program: Custom Addressbook
version: 3.0.2 shareware


Created by
Henk Hagedoorn
Freebyte!
copyright Freebyte, 1997 - 2002
Almere, the Netherlands, 
http://www.freebyte.com


Table of contents

1...What is Custom Addressbook?
2...Supported Platforms
3...Conditions of use
4...Distribution
5...Files included in this package
6...Installation
7...Registering
8...How to update
9...Using Custom Addressbook (Main Window)
10..autodial
11..hyperlinks
12..Specifying alternative data files
13..Making a backup
14..Customizing Custom Addressbook (Settings Window)
15..Importing data (File Import Window)
16..Exporting data (File Export Window)
17..Printing address labels
18..Viewer/readonly mode
19..Technical background: the Data files
20..Software newsletter
21..New features
22..Future additions
23..Software components and tools used
24..About Custom Addressbook
25..Freebyte Customer Support

1 What is Custom Addressbook?

It is a powerful, simple, very flexible and small Windows program to store and edit address, phone, mail and other data. Data can be password protected and encrypted in the shareware version. It can even run from floppy and store all data and settings on it. 
Why is it called 'Custom'? This is because the program can be totally adapted to suit your needs: you can easily define new fields and categories. Examples of fields are 'business phone', 'private email', 'birthday'. Examples of categories are 'friends', 'family', 'office'. You can also order and/or delete fields, categories. You can even make them visible/invisible, printable/unprintable. 

There are freeware and shareware versions of this program available. See http://www.freebyte.com/addressbook


2 Supported platforms:

The program runs on Windows 95, 98, ME, XP, 2000 and Windows NT 4.0.


3 Conditions of use

SHAREWARE versions 2.x:
Use: you can evaluate the non-registered program in any commercial or non-commercial setting for 30 days. After you decide you want to use the program, you can register Custom Addressbook using the Internet page http://www.freebyte.com/addressbook and download the non-evaluation version from that same page.
NOTE: the evaluation version is not crippled in any way except for the time limit. It has a reminder screen which appears at startup. 

IMPORTANT: please do not set your system date backwards or forwards to extend the evaluation period, since that might trigger the program into the mode 'evaluation period expired'.

FREEWARE versions 1.1 and earlier:
You can use this program free of charge in any commercial or non-commercial setting for free. 


4 Distribution

SHAREWARE versions 1.6 and higher:
If you want to become a Custom Addressbook distributor and sell the program and/or registration numbers, you are welcome to contact Freebyte Software Engineering for this. Email: http://www.freebyte.com/support
You are also encouraged to distribute evaluation versions of Custom Addressbook. It is not allowed to charge any money for unregistered/evaluation versions. 

FREEWARE versions 1.1 and earlier:
You can only distribute a freeware version of the program if you don't charge any money for it. 

ALL VERSIONS:
You only can distribute Custom Addressbook if you do not change or omit the addressbook.exe, first.dat, help.txt and readme.txt files included in the .zip package. 


5 Files included in this package

readme.txt (this file)
help.txt (Addressbook help file)
first.dat (initial data file)
AddressBook.exe (the program)
uninstall.txt (how to uninstall the program)
install.exe (the installer)
install.script (installer script)


6 Installation

Install: automatic
Just run install.exe . The program does not mess up your system by installing dlls, it just copies the .exe and .text files in one directory, and creates shortcuts to them.

Install: manual
Copy the files into one directory, and start Addressbook.exe by double-clicking on it.

Uninstall
To uninstall, please follow the steps in the document uninstall.txt

Zero install
It will also run directly from CD-Rom or a write protected floppy but you can't save anything when the media is write-protected. It will also run directly from a write enabled floppy and you can save your data to it. Settings are stored in the addressbook data file (except last screen positions and sizes which are stored into the registry, and import-screen settings which are stored in a .cfg file in the same directory as the data file).


7 Registering

You can register Custom Addressbook by going to the Web site http://www.freebyte.com/addressbook, follow the links to register the program. After obtaining the registration number you need to download the official (non-evaluation) version from the same page.


8 How to update

To update from a previous version, install it into the same folder/directory, or manually replace the readme.txt, help.txt, uninstall.txt and addressbook.exe files with the newer ones.


9 Using Custom Addressbook (Main Window)

Copy, Delete, Move, Add:
* Adding a new address item: 'menu/item/new', 'popup menu/new' or the insert key when the focus is in the left pane (white items list).
* Deleting an address item: 'menu/item/delete selected items', 'popup menu/delete selected items' or the delete key when the focus is in the left pane (white items list).
* Moving an address item to another category can be done with 'popup menu/move selected items to/'
* Copying address items into another category: 'popup menu/copy selected items to/'

Edit:
* Double clicking on any multi-line attribute-editboxes will enable you to edit the contents of that edit box in a large notepad like editor.
* Pressing F2 in a multi-line attribute editbox will show the large notepad like editor also, pressing F2 in the editor will close the editor, in the same manner as pressing 'OK' with the mouse.

Search:
* Menu/items/find item: Search Custom Addressbook.

Selecting items:
* Click an item with the mouse in the left list-box to select it.
* Selecting multiple items: hold "ctrl" while selecting items with the mouse.
* Selecting a range of items: use "shift-ctrl".
* Selecting all items: ctrl-A.

Clipboard:
* Menu/items/copy top clipboard will copy all the visible and non-empty attributes of the selected items onto the clipboard.
* Menu/items/add to clipboard. This command adds the (visible and non-empty) attributes of the selected items to the clipboard. The previous clipboard content is not erased, but the selected items are added.

Password protection:
* menu/options/password. You can define a custom password to protect access to the data stored in the Addressbook database. Password protection can be switched on or off. Passwords can be 6 to 15 characters long. When password protected, Addressbook encrypts the datafile automatically. Passwords are case sensitive!

WARNING: if you change your password and have back-ups of encrypted files, these older files will only be accessible using the older password. This is because the password is stored in the data file.

File and Print:
* Printing all address items in one category: 'menu/items/print all items in category'
* Printing selected address items: 'menu/items/print selected items' (you can select more then one address item by clicking them with the ctrl key pressed).
* Printing all address items in all categories: select the tab 'all data', then do 'menu/items/print all items in category'
* Saving the data can be done with 'menu/data/save'
* Minimizing to tray can be done with menu/file/minimize to tray. The system-tray is the small area of the Windows taskbar where you also can find the clock. Addressbook automatically saves any changes when minimized to the tray.

User interface:
* Resizing the left and right panes can be done by dragging the separator line between the two panes.
* The size, position and split of Custom Addressbook windows will be stored automatically, so that the next time you start up Custom Addressbook its windows will have remembered their previous status.
* Non-western/Asian language support: menu/options/language mode
* Changing font: menu/options/font

Shortcut keys:
* Shortcut keys in the left attribute edit area: 
    ctrl-home: go to first edit box
    ctrl-end: go to the last edit box
    ctrl-down: go to the next edit box
    ctrl-up: go to the previous edit box
    down: go to the next edit box if the current one is single-line
    up: go to the previous edit box if the current one is single-line
    enter: go to the next edit box if the current one is single-line
    shift-enter: go to the previous edit box
    ctrl-L: Go to the listbox on the left
    ctrl-C: copy the selected text in an attribute box to the clipboard
* General shortcut keys:
    ctrl-A: Select all
    ctrl-shift-C: Copy selected items to clipboard
    ctrl-shift-D: Add selected items to clipboard
    ctrl-F: Search addressbook
    ctrl-M: Minimize to tray and save


10 Auto-dial

Double clicking on phone number fields will result in the program dialing the phone number, but of course only if a functioning modem or other dialing device is connected to the computer.


11 Hyperlinks

Double clicking on WWW, news, FTP fields will open the default/associated WWW, News, FTP or email.


12 Specifying alternative data files:

Normally the Custom Addressbook program stores all address data in the file address.dat. This file is in the same directory as the program itself. However, by specifying a command-line parameter the program can use another file. Always enclose the filename between double quotes (see the examples below).
Examples:
addressbook "addr2.dat" (starts addressbook with the file addr2.dat which is in the same directory as the program) addressbook "c:\temp\address data\addr3.dat" (starts addressbok with the file addr3.dat which is in the directory "c:\temp\address data\").


13 Making a backup

"Menu/file/backup to...". This enables you to make copies/backups of the current data file. It is wise to perform a backup regularily if you often change your address data.WARNING: if you change your password and have older back-ups of encrypted files, these older files will only be accessible using the password which was valid at the time of making that back-up. This is because all the password-verification information is stored in the data files.


14 Customizing Custom Addressbook (Settings Window)

With the settings screen (menu/options/settings) you can customize many aspects of Custom Addressbook.
* To customize the caption of the main Addressbook window, edit 'filetitle' in the first tab
* You can add and remove categories (like office, home)
* You can add and remove attributes (like first name, last name, address)
* You can make attributes and categories visible or invisible
* You can adjust the vertical size of each attribute edit box (property 'lines').
* You can change the order in which categories and attributes appear in the main screen by dragging the items with your mouse in the lists in the settings screen.
* You can change how items are displayed in the left list-box in the main screen:
The caption of an item, by default is the value of the first attribute in the right pane, usually the name of the person. In the settings screen, tab 'general' you can specify how many attributes are part of the caption of an item. The default value is '1', leading to a caption of e.g. 'Bill Gates' (only the name attribute). However, if you choose '2', then the caption of the item will comprise of the first two attributes, e.g. 'Bill Gates, Microsoft' (the name of the person, and the name of the company). The maximum amount of attributes being part of an item caption is 4, the minimum amount is 1. Custom Addressbook will intelligently adjust the caption automatically if you leave one or more attribute fields blank.



15 Importing data (File Import Window)

Importing data:
"Menu/file/import". Custom Addressbook has the ability to import data from comma separated files. Most database programs (like MS Access and dBase) and can export data to this kind of text file. Comma separted files usually have the following structure: one database record will occupy a single line in the text file. The fields inside the database record are separated by comma's, tabs or semi-colons. Fields optionally are enclosed by double or single quotes. 

Example of a few records from a CSV file:

Goodheart;John;Mainstreet;12;New Haven;United States
Janssen;Jan;Keizersgracht;256;Amsterdam;the Netherlands

This example uses the semi-colon (;) to separate fields, fields are not enclosed by single or double quotes.

Note: files containing records which contain return characters INSIDE data fields will not be correctly imported. This happens because Addressbook assumes that a return/new line character indicates the end of the record.


16 Exporting data (File Export Window)

Exporting data:
"Menu/file/export". Currently you can export to CSV, XML and text files.


17 Printing address labels

One can now print address lables by following these simple steps:

(1) Export your data to a text file using menu/file/export
(2) Download the free program SenLab (www.sente.co.uk) or another label printing program
(3) If you downloaded SenLab, in SenLab, load the text file using menu/data/open
(4) Finally, in SenLab, print the labels using menu/file/print

Native support for printing address labels will be added to future versions of Custom Addressbook.


18 Viewer/read-only mode

The read-only mode prevents any user from changing data by disabling all edit fields and all relevant menu items.
You can put Addressbook into read-only mode by setting the file-attribute of the data file to 'readonly' (using the Windows explorer) or by specifying as command-line parameter '/readonly'.
Setting the file-attribute to 'readonly' using Windows explorer: select the data file, right-click it, a menu appears: select properties in the menu, a screen appears: check the readonly box, click OK.


19 Technical background: the Data files

The first.dat file:
when the program is run first, the address data used by the program is taken from the file first.dat which has been created by the author and contains some meaningless example data. 
After the user has changed or added some data and saved it, all the data is saved by default in a new file called address.dat. After that, because address.dat exists, first.dat will be ignored and is no longer useful.
The reason of existence of first.dat is to prevent users overwriting address.dat (and consequently deleting their own data) when they are installing an update.
Summary: if address.dat exists, that file is used, otherwise first.dat is used and address.dat is created after the first save action.

Encryption:
address.dat can be encrypted or can be in plain-text/ASCII format. Password protected files are automatically encrypted. The encrypted data file is binary (as opposed to ASCII), and the non-password protected file is plain-text/ASCII. The encrypted file can even be smaller in size than the non-encrypted one! The reason for this is automatic compression during encryption. 

Password storage:
non-encrypted data files do NOT store any password information. Encrypted files store password information encrypted twice!

Using more than one data file:
see the paragraph "Specifying alternative datafiles" in this document.


20 Newsletter

To receive automatic notification on updates of this and other Freebyte software, you can join the  email-newsletter at http://www.freebyte.com/service


21 New features:

Changed in version 1.0 FREEWARE:
* Added: attribute settings: enable/disable printing of individual attributes

Changed in version 1.0.2 FREEWARE:
* Added: menu/options/font: to set the font displayed in the edit boxes and the listbox.
* Added: menu/options/language mode: to set the IME mode (for Asian and non-European language use).

Changed in version 1.1 FREEWARE:
* Added: menu/file/minimize to tray: minimizes Addressbook to the system-tray.

Changed in version 1.2:
* Added: menu/items/find to search all the items for a certain string
* Added: menu/items/copy: address items can be copied into more then one category
* Changed: deleting an address item will delete it from the selected category. Only if an item is deleted from its last category the user is warned that this will completely remove the address item from the database.

Changed in version 1.3:
* Changed: Print menu items have been moved from the 'items' menu to the 'file' menu.
* Added: menu/items/select all
* Added: menu/items/copy to clipboard. This command copies the (visible and non-empty) attributes of the selected items to the clipboard.
* Added: menu/items/add to clipboard. This command adds the (visible attributes of the selected items to the clipboard.

Changed in version 1.4:
* Added: password protection. See menu/options/password. Password protection can be switched on or off. 

Changed in version 1.5 SHAREWARE: 
* Added: data encryption. If you enable the password option, the address.dat file is automatically encrypted. If you disable the password option, the data file is plain non-encrypted ascii text. The password is encrypted within the already encrypted data file. This makes the password itself encrypted twice.
* Added: program registration. The 1.1 version (available for download) is freeware. The 1.5 version (or later) is shareware. 

Changed in version 1.6 SHAREWARE:
* Added: possibility to open alternative data files (other than address.dat) by specifying a command-line parameter during program startup
* Added: "menu/file/backup to...", to backup addressbook files.
* Added: "menu/help/short help", a window displaying information on shortcut keys and other less well known features.
* Added: "menu/help/readme.txt", to easily access the readme.txt file (this file) from within the program itself.
* Changed: non-empty categories can no longer be deleted. First remove all the address items from that category.
* Changed: the limit on the maximum amount of lines DISPLAYED in data fields (e.g. name, address, phone) has been raised from 6 to 30 lines. 
* Bugfix: some pre-defined address-items could not be removed; this has now been fixed.

Changed in version 1.7 SHAREWARE:
* Added: "menu/file/import", to import data from comma separated text-files. See the section on importing data.
* Added: viewer/readonly feature, see the section on the viewer/readonly mode.

Changed in version 1.8 SHAREWARE:
* You can change the amount of attributes which make up an item caption. E.g. if you choose '2 attributes', only the first two attributes will be part of the caption.
The caption of an item, by default is the value of the first attribute in the right pane, usually the name of the person. In the settings screen, tab 'general' you can specify how many attributes are part of the caption of an item. The default value is '1', leading to a caption of e.g. 'Bill Gates' (only the name attribute). However, if you choose '2', then the caption of the item will comprise of the first two attributes, e.g. 'Bill Gates, Microsoft' (the name of the person, and the name of the company). The maximum amount of attributes being part of an item caption is 4, the minimum amount is 1. Custom Addressbook will adjust the caption automatically if you leave one or more attribute fields blank.
* Changed: the keyboard shortcut for 'copy selected items to clipboard' is now ctrl-shift-c (instead of ctrl-c) because of interference with the standard ctrl-c shortcut (see the next point).
* Added: ctrl-c copies the selected text inside an attribute box to the clipboard
* Added: range select. When you select an item in the list (in the left part of the window) with the mouse, and after that select another item while holding down the ctrl and shift keys, all the items positioned between those two will be selected as well.

Changed in version 2.0 SHAREWARE:
* added: auto-dial. Double clicking on a phone or fax field will start the autodialing process if a modem is connected.
* added: active hyperlinks. Double clicking on a field containing WWW, FTP, News or email data, will open the associated program.
* added: direct menu items to the 'define attributes' and 'define categories' screens (menu/options).


Changed in version 2.1 SHAREWARE:
* added: export to CSV and XML files. Please see Menu/file/export.


Changed in version 2.2 SHAREWARE:
* added: export to text files (menu/file/export)
* added: support for printing address labels (please see the paragraph above on printing address labels)


Changed in version 3.0.2 SHAREWARE:
* changed: a new registration number. The old version 2.x registration number is not valid anymore. Registered 2.x users can request a free upgrade to Addressbook 3.x at http://www.freebyte.com/addressbook/upgrade
* added: improved search: the search results are now shown in a separate search tab.
* added: function to duplicate one or more items. Using this function you can use an existing item as a template for new items.


22 Additions planned for future versions

* Birthday alarm
* Improved printing options
* Improved printing address labels
* various sort options
* etc.


23 Software components and tools used

This program is created using Borland Delphi, please see http://www.freebyte.com/programming/delphi
Delphi is practially the only Windows programming tool which enables easy construction of small, reliable and zero-install applications (no extra dll-s needed, no extra active-X components, etc.). This means that installing a program made with Delphi does not mess up your operating system and saves disk space.
A Delphi version for Linux is also available, called 'Kylix'.


24 About Custom Addressbook

Custom Addressbook is created by 
Freebyte!
Rietmeent 61
Almere
the Netherlands
http://www.freebyte.com


25 Freebyte customer support

You can contact Freebyte customer support at: http://www.freebyte.com/support

