PERSONAL DATEBOOK REFERENCE MANUAL (c) 1984 by LATERAL PROGRAMMING, INCORPORATED P.O. Box 337 Altamonte Springs, Forida 32715-0337 NOTE: PERSONAL DATEBOOK is a "FREEWARE" software product. It is fully copy- righted and it is NOT in the public domain. However, you may freely copy and distribute PERSONAL DATEBOOK and its utility programs to anyone without restriction. If you find PERSONAL DATEBOOK useful, you are urged to register your copy by sending $12.95 to LATERAL PROGRAMMING, INC. at the address above. Registered owners will receive a printed copy of this documen- tation and notification of all program updates and improvements. In addition, if you send a blank disk with your registration fee, you will receive the latest version of PERSONAL DATEBOOK. By registering your copy, you enable us to continue publishing high quality software on a "FREEWARE" basis. Your support is greatly appreciated!! I. INTRODUCTION PERSONAL DATEBOOK is a program that maintains a daily calendar of appointments, birthdays, memos, events and whatever else you choose to record. It also generates a monthly calendar and allows you to create and maintain a personal address list. PERSONAL DATEBOOK is equally useful in both the home and the office. The program will work with any IBM Personal Computer: (XT, PC, PC Portable or PC Jr.) with either a color or monochrome display. It may also be used with most IBM "compatible" computers running IBM PC DOS. You must have at least one disk drive (floppy or hard) and your display must be 80 columns wide. If you have a printer connected to your computer, you will be able to print a day's memos along with the current month's calendar. II. SET UP PROCEDURE: Your PERSONAL DATEBOOK disk is not copy protected because we feel that such systems should not be used on any program that will be used every day and on which you will come to depend. Consequently, your first step should be to make a copy of your original disk. The original should then be placed in a safe place and you should work ONLY with the copy. Your original distribution disk is not "bootable" and will not work directly on your computer because it does not contain the DOS COMMAND file or the BASIC language file needed to run the program. We cannot include these files on your disk because of copyright and royalty restrictions that would greatly increase the cost of the software. Also, we have no way of knowing which operating system version (1.1, 2.0, 2.1 etc.) or what type of computer (XT, PC, PC Portable, PC Jr., Compaq, etc.) or disk drive (floppy or fixed) you will be using. Therefore, you will have to create a "working" disk tailored to your system. This is not difficult to do and you will only have to do it one time. However, you must be familiar with the operation of your computer and you must know how to use the "FORMAT" and "COPY" utilities included with your Disk Operating System. Note that you must use your DOS "FORMAT" and "COPY" utilities to create a working copy for your operating system version. This cannot be done with the "DISKCOPY" utility because DISKCOPY would create an exact copy of the distribution disk that would not contain the operating system COMMAND files and that also might not be in your particular version of DOS. However, once you have created your "working" copy, DISKCOPY may be used to create additional copies. If all this sounds confusing to you, please read your DOS manual or get help from your computer store or a knowledgeable friend. A. EQUIPMENT AND MATERIALS Before you begin, you must have: 1. An IBM (XT, PC, PC Portable, PC Jr.) or IBM "compatible" computer with an 80 column display monitor. The monitor may be either color or monochrome. 2. A copy of the IBM DOS (Disk Operating System) and the IBM BASIC language. PC Jr. users will need the IBM BASIC CARTRIDGE instead of disk BASIC. 3. The original PERSONAL DATEBOOK disk. 4. One or more blank disks. B. FIXED DISK INSTALLATION If you will be using a "fixed" or "hard" disk: 1. Use the DOS COPY utility to copy the files from your PERSONAL DATEBOOK distribution disk to the selected directory on your drive. 2. Use the DOS COPY utility to copy BASIC.COM to the same directory on your drive. NOTE: Your directory should contain the files: BASIC.COM, MEMO.BAS, MEMO.BAT, MANUAL.EXE, MANUAL.TXT, CONVERT.BAS and CONVERT.BAT If you create another batch file the main program "MEMO.BAS" must be called with the parameters "BASIC MEMO /S:255 /F:4" to work properly. C. FLOPPY DISK INSTALLATION If you will be using a floppy disk drive: 1. FORMAT a blank disk using the "/S" option as explained in your DOS manual. This will create a "bootable" disk that contains the DOS COMMAND file. If you have a double sided drive, be sure to create a double sided disk as this will greatly increase the amount of datebook memos and addresses that you can create. 2. Use the DOS COPY command to copy the files from your PERSONAL DATEBOOK distribution disk to your formatted, blank disk. 3. Use the DOS COPY command to copy the BASIC.COM file to file to your formatted disk. PC Jr. users with CARTRIDGE BASIC may omit this step as the BASIC language is contained in the cartridge. 4. Label your completed disk "PERSONAL DATEBOOK WORKING DISK" along with the date and any other information you wish to include. NOTE: You will end up with a disk containing the files COMMAND.COM, BASIC.COM, MEMO.BAS, MEMO.BAT, MANUAL.EXE, MANUAL.TXT, CONVERT.BAS and CONVERT.BAT. This is the working PERSONAL DATEBOOK disk that you will be using every day. It is suggested that you make an additional copy of this disk, label it "PERSONAL DATEBOOK MASTER", and keep it in a safe place. Then, when you wish to create additional "working" disks, you can simply use your DISKCOPY utility and you will not have to go through the separate format and copy operations described above. III. USING PERSONAL DATEBOOK PERSONAL DATEBOOK is very easy to use. All operations are prompted on two command lines at the bottom of the screen. Although the use of PERSONAL DATEBOOK is fairly straightforward and logical, there are certain conventions that must be observed. It is suggested that you read through the following description of all of the commands and functions of PERSONAL DATEBOOK. A. START-UP: To start the PERSONAL DATEBOOK program you must be at the DOS COMMAND level where you will see the "A>" prompt. You can get to the DOS command level in several ways: 1. If your computer is off, place your PERSONAL DATEBOOK (working copy) in the "default" drive (usually drive A) and turn the computer on. 2. If the computer is on and you are not at the command level you can perform a "warm boot" by simultaneously pressing the , and keys after placing your PERSONAL DATEBOOK disk in the default drive. Once you are at the DOS command level, simply type MEMO and press for the PERSONAL DATEBOOK program or type MANUAL and press for this program. NOTE: When you first turn on your computer or perform a warm boot you will be asked to supply the date and time. The PERSONAL DATEBOOK program uses this information. It will simplify the operation of the program if it is supplied at start-up. B. PROGRAM INITIALIZATION When you call up the PERSONAL DATEBOOK program, several things will happen. First, the program will check to see if you are using a color or monochrome monitor and will automatically adjust the display. If you happen to have both a color and monochrome driver installed, you will be asked which you prefer to use. NOTE: The program has no way of knowing if a monitor is actually attached to the display driver or if it is turned on. Be careful not to switch to a nonexistant display. Also, if you have two monitors , the program will come up first on the monochrome display and it will return to the monochrome display when you exit the program. Next, the program will automatically test your disk to see how much space is left. If the amount of free space is below about 20 kilobytes a message will be displayed suggesting that you start a new disk or that you delete any unnecessary files. NOTE: In addition to the COMMAND.COM, BASIC.COM, MEMO.BAT, MEMO.BAS MANUAL.EXE, MANUAL.TXT, CONVERT.BAT and CONVERT.BAS files that will be on disk when you initially begin to use PERSONAL DATEBOOK, the program will create the following files: 1. A file will be created for each month that you enter memos. An example is MAY1984.CAL. These files will always contain the first three letters of the month name, the year and the suffix "CAL". 2. Two files will also be created for your address list. The first, ADDRESS.DAT, contains all of the data for your address list. The second, ADDRESS.ISI, contains an index of all of the last names in the address list. It is suggested that you periodically delete any old month files that you will no longer be using. If space gets tight, you can also delete the files MANUAL.BAS which contains this text; MANUAL.EXE which is the program to read and print this manual; as well as CONVERT.BAT and CONVERT.BAS which are used to convert PERSONAL DATEBOOK address lists for use with word processors and other programs. If you delete the MANUAL or CONVERT programs from your working disk, be sure you retain a copy on another disk. DO NOT DELETE any of the other files as the program will not work without them. To delete files, first end the program. This will return you to the DOS command level. When you see the "A>" prompt: 1. Type DIR (or DIR/W if you have a lot of files) to obtain a directory of all the files on the disk. 2. Choose the file to be deleted and type ERASE FILENAME.EXT where FILENAME is the name of the file and EXT is the DOS file type identification. Example: ERASE MAY1984.CAL 3. Repeat step two for each file that you wish to erase. Then use the DIR command to obtain a new directory. You will notice that the erased files are gone. There will also be a message at the bottom telling you how much disk space is now available. NOTE: Your DOS manual contains complete information on the use of the ERASE and DIR (Directory) functions. Please read it if you are unsure of any of the instructions above. C. CHOOSE MONTH AND YEAR Next, the program will draw the initial PERSONAL DATEBOOK screen and display the following prompt at the bottom: THE SYSTEM DATE IS (MONTH, YEAR) DO YOU WANT THE SYSTEM DATE? (Y/N) The system date is the date you entered when you turned on the computer. If the system date is the month and year that you want simply type a "Y" and the file for that month and year will be opened. If you type a "N" you will be asked to enter another month and year. You must type the month name and the year. Almost any format will do such as: "AUGUST, 1985" or "JUNE 1983". NOTE: The computer is really only interested in the first three letters of the month name and the last two digits of the year so an entry of "AUG85" is also acceptable. The acceptable years are 1900 to 1999. If you type "1885" or "2085" the computer will assume you mean 1985. (Few people other than Time Lords will want to schedule appointments in the past. However, the ability to list previous months and years might be useful if you want to determine the day of the week you were born or married, etc.) D. MAIN MENU SELECTIONS Once you have entered the desired month and year, the computer will generate a calendar and display it in the upper left hand corner of the screen followed by a list of the month's major holidays in the box immediately below. Then, in the two line area at the bottom of the screen, you will see the following choices: MAIN MENU: PICK DAY PICK MONTH/YEAR ADDRESS LIST and END PROGRAM You must now select one of these functions. NOTE: , , , etc. refers to the FUNCTION KEYS on your computer. XT, PC, and PC Portable users need only press one of the ten function keys on the extreme left side of the keyboard. PC Jr. users must press the "Fn" key at the upper right on their keyboard followed by the number key corresponding to their choice. Also, on the PC Jr. is the "Fn" key followed by the "0" key. PICK DAY: If you are in the desired month and year, use this function key to choose the day of the month. You will be prompted to enter the desired day. Enter it and press . If a memo for that day already exists, it will be displayed in the column on the right hand side of the screen reserved for memos. If no memo exists you will be prompted to enter one and the cursor will be positioned at the beginning of the first memo line. NOTE: To enter a memo, simply begin typing. If you make a mistake, use the backspace key to back up and erase unwanted characters. Then continue typing. The limit for each line is 40 characters. When you finish a line, press the key and the cursor will be placed at the beginning of the next line. When you are finished typing memo lines, press the again. The memo will be recorded and the MEMO MENU will appear at the bottom of the screen. If you make an error, use the backspace key to erase the unwanted characters. You can only correct mistakes on the current line and you cannot return to a previous line at this point. However, if you do want to change something on a previous line or notice a mistake, do not worry. You may call up a full range of editing functions from the EDIT MENU as explained later. The program will not allow a blank line between memo lines. If you try to enter a blank line, the program will think you have finished the memo and act accordingly. The reason for this is that blank lines use up valuable disk space. PICK MONTH/YEAR: Use this function key if you want to choose a different month and year. You will again be asked if you want the system month and, if not, given the opportunity to enter a new month and year. ADDRESS LIST: Use this function key to use the ADDRESS LIST part of the program. A blank address list form will be drawn in the lower left box on your screen and the "ADDRESS MENU", as explained later, will appear to prompt further choices. END PROGRAM: Use this function key to end PERSONAL DATEBOOK and return to the DOS operating system. NOTE: Always use this function to end the program. DO NOT simply turn off the computer. If you do, some of the work you have done during the current session could be lost. The "END PROGRAM" function organizes your data files and allows the most efficient use of disk space. E. MEMO MENU SELECTIONS If you choose in the MAIN MENU, and either retrieve an existing memo or create a new memo, you will be presented with the following choices: MEMO MENU: PRINT MEMO EDIT MEMO ADDRESS LIST CLEAR ADDRESS BOX and MAIN MENU PRINT MEMO: If you choose this function, you will be asked to ready your printer and to "type any key" to continue. Your printer will then print a duplicate of the screen. Use this function to take a copy of your day's appointments with you. NOTE: If your printer is not on or if it is out of paper, etc. an error will result. No harm will be done and you will be returned to the MEMO MENU after a "timeout" delay of about 45 seconds or less. EDIT MEMO: If you choose this function, you will be presented with a list of functions that will allow you to make additions, changes, deletions, etc. to the current day's memo. These choices are explained later in the "EDIT MENU" section. ADDRESS LIST: This function is identical to the ADDRESS LIST selection in the MAIN MENU. CLEAR ADDRESS BOX: This function erases any data in the address and holiday data box in the lower left corner when desired. MAIN MENU: This selection returns you to the MAIN MENU choices. F. EDIT MENU SELECTIONS There are a complete range of memo editing functions: EDIT MENU: DELETE MEMO RETYPE MEMO ADD LINE RETYPE LINE DELETE LINE INSERT LINE MOVE LINE and MEMO MENU DELETE MEMO: This selection deletes the entire memo and removes it from the calendar. RETYPE MEMO: This selection also deletes the entire memo. However, it does not remove the memo notation from the calendar and it positions the cursor for you to type in new memo lines. NOTE: If you chose this function and decide not to enter a new memo, simply press and both the calendar and memo will be entirely deleted exactly as if you had chosen the DELETE MEMO function. ADD LINE: This selection allows you to add a line or lines to an existing memo. Remember, you cannot have blank lines between memo lines as this would waste valuable disk space. When you are finished, simply type an extra and the additions will be recorded. RETYPE LINE: This function will allow you to retype a selected line. Notice the numbers in the vertical column in the middle of the screen. You will be prompted to enter the line number of the line you wish to retype. Enter the line number and press . The line will be erased and you may type a new line. When you finish the line, press the key. You will then be prompted to enter the number of another line to be retyped. Press when done and you will return to the EDIT MENU. NOTE: You will receive an error message if you type a line number that does not contain a memo line. Also, remember that you cannot type past the 40 character line limit. DELETE LINE: This selection allows you to delete a selected memo line. You will be prompted to enter the number of the line to be deleted. Then, when you press the line will disappear and the following lines will move up. You will then be prompted to enter another line number or press to QUIT and return to the EDIT MENU. Once again, if you try to type a non-valid line number you will get an error message. INSERT LINE: This function allows you to insert a new memo line between existing memo lines. You will be prompted for the number of the line where the insertion is to be made. When you enter a line number and press , the following lines will move down and the cursor will be positioned for you to type the new line. Type the new line and press . The program will prompt for a new insertion line number or allow you to press to quit and return to the EDIT MENU. MOVE LINE: This function allows you to move memo lines around. First you will be prompted for the number of the line to be moved. When you type this number and press you will be asked for the destination line number. Enter this number, press and the line will be moved to the desired location. NOTE: Once again, because blank lines between memo lines are not allowed, the program won't let you specify a line number greater than the number of lines in the memo. MEMO MENU: This selection returns you to the MEMO MENU. G. ADDRESS MENU SELECTIONS You can enter the ADDRESS LIST from the MAIN MENU or the MEMO MENU. In either case when you choose this function a blank address form is printed in the lower left box on the screen and the following appears in the prompt area: ADDRESS MENU: ADD RECORD GET RECORD SEARCH MEMO MENU and MAIN MENU ADD RECORD: This function lets you add a new name and address. The cursor will be positioned at the first character on the Last Name line. Simply begin typing the information. Press after each entry. Press at the beginning of each data field if you wish to leave it blank. NOTE: Once you begin entering information, you must fill in the entire form before quitting. There are 19 separate fields on the form, so you will have to press 19 times whether you enter information in a particular field or not. If you make a mistake while typing the current field, simply use the backspace key to remove unwanted characters and retype the correct information. If you want to change something in a previous field, type the "<" character at the BEGINNING of the current field and press . This will place the cursor at the beginning of the previous field. You can back up through the entire form in this manner if you wish. However, major editing can be done more easily with the CHANGE function explained later. GET RECORD: Use this function to retrieve a previously entered record from your Address file if you know the LAST NAME. The cursor will be positioned at the beginning of the LAST NAME field. You must type the last name, or a portion of the last name, EXACTLY as it appeared in the original record. NOTE: You may type the entire last name or a portion of it as the search argument. For example, entering "Smith" would find all address records with a last name of Smith. It would not find smith, SMITH or SmItH. Entering "S" would find all of the address records beginning with the capital S. There are several conventions that must be observed when using the GET RECORD and SEARCH functions. Please refer to the section TIPS ON USING THE ADDRESS LIST. Reading it will save you a lot of frustration later on. If the requested address record is found, it will be displayed and the following choices will appear in the prompt area: GET RECORD: CHANGE NEXT DELETE PRINT ADDRESS ADDRESS MENU MEMO MENU and MAIN MENU CHANGE: Use this option if you wish to change any information in the record. The cursor will be placed at the beginning of the first field. To make a change, simply retype with the correct information. If you do not wish to make any change in a particular field, simply press and the cursor will move to the next field. Once you start changing, you must go through each field and press the key a total of 19 times. When you finish you will be returned to the main ADDRESS MENU. NEXT: This option will continue the search for another occurance of the search argument. If another record is found, it will be displayed. If no other record is found, the message "END OF FILE" will be displayed at the bottom of the screen. DELETE: Use this function if you wish to completely delete the address record from the file. As a safety measure, the program will ask "ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO DELETE? (Y/N)". If you type "Y" the record will be deleted. If you type "N" the record will not be deleted and you will be returned to the main ADDRESS MENU. PRINT ADDRESS: This function will prepare an address label that contains the FIRST NAME, MIDDLE NAME, LAST NAME, COMPANY, ADDRESS, CITY, STATE and ZIP CODE. The address label is then sent to your printer where labels, letterheads, envelopes, etc. can be printed. NOTE: You will be asked to specify an OFFSET IN SPACES FROM THE LEFT MARGIN. You can enter a number from 0 to 50. An offset of 0 will print the address at the extreme left side of the page and an offset of 50 will position the address at the extreme right of a standard width letter. Intermediate values will, of course, position the address between these extremes. Next you will be asked to ENTER NUMBER OF BLANK LINES AFTER ADDRESS. This must be a number between 1 and 70. If you are printing the address on standard 1 inch labels, for example, you should specify 4 lines if your printer spaces 8 lines per inch (the address is always 4 lines long) or 2 lines if your printer spaces 6 lines per inch. Finally you will be asked to MAKE SURE PRINTER IS READY THEN PRESS ANY KEY TO PRINT ADDRESS. Pressing any key will then send the address to the printer. If you do not have a printer attached to your computer, or if the printer is not turned on or out of paper, etc. an error will result. After a timeout delay of up to 45 seconds (during which you may correct the fault) the program will return to the MAIN ADDRESS MENU. After an address has been printed you will be returned to the program at the point from which you entered the PRINT ADDRESS function. ADDRESS MENU: This option will return you to the main ADDRESS MENU. MEMO MENU: This returns you to the MEMO MENU in the main program. MAIN MENU: This returns to the MAIN MENU. NOTE: You can enter the address list from either the MAIN MENU or the MEMO MENU and you can also return to either one. It is possible, for example, to go to the ADDRESS LIST in the middle of entering a memo, look up an address and return to continue editing the memo. If you exit directly from a search operation (with the address information still on the screen) and choose the MEMO MENU function, the address will remain on the screen for reference. However, if you choose the MAIN MENU function, the address will be erased. SEARCH: This function will search through the ENTIRE address file for information that you supply. You can use it to search for any particular piece of information in any field. For example, use it to search for addresses with a particular zip code or telephone area code. Enter the "search string" in the prompt area at the bottom of the screen and press . NOTE: The search argument can be up to 30 characters long. Again, the program will only find a record if there is an EXACT match with the search argument. Please read the section TIPS ON USING THE ADDRESS LIST for a full explanation of the GET RECORD and SEARCH functions. If the search is successful, the first occurance of the record will be displayed and you will be presented with the following choices: SEARCH RECORD: NEXT PRINT ADDRESS ADDRESS MENU MEMO MENU and MAIN MENU These options are identical to the ones described in the GET function above. NOTE: The CHANGE and DELETE functions will not operate from the SEARCH function. You must return to the ADDRESS MENU and then call up the record with the GET RECORD option in order to use the CHANGE and DELETE functions. H. TIPS ON USING THE ADDRESS LIST DATA ENTRY The first field is labeled LAST NAME. The ADDRESS LIST maintains an index file called ADDRESS.ISI that contains an index of whatever you enter in this field. As explained later, the GET RECORD function searches this index. The remaining fields are for FIRST NAME, MIDDLE NAME, NOTE, ADDRESS, and so on. There are fields for two phone numbers (office and home) and a generous space for comments. NOTE: The line immediately below the lines for last, middle and first names is labeled COMPANY. This line is printed under the name when you use the PRINT ADDRESS function. You can use this line for an individual's title, company or other infor- mation that you might want printed under the name on an address label. If you do not want a company, title, etc. to print just leave this line blank. The data fields should be set up in a consistent manner. This will greatly simplify retrieving information later on. SEARCHING There are two different ways to find an address record: GET RECORD is the fastest method of searching your address list. It searches the last name index (ADDRESS.ISI) and then goes to the main file (ADDRESS.DAT) to get the appropriate record. NOTE: In order to find an address you must type the LAST NAME exactly as it was typed in the original record. If you typed "Smith" and original was typed SMITH, then the address would not be found. As mentioned earlier, you can also search the index with a portion of the last name. For example: Entering "Smith" will find address records for everyone named Smith. Entering "Sm" will find address records for every last name beginning with Sm. Entering "S" will find address records for every last name beginning with a capital S. SEARCH is an alternate method of finding an address. It is slower than using the GET RECORD function, but it is much more versatile. The SEARCH function searches the entire address file, not just the LAST NAME field. You can use it to find address records by entering what is called a "search argument" that can be up to 30 characters in length. An example would be looking up addresses by state or telephone area code. The possibilities are endless. However, as with the GET RECORD function, there must be an exact match (including capitals, spaces and lower case) or the address record will not be found. Once again, filling out the address forms in a consistent manner such as using all capitals, etc. will make things a lot easier later on! USING YOUR ADDRESS LIST WITH OTHER PROGRAMS For those who have word processors with "mail merge" and similar functions that can, for example, merge an address list into a form letter, etc., a simple conversion program is provided. This program, called CONVERT.BAS is present on your original PERSONAL DATEBOOK disk. CONVERT.BAS will extract information from the file ADDRESS.DAT and convert it to a standard ASCII text file that can be used with most word processors and other programs. CONVERT.BAS extracts the FIRST NAME, MIDDLE NAME, LAST NAME, COMPANY, ADDRESS, CITY, STATE and ZIP CODE and organizes it in an "address label" similar to the PRINT ADDRESS function. Then it creates an ASCII text file called ADDRESS.TXT. Addresses in the new ADDRESS.TXT file will have the following format: @ First Middle Last Company Address City, State ZipCode @ Unfortunately, each word processor uses different symbols to separate and delineate records in an address file. WordStar, for example, uses "dot" commands. We have no way of knowing which word processor you will be using. Consequently, you will have to modify the ADDRESS.TXT file. You can use your word processor's "search and replace" function to replace the "@" symbol that appears at the beginning and end of addresses in the ADDRESS.TXT file with the required notation. Each line in the ADDRESS.TXT file ends with a linefeed (CHR$(10) or hex 0A) plus a carriage return (CHR$(13) or hex 0D). This is standard with many word processors, but not with all. If you require different symbols you must modify line 3310 in the CONVERT.BAS program. If you are not an experienced BASIC programmer or if you are unfamiliar with the requirements of your word processor, you should seek assistance. At any rate, make a back-up copy of the CONVERT.BAS program before attempting any changes. It would also be very wise to work with a COPY of your ADDRESS.DAT file and to do the conversion on a separate disk. If your word processor does not use ASCII text files, you will not be able to use the ADDRESS.TXT file unless you were supplied with a program to convert ASCII files to the proper format. Quality word processors usually supply such a program. To use CONVERT.BAS you should copy the files CONVERT.BAS, CONVERT.BAT, ADDRESS.DAT and BASIC.COM to a separate disk that has been formatted with the /S (system) option. Consult your DOS manual if you are not familiar with the COPY and FORMAT utilities. If your disk contains the CONVERT.BAT batch file as suggested, simply "boot" the disk and type "CONVERT" when the DOS "A>" prompt appears. If you are not using the CONVERT.BAT batch file, you can call the CONVERT.BAS program directly from BASIC. Note, however, that BASIC must be called with the option "BASIC /s:255" which allocates a larger than normal file size. Failure to specify this option will result in an error that will terminate the program when you attempt to run it. When the CONVERT.BAS program is run, just follow the screen prompts and the new ADDRESS.TXT file will be created automatically. CONVERT.BAS is supplied "as is" for the purpose of making the address files created by PERSONAL DATEBOOK more useful. Regrettably we can not be responsible for its use or the results you may obtain. Also, we cannot offer technical support beyond the information supplied for the conversion of ADDRESS.DAT files to any individual word processor. (c) 1984 by LATERAL PROGRAMMING, INCORPORATED P.O. Box 337 Altamonte Springs, FL 32715-0337