COIN FILE A coin inventory system for MS-DOS computer systems by John R. Duchek Duchek Computer Services P.O. Box 25006 St. Louis, MO 63125 (314)-544-1843 Copyright 1985 USER SUPPORTED PROGRAMS COINFILE is a piece of user supported software. What is meant by that is COINFILE is available to anyone who wants to use it at no cost. This method of distributine the software allows the user to "try it out" before paying for it. It also encourages users to share software with other users without fear of prosecution. It assumes that the user is honest enough to pay for what he finds useful, and throw away what he does not. If you find COINFILE to be useful to you, you are asked to send a contribution ($25 or $5 in 90% silver coins) to its author: John R. Duchek Duchek Computer Services P.O. Box 25006 St. Louis, MO 63125 By sending a contribution you become a registered owner of COINFILES. This enables us to send you information on updates of the software as well as information on other programs. In addition your contribution entitles you to the most current version of COINFILE including all of the "want files". These want files (35 in all) can be made by using the COINFILE program although it is admittedly more convenient to already have them on line. 3 common want files are included to allow you to get started inventorying your coin collection while waiting for the new disk to come. You are free to make copies of COINFILE and to share them with others. You are not permitted to sell COINFILE nor can you include it with any product you are distributing. You may not modify the programs in any way. Registered users are supported by the following: 1. Any bugs found in the software will be corrected and a free copy of the corrected program will be sent to the first finder of that bug. 2. I will correspond with users of the program to help with any difficulties they have running the program. Calls to discuss any problems are at the users expense. TABLE OF CONTENTS VERSION 2.03 System Features......................................2 Data File Structure..................................6 Want File Structure..................................8 Getting Started......................................9 Disk Installation........................9 Printer Installation....................13 Putting The Inventory in................14 Main Menu Description...............................15 Data File Menu Description..........................16 DataTrak File Menu Description......................18 Print Menu Description..............................19 Want File Menu Description..........................21 Preparing an Inventory Sheet........................22 Running the COINSTAL.EXE program....................23 Using the PRNTLABL.EXE (print label) program........25 If You're Having Trouble............................26 Warranty............................................27 1 SYSTEM FEATURES COINFILE is a system of programs and datafiles designed and written for my own use to keep an accurate inventory of my coin collections. It has several unique features not found in other inventory systems. COINFILE is written in MS-DOS BASIC and is compiled in order to provide the fast response you hope for in a program. The COIN.EXE program deals with a data file and a want file for each of the collections on disk. For Buffalo nickels there is a file with your data (NICKBUF.DAT) and a file with an image of what coins a full Buffalo nickel collection should contain (NICKBUF.WNT). The WNT file is used in several ways by the program. It allows the program to print a want list for your collection by comparing what you have with what you need. It also allows an inventory help sheet to be printed which can help you inventory your collections. The printout utilities allow you to print out all coins of all collections with descriptions and updated prices. This is very useful in insuring your coin collections. Most insurers will insure only individual coins, not collections. In order to have all of your coins insured a full list of your coins with current prices and descriptions is necessary and COINFILE will provide it. This allows you to keep your coin collections at home where you can enjoy them rather than in a bank vault. Using your coin data and the included "want files" COINFILE can produce up-to-date want lists for any of your coin collections. COINFILE comes with most common collection want files already on disk and the capability of customizing these to meet your exact needs. It also can write new custom want files under your direction. It is simple to generate a want list for a collection. The want list prints the coins you do not have and the coins and their grades which you do have but which are inferior to the minimal grade you specify (fillers). PRNTLABL.EXE is a program which allows you to produce labels to stick onto your 2x2 coin holders using commonly available self adhesive address labels. This is particularly useful to use just after inventorying a collection to check your work. I developed COINFILE as a simple system to learn and use. This version will run on any MS-DOS computer. The "COINSTAL.EXE" program allows most printers to be set up for use with this system. Through it the control codes for setting up the printer can be easily installed. The COINFILE system is copyrighted (1985) by Duchek Computer Services. 2 The registered COINFILE system comes on an MS-DOS readable double-sided double-density disk unless otherwise requested. It uses standard ANSI control codes for screen displays and so the ANSI driver for your computer is needed for correct display. MS-DOS and PC-DOS systems have an ANSI.SYS or ANSI55.SYS file on their system disk which will work fine. The COINFILE system supports keeping track of the condition, purchase price, purchase date and the current value. All interactions with the various files discussed in this documentation are automatic and handled by the program. The only exception is the initial naming of a want file (or a data file if no corresponding want file is created). Ease of use is the biggest asset of this system, and in general it can be used with only occasional reference to this documentation. AUXILIARY PROGRAMS INCLUDED IN THE PACKAGE: CONFIG.SYS - activates your ANSI.SYS file The COINFILE package consists of these compiled BASIC programs: COIN.EXE - main inventory program COINSTAL.EXE - controls and customizes COINSTAL.DAT INVTSHET.EXE - writes inventory checklists from want files PRNTLABL.EXE - prints labels of collections for 2 x 2s and these data files: COINSTAL.DAT - printer/disk defaults (set for EPSON FX80) COINSTAL.EPS - a safe copy of COINSTAL.DAT COINSTAL.STR - printer/disk defaults (for Gemini 10x printer). This file must be renamed COINSTAL.DAT to be used. These programs control the various data files used in the inventory. There are three types of data files used in the inventory system. The first is a file named : DATATRAK.SEQ This is a sequential file which keeps track of all file names, descriptions, last data access date, how many coins are in a given file and their minimum acceptable condition. It also knows whether a particular file has a want file related to it. As sent to you, this file is on the disk but is empty ( has no data in it). 3 Other files ending with the ".DAT" descriptors are the user generated files containing the inventoried coins. The file name used must match the file name used for the want file ".WNT". If your Lincoln cent collection uses the want file "CENTLIN.WNT" then your data file must be named "CENTLIN.DAT" (or both names must be changed to match). There are no ".DAT" files included in this package since your coins have not been input. From a user viewpoint, ".DAT" and ".WNT" suffixes are taken care of by the computer - you input only the first 8 letters of the file name. The following want files are included on the REGISTERED disk : 3CENTNIC.WNT Nickel 3 cents 3CENTSIL.WNT Silver 3 cents CENHALF.WNT Half cents CENTEAGL.WNT Flying eagle cents CENTIND.WNT Indian head cents CENTLIN.WNT Lincoln cents CENTLRG.WNT Large cents DIMEBUST.WNT Bust dimes DIMELIB.WNT Liberty head dimes DIMEMER.WNT Mercury dimes DIMEROO.WNT Roosevelt dimes DIMESEAT.WNT Seated Liberty dimes DIMHALF.WNT Half dimes DOLLIKE.WNT Eisenhower Dollars DOLLMOR.WNT Morgan Dollars DOLLPEA.WNT Peace Dollars DOLLSBA.WNT S. B. Anthony Dollars HALFCAP.WNT Capped halves HALFFRA.WNT Franklin halves HALFKEN.WNT Kennedy halves --------included without registration HALFLIB.WNT Liberty head halves HALFSEAT.WNT Seated Liberty halves HALFWAL.WNT Walking Liberty halves MINTSET.WNT Mint Sets NICKBUF.WNT Buffalo nickels NICKJEF.WNT Jefferson nickels -----included without registration NICKLIB.WNT Liberty head nickels NICKSHLD.WNT Shield nickels PROFSET.WNT Proof sets QUARLIB.WNT Liberty head quarters QUARSEAT.WNT Seated Liberty quarters QUARSLI.WNT Standing Liberty quarters QUARWAS.WNT Washington quarters ---included without registration TWOCENT.WNT Two cent pieces 4 Since the DATATRAK.SEQ file sorts by the file name it is advisable to put all of your cent collections with the CENT first as above (CENTLIN,CENTIND). This way all of the cent files will remain together on the list. The want files above are essentially complete lists of each collection. Some error coins and coins with special mint designations have not been included. For example, the 1945 S Mercury dime comes in two varieties "normal" and "micro" S. As discussed in the coin data structure section, the program allows for this type of entry with no problem. When comparison is made with the "want file" to generate a want list, the match must be exact. We felt it was better to have the user designate these special coins to suit individual tastes. COIN.EXE is capable of editing the want files in a way that makes this simple. 5 * Data File Structure * Each collection in the inventory is kept in a separate file. CENTLIN.DAT (or any other file) will hold entries for 1-2500 coins. If more room is desired a second collection with a name such as CENTLIN2.DAT can be started to hold another 2500. About 4 such files (a total of about 10,000 coins - 36 bytes per record x 10,000 = 360 Kbytes) can be held on an single DSDD diskette. If the files are smaller than 2500 coins each, then more files (80-100) with a total of about 10,000 (estimated) coins could be on a single diskette. A hard disk would hold much more. Each coin entry is formatted as shown : Year - any number between 1 and 32725 Mint -up to 10 characters long. For example,"D/S", "CC", "D 3 LEG" are all good designations of mint mark. In order to have the want lists prepared properly, mint designations in the data file must be identical to those in the want file ("D 3LEG" will not match "D- 3LEG"). Condition - up to 10 characters long as long as the first part of the entry is the "Sheldon numerical system of grading (1-70) as indicated in the back of "New Photograde - A Photographic Grading Guide for U.S. coins." by James F. Ruddy. Thus, conditions such as "67 NICE", "12 SCRATCH", or "4/8" are all acceptable conditions. It should be noted that the "4/8" (meaning that the obverse is 4 and the reverse 8) would by treated as a 4 when generating a want list while "8/4" would be treated as an 8. In the Sheldon system G=4, VG=8, F=12, VF=20, EF=40, AU=50, BU=60. Various designations from 60-70 are given to exceptional uncirculated coins and these correspond to designations such as "Gem BU". Value - The current value of the coin. The range allowed is from $ .01 to $99,999.99 Purchase price - The price of the coin when you bought it. The range allowed is the same as above for the value. On all input screens, a C.R.(carriage return) puts the current value into this location (unless current value retention is stated on screen.) Purchase date - The date when coin was purchased. This is put in as MM/DD/YY. If a C.R. is used on any input screen, the current date is put in. (unless current value retention is specified on screen.) 6 Therefore typical entries might be : DATE MINT CONDITION VALUE P. PRICE P. DATE 1960 D LRG 50-NICE $1.10 $0.50 02/12/84 1976 D 65 BICENT $2.00 $1.50 01/23/86 1945 P 4-SCRATCH $0.15 $0.25 10/01/85 Notice that the mint and condition are in uppercase only. This is to simplify and speed searches and comparisons which the program supports. The program automatically puts these entries into uppercase so that you need not worry about it. 7 * Want File Structure * The want files are files which contain all of the different coins available in a collection. This allows the program COIN.EXE to compare what you have in your collection with a "complete" collection to see what is missing. Of course, ideas differ on what a complete collection consists of. Some people feel that proof coins should be included, and that certain error coins belong in a collection. In addition, how you specify a particular "error" coin such as D/S or whatever is a personal matter. It is best to print out the want files and check to see if all of the coins you consider important are present. The program is capable of customizing the want files for you. (See Want Files Menu Description). Each file entry consists of a year and a mint designation. As in the case of the data files, the mint designation can be a 10 character string. In order to write a want list correctly, the match between the coin in the data file and want file must be exact. Any date in the data file that is below the minimum grade you specify will be displayed as wanted along with the highest grade that you already have (See sample want list printout). I use the COINFILE system and find that the want lists are the most useful single feature. I can take these to coin shows or mail them to dealers quite conveniently. Active want files are associated with the data file of the same name (CENTLIN.DAT and CENTLIN.WNT). To get a want list of a collection, both files must be available. The want files provided with this system are not active until a data file with the same name is written to go with them . 8 * GETTING STARTED * On your purchase of COINFILE, the first thing you need to do is to accurately inventory your coin collection. If you have a large collection of coins, taking an inventory is a long job. It is best to do it one series at a time, and do the job well so that mistakes are minimized. The computer can print an "inventory sheet" to assist you for any collection which has a want file associated with it. Type in INVTSHET and follow the directions to print an inventory sheet. This sheet lists out the dates and mints in a collection and leaves blanks for the condition, value, purchase price and date. At the bottom of each page blanks are left for any coin you feel is not suitably named in the want file. These coins should be added to the want file before a want list is generated. Your copy of COINFILE comes on an MS-DOS DSDD data diskette. This means that there is no system on the disk and if you wish the disk to be self-booting you should provide a copy of your system files. It is sensible to use the COINFILE diskette for a safe copy so the first thing to do is make your working copy of the program. This system requires that ANSI standard screen control codes be used. MS-DOS and PC-DOS systems have an "ANSI.SYS" file which comes on the system disk. If this file is called by the "CONFIG.SYS" file your computer will emulate an "ANSI" terminal. In the CONFIG.SYS file on the coinfile disk it is named ANSI.SYS. If your system has another name for this file (SANYO calls it ANSI55.SYS), You need either to rename the ANSI55.SYS file to ANSI.SYS after copying it from the system disk or you must use EDLIN (your MS-DOS line editor) to change the name of the file called in the CONFIG.SYS file. Since each MS-DOS system has its own ANSI driver this must be obtained from your MS-DOS system disk to interface with the COINFILE system. It is this ANSI.SYS file which allows the COINFILE system to be run on any MS-DOS system. * DISK DRIVE INSTALLATION * FOR TWO DRIVE SYSTEMS: Put your MS-DOS (or PC-DOS) disk in drive A: Put a blank diskette in drive B: Type "FORMAT B:/S" Your computer should instruct you to ensure the diskettes are in the proper drives. Follow your computer's directions until the format is complete. 9 Copy your ANSI.SYS file from your MS-DOS or PC-DOS disk to your newly formatted disk by typing : "COPY A:ANSI.SYS B:" Remove your MS-DOS diskette from drive A: and return it to storage. You are now ready to copy COINFILE onto this disk. Put the write-protected copy of COINFILE into drive A: and type: "COPY A:*.* B:" When all of the files have been copied, remove COINFILE from drive A: and place it in safe storage. Label the new disk in drive B: "COINFILE - WORKING COPY". Now format a "data" disk by putting your MS-DOS or PC-DOS system disk into drive A: and a blank disk in drive B:. Type: "FORMAT B:" When the formatting is finished label the disk in drive B: "COINFILE - DATA DISK". To run the coin system put your "working copy" in drive A: and your "data disk" in drive B: and reboot the system. This will install the ANSI.SYS driver. Then follow the directions which appear on the screen to enter the COIN program. 10 FOR ONE DRIVE SYSTEMS: Put your MS-DOS or PC-DOS disk in your disk drive. Type "FORMAT /S" Your computer will tell you to remove the system disk and insert the disk to be formatted. Put in a blank disk. The computer will tell you to hit any key to start. Do so. For most MS-DOS systems type "COPY ANSI.SYS B:". The computer will determine that only one drive is available and give you prompts to put the source or destination disk in. Your system disk is the source (A:) and your newly formatted disk is the destination disk (B:). Now type "COPY *.* B:" and use the provided COINFILE disk as the source (A:) disk and your newly formatted disk as the destination (B:) disk. If you have trouble with this, check your MS-DOS manual for computer specific directions on formatting and copying disks. Some MS- DOS computers have special ways of doing single disk copying. For example, the SANYO requires the use of a program "SCOPY.EXE" to do single disk drive copying. 11 HARD DISK INSTALLATION: For these purposes, I will assume that your hard disk is called drive C:. Make drive C: the default drive by typing: "C:" Now set up a subdirectory called COIN to receive the COINFILE system by typing: "MKDIR COIN" Enter the subdirectory by typing: "CHDIR COIN" Put the COINFILE disk into drive A:. Copy the coin files by typing: "COPY A:*.* C:" The system comes set up for an MS-DOS computer with two DSDD floppy disk drives and an EPSON FX-80 printer. It assumes a system disk in the default drive (A:) and a data disk in the second drive (B:). Data files are written to the B: drive and want files are kept on the A: drive with the programs. The DATATRAK.SEQ and COINSTAL.DAT files must be kept on the default drive. The default drive is usually the A: drive unless you specifically change it or you are operating a hard disk. The COINSTAL.EXE program allows you to redefine the drives that are used for the want files and the data files to any letters you wish. NOTE: Unless you really enjoy typing, be sure to also back up your data disks, DATATRAK.SEQ, COINSTAL.DAT and any want files you make changes in at frequent intervals. Remember it is always possible in any program you buy or write to turn a disk to garbage by entering the wrong command or turning off the computer with a file open. Be safe, not sorry. 12 * Printer Installation * The COINSTAL.EXE program allows you to put in the necessary control codes for your printer. The Data Source classification allows file printouts to refer to your method of grading and where you get pricing information. There is a complete description of using COINSTAL.EXE at the end of the documentation. PRINTER SETTING EPSON GEMINI 10X YOURS ========================================================= 17 CHAR/INCH 27 33 68 27 66 3 _______ 12 CHAR/INCH 27 33 65 27 66 2 _______ 10 CHAR/INCH 27 33 64 27 66 1 _______ DOUBLE WIDTH 14 14 _______ SKIP OVER PERFORATION 27 78 12 27 78 6 _______ AND BOTTOM MARGIN TOP MARGIN 0 27 82 6 _______ LEFT MARGIN 27 77 10 27 77 10 _______ PRINTER RESET 27 64 27 64 _______ SET LINES/PAGE 27 67 66 27 67 66 _______ TOP OF PAGE 12 12 _______ 13 * Putting The Inventory In * Once the coin collection has been inventoried, it is ready to be put on the computer. Type "COIN". After several seconds a menu (main menu) will appear on your CRT screen. Enter the letter "B". An editing menu will appear. Enter the letter "F" or "G" to start a new coin file. The "F" option requires that you put in year, mint, condition, value, purchase price and date. This option is good for new collections which are very incomplete. The "G" option uses an existing want file for dates and mints so that you only have to put in the condition, value, purchase price and date. A carriage return for the purchase price inputs the current value. A carriage return for the date inputs the current date. This option is useful after inventorying (using the inventory sheet) an extensive collection. Duplicate coins can be added to the file later using the editing menu. OPTION "F": The computer will ask you for the "Century of the collection." This number will be added to the year of your entries if the number your enter is less than 100. Thus the year 1910 can be entered as "1910" or as "10" if 1900 was the specified century. You will be asked for the data one at a time. To exit the program and save the file, input a `0' for the year. Later additions to the file can be made through the same editing menu but using choice A. In this case the century is automatically set from the last coin in the file. OPTION "G": After you give the computer the file name, it locates the want file and goes through the collection one coin at a time requesting a condition, value, purchase price and date. If you hit enter for the condition, the computer keeps that coin from being entered in the growing data file. Once you have a file in, further file handling is done using then various menus available (Main, Editing, Datatrak, Want, Print). Directions for using these are on the following pages. Anytime a DATATRAK.SEQ, data file, or want file is written to disk it is properly sorted first. Since this is true, You need not worry about the order you put data in or how the file gets back into order after you make a change. 14 * Main Menu Description* The main menu of COIN.EXE is the central menu of the program. From it you can reach any other menu of the program. All of the other menus return to this menu. It contains six entries. A. Open collection disk file B. Current file editing C. Filename/description/minimum editing D. Print out utility E. Want file editing F. Close all files and end. A. This entry displays the data file names and descriptions and allows you to choose any of the files you have in store. On making a choice, you are returned to the main menu. When a file is active, the file description is displayed below the title of this menu. B. This entry sends you to the Data File Editing Menu. In general you should have a file open (see A) before using this entry. The exception is when you write a new file (E or F) you use this menu. (see getting started). C. This entry sends you to a menu from which you can change existing file names, descriptions, or minimum acceptable conditions . (see DATATRAK.SEQ file editing) D. This entry displays a print menu which lists your options for printing. (see Print Menu) E. This entry sends you to a menu which allow the writing of new want files or editing existing want files. F. This entry does system housekeeping and properly closes all files and returns you to the operating system. This is the only proper exit from the program. 15 * Data File Menu Description * This menu is reached by entering a "B" at the main menu. It expects that there is an active file in memory (chosen by main menu selection A) for choices A-E below. Since F generates a new file there should be no active file in memory when it is chosen. Note that the active file name is displayed on screen. All edited files are sorted before being written to disk. A..........Add new entries. B..........Remove current entries. C..........Change current entries. D..........Display current file. E..........Update coin values for entire file. F..........Start new coin file. G..........Start new coin file using want file. H..........Kill current file. R..........Return to main menu A. This routine calculates the century and allows you to add new coins to a collection. It uses the same routine as (F) except that it appends the coins to an already existing file. The century is calculated from the last coin in collection. B. This choice allows you to remove data from an existing file. Give the computer the year you are interested in and it will display all the coins of that year in the file with index numbers. Simply input the index no. of the entry to be deleted. An entry of '0' reverses the process by one step. C. Uses the same system as entry B but once you specify a particular coin it allows changes of the year, mint, condition, value, purchase price or date. D. Displays the current file on the CRT screen pausing at each full screen. The display can start at any date and quit at the end of any screen. E. Goes through the entire file to allow you to update coin values. Simply hit enter to retain an old value. Provision is made to stop after any coin. F. Starts a new coin file from scratch. Writes file name and information to DATATRAK.SEQ and takes data from keyboard, sorts and writes data file. G. Starts a new coin file by loading a want file and displaying it one coin at a time. It saves typing since you don't have to enter the year and mint. Simply hit enter to eliminate the displayed coin from the data file. Duplicate coins can be added later through the normal editing routine. 16 H. This deletes the current data file. This is the only proper way to accomplish this since the program must update DATATRAK.SEQ. R. Returns control to the Main Menu. 17 * DataTrak File Menu Description * This menu is reached by entering "C" at the main menu. It does not care if there is an open data file or not. This menu allows you to change file names, file descriptions, or minimum conditions. A. Change file name. B. Change file description. C. Change minimum acceptable condition. R. Return to main menu A. This will display all file names and descriptions. Simply choose the index number wanted and give the new file name. When you return to the menu the file is sorted and copied to disk. B. This uses the same display as A but now asks for file descriptions to be changed. When you return to the menu the file is sorted and copied to disk. C. Each data file has a "minimum acceptable condition" associated with it. This is the minimum condition desirable in the file. When making up a want list any coin below this condition is noted on the want list as if it was a filler and a better one is desired. This feature can be disabled by putting a 1 as your minimum acceptable condition. R. Returns control to main menu. 18 * Print Menu Description * This menu is reached by entering "D" at the main menu. It controls all printed output of COIN.EXE. CURRENT FILES: (CURRENT FILE NAME DISPLAY) -------------------------------------------------- A..........Print current file B..........Print want list for current file. C..........Print current file and current want list. D..........Print current want file. -------------------------------------------------- ALL FILES : E..........Print all files. F..........Print want lists for all files. G..........Print all files and all want lists. H..........Print all want files. -------------------------------------------------- I..........Print insurance list (no purchase price or date). J..........Print DATATRAK.SEQ file information. R Return to main menu. A. Prints current active file (see file description displayed on screen). Year,mint,condition,value, purchase price and date. B. Calculates the want list for the currently named file and prints it. The collection value is totaled. C. Prints both of the above for the currently active file. D. Prints the want file itself to help you find what each entry is currently called. This is useful for properly naming your coins. E. Prints the same output as in selection A for all files in your collection. All collections are totaled and a grand total is printed. F. Prints the same output as in selection B for all files. G. Prints coin files and want files for all files. H. Prints all want files which are active (have collections associated with them. I. Prints output to be sent to insurance company. This is a list of coins, conditions, and current value. All collection values are totaled and a grand total is printed. 19 J. Prints out the information contained in the DATATRAK.SEQ file. This file is important since it controls all of the set parameters for the collection files. R. Returns control to main menu. 20 * Want File Menu Description * This menu is reached by entering "E" from the main menu. This menu allows you to edit the existing want files or write new ones. If you enter an "E" with no active file, the computer assumes you want to write a new want file and runs this routine. To escape, hit enter for the file name. A-----Add new entries to want files. B-----Remove current entries from want files. C-----Change current entries to want files. D-----Display want file E-----Generate a new want file R-----Return to main menu A. Add new entries to the want file. While in this area you can enter '0' to back up one command. B. Remove entries from the want file. Enter '0' to back up one command. C. Change entries to want file. All of these routines sort before writing. D. Displays the want file on the CRT screen. E. Sets up a new want file. Use of this requires a little practice. You give the first year, last year and mint and it sets up all the years in between. Keep doing this until all the mints are covered. The routine then gives you a chance to delete individual entries. Finally, you can add special coins (D/S) etc. The routine then sorts the file and writes it to disk. R. Return control to main menu. 21 * Preparing an Inventory Sheet * INVTSHET.EXE is an independent program which simply prints out a requested want list in a form which allows you to write in the condition, value purchase price and date of each coin in a collection. It is useful when you are inventorying a collection prior to inputing the data into the computer. It is also useful for examining the want file coin names to decide if you wish to customize them. 22 * RUNNING THE COINSTAL.EXE PROGRAM * The COINSTAL.EXE is an independent program which allows you to control the disk drive access and printer output in the COINFILE. As it comes on disk COINSTAL.DAT is set up for the EPSON FX-80 printer. It assumes that your system will be using 2 disk drives (A: and B:) and a default drive (this is usually the A: drive). If you have a hard disk or if your printer is not EPSON compatible, you will have to run this program to adjust the COINFILE system to your set-up. In addition this program allows you to tell the system how you grade your coins and what references you use to determine your coin values. This information is printed out with the coin collections. To run this program type "COINSTAL" and a menu will appear. These are the current set disk parameters: 1 Drive to write want files to : A: 2 Drive to write data files to : B: All other files are written to the default drive. (This is the drive which was active before you enter the COIN.EXE program). 3 Set up printer parameters 4 Data Sources 5 Write revised COINSTAL.DAT file - end program. 1 and 2. These menu items allow you to direct input and output of your data and want files to any disk drive and directory you want. If the drive you specify does not contain the file you have asked for an error message (see If you have trouble...) will be stated. Check to be sure your want and data files are on the disk and directory which is listed when this program is run. Either or both of these can be on the default disk or your hard disk if you have one. If you have set both of these to the letter designation of your hard disk and start the COIN.EXE program with the default disk being the hard disk all input and output will go to the hard disk. (Please note that the default disk is the disk designated by the DOS before the programs in the COINFILE system are run.) 3. This menu item leads you to a second menu which allows you define the following printer control codes. A 17 char/inch B 12 char/inch 23 C 10 char/inch D Double width mode set E Enable skip over perforations and bottom margin F Top margin G Left margin H Printer reset I Set lines per page J Skip to top of next page All of these are defined as strings of ASCII code and are displayed as decimal numbers on the menu. By choosing a menu item you are then asked to give the control codes your printer uses. These can be any length. This setup can "trick" the program into giving you almost anything you want. If you wanted all italics in your output, simply tack the italics control codes for your printer after the printer reset codes. The printer is reset before every printout so you will reset to whatever state you like. All margins and print sizes are under your control. (This may cause your printer to overrun the line if you use unreasonable values.). If you don't want the double width titles simply reset that mode set to '0'. The program is quite flexible within the limits of your printer. The system comes with two COINSTAL.DAT files made up. The first is COINSTAL.EPS which is for the EPSON FX-80, and the second is COINSTAL.STR which is for the Gemini 10x. Others may be added as time goes on. The file labeled COINSTAL.DAT is a second copy of the the EPSON file. It is this file which is changed by using the COINSTAL.EXE program. 4. If you choose this entry it will display the current method of pricing and grading your coins and give you an opportunity to change it. The comments here are printed with each printout of any file. 5. This option allows you to leave the program and save or abort the changes you have made. 24 * PRINTING LABELS WITH COIN FILE * The COIN FILE system comes with a label printing program called "PRNTLABL.EXE". Its main purpose is to print out small labels which can be used with the 2 x 2s that many coin collectors use to store their coins. A secondary purpose I have found useful is that it makes it easy to check the inventory you have made. If you print labels for a data file and you cannot locate a coin to match each label or a label with the correct grading for each coin, you are alerted to a problem with the inventory. Since most printers have trouble using very small labels (They fall off and get stuck in the printer) this label printing program was designed for 3 1/2 x 15/16 inch single wide address labels. The program prints 6 coin labels on each address label as shown: 1968 D 1968 P 1968 S 65 20 SCRATCH 60 1969 D 1969 P 1969 S 20 12 DIRTY 65 Two continuous scissor cuts separate the columns of labels. One additional cut separates label pairs. All six labels have an edge to separate them from their backing. I usually try to keep the columns together until I am ready to stick them to the 2x2. The labels are small enough not to interfere with viewing the coin except in the case of the dollar coins which have very narrow borders. Half-dollar 2x2s may occasionally have trouble if the labels are long. The coin is protected by the clear Mylar from the label in any case. The PRNTLABL.EXE program uses a menu to allow you to print out a whole data file or a partial (but continuous) data file. It will also allow you to go through a data file and "pick and choose" the ones you want to print. A fourth menu selection allows you to manually put in and print any labels you might wish. The program is run by typing "PRNTLABL" FROM THE MS-DOS prompt. 25 * If you are having trouble ...* This program has been written in BASIC and extensively debugged. We use this system ourselves and any bugs that we have found have been corrected. All of our care not withstanding, it has been said that no program is ever totally bug free. We cannot guarantee perfection. It is possible that you may discover a bug; if so, we would appreciate your help in correcting it. Please note down the symptoms and what you were doing when the bug occurred and mail these to: John R. Duchek Duchek Computer Services P. O. Box 25006 St. Louis, MO 63125 We will attempt to get back to you with a correction or interpretation of the phenomenon as soon as possible. Some problems which are not bugs which you may run across : 1. If you have not loaded in the ANSI.SYS (ANSI55.SYS) on your the working disk, the clear screen and graphics commands will appear on the screen as "garbage" such as "[2J". Most of these commands start with an escape ( "[" ). The cure to this is be sure that the CONFIG.SYS file and ANSI.SYS are on the default disk and that you boot up using this disk before using COIN.EXE. Be sure also that the name of the ANSI.SYS file is the same with the name asked for in the CONFIG.SYS file. 2. If you manage to illegally leave the COIN.EXE program by removing the disk from the machine before files were properly written and closed then data may disappear. This may be data in a data file, want file or if it is in the DATATRAK.SEQ file COIN.EXE may no longer recognize whole files. The proper way to leave COIN.EXE is through the main menu entry "F" although you may get by simply removing the disk at many menu points. (i.e you may or may not get by with it.) 3. File not found at ABCD:WXYZ. This error message means that you have tried to load a file which does not exist. This could be due to number 2 above. It more likely is due to your file not being on the disk that the computer was told to look on. If you decide to keep your want files on drive B: with your data files and you did not update using theCOINSTAL program, the computer will be looking on drive A: for your want files. 26 * WARRANTY * Duchek Computer Services will be happy to replace a defective disk if the programs are unreadable. We are not responsible for lost or incorrect data due to improper use of these programs. The COINFILE system is provided on an as-is basis. Only REGISTERED users will be notified of major updates or improvements. This documentation is for VERSION 2.03. 27 ----------------end-of-author's-documentation--------------- Software Library Information: This disk copy provided as a service of The Public (Software) Library Disks in the library are updated monthly. For a copy of the latest monthly software library newsletter and a list of the 800+ disks in the library, call or write The Public (Software) Library P.O.Box 35705 K Houston, TX 77235-5705 (713) 721-6104 We are not the authors of this program, nor are we associated with the author in any way other than as a distributor of the program in accordance with the author's terms of distribution. Please direct shareware payments and specific questions about this program to the author of the program, whose name appears elsewhere in this documentation. If you have trouble getting in touch with the author, we will do whatever we can to help you with your questions. All programs have been tested and do run. To report problems, please use the form that is in the file PROBLEM.DOC on many of our disks or in other written for- mat with screen printouts, if possible.