TAS-DIARY
The Electronic Diary
A
Tasman Software Program
for the
ZX 48K Spectrum
© Tasman Ltd 1985
Contents
Introduction
Setting Up TAS-DIARY
Using TAS-DIARY
Loading
The Master Menu
Change Time/Date
Backup Files
Shut the Diary
Open the Diary
The TAS-DIARY Page
Date Entry
Calendar Display
Page Display
Standby Mode
Page Cursor
Find Date/Word
Copy to Printer
Shut the Diary
Editor Mode
Cursor Movement
The Keyboard
Insert a Character
Quit
The Sort Routine
Printers
ZX Printer
ZX Interface 1 RS232
Other Interfaces
Conclusion
Important Note
Examples
Summary of Commands
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to TAS-DIARY - a fast and efficient method of keeping an electronic Day to
Day Diary.
The program runs on the 48K Spectrum with at least one microdrive attached. Backup
datafiles can also be transferred to and from cassettes if necessary.
The program is supplied on cassette and must be transferred to microdrive. The
program must be transferred to microdrive for each year that you wish to keep a
diary. The procedure for transferring the program from cassette to microdrive is
described in the next section.
The program occupies approximately 12K of a microdrive cartridge leaving around
78K available for data storage on an average cartridge.
Setting up TAS-DIARY
Place the TAS-DIARY cassette into your tape player and type:
LOAD ""
and press ENTER and then the PLAY button on your cassette player.
An initialisation utility is first loaded. Watch the screen and stop the tape player when
prompted by the program.
Place a cartridge into microdrive Number 1and press any key to run the initialisation
program. The cartridge will then be formatted. Remember that any data or programs
on the cartridge will be erased.
When the cartridge has finished formatting you will be asked to enter the year for
which TAS-DIARY is to be used. Enter all four figures (e.g. 1985 not 85). Any year from
0 until 9999 may be entered. (NOTE: Years before 1000 should also be entered as four
figures i.e. 59 should be 0059).
After entering the year and verifying it TAS-DIARY will ask you to enter a suitable
PASSWORD. The password can be anything you like up to six characters in length.
Hereafter, you will be able to access TAS-DIARY only after entering the correct
password so make sure that you DO NOT FORGET IT!
The program will then ask you to specify if you are using a ZX Printer, a printer
attached to the ZX Interface 1 RS232, or a printer attached to some other interface.
After the above information has been entered the program will create a datafile for
each month from January to December on the cartridge.
After the file creation process has been completed the program will prompt you to
restart your tape player, and the main program, which is in two parts, will be loaded
and then transferred to the microdrive cartridge.
When this initialisation process has been completed, which takes a little over 5
minutes, you can rewind the program cassette and store it away for future use.
Using TAS-DIARY
Loading
Place the TAS-DIARY cartridge into microdrive number 1 and press
RUN
and then
ENTER
and TAS-DIARY will load and run. When TAS-DIARY has loaded the Master Menu is
displayed.
The Master Menu
The Master Menu offers four options:
1. Open the Diary
2. Backup Files
3. Change Time/Date
4. Shut the Diary
A cursor is placed over Option 1.You can move the cursor up and down the menu
using the up and down cursor keys. Once you have selected an option by placing the
cursor over it, press ENTER and the option will be initiated.
The Master Menu options are described in the following sections.
Change Time/Date
This option can be used at the beginning of the day or whenever TAS-DIARY is loaded.
When TAS-DIARY is first loaded the time is, by default, set at 00:00 and the date at
JANUARY 1.This option enables the current time and date to be set and subsequently
displayed regardless of which page of the diary is being used.
Enter the time (in 24 hour format) and the date as prompted. Errors in input will
result in a BEEP and the message 'INADMISSABLE'. Preceding zeros need not be
entered (e.g. 0930 can be entered as 930).
When the current time and date have been entered the Master Menu will again be
displayed.
Backup files
TAS-DIARY collects and manipulates data and considerable use is made of the
microdrive. There is always the risk of data corruption or computer malfunction due
to power surges in the electrical system and the golden rule is to always MAKE
BACKUP FILES!
The BACKUP FILES option enables you to SAVE extra copies of the datafile currently
in memory either to microdrive (1 to 8) or to cassette tape (9). Each stage of each
routine is fully prompted. At the conclusion of the BACK UP routine the Master Menu
will again be displayed. You can make more backups at this point if you wish.
A third choice (0) enables you to LOAD a back up datafile from cassette tape. This
routine differs in that you must also enter the password and display date. The Master
Menu and the usual file access routine will then be bypassed and the required page
displayed.
If, having selected the BACKUP option, you decide not to proceed then just press
ENTER and the Master Menu will again be displayed.
Shut the Diary
This provides an orderly shut down of the program. The current datafile in memory
is saved and the computer returns to Basic.
Open the Diary
Access to TAS-DIARY can be gained only by entering the correct password. You are
allowed one incorrect entry. The computer will clear and reset itself after the second
incorrect entry.
Once the correct password has been entered you are given the opportunity to change
it if you wish. A password of up to 6 characters can be chosen.
The screen will now display a blank TAS-DIARY page. From now until you 'shut' TASDIARY
this format will be displayed at all times.
The TAS-DIARY Page
The monitor screen is divided into three windows. The largest window (on the left of
the screen) is the section into which your diary entries will be written. The PAGE DATE
and PROGRAM MODE is displayed in the box at the top of the window with the
COMMAND BOX at the bottom.
The current TIME and DATE is displayed in the window at the top right of the screen.
Below this is the CALENDAR window.
18 lines of 36 characters each are available for diary entries
Date Entry
Note that the command
ENTER Month (Name/Number)
now appears in the COMMAND BOX. You may enter the month required either by
name in full or in part (not less than the first three letters). Alternatively you can enter
the month number. Only the first six letters of longer names will actually appear on
the screen.
Next enter the required day of the month as prompted by the program. Errors in input
are greeted with a BEEP and the screen message 'INADMISSABLE'. The program will
then await an acceptable entry.
Calendar Display
Once the date has been entered the calendar for the required month is displayed.
Page Display
The data file for the specified month is now LOADED from microdrive. The entries for
the specified date are displayed. A reminder that TAS-DIARY is now in STANDBY MODE
is displayed in the DATE and PROGRAM MODE box.
Standby Mode
The COMMAND BOX now contains the prompts for all the functions associated with
STANDBY MODE. These are:
(up, down, left ,right) = Page Cursor
E = Editor Mode
F = Find Date/Word
C = Copy Page to Printer
S = Shut the Diary
(up, down, left, right) = Page Cursor
The cursor keys provide a fast way of moving from day to day within the current
month. The date for the current page is shown by a cursor in the calendar box. This
cursor is moved using the cursor keys and the page changes in unison with the date
selected on the calendar.
F = Find Date/Word
This option allowsyou to search the datafile currently in memory for a particular
date or entry.
When the F key is pressed in STANDBY MODE the message in the COMMAND BOX
changes to show:
Find (D)ate or (W)ord
Find Date: Whilst you can turn to any page in the current month using the cursor
keys, FIND DATE will take you straight to the page you require. Just enter the date as
prompted. This function also enable you to change the month. The current datafile
will be discarded after saving if necessary and the new datafile is loaded and
displayed.
Find Word: You may enter search criteria of up to 12 characters. Each page of the
datafile currently in memory will be checked and any pages on which entries and
criteria match will be displayed and marked. You can, for example, search for a
particular name or event, display all the appointments during the month that were
timed for (say) 0930 etc. There are many applications for this useful function.
Remember that upper case and lower case letters have different ASCII values when
entering search criteria.
The entry you are searching for may occur more than once during the month. Just
press N and the next entry will be displayed. Press ENTER only and the program will
return to STANDBY MODE.
(NOTE: When entering the search criteria the DELETE key is inoperative. If you do
make a mistake just press the ENTER key and select the FIND function again).
C = Copy to Printer
The copy to printer option is used to print out the contents of the current page of the
diary. This option may also be used to print a screen copy on the ZX printer or, if
screen copy software has been loaded, on a dot matrix printer. When this option has
been selected press P to print the current page or press Z for a screen copy.
S = Shut the Diary
This enables you to SHUT the diary without having to switch off the computer. The
datafile currently in memory will be saved if necessary and the Master Menu will be
displayed. Access again to the diary must be made via the Security Check and Date
Entry procedure. The Clock will continue to run.
E = Editor Mode
Editor mode is used to enter or amend diary entries. The available commands are
shown in the COMMAND BOX at the bottom of the screen and are:
(up, down, left, right) = Cursor Movement
GRAPHICS = Insert
EDIT = Quit
(up, down, left, right). = Cursor Movement
Use the cursor keys to position the cursor anywhere on the page. You may then type
on the page starting from where the cursor rests.
(NOTE: The ENTER key will also move the cursor down line by line).
The Keyboard
The computer keyboard now operates like an electric typewriter. All the usual
functions such as SPACE, DELETE, SHIFT and SYMBOL SHIFT work normally and
you are able to overwrite entries on each line if you wish. There are 18 lines on the
page and 36 characters can be placed on each line.
Any key, if held down, will repeat. This includes the DELETE key and the CURSOR
keys. The SPACE key will overwrite, with a blank space, anything written on a line.
The DELETE key will delete the character immediately to the left.
GRAPHICS = Insert a Character
Place the cursor over the character immediately to the right of the place where you
wish to insert another character(s) and press SHIFT 9 (the GRAPHICS key) as many
times as you need spaces. The space(s) into which you can enter your extra
character(s) will then be created.
EDIT = Quit
This function takes TAS-DIARY back into STANDBY MODE when you have finished
writing, deleting or amending data on the page. The page entries will immediately be
sorted and the prompts in the DATE/DISPLAY MODE BOX and the COMMAND BOX will
change accordingly.
The Sort Routine
Upon leaving EDITOR MODE the entries on the page will be SORTED. The sort routine
works only on the first four characters in any line and uses the standard ASCII values.
Sorting by only the first four characters allows great flexibility in the way in which
entries can be presented.
For example you may (mostly) use TAS-DIARY as a method of keeping track of
appointments. By preceding each entry with a four figure time reference (using the
24 hour clock) you will find that you can enter appointments in any order, at any time
and TAS-DIARY will sort them into the correct chronological order for you.
Printers
This section describes modifications to the TAS-DIARY Basic program that may be
necessary to make use of your printer.
ZX Printer
No modifications are necessary for the ZX Printer. The copy to printer command
prints a screen copy on this printer.
ZX Interface 1 RS232
This section applies if you are using a printer connected to the RS232output on ZX
Interface 1. The P option to "print the current page" that follows the "copy to printer"
command will produce a print out of the current diary page. The Z option for a screen
copy will only work if you have suitable screen copy software loaded. Screen copy
software must be loaded either into the Spectrum printer buffer or into memory
above location 64715. Line 88 of the TAS-DIARY Basic program contains a COPY
statement that can be changed to whatever statement is needed to produce a screen
copy (i.e.RANDOMIZE USR 23296). The TAS-DIARY Basic can be re-saved onto the
microdrive by executing:
ERASE "m";1;"run"
followed by
SAVE *"m";1;"run" LlNE 77
Other Interfaces
With software driven interfaces the interface software should be loaded and
initialised before loading TAS-DIARY. Interface Software must be loaded either into
the Spectrum printer buffer or into memory above location 64715. Any intialisation
statement that is required can be put at the end of line 77 of the TAS-DIARY program.
The P option to "print the current page" that follows the "copy to printer" command
will then produce a print out of the current diary page. The Z option for a screen copy
will only work if you have suitable screen copy software loaded. Screen copy software
must be loaded either into the Spectrum printer buffer or into memory above
location 64715. Line 88 of the TAS-DIARY Basic program contains a COPY statement
that can be changed to whatever statement is needed to produce a screen copy (i.e.
RANDOMIZE USR 23296).The TAS-DIARY Basic can be re-saved onto the microdrive
by executing:
ERASE “m";1;”run"
followed by
SAVE *"m";1;"run"LlNE 77
Conclusion
There are many applications for TAS-DIARY and some examples appear on the next
few pages of this manual. We are sure that you will develop uses of your own as you
become more familiar with the software.
Important Note
Once loaded. the current datafile stays in memory until you either load a new datafile
or turn the computer off. This means that in the event a file fails to verify or you select
the wrong microdrive number or you accidentally press the BREAK key whilst a
microdrive is operating then the opportunity is there for you to recover the situation
without losing the file or any new data just entered. Simply enter GOTO 1 (DO NOT
ENTER RUN as this will destroy all the data in the memory). The Master Menu will be
displayed and you will then be able to resave the current file using the BACK-UP
option.
When saving to microdrive the sequence is erase the old file/save the new file/verify
the new file. Under certain circumstances during the making of BACK-UP files on
microdrive it may be that there is no original file to erase and the computer may
spend a little time trying to find the non-existent file before proceeding with the save/
verify routine.
Example 1
TAS-DIARY can be used to summarise business appointments. Use of the 24 hour
clock references at the beginning of each line will enable the program to sort the
entries into chronological order no matter what order or time they were actually
written down.
Use of asterisks will ensure that important reminders will be placed at the top of the
page.
You can bypass the sort routine by leaving blank the first four spaces on any line.
Example 2
The sort routine can also be circumvented by labelling each line with the letters a-r.
This will allow you to use TAS-DIARYas a personal record of day to day events.
Example 3
Hotels and Restaurants find it useful to pre-plan menus so why not do it at home? You
could plan and record you menus a month in advance and plan your shopping
accordingly. Use the line labelling system as in Example No 2. Alternatively you could
leave the first four spaces on each line blank. Never leave blank lines in the middle
because, when saving the data to Microdrive, TAS-DIARY ignores them. Place a divider
on the line such as the '--000--' used in this example.
Example 4
Another possibility. Keep a record of your day to day spending.
SUMMARY OF COMMANDS
INITIALISATION
ENTER YEAR – 4 figures 0 to 9999
ENTER PASSWORD - Anything you like
- Up to 6 characters
STARTING UP
LOADING – LOAD/ENTER/RUN/ENTER
MASTER MENU
(Change Time/Date)
ENTER TIME - Use 24 hour clock
- Time starts from ENTER
- Leading Zeros can be omitted
ENTER YEAR - 4 figures 0 to 9999
ENTER MONTH - 3 or more letters
- Upper or lower case
- Number 1 to 12
ENTER DATE - Number 1 to max days in month
MASTER MENU
(Back Up Files)
MICRODRIVES - Number 1 to number of drives
attached – max 8
CASSETTE SAVE – Number 9
CASSETTE LOAD – Number 0
MASTER MENU
(Open The Diary)
ENTER PASSWORD – 2 tries only
CHANGE PASSWORD - Anything you like
- Up to 6 characters
ENTER MONTH - 3 or more letters
- Upper or lower case
- Number 1 to 12
ENTER DATE - Number 1 to max days in month
STANDBY MODE
SELECT PAGE - Cursor keys
EDITOR MODE - Press 'E'
FIND DATE - Press 'F + 'D' then date entry
FIND WORD – Press 'F"+ 'W’ then word entry
COPY TO PRINTER - Press 'C'
SHUT THE DIARY - Press 'S'
EDITOR MODE
POSITION CURSOR – Cursor Keys
DELETE - Press Shift '0'
Deletes character left of cursor
INSERT - Press Shift '9'
Inserts space right of character under cursor
KEYBOARD – Works normally
QUIT TO STANDBY - Press Shift '1'
IMPORTANT - on BREAK enter 'GOTO 1'
TAS-DIARY
© Tasman Software 1985
The program TAS-DIARY is copyright and is sold subject to the condition that
it shall not be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated.
Tasman Software Ltd.
Springfield House
Hyde Terrace
Leeds LS2 9LN
Reproduction or translation of any part of this work or the computer program that
accompanies this publication without permission of the copyright owner is unlawful.