Copyright: Copyright «1996 D:\Mystify Software
Citation: Copyright ®1996 D:\Mystify Software


The July, 1996 D:\Mystify catalog
Now Internet-ready with download links to
demos and free software from D:\Mystify

WinHelp tools from Herd Software Development

 ThinHelp...the hypertext edge

 Help to RTF...the WinHelp conversion wizard

 The Herd Software Web site

D:\Mystify software products

 The PC/Internet Lexicon

 The Secret World of Night

 The Compleat I Ching

 The Big Stupid

 The D:\Mystify WinHelp Resources

 Graphics Gallery (for WinHelp authors)

 The D:\Mystify Web site

First Train for the Internet

 About First Train for the Internet

 Day Excursion benefits

 Tourist Class benefits

 Download sample First Train modules

 The First Train for the Internet support site

Ordering from D:\Mystify

 Price list

 Order forms and information


For more information about First Train
and free introductory modules, point your Web browser to:

http://www.firstrain.com


Help to RTF...the WinHelp conversion wizard

You say you don’t need another Help decompiler or helpfile printing assistant?  Perhaps not.  But if you drive a Volkswagen and someone offered you a BMW, wouldn’t you at least want to take a test drive?  If your Help print/conversion tool could do all this, wouldn’t you at least be interested in taking a look?

 decompile 16 and 32 bit Help and Viewer (and, to a limited degree, MediaView) titles to component RTF, HPJ, baggage and bitmap source, fully recompilable and editable (even the interfile links)

 generate a formatting guideline textfile for easy localization and translation

 generate an MS Word-compatible Table of Contents and index from the resulting source

 generate bitmap images of 16 bit embedded windows

 properly embed bitmaps in the resulting source, with left alignment frames for accurate printouts, or link to bitmaps located on the hard disk for those low-memory situations where embedded bitmap display prior to printing compromises performance

 provide true RTF printable output, not Word document format, for users who may not have Word, Works or a Word-compatible word processor

 Word-compatible, auto-updating page references in place of Help links so that your printed documents are as easy to navigate as the helpfiles they came from

 work from a one-touch wizard-like interface, provide for complete control over printout options with onscreen help, or offer command-line switches for the most sought-after output options

 offer a special developer’s license permitting Help to RTF to be distributed with all your helpfiles as a printing extension for your users

So really, you’re not hurting our feelings...we understand that you don’t need Help to RTF.  You just want it.  And we’ll give you 30 days to find out just how much you want it.  Click the button to load a page of over a dozen links worldwide to the most recent version of Help to RTF and see for yourself.

Help to RTF If you have a copy of the shareware archive, you’ll be sent a product registration keycode immediately upon receipt of your registration.	$40.00
Public (software) Library product ID no.:	TBA
CompuServe users’ GO SWREG product ID:	9235


With built-in 16 and 32 bit support for watermarks/textures, transparent bitmaps, buttons, animation, audio, window styling/sizing features, registration keys and more, ThinHelp is arguably the most versatile and comprehensive embedded-window extension available for WinHelp...but it’s much, much more than just a Help DLL.  It’s a complete facelift for your Help authoring environment, with a collection of utilities designed to reduce your workload, fire your imagination and elevate Help to levels you thought only HTML could achieve.  The Help enhancements in this catalog, provided courtesy of THNBMP.DLL, show off only a fraction of what this package has to offer.  All you have to do is examine the list of features to see that ThinHelp is quite possibly the most exciting thing to happen to Help since Windows.

The ThinHelp Home Page

 Printable 16/256-color BMPs and true-color JPEGs

 Painless animation development without AVI or extensions

 Finally, a replacement for SHED with the features you’ve been asking for

 A fast, thorough and uniquely versatile bug checker for 16-bit Help projects

 Full support for two types of author-selectable bitmap transparency.

 Fast-displaying, ultra-versatile 16 and 32-bit watermark support

 Compiled Help up to 90 percent smaller and 90 percent faster than standard compression

 Conditional bitmap display.

 Depressable buttons from any size BMP or JPEG

 “Graphics databasing” for interfile graphics sharing

 Serious compatibility...not serious compatibility problems.

 Several types of author-definable performance optimization

 Stable high resolution graphics even in popups

 Two types of slide show support

 Full ForeHelp interface compatibility

 Background color control

 WAV audio playback directly from baggage

 16-and 32-bit support

 Custom palettes for clean, flexible color control

 No more font size or screen resolution worries

 Up to 100 different 256-color BMP bitmaps or TrueColor JPEGs per topic

 Dynamic or user-defined palette allocation

 Insured compatibility with Windows NT

 Unlimited redistribution rights with Help/Viewer titles

 Special registration features allowing time-limited demos and locked topics

 Uses as little as 40k of disk space

 A self-extracting install creator for Help/Viewer projects

 A 16-bit baggage compression DLL

 A 2,500-bitmap Help graphics library designed specifically for ThinHelp

 An optional SHG graphic import filter for graphics software

 JPEG graphic import filtering for your non-hypertext development

All this for a single low price.

ThinHelp Includes the redistributable ThinHelp and HLPLHA DLLs, the ForeHelp editor interface, the Push hypergraphics editor, HelpDebug Lite and the 2,500 item Graphics Gallery for ThinHelp bitmap graphics browser and library, plus an extensive Help system, delivered on CD.	$169.00
Public (software) Library product ID no.:	TBA
CompuServe users’ GO SWREG product ID:	12887
Shipping and handling, US and Canada: Shipping and handling, overseas:	10.00 10.00


ThinHelp includes an integrated version of HelpDebug Lite, one of the most uniquely useful tools ever released for Help authors.  HelpDebug is designed to hunt down errors the Help compiler doesn’t check or won’t report, and provides a wealth of reporting and database functions for your Help projects.  The ThinHelp version of HelpDebug comes integrated into the Push hypergraphics editor and is limited to 16-bit Help only (the full version of HelpDebug supports the additional features of 32-bit Help).

Among its timesaving features are a thorough error reporting function that can tell you what kind of errors have occurred in your macros and which checks for invalid links in even the largest multi-file Help systems.  Its integration into Push allows instant updates and the provision of a drop-down list of topic IDs for your .SHG and .SEG hotspots.


You can’t please everyone, but ThinHelp goes out of its way to help you come as close as possible.  In addition to backward compatibility with all popular Windows versions, it offers author-selectable memory cache control to insure your Help meets the design specifications of context-sensitive Help, enhanced transparent bitmap performance for bitmaps using a plain black background, and -- a real treat for JPEG specialists -- author-definable “browser-style” disk-based caching of JPEGs to eliminate decompression delays in subsequent displays of the same JPEGs.


Herd Software Development is serious about supporting Windows NT 3.5x and up in addition to Windows 3.1/3.11.  ThinHelp was developed on the NT platform, so you can count on it behaving itself in 16- and 32-bit Windows versions.


ThinHelp offers conditional bitmap display through its unique application of watermarking technology.  You’ll see examples of this in the THDEMOS.HLP demo project.

Using IfThenElse() macros and watermark positioning parameters, it is now possible to have conditional 16 and 256-color bitmaps and JPEGs in both 16 and 32-bit Help.  Your conditional bitmaps can even include hotspots.


Registered users of ThinHelp are entitled to a free copy of the Graphics Gallery Help authors’ graphics browser and bitmap library for WinHelp.  It’s a collection of over 3,000 bitmaps and graphical components for sprucing up your Help projects and improving the visual impact of your Help.

Graphics Gallery for ThinHelp is available as part of the ThinHelp CD.  If you received your copy electronically and were never issued a CD, you can receive your copy by email on CompuServe or over the Internet (specify MIME or UUE) or from a special Web page from D:\Mystify Software, the publishers of Graphics Gallery.  You’ll find a link to D:\Mystify’s Web site on the Internet Resources for ThinHelp users Web page included as part of your package.


THNHLP.DLL’s 16-bit version can now interface with Paint Shop Pro, Microsoft Office 16-bit applications, our own FormPad metafile generator, and many other applications offering you the ability to import SHG files directly into your other applications.  No more messing with SHED’s export function just to edit an SHG graphic.  You can add SHG import yourself or let ThinHelp’s installation options take care of it for you.

(This function does not allow save-as-SHG at this time, however Push offers many enhancements over SHED which should solve most of your conversion and import/export problems.)


ThinHelp includes an interface DLL for full embedded-window editing compatibility with ForeHelp.  Authoring even the most complex embedded window functions with ThinHelp becomes point-and-click easy.


Multiple 256-color bitmaps in long topics are no longer a worry...ThinHelp updates the palette every time it encounters a new bitmap in your topic window.  Even use multiple 16-color images using nonstandard Windows palette colors...it’s as easy as adding GIFs to a Web page.

You can also define your own palettes so that your multiple-bitmap or JPEG topics look the same on the end user’s system as they do on yours.


HLPLHA.DLL is a unique DLL designed for creative Help and Viewer authors which gives your 16-bit Help titles all the basic functionality of a software installer.  It allows you to use LZH compression to achieve extraordinary reductions in baggage file footprints.  The versatility of this tool might surprise you...it can also extract files from LZH-compressed archives anywhere on the user’s system, not just in baggage.


ThinHelp gives you complete control over the background color of your helpfile, on a topic-by-topic basis if necessary, in 16 and 32-bit helpfiles.  This feature can be used in conjunction with other ThinHelp embedded windows for a striking range of unique effects...see the demonstration helpfile for examples.


ThinHelp allows you to define one or more LZH-compressed bitmap archives as shared archives for all bitmaps in a multi-file Help or Viewer project and drastically reduce both the end user’s space requirements and your project management demands.  This feature also allows you to update screenshots in a Help system without changing a single line of RTF source...a boon to developers and users alike.  This essentially gives Help and Viewer the equivalent of their own dynamic graphics libraries.

A note to ForeHelp users: while our ForeHelp interface eases the task of authoring embedded window statements, it cannot support ThinHelp’s graphics databasing features.  This aspect of ThinHelp’s technology will require manual editing.


The final link in the chain is complete...tiling Web-style textures, known in WinHelp as watermarks, are not merely viable in Winhelp, but available in less memory than you may have thought possible, and with far better performance and precision than the finicky tiled-bitmap effects you may be using now.

Your Help and Viewer titles can look and behave almost exactly the same way as your Web pages, with the advantages of lower system overhead and no special browser.  “Frames” effects, hotspotted backgrounds, backdrops that wrap to fit snugly to the Help window, different watermarks for nonscrolling and client regions, even user-selectable watermarks for secondary windows...it’s all possible with ThinHelp.

ThinHelp's watermarking technology differs substantially from that used by other watermarking DLLs, offering you a much higher degree of control over look and feel than you’ve had before, and one of the most exciting creative tools to come to Help in a very long time.


Your last excuse for not using DLLs in WinHelp just vanished.  At around 70 kilobytes, thanks to its use of ultra-high-speed, ultra-compact assembly language construction, THNHLP.DLL packs more raw power for kilobyte than any Help DLL in its class.  But if you only want 256-color BMP graphics and don’t need JPEG display in your helpfile, THNBMP.DLL (the DLL version used to enhance this catalog) can do everything THNHLP.DLL can do in about half the space.


Create your own custom, depressable buttons from any bitmap ThinHelp can handle, even JPEG and SHG files.  This catalog demonstrates one of many possible uses for these buttons.  You can use animated icons, or entire animations, as depressable button faces...you’ll see several examples in the demo project.  ThinHelp may not meet all your needs for authorable buttons, but you’re sure to find some interesting and practical applications for this feature in our demo.


ThinHelp is designed to work almost everywhere Help works...from old 80286 dinosaurs to Motorola powerhouses.  SoftPC, SoftWindows, WINE (untested), RISC NT and every standard Microsoft release since 1992.  If it’s compatible with Windows 3.1 running even in standard mode, and uses a WINHELP.EXE that conforms to Microsoft’s API, ThinHelp supports it.  A CD distribution of over 300,000 copies of First Train for the Internet Day Excursion, which relies heavily on ThinHelp’s technology, and we didn’t get a single complaint about bitmap display or compatibility.


ASETUP is Herd Software’s freeware install creator, the same installer we use for distributing many of our own products, which uses LZH compression to create compact, fast-installing packages for on-disk and downloadable distribution.  This demo helpfile includes a walk-through for using ASETUP to create a simple installation package for your Help or Viewer title which can even be self-extracting.  It’s a quick, slick way to solve most of your software update and prototype distribution needs and it’s right here in this demo at no extra cost.

The freeware ASETUP.EXE version included here, while believed to be reliable and bug-free, is unsupported software and is provided only as a courtesy to our customers and as a thank-you for evaluators of the shareware version of ThinHelp.


Creating slide shows has never been this easy...or this friendly to the end user.  With ThinHelp, you can develop WinHelp-based slide shows from a single-topic helpfile.  Simply place an embedded window statement in the topic, create an LZH archive to hold your full-screen “slides”, compile the helpfile and you’re finished.  You can add slide shows to Viewer titles just as quickly and easily.  All you ever need to distribute is the helpfile and the appropriate ThinHelp or ThinBMP DLL.  No other runtime viewer software is needed, and the compiled, installed project will produce one of the smallest footprints of any slide show and demo technologies.


You can spruce up your helpfiles with up to one hundred 256-color bullets, icons, separator bars, clip-art pieces and graphic objects from your HTML graphics library as you like, and as many as five hundred frames of animation, lifting your helpfiles to a new level of visual excellence.


ThinHelp achieves its remarkable reductions in file size through the use of tried-and-true LZH (Lempel-Ziv/Huffman) compression, and LHA.EXE, a program developed by Haruyasu Yoshizake to process LZH-compressed archives.  Until PKZIP 2.0, LHA/LZH was actually more effective at compressing data than PKZIP.  Even today it is usually even more effective than ZIP compression in reducing the size of .BMP data, with the added benefit of being free software.

If you distribute electronically or on floppy disk, you’ll be interested to know that ThinHelp helpfiles take up as much as 20 percent less space than compressed or uncompressed helpfiles when re-compressed for distribution using PKZIP, Diamond or COMPRESS.EXE.


ThinHelp supports transparent bitmaps, offering you the ability to mimic the look and feel of your Web pages in your helpfiles.  The effect works in both 16-bit and 32-bit Help with none of the limitations or bugs of WINHLP32.EXE’s new transparency support.

You can even apply transparent color indexes to 256-color bitmaps, animations, and even JPEGs.  Walk-throughs using screen shots, animated icons and conversion of your animated GIFs for Help and Viewer are now a reality, opening up a wide range of new creative opportunities for Help authors.


Not all help authors realize that compressing text is only part of what takes the help compiler, particularly 16-bit compilers, so long to build a project.  The compiler also compresses bitmaps, and if your helpfile is heavy on screen shots and graphics you could save more than 90 percent of the time you currently spend waiting for helpfiles to compile when you convert your projects for use with ThinHelp.  This feature alone can shave whole days off the development time of bitmap-intensive procedural help, especially when developing Media Viewer and Windows 3.1 Help projects.


Some 256-color WinHelp bitmap-display DLLs don’t permit 256-color graphics in popup topics.  This helpfile provides numerous examples of 256-color embedded window .BMPs.  You’ll need to get a copy of the full shareware release of ThinHelp or its smaller demo helpfile archive to see how well ThinHelp handles live JPEGs in Help.


ThinHelp and ThinBMP allow you to include your own WAV audio files in compressed bitmap archives added to baggage, further reducing your overhead and helping to keep your help system clean and neat.


ThinHelp includes its own proprietary algorithm for intelligently dithering JPEG graphics on 16 and 256-color displays.  It offers the same versatility with BMP graphics.  Your helpfile’s appearance is no longer at the mercy of the end user’s screen resolution.


ThinHelp allows you to define a common 256-color palette for all bitmaps in a given topic, neatly solving the problem of palette conflicts between multiple 256-color graphics and saving you time.  Our demo topic for ThinHelp uses just such a technique to insure distortion-free color.  What this means is that the same palette-matched graphics components you use in your Web site development can now be applied to helpfiles with only a small bit of extra effort.

You can also assign dynamic palettes to JPEG bitmaps, specifying a given number of additional colors over and above the Windows system palette specifically for use by a given bitmap.  Or you can let ThinHelp handle the palette for you.


Even high-resolution JPEG graphics can now be printed from your WinHelp topics from Help’s Print command.  ThinHelp allows you to define any bitmap you like as non-printable, further enhancing the appearance of your printed helpfile.


ThinHelp lets you define any group of bitmaps (even JPEGs) as an animation sequence and play these bitmaps back as animation frames at virtually any speed.  You can now include the same sort of animated GIFs, Java toys and server-push-style animations you’ve been using in your Web authoring in your helpfiles, and with no messy pre-processing or filmstripping.  You can even export AVI files to component bitmaps and display them as ThinHelp animations in about the same amount of disk space as compressed AVI...and without the hassles of Video for Windows’ compatibility issues.

And if you need genuine AVI support in your Help, AVISYNC offers real embedded-window Video for Windows in Help complete with a customizeable user interface.


Some WinHelp extensions providing high-resolution bitmap support are limited to a safe maximum of 55 bitmap displays total per instance of WINHELP.EXE.  ThinHelp extends this limit to two hundred different bitmaps per topic, many times more than you’re ever likely to need, and at display speeds comparable to or faster than the best Web browsers.  A single animation window can now handle animations up to 500 frames in length, ideal for all but the most complex animation sequences.


Using Push, the ThinHelp hypergraphics generator, to automatically convert your .SHG files to bitmaps and our proprietary .SEG format hotspot data files will insure the maximum possible reduction in compiled file size.  But if you don’t want to convert existing SHGs you can add them, completely unaltered, to a ThinHelp compressed bitmap archive and reference them using embedded window statements.  This offers you guaranteed accurate scaling at all screen resolutions and freedom from the scaling distortion associated with printing fixed-resolution SHG files.  You can even use SHGs as watermarks, and ThinHelp will recognize and accurately process all your existing hotspot jumps, popups and macros with no changes needed to the SHG file.

You’ll also achieve a considerable reduction in compiled file size and shorter waits for the Help compiler.  ThinHelp projects compile up to 90 percent faster than standard Help projects.

In addition, your SHG files can actually be shared by multiple helpfiles thanks to ThinHelp’s ability to store SHGs in compressed archives located outside of the helpfile.  WinHelp was never able to handle so much data in so little space...and do it so cleanly and accurately.


ThinHelp includes a complete, fully-compatible, high-performance replacement for SHED and MVSHED...a real hypergraphics editor that actually permits 256-color and JPEG graphics with embedded hotspots and macros up to 256 characters, image enhancement filters, scaling, file conversion, and the nicest feature of all, an editing mode that lets you use your favorite graphics editor to edit the SHG’s bitmap “on the fly”.

Your Web image map graphics can now be transplanted directly into your helpfiles, regardless of their color resolution, with a simple copy-and-paste operation.  Your existing SHG files can be edited and pasted directly from the clipboard for true high-resolution Help hypergraphics and be displayed in embedded windows for optimum performance.  You can even attach metafiles to JPEG graphics for crisp, clear banner text and logo overlays, even on 16-color systems.


The first time the registration feature of ThinHelp is used, it adds a registry entry noting the date of installation.  Using simple WinHelp macros you can prompt users for registration of your shareware or demoware, inform clients of pending updates, and display date-sensitive information.  You can even lock the user right out of the helpfile after a specified date.


ThinHelp’s embedded window bitmap display technology accesses bitmaps compressed and stored in your helpfile’s baggage.  You don’t need to include separate LZH archives with your distributed helpfile unless you want to... you need are the helpfile itself and the appropriate version of the ThinHelp DLL.


A single license to ThinHelp gives you access to all of these features, plus the right to redistribute the THNHLP, THNBMP and HLPLHA DLLs for adding their functionality to your Help and Viewer projects.  If you develop both 16-bit and 32-bit helpfiles, you can distribute the appropriate version for your helpfile.  If you develop software requiring ThinHelp’s JPEG import filtering facility, you have rights to distribute it for that purpose too.


ThinHelp can act as a JPEG graphic import filter for C++, Visual Basic, Delphi and other compiled languages using the simple API outlined in this helpfile.


The registered ThinHelp includes both 16-bit and 32-bit DLLs you can redistribute with your helpfiles: ThinHelp 16-bit for Windows 3.1/3.11 helpfiles and ThinHelp 32-bit for use in Windows 95 and Windows NT.  The 16-bit DLLs are for use with 16-bit helpfiles and the 32-bit DLLs are for use with Windows 95 and NT.

Your registered-version package also includes two different versions of ThinHelp, one for displaying JPEG graphics and BMPs and THNBMP.DLL, which will display 256-color BMPs and perform all of ThinHelp’s other functions in a much smaller distributed file size.


ThinHelp is one of the most cost-effective WinHelp extensions and toolkits on the market.  You may want it for only one or two of its features, but we think you’ll find new uses for it at virtually every stage of a Help or Viewer project.

At just US$169 (DM249) it can replace several DLLs and even save you the cost of upgrading your current authoring tools just to get the features in their bundled DLL extensions.  Browse the ordering information for more details and information about special early-bird discounts.


“Your one-stop resource for Internet exploration”

A helping hand for every Internet user

Seems like it was only a few weeks ago when you had three choices for learning efficient, effective Internet: chop through a 600-page book that was out of date when it hit the shelves, shell out for expensive classes or private training or hack it yourself.  That’s because it was only a few weeks ago.

Enter First Train for the Internet, the first thorough, fully-interactive, hands-on guide to the Internet for Windows.

Deceptively simple, delightfully rich

First Train is a thorough, detailed and sensitive hands-on guide for everyone from first-time computer users to net veterans, praised by users at both ends of the spectrum.  It starts with the point-and-click ease of the familiar Windows Help interface, enhanced with more than 100 added functions, and over 300 screen shots, and extends to include a range of additional resources, essential utilities and “insider tips” matched by few products of any kind.  As a training tool it is unmatched in its class.

First Train keeps everyone from first-time computer users to experienced surfers interested and learning week after week.  First Train doesn’t just teach..it empowers!

First Train for the Internet offers:

  Extensive walk-through guides to all basic net services, from email to USENET binaries to teleconferencing

  Setup, configuration and troubleshooting help with all the most-used Internet applications for Windows

  Orientation.  First Train encourages “good netizenship” through the use of thorough, sensitive guides to netiquette, Internet security and support.

  Thorough, compassionate coverage of computing skills needed by net users at all levels of experience

  Version-sensitive help...First Train auto-detects Windows 3.1 or Windows 95 to display the appropriate topics

  Everything needed to lift new Internet users over the “geek wall” to a plateau of competence and confidence.

First Train for the Internet includes:

First Train offline: thorough, practical guides to the essential Internet services

First Train Help: walk-through troubleshooting and setup help for the most-used Windows net software

PC/Internet Lexicon: a fully-integrated 3,000-term computing and Internet dictionary.  Click on almost any computing or Internet-related term in First Train to instantly pop up its definition...also functions as a stand-alone module.

First Train online: a collection of “local pages” of links to important and populer Internet resources, plus access to our support site on the Web

The PC Owner’s Survival Guide: advice on ergonomics, viruses, backups, self-support, maintenance and much more...the helping hand every new user needs to insure continued safe, comfortable computing.

A growing collection of add-ons, including the winsock conflict eraser, Easy Windows 95 Internet Step-up, an uninstaller, emergency system backup, Internet tip-of-the-day module, and an Internet scrapbook using Gregory Braun’s NoteBook utility.

Minimum requirements:

Designed from the ground up for compatibility with virtually every Internet-capable Windows system.  Requires IBM-compatible PC with an 80386-DX33 or better microprocessor, 4Mb RAM, VGA adaptor and monitor, mouse, MS-DOS™ Version 6.0 or equivalent, Microsoft Windows 3.1/3.11/95 (not warranted for OS/2™, Windows NT or SoftWindows™), 12Mb hard disk space (base installation)

For information about site licensing, product bundling and
retail/wholesale distribution, contact

Don McPhee at Oasis Systems Inc., (604)240-0506, fax (604)444-3575

On the Internet: sales@firstrain.com, inquiries to the development team: support@firstrain.com

For more information about First Train and
free introductory modules, point your Web browser to:

http://www.firstrain.com


Day Excursion benefits

The freeware Day Excursion package

The core of the freeware version is First Train offline (limited version), which includes the First Train for the Internet offline section supporting both Windows 3.1/Windows for Workgroups and Windows 95, complete with:

 Walk-through help for everything from finding an Internet provider to working with compressed archives

 Help with essential Windows skills needed by many novices to manage Internet data and net access software

 An extensive section on preparing your computer (and your computing skills) for today’s Internet

 A built-in uninstall routine for Windows 3.1/3.11 and Windows 95...a very important feature for any training and support package

 A steward who seems to enjoy annoying people who haven’t paid for their ticket.

 Old newspapers (some of the information might be a little dated by the time you receive it).

To see what else is available with First Train, check out the next topic which outlines the benefits of First Class and Tourist Class registration.


Tourist Class benefits

Tourist Class package (US$49.95)

First Train for the Internet Tourist Class includes everything in the Day Excursion registered package PLUS:

 An integrated lexicon built right into First Train’s offline section.  This is the complete PC/Internet Lexicon built right into First Train.  Click on almost any computing or Internet term you don’t understand and instantly pop up its definition.

 Online support galore for your Web browser, including walk-through help for all the most important Internet services: IRC, FTP, email, World Wide Web, USENET newsgroups, Internet searches and much, much more.

 Complete walk-through help with setting up and troubleshooting the most popular, most widely-used Internet applications (Mosaic and Netscape, WSIRC and mIRC, EWAN TELNET, Eudora postcardware email, Free Agent newsreader, WS_FTP, Excalibur BBS client, StuffIt Expander, and more)

 Point-and-click access to the finest free utilities for making the most of your Internet experience with the least hassle, and our own special walk-through support for many of these products.

 Point-and-click access to many of the finest free utilities, tools and toys for Windows and Windows 95.  These are programs you can copy and share with others even if they haven’t purchased First Train.  We’re free software junkies who have tried literally thousands of different programs, and nothing but the best makes our list.  These include Faros Uninstaller for Windows 3.1/3.11 (believe it...this is a capable and effective uninstaller, and yes, it’s free), F-A-S-T Emergency Windows Backup,  NoteBook, the perfect tool for storing URLs, email addresses and scraps of Internet information, and many others.

 Help with most of your trickiest Internet problems right at your fingertips, from connection problems and email difficulties to installing and managing extensions for Internet software...could save you hundreds of dollars over the cost of shop or in-home service, training and support.

 One complete, free upgrade any time during the first 90 days of your tour...just email us for the locations of the most recent version.  The net changes at a breakneck pace and we want you to always have the latest, most useful version of First Train at your fingertips.

 The complete Easy Windows 95 Internet Setup package for upgrading and enhancing Windows 95 Internet connectivity.

 Anything else we’ve managed to pack into First Train since the release of this catalog...new features every month.

Easy Windows 95 Internet Step-up shareware version	$10.00
Public (software) Library product ID no.:	TBA
CompuServe users’ GO SWREG product ID:	7631
Shipping and handling, all:	n/a
First Train for the Internet Tourist Class package	$49.95
Forward all order inquiries to <oasis@cyberstore.ca>


Download sample First Train modules

First Train Day Excursion

The eight buttons below each connect with a different archive which carries the May, 1996 version of First Train for the Internet Day Excursion, offering you a first-hand glimpse into First Train’s depth and quality.  This is by no means a complete picture of what First Train has to offer, but it will provide you with enough of a picture to know what’s in store with the complete version, and even experienced users tell us they pick up a lot of useful tips and tricks.  It’s one of the most extensive introductions to the Internet anywhere.  Eight buttons are provided since these can all be busy sites.  If the first takes too long to connect, try the second, third, and so forth.

This button loads a page of worldwide download links for the May 1996 version of First Train for the Internet Day Excursion Freeware.

The PC Owner’s Survival Guide

This button loads a page of worldwide download links for the May 1996 version of PC Owner’s Survival Guide Freeware.


The PC/Internet Lexicon

“What the does General Protection Fault mean...exactly?”

“What do I do with .TAR and .VXD files?”

“Who are CERN and InterNIC?”

“What does a system file do?”

“What do ASCII and EBCDIC stand for?”

You can spend hours manual-diving, wait several minutes for an online Internet database to process your search request, or in four or five clicks of a mouse have the answers to these, and about 2,995 more questions.  It’s that slick, that quick.

This is not a toy.  But that never stopped anyone before...

At first you’ll play with it.  You’ll want to know the meaning of a phrase that’s been bugging you for months.  You’ll find it in just a couple of seconds, and probably be pointed to several related terms you just have to find out about.  Before you know it, you’ve clicked and read away a couple of hours and picked up dozens of new terms, and gotten some useful ideas and computing tips in the process.

After about a week you’ll lose interest, and PC/Internet Lexicon will simply sit on your hard disk, just taking up space (or so it seems), until you run across a term in email or a newsgroup that has you stymied, or spend ten minutes trying to figure out what a .DXF or .ARJ file is doing on your hard disk .  It’s then that you’ll discover the true value of PC/Internet Lexicon.

Help authors and Internet developers...glosplugyou can add the complete PC Lexicon and Internet Lexicon freeware versions to your Help system or Internet software package royalty-free for just US$50.00!

“The” Windows dictionary and quick reference

The PC/Internet Lexicon is a comprehensive guide to over 3,000 computing terms, phrases and acronyms.  Extensively cross-referenced and loaded with fascinating trivia and fun features.  Everything is available from a menued interface so simple that even first-time computer users find it intuitive.  A perfect training companion for novice and intermediate users and a much-needed ready resource for system administrators and tutors.

Internet Lexicon Freeware

The freeware Internet version of PC/Internet Lexicon contains the complete Internet lexicon.  It’s available from a number of sites on the Internet.

PC Lexicon Freeware

The freeware PC version of PC/Internet Lexicon contains the complete PC/Windows computing lexicon.  Find them both and you have the complete PC/Internet Lexicon.  In fact, if you can’t afford to pay for your copy, we hope you do find them both.

Download links for PC Lexicon Freeware and Internet Lexicon Freeware

Left button displays download links for the .ZIP version of PC Lexicon Freeware; right button for the .EXE self-extracting version.

Left button displays download links for the .ZIP version of Internet Lexicon Freeware; right button for the .EXE self-extracting version.

PC/Internet Lexicon Retail/Registered

The complete registered package contains:

  The Internet Lexicon (over 1,000 terms, phrases and acronyms)

  The PC hardware, software, computing and “hacker’s jargon” lexicon (over 1,500 additional terms, phrases and acronyms)

  PC and Internet acronyms lists, explained and cross-referenced

  250 “smileys” for email and chat (about 200 more than most people can stand!)

  Over 250 DOS and Windows file extensions with uses and meanings

  100 fun and useful email and chat abbreviations

  The plain-text resources included in the freeware version

…Plus our usual assortment of unannounced surprise extras…

All in all, PC/Internet Lexicon contains a total of over 3,000 words, terms, acronyms, file extensions, chat/email/USENET abbreviations and more.  Extensively cross-referenced, full of interesting and fun trivia.  It’s the kind of resource PC users haven’t had since the DOS version of PC Glossary, with the added bonus of what we believe is the finest (and fastest) Internet lexicon anywhere.  No distracting graphics, no manual-diving, hunting through textfiles or waiting for Internet searches...just the information you need, fast and easy.

Free with First Train Tourist Class

First Train for the Internet Tourist Class includes the complete, integrated version of PC/Internet Lexicon.  Day Excursion passengers can obtain the freeware, non-integrated PC and Internet Lexicons separately as added accessories through our Internet site or through the many FTP sites on the net which carry it.  Check the First Train home page for more information.

The PC/Internet Lexicon 1996 (registered, integrated, updated version)	$20.00
Public (software) Library product ID no.:	14868
CompuServe users’ GO SWREG product ID:	8496
Shipping and handling, US and Canada: Shipping and handling, overseas:	$4.00 $6.00
PC/Internet Lexicon is copyright ©1995,1996 by D:\Mystify.  Microsoft, Windows and Windows 95 are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.  Think globally...act locally...change the world one corner at a time.


The Secret World of Night

A unique resource

Ever since its release in paperback in 1987, Steve Winter’s The Secret World of Night has been a unique resource.  This is a thorough, sensitive and personal guide to the mysteries of sleep and dreaming, a resource which will raise as many questions as it answers and open up a whole new world of possibilities for adventure, enjoyment and relief.  It is believed to be the most concise, complete resource of its kind in any form.

What you’ll find in Secret World:

 A guided tour through the sleeping mind, from pre-sleep rituals to dreams and back again

 A comprehensive, sensitive guide to dealing with insomnia, including an extensive section outlining ten complete programs for self-treatment (if insomnia persists, see your doctor; this work is not to be used as a replacement for proper medical treatment)

 An open-ended guide to understanding and working with your dreams

 Step-by-step details on how to use your sleeping mind to solve waking problems

 A “nightmare gallery” of sleep-related abnormalities, what they are and what you can do about them

 Instructions for improving dream recall

 Tested techniques for inducing the dreams you choose

 A detailed look at dreams as the key to higher states of consciousness and self-awareness, including walk-through help for acquiring the ability to become conscious in your dreams (a proven human ability) and actually guide their content and direction

 A unique ergonomic design.  The Secret World of Night was developed for use on your PC and makes use of unique formatting and graphics techniques designed specifically for after-dark reading.

The Secret World of Night was a labor of love for both the author and for D:\Mystify, and according to our readers the attention shows.  The Secret World of Night takes you inside realms of human consciousness most people never discover.  Including over 2Mb of graphics, nearly 200 book pages of text, and a wide range of interesting features, it’s as thorough a guide to sleep as you’re likely to find in software form.

Our information-first distribution policy

Although this book is released as shareware, the author has stipulated that all text must be available free of charge.  Thus the entire contents of this resource are free for you to use, although the modest registration fee will enable many useful extras.

The Secret World of Night is copyright ©1996 by D:\Mystify.  Microsoft, Windows and Windows 95 are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.  Think globally...act locally...change the world one corner at a time.

Download links

A number of Internet links are available for downloading The Secret World of Night.  (On CompuServe you can find it in several forums with a File Finder search on NITEWRLD.ZIP.)  Click the button to connect with shareware.com and receive a list of over a dozen possible download sites around the world.  If the first link fails to start a download within about fifteen seconds or so, indicating a busy site, try them all in turn until one of them connects for you.

The Secret World of Night	$15.00
Public (software) Library product ID no.:	14869
CompuServe users’ GO SWREG product ID:	10442
Shipping and handling, US and Canada: Shipping and handling, overseas:	$4.00 $6.00


The Compleat I Ching

The name says it all

The I Ching is many things to many people...a fortune cookie cutter, a poetic allegory for the human condition, a map of the psyche, and a guide to the future.  The Compleat I Ching is all of these and more.  We set out to develop the most practical and informative computer-based I Ching package ever seen on the PC, and this is the result.  We don’t claim it’s the best, just the best of the more than 20 implementations we’ve seen from other publishers.

Serious fun

Whether your tastes run to simple fortune-telling, serious journalling, self-exploration or study of the I Ching as a geometric model, you’ll find the Compleat I Ching an indispensable resource.  Here’s a partial list of its features:

 The complete text of four interpretations of both the hexagrams and the changing lines, including the standard James Legge, the classic 17th century Imperial interpretation plus an alternate translation, and a fun, “fortune cookie” cutter with tabloid-style I Ching readings.

 Four oracles, including die, yes/no, primary and secondary hexagram.  This is an all-in-one tool for serious divining.  The alternate die offer graded oracles to refine the decision-making process.  The main casting function allows you to cast primary or secondary hexagrams only, or both at once.

 Extensive help for new users.  We select our authors with a keen eye to ethics and we believe our introduction to the I Ching is one of the most compassionate and beginner-friendly anywhere.

 Instant comparison.  Select any primary and/or secondary hexagram for an instant side-by-side reading.  Changing lines update automatically.

 Instant access to information.  Includes printable trigram correlation charts, glossary of terms, copy any text from any hexagram or line description to the clipboard, scroll through hexagrams in order, or browse the entire package from a single handy Table of Contents window.

 Intuitive design.  We created The Compleat I Ching as a serious tool for students and experts alike.  Color selection, layout and interface were chosen with attention to balance.  While it nods to its Eastern origins, this is definitely a tool for the Western-bred psyche.

 Configurable journalling tool.  The package comes with Gregg Braun’s free NoteBook utility for journalling your I Ching use, but this is only a starter item.  There’s a ready button you can configure in seconds to launch your own diary, journalling or word processing software.  We don’t impose a tool on you.

 Complete text included separately in the professional version.  The entire text of all three “serious” translations is available in plain-text format with the registered version of The Compleat I Ching.  In addition, the professional version of the software contains a variety of supplemental resources, including the Legge translations of The Art of War and The Tao te Ching as aids to proper mindset and background resources.  There are commentaries on the I Ching by the authors and tips for casting as well.

 The features D:\Mystify’s customers have come to expect: full-text search, user configuration of the interface, clean and simple installation and cleanup, and of course the surprise extras in every D:\Mystify software product.

 Aids for advanced students, counsellors and professionals: The pro version includes a “bare mode” (no descriptions, just simple, full-screen iconic layouts that don’t interfere with the intuitive process), charts of tests with standard deviations, configurable alerts for less distraction, an additional random verse from the Tao Te Ching as an aid to ritual preparation, and the ability to open as many additional text or comparison windows as your system can handle.

Three registration levels

There are three levels of registration for The Compleat I Ching.  The package comes with all features except simultaneous casting of both hexagrams enabled, and if you can stand the shareware nags, this version is free.

The basic registered version ($20) includes unlimited access to all the basic features described above.

The professional version ($35) includes all the features of the basic version, access to one complete update (expected in the next version: a fifth interpretation, more oracles and alterate casting methods), the plain-text resources, and a full-screen iconic “minimal mode” with no onscreen text or interpretations...just the visual feedback needed by the user.  This is for the serious I Ching consultant who realizes that divination depends less on the tool than its user.  For an additional fee ($50-300), the minimal mode can be custom-compiled to use your own graphics.

The Compleat I Ching is copyright ©1996 by D:\Mystify.  Microsoft, Windows and Windows 95 are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.  Think globally...act locally...change the world one corner at a time.

Download links

A number of Internet links are available for downloading the shareware trial version of The Compleat I Ching Standard (shareware).  Click the button to load a page of over a dozen possible links from around the world into your Web browser.  (On CompuServe you can find it in several forums with a File Finder search on CICHING.ZIP.)  If the first link fails to start a download within about fifteen seconds or so, indicating a busy site, try them all in turn until one of them connects for you.

The Compleat I Ching	$20.00 (basic) $35.00 (pro)
Public (software) Library product ID no. (both versions):	14867
CompuServe users’ GO SWREG ID (basic version):	11957
CompuServe users’ GO SWREG ID (pro version):	11958
Shipping and handling, US and Canada: Shipping and handling, overseas:	$4.00 $6.00


The Big Stupid

“Laugh your ASCII off”

This is not for the timid.  The Big Stupid is a lovingly plagiarized, sanitized, commercialized, reworked, improved and corrected collection of classic Internet humor from the early days of the USENET joke newsgroups.  It consists of over 3,000 one-liners, shaggy dog stories, Murphy’s Laws and other incongruities of the universe, quotes, slogans, tales of the strange-but-true, plus unique material created by the D:\Mystify editorial staff and never before available in electronic form.  Note: This is not a collection of computer humor.

Over 300 book pages’ worth of material in electronic form

The Big Stupid is designed to be used in one of two ways.  It can be read on your computer as a stand-alone joke book or load automatically every time you start your computer, providing a palette of from seven to several dozen fresh “daily smiles” for up to 100 consecutive days.  Each “page” contains a menu of seven choices, plus the option to move to the next page if nothing in the current selection made your lips curl.

If you manage to survive the first few volleys of mirth, you’ll be offered the option of playing a Bonus Round for a wide range of crass and rises.  The Bonus Round includes classic longer pieces in a wide range of styles, much of it “fax-ready” for sharing with others.

What you get for nothing

The Big Stupid Page at fungame.com offers a rotating daily selection of humor from The Big Stupid and information on ordering the complete Big Stupid.  The site is rarely busy, but this is one case where if you want your daily fix of humor, hit the site, and if it doesn’t respond right away, we recommend you sit on it and let fungame rotate.

Upon receipt of your paid registration, you’ll be given simple, one-click instructions which will unlock the following extra features:

 The ability to copy jokes to the clipboard and print them with single-key simplicity.

 An enhanced Find function.  Can’t remember where to find the joke that used the word “bricklagnacious”?  This enhanced topic-finder function will jump to it in seconds...quicker and more cleanly than even the Windows 95 Search function (assuming of course that “bricklagnacious” can be found in the collection, and we’re happy to say that it can’t).

 Built-in note-taker and customization utilities, an added 3-D look to all dialogs in both Windows 95 and Windows 3.1, plus a permanent end to the intro “splash” screen.

 That warm glow you get from having generously contributed to the income of hard-working, underpaid authors and programmers who really ought to get “real” jobs or, better still, join the military and stop putting a strain on the world coffee harvest.

The Big Stupid: living proof that comedy
is a business best left to professionals

The Big Stupid is copyright ©1996 by D:\Mystify Software.  The content is, to the best of our knowledge, freely distributable under the terms provided in the material itself.  Microsoft, Windows and Windows 95 are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.  Think globally...act locally...change the world one corner at a time.

Internet URL: http://www.fungame.com/stupid.shtml

Download links

A number of Internet links are available for downloading the shareware trial version of The Big Stupid.  Click the button to load a selection of over a dozen links from around the world into your Web browser.  If the first link fails to start a download within about fifteen seconds or so, indicating a busy site, try them all in turn until one of them connects for you.

The Big Stupid	$15.00
Public (software) Library product ID no.:	14870
CompuServe users’ GO SWREG product ID:	11284
Shipping and handling, US and Canada: Shipping and handling, overseas:	$4.00 $6.00


The D:\Mystify WinHelp Resources

 About the D:\Mystify WinHelp Resources

 The HTML Author’s WinHelp Kickstart Reference Card

 The Customizing Windows Help plug-in

 The Tip-of-the-Day RTF templates

 The Online Guide to WINSIZE3.DLL

 Royalty-free computing and Internet dictionaries

 Download links to evaluation versions

 Pricing structure

“It’s just a helpfile...not.”

If HTML whetted your appetite and you’re looking to do more, but aren’t quite up to the complexities of Basic, Pascal or C, or... if you’ve been looking at an authoring system for stand-alone hypertext or disk-based publishing that won’t break the bank, Windows Help offers the best combination of ease of use and low system overhead, one of the most friendly and interdependent userbases on any platform, and an extensibility that astounds everyone who takes the time to explore it.  WinHelp lets you progress just like HTML...from useful, finished work in your first couple of hours to as far as your imagination can take you.  Microsoft may not want to support it, but its users do, and the results can be seen in any D:\Mystify product.

If you’re already a Help author, you probably know that Help is a lot more flexible than the resources you’ve seen may lead you to believe.  It just takes the right information and a little street-level straight talk to unlock its secrets and potential as an authoring platform.  Once those secrets are unlocked, so is your creativity.

Cub Lea, lead developer for D:\Mystify, is known in WinHelp circles as one of the most devoted, knowledgeable “hackers” and helpful guides to hit the WinHelp scene in years.  Now he’s sharing his knowledge with other WinHelpers and spreading the word about the Windows’ most underrated authoring system.

About the D:\Mystify WinHelp Resources series

He’s packaged the best of this information into a collection of resources for Help authors designed to, well, “demystify” Help and assist even novice Help authors to easily reach heights of development flexibility that normally require far more sophisticated authoring systems.

The HTML Author’s WinHelp Kickstart Reference Card

The “tear-saver” for HTML authors using Microsoft Word to develop their first helpfiles.  It’s a simple, no-nonsense guide that equates Help to HTML and will assist you to a successful compile in as little as one hour, and continue to solve problems well past the completion of your first serious Help project.  It’s the distilled wisdom of 20Mb-plus of compiled Help from the desk of Cub Lea, and at publication time (6/96) was the only resource of its kind anywhere.

Coming Nov. 1/96

Customizing Windows Help: a plug-in and clinic for Help authors

Finally honed to a precise edge, the Customizing Windows Help tool included with virtually every D:\Mystify software product is now available as a redistributable plug-in module for Help projects as well as for use as a stand-alone utility.  Includes source and bitmaps for six complete 16- and 32-bit versions as well as a walk-through guide to using them as distributable utilities in your own projects and the usual assortment of Help authoring tips.

The Tip-of-the-Day RTF templates

Complete plug-in templates and walk-through guide to developing your own custom Tip-of-the-Day modules in WinHelp format using two tiny, freely-distributable WinHelp DLLs.  Why learn a new tool when the tools you have can do what you need?.  Includes steps for adding Tip-of-the-Day flexibility to an existing project or creating Tip/Quote/Joke/Recipe-of-the-day modules as stand-alone helpfiles.  It’s quick, easy, reliable, and as flexible as Help itself.

The Online Guide to WINSIZE3.DLL

Manipulating windows becomes more an art than a logistic function of Help authoring with the power the free WINSIZE2.DLL puts at your disposal.  It’s not one of the simpler Help DLLs to work with, and making the most of it requires a bit of thought, and can be made a lot easier and quicker to master with a little help.  Here’s that help...complete with detailed descriptions and demos of all WINSIZE2.DLL functions plus tips for putting its many features to use in your own Help projects.

Computing/Internet glossaries and dictionary plug-ins

This package consists of RTF source documents, a context string reference and bitmap collection for two mix-and-match Windows Help glossaries and dictionaries covering over 2,000 computing and Internet terms and acronyms.  The Internet and/or computing dictionaries can be modified, combined, compiled and used as stand-alone components of an existing Help system, or the .RTF and .BMP/SHG source files can be incorporated into other projects as part of a single compiled .HLP.

It’s complete, ready-to-compile Help source, with common styles for easy modification and full rights to modify, remove or add definitions as you see fit.  It’s the ideal glossary solution for general computing and Internet applications.  Best of all, the recompiled versions carry your branding, not ours.  The PC Lexicon and Internet Lexicon freeware versions were two of the most popular additions to school and corporate networks and intranets in 1996 and have garnered raves from around the globe.  Now you can make them yours.

D:\Mystify’s Computing/Internet glossaries and dictionary plug-ins are a featured product on the October, 1996 Help Authors’ Resource Kit CD

Download links

The following Internet links are available for downloading the shareware trial versions of all currently available D:\Mystify WinHelp Resources modules.  If the first link fails to start a download within about fifteen seconds or so, indicating a busy site, try them all in turn until one of them connects for you.

This button loads a page of worldwide download links for
The Tip of the Day Templates (shareware evaluation version).

This button loads a page of worldwide download links for the
Customizing Windows Help plug-in kit (shareware evaluation version).

This button loads a page of worldwide download links for the
Online Guide to WINSIZEx.DLL (shareware evaluation version).

More to come...
tune in to http://www.herdsoft.com/dmystify
for news of the latest additions
to the D:\Mystify WinHelp Resources series

Price structure

The Online Guide to WINSIZEx.DLL	$20.00
Public (software) Library product ID no.:	14873
CompuServe users’ GO SWREG product ID:	11977
The Tip of the Day Templates	$20.00
Public (software) Library product ID no.:	14871
CompuServe users’ GO SWREG product ID:	11977
Customizing Help: a plug-in utility for Help projects	$20.00
Public (software) Library product ID no.:	14872
CompuServe users’ GO SWREG product ID:	11977
Computing/Internet glossaries and dictionary plug-ins	$50.00
Public (software) Library product ID no.:	TBA
CompuServe users’ GO SWREG product ID:	TBA


Graphics Gallery (for WinHelp authors)

Pick-and-click graphics libraries for WinHelpers

Graphics Gallery is a library and interface for quickly and effortlessly selecting and adding top-quality bitmaps, bullets, dingbats, lines, separator bars, clip art and matched button sets to Help projects.  Graphics Gallery contains over 3,000 optimized, ready-to-use bitmaps for Windows Help in an easy-to-use, ultra-compact package.

Simply open the Graphics Gallery, select a category, browse the selection of bitmaps and click the hotspot.  The bitmap is copied to Graphics Gallery’s installation directory and a { bmx } or { ewx } string for displaying the bitmap is copied to the clipboard.  Paste it into Word or your usual Help tool and you’re done.  When you’re finished with Graphics Gallery, simply close the browser and copy the selected BMP files into your helpfile’s project directory.

 “A very nice piece of work...
this is one of those times for the saying
‘Now why didn't I think of that?’”
- W.C., Help author -

Enhance any helpfile in minutes

In minutes you can add an eye-catching, high-quality graphical appearance to any helpfile.  Graphics Gallery handles the memory work and organization by copying reference statements and leaves you free to be creative.

Graphics Gallery is a featured product on the October, 1996 Help Authors’ Resource Kit CD

Versions to match your authoring tools

Graphics Gallery was designed from the ground up to work with any tool, and custom Graphics Gallery browsers for any new Help extension can be developed on request, usually within 24 hours of request.  The standard shareware version of Graphics Gallery supports { bmx} statements only, but registered users have full access to Graphics Gallery bitmap browsers supporting ThinHelp, FFBMP.DLL, EWDLL, ARSENAL.DLL, HDKANIM.DLL, D2HTOOLS.DLL, and many more.

That’s right...Graphics Gallery includes a range of specially-optimized 256-color clip art and graphics specifically converted for use with Help DLLs.

...and your authoring style

In addition, the Graphics Gallery Deluxe includes access to two very special libraries, neither of which have ever been available before to Help authors.

The first is a collection of fixed-resolution, SHG-compressed versions of Graphics Gallery’s BMP collection guaranteed to display without scaling problems on any system.   You can develop your own using Stephen Gilson’s free (and, in our opinion, indispensable) SHGREZ.EXE utility (clicking the link starts a 10k download), but for this version we’ve done the work for you.

The world’s first preset transparent bitmap libraries for Help

Graphics Gallery Deluxe also offers a feature never before seen in Help: a complete library of bitmaps featuring full GIF-style transparency...preselected and preconverted to SHG format for your convenience.  This is guaranteed transparency, even in 16-bit Help, and without the inconveniences of Windows 95 Help’s transparent-bitmap feature.  Now you can insure perfect display of “floating” images over watermarks, tiled nonscrolling regions, and Windows 95 systems where end-user desktop colors may be playing havoc with your careful design.  This library was developed using a unique process invented by Herd Software Development of Germany and seen for the very first time in the Graphics Gallery.

“It's a great collection of bits
and pieces, and easy to use!”
- R.H., authoring tool developer -

The finest collection of Help clips anywhere

We searched high and low and couldn’t find a collection of Help-optimized clip art this large, this complete and this high in quality.  The icon collection alone numbers 1,300 pieces and represents the best conversions of over 10,000 icons we browsed when compiling this collection.  The line and separator collection is completely unique.  There’s a full selection of over 200 Microsoft-standard toolbar dingbats and button faces, three complete sets of ready-made bitmap buttons, glossary component buttons and button strips, flags, logos, sample 3-D dropcaps and more.

A mix of essentials and brand-new material

Nearly 25 percent of the content was either custom-created for Graphics Gallery or culled from modified artwork we’ve used in our own products.  The remainder represents the best mix of Help-optimized, converted royalty-free Web graphics, classic icon collections and essential bits and pieces every Help author can use.  If you don’t find the bitmap you’re looking for in this collection, you’re almost certain to find something you can modify in moments to suit your needs.

Whether you’re trying to add spice to an electronic book, spruce up a catalog, or simply make context-sensitive help more inviting, Graphics Gallery will make it short, enjoyable work.  And if you find graphics you think need a little tweaking before they’ll pass your muster, you’re free to do that too.  The libraries are royalty-free and modifiable at your slightest whim.

Special support for ThinHelp

KnitPicker provides special support for registered users of the ThinHelp toolkit.  Registered Graphics Gallery users can obtain a custom-built library that includes extra bitmaps not found in the regular Graphics Gallery libraries, including ThinHelp squared button faces, icon collections with preassigned transparency indices and a large selection of animated icons converted or designed specifically for ThinHelp-enhanced WinHelp.  It’s the same bitmap library we use in developing our own Help projects.

Two registration levels

The Graphics Gallery has two registration levels.  The basic BMP-only package is $20.00 and includes the BMP-only version and browser interface.  This version may not be needed if you received Graphics Gallery standard edition as part of another package.

Deluxe registration is $50.00 and includes an enhanced interface, access to all custom-developed browsers designed to work with almost any authoring tool or embedded-window DLL, more graphics, a pre-transparencized GIF version for HTML design, a background tile browser featuring more than 750 unique background tiles for Help/Viewer/HTML enhancement, a special browser and bitmap collection featuring transparent bitmaps that work in Help without a DLL, and two library updates as available.  We'll also custom-build a browser interface for your embedded-window Help DLL of choice if it's Graphics Gallery compatible...all you need to provide us are the embedded window statement parameters.  (This offer extends to cover any DLL commercially or electronically available to Help authors and does not cover private builds.)

Download links

This button connects you to the Graphics Gallery demo site following Internet links are available for downloading the demo version of Graphics Gallery Basic.  You’ll also find demo versions of Graphics Gallery on both the HARK and Help University (Dallas conference) CDs.

Graphics Gallery Basic	$20.00
Public (software) Library product ID no.:	14874
CompuServe users’ GO SWREG product ID:	11879
Graphics Gallery Deluxe	$49.95
Public (software) Library product ID no.:	14875
CompuServe users’ GO SWREG product ID:	TBA
Shipping and handling, US and Canada: Shipping and handling, overseas:	$6.00 $6.00


How to order

D:\Mystify offers several ways to order.  Select the one that best suits your needs, and you can recheck the price list from here as well.

Price list

CompuServe online ordering (requires a CompuServe account)

Order by phone or mail through Public (software) Library (requires credit card)

NOTE: If you do not have a credit card, chances are good that you can qualify for free registration of D:\Mystify Software products.  We’ve been there...we try to support impoverished developers and computing enthusiasts wherever possible.  Simply email us with your request and explain the reason for requesting free registration.  (No guilt trips here...we just think it will be difficult for people who can afford the software to actually tell us they can’t.)


Price list

 Consumer software     [image] WinHelp tools     [image] Herd Software products

The following prices are in US funds.  Shipping and handling charges do not apply to D:\Mystify products delivered electronically or registerable with instructions provided over the phone or by email.

Note: ThinHelp and Help to RTF can also be ordered on CompuServe and in Europe either through K&R or directly from Herd Software Development <http://www.herdsoft.com>.

Entertainment, information and utilities

The PC/Internet Lexicon 1996 (registered, integrated, updated version)	$20.00
Public (software) Library product ID no.:	14868
CompuServe users’ GO SWREG product ID:	8496
Shipping and handling, US and Canada: Shipping and handling, overseas:	$4.00 $6.00
Easy Windows 95 Internet Step-up shareware version	$10.00
Public (software) Library product ID no.:	TBA
CompuServe users’ GO SWREG product ID:	7631
Shipping and handling, all:	n/a
The Secret World of Night An interactive guide to the mysteries of sleep and dreaming. Includes over 2Mb of graphics, custom note-taker utility, ergonomic design for nighttime reading.  Dreams, sleep stages, insomnia and self-treatments, out-of-body experience, lucid dreaming, sleep learning and much more.  Thoughtful, entertaining, personal and completely unique.	$15.00
Public (software) Library product ID no.:	14869
CompuServe users’ GO SWREG product ID:	10442
Shipping and handling, US and Canada: Shipping and handling, overseas:	$4.00 $6.00
The Compleat I Ching The all-in-one tool for everyone from the casual fortune-cookie buff to the professional counsellor.  Includes four complete interpretations, four oracles, “fortune cookie” mode, instant comparison between any two hexagrams, free journalling tool, ultra-fast text search and much more.	$20.00 (basic) $35.00 (pro)
Public (software) Library product ID no. (both versions):	14867
CompuServe users’ GO SWREG ID (basic version):	11957
CompuServe users’ GO SWREG ID (pro version):	11958
Shipping and handling, US and Canada: Shipping and handling, overseas:	$4.00 $6.00
The Big Stupid A huge collection of over 3,000 jokes, tales, one-liners, slogans and much more for stand-alone or “joke-of-the-day” use.  Registered version adds a Find function, ability to copy jokes to the clipboard and print jokes from anywhere in the book, plus access to a selection of humor sites on the Internet.	$15.00
Public (software) Library product ID no.:	14870
CompuServe users’ GO SWREG product ID:	11284
Shipping and handling, US and Canada: Shipping and handling, overseas:	$4.00 $6.00
First Train for the Internet Tourist Class package	$49.95
Forward all First Train order inquiries to <oasis@cyberstore.ca>

Development tools from D:\Mystify Software

The Online Guide to WINSIZEx.DLL	$20.00
Public (software) Library product ID no.:	14873
CompuServe users’ GO SWREG product ID:	11977
Shipping and handling, US and Canada: Shipping and handling, overseas:	$4.00 $6.00
The Tip of the Day Templates	$20.00
Public (software) Library product ID no.:	14871
CompuServe users’ GO SWREG product ID:	11977
Shipping and handling, US and Canada: Shipping and handling, overseas:	$4.00 $6.00
Customizing Help: a plug-in utility for Help projects	$20.00
Public (software) Library product ID no.:	14872
CompuServe users’ GO SWREG product ID:	11977
Shipping and handling, US and Canada: Shipping and handling, overseas:	$4.00 $6.00
Computing/Internet glossaries and dictionary plug-ins This package consists of RTF/HPJ source documents, a context string reference for fast, no-fuss linking, and a bitmap collection for two mix-and-match Windows Help format glossaries and dictionaries covering over 3,000 computing and Internet terms and acronyms.  This is the full source code for the November, 1995 PC Lexicon and Internet Lexicon freeware versions complete with royalty-free redistribution rights.	$50.00
Public (software) Library product ID no.:	TBA
CompuServe users’ GO SWREG product ID:	TBA
Shipping and handling, US and Canada: Shipping and handling, overseas:	$4.00 $6.00
Graphics Gallery Basic A royalty-free bitmap catalog for Help and Viewer authors.  Pick and click from the enclosed catalog of nearly 3,000 bitmaps to copy a {bmc} string to the clipboard and create a collection of bitmaps in Graphics Gallery's directory.  This BMP-only version includes 16/256-color lines and separators, plus 16-color arrows, bullets, buttons and button templates, glossary components, two sample sets of dropcaps, plus 1,000 of the best 16 color icons to be found anywhere.	$20.00
Public (software) Library product ID no.:	14874
CompuServe users’ GO SWREG product ID:	11879
Shipping and handling, US and Canada: Shipping and handling, overseas:	$5.00 $6.00
Graphics Gallery Deluxe Enhanced Graphics Gallery with more graphics, a special library of true transparent SHG graphics that actually work in 16-bit Help, plus a library and browser custom-compiled for your authoring tool or embedded-window DLL...and a unique collection of animated graphics specially converted to WinHelp.  All in all over 4,000 pieces of quality WinHelp graphics in three different Help-compatible bitmap formats, plus access to sporadic updates.	$49.95
Public (software) Library product ID no.:	14875
CompuServe users’ GO SWREG product ID:	TBA
Shipping and handling, US and Canada: Shipping and handling, overseas:	$6.00 $6.00
Windows Help, hypertext and multimedia development D:\Mystify specializes in Windows Help development, elevating this much-maligned hypertext/multimedia development platform to new heights through the use of extensions and innovative formatting, graphics and layout.  If your target audience is Windows, consider the advantages of Winhelp over HTML: local user access, faster performance, greater flexibility of presentation and improved integration with existing software. We’re constantly on the cutting edge of Winhelp development.  Our own software showcases only a fraction of the tools and resources available.  D:\Mystify employs or subcontracts some of the top Winhelp talent in the world, and maintains a large "virtual stable" of capable, experienced Winhelp and HTML authors, and some of the most creative developers and interface designers anywhere. From context-sensitive help for existing software to stand-alone applications that run faster and with less chance of conflict than almost any other form of hypertext or multimedia, Windows Help is increasingly becoming the development platform of choice. We’re internationally known for our rapid turn-around, attention to detail, our “end-user first” development policy, our contributions of time and resources to the development and general computing community and for constantly surprising publishers and authors with the flexibility and friendliness we inject into our work.	Per project; inquire about rates
Utilities and authoring tools from Herd Software

ThinHelp Includes the redistributable ThinHelp and HLPLHA DLLs, the ForeHelp editor interface, the Push hypergraphics editor, HelpDebug Lite and the 2,500 item Graphics Gallery for ThinHelp bitmap graphics browser and library, plus an extensive Help system, delivered on CD.	$169.00
Public (software) Library product ID no.:	TBA
CompuServe users’ GO SWREG product ID:	12887
Shipping and handling, US and Canada: Shipping and handling, overseas:	10.00 10.00
Help to RTF If you have a copy of the shareware archive, you’ll be sent a product registration keycode immediately upon receipt of your registration.	$40.00
Public (software) Library product ID no.:	TBA
CompuServe users’ GO SWREG product ID:	9235
Shipping and handling, US and Canada: Shipping and handling, overseas:


Ordering through CompuServe’s GO SWREG service

We maintain an ordering facility right on CompuServe for members wishing to use this method of ordering software.  It’s quite simple to use, and your payment will be added to your next CompuServe bill.  We use this service regularly ourselves and find it one of the handiest, most convenient methods anywhere for registering and purchasing software.

We check our CompuServe registration database regularly and any registration bonuses to be included with your payment will be attached to your CompuServe mail at the earliest opportunity, usually within 48 hours.  If you experience any problems using CompuServe’s SWREG ordering facility to register your software, contact us about it immediately.

Please note that the full Tourist Class and First Class versions of First Train for the Internet are available only from D:\Mystify or its distributors and participating retailers.

CompuServe registration: how it works

1. Click Services from your CompuServe Information Manager main window.

2. Select GO... from the drop-down menu.

3. In the box that pops up, type SWREG  (for ShareWare REGistration).

4. You’ll be shown a menu of choices.  We recommend reading the Instructions to Register Shareware, and then clicking Register Shareware to continue.  You’ll be shown a fairly standard disclaimer screen before being allowed to proceed, and eventually the Register Shareware box will appear.

5. You’ll be asked to search for a product to register.  You can jump straight to the product by double-clicking on Registration ID and entering the product number of the program you wish to register.

6. CompuServe will hunt for any files matching that number (which is silly, really...there’s only one per number) and when it stops, double-click on Display Selected Titles.

From there it’s a pretty straightforward process.  The information you provide in the order form is only for the use of the publisher...it won’t go anywhere else.  And if there’s nothing needing to be sent by mail, you won’t need to supply your name and address if you don’t want to.

While you’re in the SWREG forum, why not seek out register one or two of those programs you “just never got around to registering”?  If you know the name of the original ZIP file, you can probably find its SWREG order form with a file name search.

Our CompuServe SWREG product codes

CompuServe registration codes are listed in blue on the price list.


Ordering through Public (software) Library

PsL is one of the oldest, most respected fulfillment houses for shareware and mail order software houses such as D:\Mystify, and we think you’ll find their service to be superb.  PsL offers three ways to order using your American Express, VISA, MasterCard or Discovery card: phone, Internet or postal mail.  PsL provides order-taking services for over 1,200 publishers and we’re proud to be associated with them.

PLEASE READ THIS IN ITS ENTIRETY
BEFORE CONTINUING

PsL acts as our order-taking service only.  They do not provide product support.  They will not answer questions about software features.  They will not send new D:\Mystify catalogs.  They act on our behalf simply as order-takers.  Do not phone, fax or email PsL until you are ready to place an order.  If you have any questions prior to ordering, contact <cublea@cyberstore.ca> or call D:\Mystify direct at 604-298-6415.  Nuisance calls to PsL are charged directly to us at a fairly high cost and if they persist we reserve the right to refuse service and take additional preventive action if deemed appropriate.

How to order D:\Mystify Software using PsL’s service

You have three choices for ordering D:\Mystify products through PsL: phone, fax or email.  Prior to contacting PsL you will need the following information:

1. The name of the product you wish to order
2. Its PsL product ID number (jot this down from the price list
3. A valid credit card

PsL product ID numbers are not the same as CompuServe ID numbers.  Our PsL numbers are listed below.  Valid credit cards accepted by PsL include VISA, MasterCard, American Express and Discover.

Contacting PsL

You can order with MC, Visa, Amex, or Discover from Public (software) Library by calling: 1-800-2424-PsL or 1-713-524-6394 (North America) or by FAX to 1-713-524-6398.

You can also mail credit card orders to PsL at P.O. Box 35705, Houston, TX 77235-5705.  Be sure to include   Once you have placed your order, any questions about the status of the shipment of the order, refunds, registration options, product details, technical support, volume discounts, dealer pricing, site licenses, non-credit card orders, etc, must be directed to D:\Mystify Software.

To insure that you get the latest version, PsL will notify us the day of your order and we will ship the product directly to you, normally within 48 hours after placing your order and often in as little as 12 hours.  You will be offered a choice of electronic delivery (meaning we’ll email you either with a registration key for your software or a secret Internet URL where you can pick up your registered-version software) or for a small additional charge you can request mail delivery (a ready-to-install registered-version disk or disk set).

D:\Mystify’s PsL product ID numbers

PsL product ID numbers are listed in dark red on the price list.  NOTE: Items marked with TBA were not yet listed in PsL’s database at the time of publication.  Contact us by phone or email for the ID numbers.


“Geek wall” is a term coined by writer Steve Winter to describe a phenomenon in computing that keeps those new to a particular area of computing in the dark until this “wall” is scaled; in other words, until certain rites of passage, usually painful, are endured.

The notion behind the “geek wall” is that it is always more difficult than necessary to get from one level of expertise to the next because of the inability or unwillingness of those who possess that expertise to share it with newcomers.  This phenomenon is due in part to the demands made on users at all levels to keep their own skills and knowledge up to speed, and also in part to the psychological makeup of those who are drawn to computing in general and hacking in particular.

“Geek” comes from an appellation often used to describe computer experts and hackers who are the first to aquire this knowledge.  It is not meant in this context in a derogatory fashion.