COCKTAIL SELECTOR
Function
A specialised database, containing recipes for 600+
cocktail drinks, with facilities to modify the data.
Computer
All STs operating in low resolution.
Design Specification
A database containing the instructions for making
cocktails. The database must be able to handle 1000 cocktails
and 200 different ingredients.
Two distinct modes of operation, party and host. Party
mode is the normal use of the program, Host mode allows extensive
alteration of the information contained in the disc data files.
Files on the disc
1) COCKTAIL.DOC This info file
2) COCKTAIL,PRG The program
3) NAMES.DAT The cocktail names
4) RECIPE.DAT The cocktail recipes
5) INGRED.DAT A list of all possible ingredients
6) INSTRUCT.DAT A list of all possible mixing instructions
7) QUANTITY.DAT A list of all possible drink measures
PARTY MODE
This is the main mode of the program which is
designed to be operational during boisterous parties.
Obviously this is not a good place to have a computer, one
spilt drink could result in an ST dying from alcoholic
poisoning and very expensive to resurrect.
To overcome this vulnerability of the ST, the party
mode is entirely mouse driven. When the program is running,
the ST is hidden away in a roomy drawer under the TV.
The mouse is carefully brought out onto the top
next to the TV, so all the guests see is the drinks, the TV, the
mouse and possibly the printer.
Should the mouse get dunked, it is a simple matter
for a technically qualified person to literally rinse the mouse
out with fresh water to make it run as new.
All data is loaded during the initial boot-up routine,
this gives a longish loading cycle, but conversely searches
carried out during normal use will be fast. It also allows the
floppy disc to be removed from the drive as soon as the
program is running, so the smart-alec that always wants to
booby-trap your disc(s) with silly messages will be thwarted.
OPERATION
Now on to operating the beast. After watching the
rodent (a progress marker which crops up when-ever a
lengthy task is underway), the four buttons of the main
display appear.
Top Left: Alter availability
This allows you to add to the drinks as the guests
bring the bottles (yes I still believe in fairies). Pointing with
the mouse and clicking the left button toggles the ingredient's
availability. The active part of the mouse is the top of the
cocktail stick.
Click on MORE to scroll through the ingredients or
MAIN MENU to exit back to the four buttons. A short sort
routine follows as the cocktail availability status is updated,
this is followed by a request to save to disc.
The procedure to initialise the drinks availability is
a lengthy task, so a copy of the current availability may be
save to disc ready for the time when the cocktail cabinet is
next opened.
Top Right: Select cocktail
Point, click and pour, what more can I say.... only
cocktails for which the ingredients are currently available
are displayed.
Bottom Left: Select cocktail by ingredient
Scroll through the ingredients with the MORE
button, click on an ingredient to display all the cocktails that
use it. Click on the cocktail to get the recipe.
Bottom Right: Boring credits
Nuff said!
AUTO
If at any time the mouse is not clicked for about
two minutes, the program goes into auto mode. During this
time the cocktail recipes will be displayed in a randomly
selected sequence. To exit this mode just give the mouse a
flick.
Host's Menu
This part of the program is not intended for use
during the party, and so a degree of sobriety is required to
access it.
Get the boring credits display up, and then click on
the five occurences of the letter o in "Michael's wonderous
cocktail selection program" in sequence.
If your fingers are steady enough, you will be
rewarded with the green host menu. This allows extensive
alteration of the database, such as adding/deleting cocktails.
All alterations are carried out on the internal RAM
copy of the data and a disc save is not invoked until you
return to the main menu, even then there is an option to
bypass the disc save routine.
This program will load and run from any
drive/partition, but the data files must be in a "COCKTAIL"
folder which is in the same folder as COCKTAIL.PRG. If you
modify the database and then want to save it to disc, a floppy
disc must be in drive A, with the write protect tab off. This
applies even if the program is run from drive B or hard disc,
it is part of the programs protection against smart-alecs.
When a disc save routine is invoked, only the
part(s) of the database that have been altered will be saved.
eg If you only alter one of the mixing instructions then only
the INSTRUCT.DAT file will be updated. Where an operation
of the program alters more than one data file, then all
relevant files will be updated.