Fritz: All Fritz/All Fritz.zip/All Fritz/FILES/WORDMISC/FAME.LZH/README

Text File | 1990-05-02 | 21KB | 460 lines

                             The FAME Program

      1.0  INTRODUCTION

      FAME is a database program for poets and writers that runs on MS-
      DOS compatible computers.  The program keeps track of the poems/
      stories that you write, the publishers that you send them to, and
      the status (result) of the submission.  It also lets you know
      which poems/stories are available for submission to a particular
      publisher, factoring in whether or not the publisher accepts
      simultaneous submissions.  It even writes submission, withdrawal,
      and query letters.  FAME has the capacity to handle 198 poems/
      stories and 162 publishers.

      In addition to allowing you to update the status of your poems/
      stories, the program has a series of pre-established queries that
      provide many types of summaries.

      The program is menu driven and very user friendly.  The main menu
      is shown in table 1.

      ------------------------------------------------------------------
                                 Table 1
                                Main Menu

                             PROGRAM OPTIONS

        DATA BASE UPDATES
          A --- Add Poem Name
          B --- Change Poem Name
          C --- Delete Poem
          D --- Add Publisher Name and Related Data
          E --- Change Publisher Name or Related Data
          F --- Delete Publisher
          G --- Change Poem Status (Initialized to "Not Submitted")
          \ --- Change Date Database Maintenance Utilities
        QUERIES (Display Option Listed First, Print Option After /)
          H/I - List of Poems With Dates Written & Status (Sorted by Date)
          J/K - Alphabetized List of Poems With Status Of Each
          L/M - Alphabetized List of Publishers
          N/O - List of Poems Submitted To Selected Publisher, With Status
          P/Q - List of Publishers That Were Sent Selected Poem, With Status
          R/S - Summary of Poems For Each Status
          T --- Status Of Selected Poem For Selected Publisher
          U/V - Publishers For Whom Poems Are Outstanding
          W --- Overall Status Summary
          X/Y - Candidate Poems To Send Selected Publisher
          Z --- Create Publisher Mailing Label File or Print Letters
       Esc Key - Exit Program
                   ENTER LETTER OF OPTION
      ------------------------------------------------------------------

      During initialization, you can choose to have the word "story"
      appear in all places instead of the word "poem".  When entering an
      option, either a lower case or upper case letter may be used.  It
      is not necessary to use the ENTER key.


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      If you want to print out this file, make sure that the README file
      is in the default subdirectory.  Then enter:
                   copy README lpt1:
      at the DOS prompt.  If using a laser printer, set it for 66
      lines/page.

      2.0  DATA FILES, PROGRAM INITIALIZATION, AND PROGRAM OPERATION

      2.1  General

      Before using the FAME program, you must first initialize five
      data files (NAME.DAT, POEM.DAT, PUB.DAT, PUBAMP.DAT, and
      STATUS.DAT) using the FAMEI program.  The FAMEI program allows you
      to tailor the front screen to show your name and select if you
      want to use the word "story" or "poem".  In addition, it puts one
      test poem/story and one test publisher in the data files so that
      you can try out the queries.  After putting in real data, delete
      the test data using the Database Update routines.

      During initialization, you are asked two questions that control
      how certain things look when you use FAME to write letters to
      publishers.  The first asks if you want to use italics;  this
      effects how your name and address appear at the top of the letter.
      The second asks if you want the names of publishers contained in
      the body of the letter to be bold or enclosed in quotes.  The FAME
      programs generates commands to the printer for turning on and off
      italics and bolding, using commands that are compatible with most
      standard dot matrix printers.  For other printers these commands
      may be ignored or may be misinterpreted.  For example, one
      popular laser printer misinterprets the FAME generated "turn off
      bold" command as a "start new page" command, incorrectly splitting
      the letters into two pages.  If these commands cause problems with
      your printer, rerun the "Configuration" portion of the FAMEI
      program and select the "No Italics" and/or "Quotes Instead of
      Bold" options.

      2.2  Running on Different Computer Configurations

      2.2.1  Hard Drive

      2.2.1.1  Initialization

      If you have a hard disk and want to operate FAME from it, create a
      subdirectory for the FAME program and copy the files from the FAME
      PROGRAM disk into the subdirectory.  Make that subdirectory the
      default and then run the FAMEI program.

      2.2.1.2  Running on a Hard Drive

      To run the FAME program, make the FAME subdirectory the default
      and then enter "FAME".

      2.2.2  Floppies

      2.2.2.1  Initialization

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      If you do not have a hard disk drive (or want to operate FAME
      from floppies), place the FAME PROGRAM disk in the default drive
      and run the FAMEI program.  The program will prompt you to enter
      information about your "floppy" configuration.  The NAME.DAT file
      will be created and put on the FAME program disk.

      If your floppy disk only holds 360K bytes of data, you will need a
      second disk to hold the other FAME data files.  You will be
      prompted to place a blank formatted disk in the default drive and
      continue the FAMEI program.  The other four files will be created
      and stored on this new disk.  This disk should be labelled the
      FAME data disk.

      2.2.2.2  Running With One Floppy Disk

      If all the files are on one floppy disk, make the floppy drive the
      default, place the FAME PROGRAM disk (with all the data files you
      have initialized on it) in the drive and enter "FAME."

      2.2.2.3  Running With Two Floppy Disks, One Drive

      If you have two FAME disks (a PROGRAM disk and a DATA disk), place
      the PROGRAM disk in the drive and enter "FAME."  You will be
      prompted when to replace the FAME PROGRAM disk with the FAME DATA
      disk.

      2.2.2.4  Running With Two Floppy Disks, Two Floppy Drives

      If you have indicated this configuration when running the FAMEI
      program, make the "B" drive the default drive.  Place the FAME
      PROGRAM disk in drive "A" and the FAME DATA disk in drive "B".
      Enter "B:FAME" to run the FAME program.

      2.2.3  Exiting FAME Program

      The PUBAMP.DAT and STATUS.DAT files are updated immediately when
      you change them.  However, to save running time the POEM.DAT and
      PUB.DAT files are only updated in the computer RAM until you exit
      the program, at which time any updated files are automatically
      written to disk.  Therefore exit the program before turning off
      the computer.

      3.0  DATABASE UPDATE ROUTINES

      The first 7 routines (A through G) are used to input new data and
      update the data files.  The "Change Date Database Maintenance
      Utilities" would not normally be used.  They are used for special
      purposes as described below.

      When you enter a publisher's name (Query D), the program will cue
      you to enter additional data.  This includes whether or not the
      publisher accepts simultaneous submission, comments about the
      publisher, a contact at the publisher, and the publisher's
      address.  When entering the publisher's name, the additional data,
      or the name of a new poem/story (Query A), use upper and lower
      case letters as appropriate.  This is required because much of
      this information will appear in the letters written under Query Z.
      (See Section 4.0)

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      When you are attempting to match the name of a poem/story or
      publisher already in the database (either to correct the database
      or as part of a query), you only need to enter enough letters to
      make a unique match.  In this case you do not have to worry about
      using upper and lower case letters.  If enough letters are not
      entered to make a unique match, you will be shown each of the
      possible matches and allowed to select the one you want.

      If you do not enter the name of a contact at the publisher, the
      letters (Query Z) will be addressed "Dear Editor."  However, if
      you enter a contact and you want to have the FAME program write
      letters, you must follow the following format.  You must start
      with "Mr.", "Mrs.", "Ms.", or "Mr. or Ms." and use a first name or
      at least an initial.  If you know a title for the contact (e.g.
      editor, poetry editor), put a semicolon after the name and then
      add the title.  When using Option Z to print a letter (see Section
      4.0), the title will be suppressed in the salutation but included
      in the address.  For example, "Mr. or Ms. T. Jones; Poetry Editor"
      will be printed as "T. Jones, Poetry Editor" in the address on the
      letter (note the comma instead of the semicolon), and as "Dear Mr.
      or Ms. T. Jones" in the salutation.

      The status of each poem/story and publisher combination can have
      one of eight values.  They are, in order of ascending priorities:
      Not Submitted, Withdrawn, Rejected, No Response (within a
      reasonable time), Outstanding (you have submittted the poem/story),
      Accepted, and Published.  Outstanding is divided into two
      categories:  for publishers who accept simultaneous submissions
      and those that do not.  Entries are initialized to "Not
      Submitted".   When you enter new data or change the current status
      data, the program automatically calculates an overall status for
      the poem/story, based on the priority order listed above.  The
      poem/story cannot have an overall  status of Withdrawn; if the
      only submission(s) of that poem were withdrawn, the overall status
      will indicate "Not Submitted."

      If you change the status, the date you enter the data (i.e. that
      day's date) is automatically associated with that status.  If for
      some reason you want a different date, use the Change Date
      Database Maintenance Utilities routine ("\").

      4.0  QUERIES

      4.1  General

      All the queries except T, W, and Z have both a screen and a
      printer version.  The letter for the print version option appears
      after the "/".

      The symbol "*" is used on displays and printouts to identify
      publishers who accept simultaneous submissions.  On certain
      queries, the number of simultaneous submissions is indicated in
      parenthesis.

      Except in query H/I where poems/stories are sorted by the dates
      they were written, all lists will be in alphabetical order.  The
      word "the" at the beginning of a poem/story or publisher name is
      ignored in the alphabetizing process.

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      4.2  Candidate Poems

      Query X/Y, "Candidate Poems to Send Selected Publisher", tells you
      which poems are available for submission to a particular
      publisher, avoiding duplication or unauthorized simultaneous
      submissions.  The query provides a list of all poems that are not
      outstanding to another publisher nor have been submitted
      previously to this one.  For publishers who accept simultaneous
      submissions, the list also includes poems that are outstanding
      only to publishers accepting simultaneous submissions.

      4.3  Publisher Contact, Address, and Associated Date/Delay Data

      As you use the FAME program, it automatically generates date and
      delay data that will appear on the first screen of queries N/O and
      X/Y.  This data includes for the selected publisher: 1) the date
      of the last submission, 2) the date of the last reply, 3) the last
      delay from submission to reply, and 4) the last delay from
      acceptance to publication.  Delays are calculated assuming each
      month has 30.3 days.  If you have a record of this data and wish
      to enter it directly before the FAME program is able to generate
      it, use the Change Date Database Maintenance Utilities routine
      ("\").

      The comment data, contact, and address data also appear on the
      first screen of the N/O and X/Y queries.  In addition, the printer
      version of the query "Alphabetized List of Publishers" (Query M)
      gives you the option of including that data in the printout.

      Query U/V lists the publishers for whom poems/stories are
      outstanding and the associated dates of the submissions.  If more
      than 4 months have elapsed since the submission, the elapsed time
      also will be shown/printed.

      4.4  Number of Simultaneous Submissions

      The program keeps track of the number of publishers to whom a
      poem/story has been sent simultaneously.  The number of
      simultaneous submissions is shown next to the "Outstanding"
      status indication on Queries J/K, N/O, and X,Y, as well as when
      selecting poems/stories whose statuses are "Outstanding" under
      Query R.

      4.5  Publisher Mailing File and Letters

      Option Z is for communications with others.  You are given four
      choices as discussed below.

      4.5.1  Publisher Label File

      The first option under Query Z allows you to create an ASCII mail
      merge file containing each publisher's name, contact, and address;
      this file is in the format that can be used by a number of
      standard programs to print labels.  Because of the way commas are
      treated by these type programs (i.e. to separate data fields), any
      commas in the address data are replaced by blanks in the created
      file.  The name of the file is "ADDRESS.DAT.

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      4.5.2  Submittal Letter

      The second option under Query Z allows you to print a submittal
      letter to a selected publisher.  Your name and address as well as
      that of the publisher are placed in the appropriate parts of the
      letter.  If applicable, a statement is added to indicate it is a
      simultaneous submission.   NOTE:  The FAME program does not select
      the printing mode for dot matrix printers.  For letters, manually
      select the NLQ mode on your dot matrix printer when you are cued
      to line up the paper; for query printouts you probably will want
      to select manually the draft mode.

      The letter can be tailored by having a paragraph inserted about
      your successes to date.  The paragraph must be in ASCII format
      and in a file called LETTERS.TXT that has been placed in the same
      directory as the FAME data files.  A sample paragraph is shown in
      table 2.  A number of standard word processor/editor programs can
      be used to create this ASCII file.

      ------------------------------------------------------------------
                               Table 2
                           Sample Paragraph

      My poems have appeared in |Poetry|* |The Paris Review|* |The
      New Statesman|* |The Anthology of Magazine Verse Yearbook of
      American Poetry|* and various other magazines.  I have
      forthcoming work in |Crosscurrents|* |Raccoon|* and several
      anthologies.
      ------------------------------------------------------------------

      You will notice some funny things in the sample paragraph.  First,
      all commas have been replaced by the symbol *.  This is required
      because the routine that the FAME program uses to read this letter
      will misinterpret commas.

      You will also notice the symbol |.  When you run the FAMEI
      program, you will be asked if you want to bold the names of
      publications or insert them in quotes.  The symbol | is used to
      indicate the beginning and end of the bolding or the quotes.  If
      you have problems printing bold when you run the FAME program, use
      the FAMEI program to change your choice to "quotes."

      The FAME program puts a ten-space margin on the left and
      approximately the same on the right.  Therefore, each line in the
      paragraph except the first line should be kept to no more than 60
      characters.  The first line should be four characters shorter
      since the FAME program indents paragraphs that much.  If you are
      using bolding, do NOT count the special symbol | in the character
      count.  Do count quotation marks (").

      4.5.3  Withdrawal Letter

      The third option under Query Z will print a letter withdrawing one
      or more poems/stories because they have been accepted by another

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      publisher.  You select the publisher and the poems/stories  as
      with normal queries.  The names are placed in the appropriate
      portion of the letter.  In addition, you have the option of adding
      another paragraph indicating you are submitting replacements.

      4.5.4  Query Letter

      The fourth option under Query Z will print a letter asking the
      status of a previous submission because no response has been
      received.

      6.0  AUTHORIZATION TO USE FAME

      The FAME program is shareware.  The FAME Program disk includes the
      FAME.EXE program, the FAMEI.EXE program, and this README file.
      Both the FAME program and this documentation are copyrighted by
      the author.  FAME is intended for your private, noncomnmercial use
      only.  You may make copies of the FAME and FAMEI programs and
      documentation file for your own use, and may copy the files for
      others.

      I do not warrant that the documentation is correct, nor that the
      program operates as indicated.  Your use the program at your own
      risk.  I will not be liable for any damages of any kind sustained
      through the use of this program.  By using the program, you agree
      to these conditions.

      If you use the program, please send $15 to:
                             A. Stone
                             10 Nancy Lane
                             Framingham, MA 01701
      If you do, we will keep you posted on future updates.   Indicate
      which version of the FAME program you are using and the type
      floppy you require.

      Good luck in your career!



             ********** COMING SOON, FAME version 5.1 ***********

      A new version of FAME is being developed and will be available
      soon.  To see the additional features that will be added, print
      out the COMING file.   To do this, make the drive with the fame
      disk the default and enter
                          COPY COMING LPT1:















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