FILE CARD DATABASE Version 4.6 (c) 1986 by Thomas R. Mierau 1 OVERVIEW FILE CARD DATABASE is an unstructured database designed for the purpose of keeping any kind of data that would normally be kept on file cards. It allows the entry of any text you wish within the confines of 16 lines, each line being 55 characters long. Each file card can be "tagged" with as many as four key words. The key words are used later for the retrieval of the card. Having multiple key words allows for cross-reference searching, and one or two key words may be used at a time for the search. This approach allows the computer to become a useful tool for the storage/retrieval of file cards which goes far beyond the manual method of storing a single "index" of file cards in a box. Cards may be printed on 4" x 6" stock so that a physical "index" of file cards may be on hand at all times. Individual cards may be printed as the cards are entered into the computer. Groups of cards may be printed at a later time by using the key words for selective retrieval. The entire database may also be printed at any given time as well. Multiple copies of individual cards may also be printed. Provisions have been made to copy selected file cards from one database to another, automatically deleting them from the original. As the database becomes larger and larger with use, the user may elect to extract certain cards, putting them into a special database. Thus the physical size of any given collection of file cards can be kept to a reasonable size, allowing for more practical search and sort times. The physical limit of the database is 250 file cards, or "records" as they are more commonly called within the computer industry. I have contributed this version of FILE CARD DATABASE to the Public Domain. If you like it, share it with a friend. Send me a postcard letting me know. If it has problems, or if you have questions regarding its use, write me at the following address: Thomas R. Mierau 454 Carver N.W. Massillon, OH 44646 (216) 832 - 9037 If your correspondence requires a reply, please include a self addressed, stamped envelope. CAUTION: Some printers may have difficulty handling 4 x 6 file cards without jamming. When the last few lines are being printed, the card may slip, causing the printer to jamb. If you have any doubt about this, you should use continuous-form file cards. Provisions have been made for using either single cards, or continuous-form cards in the printing section of the program. I assume no liability for any damage to printers caused by the use of this program. If still in doubt, DON'T USE IT AT ALL. 2 GETTING STARTED For those who may not be familiar with the terms generally associated with computer documentation, let me explain a few which you will find here. The expression simply means to hit the "RETURN" key. Likewise, refers to the "ESC" key. Control characters are entered by pressing the "CTRL" key, and while holding that down, one of the letter keys is pressed too. For example, ^P ( P) means to press both the "CTRL" key and the "P" key together. You should never work with an original disk. If something should happen to it, everything would be lost. Use PIP.COM or your favorite file-by-file copying program and make a duplicate of the files listed below. If you are not familiar with this process, the manuals supplied with your computer will tell you how. Copy the following files from the distribution disk to your working copy: INSTALL.COM INSTALL.DAT MAINBODY.CHN MENU.COM NEWFILE.CHN PRINTER.CHN RETRIEVE.CHN SORTFILE.CHN TEMPLATE.CHN UNDELETE.CHN Now, you must decide where you are going to put the data files. If you have a KAYPRO II, you will have to put the data files on a second diskette. All double-sided drives should have enough space to keep both the program set, and the data files together. Hard drive users may put the entire thing in a Drive/User area, or on a diskette run from the C: drive. Be sure that there are no files already in your selected hard drive location with the same name as any of the above, or these files will REPLACE them. INSTALL.COM is used to establish where the data files are going to be. Place the program disk in the logged drive, and hit ^C to "warm boot" the computer. Enter INSTALL . Once the program has loaded, you will get a screen similar to this: 3 ================================================================= FILE CARD DATABASE 4.6 Installation Program ----------------------------------------------------------------- Installation is simple. The only consideration is to select the disk drive where the data files KEYLIST and CARDFILE may be found. Some situations may require that the data files and the program set reside on the same disk. Others may be better suited with the program set on one disk, and the data on another. Single sided KAYPRO II computers will definitely benefit from putting the data on a diskette by itself. User areas are not considered. The programs run from the logged drive/user area and the data is put on the drive specified by this program. If, on a KAYPRO 10, you have the program set on the A7: portion of the hard disk, and you specify the C: (floppy) drive for the data, it will be put onto the floppy disk in user area 7. You must, of course be at the A7> prompt to run the program. Enter below, the drive where you wish to keep the data files. Typical examples would be B: or C: . Be sure to enter the colon! Entering only, puts the data on the logged drive, along with the program set. Enter data drive: __ Enter a n asterisk (*) to continue...any other key to abort: ================================================================= Follow the above instructions, entering the drive of your choice, or simply , if you wish to keep the data files on the same disk as the program set. Once INSTALL has been run, INSTALL.COM may be deleted from your working copy, as it should no longer be needed. The file INSTALL.DAT, however, must remain. It contains the drive you selected with INSTALL, and is read every time the program starts. You may change the selected data drive any time you wish, by re- running INSTALL. If you deleted it, you will need to get another copy from your distribution disk. If you have other INSTALL.COM programs on the same disk, one will delete the other. If this is a problem for you, rename it to anything you wish. The file INSTALL.DAT may not be renamed. Now, we need some data files to work with. There are two ways to produce these files. One would be to transfer the old data files from the original version of the program, the other would be to create new ones. 4 If you are transferring your old data files to the new, you must have a copy of the program XFER.COM on your data disk (If the data disk is the same as the program disk, that is where the file XFER.COM belongs). Place the NEW data disk in the logged drive (usually A:), and hit ^C to "warm boot" the computer. Place the OLD data disk in the other drive (usually B:). Enter XFER and wait for the program to load. You will get a screen similar to this: ================================================================= FILE CARD DATABASE 4.6 File Transfer Program ----------------------------------------------------------------- This program is used to copy and restructure the data files of the original FILE CARD DATABASE program for use by version 4.6 . The original version of the program had no version number displayed at the Main Menu. This program (XFER.COM) must be on the same disk that you intend to use as data file for version 4.6 . It must be run from the currently logged drive. For example, If you are at the A> prompt then the data disk which contains this program must be in the A: drive. You will be asked, now, for the location of the old data files. If the original data disk is in the B: drive, then enter B: at the prompt. Don`t forget the colon! It`s not a bad idea to make a copy of your original data files before running this program, just in case something goes wrong. You can`t copy the old files to the new on the SAME DISK!! If you do, the old files will be erased as soon as you start. Enter the original data drive: __ Now, enter an asterisk to continue...any other key to abort: ================================================================= Enter an asterisk (*) to continue. Any other key will abort this program. The data will then begin to copy. When done, the bell will ring and a message will be displayed on the screen. There may be a slight difference in the key words once the files have been transferred. First, they will all be converted to upper case. The original key words were allowed to be up to 55 characters long. Now the following format will be observed: First key = 40 characters, all others = 18. If any of the originals were longer than the above specifications, they will be chopped off. You may choose to go back in, and re-edit some of the key words. Once XFER.COM is finished, it can be deleted from the data disk, as it will no longer be needed. 5 If you are going to create new data files, you will do that from the program's "Options Menu". WORKING FROM THE MENU With the program set in the logged drive, and the data put wherever you have set it up, you are now ready to begin using the program. Enter MENU . You will then be presented with the following screen: ================================================================= FILE CARD DATABASE ver 4.6 (c) 1986 by Thomas R. Mierau *** MAIN MENU *** ----------------------------------------------------------------- Add Records to the Database Retrieve Existing Records Print Cards Other Options Quit Please select: ================================================================= The choices displayed should be self-explanatory. is the choice you select when adding new file cards to your database. is used for getting the cards back. will print "lists" of cards (More on that later), and gets you the "Options Menu". Before going any further, entering from this menu exits the program. You should NEVER quit by any other means. If you do, there is a risk of losing some of your data. Don't remove your diskettes, or turn the computer off, until you have properly "Quit" the program. If this is a "first-time" run, and you didn't "XFER" your data files from an old version, you still don't have any data files just yet. Let's make some. From the Main Menu, select option Other Options. Enter D (no key). You will then get the following screen: 6 ================================================================= FILE CARD DATABASE Options Menu ----------------------------------------------------------------- <1> Display Key Words <2> Reuse Deleted Records <3> Create a Template <4> Erase the Entire Database Return to the Main Menu Please select: ================================================================= The above choices may need a little explanation: <1> Display Key Words Key words are used to identify the file cards. Without them, the program would not be able to retrieve a "card" from the file. Each card may have up to four key words, and if you are anything like me, you may have some trouble remembering the names of the key words you put on the cards. This option will remind you, by giving you a list of all of the key words in use. You can view this list on the screen, or dump it to your printer. <2> Reuse Deleted Records In a real box of file cards, if you deleted one, you would simply pull it out and throw it away. In this program, the process of deleting records is more akin to replacing discarded records with blank ones. This option allows you to locate those blank cards, and re-use them without making the file larger. If there are no blank records available, you will be notified. <3> Create a Template Some of you keep lists of file cards that ALWAYS have some some of the data identical on all of them. I'm referring to Titles, headings, boarder design, etc. A template is a Pre- formatted form that is printed onto the card BEFORE you begin entering data. Normally, this template is blank, and therefore, you don't see it. This option allows you to make a template. Once 7 done, it will appear on all new cards as you enter them. You may change it at any time by selecting it from this menu, and re- editing it. You may delete it at any time by selecting it again, from this menu, and entering ^Z (the "Clear Screen" command). <4> Erase the Entire Database This is the option you have been waiting for if you STILL don't have any data files to work with. Entering 4 from this menu will create new, blank data files, ready and waiting for you to enter your first file card. Be careful with this option. If you already have a database, this option will erase it FOREVER. Once selected, you get a warning message, and you have to enter an asterisk (*) to continue. This is a safety measure to prevent accidental erasure of valuable data. Any other key entered at this point will return you to the Main Menu. Return to Main Menu This option simply gets you back to the Main menu. You can toggle back and forth between the two menus by entering D from the Main Menu, and entering from the Options Menu. 8 WORKING WITH YOUR DATA Add Records to the Database This Main Menu option does exactly what it says. Anytime you want to put a new card in the file, you would use this option. Enter A, and you will get the following screen: ================================================================= FILE CARD DATABASE ___________________________________________________________ || Record# 11 || ||-------------------------------------------------------|| || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || ----------------------------------------------------------- | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------- ================================================================= The blank card is displayed on the screen with the current record number posted in the upper right corner of the card. The Primary Key Word is boxed off across the top of the card, and the other three spaces for key words are marked off at the bottom of the card. The text area of the card is surrounded with a border. The cursor is located at the first space of the Primary Key word, waiting for data. Key words will be entered first. Some thought should go into the use of key words. The way you will be able to retrieve individual cards, and groups of cards will depend on the way you structure your key words. For example, consider a database of recipes for the kitchen. The primary key (Since it is the longest one, and appears at the top of the card) should contain the NAME of the meal. Meal titles will all be different, so searching by meal title should retrieve only one card. The other key words could then be used in the following way: 9 #2 would contain either BREAKFAST, LUNCH, DINNER, or OTHER. #3 would contain food groups, such as BEEF, CHICKEN, EGGS, etc. #4 could then be reserved for serving size, or any other general description of the meal which would allow you to retrieve groups of records in a specified way that would be useful to you. While entering the Key Words, you have the following editing commands available: ^D or -->, moves the cursor to the right. ^S or <--, moves the cursor to the left. ^Q erases the text from the cursor location to the end of the line. inserts a space at the cursor location. Text is entered in the usual manner. completes the entry of the Key Word, and moves you to the beginning of the next key word, or to the text area of the file card at the end of entering the fourth Key Word. You must enter at least ONE key word, or you will not have anything to retrieve your record with. If you should get a file card entered into the database without any key words, it can be retrieved by entering a couple of blank spaces for a search string, but you may have to go through a bunch of unwanted records before you find the correct one. A provision has been included to allow you to easily skip entering some of the key words. If, for example, you wish to enter only two, you may hit the key AFTER closing the second key word with . You will go directly to the text area of the file card. If you forget, and hit instead of , the following hill happen: Hitting while editing the first Key word will have the SAME EFFECT as hitting . Hitting while editing any of the other Key Words will return that key word to its original state, and dump you into the text area of the file card. You may enter Key Words in either upper case, or lower case. They will all be converted to upper case as soon as you hit the key. This simplifies the process of purging identical words from the Key List, and speeds up the sorting too. Once in the text area of the file card, you have a number of editing commands available to you to make the chore of typing the text in easier. There is a help screen available to you at any time you are in the text area of the card. Enter ^V, and a list of editing commands will be displayed on the screen. That screen will look something like this: 10 ================================================================= FILE CARD DATABASE Editing Commands ----------------------------------------------------------------- ^S or ^H = Cursor Left * ^Y = Delete Line ^D or ^L = Cursor Right * ^Q = Delete to End of Line * ^E or ^K = Cursor up * ^Z = Delete Entire Field ^X or ^J = Cursor Down ^N = Insert Line ^A = Left End of Line ^R = Beginning of field ^F = Right End of Line ^C = End of Field ^I or = Insert Space at Cursor * = Quit * Items marked with an asterisk (*) are available when entering key words ----------------------------------------------------------------- Type any key to continue... ================================================================= The ONLY command you really need to remember is ^V ( V) as all of the others are available to you at any time you might need them. Typing any key will bring you back to your file card, right where you left off. The commands marked with an asterisk are also available while entering the key words. When you are done entering text into the file card, you request to end the edit session by hitting the key. You will then be asked if the above is correct (Y/N). If you enter a Y, the record will be saved to the disk. If you answer N, you will be sent back to the beginning of the edit session (The first Key Word). Any other key will be ignored. Once stored away, you will then be asked whether or not you wish to enter another record. A "Y" will get you the next record, and you repeat the above process. An "N" will return you to the Main Menu. A finished card should look something like this: 11 ================================================================= FILE CARD DATABASE ___________________________________________________________ ||FILE CARD DATABASE Record# 13 || ||-------------------------------------------------------|| || This is a demonstration of a typical "file card". || ||The primary key FILE CARD DATABASE is displayed at the || ||upper left corner of the screen. The primary key can be|| ||up to 40 characters in length, and is intended to be || ||the title of the card. || || || || Keys #2, #3, and #4 are displayed across the || ||bottom of the card. Each of these keys may be up to 18 || ||characters in length. || || || || The body of the card has room for 16 lines of text|| ||55 characters long. You may type anything there that || ||you wish. || || || || || || Entering ^V displays the "Help" screen. || ----------------------------------------------------------- |DESCRIPTION |TYPICAL CARD |DEMO | ----------------------------------------------------------- ================================================================= Retrieve Existing Records Records are retrieved by searching for a key word. You may search on a single key word, or if more selectivity is needed, you may search on two key words at the same time. With the latter choice, only records will be retrieved where BOTH key words match on the same card. This option begins by asking you for the first key word to search on. You must enter SOMETHING. If you are searching for blank key words, enter a space or two. You need not enter the entire key word. For example, assume you have the key word FILE CARD DATABASE somewhere within. You could enter FILE CARD DATABASE, FILE CARD, FILE, or even FIL. You DO need to enter enough characters so that the computer can distinguish your request from all others which may be similar. Entering FIL could retrieve FILLER as well as FILE CARD DATABASE. Entering only F would retrieve everything beginning with F. In some applications, this may be handy, in others it would be a real inconvenience. The actual use depends on your application of the key words. Once the first search key has been entered, you will be asked for the second. If you wish to search on two keys, enter the second. If not, simply hit to ignore the second key word. The screen will then display the key words as you entered them, converted to upper case, and the search begins. 12 When the first record has been located, it will be displayed on the screen, along with a small menu of options available to you across the bottom of the screen. At this point, you have the following options: ^D will Delete the record. It is not actually deleted, but it is converted to a blank record, and marked as a deleted record. It will not be accessible with any of the normal search options as long as it is marked as deleted. ^P will Print the record. Be SURE your printer is "ON", and ready to go, BEFORE issuing this command. Also take note of the CAUTION statement in the OVERVIEW section of this manual. Loose cards may jamb in some printers. ^W will Re-Edit the record. The cursor will jump to the beginning of the first key word, and you will follow the same instructions as outlined in the section regarding the entry of new cards. The only exception to this is that you will not be asked whether or not you wish to enter another record. NOTE: After any of the above choices, you will be returned to the same record and menu. You may repeat any of the menu options on the same record, or perform several options on the same record. You do not get the next record until you ask for it. (or ) will bring up the next record, if there is is another, or it will display a message indicating that no more records are available which match your search parameters. At this point, you may perform another search, or go back to the Main Menu. Entering an asterisk will get you another search, anything else, will take you back to the main menu. Print Cards This option allows for printing groups of cards. Individual cards can be printed at the time they are entered, and whenever they are being displayed with option of the Main Menu. While it may be possible to print an individual card with this option, it would occur only if your selective search returned only one card. The search works exactly like the one described for option , Retrieve Existing Records. In fact, it uses the same input routine. There are a couple of differences, however. One is if you don't enter any key word at all in option , you get a message that no key word was entered, and the search aborts. Here, if you don't enter any key words to search on, the entire database is dumped to your printer. The second difference is that there is no menu of options displayed between records. 13 Once the key word(s) have been entered, you are asked how many copies of each card you would like. Normally this would be just one per card, so one is the default value. If you want just one copy per record, ignore this question by simply hitting the key. Otherwise, enter the number of your choice, followed by . Be sure your printer is "on", and ready to go at this point. Have you read the CAUTION statement in the OVERVIEW section of this manual? Then, you are asked whether or not you wish to pause the printer between cards, so that you can load a fresh card into the printer before each record is printed. Answer Y or N. If you are using continuous-form file cards, and the supply is long enough to handle the printout, answer N and watch it run. Otherwise, you will be prompted to "Type any key..." before each record, so that you can keep the printer loaded with fresh cards. Because this option prints groups of cards based on key words entered, you may wish to print out several "batches" without having to go back and forth between this option and the Main Menu. At the end of a print session, you can enter an asterisk for another search, or any other key to go back to the Main Menu. This print routine can be aborted by hitting the key. The best time to do this is either at the "Type any key to continue..." prompt, or while a card is being printed. The computer checks for the key between lines of text. 14 OTHER OPTIONS The Options Menu contains some choices which in all probability, will not be used nearly as often as those listed on the Main Menu. Selecting D from the Main Menu will get you to the Options Menu. <1> Print Key List This option will display the entire list of key words on the screen, or to the printer. Its usefulness is in aiding your memory should you forget the kay words used in your database. It is automatic except that you must specify the where you want the list to be displayed. If the database is very large, this option may take a couple of minutes. I timed a typical list of key words for 172 records, and on a 4MHZ KAYPRO, that took about two minutes. On a 2 MHZ KAYPRO, the same list would take about four minutes. As the search/sort routine runs, duplicate keys are dropped to make the list more readable. The list is then put into alphabetical order and made ready for displaying. At this point, you enter either an S, or a P to tell the computer that you wish to send the sorted list to the (S)creen, or the (P)rinter. <2> Re-Use Deleted records As you delete records from the file, the file does not get smaller. The deleted records are blanked and saved as "Deleted" records. You can use these over by selecting this option. The actual entry of records works just the same as the option from the Main Menu, except that you access deleted records only. You will be notified if there are no more "Deleted" records to re-use, when the list runs dry. You may exit this option, returning to the Main Menu with the key. <3> Create a Template Some people want each new card to come up with certain data already printed on the card. Typical examples would be Headers, Titles, Borders, etc. Selecting this option brings you to a screen that looks like a typical file card. The biggest difference is that the record number displayed on the card is ALWAYS zero. You may edit only the text area of this card. Whatever is on this card will be merged into ALL new cards until you go back and change the template. You may delete the template by calling this option, and issuing the ^Z command to clear the screen. 15 When you are through, you exit this option just like any other edit session by using the key. Answer the "Correct? (Y/N)" prompt accordingly. An "N" will let you edit it again. <4> Erase the Entire Database This option was explained earlier in this manual. Its purpose is to create new data files. Be careful with this one, or you may lose your data. Keeping backup copies of your data files is always a good practice in case they should be accidentally deleted. A simple way to keep backup copies is to keep a copy of PIP.COM on your data disk. After you are finished using the file card program, place the Data Disk in the A: drive, your Backup Disk in the B: drive, and issue the following commands: ^C to "warm boot" the computer PIP B:=A:*. the two data files KEYLIST, and CARDFILE will then be copied to the disk in the B: drive. 16 TRANSFERRING CARDS BETWEEN DATABASES Sooner or later, the time will come when you would like to move some of the cards out of one database, and put them in another. This may occur when an existing database becomes too large to handle, or full. Other situations might include the need to produce a specialized file of only one type of card, etc. Place a copy of the file EXTRACT.COM on the NEW data disk, that is the disk you will be copying TO. Put that disk in the currently logged drive (Typically A:). Put the old data disk, that is the disk you will be copying FROM in another drive(Typically B:). Hit ^C to "warm boot" the computer. Enter EXTRACT . You will get the following screen: ================================================================= FILE CARD DATABASE 4.6 Record Extraction Program ----------------------------------------------------------------- This program EXTRACTs records from one database, deleting them from the original, and puts them into another. It allows you to free up space in one database without losing your valuable data. EXTRACT.COM must be on the diskette you are copying TO, and it must be run from the CURRENTLY LOGGED DRIVE. You will then be asked for the drive which contains the data files you are copying FROM. Enter A:, B:, or whatever drive is appropriate. You then enter ONE, or TWO key words to search on, from the original file. The program will extract the records which match the search pattern. If the database you are copying TO does not exist, it will be created anew. If it already exists, the records will be ADDED to the existing file. This way, you can make several passes through the old file, adding each pass to the new file. Enter the drive containing the old files: __ Now, enter an asterisk to continue...any other key to abort: ================================================================= Enter the name of the drive where the OLD data files are located. Enter an asterisk to continue...or, enter anything else to abort. Enter a search pattern just like you do for Retrieve Records, or Print Records. The program will take the selected records, and copy them to the new disk. It will then delete these records from the old file. 17