home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Cream of the Crop 1
/
Cream of the Crop 1.iso
/
PROGRAM
/
UBASE20.ARJ
/
UB20.DOC
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1992-04-15
|
31KB
|
652 lines
▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▄
▒▒█▀ ▒▒█▀
▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄
▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█▀▀▀▀ ▒▒█▀▀▀▀ ▒▒█▀▒▒█
▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒█
▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▀▀▀▒▒█ ▒▒█▀▀ ▒▒█▒▒█▀
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒█ ▒▒█
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▄
▒▒█▀▀▀▒▒█
▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▀ ▒▒█▀▒▒█ ▒▒█▀▀▀▀ ▒▒█▀▀▀▀
▒▒█▀▀▀▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▄
▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█▀▒▒█ ▀▀▀▒▒█ ▒▒█▀▀
▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀
- Version 2.0 -
(c) Copyright 1992 Rand Nowell
╒══════════════════════╕
│ RaLin Enterprises │
│ 40728 Sundale Dr. │
│ Fremont, Ca. 94538 │
│ │
│ (510) 651-0253 │
╘══════════════════════╛
User Base 2.0 Program Documentation UB20.DOC
The Legal Stuff....
Copyright:
User Base 2.0 is not a Public Domain or Free program. It is the
Copyrighted (c) 1992 work of Rand Nowell dba Ralin Enterprises.
All rights are reserved. Copying, duplicating, selling or otherwise
distributing this product except as noted in the Distribution Policy
below is a violation of Federal Copyright Law.
You are authorized to evaluate the program for a period of 30 days.
If after 30 days you wish to continue using the program, registration
IS REQUIRED. Please see REGISTER.FRM
Distribution:
1. Feel free to distribute the Shareware version of this program as
often as you like to any interested parties. Distribution to
Electronic Bulletin Boards is encouraged.
2. Please do not distribute this program without all the original
related files such as documentation, readme files, registration
forms etc.
3. Please distribute ONLY the original authenticated ZIP format file.
4. Please obtain our written permission before including the program
with any "bundled" software packages.
5. Please do not accept payment for the program; a copying fee of
$5.00 per diskette may be charged by a non-profit user-group.
6. Please do not alter the program or documentation in any way.
7. Individuals, groups, vendors or other software distribution
companies which market diskettes contaning shareware or test-drive
evaluation programs, for profit, must obtain written permission
from RaLin Enterprises prior to distribution.
DISTRIBUTION of the REGISTERED version of this program is in
violation of the license agreement and copyright law.
************************* DISCLAIMER *****************************
This program is supplied "as is" without warranty of any kind. The
entire risk of using, and results from the use of, is assumed by you
the user. You assume all costs of repair, servicing and corrections
stemming from the use of this program.
Rand Nowell and/or RaLin Enterprises, or any other associated
company of the program author will not be held liable for any
damages from the use of this program. No warranties are expressed or
implied.
********************************************************************
To the original licensee of the REGISTERED version of User Base 2.0
RaLin Enterprises DOES warrant that the program disk(s) on which the
program is recorded, be free from defects in material and
workmanship under normal use and service for a period of (90) ninety
days from date of delivery as evidenced by your receipt. Our entire
liability and your exclusive remedy shall be replacement of the
defective disk not meeting the standards of this limited warranty.
User Base 2.0 Program Documentation UB20.DOC
┌──────────────────────────────────┐
│ THE BENEFITS OF REGISTRATION │
└──────────────────────────────────┘
1. Those stupid Shareware screens you see at program start will
no longer irritate you.
2. The << UNREGISTERED >> message at the bottom of reports and on the
Main Menu screen will be removed.
3. Dos Program availability and the option to Shell to the command
prompt will be activated.
4. The capability to backup and/or archive your data to floppies.
5. Option of printing reports to a Disk File instead of printer. This
allows you to import into a word processor program and enhance it.
6. Notification of MAJOR upgrades, also new program releases.
7. Discounted price on any MAJOR upgrade of the program.
8. Registered users can have the program modified to suit their needs.
Personalization, extra reports, printer enhancements etc.
See CUSTOM.DOC for more information.
9. Access number to our BBS, which we hope to have up and running in
the next few months. Program support will be available, new programs as
they are produced, and many general utilities. Registered users will be
notified when the board goes up.
All of the above, plus the good feeling of supporting the
SHAREWARE CONCEPT
- Manual Contents -
Overview..............................1
Key presses.......................2,3,4
Screen Blanker........................3
Setup.................................4
Dos Shell...........................4,8
Menus Tables Forms Explanation........5
Main Menu Selections..................6
Entering Users......................6,7
User Reports..........................7
Entering Programs, Program reports....7
Mailing Labels........................8
Utilities.............................8
Batch Menu............................4
Support...............................9
User Base 2.0 Program Documentation UB20.DOC
Overview: Page 1
User Base 2.0 was developed to provide
Shareware Limitations:
When I set out to release my programs as Shareware, I was really not
to sure what I should do as far as protecting my programs from
un-registered use. After all, I have put in a lot of hours on this,
its part of my income to feed my family, and how do I do that if
people use my program without compensating me?
I HATE crippled shareware, you can't really try a program thats all
crippled up, and one that dies after 30 days is a real NO-NO. I had
the option of limiting the amount of records that could be entered
into the program, but I don't like that either.
-------- I would rather work on TRUST --------
So...... User Base 2.0 is not crippled, (much..) its NOT limited as to how
many programs or Registered Users you can enter and maintain, and it has
enough types of record viewing and reports to be a very useful program
even if you don't register it.
BUT.... if you register it, it becomes even more useful. There are
some extra handy things that are available in the registered version,
that you won't have in the Shareware version. Some of these show on
the Menus, but are NOT active. Some will have a note explaining what it
will do, and that its available with the registered version.
So..... Please Register User Base 2.0 !
By the way... when you first start User Base 2.0, before you get the
Main Menu, you will be presented with one or two screens. They explain
that the program is shareware, for evaluation, and use beyond the
evaluation period requires that you register, and pay the small
registration fee. And MAY also list the Benefits of Registration.
Once you have reached the Main Menu, you will NOT see these screens
again. Sorry....but I felt a little reminder was necessary.
Version Naming: Our program version naming method is as such.
Using version one as an example.
ver 1.0 to 1.9 original and updated shareware versions
ver 1.0R to 1.9R original and updated registered versions
(which you should NOT see on a BBS)
This would maintain with ver 2 - 3 etc of any program.
User Base 2.0 Program Documentation UB20.DOC
Program Keys: Page 2
Throughout User Base 2.0, certain keys are used for major work in
editing, viewing, entering information. They are explained here.
You will see references to Tables and Forms below, these will be
explained a little further in the manual. Also there are two special
keys <F5 and F10> these will be explained in the section where they
apply.
< Enter >
Menus: Enter runs the procedure which is highlighted by the
cursor bar. The cursor bar may be moved one of two ways. Use the up
and down arrow keys, or press the first letter of the menu choice.
Once the highlight bar is placed, pressing enter gets the ball
rolling. If there is more than one choice with the same first letter,
successive presses of that letter will move to the next corresponding
Menu choice.
Tables: When pressing Enter while on a highlighted record, a form
is called with which you may modify the information for that entry.
Forms: Forms are where you add or modify a records information.
On all forms there is a message displayed telling you the changes
about to take place, whether the record will be ADDED - CHANGED -
DELETED. Pay attention. Pressing Enter on a field will accept that
field and move on to the next. Once information is entered you can
also press the down arrow key to accept and advance. Pressing Enter
on the last field in a Form will save the record and exit.
General: In general, the Enter key accepts information, or starts
a procedure.
< Ctrl-Enter > Control key + Enter
From any Form the Ctrl-Enter key press is an immediate save and
exit. Say you are modifying a record, you modify a field that is half
way thorough the form. Instead of having to enter your way to the
last field, you can press Ctrl-Enter....save and exit.
<Ins> The Insert key
Tables: The insert key is your command to ADD a record to the
file. Pressing insert will call up the new entry form.
Forms: Whenever you are entering information into a form,
or any field, toggling the insert key will change from insert to
overwrite, as in most any other program you are used to.
<Del> The Delete key
Tables: Pressing Delete on a highlighted record will call up
a Form showing all the information for that record, prompting you to
press Enter to Delete. Be sure of what you're doing, one key press
and that record is GONE....
User Base 2.0 Program Documentation UB20.DOC
Program Keys (con't) Page 3
Forms: The delete key (and the backspace key) work as they would
in any other text editing program.
<PgUp & PgDn>
These keys work as they would in any program. About the only place
the are useful is in a table, if you have more entries that are
not showing, this will jump up or down.
<End & Home>
While editing a field, will move to beginning or end of line.
<Esc>
General: In general the escape key is your back-up key. If you
are at a sub menu, pressing Esc will will exit back to the calling
menu. If you are in a Table it will exit back to the calling Menu,
unless the Table has a prompt field for searches, then it may back up
to that field first, then exit to the calling Menu.
In a form the Esc key will back out of a Form one field at a time
until reaching the first field, at which time it will return to the
calling Table. CAUTION: When using Esc to exit, NO SAVE IS MADE.
<Ctrl-Esc> Control + Esc
General: This works similar to the Ctrl-Enter key.
This is a fast exit key. Pressing this key combination from any
location in a Form or Table will immediately exit to the calling
procedure. CAUTION: When using Ctrl-Esc to exit, NO SAVE IS MADE.
This pretty much covers the General use keys in the Program. There are
a couple of others to explain, some may be keys especially pertaining
this particular program.
<Alt-B>
This is the Screen Blanker. This key is available from All Menus,
and most Tables and Forms. Pressing it will blank the screen to
black on black to eliminate screen image burn-in, should you wish to
leave the keyboard for awhile but don't want to exit the program. If
you find that it won't work from where you're at, simply back up a
step and try it again.
<F1>
This is the Help Key, it calls up a help screen system, if available,
(some programs do not have online help, their so simple).
* * User Base does NOT have any Online Help * * *
Online Help: There isn't any. User Base 2.0 is pretty simple to
use. One time through this manual and you should have no problems.
Not having Online Help allowed me to keep the program size quite
small.
The following four key presses apply only to Tables.
PgUp: Scrolls backward one page.
PgDn: Scrolls forward one page.
Ctrl-PgUp: Positions cursor bar on first record in Table.
Ctrl-PgDn: Positions cursor bar on last record in Table.
User Base 2.0 Program Documentation UB20.DOC
Program Keys (con't) Page 4
Special Keys:
User Base has two keys that are very useful.
<F5> From the Main Menu will call the Setup screen, where you enter your
or your Company name, which is used in some entry screens and is printed
in report headers. This should be the first thing you do when you start
User Base.
<F10> When this key is displayed, at the Main Menu, and many of the
other menus too, pressing it will take you to the Batch Window. This is
where external DOS programs are called to run, Backup and Archive can be
accessed etc.
NOTE: Shell To DOS (Registered Version) is accessed via the Utilities
Menu. There is not any "Hot Key" for this function, its a Menu choice.
Batch Menu: Here is where you run your external programs. The Menu
selections are Run Dos Command 1 - 6, press <F9> to display a list of
programs assigned to each key. This list is filled in at the Setup
Screen, and can be changed by pressing Enter while descriptions are
displayed. External programs are run by Batch Files. You can edit them
to run whatever you wish. DO NOT RENAME THE BATCH FILES the names are
hard coded into User Base. Changing the name will get you a Bad Command
or File Not Found message.
Setup: The setup window is where you fill in your company name, and
descriptions of what the DOS calls will run.
User Base 2.0 Program Documentation UB20.DOC
Page 5
Menus-Tables-Forms: (An Explanation)
* Menus: Menus are where you select the procedure to Run.
There are two ways to choose your selection, using the arrow/cursor
keys, place the Highlight Bar on your choice and press Enter. Or, press
the first letter of the Menu choice, then press Enter. If there is
more than one choice with the same first letter, press the letter
again and the bar will move to the next item with that letter.
Menu choices are not Quick Keys, you must press Enter to activate.
The Highlight Bar will "Wrap" from Top to Bottom or Bottom to Top.
* Tables: The Table is the viewing window, here the specified records
will be listed, often in a sorted order, based on name,number etc.
Some Tables will have a LOCATOR field. This allows you to search for a
specified record, rather than scrolling, if your list is longer than
the display area. It will say Find (the search key), you would then
start typing in the name,number,code etc. that you wish to find. As
you type in each letter or digit, the Highlight Bar will move to the
first, the next matching entry. Once this entry is found you would
then press the Action key for Edit,Delete or whatever you wish to do
to this particular entry. Please refer to the Keys section for the
Actions provided.
Other Tables may have a Selection Field, where you would enter a
particular name,number,code etc. Once this is entered, only the
records matching that item will be shown. The first time you access
this type of table, the field will be blank. Just press Enter for a
list of choices. This will call up another Table, where you select the
item you want to use, press Enter, and the item will be placed in the
selector field. If you want to change the Selector item, you can
either press Ctrl-End to erase the current entry, press Enter again
for a list, or simply type in an invalid character such as ] or / over
the first letter, and press Enter. As this item doesn't exist, the
list will be called for you to select your choice.
* Forms: When you press an Action key on a highlighted item in a Table
it calls up a FORM. The form is where information is Entered, Modified
or Deleted. A message will be displayed on each form telling you what
action is about to be applied to this record. The messages appear as
such: RECORD WILL BE ADDED - RECORD WILL BE CHANGED - PRESS ENTER TO
DELETE. If you are ADDING a record and you enter a value in a field
that holds the Indexing item, and it already exists, you will hear a
tone and see CREATES DUPLICATE KEY , you are not allowed to have
duplicate index keys in the program. For instance, if the records are
indexed on a persons name, enter a name that already exists will
generate the above message. In this case, if you entered William
Bonny, and it already existed, just change it to Bill Bonny, and the
entry will be allowed.
You can use the Insert key to toggle between Insert and over type mode
while entering information. If you are modifying information, and you
wish to change a field, you can press Ctrl-End to erase the field and
then type in the new information. When entering notes into a memo
field, the cursor will "wrap" to the next, when you reach the right
margin. You do not have to press Enter at the end of each line.
User Base 2.0 Program Documentation UB20.DOC
Page 6
The "Meat" of the matter.....
Now we'll cover some of the program functions, screens that you'll see,
how to get there, what they do, and how you make them do what they're
supposed to do.
As you access some of the Menus, you will notice that some selections are
a little fainter than others, on CGA screens they will be faint gray and
on EGA/VGA they will be a little slimmer and a little lighter. Also notice
that the Menu Cursor Bar skips over these items. These selections are only
available in the Registered Version of User Base.
* Main Menu: The first thing you should do is press F5 for Setup, this will
let you put in your Company or Personal name. This should be done before
entering any records in the files, as the name acts as a key for
Reports,allowing the name to be printed in the Report header. Also
available is F10 to access the Batch Menu mentioned earlier.
* The first selection is Registered User Base; this is where you go to enter
new users, search for users and report on users. More explanations will
follow.
* Next is Program Records; Enter, modify and report on the Programs you have
available for your users.
* Mailing Labels; You can print labels for ALL users, or users of a specific
program. For a specific program you will be asked which program, and have
the opportunity to select from a listing of all programs on file.
* Utilities; Here you can access the Backup-Archive menu, Show system
information, View the current time, Set report destination and Shell to
DOS. The Shell to DOS and Backup functions are only active in the
Registered version. A note on the Report Destination: You will be
presented a screen where you can fill in an alternate destination other
than the default of LPT1. You can enter a directory\filename if you want
to print to disk now and print out later. Reports sent to disk are fully
formatted to send to the printer later. If you attempt to view them with a
text file viewer, and they are over 80 characters in width, they may not
display right, but they will print our correctly.
* Quit; This will exit the User Base program.
Registered Users Menu:
* Enter-Modify Users will call a screen listing ALL the users you have
entered, the keys for Adding, Modifying and Deleting are listed at the
bottom of the screen. Also shown is the number of registered users
currently on file. Use the up and down cursor keys to highlight an entry
and press Enter to Modify, or Press Ins to add a new entry. Adding a new
entry is simple. You will be presented a form to fill in. The first field
is for your Company Name, if it's blank, pressing enter will pop up a
window showing your Company Name, press Enter again to insert it into the
field. Now complete the information as prompted. Let me explain a couple
of them. The modem field is used here to verify that the user is capable
of accessing our BBS, if so they are pre-registered as users there also. If
they don't have a modem then we don't bother. Version numbers are Recd,
the one you send them, and the other is to show which version they tested
before registering. This lets you keep track of which version seems to be
getting used more.
User Base 2.0 Program Documentation UB20.DOC
Page 7
Paid By: You can use the arrow keys to select, the choices are:
Check Csh-Ck(cashier check) Card(Visa/MC) MO(money order) Cash(??)
Date pmt received, then Payment Number, this is mainly for check numbers
and credit card numbers, but we also enter money order and cashier check
numbers here. Then you have shipping information, the PU stands for
Picked Up...if someone gets it from you directly.
NOW....if you press Enter on the LAST field, the record will be saved and
you will be returned to the User List, if you want to enter any comments
about this user, press F5 BEFORE you press enter. This will open the
comments window. To enter comments later you can just edit this record, as
soon as the data window is displayed, press F5.
NOTE: The Main Menu F5 and F10 keys are visible under these windows, but
are not active. Keys showing from other windows either are not active or
have a different use. Available keys are always shown IN THE CURRENT
WINDOW. All others are temporarily inactive.
* The next three Menu selections are search windows, say a user calls for
support, and you want to verify that they are registered. You can search
by program, phone number or registration number. In each case, a window
will popup asking for the particular information. Say the user gives you
their registration number, select search by reg#, when the window pops up
enter the number, press enter. The user info will be listed. If all you
needed to do was verify they existed in your files, you can then press Esc
to exit. If you want to view their record, press Enter and the Data Form
will be brought forward.
NOTE: If you had previously used the window to search for another user,
that users reg/phone number etc may be already filled in. Just press
Ctrl-End to erase and enter the correct number. Also NOTE, when searching
by phone number, if you press enter on a blank number, or invalid, such as
(000) 000-0000 the Data Entry window will popup ready for a new user. So
you could actually enter a new user this way, but lets stay in the habit
of entering new users from the proper window. OK?
* Our next menu item is User Reports.
* All Users; prints all information for all users on file.
* All Users Condensed; Prints one line of info for each user,
Name,Program and Ver, phone,registration date, registration number and
date shipped.
* Selected User; you will be prompted for user name, pressing enter on a
blank name field will call the user list from which you can choose the
user to report on.
* Users - Specified Program; you will be promoted for program name/ver.
pressing enter on blank field will call a window showing all programs for
you to choose from.
* Return; Exits to previous menu
* F5: Calls Report Destination Screen
* Next selection...Return; you know what it does!
* Our next Menu is the Program Records Menu:
* Show All Programs: Lists all programs you have entered, you add,modify and
delete the same as you did for the users. Information is entered in the
same fashion.
* Report All Programs: Prints all information entered for all programs.
User Base 2.0 Program Documentation UB20.DOC
Page 8
Now were at the Mailing Labels Menu.
* All Users: Prints labels for all users on file
* Specified Program: You will be prompted for what program, again, you will
be able to chose from list. Labels will be printed only for users who
have registered that program.
* NOTE: Labels are formatted for standard mailing labels, one across
15/16" high by 3 1/2" wide.
Next is the Utilities Menu.
* Backup and Archive: Calls the Backup Menu, selections here will not be
active in the shareware version. Backup and Archive functions are
performed by batch files. This allows you to edit them and specify a
different drive, or another directory.
* System Information: Just shows date,time, path & filename of your data
files with the number of records in each. It also shows our name address
and phone number.....Well I had to fill space with something!!
* Current Time: Displays the current time, if your clock is working.
* Set Report Destination: Calls the screen for setting alternate
destination for your reports.
* Shell To Dos: This is active in the Registered version. You will be
able to go to the command prompt and run anything you wish. User Base
will use up about 8k of memory during the shell. It also writes an image
file in the current directory. The file will be named something like
$T8976.TMP - DO NOT DELETE THIS FILE!!! SYSTEM WILL CRASH!!
Well, this should be enough to get you up and running with User Base.
If I have forgotten anything I apologize. But really, the program is so
simple, you will probably have it figured out before you even read this
manual!
User Base 2.0 Program Documentation UB20.DOC
Page 9
In Closing:
In closing, I would like to thank you for trying User Base 2.0.
Also to remind you, registering this program will gain you many more
helpful and productive features. Features are being added all the
time. You will likely get more than has be mentioned here when
you register.
Your comments are appreciated. If you can think of anything that may
enhance User Base 2.0, let me know. I do listen, and its a good
chance your suggestion will be incorporated into the program.
Read the CUSTOM.DOC explaining how you can have your Registered copy
of User Base 2.0 customized. Many things are possible.
Please use the provided REGISTER.FRM to register User Base 2.0.
For unregistered users, support is limited. But if you have a problem
while evaluating User Base 2.0, I am willing to help. I can be
reached several ways.
Registered Users are a priority as to receiving help via mail,phone
or electronic mail.
Mail: Rand Nowell
RaLin Enterprises
40728 Sundale Dr. Fremont, Ca. 94538
Phone: (510) 651-0253 If you get a recorder, please leave a
message, if you are a registered user give your
registration number. Leave a brief description of the
problem, your phone number and best time to call. I will
return registered users calls at my expense. Unregistered
users, be prepared for a collect call.
CIS (Compuserve) User ID: 76124,761
I check Compuserve 2-3 times a month. This is not the
optimum way to contact me, but it will work.
Net Mail:
Send Net Mail to Rand Nowell @ 1:161/42 OR 1:215/777
NetMail is checked daily.
Fido-Net Messages can be left in the Fido Shareware Echo. These
messages are normally checked daily.
BBS: I hope to have our Support BBS up and running in the next
few months. All Registered Users will be notified by mail
when this happens. And if the correct fields have been
filled in on the registration form, they will be
pre-registered for access on the first call.
<eof> User Base 2.0 Documentation