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Loadstar 128 30
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t.book rack
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2022-08-28
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T H E B O O K R A C K
Program and Text by David Presley
Welcome to THE BOOK RACK. TBR is a specialized database program for
cataloging one's personal library of books. Even in an age when "books" on
CDs and audio cassettes are commonplace, sales of books printed on paper
with ink have never been higher. Most of us would be surprised if we took
the time to find out just how many books we do have around the house and
office. And what if some disaster struck, such as a fire or flood? Would
we be able to catalogue our collection after the fact? Probably not. TBR
allows us to keep current records of our books, both on disk and hard
copy.
When you run the program you will see two status windows across the
top of the screen and the Main Menu below them and to the left. The left
status window provides information about the current file: its name, number
of categories, books allowed per category, and number of books currently on
file. The right status window provides information on the category
currently being edited: its number, its name, and the number of books
currently on file in it. This information will not be seen until the
program enters the editing mode.
While at the Main Menu you may return to BASIC or LOADSTAR 128 by
pressing "0".
There is a sample file on disk for you to browse through before
starting a file of your own. It's called "LIBRARY".
Creating a New File
-------------------
If a file is currently in memory you will be asked, "ARE YOU SURE?
Y/N". If you have not already saved the current file respond by pressing
"N" and proceed to the Disk Options to save it. If you have already saved
it and do not wish to save it then press "Y". The first prompt asks for
the name of the file. The second asks for the maximum number of categories
and the maximum number of books allowed per category. Later, if you need
to change these two parameters you may do so (see Loading a File).
You can enter any number of categories and books per category but due
to the C-128's memory capacity if the two numbers multiplied equal more
than 2600, the program will make you use lower numbers. However, 26
categories with 100 books in each is a lot of books. Of course you can
always use several smaller files rather than one big one.
When you return to the Main Menu you will see the information you just
entered in the left status window. If it is not correct, press "1" again
and repeat the above procedure.
Disk Options
------------
Press "0" to go back to the Main Menu.
Press "1" to access two types of directories. You will be asked if you
want a listing of all files on the current disk or just TBR files. Press
"A" for all files or "B" for TBR files only. The directory will be listed
in a window on the right side of the screen. TBR data files are those
files with the "BKS." prefix.
NOTE: The sample file on disk is called "BKS.LIBRARY", but you just enter
LIBRARY to load it. Don't type the BKS.
Press "2" to load a file. If a file is currently in memory you will
be asked "ARE YOU SURE? Y/N". If you have not already saved the current
file respond by pressing "N" and proceed to the Disk Options to save it.
If you have already saved it then press "Y". A prompt window will then
appear and you will be asked for the file name you wish to load. File
names may be up to 12 characters long. The other four characters permitted
by Commodore DOS are taken up by the "BKS." prefix. When the requested
file is found you will be shown the number of categories and books per
category it currently permits. You may change these parameters at this
point. At the prompts provide the new parameters. If the new parameters
are less than the old ones then only the data needed to fill the new
parameters will be loaded.
For example, if the current files permits five categories and you type
"3" at the prompt then only the first three categories under that file name
will be loaded. The file, with all five categories, will remain intact on
the disk until you save and replace it.
Press "3" to save a file. The most recent file name will appear above
the prompt window. Just press RETURN to use that file name or type in a
new one. If a file by that name already exists you will be asked if you
wish to replace it with the current file in memory. Press "Y" to replace
and "N" to abort.
Press "4" to scratch a file. You will be prompted for the name of the
file you wish to scratch from the disk.
Press "5" to switch drives. The current drive is shown on the DISK
OPTIONS menu. Enter a number from 8 to 29 and if that drive is active that
will become your current drive and all disk access will be from that drive.
Since there is no provision for sending disk commands within TBR you should
have partitions or subdirectories selected before booting TBR.
Edit File
---------
If there is no file in memory you will be told. You must either load a
file from disk or use NEW FILE from the Main Menu to start a new file.
Once you have a file defined or loaded, when you press "3" to Edit File you
will see a list of the Active categories and the number of books in each.
You are then prompted to enter the number or the name of the category you
wish to edit. Be sure to think about your category names beforehand and
enter them correctly because you can't change a category name once you've
entered it, except by starting a new file.
NOTE: "Editing" means "adding to" an existing file as well as "changing"
an existing file.
You are now at the EDIT MENU.
Press "1" to go to a "blank card" to enter a another book. Since the
program is written entirely in BASIC, you cannot use commas or colons as
part of the data. Make use of semicolons or dashes as substitutes. The
program runs in the uppercase/graphic mode.
There are six data fields: Book Title, Author, Publisher, Year the
Book was acquired, Binding (either hard or soft), and its Original Cost. I
have chosen Original Cost over "current value." The reason for this
selection is that it will not be necessary to update the entries with the
rising or falling of book values. Original Cost is your investment in the
book(s).
Current values can be obtained if they are needed. Once you entered
data into all the data fields you will be asked if the data is correct.
Press "Y" to complete making the entry or "N" to re-enter the data.
NOTE: It's possible to change the names of the data fields by changing
lines 1680 to 1870 and line 2290. However, keep in mind that "YEAR
ACQUIRED" and "COST" are acted upon by the program as numbers, not letters.
It isn't easy to add more fields (and is not recommended at all) but it
might be a good programming exercise for you to change "BINDING" to
"EDITION" or perhaps "YEAR ACQUIRED" to "COPYRIGHT YEAR" if you would
rather have slightly different fields.
Press "2" to get a listing of all books in the current category by
their title and their card number. The listing can be momentarily stopped
using the NO SCROLL key.
Press "3" to view all fields of a given book. You will be prompted
for the number of the book you wish to view. Press the number or "0" to
return to the previous menu. If you don't know the number of the book you
wish to view press "2" for the complete listing of books in the current
category.
Press "4" to alter the contents of a given card. You will be prompted
for the number of the book card you wish to modify. If you don't know the
number of the book you wish to view press "2" for the complete listing of
books in the current category. Once the book card number has been entered,
each data field of that card will be presented one at a time with its
current data. If you wish to keep the same data simply press RETURN. If
you wish to change it, type in the new data and then RETURN.
Press "5" to delete any book from the file. A list of books and their
number in the current category wil be listed. The listing can be
momentarily stopped using the NO SCROLL key. You will then be prompted for