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Text File | 1989-06-12 | 11.8 KB | 331 lines

═══════════════════════════════════════════════════ G e t t i n g S t a r t e d & T u t o r i a l ═══════════════════════════════════════════════════ System Requirements ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This program runs under DOS 2.1 or higher. Any IBM compatible micro computer using the 8088, 8086, 80286 or 80386 chip will run it. Examples of these computers are: Compaq, Tandy, Amstrad, Olivetti, Victor, Dell, Epson and almost any other PC clone world-wide. The minimum memory requirement is 512K. Both colour and mono screen displays are supported. For best results a hard disk is strongly recommended. You can run the program on a dual floppy disk machine. The Contacts Manager may be installed on a local area network (LAN). Usage becomes exclusive to one particular user at a time. Configuration ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The statement FILES=20 should be contained in your CONFIG.SYS file. The statement BUFFERS=8 is recommended. Your computer has probably been configured correctly already by various other software you run. If you are in doubt and do not know how to check this, try running the program first. It will terminate and advise you accordingly if your config.sys file requires correction. HARD DISK USERS: Supplied with the program is a file called SETFIG.BAT. You may use this to place a correct CONFIG.SYS file onto the root directory of your hard disk. This makes the CONFIG.SYS file available to DOS when you boot up your machine. Otherwise, you may use the CONFIG.SYS file which is supplied on your distribution disk. You may copy this CONFIG.SYS file to the root directory of the hard disk. Insert DISK 1 into DRIVE A and type: COPY A:CONFIG.SYS C:\*.* ─┘ DOS will say "One file copied" if typed correctly without spelling errors. Then reboot the system before running the program again. DUAL FLOPPY DISK USERS: A correct CONFIG.SYS file is supplied with this program. You will have to copy it onto your normal boot diskette. Insert your distribution disk containing the CONFIG.SYS file into drive A. Insert the boot disk into drive B. Then type COPY A:CONFIG.SYS B: ─┘ In both instances you must reboot your computer before running the Contacts Manager again. Installation ~~~~~~~~~~~~ A batch file called INSTALL.BAT is supplied on your distribution disk. This will install the program on your hard disk. It creates a sub-directory called CONTACTS. It also copies a few batch files to your root directory. This will save you having to change to the sub-directory when you wish to use the program. To start, simply type: CONTACTS ─┘. Archived copies ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ An archived copy is one where all files have been merged into one to save disk space. If you have an archived copy of the Contacts Manager you will have 2 files called CONTACTS.ARC and UNFOLD.BAT. They should be installed from one floppy diskette. Insert this diskette into Drive A, and type: A> A:UNFOLD ─┘ This will do the same as the INSTALL.BAT command explained above, except that it unfolds the archived files to their original form first. (Own copy of PKXARC required.) Dual floppy disk computer users should use normal files, not archived copies. Archived copies are specifically for installation on hard disk computers. The unfolding process requires more than 360K of disk space. Office computers ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If more than one person wish to use the program on the same office computer, it may be a good idea to copy the program on to separate directories, one for each user. (Example: C:\CONTACTS1, C:\CONTACTS2). By setting each person's name under the Maintenance menu (Personal Preferences), all data is then located on the same machine. This makes the information accessible to everyone without the risk of users changing each other's records unintentionally. If a main DOS menu is installed, ask your computer consultant to place the Contacts Manager onto it, one menu option per person. He/she can quickly do this by simply copying and editing the supplied CONTACTS.BAT file. Tips regarding Dual Floppy Disk Computers ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you use a dual floppy disk machine, you may ignore the INSTALL.BAT procedure. Instead, you can run the program from your 2 Contacts Manager program disks as they are. However, you must make sure of 2 things: 1. When you boot up, your boot diskette must contain a file called CONFIG.SYS. This is a simple text file. You can edit it using any ASCII word processor. In this CONFIG.SYS file there must be the words "FILES=20". If you don't see them, type them in. Alternatively, follow the instructions above under the heading "Configuration". 2. The Contacts Manager needs to know which disk drives you are using. You tell it where to look with the DOS PATH statement. For example, say your 2 disk drives are called "A:" and "B:". From DOS, just after you have booted up, type the following: A> PATH=A:\;B:\ ─┘ To check your current DOS PATH, type only: A> PATH ─┘ Alternatively, use the supplied file called "DUALPATH.BAT". This will set the path for you. Then insert your 2 Contacts Manager diskettes, Disk 1 into drive A and Disk 2 into drive B. To start the program, type: A> CONTACTS ─┘ If you require more space for data on disk 2, make a backup copy and delete any unneeded README?.TXT, *.BAT or *.COM files. This should free about 65K. This program is not likely to run on sole, single floppy disk machines. Snow Screens ~~~~~~~~~~~~ To remove shows interference on the screen (Olivetti for example), use CONTAC instead of CONTACTS. In other words, start the program by typing: CONTAC ─┘. Tutorial - How to use this system ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ADD NEW INFORMATION You might like to add yourself to the address book data bank. This way you can follow exactly where the information comes from and where it goes. Adding yourself should not be too difficult. The first screen that appears is the main menu. One of the options under letter "M" says: "Maintenance, changes and preferences". Press "M". The next menu will appear. The second item on this menu says "A" for "Add a new record". Press "A". A blank form will appear. Enter your own details at your leisure. You don't have to enter all the fields, only information which you think might be useful. Each person's particulars are stored on 2 screens. Once you have entered the first screen, the second screen follows automatically. You will find uses for some of the fields later. "Classification", for example, can be anything you like. This would depend on what you use the program for. An accountant, for example, may use different classifications than a sales professional. A home computer enthusiast may use different classifications still, or maybe leave them blank. Examples are: Client, social, business, bills, prospects, girlfriends, etc. - anything one may wish to categorise information under. You can later use your categories for selections, mail-merging and sorting. You can jump from one field to the next using your ─┘ key or TAB keys. Using ─┘, ESC and F10 is usually the fasted way to move around throughout this program. Pressing CTRL-HOME takes you to the first field on the screen and CTRL-END takes you to the last. The ARROW keys allow you to move within each field. You can toggle the insert and override mode by pressing the INSERT key. To delete information, hold down the DELETE key. Information will disappear from the right hand side of the cursor. To delete information on the left, use the BACKSPACE key. When you come to the fields for storing comments and notes, you will see how the relevant text window pops up. Use the keys suggested at the bottom of the window. To let the window disappear, press ESC or F10. Once the second screen has appeared and you are satisfied with your entries, you can either press F10 or ESC. There is a subtle difference between the two. Pressing F10 will offer you the option of entering a second record. Pressing ESC will take you back to the menu immediately. Once you get used to the system, you may prefer the fast method of using ESC to bypass prompts of this kind. RETRIEVE INFORMATION The fasted way to retrieve the details you just entered is by using "S - Speed-show contact information" from the main menu. Note that you only have to enter a few beginning letters. If found, the screen with the relevant information will appear. If you forget someone's name and can only remember a few letters of say the last syllable, you can use "F - Find details by interrogation". CHANGE THE COLOURS Now press "M" for "M - Maintenance, changes and preferences" from the main menu. The first choice is "P - Personal Preferences". Press "P" and several questions will appear. The first question will ask you "Do you wish to change the colours?". Press "Y" for Yes. A special colour setting screen will pop up. Follow the simple instructions and experiment until you find a colour combination which you like. Press ESC and then ESC so many times until you arrive back at the main menu. BROWSE THROUGH THE DATA BANK From the main menu press "B" for "B - Browse through the data bank". You will see a screen listing of names. Follow the instructions on the screen. You will see how, by using the F5 and F6 function keys, you can jump from the list to individual particulars. F1, F2, F3 and F4 show associated comment windows. F7 displays the telephone numbers. You can change details on the screen by pressing ENTER or the ─┘ key. Pressing ─┘ or an ARROW key will take you out of the edit mode. Now press the Shift and F2 keys together. A special pop-up menu will show. Experiment with the options. Guidance is always offered on the screen so that you know what you can do next. MANUAL DATE ADVISOR Return to the main menu. Press "D" for "D - Date advisor". Have a look whose birthday is coming up using "B - Birthdays" and who requires Christmas cards using "C - Christmas". Press "Y" for "Y - Year Planner". It will map all dates arising in the current year. Note that this is not the automatic date advisor. The additional help screen under "N - New User Tips" offers further explanations. AUTOMATIC DATE ADVISOR The automatic date advisor appears only when an important date is coming up for your attention - otherwise not. When it does appear, you will see it after you have pressed "Q" for "Q - Quit" from the main menu. If you do not see yourself mentioned by the automatic date advisor, this will be because your birthday is not due within the next 60 days. You might like to enter the program again and change your birthday to say 2 weeks from the current system date. Then quit and the computer will advise you of your birthday. The system will retrieve special birthday messages for you if you mentioned the same name in the text window as given under "Person's name" heading in the birthday section of your form. This completes the initial tutorial of your system. There are many further features. The best way to learn about them it is by playing with the program. More explanations are given further on in this documentation.