home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
-
- Reference Manual For StatMaster Shareware Version 2.1
-
- This document is an alphabetical reference guide for State Versions of
- StatMaster Desktop Demographics. Although you probably won't need any docu-
- mentation to run StatMaster, you may wish to refer to this document for de-
- tailed information about specific features. If you wish to print a hard copy
- of this document, you may start your word processor program, retrieve this
- file (called REFERENC.DOC), then print it out on your printer. If you pre-
- fer, you may print this text by making certain your printer is on and ready,
- typing "COPY REFERENC.DOC PRN", then pressing the Enter key.
-
- Automatic Multi-Level Sort
- All statistics are sorted "on the fly" just before they are displayed onto the
- screen. Here's how it works: the program sorts all the data in the first
- column the way you specify--say "high-to-low." The program locates all the
- values in the first column that are identical and sorts them by the values in
- their second columns. Then the program searches for data items that have
- identical values in their first and second columns. When it finds them it
- sorts them by their values in their third columns. This procedure continues
- across every selected statistic. It happens automatically every time you
- conduct a Query.
-
- Automatic Statistic Queuing
- All statistics for all searches are automatically displayed in the same
- sequence you select them in. This fact, coupled with StatMaster's automatic
- multi-level sort, guarantees that the data you are most interested in will
- always be conveniently placed as close as possible to the upper left-hand
- corner of the first screen.
-
- Census Bureau Data
- The information in the shareware version of StatMaster comes from the 1988
- County and City Data Book which is published by the Bureau of the Census every
- five years. This is the latest edition of this data; the next edition will be
- released in 1993. By July 15, 1991, the Bureau of the Census will validate
- the first of the 1990 Census Data. This data is called "PL 94-171" data and
- it contains 1990 population and housing statistics. This data will be incor-
- porated into the retail version of StatMaster. If you decide to register
- StatMaster, you will receive this new 1990 Census Data.
-
- Columnar Format
- This is one of the two formats StatMaster supports when exporting (copying)
- data files from the program. (Export capability is a new feature that is
- available on the registered version of StatMaster.) Columnar format retains
- the tabular format you see on the data displays in StatMaster. Select this
- format when you wish to merge the file into a document you are preparing with
- a word processor. You'll export a file that is up to 250 characters wide.
- Anything beyond 250 characters on a single line will be truncated. Be sure to
- set your word processor's margins wide enough to accommodate the data you are
- merging. See also "Comma-Delimited Format."
-
- Comma-Delimited Format
- This is one of the two formats StatMaster permits you to select when exporting
- (copying) data files from the program. (Export capability is a new feature
- that is available on the registered version of StatMaster.) Comma-delimited
- format is designed to place commas between the data items in the exported file
- and a hard return at the end of each line. Select this format when you wish
- to merge the file later into a database or spreadsheet. You will export a
- file that is up to 250 characters wide. Anything beyond 250 characters on a
- single line will be truncated. When you import the new file into a spread-
- sheet or database, select "comma-delimited ASCII" as your file type.
-
- Conducting a Search
- After you have selected a target area, StatMaster is ready to conduct a
- search. To conduct a search, select "Conduct Search" from the Main Menu.
- StatMaster will perform rankings, display statistics, and perform queries
- (Boolean AND searches). Each of these searches provide a different way to
- analyze your target area.
-
- Data Contained in StatMaster
- For a complete listing of the statistics contained in StatMaster, read the
- file called STATS.DOC. There are 353 statistics presented in StatMaster--six
- statistics for places, 139 statistics for cities, and 208 statistics for
- counties, states, divisions, regions, and the entire United States. Data is
- presented for the entire United States, its four regions, nine divisions, 50
- States, Washington DC, 3,139 counties and county equivalents, 942 cities, and
- 9,542 places. There are a total of approximately 900,000 individual data
- values and footnotes presented. The data for states are the total for all the
- counties and county equivalents in that state. The data for divisions and
- regions are the totals for all the counties and county equivalents in the
- particular region or division. The data from the United States is the total
- of all 3,139 counties and county equivalents in the United States. State
- Versions of StatMaster contain the same 353 statistics as StatMaster Profes-
- sional. State versions contain information for the entire United States, its
- four regions, nine divisions, 50 States, Washington DC, plus the counties and
- county equivalents, cities, and places for a single state. This means that
- state versions confine searches at the county and city level to a single
- state. (StatMaster Professional and the Library Version of StatMaster permit
- county and city searches across the entire United States.)
-
- Data Density
- StatMaster Professional requires only 2.7 Mbytes of hard disk space. The only
- competing products are packaged on CD-ROM. The raw data contained in Stat-
- Master would required 68 floppies if stored in dBASE III Plus format... and
- that would include no database manager. StatMaster products fit conveniently
- onto small hard drives. Hard disks provide much quicker data access times
- than CD-ROM drives or tape drives. (The fastest CD-ROM drives are still about
- three times slower than a typical floppy drive.) We believe StatMaster is by
- far the densest database of its type in the world. CyberSoft will be placing
- the entire PL 94-171 Population and Housing Statistics (published by the
- Bureau of the Census on ten CD-ROMs) onto a single CD-ROM. The appropriate
- data from this publication will be appended to StatMaster in September of
- 1991. All registered users will receive this 1990 Census data update without
- charge.
-
- Display Statistics
- Select this type of search if you simply want to display information for all
- the places in your target area. For instance, suppose you select all cities
- in the United States as your target area. By selecting "Display Statistics,"
- you can then select up to 20 statistics from up to 20 categories. Pressing
- the "S" key (for Search) will display the data for all 20 statistics and all
- 957 U.S. cities. The data will be displayed in the same sequence in which you
- selected them.
-
- Floppy Disk Drive Settings
- This option is present only in the Library Version of StatMaster. During the
- installation process, you specified the types of floppy drives your system
- used. If you need to update this information for any reason, select this
- option by highlighting it on the Set-Up Screen then pressing Enter. A menu
- will present you a list of choices for drive A. Select the proper drive size
- by highlighting it a pressing the Enter key. Then press Esc. A menu will
- then present you a list of options for drive B. Select the proper drive size,
- press Enter, then press Esc.
-
- Esc Key
- Pressing the Esc key moves you back to the previous screen or permits you to
- quit what you are doing. Think of it as the key that allows you to "escape"
- from where you are or what you are doing. If you have a mouse, pressing the
- right mouse button is equivalent to pressing the Esc key.
-
- Exit to DOS
- Press "E" for Exit at the Main Menu when you wish to exit the program and
- return to the operating system. To exit the Library Version, go to the Set-Up
- Screen, then select "Exit to DOS" in the Set-Up Screen. A password is requir-
- ed to go to the Set-Up Screen in the Library version.
-
- Export Data
- The export function is a product enhancement that is available on registered
- versions of StatMaster. When you export data, you are simply copying it to a
- disk drive in a specified format. Pressing "E" when "Export Data" appears in
- the bottom border of the screen will invoke the Export function. The prompt
- will ask you to select from three output formats. Select "Columnar Formatted"
- if you'll be merging the data into a word processor. Select "Comma-Delimited"
- if you'll be importing this data to a spreadsheet or database. Select "Har-
- vard Graphics/Harvard Geographics if you wish to export this data into the
- Harvard presentation graphics program or the Harvard GeoGraphics mapping pro-
- gram. This option permits you to create bar charts, pie charts, 3-D charts
- ten other types of charts. You can also color code a map showing all the
- counties in your state with the data from StatMaster. This option ties to-
- gether databases, spreadsheets, word processors, presentation graphics sys-
- tems, and mapping programs into an integrated Desktop Marketing or Demograph-
- ics System.
-
- Once you've selected the format, just follow the instructions that StatMaster
- provides. StatMaster will output data records up to 250 characters wide. If
- you are coping to a floppy drive, make certain your disk is formatted.
-
- Export Text
- The export function is an enhancement that is available on registered versions
- of StatMaster. When you "export" text, you are simply copying the text to a
- disk drive for use later. StatMaster exports text in a generic word processor
- format. If you wish to create a file containing text from StatMaster, just
- press "E" (for Export Text) when "Export Text" appears in the message bar.
- After you press "E", just follow the instructions provided by StatMaster. The
- Export Text function is useful when you wish to merge text from StatMaster
- into a report. The extensive Source Citations (contained in the Information
- section of StatMaster) provide source citations plus important information re-
- garding how the statistics were compiled and what limitations and exceptions
- there are to the data. No accurate interpretation of the data would be com-
- plete without these Source Notes.
-
- Footnotes
- As you study the data, you'll notice some of the locations, headings, and/or
- data have bright alphabet letters next to them. These are footnotes. To see
- what these footnotes stand for, just press "F" (for Footnotes) when "Foot-
- notes" appears in the message bar. A window will display a listing of all the
- footnotes that pertain to the screen you are looking at. Footnotes provide
- important information for interpreting the meaning of the data presented.
- Press Esc to remove the footnote when you are ready to continue.
-
- Geographic Areas
- This is one of the options listed in the Information section. Selecting this
- option permits you to access information regarding special features and recent
- changes to a number of geographic areas. This section also contains notes
- crucial to interpreting much of the footnoted data from Virginia.
-
- Glossary of Function Definitions
- This is one of the options listed in the Information section. This glossary
- provides the functional definition of terms as they are used in this data-
- base. For instance, "Age" is defined as "The number of years completed
- by a person as of July 1, 1984." Because Bureau of the Census terms have
- specific meanings, you are advised to use this glossary whenever you have
- any questions about any term.
-
- Goto
- Every data entry has an "item number." The item number corresponds to the
- line number of the data. The number in the upper-right window border
- indicates which item number the highlighted triangle next to the area name
- is pointing to. "1 of 3139" means the highlighted triangle is marking at
- the first of 3,139 items.
-
- Pressing "G" when Goto appears in the message bar invokes the Goto function.
- If you wish to "go to" item number 319, just type "319" at the prompt, then
- press Enter. You may use Goto to move forward or backward through the data.
- If you have a mouse installed, you won't see the "Goto" message. If a mouse
- is detected, a scroll bar will appear to the right of the text or data pre-
- sentation. Simply point to the relative position you wish to move to on the
- scroll bar, then press the left mouse button. If you click on the Up-Arrow
- or Down-Arrow symbols at the top and bottom of the scroll bars, the display
- will scroll a line at a time for you in the direction indicated.
-
- Goto is handy when the data you wish to quickly move through is a long
- string of zeros (often representing nondisclosed data).
-
- If you just wish to move to the very beginning or the very end of a list of
- item numbers, you don't need to invoke the Goto function. Just press Home
- to go to the first item in your list or press End to go to the end of the
- file.
-
- Information Screen
- "Information" is an option on the Main Menu. Selecting this option provides
- you with a glossary of functional definitions, an overview of StatMaster
- functions, a listing of all the data contained in StatMaster, complete source
- notes for all statistics, and information regarding geographic areas. This
- section also tells you how to register StatMaster to obtain the latest 1990
- Census data.
-
- Intuitive User Interface
- StatMaster was originally designed to operate unattended in libraries.
- Libraries demand intuitive, easy-to-use programs that don't require user
- manuals. Because of this, you'll probably find you can perform most Stat-
- Master functions just by trying them. This is because most StatMaster capa-
- bilities are easier to do than they are to explain. By eliminating the
- need to fight the user interface, you are free to concentrate on gathering
- and assimilating information.
-
- Library Version of StatMaster
- Librarians demand software that is powerful, yet extremely easy to use. Stat-
- Master was originally designed for libraries. This means that StatMaster had
- to be easy to use by first-time users without reliance on a user manual. The
- Library Version has a built-in timer that returns the program to the Main Menu
- if no key has been pressed in three minutes. It permits system operators to
- create a custom message screen. It provides a password-protected Set-Up
- screen that allows system operators to select screen colors, set print
- options, modify drive options, and exit to DOS. The Library version does not
- save target areas.
-
- Main Menu
- The Main Menu is the first screen you see after you press any key to erase the
- signature screen. The Main Menu provides the option to define a target area,
- to conduct a search, or to access information regarding StatMaster and its
- data. Pressing "M" when "Main Menu" is visible in the message bar of any
- screen will move you immediately to the Main Menu.
-
- Message Bars
- The bottom border of a screen box is called the Message Bar. Message bars
- tell you every key that is active for the screen you are in. Functions appear
- whenever they are enabled. To invoke any of these options, just press the
- first letter (which will be highlighted) of any of these options. On the left
- side of the message bar, you'll see the keys that are active. All these keys
- will perform actions for you. As you move from screen to screen, the message
- bars change as your options change.
-
- Message Screen
- This feature applies only to Library Versions of StatMaster. After no key is
- pressed for three minutes, the program will return to the Main Menu. At this
- point, the program will display the Main Menu for one minute, then a Message
- Screen for one minute. This cycle continues until a key is pressed. Stat-
- Master displays a default message screen for you, but you can add a custom
- message screen if you wish.
-
- Mouse Support
- StatMaster supports mice. All options and boxes with a highlighted background
- are "mouseable". That is, they perform an action when you click on them.
- Clicking the right mouse button is equivalent to pressing the Esc key. If you
- prefer, you may also point at the Message Bar option labeled "Esc" with the
- mouse, then press the left mouse button. Point at any menu option then click
- the left mouse button to execute the option. Click the left mouse button on
- the scroll bar to move to the relative position indicated on the scroll bar.
- Clicking on the Up Arrow or Down Arrow symbols (located at the ends of the
- scroll bar) with the left mouse button scrolls you up or down a line at a
- time.
-
- Overview of StatMaster Functions
- This is one of the options listed in the Information section. It tells you
- about the StatMaster functions. Just highlight the function you wish to learn
- more about and press Enter.
-
- Page Settings
- From the Main Menu, press "U" (for Utility). Select "Page Settings." You can
- have the printer print a single screen to a sheet of paper or two screens to a
- sheet of paper. (Printing one screen to a sheet of paper is convenient;
- printing two screens to a sheet of paper is economical.)
-
- Print
- Any time the word "Print" is visible in a message bar, you can print the
- screen. Just press "P" to send the current screen to the printer When items
- from the Information screen are displayed, the print routine will output the
- entire text for the current section. (This feature can be over-ridden in
- Library Versions.)
-
- Printer Page Settings
- "Printer and Page Settings" is available only on the Library Version of Stat-
- Master. This utility lets you select how much data is sent to the printer
- when the "P" key (for Print) is pressed and how many screens of information
- are printed on each sheet of paper. (To set printer and page settings for the
- Processional Version, see "Page Settings" and "Select Printers" in this Alpha-
- betical Reference Section.)
-
- The Information section features a number of information items, many of which
- are several pages long. Select "Single-Screen Output for the Information
- section" if you want users to print only a single screen at a time. Select
- "Full-Text Output for the Information section" if you want users to print the
- entire text for these information items. "Single-Screen Output for Informa-
- tion section" is the default.
-
- You may also select how many screens you want printed on a sheet of paper (One
- screen per page may be more convenient for users, but two screens to a page
- will conserve paper.) Two screens per page is the default.
-
- Professional Version of StatMaster
- StatMaster was originally designed to work stand-alone in libraries. This
- meant it had to be intuitive enough for first time users who didn't have
- access to a user manual. For the Professional Version, we added the ability
- to save target areas. This enables you to save target areas such as sales
- territories or customer marketing regions. You can give each saved target
- area descriptive names such as "Mary's Sales Territory" or "ABC Company's
- Target Markets." The Professional Version also permits exporting (saving)
- text and data to your hard drive. (The Library Version exports data and text
- to floppy drives only.)
-
- Query
- This type of search permits you to select up to 20 statistics from up to 20
- categories. When you press "S" (for Search), the program will display
- statistics for all the areas that meet ALL the specifications you entered.
- Queries show you the intersection of crucial statistics. Queries are also
- known as Boolean AND searches.
-
- Suppose you select the 256 counties in Texas as your target area. Begin by
- selecting your most important statistic. StatMaster will ask you to specify
- whether you wish to enter a minimum or maximum value for that statistic. It
- will then ask you for a value, then it will ask you how you want the resulting
- data to be displayed. This type of "question and answer session" gives you
- total control over what data you will be locating. Simply answer the ques-
- tions as they appear. After you finish the information for one statistic,
- move to another one. You may press Esc to return to the Categories menu, then
- select another category. After you have answered all the questions for all
- the statistics you are interested in, press "S" to start the search.
-
- Ranking
- This type of search permits you to rank any statistic from high-to-low or from
- low-to-high. A ranking is an ascending or descending sorted list.
-
- Suppose your target area is the 970 Places in Pennsylvania. (A "Place" is
- defined by the Bureau of the Census as any location with a population greater
- than 2,500 in 1980.) You select "Money Income Per Capita, 1985" as your
- statistic. The program then asks you to select a sort direction from high-
- to-low or from low-to-high. As soon as you make your selection, the program
- sorts the data and displays the ranking to the screen.
-
- Review Screen
- After you've selected at least one statistic in either a "Display Statistics"
- or "Query" type of search, you may press the "R" key (for Review) to display a
- review of the data selections you've made thus far. When performing Queries,
- StatMaster tells you what numerical values you entered, whether you specified
- minimum or maximum values, and the sort direction you specified. You may use
- Review before or after you conduct a search.
-
- Retrieving Saved Target Areas
- One of the options under "Define Target Areas" is called "Saved Target Areas."
-
- If you select this option, a menu of previously saved target areas will
- appear. Simply select the target area you wish to use. Of course, if you
- haven't saved any target areas, you won't see any saved target areas listed.
-
- You'll want to save your target areas if it takes you a long time to define
- it. For instance, if you have a sales territory that includes 25 cities from
- seven states, you should consider defining your sales territory once and then
- saving it for use in subsequent searches.
-
- Saved Target Areas
- The Save Target Areas function is an enhancement that is available on regis-
- tered versions of StatMaster. Each time you return to the Main Menu after
- defining a target area, the message "Save Target Area" will appear in the
- message bar at the bottom of the screen. Press "S"" (for Save) to Save your
- target area. StatMaster will ask you what you want to call this target area.
- Just type in a name like "Joe's sales territory," You may save up to 20
- target areas.
-
- You'll want to save your target areas if it takes you a long time to define
- your target area. For instance, if you have a sales territory that includes
- 25 cities from seven states, you should consider defining your sales terri-
- tory once an then saving it for use in subsequent searches. You may save up
- to 20 target areas. After you've saved 20 target areas, you may overwrite
- existing ones.
-
- Screen Colors
- To change screen colors in the Professional Version, select "U" (for Utility)
- at the Main Menu. To select screen colors in the Library Version, go to the
- Set-up Screen and select "Screen Colors."
-
- Scrolling
- To scroll from screen to screen when data is displayed, use the right and left
- arrows to move right and left. Use the PgDn and PgUp keys to move down and up
- a screen at a time. Pressing End takes you to the last item in the list and
- pressing Home will take you to the first item in the list. The message bars
- always indicate the keys that will perform functions for you.
-
- Selecting an Option
- StatMaster is menu-driven. This means you tell the software what you want it
- to do by selecting options from menus. To select an option, use the arrow
- keys to highlight the option, then press Enter. Notice that the message bar
- at the bottom of the screen tells you every function or key that is active.
-
- Select Printer
- This utility helps optimize your printed output to your printer "Standard
- Printer" handles most printers, including lasers. "IBM Graphics Printer"
- provides "What you see is what you get" output for IBM Graphics Printer-
- compatible printers. "Spooler/Network" permits printouts on shared printers.
-
- This utility is accessed in the Professional Version by going to the Main Menu
- and typing "U" (for Utilities). Access this function in the Library Version
- by going to the Set-Up Screen.
-
- Set-Up Screen
- This screen is present only in the Library Version of StatMaster. To get to
- the Set-Up Screen, you must first move to the Main Menu. Just press "M" (for
- Main Menu), then press Ctrl F1. (Hold down the Ctrl key and continue to hold
- it down while you press F1 key, then release both keys.) The screen prompt
- will ask you to enter your six-character password. Enter it then press Enter
- to move to the Set-Up Screen. Your options are: Exit to DOS, Select Printer,
- Printer and Page Settings, Screen Colors, and Floppy Disk Drive Settings.
- Each of these are discussed in this Reference Section.
-
- Smart Messages
- In addition to the information in message bars, you'll notice messages and
- prompts appearing on the screen from time-to-time as you use StatMaster.
- These messages tell you what to do or offer you suggestions when you are
- having difficulty. The most immediate messages appear in the lower-right
- corner of the window you are working in.
-
- Sometimes prompts appear when you fail to locate items during a search. For
- instance, if you conduct a query and the program fails to locate any "hits"
- for you, it will prompt you with something like: "0 items located. Please
- try a smaller value for money income per capita, 1985." In this case, simply
- re-conduct the search, substituting a lower value for the statistic indicated.
-
- Speed
- StatMaster searches, sorts, and displays information between 100 and 1,000
- times faster than commercial databases or spreadsheets. StatMaster can
- perform complex search and sort functions in approximately one to ten seconds.
-
- Conventional databases conducting similar searches can take over an hour to
- conduct identical searches. We believe StatMaster boasts the fastest search
- and sort algorithms in the industry.
-
- You can see significant performance improvements if you run StatMaster in a
- RAM drive or if you use disk caching software. Also, the more available RAM
- you have, the faster StatMaster will run.
-
- Source Notes
- This is one of the options listed in the Information section. Source Notes
- provide you with source citations for every one of the statistics you are
- working with. They also provide you with information crucial to the inter-
- pretation of the data you retrieve. It is strongly recommended that you read
- the source notes before using any of the data you retrieve. It's simple to
- print these source notes or to export them (see Export Text) to a file for
- inclusion in a document that presents your findings.
-
- Starting StatMaster
- To start StatMaster, log onto the subdirectory you installed StatMaster into.
- For instance, if you copied the program into a subdirectory called C:\SM, just
- type "cd\sm", then press Enter. After logging onto the proper subdirectory,
- just type the two-letter state code for the state you installed, then press
- the Enter key. You'll see an identification window. Pressing any key will
- take you into the Main Menu. If you have a Maryland version, you'll need to
- type "cc md", then press the Enter key. This is necessary because "md" is
- reserved by DOS as a short form of "make directory."
-
- Target Areas
- Before you conduct a search, you must define a target area. Your target area
- is the sum of the places you wish to conduct searches across. To define a
- target area, just select "Define Target Area" from the Main Menu. For more
- details on how to select target areas, consult the "Defining a Target Area"
- section of the Tutorial (located on TUTOR.DOC).
-
- Technical Support
- If you have questions or comments regarding StatMaster, please feel free to
- call us at (602)491-0022.
-
- Timer
- This feature is found in the Library Version of StatMaster only. When the
- program detects that no key has been pressed for three minutes, it will return
- to the Main Menu. Every minute (or until a key is pressed), the screen will
- alternate between the Main Menu and a "message screen" containing information
- regarding this program. This prevents the screen from "burning in" the Main
- Menu.
-
- Utility
- Pressing "U" (for Utility) at the Main Menu will take you to the Utility Menu.
- You may select from three options: Select Printer, Page Settings, or Screen
- Colors. Each of these is described separately in this Alphabetical Reference
- Section.
-
- View
- The view mode is enabled when data is displayed for "Display Statistics" or
- "Query" type searches. To generate a single-screen "view" of any location on
- the screen, use the arrow keys to position the highlighted triangle next to
- the location you are interested in, then press Enter. Press "P" (for Print)
- to print the screen. For help with View, just press "V" (for View) when
- "View" appears in the message bar.
-
- "What If?" Sessions
- One very useful feature of StatMaster is its ability to conduct "what if?"
- sessions. StatMaster permits you to quickly re-conduct your previous
- searches, tweaking just a single statistic or two with each pass. After you
- conduct a search, the screen displays your results.
-
- Suppose you want to repeat a Query, except that you'd like to see what happens
- when you use a slightly lower money income per capita statistic. From the
- menu of major categories, begin pressing the Enter key. Each time you do,
- StatMaster will present your previous selection or value. Continue tapping
- the Enter key until you reach the value you wish to modify. (You must press
- Esc to exit the major categories as you go.) Just type in the new value and
- continue or press "S" (for Search) to start the search.
-
- Because StatMaster is fast, you can repeat these searches as often as you
- wish. Conducting these "what if" sessions allows you to perform in-depth
- analysis of the data you are studying. Try it. Like most StatMaster func-
- tions, "what if?" sessions are a lot easier to conduct than they are to
- explain.
-
-
-
- This is the end of the Reference Document. We hope enjoy using StatMaster and
- we hope you never have to read all of this. Please keep in mind that regis-
- tration will bring you 1990 Census Data and the ability to export data into
- word processors, databases, spreadsheets, graphics presentation packages, and
- mapping programs like Harvard GeoGraphics.
-
- ***