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FORM MASTER FORM MASTER Forms Package version 4.x ====================================== DOCUMENTATION ============= Form Master is an easy to use tool for the creation and use of forms customized for the specialized needs of a business or home. Using a set of versatile form construction tools, you can quickly create or edit the structure of a form. This form can then be filled in and printed from your computer. Form Master is designed to handle the needs of many different users. You can print a form, or fill in the blanks on your screen and then print, or fill in the blanks and print only what you have typed for use with pre-printed forms. It supports most of the capabilities of your printer such as boldface, italic, subscript, superscript, underlining, expanded text, compressed text, overstrike, etc. You can use the IBM graphics character set to print lines and boxes. If your printer isn't fully IBM compatible, Form Master is configurable to support most printers. You can set up your form so Form Master includes the current date, time and/or form sequence number on it. A look-up facility is included which can look up a "key" you enter and fill in one or more fields on your form. A word wrap feature eases entry into connected fields. Fields can be defined to right, left, or center justify. A powerful math capability can perform calculations on numbers in your fields and fill in the result. Form Master handles multi-page forms which can be a thousand pages long. Form Master is easy to learn and contains on-screen help. To support other people who use your forms, you can provide additional on-screen help in text files you create. Disclaimer ---------- No warranty is made, express or implied, that this manual or the software described is free of error, or is consistent with any particular standard of performance, quality, or merchantability. It should not be relied on for solving a problem whose incorrect solution could result in injury to a person or loss of property. Use in such a manner is at your own risk. 1 CastleSoft FORM MASTER Section Contents Page 1. Installation 3 2. Getting Started 3 3. Running The Form Master Program 5 3.1. Form Master Program Main Menu 5 3.2. Form Master Form Editor 9 3.3. Form Master Program Form Executor 13 4. Running The Form Executor Only 16 5. Advanced Features 17 5.1. Function Key Re-definition 18 5.2. Word Processing Features 20 5.2.1. Look-Up Files 21 5.3. Math Operations 23 6. Multi-page Forms 26 7. Adding More Printer Functions To Form Master 29 8. Configuring Form Master For Your Printer 31 9. Interfacing With Databases & Utilities 32 10. Customizing 33 11. If You Have Computer Compatibility Problems 34 12. Form Master Files 34 13. Error Messages 35 14. Registering Your Copy 39 2 CastleSoft FORM MASTER 1. Installation Installation of Form Master involves copying the files from the source distribution diskette to a destination directory or diskette. On standard 5-1/4 diskettes, some files may be compressed to save space allowing Form Master to fit. These files must be extracted before you can access them. Details on any files needing extraction are in the READ.ME file. Two installation scenarios follow, one for a system containing two floppy disk drives, and another for a system containing one floppy disk and a hard disk drive. Adjust these commands to comply with the particular configuration of your system. To install onto a system with two floppy disk drives, place an empty formatted diskette into your "B" drive. (Instructions on making this diskette bootable, if desired, will be found in your DOS manual.) Place the Form Master diskette into your "A" drive. Then enter the following command: COPY A:*.* B: To install onto a system containing a hard disk, it is suggested you place the files in a separate directory. Start by placing the Form Master diskette into your floppy drive. Assuming you are at a "C>" prompt (your hard drive) and the Form Master diskette is in your A: drive, the following commands will place these files into the directory "FORM": MD \FORM CD \FORM COPY A:*.* Prior to executing Form Master programs, make sure you are in the "\FORM" directory (use the "CD \FORM" command), or that this directory is in the current path. It is important to keep your original copy of the Form Master diskette in a safe place. This protects you if your files get corrupted or you suffer a hard disk crash. 2. Getting Started You should browse this entire document to get an understanding of the functionality of Form Master. It is suggested that you print this document and have a copy handy when first learning it. Form Master consists of two programs. The first one is the Form Master program, FM.EXE. It allows you to: o Create, modify, and define features for forms (edit) o Fill in and/or print forms (execute) o Convert files, created with your editor, into forms (import a form) o Convert a form into an edit file (export a form) Form Master can execute a form (make it ready to fill in or print) with one command from a DOS prompt. To do this enter FM formname 3 CastleSoft FORM MASTER where "formname" is the name of your form, assuming the form exists. The second program, PRINTER.COM, is used to configure Form Master to your own printer. You may need to do this if your printer is not fully Epson LX-800 compatible, the default used by Form Master. PRINTER.COM is invoded by a batch procedure described in section 7. Executing a form is a good way to get an idea of what this package can do for you. To execute a form just enter one of the following lines at a DOS prompt (first making sure the drive containing Form Master is your default drive): FM REG <press enter> or, FM INVOICE <press enter> This invokes the form executor and displays a form. "REG" and "INVOICE" are two example forms. You can fill in a form by typing into various fields on the form. Help is provided by pressing F1. You can print the form using F10. To return to DOS, press ESC twice. Form Master allows you to build a form tailored to your own specific needs. Building a form involves the following sequence of operations: 1 Design your form on paper. 2 Enter the text of the form (Lesson 1 - Basics) 3 Add input fields to your form (Lesson 2 - Using Attributes) 4 Add borders to your form (Lesson 3 - Lines And Boxes) 5 Add special printer control functions (Lesson 4 - Special Functions) 6 Define word wrap, justification, math. Re-define function keys. 7 Build multi-page form by repeating above steps and adding a form page file. Details steps 2 through 5 are covered by lessons in this package. Forms are used (as you might have guessed) for each of these lessons. Step 6 is covered later under "Advanced Features". Step 7 is covered under "Multi-page Forms". To go through the first lesson, make your Form Master diskette the default (i.e. place your diskette in drive A and change the prompt to "A>") or go to the "\FORM" directory of your hard disk. Do the following: 1 Type in "FM" and press Enter. This starts Form Master and the program menu appears. 2 Press F5, then F10. Select the form "LESSON1" using the arrow keys and press Enter. This loads the form containing Lesson 1. (You may need to press NumLock to make the arrow keys work.) 3 Press F3 twice to start the form editor and follow the instructions on the display. When finished with the lesson, press ESC twice to get back to the menu. To return back to DOS, press ESC twice again. However, to go on to the next lesson, do the following: 1 Press F5, then press F10. Select the form "LESSON2" using the arrow keys and press Enter. This loads the form containing Lesson 2. 4 CastleSoft FORM MASTER 2 Press F3 twice to start the editor. Follow the instructions. Proceed in this manner through all four lessons. If you make any mistakes, just reload the form and begin editing again. A step by step tutorial file is also included. Print TUTORIAL.DOC after completing the lessons and use it as a guide to building your first form. 3. Running The Form Master Program The Form Master program, FM.EXE, provides the capability to create, modify, and execute forms. It can also convert a form into an edit file, usable by an editor or word processor. Such a file can also be converted into a form. Most operations in Form Master are done with function keys. Help is always available using F1. In those cases where a function key could cause undesirable consequences if pressed accidently, a second press is required. Starting FM.EXE from DOS is done by typing "FM" at the DOS prompt. The Form Master main menu then appears on the screen. This menu allows you to invoke the form editor and the form executor. The main menu, form editor, and form executor are described in the following sections. Form Master can also be invoked from DOS so a form pops up on your display ready to be filled in. See section 4 for details. 3.1. Form Master Program Main Menu The Form Master main menu appears on your screen when the Form Master program is started. It describes the use of the function keys and the ESC key. The currently loaded form and form control parameters in effect are shown in the second part of the menu. The following diagram illustrates the major functions of this menu: F2 Create Form Computer | Memory v Disk +--------+ _________ +-------+ | | F3 Edit Form / \ | | F5 Load Form | Memory | <---------------> <FORM EDITOR> | form | ---------------> | Copy | \_________/ | files | | of a | _________ | | F6 Save/Update | Form | F4 Execute Form / \ | | <--------------- | | ----------------> < FORM EXEC > +-------+ | | \_________/ +--------+ | v Print Functions: ESC - Exit to DOS: Terminates the Form Master program. Two consecutive pushes of this key are required. If the current 5 CastleSoft FORM MASTER form has been edited but not saved, you are reminded of this after the first push of ESC. If you push ESC once by accident, press any other key to cancel and resume with the program. ESC is also used to cancel any function key operation. For instance, if you type F2 by accident, press ESC to cancel. F1 - Help: Displays on-screen help. F2 - Create Form: Starts the form editor with a blank screen so a new form can be built. Before the editor is started, a pop-up menu appears showing all the form control parameters such as the number of rows, columns, etc. These are described later. Modify them as needed and then press F2 again to start editing. Help specific to the form editor is available by pressing F1. Note: Use F3 instead to continue editing an existing form. F3 - Edit Form: Starts the form editor with the current form, one that has been previously loaded using F5 or F7, or created using F2. Before the editor is started, a pop-up menu appears showing all the form control parameters such as the number of rows, columns, etc. These are described later. Modify them as needed, then press F3 again to begin editing. Help specific to the form editor is available by pressing F1. F4 - Execute Form: Executes the current form you have created or loaded from disk. Executing a form allows you to fill in fields on the form and/or print the form. Help specific to the form executor is available by pressing F1. F5 - Load Form from Disk: Retrieves a form from disk and places it in memory so it may be edited (F3 and F9), executed (F4), or exported (F8). The form must have been previously saved on disk (F6). After pressing F5, a pop-up menu appears prompting you to enter the name of a form. A form name such as "INVOICE" can be entered on the first line. It is not necessary to enter the form name extension, ".FRM". On the second input line, you can specify where the form resides - a different drive or directory (e.g. "A:" or "D:\BUSINESS" ). Leave the second line blank to use the current directory. Press F5 again to load the form. Alternately, you can press F10 after pressing F5 once to see a directory list of forms. Selection of the form is made with the arrow keys and pressing enter. If the second line of the pop-up menu is blank, the current directory is used. Otherwise, the directory specified is used. F6 - Save/Update Form to Disk: Writes the currently loaded (or created) form to a disk file. A pop-up menu appears 6 CastleSoft FORM MASTER prompting you to enter the name of the form. Enter the name on the first input line. It is not necessary to include the form name extension, ".FRM". The second input line can be used to specify a different drive or directory other than the current one to place the file. Press F6 a second time. Form Master will let you know if this form already exists on disk. Therefore you will be either creating a new file or replacing an old one. Press F6 a third time to complete the operation. Be sure to use F6 to save your editing work, even if you just changed the default number of copies to print and did not change the form contents. F7 - Import Form from Edit File: Reads a file and places it in memory in a form format. A pop-up menu appears prompting you to enter a file name. Press F7 a second time to load the file. Importing means you can create a form using your favorite editor or word processor (some restrictions apply) and use it with this program. If using Word Star, be sure to create a non-document file. The form generated will be black and white (normal video) with no special attributes or special print functions. You will not be able to enter information onto this form with the form executor until you add input fields with the form editor. It is suggested that after F7, edit the form (F3) to add input fields and fill in the form control parameters appropriately, then save it (F6). F8 - Export Form to Edit File: Writes the current form in memory to an edit file. A pop-up menu appears prompting you to enter a file name. Press F8 a second time. Form Master will let you know if this file already exists on disk since you will be either creating a new file or replacing an old one. Press F8 a third time to complete the operation. You should be able to use your editor on this file. Note that attributes and special print function characters are not placed into your edit file. F9 - Advanced Form Features: This allows you to add or edit the current advanced features defined for the form. Advanced features provide the capability to re-define function keys, to define fields with word wrap, justification, look-up tables, and math operations. F10 - Temporarily Go To DOS: Starts a DOS shell and you will receive a DOS prompt. This does not terminate Form Master, it remains in memory. Use this to perform DOS functions such as DIR, TYPE, etc., or to even run another program. To return to Form Master, enter "EXIT" at a DOS prompt. Form Control Parameters: Form control parameters appear on a pop-up menu when you press F2 to create a form or F3 to edit a form. These parameters determine the size of the form, the type of fields that text can be entered into 7 CastleSoft FORM MASTER when executing, the form number, and form printing controls. Modify them as required for your form. The current values are displayed in inverse video fields in the pop-up menu. Simply type over any values that are to be modified. The cursor shows where you are typing. You can move from one value to the next using the "Enter", "Tab", and "Backtab" keys. "Home" moves you to the first value and "End" to the last. To begin editing, press F2 or F3 a second time. While in the editor, pressing "ESC" re-displays this pop-up menu. You can return to the main menu by pressing "ESC" a second time, or you can change a control parameter such as the number of rows, then press F3 to resume editing. To change only the form sequence number of a form, load the form and press F3 to display the pop-up menu. Tab to the "Form Number" field and enter a new value. Press "ESC" to return to the main menu. Don't forget to save your work by using F6 to update the form on disk. Following is a description of each of the pop-up menu control fields. Number Of Rows The number of lines in the form. Functions F2, F3, F4, F6, and F8 use this to limit the number of lines in the form. If you need more lines while editing, press "ESC" to display this pop-up menu, increase this number, then press F3 to resume editing. The number or rows may vary from 1 to 132 (2 pages). Number Of Columns The number of columns is used ONLY BY THE FORM EXECUTOR (F4) to limit the number of columns printed. This number may vary from 20 to 133. Input Fields Attributes THESE FOUR FIELDS ARE USED TO SPECIFY THE ATTRIBUTES OF FIELDS WHERE THE FORM EXECUTOR ALLOWS TEXT TO BE ENTERED. See the Form Editor for more information. Form Number The sequence number of the form. This number can be automatically entered onto your form by the form executor. It is incremented each time you print the form. It can help you keep track of the number of times you have filled in and printed a form. The example invoice form uses the form number as the invoice number which is filled in automatically each time the form is executed. Line Feeds After Printing The number of blank lines to add to the end of your form after it has been printed. This is used (1) to align the paper in your printer to the next form if you have continuous forms, or (2) to eject the form you have just printed from 8 CastleSoft FORM MASTER your printer. Number Of Copies To Print This is the default number of copies to print when the form executor prints the form. You can override this default at print time. Pre-printed Form Specifies if non-input portions of your form are to be printed. For printing on blank pages, enter "N" here. For printing on pre-printed forms, enter "Y" so only the input fields (what has been typed) are printed. 3.2. Form Master Form Editor The form editor supports creation and modification of forms. It allows you to move the cursor about the form and type in its contents. It has features to draw lines and boxes as well as copy groups of lines from one place to another. You can set attributes to control the colors of characters and backgrounds on your form for use with a color monitor, or set normal, high intensity, inverse video, and underlining for use with a monochrome monitor. There are 256 different attributes and you must choose one to four attributes for input fields - areas you can type into when the form is executed. The four attributes for the input fields are entered on the editor pop-up menu. You can specify where the date, time, and/or form number are automatically filled in when the form is executed. There are also special printer control characters which control your printer to perform boldface, italics, subscript, superscript, underlining, expanded text, compressed text, overstrike, etc. To add such features as word wrap, field justify, look-up, and math see the section on Advanced Features. When the form editor takes control, the form appears on lines 2 through 25 of your display, or these lines are blank if you are creating a new form. The first line displays "EDIT:" followed by the form name, the cursor position, the attribute of the character the cursor is on, and the active attribute which is used when you type characters onto your form. An "Ins" appears on the first line if you are in insert mode meaning characters will be inserted at the cursor as you type instead of replacing existing ones. Another indicator appears when the cursor is on certain special characters. This indicator gives the meaning of these special characters. Attributes: Attributes determine how a character appears on your monitor, such as its foreground and background color, or highlighting and underlining, depending on what your monitor supports. Each character on your display has its own attribute. You have control over how these attributes are used when text is placed on your 9 CastleSoft FORM MASTER form with function keys F2, F7, F8, and F9 (listed below). Attributes have two purposes. They make your form colorful, and they DEFINE INPUT FIELDS WHICH ARE PLACES YOU CAN TYPE INTO WHEN THE FORM IS EXECUTED. Up to four different attributes may be used to define input fields. A common one is inverse video (black characters on a white background) which has a value of "70". This attribute is selected with F8. Use of attributes is important and is covered in lesson 2. Functions: ESC - Return to Menu: Exits Form Generation. After the first push the form control parameters pop-up menu appears. You can modify any of these parameters at this point. Press "ESC" a second time to return to the main menu or press F3 to resume editing. Use the pop-up menu to change the number of rows in your form while editing. Use it also to define up to 4 attributes that the form executor will interpret as input fields. F1 - Help: Displays on-screen help. A condensed help screen is shown first. Pressing F1 a second time provides detailed help. F2 - Define Special Characters & Attributes: Displays a menu which allows you to (1) select any character including the special IBM graphics characters to enter on your form; and (2) define any attribute to use on your form. Any character in the IBM character graphics set may be selected by using the cursor keys. To place it on your form press "ESC" to resume editing, then press F10. Attributes to apply characters on your form. They define colors and the ability to underline, highlight, and blink depending on what your monitor supports. Each character on your display has its own attribute defined for it. Attributes are used by Form Master to designate areas on your form where information may be filled in when the form is executed. It is up to you to define these input fields. You must give them a different attribute than other places on your form. The suggested attribute for input fields is inverse video (attribute 70). Select it by pressing F8 while editing. You can then move the cursor to where the field will be and press the space bar repeatedly to watch it appear. This F2 menu allows you to define any attribute for use. There are three functions associated with this special menu: o Select a character o Select the foreground component of the attribute o Select the background component of the attribute Change the function by pressing the Return key. Selection is made using the cursor control keys. 10 CastleSoft FORM MASTER F3 - Start/Erase Line or Box: A "Start/Erase line or box" pop-up menu appears. Enter "1" for single line style, "2" for double line style, or "3" for erase. Press F3 a second time. The pop-up menu disappears and a blinking indicator appears at the cursor position to mark where the line or box will start from. This starts the operation. Move the cursor to the end of the line or to the opposite corner of the box and use F4 to finish. F4 - Draw/Erase Line or Box: Either a "Draw Line", "Draw Box", "Erase Line", or "Erase Box" pop-up menu appears. Drawing or erasing depends on the choice made with F3. A line is drawn or erased if the cursor is in the same row or column as the blinking indicator placed by F3. Otherwise a box is drawn or erased. Press F4 a second time to draw or erase the line or box from the blinking indicator marked using F3 to the current cursor position. Lines and boxes are drawn using the active attribute. The erase mode blanks lines and boxes to the background portion of the active attribute. Therefore make sure the active attribute is what is desired before using this key. Form Master attempts to connect all lines and boxes wherever they meet, even single lines with double lines. F5 - Pick Line(s): A "Pick Lines" pop-up menu appears. You can specify the number of lines to pick from 1 to 24, beginning with the line the cursor falls on. Press F5 a second time to pick the lines. Use F6 to copy these lines to another place. F6 - Put Line(s): An "Insert n lines" pop-up menu appears where "n" is the number of lines picked with F5. Press F6 a second time to copy the picked lines into the position before the line containing the cursor. F7 - Use Normal Attribute: The active attribute is set to normal video which has white characters on a black background (07). Further typing, lines, and boxes will use normal video. Note that white appears as green or amber on some monochrome monitors. F8 - Use Inverse Video Attribute: The active attribute is set to inverse video, black characters on a white background (70). Further typing, lines, and boxes will use inverse video. F9 - Define any Attribute: A pop-up menu appears allowing any value to be entered as the active attribute. The last attribute defined with F2 or F9 is listed as a default. Further typing, lines, and boxes will use this attribute. F10 - Type Special Character: The special character defined with F2 is entered onto the form at the cursor position using the active attribute. 11 CastleSoft FORM MASTER Other Form Editor Features Alt-F1 Execute view: shows how form looks without special printer characters (as when executing) Home Move cursor to line 1 and column 1. End Move cursor to last row and column 133 Tab Move cursor right 8 columns. BackTab [Shift-Tab] Moves cursor left 8 columns. PgUp Move form down 23 lines. PgDn Move form up 23 lines. Insert Toggle between insert and overwrite text. Delete Delete character at the cursor Control Right Arrow Move cursor to column 133. Control Left Arrow Move cursor to column 1. Control N Insert blank line at cursor. Control Y Delete line at cursor. Control D Place current date on form (will not update) Control T Place current time on form (will not update) Special characters may be inserted in your form using the "Alt" key and pressing a letter. These perform special functions when you execute and/or print your form although they are not seen when executing it. The following are defaults: Alt-B Print Boldface, Enhanced text Alt-C Print Compressed text (17 characters per inch) Alt-D Enter the current date when executing form Alt-E Print Elite text (12 characters per inch) Alt-F Enter the form sequence number when executing form Alt-H Print Higher, Superscript Alt-I Print Italic text Alt-L Print Lower, Subscript Alt-O Overstrike with next line (skip line feed after printing line - therefore 2 lines are printed on top of each other) Alt-P Print Pica text (10 characters per inch) Alt-T Enter the current time when executing form Alt-U Print with Underline Alt-X Print Expanded text Other Alt-letter combinations can be defined as needed for other printer functions. Refer to the section on Adding More Printer Functions To Form Master. Notes: If Alt-D, Alt-F, or Alt-T is used adjacent to one of the other Alt- letters, it should be placed second. For example, to have the current date underlined place the characters in the following order: Alt-U Alt-D . (See the example Invoice form.) If you place one Alt-U character on a line to underline characters, underlining continues only to the last character on the line. To continue underlining to the right side of the form beyond the last character, place a second Alt-U at the right end of the line. 12 CastleSoft FORM MASTER 3.3. Form Master Program Form Executor The form executor is used to fill in forms and/or print them. You can print to your printer or to a file if your printer is unavailable. The contents of all form fields can be saved to a file. Likewise, you can load all the form fields from a file. This is handy for complicated forms with many input fields, or to review how previous forms such as invoices were filled out. The form executor also handles such features as word wrap, field justify, look-up, and math operations. When the form executor takes control, the form appears on lines 2 through 25 of your display. The special printer control characters are not visible. Automatic form date, numbering, and time will have updated your form if you included these options while editing. The first line displays "EXEC:" followed by the form name, cursor position, and field number (if the cursor is in a field). An "Ins Mode" appears on the first line if you are in insert mode meaning characters will be inserted at the cursor as you type instead of replacing existing ones. The following describes of the default functions available. Keep in mind that it is possible to leave out some of these functions, add others, or even change the function keys used. This is accomplished using advanced features described later. Those functions available for your form can be displayed using F1 (help). ESC - Exit Form Execute: Terminates form execution. Two consecutive pushes of this key are required. F1 - Help: Displays on-screen help. Basic help information is shown first. Pressing F1 a second time provides detailed generic help. Pressing F2 instead causes Form Master to display the file having the same name as the form but with a ".HLP" extension. Such a file is a custom help file. It is built with an editor to support other people who use your form. Pressing any other key after the first F1 push resumes the form executor. Note: If the function keys have been re-defined, the generic help is not available. Pressing F1 a second time displays the form's customized help file instead (if it exists). F2 - Restore Form: Restores the form back to when the form executor was started, ready to be filled in. The only difference is the form number will have been incremented if you had printed the form, and you will have a new date and time if these automatically fill in. F3 - Go to Next/Prev Page: This is available on multi-page forms only. A pop-up menu appears allowing you to switch to the next or previous page. Pressing F1 switches to the previous page and F3 to the next. 13 CastleSoft FORM MASTER Note: Control-PgDn also switches you to the next page and control-PgUp the previous page. F4 - Field Look-up: Those fields defined for look up are processed. Their field contents are compared against look up files. In each case one or more fields may be replaced with information from these files. F4 processes all look-up fields in your form in one step. To look-up the field that the cursor is currently in, use Alt-F. F5 - Temporarily Go To DOS: Runs a DOS shell and you receive a DOS prompt. Use this to perform DOS functions such as DIR, TYPE, COPY, etc., or even to run another program. To return to the form executor enter EXIT at a DOS prompt. F6 - Perform Math: Performs math operations on numbers taken from specified fields. Results can be placed into one or more fields. F7 - Load fields from an edit file: All the fields on your form are filled in using lines from a file of your choice. When loading fields from a file, each line from the file is used to fill in one field on the form. If a field is longer than the line used to fill it, the field is blank filled at the end. Fields are filled until the end of file is reached or when all the fields are filled. This function is used to re-load entries saved earlier with F8. After pressing F7, a "Load fields" pop-up menu appears. Enter a file name and press F1 to continue. Alternately, a directory listing can be displayed by entering a name containing the wild character "*". For instance, entering "*.SAV" causes all files ending in ".SAV" to be displayed. Then the "Load fields" pop-up menu appears again. To load the form fields again, press F7. The "Load fields" pop-up menu now shows a new option. You can now use F10 to continue reading from the current load file; or you can specify a new load file and press F1. (Alt-L performs the same function as the F7-F10 combination in one step.) F8 - Save fields to an edit file: Saves your form's fields for later use. When saving the fields to a file, the contents of each form input field are used in order to fill the lines of the edit file. Use this option to save your form entries if you would like to use them again (F7), or to make a record of what you typed. After pressing F8, a "Save fields" pop-up menu appears. Enter a file name and press F1 to continue. Form Master checks for the existence of this file. If it is a new file, you are prompted to press F8 to create it. If the file exists, a pop-up menu allows you to append (add to the end) to the file or replace it. Alternately, a directory listing 14 CastleSoft FORM MASTER can be displayed by entering a name containing the wild character "*". For instance, entering "*.SAV" causes all files ending in ".SAV" to be displayed. Then the "Save fields" pop-up menu appears again. Later, after modify the form fields, use F8 to save the form fields again. The "Save fields" pop-up menu now shows a new option. You can now use F10 to append to the current save file, or you can specify a new save file and press F1. (Alt-S performs the same function as the F8-F10 combination in one step.) F9 - Print to a file: A "Print to a file" pop-up menu appears showing the current printer configuration. To continue enter a file name. You can also change the default number of copies to print that has been defined for the form. Press F9 again. You are now prompted to press F9 a third time to create the file or replace it, whichever applies. Printing to a file is useful if your printer is not available. The file that is written contains the same characters including printer configuring escape sequences which would normally have gone to your printer if you had used F10. To send the contents of this file to your printer, use the DOS copy command (i.e., COPY filename PRN). F10 - Print to your printer: A "Print form" pop-up menu appears showing the current printer configuration. The default number of copies to print can be change at this point. To continue, press F10 again. Forms are printed to the standard printer device, PRN, unless redirected (see the section on Customizing). Note: The form sequence number is incremented by one each time the form is printed. Additional functions can be defined using advanced features described later. These are: o List a file one page at a time. o Run another program. o Perform a DOS command such as DIR, COPY, batch file, ... Other Form Executor Features Tab Go to beginning of next input field. Return Go to beginning of next input field, or in the case of a wrapping field, go to the wrap-to field BackTab [Shift-Tab] Go to beginning of previous input field. Home Move cursor to row 1 and column 1. End Move cursor to the last row and column. PgUp Move form down 23 lines. PgDn Move form up 23 lines. Control PgUp Switch to the previous form page (multi-page forms) Control PgDn Switch to the next form page (multi-page forms) Insert Toggle between insert and overwrite text. 15 CastleSoft FORM MASTER Delete Delete character in the input field at cursor. Control Return Delete characters from cursor position to the end of the field. Alt-F Perform look-up for the field the cursor is currently in. Alt-L Load form fields again from currently open load file. This is the same as an F7, F10 combination. Alt-S Save form fields and append them to the currently open save file. This is the same as an F8, F10 combination. 4. Running The Form Executor Only Previous versions of Form Master had a separate form executor program, FORM.EXE. This program is not included because of space considerations for 5-1/4 inch floppies. However, FM.EXE can be invoked as a form executor only. This is the preferred method of executing forms, especially if other people will be using your form. Simply enter from DOS: FM formname where "formname" is the name of the form you wish to execute. Your form then appears on the screen ready to be filled in and/or printed. The ".FRM" file extension is not necessary. If you enter FM * instead, a "Load form" pop-up menu appears. You can enter a form name or select one from a directory list. To load a form directly, enter the name, its disk drive and/or directory (leave blank if in the current directory), and press F5. To select a form from a directory list, enter a disk drive and/or directory (leave blank if current directory), press F10 to display the forms in the directory, select one with the arrow keys, and press "Enter" to load it. Details on form execution are in section 3.3. There are two other methods of invoking Form Master making it useful as a menu interface to another application. The following can be entered from a DOS prompt or can be part of a batch file: FM formname input output Form Master reads in the form "formname", load its fields from the file "input", then executes the form. Upon exiting, the form fields are saved in the file "output". FM formname iofile Form Master reads in the form "formname", load its fields from the file "iofile", then executes the form. Upon exiting, the form fields are saved back into the file "iofile". In each case the input file does not have to exist. One example of invoking FM.EXE this way is in printer configuration, sections 7 and 8. The CONFIG.BAT procedure allows you to create or modify a printer configuration save file which PRINTER.COM uses to create FM.PRT. (Form Master uses FM.PRT to override its default printer configuration 16 CastleSoft FORM MASTER when printing). 5. Advanced Features Advance feature editing provides such functions as function key re- definitions, word wrap, field justify, look-up, and math operations. These features are accessed through F9 on the main menu after a form has been loaded or created. Forms edited in this manner have additional information added to them which is utilized during form execution. To better understand how these features may work for you, try executing the form FEATURES.FRM. Enter from a DOS prompt: FM FEATURES Follow the instructions on the form. Three special forms have been set up for Form Master so it can support addition and modification of advanced features for your forms: FMKEY.FM for re-defining the functions keys, adding new functions, FMWRD.FM for defining word wrap, field justify, field look-up, and read only fields, FMMTH.FM for defining math operations. Form Master displays information about the form you are working on using these three special forms. Simply fill in and/or modify the information you see to add special features to your form. Pressing F9 twice on the main menu displays a pop-up menu giving you 4 choices: go to (1) function key re-definition, (2) word processing features, (3) math operations, and (4) return to the main menu. Each of the first three choices causes one of the above special forms to be executed. You then fill it in. To assist you, each special form has its own custom help file. Before the pop-up menu is displayed, however, three temporary files are created from your form which are used to fill in fields on the above special forms. These temporary files are modified when you execute the special forms. A fourth file, FIELDS.LST, is created which lists the position and size of all the fields on your form. It can be displayed while you are filling in and modifying features. When you exit a special form, the pop-up menu is presented again. Upon returning to the main menu, the information in the three temporary files is merged with your form so the form executor can utilize it. Don't forget to save your form (F6 on main menu) so your work will not be lost. The word processing features and math operations special forms require you to identify fields by their number. Form Master numbers input fields in the following way: The first field is field number 1. It is where the cursor first lies when you execute the form (an exception is where the first field does not lie on the first screen in which case you must tab to get to it). Pressing the Tab key places the cursor into field 2. Pressing it again places it into field 3, and so on. For your convenience, a function key on the word processing and math operations special forms has been defined to display the file FIELDS.LST showing you the location and size of each field. It is also helpful to have a printed copy of your form handy. 17 CastleSoft FORM MASTER Since the word processing feature and math operation definitions are tied to the numbering of your fields, these features may not work if you add or delete fields on your form. Therefore, if you edit a form in such a way as to cause changes in the numbering of its fields, you must make corresponding changes to its features using these special forms. Further information regarding advanced features follows. FEATURES.FRM is a good form to experiment with to better learn how to use the special feature forms. Start Form Master (enter from DOS: FM) and load FEATURES (F5). Press F9 twice and explore the special feature forms: F1, F2, and F3. Try making changes, then execute FEATURES to see what happens. 5.1. Function Key Re-definition A special form is used to allow you to change how function keys are interpreted when your form is executed. The only function key that can't be altered is F1, which is always used for help. This form is invoked from the main menu by pressing F9 twice followed by F1. There are two sides to this form. The left side is used for function key description information. When the F1 help button is pressed during form execution, this information is displayed in the help pop- up window. The right side tells Form Master what to do when the key is pressed. The following table shows commands which can be defined for function keys 2 through 10. Default Key Help description for key Command ----- -------------------------- -------- 2 Reset form (Start over) RST 3 Go to next/prev page PAG 4 Perform field look-ups LUP 5 Temporarily go to DOS DOS 6 Perform math operations MTH 7 Load fields from a file LOD 8 Save fields to a file SAV 9 Print form to a file PRF 10 Print form to your printer PRP Additional commands: - TYP xxxx List the file "xxxx" one page at a time. - DOS xxxx Performs the DOS command "xxxx". (i.e. to see directory of forms use: "DOS DIR *.frm") - EXE xxxx Runs the program "xxxx". You must include the ".EXE" or ".COM" extension in the program name. (i.e. if you would normally start your editor with "ED LETTER.DOC" use: "EXE ED.EXE LETTER.DOC") During form execution, both the EXE and DOS commands save the form field contents to FM.SAV before control is turned over to the program 18 CastleSoft FORM MASTER or to DOS. This provides access to the form field contents by whatever you run with these options. Upon completion of the program or DOS command, the contents of FM.SAV are loaded back into the form. Thus a utility invoked with a function key may be used to take information from your form and add it to a database, or to retrieve information from a database and place it onto your form. There is one exception: when the DOS command is used without arguments (default for function key 5), a DOS prompt will be received but FM.SAV is not utilized. Example: Consider a form named "ACCNT". Suppose you want the person using this form to only be able to reset the form and to print the form. Suppose further you want to define these functions as F2 and F3 respectively. Then the first two rows should look like: F2 Reset form (Start over) RST F3 Print form PRP The remaining 7 rows should be blank. To assist the person using the form, you should create a help file with your editor by the name of ACCNT.HLP to explain how to use it. This help file should be in the same directory as ACCNT.FRM. To facilitate filling in function key descriptions, the left side fields have been defined as look-up fields. For instance, if you place "LOD" in a left side field (leaving the cursor in that field) and press Alt-F, "Load fields from a file" will be substituted. WARNING: Use of this form will mean the generic help file, FMEXEC.HLP, is no longer be accessible. Recall that during execution pressing F1 displays a help pop-up window. At this point you can (1) press F1 again to see the generic help file, FMEXEC.HLP, or (2) press F2 to see a form specific help file which has the same name as your form but a ".HLP" extension, or (3) any other key to resume execution. If you redefine the function keys, Form Master assumes the generic help file no longer applies. Therefore, after pressing F1 you will have 2 choices, (1) press F1 again to see a form specific help file, or (2) any other key to resume. If other people will be using your form you should provide a custom help file for it. Notes: IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO RE-DEFINE THE FUNCTION KEYS, LEAVE ALL FIELDS BLANK BEFORE EXITING THIS FORM. Only if all fields are blank will Form Master assume that you want to use the default key definitions. If you choose to re-define the function keys, only those functions you fill in will be possible. Entries made on this form are not checked until form execution. Improperly defined function keys cause an error message to be displayed when tried. 19 CastleSoft FORM MASTER 5.2. Word Processing Features A special form is used to define justification, word wrap, read only, and look-up definitions for fields. This form is invoked from the main menu by pressing F9 twice followed by F2. Field justification and word wrap operations are handled dynamically as you fill in the form. Fields defined to justify right, left, or center will be justified at the time you move the cursor out of the field. Word wrapping occurs as you type and is always on for fields defined to have it. Turning on word wrapping for a field is done by specifying the next field wrapping is to take place to. For instance, field 1 may wrap to field 2, 2 to 3, etc. However, wrapping doesn't have to occur about consecutive fields. You can define two adjacent columns of fields where each column wraps independently as you type (notice one column would have even field numbers and the other odd). Read only fields are useful for information that is loaded from a file or database which is to be displayed but not modified. The first field of this special form shows the name of the form you are editing. It is a read only field and you are not allowed to modify it. The look-up facility of Form Master is a convenient and powerful way to fill in many fields in your form at once. You can place "Jones" into a look-up field and Form Master can then replace "Jones" with the full name and fill in his address into other fields. Another application could be entering a part number and Form Master fills in the description and price into other fields. Rules for the content and naming of look-up files are given below. Three different look up files may be defined for your form. A field can use any one of the three as you specify on this form. Field look-ups require the user to press F4 (unless re-defined) or Alt-F to perform. Fields are specified by their number. They are numbered in order beginning with 1. Use F6 to display all the fields in order with their number, row, column, and size. (F6 has been redefined on this form to display the file FIELDS.LST.) Rules: There are 5 columns of fields on this special form. List the field number of those fields you want to operate on in the first column. If you want a particular field to right, left, or center justify, place an "R", "L", or "C" in the second column. If you want a field to word wrap to another field, place the number of the "wrap-to" field in the third column. If you want a field to be "read only", place a "Y" in the fourth field. If you want a field to be used for field look-ups, place a "1", "2", or "3" in the fifth field, depending on which look- up file to use. Example: You want fields 1 through 3 to word wrap, field 4 to be read only, field 5 to right justify, and field 6 to have look-up capability from 20 CastleSoft FORM MASTER look-up file number 1. Enter the fields as follows: Field Just Wrap to R/O Look-up ----- ---- ----- --- ----- 1 2 2 3 4 Y 5 R 6 1 Notes: Avoid fields having the following combinations of features as the results will probably not be desirable: o justify with word wrap, read only, or look-up o word wrap with read only If your form is edited in such a way that fields are added, removed, or their ordering is changed, you must make corresponding changes here to account for the changes in the field numbers. Otherwise, these features may not work properly. All field entries on this special form are checked when returning to the Form Master main menu. Invalid entries will be shown on the display and replaced with defaults. 5.2.1. Look-Up Files A look-up file is built with an editor or word processor. The file must be created free of such things as formatting instructions, footers, headers, dot commands, etc. If you are using Word Star, be sure to create a non document file. You can even use the Form Master editor providing you use the import /export functions on the main menu. However, the Form Master editor is limited to 132 lines. The format of a look-up file is very simple. Place the look-up "key" so it begins in column 1 on any line. It must be followed by a space, then by what is to be substituted. Consider the line: 1234 Radiator "1234" is the key and "Radiator" is the replacement. If you placed "1234" in a look-up field then performed a look-up, "Radiator" would replace "1234" in that field. Suppose further you want to have the price of $100.00 appear in the field following the look-up field. Then the VERY NEXT line in the look-up file should have: +1 $100.00 The "+1" means "plus 1 field" from the look-up field. The remainder of the line shows the replacement item for the plus 1 field. Analogously, a "-11" would mean "minus 11 fields" from the look-up field. Here is an example file (inside the dashes) containing more than one item: 21 CastleSoft FORM MASTER +-------------------------+ |1234 Radiator | <-- look-up item 1 |+1 $100.00 | |65 Fuel Pump | <-- look-up item 2 |+1 $50.00 | |Air Filter Air Filter | <-- look-up item 3 |+1 $5.00 | +-------------------------+ Item 3 shows how "Air Filter" can be used to replace itself. This makes sense if all you want to do is have the price appear in the next field. You can substitute as many fields as you want with one look-up. A "key" line can be followed by multiple lines of "+n" and "-n" AS LONG AS THE LINES ARE CONSECUTIVE: +-------------------------+ |1234 Radiator | |+1 $100.00 | |-4 Ajax Distributors | |-3 ajax address... | | | |65 Fuel Pump | |+1 $50.00 | +-------------------------+ The previous look-up file replaces a look-up field having "1234" with "Radiator", places $100.00 in the next field, then places the name of the distributor and address at 4 and 3 fields back. Notice the blank line. It doesn't do anything except make the look-up file more readable. However, the blank line should not lie between the lines beginning with "1234" and "-3" in the above example. You can separate the "key" and the "replacement" items by more than one space if you want. This effectively adds spaces on the front of the "replacement" when it is substituted into a field. This is also true for lines beginning with a "+" or "-". Clearly, look-up keys must not begin with a "+" or "-" as this conflicts with their use for multiple field substitutions. Look-up File Names: You have two options for naming your look-up file(s): (1) Use the same name as your form but with an extension of ".LU1", ".LU2", and ".LU3" for the three look-up files. In most cases only one look-up file is needed so don't feel you have to use more than 1. However, it may be convenient to keep clients and part numbers in separate files. (2) If 2 or more forms are to use the same look-up file(s), create a file with the same name as your form but with an extension of ".LUP". This file is created by an editor and has three lines in it. Line 1 has the name of the first look-up file, line 2 the second, and line 3 the third. The name of each 22 CastleSoft FORM MASTER look-up file can be any valid DOS file name with the path included as long as it isn't longer than 40 characters. The second option allows one look-up file to be shared by multiple forms. Thus, a change to an address list supporting many forms needs to be done only once, instead of having to be done to each form's look-up file. During a look-up, Form Master checks for the existence of the ".LUP" file. If it doesn't exist, it assumes the look-up file to end with a ".LU1", ".LU2", or ".LU3" extension, whichever applies for the field. Any ".LU1", ".LU2", ".LU3", or ".LUP" files you create MUST reside in the same directory as your form. 5.3. Math Operations A special form is used to define math operations which allow use of addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and powers (including square roots) to solve equations posed by your forms. When performed, numbers are taken from fields in your form, and from the equations you define, then processed. Results are loaded into fields of your form in various formats such as integer, floating point, and scientific notation. This form is invoked from the main menu by pressing F9 twice followed by F3. There are 16 lines on this special form in which you may enter 1 or more mathematical equations. Each equation must fit entirely on a line, it can not span two lines. Equations on the same line must be separated by a space except when merging (explained later). They are processed in order from left to right, then top to bottom. Equations have the following form: Expression=Result Example: #15*#16/100=#17 "#15*#16/100" is the expression and "#17" is the result. This expression consists of the three operands: "#15" for field 15, "#16" for field 16, and "100". There are two operators: "*" for multiplication, and "/" for division. In this example fields 15 and 16 are multiplied together, divided by 100, then placed into field 17. Rules for expressions: o Consist of 1 or more operands each separated by an operator: +, -, *, /, and ^. o An expression must begin and end with an operand with one exception: it may begin with a -. o Expressions are evaluated left to right. They are written in a manner similar to the way you would use a simple calculator. Rules for operands: o May be contents of a field, a number, or 1 of 20 registers (memories). 23 CastleSoft FORM MASTER o The contents of a field are represented by the number of that field preceded by a #. Example: contents of field 15 are "#15". A field number may be followed by an "@" sign and a positive integer to perform stepping that simplify long repetitive expressions. Example: "#15@3". See STEPPING at end of this section. o A number can be an integer or decimal number up to 60 digits long. It must be positive. o The 20 registers are represented by the capitol letters A through T. They are initially zero when Form Master starts. Operators: Addition + Subtraction - Multiplication * Division / Power ^ Rules for results: o Can be loaded into a field, or into 1 of 20 registers. o A field used for output is specified by the number of that field preceded by a # and followed by a colon and the output format. Example: #17:F8.2 "F8.2"is the format. A default format of F6.2 is assumed if the colon and format are left off. The default allows for numbers ranging from "-99.99" to "999.99". o The 20 registers are represented by the capitol letters A through T. Rules for formats: o Possible formats are: "Iw", "Fw.d", and "Ew.d". o "Iw" is an integer format (no decimal point) "w" digits wide. Example: 35.4 loaded into a field using an I3 format becomes " 35". o "Fw.d" is a floating point format (with decimal point) "w" digits wide with "d" digits following the decimal point. Example: 35.4 loaded into a field using an F5.2 format becomes "35.40". o "Ew.d" is a floating point format (with decimal point) using scientific notation which is "w" digits wide with "d" digits following the decimal point. Example 35.4 loaded with E10.3 becomes " .354E+02". o Any number which requires more than "w" digits to load will cause the field to fill with "*'s". o A format cannot specify more characters "w" than the field is wide or an error will result during execution. Examples: Two equations placed on the same line: #1+#2/100=#3:F5.2 #1+#3*#7=#8:I8 24 CastleSoft FORM MASTER (1) Add fields 1 and 2, divide by 100, then place in field 3 as number xx.xx, (5 digits wide with 2 decimal places) (2) Field 7 times sum of fields 1 and 3, place into field 8 as xxxxxxxx, (8 digits wide) Use of square root and temporary value: #1+#2=A #3+#4*A^.5=#5:E9.4 Square root of ( ( sum of fields 1 and 2 ) times ( sum of fields 3 and 4 ) ), place result into field 5 as .xxxxE+xx Note the use of the temporary register "A" to hold the sum of fields 1 and 2. This is necessary since parenthesis are not allows in the equations. Equation beginning with a "-" and using the default format: -#1=#2 Field 2 is written as xxx.xx and is the negative of field 1. Merging: If the result of an equation is used as the first operand in the next equation, the two equations can be merged to save space. Suppose you want field 3 to be sum of fields 1 and 2, then field 5 to be the product of fields 3 and 4. The following two equations: #1+#2=#3:I4 #3*#4=#5 can be merged by removing the " #3" at the beginning of the second equation. The result is: #1+#2=#3:I4*#4=#5 The following equation shows a way to make field 3 be the square of the sum of fields 1 and 2: #1+#2=A*A=#3 Stepping: Long repetitive expressions involving multiplication, addition, and subtraction can be simplified using a stepping option. In expressions where the operation is the same over uniformly spaced fields (field number increments by some constant), only the first and last field numbers and a stepping count are specified: #1+#2+#3+#4+#5=#6 can be replaced by #1+#5@1=#6 #4*#8*#12*#16+#17=#18 can be replaced by #4*#16@4+#17=#18 #7-#9-#11-#13=#15 can be replaced by #7-#13@2=#15 Only positive step counts are allowed. The last field number minus 25 CastleSoft FORM MASTER the first field number in the stepping loop must be positive and a multiple of the step count. Notes: Use F6 to display all the fields in order with their number, row, column, and size. (F6 has been redefined on this form to display the file FIELDS.LST.) If your form is edited in such a way that fields are added, removed, or their ordering is changed, you must make corresponding changes here to account for the changes in the field numbers. Otherwise, the math feature may not work properly. To right justify the result in the field, use the word processing features form to define that field as right justified. The same is true for left and center justification. Double precision arithmetic (IEEE standard) is used for all math operations. This has approximately 15 significant digits of accuracy. All numbers are converted to double precision before use. Results placed into fields are rounded to the displayed precision. Entries made on this form are not checked until math is performed during form execution. Improperly defined equations will cause the math operations to terminate early and display an error message. This is also true for fields that do not contain a valid number, and such conditions such as divide by zero, overflow, etc. 6. Multi-page Forms The form editor allows a form to be as long as 132 lines. This is enough for 2 full pages. However, you can create forms thousands of pages long using a Page file. This is also the preferred way to make forms just two pages long as they are easier to modify and maintain. The Page file is a pure ascii file created with an editor. You can even use the Form Master editor to create this file as long as you save the file using the F8 export option. However, the Form Master editor is limited to 132 lines so if you use it your forms are limited to 132 pages. Each line in a Page file specifies the form file to use for that page plus an optional command to be performed before that page is displayed. A Page file with 4 pages would like something like: +------------------+ |form1 ;command 1 | |form2 ;command 2 | |form3 ;command 3 | |form4 ;command 4 | <- This border is not part of the file +------------------+ Here form1.frm is the name of the form file used for page 1, form2.frm for page 2, and so on. The four commands represent DOS commands or programs to be performed before each page is displayed. Each command is optional. The usefulness of these commands becomes apparent later. The name of the Page file must match the name of the first form file, except for a .PAG extension. In this example, the name of the above Page file must be form1.pag. It must also reside in the same 26 CastleSoft FORM MASTER directory as form1.frm. Form Master checks for the existence of a Page file when a form is executed. If it exists, the command on the first line is performed. The form fields are loaded from the file FM000001.SAV, if it exists. The form is now displayed. The user can step to the next page in the form by pressing control-PgDn, or by pressing F3 if it hasn't been redefined. When paging forward, Form Master does the following: 1 performs math calculations for the page, 2 saves the fields back to FM000001.SAV (FM000002.SAV if stepping from the second page, FM000003.SAV if ...), creating the file if necessary, 3 the form listed on the next line in the Page file is loaded and its command performed, 4 this form's fields are loaded from FM000002.SAV (or FM000003.SAV if page three, or ...), if it exists, 5 math is performed so fields may be loaded with numbers from a previous page. The second (or next) page is now displayed. This process repeats whenever the user pages forward. Form Master allows the user to page forward until a blank line or the end of the Page file is encountered. An FMxxxxxx.SAV file is utilized for each page in the form, where xxxxxx is the number of the page. This provides a theoretical limit of 999999 pages. Save files allow each page in the multi-page form to be restored when paging backward and are crucial when each page is printed. Math calculations are performed whenever a page forward is performed. This is important as the results for one page may be used on a following page and the user may overlook performing math. The values in all 20 math registers are carried forward to the next page. Calculations proceed from the first page to the end of the form. To carry a value forward from a page, use one of the 20 math registers. For example, suppose the value to carry forward is in field 10 which is the sum of fields 8 and 9. Its math equation could be "#8+#9=#10". By modifying the equation to "#8+#9=C=#10", the value in register C is available to use in an equation on a later page. As a further example, suppose the totals at the bottom of the first three pages in a form need to be carried to the first three fields of page 4 and summed in field 4. Assuming the totals from the three pages are loaded into registers A, B, and C respectively, the equations for page 4 could be "A=#1 B=#2 C=#3 A+B+C=#4". Printing begins at the first page and proceeds through all pages in the form. This process is repeated in the case of multiple copies. If all the pages in a form must be filled in before printing, consider removing the print capability from all but the last page of the form using function key redefinition. This is important if math calculations are carried throughout the form. Otherwise, if only the first two pages are filled in before printing, math is performed on only two pages and the rest of the form may be incorrect. A likely use for the command lines is to run utilities to create save files from information in fields of previous pages. For instance, information entered on the first page of a form may have to be 27 CastleSoft FORM MASTER duplicated in part or whole on another page. The command for page three may run a utility which reads FM000001.SAV and uses it to build FM0000003.SAV. When page three appears, the duplicate information is already entered. A page 4 utility may utilize data from a database specified by a value loaded in a field on page 2. In many cases, these utilities are easy to create by a programmer. This implementation of multi-page forms provides a VERY POWERFUL capability for dealing with complex form problems. Support is available from CastleSoft. Commands in a page file can cause of execution of another program or execution of a DOS function. To run another program, place ";EXE " after the name of the form file, then the name of program with its ".EXE" or ".COM" extension followed by its arguments. To perform a DOS command, place ";DOS " after the name of the form file, followed by the command. You can also run a program using a DOS command. For example, in the case of a utility called UTIL.COM which uses one argument, you could use ";DOS util argument" instead of ";EXE util.com argument". However, this is less efficient since another copy of DOS must be loaded. If the user pages backward by pressing control-PgUp or F3, Form Master does the following: 1 performs math calculations, 2 saves the fields back to the appropriate save file, creating the file if necessary, 3 the form listed on the previous line in the Page file is loaded, 4 this form's fields are loaded from its save file The previous page is then displayed. Note that no command is performed when paging backward. This makes sure the previous page is restored exactly. Now a more realistic example of a page file is given. Suppose a four page trip report form is needed with the second two pages being identical before fill in, and the fourth page utilizes information from the first page. Suppose further that a utility, TRIP.COM, has been written to build inputs for the fourth page (FM000004.SAV) using the contents of the first page (FM000001.SAV). Also assume for the first three pages the fields are initially blank. Let the form be called TRIPREP.FRM. The Page file must be named TRIPREP.PAG. Here is its contents: +--------------------------+ |triprep ;DOS DEL FM*.SAV | |triprep.2 | |triprep.2 | |triprep.4 ;EXE trip.com | +--------------------------+ Note the first command clears any existing save files so the form fields are blank filled. Only three form files need to be created since pages 2 and 3 are identical. The first form has a default .FRM extension. The remaining form pages have either a ".2" or a ".4" extension and so will not appear in the directory produced by the F5- F10 load form combination on the main menu. This is desirable if you do not want TRIPREP.2 or TRIPREP.4 to be selectable as an independent form. 28 CastleSoft FORM MASTER Some differences and features of multi-page forms: Each page in a multi-page form can have its own custom printer configuration file and help file. Each page can use the pre-printed form option independent of the other pages. If the auto fill in feature (for date, time, or form number) places information into a field, it won't work if the save file for that page exists since the field will be updated by the save file. During execution, re- initialization (F2) only restores the form page back to when it was last loaded, not to its initial state. Field look-ups (F4), math calculations (F6), field loads (F7), and field saves (F8) are perform on only the current page. The default number of copies to print is taken from the first form file. The "number of copies to print" values on the other form pages are ignored. After printing, only the form number of the first form file is incremented. If a multi-page form is executed from DOS in the following manner: FM multform infile outfile or FM multform iofile these input and output files are ignored since multi-page forms use the FMxxxxxx.SAV files. Use of a math register for two purposes should be avoided. For example, carrying a value in register B from page one, updating it on page three with the equation "B+#1+#2+#3=B=#4", then using it on page four, leads to a problem. The value of register B keeps changing each time math is performed on page three. This happens when the perform math function key is pressed repeatedly, and when stepping between page three and four repeatedly. Multi-page forms represent a powerful new feature for Form Master. Enhancements are likely. Feedback from Form Master users will have a strong impact on future capabilities. 7. Adding More Printer Functions To Form Master Form Master can take advantage of additional functionality inherent in your printer. This is done by building the file FM.PRT as discussed at the end of this section. During initialization, Form Master checks for the existence of FM.PRT in the current default directory. If it exists, it is read and used instead of the default configuration. To return to the default configuration, delete or rename FM.PRT. Form Master now allows each form to have its own custom printer configuration file. One use of this facility is to set up some forms to print in a landscape mode on a laser printer, and others in a portrait mode. A custom printer configuration file for a form is created by renaming or copying FM.PRT to xxx.PRT where "xxx" is the name of the form. Form Master looks for xxx.PRT in the same directory as xxx.FRM. If present, it is used in place of FM.PRT or the default configuration. There are many options for adding functionality. Recall, that while editing a form, holding down the Alt key and typing a letter inserted a special character into the form which is later interpreted during printing. Since there are 26 letters in the alphabet, there would 29 CastleSoft FORM MASTER appear to be 26 printer configuration possibilities. However Alt-D, Alt-F, and Alt-T are used for automatic form date, number, and time insertion. Alt-O is used to cancel the line feed after a line is printed so the next line is printed on top of it. This is how overstriking is done by Form Master. There are 22 letters left. All 22 possibilities are available for printer configuring. Some are reserved for the following functions but may be redefined to meet your needs: Alt-B Boldface, Enhanced text Alt-C Compressed text (17 characters per inch) Alt-E Elite text (12 characters per inch) Alt-H Higher, Superscript Alt-I Italic text Alt-L Lower, Subscript Alt-P Pica text (10 characters per inch) Alt-U Underline Alt-X Expanded text In each of the 22 possibilities, a printer invoking sequence and a printer canceling sequence can be defined. These are used by the form executor to send to your printer to set each print mode, and to cancel each mode. Invoking and canceling sequences are utilized in the following manner. During printing, characters are sent to your printer one at a time as they appear on your form. When a special printer control character is encountered, the form executor sends the invoking or cancelling sequence instead. The first time a special printer control character is encountered on a line, the invoking sequence is sent. The second time, the cancelling sequence is sent. The third time, the invoking sequence is sent, and so on. Thus you can turn a printer mode on and off (such as underlining) as often as you wish within a line. You don't have to place the cancelling sequence at the end of a line. When the end of a line is reached, the form executor turns off any printer options left on by sending the cancelling sequences. It is not necessary to define an invoking or a cancelling sequence for each Alt-letter. The form executor sends nothing to your printer if nothing is defined. To configure your printer for near letter quality and have it stay that way while the whole form is printed, do the following: Define the invoking sequence for Alt-A to be whatever is required by your printer to put it into that mode. Leave the cancelling sequence for Alt-A blank. Then put an Alt-A character into the upper left corner of your form with the editor. Printer configuration also allows you to define a sequence of up to 16 characters to send to your printer prior to start of printing, and another sequence when printing is finished. These are called the "initial startup" and "termination" sequences. For example, you can use the startup sequence to configure your printer for near letter quality before printing a form, and the termination sequence to reset it when through. Steps for printer configuration: 30 CastleSoft FORM MASTER 1 Enter the following command from DOS: CONFIG configfile <press enter> where "configfile" is the name of a configuration file. (This assumes that CONFIG.BAT, FM.EXE, PRINTER.COM, and PRINTER.FRM are on the default drive.) The printer configuration form then appears. If "configfile" does not exist, it is created for you when you finish. This file contains all your printer control strings so it is wise not to delete it. Choose a name related to your printer and one you won't forget. 2 Fill in the form. The first input field is for the name of your printer. Change it if necessary. This field is displayed on the print pop-up menu by the form executor just prior to printing your forms. Fill in the invoking and cancelling sequences for any of the 22 available letters you want to define. You must enter the sequences in hexadecimal notation. Your printer manual should list these sequences in hexadecimal. Contact CastleSoft for support if you have problems here. You should also fill in the Printer Mode Description and Mnemonic fields. The Printer Mode is a description for your own use. The Mnemonic field contents are used by the form editor to display meanings of the Alt-characters on the top line of the display. Fill in the printer "Initial Startup Sequence" with anything you want to send before a form is printed. Fill in the printer "Termination Sequence" with anything you want to send after a form is printed. 3 Press "ESC" twice. The program PRINTER.COM is invoked auto- matically. It creates the file "FM.PRT" if it doesn't exist or replaces it if it does. 4 Make sure FM.PRT is in your current directory when you run FM.EXE. Form Master uses this file, if it exists, to re- configure itself to your printer. 8. Configuring Form Master For Your Printer Configuring Form Master for your printer is necessary if you want to print a form using print features where your printer is not compatible with the Epson LX-800 printer. The method is the same as outlined in section 7. If you have problems or questions, contact CastleSoft for support. It is possible that your printer is Epson LX-800 compatible and yet it does not print lines and boxes correctly. Instead italic characters are printed where the lines should be. For many printers, this is caused by the printer using the standard character set instead of the IBM character set. Sometimes a dip switch inside your printer controls this. Changing its position may correct the problem. Another approach is to configure using the modified Epson 31 CastleSoft FORM MASTER configuration file EPSON2.CFG. Enter the following command: CONFIG EPSON2.CFG Then press ESC twice after the printer configuration form appears. The file FM.PRT is created, or replaced if it already exists. Later, if you want to return to the default configuration, delete or rename FM.PRT. Users of HP compatible laser printers should try the HPLASER.CFG configuration file instead of EPSON2.CFG. If you are still having problems printing lines and boxes, here are some more tips: (1) Check your printer manual for different types of character sets - choose the IBM character set instead of the standard set. (2) Make sure you printer is configured to receive 8 bit characters. (3) Try invoking the EPSON2.CFG form as described above, but modify the Initial Startup Sequence on the form to one of the following before pressing ESC twice: 1B 74 01 1B 36 1B 49 01 1B 7E 35 01 (4) Call your printer manufacturer or dealer and ask how to configure your printer so it will properly print line and box characters (using the IBM character set). If they specify a hexadecimal sequence, use it as your Initial Startup Sequence. (5) Some printers, including some Epsons, do not support these characters. A shareware utility such as MPRPR2.ARC allows lines and boxes to be printed on nearly any Epson by substituting appropriate graphics instructions for those characters. (5) If you have an HP Laserjet, use the PC-8 symbol set (front panel setting of IBM-US). 9. Interfacing With Databases & Utilities When a form is executed, Form Master provides the capability to invoke utilities which have access to the fields on the form. Such a utility could retrieve information from a dBase file and place data into the form. This is available to the user via a function key. By using the advanced features option, a function key on a form can be defined to run another program or a DOS command. When the function key is used during form execution, all the form fields are saved to the file FM.SAV before control is turned over to the program or to DOS. Any utility that is run at this has access to FM.SAV. Such a utility could prompt the user for input, if needed. Values may be retrieved from FM.SAV and/or its contents modified. Upon completion of the program or the DOS command, the contents of FM.SAV are loaded into the form fields. Refer to section 5.1 for more information on function key re-definition. Use of such utilities extends the power of Form Master far beyond that of simply filling in forms. Many utilities are easy to code. It is likely that by the time you read this utilities will exist to interface forms to dBase files. Contact CastleSoft for further information. 32 CastleSoft FORM MASTER 10. Customizing Form Master can be customize in the following ways: (1) override the format used for date and time when automatically filled into forms, (2) change the Form Master default printer, (3) turn off use of the speaker, (4) override the color on the main menu, and (5) use German style number where commas and periods are swapped. Most date and time formats (including European) are now supported. Turning off color may aid those with composite video monochrone monitors if the screen is hard to read. These features are set up before starting Form Master using the DOS SET command. This command is entered from a DOS prompt: SET FMCNFG=specifier,...,specifier where "specifier" is one of the following: DATE:dfmt (dfmt is date format) TIME:tfmt (tfmt is time format) PRINT:pdev (pdev is the printer device) NOBEEP NOCOLOR CMATH Specifiers can be of any number and be in any order. USE ALL CAPITOL LETTERS. Specifiers are separated by commas. Including "NOCOLOR" turns off color on the main menu. Including "NOBEEP" prevents the speaker from being sounded by Form Master. Including "DATE:" and a date format overrides the default date format. Likewise for "TIME:" and the time format. Including "PRINT:" allows a different printer to be chosen. Including "CMATH" swaps commas with periods in all numbers where math is used. Place all desired options into one SET command. Do not use the SET command repeatedly for each option you want since only the last SET command is remembered by DOS. The date format consists of the three capitol letters: Y (for year), M (for month), and D (for day), and two separators which can be nearly any symbol except for "=". The separators are printed. For example, February 14, 1991 would be expressed as "1991.02.14" using a format of "Y.M.D", and "02-14-1991" using "M-D-Y". To have two digits instead of four digits for the year append an "S" to the format. For example "Y-M-DS" yields "91-02-14". The time format consists of the three capitol letters: H (for hour), M (for minute), and S (for second), and two separators which can be nearly any symbol except for "=". For example, 10 hours, 3 minutes, 32 seconds would be expressed as "10.03.32" using a format of "H.M.S", and "10:03:32" using "H:M:S". Changing the default printer causes Form Master to print to a different device when F10 is used. The new printer device can be a device such as "LPT2:", "COM1:", or even a file name. 33 CastleSoft FORM MASTER German style numbers swap the meanings of the comma and period. If the "CMATH" option is used, make sure all equations and fields used in math calculations are consistent. Example: Turn off the speaker and use a day.month.year format: SET FMCNFG=NOBEEP,DATE:D.M.Y To continue using this customization, this set command must be entered each time you turn on your computer and before starting Form Master, or (a better way) place this command into your AUTOEXEC.BAT file (refer to your DOS manual). 11. If You Have Computer Compatibility Problems Forms are displayed on your monitor by writing directly to the screen buffer. This makes them appear very fast but can lead to compatibility problems if your computer is not completely IBM PC compatible. This causes snow on IBM computers equipped with the old color display adapters. A modified version of Form Master is possible which disables this feature. This should allow compatibility with more PC clones. Contact CastleSoft for more information. 12. Form Master Files The following files comprise the Form Master software package: READ.ME Introduction, file extraction FM.EXE Form Master program file FM.DOC Form Master documentation FMMENU.HLP Main menu help file FMEDIT.HLP Form creation/maintenance help file FMEXEC.HLP Form execute help file FMKEY.FM Form supporting editing function key definitions FMKEY.HLP Help for function key definitions FMKEY.LU1 Look up file for FMKEY.FRM FMWRD.FM Form supporting editing word processing features FMWRD.HLP Help for word processing features FMMTH.FM Form supporting editing math operations FMMTH.HLP Help for math operations CONFIG.BAT Printer configuration procedure PRINTER.COM Printer configuration program which builds FM.PRT PRINTER.FRM Form used for configuring your printer. The default Epson LX-800 inputs are included. PRINTER.HLP On-screen help for PRINTER.FRM EPSON2.CFG Alternate printer configuration if you have trouble printing lines and boxes HPLASER.CFG Printer form load file showing HP Laser Jet configuration LESSON1.FRM Lesson 1 - Basics LESSON2.FRM Lesson 2 - Using Attributes LESSON3.FRM Lesson 3 - Lines And Boxes LESSON4.FRM Lesson 4 - Special Functions 34 CastleSoft FORM MASTER TUTORIAL.DOC Step by step tutorial for building a form REG.FRM Registration form INVOICE.FRM Example invoice form COLOR.FRM Example form showing use of colors if you have a color monitor PTEST.FRM This form tests some of your printer capabilities MESSAGE.FRM Example phone message form CALENDAR.BAT Build calendar form for given month Enter from DOS prompt: CALENDAR A calendar form help file is provided. MONTH.COM Builds the appropriate month for the Calendar form CALENDAR.FRM Calendar form CALENDAR.HLP On-screen help for CALENDAR.FRM SIGNIN.FRM Example child care sign-in form FEATURES.FRM Example form showing word wrap, math, etc. FEATURES.HLP On-screen help for FEATURES.FRM FEATURES.LU1 Look-up file for FEATURES.FRM Some files may be compressed together to save space and thus may not appear in your directory listing. Details to extract these files are in READ.ME. Required files o for form execution: FM.EXE (FMMENU.HLP, FMEXEC.HLP suggested) o for form creation/editing: FM.EXE, FMKEY.FM, FMWRD.FM, FMMTH.FM (FMMENU.HLP, FMEDIT.HLP, FMEXEC.HLP, FMKEY.HLP, FMWRD.HLP, FMMTH.HLP suggested) o to change default printer configuration: FM.PRT (must create) o to create or replace FM.PRT: CONFIG.BAT, FM.EXE, PRINTER.FRM, PRINTER.COM (PRINTER.HLP suggested) All above required and suggested files must be in the same directory. This is the directory from which you start Form Master. Your forms can be in another directory or disk. Form specific help files, page files, custom printer control files, and look-up files, (files with an ".LU1", ".LU2", ".LU3", or ".LUP" extension) should be placed in the directory where their associated forms reside. 13. Error Messages Following is an alphabetical list of Form Master error messages and explanations: 0 to 0 power encountered During math, 0 to the 0 power was encountered. "1" is used as the result. Bad field number nnn During math, an out of range or bad number "nnn" encountered. 35 CastleSoft FORM MASTER Bad Field Attribute [xx: x=0-9,A-F] Attributes are 2 characters long where each character is a number from 0 to 9 or a letter from A to F. Bad Form Number [enter number] A valid number must be entered. Bad format: fff, field nnn During math, field number "nnn" had an illegal format of "fff". Bad Line Feed Count [enter number >= 0] A valid number greater than or equal to zero must be entered. Bad Number Of Columns [20-133] A valid number between 20 and 133 must be entered. Bad Number Of Copies To Print [1-99] A valid number between 1 and 99 must be entered. Bad Number Of Rows [1-132] A valid number between 1 and 132 must be entered. Bad operand: xxx During math, a bad value of "xxx" was encountered in an expression. Bad Pre-print Specifier [Y or N] "Y" for pre-printed forms, or "N" for normal printing must be entered. Bad step value: xxx During math, a bad step value of "xxx" was encountered in an equation. Bad value in field nnn: xxx During math, an out of range or bad value of "xxx" was encountered in field "nnn". Could not update form on disk After printing, the form's sequence number is incremented and the form is updated on disk. This was not possible due an open or write error. Most likely cause is the diskette containing the form was removed. Divide by zero During math, a divide by zero was encountered. DOS Error Contact CastleSoft. End of file - No more fields When loading fields from a file, the end of the file was reached before the last field was filled. Error writing field file Most likely out of room on diskette. 36 CastleSoft FORM MASTER Field file create error Most likely out of room on diskette. Field file read error Most likely a diskette was swapped during advanced feature editing. File create error Most likely out of room on diskette. Possibly too many files in root directory. File not found File not in expected directory or doesn't exit. File open error File not in expected directory or doesn't exit. File read error File bad. File write error Most likely out of room on diskette. Form create error Most likely out of room on diskette. Possibly too many files in root directory. Form file is bad File does not contain form or is bad. Form not found Form not in expected directory or doesn't exit. Form read error Form file bad. Form write error Most likely out of room on diskette. Form Master internal error Contact CastleSoft. Format too large for field nnn During math, the format specified a width for field "nnn" that was greater than the length of the field. Help file not found: nnn Help file "nnn" not found. Help file read error: nnn File "nnn" is bad. Illegal read-only: n. Changed to blank The read-only flag must be "Y", "N", or blank. 37 CastleSoft FORM MASTER Illegal justify: n. Changed to blank Justify must be "R", "C", "L", or blank. Illegal output specifier: xxx During math, output can only be sent to a field, or to registers A through T. Illegal look-up: n. Changed to blank The look-up flag must be "1", "2", "3", or blank. Insufficient Memory You don't have enough memory (RAM) to run a DOS shell or program. Look-up file not found: nnn The look-up file "nnn" not in expected directory or doesn't exit. Must enter "A" or "R" Must enter "A" for append to, or "R" for replacement of file. Must enter file name Must enter form name Must pick range from 1 to 24 lines Form editor can only pick from 1 to 24 lines. Name may not have embedded blanks Remove extra spaces from name. Negative power encountered Form Master can not take a number to a negative power. Next field value bad: nnn Number of field to word wrap to, "nnn", bad. No current load file, use F7 first Use F7 for first load from a file then Alt-L for subsequent loads. No current save file, use F8 first Use F8 for first save to a file then Alt-S for subsequent saves. No form files found There are no forms in the specified directory. No input fields present The form has no input fields for entering text. No lines picked, use F5 first Pick lines before trying to put them. No look-up fields present The form has no fields defined for look-up. No match for: nnn The look-up key "nnn" was not found in the look-up file. 38 CastleSoft FORM MASTER No math operations defined The form has no math expressions defined. Not in look-up field Alt-F only works when the cursor is in a look-up field. Overflow in field nnn During math, the format specified for field "nnn" is too small for the size of the number. Page file access error Page file bad or floppy containing it removed. Power of negative number Form Master can not take the power of a negative number. There is no current form You must load a form first. This form is protected - can't overwrite Writing of this form is not allowed. This is an EDIT ONLY form The intended use of this form is for editing only. This is an EXECUTE ONLY form The intended use of this form is for executing only. Too many fields in form Form Master can only support forms up to 500 fields. Unknown command: nnn A function key has been re-defined to an unknown command. Use F3 to begin/erase line or box Must use F3 before F4 in the editor. 14. Registering Your Copy Form Master is shareware. It is not free software. If you find this program to be it useful, please register it by sending $25.00 to: Brad Simpson CastleSoft P.O. Box 695 Castle Rock, CO 80104-0695 (303)688-2954 A printed manual is available for an additional $10 (includes shipping). Reasons for registering your copy are: o Form Master is an evolving product. New features are planned. User support pays the cost of these improvements. o You will receive the latest version of this package along with telephone support. If you already have the latest 39 CastleSoft FORM MASTER copy, the next one will be sent when it becomes available. o You will be notified of future updates. o Form Master may just be well worth the registration fee. Form Master has been designed for further growth and flexibility. If it doesn't quite meet your needs, it may be possible to customize it for you specific application. Any suggestions for future enhancements are welcome. Users help determine where Form Master goes with respect to adding new features. The following enhancements are being considered: o Improved form editor with more functionality o Word unwrap to complement word wrap o Utilities interfacing to database files such as dBase files o Capability to insert graphics into forms o More example forms o Windows and OS/2 compatibility Additional Notes: Form Master is written in Microsoft FORTRAN. The code has been enhanced with additional keystroke, sound, display, and system related functions using a utility library, FORUTIL.LIB. This library is available from CastleSoft for a small cost. Versions exist for both the Microsoft and Lahey compilers. Contact CastleSoft for more information. 40 CastleSoft