The Business Master (3rd Edition)

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TO: INTEGRA COMPUTING, 910 Cobb Place Manor Dr., Marietta, GA 30066 PF 3.0 Name __________________________________________________________ Firm Name __________________________________ Phone ________________ Address __________________________________________________________ City _________________ State ___ Zip _______ County ________ # Professionals _____ # Employees ____ Type of Practice ________________ I first heard of Integra Computing from ___________________________________ Prices and availability are subject to change without notice. Send unregistered** copies of the following: ___ copies of TickleX at $10 ea $_____ ___ copies of MT-Tracker at $15 ea $_____ ___ copies of Nifty at $10 ea $_____ ___ copies of RAMdesk at $10 ea $_____ ___ copies of ReSearch at $10 ea $_____ ___ copies of BillPower at $10 ea $_____ ___ copies of BillPower Plus at $15 ea $_____ Send registered** copies of the following: ___ copies of RAMdesk at $50 [$25 w/TickleX/BillPower] $_____ ___ copies of PopForm at $50 [$25 w/TickleX/BillPower/MT-Tracker]$_____ ___ copies of ReSearch at $90 [+ $60 EXTRA to get 1 hr support]* $_____ ___ copies of TickleX at $60 [+ $60 EXTRA to get 1 hr support]* $_____ ___ copies of MT-Tracker at $90 [+ $110 EXTRA to get 2 hr support]* $_____ ___ copies of BillPower at $100 [+ $110 EXTRA to get 2 hr support]* $_____ ___ copies of BillPower Plus at $150 [+ $200 EXTRA to get 4 hr support]* $_____ To have programs supplied on 3.5" media, enclose $5.00 extra PER PROGRAM $_____ If you don't live in the U.S., Canada, or Mexico, please add $10.00 more $_____ TOTAL ORDER $_____ ___% Sales Tax for ___________ county, if you're a GA resident $_____ Please enclose a CHECK or MONEY ORDER in US dollars -- GRAND TOTAL $_____ (purchase orders unaccompanied by actual payments won't be accepted) I have read and agreed to all the terms of the Disclaimer found below. _______________________________________ _________________ SIGNATURE DATE * Telephone support will be provided if you pre-purchase it with this order form. Such support must be used within a year. When you need assistance, you may reach Integra Computing (404-426-5735) most weekdays from 4:00pm to 6:00pm, Eastern Time. Because so much time is required to respond to mailed correspon- dence, letters requesting assistance may not be answered. If you need help, call -- don't write. But please don't even call unless you've pre-purchased support with this order form; if you call without having prepaid for support, each call will cost you a minimum of $15, plus $1.50 per minute. ** Unregistered software is programmed to remind you to register. Please note that no credit will be given at the time of registration for the cost of an unregistered copy. BILLPOWER, TICKLEX, MT-TRACKER, POPFORM, RESEARCH, RAMDESK, NIFTY AND THEIR INSTRUCTIONS ARE PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND (INC- LUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE). NO ORAL OR WRITTEN INFORMATION OR ADVICE PROVIDED BY INTEGRA, ITS DEALERS, DISTRIBUTORS, AGENTS, OR EMPLOYEES SHALL CREATE A WARRANTY OF ANY KIND REGARDING BILLPOWER, TICKLEX, MT-TRACKER, POPFORM, RESEARCH, RAMDESK, OR NIFTY, AND YOU MAY NOT RELY UPON SUCH INFORMATION OR ADVICE. NEITHER INTEGRA NOR ANYONE ELSE WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THE CREATION, PRODUCTION, OR DELIVERY OF BILLPOWER, TICKLEX, MT-TRACKER, POPFORM, RESEARCH, RAMDESK, OR NIFTY SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSI- NESS PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, AND LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMATION) AR- ISING FROM THE USE OF (OR INABILITY TO USE) BILLPOWER, TICKLEX, MT-TRACKER, POPFORM, RESEARCH, RAMDESK, OR NIFTY. -- LICENSE: BillPower, TickleX, MT-Tracker, PopForm, ReSearch, Nifty, RAMdesk, and their documentation are copyrighted in 1985 to 1990 by R.A. Kelly. You may use any program on as many computers as you like, as long as it is never ins- talled with a SERIAL NUMBER (provided to you when you register as a user) on more than one computer at a time and as long as you do not alter the program in any way. You may distribute any of these programs to potential new users, pro- vided that you never divulge your SERIAL NUMBER to anyone, that you charge no fee for the program, and that you do not bundle it with (or use it as an incen- tive to purchase or lease) any other product or service, without the written consent of R.A. Kelly. All rights not expressly granted above are reserved in R.A. Kelly. -- DISCLAIMER: BillPower, TickleX, MT-Tracker, PopForm, ReSearch, Nifty, and RAMdesk may contain design and programming flaws. Before using ANY software on a regular basis, try estimating the potential harm that could result from your reliance upon it. Please don't use any of these programs unless you're willing to as- sume the associated risks, such as billing and report inaccuracies and data loss. BILLPOWER, TICKLEX, MT-TRACKER, POPFORM, RESEARCH, NIFTY, RAMDESK, AND THEIR INSTRUCTIONS ARE PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND (INCLUD- ING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE). NO ORAL OR WRITTEN INFORMATION OR ADVICE PROVIDED BY INTEGRA, ITS DEALERS, DISTRIBUTORS, AGENTS, OR EMPLOYEES SHALL CREATE A WARRANTY OF ANY KIND REGARDING BILLPOWER, TICKLEX, MT-TRACKER, POPFORM, RESEARCH, NIFTY, OR RAMDESK, AND YOU MAY NOT RELY UPON SUCH INFORMATION OR ADVICE. USE OF BILLPOWER, TICKLEX, MT-TRACKER, POPFORM, RESEARCH, NIFTY,OR RAMDESK IS ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. NEITHER INTEGRA NOR ANYONE ELSE WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THE CREATION, PRODUCTION, OR DELIVERY OF BILLPOWER, TICKLEX, MT-TRACKER, POPFORM, RESEARCH, NIFTY, OR RAMDESK SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSI- NESS PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, AND LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMATION) ARISING FROM THE USE OF (OR INABILITY TO USE) BILLPOWER, TICKLEX, MT-TRACKER, POPFORM, RESEARCH, NIFTY, OR RAMDESK, EVEN THOUGH INTEGRA MAY BE ADVISED THAT SUCH DAMAGES ARE POSSIBLE. -- AGREEMENT: As used in this Agreement, the terms "BillPower" ,"TickleX", "MT-Tracker", "PopForm", "ReSearch", "Nifty", and "RAMdesk", if not followed by a series or version designation, mean any version or series of BillPower, BillPower Plus, TickleX, MT-Tracker, PopForm, ReSearch, Nifty, or RAMdesk provided to you now or in the future. Your attempt to use BillPower, TickleX, MT-Tracker, PopForm, ReSearch, Nifty, or RAMdesk constitutes your acceptance of the terms set forth in the foregoing LICENSE and DISCLAIMER (which are incorporated into this Agreement). Your attempt to use BillPower, TickleX, MT-Tracker, PopForm, ReSearch, Nifty, or RAMdesk also constitutes your agreement that if you bring any legal action relating to BillPower, TickleX, MT-Tracker, PopForm, ReSearch, Nifty, or RAM- desk, 1) your sole remedy for the damages for which any defendant is found lia- ble (including direct, indirect, incidental and consequential damages) will be the recovery of whatever you paid to register as a user of the program, and 2) you will pay all defendants' attorneys fees and other legal costs if you do not prevail on all claims made in your pleadings. The terms of this Agreement are governed by Georgia law. If any of this Agreement's terms shall be held invalid to any extent, the remainder of this Agreement shall be unaffected by such invalidity. THE ABOVE PARAGRAPHS CONSTITUTE THE ENTIRE AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU AND INTE- GRA. NO ORAL OR WRITTEN COMMUNICATION, INFORMATION, OR ADVICE FROM ANY SOURCE MAY ALTER THE AGREEMENT AS SET FORTH ABOVE. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR OF LIABIL- ITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO SOME OF THE ABOVE EXCLUSIONS AND LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. YOU MAY HAVE OTHER RIGHTS WHICH MAY VARY FROM STATE TO STATE. POPFORM (ver 3.0) TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 USING POPFORM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 FORMS OVERVIEW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 THE TILDE CODES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 FOR PROGRAMMERS ONLY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 PREPARING LONG FORMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 COMMON ERRORS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 CUSTOMIZING POPFORM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 POPFORM INSTRUCTIONS If you're using an unregistered copy of the program, it will begin to beep at you in several weeks, reminding you that it's time to register. Don't worry -- no data will be destroyed, and you'll always be able to use the program, despite the fact that you delay registering. PopForm is a ram-resident program that can be called up from within nearly any application, grab information from the screen, and merge it into a form that's being sent either to a printer or to a disk file. PopForm's far more than just the perfect label/envelope printing tool. You see, unlike the typical single-purpose label or envelope printer, PopForm is actually programmable. It can execute subrou- tines, perform comparisons and conditional procedures, and much, much more. It'll even do simple page formatting, including margins all around, word wrap, page numbers, and one-line headers and footers. With this program, you can prepare forms of nearly ANY complex- ity, as long as the information to be plugged into them can be found on your computer's screen. And, of course, provided that you're wil- ling to grasp and implement some basic programming concepts. If you have simple needs, you'll find PopForm a simple dream-come-true. But it's nice to know that it also has the power to do heavy-duty chores, if you'll just take the time to do some programming and experimenting. Since PopForm can deal with numerical and string variables, it it can also be useful as you just browse through a database. When you come to a screen containing information you'd like to record, just call up PopForm and select a "form" you've prepared that pulls sel- ected data from the screen and sends it to a disk file, along with the running total for some important item. When you've finished your browsing, you can either print the disk file or edit it with your word processor. INTRODUCTION All modern word processors have the ability to prepare forms. They can also automate the preparation of these forms through the use of merge-printing. For instance, you can have your word processor read a list of addresses while it's printing a "blank" mailing label. As it does so, it will merge the address information into the blank form, resulting in a printed label containing an address. This merge-printing function is a tremendous time saver, but it INTRODUCTION 4 is useful only if the blank form and the information to be merged are both accessible by your word processor. And, of course, your word processor's merge-printing function is available only if you're using the word processor. But what if it's your data base (or some other program), not your word processor, that contains the information you want merged into a form? Wouldn't it be nice if you could merge any information shown on your screen into forms that you can access on a pop-up basis? That's exactly what PopForm does. It's a memory-resident program that will read any industry-standard ASCII file and send it to your printer, no matter what database, spreadsheet, word processor, etc., you may be using at the time. And if the file being printed contains appropriate coding, PopForm will pick information right off your screen and merge it into the stream of data going to your printer. Hence, with PopForm, your SCREEN, not a disk file, provides the infor- mation be merged into the form being printed. Let's say you have a canned letter that you'd like to send to a few of the hundreds of people whose vital information is kept in a data base file. Just enter the data base and conduct a search for the records you think you may want. As each person's record comes to the screen, you can decide whether you want to send the canned letter to him. If so, press PopForm's hotkey, make sure that the correct form (the canned letter) is being accessed, and print it. If you'd also/instead like to print a mailing label or a check, just select the appropriate form and merge-print it as well. And if you have differ- ent pre-printed forms already loaded into different printers, you can actually have PopForm automatically send each form it prepares to the proper printer. Let's assume that you're using BillPower Plus, Integra Comput- ing's time/billing/bookkeeping program. It includes a "People" module in which you can store thousands of names, addresses, birthdays, phone numbers, and lots of miscellaneous information. Every person's data screen has a similar layout: all the headings are the same, but the actual data differs from person to person. Because each record's screen layout is predictable, you could easily write any number of forms to be used with the data contained in the BillPower's "People" module. While a single record is being displayed, you could prepare a canned letter, a mailing label/envelope, and/or any other form you desire. In order to get you started, as well as to provide examples which you can study, PopForm is accompanied by several forms, among which are: a very simple form that demonstrates the program's basic principles (LABEL.FRM); a somewhat more complex form that produces envelopes on HP Laser printers (HP-ENV.FRM); a rather complex airbill form that demonstrates the use INTRODUCTION 5 of "IF" and "GOTO" conditional processing (FEDEX.FRM); a form that demonstrates PF's ability to do page format- ting (WILL.FRM); a form that demonstrates PF's use in keeping up with running totals as you browse through a data base (TOTALS.FRM). You'll also find a simple text editor (FORMED.EXE) that may be useful in designing simple forms. INTRODUCTION 6 USING POPFORM You should install PopForm into its own POPFORM directory on your hard disk. To use the program, you should first log into the directory con- taining PopForm. The reason you need to be in this directory is that PopForm will always look to the directory from which it's installed when it needs to find its forms. No matter what directory you may subsequently be logged into when you're running other applications, PopForm will always look for its forms in the subdirectory from which it was loaded. Once you're in the correct directory, load the program by typing "pf" at the DOS prompt. Once the program is in memory, you'll be re- turned to the DOS prompt. By default, the program saves memory by swapping itself to and from disk when you call it up and escape from it. This takes a few seconds every time you press the hotkey. But if you'd rather save time at the expense of more memory usage, you may install the program ty typing "pf ns" at the DOS prompt. The prog- ram's response will be instantaneous when installed in this fashion, but it will take up about 60K of memory, as compared to about 7K when the default disk-swapping is employed. Once the program's installed, it may be called up from within any application. To do so, you need simply press the hotkey (ALT-F, un- less you customize the program to recognize another). PopForm will then display the names of all forms available for printing. Type in the name of one, press the Enter key, and that form will be sent to the printer. PopForm will then disappear from the screen until you invoke it again with the hotkey. The next time you press the hotkey, PopForm will remember the last form it printed. To re-print that form, just press the Enter key. If you need to change the form, do that first, and THEN press the Enter key. By default, PopForm assumes that you'll be sending your form to a printer attached to your computer's LPT1 port. If your printer is attached to LPT2, you may press ALT-P to change the printer port. When you do, you'll notice that the port designation in the upper- right of the PopForm box will change. If you press ALT-P a second time, PopForm will be set to send the form to a disk file named "PCUE" (PrinterCUE). Pressing ALT-P a third time will tell PopForm to send the form to a disk file named "TEXT" (you may subsequently use your word processor to edit this file and send it to a printer). Pressing ALT-P a fourth time completes the circle and brings you back to LPT1. If you've been sending a series of forms to the Printer Cue (PCUE), you may easily have that file printed just by pressing Ctrl-P. But before you press Ctrl-P, make sure that you've informed PopForm to stop sending its output to PCUE. It doesn't make sense to send PCUE's USING POPFORM 7 contents to itself, so press ALT-P until the appropriate printer (LPT1 or LPT2) appears in the upper-right. THEN, press Ctrl-P to send the contents of the printer cue to the printer. To exit PopForm and return to your application without printing a form, press the ESC key. To actually UNLOAD PopForm from memory (so that it will no longer be accessible by your pressing the hotkey), press ALT-X. USING POPFORM 8 FORMS OVERVIEW USING PopForm is a snap, but DESIGNING FORMS will be another mat- ter until you become accustomed to it. All forms used by PopForm must be located in the POPFORM direc- tory (or whatever other directory you place PopForm into). And each form must have the ".FRM" file name extension (eg: "label.frm", "let- ter.frm", "check.frm"). Each form must have been prepared as an industry-standard ASCII file. Most modern word processors can produce this type of file, but generally not unless you specifically request it. If you don't speci- fy an ASCII file, your word processor is likely to produce a file in it's proprietary format, which is unlike that used by all other word processors. If you specify an ASCII file, however, PopForm and most other word processors will be able to read it. So study your word processor's manual to learn how to produce ASCII files. Just in case your word processor makes it difficult for you to prepare ASCII files, PopForm is accompanied by a relatively simple text editor called FORMED. It's handy for making small forms, but you'll probably need a full-featured word processor for the big ones. Each form will have several spots where you will want to substi- tute information from the screen. At each such spot, you must provide an appropriate code. As PopForm reads the form file, it will encoun- ter these codes and merge information from the screen at those spots. A PopForm code always BEGINS and ENDS with a tilde (~). There are several types of codes that may be placed between the two tildes, the most commonly used of which is the Screen Specification. When PopForm encounters a Screen Specification, it will read the screen positions specified and perform whatever process the tilde code dir- ects. If the tilde code contains NOTHING BUT a Screen Specification (that is, no other directive except, perhaps, a Write Length), PopForm will simply send the data extracted from the screen to the printer. If, however, the tilde code directs PopForm to do some sort of compar- ison or mathematical operation with the the screen data, the approp- riate operation will be performed without anything being sent to the printer. So, if you want to send screen data to the printer, all you have to do is to place a Screen Specification between two tildes. If the tilde code has any other directives (other than a Write Length), nothing will be written. A Screen Specification is enclosed within parentheses, and it consists of two parameters, each separated by a comma: 1) either a keyword or a screen location, and 2) the Read Length (number of char- acters to read from the screen). If the Read Length is specified as zero, (or omitted altogether) PopForm will read to the end of the FIRST WORD, regardless of its length, and then stop reading. Examples: FORMS OVERVIEW 9 ~("Name: ",20)~ tells PopForm to find "Name: " on the screen, read the next 20 characters, and print them. ~("Name: ")~ tells PopForm to find "Name: " on the screen, read the next word, and print it. Another type of data that is frequently used is the Write Length, which informs PopForm how many characters to write to the printer. It may be used in conjunction with a Screen Specification or any other tilde code that will result in something being sent to the printer. If the Write Length is smaller than the length of the information to be written, that information will be truncated. If the Write Length is greater than the data length, PopForm will add extra spaces (padding) at the end of the data. A write length of zero (or no Write Length specification at all) will tell PopForm to write exactly as many characters as are contained in the data to be written, no more and no less. A Write Length is always enclosed in square brackets. If it's used, it should be placed within the tilde code before the the item specified to be written, such as a Screen Specification (which, remem- ber, is placed within parentheses, not brackets). ~[30]("Name: ",20)~ tells PopForm to find "Name: " on the screen, read the next 20 characters, print them, and then add another 10 blank spaces. Take a look at the LABEL.FRM file provided with PopForm. It's a very simple example of the use of screen specifications. - Screen layouts Of course, Screen Specifications are useful only if you know the screen arrangement with which a particular form will be used. There- fore, each form you prepare with your word processor will assume a certain screen layout. You can have a separate form for each type of layout you anticipate being displayed at the time the form is needed. Similarly, you can have many types of forms set up for each individual layout. Some sample forms are provided with PopForm. Also provided is a file called TESTDATA. Each of the provided forms (except the will) is designed to work with TESTDATA, which may be viewed as a sample data base screen. If you'll look at TESTDATA, you'll see that information is arranged haphazardly on the screen. This unusual layout is pro- vided just to demonstrate that PopForm will find data, no matter where it has been strewn onto the screen. If you're likely to use PopForm with a number of different main applications, you'll appreciate the fact that PopForm will find the data you want, no matter where it's FORMS OVERVIEW 10 displayed. Now look at CHECK.FRM. This is a check that has been designed for use with Epson-compatible printers. One of that file's codes is ~[25]("payee: ",25)~ This tilde code contains both a Write Length and a Screen Specif- ication. It tells PopForm to look for the character sequence, "payee: ", on the screen. When it finds that sequence, PopForm should then read the NEXT 25 characters and then print 25 (all of them, in this case) of those characters before reading and printing anything else from the CHECK.FRM file. If your screen happens to be displaying anything (such as TESTDATA) with the sequence, "payee: ", the approp- riate substitution will take place. Remember, unlike other types of data that can be placed within tilde codes, Screen Specifications are enclosed in parentheses, and Write Lengths are enclosed within square brackets. Examples: ~"payee: ",25~ NO - Screen Specifications must be in parens ~("payee: ",10)~ ok - looks for "payee: ", reads 10 charac- ters, writes all 10, since no Write Length given ~15("payee: ",25)~ NO - Write Lengths must be in brackets ~[9]("payee: ",25)~ ok - reads 25 characters, writes 9 of them FORMS OVERVIEW 11 THE TILDE CODES Though the Screen Specifications and Write Lengths covered in the last section are the codes you will most frequently use, there are other things you may specify with tilde codes. Each will be described in detail later, but here's a brief explanation of each: DATE Read today's date from the computer's memory, not the screen, and send it to the printer. WEEKDAY Read today's weekday from the computer's memory, not the screen, and send it to the printer. TIME Read the current time from the computer's memory, not the screen, and send it to the printer. NEWPAGE Tells PopForm to send a form feed instruction to the printer, so that a new sheet of paper will be fed. MARGINS t,l,b,r Sets each printed page's top, left, bottom, and right margins to t,l,b, and r, respectively. HD x,y PopForm will place header y at the top of each page it prints and then print x blank lines. FT x,y PopForm will place footer y at the bottom of each page it prints and ensure that there are x blank lines between it and the preceding text. WRAP ON Turns word wrap on. When ON, Popform will ignore all carriage returns in the form being printed and determine for itself when to issue a carriage return. WRAP OFF Turn word wrap off. < ~<~ forces a carriage return and line feed, whether or not word wrap is on. + If ~+~ is the last thing on a line, it tells PopForm to join that line with the following one. No line feed or carriage return will be sent to the printer between these two lines. \ If ~\~ is the last thing on a line, it tells Popform that the following line is to overprint the current one. Therefore, a carriage return, but no line feed, will be sent to the printer between the two lines. CENTER x Tells PopForm to center all items picked from the screen. Each item will be centered on column x. Centering will continue until a CENTER OFF code is encountered. CENTER OFF Turns off centering. PRINTCODE x Send printer control decimal code x to the printer. C-cc Go to column cc on the row where the cursor is currently located and start reading (cc must be 2 digits). Whatever is found there will be printed. R-rr Go to row rr on the screen and start reading at the column where the cursor is presently located (rr must be 2 digits). Whatever is found there will be printed. RC-rrcc Go to row rr and column cc and start reading (rr and cc must each be 2-digit numbers). Whatever is THE TILDE CODES 12 found there will be printed. WRITELN x Display message x in PopForm's box. If nothing is already displayed, the message will be located on the top line; otherwise, it will be put onto the second line. Only two lines can be displayed at one time. INPUT x Prompt the user for keyboard input by displaying message x. Whatever the user keys in will be sent to the printer, except for a carriage return. BLOCK Allow the user to "block off" a portion of the current screen and send that block's text to the printer. NEWSCREEN x Tells PopForm to display message x, wait for you to press a key, and then temporarily exit. This allows you to call up another screen of data before for the current form to use. When you re-enter PopForm, it will pick up where it had left off just before exiting. If x is missing, PopForm will exit without displaying a message. LABEL x Marks a position within the file. "x" is the number or short word you wish to assign to the position. GOTO x Stop printing and skip to the position in the form defined by label x. Then, begin printing again. GOSUB x Like GOTO, but will cause PopForm to automatically RETURN pick up where it left off before performing the subroutine beginning at label x and ending with a RETURN command. DO Defines a DO loop that contains everything between UNTIL COUNT x the "DO" and "UNTIL COUNT x" statements. The DO loop will be repeated x times. NUMx PopForm keeps 9 numerical variables to which you may assign values. They are called NUM1...NUM9. Each always starts with a value of zero when a new form is being prepared, but you may alter them through addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and clearing ( +, -, *, /, cc ). WRDx PopForm keeps 9 alphanumeric variables to which you may assign characters strings. They are called WRD1...WRD9. Each always starts out blank when a new form is being prepared, but you may alter them through addition, subtraction, and clearing ( +, -, cc ). ESC This is the character that results when the ESC key is pressed. It may be used when making comparisons in an IF statement (eg: IF the ESC key is pressed, then do so-and-so). DECIMALS x Defines the precision with which each NUM variable will be printed. x is the number of decimal places desired. SENDTO x Send the form to a disk file named x, instead of to your primary printer. If you want to send the form to another PRINTER (not a file), x should be "LPT1", THE TILDE CODES 13 "LPT2", "LPT3", or "LPT4". FILE x Go to disk file x and print it. The file must be located in the same directory as PopForm's other form files. Be sure to specify a full file name, including the extension. IF x > If number x is greater than the number defined by the following keyword (or screen coordinates), then execute the next tilde code sequence. Otherwise, DO NOT execute the next tilde code sequence. IF x < If number x is less than the number defined by the following keyword (or screen coordinates), then execute the next tilde code sequence. Otherwise, DO NOT execute the next tilde code sequence. IF x = If phrase x is contained within the phrase defined by the following keyword (or screen coordinates), then execute the next tilde code sequence. OR, if number x is the equivalent of the number defined by the following keyword (or screen coordinates), then execute next tilde code. IF x <> If phrase x is not contained within the phrase defined by the following keyword (or screen coordinates), then execute the next tilde code sequence. OR, if number x is not the equivalent of the number defined by the following keyword (or screen coordinates), then execute next tilde code. IF x ^ a,b,c... If number x equals number a, b, or c, etc., then execute next tilde code. IF x | a,b,c... If number x does not equal number a, b, or c, etc., then execute next tilde code. { x } A tilde code containing nothing but comments enclosed within curly brackets will be ignored by PopForm. You may use this feature to document your forms, without having to worry about your comments' being printed. THE TILDE CODES 14 PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER - In General A simple form can be slapped together in no time. A mailing label is a good example. As your needs become more complex, however, you'll find yourself using PopForm's programming features to flash prompts onto the screen, compare screen data with other information, perform subroutines, etc. A complex form could conceivably take many hours (even days) to develop. Telling PopForm when to print what, and on which line to print it may be tricky. But it CAN be done with some perseverance. So please study the remainder of this manual and de- velop some practice forms, so that you can experiment with each of PopForm's specialized codes. Good luck. - Keywords and Screen Locations If the data you want to insert in your form always follows a par- ticular keyword, screen coordinates aren't important; PopForm will find the data, no matter where it may appear on the screen if you supply it with the keyword (eg: "Street: "). PopForm is not case sensitive when it's scanning the screen for a keyword you've supplied. That is, capitalization doesn't make any difference to PopForm when it's looking for a keyword. But what it sends to the printer will be EXACTLY what is found on the screen fol- lowing the keyword. An alternative to a keyword search is to specify the exact screen coordinates where the data you want may be found. Screen coordinate numbering begins in the upper left corner, whose coordinate is "0101" (row 01, column 01). Let's assume that you have your data arranged in an array (a spreadsheet, for instance), and that there are no predictable key- words. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to move the cursor to a speci- fic row and merge the data on that row into your form? The "C-cc" code does just that. The "cc" portion of the code specifies the COLUMN (two digits, please) at which the data you want to merge begins. The ROW is defined as that where the cursor was lo- cated just before popping into PopForm. Take a look at RPRTCARD.FRM, a simple report card whose data also happens to be taken from the TESTDATA file. You'll note that the "Grade" item is on the line following "Student". But when it prints out, you'll notice that both items are on the same line (see the "line overwrites" discussion in a subsequent section). To use the RPRTCARD form, use your word processor to bring TEST- DATA to the screen. Then cursor down to any of the lines containing PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER 15 student names. Pop into PopForm, select the RPRTCARD form, and press the Enter Key. That line's data will be merged into the form. Select another student, and try again, if you like. The "R-rr" code works the same sort of magic for rows. Here, the "rr" portion of the code specifies the ROW (two digits) at which the data you want to merge begins. The COLUMN is defined as that where the cursor was located just before popping into PopForm. What if you want to specify an exact row and column, neither of which depends upon cursor location? Answer: the "RC-rrcc" code. Here, both the row ("rr") AND column ("cc") are specified, each in two digits. Remember, Read and Write Lengths of zero have special meanings. A Read Length of zero normally tells PopForm that the number of char- acters to be read is not important, and that PopForm should, instead, read to the end of the FIRST WORD, regardless of its length. A Write Length of zero tells PopForm to print the string of characters you desire (such as a date found in the computer's memory, or several words picked from the screen), no more and no less. - Line Overwriting and Line Joining (VERY, VERY IMPORTANT!) These two features are invaluable. Read, practice, and master the contents of this section! As you prepare forms with your word processor, you'll find that estimating the proper spacing is sometimes difficult, especially if you intend to be printing upon typeset paper. You may find that the tilde codes you enter are so long that they distort the appearance of the form on your screen. Assume, for ins- tance, that the data you want printed is only 6 characters long, but that it takes 13 characters to define it with a tilde code. In this case, everything to the right of your code will appear 7 spaces out of alignment. PopForm doesn't care, but you may have difficulty visual- izing the form as you're constructing it. You'll notice that CHECK.FRM has a few lines that have missing border characters. Those lines are to be combined with the lines immediately preceding or following them. How? Line Joining and Line Overwriting. Line Overwriting allows your printer to over-print two or more lines of data on the same physical line on the paper. Though your screen may show 2 or three separate lines, Line Overwriting al- lows them all to be sent to the SAME line on your printer. Line Overwriting may be imposed upon PopForm by the placing a ~\~ code at the end of a line. When PopForm encounters ~\~ at the end of a line, it will immediately issue a carriage return, but no line feed, to the printer. That will cause the following line to overwrite PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER 16 the line containing ~\~. When trying out complex forms that you're preparing, you'll often find that the printout contains blank lines that you hadn't anti- cipated. All you have to do is to place a ~\~ at the end of the line preceding an unwanted blank. That will inform PopForm that a carriage return, but no line feed should be issued at the end of that line. If the form you're creating requires lines longer than 80 characters, but your word processor or text editor doesn't permit them (as is the case with the FORMED program provided with PopForm), you'll need to "double up" by using the ~+~ code. If ~+~ is encoun- tered at the end of a line, PopForm will join that line with the one immediately following it. As your form is being printed, PopForm will send NEITHER a line feed NOR carriage return after a line ending with ~+~. Hence, the following line will be printed adjacent to (not over) the one containing ~+~. Be sure never to use the ~+~ code in the mid- dle of another code. Though one tilde code may immediately follow another, PopForm does not allow codes-within-codes. By the way, you may FORCE PopForm to issue BOTH a carriage return AND a line feed if you place a ~<~ at the end of a line. This feature is generally useful only if you're using Word Wrap (covered later). NOTE: When using your word processor to look at a disk file created by PopForm, you may notice what appear to be many blank lines that you hadn't "programmed". In many cases, these may not really be blank lines at all; your word pro- cessor may simply be displaying a blank line wherever the file has a carriage return, even though that carriage return MIGHT NOT be accompanied by a line feed. Don't worry. When the file is actually printed, it'll probably look much bet- ter. Remember that the forms you create with PopForm might make liberal use of carriage returns without line feeds. - Missing Data Sometimes the data you're looking for won't be anywhere on the screen. Look at LABEL.FRM, and you'll see that it consists of four name and address lines. The third line instructs PopForm to look to the screen for the sequence, "Street: ". That sequence, however, won't be followed by anything if TESTDATA is being displayed. You might, therefore, expect PopForm to print LABEL.FRM with a blank third line. But you'd probably prefer that PopForm omit the third line en- tirely when the information being sought for inclusion thereon is mis- sing. Well, that's exactly what the program will do in this case. Why? Because PopForm sees that next character following the keyword specification is "\". Whenever PopForm encounters a "\" right after a PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER 17 keyword or a screen coordinate, the program primes itself NOT to print the line if it cannot find what it's been told to find on the screen. Examples: ~("payee: ",10)~ - will send a line feed to the printer, whether or not it finds something on the screen immediately after "payee: " ~("payee: "\,10)~ - will send a line feed to the printer, ONLY IF PopForm finds something on the screen immediately after "payee: " ~(RC-0513\,10)~ - will send a line feed to the printer, ONLY IF PopForm finds something at row 05, column 13. For each line skipped while printing the body of a form, an extra line will be inserted at the end, thus ensuring correct spacing bet- ween successive forms. It makes sense to use "\" only when there is only one item on a form line, that item being defined by a the tilde code containing "\". Never use "\" if the line contains ANYTHING other than a single tilde code sequence. - Comments When you want to place comments into your form, but you don't want them to print, begin each with ~{ and end each with }~. This will allow you to make notes in each form about why you did such and such. Example: ~{The following lines contain the client's address}~ The line shown above will not be printed when the forms is prepared. A comment must always be the last (if not the only) item found on a line. - Postponing Printing Normally, when you access PopForm, you will want a form printed at once. Thus, when you type in the name of a form, printing normally begins immediately. But it may occasionally be more convenient for you to grab data from one screen, then another, then another (and so on), AND THEN beg- in printing. This may be accomplished in two different ways. One is for you to simply press ALT-P until "PCUE" (the PrintCUE) appears in the upper right corner of PopForm's screen. If you do this before you select a form to "print", all output will be directed, not to the printer, but to the PrintCUE. Once you've sent your last form PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER 18 to the PrintCUE, press Ctrl-P to actually print all the stuff you've been saving up. The other way to postpone printing is for you to place the SENDTO code into your form. Example: ~SENDTO myfile~ This goes to the "myfile" file ~SENDTO LPT3~ This goes to the printer When PopForm encounters the top line's code, it will immediately re- direct its output to the "myfile" file, instead of to the printer. The next line would, therefore, be sent to "myfile". The third line, however, directs PopForm to begin printing again (through port LPT3, in this case). After using the SENDTO code, PopForm will assume that, when you press Ctrl-P, you will want to print the file specified by SENDTO, not the standard PrintCUE. - Multi-screen Forms You may occasionally have forms that pull their data from two or more screens. Therefore, PopForm needs a facility to allow you to temporarily exit, call up another screen, and then resume processing the form. ~NEWSCREEN x~ is the answer. It tells PopForm to display message x, wait for you to press a key, and then temporarily exit. After you've called up another screen of data and pressed PopForm's hotkey, the program will pick up where it had left off just before exiting. If x is missing, PopForm will exit without displaying a mes- sage or waiting for you to press a key. Examples: ~NEWSCREEN~ ~NEWSCREEN "Press ENTER, get new screen, and come back"~ The first line would cause PopForm to exit without displaying a message. The second line would display the message in quotes, wait for either the ENTER or ESC key to be pressed, and then exit. If you pressed the ESC key, PopForm would exit without expecting you to call up another screen; when you pressed the hotkey again, PopForm WOULD NOT pick up where it left off. The ESC key, therefore, allows you to break out of a repetitive cycle. - Centering If you want the data picked off the screen to be centered on the printed page, you may find the ~CENTER x~ code useful. When PopForm encounters that code, it primes itself to center ALL data picked off the screen until it encounters a ~CENTER OFF~ code. x is the column PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER 19 on which the data will be centered. - Margins PopForm normally sends to the printer exactly what is contained in the form being printed. If you'd like PopForm to add margins of its own, you should use the ~MARGINS t,l,b,r~ code. t,l,b, and r are not really margins at all. Rather, they are the top, left, bottom, and right lines and columns at which printing will begin and end. t is the line on which you wish to begin printing on each page. l is the column at which you want to begin printing each line. b is the line to which you wish to continue printing each page before a new sheet is automatically fed. r is the approximate column to which you wish to continue printing each line if you're using Word Wrap. t and b must be numbers between 1 and 255. l and r should be between 1 and the maximum number of columns your printer is set to print, minus 5. For example, if you printer is in 80-column mode, r must be no more than 75. Remember, r has no effect unless Word Wrap is ON. PopForm's defaults are: t=1, b=255, l=1, and r=255. If you des- ignate a zero for any of these items, PopForm will assume that item to be unimportant and reset it to its default value. When a default val- ue is set, PopForm gives up control over that item. - Headers and Footers If you want each page to have a header or footer, use the ~HD x,y~ or ~FT x,y~ code. y is the header or footer you want printed at the top or bottom of each page, and x is the minimum number of blank lines you need between the header of footer and the rest of the text on the page. If you want a page number printed within the header of footer, use the # character. The maximum number of characters allowed in a header or footer is 74. Example: ~FT 3,Page #~ This will cause PopForm to place a footer at the bottom of each page, three lines below the main text that's printed. If the page being printed were page 21, the footer would say, "Page 21". - Word Wrap Sometimes, the information to be grabbed from the screen and placed into the form being printed will not be of a predictable length. That might make creating a form difficult, since you may not know how much space to allocate to variable-length data. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER 20 Word wrap may help you here. When it's turned on, PopForm will completely ignore all line feeds contained in the form. Instead, PopForm will decide for itself when it needs to skip down to the next line. In order for this to work, you should place a ~MARGINS t,l,b,r~ code just before turning on Word Wrap with the ~WRAP ON~ code. If you don't, PopForm will consider the left margin to be 1 and the right one to be 255. To turn Word Wrap off, place a ~WRAP OFF~ code into the form at the appropriate place. If you want to change margins at that point, you should place a ~MARGINS t,l,b,r~ code right after it. Word Wrap's operation is fairly straightforward. When the line that PopForm is printing comes within 9 characters of the right margin you've designated, it begins looking for a blank space or hyphen. As soon as one is encountered, PopForm sends a carriage return and line feed to the printer. If no blank space or hyphen is encountered be- fore the line is 5 characters LONGER than the right margin you speci- fied, PopForm will arbitrarily break the word and insert a hyphen. Therefore, PopForm may occasionally break long words (>14 characters) at awkward points. So, don't use big words too often in the forms that PopForm will print. Remember, PopForm ignores all line feeds contained in the form it's printing under Word Wrap's control. So how can you FORCE PopForm to issue a line feed and carriage return, despite the fact that Word Wrap is on? Answer: the ~<~ code. Just place a ~<~ wherever you want. For example, if you want a blank line between paragraphs, each paragraph should be preceded by two ~<~ codes. Take a look at LETTER.FRM to see how these codes are used. - Printer Codes There may be times when you need to switch from 1/6" to 1/8" spacing, and back. You may need to change fonts in the middle of a page, or even in mid-line. Or you may occasionally need to underline what's printed. In order to handle these changes, you'll have to utilize PopForm's special printer control tilde codes. And, of course, you'll also have to be familiar with the decimal code se- quences recognized by your printer. If you want to place printer control codes into your forms, enter each as a series of 3-digit numbers. Each such sequence must begin with "~PRINTCODE ", and end it with a tilde. Assume that the con- trol code you want to send your printer is "27 69" (ESC E). To send that code, you should actually place into your form this character sequence: ~PRINTCODE 027069~ PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER 21 Note that "027069" is used, not "2769", "27 69" or "27,69". Use se- quences consisting of three-digit numbers only. See CHECK.FRM for an example of this code sequence. The control code sent by CHECK.FRM is designed to place an Epson-compatible printer into the proper mode to print IBM graphic characters. - Graphics You may occasionally need to place graphics symbols into your form. Though this may be an unfamiliar chore, you'll find your word processor fully capable of handling it. The trick is to figure out how, so dig out that manual and look. Some word processors will display graphics symbols as odd-looking characters. Don't worry, when they're printed out, they'll look just fine -- assuming, of course, that your printer has been placed into its graphics printing mode. Some printers can't handle graphics at all. Some will print graphics in their default modes. And others, like the Epson-compatibles, are capable of graphics, but need to be given the proper command to go into that mode. That's why CHECK.FRM's first line contains a printer control code sequence to place Epson-compat- ible printers into graphics mode. - Date, Day of Week, Time If your form contains ~DATE~, ~WEEKDAY~, or ~TIME~, the compu- ter's current date, day of the week, or time will be be substituted at the appropriate spot on the form as it prints. - Keeping up with Totals PopForm will print any number you wish, whether it's contained in the form being printed or on the screen. But what if you need the program to keep tabs on running totals that accumulate during the processing of many screens'-worth of data? That's what the NUMx variables are for. There are nine of them, NUM1...NUM9. They are all set to zero with each new form that you prepare. From that starting point, each can be adjusted as you wish by performing mathematical operations on it. And each can be printed easily. Here are some examples: ~NUM1+10~ adds 10 to NUM1 ~NUM2*3~ multiplies NUM2 by 3 ~NUM8/4~ divides NUM8 by 4 ~NUM8-NUM4~ subtracts NUM4 from NUM8 and keeps the result in NUM8 ~NUM5~ prints NUM5 ~NUM5CC~ clears NUM5 (reduces it to zero) PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER 22 What about ~NUM5=90~? That won't work! To give NUM5 a value of 90, you should use two operations: ~NUM5CC~~NUM5+90~. The first reduces NUM5 to zero, and the next adds 90 to it. If no mathematical operation is designated, the tilde code con- taining a NUMx variable tells PopForm to simply print the variable; otherwise, PopForm is being told to perform an operation. When per- forming mathematical operations the first operator must always be the NUMx variable. The precision with which NUMx variables will be printed may be set with the DECIMALS code. Examples ~DECIMALS 3~ causes PopForm to NUMx variables to 3 decimal places ~DECIMALS 0~ no decimal places will be printed. PopForm's default is DECIMALS 2. - Alphanumeric variables PopForm will print any alphanumeric string you wish, whether it's contained in the form being printed or on the screen. But what if you need the program to remember a particular word or phrase and manipu- late it later. That's what the WRDx variables are for. There are nine of them, WRD1...WRD9. They all start out blank when you begin preparing a form. From that starting point, each can be adjusted as you wish by performing basic operations on it. And each can be prin- ted easily. Here are some examples: ~WRD1+"hello"~ adds "hello" at the end of WRD1 ~WRD1-"hello"~ deletes "hello" from WRD1 ~WRD5~ prints WRD5 ~WRD5CC~ clears WRD5 (makes WRD5 blank) What about ~WRD5="hello"~? That won't work! To make WRD5 equal to "hello", you should use two operations: ~WRD5CC~~WRD5+"hello"~. The first makes WRD5 blank, and the next adds "hello" to it. If no operation is designated, the tilde code containing a WRDx variable tells PopForm to simply print the variable; otherwise, Pop- Form is being told to perform an operation. When performing opera- tions the first operator must always be the WRDx variable. - Feeding a new sheet of paper Whenever PopForm encounters the code, ~NEWPAGE~, it will send your printer the form feed command. If you want a new page to be fed only if the last line printed is within x lines of the bottom "margin" (see the Margins section above), the code should be, ~NEWPAGE x~, PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER 23 where x is a number. - Pausing for keyboard entry If, in the middle of a form, you want PopForm to ask you something, use the INPUT code. Whatever you enter at the keyboard will be placed into the printout. Consider the a form consisting of one line: ~TIME~, ~DATE~ ~INPUT "Your Name: "~ In this example, PopForm would print the computer's time and date. Then, it would print several blank spaces, pause, and display the phrase, "Your Name: ", on the screen. When you entered your name, PopForm would print it at the point at which it had just paused. If the command had been ~[20]INPUT "Your Name: "~, PopForm would have printed the first 20 characters of your name (if you name were fewer than 20 characters, PopForm would have padded it with spaces). The phrase you specify with the INPUT code will be displayed on the third line of the PopForm window. If a one-line phrase isn't enough, you should use the ~WRITELN x~ code just before INPUT. WRITELN will display phrase x on the first line of the window, unless that line has already been filled by a previous WRITELN instruction (in which case phrase x will be displayed on the second line). By placing two WRITELN codes just before an INPUT code, you can display a three-line prompt. - Blocking off text If you want the ability to highlight a certain block off text on the screen and send it to the printer, use the ~BLOCK~ code. When PopForm encounters that code, it will place a flashing block-type cur- sor at the top-left corner of the screen. Use the arrow keys to move the cursor to the point that you wish to designate as the top-left corner of the block to be printed and press the space bar. Then, move to the bottom-right corner of the block. As you move, you'll notice that the block is highlighted. Hitting the Enter key will cause the highlighted text to be sent to the printer. If you want the text that's printed to be lined up at a certain left margin, be sure to put a ~MARGINS code (see the Margins section) just before the ~BLOCK code. Then, reset the margins by placing an- other ~MARGINS code after the ~BLOCK code. Example: ~MARGINS=1,10,255,255~ sets default margins, except left margin ~BLOCK~ ~MARGINS=1,1,255,255~ sets default margins all around PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER 24 - Printing another file When PopForm encounters the code, ~FILE x~, it will cease printing the current form and begin printing file x. Example: ~FILE 2d.fil~ This code would tell PopForm to immediately find the file named, "2D.FIL" and begin printing it. If one file sends PopForm to another, the only way to get back is to have the second file send PopForm back to the first. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER 25 FOR PROGRAMMERS ONLY PopForm has some simplistic programming features that allow it to react to certain conditions. Let's assume that you want the program to read the character at a certain screen location and compare it to a character that you define. If the characters match (or DON'T match, if you prefer), you can have PopForm stop printing, skip down to a certain line (identified by a LABEL), and then continue printing. All this can be done by using IF in conjunction with the GOTO, GOSUB..RETURN, and DO..UNTIL, tilde codes. This version of PopForm allows GOSUBs and DO loops to be nested up to three levels deep. You may notice that, as PopForm is sending a form to the printer, it's pop-up box rapidly flashes on and off. What's happening is this: When a GOTO, GOSUB, or DO statement is being executed, PopForm needs to move to different locations in the form. As it does so, it dis- plays a message explaining what it's doing. When it finds the proper location, the screen is cleared, so that PopForm may read it. All this may happen very quickly, especially if PopForm is working with small files. If, for some reason, PopForm can't find the proper loc- ation, it will appear to "hang up". In this case, all you normally have to do is to press the ESC key. Then, look at the file that Pop- Form was accessing and try to fix it's programming logic. - Labels Labels mark important points in your file. They can be of great benefit when used in conjunction with the IF, GOTO, and GOSUB state- ments. If, for instance, certain characters or values appear on your screen, you might want PopForm to skip to a certain point in the file and resume printing. If the screen contains other data, you might want to skip to another section (or even to another file, altogether). - IF statements IF statements do comparisons. When PopForm encounters an IF statement, it reads the string of characters between the "IF" and the comparison expression ( =, <, >, or <> ). It makes the appropriate comparison between that string and the string of characters following the comparison expression. If, and only if, the comparison is true (eg: equal, if you specify =, or not equal if you specify <>), the NEXT FOLLOWING tilde code will be executed. If the comparison is not true (eg: not equal if you specify =, or equal if you specify <>), the following tilde code will be SKIPPED. Examples: ~IF 1=NUM2~~GOTO END~ Now is the time... If NUM2=1, then PopForm will go to the position in the form identified by an END label (~LABEL END~). Other- FOR PROGRAMMERS ONLY 26 wise, it will continue on to print, " Now is the time...". ~IF "david"<>(RC-0512,5)~~GOSUB DAVE~ If the five characters located at screen coordinates 0512 do not match "david", then PopForm will execute the subroutine beginning at ~LABEL DAVE~. (see the GOSUB discussion below) ~IF ESC=NEWSCREEN "Press a Key: "~~GOTO END~ If, when the NEWSCREEN function was displaying, "Press a Key: ", you pressed the ESC key, PopForm would go to the END label. If the first string of characters to be compared is a number, PopForm will attempt numerical comparison. If it's a date, it will attempt to compare dates. Otherwise, it will compare words or phrases (ignoring capitalization). PopForm recognizes dates in only three formats, demonstrated as follows: 12 September 1992: 12 SEP 92 (day month year) (use first 3 letters of month) 9/12/92 (month/day/year) 9-12-92 (month-day-year) Whenever PopForm encounters an IF statement, it knows that it needs to perform a comparison of TWO, and ONLY TWO items. If one of the things to be compared is a known quantity (such as the ESC key, or a particular word or number for which you're looking), that item must appear to the LEFT of the operator ( =, <>, <, > ). The variable against which you're comparing the known quantity must always be to the right of the operator. If two variables are being compared, place to the left of the operator the one that does NOT require PopForm to pick data from the screen or from your keyboard. If both (or neither) items are variables requiring keyboard or screen scanning, the order is not important. Finally, any attempt to compare items that can't logically be compared may have unpredictable results. - GOSUB routines When PopForm encounters ~GOSUB x~ code, it immediately finds the position in the file identified as ~LABEL x~. It executes everything between that point and the next ~RETURN~ code. Then, it returns to the spot in the file just following the ~GOSUB x~ code and continues its way through the file. Example: This is the beginning. ~GOSUB FILLER~ FOR PROGRAMMERS ONLY 27 And now I'm done. ~GOTO END~ ~LABEL FILLER~ Here's some filler material. Now, I'll return. ~RETURN~ ~LABEL END~ This sequence would cause the following to be printed: This is the beginning. Here's some filler material. Now, I'll return. And now I'm done. - DO loops Each DO loop maintains its own counter, which is initialized at a value of one when the DO loop begins execution. Whenever PopForm encounters a ~DO~ code, it will continue its work until it reaches an ~UNTIL COUNT x~ code. Then, it will increase its counter by 1 and compare that value against x. If the counter is less than or equal to x, PopForm will then go to ~DO~ code and begin the process again. When the counter is finally greater than x, PopForm will break out of the DO loop. As DO loops are processing, you may ask PopForm to do certain things, depending upon what the counter's current value is. Just use an IF code to do so. Example: ~IF 2=COUNT~~GOTO TWO~...counter not equal to 2 If the counter's value is 2, PopForm will skip immediately to the file position identified by ~LABEL TWO~; otherwise, it will print,"...counter not equal to 2". Note that COUNT must always be the SECOND value compared, never the first. You may execute GOSUB routines that are outside the DO loop, but all GOTO's contained within a DO loop must refer to labels that are also within the DO loop. - Programming Example Programming is potentially an extremely frustrating endeavor. You'll undoubtedly have to do a lot of trial and error work when you work on even mildly complicated forms. But if you stick with it, you'll be glad that you did. Take a look at PROGRAM.FRM, FEDEX.FRM, and WILL.FRM. Copy them FOR PROGRAMMERS ONLY 28 to into files with different names and have fun experimenting with the copies. Also copy TESTDATA and WILLDATA to other files, so that you can experiment with them, too. Be sure to use only an ASCII-type editor, or you'll be wasting your time. FOR PROGRAMMERS ONLY 29 PREPARING LONG FORMS First, write your form without any codes. When it's done, go through it again, this time substituting codes where appropriate. If the form has lots of variables to be plugged in by PopForm, it is recommended that you direct PopForm to use Word Wrap. Turn it on and set your margins at the beginning of the form. And be sure to use the ~<~ code wherever you REQUIRE a line feed and carriage return; otherwise, PopForm will try to place everything into the same para- graph. As you write your form with your word processor, make sure that you don't break words with hyphens at the end of lines. When PopForm sends the form to the printer, each line containing a variable my end up with a length different from what you had anticipated. A word that you had originally broken with a hyphen at the end of a line may end up in the middle of a line on the printed sheet. PREPARING LONG FORMS 30 COMMON ERRORS - Improper vertical spacing between lines. This is particularly a problem when you're creating a complicated form that uses lots of programming logic. The problem is that you aren't thinking through the form's process well enough. There may be places where PopForm will issue a line feed when you don't want it to. Locate those spots and place a ~\~ at the end of the line. If PopForm ISN'T issuing line feeds where you expect, use the ~<~ code at the end of each line where you want the line feed. - Improper horizontal spacing on a line. You probably haven't antici- pated the lengths of an item that PopForm will plug into the form. As a result, subsequent printing on that line will not be aligned properly. Try using the ~\~ and ~+~ codes to join and overwrite lines. Make a test file to experiment with these codes. Then, when you understand how they work, place them into a "real" form. - Failure to place a tilde (~) at each end of a code. This causes all sorts of problems, as PopForm attempts to decipher everything between two tildes. - Omission of the word LABEL from codes intended as labels. - Failure to end a subroutine (called by GOSUB) with a RETURN code. - Failure to end a DO loop with an UNTIL statement. - Failure to follow each code's recommended syntax. COMMON ERRORS 31 CUSTOMIZING POPFORM To customize PopForm, you need to load the program by entering the following at the DOS prompt: PopForm $08xxxx where each "x" represents a letter or number, as explained in the following sections. Note that you need to make this special entry only once. From then, on, PopForm may be loaded merely by entering "PopForm" at the DOS prompt. HOTKEY PopForm's default hotkey is ALT-F. To change it, substitute for the third "x" the new key you wish to use in combination with the ALT key. Also substitute for the first two x's the scan code for that key. You'll need to consult with a DOS manual to find a complete list of scan codes, but here are a few: Q=10 W=11 E=12 R=13 T=14 Y=15 U=16 I=17 O=18 P=19 A=1E S=1F D=20 F=21 G=22 H=23 J=24 K=25 L=26 Z=2C X=2D C=2E V=2F B=30 N=31 M=32 Example: To make ALT-Q the hotkey, you should enter "PopForm $0810Q..." at the DOS prompt. Here, "Q" takes the place of the third "x", and its scan code (10) takes the place of the first two. To use the CTRL key in place of the ALT key, substitute "$04" for "$08". The Left Shift key is $02, and Right Shift key is $01. COLORS You may designate the primary colors used by PopForm. The fore- ground color's code substitutes for the fifth "x", while the back- ground is contained at the sixth position. The color codes you may use are: 0 Black 1 Blue 2 Green 3 Cyan 4 Red 5 Magenta 6 Brown 7 Light Gray DEFAULT SETTING PopForm's default customizing instruction is, "$0821F70": 21=the scan code of the F key used (with ALT) to invoke PopForm F =the F key 7 =light gray (foreground color) 0 =black (background) CUSTOMIZING POPFORM 32 THE "POWER OFFICE" LINE-UP Each unique program in this series requires a hard disk-equipped IBM-compatible PC with 512K of memory. The following paragraphs contain brief descriptions. TickleX --> the ultimate in scheduling/planning/docket control MT-Tracker --> TickleX's scheduling power, plus client management BillPower --> time & billing with totally integrated general ledger RAMdesk --> pop-up network message system, calculator, scheduler, phone directory, time/work/expense log, data base PopForm --> pop-up form printing program. Nifty --> combination menu and pop-up help system BILLPOWER and BILLPOWER PLUS BillPower is a system designed to relieve you of the drudgery involved in billing. In a nutshell, it will track the time you work on professional mat- ters, keep up with your receipts and disbursements, and calculate the amount owed by each client. And it will automatically prepare informative monthly statements for all your clients. All on either a stand-alone or pop-up basis! Engineered exclusively for the small firm, this innovative software offers a rare combination of power and ease of use at a fair price. Unlike programs that attempt to electronically emulate ancient manual accounting procedures, BillPower is designed to capitalize upon the power of your computer. If you are an "old hand" at bookkeeping, then open your mind to a real-time system which immediately updates all balances at the time an entry is made; one that does not require periodic batch postings or annual close-outs; one that pro- vides a convenient method for correcting erroneous entries; a system that never erases old data in the interest of consolidation. You'll find both BillPower and BillPower Plus to be advanced products. --> BillPower ($100): time, billing, & bookkeeping for firms with up to three timekeepers -- includes bank account management, income-expense reports, balance sheets, & several bill formats. --> BillPower Plus ($150): time, billing, & bookkeeping for firms with up to fifteen timekeepers -- builds upon BillPower's fea- tures, adding the abilities to keep extensive indexed memos on any subject, maintain notes on thousands of people, conduct con- flict of interest checks, prepare mailing labels, and more. BillPower can prepare several types of reports. Whenever you request one, you will be presented with a screen listing the parameters by which you can choose the information to be included. After you have selected the appro- priate parameters, BillPower will hunt through its data base for informa- tion meeting your specifications. The report may be sent to the screen, the printer or to a disk file. Finally, while other time and billing programs may offer "links" to exter- nal accounting software, BillPower completely integrates its bookkeeping func- tions into the rest of the program. In fact, BillPower Plus can simultaneously update affected G/L accounts (as well as a client's balance and aged receiv- ables) at the time that a disbursement or receipt is entered. This "real-time" approach to bookkeeping, virtually unprecedented in a time and billing program, saves you the time you would otherwise spend making duplicate G/L entries, pos- ting transactions, and/or transferring files from one program to another. With BillPower Plus, a SINGLE entry can handle all the updating that needs to be done. No other program offers such a degree of integration. NONE! TICKLEX TickleX ($50) is a tickler/calendar program that will keep track of your appointments and deadlines, print your itinerary at the beginning of each day day, keep a "to-do" list, and chart the projected course of each matter you handle. It will also schedule trips and vacations, print weekly and monthly calendars, and beep at you when something needs doing. Stand-alone or POP-UP. TickleX is unusual in its ability to dynamically link reminders to ap- pointments and deadlines. Assume, for example, that you have a very important meeting scheduled for 15 August. As with other programs, you could establish reminders several days or weeks in advance to allow adequate preparation for the meeting. For the purposes of this example, let's say that you have entered a reminder one week in advance and another two weeks in advance. Now, what happens if the meeting is moved forward one week to 22 August? Again, all tic- kler programs would allow you to reschedule it. But TickleX will also automatically update the two reminders, moving each one week forward in order to maintain the original reminder intervals. Other programs would require you to search for each reminder, delete it, and then enter it again on another date. This TickleX exclusive is an absolute "must" for offices that have fre- quent schedule changes. TickleX is also unique in the way it handles multi-day events. TickleX allows you to enter an event such as a week-long trip with just one entry. Other programs might require a separate entry to be made for each day of the trip. If your trip plans change, you need change only a single entry if you have TickleX. TickleX even has built-in project planning. No fancy charts, mind you. Just a very simplistic means of linking and updating related events. And it's completely integrated into the TickleX system. All project updates are auto- matically incorporated into the same schedule that contains appointments, dead- lines, vacations, etc. Add to these features an attractive user interface, the ability to attach extensive notes to each scheduled event, a number of other nice touches, and TickleX comes up a winner. Whether you're an executive looking for a powerful centralized personnel scheduler, a busy entrepreneur needing an easy-to-use tickler system, or a lawyer seeking the ultimate docket control software, Tick- leX is the program for you. There isn't a more robust scheduler available at any price. At only $50, it's a steal. MT-TRACKER MT-Tracker is the ideal client tracker and scheduler. It integrates the scheduling power of TickleX with the ability to track several thousand clients, companies, contacts, projects, or jobs. Also included is a note-keeping module that will link memos to the dates and clients to which they apply. In addition to the expected name, address, phone, and contact information, each client record has space for six full lines of miscellaneous data and nine USER-CUSTOMIZABLE fields. And each note kept in the Note-keeping module may contain up to seventeen lines of information. Because MT-Tracker is an integrated system, you can easily zip from one module to another. Assume, for instance, that you're looking at Mr. Smith's record, and you'd like to see everything (not just one or two items) scheduled for him during the coming month. A few keystrokes later, what you need will be displayed on your monitor or sent to your printer. When you're finished look- ing at the schedule, press a key to re-display Mr. Smith's record. Notes and logged events, income, and expenses are just as easily accessed. If you're a sales representative, consultant, personal injury lawyer, or anyone else who needs to track clients, customers, or jobs, this is the soft- ware you've been waiting for. Give it a try. RAMDESK RAMdesk ($50) is a handy "pop-up" program that contains a number of features useful in a business environment. It will: --> if used on a network, instantly send and receive messages; --> schedule and review upcoming events on a pop-up basis, allowing up to 20 alarms per day; --> maintain a pop-up record of income, expenses, and the time spent working on various projects; --> provide a pop-up address and phone directory, giving you instant access to records on hundreds of people; --> provide a pop-up programmable calculator with a 50-line "tape"; --> allow you to establish numerous pop-up databases, such as to-do lists, general ledger account listings, etc. Once RAMdesk is installed (it needs 7 to 45K), it's instantly avail- able at the touch of a hot-key combination. It may be called up from with- in most word processors, spreadsheets, and other primary applications. If you also happen to have BillPower and TickleX, you'll find that RAMdesk ties in beautifully with them. Whatever appointments or deadlines you've scheduled with RAMdesk will be automatically picked up by TickleX, while BillPower will automatically take in the services, expenses, and receipts you've logged with RAMdesk. TickleX and BillPower can even assimilate en- tries made into RAMdesk by users on other computers around the office. If the computers are networked, the assimilation will be handled automatically; otherwise, you may use floppy disks to transfer the data between each "sate- llite" computer and the main database on another machine. RESEARCH ReSearch ($50) is a program designed to help you keep track of research, chronologies, and evidence. When you enter an item of research, you may tell ReSearch such things as the source, page, and line number where that item can be found. You may also enter an eleven-line summary of the item and indicate the subject category into which the item falls. A prime use of this program is to create printouts of research data, sor- ted alphabetically by subject abbreviation. Another use is to keep tabs on documents and other evidence (who sent it, who received it, its current loca- tion, etc.). It can also be used to prepare a chronological report of a se- quence of events which may have been entered at random into the data base. Finally, it can scan depositions provided to you on disk in industry-standard ASCII format and transfer verbatim text directly from the depositions to its data base. NIFTY Nifty ($50) is a unique program that may be used as either a pop-up Help system or a DOS menu. It combines an elegantly simple and attractive user in- terface (much appreciated by the inexperienced user) with a consistent, flex- ible means of set-up (benefiting the system integrator). As a Help system, Nifty can, at the touch of a key or two, provide the user with on-line assistance on any subject (assuming that appropriate help files have been created by the person installing the system). Since the Help system is memory-resident, it may be accessed from within nearly any other ap- plication. Simplicity is also the rule when Nifty is used as a Menu system. A single keystroke can execute any program or read any file on the computer. Some menu systems may be easier to set up, but few provide such flexible screen-creation facilities, and none are easier to use once they're installed. With Nifty, you may "draw" your own menus and place into them any messages you desire. You may use either passwords or "security levels" to control access to sub-menus. You you may even set a timer to automatically execute any program at any time. If you know a computer novice, you know a candidate for using this handy product. And if you understand DOS paths and file extensions, you know enough to set up a Nifty Help or Menu system, yourself.