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- / \ - / | / \ / / | / / / / - - - - - - - - - - / / \ / \ / | |/--\| | | N A M E | | V I E W | | | | | | | | | \ / \ / - - - - - - - - - - ver 2.01 A Message Reader/Printer/Sorter which will highlight in reverse video every occurrence of every search word/name which is entered in the support file search list. Messages can be printed immediately, or stored in any of 10 user defined archive files. Files included in NAMEVIEW version 2.01 NAMEVIEW.EXE - The main program file. NAMEVIEW.DAT - A sample of the type of file used to support NAMEVIEW.EXE. You'll have to write your own .DAT file or modify this one in order for the program to search for your list of names and other words. NAMEVIEW.DOC - This documentation file. Do not be intimidated by the size of the DOC file. There is much more information in the documentation than you need to run the program. The only must read section is the chapter on Set Up. The rest of the informa- tion has been made available for those who would like to know more about the program and how it runs. DEMO.KDM - A sample "message file" included so you can imme- diately run a quick tutorial and demo of NAMEVIEW to see what it will do. DEMOVIEW.BAT - A batch file which will start NAMEVIEW and run a demo using the other files provided for this pur- pose. Type DEMOVIEW + <ENTER> for the demonstra- tion. README.1ST - An ASCII file containing any last minute documen- tation corrections or other information that you should be aware of (may not be present). TED.COM - A simple text editor (by Tom Kihlken of PC maga- zine). TED is distributed free with this package to make it easy to write and/or modify your NAME DROP.DAT file. TED is not a part of the NAMEVIEW package. TED.DOC - Documentation for the TED text editor. NAMEVIEW Documentation This documentation file can be easily printed by using your DOS PRINT command. Line your paper up so that your printer's print head is approximately one inch down from the page perforation. If started in this manner, NAMEVIEW.DOC will print with one inch top and bottom margins. COPYRIGHT NOTICE Copyright 1990, 1991 by Ray Cox 17410 Huntersglen Humble, TX 77396-1622 713-454-6074 The NAMEDROP and NAMEVIEW set of programs are copyrighted and will remain my property. You may use, copy, and distribute the NAMEDROP and NAMEVIEW shareware program files provided that: 1. All of the original files are included without modification when you copy and distribute the shareware version of the program. 2. You do not charge for use, copying, or distribution. 3. Registered versions of NAMEVIEW are not to be distributed, but backup copies may be made for your own use. If you find that the NAMEVIEW program is useful, saves you time, and in general makes your message hunting easier, a registration fee of $15 would be appreciated. I have spent countless hours writing, revising, and testing this program - hours which I could have spent on genealogy! It is also very reasonably priced. If you are able, please register. Registered users will receive a copy of the latest version of NAMEVIEW on disk. The registered version of the program has a com- mand line interface feature (see features section for description), and does not have the shareware message on the menu screen. A form is provided in Appendix D (last page of documentation) for your convenience in registration. If you like the searching capabilities of NAMEVIEW, but would rather use your own favorite message reader, then try NAMEDROP. NAMEDROP will use your search list and sort out only those messages containing at least one of your search list items. These sorted messages are then written to a separate file for use with your reader. Many thanks to George Pardue who helped in Beta testing this product. He provided many helpful suggestions, most of which were incorporated into the program. NAMEVIEW BBS Message Searching/Reading/Storing Program Table of Contents Page # 1. Background a. Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 b. What is NAMEVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 c. What NAMEVIEW does . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 d. Program speed considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 2. Quick Start a. How to run a quick demo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 3. Set Up - Preparing to Use NAMEVIEW a. Saving your message downloads. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 b. NAMEVIEW.DAT data file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 c. NAMEVIEW.DAT file - Message Format Section . . . . . . . 8 d. NAMEVIEW.DAT file - File Name Section. . . . . . . . . . 10 e. NAMEVIEW.DAT File - Search List Section. . . . . . . . . 11 f. Sample NAMEVIEW.DAT File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 g. NAMEVIEW.DAT File Tips . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 h. Floppy disk set up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 i. Hard disk set up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 4. Start Up - How to start NAMEVIEW a. Command Line Entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 b. File Menu Operation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 c. Set Up Menu Operation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 d. Command Line Parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 5. Program Operation - How to use NAMEVIEW a. Information Line - Action Messages . . . . . . . . . . . 20 b. Information Line - Hot Keys. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 c. Information Line - Messages Processed. . . . . . . . . . 22 d. Information Line - Names Found . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 e. Information Line - Current and Total Pages . . . . . . . 23 f. Help System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 g. Early Termination of Program Execution . . . . . . . . . 24 h. Normal Program Termination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 6. NAMEVIEW Features a. Active Parameter Switching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 b. AutoLoad Feature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 c. Automated Caps Lock/Num Lock Adjusting . . . . . . . . . 25 d. Book Mark Feature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 e. Command Line Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 f. Custom Message Screen Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 g. Display Adapter Detection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 h. Error Message Display. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 i. Escape Key Function. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 j. Extended Keyboard Interface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 1 k. Floppy User Enhancement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 l. Force Mono Function . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 m. Help System. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 n. Line Wrap Check. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 o. Mark File Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 p. Message File Deletion Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 q. Name(s) Found in Message Indication. . . . . . . . . . . 28 r. Print Device Customizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 s. Print Message (using "P"). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 t. Print Message (using "F"). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 u. Read Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 v. Reverse Read (Back Up) Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 w. Search List Tailoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 x. Search Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 y. Smart Point & Shoot Download File Selection. . . . . . . 30 z. Sort Files: User or Default Naming. . . . . . . . . . . 30 aa. Sort Files: Writing to Disk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 bb. Sound. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 cc. Special Search . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 dd. Upper Case Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Appendix A - Ways to Write Your NAMEVIEW.DAT file a. Word Processing Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 b. TED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Appendix B - Error Messages and Problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Appendix C - Upgrade Enhancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Appendix D - Registration and Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 a. Registration form. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 b. Upgrade form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 2 *** Background *** Glossary Current File - The file which was most recently chosen from the Smart Point & Shoot file listing. The full path and filename will be displayed on both menu screens. In addition, it will be displayed on the Sort File List Help screen. Download File - a file downloaded (captured) from a BBS which con- tains multiple messages. Your modem software may call this a capture file or a log file. For maximum efficiency, select the BBS option for continuous read while capturing the file. File Menu Option Screen - the first screen you see on loading NAME- VIEW (if the AutoLoad parameter is not used). This menu is used to change directories, list and choose files, and when available, delete or mark files. Help Screen - any of the three help screens which can be called up on your display. Hit - occurs when one of your search words is found in a message that is contained within your download file. Message(s) - the individual message(s) which are contained within your download file. Message Format Block - a four-line section of the NAMEVIEW.DAT file which contains one or more filename extensions, the First Line key word(s), the Subject Line key word(s), and the Last Line key word(s) of each message. Message Screen - the screen seen while you are reading messages. It includes the Information Line at the bottom. Program Disk - for floppy disk users; the disk on which your NAMEVIEW.EXE and NAMEVIEW.DAT files are kept. Program Files - refers collectively to NAMEVIEW.EXE and NAMEVIEW.DAT; it does not include the download file or any of the files written by NAMEVIEW. Search Name(s) - this term is synonymous with "search word(s)". Since NAMEVIEW was originally designed for use by genealogists, and they are principally interested in searching for names, this term will occasionally be used. Search Word(s) - (a) word(s) from the list you create in the NAMEVIEW.DAT file. All messages in the download file will be search- ed to see if they contain any of the search words. Search word is 3 synonymous with search name. Set Up Menu Screen - seen only after a download file has been chosen (from the File Menu Option screen or the autoload feature) and if the "X" command line parameter is not used. This menu is used to change operating parameters, if desired, prior to searching and reading the download file. Sort Files - The user defined filenames which are read from the NAMEVIEW.DAT file and assigned to the 10 function keys. Individual messages are added to these files at the users discretion. What is NAMEVIEW? NAMEVIEW is a message reader/printer/sorter combined with the search capabilities of NAMEDROP (primarily a searching program). It was originally created so that genealogists could read rapidly through large download files with the program highlighting all in- stances of names/words contained in an essentially unlimited (in size) search list. NAMEVIEW is adaptable enough to be useful to anyone who needs to search message downloads for large or small numbers of interest items. While using NAMEVIEW to read messages, you can select output of individual messages to the printer, or to any of 10 user definable Sort Files. As program operation and searching are quite fast, your time saved in searching for important words/names with this program will probably be substantial. Simplicity of set up and use were foremost in my mind when the program was written. Only one support file is necessary (NAMEVIEW.DAT, to be detailed later) regardless of the number of message formats which will be searched. Also, there is no practical limit to the number of search words (also stored in the NAMEVIEW.DAT file), so the program need only be run once for each downloaded file to be read. What NAMEVIEW does... NAMEVIEW starts by analyzing and inputting data from your NAME- VIEW.DAT file. From this file, it gets information on the format of the message file it will be inputting. Next, NAMEVIEW loads the list of search words which you are interested in finding. Every message contained in the download file will be searched for every search word on your list before it is presented onscreen for you to read. After selecting the file to be read from the File Menu Option screen, you will be presented with the Set Up Menu screen. While paused at this menu, you may change any of NAMEVIEW's operating parameters, and/or enter a special item to be searched for. If you 4 choose the special search parameter, your search list is ignored and only the special item is searched for. This makes for an extremely rapid search. After your initial menu selection(s) are made (or optionally entered on the command line for registered versions), messages are presented onscreen one at a time for your viewing/printing/archiving. Program Speed Considerations Speed of operation was, in most cases, the primary consideration during the programming of NAMEVIEW. My objective was to make use of any time available for searching. Even as you are viewing and paging through a message onscreen, NAMEVIEW is rapidly scanning ahead find- ing and searching the next message to be presented. In many cases, the search will be completed before you are finished with the present message, making the next message immediately available whenever you ask for it. There are, however, many variables which will affect the speed at which NAMEVIEW will do its job. Microprocessor speed, disk speed (hard or floppy), the number of names in your search list, the size of each message in your download file, and other choices that can be made from the menu will all affect the speed of operation. The program's work is disk intensive, as it is constantly read- ing through your download file. Thus, the biggest difference in program speed depends on whether you are using a floppy or a hard disk system. NAMEVIEW is not a throughput program. Once it is started, it doesn't work steadily until it is finished. Instead, it accepts input from the operator as to when to continue after a message is presented onscreen. For this reason, no benchmark tests were run. If you have an 8088 system running at the original 4.77MHz, you may not be overly impressed with program speed. If you have an 8088/8086 running at 10MHz, program speed becomes more impressive. If you have an 80286 or better machine, regardless of speed, hold on to your hat! 5 *** Quick Start *** How to run a quick demo Enough files have been included in the NAMEV###.ZIP set to enable you to run a quick demo of the program prior to setting up your own NAMEVIEW.DAT file. You will need the NAMEVIEW.EXE file, the NAMEVIEW.DAT file provided (which happens to include my own list of names), the DEMOVIEW.BAT file, and the DEMO.KDM file (a tutorial combined with a set of sample messages to show you what the program will do with them). Floppy disk users: Place these four files on one disk and place the disk in drive A. Make sure that drive A is the default drive if you have more than one floppy drive. If you are looking at the DOS prompt on your screen, merely typing "A:" (don't include the quotes, just type the A and the colon!) followed by the <ENTER> key should do it. See your DOS manual for details on default drives if you have questions. Hard disk users: Place all four files in the same subdirectory on your hard disk, then make that drive and subdirectory the current one. If you have questions on making subdirectories (MKDIR or MD) and/or changing directories (CHDIR or CD), see your DOS manual. All users: Now type "DEMOVIEW" (again, don't type the quote marks, type the word between quotes) and press <ENTER>. A short instruction screen will give you enough directions to get started, and then NAMEVIEW will be loaded. Once the Set Up menu is onscreen, you can experiment with the menu selections if you like by pressing any highlighted letter until the setup shows the desired options. You can get help by pressing "H", and in fact, most of the program's operation can by understood by looking through the three available help screens (<Esc> gets you out of Help). When you are ready to start, press <ENTER> and the demo program will begin. The first "message" you will see is a "what's new" rundown on the current version. This is followed by a tutorial section to familiarize you with the NAMEVIEW commands. When you have finished with the tutorial, you will see some actual messages which will show how NAMEVIEW's highlighting normally works. When all messages have been seen, the "Last Message.." action indicator will appear. Press the <Esc> key to exit NAMEVIEW, or "M" to go back to the "File Menu Options" screen. If you like what you saw on the demo, then continue on with the set up chapter so you can customize the program for your own use! 6 *** SET UP - Preparing to Use NAMEVIEW *** Saving your Message Downloads I will not attempt to cover the use of a modem and communica- tions program in downloading message files. There are, however, certain conventions which must be followed, and others that are recommended in order for NAMEVIEW to function correctly. Dial into your BBS and set your terminal program to capture (or log) to file. Then download your messages by using the (BBS) command to read messages without stopping. For ease in cataloging, it is suggested that your capture file be named as follows: MMMDD.NNN (example - JAN01.TRS) where - MMM = the first three letters of the month (i.e. JAN) DD = the two digit day of the month (i.e. 01,28, etc.) NNN = a three letter abbreviation of the conference or BBS from which the message file was downloaded (i.e. NGC for National Genealogical Conference, KDM for The Kingdom BBS, etc.) For example, a file which you download from the Kingdom BBS on January 1, would be named JAN01.KDM. NOTE: This format is mandatory if you plan on using the Autoload feature! In addition, the exclamation point (!), the pound sign (#), and the dollar sign ($) are reserved filename characters to be used by the NAMEVIEW program only. If you use these characters, certain NAMEVIEW features will be negated, and the program's usefulness to you will be greatly reduced. If you don't ever plan on AutoLoading, then the format described above is not mandatory, as any filename will work, but it will reduce confusion and help catalog your downloads. If you choose to use another filename format, it is recommended that the length of your filename (the portion to the left of the "period") be restricted to seven characters or less. Certain fea- tures of NAMEVIEW cause download file names to be changed by the addition of a character. If your filename is eight characters long, the eighth character is replaced with NAMEVIEW's special character. When other NAMEVIEW features remove the extra character, NAMEVIEW does not replace the originally deleted eighth character. The filename extension (portion to the right of the "period") is the one place where you must be consistent. The extension that you use MUST be found in the first line of one of the "message format blocks" (see the next section for details) stored in the NAMEVIEW.DAT 7 file. Otherwise, NAMEVIEW will not show the file in the selection list, and you will not be able to read it. The NAMEVIEW.DAT Data File The NAMEVIEW.DAT file consists of three sections: the Message Format section, the File Name section, and the Search List section. Users of NAMEDROP, who have already made a NAMEDROP.DAT file, will find that the formats are almost exactly the same. The only dif- ference between the two is the addition of the File Name section in the NAMEVIEW.DAT file. In fact, if NAMEVIEW cannot find a NAME- VIEW.DAT file, it will automatically look for a NAMEDROP.DAT file and use it if it is available! If you add a File Name section to a NAMEDROP.DAT file, it can be used by both NAMEDROP and NAMEVIEW (NAMEDROP will ignore the File Name section). Perhaps the easiest way to make your personalized NAMEVIEW.DAT file, once you have read over the following instructions, would be to load the NAMEVIEW.DAT file provided with the demo and simply make any necessary changes. Two message format blocks are included in the sample, and chances are that one of them will be one which will work for you. NAMEVIEW.DAT File - Message Format Section The Message Format section is composed of one or more message format blocks. If you download messages from only one conference or one BBS, or if all of your download files will have the same format, regardless of source, then you will need only one message format block. Multiple message format blocks are required only if you download messages of more than one format, as recorded in the message format block. In this case, a separate message format block is needed for each different format. The first line of NAMEVIEW.DAT will be the first line of your first (and possibly only) message format block. The first line of a message format block lists the filename extension(s) of message download files which are formatted in accordance with that message format block. NOTE: Place the file name extension of files which you wish to AutoLoad in the first position of the first message format block. This is the ONLY extension which is searched for by the AutoLoad feature! 8 A complete message format block is composed as follows (items in brackets [] are optional): Sample Block Explanation (NOT part of the NAMEVIEW.DAT file!) ------------ ------------------------------------------------ TRS [PST] [KDM] - the filename extension(s) using this format block From: - First Line key word Subject: - Subject Line key word * Origin: - Last Line key word ~ - separates multiple message format blocks (use ^ to start filename section if only one message format block is used) Your First Line key word should be a word which is consistently found at the beginning of each message contained in your download file. This entry is used by NAMEVIEW to determine the beginning of each message in turn to be searched. After loading the entire mes- sage, beginning with the line on which a First Line key word was found, NAMEVIEW then starts searching. Your Subject Line key word should be a word which is consistent- ly found at the beginning of the line that states the subject of each message. Your Last Line key word should be a word which is consistently found at the end of each message contained in your download file. This entry is used by NAMEVIEW to determine the end of each message being searched. Although the line found containing your Last Line key word is not searched, this line is written to any Sort files chosen, is printed if either Print option is chosen, and is shown onscreen, if applicable. NOTE: The entry for "Last Line key word" (" * Origin:" in sample above) must be entered EXACTLY as it appears in your messages. YOU MUST INCLUDE ANY LEADING SPACES WHICH APPEAR ON THIS LINE. NAMEVIEW will not be able to correctly identify individual messages if this is not done. Enter up to five message format blocks as necessary for your needs. Use a single tilde (~) on a line by itself to separate the preceding message format block from the next message format block. Upper and lower case MUST BE ACCURATE when entering your message format block information and the filename extension(s) must be in UPPER case. 9 NAMEVIEW.DAT File - File Name Section The second section of the NAMEVIEW.DAT file is the File Name section. For users of NAMEDROP, who already have a NAMEDROP.DAT file, this section is the only one that needs to be added for full functionality of the NAMEVIEW program. The start of the File Name section is signaled by a single caret (^) on a line by itself. This caret will be on the line following the Last Line key word(s) of your last message format block. You can enter up to 10 file names, which will be assigned to function keys 1 - 10 in the order in which they are found in the .DAT file. The file name section is composed as follows: Sample Block Explanation (NOT part of the NAMEVIEW.DAT file!) ------------ ------------------------------------------------ ^ - signals start of file name section C:\NGC\SENT - first file name (assigned to F1) A:RECEIVED - second file name (assigned to F2) TO_CHECK - third file name (assigned to F3) TO_ANSER. - fourth file name (assigned to F4) GENERAL.DAT - last file name (assigned to F5, as 5th filename) ~~ - signals start of name (search) list section If you enter file names without an extension, as in the first three file names in the example above, NAMEVIEW will automatically add the extension "NMV" (NaMeView). If you would prefer not to have the default extension added, simply end your file name with a period, as in the fourth file name assigned above (TO_ANSER.). If you want your own extension on your file name, simply enter the full file name + extension, and NAMEVIEW will assign your full file name, as in "GENERAL.DAT" above. In the above example, only five file names are given, but all 10 functions keys will still be assigned a file name. If you enter any number of file names less than 10, the remaining file names will be assigned the program default names of the function key pressed + the extension "NMV". Notice also that full drive and path specifications can be given as well as file names. Any file name entered without a path will be written to the default drive and subdirectory, but any file name entered with a [drive][path] will be written to in accordance with those directions. Your file name entries can be checked at any time by calling the (Filename) Help Screen. All file names are shown in their complete format on the NAMEVIEW Filename Help page (see Help section for details). 10 With a File Name section in your NAMEVIEW.DAT file as described above, file names would be assigned to the 10 function keys as fol- lows: F1 - C:\NGC\SENT.NMV (default extension added) F2 - A:RECEIVED.NMV (default extension added) F3 - TO_CHECK.NMV (default extension added) F4 - TO_ANSER. (no extension added - suppressed with period) F5 - GENERAL.DAT (your extension added, as it was specified) F6 - F6.NMV (default filenames and extension used for F7 - F7.NMV remainder of files, as no more filenames F8 - F8.NMV specified) F9 - F9.NMV F10 - F10.NMV NAMEVIEW.DAT File - Search List Section The last section of the .DAT file is your search list. The start of the search list is signaled by a double tilde (~~) on a line by itself. Each search list item (or name) is placed on a separate line. Search words may consist of any sequence of charac- ters (letters, numbers, and punctuation) which you wish to find. Search words may be entered in UPPERCASE, lower case, or MiXeD Case, as only the sequence of characters is important. There is no practi- cal limit on the length of a search word, and there is no practical limit on the number of search words in your list. More than one word can be entered on the same line as a single search list item. For example, if you use Family Roots software, and would like to be shown all instances of "Family Roots" as you read messages, then "Family Roots" (without the quote marks, of course) should be entered on a line by itself. NAMEVIEW is no longer confused with multiple occurrences of the same search word in separate entries. In other words, you can now have the following entries in your search list without causing problems: North South North Carolina South Carolina Carolina Virginia West Virginia 11 Sample NAMEVIEW.DAT File In order to clarify the above separate examples, a complete (almost) NAMEVIEW.DAT file is given below: NAMEVIEW.DAT Explanation (NOT part of the NAMEVIEW.DAT file) ------------ ------------------------------------------------ TRS PAS KDM \ From: \ Subject: - First Message Format block * Origin: / ~ - Divider for additional format block HPC \ Msg #: \ Topic: - Second Message Format block * Origin / ^ - signals start of File Name section SENT \ RECEIVED \ TO_CHECK - File Name section TO_ANSER. / GENERAL.DAT / ~~ - signals start of Name List section Archer \ Atwood \ . - Name List (Search List) section . / . / . (names until list is completed - no end marker required!) NOTE: In the above example, only files with the extension TRS will be searched for by the AutoLoad feature (first position of the first message format block). When you have completed your NAMEVIEW.DAT file, save it in ASCII format. See Appendix A, "Ways to Write Your NAMEVIEW.DAT File" for help in doing this if you have questions. NAMEVIEW.DAT File Tips If you have a name with several spelling variations (for ex- ample, BASYE, BASEE, & BASEY) you can easily put all variations in your search list, as the number of entries is essentially unlimited. By doing so, you'll catch a message containing your name regardless of which version the originator used. Although there is no real reason to do so, I put all of the primary spellings of my names at the beginning of my list. The secondary spellings are started when I have finished entering all of my primary ones. Entering just the root of a name will probably result in no finds at all. If you tried to cover the three variations given above 12 on BASYE by using BAS as one of the search items, your search would be unsuccessful. NAMEVIEW does not find imbedded words (example: it will not find "the" in "theatre"). A "hit" is made only when it is a stand-alone word. Other items you may want to consider putting in your search list are county names, city names, the name and/or abbreviation of your favorite genealogy program, and things like LDS. If there is anyone on your echo who's messages are always of interest to you, put their full BBS name in your search list. If you like to read mes- sages addressed to ALL, then figure out the spacing which will appear on your messages' TO line. For example, you would enter something like "To: ALL" in your search list. Beware of search words which may turn out to be a nuisance. For example, I have the names "Page" and "North" in my list. Every time there is a reference to a page number, or North Carolina, etc. I get a hit during my search. Even when I check for uppercase (see fea- tures section), there are still many useless hits on the Page (for obvious reasons) name. It's up to you to decide if a name like that is important enough to keep in your list. See the Search Parameters description in the Features chapter for information which may give you additional ideas on what needs to be included in your search list. If you have only one Message Format Block, including NMV (or the extension you choose to use with your sort file names) in the first line will enable you to use NAMEVIEW to read any of the Sort Files which you save to. Floppy Disk Set Up NAMEVIEW works fine on a floppy disk system, but there will be limitations on the size of the download file that can be handled due to the limited capacity of a floppy disk. If you have two floppy disk drives, one drive can be used ini- tially to load the program. The same drive can then be used to read your download file, and the second can be used to write your Sort files (specify the correct drive when entering file names in your .DAT file). In any floppy configuration, your floppy drive light will prob- ably seem to light up at unusual times. This is normal, as the program will be continuously reading and searching for the next message until it is found and readied. 13 Hard Disk Set Up NAMEVIEW works best on a hard disk system due to the speed ad- vantage and the numerous ways in which the files can be set up. The simplest set up is for all files to be in the same directory. If you desire, the program, DAT, download, and sort files can all be in separate directories, depending on how you like to manage your hard disk. NOTE: The only hard set up requirement is that your DAT file MUST be in the default drive and directory when you start NAMEVIEW. NAMEVIEW will not search your DOS path until it finds your DAT file! 14 *** Start Up - How to start NAMEVIEW *** Command Line Entries To start NAMEVIEW from your DOS prompt simply type: [drive][path]NAMEVIEW <ENTER> No additional parameters are required to start the program. The drive and path parameters are only necessary if you wish to load NAMEVIEW from other than the default drive and/or directory. This could also be done via your DOS PATH command if you prefer. Addi- tional command line parameters MAY be added if you desire, although most are reserved for registered versions. Consult the "Command Line Parameters" section for details. At this point NAMEVIEW will load and commence. If a NAMEVIEW.DAT or NAMEDROP.DAT file cannot be found, then the program will produce an error message and stop. See Appendix B for explana- tions of all possible error messages. FILE MENU Operation After a few moments to load, the NAMEVIEW File Menu will appear. This menu allows you to select the drive and/or path for your down- load file listing, list files in the default (or optionally selected) drive and directory (Smart Point & Shoot), mark the current file, and delete the current file. In addition, pressing <Esc> will allow you to exit NAMEVIEW, if desired, even though this option does not appear onscreen. All menu features are activated by pressing the highlight- ed letter associated with the feature. See the features section for full details on all of the menu items. The Mark file and Delete file options will not be available unless the current file has already been read during the current session. Additionally, the Mark file option is not available when the current file has been "Book Marked," although a "Book Marked" file can be deleted. You will be asked to verify these two selec- tions for safety before action is taken. When the List Files feature is selected, NAMEVIEW shows you its Smart Point and Shoot file list. Use the Up and Down arrows to highlight the desired file, then press ENTER to select it. You cannot proceed beyond the File Menu until a download file has been chosen. Once this has occurred, the "<ENTER> for Set UP" prompt will appear at the bottom of the menu. Press ENTER to con- tinue to the SET UP Menu. You will be able to return to the File Menu (to select additional files!) at any time from the Message screen by pressing "M" (case is significant!). 15 If you are a registered user, and you have included the AutoLoad parameter on the command line, and the AutoLoad feature found a file to load, the File Menu will be bypassed. Even if initially bypassed, the File Menu can still be called from the Message screen as pre- viously mentioned. SET UP MENU Operation The Set UP Menu allows you to change any of NAMEVIEW's operating parameters and optionally to select a Special Search item. As with the File Menu, options are selected or toggled by pressing the high- lighted key associated with the feature. <Esc> will allow program termination if desired. The "Find Book Mark" parameter is available only if you selected a "Book Marked" file. If this is the case, the "Find Book Mark" parameter is then automatically set to YES, but can be changed at your discretion. For registered users, if the "X" command line parameter is used, the Set Up Menu will be bypassed on initial load up. If additional download files are selected for reading, the Set Up menu will then be available for use. All parameter settings remain constant unless and until they are changed, even if multiple files are read in a single session. NAME- VIEW will not reset parameters to the defaults or to those set in your command line when the Set Up Menu is recalled. Help is available from the Set Up Menu screen (or any time you are reading messages) by pressing "H". When you are finished toggling your Set Up Menu selections, press <ENTER> to exit the menu and begin reading messages. Command Line Parameters Except for the "D" (Force Mono Function) parameter, the command line parameter option is available only in registered versions of NAMEVIEW. After you have run NAMEVIEW several times, you might settle on a configuration which differs from the default and which you prefer to use all the time. This configuration could be entered on the command line via your menu program or a simple batch file. If this is done, you will not have to toggle in your configuration each time NAMEVIEW is started. To enter your configuration changes on the command line, type a space after NAMEVIEW and then type the appropriate characters (case does not matter). Using the menu letters on the command line will take the configuration out of its default mode the same as if you had pressed the letter once when stopped at the NAMEVIEW menu. If you 16 want a particular feature to run in the default mode, then don't type that menu letter on the command line. Command line entries are as follows: A = Activate AutoLoad feature Cdddd = Set Custom Message Screen colors as specified D = Force Display into mono mode (not available in menus) L = Line Wrap Check M = Read ALL messages Pd = Set print device as specified S = Sound will be turned ON U = Upper case check will NOT be done X = Start reading without stopping at Set Up menu to verify entries In order for the AutoLoad feature to work, ALL of the following conditions must be met: 1. You must be using a registered version of NAMEVIEW. 2. The "A" parameter must be specified in the command line. 3. Your system (DOS) calender must be correctly set (NAMEVIEW uses the current system date to formulate the filename to search for). 4. You must name your download files in accordance with the system described in the "Saving your Message Downloads" section. 5. The filename extension of the files you wish to AutoLoad must be the first filename extension appearing in your DAT file! 6. There must be a download file in the current drive and directory meeting the above requirements with a name re- flecting the current date. Custom Message Screen Colors are set in registered versions with the "Cdddd" command line entry where "dddd" consists of 2 two digit number entries. The first two digits following the "C" specify the foreground color (color of the actual characters themselves) to be used. The last two digits specify the background color (space not used by the actual characters) to be used. These colors are then reversed to create the highlighted parts of your messages. 17 Enter numbers as follows to customize your Message Screen: Color Number Foreground Color Background Color 00 Black Black 01 Blue Blue 02 Green Green 03 Cyan Cyan 04 Red Red 05 Magenta Magenta 06 Brown Brown 07 White White 08 Gray Black 09 Bright Blue Blue 10 Bright Green Green 11 Bright Cyan Cyan 12 Bright Red Red 13 Bright Magenta Magenta 14 Yellow Brown 15 Bright White White Notice that "bright" colors are only available for foreground colors. However, if the numbers 08 - 15 are used to specify the background color, high intensity characters will appear when the colors reverse temporarily for highlighting. If you specify numbers other than those given in the chart above, NAMEVIEW will refuse to process them and revert to the default (Cyan letters, black background) settings. NOTE: Enter numbers exactly as shown. Both digits must be specified for each color! Otherwise, NAMEVIEW will probably ignore your settings! The Print device may be customized with the "Pd" entry, where "d" is a single digit specifying the number of the LPT device to be used. If, for example, your entry is "P2" then all print requests will be made to LPT2. If no entry is made, the default LPT1 is used. Notice that the last command line letter entry will allow the program to bypass the Set Up Menu without the requirement for user input from the keyboard. If no "X" is present in the command line, the program will make its normal pause at the menu, but your command line entries will already be selected for you to verify. For multiple command line letter entries, merely type all of the desired parameter letters one after the other without separating them with spaces or punctuation. Command line letters can be entered in any order. Example: entering the following on the command line - NAMEVIEW SM would load NAMEVIEW , set sound ON, and set the read messages para- 18 meter to ALL. NAMEVIEW would still stop at the Menu Screen for you to verify (or further change) entries. Example: using several registered version features - NAMEVIEW ALP2C1402X would load NAMEVIEW, activate the AutoLoad feature, set Line Wrap check to ON, set the printer option to LPT2, set Message Screen colors to Yellow on Green, and bypass the Set Up Menu. Providing that the AutoLoad feature found a file name reflecting the current date, NAMEVIEW would load that file (bypassing the File Menu), set the Line Wrap check parameter to ON, bypass the Set Up menu, and go directly to the Message screen, which would be the first thing you would see! 19 *** Program Operation - How to use NAMEVIEW *** Once <ENTER> is pressed at the Set Up menu, NAMEVIEW will switch to the Message Screen, start searching, and present messages onscreen for you to read. An Information Line will always be present at the bottom of the screen to keep you informed of program progress, ac- tions, available hot keys, and possibly error messages. A key to the information line is available as one of the Help screens. The fol- lowing sections are given as full descriptions of the individual Information Line features. Information Line - Action Messages The first section of the Information Line presents several Action Messages which describe what the program is doing. A descrip- tion of the Action Messages can be reviewed at any time by pressing "H" for the Help section. Then PgUp or PgDn until you find the "NAMEVIEW Information Line" Help page. Action Message Description -------------- ---------------------------------------- Searching... NAMEVIEW is finding and preparing the (steady) next message. This is the normal message which appears immediately after a new message is shown onscreen. Searching... NAMEVIEW has acknowledged your "N" or "R" (blinking) keypress asking for the next (or pre- vious) message, but is still searching for or processing it. The next message will be shown onscreen as soon as it is ready. Searching... EXTENDED! NAMEVIEW has entered an "extended search" (usually blinking) for the next message. This is caused either by a message which exceeds program limits (240 lines) or a bad "last line" entry in your .DAT file. The program will recover from a "long" message, but will terminate with a bad "last line" entry. <Esc> can be pressed to terminate the program if desired. Waiting... Shown if NAMEVIEW is able to find and (steady) prepare the next message before you are ready for it (you haven't pressed "N" yet after the current onscreen message was shown to you). The next message will be shown immediately when you press "N". 20 Last Message Shown if the message that is currently (blinking) onscreen is the last one meeting your criteria in the download file. Press <Esc> if you are ready to exit NAMEVIEW, or any other Hot Key for appropriate action. Printing message to LPT1 The current onscreen message is being (steady) sent to the printer. Adding message to filename The current onscreen message is being (steady) added to (filename). Information Line - Hot Keys The next section of the Information Line gives a listing of the hot keys available for you to control program features and execution. This listing is shown as: F#/Es/H/N/R/P/F/B/M/m/U/L/S <F#> indicates the function keys are active, and <Es> indicates the "Esc" key is active. NOTE: All keys are case insensitive EXCEPT for the letter "M". Different features will be activated depending on whether an upper case or lower case "M" is pressed! A description of the Hot Keys can be reviewed at any time by pressing "H" for the Help section. Then PgUp or PgDn until you find the "NAMEVIEW Hot Keys" Help page. Keys shown in parenthesis below are additional keys which will also activate the described feature. The Hot Keys are used as follows: Hot Key Description ------- --------------------------------------------------------- F1-F10 To add the current onscreen message to a Sort file, press the function key to which the desired filename has been assigned. Esc Used to return to normal program operation if you are in (Q) the Help section, or to exit NAMEVIEW during normal pro- gram operation. (Pressing "Q" calls the EXIT routine only when the Last Message prompt is visible). H Press "H" to view the Help pages available. N Pressed when you are ready to view the next message. (ENTER) (DOWN arrow) 21 Hot Key Description (continued) ------- --------------------------------------------------------- R Reverse Read, returns you to the previous onscreen (UP arrow) message. P Press "P" to print the current onscreen message (to LPT1). F Press "F" to print the current onscreen message (to LPT1) followed by a Form Feed. B Inserts a "Book Mark," and returns you to the File Menu. M (Upper case) Menu Return, returns you to the File Menu. m (Lower case) Toggles the Message Reading parameter. U Toggles the Upper Case check parameter. L Toggles the Line Wrap check parameter. S Toggles the Sound parameter. PgUp Selects the previous page of the onscreen message, if (LEFT applicable. Also used to cycle through the three Help arrow) pages. PgDn Selects the next page of the onscreen message, if appli- (RIGHT cable. Also used to cycle through the three Help pages. arrow) NOTE: For those with BIOS supported enhanced keyboards, the grey cursor, PgUp, and PgDn keys will work as well as the white ones. Information Line - Messages Processed The next section of the Information Line keeps a total of the number of messages processed. This is not the number of messages you have viewed, but rather the number of messages NAMEVIEW has had to process in it's search. Information Line - Names Found The next section of the Information Line keeps a total of the number of names found. This total will always be higher than the totals you have seen using NAMEDROP. This is due to the fact that if the same name is found more than once in a message, NAMEVIEW will add all occurrences of the name to the total. NAMEDROP would only add one count per name found per message. 22 Information Line - Current and Total Pages The last section of the Information Line tells you which screen page you are viewing and the total number of screen pages, both referring to the current onscreen message. If you see "Pg 1 of 1", then the current onscreen message consists of only one screen page, which you are currently viewing. If you see "Pg 1 of 5", then the current onscreen message is five screen pages (24 lines each) long, and you are currently viewing screen page one. Press PgDn or PgUp (or the Left or Right cursor keys) as appropriate to page through each multi-page message. Program capacity is limited to a total of ten screen pages (240 lines). Any messages found with more than 240 lines will be truncated so as not to exceed program limits (crash prevention). If you selected the "Read ALL Messages" menu option, and a search "hit" was made in the current onscreen message, the "Pg" characters in this section will blink. This is to alert you to the fact that a search "hit" was found in the onscreen message. This may not other- wise be apparent to you if the message consists of more than one screen page and no highlighting appears on the first page. Help System NAMEVIEW's Help system consists of three Help pages which can be called at any time (except when the File Menu is onscreen) by press- ing "H". Once you have called the Help system, PgUp and/or PgDn (and/or the left and right arrow keys) can be used to cycle through the Help pages in either direction. The three Help pages cover NAMEVIEW Hot Keys, NAMEVIEW Filenames, and the NAMEVIEW Information Line Key. The information contained on the NAMEVIEW Hot Keys Help page and the NAMEVIEW Information Line Key page has been covered elsewhere. The NAMEVIEW Filename page is a listing of the complete filenames assigned to each of the ten function keys. In addition, it shows the name of the current message download file which is being searched and read. To exit the Help section, press <Esc>. NAMEVIEW remembers what Help page you were on when you exit. The next time you call the Help section, you will be returned to that same page. Most users might want to exit Help while viewing the NAMEVIEW Filename page. Then when you wish to add to a Sort file and can't remember the function key to which the desired file name was assigned, pressing "H" will immediately return you back to the NAMEVIEW Filenames page. Of course, exiting the Help section will return you to the same screen page of the message you were viewing when Help was selected. 23 Early Termination of Program Execution NAMEVIEW can be terminated at any time (except while viewing Help screens or the Smart Point & Shoot file list) by pressing the <Esc> key. If you are viewing the Help screens or the file list, pressing <Esc> will return you to normal program operation. Another press of <Esc> at this time will start the termination procedure. Since anyone can make a mistake, you will be prompted to verify that you want to terminate the program before you are actually "dumped." Pressing "Y" at the termination prompt will dump the program. Press- ing any other key will return you to normal NAMEVIEW operation. Normal Program Termination Normal program completion is first signaled by the flashing "Last Message.." prompt in the Action message area of the information line. Exit at this point via the normal <Esc> key function, or by pressing "Q" (for Quit) when you are finished with the last message. If you desire, you can return to the File Menu by pressing "M". 24 *** NAMEVIEW Features *** Active Parameter Switching - Users can now change the Line Wrap Check, Message (ALL or those containing Search Words), Sound, and Upper Case Check parameters at any time while messages are being read. This is in addition to being able to change them at the Set Up menu or with command line parameters (registered users). If these settings are changed while viewing messages, a short BEEP will sound to let you know the change has been made (except for the Sound para- meter). It may take one additional message screen for the changes to take affect, since NAMEVIEW is usually already pro- cessing the next message while you are viewing the current one. AutoLoad Feature - AutoLoad is available only to registered users of NAMEVIEW. If this command line parameter is present, NAMEVIEW automatically looks for a download file with a name reflecting the current date on start-up. If the file is present, it is loaded, the "File Menu Options" menu is skipped, and the user is immediately presented with the Set Up menu. If the file is not found, the "File Menu Options" menu is presented normally. Conditions for ensuring that the AutoLoad feature will work are given in the "Command Line Entries" section of the documentation. Automated Caps Lock/Num Lock Adjusting - NAMEVIEW no longer cares about the status of your Caps Lock and Num Lock keys and does nothing to change them. Pressing the appropriate key will activate NAMEVIEW features regardless of the status of the Locking keys. This means that even the num- bers on the top row of the typewriter keys will activate fea- tures in accordance with the comparable numeric keypad paging and arrow keys. Book Mark Feature - This feature gives you the option of saving your place while searching/reading through a long download file (or even a short one). After affirming that you want to place a book mark, NAMEVIEW "marks" the last message that was searched. This "Book Marking" is done by placing a file location code in a special file which NAMEVIEW will create automatically for you. The special file will have the name of your download file with a dollar sign ($) added. In addition, your download file name is changed by adding an exclamation point (!) to it. For example, if your download file is named MAY05.TRS, after placing a book mark, your download file will be named MAY05!.TRS, and the additional file created will be MAY05$.TRS. You can now run other programs on your computer, read other files with NAMEVIEW, or even turn your computer off. For your protection, files which have been "Book Marked" cannot be deleted (by NAMEVIEW). When you wish to resume reading your "Book Marked" download file, simply choose it from the file listing (it should be 25 easily recognized because of the "!" in the filename). When you get to the Set Up Menu, NAMEVIEW will automatically recognize that you have chosen a book marked file, and will automatically set the "Find Book Mark" parameter to YES. At this point, you have the option of changing this parameter to NO, but if you do, you'll start searching all over at the beginning of the file. If you choose to stay with the YES setting, NAMEVIEW will start searching and show you the next file you would have seen if you had not suspended your original search with the Book Mark func- tion. After starting operation with a file in which a "Book Mark" was made, NAMEVIEW automatically cleans up after itself by deleting the special file and renaming the download file to its original name (without the "!"). Command Line Interface - For registered users, a command line interface is available using the same letters as the SET UP Menu to toggle the operat- ing parameters from their default settings. Additional selec- tions can entered to automatically load a download file with a name reflecting the current date, and to direct the program to start immediately at the Message Screen without a pause at the Menu Screen. See the "Command Line MENU Operation" section for details. There is one command line option that is available for non-registered users. See the "Force Mono Function" feature in this section for full details. Custom Message Screen Colors - For registered users, the message text colors may now be cus- tomized. Menu and Help screens and the Information Line at the bottom of the Message Screen are not affected. See the Command Line Parameters section for information on how to specify your desired colors. Display Adapter Detection - NAMEVIEW will detect whether you are using a Monochrome or Color Graphics adapter. Each type of adapter is used according to it's capabilities for program execution. Color adapters will get the full color treatment. In addition, their larger video memory is used to speed message paging and Help screens. Mono- chrome adapters will get reverse video and high intensity high- lighting. For Mono users, if you can't distinguish high inten- sity characters when the menu is onscreen, then your monitor's contrast control needs adjustment. Error Message Display - NAMEVIEW checks for, protects for, and displays specific mes- sages for numerous errors. See Appendix B for a comprehensive description of error messages. Escape Key Function - Pressing <Esc> will let you back out of sub-program routines, and finally, terminate program execution. Esc can be used to terminate NAMEVIEW from the message screen or from either Menu 26 screen. NAMEVIEW will always ask "Are you SURE you want to exit NAMEVIEW?" before dumping you out of the program. Extended Keyboard Interface - You can now choose from multiple keys to activate many NAMEVIEW features. PgUp and PgDn keystrokes can be duplicated with the LEFT and RIGHT arrow keys, the "N" (Next Message) key can be duplicated with the ENTER and DOWN arrow keys, the "R" (Reverse Read) key can be duplicated with the UP arrow key, and "Esc" can be duplicated with the "Q" (Quit) key when the "Last Message.." prompt is visible. In addition, enhanced keyboard users can use either white or grey versions of the cursor and paging keys. All activating keys are indicated on the Features Help screen. Keyboarding is designed so that all message reading functions can be performed conveniently on the cursor (arrow) keys. Floppy User Enhancement - Floppy disk users with only one drive can use one floppy disk containing the program files to start the program. Once the first menu is onscreen, the program disk can be safely exchanged with a second disk containing the download file(s) to be search- ed. This allows the maximum possible room on the floppy disk for download and Sort files. If the AutoLoad feature is to be used, however, then the download file which is to be AutoLoaded must be on the disk which is in the current drive (and in the current subdirectory) during program loading. Force Mono Function: default is OFF - Some computers have color graphics adapters driving monochrome monitors, with colors being interpreted as "different shades of grey." If this is the case, NAMEVIEW will probably try to use its full color mode, as it will have detected the color adapter. This may result in less than optimum readability on your mono- chrome monitor. If your monochrome monitor seems to be hard to read, you can force NAMEVIEW to run in Mono mode by adding a "D" (for Display) following a space at the end of your starting command line. For example: NAMEVIEW D. The only change forced by this parameter is the screen color set. Your color graphics video memory will still be used to best advantage for fast paging. This command line option is available even on unregis- tered versions (although it is the only one available!) so you can get the optimum results on your monitor to try the program before you register. This option can also be used for a color monitor, if you would prefer to run the program in black and white! Help System - A three page help system is built into NAMEVIEW. Once Help is selected (by pressing "H"), help pages can be cycled forward or backward with the PgUp or PgDn keys (white or grey, for enhanced keyboard users). The Help page which is onscreen when you exit Help will be the first one you see if you re-select Help. Help 27 always returns you to the message page you were viewing when Help was selected. Line Wrap Check - default is OFF This feature is necessary only if NAMEVIEW seems to skip or overwrite lines when it presents a message onscreen. You may also see active scrolling of messages if this feature is needed. These problems occur due to "flaws" in the BBS software which automatically gather a batch of new messages to be downloaded. Two different problems can be solved with this feature. The first is caused by line lengths which exceed 80 characters. The second is caused when the message software does not provide a standard carriage return (CR) and line feed (LF) at the end of each line. What typically happens is that a line will end with a CR and two LF's. This fools all manner of file reading soft- ware into thinking that the subsequent line begins with a CR, and therefore plays havoc with precise screen placement, which is critical to NAMEVIEW. If this feature is activated, NAMEVIEW will scan each line and make the appropriate adjustments if either of the above problems are found. There is a small (under 5%, but increases with the amount of correction which has to be done) speed penalty for using this feature. Can be toggled from the Set Up Menu, the command line (for registered users) or any time you are reading messages. If toggled while reading mes- sages, a short BEEP will be heard to let you know the change has taken affect. Mark File Option - This option appears on the "File Menu Options" menu only after a download file has been searched (even partially). If you don't wish to delete the file, but wish to leave an indication that you have already read through it, this option will give you that indication. After you have affirmed that you want the current download file marked, NAMEVIEW will add a pound sign (#) to the filename. For example, if the original file name was MAY05.TRS, after marking, the filename will be MAY05#.TRS. Files thus marked can be easily picked out when they are listed for selec- tion by NAMEVIEW. Message File Deletion Option - This feature is active only when visible on the "File Menu Options" Menu. You will be asked to verify this choice before the file is erased. The only file that is erased with this feature is the filename listed on the "File Menu Options" Menu screen. If there is no file listed, or if the file listed has been "book marked," then this option will not be available. No Sort Files are ever erased by NAMEVIEW. Name(s) Found in Message Indication - If you select the "Read ALL Messages" menu option, and a search "hit" was made in the current onscreen message, the "Pg" charac- ters in the "Pg 1 of X" section of the Information Line will blink. This will help alert you to the fact that a search "hit" 28 was found in the onscreen message even if it occurred after screen page one, and therefore no highlighting appears on the first page. This feature is not active if you use the "Read messages containing SEARCH WORDS" menu option, thus avoiding the useless nuisance of constant blinking. Print Device Customizing - Registered versions can be customized as to the print device written to by the Print Message features. The default device is LPT1. Any other LPT device recognized by your computer can now be specified on the command line. COM ports are not supported due to the number of extra parameters which must also be speci- fied for their use. See the Command Line Parameters section for details on how to set different LPT devices. Print Message (using "P") - During message reading, the current onscreen message can be printed immediately by pressing "P". All printing is sent to LPT1, as indicated on the Information Line while printing is in progress. Using "P" to print a message inserts a few blank lines at the end of each message. Therefore, several messages can be printed on the same page if you prefer to save paper. Print Message (using "F") - This feature prints a message exactly as in the above feature with the exception that a form feed is added to each message instead of several blank lines. This feature is for those who prefer to file each message on a separate piece of paper. Read Selection: default is "messages containing SEARCH WORDS" - If "ALL messages" is selected, all messages will be shown on- screen in turn, regardless of whether or not any search "hits" were made in the current message. If "messages containing SEARCH WORDS" is selected, only those messages in which at least one "hit" was made will be shown onscreen. Can be toggled from the Set Up Menu, the command line (for registered users) or any time you are reading messages. If toggled while reading mes- sages, a short BEEP will be heard to let you know the change has taken affect. Reverse Read (Back Up) Command - An UP arrow or "R" keypress will result in the most previously screened message reappearing on your screen. Up to 10 previous- ly screened messages can be viewed. Search List Tailoring - Due to numerous problems with different text editors trying to produce DAT files, NAMEVIEW now automatically strips trailing spaces from all Search List entries and removes any null en- tries from the end of the list. 29 Search Parameters - NAMEVIEW is written so that a "hit" must be a stand-alone word. This means that your search word, as found in the download file, must be surrounded by spaces, punctuation, hard return codes, or be at the beginning of a line (or any combination of these) in order for the program to report it as a legitimate find. For example, if one of your search words is "Cox" the program will find "Cox" but will not find "Wilcox" or "Coxe". By ignoring imbedded words, the number of nuisance hits in your search is reduced. This is why it is important to include all spellings of the names (for genealogists) which you are interested in finding, as searching for just the root part of the name will probably result in no success in your search. All lines (in- cluding the To:, From:, and Subject: lines) are searched for your search words EXCEPT the last line, which is usually the Origin line describing the bulletin board on which the message was entered. Smart Point & Shoot Download File Selection - When the "List File Names" selection is chosen from the "File Menu Options" menu, NAMEVIEW displays only those files with filename extensions appearing in your NAMEVIEW.DAT file. This shortens the time necessary for you to find the desired file, and eliminates unnecessary errors caused by trying to load files that were not meant for use with NAMEVIEW. The UP and DOWN arrow keys are used to highlight the desired file. If the file list is bigger than the display window, up and/or down arrows are displayed to indicate that additional file names are avail- able by scrolling beyond the top or bottom of the window. Any drive and/or directory can be targeted for file listing. Sort Files: User or Default Naming - All sort files (10) can be named (including drive and path parameters) completely at the users discretion. If file names are not listed in the NAMEVIEW.DAT file, NAMEVIEW will automati- cally assign default filenames to the function keys. See set-up section for details. Sort Files: Writing to Disk - NAMEVIEW never overwrites previous Sort File data. Any NAMEVIEW Sort File write will only add (append) the current message data to the data already in the file. Sort Files will automatically be created as specified if not previously in existence when you attempt to write to one. In order to safeguard your data, NAMEVIEW does not "open" a Sort File until you elect to write data to it. The file is then opened, the data is written, and the file is immediately closed. If you use floppies for your Sort File writes, this means you can change floppy disks in your Sort File drive between Sort File writes (not advisable for single floppy drive users). The Information Line will tempo- rarily change to show you which Sort File is currently being written to during the Sort File write. 30 Sound: default is OFF - If sound ON is selected, a short chime will sound as NAMEVIEW completes it's processing of each message. If a "hit" is made, a slightly different chime will sound. A warning chime will sound if <Esc> was pressed, and a program completion chime will sound as the program is exited. A warning tone will sound, regardless of the Sound parameter setting, if a PgUp or PgDn key press is inappropriate or if the Delete option is selected. Sound is not recommended during Special Searches. During Spe- cial Searches, on everything but the slowest computers, NAMEVIEW will usually take less time to process each message than it takes to sound the chime. After a short time searching, the sound buffer will fill, and program execution will slow notice- ably. Sound effects can be toggled from the Set Up Menu, the command line (for registered users) or any time you are reading messages. Special Search: default is OFF When selected from the Set Up Menu, permits entry of a single, special search item. When this feature is used, your normal search list will be ignored, and the download file will be searched for this single item only. If your search item is found in any message, that message will be printed onscreen with all occurrences of the special search item in reverse video. All other NAMEVIEW key functions remain the same. This is the fastest possible search, as only one item has to be searched for instead of your entire search list. Select "Input Special Search" again to erase a search item which was previously enter- ed. Upper Case Check: default is ON When this parameter is ON, NAMEVIEW will not return a "hit" unless the first character of the found word/name was an upper case letter in the download file being searched. Leaving this parameter on will reduce the number of nuisance "hits" if all of the words in your search list are proper names. Can be toggled from the Set Up Menu, the command line (for registered users) or any time you are reading messages. If toggled while reading messages, a short BEEP will be heard to let you know the change has taken affect. The following chart shows how NAMEVIEW will handle different cases depending on how the Upper Case parameter is set: Upper Case Check Words appearing in download file ON OFF +--------------------------------------+------+-----+ | PAGE | * | * | | Page | * | * | | page | | * | | pAGE | | * | +--------------------------------------+------+-----+ * signifies a "hit" 31 APPENDIX A Ways to Write Your NAMEVIEW.DAT File There are numerous ways to write or modify your NAMEVIEW.DAT file, as it is merely an ASCII file containing information in a particular format. Word Processing Software - Perhaps the easiest way to create an ASCII file is with your word processor. Most word processors can read and write ASCII (or DOS text) files, if you know the required commands to do so. Using your word processor makes writing the file very easy, as you are already familiar and probably very comfortable with your program. If you are not familiar with reading and writing ASCII files with your word processor, be sure to review your manual for instructions. DO NOT try to create NAMEVIEW.DAT by using your normal Save option. Doing so will result in special formatting codes being saved along with your text, and NAMEVIEW will be unable to read the file correctly. Check for special quirks of your program that may thwart your efforts for an ASCII save. For example, I use WordPerfect 4.2 at times to write ASCII files. The ASCII save is pretty straight-forward (press Ctrl + F5, then choose #1 from the menu presented). The problem comes when you exit the program after your ASCII save. When you select EXIT, you are asked if you want to save your document. You MUST choose NO at this point. If you choose yes, the file is saved again in formatted form, and it will overwrite the ASCII version which you originally saved. If your word processor is not capable of reading and writing ASCII files, chose one of the other methods available to you. TED - (Tiny EDitor), an excellent full screen editor TED is a tiny, full screen editor intended for line-oriented files up to 64k in size. It was written by Tom Kihlken and made available for non-commercial public use by PC Magazine. It makes full use of the keypad cursor keys for moving and scroll- ing, and it lets you cut, copy, paste, and print. TED has been distributed free along with the NAMEVIEW files for your con- venience in writing your NAMEVIEW.DAT file. This is probably the simplest and easiest way to handle your ASCII file process- ing needs. 32 Appendix B Error Messages and Problems There are numerous errors which NAMEVIEW specifically guards for. Errors which occur prior to the presentation of the menu are an- nounced in a prominent error message box. Errors which occur with menus or once the message screen is entered are presented on the Information Line. If you are presented with an "Information Line Error," pressing <ENTER> will erase the error message and resume normal operations. The operation which caused the error will not be resumed or retried automatically by NAMEVIEW. The following are errors which may occur after NAMEVIEW has initially loaded. For DOS error messages which occur prior to NAMEVIEW loading and starting, see your DOS manual. Error Message Error Explanation or Fix =============================== ================================= Attempt to ReName - File Al- You already had a "marked" file ready Exists! with the same base name as the file you are attempting to "mark." DOS has rejected your attempt to make "duplicate" files. Can't access printer or disk The printer (LPT1) or disk drive drive specified - you are attempting to access is not online or does not exist. CAN'T FIND ANY NAME????.DAT NAMEVIEW has looked for both FILES! NAMEVIEW.DAT and NAMEDROP.DAT files and can't find either in the current drive & directory. Cor- rect the problem and restart the program. Disk in specified drive is Your disk drive hardware has FLAWED - detected a physical flaw on the disk. Disk in specified drive is There is not enough room on the FULL disk for the completion of the current PRINT operation. Disk in specified drive is Replace disk with non-write-pro- WRITE PROTECTED - tected disk, or remove write- protection. Disk missing from drive or Self-explanatory. May also be drive DOOR is OPEN - caused by a locking lever not locked on the specified drive. 33 DRIVE or PATH specified is You have specified an invalid INVALID! drive letter in the path for the download file listing. Illegal filename (too many or A filename specified in your improper characters) - NAMEVIEW.DAT file does not conform to DOS filename specifications. You will see this error only when you attempt to write to the file using the illegal filename. No error checking is done on Sort File names when they are read from the .DAT file. Illegal PRINTER device The printer you specified in the specified - command line is not recognized by your system. I/O Error...check for unfor- An attempt was made to read or matted DISK! write to an unformatted disk. Not enough space on DISK to NAMEVIEW temporarily needs a small make directory! amount of disk space to provide a directory listing. Fix the pro- blem and try again. PRINTER is probably turned OFF Self-explanatory. PRINTER is probably OFF-LINE Check the printer on-line light and correct the situation. PRINTER out of paper or not "Out of Paper" is the usual cause turned ON of this error. Probable bad <Last Line> entry Self-explanatory. Program will in .DAT file. terminate. Your .DAT file must be fixed to correct this error. (This message will appear after a protracted wait in which "Search- ing... EXTENDED!" will appear on the information line. The <Esc> key may be pressed any time the "EXTENDED!" prompt appears without waiting for the full error message to appear. Probable hardware error in Self-explanatory. You have a specified drive. problem with the disk drive you just tried to write to. 34 Report error message to pro- I hope you never see this one. grammer...unable to continue! If you do, and you can duplicate Error value xx... the error, please send as much information as you can to me so I can (hopefully) fix it. Unable to find path specified Most likely a problem with your Sort File names. Recheck your Sort File [path][directory] names in your .DAT file for incorrect entries. NOTE: The following occurrences will not be accompanied by an error message. They are included in this section to help you rectify pro- blems based on the symptoms displayed. If NAMEVIEW does not show you any onscreen messages, the blinking "Searching..." message is seen in the Information line until finally replaced by the "Last Message" action message, and the MS and NF counters remain at 0, then you probably have a bad "First Line" entry in your DAT file. Pressing <Esc> will allow you to exit from this condition to fix your DAT file. If your specified command line colors (registered versions only) do not appear, then they were out of limits. Both numbers specified on the command line must be between the values of 0 and 15. 35 Appendix C NAMEVIEW Upgrade Enhancements Current version 2.01 The NAMEVIEW shareware version can be identified as #.##S###, and the registered version can be identified as #.##R###. Version 0.00 - No number...first BETA test program Version 1.00 - Original program release Version 1.01 - 1. "Esc" key bug fix. Fixed a bug in the "Esc" routine which would disable the PgUp and PgDn keys if an "Esc" key press was aborted (re- turn to program operation instead of terminating program). 2. Additional Error Routines. Error routine improved to give specific "Duplicate words in search list," "I/O Error...can't continue," and "Probable hardware error in specified drive" error messages. Version 1.02 - 1. Error Routine Bug Fix. Fixed bug in "Probable bad <Last Line> entry in .DAT file" routine. Program used to hang, necessitating reboot when this error occurred rather than displaying the error mes- sage. NAMEVIEW now correctly identifies and displays the error message before terminating. 2. Print Routine Bug Fix. Fixed a bug which would sometimes dump the program when a message was printed and then immediately saved to an FKey file. 3. Null ".DAT" File Entry Errors Eliminated. This routine was added to strip any null entries found at the end of the NAMEVIEW.DAT file, eliminating one of the most common problems with setting the program up. 4.* Added "Name(s) Found in Message Indication. Added a blinking "Pg" indication that names have been found in the onscreen message if Read ALL messages parameter is chosen. for items marked with "*", see the Features section for more details 36 Version 1.03 - 1.* Extended Keyboard Interface added. NAMEVIEW features can now be activated by several different keys, depending on your preference. Grey keys on enhanced keyboards (with BIOS support) now work. 2.* Caps Lock and Num Lock no longer changed. NAMEVIEW no longer messes with your locking key settings. Instead, it will trap all possible combinations of the hot keys so they will activate regardless of the locking key settings. 3. Help Section Bug Fix. Fixed a bug which would cause a crash if Help was selected while paused at the opening menu. Version 1.04 - 1.* Line Wrap Check added. NAMEVIEW can now check for and correct excessive line lengths and missing carriage returns. This is essentially a fix for errors which are due to BBS software problems. 2. Hot Key bug fix. Several hot key bugs which crept in with the change over to the Extended Keyboard Interface have been corrected. Version 2.00 - 1.* Smart Point & Shoot download file selection added. NAMEVIEW displays only those files which have filename extensions described in your NAMEVIEW.DAT file. Any drive and/or directory can be targeted for file listing. 2. Multiple download file reading capability added. Users can now read numerous download files without having to reload NAMEVIEW for each one. 3.* Mark File feature added. At your option, you can mark a download file as having been read without deleting it. 4.* Book Mark feature added. You can now stop in the middle of reading a download file, mark your place, and return to where you left off later. 5.* AutoLoad feature added. If selected, registered users can automatically load a file named to reflect the current date on start-up. 6.* Reverse Read feature added. Users can now back up and view previous messages. 7.* Print + Form Feed feature added. Users can now optionally select a print feature which adds a form feed after your message is printed. 37 8.* Active parameter switching added. Users can now change the Line Wrap Check, Message (ALL or Search Word), Sound, and Upper Case Check parameters at any time while messages are being read. 9. Right-most spaces and null items are now automatically trimmed from search list entries. These items caused lots of problems in getting your search list set up so NAMEVIEW would work correctly. NAMEVIEW now does the work for you! 10. Active menu file-protection feature added. NAMEVIEW will not let you delete a file which has not been read yet, or which has been "book marked." 11. Automatically set Find Book Mark parameter. NAMEVIEW automatically sets the Find Book Mark parameter to YES when a download file which has had a book mark placed has been selected. 12. Screen printing routine enhanced. Printing of highlighted items is now approximately 50% faster. 13. Prohibition on repeated words in the search list is deleted. This problem was cured simultaneously with the faster screen printing routine! 14. Line Wrap check enhanced Code was changed to eliminate errors (& freeze-ups) which could occur in some special circumstances. Version 2.01 - 1.* Added Custom Message Screen Color ability Registered versions now allow user defined colors for the message screen. 2.* Print device can now be specified Registered versions allow user definition of the desired print device. 3. Added "File Already Exists" error protection. Protects from crashes if "marking" a file will result in duplicate file names (another file already has the name that the current file will have when the "#" is added). 4. Code cleanup & consolidation. Always trying to make it smaller and faster! for items marked with "*", see the Features section for more details 38 Appendix D Registration and Support If you become a regular user of NAMEVIEW, please support it by regis- tering. The forms on the following page are included for your con- venience. If you wish to obtain additional information not covered in this documentation or to make comments or suggestions about NAMEVIEW, contact: Ray Cox 17410 Huntersglen Humble, TX 77396-1622 713-454-6074 NAMEVIEW was originally written for genealogy users. If you have a question or problem that may be of interest to others, you may ad- dress a message to me, Ray Cox, on the GENSOFT BBS Conference (or the National Genealogical Conference - NGC - if GENSOFT isn't available to you) via any BBS which supports it. I download and review mes- sages from these conferences at least three times a week, and will answer all messages using that medium. Upgrades are provided to registered users for $2.50 AND YOUR ORIGINAL DISK (covers disk mailer and postage charges). If you find a share- ware version of NAMEVIEW which is a later version than your regis- tered copy and you would like to upgrade, send in your old NAMEVIEW disk to the above address along with your upgrade fee. Your updated version will be returned promptly. Only 360k, 5 1/4" disks are supported at this time. REGISTERED NAMEDROP USERS Those who were registered NAMEDROP users on the date that NAMEVIEW was originally released can register NAMEVIEW for the special price of $10.00. This is my thanks to you for your early support of my software efforts. 39 NAMEVIEW Registration ($15.00) Name ____________________________________ Phone ___________________ Address _________________________________ City, State _____________________________ Zip ____________________ I understand that my registered version of NAMEVIEW is not for public distribution, but is solely for my own use. Signature ___________________________________ Disk configuration: 1 floppy_____ 2 floppy_____ Hard Disk_____ Video: Color_____ Mono_____ System memory: ___________k Where did you get NAMEVIEW? ______________________________________ NAMEVIEW Shareware version number: _______________________________ (appears in reverse video bar as v#.##L### while MENU is onscreen) Suggestions, Comments ____________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ ================================================================== NAMEVIEW Upgrade ($2.50 and your original disk) Name ____________________________________ Phone ___________________ Address _________________________________ City, State _____________________________ Zip ____________________ NAMEVIEW serial no. _____________________________________ (appears in reverse video bar as v#.##L### while MENU is onscreen) I understand that my registered version of NAMEVIEW is not for public distribution, but is solely for my own use. Signature ___________________________________ Problems, Suggestions, Comments: _________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ 40