@database ARC.guide Documentation for Adam's Recipe Companion, a simple recipe database (c) 1998 Adam Lounds @node main "Welcome..." @next "introduction" Adam's Recipe Companion Version 2.0 Copyright (c) 1998, Adam Lounds email-ware @{" Introduction " link introduction} @{" Installation " link installation} @{" Usage " link usage} @{" Changes " link changes} @{" Future " link future} @{" Author " link author} @{" Thanks To " link thanks} **Please note** This program is now email-ware. I have had the grand total of *one* email regarding ARC since it was uploaded. This will be the last Aminet release of ARC, UNLESS I GET SOME EMAIL! It's not hard. Don't assume someone else will do it. If you use ARC, think you might like ARC if only xxxx were different, think that I might stop using my Amiga in preference to the PC which is currently acting like a big white PAL>SVGA converter (TV card) or whatever, *please* send me some email. Just a quick "hi" will do. I feel like I'm banging my head against a brick wall here. @endnode @node introduction "ARC - Introduction" @next "installation" Ooooh. I hate messy introductions. (Lights fade) (people shuffle in their seats) (curtains open) It's ARC! (wild applause?) This is the second release of Adam's Recipe Companion. I first got the idea when I got A CU Amiga CD with a snippet of LSD CD 3 on it. There were a few files containing absolutely LOADS of recipes. Being a bit of a cook and all that, I bought the LSD3 CD and ended up with over 4 megs of the blighters. With no way to look through them, and no software supplied on the CD, and with a copy of Blitz Basic sitting on the shelf in the shop, I thought it would be fun and funky to write a program to help sort them out. Oh, and there was absolutely bugger all recipe software for the Amiga. And those "No Amiga To Waste" people wanted one. Turned out to be quite a lot of fun, and a little challenging. Respect to Blitz is due. So. Here it is. Enjoy. Adam @endnode @node installation "Installing ARC" @next "changes" Just copy it to anywhere. ARC isn't fussy. It just likes a nice warm lap to sleep on now and again. The recipe files are accessed via a file requestor, so I'd recommend you keep them in the same directory to avoid too much navigating around. Oh, aye. You'll need opal.font and opal/9 in your FONTS: directory. I like it. And no-one has emailed me to indicate any different. So there. (Not that anyone has emailed me *at all*, but there you go. I hope someone is getting these hints.) @endnode @node usage "How to use ARC" Try it. It's easy. When ARC starts, it will present you with a requester box. Select your desired recipe file (not the .qwk ones...) and ARC will attempt to load it. You will then be presented with a list of the recipes in the file. You can double click on one to view it if you like. ARC will load in MenuMaster exported recipes, as that appears to be the commonest format I can find. Menus ~~~~~ Load - loads a new file Search - searches under category Quit - quits (clever, that) Makeqwk - makes a .qwk file - Use to speed up searches in future - it builds a reference database, y'see. Delete - deletes tagged recipes. Actually exports non-tagged recipes and copies over the original file. No-one said ARC was well-written... Export - Exports recipes to a new file. Will append to the file, so you can build up your own personal database if you like. You can sort an existing database by tagging all recipes and exporting them. Buttons ~~~~~~~ Back - Goes back to previous screen Print - prints the recipe. Will *only* print recipes, not whole menus. Tag/Untag - Tags/untags the last recipe selected, or the recipe shown Tag/untag all - Tags or untags all recipes. The tags are used for printing, exporting or deleting. Any further suggestions are welcome... Now wasn't that hard. There's even some @{"Keyboard Shortcuts" link shortcuts} if you dislike mice @endnode @node shortcuts "Keyboard Shortcuts" @next changes K E Y B O A R D S H O R T C U T S Hey, doncha just *hate* mice? Move, click, move, move click. click, move. Yuck. With that in mind, ARC has lots of lovely shortcuts. Menu Commands: Press the Right Amiga button along with the indicated key to select a menu item. As per every other Amiga application. Right Amiga + L = Load S = Search Q = Quit X = Export tagged recipes D = Delete tagged recipes P = Print tagged recipes Button Substitutes Backspace/Escape = back to menu from recipe t = tag highlighted recipe up/down cursors = move highlight bar, or jump to previous/next recipe. Return/enter = view highlighted recipe. The more observant among you will notice that you can quickly browse through the recipes, tagging ones to delete (or print, or export) as you go. Now isn't that nice. @endnode @node changes "Changes since release 1" @next "author" So, what has changed in ARC since the last release. Well... 1. Now uses opal.font rather than topaz. Word wraps on the fly to make sure that it looks cool. Much better. 2. .qwk file support. This *seriously* speeds up searches. Just do a search as normal, then hit the makeqwk menu button to save a .qwk file. The search routine builds an internal database, and this function exports it so you don't have to wait next time around. 3. Tagging - thought it would be nice to print more than one recipe at once. Once tagging was done, feeping creaturism demanded deletion and exporting... 4. Change from freeware to email-ware. I've had the grand total of *one* email regarding ARC. I'd like a little more feedback, please. Just a quick note to say "Hi, I've tried ARC" will do. 5. A few new recipes added to the archive. Hey, people! Why not upload some of your own! 6. @{"Keyboard shortcuts" link shortcuts}. Hey, I hate using the mouse. @endnode @node author "It's Me!" @next "future" Hi. It's me. (Hi! - ed) contact me at adaml@tcp.net.uk. I work there. It's cool. If you live in Southampton, or want a new ISP, give us a call! Check out www.tcp.co.uk. I might even get my web site at homepages.tcp.co.uk/~alounds up and running at some point. I might even put some more recipes there.. You might bump into me on csa.games (The Amiga is dead! No it's not! Yes it is! No it's not!) or maybe comp.sys.sinclair, along with all the other Amiga fans who think csa. groups aren't the Be all and end all. @endnode @node future @next "thanks" Oooh. That's the question of the day, isn't it! Well, I've got a few plans - main ones are as follows: 1. Support for searching on ingredients as well as categories. This will be tricky using the current recipe files, and I don't have the time to convert them all by hand. Perhaps if someone pays me to do it... :) 2. Support for other file types. I'm looking at Recipe Wizard on the PC for this at the moment, as it has a pretty funky file format. 3. Amendments to the category listview. I could have a funky explorer-type listview for the categories, so it would expand when you click on a category as follows: fish fish morefish --> morefish |- recipe1 - recipe2 - recipe3 4. No recipe editing or entering. At least not yet. They're only text files for God's sake. 5. Any more ideas? email to adaml@tcp.net.uk! If anyone wants to draw a funky NewIcon to go with the program, please do! No MWB icons, though. Yuck. @endnode @node thanks "Thank you, thank you, thank you..." Quick thanks go to Jo - My wonderful wife. All at the Blitz Mailing list, including Curt Esser for his help on word wrapping routines. Not used them yet, but maybe soon... Matt Watson - you're a star! Everyone at TCP - for introducing me to Perl, and enabling me to have a lovely quick link to the internet at large. Amiga Power (RIP) - Now That's what I call quite good. Acid software (RIP) for Blitz. Buy it, it's cool. Available on CD from Epic, orders can be taken by email, so don't moan that you can't find Amiga software anymore! (I got Ultimate Blitz from Electronics Boutique in Southampton - Thanks for hanging in there, guys!) @endnode