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1991-08-02
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ADDRESS BOOK
By Ivor Taylor.
VERSION 1.0
Copyright (c) 1991 Ivor Taylor.
OL12 6SZ England. All Rights Reserved.
INTRODUCTION
Thank you for trying this copy of ADDRESS
BOOK. I feel sure that the enclosed package
will prove to be a useful tool in your
library. If you have any comments about the
package or perhaps ideas for future editions
I will be pleased to hear from you. Your
supplier will be informed of any updates as
they come along and you will be able to
update your package at very minimal costs.
It is my intention to add new features to
the programme as the need arises. I hope
that ADDRESS BOOK serves you well and plays
its part in helping to maintain your data in
the good order that our modern environment
demands. requires.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 1990 Ivor Taylor c/o Permaweld
Unit2, Littledale Street, Rochdale.
Lancashire. OL12 6SZ. All RIGHTS RESERVED.
The Copyright covers all literature,
software and any additional material
incorporated in the ADDRESS BOOK package.
Reproduction of materials in this package is
expressly forbidden except for the purpose
of back up. Sale or re-sale of any
materials in this package is forbidden. A
small copying fee may be charged by any
Bulletin Board or Shareware House. The
programme or these files may not be
transcribed or translated into any other
language without prior consent of the
author. The programme may not on any
account be reverse engineered. ADDRESS BOOK
and its associated files and transcripts
remains the property of Ivor Taylor.
DISCLAIMER
Ivor Taylor or Permaweld cannot be held
responsible for any faults in the programme
or manual which may result in loss to
anybody, persons or company through the use
of this programme. The utmost care is taken
to ensure that the programme is accurate in
its performance and will perform as
advertised.
INSTALLATION
To install the programme. Place the floppy
disk in Drive A: make A: the default drive,
then type < INSTALL > The ADDRESS BOOK
Install programme will then ask several
questions about where to install the
programme. After supplying the information
Install will create a directory on the
appropriate drive called BOOK and commence
to copy all the files into it. Install then
Initializes the files and Indexes them ready
for use by the programme. After install has
finished its work just type < AD-BOOK > to
enter the programme. When using the
programme again please be sure to change to
the appropriate directory to access ADDRESS
BOOK again.
REQUIREMENTS
ADDRESS BOOK Requires an IBM Compatible
Computer Running MSDOS 2.00 or better also a
hard disk is recommended because of the
large volume of data. The programme will run
in Mono or CGA is required for colour.
It is also required that the ansi.sys driver
be installed. This is done by including the
following line in the config.sys file.
device= \PATH\ansi.sys
where PATH is the drive and path where
ansi.sys is stored. PATH is not required if
the ansi.sys file is in the same directory
as the config.sys file.
BACKUP
It is important that you make backup copies
of all your data. I can always send you
another copy of the programme I CANNOT
REPLACE YOUR DATA. The best way to backup up
data is to make two copies of the data and
to backup each alternatively. This way if
anything goes wrong you still have a backup
copy and data loss is kept to a minimum.
There are plenty of programmes on the market
which will make backing up of data a very
easy task. Some very good ones are available
on the Shareware Market. Well worth
investing a few pounds considering the
amount of time spent in in-putting data into
a database of this size.
GETTING STARTED
Most people when they purchase a new
computer programme cannot wait to get
started, and if they are like me, I quite
often dive in at the deep end first, only
reading the manual after having played with
the programme and found some minor
difficulty. This is a very good way to learn
as there is no damage that can be done.
The first thing you should do is to make a
backup copy of the programme disk just in
case you spill coffee on it or something,
while burning the midnight oil.
Next after installing the programme on the
computer type < AD-BOOK > to begin. The
Main Menu will appear.
THE MAIN MENU.
On arriving at the Main Menu you have a
variety of ways in which to access the
information it contains. The normal way is
with the use of the arrow keys. Press the
left or right arrow keys on the keyboard and
you will see the highlight change on the
menu bar. Press <Enter> at any point and a
drop down menu will appear which in turn
will give you a further choice. These items
can be accessed with the use of the UP and
Down arrow keys, this will move the bar up
or down, again pressing <Enter> will confirm
your selection. It is also possible to
select a menu item by pressing the high
lighted letter of the menu. For example
pressing "Q" while accessing the database
menu will return you to the operating
system. You may also press <ALT-X> at any
time while in the main menu to quit the
programme.
MOUSE SUPPORT.
The Main Menu fully supports the use of a
mouse if you should wish to use one. To
make your selection use the left mouse key
by pointing and clicking on the appropriate
item. The right mouse key is equivalent to
the <ESC> key and may be used at any time
while the Main Menu is on the screen. The
mouse is not supported while using the
database functions as it was thought that no
benefit would ensue from such support.
MENU OPTIONS
Update Database.
This option is used to enter your data
into the programme. Whenever it is required
for you to enter or change data in the
programme this is the option to use.
Pressing Function Key F1 will display a
help screen which will show all the
keystrokes for you at the press of a
key.Pressing ESC at any time will take you
back one level. To change data just type
right over the old data after saving the
data with F10 the new data will be stored in
your file.
A small point, if when typing over data some
of the original data is left in the field,
this is considered by ADDRESS BOOK to be
part of the new code.
Pressing <ESC> on an empty screen will take
you back to the Main Menu. If the screen is
not empty pressing <ESC> will clear the
record for you.
To find a record just type its code into an
empty screen pressing enter will search the
database and return the record if it
exists.
After entering several products in the
database is a good idea to re-index
them.(Put them in their proper order in the
database.) If the records have not been
indexed when running reports you will find
that one of the records is printed and
counted twice. After indexing the records
you will now be able to see how the Function
keys operate. Pressing Function key F5 will
find the first record in the database. F8
the next record. F7 the previous record and
F6 the last record in the database. Until
the records are indexed, the records are in
the order of entry. After indexing they
will appear in alphabetical order. You will
notice that all code or key fields will not
allow you to enter data in lower case
letters. This is to assist you when the time
comes to find a record again. To a computer
SMITH is not the same as smith or Smith. So
that consistency between operators can be
guaranteed, only upper case letters are
allowed.
Printing Reports
Printing Reports is very straight forward
Just make sure you have plenty of paper in
your printer and that it is switched on.
After selecting a report from the menu just
follow the on screen directions. If you
should wish to stop the report for any
reason press CTR + C this will cause the
report to abort running after your printer
buffer has emptied. It is quite probable
after this that you will have to re-index
your data as your main index will probably
be corrupted. No problem just go to the menu
item marked index and select it this will do
the job for you in a very short space of
time.
Index databases.
This option is a very useful item as you
will come to appreciate. After entering
data into any of the databases, Using this
option will sort the data into code order.
Prior to this the data will be in order of
input. If you should somehow corrupt your
data. The usual way is by mains failure or
exiting the programme in an unusual manner
such as just switching of the computer. You
may find that your data is corrupt and the
programmes will not run. Choosing this
option will correct the problem. If you
choose the option from the Main Menu the
database files will be indexed
The programme may also be run as a stand
alone item from the command line. Enter
index book at the prompt and your database
will be indexed for you.
Initialize Databases.
This option is run for you by Install when
setting up the programme on your disk. Be
very cautious when choosing this option as
ALL THE DATA IN THE DATABASES WILL BE LOST
FOR ALL TIME. In other words it will
completely delete the databases. and make
them ready for use again. This demonstrates
how important backup copies of data can be.
Quit To Dos.
This option will take you back to the
operating system of the computer. It is the
only correct way to exit the programme as
all files are closed and the screen colours
are returned to their previous values.
STAND ALONE PROGRAMMES.
Listed below is a complete list of all the
executable programme files. All these files
can be used from the directory which
contains them as stand alone programmes or
in various ways from the ADDRESS BOOK Main
Menu.
Dbinit.exe Initialize Databases.
* Index.exe Index Databases.
* Query.exe Query Databases.
Ad-book.exe Main Menu.
Install.exe Installation Programme.
Now all the above mentioned files are
separate programmes in their own right and
may be run from the directory in which they
reside. They are gathered together with
AD-BOOK.exe which acts very much like a
batch file, however a good deal faster in
operation. AD-BOOK.exe is the Main Menu and
if you prefer and are happy with the options
Search provides you can operate just from
the Main Menu which is very easy to use.
ADDRESS BOOK however provides much more
power than this. Each of the above
programmes marked with a asterisk require
parameters to run and each one is described
in turn below.
Index.exe
Index is able to index the databases from
the command line
The syntax is as follows.
Index Book
Query.exe
Query.exe allows you to type in a list of
parameters. After pressing enter the main
input screen will appear with just the
listed fields on it for you to update.
The format is as follows.
query book code birthday name phone_home
This command from the command line will put
up a screen with only the specified fields
for you to update. They will also be in the
order on the command line. The only field
that must be used is the code field, without
which Query would not know which record was
to be used.
THE KEY STROKES
F1 Help.
F2 Not In Use.
F3 Not In Use.
F4 Delete Record.
F5 Find First Record In File.
F6 Find Last Record In File.
F7 Find Previous Record.
F8 Find Next Record.
F9 Find Key Record.
F10 Save Record.
ESC Clears Record or Quits To Dos.
Del Delete Character Under Cursor.
Backspace Delete Character Left Of Cursor.
Ins Toggle Insert Mode.
Tab Move Cursor To Next Field.
Enter Move Cursor To Next Field.
Dn Arrow Move Cursor To Next Field.
Up Arrow Move cursor To Previous Field.
Rt Arrow Move Cursor Right One Character.
Lt Arrow Move Cursor Left One Character.
REGISTRATION FORM.
Number
Please Register _____ Copies of ADDRESS BOOK @ £10.00 Each.
VAT
Total Value __________
_ _
Disk Size Please Tick. 5.25" |_| 3.5"|_|
Name :_______________________________________
Company:_______________________________________
Address:_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
_ _
Method Of Payment : Mastercard |_| VISA |_|
Card No: ---- ---- ---- ----
Expiry Date:
Card Holders Name:
We will also take International Money Orders
Sterling Postal Orders.
Sterling Cheques
This Registration will license you for use on 1 computer
terminal at a time. If multiple registrations are
required a discount of 10% is allowable. On registration
you will receive the latest version of the programme, A
Printed Manual. Telephone Support In Britain or Mail
Support if overseas and Notification of all updates. The
updates will carry a 33% discount.
