Copyright: © 1995 by Information Management Research Inc.
Citation: Help File © 1995 by Information Management Research Inc.


ALCHEMY.INI
The ALCHEMY.INI File

The initialization file ALCHEMY.INI was placed into your Windows directory when Alchemy was installed.  This file contains information about which options had which settings the last time Alchemy was used.  This file is maintained by Alchemy and should not need to be modified by the user except in special cases.  Any section or item not mentioned here should not be changed.  The file contains sections, delimited by the brackets [ ], containing items as follows:

[Fonts]

Viewer=-13,400,0,Courier New

Lists=-13,400,0,MS Sans Serif

[Options]

ToolBar=1

StatusBar=1

ToolTips=1

Alchemist=1

FileDetails=0

HorzScrollBar=1

[Image]

ScrollBars=1

ScaleToGray=1

Invert=0

[Search]

Logo=

ProductName=

AboutTitle=

AboutProduct=

AboutInfo=

Icon=


About IMR

Information Management Research (IMR), based in Englewood, Colorado, develops and markets software retrieval and archival products for CD-Recordable drives.  IMR's flagship product, Alchemy, addresses the indexing, management, retrieval, archiving, and backup of documents on PC-based recordable CDs.

In 1993, IMR identified the CD-Recordable software market as a logical extension for its core indexing and retrieval technology.  One common complaint about CD-ROMs has been the slow access and retrieval performance to date.  The IMR development team has extensive experience with retrieval and archival search engines, and was able to optimize the software for optical media, resulting in stunning performance improvements in file retrieval operations.

IMR also realized that there was no shrink-wrapped, end-user application for CD-Recorders.  Indeed, the process of recording your own CDs involved the purchase of very expensive, complex software from more than one vendor.  Alchemy is intended to provide the first complete data management system for CD-Recorders that is affordable and easy to operate.


Advanced Topics

The ALCHEMY.INI File

Using Windows 95


Contacting Customer Support

For questions about your CD-Recorder drive or SCSI, please contact the vendor of your drive.

For questions related to Alchemy, contact IMR at:

(303) 689-0022 voice
(303) 689-0055 fax

8:00 - 5:00 MST

If calling to report an error, please have the full text of any error messages and a description of the events leading to the error.  Customer support personnel may need further information such as the hardware configuration and contents of several system files, so please call from the computer where the error occurred if at all possible.

A problem report form can be printed from the Reporting Problems topic for your convenience.  If there are features you'd like to see in Alchemy, a feature request form can be printed from the Requesting Features topic.


Contents
Alchemy Help Contents

	Essentials	Concepts you will need to know to use Alchemy
	Technical Support	What to do if you have a question or a problem
	The User Interface	Information on menus, the toolbar, keyboard shortcuts, and the dialogs.
	Tasks	Step-by-step directions for using Alchemy
	Error Messages	Troubleshooting errors


Credits
Alchemy was brought to you by:

Software Development	Farhad Khalafi
Greg Colvin
Todd Sunshine
Sean Jansen

Product Manager	Dan Lucarini

On-line Help &
Installation Program	Dana Cline

Testing	Miles Andrews
Phil Sokolof
Bob Loving
Sara Knight
Susanna Hunter
and others

Inspiration	Robert Drucker


Dialog/Fonts
Fonts

Click on any control for further information.


Dialog/Lookup
Lookup

Click on any control for further information.


Dialog/Preferences
Preferences

Click on any control for further information.


Dialog/Print
Print

Click on any control for further information.

See Also: Printing a document


Dialog/Query
Query

Click on any control for further information.

See Also: Simple queries, Complex queries


Dialog/Retrieving Files
Retrieving Files

Click on any control for further information.

See Also: Retrieving files, Copying selected text


Dialog/Table of Contents
The Contents Window

Click on any area of the screen for further information.


Dialogs

Searching the Database

	Contents Window	Shown in the main window after selecting File/New Database.... Contains a hierarchical view of the contents.
	Query	From Search/Query.... Used to query the database.
	Lookup	From Search/Query.../ Lookup....  Used to interactively look up words in the indexes.
	Retrieve Files	From File/Retrieve Files.... Used to copy documents or folders from the database.
	Print	From File/Print.... Used to print documents from the database.
Options and Information

	Preferences	From Options/Preferences... Used to set various general and viewer options.
	Fonts	From Options/Fonts.... Used to select the font used for text viewing.


Document Icons

All folders and documents in Alchemy are assigned an icon based on the file type.  The following icons are used in Alchemy.

	This icon is used to represent a closed folder.  Any documents contained in this folder are not visible until it is opened by double-clicking.
	This icon is used to represent an open folder.  If it contains any files, they will be visible below it.
	This icon is used to represent a master document containing other, linked documents.  These documents are not visible until the master document is opened by double-clicking.
	This icon is used to represent an open master document.  The linked documents will be visible below it.
	This icon is used to represent documents containing text, such as word processing documents or ASCII files.  Any file not identified as one of the other types is also represented by this icon.
	This icon is used to represent images.  All supported image formats will use this icon.
	This icon is used to represent spreadsheets.  All supported spreadsheet formats will use this icon.
	This icon is used to represent programs.
	This icon is used to represent sound (WAV) files.
	This icon is used to represent video (AVI) files.


Edit Menu

Click on any menu item for further information.


Edit/Copy
Select this option to copy selected text from the active document to the Windows clipboard.  This text replaces the previous contents of the Clipboard.

Copy is only available if you have selected any text within a displayed document.


Edit/Find
Select this option to search for specified text in the displayed document.

Find is only available when viewing a text document.


Edit/Gather
Select this option to start a copy of the Windows Notepad application and append selected text from the displayed document to it.  You may continue to append text to the same Notepad document from any number of Alchemy text documents, up to Notepad's file size limit of 50K.

Gather is not available if you have not selected any text within a displayed document.


Edit/Select All
Select this option to select all of the text in a document for purposes of Copying or Gathering.


Element/Cancel
Click the Cancel button or press Esc to cancel the dialog box.


Element/Copy To Destination
Select the destination drive and directory.  Documents will be copied to their original DOS filenames in the selected directory.  Folders will be copied as subdirectories in the selected directory.


Element/Copy To Network
Click the Network... button to select network drive connections.  This button may not appear if your PC is not connected to a network.


Element/Copy To Source
This drop-down list box allows you to select what to retrieve.  Your choices include:

Document will retrieve the currently-highlighted document.

Query Results will retrieve the documents in the Query Results List.

Folder Contents will retrieve the entire folder's documents, subfolders, and their contents, or a compound document and linked documents..


Element/Font Names
This list shows all fixed-width fonts available on the system.


Element/Font Sample
This area shows a sample of the selected font, style, and size.


Element/Font Sizes
This list shows all of the available sizes for the selected font.


Element/Font Styles
This list shows all the available font styles for the selected font.


Element/Help
Click the Help button or press Alt-H to get help.


Element/Lookup Table Name
This field contains the name of the lookup table.  The name can contain up to 64 characters of mixed upper and lower-case.


Element/Lookup Word Wheel
Either

Select a word from the list to be used in the query.

Or

Type a word in the input area.  The word list will scroll as you type.  You can completely type the word, or type just enough to allow you to select the word from the list.


Element/Maximize
The Maximize button [image] on a window expands that window to fill the Alchemy window.


Element/Minimize
The Minimize button [image] on a window collapses that window to an icon.


Element/OK
Click the OK button or press Enter to accept the choices in the dialog box.


Element/Preferences Close
Enable this option to close any launched applications when Alchemy closes.


Element/Preferences Jump
Enable this option to have the Query Results list viewers jump to the first occurrence of the search term in the viewed document.


Element/Preferences Scale
Enable this option to modify monochrome TIF images to gray scale.  For scanned images, this can make them much more readable by performing "anti-aliasing", which can soften jagged lines.


Element/Preferences Single Click
Enable this option to view documents with a single mouse click.  If disabled, you must double-click to view any document except master compound documents.  Double-clicking on a master compound document expands and contracts it like a folder.  To view it, click on it and click the View icon on the toolbar.


Element/Preferences Sync
Enable this option to synchronize the Query Results list with the Contents.  As you view a document in the Query Results list, the Contents tree expands and the highlight is moved to the viewed document.


Element/Print Copies
Enter the number of print copies desired.


Element/Print Default
This label shows which printer is the current Windows default printer.


Element/Print Range
Select which range to print.  Your options are:

All - Select this option to print the entire document.

Selection - Select this option to print the highlighted text.

Pages - Select this option to specify starting and ending page numbers.


Element/Print Setup
Click the Setup button or press Alt-S to start the printer setup dialog.


Element/Print Source
This drop-down list box allows you to select what to print.  Your choices include:

Document will print the currently-highlighted document.

Query Results will print all or selected documents in the Query Results List.

Query Results List will print the results list itself.

Folder Contents will print all of the documents in the highlighted folder.


Element/Print To File
Enable this option to send the printout to a file rather than to a printer.


Element/Query Clear
Click the Clear button or press Alt-C to clear all search fields in the Query.


Element/Query Lookup
Click the Lookup button or press Alt-L to interactively look up a word in the field that has the cursor.

This option starts the Lookup dialog.


Element/Query Search
Click the Search button or press Alt-S to start the search.


Element/Query Template Area
This area contains the Query Template.  You can change the template by selecting Design/Templates from the main menu.


Element/Select All
Click the Select All button or press Alt-A to select all the items on the list.


Element/Selected File
The highlighted file has been selected in the File Manager.  This file will be added to the Contents window by dragging and dropping.


Element/Splitter Bar
The splitter bar is used to split the Contents Window into up to four distinct panes.  The top one or two panes contain the Contents tree.  The bottom left pane contains a file viewer, which can contain images, text or spreadsheets.  The bottom right pane contains a profile card for the document in the viewer pane.

To use the splitter bar, move the mouse over the splitter bar.  The mouse cursor will change, indicating that you can click the primary mouse button and drag the splitter bar in either of two directions.


Element/TOC Tree
The Contents tree shows a hierarchical view of the folders and files within a database.  A database can have two trees, separated by a splitter bar.  Within a tree, you can perform the following actions:

Add files	Add files to a folder by dragging files from File Manager to drop on a folder.
Arrange files and folders	Arrange files and folders by dragging them to a new location in the tree.
Rename folders	Rename folders by clicking on the folder name and selecting Properties from the Edit menu.
View files	View any file by clicking on the file name or by pressing the Enter key on a highlighted document.
Expand and collapse the tree	Expand and collapse sections of the tree by double-clicking on a folder icon.


Element/Title Bar
The Contents title bar contains the title of the current database.


Element/Viewer Bitmap
This pane contains the viewer.  All supported documents can be viewed here.


Element/Viewer Profile
This pane contains the profile card for the file being viewed.  The profile format is determined by selecting Design/Templates.../Edit.


Element/Viewer Title
The viewer title bar contains the name of the file being viewed.


Error Messages

You may encounter error messages that are not in this list.  If so, they are probably Windows error messages.  Consult your Windows manual for any message not listed here.

Alchemy Error Messages

Cannot copy file

Cannot create directory

Cannot create file

Cannot create temporary file

Cannot open file

Cannot position file

Cannot read from file

Cannot remove file

Cannot rename file

Cannot write file

Memory Exhausted

Out of Memory

Printer not ready

Printer out of paper


Error/Cannot copy file
Cannot copy file

Alchemy received an error while attempting to copy a file.  This could indicate a hardware problem.

If the file is on a CD-ROM, the disc may be scratched or dirty.  Cleaning the disc may fix the problem.  If the file is on the hard disk, the DOS program Scandisk or a similar utility may be used to diagnose the problem.


Error/Cannot create directory
Cannot create directory

Alchemy received an error while attempting to create a directory.  This could indicate a hardware or software problem.

The hard disk may be full.  If so, you will need to make additional space available.  If there is space available, there may be a hardware problem with the disk.  The DOS program Scandisk or a similar utility may be used to diagnose the problem.


Error/Cannot create file
Cannot create file

Alchemy received an error while attempting to create a file.  This could indicate a hardware or software problem.

The hard disk may be full.  If so, you will need to make additional space available.  If there is space available, there may be a hardware problem with the disk.  The DOS program Scandisk or a similar utility may be used to diagnose the problem.


Error/Cannot create temporary file
Cannot create temporary file

Alchemy received an error while attempting to create a temporary file.  This could indicate a hardware or software problem.

The hard disk may be full.  If so, you will need to make additional space available.  If there is space available, there may be a hardware problem with the disk.  The DOS program Scandisk or a similar utility may be used to diagnose the problem.


Error/Cannot open file
Cannot open file

Alchemy received an error while attempting to open a file.  This could indicate a hardware problem.

If the file is on a CD-ROM, the disc may be scratched or dirty.  Cleaning the disc may fix the problem.  If the file is on the hard disk, the DOS program Scandisk or a similar utility may be used to diagnose the problem.


Error/Cannot position file
Cannot position file

Alchemy received an error while attempting to seek within a file.  This could indicate a hardware problem.

If the file is on a CD-ROM, the disc may be scratched or dirty.  Cleaning the disc may fix the problem.  If the file is on the hard disk, the DOS program Scandisk or a similar utility may be used to diagnose the problem.


Error/Cannot read from file
Cannot read from file

Alchemy received an error while attempting to read from a file.  This could indicate a hardware problem.

If the file is on a CD-ROM, the disc may be scratched or dirty.  Cleaning the disc may fix the problem.  If the file is on the hard disk, the DOS program Scandisk or a similar utility may be used to diagnose the problem.


Error/Cannot remove file
Cannot remove file

Alchemy received an error while attempting to remove a file.  This could indicate a hardware or software problem.

The file may be locked or marked as hidden, system, or read-only.  Otherwise, there may be a hardware problem with the disk.  The DOS program Scandisk or a similar utility may be used to diagnose the problem.


Error/Cannot rename file
Cannot rename file

Alchemy received an error while attempting to rename a file.  This could indicate a hardware or software problem.

The file may be locked or marked as hidden, system, or read-only.  Otherwise, there may be a hardware problem with the disk.  The DOS program Scandisk or a similar utility may be used to diagnose the problem.


Error/Cannot write file
Cannot write file

Alchemy received an error while attempting to write to a file.  This could indicate a hardware or software problem.

The hard disk may be full.  If so, you will need to make additional space available.  If there is space available, there may be a hardware problem with the disk.  The DOS program Scandisk or a similar utility may be used to diagnose the problem.


Error/Memory Exhausted
Memory Exhausted

Alchemy could not obtain the memory it needs to function.

Several things could help this problem.  Exit Windows and restart.  When running Alchemy, run as few other programs as possible.  Try building after dragging in less files.


Error/Out of Memory
Out of Memory

Alchemy could not obtain the memory it needs to function.

Several things could help this problem.  Exit Windows and restart.  When running Alchemy, run as few other programs as possible.  Try building after dragging in less files.


Error/Printer not ready
Printer not ready

Alchemy could not communicate with the printer.

Check to see that the printer is online and connected.


Error/Printer out of paper
Printer out of paper

Alchemy has detected that the printer is out of paper.

Check the printer for paper out or a paper jam.


Essentials

Overview

Features

Document Icons

Supported File Formats

Frequently Asked Questions

Advanced Topics


Extended Support Programs

IMR offers free technical support for the first 30 days, starting when you register the product with IMR or call us for the first time.  Before your complimentary support period expires, call IMR Sales at 1-303-689-0022 or your authorized reseller to subscribe to an Extended Support Program (ESP).

ESP is good for one year, and includes:

Unlimited product support via phone or FAX.
Access to the IMR BBS.
Free maintenance releases.
Generous discounts on product upgrades.

ESP is sold one per Alchemy or DataGrabber license.


Features

Intelligent Full Text Search - Powerful search and retrieval capabilities allow instant access to information stored anywhere on the CD-ROM.  Compressed inverted indices, query optimization, Boolean search operators, wild cards, dynamic feedback, intermediate search results, search refinement, undo functions, full search history maintenance, search scope management and auxiliary filters result in a highly effective search engine.  The information managed by the system becomes both DOS directory structure and application independent.

Flexible Architecture - Alchemy supports a totally flexible architecture.  The term database refers to data (i.e. files or documents) which is grouped together and organized for rapid search and retrieval.  A single CD may hold multiple databases.  Databases can be organized into an environment similar to a filing cabinet containing Folders and Sub-Folders.  Each folder can hold any number of Sub-Folders and documents, limited only by system resources.

Full Text Batch Indexer - A new patent pending indexing engine has been introduced to provide faster access to documents on a CD and reduce storage overhead.  For example, full-text index overhead is typically less than 5%, allowing more room for your data and enabling superior retrieval performance.  Documents are batch indexed in parallel and indices compressed using proprietary compression algorithms before databases are updated.  The result is vastly improved indexing throughput and reduced network traffic.  Full Boolean operations can be performed on indices while still in compressed form.  Radix compression of glossary, dynamic pointer size and incremental index updates are used to reduce disk overhead and increase full-text search and indexing speeds.

Data compression - Files are compressed before they are written to CD.  Compression is performed on-the-fly and is automatic, with no degradation of indexing speed.  Compression results will vary, however, 2:1 compression of word processing and spreadsheet files is typical.  ASCII text files will compress up to 8:1.  Most image files are already compressed and will be passed over.

File Viewers - Alchemy includes integrated viewers for over 30 popular word processing, spreadsheet, and image file formats.  This enables anyone to view a file's contents without requiring the native application.  Thus, you can distribute PC files on CD for others to view, print, copy, or restore.  Tight integration results in very fast viewing performance.

Integrated CD Recording - Alchemy is the first indexing and retrieval software with integrated CD recording.  Advanced software technology developed by IMR prevents "buffer under-run" from ruining a CD.  Alchemy writes its database files in tracks to conserve space on the CD for data.  CD-ROM multi-session writing is also supported.  The user can configure variables such as recording speed, track size, Close Session, and Write-Protect CD.


File Menu

Click on any menu item for further information.


File/Exit
Select this option to close the current database and exit the program.


File/Files List
This area of the File menu contains a list of previously-opened databases.


File/Open Database
Select this option to open an existing database.


File/Print
Select this option to print Query Results, selected text from displayed documents, entire documents, or images.

This option starts the Print dialog.


File/Printer Setup
Select this option to select a printer and a printer connection from the list of installed printers. You can install printers and configure ports through the Windows Control Panel.  If a FAX board is configured as a printer on your system, a document can be printed to the FAX board to send it as a FAX.

Printer Setup is also available from the Print command.

For more information, choose the Help button from the Printer Setup dialog box.


File/Retrieve
Select this option to retrieve documents or folders from the database.  It allows you to navigate your hard disk and select a location where the currently selected document or folder will be copied.  The file names will default to the original DOS name of the documents or folders before they were added to the database.  You may, however, save a document under any name.

Any document retrieved from the database will be in its original file format.

This option starts the Retrieve Files dialog.


Fonts Menu

Click on any menu item for further information.


Fonts/Contents
Select this option to change the font used for displaying the contents.  The font list will show all available fonts.

This option starts the Fonts dialog.


Fonts/Viewer
Select this option to change the font used for displaying character text in the viewer.  The font list will be limited to fixed-width fonts.

This option starts the Fonts dialog.


Glossary of Terms
Click on any term for further information.

- A -

Alchemy

Amiga IFF

AND

Archive

Aspect Ratio

- B -

BMP

Boolean Logic

Buffer Underrun

- C -

CALS

CCITT

CD (Compact Disk)

CD-I (Compact Disk Interactive)

CD-R (CD-Recorder)

CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read Only Memory)

CGM (Computer Graphics Metafile)

Clipboard

Close CD

CLP

COLD (Computer Output to Laser Disc)

COM (Computer Output to Microform)

CUT

- D -

DAD (Digital Audio Disk)

DASD (Direct Access Storage Device)

DAT (Digital Audio Tape)

Database

DCX

Defragment

DIB (Device Independent Bitmap)

Dithering

Document

Document Profile

DPI (Dots Per Inch)

- E -

Encapsulated PostScript (EPS)

- F -

Full-text Search

- G -

GEM

GIF

Group 4 Facsimile

- H -

Halo CUT

- I -

ICA

IFF

IM1

IM8

IM24

IM32

IMG

Indexing

Indexing Characters

IOCA

ISO

ISO 9660

- J -

JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)

- K -

Keywords

Kodak Photo CD

- L -

LaserData

LaserView

Link

Lookup Field

Lookup Table

- M -

MAC Paint

MPEG (Motion Picture Experts Group)

MSP

Multimedia

Multisession

- N -

NOT

- O -

OCR (Optical Character Recognition)

OR

- P -

Parentheses

PCD

PCT

PCX

Photo CD

Photoshop

PICT

Pixmap

Premastering

Profile Search

Profile Template

PSD

- R -

RAID (Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Discs)

RAS

RAST

RLE (Run-Length Encoding)

- S -

SCSI (Small Computer Standard Interface)

Search Result

Seek Time

Stop Word

Sun Raster

- T -

TARGA

TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol)

Template

TGA

Thermal Calibration

Throughput

TIFF (Tagged Image File Format)

- V -

VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association)

Virtual Folder

- W -

Wild Cards

Word Wheel

WORM (Write Once, Read Many)

WPG

- X -

Xbitmap

XBM

XPM

End of Glossary


Help Menu

Click on any menu item for further information.


Help/About
Select this option to show the About dialog.


Help/Contents
Select this option to run Windows Help with this file.


Help/Keyboard
Select this option to run Windows Help to show the keyboard commands.


Help/Using Help
Select this option to show how to use Windows Help.


INI/Fonts Contents
This setting contains font information for the Contents Window and Query Results List.  To change this font, close any open viewers and select Fonts from the Options menu.


INI/Fonts Viewer
This setting contains font information for the viewer.  To change this font, view a text file and select Fonts from the Options menu.


INI/Image Invert
This setting will be set to 1 to invert the image, or 0 to display the image as is.


INI/Image ScaleToGray
This setting will be set to 1 to enhance the images by scaling to gray, or 0 to show the image as is.  This setting cannot be changed from within Alchemy.

This setting will be set to zero if Alchemy is running at standard VGA resolution.


INI/Image ScrollBars
This setting will be set to 1 to show the scroll bars, or 0 to hide them.


INI/Options Achemist
This setting will be set to 1 to show the Alchemist, or 0 to hide the Alchemist.


INI/Options FileDetails
This setting will be set to 1 to show file details in the Contents window, or 0 to display just the folder and document tree.


INI/Options HorzScrollBar
This setting should be set to 1 to show a horizontal scroll bar in the Contents window, or 0 to hide it.  This setting cannot be changed from within Alchemy.

If you have deeply nested folders, a horizontal scroll bar may be necessary to allow you to see those deeply nested folders.


INI/Options StatusBar
This setting will be set to 1 to show the status bar, or 0 to hide it.


INI/Options ToolBar
This setting will be set to 1 to show the toolbar, or 0 to hide it.


INI/Options ToolTips
This setting will be set to 1 to show the tool tips, or 0 to hide them.


INI/Search AboutInfo
Enter the text assigned as the product description.  This name will be displayed in the About dialog.  This text can contain up to three lines, separated by a \n (backslash, followed by the character "n").


INI/Search AboutProduct
Enter the text assigned as the product name for the About dialog.  This name will be displayed in the About dialog.


INI/Search AboutTitle
Enter the text assigned as the about title.  This name will be displayed in both the About dialog's title bar and in the Help menu as the last item.  This name may contain one ampersand character (to denote a keyboard accelerator), and ellipses (...) at the end.  When displayed in the About dialog's title bar, the ampersand and ellipses will be removed.


INI/Search Icon
Enter the file name of an icon file.  This file, which must be in Alchemy's directory, will be used as the default icon for Alchemy Search.

We recommend that the file be named ALSEARCH.ICO for automatic inclusion when the Search program is written to the CD.  If you use any other name, edit the file ALBUILD.INF and add the line:

Alchemy:myicon.ico

where "myicon.ico" is the name of the icon file.


INI/Search Logo
Enter the file name of an image file.  This file, which must be in Alchemy's directory, will be used as the "splash screen", which is displayed when Alchemy first starts.

We recommend that the file be named ALSEARCH.* for automatic inclusion when the Search program is written to the CD.  If you use any other name, edit the file ALBUILD.INF and add the line:

Alchemy:myfile.ext

where "myfile.ext" is the name of the image file.  We also recommend that you create a similar bitmap, named SETUP.BMP, to be used as the splash screen during Search's install program.


INI/Search ProductName
Enter the text assigned as the product name.  This name will be displayed in Alchemy's title bar.


Image Menu

Click on any menu item for further information.

NOTE: To view images, your PC display must be configured for a minimum of 256 colors.  Images will not display properly at 16 colors.


Image/Bottom Half
Select this option to show bottom half of the image.  The image is scaled so the width of the image fits the current window.


Image/Full Image
Select this option to scale the full image to fit the current window.


Image/Invert
Select this option to invert all pixels and produce a negative image.

A check mark beside this menu option means that the image is displayed in inverted mode.


Image/Page
Image Page Menu

Click on any menu item for further information.


Image/Page/First
Select this option to display page one of the current image document.

The number of pages in the document is displayed on the status line.


Image/Page/Go to
Select this option to go to any page in the image document.

The current page and the number of pages in the document are displayed on the status line.


Image/Page/Last
Select this option to display the last page in the current image document.

The current page and the number of pages in the document are displayed on the status line.


Image/Page/Next
Select this option to display the next page in the current image document.

The current page and the number of pages in the document are displayed on the status line.


Image/Page/Previous
Select this option to display the previous page in the current image document.

The current page and the number of pages in the document are displayed on the status line.


Image/Rotate Left
Select this option to rotate the current image left (counter-clockwise) by 90 degrees.


Image/Rotate Right
Select this option to rotate the current image right (clockwise) by 90 degrees.


Image/Top Half
Select this option to show the top half of the image.  The image is scaled so the width of the image fits the current window.


Image/Zoom In
Select this option to zoom into the image.  The image is enlarged.  To enlarge a specific region of the image:

Move the mouse to one corner of the region.

Press and hold the primary button.

Drag the mouse to the opposite corner of the region.

Release the mouse.


Image/Zoom Out
Select this option to zoom out of the image.  The image is made smaller.


Keyboard Commands

From the main menus:

Ctrl-P	Print search results list, blocked text or document.
Ctrl-C	Copy selected text to the clipboard.
Ctrl-G	Gather selected text into Notepad.
F1	Help contents.
While browsing search result documents:

Ctrl-D	Find the next occurrence of a search word.
Ctrl-U	Find the previous occurrence of a search word.
While viewing a scanned image.

Ctrl-F	View full image.
Ctrl-T	View top of image.
Ctrl-B	View bottom of image.
Ctrl-L	Rotate image left.
Ctrl-R	Rotate image right.
Ctrl-N	Invert image.
+	Zoom in.
-	Zoom out.


Menu Commands

Alchemy's Main Menu Bar

The main menu bar is displayed in Alchemy's main window.  Certain commands may be disabled at times, and will generally appear in a color different from other menu items.  Click on any menu item for further information.

Graphics Popup Menu

This menu pops up when you highlight a window containing graphics and press the secondary mouse button.  To highlight a window, press the primary mouse button while the mouse pointer is within the window.

Text Popup Menus

This menu pops up when you highlight a window containing text and press the secondary mouse button.  To highlight a window, press the primary mouse button while the mouse pointer is within the window.

If you have selected text in the window and press the secondary mouse button, the popup menu contains two more items for dealing with selected text.


Options Menu

Click on any menu item for further information.


Options/Colors
Select this option to configure colors used in displaying document profiles and highlighted text found within document contents.

To change colors:

In the Color Element box, select which color you wish to change.

Select either Background or Foreground attribute to modify.

Click on the color you wish to select.

Select the OK button to save the colors.

The selected colors will be remembered when you exit the program.


Options/Preferences
Select this option to set general and viewer preferences.  These preferences are saved automatically.

This option starts the Preferences dialog.


Options/Restore Settings
Select this option to restore the saved settings.  All displayed windows will be resized and moved according to the settings in ALCHEMY.INI.


Options/Save Settings
Select this option to save the current settings.  The program will save the arrangement (sizes and positions) of all windows to a disk file, called ALCHEMY.INI, which is located in the Windows directory.


Options/Show Details
Enable this option to display file sizes and dates in the Contents and Query Results windows.


Options/Show ToolTips
Enable this option to show the tool tips, the yellow descriptive boxes that appear when the mouse cursor is placed on a toolbar icon.  This option is only available when the toolbar is enabled.


Options/Show Wizard
Select this option to enable or disable the Wizard that guides you through database creation and searching.  A check mark beside this menu option means that the Wizard is enabled.


Overview

Welcome to Alchemy Search.  Alchemy is a complete CD-ROM recording and retrieval system that enables you to use inexpensive, portable CD-ROMs for backup, archival, extra on-line storage or the distribution of large amounts of data.  It provides for the organization and easy transfer of files to a CD-ROM, plus comprehensive search and retrieval capabilities.  Alchemy supports a wide variety of word processing formats, spreadsheets, ASCII text, graphics, images and other electronic file types.  All files are stored on CD with their original formats intact.  An Alchemy CD is completely self-contained, with all the software needed for retrieval.  CD-ROMs created with Alchemy can be read on another CD-ROM reader installed on a Windows-based PC or a PC LAN.

Alchemy allows you to choose which files will be copied to the CD and organizes the files into a database structure analogous to a filing cabinet.  A Profile Card, similar to an electronic index card containing information that is helpful in both locating and searching, is created for each file.  Alchemy creates a full-text index of all the words contained in the documents, a Keyword list of descriptive terms that help in locating documents (especially those of a non-textual type), and a fully configurable hierarchy of folders and sub-folders.  It allows you to set up the indexing criteria according to your specific needs, automatically writes the files to the CD Recorder, and then provides search and retrieval of all files on the CD.  Search capabilities include simultaneous full text and profile searches, query-by-example, full Boolean logic, and image retrieval by keywords or links.


Questions
Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Why didn’t Alchemy install its icons in my (mumble mumble) desktop?

A: Any Windows shell program is responsible for receiving the messages to install icons into a group.  Windows’ normal default shell, Program Manager, handles this well.  3rd-party shells, such as Norton Desktop and PC Tools, also work.  Other shells may not respond to these messages, so Alchemy does not get added to the interface as an available program.  The user would need to use the shell’s method of adding programs to the interface, specifying Alchemy Search as ALSEARCH.EXE, in the Alchemy directory.

Q: Why can I not see all my files in my viewer?

A: Alchemy  supports viewers for  the most popular word processing, spreadsheet, and image formats.  If your file format is not supported Alchemy viewers,  your data will still be saved by Alchemy  and left in its original format

Q: Why do my images  look  fuzzy in the viewer?

A: Check to see under windows setup what video driver Windows is using.  If  you are using a 16 color driver, switch to a 256 color driver.  The Super VGA (640*480, 256 colors) is recommended.

Q: Why do I not see any bold, font sizes or images in my word processing document?

A: The Alchemy viewers are intended to give you a fast "draft mode" preview and do not show  the format codes in the document.  These codes are still intact on the CD.


Reporting Problems
Reporting Problems (Print this, fill it out, send it in)

Mail or fax to:

Information Management Research, Inc.
5660 Greenwood Plaza Blvd., Suite 210
Englewood, CO 80111
(303) 689-0055 Fax

Alchemy version (from Help/About)________________ Date: ____________________

Customer name, company, address, phone, fax, email address

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

Detailed description of problem, steps to reproduce

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

Hardware and software configuration

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

Please include any problem data files, printouts, or screen shots that might help
illustrate or help us reproduce the problem.


Requesting Features
Requesting Features (Print this, fill it out, send it in)

Mail or fax to:

Information Management Research, Inc.
5660 Greenwood Plaza Blvd., Suite 210
Englewood, CO 80111
(303) 689-0055 Fax

NOTE: Do not use this form for technical support.

Alchemy version (from Help/About)________________ Date: ____________________

Customer name, company, address, phone, fax, email address

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

Detailed description of desired feature

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________

Thank you for your input.  Due to the number of requests received at IMR, we regret
that we cannot respond to each user individually.


Search Menu

Click on any menu item for further information.


Search/Query
Select this option to query the database.

This option starts the Query dialog.


Search/Query Results
Select this option to view the results list from the last Query.


Supported File Formats

A Note About Text Indexing

Alchemy indexes the text contained in the popular word processing and spreadsheet file formats listed below.  Alchemy will create a full-text index of every word in the supported files, allowing you to retrieve files by a text search.

A Note About File Viewers & Printing

Alchemy includes file viewers for the formats listed below.  The word processing and spreadsheet viewers are not WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get); they are intended to provide a fast "draft mode" preview and printout of the file's text contents.  Some versions of Alchemy allow you to launch a file into its native application for WYSIWYG viewing.  The style (bold, underlines, font sizes and styles) and format codes of the document are still intact on the CD.  Embedded objects such as tables, graphs, images, media clips, or other documents are not displayed.  The image viewers will display and print an image according to the resolution and color configuration of your PC.

What if A File Is Not Supported?

Unsupported word processing and spreadsheet files cannot be indexed by text, viewed or printed from within Alchemy.  If you are not sure about a file format, drag the file into the Alchemy Contents and try to view it.  If the View window is empty, the file is not supported for text indexing, viewing and printing from within Alchemy.  You can still add that file to the CD and retrieve it by a search of either the filename, or user-provided descriptive document title field. Unsupported image files can't be viewed or printed, but can be stored and retrieved by filename or descriptive title.  To view and print unsupported files, use Retrieve Files to restore them to your hard drive and open them under the original application.  Note: the original file format is never altered by Alchemy.

The following file formats are supported in this version

Word Processing formats:

ASCII

Rich Text Format (RTF)

Microsoft Write

WordPerfect 5 for DOS & Windows

WordPerfect 6 for DOS & Windows

Microsoft Word for DOS

Microsoft Word for Windows 2.0

Microsoft Word for Windows 6.0

Enable WP

WordStar

WordStar 2000

Hex view of binary files

Spreadsheet formats:

Quattro Pro 4.0

Lotus Symphony

Lotus 1-2-3, Release 2 - 5

Microsoft Excel 4.0, 5.0

Image formats:

Windows BMP, RLE, DIB

PaintBrush PCX

DCX

TIFF, Group 3, Group 4, FAX

GIF

JPEG

Kodak Photo CD

Photoshop

Microsoft Paint MSP

Sun Raster

LV - LaserData

HALO Cut

CLP

Showpartner GX2

ICO

Kofax

EPS - Raster Only

PICT

TARGA

WPG - Raster WordPerfect Graphics

GEM IMG

IOCA

MAC Paint

CALS

XBM - Xbitmap

XPM - Pixmap

XWD

ATT (G4)

Amiga IFF


Task/Browsing the Table of Contents
Browsing the Contents Window

See Also: Contents Window and Supported File Formats

The Contents window contains folders and documents.  Folders are represented by an icon that looks like a manila file folder, and can be either open or closed.  If a folder is closed, it can be opened by double-clicking on it

After double-clicking on the closed folder, it opens to show its contents.  In this example, the Pictures folder contains three more folders.

After double-clicking on another folder, it opens to show that it contains documents.  Documents are represented by icons.  For a full list of the document icons, see Document Icons.

To view any document, click on it.  The window will split in the middle and the bottom pane will display the contents of that document.  In this example, a bitmap file is being viewed.

You can view numerous types of files.  This example is viewing a document created by an ASCII editor.


Task/Complex queries
Complex queries

Complex queries allow you to search for multiple terms in multiple fields.

Searching multiple fields

To search multiple fields, place a search term in more than one search field.  The search treats this as an AND relationship.

For example, to find all Microsoft Word documents containing the word Doctor, enter Doctor in the full text field and doc (Word's native file extension) in the document title field.

Searching with multiple terms

Any search field can use a query containing search terms and Boolean operators.  Alchemy supports the use of the Boolean AND, OR, and NOT to construct complex queries.  Parentheses can be used to logically group parts of the query.

For example, to find all documents containing both Doctor and Smith, search for "Doctor AND Smith".  To find all documents containing either term, search for "Doctor OR Smith".  To search for all documents containing Doctor but not Smith, search for "Doctor AND NOT Smith".


Task/Copying selected text
Copying selected text

Selecting text to copy

Before you can select text to copy, you must be viewing a document from either the Contents window or the Query Results List.  You can view a document from either source by double-clicking on the document with the primary mouse button.

Once the document is visible, select text by clicking and dragging from the beginning of the desired text to the end of the text.  This process is identical to that used to select text in any Windows program.  Once some text is selected, you can either copy it to the clipboard or gather it into Notepad.

Copying to the clipboard

Copy selected text to the clipboard by either pressing Ctrl-C or by selecting Copy from the Edit menu.

Gathering selected text

If you plan on copying several pieces of text, the Gather option may be more efficient.  Gather text by selecting the text and either pressing Ctrl-G or selecting Gather from the Edit menu.  The first time you select Gather, Alchemy will start the Windows Notepad program and copy the selected text to the new Notepad document.  Further gathering will continue to copy the selected text to the Notepad document.

Note:  Notepad can create documents up to 50K in size.  For larger documents, copy the text to the clipboard rather than using Notepad.


Task/Opening a database
Opening a database

When Alchemy Search runs, it looks for the last known database and attempts to open it.  If it cannot find that database or if the user selects Open Database from the File menu, Alchemy will display the Open Database dialog.  The user can open any available Alchemy database.  A CD-ROM could contain numerous Alchemy databases.

Alchemy database files have the extension ALD.  Select any database file by double-clicking with the primary mouse button.


Task/Printing a document
Printing a document

Select a document from either the Contents window or the Query Results List by clicking on it with the primary mouse button.

You can print the selected document by pressing Ctrl-P, selecting Print from the File menu, or pressing [image] on the toolbar.

Alchemy prints documents as they look when viewed.  Word processing and spreadsheet files are printed in draft mode.  Documents that cannot be viewed within Alchemy also cannot be printed within Alchemy.  Refer to Supported File Formats for more information.


Task/Retrieving files
Retrieving files

Select a document or folder from the Contents window or the Query Results List by clicking with the primary mouse button.  Select Retrieve Files... from the File menu.  This option will display the Retrieve Files dialog, where you can select a destination directory.

If you are retrieving a folder, all of the subfolders and documents it contains will be copied to a directory of your choice.  If a subfolder's name is larger than 8 characters, you will be prompted to enter a legal directory name.

All documents are retrieved with their original file formats intact.


Task/Simple queries
Simple queries

The simplest way to query the database is to use the lookup table.  Select Query from the Search menu or press [image] on the toolbar.  This action will display the Query dialog.  From this dialog, you can search on the document's file name, title, or full text.

Click in one of the text boxes and press Alt-L or click the Lookup... button.  This action will display the Lookup dialog.  In this dialog, you can see if the desired search term is in the database.  You can navigate the index by typing in the text box or using the mouse to scroll the index.  If you type in the text box, the index will jump to the point where the typed characters would be.

When you find your search term on the list, double-click on it.  This will return you to the Query dialog with the search term visible in the text box.  Click on the Search button to complete the search.


Task/Viewing a document
Viewing a document

Word processing and spreadsheet documents are viewed in a draft mode.  Images are viewed according to your PC's resolution and color configuration.

You can view any document at any time by any of the following methods:

Click on the document in the Contents window

Use the up and down arrows to move the highlight to a document, then either select Document from the View menu, press  [image] on the toolbar, or press the Enter key.

Either action will open a view of the document in the lower portion of the Contents window.  For further information on the Contents window, see Contents Window .

You can create a separate viewer window (called a "clone" view) for viewing a document.  To create a clone view of a document, move the mouse cursor to the upper bar of the view window you wish to clone.  When the mouse cursor becomes a "hand", you can grab the window and drag it to another location.  When you view the next document, it will display in the original view window, leaving the clone window containing the previous document.

If you are experiencing trouble trying to view a document:

Make sure the View window pane is open (see Contents Window).

Refer to Supported File Formats to see if the document is supported by Alchemy's viewers.


Task/Viewing a profile card
Viewing a profile card

You can view any profile card at any time by either of the following methods:

Click on the document in the Contents window.  If the profile card is not visible, drag the slider bar from the right side of the window to open the profile viewing pane.

Select the document, then select Profile from the View menu or press [image] on the toolbar.

Either action will open a view of the profile card in the lower portion of the Contents window.  For further information on the Contents window, see the Contents Window topic.


Tasks

Searching the Database

Opening a database

Browsing the Contents Window

Simple queries

Complex queries

Query results

Viewing a document

Viewing a profile card

Retrieving files

Copying selected text

Printing a document


Tasks/Query results
Query results

The Query Results List

A successful search results in a new window, called a Query Results List, which contains a list of all documents matching the search terms.  Each item in the list contains the Document Icon and Title, and may contain file information if it is enabled in the Preferences dialog.

Browsing the Query Results

To view any document in the Query Results List, click or double-click on it (depending on whether single-click viewing is enabled in Preferences).  To print or retrieve documents, select the document and use the Print or Retrieve options from the File menu.

Compound Documents

Master compound documents are represented by the book icon.  These documents contain other documents.  To view the master compound document, click or double-click on it.

When you view a master document, the top pane of the Query Results List splits, with the new right-side pane showing a list of all documents attached to the current master compound document.

To view any attached document, click or double-click on it in the right-side pane.


Technical Support

Contacting Customer Support

Extended Support Programs

Reporting Problems

Requesting Features

The Alchemy Family of Products

About IMR


Term/AND
AND - A Boolean connector used in search criteria.  When AND is used between search words, only documents containing all words are retrieved.  For example, a search for CD-ROM AND Multimedia would result in all documents containing both terms.


Term/Alchemy
Alchemy -

A medieval chemical philosophy whose chief aim was the conversion of base metals into gold.*

Or

An apparently magical power.*

* WEBSTER'S II New Riverside Dictionary


Term/Amiga IFF
Amiga IFF - A file format used by Amiga computers to store images, text, and music.  Files using this format have the extension IFF.


Term/Archive
Archive - The process of selecting and moving files and documents from on-line storage (hard disks and file servers) to near-line or off-line storage (tape or optical drives).  Alchemy is an excellent system to store archived information onto CD-ROMs with built-in search and retrieval capability.


Term/Aspect Ratio
Aspect Ratio - The relationship of width to height.  When an image is displayed on different monitors or printed in different sizes, the aspect ratio must be kept the same.  Otherwise, the image will look "stretched" either vertically or horizontally.


Term/Boolean Logic
Boolean Logic - A method to specify complex searches.  Search words are combined using Boolean connectors AND, OR, and NOT.


Term/Buffer Underrun
Buffer Underrun - a condition that can occur when a CD-Recorder has to stop recording due to an empty data buffer, which can render the CD-ROM unusable.  These errors, once common, are now rare due to advanced CD-Recorder hardware and software.


Term/CALS
CALS - Computer-aided Acquisition and Logistics Support files are black and white images used by the U.S. Government.  They are compressed with using the Fax Group 4 format.  Files using this format have the extension CAL.


Term/CCITT
CCITT - A French acronym for the International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee.  CCITT issues standards for telecommunications and facsimiles.


Term/CD (Compact Disk)
CD (Compact Disk) - A standard medium for storage of digital data (including voice and video) in machine-readable form, accessible with a laser-based reader.


Term/CD-I (Compact Disk Interactive)
CD-I (Compact Disk Interactive) - A technical specification, jointly developed by Philips and Sony, for simultaneous and interactive presentation of video, audio, text and data in a self-contained multimedia system.  Also known as the Green Book standard.


Term/CD-R (CD-Recorder)
CD-R (CD-Recorder) - A term used commonly for any drive capable of writing a CD-ROM.  Also known as a CD-Writer.


Term/CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read Only Memory)
CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read Only Memory) - A version of the Compact Disk standard intended to store large amounts of digital data for personal computers.  Also known as the Yellow Book standard.  A CD-ROM appears to the user as a read-only logical disk drive.  Over 600 Megabytes of data can be stored on a single CD-ROM.


Term/CGM (Computer Graphics Metafile)
CGM (Computer Graphics Metafile) - An ANSI standard (X3.1221986) developed to organize the content of structured graphics files.


Term/CLP
CLP - This format is used by the Windows Clipboard application to save the contents of the clipboard.  Files using this format have the extension CLP.


Term/COLD (Computer Output to Laser Disc)
COLD (Computer Output to Laser Disc) - Replacement for COM (Computer Output to Microform) that sends output data directly to a WORM or CD-Recorder optical disc.  Commonly used to refer to the act of archiving data from large computers to optical media instead of tape, microfiche, or paper.


Term/COM (Computer Output to Microform)
COM (Computer Output to Microform) - The process of converting text and digital data to images on microfiche or microfilm.  The data is often in the form of printed reports created on a large computer.


Term/Clipboard
Clipboard - A temporary cache of data in memory or disk file where data is held while it's being copied from one place to another.  Typically, this term refers to the clipboard within Microsoft Windows.


Term/Close CD
Close CD - To fix the end of a track so that the CD-ROM is readable on other CD-ROM readers.  The CD-ROM may also be written to again, space permitting.  Closing the CD will consume 26 megabytes of space the first time, and 14 megabytes each time thereafter.


Term/DAD (Digital Audio Disk)
DAD (Digital Audio Disk) - Same as a Compact Disk (CD).


Term/DASD (Direct Access Storage Device)
DASD (Direct Access Storage Device) - Any on-line data storage device.  A CD-ROM player that can be addressed is a DASD.  Term was originally used to refer to mainframe computer storage devices.


Term/DAT (Digital Audio Tape)
DAT (Digital Audio Tape) - A technology that records noise-free digital data on magnetic tape.  A DAT cassette can hold 2 gigabytes or more when adapted for data storage.


Term/DPI (Dots Per Inch)
DPI (Dots Per Inch) - A measurement of output device (printers or monitors) resolution and quality.  Typical laser printers may support 300dpi or 600dpi, with monitors typically supporting 96dpi or 120dpi.


Term/Database
Database - An Alchemy database is an organized collection of similar information grouped together for rapid retrieval.  Alchemy's databases are optimized for CD-ROM and other optical media.  A CD-ROM may contain one or more databases.  Using Alchemy Gold or Professional versions, a single database can also span multiple CD-ROMs.


Term/Defragment
Defragment - the process of arranging files on the hard disk so that all files are contiguous (i.e., not scattered all over the disk).  Disk defragmentation should be done often to assure the best possible system performance.

MS-DOS and Windows 95 include a utility that can defragment your hard disk.  See your MS-DOS or Windows 95 manual for further information.


Term/Dithering
Dithering - Simulating gray tones by altering the size, arrangement or shape of background dots.


Term/Document
Document - Any end-product that is created in an application and can be stored as a file.  Alchemy extends the concept of documents to include all files.


Term/Document Profile
Document Profile - A fully configurable electronic "index card" attached to every document added to an Alchemy database.  Certain fields must be filled in by the user; other fields are filled in automatically.


Term/EPS
Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) - These files can contain vector and bitmap data, and may also contain a screen preview image, usually in TIFF format.  Files using this format have the extension EPS.  Alchemy can view the bitmap portion of EPS files.


Term/Full-text Search
Full-text Search - To locate documents stored in a system by searching for text that appears in them, rather than by searching for them by file name or other indexing technique.


Term/GEM IMG
GEM IMG - This format is used largely by applications running under the GEM operating system.  Files using this format have the extension IMG.


Term/GIF
GIF - A file format created by CompuServe to store images containing up to 256 colors.  The GIF format is compressed using a LZW compression scheme.  Files using this format have the extension GIF.  While still popular, this format has been replaced by CompuServe with the PNG format, which does not have license restrictions.


Term/Gold
Gold -

A soft, yellow, highly malleable and ductile metallic element that is used especially in coins and jewelry. *

Or

A hard, yellow, round, flat, highly valuable collection of your data.

* WEBSTER'S II New Riverside Dictionary


Term/Group 4 Facsimile
Group 4 Facsimile - A standard for encoding and compression of images on facsimile machines.  Group 4 uses a two dimensional run-length encoding for compression of monochrome images.


Term/Halo CUT
Halo CUT - These files are used by a number of MS-DOS paint programs.  Files using this format have the extension CUT.


Term/ICO
ICO - Microsoft Windows standard icon bitmap.  Icon files are uncompressed device-independent bitmaps.  Files using this format have the extension ICO.

Originator:	Microsoft Corp.
16011 NE 36th Way, Box 97917
Redmond, WA  98073


Term/IOCA
IOCA - These files contain black and white images only, and may be compressed with Fax Group 3 or Group 4.  The files use the extension ICA.


Term/ISO
ISO - International Standards Organization.


Term/ISO 9660
ISO 9660 - An international standard that specifies the logical format of files and directories stored on a CD-ROM.  ISO 9660 replaces the older High Sierra proposal and is directly derived from it.  The standard strives to achieve a high level of portability and platform independence.


Term/Indexing
Indexing - The process of building data structures for a database that contain the location of every word or other data item.  Indexes allow Alchemy to locate items rapidly without searching through the entire body of data.


Term/Indexing Characters
Indexing Characters - The character set used to recognize indexable words (e.g. A - Z, 0 - 9).


Term/JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group)
JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) - A proposed standard for compression of still images.  Files using this format have the extension JPG.  The JPEG compression scheme is lossy, which means it should only be used for large color images where the data loss may not be noticeable.


Term/Keywords
Keywords - A set of standard descriptive terms used on the Profile Card that can help to identify and locate documents, especially those containing very little text.


Term/Kodak Photo CD
Kodak Photo CD - An image format used to hold photographs on CD-ROM.  Each image file contains five images at different resolutions.  The images are all 24-bits per pixel.  Files using this format have the extension PCD.

Page	Resolution

0	768x512
1	384x256
2	192x128
3	1536x1024
4	3072x2048


Term/LV - LaserData
LaserView/LaserData - Format used to contain raster images for printing.


Term/Link
Link - A method of attaching items together in a database.  The index, for example, contain links to the files in the database.  These links are used to reach data for retrieval.


Term/Lookup Field
Lookup Field - a field containing data from a Lookup Table.  You might want to use a lookup table to index a field if the number of possible values was small.  For instance, to index documents by department, a lookup table might have the entries Sales, Engineering, Admin, Marketing, and Operations.  The document can then be indexed by selecting a department from the drop-down list for that field.  To use a lookup field:

Create a lookup table and enter the possible values.

Create a new field, and attach it to the lookup table.

Add that field to both the Query and Profile templates.


Term/Lookup Table
Lookup Table - A table containing possible values for indexing.  For example, if documents were indexed by department, a Department lookup table would contain values like Sales, Marketing, Engineering, and Admin.  When indexing the documents, the user could choose from these values, or enter a different value.


Term/MAC Paint
MAC Paint - File format produced by MacPaint on the Macintosh computer.  These images are black and white at a resolution of 720x576.  Files using this format have the extension MAC.


Term/MPEG (Motion Picture Experts Group)
MPEG (Motion Picture Experts Group) - An image compression scheme for full motion video.


Term/Microsoft Paint MSP
Microsoft Paint MSP - Graphics file format created by Microsoft Paint, an application included with Windows.  Files using this format have the extension MSP.


Term/Multimedia
Multimedia - Combining more than one media (text, data, audio, graphics and full-motion video) for dissemination of information.


Term/Multisession
Multisession - the ability to record data to the CD-ROM at multiple times.  Each session requires 14Mb of overhead, and a CD-ROM can contain up to 99 sessions..


Term/NOT
NOT - A Boolean connector used in search criteria.  The query, CD-ROM NOT MULTIMEDIA, tells Alchemy to retrieve all documents mentioning CD-ROM except for documents that also mention MULTIMEDIA.


Term/OCR (Optical Character Recognition)
OCR (Optical Character Recognition) - The process of converting bitmap images of text to machine readable characters using optical sensing and pattern recognition.  Typically used on images produced by scanning printed pages.


Term/OR
OR - A Boolean connector used in search criteria.  When OR is used between two search words in a query, it asks for the retrieval of all documents that mention either of the two words.


Term/PCX, DCX
PCX, DCX - The PCX format is created by ZSoft's PaintBrush.  The DCX variant, created by Intel, can contain multiple images and is commonly used by fax programs for storing incoming or outgoing faxes.  These files are compressed using a simple run length encoding format.


Term/PICT
PICT - Most commonly supported format for the Macintosh computer.  This format can contain both vector and raster images.  Files using this format have the extension PCT.


Term/Parentheses
Parentheses - An element of a Boolean search criteria used to group search criteria together and alter their precedence.  For example, the query CAR AND (BOAT OR PLANE) is distinct from (CAR AND BOAT) OR PLANE.


Term/Photoshop
Photoshop (PSD) - A bitmap format used for astronomical images.  Images can be uncompressed or compressed with a variable-length Huffman format.  Files using this format have the extension PSD.


Term/Premastering
Premastering - The process of formatting data and recording on a CD-ROM.  Data is organized into logical sectors, synchronization information is generated, an error detection and correction data block is calculated and added to the end of each sector.


Term/Profile Search
Profile Search - A search method used to sort and retrieve documents via information contained in their Profile Templates.


Term/Profile Template
Profile Template - A configurable dialog template which is used to prompt and search for profile data.  Each database has one Profile Template, but the same Profile Template may be used by multiple databases.

Also known as a Profile Card.


Term/RAID (Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Discs)
RAID (Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Discs) - A storage device that uses several disk drives working in tandem to increase throughput and/or provide redundant backup.


Term/SCSI (Small Computer Standard Interface)
SCSI (Small Computer Standard Interface) - A standard parallel interface that connects peripherals to microcomputers.  As many as eight peripherals can be connected to a single SCSI bus.  Most optical discs connect to computers using a SCSI bus.  The computer will normally require a SCSI adapter board to talk to SCSI peripherals.


Term/Search Result
Search Result - The list of documents found to match a query, also known as a Query Results List.


Term/Seek Time
Seek Time - A measure of how quickly a disk drive's head can be positioned over data to read.  The seek time of a CD-ROM drive may vary from 200ms to over 1 second, while the seek time of a magnetic disk is typically 10 - 20ms.


Term/Stop Word
Stop Word - A word that Alchemy ignores while indexing documents.  Stop words normally include English prepositions, conjunctions,  articles and certain verbs.  OF, AND, IS, THE, WITH are typical stop words.  Alchemy comes with a list of stop words, and this list may be modified by the user.  The stop word list is used to keep the index from becoming cluttered with multiple occurrences of words with little or no information content.  By not indexing these common words, the index is smaller and retrieval is faster.


Term/Sun Raster
Sun Raster - Standard raster graphics format for Sun workstations.  Files using this format can have extensions of RAST, RAS, IM, IM1, IM8, IM24, or IM32


Term/TARGA
TARGA - Format used by Truevision Graphics Adapters.  They may be compressed using Run-Length Encoding.  Files using this format have the extension TGA.


Term/TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol)
TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) - A set of protocols to link dissimilar computers across networks.  This is the default protocol used by the Internet.


Term/TIFF
TIFF - Stands for Tagged Image File Format.  These images can be uncompressed, or can be compressed with PackBits, Modified Huffman, JPEG, LZW, Fax Group 3 or Fax Group 4.  Files using this format have the extension TIF.


Term/Template
Template - Dialog that can be changed by the user.  Alchemy supports two templates - Profile and Query.  The Profile template shows in the viewer area of the Contents or Query Results windows, and is used to modify fields prior to indexing.  The Query template shows in the Query dialog, and is used to search the database.  Both templates may be modified by the user.


Term/Thermal Calibration
Thermal Calibration - Operation performed by some hard disks to adjust for differences in temperature.  This can interrupt the CD-ROM recording process, resulting in a data underrun and rendering the CD-ROM unusable.


Term/Throughput
Throughput - A volume of data that can be written to or read from a device in a fixed period.  Single speed CD-ROM readers have throughput of 150 kilobytes per second.  Double speed CD-ROM readers can support up to 300 KB/s.  Also known as the "data transfer rate".


Term/VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association)
VESA (Video Electronics Standards Association) - A consortium of manufacturers formed to establish standards for super VGA monitors and display adapters.


Term/Virtual Folder
Virtual Folder - A logical structure imposed on a document set to provide a hierarchical classification scheme similar to a disk directory structure.  The database folder hierarchy can be modified at any time prior to recording on a CD-ROM.  The virtual folder hierarchy becomes the Contents once the database is recorded on a CD-ROM.


Term/WORM (Write Once, Read Many)
WORM (Write Once, Read Many) - An optical storage device with both write and read capabilities.  There are no standards about WORM media formats - every drive uses different discs and formats.


Term/WPG
WPG - Graphic format produced by WordPerfect applications.  This format may include both vector and bitmap images.  Bitmap images are compressed using simple run-length encoding.  Files using this format have the extension WPG.  Alchemy can view the bitmap portion of WPG files.


Term/Wild Cards
Wild Cards - Characters used match multiple choices, such as used in the DOS file system.  Both single character (?) and multi-character (*) wild cards are supported.  Wild cards are used in queries to search for variations of a term.


Term/Windows BMP, RLE, DIB, WMF
Windows BMP, RLE, DIB - Graphics file formats that are "native" to Windows.

BMP	Uncompressed bitmap.
RLE	Bitmap compressed with Run-Length Encoding.
DIB	Device Independent Bitmap.  You'll rarely see these.  Most programs generate BMP files instead.


Term/Word Wheel
Word Wheel - Another name for the index lookup list.  This name came from the viewpoint that, as the user types, the list "spins" like a wheel to the entries matching the user's text.


Term/XBM - Xbitmap
XBM Xbitmap - Black and white image format that consists of readable ASCII text and legal C source code.  Files using this format have the extension XBM.


Term/XPM - Pixmap
XPM Pixmap - An extended version of the XBM bitmap for color bitmaps.  This format is both readable ASCII and legal C code.


The Alchemy Family of Products

Alchemy Personal Plus - the most powerful desktop CD-R application

Writes and retrieves data across multiple CDs; no other software in this price range can do this!
Builds and manages multiple databases.
Clear Database feature allows you to "test" and experiment before recording.
Indexing methods, Profile cards, and Query can be all customized.

Alchemy Gold - for workgroup and departmental applications

For LAN archiving, backup, computer report distribution, imaging storage.
May be installed on a file server.
Includes a concurrent retrieval program.
CD-SPAN retrieval for jukeboxes or CD towers.
DataGrabber interface for COLD or large imaging jobs.
Forms overlay designer.
Password protection security.

Alchemy Professional - service bureau license

12-month license to sell Alchemy databases and CDs.
All the functionality of Alchemy Gold.
Unlimited CD replication and distribution.

DataGrabber - computer report/imaging index conversion

Parses any ASCII text file directly into an Alchemy database.
Automatically links image files, indexes, and OCR files.
Requires Alchemy Gold or Professional.

For ordering information about the following products:

Alchemy Personal Plus
Alchemy Gold
Alchemy Professional
DataGrabber

Call IMR at 1-303-689-0022, 8 am to 6 pm M-F Mountain Time, or send a FAX to 1-303-689-0055. (No technical support calls, please) or send email to imrgold@aol.com


The User Interface

Menu Commands

Keyboard Commands

Toolbar Commands

Dialogs


Toolbar Commands

Alchemy's Main Toolbar

The toolbar is displayed in Alchemy's main window.  Certain commands may be disabled at times, and will generally appear in a color different from other toolbar icons.  Click on any icon for a detailed description.


Using Windows 95

Alchemy has been tested under Windows 95.  No special procedures are required to run Alchemy under Windows 95.

Features for Windows 95

Alchemy has special capabilities if the program is run under the Windows 95 operating system.

Alchemy fully supports long file and directory names.  You can use Alchemy to backup and restore Windows 95 programs.

Alchemy Quirks under Windows 95

Alchemy uses OLE to view some documents.  The files necessary to view OLE documents were installed when you installed Alchemy, if they were not already present on the system.  Windows 95 now installs these files, so Alchemy's OLE files would not be installed under 95.  When you create a CD, Alchemy places all the files necessary for it to run on the CD, including the OLE files.  Under Windows 95, the OLE files shipped with Windows 95 are backward compatible with Windows for Workgroups, but not Windows 3.1 or 3.11.  Therefore, CDs made under 95 may not work under Windows 3.1, unless:

The user already has the OLE libraries on their system, and...

The user installed Alchemy Search using its Setup program.


View Menu

Click on any menu item for further information.


View/Contents
This option allows you to see where a viewed document was found in the Contents.  Select the window containing the viewed document.  Choose this option from either the toolbar or View/Contents from the menu.  The folder containing this document will open in the Contents and the document will be highlighted.


View/Document
Select this option to view the content of the highlighted document.  This button is a toggle that appears as either raised or depressed in the toolbar, and as checked or not checked in the menu.


View/Next Highlight
Select this option to highlight the next occurrence of a search word within the document.

This command is only available while viewing a document found using full-text query.


View/Next in Contents
Select this option to display the contents and/or profile of the next file in the Contents window.


View/Next in Results List
Select this option to go to the next document on a search results list and display its profile, content or both.


View/Previous Highlight
Select this option to highlight the previous occurrence of a search word within the document.

This command is only available while viewing a document found using full-text query.


View/Previous in Contents
Select this option to display the contents and/or profile of the previous file in the Contents window.


View/Previous in Results List
Select this option to go to the previous document on a search results list and display its profile, content or both.


View/Profile
Select this option to view the profile of the highlighted or displayed document.  This button is a toggle that appears as either raised or depressed in the toolbar, and as checked or not checked in the menu.


View/Status Bar
Enable this option to show the Status Bar.  The following are displayed on the Status Bar:

A single line description of the menu command or toolbar buttons under the mouse pointer.

Line or page information about displayed documents.

Resolution information about displayed images.


View/Toolbar
Enable this option to display the Toolbar, which includes buttons for some of the most commonly used commands.


Window Menu

Click on any menu item for further information.


Window/Arrange Icons
Select this option to arrange into rows all windows that have been minimized.


Window/Cascade
Select this option to arrange open windows so that the title bar of each window is visible.


Window/Close All
Select this option to close all open windows.


Window/Tile
Select this option to arrange open windows side by side so that all of them are visible.  To arrange windows horizontally, press either Shift key while selecting this option.