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CONTACT.DOC
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1987-01-28
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CONTACT TRACKER
Contact Tracker is a program designed to provide the important
function of organizing and tracking business and personal contacts.
Contact Tracker is written in dBASE with Clipper enhancements and
compiled. Without much effort, the code could be adapted to the
dBASE environment. Source code is provided for your convenience in
modifying and customizing for your own personal use. NO PORTION OF
CONTACT TRACKER MAY BE USED AS PART OF ANY COMMERCIAL PROGRAM, WITH OUT
WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM VORTEX DATA SYSTEMS, INC.
Contact Tracker also supports the Novell Network system and contains
code to automatically handle file and record locks (these will be
ignored in a single user environment).
INSTALLING CONTACT TRACKER
No installation is necessary. Simply copy the file CONTACT.EXE
to any convenient directory on your hard disk, or use the DOS COPY
command to make a working copy for use on floppy disk based machines.
When you run Contact Tracker for the first time, it will automatically
create the data and index files necessary to run in the current directory.
After installation you will find the following files in your Contact
Tracker directory.
CONTACT.EXE Contact Tracker Program
CONTACT.DBF Contact Data file
CONTACT.DBT Contact Memo file
I1.NTX Name Index
I2.NTX Company Index
I3.NTX Product Index
I4.NTX Date Index
I5.NTX Status Index
RUNNING CONTACT TRACKER
To run Contact Tracker, simply type CONTACT at the DOS prompt.
You will see the following items on the opening menu
SEARCH CRITERIA
F2 CONTACT NAME
F3 COMPANY NAME
F4 PRODUCT NAME
F5 DATE
F6 STATUS
OTHER FUNCTIONS
F7 ADD A RECORD
F8 REINDEX DATA FILES
F9 RUN A DOS PROGRAM
F10 QUIT
YOUR CHOICE ?
ADDING AND MAINTAINING CONTACT RECORDS
Simply use the function keys to select the option that you desire.
The first set of options relate to selection, editing and adding
entries into the Contact Tracker data base. Pressing F2 selects
a contact by name. You will be prompted for a name. You may enter
a name or any portion thereof. If the program finds a name (or
several names) that meets the criteria, it will present the first
one on the screen. Other names matching the same criteria can be
viewed by using the PgDn key. If no name was found matching the
criteria given, you will be asked if you want to add. To add a new
name simply type Y and you will be presented with a blank record
into which you may enter the new contact's data.
Note: If you hit the ESC key my mistake before the number is finished
dialing, hit the ALT-F5 key to terminate the modem and hang up.
Unlike many programs, the contact name is carried as a single field.
For purposes of finding alphabetical searches, place the name in
Last, First Middle format. The program will automatically flip the
name to proper sequence in printing and presentation on the screen.
When in editing mode, the F9 key contains the current date. To
place todays date in the Last Contact field, simply hit F9.
This works in the memo field as well.
When you have finished entering the information the record the program
will return you to the main menu.
Now typing F2 and the persons name will bring up the record that you
just entered. Notice that in this presentation, you may only view
the contents of the record.
At the bottom of the screen there are several options available. These
options are described below:
[F6] MEMO - Opens a memo type field for entering free form
comments or other information you may want to
maintain on the person.
[PgUp] The Page Up key moves to the previous record in the
sequence order that the record was accessed. If the record was
accessed by name, then the movement order is alphabetical by
name.
[PgDn] Same as Page Up except moves to the next record.
[F10] Continue - Means move back a level to continue
processing. (At this point it takes you back to the main menu.)
[F-7] This will unconditionally add a record to the data base.
[ALT-F8] Holding the Alt key and pressing the F8 key at the
same time will delete the current record. You will be asked to
confirm that you wish to delete, to prevent accidental deletions.
[ALT-F9] EDIT - This takes you into an Edit mode where you
may update or change the record. Hit Ctrl-W or F-10 when
finished.
[ALT-F10] Print options - This key opens a window listing
various options available for printing, included for your
convenience. The choices should be self-explanitory. Entering 0 or
F-10 or just <CR>, takes you out without printing.
MEMO FIELD EDITING CONTROLS
The following editing keys may be used for editing memo fields
Ctrl-E or Up Arrow Line up
Ctrl-X or Down Arrow Line Down
Ctrl-S or Left Arrow Cursor left
Ctrl-D or Right Arrow Cursor right
Ctrl-A Word Left
Ctrl-Left Arrow Word Left
Ctrl-F Word Right
Ctrl-Right Arrow Word Right
Home Beginning of line
End End of line
PgUp or Ctrl-R Page up (with more than 1 page of text on screen)
PgDn or Ctrl-C Page down (with more than 1 page of text on screen)
Ctrl-PgUp Beginning
Ctrl-PgDn End
Ins or Ctrl-V Insert on/off
Del or Ctrl-G Delete character at cursor position
Ctrl-Home End of of memo
Ctrl-End Beginning of memo
Ctrl-T Delete word right
Ctrl-Y Delete line
Bksp Destructive back space
F-10 or Ctrl-W Save the current memo, return to the record
MISCELLANEOUS
Option F-8 on the Contact Tracker Main Menu allows for the
rebuilding of index files if necessary. This should only be necessary
if you are unable to find a record you are sure is in the data
base.
There is the ability to run a DOS program from within Contact
Tracker, memory permitting. Hit F9 and enter the program you
wish to run. When the program is complete, you will be returned
to the main menu.
When looking at a contacts information hitting the F7 key will
make a duplicate of the record and allow you to edit this information.
This is particularly useful for making an additional record for
a second or third contact at the same company.
Contact Tracker will also accept a command line parameter. To
go directly to a contacts' record, type in the following
CONTACT <contactname>
where <contactname> is the name of a contact you wish to find.
If the person was found, that record will be brought to the screen,
otherwise a brief message "NAME NOT FOUND" will be flashed and the
program positioned to the main menu.
To run Contact Tracker in a Novell Network environment simply flag
your data and index files as Sharable Read Write.
SUGGESTED CONFIGURATION OPTIONS
On my system I have a sub directory for my batch files, with a
path set to that directory. The batch file is called C.BAT and
contains the following
CD\CONTACT
CONTACT %1
This way from any where on the hard disk typing "C" or "C <contact
name>" will bring up the contact tracker. This makes access as
quick and easy as possible.
The Contact Tracker has been specially designed to work with
a Hayes Modem operating on COM1. This allows for hands free dialing
of any entry in the Contact Tracker. If you do a lot of phone
work, you may want to get a headset. This will allow you to have
both hands available for taking notes or doing other tasks on the
computer. The memo feature associated with each record, allows
for paper free notes associated with each person. The Sidekick notepad
feature may be used with Contact Tracker to take generalized notes.
For the truly hard core power user, adding Memory Shift (for PC class
computers) or Software Carousel (for AT class computers) to this
configuration, adds a whole new dimension to personal productivity,
by allowing Contact Tracker to be available in a partition a key
stroke away, while working on a project in a separate partition.
MODIFICATIONS AND CHANGES
To make changes to the program for personalized use, you will need to
get a copy of the Ashton Tate Programmers Utilities. Contact Tracker
uses the SPORT and CURSOR2 routines from this utility. If you wish to
retain the dialing functions and cosmetic features provided by these
routines you will need to get a copy of these. (The Programmers Utilities
are available from Vortex Data Systems for $ 89.95 plus shipping.)
SUMMARY
I hope you find Contact Tracker to be a useful tool in organizing your
contacts. We welcome suggestions, ideas and modifications you may have made
that you wish to share. If you desire information on the Programmers
Utilities or on a quote for site licensing of Contact Tracker or any custom
modifications, please contact us at:
Vortex Data Systems
2515 Camino Del Rio South
Suite 301
San Diego, CA 92108
Thank you for using Contact Tracker.