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**************************************** * * * MEAL-MASTER * * Quick-Start Instructions * * * **************************************** *** WELCOME TO MEAL-MASTER! *** Thank you for trying Meal-Master. Meal-Master is a menu-driven database system tailored to manage recipes. It will help you store, update, and print your recipes in a variety of formats. But the real power of Meal-Master lies in its search and utility functions! You can search for recipes using any combination of Title, Category, or Ingredient criteria. Imagine being able to find all the recipes that can be made with a certain ingredient! Plus, just change the number of servings a recipe makes, and all the individual ingredient amounts will be adjusted automatically! To help in entire menu preparation, you can "mark" recipes as you select them. Then activate the Shopping List function and Meal-Master will locate the ingredients for all the marked recipes, total the quantities of like items, and print a shopping list! Other features allow you to print a recipe index by title or category, "batch" print a set of recipes, or "extract" recipes to a standard DOS file, so you can use them in a word processor or upload them to a bulletin board system. Extracted recipes can also be "imported" back into Meal-Master without retyping - making recipe exchange with other Meal-Master users a real snap! Meal-Master not only replaces the dog-eared, disorganized collection of index cards found in most kitchens, it provides a valuable tool for meal selection and preparation! *** REQUIRED EQUIPMENT AND CONFIGURATION *** Meal-Master should run on any IBM-PC, PC-XT, or 100% compatible with at least 384k of memory. It will run on floppy or hard disk systems, with either a color or monochrome monitor. (A FILES=xx statement is required in your CONFIG.SYS file, where xx is at least 12) Page 1 Meal-Master Quick-Start *** CAPACITY *** Meal-Master can be used to create one or several Meal-Master databases. Each database must be located on a separate disk or subdirectory, and is capable of storing several thousand recipes, subject to available disk space. Each recipe is limited to a combined total of 100 direction lines and ingredients. On the average, you can expect to store about 300 recipes on each 360k disk, 600 on each 720k disk, 1200 on each 1.44mb disk, and several thousand on a large hard disk. The actual number will depend upon the average size of the recipes you create. *** STARTING THE PROGRAM *** To start using Meal-Master, you need only the program file, named MM.EXE. When you type "MM" and press return, Meal-Master should begin running. Meal-Master stores your recipes in three files: INDEX.MMF, INGRED.MMF, and DIRECT.MMF. It uses a fourth file, PARM.MMF, to store information such as what kind of forms you are using on your printer. Finally, a fifth file named CATFILE.MMF is used to store a list of valid recipe categories. If any of these files are not found when Meal-Master starts, they are created automatically. This makes Meal-Master very easy to install: Just copy the MM.EXE file to the diskette or hard disk directory of your choice, type MM, and press return. Meal-Master will ask you for the operating parameters it needs to build the PARM.MMF file, then create a new recipe database. IMPORTANT NOTE: If you have been using a previous version of Meal-Master (or Meal-Meister), with a version number less than 5.01, then your current working disk or hard drive directory will contain the file MM.COM. The presence of this file will prevent the current version from running. You will need delete MM.COM (or move it to another directory) before attempting to use the current program's MM.EXE file. Recipe files created with previous versions are still fully compatible with the current program. Also, for Meal-Master to run properly you must have the file CONFIG.SYS in the root directory of the disk you boot from, and it must contain a "FILES=xx" statement, where "xx" is at least (11). If not, some Meal-Master functions will not operate. If you're in a hurry to see how some of Meal-Master's advanced features work, you can try it out with the sample recipe database provided. Make sure that the provided INDEX.MMF, INGRED.MMF, DIRECT.MMF, PARM.MMF, and CATFILE.MMF are on the same disk and Page 2 Meal-Master Quick-Start directory as the program files before starting Meal-Master. Then try out the search, shopping list and batch print options. You can keep these recipes and add to them, or delete the files and start your own database. *** USING THE DATABASE *** Meal-Master is completely menu driven and very easy to use. ADDING RECIPES -------------- Selecting 'A' from the main menu allows you to add new recipes to the file. You will be prompted for the title, categories (each recipe can reference up to five categories), and number of servings. When asked for categories, a window will be displayed containing all the valid category names (If more than one page of names exist, the PGUP and PGDN keys will move through the categories; and category names can be changed, added, or deleted from the Maintenance/Setup menu). You can highlight the desired category names using the up and down arrow keys, or type the names in directly. Next, Meal-Master will display the ingredient screen. To insert an ingredient, press the "I" key. A new line will be inserted, and you will be prompted first for the ingredient quantity, then the unit of measure, and, finally, the ingredient name. The quantity can be entered as either a common fraction (i.e., 1/2) or as the decimal equivalent (i.e., 0.5), but will be displayed in the format selected on the Maintenance/Setup Screen (MM comes setup to display common fractions; if you want to see decimal equivalents, simply change the format option on the Maintenance/Setup Screen). The quantity field will also accept an "H", to allow a heading to be entered for a group of ingredients. When you have entered the quantity, press the return key to move on to the unit of measure field. While the cursor is in the unit of measure field, a window will be displayed listing the valid codes you may use. Use the page up and page down keys to view the list. You may select a unit of measure from the list by highlighting it with the up and down arrow keys, or you can type the value in directly. After selecting a valid code, press the return key to move on to the ingredient name field. Enter the ingredient name and press return to complete the ingredient entry. Press "I" and repeat the above steps for each ingredient you wish to add. When finished entering ingredients, pressing the ESC key will proceed to directions entry. Page 3 Meal-Master Quick-Start Recipe directions are added similar to ingredient entry - simply press the "I" or "Insert" keys to create a new line, enter the line of text, then press return. In addition, there is a complete "word-wrap" feature available. If you continue typing past the end of the line, the cursor will automatically break between words and continue on the next line. There are also functions available to split a line, or to reformat paragraphs. A legend of keys and their functions is displayed at the bottom of the directions window. When all directions have been entered, press the "ESC" key again. If you make a mistake and wish to delete an ingredient or a line of direction text, use the up/down arrow keys to position that line to the center of the display window, then press the F10 key. SEARCHING FOR RECIPES --------------------- Selecting 'S' from the main menu takes you to the heart of Meal-Master. Here you can specify search criteria find the recipes that match. You can instruct Meal-Master to select only those recipes that: a) Contain a certain word or phrase in their title; b) Reference a certain category (i.e., "Soups" or "Main Dishes"); c) Use a specific ingredient; d) A combination of the above three criteria. Once you have entered your search criteria, pressing "S" will start the search. The number and title of each recipe that qualifies will be listed. If you start the search without entering any search criteria, all recipes in the file will be listed. You may also use the PgUp and PgDn keys to page forward and backward through the list of recipes found. LISTING, REVISING, and MARKING ------------------------------ Recipes found by the search function will be followed by a prompt asking if you wish to List, Revise, or Mark any of them. If you type "L" at the List/Revise/Mark prompt, you will be asked to indicate which recipe you want to list. You may select a recipe from the list using the up and down arrow keys, or type in the number directly. Next you will be asked if you wish to list the recipe to the screen or on your printer. If you select the printer, the recipe will be printed using the parameters specified in the "Maintenance/Setup" section of the program ('M' from the main menu; there you can specify what size and type forms you are using for Recipe printouts and for Listings, and specify special printer controls). Page 4 Meal-Master Quick-Start If you type 'R' at the List/Revise/Mark prompt, you will be asked to indicate which recipe you want to revise. You may select a recipe from the list using the up and down arrow keys, or type in the number directly. This will take you to the Revise menu for the selected recipe. From here, you can update the selected recipe title and category list; add, delete or revise ingredients and directions; or change the number of servings. When changing the number of servings, Meal-Master will ask if you want the ingredient quantities adjusted. If you answer yes, Meal- Master will adjust all the ingredient quantities in the same proportions as the serving size change you have made! You can also 'Remove' a recipe from the file. When you use this option, the recipe is not really deleted, but just marked as removed. The recipe can still be seen in searches and can be 'Restored' until it is permanently deleted by use of the Rebuild option on the Maintenance menu. This gives you a "second chance" in case you accidentally delete a recipe! If you type an 'M', a prompt will ask which recipe you want to mark. You may select a recipe from the list using the up and down arrow keys, or type in a number directly. Once you have marked some recipes, you can use the 'Shopping List' and 'Batch Print' features on the Utilities Menu. These options only process marked recipes, allowing you to quickly print several selected recipes, or produce a consolidated list of ingredients to use as a shopping list! *** IMPORT/EXPORT FEATURE *** A very useful feature of Meal-Master is its ability to export and import recipe files. These options allow you to move recipes between the Meal-Master database and standard DOS files, allowing easy exchange of recipes between Meal-Master users. Hundreds of recipes are available in Meal-Master export format. They can be found on many electronic bulletin board systems, and on the Compuserve Information System. By acquiring these files and importing them into Meal-Master, you can build a large recipe database with little or no typing! *** SHOPPING LIST *** After using the Search feature to "Mark" several recipes, the Shopping list function can be selected from the Utilities menu. The ingredients from each marked recipe will be extracted and combined into one list, sorted alphabetically. Quantities of ingredients that occur on multiple recipes will be combined, and their unit of measure automatically converted when needed. Page 5 Meal-Master Quick-Start *** MORE HELP *** These brief instructions and some experimentation should get you started using Meal-Master. If you decide to keep and register Meal-Master, you will receive a comprehensive user's manual with over 70 pages describing Meal-Master's many features. As a registered user, you will also receive announcements and discounts on future versions of Meal-Master. *** REGISTERING MEAL-MASTER *** Meal-Master is shareware. That means you get a chance to "try- before-you-buy". If you like Meal-Master, and decide after trying it to keep and use it, you should register. Registered users receive a registered master disk with the latest version of Meal-Master and the user's manual. The user's manual is professionally typeset and bound, with over 70 pages of description, examples, and a helpful index. Registered users are given complete technical support, and receive discounted upgrade offers on future releases. In addition, several utility programs for Meal-Master are provided to registered users. These utilities will allow you to customize Meal-Master's text and background colors, do global search and replace operations on recipe categories, and see statistics about your recipe database, including analysis and projection of how may more recipes can be entered based on the average size of your existing recipes. These utilities are not shareware, and are provided only to registered users. To register, and receive the latest version of Meal-Master, along with the complete user's manual and utility programs, simply send a check or money order for $35.00 in U.S. funds (Washington state residents must add 7.8% sales tax; shipping is included in the U.S. and Canada, others add $5.00) to: Episoft Systems Suite #143 10121 Evergreen Way Everett, WA 98204 Page 6