QUOTES.DOC--Documentation for QUOTES.COM

PURPOSE

QUOTES.COM is a program that will print a quotation on the screen of
your IBM PC or other MS-DOS Compatible computer.

REQUIRED FILES

The package consists of QUOTES.COM, the main program file, and several
support files. These other files are:

QUOTES.DAT, the date file containing quotations;
QUOTES.CFG, the configuration file;
SETQT.COM, QTCONFIG.COM, & QTAPPEND.EXE, used to configure the program;
and QUOTES.DOC (which is this documention file).

RUNNING QUOTES.COM

The program can be run from the command prompt by typing "QUOTES,"
or it can easily be called from a batch file. However, the program
requires access to the support files and programs, so these files must
be in the active directory when you run QUOTES.

To call QUOTES.COM from a batch file, such as the AUTOEXEC.BAT file,
you will first need to go to the sub-directory containing the program
and its support files.

For example:
.
.
CD \DIRNAME
CLS
QUOTES
PAUSE
CD \
.
.

This will change to a directory called "DIRNAME," clear the screen, run
QUOTES, and then pause for you to strike a key. After striking a key,
you will change back to the root directory. Of course, if QUOTES is in
the root directory, there will be no need to change to subdirectories.

CONFIGURING QUOTES

QUOTES.COM has two different modes of operation. The first mode is
the "Day of Month" mode. When in the mode, QUOTES will use the DOS
date on your PC to determine the day of the month, and then print
that quote from the QUOTES.DAY quote file. The same quote will appear
each time the program is run that day. The limitation of this method
is that it will use only the first 31 quotes in the file (maximum), and
then start over again at the first quote.

The second mode of operation is the "Random" mode. In this mode,
QUOTES.COM will randomly select one of the tagged quotes in the
quote file, with no maximum limit on the number of quotes. Since
it is entirely random, and not based on date, the quote will be
different each time the program is run.

To configure QUOTES.COM, run the included utility program SETQT.COM.
You will be asked for the mode of operation, and the program will
then count the number of tagged quotes in the quote file and write
this information to the QUOTES.CFG file. Do not run any of the other
support programs, QTCONFIG.COM or QTAPPEND.EXE, from the command line.
If you do, you will create situations that may prevent QUOTES.COM from
running properly. QUOTES.COM, the actual program, and SETQT.COM, the
configuration control program, are the only programs that you will
need to run. The other support programs are chained (called) into
operation by the main programs when needed.

ALWAYS RUN SETQT.COM AFTER ADDING OR DELETING QUOTES FROM THE QUOTES.DAT
FILE!

ADDING OR CHANGING QUOTES

All quotes are contained in the file QUOTES.DAT (for Quotation Data).
This file is simply an ASCII text file, and you can edit it with any
any ASCII text editor (almost any text editor or word processor for
processor for the PC can edit in ASCII mode). Just make sure that
you save the file again in ASCII format, as any other format will not
allow QUOTES.COM to work properly!

Each quote in the file MUST start with an asterisk (*), but do not
include any asterisks within the quote itself. When you finish editing
the QUOTES.DAT file, make sure that there are no asterisks following the
the LAST quote in the file. (You will probably notice that an asterisk
has mysteriously appeared at the end of the file since your last edit
session. Don't be alarmed, as this is a necessary tag added by the
support/configure programs.) Again, just be sure that no asterisks
follow your last quote when you are editing the file. Verses can be as
long as you desire, but remember that quotes that are too long will
scroll right off the screen!

AFTER ADDING NEW QUOTES OR DELETING OLD ONES, ALWAYS BE SURE TO RUN
SETQT.COM TO RECONFIGURE THE PROGRAM FOR THE NEW NUMBER OF QUOTES!

REMARKS

This program was inspired by a similar program, BIBLEV (for Bible
Verse) by Jim Morris, and closely follows that program's format.
In fact, the program QUOTES.COM is actually Mr. Morris' base program,
which has had slight modifications made at the machine code level.

QUOTES.COM was originally written with Borland's Turbo C, as was the
support program QTCONFIG.COM. However, the original version of
QTCONFIG.COM needed a slight improvement. But instead of trying to mush
through that program at the machine code level, I simply wrote a couple
of supplemental programs to clean up after QTCONFIG.COM. These programs,
SETQT.COM and QTAPPEND.EXE, were written using Borland's Turbo
Pascal 3.1 and Turbo Pascal 5.5, respectively.

Unlike its predecessor, this program is not free. It took a lot of
effort to modify the original program and write new support programs,
and creating the original quote database was a real bugger! So please,
if you find this program to be both entertaining and educational, send
a $5.00 note of appreciation to:

Mike Gates
304 Keeton Road
Elkridge, MD 21227

QUOTES.COM and all associated programs and data files are provided
with no expressed warranty of any kind. Mike Gates is in no way
way liable for any damages, real or imagined.