Hobbies & Leisure - Plus Bible Study & Games/HobbiesLeisurePlusBibleStudyAndGamesMapleMedia1995.disc1of1.iso/wtwin/readme.txt

Text File | 1993-09-19 | 23KB | 558 lines

********************************************************
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
********************************************************

1.  Word Treasure
2.  Installation instructions
3.  The Initial Screen.
4.  The Program Menu
5.  The Group Menu
6.  The Word Menu
7.  Using the mouse.
8.  Quick notes on editing.
9.  The FIX.EXE program
10.  Known problems
11. Registration

********************************************************
1.  WORD TREASURE
********************************************************

STOP: These instruction are for Word Treasure for DOS.  To
read the instructions for Word Treasure for Windows, press
<F1> while the program is running.

Word Treasure is a vocabulary building program designed for
people who want to improve their vocabulary skills without
spending a lot of time at it.  That is why Word Treasure can
be run as a normal program or as a terminate, stay resident
program.  The basic idea behind Word Treasure is to display
a new word each time you turn on your PC.  Or if the
optional timer is set,  Word Treasure will display a new
word at a given time interval throughout the day while you
are working.   It will just pop up right in the middle of
your word processor or spreadsheet and remind you of the
word for the day.

There are over 500 college level words included in the
program.   You access these words via a group file.   A
group file is just a convenient way to store the words in a
way that is easy to remember.  The words that come with Word
Treasure are grouped by month.  There are 12 months worth of
group files, plus 4 XTRA? files.  These extra group
files can be used to fill in when you have already learned
all of the words for a given month.

There are 3 limitations to group files that you should know
about:  1. You can have no more than 40 words total in any
given group;  2. Group names can be no longer than 8
characters; and  3. You can't have more than 60 group files.
I don't think that these limitations will present a problem
to most people since it would take 2,400 words to run out of
space.

Within the Word Treasure program you are free to add,
delete, modify, and print both groups files or individual
words within a group file.  Each group file also has a note
section attached to it just in case you find a word
particularly interesting and want to jot down a note about
it.

Word Treasure has full mouse support with popup/pulldown
menus.  A help screen can be easily activated by pressing
<F1> while in the non-edit mode.

********************************************************
2. INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
********************************************************

note: If you have a 2.X version of DOS, you must run Word
      Treasure from the Word Treasure directory in order
      to access the data files.

Installation of Word Treasure is fairly straight forward.
You can run it directly from a floppy disk, or you can copy
it anywhere on your hard disk drive.  When you activate Word
Treasure, it first looks for its group files where ever the
program was run from last.  If Word Treasure cannot find its
group files, it will try to load them from where ever the
program was started from.  In the latter case, Word Treasure
will display the group files found in the program directory
and ask you which one you would like to open.

*** - FLOPPY DISK USERS - ***

1.  Insert the Word Treasure disk into drive A: or B:
2.  Switch to the drive that you inserted Word Treasure
    into.  Example, type: A: <Enter>
3.  From the root directory type: wtdos
4.  Press <Enter>.
5.  Word Treasure should start.
6.  If the screen freezes when half painted, please be patient.
    Word Treasure may be trying to determine where your group
    files are located.  Once it finds them, it will ask you for
    the name of the group file to open.

The following is an example of using the disk from drive A:

  C:\>a:                             Switch to drive A:
  A:\>wtdos                          Run Program


*** - HARD DISK USERS - ***  (Installing to drive C: from drive A:)

1.  Switch to drive C:
2.  Make a directory called WT
3.  Change into the new directory.
4.  Copy the files from the floppy disk(s) into the directory.
5.  Edit the AUTOEXEC.BAT file to include Word Treasure in
    your startup.
6.  Restart your PC.

The following is an example of installing to drive C:

  A:\>c:                             Change to drive C:
  C:\>md \wt                         Make WT directory
  C:\>cd \wt                         Change into WT directory
  C:\WT>copy a:*.*                   Copy Files; Twice if there
                                     are two disks.
  C:\WT>cd \dos                      Change into DOS directory
  C:\DOS>edlin c:\autoexec.bat       Edit AUTOEXEC.BAT
  End of input file
  *1i                                1st Line Insert
     1:*c:\wt\wtdos                  Edit Entry
     2:*<F6>                         Break out of edit with
                                     function key <F6>
  *e                                 Exit with a save
  C:\DOS>                            Done, now reset power.


note: If you don't have a basic knowledge of MSDOS, there
      are millions of people out there that can help you.  The
      installation will take a knowledgeable person about 5 minutes
      at the most.

********************************************************
3.  THE INITIAL SCREEN
********************************************************

Once you have started Word Treasure, you will be shown a
brief copyright notice and then the main program screen.

If you have started Word Treasure from a different place
than it was last run, it will prompt you with a list of
group files and ask you which one you would like to open.
Choose the one that matches the current month.  For example,
at the prompt type in MAY and press <Enter>.

Across the top of your monitor you should see a pull-down menu
with three items: PROGRAM, GROUP, and WORD.  These are the names
of the main menus within Word Treasure.  Notice that the first
letter of each item is highlighted.  This is a shortcut key
to activate each particular menu item.  For instance, type W
and the WORD menu will appear.  To make it go away, press
<ESC> once.  If you press <ESC> twice the program will end.
If you accidently press <ESC> too many times just restart Word
Treasure again.  You can either type in "treasure" from the A: prompt
or reboot if you have installed on drive C:.  The current selection
is always highlighted.  You may find it easier to move from menu
to menu with the left, right, up, and down arrow keys.

Below the menu line you should see information about the word that
is currently selected within this group.  If you are curious what
group you are in, it is displayed near the top right hand corner
of the screen next to the prompt "GROUP:".

The prompts along the left side tell what the word is, how it
is pronounced, a definition, and a sample usage for this word.
A quick way to see other words in this group is to press the
<Page Up> and <Page Down> keys.  This will cycle you through
the words that are in this group.

There is one more thing you should know before we go on.  Make
sure that all of the menus are pulled up and out of the way.  You
can do this by pressing <ESC>.  Don't press it too many times or
you'll inadvertently exit the program.

Now press the <F1> key.  This will display a cheat-sheet of keystrokes
used in Word Treasure.  If you look under RECORD MANAGEMENT you'll
see the <Page Up> and <Page Down> keys that we just used.  One key
you'll want to be careful of is the <Delete> key.  Pressing this
key will immediately delete the current record shown.  Another item
you may want to make note of is the "Pop Up Program" hotkey sequence
<ALT LEFT-SHIFT>.  This means to press the left hand <ALT> key and
the left hand <SHIFT> key at the same time.  More on that later.

Press the <ESC> key once in order to get out of the help screen
and back to the main menu.

********************************************************
4.  THE PROGRAM MENU
********************************************************

Use the left or right arrow key and move over to the PROGRAM
menu.  Once you are there press the <Down Arrow> key.
(Remember, if a menu is not currently pulled down, you can
switch to a menu by pressing its hot-key.  In this case it
would be the letter P.)

The PROGRAM menu should appear and you will see 5 items: TIMER,
RESIDENT, INFO, UNLOAD (in gray), and EXIT.  Let me take a
minute and explain each item.

** TIMER **

note: You must have DOS 3.X or better for this option.

Arrow down or up to the item labeled TIMER and then press <Enter>.
A popup dialog will appear that tells you how often Word Treasure
will pop up if you tell it to exit in a resident state.

At this point if you hit the <Space Bar>, the time to pop up
value will increment 15 minutes at a time.  I like to set my
timer at 60 minutes.  That way Word Treasure only bothers
me once an hour.  Once you have reached the time interval
that you think you would like, press the <ESC> key.  Word
Treasure will now store the value you selected until you
change it again.

** RESIDENT and EXIT **

note: You must have DOS 3.X or better for the RESIDENT option.

Pull down the PROGRAM menu again with the <Down Arrow> key.
Two items in the PROGRAM menu are very similar, RESIDENT
and EXIT.  If you were to type R and press <Enter> at this
point, Word Treasure would exit and remain in memory.  The
key thing to remember about the RESIDENT option is that
you must select it if you want Word Treasure to pop up
automatically at the timer interval we set earlier.  If
you want Word Treasure to exit like most programs, just
type X and then press <Enter> or press <ESC>.  This
accomplishes the same thing: Word Treasure exits and
does not come back until we run the program again.

If you selected the RESIDENT option you will be able to
immediately bring Word Treasure back up during your work
with the Pop Up Keystroke: <Left Alt> <Left Shift>.

** UNLOAD **

You are probably wondering why the UNLOAD item is grayed
out.  A grayed out menu item means that it is not currently
available at this time.  Now you are probably wondering,
"When is it available then?"  The UNLOAD menu item is only
available after we have selected RESIDENT from the menu
and then popped Word Treasure back up.  UNLOAD tells
Word Treasure not to pop up anymore.  This is useful if
you are working on something important and don't want
to be reminded of today's word.  Alternately, you could set
the pop up time to 0 minutes.

To give it a try, make sure that you have already exited
Word Treasure via the RESIDENT item.  While at the DOS
prompt, press the hotkey: <Left Alt> <Left Shift>.  Word
Treasure should pop up.  Now select the PROGRAM menu.
The unload option should not be grayed out any longer.
Select it now and Word Treasure will be removed from
memory.

** INFO **

Okay, now comes my favorite option to talk about, the INFO
option.  This is where I tell you how you can send me some
money for my work.  I can't begin to tell you how many nights
I stayed up 'till 5 or 6 in the morning working on this program;
I would guess somewhere around at least a hundred.  I just hope
that Word Treasure betters your vocabulary like it has mine.

Let me also say that if you are a Windows user, you have to
register!  Word Treasure for Windows is so incredible.  In a
sixth of the time it took me to write Word Treasure for DOS
I have been able to deliver twice the functionality in Word
Treasure for Windows.  I have a function called Auto Increment
so you don't have to change words yourself.  You can cut and
paste my words into your documents.  There is a button bar
so you don't have to mess with a menu.  I've implemented a
hangman like game to help you practice your spelling.  The
program has a Three-D look and feel.  You can do a word search
to find that MOT JUSTE that you are looking for.  I'm even going
to try now to put sound into the next version so you don't have
to decipher what the word sounds like.  Let me tell you, if you
are a Windows user and you don't register, you are really
missing out!  The cost is only $15 and you get another year's
worth of words too.  You can't lose.  Try running the file
called RUNME.EXE to see what it looks like.

If you are just a DOS user, I haven't forgotten you.  I plan
on purchasing some pre-written code that will let me load
Word Treasure in as little as 4k of base memory.  I want to
add the Auto Increment function as well as the Word Search
that Word Treasure for Windows currently has.  Plus you still
get the new word libraries.  I've also been thinking of writing
a crossword puzzle game.

Either way, I hope you register because 99.99% of the people
or maybe even more don't.  At $15 per registration I need
everyone I can get just to keep this a hobby.  Putting all of this
aside, I would like you to know that I hope Word Treasure enriches
your life whether you pay me or not.

********************************************************
5.  THE GROUP MENU
********************************************************

The Word Treasure group menu is where you manage the group
files that come with Word Treasure.  Pull down the GROUP menu
by arrowing over to it with the <Left> or <Right> arrow keys.

There are 6 options: ADD, DELETE, RENAME, OPEN, NOTES, and PRINT.
Let's talk about ADD, DELETE, and RENAME all at once.

The ADD option will ask you for the name of a new group to
create; the DELETE option will ask you for the name of an
existing group file to delete; and the RENAME option asks you
the name of a group that you want to rename.  I think these are
pretty much self explanatory.

Let see, that leaves us with OPEN, NOTES, and PRINT.

** OPEN **

Let's go ahead and try the OPEN command.  Arrow down to the
command OPEN and press <Enter>.  Word Treasure prompts you with
a list of current available group files.  Type in the name
of one of these group files and press <Enter>.  For example, type
"JULY" and press <Enter>. Don't select the one that you are
currently in.

The first thing that you will see is a short explanation of
what the group is about.  Go ahead and press <Enter> again.
Word Treasure now displays the words for the month of July.
Try paging down through them with the <Page Down> key.  If
you typed the group name correctly, you should see a whole
new month's worth of words.  Also, the "GROUP:" prompt
should now be displaying the name of the group that you
typed.

One interesting thing that you should note is that Word Treasure
stores the information about which record was last accessed.
If you were to change to another group and then come back,
Word Treasure will display the last word that you had looked
at in this group.

** NOTES **

You should be at the menu now with all of the menus pulled up.

Select the NOTES option from the menu.  Word Treasure will
display the current note regarding this group file.  If you
want to add to it, just press <Insert>.  The NOTES editing
area will be highlighted and you can now alter the notes for
this group in any way that you like.  When you are finished,
press the <ESC> key and your changes will be saved.

** PRINT **

If you select this option and you have your printer attached to
LPT1: and turned on, you will receive a complete listing of
all the words in the current group.

********************************************************
6.  THE WORD MENU
********************************************************

Arrow over to the WORD menu.  The WORD menu has 6 option like
the GROUP menu, but there are some differences.  Let go
over them.

** ADD **

Select ADD from the WORD menu and press <Enter>.  A blank
template will now appear so that you can add your new word
to this group file.  You can move from field to field by
pressing the <TAB> key or by arrowing up or down.  When you
have finished entering your new word, press <ESC>.  Word
Treasure presents you with a dialog that asks if you want
to save your work.  "Yes" saves your work and goes back to
the menu.  "No" discards your work and goes back to the menu.
Finally, "Cancel" puts you back into edit mode.  This is useful
if you accidently pressed the <ESC> key while editing.

Press <ESC> to bring of the dialog and answer "No" to get back
to the menu.

** DELETE **

Do not select the DELETE option from the WORD menu unless you
want to delete the word that is currently displayed on the
screen.  You will not be given a second chance.

** EDIT **

The EDIT option is very similar to the ADD option except that
the fields are filled in with the information from the word
that is currently displayed on the screen.  Once you have made
any changes to your word press <ESC>.  At the dialog answer
"Yes", "No", or "Cancel" as in the example of the ADD function.

** OPEN **

OPEN is probably one of the most useful options in Word Treasure.
If you select the OPEN command from the WORD menu, you will be
given an abbreviated list of all the words in the current group
file.  Once you have spotted the word you want to look at,
just type in its name and press <Enter>.  The word will be
displayed on the screen.

** MOVE **

After you've used Word Treasure for a while, you may find a select
group of words that you want to focus in on.  If you select the
MOVE command you will be asked for the name of the group that the
current word should placed in.  Normally, you will have created
this group from the GROUP menu first.

** PRINT **

The PRINT option under the WORD menu prints the word that is
currently displayed on the screen.  Make sure that your printer
is turned on and is on-line .

********************************************************
7.  USING THE MOUSE
********************************************************

Using the mouse, will make your work in Word Treasure much easier.
Just point at what you want and press the left mouse button.  For
example if you wanted to edit the current word, you would point
a the WORD title and click the left mouse button.  Then move the
mouse pointer down to the EDIT item and click the left mouse button
again.

Now let's say that you changed your mind and didn't want to edit
the current word.  Just press the right mouse button and you'll
get the dialog asking if you want to save your work.

Remember this, if you want to select something, point at it and
click with the left button.  If you made a mistake, press the
right mouse button.  It's that simple.

********************************************************
8.  QUICK NOTES ON EDITING
********************************************************

Following are some helpful hints to be used while editing a
new or existing word:

<HOME>                Move cursor to beginning of line.
<END>                 Move cursor to end of line.
<CTRL HOME>           Move cursor to start of field.
<CTRL END>            Move cursor to end of field.
<CTRL Y>              Delete current line.
<CTRL LEFT ARROW>     Skip to the word to the left.
<CTRL RIGHT ARROW>    Skip to the word to the right.
<ESC>                 Finished editing.

If you forget these shortcut keys, just press <F1> at the
main menu.

********************************************************
9.  THE FIX.EXE PROGRAM
********************************************************

Occasionally with every program something can go wrong.  I
personally have never had a problem yet with Word Treasure,
but you never know.  So, I wrote the FIX.EXE program.

To use FIX.EXE change directories to where Word Treasure
is located.  Type "fix" and press <Enter>.  A list of current
groups files will be displayed.  Just type in the name of the
file that doesn't seem to be working right and press <Enter>.

The next thing FIX will ask you is if you want to select the
records to be salvaged one by one or if you would like all
records to be saved.  If you select "all words" you will even
be given some of the words that were previously deleted from
the group file.  If you say "no", each record will be displayed
one at a time and you will have to decide whether to save it
or not.  When you are done answering questions, FIX.EXE will
create a new group file that will be displayed as "FIX" within
Word Treasure.

You can open "FIX" and do what ever you wish to the words with
in the file.  If you are running fix because of a program crash,
you'll probably want to delete the original file, and then rename
the group "FIX" back to the original group name.

********************************************************
10.  KNOWN PROBLEMS
********************************************************

The only known problem that I have ran into so far is that of
trying to run Word Treasure under Windows at a resolution of
800x600x256 or higher.  Word Treasure can cause Windows to
crash when the timer pops up the program at a high resolution
like this.  Most people won't have a problem since very few
computers run at these resolutions.  The simplest solution is
to set the timer interval to 0 and just pop the program up manually
every so often to look at the word.

The best solution is to register your copy of Word Treasure.  That
way I can send you a Windows version that won't have any problems
at all.

note: If you have a 2.X version of DOS, you must run Word
      Treasure from the Word Treasure directory in order
      to access the data files.

note: You must have DOS 3.X or better for the RESIDENT and TIMER
      options.

********************************************************
11.  REGISTRATION
********************************************************

Please enter the address that you would like me to send your
registered copy to below:

Name:
Address:
City:
State:
Zip:



Please circle the media type you would like your program
delivered on:

1.  5.25 360K
2.  5.25 1.2M
3.  3.5  720K
4.  3.5  1.44M


Please enclose a check, money order, or cash for $15 and you will receive:

1.  New library of 500 words
2.  Word Treasure for Windows


If you have any suggestions, I would like to hear from you.  Send
me an E-mail on Compuserve (Acct# 71224,675) or let me know your
ideas below:






Mail your registration to:

Charles D. Simmons
PO Box 16764
SLC, Utah 84116-0764

You may also register for Word Treasure on Compuserve.