N-DEX ENHANCED INDEX CARD DATABASE Version 1.0
Copyright (C) 1989 SeaPac Industries
All Rights Reserved.
Authorized for SDN/Works!(tm) Distribution as ShareWare.          July 30, 1989.

REGISTRATION                                                             $19.95
* Pennsylvania Residents add 6% Sales Tax                                 $1.20
Total                                                                    $21.15

* Tax exempt entities must provide tax-exempt number and form.

Individuals as well as businesses may register this version for the above

amount. The commercial release will retail for $32.95.

Registered copies will receive a free copy of the commercial version.

To register this copy:

Inclose a check or money order for the appropriate amount as listed above

payable to:     SeaPac Industries
        or:     D. Fred Nichols
        or:     William T. Nichols II.

Addressed to:   SeaPac Industries
                17 1/2 North Third Street
                Sharpsville, Pa. 16150-1232


What is N-dex?

N-dex is an enhanced version of the standard index card - that small piece of 
paper which is an indispensable standard around the office, school and home.  
With N-dex, you can easily create and maintain database files on hotels, 
professional contacts, employees, family members and friends.  You can 
include comments, directions to locations, personal information, and keep 
records of conversations and performance.  Confidential records can be kept 
in an encrypted format through the use of a password system; records not 
requiring protection are stored in a standard ascii format.  N-dex gives you 
the ability to generate reports on people's birthdates, on keywords 
describing a person or place, or on the locations in your database by state 
and city.

N-dex also contains a simple text editor for the generation of encrypted, 
confidential messages for transmission over E-mail networks.  Each message is 
encrypted using a password you supply and can only be read using that 
password (and a copy of N-dex, of course).  N-dex can also encrypt messages 
written using other text editors, and read-in, decrypt, display and print 
messages so encrypted. 



Using N-dex...

N-dex is Menu Based, and has context sensitive help available.  To start N-dex 
simply type in the name Ndex at the DOS prompt and press the return key.  If 
you need help at any time, press the F1 key.  After the program has loaded, 
you will be prompted for a password.  This can be any combination of 
keystrokes (or no keystrokes, if you do not plan to use encryption).  Enter 
your password and press <return>.  You will be asked to re-enter your 
password, to confirm that you entered it correctly.  The password does not 
control access to the program or to the records on your disk.  It is, rather, 
used to encrypt your files.  Thus, while you can load any file on the disk, 
even a file encrypted by someone else, you can only read files you know the 
password for.  If you forget the password for a file, the file will be 
gibberish, and therefore worthless to you.  So remember your passwords!




                                    Page 2




After you have entered your password correctly, you will be prompted for the 
path to your Command.Com file.  This file must be available somewhere on disk 
in order to use N-dex.  Enter the correct path (or press F1 for instructions) 
to your Command.Com and press <return>.  You will be prompted next for the 
path to your database files.  This is the location and drive designator where 
you wish your files to be stored.  The complete path (such as: A:\Ndex ) must 
be entered, and must exist on your disk.

N-dex handles two main filetypes, Names and Places.  The Names filetype is 
oriented towards the personal information you would wish to have handy when 
calling an old friend with whom you have lost touch.  It includes such things 
as birthdays, address, family members, pets and hobbies.  The Places filetype 
is oriented towards locations.  It contains such information as name, 
description, address and directions (how to get there).  The address in the 
Places filetype is broken out by Street, City and State and is searched 
through the Reports window.  Addresses are not searched in the Names 
filetype, but birthdays are.  After you have entered the path 
information, you will be prompted to select a filetype.  Highlight (using the 
arrow keys) the type you desire(Names or Places), or press <return> for Names 
(the default).

The next piece of information N-dex needs is whether you desire to create a 
new file, or use an existing file.  If you are using N-dex for the first time 
you may wish to play with the sample files included on the distribution disk. 
 The Names file is called Friends, and the Places file is called Hotels.  
Using the Arrow keys highlight Use Existing to use an existing file or 
highlight Create New to create a new file.

       Creating A New File:

If you chose to create a new file you will be prompted for a filename, with 
the current default filename given in the filename window.  Either accept the 
default name, or modify it to the desired name and press the <enter> key.  
N-dex will check to see if ANY files exist in your directory with the root 
filename you have entered, and display the filenames (if any) that exist on 
the screen.  If any files with your filename exist, N-dex will ask if you 
would like a different name.  IF YOU CHOOSE TO USE A FILENAME THAT ALREADY 
EXISTS, ALL (I REPEAT, ALL) FILES WITH THAT NAME WILL BE ERASED.  For this 
reason, it is a good idea to periodically back-up your files, in case they 
are inadvertently erased.

Once you have selected a filename, a blank form will be displayed on which to 
enter the appropriate information.  You will be in the Name field initially.  
Type in the name and press either the <enter> key, the Esc key, or the Tab 
key.  From this point you can Tab or Shift+Tab to the desired field and enter 
information by either pressing a letter key or the Right Arrow key.  Once in 
a field, the Home key will take the cursor to the first letter in the field, 
and the End key to the last.  Esc, Tab, or Enter will exit the field.  Once 
you have finished entering information and have left the current field, 
pressing the Esc key will exit the information form.  At this time, you will 
be asked if there are more entries, if you wish to continue select Yes, 
otherwise select No.
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       Using An Existing Database:

If you choose to use an existing database, N-dex will look for a directory 
file listing available files on your disk.  If this file is absent, N-dex will 
shell to DOS and make this file(this is why Command.Com must be available).  
Once the directory is read, N-dex will display a listing of the files 
available.  Select the desired filename using the arrows, PgUp or PgDn keys 
and press the <enter> key.



   The Main Menu.



Finally, whether you created a new file or used an existing file, you have 
survived the 50 million questions and gotten to the main menu.  You obviously 
won't want to go through this inquisition each time you start up N-dex and, 
thankfully, you don't have to.  One of the options in the main menu is called 
Defaults.  With it you can save your paths, filetype and filename as well as 
whether you desire encryption as default setups.  You can also change the 
color scheme using the Set Colors option in the Defaults Menu.  To save your 
defaults, use the arrow keys to highlight the Defaults menuname (or press D 
to automatically jump to the Defaults menuname) and press the <enter> key.  
The Save Current option will be highlighted automatically.  To save the current 
defaults, simply press the <enter> key.  The defaults file will be saved to 
the directory from which you started N-dex.  Next time you use N-dex, start it 
by typing "Ndex /d" at the DOS prompt (not the quotes, of course, just what 
is between them).  N-dex will load the defaults file and take you right to the 
main menu, which looks similar to what you see printed below.


             N-dex  - The Personal Data System. Ver 1.0                     
View   Edit   Files   Print   Defaults   Comments   Reports   Messages       
Security                              Quit                                  










                                              Path to Command.Com: A:\     
                                              Path to Datafiles:   A:\NDEX\
                                              Filetype is NAMES            
  Encryption is OFF.                                                        

                                     Page 4


The upper three lines make up the program title and the 10 main menu options. 
 These menu items are selected by highlighting them either with the arrow 
keys or by pressing the first letter of the item desired, followed by 
pressing the <enter> key.  The box in the lower right hand corner of the 
screen presents information about the current paths and filetype.  The 
highlighted statement in the lower left hand corner of the screen states 
whether encryption is turned on or off, and the last line on the screen (not 
shown above) presents the current filename and record name.

From this point on, the best way you can learn to use N-dex is to explore.  
Each menu, including the main menu, has a help screen associated with it.  
This screen is accesses by pressing the F1 key.  The help screen describes 
each of the menu items and, when necessary, gives instructions about how to 
use the menu.  The help window will appear in the bottom of your screen and 
is two lines long.  Once activated, use the arrows or PgUp/PgDn keys to read 
all of the help available at a particular point in the program.  Press Esc to 
continue.  If you get to a place where you do not wish to be (such as Select 
File Name) pressing the Esc key will usually (with a few exceptions) return 
you to the main menu.

ABOUT ENCRYPTION:

A few words are in order with regard to the encryption scheme used in this 
program.  It was developed by D. Fred Nichols in the Nichols Research 
Facility (NiRF), located at SeaPac Industries and is not based on any
particular encryption scheme other than that suggested by it's author's 
ingenuity.  As such, the degree of difficulty involved in decrypting an 
encrypted file by someone skilled in decryption is unknown at this time.  The 
author believes the encryption is to a level suitable for confidential 
information but would never entrust it with anything requiring greater 
protection.

The program runs slower when operating in the encrypted mode, since it has to 
encrypt and decrypt the files, so it is probably wise to use encryption only 
when absolutely necessary.  This is probably wise in general anyway, since 
you will have lost your information if you forget your password.

The final comment about encryption is to say again that encryption does not 
control access to your files, just the ability to read them.  Anyone can 
destroy a file on a disk to which they have access, simply by copying over 
the file.  Providing a system password to the N-dex program would only control 
access to the use of the program, and not protect your files from tampering 
by unauthorized persons.  The point is, you should protect your investment 
and back up your hard disk or floppy disk files on floppy disks to which only 
you have access.  The encryption used by N-dex will then protect your files 
from prying eyes, and your floppy disk will protect your files from 
destruction.


                                Future Versions

Future versions will include user-define layouts and fields.
Also, the next version will not prompt you for the path to command.com.








                                     Page 5




                            ADDRESSES AND CONCLUSION




We hope that you find N-dex to be a handy and fun tool for your business and 
family needs.  If you have any problems, the author can be reached at:

                       D. Fred Nichols
                       2058B Crossroads Pl.
                       Albuquerque, NM 87118
                       505 268 4176

or:                    William T. Nichols II.
                       President SeaPac Industries
                       17 1/2 North Third Street
                       Sharpsville, Pa. 16150-1232
                       Fidonet Node 1:237/85
                       24 Hour BBS Support at (412)-962-0765
                       300/1200/2400 N-8-1
                       SDN/Works! (tm) 100:10
                       SDN Echomail Conference Member

Just for fun, this entire text file was encrypted using the Encrypt Text File 
in the Secrets sub-menu.  It can be decrypted using the password "bobby".  
Compare the two files using the TYPE command from DOS, or simply print them 
using PRINT MAN_NDEX.* from DOS.  The text file is MAN_NDEX.TXT and the 
encrypted file is MAN_NDEX.MSG.


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