ProfitPress Mega CDROM2 Shareware Freeware (MSDOS)(1992)(Eng)

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Text File | 1990-10-11 | 27.4 KB | 607 lines

-------------------------------- | DiskBASE v. 1.2 | -------------------------------- DOCUMENTATION (c)1990 - Loren A. Scott / Scott Systems 5555 Long Beach Blvd, #246 Long Beach, CA 90805 (NOTE: This document file may be viewed and / or printed from within the DiskBASE program by selecting those options from the `Utils' menu.) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ - TABLE OF CONTENTS - Overview ........................................ 1 More About DiskBASE ............................. 1 Compatibility ................................... 2 Using DiskBASE .................................. 2 Adding Programs / Categories .................... 3 Deleting A Program .............................. 3 Deleting A Category ............................. 4 Editing Program Info ............................ 4 Editing A Category .............................. 5 Browsing The Database ........................... 5 Printing A Program Listing ...................... 5 Adding The Heading .............................. 6 Deleting The Heading ............................ 6 Editing The Heading ............................. 7 Changing The Screen Colors ...................... 7 Turning The Beeps On / Off ...................... 7 Backing Up / Restoring The Database File ........ 8 Viewing / Printing The Documentation File ....... 8 Viewing The DiskBASE Stats ...................... 8 Quitting DiskBASE ............................... 8 Registration Information ........................ 9 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - TRADEMARKS - dBASE and dBASE III+ are registered trademarks of Ashton-Tate Corp. Clipper is a registered trademark of Nantucket Corporation WordStar is a registered trademark of MicroPro International Corp. - i - OVERVIEW: DiskBASE Software Database Version 1.2 was developed as a user-friendly application for storage and retrieval of software program information. All screens are menu-driven and help is only a keystroke away on any screen that may require clarification. However, DiskBASE was designed so that you should be able to use it easily without even looking at this documentation. Printouts of your software listing will be broken down in categories (i.e., Word Processors, Games, Databases, etc...), and listed under a wide-font headings of each category in TRUE alphabetical order. There are two files that should be included with the DiskBASE program. They are DISKBASE.EXE and DISKBASE.DOC. The EXE file will automatically create the other files required by the DiskBASE program. These will be: DISKBASE.DBF ----------- The main database file PROGRAM .NTX ----------- An index file to sort program names CATEGORY.NTX ----------- An index file to sort categories DISKBASE.CFG ----------- A file to store your custom settings and other info needed by DiskBASE. If you get a copy of this program with any files other than the EXE and DOC files included, you can delete them, if so desired, and DiskBASE will create a new database for you to store your software list in. This database will contain one record: DiskBASE v. 1.2. However, if you so so desire, this record can be deleted as well. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ MORE ABOUT DiskBASE: I wrote DiskBASE because I wanted my software listing to be printed up a specific way. I wanted a wide-font title at the top of each page, and the entire listing not JUST sorted alphabetically, but sorted alphabet- ically UNDER a wide-font heading of which category the following pro- grams were in (i.e., UTILITIES, DATABASES, WORD PROCESSORS, etc...). In addition, I was tired of my program names with a lower-case first letter (such as `dBASE III+'), being placed after the upper-case names. In my opinion, `dBASE' should come before `WordStar' in my listing. Many other database programs costing hundreds of dollars don't seem to share my opinion. Although a few database programs came close on the format, they missed on the fonts. Actually, I WAS using a popular word processing program (By the initials `WS') to store and print my listing, manually inserting each program alphabetically under the category heading that it was in. This was bad enough by itself, but I ran into other problems later. After trying to print up a copy of my list for a friend who had the same word processor program on his PC, and finding out that his setup was configured differently, I watched as my software list was printed `Bass- Ackwards'. My heading at the top of each page was in compressed font as well as each of my category sub-group headings. So I wrote DiskBASE. - 1 - Now, if you want to give your friend a copy of your software listing, (And what computer junky DOESN'T have a list of all of their software?), you can either give them a printout of it, or (and I recommend this plan), you can give it to them on a disk with DiskBASE included, and they can print it up on their own printer. Not only that, but they can now use DiskBASE for their own software database. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ COMPATIBLITY: DiskBASE v. 1.2 should run on any IBM-PC compatible computer. Even an XT system with as little as 512k RAM should not have any problems. How- ever, for best results, a 286 based CPU or faster and 1 Mb RAM is recom- mended. All video modes will work with DiskBASE. A hard disk is preferred for speed. Just insure that you keep all of the DiskBASE files within the same sub-directory on the hard disk. As it is now, DiskBASE v. 1.2 should print out listings with no problems on any Epson compatible printer. Future versions of DiskBASE will have a `Select Printer' option to enable printouts on many other popular types of printers, including laser printers. For now, unless your printer is set up to respond to Epson-style escape codes, I'm not sure how it will print up. So far, the following models of printers have been tested and work fine with DiskBASE v. 1.2: * IBM Proprinter XL * Epson LQ-1000 * Epson EX-800 * Epson LQ-510 * Panasonic KX-1124 * The database (.DBF) file created and used by DiskBASE is compatible with dBASE III+, dBASE IV, Clipper, and any other database application that's .DBF files are compatible with those three. The index (.NTX) files are compatible with Clipper compatible .NTX file applications only. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ USING DiskBASE: If you want to run DiskBASE from a hard drive, just copy the files to the subdirectory on your hard drive that you want to run it from. If you are running DiskBASE from a floppy disk, just insert the disk in the drive. Then, type: DISKBASE and press <Enter> to run DiskBASE. The first screen you'll see gives information on registering your copy of DiskBASE. Then, if you started with just the .EXE and .DOC files, Disk- BASE will display messages on the screen that say it's creating the data- base file and the index files. If they already exist, or after they've been created, you'll be at the DiskBASE Main menu screen. - 2 - From here, you can add, edit, delete, browse, and print records in the database. You can also customize DiskBASE's colors and headings for the screen and printouts from the Utils option. DiskBASE was purposefully created to be simple to use. From the moment you first run it, you can begin inputting your software program inform- ation into it. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ADDING PROGRAMS: To add a new program to the database, select the `Add' option from the Main menu. After selecting `Program' from the Add menu, a window will appear giving you a choice of the categories currently in the database, (i.e., Word Processors, Databases, Games, etc...). If there are no rec- ords in the database, thus no categories to choose from, or if you press the <Esc> key at the category choices, you will be given the opportunity to add a new category. Once you have either selected an existing category or added a new cate- gory for the next record to fall under, a window will appear for you to add in the following program information: Program:............The title of the software program Disks:..............The number of disks the program comes on Format:.............The disk format (360k, 1.2M, 1.44M, etc.) Remarks:............A description of the software program, or whatever else you feel like adding To save the program information to the database, press <F2>. After the the record is saved, the window will zoom back out ready for you to add any other programs under the same category. To quit adding records for that category, press <Esc> and you will return to the Main menu. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DELETING A PROGRAM: There are three ways you can delete a program from the database. The first way is to select the `Delete' option from the Main menu, and enter the name of the program to be deleted (*). DiskBASE will search for that record and, if it finds a match, it will display the program infor- mation in a window on the screen for you to verify if that is the prog- ram to be deleted. If no match is found a message will be displayed saying so. (*) The search strings are case insensitive, and need not be the comp- lete program title. For example you can enter: Wor, WORD, WoRds, wordst, etc, to locate your WordStar 4.0 program. However, if you are looking for version 5.5, you'll need to type in enough info for DiskBASE to make a distinction from any other similar records. DiskBASE will stop searching at the FIRST program that matches the search information. - 3 - The second way to delete a program is from the `Browse' screen. If you are scanning through the database in the `Browse' mode and see a program that you'd like to delete, you can press the <Delete> key, and DiskBASE will display the complete program information in a window and ask for verification to delete the record. Upon verification, the record will be deleted. The third way to delete a program is from the `Edit' screen. If you have a record displayed in the edit window, you can press <F3> and, upon verification, the record will be deleted. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DELETING A CATEGORY: If, for whatever your reasons, you'd ever want to delete every program under a certain category, (Perhaps your spouse got frustrated with you spending so much time on your PC that he or she burned all of your pro- gramming languages. Heaven forbid!), you can do that by selecting the `Category' option from the Delete menu. A window with all of the categories currently existing in your database will be displayed for you to select from. After selecting the category to be deleted, DiskBASE will ask for verification, warning you that this will delete EVERY program in your database that falls under that cate- gory. Once you have verified that intention, DiskBASE will search for and delete all of those programs that your spouse had so brutally dest- royed for you! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ EDITING PROGRAM INFO: There are two ways you can edit a program in the database. The first way is to select the `Edit' option from the Main menu, and enter the name of the program to be edited (*). DiskBASE will search for that record and, if it finds a match, it will display the program information in a window on the screen for you to edit. If no match is found, a mes- sage will be displayed saying so. (*) The search protocol is the same as mentioned in the `DELETING A PROGRAM' paragraph on the preceding page. The other way to edit a program is from the `Browse' screen. If you are scanning through the database in the `Browse' mode and see a program that you'd like to edit, you can press the <Enter> key, and DiskBASE will display the complete program information in a window for you to edit as you wish. After making any changes to the program, press <F2> to save them. If you make changes to the record and then decide that you didn't want to change it after all, you can press <Esc> and the new information will not be saved to the database. - 4 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ EDITING A CATEGORY: Suppose you've a category called `Databases' in DiskBASE, and you've got a single spreadsheet program to add. You decide that you don't want to create a new category with only one entry in it, so you'd like to add it to the `Databases' category. You can then change the `Databases' cate- gory to `Databases / Spreadsheets'. This will change every record in the database that was in the `Databases' category to now be in the `Dat- abases / Spreadsheets' category without you having to manually change each one. To do this, select the `Category' option from the Edit menu. A window will pop up displaying all of the existing categories. Select the one you'd like to edit, and make any desired changes. Press <Enter> to save your changes, or press <Esc> to abort the changes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ BROWSING THE DATABASE: To quickly view the programs in the database, select the `Browse' option from the Main menu. You then have two options. You can either view all of the programs, or just those in a specific category. Records can also be edited or deleted from the Browse screen. To browse the complete database, select that option from the Browse menu and a spreadsheet-style screen will display all of the database inform- ation on your programs. You can pan off of the screen to the right by using the right arrow key to view the `Number of Disks, Disk Format, and Remarks' fields. If you would like to browse through all of your games programs only, you can select the `Specific Category' option from the Browse menu. A win- dow will appear for you to input the category that you'd like to browse. This is a case-insensitive search, so you could type `Games' or `gAmEs' and it would still find them. To be more specific, if you'd like to see all of your simulator games, you can type `Simu', and it would display ONLY the programs in the `Simulator Games' category. However, if you'd like to view ALL of your games, you can type `Games', and ALL of the programs in a category that contains the word `games' would be disp- layed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PRINTING A PROGRAM LISTING: The main reason I wrote DiskBASE was to print up my software listing in a particular way. By selecting the `Print' option from the Main menu, you can either print out your complete software listing, or only those in certain categories. The printout will have whatever custom heading you have specified at the top of each page. If you haven't added a cus- - 5 - tom heading, the default heading of `Software Database' will be used. Each individual program in the database will be sorted alphabetically and listed under a wide-font heading of each category. Each category will also be printed out in alphabetical order. If you'd only like to print out your programming languages, you could select the `Specific Category' option from the Print menu. A window will appear for you to input the category that you'd like to print. As with the `Browse' option, this is a case-insensitive search. So you could type `PROG' or `prog' and it would still find them. However, be aware of the different category names in your database! If you've got a category called `Programming Utilities' and you typed `Prog' for the category to print, you'll print out BOTH the `Programming Languages' and the `Programming Utilities' programs. So, if you only wanted the languages, you could type `Lang' and that would do the trick. As stated in the `Compatability' section on page two, DiskBASE should print your listing fine on any Epson compatible printer. If you REALLY would like to use DiskBASE but it doesn't seem to print right on your printer, please take the time to xerox the pages of your printer manual that contain the printer escape codes, make note of what brand and model of printer it is, and send it to me. I am planning on making the next version of DiskBASE have a printer selection menu on it to enable a variety of different printers to work with DiskBASE, including Laser printers. I'm also planning to put a `User Defined' printer set-up, so that if a particular printer is not supported by the DiskBASE option menu, you could `program' DiskBASE to speak your printer's language yourself. All this and MORE in upcoming versions!!! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ADDING THE HEADING: By default, the words `Software Database' will appear at the top of the DiskBASE screen and at the top of each page of your software listing. To add a custom heading, select the `Heading' option from the Add menu. (Actually you could select it from the Edit menu too, and if DiskBASE sees that there is no custom heading to edit, it will just ask you to add one.) A window will appear prompting you to add your desired head- ing, up to 30 characters long. Press <Enter> to save your heading to the disk, or press <Esc> to abort and return to the main menu. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DELETING THE HEADING: To deleted your custom heading, select the `Heading' option from the Delete menu. Just by highlighting this option and pressing the <Enter> key, you will delete the custom heading and return to the default head- ing of `Software Database'. - 6 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ EDITING THE HEADING: To edit your custom heading, select the `Heading' option from the Edit menu. (You could also select it from the Add menu. If DiskBASE sees that a custom heading already exists, it just displays it for you to edit if you'd like.) A window will display the current custom heading for you to make any changes to. To save your changes to the disk, press the <Enter> key. To abort any changes and retain the current heading, press the <Esc> key. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CHANGING THE SCREEN COLORS: If you don't particularly care for the default color settings of Disk- BASE, you can select the `Customize Colors' option from the Utils menu. This will display a window full of the current color settings for the various DiskBASE displays that can be customized. Following the instructions on that screen, select the display who's color you'd like to change by positioning the flashing pointer beside it and pressing the <Enter> key. At that point, you can press <F4> to put you in foreground mode, or <F5> for background mode. From either mode, use the up and down arrow keys to scroll through the color options. Once the desired foreground and background colors for that display are chosen, press the <Enter> key. This will return you to the flashing pointer to make another selection, if you'd like. When all of the colors are changed to your liking, you can press <Esc> to return to the DiskBASE main menu. Move through the program a bit and see if you like those color settings. If you DO, return to the color change routine and press <F2> to save your changes to the disk. If you'd like to return to the default colors, just select that option with the flashing yellow pointer, and press <Enter>. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ TURNING THE BEEPS ON / OFF: As the windows on the screen zoom out and back in, your PC will respond to the massaging of it's keys with two short, official sounding beeps. However, if you're doing a particularly large amount of work on your software database, these beeps may get on your nerves after a while. So, by highlighting the `Turn Beeps On / Off' option on the Utils menu and pressing the <Enter> key, you can toggle these beeps on or off. - 7 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ BACKING UP / RESTORING THE DATABASE FILE: It's wise to backup your database file every so often. You can either copy the file to a backup disk from the DOS prompt or, better yet, you can just select that option from the Utils menu. This will let you quickly backup the DISKBASE.DBF file to a disk in either your A: or B: drive. You can restore a backed up copy of the DISKBASE.DBF file from either the A: or B: drive by selecting that option from the Utils menu. This will just copy the file from your backup disk on top of any existing DISKBASE.DBF file without you having to do it from the DOS prompt. Be careful that you don't accidentally copy an old version of your data- base on top of your current version, unless this is what you want to do. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ VIEWING / PRINTING THE DOCUMENTATION FILE: To view the DISKBASE.DOC file from within DiskBASE, you can select that option from the Utils menu. This will display the documentation in an easy-to-read, scrollable window. Use the up / down arrow keys and page up / down keys to view the documentation. To print the DISKBASE.DOC file, select that option from the Utils menu. This will have the same effect as typing: TYPE DISKBASE.DOC > PRN from the DOS prompt, but it's MUCH easier to do it from within DiskBASE. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ VIEWING THE DiskBASE STATS: To get quick information about the last time your software database was updated and backed-up, how many programs are in it, and how large (in bytes) the database (.DBF) file is, select the `DiskBASE Stats' option from the Utils menu. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ QUITTING DiskBASE: To exit from DiskBASE, select the `Quit' option from the Main menu. You then have the option of just `shelling' out to DOS, keeping DiskBASE in RAM, or you can exit totally out of DiskBASE to DOS. If you shell to DOS, you can (Depending on the amount of RAM in your PC) run another program or execute DOS commands while leaving DiskBASE in RAM. Then just type: EXIT from the DOS prompt to return to DiskBASE. If you exit totally out of DiskBASE, you'll have to type: DISKBASE to load the program back into RAM before you can use it again. - 8 - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ REGISTRATION INFORMATION: DiskBASE is distributed primarily though the `Shareware' method. That is, you are free to make copies of it for your friends or upload it onto Bulletin Board Systems (BBS's). In fact, I encourage those activities! However, if you like DiskBASE, and find it SO useful that you use it for all of your software database needs, then you should pay the dinky lit- tle $19.95 registration fee. "Why the hell should I pay for something that I've already got?", you ask. Well, I'll tell you! If you register (as in PAY FOR) your copy of DiskBASE you get all of these fabulous benifits: 1. Prompt notification of new versions of DiskBASE that you might not otherwise have found out about for a while. 2. Discount upgrades to the latest version of DiskBASE. Say you have registered your copy of DiskBASE version 1.2 and six months later a NEW and IMPROVED version 2.0 comes out. Well, I might charge $25 or $30 for that one, but for those who have already registered a copy of DiskBASE, they'll get the new version sent to their very own mailbox for a VERY measly five bucks! What a steal! 3. Any acne on your face will immediately vanish. (However, if your check bounces, you'll get these horrible, uncurable, welts all over your body. It's a terrible sight. Yuk!) 4. You'll sleep much better at night. 5. I'll eat much better during the day and live to see tomorrow. 6. And, as if that wasn't ALREADY enough, just imagine the fun you'll have watching the expressions on your friend's faces when you tell them that you've actually PAID for a shareware program. (And they thought nobody ever REALLY registered their shareware programs!) Even if you don't feel the program is worth the barely twenty bucks that I'm asking in return for all of my time and effort spent writing it so that your life will be happier, (Are you feeling guilty yet?), feel free to write me with any suggestions for improvements or any comments you might have on the program. I'll happily respond to all mail. To register your copy of DiskBASE, send a check or money-order for $19.95 to the address below. Be sure to include the version number that you are registering, so you can be notified if any newer versions are already being distributed. Thank you for trying DiskBASE, and I hope you find it useful! ----------------------------------- E-Mail can also be left for me on | Loren A. Scott | the KBBS bulletin board system at | 5555 Long Beach Blvd., #246 | (213) 558-0145. #2412 - Byte Me! | Long Beach, CA 90805 | or on MCI Mail under Loren Scott. ----------------------------------- - 9 -