QA MANUAL Contents 1 What is QA? 2 Installing QA 3 Installing registers and text files 4 Starting QA 5 Read register 6 Searching 7 Supplementing register 8 Printing 9 Make a new register 10 Import and export 11 Exit QA 1. WHAT IS QA? "F"reningen Sl„ktdata" has paid for the rights to furnish genealogists with an abbreviated version of Symantec's comprehensive program Q&A 4.0. We call this small version QA. We may not charge the recipients and they may not use the program to make profit. It is a DOS program, but runs well on computers with Windows, even if one has to use the keyboard instead of the mouse! Note the help you can get from the lines below a record ("formul„r"). There is a status line (name of the register, record no., etc) and a line showing the use of function keys. 2. INSTALLING QA On our CD there are not only church book registers, but also the QA program. By following the instructions in Read-me.txt you get the program installed in C:\QA and the sub-directory C:\QA\DATA is created for receiving registers and text files. 3. INSTALLING REGISTERS AND TEXT FILES If the instructions in Read-me.txt are followed, selected registers and text files are installed in C:\QA\DATA, as are "D"dmall", "F"ddmall" and "Vigdmall" (the patterns or forms for records of Deaths, Births and Marriages). 4. STARTING QA When you start QA for the first time, there are a few things you must do. But next time you can go directly to chapter 5. - Get the Main Menu Go to C:\QA with the Windows Explorer (or My Computer) and double-click Qa1.exe. The QA Main Menu should be shown. Full size is obtained by pressing Alt+Enter. In some cases the program does not start or the picture seems incorrect. The program must then be adapted to the monitor: Go to the MS-DOS-Prompt via Start and Program. After the prompt you then get, type "cd .." and press Enter. After C:\> you type "cd qa" and press Enter. After the new prompt C:\QA\> you now type "qa -scc". If that does not help, try "qa -smc -a" or "qa -smm" or "qa -st". - Install printer Select "H - Hj„lpprogram" on the Main Menu. Press Enter Select "A - Ansluta skrivare". Press Enter Select "V„g A" (if you have more than one printer you may want "V„g B"). Press Enter Select port LPT1 (if you have more than one printer you may want LPT2). Press Enter Look for your printer in the list. If it is not there, try one which seems similar. Press Enter to confirm choices a couple of times, and finally press F10. - Check catalog Select "K - Katalog" in the "Hj„lpprogram" menu. The line Q&A TEXT does not concern us. But after Q&A DATA it should say C:\QA\DATA, which is where you want the program to look for files. Save by pressing F10 and press Esc a couple of times to get back to the Main Menu - Select colors The colors of the background and marking of the fields (called "Palett") can be changed. In the Main Menu you select "Datafil", then "Skapa fil" and then "Specialanpassning". Now you have to indicate which file you want to change. Then select "ˇndra palett". With F8 you can look at the available palettes. When you are satisfied you save with F10 and get back to the Main Menu with a couple of Esc. 5. READ REGISTER Select "Datafil" in the Main Menu. Press Enter Select "H - H„mta/ˇndra". Press Enter With the cursor to the right of the third backslash of C:\QA\DATA\ press the spacebar and then Enter. You now get a list of the installed registers. With the arrow keys you highlight the register you want, and then press Enter. An empty form is shown with the text "H„mta formul„r" (get record) in the status line. If you are not looking for one specific record, it is usually best to start by sorting the records. Press F8, highlight the field "L"pnr", where you type "1SV" (=primarily this field and increasing value). If you prefer chronological order, you highlight e.g. "F"d.dat" (birth date) and type 1SV. When you press F10 all records will be included and sorted. First you get one record containing some facts about the register, and one showing what the fields contain. Each time you press F10 a new record is shown. It is often more convenient to browse through a table than to look at records one at a time. By pressing F6 you get a table with 5 columns. If you are not satisfied with the fields shown in the table, you can select other fields by pressing Shift+F6. You get the form "Best„m tabellform". Remove the numbers in the fields and put the numbers 1.5 in the fields you prefer. For a birth register you could test 1 in "F"d.dat", 2 in "Dopdat, 3 in "F"rnamn", 4 in "Adress" and 5 in "Fars f"rnamn". View the new table by pressing F10. If you are not satisfied, press Shift+F6 again an select other fields! To see one of the records in the table, you highlight the line in question and press F10. You get back to the table with F6. 6. SEARCHING You can get the record or records which meet one or several conditions defined by the "search words" or keys you have typed in different fields. You can do that when you first get to "H„mta formul„r" (early in chapter 5) or when a record is shown. In the latter case you get to "H„mta formul„r" by pressing F7. Now search keys are typed into one or several fields. Often you look for a person by a certain name. However , the spelling in the church book may differ from that used today. "Per" was maybe Pehr, P„hr or Peter and "Kristina" could have been Christina, Krestina, Stina , etc. Therefore one should replace uncertain letters by .. (two periods) in the search keys. Often a person had more than one given name ("f"rnamn"). If you e.g. enter only Johan, you will not get Axel Johan or Johan August. Therefore type "..Johan.." . Look also at the (Swedish!) help with F1, F1. Try to avoid too "simple" or general search keys - that may lead to hundreds of hits to go through. Try a combination of keys in different fields. You get faster to the one you want - and it is not dangerous! 7. SUPPLEMENTING REGISTER To add a whole new record to a register, you go to the Main Menu, select "Datafil" and then "Data- inmatning". You type the name of the file and press Enter. Now you have to type available data in the appropriate fields. If the record should fit between "L"pnr" 30 and 40, you enter e.g. 31 in the L"pnr field. (If the existing register uses numbers 1, 2, 3, ..29, 30, 31.., you should type 30,1) When the record has been completed you save with F10. If it is the question of adding to or changing data in an existing record, that record is first obtained as described in chapters 5 and 6 above. With the arrow keys you then go to the pertinent fields and type the contents you want there. Save with F10 (or F6 if you want to go to the table). To delete a record, you press F3. 8. PRINTING To print a single record, you go to it as described in chapters 5 and 6, and press F2. Now indicate a printer port or the screen ("sk„rm"). For some printers you have to type "027 040 056 85" in the line for printer code "styrkod", in order to get the correct Swedish letters †, „ and ". Then press F10. To print lists of records - like in a church book - you select "R - Rapport" in the Main Menu (i.e. not Datafil) and in the next menu "R - Rapportutskrift". You type the name of the file in question and select the rapport "DAT-SORT" (originally there is no other). On the question if you want to make temporary changes ("tillf„lliga „ndringar") you answer "Ja". First you get "H„mta formul„r". You select all records by pressing F10, or indicate e.g. a certain interval of "L"pnr" or a certain period of birth dates (try the Swedish help with F1) before you press F10 and get to "Formatera/Sortera". Accept with F10. Then you get to "Utskriftss„tt" , where you select printer or screen (remember the code shown in the first paragraph above). With F8 you check the "Sidformat" (page format) and may type a headline to appear on each page. When you press F10 the printing starts. You may save paper by selecting "Sk„rm" before you go to your printer in "Utskriftss„tt"! 9. MAKE A NEW REGISTER - Start QA - Select "D - Datafil" in the Main Menu - Select "K - Kopiera". The program wants to know which file to copy. Press Enter and in the list you go to the desired "Mall" and press Enter. For a birth register you select "F(tm)DDMALL" (for deaths "D(tm)DMALL" and for marriages "VIGDMALL") and press Enter. - In the menu "Kopiering" you select "B - Bara mallen". The program wants to know where to copy, i.e.the name of the new register. Let us call the parish "Socknen" and we name the register, with path, C:\QA\DATA\SOCKN-F1 (or D1 or V1 respectively). Press Enter. - Now you select "V - Vissa formul„r" and press Enter, Enter, F10, F10. The two forms for documentation and with definitions are now installed. - You get back to the Datafil menu and select "H - H„mta/ˇndra" to look at the new register. If it seems OK, go back to the Datafil menu by pressing Esc. - By selecting "D - Datainmatning" you get empty forms for typing data into new records. As "L"pnr" (record number) you should use 10, 20, 30, etc. You save and get to next record by pressing F10. There you can repeat what you typed in the same field in the previous record, by pressing F5. You get to the next record by pressing F10. When you don't want to make more records press Esc to get back to the Datafil menu. - Select "H - H„mta/ˇndra". Get the documentation record by typing "%%. ." in the headline and enter relevant data . 10. IMPORT AND EXPORT Transfer of data from one register program or data base to some other, is made by means of text files. In those all the contents of the fields are arranged in one long line, always in the same order, and separated by a certain character. IMPORT Before an import you must establish that there is a register which can receive the data. It may be an existing or one that you create according to chapter 9. Determine whether the source file uses quotation marks around text and which character i uses to separate the fields. - Select "H - Hj„lpprogram" in the Main Menu - Select "I - Importera data" - Indicate what type of register the import is made from. Select "S - Standard ASCII" (unless you know that it is a dBASE file, in which case you select "B - dBASE II/III") - State path and name of the source file, and then the name of the receiving file - After you press Enter you get the "Samsorteringsnyckel". Here you indicate where in the receiving forms the imported fields shall be put. Type a number in each receiving field. This number should correspond to the position of the field in the source file, counting from left to right and going from the top downwards. - After you press F10 you get the page "ASCII-FILER". Here you indicate whether the source file uses quotation marks ("Citationstecken") around text, and which character it uses to separate the fields (Enter ="retur" or semi-colon or comma or space ="mellanslag"). By pressing F10 again you start the import. And when that is finished you go back to the Main Menu, using Esc. EXPORT - Select "H - Hj„lpprogram" in the Main Menu - Select "E - Exportera data" - Select "S - Standard ASCII" (unless you know that the receiving register is a dBASE file, in which case you select dBASE-II or -III) - State the name of the register from which you want to export, and then the path and name of the exported text file. If, for example, you are exporting from C:\QA\DATA\SOCKN-F1.DTF, you select C:\QA\DATA\SOCKN-F1.TXT for the text file. - In "H„mta formul„r" you indicate first - unless you want to include every record - the limitations you want to make in the pertinent fields (e.g. an interval of "L"pnr" or a period of dates). Next you press F8 and state the sorting you want (often increasing values of "L"pnr" or dates). And not until now you press F10 - In the "Samsorteringsnyckel" you indicate which fields you want to include. From a church book register in QA it is unnecessary to include in each record the head-line and the "Reg.av:" In addition you know that some fields are always empty and should be excluded. Thus, type numbers 1, 2, 3, etc in the fields you really want to include in the export. Only now you press F10 - In case of an ASCII file one has now to chose characters. Select "Nej" for "citationstecken" and "semikolon" for field separator. After you have saved with F10 the export starts. You get back to the Main Menu with Esc. 11. EXIT QA Before you shut off your computer you must exit QA in the proper way! - Press Esc, Esc .. until you get to the Main Menu - Press "G - G† ur QA" Now you get to Windows (or the DOS-prompt) and can finish in the normal way