DACARS 1.2
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SHAREWARE

This version of DACARS is SHAREWARE! Please upload this version to any BBS
/ On-Line service you want and give copies to anyone interested!

Shareware -> Registration

Where the registered version of DACARS is a complete logging system with
options for dBASE and ASCII output, this shareware version is only a
viewer for Lowe Airmaster *.LOG files. Even as viewer only this is a very
powefull program! If you want to use ALL options described below you'll
have to obtain a registered copy, see "11. registration". The manual below
is for the registered version, the disabled options are described in
section 12: "Options disabled in Shareware version".
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Airmaster 3.0 users please read section 13!

0. What's new since version 1.1

View messages (section 5.4, section 4)

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1. General

Welcome to DACARS 1.1! With this program it's possible to analyze the
*.LOG files produced by the Lowe Airmaster system. The logfiles produced
by this system are plain textfiles, most of the time too large to be
easily handled. DACARS converts these *.LOG files to a database format.

1.1 Files

The following files should be on your installation disk or in the archive
file: 

ACARS.DBF        temporary file containing data only when DACARS runs
ACARS.DBT            "       "       "      "     "    "     "    "
ACARSALL.DBF     'all heard' file
AC_FLIGH.NTX     index file used for sorting
AC_REG.NTX                      "
ALL_REG.NTX                     "
ALL_COMP.NTX                    "
DACARS.DOC       this documentation file
DACARS.EXE       the DACARS program
DEMO.LOG         demo logfile, for those who don't have Lowe's Airmaster.
                 Kindly supplied by Mark Zee.
DEMO_3.LOG       demo logfile created by Airmaster 3.0, supplied by Iain
                 'Tigger' Taylor 

If one of these files is missing please contact the author! - see
"6.3 (Contacting) The author" -

2. System requirements

IBM compatible PC
MS-DOS 2.1 or higher
abt 200 Kb free disk space
abt 400 Kb free memory
Lowe Airmaster 2.0 or 3.0 (without that there will not be much to analyze)

In short: DACARS will run on almost any PC.

3. Features

3.1 View a *.LOG file

This is the first thing you'll do most of the time: had the ACARS decoding
software turned on for some time and eager to know if you catched any
interesting stuff. Aircraft heard for the first time are marked '*'. All
different registrations and flightnumbers will be shown. It's possible to
sort this file on registration or company, or leave it unsorted - in other
words view the flights in the order they were logged.

3.2 View the 'all heard' file

DACARS keeps track of all flights you hear. With this option you can see
all flights you've ever logged on ACARS, complete with a first- and
last-noted date. It's possible to sort this file on registration or
company. 

3.3 Output

3.3.1 dBASE III+

Whenever a *.LOG file is viewed for the first time a *.DBF file is
created. This file contains the same information displayed on screen while
viewing. The name of this dBASE III+ file is the same as that of the *.LOG
file, except for the extension, which is now *.DBF. When leaving the
program another *.DBF file is created/updated: ACARSALL.DBF. This file
contains all information as seen when viewing the 'all heard' file.
Most modern database and spreadsheet programs are able to import a *.DBF
file.

3.3.2 ASCII

The above but now for ASCII files, extension *.TXT. Can be used for most
databases and spreadsheets as well, an ASCII file is easy to import in any
wordprocessor or e-mail program.

4. Description of internal operation

The chosen *.LOG file is read record after record. When a new record is
read the program does the following:

- It checks the flight number and registration for invalid characters. The
  only characters valid are:

                       0123456789-ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

  In other words, all figures, capital characters and the dash. If a
  non-valid character is found the whole record is considered to be
  unreliable and the program skips to the next record.

- It checks if the registration and flightnumber were noted before in this
  logfile. If so the program skips to the next record. When a registration
  allready logged is logged again with another flightnumber it will be
  treated as a new flight, same goes the other way around.

- When a new flight - that is not logged before in this file - shows up a
  new record is created in the *.DBF file with the relevant info for this
  flight

- the program checks the 'all heard' database. If a registration
  and company are logged before the last noted date will be updated.

- If the registration and company are not in the 'all heard' file the
  program will add a new record to this file, first and last-noted dates
  will be the same. Also a asterisk (*) will be put after the registration
  in the *.DBF file, so the aircraft logged for the first time can be
  easily spotted when viewing a logfile.

- Finally it takes a look at the messagenumber. If the messagenumber is
  the same as in the last message for this flight the message will be
  ignored. If it's a different message number the message content will be
  copied to the *.DBT file, which can be viewed by pressing <Enter> on a
  flight (section 5.4) The DBT file will contain only unique messages per
  flight-id.

5. Operation

5.1 Installation

Copy all files on the installation disk or from the archive file to the
directory holding your *.LOG files. In most cases that will be:

 C:\ACARS\LOG 

That's it.


5.2 Basics

Start the program by typing:

DACARS <Enter>

In DOS. The screen will turn blue, on the left a list of logfiles is
displayed. Options:

- choose a logfile by moving the white cursor to the file you want to
  view, then press <Enter>. Files are sorted in reverse: the most recent on
  top. Files allready viewed are marked, unviewed files are not (see "5.3
  options"). While processing the file the following information is shown:

  ACARS-file         the name of the logfile being processed
  Done (%)           the percentage of the file that is processed
  Messages           the number of messages read
  Different flights  the number of different flights found
  Firsts             the number of 'first noted' registrations

- view the 'all heard' file by pressing <F10>

Both options support the following keys:

<down arrow>        move cursor one record forward
<up arrow>          move cursor one record backward
<page down>         move cursor to end of (next) page
<page up>           move cursor to beginning of (former) page
<ctrl page down>    move cursor to end of file
<ctrl page up>      move cursor to beginning of file
<any charachter>    move cursor to first record with key-field beginning
                    with given charachter. See "5.2 Advanced".
<delete>            delete current record. Only available in "view 'all
                    heard' file", to remove obvious invalid entries, not
                    filtered out by the program. DACARS will ask
                    for confirmation before deleting the record.

5.3 Sort

It's possible to sort the files on screen.

<F1>                unsorted (only available in "view a logfile")
<F2>                sort on registration
<F3>                sort on company

Whenever a file is sorted, character keys can be used to move the cursor.
Example: when the database is sorted on company, pressing <k> will move
the cursor to the first record of which the company (key-field) begins
with a "K", "KL" for example. If no record is found beginning with the
right key, you'll hear a beep, cursor stays in position.

5.4 View messages

<Enter>             view all unique messages for the highlighted flight

By pressing <Enter> all unique messages will be shown for the flight which
is highlighted. You can move around the messages with the same keys as
used for moving around the database.

5.4.1

The messages for a flight can be printed by pressing <P>. The printer must
be connected to printerport LPT1. When no printer is attached, or the
printer is off-line an error message will appear.

5.4.2

The messages can be saved by pressing <S>. The filename for a saved log
will be the registration, extension is 'TXT'. For example when you save the
messages for British Airways Boeing 777 G-ZZZC a file named 'G-ZZZC.TXT'
will be created. When a filename exists (messages for this registration
were saved before) the extension will be '001' '002' etc. The next
filenames for this flight will be 'G-ZZZC.001', 'G-ZZZC.002' etc.

5.3 Options

By default DACARS will generate a *.DBF and a *.TXT file. If for some
reason you don't want this to happen the following options are available
at program start by adding one of the below parameters to the DACARS
command line:

/NODBF          no dBASE file output (the 'all heard' file will still be
                                      updated) 
/NOTXT          no ASCII file output (no ASCII files at all)

The options can be added in any order. Example:

DACARS /NODBF /NOTXT

Will not create a *.DBF file nor a *.TXT file.

Note: the mark showing a *.LOG file was viewed before is created by
checking if a *.DBF file is available for this filename. Turning *.DBF off
will consequently result in not marking viewed files.

6. Appendix

6.1 Programming Language

DACARS was written in Clipper version Summer '87.

6.2 History

Programming started november 1995, several versions of the program were
released to a limited beta-test group. Version 1.0 is the first version to
be released to the general public.

V0.1 Private test version(s)
V1.0 First general release
V1.1 Supports Lowe Airmaster 3.0
V1.2 View all unique messages transmitted by a flight, save or print

6.3 (Contacting) The author

Bart Hoekstra (that's me), age 28 when version 1.0 was released. Spotter,
basically military aviation, some civil. Aviation radio-comms enthusiast,
anything goes: military, civil, bizz, props, jets, fighters, bombers
anything with a radio. And since november 1995: ACARS. I live in
Leeuwarden, a place in the northern part of the Netherlands. Leeuwarden
hosts a major Netherlands Air Force fighter-base. Based are two F-16
units: 322 Squadron and 323 TACTESS squadron. Also a SAR unit operates out
of Leeuwarden with 3 Augusta Bell AB.412 Helicopters.

When you have any comments, suggestions, complaints feel free to contact
me. You might even want to drop me a line if you are just a satisfied
user, would be appreciated. 

Bart Hoekstra
Vlaamse Gaai 16
7423 DH Deventer
The Netherlands

tel:          +31 570 651 593
e-mail:       dacars@iname.com
www           http://go.to/dacars

(look here for new releases and other info!)

7. Copyright

You have the right to use DACARS on any computer you are personally using.
You may not have more than one copy running at any time. You may not
distribute the registered full version to or for anyone else


8. Disclaimer

I won't take any responsibility for any damage caused by (the use of)
DACARS, directly or indirectly. Use of this software is at your own risk.

9. Trademarks

Lowe Airmaster is a registered trademark of the Lowe Electronics Company,
UK. All other mentioned product-names are trademarks of their owners.

10. Credits:

The Lowe company for develloping the Airmaster system
Hans Wildschut for being the first beta-tester
Mark Zee for being the launching customer

11. Airmaster 3.0

Airmaster 3.0 is currently being beta-tested. It can create two types of
output: with or without field-labels. DACARS needs these labels. If a
*.LOG file without labels is processed no output will be generated! DACARS
will automatically detect which version of Airmaster created the *.LOG
files. 


12. Registration

If you want to use the full version of DACARS you'll have to register. As
soon as I receive your money in any way I'll send a 3.5" HD disk
containing the full program. 
Registration fee is HFl 20,00. When you can make bank-transfers to a Dutch
PostBank (Giro)  account please to so. The number is:

4998620

Please mention "DACARS" somewhere on your transfer. Dutch BANK users only:
please put the character "P" in front of the accountnumber, to indicate a
postbank account -> P4998620.

When you don't have acces to (international) tranfers the following will
be accepted (banknotes only, please wrap in plain paper, mention your full
name and adress when sending money so I know where to send the disk!):

US:  US Dollar      15
UK:  UK Pound       10
GE:  GE Mark        20
BE:  BE franc      300 
FR:  FR franc       50

Do _not_ send (euro)checques, I won't be able to collect them and
consequently I won't send you a registered version!

When you are unable to make your payment in any of the above ways please
contact me in any way, to see if we can setup anything else - see "6.3
contacting the author" - .

13. Options disabled in Shareware version

- output of dBASE III+ format files
- output of ASCII text format files
- the 'view all heard' file
- indication of flights first logged
- viewing of all unique messages per flightnumber (section 5.4)


Basically the shareware version is a viewer only, the registered version
is a complete logging system.
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