Quick Check
Phone Number And Address Filer For The ProDOS Ramdisk
Ronald G. Jones
Beginning Apple users can put their ramdisk to good use with this BASIC phone number and address filer. By keeping the program and its data in RAM, you have instant access to the names and phone numbers of friends and associates. There's also an option for displaying emergency numbers. The program runs on an Apple IIe with 128K of memory, IIc, and IIGS. ProDOS is required.
"Quick Check" uses ProDOS's incredibly fast ramdisk to store up to 250 names, phone numbers, and addresses. In addition, Quick Check holds six emergency numbers which can be brought quickly to the screen. All entries may be searched and edited. So that you won't lose any information, the program reminds you to save your data to a floppy disk whenever an entry has been changed.
Getting Started
To use Quick Check, type in Programs 1–3 using the "Automatic Proofreader" found elsewhere in this issue. Program 1 creates a data file and an exec file (explained later), Program 2 transfers your phone/ address file from floppy disk to RAM, and Program 3 is the Quick Check program itself.
After typing them in, save each program on the same disk—preferably a ProDOS system disk (one you can boot with). Save Program 1 as DATA.GEN, Program 2 as TRANS. SYD01, and Program 3 as QUICK.CHECK.
Load and run Program 1. This creates two files on your disk: SYD01, and INSTALL.QUICK. (You only need to run this program once to create these two files.) The SYD01 file is Quick Check's data file. Initially, SYD01 starts out empty.
INSTALL.QUICK is an exec file. To use Quick Check, you should execute this file using Applesoft's EXEC command every time you boot your computer. This transfers the Quick Check program and its data file from floppy disk to RAM. If you saved Quick Check's programs on a ProDOS system disk, you may add the following line to the end of your STARTUP file:
10000 PRINT CHR$(4); "EXEC INSTALL.QUICK"
Otherwise, simply enter EXEC INSTALL.QUICK directly from the keyboard, after booting with ProDOS. Be sure the disk that contains Quick Check's files is in the disk drive.
After Quick Check has been transferred to the ramdisk, it can be loaded and run instantaneously. As with a normal disk, however, loading programs from the ramdisk erases anything located in the BASIC workspace. So, if you are working on a BASIC program and wish to run Quick Check, save your current program to disk first.
To activate Quick Check, enter the following:
-/RAM/PH
With amazing speed, Quick Check is loaded and run.
Using The Program
When run, Quick Check offers these five options:
- DISPLAY EMERGENCY NUMBERS
- LOOK UP INFORMATION
- EDIT AN ENTRY
- ADD AN ENTRY
- END PROGRAM
To make a selection, highlight the desired option by using the up-arrow and down-arrow keys, or press the corresponding number key. Press Return to make your selection final.
Display Emergency Numbers
When you select Display Emergency Numbers, all six emergency numbers are displayed on the screen. Press any key other than C to return to the main menu.
If you wish to change one of the entries, press C while the emergency numbers are displayed on the screen. One by one, the computer lists each name and number to the screen, asking if you wish to make a change. If you say yes, you can choose to edit either the name or number part of the entry. After editing an entry, the program asks if your changes are correct. If you answer no, you are given the chance to edit the entry's name or number again. Once the program has brought you through all six emergency numbers, you return to the main menu.
Look Up Information
Upon selecting this option, the program asks "What am I to look for?" Just type in the name—not the number—of the entry you wish to view, and press Return. (This option does not search emergency numbers, but rather, the 250 numbers you enter using the Add An Entry option described below.)
If you have entries for Jane Doe and John Doe, for example, you may search for Doe and the program will display both entries. If you wish to view all the entries in the directory, simply press Return without giving a name to search for. After you have searched for entries, you can return to the main menu by pressing Return.
Edit An Entry
As with the previous option, the computer asks what you're looking for. Type in the name, in part or in full, of the entry that you are searching for. If you're not sure which entry you wish to edit, enter a U and Quick Check will go through each entry in your file. Entering an A aborts this option.
For each entry that Quick Check finds, the program asks if you wish to change anything. Answer by pressing Y if you do, N if you don't. For each entry, you can change the name, number, street address, city/state, and zip code. When editing address entries, don't use a comma between the city and state.
Add An Entry
Here's where you add names and numbers to the program. When selected, you are asked to enter the name, number, street address, city/ state, and zip code of an entry, in that order. Remember to use a space rather than a comma between the city and state entries. After entering all five lines, Quick Check displays your entry, asking if it is correct. If it's not, press N and reenter the information for that entry. (You must reenter the entire entry, not just the incorrect line.) If it's correct, press Y and you're brought back to the main menu.
End Program
To exit Quick Check, select this option. If any changes have been made to your file, the program asks you to insert your Quick Check disk (the one with all the Quick Check files on it) into the drive and press C to continue. Your updated data will be saved to disk, this is important because any information stored in the ramdisk is destroyed when you turn off your computer. If you do not want to save your data just yet, press A and you'll return to the main menu.
If you haven't modified any of the entries, Quick Check simply clears the screen and ends. Both the program and its data file are still on ramdisk if you need them again.
For instructions on entering these programs, please refer to "COMPUTE!'s Guide to Typing In Programs" elsewhere in this issue.