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Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.00
Plant Information System
by
Robert W. Boufford

Ferris State College
Ornamental Horticulture Technology program
Department of Biological Sciences
Big Rapids, MI 49307

(C) Copyright, 1985,86 by Robert W. Boufford
All Rights Reserved

Please share unmodified copies of the diskette containing a copy
of this manual (not a printed copy) with others in the landscape
industry. If you find the Landscape Plant Manager useful in your
work, we would appreciate a tax deductible donation to the OHT
program. See Registering near the end of this manual.






Landscape Plant Manager Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Equipment Requirements 2
Getting Started 3
LPM Menus and Windows 4
Using This Manual 7
Tutorial 8
Ending a work session 8
Creating a new file set 8
Adding plants to a file 9
Closing a file set 15
Opening an exiting file set 15
Searching for plants by name 16
Searching for plants by criteria 19
Modifying plant records 24
Quitting the Landscape Plant Manager 26
Reference 28
Menus 28
Help Menu 29
File 29
Record 29
Search 29
About LPM, FSC and OHT 29
File Menu 30
New 30
Open 31
Close 31
Print 32
Info 33
Quit 35
Record Menu 36
Add 36
Modify 37
Delete 37
Search Menu 39
Scientific Name 39
Common Name 40
Criteria 40
Cursor Control Keys Assignments 43
Managing Landscape Plant Manager Files 45
Errors, Problems and Bugs 46
LPM Alert Box Messages 46
PC-DOS/MS-DOS Error Message 49
Bugs 50
Landscape Plant Manager Program Information 51
Registering 52
User supported software concept 52
Where your money goes 52
Future plans, goals and ideas 53
Why Should I Pay? 53
Registration Specifics 54
Registration Form 56
Appendicies 57






Credit Where Credit is Due

The following companies and corporations have copyrights,
trademarks, registered trademarks, liscensed trademarks and/or
patents on various items mentioned in the documentation. Lack of
further mention of the rights or marks of various items in the
documentation does not imply failure to recognize those rights
and marks by the author.

Apple Computer Corporation
Borland International
Buttonware
Epson Corporation
Headlands Press, Inc.
International Business Machines
Microsoft Corporation
Quicksoft
Zenith Data Systems






INTRODUCTION

When choosing plants for use in the landscape, all of us go
through some sort of selection process to find the right plant
for a location in our landscape. Some of these selection methods
include experience with particular plants, looking in
encyclopediae or plant manuals, paging through nursery catalogs,
working with a designer, consulting a nurseryperson or outright
guessing.

To speed up the selection process, we can take advantage of
computers to assist us in finding a particular plant or group of
plants for our landscape. Computer based plant selector programs
provide us with the means to rapidly search for plants based on a
given set of criteria.

The Landscape Plant Manager is a specialized computer information
management program for use in horticulture education programs and
the landscaping industry. The prime goal of LPM is to be a plant
selector to assist you in the selection of plants based on design
criteria. LPM was developed as an alternative to constantly
paging through nursery catalogs and plant manuals when trying to
find plants for a particular landscape situation.

The Landscape Plant Manager will allow you to:

-Add, delete and modify information about plants used in the
landscape.

-Search for plants based on scientific name or common name.

-Search for plants matching one or more design criteria for
use in the landscape
























The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 1






EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS

The Landscape Plant Manager was developed on the Zenith Z-150
computer that is compatible with the IBM Personal Computer
series. LPM should also run on any true IBM-PC compatible
computer such as Compaq, Columbia and Epson Equity.

To run the Landscape Plant Manager, you will need the following
equipment:

IBM-PC series or true compatible computer. A true compatible
computer is considered one that can run the Microsoft Flight
Simulator program. Along with the Zenith Z-150 series, LPM has
been tested and found to work on the IBM PC series and the Epson
Equity I series. Even though not tested, LPM might run on more
generic MS-DOS computers.

A minimum of 128 kilobytes of memory. A capacity of 256 kilobytes
of memory or greater is preferred. Certain parts of the program
may not run with 128 kilobytes of memory if there are a large
number of plant records in a file.

One 360 kilobyte floppy disk drive or a hard disk drive
partition. A second disk drive is not required and is not used by
the program. The hard disk partition size can be greater than 360
kilobytes which will allow for larger files.

PC-DOS or MS-DOS version 2.00 or greater.

A monochrome or color monitor. A monochrome monitor attached to a
color card or color output will show colors as different shades
of gray. The program will work with an IBM monochrome adapter
card and certain monochrome monitors with some loss in the
display. For further comments on monitor displays see the
Landscape Plant Manager Program Information section.

An optional printer. The program is designed to work with an
Epson printer or Epson compatible printer.

If you are unfamiliar with operating the equipment listed, you
should consult the operations manual of your computer or ask a
friend for help in getting started. To save on the size of this
manual, it will be assumed that you have some familiarity with
your equipment and using the disk operating system (PC-DOS or MS-
DOS) that you have with your computer.












The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 2






GETTING STARTED

The very first thing you should do is make a backup copy of the
LPM disk. This is done by one of several methods available to
you on your DOS disk. If you are not familiar with making
copies, see your Disk Operating System manual or ask a friend for
assistance.

Once you have made a backup copy, put the original in a safe
place and use your backup copy as a work disk.

LPM requires only one disk drive to run the program. If you have
a hard disk, you can place a copy of LPM in a directory or
partition. To the LPM program, the directory or partition will
look just like a single disk drive. (To those of you who know
what paths are, LPM does not support DOS 2.0+ paths at this
time.)

To run the Landscape Plant Manager you will need the following
files:

LPM.COM The Landscape Plant Manager core program.
LPM.000 Various pieces of the program in one large file.

These two files must always be together. Also, never change the
name of the program files. The Landscape Plant Manager will not
work and may require you to reset your computer if either one is
missing or the names have been changed.

Any other files that originally came with the LPM disk can be
removed when you are done using them.

If you are using a floppy disk drive, never remove the floppy
disk while you are running the Landscape Plant Manager.

To start the Landscape Plant Manager, at the DOS prompt, type:

LPM

followed by the return or enter key. After a brief period, you
will be presented with an introductory screen briefly describing
the Landscape Plant Manager system. When this screen appears,
you are ready to use the Landscape Plant Manager.














The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 3






LPM MENUS AND WINDOWS

Menus

The Landscape Plant Manager is known as a menu driven system. To
start a particular operation or to select a choice, you type a
key or number or letter from a list of possible choices called a
menu to perform some action.

Menus displayed on a computer are patterned after the menus found
at some 'unique' eateries where a food order is placed by giving
a number to the waiter or waitress. If a number two on the menu
is two eggs and bacon with toast, you would place your order by
telling the waiter or waitress you want a "number two over easy".
A number six might be the indigestion special consisting of an
onion and green pepper omelet with biscuts and gravy. Almost all
your "ordering" with the Landscape Plant Manager will be with
numbers, letters or special keys on the keyboard as displayed in
menus.

When you start up LPM, you will notice a white bar with black
letters at the top of the screen that looks similar to this:

F1-Help F2-File F3-Record F4-Search

This is known as a menu bar. Behind the menu bar are other menus
that pop down. Pull down menus are popular on the Apple
Macintosh computer and some other computer systems. To pop open a
menu, you type a function key related to a particular menu item.
For example, if you want to do editing, you press the F3 function
key located on the left side or top of your keyboard and a Record
menu will pop open looking similar to this:

F1-Help F2-File F3-Record F4-Search
================
|F1-Close Menu |
|F2-Add |
|F3-Delete |
|F4-Modify |
================

The opened menu gives you choices to specific editing functions.
You again use the function keys to select a particular choice.
As you pop down the various menus, you might notice that the F1
function key will always close the menu and return you to the
menu bar.

When you pop down a menu, you will notice that some items are
gray or dimmed (may not show on a monochrome monitor). This
means the item is not available for use at that particular moment
and continued pressing of the related key will result in nothing
happening.





The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 4






If you select a choice that is in black letters signifying it is
active, the menu will close and a window will pop open allowing
you to work in that section.

There are other types of menus found in the Landscape Plant
Manager. You will encounter choice menus where you need to
select a particular choice by number.

=========Choices==========
| Density: |
| 0: No Choice |
| 1: Compact |
| 2: Medium |
| 3: Open |
|Choice by number: 3_ |
==========================

You type in the number next to your desired choice and then press
the return or enter key.

Another menu you will encounter is known as a command letter menu
that looks like this:

C)ontinue, R)estart, D)isplay, P)rint, Q)uit?

To execute a command in the menu line, you type the letter just
to the left of the right parens ")". In the above example, to
print your records, you would type the letter "P" to start the
printing. The letter can be upper or lowercase. As with the
main function key menus, you donot have to press the return or
enter key. If you type the wrong letter, the program will beep
and patiently wait until the right letter is entered.

Even though not considered menus, you will occasionally be asked
to verify an action by yes or no. Usually it will be a question
such as:

Continue searching (Y/N)?

The "(Y/N)" means to type 'Y' for yes or 'N' for no in response
to the question. As with the command letter menu, the letters
can be either upper or lowercase and you donot need to press the
return or enter key.

Windows

All Landscape Plant Manager activities are displayed in windows
that will pop open and shut. Think of the windows as a stack of
papers with the paper on top being the one you currently do your
work. Once you are done, the window is closed until needed again
at a later time. When you first start the Landscape Plant
Manager, the introductory window is opened. As soon as you press
any key, the window will close and not open until the system is
started again.



The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 5






Most windows will have a title in the top part of the frame to
tell you what window is currently active.

Unlike the windows on the Apple Macintosh or other windowing
systems, all the windows in LPM are fixed and cannot be
restacked, moved or resized.



















































The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 6






USING THIS MANUAL

This manual is divided into several sections. It is hoped that
you will read through the complete manual to familiarize yourself
with the Landscape Plant Manager.

If you are new to computers or working with software that falls
in the catagory of database managers, you should work through the
Turtorial which is the next section in this manual.

If you are more experienced, particularly with pull down menus
and pop up windows, you can probably dive right into the program
occasionally consulting with the reference section. If you have
trouble using the program, try going through the tutorial.
Remember, "If all else fails, read the manual."

After you have reviewed the program and this manual, it is hoped
you will read the section on Registering and make a contribution
towards this program.






































The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 7






TUTORIAL

In this section we will go through the process of using the
Landscape Plant Manager. If possible, you should be at your
computer with the LPM program running so you can try out the
various tasks as you read along in the tutorial.

In later sections of this tutorial, you may want to have the
LPMDEMO file set on your disk for practicing with the searching
sections.

ENDING A WORK SESSION

Before you start, it is important to tell you how to quit incase
you have to stop working at the computer and have not completed
the tutorial.

Assuming all other windows are closed and all you see is the menu
bar at the top of the screen, press the F2 key to pop open the
File menu and then press the F7 key to quit. This will cause the
Landscape Plant Manager program to stop and return you to the
Disk Operating System level. You can then do whatever you want
at this level or turn off the computer.

CREATING A NEW FILE SET

We can consider the Landscape Plant Manager to be like an index
card file of plants used in the landscape. Inorder to use this
'index card file', we must first buy a card box, index cards and
dividers then arrange the cards in a neat, organized manner.

You must also create a new file set in the Landscape Plant
Manager before you can store any plant information. This is done
through the New option in the File menu.

To create a new file, press the F2 key to open the File menu then
press the F2 key again to open the New File Window.

After you press the F2 key a second time, a window will open up
in the middle of the screen that looks similar to this:

================New File=================
| |
| Current LPM files: |
| |
| LPMDEMO |
| |
|New File Name (ESC to exit): ________ |
| |
=========================================

If there are any existing LPM files on the disk, they will be
listed in the window. It is recommended that only one LPM file




The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 8






be kept on a floppy disk. If you have a hard disk, two or more
files can be stored on the disk.

The blank line is where you will type in a new file name. The
new name must follow DOS naming conventions. The name must be
eight characters or less consisting of letters (A to Z) and
digits (0 to 9). Under DOS, file names may also have a three
character extension seperated by a period. You donot have to and
should not add any extensions. There are three special extentions
added to your filename by the program. Any other extentions will
cause problems. If you type a period in your filename signifying
an extension, you will be greeted with an alert box warning you
of the error. Just press any key and try again.

================New File=================
| =============Alert============= |
| Cu|Invalid extension in the | |
| |file name. | |
| | | |
| | Press any key to continue | |
|New | |t |
| =============================== |
=========================================

If you type in the name of an existing set of files, you will
also be greeted with an alert window.

If at any time before you press the return key, you donot want to
create a new file set, you can press the Escape key to exit from
the New file section. No new files will be created even if you
had already typed a name.

At this time, type in a file name for your own personal set of
LPM files.

After you type in the new name, a new set of files will be
created on the disk for you to use and the New File window will
close. You should notice that the Record and Search items on the
menu bar are no longer dim. If you open the File menu, you will
find that the New and Open menu items are now dim and the Close,
Print, Info menu items are no longer dim.

When you create a new set of files, they are automatically opened
for you to add plants.

ADDING PLANTS TO A FILE

Once you have created a new set of files, you can start adding
plants to your 'electronic index file box'. To get started,
close any other menu you may have open and press the F3 key to
open the Record menu. With the Record menu open, press the F2
key to open the Add to File window.





The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 9






Before you start actually adding plants to you files, we should
discuss how you will be entering the information about the plants
and how the information is stored.

LPM Plant Record Form

All the information you enter about a single plant is stored in a
record that is placed in a data file. You can think of a record
as the equivalent of one index card which is stored in the data
file that is equivalent to our imaginary index card file box.

The plant record is further divided into what are commonly called
"fields" of information. These fields are in an orderly
arrangement as a form. The form used in LPM is like many other
forms you encounter daily such as application forms. The LPM
plant record form will look similar to this:

===============================================================
|Genus: Species: |
|Name: |
| Class: Bark Color: |
| Type: Bark Texture: |
| Mature Height: Hardiness Zone: |
| Mature Spread: Soil Type: |
| Growth Habit: Soil Moisture: |
| Density: Soil pH: |
| Texture: Light Conditions: |
| Summer Leaf Color: Growth Rate: |
| Fall Leaf Color: Fertility Needs: |
| Flower Color: Insect Problems: |
| Flower Bloom Time: Disease Problems: |
| Fruit Color: |
|Landscape Uses: |
| |
|Note 1: |
|Note 2: |
|Note 3: |
===============================================================

When using LPM, you will encounter this special form often. In
the searching section, you will fill in parts of this form and
have the program fill in the rest of the form matching the
information you typed in the form with information found in plant
records in the data file.

When you enter the Add to File section, you will see the form in
the window with an underline next to 'Genus:'

Genus: _______________ Species:
Name:

This is where you will start typing in your information about a
plant. However, before you actually start typing, let's discuss
some text editing controls you will have available to you.



The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 10






Text Editing Controls

Whenever an underline ("_____") apprears, you will have some text
editing controls available to you. Text editing means that you
will be able to move the cursor around on the line which will
allow you to edit, change or correct the information you have
typed on the line before you press the return or enter key. Even
though these are limited editing features, none the less they are
still helpful in typing in information.

Basically, you use key combinations to move the cursor around on
the line inorder to change anything you have already typed on the
line. All or most of the keys are used whenever the underline
appears for input of information. Any key below marked "Ctrl-x"
means to hold down the CTRL key and type the related letter or
key at the same time. The cursor control keys are:

Home or Ctrl-A: This will move the cursor to the beginning
of a line.

End or Ctrl-F: This will move the cursor to the end of a
line.

Up Arrow, Shift-Tab, or Ctrl-E: This will move the cursor up
one line, field or position. This will only work if you will
be entering in information on more than one line in a
window. In some sections, this key will be equivalent to
using the return or enter key.

Down Arrow or Ctrl-X: This will move the cursor down one
line, field or position. This will only work if you will be
entering in information on more than one line in a window.
In some sections, this key will be equivalent to using the
return or enter key.

Left Arrow or Ctrl-S: This will move the cursor left one
space.

Right Arrow or Ctrl-D: This will move the cursor right one
space.

Del or Ctrl-G: This will delete the character above the
cursor and shift all characters to the right of the deleted
character over to the left on the line. The cursor stays in
the same spot and does not move to the left.

Backspace or Ctrl-H: A rubout or destructive backspace. A
backspace will cause the cursor to move left erasing the
character in front of it and drag all characters on the
right to the left.

Ctrl-End or Ctrl-Z: End of input for a record or field.
This key allows you to finish without having to move the
cursor to the end of a line or use the down key to move the



The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 11






cursor to the bottom of a record when there is more than one
line of information.

Ctrl-Y: This will erase or clear all characters from the
cursor to the end of the line.

Return or Enter: When you are done typing in the information
on a single line you press this key to finish.

If all these keys are confusing, do not worry. Alot of work can
be done by just using the backspace key to erase your mistakes
and retyping an entry.

One more thing about the underline. As you work through a
record, you will notice that the underline changes length at
different fields. This will give you an idea of how many
characters you can type on a line. For example, the Genus
underline is fifteen characters long. This means that a genus
name must be equal to or less than fifteen characters. Any
characters after the first fifteen will be ignored. On the other
hand, the common name underline is thirty characters long as the
common name is usually much longer than the genus name.

Before you start adding a plant, you should know how to get out
of adding a plant or any other activity.

If you have the Add to File window open at this moment, look at
the bottom of the window. There you will notice the line "ESC to
exit". This means you can press the escape key (marked either
Esc, ESC or Escape depending on your keyboard) to get out of
whatever you were doing at that time. Pressing the escape key
will take you to a level that will allow you to quit. Be aware
however that anything you typed on the form just before you
pressed the escape key will not be saved and usually the data
will be erased from the form.

Adding a Plant to the File

Finally, we are ready to enter some information on a plant. Let
us use Larch (Larix decidua) for practice. If you are not
familiar with Larch, the complete record can be found in Appendix
A.

Type in "Larix" for the Genus and press the return or enter key.
Then type in "decidua" at the Species line and "Larch" at the
Name line. Donot worry about the rules for capitalizing
scientific names (First letter in the genus is capitalized with
the species in lower case). The program will correct the names
for you before they are saved in the data file. However, be
aware that the program does not correct spelling!

Before you press the return or enter key after typing in the
common name, the display should look similar to this:




The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 12






==========================Add to List===========================
| |
|Genus: Larix Species: decidua |
|Name: Larch_______________________ |
| Class: Bark Color: |
| Type: Bark Texture: |

If at anytime, you have made a mistake and have already pressed
the return key, you can use the up arrow to go back to the line
you just entered and correct it. Also, at the end of the record,
you will be given the opportunity to correct the record before it
is saved to the file.

If you have not done so, press the return or enter key after
entering the common name so we can start adding additional
information.

For the next 24 fields starting with Class, you will be entering
information by selecting a choice by number for each field. At
each field, a choice menu will pop open next to it offering up to
sixteen different choices to select from. You should also notice
a little arrow (<-) pointing at the field label that is related
to the opened choice window.

To select a choice, type the number next to your choice on the
line labeled "Choice by number:" and press the return or enter
key. Just as with the names, you can edit the number before
pressing the return or enter key (Did you notice the underline?).

If you make a mistake and press the return key, the alert box
will pop open telling you what is possibly wrong. Press any key
to close the alert box and try again.

When you type a valid number, the choice window will close and
the arrow will be replaced with your choice. The arrow will jump
down one field and a new choice window will open up. The window
will look similar to this:




















The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 13






=============================Add to List========================
| =========Choices========== |
|Genus: Larix Species: deci| Growth Habit: | |
|Name: Larch | 0: No Choice | |
| Class: Tree | 1: Rounded | |
| Type: Evergreen | 2: Oval | |
| Mature Height: 68-77 feet | 3: Vase | |
| Mature Spread: 24-27 feet | 4: Pyramidal | |
| Growth Habit: <- | 5: Columnar | |
| Density: | 6: Irregular | |
| Texture: | 7: Arching | |
| Summer Leaf Color: | 8: Upright | |
| Fall Leaf Color: | 9: Spreading | |
| Flower Color: | 10: Horizontal | |
| Flower Bloom Time: | 11: Pendulous | |
| Fruit Color: | 12: Prostrate | |
|Landscape Uses: | 13: Vining | |
| | 14: Mound | |
|Note 1: | 15: Weeping | |
|Note 2: |Choice by number: 4_ | |
|Note 3: | | |
| ========================== |
================================================================

Continue selecting your choices for this record. If you get to a
field where none of the choices apply (Such as bark color for
tulips) type zero for No Choice. Also, when you get to Landscape
Uses, you will be able to select up to five different choices.

The three Note lines can be used to type in any other information
on the plant such as cultivars, special cultural practices or
price information.

To finish with the record, press the return or enter key after
typing in Note 3 or use the Ctrl-End key combination. You will
then be asked if the record you just entered is correct.

Is this correct (Y/N)?

If you find mistakes, type N for no and use the cursor keys to
move through the different fields, correcting any mistakes using
the text editing keys as mentioned earlier. When you are done
correcting the record, finish as above by typing the return key
at Note 3 or use the Ctrl-End key combination.

When your record is correct and you respond with yes to the
question, your plant record will be saved to the file set. You
will then see at the bottom of the window a question asking you
to:

Continue adding to list (Y/N)?






The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 14






Typing Y for yes will clear the form for you and allow you to
enter more plant records. Typing N for no will cause an exit
from the Add to List section and return you to the main menu bar.

When entering you plants, donot worry about keeping the plant
names in any kind of alphabetic order. There are two other files
associated with the data file in the file set. These files are
indexes to the data file. One index is for scientific names and
the other is for common names. Both these indexes will have the
names in alphabetic order. Later on, when you want the search
for a particular plant by name, the program will look in the
index first to find the "card number" for that plant and then go
into the data file to get the actual information.

For practice, enter some more plant records to get use to adding
plant records and using the text editing keys.

When you are done adding plant records to your file, exit the Add
to File section by responding N for no to the questions so you
can practice opening and closing a file.

CLOSING A FILE SET

When you no longer want to work with a particular set of files
either newly created files or opened existing files, you must
close the currently opened file set before any other file sets
can be opened up.

Assuming all other windows and menus are closed, type F2 to open
the File menu and then F4 to close the currently opened set of
files. You donot need to supply any names as the program keeps
track of the files you opened previously. When the file set has
closed, you will notice the Record and Search items in the menu
bar are dim again.

If you have been following this tutorial and have created a new
set of files using New along with adding plants to the file,
close the files now so you can try out the Open option.

Remember, in the Landscape Plant Manager, you have to close an
opened file set before you can open another file set or create a
new file set.

OPENING AN EXISTING FILE SET

In order to work with plants in our 'electronic index box', you
must open up the box before you can search through the cards for
a plant or add new cards to the filebox. The Open option in the
File menu will allow you to open a file set on the disk so that
you can work with the file set.

To open any existing file set, press the F2 key to pop open the
File menu then press the F3 key to pop open the Open File window.




The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 15






================Open File================
| |
| Current LPM files: |
| |
| MYFILE |
| LPMDEMO |
| |
| File to Open (ESC to exit):LPMDEMO_ |
| |
=========================================

As you can see, the Open File window looks just like the New File
window. You type in a file name for the file set that you want
opened. However, in this section, if the name you type does not
match any of the names in the directory, you will be greeted with
the alert window.

Just as in the New File section, if you donot want to open a
file, press the Escape key to exit.

Once a set of files is opened, you can search through the plants
in the data file or work with individual plants in the data file
including adding new plants, deleting plants and modifying
existing plant data.

So you can practice using the searching sections that will be
discussed next, open up the file set on your disk entitled
"LPMDEMO". There are enough plants in this file for you to get a
good demonstration on how the search sections are used.

If the demo file set is missing, go back to the Add to File
section and add about fifty plants to your own personal file.

SEARCHING FOR PLANTS BY NAME

There are three ways of searching for a particular plant or group
of plants in our electronic index box. The ways you will be able
to search for plants is by scientific name, common name or design
criteria. This section will deal with finding plants either by
scientific name or common name. The next section will cover
searching for plants based on design criteria.

As you may recall from the section on adding plants to a file,
that the program automatically alphabetizes the plants you add to
the data file regardless of entry order. This is done by keeping
two indexes, one for the scientific name and one for common name.
When you search for a plant by name, the program will go through
the appropiate index first to find the reference or "card number"
to the plant record and then go into the data file to find and
display the plant record.

To actually search for a plant by name, you will type in the name
of the plant which is called a "key". The program will search
for any plant names that match the given key. For example if



The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 16






your key is 'Viburnum lantana', the program will search through
the index until Viburnum lantana is found or the end of the index
is reached. If the plant is found, the form on the screen will
be filled with the information on this particular viburnum.

A feature of this section is the ability to give partial words as
the search key. For example, in the search by common name
section, you will be able to give 'maple' as a key and the
program will find all plants that have 'maple' in the common name
such as Red Maple, Silver Maple and Sugar Maple. Partial words
can be as small as one letter. If you give just the letter 'Q'
for a scientific name, any plants whose scientific name begins
with 'Q' such as the oaks (Quercus sp) will be found by the
program.

Once you have found one plant, you will be able to scan forward
and backward through the file to look at plants that are
alphabetically before your searched plant or after your searched
plant.

Let's now actually search for plants by name. The first search
you will do is to search by scientific name.

Searching for Plants by Scientific Name

To search for plants by scientific name, first close any windows
or menus so you are back to the main menu bar. Press the F4 key
to pop open the Search menu. Now press the F2 key to open the
Search by Scientific Name window.

If nothing happened when you pressed the F2 key and the titles
look rather dim, remember you must open a file before you can
search it. If you need to open a file, close the Search menu and
open up the LPMDEMO file or your own file at this time following
the procedure that was discussed earlier.

When the Search by Scientific Name window is opened you should
see a form on the screen which looks just like the Add to File
screen. However, in this section, you will be filling in the
Genus field and maybe the Species field with your desired search
key.

Filling in the Genus and Species fields is the same as when you
added a plant record. All the editing keys discussed in the
Adding Plants to a File section also work in this section and the
Search by Common Name section.

As in other sections, pressing the escape key will allow you to
exit promptly.

Type in a scientific name at this time. As an example, let us
use a Red Oak for our key. The scientific name of Red Oak is
Quercus rubra. In the Genus field, type 'Quercus' and press the
return or enter key to move to the Species field. In the Species



The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 17






field, type 'rubra' and press return. As in adding plants, you
donot have to worry about capitalization.

After pressing the return key the second time, the disk drive
will briefly turn on and then your plant with all the information
about the plant should appear in the form on the screen.

If the search does not find your plant, the plant that is next in
alphabetic order will be displayed.

Once a plant is displayed in the form, a command letter menu will
appear at the bottom of the window that looks like this:

N)ext Record, L)ast Record, P)rint Record, Q)uit?

Pressing the N key will display the plant record in the data file
that is next in alphabetic order from the current record on the
screen. This will allow you to move forward through the data
file.

Pressing the L key will display the plant record in the data file
that is previous in alphabetic order from the current record on
the screen. This will allow you to move backward through the
data file.

Pressing the P key will print on the printer a copy of the plant
record that is currently displayed on the screen. If you donot
have a printer connected to your computer or the printer is not
turned on, an alert box will pop open warning you of the problem.
Again, just press any key to close the box. You can try again if
you forgot to turn on your printer which opened the alert box.

Pressing the Q key will allow you to quit searching that
particular section of the list. You will then be asked:

Continue searching (Y/N)?

Answering Y for yes will allow you to type in another scientific
name for searching. Answering N for no will close the window and
return you to the main menu bar.

If you have the Red Oak plant on the screen and have not tried
scanning backward and forward through the list, try using Next,
Last and Print now for practice. When you are done, type Q for
quit and N for no to exit the Search by Scientific Name so we can
try searching for plants by common name.

Searching for Plants by Common Name

Searching for plants by common name works the same way as
searching for plants by scientific name. You type in a name or
partial name in the Name field and a plant that matches or nearly
matches the key name is displayed on the screen.




The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 18






To open the Search by Common Name window from the menu bar, type
F4 to open the Search Menu and type F3 to open the Search by
Common Name window.

When the form appears on the screen, you will notice the
underline is at the Name field having skipped over the Genus and
Species fields.

For an example let's search for Maple. At the Name line, type
'Maple' and press the return key. If you make any mistakes
before you press the return key, you can use the text editing
keys as previously mentioned in the Adding Plants to a File
section.

If there are maples in the file, some type of maple should appear
on the screen otherwise the plant next in alphabetic order to
maple will appear on the screen.

As with searching by scientific name, once a plant is on the
screen, the 'N)ext, L)ast, P)rint, Q)uit)?' menu will appear at
the bottom of the window so you can scan through the file looking
at the different maples. Go ahead and practice scanning through
the file at this time. By quitting and then responding yes to
continue searching, you can search for some other plants by
common name.

When searching by name, you should be aware that the key is
adjusted so that the program searches for plants based on the
name first then the adjectives that further describe a plant.

For example, as you saw above, typing 'maple' will search and
find the first maple tree in the file and using Next will display
the other maples. However, if you type 'red' thinking you will
get Red Maple, instead, you may get Redbud or Rhododendron. To
find Red Maple, you must type 'red maple'. Also, typing 'red m'
as a partial word will give you the first plant that begins with
an 'm' such as Magnolia.

As before, practice in the section for a while then return to the
menu bar by pressing Q for quit and then N for no at the continue
searching question.

Now you can try out the major feature of the Landscape Plant
Manager, the Search by Criteria section.

SEARCHING FOR PLANTS BY CRITERIA

When selecting plants for the landscape, we should always
determine the needs or criteria of a landscape before deciding on
a particular plant so that we can maintain a well-balanced,
aesthically pleasing, easy to maintain landscape.

These needs or criteria are many and varied depending on a
variety of factors at the landscape site. For the north side of



The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 19






the house, we may want an evergreen tree that is over 50 ft tall
for use as a windbreak. In the front yard, we may want a shrub
to use as a ten foot high hedge that has purple flowers in late
spring with red bark and few insect problems.

Traditionally, to find plants that match the above needs would
involve several techniques including past experience, paging
though plant manuals and searching through nursery catalogs.
Usually, this is a time consuming task.

The Search by Criteria section will allow you to search for
plants based on one or more of up to 24 different criteria. The
criteria selection can be in any order.

Because you will be able to search for plants based on up to 24
criteria in any order, you will find the Search by Criteria
section operates a little differently than the other searching
methods. However, donot worry, this section is actually easier
to use as it consists of all menus. (Great for you hunt and peck
typists).

Starting the Search by Criteria Section

To start the Search by Criteria section, from the main menu bar,
type F4 to pop open the Search menu and then type F4 again to
open the Search by Criteria window.

When you press the F4 key the second time, the Search by Criteria
window will open and then another window will open up the looks
like this:

===============================
| Please wait, loading list |
| into memory. |
| Total Records: 140 |
| Records loaded: 15 |
===============================

At the same time, the disk drive should start running. Depending
on the type of disk drive (floppy disk or hard disk) and the size
of the data file, this should take from 30 seconds to a few
minutes. As the list of plants from the file is loaded into
memory, the 'Records loaded:' number will increase. As soon as
the 'Records loaded' matches the 'Total Records', you will be
able to use the Search by Criteria Section.

Up until now, when you did a search by name, the program accessed
the files on the disk to do the searching. However, to speed up
the task of searching by criteria, a special copy of your data
file is loaded completely into the memory of the computer
whenever you start the Search by Criteria section.
Unfortunately, there is a tradeoff. To avoid conflicts with
other parts of the LPM program, this special copy of the file in
memory must be erased from memory (but not the file on the disk)



The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 20






when you quit the Search by Criteria section and must be reloaded
again the next time you want to search by criteria. Therefore,
be sure you really want to quit searching by criteria.

Searching for Plants by Criteria

When the data file is completely loaded into memory, the Search
by Criteria window will look like similar to this:

=========================Search by Criteria=====================
|Plants in file: 140 Plants found=========Choices========== |
|Genus: Species: | Class: | |
|Name: | 0: No Choice | |
| Class: <- | 1: Tree | |
| Type: | 2: Shrub | |
| Mature Height: | 3: Groundcover | |
| Mature Spread: | 4: Vine | |
| Growth Habit: | 5: Herbaceous Orn. | |
| Density: | Choice by number:__ | |
| Texture: ========================== |
| Summer Leaf Color: Growth Rate: |
| Fall Leaf Color: Fertility Needs: |
| Flower Color: Insect Problems: |
| Flower Bloom Time: Disease Problems: |
| Fruit Color: |
|Landscape Uses: |
| |
|Note 1: |
|Note 2: |
|Note 3: |
| |
================================================================

Look familiar? You may recognize it from the Add to File section
when you selected different choices for each design criteria. As
you make a choice for each criteria you select, the choice you
pick will be used as a key to find all plant records in the file
in memory that match the key.

Since the Class criteria choice window is opened, let's use Tree
as an example and see how many plants are found.

To find all the plants that are trees in the data file, with the
Class criteria window opened, type the number one for tree and
press the return key.

You will notice that the criteria choice window closed and for a
brief period, numbers started flashing next to the 'Plants
Found:' label at the top of the screen. The top of the screen
should now look similar to this (even though the numbers may be
different):






The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 21






=======================Search by Criteria=======================
|Plants in file: 140 Plants found: 70 |
|Genus: Species: |
|Name: |
| Class: Tree Bark Color: |
| Type: Bark Texture: |
| Mature Height: Hardiness Zone: |

The top line will give you some information on the plant file
that is in memory. The 'Plants in file' shows how many plants
were loaded into memory from the disk. The 'Plants found:' shows
you how many plants have been found matching the currently
selected criteria choices that are listed in the criteria fields.
In the above example, out of 140 plants, 70 were found that
matched a criteria Class of tree. The remaining 70 plants were
not trees but a combination of shrubs, vines and groundcovers.

To find just a few plants based on criteria, you will pick a
choice from another criteria (We donot want to print and choose
from a list of 70 trees!). When you make you second criteria
choice, the search will be made through the 'Plants found' list
not the 'Plants in file' list that was originally loaded into
memory.

When you make your first criteria search, the program creates a
list of plants in memory that match the first criteria. When you
make your next choice, the program will create a new list from
the first 'Plants found' list matching those plants in the first
list with you second key. Using our file card analogy, you can
think of it as going through your index card box and pulling out
all those plants that are trees. You then take the stack of
cards that have all trees in it and pull out all those plants
that are evergreens. You would now have a smaller stack of cards
that would be just evergreen trees. You could continue pulling
plants out of each new card deck that match a particular criteria
until you are down to one or two cards that match all your
desired criteria choices. In this section, the program works in
a similar manner.

At the bottom of the window, you will find a command letter menu
that looks similar to this:

C)ontinue Search, R)estart Search, D)isplay List, P)rint, Q)uit?

If you press R for restart at this point, you will restart your
searching with the original number of plants. Any plants found
will be erased from memory and the form will be cleaned to start
again.

If you press D for display or P for print, you will receive an
alert box warning you that there are too many plants in the list
to print out and that you should continue searching.





The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 22






At this time, you want to continue searching so press the C key
for continue.

When you press C for continue, a new choice window will open up
with a pointer at the name of the next blank criteria field. If
you are following the example and previously chose a Class
criteria, the pointer should be pointing at the Type criteria.

At this time, you can make a choice for the Type criteria and
have the program search for plants based on that choice.

However, if you would like to select some other criteria, you can
use the up and down arrow keys to move the pointer to another
criteria field and open up the field's related window.

Using the arrow keys, make criteria selections repeating the
above procedure of making a selection, searching, press C for
continue and making a new selection. Continue this procedure
until you have trimmed the 'Plants found' list down to five or
fewer plants.

During the searching, an alert box may pop open telling you that
no plants where found matching your selected criteria choice. If
that happens, just try again using a different choice.

Also remember that you can use the Escape key to bail out to a
level that will let you quit.

Once you have trimmed the 'Plants found' list down to five or
fewer plants, you can display or print the list to see what
plants have been found matching your criteria choices.

When you press D for display, the program will fill the form on
the screen with the first plant in the 'Plants found' list. At
the bottom of the screen will appear a new command letter menu
that looks like this:

N)ext Record, P)rint Record, Q)uit Display?

If you press N for next record, the next plant in the list will
displayed on the screen. If you press P for print record, the
plant currently displayed on the screen will be printed on the
printer. When displaying the list on the screen, the print
function will work just like the print function in the search by
name sections. You can continue pressing the print option as many
times as you want to print the same record until you press the N
for next or Q for quit.

When you press N for next record at the last plant in the list or
press the Q key for quit, you will return the the previous menu.

Once you get down to five or fewer plants in the 'Plants found'
list, you can print the complete list on the printer. Just press
P for print list from the menu. The complete list will be



The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 23






printed on the printer with numbered page headings and a copy of
your selected criteria called a Criteria Selection Template. You
can repeat the printing as many times as you want until you press
C for continue, R for restart or Q for quit. You can also display
the list several times until you press C,R or Q.

When you press Q for quit from the menu, an alert box will pop
open to warn you that if you donot want to continue searching,
the file in memory will be erased. Remember, only the file in
memory is erased. The file on the disk will not be erased by the
LPM program.

When you start or restart searching by criteria and the Class
criteria choice window is open, you donot have to select a Class
criteria choice. Just use the up and down arrow keys to move the
pointer to the first desired criteria field to make a selection.
So, if you want to first look for plants that are resistant to
insects, you can move the pointer to the Insect Problems field
and make '1: Resistant' your choice. Then you can move the
pointer to any field that does not have a selected choice in it.

Practice finding plants based on criteria choices. When you are
done, quit this section so we can briefly cover editing existing
plant records.

MODIFYING PLANT RECORDS

As you work with your plant data files, you may need to make
changes to individual plant records. You might find typographic
errors or wrong criteria choices for a plant which need to be
corrected. Or, you are keeping prices and/or varieties in the
notes section which must be changed to reflect current prices or
plant varieties. These changes can be made to individual plant
records in a file through the Modify section found in the Record
menu.

To modify a plant record you need to be familiar with searching
for plants by scientific name and be familiar with the text
editing control keys. If you are not familiar with these
techniques see the section on Adding Plants to a File to learn
about text editing control keys and the section on Searching For
Plants by Name to learn how to search for plants by scientific
name.

Before you can modify any plant records, you must open the data
file that contains the records. If a file is not open at this
time (Did you notice a dim Record menu?), open the file as
discussed earlier by using Open in the File menu.

Once a file is opened, you can modify any plant record in the
opened file. To enter the Modify section, from the main menu bar
press F3 to pop down the Record menu and then press the F3 key to
open up the Modify Plant Record window.




The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 24






When the window opens up, you will notice that it looks just like
the Search by Scientific Name window with an underline at the
Genus field. As you recall, the underline signifies you are to
type in some information for that field, in this case, the genus
of a scientific name. You are going to retrieve plant records
that need modifying from the data file by first searching for the
plant by scientific name. Then you can have the option of
modifying the plant record on the screen using the same
techniques you learned earlier in the Adding Plants To a File
section of the turtorial.

For example, let's use Red Maple again. Type in the scientific
name 'Acer rubrum' just as you learned earlier to display the
plant record on the screen. If Red Maple is in the file, the
plant record for Red Maple should be displayed in the form on the
screen.

At the bottom of the window, you will see the question:

Modify this record (Y/N)?

This is to make sure you want to make corrections to the record.
At this time, type Y for yes.

When you type Y for yes, the underline will be at the Genus
field. You can now use to text editing control keys to make any
corrections and move through the record.

When you added plants to the file, did you make any corrections
by responding yes to 'Is this correct'? If you did, you modified
the record in the same way as you would modify a record here.

At this time, go ahead and make any corrections to the Red Maple
plant record. Or, press the Cntrl-End key combination to finish.
Pressing the Escape key will also allow you to exit. However,
with Escape, any changes you made on the form are not saved and
your old plant record on the disk remains unmodified.

When you are done, you can press the return key at the Note 3:
field or press the Cntrl-End key combination. When you finish
modifying the record this way, a line will appear at the bottom
of the window:

Is this correct (Y/N)?

If everything in the record is correct, you can type Y for yes.
However, if there are still errors, type N for no and repeat the
process of modifying until you are done.

If you change the scientific name so that it matches some other
plant in the data file or you leave any name fields blank, you
will get the now familiar alert box. When this happens, just re-
edit the record.




The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 25






When you are done with your correct plant record, the disk drive
will come on briefly as it corrects the information in the data
file.

After the newly modified record is put in the data file a new
line will appear at the bottom of the window that looks similar
to what you saw in the search by name sections:

N)ext Record, L)ast Record, Q)uit Search?

Pressing N for next or L for last will allow you to move back and
forth through the alphabetic list. Every time you move forward
or backward one record, you will be asked if you want to edit the
record. Pressing N for no will bring you back to the menu. This
is useful if you need to make changes to similar records. As an
example, you may have accidently classified all the maples in
hardiness zone 1 instead of zone 3. Starting with the first
maple in the file, you could easily modify all the maple (Acer)
records to the correct zone.

When you press Q for quit, another command letter menu will
appear at the bottom of the window:

S)earch File, Q)uit Modify?

Pressing S for search will clear the form in the window and allow
you to type in a new scientific name. This is useful when you
need to modify plant records that are not in close alphabetic
order.

As with the Search sections, you can specify a partial word as
the search key then use the Next/Last menu to scan through the
list. By specifying the letter 'A' as a partial word, you can
edit every record in you file.

When you are done modifying records, press Q for quit from the
menu and type N for no to the 'Continue modifying records in
list (Y/N)?' question.

Continue practicing modifying any records in your file that need
correcting or changing. When you are finished, return to the
main menu bar so we can finish the turtorial and quit the
Landscape Plant Manager.

QUITTING THE LANDSCAPE PLANT MANAGER

Whenever you want to quit using a computer program, you should
always do what is called an 'orderly exit'. For many computer
programs, failue to do this orderly exit by just shutting off the
computer or pressing a reset key could damage the information in
your files. To make sure you donot damage any information in
your Landscape Plant Manager files, you should always properly
quit the program.




The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 26






When you are finished with the Landscape Plant Manager, press the
F2 key to open up the File menu. Then press the F7 key to quit.
That's all there is to quitting. If you had any files opened
that you did not close using the Close option in the File menu,
do not worry. When you press the F7 key, the program will
automatically close any opened files for you.

Once you quit the LPM program, the computer will return to the
Disk Operating System level. At this time, you can do any other
work with your computer or shut it off.

If you have added records to your files, you should promptly
backup you files right after you quit the Landscape Plant
Manager.

Backup of files is the process of recording copies of your files
and/or programs on another diskette. Programs and data recorded
on magnetic diskettes used in computers can be easily altered if
you are not careful with your disks. Hours of work can be and
has been lost in relatively little time. Making copies of your
work and storing the copy in a safe place is insurance against
losing some or all of your work.

There are several methods of making backup copies of your work.
It is best to consult your computer manuals as to what method is
recommended for your type of equipment. Or, have a friend help
you make copies for you until you are familiar with the
technique.

The important thing is to get into a good habit of making backup
copies. Murphy's laws tend to be applied more often in computers
than anywhere else.

Having worked through this tutorial, you should now be familiar
with at least the basics of using the Landscape Plant Manager
including creating new files, adding records to a file, opening
and closing files, searching for plants in a file, modifying
plant records and quitting the system.

There are several other functions available to you in the
Landscape Plant Manager including a series of brief help screens,
the ability to print a complete plant file, the ability to delete
individual plant records in a file and obtaining some important
size information on an opened file. You will find information on
these functions in the reference section along with more concise
information on the functions we have discussed in the tutorial.
You will also find some information on the program, registering,
managing LPM files and dealing with program bugs (Sorry,
pesticides donot work on these bugs). Try and take some time to
read the rest of the manual, it will avoid some problems for you
later on as you use the Landscape Plant Manager program.






The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 27






REFERENCE

MENUS

The Landscape Plant Manager is classified as a menu driven system
where various sections and functions of the program are accessed
by pressing keys or key combinations associated with each section
or function label.

The main menu is a menu bar located at the top of the screen will
look similar to this:

F1-Help F2-File F3-Record F4-Search

By pressing the function key associated with a menu item, a menu
will pop down containing a list of items that are related to the
main menu item. In this example:

F1-Help F2-File F3-Record F4-Search
================
|F1-Close Menu |
|F2-Add |
|F3-Delete |
|F4-Modify |
================

The F3 key was pressed which opened up a menu of functions
related to the editing of plant records in a file. Pressing one
of the four function keys (F1-F4) will invoke the function
related to the function key as listed inside the popped down
menu. Pressing any other key will result in no action and be
ignored.

In all popped down menus, the F1 key will close the menu,
returning to the main menu bar. Also, the opened menu is always
left justified with the item in the main menu bar. This is to
serve for further identification of the popped down menu in
relation to the item in the menu bar.

During the program, some of the menu items will appear dim or
gray (may not show on some monochrome monitors) and the function
key will not respond. This means that the function or section is
currently inactive and that some other task or action must be
performed before a dimmed function or section is activated.













The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 28






HELP MENU

F1-Help F2-File F3-Record F4-Search
================
|F1-Close Menu |
|F2-File |
|F3-Record |
|F4-Search |
|F5-About LPM |
|F6-About FSC |
|F7-About OHT |
================

The Help menu provides brief information on using the various
functions in the Landscape Plant Manager. All other functions and
windows must be closed inorder to access the Help menu.

Help File

Brief information on the various functions found in the File
menu. For further information on using the functions in the File
menu, consult the reference section on the File menu and various
lessons in the turtorial.

Help Record

Brief information on the various functions found in the Record
menu. For further information on using the functions in the
Record menu, consult the reference section on the Record menu,
the reference section on cursor control keys and various lessons
in the turtorial.

Help Search

Brief information on the various functions found in the Search
menu. For further information on using the functions in the
Search menu, consult the reference section on the Search menu and
various lessons in the tutorial.

About LPM, FSC and OHT

About LPM provides some brief information on the Landscape Plant
Manager including minimum system requirements. About FSC and OHT
provides some brief information on Ferris State College and the
Ornamental Horticulture Technology program with which the author
is associated.











The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 29






FILE MENU

F1-Help F2-File F3-Record F4-Search
================
|F1-Close Menu |
|F2-New |
|F3-Open |
|F4-Close |
|F5-Print |
|F6-Info |
|F7-Quit |
================

The File menu lists functions associated with files located on
the disk. This menu provides means to create new files, open and
close files, print a complete file, obtain basic file information
and perform an orderly exit from LPM.

File New

Pressing the F2 key for New will open up a New File window in the
center of the screen. This will allow the creation of a new set
of files for use in the Landscape Plant Manager system.

The window will show a listing of all current LPM files on the
disk and an input line for a new filename. The new filename can
be up to eight characters long. The characters can be letters,
digits or some special characters as specified in the MS-DOS/PC-
DOS Reference Manual.

Donot add any extensions to the filename. Special extension will
be added to the names when the files are created by the LPM
program. Also, the new filename must be different from the names
listed in the display of current LPM files.

When entering the name, cursor keys can be used to edit the name
before the Return or Enter key is pressed. For information on
using the cursor keys for editing, see Cursor Control Keys
Assignments later in the manual.

If a valid name is entered, the LPM program will create three new
files on the disk: A data file with the extension '.DAT' and two
index files; a scientific name index file with the extension
'.SIX' and a common name index file with the extension '.CIX'.

Any filenames created with the New File function can be renamed
at the disk operating system level using the Rename command as
long as the extensions are not altered. The Landscape Plant
Manager does not keep a seperate file of LPM filenames.

However, donot use the LPM reserved extensions with other files
on the same disk or in the same directory as problems will most
likely occur possibly causing damage to a file.




The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 30






Once a new set of files are created with the new filename, the
New and Open functions in the File menu, will become inactive.
The Close, Print and Info functions in the File menu will become
active. In the Record and Search menus, all the functions will
become active.

With a 360k floppy disk drive, it is recommended that only one
file set be kept on a disk. For hard disk drives or larger
capacity floppy drives, two or more file sets can be kept on a
disk. For further information see the reference on the Info
function in the File menu and the section on Landscape Plant
Manager Program Information.

File Open

Pressing the F3 key will open up an Open File window in the
center of the screen. This will allow the opening of an existing
set of files for use in the Landscape Plant Manager system.

The window will show a listing of all current LPM files on the
disk and an input line for a filename. The filename can be up to
eight characters long. The characters can be letter, digits or
some special characters as specified in the MS-DOS Reference
Manual. The filename must be one of the names listed in the
display of current LPM files.

When entering the name, cursor keys can be used to edit the name
before the Return or Enter key is pressed. For information on
the cursor keys for editing, see Cursor Control Keys Assignments
later in the manual.

As with the New File function, the extensions (.DAT, .SIX, .CIX)
must not be added to the filename.

Once a valid filename is entered, the file set will be opened for
use. The New and Open functions in the File menu, will become
inactive. The Close, Print and Info functions in the File menu
will become active. In the Record and Search menus, all the
functions will become active.

File Close

When a file set is opened, pressing the F4 key in the File menu
will close the currently opened LPM file set. This will be done
automatically. The filename does not have to be supplied as the
program will keep track of the currently opened file set.

Once a file set is closed, all Record and Search menu functions
will become inactive.








The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 31






File Print

Pressing the F5 key in the File menu will print a complete data
file of a currently opened file set to a connected printer loaded
with continuous feed (fanfold) paper.

When the Print function is activated, a window will open in the
center of the screen that looks similar to this:


==================Print==================
| Choose the form of the report: |
| C)omplete records |
| N)ames only |
| A)bort print |
| Make a selection (C,N,A)? |
=========================================

Pressing the C key (either upper or lower case) will print out
the complete information found in each plant record in the file.
With an Epson or Epson compatible printer, the scientific name
will be boldfaced and italicized and, the common name will be
boldfaced. Any field in a record that is blank or contains the
choice 'No Choice' will be printed with an underline to denote
the empty field.

Pressing the N key will print only the scientific name and the
common name. With an Epson or Epson compatible printer, the
scientific name will be boldfaced and italicized and, the common
name will be boldfaced.

Pressing the A key will cause an exit from the Print function
without any printing on the printer.

Once a print choice is selected, a plant data file will be read
from the disk and printed on the printer. All records in the
plant data file will be printed in alphabetic order by scientific
name. When printing starts, the print window will look similar to
this:

==================Print==================
| During printing, press: |
| F1-to pause |
| F2-to exit |
| after the current record is printed. |
=========================================

Pressing the F1 key during printing will pause the printer after
a plant record is completely printed. To restart printer, press
the F1 key a second time and printing will resume.

Pressing the F2 key during printing will stop the printing and
close the print window with a return to the main menu bar. Exit
will occur after a plant record is completely printed.




The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 32






With either selection, printing will always stop after a complete
record (C option) or complete name (N option) is printed.

*****CAUTION!*****

During printing, donot take the printer off line or turn the
power off to the printer. The LPM program will not trap this
kind of error. Instead, the DOS error system will be activated:

Write fault error writing device PRN
Abort, Retry, Ignore?

This message may also alter the screen display.

Printing can continue if the problem is corrected and then
pressing 'R' for Retry.

*****WARNING!!*****

Pressing 'A' for abort will cause an exit from the Landscape
Plant Management program with a return to the DOS operating
system.

A paper out error will also activate the above error system. To
avoid this problem, it is important to check for adequate paper
supplies. To estimate the amount of paper needed, see the File
Info section on obtaining the number of records in a file. The
number of records in a file divided by three records per page
will give the approximate number of pages that will be printed.

File Info

Pressing the F6 key will open a window that will provide some
basic information on the currently opened file and other
information related to the file. The window will look similar to
this:





















The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 33






==========================File Info==========================
| File currently opened: OHTLIST |
| |
| Number of active records in the file: 140 |
| Number of inactive records in the file: 1 |
| Total number of records in the file: 141 |
| |
| Appoximate number of records that can be |
| loaded into memory for Search by Criteria: 583 |
| |
| Approximate number of records that |
| can be stored on the current disk drive: 472 |
| |
| Approximate number of records that can |
| be added to the file on the current disk |
| disk drive not including inactive records: 364 |
| |
| Press any key to continue |
=============================================================

The 'File currently opened' will list the file that was either
created with the New File option or the Open File option.

The 'Number of active records in the file' gives the number of
plant records in a file that can be accessed through the Record
and Search menus.

The 'Number of inactive records in the file' gives the number of
plant records that were previously deleted from the file. As a
file space saving measure, the LPM program will reuse inactive
record space when adding new plants to the file before additional
record space is created in the file.

The 'Total number of records in the file' is the sum of the
previous two number. Even though not listed, there is an
additional 'header' record reserved for program use only.

The next number gives the approximate number of records in a file
that can be loaded into memory for use in the Search by Criteria
section. The Search by Criteria section is totally memory based
during operation. The number given here can be used to establish
the approximate upper limit of the number of active records that
can be in a file. In the above example, the OHTLIST file should
not exceed approximately 580 plant records. This number will
change as it is based on memory allocations of the current
computer in use. If the number of active records in a file
exceeds the approximate number of records that can be loaded in
memory, all sections of the Landscape Plant Manager can still be
used except for the Search by Criteria section. (See Search by
Criteria section for further details).

The 'Approximate number of records that can be stored on the
current disk drive' gives the approximate total number of records
that can be stored in one file on the disk drive used by the LPM



The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 34






program. This number takes into account the space needed by the
LPM program itself and the Disk Operating System program files.
This number does not take into account any non-LPM files
currently residing on the same disk. In the above example, 472
records is the approximate capacity for a standard 360k floppy
disk containing the DOS files and the LPM files. Larger capactiy
floppy disks and hard disk partitions will give larger storage
capacity numbers.

The last number gives the number of records that can be added to
a file on the current disk. This number is calculated from the
free space on a disk, the current file size and the record size.
Unlike the above number, this number does take other non-LPM
files into account. Note that the number does not include the
number of inactive records. A more accurate number would be the
sum of inactive records and number of records that can be added
to a file. In the above example, the approximate number of
records that could be added is 365 (364 + 1).

It should be noted that the above three numbers are very
conservative approximations and can be exceeded. However,
exceeding these numbers may result in the occurence of fatal
program errors. It is the user's responsiblity to stay within the
numbers listed in the File Info window.

File Quit

Pressing the F7 key in the File menu will cause an exit from the
LPM program. If any files are currently opened, they will be
properly closed before the program is terminated. A file set
does not need to be explicity closed with the File Close function
before quitting the Landscape Plant Manager.

Once the LPM program is terminated, the user will be returned to
the Disk Operating System command level.






















The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 35






RECORD MENU

F1-Help F2-File F3-Record F4-Search
================
|F1-Close Menu |
|F2-Add |
|F3-Modify |
|F4-Delete |
================

The Record menu provides functions for the manipulation of
individual plant records. Through this menu plant records can be
added to, deleted from and modified in an opened file. If a file
is not opened these functions will be inactive. (See New and Open
in the File menu section).

Record Add

Pressing the F2 key from an opened Record menu will open the Add
Plant Record window and allow for the addition of plant records
to an opened file. In the window a form will appear for filling
with plant information.

For the Genus, Species and Name an underline will appear for
input of the names. Various cursor keys are available for
editing any information typed on the line. (See the Cursor
control keys assignments in the Reference section for further
information.)

The three names donot have to be properly formatted in regards to
upper/lower case. After input, the names will be formatted in
the following way: Genus will be capitalized, species will be
lower case, Name will have each word capitalized.

Following the names, information on the plant will be made
through choice menu selections for each field from Class through
Landscape Use. At each field a choice menu will appear presenting
up to 16 choices related to each criteria data field. Selection
is made by typing in a number next to the desired choice. The
cursor control keys are available for editing the number. As each
selection is made, a pointer will move to the next field
presenting a new choice menu related to the new field.

The Notes fields allow for information that does not fit in any
of the above fields such as varieties, costs and cultural notes.

At the end of adding a record, confirmation will be required in
regards to a correct plant record. Responding no will allow
editing of the record. This process can be repeated until a
correct record is on the screen. Responding yes to a correct
record will result in the record being saved to the file and the
appropiate indecies updated.





The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 36






Exit without adding a record can be done by pressing the Escape
key. This will move to a level that will allow quitting from the
Add Plant Records section.

Record Modify

Pressing the F3 key from an opened Record menu will allow for the
modification or editing of an existing plant record. Once
corrections are made the old record is removed and replaced with
the updated record.

When the Modify Plant Records window is opened, the standard LPM
form will be on the screen with input expected at the Genus
field. At this point, the scientific name or part of the name
can be typed in as a search key for finding the plant record that
is to be modified.

To find a plant record, the scientific name of the plant is typed
in at the Genus and Species fields. Once a scientific name is
typed in, the data file will be searched for the plant record.
When the plant record is found, the form will will be filled in
with the data. If desired, the record can be edited using the
same procedure as editing in the Add Record section. If the
record does not exist, the next record in alphabetic order will
be presented.

When finished with a record, a command letter menu will appear at
the bottom of the window allowing for access to the next or last
record in alphabetic order from the current record on the screen.

As with adding records, Escape will allow for exit without
updating of the current record.

For further information on accessing records with partial
scientific names see the Search Menu section on Scientific Name
in this Reference section.

Record Delete

The Delete function in the Record menu will delete or remove any
plant records from an opened file. To start the Delete Plant
Records function, press the F4 key from an opened Record menu.

When the Delete Plant Records window is opened, the standard LPM
form will be in the window. To delete a specific plant record,
the scientific name or partial name is typed in at the Genus and
Species field. The plant record is then found and displayed in
the form. Verification will be required as to deletion of the
plant record.

Once a plant record is deleted, it cannot be undeleted.

After the decision is made as to the deletion of the current
record, a command letter menu will appear at the bottom of the



The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 37






window allowing for access to the next or last record in
alphabetic order from the current record on the screen.

As with the other edit functions, pressing the Escape key will
allow for exit without deleting of the current record.

For further information on accessing records with partial
scientific names see the Search Menu section on Scientific Name
in this Reference section.
















































The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 38






SEARCH MENU

F1-Help F2-File F3-Record F4-Search
=====================
|F1-Close Menu |
|F2-Scientific Name |
|F3-Common Name |
|F4-Criteria |
=====================

Search Scientific Name

Pressing the F2 key from an opened Search Menu will open up the
window for finding plants in a data file by scientific name. By
specifying a complete or partial scientific name, the data file
will be searched and any plant equal or greater in alphabetic
order than the scientific name key will be displayed. Forward
and backward scanning of the data file will be available from the
first plant displayed. Also, optional printing of each displayed
record will be available.

When the window opens, the LPM form will be on the screen. A
complete or partial scientific name is typed into the form. The
genus of the plant is typed into the Genus field and the species
is typed into the Species field.

Once the return or enter key is pressed at the Species field,
searching will begin on the opened data file. The first plant
matching or greater than the scientific name will be displayed in
the form.

At the bottom of the form will appear a command letter menu.
Pressing N or L will allow forward or backward scanning of the
data file in alphabetic order from the record currently displayed
on the screen. Pressing P will print the record currently
displayed on the screen to the printer.

Pressing Q for quit will quit the searching through the current
part of the data file. The option will be available to specify a
new scientific name search key.

Partial keys may be specified in the scientific name search key.
The search key can consist of a partial genus name and a blank
species name or, the key can be a complete genus name and a
partial species name. A partial genus name and a partial species
name will be the same as a partial genus name and a blank species
name. A partial key can consist of just one letter in the Genus
field.

The search key is not case sensitive so the key can be typed in
any combination of upper and lower case characters.






The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 39






Search Common Name

Pressing the F3 key from an opened Search Menu will open up the
window for finding plants in a data file by common name. By
specifying a complete or partial common name, the data file will
be searched and any plant equal or greater than the common name
key will be displayed. Forward and backward scanning of the data
file will be available from the first plant displayed. Also,
optional printing of each displayed record will be available.

When the window opens, the LPM form will be on the screen. A
complete or partial common name is typed into the form at the
Name field.

Once the return or enter key is pressed at the Name field,
searching will begin on the opened data file. The first plant
matching or alphabetically greater than the common name will be
displayed in the form.

At the bottom of the form will appear a command letter menu.
Pressing N or L will allow forward or backward scanning of the
data file in alphabetic order from the record currently displayed
on the screen. Pressing P will print the record currently
displayed on the screen to the printer.

Pressing Q for quit will quit searching through the part of the
data file. The option will be available to specify a new
scientific name search key.

Partial keys may be specified in the common name search key. A
partial key can consist of just one letter in the Name field.

The search key is not case sensitive so the key can be typed in
any combination of upper and lower case characters.

When searching by common name, the search key will be based on
the noun of the common name followed by the adjectives preceding
the noun. As an example: Typing 'Maple' will display the first
Maple in the data file. Typing 'Red Maple' will display Red Maple
if it exists in the data file. Typing 'Red' will display Eastern
Redbud if it exists in the data file, not Red Maple.

To avoid problems, type in the common name as commonly
referenced; that is, adjectives followed by the noun. Donot type
in the name as based on how searching is performed.

Search Criteria

Pressing the F4 key from an opened Search menu will open the
Search by Criteria window. In this section, plants are found
based on up to 24 design criteria selections. Starting with a
list of all plants in a data file, as each design criteria
selection is made, the list of plants is reduced in size,
retaining only those plants that match selected criteria.



The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 40






When the Search by Criteria window is opened, another window will
open noting that the data file is being loaded into memory. Once
the file is loaded into memory, the window will close and the LPM
form will appear in the Search by Criteria window.

Searching is done by selecting a choice from a choice list
associated with each criteria. Once a selection is made, the
list in memory is scanned and all plants matching the selected
choice are placed into a new list in memory. When another
criteria choice is selected, searching is performed on the new
list in memory. All plants matching the selected choice are
placed in a new list. This process can be repeated until the
'Plants Found:' field at the top of the window has five or less
plants. Once there are five or fewer plants in the list, the
list can be displayed in the window or printed on a printer.

To make a choice selection, type the number corresponding to the
choice in the opened choice window for a particular criteria.
Along with a label at the top of the choice window, an arrow will
also point to the criteria in the form that is associated with
the choice window. Pressing the return key will start the search
process.

To move through the criteria fields, use the up and down arrow
keys (See Cursor Control Keys Assignments in the Reference
section). As one of these two keys is pressed, a choice window
will open at each criteria field. Continued pressing of the keys
will close a current choice window and open the next choice
window.

Once a search is performed, a command letter menu will appear at
the bottom of the screen.

Pressing C will return to criteria choice selection for continued
searching. A choice window will open at the first blank criteria
field on the form. Use the up/down arrow keys for continued
moving through the different criteria fields. Any non-blank
fields will be skipped over.

Pressing R for restart will reset the 'Plant Found:' to zero and
clear any list resulting from previous searches. The only list
remaining in memory will be the list originally loaded into
memory at the beginning of the section.

Once a 'Plants Found:' list is trimmed down to five plants or
less, the list can be displayed on the screen by pressing D for
display. Using information from the list in memory, the complete
plant records are loaded into memory one at a time from the data
file on the disk. After each record is displayed on the screen,
a command letter menu will appear at the bottom of the window.
Pressing N for next will display the next record in the list.
Pressing P will print the record currently displayed in the form.
Pressing Q for quit will quit the display of records and return
to the previous command prompt line.



The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 41






Pressing P for print instead of D for display will print the
complete list of plants to the printer. Included with the plants
will be a copy of the selected criteria choices and appropiate
page headers. During printing, donot interrupt the printer as it
will invoke the MS-DOS level error system. (See the File Print
in the Reference section).

Pressing Q for quit will start an exit from the Search by
Criteria section. Because quitting this section will destroy the
list in memory requiring reloading of the list, an extra warning
will be issued before exiting is allowed.














































The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 42






CURSOR CONTROL KEYS ASSIGNMENTS

Whenever an underline ("_____") apprears during a request for
information, there will be cursor control keys available for text
editing and moving the cursor through the LPM form.

All or most of the keys are used whenever the underline appears
for input of information. Any key below marked "Ctrl-x" means to
type the CTRL key and the related letter or key at the same time.
The cursor control keys are:

Home or Ctrl-A: This will move the cursor to the beginning
of a line.

End or Ctrl-F: This will move the cursor to the end of a
line.

Up Arrow, Shift-Tab, or Ctrl-E: This will move the cursor up
one line, field or position. This will only work if entering
information on more than one line in a window. In certain
sections this key will be equivalent to using the return or
enter key.

Down Arrow or Ctrl-X: This will move the cursor down one
line, field or position. This will only work if entering
information on more than one line in a window. In certain
sections this key will be equivalent to using the return or
enter key.

Left Arrow or Ctrl-S: This will move the cursor left one
space.

Right Arrow or Ctrl-D: This will move the cursor right one
space.

Del or Ctrl-G: This will delete the character above the
cursor and shift all characters to the right of the deleted
character over to the left on the line. The cursor stays in
the same place and does not move to the left.

Backspace or Ctrl-H: A rubout or destructive backspace. A
backspace will cause the cursor to move left erasing the
character in front of it and drag all characters on the
right to the left.

Ctrl-End or Ctrl-Z: End of input for a record or field.
This key allows finishing of input without having to move
the cursor to the end of a line or use the down key to move
the cursor to the bottom when there is more than one line of
information.

Ctrl-Y: This will erase or clear all characters from the
cursor to the end of the line.




The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 43






Return or Enter: End of single line input.

These keys assignments are based on the IBM PC keyboard and true
compatible keyboards (Zenith Z-150). If the arrow keys and other
similar keys (Home, End, PgUp, PgDn) are not available or give
erratic results, the control keys should be used in place of the
cursor keys.


















































The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 44






MANAGING LANDSCAPE PLANT MANAGER FILES

Landscape Plant Manager file sets on a disk can be manipulated
like any other file on a disk using various PC-DOS/MS-DOS level
commands.

Each time a new file set is created, three files are established
on the disk. These files are:

Plant Data File: xxxxxxxx.DAT
Scientific Name Index File: xxxxxxxx.SIX
Common Name Index File: xxxxxxxx.CIX

where 'xxxxxxxx' is the user assigned filename with '.DAT',
'.SIX', and '.CIX' being the LPM file extensions. The three
extensions should not be used for non-LPM files in the same
directory.

Copying, deleting and backing up of the LPM files can be
accomplished using the available PC-DOS/MS-DOS commands. For
further information on using the various commands, consult the
appropiate reference manual.



































The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 45






ERRORS, PROBLEMS AND BUGS

While using the Landscape Plant Manager various problems may
occur. Many times these are due to simple mistakes made by the
user because something was typed in that was not expected by the
LPM program.

The author of the program has tried to anticipate most of the
errors that might occur and has impleted ways to avoid 'crashing'
the program.

Errors detected by the LPM program will appear in an alert box
that will pop up in the middle of the screen. If an alert box
pops open, read the error message and press any key to close it
again. Usually, the mistake can be easily corrected after the
alert box is closed.

LPM Alert Box Messages

The error messages that will appear in the alert boxes are as
follows:

Under FILE NEW

"Sorry, insufficient space on this disk to create a file. Exiting
New File." The program determined that there was not enough room
on a disk to creat a new file set. If this occurs, exit the
program then format a new disk and place a copy of the LPM
program files on the new disk. Restart the LPM program using the
new disk. An alternative is to delete any non-essential files
from the disk.

"File already exist. Please choose another name." A file was
found on the disk that matched the name given as the new file
name. Choose another name for the new file set.

"Invalid extension in the filename. Please try again." An
extension dot or full extension was typed in with the new file
name. The LPM program will add it's own extensions to the new
file name. Donot add any extension when typing in a new file
name.

"Sorry, error detected in creating Data File. Possible disk
problem." The program could not create a new plant data file.
Possible problems could be insufficient room not detected earlier
or a damaged disk. If this problem occurs, it is recommended
that a new LPM system disk be created and the new disk used in
place of the current disk.

"Sorry, error detected in creating Scientific Name Index File.
Possible disk problem." The program could not create a new
scientific name index file. Possible problems could be
insufficient room not detected earlier or a damaged disk. If




The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 46






this problem occurs, it is recommended that a new LPM system disk
be created and the new disk used in place of the current disk.

"Sorry, error detected in creating Common Name Index File.
Possible disk problem." The program could not create a new common
name index file. Possible problems could be insufficient room
not detected earlier or a damaged disk. If this problem occurs,
it is recommended that a new LPM system disk be created and the
new disk used in place of the current disk.

Under FILE OPEN

"File set does not exist. Please recheck name or use NEW to
create a file set." The program could not find the files on the
disk that match the name given by the user. This will most
likely be due to a mistyped name. Check the directory listed in
the window and try again.

"Sorry, error detected in opening Data File. Possible disk
problem." The program could not open the plant data file.
Possible problems are a damaged data file or a damaged disk. If
this problem occurs, use a copy of the data file from a backup
disk. If no backup copy is available, the data file is considered
lost.

"Sorry, error detected in opening Scientific Name Index File.
Possible disk problem." The program could not open the scientific
name index file. Possible problems are a damaged index file or a
damaged disk. If this problem occurs, use a copy of the index
file from a backup disk. If no backup copy is available, the
index file is considered lost.

"Sorry, error detected in opening Common Name Index File.
Possible disk problem." The program could not open the common
name index file. Possible problems are a damaged index file or a
damaged disk. If this problem occurs, use a copy of the index
file from a backup disk. If no backup copy is available, the
index file is considered lost.

Under FILE PRINT

"Cannot detect printer. If one is connected, please check it." If
a printer is connected to the computer, check to make sure the
printer is turned on, on-line and loaded with paper.

"Printer does not respond. Please check it." During a pause, the
printer was taken off-line or turned off. Turn the printer on or
put it back on-line to correct this error.

Under RECORD ADD

"Selected choice is not in the choice list. Please try again."
When making a choice from an opened choice window, the number




The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 47






typed in did not correspond to any of the numbers in the choice
list.

"Duplicate use has been selected. Please choose another landscape
use." Up to five landscape uses can be selected for each plant.
However, to avoid problems in searching, all of these uses with
the exception of 'No Choice' must be different.

"Names cannot be blank. Please re-edit the record." Because the
scientific name and common name are used in the indecies, they
cannot be blank. Re-edit the record by filling in the blank name
fields.

"The plant already exists in the datafile. Please re-edit the
record." Before a plant record is added, a check is made for any
existing plants with the same scientific name. If this occurs,
change the scientific name to a different name.

"Sorry, file is full and cannot add on any more records. Exiting
Add to List." It was determined that the maximum allowable
number of records for a file was reached.

"Sorry, insufficient room on the disk to safely add new records.
Exiting Add to List." If was determined that there was little
room left on a disk to safely add more records to a file. To
correct this, one must go to a larger capacity disk or remove any
other files on the current disk to make more room.

Under RECORD MODIFY

"Selected choice is not in the choice list. Please try again."
When making a choice from an opened choice window, the number
typed in did not correspond to any of the numbers in the choice
list.

"Duplicate use has been selected. Please choose another landscape
use." Up to five landscape uses can be selected for each plant.
However, to avoid problems in searching, all of these uses with
the exception of 'No Choice' must be different.

"Names cannot be blank. Please re-edit the record." Because the
scientific name and common name are used in the indecies, they
cannot be blank. Re-edit the record by filling in the blank name
fields.

"The plant already exists in the datafile. Please re-edit the
record." When a scientific name is changed, a check is made for
any existing plants with the same scientific name before the
edited recorded is put back in the data file. If this occurs,
change the scientific name to a different name.

Under SEARCH SCIENTIFIC NAME and SEARCH COMMON NAME





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"Cannot detect printer. If one is connected, please check it." If
a printer is connected to the computer, check to make sure the
printer is turned on, on-line and loaded with paper.

Under SEARCH CRITERIA

"Cannot detect printer. If one is connected, please check it." If
a printer is connected to the computer, check to make sure the
printer is turned on, on-line and loaded with paper.

"Number entered is not in the choice list. Please try again."
When making a choice from an opened choice window, the number
typed in did not correspond to any of the numbers in the choice
list.

"No records where found matching your choice. Please make a
different choice." Based on the plants contained in the opened
file, none of the plants had a design criteria that matched the
selected choice. Select other choices for the particular design
criteria until plants are found, or choose another design
criteria.

"There are more plants in the found list than can be printed.
Please search again." A plant list must be trimmed down to five
or fewer plants before the list can be displayed on the screen or
printed to a printer. Type 'C' to continue searching for plant
based on additional design criteria until the list is down to
five or fewer plants.

"The Plants Found list is empty. Please continue or restart
search." There were no plants in the plants found list to print
or display. Type 'C' to continue or 'R' to restart.

"Insufficient memory. Sorry, Search by Criteria not permitted."
The program determined there was not enough memory to load the
currently opened plant file into the remaining memory space. If
this occurs, use a computer with more memory or, delete several
little used and unused plants from the data file. See Delete
under the Record menu in the Reference section.

"Leaving this section will clear the list from memory (but not
the disk). Be sure you really want to quit!" This is not an
error message but a warning to avoid accidental exit of the
Search by Criteria section before one has intended to quit.

PC-DOS/MS-DOS Error Messages

There are a few situations that will cause errors that the LPM
program cannot intercept. Instead these errors will invoke the
PC-DOS/MS-DOS error system and generate an error message that
will look similar to this:

Write fault error writing device PRN
Abort, Retry, Ignore?



The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 49






Usually this will garbage up the screen display.

The most possible causes of this type of error message will be:

Turning the printer off during printing. (Either off line or
powered off).

Opening a floppy disk drive door.

Removing the disk containing the LPM program files while the
program is running.

Damaged diskettes.

Faulty disk drives.

To avoid these problems remember to:

Never turn off the printer while it is running.

Make sure the printer has enough paper.

Never open up a floppy disk drive door once the LPM program
is started.

Treat the diskettes and computer equipment with care.

Always make backup copies of your files onto one or more
disks.

Bugs

In the landscape industry, a bug is a type of insect that
sometimes causes damages to plants. In the computer industry a
bug is an error in the program that will cause false data to be
generated or cause the program to stop at the most inopportune
time.

If you encounter bugs in the program even though you have done
everything right several times, please inform the author so he
can correct the problem.

If a fatal error (bug) occurs which stops the program, restart
the program and repeat your steps that caused the fatal error to
see if the error will occur again. If the same or similar fatal
error happens several times, please write down any error messages
that appear on the screen (or do a screen dump if possible) and
send a report to the author of the program.









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LANDSCAPE PLANT MANAGER PROGRAM INFORMATION

Minimum system requirements:

IBM-PC series or true compatible computer with 128k of
memory,one 360k floppy disk drive and MS-DOS/PC-DOS version
2.0 or above.

Optional system equipment:

Color display monitor, Epson or Epson compatible printer,
hard disk drive in place of floppy disk drive.

Minimum RAM Memory: 128k
Maximum RAM Memory: 640k
Minimum Disk Drives Required: 1
Maximum Disk Drives Supported: 1
Minimum Disk Storage Capacity Required: 360k
Maximum Disk Storage Capacity: 20 megabytes (est.)
Maximum Records per File: 32,767

Approximate Storable Records on a 360k floppy disk in one or more
files: 450 records.

Approximate Storable Records on a hard disk in one or more files:
Based on partition size.

Approximate number of records that can be loaded into memory for
Search by Criteria:

Memory Records
====== =======
128k 570
256k 2200
320k 2800
512k 4400
640k 5600

Development System: Zenith Z-150 (IBM PC compatible) with 320k of
memory, 360k floppy disk drive and 11 meg hard disk drive.

Development Software: Turbo Pascal 3.00B, Turbo Toolbox, MS-DOS
2.11, PC-Write, and Microsoft Word (IBM and Macintosh versions).

Monitor Display Note: During testing, it was found that some
color display card and color monitor combinations will show a
flicker or snow as windows pop open and close. This is a
hardware problem and does not affect program operation.









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REGISTERING

After reviewing the software to determine if the Landscape Plant
Manager will meet your needs, a tax deductible donation of $50.00
would be appreciated to continue support of this program.
Registering by sending in the donation will enable you to receive
additional benefits. (See Registration Specifics for further
details).

User Supported Software Concepts

User supported software is a general concept where the author
encourages his or her copyrighted software be copied and shared
with others. After a trial period of trying out the software, if
the user finds the software to meet his or her needs, the user
then supports the author with some form of donation, registration
fee, support fee or payment. In return for supporting the author
of the software, the user usually obtains further benefits such
as free copies of major software updates and technical support.
User supported software goes under several other terms such as
Freeware, Shareware and MacHonor.

To quote Bob Wallace, author of the PC-Write word processor,
"Sharware is like public television: the programming is freely
distributed, but support from users is encouraged."

Please note that the Landscape Plant Manager and other user
supported software is NOT public domain software. All Landscape
Plant Manager software and materials (including this manual) are
copyrighted materials. Please respect the author's rights.

For those unfamiliar with public domain software, it is software
written by programmers and released into the public domain for
whatever use others see fit without any compensation for the
author. Usually software released as public domain means the
author has given up any rights to the software. Also, users of
public domain software receive no additional support when using
the software.

Where Your Money Goes

When you send in your donation, part of the money will go toward
providing extra services to you as a registered donor and,
continued support and enhancement of the Landscape Plant Manager
software.

Any remaining money will be used to support and develop computer
usage in the Ornamental Horticulture Technology courses and
provide hands-on horticulture related computer training for the
students in the program. This support will be in the form of
computer hardware, application software and development software.
The Landscape Plant Manager is the first such project for use by
our students in plant identification and landscape design
courses. Another project currently being developed is use of



The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 52






computer aided design by our students in the Advanced Landscape
Design course.

Even though the author has spent a year developing the Landscape
Plant Manager over and above a full time teaching load, none of
the money will go towards his salary.

Future plans, goals and ideas

As mentioned above, your donation will go towards enhancement of
the Landscape Plant Manager and development of other computer
software related to ornamental horticulture. As these
enhancements and new programs are developed, registered donors
will be the first to receive the software.

Some plans and ideas that will hopefully be developed in the near
future are:

-Enhancement of the Lanscape Plant Manager to include program
control by use of a mouse, improved file printing and
possible limited report generation for incorporation into a
word processor.

-Symbol libraries and templates for use with computer aided
design software in landscape design.

Why Should I Pay?

Because you have received the software free for your review
before paying for the software, there is a temptation not to send
in a donation.

Many excuses are given such as: "They will not miss my one
payment" or "How are they going to catch me".

It is hoped that you will make a donation. The author established
a low tax deductible donation price for the software to make it
affordable to schools, students, homeowners and small
landscapers.

As an alternative, the author could have: copy protected the
software, asked for a $300.00 payment before giving you the
software and made you sign a ridiculous liscense agreement.

The author would appreciate your monetary support of this
program. Without your support, other projects mentioned above
cannot be developed and passed on to you. Also, the author may
be forced to do the alternative mentioned above.

Basically, we trust you in the landscape industry. Please help us
maintain that trust. Thanks.






The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 53






Registration Specifics

After you have reviewed the Landscape Plant Manager, if you find
it useful in your work, we are asking for a tax deductible
donation as follows:

INDIVIDUALS AND SMALL LANDSCAPE BUSINESSES: If you are an
individual in a landscape business, a single site landscape
business or a homeowner then please send in a single $50.00
donation.

LARGE LANDSCAPE BUSINESSES: If you are a multiple site or branch
business where the Landscape Plant Manager will be used at two or
more sites please send in a $50.00 donation for each site that
will be using the Landscape Plant Manager.

SCHOOLS: If the Landscape Plant Manager will be operating on only
one non-networked computer that is used by all the students, the
donation is the same as an individual.

If copies of the Landscape Plant Manager are distributed to
students for individual student use or the program will be used
in a computer network, please send in a $50.00 donation each term
(quarter or semester) that copies are distributed or a copy of
the program resides on the network.

Schools may not charge students towards payment of the donation.
However, students can be required to purchase the diskette
necessary for obtaining a copy of the Landscape Plant Manager and
pay up to but not over $2.00 for a manual to cover the cost of
manual reproduction. For details and permission on manual
reproduction using more traditional means, please contact the
author.

STUDENTS: No charge. However, you will not receive the benefits
of registered donors. Once you leave school and obtain a
position in the landscape industry, it is hoped you or the
business where you are employed will make the $50.00 donation.

Registered donors will receive the following benefits:

A letter thanking you for your tax deductible donation to
the Development Fund and support of the Ornamental
Horticulture Technology program at Ferris State College.

Postcards notifying you of the next two major Landscape
Plant Manager updates. The first postcard is redeemable
towards receiving one free disk with a copy of the updated
program. The second postcard is redeemable towards a copy of
the updated program for a small charge to cover cost of the
diskette and mailing.

Written support for any problems you may have with the
Landscape Plant Manager for one year.



The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 54






If you wish to make a donation larger than the requested $50.00
donation, it would be very much appreciated.

Because of the low cost of the software and a full time teaching
load, the author cannot provide telephone support for any
problems you may have with the Landscape Plant Manager. Sorry.

If you donot find the Landscape Plant Manager useful in your
work, please pass the disk on to another member of the landscape
industry for their review and destroy this manual.















































The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 55






REGISTRATION FORM

Name:__________________________________________________

Organization:__________________________________________

Address:_______________________________________________

City:________________________ State:_____ Zip:_________

Phone: (______) ______-_________ ext.__________

Number of sites:________ LPM Version number:_______________
(found at top of LPM Intro. window)
Computer System:

Manufacturer:____________________________________

Model:___________________________________________

RAM Memory Installed:____________________________

Number, Capacity and Type (Floppy, Hard, etc) of Disk Drives:

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

Video Display (Monochrome or Color Graphics, etc)
Please describe display most often used:

_________________________________________________

_________________________________________________

On the back, the author would appreciate any enhancements,
suggestions, comments and criticisms concerning the Landscape
Plant Manager software and documentation. Also, please make note
if you would like to see the Landscape Plant Manager on other
computer systems (Apple, Tandy, Commodore) and, any other ideas
you may have concerning computer useage in the landscape
industry.

With a check made out to "The FSC Biology/OHT Development Fund",
please send this registration form and your donation to:

Department Head
Department of Biological Sciences
Ferris State College
Big Rapids, MI 49307







The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 56






Appendix A-Larix Data Sheet

Genus: Larix Species: decidua
Name: Larch
Class: Tree Bark Color: Medium Gray
Type: Deciduous Bark Texture: Fissured
Mature Height: 68-77 feet Hardiness Zone: #2/-50 to -40 F
Mature Spread: 28-37 feet Soil Type: Loam
Growth Habit: Pyramidal Soil Moisture: Moist & Drained
Density: Medium Soil pH: Slightly Acid
Texture: Medium Light Conditions: Full Sun
Summer Leaf Color: Medium Green Growth Rate: Fast
Fall Leaf Color: Yellow Fertility Needs: Moderate
Flower Color: Yellow Insect Problems: Susceptable
Flower Bloom Time: Apr-May Disease Problems: Susceptable
Fruit Color: Yellow Orange
Landscape Uses:
Screen Specimen
Note 1: Deciduous conifer (drops needles in fall)
Note 2: 'Fastigiata' columnar shape
Note 3: 'Pendula' weeping form




































The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 57






Appendix B-Ferris State College

Ferris State College
Big Rapids, MI 49307

Ferris State College is entering its second century as a national
leader in career-oriented education. Over 130 programs are
offered through the Schools of Allied Health, Arts and Sciences,
Business, Education, Pharmacy, Technology and the College of
Optometry. A feature at Ferris is "laddering" which allows
students who have completed one of many one and two year degrees
to transfer into the four year programs without little or no loss
of credit.

Founded in 1884, Ferris has developed a modern 600-acre campus in
BigRapids, at the gateway to west-central Michigan's vacation and
recreation country.

For further information or applications, contact the Director of
Admissions, Ferris State College, Big Rapids, MI 49307

Appendix C-Ornamental Horticulture Technology Program

The Ornamental Horticulture Technology program is offered through
the School of Arts and Sciences at Ferris State College. It is
an eighteen month program leading to an Associates of Applied
Science degree. The prime orientation of the OHT program is to
provided students with training in the outdoor landscaping area.
A majority ofthe OHT students upon graduation go into the
landscape industry. Due to the "laddering" concept at Ferris
State College, several of our students upon completion of their
OHT degree continue in one of several baccalaureate programs.
Most of these students complete a four year degree in business
within two additional years of coursework. For further
information on the Ornamental Horticulture Technology program at
Ferris State College, contact the: Program Coordinator,
Ornamental Horticulture Technology Program, Ferris State College,
Big Rapids, MI 49307.



















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