CALCOUNT Version 2.1 Copyright 1990 by K. R. Haeusler ------------------------------------------------------ A. INTRODUCTION CALCOUNT, the Calorie Counting System, is designed around three files, FOODCAL.DAT, MEALCAL.DAT and PERS.DAT. FOODCAL.DAT has more than 550 different food items (165 in Demo) and contains each item's caloric value per a specific unit of measure. MEALCAL.DAT is an empty file in which you will record "meals" which are created using CALCOUNT. PERS.DAT is also an empty file in which you will record personal data including weight, blood pressure and caloric intake on a daily basis. You may add food items and created meals to the files using the "Edit" options. Also, you may record a created "meal" as a food item in FOODCAL.DAT with a measure of 1 EACH. This makes it easy to use in a more complex meal (See Operating Hints.) A hardcopy can be made of the data in each file from the Main Menu "Print" option. CALCOUNT is menu driven and does not require a complicated set of computer commands to be used effectively. B. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS An IBM(tm) PC or compatible system using MS(tm)-DOS version 2.0 or later operating system is required. A single disk drive is sufficient. System memory should be at least 192K. Graphic capability similar to Hercules(tm) is required to take advantage of the graphing option. A printer, using Epson(tm) or IBM(tm) character sets, is desirable although not absolutely required. C. START UP It's wise to make a working copy of the distribution disk before proceeding with the program installation. Prior to using CALCOUNT, run the installation program by typing with the distribution disk in the current drive. This creates (or modifies) a file called "Config.cal" which contains the information you supply regarding data file locations, printer configuration and screen attributes. The CONFIG.CAL file must be located in the same directory as CALCOUNT.EXE while running the program. A copy of your MS(tm)-DOS operating system may be installed on a CALCOUNT system disk and an autoexec.bat file provided to start the system using as the command. Thereafter it is only necessary to turn on the computer with the system disk in Drive A to autoboot and run the program. Of course the program may also be installed on a hard disk. The data files and program file need not be in the same directory if you have properly executed Inst-Cal. Start the system by typing [RETURN]; the system will come up with the CALCOUNT main menu. D. SPECIAL KEYS ESC KEY Pressing [ESC] during most operations will return you to a previous menu or the main menu. ALT-L and ALT-D KEYS Holding down the ALT key while pressing the "L" key is used to load a food or meal from the respective list to the working position. Similarly the ALT plus "D" keys are used in deleting a food or meal from the files. E. DEFAULT ENTRIES Any time a date entry is called for, pressing [RETURN] without an entry will select the current system date. When entering food measures, pressing [RETURN] without an entry will select the measure as noted for the food. Any other compatible measure may be entered and the calories will be correctly calculated by the system. The system will not allow an incompatible measure to be chosen. F. FILE SORTING Anytime a food or meal is added to the respective files, the system will automatically sort the file so that the next time you call up the list items are in the proper order. When a food or meal is deleted it is not actually removed from the file (although it will not be listed) until the file is next sorted. A sorting option is provided on the edit menus to allow you to clear the files if they should get cumbersome with deleted entries. G. MENU OPERATION You may select a menu option by moving the cursor to the selection and pressing [RETURN] or by pressing the key for the first letter of the desired command. Use the cursor arrow keys to move the cursor around the menu. H. MAIN MENU CREATE MEAL - This option leads you through the creation of a meal using food items already in FOODCAL.DAT. Prior to creating a meal, FOODCAL.DAT should be checked to verify that all the necessary food items are there. A "meal" is limited to a total of 8 food items. However, see "Operating Hints" for examples of easy ways to surmount this limitation. After creation, a "meal" may be saved in MEALCAL.DAT and also may be saved in FOODCAL.DAT. A hardcopy is an option. (See below also.) RECALL MEAL - This option lets you select the name of a meal which has been previously created. MEALCAL.DAT will be searched for the meal. When found, the meal including all its food items will be printed on the monitor screen. The meal may be edited, printed, and its calories added to the running total. (See below also.) EDIT - This option will allow you to edit FOODCAL.DAT, MEALCAL.DAT or PERS.DAT files. PRINT - This option will provide a hardcopy of any of the three files. GRAPH - This option will lead you through the steps to provide a graph of personal data for a maximum period of 30 days. EXIT - Exit from the program and return to the DOS prompt. I. CREATING MEAL/RECALLING MEAL A meal is created by selecting items from the food list, moving them to the meal and entering the quantity and measure for each. Note that pressing [RETURN] without entering a measure will use the measure noted for that item. After entering the last item press [RETURN] at the "START LETTER?" prompt and a summation of the calories will appear as the meal total and the following menu will come up: EDIT - This option will allow deleting or adding an item or changing the quantities. INCLUDE IN TOTAL - The total will be summed with previous totals and the running total retained. With this option you can retain several meals for a daily total to be entered in PERS.DAT. SAVE IN MEAL FILE - Name the meal and save. ADD TO FOOD FILE - Save as a food (the quantity used will be 1 Each.) TOTAL TO PERS FILE - Retains the current total and calls up the file content for the specified date and identifier. The underlying menu allows the total to be added to the total already in the file or to replace it; the data to be edited; and the final result put back in the file. PRINT - A copy of the created meal is sent to the printer. MAIN MENU - Return to the top menu. A meal is recalled by selected the wanted meal from the meal list. The meal will be printed in the operating area and the menu just described will appear allowing the options as described above. J. EDIT MENUS The choices when editing the food or meal files are as follows: EDIT ITEM - This option leads you through selecting a food or meal item which then is called up and displayed. The underlying menu provides options to change the measure or calorie count, and, in the case of a meal, add or delete constituent items. ADD ITEM - A food item may be added to the file with this option. If the edit meal option is selected, the system will go to "Create Meal." DELETE ITEM - A food or meal item may be deleted from the file with this option. SORT FILE - This option sorts the file and removes previously deleted items. When editing the personal data file the system asks for a date and identifier and retrieves and print the data found under the defined parameters. The underlying menu displayed is: EDIT - This will allow you to change any of the displayed data. DELETE - This will allow you to delete the entire entry from the file. ADD Cals - This option will ask for the number of calories you wish to be added to the days total and then make the addition. PUT IN FILE - You must select this option after making a change if you want the change to be saved. SORT FILE - This option will put the file in order by date. QUIT - Returns to the Main Menu. K. OPERATING HINTS CREATING A COMPLEX MEAL - The 8 food item limitation for a meal is readily overcome with a little pre-planning. For example, if you are creating a spaghetti dinner, all the ingredients going into the spaghetti sauce may quickly use up the allowed number of items. However, this dinner can be put together easily using sub-meals, i.e. "Presauce" and "Spaghetti Sauce". First create the "meal" named "PRESAUCE" with up to 8 of the sauce ingredients. Save this "meal" as a meal in MEALCAL.DAT (to record the ingredients) and also in FOODCAL.DAT as a food item with the caloric value as calculated by CALCOUNT and a measure of "1, EACH". Now create another "meal" named "SPAGHETTI SAUCE". This "meal" is created using the previously created food item "PRESAUCE" and all the remaining items used in the spaghetti sauce. Save it too, both in MEALCAL.DAT and FOODCAL.DAT. Finally create the whole dinner, "SPAGHETTI DINNER", using the food item "SPAGHETTI SAUCE" plus all other required food items. Using this technique, an unlimited number of items can be used in a complex meal. NOTE - It is wise to ascertain beforehand that the needed items are in FOODCAL.DAT before getting very far in creating a meal. You can check immediately after entering "Create" by paging through the food item list. (NOTE - PRESSING [ESC] WHILE IN THE FOOD LISTING MODE WILL CLEAR THE LIST AND START AGAIN BY ASKING "START LETTER?") If needed food items are not present, the FOOD LIST option on the EDIT MENU can be used to add the missing item or items before proceeding. WARNING - If you make a change in a meal item which has also been saved as a food item, remember you must save the changed meal again in the FOODCAL.DAT file (or edit the food file). It will not be done automatically.