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PHLBL Label/Rotary filecard/Postcard Printer Version 2.01 Released 11-27-90 Herron Software P.O. Box 1288 Battle Ground, Washington USA 98604 COPYRIGHT 1990 Phil Herron. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY __________________________________________ THIS PRODUCT IS PROVIDED FOR EVALUATION, AS IS AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. THE AUTHOR MAKES NO EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE FOR LOSS OF PROFIT OR ANY OTHER COMMERCIAL DAMAGE ARISING FROM EITHER THE USE OF OR THE INABILITY TO USE THIS PRODUCT. __________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ P R E F A C E -- E V A L U A T I O N ________________________________________________________________ 0.1 Shareware 0.1.1 License Terms 0.1.2 Registration Benefits - Forms - Fees - Quantity discounts 0.2 Evaluation Version 0.2.1 Evaluation Menu 0.2.2 Virus Prevention ________________________________________________________________ 0.1 SHAREWARE _______________ "Shareware" is a software distribution method which enables the potential user to obtain software at very low initial cost, for evaluation on a trial basis. You can evaluate the software in your own environment, on your own machine, with the programs and data that you normally use. You're not required to become a registered user unless the software meets your needs. Another benefit of Shareware is lower pricing. By minimizing the marketing and advertising expenses associated with more traditional software distribution methods, Shareware products can be priced lower. You don't pay for what you don't need or use. You are encouraged to share the evaluation version of this software with others, so long as you follow the limitations set forth in the LICENSE TERMS section below. 0.1.1 LICENSE TERMS _____________________ This product and its documentation are copyrighted and owned solely by the author, who reserves all rights to any benefits derived from it. It is distinctly separate from, and should not be confused with, those categories of software known as "public domain" or "freeware." You are granted the right to use the evaluation version of this software on a trial basis for a limited amount of time, to decide whether to continue using (and therefore whether to register) the product. You can transmit this evaluation version to associates by copying on diskette or uploading to electronic bulletin board or other online services, so long as the program, documentation and any associated files are distributed together, and not altered in any way. 0.1.2 REGISTRATION ____________________ When you send in the registration form and fee, you'll receive by return mail a diskette containing the latest REGISTERED version of the program and documentation. BENEFITS OF REGISTRATION The registered version DOES NOT include the Evaluation Menu front end of this version. Thus it will be more convenient to use, from either the DOS prompt or from batch files. It will also be 12K-15K bytes smaller, for more efficient disk storage and faster loading. The registered version WILL include any new functions or enhancements made to date. You will receive notification of future updates and new products, and will be able to upgrade to newer versions at a reduced cost. REGISTRATION FORM The registration form and a pre-addressed mailing cover can be printed from the "Forms Printing" selection of the Evaluation menu, discussed below. FEES The single-quantity registration fee is displayed on the initial Evaluation Menu screen. Higher quantities are discussed below. QUANTITY DISCOUNTS Each registered copy of this software will be licensed for operation at a single location (on a single terminal or computer) at any one time. If you need to run the software on more than one terminal or computer at the same time, the appropriate number of registrations must be made. Multiple-quantity registration fees are displayed in the "QUANTITY DISCOUNT" section of the Evaluation menu. You can take advantage of quantity discounts by ordering multiple registrations of one program or single registrations of several different programs at the same time. You also save on shipping and handling charges by registering several products together. 0.2 EVALUATION VERSION ________________________ This software contains the complete and fully functional version of the program, the latest available at the time of this release. The program itself is identical to the REGISTERED version. For evaluation, a front end menu containing a documentation file viewer and forms printer have been added to ensure that: (a) Registration information and forms will not become separated from the program file. (b) Users who might be unfamiliar with the process of displaying a file's contents on the screen or printer will have no difficulty learning about, evaluating or registering this product. 0.2.1 EVALUATION MENU _______________________ The program is invoked from the DOS prompt by typing its name and pressing the RETURN or ENTER key. The initial screen displays warranty and program information, then the Shareware Product EVALUATION MENU, containing the following functions: ESC - EXIT to DOS without evaluating this program R - READ the documentation (THIS file) x - EVALUATE this program Q - QUANTITY Discount information F - FORMS printing menu - registration & mailer When you press "R" to READ the documentation, this file will be displayed one screen at a time. The display pauses whenever the screen becomes full, and prompts... or Esc "" indicates that more is available, like the "MORE" prompt in other DOS utilities. Press the ESCape key to return to the Evaluation Menu, or any normal typing key such as the spacebar to continue. 0.2.2 VIRUS PREVENTION ________________________ If you'd like to evaluate this software but you're not sure where it's been, you can order a copy directly from the source. See the SHAREWARE PRODUCT CATALOG at the end of this file. ________________________________________________________________ T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S ________________________________________________________________ 1 . NEW in This Version 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Overview 1.3 Getting Started 1.4 System Requirements 1.4.1 Installing 1.5 Help 1.6 Syntax 1.7 File Selection Window 1.8 Operating Screen 1.9 Menu functions 2 . Data Storage 2.1 Data File Format - Default 2.2 Data File Format - Options 2.2.1 Comment line 2.2.2 Blank Line within Label 2.2.3 Printer Attribute Command Line 2.2.4 Margin Setting Line 2.2.5 Label Height Setting Line 2.2.6 Inter-Label Skip Setting line 2.2.7 Embedded DATE, TIME commands 2.3 Data File Editing 2.3.1 New Data Files 2.3.2 Existing Data Files 2.3.3 Line Lengths A. Data File Line Length B. Printing Line Length 2.3.4 Label Heights 3 . Miscellaneous Notes 3.1 Printer Limitations 3.2 Left Margin 4 . Applications 5 . Error messages 5.1 DOS ErrorLevel 6 . Future Additions 7 . Version History 9 . Support 9.1 Problem Resolution 9.1.1 Reporting The Problem 9.2 Custom Modifications 9.3 Correspondence 10 . Shareware Product Catalog ________________________________________________________________ 1 NEW IN THIS VERSION _______________________ New label movement commands allow rapid navigation up, down, and to top or bottom of data file. Label "Mark"/"Unmark" for subsequent searches. Label search by comment line, first line of label, or Marked/Unmarked state. Extensive documentation revisions. 1.1 INTRODUCTION __________________ Label printers seem to come in two forms: too simple for versatility, or too complex for occasional use without a refresher course. This program began life as a "quick and easy" label printer; it's gained some features along the way, but most of them can be ignored when not needed. When needed, they're shown in several help screens, and explained more fully in the following sections. PHLBL provides easy, rapid locating and printing of your most frequently used labels, cards and tags, such as return address labels or rotary file cards and postcards for advertising. If you maintain extensive mailing lists or need labels sorted by name or zip code, you may also need a dedicated mailing list manager. 1.2 OVERVIEW ______________ PHLBL loads, displays and prints labels stored in pure ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) disk files. For ease of use, PHLBL can load a default data file whenever run. Or it will display a "pick" window of some or all files in a subdirectory, then prompt for selection. Either way, you don't have to remember file names. In its default configuration, PHLBL prints up to 5 lines of text, using draft mode, on standard 15/16-inch-high labels. By embedding optional commands in the label data file, PHLBL can be directed to print on various sizes of label/card stock, using a number of different printer attributes. Optional commands are available to: Add non-printing comment lines. Add blank lines within labels. Change from draft mode to 9 other printer attributes (each line can have a different printing attribute). Change the left margin setting. Change the label height to 1 through 15 lines. Change the inter-label skip setting to 1 through 99 lines. Add embedded date and time printing commands. Adding and editing labels can be done using the word processor or text editor that you're already familiar with, so there won't be any strange new word processor commands to learn. Text is entered in the same format as the label, card or tag to be printed. If your editor has import capabilities, blocks of text in other files or applications can be marked and transferred into label data files. 1.3 GETTING STARTED _____________________ Files included in this distribution: PhLBL.EXE - executable program PhLBL.DOC - manual (this documentation file) PhLBL.LBL - default data file The default label data file PhLBL.LBL demonstrates some of PHLBL's features and capabilities. Begin by entering PHLBL <return> on the DOS command line. The default data file will be loaded automatically, as long as it can be found in the current drive and directory or on the currently set path. When loading completes, press function key F1; the first help screen explains menu selections and the keys used to move up and down through the data file. Other screens summarize the special commands and line attribute characters. The complete contents of PHLBL.LBL, including comments and special commands, can be viewed later with a file browser or text editor. For now, step through the label and card entries; some contain descriptive text rather than actual labels. Print a few sample labels to view the effects of the various printing attributes. Change the Margin Settings to determine those most useful with your printer, or to print on multi-width label stock. Then read the Data Storage and Data File sections below to begin entering your own data. 1.4 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS _________________________ PC, XT, AT or compatible. DOS version 2.1 or later. 256K or more RAM recommended. Maximum number of labels per data file depends on the amount of user memory (RAM) free after DOS, PHLBL and any memory-resident utilities are loaded. The registered version (without the evaluation front end) uses about 62K for operation, plus another 1310 bytes for each label. A 640K system with no memory-resident utilities will handle up to about 400 labels per data file. If the whole data file won't fit in memory, the user is notified, then normal operations continue. An Epson-compatible dot matrix printer is needed if printer attributes are used; most other printers will work for plain labels. PHLBL was developed using an Epson FX-85 dot matrix printer with this default configuration at power-up: Default pitch ......... Draft Pica Horizontal spacing .... 10 Chars per inch Vertical spacing ...... 6 Lines per inch 1.4.1 INSTALLING __________________ The program can be run from diskette or from hard disk. No installation is necessary, other than copying the files to a drive and directory of your choosing. 1.5 HELP __________ COMMAND LINE SYNTAX Can't remember the command line syntax? Issue the program's name without any parameters; it will load the default label data file PHLBL.LBL if found in the current subdirectory, or will display a file selection window containing files and subdirectories accessible from this point. HELP from within PHLBL From the operating screen, function key F1 displays help screens summarizing the navigation keys, menu selections, special and attribute commands. 1.6 SYNTAX ____________ PHLBL [filespec] Where [filespec] is the file specification needed to reference a file; it can also be shown as [d:][\path\][filename.ext]. Wildcard characters * and ? can be used in specifying filenames and extensions. If no filespec is entered, PHLBL will search for the default data file PHLBL.LBL in the current drive and directory, and any others specified in the DOS "PATH" statement. If not found, a file selection window of the current directory will be displayed. For further information on filespecs and setting up a path, see your DOS manual. Examples of valid command lines: PHLBL - loads default file PHLBL.LBL, if found, or displays the file selection window. PHLBL *.* - file selection window of current dir. PHLBL A: - file selection window of A: root dir. PHLBL C:\LA\*.L* - file selection window of C:\LA, files *.L* PHLBL MyFile.Txt - loads MyFile.Txt, or halts if not found. Filespecs shown above are also valid from the main menu "NewFile" command prompt. 1.7 FILE SELECTION WINDOW ___________________________ A file selection or "pick" window is displayed: - Whenever the command line argument (the filespec) includes wildcard characters, or when no argument is entered but PHLBL.LBL is not found in the current subdirectory or on the path. - Whenever the main menu "NewFile" command prompt is answered by pressing the <Return> key with no filespec, or when the filespec entered includes wildcard characters. The window displays a sorted list of files and/or directory names (500 maximum) that match the filespec entered. Filenames are displayed in normal intensity, directory names in high. Selection is made by moving the reverse-video block to the desired location using the cursor arrow keys, then pressing the <Return> key. "..\" is the "parent" directory to the current one, so if you're in C:\LA and select "..\", you'll get a list of files in C:\, the root directory. By selecting directory names, you can get a file list from anywhere on the current drive. 1.8 OPERATING SCREEN ______________________ After a data file has been loaded, the screen display appears; line numbers are included here only for explanation purposes. 1 __PhLbl_______________________ 2 |______________________________| 3 Label 1 of 20 File C:\LA\PHLBL.LBL 4 Margin 0 Lines/Skip 15/1 Attr BDDDD 5 ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ 6 . This is a comment line 7 ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ 8 Label 1, line 1 . Label 1, line 2 . ... . └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ 24 25 F1-help _Print _Mark _Find _Newfile _Ruler _Settings _Esc Line explanation: 1,2 - Program name/copyright block 3 - Label number (highlighted if first or last in file) - Filespec of current data file. 4 - Mark/Unmark status window: blank if label not marked. - Margin setting: May be embedded in the data file; can be changed from the main menu's Settings submenu. - Lines/Skip setting: defaults are 5/1. Both can be embedded in data files; Lines: height of label or other printing stock. Skip: lines between labels. Usually left at default. - Printer Attributes assigned to this label: One character for each line in the current label. Default is D for Draft; others may be embedded in the data file using the "@Axxx..." command. 5 - Comment border - displayed only when comment is attached. 6 - one-line comment (if any) attached to current label. 7 - Label top border; can be switched to a ruler. 8 - One to fifteen lines display current label contents, . depending on label length and Lines setting (described . above). Label lines can be any length; however, only the . first 79 characters will be displayed or printed. n n+1 Label bottom border; can be switched to a ruler. 24 - Message/Prompt window. 25 - Bottom line on the screen is the main menu. 1.9 MENU FUNCTIONS ____________________ Most of the menu functions are explained from within PHLBL by pressing function key F1. Below are a few additional notes. PGUP and PGDN provide larger movements than the and spacebar keys when navigating around large data files; for each key press, they move up or down by approximately 10% of the total labels in the data file. PRINTING Submenu: P - Print single label. For quick printing of single labels from the main menu, press the "P" key twice. Q - print Quantity of labels. Enter number of labels to print, or press <Return> to accept default quantity, or press <Escape> or <Q> again to avoid printing. Once printing has begun, early termination may be difficult; if your printer has a buffer, printing will continue until the buffer is emptied. The surest way to terminate printing in progress is to turn off the printer's power switch. MARK and UNMARK: The main menu "M" key reverses the Mark state of the currently displayed label (if already marked, that label becomes unmarked, and vise versa), then advances to the next label. Marked status is indicated by the word "Marked" in reverse video on the left side of line 4. FIND: Case is ignored in text searches. A search can be repeated anytime without reentering parameters by issuing <Control-L>. SETTINGS Submenu: Contains selections for changing the left margin and the printer assignment. M - set printer left Margin. Changes the margin from the default value or that set by an embedded "@Mxx" command. Can be used to print on label stock wider than "one-up". Enter new margin, or press <Return> to accept default quantity, or <Escape> or <M> again to escape. P - select Printer number. Selects printer 1, 2 or 3, if you have more than one printer installed. Default is printer number 1. Enter new printer, or press <Return> to accept default, or <Escape> or <P> again to escape. 2 DATA STORAGE ________________________________________________________________ PHLBL works with any number of data storage files on any drive, so labels can be grouped in as many files as needed for convenient handling. Labels can be grouped by filename, extension, subdirectory, and even by disk drive. Some examples: Subdirectory \BIZ-INT (Business, internal) Data files Inv.LBL (product inventory labels) DiskLabl (diskette labels) FileLabl (file folder labels) RoloLabl (rotary file cards) Govt.LBL (taxing authorities) Subdirectory \BIZ-EXT (Business, external) Data files Distr.LBL (distributors of your product) Vendors.LBL (suppliers to your business) Customer.LBL (customer list) MailList.1 (mailing list 1) MailList.2 (mailing list 2) Subdirectory \PERSONAL Data files Personal.LBL (personal contacts) Xmas.LBL (Christmas card list) Tape (audio, video cassette labels) 2.1 DATA FILE FORMAT - DEFAULT ________________________________ Text is stored in the data file in the same format it will have when output to the printer. An example of a data file containing three very basic labels: Label 1, line 1 Label 1, line 2 Label 1, line 3 These labels will use default parameters for printing: Draft Label 2, line 1 attribute, zero left margin, and 5 lines per label. Label 3, line 1 Label 3, line 2 One or more blank lines must separate a label from its neighbors; any block of text without a blank line is considered one label. A blank line contains only a carriage return (entered by pressing the Return or Enter key). Blank lines within a label are explained later. 2.2 DATA FILE FORMAT - OPTIONS ________________________________ Any of the below options may be added to a data file to override default parameters or add features. Sample data file PHLBL.LBL contains examples of most of the options. 2.2.1 COMMENT LINE Begins with a period (".") in column 1, and is ignored by the label printer. Data files can include any number of comment lines. Comment lines separated from any label by a blank line are not attached to any label, so are never displayed. Those without a blank line below them are attached to the following label. The last comment line above a label is displayed on the screen with that label, and its contents can be searched using the "Find" function. It might be used to contain control information, such as the date entered (for later purging): . 10-22-90 Customer ID 12345 or words and abbreviations for making label selections: . Vendor label 1 of 3 Some sample comment lines: . This comment block is not attached to a label; .....it can be used for internal notes. . This comment is displayed with its label, and is searchable. Label One, line 1 . This comment line is NOT displayed on screen, . nor is this one... . but this comment line IS displayed, and is searchable. Label Two, line 1 2.2.2 BLANK LINE WITHIN LABEL Begins with a dash, "-" in column one, and can contain no other characters. Forces a blank line within the label when displayed or printed. Label One, line 1 - Label One, line 3 2.2.3 PRINTER ATTRIBUTE COMMAND LINE Begins with @A in column one, and changes the printer's default settings, beginning with the following label. Each attribute command remains in effect until changed; if all labels in a file use the same set of non-default attributes, only one command is needed at the top of the file. Alternately, each label can be given different attributes by embedding a new attribute command above each label. The format is @Axxx... where up to 15 attributes can be assigned, one for each line in the longest label. An attribute command line for a 5-line label should include five letters (one for each line in the label). Lines not assigned an attribute letter will use the default "Draft" attribute. Attribute letters are the first letters of the possible line attributes: Bold, Compressed, Draft, Elite, Huge, Italic, NearLetterQuality, Small, Underlined, Wide. From within PHLBL, function key F1 displays a help screen listing all line attributes and their corresponding characters-per-inch parameters. Following the "@A", case and white space (spaces, tabs) are ignored. @Aiiiii Sets all five lines to ITALIC attribute. @A I I I I I Same as above. @A BcDeH Sets line 1 to BOLD attribute, line 2 to COMPRESSED, line 3 to DRAFT, line 4 to ELITE, line 5 to HUGE. 2.2.4 MARGIN SETTING LINE Begins with @M in column one, and replaces the default left margin. Margins are set in 0.10 inch increments, and can range from 0 to 255. Default is zero. This example sets the left margin to 42 for all subsequent labels (or until another @M line is encountered): @M42 2.2.5 LABEL HEIGHT SETTING LINE Begins with @L in column one, and sets the maximum number of printing lines in a label. Height can range from 1 through 15 lines; default is 5. This example sets label height to 12 lines: @L12 An @A command should be used before or immediately following an @L command, to assign attributes for each line. Otherwise, each line will use the default "draft" attribute. 2.2.6 INTER-LABEL SKIP SETTING LINE Begins with @S in column one, and sets the number of lines to be skipped after each label. Range can be from 0 through 99 lines; default is 1. A skip setting of 3: @S3 To maintain correct label registration in the printer, the sum of the height and skip settings must equal the number of lines from the top of one label to the top of the following label. 2.2.7 EMBEDDED DATE, TIME COMMANDS Begin in any column within a label. Cause the current system date or time to be displayed on screen, and printed when the associated label is printed. Example: System date is !@DATE; system time is !@TIME. 2.3 DATA FILE EDITING _______________________ For basic operation, an editor and PHLBL can be run alternately from the DOS prompt. If you have a standard text editor with jump-to-DOS ("shell") capability, you can create/edit the data file in it, then shell to DOS to run PHLBL. For fast swapping, a pop up memory- resident editor and/or task-switching software (DoubleDos, Software Carousel, DesqView, etc.) can be used. A few of the memory-resident desktop accessory programs available as Shareware or by retail: ALT HomeBase Desk Commando My-Desk DeskMate PC DeskTeam DeskUtil Right Hand Man EZDesk SideKick 2.3.1 NEW DATA FILES Several methods of getting label text into a data file: * Type it into an editor and save the file to disk. * Many applications are capable of exporting data to a disk file in pure ASCII. The file can then be edited into the desired format. * While running other applications, import data to a memory- resident editor by block marking and transferring. 2.3.2 EXISTING DATA FILES If the data already exists in a file: Edit or add to it using any text editor. Whenever the file is loaded in PHLBL, its full filespec is displayed near the top of the screen. To view new labels or changes: Save the edited file to disk, then switch back to PHLBL. If the file was previously loaded into PHLBL, reload it by selecting "NewFile" from the main menu. Otherwise run PHLBL and load the file. Finally, search for the label of interest. 2.3.3 LINE LENGTHS A. DATA FILE LINE LENGTH Comments and label lines can be any length in the data file, but only the first 79 characters of each will be displayed by PHLBL. Depending on the printer attribute and the width of your output forms (labels, rotary file cards, etc.), label text lines may have to be shorter than 79 characters, as discussed below. B. PRINTING LINE LENGTH To print the maximum line length, you'll need to select an appropriate attribute for the width of your label or card stock. In "Draft" mode (10 Cpi), a 79-character line is 7.9 inches long. The same line is only half that length when "Small" mode (20 Cpi) is used. To find the maximum line length for a particular application... Given: Cpi for default Draft mode 10 Label width 3.5 inches Left Margin setting 5 If the label's left edge falls at margin setting 0, a margin of 5 shortens the printing area by 5/10ths inch, to 3.0 inches. At 10 Cpi, 3 inches will hold 30 characters. 2.3.4 LABEL HEIGHTS Default values are used whenever a data file does not include the "@Lnn" (label height setting) or "@Snn" (skip lines setting) commands. Label height in lines : max 15, default 5. Lines skipped between labels: max 99, default 1. On a 6 line per inch printer, the defaults handle 15/16th inch high labels: five lines of text, one skip line between labels. 3 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES ________________________________________________________________ 3.1 KNOWN LIMITATIONS with OLDER PRINTERS ___________________________________________ Epson FX-85 (and possibly other models): "Elite" mode is not available in IBM mode. Epson FX-80 and its wide version, the FX-100: "Small" mode will not print at 20 characters per inch, since these printers don't accept Compressed and Elite attributes at the same time. When sent a line with the attribute of "Small", they print in Elite mode. To get the most compact printing, you must use the Compressed attribute. "NLQ" mode prints in draft on these printers, since they don't include Near-Letter-Quality capability from the factory. 3.2 LEFT MARGIN ________________ If a margin setting is needed for your standard label/card stock, you should only have to set it once, with an embedded command near the top of each data file. The Settings submenu "M" command can also be used to set the left margin to another value. This might be necessary when first setting up data files, or for nonstandard stock, or for label sheets containing more than one label across. For label stock wider than "one-up": Print the left-most labels with the standard margin setting, then run the labels through the printer again, with the margin setting increased to print subsequent columns of labels. A manually-set margin will remain in effect until you exit the program or load a new data file. To keep it permanently, it must be entered into the data file. You generally won't need to have more than one Left Margin or Lines/Skip setting in each data file. 4 APPLICATIONS ________________________________________________________________ Typical output formats: Labels... Diskette, tape cassette labels Parts inventory labels Product pricing labels Storage container labels Recycling container labels (Glass, Plastic, Tin, etc.) Warning labels (Urgent, Rush, Fragile, etc.) Cover labels for reports, binders, notebooks File folder labels Address book entries Mailing labels Shipping labels Name tags Cards... Rotary file and Rolodex(tm) cards "3x5" index cards Post cards Library circulation cards, catalog cards 5 ERROR MESSAGES ________________________________________________________________ "Out of memory; file only partially loaded - Any key..." Not enough memory is available to hold the complete data file. Operations can continue, but some of the labels will not be available. See the "SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS" section for details. Remedy: either unload some memory-resident utilities to free up some memory, or reduce the size of the data file. 5.1 DOS ERRORLEVEL ____________________ Upon termination, the program returns a DOS ErrorLevel value which indicates how the program ended, and which can be used for subsequent operations in a batch file. For further information, see the "IF ERRORLEVEL" batch command in your DOS manual. ErrorLevel List: 0 - Successful 2 - Specified file not found 3 - Input parameter is out of range. 4 - Input parameter contains an illegal character. 5 - Missing parameters. 27 - ESCaped out of a file selection window. 6 FUTURE ADDITIONS ________________________________________________________________ Some future enhancements being explored: Alternate (European, ISO) date and time formats for the "!@DATE" and "!@TIME" commands. !@SN command for Serial/sequence numbering. !@SERIES command for quantity numbering ("nn of nn"). 7 VERSION HISTORY ________________________________________________________________ 1.0 Initial release. 1.1 Added @Lnn command to handle larger labels, index and rotary cards. 1.2 Added provision for selecting printer number. 1.3 Added a "pick" window for selecting data file. 1.4 Added Wide printer attribute (8.5 Cpi). Corrections to Printer number selection/assignment. 1.5 Margin selection moved from Main menu to Print submenu. Printing quantity selected is now retained during run. 2.0 Added new label movement commands, Mark/Unmark function. Added Find function: searches for Marked/Unmarked labels, or text in comment or first line of label. 2.01 Documentation revisions. ________________________________________________________________ 9 SUPPORT ________________________________________________________________ The first user to document and report a problem that we agree needs attention, will receive a free upgrade with the correction when it's been made. Registered users will get the upgraded registered version; unregistered evaluators will get the upgraded evaluation version. 9.1 PROBLEM RESOLUTION ________________________ Things to try prior to reporting a problem: 1 - Reread the documentation to make sure you understand what we thought we understood when we wrote it. 2 - If the system reports "Bad command or file name" when you attempt to run the program, its executable file (or at least the file name you specified) was not found. First, make sure no typos or misspellings have crept into your command line; next, try changing your PATH setting, or make the drive & directory where the program resides the "current" drive & directory. 3 - If the program is being run from a batch file, try deleting lines previous to the line that actually invokes the program, to see if some prior activity is causing the problem. 4 - If you have any memory-resident or "TSR" utilities installed (pop-up calculators/note pads, keyboard enhancements, etc.), try removing them from memory and running the program again to see if the problem reoccurs. 9.1.1 REPORTING THE PROBLEM _____________________________ If the problem persists, please document it as completely and accurately as possible; we have to be able to duplicate it before we can begin to resolve it. Include at least the following: 1 - Version of DOS you are using. 2 - Machine type, drives, memory, etc. 3 - Programs executed prior to the problem. 4 - Problem program's name and version number. 5 - Where and how you obtained the problem program. 6 - Address and/or phone number where you can be contacted. 7 - Anything you can think of that might relate to the problem; for example, listings of your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files, or any batch files used to run the program. 8 - Any relevant printouts. NOTE: Registered users will find the utility UserResp.Exe on the distribution diskette; it can be used to print a pre-addressed mailer and a problem report. 9.2 CUSTOM MODIFICATIONS __________________________ If custom modifications to this software are needed for your particular application, please write to the below address with complete details of your requirements. 9.3 CORRESPONDENCE ____________________ We welcome any comments or suggestions you might have concerning improvements and future enhancements to this product. Send all correspondence and orders to: Herron Software P.O. Box 1288 Battle Ground, Washington USA 98604 ________________________________________________________________ 10 SHAREWARE PRODUCT CATALOG ________________________________________________________________ If our other Shareware products aren't available locally, evaluation disks can be ordered directly from the source: Each disk (5.25" DSDD 362K) holds up to five programs and associated documentation files. Include $3.50 for the first disk, shipping and handling. Add $1.00 for each additional disk of programs you want to evaluate (Example: $3.50 for 1 to 5 programs, $4.50 for 6-10, $5.50 for 11-15, etc.). Make all payments in U.S. funds; Washington State residents must add 7.6% of the total for sales tax. For addresses outside the U.S. and Canada, include $6.50 additional for shipping. The latest versions of most products can also be downloaded from the CompuServe Information Service. ____________________________________________ PROGRAM SPECIFICATIONS AND REGISTRATION FEES MAY CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE ____________________________________________ 1099 Series - IRS forms preparation 1099M - 1099-MISC Miscellaneous income statement 1099i - 1099-INT Interest income statement 1099S - 1099-S Real Estate Transactions statement 1098 - 1098 Mortgage Interest statement ChkD - Check_Disk_space reports disk drive space usage. It reports drive cluster size, then drive space TOTAL, FREE and USED by actual value and by percentage. Faster and more convenient than the DOS "dir" or "chkdsk" utilities for displaying drive information. ChkM - Check_Memory_space reports standard system memory (RAM) space usage. It reports memory space TOTAL, FREE and USED by actual value and by percentage. Faster and more convenient than the DOS "chkdsk" utility for displaying system memory information. CleanOut - searches all directories of the default drive for file(s) specified on command line. Each time a matching file is found, the user is prompted for disposition: Delete or Save. File contents, either text or binary, can be VIEWED before deciding. A single press of the "S" key saves a file; a double press of the "D" key deletes it. An optional mode allows deletions without confirmation. Useful for cleaning out .BAK file leftovers, among others. CleanTxt - Clean_Text converts WordStar text files to straight ASCII. It strips out certain control characters, and will optionally expand tab characters to the appropriate number of spaces. CleanZ - Most text editors won't read files beyond the first control-Z end-of-file character. Control-Z's can become embedded in a text file when several files are combined using the DOS "type" command. CleanZ will strip out each control-Z, or it will optionally replace each with a seldom-used character, to ease the task of locating the former boundaries in combined files. DiskInit - Diskette_Initialize erases all files and subdirectories on a 5.25 inch 362k DSDD diskette in about two seconds. It does not initialize marked bad sectors, but tells you to reformat instead. ErrLev - ErrLev is a utility for testing batch file "if errorlevel" statements. During testing, executable program calls are commented out and replaced with "ErrLev nn", where nn is the DOS errorlevel to be simulated. The simulated errorlevel then exercises branching commands in the batch file under test. FindD - Find_Directory searches the default drive for specified subdirectory names, and lists the complete path to those found. FindF - Find_File searches the default drive for specified files, and writes the file information to screen or disk. Useful for locating misplaced files or for generating a listing of all files and subdirectories on the default drive. FreqCh - Letter-frequency analysis of text or binary files; handles the full 256-character extended Ascii set; display is sorted in order of Ascii code or frequency of occurrence. Gen - Generate_file replaces several trial-and-error methods of building specific-sized files for printer, storage or timing tests. It generates files of any size from zero to twenty million bytes, much faster than typing random characters into a text editor. Besides generating files on disk, it can send characters directly to the console screen, printer or other DOS device. Index - Text file INDEX word list utility. Strips punctuation, digits, whitespace, trivial words and words shorter than a specified minimum, then writes remainder to disk file, one word per line. KeyCode - KeyCode responds to each press of a key or combination of keys by displaying the key or combination pressed, its associated Ascii character (if any), key type (normal or extended), Ascii code and Scan code. KeySet - KeySet's interactive mode displays the current settings of the CapsLock, NumLock, ScrollLock and PrtSc (Print Screen) keys, and allows them to be changed. The command line mode directly sets the keys to specified states, allowing use of a batch file for presetting at system boot-up or between applications. PhLBL - Label/Rotary filecard/Postcard Printer; loads, displays and prints labels stored in easily-maintained ASCII files. Labels can contain embedded commands for date, time, margin, selectable printer attributes; 5, 8.5, 10, 12, 17 or 20 characters per inch pitch, normal/bold/underlined on Epson compatible dot-matrix printers. PrinTest - PrinTest repetitively displays the status of ports assigned to parallel printer interfaces. It can be used to isolate problems to the printer interface card, the cable or the printer itself. It reports printer and port number, status byte and status condition. Qscr - QuickScreen converts a single text screen to an executable file for more rapid display. The resulting .COM file will write a screen of text much faster than batch file ECHO statements. Useful for setting up compact menu systems, demos and tutorials. ScanF - Scan_File speeds up the search for ASCII text strings within executable files. It filters out the unintelligible control and extended characters, and allows user definition of minimum string length for display. ScanM - Scan_Memory speeds up the search for ASCII text such as ROM copyright statements and machine identification, anywhere within standard system memory space. It filters out the unintelligible control and extended characters, and displays each string longer than three characters. Split - Split_file breaks huge text files down into smaller ones that will fit into a text editor or onto a diskette. Useful for working on large files with a limited filesize memory-resident notepad utility. StoRm - STOrage_RooM reports the amount of disk space required for storage of a specified file or group of files on any disk, using any version of DOS. It takes into account all of the factors involved in determining file storage size. It locates files specified on the command line and determines their actual total size and the amount of room needed to store them. Useful for determining the number of files that will fit on a disk. _____________ Future releases ______________ AcctSort - Fast entry of dollar amounts & assignment to user-designed charts of accounts; user-selected limit checking of $ and account numbers. ______________________________________________________________ | | | COPYRIGHT 1991 Phil Herron. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | |______________________________________________________________|