Category : Lotus and other Spreadsheets
Archive   : DADD.ZIP
Filename : README.DOC

This file is intended to provide the user with an introduction to D.A.V.E.'s
capabilities. In order to run the demo you just downloaded, you will need
the following files:

DAVE.ADN - The actual add-in
ADD_MGR.EXE - The LOTUS Add-In Manager
ADN_MGR.DRV - The Add-In Manager driver file
TUTORIAL.WK1 - A sample worksheet
TUTORIAL.IMG - A previously created image
MYDATA.WK1 - Another worksheet
OUTDATA.IMG - An image to view data

Please make sure you have these files. Also note that the version of D.A.V.E.
is limited in capability in that it will function properly on only the first
twenty (20) rows of your worksheet.

LOTUS and 1-2-3 are registered trademarks of LOTUS Development Corporation.

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the wonderful world of D.A.V.E.! By using D.A.V.E. you will join
other LOTUS 1-2-3 users who have benefited from D.A.V.E.'s Data Addition,
Verification and Editing capabilities (That's how we came up with D.A.V.E.'s
name).

D.A.V.E. is a new generation of software in that it performs some of its tasks
as a LOTUS 1-2-3 add-in. This means that the LOTUS 1-2-3 user can access
D.A.V.E.'s features while running LOTUS 1-2-3 (Release 2.0 or higher) by
simply pressing a key. We have designed the D.A.V.E. user interface to be as
consistent as possible with the LOTUS 1-2-3 user interface. Because of this,
current LOTUS 1-2-3 users can easily become D.A.V.E. users without extensive
training.

First, a little bit of terminology. D.A.V.E. performs its data entry functions
with the use of a user-defined image or data entry form. Data collected using
this form is placed in a row on the worksheet and is also referred to as a
record. Each of the data items in the record is destined for a particular
column of the worksheet. These data items are referred to as fields.

The following will provide an introduction to D.A.V.E.'s capabilities. If
further information is required, users are encouraged to contact GOLDATA
directly via our hotline (GOLDline) at (215) 525-1098.

It is our hope that you will enjoy using D.A.V.E. as much as we enjoyed
developing it for you.



S T E P 1 : I N S T A L L A T I O N
---------------------------------------

In order to perform data addition, verification, editing and output tasks on
your worksheet using D.A.V.E., the D.A.V.E. Add-In must be installed properly.
Then it must be attached to LOTUS 1-2-3 using the LOTUS Add-In Manager.

Hard-Disk Installation
----------------------

(If you have successfully installed other Add-Ins, then just copy the files
into the LOTUS 1-2-3 directory and go to the section labeled "RUNNING THE
TUTORIAL").

If you have not installed other Add-Ins before, do the following:
Make the directory where 1-2-3 is installed the current directory and copy
the downloaded files into that directory. Then, make a backup copy of your
driver set file (probably named 123.SET).

Next, make sure the file 123.DYN exists on the directory where you installed
LOTUS 1-2-3. Next, install the LOTUS Add-In Manager, by entering:

ADD_MGR 123.SET

where '123.SET' is your driver set file name. After a period of time, you
should see the message:

Updating the driver set to include ADN_MGR...
Driver set update complete.

It is important that you see this message as the D.A.V.E. Add-In will not run
without the LOTUS Add-In Manager being installed properly. Now go to the
section labeled "RUNNING THE TUTORIAL".


Floppy-disk installation
------------------------

To properly install the Add-In Manager on a floppy-disk system, you must free
up some disk space on the LOTUS System diskette. To do this, place a blank,
formatted diskette in drive A and place your LOTUS System diskette in drive B
and enter:

COPY B:123.HLP A:

Then enter:

ERASE B:123.HLP

Next, make a copy of your driver set file by entering:

COPY B:123.SET A:

where '123.SET' is your driver set file name.

Next, remove the formatted diskette and place the diskette with the downloaded
files in drive A and enter:

COPY A:ADN_MGR.DRV B:

Then enter:

B:

And then enter:

A:ADD_MGR 123.SET

where '123.SET' is your driver set file. You should see the following message:

Updating the driver set to include ADN_MGR...
Driver set update complete.

It is important that you see this message as the D.A.V.E. Add-In will not run
without the LOTUS Add-In Manager being installed properly. Since you removed
the 1-2-3 help file from the system disk, you must tell 1-2-3 that help is not
available with the 1-2-3 commands:

/ Worksheet
Global
Default
Other
Help
Removable
Update

S T E P 2 : R U N N I N G T H E T U T O R I A L
-------------------------------------------------------

The files that you downloaded will be used as a tutorial to introduce you to
D.A.V.E.'s features and benefits. The following features of D.A.V.E. will be
demonstrated:


- Adding data using a previously defined image

- Editing data

- Verifying data (Both interactive and batch)

- Outputting data in a customized format

- Creating an image using an existing worksheet

To start running the tutorial, make the directory you installed LOTUS 1-2-3
the current one ('CD \dir' where 'dir' is the name of the directory; an example
might be 'CD \LOTUS'). Then enter:

123

The first command in 1-2-3 should be:

/ F D dir

where 'dir' is the name of the current directory (since this is where all the
D.A.V.E. files were loaded; 'dir' would be LOTUS in this example).

We have prepared a worksheet named 'TUTORIAL' that will be used to demonstrate
the add-in portion of D.A.V.E. To retrieve it, enter:

/ F R TUTORIAL


By issuing this LOTUS 1-2-3 command, the worksheet 'TUTORIAL' will be re-
trieved. In addition, a 1-2-3 macro will automatically be executed which will
attach D.A.V.E. to 1-2-3 and retrieve a previously created image named
'TUTORIAL'.

When the macro has finished, the cell pointer will be placed at cell A10.
D.A.V.E. uses the LOTUS cell pointer as an indicator to where its actions
should take place.

Press Alt-F7 and notice the D.A.V.E. Add-In Menu at the top left corner of your
screen. You should also notice that it looks similar to the 1-2-3 menus you
are used to working with. Press 'A' for Add and D.A.V.E. will display a
data entry form or 'image' (which we've designed previously) and place the
cursor at the first field (Customer Name).

Note that each of the data fields on the image is highlighted. Enter the fol-
lowing data for each of the fields (pressing 'Ret' at the end of each field's
input).


CUSTOMER NAME: General Electric

INVOICE DATE: 8/14/87

INVOICE AMOUNT: 40000

COMMISSION PCT: 0.15

D.A.V.E. will then fill in the commission amount field with $6,000.00
and prompt:

Place data in worksheet(Y/N)?

Press 'Y' and D.A.V.E. will place this data on row 10 of your worksheet. To
verify this, press 'Esc' at the prompt for Customer Name and D.A.V.E. will
return you to your normal view of the worksheet. Notice the data just entered
is in row 10 and that the current cell pointer is now at row 11.

To add more data, press 'A' to enter Add mode again. Enter the following data:

CUSTOMER NAME: Citicorp

INVOICE DATE: 8/15/87

INVOICE AMOUNT: 45000

COMMISSION PCT: 0.175

Enter 'Y' at the prompt:

Place data in worksheet(Y/N)?

and D.A.V.E. will place this data at row 11 of your worksheet for you. D.A.V.E.
will clear your image of data and place the cursor at the Customer Name field.
Now enter the following data:

CUSTOMER NAME: Cullinet


INVOICE DATE: 8/17/87

INVOICE AMOUNT: 47500

COMMISSION PCT: 0.2

D.A.V.E. will then prompt:

Place data in worksheet(Y/N)?

Enter 'Y' and then press 'Esc' at the next prompt. D.A.V.E. will take you back
to your worksheet where you can view the data you just entered.

Next, let's Edit or change some existing data in the worksheet using D.A.V.E.
Our task is to edit the Invoice Amount and Commission Percent for GOLDATA and
IBM. Press 'E' to enter Edit mode. D.A.V.E. will ask you for the range you
wish to edit. Move the cell pointer to the top left corner of the range you
wish to edit. Just as you normally would declare a range in 1-2-3, move the
cell pointer to the Invoice Amount column for the row containing GOLDATA (cell
address C6) and press 'Ret'. This will anchor the top left corner of the range
to edit. Now, use the arrow keys to move to the bottom right corner of your
range. This will be the cell that contains commission rate data for IBM (cell
address D7). At this point, you should see a highlighted area of the data to be
edited. Press 'Ret' and D.A.V.E. will allow you to edit the data, beginning
at the first row of the range selected (GOLDATA information). Attempt to enter
the following for invoice amount (please note that D.A.V.E. will reject this as
the image contains editing criteria that require that the invoice amount must
be between 25000 and 50000).

70000 'Ret'

When you do, D.A.V.E. will beep at you and display the error message at the
bottom left corner of the image:

Out of bounds

Now enter:

32500 'Ret'

D.A.V.E. will accept this input, recalculate the commission amount and move to
the next field (Commission Pct:). Just press 'Ret'. This will retain the
current value for this field. D.A.V.E. will then prompt:

Place data in worksheet(Y/N)?

Press 'Y'. D.A.V.E. will then display the data for IBM and place the cursor at
the Invoice Amount field. Press 'Ret'. This will retain the current value for
this field. For Commission Pct, enter the following:

0.25 'Ret'

D.A.V.E. will recalculate the commission amount and prompt:

Place data in worksheet(Y/N)?

Enter 'Y' and D.A.V.E. will return you to the D.A.V.E. Add-In Menu.
Notice that the data has been automatically changed in the worksheet.

The next part of the tutorial will demonstrate how to Verify data currently
in the worksheet using D.A.V.E. This feature allows you to define a range in
your worksheet and have D.A.V.E. scan the cells in the range for edit viola-
tions (i.e., data is out of bounds, list check not met). The Interactive
option will be demonstrated first followed by batch options.

At the D.A.V.E. Add-In Menu, press 'V' and D.A.V.E. will prompt Rowwise or
Columnwise. Press 'R' and respond 'I' to the next prompt for Interactive.
D.A.V.E. will then ask you to define a range of cells to Verify. Use the
cursor control keys to move the cell pointer to cell C6. Press 'Ret' and then
use the cursor control keys to move the cell pointer to cell D9. Press 'Ret'
and D.A.V.E. will scan the cells in this range stopping, at cell C8. You
should see the message:

Out of bounds

at the bottom left of your screen with ERROR flashing at the top right.
Press 'Esc' and respond with a 'C' to correct this data. D.A.V.E. will paint
your image on the screen and place the cursor at the prompt for the Invoice
Amount displaying the current default value. Enter the following:

33000.65 'Ret'

Enter 'Y' at the next prompt to place this change in the worksheet. D.A.V.E.
will then stop at cell C9 and present the same error message as above. Again,
press 'Esc' then 'C' (for Correct). This time enter:

42750 'Ret'

for this prompt. Enter 'Y' to place the data into your worksheet. D.A.V.E.
will display a message informing you that the verify is completed and
then request that you press a key to return you to the D.A.V.E. Add-In Menu
where it will await your next request.

The next part of the tutorial is to perform a batch verify. That is, a verify
in which a batch report is generated as opposed to stopping at each cell as we
did in the Interactive case. Press 'V' at the D.A.V.E. Add-In Menu and then
'R' for Rowwise. Instead of entering 'I' for Interactive as you did in the
previous paragraph, choose the 'W' option for placing the report in the
worksheet. When D.A.V.E. asks you for the starting cell of the edit violation
report, move the cell pointer to cell H6 and press 'Ret'. Then declare the
range to be B6 to C9, just as you did in the Interactive example. D.A.V.E.
will then scan the cells in this range and generate a report to the worksheet
summarizing the two edit violations it found. Press 'Esc' and 'HOME' when you
have finished viewing the exception report.

The next part of the tutorial will demonstrate how to output 1-2-3 data in a
customized format using a different image than was used to enter the data.
Press Alt-F7 to call up the D.A.V.E. Add-In Menu. Then press 'R' for Retrieve
and D.A.V.E. will display the images in this directory. Choose OUTDATA.
This will be the image we will use to generate output. Press 'O' for the
Output option. Enter 'R' to the next prompt for a Rowwise output. Then choose
'S' to view the output on the screen. D.A.V.E. will then request the range you
wish to output. In the same manner as you specified a range previously, choose
B6 to E12. D.A.V.E. will then display the contents of the data of row 6 on
your screen. At the bottom of the screen you will see two (2) lines of help
that tell you which keys you can press to view other rows of data. Spend
a little time pressing the 'DOWN' and 'UP' keys and watch as D.A.V.E. displays
different rows of data for you on the screen. Press 'Esc' when done.

We have been demonstrating the features of D.A.V.E. by using an image that
was included in the demo. Now we'll create our own image using a different
worksheet. First, return to the LOTUS 1-2-3 READY state by pressing an 'Esc'
at the D.A.V.E. Add-In Menu. Then enter:

/ F R MYDATA

You should see a worksheet with four (4) columns named:

Cust ID No.
Name
85 Sales
Last Invoice Date

Press Alt-F7 to call up the D.A.V.E. Add-In Menu. Then choose Create and then
New on the next menu. Next D.A.V.E. will request the name of the image you
would like to create (defaulting MYDATA, the name of the current worksheet).
Press 'Ret'. D.A.V.E. will then request:

Enter the range for image creation:

Move the cell pointer to the cell that contains the text Cust (cell A6) and
press 'Ret'. Now move the cell pointer to the cell that contains Date (cell
D8). Press 'Ret' again and D.A.V.E. will create an image that can now be cust-
omized through the EDIT YOUR IMAGE portion of D.A.V.E.

It can be helpful to look at the image D.A.V.E. created while in the D.A.V.E.
Add-In. To do this, press 'Esc' and move the cell pointer to A13. Then press
Alt-F7 to call up D.A.V.E. and then 'A' for ADD. You will see that there are
four rows of information on the screen. Each row contains a field label and
field data.

The field label was taken from the range of column headings you specified
during the Create process. The field type was determined by scanning down the
columns in the worksheet and looking at the first non-blank cell. For the
field Cust ID No. , D.A.V.E. found the value AQ-345-543 as the first non-
blank value; so it declared the field type as alphanumeric. For the field
NAME, D.A.V.E. found the value General Motors; so it set the field type as
alphanumeric. The next field in the worksheet had a column heading of 85 Sales.
D.A.V.E. found the value of 126874.32 as the first non-blank value in the
column; so the field type was declared as numeric. For the last field (Last
Invoice Date), a date field was created because D.A.V.E. determined that the
first non-blank entry was in a date format (cell D10). The field widths were
determined by the columns widths in 1-2-3.

This is the end of the D.A.V.E. Tutorial. We hope this has given you
an introduction to D.A.V.E.'s features and how D.A.V.E. can best serve you.


O T H E R D. A. V. E. F E A T U R E S
=========================================

This section contains some examples of the way D.A.V.E. can be used in real-
life situations.

1) Use the Create option at the D.A.V.E. Add-In Menu to have D.A.V.E. help
you create an image based on the column headings and values in your worksheet.

2) You might find that you wish to output data in your worksheet in a different
format than it was input. This is easily accomplished by creating an image in
the form of your desired output. Before requesting Output, tell D.A.V.E. that
you wish to Retrieve this newly created image. Your output will be in the
form of the currently retrieved image. For subsequent data entry and editing,
just Retrieve the old image.

3) When Adding or Editing data using an image, remember that you can obtain
field help by pressing 'F1'. A two-line help message will appear at the bottom
left corner of the screen and change as you move from field to field. This
field help toggles off with the next press of 'F1'. Customized field help is
available by pressing 'F2'. It is entered through the Image Definition Module
in the EDIT YOUR IMAGE section.

4) Multiple images can be used with a single worksheet. In addition, a single
image can be used with multiple worksheets.

5) Use of the Clear/No setting allows you to add data to your worksheet
quickly if the data does not vary significantly from row to row.

6) You can create a macro that automatically attaches D.A.V.E. to 1-2-3 and
retrieve an image. There is a worksheet named AUTO on the D.A.V.E. diskette
that contains a macro to do this. The macro definition is in cells A1 through
A5 and can be executed by pressing Alt-A.

7) You may have a list of items such as customer numbers and part numbers
in one worksheet that you wish D.A.V.E. to check as you enter data for a field
in your current worksheet. D.A.V.E. can do this for you if you enter
the worksheet that contains this list of items and generate an External ASCII
file using the following LOTUS 1-2-3 commands:

/ Printer
File
(enter a filename. For example, 'CUST.EXT')
Option
Other
Unformatted
Margins
Left
0
Quit
Range
(then define column to write to file 'CUST.EXT')
Go

To order your copy (which includes our GOLDATA 30-day money back guarantee),
call 1-800-432-3267 (PA 215-525-1036) or call the bulletin board back at 215
527-6597 and place your order there.

Please feel free to call us if you have any specific questions about D.A.V.E.
or our other software products.