RELEASE NOTES FOR
MICROSOFT OFFICE ASSISTANT FOR WINDOWS VERSION 1.0
==================================================

This document contains information that supplements the
Office Assistant online documentation. If you open this 
document in Notepad, the text will print with correct 
line breaks if you first set both the left and right 
margins to 1 inch.

CONTENTS

 1. Sharing Violation Message with Windows for Workgroups
 2. The Office Assistant Icon on the Microsoft Office 
    Manager (MOM) Toolbar
 3. Alternative Office Assistant Icon for the MOM Toolbar
 4. Customizing Office Assistant documents and templates
 5. Before Using OAFORMS.MDB---the Office Assistant Database 
    for Access Version 2.0
 6. Cue Cards and the Open Dialog Box
 7. Required Fonts
 8. Manually Decompressing the Files
 9. Upgrading Font Assistant Version 1.0 to Version 1.1
10. Tips for Network Administrators
11. Printing the Business Plan and Newsletter Documents
    to PostScript Printers

=======================

1. SHARING VIOLATION MESSAGE WITH WINDOWS FOR WORKGROUPS
-------------------

If any one of the Word-based compound documents is open 
and you try to open the same document again from Office 
Assistant, you may get a "Sharing violation on drive" 
message from Windows for Workgroups. Choosing the Cancel 
button in the dialog box will close the dialog box and 
correctly return you to the open document. 

To prevent such messages from occurring, you can turn 
off 32-bit file access for virtual memory, but you 
may sacrifice some system performance. To turn off 
32-bit file access, go to the Control Panel, click the 
Enhanced icon to open the Enhanced dialog box. Choose
the Virtual Memory button to open the Virtual Memory 
dialog box, and then choose the Change button there to 
display more options. Clear the check box for Use 32-Bit 
File Access, choose the OK button to close the dialog 
box, and then choose the OK button again to close the 
Enhanced dialog box. 


2. THE OFFICE ASSISTANT ICON ON THE 
MICROSOFT OFFICE MANAGER (MOM) TOOLBAR
-------------------

If you are using Microsoft Office version 4.0, 
the Office Assistant icon might not display in 
the Microsoft Office Manager (MOM) toolbar 
immediately after you install Office Assistant. 
To display the icon, close and then re-start 
Microsoft Office.

You can use the Setup program provided with Office 
Assistant to remove all its components from your 
computer. However, the Office Assistant icon might
remain on the MOM toolbar. If so, you will have to 
explicitly remove it. For instructions on removing 
the icon, choose Help from the Microsoft Office 
menu.

Similarly, if you delete the Office Assistant 
icon from the MOM toolbar before using the Setup 
program to remove all Office Assistant components, 
the toolbar might display an Office Assistant icon 
(or a blank button identified as Office Assistant) 
the next time you open the toolbar. Clicking that 
button or icon will cause an error because all 
Office Assistant components have been removed. You 
will have to remove that icon again.

Office Assistant is based on the Windows Help system. As  
a result, if other Help files are open besides Office 
Assistant, clicking the Office Assistant icon in the MOM 
toolbar might activate one of those other Help windows. 
Similarly, if Cue Cards for another Help file are open, 
clicking the Office Assistant icon in the MOM toolbar 
might activate them instead. In either case, first try 
clicking the Office Assistant icon again to activate  
Office Assistant. Otherwise, close all other Help files 
and Cue Cards, and then click the Office Assistant icon 
again.


3. ALTERNATIVE OFFICE ASSISTANT ICON FOR THE MOM TOOLBAR
-------------------

Some video drivers will incorrectly display the background 
color of the Office Assistant icon in the MOM toolbar. If 
you encounter this problem, you may wish to install the 
alternative icon OAGRABTN.BMP. However, the background of 
this button is permanently set to gray, which may not be 
appropriate for the colors you have selected in Windows. 

To install OAGRABTN.BMP, choose Customize from the 
Microsoft Office menu. On the Toolbar tab, select 
Microsoft Office Assistant in the list, and choose the 
Edit button to open the Edit Program Item dialog box. 
In the Button Image list box, select OAGRABTN.BMP, and 
then choose the OK button to close the Edit Program 
Item dialog box. To close the Customize dialog box, 
choose the OK button again.

4. CUSTOMIZING OFFICE ASSISTANT DOCUMENTS AND TEMPLATES
-------------------

Office Assistant includes many ready-to-use documents 
and templates that open as ready-only documents. Before 
you use any document or template, however, you should 
examine it to see whether you want to customize any of 
the standard information. Then make those changes to 
the document or template. 

For example, many of the Excel and Word templates have 
placeholders for your company information and usually a 
logo. Rather than replacing that information every time 
you want to use one of the templates, you should customize 
each template once.

When you use a customized template to start a new document, 
all you have to do is add your content and make any other 
changes specific to the particular letter, report, memo, 
or whatever you are creating. When you finish, save the 
document with a new name.

The rest of this section tells how to customize documents
with the Office applications.

Microsoft Access
-------------------
For details about modifying Access forms and reports, 
see your Access documentation.

Microsoft Excel Templates
-------------------
Most Excel files included with Office Assistant Excel 
are templates, not regular workbooks. After starting 
Microsoft Excel version 5.0, you can modify these 
templates easily. To open the template directly, choose 
Open from the File menu, select the template you want 
to modify, and hold down the Shift key as you choose 
the OK button. (Without the Shift key, Excel opens the 
template as a new workbook.) 

In the template, unprotect the worksheet you want to 
change---select the worksheet, choose Protection 
from the Tools menu, and then choose Unprotect Sheet 
from the submenu. Make your changes, and then protect 
the sheet again---choose Protection from the Tools 
menu, choose Protect Sheet from the submenu to open 
the Protect Sheet dialog box, and then choose the OK 
button. 

Finally, choose Save As from the File menu to save your 
file either as a Microsoft Excel Workbook (with a .XLS 
extension) or as a Template (with a .XLT extension). If 
you keep the same filename and .XLT extension, you will 
be able to open the template from Office Assistant.  

Microsoft PowerPoint Presentation Templates
-------------------
The templates shipped with Office Assistant have all 
been marked "read only." Before you can modify them, 
you will need to change this setting. In File Manager, 
select a template you want to modify, and then choose 
Properties from the File menu. In the Properties For 
dialog box, clear the Read Only check box, and then 
choose the OK button. 

Next, use Microsoft PowerPoint version 4.0 to open 
and modify the template. For details on modifying a 
presentation, see your Microsoft PowerPoint 
documentation. Save the modified presentation with 
its same filename, and then close it.  

Finally, you should mark the presentation "read only" 
to make it a template. Again, in File Manager, choose 
Properties from the File menu, select the Read Only 
check box, and then choose the OK button.

If you have saved the file with the same name and 
made it "read only" again, you will be able to open 
the presentation template from Office Assistant.

Microsoft Word Templates
-------------------
The Word templates shipped with Office Assistant all 
have a .DOT filename extension. To modify any template, 
start Microsoft Word version 6.0, and then open the 
template itself---choose Open from the File menu, 
select Document Templates (*.dot) from the List Files 
Of Type box, select the file you want to modify, and 
then choose the OK button. 

Now you can make any changes to the document. For 
details, see your Microsoft Word documentation. Before 
you can modify a form, however, you must unprotect it
---choose Unprotect Document from the Tools menu. When 
you finish modifying the form, protect it again---
choose Protect Document from the Tools menu, and then 
choose the OK button. 

When you finish modifying the template, choose Save As 
from the File menu, and save the file as a template. 
If you keep the same filename and .DOT extension, you 
will be able to open the template from Office Assistant. 


5. BEFORE USING OAFORMS.MDB---
THE OFFICE ASSISTANT DATABASE FOR ACCESS VERSION 2.0
-------------------

GETTING HELP WHILE USING OAFORMS.MDB: Sometimes jumps to 
the database from the Office Assistant Help file might 
not work with the first click. Just click again to 
activate the jump. In addition, jumps might not work if  
you're sharing OAFORMS.MDB across a network.

While using the Office Assistant database, clicking the 
? icon on the toolbar will open Office Assistant so you 
can get information about the form you are working on. 
However, if the current field is part of a subform 
(technically, a form within a form), the database will 
not be able to locate the Office Assistant Help file. 
(For example, the Purchase Orders form contains a subform 
so you can order multiples products with a single 
purchase order.)

To assure that you can open the Office Assistant Help, 
select a field in the main form before clicking the ? 
icon. For details about subforms, see your Microsoft 
Access documentation.

If you get the message that you cannot open Windows Help, 
choose the OK button, and then double-click the Control-
menu box in the Windows Help window. Then select a field 
in the main form, and click the ? icon again.

EXITING OAFORMS.MDB: Always exit the database by choosing 
the Exit button on the Office Assistant database toolbar. 
If you choose Exit from the File menu or double-click the 
Control-menu box, the Office Assistant database may not 
update your last transaction.

OPENING AND PRINTING FORMS IN OAFORMS.MDB: Always open 
the Office Assistant forms and reports from either the 
Office Assistant database menus or the Office Assistant 
Help file. Opening multiple forms from the Forms window 
in Access can deplete system resources, resulting in 
degraded performance or errors.

Before printing forms or reports, complete all fields on 
the form. If you do not, what you've printed may not 
match the state of the database.


6. CUE CARDS AND THE OPEN DIALOG BOX
-------------------

When using the Cue Cards for any of the compound documents, 
be careful if the dialog box displays for the Open command 
on the File menu. Do NOT close the Cue Cards while that 
dialog box is open---close the dialog box first. Closing 
the Cue Cards while the Open dialog box displays will 
cause an error. 


7. REQUIRED FONTS
-------------------

The Office Assistant Setup program will automatically 
install three fonts: Abadi MT Condensed, Abadi MT Condensed 
Extra Bold, and Abadi MT Condensed Light. Almost all Office 
Assistant documents use these fonts, so they are required.


8. MANUALLY DECOMPRESSING THE FILES
-------------------

All files on the Office Assistant disks are compressed. The 
Setup program will decompress the files during installation. 
You can, however, decompress them manually using the 
DECOMP.EXE program that comes on Disk 1. DECOMP.EXE can
decompress all Office Assistant files except those used 
only by the Setup program itself.

To use DECOMP.EXE, insert Disk 1 into drive A (or B), and 
then copy DECOMP.EXE to c:\. Remove Disk 1, and then insert 
the disk containing the file you want to decompress. Next, 
at a DOS prompt, type the following:

   c:\DECOMP a:\filename.ex_ c:\dir_name\filename.ext
--or--
   c:\DECOMP b:\filename.ex_ c:\dir_name\filename.ext

Here filename.ex_ is the name of the file you want to
decompress, and c:\dir_name\filename.ext is the full name 
of the decompressed file on your hard disk.
 

9. UPGRADING FONT ASSISTANT VERSION 1.0 TO VERSION 1.1 
-------------------
Font Assistant 1.1, included in Office Assistant, has 
been improved since its initial release in the Microsoft 
TrueType Font Pack 2. Normally, Font Assistant version 
1.1 automatically converts and uses the font groups you 
created in Font Assistant version 1.0. In some cases,
however, the conversion fails. 

If this happens, you can still convert your groups. Just 
use File Manager to delete the FAST.BIN file from your 
Windows directory. The next time you run Font Assistant 
version 1.1, it will be able to convert and use your old 
font groups.


10. TIPS FOR NETWORK ADMINISTRATORS
-------------------

CREATING A NETWORK SETUP: Create a directory (for 
example, OA10) from which to install Office Assistant. 
Within that directory, create a DISK1 directory, a 
DISK2 directory and a DISK3 directory, and then copy 
the contents of Disk 1, Disk 2 and DISK 3 into their 
respective directories. Tell the users to run the 
Setup program from the DISK1 directory. Every user 
must either have a legal copy of Office Assistant 
or be covered by a site license for it.

INSTALLING TO WINDOWS ON A NETWORK: When running the 
Office Assistant Setup program, set the Windows System 
directory to read/write so the Setup program installs 
the .TTF and .FIF files correctly. If the directory 
is set to read-only, the Setup program will fail.


11. PRINTING THE BUSINESS PLAN AND NEWSLETTER DOCUMENTS 
TO POSTSCRIPT PRINTERS
-------------------

The Office Assistant Business Plan (OAENCORE.DOC) and 
Newsletter (OANEWSLT.DOC) require substantial PostScript 
printer memory in order to print completely. OAENCORE.DOC 
requires at least 1250 kilobytes (KB) of virtual memory 
to print, and OANEWSLT.DOC requires 400KB. If you try 
to print but your printer has too little virtual memory, 
the print job will fail unpredictably---usually with a 
PostScript error after a few pages print successfully. 

Both documents will print correctly to a Hewlett-Packard 
PCL-compatible printer. If a PCL printer is available, 
print to it. If you must print to PostScript, use the 
PostScript printer driver (PSCRIPT.DRV) provided with 
Windows version 3.1 (and later), and then read the 
rest of this note for tips about:
--Printing OAENCORE.DOC and OANEWSLT.DOC.
--Determining how much virtual memory is available in
  your printer.
--Changing the virtual memory setting for your printer.
--Printing with less than the optimal printer memory.
--Deleting the macros. 


Printing OAENCORE.DOC and OANEWSLT.DOC
-------------------
OAENCORE.DOC and OANEWSLT.DOC both are attached to 
templates, OABPLANX.DOT and OANEWSLX.DOT respectively, 
that contain three Word 6.0 macros: FilePrint, 
FilePrintDefault, and CheckPSPrinterVM. When you print 
to a PostScript printer, the macros test whether 
enough memory appears to be available for successful 
printing. If the macros find inadequate memory to 
print the document completely, a dialog box offers 
options to cancel or continue printing. 

The dialog box specifies a virtual memory setting for 
your printer. Normally, the actual value will display 
ONLY if you previously changed the virtual memory setting. 
Otherwise, the printer driver will be using a default 
setting appropriate for your printer---for example, 
350KB for a Hewlett-Packard LaserJet IIIsi or 701KB 
for a LaserJet 4Si/4Si MX. If your printer is using 
the default setting, the dialog box displays a virtual 
memory setting of 350KB---even though the actual setting 
may be different for your printer.

Determining How Much Virtual Memory 
is Available in Your Printer
-------------------
You can verify the virtual memory actually available 
in your printer at least two ways: 
--Print a test page, which may include this information. 
  For instructions, refer to the manufacturer's manual. 
--Print a special PostScript file included with the 
  Windows PostScript driver. The printed test page 
  includes the line Max Suggested VM (KB). Use this 
  value to set the virtual memory for your printer 
  from the Control Panel. 

Before you can print the PostScript test file, you need 
to determine the port to which your printer is attached. 
The printer name available from the Control Panel includes 
this information:
1. Open the Control Panel.
2. Double-click the Printers icon.
3. Locate your PostScript printer, and note the device 
   name that appears on the end of the line. This is 
   normally a name like COM1: or LPT1:.

To print the file:
1. Open File Manager, and open your Windows\SYSTEM 
   directory.
2. Select TESTPS.TXT.
3. From the File menu, choose Copy.
4. After To, type the name of the port to which your 
   printer is attached.
5. Choose the OK button.

Changing the Virtual Memory Setting for Your Printer
-------------------
After you know how much virtual memory your PostScript 
printer has, you may want to change the Control Panel 
setting to make more memory available. 

To change the virtual memory setting for your PostScript 
printer:
1. Open the Control Panel.
2. Double-click the Printers icon.
3. In the Printers dialog box, select a PostScript 
   printer, and then choose the Setup button.
4. In the printer-specific dialog box, choose the 
   Options button.
5. In the Options dialog box, choose the Advanced button.
6. In the Advanced Options dialog box, type a new value 
   for Virtual Memory (KB).
7. As necessary, choose the OK button to return to the 
   Printers dialog box. 
8. Choose the Close button.

Printing with Less Than the Optimal Printer Memory
-------------------
You can still print OABPLAN.DOC and OANEWSLT.DOC even 
if your printer has less virtual memory than required 
to print all pages at one time. Just print each document 
a few pages at a time. 

To print a range of pages, choose Print from the File 
menu, rather than choosing the Print button on the 
Standard toolbar. Sometimes the printer will still 
print an error page after printing the page range. 
If all the pages in the range actually printed, ignore 
this error; otherwise, print again, but specify fewer 
pages.

Deleting the Macros
-------------------
Processing the macros takes a short time, and the 
CheckPSPrinterVM macro works only on PostScript printers 
that use the Microsoft PostScript Printer Driver. If you 
are not using a PostScript printer or otherwise want to 
eliminate the processing overhead, you can remove the 
macros:

1. Using Microsoft Word version 6.0, open OAENCORE.DOC (or 
   OANEWSLT.DOC).
2. From the Tools menu, choose Macro.
3. From the list of macros, select the FilePrint, and then 
   choose the Delete button.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for FilePrintDefault and 
   CheckPSPrinterVM.
   NOTE: Be sure to delete only the three macros: 
   FilePrint, FilePrintDefault, and CheckPSPrinterVM.
5. Choose the Close button.
6. Close OAENCORE.DOC (or OANEWSLT.DOC).
7. When asked if you wish to save changes to OABPLANX.DOT  
   (or OANEWSLX.DOT), choose the Yes button. 