Cream of the Crop 22/Cream of the Crop 22.iso/database/hmcook13.zip/HOMECOOK.TXT

Text File | 1996-06-17 | 32KB | 635 lines

1 - Introduction

   Home Cookin is an easy to use Meal Management system with a full featured
Recipe database, Grocery list manager, and Calendar/Meal Planner. Other
features include a powerful search system, flexible batch operations, support
for informational text, and the ability to import recipes from a variety of
formats including Meal-Master, Computer Chef, and Mastercook II.

   Home Cookin has been designed for ease of use. Please take the time to
read this manual and consult it when you have problems. Most program
operations are rather straightforward, and those that are not are discussed
in greater detail in this manual.

   If you are still having difficulties, have a comment regarding Home
Cookin, or want to obtain the latest version, please feel free to contact the
author:

                Internet: [e-mail]
                     WWW: http://www.pacifier.com/~awatson
                     FTP: ftp.pacifier.com:pub/users/awatson

         Bear Cavern BBS: [phone]  (E-mail to Anthony Watson)

   Home Cookin may be ordered by sending a check or money order for $35.00 in
US Funds only, to:
                        Mountain Software
                        6911 NE Livingston Road
                        Camas, Washington  98607  USA

   When you receive your order, please fill out the enclosed product
registration card and mail it to Mountain Software. This will provide us with
vital information about you and your system and will allow us to inform you
of program updates, upcoming products, etc.

1.1 - Installation

   Home Cookin should run on any 80486 or Pentium with Windows 3.1 or Windows
95. For best performance we recommend a MINIMUM of 8 Meg of RAM, and standard
SVGA resolution (640x480x256 colors). You should also allow plenty of free
hard drive space for the recipes and data files this program creates (The
actual requirements depend on how many recipes you have, how many groceries,
etc.).

   Whether you are installing the demo or registered version, the
installation procedure is the same. Using File Manager in Win3.1 or Explorer
in Win95, create a folder labeled HOMECOOK in whatever path you wish. This
can be as simple as adding the folder to your root directory (C:\HOMECOOK).
Next, copy all the files from the demo archive, or from the master disk to
the new directory. If you need help with these operations, please refer to
Windows documentation. The program is now ready to run by double-clicking on
the HOMECOOK.EXE program file.

   Home Cookin is entirely self contained and will not "litter" your hard
drive with DLL or INI files. It also will not alter your system configuration
files in any way. Therefore, if Home Cookin does not meet your requirements,
you may easily remove Home Cookin from your system by simply deleting the
HOMECOOK directory and its contents.

1.2 - Disclosures/Acknowledgements

   Home Cookin is Copyright 1996 by Anthony Watson, all rights reserved. Any
unauthorized duplication of the program(s) or documentation is a violation of
federal copyright laws!

   This product has been tested extensively and to the best of our knowledge
will not cause problems of any kind. However, neither Mountain Software nor
the author (Anthony Watson), will be held responsible for any damage
occurring to your system or other software. We also make no guarantee as to
compatibility with other software or hardware configurations.

  Home Cookin was written by Anthony Watson using GFA BASIC for Windows. All
documentation was written with Pen Pal, a shareware text editor from Mountain
Software.

  I would like to thank all of the dedicated users who purchased earlier
versions of Home Cookin (Also known as The Recipe Box on the Atari ST, Amiga,
and Macintosh). I appreciate your comments, suggestions, and complaints.

  I also owe a great deal of appreciation to my beta testers; Don Schmidt,
Phil Latona, Kelly Bruhn, and Victor Bruhn.

  In addition, I owe a special debt to my wife Peggy for her love, support,
and patience. You are my best friend, I couldn't live without you!

  Most importantly, I thank my Lord Jesus Christ. I am continually amazed at
the complexity and beauty in all of your creations. From the trees that grow
on our mountain, to my wife and daughter; I know you are the creator, the one
and only God, my Lord and Savior. I pray that every man, woman and child
comes to know you personally!

1.3 - Basic Guidelines

  Throughout this program you will find many operations are quite similar.

  LEFT clicking is generally used to select an item. "Double Clicking" is NOT
required, though occasionally you will need to click once to select an item,
and then click again to activate it (Such as viewing a record from the Index
menu).

  RIGHT clicking is generally used to edit an item. This will usually bring
up an editor or dialog box appropriate to the item being selected.

  References to "click twice" in this manual mean to click once, wait a short
time, and click again. This is not the same as "Double Clicking" which is a
rapid two click operation.

  Scrolling is usually accomplished by pressing the keyboard cursor keys, or
by clicking the appropriate arrow button on the screen. However, some areas
such as the View Menu and the Help system, use our 'Mouse Scrolling' feature.
To use this feature, place the mouse pointer over the text you wish to
scroll. Then LEFT click to scroll up through the text, or RIGHT click to
scroll down through the text.

  Many items can be "moved" from one location to another by "Dragging" them.
For example, a recipe may be moved from one chapter to another by dragging
the recipe to the new chapter. Or, recipes may be added to the batch list by
dragging them to the batch button.

  Generally, any place a recipe title is visable you may view that recipe by
clicking twice on the recipe title. This applies to the Index, Calendar,
Batch, and Find Menus.

  The button bar at the bottom of the screen is visable at most points in the
program, making it easy to jump quickly from any part of the program to
another.

  Most on-screen buttons in the program can also be activated with a keyboard
hotkey (highlighted in a different color). It should be noted that any button
labeled 'OK' can also be activated by pressing RETURN on the keyboard.

  The recipe and information text editors incorporate simple block operations
such as block delete and cutting and pasting. To mark a block of text in the
editor, move the cursor to the beginning of the text you wish to mark. Then
press function key F2. Next, move the cursor to the end of the text you wish
to mark and press F2 again. Once the block is marked, you can press the
Delete key to delete the block of text, Control-X to cut the text block and
place it on the clipboard, or Control-C to copy the text block to the
clipboard. Pressing Control-V will allow you to paste the text back into the
editor.

1.4 - The Help System

  Home Cookin features a built in documentation viewer to aid you in the
operation of this program. This makes it easier for you to obtain information
when you need it, reduces shipping and packaging costs for us, reduces
environmental impact from wasted paper, and allows us to update the manual on
a more frequent basis than would be possible with a printed manual. The help
system is accessed by pressing function key "F1" at any time.

  Text is scrolled using the cursor keys or mouse buttons. Clicking the left
mouse button over the text display will scroll UP through the manual.
Clicking the right mouse button over the text display will scroll DOWN
through the manual.

  Home Cookins help system features an easy to use search function that will
search for ANY word, not just those defined as topics. To locate a text
string, click the "Find" button and enter the text you are looking for.
Additional matches may be found by clicking the "Next" button.

  The complete manual, or just sections of it, may be printed directly from
the help system. If you only want to print a section of the manual, you must
first mark the block of text you want to print. While holding the CONTROL key
down, LEFT clicking will mark the first line of the block and RIGHT clicking
will mark the last line of the block. Once a block of text has been defined,
or if you want to print the entire manual, click on the "Print" button at the
top of the screen. If you have selected a block of text, you will need to
select whether to print the text block or the entire manual.

  Unlike the standard Windows Help system, the Home Cookin documentation is
just an ASCII text file. Because of this, you can easily load the
documentation into any text editor and customize it to your needs. You can
also load the text into any Word Processor and print it in any format you
desire.

1.5 - Alternative Program Uses

  While Home Cookin is primarily designed as a recipe database, we took
special care to ensure that the program would be flexible enough to use for
other purposes.

  For example, Home Cookin could be used as a Personal Information manager by
storing the names and addresses of individuals in separate records. Using
chapters, you could even divide them into friends, relatives, businesses,
etc. And, combined with the built-in Calendar, and the ability to attach a
record to any date, you end up with a very flexible PIM.

  You may also want to use Home Cookin for Genealogy Work. Family Surnames
could be divided among the chapters, with actual records containing the names
and information of specific individuals.

  Home Cookin would also be perfectly suited to those who collect poetry or
songs. Each record could contain the full text of the poem or song, and could
be arranged by type or category using the chapters. Specific song collections
could even be printed, using the batch menu.

  It would also be possible to maintain a very detailed inventory of your
home using Home Cookin. Rooms could be represented by each chapter, with
Records detailing the actual item in each room.

  Of course, any task requiring a compilation of many small text files would
be ideally served by Home Cookin!

 2 - Chapter Functions

  Home Cookin handles recipes by dividing them into various categories, also
known as 'Chapters'. You may create as few or as many chapters as you wish.
Chapters should be fairly general in nature, but not so general that the
chapter fills up too fast. Performance is much better with several small
chapters than it is with a few large ones, as large chapters require more
memory and are slower to access.

  The Index Menu of Home Cookin is divided into two sections. The buttons and
list on the left side of the screen are for chapter functions only. The arrow
keys on the left side of the screen allow you to scroll through the list of
chapters if you have more than what fits on the screen.

2.1 - Adding Chapters

  Before you can enter recipes into Home Cookin, you must first create a
chapter in which to store them.

  To add a chapter, click on the 'Add' button on the left side of the Index
menu. A dialog box will appear allowing you to enter in the name of your
chapter. Once you enter the title, press the RETURN key and you'll be
returned to the index menu, and your new chapter will be displayed in the
chapter list.

2.2 - Editing Chapters

  Should you want to rename or delete a chapter, RIGHT click on the name of
the chapter in the chapter list. A dialog box will appear allowing you to
edit or delete the chapter you selected. You should also note that the dialog
box displays the number of recipes in that chapter. This is an easy way to
determine how large a chapter is getting (The TOTAL number of recipes stored
in Home Cookin can be determined from the Setup menu).

  If you delete a chapter that contains recipes, an additional dialog box
will appear for verification before deleting the chapter.

3 - Recipe Functions

  The Index Menu of Home Cookin is divided into two sections. The buttons and
list on the right side of the screen are for recipe functions only. The arrow
keys on the right side of the screen allow you to scroll through your recipes
if a chapter contains more than what will fit on the screen.

  Home Cookin is capable of storing two different kinds of records.

  The 'Recipe' record is a specialized record for storing recipes. It
contains customized fields for ingredients, directions, and servings. It also
provides for special functions such as resizing ingredients.

  The 'Information' record is a generic text record that may be used for
storing any text information. You can use this record type for storing
nutritional information and/or cooking tips. The information record also
allows Home Cookin to be used for purposes other than a recipe database.

3.1 - Adding Recipes

  To add a recipe, you must first select the chapter you wish to place it in.

  Then click on the 'Add' button on the right side of the screen. A dialog
box will appear allowing you to enter a title for your new recipe. Then
select whether you are entering a recipe or informational text file, and the
appropriate editor will appear.

  The recipe editor divides the screen into two halves. The ingredients MUST
be entered on the left, and directions entered on the right side of the screen.

  The editor will start with the cursor placed at the start of the
ingredients. Enter in your list of ingredients and edit them as you wish.
When you want to enter the directions, click on the right side of the screen.
The cursor will be placed at the start of the directions, and you may then
enter your directions.

  You may switch between the ingredients and directions at any time, by
clicking on the left or right half of the screen.

  If you know the number of servings, you may enter it by clicking on the
'Serves xxx' button at the top of the screen. A dialog box will appear
allowing you to enter a new servings amount. The default amount is 4 servings.

  If you wish to change the name of the recipe, click on the title button at
the top of the screen.

  If you want to permanently resize the recipe, click the 'Resize' button at
the top of the screen. A dialog box will appear for you to enter the new
serving size.

  When you are finished entering your recipe, click on the 'Save' button at
the top of the screen. Your recipe will be added to the current chapter, and
you will be returned to the Index Menu.

  If you do not wish to save the recipe, click on the 'Cancel' button at the
top of the screen. You will be returned to the Index Menu.

  The 'Information' record editor functions in much the same way as the
recipe editor with the exception that there is only one text field for
editing, and there is no serving size.

3.2 - Importing Records

  Recipes can be imported from a variety of external text file formats. To
import a file, you must first select the chapter you wish to import the file
into. Then click on the 'Load' button on the right side of the Index Menu.
The file selector will appear for you to locate the file you wish to import.
Click on 'OK' and Home Cookin will analyze the file in an attempt to
determine the file format. A dialog box will then appear for you to verify or
override the import format.

  The "Undefined Recipe" format is used when you are importing a recipe that
does not adhere to any of the supported formats. This will bring up the
manual import menu where you can manually mark the various segments of each
recipe. You scroll up and down through the recipe using the LEFT and RIGHT
mouse keys or the keyboard cursor keys. When you are ready to mark a block of
text (such as the ingredients), press and hold the CONTROL key while you
click on the desired line of text. The LEFT mouse key marks the block start,
the RIGHT mouse key marks the block end. You then click on the appropriate
button at the bottom of the screen. When all segments have been marked, click
the 'Save' button to save the recipe. You may repeat the process for as many
recipes as are in the text file.

  The "Information Text" format will import the file as an information
record. Most generic text will use this format. Recipes should not use this
format, as resizing and other recipe specific functions will not be
available. Note that only 500 lines of text are available for import (about 8
pages of text).

  The "Home Cookin" format is a custom format used exclusively by Home
Cookin. If you are exchanging recipes or text with other Home Cookin users,
then this is the format that should be used, as it preserves all formatting
of recipes and information text. However, this format requires 80 column
text, which will be reformatted or truncated by most online systems.
Therefore, if you are posting recipes online, or if you are exchanging
recipes with users of other recipe programs, you should use the "Meal-Master"
format instead.

  The "Meal-Master" format is one of the most popular recipe formats
available. Home Cookin will import all versions between 5.0 and the current
8.02. Home Cookin uses this format when exporting recipes.

  "Computer Chef" is another popular recipe format, though its use is
declining.

  "Mastercook II" is a newer recipe format that is quickly gaining popularity.

NOTE: Recipe importing is not always 100% effective. There are many things
that can occur to a text file to reduce the success of importing, including
reformatting by BBS's, appended text from quoted messages, missing lines of
text, inadvertant editing, etc. While Home Cookin can deal with many of these
situations, there will always be the odd recipe that refuses to import
properly. So, keep in mind that you may need to edit the recipes after you
import them!

3.3 - Editing Recipes

  Should you wish to rename, modify, or delete a recipe, RIGHT click on the
recipe title at the Index Menu. You may also edit a recipe by RIGHT clicking
on the title in the View Menu.

  The appropriate editor will appear allowing you to edit your recipe.

  If you wish to delete the record, click on the 'Delete' button at the top
of the screen.

  When you are satisfied with the changes to your recipe, click the 'Save'
button at the top of the screen. You will be returned to the menu you called
the editor from.

3.4 - Moving Recipes

  Recipes may be moved from one chapter to another by "Dragging" them from
the old chapter to the new chapter. This can only be accomplished at the
index menu.

  Click and HOLD the left mouse key over your recipe title until the title
appears next to the mouse pointer. Then "Drag" the title to the new chapter
title and release the mouse key. Remember that the mouse pointer is still
your point of reference, not the title itself!

3.5 - Viewing Recipes

  Recipes are viewed in the View Menu. There are numerous ways to access the
View Menu, the simplest of which is to simply click twice on the recipe you
want to view in the Index Menu. You may also select the recipe you wish to
view, and then click the 'View' button at the bottom of the screen. It is
also possible to access the view menu by clicking on recipe names in the
batch menu, the calendar, and the find menu.

  Scroll through long recipes by placing the mouse pointer over the recipe
text. Click the LEFT mouse key to scroll up through the recipe. Click the
RIGHT mouse key to scroll down through the recipe. You may also use the
up/down keyboard cursor keys to scroll through long recipes.

  The arrow keys at the top of the view menu allow you to move to the next or
previous recipe. You may also use the left/right cursor keys on the keyboard.
When you reach the beginning or end of a chapter, the program will
automatically move to the previous or next chapter. You can scan the entire
database like this if you wish.

3.6 - Resizing Recipes

  'Recipe' records may be resized for new serving amounts if you desire it.

  If you want to resize a recipe temporarily, click on the 'Servings' display
at the top of the View Menu. A dialog box will appear allowing you to enter a
new serving size. Note that this method is only temporary, and does not
effect the saved version of the recipe. Still, it is useful if you want to do
a one time resizing for printing or exporting.

  To permanently resize a recipe, you will need to edit the recipe. This is
accomplished by RIGHT clicking the recipe title at the top of the view menu,
or RIGHT clicking the recipe title in the Index Menu. You may then click the
'Resize' button at the top of the editor to enter a new serving size.

3.7 - Printing Recipes

  You may print a single record by clicking the 'Print' button at the top of
the view menu.

  You may also print selected recipes from the batch menu by clicking the
'Print' button in the batch menu.

3.8 - Exporting Recipes

  Records may be exported as individual text files by using the Export
functions. 'Recipe' records may be exported in the "Home Cookin" format, or
the popular "Meal-Master" recipe format, making it easy to exchange recipes
with other users and systems.

  You may export a single record by clicking the 'Export' button at the top
of the view menu. A dialog box will appear allowing you to select the "Home
Cookin" or "Meal-Master" export format. If you are exchanging recipes
directly with another Home Cookin user, you should use the Home Cookin format
to maintain all formatting in your recipes. But, if you are going to post the
recipe online, or if you are exchanging recipes with users of other recipe
programs you should use the "Meal-Master" format. The system file selector
will appear for you to enter a filename. Click on OK, and the record will be
exported.

  You may also export selected recipes from the batch menu by clicking the
'Export' button in the batch menu.

4 - Grocery Menu

  The Grocery Menu allows you to maintain a list of commonly used grocery
items and select them quickly for shopping. The grocery manager not only
sorts the items alphabetically, and by store and location, but will
automatically compute a running total as you prepare the list.

  The on-screen list of grocery items changes to reflect various operations
in the grocery menu. When you first enter the menu you will see a list of all
items in the database. You can toggle between the various views of the
grocery items by pressing the space bar, or you can simply click the button
at the top of the grocery menu that corresponds to the view you wish to see.

4.1 - Adding Items

  Add items to the item list by clicking on the 'Add' button. A dialog box
will appear allowing you to enter the name, store, location, and cost of an
item.

  A special "Staples" field is also available, and is labeled as "New Qty".
This is used for items that you buy every time you go shopping, such as bread
or milk.  When you start a 'New' grocery list, the items with staple
quantities will be added automatically. Leave this field blank for items you
do not buy every time you shop.

  When entering grocery items, remember that it is usually best to give
generalized locations rather than a specific isle number. This is because
stores often change their layouts, and locations vary from one store to the
next.

  We also recommend leaving the store field blank unless you always buy that
item at a specific store. This will prevent you from having to duplicate the
item for each store you shop at.

  It also a good idea to round all costs up to the next quarter or half
dollar. This provides a buffer when shopping, as store prices fluctuate
often, and this will prevent you from coming up short if you rely on the cost
total produced by this program.

  REMEMBER: The more generalized you make your prices and descriptions, the
less maintenance you will need to do to your list. While Home Cookin allows
you to get very specific about the store, location, and price of an item, it
also means you will need to check your pricing and locations after each
shopping trip!

4.2 - Editing Items

  To edit a grocery item, RIGHT click on the item you wish to edit. The
grocery item editor will appear and you can edit your item. The item may be
deleted by clicking the 'Delete' button in the item editor.

  Remember to update your item list frequently to ensure the most accuracy
when planning a grocery list.

4.3 - Locating Items

  To locate a grocery item, click on the 'Locate' button. A dialog box will
appear for you to enter a search string. Press RETURN, and the item list will
change to show only those items which match your search string. Clicking on
any item in that list will add it to the grocery list. Note that you can
return to the full list without selecting an item, by clicking on 'Locate'
and leaving the search string blank.

4.4 - The Grocery List

  Begin a new grocery list by clicking the 'New' button in the Grocery Menu.
Note that grocery items which have been set with "staple" quantities will be
entered automatically into your grocery list.

  Add items to your grocery list by clicking on the desired item in the item
list. Repeated selection of the same item will increase the items quantity
and not duplicate the item in the grocery list.

  You can decrease the quantity of a selected item by RIGHT clicking on the
quantity (NOT the Item Title). Reducing an item to a quantity of zero will
remove that item from your grocery list.

  The grocery list may be printed by clicking on the 'Print' button. The list
will be sorted so that items are grouped by area and separated by store.

5 - Calendar Menu

  The Calendar Menu allows you to attach recipes to any calendar date. In
addition, you can enter personal notes on any date for birthdays, holidays,
or other events. There is no limit on the number of events you may enter, and
any multiple events can be placed on a single date.

  The Calendar Menu is divided into two sections, the calendar display on the
left, and the event list on the right. You may move from one month to the
next by clicking on the arrow buttons at the top of the calendar display. You
can move from one year to the next by clicking on the arrow buttons at the
bottom of the calendar display.

  To enter a note on a specific date, click twice on the desired date in the
calendar display. A dialog box will appear allowing you to enter your desired
note.

  To attach a recipe to a specific date, click twice on the desired date in
the Calendar Menu. A dialog box will appear. Click the 'Recipe' button to
attach the currently selected recipe. Note that you must first select a
record in the Index Menu, View Menu, etc. before you can attach a recipe.

  It is also possible to "Drag" a recipe from the Index Menu or View Menu,
and have it added automatically to the current date.

  Once an event is set on the Calendar, it can easily be moved to a new date
by "Dragging" the event from the event list, to the new date on the calendar
display. An event is removed from the event list by RIGHT clicking on the
desired event.

  The 'Wipe' button allows you to completely clear the event list.

  To print the event list click on the 'Print' button in the Calendar Menu.
The list of events will be printed. Note that only the titles of attached
records will be printed in the list, and not the entire record.

6 - Batch Menu

  The batch menu is used when you want to print or export multiple records at
one time.

  To add a record to the batch menu, simply "Drag" the record title to the
'Batch' button at the bottom of the screen. This can be done from the Index
Menu or the View Menu. You can also drag a chapter title to the batch button
in the Index Menu, and have the entire chapter added to the batch list.

  To remove a record from the batch menu, RIGHT click on the record title you
want to remove in the batch list.

  If you want to print the records in the batch list, click on the 'Print'
button in the batch menu.

  If you want to export the records in the batch list, click on the 'Export'
button in the batch menu. Then select whether you want the "Home Cookin" or
"Meal-Master" export format. The file selector will appear for you to enter a
filename. Click on 'OK' to start the export process.

7 - Find Menu

  The Find Menu allows you to search the entire database for any string in
any part of the recipes you have stored.

  To begin a search, click on the 'New Search' button in the Find Menu. A
dialog box will appear allowing you to enter your search string. Home Cookin
will then scan through the recipes and build a list of all records matching
your search criteria.

  To view a record in the Find List, click twice on the desired record. The
view menu will appear and all occurances of your search string will be
highlighted in the record text. You may switch between the Find Menu and the
View Menu as often as you wish. The find list will remain intact until you
perform a 'New Search'.

8 - Setup Menu

  The setup menu is where you will find the program version number, release
date, and the total number of recipes stored in your database. It is also
where you can customize a few items in Home Cookin.

  The "Import Maximum" item is used to limit the number of recipes a chapter
can have when importing recipes. This affects ONLY importing, and is used to
prevent chapters from getting too large when importing large recipe files. If
a chapter reaches the import maximum, another new chapter is created with the
same name as the first and any further recipes are imported there. This field
may be set between 20 and 65000 recipes. The default of 500 recipes is
recommended to avoid sluggish operation that a large chapter would create.

  The "Title Font", "Text Font", and "Report Font" items allow you to select
the fonts you wish to use for printing. The Title and Text fonts are used for
recipes. The Report Font is used when printing the grocery list or calendar
events.

  The "Import Path" and "Export Path" allow you to define a default path for
importing and exporting. You are always free to import/export to any path,
but the paths specified here will always come up as the default.

8.1 - Color Adjustments

  The "Adjust Colors" button in the setup menu is used to modify the colors
used in the user interface. Clicking on this button will bring up a control
panel that lists the various segments of the user interface. Next to the list
is a simple RGB display (Red/Green/Blue) of the selected color.

  Modifying a color is as simple as selecting the item you want to change,
and then using the mouse to drag the R, G, and B sliders to the colors you
desire.

  To get you started, a number of preset interface options are already
defined and may be accessed by pressing the number keys (1,2,3,etc.). You may
use these presets as is, or use them as a starting point for your own
preferences.