Gotcha! allows law enforcement officers to maintain a database of arrest records, search those records easily, and print reports. It was developed in cooperation with an active law enforcement officer who uses it in his daily work. To Print this Manual from within Gotcha! : Press M (Mark) at the beginning of the Manual. Go to the end of the Manual and press M (Mark) again. Then select the Print option to print the Manual. A printed manual is provided with the registered version. --------------------------------------------------------------- Gotcha! Copyright (c) Robert K. Summers 1994 All Rights Reserved. Distributor: RKS Software, Inc., Arlington, VA 22207-4565 703-534-1726 (Voice) 703-534-4358 (FAX) 703-534-7812 (BBS) Compuserve: 72357,2034 Internet: 72357.2034@compuserve.com LICENSE You are licensed to use this copy of Gotcha! on a SINGLE machine and to make archival copies for the sole purpose of backing up the program. If you have more than one computer, you must purchase separate copies of Gotcha! for each computer. DISCLAIMER AND WARRANTY Gotcha! is provided on an "AS IS" basis, with no implied warranty regarding merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose. RKS Software, Inc., and the author, make no representations or warranties with respect to the contents hereof, and specifically disclaim any implied warranties. By using this software you agree that RKS Software, Inc., and the author, will not be liable to you or any third party for any use of (or inability to use) this software, or for any damages (direct or indirect) whatsoever, even if RKS Software, Inc. or its agents are apprised of the possibility of such damages occurring. In no event shall RKS Software, Inc. or the author be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damage, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential or other damages. The entire risk related to the quality and performance of the program is on you. PC user groups, shareware distributors, electronic bulletin board operators, and CD ROM vendors are welcome to add Gotcha! to their libraries. If you have received Gotcha! through a user group, a shareware distributor, or an electronic bulletin board, please remember that any diskette fee you paid DOES NOT constitute licensing the software, and you are still obligated to pay the $25 registration fee to RKS Software, Inc. if you decide to continue using Gotcha! beyond the 30 day trial period. SHAREWARE TRIAL You may have procured this software from another source such as the libraries on Compuserve, a BBS, a shareware disk vendor, or from a friend. That's fine!. We encourage registered users to introduce new users to Gotcha! by providing them with an unregistered copy. Try it out for up to 30 days, and if you decide to continue using it, pay the license fee of $25. You'll receive a registered copy and other benefits described below. HOW TO REGISTER By phone: call 703-534-1726. By mail: mail us the registration form found at the end of this documentation. By fax: fax the registration form found at the end of this documentation to 703-534-4358. By E-mail: send an E-mail message with your mailing information, credit card number and expiration date, to: - Compuserve address: 72357,2034, or to our - Internet address: 72357.2034@compuserve.com In Europe: call Ludi-Part International Shareware Registration Service at +411 729 9917. Their address is: Ludi-Part International Shareware Registration Service Schonenbergstr 46 CH - 8816 Hirzel Switzerland BENEFITS OF REGISTRATION 1. FREE LICENSED COPY OF THE MOST RECENT VERSION OF Gotcha!, sent to you immediately by first class mail. Your registered copy will include any new features which have been added since the copy you have was released. 2. PRINTED USER MANUAL, containing complete operating instructions for using Gotcha!. 3. TECHNICAL SUPPORT by phone, FAX, Compuserve E-mail, RKS Software BBS, or by regular mail. We will gladly help you with any problems or questions you may have. 4. DISCOUNT on upgrades to future versions. If you don't register, we can't notify you of new versions of Gotcha!. Another benefit of registration is that you have the right to suggest improvements to Gotcha!. Our programs get better and better over time because they reflect improvements suggested by our valued customers. If you suggest a feature that we add to the program, you will receive a free update of the program with the new feature. You are the expert. We value your knowledge. INSTALLATION The complete Gotcha! program is contained in the single file gotcha.exe. The first time it runs it will automatically create all the other files it needs. The on-line documentation is contained in the file readme.txt. You can install gotcha.exe and readme.txt anywhere you like, although we recommend creating a hard disk directory called GOTCHA and installing the two program files there. Once installed, just go to the GOTCHA directory, and type GOTCHA to start the program. CONFIG.SYS FILE DOS uses the CONFIG.SYS file to set certain defaults for your computer. It should be in the root directory of your fixed disk. If you do not already have a CONFIG.SYS file you should create one that has this line: FILES=21 If you already have a CONFIG.SYS file that does not include a FILES setting, you should add the line above to the file. You can do it with any text editor. If your CONFIG.SYS file already contains a FILES setting greater than 21, leave it as is. In most cases, Gotcha! will be able to detect whether you have a color or monochrome monitor. If you have a monochrome monitor and the Gotcha! screens appear to have a bright, washed out look, type GOTCHA M to start Gotcha!. The extra M tells GOTCHA! to use monochrome, not color. MAIN MENU: Note 1 : you may select any main menu option by (1) clicking on the option with your mouse, by (2) pressing the first letter of that option on your keyboard, or by (3) using the left or right arrow keys to highlight the option and then pressing the Enter key. Note 2: At start-up, records are in case number order. You will see a small yellow arrow pointing to Case No:. You may place the records in date, name, or charge order by pressing the F3 key and selecting the desired order. The small yellow arrow will shift to remind you of the new order. ----- Add: Select this option to add a new record. - The date defaults to the current date. Use the plus and minus keys on your numeric keypad to increment or decrement the date quickly. Press the F9 field to pop up a calendar which will stuff the date field with the date selected. - Press the F4 key when in the Charge field to popup the Charges database. - Enter a Y (Yes) in the memo field if you want to add data into the memo field. Enter a N (No) to skip the memo field. - Press the PgDn key to quickly save the data when you are adding or editing information in a record. Edit: Select this option to edit the current record. Use the plus and minus keys on your keyboard to increment or decrement the date quickly. Press the F4 key when in the Charge field to popup the Charges database. Next: Select this option to display the next record. Find: Select this option to find any record in the file. Report: Select this option to print, preview, or send a quick report to a file. This option also gives you access to the Report Writer. See Appendix B for complete details on using the Report Writer. Browse: Select this option to pop up a browse window where you can see more than one record at a time. The browse window reflects the currently active records order set with the F3 key. The browse window allows you to search for a specific record. If you are in Name order, and want to find SMITH, just type SMITH on the keyboard and the browse window will display the SMITH record. Zap: Select this option to delete a record. Other: Select this option to display a pulldown menu containing the following options: -- Sort Files: Select this option if your records ever seem to be out of order. It should never be necessary, but it is here just in case. --- Set Date Format: Select this option to display the date in a format other than the default American format. -- Set Century: Select this option to display the date with the full century. This will become important as we arrive at the year 2000. -- Import dBase File: Select this option to import an existing dBase file of arrest records. -- Set Printer Port: The default printer port is LPT1. If your printer is connected to another port, you can use this option to tell Gotcha! to print to the other port. -- Time Period Analysis: Select this option to perform a variety of time period analyses on your data. -- Frequency Analysis: Select this option to perform a variety of frequency analyses on your data. -- Edit a Text File: Select this option to edit a Gotcha! report or any other text file. Do not attempt to edit a non-text file as that may damage the non-text file. -- List Duplicates: Select this option to have Gotcha! provide a list of duplicate records, based on case number, name, or charge. Quit: Select this option to quit the program. FUNCTION KEYS F1: Press the F1 key for on-line help. F2: Press the F2 key to open the current record's memo field. F3: Press the F3 to change the current record order. F4: Press the F4 key to add, edit, and delete records from the Charges lookup data file. F5: Press the F5 key to make a copy of the current record. F6: Press the F6 key to exit to DOS. You have the option to enter a command which will execute when you exit to DOS, e.g., the command to execute your favorite word processor. If you enter no command, you will simply exit to the DOS prompt. Type EXIT at the DOS prompt to return to the GOTCHA! program. F7: Press the F7 key to count the records. This is particularly useful when you have set a filter with the F10 key. F8: Press the F8 key to pop up a calendar. F9: Press the F9 key to pop up a calculator. F10: Press the F10 key to access the Query Builder. Please see Appendix A for complete information on the Query Builder. The filter condition you set affects everything GOTCHA does, including reports. You do not need to use this feature if you don't want to, but if you experiment with it and understand its power, you will use it often. When you set a filter condition, a "filter on" reminder message will appear to remind you. Press F10 to clear the filter, and the message disappears. APPENDIX A - QUERY BUILDER The query builder allows you to define a condition which a record must meet in order for the record to be used by your application. When you Quit the query builder with a query active, your application will have access to only those records which meet the query condition. Think of the query condition as a filter. Records that do not meet the query condition are temporarily filtered out. The other records in your database are still there, but they are temporarily hidden. You can turn the query (filter) off by selecting Zap from the query builder menu. All your records are now available to your application. When you select the query builder, you will be presented with the following menu: Build a new Query Add to current query Count matching records Zap (remove) existing Query Save current Query to disk Restore Query from disk Delete stored queries What is current Query Edit current Query View records matching Query Quit Build a New Query: When you select this option, you will be presented with a list of the fields in the database you are working with: Database Field List CASE_NO DATE NAME CHARGE MEMO Place the lite bar over the field you want, and press Enter to select the field. If you have selected a character or memo field, the query builder will display a menu of choices, as follows: = (EXACTLY EQUAL TO) <> (NOT EQUAL TO) < (LESS THAN) > (GREATER THAN) <= (LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO) >= (GREATER OR EQUAL TO) $ (CONTAINS) !$ (DOES NOT CONTAIN) ?* (WILDCARD MATCH) S (IS SIMILAR TO) B (BEGINS WITH) E (ENDS WITH) If you have selected the DATE field, the query builder will display the following menu of choices: = EXACTLY EQUAL TO <> NOT EQUAL TO < LESS THAN > GREATER THAN <= LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO >= GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO Select the appropriate option, and the query builder will prompt you as necessary to complete your specification for the field you have selected. The query builder will then present the following menu of choices: DONE AND OR AND NOT OR NOT For many simple queries, you can select DONE. When first learning and experimenting with the query builder, you will probably want to select DONE and use the 'View records matching query' option to see the results of your query specification. If you wish to include other fields in the query expression, select AND , OR, etc., as appropriate, and repeat the same procedure as above. When you have created your query expression, you can select another option from the query builder menu: Add to Current Query: Select this option to add more specifications to your query expression. Count matching records: Select this option to have the query builder count the number of database records that meet the query condition you have specified. Zap (remove) existing query: Select this option to remove the existing query condition. This restores access to all the database records. Save current query to disk: Select this option to save the current query condition so you can use it later without having to redefine it. When you select this option, you will be prompted for a description of the query condition. Enter any description you want. Restore query from disk: Select this option to restore a previously saved query condition. Delete stored queries: Select this option to have the query builder display a list of stored queries. Select the one you want to delete and the query builder will remove it from the query file. What is current query: Select this option to have the query builder display the current query. Edit current query: Select this option if you want to manually edit the current query condition. Unless you are an experienced database programmer, you will probably not want to do this. View records matching query: Select this option to view the records which match the query condition you have specified. Quit: Select this option to quit the query builder and return to your application. The query builder can seem daunting at first. We suggest you simply experiment with it, building simple query conditions to get the feel of it. As you become more comfortable with how it works, try more complex queries. Remember to save queries which you may use again. This will save you the trouble of redefining them. APPENDIX B - REPORT WRITER The Report Writer allows you to create custom reports, output the reports to printer or disk, and save the report specifications for future use. The Report Writer menu displays 12 command options down the left side, a column which gives the column number, and five columns which show the report specifications. The command options are: Load REPORT: Select this option for a list of previously defined and saved reports. Highlight the report you want, press Enter, and the all the specifications for the selected report will be loaded into the Report Writer. Create REPORT: Select this option to create a new report. When you select this option, you will be asked to name the report. After naming the report, you must select Edit REPORT to define the new report. Save REPORT: Select this option to save your report. Edit REPORT: Select this option if you want to define a new report you have just Created, or change a report you have just Loaded. When defining a new report you have just Created, the lite-bar will be over column 1 of Column Contents. Press Enter to display a list of database fields. Place the lite-bar over the field you want to use in column 1 and press Enter. The name of the field you have selected will appear in the Column Contents column. Whether you are specifying the second column for a new report, or editing an existing report you have Loaded, the editing procedure is the same. Use the arrow keys to move the lite-bar to the Column Contents, Column Title, Width, Pict, and Total columns. Use the ENTER key to change the contents of a column. Use the INSERT key to add a new column. Use the DELETE key to delete a column. Use the ESCAPE key when finished editing. To Add: To add a new column to the report, place the lite-bar over the Column Contents column where you want to insert the new column, and press Enter. Select the desired field from the list of fields which will be displayed. To Change: To change the contents of any of the five report specification columns, use the arrow keys to place the lite- bar over the item you want to change, and press Enter. If you are changing an item in the Column Title column, you will first be asked to specify the column width, and will then be asked for the new title. The Column Title column initially contains the name of the field you have selected. The Width column shows how wide the column is. If you want to change the width of a column, select this item and enter a new column width. The default is the width of the field. The Pict column lets you specify a picture, or mask, for numeric fields. Delete Report: Select this option to delete previously saved reports. Headers/Footers: Select this option to enter page titles and/or page footers. Filtering: Select this option to set a filter, i.e., specify the criteria which records have to meet in order to be included in the report. See the Query Builder section for a full discussion of how to specify a filter condition using the Query Builder. Grouping Order: The report writer will print the report in the order your records are currently in on the main screen, i.e., the field the small yellow arrow is pointing to. If you want to print the records in a different order, you can use this Grouping Order option to do select another order. Other Options: Select this option to customize the look of your report. There are five categories within this option: Page Dimensions: Use the choices in this category to set the desired page length, page width, top margin, and left margin. Group Headers and Totals: Use the choices in this category to give the major or minor groups, if any, a title. The default titles are Major Group: and Minor Group:. You can also select any underlining characters you may want to use for the gropu headers and totals. Eject (new page) Options: Use the choices in this category to specify how you want the report writer to eject pages. Separator Characters: Use the choices in this category to specify separator lines and characters for titles, individual detail lines, columns, etc. Miscellaneous Options: Use the choices in this category to specify whether you want to include a standard two line header on each page consisting of the page #, date, and time. You can also specify whether you want a full or summary report. The printer setup and exit codes allow you to send printer control codes to the printer at the beginning and end or the report. For example, if you are working with an Epson dot matrix printer, and want to print a report in condensed print, you would enter 15 as the setup code and 18 as the exit code. For a laserjet printer, the setup code for condensed print is 27,38,107,50,83. For landscape mode, enter 27,38,108,49,79 for the setup code. The exit code for laserjet printers is always 27,69. Printer control codes can vary widely from printer to printer, so check your printer manual for the exact codes for your printer. Unless you are very familiar with the printer control codes used by your printer, you will normally leave the printer setup and exit codes blank. Leaving them blank means that the printer will print in whatever font the printer is currently set for. Print Report: Select this option to send the report to the printer or to a disk file. We suggest using the disk file option until you are sure you have the report just the way you want it, since the disk file option displays the report on the screen while also writing to the disk. You can see right away whether the report looks the way you want it to. You can suspend or quit report production by pressing the Esc key at any time. If you tell the report writer to prepare a disk file, you will be prompted for a file name. Report Status: Select this option to see a summary of the total configuration being used by the report writer. ASSOCIATION OF SHAREWARE PROFESSIONALS Robert K. Summers is a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware- related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442 or send a Compuserve message via Compuserve Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. IMPORTANT FINAL NOTE WE ASSUME NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR LOSS OF DATA. Please make regular backup copies of your records to protect against accidental erasures or system malfunction. Your records are in the file called GOTCHA.DBF. Memo field data is in the file called GOTCHA.DBT. These two files must be backed up at the same time. In addition to the backup and restore programs which come free with each copy of DOS, there are several commercial programs available for saving and restoring copies of your records. These include Fastback Plus, PC Tools Deluxe, and Norton Utilities. Should you ever need to restore backed-up files, please re-sort your records (Other menu) after restoring. TECHNICAL SUPPORT We will be glad to help with any problems you may have. You may contact us for technical support at: -Voice.... 703-534-1726 -Compuserve: 72357,2034 -Internet: 72357.2034@compuserve.com -FAX...... 703-534-4358 -BBS...... 703-534-7812 -Mail at: RKS Software, Inc. 3820 N. Dittmar Road Arlington, VA 22207-4565 -- GOTCHA! REGISTRATION -- Call us at 703-534-1726 to register, or you can fax the order form below to us at 703-534-4358. If you prefer to pay by check, please complete this form and mail to RKS Software, Inc., 3820 N. Dittmar Rd., Arlington, VA 22207. Enclose your check for $25.00, plus $4.00 shipping/handling for U.S. and Canada, and $6.00 shipping/handling for other international orders. We accept all U.S. and foreign Postal Money Orders, and will also accept checks drawn on foreign banks. SEND TO: Name: _________________________________________________________ Address: ______________________________________________________ City: _______________________ State: ________ ZIP: ___________ Phone:_________________________________________________________ Visa _____ MasterCard ______ Credit Card No: __________________________ Exp. Date:__________ Signature for credit card order: _______________________________________________________________ Send: ___ 5 1/4 inch disk __ 3 1/2 inch disk =====================================================================