The Business Master (3rd Edition)/The Business Master (3rd Edition).iso/files/datautil/looksee/look.doc

Text File | 1991-06-11 | 16.8 KB | 421 lines

                                    LOOKSEE:

                             OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS













                            Version 1.11s - May 1991

                    (C) Copyright Mike Lewis Computing, 1991



           This SHAREWARE program may be freely copied and distributed
           on a non-commercial basis. If you wish to use it regularly,
            please register as a user. For details, see page 1 of this
                manual, or press Shift-F1 while LookSee is active.


                               TABLE OF CONTENTS



            About this version                                     1

            Introduction                                           2
                What you need to know                              2
                System requirement                                 2
                Installing LookSee                                 2

            Using LookSee                                          3
                Loading LookSee into memory                        3
                Activating LookSee                                 3
                Navigating                                         3
                Searching                                          4
                Additional features                                5
                Changing databases                                 5
                De-activating LookSee                              5
                Unloading LookSee                                  5

            Getting More From LookSee                              6
                Using LookSee in non-resident mode                 6
                Screen colours                                     6
                Date formats                                       6
                Popping up in graphics mode                        7
                Using LookSee with Windows                         7
                Using LookSee with SideKick                        7

         LookSee Operating Instructions                              Page 1



          ABOUT THIS VERSION

              This manual describes the SHAREWARE version of LookSee.
              The shareware version is intended to help you to evaluate
              the program before buying it. If you wish to continue to
              use LookSee after you have evaluated it, you should
              register as a user.

              By registering, you are not only legalising your use of
              the program (failure to register constitutes an
              infringement of our copyright), you are helping to ensure
              the future development of LookSee and other useful
              programs. You are also supporting the entire shareware
              concept, without which many excellent software products
              would never become available.

              To register, send your name and address, together with the
              appropriate fee, to the address at the foot of this page.

              The fees are as follows:

                 From the US:              $49
                 From the UK:              37.60 pounds (incl. VAT)
                 From any other country:   US$65 or 39 pounds sterling

              You may make your payment in sterling (cheque or draft on
              a British bank) or in US funds (IMO, or check on a US
              bank). Sorry, we cannot accept credit cards at present.

              In return for your registration, you will receive:

                 - A new copy of LookSee (including any recent
                   enhancements), with a printed manual and dual-
                   media diskettes, despatched by air mail or first
                   class post

                 - Free technical support, by phone, mail or e-mail

                 - Notification of any future upgrades

              The above information is valid until the end of 1993.
              After that, please enquire.

              And thank you for your support.


                              Mike Lewis Computing
               2 Hatton Place, Edinburgh EH9 1UD, United Kingdom
                           Phone: [phone]

        LookSee Operating Instructions                              Page 2


          INTRODUCTION

              Welcome to LookSee. LookSee is a pop-up file viewer which
              enables you to browse or search your dBASE databases, even
              while you are working in another program. There are many
              ways in which you can use it, for example:

                 - You can look up names and addresses while you are
                   using your word processor.

                 - You can quickly deal with telephone enquiries without
                   having to load up your full database system.

                 - You can search for customers even if you only know
                   part of their name.

                 - You can make your data available across a network,
                   without risk of other users altering it.

              LookSee is also a handy debugging tool for dBASE
              programmers. It can often provide a very quick way of
              examining the state of your databases while your are
              testing your application.

              LookSee works with any database created by dBASE III Plus,
              dBASE IV, FoxPro, Clipper, dBXL, and many similar packages
              (it accesses databases only, not index or memo files).

            What you need to know

              In these instructions, we have assumed that you have a
              basic understanding of Dos, directories and filenames. In
              particular, you will need to know the names and locations
              of the databases you wish to access. On the other hand,
              you do not need to know anything about dBASE - indeed, you
              do not even need to have dBASE installed on your PC in
              order to use LookSee.

            System requirement

              LookSee runs on the IBM PC, IBM PS/2, and most compatible
              computers, under MS-DOS or PC-DOS, version 2.0 or above. A
              hard disk is recommended but not essential. The program
              takes about 44K of RAM

            Installing LookSee

              The LookSee program consists of a single file, LOOK.EXE.
              To install it, simply copy this file from the diskette on
              which you received the program to any suitable directory
              on your hard disk.

        LookSee Operating Instructions                              Page 3


          USING LOOKSEE

            Loading LookSee into memory

              Before you can use LookSee, you must load it into memory.
              Once you have done this, you can call it up at any time.
              LookSee will remain in memory until you decide to remove
              it, or you switch off or reset your PC.

              To load LookSee into memory, you simply type:

                LOOK

              from the Dos prompt. You will see a copyright notice,
              after which the Dos prompt will re-appear. You may now use
              your PC for other work until you are ready to use LookSee.

              When loading LookSee, you can optionally specify the name
              of a database that you wish to view. For example, to use
              LookSee with the CUSTOMER database in the \SALES
              directory, you would type:

                LOOK \SALES\CUSTOMER

              (The .DBF extension in the database name is not required.)

            Activating LookSee

              Once you have loaded LookSee into memory, you may invoke
              it at any time. To do this, press "Ctrl-LeftShift-1" (that
              is, hold down the Ctrl and left shift key, then press "1",
              then release all three keys). Use the "1" on the top row
              of the main typewriter keyboard, not the numeric pad.

              We have purposely chosen this unusual key combination so
              as to reduce the risk of it clashing with key combinations
              in other programs. In the unlikely event that "Ctrl-Shift-
              1" has some other use in your main application, you will
              still be able to use the right shift key, or the "1" on
              the numeric pad, for that purpose.

              You can only activate LookSee while the main application
              is in text mode, not graphics mode.

            Navigating

              When you activate LookSee, a "window" will pop up on the
              screen. If you specified a database name when you loaded
              LookSee (see above), the first record of that database
              will appear in the main part of the window. If you did not
              specify a database name, you must do so now. Press F8 and

        LookSee Operating Instructions                              Page 4


              type the name in response to the prompt (see also page 5).

              You may use the following keys to move around the
              database:

                  Up, Down cursor keys  Scrolls the window vertically
                                        (if the record is too big to fit
                                        in the window)

                  PgDn, PgUp            Scrolls the window by one page
                                        or record at a time

                  Home, End             Goes to the first or last record
                                        in the database

                  spacebar              Flips between the last two
                                        records displayed

                  F3 or J               Jumps to a specific record (you
                                        will be prompted for the record
                                        number)

            Searching

              To search the database for a word, character string,
              number or date, press F5 (or S), then type the required
              text in response to the prompt. LookSee will search from
              the start of the database, and will highlight the first
              field containing the text.

              To continue searching for the same text, press Shift-F5
              (or C). LookSee will search for the next occurrence,
              starting from the current record.

              Note the following points:

                 - Searches are field-independent. A search for, say,
                   "London" would find any record containing that word,
                   whether it is part of a name, address, comment, or
                   any other field.

                 - Searches are case-insensitive. So searching for
                   "London" might also find "LONDON" or "london".

                 - Dates and numbers are treated in the same way as other
                   text. A search for "91" would find that value whether
                   it was part of a date, a numeric field or a character
                   field.

        LookSee Operating Instructions                              Page 5


            Additional features

              The following keys are also available within LookSee:

                  F1 or H               Displays a brief help screen

                  Shift-F1 or A         Displays information about
                                        LookSee

                  F2 or I               Displays basic information about
                                        the database

                  Shift-F2 or D         Displays the database's field
                                        structure (if this is too large
                                        to fit in the window, use the
                                        cursor keys to scroll it)

            Changing databases

              You can switch to a different database file at any time.
              To do this, press F8 (or F). LookSee will prompt you for
              the file name. You may precede the name with a drive
              letter and/or directory path. The .DBF extension is not
              required.

            De-activating LookSee

              When you have finished with LookSee, press ESC to return
              to your main application. The next time that you activate
              LookSee, you will be at the same point at which you left
              off.

            Unloading LookSee

              If you wish to remove LookSee from memory (for example, to
              make more space available for other programs), press Alt-
              F10, then answer "Y" to the prompt. LookSee will only
              remove itself if it was the last memory-resident program
              loaded.

        LookSee Operating Instructions                              Page 6


          GETTING MORE FROM LOOKSEE

            Using LookSee in non-resident mode

              There may be times when you wish to use LookSee, but do
              not want to load it as a memory-resident program. To use
              it as a normal (non-resident) program, load it in the
              usual way (page 3), but add /N to the command. For
              example:

                LOOK \SALES\CUSTOMER /N

              This will invoke LookSee immediately. When you have
              finished with it, press ESC to return to the Dos prompt.

            Screen colours

              LookSee runs in either monochrome or colour, depending on
              the display adapter installed in your PC. On some systems,
              however, it may mistakenly use colours which are not
              completely legible. To overcome this, you can force it to
              run in monochrome. Simply add /M to the command which
              loads it into memory. For example:

                LOOK \SALES\CUSTOMER /M

              Alternatively, you can toggle between monochrome and
              colour by pressing F6 (or T) while LookSee is active.

            Date formats

              LookSee displays dates in the format appropriate to your
              country, as determined by the COUNTRY parameter in your
              Config.Sys file. You can override this format by adding
              one of the following parameters to the command which loads
              LookSee:

                 /A for American format (MM-DD-YY)

                 /E for European format (DD/MM/YY)

                 /J for Japanese format (YY-MM-DD)

              These parameters may be combined with /N and /M. They may
              either precede or follow the database name (if any). For
              example:

                LOOK /ANM D:\DBASE\ORDERS

              This loads LookSee as a non-resident program, in mono
              mode, with American date formats.

        LookSee Operating Instructions                              Page 7


            Popping up in graphics mode

              As mentioned earlier, LookSee can only be activated if the
              main application is in text mode. If you try to invoke it
              in graphics mode, you will just hear two short beeps. To
              overcome this, you will have to exit the application's
              graphics function (which, in many cases, will mean closing
              the entire application). Alternatively, if you can run
              another program from inside the application (with a "Shell
              to Dos" command, for instance), you can use this to invoke
              LookSee with the /N parameter (see page 6).

            Using LookSee with Windows

              Because LookSee can only be invoked in text mode, you
              cannot use it as a pop-up within Microsoft Windows.
              However, you can still run it from Windows, by using the
              /N parameter (see page 6). If you are using Windows in its
              386 Enhanced Mode, you can configure LookSee to run in its
              own window (see your Windows manual for further details).
              Otherwise, LookSee will take over the entire screen,
              returning to Windows when you press ESC.

            Using LookSee with SideKick

              Users of Borland's SideKick should note that this program
              only works if it is the last memory-resident program to be
              loaded. To help avoid conflicts, LookSee checks for the
              presence of SideKick, and refuses to load if that program
              is already resident. If you wish to use both SideKick and
              LookSee, be sure to load LookSee first.