Shareware Grab Bag

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Shareware Grab Bag / Shareware Grab Bag.iso / 090 / fcpo.arc / FCPO1.DOC < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1985-09-07 | 20.8 KB | 504 lines

FCPO - Electronic Filing Cabinet System 09/01/85 Revised: 09/07/85 Another DarwinWare brought to you by ... P. L. Olympia Darwin Systems, Inc. 17 Thorburn Road Gaithersburg, MD 20878 Voice: 301-251-0497 BBS: 301-963-5249 (soon to change) NOTE: Version 1.0 eliminates the problem in the beta version where the program pukes during list-to-printer operation in the FIND opt. WHAT IS FCPO? ------------- FCPO is an electronic filing cabinet system that allows you to file away and retrieve anything you like. It is a unique implementation of the dBASE environment that solves the problems in relational-type data bases where you are constrained by a predefined set of tables of predetermined length. If nothing else, look at this program as an educational and "technique" tool. The program does NOT need dBASE to run. If you need to track any items of variable length, get them quickly, and are tired of dBASE memo field limitations, this program is for you. Quick summary of features: o Items that you file can be of variable length. They may be as short as a few characters or as long as ONE BILLION (that's a BIG B) lines long. In principle, even the 1 billion is an artificial constraint that I can raise as long as you have the disk space or the dire need. o Items may be entered into the filing cabinet either by way of the keyboard or imported from an external text file, perhaps downloaded from a mainframe or created by another software package. o Similarly, you may export selected items to another software including your word-processor for inclusion in your documents. o You may assign any set of keys to an item that will fit on a 79- character line. You may then select or retrieve items using any group or characters or substring on that key line. o All data entry and edit operations use formatted screens with the commands of dBASE and WordStar. o All of its files are compatible with dBASE III's DBF format. Thus, if you should ever need to, you can massage the data using dBASE as well as FCPO. o You may have any number of filing cabinets active at any time. Although FCPO can be used easily to maintain your customer, vendor or contact list of phone numbers, you are better off with something like Sidekick if all you have is a few items. A LITTLE HISTORY ---------------- I originally wrote this program in 1980 using dBASE II version 2.02 on a CP/M micro. I wrote it for myself to keep track of all of the articles in computer publications to which I subscribed (25 then, more than 80 now). I needed a system to record article abstracts of varying length. I also used it to keep track of new computer products, including prices, vendors and summary descriptions. In 1982, the system was used to track proposals and projects of a grant-funding institution. That same institution used the system to produce a camera-ready copy of a project-funding summary book which included project abstracts. Clearly, these are only two examples of the system's uses. Have a little imagination and you'll find all kinds of uses for it. DISCLAIMER AND DISTRIBUTION POLICY ---------------------------------- This program is NOT public domain. It is being distributed under the UserWare-like concept. You are granted a limited license to use it for evaluation. If you use it and find it of value, you are encouraged to send in your donation of what you perceive is its worth. $30 is suggested. Please do not send more than a million dollars as I don't have the time to count them. Sysops who put this software up on their BBS for users to download do NOT need to make any contribution, in recognition of the mostly thankless jobs they do. If you choose not to contribute, you may destroy your copy of the program or give it away to your friends (or foes, if you really dislike them that much). All commercial uses of this software are prohibited. Write me if you are thinking of that. I am a reasonable person who can't count to 1 million. You should really join the UserWare experiment where you get to use the software first and make a contribution only if it fulfills your need. That concept benefits everybody. If it fails, your only alternative is high-priced software whose advertising cost is many times over the product's development costs or value. The choice is yours. If this does not work for me, FCPO will be my last UserWare. What do you get for your contribution? Mainly my undying gratitude, special treatment and privileges at my BBS, and my attention to any problems you may have. I also hope to send you a disk with a more detailed manual, including guidelines on how to fully interface this program and its data with dBASE III and other software. This documentation is necessarily brief to cut down on disk space. The FCPO package may be freely distributed so long as its components are distributed together and in unmodified form. Some of you guys out there should resist the temptation of patching in your names in the program. Listen to your conscience. I have spent several weeks of my life to insure that this program works as expected. To my knowledge, the program has no bugs but I am not necessarily as inventive as others (you never know). I am obligated to tell you right here that I will NOT be responsible for any heartburn this program may cause you. It has not caused me any - so I hope you are as lucky. I do appreciate any feedback about this program from anyone, even non-contributors (ahem!). REQUIREMENTS ------------ An IBM PC or close compatible with at least one disk drive, 126K TPA (Transient Program Area). A printer and color monitor are recommended. The program was fully tested on a color monitor. Your CONFIG.SYS file must have BUFFERS set at 20 at least and FILES to 24 at least. If you don't have a CONFIG.SYS file create it as an ASCII file (even with EDLIN), with the following lines: FILES=24 BUFFERS=20 Note that the CONFIG.SYS file must be in your boot drive and is read only during bootup. If you create it, reboot the system and you're set. LIMITATIONS ----------- None. Except what you bring to it. Oooops! Seriously, your only limitation is disk space and your imagination. Remember that the 1 billion record limit is something that can be raised - I just had to set it at something. WHAT ARE IN THE PACKAGE? ------------------------ FCPO.EXE The filing cabinet program FCPOCNF.DBF Configuration file. The program needs it to run. FCSAMP.DBF Sample file cabinet data base. You will need it to follow the QUICK START instructions and to build your own (first) filing cabinet. FCSAMPK.DBF Key to the sample filing cabinet. No key, no go. FCPO.DOC You are reading it. This is an abbreviated manual to cut down on disk space. HOW TO RUN ---------- Copy the program files to your hard disk or to a backup diskette. You should always keep a backup copy just in case disaster strikes. The program always needs FCPOCNF.DBF and will look for the sample files FCSAMP.DBF and FCSAMPK.DBF the very first time you run it. You won't need the sample files after you build your own filing cabinet(s). In fact, this program remembers which filing cabinet you used last time and will look for it on startup. The program works much better on a hard disk or RAM disk. The data files may reside in a remote drive. At the DOS prompt, type FCPO: C>fcpo After a 2-second animated welcome screen, the program looks for FCPOCNF.DBF and reads that for its setup environment. After it finds all the files it needs, you will be presented with a Main Menu. All menu options are described below. To exit the program and return to DOS, pick "X" at the Main Menu. QUICK START ----------- The system is menu-driven and is easy to follow. All actions flow from and to a Main Menu, shown below: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- FCPO 0.1 - Electronic Filing Cabinet Thanks for your support. (c) 1982,85 P.L. Olympia ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cabinet: FCSAMP.DBF Today: 09/01/85 M A I N M E N U DATA ENTRY/EDIT OUTPUT --------------- ------ A -> Add data/key L -> List all keys E -> Edit data/key F -> Find Data I -> Import data from file P -> exPort data to file SETUP OTHER ----- ----- C -> Change Default Parameters R -> Reorganize keys B -> Build new Filing Cabinet X -> eXit this program Pick a letter .... _ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- L>IST KEYS First, pick "L" to list the first 50 characters of keys to all of the items. You will find that several of the items in the sample file have a key of "DBASE". F>IND DATA When the Main Menu reappears, pick "F" to find any item you like and display that on the screen. You will be presented with the following selection screen on which you specify your selection criteria. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cabinet: FCSAMP.DBF Today: 09/01/85 SPECIFY SELECTION CRITERIA You may select records by a combination of keys or date range when the the data were entered. Leaving all fields blank means you want everything; this is not recommended unless you have plenty of time. Key substring wanted --------------------- DBAS___________ (don't use single quote) DATE RANGE WHEN DATA WERE ENTERED From which date ------------------------ __/__/__ To which date -------------------------- __/__/__ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- You may select any item by any combination of key substring or date range when the data were filed. For now, type the substring DBAS on the "Key substring wanted" prompt. Then press PgDn or CTRL-W to terminate the data entry (leaving date fields blank). What you have just done is ask for a screen display of all items in the data base (one at a time) whose keys contain the substring "DBAS". The file cabinet items will be shown to you one screen at a time. There is a way to route the display directly to the printer. We'll cover that later. E>DIT DATA At the Main Menu, pick "E" to edit data. You will be presented with the data selection screen again (pre-filled with the last set of criteria you used). If you want to EDIT all of the same items you have just seen displayed with the F>ind command, just press PgDn (or CTRL-W) at the selection screen. The first item that satisfies the selection criteria and its key will be presented to you. Like this: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Key expression shown below. Date Entered: 09/01/85 DBMEMOPO DBASE III UTIL MEMO <$50 SMUGWARE DBT DBF DBMEMOPO is a utility program that allows you to load text files created elsewhere (even a mainframe) into your dBASE III memo fields. It also frees up unused space in your dBASE DBT file. All functions are done in DOS and does not require dBASE III. Additional features that will be added later will be ... search memo fields for substring along with a display of selected DBF fields ... and report facility with MEMO. Program requires a donation of $30 (introductory price). A free demo package can be downloaded from the SMUG BBS, 301-963-5249, 24 hrs, 1200/2400 bps. For more info, write or call: P. L. Olympia Darwin Systems, Inc. 17 Thorburn Road Gaithersburg, MD 20878 301-251-0497 (Voice) <M>ainMenu <P>rev <N>ext <D>elete <C>ontinue. Your choice? C ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- The second line contains the item's key. And most of the screen contains the first 18 lines of the item. You may edit the key or any of the item's data displayed on the screen. All your cursor pad keys are active, including DEL and INS as well as the WordStar commands CTRL-Y (delete line), CTRL-V (same as INS), CTRL-G (delete character at cursor). Note the prompt at the bottom of the screen: M - Returns you to the MainMenu, discarding any changes you have made P - Retrieves the previous item (before this one) that satisfies the selection criteria. If there is no previous item, or the last item you just edited is farther down in the filing cabinet than the one on display, you return to the Main Menu. N - Retrieves the next item satisfying the selection criteria. D - Deletes this item from the filing cabinet. The program will ask you to confirm this action, then marks the item for deletion. Items so marked become physically removed from the filing cabinet with the R>EORGANIZE option of the Main Menu. C - Continues to the next 18 lines of the present item. If there are no more data lines for this item, the system moves on to display the next item that satisfies the selection criteria (same as the N>ext option). If there are no more items, you return to the Main Menu. Note that "C" is the default option of the Edit screen. You can rapidly move forward through the filing cabinet by pressing PgDn or CTRL-W. B>UILD OPTION When the Main Menu reappears, press "B" to build your own filing cabinet. You will be presented a configuration (setup) screen like this: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cabinet: FCSAMP.DBF Today: 09/01/85 DEFAULT PARAMETERS Symbol delimiter for key ----------------- ~ (Changeable only during Build function) File Cabinet Name ------------------------ FCSAMP.DBF File Cabinet Key Filename ---------------- FCSAMPK.DBF 2-char symbol to terminate data entry ---- ## Find data output device (Screen/Printer) - S Export data file name -------------------- FCOUT.TXT ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: The system will accept fully qualified filenames including drive. The symbol delimiter (default is ~) is used to tell the system that any line beginning with that symbol in a file being imported is intended to be a KEY line for the following data lines of an item. The next two lines prompt you for the names of the new file cabinet you want to use or build. They must be different names. They may contain a drive specifier, and should contain a filetype (although NOT necessary). If the filetype is omitted, it defaults to DBF. The two-character symbol (default ##) is used during keyboard entry of items in the filing cabinet to tell the system that you have finished entering data for the item. The default output device for F>ind data operation is the screen. Change this to P if you want output to go to the printer. You can go back and change this using the C>HANGE option of the Main Menu. A>DD OPTION After you build your filing cabinet you need to add items to it. You may do this either with the I>MPORT option (from a text file) or A>DD option (from the keyboard). When you press "A" at the Main Menu, you will be presented with the following data entry screen: ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Enter key expression below. Leave blank then PgDn returns to Main Menu __________________________________________________________________ Enter text in following lines. Terminate data entry with ## as the first chars in a blank line, then PgDn _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________ End data entry with ## at beginning of line. Then PgDn. Leave key line on top blank to return to Main Menu. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- On the first line, enter any keys you want to assign to this item. You may enter them in any mix of upper or lower case or you may elect to string all keys together (without intervening blanks). On the next 9 lines, enter your item data. If you need more lines, the system will continue to present you with a fresh set of 9 lines until you signify that you are done, by typing the end delimiter (## in this case) at the beginning of any line. All lines following this one will be discarded - since the ## says "This is the end, bud." You may use ## in any item line so long as that line does NOT begin with that delimiter. The system will now give you a new data entry screen. If you no longer have any items to enter, just PgDn and the system returns you to the Main Menu. NOTE: I CANNOT OVEREMPHASIZE THE FACT THAT YOU MUST TERMINATE YOUR DATA ENTRY FOR AN ITEM'S DATA BY PUTTING IN THE DELIMITER SYMBOL (DEFAULT IS ##) AT THE BEGINNING OF A DATA ENTRY LINE FOLLOWING THE LAST LINE OF THE ITEM'S DATA. I>MPORT OPTION Use this to add data to the filing cabinet from an ASCII file created elsewhere. The system will ask you for the name of the import file. You may specify drive or filetype. The import file must begin with a line containing the symbol delimiter (default ~) to signify a KEY line. All lines following this KEY line until the next KEY line is encountered (or until end of file) will be the data lines for this item. C>HANGE OPTION Use this to change any of your operating environments, e.g., close the present filing cabinet and work on a different one, or change the output destination to printer or screen. EX<P>ORT OPTION Use this to output selected items to a disk file named in the configuration screen. This is often used to send data to a word- processor for inclusion in documents. R>EORGANIZE OPTION Use this to physically remove deleted items from the filing cabinet, or to fix a filing cabinet whose keys have become messed up for one reason or another. And finally ... E<X>IT OPTION Use this to exit the program and return to DOS. The system will give you a 2-second animated bye-bye screen. And speaking of bye-bye ... ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- TH' TH' TH' THAT'S ALL FOLKS ... ----------------------------------------------------------------------------