
                  WELCOME TO dBASE for Windows v1.00
                  ----------------------------------
Released by the * Undercover Agents * - wait for more releases
in the near future. -= UA 8/93 =-

This README file contains installation instructions, information 
about how to contact Borland, and important last-minute information 
about dBASE for Windows.

You have been selected as a test site because you have agreed to
provide feedback on your experience with dBASE. Your opinions 
regarding features and implementation will help dBASE continue to be 
the leading PC database standard.  Thank you in advance for letting us 
know what you think.

Please focus on these areas in this Alpha release. (See "Important
Features" below for more information):
 
- dBASE DOS compatibility
- dBASE language object extensions
- dBASE language UI extensions
- User interface components, such as the File Viewer window, Expression
  Builder, QBE Designer, Table Designer, and the menu system

Performance tuning has not been a priority during the 
implementation of Alpha.  However, if you find any area or program
construct that seems behind on performance, we would like to know.

The CompuServe forum has proven to be a valuable place to communicate
your feedback to us and to discuss dBASE with other testers.
See below for more information on how to log on to the dBASE
forum.

IMPORTANT: The enclosed survey must be completed and returned if you 
wish to continue in the dBASE pre-release test program.

Contents
--------
I.   Installation and Configuration
II.  Overview of Components
III. Important Features
IV.  Getting Help & Reporting Bugs
V.   Known Problems
VI.  Acknowledgements

Installation and Configuration 
------------------------------

System requirements:

  - DOS 3.1 or higher
  - Windows version 3.1
  - 4 MB RAM required, 6 MB recommended
  - 10 MB free disk space
    IMPORTANT: Attempting to install with less than 10 MB of free disk
               space may cause a General Protection Fault.

Follow these steps to install dBASE:

  1. Back up your hard drive. We recommend this step before installing any
     pre-release software that is being tested.

  2. Insert disk 1 in a floppy drive. (The rest of these instructions assume
     you are using drive A. Substitute your drive letter if necessary.)

  3. From Windows: Choose File|Run from the Program Manager,
                   type: A:INSTALL.EXE
                   choose OK.
     OR

     From DOS: Make sure Windows is on your DOS path, from the DOS prompt
               type: WIN A:\INSTALL  

  4. Follow the instructions on the screen, and insert floppy disks as
     prompted. 

     Note: If you install dBASE on a drive letter higher than C, the
           Install program may report incorrect numbers for Available Space
           and Required Space. You can ignore these numbers and continue.

Configuration:

DBASEWIN.INI

The dBASE configuration file is DBASEWIN.INI. DBASEWIN.INI is the
dBASE equivalent of the dBASE DOS CONFIG.DB file. The Install
program copies DBASEWIN.INI to your WINDOWS subdirectory.

DBASEWIN.INI is structured like a typical Windows .INI file. Settings are 
grouped into sections, which are marked by a name in brackets, such as
[Fonts]. In this Alpha release, only these settings are implemented:

[Windows]   Specifies the startup location of the Command and Command
            Results windows. 

[Fonts]     Defines the default fonts. The Streaming Output topic,
            STRMOUT.TXT, discusses these settings.

[Settings]  Specifies default settings for SET commands. Currently,
            only the PATH setting is implemented. For example,
            PATH=C:\DBASEWIN\SAMPLES

ODAPI

The configuration file for ODAPI is ODAPI.CFG. dBASE uses ODAPI as
its data engine. Using ODAPI, dBASE accesses dBASE, Paradox and SQL 
tables. In this Alpha release, the interface between dBASE and ODAPI 
is not fully implemented. You can use Paradox tables, but they have not 
been fully tested. Do not attempt to use SQL tables.

Note for Paradox/Windows 1.0 users and Quattro Pro/Windows 5.0 beta testers

If you have ODAPI01.DLL in WINDOWS\SYSTEM (or another directory in the search 
path before the DBASEWIN directory) then be sure not to change the working 
directory in the dBASE for Windows icon. dBASE has its own version of 
ODAPI01.DLL in the DBASEWIN\BIN directory. If the working directory in the 
dBASE for Windows icon says something other than DBASEWIN\BIN, dBASE 
may try to use the Paradox ODAPI01.DLL and will give an error.

WIN.INI

The Install program looks for an [ODAPI] section in WIN.INI. If Install
does not find an [ODAPI] section, it adds one, using the dBASE BIN
directory as the path for ODAPI.CFG.

If Install does find an [ODAPI] section (because you previously installed
Quattro Pro for Windows or Paradox for Windows), Install does not modify
WIN.INI. Instead, dBASE uses the Quattro or Paradox ODAPI.CFG.


Overview of Components
----------------------

Software components 

Filelist.doc lists the files that make up this Alpha release of 
dBASE.

Documentation components

Documentation for this Alpha release is online. The online help lists the
language syntax. The following text files, installed in the DOC subdirectory
and also available in the online help, provide topical introductions to 
dBASE features:
 
  DOSAPPS.TXT    Running dBASE DOS Applications
  OOPEXTEN.TXT   The dBASE OOP Language Extensions
  UI_EXTEN.TXT   The dBASE UI Language Extensions
  STRMOUT.TXT    Streaming Output in dBASE
  DEBUGGER.TXT   Using the dBASE Debugger 
  TESTING.TXT    Testing dBASE Programs (Coverage Analyzer)
  DLL_API.TXT    Calling DLLs and the Windows API
  CATALOG.TXT    The Catalog System
  XBUILDER.TXT   Using the Expression Builder
  QUERY.TXT      Introduction to the Query Designer
  DBLANG.WRI     Lists the new elements added to dBASE, including
                 the object extensions. (Use Write to view this file.)
  SAMPLES.TXT    Describes the sample programs
                 Note: The description of WINAPI.H was inadvertently omitted. 
                       WINAPI.H prototypes several popular Windows API calls
                       using dBASE's EXTERN command.
              
  

Important Features 
------------------

dBASE IV compatibility: This is a major area of focus.  Whatever dBASE IV
    code you have, please try it out under dBASE for Win.  Feedback in this
    area is important to make the transition from DOS to WINDOWS as smooth
    as possible. See DOSAPPS.TXT

Object extensions:  Our object extensions bring modern programming concepts
    such as classes, methods and property programming to dBASE.  
    See OOPEXTEN.TXT and DBLANG.WRI.

New UI language extensions:  In addition to strict compatibility, 
    dBASE adds a number of new capabilities to the language in order
    to take advantage of the Windows environment.  See UI_EXTEN.TXT.

Error numbers: The dBASE error system has been designed to work
    transparently with different types of data and is not completely
    compatible with dBASE IV. We would like your feedback on the most
    common dBASE IV error numbers that we should continue to support.
		
Our new Desktop, while not complete, presents a File Viewer, replaces the 
    dot prompt with the new Command Window and Command Results Window.  
    In addition, there is an elaborate menu system to access the many parts
    of the desktop.  Your comments are welcome. See Catalog.txt.
		
The Expression Builder (See XBUILDER.TXT) and the Table Designer represent 
    new approaches to old dBASE concepts: the expression and the table.  
	
The Debugger represents the kind of modern tools a dBASE user can expect.
    See Debugger.txt
	
Query.txt describes Query By Example as it will be implemented in 
    dBASE. In addition, Strmout.txt describes printing in dBASE.



Getting Help & Reporting Bugs 
-----------------------------

To get technical support from Borland, and report bugs, use CompuServe.
The special CompuServe forum for dBASE testers is called BORABETA.

Type GO BORABETA  from any '!' prompt and leave your message in section 10.

If you have any difficulty, call Lynda Greer at one of these numbers:
                                                                     

	Inside CA 1-800-742-XXXX Ext XXXX
	Outside CA 1-800-231-XXXX Ext XXXX


Known Problems 
--------------

The following is a list of known problem areas:
	
- Changes made to a field through a GET or ENTRYFIELD are not saved unless
  you move the record pointer (i.e. with SKIP) before closing the table.

- 40 work areas are currently supported. dBASE plans to support 225
  work areas.

- Resource memory leakage. After running dBASE repeatedly, some 
  System Resources may become unavailable. To free up resources, re-start 
  Windows.

- If virtual memory is 0, opening a DOS session while dBASE is open
  may cause an error.

- Error recovery from user-induced errors is not robust.
	
- Paradox table support is minimal. In particular, you cannot modify a
  Paradox table.
	
- Wordwrap in memo fields is error prone.
	
- You cannot edit binary data in memo fields.
	
- In MODIFY STRUCTURE, if you delete the last field in a table, the change 
  won't be saved.

- A modified table in which a memo field has been added is unstable.
		
- The debugger may display "Wrong version of Odapi01.dll" when debugging
  a program that is not in the dBASE home directory.
	
- For this Alpha release, we are not focusing on multi-user areas but we 
  do support minimal multi-user functionality. Only Novell 3.11 was tested.
  Lksys(), in particular, is not working correctly.
	
- Commands introduced in dBASE IV 2.0 are not implemented yet.
	
- COPY...DELIMITED does not work.
	
- You cannot create tags for dBASE III+ tables containing memo fields.
	
- ACTIVATE MENU in a maximized window causes the window to minimize.
	
- Some PICTURE clauses are not working.
	
- You cannot import ASCII text yet.
	
- SET FIELDS TO does not accept calculated fields.
	
- Invalid filter conditions can create protection faults.
	
- Decimal, very small, and very large numbers, are not always accurate.	

- Results depending on the NETWORK() function are not reliable.
	
- Adding a table to a query when the table is already in use creates a
  protection fault.

- JOIN results in a protection fault.
	
- Overwriting a non-production MDX tag will erase all tags in the 
  production MDX.

- Update to a Browse using indexed tables may not work.

- BROWSE doesn't reflect changes made to the table outside the Browse window.

- Entering SET COVERAGE ON more than once in a session can cause an error.

- Page numbering on REPORT FORM reports start at 2. That is, the first page is
  numbered 2, the second is 3, and so on.
 
- SET MESSAGE TO <expC> followed by SET MESSAGE TO, causes a protection fault.

- The PICK option in DEFINE <control name> commands does not work.

Acknowledgements
----------------
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.

