Play and Learn 2/19941.ZIP/19941/EDUCHICS/STATVT/STAT-VT.EXE/TUTORIAL.DOC

Text File | 1991-09-01 | 17.1 KB | 317 lines

                Tutorial For StatMaster Shareware Version 2.1

     This tutorial walks you through the major features of StatMaster.  Since
 each section builds on what you learn from the previous section, we recommend
 you follow this tutorial in the sequence it is presented.  If you wish to
 print a hard copy of this document, you may start your word processor program,
 retrieve this file (called TUTORIAL.DOC), then print it out on your printer.
 If you prefer, you may print this text by making certain your printer is on
 and ready, typing "COPY TUTORIAL.DOC PRN", then pressing the Enter key.

 Starting StatMaster
     To start StatMaster, log onto the directory you installed StatMaster onto,
 then type the two-letter state code for the state you just installed.  A copy-
 right screen will appear.  Just press any key to begin.  (If you have a mouse
 installed, you can press either mouse button if you prefer.)
     You may install as many state versions of StatMaster as you wish in the
 subdirectory you created.  If you wish to install a large number of states,
 you'll be better off obtaining StatMaster Professional, which contains the
 information for all 50 states and runs in just 2.7 Mbytes of hard disk space.
 The individual state versions require more hard disk space per state because
 each contains a large amount of redundant information (200 pages of source
 citations, for instance).  Another reason you may prefer StatMaster Profes-
 sional is because you'll be able to conduct searches across every county or
 city in the U.S.  With state versions, you are confined to the counties and
 cities within a single state.


 The Message Bar
     The bottom border of each screen is the message bar.  The information in
 the message bars tell you everything you can do from that screen.  If you see
 a word like "Print" in a message bar, it's telling you that you can press the
 letter "P" on the keyboard to print the screen.  If you see "Search" in the
 message bar, it means you can press the letter "S" on the keyboard to start a
 search.  All message bar functions with highlighted first letters work like
 this.  If you prefer, you can also point at these selections and click the
 left mouse button.
     The information on the right side of a message bar indicates which keys
 you can use in the current screen.  Press Home, End, and the down and up
 arrows and observe what happens.
     If you need additional information regarding any aspect of StatMaster,
 select the "Information" option at the Main Menu.  From the Information Menu,
 select "Overview of StatMaster Functions" for help and explanations of all
 StatMaster functions.

 How To Select an Option
     StatMaster is menu-driven.  This means you'll tell StatMaster what you
 want it to do by selecting options from menus.  To select an option, use the
 arrow keys to highlight the option you wish to select, then press the Enter
 key.  If you have a mouse, you may point at any menu selection with the mouse
 cursor, then press the left mouse button.  The right mouse button acts like
 the Esc key.

 The 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 lets you "escape"
 from where you are or what you're doing.  The right mouse button is equivalent
 to pressing the Esc key.

 Defining a Target Area
     Before you can conduct any type of search, you must first define a target
 area.  A target area is simply a set of locations that you define.  At the
 Main Menu, use the arrow keys to highlight "Define Target Area," then press
 Enter.
     StatMaster will present a list of major target area groupings.  Select
 "States."  The menu will list the two-digit state codes for all 50 states plus
 Washington DC (listed as "DC").  These state codes are listed alphabetically
 by state name (rather than by state codes).  To select all states in the U.S.,
 select "All."  Asterisks will appear next to every state code.  You just
 selected all states in the U.S.
     Let's pretend you changed your mind and you wanted to "unselect" all the
 states you just selected.  To do this, just select "All" again.  That is,
 highlight "All" and press the Enter key again.  Notice that all the asterisks
 disappear.  You just "unselected" all U.S. states.
     Now suppose you wish to select among the counties in a state you have
 installed.  Press the Esc key to return to the listing of major target area
 groupings.  Now select "Counties."  StatMaster will present a list of the
 counties in your state.  Highlight "All" and press Enter if you wish to select
 all the counties in that state.
     If you wish to select just a few counties in this state, just select the
 counties you are interested in.  You may "cherry pick" as many or as few
 counties as you wish.  If you want to quickly select all the counties in this
 state except for a few, do so by selecting "All" to select all the counties,
 then "unselect" the few counties you wish to exclude.
     You select all other target areas in a similar manner.  After you've
 defined your target area, you can return to the Main Menu by pressing the Esc
 key a few times.  A faster way to return to the Main Menu is to press the "M"
 key (for Main Menu) once.  (You may also point and click "Main Menu" on the
 Message Bar or press the right mouse button.)
     If you decide to register StatMaster, you'll gain the ability to save the
 target areas you define for future use.  If you had a customer who marketed
 her products in 87 out of the 174 cities in your state, you could save her
 target area for use in subsequent searches.  After defining the target area,
 you'd go to the Main Menu and press "S" (for Save Target Area), then follow
 the simple instructions.  In subsequent searches, you'd be able to retrieve
 this predefined target area by selecting it from a menu.


 How To Perform a Ranking
     A ranking is a search that sorts a statistic from high-to-low or from
 low-to-high.  Because the shareware version of StatMaster contains 353 indi-
 vidual statistics, you can perform over 700 rankings.  Suppose you wish to
 rank all U.S. states from high-to-low by their number of violent crimes known
 to police.  Just perform the following steps:

 Define a Target Area
     Select "Define Target Area" from the Main Menu, then select "States" as
 your target area.  Select "All" from the states listing to select all U.S.
 states.  Then press "M" to return to the Main Menu.  The message box should
 say "51 States Selected" (Washington DC is counted as a state).

 Select Type of Search
     At the Main Menu, select "Conduct Search."  StatMaster offers you three
 search options:  Ranking, Display Statistics, or Query.  Select "Ranking."

 Select a Statistic
     After you select "Ranking," a highlighted listing of the major categories
 of statistics appropriate to U.S. states will appear.  Select the "Crime and
 Law Enforcement" category.  From this menu, select "Violent crimes known to
 police, 1985."

 Select Sort Direction
     As soon as you select a statistic, the program will ask you if you wish
 to sort this statistic from high-to-low or from low-to-high.  Select "high-
 to-low."  StatMaster will display the statistics for "Violent crimes known to
 police, 1985," sorted from high-to-low.  Use the PgDn, PgUp, Home and End keys
 to move through the data.

 Options
     Notice the message bar across the bottom of the screen.  It says:

 Goto    Footnotes    Print    Export Data    Main Menu

     This message bar summarizes the options available to you.

 Note: The "Export Data" option is an enhancement that is available with
       the retail version.

 Goto
     Press G to "go to" any item number in the list.  If you have a mouse, you
 can go to any location in the list by clicking on the scroll bar to the right
 of the listing.  The StatMaster scroll bar tells you not only where you are,
 but how much of the total list you are looking at.

 Footnotes
     The heading "Violent crimes known to police, 1985" contains two foot-
 notes.  They are the "f" and "g" characters that appear in the heading in a
 highlighted color.  These are footnotes.  To see what they mean, just press
 "F" for Footnotes.  A window pops up and shows you what all the footnotes in
 that screen mean.  Press the Esc key to remove the footnote to continue
 studying the data.

 Print
     To print the screen, make sure your printer is on, then press "P" for
 Print.  StatMaster will print the screen for you.

 Export Data
       When you export data, you're simply copying it in a specific format to a
 disk drive for use later.  If you wish to merge these statistics in a report,
 you can do so by using the Export Data function, which is an enhancement
 supported in the registered version.  Press "E" for Export Data.  StatMaster
 will ask you to select one of the following formats:

                   Columnar Format (Word Processor)
                   Comma-Delimited (Spreadsheet/Database)
                   Harvard GeoGraphics/Harvard Graphics

     After selecting the proper format, StatMaster will take you by the hand
 and ask you the appropriate questions.

 Return to Main Menu
     Press "M" (for Main Menu) to return to the Main Menu.


 How To Display Statistics
     The "Display Statistics" option permits you to display up to twenty
 statistics for every location in your target area.  Suppose you wish to a
 display a number of statistics for every county in your state.  Just perform
 the following steps:

 Define a Target Area
     Select "Define Target Areas", then select "counties."  From the list of
 counties for the state you are studying, select "All."  You just selected all
 the counties in your state.  Return to the Main Menu by pressing "M" (for Main
 Menu).

 Select Type of Search
     Select "Conduct Search" from the Main Menu, then select "Display Statis-
 tics" as your type of search.

 Select Statistics
     After selecting "Conduct Search," you'll see a menu of major categories
 appropriate for U.S. counties.  Select "Age Characteristics."  From the this
 menu, select "Percentage" of population 35 to 44 years old, 1984."  Press Esc
 to return to the menu of major categories.  Select another major category,
 then select one or more statistics listed in that major category.
     Continue selecting other categories and additional statistics until you've
 selected all the statistics you wish to display.  You may select up to 20
 statistics from 20 categories per search.
     Any time during this process, you may press "R" for Review.  ("Review"
 appears in the message bar at the bottom of the screen.)  The Review screen
 appears and shows you the statistics you selected and the order in which you
 select them.  You may use Review before or after conducting a search.
     To return to the previous screen press any key.  Then press "S" (for
 Search) to display the statistics you selected.  The data will appear in a
 tabular format on your screen.  The program will display all the statistics
 you selected for all counties in the state.  The locations will be listed
 alphabetically.
     If you've selected more statistics than will fit on the screen, just press
 the right arrow key to see more data.  The left and right arrow keys move you
 left and right through the data.
     Notice that your first statistic, "Percentage of population 35 to 44 years
 old, 1984," is grouped with another statistic, "Population, 1984."  This is
 called a "grouped statistic."  StatMaster automatically groups statistics for
 you when appropriate.

 View
     Suppose you wish to view all the data StatMaster located for a single
 county.  Use the arrow keys to position the highlighted triangle next to the
 county you are interested in, then press Enter.  StatMaster will display all
 the data it located for this county on a single screen.  If you wish to copy
 this information to a disk drive, press "E" (for Export Text).  Press "P" (for
 Print) if you wish to print this screen.  Press Esc to return to the previous
 screen.  If you press "V" (for View), a help line appears at the bottom of the
 screen to explain how to use the View function.

 Return to Main Menu
     Press "M" (for Main Menu) to return to the Main Menu.


 How To Conduct a Query
     The query is the most powerful search capability of StatMaster.  Queries
 permit you to find all the locations within your target area that meet all the
 search specifications you enter.  Queries are also known as Boolean AND
 searches.
     Suppose you are performing preliminary site selections for a restaurant
 franchise.  You are looking for counties in your state in which the money
 income is a minimum of $5,000 per capita; in which retail sales of eating and
 drinking establishments are a minimum of $500 per capita; in which at least
 25% of the people over 25 years old have at least 16 years of education; and
 in which the population is a minimum of 500 persons per square mile.  You want
 to list only counties that meet all the criteria specified above.  To conduct
 this query, just perform the following steps:

 Define a Target Area
     Select all counties in your state as your target area, then return to the
 Main Menu.  (In StatMaster Professional, you could select every county in
 every state as your target area if you wished.)

 Select Type of Search
     Select "Conduct Search" from the Main Menu, then select "Query."

 Specify Your Search Criteria
     After you select "Query" from the menu, you'll be presented with a list of
 categories appropriate for U.S. counties.  Because your first search criteria
 is a minimum personal money income of $5,000 per capita, select "Personal
 Money Income" from this menu.  Then select "Money income per capita, 1985
 ($1)."
     StatMaster will prompt you to select either a minimum or maximum value.
 Since you are looking for a minimum value of $5,000 per person, select
 "Minimum value."  The prompt will then say: "Enter minimum value (dollars):_"
 Type in "5000", then press Enter.  (Avoid using commas in numbers.)  The
 prompt will ask you if you wish to sort the results from "High-to-low" or from
 "Low-to-high."  Since you want the money incomes to be sorted with the highest
 money incomes first, select "High-to-low."
     Now press Esc to return to the major category menu.  Select "Retail
 Trade," then "Sales of Eating and Drinking Places, with payroll, per capita
 1982 ($1)."  Provide inputs like you did in the "money income per capita"
 example above.  After defining your search criteria for this statistic, press
 the Esc key to return to the menu of major categories and select your next
 most important category (Education) and continue defining your search.

 Review
     Once you've defined your search criteria for the statistics you were
 interested in, press "R" to Review your search definition.  This Review Screen
 shows you the statistics you selected, the sequence you selected them in, the
 value you entered, whether you specified a minimum or maximum value, and
 whether you wanted the results sorted from high-to-low or from low-to-high.
 Press any key to return to the previous screen.

 Search
     Press "S" (for Search) to start the search.  The results of your Query are
 displayed in a tabular format.  The program will display the statistics for
 every location in your target area that meets the criteria you specified.
 Press "M" to return to the Main Menu.

     This is the end of the tutorial.  If you register this product, we will
 send you a more comprehensive hard-copy tutorial and reference guide.


                             CYBERSOFT INFORMATION

      CyberSoft specializes in custom catalog database ("catabase") appli-
 cations.  We've created electronic product selection guides for Burr-Brown,
 Harris Semiconductors, Motorola, NTE Electronics, SGS-Thomson Microelec-
 tronics and others.  Over two million copies of our software have been dis-
 tributed worldwide in five languages.

      Over the next few years, we'll introduce dozens of new read-only data-
 bases similar to StatMaster.  These databases will include government data,
 import/export statistics, economic data, sports statistics, selection guides
 for electronic components, part number cross references, product catalogs,
 and virtually any data, statistic, or product that can be expressed well in
 a tabular format.

      We produce stand-alone databases for numerous clients.  If your data can
 be presented well in a spreadsheet or database format, we can convert it into
 a floppy-based product that requires 25 times less space than it would re-
 quire in dBASE format and that is 100 to 1,000 faster than today's commercial
 databases.  To find out more, give us a call at [phone].


          =======================================================
          Copyright 1991 by CyberSoft, Inc.  All rights reserved.
          "Catabase" is a registered trademark of CyberSoft, Inc.
          =======================================================