Fritz: All Fritz

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

/ Fritz: All Fritz / All Fritz.zip / All Fritz / FILES / CATAGING / COINFILE.LZH / COIN311.DOC < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1991-09-04 | 60KB | 1,295 lines

COINFILE 3.11 A coin inventory system for MS-DOS computer systems by John R. Duchek Duchek Computer Services P.O. Box 25006 St. Louis, MO 63125 (314)-544-1843 Copyright 1985-1990 USER SUPPORTED PROGRAMS TABLE OF CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION: Shareware Information.............................3 System Features...................................3 Changes in this version...........................4 II. USING THE PROGRAM: Getting Started...................................6 COINFILE 3.11 Installation........................6 Floppy system Hard disk Inventorying your collections Upgrading from COINFILE 2.0x to 3.11..............7 Upgrading from COINFILE 3.0x to 3.11..............8 Using the Main Menu ..............................9 Opening a File (O)................................9 Printing Utility (P).............................10 Data File Editing (D)............................11 Want File Editing (W)............................13 File Name/Desc/MAC Editing (F)...................14 Coin Installation Parameters (C).................14 Drive/Directory Setup (D)...................15 Printer Installation (P)....................15 Make Inventory Sheets (I)...................17 Label Printing (L)..........................17 Close All Files and End (E)......................18 III. FILE INFORMATION: Programs Included in the Package.................19 File Formats.....................................20 DATATRAK.SEQ.............................20 COINSTAL.SEQ, DATAFILES..................21 WANTFILES................................22 IV. APPENDIX: Author's Comments................................23 Warranty.........................................23 Registration.....................................24 I. INTRODUCTION: Shareware Information If you find COINFILE 3.11 to be useful to you, you are asked to send a contribution to its author: John R. Duchek Duchek Computer Services P.O. Box 25006 St. Louis, MO 63125 COINFILE 3.11 can be registered for $30.00. Registered users can upgrade from version 3.0x to 3.11 for $7.00 or from 2.0x to 3.11 for $12.00. For a copy of this manual in pamphlet form include an additional $5.00. Both Canadian and American want files are available. New registered users can have their choice with the program. The other is available for an additional $10.00. By sending this contribution you become a registered user of COINFILE. This enables me to send you information on updates of the software as well as information on other programs. In addition your contribution entitles you to the most current version of COINFILE including all of the "want files". These want files (38 in all) can be made by using the COINFILE 3.11 program although it is more convenient to already have them on disk. 3 common want files are included to allow you to get started inventorying your coin collection while waiting for the registered disk to come. You are free to make copies of COINFILE 3.11 (shareware version with 3 want files; but not the registered version.) and to share them with others. You are not permitted to sell COINFILE 3.11 nor can you include it with any other product you are distributing. You may not modify the programs in any way. Shareware distributors may charge up to a $5.00 in disk copying fees when distributing this program. Registered users are supported by the following: I will correspond with users of the program to help with any difficulties they have running the program. Calls to discuss any problems are at the users expense between 7 and 10 PM Central Time. Letters and suggestions for program improvements are welcome. SYSTEM FEATURES COINFILE 3.11 runs on IBM compatible computers with at least 512 K of memory, 2 floppy disk drives, color or monochrome monitor, and an DOS version 3.0 or above. A printer is highly recommended. COINFILE 3.11 is a set of programs and data and want files designed and written for my own use to keep an accurate inventory of my coin collections. It has several unique features not found in other inventory systems. COINFILE 3.11 is written in QuickBasic 4.5 and is compiled in order to provide fast response. In COINFILE 3.11, the COIN.EXE program controls everything. Each collection has two files - a data file and a want file. For Buffalo nickels there is a file with your data (NICKBUF.DAT) and a file with an image of what coins a full Buffalo nickel collection should contain (NICKBUF.WNT). The WNT file is used in several ways by the program. It allows the program to print a want list for your collection by comparing what you have with what you need. It also allows an inventory help sheet to be printed which can help you inventory your collections. The printout utilities allow you to print out all coins of all collections with descriptions and updated prices. This is very useful in insuring your coin collections. Most insurers will insure only individual coins, not collections. In order to have all of your coins insured a full list of your coins with current prices and descriptions is necessary and COINFILE 3.11 will provide it. This allows you to keep your coin collections at home where you can enjoy them rather than in a bank vault. Using your coin data and the included "want files" COINFILE 3.11 can produce up-to-date want lists for any of your coin collections. COINFILE 3.11 comes with most common collection want files already on disk and the capability of customizing these to meet your exact needs. It also can write new custom want files under your direction. It is simple to generate a want list for a collection. The want list prints the coins you do not have and the coins and their grades which you do have but which are inferior to the minimal grade you specify for each collection (fillers). COINFILE 3.11 allows you to produce labels to stick onto your 2x2 coin holders using commonly available self adhesive address labels. This is particularly useful to use just after inventorying a collection to check your work. I developed COINFILE as a simple system to learn and use. Installation parameters can be set from the main menu and most printers can be set up for use with this system. Through it the control codes for setting up the printer can be easily installed. The COINFILE 3.11 system is copyrighted (1985-1990) by John Duchek of Duchek Computer Services. The registered COINFILE system comes on an MS-DOS readable double-sided double-density 5.25" disk unless otherwise requested (720K, DSDD 3.5" diskettes are available on request). The COINFILE 3.11 system supports keeping track of the condition, purchase price, purchase date and the current value. All interactions with the various files discussed in this documentation are automatic and handled by the program. The only exception is the initial naming of a want file (or a data file if no corresponding want file is created). Ease of use is the biggest asset of this system, and it can be used with only occasional reference to this documentation. The number of keystrokes per entry is a low as I could possibly make it. When you are entering a lot of coins, this is a feature you will love. Summary of changes from version 2.0x and 3.0x 1. Both monochrome and color monitors are supported in this version. Monochrome (2.0x version) will no longer be supported. 2. Provision for locating duplicate coins in your collection has been added. 3. Coin collection totals (current value and cost) are displayed and printed. 4. Percent value increases are listed on list display and printouts. int((curr. value/purchase)-1)*100 5. Version 3.0 bug repair which crashed file display at 47 files (full screen). A total of 100 data files are currently allowed. 6. The printing utilities will now print out sets of files so that you can print out all of your collections which start with CENT or NICK or HALF with one command. 7. Printouts now use whole pages for each collection and are paginated. II USING THE PROGRAM: GETTING STARTED Please note that some VGA and EGA cards must be set to CGA using their own software in order to display the screens in this program properly. COINFILE 3.11 Installation Before attempting to use COINFILE 3.11 you should be certain it is installed properly. First you MUST run the INSTALL.EXE program. Answer the questions about your system and COINFILE 3.1 will install itself. COINFILE 3.1 requires a minimum of 2 floppy drives and runs best on a system with a hard disk. Installing on a floppy system: To do a floppy drive installation you MUST have two formatted floppy diskettes ready. If you wish to make the program disk 'bootable' you should install your MS-DOS or PC-DOS system files before attempting the installation. DO NOT put your whole DOS system on the boot-up diskette since there will not be enough disk space left for the COINFILE 3.1 programs. Check your DOS book for instructions on transfering your system using the SYS command. Put the COINFILE disk in B: and run INSTALL.EXE. The compuer will set up the program disk on A: and the Data disk on B: Installation of COINFILE 3.1 on floppies will put the programs and want files on the disk to be run from drive A: and your data files will be written to the blank formatted disk in B:. Once installed, put the Program disk in A: and the Data disk in B: and start the program by typing COIN. Installing on a hard disk: Coinfile will install itself in a subdirectory \COIN31. The want files will be put into \COIN31\WANT and the data files will be written into \COIN31\DATA. A 'COIN.BAT' file will be written in your main directory to so that you can start the program by typing 'coin'. Inventorying your collections: On your purchase of COINFILE 3.11, the first thing you need to do is to accurately inventory your coin collection. If you have a large collection of coins, taking an inventory is a long job. It is best to do it one series at a time, and do the job well so that mistakes are minimized. The computer can print an "inventory sheet" to assist you for any collection which has a want file associated with it. This sheet lists out the dates and mints in a collection and leaves blanks for the condition, value, purchase price and date. At the bottom of each collection blanks are left for any coin you feel is not suitably named in the want file. These coins should be added to the want file before a want list is generated. Your copy of COINFILE 3.11 comes on an MS-DOS 360 K 5.25" DSDD data diskette. It is also available on a 720 K DSDD 3.5" diskette. In both cases there is no system on the disk and if you wish the disk to be self-booting you should provide a copy of your system files. It is sensible to use the COINFILE 3.11 diskette for a safe copy so the first thing to do is make your working copy of the program. Copy the coinfile disk using your DISKCOPY command. Use the copy for installing COINFILE. After installation, if you wish to change installation parameters, you may do so from the COINFILE INSTALLATION MENU which is described as part of the main menu section. Upgrading from COINFILE 2.0x to 3.11 COINFILE 2.0x was written in generic Microsoft BASIC and compiled. COINFILE 3.11 was written in Quick BASIC 4.50 and compiled. Quick BASIC random data files are written in a different format (IEEE) than those in Microsoft BASIC (Microsoft). For this reason data files from version 2.0x must be "converted" for use with version 3.11. A new user of version 3.11 need not concern himself with this, but users of version 2.04 must convert their data files or retype them in. Since version 3.11 runs on color or monochrome, version 2.0x is no longer supported. The program DATACNVT.EXE is included in the COINFILE 3.11 package (registered version only). This program automatically converts all of the data files listed in the DATATRAK.SEQ file from the old format (2.0x) to the new format(3.1). One needs no conversion of files to go from version 3.0x to 3.11. To use it you need to : 1. MAKE A BACKUP COPY OF YOUR DATA FILES just in case you make a mistake. 2. Install COINFILE 3.1 as if you were a new user. 3. copy all of your v2.0x data files to a new subdirectory or diskette. 4. copy DATATRAK.SEQ to the same subdirectory or diskette. 5. rename your data files to saf files (REN *.dat *.saf) 6. copy DATACNVT.EXE from the Version 3.0 disk into this subdirectory or diskette. 7. type DATACNVT<CR> The program will read the DATATRAK.SEQ and load in your files one at a time and re-write them. It will make the output file have the ending ".DAT". You can then copy these files back into the COIN subdirectory to replace your old data files. The new data files will not work with the old coin program (2.0x). Want files do not need to be converted. The COINSTAL.SEQ file has changed format and its printer parameters and directory information will have to be typed in. 8. Copy your data files into the \COIN31\DATA subdirectory if you are using a hard disk, or to the \DATA subdirectory on your data diskette if you are running from floppy disk. 9. Copy the DATATRAK.SEQ file into the \COIN31 subdirectory. The new version should now be ready to go. Upgrading from COINFILE 3.0x to COINFILE 3.11 1. MAKE A BACKUP OF YOUR DATAFILES and DATATRAK.SEQ in case you make a mistake. 2. Install COINFILE 3.11 as if you were a new user. 3. HARD DRIVE: Copy your data files (from \COIN30\DATA) into \COIN31\DATA. Copy DATATRAK.SEQ from \COIN30 to \COIN31. If you have made changes in the want files, copy your versions of the want files from \COIN30\WANT to \COIN31\WANT. When you have confirmed that version 3.1 is working correctly, you may delete the version 30 files. 4. FLOPPIES: Data disk B: may be used as is. You must copy the DATATRAK.SEQ file from your 3.0 program disk to the \COIN31 subdirectory of the new version. Be sure to confirm that the new version recognizes your data before destroying your 3.0 program disk. If the program does not seem to be running properly, it is probably due to the installation not being completed properly. Many of the installation parameters can be checked from the coinfile installation section of the main menu. The use of this is discussed in the Main Menu section of the documentation. Some problems which are not bugs which you may run across : 1. If you manage to illegally leave the COIN.EXE program by removing the disk from the machine before files were properly written and closed then data may disappear. This may be data in a data file, want file or if it is in the DATATRAK.SEQ file COIN.EXE may no longer recognize whole files. The proper way to leave COIN.EXE is through the main menu entry "E" although you may get by simply removing the disk at many menu points. (i.e you may or may not get by with it.) 2. File not found at ABCD:WXYZ. This error message means that you have tried to load a file which does not exist. This could be due to number 1 above. It more likely is due to your file not being on the disk or subdirectory that the computer was told to look on. If you decide to keep your want files on drive B: with your data files and you did not update using the Installation section of the main menu, the computer will be looking on drive A: for your want files. Commonly asked questions: 1. When I press 'O' from the main menu, the program shows that there are no files to open. How do I get started? A. The files accessed here are the ones that you make (data files). If you are just starting out and haven't put any of your data in, this display will be blank. To get started, go to the Data Editing menu and choose one of the two ways to start a new file. Once you start a new file and put data into it, that file can be opened from the the main menu 'O' command. 2. When I try to run COINFILE, I get "file not found" errors and cannot get the main menu to display. What am I doing wrong? A. This is an indication that COINFILE has not been installed correctly. Delete all of the COINFILE programs and re-install the system, being sure to answer all of the questions in the install procedure. USING THE MAIN MENU: ╔════════════════════════════╗ ║ COIN DATA PROCESSING MENU ║ ╚════════════════════════════╝ ╔══════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ FILE DESC: NO FILE IS OPEN ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════╝ Open an Existing Collection File ┌───────────────────────┐ Printing Utility │ COINFILE Installation │ │ │ Data File Editing │ Make Inventory Sheet │ │ │ Want File Editing │ Label Printing │ └───────────────────────┘ File Name/Desc/MAC Editing ┌─────────────────────────┐ │ Close All Files and End │ └─────────────────────────┘ Once the coin collection has been inventoried, it is ready to be put into the computer. Type "COIN". After several seconds a menu (the main menu shown above) will appear on your CRT screen. This menu controls all of the functions of COINFILE 3.11. Opening a File (O) New data files are started in the Data Editing menu, not here. This section opens EXISTING files. Before you can work on an existing file, you must open it. When COINFILE 3.11 starts the main menu states under the file description that no file is open. To open an existing file, enter "O". You will be shown a list of available files: INDEX FILE DESCRIPTION INDEX FILE DESCRIPTION ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── 1 3CENTNIC = Three Cent Coins 2 3CENTSIL = Silver Three Cents 3 CENHALF = Half Cents 4 CENTEAGL = Flying Eagle Cents 5 CENTIND = Indian Cents 6 CENTLIN = Lincoln Cents 7 CENTLRG = Large Cents 8 DIMEBUST = Capped Bust Dimes 9 DIMELIB = Liberty Dimes 10 DIMEMER = Mercury Dimes 11 DIMEROO = Roosevelt Dimes 12 DIMESEAT = Seated Liberty Dme 13 DIMHALF = Half Dimes 14 DOLLIKE = Eisenhower Dollars 15 DOLLMOR = Morgan Silver Dllrs16 DOLLPEA = Peace Dollars 17 DOLLSBA = S.B.A. Dollars 18 HALFCAP = Capped Bust Halves 19 HALFCOM = Commerative Halves 20 HALFFRA = Franklin Halves 21 HALFKEN = Kennedy Halves 22 HALFLIB = Liberty Halves 23 HALFSEAT = Seated Lib. Halve 24 HALFWAL = Liberty Wlkng Half 25 MINTSET = Uncirc. Mint Sets 26 NICKBUF = Buffalo Nickels 27 NICKJEF = Jefferson Nickels 28 NICKLIB = Liberty Nickels 29 NICKSHLD = Shield Nickels 30 PROFSET = Proof Sets 31 QUARLIB = Liberty Quarters 32 QUARSEAT = Seat. Lib. Quartrs 33 QUARSLI = Stand. Lib Quartrs 34 QUARWAS = Washington Quartrs 35 TWOCENT = Two Cent Coins Number of the file to be opened : ? Enter the index number of the file you wish to work with followed by a <CR> (carriage return). You will be returned to the main menu and the file you opened should be displayed in the FILE DESC. area on the menu. Printing Utility (P) The printing utility may not be entered until the printer is ready. If your printouts do not look correct, it is probably your printer setup which is incorrect. See the Installation menu to correct it. Once a file is open and P is pressed, the following menu will appear: ╔══════════════════╗ ║ PRINTING UTILITY ║ ╚══════════════════╝ ╔══════════════════════════════╦══════════════════════════════╗ ║ FILE DESC: Three Cent Coins ║ FILE SETS: ║ ╚══════════════════════════════╬══════════════════════════════╝ A Print Active File ║ E Print File Set B Print Want List for File ║ F Print Want List Set C Print Active File Want List ║ G Print File Set+ Want List Set D Print Related Want File ║ H Print Want File Set ═══════════════════════════════╩═══════════════════════════════ I Print Insurance List (no purchase price or date) J Print DATATRAK.SEQ File Information ┌─────────────────────────┐ │ Main Menu │ └─────────────────────────┘ There are two parallel menus here. On the left are the printing utilities for the active file. On the right are the same utilities for file sets. A. Prints current active file (see file description displayed on screen). Year, mint, condition, value, purchase price and date, and % value increase. The value and purchase price are totaled. and overall % value increase displayed. B. Calculates the want list for the currently named file and prints it. C. Prints both of the above for the currently active file. D. Prints the want file itself to help you find what each entry is currently called. This is useful for properly naming your coins. E. Prints the same output as in selection A for selected files in your collection. Selected collections are totaled and a grand total is printed. F. Prints the same output as in selection B for selected files. G. Prints coin files and want files for selected files. H. Prints selected want files which are active (have collections associated with them. I. Prints output to be sent to insurance company. This is a list of coins, conditions, and current value. All collection values are totaled and a grand total is printed. J. Prints out the information contained in the DATATRAK.SEQ file. This file is important since it controls all of the set parameters for the collection files. M. Returns control to main menu. Data File Editing (D) Data File Editing is used to write new files or to edit existing files. To edit existing files you must first open the file at the main menu and then enter "D". In general you should have a file open before using this entry. The exception is when you write a new file (S or W) you use this menu. (see getting started). ╔════════════════════════════════╗ ║ DATA FILE EDITING AND UPDATING ║ ╚════════════════════════════════╝ ╔══════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ FILE DESC: Three Cent Coins ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════╝ Add New Entries Delete Current Entries Change Current File List Current File Update Coin Values For Entire File Start New Coin File Start New Coin File with Want File Assistance Kill Current File Find Duplicate Coins in Collection ┌─────────────────────────┐ │ Main Menu │ └─────────────────────────┘ This menu is reached by entering a "D" at the main menu. It expects that there is an active file in memory (chosen by main menu selection A) for choices A-E below. Since S and W generate a new file there should be no active file in memory when it is chosen. Note that the active file name is displayed on screen. All edited files are sorted before being written to disk. A. This routine calculates the century and allows you to add new coins to a collection. It uses the same routine as (F) except that it appends the coins to an already existing file. The century is calculated from the last coin in collection. D. This choice allows you to remove data from an existing file. Give the computer the year you are interested in and it will display all the coins of that year in the file with index numbers. Simply input the index no. of the entry to be deleted. An entry of '0' reverses the process by one step. C. Uses the same system as entry B but once you specify a particular coin it allows changes of the year, mint, condition, value, purchase price or date. L. Displays the current file on the CRT screen pausing at each full screen. The display can start at any date and quit at the end of any screen. U. Goes through the entire file to allow you to update coin values. Simply hit enter to retain an old value. Provision is made to stop after any coin. S. Starts a new coin file from scratch. Writes file name and information to DATATRAK.SEQ and takes data from keyboard, sorts and writes data file. The "S" option requires that you put in year, mint, condition, value, purchase price and date. This option is good for new collections which are very incomplete. The computer will ask you for the "Century of the collection." This number will be added to the year of your entries if the number your enter is less than 100. Thus the year 1910 can be entered as "1910" or as "10" if 1900 was the specified century. You will be asked for the data one at a time. To exit the program and save the file, input a `0' for the year. Later additions to the file can be made through the same editing menu but using choice A. In this case the century is automatically set from the last coin in the file. W. Starts a new coin file by loading a want file and displaying it one coin at a time. It saves typing since you don't have to enter the year and mint. Simply hit enter to eliminate the displayed coin from the data file. Duplicate coins can be added later through the normal editing routine. The "W" option uses an existing want file for dates and mints so that you only have to put in the condition, value, purchase price and date. A carriage return for the purchase price inputs the current value. A carriage return for the date inputs the current date. This option is useful after inventorying (using the inventory sheet) an extensive collection. Duplicate coins can be added to the file later using the editing menu. Once you have a file in, further file handling is done using then various menus available (Main, Editing, Datatrak, Want, Print). Directions for using these are on the following pages. Anytime a DATATRAK.SEQ, data file, or want file is written to disk it is properly sorted first. Since this is true, You need not worry about the order you put data in or how the file gets back into order after you make a change. K. This deletes (kills) the current data file. This is the only proper way to accomplish this since the program must update DATATRAK.SEQ. F. This is a new feature which locates and prints duplicate coins in a collection. This is useful to see what you can sell or trade. M. Returns control to the Main Menu. Want File Editing (W) This menu is reached by entering "W" from the main menu. This menu allows you to edit the existing want files or write new ones. To escape, hit enter for the file name. ╔════════════════════════════════╗ ║ WANT FILE EDITING AND UPDATING ║ ╚════════════════════════════════╝ ╔══════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ FILE DESC: Three Cent Coins ║ ║ WANT FILE NAME: 3CENTNIC.WNT ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════╝ Add New Entries Delete Current Entries Change Current Entries List Want File Generate a New Want File Open a current Want File Kill Current Want File ┌─────────────────────────┐ │ Main Menu │ └─────────────────────────┘ A. Add new entries to the want file. While in this area you can enter '0'(zero) to back up one command. D. Remove entries from the want file. Enter '0' to back up one command. C. Change entries to want file. All of these routines sort before writing. L. Displays the want file on the CRT screen. G. Generates a new want file. Use of this requires a little practice. You give the first year, last year and mint and it sets up all the years in between. Keep doing this until all the mints are covered. The routine then gives you a chance to delete individual entries. Finally, you can add special coins (D/S) etc. The routine then sorts the file and writes it to disk. O. Opens a current want file from the want files available so that it can be edited. K. This command deletes the current want file. It does ask for confirmation before deleting. M. Return control to main menu. File Name/Desc/MAC Editing (F) This menu is reached by entering "F" at the main menu and it allows you to edit the DATATRAK.SEQ file. This file keeps track of all of your data files and want files, and stores information such as the minimum acceptable condition (MAC) for each file. This is used to determine which coins are fillers when producing a want list. When this menu selection is chosen the menu below is displayed: ╔════════════════════╗ ║ EDIT DATATRAK FILE ║ ╚════════════════════╝ Change File Name Change File Description Change the Minimum Acceptable Condition ┌─────────────────────────┐ │ Main Menu │ └─────────────────────────┘ N. This will display all file names and descriptions. Simply choose the index number wanted and give the new file name. When you return to the menu the DATATRAK file is sorted and copied to disk. D. This uses the same display as N but now asks for file descriptions to be changed. When you return to the menu the DATATRAK file is sorted and copied to disk. C. Each data file has a "minimum acceptable condition" associated with it. This is the minimum condition desirable in the file. When making up a want list any coin below this condition is noted on the want list as if it was a filler and a better one is desired. If any coin is acceptable, put a 1 as your minimum acceptable condition. M. Returns control to main menu. Installation Parameters (C from main menu) If the program does not seem to be running correctly, check the installation parameters. To look at the installation parameters, type "C": ╔════════════════════════════╗ ║ COINFILE INSTALLATION MENU ║ ╚════════════════════════════╝ ┌────────────────────────────┐ │ Drives, Subdirectories │ │ │ │ Printer Parameters │ │ │ │ Data Sources │ └────────────────────────────┘ Write revised COINSTAL.SEQ and Return You are given 4 choices in the installation menu. D, P, S, and W. Let's discuss these one at a time: Drive/Directory Setup (D) The initial installation program will automatically set these parameters to the proper settings after asking you what drive set up your computer has. If you wish to change these settings you may set up the directories manually and use this menu to assign the directories. By entering "D" at the installation menu, you can assign where COINFILE 3.11 looks to find the data files and want files. This menu appears: A. Want file drive and subdirectory : C:\COIN31\WANT\ B. Data file drive and subdirectory : C:\COIN31\DATA\ R. to return If you have two floppy drives, I recommend that the programs be kept on A: and the data and want files be kept on B:. In this situation, the entries above should be "B:\" for both item A and item B. If you have a hard disk (C:) with your programs in subdirectory "COIN" I recommend that you keep your data and want files in separate subdirectories \COIN\DATA\ and \COIN\WANT\. Notice that this works slightly differently than in COINFILE 2.0x. In that version to put the files in the same subdirectories you would specify \DATA\ and \WANT\ (it would assume that your programs were in whatever directory you were running from.) To return to the Installation Menu, enter "R" Printer Installation (P) COINFILE 3.11 allows you to put in the necessary control codes for your printer. The Data Source classification allows file printouts to refer to your method of grading and where you get pricing information. All installation procedures are started from the main menu of COINFILE 3.11 by entering "I". PRINTER SETTING EPSON GEMINI 10X YOURS ================================================================= 17 CHAR/INCH 27 33 68 27 66 3 _______ 12 CHAR/INCH 27 33 65 27 66 2 _______ 10 CHAR/INCH 27 33 64 27 66 1 _______ DOUBLE WIDTH 14 14 _______ SKIP OVER PERFORATION 27 78 12 27 78 12 _______ AND BOTTOM MARGIN TOP MARGIN 0 0 _______ LEFT MARGIN 27 77 10 27 77 10 _______ PRINTER RESET 27 64 27 64 _______ SET LINES/PAGE 27 67 66 27 67 66 _______ TOP OF PAGE 12 12 _______ COINFILE 3.11 comes set up for an EPSON FX-80 printer. Those settings and the settings for a Gemini 10X printer are given. By typing "P" at the installation menu, the following printer menu will be shown: ╔════════════════════════════╗ ║ CURRENT PRINTER PARAMETERS ║ ╚════════════════════════════╝ █████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████ █ █ █ INDEX │ CODE TYPE │ PRINTER CONTROL CODE █ █ █ █████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████████ │ A │ 17 Char/Inch Mode │ 27 33 68 │ │ B │ 12 Char/In │ 27 33 65 │ │ C │ 10 Char/In │ 27 33 64 │ │ D │ Double Width Mode │ 14 │ │ E │ Skip over perf/Bottom Margin │ 27 78 12 │ │ F │ Top Margin │ 0 │ │ G │ Left Margin │ 27 77 10 │ │ H │ Printer Reset │ 27 64 │ │ I │ Set Lines/Page │ 27 67 66 │ │ J │ Top of Page │ 12 │ └─────────┴──────────────────────────────┴──────────────────────┘ R to return All of these are defined as strings of ASCII code and are displayed as decimal numbers on the menu. By choosing a menu item you are then asked to give the control codes your printer uses. These can be any length although if they are longer than 4 the display above will look peculiar. This setup can "trick" the program into giving you almost anything you want. If you wanted all italics in your output, simply tack the italics control codes for your printer after the printer reset codes. The printer is reset before every printout so you will reset to whatever state you like. All margins and print sizes are under your control. (This may cause your printer to overrun the line if you use unreasonable values.). If you don't want the double width titles simply reset that mode set to '0'. The program is quite flexible within the limits of your printer. Enter "R" to return to the Installation Menu. DATA SOURCES (S) Choose this entry by entering "S". It will display the current method of pricing and grading your coins and give you an opportunity to change it. The comments here are printed with each printout of any file. Both price and coin sources are requested once you are in this menu. Pressing "ENTER" will retain the current information. After both are changed the program automatically returns to the Installation Menu. Current price source: Red Book (A Guide to the Prices of U. S. Coins) Current coin grading: Photograde: A Coin Grading Guide Give me the source of your current coin values (Red Book, Blue Book, etc.) : Returning to the Main Menu (W) To return to the main menu, press the letter W. The program will ask you to save or abort the changes you have made. If you choose A, the COINSTAL.SEQ file will NOT be written and you will be returned to the main menu. If you choose S, COINSTAL.SEQ will be rewritten with the changes which you have made, and you will be returned to the main menu. Make Inventory Sheet (I) You can prepare an inventory work sheet using the want files. To do this, enter "I" at the main menu. A list of available want files will be displayed: C:\COIN 3CENTNIC.WNT 3CENTSIL.WNT CENHALF .WNT CENTEAGL.WNT DIMHALF .WNT DOLLIKE .WNT DOLLMOR .WNT DOLLPEA .WNT DOLLSBA .WNT HALFCAP .WNT HALFFRA .WNT HALFKEN .WNT NICKBUF .WNT NICKJEF .WNT NICKLIB .WNT NICKSHLD.WNT QUARWAS .WNT TWOCENT .WNT DOLLTRAD.WNT DOLLBUST.WNT DOLLSEAT.WNT DOLLGOLD.WNT XXXXXXXXXX Bytes free File name of want file to be printed as inventory sheet : ? Choose the file name corresponding to the collection you want to inventory and type it in (adding the ".wnt" is not necessary). A file description will then be asked for. Your answer will be used as a title for the print-out. The inventory work sheet will be printed out with a few blanks at the end to add coins that you feel should be in the collection that are not in the want file. The should be added to the want file using the want file editor before trying to print a want list. Label Printing (L) This option is designed to print out small labels which can be used with the 2 x 2s that many coin collectors use to store their coins. A secondary purpose I have found useful is that it makes it easy to check the inventory you have made. If you print labels for a data file and you cannot locate a coin to match each label or a label with the correct grading for each coin, you are alerted to a problem with the inventory. The label print menu is shown: ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ This routine is designed to print small labels for 2 X 2 coin │ │ holders. Due to the practical limitations on the size of address │ │ labels for computer printers (very small labels tend to come off │ │ inside printer), this routine has been designed to use 3 by │ │ 15/16" labels which are easily available. The program will print │ │ 6 small labels on each. These can be cut apart and each small │ │ label will still have a peelable edge. │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ████████████████████████████████████ ██ │ │ ██ ██──────────┼──────────┼──────────██ Cut on lines ██ │ │ ██ ████████████████████████████████████ ╔════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ FILE DESC: Kennedy Halves ║ ╠════════════════════════════════════════╣ ║ LABEL PRINTING MENU ║ ╠════════════════════════════════════════╣ Q TO Quit ║ Print All Labels from data file ║ ║ Print Section of Labels from data file ║ ║ Pick and Choose Labels from data file ║ ║ Print Individual Labels ║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════╝ Since most printers have trouble using very small labels (They fall off and get stuck in the printer) this label printing program was designed for 3 1/2 x 15/16 inch single wide address labels. The program prints 6 coin labels on each address label as shown: page 21 1968 D 1968 P 1968 S 65 20 SCRATCH 60 1969 D 1969 P 1969 S 20 12 DIRTY 65 Two continuous scissor cuts separate the columns of labels. One additional cut separates label pairs. All six labels have an edge to separate them from their backing. I usually try to keep the columns together until I am ready to stick them to the 2x2. The labels are small enough not to interfere with viewing the coin except in the case of the dollar coins which have very narrow borders. Half-dollar 2x2s may occasionally have trouble if the labels are long. The coin is protected by the clear Mylar from the label in any case. The Label printing routine uses a menu to allow you to print out a whole data file or a partial (but continuous) data file. It will also allow you to go through a data file and "pick and choose" the ones you want to print. A fourth menu selection allows you to manually put in and print any labels you might wish. Close All Files and End (E) E. This entry does system housekeeping and properly closes all files and returns you to the operating system. This is the only proper exit from the program. III. FILE INFORMATION: PROGRAMS INCLUDED IN THE PACKAGE: The COINFILE 3.11 package consists of these compiled QUICK BASIC programs: COIN.EXE - main inventory program COINADD.COL COINADD.BAW These are the color DATAEDIT.COL DATAEDIT.BAW and monochrome screen DATATRAK.COL DATATRAK.BAW displays. Only one INSTCOIN.COL INSTCOIN.BAW set of these will be INSTPRNT.COL INSTPRNT.BAW installed. LABLCOIN.COL LABLCOIN.BAW LOGOCOIN.COL LOGOCOIN.BAW MAINMENU.COL MAINMENU.BAW PRINTUTL.COL PRINTUTL.BAW WANTEDIT.COL WANTEDIT.BAW DATACNVT.EXE - converts data from version 2.0x format to COINFILE 3.11 format. This program is included in registered copies of COINFILE 3.11. INSTALL.EXE -installs system onto your hard or floppy disk system. The program MUST be installed properly to work properly. and these data files: COINSTAL.SEQ - printer/disk information. DATATRAK.SEQ - datafile information. COINDOC.COM - this documentation file (IN COMPRESSED FORMAT). PRINTDOC.BAT - Batch file to print COIN31.DOC COIN.BAT - installed in your main directory to run COINFILE. Other files ending with the ".DAT" descriptors are the user generated files containing the inventoried coins. The file name used must match the file name used for the want file ".WNT". If your Lincoln cent collection uses the want file "CENTLIN.WNT" then your data file must be named "CENTLIN.DAT" (or both names must be changed to match). There are no ".DAT" files included in this package since your coins have not been input. From a user viewpoint, ".DAT" and ".WNT" suffixes are taken care of by the computer - you input only the first 8 letters of the file name. The following want files are included on the REGISTERED disk: 3CENTNIC.WNT Nickel 3 cents 3CENTSIL.WNT Silver 3 cents CENHALF.WNT Half cents CENTEAGL.WNT Flying eagle cents CENTIND.WNT Indian head cents CENTLIN.WNT Lincoln cents CENTLRG.WNT Large cents DIMEBUST.WNT Bust dimes DIMELIB.WNT Liberty head dimes DIMEMER.WNT Mercury dimes DIMEROO.WNT Roosevelt dimes DIMESEAT.WNT Seated Liberty dimes DIMHALF.WNT Half dimes DOLLBUST.WNT Bust Dollars DOLLGOLD.WNT Gold Dollars DOLLIKE.WNT Eisenhower Dollars DOLLMOR.WNT Morgan Dollars DOLLPEA.WNT Peace Dollars DOLLSBA.WNT S. B. Anthony Dollars DOLLSEAT.WNT Seated Dollars DOLLTRAD.WNT Trade Dollars HALFCAP.WNT Capped halves HALFFRA.WNT Franklin halves HALFKEN.WNT Kennedy halves --inc. in shareware HALFLIB.WNT Liberty head halves HALFSEAT.WNT Seated Liberty halves HALFWAL.WNT Walking Liberty halves MINTSET.WNT Mint Sets NICKBUF.WNT Buffalo nickels NICKJEF.WNT Jefferson nickels --inc. in shareware NICKLIB.WNT Liberty head nickels NICKSHLD.WNT Shield nickels PROFSET.WNT Proof sets QUARLIB.WNT Liberty head quarters QUARSEAT.WNT Seated Liberty quarters QUARSLI.WNT Standing Liberty quarters QUARWAS.WNT Washington quarters --inc. in shareware TWOCENT.WNT Two cent pieces Since the DATATRAK.SEQ file sorts by the file name it is advisable to put all of your cent collections with the CENT first as above (CENTLIN, CENTIND). This also allows you to print out all cent collection with one command. This way all of the cent files will remain together on the list. The want files above are essentially complete lists of each collection. Some error coins and coins with special mint designations have not been included. As discussed in the coin data structure section, the program allows for this type of entry with no problem. When comparison is made with the "want file" to generate a want list, the match must be exact. I felt it was better to have the user designate these special coins to suit individual tastes. COIN.EXE is capable of editing the want files in a way that makes this simple. Three want files are included in the SHAREWARE version. FILE FORMATS: If you are a programmer, these will allow you to write new applications using the files stored by COINFILE. The data files used by COINFILE are random files. All other files are simple text files and can be viewed with the TYPE command or edited using any word processor which can edit ASCII files. I am always interested in seeing applications that you might come up with. DATATRAK.SEQ The first number in this file tells how many data items are stored in the rest of the file. Each file item consists of a file name, file description, date last used, number of coins in the collection, If there is a want file for this data file (0=no, 1=yes), and minimum acceptable condition. For example: 35 "3CENTNIC","Three Cent Coins","11-30-1985",1,1,4 "3CENTSIL","Silver Three Cent Coins","07-25-1986",1,1,4 ... and so on (up to 35 entries) COINSTAL.SEQ This file stores the following program parameters in this order: Want file drive and subdirectory Data file drive and subdirectory printer command (start 10 characters/inch) printer command (start 12 characters/inch) printer command (start 17 characters/inch) printer command (double width) printer command (skip perforations) printer command (top margin) printer command (left margin) source of current pricing information source of current grading information printer command (printer reset) printer command (page length) printer command (top of form) DATA FILES Each collection in the inventory is kept in a separate file. CENTLIN.DAT (or any other file) will hold entries for 1-1000 coins. If more room is desired a second collection with a name such as CENTLIN2.DAT can be started to hold another 1000. About 4 such files (a total of about 10,000 coins - 36 bytes per record x 10,000 = 360 Kbytes) can be held on an single DSDD diskette. If the files are smaller than 1000 coins each, then more files (80-100) with a total of about 10,000 (estimated) coins could be on a single diskette. A hard disk would hold much more. Each coin entry is formatted as shown : Year - any number between 1 and 32725 Mint -up to 10 characters long. For example,"D/S", "CC", "D 3 LEG" are all good designations of mint mark. In order to have the want lists prepared properly, mint designations in the data file must be identical to those in the want file ("D 3LEG" will not match "D- 3LEG"). Condition - up to 10 characters long as long as the first part of the entry is the "Sheldon numerical system of grading (1-70) as indicated in the back of "New Photograde - A Photographic Grading Guide for U.S. coins." by James F. Ruddy. Thus, conditions such as "67 NICE", "12 SCRATCH", or "4/8" are all acceptable conditions. It should be noted that the "4/8" (meaning that the obverse is 4 and the reverse 8) would by treated as a 4 when generating a want list while "8/4" would be treated as an 8. In the Sheldon system G=4, VG=8, F=12, VF=20, EF=40, AU=50, BU=60. Various designations from 60-70 are given to exceptional uncirculated coins and these correspond to designations such as "Gem BU". Value - The current value of the coin. The range allowed is from $ .01 to $99,999.99 Purchase price - The price of the coin when you bought it. The range allowed is the same as above for the value. On all input screens, a <CR>(carriage return) puts the current value into this location (unless current value retention is stated on screen.) Purchase date - The date when coin was purchased. This is put in as MM/DD/YY. If a <CR> is used on any input screen, the current date is put in (unless current value retention is specified on screen). Therefore typical entries might be : DATE MINT CONDITION VALUE P. PRICE P. DATE 1960 D LRG 50-NICE $1.10 $0.50 02/12/84 1976 D 65 BICENT $2.00 $1.50 01/23/86 1945 P 4-SCRATCH $0.15 $0.25 10/01/85 Notice that the mint and condition are in uppercase only. This is to simplify and speed searches and comparisons which the program supports. The program automatically puts these entries into uppercase so that you need not worry about it. Data files are random files in the IEEE format. The Variable types for each item are shown below in order: Year integer (2 bytes) mint string (10 bytes) condition string (10 bytes) current price single precision (4 bytes) purchase price single precision (4 bytes) purchase date string (6 bytes) Total 36 bytes/record WANT FILES The want files are files which contain all of the different coins available in a collection. This allows the program COIN.EXE to compare what you have in your collection with a "complete" collection to see what is missing. Of course, ideas differ on what a complete collection consists of. Some people feel that proof coins should be included and that certain error coins belong in a collection. In addition, how you specify a particular "error" coin such as D/S or whatever is a personal matter. It is best to print out the want files and check to see if all of the coins you consider important are present. The program is capable of editing the want files to your tastes. (See Want Files Menu Description). Each file entry consists of a year and a mint designation. As in the case of the data files, the mint designation can be 10 characters long. In order to write a want list correctly, the match between the coin in the data file and want file must be exact. Any date in the data file that is below the minimum grade you specify will be displayed as wanted along with the highest grade that you already have. The first number in this file is the number of data items stored in the rest of the file. Each file item consists of a year and mint designation. For example: 3 1929,S 1929,D 1931,P AUTHOR'S COMMENTS I use the COINFILE 3.11 system and find that the want lists are the most useful single feature. I can take these to coin shows or mail them to dealers quite conveniently. Active want files are associated with the data file of the same name (CENTLIN.DAT and CENTLIN.WNT). To get a want list of a collection, both files must be available. The want files provided with this system are not active until a data file with the same name is written to go with them. This program has been written in Quick BASIC 4.5 and extensively debugged. We use this system ourselves and any bugs that we have found have been corrected. All of our care not withstanding, it has been said that no program is ever totally bug free. We cannot guarantee perfection. It is possible that you may discover a bug; if so, we would appreciate your help in correcting it. Please note down the symptoms and what you were doing when the bug occurred and mail these to: John R. Duchek Duchek Computer Services P. O. Box 25006 St. Louis, MO 63125 We will attempt to get back to you with a correction or interpretation of the phenomenon as soon as possible. WARRANTY Duchek Computer Services will be happy to replace a defective disk if the programs are unreadable. We are not responsible for lost or incorrect data due to improper use of these programs. The COINFILE 3.11 system is provided on an as-is basis. Only REGISTERED users will be notified of major updates or improvements. This documentation is for VERSION 3.11 Quick Basic and MS-DOS are trade names of Microsoft Inc. Registration Form Name__________________________________________________________ Street (1)____________________________________________________ Street (2)____________________________________________________ City, State, Zip _____________________________________________ Type of computer______________________________________________ Monitor Type__________________________________________________ Hard Drive?_________________Size______________________________ Suggestions for Improvements__________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ ┌─┐ └─┘ Register me for the current version of Coinfile......$30.00 ┌─┐ └─┘ Send the printed manual in Pamphlet form.............$ 5.00 ┌─┐ └─┘ Upgrade registration from 2.0x.......................$12.00 ┌─┐ └─┘ Upgrade registration from 3.0x.......................$ 7.00 ┌─┐ └─┘ Canadian Want files..................................$10.00 _______ Total:$ ┌─┐ └─┘ Send 5.25" diskette ┌─┐ └─┘ Send 3.5" diskette Mail orderform to: Duchek Computer Services P.O. Box 25006 St. Louis, MO 63125 Credit card orders can be made by telephone (7:00 AM-9:00 PM Central Time) by calling (314)-544-1843 Check type of payment: __Check __MasterCard __Visa Card number:______-______-______-______ Expiration date: ______/______ Signature:________________________________ All credit card purchases are subject to authorization.