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COMTRAC DOCUMENTATION
Version 1.1
May 1, 1988
Ed Trujillo
P.O. Box 23052
Albuquerque, NM 87192-1052
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
TO ORDER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
TIPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
DATA ENTRY AND FUNCTION KEYS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
FILE SYSTEM REPAIR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
DATA FILE BACKUP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
START UP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
ACCESSING COMPANIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
ADDING AND DELETING COMPANIES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
PHONE CALL LOGGING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
DIALING THE PHONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
FILE SYSTEMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
MANUAL LETTER LOGGING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
AUTOMATIC LETTER LOGGING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
MAIL MERGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
CREATING A MAIL/MERGE FILE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
CREATING A WORDPERFECT MAIL/MERGE FILE . . . . . . . . . . . 15
ENTERING DATES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
COMTRAC 1.1 Documentation
INTRODUCTION
This document file is intended to fill in the gaps that the
on-line help function can't provide. Use this document in
conjunction with the on-line help to get the most out of the
system.
COMTRAC is an outgrowth of the contact tracking system-
CONTACT. COMTRAC was written in response to those users who
needed to keep track of product names, SIC codes and companies.
If you have used CONTACT you will notice very similar features in
many respects including the phone dialer, reports and menus.
The COMTRAC program is protected by United States copyright
law. COMTRAC is distributed as shareware meaning that you are
welcome to try out the software for a limited period of time. If
the software meets your needs you should register which will
entitle you to a calendar generating program integrated with the
COMTRAC file systems, an ASCII import program allowing you to
import data into COMTRAC and you will be on a mailing list for
notification of future enhancements.
COMTRAC is provided AS IS, with no warranty expressed or
implied. Edmund L. Trujillo specifically disclaims any and all
warranties included but not limited to fitness for a particular
purpose. In no event shall Edmund L. Trujillo be liable for any
loss of profit or any other commercial damage, including but not
limited to special, incidental, consequential or other damages.
Copyright(c) 1988 by Edmund L. Trujillo Page 1
COMTRAC 1.1 Documentation
TO ORDER
To order COMTRAC, call (800) 628-2828 extension 581.
Operators will take your call toll free 24 hours a day. This
number is for orders only, the operator cannot answer any
questions.
TIPS
I'm sure you have been nagged by authors of various programs
on the virtues of making a backup of your program diskette. I
don't intend on breaking the tradition, so here goes .... You
should immediately make a backup copy of the program diskette.
This is for your protection as often diskettes can be lost or
inadvertently destroyed.
Please don't forget to make regular backups of your data
files. If you plan on using the system regularly, you will find
the data to be more valuable than the actual program.
DATA ENTRY AND FUNCTION KEYS
Use the ESC or TAB key as an escape hatch to get out of a
screen or prompt. It is always available. If upon pressing the
ESC or TAB key an error message like: "PRESS ESC AT START OF
LINE" appears, press the backspace key to position the cursor to
the start of the prompt then press the ESC key.
The F1 (function 1 key) is the HELP key. Use this key for
context sensitive help at any point in COMTRAC. A help window
will pop up and a short descriptive help message will be
displayed. If there is more than one help page, the help window
will prompt you to press any key for the next page. Plan on
using the help function liberally when first using COMTRAC.
Copyright(c) 1988 by Edmund L. Trujillo Page 2
COMTRAC 1.1 Documentation
The F2 (function 2 key) is the SAVE SCREEN key. By pressing
the F2 key you will be able to capture a screen for later
printing or saving to a file. The F2 key saves the image of the
screen in a file called "screen.sav". The menu entries PRINT
SAVED SCREEN and DISCARD SAVED SCREEN refer to the screens saved
in this file.
Use the LEFT and RIGHT arrows to move between fields while
updating a screen. These same keys will move between the pages
in the COMTRAC MENU.
The DOWN and UP arrow keys will also move between the fields
while updating a screen. If in the COMTRAC MENU, they will page
from company to company.
When prompted for a "yes" or "no" response to a question,
you may enter "Y", "y" or "1" for yes and "N", "n" or "0" for no
(omit the quotes). Only those commands that need to be followed
by pressing the ENTER or RETURN key require it.
While in the COMPANY MENU, the F3 and F4 keys will dial the
telephone if your phone is connected to a modem via your
computer.
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
COMTRAC works on IBM compatibles and will run with only 256K
of available RAM memory. A color monitor is helpful but not
necessary. COMTRAC will run on both a floppy system or a hard
disk system. A printer is useful but not absolutely necessary.
Make sure that the line "FILES = 20" is present in your
config.sys file. Since COMTRAC is basically a specialized
database program, it needs to open a large number of files and
the default limit of 8 files is not enough. If you don't know
how to do this, consult your DOS manual or a DOS guru.
Copyright(c) 1988 by Edmund L. Trujillo Page 3
COMTRAC 1.1 Documentation
FILE SYSTEM REPAIR
The installation disks include a repair program - "CFIX.EXE"
which repairs broken index and data files. The file system may
become corrupt if the computer loses power or is shut off before
COMTRAC has had a chance to update its index files.
Enter "CFIX <file_system_name>" at the DOS prompt to repair
your broken file system. If the file system is damaged beyond
repair you will have to restore a backup copy. For example: to
repair the BUSINESS file system enter:
> CFIX BUSINESS
DATA FILE BACKUP
Although COMTRAC comes with tools to repair broken data and
index files, you should periodically backup your data files.
Depending on the media you are using for backups (360 Kb
diskette, 1.2 Mb diskette or cassette tape), you should backup
the system once a week or more if you are using the system quite
heavily.
Several products exist for backing up. DOS includes a
BACKUP command especially for this task. If your data and index
files will fit on one floppy, the easiest way to backup your
system is to copy them onto a floppy using the COPY command.
A simple batch file "SBACKUP.BAT" has been provided that
will copy a file system and associated form files from the
current directory onto the floppy drive designated. The command
is used like:
> SBACKUP business a:
This command COPIES the business file system and form files
from the current directory into drive A.
Copyright(c) 1988 by Edmund L. Trujillo Page 4
COMTRAC 1.1 Documentation
START UP
When COMTRAC starts up, it expects to see the following data
files in the current directory:
comtrac.hdr - parameter file
comtrac.dt - data file
comtrac.nx0 - index file
comtrac.nx1 - index file
comtrac.nx2 - index file
The help file - "COMTRC11.HLP" should also be in the current
directory if you want on-line help. Do not modify the help file
as COMTRAC will become confused when asked for help and will most
likely present garbled help information.
To start up COMTRAC with a different file system - perhaps,
"BUSINESS" or "VENDORS", at the DOS prompt enter:
> COMTRAC BUSINESS
In this case COMTRAC expects to see the following files in
the current directory:
business.hdr - parameter file
business.dt - data file
business.nx0 - index file
business.nx1 - index file
business.nx2 - index file
ACCESSING COMPANIES
Companies are accessible by specifying the company name,
product name or SIC code at any of the COMPANY MENU prompts.
Simply enter the first few characters of the company name at the
prompt and the first match will be retrieved. For example, to
access the record for "Bob Hall's Repair Shop", simply enter "bo"
at the prompt. Pressing the DOWN arrow at that point will call
up the next company in alphabetic order.
Copyright(c) 1988 by Edmund L. Trujillo Page 5
COMTRAC 1.1 Documentation
At the top left corner of the screen is the message INDEX.
The index can be changed by entering "i" at the prompt. You have
3 different selections - "Name Product and SIC". Enter one of
"n" for company name, "p" for product name, or "s" for SIC code.
Once the index has changed, pressing the UP and DOWN arrow keys
will access each company in alphabetic order by the current
index.
ADDING AND DELETING COMPANIES
Companies are added by entering the HEADER PAGE and pressing
the "a" key at the prompt. The screen will be cleared and a new
company can be added. If the DEFAULT CITY, STATE and ZIP have
been set in the MISCELLANEOUS MENU, these will be set
automatically for the new company.
To permanently delete the company from the file system,
enter "d" at the HEADER PAGE. Once deleted, the company cannot
be retrieved. There is no "undo" command.
PHONE CALL LOGGING
A modem attached to a phone handset will enable COMTRAC to
dial telephone numbers automatically. The SYSTEM PARAMETER PAGE
(modem port) must be specified correctly. Normally, modems are
attached to COM1. Choose the COM1 option under "modem". If
there isn't a modem attached to the computer, enter "n" at the
prompt.
Phone calls can be initiated at any point in the COMPANY
MENU, except when the INFO popup is displayed, when the TIMER
popup is displayed or when the MEMO and PLACE fields in the PHONE
LOG PAGE are being updated.
Once F3 or F4 has been pressed, the modem will begin dialing
the telephone. Once the modem has started to dial, lift the
receiver off the hook, and press one of "b" - busy signal, "n"-
no answer or any other key to signify that the call went through
successfully. Pressing a key other than "b" or "n" will bring up
the TIMER POP UP window which will record the elapsed time on the
call. Pressing a key will also instruct COMTRAC to disconnect
the modem from the phone call. Failure to press a key may prompt
the modem to think its communicating with another computer and
you may hear a screeching sound while talking to your contact.
Copyright(c) 1988 by Edmund L. Trujillo Page 6
COMTRAC 1.1 Documentation
If the ESC key is pressed after the dialing has begun, the
call will be aborted. COMTRAC releases modem control of the
phone once a key is pressed. If a key other than ESC, 'b' or
'n' is pressed, then a timer popup is displayed with the starting
clock time, elapsed time and place to enter a MEMO.
After the popup timer is displayed press the ESC or ENTER
key to quit the elapsed time logging. A new phone call entry
will be added to the top of the PHONE LOG PAGE. The older phone
calls will be shifted down one line. The fifteenth call (last
line) will be discarded.
The log of phone calls also appears on the 6-month, 3-month
and 1-month calendar pages. Due to space restrictions, the
following code letters are used in the 3 month calendar:
'b' - busy signal
'n' - no answer
'i' - call was received
If you wish to keep a history of more than 15 phone calls
you will need to do this in a paper file. Periodically use the
SAVE SCREEN (F2) key to archive ALL phone calls in the PHONE
PAGE. Then print the saved screen and file it under the
appropriate paper file for the company. Then clear out the phone
calls using the CLEAR command by entering "c" after pressing
ENTER at the PHONE PAGE.
DIALING THE PHONE
What follows is a short discussion on how COMTRAC interprets
and dials a phone number.
The modem will pause for two seconds if the phone number
contains a "," (comma). If there is an "x" or "X" in the phone
number, the remaining numbers are ignored. Any character other
than a comma is ignored. The following list of examples should
clarify.
Copyright(c) 1988 by Edmund L. Trujillo Page 7
COMTRAC 1.1 Documentation
Examples:
9, 4443212 - Dials 9, pauses for 2 seconds then dials
4443212
(555) 555-1212 The parenthesis are ignored, dials
15555551212, COMTRAC automatically dials '1'
on long distance numbers. (10 digit phone
numbers)
432-1244 x 333 Dials 4321244. 333 is recognized as an
extension and as such is not dialed.
765-4321 claim Dials 765-4321 and ignores "claim"
765-4321 cl 33 Dials 765432133, "cl" is ignored but "33" is
dialed.
765-4321 clx33 Dials 7654321, "33" is ignored since it
follows "x".
FILE SYSTEMS
COMTRAC keeps information in a set of files referred to as a
"file system". The file system is composed of the following
files: a parameter file, a data file, and three index files. When
COMTRAC starts up, it expects the following files to be present
in the current directory:
comtrac.hdr - parameter file
comtrac.dt - data file
comtrac.nx0 - index file
comtrac.nx1 - " "
comtrac.nx2 - " "
These five files make up a file system. The file system
name is displayed in the upper left corner of the MAIN MENU. It
looks something like "COMTRAC (22 records)". The "22 records"
refers to the number of companies stored in the current file
system.
Companies can be separated into distinct file systems using
this menu. For example: friends can be kept in one file system,
business associates in another file system, members of the
softball team in another, etc.
Copyright(c) 1988 by Edmund L. Trujillo Page 8
COMTRAC 1.1 Documentation
To create a new file system the first step is to enter the
CREATE FILE SYSTEM option. COMTRAC will prompt for a file system
name. Choose a descriptive name, "friends", "softball",
"business", and type it in. Do not type any periods "." in the
name. You are limited to 8 characters.
If the file system to be created is "BUSINESS" then the
following files will be created:
business.hdr - parameter file
business.dt - data file
business.nx0 - index file
business.nx1 - " "
business.nx2 - " "
All parameters such as codes, printer codes and options, and
modem options will be copied from the current file system into
the newly created file system.
If you want to start COMTRAC with a different file system,
when you first enter company from the DOS prompt type in:
> COMTRAC BUSINESS
COMTRAC will open the "BUSINESS" file system instead of the
default "COMTRAC" file system.
Once the file systems have been created, it is possible to
consolidate records from different file systems into a common
file system. Use the COPY COMPANIES FROM ONE FILE SYSTEM TO
ANOTHER menu item under the FILE SYSTEM MENU. You are able to
selectively copy records from one file system based on the CODES
field.
Copyright(c) 1988 by Edmund L. Trujillo Page 9
COMTRAC 1.1 Documentation
LETTER LOGGING
A record of the last 15 letters or correspondence is tracked
per company. Letter logging will occur automatically when one of
the following forms are chosen:
FORM FILE NAME
-------------- ----------
mailing labels comtrac.lbl
form 1 comtrac.1
form 2 comtrac.2
form 3 comtrac.3
form 4 comtrac.4
form 5 comtrac.5
Letters are entered manually or automatically if the form
letter function in the COMPANY REPORTS menu is used. The forms
MUST be sent to either the printer or a capture file to be logged
automatically. Forms viewed on the screen will not be logged.
Note: when creating a new file system, it is up to you to
create new form files - business.1, business.2, ...
MANUAL LETTER LOGGING
From the COMPANY MENU - LETTER PAGE, press ENTER then "a" to
add a new letter. THe older letters will shifted down one space
and the last entry on the page at the bottom of the screen will
be discarded. Enter the date, whether it was Sent or Received,
and a brief title.
Copyright(c) 1988 by Edmund L. Trujillo Page 10
COMTRAC 1.1 Documentation
AUTOMATIC LETTER LOGGING
Letters will be logged if the output destination in the
REPORTS MENU is set to either the PRINTER or a CAPTUREFILE. For
each company selected on the "MAILING LABELS", "FORM 1", "FORM
2", "FORM 3", "FORM 4", or "FORM 5", a new entry with the current
date stamp, "sent" status and the name of the form on the memo
field will be set.
Letters viewed (output destination set to screen) will not
be logged.
MAIL MERGE
COMTRAC provides a built in mail/merge function. Mail/merge
allows the creation of custom forms such as job applications,
late billing notices, advertising materials, etc. Rolodex cards
and envelopes can also be set up.
Each file system has 6 associated files:
comtrac.1 - form 1
comtrac.2 - form 2
comtrac.3 - form 3
comtrac.4 - form 4
comtrac.5 - form 5
comtrac.lbl - mailing label format
After creating a new file system you will want to create its
associated form files. These can be initially copied from an
existing file system. For example: we have just created a new
file system called "BUSINESS." We would then want to create the
following files:
business.lbl
business.1
business.2
business.3
business.4
business.5
Copyright(c) 1988 by Edmund L. Trujillo Page 11
COMTRAC 1.1 Documentation
If you have tried to PRINT or TYPE out a document in word
processing format, you most likely would have seen a bunch of
funny looking characters. These are the control codes built in
to the document.
COMTRAC currently works with ASCII files only. These are
files that do not have special control codes built into the file.
The advantage of ASCII files is that they can be read by most any
word processor and can be printed using the DOS PRINT command.
The disadvantage is that they do not containing information
required to control the printer, or change font styles.
COMTRAC attempts to use the best of both worlds, it access
ASCII files but uses special CONTROL flags to indicate a change
in the printer on output. This allows the changing of fonts,
bold face, and italics if your printer is capable.
CREATING A MAIL/MERGE FILE
If you have an ASCII editor such as the Sidekick editor, the
Norton editor, or even DOS's Edlin, you may create an ASCII file
directly. If you are using Wordstar, put it into "non-document"
mode while editing the file. If you are using WordPerfect, use
the TEXT-OUT option. For detailed instructions on how to create
an ASCII file sometimes referred as a TEXT file, consult your
word processor user's manual.
Copyright(c) 1988 by Edmund L. Trujillo Page 12
COMTRAC 1.1 Documentation
A form letter will contain fields that can be filled in by
the computer. For example, the form may look something like the
following in creating a late billing notice.
---------------------------------------------------------
Dear *sa *fn *ln,
We seem to have missed your last payment. If this notice
is in error please let us know.
Thanks,
Management.
---------------------------------------------------------
This is a very simple form letter. The fields "*sa", "*fn"
and "*ln" are placeholders for the salutation, first name and
last name respectively.
If the client "Mr. Bill Smith" was selected for printing,
the form letter would look like:
---------------------------------------------------------
Dear Mr. Bill Smith,
We seem to have missed your last payment. If this notice
is in error please let us know.
Thanks,
Management.
---------------------------------------------------------
Copyright(c) 1988 by Edmund L. Trujillo Page 13
COMTRAC 1.1 Documentation
The following table shows the different fields available in
COMTRAC for mail/merge:
*d1 - current date (format - 31 Oct 87)
*d2 - current date (format - October 31, 1987)
*d3 - current date (format - 11/31/87)
*t1 - current time (format - 15:23:43) military
*t2 - current time (format - 15:23) military
*t3 - current time (format - 03:23:43) standard
*t4 - current time (format - 03:23) standard
*na - company name
*a1 - address line 1
*a2 - address line 2
*st - two letter abbrev for state
*ST - spelled out state
*ci - city name
*zi - zip code
*co - contact name
*de - dear salutation
*ti - title of contact
*me - memo field
*pr - product
*si - SIC code
*po - phone One
*pt - phone Two
*p0 - printer code 0
*p1 - printer code 1
. ... ...
*p7 - printer code 7
Copyright(c) 1988 by Edmund L. Trujillo Page 14
COMTRAC 1.1 Documentation
To pad with blanks and right or left justify a field enter a
width specification as:
*po%20 - Phone 1 right justify and pad with space.
*po%-20 - Phone 1 left justify and pad with space.
Do not use TAB's in the ASCII file. Currently, COMTRAC
doesn't correctly expand TABS (this will be fixed in later
versions). Instead, use the SPACE BAR to place text instead of
the TAB key.
The number of lines in the ASCII file determine the form
length. If you are creating a form letter that will be printed
on 8 1/2 X 11 inch paper, you will want to make sure that there
are exactly 66 lines in the document.
Merge files can be created that are compatible with other
word processors. For example a comma delimited file use by
WordStar(tm) can be created using the following as a template:
"*na","*a1","*a2","*ci","*st","zi"
An example using WordPerfect(tm) is presented in the next
section.
CREATING A WORDPERFECT MAIL/MERGE FILE
It is possible to use COMTRAC in conjunction with
WordPerfect to create a mail merge file (secondary file). The
example presented below works with WordPerfect version 4.2.
Since WordPerfect has powerful word processing capabilities, you
may want to consider using WordPerfect instead of a simple ASCII
editor with COMTRAC's limited built-in mail/merge feature.
Enclosed is a form file that you can use as a template in
creating a "secondary file" for WordPerfect. The file is called
"COMTRAC.WP". Use the following steps to create the secondary
file.
Copyright(c) 1988 by Edmund L. Trujillo Page 15
COMTRAC 1.1 Documentation
First use WordPerfect to create a file in the following
format or copy the sample file COMTRAC.WP to COMTRAC.3 as a
template :
*na^R
*a1^R
*a2^R
*ci^R
*ST^R
*zi^R
^E
From WordPerfect save this file under the name of
"COMTRAC.3" if you are running the COMTRAC file system.
Similarly, it will be named "BUSINESS.3" if running the BUSINESS
file system. In the SYSTEM PARAMETER MENU, make the name of form
number 3 "Word Perfect merge" for future reference.
After creating the form file "COMTRAC.3", you are ready to
create the secondary file for use with WordPerfect's merge
feature.
In order to properly create the WordPerfect file you need to
change the "END OF LINE" option to "NL" only. The END OF LINE
option is accessible from the PRINTER PARAMETER MENU.
Then select the CAPTUREFILE option after choosing the
REPORTS menu item. Name the capture file "comtrac.sf" and select
FORM 3 in the REPORTS MENU. The ".sf" extension represents
Secondary File. Each company that you select for printing will
be stored in the file "comtrac.sf." The file will look like the
following:
Hamilton Company^R
511 North Main Avenue^R
^R
Albuquerque^R
New Mexico^R
87111^R
^E
Joe's Hamburgers^R
1763 Central Avenue^R
Suite 432^R
Santa Fe^R
New Mexico^R
88222^R
^E
Copyright(c) 1988 by Edmund L. Trujillo Page 16
COMTRAC 1.1 Documentation
You have created a secondary file for easy use with
WordPerfect's mail merge function. For more information on how
to use WordPerfect's mail/merge functions consult your
WordPerfect manual.
ENTERING DATES
Dates are entered into COMTRAC in many different ways.
First a definition is in order. The date displayed at the top
right corner of the screen is COMTRACS reference DATE sometimes
called the CURRENT date. It is from this date that relative date
arithmetic is based. With a little practice and experimentation
it will become easy to enter dates into COMTRAC. Examples are
shown to demonstrate the effectiveness of date arithmetic.
Suppose the CURRENT DATE is 1 Feb 88, Monday:
YOU ENTER RESULT NOTES
---------- --------- -----------------------------------
021288 12 Feb 88 Date entered in "mmddyy" format without
slashes or dashes. Do not use dashes "-
" since COMTRAC will interpret them as
minus signs for date arithmetic.
3mar 3 Mar 88 Current year is used.
0311 11 Mar 88 Date entered in "mmdd" format.
10 10 Feb 88 The 10th day of month. The current
month - Feb and year - 1988 are used.
21 21 Feb 88 The 21st day of month. The current
month "Feb" and year "1988" are used.
+1w 8 Feb 88 Next week is set.
+7 8 Feb 88 Adding seven days has the same effect as
adding one week.
-1w 25 Jan 88 Last week.
+sat 6 Feb 88 Next Saturday. The other days of the
week work similarly. "+mon, +tue, +wed,
+thu, +fri, +sun".
5+1m 5 Mar 88 The fifth of next month. We add one
month to day 5 of this month.
Copyright(c) 1988 by Edmund L. Trujillo Page 17
COMTRAC 1.1 Documentation
1+2m-fri 25 Mar 88 The last friday of next month. (1st of
two months from now minus friday)
Copyright(c) 1988 by Edmund L. Trujillo Page 18
