Card File - User Guide.

 Boris Kuritsin's CardFile. Version 3.0A  
 Electronic file management system

 USER MANUAL         

 Copyright (c) Boris Kuritsyn        
               December 1994               

 [22.9 kV]

What's new in version...                    
------------------------------------------
Version 3.0                                
Significant changes in the internal structure
ry, correction of about 10 minor errors,
new color palette, new and improved
keyboard driver, special file type
for filing cabinets, more efficient use
memory, full (257 bytes) table
interrupt vectors, document revision -
tions, etc.                                 

Version 3.0a                               
Correction of an error introduced during the integration
installing a new keyboard driver.         

What is CardFile?                       
------------------------------------------
CardFile - database management system
nykh, organized according to the principle of a card index.

CardFile is an almost complete transcription
I download the program of the same name from MicroSoft Win-
dows 3.1.                                 

Window interface VK CardFile             
------------------------------------------
The program supports a window interface with
user, close to the com interface
Apple Macintosh computers.                 

The interface is based on the library
Human Interface Library ver 3.8, written by
by the author.                              

All program control except input
text, is executed with an arrow cursor, which
which is controlled from:                     

- Kempston joystick                      
- Cursor-joystick and cursor keys     
- Set of keys Q A O P M                 
- Set of keys S X O P Space             

As you move the cursor around the screen, you will find
that there are zones on it where the arrow lights up
creates words or symbols.  If, having installed
cursor on such a zone, press the key
BOR, then the action determined
the word (symbol) that was highlighted.
If it is a menu item, a menu window will open.
nu, if the word ended with an ellipsis,
will be requestedadditional information,
if there is a > sign behind the word, it will be
a window with an action submenu is covered.            

In the future, the operation of cursor location
on the highlighted zone and pressing the SELECT key
we will call FIXATION.  To
close an erroneously opened window, you must
FIX the cursor outside the window (not
in the zone, but anywhere). NOTE: there is
there are zones that are not induced by inversion
ting.                               

Special characters are used to
show the current state of the switches
or in case you need to choose one
object from several.                     

Firstly, is a “tick”.  She notes
selected from several objects or modes. 

Secondly, is a pair of characters [ ] and [x].
The presence of a cross in the symbol means inclusion
induced state of the induced mode.    

Similarly, a pair of symbols () and (*) are used
used to set mode switches
mov with dependent fixation.                

A button  is a word or symbol in direct
naked frame.  It is used for fast
Rich access to commands. The button can be
bin with other special characters
lami.While working with CardFile, you will discover
those that some buttons and menu bars do not
are always selected - which means the execution of the
mands carried out by them is impossible in
at the moment.  For example, you started working
work with a clean file cabinet using the commands
dy File | New.  It immediately turned out that not
many commands are displayed: save-
writing, printing, editing, searching, not
The buttons for moving through the list work...
what?  It's just that none of these operations
makes sense if there is at least no
one card.  Once you create
card (Card | Add), all these functions
will become available.  Sometimes the dialogue zone is all
is selected, but does not perform any
actions.                                 

It is generally accepted to designate the path along
menu in the form: a|b|c|d.  This means that
you need to go to menu a, select option b,
in the window that opens, select a menu item
or option c, etc.  This method of description
applies in these instructions.  Ska-
Well, the notation card|add|after means that
you need to enter the card menu, select the
ment add, and in the subwindow that opens select
after command  This sequence
actions will cause the execution of the command "to-
add a new card after the current one."     

Structurecard indexes                       
------------------------------------------
The card is organized according to the principle  INDEX
-> INFORMATION,  how it is done in any
card index. INDEX is a string of symbols
fishing length no more than 30. INFORMATION - any
text saved in the card, no more than 18
lines up to 30 characters wide.             

For example, when creating a file of addresses and
phones are most logically indexed
put the person’s surname and initials, and everything else
Enter detailed data in the INFORMATION field.  

Viewing, viewing modes                
------------------------------------------
The card index can be displayed on the screen in 2
modes: CARD and LIST. 

In CARD mode you see the card index
above and card information below.        

In LIST mode, you see a list on the screen
card indexes (up to 20 indexes simultaneously
exactly).  In LIST mode you can go to
viewing a specific card, fixed
Vav cursor on its index (for more details, see
"LIST mode options").                     

Switching modes is performed in a fixed manner
by moving the cursor on the button with the variablesos-
by standing CARD/LIST, which is located in
top of the screen.                     

Active card                         
------------------------------------------
Card displayed on the screen in
Card, or the top card from the displayed one
part of the list in List mode is called ac-
tive.  Most actions are performed
exactly above the active card.            

Button line                            
------------------------------------------
The button line contains elements for quick
Strong filing cabinet management. These are:          

- Card/List button to switch modes
mov viewing.                            
- "Home" button (in the form of linked
squares) which moves the pointer
active card to the beginning of the list.        
- Up and Down buttons that serve
to navigate through the card index. Their "pressing"
moves the active card pointer to
the beginning or end of the card index by 1 or 20
cards depending on the viewing mode
pa: 1 in CARD mode and 20 - LIST.          
- Button "f.next", which duplicates the option
Search menu | Find next.                  

Menu bar                               
------------------------------------------
Using this strip located in
the very top line of the screen, carries out -
All access to pull-down menus.

File menu                                 
 contains all I/O, print commands
etc.                                    

Edit menu                                 
 gives access to editing commands
cards.                                 

Card menu                                 
 allows you to manipulate cards: up to
add, delete, duplicate them.         

Search menu                               
 is used for any type of information search
mations in the file cabinet.                        

Misc menu                                 
 contains commands for various purposes.  

Control of file cabinet saving             
------------------------------------------
CardFile remembers information about any of the
changes in the card index and when trying to perform
thread destructive actions (exit, open,link) gives a warning: File pot sa-
ved!  with a proposal to refuse surgery
tions.                                      

File menu                                 
------------------------------------------
I/O command group:               

File|new                                  
 Start creating a new card index;  current
erased.                                

File|open...                              
 Open the file.  A dialog box is called up
"File operation" to select a file (see
"<> Window" regarding
working with this and subsequent commands
input/output).                            

File|save                                 
 Saving the card index in a file, with the latest
name used, last used
device used; when working with dis-
whom permission may be requested to transfer
overwrite a file.               

File|Save as...                           
 Saving a file with a name request via
standard window.File|merge...                             
 Merging card files;  loaded to the current one
specified card index;  her cards are placed-
are at the end of the list.                      

Print command group:                     

File|print                                
 Printing the active card on the printer.    

File|print all                            
 Printing the entire card index on the printer.       

Printing can be interrupted by pressing BREAK.
See "Printer communication" for details
information.                               

Group of commands for communication with the operating system
mine:                                      

File|DOS shell                            
 Temporary output to TR-DOS;  return by co-
mande RETURN.                             

File|exit                                 
 Exit CardFile;  with Beta connected
Disk Interface is trying to launch a program
mu boot from the current drive, assuming that
This is a TR-DOS shell.                      

Edit menu------------------------------------------
Edit|index:                               
 Editing in the active index window
cards; ends by pressing Enter.     

Edit|info:                                
 Editing the information of the active map
dots;  ends with ss/Q or cs/
ss.                                       

General information. When editing, always
Yes, the following keys work:            

Caps Lock (CS/2)                          
 capital letter mode switch.     

Delete (CS/0)                             
 removes the character to the left of the cursor.         

Edit (CS/1)                               
 Cyrillic/La mode switch
tin input, which is induced by the symbol
"L" (lat.) in the lower left corner of the current
windows.                                     

SS/E                                      
 clears the edited row.            

Card editor. Information editor   
cards have differences from the editorfields
input.  It allows you to move the cursor around
symbols using arrows and enter from
changes in INSERT mode.                 

To delete the current line, press SS/
W; and to insert an empty line before
current - SS/I.  Pressing Enter moves
cursor to the beginning of the next line. Edit
Card editing is completed by pressing SS/
Q, Extend.  The card editor contains bu-
ferized keyboard driver (buffer -
16 characters). If you enter text sufficiently
definitely fast, the card doesn’t redraw -
to process your input faster.
It will be redrawn as soon as you do
There is a short pause in typing.           

Card menu                                 
------------------------------------------
Card|add|before/after                     
 Adds an empty card before the active one
(before) or after it (after).           

Card|delete                               
 Deletes the active card, after
asking for confirmation.                  

Card|duplicate                            
 Duplicates the active card.            

Card|link                                 
 See"Logically connected file cabinets."     

Search menu                               
------------------------------------------
Search|find...                            
 in the dialog box you need to enter text for
search, and also indicate whether to search
it from the beginning of the file cabinet (from begin) or from
current position (from this card) and where to use
kat: in indexes, in information
(in info) or both at once.              

Search|find next                          
finds the next occurrence of text after
how he was already found.              

Search|quick...                           
 differs from |find... only in that
after opening the window it is immediately activated
editor of the Find What field, and upon completion
editing the search starts with the current ones
switch values.  Quick command
is a faster method of accessing
Find command.                             

Since you can choose where (in the index
or information) search text, Search menu
makes it very convenient to find any information
formation in the card index.                     

When the text is found, the card containing it
becomes active (view mode
notchanges).                           

If the text is not found, a window appears with
communication about it, and becomes active
first card.                          

Misc menu                                 
------------------------------------------
Misc|Memory info                          
 Information about memory occupancy.          

Misc|Refresh screen                       
 Restoring screen contents in case of
if it is violated for any reason.  

Misc|About                                
 Informs about the author and version of the program.
A license message is also displayed.      

Misc|Pallete                              
 Allows you to change the color palette
window interface of the program. Offers-
there are 3 palettes to choose from:                    

blue - the main one, which is active directly
specifically when entering the program;            
black/white - monochrome, which is preferred
read by owners of black and white monitors;   
ocean - additional color, in which
the owners love to work, very high quality
new color monitors.                    

Misc|Options Various mode settings.            
After CR append LF                        
 Is it necessary to transfer
insert the LF code after the CR code; it depends
printer and driver.                      
Recode then KOI-8                           
 Is it necessary when transferring data to the printer?
recode them into KOI-8 encoding.      
Kempston joystick                         
 Is control allowed from Kempston-
-joystick.                               
Click... switches then                      
 See "List Mode Options"                 

Misc|smart drives                         
 Attention!  Don't use the command
after reading the instructions.                      
  The "Fast Drives" command is used with
those versions of the TR-DOS system that, when
sector read error is reduced
height of stepper motor drive
disk drives  Such a decrease often leads to
deteriorates the readability of floppy disks and
slower exchange with the disk.  Smart drives
sets for all initialized
disk drives head movement speed,
equal to 8 (in the parameter blockTR-DOS, by
addresses 23802-23805).  Attention! Perhaps
there are drives for which such
the speed is great!  Do not use smart dri-
ves, if you have such a drive!  Check
you can do it this way: from each drive, read
those directory, after which from Basic give
command: PRINT RACK (23802+drive) where dri-
ve - drive number (from 0 to 3). If ho-
you would for one of the connected disk drives
Dov value is greater than 8, smart drives are better
do not use.                          

File operation window                  
------------------------------------------
This is the standard CUA specification window on
user interface.               

The user's task during the dialogue in this window is
no - select device and file name for
I/O operation that is initiated
la the appearance of a window.                        

The user can specify the file name as follows:
in the following way: edit it as usual
using another method in the Filename field or by committing
cursor on the name from the current file scroller
general device. The list in the scroller can be
"drag" by pressing the "up" and
"down" scroll bar. Slider position
ruler reflects which part of the list
files is currently visible, and the length is half
The bar shows how many files there arefit into the scroller viewing area by
compared to their total number.         

By clicking on the arrow in the Drive line, you can
subwindow change input/output device
(of course, the scroller is not available for the tape)
pen).  The OK button completes the name selection,
Cancel button cancels the operation, button
ReRead rereads the directory.              

Please note: entering an empty file name
la during the Open or Merge operation for magnetic
tape means that it is necessary to read
take the first file you come across (from version
2.5).                                     

From version 2.6  the Turbo flag has been added to the window
container.  If it is active, then I/O is on
the tape is produced in turbo format (fast
speed 2400 bps).                      

From version 2.7 scroll bar zones are not used
are turning.  Fixing the cursor on something
section of the ruler leads to movement of the
yes scroller slider.                    

From version 2.8 the card file can be saved to
TR-DOS system disks not only with type
file , but also with a special type <F>.
This makes it easier to find maps
files in the disk directory. In normal condition
yaniya (F-files flag is disabled) inscroller
files of type  are shown. When the flag is F-
-files is enabled, shown in the scroller
files of type .  Accordingly, depending
Depending on the position of the F-files, the file saves
with type  or .  Using files
type , you must remember that due to
non-standard type they cannot be
worked (copied, renamed, deleted
lens) with TR-DOS commands, but only the shell
systems such as Conver, IS-Shell,
Service, etc. In order not to get confused with the file
lami, the author recommends storing file cabinets
only with type  or only with type .
There are no problems with magnetic tape exchange
in any case: the action of the F-files flag is
applies only to TR-DOS.           

From version 3.0 memory for reading the catalog
hectares of disk (for compiling a scrollable list
ra) stands out in the internal dynamic
CardFile memory. Therefore, if not at least
256 free bytes (which can be found out with the option
her Misc | Memory info), then the scroller fills
won’t be busy or work, which doesn’t affect
for the operation of other window elements. In this
In case you can view the catalog in TR-
-DOS using the Dos shell command.        

List mode options                         
------------------------------------------
An action thatoccurs upon commit
cursor on the card index in List mode,
You can choose yourself (from version 2.2).
This choice is made by changing the entry
si Click... switches then in the Misc window | Or-
tions.  Change the entry by committing
cursor on the down arrow symbol near
records, after which another one opens
window with options:                        

NOTHING - there is no additional function, i.e.
fixing the cursor on the card index in the re-
pressing List only makes it active;      
CARD VIEW - switch to card mode with specified
no card;                            
LINK - attempt to perform a link operation with
the specified card;                      
EDIT INFO - edit the info field indicating
zany cards;                          
EDIT INDEX - edit the index field indicating
filled cards.                          

The last two functions retain List mode
after the operation is completed.                

This approach turns out to be very convenient and
effective. Depending on what you are
are you planning to study soon?
You install the function you need
in the menuMisc | Options will continue to have
those opportunity to more quickly receive ac-
stupid to this function. At the same time, through the menu you
you can call any other function, but
less efficient.  Default function
is card view.                       

Printer connection                         
------------------------------------------
The printer must be connected with a standard
way to thread #3 via any interface.
If the printer interface you are using requires
there is no driver loading, then it should be
loaded before CardFile starts (the driver must
should be located in the ZX-Printer buffer). 

The printer you use must support
code page 866 (colloquially "al-
alternative encoding") or KOI encoding
-8 for normal printing of Russian characters.
The encoding is switched in the Misc | Or-
tions.                                    

If you are using the ZX Lprint interface
III, don't forget to convert it to non-inter-
representing the data transmission mode of the command
LPRINT : LPRINT CHR$5 before starting Card
File.                                     

If your printer requires any command
dy for printing in KOI-8 encoding, transmitted
Run this command before loading the CardFile.
Transferring it from CF is not supported, so
as there is no standard for it.                 

Card file format                    
------------------------------------------
Here is a description of the file format
file cabinets so programmers can write
their own programs using
card index as input data or program
we, generating card index files.         

Description.  The card index consists of arbitrary
large (limited by memory size) number
cards arranged sequentially.
Each card consists of a title (up to
30 characters with ASCII delimiter 13 (CR))
and information (up to 18 lines, no more than
30 characters; each line is limited by sim-
CR if its length is less than 30 characters
fishing).  There is a marker behind the information
end of the card - ASCII character 1.          

Indexes and information can be used
Not all symbols are called.                    

Can be used:                        

- ASCII characters (codes 32-127);            
- symbols of Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian-
  Russian alphabets of the 866th code used
  howl page of characters.                  

The remaining characters are reserved or
have a special meaning in VK CardFile and do not
can be used.                  

Importing texts from Speccy Write------------------------------------------
Speccy Write text editor file
can be easily converted to CF format.
To do this, the text must be formatted
for a line width of 29 characters, with left-hand
lem width 0. After that, at the end of each
intended team help card
ext editor I insert end marker -
symbol with code 1 (this will be the symbol at the top)
row of the table, the first one is non-empty, counting
left).  Make sure the length of the indexes is not
more than 30 characters allowed.  Make sure
that the file does not contain anything prohibited in VK Card
File symbols (see "Card file format -
ki").                                     

Logically connected card indexes             
------------------------------------------
Since version 2.0 CardFile supports the concept
tion of related card files.                   

Very often the file cabinet grows so large,
that does not fit into one file, and at the same time
time in it can be allocated thematically
separate sets of cards.             

The logical link method provides
the following:                                

1. The card index is divided into smaller ones, each
giving with your thematic direction   
(for example,card index "My telephone directory"
Vochnik" is divided into several: "My friends
in Kyiv", "Local telephones", "International codes
landline telephone communication" and so on).  
2. In the resulting files, mutual
new LINK connections. This is done as follows:
at once: a card with information is entered into the card index
dex reflecting the contents of the linked
file, and in the info field of this card enters
This line is:  @file_name.  And she
must be entered strictly from the first sim-
ox fields info.                           
3. As a result, we got in this map
Teke card symbolizing another card
toteku.  To “get” into that file cabinet,
you just need to make a LINK card ac-
tive and execute the command  Card | link.
The file specified in the card will be loaded from
current device.  Because in fact
the operation of opening a file is performed File |
Open..., then if not found,
new file it will be considered "new" and
the buffer will be cleared so you can start
create file.                           
4. Similarly, in the linked file
you can create a reversereturn link
to this file.                              
5. In the first line of the info field in the LINK car-
point, except for the above @-record, nothing
it shouldn't exist.                        

Special notes                          
------------------------------------------
* CardFile loader partially recognizes
presence of TR-DOS: if it is connected and ins-
tallied, the bootloader assumes that Card-
File is loaded from disk, otherwise - from tape.
If TR-DOS is connected and you want to boot
download CardFile from tape, give pre-
but the NEW command.                           

*When using Selto Rotor computer
Computer V03 needs to change internal
table of scan codes for a special one (see.
"Change keyboard layout").            

* To transfer CardFile to TR-DOS, simply
then copy all its files to disk;  to
work with it in tape version, record-
Sew the files onto the tape in this order:      

   Program: CARDFILE                      
   Bytes: CF.EXE                        
   Program: CF.BAS                        

* Since version 2.1b CardFile has completely changed
erases all TR-DOS messages, including
"Read only" and "Disk egrog".  These messages
are output in a completely normal way, but in
specialCardFile window.                

* On 128 kV computers CardFile recommends
should be run in compatibility mode
(48 kV).                                  

* From version 2.5, fixing the cursor on in-
dex or the first line of card information
ki in card mode allows you to quickly enter
editing mode of the corresponding
la.                                       

That's all... For any questions, you can
Contact the author by writing to:   

257010 Ukraine, Cherkasy-10, PO Box 1529.    
Kuritsyn Boris Alexandrovich.           

The author will be glad to hear critical comments
aspirations or suggestions for improvement
VK CardFile.