Computer Buyer 1998 October

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Welcome to Formality Version 1.00k ================================== Contents -------- Shareware Notice Disclaimer Introduction Minimum Hardware and Software Requirements Installation Instructions De-installation Instructions Installation/De-installation Troubleshooting Minimal List of Installed Component Files Other Files That Formality May Create Contact Details Acknowledgements Shareware Notice ---------------- Formality is a shareware product. Shareware is a method of software distribution that allows you to try out programs for an evaluation period before deciding whether or not you wish to buy them. Formality is distributed as shareware so that you can try it for thirty days at no cost before having to make your mind up. It is very important to realise that like all other shareware, Formality is neither free software, nor in the public domain. Please note that the thirty day evaluation period starts when you first install the software. If the evaluation period expires and you have decided not to register, you must remove the software from your computer system(s). You only get to evaluate the software once, so repeated 'evaluation periods' are not allowed as a means of putting off registration. Further details can be found within the FRMALITY.HLP help file after you have installed it. Disclaimer ---------- The licence agreement is stored within the FRMALITY.HLP help file, which is accessible only after you have fully installed the Formality software and related documentation. It contains complete details of liabilities, guarantees, and warranties. However, until you have read the information in full you should note that the following disclaimer applies: The Formality software and related documentation is supplied 'as is' without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including (but not limited to) implied warranties of performance, merchantability, and fitness for a particular purpose. Neither J. G. Wallis nor his suppliers shall in any event be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages whatsoever (including, but not limited to, damages for lost profits, business interruption, loss of information, or other pecuniary loss) arising out of, or relating to, any use of or inability to use the Formality software and related documentation by any user. Introduction ------------ Many Windows applications tend to distribute and alter files all over the place within your system during installation, and are consequently very difficult to remove at a later time. This has become such a problem that there are now several products in the market place that do nothing else but clear up after other programs. Formality, on the other hand, is very tidy. This file details all of the different components of Formality and where they go. This way you can easily refer back to the component list later if you decide to remove the program from your computer system. Another area that can be a problem is the use of dynamic link libraries, which are often shared between applications. This sharing has advantages including the potential for saving disk and memory space, and the ease with which applications can be updated simply by updating the libraries to which they refer. However, this flexibility is a double-edged sword. When a new application is installed, or an existing one is upgraded, it is possible if great care is not taken that other applications will be adversely affected by unexpected dynamic link library changes. Therefore this version of Formality does not use dynamic link libraries except for the form libraries, which are not shared, and CTL3DV2.DLL, which is a non-critical library that provides a three-dimensional appearance for dialogues. Because Formality does not rely on any shared dynamic link libraries (it can run quite happily without CTL3DV2.DLL), there is little scope for problems to arise. Also, disk space is used more efficiently than it would be if the program was linked dynamically and then no other applications used the dynamic link libraries distributed with Formality, because dynamic link libraries often contain a considerable amount of code that is never referred to. Please note that all executable programs distributed on the Formality floppy disk(s) are Windows programs. If you try to run any of them from outside a Windows environment then you will get a message saying that 'This program must be run under Microsoft Windows'. Minimum Hardware and Software Requirements ------------------------------------------ o Microsoft Windows (or Windows for Workgroups) Version 3.1 or later, Windows 95, or Windows NT; o IBM-compatible PC with at least an 80386 processor (an 80486 or Pentium processor is recommended); o Video display hardware supporting at least 800 x 600 pixel resolution (this is not an absolute technical necessity, but using a lower resolution display will make it difficult to read detailed forms without constant zooming in and out, some toolbar buttons may not be visible, the various gadgets within the status bar at the bottom of the screen will not all be large enough to display their contents in full, and some of the help topics will be awkward to read); o Mouse or other pointing device (this is an absolute requirement, as it is not possible to use just the keyboard alone); o 4Mb of RAM; o 4Mb of hard disk space; o Monochrome printer (preferably a laser printer) with at least 300 dots per inch horizontal and vertical resolution. Please note that certain government agencies specify strict standards for paper and printing quality when approving substitute forms. After installation is complete you should see the Formality help file for further information on this subject. Installation Instructions ------------------------- If you already have a previous version of Formality installed then you may wish to remove it using the de- installation instructions for that version before installing this new one. Alternatively you can nominate a different installation directory for this version than you did for the previous one and have both versions existing side by side. Multiple versions can co-exist completely independently of one another, because Formality keeps a FRMALITY.INI initialisation file in each installation directory rather than a single such file in the Windows directory. Please note that the following installation instructions can be used to add new or updated form libraries to an existing installation as well as to create a brand new installation completely from scratch. When you are ready to start installing this version of the software, or some new or updated form libraries, here are the instructions: 1. Insert the floppy disk into the PC's floppy disk drive. We will assume from now on that this is drive A:, so wherever you see this written below please substitute your drive specification if it is different. If you have obtained Formality on a CD- ROM, insert this into the CD-ROM drive. If you have downloaded Formality straight onto a hard disk, there is no need to insert anything. The instructions from here on assume that you have a floppy disk, so modify or skip them where necessary. 2. Run the program called FRMSETUP.EXE that is provided on the floppy disk. You can do this from the Program Manager using the following steps: a. Select 'File' from the main menu bar. b. Select 'Run' from the 'File' menu. c. Type 'A:\FRMSETUP.EXE' in the 'Command Line' field. d. Press 'OK' to run the program. Instead of using the Program Manager you can run FRMSETUP.EXE from the File Manager in either of two ways. The first way is to follow exactly the same steps as given above for the Program Manager. The second way is to use the following steps: a. Click on the floppy disk icon labelled 'a' (for drive A: only, so please substitute your drive letter if it is different). This is on the toolbar just under the main menu bar. b. If the File Manager has been configured so that it does not show the directory window then select 'View' from the main menu bar and then select an option within that menu that includes 'Directory' as part of the display. c. Double-click on the file 'frmsetup.exe' which will appear in the directory window. This will run the program. 3. Once FRMSETUP.EXE is running all you need to do to produce a standard installation, or add new or updated form libraries to an existing installation, is follow the on-screen instructions. 4. Once Formality is installed you may wish to add it to an existing group within the Program Manager to make it easy to start. Perhaps you might want to create an entirely new group just for Formality, although this is probably a bit over the top. Installation programs sometimes go overboard creating Program Manager groups and filling them with items that you do not really need. Therefore, instead of FRMSETUP.EXE assuming too much, it leaves any Program Manager setup for you to do manually. To open an existing Program Manager group so that it is ready for you to add new items, simply double click on it. Here are the instructions for creating a brand new Program Manager group instead, if this is what you decide to do: a. Select 'File' from the main menu bar of the Program Manager. b. Select 'New' from the 'File' menu. c. Select the 'Program Group' radio button. d. Press the 'OK' button. e. Under 'Description' type 'Formality V1.00' or something similar. f. Under 'Group file' type 'frmality.grp'. g. Press the 'OK' button and the new group will be created. 5. Now that you have opened a currently existing Program Manager group, or created a brand new one, here are the instructions on how to add the FRMALITY.EXE program to it: a. Select 'File' from the main menu bar of the Program Manager. b. Select 'New' from the 'File' menu. c. Select the 'Program Item' radio button. d. Press the 'OK' button. e. Under 'Description' type 'Formality V1.00' if you are putting Formality into a group that already exists, or 'Formality' if you are putting the program into its own brand new group. f. Under 'Command Line' type 'c:\frmality\frmality.exe' where the 'c:\frmality' part should be replaced by your installation directory if it is different. g. Under 'Working Directory' type 'c:\frmality' or your installation directory if it is different. h. Press the 'OK' button. 6. Here are the instructions on how to add the FRMALITY.HLP help file to the open Program Manager group: a. Select 'File' from the main menu bar of the Program Manager. b. Select 'New' from the 'File' menu. c. Select the 'Program Item' radio button. d. Press the 'OK' button. e. Under 'Description' type 'Formality Help' if you are putting Formality into a group that already exists, or 'Help' if you are putting the program into its own brand new group. f. Under 'Command Line' type 'c:\frmality\frmality.hlp' where the 'c:\frmality' part should be replaced by your installation directory if it is different. 7. Here are the instructions on how to add this README.TXT file to the open Program Manager group: a. Select 'File' from the main menu bar of the Program Manager. b. Select 'New' from the 'File' menu. c. Select the 'Program Item' radio button. d. Press the 'OK' button. e. Under 'Description' type 'Formality ReadMe' if you are putting Formality into a group that already exists, or 'ReadMe' if you are putting the program into its own brand new group. f. Under 'Command Line' type 'notepad c:\frmality\readme.txt' where the 'c:\frmality' part should be replaced by your installation directory if it is different. De-installation Instructions ---------------------------- Please note that these are instructions for de-installing this version of the software, rather than previous versions. If you want to de-install a previous version of the software then you should see the README.TXT file that came with that version. 1. IMPORTANT: If you have been saving Formality data files in the same directory where you installed Formality, and you wish to keep them, copy them to somewhere safe. They will all be '.FTY' files. 2. Delete all of the files in the directory where you installed Formality, then delete the directory itself. 3. IMPORTANT: Do not delete the CTL3DV2.DLL file, which will usually be in the standard Windows system directory, unless you are absolutely certain that no other programs use it. The Formality Setup program takes great care when installing this file. The program only installs its version of CTL3DV2.DLL if it finds an older version present, or no version at all. You must be just as careful when thinking about removing it. Because it is not very large, and the probability of other programs needing it is quite high, you would do well to leave it alone. If you do delete it when other programs are relying on it, you will soon notice what has happened when those programs lose their three-dimensional look. However, none of those programs should fail simply because the CTL3DV2.DLL file has disappeared. If you really must get rid of the file, try renaming it then running your computer system for a while to see if it is missed. If everything runs fine for a reasonable time, then delete the renamed file. If not, you can always give it back its original name. Note that if the library is in use when you try to delete it, it may be necessary to exit Windows and delete it from MS-DOS. 4. To delete a Program Manager item just click on it and then press the delete key. When asked if you are sure that you want to proceed with the delete operation, just click the 'Yes' button. 5. To delete a Program Manager group when it is open press the delete key. When asked if you are sure that you want to proceed with the delete operation, just click the 'Yes' button. 6. To delete a Program Manager group when it is closed click on it. This will bring up its system menu. Click on it once more to get rid of the menu and then press the delete key. Please remember to leave a short time between clicks, as two clicks in very quick succession are interpreted as a double-click, which is not what we want. When asked if you are sure that you want to proceed with the delete operation, just click the 'Yes' button. Installation/De-installation Troubleshooting -------------------------------------------- The Formality Setup program, FRMSETUP.EXE, does not check the amount of disk space that is available when you use it to perform an installation. Therefore, even though Formality has modest requirements, it is possible to run out of disk space part way through the process of expanding the files on the floppy disk and placing them on the hard disk drive. Enough space is required not only for the finally installed files, but also for the temporary work files that the expansion process requires. As long as you have available the minimum hard disk space mentioned in the Minimum Hardware and Software Requirements section above, there should be no problem. Note, however, that it is possible to get away with less space than this during the installation process, because the minimum figure given includes a reasonable amount of space for storing the Formality data files that the user will create during everyday operations. All files on the floppy disk with names that end in an underscore, such as 'FRMALITY.EX_' for example, are compressed files. You can install any of these files separately if you wish by decompressing them from MS-DOS, or inside an 'MS-DOS box' running under Windows, using the standard EXPAND command. If you are trying to install a new version of a file over an existing old version, and the old version is currently in use, try to shut down the application that is using it. Failing that, try updating the file from outside Windows if possible. If the Formality Setup program produces an error message that ends with 'in use' then this is the answer. If you are trying to delete a file that is in use, try to shut down the application that is using it. Failing that, try deleting the file from outside Windows if possible. If the operating system produces an error message saying that a '.DLL' file you are trying to delete is in use then this is the answer. If you have any problems installing or de-installing Formality and get completely stuck trying to solve them, please get in touch with me for assistance (see the Contact Details section below). Minimal List of Installed Component Files ----------------------------------------- All full releases of Formality will come with at least the files named in the following list. Of course, there may be more files. Every additional form library will mean one more '.DLL' file and one more '.HLP' file. FRMSETUP.EXE Formality Setup executable file. This is the program that you usually run just once to set up Formality for day to day use. It copies all the necessary files to a hard disk drive and decompresses the compressed ones as it does so. If you copy the files by hand from the floppy disk using COPY, XCOPY, or another simple copy utility you will then need to decompress the compressed files using the MS-DOS command EXPAND. All files are compressed except for this executable file and the README.TXT file. FRMSETUP.EXE usually installs a copy of itself along with all the other files, although you can prevent this. FRMALITY.EXE Formality executable file. This is the program that you run from day to day. Unlike many applications, Formality is statically linked which means that all the fundamental parts of the program are in this one file rather than distributed throughout several files. FRMALITY.HLP Formality help file. This is the online documentation. Once you have installed Formality, anything that you want to know should be in this file. There are intentionally no manuals or other printed documentation. FRMALITY.INI Formality initialisation file. This is the file where the program stores various options that you can set up. You will not normally have to edit this file directly, but will instead alter the options from within the program which will then write them into this file and read them back when required. Many programs install initialisation files in the Windows directory, but the Formality Setup program always puts the Formality initialisation file in the same directory as the rest of the Formality software. This prevents file scattering, and also makes it easy to install several independent versions of Formality on the same computer system. FL000101.DLL Form library for the Formality User Report. This supports a single-page form that you can use to report software and documentation problems, or make suggestions or enquiries. Please remember to include a stamped addressed envelope with all Formality User Reports and other correspondence for which you require a response, except for Formality Software Orders. FL000101.HLP Help file for the Formality User Report. You can look at this file directly, or you can access it from within the main Formality help file by looking under 'Available Forms'. FL000201.DLL Form library for the Formality Software Order. This supports a single-page form that you can use to register whatever software items you wish to continue using beyond the end of the thirty day shareware evaluation period. FL000201.HLP Help file for the Formality Software Order. You can look at this file directly, or you can access it from within the main Formality help file by looking under 'Available Forms'. FL001002.DLL Form library for the Inland Revenue Self Assessment Tax Return 1998. This supports all of the forty two possible pages that can make up a personal tax return. Please note that it does not include the Inland Revenue page-specific notes or help sheets, or the tax calculation guides. You can obtain these directly from the Inland Revenue. Once you have installed Formality, pages 1 and 2 of the basic tax return contain instructions on how to request these items. Form library FL001001.DLL implements the Inland Revenue Self Assessment Tax Return 1997, and is available on request. FL001002.HLP Help file for the Inland Revenue Self Assessment Tax Return 1998. You can look at this file directly, or you can access it from within the main Formality help file by looking under 'Available Forms'. Help file FL001001.HLP provides help for the Inland Revenue Self Assessment Tax Return 1997, and is available on request. CTL3DV2.DLL Dynamic link library to provide a complete and consistent three- dimensional appearance for dialogues. This is in effect an extension to Windows to give applications what is now widely regarded as the standard look. Having said that, I can think of several top-quality applications that still use the two-dimensional look. With Formality, you can switch the three- dimensional look on and off according to taste. When it starts up, the Formality Setup program automatically installs this library if necessary. The library is never mentioned explicitly. README.TXT This file. Once you have installed Formality, you will probably not have to refer back to this file very often. However, it is a good idea to keep it online as it does not take up much space and alterations to your computer system may make it necessary to refer back here if they cause Formality to stop working properly. Other Files That Formality May Create ------------------------------------- FRMALITY.LOG Formality log file. Whenever logging is enabled Formality will record in a log file any noteworthy events connected with the running of the software. The initialisation file FRMALITY.INI, mentioned above, contains a section headed '[Miscellaneous Options]' under which there is an entry saying either 'Log=0' or 'Log=1'. Setting the value of 'Log' to zero switches logging off, and setting it to one switches logging on. However, you do not have to do this by hand because this option, and others, are available under the 'Options' item within the 'Tools' menu. For efficiency, Formality does not constantly refer to the setting within the initialisation file, but instead reads it once when starting up and keeps a note. Log files are not installed, but are created whenever you run Formality, in the directory from which you start the program. To prevent log files from slowly filling up your hard disk over time, they normally only record the events from one run of the software. Assuming that you always run Formality from the same place, any previous log file will be overwritten whenever you invoke the program. However, if you regularly run the program from different places then it is possible that several log files will be created. If you have some kind of trouble when running Formality, the first thing to do is to look at the log file. Because it is plain text you can examine it with any editor or word processor. You can also safely delete a log file at any time, even when Formality is running. Please note that the existence of a log file does not imply that anything is wrong. If logging is switched on then Formality creates a log file on every run, even if only to record nothing but the program start and stop times (the time for each logged message is the first thing on the line). Temporaries Formality may create temporary files when running. In normal circumstances the program deletes these when closing down. However, if your computer system crashes while Formality is running then these files will still exist when you restart the system. Even so, this does not really matter because the program will detect them at the end of its next run and delete them. These temporary files are not very large in any case, but if you do want to delete them by hand they can be found in the standard temporary file directory (the location of which is usually indicated by the environment variable TEMP). The files will be named '~frm*.tmp' and '~frm*.fot' where '~' is a literal tilde character rather than a place-holder and '*' is a place-holder representing from one to four arbitrary characters that are legal within file names. Contact Details --------------- J. G. Wallis, 18 Bury Road, Mildenhall, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk IP28 7HT. Telephone (01638) 712736 Please contact me if you have any questions, problems, or suggestions about the Formality software. This README.TXT file is intended only to help get Formality installed or de-installed. You should read the help file FRMALITY.HLP for much more in-depth information about the software. To do this when Formality is not running you can simply double-click on 'frmality.hlp' within the File Manager program, or its equivalent. When Formality is running, you can either choose the Contents item from the Help menu, which is on the right hand side of the menu bar, click the toolbar button with a single large question mark on it, or simply press the F1 key. The full licence agreement is stored within the help file and the first thing that you should do once you have installed Formality is to read the licence agreement carefully. If you have a problem with it then do get in touch to clarify any points that are unclear or to discuss any objections that you may have. Please note that there are intentionally no manuals or other printed documentation with Formality, and this includes the licence agreement. Acknowledgements ---------------- 80386 is a trademark of Intel Corp. 80387 is a trademark of Intel Corp. 80486 is a trademark of Intel Corp. IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corp. Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp. MS-DOS is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp. Pentium is a registered trademark of Intel Corp. Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corp. Windows 3.1 is a trademark of Microsoft Corp. Windows 95 is a trademark of Microsoft Corp. Windows for Workgroups is a trademark of Microsoft Corp. Crown copyright forms are reproduced with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office.