Share Gallery 1/share_gal_1.zip/share_gal_1/HC/HC011.ZIP/NEWS.EXE/USERNEWS.TXT

Text File | 1992-01-26 | 10KB | 208 lines

                          HomeCraft Software
                      ORGANIZE! USER'S NEWSLETTER
                            IN THIS ISSUE:

                       ORGANIZE! A Big Success!
                       New Features
                       User Tip - dBase Files
                       User Tip - Catalog Formats

                          ____________________


       ORGANIZE YOUR COLLECTION! It's A Big Success!  The feedback from
       the first users of HomeCraft's version 5 software, ORGANIZE YOUR
       COLLECTION, is 100% positive.  User's have been writing to tell
       us how much they enjoy many of the new features and like the
       convenience of having everything available on one screen.

       One of the big hits appears to be the new "Lock Top Line" feature
       on the Reports Menu.  This feature allows you set the top line of
       a printed report so that it is repeated only when different from
       the previous entry.  It's used, for example, when printing a list
       of songs.  The artist's name is put on the top line and the song
       title placed on the second line.  The printed report will then
       list the artist's name with all of the songs listed below that -
       without repeating the artist's name.   The listing would look
       like:

       BEATLES, THE
         A Hard Day's Night
         I Want To Hold Your Hand
         Penny Lane
         She Loves You
       BEACH BOYS, THE
         Help Me Rhonda
         I Get Around
         Surfer Girl

       Another popular feature is the Quick Total feature.  Anytime you
       want to see the value of your collection just go to the Main
       Screen and push CTRL-ENTER.


       New Features:  I'm amazed.  The user's manual just went to the
       printer's last week and already we've added a couple of new
       features.  They're not big changes, but you may find them useful
       at times.

       However, since they aren't covered in the manual I'll describe
       them here.  That way you don't need to print the README.TXT
       file - which is where you'd normally find this information.

       By the way, the Lock Top Line feature is a new feature that did
       not make it into the manual.  To use this feature go to the





       _______________________________________________NEWSLETTER, Page 2


       Reports Menu, highlight "Lock Top Line" and push ENTER.  This
       will toggle it on.  If you don't want to be using it, just repeat
       this procedure to turn it off.

       DELETING MEMOS - a new feature has been added that provides a way
       to delete memos.  It is called "Remove Memo" and it is found on
       the Edit Menu.  To delete a memo use the editor to get the entry,
       that has the memo you want to delete, on the screen.  Push ALT-E
       for the Edit Memo.  Highlight "Remove Memo" and push ENTER.

       DELETING REPORT FORMATS - we have added a feature on the Report
       Menu (push ALT-R) that will delete report formats.  To delete a
       report format push ALT-R, highlight "Delete Format" and push
       ENTER.  Then highlight the report format name you want to delete
       and push ENTER.  A prompt will appear at the bottom of the screen
       asking you to confirm that this is the report format you want to
       delete.  Push the letter "Y" and it will be deleted.  (Push "N"
       if you do not want to delete this format).

       REPORT MODE - the report mode (the report Send To setting) is now
       displayed at the bottom center of the Main Screen.

       User Tip, dBase Files:  ORGANIZE YOUR COLLECTION can directly
       import dBase III files (use the import feature on the Utilities
       Menu) with no problems.  ORGANIZE YOUR COLLECTION can also export
       dBase III files, but with exporting there can be all kinds of
       problems - not problems associated with ORGANIZE YOUR
       COLLECTION - but problems that come up as a result of limitations
       in dBase.  Here's a couple of things to watch out for:

       The field names (line titles) in dBase must all be different and
       unique.  If you use the same title on two lines, you will need to
       change one of them before exporting your information as a dBase
       file.

       Field names (line titles) in dBase can not contain spaces or
       punctuation marks or other non-alphanumeric characters.  Before
       exporting a file to dBase you will need to be sure that each line
       title only has letters and numbers.

       Most of you will never need to use the export to dBase function.
       It would only be used if you needed to share your files with
       someone who uses a different database program.  However, if you
       do use this function, and you get an error message, the first
       place to look is at your line titles.  They will need to conform
       to dBase's very strict format requirements.  (By the way, you can
       change them to meet dBase's requirements, do the export, then
       change them back to they way you want them).





       _______________________________________________NEWSLETTER, Page 3


       User Tip - Catalog Formats  ORGANIZE YOUR COLLECTION is designed
       so that, if it should detect any type of problem with your data
       file or catalog name, it will automatically switch to use the
       default catalog name of CATALOG.  Although ORGANIZE YOUR
       COLLECTION stores your catalog information in ASCII files that
       are difficult to damage (and easy to recover, in most cases,
       should they be damaged) problems can still occur.  In most cases
       any problem that might occur is simple and harmless.  However, I
       get nervous when it comes to protecting information that I spent
       a year typing into my catalog.  So ORGANIZE YOUR COLLECTION is
       designed to err on the safe side.  (Of course, you all should
       have backup copies of your catalogs.

       In six years I've lost my catalogs twice as a result of problems
       with my computer.  Fortunately I was able to recover from backup
       copies both times.  If it should appear that your catalog format
       has disappeared, check to see what catalog name the software is
       using.  If it has switched to CATALOG, in most cases you can
       switch it back to the name you were using and there will be no
       problem.  If the software will not let you switch to your catalog
       name, try running the RESET utility (see page 134 in the manual).
       In addition to resetting the security feature, this utility will
       clear up some of the problems that can effect a data file.

       Another possible problem might be that there are fragmented
       files.  See page 133 in the manual for more information about
       fragmented files.

       That's everything I wanted to pass on to you in this newsletter.
       However, since I have a little space left I'd like to use it for
       an interesting story about one of those times when I lost all my
       catalog files.

       Several years ago I noticed that my computer was taking longer
       and longer to find files on the hard disk.  I had no idea what
       the problem was and finally, one morning, it wouldn't boot up.
       It just kept searching the hard disk without loading the DOS
       system files.  I called everyone I thought might be able to help
       and the verdict was unanimous - my computer had a virus!  Since I
       could no longer access my hard disk this meant booting from a
       floppy and reformatting the hard disk to erase everything that
       was on it.  This would eliminate the virus and everything else on
       my disk, including my catalog files.

       With sadness in my heart, but also with the confidence of knowing
       I had backed up my hard disk, I reformatted.

       The next day, when I turned on my computer, it appeared to be
       working fine.  But then, as each hour passed it began to run
       slower and slower until once again I could no longer access
       anything on my hard disk.  Had the virus struck again?  Where did





       _______________________________________________NEWSLETTER, Page 4


       it come from?  The only place it could come from was one of my
       floppy disks.  So I checked them all for viruses.  They were
       clean.  Somehow the virus had survived the reformatting (which
       should not be possible) and that meant I'd have to spend another
       day doing a complete low level format of my hard disk.  Which I
       did.  And the next day the problem appeared again.

       Fortunately, on the third day I was talking with one of the
       dealers who carries our software.  He suggested that I check the
       battery in my computer.  "The battery?" I asked, with a puzzled
       look on my face.  It turns out that all computers have small
       batteries that are used to maintain basic information in the
       computer's memory.  The battery in my computer had run down and
       my computer was "forgetting" that it had a hard disk.  After a
       quick trip to the store I put in a new battery and my computer
       was it's old self again.  Because of my lack of knowledge I had
       erased all of my files, twice.  And that's why having a backup
       copy of your catalog files is important.  (By the way, this was
       an old computer.  The lithium batteries in today's computers last
       much longer).


       <end newsletter>