PsL Monthly 1995 August/PSL Monthly Shareware CD-ROM Volume 3 Number 8 (Public Software Library).bin/readme

Text File | 1995-07-05 | 14KB | 312 lines

                              PsL Monthly CD

> To view this file, use the PgUp and PgDn and cursor keys.
> When done, press ESC to exit this file.
> Then PSL_SHRD will run. That is the program that lets you browse
> through the descriptions of the programs on this CD.
> Next time, you can just run PSL_SHRD to skip seeing this file.

> PSL_SHRD is a DOS-based program. To access the CD from Windows,
> run PSL_SHRW.EXE by using File-Run from Program Manager's menu bar.
> PSL_SHRW will let you search the database of ALL programs on ALL
> CDs, in addition to browsing the descriptions for the current month.
> Run SETUP.BAT from the DOS prompt before running the Windows version.
> Run COPYFILE.BAT to copy a file from the DOS command line.

NOTE: The Windows-bassed access program mentioned above, PSL_SHRW.EXE,
      lets you search PsL's ENTIRE catalog, including DOS and OS/2,
      not just Windows programs.

Welcome to the PsL August 1995 CD. This month's CD contains over 1200
new programs received by PsL in the last 30 days. In addition, this
month's CD includes all the programs from the "Programming"
sections of PsL for DOS and Windows.

See DIRECTRY.TXT for a list and description of the directories on
this CD.


PAST CD's SECTIONS-OF-THE-MONTH:

Each time a section of PsL's library is featured on the Monthly CD, we
start with what was on the CD the last time the section was featured
and add all the new and updated programs which have come along in the
subsequent months.

Following is a list of the sections from the most recent CDs. By
getting all of these CDs, you would have every program/file in PsL's
collection. Programs for both DOS and Windows are included in each
group.

Vol. Num.
 3    8    Programming (assembler, Basic, C, Cobol, Fortran, Pascal,
                  Modula, Visual Basic, general tools, and more.)
 3    7    Communications & Network (comm programs and utilities,
                  BBS systems, programs for FAX cards, pagers, etc.,
                  plus networking pgms.)
 3    6    Education
 3    5    Words & Graphics (word processing, drawing program,
                  clip art, desktop publishing, spelling/grammar
                  checkers, hypertext, fonts, printer utilities,
                  and more.)
 3    4    Utilities for DOS & Windows and ALL files in PsL for OS/2
 3    3    Home Applications
 3    2    Business (accounting, finance, general business,
                  time managers, general business, database,
                  spreadsheet, mailing list managers, and more.)
 3    1    Games (arcade, adventure, board games, card games,
                  casino games, sports games, puzzles, word games,
                  and more.)


FUTURE CD's:

Following is the schedule for the section-of-the-month for coming CDs:

Vol. Num.
 3    9    Games
 3   10    Business
 3   11    Home
 3   12    Utilities plus all OS/2 programs in PsL


1. License & Warranty:

Run PSL_SHRD's start-up screens or PSL_SHRW's HELP menu to read the
CD-ROM usage license and warranty.


2. File Format:

All programs are in ZIP format. Some programs have installation
programs which must be run after using PsL's programs to un-ZIP the
files to your hard disk. After un-ZIPping a program, look for README
and *.DOC text files, as well as for INSTALL.* and SETUP.* programs,
for information about installing and using the individual programs.


3. Directory Structure of CD:

See the file DIRECTRY.TXT in the root directory of the CD.


4. The \SCREENS Directory

The Screens directory contains screen shots of some programs on this
CD. The screen shots can only be viewed by the Windows program
PSL_SHRW, not the DOS program PSL_SHRD.


5. RUNTIMES

The RUNTIMES directory contains run-time files required by some other
programs.


6. Problems

All the programs on this CD have been tested and should run. If you
have difficulties, write or call PsL's Tech Support department. Most
difficulties can be cleared up over the phone in a couple of minutes.
There is normally no waiting to talk to a technician.

In nearly two years of producing the Monthly CD, we have NEVER found
a single problem caused by a "bad CD copy". If you cannot get a CD
to work on your machine, please try it on another machine if possible.
Otherwise, please read the following Q&A's. If none of this works for
you, return the CD and we will check it and replace it if necessary.


(1.) "My machine locks up or reboots when I try to install a program
      using the PSL_NEWS program."

You have one of the small percentage of systems with a CD-ROM driver
that is incompatible with PKUNZIP. To get around that problem, we have
placed a public domain unzip program on the CD. To invoke it with the
DOS-based program, run it using the syntax: "PSL_SHRD /U" (without the
quotes). In the Windows based program, select UNZIP in the window that
appears after pushing the Install button.

We have recently heard from a couple of people who "upgraded" to DOS
6.2 only to find that our Windows access program would not work any
more. Because the program is written in a "high-level" language
(Visual Basic), there is nothing we can do on that level to either
cause such a problem or to solve it. All we have been able to suggest
is booting up with a floppy that has an earlier version of DOS on it
when you want to access the CD. We know this is not a very
satisfactory solution, but we did not write the operating system,
Windows, nor Visual Basic.

(2.) "PKUNZIP tells me to insert another disk when I try to unzip the
      file from the CD."

The programmer used a PKZIP flag that he shouldn't have when zipping
the program. To get around this, copy the ZIP file from the CD to your
hard disk and use PKUNZIP to unzip it to the same directory on your
hard disk as the ZIP file.

(3.) "There are no files on the CD."
     "There are no files in one of the directories."
     "I get an error trying to copy a file from the CD."

We have only had a few such complaints, but in all cases, there was
nothing wrong with the CD. Some of the users who made the complaints
were able to read the CDs without error on other machines or even when
trying later on the same machine.

We suspect that the problem is with dust or dirt in the drive or, more
specifically, on the laser lens, or on the CD-ROM disc itself. If you
do not have a CD lens cleaner, get one from your dealer. Also inspect
the non-printed side of the CD for dust or debris.

One caller took the CD out, wiped it off, put it back in, and it
worked. Maybe it was dirty or maybe just re-seating it helped.

(4.) "When I install from the Windows access program, it tells me
      FILE NOT FOUND."

Some combination of flukes in Windows/DOS cause some systems not to be
able to find PKUNZIP.EXE on the CD-ROM drive. The solution is to copy
PKUNZIP.EXE into your WINDOWS directory on your hard disk.


SOUND BLASTER PRO OWNERS:

On the January 1995 CD-ROM, we went over 600MB on the CD for the first
time and a couple of people with Sound Blaster Pro cards and CD drives
were unable to get a directory on the CD.

If you have a Sound Blaster Pro and have this problem on a future
CD-ROM, ask Creative Labs for a new CD-ROM driver.


7. Frequently Asked Questions:

(1.) "Why don't you install the programs on the CD ready to run
      instead of in ZIP format?"

There are many reasons:

 - Many programs try to write back to the directory that they
   are installed in, which cannot be done on a CD.

 - Many programmers require that their programs be distributed
   in archived format.

 - Some installation programs configure the software to the system
   they are installed on, so that a program installed on our system
   may not work on yours.

 - Because we add a section of PsL's disk-based library to the CD each
   month, there is not room to have all the programs dearchived.

 - For use of the CDs on BBSs, files must be in archive format.

Distributing the programs in archive format makes for a much