The Business Master (3rd Edition)

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TO: INTEGRA COMPUTING, 910 Cobb Place Manor Dr., Marietta, GA 30066 NV 1.6 Name __________________________________________________________ Firm Name __________________________________ Phone ________________ Address __________________________________________________________ City _________________ State ___ Zip _______ County ________ # Professionals _____ # Employees ____ Type of Practice ________________ I first heard of Integra Computing from ___________________________________ Prices and availability are subject to change without notice. Send unregistered** copies of the following: ___ copies of RAMdesk at $10 ea $_____ ___ copies of TickleX at $10 ea $_____ ___ copies of ReSearch at $10 ea $_____ ___ copies of BillPower at $10 ea $_____ ___ copies of BillPower Plus at $15 ea $_____ Send registered** copies of the following: Nouveau, registered for use on ___ workstations (at $25 per workstation) $_____ ___ copies of RAMdesk at $50 [only $25 w/TickleX/BillPower] $_____ ___ copies of ReSearch at $90 [+ $60 EXTRA to get 1 hr support]* $_____ ___ copies of TickleX at $60 [+ $60 EXTRA to get 1 hr support]* $_____ ___ copies of BillPower at $100 [+ $110 EXTRA to get 2 hr support]* $_____ ___ copies of BillPower Plus at $150 [+ $200 EXTRA to get 4 hr support]* $_____ To have programs supplied on 3.5" media, enclose $5.00 extra PER PROGRAM $_____ If you don't live in the U.S., Canada, or Mexico, please add $10.00 more $_____ TOTAL ORDER $_____ ___% Sales Tax for ___________ county, if you're a GA resident $_____ GRAND TOTAL ENCLOSED $_____ I have read and agree to all the terms of the Disclaimer found below. _______________________________________ _________________ SIGNATURE DATE * Telephone support will be provided if you pre-purchase it with this order form. Such support must be used within a year. When you need assistance, you may reach Integra Computing (404-426-5735) most weekdays from 4:00pm to 6:00pm, Eastern Time. Because so much time is required to respond to mailed correspon- dence, letters requesting assistance may not be answered. If you need help, call -- don't write. But please don't even call unless you've pre-purchased support with this order form; if you call without having prepaid for support, each call will cost you a minimum of $15, plus $1.50 per minute. ** Unregistered software is programmed to remind you to register. Please note that no credit will be given at the time of registration for the cost of an unregistered copy. BILLPOWER, TICKLEX, MT-TRACKER, POPFORM, RESEARCH, RAMDESK, NOUVEAU, NIF- TY, AND THEIR INSTRUCTIONS ARE PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND (INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTI- CULAR PURPOSE). NO ORAL OR WRITTEN INFORMATION OR ADVICE PROVIDED BY INTEG- RA, ITS DEALERS, DISTRIBUTORS, AGENTS, OR EMPLOYEES SHALL CREATE A WARRANTY OF ANY KIND REGARDING BILLPOWER, TICKLEX, MT-TRACKER, POPFORM, RESEARCH, RAM- DESK, NOUVEAU, OR NIFTY, AND YOU MAY NOT RELY UPON SUCH INFORMATION OR AD- VICE. NEITHER INTEGRA NOR ANYONE ELSE WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THE CREATION, PRODUCTION, OR DELIVERY OF BILLPOWER, TICKLEX, MT-TRACKER, POPFORM, RESEARCH, RAMDESK, NOUVEAU, OR NIFTY SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUEN- TIAL, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, AND LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMA- TION) ARISING FROM THE USE OF (OR INABILITY TO USE) BILLPOWER, TICKLEX, MT- TRACKER, POPFORM, RESEARCH, RAMDESK, NOUVEAU, OR NIFTY. -- LICENSE: BillPower, TickleX, MT-Tracker, PopForm, ReSearch, Nifty, RAMdesk, Nou- veau, and their documentation are copyrighted in 1985 to 1989 by R.A. Kelly. You may use any program on as many computers as you like, as long as it is nev- er installed with a SERIAL NUMBER (provided to you when you register as a user) on more than one computer at a time and as long as you do not alter the program in any way. You may distribute any of these programs to potential new users, provided that you never divulge your SERIAL NUMBER to anyone, that you charge no fee for the program, and that you do not bundle it with (or use it as an incentive to purchase or lease) any other product or service, without the written consent of R.A. Kelly. All rights not expressly granted above are re- served in R.A. Kelly. -- DISCLAIMER: BillPower, TickleX, MT-Tracker, PopForm, ReSearch, Nifty, RAMdesk, and Nouveau may contain design and programming flaws. Before using ANY software on a regular basis, try estimating the potential harm that could result from your reliance upon it. Please don't use any of these programs unless you're willing to assume the associated risks, such as billing and report inaccuracies and data loss. BILLPOWER, TICKLEX, MT-TRACKER, POPFORM, RESEARCH, NIFTY, RAMDESK, NOU- VEAU, AND THEIR INSTRUCTIONS ARE PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND (INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE). NO ORAL OR WRITTEN INFORMATION OR ADVICE PROVIDED BY INTEGRA, ITS DEALERS, DISTRIBUTORS, AGENTS, OR EMPLOYEES SHALL CREATE A WAR- RANTY OF ANY KIND REGARDING BILLPOWER, TICKLEX, MT-TRACKER, POPFORM, RESEARCH, NIFTY, OR RAMDESK, NOUVEAU, AND YOU MAY NOT RELY UPON SUCH INFORMATION OR ADVICE. USE OF BILLPOWER, TICKLEX, MT-TRACKER, POPFORM, RESEARCH, NIFTY,OR RAMDESK, NOUVEAU IS ENTIRELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. NEITHER INTEGRA NOR ANYONE ELSE WHO HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN THE CREATION, PRODUCTION, OR DELIVERY OF BILLPOWER, TICKLEX, MT-TRACKER, POPFORM, RESEARCH, NIFTY, OR RAMDESK, NOUVEAU SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUEN- TIAL, OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, AND LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMA- TION) ARISING FROM THE USE OF (OR INABILITY TO USE) BILLPOWER, TICKLEX, MT-TRACKER, POPFORM, RESEARCH, NIFTY, OR RAMDESK, NOUVEAU, EVEN THOUGH INTEG- RA MAY BE ADVISED THAT SUCH DAMAGES ARE POSSIBLE. -- AGREEMENT: As used in this Agreement, the terms "BillPower" , "TickleX", "MT-Trac- ker", "PopForm", "ReSearch", "Nifty", "Nouveau", and "RAMdesk", if not followed by a series or version designation, mean any version or series of BillPower, BillPower Plus, TickleX, MT-Tracker, PopForm, ReSearch, Nifty, Nouveau, or RAM- desk provided to you now or in the future. Your attempt to use BillPower, TickleX, MT-Tracker, PopForm, ReSearch, Nifty, Nouveau, or RAMdesk constitutes your acceptance of the terms set forth in the foregoing LICENSE and DISCLAIMER (which are incorporated into this Ag- reement). Your attempt to use BillPower, TickleX, MT-Tracker, PopForm, Re- Search, Nifty, Nouveau, or RAMdesk also constitutes your agreement that if you bring any legal action relating to BillPower, TickleX, MT-Tracker, PopForm, ReSearch, Nifty, Nouveau, or RAMdesk, 1) your sole remedy for the damages for which any defendant is found liable (including direct, indirect, incidental and consequential damages) will be the recovery of whatever you paid to register as a user of the program, and 2) you will pay all defendants' attorneys fees and other legal costs if you do not prevail on all claims made in your pleadings. The terms of this Agreement are governed by Georgia law. If any of this Agreement's terms shall be held invalid to any extent, the remainder of this Agreement shall be unaffected by such invalidity. THE ABOVE PARAGRAPHS CONSTITUTE THE ENTIRE AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU AND INTE- GRA. NO ORAL OR WRITTEN COMMUNICATION, INFORMATION, OR ADVICE FROM ANY SOURCE MAY ALTER THE AGREEMENT AS SET FORTH ABOVE. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR OF LIABIL- ITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO SOME OF THE ABOVE EXCLUSIONS AND LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. YOU MAY HAVE OTHER RIGHTS WHICH MAY VARY FROM STATE TO STATE. NOUVEAU (ver 1.6) TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 INSTALLING ON A LOCAL AREA NETWORK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 USING THE PROGRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 APPENDIX: CUSTOMIZING NOUVEAU . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 APPENDIX: TUNING UP PERFORMANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 APPENDIX: BACKING UP YOUR DATA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 NOUVEAU INSTRUCTIONS NOTE: If you're using an unregistered copy of the program, it will begin to beep at you in several weeks, reminding you that it's time to register. Don't worry -- no data will be destroyed, and you'll always be able to use the program, despite the fact that you delay registering. INTRODUCTION Nouveau is a "pop-up" program designed to pass messages among the workstations on a small business's local area network. Up to 2000 un- read messages (each of which may be up to 1800 characters long) can be maintained by the program before a user will need to purge old items from the files (a very simple procedure). Nouveau may be used on any IBM-compatible PC running DOS 2.1 (or greater) and any DOS-based Local Area Network. It requires about 180K when it's actually being used, but when it's just sitting in the back- ground waiting for you to press its hotkey, it's memory requirements will be reduced to only 7K -- if it's being used on a Novell (tm) net- work. If you have another type of network and don't need the program to beep at a user when a message is sent to him, 7K is still all that's needed when the program is in the background. If message-beep- ing is needed on non-Novell networks, however, 45K will be required for background operation. Incidentally, there are some very good reasons that this simple little program requires 180K (call Integra Computing if you'd like an explanation), but, since the background RAM requirement is likely to be a mere 7K, the larger figure in hardly important. As shipped, the program consists of seven files: NOUVEAU.EXE the main program file; NOUVEAU.OVR a program overlay file; NOUVEAU.DOC this documentation; NOUVEAU.CFG a modifiable configuration file NOUVEAU.HLP brief on-line help and other notes; NV-BEEP.EXE a program which beeps when message are sent NV.BAT the file used to load Nouveau. Additionally, Nouveau will create and maintain several server-based files (MESSAGES.LBF, MESSAGES.LBI, PC-SCHED.LBF, PC-SCHED.LBI) which hold messages passed back and forth across your LAN. Nouveau is a member of the "MANAGEX" series of software (RAMdesk, TickleX, BillPower, and ReSearch are also members), but it may be used INTRODUCTION 4 by itself. Just in case you ever decide to use Nouveau in conjunction with other members of the MANAGEX series, Nouveau's files should be installed into a hard disk directory named "MANAGEX". -- COMPUTER CRASHES Any RAM-resident (pop-up) program may occasionally cause your computer to "freeze" or "lock up", and Nouveau is no exception. The reason for this problem is that the computer's operating system is not designed to support multi-tasking, and RAM-resident programs have to play tricks on it in order to work their magic. If you start experi- encing computer "crashes" after beginning to use Nouveau, it's probab- ly because Nouveau is trying to do something in the background that conflicts with whatever you're doing in the foreground. Try altering the order in which you load your TSR programs (Nouveau included). If that doesn't correct the problem, there's little you can do (you've happened upon a combination of computer, DOS, and software with which Nouveau simply will not work dependably). Please be sure to read the TUNING UP PERFORMANCE section, the final portion of which refers to the "FATAL SWAP ERROR" message that may occasionally occur. INTRODUCTION 5 INSTALLING ON A LOCAL AREA NETWORK Nouveau is normally loaded by entering "NV" at the DOS prompt. This command accesses the NV.BAT file, which, in turn, contains a line that causes NOUVEAU.EXE to be executed. The "nouveau" line in the NV.BAT file on each workstation should be modified by the addition of parameters which tell the program: 1) who the main user is, 2) who you are, 3) the server's hard disk and directory in which the Schedule and Messages databases are to be stored, and 4) the hard disk and dir- ectory in which the workstation's NV.BAT file is to be maintained (the program's "home" directory). These four items are handled by the fifth through eighth parameters following "nouveau". The first four parameters may each be "X", which signifies a null parameter. Example: NOUVEAU x x x x ABC DEF H:\MANAGEX C:\MANAGEX This line tells Nouveau that the primary user's initials are ABC, that this workstation's user's initials are DEF, that the message database is to be located in the MANAGEX directory on drive H, and that this workstation keeps the NV.BAT file in the MANAGEX directory of drive C. Who is the main or primary user? Typically, he is the person who is likely to use the program the most, the one who's mainly "in charge" of Nouveau. He may be the network's system administrator. Or, if you also use BillPower and/or TickleX in your office, the pri- mary user is probably the one who is responsible for maintaining the BillPower/TickleX databases. At the primary user's workstation, the fifth and sixth parameters would be identical. Example: NOUVEAU x x x x ABC ABC H:\MANAGEX C:\MANAGEX But at everyone else's workstation, the fifth and sixth parameters will be different. The NV.BAT file may also contain a reference to NV-Beep, which should be followed by parameters identical to those that follow "nouveau". Example: echo off cls nv-beep x x e: x JJ AWB F:\MANAGEX F:\AWB nouveau x x e: x JJ AWB F:\MANAGEX F:\AWB If you have a Novell (tm) network, you should place "rem " at the front of the line containing a reference to NV-Beep. NV-Beep isn't needed if you're using Novell. Nor is it needed if you don't want the program to beep at users to whom messages are sent. Using NV-Beep raises the total background memory required from 7K to 45K. There- fore, if you have Novell or don't need message-beeping, don't use it! INSTALLING ON A LOCAL AREA NETWORK 6 Each workstation must have its own customized NV.BAT file. But all the other files needed to make Nouveau work may be installed either on the workstation's hard disk or on the server (in the direc- tory identified by the seventh parameter). If the program is inst- alled on the server, be sure to modify the NV.BAT file on each work- station, so that DOS knows where to look for for Nouveau. For ex- ample, if a workstation's local hard disk were C:, but Nouveau were located in the MANAGEX directory on drive H, the batch file might look like this: echo off cls c: cd\managex h: cd\managex nouveau x x x x abc h:\managex c:\managex Finally, be sure to customize the NOUVEAU.CFG file appropriately. For example, if you're on a Novell network, refer to the CUSTOMIZING NOUVEAU section, "BEEPING MESSAGES" subsection. -- Please Note: If your LAN defaults to the assumtion that you want it to auto- matically lock files for you, you may have problems with Nouveau. Nouveau, not your LAN, must decide when to lock which files. Make sure that your LAN is configured to give ALL users complete access to ALL files in the server directory used for Nouveau's data files. Make sure that ALL program and data files are "sharable" (eg: immediately after installing the program onto a Novell (tm) workstation, enter "FLAG *.* S" at the DOS prompt in the directory containing Nouveau). -- WARNING If you are a registered user, YOU MUST NOT USE NOUVEAU ON MORE THAN THE NUMBER OF MACHINES FOR WHICH YOU HAVE REGISTERED. If you are NOT registered, you may safely use Nouveau on as many machines as you wish. INSTALLING ON A LOCAL AREA NETWORK 7 USING THE PROGRAM Nouveau comes with a batch file, NV.BAT, which you should use to load the program. To run Nouveau, log into the MANAGEX direc- tory and enter the following at the DOS prompt: NV After Nouveau loads, it will return you to the DOS prompt. When you press the hotkey, Nouveau will pop up, ready for your use. Designed for use in the small office environment, the program is optimized to quickly find new messages addressed to you. When you enter the program, you'll be shown a listing of the most recent messages sent to you. Those you haven't read yet will appear in bold print and will be listed before those that you've already seen (which will be dimmed). Within each category (read and non-read), the messages will be listed in reverse chronological order, so that the most recent will appear first. Just point to the one you want to view and press the PgDn key. When you've read it, you may view the next most recent message by pressing the PgDn key again. Continue using the PgDn key until you've read all the messages you wish. When you're done, press the ESC key to return to the message listing. If you feel the need to hunt through the message data base for something specific, press "H" at the message listing. When you do, you'll be shown several sorting criteria, a couple of which have al- ready been filled in. Most of the time, you'll probably want to ig- nore them, since all you'll be looking for are messages sent to you since you last scanned the file. That being the case, all you'll nor- mally have to do at this point is to press the PgDn key to begin the hunt. It couldn't be easier to find new stuff. Only if you want to change the hunt parameters (discussed below) will it take longer than a few seconds to find recently-dispatched mail. Please note that the CUSTOMIZING section contains instructions on how to modify use of the program. -- HUNT When you enter the program, you'll find yourself in the "Hunt" mode, since you'll more frequently be trying to find information than entering new data. There are five parameters by which you may conduct your hunt. The more items you fill in, the more discriminating the hunt through the messages will be. One, the "TO" item, will already be filled in with your workstation's designator (see the LOCAL AREA NETWORKS sec- tion). This parameter tells Nouveau to find only those messages which are addressed to you. You may change the "TO" item if you wish to USING THE PROGRAM 8 find items sent by you to other people. NOTE: Nouveau won't let you read other persons' messages. The only messages you'll be able to see are those that have been sent either to or from you, regardless of how you fill in the "TO" and "FROM" items. One of the parameters asks whether you want to see only new mes- sages, that is, messages that have not yet been read by the people to whom they were sent. If you want to see even old messages that have already been read, then move to this item and press the `N' key. If you leave a parameter blank, you're telling Nouveau that that item should not be considered when hunting for messages. If, for in- stance, you leave the "Word to Find" item blank, Nouveau will find ALL messages that meet the other parameters designated. But if you desig- nate "house" as the "Word to Find", the only messages Nouveau will show you will be those that contain the word, "house". If there are more than one record meeting the parameters you set up, Nouveau will take you to the first; if that's not the one you want, just press the PgDn key to move on to the next (the F6 key will also accomplish the same thing here). To move backward to a previous record, press the PgUp key. NOTE: Normally, Nouveau will look at EVERY line in each re- cord as it searches for a match. If you prefer that it look only to the first line of description in each record, end your keyword entry with F6, instead of the RETURN key. If, for instance, the first line of each record contains a name, and that's all you want Nouveau to consider in looking for a match, this option will be handy. See also the CUSTOMIZING section, if you'd like Nouveau to default to first-line-only searches (instead of entire-record searches), precluding your having to use the F6 key when entering a keyword. If you wish to narrow your search, you might want to enter two keywords separated by a slash (eg: "JEWEL/CLEAR"). The only records that Nouveau will find will be those that contain BOTH words. Nouveau will handle only one- , two, or three-word searches; don't try spec- ifying more than three words. If you are looking for a record, but don't know any of its key- words, you may press the PgDn key to step through each record, one at a time, until you find it. -- OLD MESSAGES Normally, once a message has been read, Nouveau will tag the mes- sage as "old". This will keep you from re-encountering it whenever USING THE PROGRAM 9 you want to scan the database for only your NEW messages (that is, ones that have never been read before). The only messages that will not be tagged as "old" as soon as they are read will be those that have been sent to multiple worksta- tions or to ALL workstations. Such messages will be considered "new" for a period of two days after they're sent, and then they'll be tagged as "old". But, if you use the NETUSERS.LBF file (discussed in the next section), even messages sent to multiple workstations will be tagged as "old" as soon as they're read. If you prefer not to have messages tagged as "old" once they've been read, please refer to the CUSTOMIZING section of this documenta- tion. -- DATA ENTRY To enter a new record, simply press the space bar at the Hunt screen and begin filling in information. Pressing Ctrl-C (instead of the space bar) will begin a specialized type of message called a "checklist". The "From" item will already be filled in with your initials, but you may change it if you wish. At the "TO" item, fill in the initials of the person to whom you wish to send the message. The initials you use must be those entered into the PC.BAT file on that person's work- station (see the LOCAL AREA NETWORKS appendix). If the message is to go to more than one person, enter each one's initials with a comma separating each set of initials (to pre-designate groups of people, see the GROUPS discussion near the end of the CUSTOMIZING section). If the message is to go to ALL workstations, enter "ALL". After you've entered all the data you need, press the F6 key to save the record. NOTE: Normally, when you fill in "ALL" at the "TO" item, only one message will be saved, but anyone can read it. If you'd prefer to send a SEPARATE message to each workstation when "ALL" is placed into the "TO" item, you'll need to have previously placed an ASCII text file into the server's MANAGEX directory. This file, "NETUSERS.LBF", may identify up to 20 workstations and up to 10 groups (for info on how to set this file up, see the WORKSTATION IDENTIFICATON discussion near the end of the CUSTOMIZING section). Nouveau will refer to this file whenever the "TO" item designates more than one workstation or is filled in with "ALL". NETUSERS.LBF also comes in handy if you want Nouveau to double-check your entry at the "TO" item. If the intials you enter do not match a set found in the NETUSERS.LBF file, Nouveau will not accept them. Hence, you'll be protected from making typographical errors at the USING THE PROGRAM 10 "TO" item. By the way, pressing the F1 key at the "TO" item will re- veal the list of users entered into the NETUSERS.LBF file. A "checklist" is a special message that will never be tagged as "old". And, no matter how many users you have indicated in the NETUSERS.LBF file, only one copy of a checklist will be written to the database. This allows several people to read the same record and en- ter their comments or responses into it. It might, for instance, con- tain a list of things that each person is to accomplish. When each item is done, the responsible person can "check it off" by entering some brief comment into the record. -- OMITTING RECORDS Each workstation may omit only those entries originated by, or addressed specifically to, that station. To omit a single record, simply call it to the screen and press ^O (Ctrl-O); Mass omissions are handled a little differently -- by pressing ^O at the Hunt screen, instead of at an individual record. When you press ^O, Nouveau will initially assume that you want to eliminate all records made before tomorrow (that is, today and earlier). Therefore, tomorrow will be shown as the "cut-off" date. To change this date, use the arrow keys or PgUp/Dn. Nouveau will regard whatever date you select as a "cut-off". All records entered before that date will be omitted when you press the F6 key to begin the omission process. If you want to omit only those records which fall before the cut- off date AND which contain a certain character string, you may also fill in that string before you begin the mass omission by pressing F6. Pressing the ESC key will abort the mass omission. Just before a mass omission takes place, you'll be asked whether you would like each record that's omitted to be printed for you. You should answer YES (by pressing `Y') if you'd like a permanent record of the items that are about to be omitted. -- PRINTING RECORDS OR SENDING THEM TO A FILE To print an individual message, press Ctrl-PrtSc when that mes- sage is being displayed. To print one or more messages at a time, press Ctrl-PrtSc at the main Hunt screen. When you do so, Nouveau will ask you to enter a parameters common to each message you want printed. To send information to a disk file, press ^F (Ctrl-F), instead of Ctrl-PrtSc. The file created or appended will be called "TEXT.PC", and may subequently be edited with a text editor capable of dealing with industry-standard ACSII files. USING THE PROGRAM 11 -- COPYING RECORDS If you ever need to duplicate the last record displayed, just press the space bar to create a new record. When the blank record entry form appears on the screen, press Ctrl-C to copy the last record into the new one. Modify it as needed and press F6 to save. -- SENDING FILES ACROSS THE NETWORK If your message references a file that you want the recipient to view or manipulate, you may send a copy of the file across the network to a designated directory on the server. There, the recipient may retreive it with his word processor, data base program, or spread- sheet. To send a file across the network, press F4 as you're entering a message. When you do, you'll be asked to specify the file to send. Be sure to give the complete name of the file (including the drive and directory, if it's not located in the directory into which you're cur- rently logged). You may also be asked to specify the drive/directory to which you wish to copy the file. See PRE-DESIGNATED FILE COPY DIR- ECTORY in the CUSTOMIZING section. USING THE PROGRAM 12 APPENDIX: CUSTOMIZING NOUVEAU One of the files accompanying Nouveau is NOUVEAU.CFG. This file contains information that tells the program how to behave in several respects. You may use Nouveau, itself, to modify certain lines of NOUVEAU.CFG, as described below. NOTE: DO NOT CHANGE ANY LINES IN NOUVEAU.CFG OTHER THAN THOSE MENTIONED IN THIS SECTION. DOING SO MAY ADVERSELY AFFECT THE PROGRAM'S PERFORMANCE. To access the NOUVEAU.CFG file, enter "NOUVEAU C" at the DOS prompt. The file will be read, line by line, into the Nouveau window, and you'll find yourself at the bottom of the file. To go back to the top of the file, where you'll probably prefer to start, just press the up arrow. You may move around the file by using the cursor control keys. Make whatever corrections you need, and press the F6 key when you're done. If you want to abandon the changes you've made, press the ESC key, instead. Each line in NOUVEAU.CFG begins with a keyword or short phrase describing the program attribute affected by the line's data. Next is an equals sign, followed by the value associated with the keyword. If you look at the NOUVEAU.CFG file, as shipped from Integra, you'll notice that several lines are enclosed in curly brackets. Curly brac- kets tell Nouveau to ignore the line. You'll also note that there's a line that tells you not to modify anything at the bottom of the file. Please head it. NOTE: The changes you make to the NOUVEAU.CFG file will have no effect until you load Nouveau by entering "NV" at the DOS prompt. If Nouveau is already loaded when you change the file, you should re-boot your computer after the file has been saved and then run Nouveau again. -- HOTKEY Nouveau's default hotkey is ALT-N. To change it, you need to modify the two lines beginning with "HOT-KEY-LETTER" and "HOT-KEY- CODE". After the equals sign on the first of these lines, place the letter you wish to use in conjunction with the ALT key. After the second line's equals sign, place a code beginning with "$08" and end- ing with the two-digit sequence associated with the letter you placed onto the first line. Your choices are as follows: Q=10 W=11 E=12 R=13 T=14 Y=15 U=16 I=17 O=18 P=19 A=1E S=1F D=20 F=21 G=22 H=23 J=24 K=25 L=26 Z=2C X=2D C=2E V=2F B=30 N=31 M=32 Example: To make ALT-Q the hotkey, the first line should read, "HOT- CUSTOMIZING NOUVEAU 13 KEY-LETTER=Q", and the second should read, "HOT-KEY-CODE=$0810". If you'd like to use the CTRL key in place of the ALT key, substitute "$04" for "$08". -- COLORS You may designate the primary colors used by Nouveau. Just find the "FOREGROUND" and "BACKGROUND" and add the color codes you desire: 0 Black 1 Blue 2 Green 3 Cyan 4 Red 5 Magenta 6 Brown 7 Light Gray Be sure that the curly brackets are removed if you want these lines to be effective. -- BEEPING MESSAGES If you're on a Novell (tm) network and would like Nouveau to beep a workstation when a message is addressed to its user, remove the brackets from the "NOVELL" line. BE SURE to do so in ALL worksta- tions' NOUVEAU.CFG files. Also, go into the NV.BAT file, find the line that references NV-Beep, and place "rem " at the beginning of that line. That line isn't needed if you have Novell. If you're not on a Novell network, remove the brackets from the "CHECK-FOR-MESSAGES" line in EACH workstation's NOUVEAU.CFG file. Doing so will cause each workstation to check for new messages once a minute. Beeping won't occur as quickly as on a Novell network, but the recipient of a message will be notified of it within sixty sec- onds. Please also note that this memory-resident feature may conflict with some other software. -- BEEPING PITCH, and NUMBER of BEEPS If you're using the message beeping function you may wish to vary the pitch and number of beeps. The pitch of the beeping that signals the arrival of a message is determined by the "BEEP-FREQ" line. Fill in the desired frequency (in hertz) after the equals sign on this line. Note that some computer's can't reproduce very high or very low pitches. Therefore, you might want to keep within the 100-5000 range. The number of beeps emitted by your computer's speaker whenever an alarm sounds is determined by the "RINGS" line. If you enter "0" after the equals sign, the alarm won't sound at all; "1" to "8" will result in a corresponding number of beeps; if enter "9", the alarm will continue to sound until you press a key. CUSTOMIZING NOUVEAU 14 See the BEEPING MESSAGES discussion to find out how to turn on the message beeping function. -- WORD WRAP If you'd like to employ word-wrapping in multi-line descriptions, make sure that the "WORD-WRAP" line has no brackets. To turn off word-wrapping, enclose "WORD-WRAP" in curly brackets. Nouveau's word- wrap feature works only when the cursor is at the very end of your entry. That is, it functions only when you are adding something to the end of your entry, as is the case when you are typing in your entry from scratch. Word-wrap does not work if your are editing some- thing in the middle of your text. -- PRINTER PORT Whenever you try to print something with Nouveau, it will send information out printer port 1, unless you change the "PRINT-PORT" line. Just substitute the number of the printer port you want Nouveau to use. -- WRITE FILE Whenever you try to write to a disk file (by pressing Ctrl-F), it will send information to a file called "TEXT.PC", unless you change the "WRITE-FILE" line. Substitute the name of the file you want cre- ated or appended whenever Ctrl-F is pressed. And be sure to remove the curly brackets. -- KEYWORD HUNTS Normally, Nouveau will look at EVERY line in each record as it searches for a match to the keyword you enter at the beginning of a HUNT. If you'd like Nouveau to default to first-line-only searches (instead of entire-record searches), you should remove the brackets from the "COMPARE-1ST-LINE-ONLY" line. If, for instance, the first line of each record contains a name, and that's all you want Nouveau to consider in looking for a match, this option will be handy. See also the OPERATIONAL MODES section of these instructions. -- PRE-DESIGNATED FILE COPY DIRECTORY If you intend to copy files across the network in the MESSAGES module (see SENDING FILES ACROSS THE NETWORK in the USING THE PROGRAM section), you may wish to pre-designate a directory into which all such files will be copied. If you don't pre-designate it, you will be asked each time you copy a file to specify the destination directory. CUSTOMIZING NOUVEAU 15 To pre-designate the directory, remove the brackets from the "COPY-DIRECTORY=" line and specify the directory after the equals sign. Example: COPY-DIRECTORY=F:\COPIES Pre-designating the copy directory will also result in the program's automatically appending each message with a short note telling the reader which files were copied to that directory while the message was being prepared. Hence, the sender of the message won't have to waste any extra time typing in such a note, himself. -- TAGGING MESSAGES AS "OLD" Normally, once a message has been read, Nouveau will tag it as "old". This will keep you from re-encountering it whenever you want to scan the database for only your NEW messages. Since pressing the PgDn key is normally the way to move from one new message to another, that keystroke will also cause each new mes- sage to be tagged as "old". But what if you normally DON'T want to tag messages as "old", even though they've been read? To override Nouveau's presumption that a message, once read, should be tagged as "old", find the "OMIT-MESSAGE" line in the NOUVEAU.CFG and remove the brackets. That will cause Nouveau to al- ways pause when you finish reading a message. At that point, the program will ask whether you wish to: - OMIT the message entirely from the database; - TAG the message as "old", but keep it in the database; - SAVE the message as is (without omitting or tagging as "old"); - REPLY to the message (and tag it as "old"); - FORWARD the message to someone else (that is, send a copy to another workstation, and tag your copy as "old"). Remember, tagging a message as "old" will make finding new mes- sages faster in the future, while omitting it will achieve the same result AND also keep your messages database from growing too large. -- ARCHIVING OMITTED MESSAGES If you want Nouveau to save omitted messages in a separate text file, remove the brackets from the "ARCHIVE" line. Then, whenever anyone on the LAN omits a message, it will be appended to a file called "MESSAGES.OLD" on the server. That way, you'll always be able to read your old messages with a word processor, even after they've been omitted from the Nouveau data base. One drawback to this is that the MESSAGES.OLD file will just keep growing and growing until you either erase it or pare it down with your word processor. Another CUSTOMIZING NOUVEAU 16 drawback is that anyone will be able to read anyone else's old mes- sages just by using a word processor to look at MESSAGES.OLD. -- WORKSTATION IDENTIFICATION If you'd like Nouveau to automatically check for a proper entry whenever you type in someone's initials, you should first create an ASCII text file on the server called "NETUSERS.LBF". The NETUSERS.LBF file may contain up to 99 lines, each of which should contain identifying initials for one user on the net. Each set of initials may be up to three characters long. If you're on a LAN which identifies each workstation by a one- to three-character se- quence, the NETUSERS.LBF initials that identify an employee should be the same as that employee's workstation network ID. In addition to initials (or network ID), each line in the NET- USERS.LBF file should also contain up to fifteen letters of the iden- tified user's name, enclosed in quotes. Always place the last name first, then a comma, and then the first name or initials. Here's an example NETUSERS.LBF file for a network having three workstations: ACR "Raymond, Allen" TPM "Mann, Thomas P" KOL "Lawrence, Keri" Remember, the initials used to identify each workstation's user should match those recognized by the network for that workstation (if the network employs a user ID scheme). By the way, also note that these same initials identifying a workstation should match those contained in that workstation's NV.BAT file. In addition to identifying individual users, the NETUSERS.LBF file may also identify up to 10 user groups, each with up to 10 mem- bers. This makes it easier to enter a message (in the MESSAGES mod- ule) to all members of a group, such as the secretarial staff or the public relations section. A group is identified in the NETUSERS.LBF file by placing an equals sign after the group ID, and then following that with the ID of each member in the group. Example: ACR "Raymond, Allen" TPM "Mann, Thomas P" KOL "Lawrence, Keri" SEC=TPM,KOL PR=KOL,ACR,TPM Here, each workstation user's initials (ACR, TPM, and KOL) and name appear by themselves on a single line. A group (SEC or PR) is iden- tified by placing an equals sign after the group ID initials. The CUSTOMIZING NOUVEAU 17 equals sign is followed by the group's members, each separated from the others by commas. Note that each member of a group must have pre- viously been identified in the file as a workstation user. Please note that if you use a group designator at the "TO" item of a message (in the MESSAGES module), a separate message will be sent to each member of the group. Assume that group ZZZ consists of users DEF and MNO. If you sent a message to group ZZZ, the program would actually store no message to "ZZZ"; instead, it would send separate messages to "DEF" and "MNO". Any ASCII text editor may be used to set up NETUSERS.LBF. To use Nouveau, itself, to create this file, use the "NOUVEAU servDskDir\NETUSERS.LBF" command, where "servDskDir" is the server disk\directory used to store NOUVEAU data (eg: "NOUVEAU H:\MANAGEX\NETUSERS.LBF"). If you create NETUSERS.LBF with a word processor, ensure that you save it as an ASCII file. CUSTOMIZING NOUVEAU 18 APPENDIX: TUNING UP PERFORMANCE Nouveau is a large program that would consume about 185K of mem- ory if the entire software were kept in memory waiting for you to press the hotkey. But that would leave you with 185K less memory to run your other applications. Therefore, efforts have been made to reduce the memory required by the program when it's lurking in the background. On the assumption that memory is more precious to most users than is time, Nouveau has been optimized to use as little memory as possible, even though that means that it might take a little longer for it to respond when you press its hotkey. Rather than keep Nouveau's entire code in memory when you're using another program, only a small "kernal" is maintained in RAM. When you press the hotkey, your current application is saved to disk or EMS (LIM-specification expanded memory), and then Nouveau is loaded from disk or EMS. When you temporarily exit Nouveau, it is then saved, while your former application is re-loaded. The memory-swap- ping that takes place whenever you enter or exit Nouveau will take time. How much swapping time is required depends upon whether the swapping is between RAM and your hard disk or between RAM and other memory. If Nouveau recognizes that you have sufficient EMS memory avail- able (185K), such memory will automatically be used, minimizing swap time significantly. If no EMS is recognized, the program will assume that you want it to swap to the disk directory from which Nouveau was loaded. If you have EMS and Nouveau does not recognize it, please don't call to report it; there are several incompatible EMS schemes floating around, and Nouveau can't recognize them all. If you don't have EMS, but do have a extended memory, you might want to set up a large RAM disk and tell Nouveau to use it for swap- ping. That'll speed things up quite a bit. Make sure that the RAM disk you use will be used for NOTHING other than Nouveau, TickleX and/or BillPower. How big a RAM disk do you need? If you're using it just for Nou- veau, it should be at least 300K. Add another 825K if you also want to install BillPower as a pop-up, and yet another 780K if you use Tic- kleX as a pop-up. To tell Nouveau which RAM disk to use, you'll need to alter the NV.BAT file. Place the RAM disk designation at the third parameter following "nouveau". Example: nouveau x x e: tells Nouveau to use drive E as the swap drive. Remember that you use the designated RAM disk for NOTHING other than Nouveau, BillPower and TickleX program swapping. TUNING UP PERFORMANCE 19 IMPORTANT: As mentioned above, if you don't have sufficient EMS memory and haven't designated a RAM disk, Nouveau will swap to the hard disk. When swapping to the hard disk, the program creates and uses two hid- den files, "NVSWP.___" and "NVAPPSWP.___". Normally, you won't have any problems with disk swapping. But if, after having loaded Nouveau, you use other programs that cause your available hard disk space to drop below 300 kilobytes, you may get a "FATAL SWAP ERROR" when you try to pop into Nouveau. If that happens, you'll have to re-boot your machine, probably losing whatever you'd been working on when you pressed the hotkey. The lesson here is that you should not try using the program as a pop-up unless you're sure that you'll never come close to running out of space on whatever drive the program will be using for swapping. TUNING UP PERFORMANCE 20 APPENDIX: BACKING UP YOUR DATA Some day, you're going to lose data from your hard disk. It may be as the result of hardware failure, user error, or software malfunc- tion. IT IS GOING TO HAPPEN! And when it does, you'll have a ter- rible time replacing lost data, unless you've taken the care to make backups on a daily basis. Please back up your Nouveau data regularly. The files that con- tain your valuable data are: "*.LB*" and "*.DAT", and they're all located in your hard disk's (both the local and server, if you're on a network) MANAGEX directory. Copy these files to a diskette every day, and store the diskette in a safe place. Use one diskette for backing up on even-numbered days, another for odd-numbered days, another for weekly backups, and yet another for monthly backups. Someday, you'll be glad you've taken these precautions. Or you'll regret not having done so. BACKING UP YOUR DATA 21 THE "POWER OFFICE" LINE-UP Each unique program in this series requires a hard disk-equipped IBM-compatible PC with 512K of memory. The following paragraphs contain brief descriptions. RAMdesk --> pop-up network message system, calculator, scheduler, phone directory, time/work/expense log, data base BillPower --> time & billing with totally integrated general ledger (can be invoked as either stand-alone or POP-UP program) TickleX --> the ultimate in scheduling/planning/docket control (can be invoked as either stand-alone or POP-UP program) MT-Tracker --> TickleX's scheduling power, plus client management ReSearch --> research/evidence organizer for litigation support Order a registered or an unregistered copy of each program. Use the Order Form at the beginning of the documentation.