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|| ======== ======== ======== ======== ======== ||
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||===== ======== =======|| || ======== || ()
Version 1.1
R E F E R E N C E M A N U A L
Copyright (c) 1991,1992 by Luis Sanchez
2625 S.E. 2nd Court
Pompano Beach, Florida 33062
Compuserve # 71237,2721
All Rights Reserved TABLE OF CONTENTS
About List-It!.........................................1
Find Module............................................2
Browse Module..........................................5
Sort Module............................................7
Zap Module.............................................8
Enter Module...........................................9
Delete Module.........................................12
Print Module..........................................13
Quit..................................................16
Utility Sub-Menu
Directory.............................................17
Backup File...........................................19
Export................................................21
Import................................................22
Load File.............................................27
Copy File.............................................28
Color Change Module...................................29
Rename File...........................................31
Get Info..............................................32
Undelete..............................................34
ReOrder...............................................35
Afterword.............................................36
License...............................................37
Warranty..............................................38
Ordering Info.........................................39
List-It! -i- About List-It!
Thanks for trying out List-It!. A handy, quick,
full-featured little program that's a great electronic substitute
for your telephone and mailing lists.
With this program you can take complete charge of the
numbers and addresses in your possession with an ease you never
thought was possible.
Need to find a name in a hurry but you forgot how to spell
it? That's no problem for this program. Just give it the letters
you remember, and any records that contain those letters will be
pulled from your database. In fact, it can conduct a search on any
field in the record. You can then look through the retrieved list
until you find the record you want.
Need to sort your database? The program currently sorts on
two fields, Last Name and Zip Code. You can also restore the
database to the condition it was in before the sort.
Do you want to print your Christmas mailing list on address
labels? Can do! Just select print from the main menu and tag
the fields you need. When you're done tagging fields, (first
name, last name, address, etc...), then press the <F5> key and
Voila! instant labels.
There are also a variety of features available to you
through the Utility menu:
Directory module which gives you a view of files located
on your disk.
Copy file module through which you can copy the contents
of the currently loaded PDF* file to a new, different file.
Backup module allows you to back up your data files.
Load file module which allows you to load and work with
other PDF files.
Rename module allows you to change the name of the
currently loaded PDF file.
Color module permits you to alter the colors to suit your fancy.
Import allows you to use the database files of other programs
so that you need not re-enter information.
Export module permits other programs to use your PDF files.
Undelete allows you to retrieve deleted records and use them
as you normally would any other record in your database.
Get Info module supplies you with information about the
currently loaded PDF file.
ReOrder allows you to change the order of the records in your
database.
The program is completely menu-driven. You select a menu
item by either pressing the highlighted letter of the desired
item, or by moving the highlight bar to the desired item with
the space bar and hitting the Enter key.
There's also plenty of on-screen help, so use and enjoy List-It!
* PDF refers to the extension of the data file used by List-It!.
List-It! -1- FIND MODULE
With this module you can search your database for any record
or group of records you wish.
One very handy feature I have given the program is the
ability to pull records without entering the entire name you are
searching for. This is a great help if you forget the spelling
of any names.
When you first enter this module, another menu will appear;
┌───────────────┐
│Field search │
│Number search │
│Record search │
│Logical search │
└───────────────┘
FIELD SEARCH
Selecting the field search displays another menu along the
left edge of your screen. This menu lists all the fields in the
database; that is name, address, city and so on. You select the
field you wish to search, by moving the highlight bar to the
desired field with the up or down cursor keys and then hitting the
<enter> key.
An alternative method of selecting a field to search is to
press the key that is highlighted in the desired field. This is
typically the first letter of the field. This automatically brings
the menu bar to that field and brings up the input line.
Once you've chosen the field you wish to search on, you will
be shown the symbols >> followed by a row of underline marks
which indicate the maximum length of the search string you can
enter. Type in what you are searching for, hit <enter>, and the
program will scan the entire database for records that match the
search string.
If you enter more characters than the program is expecting,
the maximum number is indicated by the number of underline
characters, the program will beep, clear the line and wait for
you to enter the search string again.
Time for an example. Let's say you wish to inspect the
records of all clients whose last names begin with Sand, because
you have forgotten exactly how a particular client spells his name.
Take the following steps:
At the Main Menu you would press <F>ind then <F>ield then
<L>ast name. At the prompt type in <sand> and hit <enter>. (You
also don't have to worry about capitalization with this program.)
The following records will then be displayed for your inspection;
Sandberg, Sandstrom, Sandstone, and Misand.
List-It! -2-
Notice that the search item can be anywhere in the field
and the program will still pull the record. You can then browse
through the retrieved list until you find the record you needed.
NUMBER SEARCH
To search by record number press <n>, and you will be asked
to enter the record number you wish to view. If it is a valid
number, then the proper record will be displayed on your screen.
This feature is only useful if you happen to know the record
number that you need. When you are unsure, use one of the other
menu options.
RECORD SEARCH
This menu option is especially useful when you remember the
name of a client or correspondent you need, but you can't remember
the field this name is in. It could have been entered in the
Note field, the Contact field, or the Last Name field. With this
option, all fields are searched.
When you choose this option, you are prompted for a string to
search. Enter the name you wish to locate, (up to 45 characters in
length). The program will look for this string in each field in
the record, tagging the record when it finds a match, or proceeding
to the next record when the last field in the record is scanned.
You can see just how much easier your searches will be, when
you use this menu option. Of course, searches will not be as fast
since the whole record is scanned instead of just one field in each
record. This is a small price to pay for making your searches
easier.
LOGICAL SEARCH
This menu option allows you to use the three logical operands
AND, OR, and NOT, in your searches. You are able to enter two
search strings when you use the logical operands OR, and AND.
Suppose you are looking for all persons in your database
that are both Doctors and Dentists. This is what you would enter
when prompted for the search string;
Doctor AND Dentist
You could also shorten the search string, and the time it
takes you to enter it, by just entering;
Doc AND Den
In any case, you must remember to capitalize the logical
operand or the program will treat the entire phrase as the search
string. This of course, will not find any records, (unless there
is a record that has the phrase doctor and dentist in it.)
List-It! -3-
The results of this search will be each record that contains
the words doctor and dentist.
Let's say now that you want all records that contain either
word. To find these records enter the following;
Doc OR Den
This will retrieve each record that contains either Doctor,
or Dentist.
Let's say now that you wish to find all your clients or
correspondents that are neither Doctors or Dentists. The NOT
logical operand must be used here, and it MUST BE THE FIRST WORD
in the search string. To start this search enter the following
phrase:
NOT Doc OR Den
This string will bring up records that do not contain the
word Doctor or the word Dentist.
If, however, you only want to exclude from your search records
that contain both words, Doctor and Dentist, then enter the
following phrase:
NOT doc AND den
Then only the records that do not contain both words will be
retrieved.
In all cases, the search will not stop at the first match but
will continue until the last record is searched. All records that
match your search item will be displayed. You can then browse
through this retrieved list in a forward or backward direction,
or go from the first record to the last record with the touch of
a key. The command bar at the bottom of the screen shows the active
keys and their functions.
In fact, all the functions that were available to you at the
Browse module are available to you here, including editing or
deleting the displayed record. For a review of those functions
please refer to the Look module section.
List-It! -4- BROWSE MODULE
This module allows you to browse through your database one
record at a time. Once a record is displayed, you also have the
opportunity to edit or delete it.
Remember that <F1> is active here as it is in most areas of
the program. However, here the window is linked to a series of
other help windows. You move from window to window by pressing
the Home, End, Page Up or Page Dn keys. Or by pressing <Esc> to
quit viewing the help window.
A sample screen follows:
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Browsing... Record Listed: 1 Total Records: 2 │
╞══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╡
│ │
│ │
│ Sanchez Luis │
│ 2625 SE 2nd Court │
│ Pompano Beach, FL 33062 │
│ │
│ Company Name: │
│ Contact: │
│ Business phone: │
│ Fax: │
│ │
│ │
│ │
╞══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╡
│ < >, <+> : next <Home>, <Pg Up> : first <e> : to edit │
│ < >, <-> : prev <End> , <Pg Dn> : last <d> : to delete │
│ <F1> : Help <Esc> : to Quit │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Figure 1
As you can see, the command bar is at the bottom of the
screen. The top of the screen tells you where you are in the
program, currently the Browse module. It also shows two figures,
one is the total number of records in the database, (here it is 2),
and the other figure indicates the displayed record's position in
the database, (this record is the first record.)
If this is your first time with the program then of course,
there will be no record, and you will be prompted with the
message, "Empty List". At the bottom of the screen, another
message will be displayed;
"Press <ESC> to quit."
If you are currently viewing a record and press <e> for edit
you will be shown the main entry screen of the program. This
screen displays the fields in the database with hyphens showing
the length of those fields. If a particular field has an entry,
those contents will be displayed in place of the hyphens.
List-It! -5-
You can navigate through the edit screen at will, with the
<Tab>, <Shift-Tab>, <Enter>, or Up and Down cursor keys. Just
move to the field you wish to edit, make your changes and then
either press the <F9> or <Esc> keys when you are finished making
your changes.
The current record will then re-display and it will contain
any changes you may have made.
When editing a record, you have the use of the same keys
you do when you are entering a new record: F2, Insert, Delete,
Backspace, Left and Right Arrow.
<F2> copies the previous record's field contents into the
current record. (For a more detailed discussion of the use of the
<F2> key turn to the section describing the Enter Module - pg 13.)
For a brief description of the action of the other keys, while
you are editing a record, press <F1>. The help window which then
displays is pictured here:
╔══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ Tab, Up Arrow - moves you to previous field ║
║ Dn Arrow, <Shift-Tab> - moves you to next field ║
║ Home - moves you to the head of the line ║
║ End - moves you to the tail of the line ║
║ Backspace - erases character to left of cursor ║
║ Delete - erases character at cursor ║
║ Insert - inserts characters at cursor ║
║ Block cursor means insert mode is on ║
║ Enter - accepts entry and goes to next field ║
║ Esc - accepts entry and quits entry module ║
║ ║
╚══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
Figure 2
If you wish to delete a record instead, then press <d>. A
window will then appear reminding you that this record will be
deleted.
╔═════════════════════╗
║ Delete This Record? ║
║ Y/N ║
╚═════════════════════╝
Figure 3
You must press <y> to actually delete the record. Pressing
any key other than the <y> key will leave the record as it is,
and cause the delete window to disappear.
In fact, when you press <y> the record is not actually
deleted, but merely tagged for deletion. It still remains there
physically. You just can not view, or access it because the program
always checks for this delete tag before allowing you to use the
record. If it is set then the record will not display.
List-It! -6- SORT MODULE
Selecting this option displays the following screen:
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Sort Module... │
╞═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╡
│ │
│ │
│ Sort Menu │
│ │
│ (1) Alphabetical sort on last name. │
│ (2) Sort on Zip codes. │
│ (3) Restore database to original order. │
│ │
│ │
│ Press number of desired action or <ESC> to quit. │
│ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Figure 4
Pressing (1) at this menu begins an alphabetic sort in
ascending order,on the last name field. That is, records will be
sorted A, B, C,.... and so on, on the basis of the entry in the
Last Name field.
Selecting (2) begins a sort on the zip code field. The first
record will have the lowest zip code and the last record will
have the highest zip code.
You can also restore your database to the original order it
had when records were first entered, as long as you haven't
zapped your file before you try to restore it.
This is true because when a file is zapped, records in memory,
starting from the first record, are written to disk. As each record
is written, it is given a new order number, based on its current
position in memory. Therefore, if you sorted the database and then
zapped it, the original order becomes the order the database was
given after the sort.
For instance, you enter the following records: Zag, Bart,
Apple, and Thomas. You then sort your records, which produces the
following order:
Apple, Bart, Thomas and Zag.
At this point you can still restore the original order. Now
you delete Apple and select Zap. The new original order will be
Bart, Thomas and Zag. If you now enter another record - Klein, and
sort the records you will see: Bart, Klein, Thomas and Zag.
When you choose to restore the previous order with the third
selection from the Sort menu, this is the order you will get:
Bart, Thomas, Zag and Klein.
List-It! -7- ZAP MODULE
This module is only active when there are deleted records in
the database. Remember, a record is not physically removed from the
database, when it is deleted. It still occupies space and memory
both in RAM and in the PDF file. What does happen is that a delete
tag is placed within the record's structure. This tag is then
checked whenever the program needs to display or search the
records in the database. If it is set, the record is skipped and
the following record is processed. This might sound like a
cumbersome procedure but it actually allows you greater freedom in
the manipulation of your database.
This is because until your database is zapped, all records
that have been marked for deletion can be retrieved. To undelete
records you must go to the utility sub-menu. (See the section on
undeletion - page 35 - for a more detailed discussion.)
When you select Zap at the main menu, you physically removes
deleted records from the database. This is accomplished through
pointer adjustment of the records that reside in RAM, so that, when
the records are written to disk, all deleted records are bypassed.
The net result is a shrinking of the database size.
If you have been using the program for awhile and have deleted
and entered records many times without ever selecting Zap, the size
of the database file will be much larger than it needed to be. This
is because it will still contain the records that have been
deleted. For instance, suppose there are 58 records in your
database. Now also suppose that you have deleted 30 records. Since
the approximate size of a record is 300 bytes then the size of the
file includes 3000 bytes of information that you have marked for
deletion.
You might then decide to Zap the database, in order to
conserve disk space. All deleted records will be permanently
removed, in effect shrinking the size of the database by those
3000 bytes. When the process is complete you will then see the
following message on the top bar;
"30 records zapped."
You will still have 58 records, but now the PDF file will be
5800 bytes long instead of 8800 bytes. Those 30 records have been
completely and permanently removed. They can not be retrieved or
undeleted.
List-It! -8- ENTER MODULE
This is the module you use when entering records. Each record
is fixed in length and includes the following 16 fields, in the
order shown.
FIELD LENGTH
Last name................24
First name...............14
Address..................34
City.....................29
State.....................2
Zip code..................9
Area code.................3
Phone.....................7
Company..................24
Contact..................24
Business area code........3
Business phone............7
Extension.................9
Fax area code.............3
Fax.......................7
Notes....................79
A sample of the screen displayed when you are entering
records follows;
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Enter Module │
╞═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╡
│ F2 : Copy field from previous record. │
│ F9 : When finished with record. │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ Last Name: __________________ First Name: ___________ │
│ Address: __________________________________ │
│ City: ______________________ State: __ Zip: _________ │
│ Area code: ___ Phone: _______ │
│ Company Name: ________________________ │
│ Contact: ________________________ │
│ Bus area code: ___ Bus phone: _______ Ext: _________ │
│ Fax area code: ___ Fax: _______ │
│ Notes: │
│_____________________________________________________________│
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ F1: Help │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Figure 5
You'll see the two commands at the top of the screen, the
main body of the entry screen, and at the bottom of the display the
List-It! -9-
message, "F1: Help", which tells you that a help window is active
here. Note also that the cursor is at the first position of the
first field, waiting for you to begin you input.
Make your entry now and hit the <Enter> key when you are
finished. You will then be automatically moved to the next field.
If you try to enter more characters than the field has space for,
the program will beep, and return you to the front of the field.
If the field you have over-filled is the state field,
(remember you can only enter two letters for the state), then you
will also see another prompt one line above the F1 : Help
statement, which says : Press <F1> for two letters state codes.
Pressing <F1> here displays the following window which
contains the two letter postal codes for every state in the Union.
Just find the one you wish and type it in.
╔═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║ Alabama - AL Kentucky - KY Ohio - OH ║
║ Alaska - AK Louisiana - LA Oklahoma - OK ║
║ American Samoa - AS Maine - ME Oregon - OR ║
║ Arizona - AZ Maryland - MD Pennsylvania - PA ║
║ Arkansas - AR Massachusetts - MA Puerto Rico - PR ║
║ California - CA Michigan - MI Rhode Island - RI ║
║ Canal Zone - CZ Minnesota - MN South Carolina - SC ║
║ Colorado - CO Mississippi - MS South Dakota - SD ║
║ Connecticut - CT Missouri - MO Tennessee - TN ║
║ Delaware - DE Montana - MT Texas - TX ║
║ Dist. of Col. - DC Nebraska - NE Trust Territories- TT ║
║ Florida - FL Nevada - NV Utah - UT ║
║ Georgia - GA New Hampshire - NH Vermont - VT ║
║ Guam - GU New Jersey - NJ Virginia - VA ║
║ Hawaii - HI New Mexico - NM Virgin Islands - VI ║
║ Idaho - ID New York - NY Washington - WA ║
║ Illinois - IL North Carolina - NC West Virginia - WV ║
║ Indiana - IN North Dakota - ND Wisconsin - WI ║
║ Iowa - IA Northern Mariana Wyoming - WY ║
║ Kansas - KS Island - CM ║
╚═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
Figure 6
If the cursor is any field besides the state field, and you
press the <F1> key, then the normal help window will appear, giving
you brief key descriptions. (See page 8 for a look at the window.)
Another feature of the program is its ability to copy the
previous record's contents into the current record, one field at a
time.
Let's say that you want to enter a series of addresses that
are all in the same city. After you've entered the street address
you'll be moved to the next field which is the city field. Press
List-It! -10-
the <F2> key and the entry within this field in the previous record
will be automatically entered. That is, the city which you
already entered in the previous record would be duplicated here.
You can also use this key when record information differs
only slightly. As when you wish to enter two friends or business
associates who happen to live at the same street address, but
with different numbers. Just enter the first record and continue
with the second until you reach the address field. Press <F2> and
the street address from the first record will be entered here
also. You then move the cursor to the part of the address you
wish to change. Type in the new info and press return when you
are finished editing the field.
Of course the F2 key is not active at the first record, since
there is no previous record.
When you finish entering data into the current record, you
have the chance to review the record before it is saved. If there
are any changes to be made, move the cursor to the desired field.
To move to the next field press the <Tab>, <Enter>, or the
Down cursor keys. To move to the previous field press the
<Shift + Tab> keys or the Up cursor key. Then make the necessary
changes and press the <F9> key when you are done.
The program then checks the database to see if the record
just entered is a duplicate of one that already exists. It searches
on three fields; last name, address, and phone number. If all three
match then you are prompted with a duplicate record message;
Duplicate Record
Do you wish to view the original record? y/n
If you answer yes, the original record is displayed. You are
then given the opportunity to edit the original record.
Whether or not you view the original record, the program
will then delete the duplicate record.
You can not enter a blank record. If you do not enter any
information into the fields but simply hit the return key at each
prompt, or hit the <Esc> key without entering data, the program
knows that the record is blank and deletes it automatically when
you leave the Enter Module.
List-It! -11- DELETE MODULE
This module will allow you to delete records that were
located or tagged in the last search. Which makes it easy to
delete groups of records, instead of only deleting one record at a
time, as you would through the Browse module.
Suppose you realize that you have a group of records that
are duplicated in another, or within the same PDF file. This is a
waste of valuable disk space, so you will want to delete those
records. All you'd have to do is search for those duplicate records
through the Find module, then return to the Delete module and press
the <y> key in response to the following prompt.
"Delete records from last search? y/n"
When you press <y> you will next be prompted with the question;
"Do you wish to view the records before deletion? y/n."
This is done for safety's sake, so that you can be sure that
you're deleting only the records that need deleting. If you're sure
about the results of the search then you can forego this option,
by pressing <n> for no. You will then be prompted with a reminder
that you are about to delete the records located from the last
search. If you still wish to continue press <y> again. You will
then be prompted one final time with the query;
"Proceed? y/n."
Press <y> to start the deletion process. Every record that
was tagged at the last search will now be deleted.
If you don't press <y> then you will be shown the same search
menu that is shown within the Find Module. You can now search for
the desired record or groups of records that you want to delete.
If however, you do wish to view the records that are about to
be deleted press <y>, and they will be displayed one at a time.
The following prompt will then appear after each record;
"Delete this record? y/n."
The displayed record will only be deleted when you press <y>.
Pressing any other key will leave the current record alone and
display the next record about to be deleted.
You can press the <ESC> key at any one of the previously
mentioned prompts, to quit the module and return to the main menu.
This is true even if you are viewing a large group of records that
you will be deleting, and you haven't reached the end of the list
yet.
When the last record in the retrieved list has been reached,
the program will tell you how many records were deleted, and allow
you to return to the main menu.
List-It! -12- PRINT MODULE
When you first enter this module you will see the following
sub-menu:
┌───────────────────────┐
│Records │
│Labels 3 1/2 by 15/16 │
└───────────────────────┘
You can choose to print the records of your database or labels
from those records, (in labels of the size 3 1/2 x 15/16). If you
choose labels, then you will see an additonal sub-menu:
┌───────────────────────┐
│Records │
│Labels 3 1/2 by ┌────────────┐
└────────────────│Last Search │
│All records │
└────────────┘
This sub-menu allows you to choose how you wish to print your
labels. You can either print a label from every record in your
database, or you can restrict the label printing to just a portion
of it. (For a detailed explanation of how to restrict printing to
a portion of your database, see the following discussion in Record
printing. The same rules apply.)
You will be allowed to print test labels to see if the labels
are aligned correctly in your printer. Just press the <y> key when
the Print test labels window appears. Three test labels will then
be printed, and then another window will appear on screen asking
if they have printed correctly.
If you notice that they are not aligned correctly, press the
<n> key. You will then be asked if you want to print test labels
again. First re-align the labels in your printer, and then answer
with the <y> key to print test labels again. Once you are satisfied
with the label alignment, press the <y> key, (when you are asked if
the labels printed correctly?)
You will then be prompted with another window asking if you
wish to start printing. Press the <y> key to initiate printing.
You can abort the printing process pressing the <Esc> key,
when ever you are asked a question.
Labels are printed in the standard mailing format;
First name Last Name
Address
City, State Zip Code.
List-It! -13- RECORD PRINTING
When you enter this module, you will see a vertical list of
fields on the left side of your screen. (The same one that
appears when you are in the Find Module.) You will also see a
command section at the bottom of your screen.
Pressing F1 pops up a series of windows explaining the
functions available to you in this module. Basically, you can
print out the contents of your database in a any way you wish.
You can be selective in the fields you want printed and also in
what records to print. And of course, you can also print the
entire database.
The F10 key gives you that choice, that is, printing the
entire database. Each record is printed in the following format:
Last name First Name
Address
City, State Zip Code
Area Code telephone
Company
Contact
Business Area Code Business Phone extension
Fax Area Code Fax number
Notes
If you need to be more selective in your printing, then you
are given the option of tagging the fields you wish to print. To
tag fields you must move the highlight bar, with the up and down
cursor keys, to the desired fields then press <enter>. (Or
alternatively, you can press the highlighted letter of the desired
field. This is more direct and much quicker, than the previous
method).
A print-field-tag (*), will appear to the right of the chosen
field, to let you know it has been chosen. A tagged field can be
toggled by selecting the same field again. The tag will then
disappear.
Once the fields have been chosen, press <F5> to start
printing. The tagged fields of each record in the database, will
then be printed.
The F9 key provides another method of selecting records to
print, by working with the Find Module. Simply put, it prints
records that were located at the last search. For example, let's
say you wish to print the records of friends that are on your Xmas
list. (These records must of course be marked in this manner,
perhaps with the words Xmas list in the note field).
From the main menu you must first enter the Find module, go
to field search and then to the note field, (<F>, <f>, <n>). At
the prompt, type in xmas list and hit <enter>. The entire database
will be searched and all records with these words in the note
field will be tagged. Then press <ESC> which will return you to
the main menu.
List-It! -14-
Next enter the Print Module, choose Print Records and press
<F9>. You will then see the following phrase, displayed at the top
of the command area;
"Printing is confined to Last Search"
This means that when the database is accessed for records to
print, it will only print those that were located at the last
search, (in this case, the search was for xmas in the note field).
You must then tag the fields you wish to have printed, say the
name and address fields, then press <F5> to start printing.
The result will be a list of names and addresses of everyone
on your Christmas list.
If however, you pressed the <F10> key instead of the <F5>
key, then the entire contents of each record with the phrase xmas
in the note field will be printed.
Whichever method you choose, the printing will be confined
to those records that have been tagged in the last search. If you
decide that you want to remove that restriction press <F9> again.
You'll then see the printing restriction notice disappear. <F9>
acts as a toggle switch here, either restricting or not restricting
the print job to records located at last search.
You can also print single records. Again, you must enter the
Find module and search for the desired record. But it must be a
search on a field that you know is not duplicated in any other
record. Let's say you need the record of Bart Jones in hard copy.
And you know that you only have one Bart in your database. At the
main menu type, <f>,<f>, <f>. An input line will appear at the
first name field. Type in Bart and hit <ENTER>. Bart Jones'
record should then appear on the screen.
You can then return to the main menu and proceed to the
print menu. Press <F9> and hit <F10>, (or tag the needed fields
and hit <F5>, if you wish to only view a part of the record.) A
hard copy of this record will then be printed out.
Before any printing begins the program checks to make sure
that a printer is attached and ready. (At least for parallel
printers, that are connected to LPT1. I'll remedy this in future
versions to include other ports and serial printers).
So if you do have a parallel printer connected to LPT1, then
the program will notify you when the printer is turned off or is
off line. It does this within an error window (red background,
yellow letters), that pops up on your screen. You will be given
a message corresponding to the status of the printer, plus
an opportunity to correct the situation. If you choose not to
correct the problem you are also given the choice of exiting the
print module by pressing the <ESC> key.
List-It! -15- QUIT
Selecting quit from the main menu, returns you to DOS. But
there are some housekeeping chores the program does first. It
saves several variables to disk, so they can be used the next
time you run List-It!.
For instance, the program saves the colors that you are using
when you quit the program. Then the next time the program runs,
these colors are retrieved and used again. So you only have to
customize your colors once.
Another variable saved is the last record you viewed, through
either the Browse or the Find Modules, in the currently loaded PDF
file. This means that the next time the file is used and you
select Browse from the main menu, the record that was last
displayed will be the record that is displayed now.
For example, let's say you have a data file named
POLITICAL.PDF which contains information on many political
officers, both state and nation wide. You need to know the mailing
address of Senator Chiles, so you load in the file POLITICAL.PDF,
(through the Load File option in the Utility sub-menu), select
Find from the main menu and start a search for Lawton Chiles. When
his record is found it is displayed on screen and you can then get
the info you needed. Then, when you quit the program, or load in
another file, this record number is saved.
The next time you run List-It!, load the file POLITICAL.PDF
and enter the Browse Module, the record of Lawton Chiles will
appear first.
Before the program allows the user to go back to DOS, a
reminder screen asking him not to forget to register is displayed.
That line is re-displayed in a different color each second. After
3 seconds, you can stop the process and return to DOS by hitting
any key.
Please remember that when you register, I will send you the
latest version of the program without the commercials.
Thank You for your understanding and patience.
List-It! -16- UTILITY Sub-Menu
Selecting Utility from the main menu, displays a window
with other menu choices.
┌──────────────┐
│Directory │
│Backup │
│Import/Export │
│Load file │
│Copy file │
│Change colors │
│Rename file │
│Get Info │
│Undelete │
└──────────────┘
Figure 7
You select menu items as you would from the main menu. That
is, by moving the highlight bar, in this case with the up and down
cursor keys, and then hitting <Enter>. Or by pressing the high-
lighted letter of the menu choice you desire.
If you press the <F1> key while in the sub-menu, a help window
will pop up displaying information about the currently highlighted
menu item. Each menu item has it's own help window.
We'll now turn to a discussion of the options available to you
through this sub-menu.
DIRECTORY
When you select Directory from the menu the program displays a
directory tree and then searches the current drive and directory
and lists all files it finds there. The tree is displayed in a
small window to the left of the screen, with the current directory
highlighted by the moving bar. You can move the highlight bar along
the directory tree, with the up or down cursor keys. If there are
more than ten directories, they will scroll in the window. The
files are listed on the rest of the screen to the right of the
tree window.
Each time you move the highlight bar, any files that reside
within that directory will automatically display on the right side
of the screen, in the file area. If there are no files within that
directory, then it will be noted there also.
Underneath the directory window are two figures. One figure
represents the amount of free space available on the current drive.
This figure will, of course change every time you change the drive
that you are viewing.
The second figure represents the total number of bytes used
by the currently highlighted directory. This amount will vary every
time you move the highlight bar to a different directory.
List-It! -17-
The full path name will be displayed on the top line of the
screen. This will be updated each time you move the highlight bar.
The command area is on the bottom of the screen. In it you
will find the keys that are active in this module.
Up Arrow,
Dn Arrow - Change Directories
<Space Bar> - When this is displayed, there are too many
files in the currently selected directory
to display on one screen. Pressing the
<Space Bar> clears the file screen and
displays the remaining files.
F2 - Displays a Drive change menu on the first
line of the command area. Select a drive
with the left or right cursor keys, then
hit <Enter>.
<Esc> - Quits the module, returning to the main menu.
A sample screen follows;
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│B:\*.* │
╞══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╡
│┌──────────────────┐ LST.EXE │
││\ │ LST-REGI.DOC │
│└──────────────────┘ LSTDOC1.TXT │
│ LSTDOC2.TXT │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│Bytes Available: │
│10,240 │
│ │
│Directory Bytes: │
│350,580 │
│ │
│ │
╞══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╡
│< >, < > : to change directories <F2>: change drives │
│ ESC>: quit │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Figure 8
This shows a disk in the B drive with 4 files in the root
directory, totaling 350,580 bytes. There are 10,240 bytes available
on this disk.
The directory window contains the only root directory of the
disk in the B drive. It will expand, if necessary, to hold ten
directories. When there are more than ten, they will scroll out of
the window.
List-It! -18-
