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ORGANIZE! YOUR SPORTS CARDS
A Complete Database For Organizing Sports Cards
Baseball
Basketball
Hockey
Football
Stock Car Racing
and any other type of sports card!
HomeCraft Software
P.O. Box 974
Tualatin, OR 97062 USA
In the U.S. call 1-800-207-7735 to order your copy
Compuserve: 71450,254
AOL: Steve-PSG
EMail: 71450.254@compuserve.com
This manual and accompanying software copyright 1991, 1992, 1993,
1994, 1994 by H.C.P. Services, Inc.--All Rights Reserved
Portions Copyright 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988 Microsoft Corporation
TRY BEFORE YOU BUY
This software is distributed as shareware. This means you can
try this software to find out whether it provides what you need
before you pay for it. There are no limits nor is it crippled in
any way. It is true "try before you buy" software.
You may have obtained this software from a shareware disk vendor,
a bulletin board or a friend. I hope you also feel free to share
copies of it with your friends and upload it to your favorite
bulletin board(s). If you find you like this software and you've
been using it for more than 30 days, you must register as a user
by purchasing a registered copy. This software may not be used
for more than 30 days without registering.
Registration Information
This is a copyrighted software program protected by both U.S. and
international copyright law. If you are using this software for
more than 30 days you must purchase a registered copy in order to
continue to use it. The registration for a single copy is $39.95
(plus $6.00 S&H - $10.00 outside North America). Please note:
even though you may have purchased this disk from a retail store
or via mail order, you have not purchased a registered copy.
What you've paid for this disk was a fee that compensates the
vendor for their costs, time and effort in making this disk
available.
We accept company checks, personal checks, VISA and Master Card.
All amounts shown are in U.S. dollars. All checks in U.S.
dollars must be drawn on a U.S. bank. Users outside the U.S.:
We accept cheques in your local currency from users in
Canada, Mexico, Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand,
Sweden, Norway, France, Germany, Denmark, The Netherlands, Japan
and Switzerland. We will add other countries as our bank allows.
You can register as a user via Compuserve using the ID number
listed on the first page. Just send us an E-Mail giving your
name, address, credit card number, the disk size you need and the
name of the program. For additional information about
registering, please see the order form (also included on the disk
as the ORDER.FRM file)
When you register you will receive:
[] The current version of this software. We are constantly
making improvements and adding features suggested by users. We
do not duplicate your disk until just before we ship the
registered version of your software, thus you get the very latest
version.
[] One year of technical support via telephone, fax, mail or
electronic mail.
[] A free subscription to our annual newsletter which includes
user tips, help with using your computer, information about
upgrades and new cataloging systems.
[] A set of additional utilities that provide features not
available in the shareware version of OYC such as the ability to
control the Quick View capacity and display width, a search and
replace capability, page numbering, font control, and more.
[] More than 20 additional cataloging formats that include comic
books, music, stamps, coins, video games, video tapes, phone cards
and more.
DISTRIBUTION OF THE SHAREWARE VERSION OF THIS SOFTWARE
Please see the VENDOR.DOC file for complete information about
selling copies of this software or posting it on a BBS.
Please feel free to give away copies of the shareware version of
this software to friends, relatives, acquaintances or even
strangers.
OUR GUARANTEE
If you have any problems with this program or the disk it is on,
without regard to where you obtained it, you may send it to
H.C.P. Services, Inc. (HomeCraft Software) for a free update to
the current version.
SPECIALTY DATABASE
U S E R L I C E N S E A G R E E M E N T
NOTICE! - This manual and the enclosed software is provided to
you on the express condition that you agree to this software
license. By using this software you agree to the following
provisions.
<1> This manual, the enclosed software and the disks on which it
is contained are licensed to you, for your own use only. This is
copyrighted software. You are not obtaining title to the
software or any copyright rights. You may not sublicense, rent,
lease, modify, translate, convert to another programming
language, decompile, or disassemble the software for any purpose.
<2> You may make as many copies of this software as you need for
backup purposes and copies may be given away provided no fee is
charged. Private individuals may use this software on more than
one computer, provided there is no chance it will be used
simultaneously on more than one computer. This software may not
be used on more than one computer, nor installed on more than one
hard disk, nor installed on a network when used by a business,
corporation, government agency or department, or institution of
any kind. If you need to install this software on more than one
computer or on a network, please contact us for information about
a site license.
WARRANTY - HCP SERVICES INC. DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES RELATING TO
THIS SOFTWARE, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS
FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND ALL SUCH WARRANTIES ARE EXPRESSLY
AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMED. NEITHER HCP SERVICES, INC. NOR
ANYONE ELSE WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THE CREATION, PRODUCTION, OR
DELIVERY OF THIS SOFTWARE SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT,
CONSEQUENTIAL, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR
INABILITY TO USE SUCH SOFTWARE EVEN IF HCP SERVICES, INC. HAS
BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES OR CLAIMS. IN NO
EVENT SHALL HCP SERVICES, INC.'s LIABILITY FOR ANY DAMAGES EVER
EXCEED THE PRICE PAID FOR THE LICENSE TO USE THE SOFTWARE,
REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF CLAIM. THE PERSON USING THE SOFTWARE
BEARS ALL RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE.
Some states do not allow the exclusion of the limit of liability
for consequential or incidental damages, so the above limitation
may not apply to you.
This agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of
Oregon and shall inure to the benefit of HCP Services, Inc. and
any successors, administrators, heirs and assigns. Any action or
proceeding brought by either party against the other arising out
of or related to this agreement shall be brought only in a STATE
or FEDERAL COURT of competent jurisdiction located in Multnomah
County, Oregon. The parties hereby consent to in personam
jurisdiction of said courts."
Information in this manual is subject to change without notice
and does not represent a commitment on the part of H.C.P.
Services, Inc. or HomeCraft Software. This manual and
accompanying software is copyrighted and protected under both
Federal Law and the Berne Convention (international law).
This manual is copyright 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 by H.C.P.
Services, Inc. -- All Rights Reserved
IBM is a trademark of International Business Machines
Microsoft and MS-DOS are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation
dBase III is a trademark of Ashton-Tate
Organize! is a trademark of H.C.P. Services, Inc.
Part number: 002-111SW
HomeCraft Software
P.O. Box 974
Tualatin, OR 97062
(503) 692-3732 (VOICE)
(503) 692-0382 (FAX) (503) 692-0382 (BBS)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SECTION ONE - INTRODUCTION 1
Terminology 2
Using This Manual 3
SECTION TWO - INSTALLATION 6
SECTION THREE - QUICK START 9
Starting The Software 9
Using The Menus 11
Make A New Entry 12
Editing 13
Searching And Printed Reports 14
Printed Reports 15
Utilities 16
SECTION FOUR - REFERENCE SECTION
(USING ORGANIZE!) 20
The Main Screen 20
The Menus 23
Make Entries Menu 23
Edit Menu 25
Search Menu 27
List All Entries 27
Sequential Searches 28
Alphabetical Searches 29
Utilities Menu 33
Reindex 37
Sorting 38
Delete Catalog 47
Select Catalog 47
Report Menu 48
Send (Report) To 48
Page Length 50
Set Up Report Format 51
Printing Reports 54
Exit Menu 55
Help Menu 56
Return (Menu Selection) 56
Calculator 56
SECTION FIVE - Sports Card Collections 59
APPENDIX A - PROBLEM SOLVING 63
______________________ORGANIZE Your Collection - INTRODUCTION - 1
SECTION ONE - INTRODUCTION
ORGANIZE Your Sports Cards is an easy-to-use data base/
cataloging program designed specifically for organizing
card collections.
USING THIS MANUAL
This manual is divided into five sections plus appendixes. Part
one is the section you are now reading and it contains the
introductory information. Part two describes how to install this
software on your computer.
The third section provides quick start instructions. Please read
this section before starting to use this software. It is short
and has been designed to provide the key information needed to
get you quickly started using the basic functions provided by
this software.
The fourth section is a reference section that describes in
detail all of the features in this software.
Section five provides the details about cataloging a sports card
collection.
No computer experience is required to use this software, however
you will need to know which letter designates each disk drive on
your computer. For example, a hard disk is usually drive C and
floppy disks are drives A and B. Check your computer's manual
for the letters used to designate the drives on your computer.
TECHNICAL SUPPORT: we provide free help with installing this
software. If you are having a problem installing it, please feel
free to call or write. We DO NOT provide technical support for
unregistered users for any other reason than for helping install
the software.
PSG-HomeCraft
P.O. Box 974
Tualatin, OR 97062 USA
Phone: 1-(503) 692-3732
Fax: 1-(503) 692-0382
The latest updates are available on the ORGANIZE! Everything BBS.
Call 1-503-692-0382.
______________________ORGANIZE Your Collection - INTRODUCTION - 2
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: this software will only run on computers
that are fully IBM compatible and have at least 380K of memory
available. A color monitor is required for some of the features.
A hard disk is recommended, but this software will run on floppy
disks provided there is a minimum of 1.44mb of disk space
available. If you have a hard disk, please put this software on
your hard disk and store your database files on the hard disk.
Database software such as this software is very disk intensive.
Because of the slow speed of floppy disks using the software on a
floppy disk will slow it down considerably.
______________________ORGANIZE Your Collection - INTRODUCTION - 3
MAKE BACK UP COPIES
The most important suggestion I can pass on to you is to make
back up copies of your data files (the ones that end with DAT).
If you have a hard disk I recommend using software such as
FastBack or PC Tools. You also could use the DOS back up
utilities, but personally I don't use them. I've heard of too
many problems with the DOS backup utilities. Problems such as
only being able to restore lost files onto a similar computer
using the same version of DOS. (That may not always be
possible). For something as critical as making backup copies I
prefer software that will backup and restore from and to any hard
disk using any version of DOS on any computer.
The rule of thumb to follow is that you should make a backup
copy anytime you've made more changes or entered more new
information than you'd want to type over again. For me, that
number is 100 entries. Anytime I've changed or added 100
entries, I'll make a new backup copy.
IMPORTANT NOTICE:
This manual is an abbreviated manual of what you will get when
you register this shareware. The complete manual is a two volume
set of books, complete with illustrations and examples.
______________________ORGANIZE Your Collection - INSTALLATION - 4
SECTION TWO - INSTALLATION
Installation of this software is straight forward. First make a
backup copy of this disk. You'll need to check the manuals that
came with your computer to see how to make copies of a disk.
Generally you can use the DOS DISKCOPY utility to copy a floppy
disk. The commands you need to type to use DISKCOPY vary
depending on the version of DOS you have and the floppy disk
configuration in your computer.
There are two disk configurations for which this software can
be installed.
Hard Disk Installation
To install on a hard disk:
+ Put the backup copy of the floppy disk in a floppy drive.
+ Get the DOS prompt on the screen and change it so that it is
set for the disk drive that contains the this software floppy
disk. For example, if the floppy disk is in the "A" drive and
your computer has a "C>" prompt on the screen, type A: and push
ENTER. You can change the DOS prompt so it is set for a
different drive by typing the letter representing the drive you
want to use, a colon, and then pushing ENTER.
+ Type INSTALL and push ENTER.
NOTE: The installation process will install the software
in a directory called OYC (which stands for ORGANIZE! Your
Collection).
Dual Floppy Drive Installation
If your computer has two floppy drives you can install this
software just as if one of the floppy drives is a hard disk.
First put the backup copy of the enclosed disk in the "A" drive.
Put a blank formatted disk in the "B" drive. At the "A>" prompt
type INSTALL push ENTER. This will install the program
on the disk in the "B" drive. NOTE: If installed on a floppy
disk, this program MUST be installed on a HIGH DENSITY floppy
disk. IT WILL NOT FIT ON A DOUBLE DENSITY FLOPPY DISK!!!
______________________ORGANIZE Your Collection - INSTALLATION - 5
PLEASE NOTE: This software includes over 10,000 pre-entered
baseball cards. If you install the software on a floppy
disk, the pre-entered cards may not be installed. The
program and pre-entered cards require 1.6mb of disk space,
which is not available on a floppy disk. To use the
pre-entered cards, you must install the software on a hard
disk.
CONFIG.SYS File
Your computer uses a CONFIG.SYS file to tell it how to configure
itself when it is first turned on. The CONFIG.SYS file is an
ASCII text file that contains a series of instructions used by
your computer. For this software to run these instructions must
tell your computer to set itself up so up to 20 files may be
opened at the same time. This is done by including a FILES=20
(or any number greater than 20) statement in the CONFIG.SYS file.
If you are running a Graphical User Interface such as Windows,
your computer may need to be set to open as many as 50 or 60
files.
The CONFIG.SYS file needs to be in the root directory on your
hard disk. If you use a floppy disk to boot your computer, the
CONFIG.SYS file must be on the floppy disk used to boot your
computer. The CONFIG.SYS file is not part of the this software.
You can look at the contents of a CONFIG.SYS file by going to the
root directory on your hard disk and typing: TYPE CONFIG.SYS at
the DOS prompt. Then push ENTER.
You can change a CONFIG.SYS file by using your word processing
software, editing it as you would any other document and then
saving it as a DOS text file (ASCII file).
If you do not have a CONFIG.SYS file, or if it does not include a
FILES=20 line, you can create one during the installation
process. When you run the INSTALL utility you will be given a
chance to install a CONFIG.SYS file with a FILES=20 line. This
will not change any of the other lines in your CONFIG.SYS file.
_______________________ORGANIZE Your Collection - QUICK START - 6
SECTION THREE - QUICK START
STARTING THE SOFTWARE
As you read through this section I recommend you have the
software installed and running on your computer. When you
first start OYC it will be ready to use and set to accept
your first entry. As I describe examples, I suggest you
duplicate the steps I'm describing using your computer.
This section will take you through all the main functions in
the software. The Quick Start section does not describe all of
the functions available, just those you need in order to use the
basic capabilities of the software. For explanations of all of
the functions and features in this software you will need to read
the reference section of this manual.
To start this software go to the DOS prompt and type: CD \OYSC
and push ENTER. Then type OYC and push ENTER to start the
software. (If you are using the software on a floppy disk, you
only need to type OYC and push ENTER. You do not need to change
to the OYSC directory).
If you are using this software on a hard disk, you need to
be in the directory or subdirectory in which the software was
installed before you type OYC. If when your computer first
starts it displays the DOS prompt, type CD \OYC. OYC is the
name of the directory.
The letters "CD" stand for Change Directory. Typing CD \OYC
puts you in the OYC directory. Once in the OYC directory,
type OYC to start the software.
COMMAND LINE - When starting the software you may enter the
name of the catalog you want to use as a part of the command
that starts the software. In normal circumstances the
software will boot up and use the same catalog that was in
use when you last exited the software. If you'd like to use
a different catalog type OYC, then a space, then the name of
the catalog you want to use. For example, if you want
to use CARDS, you would type OYC CARDS at the DOS prompt.
THE MAIN SCREEN
After typing OYC (and pushing ENTER) the software will start
running and display the complete cataloging format for your
_______________________ORGANIZE Your Collection - QUICK START - 7
collection. Throughout this manual I will refer to this initial
screen as the "Main Screen."
The key parts of the Main Screen are the top and bottom two
lines. They provide status information and menu selections
The majority of the screen is used to display the
information lines (fields) in use.
When the software first starts the Main Screen is displayed. You
can return to the Main Screen from any other function such as
editing, searching or making new entries, by pushing F7. The F7
key is used to clear the screen and reset everything back to
the default settings. With the Main Screen displayed you can
immediately start typing and saving new entries. But, before
getting started let's go over how to use the drop-down menus.
OYC provides drop-down menus that show you, at a glance, all
your options. The names of the menus are displayed across the
top of the screen. They are: Make entries, Edit, Search,
Utilities, Reports, eXit and Help.
Using The Menus
To select a menu hold down the ALT key and push the capitalized
letter included as a part of the name of the menu you want to
display. To start let's look at the Make entries menu. Hold
down the ALT key and push the letter M. You'll see the screen
shown in figure three.
Once any of the drop-down menus is displayed you can move
from one menu to another by using the left and right cursor keys.
Take a look at the other menus by pushing the right cursor key
until the Make entries menu is displayed again.
A scroll bar within each drop-down menu is used to select the
function you want to use. The scroll bar is moved using the up
and down cursor keys. When the scroll bar is at the top of the
menu it can be directly moved to the bottom selection by pushing
the up cursor key once. It can also be move from the bottom
selection directly to the top by pushing the down cursor key.
Some of the functions can be used directly without going through
a menu. These have an "F key" designation next to them when the
menu is displayed. Looking at the Make entries menu you'll see
"<F5>" next to the word "Save". This means you can push F5 to
save an entry without using the drop-down menu.
To select an item on a menu first highlight it with the scroll
bar and then push the ENTER key.
______________________ORGANIZE Your Collection - QUICK START - 8
For example, to exit from the program push the right cursor key
until the "eXit" drop-down menu appears, then highlight "Exit
Program" and push ENTER. (If you just exited from the software
type OYC and push ENTER to get started again). By the way, you
should never turn your computer off while a program (any program,
except for a shell or menu program) is running. Always exit from
the software before turning your computer off.
If you do not want to make a selection from a menu you can return
to the main screen from the drop-down menus by pushing the ESC
key. You can also select "Return" on the menu bar at the top of
the screen.
If a drop-down menu is displayed push ESC to return to the main
screen.
USING A MOUSE
A mouse may be used to operate most of the functions in OYC.
A rectangular mouse cursor will appear on the screen whenever
the mouse is active. If you know the mouse is active, but you
do not see the mouse cursor try moving the mouse slightly.
The left button on the mouse serves as the "ENTER" key. To
make a selection place the mouse cursor on the item you want to
select and push the left mouse button. When making a selection
from a menu you will need to "double" click the mouse. Double
clicking means to push the left mouse button twice in rapid
succession. Pushing the left mouse button once will move the
highlight bar to the menu selection marked by the mouse cursor.
Pushing it a second time selects that option.
The right mouse button serves as an ESC key. In many cases when
the software asks you to push the ESC key, you can also push
the right mouse button.
Please note that a series of prompts across the bottom of the
Main Screen provides direct mouse access to the short cut keys.
The numbers in these prompts refer to the "F" key numbers.
The mouse can be used at nearly every prompt in OYC. With
prompts that request a (Y/N) response, place the mouse cursor
on either the "Y" or "N" and push the left mouse key once.
Anytime a prompt asks you to push a letter to make a selection
you can place the mouse cursor on that letter (in the prompt)
and push the left mouse key.
You can even bypass the opening copyright screen by clicking
the left mouse key after the copyright screen appears.
______________________ORGANIZE Your Collection - QUICK START - 8
MAKING NEW ENTRIES
When you pushed ESC the drop-down menus should have disappeared
and the cursor will be in the left hand space on the top
line.
The names of the lines are listed along the left side of the
screen. To the right of each name is a shaded area that shows
the space available for entering information related to the line
name. The cursor can be moved around in the shaded area using
the four cursor keys. Whenever the cursor is at the beginning or
end of a line, and can go no further, your computer will beep.
To enter the information you want to catalog, just type it on the
appropriate line.
Starting with the top line, fill in the appropriate informa-
tion and push ENTER. That will move the cursor down to the
first character of the next line. Complete the rest of this
entry by filling in the rest of the lines.
You may change anything you've typed by using the cursor keys to
put the cursor at the spot where a correction is needed and
just typing the new information. When the entry is complete
and correct push ALT-M. The "Save" option will already be
highlighted so all you need to do next is push ENTER and the
entry will be saved.
Pushing ENTER to select "Save" from the drop-down menu will clear
the screen and leave it ready for the next entry to be typed.
Notice that the entry number is displayed in the upper right hand
corner. It should now say "Entry 2" as the next entry you type
will be number 2.
Now type in your second entry. To save this entry push F5. The
F5 key is short cut key that saves entries. Push ALT-M and
notice that the word "Save" has "<F5>" next to it. This means
pushing F5 performs the same function as selecting "Save" on the
drop-down menu. You can also use the mouse to save entries
by clicking on the "5 Save" prompt at the bottom of the screen.
Push ESC to clear the drop-down menu from the screen.
EDITING
Now let's see if the information you just typed is really stored
in the database. The Editor lets you look at any entry
and browse forward and backward through all of your
entries. To use the editor push ALT-E. The "Select Number"
option will be highlighted as shown in figure five. Push the
______________________ORGANIZE Your Collection - QUICK START - 9
ENTER key and a window will appear asking you to type an entry
number. Push number 1 and then push ENTER. The first entry will
be displayed.
You can now do any of several things.You can modify this entry by
moving the cursor to the word(s) to be modified and typing the
changes. When the changes are complete push ALT-E and move the
scroll bar to "Save Changes." Then push the ENTER key to save
the changes you just made. Also notice that you can push F5 to
save the changes without using the drop-down menu.
The editor also offers a browse capability. If the drop-down
menu is on the screen, push ESC to return to the editing screen.
To browse use the F1 and F2 keys to move backward and forward
through your catalog. Push F2 now. Then push F1 to go back
to the previous entry. That's about all you can do with just two
entries. Once you have more entries this becomes an easy way to
page through all of them.
The drop-down menus always show all of the available options.
Push ALT-E. Notice that Page Backward and Page Forward are
identified as being operated by the F1 and F2 keys. You can
browse by selecting Page Forward or Page Backward from this drop-
down menu or by pushing F1 or F2. You can also use the mouse
to browse forward and backward by clicking on either the
"1 Back" or "2 Fwd" prompts at the bottom of the screen.
When an entry is no longer needed it can be deleted using the
Edit menu.
Push the right cursor key and we'll look at the search
capabilities of Organize Your Collection (OYC).
SEARCHING AND PRINTED REPORTS
Two types of "searches" are provided by OYC. The first is a
listing. There are two types of listings. These are shown in
the top box of the Search menu shown in figure six. They are:
List Entries: allows you to enter a starting and ending entry
number and have all of the entries between (and including) the
two numbers listed in sequence.
List Alphabetically: allows you to list entries in alphabetical
or numerical order. To use this function you need to be using
the indexes.
The second box down from the top on the Search menu lists the
various types of searches you can do. Let's take a look at how
these work. Push ESC to clear the drop-down menu from the
______________________ORGANIZE Your Collection - QUICK START - 10
screen then push F7 to clear the screen. (F7 is identified on
the Make entries menu as the key that erases the screen). You
can also use the mouse by clicking on the "7 Clr" prompt.
Sequential Searches
To search for something first enter the information you want to
find on the appropriate line. For example, let's search for a
a specific player. Move the cursor to the PLAYER NAME line.
Let's say you wanted to find all of your "Oil Can Boyd" cards
To start this search first type "OIL CAN BOYD" on the PLAYER
NAME line. Push ALT-S to drop-down the Search menu.
Move the scroll bar to the "Sequential Search" selection and push
the ENTER key. The first matching entry will be displayed.
If you want to search for "OIL CAN BOYD" again push ALT-S and
move the scroll bar to "Search Again" and push ENTER. If you do
this, you will either find another match or see a "NO OTHER
MATCHES FOUND" message at the bottom of the screen.
Sequential searches will find the specified search criteria,
which in this case is "OIL CAN BOYD" the PLAYER NAME line,
without regard to where it is located on the line. The word (or
phrase) you are searching for can even be within another word.
(Or you could, in this case, have multiple players on the line).
There are short cut keys you can use for starting a sequential
search. Push ALT-S to display the Search menu. Notice that
sequential searches can be started by pushing F8. Also notice
that you can find additional matches (Search Again) by pushing
F2.
When a match is found during a search it is displayed on the
screen and the software automatically goes into the edit mode.
You can make any changes or additions you want and then push F5
to save them.
Other types of searches are shown on the Search menu (figure
six). The "Alphabetical Search" will list entries alphabetically
based on the search criteria and using indexes created by the
software. The "Find Deleted" search will list all of the entries
that have been deleted.
Printed Reports
NOTE: For more detailed information on how to print reports see
the section on the Report Menu in Section Four of this manual.
______________________ORGANIZE Your Collection - QUICK START - 11
The search you just conducted displayed matching entries on the
screen. You can also print reports or save them in disk files.
If the Search menu is still on the screen push the right cursor
key twice to display the Reports menu. The first selection on
this menu is called "Send To" and it is currently set for
MONITOR. To send the report to the printer or a disk file push
the ENTER key. This will open a window in the middle of the
screen as shown in figure seven.
Within this window the "X" next to MONITOR tells you the results
of a search or listing will be displayed on the screen. Push
the TAB key to move the X through the available settings. When
the option you want is marked by the "X" push ENTER. The other
options are:
PRINTER-Continuous Paper: will print the report on continuous
feed paper such as used by dot matrix or laser printers.
PRINTER-Single Sheet Feed: prints the report on printers that
handle only one sheet of paper at a time
ASCII File: saves the report as a text document in a disk file.
You can specify the name of the file.
dBase File: saves the report in a file on the disk using dBase
III format. This report can be used for transferring information
between various programs. Most other database software and
spreadsheets can read dBase III files.
QUICK VIEW: displays a list on the screen. You can then select
specific items from the list. (Note: the Quick View feature
requires video memory that is usually only available with color
monitors. If you get an error when trying to use this feature,
your computer does not have the required memory or other software
is using this memory).
LABELS: for use in printing labels. The other printed reports
include form feeds that advance the paper to the next page. If
the LABELS option is selected the form feeds are not included.
Push the TAB key until the software is set for PRINTER-Continuous
Paper. Then push the ENTER key to return to the Reports menu.
Notice that the report type listed on the menu has changed to
"PRINTER-C". Push the ESC key to clear the drop-down menus from
the screen.
Let's try the same search as before. Put "OIL CAN BOYD" on
the PLAYER NAME line and push F8. A prompt, asking for a title,
will appear at the bottom of the screen. You can type a single
line that will be printed on the top of the first page of your
report. If you just push ENTER, without typing a title, the
______________________ORGANIZE Your Collection - QUICK START - 12
software will automatically print the search criteria on the top
of the first page of the report. You can eliminate the title by
pushing the space bar once and then pushing ENTER. For this
example just push ENTER.
The matching entries will be displayed on the screen as they are
sent to the printer. When no other matches are found the "NO
OTHER MATCHES FOUND" message will appear at the bottom of the
screen. When you push any key you will be returned to the main
screen.
UTILITIES
The Utilities menu provides a variety of functions that range
from selecting the catalog you want to use to deleting catalog
files. I'll discuss the most important function here.
Select Catalog
Four cataloging formats are included to allow you to catalog
your collection in as much detail as you need. They are called
CARD-A, CARD-B, CARD-C and CARD-D. To switch between them, push
ALT-U to display the Utilities menu. The last selection on this
menu is "Select Catalog Name." Push the up cursor key to
immediately move the scroll bar to this selection. Then
push ENTER.
A window will display the names of the catalogs in the current
directory. You can use the cursor keys to highlight any one of
them and then push ENTER to select that catalog. You can also
switch to another disk drive or directory by pushing ESC and
typing the letter for the drive and the name of the directory
you want to use. (If you want to do this, you will need to have
previously copied a catalog format to that drive and directory).
The names of the existing catalogs will be displayed on the
screen you are now looking at. Highlight a catalog name and push
ENTER. You are now ready to start entering information or to
modify this format to meet your needs.
DISPLAYING TOTAL VALUES
The total value of all items listed in a printed report will be
shown at the end of all printed reports. However, you can
get the total value of everything in a catalog without
printing a report. When you are at the Main Screen hold down
the CTRL key and push the ENTER key. The values will be
totalled and displayed along the right side of the screen.
________________ORGANIZE Your Collection - REFERENCE SECTION - 13
SECTION FOUR - REFERENCE SECTION
This section of the manual provides detailed descriptions of each
function on the drop-down menus. We'll start with the Make
entries menu and work from left to right through the menus and
cover each item on each menu. But first let's go over the
information and options presented on the main screen.
THE MAIN SCREEN
Most of the time you'll be using functions that are accessed from
the main screen. This screen includes a listing of menus across
the top of the screen. The top line also includes the current
entry number in the upper right corner of the screen. When
typing a new entry the number displayed in the upper right is the
entry number that will be assigned to the new entry. When
editing or displaying the results of a search, the number
displayed is the entry number associated with the information
currently on the screen.
Some people have tried using the entry number as a catalog
number. I understand we all have different requirements and need
to use the software in different ways, but I do not recommend
using the entry number as a catalog number. My reason is that
the entry number associated with a specific item can change if
you delete an item from your database. The entry number is only
intended to help you see how many total items you have in the
database and to help you navigate around your catalog.
The second space from the top of the screen includes a horizontal
double line. This is a status line. The current catalog
name in use will be displayed in the middle of this line.
The function currently being used (i.e. make entries, editing,
searching, etc.) is identified on the right side of this line.
The left side of this line also includes status information. For
example, if you push the INS key to put the software into the
character insert mode, the letters "INS" will be displayed at the
left edge of this line. As long as INS is shown there, the
software is in the character insert mode.
The space at the bottom of the screen also contains a horizontal
double line. This bottom line is a prompt/status line. At some
times prompts for F-Key functions are shown. You can use the
mouse to click on any of these prompts to quickly use the
features they represent.
The bottom line also displays status, such as telling you when
a search is complete.
________________ORGANIZE Your Collection - REFERENCE SECTION - 14
The second line from the bottom is a double line. The center
of this line contains a word that shows where reports would
be "sent to" should you start a search or listing.
Clearing The Screen
There is one key that is very handy, the F7 key. Pushing F7 will
clear the screen of all catalog information and return you to the
Main Screen. If you are in the search or edit mode, and want to
go to the make entries mode, push F7. If you need to erase a
screen full of information, push F7. If you are using a mouse,
you can click on the "7 Clr" prompt at the bottom of the screen
to accomplish the same thing as pushing F7.
Typing Information Into A Catalog
Whether you are making a new entry or entering search criteria
typing information on the main screen is done in the same way.
The cursor can be moved around using the up/down and right/left
cursor keys. When using the up/down cursor keys the cursor will
move directly up and down - it will not return to the beginning
of a line when moved to a new line. You can move the cursor to a
new line and return it to the beginning of that line by pushing
the ENTER key. Each time you push the ENTER key the cursor will
move down by one line. When the cursor is on the bottom line,
pushing ENTER will move it to the top line.
To quickly move the cursor to the right you can use the TAB key.
Each time the TAB key is pushed the cursor will move five spaces
to the right. Pushing the END key will move the cursor to the
end of the line. The HOME key moves it to the beginning of
the line. Holding the CTRL key and pushing either the left or
right cursor key will move the cursor to the left or right
by one word.
Whenever the cursor reaches the beginning or end of a line your
computer will beep to indicate it can go no further. If you
do not want to hear this "beep", you can turn it off by push-
ing CTRL-A. This will display the Screen Set-Up options. Push
the F1 key to toggle the beep off. Then push ESC to return to
the Main Screen.
You can type information at any time. The character you type
will be placed at the cursor location and the cursor will move
one space to the right. The software will accept accented
characters, characters used in some European languages as well
as all English language characters. It will not accept most
graphics characters.
________________ORGANIZE Your Collection - REFERENCE SECTION - 15
Insert & Delete
If you need to insert characters, place the cursor at the point
where the characters are to be inserted. Push the INS key. The
letters INS will appear on the upper left of the screen (second
line). You can now type the characters or words you want to
insert. As you type, any information to the right of the cursor
will move to the right. If the existing information reaches the
right edge of the line, it will disappear and be lost - one
character will disappear for each character you insert.
To get out of the insert mode either push the INS key again.
Characters can be deleted by pushing the DEL key. When the DEL
key is pushed the character at the cursor location will be erased
and everything to the right of the cursor will move left by one
space. The Backspace key will also delete characters. When
the Backspace is pushed the character to the left of the
cursor will be erased.
General Guidelines For New Entries
When making entries be consistent. Anytime you use an
abbreviation be sure it is typed the same way every time. Be
consistent in how you capitalize words. For example, don't
capitalize all of the words on a line one time and then use upper
and lower case on that same line with a later entry. If you use
commas to separate items in a list, always use commas to separate
items in a list.
When entering numbers first determine what the largest number
will be and then always use the same number of digits to the left
of the decimal point for all numbers. For example, if you expect
to have numbers as high as 10000 then number one should be
entered as 00001. Entering numbers this way is necessary if you
want the computer to sort them into numerical order. You can
include decimals (eg. 001.52), but you do not need to include
".00" if there is nothing to the right of the decimal point.
THE MENUS
OYC uses drop-down menus. All of the capabilities of OYC
are accessed through these menus. Some of the frequently used
functions can be used directly by pushing the appropriate "F"
key. The names of the menus are listed across the top
of the screen as shown in figure nine.
The name of each menu contains one capitalized word. To select a
menu hold down the ALT key and press the capitalized letter in
________________ORGANIZE Your Collection - REFERENCE SECTION - 16
the menu's name. For example, to select the "Make entries" menu
push the ALT key and the letter M. You can pull down a menu
using a mouse by putting the mouse cursor on the menu's name at
the top of the screen and clicking the left mouse button.
Once any menu is displayed (dropped down) you can move
from one menu to the next using the left/right cursor keys.
When a menu is displayed the top selection on the menu will be
highlighted by a scroll bar. The scroll bar can be moved up and
down through the menu selections using the up/down cursor keys.
To select an item on a menu first highlight it with the scroll
bar and then push the ENTER key. If you are using a mouse,
put the mouse cursor on the menu selection you wish to use
and click the left mouse button twice (double click).
Make entries Menu - Save <F5>
The "Save" function is used after you have typed a new entry.
Once you have typed all the information you want to enter select
the "Save" option to save it in your catalog. You can also push
F5 to directly save the entry without going through the menus.
Or you can use the mouse to click on the "5 Save" prompt at
the bottom of the screen.
Make entries Menu - Copy Last <F3>
The "Copy Last" feature allows you to quickly copy the last entry
you made. This copy method does not prompt for an entry number
to copy and thus it is faster than the "Copy Any Previous"
feature. The quickest way to copy the previous entry is to push
F3 or use the mouse to click on the "3 Copy" prompt at the bottom
of the screen.
The "Copy Last" feature is used when you have a series
of similar entries to type. You can type the first one, push F5
to save it, then push F3 to repeat the information you just
entered. You then only need to change a few lines or characters
and save the modified entry as a new entry.
Make entries Menu - Erase Screen <F7>
The "Erase Screen" feature is used to completely clear all of the
information from all lines. Selecting this option from the menu,
or pushing F7, will immediately clear all of the lines. You
can also use the mouse to clear the screen by clicking on the
"7 Clr" prompt at the bottom of the screen.
________________ORGANIZE Your Collection - REFERENCE SECTION - 17
THE EDIT MENU
The edit function provides a way to display any entry on the
screen and browse backward and forward through a catalog. Once an
entry is displayed on the screen it can be modified or deleted.
Edit Menu - Select Number
The "Select Number" option is how you tell the software which
entry number you want displayed on the screen. You may enter
any valid entry number.
Once an entry is displayed on the screen you may make changes
using the same methods used to originally type the entry. The
TAB, INS and DEL keys all will work as they do in word processing
software. Once you've made changes push F5 to save the changes.
If you want to edit a different entry you do not need to pull
down the Edit Menu again. Just push F9 to open the window
in which a new entry number to edit may be entered.
Edit Menu - Page Backward <F1>
When the "Page Backward" function is selected the software will
display the entry that comes directly before the entry that is
currently displayed. You can also press F1, without using the
drop-down menu, to move backward by one entry.
Edit Menu - Page Forward <F2>
The "Page Forward" function displays the next entry in sequence.
You can also press F2 to see the next entry without using the
drop-down menus. There are prompts at the bottom of the
screen - "1 Back" and "2 Fwd" - that you can click on with
a mouse to move backward and forward through your catalog.
The "Page Backward" and "Page Forward" functions provide an easy
way for you to browse through all of your entries. Computers are
nice, they can quickly search for and find any entry you need.
However, sometimes it's nice to just look through your catalog
to see what's there. The Page Forward/Backward features give you
a way to do some browsing.
Edit Menu - Delete Entry <F4>
If you need to eliminate an item from your catalog use the
"Select Number" option to enter the entry number to be deleted.
________________ORGANIZE Your Collection - REFERENCE SECTION - 18
Once it is displayed on the screen push ALT-E and select the
"Delete Entry" option.
When an item is deleted it is not permanently removed from your
catalog. The deleted entry will no longer be included in
searches, but you can display it using the edit feature. All of
the information still exists and can be brought back.
With computers mistakes sometimes seem to be very easy to make.
A common mistake is to start deleting something and just as the
final key is pushed to make the deletion final you realize that
you did not want to delete this item. However, that realization
comes just a half a second too late. If this should happen with
OYC, you can recover the deleted entry.
When a deleted entry is displayed on the screen the words
"Deleted Entry" will be displayed on the second line from the top
of the screen.
Edit Menu - Undelete Entry
Deleted entries can be returned to the catalog by first
displaying the entry on the screen and then selecting the
"Undelete Entry" option on the Edit Menu. Or you can just
push F5 to undelete the entry by saving it.
Edit Menu - Save Changes <F5>
The final selection on the Edit menu will save any changes you've
made to an entry. You may make changes to an entry anytime it is
displayed on the screen. First type the changes then select
"Save Changes" on the Edit menu. You can also push F5 without
using the drop-down menus.
________________ORGANIZE Your Collection - REFERENCE SECTION - 19
THE SEARCH MENU
The Search menu is used to start all of the listings
and searches. The top box on the Search menu includes
the two types of listings available. The second box
down includes all of the searches. The third box includes
the case control for searches.
Whenever a search has displayed an entry on the screen you
may edit and re-save the modified entry. Just type the
changes and push F5 to save them.
During a search or listing you can look at each entry on the
screen and browse forward and backward using the F1 and F2 keys.
Pushing F2 will display the next matching entry. Pushing F1
moves you backward to look at the previous entry.
NOTE: for information on how to print a report go to the Reports
Menu section of this chapter. The software is normally set to
display the results of listings and searches on the screen. By
changing the "Send To" option on the Reports Menu you can send
your report to your printer or a disk file.
Search Menu - List Entries
Starting at the top of the Search Menu the first item is
the "List Entries" feature. It will list entries in the
order they were typed into your catalog. When you select "List
Entries" on the Search Menu you will be prompted for the entry
number to start the listing with. Then you will be prompted
for the last entry number to be included in the listing.
The software will list all of the entries between, and
including, the entry numbers you specify.
One of the key uses for this feature is proof reading. Some
people find it easier to proof read a printed copy of their
entries instead of reviewing them on the screen. After typing
a series of new entries use this feature to print a listing
of just the new entries. You can then look over the listing to
find typos and errors. Be sure to use a report format that
prints all of the information you've entered.
Search Menu - List Alphabetically
You can list the information on any of the lines in alphabetical
order by selecting this option. However, the line must first be
indexed. Lines that are indexed are marked by a starburst
________________ORGANIZE Your Collection - REFERENCE SECTION - 20
symbol on the left end of the line. (Indexing is discussed
in the Utility menu section).
To get an alphabetical listing first put the cursor on the line
to be listed alphabetically. Then push ALT-S to display the
Search menu. Move the scroll bar to the "List Alphabetically"
option and push ENTER. The entries will be listed in alpha-
betical order based on the line on which the cursor is located.
Search Menu - Sequential Search
There are two basic types of searches in OYC - sequential
searches and alphabetical searches. A sequential
search looks at each entry, one at a time in "sequence",
examining each to see if it contains a match for the search
criteria. This type of search has the advantage of being able to
find matches even if the matching word or phrase is not the first
word or phrase on the line.
For example, if you use a sequential search to look for the word
RED the following will be found as matches:
RED FILING CABINET
CINCINNATI REDS
SLEEPY AND TIRED (the RED is at the end of "TIRED")
Notice that the search criteria, RED, is capitalized and all of
the matches are capitalized. Searches will only find EXACT
matches. If the letter, word or phrase you are searching for is
capitalized, the search criteria must be capitalized. If you
search for RED, you will not find "Red Cabinet" because the
capitalization does not match. However, there is a way to find
things when the capitalization does not match. It will be
discussed when we talk about the "Case" option on the Search
menu.
With sequential searches you can search for any part of the
information entered on a line. Notice in the above example that
searching for "RED" found matches at the beginning, middle and
end of the line. This is particularly useful if you can only
remember a part of what you want to find.
You can start a sequential search by first entering the
word or phrase you want to find on the appropriate line
and then selecting the "Sequential Search" option on the
Search Menu; or push F8; or use the mouse cursor to click
on the "8 Srch" prompt at the bottom of the screen.
________________ORGANIZE Your Collection - REFERENCE SECTION - 21
Cross Reference Searches
Any of the information you've entered can be cross referenced
with any or everything else. All you need to do is enter the
information you want to find on the appropriate lines and the
software will automatically take care of the cross referencing
during the search. Let's assume you've got a catalog and
want to cross reference the information on two lines. It's
as easy as filling in the blanks. Just enter the information
you want to find on each line. Then start a sequential
search. All of the matching entries will be listed.
Search Menu - Alphabetical Search <F6>
To use the alphabetical searches you must be using the indexing.
A line must be indexed, and must have a starburst next to it in
order to be used as the basis of an alphabetical search.
Alphabetical searches provide several advantages. First, they
are very fast. While sequential searches may take several
minutes, if you have a large catalog, alphabetical searches can
find matches almost immediately. The indexing quickly determines
whether there is a match and where the match is located. Second,
alphabetical searches list matches in alphabetical order. The
disadvantage of alphabetical searches is that they will only find
exact matches. For example, an alphabetical search can not find
matching words or phrases if they are within a line. The match
must be exact starting at the beginning, left edge of the line.
For example, using an alphabetical search to find the word "RED"
would find REDS, but it will not find CINCINNATI REDS.
There are several ways to conduct an alphabetical search. The
first is a straight alphabetical search. Enter the information
you want to find on one of the lines marked by a sunburst, leave
the cursor on that line, push ALT-S to drop-down the Search menu,
highlight "Alphabetical Search" and push ENTER. You can also
start an alphabetical search by pushing F6 or my clicking on "6
Alpha" at the bottom of the screen.
Alphabetical searches can perform cross references. To do this
fill in the appropriate lines with the information you want to
find, put the cursor on the line you wish alphabetized, and push
F6 to start the search.
NOTE: When starting an alphabetical search the cursor must be on
a line that has been indexed. The alphabetical searches use the
location of the cursor to determine the primary search criteria.
If the cursor is not on a line that has been indexed, you will
get a "Can't find required index" error message.
________________ORGANIZE Your Collection - REFERENCE SECTION - 22
The alphabetical searches can also be used to get partial
alphabetical listings. For example, if you want an alphabetical
listing of everything that starts with the letter "A", put an "A"
on the line to be listed (that line must be indexed) and start
the alphabetical search.
Alphabetical searches will first find all exact matches based on
the indexes. When no other matches can be found a message will
appear at the bottom of the screen that says: "NO MATCHES FOUND.
ESC to end, F1 for new entry or ENTER to continue search." If
you wish to end the search push the ESC key.
If you did not find what you were looking for using the
alphabetical search you may wish to try a sequential search.
Push the ENTER key at this point and the software will
automatically go into a sequential search.
What do you do if you are typing entries and want to be sure you
are not duplicating entries already in your catalog. Type part
of the entry and push F6 to perform an alphabetical search. If
a match is found push ESC. If a match is not found push F1 and
then complete the entry. Anytime a search does not find a
match you can push F1. This switches OYC to the Make Entries
screen and the information entered as the search criteria will
be pre-entered on the appropriate lines. If OYC found a match
pushing F1 will put the information from that matching entry
on the Make Entries screen.
Search Menu - Find Deleted
Once an entry has been deleted it will no longer show up
during searches. To recover that entry use the editor to display
it and then undelete it. However, if you don't remember its
entry number, you can't use the editor to display it. The "Find
Deleted" search provides another way to locate deleted entries.
Select "Find Deleted" on the Search Menu and the software will
automatically list all entries that have been deleted.
Whenever a deleted entry is on the screen it may be undeleted by
pushing ALT-E for the Edit Menu and then selecting "Undelete
Entry". You can also push F5 or use the mouse to click on the
"5 Save" prompt. If you are searching for deleted entries the
software remains in the search mode and pushing F2 will find
the next deleted entry.
Search Menu - Case [ Sensitive ]
When I discussed sequential searches I said they will only
find exact matches. The capitalization of the search criteria
________________ORGANIZE Your Collection - REFERENCE SECTION - 23
and the information you are searching for must match. For
example, searching for "Red Cabinet" will not find "RED
CABINET". The "Case" option on the Search Menu allows OYC to
find matches in which the capitalization does not match.
This option is a toggle. When the word "Sensitive" is in the
brackets sequential searches will be case sensitive. This means
the capitalization of the search criteria and the information you
are looking for must match. Highlight the "Case" prompt and push
ENTER to toggle it to "Insensitive". When set to insensitive
sequential searches will not be case sensitive. This means you
can search for "Red Cabinet" and "RED CABINET" will be found.
When set this way sequential searches will also find "red
cabinet" and "Red cabinet" as matches.
Search Menu - Save Changes <F5>
Anytime an entry is displayed on the screen you may make
changes. If a search finds a matching entry, that entry
can be modified. After you have typed the changes you want
to make push ALT-S and then select "Save Changes" to save the
modifications. You can also push F5 without using the drop-down
menus or click on the "5 Save" prompt.
Search Menu - Search Again <F2>
If you are displaying the results of a search on the monitor, the
software will display matching entries one at a time. To find
and display the next matching entry select the "Search Again"
option on the Search Menu. Please note that when the Search Menu
drops down the "List Entries" option will be highlighted. You
can move the scroll bar directly to the "Search Again" option by
pushing the up cursor key. You can also use the F2 key, without
going through the Search Menu, to go to the next entry.
Screen Print Feature
Anytime an entry is displayed on the screen as a result of a
search (or when it is called up using the editor) a copy of the
entry can be printed by holding down the CTRL key and pushing P.
The entry will be printed using the current report format.
If a report format has not been set-up, then nothing will
print. (Please see the section on the Report Menu for
information about report formats and printing).
________________ORGANIZE Your Collection - REFERENCE SECTION - 24
Finding The Total Value Of Your Collection
You can quickly get a total value for your collection by holding
down the CTRL key and pushing ENTER. The software will search
your entire catalog and provide a total value, based on the
line(s) you have set to be totalled. The amount of time this
takes will depend on the number of entries. If you need to
interrupt the totaling process, push ESC. (See the following
section on the Utilities Menu for information on setting
the lines to be totaled).
THE UTILITIES MENU
The Utilities Menu provides a variety of functions for copying
entries, indexing and setting up your catalog. Press ALT-U to
drop-down the Utilities Menu.
Utilities Menu - Reindex
First, what is an index and why does this software need to use
indexes?
A computer based index is just like an index in a book. When you
need to find something in a book you look in the index. The
index lists information alphabetically and allows you to quickly
find what you need. A computer index works in the same way. It
is an alphabetical listing that allows the computer to quickly
find the information you are searching for.
Just like in a book a computer has two ways to find information.
If you are looking for specific information in a book you can
start reading the book at page one and read until you find what
you want. As you can imagine this could take a lot of time,
especially if the information you are looking for is at the end
of the book. Your other option is to look in the index and
go directly to the page that has the information you want. This
is exactly what a computer does. A sequential search is similar
to starting at the front of a book and reading every page until
the required information is found. To find information quickly
the alphabetical search uses an index to look up the required
information and then go directly to the entry that has that
information.
Indexes are also required to list information in alphabetical
order. The software uses the indexes, which are in alphabetical
order, to generate the alphabetical listings.
OYC will normally keep all indexes up to date - adding new
________________ORGANIZE Your Collection - REFERENCE SECTION - 25
entries as you type them. However, there may be some
circumstances in which you need to rebuild your indexes. If the
software does not properly detect an index that should be there,
an error message will appear. This message will tell you that
the indexes need rebuilding.
Indexes are separate files that maintain a fragile relation-
ship among many separate words and phrases. If the files
on your disk become fragmented or cross linked the indexes
can be damaged. Although indexes do not effect your catalog
files, if the results of a search do not seem to make
sense, try making new indexes by using the "ReIndex" feature.
Utilities Menu - Sort [ Off ]
This software has the capability to do multiple level sorting.
Sorting means to put entries into alphabetical order. The
alphabetization provided by the indexing puts entries in
alphabetical/numerical order one line at a time.
If your catalog has not been sorted the word "OFF" will be in the
brackets after the word SORT. If it is in a sorted condition,
the word "ON" will be in the brackets. Now let's see how to
sort.
Start by selecting the "Sort" option on the Utilities Menu. The
Sort Screen will appear. Push the letter that represents the
lines you want to sort, in the order you want them sorted. Then
push F6.
Once the sorting is complete you can get a printed copy of your
catalog, in the correct sorted order, by doing an alphabetical
listing based on the primary sort criteria (the line you
selected as the first line to be sorted).
The F8 key is used to clear a sort. What does this mean?
Sorting rearranges the entries so they are in the specified
sorted order. Once sorted, for example, a sequential search will
look through a catalog based on the sorted order instead of
the order the entries where originally typed. The "F8 - Clear
________________ORGANIZE Your Collection - REFERENCE SECTION - 26
Sort" function instantly returns your catalog to its original
unsorted order. The indexes will still be in the sorted order,
but sequential searches will no longer follow the sorted order.
If you also wish to return the indexes to an unsorted condition
all you need to do is ReIndex.
Utilities Menu - Eliminate Deleted
When an entry is deleted (using the Edit function) it is not
erased. It still exists. What the software does is mark the
entry as being deleted so it will not show up during searches or
listings. If you want to permanently remove an entry from your
catalog you need to use the "Eliminate Deleted" feature.
When you select the "Eliminate Deleted" feature on the Utilities
menu the software will go through your entire catalog and
permanently remove all deleted entries. The disk space used by
the deleted entries will be recovered and made available for new
entries. This process is automatic and there is nothing you need
to do.
Once started you can not interrupt this process. If it should be
interrupted your catalog might be left with an entry duplicated
(entered twice). There is no risk of losing data however, so if
this process is interrupted by a power failure for example, all
of your entries will still be there.
Eliminating deleted entries will change the entry numbers for
many of the entries in your catalog. You should reindex after
using this feature.
If you want to eliminate deleted entries without having the entry
numbers change you can use the editor to individually type a new
entry that replaces the old, deleted entry.
Utilities Menu - Delete Catalog
If you are no longer using a catalog, it can be deleted using
the "Delete Catalog" option on the Utilities menu. Select
"Delete Catalog" and a listing of catalogs will be displayed.
Use the scroll bar to highlight the catalog you want to delete
and push ENTER. If there are entries in the file OYC will
tell you how many entries it has and ask you to confirm that this
is the correct file to delete.
Do not try to delete the catalog if OYC is set to use that
catalog. If you do, the catalog will be deleted and then
immediately recreated as OYC tries to use that catalog.
________________ORGANIZE Your Collection - REFERENCE SECTION - 27
Utilities Menu - Select Catalog
The last selection on the Utilities menu allows you to select a
catalog.
To change catalog names select "Select Catalog Name" on the
Utilities menu. The existing catalogs will be shown in a box in
the center of the screen. You can use the cursor keys to
highlight a catalog or push ESC to enter a new catalog name. To
use an existing catalog use the scroll bar to highlight it and
then push ENTER.
The menu for selecting the catalog name is designed to make
selecting the correct catalog quick and easy. For example,
you can move the scroll bar directly to the catalog you want
to highlight by pushing the first letter of the catalog name.
If several catalogs start with the same letter, push that
letter until the correct catalog is highlighted.
A mouse can be used to select a catalog name by placing the
mouse cursor on the catalog to be selected and pushing
the left mouse button twice. You can move through the
list of catalogs by using the diamond shaped slider along
the right edge of the menu. Put the mouse cursor on the
"slider", hold the left mouse button down and move the
mouse cursor up or down.
THE REPORT MENU
The Report Menu allows you to select where a report will be sent
(the printer, a disk file, the monitor, etc.). This menu is also
used to design reports, set the report lengths and enter some of
the final report design options.
Report Menu - Send To [ Monitor ]
There are seven places you can send a report. These are:
________________ORGANIZE Your Collection - REFERENCE SECTION - 28
MONITOR: Displays the results of a search or listing one entry at
a time on the monitor. The complete entry is displayed on the
screen.
PRINTER - Continuous Paper: The results of a search or listing
will be sent to your printer. This type of report is designed
for printers with continuous feed paper such as dot matrix and
laser printers.
To send a report to the printer you first need to have designed a
report format (which I'll discuss in a moment). The software
comes with a standard format that will print everything in each
entry. You can design your own report formats to look any way
you want.
PRINTER - Single Sheet Feed: This is the same type of report as
the "PRINTER-Continuous Paper" report except that it is designed
for printers that only handle one sheet of paper at a time. A
daisy wheel printer would be an example of this type of printer.
ASCII (document) File: You can save the results of a search or
listing in a file on your disk. It will be stored as an ASCII
text file which means it can be imported into any word processor.
This allows you to include, for example, wanted lists in letters
you send to other collectors.
dBase File: Selecting this option will save the results of a
search or listing in a dBase III file. This file can be used by
any software that can read dBase III files.
QUICK VIEW: This option puts the results of a search or
listing into a list, in which each entry is shown on one line,
on the screen that shows 21 entries per screen. You can then
move a scroll bar through the list and pick individual entries
to display. (Note: this feature requires the additional
video memory that is normally only available with color monitors
The Quick View also uses your disk for temporary storage.
Thus you must have space available on your disk).
The Quick View listing contains all of the information in the
entry. If the combined length of the lines in your catalog
format exceeds 80 characters (the width of the screen), you
can move the Quick View display to the right or left using
the right or left cursor keys. Each time you push either
cursor key the display will move by the amount of space
used by one column of information.
When the Quick View list is on the screen use the up/down cursor
keys to move the scroll bar up and down. The PgDn and PgUp keys
change the display by a complete page. The Home and End keys
________________ORGANIZE Your Collection - REFERENCE SECTION - 29
will take you directly to the beginning or end of the list.
To get more detail on any entry use the scroll bar to highlight
that entry and then push the ENTER key. You can return to the
Quick View screen by pushing F2.
With the Quick View screen displayed pushing the ESC key will
exit from the Quick View function.
LABELS: The labels settings produces the same type of report as
the "PRINTER-Continuous" report except that page feeds are not
included. This setting should be used anytime you are printing
continuous feed labels.
Selecting Where You Want To Send Your Report (Send To)
To select a report type use the scroll bar to highlight the "Send
To" option on the Report Menu and push ENTER. This will open a
window in the middle of the screen. All of the report
types will be listed and there will be an "X" in the box
next to Monitor. This indicates that the results of a search or
listing will be displayed on the monitor. Push the TAB key to
change the setting. Each time you press the TAB key the "X" will
move to the next box changing and changing the setting. Press
TAB until the software is set for the type of report you want to
use and then press the ENTER key.
Report Menu - Page Length
The "Page Length" option allows you to set the number of lines
that can be printed on a sheet of paper by your printer. For
example, most dot matrix printers will print 66 lines on an 11
inch page while laser printers print 60 lines per page. When you
select this option a window will appear in the middle of the
screen. The current page length will be displayed. You can then
enter a new page length, which can be up to 999 lines.
Report Menu - Dashed Line
If you wish, you can have the software print a dashed line
between each entry listed on a report. In some cases
this helps to separate entries making them easier to read. The
dashed line will also contain the entry number providing a means
of determining which entry numbers are being printed.
The "Dashed Line" selection on the Reports menu is a toggle.
Highlighting the "Dashed Line" option and pushing ENTER will
________________ORGANIZE Your Collection - REFERENCE SECTION - 30
change the setting between on and off. The setting will be
stored on the disk. Once set it will not change until you
use this toggle again.
Report Menu - Column Headings
You can have column headings printed at the top of the page. The
line titles you've set-up will be used as the column headings.
With the "Column Headings" option toggled "On" they will be
printed using the same format as set up for the printed report.
This option is a toggle. When you highlight the "Column
Headings" menu selection and push ENTER the setting will be
toggled between on and off.
A typical use for column headings is with single line reports.
You can set up a report format that prints all of the information
on a single line (up to 250 characters wide - set your printer to
use condensed print to get more characters per line). What
you'll get using this type of format are columns of information
with an identifying title at the top of each column.
Report Menu - Report Format
There are several report formats provided for printing reports.
You can switch between the various formats using the "Report
Format" option on the Reports menu. The current setting for
the report format will be shown in brackets on the menu. When
this option is selected a menu box will appear showing the
formats that are available. You can select one by highlighting
it with the scroll bar and pushing ENTER.
You can use any of the report formats with any of the catalog
formats. Each has been designed to print all of the information
contained in the catalog of the same name. For example, if you
are using the CARD-C catalog format, you can use the CARD-A
report format to print just the information on the top six lines
of the CARD-C catalog format. However, if you use the CARD-C
report format with the CARD-A catalog format, you will get a lot
of blank space on the page. (To get a feel for this, try using
different report formats and print a report to see what you get).
There is also a report format called COLUMNS that will print
the key information about each card in columns. This is
the way to list the most information per page. Another report
format, called HEADINGS, is useful if you are listing your
collection in date order by year.
Please note: if when you try to print, you get blank pages, that
________________ORGANIZE Your Collection - REFERENCE SECTION - 31
means that the report format files may have been deleted. Try
re-installing the software.
Printing A Report
Here are the steps you would follow to print a report:
1) Select the report format you want to use. This needs to be
done only one time. Once a report format has been selected it
is used until another format is selected.
2a) If you are searching for something, enter the search criteria
on the appropriate line(s).
2b) If you wish to list your catalog in alphabetical order, move
the cursor to the line you wish the alphabetical order to be
based on. This line must be marked with a starburst symbol.
3) Push ALT-R for the Report Menu. The highlight bar will be on
the "Send To" option. Push ENTER. A window displaying report
options will open in the middle of the screen. Most people will
want to use the CONTINUOUS PAPER setting, so push ENTER once to
move the "X" to that setting. If you want to pause after each
page is printed, put the "X" next to SINGLE SHT. FEED.
4) Push ESC to close the window and return to the Report Menu.
5) Check the Dashed Line, Column Headings and Page Length
settings to be sure they are set the way you want them to be.
6) Push the left cursor key until the Search Menu is displayed.
Highlight the search option you want to use and push ENTER. A
prompt will now appear, at the bottom of the screen, asking for a
title for this report. You can enter anything you like as a
title as long as the number of characters in the title does not
exceed 80 characters or the width of your report format,
whichever is greater. If you push ENTER at this point, without
entering a title, the software will put a default title on your
report. If you do not want any title at all, push the space bar
and then push ENTER.
Your report will now start printing.
I have taken you through printing a report in a step-by-step
detailed manner. Once you have become familiar with using this
software you can skip some of these steps and use the short cut
keys. For example, if you've already printed one report you can
print a second simply by entering your search criteria and
pushing F6 (or F8).
________________ORGANIZE Your Collection - REFERENCE SECTION - 32
EXIT MENU
You can drop-down the eXit menu by either pushing ALT-X or by
pushing the ESC key.
The eXit menu is how you get out of the ORGANIZE! software.
Push ESC (or ALT-X) to display the "eXit menu" and then push
ENTER to exit from the software.
HELP MENU
OYC includes a series of help screens that have key information
about the main functions. Push ALT-H to drop-down the Help Menu.
Then use the scroll bar to select the topic you want information
about.
RETURN
The final selection only appears at the top of the screen when a
drop-down menu is displayed. The Return selection removes the
drop-down menus from the screen and returns you to the Main
Screen. You can also return to the Main Screen by pushing the
ESC key.
CALCULATOR
A pop-up calculator is included in OYC and can be accessed from
the Main Screen, Edit Screen, or Make Entries Screen. To
display the calculator push CTRL-C.
The calculator displays a "tape" of the calculation. Use the
numeric keypad just as you would a normal calculator. (The
ENTER key functions as the = key). As you use the numeric keypad
to enter calculations you will see them printed on the "tape"
that appears on the screen.
________________________________ORGANIZE YOUR SPORTS CARDS - 33
SPORTS CARD COLLECTIONS
Baseball Cards - Football Cards - Hockey Cards - Basketball Cards
This software is designed for use by people who collect cards for
fun and for the serious investor. It makes tracking your
collection and its value quick and easy; allows you to keep an
active want and trading list; it quickly identifies cards you are
predicting will be hot (or cold); and it provides a permanent,
easy to update catalog of your collection for insurance purposes.
The following are descriptions of what each line in the various
CARD formats was designed to catalog. Please note that each
format is different, but you will find the lines used in each
format listed here. In enterting information you are not limited
to what is listed here. You can enter anything on any line and
the software will still be able to conduct correct searches
and sorts.
Name - The name of the player.
Company - The name of the company that printed the card.
Number - The card number.
Year - The year the card was issued (i.e. 1985).
Note - This line is provided for miscellaneous information.
Value - Enter the current value of the card or set. I recommend
that you use different files for individual cards and sets. This
will allow you to track the value of your collection based on the
value or the individual cards or based on the sets you have.
Always use the same number of digits when entering values. If
the values of items in your collection ranges from $1 to $1000,
then the $1 items should have their values entered as 0001 which
uses the same number of digits as 1000. If you need to include
cents some entries, such as in $1.50, but not on others, you do
not need to type ".00". Digits to the right of the decimal
point, while significant in determining the value of an item, do
not effect how a computer sorts values.
Team - The team listed on the card for whom the player played.
________________________________ORGANIZE YOUR SPORTS CARDS - 34
Set - Us this line to identify the set this card belongs to.
Other - Like the NOTE line you can enter whatever information you
feel is useful.
Condition - What condition is the card in? Any bent corners or
wear marks?
Update - The next four lines can just have a single letter on
them, or you may wish to include a short comment. If this is an
update card, put the letter "Y" (or the word "YES") on this line.
Rookie - If this is a rookie card, put the letter "Y" on this
line.
Error - If this is an error card, put the letter "Y" on this
card.
Short Printed - If this card was short printed, put the letter
"Y" on this line.
Wanted/Avail - If you want to purchase this card, put the letter
"W" or the word "WANTED" on this line. If you have this card
available for trade, put the letter "T" or "TRADE" on this line.
If you would like to sell this card, put the letter "S" or type
"SELL" on this line. Entering cards that you want to buy or
trade makes maintaining your catalog easier. For example, when
you get a card you wanted just remove the word WANTED and the
card is already entered in your catalog.
Location - Where is this card (or set) stored?
Value Change - Is the value of this card going up or down
rapidly?
Hot - Do you feel this is, or will be a hot card? If so, makes
some notes here.
Cold - Do you think this is, or will be a cold card?
Note-1 - Use this line for miscellaneous information.
Note-2 - Use this line for miscellaneous information.
_____________________ORGANIZE Your Collection APPENDIX A - 35
APPENDIX A - PROBLEM SOLVING
This section describes some of the errors and problems other
users have encountered and recommends solutions. In most cases
the software will detect problems, diagnose them and put a
message on the screen.
Permission Denied - this is a DOS error message. It means that
you are using a disk that is write protected. Remove the write
protection and the problem will be solved. This problem might
also be caused by a directory that is full. You can have a full
directory even if there is space available on your disk.
Depending on the version of DOS you have there is a limit on the
number of files you can have in a directory. In most cases this
limit is 128 files. If you try to create more than 128 files you
may get the "Permission Denied" error message.
The Software Won't Start - if when you type OYC the software does
not start there are several possibilities:
1. If you get a message that says "Bad Command or Filename" then
your computer can not find the OYC.EXE file. Be sure you are in
the directory that contains the OYC.EXE file. To do this type
DIR *.EXE and check to see that OYC.EXE is listed in the
directory. If it is not listed you most likely will need to use
the DOS CD command to change to the correct directory.
2. If nothing happens or your computer locks up when you type
OYC, you may have fragmented or cross linked files. Please see
the section which discusses fragmented files.
All Data Files Have Disappeared - I've had many people call me
with this problem. Yesterday they were typing entry 4000 and
today the software says they are on entry #1. What happened?
Usually the cause of this problem is that the database filename
has been changed. All 4000 entries still exist, they are just
stored using a different filename than the current filename. In
many cases they have switched from CARD-B to CARD-A or something
similar. Its easy to get them mixed up, so be sure you are
using the right filename.
The Software Can't Find A Catalog You Know Exists - in
addition to the filename you can also set a PATH. This allows
you to store data in other directories. If you are looking for a
catalog that is stored in a different directory, you will
_______________________ORGANIZE Your Collection APPENDIX A - 36
need to specify the PATH to that directory as a part of the
filename.
I generally recommend you keep all of your catalogs in the
same directory as the OYC.EXE file. This makes it easier to keep
track of what these files are used for and which program they go
with.
Fragmented Files - there is no error message that will tell you
that your computer has fragmented files. Fragmented files are a
normal result of using a computer. When a computer stores
information on a disk it puts it into the next available sector
on the disk. The next available sector may not be physically
located anywhere near the previous sectors the computer was
using. As you add to a data file it tends to be broken into
small pieces that are scattered in various sectors all over the
disk.
The problem with fragmented files is that they slow down your
computer because it takes more time for the heads in your disk
drive to move from piece to piece of a file that is scattered all
over a disk. With serious file fragmentation the computer can
actually lose track of pieces of a file or start to get cross
linked files. As a result the computer can become "confused" and
lock-up, you might start getting strange results for searches or
be unable to access some entries.
If your computer was working fine yesterday and today seems to be
giving you strange results and problems, the cause may be the
result of fragmented files. I've seen all kinds of problems the
range from software locking up to files becoming inaccessible.
To solve and prevent this problem you'll need utility software
such as PC Tools or the Norton Utilities. Both of these programs
provide file de-fragmentation.
You should defragment your hard disk on a regular basis. I've
found my computer can get fragmented files after just one day of
use (one day of use for me is probably a lot for someone else).
In most cases you should perform preventive maintenance by
defragmenting your hard disk after every 50 to 100 hours of use.