The Best Internet Programs/BESTINTERNET.bin/latest/dbperl11/ipmanual.doc

Text File | 1995-01-28 | 16.6 KB | 323 lines

             THE INTERNET PEARLS DATABASE MANUAL

    (By either clicking the mouse in the upper left corner, or
    by pressing the F1 key, while in the program, you can call
    up "Help" that displays these same paragraphs.)

    The Internet Pearls Database is navigated by the use of
    buttons and fields. Select the button you are interested in
    by pressing the TAB key to reach the button, and pressing
    Enter, or click the mouse on the desired button. This text
    box will then show the desired information. Selecting the
    [Return] button will take you back to the page that you were
    on before entering the Help section. What is actually
    happening is that you are going to the "page" devoted to
    that topic. All of the pages are contained in one "pad" or
    file. Scroll down this text window to learn about the
    commands on the menu bar. Remember, use the [TAB] key to
    enter fields and type in them. If you are using the mouse,
    simply click the left mouse button over the field you want
    to enter or the button you want to take action. One
    reminder: the text fields scroll! Each field usually
    contains much more information than what you can see in the
    small window area. Use the scroll bars and the mouse or the
    Up and Down arrow keys to move within the field. Avoid
    trying to use the [PgUp] and [PgDn] keys to move within the
    field as they are used for going forward and backward in the
    database.

    There are several ways to navigate through the pages of this
    or any other pad.  The [PgUp] key goes backward, as in
    "Previous", in the stack of pages, while [PgDn] goes forward,
    as in "Next", through the stack of pages. The [Ctrl]+[PgUp]
    keys go to the first page in the pad. The [Ctrl]+[PgDn] keys
    go to the last page in the pad. Clicking the mouse on the
    desired button is a rapid way to move through the pages.
    Clicking on [Next] and [Previous] also moves forward and
    backward through the stack of pages.

    You can also use the bar menu at the top of the page to
    navigate. The menu bar is displayed by pressing the [Alt]
    key. Click on "Go" and you will see the navigation options
    Help, Home, Back, Next, Previous, First, and Last with their
    respective short-cut keys. Help takes you to this page. Home
    will take you to the introduction screen, while Back moves
    you to your previous location. Next means next page and
    Previous means previous page. First means the first page in
    the pad, and Last means the last page in the pad.

    When the Menu Bar at the top of the screen is displayed, you
    are given a choice of selecting "File", "Edit", "Go", and
    "Workspace". Under the "File" setting, the possible
    selections are Open, Compress, Run a Program, and Exit.
    Selecting "Open" brings up a list of files belonging to the
    current directory. Only files with ".pad" can be
    opened."Compress" removes free space in a pad left over when
    a page is deleted. "Run a Program" allows you to enter a
    command and have it executed as if you were at the DOS
    prompt."Exit" takes you immediately out of the program.

    Under the "Edit" menu, "New Page" adds a page, while "Delete
    Page" removes the current page, and its contents are lost.
    You can mark a block by clicking the mouse over the text you
    want to mark and dragging the mouse with the left button
    depressed. The areas marked will be hilited and available to
    be manipulated by the other menu entries under "Edit". These
    commands are dimmed until a block is marked, then they
    appear as normal menu text. "Cut" removes the hilited area,
    copies it to an internal clip-board and is available to be
    "Pasted". The "Copy" command copies the text without
    disturbing it. It can then be "Pasted" in the field that you
    desire by selecting "Paste" from the menu or pressing the
    Ctrl-V keys. The "Delete" command removes the hilited text
    and does not copy it to a clipboard, but discards the text.

    The "Go" commands are explained above. "Workspace" lets you
    select whether or not you want to keep the menu bar as part
    of the regular display. The status bar is located on the
    bottom and tells which pad and which page you are working on.
    This can also be made visible as part of the regular display.
    The message box lets you see the result of operations as
    they are performed. The "Result" is usually a yes, no, 0, 1,
    or "Ok".

    Although the menu bar can be helpful, almost all of the
    needed commands to operate the program are included as
    "Buttons" that perform a specific action. These buttons will
    be outlined next. Click on the button that you want to know
    more about, or press the TAB key, and then enter over the
    button you desire.

    The "Import" command allows you to transport text from
    outside of the program into a field within the program. This
    allows you to quickly add information to the database, by
    importing the text instead of having to type it in. By using
    the "cut" and "paste" features in the menu bar, you can
    import text into one field, hilite text you want to move to
    another field, select "cut", move the cursor to the other
    field (by mouse or TAB), and select "Paste" or use the Ctrl-V
    keys to have the text transferred to the desired field.
    For instance, you can capture the session you have on the
    Internet with your communications program. This is usually
    stored as a text file. You can select portions of text that
    you want to be able to refer to later, and move them into
    the database with the "Import" command. Each field,
    "Addresses", "Notes", and "Directories" can hold up to 30k
    of text at a time.

    As you would guess, the "Next" command takes you to the next
    page (record) in the database. The "Previous" command takes
    you to the previous page (record) in the database.

    The "Export" command takes all of the text in one field and
    places it into a text file outside of the program,
    accessible by any DOS program. You will be asked to give a
    name to the text file, which can be any DOS compatible name
    of eight-characters or less.

    Sort allows you to arrange the pages in order, based on the
    contents of one of the fields. Most often, you will choose
    the "Address" field to sort on, as this will put all of the
    ftp, gopher, http (www) pages together. On the other hand,
    you may decide to begin a field with a certain name, such as
    the topic name, or the extension of the site (.gov, .edu,
    .com, .net), and place it in the field "Notes" or
    "Directories". You can then choose one of these fields to
    sort on. The program reads the text of the field and sorts
    according to the first text found there.

    The "Print" command allows you to obtain a hard copy of
    information in the database. The program will ask you to
    select between "One Field", "This Page", or "All Pages".
    Choosing "One Field" will allow you to specify one field,
    "Address", "Notes", or "Directories" to print. Choosing
    "This Page" will print all 3 fields of the current Page.
    Choosing "All Pages" will print all 3 fields of all of the
    pages in the database. Make sure your printer is "On", and
    the paper is aligned, and then select "Ok" when asked "Ok to
    Print?".

    The "Query" command can be extremely useful. While the
    "Find" and "Find Next" commands search for and hilite
    specified text, the "Query" function gathers pages from the
    pad together that match certain criteria. You can then work
    with the subset of pages as if they were the only pages in
    the pad. An example would be to select the "Query" command,
    and then the program inquires as to which field you want to
    use for the query, click on "Address", and then you will be
    asked what text you want to use as criteria to include in
    the query. Enter "ftp" and press enter. You have asked the
    program to gather all of the pages that match the criteria
    of having "ftp" in the field "address". This can greatly
    speed your work if you are wanting to review just certain
    items, such as "Address" fields that have ".edu" as part of
    their name, or contain "finger". You could also create a
    subset of pages with "NASA" in the "Directories" field. This
    subset continues to be all that you can access, until you
    use the "Clear Query" command, which will then return you to
    working with all of the pages in a pad. When you use the
    query function, flip through the pages gathered by using the
    "Next" button. If you see a page that does not seem to meet
    the criteria, use the "Find" command and it will locate and
    hilite the proper text for you. Remember, the text fields
    scroll! So, do not assume that the query command is not
    working prematurely. Your text is there, guaranteed. Use the
    "Find" command to locate it on the page you are on, use the
    "Find Next" command to find and hilite the text in the pages
    that follow.

    "Clear Query" allows you to clear the current query. See the
    "Query" button notes. Query gathers pages out of the
    database into one set. The whole database is no longer
    available to act on, only the subset defined by "Query".
    "Clear Query" eliminates the subset of pages and allows you
    to access the whole database again.

    The "Find" command finds the first instance of the specified
    text and hilites this text, showing you the location of it
    in the field. You do not have to tell the program which
    field to search in, as it automatically searches in all
    three fields for the desired text. The "Find Next" command
    is what you use if you want to keep searching. Selecting
    "Find Next" will begin searching on the very next page from
    where "Find" located text. Notice that you do not have to
    type in the text to search for again, when you use "Find
    Next", as it is already entered for you.

    "Find Next" is the command you use to continue searching
    after you have used the "Find" command. Once you use the
    "Find" command, and your text has been found and hilited,
    pressing "Find" again will only return you to the same spot.
    Instead, you would use the "Find Next" command to continue
    searching on other pages. The "Find" and "Find Next"
    commands find the first instance of the specified text in a
    file.

    The "Calendar" button is included because of the large
    numbers of times that I personally have had to leave the
    program to look up days and dates information. Sure, there
    are pop-up, TSR Calendars, but they are sometimes
    inconsistent in their behavior. Notice that "Today" is
    displayed. You can go to the first day of the next month, by
    selecting "Next Month", and to the first day of the previous
    month by selecting "Previous Month". The "Put Calendar Away"
    button will cause the Calendar to be hidden until you next
    request it. It is not a TSR, and does not stay resident in
    memory. Using the "Next Month" command repeatedly takes you
    to the calendars that lay ahead, many years into the future.

    The "Find File" feature is also included because of the
    convenience that it offers in not having to leave the
    program. I have found that I can work with files and locate
    items for importing into the database easily with the "Find
    File" button. Notice that the file list presented shows all
    the files that match the search criteria on the specified
    hard drive. Wildcards are allowed, so "*.txt", "record*.*",
    and "datafile.*" are all acceptable entries to search on.
    You can view a file in the list by hiliting the file, and
    then selecting the "View File" button.

    The "View Directory Tree" button takes you to a page where
    you can ask the program to read the directories of a
    specified hard drive and then display it in tree format. The
    directory that you hilite can have its files listed by
    pressing the "View Files in Directory" button.  You can
    hilite a file in this listing and then select "View Hilited
    File", to actually view the contents of the text file that
    is hilited.

    When in the "File Viewer" page, the [Home] key takes you to
    the top of the file, the [End] key takes you to the end. The
    Up and Down arrows scroll the file, while [PgUp] and [PgDn]
    move the file a screen at a time. The [Enter] key lets you
    see the full path name of the file, and the [View File
    Again] button displays the file once more.

    A file utility called "Padcheck.exe" is included to allow you
    to check the integrity of the pad files when needed. The pad
    files write their information to the file when the program is
    closed. If your machine has the power cut-off or if you have to
    reset your computer while still in the program, the odds are good
    that the file you are in has become corrupt. It will behave
    erratically, and most likely not run. The solution to this is
    (1) back-up your files with the pad extension. (2) Use the
    padcheck.exe file to check the integrity of the file. It is
    used in the fashion "padcheck sites.pad", and will tell you if
    the pad file is ok or whether it is corrupt.

    When you have the opportunity, review the file
    "Benefits.Doc", as this describes the extra benefits that
    come with registration of the program. It also gives you the
    directions for using the "Iperls-1.zip" and "Iperls-2.zip"
    programs included as a bonus. Comments are welcome, and
    suggestions are appreciated. Thank-you for trying the Internet
    Pearls Database.

SHAREWARE CONCEPTS

    This program is distributed as Shareware.  The shareware
    method of distribution allows you to evaluate a program
    prior to purchasing it. The Internet Pearls Database is not
    free and it is not in the public domain. It is a copyrighted
    product that is protected by U.S. Copyright Law. First time
    users of Internet Pearls DB are granted a license to use the
    program on a trial basis, without cost or obligation, for
    the sole purpose of determining whether or not it meets
    their needs.  Any and all other use after a trial period of
    30 days requires registration to obtain a license for
    continued use.  Non-registered use of Internet Pearls DB
    beyond the trial period is strictly prohibited.

LIMITED WARRANTY

    SoloTech Software and William E. Hogg make no warranty of
    any kind, express or implied, including without limitation,
    any warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for
    a particular purpose.  SoloTech Software and Wm. Hogg shall
    not be liable for any damages, whether direct, indirect,
    special or consequential arising from the use of, or
    inability to use this program by any user. In no event will
    SoloTech Software and Wm. Hogg be liable to you for any damages,
    including lost profits, lost savings, or other incidental or
    consequential damages arising out of your use or inability
    to use the program, or any claim by any other party, even if
    it has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

 HARDWARE/SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

    The following are the system requirements for using Internet Pearls DB:

     *  Personal computer:   IBM PC, PC-XT, PC-AT, IBM PS/2, Compaq,
        or 100% compatible system; 386 or 486 recommended.

     *  Drives:   Two 5.25", 360K floppy drives; or at least one 3.5",
        720K floppy drive; or a hard disk and at least one floppy drive
        (hard disk recommended).

     *  Memory:  640K of DOS memory installed.

     *  Display and display adapters:  Any color or monochrome display
        or adapter

     *  Operating system: DOS 3.3 or later; DOS 5.0 or 6.2 recommended.

     *  Mouse:  Microsoft Mouse or 100% compatible recommended.

     *  Printer (optional): HP LaserJet series, IBM Graphics Printer,
        IBM Proprinter, IBM Color Printer, Toshiba P351, Epson FX/MX/LQ,
        Okidata 92/93, Okidata 192/193, Panasonic KX-P4450, Canon LPB-8,
        NEC Pinwriter P6/P7, DEC LA-50, or any printer capable of
        emulating one of the preceding printers.


*********************************************************************

                      COPYRIGHT NOTICE

                Internet Pearls Database v1.0

             Copyright (c) 1994 by William Hogg M.D.
                     ALL RIGHTS RESERVED