OPTION: How is the program normally loaded and run? - You will be presented with another table of options and you should highlight the correct option and press . There is an added option here called "REFERENCE". This is provided for programs which cannot be loaded from BASIC. For example a NON BASIC program such as a PASCAL langauge file cannot be loaded from BASIC and to attempt to do so would crash the program so you would set the option for files such as these to REFERENCE. All programs held on the database with options set to REFERENCE will be denied access through the Loading Gateway (see later in this manual). In our example we know that Krazy Ladders is *RUN from basic so we highlight the *RUN option and press . SOURCE: Where did the program original come from? This field provides the space for you to enter the company name or individual who supplied the program. Ie. Superior Software, 8-bit Software Etc. You need to enter the approproiate details using the keyboard and press when finished. In our example Krazy Ladders was purchased from LadderSoft so we enter this into the field and press . FILENME: The DISC filename of your program. This cannot be more than 7 characters long if the program is stored on a DFS disc, or 10 characters long if stored on an ADFS disc. Do not include any directories or directory paths in this field - just the filename of the program in question. In our example the disc filename of Krazy Ladders is Krazy1 so we enter KRAZY1 and press . DFSADFS: Simply highlight the appropriate option and press . Our Krazy Ladders program is on an ADFS disc so we highlight ADFS disc and press . You will now be asked to CONFIRM ABANDON or REVISE your entries. If you ABANDON your entries then the computer will abort the option and return to the main menu without saving anything to the database. If you REVISE your entries then the computer will blank the current record and return to the top (program) field of the same record. If you CONFIRM your entries then the computer will proceed as follows ... Having confirmed your entries the computer will ask you for a directory. PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING VERY CAREFULLY AS THE COMPUTER BEHAVES IN 2 DIFFERENT WAYS DEPENDING ON WHETHER DFS OR ADFS WAS SPECIFIED ... If you have specified the program as being held on a DFS disc, then you may only enter ONE LETTER such as "L" or "R" etc. Pressing without entering anything defaults to the $ or Root directory. If you have specified the program as being held on an ADFS disc, then you will be given a maximum of 2 lines (80 characters) to input your directory path starting from the root ($) directory. If your entry takes up one line or less then you will have to press twice to proceed, otherwise once is sufficient. If you enter nothing at all (ie. just press twice, then the Root ($) Directory is assumed. ______________________________________________________________________ In our example Krazy Ladders is in directory $.GAMES which we enter onto the system and press twice to proceed. You will now, once again be asked to CONFIRM ABANDON or REVISE your directory entry only if you specified the program as being ADFS format. YOU WILL NOT BE ASKED TO CONFIRM IF YOU SPECIFIED THE PROGRAM AS BEING DFS FORMAT. As before, if you select abandon then the whole option will be abandoned and you will be returned to the main menu. If you select REVISE then you will be asked to enter the ADFS directory path again. If you confirm then the computer will proceed as follows ... Finally, you are given the option to enter up to 3 lines of notes on the program details you have just entered. The flashing block cursor positioned under the heading PROGRAM NOTES indicates the computer is ready for your input. Just start typing your notes. Do not worry about words spilling over onto the next line as the computer will automatically tidy or "wordwrap" your text in order to keep up presentation. Pressing the key will either take you to the next line or will complete note entry depending on which line you are on. In our example we can write a note such as "Basic Game involving levels and ladders. Use Z and X for left & Right & Return to Fire". Once you have pressed from the 3rd line you will for the last time be asked to CONFIRM ABANDON or REVISE your note entries. If you are happy with your notes then select CONFIRM. If you wish to change your notes then select REVISE. If you wish to abandon the whole record and return to the main menu then select ABANDON. Assuming you CONFIRMed your entry, the computer will pause for a while as it saves the record to disc. Once completed you will be asked if you would like to enter ANOTHER record or FINISH record entry. If you select ANOTHER then the computer will move onto the next blank record and offer it for completion, otherwise you are returned to the main menu. This concludes how to ADD programs to the database. You might like to carry on adding a few more records until you think you have got the hang of it. 3.6 Browsing Facilities ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Once you have entered a few records onto your database, you might like to look through the information held on your database with no specific search pattern in mind. The Browsing Facilities option is provided for general viewing and printing of records. Select "Browsing Facilities" from the main menu and press . You will shortly be presented with a blank record screen and the computer will prompt you for a RECORD No. Pressing at this point will automatically select the first record on the database. However, if you would like to start your browsing at record 10 for example, you would enter 10 at the RECORD No prompt and press . Once you have decided where to start your browsing, the computer will display the record details on the screen and provide a sub-menu in the lower half of the screen similar to the illustration which follows ... ______________________________________________________________________ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- PROGRAM : Krazy Ladders CATEGORY : GAME DISC : GAM01 OPTION : *RUN SOURCE : LadderSoft FILENAME : Krazy1 DFS ADFS : ADFS ---------------------------------------------------------------------- FORWARDS BACKWARDS PRINTER SCREEN RECORD FINISH ---------------------------------------------------------------------- RECORD No 1 As before, you must use the UP and DOWN arrow keys to highlight your desired option before pressing the key. The first two options on the sub-menu (FORWARDS and BACKWARDS) will move you either FORWARDS one record or BACKWARDS one record on the database depending on which option you select. The record number currently showing is always indicated on the bottom right of the screen. The other shown on the sub-menu have the following effect ... 3.6.1:- PRINTER This command provides the option to send records details to the printer. You can either dump the whole database onto the printer, or you can specify which record to START printing at and FINISH printing at. Upon selecting the PRINTER command you will be prompted for a "START RECORD No". Enter the record number you wish to START printing at and press . If you leave the field blank (ie. just press ) then the computer defaults to the first record in the database. Secondly you will be asked for a "STOP RECORD No". Likewise this is the record number to FINISH printing at, and as before, leaving this record blank will default to the LAST record on the database. Finally you must confirm that your printer is on-line and ready to print by entering "Y" and pressing . 3.6.2:- SCREEN This option will start listing all record NAMES and numbers on the screen starting from the record number at which you are browsing. The option to jump to a specific record number is provided at the end of each screen of data, and also when the computer reaches the end of the database. 3.6.3:- RECORD This option provides the facility to directly jump to any record on the database by entering it's number. Useful as it saves having to step through records one by one. 3.6.4:- FINISH This command will exit the Browsing Facilities and return you to the main menu. Always use this command to exit Browsing Facilities so that database records can be updated properly. Never press as this can cause loss of data. ______________________________________________________________________ 3.7 Revising Facilities ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This option is very similar in operation to the Browsing Facilities, except the option is provided to amend information held on the database, plus the added facility of viewing and/or amending record notes and directory paths if applicable. To enter Revising Facilities you should highlight the appropriate option from the main menu and press . After a short pause the computer will prompt for a RECORD No. You have the facility to jump to any record on the database at this point by entering it's corresponding number. Pressing without entering anything will default to the first record on the database. Once you have entered your appropriate record number the computer will display the contents of that record on the screen as depicted below ... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- PROGRAM : Krazy Ladders CATEGORY : GAME DISC : GAM01 OPTION : *RUN SOURCE : LadderSoft FILENAME : Krazy1 DFS ADFS : ADFS ---------------------------------------------------------------------- FORWARDS BACKWARDS MAINTAIN RECORD FINISH ---------------------------------------------------------------------- RECORD No 1 Standard facilities to move FORWARDS, BACKWARDS, jump to a RECORD and FINISH are provided in exactly the same way as in the "Browsing Facilities" in section 3.6 above. The extra option here is the MAINTAIN option which, when selected, will provide you with another sub-menu as illustrated below ... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- PROGRAM : Krazy Ladders CATEGORY : GAME DISC : GAM01 OPTION : *RUN SOURCE : LadderSoft FILENAME : Krazy1 DFS ADFS : ADFS ---------------------------------------------------------------------- UPDATE DELETE DRPATH NOTES DONE ---------------------------------------------------------------------- RECORD No 1 ______________________________________________________________________ These commands provide the facilities to edit part or all of a program record. The option to view/amend NOTES and DIRECTORY PATHS is also provided within this menu. Options when selected have the following functions. 3.7.1 UPDATE:- This option allows the editing of the record currently displayed at the top of the screen. It does not allow editing of Directory Paths or Program Notes as this is done via another option. Upon selecting this command the cursor will jump to the first field of the record (ie. the PROGRAM field), blank the exiting data out and await your revised data. Pressing without entering any new information will restore the field to it's original form and move to the next one. You should amend information exactly as if you were entering new details, but take care that you do not unintentionally amend the CATEGORY, OPTION or DFS ADFS fields by pressing the key too quickly. Please note that you will still have to highlight the CORRECT OPTION when amending these fields even if you are leaving one or more of the fields unchanged. Once you have amended the "DFS ADFS" field and pressed , you will be asked to CONFIRM ABANDON or REVISE your field amendments. Selecting REVISE will restore the record to it's original form before any amendments were made, and move the cursor to the top field ready to re-start amending. Selecting ABANDON will abandon the amendment and return you to the second sub-menu as illustrated in the second diagram above. Selecting CONFIRM will amend the record on the database, and then it to will return you to the second sub-menu as illustrated above. *** Important Note *** If you amend the "DFS ADFS" field from one to the other then the computer will ask you for a new directory path before saving the amended details to disc. You should enter this new directory information in the same way as adding a program record to the database. Once your amendment is complete you will be asked to CONFIRM, REVISE or ABANDON as normal before being returned to the second sub-menu. 3.7.2 DELETE:- This option acts as a DELETE/UNDELETE tag for single records. Selecting this option will mark the current showing record for deletion. A flashing message saying "Deletion Pending" will confirm this. If you select DELETE again after marking the record for deleton, then the record will be "un-deleted". For full information on marking and deleting records, please refer to a later section in the manual on deleting records. 3.7.3 DRPATH:- This option will behave in one of two ways depending on whether the current showing record has been classed as DFS or ADFS (see the DFS ADFS field). Upon selection the computer will show the current directory path and will prompt you to PROCEED onwards, or to CHANGE the information displayed. Selecting PROCEED will return you back to the second sub-menu. Selecting CHANGE will do one of the following... If the program record has been classed as DFS then you will be prompted for a single letter directory ie. "L". Pressing will default to the $ (root) directory and save the amendment to disc. ______________________________________________________________________ If the program record has been classed as ADFS then you will be provided with 2 lines or 80 characters in order to specify the correct ADFS directory path from the $ (root) directory. Make the neccessary amendments then press either once or twice until you are asked to CONFIRM, REVISE or ABANDON your amendment. Provided you confirm you will be returned to the second sub-menu after your amendment has been saved to the database. 3.7.4:- NOTES This option will display the current program notes held under the currently selected record number and offer these notes for amending. Selecting PROCEED will return you to the second sub-menu without amending the notes. Selecting CHANGE will clear the existing notes and prompt you to enter fresh ones. Do not be afraid of fitting words onto a single line as the computer will "wordwrap" your amendments in order to keep up the presentation of your notes. Once finished, keep pressing until asked to CONFIRM, ABANDON or REVISE your new notes. Provided you CONFIRM your new notes will be saved and the computer will return you to the second sub-menu. 3.7.5:- DONE This option is selected once you have completed all necessary amendments to the current selected record, and you will be returned to the FIRST sub-menu as depicted in the FIRST diagram in section 3.7. 3.8 Searching Facilties ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This option is one of the most powerful on the SYSTEMS server as it allows easy and flexible searching routines that helps to locate and display a desired program record as easily as possible. Highlight the "Searching Facilites" option from the main menu and press . After a short pause you will be presented with a blank record and the computer will prompt you to ENTER SEARCH DATA. You enter search data in much the same was as adding a new record to the database by stepping through each field entering the search data desired. However it is worthwhile going through each record in turn explaining how the computer will treat such entries when searching records. PROGRAM : This is "non case-sensitive". For example, entering "KRAZY LADDERS" will successfully match "krazy ladders" and "Krazy Ladders" and "KRAZY Ladders". You can also enter partial information such as "KRAZY" in order to search for "Krazy Ladders" or "System Krazy" or "The Krazy Ladders" etc. If you do enter partial or "near exact" information then you must be sure to invoke the "Ne SEARCH" option when prompted to (see below). CATEGORY : If you know which category your desired program falls into then you may enter this as it will help narrow down the search. If you don't know then select IGNORE FIELD from the option list. DISC : If by any chance you DO know the disc reference then it can be entered here. However in 90% of cases this information will not be known, and pressing will ignore this field and move onto the next. ______________________________________________________________________ OPTION : Select an option from the table presented. If this information is not known then select IGNORE FIELD from the menu displayed. SOURCE : If you know the source of the program, then enter it here (ie. Superior Software). Field is "non case sensitive". FILENAME : If known, enter the DISC filename, else leave blank. DFS ADFS : If known, enter which type of filing system the program is stored on as this will help narrow down the search, otherwise select IGNORE. It is worth noting that NONE of the above field entries are mandatory and it is indeed possible to have a totally blank search record which, of course, will cause the computer to match every single record on the database. You can enter as little or as many search paramaters as you like. Obviously the more paramaters you enter, the more specific the search will be. Once you have completed the DFS ADFS search field (or not as the case may be) and pressed you will be asked to CONFIRM ABANDON or REVISE your search paramaters. ABANDONing will return you to the main menu. REVISEing will clear all search paramaters entered and return you back to the PROGRAM field to enter a new set of search data. CONFIRMing will take you to a sub-menu where you must state how the search is to be performed. Before we go on to describe this though, let us illustrate, using our "Krazy Ladders" example, how a typical search pattern might look once entered onto the system... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- PROGRAM : Krazy CATEGORY : GAME DISC : OPTION : SOURCE : FILENAME : DFS ADFS : ADFS ---------------------------------------------------------------------- START Rec SEARCH No Ne SEARCH To PRINTR --------------------------------------------------------------------- In the example above, we know the program contains the name "Krazy" and that it is a GAME. We also know that it is stored on an ADFS format disc. Having entered this information, we must now tell the computer how the search is to be performed by completing the 4 fields which have appeared in the lower half of the screen. These fields have the following meanings and should be completed as directed if necessary ... ______________________________________________________________________ START Rec : The record number at which to commence your search. This field should only be used if you have a good idea of approx. what record number your desired program is stored under as it can help reduce search times. If you have no idea, then pressing will start the search from record 1. SEARCH No : This field states how many records you wish to search before abandoning the facility. Again this should only be used if you have a good idea whereabouts in the database your desired program is stored. Leaving this field blank by pressing will default to ALL records. Ne SEARCH : Pressing "Y" will switch ON the "NEAR SEARCH" or "FUZZY SEARCH" option. This field only affects the search data entered in the PROGRAM field explained at the beginning of section 3.8. In our example we have entered "Krazy" in the PROGRAM field above. If we were to switch the "Ne SEARCH" option ON by pressing Y then the computer would match all the following ... Krazy Krazy Ladders Krazy Pilots System Krazy The Krazy Computer And if the "Ne SEARCH" option was switched OFF by pressing "N" then , the computer would match ... Krazy but the computer would NOT match ... Krazy Ladders Krazy Pilots System Krazy The Krazy Computer Pressing at this field thus leaving it blank will automatically switch "Ne SEARCH" OFF. If you are ever in any doubt as to how to use this option, then it is always best to leave the Ne SEARCH on, by entering "Y" and pressing . To PRINTR : Finally, this option allows the findings of the search to be sent to a printer. If you would like to print the results of your search then you can do so by entering "Y" at the prompt. Entering "N" or just leaving the field blank by pressing will switch the PRINTER option OFF. Once the above four fields have been completed, you will be asked to CONFIRM, ABANDON or REVISE your entries. ABANDONing will return you to the main menu, REVISEing will move the cursor back to the "START Rec" field and CONFIRMing will commence the search.