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USERS MANUAL --------------------------------- LITLBOOK.COM --------------------------------- An Address Book Database written by Kenn Flee of Jamestown Software 2508 Valley Forge Drive Madison WI 53719 Copyright (C)1986,87 by Jamestown Software Version 2.4 May 29, 1987 Jamestown Software will not be liable for any damages, including any lost profits, lost savings or other incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use of or inability to use LITLBOOK.COM, even if Jamestown Software has been advised of the possibility of such damages, or for any claim by any other party. LITLBOOK.COM is hereby released into the PUBLIC DOMAIN for non-commercial use by individuals and non-profit groups. Page 1 INTRODUCTION: LITLBOOK began as an example program to demonstrate the use of Borland's Database Toolbox at a meeting of the Madison Wisconsin PC User's Group -- Turbo Pascal Special Interest Group. The original intent was to incorporate all the features of the Toolbox, including Sort.Box, in a relatively simple program that didn't "bury" the Toolbox routines too deeply. After a couple of false starts that resulted in programs that were useful, but judged too complex to easily demonstrate, LITLBOOK evolved. One change to traditional, simple "address book" programs has made LITLBOOK extremely useful. Because with LITLBOOK you may assign each entry one of 30 "user-defined" classification codes plus include a "comment" line of 79 characters. Thus you can maintain the equivalent of up to 30 different address lists all merged into one large database. The reassignment of an entry's classification code effectively moves that entry from one "list" to another. The reporting functions allow you to print both 1-up labels and general listings alphabetically, by classification, or by zip code. With creative assignment of the classification code, you could maintain a list of group members by expiration month; primary and associate members of an organization; subscribers by renewal month; separate lists of friends, family, business associates and so on. Yet when you "browse" the database, ALL records are returned in sorted order by last name/company name. FEATURES: * Written in Turbo Pascal (source code available). * ISAM database with B+Tree structure. * For floppy or harddisk systems. * Menu-driven for ease of use. * Allows assignment of entry to one of thirty classifications. * Add, search, sort, edit and delete functions. * Database file size limited only by floppy disk/hard disk size, or 32,760 records, whichever comes first. * Finds and displays records very quickly. * Released into the public domain. Page 2 FILES INCLUDED: Just three: LITLBOOK.COM The program file. LITLBOOK.DOC This user's manual. LITLBOOK.PAS Turbo Pascal source code. The program will create additional files as needed: LITLBOK2.DAT The database main data file. LITLBOK2.IXN The database main index file. LITLCLAS.DAT The classifications data file. INSTALLATION: Floppy Disk Users: Put original disk in drive A. Put blank, formatted disk in drive B. Copy LITLBOOK.COM (Copy A:LITLBOOK.COM B:). Hard Disk Users: Make a subdirectory (MD \LITLBOOK). Change subdirectories (CD \LITLBOOK). Place original disk in drive A. Copy LITLBOOK files into subdirectory. (Copy A:\LITLBOOK.*). -2 files- LITLBOOK will sense the existence of both color cards and monochrome cards and adjust itself accordingly. RUNNING LITLBOOK: Floppy Disk Users: Be sure you see the "A>" prompt! If you don't, type A: and return. Place your LITLBOOK program disk in drive A. Type "LITLBOOK" and return. Hard Disk Users: IMPORTANT: ALWAYS run LITLBOOK from the subdirectory in which it resides! (If you don't, the program will create new data files in your active subdirectory!) Type "LITLBOOK" and return. The first time you run LITLBOOK it will create and initialize new LITLBOOK.DAT, LITLBOOK.IXN and LITLCLAS.DAT files on your current disk or directory. NOTE: If you are upgrading from LITLBOOK v1.1, run MOVEBOOK to capture your old data files. LITLBOOK v2.0 now includes two phone number fields, whereas previous versions had only one. Page 3 THE MAIN MENU: After the data files have been initialized, the Main Menu will be displayed. At the bottom left is the number of bytes left on your LITLBOOK drive/directory. There are 4 choices listed in the main menu as follows: 1 -- ADD new information 2 -- BROWSE/EDIT record information 3 -- PRINT record information / UTILITIES 0 -- QUIT and return to DOS To select, press the number of the choice desired. Each choice is described below. ADD NEW INFORMATION (Main Menu Choice 1): The data entry screen will be displayed. Enter the information requested. A "message" is displayed at the bottom of the screen to help you through the entries. Entry NOTES: ----------------------------------------------------------- If you are entering a PERSON's name, put first name in the first name field and last name in the last name field. If you are entering a COMPANY name, leave the first name field blank and put the company name in the last name field. The zip code field is set up to allow for the new longer zip codes. Telephone area codes may entered in the format 123-456-7890. In the CLASS field, enter a number 1-30. If you have already assigned a classification name for that number, it will be displayed. If a name has not been assigned, all the assigned codes will be displayed and you may enter a new classification name. If you wish to VIEW the assigned names, you may press <F1> and they will be displayed. On the comment line, you may press <Ctrl-D> to put today's date (from the system clock) into your comment line. Page 4 ADD NEW INFORMATION (continued): After completing the comment line (or after pressing <F10>) you will be asked if you wish to continue working with this record. Press "Y" to edit it some more or "N" to continue. If you press "N", you will asked if you wish to save the record. Press "Y" to store it on disk, or "N" to continue without saving. If you are entering NEW data, you will next be asked if you have another entry. Press "Y" to add another record or "N" to return to the main menu. BROWSE/EDIT RECORD INFORMATION (Choice 2 in Main Menu): You will be asked to identify the last (or company) name to search for. If you want to start at the beginning of the file, just press return. (The files will always be displayed in alphabetical order by last name). When any file is displayed, you may press: N -- Display next record P -- Display previous record S -- Enter new search name D -- Delete the record E -- Edit the record Q -- Quit and return to Main Menu NOTE: You may include your search string on the command line when invoking LB.COM and the program will skip the opening menu and immediately display your requested entry. PRINT RECORD INFORMATION / UTILITIES (Choice 3 in Main Menu): The Reports Menu will be displayed. You may select any of 3 different printed reports from the Reports Menu as described below. You should set your printer type style and left margin before selecting your first printed listing. DON'T set an automatic page length, because LITLBOOK automatically spaces over the perf (assuming a 11" page length). PRINT LABELS (Choice 4 in Report Menu) Will print 1-up labels in the following format: +----------------------------------------+ --- : Class # : : : FirstName LastName : : : Address : : CityState Zip : 6 : : Lines +----------------------------------------+ : :<----------35 characters--------->: : +----------------------------------------+ --- : ( next label ) : Page 5 PRINT GENERAL LISTING (Choice 5 in Report Menu) Will print a narrative listing (* depending upon the other choices selected as described below) in the following format: +----------------------------------------------------------+ : Appropriate Header / Date Page # : : ---------------------------------------------------- : : : : F or LName* F or LName* ........................Phone : : Address, CityState, Zip : : Comment : : *Classification (if all classes selected) : : F or LName* F or LName* ........................Phone : : Address, CityState, Zip : : Comment : : *Classification (if alpha sort selected) : : : : -- etc. -- : : : (sized to fit 8-1/2 x 11, skipping perforations) ------------------------------------------------------------- NOTE: After selecting report choices 4 or 5 you will be asked: 1. Sort Method: <A>lphabetically -- to print ALL records in alphabetical order. <C>lassification -- to print by classification. 2. If printing labels: Print in Zip Code order? Yes/No 3. If printing by classification: Print all? Yes/No 4. If NOT printing ALL classifications: Which class? 5. If choice 5 (general listing) selected: Print last name FIRST? Yes/No (If YES, then last name printed in ALL CAPS, then a comma, then last name; otherwise as originally entered) 6. <D>isk <S>creen or <P>rinter? If printer, then the program checks to see if the printer is ready and requests that you align the paper to the top of the page. Disk will create an ascii text file on your current disk. If disk is selected, you may choose from 4 formats: <P>rinter -- the same as when printed. <C>omma Delimited -- each field is separated by a comma, with each record terminated with a carriage return/line feed combination. <I>ndividual Lines -- each field on a line by itself. <F>ixed Length -- in columnar, "spreadsheet" style. Page 6 This ascii file may be edited with a text editor or wordprocessor, or imported into other databases. 7. Printing may be paused by pressing any key, then "Y" to continue or "N" to return to menu. ------------------------------------------------------------ PRINT CLASSIFICATION SUMMARY (Choice 6 in Report Menu) Will print (printer only) your assigned classification names. CHANGE CLASSIFICATION NAME (Choice 7 in Report Menu) Select to view, change or add classification names. REBUILD KEYS (Choice 8 in Report Menu) Select to restore a corrupted database. Symptom: search feature appears to "miss" known entries. ------------------------------------------------------------ TECHNICAL INFORMATION: If you wish to try to access the LITLBOOK.DAT data file, the following describes the record definition. NOTE: actual data begins in record 1 (record 0 is reserved for program use). LITLBOOK.DAT (Toolbox DataFile) --------------------------------------------------------- Status : Integer { 0=Active All Else=Deleted } FName : String[15] { First Name } LName : String[30] { Last or Company Name } Address : String[25] { Street Address } CityState : String[25] { City and State } Zip : String[10] { Zip Code } Phone1 : String[12] { Phone Number One} Phone2 : String[12] { Phone Number Two} Class : String[2] { Classification NUMBER 0-30 } Comment : String[79] { Comment Line } LITLBOOK.IXN (Toolbox IndexFile) --------------------------------------------------------- Key is String[15], duplicates allowed LITLCLAS.DAT (Turbo Typed File of String[35]) --------------------------------------------------------- Array[1..30] of String[35] (Classification names) Page 7 Each datafile record is 221 bytes in length with 1 record overhead. Each index key is 15 bytes in length. LITLBOOK.COM is written in Turbo Pascal using the Database Toolbox, both by Borland International. Requires DOS2.x or greater. Written on an IBM-PC with a color monitor, but should run on close compatibles with monochrome monitors. Probably should have 256K for reasonably fast processing (program uses as much normal memory as available for sorting and B+Tree storage, with disk used for overflow). If you request source code, please note that you must have Turbo Pascal 3.0+ and the Turbo DataBase Toolbox to modify the program. Necessary "include" files are declared in the program, but the files themselves must come from you. USER-SUPPORTED SOFTWARE (Shareware) / Source Code: You are free to copy this program and share it with others. If you find it to be of value I would appreciate your monetary support of $5-$10. If you send $10 or more, I will send you a diskette containing the source code for LITLBOOK, plus the latest version of FILECAT--the file cataloging database that helps you keep track of the hundreds or thousands of files you have on your diskettes or hard drive through the use of keywords and 300+ character descriptions. In any case let me know if you like LITLBOOK... what improvements you would like... what you hate... to say hello. Send your support/source code requests and comments to: Kenn Flee Jamestown Software 2508 Valley Forge Drive Madison WI 53719 Compuserve 74275,745 BBS: 608-251-7734 (24 hour, 300-1200-2400, 8-N-1, no nulls) Page 8 REVISION HISTORY: 05/21/86 -- Preliminary "meeting" release, version 1.0. 05/24/86 -- Classification file read-write problem corrected. Version Enhancements added to sort options. 1.1 Improvements made to printed reports. 09/07/86 -- Added second phone number field. Version Added ascii text disk file option to reports. 2.0 MOVEBOOK included to capture old data file. 10/06/86 -- Added Command line search string option to Version allow LB.COM to be called by QFILER. 2.1 (Program must be named LB.COM for QFILER use). 05/29/87 -- Added export-to-text-file option to "PRINT Versions general listing" (Choice 5 in Print Menu). 2.2 Added rebuild keys option to restore damaged thru databases. Corrected a subtle error when 2.4 printing all classifications (if user was inconsistent when entering classification codes). Change "warble" to short "beep". Included source code in shareware release.