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README
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1992-03-13
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BookBank (c) 1992
VERSION 1.1
BOOKBK11.ZIP is suggested BBS name for this file
Shareware software for Book Collectors
Author, Michael Carnell (803) 556-0562
Mailing address: P.O. Box 31994, Charleston, SC 29417
WELCOME TO BOOKBANK!
BookBank is the program to help you manage your book
collection. Not a program, THE program. I am so sure of this
that I want you try the program before you pay for it. This
evaluation version of the program is not limited in any way.
It is fully functional and extremely powerful.
Many years of experience in both the book business and the
computer programming arena that have gone in to producing
a program that is not only easy to learn and use, but
does what you need.
Knowing what you have, who you have loaned books to, and
what you need will enable you to get the most out of your
collection, whether that collection is for enjoyment or
investment. You will be amazed at how quick and easy it
all is!
BookBank will enable you to spend less time with all the
record keeping of book collecting. This will enable you spend
more time doing what you really enjoy -- collecting books!
HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS
The following is the minimum hardware required to run
BookBank:
An IBM PC compatible computer with at least 512K free RAM
(random access memory) running DOS version 3.0 or later.
At least 1 floppy drive and a hard drive.
Any monochrome or color monitor.
A printer is necessary for producing reports, invoices,
orders, etc...
INSTALLATION
Make sure the computer is running and that you are in the root
directory of the hard drive on which you want BookBank
installed. This can be any hard-drive but for example we will
assume you are using drive C:. You can do this by typing the
following to commands:
C:
cd\
If you are installing BookBank from a floppy disk, insert the
BookBank disk into your computer's floppy disk drive. Next,
change to the drive in which you put the BookBank disk. For
example, if you put the disk in drive A: then you would type:
A:
If you are installing BookBank from your hard-drive, all you
need to make sure that you are in the drive and directory
where the installation files are located.
Start the installation program by typing:
INSTALL
When the installation program begins running, you will be
given a menu of choices. From that menu you can read all of
the documentation files. While reading the information you
can print get help by pressing F1, or print them by pressing F2.
You can get out of the text reading screen by pressing Esc.
When you are done reading, you can begin the program installation
by selecting the "Install BookBank" choice.
When you select to install the program, you will be asked for
the name of the directory in which you want the program installed.
The default name is "C:\BOOKBANK." If a directory by that name
already exists you mignt want to choose a different name. Just
type in that new name and press Enter.
After all of this information has been given, the screen will
then clear, and the installation program will tell you what is
happening as the installation takes place. First the program
will make a directory called "C:\BOOKBANK", or the different
name you provided, on your hard-drive. Then the BookBank
program and all of the associated files used by the program
will be extracted from the archive and copied into that
directory.
When the files have been extracted and copied, the
installation is done! Before you can begin using BookBank,
however, you will need to setup the program as described in
the next section. Remember, if your CONFIG.SYS file was
changed, you will need to restart your computer after the
installation process, so that the changes can take affect.
NOTE: The lines "BUFFERS=20" and "FILES=30" must be in
your CONFIG.SYS file. (The values can be greater than 20 and
30, but not less.) Please make sure that you have the CONFIG.SYS
file set up properly. The program may not run if this is not done.
If the CONFIG.SYS file did not have these statements or values
originally, you will need to restart your computer after the
installation process, so that these changes can take affect.
SET UP
After the program is installed on your computer, the first
thing that needs to be done is the setup. This process
creates some required files, so before doing anything else
with the program let's do the setup! If the program is not
already running, use the steps in the section below to
start it.
When you start the program for the first time, you will be
asked if you want to create the index files. Answer this
question by pressing the Y key. If you press N, you will be
taken back to DOS since the index files are a must to run the
program. When indexing process finishes, you will be at
BookBank's Main Menu.
Now, to do the setup, you need to go to the section of the
program entitled "Setup." To do this you can simply
press S. You could also use the cursor keys to highlight the
"Setup" selection and then press Enter, but it is
much easier and quicker to type the number of the menu
selection you want.
Next you need to tell BookBank about yourself. Select
"User Profile" from the menu. You will now be faced
with a screen asking you for all kinds of information.
Fill it out completely and carefully. When you are done,
you will be asked if everything is correct, and then you
will be taken back to the Setup Menu.
You have now completed the setup of your system. There are
other things that can be configured to your liking, but they
are discuss in later the manual.
At this point, you can start using the program!
STARTING THE PROGRAM
To start BookBank from DOS, simply type BOOKBANK and press
Enter from the disk and directory in which the program
resides. If you followed the installation procedure as
described above, and installed the program to the C: drive,
the following command sequence will always work to start the
program:
C:
cd\bookbank
bookbank
After a short wait a screen will appear that tells you that
this is an evaluation copy of the program. After you have
read this screen, press any key and the title screen will pop
up, and then shortly there after the Main Menu will appear.
If you have a black and white or monochrome monitor, you can
start BookBank in non-color mode by using a "/m" switch after
the program name. (Note: This is normally not necessary.)
From then on the program will start up in monochrome mode
unless you reset it to color by way of the "User Profile"
choice from the Setup Menu.
Therefor, to start the program in monochrome mode you would
type:
C:
cd\bookbank
bookbank /m
EXITING THE PROGRAM
You should always exit BookBank through the Quit command from
the Main Menu. As the program shuts down it updates some
important files and indexes. If you do not exit this way
some of your valuable data may be lost or damaged.
HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS
BookBank is divided into five basic sections. Each section
is available from the main menu. Each section handles a
different type of task. The sections are as follows:
The first allows helps you to manage your books and is
where you add, edit, delete, and loan your books.
The second section keeps track of contacts and the things
relating to those contacts.
The third section is to keep track of wanted items and to
produce want-lists.
The fourth section is for generating reports on your books
and contacts.
The fifth section is for setup is where your profile is
recorded and certain other "vital statistics" can be set
and modified.
As stated before, each of these sections corresponds to a
selection from the main menu and each section has its own
sub-menu where you choose specific operations. You choose a
selection by either pressing the key that corresponds to the
letter of the choice or by using the cursor keys to scroll
through the list of choices and then pressing the Enter key
when the correct choice is highlighted. The last selection
available from this Main Menu exits the program.
BookBank uses the dBASE file format so that all records are
in the most widely used and one of the most easily translated
formats in use today. By using this format BookBank has made
export and import between other programs simple.
BookBank calls people contacts. All people you associate with
are called contacts instead of some being called dealers, others
being called friends, and still others libraries. The ability
to differentiate between contacts by their primary function
is maintained however.
The Manual
When the BookBank program was installed a document named
"BOOKBANK.DOC" was copied into the same directory as the
program. This is the evaluation version of the reference
manual for the program. You can print out this manual by
typing the following from the drive and directory where you
installed BookBank:
COPY BOOKBANK.DOC PRN
The manual is in standard ASCII format so it could also be
loaded into most word processors. Be aware that in the manual
has a table of contents, a glossary and a section on the most
frequently asked questions and problems. A more complex
manual, professionally printed and indexed, is included with
registration.
Talk to Me!
If you have any unanswered questions or comments please
contact me directly. Send any and all mail to me at:
Michael Carnell
P.O. Box 31994
Charleston, SC 29417
Another option, if you have this capability, is to send me
E-Mail on Compuserve. My identification number is 76226,733.
I check this a little less frequently than my paper mail, but
in some cases it may actually be quicker.
If you need to call me I can be reached at (803)556-0562.
There is an answering machine available if I am not in, and I
will return all calls.
PLEASE: I want to hear from you about this program. Please
let me know by mail, phone or E-Mail what you
think. I am interested in your opinions about what
is good or bad in BookBank. So let me know --
even if you have no problems.
LICENSE
The evaluation version of BookBank is a Shareware program
and is provided at no charge to the user for evaluation.
Feel free to share it with your friends, but please do not
give it away altered or as part of another system. The
essence of Shareware software is to provide personal
computer users with quality software without high prices,
and yet to provide incentive for programmers to continue to
develop new products. If you find this program useful and
find that you are using BookBank and continue to use
BookBank after the 45 day trial period, you must make a
registration payment of $50 to Michael Carnell. The $50
registration fee will license one copy for use on any one
computer at any one time. You must treat this software just
like a book. An example is that this software may be used
by any number of people and may be freely moved from one
computer location to another, so long as there is no
possibility of it being used at one location while it's
being used at another. Just as a book cannot be read by two
different persons at the same time neither should a software
package be used by two people at the same time.
Commercial users of BookBank must register and pay for
their copies of BookBank within 45 days of first use or
their license is withdrawn. Site-License arrangements may
be made by contacting Michael Carnell.
You are encouraged to pass a copy of the Shareware version
of BookBank along to your friends for evaluation. Please
encourage them to register their copy if they find that they
can use it. All registered users will receive a copy of the
latest version of the BookBank system plus additional
benefits listed below.
REGISTRATION AND ORDERING INFORMATION
Registering BookBank allows you to legally use the product
after the trial period. When you register your copy of
BookBank you will be sent the full professionally printed
manual. The manual includes many examples, tips, a full
index, reference section, users guide, glossary and much
more. In addition registered BookBank users get the
current copy of BookBank on disk (without the "Press any
key..." entry screen) along with their own serial number,
free bug-fixes and minor-updates, mailed notification of
major BookBank upgrades, and priority when calling for
BookBank software support (we can guarantee no support to
unregistered users). Most importantly, registered users
know they are helping to make sure that high-quality
software like BookBank continues to be sold in this
low-cost way.
BookBank registration costs $50 US and includes all the
benefits listed above. An evaluation disk with the current
version of BookBank and a condensed manual on it is also
available for $5 US. This is to be used only to try out
BookBank and does not include any of the associated
benefits of registration (the right to use BookBank after
the 45 day evaluation period, etc...). The $5 fee covers
the cost of diskette(s) and handling.
Payment may be in the form of check or money order, or we
can ship COD if needed. We also accept corporate purchase
orders for amounts of $50 US and over. Prices on quantity
purchases may be negotiated on a case by case basis.
To place an order please use the order form on the following
page or call (803)556-0562.
Prices are subject to change without notice.
Please allow 4 to 6 weeks for delivery.
ORDER / REGISTRATION FORM
BookBank Version 1.1
----------------------------------------------------------------
Remit to: Michael Carnell
(803)556-0562
P.O. Box 31994
Charleston, SC 29417
----------------------------------------------------------------
Qty Item Price Total
___ BookBank Registration................@ $50ea $________
(includes serial #, registration, program
and full printed manual.)
___ BookBank Evaluation Disk.............@ $5ea $________
(includes program and introductory
manual on disk, but not registration)
Disk Size: ( )5 1/4 or ( ) 3 1/2
Subtotal $________
Shipping (FREE in continental US) $________
TOTAL $________
Check, money order or COD payments accepted.
Please allow four to six weeks for delivery.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Payment by: ( ) Check or MO ( ) COD ( ) PO # ______________
Name _______________________________________________________
Company _______________________________________________________
Address _______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
City ___________________ State _______ Zip _______________
Phone (____)____-_____
Where did you hear of or obtain BookBank?
_______________________________________________________
Comments: ___________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________