Contents

Welcome to the Vollansoft Periodic Table V2.06

If you have upgraded click here for details of whats new.

If you are new to the package choose a topic below:

How do I install it?

How do I use it?

How do I register?

Where do I get support from?

Where do I get updates from?

About the author?


How do I register

Select a "rough" geographic region

UK

Europe

America and Canada

Rest of the World


UK

Send a UK cheque or postal order (payable to SM Baines) to:

16, Gasny Avenue,

Castle Donington,

Derby,

DE74 2HZ

Your discs will be sent via post, or if you request it via e-mail (less than 20K)


Europe

Registration in Europe is easy if you have Eurocheques. Simply make a cheque payable to SM Baines (draw in Pounds Sterling), and post it to:

16, Gasny Avenue,

Castle Donington,

Derby,

England,

DE74 2HZ

If you don't have Eurocheques, either send a local cheque (written in your local currency) with £8 added (my banks charge for dealing with them).

If this isn't possible, send local currency to the same value + £2.50 (again bank charges).


America
America and Canada

American and Canadian residents can send payments by one of the following:

A cheque drawn on a UK bank (no surcharge for this)

A local cheque written in US$ (£8 surcharge for this - my bank charges a lot for this)

Local currency (with £2.50 added for bank charges)

With any of these you can send it to:

16, Gasny Avenue,

Castle Donington,

Derby,

England,

DE74 2HZ

Another alternative is to use Western Union Money Transfer. Send a payment to Stephen M Baines at the address above, and send me a notification of you sending it either by mail (to the above address), or via e-mail to periodic@vollans.demon.co.uk.


Rest of the World

If you can send Pounds Sterling, this can be a convenient method of payment.

If you have access to Western Union Money Transfer, make a payment to Stephen M Baines at:

16, Gasny Avenue,

Castle Donington,

Derby,

England,

DE74 2HZ

You must also send me a notification by post or e-mail (periodic@vollans.demon.co.uk) so that I know to collect the payment.

If this isn't convenient, contact me to see if some other method is available. Local currency is usally acceptable, but please check in advance that I can convert it!


Where do I get support from

The main source of support is available via the Internet. Mail problems, bug reports, suggestions and so on to the following address:

periodic@vollans.demon.co.uk

If you do not have Internet Mail access, then support is available by snail mail (if return postage is included) from:

Stephen M Baines

16, Gasny Avenue,

Castle Donington,

Derby,

DE74 2HZ


About the author

Stephen M Baines is a Chemistry teacher at Long Eaton Community School, Long Eaton, Nottingham, England.

He originally wrote the program for use in a secondary school in Doncaster, in conjunction with the University of Sheffield. He continued to develop the program after he left there. The original program was called "The Edlington Periodic Table". A new version, called "The Vollansoft Periodic Table" was first publicly made available in December 1994 (Version 2.01). During the following months several updates became available.

Stephen continues to work on new versions of the program, as well as developing new software which will be released in due course.


How do I install it

It depends on the way you got this package. There are two distributions - a Zip file and a 2 full installation discs.

Zip file

Two discs


Zip file

The Zip file is easy to use. You must have unzipped it to get this file!

You can leave all the files in one directory, or copy the *.VBX and *.DLL files to your \windows\system directory.

Just add the following programs to Program Manager:

perd256c.exe

science.hlp


Two Discs

If you got the program on two discs, follow these very simple instructions.

1) Insert disc 1 into your floppy drive.

2) Using File Manager, click on the icon for your floppy drive.

3) Double click on the file called "setup.exe".

4) Answer the prompts on the screen to install it. It will put the icons into Program Manager as well, so if all goes painlessly.


Where do I get Updates from
Where do I get Updates from?

The latest version is always available from ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/ibmpc/windows/volansoft - The file name is always perdcxxx.zip, where xxx is the version number.

Registered users only need to download the latest version and unzip it to update the program.

If you don't have internet access, you can send me blank discs and return postage for me to send the latest version when it is released. To do this, send me discs (telling me which version you currently have) to:

16, Gasny Avenue,

Castle Donington,

Derby,

England,

DE74 2HZ

If your current version is the latest, then I'll send the new one when it is available.


How do I use it?

Click on the area below:


File

This has one option - exit - This allows you to quit the program.


Edit

Select an option from below:


Copy Picture

This copies a picture from the screen to the clip board. This can then be pasted into any other program, such as a word processor.


Copy Text

This copies text from the screen to the clipboard. This can then be posted into a word processor and printed out.


Copy Data

This copies data from the screen to the clip board for pasting into another document.


Clear Clipboard

This gets rid of any data held on the clipboard. Use this if you are running short of memory.


Window

Select the menu option from below:


Cascade
Cascade or Tile options - These give you an option to arange the windows around the screen. Usually it is better to do it manually, using the mouse, than fiddling with this!


Arrange Icons

This arranges the icons at the bottom of the screen.


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Window options

This gives you the Windows you currently have open in this application. You can easily switch from window to window using this.


3D Features

This switches the various parts of the 3D features on and off. Experiment with this, and choose the settings you like best.


Help

Choose the option from below:


Help Contents
Help - Contents

This brings up the Contents page of this Help File.


Bubble Help

This is a small help system. When the mouse is stationary over a button or object for a few seconds a bubble appears which tells you what the object does.