C!T ROM 5/ctrom5b.zip/ctrom5b/DOS/TEKST/E-Z-BOOK/DOC.DET

Text File | 1995-04-21 | 24KB | 456 lines

24, 78, 1, 2, 240, 1, 0


                           USING E-Z-BOOK SOFTWARE
                          FOR ELECTRONIC PUBLISHING


It is handy to read through these directions on-screen, but you will want a
printed copy at your side when you make your own e-book.  After you exit the
sample e-book turn on your printer and type DOCPRINT (Enter).  The printed
copy will have a title page and a table of contents.  When you become a
registered user of E-Z-Book you will receive an even more complete set of
instructions.

IMPORTANT: Review the sample e-book several times to become familiar with the
features.  Then follow these steps to create your own electronic publication.
┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                         INSTRUCTIONS "IN A NUTSHELL"                       │
│                         ____________________________                       │
│ Use a word processor to type your text.  Set the line length at 78 and put │
│ this "DET code" on the top line: 24, 78, 1, 2, 240, 1, 0. Save the text as │
│ an ASCII file named MYBOOK.DET.  Make a copy of EBOOK.DEB named MYBOOK.DEB.│
│ Edit BOOK.BAT so MYBOOK appears after TITLE.  Then type GO and press Enter │
│ to display your E-Z-Book publication. Basically that's all there is to it! │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

                             DETAILED INSTRUCTIONS

A.  Using your favorite word processor or text editor, start a new text file
and on the first line type the following numbers, comma separated and spaced
as shown here:  24, 78, 1, 2, 240, 1, 0

This is the important DET code.  It may appear anywhere on line 1, but custom-
arily it begins at the left margin.  Do not change it except as explained
below under "Page Numbers."  Do not type anything else on line 1.  Begin your
text on the next line.

B.  Follow the directions of your word processor or text editor and set your
line length to 78. This is the same as a "word wrap" of 79, a term used by
some text editors.  If you do not use the proper line length, you will either
lose some letters, or you will leave a wide space to the right of your
paragraphs.

C.  As an alternative to typing your text, you may import (load in) an
existing text file beneath the DET code line.

D.  Save your file with an ASCII save (DOS text save).  Do not save with the
regular default save of a word processing program, since it will mess up your
file.  See your word processing manual if you are not sure.

E. In saving your file, give it the file extension DET.  This is essential.
You might call it MYBOOK.DET.

F. Make a copy of EBOOK.DEB by typing COPY EBOOK.DEB MYBOOK.DEB (Enter).
Reason: Every DET needs a corresponding DEB to set the overall color scheme.

G.  Edit the batch file BOOK.BAT, which is included. (A batch file is a text
file having the extension BAT.)  Put MYBOOK in the position shown here:

@echo off
showmark
hqsw2
ezb HINTS COVER1 TITLE MYBOOK EBOOK EBOOK2 SOFTLOCK EBOOK3 DOC REGISTER
makemark
ega
vga

The above 7-line file, saved as BOOK.BAT will display your book when the word
GO is typed and the "Enter" key is pressed (yes, GO.BAT runs BOOK.BAT).  The
first line (@echo off) is used because without it, the word "showmark" would
appear briefly on the screen.  "Showmark" and "makemark" are the two little
programs which create the reader's bookmark, and they must be included in the
batch file at the locations shown.  The line which begins 'ezb' causes
EZB.EXE, the E-Z-Book program, to display your your DEB/DET pair of files.  If
MYBOOK is your first chapter, and you want to have another chapter which the
reader accesses with the right arrow key, you might name it MYBOOK2 (denoting
MYBOOK2.DEB and MYBOOK2.DET) and it would appear on the same line of BOOK.BAT,
making the line look like this:

ezb HINTS COVER1 TITLE MYBOOK MYBOOK2 (etc.)

H.  Run BOOK.BAT by typing GO (Enter) [believe it or not] and see your elec-
tronic document displayed on your monitor screen.

                               PAGE NUMBERS

As you know from viewing the sample e-book, some files display page numbers at
the bottom of the screen, but others, such as the index, do not.  If the first
number in the DET code of EBOOK.DET or DOC.DET is changed from 24 to 25, page
numbers will not be displayed.  If the first No. of the code of INDEX.DET is
changed to 24, page numbers will be displayed.  Be very careful in changing
this code.  You must not alter anything except the first number, or you may
ruin your display; the program reads the DET code to set up the display
parameters.

                               ADDING COLORS

When you register E-Z-Book you will receive full instructions and everything
you need to set the colors of your covers and pages, and add colors to your
text.  A program you will enjoy using is our Autofont Titler, described in the
next paragraph.  Order this program when you register E-Z-Book.

                             THE AUTOFONT TITLER

If you have the 1995 version of Rexxcom's AutoFont program you may make
colored headings and titles without worrying about color codes.  AutoFont,
version 8.5, makes colored titles and headings with automatic coloring and
centering.  The large display fonts used on the sample e-book covers in this
package were made with the AutoFont titler, as were the chapter and section
headings.  With AutoFont you type your title or heading, and in an instant it
appears in jumbo display fonts or in colored text-size fonts.  After typing
this "doc" we used the AutoFont titler to make all the cyan-on-blue headings
in less than five minutes.  The headings were added to this text with the
block-move option of a word processor.  The arrow symbol (──) used at the
bottom of the cover and title page and at the end of each chapter, is easily
typed and colorized.  Directions accompany the AutoFont titler.

                               FANCY TEXT FONTS

Art Deco, Chunky, Old English, etc. are made to appear when their hot-keys are
pressed.  Each of these different text fonts, as well as the three sizes of
standard fonts, are contained in the HQ modules, small programs which begin
with the letters HQ.  Here is SIX.BAT which operates when the number 6 is
pressed:

@echo off
hqdeco

In the above batch file, the module HQDECO.COM is loaded, changing the text
font to Art Deco.  In other batch files, HQENGL.COM loads the Old English font
HQCHUNKY loads Chunky, HQROMAN loads Nu Roman, HQROMAN2 loads Tall Roman, and
HQMEDI loads Medieval, HQSLENDR loads Slender, HQJIM loads Slim Jim, etc.  In
BOOK.BAT, HQSW2.COM is loaded to produce the main font of the sample e-book.
BOOK.BAT ends with "ega" and "vga" to run EGA.COM and VGA.COM, programs which
reset the video mode to its default font.  Always include both EGA.COM and
VGA.COM in that order at the end of the main batch file.  This assures that
any computer system, whether EGA, VGA or SVGA, will be properly reset after
your e-publication has been viewed.

Study the batch files ZERO.BAT through NINE.BAT, plus H, V, W, and Y.BAT.
These are the 14 batch files for the numbered and lettered hot keys for font
styles.  Each is quite similar to SIX.BAT shown above.  Note that the HQ
modules enclosed with this trial copy of E-Z-Book are invisibly coded to
distinguish them from the HQ modules you will receive when you become a
registered user.

                              HYPERTEXT LINKING

Setting up a hot key which lets the reader jump to a page or more of special
information is simplicity itself.  The sample e-book uses the letter D as the
hot key for the first example of hypertext linking.  All we had to do to set
this up was to prepare a pair of files which we named HYPER1.DEB and
HYPER1.DET.  With our text in HYPER1.DET, we simply wrote a tiny batch file
named D.BAT.  It is on your disk, and it looks like this:

@echo off
HQSW2
ezb hyper1

That's all we need to make our special text appear in a flash whenever the
reader presses "D" while reading the e-book.  E-Z-Book knows how to access up
to 71 different hypertext files.  You, the writer, give these files the names
A.BAT to Z.BAT, ZERO.BAT to NINE.BAT, and many more with the new double-key
files (see 'Single and Double Hot Keys').  As may be seen in the sample
e-book, we used numbered files (ONE.BAT, etc.) to change text fonts; we used
A.BAT, B.BAT and C.BAT for graphics, and we used other letters for text files.
Note that each hypertext BAT (batch file) should contain a command for the
font style which you want to use for the text.  If this is omitted, the
hypertext will appear in the font style which was in effect before the hot key
was pressed.  It is OK to do this if it is the effect you want.

                             FULL COLOR GRAPHICS

The graphics in our sample e-book are displayed through the following steps
which occur almost instantaneously:

1. Pressing the hot key activates a tiny batch file which we made in a text
editor or word processor.  The hot key "A" causes the file A.BAT to run.

2. The batch file runs a graphics program.  In the case of the Space Shuttle
we named the file SHUTTLE.EXE.

3. After the graphic has been seen and any key is pressed, the batch file then
re-loads the font program which we are using as our default text font.  Since
we decided to use the medium size font, its program HQSW2.COM is run.

4. At that moment E-Z-Book automatically re-displays the page you were reading
when you pressed the hot key.

Here is what A.BAT looks like:

@echo off
shuttle
hqsw2

All you have to know to use this feature is how to write the little batch file
(and now you know!), how to name it (name it A.BAT if you want its hot key to
be "A"), and where to get graphics programs.

A.BAT and B.BAT use graphics programs named SHUTTLE.EXE and CLOWN.EXE.  We
converted these to stand-alone EXE files from files named SHUTTLE.PCX and
CLOWN.PCX with the use of a conversion program which has the odd name EXE.EXE,
It is included with the registered copy of E-Z-Book.  EXE.EXE may be used with
.GIF and .PCX files, both of which are widely available from many sources such
as CompuServe, GEnie, America Online, the Internet, and software catalogs.  If
you want to make your own graphics files from photographs, there are companies
which will scan the photographs and make .GIF or .PCX files, which you may
easily convert to EXE files with EXE.EXE.  (Conversion programs are included
with registered E-Z-Book.)

The hot key "C" provides "picture stacking" of three graphics programs
including TUT.EXE converted from TUT.PCX.  Here is what C.BAT looks like:

@echo off
shuttle
clown
tut
hqsw2

That little file is all it takes for E-Z-Book to know it is supposed to show
three pictures in succession when "C" is typed.  It is easy to see there is
nothing at all difficult or complicated about setting up a hot key to display
full colored graphics for your e-book.

                          SINGLE AND DOUBLE HOT KEYS M

E-Z-Book has 71 hot keys available to display graphics, hypertext, etc.  There
are 36 single-character hot keys which use all letters and all single digit
numbers, 0 through 9.  In other words, you may make batch files named A.BAT
through Z.BAT, and 0.BAT through 9.BAT.  Study the hot key batch files and you
will see how they are set up to (a.) change fonts, (b.) display graphics, (c.)
display hypertext, (d.) play music.  In addition to the single character hot
key batch files, there are many more available.  These are the two-character
hot key batch files.  Each of them uses the letter "Z" as its first character.
Thus you may make batch files named ZA.BAT through ZZ.BAT, plus Z0.BAT through
Z9.BAT.  If you have not tried the hot key combination "ZA" try it now to see
an example of the use of a two-character hot key.  If you use two-character
batch files for your own e-book, you must include the program Z.EXE with the
rest of your e-book files.  Z.EXE is the program which makes the two character
option possible.  If you have no need for this many hot keys you may omit
Z.EXE from your e-book files.  (If you use the 2-character hot keys, the
single character 'Z' is not available.)

                                    MUSIC

The music which plays when the hot keys "M" and "N" are typed is the product
of small programs which produce musical notes.  These programs are accessed
with the use of batch files, the same way the graphics files are accessed.
Pressing the hot key activates a batch file which we made in a word processor.
The hot key "M" causes the file M.BAT to run.  Here is M.BAT:

@echo off
hqchunky
helena
hqsw2

We chose the Chunky font style for the title box which appears on the screen
while the Helena Polka is playing.  The program HELENA.EXE is one of many such
music programs available from various sources.  Here is N.BAT:

@echo off
clavier2
hqsw2

CLAVIER2.EXE is a music program we modified to produce the title screen which
appears as the music plays.  If you are interested in including musical
selections in your e-book, we encourage you to obtain them from various
sources such as CompuServe, America Online, The Internet, GEnie, various
bulletin board services and software catalogs.  Rexxcom does not supply music
programs.

                           A COVER FOR YOUR E-BOOK

You may easily create a nice cover for your e-book.  More than 12 pairs of
DEB/DET cover modules are included with the registered copy of E-Z-Book.
Until you receive these, you may work with the covers in the sample e-book.
These are named COVER1.DEB and COVER1.DET, etc.  Simply use the DET for your
title, deleting the existing title and adding your own.  Make sure not to
change the size of the DET.  It must contain exactly 26 lines, and line 26
must be blank.  Use a text editor or word processor which has a block-move
("cut and paste") feature to move a title made with the AutoFont titler into
the DET of your choice to make your cover.  To see sample covers type hot key
'F' and then move forward with the right mouse button or the ── key.

                             CHANGING TEXT FONTS

If you like the effect of having a "fancy" text font on your cover or title
page, and a regular font in the body of your e-book, use the hot-key "X" while
viewing the sample e-book, or run CHANGE.BAT when not viewing the book.  This
will show you how to use "dummy files" in place of real DEB and DET files to
force E-Z-Book to terminate and immediately re-start with a new font style.
We have included BLANK.DEB and BLANK.DET to use as dummy files.  The following
batch file will cause the cover to be displayed in the Medieval font, the
title page in Chunky, and the body of the e-book in Nu Roman.  When this
method is used, pressing the left arrow key will not move the reader back to
the cover or title page while the book is being read.

@echo off
showmark
hqmedi
ezb cover1 blank
hqchunky
ezb title blank
hqroman
ezb ebook ebook2
makemark
ega
vga


                                  PROBLEMS?

If it does not work 100% go over this check list:

1. The top line must contain the proper DET code and nothing else.

2. The correct DEB/DET pair of files must be present.

3. The text must be formatted with a line length of 78.  If you use a greater
line length, words near the right margin will be lost.  (When you obtain your
registered copy you will find some DET codes which require different line
lengths)

4. The video monitor must be EGA, VGA, Super VGA or Multi-Sync.  Sorry, but
with a CGA monitor the display will blink.  There is no way around this.

5. All files listed in your batch file must be present, including EZB.EXE
EGA.COM, VGA.COM, plus the correct DEB/DET files, and the font style you want
your e-book to appear in, such as HQSW.COM, HQSW2.COM or HQSW3.COM.

6. The computer must be fully IBM compatible and using MS-DOS or PC-DOS.

                         GETTING PAID FOR YOUR E-BOOK

OK, you wrote an electronic book, you followed our directions to set it up for
on-screen display with E-Z-Book, you used the file compressing program (which
you will receive when you register) to put everything into one compressed
file, and now you want to upload it to America Online, GEnie, CompuServe, the
Internet, and more.  This makes it available to millions of potential readers,
and if it is accompanied by a good description this is an excellent marketing
move.  You have become an author-publisher.  But wait ...  you don't want to
publish it free ...  you want each reader to pay you for his or her copy.
What do you do about this essential part of the publishing process?  The
answer is easy.  You use SoftLock Services.

SOFTLOCK is a program which encrypts the text of one or more chapters of your
electronic book so no one can read the entire book until they enter a password
to un-encrypt it.  This program is sent to you free of charge when you regis-
ter E-Z-BOOK, along with our companion program ENCRYPT which makes the process
very easy.  Most writers publish their electronic books with several chapters
in un-encrypted, readable form, to give the reader a chance to "get into" the
book.  The rest of the book is encrypted, and if the reader likes the first
chapters, he or she follows your instructions to call SoftLock's 800 number to
obtain a password.  When they call, your e-book customers use the buttons on
their telephone to enter a product number which identifies your e-book, plus
credit card information.  They are then given a unique password which makes
the encrypted chapters readable.  After entering their password one time only,
whenever they type GO (Enter) the entire book is displayed for their
enjoyment.

The important part of this, for you, is the fact that SoftLock Services sends
checks in the mail!  The amount you receive is the price of your e-book
(established by you, the author/publisher), minus $1.50 processing charge and
20% commission.  Let's say you price your e-book at $5.95.  In that case
SoftLock keeps a commission of $1.19, plus the processing fee of $1.50, and
you receive $3.26.  That happens to be an excellent deal.  For a writer to
receive that much on the sale of a paper book, a publishing house would have
to pay a royalty of 15% on a book priced at $21.70.

The registered copy of E-Z-BOOK includes the SoftLock program, the Encrypt
program, easy-to-follow directions, and everything you need to put together
one or more e-books which are easy to publish and ready to produce a steady
stream of income.

                           ENCRYPTING YOUR CHAPTERS

When you register E-Z-Book you will receive our program ENCRYPT.EXE, along
with SOFTLOCK.EXE and a related program SLCOPY.EXE.  ENCRYPT links E-Z-Book
with SoftLock to make encryption of chapters quick and easy.  In order to
encrypt (encode) one or more chapters of your e-book, it is only necessary to
encrypt each chapter's text file, called the DET file.  After your e-book is
ready for publication, decide how many chapters you will leave in readable
form, and how many you will encrypt.  Then run ENCRYPT.EXE by typing the word
ENCRYPT and pressing the Enter key.  You will be prompted for a password.  If
you have received a password from SoftLock Enterprises enter that password.
If you have not yet received your password, you may still practice encrypting
by using the practice password IGORBROM.  Once your password is typed, you
will be prompted for the name of a DET file to be encrypted.  That's all there
is to it.  The ENCRYPT program will access SOFTLOCK.EXE and SLCOPY.EXE "behind
the scenes" and the next time you look at your DET file you will see it is "in
code."  At the same time, a non-encrypted backup copy will be saved for you
with the file extension BAK.  It really is as easy as that.

                           SAMPLE ENCRYPTED CHAPTER

When you view the sample e-book, you will come to the page headed "Sample
Encrypted Chapter Coming Up."  Read this carefully, and be sure to print it
out and add it to your printed copy of this user guide.  While it will not
show up in readable form until you obtain a password, Chapter 3 is worth
reading, and you, the author-publisher should run through the simple steps
needed to un-encrypt or unlock it.  In this way you will learn exactly what
your reader customers must do to unlock the encrypted portions of your
electronic book.  Moreover, there is important information for in Chapter 3.

                      REGISTERING WITH SOFTLOCK SERVICES

The registered copy of E-Z-Book contains easy directions for calling SoftLock
Services to register your electronic book and obtain a 'product number' for it.
Once this is done, your readers simply call SoftLock's 800 number to pay by
credit card (you receive checks from SoftLock) and to receive their unique
'unlocking' password.

                   YOUR RIGHTS TO COPY AND USE THIS PROGRAM

The compressed file containing EZB.EXE and related programs and files may
be copied and distributed freely, posted on BBSs, listed in shareware catalogs
and on CD ROM disks, as long as all files are included.  You may use the
programs and their accompanying files to publish a non-commercial e-book,
e-magazine or e-newsletter on a trial basis for 30 days.  After that time,
discontinue use until you are a registered user.  See the registration form
for information on obtaining a license for use of the program.


                                 DISCLAIMER

All Rexxcom Systems programs and files are provided "as is" with no warranties
whatsoever either expressed or implied, including without limitation, warran-
ties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose or a particular
hardware system.  The entire risk as to the quality and performance of the
software rests with the user.  Use of the software implies acceptance of this
disclaimer.




                           Rexxcom Systems
                           The Displayware People
                           P.O. Box 111
                           Schooleys Mtn., NJ 07870






                          CompuServe ID: 72656,2764
                          GEnie address: C.WIEDEMANN
                          The Internet:
                          [e-mail]




                                      ──