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Text File | 1992-03-24 | 23KB | 500 lines

▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒█▀▀▀▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█▀ ▒▒█▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▒▒█▀▀▀ ▒▒█▀▒▒█ ▒▒█▀▀▀▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█▀▀ ▒▒█ ▒▒█▀▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒█▀ ▒▒█▀ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█▀▀▀▀ ▒▒█▀▀▀▀ ▒▒█▀▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒▒▒▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▀▀▀▒▒█ ▒▒█▀▀ ▒▒█▒▒█▀ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒▒█ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▄ ▒▒█ ▒▒█ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ - Version 1.0 - The Beta Program Tester Data Base - Copyright (c) 1991-1992 Rand Nowell - ╒═══════════════════════╕ │ RaLin Enterprises │ │ 40728 Sundale Dr. │ │ Fremont, Ca. 94538 │ ├───────────────────────┤ │ (510) 651-0253 │ ╘═══════════════════════╛ Program Documentation Beta User 1.0 The Legal Stuff..... Copyright: Beta User 1.0 is not a Public Domain or Free program. It is the Copyrighted (c) 1991-1992 work of Rand Nowell dba Ralin Enterprises. All rights are reserved. Copying, duplicating, selling or otherwise distributing this product except as noted in the Distribution Policy below is a violation of Federal Copyright Law. You are authorized to evaluate the program for a period of 30 days. If after 30 days you wish to continue using the program, registration IS REQUIRED. Please see REGISTER.FRM Distribution: 1. Feel free to distribute the Shareware version of this program as often as you like to any interested parties. Distribution to Electronic Bullentin Boards is encouraged. 2. Please do not distribute this program without all the original related files such as documentation, readme files, registration forms etc. 3. Please distribute ONLY the original authenticated ZIP format file. 4. Please obtain our written permission before including the program with any "bundled" software packages. 5. Please do not accept payment for the program; a copying fee of $5.00 per diskette may be charged by a non-profit user-group. 6. Please do not alter the program or documentation in any way. 7. Individuals, groups, vendors or other software distribution companies which market diskettes containg shareware or test-drive evaluation programs, for profit, must obtain written permission from RaLin Enterprises prior to distribution. DISTRIBUTION of the REGISTERED version of this program is in violation of the license agreement and copyright law. ************************* DISCLAIMER ***************************** This program is supplied "as is" without warrenty of any kind. The entire risk of using, and results from the use of, is assumed by you the user. You assume all costs of repair, servicing and corrections stemming from the use of this program. Rand Nowell and/or RaLin Enterprises, or any other associated company of the program author will not be held liable for any damages from the use of this program. No warrenties are expressed or implied. ******************************************************************** To the original licensee of the REGISTERD version of Beta User 1.0 RaLin Enterprises DOES warrant that the program disk(s) on which the program is recorded, be free from defects in material and workmanship under normal use and service for a period of (90) ninety days from date of delivery as evidenced by your receipt. Our entire liability and your exclusive remedy shall be replacement of the deffective disk not meeting the standards of this limited warranty. Program Documentation Beta User 1.0 ┌────────────────────────────────┐ │ The Benifits Of Registration │ └────────────────────────────────┘ 1. The ability to run two external programs from within Beta User. 2. A Shell to DOS access, goto the command prompt to operate any DOS commands or programs you wish. 3. The << UNREGISTERED >> message at the bottom of reports and on the Main Menu screen will be removed. 4. The ability to Backup or Archive your data to Floppy. 5. Option of printing reports to a Disk File instead of printer. This allows you to import into a word processor program and enhance it. You can also send to the serial ports. 6. Notification of MAJOR upgrades, also new program releases. 7. Discounted price on any MAJOR upgrade of the program. 8. Registered users can have the program modified to suit their needs. Personalization, extra reports, printer enhancements etc. See CUSTOM.DOC for more information. 9. Access number to our BBS, which we hope to have up and running in the next few months. Program support will be available, new programs as they are produced, and many general utilities. Registered users will be notified when the board goes up. All of the above, plus the good feeling of supporting the SHAREWARE CONCEPT Program Documentation Beta User 1.0 - Manual Index - Overview.........................1 Program Keys.....................2,3 Menus,Tables,Forms...............4 The Program......................5 Closing..........................6 Program Documentation Beta User 1.0 Overview: Page 1 Beta User was developed to provide a dedicated system to allow one to be aware at all times of how many BETA versions of a program are out, who the people are that have them, and to record thier findings and comments. A version of Bete User is used here often, and it has proven to be extremely helpful. Shareware Limitations: When I set out to release this program as Shareware, I was really not to sure what I should do as far as protecting my program from un-registered use. After all, I have put in a lot of hours on this, its part of my income to feed my family, and how do I do that if people use my program without compensating me? I HATE crippled shareware, you can't really try a program thats all crippled up, and one that dies after 30 days is a real NO-NO. I had the option of limiting the amount of records that could be entered into the program, but I don't like that either. -------- I would rather work on TRUST -------- So...... Beta User is NOT crippled, its NOT limited as to how many programs or beta testers you can enter and maintain, and it has enough types of record viewing and reports to be a very useful program even if you don't register it. BUT.... if you register it, it becomes even more useful. There are some extra handy things that are available in the registered version, that you won't have in the Shareware version. Some of these show on the Menus, but when called all you get is a message explaining what it will do, and that its available with the registered version. So..... Please Register Beta User ! By the way... when you first start Beta User, before you get the Main Menu, you will be presented with two screens. They explain that the program is shareware, for evaluation, and use beyond the evaluation period requires that you register, and pay the small registration fee. And also list the Benifits of Registration. Once you have reached the Main Menu, you will NOT see these screens again. Sorry....but I felt a little reminder was necessary. Version Naming: Our program version naming method is as such. Using version one as an example. ver 1.0 to 1.4 original and updated shareware versions ver 1.5 to 1.9 original and updated registered versions This would maintain with ver 2 - 3 etc of any program. Program Documentation Beta User 1.0 Program Keys: Page 2 Throughout Beta User, certain keys are used for major work in editing, viewing, entering information. They are explained here. You will see references to Tables and Forms below, these will be explained a little further in the manual. < Enter > Menus: Enter runs the procedure which is highlighted by the cursor bar. The cursor bar may be moved one of two ways. Use the up and down arrow keys, or press the first letter of the menu choice. Once the highlite bar is placed, pressing enter gets the ball rolling. If there is more than one choice with the same first letter, successive presses of that letter will move to the next corresponding Menu choice. Tables: When pressing Enter while on a highlighted record, a form is called with which you may modify the information for that entry. Forms: Forms are where you add or modify a records information. On all forms there is a message displayed telling you the changes about to take place, whether the record will be ADDED - CHANGED - DELETED. Pay attention. Pressing Enter on a field will accept that field and move on to the next. Once information is entered you can also press the down arrow key to accept and advance. Pressing Enter on the last field in a Form will save the record and exit. General: In general, the Enter key accepts information, or starts a procedure. < Ctrl-Enter > Control key + Enter From any Form the Ctrl-Enter keypress is an immediate save and exit. Say you are modifying a record, you modify a field that is half way thorough the form. Instead of having to enter your way to the last field, you can press Ctrl-Enter....save and exit. <Ins> The Insert key Tables: The insert key is your command to ADD a record to the file. Pressing insert will call up the new entry form. Forms: Whenever you are entering information into a form, or any field, toggling the insert key will change from insert to overwrite, as in most any other program you are used to. <Del> The Delete key Tables: Pressing Delete on a highlighted record will call up a Form showing all the information for that record, prompting you to press Enter to Delete. Be sure of what you're doing, one key press and that record is GONE.... Program Documentation Beta User ver 1.0 Program Keys (con't) Page 3 Forms: The delete key (and the backspace key) work as they would in any other text editing program. <PgUp & PgDn> These keys work as they would in any program. About the only place the are useful is in a table, if you have more entries that are not showing, this will jump up or down. <End & Home> While editing a field, will move to beginning or end of line. <Esc> General: In general the escape key is your back-up key. If you are at a sub menu, pressing Esc will will exit back to the calling menu. If you are in a Table it will exit back to the calling Menu, unless the Table has a prompt field for searches, then it may back up to that field first, then exit to the calling Menu. In a form the Esc key will back out of a Form one field at a time until reaching the first field, at which time it will return to the calling Table. CAUTION: When using Esc to exit, NO SAVE IS MADE. <Ctrl-Esc> Control + Esc General: This works similar to the similar to the Ctrl-Enter key. This is a fast exit key. Pressing this key combination from any location in a Form or Table will immediately exit to the calling procedure. CAUTION: When using Ctrl-Esc to exit, NO SAVE IS MADE. This pretty much covers the General use keys in the Program. There are a couple of others to explain, keys that have been especially created for the Beta User. <Alt-B> This is the Screen Blanker. This key is available from All Menus, and most Tables and Forms. Pressing it will blank the screen to black on black to eliminate screen image burn-in, should you wish to leave the keyboard for awhile but don't want to exit the program. If you find that it won't work from where you're at, simply back up a step and try it again. <F10> This is the DOS Menu key. It calls the Menu from which you can run other programs and Shell to DOS. Online Help: There isn't any! Beta User is pretty simple to use. One time through this manual and you should have no problems. Not having Online Help allowed me to keep the program size quite small. When you receive the Shareware version, the DOS Menu will have a selection to view this manual while running the program. I suggest you leave it that way for awhile. NOTE: When you register, you will receive a supplemental Manual, this will cover any additional features and how to use them. This manual will NOT be re-sent. It is advised that you retain this one. Program Documentation Beta User ver 1.0 Page 4 Menus-Tables-Forms: (An Explanation) * Menus: Menus are where you select the procedure to Run. There are two ways to choose your selection, using the arrow/cursor keys, place the Highlite Bar on your choice and press Enter. Or, press the first letter of the Menu choice, then press Enter. If there is more than one choice with the same first letter, press the letter again and the bar will move to the next item with that letter. Menu choices are not Quick Keys, you must press Enter to activate. The Highlite Bar will "Wrap" from Top to Bottom or Bottom to Top. * Tables: The Table is the viewing window, here the specified records will be listed, often in a sorted order, based on name,number etc. Some Tables will have a LOCATOR field. This allows you to search for a specified record, rather than scrolling, if your list is longer than the display area. It will say Find (the search key), you would then start typing in the name,number,code etc. that you wish to find. As you type in each letter or digit, the Highlite Bar will move to the first, the next matching entry. Once this entry is found you would then press the Action key for Edit,Delete or whatever you wish to do to this particular entry. Please refer to the Keys section for the Actions provided. Other Tables may have a Selection Field, where you would enter a particular name,number,code etc. Once this is entered, only the records matching that item will be shown. The first time you access this type of table, the field will be blank. Just press Enter for a list of choices. This will call up another Table, where you select the item you want to use, press Enter, and the item will be placed in the selector field. If you want to change the Selector item, you can either press Ctrl-End to erase the current entry, press Enter again for a list, or simply type in an invalid charector such as ] or / over the first letter, and press Enter. As this item dosen't exist, the list will be called for you to select your choice. * Forms: When you press an Action key on a highlighted item in a Table it calls up a FORM. The form is where information is Entered, Modified or Deleted. A message will be displayed on each form telling you what action is about to be applied to this record. The messages appear as such: RECORD WILL BE ADDED - RECORD WILL BE CHANGED - PRESS ENTER TO DELETE. If you are ADDING a record and you enter a value in a field that holds the Indexing item, and it already exists, you will hear a tone and see CREATES DUPLICATE KEY , you are not allowed to have duplicate index keys in the program. For instance, if the records are indexed on a persons name, entering a name that already exists will generate the above message. In this case, if you entered William Bonny, and it already existed, just change it to Bill Bonny, and the entry will be allowed. You can use the Insert key to toggle between Insert and Overtype mode while entering information. If you are modifying information, and you wish to change a field, you can press Ctrl-End to erase the field and then type in the new information. When entering notes into a memo field, the cursor will "wrap" to the next, when you reach the right margin. You do not have to press Enter at the end of each line. Program Documentation Beta User ver 1.0 Page 5 The Program: Now we will cover each Main Menu choice and what it calls, and what you can do when you get there. Test Personel: (a)The Table shows a list of all the present/past people who are testing your program(s). It shows the program they are currently testing, what disk size they have if any, and when the beta version was issued to them.(b) The Form, when called, lets you input the beta testers name, address, phone. Whether they have been issued a disk, if so what size, when issued. Has Disk is a choice field, you can either use the arrow keys to select Yes or No, or hot the Y or N key. Same for the Disk Size. The Memo field allows you to enter comments from you or your tester.(c) The Report lists all the information for each beta tester. Entries are grouped by Program Name, and the Report is in compressed format. Product Records: (a) The Table lists Product Code, Product Name, Development Program "You can enter what you used to develop it, Pascal, C, Clipper etc." ,Version Number, Status "anything you want to tag it with", Done "completed or not", Date Completed. Date Completed is meant to be when you have finished beta version, and the testers are perhaps testing final format. You use your own discretion. (b) The Form allows you to enter new or modify existing info. Also used for deleting an entry. (c) The Report lists all information for all programs contained in the Data files. Who Has What: (a) The Table has a selection field at the top, if its blank just press Enter for a list of your products. Once the field is filled in, the listing will be only for persons who are testing that particular product. It will list testers name, phone #, and whether or not they have a disk. Having a disk or not could mean they obtained the test version via your BBS, or you loaded it onto their system. (b) There is NO Form for this Table, no modifying, adding or deleting. (c) The Report lists all users who are testing the currently specified product. You will be offered a popup window to verify the product you want listed, or to change it if you wish. Reports: You can print the above reports from this menu. The Report listed as Products Out is the same as the one from the Who Has What table. Quit: Exits the program and returns you to the Operating System. Program Documentation Beta User ver 1.0 Page 6 In Closing: In closing, I would like to thank you for trying Beta User. Also to remind you, registering this program will gain you many more helpful and productive features. Features are being added all the time. You will likely get more than has be mentioned here when you register. Your comments are appreciated. If you can think of anything that may enhance Beta User, let me know. I do listen, and its a good chance your suggestion will be incorporated into the program. Read the CUSTOM.DOC explaining how you can have your Registered copy of Beta User customized. Many things are possible. Please use the provided REGISTER.FRM to register Beta User. For unregistered users, support is limited. But if you have a problem while evaluating Beta User, I am willing to help. I can be reached several ways. Registered Users are a priority as to receiving help via mail,phone or electronic mail. Mail: Rand Nowell RaLin Enterprises 40728 Sundale Dr. Fremont, Ca. 94538 Phone: (510) 651-0253 If you get a recorder, please leave a message, if you are a registered user give your registration number. Leave a brief description of the problem, your phone number and best time to call. I will return registered users calls at my expense. Unregistered users, be prepared for a collect call. CIS (Compuserve) User ID: 76124,761 I check Compuserve 2-3 times a month. This is not the optimum way to contact me, but it will work. Net Mail: Send Net Mail to Rand Nowell @ 1:161/42 OR 1:215/777 NetMail is checked daily. Fido-Net Messages can be left in the Fido Shareware Echo. These messages are normally checked daily. BBS: I hope to have our Support BBS up and running in the next few months. All Registered Users will be notified by mail when this happens. And if the correct fields have been filled in on the registration form, they will be pre-registered for access on the first call. <eof> Beta User