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FASTART.DOC
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1990-10-17
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So you want to get down to business...
Good idea!!
We suggest that you print out this file. It's only a few pages long.
SR-Info can be run from floppy drives. Only the files SRI.EXE and SRI.MSG
are required. However this guide will assume a hard disk and drive C: as
an example.
Create a directory off the root and switch to that directory.
These DOS commands will do the job:
CD \
MD SRI
CD SRI
Unzip the files SRI.ZIP, SRIHELP.ZIP, and DEMOPRGS.ZIP. The manual can be
unzipped later.
Enter SRI
The signon screen will stay on until you press Function key 10. We
want you to read about us.
When you see the cursor on the line following "1>" you are 'at the one prompt'
and ready to key in commands. Press the ENTER key after each command.
Try some. These assume you have unzipped the demo programs disk.
USE COMDESC this opens a file with one line about each command
and function
USE#2 MEMBERS this is a fictional membership list opened in select area 2
SR-Info allows six data files to be opened at one time.
STAT The status display show information about open data files,
memory variables, and more.
Keep pressing the RETURN or ENTER key until you again see the 'one prompt'.
SELECT 2 We want to view the member file before we do anything as
serious as looking at commands. Note that the 'one prompt'
should now be a 'two prompt'.
EDIT The EDIT command displays one record at a time. Take time to
study the HELP window. The notation is concise.
^<HOME> means press down the CTRL key and the HOME key
together (CTRL first,keep it down and press HOME).
Try pressing ^<PgDn>
This will add a record and take you into the APPEND mode--
same as EDIT but adds new records. Why not add a few of your
own 'members'. Back up with PgUp to return to edit mode.
Press the END key to return to the two prompt.
SELECT 1 Now lets look at the brief command reference.
BROWSE You now see a screen full of records, one line for each.
The HELP window is almost the same as in EDIT. We have
tried to keep the keystrokes the same for both commands.
In fact, you can build many applications, with these as
your 'work horse' commands. Learn the variations
BROWSE TEXT and EDIT TEXT and your applications will
become more customized and sophisticated.
Experiment with the keystrokes. PgUp and PgDn move you
between records. The Up and Dn arrows move you between
fields of the same record. (so do the TAB and shift TAB
keys - a new feature added since the HELP screens were last
edited. CAUTION!-don't edit the SRI.MSG file. There are
trailing blanks on many lines that affect screen layout.
Make changes at your own risk!
Press the END key or one of the other keys to end the BROWSE
session. Most special keys (e.g. the function keys) will
cause SR-Info to exit BROWSE or EDIT. The exit key is saved
in a system variable :KEY and may be read by your programs.
You can decide your next action based on the key used. (See
the MENU demo program for an example.)
MODIFY We are getting serious here! Don't modify important files
without first backing up! A power or system failure could
result in lost data.
We are going to add two new fields to the COMDESC file.
PgDn to a blank field and create a new field called USED.
Choose type C (character) and width 1.
Add a second field NOTES, also type C, but width 60.
Press the END key. The last blank field will be ignored.
Type 3 is OK, so press the enter key and watch the
modification occur.
EDIT -to look at modified records one at a time.
Return to the command line or one prompt and enter
BROW Note that commands can be shortened to four characters. This
will not work with functions.
You new fields will not fit on the screen. To see them,
press ^L. Of course, they are all blank filled until you
add something. Go back to EDIT, find the EDIT and BROWSE
commands and fill in the new fields. You want to keep doing
this as you try new commands and functions.
You say you don't like the order of presentation! Good!
INDEX ON COMMAND TO COMDESC
Go back to BROWSE. The order should be better. Of course
you could modify the file again and add a new field to
distinguish between commands and functions, say FUNCORCOM
and index on FUNCORCOM+COMMAND. Or you could index on ...
Let's run one of the demo programs.
DO MENU Note that DO launches a program from the command line.
After a few seconds you should see a menu.
You can select in two ways. Move the 'light bar' up
and down with the Up and Down keys. Press the ENTER key
when the light bar is on your choice. Many other special
keys (like the function keys) will also work. Note that
option zero cannot be chosen this way.
The second selection method is the press a number key. This
works for options 0 through 9. Options greater than 9
must be selected by moving the light bar.
Experiment with the menu choices, and work your way back to
the command line (the one prompt).
QUIT This gets you out of SR-Info
SRI The lesson is almost over. Get back to the command line.
COMPILE MENU
This creates a file MENU.CPL which SR-Info can read and
execute very quickly. If there is no CPL file, we build
one when a program is started (the few second delay
mentioned above) and throw it away.
DO MENU You should see the program begin much more quickly.
Back to the command line ...
DO DEMOS
DEMOS is our program to help you tour our set of demonstration
programs. Note that running some of these programs will take
you out of the DEMOS program. Simply re-enter DO DEMOS and
carry on.
HELP!
VP-Info has on-line help. To get help from the command
line just enter HELP. If you are clear on the topic
you want help with specify that as well.
e.g. HELP BROWSE
If VP-Info recognizes the the first four characters
of what you key in, that's the help you will get.
Note that VP-Info looks for commands before functions.
e.g. HELP REPL will get you help on the REPLACE command.
You must key in HELP REPLACE( to get help with the replace
function.
That's it! You are up and running. Good luck!
Note:
Technical support is available by phone to registered users.
Call us at (416) 398-8414. (We will answer 'quickies' without registration.
- but full support is part of what you buy when you register.)
We can also be reached by:
Fax at (416) 630-7384
Compuserve at 72010,1323.
SUB ROSA is also a member of CANADA REMOTE SYSTEMS, Canada's premier
bulletin board. Electronic mail can be sent to CRS from all over
North America.
All users can contact us in the vendors' conference.
Sid Bursten and Bernie Melman