PC-SIG: World of Education/PC-SiG's World of Education.iso/wor/disk0935.zip/LIST-MGR.DOC

Text File | 1989-02-20 | 10KB | 309 lines

              LIST-MGR.EXE
              Version 2/89

          A Search and Retrieval Utility
           for list management.

             BIOLIT, Box 268
              131 NW 4th St.
           Corvallis OR. 97330

You are invited to try LIST-MGR and to give copies to
others. Anyone who keeps the program should send $15 to the
address above to avoid copyright infringement and to
register their use of the program ($20 for registration of
both LIST-MGR and BIBLIO.  Registrants will be sent free
replacement programs if any major 'bugs' are found and
removed from the program within one year of registration
and will be offered low-cost updates if significantly
enhanced versions are developed. Suggestions for
enhancements are invited.

NOTE: Another Biolit program, BIBLIO.EXE, is similar to
LIST-MGR but is more specific in its application, being
intended for use with lists of bibliographic references.
It allows retrievals of records containing a specified
field/phrase combination, both of two field/phrase
combinations (Author-Keys, Author-textWord, Key-Key, or
Key-textWord;  textWord is a combined field consisting of
the Title, Keywords, and Notes fields). BIBLIO also provides
the select-on-display, select-all-records, and reformatting
options of LIST-MGR.


          WHAT LIST-MGR DOES

LIST-MGR runs on computers using the PC- or MS-DOS operating
system. It acts upon a pre-existing input text file
containing a list of records, each of which may include up
to 5 labeled fields.  It can accomplish either or both of
two functions, REFORMATTING and RETRIEVAL.

REFORMATTING:  For multi-field records, the user may change
the sequence in the output file of fields within records,
omitting or repeating fields as desired.

RETRIEVAL: Selected records are extracted from the input
list and sent to the output destination.  Records are
selected for retrieval according to one of the following
criteria, as selected by the user:

1) occurrence of a desired word or phrase (referred to
below as a 'phrase') in a specified field;

2) occurrence of either of two desired field/phrase
combinations;

3) occurrence of both of two field/phrase combinations;

4) individual decision by the user when the first part
of each record is displayed; or

5) retrieval of all records in the list (useful when
Reformatting).

OUTPUT: Output is to screen, printer, a new disk file, or
any combination of these three output destinations. Field
sequence in output records is selected by user.

            FIELD LABELS
A general comment concerning the necessity of field labels
(designated characters which mark the beginning of defined
sections of each record) and of record separation is in order.

If a computer is to make selections based on the content
of different records and of different fields within those
records, it must be able to detect where each record and
each field begins and ends.  There are two approaches to
providing the computer with this information:

1) require that each record and each component fields be
of a defined length, with the fields occurring in a defined
sequence within the record. For example, each record can be
defined as 6 80-character lines with the first line holding
the name, the second the street address, etc.
   The disadvantage of this approach is the rigid record
format required, with that required format being the same
for every record. Furthurmore, the defined maximum
record size must be set aside in memory for each record,
whether or not the individual record is that long.

2) allow the different records to differ in length,
in the number of fields contained, and in the sequence
of fields within the record by using tags to tell the
computer where each record and field begins and ends.
   The disadvantage of this approach is that field and
record markers must be inserted in the record list.

In developing LIST-MGR and BIBLIO, we decided that the
greater flexibility of format allowed by the second
method outweighed the inconvenience of requiring field
labels.


        FORMAT FOR INPUT RECORD FILE:

1. The pre-existing input file must not exceed 60000
characters and should be in ASCII text format without
non-printing control codes (save the file from Word Perfect,
for example, by using Ctrl-F5), although in some cases
input files with non-printing codes will be handled
satisfactorily.

2. Each record must be followed by an empty line.

3. Every line within a single record must contain at least
one character or space. (If you want a line to appear to be
empty, simply put one or more spaces in it).

4. The `{`  sign must not occur except as specified below.

5. Any record may include any or all of 5 labeled fields,
in any order. Each field must begin at the left margin with
a three-character label: a {, a digit (1-5), and a space.

6. The number, length, or sequence of fields need not be
the same for different records.

            TECHNIQUE

On-screen directions should be adequate for your use of
LIST-MGR.  However, the following pointers may be of
interest.

SEARCH PHRASES: A search 'phrase' may be a word, word
fragment, or phrase up to 18 characters in length.

HOW MANY FIELDS:  There is no need for a given field to
contain only a single category of information. The entire
record can be in a single field, simplifying file
preparation, if (a) you will not need to change the record
format for the output file or (b) retrieval is desired no
matter where within the record your search phrase occurs.
On the other hand, if you will want to drop or move part of
the record before output, or if some occurrences of the
search phrase should be ignored, additional fields will
need to be used.

Addition of more fields can sometimes be avoided by minor
modification of the text within a field.  For example,
suppose that your records are single-field addresses and
you will want to retrieve on the basis of the first three
digits of the zip code (for example, 801). Because 801 may
also occur in a street number, false retrievals may occur.
This can be avoided by preceding your zip codes with a
period (.80004, for example).  You can then search for .801
without needing to put zip codes in a separate field.

PUNCTUATION:  Punctuation, spacing, and upper/lower case must
be the same in the search-phrase as in the input file for
a retrieval to occur. Judicious selection of search phrases
will minimize false retrievals or false non-retrievals.
Examples: if you want retrieval whether or not the first
letter of a phrase is capitalized, omit that first letter
from your search phrase.  If you do not want retrieval if
a word is part of a larger word, include the preceding space.

If a given part of your records can be in all caps, you
will eliminate uncertainty about case for that part (and
also avoid false retrievals from non-capitalized parts of
the record.)

RE-SELECTION:  The number of search phrases to be matched
before a record is to be finally selected is not limited to
the two that can be entered at each pass: if field labels
are retained in the output file, that output file can then
be used (after being renamed) as the input file for
selection of a further sub-set of records. Using this
cascade technique, simultaneous  occurrence of any number
of field/phrase combinations may be assured before a record
is finally selected.

OUTPUT FIELDS:    Sequence of fields within records of the
output file can differ from that of the input file. Fields
can also be omitted or repeated, as desired.  Repetition
of a field is sometimes useful if the output record must
be padded with blank lines (to maintain record positions
on mailing labels, for instance).  In this case, if one of
field for each record is simply a blank line, this field
can be repeated as often as needed in the output records.

             SAMPLE INPUT FILE

The very artificial short input file seen below is included
on the distribution diskette as LIST-MGR.REF.  It suggests
some of the types of records which might be usefully
managed by LIST-MGR, including bibliographic references,
product specifications, and address lists.

Scan it now to identify possible search strategies (e.g.,
retrieve those records containing ZIP2 in field 1.  Then
type LIST-MGR for a trial run of the program.

              LIST-MGR.REF

{1 ADDRESSEE NAME
   111 1ST STREET
   CITY STATE .11111
.
.
.

{2 NOTES CONCERNING THE ADDRESSEE. This field would be
omitted from the output file when generating an address
list to be used for typing mailing labels.

{1 ADDRESSEE 1
STREET1
CITY1 STATE1 .ZIP1
.
.
.

{1 POTENTIAL DONOR 1
STREET2
CITY2 STATE2 ZIP2
.
.
.
{2 TELEPHONE: XXX-XXXX
BIRTHYEAR: 1900-1910
INCOME: 20000-40000
POLITICS: DEMOCRAT INACTIVE
OCCUPATION: RETIRED

{1 CUSTOMER 1
STREET3
CITY3 STATE3 ZIP3
.
.
.
{2 POTENTIAL SALES: COPIERS  PERSONAL COMPUTER    PRINTERS
RIBBONS  OFFICE SUPPLIES   OFFICE EQUIPMENT
{3 PURCHASES:  KAYPRO PC 10 1987  C ITOH STARWRITER 1987
{4 PAYMENT RECORD: GOOD  PERSONAL CHECKS

{1 STUDENT 1
STREET4
CITY1 STATE1 ZIP1
.
.
.
{2 NOTES: ADVISOR: JOHN JONES
      MAJOR: VET MED
      RESIDENCE: VAN ZILE HALL
      FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE: PELL
      FIRST TERM: FALL 87
      ACADEMIC DEFICIENCIES: NONE

{1 SUBSCRIBER 1    8/88
STREET5
CITY2 STATE2 ZIP2
{2 RENEWALS: SINCE 8/82

{1 CLUB MEMBER 1    12/87
STREET6
CITY3 STATE3 ZIP3
.
.
.
{2 TELEPHONE HOME 123-4567 WORK 123-5678
   EMPLOYER: SUNRISE BOWL
   OFFICER/BOARD: YES

{1 CLIENT 1
STREET7
CITY1 STATE1 ZIP1
.
.
.
{2 NOTES

{1 SUPPLIER 1
STREET8
CITY2 STATE2 ZIP2
.
.
.
{2 PRODUCTS: CANNED VEGETABLES    CANNED FRUIT  GENERAL
         GROCERIES
PAYMENT: 60 DAYS  90% REFUND ON RETURNS
TELEPHONE: xxx-xxx-xxxx

{1 AUTHORS
{2 TITLE 1
{3 BIBLIOGRAPHOIC SOURCE
{4 KEYWORDS
{5 ABSTRACT

{1 AUTOMOBILE MAKE MODEL AND YEAR
   LIST PRICE
   WARRANTEE
   ENGINE
   CHASSIS
   TIRES


YWORDS
{5 AB