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My Little Realm Enterprises Public Library 3.2 Shareware Version ____________________________________________________________________ Important ____________________________________________________________________ Public Library is protected by copyright. It is not freeware, and it is not in the public domain. This is the Shareware (evaluation) version of My Little Realm's Public Library. It is a full-featured, fully functional program. You are welcome to try it on your computer to ensure that it functions on your system as it should, and that it meets your individual needs. If after 30 days you decide to keep using Public Library, you must pay for the program. To print an order form, press <$> in the Options Window or print the text file REGISTER.TXT. Bonus! Get one MLR stand-alone program free with every order. Read DESCRIBE.TXT for details. This offer expires 12/31/96. My Little Realm Enterprises stands behind all of its products with a 30-day money back guarantee. Thank you for trying Public Library and Shareware! ____________________________________________________________________ Page i My Little Realm Enterprises Public Library ____________________________________________________________________ Contents General Information......................................1 Introduction........................................1 Purpose of Public Library...........................1 Hardware/Software Requirements......................1 Overview.................................................1 Interface...........................................1 Quickeys............................................2 Extended Processing Options.........................2 Getting Started.....................................2 Program Information......................................3 The Options Windows......................................3 Processing Options.......................................3 Modes - Definitions......................................3 Outstanding Mode.........................................3 Option 1, Entering New Books........................3 Field Definitions..............................4 Echoic Entries.................................5 Backing Up Through Fields......................5 Option 2, Returning Your Books......................5 Confirming Updates.............................6 Option 3, Correcting and Viewing Records............7 Option 4, Deleting Records..........................7 Historical Mode..........................................8 Option A, Viewing the Historical Records............8 Option B, Sorting the Historical Records............8 Option C, Printing the Historical Records...........8 Option D, Searching the Historical Records..........9 Author/Title Searches..........................9 Date Searches.................................10 Reader Searches...............................11 Option E, Deleting the Historical Records..........11 Confirming Deletes............................11 Extended Processing Options.............................12 <\> Change Quickeys Categories.....................12 <#> Change Color Mode..............................12 <?> Display EPO Symbols and Definitions............12 Special Word From the Author............................12 ____________________________________________________________________ Public Library Page 1 ____________________________________________________________________ General Information ____________________________________________________________________ Introduction This program is really two programs in one. It keeps track of your outstanding books, magazines, etc., that you borrow from your public library on the one hand, and it also maintains a historical record of your borrowings so that you can see what you and your realm members have been reading over the years. The Historical Mode contains a powerful Search function that lets you find records with specific information in a given field. For example, if you wanted to see what one member of the realm has been reading, simply invoke the Search function, select the Reader field to search on, and then enter the reader's Quickey. Public Library will display all of the works that that reader has borrowed over the years. You can even print the results, if you like. Public Library is a great way to keep track of research material, too, especially for high school and college students who tend to be somewhat less than organized. It also helps minimize the book and video fines that are as much as a dollar in some areas. To find out what you have outstanding at any point in time, just run Public Library and press 2 in the Options Window. It's that easy. ____________________________________________________________________ - Hardware and software requirements - IBM or compatible PC with 640K RAM 275 Kb of disk space DOS version 3.3 or later Public Library can be run from a hard or a floppy disk. ____________________________________________________________________ Overview Interface. Public Library's screen consists of three types of windows: a Working Window, a Viewing Window, and an Options Window. If you are using a color monitor the Viewing Window is always green, the Working Window red and the Options Window blue. Enter the pound sign, <#>, in the Options Window to invoke the color mode. You select processes (like adding, updating, or deleting records) in the Options Window. In general, you create records in the Working Window, and you view your records in the Viewing Window. ---------------------------- Public Library Page 2 Quickeys. There are two types of Quickey lists in Public Library. The first is for the names of the readers of your realm, or, more precisely, for their initials. The second group of Quickeys is for your libraries. To enter your Quickey names, press <\> in the Options Window. The Quickeys give you single key access to the names of the readers in your realm and to the libraries you frequent. Enter them once, and you'll never have to enter them again. ---------------------------- Extended processing options. Several processing tasks, called extended processing options or EPO's, are not listed in the Options Windows, because they are functions that only occasionally need to be performed. EPO's are used to "extend" a program's power and functionality. One EPO you should be aware of initially is the Change Quickeys function, which allows you to create and change your Reader and Library Quickeys. You invoke it by pressing the backslash in the Options Window. To find out what EPO commands are employed by Public Library, enter <?> (the question mark) in the Options Window. See "Extended Processing Options", page 11, for a full description of all the EPO commands and their definitions. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Getting Started The very first thing you'll want to do with Public Library is make the program uniquely yours. To do that, you need to enter the initials of the readers in your realm and names of the libraries you frequent by using the Change Quickeys function, which is invoked with the backslash key, <\>, entered in the Options Window. Public Library will first ask which Reader Quickey you want to change. When you've entered all of your readers (you can enter up to six), Public Library will ask for the names of the libraries you visit. You can enter up to four. To create records, press <1> in the Options Window. The fields comprising a record will appear in the Working Window one at a time. You can advance and retreat through the input fields by pressing the up and down arrow keys. Recommended reading: Please take a few moments to peruse this document. While Public Library is not difficult to learn, it can do a great deal more than simply remind you which books are out, who borrowed them, and when they're due. Public Library Page 3 ____________________________________________________________________ Program Information ____________________________________________________________________ The Options Windows. Options Window for the Outstanding (Books Due) mode. _______________________________________ | | | 1 Enter new books 4 Delete | \ | 2 Return books | \ | 3 Change/View Choice: _ | \ |_______________________________________| \ <enter> Options Window for the Historical mode. _______________________________________ / | | / | A View D Search | / | B Sort E Delete | / | C Print Choice: _ | / |_______________________________________| ++ Modes - Definitions ++ The Public Library works in two modes: Outstanding and Historical. To switch between the two modes press <enter> in the Options Window. You'll see the options in the Options Window change as shown above, and the title box (in the upper-right portion of your screen) alternately displays "Outstanding Mode" and "Historical Mode", so you'll always know which mode you're in. The Outstanding Mode deals with the books that are currently due at your libraries. In other words, if you've just taken a book out of one of your local libraries or returned one, use the Outstanding Mode to make or update the necessary records. The Historical Mode maintains a list of all of the works you've ever borrowed and returned. You'll find a description of it beginning on page 8. Note: Public Library always starts in the Outstanding Mode. ____________________________________________________________________ ++ The Outstanding Mode ++ Option # 1, entering new books. Press <1> in the Options Window. Your cursor will go into the Working Window where you'll enter the title, author, and other information about the books you've taken out of your library. If you need to back up through the fields, press the up arrow. To advance through the fields, press the down arrow key or <enter>. ---------------------------- Public Library Page 4 ~ Field Definitions ~ - Title field (35, required). Leading prepositions and articles should be placed at the end of the title so that sorting takes place on the first key word. Title: Tontine, The ____________________ - Author field (30 total, optional). In the Public Library program, an author's name is entered with the last name first, as in the following example: Author: Costain, Thomas B. To skip the author entry, press <enter>. ____________________ - Date field (required). This is the due date of the work you've borrowed. The Date field is constructed in the American date format of mm/dd/yy. On the first record in a given session, Public Library displays a date two weeks in the future. Make the necessary changes, if any, and press <enter>. Public Library then echoes that date in the subsequent records you create, making it very easy to enter a lot of books. All you do is press <enter> to accept it. Public Library accepts dates that are up to one year in the future (remember, these are due dates), and it accepts records with dates from the current and previous months, just in case you don't get the books logged promptly. ____________________ - Library Quickey field (single character entry, optional). Only Quickeys are accepted in this field. You cannot manually enter a library name. So if you want to enter a library name for a given record you must do it using the Quickeys. To skip this field press <enter>. Public Library displays the libraries you listed in your library Quickey file (up to four are allowed) in the box on the lower right side of your screen. ____________________ - Reader Quickey field (single character entry, optional). Enter one of the six Quickeys in this field. The Reader Quickeys are displayed in the box in the lower right part of your screen. To skip this field, press <enter>. Only Quickeys are accepted in this field. You cannot enter names manually. ---------------------------- Public Library Page 5 Echoic entries: Date, Library and Reader fields. The Date, Library and Reader fields are echoic entries. That is to say, once a record has been entered, each of these fields will echo its previous value to the screen in subsequent records until you alter its value or exit the Enter New Books function. If the echoed value is the entry you want, just press <enter>. For example, if you borrow six magazines from your local library and all of them have the same due date, you only have to enter the date for the first magazine. After that, Public Library will echo that date and all you have to do is press <enter> to accept it. The same procedure holds for the library and reader entries. Should you wish to change an echoed value for the Reader or Library entries, merely pretend the echoed name isn't there and enter what you would have had the echo not been displayed. ---------------------------- Backing up through the fields. You can back up through the input fields by pressing the up arrow. You can advance through the fields by pressing the down arrow; it acts as the enter key in this respect. The only time you cannot advance through a field without entering something is when you're in a field that requires an entry, such as the Title field. ____________________________________________________________________ Option # 2, returning your books. At a glance, the Public Library's Return function can tell you: the titles of the works currently borrowed the authors of each the dates each work is due the borrowers, and the libraries to which each must be returned Public Library automatically displays your outstanding books in the Viewing Window and asks for the record number of the book you have returned. (The record numbers are displayed on the left side of the Viewing Window.) Enter the record number of each of the works you have returned, and Public Library will highlight them. After you've highlighted all of those returned, press <enter> or <esc> without entering a record number. (If you inadvertently highlight the wrong record, reenter that record number to turn off the highlight.) After you press <enter> or <esc>, Public Library will check to see if you have highlighted any of the records in the Books Due file. If you haven't, Public Library automatically returns to the Options Window. Public Library Page 6 Confirming Updates. If you've highlighted any of the works, Public Library will display the following confirmation prompt: ____________________________________________ | | | Press: 1 To confirm your updates. | | 2 To ignore your updates. | | 3 To recheck your updates. | |____________________________________________| More elaborately, the three options allow you to: Press <1> to tell Public Library to go ahead and update the Books Due file; press <2> to leave the Return function without updating the Books Due file; or press <3> to go back to the beginning of the Return function and make some last minute changes (like highlighting another record or turning off a highlighted record). Note: Public Library does not remove the records marked returned from the Outstanding file and append them to the Historical file until you exit the Public Library program. This means that if you mark several works returned and then decide to view the Historical file, you won't find your recently returned records at the end of that file. All of the file changes are made when you exit the program. Hence, the returned works can still be viewed by invoking the Return or the Change functions. On the next occasion you use Public Library, you'll find those returned books in the Historical file. If you mark a book returned, you can change it back to outstanding by using the Change function before exiting the Public Library program. Public Library will display a sub-menu of the fields you can change. Select 6 (Returned). ___________________ You can use the Update function to view your Books Due file (also called the Outstanding file). If you have more than one screenful of books, you can use the up and down directional keys to view the others. When you've finished, press <esc>. Note: If you are merely viewing your records, remember that you should not highlight them in this function. If you do, they will be considered "returned", and Public Library will display the confirmation prompt shown above. If you should happen to forget, simply press <esc> when the confirmation prompt is displayed and Public Library will ignore your highlighted records and return to the Options Window. Important: You should ensure that all entries are correct while the records are in the Books Due file. Once a record is marked returned, it is moved to the Historical file and cannot be modified. ____________________________________________________________________ Public Library Page 7 Option # 3, correcting and viewing records. Public Library will want to know the record number of the record you wish to change. The record numbers appear on the left side of the Viewing Window. To return to the Options Window, press <enter> (without entering a record number) or press <esc>. After you enter a record number, Public Library displays a sub-menu in the Working Window of the fields that you can change: ____________________________________ | | | 1 Title 2 Author | | 3 Due Date 4 Library | | 5 Reader 6 Returned | |____________________________________| Select the appropriate field's hotkey, and Public Library asks for the new field value. If you enter the wrong hotkey press <esc> and Public Library will restore the original value. It also highlights the record in the Viewing Window so you'll know which record's data you're changing. Be sure you have the correct one. To turn off the highlight (i.e., when you've finished making changes to the highlighted record), press <esc>. If the menu number you chose was 6 (return status), you can undo the change by simply entering 6 again. Since the return status is either yes or no, all you do to change the status is to select menu number 6. To change it back, you simply press <6> again. This function is also handy if you simply want to peruse your Books Due file. If you have more than a screenful, you can use the scrolling keys to view those records not on screen. Important: You should ensure that all entries are correct while the records are in the Books Due file. Once a record is marked returned, it is moved to the Historical file and cannot be modified. ____________________________________________________________________ Option # 4, deleting your records. Public Library will ask for the record number of the entry you want to delete. It will then highlight that record and ask you if you are sure you want that record deleted. Verify the contents of the record before you respond. Press <Y> to delete the record. After you respond yes or no, Public Library will ask for the record number of the next record you want to delete. Give it the next record number if you want to delete another record or press <esc> (or <enter> without entering a record number) to leave the Delete function and return to the Options Window. If you delete the last record in your books due file, you will automatically be returned to the Options Window. ____________________________________________________________________ Public Library Page 8 ++ The Historical Mode ++ When you press <enter> in the Options Window, Public Library switches between the Outstanding mode and the Historical mode. If Public Library is in the Outstanding Mode, simply press <enter> to access your Historical file. Public Library displays "Historical Mode" in the title box on the upper right of your screen. The Historical mode of Public Library allows you a unique perspective on your realm members' reading habits over the years. There might also be times when you want to go back and re-read an unusual work you had read years before but can't quite recall the name of the work or the author. The historical log also allows you to keep detailed records of your research. And if friends ask what the children of your realm were reading when they were such and such an age, you'll be able to look up the answer quickly and easily using Public Library's Search function. Note: The records of the works declared returned in the Outstanding Mode are added to the Historical file when you exit the Public Library program. Public Library puts those returned records at the end of the Historical file, maintaining a nearly chronological account of your borrowings. This structure of the Historical file is not altered by Public Library's Sort function. ____________________________________________________________________ Option <A>, viewing the historical records. Use the directional keys, to browse. You can have Public Library highlight specific records by entering the record numbers of those you want to focus on. To turn off a record's highlight, reenter that record's record number. To return to the Options Window, press <enter> (without entering a record number) or press <esc>. ____________________________________________________________________ Option <B>, sorting the historical records. You may sort by title, author or reader. If you wish to print your records in a sorted order, run the sort first and then run the Print function (option <C>). ____________________________________________________________________ Option <C>, printing the historical records. Public Library prints the title, author, date (due), library, and the reader. If you want your listing in a sorted order, run the sort first, then invoke the Print function. ____________________________________________________________________ Public Library Page 9 Option <D>, searching the historical records. You can tell the Search function to examine any of four fields: _________________________________ | | | A Title C Reader | | B Author D Date | | | | Enter field to search: __ | |_________________________________| Select the appropriate field and give the Search function the string (called a keyword) that you're looking for, and it will search the specified field in every record for any occurrence of the keyword. ---------------------------- Author/Title Searches. If you want the Search function to display all of the books with the word "computer" in the title, select the Title field from the above sub-menu and enter the keyword "computer" (without the quotes). In short order, the Search function would display all of the volumes it found with the word "computer" in the title. If there is more than a screenful of records, the Search function will tell you to use the scrolling keys to peruse the listing. You can also print the Search function listing by pressing <P>. You must be as precise as possible if you are looking for a specific record. That is to say, if you are looking for a particular author, you must give the Search function the entire name of said author or it might retrieve a number of records whose authors have the same keyword in their names. As an example, if you were searching for all of the volumes written by "Smith, Alice", you could enter "Smith" for a keyword, but you would also get all of the records with any other Smiths you had in the Author field. You would have to enter "Smith, Alice" to have the Search function display only those works by that author. When you can't recall the spelling of an author's name or the title of a book, enter just enough of the keyword to have the Search function weed out the bulk of the unwanted records. For instance, if you're trying to find the title of a book but all you can remember of its name is that it contains the syllable "Long", just enter that portion. The Search function will display the records it finds with the same syllable, like "Longman" or "Longfellow" or "Longacre", but the number of records will have been reduced considerably, and you'll be able to find the record you're looking for much more quickly and easily. Public Library Page 10 Typically, the Search function strips off the external blanks that you happen to enter around a keyword. " ABC ", for example, is reduced to "ABC". You can force the Search function to search for precisely what you enter by delimiting your keyword with backslashes. To make the Search function look for a keyword like " ABC " (with its concomitant external spaces), you can enter: \ ABC \ Let's assume you have the following titles in your file: Longbows of the 18th Century Long John Silver Longacre's Mysteries If you simply entered "Long" at the keyword prompt, the Search function would show you all three of those records, even if you entered the keyword as "Long ". To winnow it down, you can force the Search function to search for "Long " (with a trailing space) by entering \Long \ and get only the second title, "Long John Silver". When using the backslash as a delimiter, however, you must ensure that you begin and end your keyword with backslashes. If, instead, you entered: \ long\acre the Search function would assume that it was supposed to look for the backslashes since one is embedded, and it will search for exactly what you entered ... including the backslashes. Note: Public Library's Search function is not case sensitive, so "ABC" is the same as "aBc", and so on. ---------------------------- Date Searches. When a search is performed on the date field in Public Library, you must enter the search date in the format mm/dd/yy. You can use the question mark as a wild card. A single wild card in either position of the month, day or year segment makes the whole segment wild. That is to say, if you entered 1?/?2/93, both the month and the day segments would be considered wild, and Public Library would only look for records that had been created in 93. If you entered 10/1?/91, Public Library would retrieve those records that had been created in October of 1991. Public Library Page 11 Reader Searches. You must use the Quickeys to enter a search string for this selection. ____________________________________________________________________ Option <E>, deleting the historical records. This Delete function is a little different from the one in the Outstanding Mode. In the Outstanding Mode, you delete one record at a time. In the Historical mode, you select all of the records you want to delete first, and then have Public Library delete them all at one time. Confirmation is required before the deletions are performed. Use the directional keys to find the records you want to delete, and enter their record numbers. Public Library will highlight your selections. After you've highlighted all of the records you want to delete, press <esc> or <enter> (without entering a record number). If you highlight a record and then change your mind, enter that record number again, and Public Library will turn off the highlight. Only highlighted records are deleted. When you're finished highlighting the records you want deleted, press <esc> or press <enter> without entering a record number. Confirming Deletes. If you have any records highlighted, Public Library will tell you how many records you've marked for deletion and display the following sub-menu. ____________________________________________ | | | Press: 1 To confirm your deletes. | | 2 To ignore your deletes. | | 3 To recheck your deletes. | |____________________________________________| If you've changed your mind at this point, you can press <3> to reconsider the deletions you're making and add others or turn the highlight off any that you've decided to keep. If you simply want to abandon the Delete function, press <2> or <esc>. To carry out the deletes, press <1>. Special note: If you have sorted your records before running the Delete function, Public Library will tell you that it will restore the Historical array to its original structure before it continues with the Delete function. If you have more work to do using the sorted structure, you might want to finish that work first before you delete any records. Public Library Page 12 Extended Processing Options. EPO Definition <\> Change the Quickeys. Both the Reader and the Library Quickeys are changed by issuing this command. After entering the Reader Quickeys, press <esc> to advance to the Library Quickeys. When you've entered those, press <esc> to return to the Options Window. Reader Quickeys can be three characters long. Initials are usually used. Library Quickeys can be up to ten letters long. - - - - - - - - - <#> Change the color mode. If you try color and the screen display becomes garbled, simply press <#> again. - - - - - - - - - <?> Display the extended processing option symbols and their commands. ____________________________________________________________________ Special Word From the Author On reading . . . Americans deny themselves a valuable resource when they ignore their public libraries. A chance to read is a chance to explore ... the world around us, the world inside us. It enhances lives by enlarging the worlds we perceive physically, spiritually, metaphysically, and metaphorically. Like looking through different lenses on a sophisticated camera, reading allows us to view our world with whole new perspectives. The works we read don't have to be revolutionary to make us think. Nor do they have to be written by Nobel Prize winning authors to have impact. And they certainly don't have to appear on the best selling lists to entertain. But they do have to be read to be enjoyed. Do yourself a favor. Keep a library book around your realm, even if you're not sure you'll have time to finish it. There's no rule that says you have to read it cover to cover. And if, at a later date, you decide you really do want to finish that book on Roman- Greco art but you can't recall the name of the author or the title, don't worry about it ... My Little Realm's Public Library will remember for you. ____________________________________________________________________ + The End + ____________________________________________________________________ (c) Copyright 1991 - 1995 John L. Salisbury