Shareware Overload/ShartewareOverload.cdr/wp/superdex.zip/SDEX.DOC

Text File | 1990-09-15 | 18KB | 415 lines

                                 SUPERDEX v1.0


     Copyright 1990 by Steve Gifford


       SuperDex is an application that is designed to dial your modem and
     provide you with a full featured word processor that will enable you
     to create a record of your call and take any notes while the call is
     still fresh in your mind.  You will be able to save your call memo to
     disk, print a copy of the memo, or both.  You also have the option of
     logging your calls individually to maintain a record of dates, times,
     and parties called.

       This program is distributed under the Shareware concept.  You are
     authorized to use it for a period of 30 days.  After the 30 day trial
     period, if you find this program to be of value and continue to use
     it, you are expected to send the $12.00 registration fee to the
     author.  In return you will receive a receipt for the registration
     fee along with a new disk containing the latest version of the
     program.  Also, the new program disk you receive will not contain the
     shareware notice that is currently displayed when exiting this
     program.

       SuperDex is distributed "As Is" and absolutely no warranties are
     expressed or implied.  USE OF THIS PROGRAM IS ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN
     RISK!  The author assumes no responsibility for any system damage,
     data loss, or other adverse affects that are associated with the use
     of this program.  Your use of this program constitutes your
     acceptance of this clause and your acceptance of responsibility for
     any consequences.


       You may copy this shareware version of the program and distribute
     it freely; however, no fees may be charged for the program itself. A
     nominal fee for distribution charges may be accepted by commercial
     software distribution companies when approval is specifically granted
     in writing by the author.  Any copies of this program that are
     distributed must contain the following files:

     SDEX.EXE
     SDEX.DIR
     SDEX.FRM
     SDEX.QSL
     CONFIGUR.FRM
     CONFIGUR.QSL
     SDEX.DOC
     REGISTER.DOC

       SuperDex was programmed with MicroSoft QuickBASIC v4.5 and makes
     extensive use of QuickScreen and QuickPak Professional.  QuickScreen
     and QuickPak Professional are programming tools distributed by
     Crescent Software.  I highly recommend these two products to anyone
     who programs in QuickBASIC!












Quick Start:

  Type SDEX at the DOS prompt.  You will be shown an opening screen.  Press
any key or the left mouse button to proceed.  You will then be shown a
scrolling menu.  Use the up/down arrow keys to select your choice, then
press enter to activate that choice (double click with mouse).

  You will then be passed to the selection window.  Highlight the record of
your choice and press enter (double click mouse).  Assuming you have the
COMM port set at 1 or 2, then you will be given the option of dialing (F2)
or returning to main menu (F10).  If you elect to dial, press F2 (or click
once with the mouse cursor on the F2 command on the menu bar).  The modem
will then dial the number for you.  You are expected to pick up the hand-
set of your telephone before the modem disconnects.  The amount of time
the modem hesitates before disconnecting is established by the configuration
settings you choose.

  After dialing, you will see a new menu bar at the bottom of your screen.
Pressing (or clicking on) F10 will return you to the main menu.  Pressing
(or clicking on) F3 will log the call you are currently making.  Pressing
(or clicking on) F4 will pass you to the word processor where you can
make notes of your call, etc.  If your configuration settings indicate
that you want the word processor pre-loaded, you will see the date, name,
and address of the party you just called already formatted for you on the
editing screen.  Otherwise, the screen will remain blank.  After editing
is complete, press (or click on) ESC and you will be given a choice of
saving your memo, printing your memo, or both.  After making your choice,
you will be returned to the main menu.

  Adding and updating records is just as simple.  Select the ADD/UPDATE
option at the main menu.  You will be shown a data entry screen with all
fields being blank.  Simply enter the appropriate data and press (click)
F2 to save the record.  To update an existing record, press (click) F3
and you will be shown a list of existing records.  Highlight the record
to be updated and press enter (or double click the highlighted line)
and you will be able to change the existing data.  Use F2 to resave the
updated record.

  A high pitched beep confirms your saving actions on the configuration,
record, and call logging functions.


Help is always available by pressing (clicking on) F1.




















     MOUSE SUPPORT:

       Superdex provides full mouse support.  Details of using a mouse
     will be given in this section only, and the rest of the manual will
     cover basic operation by use of the keyboard.  The main point to
     remember when using a mouse is that the scrolling menus will require
     one left button press to highlight a particular choice, and two quick
     left button presses to make that selection active.  For instance, to
     select the "View Records" option from the main menu, place the mouse
     cursor on any LETTER of the "View Records" option and press the left
     button once.  This will highlight that choice.  Then press the left
     button twice to activate that choice.  Scrolling menus are the Main
     Menu, the Record Viewing Menu, the Update Records Menu, and the
     Record Deletion Menu.  You'll also notice that on the latter three
     menus, there will be up and down arrows located on the right side of
     the viewing window.  These arrows are used to scroll the highlight
     bar upwards and downward by pressing the left button while the mouse
     cursor is located on one of these arrows.

       Menu bars at the bottom of screens contain a variety of different
     choices depending on the particular screen you happen to be viewing.
     By placing the mouse cursor on any command on the menu bar, you can
     activate that command by pressing the left button once.

       When you are in the "Record Add/Update" section of the program, you
     can move the mouse cursor from field to field and click the left
     button once to move the system's cursor to that position.  This
     technique also works in the configuration portion of the program.

       When you are in the word processor, you can activate the help
     screen by clicking on the "F1-Help" command on the bottom menu bar,
     and then scroll the help text by clicking on the up or down arrows
     located next to the help command.  You must click on the Exit-Help
     command to remove the help text from the screen.  You may also resize
     the screen by placing the mouse cursor on the white on blue diamonds
     in the upper right and lower left of the editing screen and holding
     the left button down while dragging the mouse.  You may also reset
     the right margin by placing the mouse cursor on the right margin
     marker on the ruler line and dragging it to the desired new right
     margin.  PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS WILL NOT MAINTAIN THE INTEGRITY OF THE
     WORDWRAPPING THAT HAS BEEN DONE ON ANY PREVIOUSLY ENTERED TEXT!
     You can scroll the text up and down or left and right by placing the
     mouse cursor on the appropriate arrows in the borders of the editing
     screen and holding the left button down.

       When deleting records, you may highlight the record to be deleted
     by clicking once on the appropriate line, then click once on the
     command "Spacebar to select"  This will place a check mark to the
     left of the record to be deleted.  You may mark as many records as
     you like.  When finished, click once on the command "Enter to delete"
     and the marked records will be deleted.  If you mark a record and
     then change your mind about deleting it, repeat the above process
     and the record will be unmarked.

       Although there will not be a visible mouse cursor on the opening
     and closing screens, you may clear these screens by pressing the left
     button once.

     That's basically all there is to using a mouse with this program!



     USING SUPERDEX


     Note - When saving records, configuration, and logging calls, you
     will hear a high pitched beep.  This is your confirmation that the
     process has been sucessfully completed.

     Configuration:

       The configuration of SuperDex is relatively simple.  If you are in
     doubt as to what to enter in a particular field, press F1 while the
     cursor is located on that field and you will be shown a help message
     for that field.

       With version 1.0, only COM1 and COM2 are supported.  If you do not
     have a modem, but would like to use SuperDex to maintain a database
     of names and numbers, then enter "N" in the COMM PORT field of the
     configuration section.  The word processing function of SuperDex will
     still remain available to you so that you may take advantage of this
     feature even if you manually dial your phone numbers.

     Fields-

     Word Processor Left Margin:  Sets the left margin for printing
     purposes only.  On screen, the left margin will always be at the far
     left edge of your screen.

     Word Processor Right Margin:  Sets the right margin.  This can be
     changed while in the word processor but previously entered text may
     not retain it's word wrapping.

     Comm Port:  Enter 1, 2, or "N".

     Tone/Pulse: Enter "T" or "P", depending on the type of phone system
     you are using.

     Modem Disconnect Pause:  Enter the number of seconds you would like
     the modem to remain connected after it has dialed the number.  After
     the modem disconnects, you should notice a substantial decrease in
     noise.

     Modem Initialization String:  Consult you modem manual for proper
     settings.  Some modems may function well without any initialization
     string.

     Local Outdial String:  Enter any string that is required to be sent
     to the modem prior to the actual number to be dialed.  For instance,
     if you need to dial "099" to obtain an outside line, this is where
     you would enter the "099".  Note that this is for local phone numbers
     only.  A seperate field has been provided for long distance outdial
     strings.

     Long Distance Outdial String:  See above paragraph.

     Pre-load the word processor:  If you select "Y", then after dialing a
     number, if you select the memo function, your editing screen will
     automatically be formatted with the date, name, and address of the
     person you have called.  If you select "N", the editing screen will
     be blank.

     Press F2 to save the configuration.  The saving will be confirmed by
     a high pitched beep.




     Viewing Records:

       If you select the "View Records" option at the main menu, you will
     be passed to the "SuperDex Selection Window".  A total of 13 records
     will be displayed at one time (less if you don't have 13 loaded).  To
     select the record to view, use the up/down arrow keys to highlight
     your choice then press enter.  At this point you will be passed to a
     screen that displays all of the information contained in the record.
     The menu bar at the bottom of the screen will give you two choices if
     your COMM port has been configured to 1 or 2.  You will have the
     choice of dialing the number (F2) or returing to main menu (F10).

       If you press F2, the phone number will be dialed and the menu bar
     at the bottom of the screen will be changed to add two new options
     "F3-Log Call" and "F4-Memo".  If you select F3, the file "SDEX.LOG"
     will be updated to include the name of the person called, the date,
     the time, and the called party's phone number.  A high pitched beep
     will confirm the logging of the call.

       If you press F4, you will be passed to the full featured word
     processor.  This feature enables you to make notes of your call, type
     a letter while the info is still fresh in your mind, etc.

     Add/Update Records:

       Selecting this option enables you to add data or to revise existing
     data.  All of the fields are self explanatory with the exception of
     the LD(Y/N) and Custom fields.  You may obtain help on any field by
     pressing F1 while the cursor is in that particular field.  The
     LD(Y/N) field indicates whether the phone number entered is Long
     Distance or Local.  Entering a "Y" indicates it is long distance and
     entering and "N" indicates that it is local.  If "Y" is selected the
     1 + area code + number sequence will be used to dial.  Otherwise,
     only the actual phone number will be sent to the modem.  The CUSTOM
     field was created to enable those businesses that have strange
     dialing systems to be able to use this program regardless of their
     dialing needs.  If the standard phone dialing sequence will not
     suffice, you may enter any dialing string required in this field.
     Please note that if there are ANY CHARACTERS AT ALL in this field,
     those characters will be dialed and the standard phone number will be
     ignored entirely.  Therefore, it is important to include the actual
     phone number in this field as well as the sequence you must dial to
     obtain access to a line.  This field DOES NOT OVER RIDE any strings
     you have set for the local and long distance outdial strings in the
     configuration section of the program.

       To update an existing record, press F3 and you will be shown a list
     of records.  Select the proper record and press enter.

       When saving any records, a sucessful save will be confirmed by a
     high pitched beep.

     Deleting Records:

       After selecting "Delete Records" from the main menu, you will be
     passed to the "SuperDex Deletion Window".  Use the arrow keys to
     highlight a record to be deleted.  Then press the spacebar to mark it
     for deletion.  You may mark as many records as you like.  If you mark
     a record and then decide you don't want to delete it, simply
     highlight the record again, and press the spacebar again.  The
     checkmark to the left of the record will be removed as the record is
     unmarked for deletion.  After making all your deletion choices, press
     enter and all records containing a checkmark on the left side will be
     deleted.


     Print Call Log:

       Selecting this option allows you to print the call log.  You may
     press F10 at any time to abort the printing function.


     Using the Word Processor:

       The word processor included with SuperDex is fully featured with
     block operations and mouse support.  Use of the word processor is
     very simple, and all necessary instructions are included in the help
     text that is accessed while in the editing screen.  Press F1 to
     activate the help text, and use your up/down arrow keys to scroll
     through it.

       This version of SuperDex does not allow the user to load an ASCII
     file into the editor; however, it does allow you to save the data you
     entered to an ASCII file.  When exiting the word processor by
     pressing the ESC key, you will be given a short menu of the following
     options: Save, Print, Both, and Exit.  Selecting SAVE allows you to
     designate the path/name of the file to save; selecting PRINT allows
     you to print the file; selecting BOTH will print the file after you
     have designated the path/name of the file to save to.



     REGISTERING SUPERDEX:

     Registration fee of $12.00 should be sent to:

     Steve Gifford
     P.O. Box 1631
     Bellevue, Ne  68005-1631

     Registration entitles you to a disk containing the latest version of
     SuperDex.  Also, the program you receive will not contain any
     references to shareware registration.

     Future Upgrades:

     Depending on the amount of interest in this program (which will be
     determined by the number of comments/suggestions/registrations that I
     recieve), the following are some of the improvements I am currently
     considering:

     Auto-Redial
     Support for COM3 & COM4
     Printing of address labels
     Quick search for records based on names
     Printing of the record data base

     I am very interested in hearing from you whether you like SuperDex or
     not.  Please don't hesitate to contact me at the above address or you
     may reach me through the following bulletin boards:

     Omaha HDR
     [phone]

     Castle Rock
     [phone]

     Exec-PC
     [phone]





     Thanks to the following people for their help and assistance:

     Ron Baker, CAD Manager at HDR, Inc, Omaha, Ne.  He not only gave me
     the idea for SuperDex, but he did a great deal of BETA testing too!
     He also coerced me into buying a mouse and building in mouse support.
     Now that I have the mouse, I don't know how I ever lived without it!
     Ron is also one of two Sysops at the HDR BBS.

     Rocco Fili, Operations Manager for Executone, Omaha, Ne.  He was a
     BETA tester and some of his ideas are now incorporated into the
     program as well.  Rocco is also the owner/Sysop of Castle Rock.

     Joe Edwards, Select Realty, Omaha, Ne.  Joe did BETA testing and as a
     result I made some changes to the program based on his experience
     with it.