          QVCS -- Quma Version Control System $Version: Release 3.3 beta 1 - March 27, 1999 $.
   $Copyright ©  1991-1999 Quma Software, Inc.  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. $

========================================================================
RIGHTS TO USE AND DISCLAIMER. This version of QVCS may be distributed
provided it is distributed in the same form that it was received. This
release of QVCS is "shareware". Any distribution MUST include the
readme.txt file and all the files listed in the readme.txt as files
contained in the qvcs3232.zip archive. Any use of QVCS (commercial or 
non-commercial) is encouraged, though Quma Software, Inc. provides NO 
WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, THAT QVCS IS USEFUL FOR
ANYTHING. IN NO EVENT SHALL QUMA SOFTWARE, INC. BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES
WHATSOEVER INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, LOSS
OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF QUMA SOFTWARE, INC. HAS 
BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. If after 60 days of use, 
you want to continue to use QVCS, you must pay a registration fee. See 
the license.txt file for details.
========================================================================

This file briefly describes how to get started using QVCS.  If you've
gotten far enough to read this file, then you've succeeded in unzipping
the QVCS3232.ZIP (the 32-bit 3.2 release) archive.

The archive contains the files:

readme.txt      what you're reading
upgrade.txt     describes 3.2 changes for 3.1 users
license.txt     The QVCS license
tips.txt        A file that contains the "Tip of the Day" tips 
                that appear when you launch QWin3.exe.

qput.exe        store (put) a revision in a logfile
qget.exe        fetch (get) a revision
qlock.exe       lock a revision
qlog.exe        report logfile and revision info
qident.exe      find QVCS keywords in any file
qmodhdr.exe     modify logfile header info
qmerge.exe      merge separate edits of same file
qdelrev.exe     delete revisions from logfile
qmodrev.exe     modify logfile info for specific revision
qdiff.exe       compare files and/or revisions
qedit.exe       apply results of qdiff to convert a file from one
                revision to another
qstamp.exe      version stamp a logfile or set of logfiles
qunlock.exe     unlock a revision
qunstamp.exe    remove a version stamp from a logfile or set of logfiles
qwin3.exe       QVCS 3.2 for Windows
qwin3.hlp       Windows help file for qwin3 and QVCS.

qvcsmsgf        message file used by all QVCS utilities.


The Minimum you must do to use QVCS:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Create a single directory for all the files in this archive, and copy
   all the files to that directory.  If you plan on working
   on a network, put all the qvcs files into a network directory
   accessible to anyone that you expect to use it.  MAKE SURE THEY
   HAVE READ/WRITE RIGHTS TO THE DIRECTORY.

2. Create an program group for qvcs, and/or a shortcut to qwin3.exe.

3. Launch qwin3.exe.  It will guide you through logging in for the
   first time.

4. Consult the on-line help for additional guidance.


Additional setup steps if you plan on using the command line utilities:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5. Define 1 environment variable:

    	SET QVCS_ID=<YourName>

   where <YourName> is the name you use to login to qwin3, and is the
   name that QVCS will use to identify you and the changes that you
   make.

6. Add an entry to your path for the directory where you put the
   qvcs executables.


7. Define the timezone environment variable:

        SET TZ=<Your time zone>

   For example, if you lived on the east coast, you'd define your TZ
   variable as:

    	SET TZ=EST5EDT

   The timezone environment variable tells QVCS your timezone so it can
   apply timestamps intelligently.  The four timezones in the contiguous
   U.S. are:  EST5EDT (Eastern), CST6CDT (Central), MST7MDT (Mountain), and
   PST8PDT (Pacific).  Other timezones are supported too; just make sure the
   4th character of the TZ environment variable identifies the offset of your
   time zone from Greenwich Mean Time.

8. Reboot or logoff and logon so your changes to the environment can take 
   effect.


QVCS Briefly
~~~~~~~~~~~~
QVCS is a version control system.  It allows you to capture snapshots of
work in progress so you can safely move on to newer revisions of your
work.  It matches most of the features of market leading products,
and introduces several features that make it uniquely valuable.

qwin3.exe is a 32-bit Windows application.  It can run only on Windows '95,
Windows '98 or Windows NT/4.0.  It will NOT run under Windows 3.1 or NT 3.51.

For the command line utilities, typing the name of any QVCS utility with
no other command line arguments will display the help topic for that
utility.


Standard QVCS features include:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* save a file revision
* retrieve a file revision
* lock a revision for update
* unlock a locked revision
* parallel development of the same source file (branching)
* compress logfiles to minimize storage
* embed revision comments in source at point of revision.
* "floating" versions
* "automatic" branching
* etc...


Features unique to QVCS:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* You can alter revision descriptions and have the altered descriptions
  appear in your source code without having to separately edit your source
  code.
* You can alter a module description and have the altered description
  appear in your source code without having to separately edit your source
  code.
* Unique $LogXX$ keyword allows you to show only the most recent XX
  revision descriptions in your source.  For example, a LogXX of Log5
  will expand only the 5 newest revision descriptions.
* Turn off keyword expansion when fetching revisions to leave keywords
  in their unexpanded state for ease in editing.
* The QVCS message file allows you to customize QVCS to suit your tastes.

Please read license.txt for terms and conditions of use.

Suggestions for improvements are always welcome.  Bug reports too, are welcome 
from registered and unregistered users alike.


QVCS Keywords
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you enable keyword expansion, QVCS will expand keywords to provide
automated documentation for your source files.  QVCS supports the
following keywords (for expanded examples of the Version and Copyright
keywords, see the top of this file):

Author      expands to the author of the current revision.
Comment     allows you to embed revision comments within your
            workfile and have those comments automatically entered
            into the description of that revision when stored.
Copyright   expands to a copyright message of your own.
Date        expands to the edit date of the file used to create
            the current revision
Endlog      marks the end of and expanded log. You should NOT use
            this keyword!
Filename    expands to the name of the workfile into which the
            revision is being retrieved.
Header      expands to the name of the workfile, the current
            revision, the file date, and the file owner.
Log         expands to list ALL revision descriptions.
LogX        expands to list the X most recent revision descriptions.
Logfile     expands to the full pathname of the logfile.
Owner       expands to the person who created the logfile.
Revision    expands to the revision number of the current revision.
VER         expands to the name of the source file (without the
            file extension), plus the version string associated
            with the current revision.
Version     expands the the version name associated with the current
            revision.


Limitations
~~~~~~~~~~~
* QVCS won't allow you to create logfiles for filenames that contain the
  $ or ! character.
* QVCS will only let you create branches to a depth of 20.
* QVCS does most of its work in memory.  If you work with really large
  files, you'll need lots of memory in order for QVCS utilities to
  succeed.
* For Windows 3.1 users, QVCS command line utilities in qvcs1625.zip use a
  DOS extender and therefore require a 386 or better CPU.
* Because of the DOS extender, The version of QVCS command utilities in
  qvcs1625.zip will not work under Windows NT.  Windows95 and Windows/NT
  users should make sure to use the utilities in qvcs3232.zip instead.
* QVCS 2.5 and QVCS 3.2 use the same archive file format, but they 
  must be installed into separate directories.


Bugs
~~~~
For the latest information on bugs, see the Quma Software website:

                         http://www.qumasoft.com/

To report bugs, please send me e-mail (bugs@qumasoft.com) describing the
problem with as much detail as possible.


Updates
~~~~~~~
The latest version of QVCS for Windows95/NT is always available via
anonymous FTP from:  ftp.qumasoft.com in the file qvcs32xx.zip.
The current release is 3.2, so the archive is named qvcs3232.zip.

Generally the latest information on the current release is posted to the
Quma Software WEB site so you should check there for information that
may be more recent than the information contained here.


Please communicate suggestions and bug reports to:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
bugs@qumasoft.com or

Quma Software, Inc.
20 Warren Manor Court
Cockeysville, MD  21030

