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TUTORIAL.DOC
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1991-02-25
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Tutorial for the ARROW Database System
You can get off to a quick start by following the tutorial section
and utilizing the SAMPLE DATABASE file that is included as a part
of the ARROW program. As an example for instructional purposes, this
sample database has been setup to record the registration of
participants in a meeting. This will give you an overview of the
many features and potential uses of the ARROW Database. You can,
then, set up the basic Entries in your own database such as:
First Name, Company, Address, etc., and the other special
features of the three data Categories and the page of Notes can
be added later.
Utilizing the tutorial, lets start by working with the SAMPLE DATABASE.
PART 1 - OPENING AND VIEWING A DATABASE
We first need to start ARROW so:
==>Type ARROW and press the Enter (or Return) key at the DOS prompt.
ARROW's main screen will appear with the MASTER MENU BAR
displayed across the top of the screen. It contains four pull-down
menus.
The DATABASE pull-down menu is in the upper left hand corner of the
screen. To view each of the other menus:
==>Press the Right arrow key slowly, three (3) times.
Note: You need not learn all of the features in each of these menus
before setting up your own database, but it is important that you
know how to move to the different menus and learn where the various
options are located.
==>Press the Right arrow key once more and you are back at
the DATABASE menu.
The DATABASE menu allows you to OPEN an existing database, CREATE
a new database, DELETE a database, COPY TO or COPY FROM databases,
and to EXIT a database.
OPENING A DATABASE
==>Type O or use the Up & Down arrow keys to highlight the
selection Open.
==>Press Enter (or Return) key.
An OPEN PRIMARY DATABASE window appears with the 1-SAMPLE DATABASE
title highlighted. Note that after other databases have been created,
their names will appear after the SAMPLE DATABASE title. You can
select other database titles by using the Up & Down arrow keys to
move the highlighted bar, or by typing in the number that precedes
the title and pressing Enter (or Return). If you type in the number,
it will appear in the blank spaces to the right of the word
DESCRIPTION.
To open SAMPLE DATABASE:
==>Highlight the 1- SAMPLE DATABASE title.
==>Press Enter (or Return) key.
The first entry of the SAMPLE DATABASE appears on the screen.
The name of the database appears at the top of each entry. The
bracketed number one [1] in the upper left corner indicates that
you are now working in the primary database. ( You can also work
with a seconday database at the same time, using the right side
of the screen.)
Underneath the title 1 - SAMPLE DATABASE is the ENTRY MENU BAR. It
contains four pull-down menus labeled: MODE, SEARCH, SELECT, and
OPTIONS.
==>Press the Esc key and the MODE pull-down menu appears.
To view the other 3 pull-down menus:
==>Press the Right arrow key three (3) times to view each of
the menus.
Note: Press the Up & Down arrow keys to move the highlight bar up
or down in each menu, then press Enter (or Return) key to make the
selection. Each one of the selections or options in the menus are
discussed in ARROW manual. Pressing the F1 function key will also
provide some description about the option that is highlighted.
To return to the MASTER MENU BAR.
==> Press the Esc key again.
For direct editing mode of the current database:
==>Again press the Esc key and the menus disappear.
Note: the Esc key moves you to the different menu bars and then back
to the direct edit mode. The Left & Right arrow keys move you to
different menus, and the Up & Down arrow keys move the highlight bar
in each menu.
You are now back to the first ENTRY in the Sample Database file.
Each entry contains fields for basic information such as NAME,COMPANY,
2 ADDRESS fields, CITY, STATE, and ZIP.
An OPTION field is provided for any additional information you wish.
An example would be: a person's title, a county, an area, or an
entry number.
Underneath the OPTION, two lines have been provided for BUSINESS PHONE
and HOME PHONE numbers.
The next three lines are known as CATEGORIES. Categories provide
a quick way of imputing special data when editing an entry. Each
category may contain up to 20 different fields. For more information
see Editing an Entry. Entry date displays the day the entry was
created and Print date displays the last day information from this
entry was printed on a form or label.
Highlighted at the bottow of the screen is the underbar menu which
lists several commands or actions that you can choose at anytime.
To initiate a command, just type in the capital letter of the word.
Example:
Type S to Scan the entries.
For more information on commands available in the direct edit mode:
==>Press the F1 function key.
A HELP window will be displayed with a detailed listing of commands.
==>Press any key and the HELP window will disappear.
NOTES
Now lets look at the NOTES page:
==>Press the N key.
A blank page of notes appears with the cursor blinking on the
highlighted line A. There are a total of the 20 lines. Each
line is lettered A through T on the right edge of the page.
Mathematical formulas can be added to do mathematical calculations
with numbers from different lines
==>Press Esc key to exit the NOTES page.
To look at the next entry:
==>Press the PgDn key.
The second entry appears with a page of NOTES.
SCANNING ENTRIES
To view more than one entry at a time, you can Scan the entries in
the Sample Database. To do this:
==> Press the S key.
Information for up to 17 entries is displayed, to view more entries:
==>Press the PgDn key.
The next page of entries appears. To scan the last page of entries
in the SAMPLE DATABASE.
==>Press the PgDn key again.
To return quickly to the first entry:
==>Press the Home key.
Notice that the arrows on the left and right edges of the page are
pointing to the first line.
There are 2 scan modes available, you are currently in the wide view.
To see the narrow scan view:
==>Press S again.
Only two columns are now shown on the left half of the screen. This
is useful when you are working with two databases at a time on the
same screen.
==>Press S again to return to the wide Scan mode.
To go to the last entry:
==>Press the End key.
The arrow now points to the last entry in the database. To return
to the edit mode and view all of the entry's information:
==>Press Enter (or Return) key.
EXITING ARROW
To exit the database use the EXIT option found in the DATABASE
pull-down menu on the MASTER MENU BAR.
==>Press Esc key---the MODE menu appears on the ENTRY MENU BAR.
==>Press Esc key again---the DATABASE menu on the MASTER MENU BAR
appears.
==>Press the E or the Up & Down arrow keys to highlight
the selection EXIT.
==>Press Enter (or Return) key.
End of Part 1
PART 2 - EDITING ENTRIES AND ADDING NEW ENTRIES
Open the SAMPLE DATABASE:
==>Type O or use the Up & Down arrow keys to highlight
the selection Open.
==>Press Enter (or Return) key.
An OPEN PRIMARY DATABASE window appears allowing you to select
a database.
==>Highlight 1-SAMPLE DATABASE.
==>Press Enter (or Return) key.
The first entry of SAMPLE DATABASE will then be displayed.
EDITING AN ENTRY
The EDIT mode is used to change a field or add information to an entry.
For example: To add the telephone (333) 456-7890 to
Robert Anderson's entry:
==>Press the E key.
The NAME field is highlighted with the cursor blinking on the first
space. You can type information on any line that is highlighted. To
move the highlighted bar to the BUSINESS PHONE field:
==>Press the Enter (or Return) key several times until
the BUSINESS PHONE line is highlighted.
==>Type in the telephone number 333 4567890.
Press Esc key to exit the EDIT mode.
ADDING NOTES TO AN ENTRY
Information can also be added to a page of NOTES.
For example: Mr. Anderson is President of XYZ Corporation
and you would like to type in the position title
of "President" on the first line of the NOTES page.
Press N to access NOTES.
Line A is highlighted.
==>Type President and then press Enter (or Return) key.
To exit NOTES and return to direct edit mode:
==>Press the ESC key.
MODIFY ENTRY DATE
You can change the date that the Robert Anderson entry was created.
It is shown as 02/28/90 in the ENTRY box at the bottom of the entry.
>For example: To change this to 1/15/90:
==>Press the M key.
The ENTRY box is now highlighted with the cursor on the first space.
==>Just type in the new date 01 15 90 and press Enter
(or Return) key twice.
ADDING A NEW ENTRY
To manually add a new entry to the database:
Press the A key.
A blank entry form appears with the NAME line highlighted.
For example: To add John E. Jones to the database.
==>Type in the data on each highlighted line and press Enter key.
John E. Jones
Jones and Associates
129 West Alexander
Indianapolis
==>When you reach the STATE box press the F1 function key.
A HELP screen appears with all the abbreviations of the states.
Select the state by type the abbreviation (while the HELP screen
is on).
Continue entering the following:
IN 46257
OPTION: 042
Press the Entry (or Return) key several times until the REGISTRATION
line is highlighted.
CATEGORIES
This is the first of three lines of CATEGORIES. These spaces provide
a quick way of entering pre-set data from a selection of up to 20
items in each category. Note: in Sample Database these categories
were set up to record (1) a meeting REGISTRATION, (2) the participants
INTEREST AREA, and (3) the ACTION ITEM pertaining to the various topics
of the meeting.
To view the choices in the REGISTRATION category:
Press the F1 function key.
A listing of the selections in category #1 appears on the right side
of the screen. To choose selection # 3:
Type 3 and press Enter (or Return) key.
Your selection has been automatically entered. You can change it
easily by typing in a new number. Now check the other two categories.
To change or create a new category, go to the OPTIONS pull-down menu
on the ENTRY MENU BAR and select the CATEGORIES option.
DELETE AND PURGE AN ENTRY
To DELETE an entry, first mark it for deletion, and then to remove
it from the database completely, you must PURGE it. Lets DELETE the
John E. Jones entry---the one you are now viewing.
==>Press D for DELETE from the underbar menu.
A highlight bar appears that reads, ENTRY MARKED FOR DELETION.
To PURGE all entries marked of deletion:
==>Press ESC key to go to the ENTRY MENU BAR and go to
pull-down menu Options.
==>Type P or use the Up & Down arrow keys to highlight
the selection Purge.
==>Press Enter (or Return) key.
A confirmation window will appear.
With the OK box highlighted, press the Enter (or Return) key.
Note: You can CANCEL the PURGE by typing C or using the Up & Down
arrow keys to highlight the CANCEL box and then pressing the Enter
(or Return) key.
Now close this database by:
Go to the first pull-down menu in the ENTRY MENU BAR titled Mode.
==>Press the C key or the Up & Down arrow keys to highlight
the selection CLOSE.
==>Press Enter (or Return) key.
End of Part 2
PART 3 - SORTING AND SEARCHING A DATABASE
Entires in SAMPLE DATABASE are currently sorted alphabetically
according to the last name.
For example: To open the SAMPLE DATABASE and sort by the
company name of each entry:
==>Type O or use the Up & Down arrow keys to highlight
the selection Open.
==>Press Enter (or Return) key.
An OPEN PRIMARY DATABASE window appears allowing you to select
a database.
==>Highlight 1-SAMPLE DATABASE.
==>Press Enter (or Return) key.
The first entry of SAMPLE DATABASE will then be displayed.
SORTING
Go to the OPTIONS pull-down menu.
==>Type S or use the Up & Down arrow keys to highlight
the selection Sort.
==>Press Enter (or Return) key.
The Sort window is displayed allowing you to select the desired sort
field.
==>Use the Left & Right arrow keys until the field COMPANY appears.
==>Press Enter (or Return) key.
The database will now be sorted by the contents of the database's
COMPANY field in ascending order. To revert to the NAME sort:
==>Again select SORT on the Options pull-down menu and press
the Enter (or Return) key.
The Sort window is displayed:
==>Use the Left & Right arrow keys until the field NAME appears.
==>Press Enter (or Return) key.
SEARCHING FOR AN ENTRY
You can use the SEARCH menu to find an Entry by any of the listed
selections. For example: to find Merrill D. Voss entry:
Go to the second pull-down menu in the ENTRY MENU BAR with the
title Search.
==>Type L or use the Up & Down arrow keys to highlight the
selection Last Name.
==>Press Enter (or Return) key.
When the Search window appears:
==>Type VOSS and press Enter (or Return) key.
The window will appear with the entry of Merrill D. Voss displayed
with the SELECT box highlighted.
==>Press Enter (or Return) key.
The current entry of Merrill D. Voss appears.
Now close this database by:
Go to the first pull-down menu in the ENTRY MENU BAR titled Mode.
==>Press the C key or the Up & Down arrow keys to highlight
the selection CLOSE.
==>Press the Enter (or Return) key.
End of Part 3
PART 4 - TAGGING AND PRINTING
This lesson will show you how to tag certain entries and print.
Open the SAMPLE DATABASE, to do this:
==>Type O or use the Up & Down arrow keys to highlight
the selection Open.
==>Press the Enter (or Return) key.
An OPEN PRIMARY DATABASE window appears allowing you to select a database.
==>Highlight 1-SAMPLE DATABASE.
==>Press the Enter (or Return) key.
TAGGING ENTRIES
If you want to specifically work with the entries in Indiana---you
first TAG them.
==>Press the Esc key so that the MODE menu appears.
==>Press the Right arrow key twice so that the SELECT menu appears.
==>Type S or use the Up & Down arrow keys to highlight the
selection Set tags.
==>Press the Enter (or Return) key.
A selection window appears with LAST NAME box highlighted.
==>Press the Right arrow key several times until STATE appears,
then press the Enter (or Return) key.
==>Use the Right arrow key to make the second box read,
IS EQUAL TO, then press Enter (or Return) key.
==>Type IN, the abbreviation for Indiana, in the third box
and press the Enter (or Return) key.
==>When CONFIRMATION OFF appears, press the Enter (or Return) key.
==>When the OK confirmation window appear, press Enter (or Return) key.
The entries from Indiana are TAGGED. You may need to PgDn to see them.
TABULATE
Lets count the TAGGED entries.
==>Press the Esc key---the MODE menu appears.
==>Press the Right arrow key twice and the SELECT menu is highlighted.
==>Type T or press the Up & Down arrow keys to hightlight
the TABULATE option and press Enter (or Return) key.
When the TABULATE window appears with the LAST NAME highlighted:
==>Press the Left & Right arrow keys until ALL ENTRIES appears.
==>Press Enter (or Return) key.
A window with IGNORE TAG STATUS is highlighted.
==>Press the Right arrow key to change it to ONLY WITH TAG ON.
==>Press Enter (or Return) key.
==>When the OK confirmation window appears, press the Enter
(or Return) key.
A window appears telling you the number of Entries tabulated.
Now close this database by:
Go to the first pull-down menu in the ENTRY MENU BAR titled Mode.
==>Press the C key or the Up & Down arrow keys to highlight
the selection CLOSE.
==>Press the Enter (or Return) key.
End of Part 4
PART 5 - FILTERING ENTRIES
This lesson will show you how to filter certain entries.
Open the SAMPLE DATABASE, to do this:
==>Type O or use the Up & Down arrow keys to highlight
the selection Open.
==>Press the Enter (or Return) key.
An OPEN PRIMARY DATABASE window appears allowing you to select
a database.
==>Highlight 1-SAMPLE DATABASE.
==>Press the Enter (or Return) key.
To work only with a specific group of entries, you can use the
FILTER. To illustrate filtering, lets find the entries in Indiana.
==>Press Esc key---the MODE menu appears.
==>Press the Right arrow key three (3) times so that
the Options menu appears.
==>Type F or use the Up & Down arrow keys to highlight the
selection Filter and press the Enter (or Return) key.
When the FILTER OFF window appears.
==>Press the Left & Right arrow key to change it to FILTER ON
and press the Enter (or Return) key.
==>Use the Left & Right arrow keys to change second box to STATE
and press the Enter (or Return) key.
==>Use the Left & Right arrow keys to change third box to EQUAL TO
and press the Enter (or Return) key.
==>In the fourth box type IN and press the Enter (or Return) key.
==>Use Left & Right arrow keys to change last box to
IGNORE TAG STATUS and press the Enter (or Return) key.
Go to the SCAN mode, to do this:
==>Press the S key.
There will be only six entries displayed on the on the screen, the
others have now been filtered out.
Now turn the FILTER off by:
==>Press the Esc key and use the Left & Right arrow keys
so that the Options menu appears.
==>Type F or use the Up & Down arrow keys to highlight the
selection Filter and press the Enter (or Return) key.
When the FILTER ON window appears:
==>Press the Left & Right arrow key to change it to FILTER OFF.
==>Press the Enter (or Return) key five (5) times.
All records are again shown.
Now close this database by:
Go to the first pull-down menu in the ENTRY MENU BAR titled Mode.
==>Press the C key or the Up & Down arrow keys to highlight
the selection CLOSE.
==>Press the Enter (or Return) key.
End of Part 5