Precision Software Appli…tions Silver Collection 4/Precision Software Applications Silver Collection Volume 4 (1993).iso/database/at_last.exe/AL.DOC

Text File | 1991-05-06 | 70KB | 1,639 lines

                                    CONTENTS








             Conditions of Use


             Registration Form


          1. Getting Started


          2. Definition Tutorial


          3. Access Tutorial








         PC AtLast - Copyright Mike York, Rational Solutions 1987/88/89






                                CONDITIONS OF USE

The program on this disk, PC AtLast, is distributed as shareware. This means
that you may try it out and copy it to others to try for free. If, however, you
wish to make proper use of it to hold and manipulate a database, you must
register your copy for a small fee with the copyright holder.

The program on this disk is a complete working version of the program. The
tutorial manual that follows, however, only contains sufficient information for
you to make use of all the main features of the program that are necessary to
try out the example databases or similar.

The program is the PC version of a very successful and popular database program
sold for Amstrad PCW and CPC6128 computers. It is a fully menu-driven, user-
definable database manager which combines speed with flexibility and ease of
use. Minimum requirements are an IBM PC or compatible with 256K RAM and a single
floppy disk drive. It is particularly convenient on a single floppy portable
even when there are several memory-resident programs.


                                  REGISTRATION

If, having tried the program, you wish to use it in earnest, you must register
your copy. Registration costs £19.95 inclusive of VAT and entitles you to the
following

1. The latest version of the program and inclusion in our database for
notification of updates that later become available.

2. The complete printed reference manual.

For an optional additional sum of £10 inclusive of VAT you will receive
telephone support for one year from the date of registration.

Each registration entitles you to make use of one copy only of the program on a
single computer. Should you wish to register several copies, you must pay for
each one. However, should you wish to have a site licence for more than 5
copies, please contact us at the address below and we will arrange a special
rate.

You may pay  in £ (pounds) sterling by

1. A cheque or bankers draft drawn on a UK account

2. ACCESS (MasterCard) or VISA credit cards

An order form is provided on the next page. Please note that payment includes
post and packing and VAT where applicable. The price is the same to overseas
customers even if VAT is not payable.

If you do not wish to use the program but would like to be on our mailing list
for further or future information, simply fill in the registration form,
indicating 'No' to both options and enclosing no payment.




                                     - 2 -






                                REGISTRATION FORM


Name : ......................................................................

Organisation: ...............................................................

Address: ....................................................................

         ....................................................................

         ....................................................................

         ....................................................................

Registration & manual    £19.95    Yes/No

1 year 'phone support    £10.00    Yes/No

........ copies @       ........ each

Amount due: ................

Method of payment (please ring):

Cheque/Draft   ACCESS/Mastercard   Barclaycard/VISA

(Cheques should be made payable to M York.)

Card No. .....................................................

Expiry date ............

Send this form together with payment to:

               Software Registration,
               Carn House,
               Canworthy Water,
               Launceston,
               Cornwall,
               PL15 8UB
               ENGLAND

       If you have any queries about registration, please ring 056681-511.













                                     - 3 -






                               1. GETTING STARTED

1.1 Contents of the PC AtLast Master disk

The PC AtLast program is supplied on one disk and contains all the required
program files and some example database definition files for you to examine.

The files on the disk include:-

     AL.COM         The main program file that integrates all other files.

     DBDEF.CHN      The main Database Definition program and overlay files.
     DBDEF.000
     DBDEF.001

     DBUSE.CHN      The main Database Access program and overlay files.
     DBUSE.000
        to
     DBUSE.005

     ????????.DEF   Example definition files.
     ????????.FRM
     ????????.FIX

     INSTALL.BAT    Batch file used during Installation of PC AtLast.
     FLOPPY.HLD     Used during Floppy disk installation.
     HARD.HLD       Used during Hard disk installation.

     READ.ME        A text file giving details of any enhancements/changes to PC
                    AtLast, together with details of the use of any example
                    files.

     AL.DOC         This tutorial manual

Note: '????????' in the above files means that they may have any name. Each
Example Database will have one of each file 'type' with the same filename.

Details of the various examples will be found on the READ.ME file on the Master
program disk. Load the READ.ME file into a word processor, to examine it or
use:-

          TYPE A:READ.ME      and press <RETURN>

Pressing CTRL-S during listing will pause the listing and a further press will
continue it. To print it on your printer use

          PRINT A:READ.ME     and press <RETURN>

1.2 Making your Working Copy of PC AtLast

PC AtLast may be used with single or twin floppy drive computers, or with a hard
disk. Reset the computer by switching off and then switching on again and
loading DOS in the usual way.




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Make sure that the PC AtLast Master disk is 'write-protected' by sticking an
adhesive label over the notch (3.5" disk users should slide the tab across).

1.2.1 Hard disk installation

Installation is very simple. Make sure that the selected drive is the hard disk
(usually drive C:) and then enter:-

          A:INSTALL H         and press <RETURN>

Installation will be onto drive C: and in the process a sub-directory, called
ATLAST, will be created. In addition, a batch file will be created on the root
directory, called ATLAST.BAT.

If your hard disk is not drive C:, then you should change all references to 'C:'
in the INSTALL.BAT file, using a text editor, before attempting installation.

1.2.2 Floppy disk installation

PC AtLast may be used with both single and twin floppy drive computers. It is
obviously more convenient to use a twin drive computer, as you can keep the
program files on one disk and store all data on a disk in the other drive.

1.2.2.1 Twin floppy

Before carrying out installation, format a new disk, using the DOS FORMAT
command with the '/S' parameter, to make sure that the DOS system files are
copied onto the disk in the process, as follows.

With the DOS system disk in drive A:, type:-

          FORMAT A: /S        and press <RETURN>

When the disk has been formatted, you should return to the DOS prompt.

Insert the supplied PC AtLast Master disk into drive A: and the newly formatted
disk into drive B: and enter:-

          A:INSTALL 2         and press <RETURN>

The required program files will be copied from the PC AtLast Master disk to the
new working disk. In the process, an 'AUTOEXEC.BAT' file will also be created on
the disk.

1.2.2.2 Single floppy

A working copy of the supplied PC AtLast Master disk should be made, using the
DISKCOPY command. Insert the DOS System disk into the drive and enter:-

          DISKCOPY       and press <RETURN>

You will be prompted to insert the 'source' and 'target' disks. When prompted
for 'Source', insert the PC AtLast Master disk and, when prompted for 'Target',




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the new disk that you want to copy the program onto. Once the disk has been
copied, the new disk should be inserted into the drive and you should enter:-

          A:INSTALL 1         and press <RETURN>


This installation procedure will remove all unnecessary files from the disk, to
make more room for data files.

1.2.3 All Models

Make sure that the CONFIG.SYS file on your DOS boot disc contains a command:

FILES = N

where N is a number between 12 and 20. If it does not, then edit it accordingly.
(Amstrad owners use RPED.)

Twin disk users should note that default CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files have
been set up onto the working disk during installation. They can be replaced with
your own favoured versions as desired as long the FILES parameter in CONFIG.SYS
is at least 12.

You should now put the PC AtLast Master disk away in a safe place.

Note: You should never use the Master disk, other than to create a working copy.
If you do and you damage it, you will not be able to create a further working
copy.

Before going any further, it is recommended that you now make a back up copy of
the new working version of PC AtLast, using DISKCOPY so that you do not have to
go through the installation procedure again, in the event of a disaster.

1.3 Example files

When installing PC AtLast onto a hard disk, you have the option to copy the
example files onto the hard disk as well.

When installed on a floppy disk, the Example files are not copied onto the disk
and it is recommended that you copy them on to your data disk when you want to
use them.

1.4 Loading and Using PC AtLast

1.4.1 Hard disk use

If you are using a hard disk and have installed PC AtLast as described earlier
in this chapter, you should load PC AtLast by typing:-

          ATLAST <directory path><filename>       and press <RETURN>.

where <filename> is optional and is the name of an existing database and
<directory path> (also optional) is the directory path where the database will
be found. If specified, the database will be loaded as well.



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1.4.2 Twin Floppy disk use

If you have installed PC AtLast as described in the first part of this chapter,
you should insert your working copy of the PC AtLast Program disk into drive A:
when you switch on the computer. DOS and PC AtLast will then both be loaded
automatically.

If you already have the computer switched on and with DOS loaded, insert your
working disk into drive A: and enter:-

          AL


1.4.3 Single Floppy disk use

When using PC AtLast with a single drive computer, you should load DOS as
normal, then remove the DOS System disk and replace it with your working disk.
Enter:-

          AL

1.5 Where to store the database files

1.5.1 Hard disk

Data files may be stored in any directory and the directory path should be
specified when requested, or as part of the command line, when loading PC
AtLast, as described earlier in the chapter. By default, PC AtLast will look for
them in the current directory.

1.5.2 Twin Floppy disk

The data files would normally be stored on a second disk in drive B:. The
program disk would be left in drive A:, so that no disk changing is required.
When loading a database, you should specify drive B: when requested. It is
possible to store the data files on the same disk as the program, but this is
not recommended, as the amount of space available for data will be un-
necessarily restricted.

1.5.3 Single Floppy disk

The data files are stored on the same disk as the program files. The normal
procedure is to define the database and once it has been tested thoroughly and
no further changes are required to the database definition, the program files
that are concerned with the Definition  (DBDEF.*) may be copied onto another
disk and the original files deleted from your working disk, to make more room
available for data. This need only be done when more space for data on the disk
is required.

If any changes are subsequently required to the database definition, the data
files may be copied onto the disk containing the definition program files and
the changes made, before copying the modified files back onto your working disk.





                                     - 7 -






To copy the program definition files onto a spare disk, enter:-

          COPY A:DBDEF.* B:

and insert your working disk when prompted for A: and the disk to be copied
onto, when prompted for B:. Once the files have been copied across, the files
may be deleted from the working disk by inserting it into the drive and
entering:-

          DEL A:DBDEF.*

To copy the database definition files onto the disk with the program definition
files, for alterations to the definition, you would use:-

          COPY A:<dbname>.* B:

where <dbname> is the name of the database. This will copy the appropriate files
from drive A: to drive B: and can also be used to copy them back again, after
modification.

1.6 Main menu

When the program has loaded you will be presented with the following menu:-

                 PC AtLast: Database Manager
                 ---------------------------
                      (Version 2.xx)
          Copyright (c) Rational Solutions Ltd., 1987,88
            (Program devised and created by Mike York)

                 D ... (Re-)Define Database

                 A ... Access Database

                 Q ... Quit


                Enter selection

This is the opening menu that will always greet you when you first load PC
AtLast and it is this menu that you will NORMALLY return to having finished
either Defining or Accessing a database. This menu is referred to as the
Database Manager Menu throughout the manual. It is not essential that you leave
PC AtLast by using the 'Quit' option on this menu, as long as you leave it from
either the Database Access Menu or the Database Define Menu (described in the
following two chapters), although it is preferable.

Note: It is important that on all occasions you leave PC AtLast by following the
correct procedure, as it ensures that all data is correctly saved and all files
are correctly closed before you leave the program. You should NEVER leave the
program by just removing the disk and switching off.

There are two distinct parts to using PC AtLast and these are reflected in the
two choices available (plus the Quit option) in the Database Manager Menu. The



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first option '(Re-)Define Database' must be used before you can access the
database and this is where you define (specify the file structure and forms of)
the database.

The second choice, 'Access Database', is the one you use to enter records, view
existing data and create reports and listings.

Note:If PC AtLast is unable to find the required 'DBDEF' (Definition program)
files or the 'DBUSE' (Access program) files, as appropriate, on the selected
drive, you will be prompted to 'Enter drive identifier'. If the wrong drive is
currently selected, you should specify the correct drive. If the drive is
correct, then the disk containing the required program files should be inserted
into the selected drive and <RETURN> pressed.

The following two chapters describe these two options in detail and we recommend
that you read through these chapters thoroughly and then study the Tutorial
chapters, so that by the time you start to create your own database, you are
fully conversant with the operation of PC AtLast.

It is also recommended that you take the trouble to design your database fully
before attempting to define it. The short amount of time that is required to
think out the format of a database thoroughly beforehand, is more than
compensated for by the time saved by not having to keep going back and re-
structuring it when you find you have got it wrong.

1.6 Special Editing keys in PC AtLast

When PC AtLast has been installed according to the methods described in the
previous section, it will be found that certain of the 'special' keys and
Function keys on the keyboard have been defined to carry out special editing
tasks.

     Function            PC Key

     Escape              Esc
     Enter               RETURN or Enter
     Left                Left arrow
     Right               Right arrow
     Up                  Up arrow
     Down                Down arrow
     Forward Tab         TAB
     Backward Tab        Shift TAB
     Start of line       Home
     End of line         End
     Back space          BackSpace
     Insert/Overwrite    Ins
     Delete Char         Del
     Delete to end       Ctrl-End
     Insert/split line   F7
     Delete/join line    F8
     Re-margin form      F9
     Set Field Marker    F10





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                              2.DEFINITION TUTORIAL

In this chapter we shall go through the procedure involved in creating a
database and, having created it, we shall then use it to enter in a few records.
Finally, we shall use this data to experiment with the various methods that are
available to display the information in a variety of ways.

We could have picked a very simple 'Name and Address' example, but as PC AtLast
possesses so many features, we have chosen to pick a slightly more involved
example. There is nothing particularly hard or complicated about it and you will
soon find that once you get used to the way in which PC AtLast works, you will
probably be getting ahead of the Tutorial!

We recommend that you load PC AtLast and then read through this tutorial,
entering text as instructed. If you find a particular part that you don't
understand, then stop and read the section in the appropriate chapter in the
manual again, before continuing with the tutorial.

2.1 Planning the Database

Probably the single most important thing to do is to plan your database. Whilst
it is easy enough to just rush in and define a database and then use it (you
might even find it does what you want!), there will ultimately come a time,
sooner or later (probably sooner) when you will wish you had done it
differently. PC AtLast is quite capable of allowing you to re-define your
database, but in certain cases, this needs a tidy/repair to reorganise the data
and index files and it is never as convenient as getting it right first time and
will take considerably longer to do than it will take you to sit down and plan
it properly from the start.

The first thing is to decide exactly what you want the database to achieve. This
may sound obvious, but you will often find that when you actually get down to
planning it, things that seemed unimportant suddenly assume far greater
importance and vice versa.

2.2 Example Definition

In this Tutorial, we shall create a database for keeping a record of members of
a Club. We shall assume it is a general sports club, though it could just as
easily be any sort of club. The first thing to do is decide exactly what
information we must store. Obviously we must have a record of each member's name
and address and in this case, we also want to have a record of their telephone
number. We also want a record of when subscriptions were paid and the amount
they paid. As it is a general club, we also want to know what their interests
are.

So far, our list of requirements looks something like this:-

    Name
    Address
    Telephone
    Amount paid for subscription
    Date subscription paid
    Sporting interest



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Perhaps the next thing we ought to do is consider what we are going to do with
all this information once we have entered it, so we shall now consider the ways
that we might want to look at this information and list or print it out. We will
obviously want a form to enable us to enter the information when the person
first joins. To save us work when we send out our newsletters, we will want to
be able to produce address labels. We will also want to be able to produce a
simple list of all members, showing their names and telephone numbers. We also
have a word processor with powerful mail merging facilities and we want to be
able to use the data from the database to send 'personal' letters to each member
on occasions, so some method of creating files that can be read by our word
processor will be required. Our list of ways that we might like to display or
list the information will now look something like:-

    Entry form for initial information about a member
    Address label facilities
    The ability to list members' names and telephone numbers
    The ability to 'export' data


We should consider the ways that we might want to choose which member records
are selected. We would obviously want to be able to select them by name and it
would also be useful to be able to select them by their membership number (That
is a good point. We haven't made any provision for a membership number in our
list of what we want to store in the database, so we must add that to the list).
Our list of items we would like to search with now looks like:-


    Name
    Membership number


At this time, we do not want to keep any records of each member's sporting
achievements, but if we did, then we would find it most convenient to keep them
in separate files for each sport, so, in case we ever do want to, have we got
any feature in our database that would be useful to provide a link with any new
databases? Yes, we have. We could use the membership number or the name to
provide a link (it is always useful if our link is also something that we would
normally select a record with and both name and number qualify). If there hadn't
been any sort of logical link, then we would have had to consider whether we
ought to have some further detail, in order to provide this link.

We have now got an outline of what our database should look like and after a
check to make sure that we haven't missed anything out, it is time to start to
fill in the details, so we shall start by deciding what type and size each field
ought to be, in order to hold out information.

Name - Normally when we look for someone's name, we will look down the list for
their surname and then, if there is more than one person of that name, then we
would look at their initials. We would also sort our list into surname order.
This means that we need to be able to look at the surname first. We could always
enter them into the database as 'Smith J' or 'Bloggs David', but it wouldn't
look very good on our address labels if they were sent out to 'Bloggs David'
etc., so the sensible thing is to separate them into different 'pigeonholes'
(fields). PC AtLast has the ability to have a number of different elements or



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'pigeonholes' for the same field, so we shall make use of this facility and call
our field 'Name' and give it two elements, one for the surname and the other for
the initials or forename. If we give them a length of 20, it should be more than
adequate. As names nearly always start with capitals, but the rest of the name
is in lower case letters, we shall have to use an Alpha type field.

Address - Most addresses consist of three or four lines and a post code. It
would be a good idea to make use of a number of elements, as this information is
all of a similar type, but it might also be useful to keep the postcode separate
from the rest, as it might prove useful as something to search on at a later
date (postcodes can provide a useful means of sorting or searching as they are
unique to given areas of the country). A length of 30 ought to be adequate for
the addresses, but the maximum length of a post code is only nine characters, so
we shall settle for 9. The address field ought to be of type Alpha, as we would
normally use an address as a mixture of upper and lower case characters, but the
post code field would benefit from being of type, Upper, as the letters in a
post code are always shown in upper case, so even if we forget when typing it
in, PC AtLast will do it for us.

Telephone - The most efficient way to store telephone numbers is by making use
of the dialling code, instead of using the exchange name, not only from PC
AtLast's point of view, but for convenience of use as well. We really ought to
make provision for two telephone numbers, as we might want to contact the member
at work as well as at home, so again, we shall make use of elements. The maximum
length required for a telephone number and dialling code, including allowing for
the space between the parts is 14, but as one of the numbers is a work number,
maybe we ought to allow a few more characters for an extension number, so we
shall settle on 18. We shall also make the field of type Upper, as it will look
neater if any text in the number is consistent.

Amount paid - This is always going to be a number and it will also have to show
the pence columns as well, so looking at our list of available field types, we
can see that we should use a 'Fixed' type, as that allows us to specify the
number of decimal points to be used. When deciding on the length, we must allow
for the two figures after the decimal point AND the decimal point when deciding
on what length it needs to be, so, assuming that our subscriptions are going to
be less than £1000.00 per annum, we can settle for a length of 6.

Date - This is easy to decide on. We should obviously make use of the 'Date'
type and the length will be decided for us by PC AtLast.

Sporting interest - We only provide a certain number of sporting facilities in
our club, in our case, four and the entry will always be one or more of these,
so we can take advantage of the 'Constant' facility and let PC AtLast do some of
the work for us when we come to enter in the data. There is always the
possibility that the club might introduce more sports, so we should also allow
for a few extra interests, to take account of this, so we shall settle for seven
possible elements, as some members may have more than one interest. We will also
have to specify the length and 15 characters is long enough for the sport with
the longest name.







                                     - 12 -






We have now considered all our entries, so our list now looks something like:-

     FieldName  Type     Elements  Length

     Name      Alpha         2       20
     Address   Alpha         4       30
     PostCode  Upper         1        9
     Telphone  Upper         2       18
     MemNum    Serial        1        5
     SubPaid   Fixed         1        6
     DatePaid  Date          1        8
     Interest  Constant      7       15

You will see that we have selected our names for the FieldName with some care.
All names have to be no more than 8 characters long and we aren't allowed any
spaces. We have also chosen names that start with different characters, as this
makes life easier when we enter up information at a later stage, but have still
managed to make them meaningful. We could have used words starting with the same
characters, but it would have just made a little more work later.

You will also see that we have now included a field called 'MemNum' and that
this is of type Serial. This means that PC AtLast will automatically create our
membership numbers for us, incrementing the number by one for each new record.
Next, we ought to consider how to select/sort our information in more detail.

Name - We have already decided that our name is in two elements with the
initials/forename in the first element and the surname in the second, but we
want to sort it with the surname first, so we shall specify Name[2] before
Name[1] in our Index list. Another thing we should consider is whether we want
to 'modify' the information that will be stored in our name index, so that it is
more efficient. One possibility is that we store the names in the index in upper
case (this does not affect the way it is stored in the data file). The advantage
of doing this is that it avoids the problems you come across when sorting names
that may contain upper case letters in the middle (such as MacLaren), which
would otherwise be sorted out of order, so we shall select this option.

Membership Number - This is straightforward, as there is only one element and
numeric fields may not be 'modified' in any way. Our list of items we would like
to sort/index on now looks like:-


     IndexName  Field[El]     Function

     MemName    Name[2]       Convert to upper
                Name[1]       Convert to upper

     NumMemb    MemNum


At this stage, we are now ready to start entering information into PC AtLast, as
we shall sort out how the information will be displayed/listed after we have
defined our database.





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2.3 Entering the Definitions

Load PC AtLast as described in 'Getting Started' and select D from the Database
Manager Menu. This will take you to a screen where you will be asked to enter
the directory path that you require. You should now enter the directory path
that you want to store the database on and press the <RETURN> key.

Note: You should NEVER select a RAM drive to be the drive on which the
definitions/data will be stored. If you forget to copy the files back onto a
proper disk afterwards, all your definitions will be lost.

Under the heading Database: enter CLUB, as that is the name that we are going to
give our database and press <RETURN> once more. After a second or two, whilst PC
AtLast searches the directory path to see whether the database already exists,
the message,

             Unable to open CLUB.DEF ... Define New Database (Y/N)?

will appear. this means that it hasn't found a database of that name. As we do
want to define a new database, press Y.

The screen will clear once more and the File Definition screen will appear.
Beneath the heading 'FileName' will be the word 'SYS-CLUB' with the cursor round
it. The cursor in most PC AtLast screens consists of a pair of square brackets,
and it might also appear in changed intensity or inverse, depending on the model
of computer being used. 'SYS-CLUB' is the name of the System file that will
eventually hold our Constant and Serial data and before doing anything else we
ought to define the fields that will eventually hold these values. Press
<RETURN> to select SYS-CLUB.

The Field Definition screen will appear. This will be largely empty, apart from
a column of numbers down the left hand side and a heading across the top. The
cursor will be in the FieldName column and row 1. Enter Sports and press
<RETURN>. This is the field that will contain the names of our sports and we
shall always display them in upper case, so type in U and press <RETURN>. The
rest of the word 'Upper' will then fill the space and the cursor will move to
the next column. This is the first example you have seen of PC AtLast's attempts
to help you. Because it knew what sort of information it should receive, it
could select the correct entry, once it had sufficient characters.

We have already decided that there are four possible sports, but this might grow
to seven, so we shall enter 7 under Elements. Enter 15 under Length as we
decided that was sufficient and press <RETURN>. From now on we won't bother
telling you to press <RETURN> every time, only when necessary, or if some other
keys has to be pressed.

The cursor will now have moved down into column 1 of the next line, ready for
the next field entry. Note that the right hand column Size has been filled in
for you by PC AtLast.

You should now enter the details for the associated field that will hold the
next number to be used as a membership number, so enter NextNum, I, 1 and 5, to
name of the field and define it as being of type Integer, having one element and
being five digits long. The cursor will have moved across to the Sign column



                                     - 14 -






this time. Press <RETURN> to confirm the default setting of 'N', as we don't
want negative membership numbers!

As we have no more entries to make in the SYS-CLUB file we can now press <Esc>
to indicate that we have finished. We will now return to the original screen,
but with the cursor beneath the Can Edit column. We needn't concern ourselves
with these entries at the moment, so just press <RETURN> and the cursor will
move down into the first column on the next line.

We have now got to define the main file that we will use for the storage of all
our data and we shall call this 'Members', so type in Members. The screen will
be replaced with another Field Definition screen and you can now start to enter
the details that we decided on when designing the database. Start by entering
Name, A, 2 and 20. You can then do the same for 'Address', 'PostCode' and
'Telphone' using the values we decided on earlier. When you enter up the details
for 'MemNum', you will find that once you have specified 'Serial', it will
automatically fill in the Elements column and move to the Field[El] column. PC
AtLast is now asking what field in the System file we wish to relate the Serial
field to. We named the field in the System file 'NextNum' and if you look at the
bottom of the screen, you will see that the available names are displayed for
us, in case we can't remember. Type N and press <RETURN> and PC AtLast will fill
in the rest of the word for us. Press <RETURN> once more, to confirm the choice
and the cursor will move down for the next field to be entered.

You should now enter the details for 'SubPaid' and this time you will find that
the cursor moves to another different column, the Sub-length column. PC AtLast
is now waiting for you to specify how many decimal points you want, so enter 2
and accept the default value 'N' for the sign, as we don't want any negative
value subscriptions either!

Fill in the entry for 'DatePaid', using the 'Date' type, 1 Element and PC AtLast
will pass over the Length and go straight to the Sub-length column. This time it
wants to know how many digits you want in the year. The bottom of the screen
will be prompting you for '2' or '4'. Select 2.

You can now enter in the last field, which is the Constant field and you will
find that yet again PC AtLast will pass over the invalid columns and stop in the
Field[El] column. This time, if you look at the bottom of the screen, you will
see that the System field name, 'Sports' that we entered earlier, is displayed.
Type S and press <RETURN> twice, to select it and confirm it.

You have now finished defining the fields, which wasn't too painful, so now
press <Esc> to say you have finished.

2.4 Index Definition

The right hand side of the screen will have cleared when you pressed <Esc> and
will have been replaced with new headings and the cursor in the first column,
IndexName. Enter 'MemName'. The next column is Duplicates and PC AtLast is
asking whether duplicates should be permitted. As it will be quite acceptable in
this case for there to be two or more members with the same name, you should
type Y to change the setting. Next you are asked for the Field[El], which is the
field that you want the index to be created on. Type N and press <RETURN>.




                                     - 15 -






Now you know why we chose to give all the field names different starting
letters, as it has filled in the remainder for you. Press <RETURN> once more, to
confirm the choice and the cursor will move to the [El] column. The program is
now waiting for you to say which element of 'Name' you want, so press 2 to
select the second element. Press <RETURN> to select the offered length and then
select 1 to tell PC AtLast  that you want it to save the index as upper case.

The cursor will now have moved down to beneath the 'Field[El]' column again,
waiting for the next part of the index to be given. Press N again and confirm it
and then 1 to specify that you want the first (forename) element of the 'Name'
field. This time, it will tell you that you can have a length of '5'. this is
because the maximum length of an index entry is 30 and we have already used 25.
In this case, it is alright, but if it hadn't been, we could have  backed up to
the previous level, using the Up Cursor and altered the value of the first
entry, so that they were more balanced. Select 1 again to make the entry upper
case.

Once more, the cursor will have moved down beneath the Field[El] column, but
this time we don't want to enter a third index element, so we can just press the
Down Cursor key to move on. This time, the cursor will move back to the
IndexName column so that we can enter another Index name. You can now type in
the entry for the 'NumMemb' index entry, but select N in answer to Duplicates as
we don't want to have more than one member with the same number. This time we
want to index on the 'MemNum' field, so type that in now and confirm it.

As we don't have any more Index entries to make we can simply press <Esc> twice
to indicate that we have finished and once more we shall be taken back to the
File Definition screen. Once again we shall just accept the default entries for
Can Edit, Can Delete etc. As we may want to alter data later on. The 'Advanced
Use' chapter gives details on how to make use of these options to protect data.

Finally, press <Esc> again and this time a menu at the bottom of the screen will
prompt you to

Save, Edit, List, ESC?

Type S to save the database definitions, then <Esc> to indicate you have
finished with this part of the program.

You will now find yourself in a new menu, the Database Definition Menu. This is
the menu that will normally greet you when you load an existing database and
want to change it in some way, but which was bypassed when you first started
this session, because there was no existing database.

You have now finished defining your first database, but there is still one more
thing that you have to do before you can make full use of it. You have still got
to create the forms that we decided are required and to do this, you should type
F, to select the Form Definitions option.

2.5 Defining Forms

Creating forms is a bit like using a word processor in many respects, but with
the difference that whereas a word processor will normally only accept text that
you type in, when creating a form we can also insert 'field markers'. Field



                                     - 16 -






markers, which are inserted by pressing the F10 key, have the effect of
inserting the current contents of the field into the text when we later display
it or of marking the place where a field will be entered when we come to enter
the data.

We have already decided that we will need four different forms, so it is time to
start on creating the first form. If you haven't already chosen the Form
Definition option by pressing F from the Database Definition Menu, then you
should do so now. The screen will clear and at the bottom will appear the
request:

Get (a form), Create (a new form), ESC?

For now, select 'Get' by typing G.

You will be informed that there are Forms available: and beneath it will be the
names of the available forms. In this case, MEMBERS and SYS-CLUB. These are the
'default' forms that PC AtLast automatically creates when we define a database.
It will create one form for every file in the database, with the exception that
it will only create a 'SYS-????' form if there are any fields actually defined
in the 'SYS-????' file.

If you select the MEMBERS form, by typing M and pressing <RETURN> twice (to
select the full name and then confirm the choice), you will be presented with a
screen appearing much like the following example:-

Name      : Name[1]_____________ | Name[2]_____________
Address   : Address[1]____________________ | Address[2]____________________
            Address[3]____________________ | Address[4]____________________
PostCode  : PostCode_
TelPhone  : TelPhone[1]_______ | TelPhone[2]_______
MemNum    : MemNu
SubPaid   : SubPai
DatePaid  : DatePaid
Interest  : Interest[1]____ | Interest[2]____ | Interest[3]____
            Interest[4]____ | Interest[5]____ | Interest[6]____
            Interest[7]____
_______________________________ End Of Section _______________________________

______________________________________________________________________________
Form: Members      File: Members   Section: Body

Edit, Head, Body, Tail, Save, Get, Delete, Rename, Create, ESC?

This is the default screen created by PC AtLast for the members file and if you
study it, you will see that the left hand side of the screen consists of a list
of the fields that we defined. This is a text description. To the right of the
colon (:) following the description, you will notice that the field name is
repeated and in the case of those fields that have more than one element, it is
repeated once for each element, followed by its element number in square
brackets. These are field markers and if there are more than one on a line, they
are separated by a short vertical line.





                                     - 17 -






You will also notice that some of the field markers are abbreviated, whilst
others are followed by an 'underline'. The reason for this is that the field
markers are used to show the length of the fields, so small fields are
abbreviated, whilst longer ones are padded out with underlines.

Looking at the form, it is obvious that it would make a good starting point for
our entry form that we will need for entry of data, but the layout, whilst being
functional, could be made neater for our use (PC AtLast doesn't know how we want
it to look, so it always creates forms in this layout).

This is the 'Body' of the form, as indicated by the Section: heading on the
Status line. This is the main part of a form and is always displayed when we
choose to Add or Scan information. The other two parts of a form, the 'Head' and
'Tail' are only used when we List. As this form is primarily intended for use
when Adding or Scanning records, we shall ignore them for now.

Type E to select the Edit option that is displayed at the bottom of the screen.
This will move the cursor to the top left hand corner of the screen and it will
now appear as the normal cursor that we come across in most programs, rather
than the 'square bracket' cursor we have become used to in PC AtLast. If you now
use the Right Cursor key to move the cursor across the screen, you will find
that as soon as it comes to the first field marker, the cursor will change to a
highlight of the size of the field. If you now look at the bottom of the screen,
you will see that the bottom line menu now says

Field Marker : Edit, Nudge, Delete, <Cursor>?

These are the options that are available when you are in a field marker. For
now, just use the Right Cursor key again and you will find that the original
small cursor reappears immediately after the field marker. This is because, as
far as form editing is concerned, a field marker is a single character.

How can we improve the appearance of the form? Well, the name might look better
if it was on two lines. The first element should have its description changed to
'Forename' and the second element to 'Surname'. Similarly, the address field
elements would look better on separate lines. You might also think that the
'Telphone' field would look better on two lines with 'Home' and 'Business'
descriptions. For now we shall sort out the name and address fields and you can
then experiment with any further changes you want to make.

Press the <Home> key now and the cursor will return to its starting position at
the top left of the screen. You can now type in Forename. You will notice that
it overwrites the existing description. By default, PC AtLast is in overwrite
mode. Carry on moving the cursor across the screen with the right Cursor key,
through the first field marker, until it is positioned over the short vertical
line between the field markers, then press <Del> until the cursor moves up to,
but not into the Name[2] field marker. Press F7 now and you will find that the
line has been split at the cursor position. If you now press <RETURN> you will
find that the cursor moves down to the start of the next line, but without
inserting a new line.

Try typing in Surname and you will find that the cursor will soon move into the
field marker, whereas we really want to move the marker across so that it lines
up with the first element. Press N and you will find the field marker moves



                                     - 18 -






across one space, so that we are once more out of the field marker. The N is one
of the Field marker editing commands and is for just that purpose (to move the
field marker one column to the right). We could keep doing this for each
character we still need to enter, but it is more convenient to toggle into
'Insert' mode by pressing <Ins>, so do that now. You can now type in the rest of
your 'Surname' description, followed by the colon and spaces until the field
marker lines up with the first one. You can toggle in and out of insert mode as
you require, with the <Ins> key. The current mode is always displayed on the
Status line.

You can now modify the address fields in the same way and also the 'Telphone'
fields. Don't forget to alter the description to 'Telephone' whilst you are
doing it and you can also change any other descriptions you want.

The form might look a little better if there was a blank line between 'Telphone'
and 'MemNum', so move the cursor down to the 'MemNum' line and position it in
column 1, then press F7 and the whole line will move down, leaving a blank line.
Do the same with 'Interest', so that the interests are also separated from the
details of the member by a blank line.

Once you have finished altering the form, you can press <Esc> to say you have
finished and the original editing menu at the bottom of the screen will re-
appear. You should now type S to tell PC AtLast to 'Save' the form, then, once
the Saved message appears, press <Esc> again, to say you are finished with this
form. You will now be back at the Database Definition Menu.

We shall now create the 'list of member names and telephone numbers' form, but
this time we shall use the 'Create' option instead. Select F for 'Form
Definitions' and this time C to create a new form. We are asked to Enter Form
Name, so we should think of a suitable name for the form. Type in ListMembers
and press <RETURN> (you will notice that with Form names we are not restricted
to only eight characters) and PC AtLast then asks us to Enter File Name. We
should specify the name of the file from which we want PC AtLast to take its
information (or for that matter, what file we want it to put new information
into!) and in this case, as we only have one file, apart from SYS-CLUB, you can
type in M and press <RETURN> twice. If you look above the status line, you will
see a list of available file names.

This time, an empty form will appear on screen, with the cursor in the top left
corner. We don't want any descriptions in the body of the form this time, as we
are creating a form to make a list of details. Instead, we shall eventually put
the headings for the columns into the 'Head' of the form.

Press the F10 key and immediately a question mark (?) will appear and at the
same time, the 'Field Marker' menu will appear at the bottom of the screen. The
'?' is the default field marker that PC AtLast uses when it doesn't know which
field you wish to use. Normally, it assumes you want the next field in the list,
after the one you last used, or else the last field you deleted (if you had
deleted one), but because you haven't yet used one, it does not know.

Type E, to 'Edit' the field marker and at the bottom right of the screen a list
of the available fields will appear. Type N to select the 'Name' field and then
confirm it, as usual. You will see it displayed beneath the Status line. Now
type 2, to say you want the second element. You are now asked whether you wish



                                     - 19 -






to Omit leading and trailing spaces?. If you answer 'N' to this, then when the
form is listed, all fields will be displayed to their full length, as specified
in the field definitions. this would not be very good if we wished to have the
forename followed by the surname, say in an address label, as it would appear
something like 'John                     Smith', in which case you would select
'Y' and PC AtLast would then remove all spaces at the start and end of each
field, but in this case, we wish to keep our list all tidily lined up, so press
<RETURN> to select the default N value.

You can now move out of the field marker by pressing the Right Cursor key and
you will find the '?' marker replaced by the proper field marker. Move the
cursor across a space and position another field marker with F10. Note that this
time PC AtLast gives you the next field it knows, 'Address[1]', which in this
case is not the one we want, so press E again, to 'Edit' the marker and clear
the 'Address' name with <Ctrl-End>, then type N to select the 'Name' field again
and this time, select the first element. Repeat the process for the first
telephone number element.

We now have a problem, as there is insufficient room for the second telephone
number on the same line as the rest, so this is where we must make use of the
facility to tell PC AtLast to treat separate lines as one line when printed. We
do this by typing a backslash (\) at the end of the first line, so move the
cursor across again and type \. You can now press <RETURN> to move to the start
of the next line. Enter the field marker for the second telephone number now.

We have now entered all the information that we require in the list, so press
<Esc> to finish editing the body of the form. We now want to create some
headings for our form, so select H for 'Head', from the bottom line menu and a
blank form will appear again. If you look at the Status line, you will find that
it now shows Section: as Head.

All you have to do is type in suitable headings spaced appropriately across the
screen and continue on the next line, having used the '\' at the end of the
first line. when complete, press <Esc> then use S to 'Save' the form.

It is also possible to put field markers in the 'Tail' section of a form. In
this section they become 'Total' Markers. The special marker '#####' is used to
show the number of records listed. The total of any numeric field will be
displayed in the place of a Total Marker for that field. Try it and see.

That completes the second form and by now you should be quite able to produce
the other two forms with little trouble. A suggested layout, with a few notes,
is shown for each of them:-

"Name[1]__________________","Name[2]__________________",\
"Address[1]____________________","Address[2]____________________",\
"Address[3]____________________","Address[4]____________________",\
"PostCode_"
_______________________________ End Of Section _______________________________

This is the Export form, for exporting data to other programs that require
'comma-delimited' fields. The following points should be noted. The commas,
quotation marks and the backslash are typed in as text, but the remainder
consists of field markers. If you want all fields to be a fixed length, then you



                                     - 20 -






should make sure the first field marker is set to 'N' for 'Omit leading and
trailing spaces'. If you want the minimum size, then select 'Y' to this option.
After setting the first field, all others will default to the same setting, so
you can quickly select each field marker and accept the default name and setting
for each subsequent field marker. You can add as many field markers as you want,
making sure to finish each line (except the last line) with a '\'.

The following is a suitable form for labels:-

                 Name[1]__________________ Name[2]__________________
                 Address[1]____________________
                 Address[2]____________________
                 Address[3]____________________
                 Address[4]____________________
                 PostCode_

_______________________________ End Of Section_______________________________

The 'Labels' form contains nothing but field markers and the 'Omit leading and
trailing spaces' option is set to 'Y', so that there will be no unsightly gaps
when printed. Note that in this case, we have positioned the field markers part
way across the screen. This was done so that the form could also be used for
addressing individual envelopes as well. If your printer will not allow you to
position the labels across the screen, then you should set the field markers
nearer the left hand side.

Create these two forms now and then press <Esc> after saving, to escape back to
the Database Definition Menu and you have now completed defining your first
database with PC AtLast, so press 'Q' to quite the definition program.

In the next chapter, we will look at how we may use the database, now that we
have defined it.

























                                     - 21 -






                               3. ACCESS TUTORIAL

Now that we have defined our database, we can start to enter data into it, so
type A from the Database Manager Menu, to access the database.

If we have just returned from defining the database when we select this option,
then PC AtLast will assume that we want to use the database that we have just
defined, so it will automatically load it for us. If we have only just loaded PC
AtLast, then we will be prompted to specify the directory path and the name of
the database we want to use.

The next thing that will happen is that a message will appear, telling us that
we must initialise the System record using the Scan/Update option. This is
because PC AtLast knows that we have specified a number of fields in the SYS-
CLUB record. If we hadn't defined any, then PC AtLast would not have bothered to
warn us.

3.1 Filling in the System Record

We can now select what we want to do, from the Database Access menu and, as we
have just been warned, we should select the Scan/Update option so that we can
initialise the System record, so enter S and we will be informed that a number
of forms are available (the ones that we have just created), including one
called SYS-CLUB. This is the default System Form, so press S and then <RETURN>,
twice, to select and confirm the choice.

The screen will clear once more and a 'blank' form appear, complete with a
Status line towards the bottom of the screen and beneath that a menu of
available commands. When we are using 'Scan/Update' normally, the options that
are available will change according to the situation and will only show those
commands that are valid at that time. At the moment it says,

Form, Edit, Print, Esc?

We want to 'Edit' the form, so type E and the cursor will move to the first
field marker in the form (Note that when we were creating the forms, the field
markers were displayed, but when we are using them, only the 'text descriptions'
are displayed) and it will appear as two square brackets marking the limits of
its length. It may also be highlighted, depending on the model of computer being
used.

In this form, the first field is the first element of the 'Sports' field. Enter
Badminton, Squash, Tennis and Swimming, into the elements, ending each with
<RETURN>. Finally press Down Cursor to indicate that you have finished with this
field.

The cursor will now have moved down to the field headed Number. This is the
numeric field that will normally hold the next value for our membership number,
so type in 1 as we want our numbers to start at the beginning.

We have now completed entering the data for the System record, so you can type S
to save the record,or use either 'R' to Re-do the form, or the Up Cursor key to
move back up from the bottom of the form, making whatever alterations are




                                     - 22 -






necessary, before saving it. Press <Esc>, once the record has been saved and you
will return to the Database Access Menu.

3.2 Adding Records

We are now ready to enter up a few records into the database, so press A to 'Add
Records in batch', but this time, when asked to select a form, specify the
MEMBERS form. As you are going to type in the records at the keyboard, select K
for keyboard input.

You can now enter up the details for the first member. You will see that the
membership number contains the number '1'. When you enter the date, enter
1/1/87. You will find that PC AtLast will automatically add the required leading
zeroes to single character months or days parts of the date.

When you come to the 'Interest' part of the form, if they don't have any
interests, you can simply press <Esc> to indicate that there is no more to
enter, or type sufficient letters of the interest to make it identifiable. Type
S to select 'Swimming' and press <RETURN>. If you now look at the entry, you
will find that PC AtLast has selected 'Squash'. This is because both 'Squash'
and 'Swimming' start with an 'S', but we originally entered 'Squash' first.
Press <Ctrl-End> to clear the field and this time, type in SW before pressing
<RETURN>. This time, PC AtLast will select the entry we want, so press <RETURN>
again to confirm the entry. If the member has more than one interest, then you
can now enter them as well. When you have no more to enter, press <Esc> to say
you have finished, then type S to save the record.

Note: You might have found it useful to have entered the names of the various
interests onto the form, as a reminder of the valid entries. If you want to do
this when you have finished entering records, you can go back in to the Form
Definitions, 'Get' the form and add the required text, before re-saving the
modified form. You can alter forms in this way at any time.

The form will clear and you are now ready to enter the next record. Enter up
five or six more records now, giving them a variety of different interests. When
you have finished, press <Esc> once more and you will return to the Database
Access Menu.

3.3 Scanning the Database

Now that we have a few records in our database, it would be a good idea to have
a look at the different ways in which they may be scanned and altered.

Type S to 'Scan/Update' the database and you will be asked which form you want
to use. Select the 'Members' form once more, by typing M and confirming it. The
chosen form will be displayed and you will now be asked Which Index order?, with
a list of the available Index names on the line above. Type N, to select the
'NumMemb' index and confirm the choice. The cursor will now appear in the first
field element that was specified in the index. In this case, there is only one
and it is the membership number field. Type in 3 and press <RETURN>.

The form will then fill in with the record for the member with a membership
number '2'. Press N, 'Next' and the next record will appear. Press B for 'Back'
and the previous record will appear. You will see that the order in which they



                                     - 23 -






are displayed is the membership number order, rather than the order you entered
them. This is because they are in the order set by the 'NumMemb' Index.

Type I, to select the 'Index' command and this will allow you to select a
different index order for the records to be displayed. Select the 'MemName'
index. Nothing will appear to have changed, but if you now use 'B' or 'N' to
move backwards and forwards through the records, you will see that they are now
ordered around the member's name instead of the membership number.

We now decide that we want to look for a member's record, or a group of members
and there are two ways that we can do this. If we just want to browse through
the members with names beginning with 'S' for example, we first of all make sure
that the index is 'MemName' and then press S, to 'Search'. The form will clear
and The cursor will be positioned in the first element of the 'MemName' index,
which is the Forename element. Press <RETURN>, as we want to search on the
surname (<RETURN> will make PC AtLast start searching at the beginning of a
field), then type S in the Surname field and press <RETURN>. The form will fill
with the record for the first person whose name begins with a letter 'S'. You
can then use 'N' to browse through the rest of the members beginning with 'S'.

Secondly, we can scan a group of records by setting 'Conditions'. Type C, to
select 'Conditions' and the screen will clear and be replaced with the
'Conditions Screen'. Setting 'Conditions' lets you specify certain conditions
that must be met for a record to be displayed. One advantage of this method of
searching is that it is not necessary to use a field that is part of the current
index, or even an index at all. We want to see all the members whose interest is
'Swimming' AND whose name begins with 'B' in this example. The cursor is
positioned under a column called Field and at the bottom of the screen is a list
of all the fields in the data file. Type I to select 'Interest', then 0 as
'Swimming' could be any entry in the 'Interest field' elements and you are then
asked to enter a comparison operator and the available options are shown at the
bottom of the screen. Type EQ, for 'EQuals' and then you must enter the value
that you want it compared with. In this case, we want 'Swimming', so type
Swimming.

We now want to specify the initial letter of the member's surname, so enter N
and 2 to specify the second element. We want it to be either equal to or after
the letter 'B', so select EA and B for the condition value. That would select
all names from 'B' onwards, so we must also specify where it is to stop, so
select 'Name[2]' again and this time specify BF, indicating that it must be
before 'C'. If you now press <Esc>, you will return to the original scanning
screen, complete with the current record displayed. If this record does not meet
the condition, a message will tell you. You may then either start the search
from the beginning by using 'Search', or continue using 'B' and 'N' to browse
through.

You will now find that PC AtLast will run through all the records until it finds
one that matches the Conditions that you set. Pressing 'N' or 'B' again will
continue the search. These conditions will stay in force until either you cancel
them, or you leave the file you are using. To cancel a set of conditions, or
alter existing ones, you simply press C again and then edit the existing
conditions. If you want to remove all, or some, of them, then position the
cursor on the unwanted entry and press the F8 key. When finished, <Esc> back to
the scanning screen.



                                     - 24 -






Whilst we are in the Scan/Update screen, we can also Add new records, Edit
existing records, or Delete records (depending on the settings specified in the
definitions, regarding adding, altering and deleting). Typing A will give you a
clear form in which you can enter the new record, whilst E will move the cursor
into the existing form and you can then move around it using the Up and Down
Cursor keys, altering entries at will. Selecting D will result in you being
asked to confirm that you want to delete the form before it is erased from the
file forever.

There are two further commands available when using the Scan/Update option. The
first of these is 'Form'. Type F and the available forms will be listed. Type L
and confirm. The form on screen will change to the 'Labels' form, containing the
details from the current record. This provides an ideal way to switch between
different views of the same record, frequently with some of the forms only
showing selected data, as in the case of 'Labels'.

As we now have a form on screen suitable for printing an address on an envelope,
it is time to try the last command. Type P, to select 'Print' and the form will
be replaced with a list of Print Parameters. If the default settings are ideal
for printing on 11" continuous stationery, but if we want to address one or two
envelopes, we should elect to Change Parameters by typing Y. The cursor will
move into the parameter list and you can then move it down to the second line
and change the Single Sheet Paper, Use Form Feeds and Page Each Record settings
to Y. This has the effect of ensuring that when an address is printed, the
envelope will be ejected.

You may also select between sending the output to the Screen or a disk File. the
default setting is 'Printer', but may be changed by typing either 'S' or 'F'.
The only time that printing to the screen may be found of any great use is when
you are using a form that is too long to be displayed on the screen at one time.
You could view the full screen by using the 'Edit' option and scrolling the form
with the Cursor keys, but it may also be viewed by printing it to the screen.

That completes a run through most of the facilities available in the Scan/Update
option and we recommend that you should experiment with all the options until
you are happy that you understand them.

There is one more way that we can view and print the information in the database
and that is by making use of the 'List Data' option from the 'Database Access
Menu, which will be described next. For now, when you have finished
experimenting with the database, press <Esc>, to finish Scanning the database.

3.4 Listing Data

This facility may be used for many purposes, but the main use is to enable you
to produce listings of your data.In the previous section, we looked at records
as individual items. Listing looks on them as being part of a group and allows
you to print all records, or only selected records in the form of lists.

Type L from the Database Access Menu and you will be asked to specify the form
you want to use. Select the 'Memberlist' form by typing ListMembers form in the
usual way and select the MemName index, as we want our listing in alphabetical
order.




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We are now presented with a screen containing a Status line at the top and a
list of available commands at the bottom. Many of the commands will be familiar
and serve the same purpose as in the Scan/Update option, but some are new. The
'Ascending' and 'Descending' commands let you select whether the listing is in
the normal Index Order, or in reverse order. As the default setting is
'Ascending', we don't need to change the order because we want the list in
alphabetical order. We don't need to set any conditions, as we want to list  all
members. Neither do we want to specify a 'Range', for the same reason (Range
allows us to specify the starting point in the Index from which records will be
listed and also the ending point).

All we need to do now is 'List' the file. This is virtually the same as the
print option in Scan/update and we are offered the current print settings and
the opportunity to alter them. We want to send the listing to the printer, so,
unless any of the defaults have been changed since PC AtLast was loaded, you can
press N to indicate you don't want to change the parameters. In this case, we
don't want to print the 'Selection conditions', so you can answer N to that
also.

At this point, you should make sure that the printer contains suitable paper and
that it is 'On-line', before pressing a key to list the data to the printer. As
each record is sent to the printer, the contents of the index fields will be
displayed on screen, so that you can watch progress (This also happens when a
listing is sent to a disk file and is very useful as it is the only indication
of what is happening). When completed, we are asked to press a key to continue
and the Listing Screen will re-appear, so that we can carry out further listings
if we want.

We recommend that you now experiment with different settings for Range,
Conditions and forms, until you are happy you know how to set the various
options.

By this time, you should be feeling at home with the way that PC AtLast is used
and you should be ready to create and use your own database. The only main
feature that we have not covered is the 'Tidy/Repair Database' option, but you
will only need this if you are using a database in earnest and it is fully
covered in the manual you get when you register.




















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