August, 1994 It's Legal README File This file contains special instructions and program updates for It's Legal. The topics included in this README file are listed in the Topics section below. TOPICS It's Legal Data Files Opening Files Temporary Files Rebuilding Files File Sharing Automatic Article Numbering in It's Legal's Documents Searching for Text in a Document Converting Documents from Previous Versions Running It's Legal from Your Hard Drive Running Multimedia Applications Playing MIDI Music Files NOTE: You can later access this README file by changing to the directory where the program is located, typing TYPE README.TXT, and pressing ENTER. You can also open the README file using the Windows Notepad. -------------------------- IT'S LEGAL 5.0 DATA FILES -------------------------- There are important differences in how It's Legal 5.0 uses files, compared to earlier versions of It's Legal. ------------- OPENING FILES ------------- It's Legal 5.0 will allow you to try to open any file on any online disk drive. Although the suggested file extension is ".LGL", you can choose any extension that's permitted by DOS. Before being loaded into a document window, the selected file is scanned to see if it is an It's Legal 5.0 data file. This scanning can detect if an It's Legal file was improperly closed but could be rebuilt (see below). If the file can be opened without problems, the file will be loaded into a document window. If the selected file is not an It's Legal data file, a dialog will appear explaining this, and you will be returned to the File Open dialog. If the selected file is damaged but can be rebuilt, you will be asked if you wish to rebuild this file (see below). --------------- TEMPORARY FILES --------------- In order to allow the user to undo certain changes to their files, It's Legal 5.0 keeps two files open for each document window: The main file, whose name is displayed in the title bar of the window, receives all the data typed in by the user. The "shadow" or backup file, whose name is of the form "LGLnnn.$$$" holds the previous version of screens in the file. "nnn" is a number from "0" on up, numbered in the order that the files were created on your data disk. These *.$$$ files should not be deleted while It's Legal for Windows is running--it could lead to serious problems with open documents. Once you have quit It's Legal 5.0, you may delete any .$$$ files you feel you don't need. In the normal course of events, the temporary .$$$ files are deleted when all changes have been written to the main file, and the main file has been closed. Under some error conditions, such as power outage or other hardware failure, the .$$$ files would not be deleted. If you are unable to rebuild the data file you were working on at the time of the failure, you may be able to rebuild the .$$$ file that was created as an automatic backup to your original file (see below). ---------------- REBUILDING FILES ---------------- If you choose to open a damaged file, and there is enough information in the file for It's Legal 5.0 to try to reconstruct the data in the file, It's Legal 5.0 will ask you if you wish to rebuild the damaged file. If you answer "Yes" to this dialog, It's Legal will read as much data as possible out of the original, damaged file and write it out to a new file in the current directory (usually the one containing the It's Legal program). The original, damaged file is never changed by the rebuild process. The new file will be named "REBLDnnn.LGL" (files are numbered like temporary files, see above). You can then use the File Open dialog to select this newly rebuilt file and load it into a document window. Once you have opened a rebuilt file, you should save this file to a different name, then use the Verify function to check this document from beginning to end. Once you have successfully rebuilt, saved and verified a file, the "REBLDnnn.LGL" file may be deleted. ------------ FILE SHARING ------------ It's Legal 5.0 for Windows and It's Legal 5.0 (for DOS) were designed to be single-user programs. These programs may not operate correctly if their files are used by another program while It's Legal for Windows or It's Legal is active. ----------------------------------------------------- AUTOMATIC ARTICLE NUMBERING IN IT'S LEGAL'S DOCUMENTS ----------------------------------------------------- As with any legal document, the documents you create with It's Legal will contain many numbered paragraphs, called Articles (such as Article I, Article II, etc.). These Articles appear in printed documents and on screen when you're using a document's template. Some Articles span more than one section and may be rather lengthy, depending on the optional information you choose to include. Because you can return to previous sections in a document at any time and include/exclude optional information, the on screen Article numbers may not EXACTLY match your final printed document. Do not be concerned if these on screen Article numbers differ slightly from your printed document. When It's Legal arranges the document for printing, the program reviews all the required and optional information you've elected to include and will number the Articles accordingly. -------------------------------- SEARCHING FOR TEXT IN A DOCUMENT -------------------------------- When using the It's Legal search feature, note that the program does not search any text you've entered into the Safekeeping section of a document. However, you can initiate a search from the Safekeeping section. ------------------------------------------- CONVERTING DOCUMENTS FROM PREVIOUS VERSIONS ------------------------------------------- If you own a previous version of It's Legal, you can convert your old documents for use in Version 5.0. Note, however, that due to numerous documents updates, you should only consider these converted documents as a starting point for creating new documents in It's Legal 5.0. You can consult the online Program Information Help for details on converting your old legal documents. To access Program Information, press F1 from any program location. Once you've converted your documents, you should open them in It's Legal 5.0 and carefully review the information. Because many of It's Legal's documents have been updated, the format and appearance of your documents may be different in Version 5.0. After reviewing your converted document(s), use the Verify feature to check your document for any missing data. NOTE: If you own a previous version of It's Legal for Windows or It's Legal 4.0 (for DOS), you can also use your personal information records in It's Legal 5.0. To do this, simply switch to the directory where your previous version of It's Legal is stored and copy your PERSINFO.DAT file to the location where you installed It's Legal 5.0. Then when you open Version 5.0, the Personal Information feature will already contain your previous records. --------------------------------------- RUNNING IT'S LEGAL FROM YOUR HARD DRIVE --------------------------------------- If you want to run It's Legal 5.0 from your hard drive (rather than the It's Legal compact disk), you'll need to copy several files from the It's Legal compact disk to your hard drive. To copy the necessary files: 1. Insert the It's Legal compact disk into your CD-ROM drive. 2. Switch to your CD-ROM drive (such as D:\). 3. Copy the following files to the C:\ILWIN5 directory on your hard drive (see your Windows manual if you need help copying files): * All files with an .OVL extension * All files with an .HLP extension 4. Modify the It's Legal 5.0 program item in the It's Legal Program Group from the Windows Program Manager to run the program from your C:\ILWIN5 drive/directory (instead of your CD-ROM drive). See your Windows manual for details on modifying program items from the Windows Program Manager. You can now start It's Legal normally by double-clicking the It's Legal 5.0 icon in the It's Legal program group. ------------------------------- RUNNING MULTIMEDIA APPLICATIONS ------------------------------- Both the It's Legal Tutorial and the Parsons Technology Software Collection (the Catalog) are multimedia applications. Before running either of these applications, make sure you close any other programs you are running under Windows. This will free up your system resources so these multimedia applications can run better on your computer. Also, due to the system resources required to run the Tutorial and the Catalog, you will not be able to run both of these applications as the same time. ----------------- PLAYING MIDI MUSIC ------------------ MIDI files (*.MID) are digital descriptions of musical compositions. All MPC compliant sound cards can create synthesized music from MIDI files. If you do not hear background music in the It's Legal Tutorial or the Parsons Technology Software Collection, or if the music you hear sounds peculiar, your computer may not be properly configured to play MIDI music under Microsoft Windows. To prepare your computer to play MIDI music, open the Windows Control Panel by clicking on its icon in Program Manager. Control Panel is usually located in the 'Main' program group. From the Control Panel dialog box, select MIDI Mapper. From the MIDI Mapper dialog box, select the Setups radio button and review the choices available in the Names list. The items in the list will vary depending on the brand and model of your sound card, but there are usually choices like Basic and Extended. Choose the setup that best corresponds with the capabilities of your sound card. Generally, you should choose the highest level setup offered. Basic is the lowest level MIDI setup and Extended is the highest. (For more information about the capabilities of your sound card, see your sound card manual.) NOTE: If there are not any MIDI Setups listed in the Names list, you probably need to install the Windows sound drivers for your brand and model of sound card. Most sound cards come with Windows sound drivers; follow the manufacturer's directions to install them. After selecting a MIDI Setup from the Names list, click the Edit button to open the MIDI Setup dialog box. Make sure all channels (1-16) are turned "on," and select a driver from the drop down list box in the Port Name column for each channel. Usually, the best choice will have 'FM' in the driver's name. See your synthesizer manual for further details on the drivers offered. You may need to remap channel 16 to be played on channel 10. This arrangement will improve the playback of percussion for most MIDI songs written for Windows. To do this, find the row for source channel 10, then use the up and down arrow buttons to set the destination channel to 16. Click OK when you are done editing the MIDI Setup and answer 'Yes' when asked to save changes. Click Close to close the MIDI Mapper dialog box. You should now hear background music in the It's Legal Tutorial and in the Parsons Technology Software Collection.