                      WELCOME TO dBASE for Windows
                      ----------------------------

This file contains important, late-breaking information about dBASE for
Windows, including updates to the printed documentation.


TABLE OF CONTENTS
-----------------
0.  Notes for previous field test sites
1.  Configuration System Requirements
2.  dBASE SpeedFilter Optimization
3.  Documentation Updates
4.  Compatibility Issues
5.  Common Support Questions & Answers
6.  Known Problems
7.  Acknowledgments


0.  NOTES FOR PREVIOUS FIELD TEST SITES
---------------------------------------
Forms:
   Forms created with previous field test releases will have to be 
   converted with SCALE.PRG.  This can be found in the \dBASEWIN\UTILITY 
   directory.  This is a tool for converting earlier font versions of 
   dBASE for Windows form files to the latest scale fonts.  This program 
   will copy the original file to <filename>.org, and modify the .wfm file
   to contain coordinates based on the latest scale Fonts.

      USAGE:        Scale("file1.wfm","file2.wfm",...)

Menus:
   Menus files (.mnu) created with the previous field test need to have the 
   ID property removed and to be re-compiled with this build.  


1.  CONFIGURATION AND SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
-----------------------------------------

System requirements:

  - DOS 3.1 or higher
  - Windows version 3.1
  - 6 MB RAM required, 8 MB recommended
  - 32 MB free disk space for a complete installation
  - 10 MB free disk space for minimum installation


Supported Network Operating Systems:
   Netware 2.2, 3.11, 3.12, 4.01
   Personal Netware (Novell DOS 7)
   Banyan Vines 5.0
   DecNet Pathworks 4.1
   IBM LAN Server 3.0  
   MS LAN Manager 2.1
   Lantastic 6.0
   Windows for Workgroups 3.11

Database Engine Configuration:

   Your DBASEWIN.INI file lets you specify a default IDAPI 
   configuration file to use whenever dBASE is started.  However, if 
   another IDAPI-based product is already running when you start dBASE 
   for Windows, dBASE will use the IDAPI configuration file that is
   already activated.  To check which configuration file is currently 
   active, open the IDAPI Configuration Utility and note which file is 
   displayed.  If you open the IDAPI Configuration Utility when no IDAPI 
   application is running, the Configuration Utility displays the 
   configuration file specified in the IDAPI section of your WIN.INI file.
   If dBASE is using a different configuration file and you want to change 
   those parameters, you must use File |Open to explicitly open that file.

   Local share must be TRUE to use both dBASE for Windows and
   other Borland products that use ODAPI, the previous version
   of the engine.

   If you are using Paradox tables or doing a SQLEXEC() on a shared drive 
   (network), you will need to enter a valid path into the NET DIR setting
   for the Paradox driver in the IDAPI.CFG.  See instructions above on how
   use the IDAPI Configuration Utility.


2. dBASE SpeedFilter OPTIMIZATION
---------------------------------
dBASE SpeedFilters provide the fastest access to your dBASE tables.  See
the SpeedFilter topic in online Help for more information.


3.  DOCUMENTATION UPDATES
-------------------------

Getting Started/User's Guide updates

  See section 1 of this README file for an updated list of supported
  networks.

  Navigator and Command Window changes:
  Double-clicking the Control menu box or choosing File|Close minimizes
  these windows.
 
Language Reference/Programmer's Guide updates

  The following language elements are not available in this release:

    Copy() method (Array class); use ACOPY() instead
    ReleaseOnClose property (Form class)
    ScaleFontBold property (Form class)
    ScaleFontItalic property (Form class)
    ScaleFontStrikeOut property (Form class)
    ScaleFontUnderline property (Form class)

  See on-line Help for updated information on the following command:

   MSGBOX() function - opens a dialog box that displays a message
   and pushbuttons; returns a numeric value that corresponds 
   to the pushbutton the user chooses.

      Usage: MSGBOX(<message expC>, [<title expC>, [<box type expN>]])

  If you run code samples from the Language Reference manual or
  the Programmer's Guide that show forms and controls, some
  controls may appear misaligned on screen.  To adjust, switch to
  design mode and re-align the controls, or adjust the values of
  the Top, Left, Height, and Width properties accordingly.
 
  Please consider on-line Help your most up-to-date source of 
  information on the dBASE language.
 

4.  COMPATIBILITY ISSUES
------------------------
dBASE DOS Applications:

   Declaring a variable PRIVATE that is in use as the screen
   name for SAVE SCREEN TO <screen name> returns the runtime error 
   'Variable undefined: <screen name>'.  dBASE for Windows handles 
   <screen name> differently than dBASE IV did,  creating <screen name>
   as a PUBLIC memory variable.

   dBASE for Windows does not support dBASE IV Label and Report binary
   files (LBL and FRM).  Use the Component Builder to convert them 
   to Crystal Reports .RPL and .RPT files.  dBASE IV .LBG and .FRG label 
   and report files may be run as source code.

   To honor Windows keystroke behavior, Ctrl-Home and Ctrl-End no longer 
   are used to open and close memo fields.  F9 is used to open them. 
   F9, Ctrl-W, or <Esc> is used to close them.

   F9 and double click are used to open memo, OLE, and binary fields 
   in dBASE for Windows.  If your application uses the ON KEY LABEL F9 
   <command> to redefine F9 for these fields, double click on the icons 
   to open them.
 
   The SET STATUS ON/OFF command is not available in dBASE for Windows.
   However, you may still use the Application page of the Desktop Properties
   dialog to turn the status bar on or off.  Also, another way of doing this 
   is in the dBASEWIN.INI file where you can change the setting of StatusBar 
   to OFF or ON in the Desktop section. This must be done before entering 
   dBASE for Windows.

   Append from Array will require matching data types between the array 
   element and the corresponding field in the Table.  This is not required 
   in dBASE for DOS.

   In dBASE IV, SET PRINTER TO FILE <device or file> and SET PRINTER TO 
   <device or file> were identical.  In dBASE for Windows, the SET PRINTER 
   TO FILE <file> option now bypasses the Windows print driver, therefore, no 
   printer control codes are inserted.  If you want to continue to capture the
   Windows print driver output in a file, use SET PRINTER TO <file> instead.


5.  COMMON SUPPORT QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
--------------------------------------
Answers to Common Configuration Questions

Q1:  The Getting Started book referred me to the README.TXT for how much
hard disk space I need to install dBASE for Windows.  How much is
required?

A1:  Full installation requires 24 MB.  If space is a problem, select
custom installation and change the options to include only the
functionality you require.  Minimum installation requires 10 MB of hard
disk space.  In addition, you should have 1.5 MB of free drive space on
the drive/partition where Windows is installed (if installing on a
different drive/partition).  When using a compressed drive, allow a plus
20 percent margin more than required.

Q2:  The Getting Started book says 6 MB of RAM is required (8 MB
preferred).  I have many 4 MB RAM machines.  Will they run dBASE for
Windows?

A2:  A 4 MB RAM machine has 3 MB of extended memory available before 
anything else is loaded into extended memory.  Running Windows 3.1 
requires SMARTDRIVE to be installed which typically takes 1 MB of extended
memory.  The 2 MB of extended memory remaining is then used by Windows in
conjunction with a (Windows) swap file created on your hard drive.  All
your Windows programs will be sharing this limited resource.  dBASE for
Windows will likely run on this environment but with reduced performance.
The product is recommended for machines that have the specified (6 MB or
more) amount of RAM.

Q3:   Does dBASE for Windows operate in lower conventional memory or 
extended memory?

A3:  dBASE for Windows is a true Windows application and operates under
the Windows virtual memory manager.  A permanent (Windows) swap file is
preferred over a temporary swap file, and it should be of sufficient size
to support however many Windows applications you may be running
simultaneously.

Q4:  How do I access these Windows memory management controls?

A4: a) Choose Window's Control Panel
    b) Choose 386 Enhanced.
    c) Click the Virtual Memory push button.
    d) Click the Change push button.
    e) Choose "Permanent Swap File".
    f) Increase the value of the New Size option.

Q5:   With dBASE IV Version 2.0, I needed to evaluate my extended memory 
configuration on a 4 MB RAM machine to make more extended memory available 
to reduce the size of the (dBASE) swap file that was created by dBASE's 
Virtual Memory Manager (VMM).  Do I need to concern myself with these 
configuration issues?

A5:  The more extended memory that is available on your machine, the
larger the Windows swap file can be as addressed in questions 3 and 4.
dBASE IV for DOS' VMM mode is no longer a consideration.  Also, a minimum
of 6MB RAM is recommended to run dBASE for Windows.

Q6:  Why isn't there an option to install cache during installation?

A6:  dBASE for Windows operates within the Windows virtual memory 
environment as discussed in questions 3 and 4 above.  Caching is 
accomplished by Windows Smartdrive.

Q7:  Can dBASE IV and 5.0 for DOS and dBASE 5 for Windows be installed on 
the same machine?  Which one will start when I issue the dBASE command at 
DOS with dBASE in my PATH?

A7:  dBASE for DOS, (dBASE IV or dBASE 5.0) starts by calling DBASE.EXE.
dBASE for Windows has an executable file named DBASEWIN.EXE.  The command
DBASE, issued at DOS will execute dBASE for DOS.  The command DBASEWIN,
issued at DOS, will give you a DOS error "Not a DOS Program".  You must
start Windows first.  The command WIN DBASEWIN from DOS will start dBASE
for Windows.  Typically dBASE for Windows will be run from the Program
Manager in Windows.

Q8:  All my old data files (.DBF, .DBT, .MDX, .QBE, .FMT, .FRG, Etc.) are 
located on my C:\DBASE or C:\DBASE\DATA subdirectory.  Do I have to move 
them to the DBASEWIN directory?

A8:  Subdirectory selection is easy from the Navigator in dBASE for
Windows.  Enter the correct path in the entry field or click on the file
icon to select a new directory.  Files in various directories can also be
organized in a catalog.  When running dBASE for Windows, it is ok to
change the current directory to a directory on which dBASE for DOS is
installed to access data files.

Q9:  I want dBASE for Windows to go to my data files in 
C:\DBASEWIN\PROJECTA each time I start the program.  How do I do that?

A9:  By default, dBASE places the command line Directory=C:\DBASEWIN\SAMPLES
in the text file C:\DBASEWIN\BIN\DBASEWIN.INI during installation.  When you 
change the current directory in the Navigator and close dBASE for Windows, 
dBASE writes a change to the DBASEWIN.INI file so that you will return to 
the same directory the next time you start dBASE for Windows.  Note that 
the default command settings also include "PATH=C:\DBASEWIN\SAMPLES" which 
makes resources on the SAMPLES directory available when called from a 
program even though the current directory might be any other directory.    

Q10:  In dBASE for DOS, loading printer drivers in DBSETUP was a 
pre-requisite for optimizing printing capabilities.  Do I need to worry 
about that with dBASE for Windows?

A10:  dBASE for DOS used the DOS print engine to send ASCII based print 
jobs to the printer from LPT1 (default).  dBASE for Windows uses the 
Windows print engine, which is configured by selecting the Control Panel 
from the Windows Main menu, and then selecting Printers to access the 
Printers dialog box.  

Q11:  Where can I get more information and examples about programming with
dBASE for Windows?

A11:  Additional samples and example source code are available in the 
dBASE forum on CompuServe.

Q12:  As a dBASE DOS user, SESSIONs are new to me.  Where can I get more 
information about how these work?

A12:  See the "About Sessions" topic under "dBASE for Windows Basics" in 
the dBASE for Windows Help file.


6.  KNOWN PROBLEMS IN THIS RELEASE
----------------------------------

ANSI Fonts are not  Supported in the Command Results Pane: 

   dBASE III and IV applications will not display data correctly 
   when the font of the command results window has been changed 
   from Terminal, 9.  Even when the Command Results Pane font is
   changed to an ANSI fixed space font (like courier new) the 
   following will occur.

    DEFINE WINDOW/ACTIVATE WINDOW displays in the 
           Terminalfont 
    @..TO will not convert to ANSI
    @..SAY..GET always display in the Terminal font
    POPUPs are always displayed in the Terminal font
    DEFINE/ACTIVATE MENU always display in Terminal font

General
  Codepage 850 users: Appending data from a text file created in codepage
  850 does not work correctly in this field test. The data appended to
  the table is converted to the codepage 437 character set, so data loss
  occurs in some cases. For this release, the workaround is to quit dBASE 
  for Windows and change the IDAPI System language driver to match the 
  dBASE language driver. 

  The VALUE property of ENTRYFIELD, SPINBOX and COMBOBOX incorrectly
  rounds down numeric values to the base number when the decimal point
  separator is set to a comma. (the European format). For example, 10.10
  is stored as 10.00. 

  Accented characters are incorrectly imported from Lotus 1-2-3 .WK1
  spreadsheets.  

  READs are truncating GETs after 50 characters.

  DEBUG command prior to a form which has an entryfield linked to a date or
  a large number does not work.  This is only in a program.

CATALOGS
  Associations often appear with non-related files. 
        
CRYSTAL REPORTS FOR dBASE
  The Expression Builder doesn't work when modifying an existing report. 

  Creating a new report, crosstab or label from within Crystal reports
  will hang the machine when a table with a mismatch language driver is
  used.  The workaround in this field test is to set language driver
  checking OFF before loading Crystal Reports. To switch off this option,
  uncheck the "Language Driver Check" option in the "Properties |
  Desktop..." dialog. This option is located on the Table page of the
  dialog.
  

  In this field test, the Crystal Reports support and registration screen
  appears during each dBASE session when you first start the report 
  designer.  This will be removed in the final release.


QBE
  Incorrect code is generated when a Paradox composite key field is 
  selected. 
             
Interactive Tutors
  Creating a report and single query topics does not currently work.


  The help file for the Interactive tutor does not work.

Component Builder
  The Component Builder generates incorrect code for menus and forms when
  the numeric decimal point separator is set to a comma (the European
  format). The workaround is to set the decimal point separator to "."
  before running the convertor. Use the "Properties | Desktop..." dialog
  to change the decimal point separator.

7.  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 
--------------------
Some of the sound files were provided by Programmer's Warehouse from Sound
Explosion for Windows.  Copyright (c) Programmer's Warehouse.  All rights
reserved.  Licensed sounds Copyright (c) 1990-1992 The Hollywood Edge.

Sample music data provided by AudioFile, providers of current information
for the retail music industry.  Product listed in this database is
available through Sound Delivery, 1280 Santa Anita Court, Woodland, CA
95776."

