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- BPOP - A TSR Magnifying Glass
- Part of the B-WARE family
- Copyright Hexagon Products 1989, 1991
-
- Version 2.1 June 1991
-
- BPOPTable of Contents
- Page Subject
- BPOP Basics
- 1 Introduction
- 2 Quick Start (F1 Help)
- 4 Fonts and Character Sizes (F2 Zoom)
- 7 Moving Around with Arrow keys (F3 and F4)
-
- Searches
- 9 F6 - Search for Attribute
- 12 F7 - GOTO Cursor
- 12 F8 - GOTO Location
- 12 F9 - Search for Text
- 13 F10 - Do it Again
-
- Command Line Options
- 14 -K Changing the Hot Key
- 18 -S Changing the Size
- 18 -V Changing the Video Mode
-
- Final Notes
- 19 Technical Specifications
- 20 A Word about TesSeRact(TM)
- 21 Disk Vendors, BBS's, Users Groups
- 22 An Ad for BEDIT
- 23 Other Products and Prices
- 24 BPOP 2.1 Registration Form
-
-
-
- B-Pop - A TSR Magnifying Glass
- Part of the B-Ware family
- Copyright Hexagon Products 1989, 1991
-
- Version 2.1 June 1991
-
- Introduction
- B-Pop is a memory-resident magnifying glass. It pops up over text mode
- screens of other software and enlarges the characters, making them
- easier to read. B-Pop is part of the B-Ware family which includes
- B-Edit, B-Type, B-Look, B-Dir, BIG for 1-2-3 and BIG for WordPerfect.
- B-Pop is shareware for $27. For a list of products and prices, see the
- last pages of this document.
-
- B-Pop was written for vision impaired users, but can be used in any
- situation where it is hard to see the computer screen, such as enlarging
- faint letters on a laptop or making a computer demonstration visible to
- people in the back of a conference room or classroom.
-
- B-Pop gives you a choice of magnification. On a typical color display,
- the enlargement might provide 10, 20, 26, 40, or 53 characters per line.
- Because B-Pop uses larger characters, fewer of them fit, so only a portion
- of the underlying display can be enlarged at any one time. However, you
- can move the focus around with the arrow keys, or search for a particular
- color or text string on the display.
-
- B-Pop draws characters on your screen based on character maps or fonts
- embedded within B-Pop. The original B-Pop contained three different fonts:
- 8-bit, 12-bit, or 16-bit. Version 2.1 adds new 24-bit and 32-bit fonts.
- These provide better looking, smoother characters when used on any video
- display. Further information is provided in this document in the section
- called Fonts.
-
- B-Pop is a TSR. You load it at the DOS command line, and it Terminates,
- but Stays Resident (TSR). After that, it lurks in the background, waiting
- to be popped up when you press a certain combination of keys (hot keys).
- When you call up B-Pop, it reads whatever is currently displayed on your
- screen, and redisplays a portion of it using larger characters. Use the
- arrow keys to scroll around to other parts of the display. When done,
- press any other key to return you to where you left off. B-Pop uses
- TesSeRact(TM) which should make it relatively compatible with other TSRs.
-
- B-Pop is a general purpose enlarger. It can be popped up over any text
- mode screen. By contrast, BIG for 1-2-3 and BIG for WordPerfect are two
- special purpose enlargers. They work only with their associated programs,
- but they well with them. For example, they know where error message are
- located, what menus look like, and where status areas are located. They
- will automatically enlarge what is most likely to be of interest to you.
-
- Quick Start
- B-Pop comes in two separate EXE files, BPOP24.EXE and BPOP32.EXE. They
- differ only in the magnification they provide. You are given both and
- can choose which you prefer.
-
- You run B-Pop by entering the B-Pop command at the DOS prompt. Choose
- BPOP24 or BPOP32 to start out with. Later, you can experiment to decide
- which one to use regularly. The programs differ only in the character fonts
- they contain. When B-Pop is loaded, it displays a short message, and then
- returns control to DOS. It looks as if B-Pop has terminated, but in fact,
- it is still resident in your computer's memory. If you had done a DOS
- CHKDSK immediately before and after running B-Pop, you would have noticed
- that the memory available has shrunk by about 45K. This is memory that
- B-Pop is using.
-
- You can now enter any DOS command or program. For example, enter the DOS
- DIR command to get a listing of your files as usual. Now, hold down the
- Left Shift key and the ALT key and press the letter A all at the same time.
- If everything is correct, B-Pop will read the DIR display off your screen,
- and replace it with a portion of the screen blown up with larger characters.
-
- B-Pop is now active, and will remain in control until you are done with
- it. You can see another portion of the display by pressing any of the arrow
- keys, including the 4 single arrow keys, HOME, END, PGDN, or PGUP. These
- keys cause B-Pop to scroll over the underlying data, displaying a different
- portion each time. The top line of the B-Pop display always shows the row
- and column of the underlying data that is currently displayed.
-
- Press the ESCape key, and the B-Pop display will vanish, restoring the
- original text. While the B-Pop display is active, several keys have
- meaning to B-Pop. They will be interpreted as commands. Any other key
- will serve to erase the B-Pop display.
-
- F1 - Help
- While B-Pop is active, the function keys have special meaning. If you
- press F1 for Help, you get a list of the function key definitions.
- If you are running B-Pop on a device capable of graphics display, you
- can change the magnification by pressing F2. Pressing any key other than
- a function key causes B-Pop to restore the original screen image and
- return control.
-
- While B-Pop is active, the F5 key makes B-Pop not only release control of
- the screen, but also removes B-Pop from your machine completely.
- After this, you won't be able to call B-Pop with the hot keys again until
- you reload it. If you haven't loaded any other programs on top of B-Pop,
- the memory B-Pop was using will be returned for other use.
-
- The function keys F6 through F10 serve to search the underlying text
- for contents or position. For example, you can change the B-Pop screen
- to locate and enlarge the area around the word ERROR, or data with the
- attribute of Red on White.
-
- If you press any other key while B-Pop is active, B-Pop will release control
- of the screen and "go back to sleep" waiting to be "awakened" by the
- press of its hot keys.
-
- Fonts and Character Sizes
- F2 - Zoom
- B-Pop can use the greatest enlargement, where a screen is filled up with
- only 6 lines of 10 characters, on all video hardware. When B-Pop is used
- with video cards that support graphics, such as CGA or Hercules, B-Pop
- gives you a range of character sizes used to make up the display. You
- can cycle among all modes supported for your display when B-Pop is active
- by pressing the F2 key.
-
- The number of characters displayed by B-Pop is a function of the size of
- each character and the resolution of your video card and monitor. B-Pop uses
- several fonts, including an 8-bit, 12-bit, 16-bit, 24-bit, and 32-bit fonts.
- In 640x200 graphics mode, the display is produced by 640 separate dots of light
- or pixels across the screen, and 200 dots down. Characters produced with the
- 16-bit font require 16 dots in each direction for each character.
-
- So, a 16-bit font yields 40 (640/16) characters across, and 12 (200/16) lines
- down. Different video modes provide 320x200, 640x350, or even 640x480.
- Displaying different fonts in different video modes produces a wide variety
- of character sizes.
-
- Each font contains a pattern to make up all 256 possible characters. For
- example, the 8-bit entry for the letter 'A' might look like this:
-
- ..XX....
- .XXXX...
- XX..XX..
- XX..XX..
- XXXXXX..
- XX..XX..
- XX..XX..
- ........
-
- where the dots are 0's and the X's are 1's. The only inter-character
- spacing done in B-Pop is provided for in the font itself. Thus,
- the A has an empty row along the bottom and two empty columns along
- the right hand side. The first row is 0011 0000 or 30 in hexadecimal.
- In hex, the entire entry for an 'A' would be "30 78 CC CC FC CC CC 00".
-
- Each entry takes up eight bytes, so for all 256 characters 8*256 = 2048 bytes
- are required. For the 16-bit font, each row takes up two bytes, and 16 rows
- are required. For 256 characters, 2*16*256 = 8192 bytes are required.
-
- For the 12-bit font, each row still takes up two bytes, but only the
- first 12 bits in the row are displayed. The 12-bit font uses 14 rows,
- so the 12-bit font takes up 2*14*256 or 7168 bytes. The 12-bit font
- used in B-Pop is provided courtesy of Kim Kokkonen of TurboPower Software.
- It was developed for use in BigEd, a large character word processor.
-
- The fonts are resident in memory with B-Pop, and as such, take memory away
- from your application. It is likely that you will decide upon a single
- enlargement and find that the extra fonts just get in the way and take
- up overhead. To solve this problem, there are two B-Pop programs,
- differing only in what fonts they contain, and consequently, in what size
- characters they can produce.
-
- BPOP24.EXE contains the 8-bit, 12-bit, and 24-bit fonts. BPOP32.EXE
- contains the 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit fonts. Try each one, run through
- all the Zoom modes for each, and decide which you prefer.
-
- The combination of characters available to you with the a given B-Pop font
- can be determined by looking at the table below. Find the desired
- enlargement for your hardware, determine the font needed to produce it,
- and run the appropriate B-Pop program that contains that font.
- Video Display
- Hardware Mode Font Yield
-
- Mono 80x25 8-bit 10x6
-
- CGA 320x200 32-bit 10x6
- 24-bit 13x7
- 16-bit 20x12
- 12-bit 27x14
-
- 640x200 32-bit 20x6
- 24-bit 27x7
- 16-bit 40x12
- 12-bit 53x14
-
- Hercules 720x348 32-bit 23x11
- Monochrome 24-bit 30x12
- Graphics 16-bit 45x22
- 12-bit 60x25
-
- EGA 320x200 32-bit 10x6
- and 24-bit 13x7
- VGA 16-bit 20x12
- 12-bit 27x14
-
- 640x200 32-bit 20x6
- 24-bit 27x7
- 16-bit 40x12
- 12-bit 53x14
-
- 640x350 32-bit 20x10
- 24-bit 27x13
- 16-bit 40x21
- 12-bit 53x25
-
- VGA 640x480 32-bit 20x15
- only 24-bit 27x17
- 16-bit 40x30
- 12-bit 53x34
-
- Rows and columns on video cards given resolution and font.
-
- If you find the need to modify the characters used by B-Pop yourself,
- a font editor is provided with each registration. You might choose to
- modify the letters to exagerate the differences between an H, M, and W,
- for example. Also, any font with the extension .F8 from the Ultravision
- package from Personics or any font suitable for use with BigEd from Kim
- Kokkonen can be used.
-
- The 24 and 32 bit fonts provided with B-Pop are Times-Roman. Each character
- has small serifs or lines at the tips. Some people find this character
- style easy to read. When you register B-Pop, you will also receive a
- Helvetica version of the 24 and 32 bit fonts. Helvetica does not use
- serifs (sans serif).
-
- Moving Around with Arrow Keys
- F3 - Page Left
- F4 - Page Right
- B-Pop can only display a portion of the underlying data that was on the
- screen when B-Pop was called up. When using the largest block characters,
- each underlying character which occupied one column and one row will be
- enlarged by B-Pop to take up 8 columns and 4 rows. The underlying data
- can only be fully displayed by B-Pop if you look at 8 pages across and
- 4 pages down. Since each B-Pop screen covers only about 1/32 of the
- underlying data it is important to be able to move the B-Pop display
- to other portions of the data.
-
- The simplest way to do this is by using the arrow keys. The four arrow
- keys cause B-Pop to move one character in the given direction. UP and
- DOWN move one row, while LEFT and RIGHT move one column. These arrow
- keys are useful for fine adjustments. If you see most of what you are
- looking for on the current B-Pop display, you can use the arrow keys to
- see what is just off the edge of the B-Pop display.
-
- If you get to the edge of the underlying data, the arrow keys cause B-Pop
- to wrap the display. For example, if you are displaying the top row of
- the underlying data, and you press the UP arrow, since B-Pop can't display
- any further up, it will wrap down to the last row of the previous column.
-
- This is analogous to how you read. If you are at the rightmost edge and
- you press the RIGHT arrow, B-Pop will go down a page and back over to the
- left margin. Whenever B-Pop wraps like this, it will issue a short low
- beep to alert you to the situation. The top line of the display can
- always be examined to determine exactly what portion of the underlying
- display is being shown at any given time.
-
- There are also paging keys which will change the display a page at a time.
- A page is defined as what can be shown on the B-Pop screen at once. For
- example, with an 80 by 25 display, a B-Pop page consists of 10 columns of
- 5 rows. If you press the PgUp key, B-Pop will display the data that is
- 5 rows above what you are looking at. Again, if the top row is already
- on the display, B-Pop will wrap to the last row of the previous page.
- The PgUp and PgDn keys move the display one page up or down. The TAB key
- moves the display one page to the right, and the back tab key, or Shift
- TAB, moves the display one page to the left. If you prefer, the F3 and F4
- keys also move the display one page to the left and right.
-
- In addition, two other keys can be used, HOME and END. HOME changes the
- display to show the first column and first row of the underlying data.
- Sometimes if you get confused about where you are in the display, you
- can press HOME to take you to the top left to get your bearings, then
- use the other paging keys to move around again. The END key takes you
- to the bottom row of the underlying data but leaves the column unchanged.
-
- Distance
- 1 Character 1 Page To the Edge
- UP arrow PGUP HOME
- DOWN arrow PGDN END
- LEFT arrow ShiftTab (F3)
- RIGHT arrow Tab (F4)
-
- B-Pop also lets you search for particular characters or attributes
- of the underlying data.
- All searches proceed across and then down until the entire underlying text
- has been examined or until the search succeeds.
-
- F6 - Search for Attribute
- B-Pop can only display a portion of the underlying data that was on the
- screen when B-Pop was called up. You can move the B-Pop display to another
- portion of the underlying data with the arrow keys, but B-Pop also lets
- you identify certain areas of the underlying data by characteristic.
- For example, after you have called B-Pop up, you can press the F6 function
- key to tell B-Pop to search the underlying data for any field that was
- displayed in a certain color, or with a certain attribute.
-
- Every character displayed on the screen is given its own attribute. The
- attribute controls whether the character will be displayed in bright or
- normal intensity, whether or not it will be blinking, and on color screens,
- what color it will be. Monochrome screens are limited in the number of
- different attributes they distinguish.
-
- For example, if your word processor displays error messages in Red on White,
- you can use the F6 key to go directly to any error message. When you press
- F6, a screen is displayed that asks you what foreground color you are seeking.
- The color choices are listed. Enter a number from 0 to 7 indicating which
- color. For this example, enter a 4 for Red. Then you are asked what
- background color you are interested in. In this case, enter 7 for White.
- If there is any Red on White text on the underlying screen, the B-Pop display
- will show it. If not, a short beep will let you know that B-Pop could not
- find any such attribute.
-
- There are actually more attributes available than these. Add eight to the
- foreground attribute and you get the same color in high intensity. Add eight
- to the background attribute and you get blinking. Not all video monitors
- and adapters differentiate combinations such as black from bright black.
-
- The complete table of attributes for color displays is as follows:
-
- Foreground Background
- Color Bright Blink
-
- Black 0 8 0 8
- Blue 1 9 1 9
- Green 2 A 2 A
- Cyan 3 B 3 B
- Red 4 C 4 C
- Magenta 5 D 5 D
- Brown 6 E 6 E
- White 7 F 7 F
-
-
- For monochrome screens, although a full attribute byte is reserved for
- each character, meaning there are a possible 256 attribute combinations,
- most are not supported by the hardware. The common monochrome attributes
- are: White on Black (Foreground 7, background 0), Underlined (1,0), and
- Black on White (0,7). There are bright and blinking versions of these
- three also. To choose the blinking, add 8 to the background number
- and to choose bright, add 8 to the foreground number (hexadecimal).
-
- If you enter a value in the range 0 through 7, B-Pop will search for any
- match regardless of the blinking or brightness settings. If you want to
- specifically look for a blinking or brightness setting, you can enter
- the attribute in the range of 8 through F.
-
- There are some programs available that will change the colors displayed
- on your screen for a given attribute, and sometimes it is just very
- difficult to determine what color you are looking for. As an example,
- I wanted to search for the blinking WAIT message that Lotus 1-2-3 displays
- in the upper right corner. It looked like White on Red to me, but B-Pop
- couldn't find any White on Red text on the screen.
-
- To solve this problem, you can answer the B-Pop prompt for attribute with
- a question mark. If you do so, B-Pop will ask what column and row you are
- interested in. In my case, the blinking WAIT message is in column 77 of
- row 1. When I entered that, B-Pop came back and said the attribute of that
- column and row had a foreground of B and a background of C. This is Bright
- Cyan on Blinking Red. That explains why B-Pop didn't return anything for a
- search of White on Red. Now, I can search for the B on C attributes when
- I am in 1-2-3.
-
- You can repeat the last search you performed by pressing the function key
- F10. This will look for the next area on the screen with the same attribute.
-
- When a blank is displayed on the screen, it doesn't matter if the attribute
- calls for red on black or white on black, all you see is black. For this
- reason, when you search for attribute, areas on the screen with nothing
- but blanks in them are skipped.
-
- F7 - GOTO Cursor
- F8 - GOTO Location
- Each display screen has a cursor position associated with it. If you
- press the F7 function key while B-Pop is active, it will change the B-Pop
- display to show the page around the underlying data pointed to by the
- cursor. Note that not all software uses the cursor position in a meaningful
- way. Some programs use their own cursor made up of a reverse video
- display. They move the actual cursor to off the display screen. F7
- will just display the area of the actual cursor. In these cases, you may
- be better off searching for attribute.
-
- If you know what area on the screen you are interested in, you can use
- function key F8 to go there directly. When you enter F8, B-Pop prompts you
- for the column and row you are interested in. The column and row numbers
- start at 1. B-Pop will change the display to show the appropriate
- underlying data.
-
- F9 - Search for Text
- B-Pop can only display a portion of the underlying data that was on the
- screen when B-Pop was called up. You can move the B-Pop display to another
- portion of the underlying data with the arrow keys, but B-Pop also lets
- you identify certain areas of the underlying data by contents.
- For example, after you have called B-Pop up, you can press the F9 function
- key to tell B-Pop to search the underlying data for a given string of
- characters.
-
- For example, you might want to search a spreadsheet screen for any field
- that involved money. To do this, you can bring up the B-Pop screen and press
- the F9 function key. B-Pop will prompt you for what text you want to search
- for. Then enter a dollar sign ($). B-Pop will search the underlying data
- for a matching dollar sign, and change the B-Pop display to show the new
- area. You can repeat the search, looking for the next dollar sign, by
- pressing the F10 key.
-
- Wild cards which are used in DOS text searchs, such as * and ?, have
- no special meaning in B-Pop text searches. If you search for a ?, B-Pop
- will look for a ? in the underlying text.
-
- F10 - Do it Again
- You can repeat the last search you performed by pressing the function key
- F10. This will look for the next area that matches your criteria: matching
- attribute if the last search was F7, matching text for F9.
- Command Line Options
- B-Pop has several options which can be specified on the command line
- when you invoke B-Pop. Each option is preceded by a dash (-) and a single
- letter. An example of an option is the Size option, -S. To use a size
- of 5000, you would enter B-Pop as follows:
-
- BPOP -S5000
-
- There is no space between the option letter and the value. It does
- not matter whether you enter the option letter in upper or lower case.
- If you have to use two options, it doesn't matter in what order you enter
- them. For normal usage, you need not enter any options.
-
- -K Changing the Hot Key
- By default, B-Pop can be invoked by pressing the hot key combination of
- ALT, Left Shift, and A. If this is not a convenient combination to
- use, or if it conflicts with another TSR program you are running, you
- can change the hot key combination with the -K option.
-
- If you want to change the hot key combination that is used to invoke
- B-Pop, you can do so by using the -K parameter on the DOS command line
- when you first start B-Pop. For example:
-
- BPOP -K0A1E
-
- would give you the same hot key you get by default. The first two characters
- after the K (in the example, 0A) indicate what shift keys must be pressed
- for the hot key to be recognized. There are 4 shift keys: the CTRL key, the
- ALT key, and the Left and Right Shift keys. In this example, the 0A means
- the ALT and Left Shift keys must be pressed together.
-
- The last two characters after the K (in the example, 1E) indicate what
- letter or number key must be pressed for the hot key. In this case, the
- 1E means the letter A. You can choose from any of the letter keys, number
- keys, or function keys.
-
- It is important that you choose a shift and key combination that do not
- interfere with other software that you run. For example, Lotus 1-2-3
- uses the F1 key for Help. You could tell B-Pop to pop up whenever the F1
- key was pressed, but if you did that, you would never be able to get
- Help from 1-2-3.
-
- In addition to any normal software you use, such as
- spreadsheets, databases, or word processors, you have to make sure that
- the B-Pop hot key doesn't interfere with any other TSR programs you may
- also be running.
-
- If you make a mistake, and B-Pop turns up where you don't want it, you
- can remove B-Pop from memory by pressing the F5 key. Then you can enter
- keys directly to your other application.
-
-
- The following is a list of Shift Key combinations you can
- use with the -K parameter:
-
- -K Code Shift Key Meaning
-
- 00 No shift keys needed
- 01 RightShift
- 02 LeftShift
- 03 RightShift+ LeftShift
- 04 Ctrl
- 05 RightShift+ Ctrl
- 06 LeftShift+ Ctrl
- 07 RightShift+ LeftShift+ Ctrl
-
- 08 Alt
- 09 RightShift+ Alt
- 0A LeftShift+ Alt
- 0B RightShift+ LeftShift+ Alt
- 0C Ctrl+ Alt
- 0D RightShift+ Ctrl+ Alt
- 0E LeftShift+ Ctrl+ Alt
- 0F RightShift+ LeftShift+ Ctrl+ Alt
-
-
- The following is a list of character codes you can use with the
- -K parameter:
-
- Char -K Code Char -K Code Char -K Code
- A 1E J 24 S 1F
- B 30 K 25 T 14
- C 2E L 26 U 16
- D 20 M 32 V 2F
- E 12 N 31 W 11
- F 21 O 18 X 2D
- G 22 P 19 Y 15
- H 23 Q 10 Z 2C
- I 17 R 13
-
- Char -K Code Char -K Code Char -K Code
- 1 02 F1 3B F11 57
- 2 03 F2 3C F12 58
- 3 04 F3 3D
- 4 05 F4 3E
- 5 06 F5 3F
- 6 07 F6 40
- 7 08 F7 41
- 8 09 F8 42
- 9 0A F9 43
- 0 0B F10 44
-
- The last two codes, F11 and F12, will not work on all machines. Try
- them out if you are interested.
-
- The default hot key combination for B-Pop is Left Shift-Alt-A. To set
- such a value, find the Left Shift-Alt line in the top table. It is
- opposite code 0A. Then find the code for the letter A in the next table.
- It is code 1E. Placing these two next to each other gives -K0A1E. If
- you ran B-Pop with this combination, you would get the default setting.
-
- -S Changing the Size
- When invoked, B-Pop reads the text screen into a buffer. It then enlarges
- a portion of it and eventually restores it upon exit. By default, B-Pop
- provides a buffer large enough to hold 25 rows of 80 characters, the normal
- DOS screen size. If you are using B-Pop with more rows or columns than
- this, you can increase the size of the buffer B-Pop uses to hold the
- text screen.
-
- By default, B-Pop uses a buffer large enough to hold 2000 characters
- (80x25). You can increase this by specifying the size of the text
- screen with the -S option. Follow the S with the number of characters
- on the text screen you will be using. For example, on a screen with
- 43 rows of 80 characters, or 3440 characters in all, use:
-
- BPOP -S3440
-
- -V Changing the Video Mode
- When you use B-Pop on a graphics screen, you can get a number of different
- display sizes. You can cycle through them using the F2 key when B-Pop
- is active. The chosen video mode will be used on subsequent invocations
- of B-Pop. If you prefer, you can instruct B-Pop to use a particular video
- mode when it is initially brought up by using the -V option. Follow
- the -V with the number of times you would normally press the F2 key to
- obtain the size you prefer. For example:
-
- BPOP -V2
-
- is the equivalent of entering BPOP without the -V option, then pressing
- the F2 key twice.
-
- Technical Specifications
- B-Pop is a TSR written according to the TesSeRact(TM) specifications. It
- should work on any IBM compatible PC running under DOS 2.2 or later. It
- will run on any monochrome or color screen when they are in text mode.
- BPOP12 and BPOP6 require 45K. To run B-Pop on screens in greater than 25
- line mode use the -S option.
-
- B-Pop will not pop up over a graphics mode screen, or when DOS is in the
- middle of executing a task. If you try to invoke B-Pop at these times,
- B-Pop will just produce a cascading series of beeps instead of popping up.
- A Word about TesSeRact(TM)
- This product uses the TesSeRact(TM) Ram-Resident Library and supports
- the TesSeRact Standard for Ram-Resident Program Communication. For
- information about TesSeRact, contact the TesSeRact Development Team
- at:
-
- TesSeRact Development Team
- c/o Chip Rabinowitz
- 2084 Woodlawn Avenue
- Glenside, PA 19038
- (215) 884-3373
-
- Compuserve: 70731,20
- MCIMAIL: 315-5415
-
- This MCIMAIL Account has been provided to the TesSeRact Development
- Team by Borland International, Inc. The TesSeRact Development Team is
- in no way associated with Borland International, Inc. TesSeRact is a
- trademark of the TesSeRact Development Team.
-
- TesSeRact is Copyright 1988 TesSeRact Development Team, All Rights
- Reserved.
-
-
- What's Shareware?
- With shareware, the software author sends evaluation copies to a
- few central places such as bulletin boards. They in turn make
- copies available to others at little or no cost. Quality software will
- be passed on continuously, making the software readily available to all.
- Users need only pay for software that works for them.
-
- Since there are many shareware authors, and a large audience for quality
- shareware, some companies called disk vendors have formed to bring the two
- together. By charging a small copying fee, they can collect catalogs of
- shareware, pay for toll-free telephone numbers, take credit charges for
- disk copying fees, and make a profit. A catalog from these vendors is
- the best survey of quality shareware available. They usually charge $5
- or less per disk and $5 for shipping and handling.
-
- Shareware authors get no payment from the bulletin boards or disk vendors
- who distribute the shareware. When you pay a vendor for
- an evaluation copy of the software, the payment covers their expenses and
- goes to their profit. The shareware authors get paid only when you buy
- the shareware products directly from them after evaluation.
-
- Although you can evaluate the software before paying,
- it is not free. If you continue to use the software after a reasonable
- evaluation period, you are required to pay for it. However, since the
- software authorr does not keep track of who is evaluating the software,
- you're not going to get a bill. Rather, you are on your honor to pay
- for the software. It is much like public supported television.
-
- Where's My Copy?
- If you are ready to buy the software, order it directly from Hexagon
- Products. See below for the address and price list. If you are looking for
- an evaluation copy, you should find it from one of the shareware channels.
-
- Because of the indirect method of distribution, shareware ends up in
- many more places than the author ever knows about. If you can't
- find Hexagon Products shareware on a bulletin board or from a
- local users group, you can use one of the following sources which
- carry the most recent versions:
-
- The DISABIL forum of Compuserve.
-
- Public Brand Software in Indiana, 800-426-3475.
-
- Public Software Library in Texas, 800-242-4775.
-
-
- How Much?
- Prices are fixed through 12/91. After that, check.
-
- Product Price Latest Version
- B-Edit $39 2.1
- BIG for 1-2-3 $39 1.0
- BIG for WP $39 1.1
- B-Pop $27 2.1
-
- $9 discount on each of second and subsequent items in a single order.
-
- Documentation for all programs is provided in large, easy-to-read,
- 18-point type. In addition, all of the following large-character
- utility programs are included with any purchase at no extra cost:
-
- B-Type, B-Dir, and B-Print
- are large-character replacements for the related DOS commands.
- B-Print prints text files in large characters on Epson-compatible
- dot-matrix printers.
-
- B-Look
- is a text file browser. Scroll with arrow keys.
-
- B-Font and B-Apply
- modify the character shapes used in the above
- B-Ware products.
-
- contact: Hexagon Products
- Bill Arendt P.O. Box 1295
- (708) 692-3355 Park Ridge, IL 60068-1295
-
- B-Pop 2.1 Registration Form
- Please complete the following registration form and send it to:
- Hexagon Products
- P.O. Box 1295
- Park Ridge, IL 60068-1295
- (708) 692-3355
-
- Name: _________________________________________________________________________
-
- Company: ______________________________________________________________________
-
- Address: ______________________________________________________________________
-
- City: ___________________________ State: ______________________________________
-
- Zip: _____________ Phone: _____________________________________________________
-
- Optional information:
- Using on: Laptop Desktop
-
- Display: VGA EGA CGA Herc Mono Dual
-
- Oper.Sys: DOS OS/2
-
- Preferred Input Device: Mouse Keyboard
-
- Preferred Character Size: ___ rows by ___ columns
-
- Suggestions for improving B-Pop? ______________________________________________
-
- _______________________________________________________________________________
-
- Where did you find B-Pop? _____________________________________________________
-
- If you have speech synthesis hardware, what kind? _____________________________
-