
 DECK COMMANDER
 Card Cataloger and Deck Building System for MAGIC: The Gathering(tm)

 Written by Richard Brown

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------

 BRIEF HISTORY
 I wrote this program to help my friends and I to keep track of our cards
 and provide us with some useful information about our decks.  We had seen
 a few programs here and there that did this, but they left out pieces of
 this and that, so, after being prodded several times, I set out on this
 program.

 We've tried to put in as much as possible while still making the interface
 as user friendly as I could keep it.  The files do store a great amount of
 detail and I hope that you can use it with the zeal my friend has. :)


 FILES REQUIRED
 The only file needed to run the program is DECKCOM.EXE.  All data files
 will be created if they do not already exist.


 FILES SUPPLIED
 With this program, I am distributing the MASTER.CRD file as we have entered
 if for our decks and collections, I believe you will find most of the
 Revised and Dark already entered.  There are also some Antiquities, Legends
 and Arabian Knights entered.  An index file (MASTER.IDX) is provided to
 forego the creation of the index file upon running the program.

 Also provided is a file utility program (UTILITY.EXE) for cleaning the
 master file and realigning deck files.

 Also supplied is this file, DECKCOM.DOC, and the program's release history
 file, HISTORY.TXT.  The history file also contains back burner projects for
 the program and rough estimates for when bells and whistles will be
 completed. :)


 FILES CREATED
 If needed, the program will create a master card file (MASTER.CRD) and all
 deck files that you enter, ending with a DCK extension.  This program
 only operates on files on the CURRENT directory, NOT the programs directory.
 The MASTER.IDX will also be recreated when the program closes, if it does
 not already exist.


 COMPATIBILITY
 To this date, past versions of the program's data files are compatible with
 each other.  As the program loads, it checks the master file to ensure
 compatibility with the current program.  All deck files are also checked
 when they are loaded.

 IMPORTANT ! ! !  All decks that you create are based on YOUR master card
 file.  That means, if you delete your master file, or you copy somebody
 else's master file over yours, your decks are 99% sure to be completely
 messed up!  Also, deck files cannot be traded back and forth because of
 this limitation.  Why?  Because the way the program is set up saves ALOT
 of disk space!  (47K / 1000 master cards, decks keeping below 300 bytes!)

 Within the next few releases, I will be creating a utility program that
 will be included with the release.  This will do file conversions if needed
 and also solve the problem of the not being able to swap and trade files.

 IMPORTANT ! ! !  If you use the supplied UTILITY.EXE to clean your master
 card file, you must also run the realign option in that program to adjust
 your deck files to the new master file.  This is a best guess match and
 should align your decks correctly 98% of the time. :)


 STARTING THE PROGRAM
 From the dos command line, type DECKCOM.  You must be in the directory
 where the program is located as the master file is also located there.

 As the program loads, it will inform you of any compatibility issues with
 the current master file and will create the master file index if it does
 not reside on the disk.  If the index must be created, this may take a
 couple of minutes depending on the number of entries in the master file.
 Once this index is created and written to disk (when deckcom is exited),
 the index will not have to be recreated (unless UTILITY.EXE is run).
 When asked, press the enter key to continue on with the program.


 EXITING THE PROGAM
 From the main display screen, you may exit the progam by pressing Q.  If a
 deck is open, it will be closed and packed, then the master file will be
 closed and the program will terminate.


 MAIN DISPLAY WINDOW
 This window is your central control point for the program.  The top area of
 the screen displays the progam version number, what file you are editing
 and headers for the list area.

 The middle section of the screen in the list area in which all cards will
 be displayed.  A hilight bar moves up and down the list by using the UP or
 DOWN arrows, PGUP or PGDN to jump screens, and HOME or END to move to the
 beginning or end of the list.

 The lower section of the screen is the status bar and command line, upon
 pressing a command key, this area may be used for additional input or to
 indicate the status of a command.


 LIST AREA CARD DISPLAY
 Cards are displayed in the list area of the main screen, either in alpha
 order if displaying the master file, or according to the deck sort keys
 that may be in effect.

 The display is seen in the following order -

      Cnt   Number of cards in inventory (master) or in the deck.

     Name   Name of the card, up to 30 characters may be entered, may be
            truncated on the display screen.

    Color   The card color is indicated by colored squares in this area.
            No squares means no color, a lightgray color is colorless.
            The program supports multi colored cards, including all colors!

     Type   Type of card - Land, Enchant, Sorcery, Summon, Instant, Artifact
            or Interrupt

  Casting   Casting cost of the card.  The first number indicates the number
            of colored mana, the second is colorless mana.  X may be selected
            for the number of colorless mana.

            Multi colored casting costs are not supported at this time.

Abilities   Short forms of the abilities for the card -
                Otr   Other              Pro   Protection
                Fly   Flying             tAp   Taps a Card
                Rgn   Regeneration       Utp   Untaps Card
                Bnd   Banding            Ntp   Doesnt Tap
                1st   First Strike       Mna   Provides Mana (non-Land)
                Trm   Trample            Dmg   Damage
                Lwk   Landwalk           Hel   Healing or Prevent Damage

    Ratio   N/A is the master file.  The draw ratio for a particular card
            in a deck.


 MAIN DISPLAY COMMANDS
 The following commands may be used on the main display, to receive a listing
 of these commands in the program, press ? for the help screen.  Most
 commands may be aborted by pressing the escape key.

 Available for both master and deck file editing:

   F5       Switches to the master file display
   F6       Switches to the deck file display

   Q        Exits the program
   P        Prints master or deck file
   S        Sorts the master or deck file on primary and secondary keys

   +        Increments count by 1
   -        Decrements count by 1

   INS      Inserts a card into the deck from the master file, or inserts
            a new entry into the master file

   DEL      Sets the count to zero.  When a deck is closed and packed, the
            zero count cards and invalid cards are removed.
   CtlDEL   Sets all counts to zero, you will be asked to confirm.

 Available only for deck file editing:

   F2       Recalculates highlighted card's checksum
   CtlF2    Recalculates all cards' checksums

   F9       Displays the deck breakdown windows

   L        Loads a deck
   C        Closes a deck

 Available only for master file editing:

   F4       Switches between Alphabetical sorted list and user sorted list
   ENTER    Edits the currently highlighted entry


 INSERTING AND EDITING MASTER CARD ENTRIES
 When you press INS or ENTER over a highlighted card, your begin the editing
 process for the master card entries.  If you had pressed INS, all values
 default to blank, none or zero.

 During the editing process, all entry is down on the last line of the
 screen.  The line just above this displays the effects of your editing.
 You may press enter alone on any of the prompts to accept the default or
 what has already been entered.  A blank name (on new cards) or pressing
 escape at one of the other prompts will abort the process.

 First you are asked for a new card name, this may be up to 30 characters in
 length.  A blank name will abort the editing process.

 Next you must select the type of card by pressing the capitalized letter
 corresponding to the type you wish to assign.

 If the card is not an artifact, you are asked to select the card's color.
 The color squares will be toggled on and off as you press the appropriate
 capitalized letter.  Press N for none to clear all the colors off
 immediately.  Press enter when you are down selecting colors.  Artifacts
 are automatically assigned Colorless.

 If the card is not a land, you will be asked for casting cost.  First in
 colored mana, select 0-9 or enter to keep the default.  Then in colorless
 mana, select 0-9 or X or enter to keep the default.

 Finally, if the card is not a sorcery, you will be asked to select special
 abilities.  For lands, Provide Mana (Mna) will not be available as they are
 assumed to provide mana if they have a color assigned to them.  Select from
 the abilities by pressing the capitalized letter.  Selected abilities will
 be highlighted.  Press enter when you are finished.  Currently, about 3 or
 4 abilities will display on the screen without difficulty, however, after
 that, the screen display may become cluttered.

 When you are done editing the card, the program will check to ensure that
 it is not duplicating another card in the master file.  If so, the editing
 will be thrown out.  If not, the card will take it's new place in the file.


 DELETING MASTER CARD ENTRIES
 There is no way provided to delete master card entries in the program.  This
 is done to prevent widespread error in the deck files.  However, you may
 rename a card to "delete.xxxx" where xxxx is some unique identifier (1, 2,
 3, etc) and then run the UTILITY.EXE program.  The file utility program will
 delete all duplicate cards (should they occur) and all cards that begin with
 DELETE. from the deck.  Please note that the period MUST follow word delete
 for the card to be deleted.  Also, after running the cleaning function in
 the utility program, you should run the realign decks function.

 The master index will be deleted when the master file is cleaned, when
 Deck Commander is started again, the index will be recreated.  The old
 master file will be named MASTER.BAK.


 SORTING THE FILES
 Press S on the file display to sort the master or deck files.  You are
 allowed to specify a primary and secondary key for the sort.  The available
 keys are Count, Name, Color, Type and Casting Cost.  However, Name will not
 be available on the master file as a primary key since the alpha sort is
 always available by pressing the F4 key.

 Select the keys by pressing the number in front of them, escape will abort
 the sort and leave the current sort intact if one exists.

 When finished, the screen will update according to the new sort keys.


 LOADING A DECK OR CREATING A NEW DECK
 When the deck file display is active, you may press L to load a deck file.
 A picklist of files on the disk will be displayed.  In order from left to
 right on each line is displayed the filename, version number, name of deck,
 and number of cards in the deck.

 You may highlight a deck using the up and down arrows, then press enter to
 load that deck.

 You may also press the insert (INS) key to create a new deck.  If so, the
 picklist will disappear and you will be asked for a filename and then a
 description of your deck (15 characters).  DO NOT include the DCK extension
 in your filename.

 During loading of a deck or creation of a new deck, version numbers are
 checked and updated if necessary or a compatibility error may be issued.
 If you entered an invalid filename, an error will also be issued.


 CLOSING A DECK
 While the deck file display is active, you may press C to close the deck.
 If there are any invalid cards or zero cards, you will be asked if you wish
 to pack the deck file.  Answering Y will remove these cards, N will leave
 them in the file, and pressing the escape key will leave the deck open.


 ADDING A CARD TO A DECK
 On the deck file display, pressing the insert key pops up a picklist and
 info window.  You may move through the picklist using either the up and
 down arrow keys or you may type letters to progressively find a match to
 what you are typing.

 As you move through the list, the info window on the left shows the card
 color, type and casting costs.

 Press enter to added the card to your deck, escape to abort adding a card.
 If the card is already in your deck, its count will be incremented by one,
 otherwise, the card is added with a count of one.


 DISPLAYING DECK INFORMATION
 Pressing F9 while in the deck file display shows the deck breakdown windows.

 To the left is a picklist indicating the breakdowns to choose from and the
 right window displays the breakdown pane.

 As you move up and down in the picklist, the right pane changes according
 to the highlighted breakdown.

 Pressing escape will exit the breakdown windows and return you to the deck
 file display.


 RECALCULATING DECK CARD CHECKSUMS
 This function is used should a deck become misaligned or you change the
 spelling of the name of a card.

 If the program detects that the name of a card has changed or a card has
 become misaligned, an asterisk (*) will appear after the count on the deck
 display.  If the card is correct, you may hilight it and press F2 to force
 the checksum to be correct.

 Pressing Control+F2 will do the same for all cards in the deck.

 If the card IS NOT correct, you should not recalculate the checksum, but
 use the UTILITY.EXE program to realign the decks.  The utility program will
 attempt to find the correct card by matching up the stored checksum.  Decks
 normally become misaligned from deleting master card entries or restoring
 a backup master card file or other file.


 PRINTING THE MASTER OR DECK FILES
 Pressing P on either the master or deck file display will print the files.
 Make sure your printer is on before you do this.  The master file will
 be printed in alphabetical order and the deck file will be printed in the
 current sort order.


 THE FILE UTILITY PROGRAM
 Currently, the file utility program (UTILITY.EXE) allows you to clean the
 master card file, display the master card file, and realign decks.  Pressing
 X will exit the utility program.

 In cleaning the master card file, the original master file is copied to
 MASTER.BAK.  Then, all duplicate cards are removed and all cards beginning
 with "DELETE." are removed.  The new master file is written and the master
 index file is erased.  You should run the realign decks option next to make
 sure that all your decks correctly reflect the cards in the master file.

 Display master file will list the cards in the master file in the order that
 they were entered into the file.

 Realign decks will verify the checksums on all the deck cards in every deck
 file.  If a checksum is incorrect, it will attempt to compensate by finding
 the correct card.  If it cant do this, then it will leave the card alone.
 As it proceeds, it will tell you what cards it's replacing and what cards
 it's leaving alone.


 DISCLAIMER AND TRADEMARKS
 The program is provided AS IS and the author makes no claims or guarantees
 other than what is stated in the above text.  Furthermore, the author takes
 no responsibility for loss or damage done directly or indirectly by this
 program.

 Magic: The Gathering(tm) and Deckmaster(tm) are trademarks of Wizards of
 the Coast, Inc. and Garfield Games.  All rights reserved.


 CONTACTING THE AUTHOR
 I am releasing this program into the public domain so that everyone may
 benefit from it.  However, if you find it useful, then a $10 contribution
 to my work would be appreciated.  For this, I will send you the next major
 upgrade to the program.

 Also, any comments, suggestions or even errors (heaven forbid, even though
 I know they exist!) would be greatly appreciated.

 Richard Brown
 171 Nebraksa Street
 Lake Elsinore, Ca 92530

 Or you may reach me via Ken Jensen at internet address KJCTD@ix.netcom.com
        
 ENJOY !
