Copyright: Ragnar Hellspong, Stockholm, Sweden
Citation: Ragnar Hellspong, Stockholm, Sweden


What is ForKeeps?

ForKeeps is a software tool that puts you in charge (at last!) of that huge pile of downloaded CompuServe messages that litter your hard disk and back-up media.

ForKeeps is really two programs in one: the Import Wizard, that imports downloaded CompuServe messages from various message file formats into ForKeeps databases, and the Message Archiver that you can use to browse and maintain the imported messages.

There is no limit as to how big a ForKeeps database can be. A single Forum can generate 10.000 new messages per month, so you can easily end up with 100.000 messages or more in your database.This calls for efficient message handling and overview and easy-to-use Search-and-Find functionality and ForKeeps provides just that.

Hang on there and we will describe what ForKeeps can do for YOU!

Who needs ForKeeps anyway?

Importing messages

Selecting a Forum

Browsing messages

The Thread Tree Window

Search-and-Find

Copying messages

Trimming the database

Forum Members information

Statistics

User Interface

Program Registration


Who needs ForKeeps anyway?

We all know that CompuServe Forums contain a wealth of information. If you are downloading messages with any of the more popular CompuServe on-line browsers or off-line readers like WinCIM, OzWin, NavCIS or others you could potentially turn this information into a great source of knowledge for yourself.

"But how?"-  you ask. After a few weeks of downloading, your CompuServe browser or reader typically complains that it no longer is able to handle those huge message files. You are then forced to purge some messages and either permanently delete them or store them on some back-up media. No wonder then, that you all too often just can't find the information you need. And yet you know it is in there somewhere!

CompuServe browsers and readers like WinCIM, OzWin, NavCIS and others are obviously optimized for CompuServe connection and Forum message retrieval and response handling, but not for long time archival of downloaded messages.

So what can you do? Follow our advice - try the ForKeeps Message Archiver! You won't regret it!

ForKeeps will not bother with CompuServe connection, Forum message retrieval or response handling. It will concentrate solely on the apparent weak point of all CompuServe browsers and readers - long time storage and information retrieval!

In other words - you can now - at long last - transform your huge message pile of practically worthless data into useful information and knowledge that you can easily tap into whenever the need arises!

Perhaps you are one of those persons that would really, really like to switch from your present on-line browser to an off-line reader (normally to minimize CompuServe on-line time), or from one off-line reader to another because you have finally realized your reader is not quite state-of-the-art?

Only problem is - what should you do with all those message files of the old reader? Normal solution (if you dare to switch) - put the old message files on a backup in some dusty cabinet (and forget about them). What a shame!

We have a better solution! Import the files - old and new - to ForKeeps. WinCIM, CSNav, DOSCIM, OzCIS, OzWin, NavCIS, TAPCIS or VirtualAccess files - it doesn't matter. ForKeeps can handle them all!

Granted, there are other Message Archivers on the market as well, but none that does what ForKeeps does - transforms your plain message files into a fully relational database, with separate but related files for Forums, Sections, Threads, Messages and Forum Members.

This means that ForKeeps can organize your messages in a way that gives you the overview you need to find and use the golden nuggets buried deep down there in your message heap.

Read ahead to find out how this is now made possible!

What is ForKeeps?

Importing messages

Selecting a Forum

Browsing messages

The Thread Tree Window

Search-and-Find

Copying messages

Trimming the database

Forum Members information

Statistics

User Interface

Program Registration


Importing messages

CompuServe browser and reader message files cannot be used as is by ForKeeps. Their format differ widely - WinCIM/DOSCIM/CSNav files are DOS files, OzWin, OzCIS, TAPCIS and VirtualAccess files are ASCII files and NavCIS files are FoxPro files for example - and they must therefore be converted to a common file format (imported) for use in ForKeeps.

This conversion is done by the Import Wizard. As the name implies, this is a very easy-to-use program, which takes you step-by-step through the import set-up and then automatically converts the file(s) that you have selected.

Choose File|Import on the Menu or click on the Import Messages icon on the ToolBox to start the Import Wizard. No other activity is permitted in ForKeeps during import so the menu gets disabled as soon as the Import Wizard is started.

The Import Wizard does much more than just import your messages; it builds and updates the related files for Forums, Sections, Threads and Forum Members and it skips already existing or unvalid messages. Please note that only Forum Messages are imported; Mail and all other types of non-messages are skipped.

During Post Processing the Import Wizard counts the number of messages in a number of different ways. Post Processing may or may not be run automatically after import. The default for this can be set in the menu alternative SetUp|Control Panel. This default can however be overridden for any import by checking or unchecking Do Post Processing before starting the import process.

We recommend that Post Processing is run automatically after each import, as this relieves you of the extra effort of running Messages|Count messages separately for each affected Forum database. However, if you are running several consecutive import batches without actually browsing messages in between, then you will save time by toggling the Post Processing off, running Count messages after all import batches have been run.

Only one type of file can be imported in each batch run, but up to between 2000 and 2500 message files (depending on the total length of all the file names) from any number of Forums can be selected and processed at a time.

The set-up varies a bit depending on the type of message file to convert. The first step in the set-up therefore involves selecting the type of file you want to import:

WinCIM/DOSCIM/CSNav

Select WinCIM, DOSCIM or CSNav if the message files have been produced by WinCIM, DOSCIM or CSNav. WinCIM and DOSCIM are CompuServes own on-line browsers and CSNav is their off-line reader, and they will all produce files with the extension .THD if you have downloaded threads of messages or *.MSG if you have downloaded single messages.

As each file consists of only one thread or one message, there are usually hundreds or thousands of files to import. The next step if you choose WinCIM, DOSCIM or CSNav is therefore to decide whether you want to import all *.THD and *.MSG files in a selected directory, or if you want to select one or more files explicitly.

If you chose the Directory Selection option, you will then get the opportunity to select one file in the directory of your choice. The rest of the *.THD and *.MSG files (up to a maximum of 2000 to 2500 files depending on the total length of all file names) will be added automatically.

If you chose the File Selection option, you will get the opportunity to select one or more files to be imported. Note: Do not use this option if you want to import more than 20 files. The File Name string cannot handle more than about 20 file names!

The set-up is now ready and you can Start the import process.

OzWin II

Select OzWin II if the message files have been produced by OzWin II or later. This is an off-line reader from Ozarks West Software,Inc. and it produces one .MSG file and one .PRG file per Forum. The original files have the format ForumName.MSG and ForumName.PRG.  As there are usually only a limited number of files to import, these files are always selected explicitly. A maximum of 20 files can be selected at a time.

When the files have been selected, the set-up is ready and you can Start the import process.

OzWin I

Select OzWin I if the message files have been produced by OzWin I. This is the first version of the OzWin off-line reader from Ozarks West Software,Inc. and it's message files differs only slightly from OzWin II. OzWin I files do not contain the name of the Forum to which the messages belong, so you have to provide this information to the Import Wizard.

Click the look-up button and choose a Forum that already exists in ForKeeps. If the Forum does not exist it could be added and then chosen. Files are selected as for OzWin II.

When the files have been selected, the set-up is ready and you can Start the import process.

OzCIS

Select OzCIS if the message files have been produced by any version of OzCIS. This is an older off-line reader from Ozarks West Software,Inc. and it's message files are identical to those of OzWin I. The set-up process is therefore also identical to that of OzWin I.

TAPCIS

Select TAPCIS if the message files have been produced by TAPCIS. This is an off-line reader from Support Group, Inc. and it produces *.MSG or *.SAV files. TAPCIS files do not contain the name of the Forum to which the messages belong, so you have to provide this information to the Import Wizard.

Click the look-up button and choose a Forum that already exists in ForKeeps. If the Forum does not exist it could be added and then chosen.

As there are usually only a limited number of files to import, these files are always selected explicitly. A maximum of 20 files can be selected at a time.

When the files have been selected, the set-up is ready and you can Start the import process.

NavCIS 1.7x

Select NavCIS 1.7x if the message files have been produced by any NavCIS 1.7x version. This is a Windows based off-line reader from Dvorak Development & Publishing, and it produces one HRECV.DBF file, common for all Forums.  Messages are stored in HRECV.FPT so this file is also needed in the same directory as HRECV.DBF, but it should not be specifically selected. The index file HRECV.CDX is not needed at all by the Import Wizard. As there are usually only a limited number of files to import, these files are always selected explicitly. A maximum of 20 files can be selected at a time.

When the files have been selected, the set-up is ready and you can Start the import process.

NavCIS 1.6x

Select NavCIS 1.6x if the message files have been produced by any NavCIS 1.6x version. This is an earlier version of the Windows based off-line reader from Dvorak Development & Publishing, and it produces one RECV.DBF file, common for all Forums.  Messages are stored in RECV.FPT so this file is also needed in the same directory as RECV.DBF, but it should not be specifically selected. The index file RECV.CDX is not needed at all by the Import Wizard. As there are usually only a limited number of files to import, these files are always selected explicitly. A maximum of 20 files can be selected at a time.

NavCIS 1.6x files differ from NavCIS 1.7x files in the EndOfLine marker in the message text. You must therefore be sure not to mix them up during import. Please note that the original file names differ: 1.7x files are called HRECV, 1.6x files RECV.

When the files have been selected, the set-up is ready and you can Start the import process.

VirtualAccess

Select VirtualAccess if the message files have been produced by VirtualAccess. This is an off-line reader from Ashmount Research and it produces one message file per Forum. As there are usually only a limited number of files to import, these files are always selected explicitly. A maximum of 20 files can be selected at a time.

When the files have been selected, the set-up is ready and you can Start the import process.

What is ForKeeps?

Who needs ForKeeps anyway?

Selecting a Forum

Browsing messages

The Thread Tree Window

Search-and-Find

Copying messages

Trimming the database

Forum Members information

Statistics

User Interface

Program Registration


Selecting a Forum

ForKeeps can handle messages from any number of CompuServe Forums, and each Forum gets it's own database in it's own subdirectory. These databases and sub directories are created automatically during message import as necessary.

Only one Forum can be active at a time. When you start the Forkeeps Message Archiver, the database of the default Forum is automatically chosen and the Messages window is opened, showing the message browse list for the default Forum. The default Forum can be set by the user in the SetUp|Control Panel menu alternative.

You can switch to another Forum at any time by clicking on the Change Active Forum icon on the floating ToolBox or by chosing the Forum|Change Active Forum menu alternative. When this happens all open windows are automatically closed and you will be presented with a list of all Forums available to ForKeeps, from which you can select the one you want.

Only active Forums are kept by ForKeeps. Forums without messages are automatically deleted during the Purge Obsolete Messages process.

What is ForKeeps?

Who needs ForKeeps anyway?

Importing messages

Browsing messages

The Thread Tree Window

Search-and-Find

Copying messages

Trimming the database

Forum Members information

Statistics

User Interface

Program Registration


Browsing messages

Messages can be viewed on the Messages window. It's main controls are a scrolling list of messages and a message text area, where the text from the highlighted message is shown.

Messages can be browsed By MsgNumber, By Thread, By Section, By Sender, By Receiver and By MsgDate. An apropriately labeled TAB mechanism is used to switch between these views. Each view shows the Messages in a specific sort order:

By MsgNumber sorts in reversed Message number order

By Thread sorts in alphabetical order on Thread subject and within the Thread

in reversed Message number order

By Section sorts in alphabetical orrder on Thread subject within the Section

and within the Thread in reversed message number order

By Sender sorts in alphabetical order on Sender's last name and within Sender

in reversed Message number order

By Receiver sorts in alphabetical order on Receiver's last name and within Receiver

in reversed Message number order

By MsgDate sorts in reversed Message date order and within Message date in reversed

Message number order

There is of course one browse view that hasn't been mentioned so far - By Key Word. This special case is not described here but under Search-and-Find.

Each browse view except By MsgNumber and By MsgDate can show all messages in the database or a filtered subset of the them. In By MsgNumber and By MsgDate views, the entire database is always shown.The other browse views can additionally be filtered to show only messages from a certain Thread, Section, Sender or Receiver.

Switching from one view to another is context sensitive, which means that the highlight always stays on the same message after the switch as before.

Example: After a switch from the By MsgNumber view - where all messages are shown in message number order - to By Thread view, the highlight is still on the same message, but the list now shows only those messages that belong to the same thread as the highlighted message.

Switching again to By Sender keeps the same message highlighted, but the list now shows only messages sent by the same Sender as the highlighted message etc.

This is a very powerful mechanism that will let you switch between views as you wish without losing the context, and automatically filtering the other views to just the subset that you are presently interested in.

In all views except By MsgNumber and By MsgDate you can also get out of context if you wish, by just typing one or more characters on the keyboard. The filter is then immediately removed and the browse shows all messages in the database, in the current sort order, and with the highlight on the message subject (in By Thread and By Section views) or last name (in By Sender or By Receiver views) that matches the characters typed.

What we are talking about here is an easy-to-use incremental locator that will locate and highlight the message you are looking for. The locator string that you type can include spaces, so you can find and position to thread subjects containing spaces like in "Import ASCII file". One important aspect of the incremental locator is that it only works on the entire database, never on a filtered subset. That's why it is also a way to get out of context if you wish to.

Another way to get of context while staying on the same highlighted message is to mark the string in the filter field, press the Delete key and then the TAB key.

You can apply filters also while staying on the same view. There are several ways to do that, depending of what you want to achieve.

If no filter is applied and you want to filter to the Thread (Sender or Receiver) of the highlighted

message, click on the (?) VCR button, and the filter is immediately applied.

If you want to filter to some other value, write the name of the specific Thread (Section, Sender or Receiver) that you want to select as a subset in the appropriate filter field below the message text area.

You don't have to type the complete name; just type the initial characters and press the TAB key. If the typed characters uniquely identifies a Thread (Section, Sender or Receiver), ForKeeps will fill in the rest. If not, a list of all available Threads (Sections, Senders or Receivers) will pop up, with the closest match highlighted. You can then select the item you want, and the message list is immediately filtered to show only those messages that match the selection.

You can also click directly on the (?) button to the right of the filter field. This will immediately pop up the look-up list, positioned on the first selectable record. All look-up lists have incremental locators, so typing some characters will take you to the record you want to select.

What is ForKeeps?

Who needs ForKeeps anyway?

Importing messages

Selecting a Forum

The Thread Tree Window

Search-and-Find

Copying messages

Trimming the database

Forum Members information

Statistics

User Interface

Program Registration


The Thread Tree Window

The Thread Tree window shows the messages in the current thread in the form of a tree structure. As this window is a floating ToolBox, it doesn't have focus, and you can scroll messages or change browse views on the Messages window in exactly the same way, whether the Thread Tree window is opened or not.

The thread shown will always be the one, to which the currently highlighted message on the Message List Box belongs. If you change the highlight to another message in another thread, the Thread Tree window will change too.

You can also do the opposite: control the Browse List Box from the Thread Tree window. By double clicking on any message in the Thread Tree, this message will be highlighted in the Browse List Box. This control is possible, however, only in By MsgNmbr, By Thread and By Section views, not in By Sender, By Receiver or By Key Word views, as these views may not contain the chosen message.

The Thread View window is opened by clicking on the Tree button at the bottom of the Messages window.

What is ForKeeps?

Who needs ForKeeps anyway?

Importing messages

Selecting a Forum

Browsing messages

Search-and-Find

Copying messages

Trimming the database

Forum Members information

Statistics

User Interface

Program Registration


Search-and-Find

You can also search the database for specific information by three other means: two ad hoc Find Text facilities and a more structured Key Word Indexing and Browsing facility.

With Find Text, which you can invoke by a click on any of the Find Text buttons at the bottom of the Messages window, a text string provided by you can be searched for amongst thread titles and message text. After each hit the found message is presented for inspection and the Find Text function can be continued or discontinued.

Choose the left button if you want to search both thread titles and message text, and the right button if you want to search only thread titles.

Find Text is context sensitive, which means that if the current message browse view is filtered, a text string provided by you is only searched for among the filtered records; if the list is unfiltered the search is made through the entire message database.

In both cases you can also decide whether the search should start with the first record and move forwards, or with the last record and move backwards.

There are thre options available to increase the precision of the search:

•	you can choose to make the search case sensitive or not

•	you can identify the search string as a separate word or as a text string

•	you can set a date range for the message date

When applying the separate word option, ForKeeps uses an unusual and highly effective way of determining whether a separate word is found or not. Normally a word is defined as a text string surrounded by spaces. With this definition you will not find "NT4.0" when searching for "NT", neither will you find "MAPI-interface" when searching for "MAPI".

ForKeeps defines a separate word differently, depending if you are looking for a numerical string or an alphanumerical string. If you are looking for a numerical string, a separate word is defined as a numeric value surrounded by non-numerical characters, and if you are looking for an alphanumerical value a separate word is defined as an alphanumerical string, surrounded by non-alphabetical characters. These definitions will give you a much better chance of finding what you are looking for, without increasing the risk of getting hits that you were not looking for.

Applying a date range to limit the search volume works in all browse views, but much faster in By MsgDate view. In this view, the search is limited to messages within the selected date range, while in all other views the present subset or - if no filter is applied - the whole message file is searched and messages outside the selected date range are read but skipped.

While Find Text is useful for ad hoc searches it has the drawback that it must be repeated each time you need to find some messages containing a certain text string. The search result isn't saved.

Key Word Indexing is another matter altogether. Key Word Indexing is done once and for all for the entire database, the result is saved and can be used over and over again.Well, this isn't quite true: when new Messages are added to the database, they too must be indexed on Key Words, and if new Key Words are added the entire database must be indexed on them too. ForKeeps stores the information about which messages have been indexed by which key words, so indexing is never made twice for the same combination of message and key word.

Key Word Indexing is done on text strings - key words - that you supply.The dialog where these Key Words can be entered is opened with a click on the Edit Key Words icon on the ToolBox or by choosing Search|Edit Key Words on the menu. Key Words can contain spaces and any number of Key Words kan be entered and saved. Typically you will choose to enter Key Words that are characteristic for - and may therefore be found in - messages with topics of interest to you.

There are two options available to further define the Key Word:

•	you can choose to make the Key Word case sensitive or not

•	you can identify the Key Word as a separate word or as a text string

Indexing the database on key words means to scan the database for them and create pointers to messages where they are found.

To open the Key Word Indexing window, just click on the Build Key Word Index icon on the ToolBox or choose Search|Build Key Word Index on the menu. then press the Start button. Indexing a large database on a set of Key Words is a very slow process that can take hours. Once this is done, however, a list of all messages containing a certain Key Word can immediately be browsed at any time.

To do so, select the Messages window, switch to the By Key Word view, then fill in or choose a key word from the Key Word look-up. A list with only those messages that contain the chosen key word appears.

Switching to the By Key Word view breaks any existing context; switching back from a higlighted message to any view creates a new context.

What is ForKeeps?

Who needs ForKeeps anyway?

Importing messages

Selecting a Forum

Browsing messages

The Thread Tree Window

Copying messages

Trimming the database

Forum Members information

Statistics

User Interface

Program Registration


Copying messages

You can copy a message including header by double clicking it with the right mouse button in the Browse Messages List Box. A menu with the following three alternatives is popped up:

Copy to ClipBoard

Copy to SaveMsg.Txt

Append to SaveMsg.Txt

Use Copy to Clipboard if you want to paste a quote of the message in another document. Not only the message text but a pre-formatted message header is copied.

Use the other two alternatives if you want to create an ASCII file with some selected messages including headers from your ForKeeps database. Use Copy to SaveMsg.Txt for the first message, as this will create a new file called SaveMsg.Txt in your \FORKEEPS directory, and Append to SaveMsg.Txt for the remaining messages, as this will append your messages to the already existing file.

Don't forget to rename SaveMsg.Txt afterwards, or it will be overwritten the next time you use Copy to SaveMsg.Txt.

What is ForKeeps?

Who needs ForKeeps anyway?

Importing messages

Selecting a Forum

Browsing messages

The Thread Tree Window

Search-and-Find

Trimming the database

Forum Members information

Statistics

User Interface

Program Registration


Trimming the database

ForKeeps can handle very large databases - but your hard disk may not. If your ForKeeps database is swelling out of proportion and threatens to eat up most of your hard disk, you will want to purge some Messages, Threads, Sections or even Forums. There are efficient tools in ForKeeps to do just that, easily and with the precision that you need.

ForKeeps maintains a purge hierarchy which starts at the Forum level and ends at the Message level i.e.:

Forum

Section

Thread

Message

At the outset all items on all levels have an unspecified status (called Normal). You may at any time choose to change this status to Delete for any item that you want to delete. Doing this on a large number of Messages is rather time consuming, however.

You may therefore instead put a Delete status on any item above the Message level (Forum, Section or Thread), meaning that all Messages in this Forum, Section or Thread should be deleted. While this is convenient, it may seem a bit indiscriminating, as it should only be done if you indeed wanted to delete ALL Messages concerned, not just 99 % of them, which might often be the case.

For this reason there is also a Keep status, which you can put on any item, meaning that this item, and all related items on lower levels should be kept, regardless of any Delete status of higher level items.

In the purge hierarchy, the status on a lower level item takes precedence over the status on a higher level item. Putting a Keep status on a Message for example means that it stays, even if you try to delete the whole Forum!

You can change the status of the highlighted Message and it's associated Thread, Section and Forum by pressing the appropriate button just below the Message List Box. The buttons are labeled FStatus  (for Forum status), SStatus (for Section status), TStatus (for Thread status) and MStatus (for Message status). Pressing any of these buttons brings up a small pop-up menu with the alternatives Normal, Keep and Delete. Select the status you want and the chosen item's status is updated.

You can also change the status of the highlighted Message to Delete directly, by pressing the Delete key.

ForKeeps continously evaluates the status codes of all Messages shown in the List Box and their related Threads, Sections and Forums and colors the list box rows to indicate if the Messages will be deleted, kept or unaffected by the next purge process:

Red messages will be deleted

Blue messages will be kept

Black messages will be unaffected

Putting a Delete status on an item is not the same as to actually delete it. The actual purging is done in a batch process, and until this process is run you are free to change the status on all items as many times as you like.

To open the Purge Obsolete Messages window, click on the Purge Obsolete Messages icon on the ToolBox or choose Messages|Purge Obsolete Messages from the Menu. Click on the Start button to start the purge process.

A cardinal rule in any relational database is that all relations must remain intact at all times. Threads, Sections, Forums (and also Forum Members) can therefore only be removed if they are no longer related to any messages in the database. They will be deleted automatically during the purge process - regardless of their status - if related messages no longer exists.

What is ForKeeps?

Who needs ForKeeps anyway?

Importing messages

Selecting a Forum

Browsing messages

The Thread Tree Window

Search-and-Find

Copying messages

Forum Members information

Statistics

User Interface

Program Registration


Forum Members information

The ForKeeps Import Wizard builds a Forum Members file for each Forum, based on Sender and Receiver information, during import. This file can be browsed by clicking on the Browse Forum Members icon on the ToolBox or choosing the Members|Browse Forum Members menu alternative.

The First Name, Last Name and CIS Address is parsed from information stored in the message header of the imported files. Unfortunately, this information is not always complete or correctly formatted.

The Sender information is usually reliable, because it is based on the CIS registration information of the Sender. The Receiver information is also correct, if the Message is a reply to another Message, because then the Receiver field is automatically copied from the Sender field of the other Message.

If however the Message is the first in a new Thread, then the Sender is free to fill in the Receiver field as he sees fit, and this can result in incomplete or incorrectly formed Receiver information. A Message can also be addressed to non-specific Members such as ALL, Everybody, Anybody, SysOp or God Father himself.

For every Message the Import Wizard checks if the Sender and the Receiver is an already existing (in ForKeeps) Forum Member or not. If not, a new Forum Member record is created. If the Receiver information is incomplete or incorrect this can result in duplicates: the same physical Forum member can get two or more slightly different entries in the Forum Members file.

A special routine, Members|Eliminate Duplicate Forum Members is therefore available on the Menu. This routine, that makes an attempt to eliminate duplicates, keeping the one which has the highest probability of beeing the correct one, can not totally eliminate duplicates, but it can significantly reduce the number of them.

A correctly formatted Forum Member ID string has the form: FirstName LastName, CIS ID. This is not mandatory, however, so there are variations which the Import Wizard can not correctly translate. It is therefore possible for you to correct the First Name and Last Name of any Forum Member in the ForKeeps Forum Members file.

This can be done after double clicking on a Member line in the scrolling List Box or pressing the Change button below the List Box. Only the First Name and the last Name can be changed, not the ID-String itself nor the CIS address.

What is ForKeeps?

Who needs ForKeeps anyway?

Importing messages

Selecting a Forum

Browsing messages

The Thread Tree Window

Search-and-Find

Copying messages

Trimming the database

Statistics

User Interface

Program Registration


Statistics

You can count messages in a Forum database directly by choosing the menu alternative Messages|Count Messages. Messages can also be counted during Import Post Processing (if this option is activated), and they will be automatically counted after Messages|Purge Obsolete Messages and Members|Eliminate Duplicate Forum Members.

Messages are counted in a number of ways:

Per Forum

Per Section

Per Thread

Per Sender

Per Receiver

This count is a complete recount, not an incremental count, so there is no risk for propagating calculation errors.

Other statistical information, which is readily available per Forum is:

Number of Sections

Number of Threads

Number of Forum Members

Number of Key Words

Number of Key Words per Index

Number of Key Word Indexes

These counts are presented on the Window Title Bar when a window with a scrolling list is opened.

What is ForKeeps?

Who needs ForKeeps anyway?

Importing messages

Selecting a Forum

Browsing messages

The Thread Tree Window

Search-and-Find

Copying messages

Trimming the database

Forum Members information

User Interface

Program Registration


User Interface

The user interface in ForKeeps has some components that may need some explanation.

ToolBox

All important Menu alternatives are duplicated in the floating ToolBox. This ToolBox takes up some screen real estate, and it can therefore be turned off or on. This is done with the SetUp|Show ToolBox Menu alternative.

ToolTips

ToolTips are useful for a new user but may irritate a more experienced one. They can therefore be turned off or on. This is done with the SetUp|Control Panel|Interface setup Menu alternative.

Incremental Locator Reset

Incremental Locator strings (see below) must be reset after use so that they can be used again. They are therefore reset automatically a short time after the last character key press. The reset time can be set between 1.5 and 3.5 seconds to suit different individuals typing speed. This is with the SetUp|Control Panel|Interface setup Menu alternative.

Screen Resolution Adaption

The font size on some controls (list boxes on all windows, some controls on the Import Wizard and  all controls on the Messages window) can be automatically adjusted to a higher value on high resolution screens, to improve readability. This function can be turned off or on with the SetUp|Control Panel|General Menu alternative.

Date Format

The date format can be chosen with the SetUp|Control Panel|Interface setup Menu alternative.

Time Format

The time format can be chosen with the SetUp|Control Panel|Interface setup Menu alternative.

Window Sizes and Positions

All windows can be moved and most can be resized. Position and size are saved automatically when the window is closed, and the next time the window opens it will have this position and size. All positions and sizes can be reset to default values by pressing the Reset default button on the SetUp|Control Panel|Interface setup Menu alternative.

Default Message File Type

The default message file type shown on the Import Wizard can be chosen with the SetUp|Control Panel|Import options Menu alternative.

Message Recounting

Message recounting for all affected Forums can be done automatically after each import or not. This can be toggled with the SetUp|Control Panel|Import options Menu alternative.

Default path to Import Files

The default path to which the Import Wizard File Dialog will open can be set with the SetUp|Control Panel|Import options Menu alternative.

Default Forum

The Forum database that is shown at Start-up is called the default Forum. The default Forum can be set  with the SetUp|Control Panel|General Menu alternative.

Thread tree format

The format for the items on the thread tree can be chosen with the SetUp|Control Panel|General Menu alternative.

Incremental Locators

All lists (Messages, Threads, Sections, Forums, CIS members, Key Words) utilize Incremental Locators for fast positioning to a certain item. Incremental Locators do not need any special entry field - the locator string is just typed on the keyboard, and it will work on the list in focus.

Incremental Locators react on each typed character: an A will position on the first item starting with A (or a because the locator is not case sensitive), an additional F will position on the first item starting with AF and so on. Even spaces can be entered and correctly interpreted. The characters in the string must be typed with a certain speed to be evaluated as one string; too long a paus between two key presses will be interpreted as if you are starting to type a new string and will cause a reset of previous characters (see above).

Look-up lists

Look-up lists are available whenever a selection is possible. Instead of writing the name of a Forum, Section, Thread, Sender, Receiver etc you can pop-up a scrolling list of available alternatives. Look-up list are always associated with an entry field, where the name - or part of it - could be written.

The Look-up list can be activated directly by a click on the ?-mark to the right of the entry field, but it will also be activated indirectly.

If a non-existing or non-unique name - or part of it - is written in the entry field when the TAB key is pressed, the Look-up list will open up, with the closest matching item highlighted. When an item is selected on the list, the Look-up list will close, and the chosen name will fill the entry field.

If a unique name - or a part of it that can uniquely identify the name - is written in the entry field when the TAB key is pressed, the Look-up will not open, and the complete name will be filled into the entry field.

The Forum Member list can be sorted alphabetically on last name or on the CompuServe (CIS) address. The incremental locator for the latter is numerical, so pressing the 7 key will take you to an address starting with 7, 1 to an address starting with 1 etc.

Filters

Filters can be used to limit a Message browse list to a subset of the entire database. Filters are automatically applied when switching between Message browse views, see Browsing messages, but they can also be applied in all views except By MsgNumber by choosing an item from the look-up list for the view in question.

Filters can be removed in two ways: either by forcing a Look-up and then cancelling the selection, or by writing a character on the keyboard. In both cases the filter entry field will be blanked and all items will be shown instead of just the filtered subset.

What is ForKeeps?

Who needs ForKeeps anyway?

Importing messages

Selecting a Forum

Browsing messages

The Thread Tree Window

Search-and-Find

Copying messages

Trimming the database

Forum Members information

Statistics

Program Registration


Program Registration

ForKeeps is a shareware program, which is free for evaluation during a 30 day period from installation. After that time period you will be reminded to either register the program or stop using it.

ForKeeps is only $49 so we are quite certain that you will find it well worth the money to register.

To do so, GO SWREG on CompuServe and register on SWREG #12841. When doing so you will get a DLL with no time limit and a license number from us, and the purchase cost will simply be charged against your CompuServe account and put on your next CompuServe bill.

The license number can be entered under SetUp|Control Panel|Registration.

What is ForKeeps?

Who needs ForKeeps anyway?

Importing messages

Selecting a Forum

Browsing messages

The Thread Tree Window

Search-and-Find

Copying messages

Trimming the database

Forum Members information

Statistics

User Interface