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Cream of the Crop 21 (Terry Blount) (October 1996).iso
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****************************************
* *
* MEAL-MASTER *
* Quick-Start Instructions *
* *
****************************************
*** WELCOME TO MEAL-MASTER! ***
Thank you for trying Meal-Master. Meal-Master is a menu-driven
database system tailored to manage recipes. It will help you store,
update, and print your recipes in a variety of formats. But the real
power of Meal-Master lies in its search and utility functions!
For example, you can search for recipes using any combination of Title,
Category, or Ingredient criteria. Recipes can be "marked", and then
used to create a shopping list that totals the quantities of like
items. Recipes can be re-scaled by simply changing the yield amount --
all the ingredient quantities are automatically adjusted.
Other features allow you to print a recipe index by title or category,
"batch" print a set of recipes, or "export" recipes to a standard DOS
file, so you can use them in a word processor or upload them to a
bulletin board system. Exported recipes can also be "imported" back
into Meal-Master without retyping - making recipe exchange with other
Meal-Master users a real snap!
*** REQUIRED EQUIPMENT AND CONFIGURATION ***
Meal-Master should run on any IBM-PC, PC-XT, or 100% compatible with at
least 512k of memory. It will run on floppy or hard disk systems, with
either a color or monochrome monitor. While intended as a DOS
application, it is fully compatible with Windows, Windows95, WindowsNT,
Desqview, and OS/2.
*** CAPACITY ***
Meal-Master can be used to create one or several databases. Each
database must be located on a separate disk or subdirectory, and is
capable of storing over 65,000 recipes, subject to available disk
space. Each recipe is limited to a combined total of 100 direction
lines and ingredients.
On the average, you can expect to store about 300 recipes on each 360k
disk, 600 on each 720k disk, 1200 on each 1.44mb disk, and several
thousand on a large hard disk. The actual number will depend upon the
average size of the recipes you create.
Page 1
Meal-Master Quick-Start
*** STARTING THE PROGRAM ***
To start using Meal-Master, you need only the program file, named
MM.EXE. When you type "MM" and press return, Meal-Master should begin
running.
Meal-Master stores your recipes in three files: INDEX.MME, INGRED.MME,
and DIRECT.MME. It uses a fourth file, PARM.MMF, to store information
such as what kind of forms you are using on your printer. Finally, a
fifth file named CATFILE.MME is used to store a list of valid recipe
categories.
If any of these files are not found when Meal-Master starts, they are
created automatically. This makes Meal-Master very easy to install:
Just copy the MM.EXE file to the diskette or hard disk directory of
your choice, type MM, and press return. Meal-Master will ask you for
the operating parameters it needs to build the PARM.MMF file, then
create a new recipe database.
For Meal-Master to run properly you must have the file CONFIG.SYS in
the root directory of the disk you boot from, and it must contain a
"FILES=xx" statement, where "xx" is at least (20), or at least (40) if
you run a multi-tasking environment like Windows or Desqview. If not,
some Meal-Master functions will not operate.
If you're in a hurry to see how some of Meal-Master's advanced features
work, you can try it out with the sample recipe database provided. Use
the Import function on the Utilities menu to import the recipes in the
SAMPLE.TXT file. Then try out the search, shopping list and batch
print options. You can keep these recipes and add to them, or delete
the files and start your own database.
*** USING THE DATABASE ***
ADDING RECIPES
--------------
Selecting 'A' from the main menu allows you to add new recipes to the
file. You will be prompted for the title, categories (each recipe can
reference up to five categories), and yield. When asked for
categories, a window will be displayed containing all the valid
category names (If more than one page of names exist, the PGUP and PGDN
keys will move through the categories; and category names can be
changed, added, or deleted from the Maintenance/Setup menu). You can
highlight the desired category names using the up and down arrow keys,
or press ESC to type the names in directly.
Next, Meal-Master will display the ingredient screen. Enter a
quantity, unit of measure, and name for each ingredient.
Page 2
Meal-Master Quick-Start
The quantity can be entered as either a common fraction (i.e. 1/2) or
as the decimal equivalent (i.e. 0.5), but will be displayed in the
format selected on the Maintenance/Setup Menu (MM comes setup to
display common fractions; if you want to see decimal equivalents,
simply change the format option on the Maintenance/Setup Menu). The
quantity field will also accept an "H", to allow a heading to be
entered for a group of ingredients. When you have entered the
quantity, press the Enter key to move on to the unit of measure field.
While the cursor is in the unit of measure field, pressing F1 will
display a window listing the valid codes you may use. Use the PgUp,
PgDn, up-arrow and down-arrow keys to view the list. You may select a
unit of measure from the list by highlighting it with the up and down
arrow keys, or press ESC and type in a value manually. After selecting
a valid code (or adding a new one), press the return key to move on to
the ingredient name field.
Enter the ingredient name and press return to complete the ingredient
entry. When you press Enter, the cursor will automatically move to the
quantity field on the next line. You can also move between fields
using the Tab, Shift-Tab, and arrow keys. When finished entering
ingredients, pressing the ESC key will proceed to directions entry.
Recipe directions are added using a editor similar to a word processor.
Simply type in the directions, and the cursor will automatically "word-
wrap" at the end of lines. You can create multiple paragraphs by
leaving a blank line, or indenting a line by at least one space.
Review the legend at the bottom of the screen for the most common
editor commands. These commands will help you move around in the text,
reformat paragraphs, delete lines, and more. For a complete list of
commands, see the printed User's Manual.
Press ESC when the directions are complete.
SEARCHING FOR RECIPES
---------------------
Selecting 'S' from the main menu takes you to the heart of Meal-Master.
Here you can specify search criteria to find the recipes that match.
You can instruct Meal-Master to select only those recipes that:
a) Contain a certain word or phrase in their title;
b) Reference a certain category or categories;
c) Use a specific ingredient or combination of ingredients;
d) Any combination of the above three criteria.
Once you have entered your search criteria, pressing "S" will start the
search. The number and title of each recipe that qualifies will be
listed. If you start the search without entering any search criteria,
all recipes in the file will be listed. You may also use the PgUp and
Page 3
Meal-Master Quick-Start
PgDn keys to page forward and backward through the list of recipes
found.
With the title search criteria, you can limit the search to only
recipes whose title contains a certain word or phrase. For example,
entering "Cheesecake" would find all recipes which had the word
Cheesecake anywhere in their title. Entering "Apple.." (note