The Business Master (3rd Edition)

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FILE COMMANDS CHAPTER 7 - 3by5 MAIN MENU COMMANDS FILES COMMAND Edit Search Print >Files< Utilities Quit Open Close Records List Directory Index Fields Memory Status The Files Command Menu is entered from the Main Command Menu by pressing [F]. The File Command Menu will appear: >Open< Close Records List Directory Index Fields Memory Status Open file The Open Command lets you open a 3by5 file or any ASCII, WordStar or WordPerfect file. Only 3by5 files may be edited from the 3by5 program. However, ASCII, WordStar and WordPerfect files may be imported, into a 3by5 file. Alternatively, 3by5 records may be exported to ASCII, WordStar and WordPerfect files. The Close Command is used to close an open file. The Record Command is used to Copy and Move records from one file to another. It is also used to Erase records within a file. The source and destination files may be 3by5, ASCII, WordStar or Word- Perfect files. If the source file is a 3by5 file, you may SORT the records before transferring them to another file. The List Command allows you to determine what files are on a disk. You may use the Directory Command to open a file or erase it from the disk. The Directory Command is used to change the current directory (it can also be used to change the current active disk drive). The Index Command is used to index a 3by5 file that has a damaged or deleted index file. The Fields Command is used to indicate which fields in a record will be copied to another record in a different file. The Memory Command is used to load the index of file 1 into ram memory - resulting in faster searches. The Status Command is used to display additional information about currently open files (e.g file size, index density. 81 3by5 All file commands use the File Information Window which appears at the top of the display: --------------------------------------------------------------- | File Type Index Record Number of Number of | | Length Fields Records | | 1 | | 2 | | 3 | | 4 | | 5 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |>Open< Close Records List Directory Index Fields Memory Status | |Open file | --------------------------------------------------------------- Each file that is opened is assigned a number from 1 to 5. File numbers are used to refer to the files and avoid typing the name of the file each time you want to issue a command. After a file is opened, the name of the file will be displayed. On the same line as the name of the file, the following information will be displayed: TYPE: 3by5, ASCII, WordStar, WordPerfect or Unknown. INDEX: Indicates the type of index for the file. All 3by5 files use Signature Screening indexes (designated by a "Sig"). RECORD LENGTH: Length of each record is fixed in a 3by5 file. NUMBER OF FIELDS: Up to 15 fields may be designated in a 3by5 file (3by5 and 3by5 Plus). NUMBER OF RECORDS: The number of records in a file. 82 FILE COMMANDS OPEN COMMAND >Open< Close Records List Directory Index Fields Memory Status Open file You may open up to five 3by5 or other files at one time. When a 3by5 file is opened, its companion index file is also opened. The index file is not included as one of the five files that may be opened. Press [O] to open a file. The File Information Window will be dis- played and the program will prompt you to enter the name of the file to open. Type in the name of the file that you want to open. If the file is on a disk drive that is not the default DOS drive, include the disk drive using standard DOS file specification (e.g. B:FILE1). If the file is in a directory other than the default directory, change the current directory before opening the file (see DIRECTORY COMMAND). If you enter a file name without an extension, the program will assume that the file is a 3by5 file and append the extension "3X5". If the file is NOT a 3by5 file and does not have an extension, place a "." (period) after the file name to indicate that the file has no extension and is not a 3by5 file. For example, "FILE1" will open the file FILE1.3X5, while "FILE1." will open the file FILE1. "FILE1.WS" will open the file FILE1.WS. While the file and its companion index file are being opened, the blinking message "WAIT" will be displayed in reverse video at the top right corner of the screen. If the file is found, it will be opened. If the file is not a standard 3by5 file, the program will ask you for the file type (ASCII, WordStar or Word Perfect). See page 88 for information on opening non-3by5 files. The List Command may also be used to open files (page 99). 83 3by5 BUILDING A 3by5 FILE If you attempt to open a file that does not exist, you will be asked whether you want to build the file: "Unable to open file. Do you want to build the file? (Y/N)." Press [Y] to build the file, [N] to jump back to the File Command Menu. If one or more files are open, the program will prompt you: File: filename Build like file (0-5): 0 = standard file This prompt allows you to build a file similar to one that is already open. The file parameters (e.g. file type, record length, number and name of fields) of an open file may be used to build the new file. You may modify any of the parameters. If you want to use an open file as a model for building a new file, type the number of the file. If not, press [N], and the program will ask you whether the file is a 3by5 file: File: filename Is the file a 3by5 file? (Y/N) Press [Y] to designate that the file is a 3by5 file. If you are using the 3by5 Plus program, it will prompt you: File: filename Variable length records? (Y/N): N Press [N] or <Enter> for standard, fixed length records, or [Y] for variable length records. See chapter 12 for more information on variable length records. The 3by5 Starter Kit and the standard 3by5 program do not support variable length records. 84 FILE COMMANDS The program will then prompt you for more information about the file: --------------------------------------------------------------- | File Type Index Record Number of Number of | | Length Fields Records | | 1 | | 2 | | 3 | | 4 | | 5 | | | | | |Maximum characters per record: (32 - 4800) 512 | |Number of fields: (0 - 15) 0 | |Left margin: (1 - 70) 1 | |Right margin: (10 - 78) 78 | |Index Density: (1, 2, 3, 4, or 5) 1 | | | |Record size suggestions: | | 2 x 4 card: 256 bytes with index of 1 | | 3 x 5 card: 512 bytes with index density of 1 or 2 | | 5 x 7 card: 1024 bytes with index density of 2 or 3 | | Full page: 4800 bytes with index density of 4 or 5 | | | | | |File: memos | |Press <Esc> to cancel; <F10> to save | --------------------------------------------------------------- The program is requesting information on the file you want to build. The first item is the number of characters per record. This is an important number. Once you specify it for a file, all records in the file will have a maximum number of characters equal to the number you enter. You may pick any number between 32 and 4800. The default record size is 512 bytes. This number of characters is sufficient for most references and addresses. The program next prompts you for the number of fields in the file. This is a number from 0 to 15. Type the number and press <Enter>. Next the program prompts you for the left margin. Enter a number from 1 to 70. If you have specified fields, the left margin for text will be set to 10 regardless of the number you enter. Next the program prompts you for the right margin. Enter the column number of the left margin, or press <Enter> for the default value. 85 3by5 If you have 3by5 or 3by5 Plus, the program will prompt you for the Index Density. This is a number between 1 and 5 and determines the size of the index for each record. Larger records should have higher index densities. The relationship between Index Density and index record size is: Index Index Size per Density Record (bytes) 1 32 2 64 3 128 4 256 5 512 Recommended Index Densities are listed on the screen. You may change the index density of a file by re-indexing it. The program will ask for the new Index Density. The most efficient index density for a file is dependent upon many factors. You can experiment with the Index Density for a particular file to find which value gives you the fastest searches. The Index Density of all 3by5 Starter Kit files is one. Use the Up and Down cursor arrows to make any corrections to the above and then press <F10>. If you specified any fields, the program will prompt you: --------------------------------------------------------------- |Field Field name | | A | | B | | C | | D | | E | | | | | | | | | |File: filename | |Press <Esc> to cancel; <F10> to save | --------------------------------------------------------------- 86 FILE COMMANDS A field name may be from 0 to 8 characters long. Type the name of each field and press <Enter> to move to the next. Use the Up and Down Arrow keys to move to any field name. When you are finished assigning field names, press <F10>. The program will then build the 3by5 source file and its companion index file. The index file will be given the extension "MAP". 87 3by5 OPENING A NON-3by5 FILE You may open and search (but not edit) a standard ASCII text file or a WordStar or WordPerfect file. If the program opens the file and finds that it is not a standard 3by5 file, it will ask you for the file type: "File type: 1. ASCII 2. WordStar 3. WordPerfect Press [1], [2] or [3] to indicate the file type. The program will then ask you for record delimiter (i.e. the character or pair of characters that defines the end of a record): "Record delimiter: 1.<CR><CR> 2.<CR> 3.Form Feed 4. Special Character" When searching a non-3by5 file, 3by5 reads a block of text at a time and displays it on the screen. For many word processing documents the carriage return (Enter key) or a pair of carriage returns define a natural block of text - the paragraph. However, you may wish to have several paragraphs or lines of text that end with a carriage return to be included in a block of text. Any character can be used. It is best that it be a character that occurs infrequently. For example: Name: John Jones DOB: 09/23/45 @ Name: John Smith DOB: 01/12/52 @ If the character "@" had been defined as the Record Delimiter, each line between the name line and the line with "@" will be considered a block of text (record). Alternatively, if the records were entered: Name: John Jones DOB: 09/23/45 Name: John Smith DOB: 01/12/52 The blank line (actually a carriage return after the year followed by another carriage return) delimit records. 88 FILE COMMANDS BUILDING A NON-3by5 FILE If you attempt to open a file that does not exist, you will be asked whether you want to build the file: "Unable to open file. Do you want to build the file? (Y/N)." Press [Y] to build the file, [N] to jump back to the File Command Menu. If you pressed [Y], and any files are open, the program will ask you: File: filename Build like file (0-5): 0 = standard file If one of the files is a non-3by5 file, type the number of the file, and 3by5 will create the file on disk. Then you will be asked for the file type and record delimiter. If no files are open, the program will ask you whether the file is a 3by5 file: File: filename Is the file a 3by5 file? (Y/N) Press [N]. The file will be opened, and the program will then ask you for the file type: "File type: 1. ASCII 2. WordStar 3. WordPerfect Press [1], [2] or [3] to indicate the file type. The program will then ask you for record delimiter (i.e. the character or pair of characters that defines then end of a record): "Record Delimiter: 1.<CR><CR> 2.<CR> 3.Form Feed 4. Special Character" Specify the Record Delimiter. This delimiter will be placed at the end of each record written to the file. 89 3by5 CLOSE COMMAND Open >Close< Records List Directory Index Fields Memory Status Close file Whenever you exit from 3by5 by using the Exit Command, all open files are automatically closed. If you are going to remove a diskette from its drive while running 3by5, make certain that any files on the diskette are closed before removing the diskette. This prevents DOS from writing incorrect information to the new diskette. To close a file, press [C] in response to the File Command Menu. The program will ask you for the name of the file to close. Type the number of the file that you want to close. 90 FILE COMMANDS RECORDS COMMAND Open Close >Records< List Directory Index Fields Memory Status Copy or Move Records from one file to another; Erase records The Records Command is used to Copy or Move records from a source file to a destination file or from one location in a file to another. The Copy Command makes a copy of the source record and does not affect the source record, the Move Command makes a copy and then erases the source record. Records that are Copied or Moved from a 3by5 file may be sorted prior to being placed in the destination file (3by5 and 3by5 Plus). The Records Command is also used to Erase groups of records. When a record is erased, the contents of the record are over-written with ASCII zeros. The space occupied by the record is not released. Press [R] for the Records Command. The following prompt will appear at the bottom of the screen: Move/Copy/Erase Enter number of source file Type the number of the source file (i.e. the file from which the records will be obtained). The program will then prompt you: Move/Copy/Erase Source file AAAAAAAA Enter number of destination file "AAAAAAAA" is the name of the source file. Type the number of the destination file. THE DESTINATION FILE MAY BE THE SAME AS THE SOURCE FILE IF YOU WANT TO TRANSFER RECORDS WITHIN A FILE. 91 3by5 If the source and destination files are different, the Transfer Command Menu will appear as shown below: From AAAAAAAA To BBBBBBBB >Copy< Move Copy a group of records (source records are not changed) Since you are working with two different files, the Erase Command is not available. COPYING RECORDS Press [C] to copy a group of records from one file to another. There are three possible ways to copy records. From a 3by5 file to another 3by5 file, from a non-3by5 file to a 3by5 file and from a 3by5 file to a non-3by5 file. Each will be considered separately. Copying from one 3by5 file to another 3by5 file If the source and destination files are 3by5 files, the program will prompt you: From AAAAAAAA Copy: Records in file: "AAAAAAAA" represents the name of the source file. Type in the source record from which the copying process is to begin. The program will then prompt you: From AAAAAAAA Copy xxx to Records in file AAAAAAAA: "xxx" represents the number of the first record to be copied. Type in the number of the last record to be copied, and the bottom of the screen will appear as follows: From AAAAAAAA Copy xxx to yyy To BBBBBBB At Records in file BBBBBBBB: "BBBBBBBB" represents the name of the destination file. The program is waiting for you to enter the record number at which the transfer of files is to begin. If you type any number larger than the number of 92 FILE COMMANDS records in the destination file, the source records will be appended to the end of the destination file. If you have 3by5 or 3by5 Plus, the program will ask you: From AAAAAAAA Type xxx to yyy To BBBBBBBB At Sort records? (Y/N) You can sort the records to be copied from one file to another. If the source record has no fields, the program will sort by the first 20 characters in the record. If the source file has two or more fields, you may specify a primary and secondary field for sorting. For example, if the file has name and occupation fields, sorting by occupation as the primary field and name as the secondary field will give you a list of all records in alphabetical order, first by occu- pation, then by name. As the records are copied from the source file to the destination file, the program will inform you of the record currently being copied. After the range of records has been copied, the program will prompt you to enter another range of records to be copied. If you are finished, just press <Esc>. Copying Records from a Non-3by5 file to a 3by5 file If the source file is a non-3by5 file the program will transfer all records into the 3by5 destination file. The records will be appended to the end of the 3by5 destination file. Copying Records from a 3by5 file to a non-3by5 file. If the destination file is not a 3by5 file, the program will append the records to the end of the file. The program will prompt you for the range of records to be copied from the 3by5 file. As with a 3by5 to 3by5 copy, you may sort the records if you are using 3by5 or 3by5 Plus. 93 3by5 MOVING RECORDS You may move records from a 3by5 source file to either a 3by5 destin- ation file or a non-3by5 destination file. When a record is moved, it is copied to the destination file, and the original contents in the source file are erased. The record is not deleted from the file and you may add text to it at a later date. The instructions for Moving records are the same as for Copying records. ERASING RECORDS If the source and destination files are the same, you may Erase any group of records in the file. The program will prompt you for the starting number and the ending number. It will then erase the contents of each record. The index will be updated. A record that is erased, remains in the file and new information may later be added. During a COPY or MOVE, records that have been erased are not copied to the destination file. 94 FILE COMMANDS LIST COMMAND Open Close Records >List< Directory Index Fields Memory Status List of files in directory In response to the File Command Menu press [L] to obtain a listing of files in any directory. The program will prompt you: List: Type pattern for file. Press <Enter> for file list If you have 3by5 or 3by5 Plus the program will inform you that you may press <F10> for and extended list of the files (includes the file size and date and time of creation or last update). Press <Enter> to list all 3by5 files in the current directory. To list all files, type [*.*] <Enter>. The current drive or directory will be displayed and the files in the current directory will be listed: --------------------------------------------------------------- | File Type Index Record Number of Number of | | Length Fields Records | | 1 | | 2 | | 3 | | 4 | | 5 | | | |Drive A | |xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx | |xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx | |xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx | |xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |Position cursor bar: Press O to open a file; E to erase a file | --------------------------------------------------------------- 95 3by5 If there are more files in the directory than can fit on the screen at one time, the program will prompt you to press <PgDn> for more files. To open a file, position the cursor bar to the file and press [O]. The file will be opened. Similarly, files may be erased from the diskette by pressing [E]. If you attempt to erase a file that is open, the program will inform you that the file is open. You must first close the file, before erasing it. If you have 3by5 or 3by5 Plus and press <F10> after typing the file pattern the following will be displayed: --------------------------------------------------------------- | File Type Index Record Number of Number of | | Length Fields Records | | 1 | | 2 | | 3 | | 4 | | 5 | | | |Drive A | |xxxxxx yyy mm-dd-yyyy hh:mm | xxxxxx yyy mm-dd-yyyy hh:mm | |xxxxxx yyy mm-dd-yyyy hh:mm | xxxxxx yyy mm-dd-yyyy hh:mm | |xxxxxx yyy mm-dd-yyyy hh:mm | xxxxxx yyy mm-dd-yyyy hh:mm | |xxxxxx yyy mm-dd-yyyy hh:mm | xxxxxx yyy mm-dd-yyyy hh:mm | |xxxxxx yyy mm-dd-yyyy hh:mm | xxxxxx yyy mm-dd-yyyy hh:mm | |xxxxxx yyy mm-dd-yyyy hh:mm | xxxxxx yyy mm-dd-yyyy hh:mm | | | | | | | |Position cursor bar: Press O to open a file; E to erase a file | --------------------------------------------------------------- xxxxxx is the name of the file. yyy is the size of the file in bytes. mm-dd-yyyy is the month, day and year of the creation or last update. hh:mm is the hour and minute of the creation or last update. 96 FILE COMMANDS DIRECTORY COMMAND Open Close Records List >Directory< Index Fields Memory Status Directory commands The Directory Command allows you to change the current directory, or make or remove a directory. This command is most useful for systems with hard disk drives, but may be used on diskette based systems to specify the current drive (e.g. A:\ or B:\). Press [D] for the Directory Command. The following menu will appear: >Change< Make Remove Change current directory Changing the current directory Press [C]. The program will display the current directory if you have changed it previously while in 3by5. It will then prompt you for the name of the current directory. Directory: Change current directory Type the path (including disk drive) of the directory that you want to select as the current one and press <Enter>. The program will set that directory as the current directory. If there were any errors, you will be informed. For example, a:\ will select the A drive and the root directory; c:\level1\level2 will select the C drive and directory level2. 97 3by5 Making or Removing a Directory The Make and Remove Directory commands work similarly to the Change Directory command. The name of the directory must start with the drive, colon and back slash. For example, the command to remove the following directory "A:\LEVLE1\LEVEL2 will remove directory LEVEL2. All files in a directory must be deleted before it can be removed. 98 FILE COMMANDS INDEX COMMAND Open Close Records List Directory >Index< Fields Memory Status Index a 3by5 file The Index Command is used to index a 3by5 file that does not have an index file (e.g. it was deleted using the DOS Erase Command) or used to re-index a 3by5 file in which the index file was damaged (e.g. disk write error). Press [I] to index a file. The program will list the open files and you will be asked to select a file. Press <Esc> if you do not want to index a file. Otherwise select a file. If you are using 3by5 or 3by5 Plus, the program will ask you to enter the index density. Enter a number between 1 and 5. See page 86 for more information on the index density. The program will then start to index the file. The number of the record being indexed will be displayed at the bottom of the screen. NON-3by5 FILES CANNOT BE INDEXED IN VERSION 3 of 3by5. 99 3by5 FIELDS COMMAND Open Close Records List Directory Index >Fields< Memory Status Select fields to copy to another file The Fields Command is used to specify fields that will be copied from one record to another. For example, you may have a reference file with the following fields: REF CODE KEYWORDS COMMENTS The REF field contains the authors, title and source in any standard format suitable for publication. The CODE field contains the code number under which you file the article. The KEYWORDS field contains keywords that do not appear in the title, but are useful in retrieving the document. The COMMENTS field contains your comments on the reference. Suppose that you want to copy only the text in the REF fields to a file for editing with your word processor. The Fields Command is used to specify that when a record is copied from the file only the text in the REF field is copied. The destination file may be another 3by5 file, a WordStar or WordPerfect document file or an ASCII text file. Press [F] to issue the Fields Command. If more than one file is open, the program will ask you to enter the number of the file for the fields command. The program will then list the letter and name of the fields in the file: 100 FILE COMMANDS --------------------------------------------------------------- | File Type Index Record Number of Number of | | Length Fields Records | | 1 | | 2 | | 3 | | 4 | | 5 | | | |Fields in NEWREF.3X5 | |A REF | |B CODE | |C KEYWORDS | |D COMMENTS | | | | | | | | | |Fields to copy: | |Type order of fields for copying. Empty line = all fields | --------------------------------------------------------------- At the bottom of the screen the program will ask you to type the order of the fields to be copied. If you enter a blank line, the program will copy all fields in the same order as they are in the file. If you type [A] <Enter> only the REF field will be copied to another file. You may specify the order of the fields. For example: if you type [ADB] <Enter>, any records copied to another file will include the REF field, the COMMENTS field and the KEYWORDS field in that order. 101 3by5 MEMORY COMMAND Open Close Records List Directory Index Fields >Memory< Status Select fields to copy to another file The Memory Command is used to load the index of file one into ram memory. This will speed searching of file one. The indexes of files two through five cannot be loaded into ram. The ram memory used for the ram index is also used by the sort func- tion. Any time you sort records, the index in memory is erased, and the program will automatically used the index on disk. After sorting you may reload the index into ram memory by using the memory command. extensively, 102 FILE COMMANDS STATUS COMMAND Open Close Records List Directory Index Fields Memory >Status< Select fields to copy to another file The Status Command is used to display additional information on an open file. Press [S] to issue the command. If one file is open, the status information will be displayed. If more than one file is open, the program will ask you to enter the number of the file. The file name, type of index and file size in bytes are always displayed. If the file is a variable length record file, the program will display the number of unused bytes in the file (3by5 Plus). If the file is a non-3by5 file, the record delimiter will be displayed as ASCII values. For example, if a single carriage return is used to delimit a record, the program will display 13:0. If two carriage returns are used to delimit a record, the program will display 13:13. 103 3by5 104