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PHLBL Label/Rotary filecard/Postcard Printer Version 2.0 Released 11-04-90 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. This product should be thoroughly evaluated using backed up or noncritical data and files. ______________________________________________________________ Evaluation Preface Section ______________________________________________________________ Shareware.............................................. 0.1.0 What it is........................................... 0.1.1 License Terms........................................ 0.1.2 Registration......................................... 0.1.3 Benefits, Forms, Fees, Quantity discounts Evaluation............................................. 0.2.0 Evaluation Version................................... 0.2.1 Evaluation Menu...................................... 0.2.2 Virus Prevention..................................... 0.2.3 _____________________________ 0.1.0 Shareware _____________________________ 0.1.1 The SHAREWARE Concept _____________________________ "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. 0.1.2 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. 0.1.3 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 WILL NOT include the Evaluation Menu front end, start-up time delay or forms printing sections 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. You 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 in section 0.2.2 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. _____________________________ 0.2.0 Evaluation _____________________________ 0.2.1 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. An Evaluation Menu and forms printing section were 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. 0.2.2 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 the warranty section and some information about the program: Program name, Version number, Release date, Single-quantity registration fee. It next displays the Shareware Product EVALUATION MENU. A single key press will select the following functions from the menu: 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 shown one screen at a time. The display pauses whenever the screen becomes full, and prompts... <downArrow> or Esc The <downArrow> character is similar to the "MORE" prompt in other DOS utilities. It indicates that more is available. Press ESCape to exit back to the Evaluation Menu, or any normal typing key to continue (space bar is a convenient key to use). 0.2.3 VIRUS PREVENTION ________________________ If you'd like to evaluate this software but you're not sure where it's been, you can order a copy straight from the source. See the SHAREWARE PRODUCT CATALOG section at the end of this file. _________________________________________________________________ Table of Contents Section _________________________________________________________________ PhLBL...................................................... 1.0 Introduction............................................ 1.1 Explanation............................................. 1.2 System Requirements..................................... 1.3 Installing........................................... 1.3.1 Help.................................................... 1.4 Syntax.................................................. 1.5 Wildcard Characters.................................. 1.5.1 File Selection Window................................... 1.6 Examples................................................ 1.7 Operating Screen..................................... 1.7.1 Data Storage Files...................................... 1.8 Printing................................................ 1.9 Printer Attributes................................... 1.9.1 Label Sizes.......................................... 1.9.2 Settings................................................ 2.3 Miscellaneous notes..................................... 2.4 Applications............................................ 2.5 Error messages.......................................... 2.7 DOS ErrorLevel.......................................... 2.8 Future Additions........................................ 2.9 Version History......................................... 3.0 Support.................................................... 9.0 Problem Resolution...................................... 9.1 Before Reporting........................................ 9.2 Reporting a problem..................................... 9.3 Custom Modifications.................................... 9.4 Correspondence.......................................... 9.5 Shareware Product Catalog................................. 10.0 ********************************************** NEW in this version ********************************************** * Added label movement commands for rapid navigation up, down, and to top or bottom of datafile. * Label "Mark"/"Unmark" for subsequent searches. * Label search by comment line, first line of label, or Marked/Unmarked state. _________________________________________________________________ PHLBL 1.0 Label/Rotary filecard/Postcard Printer _________________________________________________________________ 1.1 INTRODUCTION __________________ Label printers generally seem to come in two forms: too simple to be useful, 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 if not needed. When needed, they're summarized in several help screens. PHLBL provides easy locating and printing of your most frequently used labels/cards/tags, such as return address labels or rotary file cards/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 EXPLANATION _________________ PHLBL manages the loading, finding and printing of labels. Maintenance and editing are done using a word processor or text editor that you already know, so there won't be any strange new word processor commands to learn. PHLBL allows the use of different printer attributes for each line of each label. Optional line Attribute commands ("@Axxx...", discussed later) are stored with the labels in a data file. Any ASCII- (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) compatible editor can be used to add or edit labels. Although most editors (even the DOS EDLIN utility) can be used, there are some advantages to using one of the Shareware or retail memory-resident utility packages. A few of the available desktop accessory programs are: ALT HomeBase Desk Commando My-Desk DeskMate PC DeskTeam DeskUtil Right Hand Man EZDesk SideKick Using a memory-resident editor, you can edit or enter new labels while PHLBL is running, then reload the data file with the Newfile command. With an editor having import capabilities, you can "cut" label text from other applications or files and "paste" it into a data file. Another possibility is a standard text editor with jump (shell)- to-DOS capability. Such an editor can be used to create or edit a data file, then you can shell to DOS to run PHLBL. 1.3 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS _________________________ PC, XT, AT or compatible. DOS version 2.1 or later. 256K or more RAM recommended. The maximum number of labels per datafile depends on the amount of user memory (RAM) free after DOS, PHLBL and any memory-resident utilities are loaded. PHLBL's registered version (without the evaluation front end) uses about 62K for operation, plus another 1310 bytes for each label in the datafile. A 640K system with no memory-resident utilities will handle up to about 400 labels per datafile. If the whole datafile won't fit in memory, the user is notified, then normal operations resume. An Epson-compatible dot-matrix printer is needed if printer attributes are used; most other printers will work for plain labels. PHLBL was designed 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 1.3.1 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. 1.4 HELP __________ 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, or if not found, will display a file selection window containing files and subdirectories available from this point. 1.5 SYNTAX ____________ PHLBL [filespec] If a filespec is not entered, PHLBL will try to load the default data file, PHLBL.LBL, if it exists in the current directory. If not, it will display a file selection window. 1.5.1 WILDCARD CHARACTERS ___________________________ Wildcard characters * and ? are legal for use in specifying filenames and extensions. 1.6 FILE SELECTION WINDOW ___________________________ A file selection or "pick" window is displayed: - Whenever the command line argument (the filespec) includes wildcard characters; - 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 will display a sorted list of files and/or directory names (500 maximum) that match the filespec entered. Selection is made by moving the reverse-video block to the desired location, then pressing the <Return> key. Directory names are displayed in higher intensity than filenames. "..\" is the "parent" directory to the current one, so if you're in C:\LA and select "..\", you will 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. 1.7 EXAMPLES ______________ Valid command lines: PHLBL - tries to load default file PHLBL.LBL 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 - tries to load MyFile.Txt; halts if not found. Filespecs shown above are also valid from the main menu "NewFile" command prompt. 1.7.1 OPERATING SCREEN ________________________ The operating screen appears whenever "PHLBL" is issued from the DOS prompt with a valid file specification; assuming that PHLBL.EXE and default data file PHLBL.LBL are both located in subdirectory \LA, and it is the current directory, no command line argument is needed: PhLbL loads PHLBL.LBL, and the screen displays: 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 Lines displayed: 1 - Program name/copyright block 2 - " 3 - Label number; Filespec of current data file. 4 - Marked/Unmarked 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 - not displayed if no comment 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. ? ?+1 Label bottom border; can be switched to a ruler. 24 - Message/Prompt window. 25 - Bottom line on the screen is the main menu: Key Function -------- ------------------------------------------- F1 Help screens /Space Move to previous/next label Home/^PgUp Move to first label in file. End /^PgDn Move to last label in file. First or last label is indicated by "Label nn of nn" (line 3) in reverse video. P)rint submenu: See section 1.9, "PRINTING" for more information. - P - Print single label - Q - print Quantity of labels M)ark Mark/Unmark toggle and auto-advance to next label. Status is displayed on the left side of line 4. F)ind submenu: Text searches are case insensitive. Use <^L> to repeat Last find. - F - Find label text - C - find Comment text - M, U - find Marked, Unmarked labels N)ewFile Change to different datafile R)uler Ruler on/off (toggle) S)ettings submenu - M - set printer left Margin - P - select Printer number (default is Lpt1) <Esc> Quit 1.8 Data Storage Files ________________________ 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) Label 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) Label 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 Label files Personal.LBL (personal contacts) Xmas.LBL (Christmas card list) Tape (audio, video cassette labels) BASIC LABELS Labels are stored in ASCII text files. The most basic data file, containing two labels: Label One, line 1 Label Two, line 1 At least one blank line must separate a label from its neighbors. Any block of text without a blank line is considered one label. COMMENT LINES A comment line begins with a period (".") in column 1, and is ignored by the label printer. Any number of comment lines can be included in a data file. Control information can be included on the comment line just above the label, where the "Find" function can search for it. Control information could include: Date entered (for later purging). Words or abbreviations for label selection. Examples: . 10-22-90 Customer ID 12345 . Vendor label 1 of 3 Comment lines separated from any label by a blank line are not attached to any label, so are never displayed. Comment lines 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. . This comment block is not attached to a label. ..... It can be used for internal notes... .This comment will be displayed with Label One Label One, line 1 . This comment line is NOT displayed on screen . This comment line is shown on screen Label Two, line 1 BLANK LINES within LABELS These are any beginning with a dash, "-" in column one, and having no other characters. They force a blank line within the label when it is displayed or printed. Label One, line 1 - Label One, line 3 PRINTER ATTRIBUTE LINE A printer attribute command line begins with @A in column one, and is used to change the default settings of the printer. Cmd Attr CPI Printer Setup ─── ───────── ─────── ──────────────────────── B Bold 10 Pica + Emphasized C Compress 17.125 Compressed D Draft 10 Pica (power-on default) E Elite 12 Elite H Huge 5 Expanded + Emphasized I Italic 10 Italic + Emphasized N NLQ 10 Near Letter Quality S Small 20 Compressed + Elite U UnderLin 10 Underlined + Emphasized W Wide 8.5 Expanded + Compressed An attribute command line for a 5-line label should include five letters from the table above (one for each line in the label). Lines for which no attributes are given will use the default "Draft" attribute. Case is not significant. The line can also contain spaces or tabs for better readability. @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. MARGIN SETTING A margin setting line begins with @M in column one, and is used to set the left margin to other than the default of zero. Left 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 LABEL HEIGHT SETTING A label height setting line begins with @L in column one, and sets the maximum number of printing lines in a label. It can range from 1 through 15; default is 5 lines. This example sets the number of lines to 12: @L12 INTER-LABEL SKIP A skip setting line begins with @S in column one; it sets the number of lines to be skipped after each label, and can range from 0 through 99; default is 1 line. 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. Embedded DATE & TIME COMMANDS An embedded date command !@DATE or time command !@TIME can be placed in any column. These cause the current system date or time to be displayed on screen (and printed when the associated label is printed). Example: Label One, printed on date !@DATE, at time !@time. HELP PHLBL's help key, function key F1, displays a complete list of the above commands and formats. Default data file PHLBL.LBL contains examples of many of the above commands and settings. 1.9 PRINTING ______________ Printing selections apply only to the label currently displayed on screen. Press "P" to access the Printing submenu: P - Print single label A shortcut for fast printing of single labels with a double press of the "P" key from the main menu. Q - print Quantity of labels Enter number of labels to print, or press <Return> to accept default quantity, or press <Escape> or <Q> to avoid printing. Esc - Escape to the prior menu. 1.9.1 PRINTER ATTRIBUTES __________________________ For plain labels, the attribute commands can be ignored. Without them, all labels use "Draft" mode (the default). If used, printer attributes are stored in the data file, above the label where they are to take effect. The format is @Axxx... where up to 15 attributes can be assigned, one for each line in the longest label. Examples can be found in PHLBL.LBL. Each attribute stays in effect until changed, so if all labels in a file use the same set of 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. A complete list of attributes and associated pitches is available within PHLBL by pressing the F1 help key. 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. 1.9.2 LABEL SIZES ___________________ Comments and label lines can be any length; however, only the first 79 characters will be displayed or printed. To print the maximum line length, you'll need to select an attribute appropriate for the width of your label or card stock. In "Draft" mode (10 cpi), 79 characters will print 7.9 inches wide; "Small" mode (20 cpi) prints the same line in only 3.95 inches. If a data file does not include the "@Lnn" command to set label height, or "@Snn" for lines to skip between labels, defaults are used. Label height in lines : max 15, default 5. Lines skipped between labels: max 99, default 1. The defaults cover common labels with height of 15/16 inch; on a 6 line per inch printer, they work perfectly with five lines of text and one skip line between labels. 2.3 SETTINGS ______________ Press "S" to access the Settings submenu: M - set printer left Margin Changes the margin from the default value or that set by an embedded "@Mxx" command. P - select Printer number Selects printer 1, 2 or 3, if you have more than one printer installed. Default is printer number 1. Esc - Escape to the prior menu. 2.4 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES _________________________ PHLBL is most effecient when used in conjunction with a memory- resident pop-up notepad utility; the notepad can be used to enter, edit, import and view labels. When labels are setup as required, switch back to PHLBL, select "NewFile" from the menu to reload the modified data file, then advance to the desired label. To gain familiarity with PHLBL... Print the sample labels to see the available printing attributes. Experiment with the Left Margin settings to find those useful with your labels. You can conserve label/card stock by printing on standard printer paper during experimentation. SPECIAL ITEMS in data files are explained in several help screens; press function key F1. To stop printing immediately: turn off the printer's power switch. 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 menu "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 when you need to print on nonstandard stock that requires a different left margin. Another time the left margin might be changed manually is when you're printing on label sheets that have more than one row of labels. Print the left-most row of labels with the standard margin setting, then run the labels through the printer again, this time using a greater margin setting to print the second row 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. CREATING a NEW LABEL DATA FILE: IMPORTING FROM EXISTING APPLICATIONS Many programs are capable of exporting data to disk in ASCII format. Once the data is written to a disk file, it can be easily edited into the format used by PHLBL. ENTERING NEW DATA Using your text editor, create a new file with an appropriate name, then enter the label text (or cut and paste from another application). EDITING an EXISTING DATA FILE: If you currently have the data file loaded into PHLBL, its full filespec will be shown near the top of the screen. Load that file into your text editor. VIEWING NEW labels or CHANGES to existing labels: Save the editor file, then either run PHLBL and load that file, or if the file is already running in PHLBL, reload it by selecting "NewFile" from the main menu. Finally, move up or down to the label of interest. DATA FILE LINE LENGTHS PHLBL does not check to see if text lines found in data files will fit on the output form (labels, rotary file cards, etc.). You must determine that by using the ruler (menu "R" command) and the CPI (characters per inch) specification of the line attributes you're currently using. EXAMPLE: Finding the maximum line length for a particular application... Given: CPI for default Draft mode 10 Label width 3.5 inches Left Margin setting 5 With the printer set for a margin of 0 corresponding to the left edge of the label, a margin of 5 shortens the printing area by 5/10 inch, to 3.0 inches. 3 inches X 10 chars per inch equals 30 characters that will fit on the remaining label width. Label Height (LINES) SETTING Before or immediately following an @L command, an @A command should assign attributes for each line. Otherwise, each line will use the default "draft" attribute. 2.5 APPLICATIONS __________________ Possible output formats: Rotary file and Rolodex(tm) cards Index ("3x5") cards Post cards Diskette and tape cassette labels Inventory labels Storage container labels File folder labels Mailing address labels Warning labels Library circulation cards, catalog cards, book labels Report, binder and notebook cover labels Address book entries Name tags 2.7 ERROR MESSAGES ____________________ "Out of memory; file only partially loaded - Any key..." Non-fatal; operations will continue, but some of the labels will not be available. See section 1.3, SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS for details. Not enough memory is available to hold the complete data file. Remedy: either unload some memory-resident utilities to free up some memory, or reduce the size of the data file. 2.8 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. 2.9 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"). 3.0 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. _________________________________________________________________ 9.0 Support _________________________________________________________________ 9.1 PROBLEM RESOLUTION ________________________ 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. 9.2 BEFORE REPORTING ______________________ 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. 9.3 REPORTING A 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. 9.4 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. 9.5 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 _________________________________________________________________ 10.0 Shareware Product Catalog _________________________________________________________________ This section contains a list of our other Shareware products; it may be updated whenever products are added or changed. ____________________________________________ If you'd like to try any of the programs in this catalog, but can't find them locally, you can order evaluation disks straight from the source... Each disk (5.25" DSDD 362K) holds up to five programs and associated documentation files. Include $4.00 for the first disk, shipping and handling. Add $2.00 for each additional disk of programs you want to evaluate (Example: $4.00 for 1 to 5 programs, $6.00 for 6-10, $8.00 for 11-15, etc.). All payments in U.S. funds; Washington State residents must add 7.6% of the total for sales tax. If your address is outside the U.S. and Canada, include an additional $6.00 for shipping. ____________________________________________ Or, you can download them from several online services... GENIE - in the IBM PC Software Library (menu 616) DELPHI - in the GROUP/PC compat/ DATABASE/GEN area Once in the download areas, search for keyword HERRON. ____________________________________________ 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 - Clean_Out_files searches all directories of the default drive for file(s) specified on command line (wildcards * and ? are legal). 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. 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 - Ph_Label prints label text stored in easily-maintained ASCII files. Each label/card/tag can contain embedded commands for date, time, left margin, and selectable printer attribute for each line; 5, 8.5, 10, 12, 17 or 20 characters per inch pitch, normal/bold/ underlined on Epson compatible dot-matrix printers. 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. Split - Split_file breaks huge text files down into smaller ones that will fit into your 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 1990 Phil Herron. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | |_______________________________________________________________|