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+--------------------------+ |@ @| | | | NOTICE | | BOARD | | | | | | from | | Cornerstone Software | | | |@ @| +--------------------------+ +--------------------------------------------------------+ |@ @| | | | If you need help with any aspect of Notice Board | | call Cornerstone Software on: | | | | UK 061-904-8143 | | | | Elsewhere (44) 61 904 8143 | | | |@ @| +--------------------------------------------------------+ Cornerstone Software Ltd 45 Shay Lane Hale Barns Altrincham Cheshire WA15 8PA United Kingdom This software may be freely copied and distributed as long as the full set of files are included. For this reason, the archived file NOTICE.EXE should be distributed, NOT the individual files. CONTENTS -------- INTRODUCTION ................................................. 2 EVALUATION KIT .............................................. 2 INSTALLING THE PACKAGE ....................................... 3 REMOVING THE SYSTEM .......................................... 3 RUNNING THE PACKAGE .......................................... 4 USING THE SYSTEM ............................................. 4 NOTICES ...................................................... 5 MENUS ........................................................ 6 COMMANDS ..................................................... 7 EDIT MODE .................................................... 7 CREATING & EDITING NOTICES ................................... 9 CREATING & EDITING MENUS ..................................... 10 CREATING & EDITING COMMANDS .................................. 10 HINTS AND IDEAS FOR USING NOTICE BOARD ....................... 10 NETWORKING ................................................... 11 SYSTEM MAINTENANCE ........................................... 12 ORDERING AND NETWORK LICENSING ............................... 13 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cornerstone NOTICE BOARD Software 1 Evaluation Kit INTRODUCTION NOTICE BOARD gives you all the facilities of an office notice board on the PCs in your company's network. It is designed to run as part of the network login procedure so that its notices are seen every time users log in. As well as messages which appear whenever the package is run, there is a simple-to-use menu structure allowing users to browse through (and possibly add to) any number of further notices. The structure of the menus is decided by you, to fit in exactly with your company's requirements, though there is a section in this manual full of hints and ideas for ways to use NOTICE BOARD. Size, shape and colour of notices are decided by you, as well of course as the content. Notices are created and edited by a System Administrator who needs only limited training and requires no computing background. The editing facilities have been designed to be as simple to use as the rest of the package. In addition to acting as a notice board, the package enables you to start other software packages by simply taking an option from a menu, so NOTICE BOARD could be used as a complete menu environment for your network. This documentation provides (hopefully) enough information to enable you to try out all of the facilities of NOTICE BOARD. Of course, a full set of documentation is provided if you purchase the package. This manual is designed to be read from cover to cover whilst you try out the facilities on the Evaluation Kit itself. EVALUATION KIT This version of Notice Board is provided for evaluation purposes and users are expected to purchase a fully licensed copy if they wish to carry on using it beyond the 60 day evaluation period. This copy is, however a full working version of Notice Board and may be used either stand-alone or in a network environment and it is recommended that it be installed on your network to let your users take a look at it and provide feedback. About 60 days after installation, it will introduce a notice of its own, indicating that you should purchase a full licensed copy. This is the only way in which this software differs from the real thing except that the current version of Notice Board may be greater and so purchasing the full license may provide a later release with enhanced features. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cornerstone NOTICE BOARD Software 2 Evaluation Kit The evaluation kit has been pre-set with a host of notices, intended to provide an idea of how it would be used in practice. To get you started and to demonstrate its flexibility, a set of `New User' guidelines has been set up on <F8> (Function key 8), including a full copy of this mini- manual. The package can be simply re-initialised, removing all of these notices to allow you to configure it for your company. The System Maintenance section has more details on this. INSTALLING THE PACKAGE It is not necessary to run this package from a hard disk drive to evaluate it, though it will only run slowly from a floppy diskette. To evaluate it in its normal environment it should be installed onto a hard disk drive. It may be installed onto a local disk drive or a shared network drive, in both cases the procedure is the same. See the Networking section for more details. To install the system onto a hard disk drive, first create a sub- directory using a command similar to the following: > mkdir c:\notice The name of the sub-directory is not critical. Now copy the files from the Evaluation Kit diskette to the newly created sub-directory using a command similar to: > copy a:*.* c:\notice\*.* Finally, check the DOS configuration file (C:\CONFIG.SYS) on all PCs which will use the system to ensure that enough file and buffer space has been allocated within the DOS environment. The file should contain two lines similar to: files=21 buffers=8 If not then add the lines and re-boot the PC. If the values are less than 20 and 8, increase the values then re-boot the PC. NB: The above lines must be entered as in the example, i.e. no spaces between the characters. REMOVING THE SYSTEM If the package has been installed on a hard disk drive and you now wish to remove it, first delete the files using a command similar to the following: > del c:\notice\*.* ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cornerstone NOTICE BOARD Software 3 Evaluation Kit then remove the sub-directory itself using a command similar to: > rmdir c:\notice RUNNING THE PACKAGE To start the package, change directory to the sub-directory containing the package, and type: > notice <enter> The NOTICE BOARD package will work out whether you are using a monochrome or colour monitor for itself. However certain portable PCs with greyscale facilities will be mis-interpreted, so it is possible to force the package to use one or the other by including one of the following commands in your `autoexec.bat' file: set nbscr=mono set nbscr=colour NB: The NOTICE BOARD package sets a DOS environment variable (FCLIPPER) as it loads. If the message 'out of environment space' is seen at the time of loading then it is necessary to increase your PC's environment size. See your DOS manual for more details. USING THE SYSTEM The NOTICE BOARD system is designed to be run by each user as part of the network login procedure. It can then be used to welcome them to the network and to display any urgent messages. The user has a choice of either browsing through the other notices available, or simply exiting and continuing as normal. If there is a menu system on the PCs, then the NOTICE BOARD package should also be one of the menu options, so that users can return to it when they wish. NOTICE BOARD itself can be used as a menu system, if you wish, (see the Commands section). Used this way, the network could be set up so that the user never leaves the NOTICE BOARD environment. Once started, the NOTICE BOARD system is completely driven by function keys and pop-up menus. The first eight function keys <F1> to <F8> provide access to eight topics of your company's choice. At their simplest, each function key will just pop-up a notice on the screen. Alternatively, the function keys can be set to provide a menu of notices, commands and further sub-menus. At any point in the system the function key <F9> will exit the system and return the user to DOS. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cornerstone NOTICE BOARD Software 4 Evaluation Kit NOTICE BOARD arranges notices in a tree-like menu structure, similar to the DOS directory structure. To take the analogy further, notices are akin to DOS files and they can be grouped into menus which are similar to DOS directories. The essential difference, is that NOTICE BOARD has eight roots, rather than a DOS disk's one, each root attached to one of the first eight function keys. A structure will look something like this: F1 F2 F3 F4 ... F8 | | | +---+---+ notice +------+--+----+-------+ | | | | | | notice menu menu notice menu notice | | | +---+---+ +---+---+ +---+----+-------+ | | | | | | | notice notice notice notice notice notice notice One other key difference between NOTICE BOARD's menu structure and the DOS directory structure is that the NOTICE BOARD menu structure has been designed to be simple to use. NOTICES Notices are what NOTICE BOARD is all about. A notice is a pop-up window on the screen which can contain a large amount of text (up to 64,000 characters per notice). If the notice contains more text than will fit into the window, users can browse using all of the normal keys, <PageUp>, <PageDn> etc Notices can be any size, filling the screen or just occupying one corner. Many colours are possible. There are two sorts of notices, those that appear automatically on the main screen, and those that are attached to function keys or menus. The former kind are provided to enable urgent messages to be put on the screen at network login time so that they may be read without the user having to take any action. Examples could be messages concerning network shutdowns or pleas for user's to backup their PCs. One useful notice in this category, is a `Stop Press' notice giving short details of any new notices to draw peoples attention to them. See the evaluation kit for an example of this in operation. The second type of notice is not visible when the package is started but is `popped-up' by either pressing a function key, or selecting a notice from a menu. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cornerstone NOTICE BOARD Software 5 Evaluation Kit All the keys have their expected meaning so that <PageDn> will move down to the next page of a notice (if a notice is longer than the screen window). <Esc> will `escape' from a notice back to the menu. In addition, there are some extra keys defined for moving about in large notices: Key | Function ---------------+-------------------------- <Ctrl><PageUp> | Beginning of Notice <Ctrl><PageDn> | End of Notice <Ctrl><Home> | Top of Window <Ctrl><End> | Bottom of Window There are a number of other key definitions which are only relevant to editing and these are described in the section on editing notices. If a notice is larger than the window, a bar appears on the right-hand edge of the notice window indicating the position of the window relative to the overall notice. This can be seen in operation in the `online' version of the manual (<F8> unless you have redefined it), where the notices are larger than the windows. MENUS A menu is a collection of notices, commands and sub-menus. If a menu has been attached to one of the function keys, then its name appears on the key diagram (bottom left-hand side of the screen) and pressing the key produces a menu pop-up on the right of the screen. Items are chosen from the menu by selecting them with the light bar and pressing <Enter>. Movement in a menu is by use of the arrow keys and <PageUp>, <PageDn> etc. Additionally, you can jump to an entry by typing its first letter. If a sub-menu is chosen, then the new menu appears, slightly offset so that the title of the calling menu is always visible. In this way it is possible to see where you are at all times. Sub-menus may only be nested up to 10 deep though in practice, this is far more than should be necessary. A sub-menu is indicated on the menu by an arrow on the right-hand side. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cornerstone NOTICE BOARD Software 6 Evaluation Kit COMMANDS Commands allow NOTICE BOARD to act like a menu package, starting up another software package at the press of a button. Commands can be linked either directly to one of the first eight function keys, or they can appear in menus. It is possible to produce a complete menu driven environment for the user so that it appears they never leave the NOTICE BOARD environment. (For the memory conscious, NOTICE BOARD exits before the new package is started, to reduce RAM overheads. A command has two parts, the name of the command which appears in the menu, and the DOS command that is executed when the option is taken. The normal practice is to make the DOS command into a call of a batch file which restarts NOTICE BOARD as its last action. The following example batch file would run a wordprocessor and then return: @echo off cd \wpdir wp.exe cd \notice notice There are some implications here for network usage. Firstly, a menu system set up via NOTICE BOARD will be common to all users. Though this may appear a restriction, it is often advantageous from a support point of view. Secondly, it is possible to specify batch files either on the network drive, in which case all users will operate in the same way, or on a user's local disk, in which case the batch files can be tailored for the different users. EDIT MODE So much for using the package, now lets look at how to change notices, menus and commands. The editing functions have been designed to be very simple to use and the System Administrator needs no special training nor a computing background. Edit mode is entered via a function key, <F10>. The ability to edit should be limited to certain users such as the System Administrator. If editing is possible, then it will be shown by the <F10> key appearing in the key diagram on the main screen. To enable editing for a PC, the following line should be added to the PC initialisation file (C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT): set nbedit=1334-217 Alternatively, the line may be added to the System Administrator's network login file, so that editing is possible on any PC but only for the System Administrator. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cornerstone NOTICE BOARD Software 7 Evaluation Kit NB: The Notice Board startup file, NOTICE.BAT currently contains this line, enabling all users to edit notices. This is to simplify the initial use of the system and the line should be removed before allowing users to access the system. On entering edit mode, the function of keys <F1> to <F8> changes. In edit mode, these keys provide the edit functions, and their settings are displayed, as usual, in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen. Since it is possible to obscure then by creating a notice over the top of them, the functions are repeated here. Key | Function -------+--------------------------- <F1> | Create Notice <F2> | Create Menu <F3> | Create Command <F4> | Edit <F5> | Cut <F6> | Paste <F7> | Push Down (creating a new menu) <F8> | Delete As soon as you move into edit mode, a menu will appear on the right-hand side of the screen. This looks like (and is) an ordinary menu but it is one that normal users don't see. It is the top level menu which contains the settings of the function keys <F1> to <F8> and the notices which appear automatically. The first eight entries are the notices/commands/menus which are attached to the function keys and the rest are the automatically displayed notices. To edit any item, simply place the cursor over it and press <F4>. Of course, to edit an item in a sub-menu, you first have to move to the sub- menu and then select the item. To create an item, simply press the key for the wanted item. The item will appear above the current item on the current menu. Cut and Paste allows you to temporarily save an item (notice, command or menu), removing it from its current place in the structure, and paste it somewhere else. Move the light bar to the item to cut, press <F5>, then move the light bar to the new place and press <F6>. The pasted item will appear in the menu above the light bar. Hint: Since there is no way to create a new item after the current item in a menu, it is not possible to place a new item at the bottom of a menu. To achieve this, place the new item next to the bottom and then use `cut' and `paste' to change the two items over. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cornerstone NOTICE BOARD Software 8 Evaluation Kit The Push Down option, <F7> replaces an item with a menu, then places the item in the newly created menu. This is quite useful where you want to expand a notice into a menu of related notices. Delete, <F8> does what it says. The only restriction is that a menu must be empty before it can be deleted. This is similar to DOS directories and although restrictive, it does prevent the accidental erasure of complete branches of the menu tree. Finally, before getting down to the individual create and edit options, two hints. As already described, the first eight entries in the top level menu are the function key settings, and all the rest are top level notices which will be displayed automatically. One of these notices may be used as a banner or header, welcoming users to the network. This notice should have no title. The second hint also concerns the top level menu entries. It is possible to have command and menu entries after the eighth entry, but they will not be accessible by users. Not much use that, you may think, and in the case of commands you'd be right. However it is well worth having a menu in this area called 'System' where currently unused notices can be stored. For instance, the Network Unavailable notice will only be displayed when the network is going to be shut down, but to save recreating it each time, it should be kept in the `System' menu and brought out when necessary. CREATING & EDITING NOTICES Selecting the Create Notice option, <F1> will create a default sized notice, called "New Notice" in the top left-hand corner of the screen and then enter edit notice mode. Pressing <F4> when the light bar is over a notice will display the notice and go into 'edit notice' mode. Once in 'edit notice' mode, a new set of function key definitions will appear. Once again, since they can be obscured whilst editing notices, the following table describes them: Key | Function -------+------------------------------ <F1> | Move Notice <F2> | Change Size <F3> | Change Colour <F4> | Alter Title <F5> | Save <F6> | Import an Ascii file <F7> | Toggle user writeabilty <F8> | Quit without saving changes ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cornerstone NOTICE BOARD Software 9 Evaluation Kit Move and Change Size operate in similar ways. Once the function key has been pressed, the arrow keys are used to do the rest. Press <Enter> to save the new position/size, or <Esc> to restore to the original position. Change Colour, <F3> displays a colour palette. Foreground colours are displayed across the top of the pop-up palette and changed using the left and right arrows. Background colours are displayed down the left-hand side, and are changed using the up and down arrows. The Import option allows a text file to be imported from DOS into the notice. The file will be reformatted to the width of the window and appended to any existing text. Notices may be set so that users can modify them. This mirrors the actual situation where users would add their names to a list on a notice board. <F7> controls whether this will be allowed, the default is that it is not. CREATING & EDITING MENUS Choosing either the create menu option <F2>, or the edit option <F4> whilst the light bar is over a menu, will pop-up a window to allow the title of the menu to be entered/changed. Enter the new title and then press <Enter> to save the change or <Esc> to abort without saving the change. CREATING & EDITING COMMANDS Creating and editing commands is very similar to the equivalent operation on menus. In addition to entering a new title, a DOS command is required. Normally this will be the name of a batch file, and the full pathname should be specified to avoid confusion. HINTS AND IDEAS FOR USING NOTICE BOARD The strength of NOTICE BOARD is that it can readily adapt to your company's environment and most of its use will be in areas specific to your company which makes it difficult to generalise on possible uses. The following is a list of possible uses which will hopefully stimulate your own ideas for ways to use it. The first and most obvious use is in passing information to users about the state of the network and other computer systems. The fact that it is run at login time means that the messages are targeted to just the people who need to know. - Network shutdowns - New network facilities - New software packages - Reminders about virus checking, regular backups etc ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cornerstone NOTICE BOARD Software 10 Evaluation Kit Another useful group of notices covers the type of internal company information that can never be found when you need it. - Telephone lists - Foreign currency exchange rates - Company holiday/shutdown dates - Standard codes (time sheets, general ledger etc) - Standard rates such as `travel and subsistence' Personnel information will need to go on the real notice boards as well but presentation here as well may get it read! - Vacancies in the company - Resumes of new starters - Internal training course information All types of company information can be made available, both of a `marketing/PR' nature, and key information on performance. - Company news - Top Ten salesmen - Monthly Management Accounts - Sales targets - Performance indicators If you have a social club, then forthcoming activities can be publicised, recent happenings reported on and general information can be made available. Because users can be allowed to `write' on notices, they are a good way of operating a suggestions box, or getting feedback on ideas or quality of service, in an environment where people can see each others suggestions and comment on them (anonymously, if they wish). The last group covers a difficulty with standard electronic mail systems. The ability to broadcast email to all users can produce a proliferation of junk mail, or at least mail which sections of the user community would consider junk mail. Unfortunately, like other forms of mail, you don't know that it's junk until you've read it. NOTICE BOARD provides a forum for this type of message where the onus is on the recipient to look if he/she wants to yet is simple to use and so doesn't act as a barrier. - Buying and selling of private items - The "Anyone interested in going skiing?" type of mail. - Announcements of retirement get-togethers, leaving do's etc - Requests for local charities NETWORKING This software, once loaded onto a file server, can be used by any number of users simultaneously. The only restrictions are that certain system management functions (See System Maintenance) require exclusive access to maintain the integrity of the database and such functions can only be carried out when no other users are accessing the system. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cornerstone NOTICE BOARD Software 11 Evaluation Kit With the above restriction, this evaluation kit version may be loaded onto a network to make it straightforward for several people to evaluate it and to get an indication of its performance in the real environment. Loading the software onto a shared drive is no different to installation on a local disk drive, (see the earlier section for details). Once loaded, the directory should be set to shareable and writable if your network controls such things. In the network situation, each user requires a working directory, where NOTICE BOARD can guarantee that local work files are private. The normal case is to use a local disk drive, however diskless workstations can be catered for by creating a set of sub-directories below the NOTICE BOARD directory, one per PC. The path to this local work area is indicated by setting an environment variable on the PC (usually in the autoexec.bat file): set nbwork=c:\tmp This local work area requires minimal disk space (less than 100bytes) NB: The creation of a local work directory is only necessary if 'Commands' have been set up. One final plus point concerning networks. NOTICE BOARD is not a TSR program (Terminate and Stay Resident). It exits completely even when 'Commands' are used to load other software packages. As such, it will not add to your memory overheads. SYSTEM MAINTENANCE The main System Maintenance option carries out the necessary housekeeping, removing deleted information from the database and reorganising it for maximum performance. It will not be necessary to use this option during evaluation, but if you want to see what it can do, press <Ctrl><F10>. Note this command may only be used from the user's main menu, and is only available to users who can edit the database. There is a second option which clears down the database to a blank state. This can only be run if the user has sole access to the database and the ability to edit. It is run by pressing <Alt> and <F10> simultaneously. This option may be used to remove all of the notices which have been set up in the evaluation version to allow you to prepare a meaningful test version for your own company. It is advised that a backup is taken prior to doing this to enable you to get back to the evaluation database if you wish. On the subject of backups, it is very strongly recommended that regular backups are taken of the NOTICE BOARD database. Hard disks can and do fail. The following files should be saved on a regular basis: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cornerstone NOTICE BOARD Software 12 Evaluation Kit NODE.DBF NOTICE.DBF NOTICE.DBT In particular, a backup should be carried out before taking any of the System Maintenance options which may modify the database. ORDERING AND NETWORK LICENSING This package is provided for a 60 day evaluation period. After this, if you wish to continue to use the package, you must purchase a full license. The license costs £65 (including VAT for UK purchasers) or the equivalent in any other currency at the exchange rate pertaining at the time of order. Payment must be enclosed with order Purchasing the full package will provide the latest release of the software, a full license and a copy of the full documentation. The license entitles any number of users to use the software simultaneously, ON A SINGLE SITE. There are no restrictions on the number of copies that may be made for use on that site. The software is not copy protected, nor are there `hidden' files, so normal backup procedures may be used to make copies of the data and programs for security purposes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cornerstone NOTICE BOARD Software 13 Evaluation Kit