Any system capable of running applications for the target operating system and/or graphical user interface (GUI) is capable of running Active BookReader.
If you have a monochrome display, of course you cannot display color pictures. If you have minimal memory, performance may suffer.
See the manual included with your operating system and/or GUI to determine requirements for memory and disk space.
Active BookReader requires almost 2.4 Mb of disk space for the program, manual and example figures, plus additional storage for each active book you create.
For each book you create, the total size of the files created will be slightly greater than the size of the input file(s).
!short: 1.1 Active BookReader
How often have you been frustrated with:
+ Attempts to find a reference in a publication, report or manual of some sort?
+ Wasting valuable time searching multi-volume documentation manuals?
+ A relentless, and sometime fruitless search through hundreds or even thousands of pages of paper to find what you need?
+ Finding multiple references to a topic of interest, and tediously searching each one?
And how many times have you been unable to:
+ Determine which document, manual or publication to use?
+ Locate the right document, even if you know which one you need? (Murphy's law dictates that a co-worker will always have the one you need).
+ Identify the appropriate word or phrase to use in a search of a document's index?
Active BookReader (see ^iFigure 1 - Active BookReader Logo^i^nlogo.tif^n) is a productivity tool designed to ameliorate these problems. You will save time and money, improve productivity and reduce or eliminate frustration with time-consuming searches of voluminous manuals.
!short: 1.1.1 What Is It And Who Needs It?
Active BookReader is a low cost, electronic book maker and reader which follows closely the metaphor of the printed book. It was designed to support multiple platforms, thus addressing the needs of the enterprise.
Anyone who routinely uses voluminous paper documents, reports, manuals, etc. repeatedly could benefit from this product. The electronic book is far superior to its paper counterpart as a means of multiplying productivity, and reducing the tedious nature of repetitive tasks.
People who must perform a variety of tasks with a variety of publications can benefit from Active BookReader. Almost anyone who uses paper publications could use Active BookReader to ease their burden.
Even if all your documents are in machine readable form, Active BookReader provides significant capabilities for simultaneous viewing and searching, which is virtually unmatched. And since we use the metaphor of the printed book, Active BookReader is extremely intuitive.
Active BookReader is not an authoring tool. It is designed to allow you to take existing documents, books, manuals, or any word processing file, and make each of them into an active book.
!short: 1.1.2 Multiple Platforms
We recognize that many businesses have several hardware platforms and operating systems in use in their organizations.
These businesses require a multiple platform solution to almost every problem which can be addressed by software. We decided to beg the question of which operating system is best by providing software for most popular platforms.
A list of supported platforms is provided in Section 7.1. If your platform is not listed, please contact us to request a new platform (we may have already planned for it).
Providing productivity-enhancing software products is our only goal.
!short: 1.1.3 An Alternative To Norton Guides
If you have the text of ^xNorton Guides^x Databases created by yourself or others, you can use Active BookReader to make an active book from them.
In effect, we are providing, as one alternative, a "Norton Guides for Windows" as well as other GUI platforms.
Included with Active BookReader is an unsupported shareware decompiler for Norton Guides, which will recover the text of a Norton Guides database, so that you may create an active book. If you use this product, located in the NDGG sub-directory of the installation directory, please support the shareware concept by registering the product.
!short: 1.1.4 An Alternative To Hypertext
Have you noticed that the quality and usefulness of a ^xhypertext^x file varies in direct proportion to the effort expended in creating it?
We have experienced significant difficulty in finding answers to simple questions by using the standard hypertext help files which are shipped with many applications today. We have found ourselves going around in hypertext circles trying to find an answer which is just not there.
After a fruitless search through an on-line hypertext document, how many times have you had to dig out the manual? In those cases the on-line documentation is worthless. In addition, we often ask ourselves while searching for an answer in a hypertext document, why is it that the entire manual is not available on line?
Active BookReader provides an answer. In most cases, little or no additional effort is needed to make the entire contents of a machine readable book or manual file available on line. In other cases, users can choose the option of additional effort, for example to mark words in the text for use in a alphabetical index, cross referenced to section titles.
!short: 1.1.5 Multi-Volume Documentation Sets
Active BookReader is not limited to use the scenarios described in previous sections. It is limited only by the imagination of its users. And we know from past experience that users have great imagination and creativity.
For example, many hardware and software companies provide documentation for their products in the form of multiple books, or multiple volumes of 3-hole punched loose leaf paper. Active BookReader is perfect for these alternatives. The global search is appropriate for searching multiple volumes quickly.
We believe it is far better to provide complete machine readable documentation, rather than to frustrate users with a search through on-line documentation, only to find that they must begin the search anew using paper manuals. Instant aggravation!
!short: 1.1.6 CD-ROM
Some companies are starting to provide software as well as documentation on CD-ROM. A variety of multi-volume documents such as encyclopedias and other reference books, as well as text books and even novels are becoming available on disk and CD-ROM. Active BookReader is perfect for these situations. Most of the features of Active BookReader, including instant navigation and global searching are particularly appropriate.
!short: 1.2 Installing Active BookReader
Use the setup program to install Active BookReader. The program SETUP.EXE is a DOS program. It can be run from any valid drive or directory. You need not change the default drive to the distribution diskette. You can even copy the contents of the distribution diskette to a temporary directory and run the setup program from there. The setup program is run as follows:
[drive:]setup <source> <destination>
The square brackets enclose the optional drive designator. The left and right chevrons represent the required drive and/or directory designation for the source (e.g., the files included on the distribution diskette), and the destination (i.e., the drive and/or directory designation where Active BookReader is to be installed).
The following are examples of installing Active BookReader from the a: and b: drive, respectively, assuming that the default drive is not a: in the first case, and not b: in the second case. The examples also indicate the recommended installation directory. Using the c: drive is not necessary. You may substitute any valid drive designation which has sufficient storage space (excluding CD-ROM drives and write-protected drives).
a:setup a: c:\abook
b:setup b: c:\abook
NOTE: You cannot install Active BookReader to a 1.2 Mb or 1.44 Mb diskette. There is insufficient storage to contain all the expanded files. The setup program will require at least 2.4 Mb of available storage on the destination drive.
While the setup program is running, it identifies the files as they are installed. If there are no error messages during processing, Active BookReader is installed properly.
If you are re-installing Active BookReader in the same directory after using it for some time, the program will warn you about replacing existing files.
!short: 1.3 Removing Active BookReader
Active BookReader was designed to make it easy to install and remove from your system. To remove it, simply delete the installation directory and all its sub-directories. The MS-Windows program manager can delete a directory tree easily. Refer to the MS-Windows manual if you do not know how to do this.
If you have not followed our suggestion of placing all active books as sub-directories of the installation directory, then you must individually delete all the directories which hold active books.
!short: 1.4 An Unusual ^xHelp System^x
The help system is not the one you are accustomed to. However, it is portable across all platforms supported by Active BookReader.
We hope you never need the help system for two reasons:
+ A complete electronic book is provided with Active BookReader describing its operation in detail.
+ Active BookReader is very intuitive. We find that many users don't even need to use the electronic book we provide. And no user has reported difficulty in becoming proficient quickly.
If you already know how to use the operating system and/or the GUI under which this application runs, you should have no trouble in using Active BookReader.
To invoke the help system select the Contents item on the Help menu or use the F1 key (except when a dialog is active). To use the help system, use your mouse to select a topic, then click the help button, or double click the topic, or press the enter key. At that point another window will appear with the text of the topic.
Note that, although a topic is highlighted when the main help window opens, the topic is not selected for keyboard scrolling. Your must first select a topic using the mouse, or by using the tab key to move to the highlighted item, and then press the space key.
When there is at least one text window displayed on the screen, a check box will appear in the lower left corner of the Help topics window. This checkbox is labeled Fresh Window. If selected, another text window will appear for each additional help topic selected.
Both types of windows associated with the help system are modeless; they can remain on the screen while you use the application.
To stop using the help system, click the pushbutton marked cancel, or use the tab key to make it the default button, and then press the enter key. Finally, you may use the Escape key when the Help Topics window is in focus, to close the help window.
!short: 1.5 Where Is The Printed Manual?
In the spirit of the electronic book, a printed manual is not supplied with Active BookReader. In this era of "green PCs", perhaps "green software" is appropriate as well.
Of course you can print the manual if you wish. Select the Print item on the File menu. Then Select the Text option in the group box labelled Complete. Be sure that your printer settings are appropriate. And note that the default page header is the date and time, and the default page footer is the page number.
!short: 1.6 Preparing Input Files
You can prepare files for Active BookReader in a variety of ways, depending on how you want to use the books which will be created.
At a minimum, you must identify the sections by inserting the appropriate identifier. If you are using the conventions of the Norton Guides, then place the identifier !short: on the same line as each section title (also known as Table of Contents or TOC entry). Start the text of the TOC entry on the next line (i.e., do not skip a line, or you will end up a blank line as the first line of the text). You need not do anything else to make an active book. When you create a book, you may select whether to include the TOC as an optional view, but each section must be labelled nevertheless.
To make the most use of a Table of Contents, you should number the sections using Arabic or Roman numbers. This will allow the dynamic expansion or collapse of the TOC, using the periods in the section number to create a TOC level for each TOC entry. For example, the section numbered 1.2.4.5 has a TOC level of three, corresponding to the number of periods in the section number.
If you want an index for your book, then place appropriate markers around the text of each index entry. For Norton Guides formatting, surround the text with the marker ^ followed by the character x.
If you want to use figures in your book, then place markers around the text of the figure title. For Norton Guides formatting, surround the title with the marker ^ followed by the character i. Immediately after the second marker, enter the file name associated with the figure, surrounded by the marker ^ followed by the character n. Note that all embedded markers and the file name will be removed from the text of the book, but not from your input file.
NOTE: These formatting conventions for index and LOF entries are extensions defined by Active Software, Inc., and were not part of the original specification for Norton Guides.
Thus you can choose to have between two and six views in each book. In the minimal case, you will have only the Text and Note views. In the maximal case, you will have the TOC, LOF, Figure, Index, Note and Text views.
To make sure that tabs are formatted correctly, set up your word processor with tab settings every .6 inch. Use the desired font family, style and point size, but make sure it corresponds with one supported by Active BookReader (i.e., Helvetica, Times Roman and Fixed Pitch). When you create the book, change the font to that which you used in writing the text. Then the display and print functions in Active BookReader should work as expected.
Norton Guides text files are sometime formatted using spaces between the name of a menu (i.e., TOC) item and its description. To display the Table of Contents as two columns in this case, you must use a fixed pitch font in Active BookReader.
For an example of how to prepare a single input file, see the file MANUAL.TXT in the MANUAL sub-directory.
!short: 2.0 Overview
Active BookReader is a multiple platform book maker and reader for electronic books. It follows the metaphor of the book, but expands it significantly by providing multiple, simultaneous, independent views of a book including windows for the:
+ Table of Contents
+ List of Figures
+ Figure
+ Index
+ Notes (user supplied annotations)
+ Text
When the software first starts, it asks you to provide a user name, if the operating system is unable to provide it. This user name is only used to sort bookmarks; this allows each user to define his/her own set of bookmarks. When you use Active BookReader for the first time, there will be no user names to select from. Choose the add button to enter one or more user names.
The program allows you to open a book, and then:
+ Determine which of six optional views of the book to display at the same time,
+ Decide which of three different ways to arrange the displayed windows,
+ Browse the text, or search the Table of Contents (TOC), Index, or List of Figures (LOF), and instantly retrieve associated text or display a figure in a separate window,
+ Perform a local or global search for a word or phrase in a variety of ways,
+ Print one or more sections of the text,
+ Associate notes with any section of a book (analogous to marginal annotations in a paper book),
+ Save your current place in a book by saving a session file, so that you can easily continue a session in the future without tedious setup,
+ Place one or more bookmarks in any book for use in subsequent sessions.
Active BookReader allows you to create a new books from a single text file or from a menu link file (as defined by the Norton Guides). There are a variety of options for creating new books according to your needs, and there is no limit on the number of new books you can create.
The Help system is available by pressing function key F1.
This software should be highly intuitive in its operation. However, later sections describe each menu option in detail. You may read these descriptions if you wish, before beginning to use the software.
Please note the pushbuttons in each view window. Each pushbutton applies only to its window. For example, the print button in the TOC window will print the currently selected text in the table of contents. (The Print item on the File menu can be used to print the entire table of contents).
!short: 2.1 Starting and Using Active BookReader
This section gives a brief look at how to start and begin using Active BookReader.
!short: 2.1.1 Starting Active BookReader
For Microsoft Windows Users
If you are already running Microsoft Windows, then you can invoke Active BookReader in one of two typical ways:
+ Use the file manager to display the files in the installation directory, then double click on the file BOOK.EXE.
+ Using the Program Manager, select the Run item on the File menu. Enter the full path name of the program. For example, if the installation directory is c:\abook, then you would enter c:\abook\book.exe.
If you are not already running Microsoft Windows, then you can invoke Microsoft Windows and Active BookReader at the same time. For example, if the current default directory is the windows directory, and the Active BookReader installation directory is as above, then at the DOS command line enter:
win c:\abook\book.exe.
You can set up a Program Manager icon for Active BookReader in the usual way. If you wish to automatically activate a session file or a specific book, you can indicate that on the command line. For example, note the following command lines for activating a session and a specific book:
book.exe Jack c:\abook\policies.ses
book.exe Jill c:\abook\errors\messages.db
The name of the program is book.exe. The next parameter on the command line is the user name. Note that the user name is case sensitive. In the first example, policies.ses is the name of a session file associated with corporate policies. The second example indicates a hypothetical error messages book file named c:\abook\errors\messages.db.
You will receive an error message if the user name does not exist or file name specified is invalid or does not exist.
You can also use the GUI file manager to execute Active BookReader in the usual ways.
!short: 2.1.2 Using The Keyboard
^xUsing the keyboard^x should be intuitive. Menu items are activated by using the alternate key in combination with a letter (which is underlined in the menu). Scrolling is done using the arrow keys, and the Page Up and Page Down keys. Use the Crtl+Home key to move to the top of a window, and the Crtl+End keys to move to the bottom of the window.
!short: 2.1.3 ^xUsing The Mouse^x
The mouse is used in the normal ways for the GUI. Items in a list may be selected by a single click. Text can be selected by dragging the mouse across it. In a text window, a double click selects a word. Otherwise, the double click simulates the single click followed by the Enter key.
!short: 2.1.4 Active BookReader Views
Consistent with the metaphor of the printed book, Active BookReader supports six views: Table of Contents, List of Figures, Figure, Index, Note, Text.
Each of the views is independent; you can navigate in any view without effecting any other view. However, each view has at least one button which will effect another view. For example, the Table of Contents View has a Text button. If you highlight all or part of a TOC entry, then select the Text button, the Text window will be positioned to the indicated section.
The Table of Contents view shows each section title on a separate line. Each TOC level is indented by one tab stop. If the window is too small to display the entire line, the window can be scrolled horizontally. The window can also be scrolled vertically using the vertical scrollbar or keyboard.
The List of Figures view shows the title of each figure on a separate line. This view can be scrolled in the same manner as the TOC view.
The Figure view contains the title of each figure in a text window, and the figure itself. The figure title can be scrolled horizontally.
The Index view contains a sub-window with each index entry on a separate line. A separate, parallel text window contains the section title associated with each index entry. Each of the two windows in this view can be scrolled separately using the keyboard. Use the vertical scrollbar to scroll both windows at the same time.
The Note view contains a window for the section title, and a text window for the note. The title window may be scrolled horizontally. The text of the note is automatically formatted to fit in its window, regardless of the size of its window (unless the text was originally formatted with fixed length lines). The note window can be scrolled vertically using the scrollbar or the keyboard.
The Text view contains a window for the section title, and another text window for the section text. The title window may be scrolled horizontally. The section text is automatically formatted to fit in its window, regardless of the size of its window (unless the text was originally formatted with fixed length lines). The text window can be scrolled vertically using the scrollbar or the keyboard.
!short: 2.1.5 ^xCreating Books^x
Each book should have a dedicated directory. We recommend you create a subdirectory in the directory where you installed Active BookReader for each book you wish to create. Using a descriptive name for the subdirectory will help you and others identify its contents in the future.
NOTE: You cannot use the same directory for more than one book. This is because several of the same file names are used for each book. For example, the file names NOTE.DBF and NOTE.CDX are used to keep the notes in each book.
Assuming your text is in a word processing file, use your word processor to create an input file for Active BookReader in the directory of your choice. Save the text in ASCII format. If your word processor is capable of writing the file such that each paragraph is one long line, then choose that option. This approach will allow Active BookReader to reformat the text dynamically as you change the size of its window.
Another good idea is to label each section with a section number, either in Arabic or Roman numbers. If you do, then Active BookReader will be able to collapse and expand the Table of Contents (TOC) one level at a time.
NOTE: We define the TOC level as the number of periods in the section number. Thus, section 2.3.6.8 has a TOC level of three, even though it represents the fourth level in section 2.
NOTE: When you installed Active BookReader, a subdirectory was created called MANUAL. This subdirectory contains a file called MANUAL.TXT. This file is the complete manual for Active BookReader. It provides an example of formatting an ASCII file using the Norton Guides format with our extensions. The first book you create should be this one.
See the menu item Create Book on the File menu for more information.
!short: 2.1.6 ^xActive BookReader Files^x
Several files are distributed with Active BookReader. The program also creates files in the directory in the installation directory, called configuration files. It creates files in the directory used for each book, called book files. Users create session files which are also described below.
!short: 2.1.6.2 ^xDistribution Files^x
The distribution disk contains the following files:
SETUP.EXE - The setup and installation program
UNZIP.EXE - The program which expands the archive files
ABOOK.ZIP - An archive containing compressed program files
MANUAL.ZIP - An archive containing the compressed manual files
The file ABOOK.ZIP contains the following compressed files which are placed in the installation directory:
ACCUSOFT.DLL - A required dynamic link library
C4DLL.DLL - A required dynamic link library
COMMDLG.DLL - A required dynamic link library
FTS.DLL - A required dynamic link library
XWI320.DLL - A required dynamic link library
XWI320TE.DLL - A required dynamic link library
BOOK.EXE - The Active BookReader program
BETA.FRM - An application form for beta testers
INCIDENT.FRM - A form to report problems
ORDER.FRM - An order form
BOOK.HLP - The Active BookReader help file
READ.ME - Read the contents of this file first
ERRCODES.TXT - Error codes and explanation
The file MANUAL.ZIP contains the following compressed files, which are placed in a sub-directory of the installation directory called MANUAL:
NORTON.BMP - An example figure
ASTRO.GIF - An example figure
CLOWN.GIF - An example figure
IMPERIAL.GIF - An example figure
POOLBALL.GIF - An example figure
CADETS.PCX - An example figure
ROSE.PCX - An example figure
SHADOW.PCX - An example figure
SOARING.PCX - An example figure
EAGLE.TIF - An example figure
LOGO.TIF - An example figure
TESTA.TIF - An example figure
MANUAL.TXT - The Active BookReader manual
The following files should be present in the NGDD sub-directory. This directory contains the upsupported Norton Guides Decompiler. Please support the shareware concept by registering this product if you use it and like it.
NGDD.DOC - The manual for NGDD.EXE
REGISTER.DOC - A form to use to register NGDD.EXE
TROUBLE.DOC - A form to use in reporting problems with NGDD.EXE
NGDD.EXE - The Norton Guides Decompiler program
!short: 2.1.6.1 ^xConfiguration Files^x
In the Active BookReader installation directory, the following configuration files are created:
DBDB.DBF - This is known as the database database file. It keeps information on each book created, such as the name and location of each main book file.
USERS.DBF - This file contains the names of all Active BookReader users.
!short: 2.1.6.2 ^xSession Files^x
We recommend that the session files you create be placed in the same directory as Active BookReader. Then you need not change directories to find them. If you have several users, each of whom need a variety of session files, then you may need to keep each set of session files in a separate directory. One approach to this is to create a subdirectory for each user.
By convention, session files have the extension .ses. You can use any extension you like, but confusion may result if more than one person needs to use session files. We recommend that everyone using Active BookReader follow the file naming convention.
!short: 2.1.6.3 ^xBook Files^x
When you use your input file to create a book, several additional files are created. These files allow instant navigation among all the views of the book, and provide a means of instantly searching for and retrieving information from the book.
NOTE: Because of the file naming conventions of Active BookReader, you cannot use an input file name with any of the following extensions: .db or .cdx or .dbf or .fpt or .ia. Active BookReader will display an error message if you attempt to use any of these extensions. We recommend that you use the .txt extension as a convention for input files.
Given a filename such as: NAME.TXT, the following files will be created:
NAME.DB - This is the main book file, with the file extension .db.
NAME.CDX - This is an index for the name.db file which maintains the book sections in sequential order.
NAME.FPT - This file contains the text of each section.
BOOKMARK.DBF - This is an optional file containing identifying information for each bookmark.
BOOKMARK.CDX - This is an optional file which maintains the bookmarks sorted in order by user.
NOTE.DBF - This is the main file for the notes associated with each section of a book.
NOTE.CDX - This file maintains the notes in sequential order by section number.
NOTE.FPT - This file contains the text of the notes.
LOF.DBF - This is the main file for the list of figures. It is optional.
LOF.CDX - This optional file maintains the list of figures in sequential order.
INDEX.DBF - This is the optional main file for the book index.
INDEX.CDX - This optional file maintains the book index in alphabetical order.
NAME.IA - This is the full text index for the book. It supports instant searching for a word or phrase in a book.
XREF.DBF - This file cross references the full text index file to the book section.
XREF.CDX - This file maintains the cross reference is sequential order by section number.
Other files may be present in the directory which represent the figures associated with the book. The program imposes no limit on the number of these files.
!short: 2.2 Production Software
If you have the production version of Active BookReader, you can, of course, execute all the functions. The software is available in only one version which supports single and multi-user environments, including networks and multi-user systems.
!short: 2.3 ^xDemo Software^x
A demo version of Active BookReader is available. The current version is always available on the EXEC-PC Bulletin Board System (BBS) in the Microsoft Windows collection. The name of the demo version distribution file is abookNNN.zip, where NNN is the version number. You may also order a demo disk. See the file ORDER.FRM.
The demo version of Active BookReader is not simply a presentation of its features. It is a working demo of Active BookReader. The demo software is fully functional, with one exception; you cannot create more than one electronic book.
Use one of the following numbers to contact EXEC-PC, if you are not yet a member.
414-789-4210 - Regular 2400 bps modems.
414-789-4337 - 9600 bps older style US Robotics HST.
414-789-4352 - 14,400 US Robotics HST dual standard.
The main (horizontal) menu is always displayed. Menu items are inactive (i.e., dimmed or grayed) if not currently available.
All of the main menu items have a pull-down menu associated with them. The following sections will explain each of these pull-down options as well.
!short: 3.1 File
This menu item has a number of options relating to opening, closing, deleting, renaming and printing and using the variety of files supported by Active Bookreader. See the items below for a detailed explanation.
!short: 3.1.1 Open Book
This menu item opens a previously created book file, and identifies all related files. It does not automatically display any of the six optional views of the book.
Any book which is already open is automatically closed prior to opening a new book. Appropriate menu items are then made available on the main menu.
!short: 3.1.2 Close Book
This menu item closes the currently open book file. It also inactivates menu items which are no longer available.
!short: 3.1.3 Create Book
This menu item allows you to create all the files associated with a book from a text file of your choice.
If you are re-creating a book, the program will warn you before deleting previously created files. The program will give you the option to preserve previously created notes or bookmarks.
WARNING: If you change the number of sections in the text file used to create the book, you should NOT choose the option to preserve notes and bookmarks. If the resultant book is not defective, then the bookmarks and notes will likely point to the wrong sections.
Several options are available. The following describes these options:
A standard file open dialog box is first displayed which allows the user to choose a file to process. You can select either:
+ A Norton Guides menu link file, or
+ A text file which includes all the text for your book.
After selecting a file name, another dialog box is displayed which allows the user to specify options for creating a book. The second dialog displays the following information:
Path: The selected path is displayed.
File: The selected file name is displayed.
File Type: Currently, ASCII is the only available file type.
File Format: Currently, ^xNorton Guides^x is the only available file format. See below for the Norton Guides Format, and the extensions we have added.
Perform Consistency Test on File: This check box, if selected, will process the selected file without creating the book. It will attempt to find and report errors in the file. It is good practice to use this option the first time you use each file to create a book. This can identify errors quickly which would abort the book creation process.
Three checkboxes which indicate whether to create a TOC, LOF and Index. Next to each checkbox is a listbox for selection of the TOC format, LOF format and index format, respectively.
Another edit box, with the label: Minimum Length of Word in Index, described below.
!short: 3.1.3.1 ^xNorton Guides Decompiler^x
We have included an unsupported shareware decompiler for Norton Guides. You can use this program to reclaim the text of Norton Guides files. Then you can make an active book of them for use with this program.
NOTE: The decompiler is shareware. It is not a product of Active Software, Inc., and we provide it as is without any support. To use the program, see the file NGDD.DOC in the NGDD sub-directory. If you use this product, please support the shareware concept by registering the program. See the file REGISTER.DOC in the NGDD sub-directory for a registration form.
NOTE: If you use the menu link file produced by these decompilers, please follow the file naming conventions for the menu link and text files described in section 3.1.3.2.
!short: 3.1.3.2 Norton Guides Menu Link File
You may specify a Norton Guides menu link file as an Active BookReader input file. This file usually specifies how to construct the menus for the Norton Guides software, using several files. If you use this type of file, note the conventions described below.
In the Norton Guides menu link file, the names of the Norton Guides output (not text) files are normally specified, in the form filename.ngo. For simplicity, Active BookReader assumes that the names of the text files to process are the same as specified in this file, WITHOUT any extension. The following is an example of an actual menu link file created by a decompiler:
!menu: A-G
Array nanf_000.ngo
Conversion nanf_001.ngo
DOS/BIOS nanf_002.ngo
Database nanf_003.ngo
Date/Time nanf_004.ngo
Environment nanf_005.ngo
File I/O nanf_006.ngo
Game nanf_007.ngo
!menu: K-Z
Keyboard/Mouse nanf_008.ngo
Math nanf_009.ngo
Menus/Prompts nanf_010.ngo
Netware nanf_011.ngo
String nanf_012.ngo
Video nanf_013.ngo
!menu: Information
Overview nanf_014.ngo
Rebuilding nanf_015.ngo
Headers nanf_016.ngo
Credits nanf_017.ngo
Active BookReader will assume that the Norton Guides text file names are nanf_000, nanf_001, nanf_002, etc. (with no extension). You must be certain to follow this naming convention.
NOTE: The tabs in the above example were formatted for a Helvetica bold 9 point font, using tab settings every .6 inch. Margins were set to one inch on all sides. If you display or print this using any other font family, style or point size, the tabs will probably not line up.
!short: 3.1.3.3 File Type
Active BookReader can read standard ASCII files when creating a book. A standard ASCII file has a line terminator which is a function of the operating system in use. Active BookReader takes this into consideration automatically.
If you use ASCII files, it is a good idea to format the file so that each paragraph is one long line. This lets Active BookReader re-format each paragraph of text based on the size of the window in which it is displayed. If each line of text has a line terminator, Active BookReader will not be able to dynamically re-format paragraphs.
Many word processors allow you to save your files in ASCII format. In addition, some word processors allow you to save your text in an ASCII file as described above, where each paragraph is one long line.
NOTE: Currently, the maximum length of a paragraph is 32760 bytes.
NOTE: Please let us know which additional file types you would like Active BookReader to read directly. We are currently considering these: WordPerfect for DOS and Windows, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft Word for Windows.
!short: 3.1.3.4 File Format
Active BookReader can read uncompiled Norton Guides ASCII files. (A Norton Guides shareware decompiler is provided to reclaim the text of a Norton Guides database. See the section: Norton Guides Decompiler). The Norton Guides requires you to format these files in the following way:
+ Table of Contents entries are indicated by the marker !short: on the same line as the entry.
+ Section Text follows the !short: marker on the next line. Section text ends when the next TOC marker is encountered.
Embedded in the text, the Norton Guides allows the additional format markers:
+ The character ^ followed by the character u, bracketing the text to underline,
+ The character ^ followed by the character b, bracketing the text to display in bold text,
+ The character ^ followed by the character r, bracketing the text to display in reverse video.
NOTE: Active BookReader does not yet support the above three format markers.
Active BookReader does support the following extensions to the Norton Guides formats:
+ The character ^ followed by the character x, bracketing the text to include in an index entry,
+ The character ^ followed by the character i , bracketing the text to include in a LOF,
+ The character ^ followed by the character n, bracketing the text to indicate the file name of a figure.
See ^iFigure 2 - Embedded Markers for Norton Guides^i^nnorton.bmp^n, for an example. Note that we must put the example in a figure because the process of creating a book would remove the markers from this text.
NOTE: The markers will be removed from the book file (but not from your original file) while processing.
NOTE: To allow for multiple figures per section, the file name for the figure MUST follow the text enclosed by the figure name.
There are several other keywords used in creating Norton Guides:
!Credits - this identifies the authors of the text. This is not supported by Active BookReader.
!File - This keyword is used to create a short entry which points to a file of short entries. Active BookReader supports this command and increments the TOC level for the short entries in the file.
!menu - This command is used in a menu link file to create a menu for the Norton Guides software. It is not needed by Active BookReader, but the text following it is used to identify groups of short entries.
!name - This command is not supported by Active BookReader.
A referential command !SeeAlso: - This command is used to refer to one or more additional long entries and is supported. When this keyword is encountered, Active BookReader creates a note which includes the references. (The references can be retrieved by selecting an entry in the note window, and then selecting the Text button.
Please let us know which additional file formats you would like Active BookReader to support. We are considering these: Rich Text Format (RTF), and Standard General Markup Language (SGML).
!short: 3.1.3.5 Table of Contents Format
A checkbox in the create dialog box indicates whether to create a Table of Contents. To the right of the checkbox is a listbox for selection of the TOC format.
You may select either Arabic or Roman for the TOC format. Arabic indicates an the use of Arabic numbers for section and figure labels. Roman indicates the use of Roman numerals for section and figure labels.
EXAMPLES:
Arabic Section Numbers:
1.0 First Section
1.1 Second Section
1.1.1 Subsection to Second Section
Roman Section Numbers:
I. First Section
I.I Second Section
VI.V Subsection Five of Section Six
WARNING: The periods in the section numbers are crucial. They must be included if you are using the Norton Guides format. They are used to determine the TOC level.
CAUTION: If you are using a large file to create a book, and choose to create a Table of Contents, you may run out of memory if you attempt to load and display the TOC window. Loading the TOC window may require several seconds in such cases.
It is advisable to use Arabic or Roman numbering for your electronic books. This approach allows you to expand or collapse the TOC one level at a time. The TOC level is defined as the number of periods in the section number.
!short: 3.1.3.6 List of Figures Format
A checkbox in the create dialog box indicates whether to create a List of Figures. Next to the checkbox is a listbox for selection of the LOF format.
You may indicate either Arabic or Roman for the LOF format. Arabic indicates the use of Arabic numbers for section and figure labels. Roman indicates the use of Roman numerals for section and figure labels.
!short: 3.2.3.7 Index Format
The index format provide two options: Marked Words Only, or All Words. The index format option for Marked Words Only uses the appropriate index entry marker prescribed by the file format option above.
If you choose All Words for the index format, then you must specify the minimum word length in characters in the box below the Index Format list box. The default word length is six characters, which indicates that words with six or more characters will be included in the index.
CAUTION: If you are using a large file to create a book, and choose the option All Words for the index format, you may run out of memory if you attempt to load and display the index. In any case, loading the index window may require several seconds in such cases.
!short: 3.1.3.8 Figures
Active BookReader can display pictures, images, figures, drawings, etc. in connection with an electronic book. Unlike printed books, you may display the picture indefinitely while reading the text.
The following image formats are supported:
Windows or OS/2 bitmaps (BMP)
Aldus TIFF files (TIF),
Truevision Targa files (TGA),
Zsoft Paintbrush files (PCX),
Compuserve graphics files (GIF),
Windows Metafiles (WMF),
Encapsulated Postscript Files (EPS),
JPEG files (JPG).
Active BookReader will automatically determine the format of the figure when loading the file.
Please let us know is you find a file in one of the above formats which cannot be read by Active BookReader. But first make sure that the file is not defective by using another program to display it.
!short: 3.1.3.9 ^xExample Figures^x
Several images are provided as examples of the use of figures in an active book. You are free to use them in other books if you wish.
NOTE: ^xImage Display Quality^x. Some of the example figures require displays which support 256 or more simultaneous colors. If your display card cannot support at least 256 colors, you may notice a significant decrease in displayed image quality. This is unavoidable.
The following figures are included, covering a variety of topics.
^iFigure 3 - Astronaut^i^nASTRO.GIF^n
^iFigure 4 - Imperial Cruiser^i^nIMPERIAL.GIF^n
^iFigure 5 - A Clown^i^nCLOWN.GIF^n
^iFigure 6 - Pool Balls on a Table^i^nPOOLBALL.GIF^n
^iFigure 7 - Space Cadets^i^nCADETS.PCX^n
^iFigure 8 - A Rose^i^nROSE.PCX^n
^iFigure 9 - The Shadow of a Cat^i^nSHADOW.PCX^n
^iFigure 10 - Soaring Over the Mountain^i^nSOARING.PCX^n
^iFigure 11 - An Eagle^i^nEAGLE.TIF^n
^iFigure 12 - A Ferrari^i^nTESTA.TIF^n
!short: 3.1.3.10 ^xBackground Processing^x
Once you select the OK button, Active BookReader begins the process of creating the book. The program is designed to create the book in the background; if you wish, you can minimize Active BookReader while it is processing and perform other tasks. In that case, you may notice a performance degradation, which is normal for background processing.
Active BookReader display status indicator whiles it is making the book. This indicator shows the completion percentage. The program title is also changed to show the file being processed and the percent complete.
If any errors are encountered while creating the book, the process will be terminated. This is necessary to avoid creating defective books, and possibly producing data-driven errors in Active BookReader.
!short: 3.1.4 Open Session
Once you have determined all the settings to use for a given book file, and saved these in a session file, this menu item allows you to open the session file previously saved.
The session file restores the screen to a previous state, including the size and location of each window which was displayed, the font and colors in each window, and the previous state of each window, such as the section which was displayed in the text window, and the figure which was displayed in the figure window.
!short: 3.1.5 Close Session
This menu item will close the currently open session file. It also inactivates menu items which are no longer available.
!short: 3.1.6 Save Session
This menu item will preserve the settings you have defined for a session in a file.
The ^xsession file^x will remember:
+ Which windows are displayed, their size and location, including the program window,
+ The section(s) displayed in the each window,
+ The current font and colors used in each window.
+ The content of each window, such as which figure was displayed.
We recommend that you place all session files in the same directory as Active BookReader, regardless of the location of the book files. Then it will not be necessary to change directories when using the Open Session menu item.
!short: 3.1.7 Delete
This menu item will allow you to delete a file. A file selection dialog will be presented.
Once a file name is selected, the file name will be presented in another window, at which time you must confirm or cancel the action.
WARNING: Do not use this option to delete files associated with a book.
!short: 3.1.8 Rename
This menu item allows you to rename a file. A file selection dialog will be presented.
Once a file name is selected, the file name will be presented in another window, at which time you must confirm or cancel the action.
!short: 3.1.9 Print
To print the current contents of the Figure, Note or Text view, use this option. To print selected text in any view, use the print button in each view.
This menu item immediately presents a dialog box with two group boxes. Each of these group boxes has several checkboxes. The first group box lists the following items:
Currently Displayed:
Text
Figure
Note
The second group box is designed for printing all of a view of the book. The following options are available:
Complete:
Table of Contents
List of Figures
Figures
Index
Notes
Text
The top group box indicates a choice of currently displayed windows. The bottom group box indicates all of the associated entries in the book.
For example, choosing Table of Contents in the bottom box would cause the ^xprinting^x of the entire Table of Contents in the currently selected font. Choosing Text in the bottom box would cause the printing of the text of each section. However, choosing Text in the top box would cause the printing of only the currently displayed section of the book.
NOTE: Each figure will be printed on a separate page.
After you select the OK button, another dialog box is displayed. This box gives the status of the print job, and contains a Cancel button to abort the printing. Another status display is shown at the bottom of the print selection dialog.
!short: 3.1.10 Page Setup
This menu item displays a dialog box. In it you define the print header and footer, and the margins: top, left, bottom, and right. The default header is the date and time. The default footer is the page number. Margins may be defined in inches or centimeters.
If the margins are inconsistent for the chosen printer, an error message will be displayed.
Also in this dialog box is a listbutton for the selection of the size of printed figures. The selections are: one eighth, one fourth, one half and one. When printed, the figure may be smaller than the selected size, in an attempt to maintain the aspect ratio.
Note: Each figure will be printed on a separate page.
!short: 3.1.11 Printer Setup
This item allows you to access the settings for the currently defined printer, or select and configure another printer.
!short: 3.1.12 Exit
This option terminates the program. You can use Alt+F4 optionally to execute this function.
!short: 3.2 Edit
This item presents two options for ^xediting^x text, Copy and Paste. The Copy item is operable in any window. The paste item copies text to the Note window only.
!short: 3.2.1 Copy
This item allows you to copy selected text to the clipboard without removing it from the window in focus. Use the keyboard or mouse in any window to select text as usual. The text is deselected after copying.
!short: 3.2.2 Paste
This menu item allows you to insert text from the clipboard into the Note window. The text from the clipboard is appended to the current note.
!short: 3.3 View
This main menu item presents several options, Display All, Table of Contents, List of Figures, Image, Index, Text, Note and Close All. See the following sections for a detailed description of each of these.
!short: 3.3.1 Display All
This item allows you to display all of the views of the book file with one command.
!short: 3.3.2 ^xTable of Contents^x
This item allows you to display the Table of Contents window. This window contains a rectangular scrollable window with the TOC entries and several pushbuttons. These buttons are described briefly below and explained fully in the section on Pushbuttons.
+ Up - This button, if enabled, collapses the TOC display by one level.
+ Down - This button, if enabled, expands the TOC display by one level.
+ First - This button scrolls the TOC display to the first entry.
+ Last - This button scrolls the TOC display to the last entry.
+ Search - This button allows you to search for words or a phrase anywhere in the book. It provides a modeless search to allow continual searching until a satisfactory result is found.
+ Figure - If this button is activated, and if any part of a TOC entry is highlighted, this button will retrieve and display the associated image, if any, in the Figure window.
+ Text - If any part of a TOC entry is highlighted, this button will position the text window to the appropriate section and make the Text window active.
+ Mark - If any part of a TOC entry is highlighted, this button will place a bookmark on the highlighted section for the current user.
+ Font - This button allows you to change the font family, style or size of the text displayed in the TOC window.
+ Print - This button allows you to print currently selected text in the TOC window.
!short: 3.3.3 ^xList of Figures^x
This item allows you to display the List of Figures window. This window contains a rectangular scrollable window with the LOF entries and several pushbuttons. These buttons are described briefly below and explained fully in the section on Pushbuttons.
+ First - This button scrolls the LOF display to the first entry.
+ Last - This button scrolls the LOF display to the last entry.
+ Search - This button allows you to search for words or a phrase anywhere in the book. It provides a modeless search to allow continual searching until a satisfactory result is found.
+ Figure - If any part of an LOF entry is highlighted, this button will retrieve and display the associated image in the Figure window.
+ Text - If any part of a LOF entry is highlighted, this button will position the text window to the appropriate section and make the Text window active.
+ Mark - If any part of a LOF entry is highlighted, this button will place a bookmark on the highlighted section for the current user.
+ Font - This button allows you to change the font family, style or size of the text displayed in the LOF window.
+ Print - This button allows you to print the currently selected text in the LOF window.
!short: 3.3.4 ^xFigure^x
This item allows you to display the Figure window. This window contains a rectangular, horizontally scrollable window with the title of the figure, a window for the figure itself, and several pushbuttons. These buttons are described briefly below and explained fully in the section on Pushbuttons.
Included in the title of this window is the resolution of the figure in the form (H x V x N), where H is the horizontal resolution, and V is the vertical resolution in pixels. The number 2 raised to the power N is the number of colors in the picture. For example, (640 x 480 x 8) indicates a figure with a resolution of 640 by 480 with 256 colors.
+ --> - This button, if enabled, retrieves and displays the next figure in sequence.
+ <-- - This button, if enabled, retrieves and displays the previous figure in sequence.
+ First - This button retrieves and displays the first figure.
+ Last - This button retrieves and displays the last figure.
+ Search - This button allows you to search for words or a phrase anywhere in the book. It provides a modeless search to allow continual searching until a satisfactory result is found.
+ Text - This button will position the text window to the appropriate location and make the Text window active.
+ Mark - This button will place a bookmark on the section associated with the figure, for the current user.
+ ^xNative (or Scale)^x - When this button is labeled Native, selecting it limits the maximum size of the figure to the native size; the label then changes to Scale. If the size of the window is less than the native size of the figure, this button will have no effect. When this button is labeled Scale, selecting it always adjusts the size of the picture to fit the window.
+ Font - This button allows you to change the font family, style or size of the text displayed in the Figure window.
+ Print - This button allows you to print the currently selected text in the Figure window.
!short: 3.3.5 Index
This item allows you to display the Index window. This window contains a rectangular scrollable window with the index entries and several pushbuttons. These buttons are described briefly below and explained fully in the section on Pushbuttons.
The index window contains the index entry as well as the section title associated with the entry in separate windows. Each of these sub-windows may be scrolled individually using the keyboard. To scroll them together, use the vertical scrollbar.
+ First - This button scrolls the Index window to the first entry.
+ Last - This button scrolls the Index window to the last entry.
+ Search - This button allows you to search for words or a phrase anywhere in the book. It provides a modeless search to allow continual searching until a satisfactory result is found.
+ Text - If any part of an index entry is highlighted, this button will position the text window to the appropriate section and make the Text window active.
+ Mark - If any part of an index entry is highlighted, this button will place a bookmark on the highlighted section for the current user.
+ Font - This button allows you to change the font family, style or size of the text displayed in the Index window.
+ Print - This button allows you to print the currently selected text in the Index window.
!short: 3.3.6 ^xText^x
This item allows you to display the Text window. This window contains a rectangular, horizontally scrollable window with the title of the section, a vertically scrollable window for the text, and several pushbuttons. These buttons are described briefly below and explained fully in the section on Pushbuttons.
+ --> - This button, if enabled, retrieves and displays the next section in sequence.
+ <-- - This button, if enabled, retrieves and displays the previous section in sequence.
+ First - This button retrieves and displays the first section.
+ Last - This button retrieves and displays the last section.
+ Search - This button allows you to search for words or a phrase anywhere in the book. It provides a modeless search to allow continual searching until a satisfactory result is found.
+ Figure - This button, if enabled, will retrieve and display the associated image in the Figure window.
+ Note - This window will retrieve and display the note associated with the current section. The Note window is then activated.
+ Mark - This button will place a bookmark on the current section for the current user.
+ Font - This button allows you to change the font family, style or size of the text displayed in the Text window.
+ Print - This button allows you to print the currently selected text in the Text window.
!short: 3.3.7 ^xNote^x
This item allows you to display the Note window. This window contains a rectangular, horizontally scrollable window with the title of the section, a vertically scrollable window for the text of the note, and several pushbuttons. These buttons are described briefly below and explained fully in the section on Pushbuttons.
+ --> - This button, if enabled, retrieves and displays the next note in sequence.
+ <-- - This button, if enabled, retrieves and displays the previous note in sequence.
+ First - This button retrieves and displays the note for the first section.
+ Last - This button retrieves and displays the note for the last section.
+ Save - This button will save the current note. It is useful for periodically saving the text of a note being typed. It is NOT strictly necessary to use this button; Active BookReader will automatically save the text if any other button is pressed.
+ Text - This button will position the Text window to the appropriate section and make the Text window active.
+ Font - This button allows you to change the font family, style or size of the text displayed in the Note window.
+ Print - This button allows you to print the currently selected text in the Note window.
!short: 3.3.8 Close All
This item will close all the windows which are displayed and inactivate appropriate menu items.
!short: 3.4 Options
This menu item has several entries described below: Font, Bookmark, Users, Reindex and Colors.
!short: 3.4.1 ^xFont^x
This menu item allows you to change the font in use for all windows with one command.
A dialog box is displayed. Three windows list the font family, font style, and font size. Make a selection from one or more windows and select the OK button. You may abort this function by selecting the Cancel button.
The font family, style and size is limited to those which can be guaranteed portable among all the platforms supported by Active BookReader. No other fonts are supported besides those listed.
If a font family, style or size was previously selected, the selections will be automatically highlighted.
!short: 3.4.2 ^xBookmark^x
Using this option will produce a dialog window indicating the available bookmarks for the current user in the current book. There are three options in this dialog: OK, Cancel and Delete.
Pressing the enter key or selecting the OK button selects the highlighted bookmark. Selecting the Cancel button closes the window. Selecting the Delete button will permanently remove the bookmark for the current user.
When you select a bookmark, the Text window will be positioned to the appropriate section.
Active BookReader maintains a database table of bookmarks for each book and each user.
!short: 3.4.3 ^xUsers^x
Selecting this option will present a dialog box in which all users are listed in a scrollable window. The current user name is always automatically selected.
To select a current user, highlight a user name and select the OK pushbutton.
To add a user select the Add pushbutton. Then a window will appear allowing you to enter the user name.
You can select a user name, and use the Delete pushbutton to remove it permanently from the user database table.
!short: 3.4.4 ^xReindex^x
The reindex menu item should not be used unless you are having problems with a given book. If so, use this option to recreate all database table indexes.
!short: 3.4.5 ^xColors^x
Selecting this option displays a dialog option with three listbuttons and six checkboxes.
The three listbuttons allow you to select the colors for the text, border and background. The six checkboxes allow you to indicate which of the six views to apply the colors. This is a modeless dialog, allowing you to change the colors until you are satisfied. Choose the OK button to apply the colors. Choose the cancel button when the colors suit you.
!short: 3.5 Window
This menu item presents nine menu items, Cascade, Tile, Arrange, Table of Contents, List of Figures, Image, Index, Text, Note. See the following sections for a detailed explanation.
The first three of these items are for arranging the windows on the screen. You may find it useful to experiment with each of the window arrangement options, to determine the best one for each book.
!short: 3.5.1 ^xCascade^x
The windows displayed are arranged on the screen, from back to front, in the following order: Table of Contents, List of Figures, Image, Index, Note, Text. Thus the Text window is always on top of the stack.
This window arrangement is most useful for relatively low resolution displays, such as 640 x 480 pixels.
!short: 3.5.2 ^xTile^x
The windows displayed on the screen are arranged, side by side, in one or two columns, and one to three rows, in the following order, top to bottom and left to right: Table of Contents, List of Figures, Image, Index, Note, Text.
This window arrangement is most useful when there is an even number of windows. On a relatively high resolution display, such as 1024 x 768 pixels, you can display all six views simultaneously, assuming the program window is nearly as large as the screen.
!short: 3.5.3 ^xArrange^x
This is a special window arrangement, designed to maximize the amount of text displayed. The screen is divided in half horizontally. In the top half of the window, the views are arranged in the following order: Table of Contents, List of Figures, Image, Index, Note. The bottom half of the window contains only the Text window.
If you want to display all six views simultaneously, this option will probably minimize the usefulness of the top half of the display, unless you have a very high resolution display, and the size of the program window is nearly as large as the screen.
!short: 3.5.4 Table of Contents
This menu item will be active if the TOC window is displayed; the window is then brought to the front.
!short: 3.5.5 List of Figures
This menu item will be active if the LOF window is displayed; the window is then brought to the front.
!short: 3.5.6 Figure
This menu item will be active if the Figure window is displayed; the window is then brought to the front.
!short: 3.5.7 Index
This menu item will be active if the Index window is displayed; the window is then brought to the front.
!short: 3.5.8 Text
This menu item will be active if the Text window is displayed; the window is then brought to the front.
!short: 3.5.9 Note
This menu item will be active if the Note window is displayed; the window is then brought to the front.
!short: 3.6 Help
Help is available through this menu item, as well as through the F1 function key. This option produces a pull down menu with three items, Contents, Product Support and About.
!short: 3.6.1 Contents
This section provides a window with a scrollable list of help topics available.
To use the help system, use your mouse to select a topic, then click the help button, double click the topic, or press the enter key. At that point another window will appear with the text of the topic.
When there is at least one text window displayed on the screen, a check box will appear in the lower left corner of the Help topics window. This checkbox is labeled Fresh Window. If selected, another text window will appear for each additional help topic selected.
Both types of windows associated with the help system are modeless; they can remain on the screen while you use the application.
!short: 3.6.2 ^xProduct Support^x
This menu item lists all the standard ways to contact Active Software with a question or problem with Active BookReader.
!short: 3.6.3 About
This menu item displays a dialog box which includes the version number, copyright notice, and the address for Active Software, Inc.
!short: 4.0 ^xPushbuttons^x
The following sections describe the pushbuttons available in all the windows of Active BookReader.
!short: 4.0.1 -->
This pushbutton allows you to move one record forward in the database table corresponding to the view. It is used in the following windows: Figure, Note and Text. When selected, this button retrieves the next figure, note or section of text. If there is no next record, this button is inactivated.
!short: 4.0.2 <--
This pushbutton allows you to move one record backward in the database table corresponding to the view. It is used in the following windows: Figure, Note and Text. When selected, this button retrieves the previous figure, note or section of text. If there is no previous record, this button is inactivated.
!short: 4.0.3 Up
This pushbutton, used only in the TOC window, lets you collapse the TOC by one level. If, for example, there are three levels shown in the TOC, (e.g., 2.3.4.1) then using this button will display only two levels of the TOC. If the top level is currently displayed, (or if there are no section numbers) then this button is disabled.
!short: 4.0.4 Down
This pushbutton, used only in the TOC window, lets you expand the TOC by one level. If, for example, there are four levels shown in the TOC, (e.g., 6.5.3.4.5) then using this button will display five levels of the TOC. If the last level is currently displayed, (or if there are no section numbers) then this button is disabled.
!short: 4.0.5 First
This pushbutton moves to the first record in the window. It is used in all the windows of Active BookReader. When selected it will move to the first item in the TOC, LOF, figure, Index, Note or Text window. If the window is already positioned to that location, the button is disabled.
!short: 4.0.6 Last
This pushbutton moves to the last record in the window. It is used in all the windows of Active BookReader. When selected it will move to the last item in the TOC, LOF, figure, Index, Note or Text window. If the window is already positioned to that location, the button is disabled.
!short: 4.0.7 ^xSearch^x
The Search pushbutton is available in all windows except for the Note window. A modeless dialog window is displayed in response to this menu item. This means that the dialog window remains on the screen until you are finished searching. An unlimited number of searches can be performed. Three pushbuttons are available: Find, Find Next and Cancel.
The dialog window allows you to define the search text, the strategy for the search, and search options:
+ Search Text. Enter a word or phrase to use as the search object.
The alternatives for the search strategy are included in a group box:
+ Exact Match. Selecting this checkbox will cause the search to find your word or phrase without regard to case. However, see below for case sensitivity.
+ Logical AND between words. Select this checkbox if you want to search for two or more words which are not a phrase. The search will attempt to find one or more occurrences of each word entered. The order of the words is not important; the search will look for the presence of all words anywhere in the section to determine a match.
+ Beginning of Text. Select this checkbox to search for text only at the beginning of an entry. This is particularly appropriate for searching TOC entries when you know the section number, or if there are no section numbers and you know the title of the section.
+ End of Text. This option is provided for searching text only at the end of entries.
NOTE: When the search button is selected from any available window, the default search strategy is - Exact Match. Of course you can change the selection at any time.
In a separate Options group box, are the following checkboxes:
+ Case Sensitive. This box is not checked by default, so that the case of the search word or phrase is not an issue. Selecting this checkbox will modify the searches above by cause the search to find your word or phrase in the book only if both the letters and the case of each word match.
+ ^xGlobal Search^x. This box may be used to search for text in all books.
Selecting the Find button starts the search. When a match is found, the window from which the search button was selected is positioned as appropriate for the window. The TOC window will be scrolled to the appropriate section. The LOF window will be scrolled to the entry containing the search text. The Figure window will be loaded with the title and figure corresponding to the search text. The Index window will be scrolled to the appropriate entry. The Text window will be positioned to the appropriate section. (The Note window does not have a search button.)
Once you have specified your search criteria, and this search is fruitful, you may use the Find Next option to find the next occurrence of the search text, if any.
In most cases, a response will occur almost instantaneously. For large text databases, several seconds may elapse.
NOTE: The index window does not support the option - Case Sensitive. All the index entries are in upper case. The index window also does not support the button - Find Next, because it is not appropriate.
If the Global Search option is chosen, the currently displayed book views are temporarily removed. The program title indicates the book which is currently being searched. A dialog box is displayed indicating the name of the book file and the section in which the text was found. At the bottom left of the dialog box, a status box indicates that the search is in progress. Four pushbuttons are available: OK, Mark, Stop, Cancel.
Choose the OK pushbutton to select the highlighted item.
Choose the Mark button to place a bookmark on the highlighted item without retrieving it. This can be useful is your search results in something unexpected which you wish to mark for future reference.
Choose the Stop button to halt the search. Choose the Cancel button to close the global search dialog box.
After the search is stopped or finished, the number of matches will be displayed on the bottom right of the dialog box.
!short: 4.0.8 Figure
This pushbutton is available in the TOC, LOF, Index and Text windows. To use it in the TOC, LOF or Index windows, select all of part of a title by dragging the mouse across the title or double clicking the mouse on a word in the title. Then select the Figure button. The first figure referenced will be displayed. If no figure is available, a sound will be produced.
In the Text window, there are two ways to use this pushbutton. If the button is enabled, then selecting it will retrieve the first figure associated with the section. Alternatively, you may select some or all of the figure number and title in the text of the section. To find the figure, Active BookReader will then scan the titles of the figures in the LOF database table, using the text which you selected. If it finds a match, then the associated figure will be displayed in the Figure window.
!short: 4.0.9 Mark
This pushbutton is available in all windows except the note window. In the TOC, LOF or Index windows, you must first select all or part of an entry before using this button. Then a bookmark is placed on the associated section for the current user.
In the Figure or Text windows, selecting this button places a bookmark on the section associated with the figure of the section currently displayed in the window.
!short: 4.0.10 Font
This pushbutton is available in all windows. When selected, it displays a dialog box which allows you to select a font family, style and size.
Note that not all styles and sizes are available for the system font. In addition, the font families are limited to those which are portable across platforms.
The window from which the font button was selected then has its font changed. To change the font for all windows at once, use the Font item on the Options menu.
!short: 4.0.11 Print
The print pushbutton is available from all windows. When selected, it prints the currently selected text in the window.
Note that there are three print related menu items under the File menu on the main menu bar.
!short: 4.0.12 Native (or Scale)
The Native (or Scale) pushbutton is only available in the Figure window. It controls the display of the figure.
If the label is Native, then selecting it changes the display of the figure such that it will not grow larger than the native horizontal or vertical resolution of the figure. For example, is the resolution of the figure is 640 x 480 pixels, and the current size of the window for the figure is 800 x 600 pixels, the figure will be displayed at 640 x 480 pixels. However, if the window size is 800 X 400 pixels, then the figure will be scaled to fit the vertical resolution, and displayed at a resolution of 640 x 400 pixels.
If the label is scale, then selecting it causes the figure to be scaled to fit the window.
NOTE: The label of this window is not an indicator of the current display status of the figure. Rather, it indicates what will happen when the button is selected.
!short: 4.0.13 Text
The Text pushbutton is available in all windows except the Text window. To use this button in the TOC, LOF and Index windows, you must first select all or part of a row in the window. Then selecting this button displays the text of the associated section in the Text window.
In the Note window, if you select some text before selecting the Text button, the program will attempt to find a section title or text corresponding to the selection. If you do not select any text, the Text window will be positioned to the section corresponding to the note.
!short: 4.0.14 Note
This pushbutton is available only in the Text window. Selecting it displays the note associated with the currently displayed section. If there is no note for the section, the text sub-window within the Note view will be empty.
!short: 4.0.15 Save
This pushbutton is available only in the Note window. Selecting it saves the text of the note. This button should be used periodically if you are typing a long note, to guard against losing your typing.
The Save button need never be used, however. Using any of the buttons in the Note window which retrieve a different note, will cause the current note to be saved. Closing the Note window or ending the program will also cause the current note to be saved.
!short: 5.0 ^xLimitations^x
Active BookReader does have some limitations. We have designed the software such that these limitations should never intrude on your ability to use the software. If this is not true for you, please contact us with your requirements.
+ The maximum length of a section title (i.e., a Table of Contents entry) is 1024 bytes.
+ The maximum paragraph length is 32760 bytes.
+ The maximum section length is 65500 bytes.
+ The maximum number of Table of Contents, Index and List of Figures entries is 16375 each. However, the actual number for each system depends on the memory available to Active BookReader at the time of execution. In most cases, systems will accommodate 2000 to 4000 entries.
There is no explicit limit on the length of the book file. It is primarily dependent on the amount of available memory, and permanent storage.
!short: 6.0 Troubleshooting
This section describes problems which we have identified but not corrected yet, as well as other commonly encountered problems which may be avoidable.
If you have a problem with Active BookReader, try to determine whether it is repeatable or transient. If it is repeatable, read the following sections to determine if there is a way to avoid it. If it is a problem, please print the file INCIDENT.FRM, fill it out and send it to us.
Regardless of the type of problem, determine whether it persists after other applications are closed. It may be necessary to restart Active BookReader after closing other applications. This procedure may point to a memory problem in Active BookReader or one of the other applications which are either loaded or executing.
The first user to report a given problem will receive a free update to the next version. This assumes that we have not already detected the problem. The award of free updates shall be at the sole discretion of Active Software, Inc.
If you receive an error code of the form: XVT Error: nnnnn-nnnn, look up the code in the file errcodes.txt. If the error is repeatable and is not related to a configuration problem, such as the amount of memory available, then please use the form INCIDENT.FRM to report the error code and problem.
!short: 6.0.1 Known Problems
Printing
1. The dialog box on the print item from the file menu is modeless. This enables you to make an indefinite number of printing selections before choosing cancel to close the window. It is possible to run out of file handles in this case. Try closing the window after two or three printing tasks. Closing and re-opening the print dialog box seems to eliminate the problem.
2. The changes attempted when using the printer setup item on the file menu are not always made. For example, changing from portrait to landscape on the default printer may not work. If you make the change using the control panel, then the change will work. For now, use the control panel to set the default printer to the desired printer, and use the setup option on the control panel to make any changes to the printer before using Active BookReader to print.
Tabs
Tabs created with a word processor may not display correctly in Active BookReader. If the tab spacing is not set for .6 inch, or the font you use is not the same as that used in your word processor, then tabs may not be displayed or printed correctly.
Index
The scrollbar thumb is sometimes not placed at the correct location. You can determine this by operating the up and down arrows on the scrollbar. If the view scrolls, the problem is manifest. This will be fixed in the next version.
Closing Active BookReader
When Active BookReader is minimized, Alt+F4 will not terminate it. This will be fixed in the next version.
!short: 6.0.2 Create Book
If you have many programs loaded simultaneously, it may not be possible to allocate memory dynamically while creating a book. This problem is not necessarily repeatable. Usually, another attempt will be successful. If the problem persists, please let us know.
!short: 6.0.3 Command Line
When specifying a book file on the command line, you must fully qualify the file name. That is, the drive designator, path, file name and extension must be included. See the following partial command lines:
Correct: c:\abook\manual\manual.db
Incorrect: manual.db
Incorrect: \abook\manual\manual\db
!short: 6.0.4 Search
If your TOC entries do not have section numbers (as would be the case if you are creating an active book from a text file originally created for use with the Norton Guides), you can often find a section title using the option - Beginning of Text. This will not work if there are section numbers, unless the section number is included in the search text.
!short: 6.0.5 Sessions
If you create a session file, delete the book associated with it, then try to open the session file, you will get an error message when trying to open the book.
If you need to recreate a book for any reason, it is best to delete any session files associated with the book. Using an old session file with a newly created book may produce errors which terminate the program. If that happens, delete the session file and recreate it.
!short: 6.0.6 Printing
When printing notes, only the section title may be printed. This is usually because the text of the note has zero or more empty lines.
!short: 7.0 ^xTechnical Support^x
Product Support is described through an item on the Help menu.
Product Support is available by mail or through CompuServe.
To keep the price of Active BookReader low, we plan to make telephone support available only by special arrangement. If you require telephone support, please contact us.
For technical support by mail, send your questions to:
Active Software, Inc.
1010 Sextant Court
Annapolis, MD 21401
For technical support through CompuServe, send electronic mail to our account number 75170,1021.
!short: 7.1 ^xPlatforms^x
Active BookReader is currently available for the following:
o Microsoft Windows 3.0 and 3.1
o Microsoft Windows NT (not native)
Active BookReader will be available on other platforms based solely on customer demand. Versions will be developed both for Graphical User Interfaces (GUI), as well as for character based systems. Current plans for GUI platforms are as follows, in the order listed:
+ OS/2 2.0 and 2.1
+ Microsoft Windows NT (native)
+ SCO Unix Open Desktop (Motif)
+ Sun Solaris (Motif)
+ VAX/VMS (Motif)
+ MacIntosh
Versions planned for character based systems are:
+ DOS
+ SCO Unix
+ VAX/VMS
Active BookReader functionality is virtually identical on all platforms. Any differences will be explicitly identified. The text databases created by the software are identical, regardless of platform. To change from one platform to another, only a different version of the software is needed for the new platform.
Please feel free to let us know what your needs are, in terms of platforms or features required. We will adapt our plans to accommodate our users.
If your system is not included above, please contact us. We may already be working on Active BookReader for your platform.
!short: 8.0 ^xHow to Order Active BookReader^x
The cost of Active BookReader is $99 per user, not including shipping; it is the same regardless of platform. (But see the introductory offer below). Currently Active bookReader is available for Microsoft Windows 3.0 and 3.1, and Microsoft Windows NT (not native).
You can print the file ORDER.FRM, included on the distribution disk. Fill in the form and send it to us.
Please specify whether you need 3.5 or 5.25 inch disks. Both disks are commonly referred to as high density. The 3.5 inch disk has a capacity of 1.44 Mb. The 5.25 inch disk has a capacity of 1.2 Mb.
Please allow 2 to 4 weeks for delivery. International orders may require additional time for delivery.
!short: 8.1 Special Limited Time Introductory Offer
The regular price of Active BookReader is $99 per user. Active Software, Inc. is making a special, limited time, ^xintroductory offer^x for Active BookReader.
If you purchase Active BookReader before March 30, 1994, the price is only $49 per user.
Please note that license restrictions apply. If you have multiple users who wish to use the software simultaneously, please purchase a copy of Active BookReader for each user.
!short: 9.0 Warranty
Active Software, Inc. warrants the media on which Active BookReader is distributed for a period of 30 days from the date of receipt. Active Software, Inc. will ship a replacement for any defective disk immediately upon notification.
Active Software, Inc. makes no other warranty of any kind, neither express or implied, including without limitation, any warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for a particular purpose. Active Software, Inc. shall not be liable for any damages, whether direct, indirect, special or consequential arising from a failure of this program to perform as expected or operate in the manner desired by the user. Active Software, Inc. shall not be liable for any damage to data or property which may be caused directly or indirectly by use of the program.
IN NO EVENT SHALL Active Software, Inc. BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY LOST PROFITS, LOST SAVINGS OR OTHER INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF YOUR USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM, OR FOR ANY CLAIM BY ANY OTHER PARTY.
!short: 10.0 License
Active Software, Inc. grants a perpetual license for each version of the software provided to customers. Customers may make up to three copies of the software for backup purposes. If a customer purchases N copies of the software, then no more than N simultaneous users shall make use of the software.
Each user may install the software on no more than three computers. These may include his/her home and office computer, and a portable computer used for travel of any sort. This option is provided as a convenience for our users. However, the software may be used on only one of these computers at any time.
You may not give copies to friends or co-workers, even for evaluation purposes. We can provide a demo version of the software to anyone who is interested.
 (1994).iso/demos/abook2b2.arj/MANUAL.ZIP/NORTON.BMP){kind=link}