2. STARTING TWE SYSTEM 



2.1. System Requirements 



To operate the Montana Rivers Study data management system, you will 

 need a microcomputer with an MS-DOS or PC-DOS operating system, at least a 

 10 megabyte hard disk with at least 5 megabytes of free disk space, 512 K 

 RAM, and dBASE III plus. 



2.2. Installing the Rivers Study Data Base 



The Montana Rivers Study files should be copied onto your hard disk 

 into a subdirectory called C:\DBASE\RIVERS>. If necessary, add "PROMPT 

 $P$G" and "PATH C:;C:\DBASE" to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file to show the 

 subdirectory title at the prompt and to allow dBASE III to run from the 

 subdirectory. 



2.3. Loading dBASE III Plus 



If dBASE III Plus is not installed on your system, follow the in- 

 structions supplied with dBASE III Plus and install the system on your 

 hard disk. 



In order to utilize the data management system, first you must 

 load dBASE III Plus. Type DBASE RIVERS <cr> (return). This will load 

 both the dBASE III Plus system and the Rivers Study data management 

 system. After a few seconds, the welcoming screen of the management 

 system will display on the console. 



2.4. Standard Key Conventions 



Standard Conventions used throughout this manual are shown in the 

 following table. 



<cr> Enter or Return Key. 



Arrow Keys Cursor control keys on the 



numeric keypad. 

 PgDn The Page Down Key "PgDn" on the 



numeric keypad. 

 Backspace The Backspace key usually 



located above the Enter 



or Return key. 



The "key" linking all data files together is the Montana Department 

 of Fish, Wildlife and Parks water code, a six-digit number unique to every 

 major river or stream (see Appendix A). 



2-1 



