informis
/
textfiles
1
0
Fork 0
Code Issues Pull Requests Packages Projects Releases Wiki Activity
textfiles/computers/DOCUMENTATION/sp.txt

2131 lines
58 KiB
Plaintext
Raw Permalink Blame History

This file contains invisible Unicode characters

This file contains invisible Unicode characters that are indistinguishable to humans but may be processed differently by a computer. If you think that this is intentional, you can safely ignore this warning. Use the Escape button to reveal them.

S M A R T P H O N E
Instant Telephone Information
Featuring
- More than 340 area and country codes, with time zones -
- More than 15000 towns and cities -
- Zip and Postal Code Information -
- "The Five-Minute Database" -
- Pop-up (TSR) Operation -
Copyright (C) 1986,1992 by Pinnacle Software
1. TABLE OF CONTENTS
---------------------
2. A QUICK OVERVIEW OF SMARTPHONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2.1 Area Code Listings
2.2 "The Five-Minute Database"
2.3 Features
2.4 TSR Capabilities
2.5 System Requirements
3. HOW TO CONTACT US . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
4. INSTALLING SMARTPHONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
4.1 Installation of an Archive File After Download
4.2 Installation of a Disk from a Shareware Vendor
4.3 Super-Quick Install: Pinnacle Diskette to Hard Disk
4.4 Basic Installation Concepts
4.5 Step-by-Step Installation Instructions
4.6 Upgrading from Area Code Hunter
5. USING SMARTPHONE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
5.1 Starting SmartPhone
5.2 The Main Menu
5.3 The Area Code Hunt Screen
5.4 The Area Code Browse Screen
5.5 Quick-Reference Database
5.6 Other Features
6. TSR (POP-UP) OPERATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
6.1 What is a TSR?
6.2 TSR Startup
6.3 Technical Considerations
7. THE FIVE-MINUTE DATABASE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
7.1 What is The Five-Minute Database?
7.2 Quick-Learn Method
7.3 Applications
7.4 What is a FIV File?
7.5 Database Format
7.6 Sample Database
8. SMARTPHONE LICENSING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
8.1 Licenses for Individuals
8.2 Corporations and Institutions
8.3 Technical Support
8.4 Warranty
9. NOTES ABOUT THE LISTINGS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
9.1 Time Zones
9.2 Spelling
9.3 International Dialing Codes
ii
10. BACKGROUND INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
10.1 Product History
10.2 About Pinnacle Software
10.3 Some Examples of How SmartPhone Can Help You
11. INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
iii
2. A QUICK OVERVIEW OF SMARTPHONE
----------------------------------
2.1 Area Code Listings
-----------------------
- Complete area code information for North America and the Caribbean
- Every country code in the world
- Town and city listings
- World-wide time-zone information
- Projected new area codes
- "Sounds like" searches
2.2 "The Five-Minute Database"
-------------------------------
- Quick reference database
- Area and Zip Codes
- Cities, Populations, Languages
- Design your own pop-up databases
- Most people can set up their first database in only 5 minutes
2.3 Features
-------------
- Easy to install and use
- Area Code search has exclusive multi-tasking hunt 'n' browse feature
- Editor allows you to add your own comments to each area code
- Can be run stand-alone or as a TSR (pop-up)
1
2.4 TSR Capabilities
---------------------
- Pop-up without leaving your application program
- Resident portion takes only 7K
- RAM disk support for lightning-quick response
2.5 System Requirements
------------------------
- IBM PC compatible computer with 640K RAM
- MS-DOS or PC-DOS version 3.00 or higher
- Color or monochrome display
- Hard disk (RAM disk recommended for pop-up operation)
2
3. HOW TO CONTACT US
---------------------
If you have any questions about SmartPhone, or about any of our other
products, we'd like to hear from you.
Mail ............... Pinnacle Software
CP 386
Town of Mount Royal
Quebec, Canada
H3P 3C6
Phone .............. 514-345-9578 (Business hours, Eastern Time)
BBS ................ 514-345-8654 (24 hrs/day, up to 9600 baud v42bis)
GEnie .............. T.CAMPBELL11 (Mail checked daily)
CompuServe ......... 70154,1577
NOTE: If you have a modem, we invite you to call our BBS and download some
software. You can download on the first call. This is no charge for this
service.
3
4. INSTALLING SMARTPHONE
-------------------------
NOTE: If you are upgrading from an earlier version (Area Code Hunter),
please see the section entitled "Upgrading" before proceeding
with your installation.
4.1 Installation of an Archive File After Download
---------------------------------------------------
If you have downloaded SmartPhone via modem and have dearchived the file
into a directory, the product will install itself as soon as you run it.
To run it, type SP at the DOS prompt.
If SmartPhone does not ask for installation information the first time you
run it, it means you are running a "used" copy. This doesn't present any
problems, though: simply select the SPEC option on the main menu.
4.2 Installation of a Disk from a Shareware Vendor
---------------------------------------------------
If you got your copy of SmartPhone on a disk from somebody other than
Pinnacle Software, refer to any special installation instructions that
accompany the diskette. Once the files have been copied to their
destination, you can start up SmartPhone by typing SP at the DOS prompt.
4
4.3 Super-Quick Install: Pinnacle Diskette to Hard Disk
---------------------------------------------------------
NOTE: If you find that this section is not detailed enough, skip ahead to
the next section for a complete explanation.
If you're an experienced computer user, you can install SmartPhone quickly
by inserting one of the diskettes into the A: drive and typing:
A:GO
If the diskette can only fit into your B: drive, insert it there and type:
B:GO
5
4.4 Basic Installation Concepts
--------------------------------
NOTE: The information in this section will help you understand the
section that follows. If you are an experienced PC-compatible
user, you can safely skip this part.
A diskette is sometimes called a floppy disk.
If your computer has one diskette slot, it is known as "drive A:".
If your computer has two diskette slots, they are "drive A:" and "drive
B:".
If your computer does not have a "hard disk", the A: drive is the one that
you put your DOS diskette into when you turn on your computer.
SmartPhone is available on two different types of diskettes. The larger
diskette fits 5.25 inch diskette drives, while the smaller diskette fits
into the newer 3.5 inch diskette drives.
Hard disk users are strongly urged to look up the PATH and AUTOEXEC
concepts in their DOS manual.
4.4.1 Formatted Disks
(If you have a hard disk, you can skip this part)
If you have ONE diskette drive, you will need a NEW diskette formatted for
the A: drive. If you have TWO diskette drives, you will need a NEW
diskette formatted for the B: drive. To learn how to create formatted
disks, look up the FORMAT command in your DOS manual. (Briefly: remove
all diskettes from your computer, insert your write-protected DOS diskette
into the A: drive, type A: to log to the A: drive, then type FORMAT B:)
Be very careful when formatting diskettes! Any data on the diskette will
be lost.
4.4.2 Inserting a Diskette
A diskette goes into the diskette drive slot with very little effort; don't
force it! If it doesn't go in properly, or if the computer refuses to
recognize the disk, try removing it and inserting it differently: flip it
over or turn it around. (Hint: The label on the diskette is always the
6
last part to go into the slot.) The larger 5.25 disk drives sometimes have
a little flag or tab which must be closed before the computer will
recognize that you've inserted the disk.
4.5 Step-by-Step Installation Instructions
-------------------------------------------
1. Select the SmartPhone diskette that fits into the A: drive, and insert
it into that drive. Log to (i.e. select) the A: drive. You can do
this by typing A: at the DOS prompt.
2. If you are installing to diskette, make sure you have a new formatted
diskette handy (see "Formatted Disks", above).
3. Now run the GO program in the A: drive. You can do this by entering
GO at the DOS prompt. If you are running a "DOS Shell" program, you
will have to select the A: drive, then select the GO program.
4. You will then be shown a menu. Select "Install" by pressing F2.
5. You will then be shown a suggested destination for the files. In most
cases, you can simply press Enter to accept the recommended
destination. But if you wish to change it, it can be edited using the
insert, delete and arrow keys.
6. Once the program has finished copying the files, it will return you to
DOS (or your DOS shell). To start up SmartPhone, run the SP program
(type SP at the DOS prompt or select SP.EXE from your DOS shell).
4.6 Upgrading from Area Code Hunter
------------------------------------
The instructions below assume that you are installing SmartPhone into a new
diskette or directory. Don't install it in your old Area Code Hunter
directory.
If you were using Area Code Hunter version 3.0 or earlier, there are no
special procedures to follow.
Version 4.0, however, introduced the "Notebase" (Comments window) which
enabled you to attach notes to each area code. If you want to retain your
notes, switch to your Area Code Hunter directory and make a backup copy of
the files:
COMMENTS.DAT and COMMENTS.IDX
7
Proceed with SmartPhone installation as described in the previous sections.
Then copy in the two COMMENTS files.
8
5. USING SMARTPHONE
--------------------
5.1 Starting SmartPhone
------------------------
NOTE: Starting up SP for TSR (pop-up) operation is a bit different than
for stand-alone operation. This is described in section 6.
5.1.1 Starting SmartPhone from the DOS Command Line
1. (If the directory into which you installed SmartPhone is in your DOS
PATH, this step is not necessary.) If you're not already there,
change to the drive and directory in which you installed SmartPhone.
For details about changing directories, refer to your DOS manual's
description of the CD command.
You now have three options:
2A. Type SP at the DOS prompt. This will pop up the main SmartPhone
menu.
2B. Type SP ? at the DOS prompt. This will display some helpful
information about starting up SP.
2C. Type SP followed by a "hunt" command. A "hunt" command is precisely
the same as you would type in the Area Code Hunt Screen (described
later). For example, to search for area code 514, you would start up
SP like this:
SP 514
Or if you were looking for cities that sound like "New York", you
would start up SP this way:
SP ?New York
(The "?" indicates a "Sounds like" search. Hunt commands are
described in more detail, later)
When started up in this manner, SP returns to the DOS prompt as soon
as you have finished viewing the area code information.
9
5.1.2 Starting SmartPhone from a DOS Shell
DOS shells vary in design, so it is impossible to give instructions that
will apply to all of them. In general, however, you will follow these
basic steps:
1. Select the drive and directory in which you installed SmartPhone.
2. Select the program SP.EXE
You will then see SP's main menu.
5.2 The Main Menu
------------------
The main menu lists the following options:
F1 HUNT <20> Area codes and notebase
F2 DATA <20> Quick-reference database
F6 SPEC <20> Specify location of data file, and so on
F7 INFO <20> General information about SmartPhone
F8 FORM <20> Print form to order the latest SmartPhone
F10 QUIT <20> Leave SmartPhone and return to DOS
The first column (F1, F2, etc.) lists the function keys corresponding to
each selection.
The second column (HUNT, DATA, etc.) allows you to spot the item you want
quickly.
The third column is a detailed description of each function.
To select a function, you can either:
1. Press the corresponding function key (e.g. F7 for INFO),
or ...
2. Move the cursor-bar (highlighted line) up and down with the arrow
keys, then press Enter when it is highlighting the item you want.
At any time, you can press Esc to back up. For example, if you press Esc
at the main menu, you will be returned to what you were doing when you
started up SP.
10
5.3 The Area Code Hunt Screen
------------------------------
5.3.1 The Two Parts of the Hunt Screen
The Hunt screen is displayed when you select the "HUNT" option on the main
menu (F1 key). The screen is divided into two parts.
The top part of the screen gives examples of "Hunt Commands". The bottom
part of the screen is where you actually type your hunt command.
5.3.2 Editing Keys
While typing the hunt command, you can edit what you type by using the
following keys:
NAME OF KEY WHAT IT DOES
------------ ---------------------------------------------------
Left arrow Moves the cursor one position to the left
Right arrow Moves the cursor one position to the right
Backspace Deletes the character just before the cursor
Delete Deletes the character on top of the cursor
Insert Turns Insert Mode on and off
While in Insert Mode, you can move your cursor back with the left arrow key
and insert characters where you type. Any characters you type push the
other characters over to the right to make room. When Insert Mode is off,
however, any characters you type on top of other characters will replace
them.
If you want to return to the main menu, you can "Escape" from the Hunt
screen by pressing the Esc key.
5.3.3 Hunt Commands
You can search for information in a variety of ways. You let SmartPhone
know what you are looking for by the format of what you type in. This is
easier than it sounds!
11
For example, if you want to find out where area code 908 is, you simply
type 908, then press Enter. If you wanted to find out which area codes are
used in California, you'd type California and press Enter.
SmartPhone can tell the difference between numbers and letters, so it
doesn't think you're looking for a city named "908" when you type 908.
If you type only two letters, SmartPhone assumes you are looking for a two-
letter mailing abbreviation. For example, "NY" would be found as "New
York", "NJ" would be found as "New Jersey", and so on.
Country codes are a little different. Since it's possible to confuse a
country code with a North American area code, you must put a plus (+) sign
in front of the number you asking about, so that SmartPhone knows that it's
a country code. So if you wanted to find out which country used the code
63, you would enter it as +63, then press Enter. (It's the Philippines, by
the way)
Country names are usually distinctive, so you don't have to indicate them
in any special way. If you're searching for Germany, simply type Germany,
then press Enter.
If you only happen to remember PART of a name, you can still search for it,
by putting an equals-sign (=) in front of the part you do remember. For
example, if you remember that the town ended in "octon", you would type
=octon
then press Enter. Note that this kind of search is considerably slower
than the previously mentioned searches, because the computer has more work
to do.
Finally, if you don't know anything about the name of the place except an
approximate pronunciation, you can use the "sounds like" search by putting
a question mark (?) in front of the search text.
For example, let's say somebody left a message on your answering machine
but didn't say it clearly enough. All you heard was "Nork" or something
like that. You would enter
?nork
then press Enter. SmartPhone would find some likely candidates, such as
"Newark" and "Norwich".
The "sounds-like" search is slower than any of the previous search methods
mentioned so far, because the computer has to evaluate the many possible
ways to pronounce -- and mispronounce -- each place name.
12
5.4 The Area Code Browse Screen
--------------------------------
5.4.1 The Three Parts of the Browse Screen
After you've typed in a hunt command (see the previous section), the Area
Code Hunt Screen will be replaced by the Browse Screen. The Browse Screen
is divided into three parts:
- The Area Code Window
- The City Window
- The Comments Window
You can make any one of these parts "active" by pressing the Tab key. When
you press Tab (located on the left side of your keyboard, usually marked
either Tab, or with two arrows, each pointing at a line), the active window
will change to the one below it (or the top window, if the active window is
the last one on the screen).
Shift-Tab does the same thing, but in the other direction. For example, if
the second (City) window was active and you pressed Shift-Tab, you would
switch to the first (Area Code) window.
An active window is surrounded by a double line; the other two (inactive)
windows are surrounded by a single line. Thus, you can always tell at a
glance which window is active.
When the Browse Screen first appears, the Area Code Window will usually be
active. One exception: if you searched for a specific area code (example:
your Hunt Command was 305), then the City Window will be active.
Each window is described in more detail, below.
5.4.2 The Area Code Window
The top part of the Browse Screen is the "Area Code Window". This window
will display one or more area codes that match what you're hunting for.
For example, if you were searching for area code 908, the number 908 would
appear in the Area Window. If you were searching for all area codes in New
York (i.e. your hunt command was "New York" or "NY"), you'd see several
area codes in this window, because New York State has several area codes.
If there are more area codes than can be displayed in the area window
(which is only a few lines high), you can "scroll" the window by using the
down arrow key.
13
If there are more than one area code in the area window, when you push the
Down Arrow key, you will notice that the highlighted bar moves down. When
it reaches the bottom of the area window, the area codes scroll up. This
enables you to highlight any area code in the area window. To move
backwards in the list of area codes in the area window, press the Up Arrow
key.
The area code window also contains time zone information for any areas
using North American time zones, such as Atlantic Time, Pacific Time, etc.
For other areas, refer to the City Window.
5.4.3 The City Window
The middle part of the Browse Screen is the "City Window". This window
displays a list of cities in the area code highlighted in the Area Code
Window (described previously). If there are more cities than can fit in
the window, you can "scroll" the list by pressing the Up and Down arrow
keys.
In most cases, the cities are listed in alphabetical order. However, if
there is a logical way to break up an area code into regions, and reliable
data about such a division is available to us, the list may be broken up
into sections. In this case, each section of the listing is separated from
the other sections by a row of dots.
For areas outside North America, time zone information appears in the City
Window, at the end of the list of cities. This information is given as an
"offset" from a standard North American time zone.
For example, the United Kingdom shows a time listing as follows:
Pacific + 8.0 Rocky + 7.0 Central + 6.0 Eastern + 5.0 Atlantic + 4.0
If you lived in the Pacific Time Zone, you would add 8 hours to your time
to find out what time it is in, say, London. So if it was noon, it would
be 8 PM in London. If it was 6 PM in the Pacific Time Zone, it would be 2
AM the next day in England.
5.4.4 The Notebase ("Comments") Window
The bottom part of the Browse Screen is the "Comments Window". You can
write notes in this window, and every time you call up a particular area
code, the notes that are associated with it will also appear. You can
write up to 25 lines of notes. For example:
You enter the Hunt Command "New York". SmartPhone displays several area
codes in the Area Code window (described previously). You use the Up and
14
Down arrow keys to highlight one of the area codes. Once you've selected
the one you want, you tap the Tab key twice to get to the Comments Window.
You type a brief note. If you make a mistake, you can use editing keys
(see "Editing Keys", described previously). When you press Esc to leave
the Browse Screen, your notes are saved and associated with the area code
that was highlighted in the Area Code window.
So whenever you select that area code in the Browse Screen, you will also
see the notes that you typed.
5.4.5 Leaving the Browse Screen
To leave the Browse Screen and return to the Main Menu, press Esc. One
exception to this: if you started SP at the DOS command line with a Hunt
Command (for example: SP Georgia), you will be returned to the DOS prompt
when you press Esc.
5.5 Quick-Reference Database
-----------------------------
F2 on the main menu brings up a quick-reference menu. This section
features several databases containing information about the world. The
databases provide information about population, capitals, zip codes,
language and more.
When you are displaying a database, you can scroll back and forth using
your arrow and page keys. Some databases allow you to sort the data in
various ways. But all that data can be a bit overwhelming. That's where
the (F)ind command comes in handy.
When you press the "F" key, you will be asked for some text to search for.
Type in the item you're interested in. The data is then redisplayed,
showing only the records that contain that data. The other data didn't get
deleted, though -- it's just hidden. You can then scroll through the
reduced list of data in the usual way.
To restore the data to the complete list, press "F" again, then press Esc.
You will once again see all the data records.
SmartPhone REALLY gets smart when you write your own Quick-Reference
Databases! Using a text editor and following a few simple rules, you can
create your own databases, which will then be available to you to "pop-up"
at any time. For details, see the section entitled "The Five-Minute
Database".
15
5.6 Other Features
-------------------
5.6.2 The SPEC Option
F6 on the main menu brings up a configuration screen. You can use this to
customize SmartPhone's operation. For example, you can switch the display
from color to monochrome (i.e. no color), or turn the sound effects on or
off.
5.6.3 The INFO Option
F7 on the main menu gives some general information about SmartPhone, such
as how to order upgrades.
5.6.4 The FORM Option
F8 on the main menu will either display or print an order form for ordering
registered copies of SmartPhone.
If you have a printer (on LPT1), the form will be printed. If you do not,
the form will be displayed on the screen so you can note down the details.
5.6.5 The QUIT Option
F10 on the main menu will return you to whatever you were doing before you
started (or popped up) SmartPhone. As an alternative to pressing F10, you
can press Esc.
16
6. TSR (POP-UP) OPERATION
--------------------------
NOTE: TSR support is available only in the Pop-Up version of
SmartPhone; it is not available in the Personal version. If
you're not sure which version you have, start up SmartPhone like
this:
SP ?
6.1 What is a TSR?
-------------------
If you want to be able to call up SmartPhone at any time, you can install
it as a "Pop-up", also known as a TSR (Terminate and Stay Resident)
program. This will enable you to start up SP even if you're already in
another program, just by hitting a special key combination. When you're
finished with SP, you'll return to your original program as if nothing had
happened.
6.2 TSR Startup
----------------
To start up SmartPhone as a TSR, you have to start it up in way that is
slightly different from the usual (non-TSR) start-up. At the DOS prompt,
enter the command:
SP -R
After doing this, you will be able to "pop up" SmartPhone at any time,
simply by pressing Alt-Space. Then when you've finished with SmartPhone,
you will be returned to what you were doing before you popped it up!
If for some reason you wish to remove SmartPhone from memory (perhaps
because you need the memory for a particularly large program), enter the
following unloading command at the DOS prompt:
SP -U
If you wish to permanently change the pop-up key from Alt-Space to
something else, start up SmartPhone as follows:
17
SP -N
You will then be asked to press the key combination you want to use.
6.3 Technical Considerations
-----------------------------
When operated in pop-up mode, SmartPhone needs about 275K of free disk
space on a hard disk or RAM disk. (SmartPhone also uses disk space for
storing up to 25 lines of your comments for each area code.)
"Pop-up" programs interact with other programs and each other in ways that
DOS was not designed for. We can not guarantee that the pop-up feature
will work on your computer in any or all circumstances. As with all pop-
ups, in order to get the SmartPhone TSR working properly, you may have to
experiment a bit with the settings. We particularly recommend using a RAM
disk as your "swap" drive, if possible.
18
7. THE FIVE-MINUTE DATABASE
----------------------------
7.1 What is The Five-Minute Database?
--------------------------------------
Our experiments have shown that a moderately experienced computer user who
wants to create databases for SmartPhone can learn the required techniques
in two minutes and fifteen seconds. But we couldn't very well call our
system "The Two Minute and Fifteen Second Database", could we? Thus was
born "The Five-Minute Database"!
7.2 Quick-Learn Method
-----------------------
If you are an experienced computer user, load a copy of the file
10CODZIP.FIV (included with SmartPhone) into your favourite text editor
program. The comments at the beginning of that file explain how you can
make your own Five-Minute Database file.
7.3 Applications
-----------------
The Five Minute Database is designed for small collections of tabular
data -- usually around 300 items. When you create a database in your
SmartPhone directory, it will become available via SmartPhone. This means
that you could have pop-up (TSR) access to such lists as:
- Salespeople for your company, listed by region
- Commonly used phone numbers
- Product information
- Inventory codes
- Telemarketing scripts
and so on. We recommend that you create a small database -- a phone list
of your friends, for example -- to see how easy it is. After that, we're
sure that plenty of other applications will occur to you.
19
7.4 What is a FIV File?
------------------------
Databases for The Five-Minute Database are text files with a .FIV
extension. For example, SmartPhone would recognize the file MYFILE.FIV as
a database, but it would not recognize the file MYFILE.TXT.
FIV files are created -- and updated -- using a text editor and viewed
using the DATA feature of SmartPhone. A text editor is a program for
creating standard DOS text files. You can use DOS's EDLIN or EDIT, a
programmer's editor (such as the Turbo Pascal editor or QEdit), or a word
processing program in non-document (generic DOS text) mode.
SmartPhone looks for FIV files in its home directory. So if you installed
SmartPhone in a directory named C:\SP you should place your FIV files
there. If there are 9 or less databases, SmartPhone will display the
titles of each one on its selection menu. If there are more than 9,
SmartPhone will show the first 9 that appear in the DOS DIR command.
The Five-Minute Database is optimized for databases of around 200-300
records. You can define more records, but performance will be degraded.
(In later versions of SmartPhone, we will allow more databases and make it
practical to have more records.)
7.5 Database Format
--------------------
NOTE: You may find it useful to print out a copy of the file
FRIENDS.TXT (included with SmartPhone) and compare it with the
information presented here.
A FIV file is divided into several sections, each of which start with a
special "control word" that SmartPhone recognizes. These sections are:
CONTROL WORD DESCRIPTION OF SECTION
------------ ----------------------
; (semicolon) Comment line
>>TITLE Title of the database
>>VERSION Version of SmartPhone required to read database
>>SORT Describes the ways the data can be sorted
>>HEADER Titles that describe each column of data
>>FRAME Lines that are drawn around the data
>>DATA The actual data
These sections are described in more detail below.
20
7.5.1 Comments
Any line in a FIV file that begins with a semicolon (;) is ignored. This
lets you insert comments in the file. Here is an example of a comment:
; This is a comment
The semicolon must appear in column 1. Comments may appear anywhere in the
FIV file.
7.5.2 The >>TITLE Section
The >>TITLE section defines the title of the database. This is displayed
on the database selection menu when you select the DATA section of
SmartPhone. One exception: if there is only one FIV file, SmartPhone
selects that automatically.
Here is an example of a >>TITLE line:
>>TITLE My friends and their phone numbers
The >>TITLE can be in upper case or lowercase, and may be abbreviated to
>>TITL. It must begin in column 1, and must appear before any other
control words in the file.
7.5.3 The >>VERSION Section
The >>VERSION section defines the version of The Five-Minute Database
required to read the database. Here is an example of the >>VERSION control
word:
>>VERSION 1.00
The version number given reflects the version of The Five-Minute Database,
not the version of SmartPhone. The Five-Minute Database is provided as
part of SmartPhone, but we consider it a separate product with its own
version number. The current version is 1.00.
The >>VERSION control word can be in upper case or lowercase, and may be
abbreviated to >>VERS. It must begin in column 1, and must appear
immediately after the >>TITLE control word.
21
7.5.4 The >>SORT Section
The >>SORT section describes the various ways the data can be sorted. Here
is an example of a >>SORT section:
>>SORT
1 14 Sort by first name
15 28 Sort by last name
29 44 Sort by phone number
The format of each sort definition line is:
<Start column> <End column> <Menu description>
When the user selects a database in the DATA section of SmartPhone, they
see the menu descriptions you have specified. (They do not see the start
and end column information).
The >>SORT section is optional. If you do not specify a >>SORT section,
the data will not be sorted in any way but will be presented in the order
it appears in the FIV file. If you specify only one sort line, that will
be chosen automatically and the user will not be presented with a menu.
The >>SORT control word can be in upper case or lowercase. The >>SORT
control word and the lines following it must begin in column 1.
7.5.5 The >>HEADER Section
The >>HEADER section specifies up to 8 lines of text that will appear at
the top of the data when it is displayed. For example, if you had three
columns of data in a database containing phone numbers for your friends,
you would want to define a >>HEADER section like this:
>>HEADER
First Name Last Name Phone Number
---------- ------------- ---------------
In this example, we have indented the column headings by two spaces because
the data, when displayed, is also indented two spaces. See the >>FRAME and
>>DATA sections for details.
The >>HEADER control word can be in upper case or lowercase. It may be
abbreviated to >>HEAD. The >>HEADER control word must begin in column 1.
22
7.5.6 The >>FRAME Section
The frame section defines lines that are drawn around the data when it is
displayed. The >>FRAME section MUST be three lines long (not counting the
>>FRAME control word), as in the following example:
>>FRAME
+-------------------------------------------+
| |
+-------------------------------------------+
The first line shows the text that forms the top of the box, the second
line shows the lines drawn with the actual data, and the third line defines
the bottom of the box.
In the example given in the >>HEADER section, we described a phone-number
database. Combining the two together, we could have something like this:
>>HEADER
First Name Last Name Phone Number
>>FRAME
+-------------+-------------+---------------+
| | | |
+-------------+-------------+---------------+
The column headers in the >>HEADER section are indented by two spaces
because the data, when displayed, is also indented two spaces, in order to
allow a frame line to appear on the left side.
The >>FRAME control word can be in upper case or lowercase. It may be
abbreviated to >>FRAM. The >>FRAME control word must begin in column 1.
7.5.7 The >>DATA Section
The >>DATA section lists the actual data, with one data record per text
line. Null (empty) lines are ignored.
The >>DATA control word can be in upper case or lowercase. It must begin
in column 1. Bear in mind that the data following it will be indented two
spaces when displayed, to allow the >>FRAME section to define a vertical
line on the left side of the data display.
23
7.6 Sample Database
--------------------
Combining the concepts described in the preceding sections, we produce a
text file that looks like this:
; This is my database
;
>>TITLE My friends and their phone numbers
>>VERSION 1.00
>>SORT
1 14 Sort by first name
15 28 Sort by last name
29 44 Sort by phone number
>>HEADER
First Name Last Name Phone Number Comments
>>FRAME
+-------------+-------------+---------------+------------------------+
| | | | |
+-------------+-------------+---------------+------------------------+
Timothy Campbell 514-345-9578 Pinnacle Software
Leonardo Da Vinci 208-555-2343 Helicopter Repair Inc.
Ronald Reagan 310-555-2922 Anecdotes 'R' Us
Ronald McDonald 908-555-1414 Burger Labs
This example is indented for clarity. In the actual text file, all of the
control words would start in column 1. You'll notice that the data does
not align with the frame; it will be indented two spaces when displayed.
The example given above can be found in the file FRIENDS.TXT, included with
the SmartPhone package. If you wish to experiment with it, rename it to
FRIENDS.FIV so that SmartPhone will recognize it as a Five-Minute Database
file.
24
8. SMARTPHONE LICENSING
------------------------
8.1 Licenses for Individuals
-----------------------------
SmartPhone and its related files, data and programs are not free. The
entire SmartPhone package is a copyrighted software product created and
owned by Pinnacle Software of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
SmartPhone is distributed as shareware. This means that you may freely
evaluate the SmartPhone package for up to 45 days. At the end of this
time, if you wish to continue using SmartPhone, you must purchase a
registered copy from Pinnacle Software.
To print out (or display) an order form, select "Print Form" from the main
SmartPhone menu. If you do not have a printer, it will appear on your
screen.
Registration payments must be in U.S. dollars, drawn on a U.S. bank.
Canadians may remit payment in Canadian funds drawn on a Canadian bank.
Payment can be by cheque or money order. Orders paid by money order are in
most cases shipped the same day. Orders paid by cheque may take a week or
two to process.
Upon receipt of your order, a copy of the registered version of SmartPhone
will be sent to you.
Distribution of registered versions of SmartPhone is strictly prohibited
and will result in legal action against the distributor.
8.2 Corporations and Institutions
----------------------------------
After the 45-day evaluation period, corporations and institutions must
purchase a license to continue using SmartPhone. This license allows
internal use and copying of the SmartPhone package by as many machines as
are licensed. The license fee is based upon the number of machines on
which SmartPhone will be running. See the order form for details.
Regardless of the quantity licensed, one diskette containing the registered
program and documentation will be sent to you. Upon receipt, you may make
as many copies of the package as are licensed.
25
Non-exclusive licenses for corporations and institutions to distribute,
repackage or resell SmartPhone to third parties are available. Contact us
for details.
Disk vendors, clubs, user groups and computer bulletin boards may
distribute the UNREGISTERED version of the software without a distribution
license provided the entire unaltered SmartPhone package is included in the
distribution and a fee not to exceed U.S. $9 is charged for each copy so
distributed.
Distribution of registered versions of SmartPhone is strictly prohibited
and will result in legal action against the distributor.
8.3 Technical Support
----------------------
If you need technical support for SmartPhone or any of our other products,
you may call or write to us (see "How to Contact Us"). While we reserve
the right to charge (with prior notice) a fee for technical support, we are
happy to provide you with a little bit of free help when you need it.
You do not have to be licensed to call for technical support.
Support requirements exceeding one half hour per client per product are
billed (with prior notice) at a rate of $45 per hour.
8.4 Warranty
-------------
SmartPhone is licensed "as is", without any warranty of merchantability or
fitness for a particular purpose, performance, or otherwise. All
warranties are expressly disclaimed. By using SmartPhone, you agree that
neither Pinnacle Software nor any officers, directors, employees,
shareholders, affiliates, owners, or other related parties will be liable
to you or any third party for any use of (or inability to use) or
performance of this product, or for any damages whatsoever whether based on
contract, tort or otherwise even if we are notified of such possibility in
advance. (Some states and provinces do not allow the exclusion or
limitation of incidental or consequential damages, so the foregoing
limitation may not apply to you.)
26
9. NOTES ABOUT THE LISTINGS
----------------------------
9.1 Time Zones
---------------
All time zone information is listed in relation to North American standard
times. No adjustment is made for "Daylight Savings Time", since this is
not used everywhere, even in North America. (For example: Newfoundland
experimented with "Double Daylight Savings Time".) Standard times should
be interpreted as in the following example:
- Pacific 8 AM
- Rocky 9 AM
- Central 10 AM
- Eastern 11 AM
- Atlantic Noon
For an explanation of how SmartPhone treats time-zones outside the standard
North American time zones, refer to the section entitled "The City Window".
27
9.2 Spelling
-------------
There are frequently several commonly used spellings for a foreign name.
Consider Beijing versus Peking, or Rejkjavik versus Rekyavik. In some
cases, we provide alternative spellings in parentheses.
All occurrences of "St." and "Ste." are replaced with "St-" and "Ste-" as
this is a common feature of many phone books. "San" (as in San Francisco),
is left as is.
Accents and other special characters are always omitted.
In transliterating other names into English, various authorities apply
various "rules" with varying degrees of enthusiasm. If you wish to
research this dilemma, you can sometimes obtain a "style book" from your
local newspaper which explains how they transliterate names.
Transliteration is a problem that seriously affects SmartPhone, but we
can't claim that we've come up with a solution. The problem plagues all
media.
A good example in recent memory is the spelling of the name of the leader
of Libya. His last name was spelled "Kaddafi", "Qadaffi", with countless
variations on either spelling.
9.3 International Dialing Codes
--------------------------------
The international codes listed (e.g. +299 for Greenland) have been checked
only insofar as they are useful in North America and the Caribbean. They
may be used in other countries, but we have no way of checking the direct-
dialing service offered by every country.
When in doubt, consult your local telephone operator.
28
10. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
---------------------------
10.1 Product History
---------------------
SmartPhone is based on a program we wrote named Area Code Hunter. AC
Hunter Version 1.0 was given some minor distribution in 1988 as a simple
command-line reference work. It proved both useful and popular, so we
added some "friendly" features (such as a main menu) during 1990, and
launched Version 2.0.
Some additional fancy items were added to make Version 3.0, which was
selected by "Compute" magazine to be the top-billed program of its "On
Disk" feature. (See "Compute", Feb. 1991. "Compute" is published by the
same people who brings us "Omni" magazine.)
At that time, we only listed major population centers, giving us a database
of no more than 5000 cities and towns.
Version 4.0 brought in TSR support and the notebase. We were now receiving
high quality, current information from various sources, enabling us to
increase the database to over 11,000 cities and towns by version 4.2.
After version 4.2, we added the "Five Minute Database" feature, and it
became obvious that the product was more than an "Area Code Hunter", so we
renamed it to "SmartPhone".
There are plenty of ways that SmartPhone can be improved, and we fully
intend to keep adding those improvements. It is our goal to make
SmartPhone the perfect telephone companion!
10.2 About Pinnacle Software
-----------------------------
Pinnacle Software is a computer consulting company based in Montreal,
Quebec, Canada, and Swanton, Vermont, U.S.A. We have been issuing
shareware since 1986 and are generally considered to be the most prolific
authors of shareware in Canada.
29
10.3 Some Examples of How SmartPhone Can Help You
--------------------------------------------------
10.3.1 Get Fast Answers
You have a problem with a computer program, and the manual gives the
address of the company -- but no phone number. Use SmartPhone to zero in
on the area code, then call long-distance information (1-XXX-555-1212) to
get the phone number of the company. Much faster than writing a letter!
10.3.2 Fill in Missing Information
You get this message on your answering machine: "My name is Fred Jones,
calling from Pensacola, Florida. Please call me back at 555-3866." He
forgot to leave his area code! With SmartPhone, that's not a problem!
10.3.3 Avoid Wasted Calls
You check a customer's number with SmartPhone and notice that the time zone
is three hours later than yours. It's 9:15 AM, so you hold off placing the
call, since he's probably out having lunch.
10.3.4 SmartPhone Can Save You Money!
SmartPhone can pay for itself if you sometimes work late. If you have to
return calls to time zones further West, you can wait until the long-
distance rates go down. For example, if you're in New York (Eastern Time),
you can save money by waiting until dinner time to return calls to
California (Pacific Time). When it's 6:30 PM in New York, it's 3:30 PM on
the West Coast.
People on the West Coast can save money when they start working a little
early. If it's 7:30 AM in Anaheim, it's 10:30 AM in Boston. So you can
call a wide-awake client on the East Coast while taking advantage of low
off-prime-time long-distance rates.
30
11. INDEX
----------
>>DATA 20, 23 Configuration 16
>>FRAME 20, 23 Copyright 25
>>HEADER 20, 22 Corporations 25
>>SORT 20, 22 Country codes 12
>>TITLE 20, 21 Cursor 11
>>VERSION 20, 21 Cursor-bar 10
10CODZIP.FIV 19 Customize 16
3.5 inch 6 DATA 10, 20, 22, 23
5.25 7 Database 15, 19, 24
5.25 inch 6 Databases 19
A: 5-7 Daylight Savings 27
AC 29 Delete 11
Accents 28 DIR 20
Active window 13 Directory 20
Alphabetical 14 Discounts, 25
Alt-Space 17 Disk vendors 26
Applications 19 Diskette 4-7
Archive 4 Distribution 26
Area code 9, 11-13, 29 DOS 9
Area Code Hunter 4, 7 DOS prompt 7, 9, 15, 17
Arrow 14, 15 DOS Shell 7, 10
Arrow keys 10, 15 Dots 14
Atlantic 14, 27 Down Arrow 14
AUTOEXEC 6 Download 4
B: 5, 6 Drive 6, 7
Backspace 11 Eastern 14, 27
BBS 3, 26 EDIT 20
Box 23 Editing 11, 15
Browse 13 EDLIN 20
Bulletin boards 26 End column 22
Canadian 3 Equals-sign 12
Capitals 15 Esc 10, 11, 15, 16
CD 9 Evaluate 25
Central 14, 27 Evaluation 25
Cheque 25 F Key 15
City 13 F1 11
City Window 14 FIV 20, 21
Clubs 26 Five-Minute 15, 19
Color 16 Floppy 6
Column 23 FORM 10, 16
Command Line 9 Format 6
Comment 20 Frame 23
Comments 7, 13, 14, 18, 21 Friends 19, 24
COMMENTS.DAT 7 FRIENDS.TXT 20, 24
CompuServe 3 Function keys 10
Compute 29 GEnie 3
31
GO 7 RAM disk 18
Hard disk 6, 18 Records 15
Hard-disk 5 Register 16, 25
Header 22 Resident 17
Help 9 Right arrow 11
Highlight 10, 14 Rocky 14, 27
History 29 Sample Database 24
Hunt 9-11, 13, 14 San 28
Hunt Screen 9 Scroll 13, 15
Indent 22-24 Search 11, 12, 15
INFO 10, 16 Semicolon 20, 21
Insert 11 Shareware 25
Installation 4, 7 Shareware Vendor 4
Institutions 25 Shift-Tab 13
Label 6 Slot 6
Language 15 Sort 20, 22
Left arrow 11 Sound 16
License 25 Sounds like 12
Line 23 SP ? 9, 17
Lines 20, 23 SP.EXE 7, 10
Lists 19 SPEC 4, 10, 16
Log 7 Spelling 28
LPT1 16 St. 28
Mail 3 St- 28
Mailing abbreviation 12 Start 4, 17
Main menu 10, 16 Start column 22
Menu 22 Starting 9
Minutes 19 Ste. 28
Modem 4 Ste- 28
Monochrome 16 Support 26
Notebase 7, 10, 14 Swap 18
Offset 14 Tab 13, 15
Omni 29 Text editor 15, 19
Order form 16, 25 Text files 20
Pacific 14, 27 Time zone 14
Page 15 Time zones 14, 27
PATH 6, 9 Title 20, 21
Payments 25 Titles 20
Phone 3 Tranliterating 28
Pinnacle 29 TSR 9, 17, 19
Plus 12 Update 20
Pop-up 9, 15, 17, 19 Upgrades 16
Population 15 Upgrading 4, 7
Print 25 User groups 26
Print form 10 Version 20, 21
Printer 16 Warranty 26
QEdit 20 Window 13, 14
Quantity discounts 25 Word processing 20
Question mark 12 Zip codes 15
Quick Install 5
Quick-reference 10, 15
QUIT 10, 16
32
Reference in New Issue View Git Blame Copy Permalink