Documentation for Version 2.0-Demo Version of Brokering for Profit (BFP) Copyright 1994 DataWare Productions 3198 S. John Redditt Dr. Lufkin, Texas 75904 (409) 637-7468 FAX (409) 637-1480 This is a fully working version of the Brokering for Profit database with the exception it only contains two records (rather than 3,500+) and you are limited to entering a total of 10 vendors and 20 products. All other features are fully functional. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any problems or questions. To launch the program, type BFP This demo may be run from the floppy drive or can be copied to your hard drive (recommended). DOCUMENTATION BFP was designed as a user friendly program with online help (the F1 key) and instructions at the bottom of each screen. While documentation is not required to operate the software, there is some information herewith you might find interesting. Help is available by touching your F1 key or by reading the bars at the bottom of the screen. BACKGROUND This program is a joint venture between Electrical Specialist, Cy Stapleton, and Quick Printing Magazine's "Helene's Hotline", and marketed by InfoPrint Corp, a division of Coast Publishing. This software came about as a result of a very large number of responses to several articles I have written on the subject of brokering and the fact that I receive numerous calls each week from printers across the country who are looking for one product or another as does Quick Printing Magazine's "Helene's Hotline". I have been collecting unusual sources for almost thirty years and had them in no particular order. Some were in my list finder, some were on Rol-o-dex cards, some on scraps of paper, etc. In talking with other printers, their source files were in about the same condition as my own. There was obviously a market for a well done specialty database. While many printers had database programs, there were many different kinds - everything from PFS First Choice to Paradox. Plus, many simply didn't know how to set up such a database. And, there is the incredible amount of time to verify and enter the data. BFP is a self contained database program. It is easy to use. It comes with over 3,000 verified records in many different classifications and from all over the country, and new vendor/product records are added on a daily basis from both my files and from new finds we do for Helene's Hotline callers. As 500 new vendor/product records are verified, a datafile upgrade disk is made available. In addition to the verified records, I have included a number of "unverified" records. These are companies I have some information on but have not yet received their verification form at the time of this distribution. There is enough information for you to contact them, if necessary. When you purchase your copy of BFP, you are automatically registered and are added to the list of those users who will be notified about the availability of datafile updates - over 500 new verified vendor/product records with each new update. These updates are available several times a year. You may also easily add your own favorites to BFP. BFP is a great start for those printers who are interested in increasing their profits by brokering some of their jobs. I am interested in any hints of how we might improve it. Thanking you in advance, C.D. "Cy" Stapleton SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: Single User Version/Not Network Compatible IBM PC, XT, AT, or 100% compatible clone 286 or faster machine recommended. Will run slow on some 8088's and not at all on others. 512k RAM CONFIG.SYS files =20+ Any monitor (color recommended, but not required) Hard disk drive with sufficient free space (5-10 meg) A printer, if you wish to print screen dumps or print reports. This database was not designed to be printed, but rather to give instant access to each and every record. There are a number of pre-defined reports in version 2 that you will find useful. NOTE: Several users have found BFP so valuable that they have purchased a second inexpensive computer and dedicated it to the exclusive use of BFP - a smart idea because when used properly you can easily pay for that new computer in less than a month. WARNING***WARNING***WARNING***WARNING***WARNING While the vast majority of the vendors in our industry are ethical, there are always those who attempt to take advantage of someone else. I recommend that if a potential vendor asks you to send money in with your order you check his credit just as you would one of your new customers. Ask for at least one bank reference, a paper house or graphic art supply house and at least two customer references. If he hedges or doesn't appear to want to release that information and he isn't an old established company simply steer clear of that company and select one of the other sources. If you have a problem with any vendor listed in BFP, FAX us that info in detail as soon as possible and we will place it on the BBS and make a note of it in all future copies of BFP. STARTING BFP To start BFP immediately after installation, all you need to do is type BFP . Any other time you would change to the drive that the sub directory is on (as an example C:\) and enter the command cd \bfp and then bfp . You may use upper case, lower case or upper and lower case. Always start BFP from the BFP subdirectory. Do not put BFP in your path. If you enter BFP from any other directory, an ERROR message will be displayed. The first screen you see will be the Main Menu screen. From the main menu you can select from the options on this screen. All you need do is type the letter of the selection you wish and you will go to that screen. Instructions are at the bottom of each screen. You can get additional instructions by touching your F1 key - if additional instructions are required. At the top of your Main Menu you will note the date is on the left, the time is on the right, and in the center is a count of the total number of products and total number of vendors in the database. If your system clock is incorrect, the time and date will be incorrect. A. Show database by product - This selection will show you the database with the product as the first column. It is from this screen that you update a vendor's product records. B. Show database by classification - This selection will show you the database sorted by vendor classification (or whatever else you decide to use this field for). This is a user defined field. You can use it for anything you wish - rating your vendors, vendors you have open account, COD, cash with order, etc. You may use up to 5 alpha/numeric characters in this field. Note, if you are using numbers and do not use all 5 available spaces, in order for the field to sort properly, place 0's in the front. As an example, 100 will appear before 9 unless you key your 9 as 009. C. Show database by vendor - This selection will show you the database sorted by vendor. D. Show database by contact - This selection will show you the database sorted by your vendor contact. Since many companies have specific customer service persons for specific accounts, in most of the records we have CUST. SVC. When you contact that company and are given a specific individual to handle your account, replace CUST. SVC. with that person's name. You can update that vendor record from either the CONTACT NAME screen or from UPDATE VENDOR Info. E. Show database by city - This selection will show you the database sorted by city. F. Show database by state - This selection will show you the database sorted by state. G. Update Vendor Information - From this screen you can update your vendor information or add a new vendor. H. Show database by area code - This was a last minute addition requested by several users. It's purpose is to enable you to get a list of all vendors in your immediate vicinity. It is also helpful if you have a phone number and don't know what area of the country that phone number is from. That helps me locate a vendor in the area of a reader who has made a Hotline request, but didn't fax us his city, state or zip. I. Export database to ASCII file - This feature will export the entire database to a straight ASCII file that you can use in other software. I personally have no use for this feature, but several users have requested it. Since this is simply an ASCII file, this feature is not supported by DataWare Productions. For details on how to use it with other software, contact the technical support number of the developer of the software you intend to use it in. J. Export database to comma delimited file - This feature will export the entire database to a "," delimited file that can be imported to another database, spreadsheet, maillist software, or any other software that will accept a "," delimited file. Like I above, this feature is not supported by DataWare Productions. Contact technical support for the software you intend to import it into or see your manual for that software. K. Import updated database file - This feature will automatically import and append any of our updates to your copy of BFP. In the earlier versions of BFP, if you wanted an update you had to send us a copy of your .DAT and .MEM file from your BFP directory and we had to convert your files, merge in the new files, re-compile the data and return it to you. Once we have your older version data files converted to the version 2 relational database format, it will no longer be necessary for you to send us your files for conversion. This feature will be able to be accessed from any future update datafile disks you may order. R. Reports Menu - The reports menu is new to Version 2. While some earlier versions of BFP had very basic reports capability, we discontinued it in Version 1.3 and 1.4 because it simply did not work properly. In Version 2 you will find the following reports. A. One-Across mailing labels. This feature will enable you to print one-across labels on continuous label stock. The labels are sorted in zip code order. You will notice that the first 300 or so labels are incomplete. These are vendors where we do not have complete information on as of the date your copy of BFP was shipped. That information will be updated in an upcoming update. There will be enough information in the database for you to get in touch with the vendor, however. B. Three-Across mailing labels. This feature will enable you to print three-across labels on your laser printer. This has not been tested on a dot matrix printer using continuous label stock, but it should may work on those printers also. This feature was created specifically for laser labels. C. Print entire database - Just what it says. This feature will print the entire database. I don't know what anyone would want to do that for, but several readers have asked for this feature. Plan for using a lot of paper. D. Vendors for a product - This feature will allow you to print a list for all vendors for a certain product. Keep in mind that B/C, Die Cut and B/C, Thermographed are two different products. E. Print vendors phone list - This is a wonderful feature. It will print a list in alphabetical order that includes the company name, address, contact name and three phone numbers. R. Return to database - Just what it says. This feature will return you to the main database. Q. Quit, exit to DOS - This selection will exit BFP and take you to your DOS prompt. IMPORTANT NOTE The database has a number of unverified records in it. These are vendors we know are potential reputable suppliers, but who have not yet returned their verification forms. If you select the database by State, as an example, and find only blanks in your first screen in that field, simply page down until you hit the first of the State records, or type "A". Those previous records simply do not have any information recorded in the State field. There will be enough information to enable you to contact those incomplete records if you select one of them. When and if you contact one of these unverified vendors, fill in the blank fields in their record. Approximately 3,000 of the 3,500 or so records have been verified. If you find new a record that has incorrect information in it, or if you verify an unverified record, we would appreciate it if you would FAX us that update. The easiest way to do that is to use the DOS print screen utility (Shift key plus Print Screen key) and FAX us that screen printout with your update. That correction will be immediately entered and will be included in future orders and updates. The various screens all work alike. From the Main Menu, select A The next screen, Show Database By Product, will show you the first 10 records sorted by product. To get details on any of these products, you would simply use your up or down arrow keys to page through the records and highlight the product you want and press the key. That would display the entire record for the product/vendor selected. At this point you can use your key to page through the fields to make any changes you might want to make. If you want a hard copy of this record, simply use your print screen utility (shift key and print screen key) to print a copy of this screen to your printer. The hard copy of this vendor or product record can be used to jot down any notes during your conversation with the vendor. If I am going to shop 4 or 5 vendors, I will do a screen dump of each, then make notes on the bottom of the screen dump as to whom I spoke with, prices, etc. All of that info goes with my copy of my quote to my customer or in my job ticket, etc. To go back to the database, press the CONTROL + ESCAPE key. To save any changes, press the CONTROL + ENTER key. IMPORTANT NOTE ON DATA ENTRY The software we use for data updates is case sensitive. We have made the software accept only upper case letters in all fields except for comments. HINTS: When you are entering a new product... Try to be consistent wity your entries. As an example, don't enter Advertising Specialties as Ad Specialties sometimes and Advertising Specialties other times; or enter your trade binderies as Bookbinders sometimes and Binderies others. If you are consistent in this entry, when you sort by product, all of the same type of services will be together. You can change any of our entries to be consistent with your own classifications. CLASS - This is a field that allows you to enter a 5 character alphanumeric. In the Helene's Hotline copy - which is the copy that you receive when you purchase BFP, the "A" in this field indicate that the vendor is an advertiser in either Quick Printing Magazine or Southern Graphics and the (*) indicates that I have passed that vendor's information on to a Hotline caller. In my personal copy of BFP, I use this field to rank my suppliers from one star to five star. You can use this for any type of coding you might want. This field can be skipped. On copies shipped after February 15, 1994, this field should be blank. TOLL FREE NUMBER - This field is the company's national toll free number. You may skip this field. NOTE - Some companies have a state and a national toll free number. We requested their national toll free number for this database. When entering the number, you do not have to enter the 1-800. All you need enter is the 7-digit toll free number. Some of these toll free numbers may not work from your area. ADDRESS - In this space you can put the vendor's main address. I use this for the vendor's street address, if I know it. This field can be skipped. ALTERNATE ADDRESS - In this space you can put a secondary address. I use this for the vendor's post office box, if I know it. This field can be skipped. COMMENTS - BFP allows you to make a three line comment. I use this for notes about the vendor, additional phone numbers, my account number, their terms, etc. This field may be skipped. On a few of the records I have made notes here. You can change those notes if you wish. IMPORTANT NOTE: See the documentation at the end of this file concerning the notes page in version 2.0+ TO MAKE MULTIPLE ENTRIES FOR A VENDOR If the vendor is a new vendor, you go to G - Update Vendor File - and complete the vendor information. Once you have the vendor in the database, exit to the main menu and go to A - Show Database By Product. Touch your Insert key. This will access the Vendor Pick List. Go down to the appropriate vendor, press your Enter key and you will have a blank product record you can fill in. Note that the comments in this version are linked to the product, while the Notes page is linked to the vendor. If you have a vendor who has more than one product, simply enter the first record, touch the CONTROL + ENTER key, and press the Insert key again. You will note that the Vendor Pick List defaults to the present vendor. Enter the next product and continue. PRINTING FROM WITHIN BFP As noted above, BFP was designed as a very easy-to-use database of sources of supply for the graphic arts industry. It is a program that absolutely no computer knowledge is required to use effectively and no manual is required. Everything is menu driven. In this light, a user defined report module is not included. For those of you who would like to print user-defined reports, simply import the "," ASCII text file into your database software. From the Reports menu you can select from a variety of pre-defined reports. They are self explanatory. You can print either to the screen or to your printer. There is an indispensible feature in DOS and in the design of the BFP screen that will be most helpful in your selecting and getting quotes from a vendor. Simply select each vendor you wish to contact and use the DOS print screen utility. To print any particular screen, use the DOS command, Shift + Print Screen keys pressed simultaneously. If, as an example, you wished to get quotes from 4 different snapout vendors, all you would do is select those vendors and print their data screen to your printer. You then have a hard copy with all of the vendor information at the top of your 8 1/2 x 11 sheet and the bottom half can be used to write your quotes and other information on. Once the job has been entered, you can transfer any or all of this information into BFP by using the NOTES page which is linked to each record. The other reports are described above. BUG REPORT/SUGGESTIONS/UPDATES I have spent many hours working with BFP and all bugs I have found have been corrected. If you run into any bugs, inconsistencies, have any suggestions for improvement, etc., please contact me as soon as possible at the address below. You will be advised via FAX or mail the result of your input. Any bug fixes will be placed on our BBS as soon as they are corrected. You can download those at your convenience, or if you place an order for a datafile update, you will automatically be sent the latest database update if any changes have been made to it. In an attempt to get Version 2 into the hands of the user as early as possible, the documentation could probably be a little better than what it is. I have spent about 20 hours going through every feature and have updated Version 1+ documentation to the new version where I felt it was necessary. All necessary information should be either at the bottom of the screen or through the help screens (F1). If you encounter something you do not understand, fax that question to me at (409) 637-1480 and I will respond as soon as possible with a written explanation, and will include that as I continue to update the documentation. Special note to Compaq Desk Pro and similar computers...If you have a Compaq Desk Pro or similar early monochrome computer and encounter a contrast problem, that is in your computer and not the software. Many of these early monochrome monitors allow little or no adjustment in contrast. They only allow for brightness. We cannot do anything about that other than suggest you upgrade to at least an XT with CGA. KNOWN BUGS - CORRECTED Version 1.0 & 1.1 (release date 9/2/91 and 9/18/91) had problems with the copy protection in that some users were unable to install the program. Solution - copy protection was removed. Version 1.2 (release date 10/3/91) added a count of total records on the main menu screen, re-arranged the data entry fields and incorporated several other insignificant changes. Version 1.3 (release date 12/14/91) corrected a problem several users reported. When they attempted to read the documentation on screen, their system locked up. All cases were with users who had monochrome monitors with no graphics card. A fix was made to that problem and was sent only to those users who encountered this problem. A fix involving laser printers operating on LPT2 which was intended to be incorporated in Version 2 was incorporated into 1.3. Version 1.4 (release date 2/28/92) some copies of this version had a glitch in the print routine when attempting to print a hard copy of the manual. To get around this glitch, rather than printing the manual from the main menu, simply exit to DOS and type the following command: COPY MANUAL.TXT PRN . This bug has been fixed effective with Serial Number 700 and up. Several copies of v1.4 had a garbaged installation program. We have no explanation as to how that happened, but the re-copying of the installation program fixed the problem. Name Change 1/1/92 the name of our company was changed from B/S (Butler/Stapleton) Software to DataWare Productions. It didn't take more than a couple of smiles from people upon hearing the name of the company before the decision was made to change it. Our marketing company is InfoPrint Corporation. Our software is developed by DataWare. All marketing of our software in the graphic arts industry is done through our InfoPrint division. Version 1.4. (release date 2/28/92) incorporated a number of enhancements, and could almost be considered a major revision. The following is a list of enhancements and tweeks that were made in version 1.4 of BFP. Note there is some documentation below that does not appear above. 1. Added a notes page for each database entry. This page is accessible from any view or full data record screen by using the CTRL + N key combination. Additions to the notes page can only be made after accessing the page from the full record display screen (I think). 2. Reports can now be sent to a disk file, or your choice of ports (LPT1, LPT2, COM1, COM2). The report section is not supported. This feature was discontinued 9/1/93 because of two many users wanting support on this feature and it has not been debugged. No further work on a report module is intended until version 2 is released. In lieu of this report, the "," ASCII file was included with each new BFP shipped. 3. Serial number was embedded into the program rather than being entered by user at installation. This was in order to more easily trace pirated copies and copyright infringements to their origin, and eliminate the possibility of the user entering the wrong serial number. IMPORTANT NOTE - Any attempt to change the serial number will cause an irrecoverable crash of the software. 4. A help screen for some functions was added. The F1 key activates the help screen where it is available. Version 1.M (release date 3/25/92). A quote,comma delimited format made available for MAC users and those IBM users who have special need to import into their own database or spreadsheet software. 9/1/93. The "," delimited ASCII text format was included at no extra charge for MAC users and PC users who wanted to port the data into their own database, spreadsheet, or word processing software. This is a text file only and support must be obtained from the developer of the soft- ware package you intend to import it to. A field description is included. 9/1/93. The reports option was removed from the menu. This option will not be available until version 2.0 is released and having the option on the menu was confusing to some users. 2/15/94. Version 2.0 was introduced. This version is a major update from Version 1 and contains numerous features that were not in our earlier versions. Extensive testing has enabled us to get rid of all of the bugs we were able to uncover. If you find a problem, please get back to us as soon as possible with a full explanation of the problem you are having. We will do our best to correct that problem immediately. UNDOCUMENTED AND UNSUPPORTED FEATURES The ASCII Text and ASCII "," delimited files are not supported by DataWare because they are simply text files. These files can be exported from the database menu. If you have problems importing these files to your other software, you will either need to read the documentation for that software or contact the developer's technical support number. The CONTROL + V feature that appears on several screens is a utility we will use in the future if you purchase datafile updates. This is not a function you would normally use unless we ask that you provide us with whatever information might be in that dialog box. The CONTROL + U is where you must enter your serial number. If that serial number is not entered, you will not be able to take advantage of any updates. Simply touch your Control + U keys and page down to the serial number. Enter your serial number (it is not necessary to put in any leading 0's) and press your Enter key. We have included an unsupported feature that will be incorporated in Version 3. This feature will allow the user who has a modem on his computer to dial the vendor direct from within the program. It works on some modems and does not work on others. The reason for including this is to find out which modems, COM ports, etc. the feature will or will not work on. If you have a modem, we would appreciate your faxing us at (409) 637-1480 and letting us know whether or not it works on your modem, the type of modem you have, the COM port you are using, and any other information you might possibly know (such as IRQ's DMA's, etc). Version 3 will hopefully also enable you to write an inquiry and fax it to the vendor(s) from within the program. SOME DATABASE MOVEMENT KEYS On any view screen PAGE DOWN will move ahead 10 records PAGE UP will back up 10 records CTRL + PAGE DOWN will move to the end of the DB CTRL + PAGE UP will move to the start of the DB CTRL + N will access the NOTES PAGE On ANY data entry field CTRL + END will blank the field. On-line help is available by pressing your F1 key. NOTE: If you touch your F1 key on the Main Menu you will get a description of help screens that are available. DataWare Productions C.D. "Cy" Stapleton 3198 S. John Redditt Dr. Lufkin, Texas 75904 FAX (409) 637-7468 VOICE (409) 637-1480 BBS (409) 637-4973 LEGAL STUFF 1. Dataware Productions grants and you accept nonexclusive and nontransferable license to use the computer program(s) delivered with this agreement on the following terms and conditions. This agreement also governs every "copy" of the software, which includes without limitation every portion and copy of the software in whole or in part, in machine-readable or other form, including modified or merged portions and included datafiles, but excluding the media on which the software and any copy are recorded. 2. You may use and display the software on any single computer, i.e. having a single CPU. You may use and display the software on only one such computer at a time unless you have multiple copies registered. 3. You may make one (1) complete machine-readable copy of the software solely for backup purposes. You may use this copy instead of the original software under the licenses hereof, if you use the original software solely for backup purposes. You agree to reproduce DataWare Production's copyright notice on this copy. 4. You may not use, copy, modify, or transfer the software or any copy, except as expressly provided in this agreement, without prior written consent from DataWare Productions. 5. You may not provide use of or disclose the software or any copy to any person not licensed by DataWare Productions. This prohibition includes use by or transfer to any unlicensed person of the software or any copy through a data transmission, a computer service lease, or lending business, or a network, time sharing, distributed processing, or multiple-user agreement. 6. You may not disassemble, decompile, translate, reverse- engineer, or otherwise attempt to discover any source code of the software or any copy. 7. You may not modify, adapt, or translate the software or any copy, merge the software or any copy with other program material, or otherwise create any derivative work using the software or any copy. 8. You may not sell, lease, lend, transfer, assign, sublicense, or otherwise grant any rights in the software, any copy, this agreement or any portion hereof. Any attempt to grant such rights is void. 9. Nothing in this agreement or otherwise constitutes a sale of the software or any copy. You acknowledge that DataWare Productions Software alone has ownership, copyright, and intellectual property rights in the software and every copy, which contain valuable trade secrets of DataWare Productions. You will maintain the software and every copy in secure premises, permit access to the software or any copy only to persons that agree to the terms and conditions of this agreement and take responsibility for compliance with this agreement. Your obligations under this paragraph 9 will survive any termination of your licenses or this agreement. 10. This agreement is effective until terminated. You may terminate the licenses under this agreement at any time by destroying the software and every copy, with certification thereof to DataWare Productions. Your licenses also terminate if you fail to comply with any of the terms and conditions of this agreement: you agree upon such termination to destroy the software and every copy, with certification thereof to DataWare Productions. 11. This software is provided with restricted rights - rights reserved under the copyright laws of the United States. 12. This agreement is the entire agreement between you and DataWare Productions; supersedes any prior or different agreements, representations; and may be changed only by written agreement with DataWare Productions. Waiver of any part of any default or breach of this agreement will not constitute a waiver of any subsequent default or breach of the same or different kind. The invalidity of any provision of this agreement shall not affect the validity of other provisions hereof. This agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of Texas, U.S.A. 13. You can be held legally responsible for unauthorized use, copying, modification, or transfer of this software in violation of this agreement and/or the copyright and other laws. 14. If you feel that this software has cratered your system, our liability is limited to a friendly "sorry about that" and the assurance that we will do our best to figure out what the problem is. If we find that your complaint is valid and is a problem that we can correct, we will do so and provide you with an updated version. SUPPORT BFP was written to be as easy to use as possible. While this manual is included on disk, we feel the menu help bars eliminate the need for documentation. However, in the case technical support if required, it is available to registered users by sending a FAX to (409) 637-1480 (24-hours). Your FAX should include the serial number of your BFP, a brief description of the problem you are having or any questions you might have, your FAX number, and your name. Your question will be addressed by the first available technical assistant and FAXed to you - generally within the hour (during normal working hours CST). If you do not have a FAX, you can call our voice phone at (409) 637-7468 between 9am and 5pm CST Monday thru Friday. Waiting time for voice support normally ranges from 5- to 15- minutes. Give us a brief description of your problem and a number we can reach you at. We will troubleshoot the problem and call you COLLECT with our findings and/or solutions, or if you prefer, mail our response. Registered users receive unlimited free technical support either by fax or through our BBS - (409) 627-4973 - If you do not have a fax or a modem, you can either mail in your request and we will respond by mail, or you can call in your question at (409) 637-7468 and describe your problem to our operator and authorize a technical support person to return your call collect. Updates to the datafiles are available 2-3 times each year. These datafile updates are priced at $25 each plus $2.50 shipping and handling. Version 2 is shipped with approximately 3,500 product records. The price of those records, including the database soft- ware is $99 plus $2.50 shipping and handling. Datafile updates will be numbered, and as they become available, you can purchase either the current one or any of the available previous updates. We send out database update forms to each vendor in the database once a year. In addition, throughout the year, we add many new vendors. For those users who want to receive all of the updates, you may "subscribe" to the updates for $50 per year. If you are an update subscriber, you will automatically receive a complete database update in January and July of each year. This subscription update will include all address and phone changes we have made to the existing database as well as all of the newly added vendors. Upgrades to the database software may be downloaded from our BBS by registered users. There is no charge for minor upgrades that are downloaded from our BBS. There will be a $10 handling charge if we must mail the software upgrade to you. These upgrades will be minor "tweeks" and will not include any new features. All new features will be included in the next major upgrade - Version 3. DataWare Productions C.D. "Cy" Stapleton FAX (409) 637-1480 VOICE (409) 637-7468 BBS (409) 637-4973 OUR BBS We maintain a bulletin board that can be accessed by your computer if you have a modem. That number is (409) 637-4973 and is on-line 24 hours a day. . You will be asked to complete a brief form and come up with a password of your own. Normally, if your BFP or ADBFP serial number is given when you first log on, within 24 hours you will be authorized and will be able to have access to thousands of programs that you can download, articles that Cy Stapleton has written in the past and also ones he is working on, send and receive messages to both the SYSOP, Rodney Butler, to Cy, or to other users, etc. The BBS can handle 14,400 baud. We are operating Wildcat BBS, a very easy to use BBS. Cy's articles and special notes can be found in File Area 5. If you want update information or if you have any other questions, simply leave a message for Cy or Rodney. If you have any software you would like for Cy to look at or check out for you, upload it to File Area 70. This is a private area of the BBS and is accessible by no one else. Make certain that any commercial software you upload goes to this area and that in your note you mention it is commercial software. Do not upload any commercial software to any other area. Do not upload any software you might suspect of having a virus and want Cy to check out. His expertise in viri is not very extensive and the BBS scanning soft- ware will reject any files with viri. Files you suspect of having a virus should be uploaded to one of the BBSs that specialize in studying viri. Probably the best known of these is McAffee's - the developer of SCAN and CLEAN. Details can be found in the text files in his virus scan shareware. You can find SCAN and CLEAN in the General Download Area #1. BUG REPORT Please report any bugs you encounter by either faxing us at (409) 6737-1480 or uploading a message to our BBS at (409) 637-4973. Please write down exactly what you were doing when you encountered the problem. Attempt the same thing a second time to see if you get the same results. Upon being made aware of any bugs, we will do a fix and will upload that fix to our BBS for immediate download by registered users. As of the date of release - February 22, 1994 - Version 2 appeared to be solid. The only problem we have had is a random problem that occurs only when you are shelled out of Windows and launch BFP. Occasionally you are unable to access the vendor product pick file. This does not happen on all machines and does not happen all the time on machines that it does happen on. The only other thing we are aware of is the fact that the written documentation may not be complete. All features may not be fully described as of the release date due to time constraints. However, those features are explained either in the menu bar at the bottom of the screen or by touching the F1 key to access help screens. The dialing feature, as noted elsewhere in the documentation, is a beta version and will not work on most machines. We would appreciate it if you would try this feature and let us know whether or not it works on your system. In reporting bugs or problems, please give us the following information: Type of system (XT, AT, 286, 386, 486, etc.) Type of monitor (monochrome, CGA, EGA, VGA, SVGA, etc.) Amount of memory Free space on your hard drive A screen dump of your CONFIG.SYS and your AUTOEXEC.BAT files A screen dump of your BFP directory FAX to (409) 637-1480 or upload to BBS at (409) 637-4973 Thank you C.D. "Cy" Stapleton