewer records may be included in the query results. Each condition you delete can expand the results of the query. That is, more records may be included in the results. Each query can contain up to 10 conditions. The more complex the query is to perform, the less the number of total conditions that can be specified. These are the actions you can perform in the Filter Building dialog: Page 22 BUTTON ACTION DESCRIPTION ------------------------- ADD: Add a new condition. You will be prompted to select a field, pick a relational operator and type in a comparison value. After adding a condition, pressing ADD again will allow you to specify another condition. EDIT: Edit an existing condition. Change a condition's field, operator, comparison value (or any combination of these). These terms are explained below. SWITCH: Switch a condition's connector between an AND and an OR. If two conditions are connected by an "AND", both must be true (e.g., Pressure equals 4500 AND manufacturer is Bottles-R-Us.) If, however, two conditions are connected by an "OR", either can be true (e.g., Pressure = 4500 OR Manufacturer is Bottles-R-Us). MOVE: Move the position of a condition within the list of conditions. If you are mixing both "AND" and "OR" connectors or are using parentheses, the order of the conditions can determine which records are included in the query results. BRACKET: Place or remove parentheses around two or more conditions. Complex queries may have several AND and OR connectors. The placement and organization of these connectors can make a difference in the results. (See "Making the Right Connections") DELETE: Delete a condition from the list. Deleting a condition will generally widen the results of the query. CANCEL: Exit this dialog without saving. This will undo any changes you made while you were in this Filter Building Dialog. OK: Save and exit. This will save your work and return you to the Query List Manager. RELATIONAL OPERATOR DESCRIPTIONS -------------------------------- The operators will pop up in a list box for your selection. Highlight the desired operator using the cursor arrow keys and press Enter, or single click on it with the mouse. Page 23 CHARACTER FIELD OPERATOR DESCRIPTIONS -------------------------------------- BEGINS WITH OR MATCHES - "Serial number BEGINS WITH OR MATCHES ALT649" would retrieve a unit with the entire serial number being ALT649 or units with the first six characters of the serial number being ALT649 DOES NOT BEGIN WITH OR MATCH - opposite of above ENDS IN - "I.D. Number ENDS IN 002" would retrieve any units where the last three characters are 002 . Trailing spaces are automatically disregarded. GREATER THAN (Yes, letters have "values". A "B" is "greater than" an "A", etc., and entire phrases can be evaluated based upon their ASCII value. Rarely used, actually.) GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO - A "B" is greater than or equal to both an "A" and a "B" LESS THAN - An "A" is less than a "B" LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO - A "B" is less than a "C" FALLS WITHIN A RANGE - A "B" is between an "A" and a "C". "A" and "C" also fall within the range. MATCHES ANOTHER FIELD - If you were looking for a comparison between two fields, such as REPAIRED BY and BOUGHT FROM, you would use this operator to see all units that were both repaired by and bought from the same company. CONTAINS THE PHRASE - "Serial number CONTAINS "649" will find records with the character sequence 649 anywhere in the serial number, such as a serial number of 123649456 . DOES NOT CONTAIN THE PHRASE - Opposite of above IS CONTAINED WITHIN TEXT - Very similar to "contains the phrase", but backwards. "649" IS CONTAINED WITHIN Serial Number is just another way of stating the query condition. IS NOT CONTAINED IN TEST - Opposite of above. IS AN EMPTY FIELD - "empty" means nothing has been entered. For numeric fields, this is the same as a value of zero Page 24 IS NOT AN EMPTY FIELD - Something was entered in the field. It's not blank. SOUNDS SIMILAR TO - Uses a mathematical algorithm to determine if two different spellings are close to each other when spoken. Example: "would" and "wood" or "Scot" and "Scott" EXACTLY MATCHES - What you enter as a comparison value must be exactly what's entered in the field, except for capitalization. NUMERIC FIELD OPERATOR DESCRIPTIONS ----------------------------------- EQUAL TO NUMBER - The number you're searching for is exactly equal to one entered in a record ("Back packs with a purchase price of exactly 1500.00") NOT EQUAL TO NUMBER - The number entered in a record field is different than the one you're entering ("Back packs with a purchase price of something other than 1500.00") GREATER THAN NUMBER - The number entered in a record field is greater than the one you're entering ("Back packs with a purchase price more than 1500.00") GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO NUMBER - The number entered in a record field is greater than or the same as the one you're entering ("Back packs with a purchase price of 1500.00 or more") LESS THAN NUMBER - The number entered in a record field is lower than the one you're entering ("Back packs with a purchase price less than 1500.00") LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO - The number entered in a record field is lower than or the same as the one you're entering ("Back packs with a purchase price of 1500.00 or less") FALLS WITHIN A RANGE - The number you're searching for is either equal to one of the entered numbers or between them ("Back packs with a purchase price of equal to more than 1000.00 and less than or equal to 1500.00") MATCHES ANOTHER FIELD - One numeric field entry in a specific record is the same as another numeric field entry in the same record. "Air bottles with a Last Hydro Cost the same as the Last Repaired Cost") Page 25 NOTES FIELD OPERATOR DESCRIPTIONS --------------------------------- CONTAINS TEXT - Useful for finding specific words within the maintenance notes entries. (Notes CONTAINS TEXT "BURST" would display all records where the word burst was typed into the maintenance notes section. Spelling is critical. A search for burst would also find all records where bursted was typed, but not records where berst was typed. DOES NOT CONTAIN TEXT - Opposite of above DATE FIELD OPERATOR DESCRIPTIONS -------------------------------- SAME DATE AS - The date you're searching for is the same as the one entered in a record ("Back packs Purchased Date of 12/01/96") DIFFERENT DATE THAN - The date you're searching for is something other than the one entered in a record ("Back packs not Purchased on 12/01/96") LATER THAN DATE - The date you're searching for is later than the one entered in a record ("Back packs purchased after 12/01/96") LATER THAN OR SAME AS - The date you're searching for is the same as or later than the one entered in a record ("Back packs purchased on or after 12/01/96") EARLIER THAN DATE - The date you're searching for is earlier than the one entered in a record ("Back packs purchased before 12/01/96") EARLIER THAN OR SAME AS - The date you're searching for is earlier than or the same as the one entered in a record ("Back packs purchased on or before 12/01/96") FALLS WITHIN A RANGE - The date you're searching for is the same as the entered dates or falls between them ("Back packs purchased on or after 01/01/96 and purchased on or before 12/01/96") MATCHES ANOTHER FIELD - One date field entry in a specific record is the same as another date field entry in the same record. "Air bottles with a Last Visual Date the same as the Last Hydro Test Date") Page 26 IS MISSING A DATE - (Example: " / / ") Records where this date field was left blank for one reason or another. IS NOT MISSING A DATE - Records where this date field wasn't left blank. LOGICAL FIELD OPERATOR DESCRIPTIONS ----------------------------------- IS TRUE - "Y" was entered in a logical field IS FALSE = "N" was entered in a logical field MAKING THE RIGHT CONNECTIONS ---------------------------- AND / OR Connectors: A filter consists of one or more conditions. Conditions can be strung together with AND and OR connectors. How you connect the various conditions makes a big difference in the results. If you create queries with many AND and OR conditions, be sure to use brackets (parentheses) to ensure you get the results you are expecting. Parentheses dictate how the query is interpreted. The query is evaluated first in the innermost parentheses. Without parentheses, the query conditions are evaluated from left to right. The Query Manager makes one pass across your data, examining each record for all conditions and then either accepts or rejects the record for inclusion in your output. To Get This: ------------ All orders for product AX5000 as well as owners in ZIP code 11366 who have not returned merchandise. Use This Query Result: ---------------------- Product Exactly Matches "AX5000" OR (ZIP Code Exactly Matches "11366" AND Returned is FALSE) Orders for product AX5000 as well as customers from ZIP code 111366: Page 27 In both cases, we want to show records for only kept merchandise. So the Returned is False condition appears as a separate factor on the other side of the AND connector. (Product Exactly Matches AX5000" OR ZIP Code Exactly Matches "11366") AND Returned is False ANOTHER "AND/OR" EXAMPLE ------------------------ In the following example, we wish to know what combinations of purchases customers have made in a hardware store. In this way, we can identify cross-selling opportunities. The customers we will investigate have purchased some combination of hammers, nails and glue. Customers who purchased a hammer. Customers who purchased nails. Customers who purchased glue. Query Condition Illustration of Outcome: ---------------------------------------- QUERY CONDITION: Product equals Glue OR Product equals Hammer AND Product equals Nails QUERY RESULT: Here we have selected all glue or hammer customer who have also purchased nails. QUERY CONDITION: Product equals Glue OR (Product equals Hammer AND Product equals Nails) QUERY RESULT: Here we have selected those customers who have either glue or a set of hammer and nails. QUERY CONDITION: (Product equals Glue OR Product equals Hammer) AND Product equals Nails QUERY RESULT: This is the same as the first set of conditions. We have used brackets to confirm left to right processing. QUERY CONDITION: (Product equals Hammer OR Product equals Nails) AND (Product does not equal Hammer and Product does not equal Nails) QUERY RESULT: Here we have identified all the customer with either hammer or nails, but not both. Page 28 KNOWING YOUR DATA IS IMPORTANT ------------------------------ Because the query system uses a "pattern matching" technique, you must know how your data is entered. And it must be entered in a consistent form. If you're searching for serial numbers beginning with the pattern "ABC123", the query system will not find serial numbers that were entered as "ABC 123" or that were entered as as "ABC-123". If you know the data was entered inconsistently, you must either create your query to match all permutations you know about, or manually correct the data to a consistent form. The latter is preferable. If you need to handle the variations, the query would be constructed like so: Serial Number Begins with or matches ABC123 OR Serial Number Begins with or matches ABC-123 OR Serial Number Begins with or matches ABC 123 Obviously, it's easier to correct everything to one form just once as opposed to having to remember all the variations every time you construct a new query. A PRACTICAL QUERY EXAMPLE ------------------------- Let's assume a recall has been issued for air bottles having a serial number beginning with ABC123 and you need to locate them. 1. Enter the air bottle module and select SET/CLEAR A USER-DEFINED QUERY from the menu. 2. Because this is a new query, select ADD from the bottom buttons to add a new query. Either click on the word ADD or type an A on the keyboard. 3. Now you must enter a descriptive, unambiguous title. The title you enter will be displayed on the bottom of the screens when this query is in effect, and will be printed on the report headers. Type: All bottles with serial number starting with ABC123 and press the Enter key twice. You're now taken to the screen where you will construct the query. 4. Since this query doesn't exist yet, select ADD from the bottom buttons to add a new condition. Page 29 5. A list box of field descriptions will pop up on the screen. Locate and highlight the one that says Serial Number and press Enter. 6. Now you must pick a relational operator from this new list box. The one we want is Begins with or matches . Locate it, highlight it, and press Enter or mouse click on it. 7. Now we have to enter the comparison value. Type ABC123 and press Enter. 8. Since we've finished entering this condition, press Enter. 9. Since this is a simple one-condition query, we're done building it. Find the OK button and select it. You're now returned to the Query List Manager. Make sure this query title is highlighted, and select the SELECT button. The query is now activated and in effect. Only air bottles with a serial number beginning with ABC123 will be available. SHELL TO DOS ------------ The key combinations Alt+S or Shift+F9 will shell you to DOS from all menus and most data entry screens. This function actually swaps the SCBA Trak program out of conventional memory and stores it in either extended memory, expanded memory, or, as a last resort, as a temporary file on the disk. Thus, you will have all but around 8K of your total memory available. The temporary file is about 1000K in size and is marked with a READ ONLY attribute to prevent accidental erasure while in the shell. If you have sufficient extended or expanded memory, the swap takes less than one second. If the swap file must be stored on the disk, it can take several seconds. To return to the program, type EXIT and press the Enter key, just like the prompt says. NOTE: If you're running the program from a floppy, this function probably will not work unless you have sufficient extended or expanded memory. Page 30 PRINTING THE MANUAL ------------------- If you have an older Epson printer (for example), all of the lines and borders will have italicized letters instead of single and double lines. This is because the printer does not support IBM graphics. Not too much you can do except make up your own form or use a different printer. This file, MANUAL.DOC , can be printed with the command: COPY MANUAL.DOC PRN and press Enter. The file has embedded form feeds so that the pages will be printed properly. NOTE: If you view this file using certain types of file viewers, and then save the file to disk from within the viewer, the pages may not print properly later. The codes for assuring the pages are fifty six lines long are automatically removed by some file viewers. Even just attempting to print the file from within these types of file viewers will cause the pages to print improperly. The DOS Edit.com editor and the Windows Note Pad are two I know of with this characteristic. WHAT HAPPENS TO MY DATES IN THE YEAR 2000 ? ------------------------------------------- Since all dates are entered in a "yy" format, you might be wondering how the upcoming turn of the century will affect the program. Fear not, it won't. SCBA Trak does use a one hundred year cycle to allow you to enter the dates with just the last two digits of the year, but the cycle runs from the year 1940 through the year 2039. If the date format is set to MM/DD/YY and you enter a date of 01/01/40, SCBA Trak assumes the year is 1940. If you enter a date of 12/31/39, SCBA Trak assumes the year is 2039. Selecting an alternate date format, like YY-MM-DD, does not change how the dates are processed internal to the program. Precisely at midnight on December 31, 2009, the cycle will change from 1940 through 2039 to 1960 through 2059. If you are still using any fifty year old bottles at that time, you should think about upgrading your equipment. Page 31 NETWORK USE ----------- Since this program is not one that will generally be in continuous use throughout the day, I have chosen to open all files "exclusive", for the sake of speed. If you attempt to open a file that is locked by another user, a dialog box will appear giving you the option of retrying or returning to the menu. Some of the functions, like backing up to a floppy, restoring the data files from a floppy, and all reindexing operations require exclusive use of all the data files. No one else can be using the program during these operations. SCBA Trak will issue a warning if it detects another user before it tries these functions. The only exception to this is the file EXPIRED.DBF, which is opened SHARED so it can be used by everyone. Be aware that using the Erasure Menu selection and erasing ALL of the records from a file will require the EXCLUSIVE use of this file so it can be updated. The program will warn you if it cannot open the EXPIRED.DBF file in the EXCLUSIVE mode for these types of operations. Erasing specific items as selected by the serial or I.D. number will not require EXCLUSIVE use. Only the files needed for the specific module are opened. If you're at the main menu (blue screen), all of the inventory files are closed. While you're using the mask section, for example, another user could go into the back pack section and perform entries. The only exception is when adding new bottles into the fill log. Because the fill log entries automatically update the air bottle inventory records, the air bottle file will be opened exclusive when adding fill log records. If someone else is already using the air bottle file, you won't be able to add any bottles to the fill log. If you are experiencing slow printing on the network, you probably have a non-dedicated server. These servers usually print only when a program is "idle," waiting for a key press, etc. However, SCBA Trak is rarely idle. During these times it is busy cleaning up files, defragmenting memory, etc. I can create a special version just for you to fix this, if necessary. If you cannot run more than one copy of SCBATRAK.EXE because of file or sharing errors, you may have to reset the file attribute of SCBATRAK.EXE to READ ONLY. This is a known peculiarity of certain brands of networks. If you have a later version of DOS, you can do this by going into the SCBA Trak directory and typing the command: ATTRIB +R SCBATRAK.EXE and pressing the Enter key. If you then copy this file to a disk, etc, the new copy will NOT have the READ ONLY attribute. Page 32 If you're running on a Novell network and using NETX, EMSNETX, or XMSNETX, please make sure it's v3.30 or later. Earlier versions had a problem writing the data to disk and users ended up with corrupted data files. If running on a Novell network, make sure each file has an "owner". Files without owners cannot be expanded (appended to) and you will experience "UE 24 unrecoverable write error" or "disk full" error messages. This is normally only a problem when user accounts are deleted and the existing files haven't had a new owner assigned. For example, John Doe installed the program and had been its sole user. He quits, and Tim Buck starts using the program. Novell detects that John Doe's name has been removed from the network bindery, but that these files are still owned by him. It resets the owner to None, and will not allow anyone else to add data to the affected files until their owner is set to a valid user. The "Owner" has nothing to do with security. It's a way Novell keeps track of disk usage. PRINTING TO A DISK FILE ----------------------- On registered versions only, the ability to send the reports to a disk file instead of the printer is active. The disk file could be used to import the report into your word processor. When you select a report to be printed, you'll get a list box asking where to send the report. If you want to print it, just hit the Enter key. If you want to send the report to a disk file, tap the D key, the space bar, or the down arrow key once. You'll be given a dialog box asking for the path and file name. If you specify the path to your word processor document directory, for example, that's where the report will be sent. If a file with the same name is detected in the specified path, you'll be given the option of specifying a new file name, appending (adding) the new report to the existing file, or replacing the existing file with the new report. The path is stored in memory so the next time you need a report during that session, you won't have to retype the path, just the new file name. NOTE: If you don't specify a file name extension, an extension of .PRN will automatically be added to the file name. EXAMPLE: You typed in a file name of REPORT , so the actual file name on the disk will be REPORT.PRN . Page 33 ERROR HANDLING -------------- Any serious errors in the program will cause a pop-up warning box to be displayed giving technical details on the problem. These errors include missing or corrupted files, computer hard drive problems, etc. If you can, use Shift+Print Screen to capture this data. A file with the name of CLIP?.ERR will also be written to your disk with this information. The "?" will be replaced by a number, starting with "zero." Each time a new CLIP?.ERR file is written to the disk, the "?" is increased by "one." Example: CLIP0.ERR CLIP1.ERR CLIP2.ERR Please be sure to send this information along with a description of how the problem was encountered when you complain. UPGRADING TO A NEWER VERSION ---------------------------- Registered users can freely upgrade to any newer version by following the instructions given to you when you registered. 1. Be certain your data files are backed up to a floppy BEFORE installing the newer version. Your existing data files may need to be modified to work properly. If "something" were to happen during the modification process, like a power failure, someone would have to do lot of work to do reentering the data if the backup files weren't available. 2. Install all new version files into the same directory where SCBA Trak is now installed. 3. Run the new program. Instructions will appear on the screen telling you how to proceed. Page 34 USING BORLAND DBASE, MICROSOFT FOXPRO, OR ANOTHER DATABASE PROGRAM TO DIRECTLY MODIFY THE DATA FILES -------------------------------------------------- In a word, DON'T !!!!! Although these, and other, programs are capable of opening and using the DBF/FPT file format used by SCBA Trak, some of them make little changes in the file structure to make the file structure closer to what they expect. In some cases, I've had users completely unable to access their data, lose access to their maintenance notes, etc. I do have some file repair programs which can undo some of the changes ("damage") done by these programs. Contact me if you need help. If you were using these programs on a regular basis to modify the data files, please let me know why. I may be able to add similar capabilities to SCBA Trak. Page 35 RUNNING SCBA TRAK FROM MICROSOFT WINDOWS ---------------------------------------- Because of its protected mode technology, SCBA Trak will run nicely inside Windows. It's best to set it up to run from an icon and I've supplied one for that purpose. Make sure you have the icon File/Properties set up correctly. At a minimum, it should read this way. I'm assuming the program is on drive C and installed into the \SCBATRAK directory, and you're using Program Manager. Open the program group where you want the SCBA Trak icon located. Click on "File" Click on "New" Description SCBA Trak Command Line SCBATRAK.EXE Working Directory C:\SCBATRAK <-- THIS LINE IS IMPORTANT!!! (It's needed so the program To set up the icon itself: can find the data files) -------------------------- Click on "Change Icon" Click on "OK" Click on "Browse" Click on "C:\" at the top of the directory tree Find the directory \SCBATRAK in the tree and double click on it In the left window, you'll see SCBATRAK.EXE and SCBATRAK.ICO Double click on SCBATRAK.ICO Click on OK in the "Change Icon" window Click on OK in the "Program Item Properties" window For maximum compatibility with Windows, SCBA Trak requests any memory it needs from Windows. Windows then grants the request, allocating the memory from either the "real" memory or from its swap file. Certain functions, like reindexing, require a lot of memory. If you're experiencing "out of memory" or "1309" errors, you need to increase the size of the Windows swap file. I've found a permanent swap file setting of 8000 kilobytes is usually sufficient. The swap file size is changed from the MAIN icon/ CONTROL PANEL icon/386 ENHANCED icon/VIRTUAL MEMORY button. And you're all set up ! Page 36 REGISTRATION ------------ This program is "user-supported" software, a.k.a. shareware. That means I will strive to continue to improve it and offer it as long as I know people out there are using it and supporting my efforts. So, folks, please take the time to evaluate the program and offer any suggestions or criticisms. In this way, we both can profit. To print out the registration form, press the P key when the "commercial" screen is being displayed, when the program first starts up. If you have a registered version, you can print an order form from the main menu by using the key combination Alt+O ("O" for "order") I would appreciate a check sent with the registration. If you're a corporate or government user and must use a purchase order, that's fine. I'll invoice you when I send the disk. Personal checks are OK also; if you were going to "stiff" me, you wouldn't bounce a check, you just wouldn't register. If you're registering from outside the U.S.A., PLEASE use postal money orders or have the funds drawn on a US bank. The US banks charge a $ 20.00 fee if I try to deposit a foreign money order, EuroCheque, etc. to "process" it through their currency exchange departments. AUTOMATIC UPGRADE PLAN FOR REGISTERED USERS ------------------------------------------- To help keep my users up to date, I offer an automatic upgrade plan. For a fee of $25.00 (US) per year, I will mail you a disk with the latest version or interim bug fix release as soon as it becomes available. The disk will contain the an upgrade version which can be used to upgrade any and all copies you may have. Now you won't have to wonder if you have the latest version because you'll always have it! Page 37 * * ORDER FORM FOR REGISTRATION OF SCBA Trak v2.50 * * ======================================================================= Registration fee: First license: $ 35.00 Each additional license: $ 15.00 One year automatic upgrade plan : $ 25.00 (All bug fixes & any new versions mailed directly to you as soon as they're released) Shipping & handling: USA and Canada, per license: $ 5.00 All other countries, per license: $ 10.00 ------- TOTAL THIS ORDER: Please note that all prices are in US dollars. If non-U.S., PLEASE use a check drawn on a US bank, or add $20.00 US to cover bank charges. ======================================================================= Department/Company:____________________________________________________ Contact Title & Name:__________________________________________________ Mailing address: ______________________________________________________ City, state, zip: _____________________________________________________ Phone: ____________________ Fax: ___________________Date: ____________ E-Mail service & address (if any): ____________________________________ ======================================================================= Name EXACTLY as it is to appear on the menu and printed report headers. PLEASE type or print clearly ! SCBA & PASS Records For The ___________________________________________ (40 characters maximum, including spaces) (You can use both capitalized and uncapitalized letters. Printed report headers will show in all capitalized letters. The "The" is optional.) ======================================================================= Disk size (check one) 3 1/2" 1.44MB HD-[ ] 5 1/4" 1.2MB HD-[ ] (If you do not specify a disk size, a 3 1/2" 1.44MB disk will be sent.) ======================================================================= How did you receive a copy of this program? If from a bulletin board, which one & number? This info will be used to post new versions. _______________________________________________________________________ Any great likes, dislikes, "wish it had . . ." or other comments? _______________________________________________________________________ Thank you for registering. Please see the section titled REGISTRATION in the instructions file MANUAL.DOC if you need more information. Please mail to: (RAP:ORFRM) Raymond A.J. Pesek Voice/FAX: 216.225.0248 4706 Cottonwood Lane INTERNET: 72270.650@compuserve.com Brunswick, OH 44212-2412