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Sitting Duck Software PO Box 130 Veneta, OR 97487 (503)935-3982 (c) 1992 ALL RIGHT RESERVED ___________________________________________________________________________ The Disk Catalog Development System is designed for creating disk based catalogs. The example catalog is done as a shareware catalog but it could just as well be any kind of listing, such as: - The video tapes in the library of a rental store. - A hard to find record/book dealers inventory listing. - Suppliers parts listings. - Resource directory. - Health care products catalog. - Inter-departmental resource directory. - Computer supplies catalog. - Price lists. One company is using it for a national WANTED/FOR SALE list of used audio equipment. Also in development is THE SPEAKER BUILDING HOBBIEST RESOURCE DISK, which uses a modified version of CATALOG.EXE in order to display frequency response curves in graphics mode. Any business offering products or services might well benefit from a disc based catalog. A well done disc catalog would be impressive and budget-wise for a small start-up company whose customers are likely to have computers. Enterprising individuals could solicit selected local businesses and charge a fee for creating a catalog for them. The yellow pages are overflowing with possibilities and that's just for starters. Perhaps your employer is a good candidate. And.....NO PROGRAMMING, NO CODING! +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ | This version of CATALOG.EXE provides a menu which displays the | | numerical value of the menu choice as BLINKING rather than steady.| | The BLINKING number indicates an UNREGISTERED program. Although | | you may pass copies of this disc to others, you do not want to | | commercially distribute this version of CATALOG.EXE | +-------------------------------------------------------------------+ Please use the REGISTRATION FORM at the end of this document. THE FILES ON YOUR DISKETTES --------------------------- After decompressing, if necessary, the file which you downloaded from a BB system, you will have the following files: WRITEME .EXE The document editor for your use. MASTER .RMC A program file which is used when WriteMe makes a README.COM file. CATALOG .EXE The program which presents your catalog. REDOINDX.EXE The program which reformats your ASCII index file into an index file for CATALOG.EXE to load. MANUAL .DOC The progam documentation. *.CMP The compressed files containing the catalog pages. MAINSCRN.CMP The file containing the main menu screen. MENULIST.TXT Information for the menuing system. INDEX .FMT The index file for the example. MACHINE REQUIREMENTS -------------------- Any PC compatible running MSDOS, 640K RAM, a HARD drive, a COLOR monitor and DOS 3.xx +---------------------------------------------------------+ | A COLOR monitor is required to use WRITEME.EXE. | | Do NOT attempt to run WRITEME on a monochrome monitor. | +---------------------------------------------------------+ SETTING UP THE FILES AND DIRECTORIES ------------------------------------ Make a directory on your hard drive to hold The Disk Catalog Development System and associated files. Assuming that the directory name is SDCATDEV, copy into that directory the following files: CATALOG .EXE REDOINDX.EXE INDEX .FMT Create a sub-directory in SDCATDEV named CATFILES. No name other than CATFILES is permissible. Copy into CATFILES, the following files: WRITEME .EXE MASTER .RMC *.CMP MENULIST.TXT Some of these files may eventually be deleted. Others will be modified by you in constructing your own catalog. If there is not one, set a PATH to a text editor capable of saving in ASCII. Unload any TSRs which might be invoked by the keypress used in The WriteMe System. These keypresses are described in the next section of the manual. Change directories so you are in CATFILES. Learn how to use The WriteMe System described on the next 11 pages of this manual. After you have learned about The WriteMe System, you can begin creating your own catalog as described on the page following the color chart. OVERVIEW -------- The Disk Catalog Development System consists of two main parts; the program WRITEME.EXE for writing and compressing your catalog pages and the program CATALOG.EXE for displaying your finished catalog. In addition, you will need a text editor which can save in a pure ASCII format. You will be writing two ASCII files; an INDEX for your catalog and a description file which will contain the category titles for your scrolling menu. The description file will also contain the names of the files to be displayed for each of the menu selections. While in the directory SDCATDEV type in CATALOG to look at the example catalog provided. Become familiar with the operation of the menuing system, the layout of the main menuing screen, the index and the files which are decompressed and displayed when menu selections are made. The sample catalog lists about 1000 shareware programs and there is plenty of space remaining on the disc. Depending on how much space you use to describe your offerings, there is room for between, approximately, 250 and 2500 items per 360K diskette. Note the following important points about the MENU: The first menu selection contains instructions on how to use the catalog. When you create your own catalog, you may want to use a copy of this file and modify it to suit your particular needs. The name of this file is, HTU.CMP. The second menu selection may be a separator line. This is by- passed by the program if it is a separator line. The menu selections up to the next separator line are for your own use. Your will determine how many there will be, what they will say and what color they will be. The information for these menu choices must be in a file named MENULIST.TXT in the sub- directory CATFILES. You will create this file with your text editor. You must have a least TWO menu choices between the sep- arators and may have 1000's if needed. The second separator, if it exists, will be bypassed by the program. The next to last menu selection is for the file in which you may present an order blank, if you wish. The name of this file is ORD.CMP. The last menu choice is to provide an exit to DOS. The entire screen on which the menuing system box resides, MUST be in a file named MAINSCRN.CMP. You will be designing this screen with The WriteMe System and will want your own name, address, phone and any other text you wish to show. The series of dots are good places for additional text but you may design the screen as you wish. Note the following important points about the catalog PAGES: Selecting a menu choice, which is considered a CATEGORY in the example, will decompress the appropriate file and display it. This file, which you design with The WriteMe System, is fully scrollable and pageable. The file may also be sent to the printer. Special provisions are made for selecting items from the file and sending the data to a printer. Select the HOW TO USE THIS CATALOG menu choice and view this file. You will be rewriting a copy of this file and placing information in it which is appropriate to your catalog. The files tells your own customers, and you, how the catalog works. Note the following important points about the INDEX: The index is fully scrollable and pageable. The index may be sent to the printer. The index is cyclic; when you scroll or page past the end, you go to the beginning. Pressing a letter or number key will place the first line of the index whose first character is the same as the key you pressed, at the top of the screen. The user may set the index display colors to one of many pre-selected choices. Put your printer on line and use the catalog as if you were a prospective customer of the ApplePie Shareware company. Using the sample catalog will help you to create your own. Intelligently used and with files properly designed, your catalog will be easy to maintain. Hard copies can be sufficiently attractive that, in many cases, HARDCOPY.EXE (supplied upon registration) can provide you with the masters for printing paper catalogs. The WriteMe System was designed to produce two types of files. README.COM files and compressed document files. The WriteMe System is a full color text editor with capabilities for quick and easy box drawing, block operations and coloring. You will use WriteMe to generate the .CMP files which will be decompressed and displayed by CATALOG.EXE. Each catalog file may consist of up to 192 lines of text and will represent one CATALOG.EXE menu choice. With some exceptions, most keys on your keyboard will perform as might be expected with any text editor. Run WRITEME.EXE now. You are presented with a screen which will be the beginning of a learning file which you can write. Read the rest of this manual section and become familiar with every feature of The WriteMe System. PRACTICE! FAMILIAR KEY STROKES -------------------- Insert Engages Insert mode if you are currently in Overstrike. Engages Overstrike mode if you are currently in Insert. Unlike other text editors, characters pushed off the page when in Insert mode are lost. Delete Deletes the character under the cursor and moves the following text, on the current line, one position to the left. Home Moves the cursor to the first column. End Moves the cursor to the end of the line of text. Ctrl + Home Moves the cursor to the beginning of the document. PageUp Displays the previous 24 lines of the document. PageDown Displays the next 24 lines of the document. TAB In Insert mode, pushes text under and following the cursor 5 space to the right. Any characters which fall off the page are lost. The cursor moves 5 spaces to the right. In the Overstrike mode, moves the cursor 5 spaces to the write. Cursor keys Moves the cursor within the document, with vertical scrolling when appropriate. Back Space When not at column 1, Deletes the character preceding the cursor, moves one position to the left and moves the following text one position to the left. When in Column 1 and the previous line is EMPTY; moves the current line up one line. When in Column 1 and the previous line is NOT EMPTY; appends the current line to the tail of the previous line. If there is no room on the previous line for the first word of the current line, no action will take place. Back spacing will process characters following the cursor until a colon, period, exclamation point or question mark is encountered. ENTER Inserts a blank line below the current line and moves the text under and following the cursor down to the newly created line. The last line of the document is lost when pressing ENTER. Keep several empty lines at the end of the document to prevent text loss. There are a number of special keystrokes unique to the WRITEME program. Press <F1> while in the program to review the keystrokes. The following information pertains to the special keystrokes recognized by WRITEME. Where a + appears in the keystroke, it means you press the key for the character following the + while holding down the key preceeding the +. KEY STROKES WHICH RELATE TO COLOR --------------------------------- Alt + C Color select. Presents a moving arrow which you move with the cursor keys and point to the color you wish to be the Current Color. Press enter to establish the Current Color. All characters typed will be displayed in the current color. Some color selections are not allowed. A panel at the screen bottom displays a variety of characters so you can see what they will look like in the various colors. <F3> Each time you select a new color, it is added to a list of colors previously selected during the editing session. You may scroll through this list, stoping on the color you wish to become the Current Color. Shift + CursorRight or CursorLeft Paints the character under the cursor the Current Color. This key is useful when you wish to recolor a few words of text. Alt + E Paints the entire current line with the Current Color. Alt + = Paints the entire document the Current Color. This is primarily for setting the forground and background colors in a new document. Alt + - Changes all instances of the color at the current cursor location to the Current Color. Applies only to the portion of the document displayed on the screen. Alt + 1 to Paints from column to column + # -1, from Row to the end Alt + 9 of the document in the Current Color. Useful for painting entire columns from 1 to 9 characters wide. Alt + B [toggle] Sets blinking/non-blinking foreground mode. All future characters typed will be in the Current Color, but in the mode set. <F5> [toggle] Turns color assumption ON/OFF. If ON, the Current Color will automatically assume the color of the character under the cursor regardless of what that color may be. If the cursor is moved the Current Color will become the color of the character at the new cursor location. KEY STROKES WHICH RELATE TO TEXT -------------------------------- Control + D Delete current line, move text up. Alt + U Capitalizes from the cursor to the end of the WORD. Alt + F Places "End Of Document" at the current line. Alt + T Takes the text on the current line and centers it. Alt + R Removes all leading spaces from a line and left justifies the text. Shift + Delete Clears the screen from the cursor to the end of the line in the Current Color. Control + R Repeats the last character typed in. Continue holding R if you wish many repeated characters. This is handy for drawing horizontal lines. You must be in Overstrike mode. Shift + Alt + D Erases the entire document from the current row to the end in the current color. OTHER KEY STROKES ----------------- Alt + K Blacks out the screen. Any keypress restores it to normal. Alt + P Engages and disengages the box protect mode which disallows certain keystrokes when the cursor is on a box character or within a box. When Box Protection is engaged, a small box appears to the left of the <F1> Help prompt in the lower right of the screen. Alt + A Displays a chart of the extended ASCII characters which you may use in your document. The chart is reproduced in the rear of the manual. To enter an extended ASCII character, such as ½, hold down the Alt key and enter the number of the character desired on the NUMERIC KEYPAD on the right side of your keyboard. For example, to enter ½, hold down Alt and press 1 then 7 then 1 and release the Alt key. You may not use this process to enter a character below 32 except for the Form Feed character 12. ASCII characters above 223 are not allowed BOX DRAWING ----------- Alt + L Activates the box drawing and painting features. You are presented with a small default box. The following key- strokes now apply: Cursor Moves the top and left side of the box. Shift + Cursor Moves the bottom and right side of the box. K Cycles through the box border types. Stop at the one you wish to use. Alt + C Selects box border color. P Paints area defined by box sides to that color selected for the border. B Re-establishes the box mode. F Fills area defined by box sides with spaces. S Adds a shadow. ENTER Accepts the layout and makes it permanent. P, B, F & S keystrokes will not become permanent unless ENTER is pressed afterward. <ESC> Exits drawing/painting procedure and returns to the main editor. BLOCK OPERATIONS ---------------- Alt + M Activates the block marking procedure. During the block marking procedure, blinking characters will temporarily change color as a consequence of the colors chosen to mark blocks. Blinking colors will be properly restored upon exiting the procedure. The following keys apply to the block marking procedure: S Marks the beginning of the block that is to be deleted, copied or moved. E Marks the end of the block that is to be deleted, copied or moved. C Captures but does not delete block. Shift + C Captures and deletes the block. D Deletes but does not capture the block. P Places captured block with the upper left corner at the current cursor position. <ESC> Exits block procedure. Box drawing, painting and block procedures are limited to the displayed portion of the document. THE FORM FEED CHARACTER ----------------------- You may want to place the form feed character in your documents. The form feed is the only character below ASCII 32 that you allowed to enter by holding down the ALT key and typing in the number on the numeric keypad. The form feed character is 12. You may make the form feed invisible by selecting a color where the foreground and background are the same but you will have to temporarily re-color the document to find it again. THE MENU -------- <F10> Activate the file menu. You may perform the following by highlighting the procedure and pressing enter. 1> Removes the current file from memory to begin writing a new file. Save your current file first. 2> Loads a previously written and compressed file. Only files with a .CMP extension will be presented for menu selection. Save your current file first. 3> Loads an ASCII text file for conversion to a compressed file. Only files with a .DOC extension will be presented for menu selection. An ASCII text file is characterized by a CR LF at the end of each line. Lines may not contain more than 80 characters. The loadable file size is limited to 190 lines. All characters ABOVE ASCII 223 will be replaced with a ASCII character 223. 4> Saves the currently loaded file as a compressed file. 5> Saves the currently loaded file as an ASCII text file. If you want the file properly viewable by the DOS Type command, do not put characters in the 80th column. 6> Makes a README.COM file by appending the compressed document to a copy of the MASTER.RMC file. 7> Sends the currently loaded file to printer port 1. 8> Shells to DOS 9> Exits WRITEME. EXAMPLE, CREATING A BOX ----------------------- Box drawing is confined to the area of your document which is currently on the screen. 1. Scroll the document so that the area you wish to enbox is approximately in the center of the screen. 2. Press Alt + L to establish the box/painting mode. 3. Use the Cursor and Shift + Cursor keys until the box is the desired size and shape and at the desired location. 4. Press Alt + C to select the color of the box. 5. Press K until you get the box style you wish. 6. If you wish to paint the box contents, press P to establish the painting mode, press <ENTER> to capture the paint job and press B to re-establish the box mode. If you wanted to paint ONLY, you would now press <ESC> to return to the main editor. 7. If you wish to have a shadow, press S. 8. Press <ENTER> to capture the box. 9. Press <ESC> to return to the main editor. You can make boxes larger than that which will fit on one screen by making two boxes, one below the other, changing the characters at the joints to the appropriate ASCII value and then removing the horizontal lines that divide the box. EXAMPLE, BLOCK OPERATION ------------------------ Block Capturing and Deleting is confined to the area of your document which is currently on the screen. You may, however, Put a captured block anywhere in your document. 1. Scroll the document so that the block to be defined is approximately in the center of the screen. 2. Press Alt + M to establish block operations. 3. Move the cursor to the upper left corner of the block you wish to define, press S to mark the beginning, move the cursor to the lower right corner of the block and press E. The entire block will be highlit. 4. To CAPTURE but NOT DELETE the block, press C. 5. To CAPTURE & DELETE the block, press Shift + C. 6. To DELETE but NOT CAPTURE the block press D. 7. To put the captured block on the same screen, move the cursor to the upper left corner of where you would like the block and press P. If the block will not fit, nothing will happen. 8. To put the captured block in a different area of your document, press <ESC>, scroll to new area, press Alt + M, locate the cursor and press P. 9. Press <ESC> to return to the main editor. COMPRESSED DOCUMENTS -------------------- Compressed files are often shorter than an equivalent monochrome ASCII text only file. At the very least you get the benefit of color with no increase in file size. Due to the nature of the compression algorithm used you cannot have more than 230 consecutive characters which are the same or more than 230 consecutive spaces in your document. If you require 3 or 4 blank lines in your document, you should break up the space with a - or other character which seems suitable. README.COM files ---------------- README.COM files have a COPY of the document reader (MASTER.RMC) and the compressed document combined into a single file. You cannot rename README.COM to anything else. MASTER.RMC, which is really an .EXE file, has been compressed with the LZE compression routine. Your document, which has also been compressed, with our own compression algorithm, is attached to the tail of MASTER.RMC. We doubt that any of the other compression or archiving utilities can make your README.COM file any smaller but, you are welcome to try. Make sure, however, that after decompression README.COM will run properly. As a general rule, README.COM files will be about 4000 bytes larger than an equivalent ASCII text only file. ENDS OF DOCUMENTS ----------------- The end of your document will be the last CHARACTER in the document. Blank spaces following the last character, regardless of color, will not be saved. You should, therefore, plan on having the last document line on a black background. USING YOUR OWN EDITOR --------------------- You may prefer to author your files with your own text editor. Save your work in ASCII format, without margins as a file with a .DOC extension. Use WriteMe for colorizing, enboxing and final adjustments. THE 80th COLUMN --------------- For your catalog .CMP files, do not put text in the 80th column. The "{" which is used as a line pointer when scrolling throught the files occupies that position. ASCII chart 12 FormFeed 32 33 ! 34 " 35 # 36 $ 37 % 38 & 39 ' 40 ( 41 ) 42 * 43 + 44 , 45 - 46 . 47 / 48 0 49 1 50 2 51 3 52 4 53 5 54 6 55 7 56 8 57 9 58 : 59 ; 60 < 61 = 62 > 63 ? 64 @ 65 A 66 B 67 C 68 D 69 E 70 F 71 G 72 H 73 I 74 J 75 K 76 L 77 M 78 N 79 O 80 P 81 Q 82 R 83 S 84 T 85 U 86 V 87 W 88 X 89 Y 90 Z 91 [ 92 \ 93 ] 94 ^ 95 _ 96 ` 97 a 98 b 99 c 100 d 101 e 102 f 103 g 104 h 105 i 106 j 107 k 108 l 109 m 110 n 111 o 112 p 113 q 114 r 115 s 116 t 117 u 118 v 119 w 120 x 121 y 122 z 123 { 124 | 125 } 126 ~ 127 128 Ç 129 ü 130 é 131 â 132 ä 133 à 134 å 135 ç 136 ê 137 ë 138 è 139 ï 140 î 141 ì 142 Ä 143 Å 144 É 145 æ 146 Æ 147 ô 148 ö 149 ò 150 û 151 ù 152 ÿ 153 Ö 154 Ü 155 ¢ 156 £ 157 ¥ 158 ₧ 159 ƒ 160 á 161 í 162 ó 163 ú 164 ñ 165 Ñ 166 ª 167 º 168 ¿ 169 ⌐ 170 ¬ 171 ½ 172 ¼ 173 ¡ 174 « 175 » 176 ░ 177 ▒ 178 ▓ 179 │ 180 ┤ 181 ╡ 182 ╢ 183 ╖ 184 ╕ 185 ╣ 186 ║ 187 ╗ 188 ╝ 189 ╜ 190 ╛ 191 ┐ 192 └ 193 ┴ 194 ┬ 195 ├ 196 - 197 ┼ 198 ╞ 199 ╟ 200 ╚ 201 ╔ 202 ╩ 203 ╦ 204 ╠ 205 ═ 206 ╬ 207 ╧ 208 ╨ 209 ╤ 210 ╥ 211 ╙ 212 ╘ 213 ╒ 214 ╓ 215 ╫ 216 ╪ 217 ┘ 218 ┌ 219 █ 220 ▄ 221 ▌ 222 ▐ 223 ▀ Characters above 223 are not available for use with The WriteMe System. NOTE: If your printer is not set up to handle ASCII characters above 127, the above chart does not show the correct characters for numbers greater than 127. COLOR chart NORMAL ------------------------- Background ---------------------- Black Blue Green Cyan Red Magenta Brown White Foreground Black 0 16 32 48 64 80 96 112 Blue 1 17 33 49 65 81 97 113 Green 2 18 34 50 66 82 98 114 Cyan 3 19 35 51 67 83 99 115 Red 4 20 36 52 68 84 100 116 Magenta 5 21 37 53 69 85 101 117 Brown 6 22 38 54 70 86 102 118 White 7 23 39 55 71 87 103 119 Gray 8 24 40 56 72 88 104 120 Bright Blue 9 25 41 57 73 89 105 121 Bright Green 10 26 42 58 74 90 105 122 Bright Cyan 11 27 43 59 75 91 107 123 Bright Red 12 28 44 60 76 92 108 124 Bright Magenta 13 29 45 61 77 93 109 125 Bright Brown 14 30 46 62 78 94 110 126 Bright White 15 31 47 63 79 95 111 127 BLINKING/HIGH INTENSITY ------------------------- Background ---------------------- Black Blue Green Cyan Red Magenta Brown White Foreground Black 128 144 160 176 192 208 224 240 Blue 129 145 161 177 193 209 225 241 Green 130 146 162 178 194 210 226 242 Cyan 131 147 163 179 195 211 227 243 Red 132 148 164 180 196 212 228 244 Magenta 133 149 165 181 197 213 229 245 Brown 134 150 166 182 198 214 230 246 White 135 151 167 183 199 215 231 247 Gray 136 152 168 184 200 216 232 248 Bright Blue 137 153 169 185 201 217 233 249 Bright Green 138 154 170 186 202 218 234 250 Bright Cyan 139 155 171 187 203 219 235 251 Bright Red 140 156 172 188 204 220 236 252 Bright Magenta 141 157 173 189 205 221 237 253 Bright Brown 142 158 174 190 206 222 238 254 Bright White 143 159 174 191 207 223 239 255 BEGINNING YOUR CATALOG ---------------------- THE MAIN SCREEN FILE Now that you are familiar with WriteMe, you can start modifying the file which will become YOUR main menu screen. This file must ALWAYS be named MAINSCRN.CMP. Load MAINSCRN.CMP into WriteMe. The box in the upper left is for the menu. Do not change the size of this box. The remainder of the screen may be used as you see fit. Recolor it if you wish and change the text to that which you would like to see on the main screen of your catalog. When you are done, SAVE it and exit WriteMe. Move into the SDCATDEV directory and run CATALOG to verify that the main screen is now the way you wish. Note that CATALOG.EXE expects ALL .CMP files to be in the subdirectory named CATFILES. Exit the catalog and return to the CATFILES sub-directory where CATALOG.EXE expects to find the MENULIST.TXT file. THE MENULIST.TXT FILE The MENULIST.TXT file will contain a list of the menu choices and the names of the files that the selection of each choice will display. The file can contain NO blank lines. Write the MENULIST file with a text editor that can save in ASCII. The text must be flush left, no margins. Print out the current MENULIST file for your reference. Note that each of the menu choices is preceded by a letter followed by a space. This letter determines the COLOR of that menu choice. In the example, the letter O precedes HOW TO USE THIS CATALOG. The letter O is ASCII character 79. 79 is a code for Bright White on Red. The ASCII and color code charts at the end of the previous section will tell you what ASCII characters to use for your color choices. These letter codes will not be displayed in the menu. The 1st line in the file MUST contain the number of menu choices that you want to make available. The 2nd line MUST refer to a menu choice. It does not have to be called HOW TO USE THIS CATALOG nor does the associated file have to contain information on using the catalog. The 3rd line may be EITHER a non-selectable divider composed of the ASCII character 196 or it may be a menu choice. If you use it as a divider you MUST use character 196. The NEXT to the LAST line MUST provide the RETURN TO DOS choice. The 4th line from the last may be EITHER another non-selectable divider or a menu choice. You may not have a non-selectable menu choice in any other locations. You may have as many menu choices as you like, remembering that you must author a catalog file for each one. Each line containing a menu choice may be up to 43 characters long, BUT NO MORE. Following the line that provides the RETURN TO DOS choice, type the name of the file you wish decompressed and displayed when menu choice 1 is picked. Do NOT add the .CMP extension as the program does that automatically. Since, in the example, the 2nd menu choice is a non-selectable divider, you would type in any character that reminds you that NO file is associated with this choice. We chose to use dashes. Each on a separate line, type the names of the other files that correspond to the remaining menu choices, again using any character as a place holder for a non-selectable divider. For the line corresponding to the RETURN TO DOS menu choice, you may optionally use an asterisk (*) to disable the "sending the catalog line to the printer" feature. The figure below illustrates the 1 to 1 correspondence that must be maintained between the menu choices and the files they point to. 11 { No of items* +--- O HOW TO USE { Choice 1 +-|--- P -------------- { Non-selectable +-|-|--- O RECEIVERS { Choice 2 +-|-|-|--- R AMPLIFIERS { Choice 3 +-|-|-|-|--- D TURNTABLES { Choice 4 +-|-|-|-|-|--- O CASSETTE DECKS { Choice 5 | | | | | | R SPEAKERS --+ { Choice 6 | | | | | | D ACCESSORIES --|-+ { Choice 7 | | | | | | P -------------- --|-|-+ { Non-selectable | | | | | | G ORDER BLANK --|-|-|-+ { Choice 8 | | | | | | O RETURN TO DOS --|-|-|-|-+ { Choice 9 | | | | | +--- HTU | | | | | { File for Choice 1 | | | | +----- --- | | | | | { No file | | | +------- REC | | | | | { File for Choice 2 | | +--------- AMP | | | | | { File for Choice 3 | +----------- TUR | | | | | { File for Choice 4 +------------- CAS | | | | | { File for Choice 5 SPK ---------------+ | | | | { File for Choice 6 ACC -----------------+ | | | { File for Choice 7 --- -------------------+ | | { No file ORD ---------------------+ | { File for Choice 8* --- -----------------------+ { --- or * Apple Pie Shareware { 19 chars or MENU* *Several options are provided for by these lines: 1. If line 2, corresponding to Choice 1, relates to a file designed for instructing the user how to use the catalog AND the file cor- responding to it is named HTU (upper case) the the "{", associated prompts and the opportunity to send single lines to the printer with the <TAB> key is defeated for this file. 2. If the 3rd from the last line, (corresponding to Choice 8 in this example) relates to a file with an order blank AND the file cor- responding to it is named ORD (upper case) then the "{", associated prompts and the opportunity to send single lines to the printer with the <TAB> key is defeated for this file. 3. If the NEXT to LAST line, which is the RETURN TO DOS choice, is a single asterisk (*) the the "{", associated prompts and the opportunity to send single lines to the printer with the <TAB> key is defeated for ALL files. 4. For the LAST line in the file, you MUST type in either MENU or up to 19 characters to entitle the menu bars at the screen bottoms, perhaps with your company name. THE INDEX FILE -------------- You create an index file named INDEX.TXT with your text editor. Save in ASCII with no margins. Your index can look any way you wish. In order to take advantage of the feature in CATALOG.EXE which places the first listing, corresponding to the letter pressed, on the first line, you should alphabetize the index and make sure the first letter of each item is flush left in the file. Blank lines in your index file will be replaced with a divider composed of ASCII character 196. If you need a blank line that is not replaced by a divider, you may put a single ASCII character 255 in it. Each line in the index MUST be no longer than 77 characters. Currently, the INDEX is limited to 925 lines. If you need a larger index contact us and we can increase the capacity. After you have made your index file INDEX.TXT with your text editor, run REDOINDX.EXE. This small program processes your index file, removing all LF and CR codes from the file, allowing CATALOG.EXE to load it much faster that otherwise possible. REDOINDX.EXE creates a file named INDEX.FMT which is the only index file which needs to be on the catalog distribution diskette. THE .CMP FILES -------------- Each .CMP file will contain text describing your products or services. You will probably be modifying these files from time to time with WriteMe and assigning identifiable file names will be of great help in determining which contains what. A file name of CLASSICS.CMP is easier to identify as the file containing your selection of classic video tapes for rent than it would be if it were named A.CMP As previously mentioned, you can lay out these files any way you choose. If you have many, many offerings you may want to give each item only a single line description. In other cases, a full screen description with several decorative boxes might be in order. In either case, maintenance and color- ization will be easier if you adhere to certain formats. AVOID ENBOXING AREAS THAT WILL BE MODIFIED FREQUENTLY. Although it may look nice, typing inside boxes will be more time consuming. If the box protect toggle is ON, you will lose the use of some key strokes. If OFF, using the backspace, insert mode or enter key may disrupt the box more often than you would care to deal with. ALIGN ITEMS THAT YOU WANT TO ASSIGN A COMMON COLOR TO. In the example shareware catalog, the catalog numbers are aligned so the alphabetic characters can be easily painted a different color than the numerics. MAKE THE FILE EASY TO READ. Being generous with white space and keeping like descriptions aligned will make it easier on the reader. USE COLOR SPARINGLY & INTELLIGENTLY. Files containing many color com- binations will be distracting and hard to read. Equally distracting are large blocks of blinking text. When setting colors, use the panel at the bottom of the screen to judge color combinations that are readable. A red background containing bright red text is not a good combination. Keep in mind that everyone has the contrast and brightness controls on their monitor set differently. Re-adjust your monitor occasionally to ensure that your color selections are readable over a wide range of adjustment. SENDING .CMP FILE LINES TO THE PRINTER -------------------------------------- Pressing the TAB key will send the text on the line with the brace "{" to the printer ONLY IF the 77th column position is occupied by a character other than ASCII character 196 which would be commonly used as a divider. The line to be sent to the printer would, most often, contain a short description of the item and the catalog number and/or price. When the TAB key is pressed AND the 77th column in occupied AND it is the FIRST time the TAB is pressed for the current viewing of the file, a line is first printed which contains: 1. The text of the menu choice which led to the file being viewed. 2. The name of the file being viewed. 3. The current date. Subsequent TAB presses while viewing the same file will not send this extra data line to the printer. If the user leaves the file and returns to it later, the line containing the file data will again be printed one time. SENDING THE ENTIRE FILE TO THE PRINTER If the user presses <F5>, the entire file is sent to the printer. Placing form feed characters in the correct place within the file will give you control over how the file is paginated. Keep the 80th column of the file free of characters to ensure that extra line feeds are not sent to the printer. YOUR DISTRIBUTION DISKETTE -------------------------- In order to function properly, the catalog which you distribute must be set up as follows: The ROOT directory MUST contain CATALOG.EXE and INDEX.FMT The sub-directory CATFILES MUST contain all the .CMP files as well as the MENULIST.TXT file. You may also include in the ROOT, any README.COM files which you generate. ZIPPING, ARCING, etc. --------------------- CATALOG.EXE is already compressed with LZE. Each of the .CMP files is already compressed with our own algorithm. Trying to compress your catalog further, as a self-extracting file, will only serve to consume MORE disc space. You may gain some disc space by creating non-self-extracting .ZIP or .ARC files since the index will get compressed. It will be up to you to make sure that the files properly decompress. USE WITH MONOCHROME MONITORS ---------------------------- Your catalog will properly display on any monochrome monitor if the user inputs N when asked if they have a color monitor. USE WITH MACHINES HAVING LITTLE AVAILABLE MEMORY ------------------------------------------------ When your catalog is run on machines with less than 500K of available, standard memory, the index file will not load. REGISTRATION FORM FOR THE DISK CATALOG DEVELOPMENT SYSTEM Name____________________________________________________________________ Company_________________________________________________________________ Address_________________________________________________________________ City________________________________________ State_____ Zip_____________ _____Registering v3.0U ____5 1/4" ____3 1/2" $ 35.00 This version is for personal use, further evaluation or catalog preparation contracting. You may not distribute any files or perform a site installation. If you are preparing a catalog for another party, THEY must obtain a distribution or site license. This version is upgradeable to v3.0L at any time for $125.00 _____Registering v3.0L ____5 1/4" ____3 1/2" $150.00 This version is fully licensed for distribution to describe YOUR offerings and/or installation at YOUR site. If you use this version to prepare a catalog for another party, THEY must obtain a distribution or site license. Registration includes the latest version of each file, printed manual and support. For v3.0U only, add: $ 8 for overseas air shipment $10 for UPS air shipment to U.S. Sorry, we cannot accept credit card orders, purchase orders or checks drawn on other than U.S. banks. REMIT TO: Sitting Duck Software PO Box 130 Veneta, OR 97487