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                        Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.00
                              Plant Information System
                                         by
                                 Robert W. Boufford
                                          
                                Ferris State College
                     Ornamental Horticulture Technology program
                          Department of Biological Sciences
                                Big Rapids, MI  49307
                                          
                    (C) Copyright, 1985,86 by Robert W. Boufford
                                 All Rights Reserved

          Please share unmodified copies of the diskette containing a copy
          of this manual (not a printed copy) with others in the landscape
          industry.  If you find the Landscape Plant Manager useful in your
          work, we would appreciate a tax deductible donation to the OHT
          program. See Registering near the end of this manual.






                      Landscape Plant Manager Table of Contents
          Introduction                                             1
          Equipment Requirements                                   2
          Getting Started                                          3
          LPM Menus and Windows                                    4
          Using This Manual                                        7
          Tutorial                                                 8
               Ending a work session                               8
               Creating a new file set                             8
               Adding plants to a file                             9
               Closing a file set                                 15
               Opening an exiting file set                        15
               Searching for plants by name                       16
               Searching for plants by criteria                   19
               Modifying plant records                            24
               Quitting the Landscape Plant Manager               26
          Reference                                               28
               Menus                                              28
               Help Menu                                          29
                    File                                          29
                    Record                                        29
                    Search                                        29
                    About LPM, FSC and OHT                        29
               File Menu                                          30
                    New                                           30
                    Open                                          31
                    Close                                         31
                    Print                                         32
                    Info                                          33
                    Quit                                          35
               Record Menu                                        36
                    Add                                           36
                    Modify                                        37
                    Delete                                        37
               Search Menu                                        39
                    Scientific Name                               39
                    Common Name                                   40
                    Criteria                                      40
               Cursor Control Keys Assignments                    43
          Managing Landscape Plant Manager Files                  45
          Errors, Problems and Bugs                               46
          LPM Alert Box Messages                                  46
          PC-DOS/MS-DOS Error Message                             49
          Bugs                                                    50
          Landscape Plant Manager Program Information             51
          Registering                                             52
               User supported software concept                    52
               Where your money goes                              52
               Future plans, goals and ideas                      53
               Why Should I Pay?                                  53
               Registration Specifics                             54
          Registration Form                                       56
          Appendicies                                             57






                             Credit Where Credit is Due

          The following companies and corporations have copyrights,
          trademarks, registered trademarks, liscensed trademarks and/or
          patents on various items mentioned in the documentation.  Lack of
          further mention of the rights or marks of various items in the
          documentation does not imply failure to recognize those rights
          and marks by the author.

               Apple Computer Corporation
               Borland International
               Buttonware
               Epson Corporation
               Headlands Press, Inc.
               International Business Machines
               Microsoft Corporation
               Quicksoft
               Zenith Data Systems






                                    INTRODUCTION

          When choosing plants for use in the landscape, all of us go
          through some sort of selection process to find the right plant
          for a location in our landscape.  Some of these selection methods
          include experience with particular plants, looking in
          encyclopediae or plant manuals, paging through nursery catalogs,
          working with a designer, consulting a nurseryperson or outright
          guessing.

          To speed up the selection process, we can take advantage of
          computers to assist us in finding a particular plant or group of
          plants for our landscape.  Computer based plant selector programs
          provide us with the means to rapidly search for plants based on a
          given set of criteria.

          The Landscape Plant Manager is a specialized computer information
          management program for use in horticulture education programs and
          the landscaping industry.  The prime goal of LPM is to be a plant
          selector to assist you in the selection of plants based on design
          criteria.  LPM was developed as an alternative to constantly
          paging through nursery catalogs and plant manuals when trying to
          find plants for a particular landscape situation.

          The Landscape Plant Manager will allow you to:

               -Add, delete and modify information about plants used in the
                landscape.

               -Search for plants based on scientific name or common name.

               -Search for plants matching one or more design criteria for
                use in the landscape
























          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 1






                               EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS

          The Landscape Plant Manager was developed on the Zenith Z-150
          computer that is compatible with the IBM Personal Computer
          series. LPM should also run on any true IBM-PC compatible
          computer such as Compaq, Columbia and Epson Equity.

          To run the Landscape Plant Manager, you will need the following
          equipment:

          IBM-PC series or true compatible computer. A true compatible
          computer is considered one that can run the Microsoft Flight
          Simulator program.  Along with the Zenith Z-150 series, LPM has
          been tested and found to work on the IBM PC series and the Epson
          Equity I series. Even though not tested, LPM might run on more
          generic MS-DOS computers.

          A minimum of 128 kilobytes of memory. A capacity of 256 kilobytes
          of memory or greater is preferred.  Certain parts of the program
          may not run with 128 kilobytes of memory if there are a large
          number of plant records in a file.

          One 360 kilobyte floppy disk drive or a hard disk drive
          partition. A second disk drive is not required and is not used by
          the program. The hard disk partition size can be greater than 360
          kilobytes which will allow for larger files.

          PC-DOS or MS-DOS version 2.00 or greater.

          A monochrome or color monitor. A monochrome monitor attached to a
          color card or color output will show colors as different shades
          of gray.  The program will work with an IBM monochrome adapter
          card and certain monochrome monitors with some loss in the
          display. For further comments on monitor displays see the
          Landscape Plant Manager Program Information section.

          An optional printer. The program is designed to work with an
          Epson printer or Epson compatible printer.

          If you are unfamiliar with operating the equipment listed, you
          should consult the operations manual of your computer or ask a
          friend for help in getting started.  To save on the size of this
          manual, it will be assumed that you have some familiarity with
          your equipment and using the disk operating system (PC-DOS or MS-
          DOS) that you have with your computer.












          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 2






                                   GETTING STARTED

          The very first thing you should do is make a backup copy of the
          LPM disk.  This is done by one of several methods available to
          you on your DOS disk.  If you are not familiar with making
          copies, see your Disk Operating System manual or ask a friend for
          assistance.

          Once you have made a backup copy, put the original in a safe
          place and use your backup copy as a work disk.

          LPM requires only one disk drive to run the program.  If you have
          a hard disk, you can place a copy of LPM in a directory or
          partition. To the LPM program, the directory or partition will
          look just like a single disk drive.  (To those of you who know
          what paths are, LPM does not support DOS 2.0+ paths at this
          time.)

          To run the Landscape Plant Manager you will need the following
          files:

               LPM.COM   The Landscape Plant Manager core program.
               LPM.000   Various pieces of the program in one large file.

          These two files must always be together.  Also, never change the
          name of the program files.  The Landscape Plant Manager will not
          work and may require you to reset your computer if either one is
          missing or the names have been changed.

          Any other files that originally came with the LPM disk can be
          removed when you are done using them.

          If you are using a floppy disk drive, never remove the floppy
          disk while you are running the Landscape Plant Manager.

          To start the Landscape Plant Manager, at the DOS prompt, type:

               LPM

          followed by the return or enter key. After a brief period, you
          will be presented with an introductory screen briefly describing
          the Landscape Plant Manager system.  When this screen appears,
          you are ready to use the Landscape Plant Manager.














          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 3






                                LPM MENUS AND WINDOWS

          Menus

          The Landscape Plant Manager is known as a menu driven system.  To
          start a particular operation or to select a choice, you type a
          key or number or letter from a list of possible choices called a
          menu to perform some action.

          Menus displayed on a computer are patterned after the menus found
          at some 'unique' eateries where a food order is placed by giving
          a number to the waiter or waitress.  If a number two on the menu
          is two eggs and bacon with toast, you would place your order by
          telling the waiter or waitress you want a "number two over easy".
          A number six might be the indigestion special consisting of an
          onion and green pepper omelet with biscuts and gravy.  Almost all
          your "ordering" with the Landscape Plant Manager will be with
          numbers, letters or special keys on the keyboard as displayed in
          menus.

          When you start up LPM, you will notice a white bar with black
          letters at the top of the screen that looks similar to this:

                    F1-Help  F2-File  F3-Record  F4-Search

          This is known as a menu bar.  Behind the menu bar are other menus
          that pop down.  Pull down menus are popular on the Apple
          Macintosh computer and some other computer systems. To pop open a
          menu, you type a function key related to a particular menu item.
          For example, if you want to do editing, you press the F3 function
          key located on the left side or top of your keyboard and a Record
          menu will pop open looking similar to this:

                    F1-Help  F2-File  F3-Record  F4-Search
                                   ================
                                   |F1-Close Menu |
                                   |F2-Add        |
                                   |F3-Delete     |
                                   |F4-Modify     |
                                   ================

          The opened menu gives you choices to specific editing functions.
          You again use the function keys to select a particular choice.
          As you pop down the various menus, you might notice that the F1
          function key will always close the menu and return you to the
          menu bar.

          When you pop down a menu, you will notice that some items are
          gray or dimmed (may not show on a monochrome monitor).  This
          means the item is not available for use at that particular moment
          and continued pressing of the related key will result in nothing
          happening.





          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 4






          If you select a choice that is in black letters signifying it is
          active, the menu will close and a window will pop open allowing
          you to work in that section.

          There are other types of menus found in the Landscape Plant
          Manager.  You will encounter choice menus where you need to
          select a particular choice by number.

                             =========Choices==========
                             | Density:               |
                             |  0: No Choice          |
                             |  1: Compact            |
                             |  2: Medium             |
                             |  3: Open               |
                             |Choice by number: 3_    |
                             ==========================

          You type in the number next to your desired choice and then press
          the return or enter key.

          Another menu you will encounter is known as a command letter menu
          that looks like this:

                    C)ontinue, R)estart, D)isplay, P)rint, Q)uit?

          To execute a command in the menu line, you type the letter just
          to the left of the right parens ")".  In the above example, to
          print your records, you would type the letter "P" to start the
          printing.  The letter can be upper or lowercase.  As with the
          main function key menus, you donot have to press the return or
          enter key.  If you type the wrong letter, the program will beep
          and patiently wait until the right letter is entered.

          Even though not considered menus, you will occasionally be asked
          to verify an action by yes or no.  Usually it will be a question
          such as:

                              Continue searching (Y/N)?

          The "(Y/N)" means to type 'Y' for yes or 'N' for no in response
          to the question.  As with the command letter menu, the letters
          can be either upper or lowercase and you donot need to press the
          return or enter key.

          Windows

          All Landscape Plant Manager activities are displayed in windows
          that will pop open and shut.  Think of the windows as a stack of
          papers with the paper on top being the one you currently do your
          work.  Once you are done, the window is closed until needed again
          at a later time.  When you first start the Landscape Plant
          Manager, the introductory window is opened.  As soon as you press
          any key, the window will close and not open until the system is
          started again.



          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 5






          Most windows will have a title in the top part of the frame to
          tell you what window is currently active.

          Unlike the windows on the Apple Macintosh or other windowing
          systems, all the windows in LPM are fixed and cannot be
          restacked, moved or resized.



















































          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 6






                                  USING THIS MANUAL

          This manual is divided into several sections.  It is hoped that
          you will read through the complete manual to familiarize yourself
          with the Landscape Plant Manager.

          If you are new to computers or working with software that falls
          in the catagory of database managers, you should work through the
          Turtorial which is the next section in this manual.

          If you are more experienced, particularly with pull down menus
          and pop up windows, you can probably dive right into the program
          occasionally consulting with the reference section.  If you have
          trouble using the program, try going through the tutorial.
          Remember, "If all else fails, read the manual."

          After you have reviewed the program and this manual, it is hoped
          you will read the section on Registering and make a contribution
          towards this program.






































          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 7






                                      TUTORIAL

          In this section we will go through the process of using the
          Landscape Plant Manager.  If possible, you should be at your
          computer with the LPM program running so you can try out the
          various tasks as you read along in the tutorial.

          In later sections of this tutorial, you may want to have the
          LPMDEMO file set on your disk for practicing with the searching
          sections.

          ENDING A WORK SESSION

          Before you start, it is important to tell you how to quit incase
          you have to stop working at the computer and have not completed
          the tutorial.

          Assuming all other windows are closed and all you see is the menu
          bar at the top of the screen, press the F2 key to pop open the
          File menu and then press the F7 key to quit.  This will cause the
          Landscape Plant Manager program to stop and return you to the
          Disk Operating System level.  You can then do whatever you want
          at this level or turn off the computer.

          CREATING A NEW FILE SET

          We can consider the Landscape Plant Manager to be like an index
          card file of plants used in the landscape.  Inorder to use this
          'index card file', we must first buy a card box, index cards and
          dividers then arrange the cards in a neat, organized manner.

          You must also create a new file set in the Landscape Plant
          Manager before you can store any plant information.  This is done
          through the New option in the File menu.

          To create a new file, press the F2 key to open the File menu then
          press the F2 key again to open the New File Window.

          After you press the F2 key a second time, a window will open up
          in the middle of the screen that looks similar to this:

                      ================New File=================
                      |                                       |
                      |  Current LPM files:                   |
                      |                                       |
                      |     LPMDEMO                           |
                      |                                       |
                      |New File Name (ESC to exit): ________  |
                      |                                       |
                      =========================================

          If there are any existing LPM files on the disk, they will be
          listed in the window.  It is recommended that only one LPM file




          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 8






          be kept on a floppy disk.  If you have a hard disk, two or more
          files can be stored on the disk.

          The blank line is where you will type in a new file name.  The
          new name must follow DOS naming conventions.  The name must be
          eight characters or less consisting of letters (A to Z) and
          digits (0 to 9).  Under DOS, file names may also have a three
          character extension seperated by a period.  You donot have to and
          should not add any extensions. There are three special extentions
          added to your filename by the program.  Any other extentions will
          cause problems. If you type a period in your filename signifying
          an extension, you will be greeted with an alert box warning you
          of the error.  Just press any key and try again.

                      ================New File=================
                      |    =============Alert=============    |
                      |  Cu|Invalid extension in the     |    |
                      |    |file name.                   |    |
                      |    |                             |    |
                      |    | Press any key to continue   |    |
                      |New |                             |t   |
                      |    ===============================    |
                      =========================================

          If you type in the name of an existing set of files, you will
          also be greeted with an alert window.

          If at any time before you press the return key, you donot want to
          create a new file set, you can press the Escape key to exit from
          the New file section.  No new files will be created even if you
          had already typed a name.

          At this time, type in a file name for your own personal set of
          LPM files.

          After you type in the new name, a new set of files will be
          created on the disk for you to use and the New File window will
          close.  You should notice that the Record and Search items on the
          menu bar are no longer dim.  If you open the File menu, you will
          find that the New and Open menu items are now dim and the Close,
          Print, Info menu items are no longer dim.

          When you create a new set of files, they are automatically opened
          for you to add plants.

          ADDING PLANTS TO A FILE

          Once you have created a new set of files, you can start adding
          plants to your 'electronic index file box'.  To get started,
          close any other menu you may have open and press the F3 key to
          open the Record menu.  With the Record menu open, press the F2
          key to open the Add to File window.





          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 9






          Before you start actually adding plants to you files, we should
          discuss how you will be entering the information about the plants
          and how the information is stored.

          LPM Plant Record Form

          All the information you enter about a single plant is stored in a
          record that is placed in a data file.  You can think of a record
          as the equivalent of one index card which is stored in the data
          file that is equivalent to our imaginary index card file box.

          The plant record is further divided into what are commonly called
          "fields" of information. These fields are in an orderly
          arrangement as a form.  The form used in LPM is like many other
          forms you encounter daily such as application forms. The LPM
          plant record form will look similar to this:

           ===============================================================
           |Genus:           Species:                                    |
           |Name:                                                        |
           |              Class:                    Bark Color:          |
           |               Type:                  Bark Texture:          |
           |      Mature Height:                Hardiness Zone:          |
           |      Mature Spread:                     Soil Type:          |
           |       Growth Habit:                 Soil Moisture:          |
           |            Density:                       Soil pH:          |
           |            Texture:              Light Conditions:          |
           |  Summer Leaf Color:                   Growth Rate:          |
           |    Fall Leaf Color:               Fertility Needs:          |
           |       Flower Color:               Insect Problems:          |
           |  Flower Bloom Time:              Disease Problems:          |
           |        Fruit Color:                                         |
           |Landscape Uses:                                              |
           |                                                             |
           |Note 1:                                                      |
           |Note 2:                                                      |
           |Note 3:                                                      |
           ===============================================================

          When using LPM, you will encounter this special form often. In
          the searching section, you will fill in parts of this form and
          have the program fill in the rest of the form matching the
          information you typed in the form with information found in plant
          records in the data file.

          When you enter the Add to File section, you will see the form in
          the window with an underline next to 'Genus:'

                    Genus: _______________  Species:
                    Name:

          This is where you will start typing in your information about a
          plant.  However, before you actually start typing, let's discuss
          some text editing controls you will have available to you.



          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 10






          Text Editing Controls

          Whenever an underline ("_____") apprears, you will have some text
          editing controls available to you.  Text editing means that you
          will be able to move the cursor around on the line which will
          allow you to edit, change or correct the information you have
          typed on the line before you press the return or enter key.  Even
          though these are limited editing features, none the less they are
          still helpful in typing in information.

          Basically, you use key combinations to move the cursor around on
          the line inorder to change anything you have already typed on the
          line. All or most of the keys are used whenever the underline
          appears for input of information. Any key below marked "Ctrl-x"
          means to hold down the CTRL key and type the related letter or
          key at the same time.  The cursor control keys are:

               Home or Ctrl-A: This will move the cursor to the beginning
               of a line.

               End or Ctrl-F: This will move the cursor to the end of a
               line.

               Up Arrow, Shift-Tab, or Ctrl-E: This will move the cursor up
               one line, field or position. This will only work if you will
               be entering in information on more than one line in a
               window. In some sections, this key will be equivalent to
               using the return or enter key.

               Down Arrow or Ctrl-X: This will move the cursor down one
               line, field or position. This will only work if you will be
               entering in information on more than one line in a window.
               In some sections, this key will be equivalent to using the
               return or enter key.

               Left Arrow or Ctrl-S: This will move the cursor left one
               space.

               Right Arrow or Ctrl-D: This will move the cursor right one
               space.

               Del or Ctrl-G: This will delete the character above the
               cursor and shift all characters to the right of the deleted
               character over to the left on the line.  The cursor stays in
               the same spot and does not move to the left.

               Backspace or Ctrl-H: A rubout or destructive backspace. A
               backspace will cause the cursor to move left erasing the
               character in front of it and drag all characters on the
               right to the left.

               Ctrl-End or Ctrl-Z: End of input for a record or field.
               This key allows you to finish without having to move the
               cursor to the end of a line or use the down key to move the



          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 11






               cursor to the bottom of a record when there is more than one
               line of information.

               Ctrl-Y: This will erase or clear all characters from the
               cursor to the end of the line.

               Return or Enter: When you are done typing in the information
               on a single line you press this key to finish.

          If all these keys are confusing, do not worry.  Alot of work can
          be done by just using the backspace key to erase your mistakes
          and retyping an entry.

          One more thing about the underline.  As you work through a
          record, you will notice that the underline changes length at
          different fields.  This will give you an idea of how many
          characters you can type on a line.  For example, the Genus
          underline is fifteen characters long.  This means that a genus
          name must be equal to or less than fifteen characters.  Any
          characters after the first fifteen will be ignored.  On the other
          hand, the common name underline is thirty characters long as the
          common name is usually much longer than the genus name.

          Before you start adding a plant, you should know how to get out
          of adding a plant or any other activity.

          If you have the Add to File window open at this moment, look at
          the bottom of the window.  There you will notice the line "ESC to
          exit".  This means you can press the escape key (marked either
          Esc, ESC or Escape depending on your keyboard) to get out of
          whatever you were doing at that time.  Pressing the escape key
          will take you to a level that will allow you to quit.  Be aware
          however that anything you typed on the form just before you
          pressed the escape key will not be saved and usually the data
          will be erased from the form.

          Adding a Plant to the File

          Finally, we are ready to enter some information on a plant. Let
          us use Larch (Larix decidua) for practice. If you are not
          familiar with Larch, the complete record can be found in Appendix
          A.

          Type in "Larix" for the Genus and press the return or enter key.
          Then type in "decidua" at the Species line and "Larch" at the
          Name line.  Donot worry about the rules for capitalizing
          scientific names (First letter in the genus is capitalized with
          the species in lower case).  The program will correct the names
          for you before they are saved in the data file.  However, be
          aware that the program does not correct spelling!

          Before you press the return or enter key after typing in the
          common name, the display should look similar to this:




          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 12






          ==========================Add to List===========================
          |                                                              |
          |Genus: Larix     Species: decidua                             |
          |Name: Larch_______________________                            |
          |              Class:                     Bark Color:          |
          |               Type:                   Bark Texture:          |

          If at anytime, you have made a mistake and have already pressed
          the return key, you can use the up arrow to go back to the line
          you just entered and correct it.  Also, at the end of the record,
          you will be given the opportunity to correct the record before it
          is saved to the file.

          If you have not done so, press the return or enter key after
          entering the common name so we can start adding additional
          information.

          For the next 24 fields starting with Class, you will be entering
          information by selecting a choice by number for each field.  At
          each field, a choice menu will pop open next to it offering up to
          sixteen different choices to select from. You should also notice
          a little arrow (<-) pointing at the field label that is related
          to the opened choice window.

          To select a choice, type the number next to your choice on the
          line labeled "Choice by number:" and press the return or enter
          key.  Just as with the names, you can edit the number before
          pressing the return or enter key (Did you notice the underline?).

          If you make a mistake and press the return key, the alert box
          will pop open telling you what is possibly wrong.  Press any key
          to close the alert box and try again.

          When you type a valid number, the choice window will close and
          the arrow will be replaced with your choice. The arrow will jump
          down one field and a new choice window will open up.  The window
          will look similar to this:




















          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 13






          =============================Add to List========================
          |                                 =========Choices==========   |
          |Genus: Larix        Species: deci| Growth Habit:          |   |
          |Name: Larch                      |  0: No Choice          |   |
          |              Class: Tree        |  1: Rounded            |   |
          |               Type: Evergreen   |  2: Oval               |   |
          |      Mature Height: 68-77 feet  |  3: Vase               |   |
          |      Mature Spread: 24-27 feet  |  4: Pyramidal          |   |
          |       Growth Habit: <-          |  5: Columnar           |   |
          |            Density:             |  6: Irregular          |   |
          |            Texture:             |  7: Arching            |   |
          |  Summer Leaf Color:             |  8: Upright            |   |
          |    Fall Leaf Color:             |  9: Spreading          |   |
          |       Flower Color:             | 10: Horizontal         |   |
          |  Flower Bloom Time:             | 11: Pendulous          |   |
          |        Fruit Color:             | 12: Prostrate          |   |
          |Landscape Uses:                  | 13: Vining             |   |
          |                                 | 14: Mound              |   |
          |Note 1:                          | 15: Weeping            |   |
          |Note 2:                          |Choice by number: 4_    |   |
          |Note 3:                          |                        |   |
          |                                 ==========================   |
          ================================================================

          Continue selecting your choices for this record. If you get to a
          field where none of the choices apply (Such as bark color for
          tulips) type zero for No Choice. Also, when you get to Landscape
          Uses, you will be able to select up to five different choices.

          The three Note lines can be used to type in any other information
          on the plant such as cultivars, special cultural practices or
          price information.

          To finish with the record, press the return or enter key after
          typing in Note 3 or use the Ctrl-End key combination.  You will
          then be asked if the record you just entered is correct.

                               Is this correct (Y/N)?

          If you find mistakes, type N for no and use the cursor keys to
          move through the different fields, correcting any mistakes using
          the text editing keys as mentioned earlier.  When you are done
          correcting the record, finish as above by typing the return key
          at Note 3 or use the Ctrl-End key combination.

          When your record is correct and you respond with yes to the
          question, your plant record will be saved to the file set.  You
          will then see at the bottom of the window a question asking you
          to:

                           Continue adding to list (Y/N)?






          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 14






          Typing Y for yes will clear the form for you and allow you to
          enter more plant records.  Typing N for no will cause an exit
          from the Add to List section and return you to the main menu bar.

          When entering you plants, donot worry about keeping the plant
          names in any kind of alphabetic order.  There are two other files
          associated with the data file in the file set.  These files are
          indexes to the data file.  One index is for scientific names and
          the other is for common names.  Both these indexes will have the
          names in alphabetic order.  Later on, when you want the search
          for a particular plant by name, the program will look in the
          index first to find the "card number" for that plant and then go
          into the data file to get the actual information.

          For practice, enter some more plant records to get use to adding
          plant records and using the text editing keys.

          When you are done adding plant records to your file, exit the Add
          to File section by responding N for no to the questions so you
          can practice opening and closing a file.

          CLOSING A FILE SET

          When you no longer want to work with a particular set of files
          either newly created files or opened existing files, you must
          close the currently opened file set before any other file sets
          can be opened up.

          Assuming all other windows and menus are closed, type F2 to open
          the File menu and then F4 to close the currently opened set of
          files.  You donot need to supply any names as the program keeps
          track of the files you opened previously.  When the file set has
          closed, you will notice the Record and Search items in the menu
          bar are dim again.

          If you have been following this tutorial and have created a new
          set of files using New along with adding plants to the file,
          close the files now so you can try out the Open option.

          Remember, in the Landscape Plant Manager, you have to close an
          opened file set before you can open another file set or create a
          new file set.

          OPENING AN EXISTING FILE SET

          In order to work with plants in our 'electronic index box', you
          must open up the box before you can search through the cards for
          a plant or add new cards to the filebox. The Open option in the
          File menu will allow you to open a file set on the disk so that
          you can work with the file set.

          To open any existing file set, press the F2 key to pop open the
          File menu then press the F3 key to pop open the Open File window.




          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 15






                      ================Open File================
                      |                                       |
                      |  Current LPM files:                   |
                      |                                       |
                      |     MYFILE                            |
                      |     LPMDEMO                           |
                      |                                       |
                      | File to Open (ESC to exit):LPMDEMO_   |
                      |                                       |
                      =========================================

          As you can see, the Open File window looks just like the New File
          window.  You type in a file name for the file set that you want
          opened.  However, in this section, if the name you type does not
          match any of the names in the directory, you will be greeted with
          the alert window.

          Just as in the New File section, if you donot want to open a
          file, press the Escape key to exit.

          Once a set of files is opened, you can search through the plants
          in the data file or work with individual plants in the data file
          including adding new plants, deleting plants and modifying
          existing plant data.

          So you can practice using the searching sections that will be
          discussed next, open up the file set on your disk entitled
          "LPMDEMO".  There are enough plants in this file for you to get a
          good demonstration on how the search sections are used.

          If the demo file set is missing, go back to the Add to File
          section and add about fifty plants to your own personal file.

          SEARCHING FOR PLANTS BY NAME

          There are three ways of searching for a particular plant or group
          of plants in our electronic index box. The ways you will be able
          to search for plants is by scientific name, common name or design
          criteria.  This section will deal with finding plants either by
          scientific name or common name.  The next section will cover
          searching for plants based on design criteria.

          As you may recall from the section on adding plants to a file,
          that the program automatically alphabetizes the plants you add to
          the data file regardless of entry order.  This is done by keeping
          two indexes, one for the scientific name and one for common name.
          When you search for a plant by name, the program will go through
          the appropiate index first to find the reference or "card number"
          to the plant record and then go into the data file to find and
          display the plant record.

          To actually search for a plant by name, you will type in the name
          of the plant which is called a "key".  The program will search
          for any plant names that match the given key.  For example if



          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 16






          your key is 'Viburnum lantana', the program will search through
          the index until Viburnum lantana is found or the end of the index
          is reached.  If the plant is found, the form on the screen will
          be filled with the information on this particular viburnum.

          A feature of this section is the ability to give partial words as
          the search key. For example, in the search by common name
          section, you will be able to give 'maple' as a key and the
          program will find all plants that have 'maple' in the common name
          such as Red Maple, Silver Maple and Sugar Maple.  Partial words
          can be as small as one letter.  If you give just the letter 'Q'
          for a scientific name, any plants whose scientific name begins
          with 'Q' such as the oaks (Quercus sp) will be found by the
          program.

          Once you have found one plant, you will be able to scan forward
          and backward through the file to look at plants that are
          alphabetically before your searched plant or after your searched
          plant.

          Let's now actually search for plants by name.  The first search
          you will do is to search by scientific name.

          Searching for Plants by Scientific Name

          To search for plants by scientific name, first close any windows
          or menus so you are back to the main menu bar.  Press the F4 key
          to pop open the Search menu.  Now press the F2 key to open the
          Search by Scientific Name window.

          If nothing happened when you pressed the F2 key and the titles
          look rather dim, remember you must open a file before you can
          search it.  If you need to open a file, close the Search menu and
          open up the LPMDEMO file or your own file at this time following
          the procedure that was discussed earlier.

          When the Search by Scientific Name window is opened you should
          see a form on the screen which looks just like the Add to File
          screen.  However, in this section, you will be filling in the
          Genus field and maybe the Species field with your desired search
          key.

          Filling in the Genus and Species fields is the same as when you
          added a plant record.  All the editing keys discussed in the
          Adding Plants to a File section also work in this section and the
          Search by Common Name section.

          As in other sections, pressing the escape key will allow you to
          exit promptly.

          Type in a scientific name at this time.  As an example, let us
          use a Red Oak for our key.  The scientific name of Red Oak is
          Quercus rubra.  In the Genus field, type 'Quercus' and press the
          return or enter key to move to the Species field.  In the Species



          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 17






          field, type 'rubra' and press return.  As in adding plants, you
          donot have to worry about capitalization.

          After pressing the return key the second time, the disk drive
          will briefly turn on and then your plant with all the information
          about the plant should appear in the form on the screen.

          If the search does not find your plant, the plant that is next in
          alphabetic order will be displayed.

          Once a plant is displayed in the form, a command letter menu will
          appear at the bottom of the window that looks like this:

                  N)ext Record, L)ast Record, P)rint Record, Q)uit?

          Pressing the N key will display the plant record in the data file
          that is next in alphabetic order from the current record on the
          screen. This will allow you to move forward through the data
          file.

          Pressing the L key will display the plant record in the data file
          that is previous in alphabetic order from the current record on
          the screen.  This will allow you to move backward through the
          data file.

          Pressing the P key will print on the printer a copy of the plant
          record that is currently displayed on the screen. If you donot
          have a printer connected to your computer or the printer is not
          turned on, an alert box will pop open warning you of the problem.
          Again, just press any key to close the box. You can try again if
          you forgot to turn on your printer which opened the alert box.

          Pressing the Q key will allow you to quit searching that
          particular section of the list.  You will then be asked:

                              Continue searching (Y/N)?

          Answering Y for yes will allow you to type in another scientific
          name for searching.  Answering N for no will close the window and
          return you to the main menu bar.

          If you have the Red Oak plant on the screen and have not tried
          scanning backward and forward through the list, try using Next,
          Last and Print now for practice.  When you are done, type Q for
          quit and N for no to exit the Search by Scientific Name so we can
          try searching for plants by common name.

          Searching for Plants by Common Name

          Searching for plants by common name works the same way as
          searching for plants by scientific name.  You type in a name or
          partial name in the Name field and a plant that matches or nearly
          matches the key name is displayed on the screen.




          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 18






          To open the Search by Common Name window from the menu bar, type
          F4 to open the Search Menu and type F3 to open the Search by
          Common Name window.

          When the form appears on the screen, you will notice the
          underline is at the Name field having skipped over the Genus and
          Species fields.

          For an example let's search for Maple.  At the Name line, type
          'Maple' and press the return key.  If you make any mistakes
          before you press the return key, you can use the text editing
          keys as previously mentioned in the Adding Plants to a File
          section.

          If there are maples in the file, some type of maple should appear
          on the screen otherwise the plant next in alphabetic order to
          maple will appear on the screen.

          As with searching by scientific name, once a plant is on the
          screen, the 'N)ext, L)ast, P)rint, Q)uit)?' menu will appear at
          the bottom of the window so you can scan through the file looking
          at the different maples.  Go ahead and practice scanning through
          the file at this time.  By quitting and then responding yes to
          continue searching, you can search for some other plants by
          common name.

          When searching by name, you should be aware that the key is
          adjusted so that the program searches for plants based on the
          name first then the adjectives that further describe a plant.

          For example, as you saw above, typing 'maple' will search and
          find the first maple tree in the file and using Next will display
          the other maples. However, if you type 'red' thinking you will
          get Red Maple, instead, you may get Redbud or Rhododendron.  To
          find Red Maple, you must type 'red maple'.  Also, typing 'red m'
          as a partial word will give you the first plant that begins with
          an 'm' such as Magnolia.

          As before, practice in the section for a while then return to the
          menu bar by pressing Q for quit and then N for no at the continue
          searching question.

          Now you can try out the major feature of the Landscape Plant
          Manager, the Search by Criteria section.

          SEARCHING FOR PLANTS BY CRITERIA

          When selecting plants for the landscape, we should always
          determine the needs or criteria of a landscape before deciding on
          a particular plant so that we can maintain a well-balanced,
          aesthically pleasing, easy to maintain landscape.

          These needs or criteria are many and varied depending on a
          variety of factors at the landscape site.  For the north side of



          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 19






          the house, we may want an evergreen tree that is over 50 ft tall
          for use as a windbreak.  In the front yard, we may want a shrub
          to use as a ten foot high hedge that has purple flowers in late
          spring with red bark and few insect problems.

          Traditionally, to find plants that match the above needs would
          involve several techniques including past experience, paging
          though plant manuals and searching through nursery catalogs.
          Usually, this is a time consuming task.

          The Search by Criteria section will allow you to search for
          plants based on one or more of up to 24 different criteria. The
          criteria selection can be in any order.

          Because you will be able to search for plants based on up to 24
          criteria in any order, you will find the Search by Criteria
          section operates a little differently than the other searching
          methods.  However, donot worry, this section is actually easier
          to use as it consists of all menus. (Great for you hunt and peck
          typists).

          Starting the Search by Criteria Section

          To start the Search by Criteria section, from the main menu bar,
          type F4 to pop open the Search menu and then type F4 again to
          open the Search by Criteria window.

          When you press the F4 key the second time, the Search by Criteria
          window will open and then another window will open up the looks
          like this:

                           ===============================
                           |  Please wait, loading list  |
                           |  into memory.               |
                           |  Total Records:  140        |
                           |  Records loaded:  15        |
                           ===============================

          At the same time, the disk drive should start running. Depending
          on the type of disk drive (floppy disk or hard disk) and the size
          of the data file, this should take from 30 seconds to a few
          minutes. As the list of plants from the file is loaded into
          memory, the 'Records loaded:' number will increase. As soon as
          the 'Records loaded' matches the 'Total Records', you will be
          able to use the Search by Criteria Section.

          Up until now, when you did a search by name, the program accessed
          the files on the disk to do the searching.  However, to speed up
          the task of searching by criteria, a special copy of your data
          file is loaded completely into the memory of the computer
          whenever you start the Search by Criteria section.
          Unfortunately, there is a tradeoff.  To avoid conflicts with
          other parts of the LPM program, this special copy of the file in
          memory must be erased from memory (but not the file on the disk)



          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 20






          when you quit the Search by Criteria section and must be reloaded
          again the next time you want to search by criteria.  Therefore,
          be sure you really want to quit searching by criteria.

          Searching for Plants by Criteria

          When the data file is completely loaded into memory, the Search
          by Criteria window will look like similar to this:

          =========================Search by Criteria=====================
          |Plants in file:  140 Plants found=========Choices==========   |
          |Genus:              Species:     | Class:                 |   |
          |Name:                            |  0: No Choice          |   |
          |              Class: <-          |  1: Tree               |   |
          |               Type:             |  2: Shrub              |   |
          |      Mature Height:             |  3: Groundcover        |   |
          |      Mature Spread:             |  4: Vine               |   |
          |       Growth Habit:             |  5: Herbaceous Orn.    |   |
          |            Density:             | Choice by number:__    |   |
          |            Texture:             ==========================   |
          |  Summer Leaf Color:                  Growth Rate:            |
          |    Fall Leaf Color:              Fertility Needs:            |
          |       Flower Color:              Insect Problems:            |
          |  Flower Bloom Time:             Disease Problems:            |
          |        Fruit Color:                                          |
          |Landscape Uses:                                               |
          |                                                              |
          |Note 1:                                                       |
          |Note 2:                                                       |
          |Note 3:                                                       |
          |                                                              |
          ================================================================

          Look familiar? You may recognize it from the Add to File section
          when you selected different choices for each design criteria. As
          you make a choice for each criteria you select, the choice you
          pick will be used as a key to find all plant records in the file
          in memory that match the key.

          Since the Class criteria choice window is opened, let's use Tree
          as an example and see how many plants are found.

          To find all the plants that are trees in the data file, with the
          Class criteria window opened, type the number one for tree and
          press the return key.

          You will notice that the criteria choice window closed and for a
          brief period, numbers started flashing next to the 'Plants
          Found:' label at the top of the screen. The top of the screen
          should now look similar to this (even though the numbers may be
          different):






          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 21






          =======================Search by Criteria=======================
          |Plants in file:  140 Plants found:   70                       |
          |Genus:                  Species:                              |
          |Name:                                                         |
          |              Class: Tree                Bark Color:          |
          |               Type:                   Bark Texture:          |
          |      Mature Height:                 Hardiness Zone:          |

          The top line will give you some information on the plant file
          that is in memory.  The 'Plants in file' shows how many plants
          were loaded into memory from the disk.  The 'Plants found:' shows
          you how many plants have been found matching the currently
          selected criteria choices that are listed in the criteria fields.
          In the above example, out of 140 plants, 70 were found that
          matched a criteria Class of tree.  The remaining 70 plants were
          not trees but a combination of shrubs, vines and groundcovers.

          To find just a few plants based on criteria, you will pick a
          choice from another criteria (We donot want to print and choose
          from a list of 70 trees!).  When you make you second criteria
          choice, the search will be made through the 'Plants found' list
          not the 'Plants in file' list that was originally loaded into
          memory.

          When you make your first criteria search, the program creates a
          list of plants in memory that match the first criteria.  When you
          make your next choice, the program will create a new list from
          the first 'Plants found' list matching those plants in the first
          list with you second key.  Using our file card analogy, you can
          think of it as going through your index card box and pulling out
          all those plants that are trees.  You then take the stack of
          cards that have all trees in it and pull out all those plants
          that are evergreens.  You would now have a smaller stack of cards
          that would be just evergreen trees.  You could continue pulling
          plants out of each new card deck that match a particular criteria
          until you are down to one or two cards that match all your
          desired criteria choices.  In this section, the program works in
          a similar manner.

          At the bottom of the window, you will find a command letter menu
          that looks similar to this:

          C)ontinue Search, R)estart Search, D)isplay List, P)rint, Q)uit?

          If you press R for restart at this point, you will restart your
          searching with the original number of plants.  Any plants found
          will be erased from memory and the form will be cleaned to start
          again.

          If you press D for display or P for print, you will receive an
          alert box warning you that there are too many plants in the list
          to print out and that you should continue searching.





          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 22






          At this time, you want to continue searching so press the C key
          for continue.

          When you press C for continue, a new choice window will open up
          with a pointer at the name of the next blank criteria field. If
          you are following the example and previously chose a Class
          criteria, the pointer should be pointing at the Type criteria.

          At this time, you can make a choice for the Type criteria and
          have the program search for plants based on that choice.

          However, if you would like to select some other criteria, you can
          use the up and down arrow keys to move the pointer to another
          criteria field and open up the field's related window.

          Using the arrow keys, make criteria selections repeating the
          above procedure of making a selection, searching, press C for
          continue and making a new selection. Continue this procedure
          until you have trimmed the 'Plants found' list down to five or
          fewer plants.

          During the searching, an alert box may pop open telling you that
          no plants where found matching your selected criteria choice.  If
          that happens, just try again using a different choice.

          Also remember that you can use the Escape key to bail out to a
          level that will let you quit.

          Once you have trimmed the 'Plants found' list down to five or
          fewer plants, you can display or print the list to see what
          plants have been found matching your criteria choices.

          When you press D for display, the program will fill the form on
          the screen with the first plant in the 'Plants found' list.  At
          the bottom of the screen will appear a new command letter menu
          that looks like this:

                     N)ext Record, P)rint Record, Q)uit Display?

          If you press N for next record, the next plant in the list will
          displayed on the screen.  If you press P for print record, the
          plant currently displayed on the screen will be printed on the
          printer.  When displaying the list on the screen, the print
          function will work just like the print function in the search by
          name sections. You can continue pressing the print option as many
          times as you want to print the same record until you press the N
          for next or Q for quit.

          When you press N for next record at the last plant in the list or
          press the Q key for quit, you will return the the previous menu.

          Once you get down to five or fewer plants in the 'Plants found'
          list, you can print the complete list on the printer.  Just press
          P for print list from the menu.  The complete list will be



          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 23






          printed on the printer with numbered page headings and a copy of
          your selected criteria called a Criteria Selection Template. You
          can repeat the printing as many times as you want until you press
          C for continue, R for restart or Q for quit. You can also display
          the list several times until you press C,R or Q.

          When you press Q for quit from the menu, an alert box will pop
          open to warn you that if you donot want to continue searching,
          the file in memory will be erased. Remember, only the file in
          memory is erased.  The file on the disk will not be erased by the
          LPM program.

          When you start or restart searching by criteria and the Class
          criteria choice window is open, you donot have to select a Class
          criteria choice.  Just use the up and down arrow keys to move the
          pointer to the first desired criteria field to make a selection.
          So, if you want to first look for plants that are resistant to
          insects, you can move the pointer to the Insect Problems field
          and make '1: Resistant' your choice. Then you can move the
          pointer to any field that does not have a selected choice in it.

          Practice finding plants based on criteria choices.  When you are
          done, quit this section so we can briefly cover editing existing
          plant records.

          MODIFYING PLANT RECORDS

          As you work with your plant data files, you may need to make
          changes to individual plant records.  You might find typographic
          errors or wrong criteria choices for a plant which need to be
          corrected. Or, you are keeping prices and/or varieties in the
          notes section which must be changed to reflect current prices or
          plant varieties. These changes can be made to individual plant
          records in a file through the Modify section found in the Record
          menu.

          To modify a plant record you need to be familiar with searching
          for plants by scientific name and be familiar with the text
          editing control keys.  If you are not familiar with these
          techniques see the section on Adding Plants to a File to learn
          about text editing control keys and the section on Searching For
          Plants by Name to learn how to search for plants by scientific
          name.

          Before you can modify any plant records, you must open the data
          file that contains the records.  If a file is not open at this
          time (Did you notice a dim Record menu?), open the file as
          discussed earlier by using Open in the File menu.

          Once a file is opened, you can modify any plant record in the
          opened file.  To enter the Modify section, from the main menu bar
          press F3 to pop down the Record menu and then press the F3 key to
          open up the Modify Plant Record window.




          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 24






          When the window opens up, you will notice that it looks just like
          the Search by Scientific Name window with an underline at the
          Genus field.  As you recall, the underline signifies you are to
          type in some information for that field, in this case, the genus
          of a scientific name.  You are going to retrieve plant records
          that need modifying from the data file by first searching for the
          plant by scientific name.  Then you can have the option of
          modifying the plant record on the screen using the same
          techniques you learned earlier in the Adding Plants To a File
          section of the turtorial.

          For example, let's use Red Maple again.  Type in the scientific
          name 'Acer rubrum' just as you learned earlier to display the
          plant record on the screen.  If Red Maple is in the file, the
          plant record for Red Maple should be displayed in the form on the
          screen.

          At the bottom of the window, you will see the question:

                              Modify this record (Y/N)?

          This is to make sure you want to make corrections to the record.
          At this time, type Y for yes.

          When you type Y for yes, the underline will be at the Genus
          field. You can now use to text editing control keys to make any
          corrections and move through the record.

          When you added plants to the file, did you make any corrections
          by responding yes to 'Is this correct'?  If you did, you modified
          the record in the same way as you would modify a record here.

          At this time, go ahead and make any corrections to the Red Maple
          plant record. Or, press the Cntrl-End key combination to finish.
          Pressing the Escape key will also allow you to exit.  However,
          with Escape, any changes you made on the form are not saved and
          your old plant record on the disk remains unmodified.

          When you are done, you can press the return key at the Note 3:
          field or press the Cntrl-End key combination.  When you finish
          modifying the record this way, a line will appear at the bottom
          of the window:

                               Is this correct (Y/N)?

          If everything in the record is correct, you can type Y for yes.
          However, if there are still errors, type N for no and repeat the
          process of modifying until you are done.

          If you change the scientific name so that it matches some other
          plant in the data file or you leave any name fields blank, you
          will get the now familiar alert box.  When this happens, just re-
          edit the record.




          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 25






          When you are done with your correct plant record, the disk drive
          will come on briefly as it corrects the information in the data
          file.

          After the newly modified record is put in the data file a new
          line will appear at the bottom of the window that looks similar
          to what you saw in the search by name sections:

                      N)ext Record, L)ast Record, Q)uit Search?

          Pressing N for next or L for last will allow you to move back and
          forth through the alphabetic list.  Every time you move forward
          or backward one record, you will be asked if you want to edit the
          record. Pressing N for no will bring you back to the  menu.  This
          is useful if you need to make changes to similar records.  As an
          example, you may have accidently classified all the maples in
          hardiness zone 1 instead of zone 3.  Starting with the first
          maple in the file, you could easily modify all the maple (Acer)
          records to the correct zone.

          When you press Q for quit, another command letter menu will
          appear at the bottom of the window:

                             S)earch File, Q)uit Modify?

          Pressing S for search will clear the form in the window and allow
          you to type in a new scientific name.  This is useful when you
          need to modify plant records that are not in close alphabetic
          order.

          As with the Search sections, you can specify a partial word as
          the search key then use the Next/Last menu to scan through the
          list.  By specifying the letter 'A' as a partial word, you can
          edit every record in you file.

          When you are done modifying records, press Q for quit from the
          menu and type N  for no to the 'Continue modifying records in
          list (Y/N)?' question.

          Continue practicing modifying any records in your file that need
          correcting or changing.  When you are finished, return to the
          main menu bar so we can finish the turtorial and quit the
          Landscape Plant Manager.

          QUITTING THE LANDSCAPE PLANT MANAGER

          Whenever you want to quit using a computer program, you should
          always do what is called an 'orderly exit'.  For many computer
          programs, failue to do this orderly exit by just shutting off the
          computer or pressing a reset key could damage the information in
          your files.  To make sure you donot damage any information in
          your Landscape Plant Manager files, you should always properly
          quit the program.




          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 26






          When you are finished with the Landscape Plant Manager, press the
          F2 key to open up the File menu.  Then press the F7 key to quit.
          That's all there is to quitting.  If you had any files opened
          that you did not close using the Close option in the File menu,
          do not worry.  When you press the F7 key, the program will
          automatically close any opened files for you.

          Once you quit the LPM program, the computer will return to the
          Disk Operating System level.  At this time, you can do any other
          work with your computer or shut it off.

          If you have added records to your files, you should promptly
          backup you files right after you quit the Landscape Plant
          Manager.

          Backup of files is the process of recording copies of your files
          and/or programs on another diskette.  Programs and data recorded
          on magnetic diskettes used in computers can be easily altered if
          you are not careful with your disks.  Hours of work can be and
          has been lost in relatively little time.  Making copies of your
          work and storing the copy in a safe place is insurance against
          losing some or all of your work.

          There are several methods of making backup copies of your work.
          It is best to consult your computer manuals as to what method is
          recommended for your type of equipment. Or, have a friend help
          you make copies for you until you are familiar with the
          technique.

          The important thing is to get into a good habit of making backup
          copies.  Murphy's laws tend to be applied more often in computers
          than anywhere else.

          Having worked through this tutorial, you should now be familiar
          with at least the basics of using the Landscape Plant Manager
          including creating new files, adding records to a file, opening
          and closing files, searching for plants in a file, modifying
          plant records and quitting the system.

          There are several other functions available to you in the
          Landscape Plant Manager including a series of brief help screens,
          the ability to print a complete plant file, the ability to delete
          individual plant records in a file and obtaining some important
          size information on an opened file.  You will find information on
          these functions in the reference section along with more concise
          information on the functions we have discussed in the tutorial.
          You will also find some information on the program, registering,
          managing LPM files and dealing with program bugs (Sorry,
          pesticides donot work on these bugs).  Try and take some time to
          read the rest of the manual, it will avoid some problems for you
          later on as you use the Landscape Plant Manager program.






          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 27






                                      REFERENCE

          MENUS

          The Landscape Plant Manager is classified as a menu driven system
          where various sections and functions of the program are accessed
          by pressing keys or key combinations associated with each section
          or function label.

          The main menu is a menu bar located at the top of the screen will
          look similar to this:

                       F1-Help  F2-File  F3-Record  F4-Search

          By pressing the function key associated with a menu item, a menu
          will pop down containing a list of items that are related to the
          main menu item. In this example:

                    F1-Help  F2-File  F3-Record  F4-Search
                                   ================
                                   |F1-Close Menu |
                                   |F2-Add        |
                                   |F3-Delete     |
                                   |F4-Modify     |
                                   ================

          The F3 key was pressed which opened up a menu of functions
          related to the editing of plant records in a file.  Pressing one
          of the four function keys (F1-F4) will invoke the function
          related to the function key as listed inside the popped down
          menu.  Pressing any other key will result in no action and be
          ignored.

          In all popped down menus, the F1 key will close the menu,
          returning to the main menu bar.  Also, the opened menu is always
          left justified with the item in the main menu bar.  This is to
          serve for further identification of the popped down menu in
          relation to the item in the menu bar.

          During the program, some of the menu items will appear dim or
          gray (may not show on some monochrome monitors) and the function
          key will not respond.  This means that the function or section is
          currently inactive and that some other task or action must be
          performed before a dimmed function or section is activated.













          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 28






          HELP MENU

          F1-Help  F2-File  F3-Record  F4-Search
          ================
          |F1-Close Menu |
          |F2-File       |
          |F3-Record     |
          |F4-Search     |
          |F5-About LPM  |
          |F6-About FSC  |
          |F7-About OHT  |
          ================

          The Help menu provides brief information on using the various
          functions in the Landscape Plant Manager. All other functions and
          windows must be closed inorder to access the Help menu.

          Help File

          Brief information on the various functions found in the File
          menu. For further information on using the functions in the File
          menu, consult the reference section on the File menu and various
          lessons in the turtorial.

          Help Record

          Brief information on the various functions found in the Record
          menu. For further information on using the functions in the
          Record menu, consult the reference section on the Record menu,
          the reference section on cursor control keys and various lessons
          in the turtorial.

          Help Search

          Brief information on the various functions found in the Search
          menu. For further information on using the functions in the
          Search menu, consult the reference section on the Search menu and
          various lessons in the tutorial.

          About LPM, FSC and OHT

          About LPM provides some brief information on the Landscape Plant
          Manager including minimum system requirements.  About FSC and OHT
          provides some brief information on Ferris State College and the
          Ornamental Horticulture Technology program with which the author
          is associated.











          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 29






          FILE MENU

          F1-Help  F2-File  F3-Record  F4-Search
                  ================
                  |F1-Close Menu |
                  |F2-New        |
                  |F3-Open       |
                  |F4-Close      |
                  |F5-Print      |
                  |F6-Info       |
                  |F7-Quit       |
                  ================

          The File menu lists functions associated with files located on
          the disk. This menu provides means to create new files, open and
          close files, print a complete file, obtain basic file information
          and perform an orderly exit from LPM.

          File New

          Pressing the F2 key for New will open up a New File window in the
          center of the screen.  This will allow the creation of a new set
          of files for use in the Landscape Plant Manager system.

          The window will show a listing of all current LPM files on the
          disk and an input line for a new filename.  The new filename can
          be up to eight characters long. The characters can be letters,
          digits or some special characters as specified in the MS-DOS/PC-
          DOS Reference Manual.

          Donot add any extensions to the filename.  Special extension will
          be added to the names when the files are created by the LPM
          program.  Also, the new filename must be different from the names
          listed in the display of current LPM files.

          When entering the name, cursor keys can be used to edit the name
          before the Return or Enter key is pressed.  For information on
          using the cursor keys for editing, see Cursor Control Keys
          Assignments later in the manual.

          If a valid name is entered, the LPM program will create three new
          files on the disk: A data file with the extension '.DAT' and two
          index files; a scientific name index file with the extension
          '.SIX' and a common name index file with the extension '.CIX'.

          Any filenames created with the New File function can be renamed
          at the disk operating system level using the Rename command as
          long as the extensions are not altered.  The Landscape Plant
          Manager does not keep a seperate file of LPM filenames.

          However, donot use the LPM reserved extensions with other files
          on the same disk or in the same directory as problems will most
          likely occur possibly causing damage to a file.




          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 30






          Once a new set of files are created with the new filename, the
          New and Open functions in the File menu, will become inactive.
          The Close, Print and Info functions in the File menu will become
          active.  In the Record and Search menus, all the functions will
          become active.

          With a 360k floppy disk drive, it is recommended that only one
          file set be kept on a disk.  For hard disk drives or larger
          capacity floppy drives, two or more file sets can be kept on a
          disk.  For further information see the reference on the Info
          function in the File menu and the section on Landscape Plant
          Manager Program Information.

          File Open

          Pressing the F3 key will open up an Open File window in the
          center of the screen.  This will allow the opening of an existing
          set of files for use in the Landscape Plant Manager system.

          The window will show a listing of all current LPM files on the
          disk and an input line for a filename.  The filename can be up to
          eight characters long. The characters can be letter, digits or
          some special characters as specified in the MS-DOS Reference
          Manual.  The filename must be one of the names listed in the
          display of current LPM files.

          When entering the name, cursor keys can be used to edit the name
          before the Return or Enter key is pressed.  For information on
          the cursor keys for editing, see Cursor Control Keys Assignments
          later in the manual.

          As with the New File function, the extensions (.DAT, .SIX, .CIX)
          must not be added to the filename.

          Once a valid filename is entered, the file set will be opened for
          use.  The New and Open functions in the File menu, will become
          inactive.  The Close, Print and Info functions in the File menu
          will become active.  In the Record and Search menus, all the
          functions will become active.

          File Close

          When a file set is opened, pressing the F4 key in the File menu
          will close the currently opened LPM file set.  This will be done
          automatically.  The filename does not have to be supplied as the
          program will keep track of the currently opened file set.

          Once a file set is closed, all Record and Search menu functions
          will become inactive.








          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 31






          File Print

          Pressing the F5 key in the File menu will print a complete data
          file of a currently opened file set to a connected printer loaded
          with continuous feed (fanfold) paper.

          When the Print function is activated, a window will open in the
          center of the screen that looks similar to this:

                      ==================Print==================
                      | Choose the form of the report:        |
                      |    C)omplete records                  |
                      |    N)ames only                        |
                      |    A)bort print                       |
                      |  Make a selection (C,N,A)?            |
                      =========================================

          Pressing the C key (either upper or lower case) will print out
          the complete information found in each plant record in the file.
          With an Epson or Epson compatible printer, the scientific name
          will be boldfaced and italicized and, the common name will be
          boldfaced.  Any field in a record that is blank or contains the
          choice 'No Choice' will be printed with an underline to denote
          the empty field.

          Pressing the N key will print only the scientific name and the
          common name. With an Epson or Epson compatible printer, the
          scientific name will be boldfaced and italicized and, the common
          name will be boldfaced.

          Pressing the A key will cause an exit from the Print function
          without any printing on the printer.

          Once a print choice is selected, a plant data file will be read
          from the disk and printed on the printer.  All records in the
          plant data file will be printed in alphabetic order by scientific
          name. When printing starts, the print window will look similar to
          this:

                      ==================Print==================
                      | During printing, press:               |
                      |    F1-to pause                        |
                      |    F2-to exit                         |
                      |  after the current record is printed. |
                      =========================================

          Pressing the F1 key during printing will pause the printer after
          a plant record is completely printed.  To restart printer, press
          the F1 key a second time and printing will resume.

          Pressing the F2 key during printing will stop the printing and
          close the print window with a return to the main menu bar.  Exit
          will occur after a plant record is completely printed.




          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 32






          With either selection, printing will always stop after a complete
          record (C option) or complete name (N option) is printed.

                                 *****CAUTION!*****

          During printing, donot take the printer off line or turn the
          power off to the printer.  The LPM program will not trap this
          kind of error.  Instead, the DOS error system will be activated:

                    Write fault error writing device PRN
                    Abort, Retry, Ignore?

          This message may also alter the screen display.

          Printing can continue if the problem is corrected and then
          pressing 'R' for Retry.

                                 *****WARNING!!*****

          Pressing 'A' for abort will cause an exit from the Landscape
          Plant Management program with a return to the DOS operating
          system.

          A paper out error will also activate the above error system.  To
          avoid this problem, it is important to check for adequate paper
          supplies.  To estimate the amount of paper needed, see the File
          Info section on obtaining the number of records in a file.  The
          number of records in a file divided by three records per page
          will give the approximate number of pages that will be printed.

          File Info

          Pressing the F6 key will open a window that will provide some
          basic information on the currently opened file and other
          information related to the file. The window will look similar to
          this:





















          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 33






            ==========================File Info==========================
            |                     File currently opened: OHTLIST        |
            |                                                           |
            |      Number of active records in the file:   140          |
            |    Number of inactive records in the file:     1          |
            |       Total number of records in the file:   141          |
            |                                                           |
            | Appoximate number of records that can be                  |
            | loaded into memory for Search by Criteria:   583          |
            |                                                           |
            |   Approximate number of records that                      |
            |   can be stored on the current disk drive:   472          |
            |                                                           |
            | Approximate number of records that can                    |
            | be added to the file on the current disk                  |
            | disk drive not including inactive records:   364          |
            |                                                           |
            |                Press any key to continue                  |
            =============================================================

          The 'File currently opened' will list the file that was either
          created with the New File option or the Open File option.

          The 'Number of active records in the file' gives the number of
          plant records in a file that can be accessed through the Record
          and Search menus.

          The 'Number of inactive records in the file' gives the number of
          plant records that were previously deleted from the file.  As a
          file space saving measure, the LPM program will reuse inactive
          record space when adding new plants to the file before additional
          record space is created in the file.

          The 'Total number of records in the file' is the sum of the
          previous two number.  Even though not listed, there is an
          additional 'header' record reserved for program use only.

          The next number gives the approximate number of records in a file
          that can be loaded into memory for use in the Search by Criteria
          section.  The Search by Criteria section is totally memory based
          during operation. The number given here can be used to establish
          the approximate upper limit of the number of active records that
          can be in a file. In the above example, the OHTLIST file should
          not exceed approximately 580 plant records. This number will
          change as it is based on memory allocations of the current
          computer in use. If the number of active records in a file
          exceeds the approximate number of records that can be loaded in
          memory, all sections of the Landscape Plant Manager can still be
          used except for the Search by Criteria section. (See Search by
          Criteria section for further details).

          The 'Approximate number of records that can be stored on the
          current disk drive' gives the approximate total number of records
          that can be stored in one file on the disk drive used by the LPM



          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 34






          program.  This number takes into account the space needed by the
          LPM program itself and the Disk Operating System program files.
          This number does not take into account any non-LPM files
          currently residing on the same disk. In the above example, 472
          records is the approximate capacity for a standard 360k floppy
          disk containing the DOS files and the LPM files. Larger capactiy
          floppy disks and hard disk partitions will give larger storage
          capacity numbers.

          The last number gives the number of records that can be added to
          a file on the current disk.  This number is calculated from the
          free space on a disk, the current file size and the record size.
          Unlike the above number, this number does take other non-LPM
          files into account.  Note that the number does not include the
          number of inactive records.  A more accurate number would be the
          sum of inactive records and number of records that can be added
          to a file.  In the above example, the approximate number of
          records that could be added is 365 (364 + 1).

          It should be noted that the above three numbers are very
          conservative approximations and can be exceeded.  However,
          exceeding these numbers may result in the occurence of fatal
          program errors. It is the user's responsiblity to stay within the
          numbers listed in the File Info window.

          File Quit

          Pressing the F7 key in the File menu will cause an exit from the
          LPM program.  If any files are currently opened, they will be
          properly closed before the program is terminated.  A file set
          does not need to be explicity closed with the File Close function
          before quitting the Landscape Plant Manager.

          Once the LPM program is terminated, the user will be returned to
          the Disk Operating System command level.






















          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 35






          RECORD MENU

          F1-Help  F2-File  F3-Record  F4-Search
                            ================
                            |F1-Close Menu |
                            |F2-Add        |
                            |F3-Modify     |
                            |F4-Delete     |
                            ================

          The Record menu provides functions for the manipulation of
          individual plant records.  Through this menu plant records can be
          added to, deleted from and modified in an opened file.  If a file
          is not opened these functions will be inactive. (See New and Open
          in the File menu section).

          Record Add

          Pressing the F2 key from an opened Record menu will open the Add
          Plant Record window and allow for the addition of plant records
          to an opened file.  In the window a form will appear for filling
          with plant information.

          For the Genus, Species and Name an underline will appear for
          input of the names.  Various cursor keys are available for
          editing any information typed on the line.  (See the Cursor
          control keys assignments in the Reference section for further
          information.)

          The three names donot have to be properly formatted in regards to
          upper/lower case.  After input, the names will be formatted in
          the following way: Genus will be capitalized, species will be
          lower case, Name will have each word capitalized.

          Following the names, information on the plant will be made
          through choice menu selections for each field from Class through
          Landscape Use. At each field a choice menu will appear presenting
          up to 16 choices related to each criteria data field. Selection
          is made by typing in a number next to the desired choice. The
          cursor control keys are available for editing the number. As each
          selection is made, a pointer will move to the next field
          presenting a new choice menu related to the new field.

          The Notes fields allow for information that does not fit in any
          of the above fields such as varieties, costs and cultural notes.

          At the end of adding a record, confirmation will be required in
          regards to a correct plant record.  Responding no will allow
          editing of the record.  This process can be repeated until a
          correct record is on the screen. Responding yes to a correct
          record will result in the record being saved to the file and the
          appropiate indecies updated.





          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 36






          Exit without adding a record can be done by pressing the Escape
          key.  This will move to a level that will allow quitting from the
          Add Plant Records section.

          Record Modify

          Pressing the F3 key from an opened Record menu will allow for the
          modification or editing of an existing plant record. Once
          corrections are made the old record is removed and replaced with
          the updated record.

          When the Modify Plant Records window is opened, the standard LPM
          form will be on the screen with input expected at the Genus
          field.  At this point, the scientific name or part of the name
          can be typed in as a search key for finding the plant record that
          is to be modified.

          To find a plant record, the scientific name of the plant is typed
          in at the Genus and Species fields. Once a scientific name is
          typed in, the data file will be searched for the plant record.
          When the plant record is found, the form will will be filled in
          with the data.  If desired, the record can be edited using the
          same procedure as editing in the Add Record section. If the
          record does not exist, the next record in alphabetic order will
          be presented.

          When finished with a record, a command letter menu will appear at
          the bottom of the window allowing for access to the next or last
          record in alphabetic order from the current record on the screen.

          As with adding records, Escape will allow for exit without
          updating of the current record.

          For further information on accessing records with partial
          scientific names see the Search Menu section on Scientific Name
          in this Reference section.

          Record Delete

          The Delete function in the Record menu will delete or remove any
          plant records from an opened file.  To start the Delete Plant
          Records function, press the F4 key from an opened Record menu.

          When the Delete Plant Records window is opened, the standard LPM
          form will be in the window.  To delete a specific plant record,
          the scientific name or partial name is typed in at the Genus and
          Species field. The plant record is then found and displayed in
          the form.  Verification will be required as to deletion of the
          plant record.

          Once a plant record is deleted, it cannot be undeleted.

          After the decision is made as to the deletion of the current
          record, a command letter menu will appear at the bottom of the



          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 37






          window allowing for access to the next or last record in
          alphabetic order from the current record on the screen.

          As with the other edit functions, pressing the Escape key will
          allow for exit without deleting of the current record.

          For further information on accessing records with partial
          scientific names see the Search Menu section on Scientific Name
          in this Reference section.
















































          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 38






          SEARCH MENU

          F1-Help  F2-File  F3-Record  F4-Search
                                       =====================
                                       |F1-Close Menu      |
                                       |F2-Scientific Name |
                                       |F3-Common Name     |
                                       |F4-Criteria        |
                                       =====================

          Search Scientific Name

          Pressing the F2 key from an opened Search Menu will open up the
          window for finding plants in a data file by scientific name.  By
          specifying a complete or partial scientific name, the data file
          will be searched and any plant equal or greater in alphabetic
          order than the scientific name key will be displayed.  Forward
          and backward scanning of the data file will be available from the
          first plant displayed.  Also, optional printing of each displayed
          record will be available.

          When the window opens, the LPM form will be on the screen.  A
          complete or partial scientific name is typed into the form. The
          genus of the plant is typed into the Genus field and the species
          is typed into the Species field.

          Once the return or enter key is pressed at the Species field,
          searching will begin on the opened data file.  The first plant
          matching or greater than the scientific name will be displayed in
          the form.

          At the bottom of the form will appear a command letter menu.
          Pressing N or L will allow forward or backward scanning of the
          data file in alphabetic order from the record currently displayed
          on the screen.  Pressing P will print the record currently
          displayed on the screen to the printer.

          Pressing Q for quit will quit the searching through the current
          part of the data file.  The option will be available to specify a
          new scientific name search key.

          Partial keys may be specified in the scientific name search key.
          The search key can consist of a partial genus name and a blank
          species name or, the key can be a complete genus name and a
          partial species name.  A partial genus name and a partial species
          name will be the same as a partial genus name and a blank species
          name. A partial key can consist of just one letter in the Genus
          field.

          The search key is not case sensitive so the key can be typed in
          any combination of upper and lower case characters.






          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 39






          Search Common Name

          Pressing the F3 key from an opened Search Menu will open up the
          window for finding plants in a data file by common name.  By
          specifying a complete or partial common name, the data file will
          be searched and any plant equal or greater than the common name
          key will be displayed.  Forward and backward scanning of the data
          file will be available from the first plant displayed.  Also,
          optional printing of each displayed record will be available.

          When the window opens, the LPM form will be on the screen.  A
          complete or partial common name is typed into the form at the
          Name field.

          Once the return or enter key is pressed at the Name field,
          searching will begin on the opened data file.  The first plant
          matching or alphabetically greater than the common name will be
          displayed in the form.

          At the bottom of the form will appear a command letter menu.
          Pressing N or L will allow forward or backward scanning of the
          data file in alphabetic order from the record currently displayed
          on the screen.  Pressing P will print the record currently
          displayed on the screen to the printer.

          Pressing Q for quit will quit searching through the part of the
          data file.  The option will be available to specify a new
          scientific name search key.

          Partial keys may be specified in the common name search key.  A
          partial key can consist of just one letter in the Name field.

          The search key is not case sensitive so the key can be typed in
          any combination of upper and lower case characters.

          When searching by common name, the search key will be based on
          the noun of the common name followed by the adjectives preceding
          the noun. As an example: Typing 'Maple' will display the first
          Maple in the data file. Typing 'Red Maple' will display Red Maple
          if it exists in the data file. Typing 'Red' will display Eastern
          Redbud if it exists in the data file, not Red Maple.

          To avoid problems, type in the common name as commonly
          referenced; that is, adjectives followed by the noun. Donot type
          in the name as based on how searching is performed.

          Search Criteria

          Pressing the F4 key from an opened Search menu will open the
          Search by Criteria window.  In this section, plants are found
          based on up to 24 design criteria selections.  Starting with a
          list of all plants in a data file, as each design criteria
          selection is made, the list of plants is reduced in size,
          retaining only those plants that match selected criteria.



          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 40






          When the Search by Criteria window is opened, another window will
          open noting that the data file is being loaded into memory.  Once
          the file is loaded into memory, the window will close and the LPM
          form will appear in the Search by Criteria window.

          Searching is done by selecting a choice from a choice list
          associated with each criteria.  Once a selection is made, the
          list in memory is scanned and all plants matching the selected
          choice are placed into a new list in memory. When another
          criteria choice is selected, searching is performed on the new
          list in memory.  All plants matching the selected choice are
          placed in a new list. This process can be repeated until the
          'Plants Found:' field at the top of the window has five or less
          plants.  Once there are five or fewer plants in the list, the
          list can be displayed in the window or printed on a printer.

          To make a choice selection, type the number corresponding to the
          choice in the opened choice window for a particular criteria.
          Along with a label at the top of the choice window, an arrow will
          also point to the criteria in the form that is associated with
          the choice window.  Pressing the return key will start the search
          process.

          To move through the criteria fields, use the up and down arrow
          keys (See Cursor Control Keys Assignments in the Reference
          section).  As one of these two keys is pressed, a choice window
          will open at each criteria field. Continued pressing of the keys
          will close a current choice window and open the next choice
          window.

          Once a search is performed, a command letter menu will appear at
          the bottom of the screen.

          Pressing C will return to criteria choice selection for continued
          searching.  A choice window will open at the first blank criteria
          field on the form.  Use the up/down arrow keys for continued
          moving through the different criteria fields.  Any non-blank
          fields will be skipped over.

          Pressing R for restart will reset the 'Plant Found:' to zero and
          clear any list resulting from previous searches. The only list
          remaining in memory will be the list originally loaded into
          memory at the beginning of the section.

          Once a 'Plants Found:' list is trimmed down to five plants or
          less, the list can be displayed on the screen by pressing D for
          display.  Using information from the list in memory, the complete
          plant records are loaded into memory one at a time from the data
          file on the disk.  After each record is displayed on the screen,
          a command letter menu will appear at the bottom of the window.
          Pressing N for next will display the next record in the list.
          Pressing P will print the record currently displayed in the form.
          Pressing Q for quit will quit the display of records and return
          to the previous command prompt line.



          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 41






          Pressing P for print instead of D for display will print the
          complete list of plants to the printer.  Included with the plants
          will be a copy of the selected criteria choices and appropiate
          page headers.  During printing, donot interrupt the printer as it
          will invoke the MS-DOS level error system.  (See the File Print
          in the Reference section).

          Pressing Q for quit will start an exit from the Search by
          Criteria section.  Because quitting this section will destroy the
          list in memory requiring reloading of the list, an extra warning
          will be issued before exiting is allowed.














































          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 42






          CURSOR CONTROL KEYS ASSIGNMENTS

          Whenever an underline ("_____") apprears during a request for
          information, there will be cursor control keys available for text
          editing and moving the cursor through the LPM form.

          All or most of the keys are used whenever the underline appears
          for input of information. Any key below marked "Ctrl-x" means to
          type the CTRL key and the related letter or key at the same time.
          The cursor control keys are:

               Home or Ctrl-A: This will move the cursor to the beginning
               of a line.

               End or Ctrl-F: This will move the cursor to the end of a
               line.

               Up Arrow, Shift-Tab, or Ctrl-E: This will move the cursor up
               one line, field or position. This will only work if entering
               information on more than one line in a window. In certain
               sections this key will be equivalent to using the return or
               enter key.

               Down Arrow or Ctrl-X: This will move the cursor down one
               line, field or position. This will only work if entering
               information on more than one line in a window. In certain
               sections this key will be equivalent to using the return or
               enter key.

               Left Arrow or Ctrl-S: This will move the cursor left one
               space.

               Right Arrow or Ctrl-D: This will move the cursor right one
               space.

               Del or Ctrl-G: This will delete the character above the
               cursor and shift all characters to the right of the deleted
               character over to the left on the line.  The cursor stays in
               the same place and does not move to the left.

               Backspace or Ctrl-H: A rubout or destructive backspace. A
               backspace will cause the cursor to move left erasing the
               character in front of it and drag all characters on the
               right to the left.

               Ctrl-End or Ctrl-Z: End of input for a record or field.
               This key allows finishing of input without having to move
               the cursor to the end of a line or use the down key to move
               the cursor to the bottom when there is more than one line of
               information.

               Ctrl-Y: This will erase or clear all characters from the
               cursor to the end of the line.




          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 43






               Return or Enter: End of single line input.

          These keys assignments are based on the IBM PC keyboard and true
          compatible keyboards (Zenith Z-150).  If the arrow keys and other
          similar keys (Home, End, PgUp, PgDn) are not available or give
          erratic results, the control keys should be used in place of the
          cursor keys.


















































          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 44






          MANAGING LANDSCAPE PLANT MANAGER FILES

          Landscape Plant Manager file sets on a disk can be manipulated
          like any other file on a disk using various PC-DOS/MS-DOS level
          commands.

          Each time a new file set is created, three files are established
          on the disk. These files are:

               Plant Data File:                 xxxxxxxx.DAT
               Scientific Name Index File:      xxxxxxxx.SIX
               Common Name Index File:          xxxxxxxx.CIX

          where 'xxxxxxxx' is the user assigned filename with '.DAT',
          '.SIX', and '.CIX' being the LPM file extensions.  The three
          extensions should not be used for non-LPM files in the same
          directory.

          Copying, deleting and backing up of the LPM files can be
          accomplished using the available PC-DOS/MS-DOS commands.  For
          further information on using the various commands, consult the
          appropiate reference manual.



































          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 45






          ERRORS, PROBLEMS AND BUGS

          While using the Landscape Plant Manager various problems may
          occur. Many times these are due to simple mistakes made by the
          user because something was typed in that was not expected by the
          LPM program.

          The author of the program has tried to anticipate most of the
          errors that might occur and has impleted ways to avoid 'crashing'
          the program.

          Errors detected by the LPM program will appear in an alert box
          that will pop up in the middle of the screen. If an alert box
          pops open, read the error message and press any key to close it
          again.  Usually, the mistake can be easily corrected after the
          alert box is closed.

          LPM Alert Box Messages

          The error messages that will appear in the alert boxes are as
          follows:

          Under FILE NEW

          "Sorry, insufficient space on this disk to create a file. Exiting
          New File."  The program determined that there was not enough room
          on a disk to creat a new file set.  If this occurs, exit the
          program then format a new disk and place a copy of the LPM
          program files on the new disk.  Restart the LPM program using the
          new disk. An alternative is to delete any non-essential files
          from the disk.

          "File already exist. Please choose another name."  A file was
          found on the disk that matched the name given as the new file
          name.  Choose another name for the new file set.

          "Invalid extension in the filename. Please try again." An
          extension dot or full extension was typed in with the new file
          name.  The LPM program will add it's own extensions to the new
          file name.  Donot add any extension when typing in a new file
          name.

          "Sorry, error detected in creating Data File. Possible disk
          problem." The program could not create a new plant data file.
          Possible problems could be insufficient room not detected earlier
          or a damaged disk.  If this problem occurs, it is recommended
          that a new LPM system disk be created and the new disk used in
          place of the current disk.

          "Sorry, error detected in creating Scientific Name Index File.
          Possible disk problem." The program could not create a new
          scientific name index file.  Possible problems could be
          insufficient room not detected earlier or a damaged disk.  If




          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 46






          this problem occurs, it is recommended that a new LPM system disk
          be created and the new disk used in place of the current disk.

          "Sorry, error detected in creating Common Name Index File.
          Possible disk problem." The program could not create a new common
          name index file.  Possible problems could be insufficient room
          not detected earlier or a damaged disk.  If this problem occurs,
          it is recommended that a new LPM system disk be created and the
          new disk used in place of the current disk.

          Under FILE OPEN

          "File set does not exist. Please recheck name or use NEW to
          create a file set."  The program could not find the files on the
          disk that match the name given by the user.  This will most
          likely be due to a mistyped name.  Check the directory listed in
          the window and try again.

          "Sorry, error detected in opening Data File. Possible disk
          problem." The program could not open the plant data file.
          Possible problems are a damaged data file or a damaged disk.  If
          this problem occurs, use a copy of the data file from a backup
          disk. If no backup copy is available, the data file is considered
          lost.

          "Sorry, error detected in opening Scientific Name Index File.
          Possible disk problem." The program could not open the scientific
          name index file.  Possible problems are a damaged index file or a
          damaged disk.  If this problem occurs, use a copy of the index
          file from a backup disk. If no backup copy is available, the
          index file is considered lost.

          "Sorry, error detected in opening Common Name Index File.
          Possible disk problem." The program could not open the common
          name index file.  Possible problems are a damaged index file or a
          damaged disk.  If this problem occurs, use a copy of the index
          file from a backup disk. If no backup copy is available, the
          index file is considered lost.

          Under FILE PRINT

          "Cannot detect printer. If one is connected, please check it." If
          a printer is connected to the computer, check to make sure the
          printer is turned on, on-line and loaded with paper.

          "Printer does not respond. Please check it."  During a pause, the
          printer was taken off-line or turned off.  Turn the printer on or
          put it back on-line to correct this error.

          Under RECORD ADD

          "Selected choice is not in the choice list. Please try again."
          When making a choice from an opened choice window, the number




          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 47






          typed in did not correspond to any of the numbers in the choice
          list.

          "Duplicate use has been selected. Please choose another landscape
          use."  Up to five landscape uses can be selected for each plant.
          However, to avoid problems in searching, all of these uses with
          the exception of 'No Choice' must be different.

          "Names cannot be blank.  Please re-edit the record." Because the
          scientific name and common name are used in the indecies, they
          cannot be blank.  Re-edit the record by filling in the blank name
          fields.

          "The plant already exists in the datafile. Please re-edit the
          record." Before a plant record is added, a check is made for any
          existing plants with the same scientific name.  If this occurs,
          change the scientific name to a different name.

          "Sorry, file is full and cannot add on any more records. Exiting
          Add to List."  It was determined that the maximum allowable
          number of records for a file was reached.

          "Sorry, insufficient room on the disk to safely add new records.
          Exiting Add to List."  If was determined that there was little
          room left on a disk to safely add more records to a file.  To
          correct this, one must go to a larger capacity disk or remove any
          other files on the current disk to make more room.

          Under RECORD MODIFY

          "Selected choice is not in the choice list. Please try again."
          When making a choice from an opened choice window, the number
          typed in did not correspond to any of the numbers in the choice
          list.

          "Duplicate use has been selected. Please choose another landscape
          use."  Up to five landscape uses can be selected for each plant.
          However, to avoid problems in searching, all of these uses with
          the exception of 'No Choice' must be different.

          "Names cannot be blank.  Please re-edit the record." Because the
          scientific name and common name are used in the indecies, they
          cannot be blank.  Re-edit the record by filling in the blank name
          fields.

          "The plant already exists in the datafile. Please re-edit the
          record." When a scientific name is changed, a check is made for
          any existing plants with the same scientific name before the
          edited recorded is put back in the data file. If this occurs,
          change the scientific name to a different name.

          Under SEARCH SCIENTIFIC NAME and SEARCH COMMON NAME





          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 48






          "Cannot detect printer. If one is connected, please check it." If
          a printer is connected to the computer, check to make sure the
          printer is turned on, on-line and loaded with paper.

          Under SEARCH CRITERIA

          "Cannot detect printer. If one is connected, please check it." If
          a printer is connected to the computer, check to make sure the
          printer is turned on, on-line and loaded with paper.

          "Number entered is not in the choice list. Please try again."
          When making a choice from an opened choice window, the number
          typed in did not correspond to any of the numbers in the choice
          list.

          "No records where found matching your choice.  Please make a
          different choice."  Based on the plants contained in the opened
          file, none of the plants had a design criteria that matched the
          selected choice.  Select other choices for the particular design
          criteria until plants are found, or choose another design
          criteria.

          "There are more plants in the found list than can be printed.
          Please search again."  A plant list must be trimmed down to five
          or fewer plants before the list can be displayed on the screen or
          printed to a printer.  Type 'C' to continue searching for plant
          based on additional design criteria until the list is down to
          five or fewer plants.

          "The Plants Found list is empty. Please continue or restart
          search."  There were no plants in the plants found list to print
          or display.  Type 'C' to continue or 'R' to restart.

          "Insufficient memory. Sorry, Search by Criteria not permitted."
          The program determined there was not enough memory to load the
          currently opened plant file into the remaining memory space.  If
          this occurs, use a computer with more memory or, delete several
          little used and unused plants from the data file. See Delete
          under the Record menu in the Reference section.

          "Leaving this section will clear the list from memory (but not
          the disk). Be sure you really want to quit!"  This is not an
          error message but a warning to avoid accidental exit of the
          Search by Criteria section before one has intended to quit.

          PC-DOS/MS-DOS Error Messages

          There are a few situations that will cause errors that the LPM
          program cannot intercept.  Instead these errors will invoke the
          PC-DOS/MS-DOS error system and generate an error message that
          will look similar to this:

               Write fault error writing device PRN
               Abort, Retry, Ignore?



          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 49






          Usually this will garbage up the screen display.

          The most possible causes of this type of error message will be:

               Turning the printer off during printing. (Either off line or
               powered off).

               Opening a floppy disk drive door.

               Removing the disk containing the LPM program files while the
               program is running.

               Damaged diskettes.

               Faulty disk drives.

          To avoid these problems remember to:

               Never turn off the printer while it is running.

               Make sure the printer has enough paper.

               Never open up a floppy disk drive door once the LPM program
               is started.

               Treat the diskettes and computer equipment with care.

               Always make backup copies of your files onto one or more
               disks.

          Bugs

          In the landscape industry, a bug is a type of insect that
          sometimes causes damages to plants.  In the computer industry a
          bug is an error in the program that will cause false data to be
          generated or cause the program to stop at the most inopportune
          time.

          If you encounter bugs in the program even though you have done
          everything right several times, please inform the author so he
          can correct the problem.

          If a fatal error (bug) occurs which stops the program, restart
          the program and repeat your steps that caused the fatal error to
          see if the error will occur again.  If the same or similar fatal
          error happens several times, please write down any error messages
          that appear on the screen (or do a screen dump if possible) and
          send a report to the author of the program.









          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 50






          LANDSCAPE PLANT MANAGER PROGRAM INFORMATION

          Minimum system requirements:

               IBM-PC series or true compatible computer with 128k of
               memory,one 360k floppy disk drive and MS-DOS/PC-DOS version
               2.0 or above.

          Optional system equipment:

               Color display monitor, Epson or Epson compatible printer,
               hard disk drive in place of floppy disk drive.

          Minimum RAM Memory: 128k
          Maximum RAM Memory: 640k
          Minimum Disk Drives Required: 1
          Maximum Disk Drives Supported: 1
          Minimum Disk Storage Capacity Required: 360k
          Maximum Disk Storage Capacity: 20 megabytes (est.)
          Maximum Records per File: 32,767

          Approximate Storable Records on a 360k floppy disk in one or more
          files: 450 records.

          Approximate Storable Records on a hard disk in one or more files:
          Based on partition size.

          Approximate number of records that can be loaded into memory for
          Search by Criteria:

               Memory                  Records
               ======                  =======
               128k                     570
               256k                    2200
               320k                    2800
               512k                    4400
               640k                    5600

          Development System: Zenith Z-150 (IBM PC compatible) with 320k of
          memory, 360k floppy disk drive and 11 meg hard disk drive.

          Development Software: Turbo Pascal 3.00B, Turbo Toolbox, MS-DOS
          2.11, PC-Write, and Microsoft Word (IBM and Macintosh versions).

          Monitor Display Note:  During testing, it was found that some
          color display card and color monitor combinations will show a
          flicker or snow as windows pop open and close.  This is a
          hardware problem and does not affect program operation.









          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 51






          REGISTERING

          After reviewing the software to determine if the Landscape Plant
          Manager will meet your needs, a tax deductible donation of $50.00
          would be appreciated to continue support of this program.
          Registering by sending in the donation will enable you to receive
          additional benefits.  (See Registration Specifics for further
          details).

          User Supported Software Concepts

          User supported software is a general concept where the author
          encourages his or her copyrighted software be copied and shared
          with others.  After a trial period of trying out the software, if
          the user finds the software to meet his or her needs, the user
          then supports the author with some form of donation, registration
          fee, support fee or payment. In return for supporting the author
          of the software, the user usually obtains further benefits such
          as free copies of major software updates and technical support.
          User supported software goes under several other terms such as
          Freeware, Shareware and MacHonor.

          To quote Bob Wallace, author of the PC-Write word processor,
          "Sharware is like public television:  the programming is freely
          distributed, but support from users is encouraged."

          Please note that the Landscape Plant Manager and other user
          supported software is NOT public domain software.  All Landscape
          Plant Manager software and materials (including this manual) are
          copyrighted materials.  Please respect the author's rights.

          For those unfamiliar with public domain software, it is software
          written by programmers and released into the public domain for
          whatever use others see fit without any compensation for the
          author. Usually software released as public domain means the
          author has given up any rights to the software. Also, users of
          public domain software receive no additional support when using
          the software.

          Where Your Money Goes

          When you send in your donation, part of the money will go toward
          providing extra services to you as a registered donor and,
          continued support and enhancement of the Landscape Plant Manager
          software.

          Any remaining money will be used to support and develop computer
          usage in the Ornamental Horticulture Technology courses and
          provide hands-on horticulture related computer training for the
          students in the program. This support will be in the form of
          computer hardware, application software and development software.
          The Landscape Plant Manager is the first such project for use by
          our students in plant identification and landscape design
          courses.  Another project currently being developed is use of



          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 52






          computer aided design by our students in the Advanced Landscape
          Design course.

          Even though the author has spent a year developing the Landscape
          Plant Manager over and above a full time teaching load, none of
          the money will go towards his salary.

          Future plans, goals and ideas

          As mentioned above, your donation will go towards enhancement of
          the Landscape Plant Manager and development of other computer
          software related to ornamental horticulture.  As these
          enhancements and new programs are developed, registered donors
          will be the first to receive the software.

          Some plans and ideas that will hopefully be developed in the near
          future are:

              -Enhancement of the Lanscape Plant Manager to include program
               control by use of a mouse, improved file printing and
               possible limited report generation for incorporation into a
               word processor.

              -Symbol libraries and templates for use with computer aided
               design software in landscape design.

          Why Should I Pay?

          Because you have received the software free for your review
          before paying for the software, there is a temptation not to send
          in a donation.

          Many excuses are given such as: "They will not miss my one
          payment" or "How are they going to catch me".

          It is hoped that you will make a donation. The author established
          a low tax deductible donation price for the software to make it
          affordable to schools, students, homeowners and small
          landscapers.

          As an alternative, the author could have: copy protected the
          software, asked for a $300.00 payment before giving you the
          software and made you sign a ridiculous liscense agreement.

          The author would appreciate your monetary support of this
          program. Without your support, other projects mentioned above
          cannot be developed and passed on to you.  Also, the author may
          be forced to do the alternative mentioned above.

          Basically, we trust you in the landscape industry. Please help us
          maintain that trust. Thanks.






          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 53






          Registration Specifics

          After you have reviewed the Landscape Plant Manager, if you find
          it useful in your work, we are asking for a tax deductible
          donation as follows:

          INDIVIDUALS AND SMALL LANDSCAPE BUSINESSES: If you are an
          individual in a landscape business, a single site landscape
          business or a homeowner then please send in a single $50.00
          donation.

          LARGE LANDSCAPE BUSINESSES: If you are a multiple site or branch
          business where the Landscape Plant Manager will be used at two or
          more sites please send in a $50.00 donation for each site that
          will be using the Landscape Plant Manager.

          SCHOOLS: If the Landscape Plant Manager will be operating on only
          one non-networked computer that is used by all the students, the
          donation is the same as an individual.

          If copies of the Landscape Plant Manager are distributed to
          students for individual student use or the program will be used
          in a computer network, please send in a $50.00 donation each term
          (quarter or semester) that copies are distributed or a copy of
          the program resides on the network.

          Schools may not charge students towards payment of the donation.
          However, students can be required to purchase the diskette
          necessary for obtaining a copy of the Landscape Plant Manager and
          pay up to but not over $2.00 for a manual to cover the cost of
          manual reproduction.  For details and permission on manual
          reproduction using more traditional means, please contact the
          author.

          STUDENTS: No charge. However, you will not receive the benefits
          of registered donors.  Once you leave school and obtain a
          position in the landscape industry, it is hoped you or the
          business where you are employed will make the $50.00 donation.

          Registered donors will receive the following benefits:

               A letter thanking you for your tax deductible donation to
               the Development Fund and support of the Ornamental
               Horticulture Technology program at Ferris State College.

               Postcards notifying you of the next two major Landscape
               Plant Manager updates. The first postcard is redeemable
               towards receiving one free disk with a copy of the updated
               program. The second postcard is redeemable towards a copy of
               the updated program for a small charge to cover cost of the
               diskette and mailing.

               Written support for any problems you may have with the
               Landscape Plant Manager for one year.



          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 54






          If you wish to make a donation larger than the requested $50.00
          donation, it would be very much appreciated.

          Because of the low cost of the software and a full time teaching
          load, the author cannot provide telephone support for any
          problems you may have with the Landscape Plant Manager. Sorry.

          If you donot find the Landscape Plant Manager useful in your
          work, please pass the disk on to another member of the landscape
          industry for their review and destroy this manual.















































          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 55






                                  REGISTRATION FORM

          Name:__________________________________________________

          Organization:__________________________________________

          Address:_______________________________________________

          City:________________________ State:_____ Zip:_________

          Phone: (______) ______-_________ ext.__________

          Number of sites:________     LPM Version number:_______________
                                   (found at top of LPM Intro. window)
          Computer System:

          Manufacturer:____________________________________

          Model:___________________________________________

          RAM Memory Installed:____________________________

          Number, Capacity and Type (Floppy, Hard, etc) of Disk Drives:

          _________________________________________________

          _________________________________________________

          Video Display (Monochrome or Color Graphics, etc)
          Please describe display most often used:

          _________________________________________________

          _________________________________________________

          On the back, the author would appreciate any enhancements,
          suggestions, comments and criticisms concerning the Landscape
          Plant Manager software and documentation.  Also, please make note
          if you would like to see the Landscape Plant Manager on other
          computer systems (Apple, Tandy, Commodore) and, any other ideas
          you may have concerning computer useage in the landscape
          industry.

          With a check made out to "The FSC Biology/OHT Development Fund",
          please send this registration form and your donation to:

                    Department Head
                    Department of Biological Sciences
                    Ferris State College
                    Big Rapids, MI  49307







          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 56






                             Appendix A-Larix Data Sheet

          Genus: Larix            Species: decidua
          Name: Larch
                     Class: Tree               Bark Color: Medium Gray
                       Type: Deciduous        Bark Texture: Fissured
              Mature Height: 68-77 feet     Hardiness Zone: #2/-50 to -40 F
              Mature Spread: 28-37 feet          Soil Type: Loam
               Growth Habit: Pyramidal       Soil Moisture: Moist & Drained
                    Density: Medium                Soil pH: Slightly Acid
                    Texture: Medium       Light Conditions: Full Sun
          Summer Leaf Color: Medium Green      Growth Rate: Fast
            Fall Leaf Color: Yellow        Fertility Needs: Moderate
               Flower Color: Yellow        Insect Problems: Susceptable
          Flower Bloom Time: Apr-May      Disease Problems: Susceptable
                Fruit Color: Yellow Orange
          Landscape Uses:
          Screen         Specimen
          Note 1:  Deciduous conifer (drops needles in fall)
          Note 2:  'Fastigiata' columnar shape
          Note 3:  'Pendula' weeping form




































          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 57






                           Appendix B-Ferris State College

                                Ferris State College
                                Big Rapids, MI 49307

          Ferris State College is entering its second century as a national
          leader in career-oriented education.  Over 130 programs are
          offered through the Schools of Allied Health, Arts and Sciences,
          Business, Education, Pharmacy, Technology and the College of
          Optometry. A feature at Ferris is "laddering" which allows
          students who have completed one of many one and two year degrees
          to transfer into the four year programs without little or no loss
          of credit.

          Founded in 1884, Ferris has developed a modern 600-acre campus in
          BigRapids, at the gateway to west-central Michigan's vacation and
          recreation country.

          For further information or applications, contact the Director of
          Admissions, Ferris State College, Big Rapids, MI  49307

                Appendix C-Ornamental Horticulture Technology Program

          The Ornamental Horticulture Technology program is offered through
          the School of Arts and Sciences at Ferris State College.  It is
          an eighteen month program leading to an Associates of Applied
          Science degree. The prime orientation of the OHT program is to
          provided students with training in the outdoor landscaping area.
          A majority ofthe OHT students upon graduation go into the
          landscape industry. Due to the "laddering" concept at Ferris
          State College, several of our students upon completion of their
          OHT degree continue in one of several baccalaureate programs.
          Most of these students complete a four year degree in business
          within two additional years of coursework. For further
          information on the Ornamental Horticulture Technology program at
          Ferris State College, contact the: Program Coordinator,
          Ornamental Horticulture Technology Program, Ferris State College,
          Big Rapids, MI  49307.



















          The Landscape Plant Manager Version 1.0 Page 58
