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Software Vault: The Gold Collection
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Software Vault - The Gold Collection (American Databankers) (1993).ISO
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WVH.TXT
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1993-07-01
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What Vehicle History? _____________________
CONTENTS
I. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
II. LICENSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
III. TECHNICAL SUPPORT (HOW TO REACH ME) . . . . . . . . . . 1
Official Distribution Bulletin Boards . . . . . . . . . 2
IV. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
V. UPDATES, ORDERING METHODS, AND REGISTRATION FEES . . . 3
A. The Next Two Releases Are Free . . . . . . . . . . . 3
B. The Other Four Benefits of Registration . . . . . . 3
C. How To Order . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
D. Pricing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
VI. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
A. Using on a Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
VII. FILES WHICH MAKE UP THE PACKAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
VIII. HISTORY & NEW FEATURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
IX. RUNNING What Vehicle History? FOR THE FIRST TIME . . 10
A. Using the Menus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
B. Quick Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
X. MANAGING FILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
A. Set-up - Sales Tax Rate and Labour Rate Entry . . 12
B. Making Back-up Copies of Your Files . . . . . . . 12
C. Restoring Files from a Back-up Copy . . . . . . . 12
D. Formatting Floppy Disks . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
XI. DATA ENTRY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
A. Entry of Service Information . . . . . . . . . . . 13
B. Entry of Departments, Mechanics, Service Codes,
and Vehicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
XII. REPORTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
XIII. HELP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
XIV. ERROR MESSAGES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
-i-
What Vehicle History? _____________________
I. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY
THIS SOFTWARE PROGRAM AND DOCUMENTATION ("WVH") IS PROVIDED
"AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THOSE CONCERNING MERCHANTABILITY
AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. BY USING WVH, YOU ARE
EXPRESSLY RELEASING ANGEL BABUDRO FROM ANY LIABILITY RESULTING
FROM THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE AND DOCUMENTATION. YOU MUST ASSUME
THE ENTIRE RISK OF USING WVH. YOU ARE ADVISED TO TEST AND
SUPERVISE WVH THOROUGHLY BEFORE RELYING ON IT.
II. LICENSE
1. WVH is being distributed as Shareware; it is not free.
WVH is licensed for individual personal use and evaluation for an
unlimited time. Use and evaluation by businesses, corporations
or individuals in a commercial venture is limited to 60 days,
after which time the REGISTERED Edition of WVH must be purchased
or the use of Unregistered Edition of WVH must be discontinued.
2. You may keep as many backup copies of WVH as you wish.
The Registered Edition is limited to simultaneous use on the
number of computers indicated by your registration level. The
Unregistered Edition may be used on any number of computers. You
may share WVH with others in complete and unmodified form.
REGISTERED USERS may NOT distribute the separate file CONFIG.WVH.
3. You MUST NOT charge any fee or receive any consideration
for distributing the WVH files and you MUST NOT include WVH with
another business transaction (e.g., a hardware sale) unless you
have express written consent from the copyright holder, Angel
Babudro. You MAY charge a fee of not more than US$6 (six
dollars) for the disk and/or service of distribution.
III. TECHNICAL SUPPORT (HOW TO REACH ME)
If you have questions or need help, just drop a note to me
through the mail or a BBS listed below. Registered users,
vendors, and sysops may contact me via telephone as well. Sysops
and shareware vendors please see VENDOR.DOC for distribution
information.
Mail Angel Babudro, "Organic Computer Wizardry",
28 Mulberry Street, Clinton, NY 13323-1506,
(315) 853-6942 Mon-Fri 9am-5pm Eastern Time
-1-
What Vehicle History? _____________________
BBS Angelo Babudro (to avoid gender confusion)
Official Distribution Bulletin Boards
On bulletin boards I use the first name "Angelo" since it
avoids gender confusion.
East Coast Excalibur, Central NY (315) 736-3792 USR Dual
This is my local distribution board where you can
always find the latest updates to all of my
software. I will get messages left here within a
few days. My software can be FREQed from this board
via RBBS Net address A:954/401, FIDO Net address
1:26501, or ICN Net 91:315/101.
West Coast Researcher's BBS, So Cal (805) 949-8151 USR Dual
This is my west coast distribution board which is
updated every 2-3 weeks with the latest versions of
all my software. Leave messages for me in
conference #136 (Organic Software).
My software can also be found on many of the nations larger
bulletin boards, such as Exec-PC and Channel 1.
IV. INTRODUCTION
What Vehicle History? has been designed to help your _____________________
company track the maintenance history on its vehicles, whether
they be a fleet of cars, construction equipment, or even support
equipment like power generators.
WVH employs the standard 2-dimensional pull-down menu
system which is familiar to most PC and Macintosh users. All you
need to do is highlight your choice and press ENTER or just press
the highlighted letter of your choice. What could be simpler?
I have designed WVH to be used without a manual as much as
possible. I hope you will find the menus intuitive and the
screens self-explanatory. Your input would be very helpful and
welcome.
Please feel free to contact me with comments, questions,
etc. I am available as a consultant and programmer if you would
like custom modifications to my software or if you don't have a
local "computer person." I may be a good answer man to call
before you pull your hair out. :)
-2-
What Vehicle History? _____________________
Thank you for your interest in What Vehicle History? _____________________
V. UPDATES, ORDERING METHODS, AND REGISTRATION FEES
Although I hope that you are so happy with WVH that
registering will be reward enough in itself, I'll do my best to
exceed your expectations. I do so much programming that there
are updates practically every day, so you will definitely get an
updated version. One day I realized that if I'm always updating
my software some people will want to wait for that day when it's
"done." So I thought, "Hey, wouldn't it be nice if software
publishers gave out free updates so you wouldn't have to wonder
when the best time was to register?" So I decided to do just
that...
A. The Next Two Releases Are Free
When you register you will receive the latest version of
WVH. Then when the next two major updates are released they will
be sent to you free of charge (this does not apply to
complimentary copies).
Following the two free releases you will receive notices of
any other releases in the mail. The cost of an update is
currently $5 plus shipping. If you send me a disk & return
postage, I'll re-use the envelope and you can skip the shipping
charges (just send $5). To upgrade from one level to another
costs the difference between what you've got and what you want.
If you receive a complimentary registration from me (see
below) I can't afford these freebies, so, instead, if you will
send me a disk with return postage inside, I'll re-use your
envelope & send you back the latest version free of charge.
I hope you will all understand if I need to revise my
updates-by-mail policies (and others, I'm sure) as I learn more
about this Shareware business from day to day...
B. The Other Four Benefits of Registration
1. You may order the detailed manual, printed & bound or
on-disk/ready to print for your laser printer.
2. The pause at start-up goes away.
3. My 9-month-old son handles all the tech support calls
;), but for everything else you will have a real person
-3-
What Vehicle History? _____________________
who is 100% knowledgeable about WVH whom you can
contact with suggestions, comments, questions,
problems, etc.
4. You'll have that warm feeling of having helped one of
the "little guys" -- someone who isn't a huge
corporation.
C. How To Order
U.S. customers please send cash, check, or money order.
Canadian customers please send cash or Canadian International
Money Order (CIMO). Customers in other countries please send
U.S. funds drawn on a U.S. bank. If you send cash use a
"security" no-see-through envelope and you may want to send it
via Registered mail, too.
D. Pricing
When you register, please fill in the Invoice (below)
completely, including the name you see at the top of your screen
so I can reward the person who distributed your copy of WVH with
a free update.
Registration with Disk -- A single copy costs $69. You will
receive the latest Registered Edition of What Vehicle ____________
History? with automated installation, the latest version of ________
this documentation on disk, two free updates, and
notification of further updates. See below for detailed
manuals on paper or disk.
Multiple Copies / Wholesale -- If you would like to resell What ____
Vehicle History? or have multiple locations at which you ________________
would like to install WVH, you may receive a discount on
the price of WVH as follows:
- 2-4 copies on the same order 40%
- 5 or more copies on the same order 50%
Site License -- use WVH on as many computers or network stations
as necessary at a single location of a single business.
Pay for your registration & disk (see above) and add the
appropriate site license fee below to accommodate as many
computers as you need:
Up to 4 computers/network stations $30.00 per site
Up to 10 computers/network stations $70.00 per site
Up to 20 computers/network stations $125.00 per site
Any number of computers $400.00 per site
-4-
What Vehicle History? _____________________
Manuals -- printed on my laser printer and bound in a flexible 3-
ring binder, these manuals contain pictures & detailed
descriptions of each screen, some basic computer & data
base lingo, and an index. I want people to have and use
these manuals, but I am very concerned about deforestation.
Experienced users will probably have no need for a manual.
- One manual $8.00
- 2 or more on same order $6.00 each
Complimentary Registered Editions - I would like to give you a
complimentary registration if you will give me a bit of
marketing assistance:
1. Write a review of one of my packages and post it on a
bulletin board, send me a copy of it showing the BBS's
header and the name and phone number of the BBS. Just
give me your honest praise and criticism in a decent
review. Your review will be most helpful to me if it
mentions your best & worst-liked features and any ideas
you have for improvement. If you have any experience
with other mailing list managers, please include your
opinion of how they compare to each other. This will
help me decide the future of WVH and for that help I
will send you a complimentary registered disk.
2. Upload a package to at least five public ("open") BBSs,
fill in the Complimentary Registration form below, and
I'll send you a complimentary registered disk. It's
nice if you upload to time-share systems, private
("closed") BBSs, or part-time BBS, but please do not use
these to apply for a complimentary registered edition.
3. If you are a consultant or other type of computer
professional and your recommendation leads to one or
more of your clients purchasing WVH, just send me a note
with your client's registration or have them mention
your name when they register. I will send a
complimentary registered edition or an update for every
registration you get for me. This is in lieu of a
multiple copy discount; I intend it for consultants who
choose not to deal with sales tax.
One complimentary registration per person or company. A
complimentary registration is just like a paid one - you can
upgrade it with a site license, purchase manuals, etc. It helps
when you send back disks to be re-used - even the envelopes can
be re-used. When you order a complimentary registration please
-5-
What Vehicle History? _____________________
fill in the appropriate blanks below PLUS the Invoice so I know
what size disk you need, and please send me a couple of dollar
bills for shipping expenses. Thanks.
I will promise these complimentary offers until at least
12/31/93 - after that date please check with me first.
COMPLIMENTARY REGISTRATION APPLICATION
Date____________________
Please also fill in the Invoice on the following page (put
$0 for the disk). Include $2.00 for shipping within the U.S. or
the amount indicated for addresses outside the U.S. Remember to
order printed manual(s) if you so desire.
(__) Review posted on (BBS name & number)________________________
Include a copy of the review, please.
(__) I uploaded (archive name, like WVH22.ARJ)__________________
to these five 24-hour public ("open") BBSs:
BBS Name Phone Number/Modem Type Sysop Name ________ _______________________ __________
1_______________________ ________________________ _______________
2_______________________ ________________________ _______________
3_______________________ ________________________ _______________
4_______________________ ________________________ _______________
5_______________________ ________________________ _______________
These offers subject to withdrawal or change at any time
without notice. All prices are subject to change without notice.
Bulletin Board Sysops please see the file SYSOP.DOC for special
pricing and information; vendors & sysops please see VENDOR.DOC.
If this file is more than a year old please check with me for
current pricing before ordering.
Angel Babudro "Organic Computer Wizardry"
28 Mulberry Street Clinton, NY USA 13323-1506
(315) 853-6942 Mon-Fri 9-5 Eastern Time
(home phone - east coast is 3 hours later than west)
-6-
What Vehicle History? _____________________
Please register the Shareware you keep.
-7-
What Vehicle History? _____________________
INVOICE & REGISTRATION FORM
Your Name________________________________________________________
Company Name_____________________________________________________
Address__________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
City_________________________ State/Prov______ Zip_____________
Registration License & disk: Qty ____ x $69 $_______
Multiple/ 2-4 disks -- deduct 40%
Wholesale 5 or more -- deduct 50% (_______)
Site License Up to 4 CPUs add $30; Up to 10 add $70
(add to above) Up to 20 add $125; Unlimited add $400 _______
Printed One copy is $8, 2 or more are $6 ea.
Manuals Qty ____ @ $______ = _______
Shipping & Canada, AK, HI, VI, PR add $3 _______
Expenses Other countries add $9 per copy _______
** T O T A L ** _______
Disk size & quantity [__] 5¼" [__] 3½"
Drive density [__] Low (DD) required [__] High (HD) okay
FDFORMAT/FDREAD [__] FDFORMAT extended densities okay
Printer make(s) & model(s)______________________________________
Which version are you using now?________________________________
Where did you get it (BBS name)?________________________________
For a Thank-You note,
whose name is on your copy?______________________________________
WVH has been delivered to and accepted by customer. Upon
receipt of this paid invoice the latest Registered Edition disk
and any options chosen above will be sent. Send cash, cheque,
money order in U.S. funds; Canadians send Cdn$ or CIMO. NYS
residents add sales tax. Mail this page with your cash, cheque
or money order to Angel Babudro, 28 Mulberry Street, Clinton, NY
USA 13323-1506. Allow 1-3 weeks for the latest version to land
on your doorstep. Thank you for your order!
-8-
What Vehicle History? _____________________
VI. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
In a nutshell, a 286 or better is recommended, a hard disk
is highly recommended, MS/PC-DOS 3.3 or later, and at least 350k
free RAM. WVH has been tested on MS-DOS 3.3 and 5.0. It should
work properly under PC-DOS or MS-DOS version 3.1 or later. You
will need about 400k of disk space for WVH and its necessary
files plus disk space for the files you will create. Just about
any dot matrix or PCL laser printer should work fine.
Although the system is capable of handling 5.5 millions
entries per file, you would need a supercomputer or a lot of time
to manage it. On a PC/XT (8088 or 8086) computer you should be
able to manage a few dozen vehicles with adequate speed. A 386
will handle larger companies better (50-100 vehicles or so,
depending on its speed), and a 486 would be best if you've got
hundreds of vehicles to track. That's just a recommendation,
though. You can track a thousand vehicles on a 4MHz XT if you
want to; it'll just make molasses look fast...
A. Using on a Network
With version 2.2 of WVH I have installed network file locks
for networks that use the DOS SHARE.EXE file sharing method. I
only have one computer so I am unable to test how WVH will work
on a network, so I would sure appreciate any feedback you could
provide. I will gladly send a free update for any help I can get
in making WVH work well on a network.
VII. FILES WHICH MAKE UP THE PACKAGE
What Vehicle History? consists of the following files: _____________________
WVH.EXE The executable file
WVH.HLP The help file
WVH.TXT The ASCII text file of this document [*]
WVH.WP The WordPerfect file of this document (so you
can format it for your printer) [*]
READ.ME A file containing late-breaking news [*]
ORDER.FRM Order form for all of my software
PRINTER.DAT Printer definitions
These are the files which make up WVH. If you distribute
evaluation copies to friends and bulletin boards please be sure
to include all of these files. Additional files will be created
in the same directory as you use the software. The files marked
-9-
What Vehicle History? _____________________
with [*] can be deleted if disk space is a premium, but I ask
that you please keep ORDER.FRM on disk until you decide whether
or not to register.
Registered users -- please keep the file CONFIG.WVH only for
yourself as it contains your registration stamp. Share only
those files listed above. Thank you for your help!
VIII. HISTORY & NEW FEATURES
WVH was initially written in October, 1991 using the dBFast
dBase compiler (the original dBFast which would make tiny EXE
modules). This version was rather limited and not too awfully
user-friendly, but I wrote it at the request of a friend of mine
at Del Webb Corp. in Las Vegas who needed it in a hurry.
I got such enthusiasm from Del Webb for the software that I
decided to invest a major amount of time to make it commercial-
quality. About four months later WVH Version 2.0 was born which
somehow brings us to now, although it get's a little fuzzy in
places...
IX. RUNNING What Vehicle History? FOR THE FIRST TIME
Before you can use WVH you will have to install it on your
hard disk or create a working floppy disk. Since almost no
business uses dual floppy disk systems anymore I won't bother to
explain the procedure here. Contact me if would like my input on
this.
If you received your copy of WVH on floppy disk it should
have come with an INSTALL programme. If INSTALL.EXE or any other
of the files which make up the software are not on your disk
please contact me so I can make sure the distributor you got it
from is aware that their copies are missing files.
Go to the DOS prompt (usually "C:\>" or some such variant),
and type "d:INSTALL" where "d:" is the letter of the floppy disk
drive with the WVH disk (e.g., "A:INSTALL" to install from floppy
A:). You will be asked to supply the destination drive and
directory. If you have an existing version of the software on
disk you will be informed that it will be updated with the new
disk.
-10-
What Vehicle History? _____________________
After INSTALL is finished you will see some helpful
information for setting up your computer well, and directions on
how to run WVH. A batch file called WVH.BAT is created in your
root directory if you so permit, and your CONFIG.SYS and
AUTOEXEC.BAT files are not touched at all, not one little bit -- I
wouldn't invade your system that way.
While in the root directory you just type "WVH" to start
the programme. WVH is a batch file which merely changes to the
proper drive & directory then runs WVH. You can delete this file
if you are using a menu or would rather type the commands
yourself.
A. Using the Menus
I have used what I understand to be an SAA-compliant
(Standard Industry Architecture, an IBM slogan) menu system.
Most folks know it better as the Macintosh or Windows menu
standard. Basically, there is a horizontal menu of choices --
File, Data Entry, etc. Under each of the horizontal choices is a
menu of functions pertaining to that item -- it is a two-
dimensional menu, in other words.
There are two ways to select an item from the main menu:
1. Press the letter which is highlighted in the option
description
2. Use the Up/Down/Right/Left arrows to highlight the
option you want then press ENTER (a.k.a. RETURN or CR).
Some menus do not have highlighted options. On these menus
you must use the arrow keys to highlight your choice then press
ENTER.
If you want to cancel an operation you selected, just press
the Esc ("Escape") key.
B. Quick Start
Okay, manual haters, here's your section. Type "WVH" from
the DOS prompt, use the menus. Everything is pretty self-
explanatory, really. There is a brief, on-line manual under
Help/Index for quick reference.
-11-
What Vehicle History? _____________________
X. MANAGING FILES
The choices under the File menu have to do with your system
set-up, file management, and ending the programme.
A. Set-up - Sales Tax Rate and Labour Rate Entry
The set-up screen lets you set two important items: The
sales tax rate for your area and whether or not you want to enter
the labour hourly rate on the Maintenance Data Entry screen.
If you do not need to track sales tax, just enter zero for
this. Otherwise, enter your sales tax rate as a percentage
(i.e., 7.50 for 7.5%).
When you are entering service information for a vehicle you
are asked to indicate the mechanic or place of service which, in
turn, indicates the hourly rate for labour. If you wish you can
enter the labour rate on the service data entry screen, which
allows you to over-ride the rate set for the mechanic or place of
service. This can be handy if you don't want to track mechanics,
only the service done. In this case you could set up a single
mechanic and enter the hourly rate as it pertains to each
incident of service.
B. Making Back-up Copies of Your Files
File/Back-up protects your information by allowing you to
copy it to another disk. Version 2.1 of WVH will have a
Preferences menu, under which you will be able to choose how you
want to perform a back-up -- using the DOS COPY command or ARJ,
LHARC, or PKZIP compressors. After you select this option you
will see a summary of the files to be backed-up. If you have
more than one floppy disk drive you will be asked to select one.
All WVH data files will then be backed-up to the floppy disk.
C. Restoring Files from a Back-up Copy
If you ever need to recover data files from a floppy disk
you made using the Back-up command (above), just place the floppy
disk in its drive and select File/Restore. If you have more than
one floppy disk drive you will be asked to select one, then the
data files will be copied from the floppy disk onto your hard
disk.
-12-
What Vehicle History? _____________________
D. Formatting Floppy Disks
This option is for those times when you have decided to
make a back-up copy of your data but don't have a formatted disk
handy. File/Format Floppies lets you format a floppy disk to
your computer's standard density without exiting WVH. If you
have a high density drive you can only format high density disks
(in other words, WVH doesn't pass any parameters to DOS FORMAT).
If you have What Floppy Format? (WFF.EXE) available
somewhere in your search path WVH will automatically access it
for formatting floppy disks (so you can do whatever you want).
You will receive a complimentary copy of the latest version of
WFF with your WVH registration.
XI. DATA ENTRY
This menu of What Vehicle History? lets you enter vehicles, _____________________
mechanics and other information into the data base. The Data
Entry menu is split into three sections:
1. Regular data entry for vehicle service information
2. One-time data entry for vehicles, mechanics,
departments, and service codes
3. Rarely needed data entry (schedule next maintenance) --
this function is run automatically after you enter service for a
vehicle, so you would normally not need to access the function
directly. NOTE: The Schedule Maintenance option is available
only on the Registered Edition of WVH.
A. Entry of Service Information
You will be guided from item to item as you press ENTER
after each line. You can use the arrow keys to move around
within a window. The F6 key will cycle between the windows.
B. Entry of Departments, Mechanics, Service Codes, and
Vehicles
Press Ins to insert a new item and Del to delete an item.
-13-
What Vehicle History? _____________________
Once you have information on file you can use the Up/Down arrow
keys to scroll through the list. A "speed search" is also
available -- just press a letter or number and the list will
"jump" to the first entry beginning with that letter or number.
XII. REPORTS
Nothing tricky here. Just highlight the one you want,
follow the instructions on the screen. S'all there is to it!
XIII. HELP
The Help menu has two options: About and Index. "About"
gives some information about the programme and free memory.
Index gives a menu from which you may choose a topic and press
ENTER, whereupon a helpful window of information will appear. :)
It's a handy (albeit brief) on-line manual, in other words.
XIV. ERROR MESSAGES
WVH has three types of errors which you may experience:
1. Logical error - this is a minor problem, not really an
error at all. An example of this type of error is if
you try to enter a duplicate vehicle code. These
"errors" will appear in a window and, once you press
ENTER or click on "Ok" WVH will continue its operation.
2. File error - these problems cause an error screen to
appear which suggests a possible solution to the
problem and, if you can't fix it, my address and phone
number is shown so you can mail me the error or call
me. A common reason for this error is that an index
file contains a bad entry (perhaps due to a power
outage). The most common solution to these problems is
to re-index your files (File/re-Index).
3. Programme error - this is a mistake of mine and will
cause the programme to abruptly end with a one-line
error message and a message like "Press any key to
return to system." Report these errors to me right
away, please. WVH is thousands of lines long, so the
bigger it gets the more likely it is that a few bugs
will creep in there somewhere. These errors get top
-14-
What Vehicle History? _____________________
priority and are usually fixed and a new version
released within a day.
If anything happens that you don't understand, or if you
can't get WVH to do what you want, I would appreciate knowing
about this so I can fix the software or update the documentation
as necessary. Thank you for your help and support! :)
-15-