CD Shareware Masterblend/cdsharewaremasterblend.iso/home-hob/poetry/help.doc

Text File | 1991-07-05 | 22KB | 374 lines

                IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THESE DISKS

    PLEASE DO NOT ASK FOR HELP UNLESS YOU HAVE READ THIS COMPLETELY

   BEFORE YOU START: Make backup copies of your disks. (See the
DISKCOPY command in your DOS manual.) Put the original disks in a safe
place, and use the copies for all work. If you are upgrading from an
older version of a program, make backup copies of all your old data
files before you install the new version. Files with the extensions
DBF, DBT, and MEM contain essential data. Files with the NTX extension
are index files. Some programs also create special text files which you
may want to back up.
   ARCHIVE FILES: Sometimes there are too many files to fit on a single
floppy disk. These programs are compressed and stored in special
archive files with the extension ARC or ZIP. Before you can use the
program, you must extract the files from the archive. We have provided
the extraction utility.
     If you are using a 2-floppy system, look for a file named INSTALL.BAT
or FLOPPY.BAT. Start from the A> prompt, with the master disk in the A
drive. Be prepared with 2 or 3 new, formatted diskettes. Enter the ap-
propriate command, depending on the file you found. For example, if you
have INSTALL.BAT, type INSTALL A B and press <ENTER>. Follow the instruc-
tions on screen, which will tell you when to insert your floppy disks into
the B drive. (Note that we are assuming you will have the master disk in
the A drive and the new floppy in the B drive. If your drive letters are
different, you should enter the correct letters for your computer.
     If you are using a hard disk, be sure you have already created the
subdirectory where you want the program to be kept. (If you do not know how
to create a subdirectory, see the MKDIR command in your DOS manual.) Look
for a file named INSTALLH.BAT. Starting from the correct subdirectory, at
the C> prompt, with the diskette in the A drive, enter the appropriate com-
mand. For example, if your hard disk is called C and your subdirectory is
called MAILLIST, enter this command: INSTALLH A C:\MAILLIST
     If you prefer, you can use ARCE (if the archive file has the ARC
extension) or PKUNZIP (if the archive file has the ZIP extension) and enter
the un-archiving commands at the DOS prompt yourself.  For example, if your
archive file has the ARC extension, you should have the program ARCE.COM.
Your command will look something like this: A:ARCE A:FORTUNE. (Instead of
"fortune" use the actual name of the archive file. For example, if the
archive file is named TAROT.ARC you will use the word "tarot".) The program
will automatically un-compress the files and place them in the current
subdirectory.
   In some cases, you may have "self-extracting" archive files. These
do not require a separate utility, but will un-compress themselves.
They look like ordinary program files with the EXE extension, but can
be identified by the @ symbol in the filename. To use a self-extracting
archive, first log onto the drive and directory where you want to place
the uncompressed files. For example, if you have a two-floppy system,
you might want to place your master disk containing the archive into
the A drive, and then log onto the B drive with an empty, formatted
disk. If you are using a hard disk, create the subdirectory for the new
files, and then log into the subdirectory, with the archive disk in the
A drive. If the archive name is WAURA@.EXE, you will type A:WAURA@ and
press <ENTER>. Self-extraction will occur automatically. (Note to
floppy disk users: There may be more than one self-extracting archive
on a single disk. You should use a separate, empty, formatted diskette
to receive files from each archive.)
     IF THE FILES ARE NOT ARCHIVED, YOU CAN SIMPLY COPY THEM DIRECTLY TO
YOUR HARD DISK: COPY A:*.* C:
     IF THE FILES ARE NOT ARCHIVED, YOU CAN USE THE DISKCOPY COMMAND TO
MAKE A FLOPPY DISK FOR YOUR USE: DISKCOPY A: A:
   DOCUMENTATION AND INSTRUCTIONS: Most of our instruction manuals are
in special program files which allow you to view the manual on screen
or print it. These files have the COM or the EXE extension, and usually
have "DOC" somewhere in the filename. Simply enter the appropriate
command. For example, if you have the program BY THE NUMBERS, the
instruction manual is called NUMDOC.EXE. To view the manual, type NUMDOC
and press <ENTER>. You can page through the document on screen, or print it
by pressing <ALT><H>. For a list of  helpful commands, press <F1>.
   Files which have the DOC or TXT extension are ASCII format files
(also called DOS text files) which can be viewed or printed using DOS
commands. For example, if you have a typical setup, you can print a
document called CATALOG.DOC using this command: TYPE CATALOG.DOC > LPT1
   To view this file on screen, you could enter:
TYPE CATALOG.DOC | MORE
   You can also view and print this kind of file with most word
processors, using the format for "ASCII", "DOS text" or "Non-document"
format.
   PROGRAM FILES: Program files can be identified by the extension EXE
or COM after the file name. To run the program, simply type its name.
For example, if you have a program named TAROT.EXE, type TAROT and
press <ENTER>. If you have a program name WHATISIT.COM, type WHATISIT
and ppress <ENTER>.
   SOURCE CODE: Registered versions of a few programs come with source
code. You do not need the source code just to run the program; you can
delete it from the disk to make more room. Our source code files have
the extensions PRG, BAS, and OBJ.
   DATA FILES: Some programs create data files, with the extensions
DBF, DBT, NTX and MEM. These are important and should be backed up
regularly. Some programs also create special text files which you may
also want to back up.
   HARD DISK OR FLOPPY: Your programs will run much faster on a hard
disk than they do on a floppy. Also, some programs build large data
files which may grow as you use the program and eventually fill a
floppy disk. We recommend using a hard disk. POETRY GENERATOR requires
a hard disk, and MAILLIST and WORKBASE are much easier to use on a hard
disk. Any program which uses data files (those with the DBF and DBT
extensions) is best when used on a hard disk.
   NEW VERSIONS: Sometimes a new version of a program will ask your
permission to update your data files. Do not answer "yes" unless you
have already made a backup copy of your data. Don't copy the backed-up
data back into the directory after the files have been updated. This
backup is simply insurance against data damage or loss.
   CREATIVITY PACKAGE:  Disk #1 contains the complete text of Thomas A.
Easton's book, "Think Thunder! And Unleash Your Creativity". To read
it, use the command READIT, or you can read each chapter separately by
typing the chapter name (see the disk for file name). Disk #2 contains
the program THUNDER THOUGHT, and disk #3 contains VERSIFIER. If you
like, all these materials can be placed in the same subdirectory on
your hard disk.
   POETRY GENERATOR: This may be distributed on two disks, containing
different archive files. All the files from both disks are needed for
the program to run correctly. This program must be run on a hard disk
or other storage device with sufficient capacity for all the necessary
files. Note that you have a file named POETRY.EXE, and other files with
names like POEM1.EXE, POEM2.EXE, etc. The only program you need to
execute is POETRY. The others are controlled by POETRY.
   MAILLIST: The registered version is distributed on two disks. Many
of the files contained on disk #2 are source code files, which are not
needed just to run the program. You need files with the extensions EXE,
DBF, DBT, LBL and MEM.
   M-LABEL: M-Label is designed to work with your MAILLIST files, and
should be placed in the same hard disk directory as MAILLIST. If you
use a dual-floppy system, put M-LABEL in the drive where you would
normally put MAILLIST, and use the data disk as you usually would.
   BONUS DISKS: We are not the authors of these programs. Please direct
payments and questions