The PC-SIG Library 9

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Suggested Applications In this chapter you will find some uses for PC-Browse in addition to those touched on earlier. We hope this will stimulate your own creativity and allow you to develop unique applications of your own. Dictionary You could build just a word list, or a true dictionary with definitions, parts of speech, hyphenation, and the like. If you sort the dictionary alphabetically, you can search it quickly with a lookup search. You can even trigger a lookup search of a word in the host document with the Shf Ctl F2 hot key. Cross references between words are easy to include. The dictionary acts like part of the application program you are working on. When you type a word into a document and want to verify its meaning, press Shf Ctl F2. The definition is displayed in the window. To paste the information into your document, press F7. You can also pop up PC-Browse with Shf Ctl F9, type the word into the Find text and press F2. When you are unsure of the spelling as well as the definition, search for just the part of the word you know, using a normal search with wild cards instead of a fast lookup Search. Some examples of dictionaries that you can build: Foreign Language dictionary Chemical Engineering dictionary Dictionary of Dept. of Education terminology Dictionary of terms used in The Dune Trilogy Accounting dictionary Parts dictionary Glossary PC-Write Page Layout Library If you find that most of the word processing documents you create follow a few given formats, you can build a library of format templates that can be pasted into a document when you create it. Each page of the library can be dedicated to a different page layout: one for memos, one for monthly reports, one for letters, and so on. You can include standard text, such as your letterhead, as well as Guide lines and Ruler lines. To use a particular template, pop up PC-Browse and search for the corresponding page. Then use paste, F7, to insert the page layout information directly into your document. - 29 - Political Party Platform You can assemble position papers, speeches, and other documentation together into a single file that outlines the candidate's (or party's) views on the issues. The file can be used by people who are on the phone or as a training tool for any campaign worker. It may also be an interesting tool to send to the press. A user pops up PC-Browse and is presented with a list of choices or general topics of interest. They simply highlight the topic they wish to learn about and press Enter. PC-Browse presents the information on that topic, or it can be broken down into subtopics. The user continues to step through the levels, moving from general towards specific. Information from one topic area can be cross referenced to another. For instance, one aspect of the education reform policy may include money for a drug education campaign. If the two topics are linked at this point, users can read about the drug program in brief and return to the specific information about educational reform. You could also use PC-Browse to do a political analysis of a city or county. Enter information about the elected officials, corporate board members, "Old-Boy" networks, and real estate owners and developers. Fill in cross-references based on current and prior relationships. Find out who's really important, and why. Family Tree You may think your family is already overly cross-referenced (especially during the holidays) but reading a family history can leave you flipping a lot of pages. The hypertext links that are created with PC-Browse make flipping "pages" much easier. You can save both genealogical information and your family history. Pop up PC-Browse and type in your Find text. That could be the name of a relative, a date, a city, or perhaps the old family home. Pressing Enter quickly whisks you off to that place in history. If there is a cross reference to another person or place you can highlight it with the Tab key and press Enter to move on. As you move through the branches of the tree, you can use the location list to quickly return to your starting point. Just as family members share common experiences, they share a page describing those experiences, because each member can have a link to the event. So your Great Grandmother will have a link to "Winter 1894" about surviving in the family home in South Dakota and so will each of her siblings. Now you can leave your family's branch of the tree and see how your Great, Great Aunts and Uncles fared after that terrible winter. - 30 - Class Notes Notes taken during a lecture can be extremely useful. But often at the end of a semester, half of them are unreadable and the other half don't make sense. The only way to find anything is to read this scribble, line by line, from day one. By entering your notes into the computer every night (ok, once a week) you can clear up any inconsistencies before you forget the entire lecture. Then you can PC-Browse through them line by line, or search for specific words, phrases, or dates. The search and paste features will make that term paper a snap. If you feel adventurous you can build search triggers to link one piece of information with another, or perhaps link notes from another class in another file. Your class notes can be the foundation for a specialized dictionary or glossary useful in future courses. For some fields such as history or anatomy, cross references can be quite useful. "Oh, the tibia is linked to the fibula, the fibula is linked to the patella,...." Your only problem comes when you try to explain to your instructor that you can't take the test today because your dog ate your floppy disk. Telemarketing Script A telemarketing script can be formatted as a decision tree that walks the salesperson through the sales pitch. Again, the ability to be resident is an advantage, since you can pop up the script on top of another program, such as an order entry form. Since PC-Browse links the pieces of the script quickly and quietly, the customer doesn't wait while the salesperson pages through his or her notebook. The salesperson pops up PC-Browse with the Shf Ctl F10 hot key which automatically moves to the beginning of the script. As the conversation progresses, he or she need only use the Tab or Arrow keys and the Enter key to move to the next part of the script. Related information such as warranties, product descriptions, and the like can be quickly accessed using cross references. The F4 key jumps back from the related information to the previous place in the script. The customer list can also be kept in a PC-Browse file, to quickly pop up ordering history, preferences, or any collections problems you have had. At Quicksoft, we use PC-Browse to check for valid registration numbers. You can also link in your price list, terms, shipping rates; all those notes taped to the office wall. Great for networks! - 31 - On-Line Help PC-Browse is an outstanding tool for adding on-line help to an application you've developed or a program you've purchased, because it is memory resident and can pop up over any non-graphics application. PC-Browse also uses the word at the cursor in the host document as the Find text, which helps you create context sensitive help screens. When users pop up PC-Browse, they are presented with an index of help topics. They highlight the topic they need and press Enter to see that information. You can design a help file with topics (target keywords) that match the headings or other vocabulary of the application program. Then the user can move the cursor in the application program to the heading and then pop up PC-Browse with Shf Ctl F3 to jump right to the topic. And topics can have cross-reference links to other topics in the same or other files. Programmer's Library The search and paste features of PC-Browse allow a programmer to avoid retyping often repeated code. There are two methods used to accomplish this. First, you can browse existing files for the code you want. No extra effort is required to create an additional file. Pop up PC-Browse, designate file or files to be searched, and enter the Find text. Paste any lines you like back into the program you're writing. Second, you can create a file with only commonly used code. This library file can be indexed and cross referenced for faster retrieval. Shf Ctl F10 pops up an index of available routines. Highlight your selection with the arrow keys and press Enter to find the lines of code you need. Either way, F7 pastes the code directly into the host program file, saving time and eliminating typing errors. - 32 - How to Build PC-Browse Files Don't let the idea of having to "build" a file keep you from making your own PC-Browse applications. The files are easy to create. These examples use PC-Write to make files, but you can use any text editor, or a word processor in "non-document" mode (also called ASCII, "un- formatted" or "DOS text" mode). In this section, you will build some sample files. This serves two purposes: to teach you the basics of constructing a PC-Browse file and to stimulate your creativity. There are many possible ways to use PC-Browse, from the very simple to the highly complex. About Delimiters A delimiter is a symbol that sets a keyword apart from the rest of the text. You define your own delimiter pairs (a starting symbol before the keyword, and an ending symbol after it) for the three kinds of keywords. The three customization parameters are: * Target keyword (parameter /I) * Linear search-trigger keyword (parameter /J) * Lookup search-trigger keyword (parameter /K) These delimiters are called file load parameters because they define keywords in the file and can change with each file loaded. Targets and triggers are covered more below. Rules for Delimiters * You can use almost any character as a delimiter. You can also use a special "non-alpha" wild card, indicated by character code 8, as the ending delimiter only. The non-alpha character matches any character that is not a letter (a through z, A through Z) or a number (0 through 9). The effect is to define a keyword as any word (alphanumeric string) following the starting delimiter you choose. * There are six characters that you cannot use as delimiters. They are character codes: 0 (keyword not used) 11 (PC-Write Guide Line font) 10 (line feed) 8 (non-alpha wild card) 13 (carriage return) 12 (page break) * The same character can be used as both the starting and the ending delimiter in either kind of search-trigger keyword or in a target keyword that is used in a linear search. However, for a target keyword used in a lookup search, the beginning and ending delimiters must be different. - 33 - What are Targets and Triggers? Just remember that "to hit the target you must first pull the trigger". The trigger keyword is composed of the text you wish to find plus the delimiters that define the type of search. This concept, that the delimiters define the type of search, is very important. PC-Browse reads the delimiters to decide whether to use a lookup search or a linear search. Now we can type trigger keywords with their delimiters, or place trigger delimiters around existing text in the file. This creates a trigger (also called a link or cross-reference) to somewhere else: the same keyword, but surrounded by target delimiters. If you select a trigger and press the Enter key, you get a lookup or a linear search (depending on the delimiters) for the target. This ability to link or cross-reference text is called hypertext. A target keyword is the goal of the search, the location you want to find. In a lookup search, each target keyword must occur only once. In a linear search, the same target keyword can occur one or more times within the same file. A word of warning about the characters you define as delimiters: When you create a file, be careful not to use the delimiter characters for anything else. An extra trigger delimiter just gives a meaningless cross-reference, so an occasional occurrence is okay. But suppose the leading delimiter for a target keyword is the # symbol (code 35). If you use the # symbol in an address (as in Suite #100), PC-Browse will think it's a target keyword, too. If you try a lookup search in this file, this out-of-sequence target can make the lookup search fail. Get in the habit of using delimiter characters that are not likely to be used in normal situations. PC-Write font characters (codes 1 to 31, with the above exceptions) are fine. They are also invisible, which you may prefer in your application. You can enter them in most word processors by holding down the Alt key and entering the code number with the right-hand keypad. Whether or not the delimiters are visible, they cause the keyword itself to be highlighted, unless you change this (see: Customizing). The Linear Search In this exercise you are the owner of a small neighborhood hardware store. You have already created a file called SUPPLIER with information about the companies that supply your store with merchandise. Each of your suppliers has two pages in the file. The first page contains the name of a contact person plus their office address and phone number. The second page contains more detailed information about ordering procedures. You want to create a link between the two pages, placing a - 34 - trigger keyword on the address page and a target keyword on the ordering information page. To Create a Link: 1. Load the SUPPLIER file into PC-Write or your word processor. 2. Skip to the second page. The first page is an index page. The second page looks like: *Humble Beginnings Seeds* Sandra Hansen 1616 Whatcom Dr Bellingham, WA 98725 (206) 345-6821 comments: Here the "*" (code 42) is the target keyword delimiter. 3. Move your cursor to the comments line and type: <HBS Order Info> Here the "<" (code 60) and ">" (code 62) are the linear search keyword delimiters. 4. Move your cursor down through SUPPLIER until you reach this entry: Humble Beginnings Seeds account # N/A Order Policy: phone orders 1 800 717 3483 9:00am to 5:30pm PST no mail orders Delivery: Normal UPS is standard. Blue or Red label extra. Expect delivery time of a week or so from order date. Payment: Payment due 30 days from order date. no discounts NOTE: Their beginnings may be humble but the accounts receivable staff isn't. Get payment there no later than 30 days past due!!!! Return Policy: 5. On the line above "Humble Beginnings Seeds account #" type the following: *HBS Order Info* - 35 - Try setting the delimiter characters for the next supplier in the file, JKY Electronics. Use <JKY Order Info> as the trigger and *JKY Order Info* for the target. Now that the delimiter characters are in place, you must tell PC-Browse what they are. To define the Delimiters: 1. Move your cursor to the very first line of the file, past the end of the line. 2. Type: [BR=/I:42.42/J:60.62] Now it should look something like this: Index of Suppliers [BR=/I:42.42/J:60.62] <Humble Beginnings Seeds> <JKY Electronics> <Jennings & Jennings> <Hon Ltd. of America> <Nordic Garden Works> <Rivers Wholesale> <Old Mare Glue Works> The /I:42.42 defines the character "*" as the target delimiter on both sides, and the /J:60.62 defines the characters "<" and ">" as the linear search keyword delimiters. 4. Save the SUPPLIER file. We placed [BR=....] in the middle of the screen where it is visible in the PC-Browse window. If you would prefer not to see it, move the entire string out to the right beyond column 80. The parameters will take effect, but be out of the visible range of the window. Now let's follow a link in the SUPPLIER file. To Follow a link: 1. Pop up PC-Browse with Shf Ctl F1. 2. Press F6. PC-Browse asks for the name of the file to load. Type: SUPPLIER <enter> - 36 - 3. Press the Ctl PgDn key to go to the second page: *Humble Beginnings Seeds* Sandra Hansen 1616 Whatcom Dr Bellingham, WA 98725 (206) 345-6821 comments: <HBS Order Info> 4. Press Tab to highlight <HBS Order Info>, and then press Enter (or Grey+). When PC-Browse reads the < and >, it knows to strip them off, add * and *, and do a search for *HBS Order Info*. The Lookup Search A lookup is an extremely fast search of records that are sorted in alphabetic or numerical order. It is especially useful for very large files created with a database. For example, you can create an on-line catalog, or a list of your customer's addresses and phone numbers. Since PC-Browse is RAM-resident, you don't have to exit your word processor to lookup your information. And with the PC-Browse paste feature, you can insert that information right into the file you are working on. Requirements for a Lookup File A lookup search only works on a file that meets these conditions: 1. Exactly one target keyword must be defined per page. Every page must have a target keyword, and no page can have two of them. 2. Every page must fit into the PC-Browse text buffer (memory that holds text from the disk). By default, the buffer is 4096 bytes, but you can change this (see Customizing). 3. The pages in the file must be sorted by their target keyword. This sort order starts with the numbers 0 through 9, then the letters A through Z. The sort does not differentiate between upper and lower case letters. 4. If the target keywords are numbers, they all must be the same length (with leading zeros if necessary) to lookup correctly. For instance, this: 8 zebra 3485 help 0912 AppLE 67 HELLO sorts into the following order: 0912 3485 67 8 AppLE HELLO help zebra - 37 - In this example, we'll make a PC-Browse file listing parts for a hardware store. To make things easy, it contains only 15 items. These items are sorted by part number, the target keyword in this example. Each page will have a part number, brief description of the item, retail price, name of the manufacturer, and an area for additional comments. We'll use the PC-Write merge procedure to create the file, and the DOS sort command to put the items in order. If you are using another text editor to do this, or a database program to sort and produce the file, the discussion here should help you adapt to these other programs. In fact, a database program is recommended for organizing, sorting, and preparing data for the PC-Write merge function, or directly for the PC-Browse file. Entering and Sorting the Data If you prefer not to type the entries in this example, you will find a copy of the sorted file, ready to be merged, in a file called PARTSRT. If you wish to use the PARTSRT file, copy it to your word processor's work diskette or directory. If you are using the PARTSRT file you can skip over this section and move directly to the next section, Merging the Data. To enter and sort the data: 1. Create a file called PARTLST using PC-Write or your word processor. If you are using another text editor, create an ASCII (non-document) file. 2. Type the following into the file PARTLST, starting in column number one. The information is shown in unsorted comma-separated form, a standard merge format. 7055,2 hp lawn mower,South Lawn & Garden,$145.00 6002,Swiss Army Knife,Hon Ltd. of America,$5.95 7004,seeds - bush beans,Humble Beginnings Seeds,$0.30 6010,No. 1 phillips screwdriver,Rivers Wholesale,$2.00 8065,toaster oven,JKY Electronics,$45.00 6035,carpenters glue - 12 oz bottle,Old Mare Glue Works,$2.80 6047,tape measure - 25 foot,Rivers Wholesale,$15.50 8045,light bulb - 25 watt,Benson Lighting,$1.00 6051,combination square with level,Rivers Wholesale,$7.85 7023,legume inoculant,Humble Beginnings Seeds,$1.00 6098,16 piece socket set - metric,Hon Ltd. of America,$4.00 6022,spray lubricant - 6 oz aerosol,Hon Ltd. of America,$2.95 7018,garden rake - 6 foot handle,Nordic Garden Works,$10.00 6001,No. 2 phillips screwdriver,Rivers Wholesale,$2.95 8002,multi-outlet power strip,Jennings & Jennings,$6.95 - 38 - Each line is equivalent to a record in a database program. The commas separate the fields of information. The arrangement is: number,description,manufacturer,price 3. Save the file and exit to the DOS prompt. 4. To sort the contents of PARTLST and send the output to a file called PARTSRT, type: SORT <PARTLST >PARTSRT The DOS redirection operators < and > tell DOS to sort the contents of the file PARTLST and send the sorted data to a file called PARTSRT. You may need to copy the file SORT.EXE from your DOS diskette first. 5. Look at the file PARTSRT with your word processor or the DOS TYPE command. If the file is correct it will look like this: 6001,No. 2 phillips screwdriver,Rivers Wholesale,$2.95 6002,Swiss Army Knife,Hon Ltd. of America,$5.95 6010,No. 1 phillips screwdriver,Rivers Wholesale,$2.00 6022,spray lubricant - 6 oz aerosol,Hon Ltd. of America,$2.95 6035,carpenters glue - 12 oz bottle,Old Mare Glue Works,$2.80 6047,tape measure - 25 foot,Rivers Wholesale,$15.50 6051,combination square with level,Rivers Wholesale,$7.85 6098,16 piece socket set - metric,Hon Ltd. of America,$4.00 7004,seeds - bush beans,Humble Beginnings Seeds,$0.30 7018,garden rake - 6 foot handle,Nordic Garden Works,$10.00 7023,legume inoculant,Humble Beginnings Seeds,$1.00 7055,2 hp lawn mower,South Lawn & Garden,$145.00 8002,multi-outlet power strip,Jennings & Jennings,$6.95 8045,light bulb - 25 watt,Benson Lighting,$1.00 8065,toaster oven,JKY Electronics,$45.00 Remarks If you are using a database program, create the file and a data entry screen to input the data. Enter all the data as shown. Next, sort the information in the part number column in ascending order. Send the output of the sort to a file called PARTSRT using standard comma separated merge format. - 39 - Merging the Data If you use PC-Write, load the merge template file PARTTEM. For a database or another merge program, use this file to understand the general format. PARTTEM looks like this: {part,} {description,} {manufacturer,} {price,} {} *{part} {description} {price} <{manufacturer}>[SUPPLIER] Comments: The line directly following "Comments" contains a hard page break, codes 12 and 15. The page break at the end divides each merge entry into separate pages. Make sure at least the form feed (code 12) separates each page. The code 15 after it is optional. The braces define the merge variables in PC-Write format, except for {} which separates the input template from the output template. The first four lines define the input file, and the final seven lines define the output file. The leading asterisk in *{part} is the starting target keyword delimiter, which you'll define later with /I:42.8. Similarly, <{manufacturer}> is a linear search-trigger keyword. The [SUPPLIER] after it is a cross-reference to a file called SUPPLIER. To merge the comma-separated information into new file: 1. Load the template file PARTTEM. (We assume you are using PC-Write.) 2. Press the Shf F3 key. The PC-Write Merge Menu appears across the top of the screen. 3. Press F9 and type the name of the input file, PARTSRT. Don't press Enter yet. 4. Press F10, type the name of the output file, PARTS, and press Enter. 5. To merge all of the records automatically, press F10. Remarks If you have a problem with the PC-Write merge, check to make sure the information in PARTSRT is correct. Check for extra or missing commas, particularly in an address. If a comma is used that does not separate fields, surround the field with quote marks ("). Check your PC-Write manual for further details. - 40 - Defining the Parameters The last step in building a lookup file is to define the keyword delimiters. To define the delimiters: 1. Load the PARTS file into PC-Write or your word processor. 2. Move to the top line in the file, anywhere after the part number. 3. Type the following: [BR=/I:42.8/J:60.62/K:40.41] Here /I:, /J: and /K: define the target, linear search, and lookup search keyword delimiters respectively. The target keyword is delimited by a leading "*", the linear trigger is delimited by "<" and ">", and the lookup trigger is delimited by "(" and ")". Using the File Now let's pop up PC-Browse, load your PARTS file, and try searching for some items. To Do a Lookup Search: 1. From DOS, PC-Write, or another application, press Shf Ctl F1. 2. Press F6. PC-Browse asks you for the name of the file to load. Type: PARTS <Enter> If the file PARTS is not in the current directory (or the PCBROWSE= or PATH= directories) you will need to supply a path name so PC-Browse can find the file. 3. Press F9, type 7004, and press F2 (not Enter). The F2 key places the lookup delimiters around the part number and starts a lookup search. You get: +File:PARTS-------------------------Find:#7004 -----------------------+ | | |*7004 | |seeds - bush beans | | | |$0.30 | |<Humble Beginnings Seeds>[supplier] | |comments: | | | | | +Esc:Exit F1:Help F4:Backtrack F6:File F7:Paste F9:Find F10:First-page+ - 41 - Try a lookup for the following numbers: 6022 8002 7023 8065 Let's suppose that the owner of a store would like to sell more of the multi-outlet power strips, part number 8002. We think the toaster oven is an obvious candidate for a power strip. Let's add a lookup cross-reference to the comment line. To place a Lookup trigger into a file: 1. Call up the PARTS file in your word processor and find the toaster oven page. 2. Move to the comments section and type: Don't forget the power strip (8002) where "(" and ")" are the lookup trigger keyword delimiters, defined with /K:40.41 in [BR=/I:42.8/J:60.62/K:40.41]. Now you can jump directly from the toaster oven page to the power strip page. Just tab to the (8002) and press Enter. +File:PARTS------------------------Find:#8065 ------------------------+ | | |*8065 | |toaster oven | | | |$45.00 | |<JKY Electronics>[supplier] | |comments: Don't forget the power strip (8002) | | | | | +Esc:Exit F1:Help F4:Backtrack F6:File F7:Paste F9:Find F10:First-page+ Remarks A lookup search is much faster than a linear search, which just scans the whole file. It works like this: 1. Compare the lookup keyword wanted with the current page's target keyword. 2. If they are the same, we're done. 3. If they aren't the same, restrict the search to the part below or above the current page as appropriate, and try again from the middle of what's left. - 42 - Links Between Files From each part number page, there's a link to the source in the SUPPLIER file. To link to another file: 1. From PC-Browse, using the PARTS file, find part 6002. It's the Swiss Army Knife. 2. Press the Tab key to select the manufacturer, <Hon Ltd. of America.> 3. Press Grey+ (or Enter). You see the SUPPLIER page for Hon Ltd. of America. 4. Press F4 to return to the PARTS file. Your PARTS file has one supplier for each part. Suppose you discover an alternate supplier; for example, Rivers Wholesale also sells Swiss Army Knives. Unlike using a fixed-format database, adding a second supplier as an inter-file link is easy to do. To make a link between files: 1. Call up the PARTS file in your word processor and find the Swiss Army Knife page. 2. Add the following line under Hon Ltd. of America: <Rivers Wholesale> [SUPPLIER] That's it. From PC-Browse, you can select <Rivers Wholesale>, and jump to its page in the SUPPLIER file. Remarks Even if two files are linked with a keyword search, the various keyword delimiters could be different in each file. In this case the SUPPLIER file and the PARTS file use the same keyword delimiters. Following a link can do more than just switch to another text file. It can also run another program. For example, following a link with the keyword ORDER could start running your accounting package to enter a purchase order. See the Reference Section for details. Creating an Index Page By placing a trigger for each target on the first page of a file, you create an index page. This gives you (or an end user) a way to quickly jump to any page, without typing. - 43 - To create an index page: 1. Edit the file SUPPLIER. Go to the first page. The first page looks like this: Index of Suppliers [BR=/I:42.42/J:60.62] <Humble Beginnings Seeds> <JKY Electronics> <Jennings & Jennings> <Hon Ltd. of America> <Nordic Garden Works> <Rivers Wholesale> <Benson Lighting> Several keyword triggers are in place. However, there are two left for you to enter. 2. Under <Nordic Garden Works>, type: <Old Mare Glue Works> 3. Under <Rivers Wholesale>, type: <South Lawn & Garden> Using the Index Page In a keyword search, typing a close but incorrect name like "Benson Lights" will not match the target keyword. With the index page, you can select the name from the list. To use the index page: 1. Press Shf Ctl F10. PC-Browse pops up and moves to the first page in the file. 2. Use the Tab or Arrow keys to highlight one of the triggers. Try "Hon Ltd. of America". 3. Press Grey+. PC-Browse reads the delimiters surrounding the text and does a Linear search for *Hon Ltd. of America*. This gives us four different ways to find our suppliers: 1. Link from the part number. 2. Link from the index. 3. Pop-up PC-Browse with Shf Ctl F9, enter the name at the F9 prompt and press F3. 4. Pop-up PC-Browse with Shf Ctl F3 with the name at the original program cursor. - 44 -