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- DOCUMENT CONTROL
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- "In Real Life There will Always Be Paper"
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- Steve Griffiths
- S.G. Engineering
- 2308 Barbara Drive
- Camarillo, CA 93010
- (805) 388-8099
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- Document Control Users Manual Page #
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- Table of Contents.
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- Introduction............................................Page 3
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- Registration............................................Page 4
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- Installation............................................Page 5
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- System Requirements
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- Copying Files
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- Config.Sys File
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- Using Document Control..................................Page 6
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- Getting Started Page 6
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- Menu Structure..................................Page 6
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- Keyword Window Menu.............................Page 6
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- Adding a Document...............................Page 7
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- Searching Documents.............................Page 8
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- By Keyword..............................Page 8
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- By Author...............................Page 8
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- Adding Keywords.................................Page 9
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- Archiving Documents.............................Page 9
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- Deleting Documents from Archive.................Page 9
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- Document Control is designed create a simple yet effective
- environment for keeping large quantities of paper documents in an
- orderly manner, and to allow any combination of documents to be
- retrieved with a minimum of effort.
-
- The basic premise of this application is to enter a number of
- keywords describing the document (up to ten per document), along with
- a brief description, author and date, at which point the computer will
- issue a number to be attached to the document, which can then be filed
- in numerical sequence. To find a document, or collection of documents,
- enter the relevant keywords and receive either a printout or screen
- display of all documents matching those particular keywords, along with
- the description, author and date of entry. Alternatively the document
- file may be searched by the author, and in both cases the search may be
- limited to a specific date range. The Menu Structure of Document
- Control is designed to allow extremely fast entry of keywords, both for
- adding and searching for documents. A keyword need only be entered
- once. After a keyword has been entered, it is available in a pop-up
- lightbar menu. When adding documents to the system keywords may be
- entered "on the fly" as required with no previous planning.
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- There are many advantages to this type of system. Firstly,
- only one copy of each document is required, no matter how many projects
- it may relate to. Because of this there is no risk of one copy being
- updated with others being out of date and causing confusion. Secondly,
- if a document is updated it is easy to see which is the current version
- as it will have the higher number. Thirdly, because documents are
- stored in a totally random fashion, the physical filing cabinets
- maintain a certain amount of security, in that a person looking
- through the files can make no sense out of the information without
- spending a considerable amount of time.
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- To keep search time to a minimum, "dead" documents relating to
- finished projects etc. may be moved to a separate archive file. If
- necessary this file may also be searched in the same manner. Documents
- that are completely "dead" - i.e. in the trash can - may be deleted
- from the archive file.
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- Registration
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- Document Control is a Shareware Product, which allows the user to
- "Try before You Buy" an application. To register the product print out
- the registration form by typing "TYPE REGISTER.DOC > PRN" (no quotes
- required. Fill the form out and send it in. Registered users will
- receive the registered version of Document Control, along with complete
- documentation, and telephone support. In addition, registered users
- will be notified of upgrades, which will be made available for a
- nominal handling charge.
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- The Unregistered version of document control is not restricted in
- any fashion, and may be put to full use. However, the registered
- version does have some additional features including those listed
- below.
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- 1) Opening Screen is Removed
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- 2) Registered Version is Serialized
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- 3) Password Protection is included as an option
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- 4) Documents may be deleted from Archive File
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- When Should I Register?
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- A Shareware product should be registered if it becomes an
- application that is used on a regular or semi-regular basis. Running
- the application for a couple of weeks is no problem. I it does not do
- what you want, pass it on to a friend. If you decide to use it, then it
- should be registered. Please remember, Shareware allows people to pick
- and choose their software carefully, and for the most part at a very
- reasonable cost. If people do not register their products, the concept
- may not survive.
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- Installation
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- System Requirements.
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- Document Control requires an IBM (or true compatible) PC, XT,
- AT or 386 Computer with at least 256K of TPA (Transient Program Area).
- This is the amount of memory left after DOS and any Memory Resident
- programs, device drivers etc. have been loaded. The program will run
- under DOS 2.10 or higher. Also a Hard Disk is required.
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- Copying Files
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- To install the system onto a hard disk, firstly switch to the
- directory to which the files are to be copied. Place the distribution
- disk in drive A: and type "COPY A:*.*" (Do not include the quotes.)
-
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- Config.Sys File
-
- To use Document Control, there must be three lines in the
- Config.Sys file. These are as Follows:-
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- FILES=20
- BUFFERS=22
- DEVICE=ANSI.SYS
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- If you already have a Config.sys file, these lines may be added using
- any ASCII word processor. If there is no Config.sys file, switch to the
- root directory (floppy disk users should place the DOS Boot disk into
- Drive a: and switch to it) and type the following:-
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- COPY CON CONFIG.SYS
- FILES=20
- BUFFERS=22
- DEVICE=ANSI.SYS
- ^Z
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- (^Z means hold down the Control key and press the Z key, and then the
- Enter key)
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- Now re-boot the computer and Document Control will be ready to run.
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- Using Document Control
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- Getting Started.
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- To run Document Control, switch to the directory containing the files
- and type "DOCUMENT" (No Quotes Required). After displaying an opening
- screen, the main menu will be displayed.
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- Menu Structure
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- Document Control uses window menus with a highlight bar. To
- select an option, either move the bar using the UP or DOWN Cursor Keys
- to highlight the choice desired and press return, or simply press the
- first letter of your choice (all Menu choices have unique first
- letters). Most of the Main Menu choices will bring up a sub-menu, which
- works in the same manner. When this is the case, the highlight bar on
- the Main Menu will remain at the choice made, so that it is east to find
- out where you have come from. To return from a sub-menu to a higher
- menu, press the escape key.
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- Keyword Menu Window.
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- When adding documents to the system, or when searching for
- documents using Keyword Selection, the Keyword Selection Window will
- appear. The window is similar to the regular menus with some additional
- features. The window will display the first 16 Keywords (in
- alphabetical order. Use the following keys to move around:-
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- UP Arrow Move Highlight up by one Keyword
- DOWN Arrow Move Highlight down by one Keyword
- HOME Key Top Keyword in Display
- END Key Last Keyword in Display
- PAGE UP Previous 16 Keywords
- PAGE DOWN Next 16 Keywords
- CTRL + PAGE UP First 16 Keywords
- CTRL + PAGE DOWN Last 16 Keywords
- a - z OR
- A - Z OR
- 0 - 9 First Keyword with a matching first
- Letter or Number. (If there are no matches
- the highlight bar will not move).
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- Using Document Control
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- Adding a Document
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- To add a Document to the system, select "Add Document" from
- the main menu by highlighting this selection or by pressing "A" (This
- may be lower or upper case). Two windows will appear. The first is the
- Keyword Select Menu described above, and next to this is another window
- which will display selected keywords as they are chosen.
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- To select keywords, move the highlight bar to the keyword
- desired using the methods described above and press return.
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- TIP:- The fastest method of finding a keyword is to start by pressing
- the first letter of the keyword desired and then scrolling
- through the keywords.
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- If the keyword that you wish to use is not available, press
- the ESCAPE key. A third window will open and prompt for a keyword.
- Enter the new keyword (upper or lower case), press Return and the
- highlight will return to the Keyword Selection window. At this point,
- the new keyword is not visible, but as soon as you look for it again it
- will appear, in the correct alphabetical position. After each keyword
- is selected, it will appear in the "Selected Keyword" window, and the
- highlight bar will return to the empty position at the top of the
- Keyword Selection window.
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- When all the desired keywords (up to 10 per Document) have
- been chosen, make sure that the highlight is in the empty space and
- press the return key. A third window will appear and prompt for the
- author of the document and for a short additional description.
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- TIP:- Something must be entered into both these fields. Because
- Document Control allows a fast search by Author, this field can
- alternatively be used as a secondary keyword for batching
- projects etc. Also the authors name can be a regular keyword like
- any other.
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- After the Author and Description have been filled in this
- window will be replaced with the "Document I.D." window, which contains
- the number assigned to this document. Identify the document with the
- number and file it. (Adding Documents using the system is much faster
- than reading this page of instructions). As an aid to searching for
- documents, the date that the document was entered is also stored with
- the rest of the information.
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- Searching Documents.
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- By Keyword
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- Select "Search Documents" from the main menu, and a sub-menu will
- appear. Select "Keyword Search" from this menu, and the Keyword Select
- and Keywords Chosen windows will appear. Choose the desired keywords
- (See "Adding Documents" for more information) and then press return.
- A third window will appear, allowing a Date Range to be set (the
- default is from the earliest document to the current date), and to
- allow the information to be routed to the screen or the printer.
- Once this is done, a listing will appear of all documents that
- match the search criteria, showing the Document number, the Date of
- Entry, the Author, and the Description. Now it is a simple matter of
- going to the filing cabinet and pulling the documents with the numbers
- shown on the list.
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- NOTE 1:- The search is based on an .AND. basis, meaning that ALL the
- selected keywords have to match a document for it to be displayed. In
- short, the more keywords chosen, the narrower the search will be.
- However, the search time is a constant of about 3 seconds per 100
- records. Setting a date range will shorten the search time.
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- NOTE 2:- If the document that you are looking for is not displayed, but
- you know it is in there somewhere - i.e. you can't remember the
- keyword(s), press return at the keyword selection window without
- selecting any keywords. This will display ALL documents in the
- specified date range.
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- Searching Documents.
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- By Author
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- Select "Author Search" from the Search menu. You will be prompted
- for an Entry, and then for the Date Range and Display or Print option.
- Once this is done, the matching documents will be displayed in the same
- way as before.
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- NOTE:- The difference between this and the keyword search is that this
- is a high speed index search. For this reason, it can be a good idea to
- type in a major keyword in the Author field, and to include the authors
- name in the description field.
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- Adding Keywords.
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- This is a useful feature when the program has just been installed.
- Select "New Keyword" from the main menu, and the New Keyword window
- will appear. Type in the Keyword and press return. By adding a series
- of common keywords in the early stages, documents may be added to the
- system without adding keywords "on the fly".
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- Archiving Documents
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- After the system has been running for a few months, and documents
- have been added daily, search times will start to get longer as the
- database gets larger. (Bear in mind that it is still much faster than
- searching through files by hand!). Many of the documents in the
- database will be no longer necessary, unused until the end of the year,
- or kept for historical purposes only. These documents may be Archived
- to a separate database, thus keeping the current database smaller and
- faster. The Archive file can be searched in the same way as the main
- file, with the exception that the "Author Search" option is not
- available at this time. (It may be added later if users request it.)
-
- To use the archive system select "Document Archives" from the main
- menu, and then select "Move Documents from Archive" from the Sub-Menu.
- A list of Documents starting from the oldest will appear, 1 page at a
- time, with a strip to the left. Enter a "X" by each document to be
- archived. After each page has been completed, the date of each document
- selected will be replaced with the word "Archived". At this point you
- will be prompted to go to the next page, or to press "X" if you have
- finished. This will continue until the database reaches the last
- record. At this point (or if "X" has been entered) the selected
- documents will be moved to the archive file, deleted from the current
- file, and both files will be re-indexed. All document numbers will be
- unchanged, so there is no need to move the "Real" Documents.
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- NOTE:- To maintain the numerical integrity of the document files, it
- is not possible to archive the last entry in the current document file.
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- Deleting Documents from Archive.
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- This feature uses exactly the same interface as is used when
- moving Documents to the Archive. Select "Document Archives" from the
- Main Menu, and then select "Delete Documents from Archive" from the
- Sub-Menu. A list of Documents starting from the oldest will appear, 1
- page at a time, with a strip to the left. Enter a "X" by each document
- to be archived. After each page has been completed, the date of each
- document selected will be replaced with the word "Deleted". At this
- point you will be prompted to go to the next page, or to press "X" if
- you have finished. This will continue until the database reaches the
- last record. At this point (or if "X" has been entered) the selected
- documents will be deleted from the archive file. The Document numbers
- that are deleted will not be reused.
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- NOTE:- To maintain the numerical integrity of the document files, it
- is not possible to delete the last entry in the archive document file.
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