CatView Information and Manual

Last updated: 30-Oct-1999

 

HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

To use CatView, your computer should have:


WHAT IS CATVIEW

CatView is a simple text-file search program that provides a user interface to searching plain text files. If you have a file that consists of many new-line delimited records (e.g. flat file database or a spreadsheet saved as plain text) then CatView can search these files without the need to import them to a database or do any conversions. All that CatView asks is that the file is plain text (ASCII) and that most of the records (lines) are not longer than around 400 characters (else CatView begins to suspect that what your searching is not really a catalog/database).

 

INSTALLATION

CatView does not require any formal installation procedure. Simply unzip the catvw[xx].zip archive to an appropriate location (eg. Create a new directory C:\catview and unzip all files into there). To run CatView, just run the executable ‘catview.exe’ from the directory that you chose to unzip it to.

 

IN A NUTSHELL

CatView is simple enough to warrant a few basic sentences for those who would like to stop reading here and just use it. I have provided the following paragraph in point summary for this situation:

  1. Catalog files must have extension ".txt"
  2. Place catalog files in your CatView directory (default is same directory as executable)
  3. Run the executable "catview.exe" – a menu with all the catalog files in your CatView directory will be presented.
  4. Select the file you would like and start typing in keywords to look for.

It can be (and usually is) as simple as that. Many of the details are intuitive enough to be obvious or learned from a quick perusal of the remaining documentation.

CatView was originally written for a number of printed-music stores. Some of the features below such as "super-search" and CatFiRe (Find and Replace) are for more advanced users who require such facilities in order to search large and numerous catalogs from publishers.

If you would just like to search the odd catalog or two every now and then, feel free to stop here and begin using CatView now.

 

SEARCHING FILES

Catalog files intending to be searched must have the extension "txt"; this indicates to CatView that the file is in ASCII format. If in doubt, open a file with a program such as Notepad or the DOS "Edit" utility. Files with the .csv extension that are in the catalog directory on startup will be automatically re-named to .txt to facilitate searching.

CatView looks for catalog files in the directory specified in the configuration file "catview.cfg". This file is located in the CatView directory. CatView will search the specified catalog directory (default is current directory) to determine the number and names of the catalogs installed. To install a new catalog, simply copy the file into your catalog directory.

NOTE: As CatView is a DOS program, the limitation of 8 character folder-names and 8.3 filenames apply. You may still use directories with longer names but must use the DOS format when specifying the catalog directory in the configuration file ->

E.g. c:\mylongdirectoryname -> becomes -> c:\mylong~1

 

CONFIGURATION

A number of items are configurable in CatView. Editing the configuration file "catview.cfg" in your CatView directory can change these values. Below is a sample file with an explanation of each item:

(The configuration file contains comments outlining the above for clarification)

 

PRINT/SAVE OPTIONS

Press "P" or "S" at the Search Results screen for print/save options. Select from the following options:

1. Save to file

All search results are saved to disk in the sub-directory specified in the configuration file under [SAVE_DIR] (default ".\quotes") and are in plain text format. CatView will prompt for an MS-DOS file-name (maximum of 8 characters) to "save as". The extension "txt" will be automatically appended to the filename.

2. Append to file

This option appends (adds) the current search results to an existing search results file. The original text of the file chosen to append to remains intact. This option is useful for lengthy price quotations where several different items are being searched and only one document or printout is required. A list of files in the save directory [SAVE_DIR] is presented in a list-box. Use the up and down arrow keys and press "Enter" on the selected item to choose a file to append to.

3. Print to printer

CatView will print the results to printer port 1 (LPT1). Printed reports use condensed printing and double-spacing and also allow room at the foot of the page for any comments that may be necessary to complete a quotation. Reports are personalised to the user through the key [USER_NAME] in the configuration file. If LPT1 is not appropriate for your machine, simply save the results (as above) and print to a network or other printer using the program you use to display text files.

4. Manipulate prices

This option allows for the changing of price values within the search results. All valid price codes (as determined by CatView) are manipulated. Only the dollar value (no cents) are taken into account for calculations.

Enter the Discount, Mark-up, and Exchange Rate. Price manipulation does not affect the original catalog file contents.

Discount - Percent discount the buyer received - generally between 30 and 50 percent.

Mark-up - Percent markup intended to be placed on the items - usually slightly higher than the discount.

Exchange Rate - Exchange rate of the country of origin.

ATTRIBUTES /ADDITIONAL FEATURES

1. CatView searches are case-insensitive i.e. "Mozart" and "MOZART" is considered equal.

2. CatView will search any text file that is in ASCII format: approximately 1 to 5 lines of text per record (maximum 400 characters) terminated by an "end-of-line" and/or "carriage-return" character sequence


CATFIRE - SEARCH AND REPLACE UTILITY

When CatView detects a new file in the CatView directory it can prepare the file by replacing abbreviations and foreign language translations (or any words you choose) with alternatives that you supply. When a new file is detected in the directory on startup, CatView will prompt to use this facility – provided that your configuration [FINDREPLACE] is set to "YES".

The Find & Replace facility is based on configuration files with the extension ".frd" - which you should (try to) ONLY edit with the accompanying program FRDedit.exe in the CatView directory. FRDedit is a 32-bit Windows application that allows for safe editing of the .frd file. This program can only be used with Windows9x/NT, so DOS only users will need to edit the configuration file by hand.
The default Find & Replace dictionary file is "CatView.frd". As discussed further below, this configuration file provides a list of words to "Find" and a list of words to "Replace" those words with.

Find&Replace dictionary file (FRD)

The Find & Replace dictionary file (.frd) file is in the format:

wordtofind [TAB (whitespace)] wordtoreplacewith

E.g. The text on the 3 lines below copied into and .frd file will replace all the words on the left (find) with the words on the right (replace) in the file that is 'CatFiRed'

windows windoze

australian ozzy

pno piano{pno}

You can only replace words: a word is defined as something delimited (surrounded) by any one of the characters: !"#$%&()*+,-./:;<=>?[\]^_`\

It is not possible to replace the entire text of "Mendelssohn-Bartholdy", for example, because it is 2 (two) words.

You may find it useful to put the word that is being replaced in curly braces after the replacement so that the original file is 'softly' altered i.e. best of both when searching (see the last entry "pno" in the example above). The curly brace is a reserved character for this purpose. If you use the program FRDedit to edit the .frd file, prevention of false values is ensured.

Multiple Find&Replace dictionary files

You can create multiple search-and-replace configuration files: a catalog file (ignoring file extension) will attempt to use the .frd file with the same name. E.g. mycat.frd, if in the CatView directory, will be used if a catalog named mycat.txt is detected.

CatView uses the first and last lines of your catalog to save the status of Find & Replace information i.e. whether to use this facility, when it was done or if it is not to be done etc. as below:


a) If CatView is CatFiRed (searched and replaced) this first line will read:"CatView prepared file ([DATE_CATFIRED_HERE])"

b) If you designate not be searched, the last line of file will read:

"This file is not to be 'CatFired' by CatView".

Delete these lines to force CatView to re-examine on startup.


MULTI-SEARCH FEATURE (SUPERSEARCH)

To search all catalog files in the CatView directory sequentially, choose the menu item "__ALL__" at the menu selection screen. Catalog file-names that begin with an underscore ('_') are not included in SuperSearch; in this way, catalogs can be selectively omitted from this feature. CatView will display the necessary catalog origin information for each record on the Results display screen.

Author: Peter van der Woude

e-mail: catview@operamail.com

Program status: freeware - send me an e-mail if you find it useful.

Disclaimer:

Peter van der Woude claims no responsibility for any damages caused by the use or misuse of this product. This product is distributed "as is" with no warranty, expressed or implied. Peter van der Woude will not be responsible for any losses incurred either directly or indirectly, by the use of this product. Use this product entirely at your own risk. Peter van der Woude reserves the right to make modifications at any time. Prices are subject to change without notice.