Software of the Month Club (Business) 1998 May

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┌─┬─────┐ │ │ │ │ │ │ ┬┬ ┬ ┬┬ ┌┬─┐ ┬┬ ┌─ │ │ │ ││ │ ││ ││ │├─┴┐ └─┴───┼─┘ └┴─┘ ┴┴ └┴─┘ ┴┴ ┴ ┬─┬─────┐ │ │ │ │ ├───┬─┘ ┬┬─┐ ┬┬─┐ ┬┬─┐ ┬┬─┐ ┬┬─┐ ┌┬─┐ ┬ ┌┬─┐ ┬┬─┐ │ │ │ │├─ │├─ │├─ │├┬┘ │├─ ││ │ │ ││ │├─ ┴─┴ └── ┴┴─┘ ┴┴ ┴┴─┘ ┴┴└─ ┴┴─┘ ┴┴ └─┘ └┴─┘ ┴┴─┘ This is your Quick Reference Guide. The first section describes new features and important changes. Please read this section -- especially if you've used earlier versions of our form program(s). While you're running our program, press F1 (Help) to view several help screens -or- to view this guide. * Since this is an ASCII (DOS text) file, you can edit it to: 1) add your own tips, reminders, ideas, 2) delete material you don't need; etc. If you add comments: - You might want to add your tips to the END of this file. - Then, when you view it from inside inform-Z, press END to quickly jump to the end of the file and your comments. * This contains "high ASCII" characters and was meant to be viewed on your monitor (rather than printed). If you want to print it, use our Multi-Print program (which has fonts to handle nearly every ASCII character), or be sure your printer can print these characters. * You can also use our Ram-Man program (our RAM-resident file browser) to keep this file (or ANY text file) available at the press of a key. Ram-Man lets you search for topics, and lets you return to the same spot the next time you call it up. ════════════ FOR INFORMATION OR SUPPORT, CALL OR WRITE ════════════ Rob W. Smetana 132 Alpine Terrace San Francisco, Ca. 94117 Phone: (415) 863-0530 (10-5 Pacific time please) We welcome your feedback, suggestions and comments. ════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ ═══════════════════════════ Section 1: ═════════════════════════════ Summary of New Features and Important Changes This section describes the MANY new features we've added. We also changed a few commands. If you've used earlier versions of inform-Z or P~F Form, be sure to read the sections on: Drawing Boxes and Lines, Deleting Rows and Columns, and Filling out Forms. ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════ Customized HELP =============== You now have THREE ways to get help. Two are available while you're designing forms. The third is available as you're filling out forms. And you can customize TWO of these to provide the tips, hints and details YOU need (or those who'll fill out your forms will need). While Designing Forms: ---------------------- Press F1 if you need help when you're designing forms. We'll display a menu from which you can choose what type of help you'd like. The last option in the Help Menu is "Browse QuickRef.Iff." QuickRef.Iff is a standard ASCII text file -- one which you can edit with any word processor or editor to create your own, customized help. * Add your own tips, hints and comments. * Replace ours with your own. * Delete sections you no longer need. And if you prefer, you can start from scratch and build your own. Just create any text file, rename our file to something else, then rename yours to QuickRef.Iff. While Filling Out Forms: Help Forms ------------------------------------ You can also create "help forms" that you (or someone else) can view while filling out your forms. We'll cover this later under "Filling Out Forms." New Options =========== PLEASE press Alt-O (Options) the first time you run inform-Z. There you can choose several options, many of which will be saved to disk in a file call "IF.CFG." Then, the next time you start inform-Z, it'll read the options you chose so you won't have to select them again. New options include: 1. Link "help forms" to your form. When you (or someone else) is filling out your forms, just press F1 to browse through your "help form." This is optional of course (press alt-O and enter a form name). And if you create a help form, you must use either Pff2Asc or All2Asc to convert it to an ASCII file. Remember, we compress forms when saving them to disk. It's hard to "view" a compressed form. 2. Print PCX graphics? LaserJets Only If you use an HP LaserJet, you now have the option to also print PCX graphics files: logos, signatures, letterheads, etc. See the section on Printing PCX Graphics for details. 3. Date formats and language! You may now choose from 10 different date formats AND from 5 dif- ferent languages: English, German, French, Spanish and Italian! 4. Time Format. You may choose 12 or 24 hour formats (eg., 4:35 pm or 16:35:00). 5. Suppress "0s" in calculated fields. If you select this, then add formulas to forms which, when executed, result in "0," the zero won't be printed. Most people prefer this so 0s don't clutter up their forms. 6. Colors. You may choose foreground and background colors and they'll now be saved to disk and used the next time you run PFD. * And if you have a CGA, EGA or VGA monitor, you can even select a different "palette" of colors, giving you subtle grey background (instead of start black), or bright blue, red, yellow or green backgrounds. NOTE: In our earlier program (P~F Form) you used a file called PFF.CFG to select Date/Time formats, specify printer codes, etc. That file's no longer used. You now add printer codes by using Install.Exe. And you press alt-O to choose other options. DIALOG BOXES ============ Our new dialog boxes look and work great, and simplify several things. In earlier versions, when we needed to ask you for several things, we had to ask each question separately. In a dialog box, you can enter several different things at once. For example, here's part of the dialog box see when you press Alt-O (Options). Note the "dot" in (.) 25 and the "[X]" below. ┌──────────────────── Options ──────────────────┐ │ Sequence Number: │ │ ┌──────────┐ │ │ │░░░░░░░░░░│ │ │ └──────────┘ │ │ # Lines on Screen: │ │ (.) 25 │ │ ( ) 43 │ │ ( ) 50 │ │ │ │ Suppress 'Calculated Zeros:' │ │ [X] Yes │ ├────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ │ OK │ │ Cancel │ │ Colors │ │ Date & Time │ │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ When a dialog box pops up, the first field will be highlighted (in this case the Sequence Number field). To move around dialog boxes: Using a Mouse ------------- * Move the mouse cursor to any option and click the LEFT button. * When you click the left button, the option you're on is automatically "selected." Using the Keyboard ------------------ * To move to the NEXT field (Lines on the Screen here), press the Tab, Enter or PgDn keys on your keyboard. * To move BACK a field, press Shift-Tab or PgUp. * To "select" options: - If you're typing something in (like a sequence number), just press <Enter>. - In a ( )-type option, press the Up/Down cursor keys to move the "dot" to the option you want. - In [ ]-type options, press the Space Bar to turn the "X" on or off. - In menus, use the cursor keys to highlight an option, then press the Space Bar (or <Enter>). To EXIT a Dialog Box -------------------- Move to the "buttons" which say "OK" or "CANCEL" on the bottom line and press <Space> or <Enter> (or click the left mouse button on it). In the example above, there are two other options as well -- "Colors" and "Date & Time" -- indicating there are more options you can choose. If you need help using the dialog boxes, select HELP from inform-Z' main menu, then highlight "Using Dialog Boxes" and press <Enter>. New Commands, Changed Commands =============================== We're always reluctant to change the meaning of commands. We know how frustrating it is to press a key and expect one thing to happen, then have something else happen instead. But sometimes the reasons for changing commands are so compelling it simply makes sense to do it. We hope you agree the changes make sense. alt-D: DRAW Boxes -or- Lines (alt-D was Delete Line, see below) ----------------------------- * Press alt-D to draw EITHER boxes or lines. * WHAT we draw will depend on WHERE you move the cursor. - If you move left or right (and stay on the same line), we'll draw a horizontal line. - If you move up or down (and stay in the same column), we'll draw a vertical line. - But, if you move to a different row AND column, we'll draw a box. Just remember: "D" = Draw. By the way, for now, you can still use the old commands: alt-B, alt-H or alt-V. They work just like alt-D: we draw based on where you move next. (We may eliminate these commands later; use alt-D.) alt-X, ctrl-X: Deleting Lines or Columns PLUS Automatic Patching ----------------------------------------------------------------- * alt-D used to mean "delete this row." NOW, press alt-X to delete a row. And, for consistency, we also changed the "column delete" command to ctrl-X. * To INSERT rows or columns, you'll still use alt-I and ctrl-I. continued . . . Inserting Rows and Columns: Automatic Patching ----------------------------------------------- When you press alt-I or ctrl-I, inform-Z tries to "patch" lines, boxes and shading that are affected by inserting a row or column. * Basically, if you insert a new line or column, we "assume" you'd like the boxes, lines and shading (but not the text) to resemble the line you're on. * So when you press, say, alt-I, we'll insert a new row with the same line-draw and shading characters. * Most of the time, this is what you want. And this feature saves you lots of time. For example, if our cursor was at "1" next to box "A" and we press alt-I, our box will now look like "B." ┌────────A────────┐ ┌────────B────────┐ 1 │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └─────────────────┘ │ │ └─────────────────┘ * But note the example below. If you press alt-I with your cursor at "1" in the (on the top line of box "A"), the result would be what you see at "B" -- not exactly what you want. - But, in this case, we just press 4 keys to delete the unwanted line: Home, alt-E (Erase), End, <Enter>. 1 ╔════════A════════╗ ╔═════════════════╗ ║ ║ ╔════════B════════╗ ║ ║ ║ ║ ╚═════════════════╝ ║ ║ ╚═════════════════╝ Sometimes inform-Z' automatic patching will do the unexpected and require a few extra keystrokes. But, most of the time it'll save you lots of time -- since manually patching lines and boxes takes MUCH more time than simply erasing a line. GRIDS ===== When you need a several columns (of equal width), or many equally- spaced rows, use alt-L (Layout Grid) INSTEAD of drawing them all separately! With inform-Z' new "Layout Grid" option, you can draw many columns and rows at once. And you can choose to draw just the columns, or just the rows, or both. To draw a grid, first move the cursor to the upper left corner where you want to begin a grid. Press Alt-L (Layout a Grid). A dialog box pops up asking you how many COLUMNS you want, and how many BLANK ROWS you want between lines. For example, suppose you want: * Five equally-space columns across the page. Enter 5 for COLUMNS. * Several horizontal lines down the page with two blank rows between lines. Enter 2 in the box asking for the number of BLANK ROWS. You can skip either of these! For example, if you enter 5 COLUMNS but leave BLANK ROWS blank, inform-Z will draw a series of vertical lines, but will draw NO horizontal lines. Once you enter Columns and/or Rows, select "OK" to exit the dialog box, then move the cursor to the bottom right corner. Press <Enter>. NOTE: ----- 1. Experiment with a blank form to "get a feel" for this option. 2. If you want boxes around grids, draw the grids FIRST, THEN draw the boxes (NOT the reverse). Why? See the next point. 3. inform-Z will always do what you ask, but sometimes it's not what you want. In other words, you may get some "interesting" results using Layout Grid. For example: - Sometimes the right-most line or the bottom line won't be drawn. The reason is that you didn't mark enough space for the rest (there may not have been any more). We could "complete" the grid for you; but we leave it incomplete to alert you that one of your rows or columns is smaller than the others. You can quickly draw a vertical and/or horizontal line to complete the grid. - Similarly, if you draw a grid inside a box, you may find the right side or the bottom is "incomplete." Again, that's because there's not enough room to finish the last column or row. Since it can take time to "patch" these, we urge you to draw grids FIRST, then draw boxes around the perimeter. - Try drawing a grid with 41 columns across the entire screen (ie. be sure to mark everything to column 80). You'll find the grid takes up a little more than 1/2 the screen -- even though you marked the whole screen! Why? Because we can't draw 41 columns across an 80-column screen with 2 spaces between columns, we must draw 41 skinny columns with just 1 space. It makes sense when you think about it. But it looks strange. Add Many Auto-Edit Fields at Once; Repeat A-E Fields and Formulas ================================================================= Printing PCX Graphics LaserJets Only (NOT available in PFM.Exe) ===================== You can print PCX graphics files to add logos, letterheads signatures, etc. to your forms. This takes three steps: 1. Create graphics images using a paint or draw program. Save them to disk in PCX format -- they MUST have ".PCX" extensions. 2. Mark WHERE in your form you want inform-Z to print the graphic. - Create a form using inform-Z. - Move the cursor to the spot where you'd like to print the graphics image. Press ctrl-P. inform-Z "marks the spot" with a heart. 3. Tell inform-Z WHICH PCX file to print. - Press alt-O (Options). When the dialog box pops up, press <Tab> 2-3 times until you're in the box labelled "Print PCX Grapics." - Type in a 1-8 character file name. Add NO extension -- since the extension MUST be ".PCX." Now, when you ask to print your form to HP LaserJets, inform-Z will find the "heart" and look for the PCX file on disk. - If the PCX file is on the drive/directory you're currently on, inform-Z will print it at 300 dots per inch resolution. - If the PCX file is NOT on the "current drive/directory," inform-Z will simply print your form. It displays no message. Filling Out Forms ================= We've added several features to make it easier to fill out forms. And a few things work differently (and better) than in P~F Form. In brief, you can: 1. Link "Help Forms" to forms you fill out. 2. Begin filling forms out at any spot (not just the beginning). 3. Browse throughout your form while filling it out. 4. Execute formulas while editing (to help you spot errors in what you've entered). Help Forms ---------- * While you (or someone else) is filling out a form you created, you can press F1 to browse a "help form." This lets you create a "customized help system" for each form you create -- if you like. - To link a help form to a form you'll later fill out, press alt-O (Options), then enter a 1-8 character form name in the "Help Form" box. - Please note that help forms can be ANY ASCII text file and can be as large as you want! This means you can create a help form of ANY length or width with your word processor. But you MUST save it with the extension ".pff" (like all inform-Z form files). - Also note that help forms MUST be in ASCII format. inform-Z compresses forms when it saves them to disk. These compressed forms are NOT suitable for viewing. But, you can quickly create an ASCII version of an inform-Z file by running ToAscii.Exe (which we send to registered users). Conversion to ASCII takes 1-2 seconds! Begin Where You Are ------------------- * Now when you select Fill Out a Form, inform-Z will begin wherever your cursor is -- that is, at the first Auto-Edit field it finds that's to the right of or below the cursor. - In earlier versions, we always started at the first Auto-Edit field in your form. - We added this feature at the request of several users to make it easier to edit something you've filled in. You may browse through your form, then press Alt-F (Fill Out) in front of any A-E field you'd like to add to or edit. - If you want to start filling out A-E fields from the beginning, be sure to press PgUp 2-3 times to move the cursor to the top of your form. continued . . . <Tab>, <Shift Tab>, Browse While Filling Out -------------------------------------------- Once you begin filling out a form, inform-Z will, on the bottom two lines of your screen, tell you you're in "Fill Out" mode, and display the keys you should press. Press: * <Tab> (or <Enter>) to move to the next Auto-Edit field. * <Shift Tab> to move back, to the last A-E field. * Up/Down or PgUp/PgDn cursor keys to move around your form. To begin filling out an A-E field again: - Position the cursor above of left of an A-E field. - Then press <Tab> or <Enter>. * <Esc> to quit filling out your form. In P~F Form, pressing Up/Down or PgUp/PgDn took you to the last (or next) A-E fields. But in inform-Z, these keys give you a chance to move where you want to -- making it much easier to see what's hap- pening, fix errors, edit something, move to another A-E field, etc. Calculations ------------ If your form has formulas, press ctrl-F9 to "execute" them while filling out forms. Seeing the results of calculations can help you spot errors in what you've entered. You can then quickly move to the spot of the error, correct it, then proceed. OTHER NEW FEATURES ================== Using a Mouse ============= Using a mouse is now much easier and much faster. Previous versions let you use a mouse. The new version is optimized for a mouse. And if you don't use a mouse, this version may give you sufficient reason to get one. It's GREAT. Why? * First, dialog boxes are optimized for mice. Just click on whatever you want. It's fast and easy. * Second, you can now click on any menu option to pull down a menu. * Third, drawing is now faster. Finally, and this is IMPORTANT, you must click the mouse at each spot where you want to begin: drawing, entering text, erasing, shading, etc. * If you use a mouse, you'll see two cursors on your screen: the TEXT cursor (a blinking square) and the MOUSE cursor. * In earlier versions, these two cursors always moved together. But this limited you. For example, you couldn't click the mouse cursor on a menu option, because it had to stay on the form. * Now, however, the mouse and text cursors are independent. And the text cursor (not the mouse cursor) governs where all actions occur. So be sure you click the LEFT mouse button where you want an action to begin. This anchors the text cursor there as well! ════════════════════════════ Section 2: ═════════════════════════════ Summary of Commands, Options and Features Add your own tips and reminders here, perhaps by "cutting & pasting" sections of our on-disk manual. We haven't done that to avoid redundancy. ═════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════