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- ARES/Data Input Help File INPUT.HLP
-
- ARES/Data has four input fields plus a message field.
- Enter the four fields and any message, in order, with separators
- between the fields. The only valid separator is the comma. Within
- a field, leading and trailing blanks are ignored, but imbedded
- blanks ARE significant. If no value is desired for a particular
- field, just skip the field by adding an extra comma.
-
- Syntax:
- field1,field2,field3,field4,message<cr>
-
- (<cr> means carriage return)
-
- Details:
- 1. FIELD1 - FIELD4
-
- The four fields are totally general. Each can have up to 20
- characters, with imbedded blanks. Entries can be in upper
- or lower case, or a mixture, but are converted to UPPER case
- before being stored in the database. The meaning of each field is
- defined in real-time by the ARES officials, depending upon the
- nature of the event. The sysop can issue a "labels" command that
- will give specific names to each of the four fields to help the
- operators remember what they mean. Similarly, the remote packet
- operator can type "labels<cr>" to see the current label definitions.
-
- 2. MESSAGE
-
- MESSAGE is a free-form field that can be up to 72 characters long.
- It could contain a message, a phone number, an address, or other
- information deemed useful for the incident.
-
- 3. EXAMPLES OF DATA INPUT
-
- smith, jack, 555-1212, shelter4, home addr 650 Henry Rd<cr>
- jones, mary, 555-9901, shelter1<cr>
-
- All of the input information is stored in the database
- as a record of the status and location of a particular person,
- place, or thing at a particular time and date. The time and date
- and call of the person entering the data are added automatically by
- the ARES/Data program. Further STATUS INPUT packets for the same
- person, place, or thing will also be saved in the database. The time
- and date and origin (at the beginning of the message field) will
- identify the most recent information.
-
- 4. Responses
-
- The ARES/Data Database will acknowledge your input, along with the
- time of the entry, and that record's RECORD NUMBER. For example:
-
- 1450: data input accepted, #234.
-
- or, by sending an error message requiring a re-entry.
-
- To get information about how to DELETE or UPDATE records, use the
- command GET CHANGE.HLP.