     Ŀ
      The following comes intact and unchanged from the Assoc. of    
      Shareware Professionals and applies to programs distributed    
      by the ASP.  (The prose begs for editing but we didn't.)       
      All shareware authors - but especially authors of Windows and  
      OS/2 programs - would do well to follow these guidelines no    
      matter how their programs are distributed.                     
     

DISTRIBUTION DISK RECOMMENDATIONS
---------------------------------
The following are recommendations for preparing your program files for
distribution to Bulletin Board Systems (BBSs) via the ASP's Disk Mailing
service, as well as other methods.

2 varieties of program files are defined here:

1) Program files which utilize an "install" utility and self-extracting
program archives (later refereed to as "Author-Installed Programs").

2) Programs files which do not use install utilities or self-extracting
archives (later refereed to as "User-Installed Programs").


AUTHOR-INSTALLED PROGRAMS:
--------------------------
These programs require a bit more work from the author, but will
eliminate many user mistakes, especially in programs which require
complicated setups.

Most "installation" utility programs will make use of program files
which have been "archived" into Self-Extracting archives. We will
attempt to define which files should be contained in the Self-Extracting
archives, and which files should not.

1. Files which should be contained in the self-extracting program file
archive:

        a. All program-specific executable files.
        b. Any required configuration and/or data files required by the
           program.
        c. Program documentation files. Optionally, these may be left
           outside of the self-extracting archive, but they will not be
           installed to the destination directory with the program
           files.
        d. Any other program-specific files that are required for the
           operation of the program.

2. The files described above should be compiled into a self-extracting
archive file, which will then be extracted by the install utility.

NOTE: the author is required to abide by any distribution requirements
specified by the archive utility author, and to obtain any required
distribution rights necessary. Please check to see if distribution
rights are required for your archive utility choice.

3. Files which should NOT be contained in the self-extracting program
file archive:

        a. The install utility itself (obviously).
        b. The FILE_ID.DIZ file. (described in detail in the section
           preceding this one)
        c. Any distribution/information files, such as VENDOR.DOC,
           SYSOP.DOC, etc.
        d. Any description or information file, such as DESCRIBE.DOC.
        e. A user file (such as README.1ST), which should explain how
           to use the install utility, what the user should expect
           during the installation, and any preparation that the user
           should make prior to the installation. This file might also
           contain a brief description of your program, in case the user
           is able to read the documentation files in the distribution
           archive prior to downloading (many BBS systems offer this
           ability to the user).

4. The actual distribution archive file (described below) should then
contain the install utility, the self-extracting program archive, and
the files described in #3 above.


USER-INSTALLED PROGRAMS:
------------------------
This type of distribution archive is much simpler than the
Author-Installed variety. It should simply be an archive file,
containing all of the files for the program described above.

Since this type of program requires the user to do all of the
installation manually, it should contain very specific and detailed
information regarding the installation requirements (such as
INSTALL.DOC).


THE DISTRIBUTION ARCHIVE FILE:
------------------------------
The actual distribution archive file should merely be an archive file
containing the files described above. For BBS distribution, this archive
should be of the standard archive format, and -NOT- a self-extracting
archive.  Many sysops will not allow self-extracting archives, and most
BBS software will not allow self-extracting archives to be uploaded.

There are many popular archive utilities available, such as PKZIP, LHA,
LHARC, ARJ, etc. Most BBS systems are capable of handling archives in
virtually any format. However, you should be aware that some BBS systems
will convert your chosen archive format to the format of choice by the
sysop. By following the methods described above, this conversion process
should not affect your program, or any self-extracting files which are 
contained within your distribution archive file.

You should also retain the default archive file extension defined by the
archive utility. For example, PKZIP uses a ".ZIP", LHARC uses "LZH",
etc. Changing the file extension may cause the BBS software to delete
your file because it won't recognize the format.

For the actual filename for your distribution archive, it is recommended
that the program filename be limited to 6 characters to represent the
program's name (i.e. MYPROG could represent "My Program"). This should
be followed by 2 numeric digits which will represent the version number
of your release. Even if this is your initial release it should include
the version number in the filename (i.e. MYPROG10.ZIP would indicate the
program called "My Program" version 1.0).

Please note that CompuServe limits filenames to only 6 characters. By 
limiting the file "name" to 6 characters, you will easily be able to 
rename the archive by removing the 2-digit version identifier, to make 
the file compatible with CompuServe libraries (which will only allow 
6-character filenames).

By including the 2-digit version number in the archive filename, it will
be very easy for both the user and the sysop (and yourself) to identify
older versions of your program.


MULTIPLE DISTRIBUTION ARCHIVES
------------------------------
It is recommended that your final distribution archive not be larger
than 350k, so that it will fit on a single 360k floppy disk and still 
leave room for any distribution files necessary for Disk Vendors. (i.e. 
Disk Vendors will often include their own GO.BAT file, or other various 
small files to help their customers install the software).

If your program is large enough to require more than one distribution
archive, it is recommended that your filename be limited to 5 characters
rather than 6 as described above. Following the 5-character name should
be the same 2-digit version number. Then, append a single "letter" to
identify the disk (i.e. MYPGM10A.ZIP, MYPGM10B.ZIP, etc.). For uploading 
to CompuServe, these filenames may then be shortened to 6 characters by 
removing the version identifiers (i.e. MYPGMA.ZIP, MYPGMB.ZIP).

If your program requires multiple distribution archives, -BE SURE- to
create separate FILE_ID.DIZ files for each distribution archive. Also,
each FILE_ID.DIZ file should contain disk number information pertaining
to each individual archive (i.e. Disk 1 of 3, Disk 2 of 3, etc.).


THE DISTRIBUTION DISK
---------------------
It is recommended that your final distribution archive file be under
350k in size, so that it will fit on a single 360k floppy disk. There is
no need to include anything on the disk except the distribution archive.

However, you may want to include copies of your distribution text files
(VENDOR.DOC, SYSOP.DOC, DISTRIB.DOC, etc.) so that the sysop (and/or disk
vendor doesn't have to go inside the archive to gather information
regarding your file.

If you choose to supply your files "unarchived" on the distribution 
disk, it is _VERY_ important that you specify what the archive filename 
should be, so that sysops can create archived files with the proper 
author-specified filenames. This information should be contained in 
your SYSOP.DOC (or VENDOR.DOC) file. If you don't supply a suggested 
archive file name, the sysops will be forced to create the name 
themselves, thus you may end up with thousands of versions of your 
products on BBS systems all over the world, but all with different 
filenames.

Please note that the ASP Hub Network *REQUIRES* that your files be 
submitted as an archived file, using the ZIP format.

If you supply your own disk labels, it is recommended that the ASP logo,
or at least the initials "ASP" be included on the label, so that anyone
can immediately identify your disk as an ASP member's software.


SUMMARY
-------
Your distribution disk should now be ready to submit for the ASP 
Author's Disk Mailing, as well as any separate mailings that you want to
do yourself.

Since the ASP Disk Mailing Service allows separate distribution disks 
for BBSs and Vendors, you may optionally create a different distribution 
disk for use by Disk Vendors. However, if you follow the above steps in 
preparing your distribution archive file, a separate vendor disk is 
probably not necessary. The majority of disk vendors will be able to 
accept your distribution file/disk if it is prepared in the above 
described format.
