GEMini Atari/GEMini_Atari_CD-ROM_Walnut_Creek_December_1993.iso/files/database/cardfile/cardfile.txt

Text File | 1990-01-12 | 19KB | 527 lines

                     CardFile Documentation
                Version 1.1    November 21, 1989
              Copyright (C) 1988,1989 by Tyson Gill


CardFile is a specialized data base which is valuable to anyone
who uses a word processor for correspondence or keeps a record of
addresses or phone numbers. It helps you organize business cards
for the office or addresses for the home. It has a simple but
powerful searching capability to allow you to quickly find what
you need. It will address individual envelopes, generate phone
lists, or even compile address books. If you spend long periods
in an application such as LaserC, 1st Word, or Pagestream, the
CardFile accessory provides instant access to phone numbers and
addresses without having to interrupt your work. It will even
dial your phone for you automatically!

CardFile can import files from or export files to your
spreadsheet or data base. The accessory will insert addresses
into your word processor at the click of the mouse. CardFile uses
the same data files as your mail merge program and can be used to
combine or filter your mail merge files. CardFile features an
extremely ergonomic user interface which makes data entry and
access as enjoyable as possible. It works on any Atari ST
compatible computer in monochrome or medium resolution color
mode.


The Distribution Diskette

The following files are present on the distribution disk:

      CARDFILE.PRG    Application version
      CARDFILE.ACC    Accessory version
      CARDFILE.TXT    This documentation file


Distribution

CARDFILE is distributed as Shareware. You are therefore
encouraged to copy and give it to your associates and friends.
If you like CardFile, please send $15 or more to register your
copy. After you register, the author will be happy to provide
support and update information. Remember, all companies charge
for upgrades. Upgrading code takes work. If you upgrade to an
enhanced version of CardFile, send at least $10 to register.

Please honor the shareware system. An incredibly small number do.
Don't keep putting off sending in payment for the shareware
programs you are using. Shareware authors work very hard on their
projects and the fee they ask is merely a token to let them know
their work is appreciated. The only way shareware developers can
"justify" program revision and enhancement is if you honor the
shareware system.


Send CardFile registration fee to...

            Tyson Gill
            12114 Kirton Avenue
            Cleveland, Ohio  44135




Disclaimer

CardFile has been in use since 1988 by quite a few people in a wide
variety of environments. The author knows of no problems that
could arise from its use. However, the author makes no warranty
of any kind in respect to this document and the programs it describes.
The user assumes any risk as to the quality and performance of CardFile.
In no event will the author, Tyson Gill, be liable for direct, indirect,
incidental, or consequential damages resulting from any defect in the
performance and use of this program.


Running CARDFILE.PRG

To run CardFile as an application program, double click on the
CARDFILE.PRG icon.


Installing CARDFILE.ACC

If you wish to keep your CardFile handy as a desk accessory,
place CARDFILE.ACC and CARDFILE.DAT in your root directory and
reboot the computer.


Default Data File

When you start CardFile, it will look for a default data file
named CARDFILE.DAT in the same folder as the program. This data
file will be automatically loaded if found. If no default data
file is present, you will be able to load one using the FILE LOAD
option.


Configuration File

Version 1.1 uses a configuration file (CARDFILE.CFG) to store
program settings. These include edit mode (Insert/Overwrite),
autodialer prefixes, and print settings. This file is loaded
automatically if present. To save the configuration, select 'Save
CFG' from file 'File' menu.


The Card Display

One card and the options menu are displayed in the CardFile
window. You can move this window or resize it. You can move
through the card file by pressing the left and right arrows on
the keyboard or by clicking on the right and left or up and down
arrows on the window using the mouse.

By pressing one or more alpha keys followed by Return, you can
skip directly to the card nearest those letters. For instance, if
you press GI-Return, CardFile will move to the first card whose
last name begins with GI or the next closest card it finds in
alphabetical order. In version 1.1, the current search string is
displayed on the bottom of the card display.

Exit the program by clicking the CLOSER box with the mouse, by
pressing CONTROL-Q, or by clicking the QUIT option from the on-
screen menu. If you have edited your card file and not yet saved
it, you will be offered the option of updating the disk file
before exiting.



Editing

The Edit option allows you to alter an existing card or to use it
as a starting point for creating a new card. Select the EDIT
option. If you wish to blank out the current card to start clean,
select the NEW option. After editing the fields, select REPLACE
or ADD to replace the previous card or add a new one.

Select the 'Insert' option or press the 'Insert' key to toggle
between overwrite and insert editing modes in version 1.1.

Notice that while in the edit mode, you cannot exit CardFile or
change cards. The right and left arrow keys are redefined to move
the cursor within the current text field. The up and down keys
are redefined to move between fields. The Return key moves to the
next field and Esc clears the current field. The mouse can also
be used to move to any field position.


Sorting

As you enter the cards, CardFile insert them in alphabetical
order according to the following fields.

     Last name, first name, middle initial, company name

This means that the data is effectively sorted in this order of
precedence. CardFile does not provide utilities for resorting the
cards, but its highly flexible filtering capability should meet
the large majority of needs.

Note that since fields are sorted by company, one can use the
keyboard to move directly to a company card if no name fields are
present.


Filtering

One of the most power features of the program is the ability to
select ( or filter ) which cards are displayed based upon one or
more of the fields. To define the filter fields, select Filter
from the on-screen menu. Enter or edit each field that you wish
to filter. Edit functions operate as in normal card editing.

To make a match, the text entered in the filter field can appear
ANYWHERE in the corresponding field of the card. It may be only a
portion of the actual field. The filter is NOT case sensitive, so
the case of the filter or card field does not matter.

To turn on filtering, select either 'Filter ALL' or 'Filter ANY'
from the Filter menu. ALL means that to be displayed a card must
match all fields from the filter card. ANY means that the card
must match any one of the fields on the filter card. After
setting the filter fields, select 'Set' to save the current
filter set up.

If filtering is active, the status line at the top of the display
window will indicate so.








Addressing Envelopes

Cardfile can be used to address envelopes. Simply select the
Print option from the on-screen menu. You will be presented with
the print menu. Click on the ENVELOPE button and set the spacing
and tabbing to locate the address. Load your envelope in the
printer and click on the PRINT option to send the current address
to the printer.

Click the Form Feed button if you wish to print a single address.
If you are printing address labels you will not wish to issue a
Form Feed until you have completed a column of labels. If your
label form has more than one column, you can re-insert the form
and re-set the horizontal tab for the next column.

The program always prints five lines for each envelope. If any of
the fields are empty, the unused lines are padded at the end.
Using the HP DeskJet, envelopes can be addressed directly using
an offset of 40 spaces over and 14 lines down.


Printing a Phone List

To print a phone list, select PHONE LIST from the print dialog
box. CardFile will print out name, home, and business phones from
all currently filtered cards. Set spacing to zero if you do
not wish spaces between the lines of the phone list.

Two lines are printed for each card. The first contains the name
and home phone number. The second contains the company name and
work phone number. If the name and home phone fields are empty,
the program does not print that line. If the company and work
fields are empty, it does not print the second line. This way, it
is very easy to obtain a phone listing that is exclusively home
or business either by the kind of data entered or by filtering.


Printing an Address Book

To print out an address book, select ADDRESS BOOK from the print
menu. CardFile will print out all information from all currently
filtered cards. Set the spacing to one to leave one space between
each entry.


Mail Merge

Since the CardFile data files are in a standard delimited file
format, the records can be accessed by most mail merge utilities
such as 1st Word Mail Merge. You can use CardFile to combine mail
merge data files or to save filtered mail merge sub-files.















Send

When the accessory is used, the Send option appears on the
main menu. This option exits the accessory and sends the current
card to the calling application, such as First Word. When you
return to the accessory, it will be in the same state you left
it. The transmit option is compatible with most programs such as
LaserC, Pagestream, Word Writer, Calamus, Word Up, etc.

With this capability, you can get into your word processor,
select a card from CardFile, transmit the card to your word
processor, and address the envelope all in a few easy steps.
If later you would like to utilize mail merge, you are all set.
If you get a call while you are editing, you can call up the
accessory and quickly add a new card to your file without
interrupting your session.


Phone Autodialer

If you have a Hayes compatible modem, you can use CardFile to
automatically dial you phone. Choose "Dial menu" from the main menu
and choose the autodial prefix you wish to use. Choose the card
to dial and then select Home or Work phone to dial. Click the OFF
HOOK button to turn off the modem after you pick up the reciever.
You can do this before the party answers to answer cleanly, or
after you hear them answer on your modem speaker if you want to
be sure they are there.

Note that the dialer does not alter the RS-232 configuration. Use
the Control accessory to set your serial port. The OFF HOOK
function sends "ATH" and a carriage return to the serial port.


Keyboard Usage

Keyboard equivalents are available for some menu options. These are
shown on the appropriate menu item. The ^ symbol reminds you that the
Control key must be pressed along with the letter shown. The 'Insert'
key can be used as a keyboard equivalent for the Overwrite/Insert
button on the Edit card and edit Filter menus.

Cards can be accessed directly by pressing the first few letters of the
card followed by a Return. Cards are alphabetized in the order...
          Last name, First name, Middle initial, Company

The Home key can be pressed to go directly to the first card.



















Importing and Exporting

CardFile should run on your Atari ST for many years to come. If
you ever decide to use another machine or program, however, your
efforts to computerize your data will be a worthwhile investment.
CARDFILE.DAT is compatible with Lotus 1-2-3 'PRN' file format.
This means that it will read a spreadsheet PRN file and
spreadsheets can read CARDFILE.DAT. You can also edit
CARDFILE.DAT with a word processor although the line length (350+
characters) could exceed the limit of your program.

The CardFile data files can also be read or generated by almost
any data base program quite easily.

There is a merge option to allow you to combine one or more
files. This is useful if you subdivide your master file into
smaller filtered files and recombine them with other data files.

If you wish to import or export data, the following are the field
assignments and maximum lengths for setting up your spreadsheet.
Fields are separated by commas and records terminated with a
newline.

   Field             Content                Maximum Length

     1              First name                    15
     2              Middle name                   1
     3              Last name                     21
     4              Title                         40
     5              Company name                  40
     6              Address                       40
     7              City                          18
     8              State                         12
     9              Zip Code                      8
     10             Home Phone                    27
     11             Work Phone                    27
     12             Note one                      40
     13             Note two                      40
     14             Group                         14


The Group Field

The GROUP field can also be used to create classes of entries for
quick retrieval. You can assign each card to one or more
categories such as RELATIVES, PTA, ST CLUB, FRIENDS, REPAIR or
anything else. For instance, the group field can be used to
filter between home and work entries.


















Hints and Suggestions

Use CardFile for home and work. You can use it to maintain and
update a phone list to keep by the phone, to address envelopes
for bill payments, or to print out a whole new address book as
needed. You can organize you address book into sections by
filtering.

One nifty hint is to use the note fields to embed filters for
periodic mailings. For instance, you can filter all cards with
XMAS in the note line for addressing your Christmas card
envelopes. You can search for B-JAN at the end of December to
list out and address people who should get birthday cards in
January.


You can use 'Filter ALL' to look for everyone in your
organization who lives in your zip code area. 'Filter ANY' can be
used to find everyone with a birthday this month who lives in
your area code for a birthday phone call.

Also, the editable fields for State, Zip, Phone Number, etc were
purposely left unformatted so that international formats would
not be a problem.

Be aware that all options in the menu are not present at all
times. For instance, the 'Purge' option is not presented unless
filtering is active. The 'Send' option is only available in
the accessory version.


Technical Information

CardFile requires less than 50 Kb of program memory. It can store
up to 2500 cards per file. The program allocates memory in 20 Kb
blocks as needed until it runs out of memory. All data is stored
in RAM for minimum disk access time. Since the data files are
packed in RAM as well as on disk, the program is very efficient
on memory. If each field of all 2500 cards was completely filled,
the data base would require about 900 Kb of storage. However,
since most fields are usually only partially filled at best,
memory requirements are typically much smaller. If we assume a
CardFile data base of 200 cards and a field use ratio of 50%, the
program would require 36 Kb for data and a similar amount for the
program. That means that CardFile offers a nice balance of low
memory requirements and fast in-memory access. This is especially
important for use as an accessory.



















                             Menu Summary

Main Menu

^E Edit        Edit current card or add a new card
^D Delete      Delete current card
^F Filter      Edit the filter card
File menu      Load, merge, save, or purge files
Print menu     Print envelopes, phone lists, or address books
Dial menu      Send dialing sequence to modem
^S Send        Send current card to application (accessory only)
^Q Quit        Exit program or close accessory window
Don't Look!    Shareware distribution information

Edit menu

^N New         Clear all fields
Overwrite      Toggle between overwrite and insert edit modes
^A Add         Add (create) new card
^R Replace     Replace previous card
^C Cancel      Abort edit

Filter menu

^N New         Clear all fields
Overwrite      Toggle between overwrite and insert edit modes
Filter off     Save filter card but do not activate
Match any      Display only cards matching all filter fields
Match all      Display all cards matching any one filter field
^C Cancel      Abort edit

File menu

^N New         Delete all cards
Load           Load a new CardFile file
Merge          Merge current file with another CardFile file
Save           Save current cards under same file name
Save as        Save current cards under new file name
Purge          Delete all cards not displayed (when filter active only)
Save CFG       Save CARDFILE.CFG with current configuration
Main menu      Return to main menu

Print menu

<- TAB ->      Click mouse on arrows to set horizontal printer tab
<- SPC ->      Click mouse on arrows to set vertical printer spacing
Envelope       Select printout of name and address of current card
Phone list     Select printout of phone list for all displayed cards
Address        Select complete printout of all displayed cards
Print          Print selected output
Send FF        Transmit an immediate form feed to printer
Main menu      Return to main menu

Dial menu

Prefix 1       First dial prefix
Prefix 2       Second dial prefix
Prefix 3       Third dial prefix
New Prefix     Edit selected dial prefix
Dial Home      Autodial current home phone number
Dial Work      Autodial current work phone number
Off Hook       Send Off Hook string, "ATH", to modem
Main menu      Return to main menu