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

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Text File | 1991-04-08 | 23.2 KB | 488 lines

The CCCCC EEEEE M M EEEEE TTTTT EEEEE RRRRR Y Y C E MM MM E T E R R Y Y C EEE M MM M EEE T EEE RRRRR YYY C E M M E T E R R Y CCCCC EEEEE M M EEEEE T EEEEE R R Y RRRRR EEEEE SSSSS EEEEE AAAAA RRRRR CCCCC H H R R E S E A A R R C H H RRRRR EEE SSSSS EEE AAAAA RRRRR C HHHHH R R E S E A A R R C H H R R EEEEE SSSSS EEEEE A A R R CCCCC H H DDDD AAAAA TTTTT AAAAA BBBB AAAAA SSSSS EEEEE D D A A T A A B B A A S E D D AAAAA T AAAAA BBBBB AAAAA SSSSS EEE D D A A T A A B B A A S E DDDD A A T A A BBBB A A SSSSS EEEEE V 3.0 by: Gale D. Wilkinson GDW Software 5430 Meadow Drive Sumter, SC 29154 (803) 499-3533 (Evenings only!) With a special Thank You to my "Betty" tester Betty Becknell <i> CEMETERY RESEARCH DATABASE TABLE OF CONTENTS Page COPYING the "CEMETERY RESEARCH DATABASE" ........................ 1 LEGAL REQUIREMENTS (DISCLAIMER) ................................. 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................... 2 HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS ........................................... 2 OTHER PROGRAMS AVAILABLE ........................................ 3 SETUP ........................................................... 4 ORDERING INFORMATION ............................................ 4 DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT THE VARIOUS SCREENS MENU SCREENS ............................................... 5 DATA SELECTOR SCREENS ...................................... 5 DATA ENTRY SCREENS ......................................... 6 MARKING NAMES FOR INDEXING ................................. 6 DATA FILE NAMING AND MAINTENANCE ........................... 7 SOUNDEX SEARCHING .......................................... 7 FUTURE ENHANCEMENTS ............................................. 8 TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE ............................................ 8 HISTORY OF REVISIONS ............................................ 8 <1> COPYING THE "CEMETERY RESEARCH DATABASE" You are encouraged to give copies of this shareware distribution disks to other so they can have a chance to evaluate the program. The "Cemetery Research Database" is being marketed as Share-Ware Software. This allows you the user to test and evaluate the software before you buy it. If you find the program to be of use to you, please register it. As a registered user, you will be entitled to telephone support, and any future updates or revisions at a reduced price. The "Cemetery Research Database" distribution diskettes must be unaltered if copied and given away as a diskette or transmitted by any telecommunications link or made available on a computerized "bulletin board". The programs and documentation may not be modified in any way and must not be separated. Computer clubs may also copy the diskettes and give it to their members. There must be no fee except for costs of making the copies up to a maximum of $5.00 per disk. DISCLAIMER I make no representations or warranties with respect to the "Cemetery Research Database" programs or documentation and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose. In no event will I be liable to the purchaser or any user for any damages, including any incidental or consequential damages, expenses, lost profits, lost savings, or other damages arising out of the use or inability to use the product. <2> INTRODUCTION Welcome to the "Cemetery Research Database". The purpose of this program is to allow you to enter cemetery data from the grave site information you may be collecting or have collected. The program will then allow you to print the data out in a format suitable for sale. The program will also automatically create an index of all items printed and will print it at the same time. Of course you will also be able to research the database by name or by cemetery. The program will handle up to 999 different cemeteries with the number of records for each cemetery mainly limited by you available disk space. You will also have full editing capability on all data in the database. The program will also allow you to have multiple data files so you can keep different areas in their own data files if you want to. You will be able to put in up to 5 lines of 70 characters each for legend information on each grave site. Of course the program will only print such lines as have data. (No use wasting paper for blank lines!!) You will also have the capability of marking names in this legend data area for indexing. The cemetery location information allows you to enter up to 10 lines of descriptive information for each cemetery (and of course empty lines don't print. Then of course you have the option to print out your data in 3 different ways. All reports are offset by 1/2" to allow for punching holes for a binder. First is the capability to print out all names in the database in a format of Cemetery ID, Last Name, First Name, Date of Birth, Date of Death, and a 5 character entry for listing military service data (i.e. war veteran of War of 1812, WW 1, etc). There will also be printed any lines of legend data for each listing. The second format is the same as the above except that it is in cemetery sequence. The report will first print the cemetery location data for the cemetery, and then print the listings for that cemetery IN THE ORDER THAT YOU ENTERED THEN. This is to preserve any family groupings that you found when initially entering the data. The last format is the same as the format above, except that is for a selected cemetery. All of the above reports give you the option of printing an index for the listings in last name, first name sequence, with the page number for the listing. This data is printed in a 3 column, 17 character per inch format. And of course, you also print out the cemetery location data in ID Number sequence. (Add a table of contents to these reports and a title page and you data is ready for sale!) There are help screens for all screens which you can access at any time by just pressing the 'F1' key. To exit from the help screen, just press the 'ESC' key. The 3 main thing to remember when running the program are that the 'F1' key is the help key, use the arrow keys/PgUp/PgDn keys to make a selection on the menu and selection areas (ie menus) And most important of all - the 'ESC' key will allow you to do just that! - it will back you up one entry field, or if at the top of the screen, it will take you back to the previous screen. If you were <3> entering data in a field and had not yet pressed the 'ENTER' key it will that field to its previous value. This program requires a hard disk to run because when you are printing a report it has to generate temporary files to hold the index data until it is printed and unless you have a very small database you won't have enough room on a floppy disk! OTHER PROGRAMS AVAILABLE Also available is a laptop version of the program. This program is written to use with as little as a single floppy disk based system. Of course if you have more, it will take advantage of them. The major differences is that it has no printing capability, and will not search for a name in the legend data area. It also does not allow multiple database files. I wrote it under the assumption that you would be working off of floppy disks and would change data disks as required. The program will alert you when your data disk is full so that you won't lose any data. The laptop version also comes with a transfer program which will take the data from you laptop disks and transfer it to your master file(s). Other than the mentioned limitations, the program will operate exactly the same as this program. <4> EQUIPMENT REQUIRED The only equipment required is a computer with a hard disk and an Epson compatible printer. SETUP To enable 'Cemetery Research Database' to run, you will need to do the following: 1. MAKE A BACKUP COPY OF YOUR 'CEMETERY RESEARCH DATABASE DISKS'!! 2. If your boot disk does not have a config.sys file you will need to make one by typing the following: copy con config.sys files=30 buffers=20 F6 (This means press the F6 function key) Enter (Press the enter key) If your boot disk does have a config.sys, be sure that it contains the files=30 and buffers=20 entries (Both numbers can be bigger, but not smaller). 3. To install the program on the hard disk, you just need to copy the disks to your hard disk. To do this, do the following: a. type cd\ (this puts you in your 'root' directory) b. type md cemetery (this makes a new subdirectory) c. type cd \cemetery (this puts you in the cemetery subdirectory) d. put the "Cemetery Research Database" disk in drive A: e. type copy A:*.* (this will copy all files on the floppy disk to your hard drive) f. when the disk has been copied, put the master disk away. 7. Then type CRD and the program will come up running. 8. The first time you run the program you will have to enter a data file name and description as there will not be any data files yet. You will have to enter a file name of 1 - 6 characters and then a descriptive name of up to 25 characters. The descriptive name is how you will select the desired data base in the future. The 6 character short name is for dos file name purposes only. REMEMBER: The "ESC" allows you to do just that, and the "F1" key will bring up a help screen. ORDERING INFORMATION To register for the 'Cemetery Research Database' send $19.95 (or $34.95 for both this program and the laptop version) + $3.00 shipping and handling to: GDW Software 5430 Meadow Drive Sumter, SC 29154 Make Checks payable to Gale D. Wilkinson. I will then send you the latest version of the program, both a registered version and a shareware version. (And you will be rid of that "BUY ME" screen! And that "Printed by" line on the bottom of the reports!) There is an order form on the reports disk. To use it, just type copy order.frm prn and the form will be printed. <5> MENU SCREENS All menu screens operate by moving the selector bar using the arrow keys. When the selector bar is on you desired choice press the 'ENTER' key to execute. DATA SELECTOR SCREENS The data selector screens are reached from the "Find/Edit" menu items. They all work the same, the only difference being in what you are selecting the records by (by cemetery id, last name, etc). The available records will be displayed in sequence for the particular selection field. Note that if there are more records than can be displayed on the screen at one time, you can scroll the records up and down as needed using the arrow keys and the page up and page down keys. Pressing the "CTRL" and the "PG UP" keys at the same time will take you to the first available record. Pressing the "CTRL" and the "PG DN" keys at the same time will take you to the last available record. To find a particular record, just start typing the appropriate data for the selection mode you have selected. As you type each character, the record which is the closest match for that record will be hi-lighted. If you delete a character (using the backspace key), the selected record will be the previous closest match. At any time you have the option of moving the cursor using the arrow keys, or if you press the "DEL" key you be able to delete the selected record. And if you press the "Enter" key, you will be able to edit the selected record. On this screen, if you press the "ESC" key, you will be returned to the menu. <6> DATA ENTRY SCREENS There are several different data entry screens, but they are all used in the same way. You will be on a data entry screen for one of three reasons, to add a new record (The screen will display a message that says "Adding Records - ESC to Exit"). This is because you can keep on entering records without returning to the menu screen after each record. As you complete a record, it will be saved to disk, the screen will clear and you will be on the first field, ready for the next record. If you have no more records to enter, just press the ESC key at this time and you will be returned to the selector screen. If you are editing a record the screen message will say "Record will be changed" and if you are deleting a record, the screen message will say "Press Enter to Delete". In the case of editing or adding a new record, if a field already has data in it, all you have to do is type over it to change it. To enter the data for a field just enter the data in each location on the data entry screen. Some fields will be required and will not let you leave them until data has been entered. An example would be the last name of the individual. In some cases, entering data in a field will cause a calculated answer to be placed in another field for you. An example of this would be where you enter the cemetery id and the cemetery name is displayed for you. If you are on the data entry screen to edit an existing record, you can move past a field that has correct data by just pressing the "ENTER" key. You can move back up a field by pressing the "ESC" key. The "ESC" key will also allow you to return a field to its previous state if you accidentally started entering incorrect data in a field and had not yet pressed the enter key. The "ESC" key works the same way in the enter a new record mode. If you are here to delete a record, pressing the "ESC" key will abort the delete action and return you to the selector screen. MARKING NAMES IN THE LEGEND DATA AREA FOR INDEXING It is very simple to mark a name for indexing. Just put an * before and after the name you want to index. The only requirements are that there can be no spaces between the * and the first letter of the name and between the last letter of the name and the ending *. The only other requirements are that there be no spaces in the last name. If there are spaces, you must replace them with an underscore character. This will also apply to any suffixes to the name (i.e. Jr., Sr., III, etc). Example: John Smith_Jr., James Van_de_Camp. Also, do not include any prefixes inside the first * as it will cause the sort on the first name to be incorrect. (i.e. Mr., Mrs., Rev.). The program also expects the name to be in normal first name last name sequence. (The program can handle multiple first names such as John & Susan Smith). The program will then index that name in a last name, first name type listing which is used for the search screen and for the final index. <7> DATAFILE NAMING AND MAINTENANCE PROCEDURES The program requires both a 1-6 character data file name and a 1-25 character descriptive file name. The short name is used as the basis for the actual DOS file name. It must be a unique name, though the program will not allow you to enter a duplicate name so this should not be a problem. The 25 character descriptive name is what will be used by you to select a particular data file for updating. To add a new data file, select "Change Data File" from the main menu. Then on then on the data file selector screen, just press the "INS" key. You will then be asked to enter the short and long file names. If you want to start using the new data files at this time, just press "ENTER" with the new file name selected on the data file selector screen. Of course you can add several new files by continuing to press the "INS" key for each new data file you want to create. The new data files will be generated the first time you select them from the selector screen. So if you enter several new file names don't be alarmed when they don't show up on the disk it you haven't used them yet. To delete a data file from the disk, just select the file name and then press the "DEL" key. When the next screen appears, you will have the choice of pressing the "ENTER" key to delete the records, or any other key to abort the delete action. CAUTION! WHEN THE PROGRAM DELETES A FILE IT REMOVES IT COMPLETELY!! ALL DATA IN THAT FILE WILL BE LOST!!!!! SOUNDEX SEARCHING The soundex search screens work the same as the other search screens. The main differences are that the names are displayed in soundex sequence (names that sound alike are grouped together rather than in strict alphabetical sequence.) Also, as you type in a search name, the selector bar will only move to the first name that soundex matches the search name. <8> FUTURE ENHANCEMENTS Currently in the planning stages is program which will print the various reports on both sides of the page with the proper offset for binding. If there is any interest, I can have a version of the program which would enable you to distribute a 'Reader' program and your data files so that someone could view the files for research purposes, it not have any editing or printing capabilities. (Floppy disks are cheaper and smaller than a printed version!) This program would be personalized with your name (or your groups name). While it will probably cost more to initially register, there will not be any charges for the copies that you distribute/sell. And last but not least, I am thinking about a program that will read 'File Express' data files, and print an index based on last name, first name and page number of the final report. (You tell it how many data lines per page and it does the rest.) This one is on hold until I see how much interest there might be for such a program. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE Technical assistance is available most evenings (South Carolina Time!). Just call me at (803) 499-3533. (NO COLLECT CALLS PLEASE!). You can also write me a letter and I will answer you that way. Or if you have Fido-Net capabilities, I can be reached at my node - Gale Wilkinson 1:376/70. In all cases, please have the following information available, 1. Program Name 2. The version number from the title screen. 3. If a printing problem, the make and model of your printer. Please note that I will try help anyone requesting technical assistance but I will give only limited help to unregistered users! REVISION HISTORY Version 1.0 was released on January 25, 1991. (At least to my primary Beta tester.) Version 1.1 was released on February 2, 1991. Overhauled version of the origional beta version. Version 1.2 was released on February 8, 1991. Fixed a bug put in by the original overhaul (would not always allow adding records.) Also made the index an option. And added the choice of whether you want a page break between cemeteries when printing all cemeteries. beta version. Version 1.3 was released on February 11, 1991. Changed the database definition to allow alpha-numeric characters in all date fields. (this will allow '?' to be entered for any unknown date characters). Also added multiple database capabilities to the program. First general release. <9> Version 2.0 was released on February 16, 1991. This added the indexing of names in the legend data area and print to disk capabilities. This is the first "Full Featured" version of the program. Version 2.1 was released on February 21, 1991. This is a maintenance release to stop multiple listing of a name in the index when it appears more than once for a given page number. Fixed a double spacing problem in the cemetery location information when printing all cemeteries. Also added the number of records in the database to the main menu screen. Version 2.2 was released on February 25, 1991. Changed the way the data files are listed on the selector screen to alphabetical for the descriptive name rather than on the primary file name. Version 2.3 was released on March 1, 1991. Added a report for any one cemetery with records with a date the same as or earlier than a selected cut off date. Version 2.4 was released on March 5, 1991. Bug Fix. The Cemetery Location data entry screen would sometimes lock-up when you entered more than one duplicate id number. Version 2.41 was released on March 12, 1991. Cosmetic fixes. Corrected some misspelled words on a couple of the screens. Version 3.0 was released on March 22, 1991. This was a combination bug fix and major upgrade. The bug fix was to add error trapping for when you tried to enter a grave site record without any cemeteries entered. It would take the record but would give you a cemetery ID Number of ' '. The major upgrade was to add Soundex Searching on the last names and to fix the index so that it could give more than one page number for a listing on a name that was on more than one page. Other minor changes include changing the length of the war veteran field to 8 characters rather than 5 characters. Because of the changes to the data base definition required for the soundex upgrade, a conversion program is also included as part of this upgrade.