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MacroPIK'r 1.5 Quick Reference Guide Copyright 1992 Samkhya S A M K H Y A // Software Research & Development 27005 Highway 1, PO Box 13 Tomales, CA 94971 USA Data Formats MacroPIK'r can read, browse, convert, extract, edit and write: o Standard (ASCII) text (up to 2000 characters wide, any length), mainframe reports; o Lotus WKS, WRK, WK1, & WR1; o dBASE; o DIF (Data Interchange Format); o Delimited (with any delimiter); o SYLK (Microsoft); and o Fixed length record files. Notational Conventions The function keys F1 through F10 issue commands. Thus, "Xit-F9" refers to function key F9 when the picture of the key on the screen has the label "Xit". Other conventions are: DO-IT Press the Enter (return) key or click the left mouse button -- either "does". Enter the return key Tab the Tab key Shift+Tab the Shift plus Tab keys Ins the Ins key or the "0" key on the keypad Del the Del key or the "." key on the keypad Esc the Escape key Shift the Shift key Ctrl the Control key MacroPIK'r 1.5 Quick Reference Getting Started With MacroPIK'r To start MacroPIK'r, be sure a copy of mpik'r.exe, and any batch files needed, are somewhere in your current directory, or PATH, then type: mpik'r ...by itself, should work for most users mpikbw a black & white screen on a color adapter mpikm fast monochrome mpikc fast color mpikb for a BIOS compatible computer (rare) mpikd for a DOS compatible computer (even rarer) You may include arguments on the command line: file By itself: open 'file' as a flat ASCII file -flt file (ditto) -wks file Open 'file' as Lotus worksheet -dif file Open 'file' as DIF file -csvX file Open 'file' as delimited with optional delimiter 'X' -slk file Open 'file' as SYLK -fxlNN file Open 'file' as fixed record file, record size 'NN' -dbf file Open 'file' as a dBASE file -plNN Open with page length 'NN' (default 66 for -flt, 0 for all others) -nm Don't look for or try to use mouse -hdwr Use direct hardware video writes instead of BIOS -bios Use BIOS calls for video access -dos Use DOS calls for video access (needs ANSI.SYS) -t path Use 'path' for temp and virtual memory files -h file Use 'file' as MacroPIK'r's Help file @mfile P1 ... Pn Start executing macro 'mfile' with parameters 'P1' ... 'Pn' You should see the copyright/shareware message displayed within a few seconds. If not, try one of the other batch files or video switches, or see the "Errorss & Questions" section of the User Manual. Page 2 MacroPIK'r 1.5 Quick Reference Using MacroPIK'r MacroPIK'r has two "work" areas: the Report Area and the Paste Area. In the Report Area you can look at a report, pick the data you are interested in, and copy it to the Paste Area where it is saved along with any previous data you have picked. You can pick data from several places in a report, or from several different reports. In the Paste Area you can look at the data, edit and rearrange it, and save all or part of it for your spreadsheet or database program. Your original reports are not altered; MacroPIK'r formats their data into a form that the other programs can use. The function keys represent MacroPIK'r's menu of commands. These commands can be used in two ways: you can press one of the function keys on the keyboard, or you can move the cursor to the picture of the function key on the screen and press DO-IT. Whenever the cursor enters the key, MacroPIK'r displays a brief description of the key's command in the status line at the top of the screen Some of MacroPIK'r's commands are accessed from Sub- Menus. To select one of these commands, first select the command that displays the appropriate Sub-Menu, then select the command. To return to the original menu press Esc. Getting Help To display Help information, press function key Hlp-F10. A Help Page related to what you are currently doing is displayed with instructions on how to see other related Help Pages. To return to where you left off in MacroPIK'r, press Esc. (Be sure that mpik'r.hlp is in the same directory as mpik'r.exe.) Leaving MacroPIK'r To stop MacroPIK'r, press function key Xit-F9 from either the Report Area or Paste Area Menu. Type a Y or the right button on the mouse to exit (or anything else to stay in MacroPIK'r). Make sure that you have saved any data you want to keep before exiting, by using one of the Output commands. Page 3 MacroPIK'r 1.5 Quick Reference The MacroPIK'r Screen o Top left: the Esc key is used to cancel commands and Sub- Menus. o Top left, just below Esc: the Menu Indicator shows the name of the menu currently displayed. o Left side of screen: the Function Keys show the current menu of commands. o Bottom left: the highlighted portion of the Map Area shows what part of your data is currently displayed in the Text Window. o Top of screen: the Status Line displays current status information or brief descriptions of function key commands. o Second line, below Status: the Column Marks or Column Names -- where the data is divided into columns -- press DO-IT to toggle a ">" mark to change a Report column division, or to adjust column widths in the Paste Area (select columns first). o Main part of screen: the Text Window is a window into your data; it can be moved or "scrolled" to look at different parts of your data. o Data in a picked region is always HIGHLIGHTED (dark characters on a light background). Cursor Movement The cursor is displayed as either a blinking box or cross on the screen. The arrow keys on the keypad move the cursor to any position on the screen, while the other cursor movement commands move the cursor (and the Text Window) to any position in the current report page or Paste Area. Also, when the cursor is near the edge of the Text Window, DO-IT will move the Text Window so that it's centered over the cursor. Arrow keys move cursor by single characters + (Plus) moves by half a screen, when followed by an arrow key Page 4 MacroPIK'r 1.5 Quick Reference Ctrl+Arrow move to edge of current data, then edge of area Home to the upper left corner End to the lower right corner PgUp up a screen PgDn down a screen Tab to the next cell (or word) Shift+Tab to the previous cell (or word) Keyboard Commands F1-F10 Select a Command or Sub-Menu Enter DO-IT -- Perform command under the cursor, or move the Text Window, or NO (for yes/no questions) Esc Undo current activity (cancel commands & Sub-Menus) Shift Stretch (adjust) a picked region -- use with movement keys Ctrl-G Goto a specified location in Report Area or Paste Area. Ctrl-R Begin recording a MACRO; use Ctrl-R again to finish. See the User Manual for details. Ctrl-X Execute a MACRO. Use Esc to interrupt. Ctrl-Q Resume an interrupted MACRO. Ctrl-S Temporarily leave MacroPIK'r and spawn to a new copy of DOS. Mouse Commands If a mouse (and its driver) are installed on your PC, MacroPIK'r will automatically use it. motion Move cursor to any position on screen left button DO-IT -- Perform command under the cursor, or move the Text Window, or NO (for yes/no questions), adjust picked regions, etc. middle (If present) NO right YES (for yes/no questions) Page 5 MacroPIK'r 1.5 Quick Reference Picking Data Many of MacroPIK'r's commands need a region of data to be PICKED first. You can PICK any rectangular region of data, then ADJUST or stretch the picked region if need be. Data in the picked region is always HIGHLIGHTED (dark characters on a light background). To pick a column, row, or cell, press function key Col-F2, Row- F4, or Cel-F6 from any menu, then move the cursor to the data and press DO-IT. To pick the entire page in the Report Area, or the entire Paste Area, press All-F8. To cancel the picked region of data, press the function key again. To adjust (stretch) a picked region, hold down the Shift key and move the cursor to the boundary of the picked region (or hold down the left mouse button and move the mouse). The boundary will move with the cursor until Shift (or the mouse button) is released. When you switch from the Report Area to the Paste Area, the data in any picked region is copied into the Paste Area too. The new data is still picked (highlighted) so you can use the Paste Area commands immediately. Moving and Copying Data To move or copy data in the Paste Area, press Cut-F7 from the Paste Area menu to display the Cut Sub-Menu. Pick a region of data using the Column, Row, Cell, or All command, then press Mov-F1 to move, or Cpy-F3 to copy. An outline tentatively shows where the picked data will be moved to. Adjust this by moving the cursor to the upper left corner of the place you wish to move or copy the data to and press DO-IT. The outline is moved to this place, but no data is moved yet. Continue to move the cursor and press DO-IT until you are satisfied with where the data will be moved, then press Mov-F1 or Cpy-F3 again to complete the command. To abort the Move or Copy command before it has been completed press Esc. To MOVE data, 1. press Cut-F7 and pick a region to move from. 2. Press Mov-F1. Page 6 MacroPIK'r 1.5 Quick Reference 3. Move the cursor to where the data is supposed to go, then press DO-IT. 4. Press Mov-F1 again to complete the move. To COPY data, use Cpy-F3 instead. Commands To select a command, either press the corresponding function key, or move the cursor to the picture of the function key on the screen and press DO-IT. Some commands are accessed from Sub-Menus. To use these commands, first select the command that displays the appropriate Sub-Menu, then select the command. To return from a Sub-Menu (or cancel a command), press Esc. Commands Common to Many Menus Col-F2 Pick a column Press Col-F2, move the cursor to a column, and press DO-IT. Adjust picked area with Shift + cursor motion. Row-F4 Pick a Row Press Row-F4, move the cursor to a row, and press DO-IT. Adjust as needed. Cel-F6 Pick a Cell Picks a single word, number, or cell. Press Cel-F6, move the cursor to a cell, and press DO-IT. Adjust as needed. All-F8 Pick Everything Press All-F8, adjust as needed. Hlp-F10 Get Help Displays Help information. To return to where you left off, press Esc. Needs file "mpik'r.hlp". Xit-F9 Exit Exits MacroPIK'r and returns to DOS. Page 7 MacroPIK'r 1.5 Quick Reference Report Area Menu Commands Pst-F1 Transfer to Paste Area Switches to the Paste Area, and copies any picked data from the Report Area to the Paste Area. Adjust/toggle the column markers for the breaks you need. Copies to left or bottom in Paste Area. Inp-F3 Select Input Menu Selects a (new) input file. Select the file's type, then type the name of the file followed by Enter -- Wildcards OK, then pick from list. Fnd-F5 Find a String Search for a "string" (word or phrase) in Report Area. Type the string to search for, followed by Right Arrow to search forwards, or Left Arrow to search backwards. Pag-F7 Go to a New Page Displays another page in the report file. To display page N, type N followed by Enter. To go forward N pages, type N followed by Right Arrow. To go backward N pages, type N followed by Left Arrow. Paste Area Menu Commands Rpt-F1 Go to Report Area Switches back to the Report Area. Out-F3 Select Output Menu Displays the Output Sub-Menu. Select data to output first. Fix-F5 Select Fix Menu Displays the Fix Sub-Menu (for adjusting data). Cut-F7 Select Cut Menu Displays the Cut Sub-Menu (for deleting, moving). Page 8 MacroPIK'r 1.5 Quick Reference Fix Sub-Menu Commands Mrg-F1 Merge Columns Pick columns then press Mrg-F1. Div-F3 Divide a Column Pick a column, press Div-F3, move the cursor to where you want the picked column divided, then press DO-IT. The column is divided to the immediate left of the cursor. Edt-F5 Edit Data Manually Pick the region of data you want to edit, then press Edt-F5. To save the changes you make, press Edt-F5 again. (To "undo" the changes, press Esc instead.) Num-F7 Convert Data to Numbers Force data to be numeric; clean up numbers. Pick the region of data you want to convert, then press Num-F7. Txt-F9 Convert Data to Text Converts data to text (labels). Pick the region of data you want to convert, then press Txt-F9. Cut Sub-Menu Commands Mov-F1 Move Data in Paste Area Pick the region of data you want to move, then press Mov-F1. Move the cursor to the upper-left corner of where you want to move the data to, and press DO-IT. To finish the move, press Mov-F1 again. Cpy-F3 Copy Data in Paste Area Pick the region of data you want to copy, then press Cpy-F3. Move the cursor to the upper-left corner of where you want to copy the data to, and press DO-IT. To finish the copy, press Cpy-F3 again. Trn-F5 Transpose Rows/Columns First begin a Move or Copy command as above, then press Trn-F5. Move the cursor to the upper-left corner of where Page 9 MacroPIK'r 1.5 Quick Reference you want the transposed data to go, and press DO-IT. Finish like Move and Copy: (press Mov-F1 or Cpy-F3 again). Ins-F7 Insert Empty Columns or Rows Pick column(s) or row(s) and press Ins-F7. Del-F9 Delete Data in Paste Area Deletes a picked region of data. Output Sub-Menu Commands Before using any of these commands FIRST you need to pick the data to be output, THEN enter the Output SubMenu, THEN write your data. Flt-F1 Save as Flat Text File Saves picked data as an ordinary text file. Wks-F3 Save as Lotus File Save picked data using 1-2-3 format. Will adjust automatically for WKS, WRK, WR1, WK1. Specify file type. Dif-F5 Save as DIF File Save picked data using Data Interchange Format. Csv-F7 Save as CSV File Save picked data using 'delimited' or Comma Separated Values format. You can specify delimiter to use. Slk-F9 Save as SYLK File Save picked data using Microsoft "Symbolic Link" format. Fxl-F2 Save as Fixed Length Record File Record length is implicit in picked data. Dbf-F4 Save as dBASE DBF File You can Append to, or Replace, the data of an existing DBF file, or Create a new file. Page 10 MacroPIK'r 1.5 Quick Reference Editing Commands To edit data in the Paste Area, or to add new data from the keyboard, press Fix-F5 from the Paste Area Menu to display the Fix Sub-Menu. Pick the region of data you want to edit using the Column, Row, Cell, or All command, then press Edt-F5. If the cursor is inside the picked region of data, characters typed on the keyboard replace the characters under the cursor. If the cursor is outside the picked region, or on the vertical "divide" line between columns, characters typed on the keyboard have no effect. The mouse, arrow keys and other cursor movement keys (except the + key) can be used to position the cursor, as usual. Inside the picked region, DO-IT will move the cursor to the "next" cell from left to right, top to bottom, in the picked region. To finish editing and keep the changes you made, press Edt-F5 again. To stop editing and restore the old contents of the picked region, press Esc. The following table summarizes the keyboard characters and their functions while editing: Letters, Overstrike character at cursor Digits, and Punctuation Enter Go to next cell Backspace Delete character left of cursor Ins Insert single space at cursor Del Delete character at cursor Edt-F5 Exit editing session, keep changes Esc Undo editing session Page 11 MacroPIK'r 1.5 Quick Reference Menu Structure The diagram below illustrates each of MacroPIK'r's menus and their relationship to each other in a manner similar to how they actually appear on the screen. REPORT <----------------------> PASTE +---+---+ +---+---+ |Pst|Col| |Rpt|Col| |1 |2 | |1 |2 | |---+---| |---+---| |In |Row| |Out|Row| |3 |4 | |3 |4 | |---+---| |---+---| |Fnd|Cel| |Fix|Cel| |5 |6 | |5 |6 | |---+---| |---+---| |Pag|All| |Cut|All| |7 |8 | |7 |8 | |---+---| |---+---| |Xit|Hlp| |Xit|Hlp| |9 |10 | |9 |10 | +---+---+ +---+---+ | / | \ | / | \ | / | \ | / | \ INPUT OUTPUT FIX CUT +---+---+ +---+---+ +---+---+ +---+---+ |Flt|Fxl| |Flt|Fxl| |Mrg|Col| |Mov|Col| |1 |2 | |1 |2 | |1 |2 | |1 |2 | |---+---| |---+---| |---+---| |---+---| |Wks|Dbf| |Wks|Dbf| |Div|Row| |Cpy|Row| |3 |4 | |3 |4 | |3 |4 | |3 |4 | |---+---| |---+---| |---+---| |---+---| |Dif| | |Dif| | |Edt|Cel| |Trn|Cel| |5 |6 | |5 |6 | |5 |6 | |5 |6 | |---+---| |---+---| |---+---| |---+---| |Csv| | |Csv| | |Num|All| |Ins|All| |7 |8 | |7 |8 | |7 |8 | |7 |8 | |---+---| |---+---| |---+---| |---+---| |Slk|Hlp| |Slk|Hlp| |Txt|Hlp| |Del|Hlp| |9 |10 | |9 |10 | |9 |10 | |9 |10 | +---+---+ +---+---+ +---+---+ +---+---+ Page 12 MacroPIK'r 1.5 Quick Reference Page 13