Audubon's Birds/BIRDSVER1_3.BIN/readme.1st

Text File | 1993-02-16 | 20KB | 421 lines

        DiscPassage for DOS


        Version 1.41A  February 16, 1992


        Contents

        1. Before You Call Technical Support
        2. Printing or Viewing This Document
        3. About DiscPassage
        4. System Requirements
        5. Installing DiscPassage
        6. Starting DiscPassage
        7. Using DiscPassage
        8. Problem-Solving
        9. How to Reach Technical Support


        1 - Before You Call Technical Support

        CMC maintains a Technical Support staff to help our customers
        with problems which occur, and to answer questions and listen to
        comments about our products.

        DiscPassage is licensed for use by various CD-ROM producers.
        If your CD-ROM is the product of a company other than CMC,
        please call that company first for technical support.

        Before calling for Technical Support, please be sure to read
        this document.  Many of the most common problems can be solved
        using the information provided here.  If you do need technical
        help, please make a note of the version of DiscPassage and the
        title of the CD-ROM(s) which you are using.  Also please note
        any details about your system which might be relevant to the
        problem.  For example, if the problem is that graphics will not
        display properly, the manufacturer and model of your video
        controller card would be helpful.  Your DOS version number,
        available memory, microprocessor type and whether you are using
        third party memory management, file compression or operating
        system software (for example QEMM, Stacker or DR DOS) all may
        be relevant to problems which occur.

        1.1 - System Problems

        If the problem you are experiencing is caused by a component of
        your system that is not a CMC product, we recommend that you
        call the manufacturer or vendor of that product for Technical
        Support.  CD-ROM Drive installation or malfunction, installation
        of DiscPassage under various menuing or windowing interfaces, and
        CD-ROM network implementation are some examples.


        2 - Printing or Viewing This Document

        If you wish to print this document to the default printer,
        enter the command "printme" while in the DiscPass directory.
        If you would like to view the document on your monitor, enter
        the command "readme".


        3 - About DiscPassage

        DiscPassage is a program which provides a menu-driven user
        interface for accessing the information on your CD-ROM.
        DiscPassage provides various means of accessing CD-ROM data,
        including a hierarchical "Contents" menu and "Search" and
        "Browse" facilities.  In addition, DiscPassage offers facilities
        for displaying graphic images, printing text and images, playing
        sounds (if the CD-ROM has audio content) and copying text to
        user-named files.

        DiscPassage will run properly only if there is a DiscPassage
        CD-ROM in the CD drive.  DiscPassage CD-ROMs have the word
        "DiscPassage" or the word "CMC" printed on the CD-ROM or the
        CD-ROM jewel box.

        Once DiscPassage has been installed on your hard drive, use
        the same installation to access all your DiscPassage CD-ROMs.


        4 - System Requirements

        IBM PC or compatible with MS-DOS version 3.1 or later.

        CD-ROM drive with appropriate drivers.

        Microsoft CD-ROM extensions version 2.0 or later.

        500K available conventional memory.

        1 Megabyte free space available on hard drive.

        VGA video card and monitor.  Super VGA card with VESA driver
        recommended.

        For CD-ROMs which contain audio content, headphones or amplified
        external speakers which connect to the CD-ROM audio jack or
        external speaker outputs.

        The "files" command in the CONFIG.SYS file should be set to
        at least 20 ("files=20").


        5 - Installing DiscPassage

        Log onto the CD-ROM drive (or the floppy drive, if installing
        from a floppy disk) by entering the command "D:"  (If "D" is not
        the letter of your CD-ROM or floppy drive, use the appropriate
        letter.)  Enter the command "setup".  The setup program will
        prompt you through the installation procedure.  Setup creates
        a directory on your hard drive which contains the DiscPassage
        files.  No changes are made to your system files (like
        AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS).


        6 - Starting DiscPassage

        Once DiscPassage has been installed, any DiscPassage CD-ROM
        can be accessed by placing the disc into the drive and entering
        the command "DP" at the DOS "C:" prompt.  (If you have more than
        one hard drive in your system, substitute the appropriate letter
        for "C".)


        7 - Using DiscPassage

        After the "DP" command has been entered, a license agreement
        will be displayed.  Press enter to accept the agreement.  A
        title page illustration will then be displayed, followed by
        the DiscPassage main menu.

        7.1 - Using Help

        The best way to learn about DiscPassage is to use it in
        conjunction with the help feature.  "Help" is availabe from
        any location in the program, beginning with the opening license
        agreement screen.  To display context-related Help, press the
        "F1" key.  A window on the screen will provide information related
        to the DiscPassage function currently in use.  "Help" provides
        much valuable information which can help you learn to use the
        features found in DiscPassage more effectively.  The "Search"
        feature in particular is extensively documented.

        7.2 - Using The Main Menu

        DiscPassage displays a menu bar at the top of your screen.
        The menu includes the selections "Search", "Browse",
        "Contents", "Database", "Printer" and "Change/Exit".  "Search"
        helps you search the database for specific words, authors,
        subjects and titles, to identify related documents.  "Browse"
        helps you review lists of words, authors, subjects, or titles,
        then select corresponding documents.  "Contents" lists the table
        of contents contained in the database, and allows you to select
        a document.  "Database" identifies information available on the
        CD and helps you select a database.  "Printer" lets you specify
        a printer type for printing graphic images, and specify a default
        printer port.  "Change/Exit" lets you change to another
        DiscPassage CD-ROM disc or drive letter, or exit DiscPassage.
        Use the right/left arrow keys to highlight different selections.
        Press "enter" to select the highlighted title.

        7.3 - Using The Function Keys

        While using DiscPassage, the descriptions of any applicable
        function keys are displayed at the bottom of the screen.
        Here is a summary of the function keys used in DiscPassage:

        F1 provides on-line Help.  A Help screen which is relevant to
        the current context is displayed.

        F2 clears the search template so the user can start a new search
        process.

        F3 displays the next text article from a search list, when the
        user is viewing an article from that list.

        F4 toggles the graphics display between VGA and high
        resolution monochrome when the graphics mode is standard VGA.
        F4 also can be used to jump directly from the opening license
        agreement to the main DiscPassage menu, bypassing the title
        page graphic.

        F7 prints the currently displayed text file or graphic image.