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The Cyber Punk's Address Book v1.01
Copyright 1993,94 Robert D. Bouman
****************
February 4, 1994
Warranty:
While every effort has been made to ensure that this program, The
Cyber Punk's Address Book, is in perfect working order and that it
poses no threat to the computer system it operates in, the author
takes no responsibility for damage to property or data that may result
from the use or misuse of this software package.
Legal use of product:
This program has been released to the general public as a shareware
software package. As such, this program is NOT public domain or
freeware. The author retains full legal copyright of said computer
software. It is illegal to alter the contents of the files included
in the official release of The Cyber Punk's Address Book (for files
considered part of the official release see README.1ST). Also, this
computer software package may NOT be included as part of another
program unless permission has been obtained in writing from the
author. The author also retains full commercial rights to said
software package. It is strictly forbidden to charge a fee for the
use of this software except in the following circumstances; 1) a
distribution and cost of media fee may be charged for the distribution
of this program, this fee may not exceed $5.00 in total 2) operators
of electronic bulletin boards may charge a small fee to users to
download this program from their service, this fee may not exceed
$5.00 either.
Registration:
The Cyber Punk's Address Book is NOT free. If you find this software
useful and continue to use it for more than thirty days, you are
expected to register your copy. The cost of registration is $15.00
(US funds). See REGISTER.DOC for more information.
Table of Contents
Topic Page
---------------------------------------------------------
Introduction ..................................... 2
Main Menu ........................................ 3
Adding a record .................................. 4
Editing a record ................................. 6
Deleting a record ................................ 8
Printing a record ................................ 9
Command-line switches ............................ 10
Introduction :
A new concept in information managers, The Cyber Punk's Address Book
is to network mail what an address book is to a normal mailing
address. If you have ever found yourself buried with cryptic network
addresses stuffed here and there on little bits of scrap paper, then
you realize what a pain it can be to keep in touch with people through
e-mail message networks. If you have ever lost the FIDOnet mail
address to someone you needed to contact then you definitly have a
need for this program.
The Cyber Punk's Address Book (CPAB) is a database program designed
specifically to store, retrieve, and print information necessary to
keep track of network addresses so you never loose touch with an
important "Cyber Punk".
CPAB includes many features that make it unique even among other non-
related information managers. Functions such as autosave, undelete,
and the ability to print to a printer or to a disk file comprise the
most powerful features of CPAB.
The autosave feature of CPAB is an extremely handy feature in an
information manager. You'll never have to worry about whether or not
you saved the entries you just added or changed because your changes
to the CPAB's database are always saved for you!
Deleting an entry is never a potentially fatal operation with CPAB's
undelete feature. With one simple keystroke any record can be
undeleted! Also, in an effort to conserve disk space, when you exit
CPAB all deletions are made permanent. You don't have to worry about
unwanted data hanging around on your system taking up space.
All printing is done with one easy step. No matter if you're printing
one record or your entire database of records, printing is always a
snap with CPAB. In an effort for CPAB to work on the widest variety
of systems, CPAB can print to printer ports 1-4 or to an ASCII coded
file for later printing or editing.
It's easy to use! It's small! It's powerful! It's cheap! Register
your copy today!
Page 2
Main Menu:
When you first execute ADDRBOOK.EXE from DOS, you will be greeted by
the main menu screen. From this menu six functions are available;
View Record, Add Record, Edit Record, Delete Record, Print Record,
Exit Program.
The following key strokes are pertinent to the main menu;
<UP ARROW>, <LEFT ARROW>, and <SHIFT+TAB> will all cause the black
function highlighting bar to move one item upward.
<DOWN ARROW>, <RIGHT ARROW>, and <TAB> will all cause the black
function highlighting bar to move one item downward.
<ENTER> will launch the highlighted function. For example, pressing
<ENTER> while the "Add Record" item is highlighted will display the
field entry screen of the add function and the user can start entering
information for a new record.
<ESC> will exit the program all together and return the user to DOS.
**** This all sounds much more complicated than it really is. If you
are new to computing, the best way to understand how this works is to
run the program and experiment. Remember, I have designed this
program so as not to let you do anything that's dangerous to you or
your computer so feel free to experiment. :)
Page 3
Adding a record:
Unless you're only concern is how to contact me through network mail,
the first thing you're going to want to do is add a record of your
own. Adding is extremely easy. Just follow the few simple steps
below.
1) First you must select "Add Record" from the main menu. If the main
menu is not displayed on the screen, press the <ESC> until it is.
2} At this point, the "Add Record" screen should be displayed on your
computer screen. There are five fields in which you can enter
information. They are; User Handle (Some propriety networks allow the
use of handles in public posting areas), User Name, Network Address,
Network Type, and a general purpose Notes field. All fields are blank
and ready for input. The first field is highlighted in black and
contains a cursor.
2) You may leave any number of fields blank. It is entirely up to you
as to what information is important to keep. To enter data in the
highlighted field just simple start typing. However, there are a few
special keys you should be aware of. The keys and a description of
what they do are listed below.
- <DOWN ARROW>, <TAB> will both cause the field immediately below
the active field to become the new active field. Keyboard input
will now be added to the new active field.
- <UP ARROW>, <SHIFT+TAB> will both cause the field immediately
above the active field to become the new active field.
- <RIGHT ARROW>, <LEFT ARROW> will move the cursor right or left
within the active field.
- <HOME> will move the cursor within the active field to the
beginning of the field.
- <END> will move the cursor within the active field to the end
of the field.
- <INSERT> will toggle the insert/over-strike mode. When the
program is in insert mode, the cursor will be displayed as a
blinking underscore and when you type a letter or number on the
keyboard everything to the right of the cursor will be pushed
over one position. When the program is in over-strike mode, the
cursor will be displayed as a solid blinking cursor and when you
type a letter or number from the keyboard the character
highlighted by the blinking cursor will be replaced by the
character you typed from the keyboard.
- <BACKSPACE> will erase the character directly to the left of
the blinking cursor.
Page 4
- <DELETE> will erase the character that is currently highlighted
by the blinking cursor.
- <ENTER> will add the current record to the database file. If
you run CPAB from a hard drive, you probably won't even notice
the record was saved to disk but be assured that it did! The
fields will be cleared and User Handle field will become the
active field. A note of caution, if you hold the <ENTER> key
down while you are attempting to add a record, a number of
records could be saved to disk. Since even a blank field takes
as much room as a field that is completely full, it's a good idea
to make sure that you don't hold the <ENTER> key down. If you
accidently add a few blank records, they can easily be removed
with the delete function. See "Deleting a record" later in this
manual.
- <ESC> will exit back to the main menu WITHOUT saving the
current record to disk.
**** It is quite natural to want to press <ENTER> when you're finished
entering information into a particular field. But, remember that
pressing <ENTER> will add the current record to the database file no
matter if you're finished or not. If you press <ENTER> prematurely,
you can always edit the record later. See "Editing a record" for more
information.
Page 5
Editing a record:
The functions View Record, Edit Record, Delete Record, and Print
Record all make use of a pick list to select the desired record. The
following discussion applies to all those listed above.
When you select View, Edit, Delete, or Print Record from the main
menu, the record pick screen will be displayed. The record fields
User Handle and User Name are displayed for each entry to assist in
the selection of the proper record. After you have selected a record
the proper function will be launched.
The following keys are used in the record pick list screen;
- <UP ARROW>, <SHIFT+TAB>, <LEFT ARROW> will all move the record
selection bar one position upward. If the pointer is at the top
of the pick list, the pick list entries will be scrolled one
position upward (if you're at the beginning of the database a
beep will sound).
- <DOWN ARROW>, <TAB>, <RIGHT ARROW> - will all move the record
selection bar one position downward. If the pointer is at the
bottom of the pick list, the pick list entries will be scrolled
one position downward (if you're at the bottom of the database a
beep will sound).
- <PAGE UP> will cause the pointer to be moved 15 entries up in
the database. If you're at the top of the database file, a beep
will sound.
- <PAGE DOWN> will cause the pointer to be moved 15 entries down
in the database. If you're at the bottom of the database file, a
beep will sound.
- <HOME> will cause the pointer to be moved to the very top of
the database. If you're at the top, a beep will sound.
- <END> will cause the pointer to be moved to the very end of the
database. If you're at the bottom a beep will sound.
- <U> will undelete a previously deleted record. Records that
are deleted will appear on the selection list as an entry drawn
on the screen in a light blue color.
- <ENTER> will select the highlighted record. You cannot select
deleted records.
- <ESC> will exit out of the pick list and back to the main menu.
Page 6
After you have selected the record that you wish to edit, a screen
very similar to the add function will be displayed. The edit function
is very similar to the add function. The only difference is that
fields will be pre-loaded with data from the record you selected to
edit. For more information see "Adding a record".
Page 7
Deleting a record:
After you have selected "Delete Record" from the main menu and have
selected a record to delete from the pick list (see "Editing a record"
for more information on the pick list), the record to be deleted will
be displayed on the screen and you will be asked if you wish to delete
the record. Choosing 'Y' from this prompt will cause the program to
temporarily delete the selected record. Deleted entries will be
displayed in a light blue color.
You may undelete a deleted record at any time by choosing 'U' from the
pick list screen. However, all deletions are made permanent after you
exit CPAB.
Page 8
Printing a record or the entire database:
After you select "Print Record" from the main menu, a dialog box will
be displayed asking you if you wish to print the entire database ('A'
for all records), one record ('O' for one record), or no records at
all ('N' for none).
If you choose to print your entire database of records ('A'), the
program will then display another dialog box asking you if you're
sure. If you answer yes ('Y') to the prompt, the program will begin
to print all the entries in your database. If CPAB encounters a
printer error at any time during printing, you will be given the
option to either quit or to fix printer and continue.
If you choose to print just one of the records from your database, the
program will display the pick list (see "Editing a record"). After
you have selected the record to print, the record will be displayed on
the screen and you will be asked if the record on the screen is the
correct record. If you respond with a 'Y' (yes) then the program will
print the selected record. If there is a printer error while
printing, you will be given the option quit or to fix the printer and
continue.
**** If you have opted to re-direct the printer output to an ASCII
file and you run out of disk space, the current printing job will be
aborted.
Page 9
Command-line switches and printing to an ASCII file:
You may have CPAB print to printer ports 1-4 or to an ASCII file. The
commnd-line format is given below;
ADDRBOOK [/P=XXXXX]
/P=LPT1-4 will set CPAB to print to printer ports 1-4.
/P=filename will set CPAB to print to an ASCII file given by filename.
You must include the full path to the file and the file's name as part
of filename parameter. If the file's path does not exist, printing
will fall back to its default LPT1. If the file already exists, the
old file's contents will be erased in preparation for new data.
All command-line parameters are optional. By executing the program by
simple typing "ADDRBOOK", LPT1 will become the default printer port.
Only the first parameter will have an effect on CPAB's operation.
Page 10