﻿                         48K/128 K SPECTRUM



                            DATABASE II

                          AUTOMATED FILING 

                               SYSTEM



                           FORAITS SOFTWARE



                           Foraits Software



                             DATABASE II



                         Instruction Manual



                               CONTENTS



Introduction ...................................................   1



Loading DATABASE II ............................................   2



Creating a File ................................................   4



Entering Records ...............................................   6



Saving & Loading Files .........................................   7



Searching for Records ..........................................   8



Amending & Deleting Records ....................................  10



Sorting Records ................................................  11



Printing Records ...............................................  12



Using the Screen Editor ........................................  15



Miscellaneous Commands .........................................  17



Glossary of Terms ..............................................  18



                             INTRODUCTION





DATABASE II is an automated filing system for any 48K/128K Sinclair

Spectrum.  It will enable you to store groups of related information

such as names & addresses, video or record titles, club membership

details etc.  Once stored, these items can easily be sorted,

retrieved, viewed or printed depending upon the criteria you set.



The program has been written entirely in Machine Code to offer the

advantages of both speed and compactness.  We believe DATABASE II is

probably the simplest record storage system available for the Sinclair

Spectrum.  It isolates you from the technical detail so frequently

necessary to operate other such programs.  DATABASE II lets you

concentrate on your data, not on the program.



This manual is designed to initially be read in the order it is

printed.  Once you have read it, it is unlikely you will ever have to

refer to it again.  One exception to this order is the Glossary.  This

can be found at the end of the manual and should be consulted to

clarify the occasional computer/database terms mentioned.  If you find

it necessary to refresh your memory on a particular topic the table of

contents on the previous page clearly defines each section of the

manual.



Features



a)  Works with any 48K or 128K Sinclair Spectrum



b)  64 characters per line are displayed



c)  Will store 32550 bytes of data per file



d)  All data is stored in the Spectrum's RAM for fast access



e)  Any number of records to a total of 32550 bytes may be stored



f)  A maximum of 20 fields per record is allowed



g)  Up to 50 characters per field may be entered



h)  Records may be sorted on any field in ascending or descending

    order



i)  Records may be printed via Interface 1 if fitted



j)  All commands are error trapped with appropriate messages output

    to the top line of the display



k)  Each field may be assigned various paper/ink colours to enhance

    the record format



l)  The last command typed is always available on the <ENTER> key for

    convenience



                               Page 1



                         LOADING DATABASE II



The DATABASE II program has been recorded on both sides of the

cassette for your convenience.  Just follow the appropriate

instructions below to load the program:-



All 48K Spectrums



Place your DATABASE II cassette in your recorder and ensure it is

fully rewound.  Type the following command:-



                              LOAD "" <ENTER>



Once the above command has been entered you should start your cassette

recorder.  DATABASE II will load automatically and present you with the

screen below.  Stop the recorder at this point.  Use of this file is

described later in this manual in the 'Loading a File' section.



All 128K Spectrum



Place your DATABASE II cassette in your recorder and ensure it is

fully rewound.  Select the first option (Tape Loader) on the 128K menu

and press the ENTER key.  You should now start the cassette recorder to

load the program.  Once loaded you will be presented with a copy of the 

screen below.  Stop the recorder at this point.  The cassette contains a 

sample file of data after the main program.  Use of this file is

described later in this manual in the 'Loading a File' section.





                       DATABASE II CUSTOMISER



              Cursor auto-repeat delay : 00000

              Cursor beep length : 00000

              Search upper/lower case discrimination? no











              UP/DOWN arrows to move cursor.  LEFT/RIGHT arrows to change value

                      Press ENTER when you made your selections





                                       Page 2





                              LOADING DATABASE II



The 'Customising' screen gives you the choice of setting 3 options.

Once set, these options will remain active until DATABASE II is

reloaded.  The options can be set by first highlighting the required

line by the use of the up & down arrow keys.  A description of the 3

options now follows:-



1)  Cursor auto-repeat delay



    The value of this option determines the speed that the current

    key will be repeated.  The default setting of zero will probably

    be suitable for your requirements.  If you find it necessary to

    enter large amounts of data using the same character, it may be

    beneficial to try experimenting with this value.  Use the left &

    right arrow keys to alter the value.  A value of zero will disable

    the auto-repeat, a low value will provide a fast auto-repeat and

    a high value will slow down the auto-repeat.  The acceptable range

    for this option is 0 - 255.



2)  Cursor beep length



    The value of this option controls the duration of the beep for

    each time the cursor moves position.  This also has the effect of 

    altering the speed of the cursor.  The value is changed in the

    same way as the above option.  A value of zero disables the beep,

    a low value will provide a short beep and a high value will

    produce a long beep.  The acceptable range for this option is

    0 - 255.  If a beep is required it is suggested a value of 20 is

    used as an initial setting.



3)  Searching upper/lower case discrimination?



    Only 2 values are possible for this option - 'yes' or 'no'.  As

    with the previous options the 2 choices are selected by pressing

    the left & right arrow keys.  The setting of this option will

    affect the way in which records are selected when a search

    command is issued.  A further description of this option will be

    dealt with in the 'Searching for Records' section of this manual.

    The default value of'no' is recommended until you have become

    more familiar with the search command.



Once the 3 options have been set the ENTER key should be pressed to

store the values.  The screen will then clear and a cursor will be

displayed below a broken cyan coloured line.



                               Page 3



                         CREATING A FILE



Designing a File



Before sitting at your computer to create a file you should plan what

results you expect to achieve and therefore what data you need to

capture.  This is not just a prerequisite of using DATABASE II, but a

requirement of any automated filing system.



Your file should be organised in such a way that you can retrieve

selected records as simply as possible.  If, for example, you have

entered the names and addresses of your family and friends you may

like to enquire who lives in a particular town so that you can visit

those people when making a trip.  As you will learn later on in the 

manual DATABASE II has a search facility to locate records of your

choice.  If you have not been consistent in the method of entering the 

names of towns you may have input some in full and some as

abbreviations.  This would obviously not produce the expected results.

It is therefore necessary to standardise your data fields as far as

possible.



Once you start to use DATABASE II you will probably want to expand

your use of it.  Considering you have already input the names and

addresses of your faimily and friends it seems a naturaly extension to

add their telephone numbers and birth dates.  You will then be able to

use this file to replace your manual records.  It would be a simple

matter to list all people with birthdays in March or search for the

telephone numbers of all friends in Surrey.



DATABASE II allows you to define up to 20 fields per record, each

having up to 50 characters.  It is, however, necessary to define all

fields when creating the file.  As already stated, you must spend time

to design your file.  Ensure you have included all the fields you are

liable to require for current and future needs.



Creating your File



Provided you have just loaded DATABASE II and no other file exists in

your spectrum you should just type the following command to create a

new file :-

                      CREATE "filename" <ENTER>



The filename can be any choice up to 10 characters.  If you have

already loaded or created a file the following message will appear :-



                 File already present : PRESS ANY KEY



                                Page 4



                           CREATING A FILE





If your command is accepted you will be prompted to enter the name of

your first data field.  You may select any name of up to 10 characters

which will identify this field.  It is suggested you choose a name

which reflects the contents of the field - ie NAME, TELE, PART No.

etc.  As you can see, spaces and punctuation are both allowed.



After you have typed the field name you should press <ENTER>.  Up to 20

field names may be created per file.  Once the last name has been input

you should press the <ENTER> key twice.



DATABASE II has now created your file in the format you have

requested.  The next stage will be to enter data into the new file.



                                Page 5



                          ENTERING RECORDS



Having just created a new file your screen will be blank with the

exception of the broken cyan line and a cursor.  You can initiate data

entry by typing :-



                           INSERT n <ENTER>



   Where "n" is the number of records to be entered at one session.



There is very little advantage by choosing a high value for "n".  As

already stated, the last command can always be repeated by pressing

the <ENTER> key.  If you have 8 records to enter you could therefore

set "n" to 2 and recall the last command 4 times.



After typing the INSERT command you will be presented with a blank

record indicating the filename and field names.  You may now enter up

to 50 characters of data into each field and press the <ENTER> key

between fields.  A status line at the bottom of the screen will keep a

running total of the number of records entered and the number

remaining in the current insert command.



Once the last record has been entered you will be presented with a

copy of the current record on the screen.  The current record is not

the last one entered, it is the one displayed on the screen.  The

process to change this record will be described later in the manual.

By default the current record will be the first one input.



                                  Page 6



                          SAVING & LOADING FILES





Saving a File



In the previous sections of this manual you have learned how to create

a file and enter data.  This information is held within the Spectrum's

RAM for fast access.  If the computer is switched off at this point all

the data would be lost.  It is therefore necessary to store the file on

cassette for future use.  The command to save a file is :-



                      SAVE "filename",n <ENTER>



                   Where "n" is a number from 0-9



This number indicates the speed of saving.  Speed 0 is slower than the

normal Spectrum save command.  This is used for cassette recorders

which have proved unreliable at normal speed.  Speeds 1 - 9 offer

progressively faster speeds up to a maximum of 2.5 times the normal

speed.  DATABASE II will prompt you to load a cassette etc.  after you

have entered the command.  It is suggested you experiment with the

various speeds to find the optimum value for your particular cassette

recorder.



Loading a File



When you first load DATABASE II only the program will be loaded.  It is 

expected that your individual files will be save to separate cassettes

for ease of use.  To load a chosen file just type the following

command :-



                          LOAD <ENTER>



The filename or speed parameters are not required for the load

command.  DATABASE II will load the first valid file it reads on the

cassette and automatically sense what speed it was saved with.







NOTE

     There is a file called "Europe" recorded after the DATABASE II

     program on both sides of the cassette.  This is sample file which

     can be used to experiment with.  You may find it useful to load

     this file when practicing the various commands described in the

     next few sections of the manual.



                                Page 7



                       SEARCHING FOR RECORDS



Once you have created or loaded a file you will be presented with a

view of record number 1 on your screen.  One of the main benefits from

using an automated filing system such as DATABASE II is the ability to

quickly display records of your choice.  This program offers 2 methods

of record selection.



Manual Method



Several commands are available to you for moving through the current

file to display records :-



FIRST    This command will display the first record of the file



LAST     This command will display the last record of the file



NEXT     This command will display the next available record to the 

         screen.  This command is useful if you need to page through

         your file sequentially.  As already stated the last command

         typed is available on the <ENTER> key.  Once you have typed

         the "NEXT" command, pressing <ENTER> will repeat the process

         automatically.



BACK     This command has the opposite effect to the "NEXT" command.

         It will display the previous record each time it is called.



REC n    This command will display the record indicated by the number

         "n"



Automatic Method



The automatic search facility of DATABASE II provides a quick method

of locating specific records or groups of records in your file.  There

are 2 variations which can be used :-



1)                     FIND "string",n <ENTER>



The "FIND" command will display each record which contains the

characters "string", starting from record number "n".  You will be

prompted for continuation at each successful find.



                               Page 8



                        SEARCHING FOR RECORDS



2)                      SEARCH "field","string",n    <ENTER>



The "SEARCH" command provides a more specific form of locating

records.  It will locate each record which contains the characters

"string" in the field "field" starting from record number "n".



NOTE



a)  The characters used for "string" can be any upper or lower case

    characters.  The way in which DATABASE II deals with different

    case characters depends on your reply during the "DATABASE II

    CUSTOMISER" option - "case discrimination".  If you ansered "no"

    the 2 search commands will ignore which case the "string"

    characters are supplied.  If you answered "yes" an exact match

    must be found including upper and lower case characters.



b)  The "field" name of the "SEARCH" command may be in either case.

        



                                Page 9



                      AMENDING & DELETING RECORDS



Before any records can be amended or deleted they should be made the

current record.  The current record is the one which is shown on your

screen.  The previous section of this manual explained how to perform

the various search facilities to locate records.  Use these

instructions to select the required records for the following

commands.



Amending a Record



To amend the current record just type the following command :-



                           CHANGE <ENTER>



A blank record will be displayed with the previous contents of each

field shown at the bottom of the screen in turn.  You should retype

each field in turn until you have completed the last field.



Deleting a Record



To delete the current record just type the following command :-



                            WIPE <ENTER>



You will be asked to verify whether you really want to delete the

record before continuing.



Deleting a File from Memory



To delete an entire file from your Spectrum's RAM you should enter the

following command :-



                              ZAP <ENTER>



You will, once again, be asked to verify your intentions before

continuing.  You may need to call this command before using the 

"CREATE" option to set up a new file.



                              Page 10



                          SORTING RECORDS



When you view records using the "NEXT" and "BACK" commands they are

displayed in the order you inserted them.  To group certain records

together for displaying or printing DATABASE II has a sort facility.

This enables the current file to be rearranged into an order specified

by you.  To invoke a sort you type the following command :-



                         SORT "field",O <ENTER>



           Where "O" is the sort order - either Ascending or Descending



NOTE



a)  Spaces are ignored and blank records are sorted to the end of the

    file.



b)  Numbers are treated as their ASCII code.  This places them before

    any alpha characters.  All fields within a DATABASE II file are

    stored as alpha characters.  If you try to perform a specific

    numeric sort the results will be unpredictable.



                                Page 11



                            PRINTING RECORDS



Provided your Spectrum is fitted with a Sinclair Interface 1 unit and

serial printer will be able to take advantage of the DATABASE II print

facilities.  Before any printing can take place you will need to tell

DATABASE II the speed of your printer's interface.  This will be listed

in the printer manual and will be stated as a "baud rate".  To set the

print routine correctly type the following command :-



                             BAUD <ENTER>



The following screen will be displayed :-



                 ENTER THE BAUD RATE OF YOUR PRINTER



             50

             110

             300

             600

             1200

             2400

             4800

             9600

             19200



                 Cursor moves, ENTER selects, SPACE aborts



Use the up & down cursor control to highlight the required speed and

press <ENTER> to set the baud rate.  This speed will remain set until

you reset you Spectrum.  If you intend to use DATABASE II for printing

you could call the "BAUD" command when you first load the program.



                              Page 12



                          PRINTING RECORDS



Now the baud rate has been set you may select which records are to be

printed.  This is achieved by typing :-



                              PRINT <ENTER>



The first question to be asked will be :-



                       Print field names ? (Y/N)



If you reply "Y" each field of the printed record will be preceded by

its field name.  In most cases you will reply with a "N" to suppress the

field names.  You need only press the "Y" or "N" key to reply - the

<ENTER> key is not required.



The next question to be asked will be :-



                       Enter first record number



You should reply with a valid record number followed by <ENTER>.



The final question to be asked will be :-



                       Enter last record number



You should reply with the last record number to be printed.  If this

number is lower than the first number you will be prompted to re-enter

both numbers.  If both numbers are accepted the specified records will

be printed.



NOTE



a)  If, after initiating a print, you decide to stop it - DO NOT

    PRESS BREAK.  Just press any key once and wait for your printer's 

    buffer to empty.



b)  If during a print DATABASE II encounters a problem the program

    may drop into BASIC.  It can be restarted by typing the following

    BASIC commands :-



                          CLOSE #3            <ENTER>

                          RANDOMIZE USR 58921 <ENTER>



                                Page 13



                            PRINTING RECORDS



c)  The first and last record numbers may be the same if only 1

    record is to be printed.



d)  To enable various records to be grouped together for printing as

    a range, they should be designed with a field which they can be

    sorted upon.  After performing a sort on this field you could then

    identify the required range using the "SEARCH" command.



e)  If, for example, you need to print name & address labels you

    could create your file with enough fields to space the labels

    apart exactly for line up.  If this required more fields than was

    actually needed you could just ignore the additional fields when

    inserting data.



                                Page 14



                       USING THE SCREEN EDITOR



When you create a file and insert records the ink & paper colours

default to yellow on black.  To create a more interesting display

DATABASE II has a Screen Editor which allows the full range of

Spectrum colours and attributes to be allocated to any standard

character square.  It must be stressed the commands within this editor

have no effect upon the actual data in your file.  You can not modify

or erase your records by using the Screen Editor.  The results of the

editor can be looked upon as a separate file of colours which sits in

front of your records when viewed on the screen.  At any point after

creating a file you can activate the Screen Editor by typing :-



                           SCREEN <ENTER>



A prompt line at the bottom of the screen will supply you with 4

possible options :-



(1)  Create	This option will destroy any previously designed screen

		information and pass control to the Screen Editor.



(2)  Modify	This option will pass control to the Screen Editor for

		you to amend the current screen design.  If no current

		screen information exists this option will be ignored

		by DATABASE II.



(3)  Exit	This option will save any changes you may have made and

		return you to the normal command mode.



(4)  Clear	This option will destroy any existing screen

		information without passing control to the Screen

		Editor.



When options 1 or 2 are selected a new prompt line will be shown :-





     Cursors move, ss+f=flash, ss+b=bright, ss+0-7=paper, 0-7=ink



The flashing cursor can be moved to any part of the screen by use of

the cursor keys.  When the cursor is placed on the first position for

editing you can choose 1 of the 4 options to add colour and

attributes.  The codes 0-7 follow the normal Spectrum colours as

described in the Spectrum manual.  If, for example, you want that

particular square to have red ink on white paper you should press the 

"2" key to set the ink colour.  You should then hold down the Symbol

Shift key and press "7" to set the paper colour.  The cursor could then

be moved to the next square for similar treatment.



                              Page 15



                      USING THE SCREEN EDITOR



Once you have moved over your screen and added colour you may want to 

use the "bright" and "flash" attributes.  These can be applied in a

similar way to adding colours.  Just move the cursor to the relevent

square and hold down the Symbol Shift key and press "f" to make the

square flash.  Symbol Shift and "b" will make the appropriate square

bright.



The bright and flash attributes can be switched off by repeating the

same procedure once more on the necessary squares.



When you have finished designing your screen press the <ENTER> key to

return to the "SCREEN" prompt.  If you are happy with your artistic

work you should select option "3" to exit to command mode.  If futher

editing is required you can re-enter the Screen Editor by choosing

option "2".  When you are completely satisfied you should re-save your

file in the normal manner.  This will automatically save the screen

design with your data.



Suggestions



At first you may think the Screen Editor is limited in use.  With

careful selection of ink & paper colours it is possible to enhance the

image of your records and add emphasis to particular fields.



If you know the maximum size of the record's fields you could "paint"

a white border of paper colour around the perimeter of the record.  You

could even create dummy fields and set the paper & ink colours the

same.  This would have the effect of separating adjacent fields from

one and another, thus creating a clearer display.



When you insert records the screen colours are temporarily removed to

allow all fields to be viewed.  This means that you could set the paper

& ink colours the same for the field names.  This would make them

invisible when displaying records, yet available for further inserts.



If you set the paper & ink colours the same and hide art of your

record there is a command available to temporarily remove the colours

and attributes.  This should be typed from the command mode as follows



                              SCR <ENTER>



This will remove the screen design and reveal the current record as it

was originally created.  Entering this command a further time will

reapply the design.



                                 Page 16



                         MISCELLANEOUS COMMANDS



There are 3 further commands available when using DATABASE II.  Each

command is input from the command mode and followed by the <ENTER>

key :-



STATUS		This command reports the amount of memory available for

		storage, the number of fields in the current file and the 

		number of records in the current file.



TEXTINK n	This command changes the colour of the text on the screen.

		The value of "n" follows the normal Spectrum's colour

		codes between 1 & 7.  This command is overridden by the

		Screen Editor.  If a screen design has been created the

		"TEXTINK" colour will only take effect if "SCR" is

		performed.



INK n		This command will change the colour of the Edit Line

		characters.  Values for "n" may be in the range 1 to 7.



                                    Page 17



                               GLOSSARY OF TERMS



The following terms are used throughout this manual and are explained

here for clarification.  The definitions provided are specificly

related to the DATABASE II product, although some may have other

meanings.



ASCII		American Standard Code for Information Interchange -

		Each character stored in the Spectrum is represented as

		a numeric code (0-255).



Attribute	The status of a particular character square on the

		Spectrum's display.  Appart from the various colours,

		the square could be flashing, steady, bright or normal.



Baud		A measurement of data transfer speed.  This speed is

		approx equivalent to 1 bit per second.



Bit		Binary digiT - a value of either 0 or 1.  A group of 8

		bits represent one character.



Byte		The amount of store occupied by one character.  A group

		of 8 bits represents 1 byte.



Data		The collective name for the information you enter into

		the computer.



Database	A collection of data which can be easily viewed and

		manipulated.



Field		A specific area within a record containing a predefined

		section a data.



File		A group of records.



Ink		The name given to the text colour on the Spectrum's

		display.



Paper		Tne name given to the background colour of the

		Spectrum's display.



RAM		Random Access Memory - The store inside the Spectrum

		where programs and data are held.



Record		A collection a fields which together form a complete

		set of information.



                                Page 18



                               COPYRIGHT



                     (c)  Foraits Software - 1987



                       Written by Andrew Brown



                    This software and documentation

                     may not be copied, hired, lent

                     or re-sold without the written

                     consent of Foraits Software.



Foraits Software

32, Gladstone Road

Hockley

Essex

SS5 4BT                          Tel : (0702) 201368





















 













  











  







































































































