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1990-02-16
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MTSoft's Little Black Book Version 6.1
Copyright (c) 1990 MTSoft Shareware
All rights reserved
Revised documentation 02/16/90
MTSoft's Little Black Book is an address and phone number manager that is
written in the QuickBasic (TM Microsoft) 4.5 programming language. It is feature
rich and very easy to use. I originaly wrote this program because I purchased a
commercial software package that was supposed to handle the task of managing an
address and phone number file, the program was really bad and to this day I
still feel that I was ripped off. The program didnt even come with any
documentation, saying that is was so easy to use that the user would not need a
manual. Well enough of the soapbox, the short of it was that I was so turned off
by the software that I wrote this program as my reply to the commercial software
industry. I hope that you not only enjoy using it but also find it usefull.
Although this software is currently in use by registered users across the
country as well as here at my home and has not demonstrated any bad habits of
any kind I cannot warranty it in any way. You use this software at your own
risk. MTSoft Shareware nor Matthew A. Taylor will be liable to you for anything
whatsoever.
REGISTRATION - MTSoft's Little Black Book from it's introduction has always been
and will always be $5. You can use this software for two weeks for the sole
purpose of determining if it meets your needs. If so and you continue to use it
you *MUST* register by sending $5 per copy to:
Matt Taylor
116 Martin Ave.
Savannah, Ga. 31409
If however, this software does not meet your needs and you do not wish to
register then you are leagally and morally bound to remove it from your use.
Please do not risk criminal prosecution for the sake of the HUGH sum of $5. God
may forgive, but I won't.
The benefits of registering are great. You will be able to get support on the
MicroLink BBS at (912) 351-0929. You will also be able to download that latest
version on MicroLink in file directory 26. Any questions or suggestions for
improvments to this software should be entered as a comment to the Sysop on
Microlink. Although this and earlier verisons of MTSLBB have been uploaded to
Genie (tm) for mass distrobution subsequent versions will not. Once you register
a single version of this software you are entitled to all future shareware
versions. All you have to do is download them.
MTSoft's Little Black Book Version 6.1
HARDWARE REQUIRMENTS - The machine that you run this software on should have a
CGA or compatible monitor, at least 256K of RAM and one floppy drive. Please
keep in mind that the more RAM you have the larger that address book you will be
able to sort and the more disk space you have the larger the address book you
can have. Additionally if you intend to use the telephone dialing feature you
will need a modem (setup as COM1 or COM2) that uses the Hayes (tm) command set,
otherwise known as the AT commands. The computer that this software has been
tested on here at MTSoft headquarters is an AT Clone with 640K of RAM with a
20 Meg hard drive. Using that computer here are the features that we have been
able to obtain.
o Unlimited number of address files - Limited only by disk space
o Unlimited number of records per address file - Limited only by disk space
o Unlimited user defined categories
o Sorting within MTSLBB - 1800 records per address file - *Takes FOREVER*
o Sorting with QSORT.EXE - 2200 records per address file - Quick!
o Prints great on a standard dot matrix printer
o Exports any number of records
o Imports any number of records
You may obtain different results depending upon your harware. For exmaple, if
you have only 512K of RAM you wont be able to sort address files with as many
records as we did.
SORTING - Sorting address files seems to be the only part of MTSLBB that users
have trouble with so I thought a dedicated section in this documentation would
help. MTSLBB uses an insertion sort to perform the sorts, although an insertion
sort is slow compared to a quicksort it works nicely for address files of upto
500 records. Above 500 records the insertion sort tends to be slow but it will
still do the job. MTSLBB uses ALL of available memory, upto 640K, to do it's
sorting. With that in mind one can only conclude that the only thing that could
go wrong is that you could run out of memory. Always remember that unless you
see the error message OUT OF MEMORY, the program is doing its sort and all is
well (although it may take forever). When you select the sort option from the
main menu your address book will be read into memory and a flashing message
appear saying that the sort is underway.
For users with address books in excess of 500 records I suggest exiting the
MTSLBB program an performing your sort using the QSORT.EXE utility program that
is provided with this package. It uses a QuickSort routine to quickly sort your
address books that are otherwise slow to sort within the MTSLBB program.
DISK SPACE - You can calculate the amount of disk space needed for a certain
number of records by multiplying the expected number of records by 256. Each
record is 256 bytes in size.
This software adopts a disk based processing schem. At no time, except durring a
sort, is your data loaded into memory. Other than in a sort, the only record
that is loaded into memory is the current record on the screen. Using this
schem, MTSLBB provides you with data security, especialy for those of you who
like myself have rug rats that just love to go under your desk and play with the
pretty light on your power strip.....
MTSoft's Little Black Book Version 6.1
CONFIGURATION - MTSLBB uses a configuration file named (strangly enough)
MTSLBB.CFG. This file must be in the same directory as the MTSLBB.EXE file. The
following is the format of the file, it can be changed using any text editor
that saves in ASCII mode such as Edlin.
912
COM2:
Personal
YES
Where:
912 is YOUR areacode
COM2: is your com port, it can be COM1: or COM2:
Personal is the name of a default address book
YES means that you DO want the category and comment fields exported AND imported
when using the export or import features.
All lines in this file must be there, if you want to change one or all of them
just be sure to use a text editor that saves in ASCII format and you should be
ok. The name of the default address book *CAN'T* have a period or and extension.
STARTING MTSLBB - To start the program all you have to do is type its name in at
the DOS prompt. If you want to autoload an address book other than the one you
have defined on line three of the configuration file you can do so by entering
it as a command line argument. EXAMPLE -> MTSLBB FileName <ENTER>
Note that the command line argument can't contain a period or an extension.
Once MTSLBB is started you will be able to use the up and down arrow keys to
select any of the available menu options. Additionaly you can select a menu
option by pressing the cooresponding selection letter. The following is a short
explaination of each menu selection and anything else you may need to know when
selecting that option.
ADD A NEW RECORD - This option will create a new record in your address file and
will allow you to enter the records data. For each field just type in the data
and then press the enter key to move to the next field. When you finsh entering
the record you will be asked if you want to enter another.
EDIT CURRENT RECORD - This option will allow you to edit the record that you are
currently on. Just like entering a new record, you just type in the data you
want and press the enter key to move to the next record. If you dont want to
change the fields data then just press the enter key on that field and it will
not be changed.
MARK FOR DELETION - This option marks the currently displayed record for
deletion. It *DOES NOT* delete the record, however, it will keep the record from
being printed when using the printing functions.
REMOVE DELETION MARK - This option simply reverses the effect of the prior
option.
MTSoft's Little Black Book Version 6.1
SEARCH FOR A RECORD - When this option is selected you will be prompted for the
first and last name of the record to find. If the record is found then it
becomes the current record and is displayed on the screen. If it is not found
then you are told so and returned to the current record.
SORT ADDRESS BOOK - This option will give you another menu to select the field
you want the address book sorted on. Just select the field and press enter, your
address book will be read into memory, sorted, then written back to disk. If
your address book has over 500 records and your computer is slow the sort can
take awhile, remember that unless you see the error message OUT OF MEMORY all is
well and the sort is underway.
MOVE FORWARD ONE RECORD - This option simply moves forward one record.
MOVE BACK ONE RECORD - This option moves back one record
PRINT GENERAL LISTING - This option will print a general listing of the records
in your address book. You can choose to either print all records or to print all
the records that match a category.
PRINT MAILING LABELS - This option will print one across, standard mailing
labels. You can print all records or select to print only those records that
match a category.
DIAL PHONE #1 - This option will dial the phone number #1 for the current
record. If the areacode for the phone number matches the areacode on line one of
the configuration file then you will be asked if this is a local dial 1 number,
otherwise, if the area code does not match then it is taken for granted that
this is a long distance call. After the number is dialed the first time you are
given the option to quit the call or to redial the phone number.
DIAL PHONE #2 - Exactly like the privious option.
EXPORT TO ASCII FILE - This option will prompt you for an eight character file
name to export your data to then it will start at record number one and write
all the data in the address book to that file. If line number four of the
configuration file is NO then the category and comment fields will not be
exported.
IMPORT FROM ASCII FILE - This option is for use with the privious options
exported data. You can use it for other delimited ASCII files but results will
be unpredictable. If line four of the configuration file is NO then the category
and comment fields are not imported.
CHANGE ADDRESS BOOKS - This option will allow you to change address books. You
will be asked to enter the file name of the address book you want to make
active. If it does not exist then it will be created.
REMOVE DELETED RECORDS - This option will remove the records in your address
book that have been marked for deletion. CAUTION: This is forever.....
MTSoft's Little Black Book Version 6.1
Well thats about it. Please remember that MicroLink (My BBS) is always online to
help you with any problems you may have with this software. Also, if you want to
register, you may do so for HUGH HUGH sum of $5. by mailing your check or money
order made out to Matt Taylor to:
Matt Taylor
116 Martin Ave.
Savannah, Ga. 31409
KUDOS - I would like to thank all of you who have registered this program in the
past and invite those of you who have not called MicroLink to do so. As of this
writting there are 64 of you and many many others say they are using (trying)
the software. I am willing to take this program as far as *YOU* want it to go.
If there is something that you would like to see added to this program to make
it more usefull for *YOU* then please let me know. You can leave me mail on
MicroLink by entering a comment to the Sysop or you can mail me a note to the
above address.