Prp

PRP Ver. 1.1 02-05-90 P O L I C E W A R E

tm

Terry Aaron 1124 Coral Street Red Bud, Illinois 62278 618-282-6754 POLICE REPORT PRINTER Thank you for using PRP. There are few public domain programs available for law enforcement applications. Realizing the need for computer based programs, I set out to write this and a few other programs for what will hopefully be a beginning of law enforcement computer applications. This is a simple straight-forward program that simply reduces some typing. It was developed using the data for our agency. I will make modifications for anyone needing them. Simply following the prompts and answer the questions on the screen. Public domain/Shareware has provided me with many programs and utilities over the years, and this is my opportunity to return something using this concept. This program is copyrighted to protect the efforts of the author from theft, however this does not apply to duplication and distribution for the benefit of any person, firm, or entity that wishes to use it in a manner that is stipulated herein. The program itself contains appropriate instructions, disclaimers, and registration information. Please read and follow this information. As a user you accept all responsibility for consequences arising from the use of this program. I hope that you enjoy this program. If you have any suggestions, or ideas for other law enforcement applications, or bug reports; please send them to me at the above address. About the author Terry Aaron has been a police officer for eight years in rural Southern Illinois. He became interested in computing in 1981 and began with a Commodore Vic 20 4k computer. Over the years he progressed through the ranks to an administrative level and is currently Administrative Assistant and Computer Coordinator for the city of Red Bud, Illinois. He is a self taught programmer and computer consultant on a part time basis. His current software is mainly directed to service the law enforcement community.

*********************************************************************** R E G I S T R A T I O N *********************************************************************** Name __________________________

Phone (optional) ____________________

Street Address ________________________

City ___________ State _______ Zip Code _______-______

Type of Computer: ____ IBM PC ____ IBM XT ____ IBM AT ____ PS2 Compatibles = _____ ____ ____ ____ Other _______________________________________________________ Program Name: PRP Forward to :

Other: _________________________________

PoliceWare, Ltd. 1124 Coral Street Red Bud, IL 62278

You will be entitled to free versions of this program as substantial upgrades are made. For the cost of disks and mailing of upgrades, a nominal fee of $10.00 is requested. ********************************************************************** Please comment on the program below:

---------------------------------------------------------------------Program Instructions PRP.EXE will run under MS-DOS with 128k RAM. It will run from floppy disk or hard disk. This is the users preference. After loading PRP from your default drive and directory it will begin to run. After the heading and the copyright notice you will be at the Main Menu. This menu gives you the following choices: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Run Report Print Hardcopy QUIT Change Data

Since the default information may not suit your needs you should first select number 4, Change Data. This will take you to the Change Data sub-menu with the following choices: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Change Signature Change Data Questions Change Year Show Questions Return to Main Menu

Initially you should select numbers 1 & 3. #1 - Change Signature Change Signature allows you to change the default file, PRPSIG.DAT, so that it will contain the signature that you wish to use. This need only be done once, if you always use the same signature, or change this at any other time that you require a different one. Be sure that the file PRPSIG.DAT is in the same directory as the program. #2 - Change Data Questions Changing the Data Questions. This menu option is reserved revision and will not function in the previous version 1.0 1.1 version. Version 1.1 (this version) will however let data or replace it with your own by using external methods explain to you later.

for a future or in this you edit this that I will

#3 - Change Year Change Year allows you to change the default file, PRPYEAR.DAT, so that it will contain the current year. Enter the current year. This need only be changed once a year. Be sure that the file PRPYEAR.DAT is in the same directory as the program. #4 - Show Questions Show Questions will allow you to view the questions or review the questions and answers. #5 - Return to Main Menu Returns you to the PRP programs Main Menu. a report and print it.

From here you can create

Now from the Main Menu here are your choices again: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Run Report Print Hardcopy QUIT Change Data

Since you should now have changed the default data you are ready to select #1, Run Report. #1 - Run Report Selecting Run Report from the Main Menu starts a process of questions and input. First you will be asked to enter the month for the report. You are required to enter a month. Silly words will be accepted but keep in mind that a real month of the year would be best. You may use abreviations however the full spelling looks better. The program will convert your input to all upper case. #2 - Print Hardcopy Print Hardcopy first checks to see if you have input data for the report. If not, you will be instructed to run the report first and you will be taken back to the Main Menu. If you have already run the report then you will be prompted to get your printer ready and on-line. Pressing any key at this point will send the data to your printer. If, for some reason, your hardcopy was not in alignment, or for any other reason, you may select this option as many times that you wish. (Multiple copies are not an option as the copy machine is usually used). #3 - QUIT Program This option ends the PRP program and prints the author information as well as the SHAREWARE notice. If you use this program please comply

with the user registration information. This will entitle you to any future updates and puts you on my mailing list. The above form has been printed for your convienience. #4 - Change Data Described above.

Changes default data.

To Edit the Data Questions: Experienced users may edit the data questions. Use an ascii text editor such as Edlin, or any other true ascii editor, or a word processor that allows you to save in the ascii format. First make a backup copy of your disk with all PRP files or copy the PRP.DAT file to another disk. You may now load PRP.DAT into your editor. Your editor should now contain 21 lines of text. Each line contains the data for each question (line) of the report. Each line is enclosed with quotation marks. It is very important that you edit these carefully. Be certain to maintain the quotation marks in each line. You must also be sure that you maintain 21 lines of text. Fewer lines will cause the program to halt. More lines may not affect the program but will not be included in the report. Also you may experiment with the length of the lines. If you have some line that is longer than this data, it is possible that it will cause a minor screen format problem when you run PRP. As long as you take care when making any changes, deletions, or additions to this data, you should have no problems. If you make changes and PRP haults or creates some other problem, just replace your PRP.DAT with the original one and get some help editing your own. Feel free to contact me if you do not have a source of help or if you have any ideas to improve PRP or to report any bugs (little critters that cause problems in software).