README.TXT

Remote Draw 1.0
Copyright (c)1996 Chris Lundie

Remote Draw is freeware. It is freely distributable. Please see LICENSE.DOC
for more info!

What It Does
------------

Remote Draw (RD) allows two people to chat and to doodle on the screen
together with their mice. The two computers are connected via modem or null
modem cable. RD takes care of connecting the modems by dialing and answering
with the click of a button.

This is useful when 2 people are talking on the phone about something
visual, and you would both like to share your ideas. Remote Draw is
interactive and real-time, so it saves a lot of time over other methods
such as faxing a document back and forth many times, with little changes
in each one. Remote Draw is like drawing on the same piece of paper at
the same time.

The Requirements
----------------

-Ms-Dos 3.1 or compatible (such as Windows 95)
-A mouse driver, if you wish to draw
-A 9600 bps modem on COM1 or COM2 (also works over null cables)
-VGA graphics
-A quick enough PC - any 486 will do it, slower machines have not
 been tested, but probably work as well.

How To Use It
-------------

Start Remote Draw by starting RDRAW.EXE. For example, in DOS, type RDRAW.
When RD starts you will see the opening menu. Use the keyboard or mouse to
select the various options. You must choose a method of connecting, 
(remember, over a modem, one person dials, the other answers,) a COM port,
and tone or pulse dialing. The modem strings should be the default values
unless you really need to change them. When you are ready, choose "Connect"
and the program will (attempt to) start.

When your screen goes black you are ready to begin.

Chatting.
The text you type appears
in white at the top of the screen. The other person's text appears underneath
yours, in yellow. You can press CTRL-Backspace to clear all your text at
once, if just good old Backspace isn't quick enough for you.

Drawing.
On most of the screen, you can draw with the mouse. Just press the left
mouse button to draw. The colour of the "pen" is the same as the wide bar
at the bottom of your screen. You can change the colour by pressing the
plus and minus keys. You can clear your drawings by pressing the ~ key.
(It's the key to the left of the "1" on most keyboards.)

When you're done, press ESC and both people will be
disconnected and will return to the opening screen.

All your settings are saved to a file MODEM.CFG when you're done. If there
were any errors during the program, they are saved to ERROR.LOG. The program
doesn't inform you of errors so you won't know about them 'til you check for
ERROR.LOG.

Troubleshooting
---------------

Here are some common problems and some solutions. I have never had any
problems with Remote Draw so I had to imagine what might go wrong...

First make sure your mouse is plugged in, and the modem is set up
properly and plugged into the phone jack. Then see if you still have a
problem.

Problem:
Can't initialize modem, modem doesn't respond, program hangs when it
says "initializing modem".

Possible Answers:
-You chose the wrong COM port. Choose the right one next time.
-Reset your modem. If it's internal, turn off your computer, then turn
 it back on.
-Use the default modem strings. If you type something weird into the
 optional init string, the modem might not understand, and it won't respond
 with an "OK". My init string is set up as "AT S8=1", which causes a
 comma to make a one-second pause while dialing. It's useful for call
 waiting because you should add *70, at the beginning of the number.

Problem:
I can't draw anything. The computer is not frozen because I can still chat.

Possible Answers:
-Your drawing colour is the same as the background, black. Press
 the plus and minus keys to change it.
-You didn't load a mouse driver before you started RD. Quit and do this.
-Your mouse ain't plugged in. Plug it in.

Problem:
Modem doesn't connect when I dial. I hear it dialing.

Possible Answers:
-You dialed the wrong number. Dial the right one!
-A phone answered the call instead of a modem. Tell someone not to pick
 up the phone next time, after they recover from being blasted with
 noise. Be nice.
-You chose tone, but your phone line only handles pulse. Choose the right
 one.
-Your modem and the other person's modem don't like to connect. Oh well. 
 Some brands are pretty bad at this. Try it again.
-Your phone line is awfully noisy. Call the phone company and bug them!

Problem:
Modem doesn't connect when I am answering. The phone rings and RD attempts to
pick it up.

Possible Answers:
-You are being called by a person on a telephone, not a modem. Try to tell
 people not to call you on that line for a while. (Ouch, they get an
 earful, too, when a modem picks up the phone.)
-Your modem or the other person's modem don't like each other. Some brands
 don't connect very well. Try again.
-Your phone line is very noisy. Bug Ma Bell, or British Telecom, or whatever!

Problem:
It works fine for a while, then we are disconnected or interrupted for
a long time or things slow down a lot.

Possible Answers:
-Someone picked up a phone on one of the phone lines. Tell them to cut it
 out and wait their turn!
-Someone got a call waiting beep. You can usually avoid these by inserting
 "*70," (without the quotes) in front of the phone number when you dial.
-Someone turned off the computer or the modem or a cable was unplugged. Duh!
-You have a real slow computer or modem. There should be enough money in the
 cushions of your couch to buy a 486 and a 9600 bps modem.
-Again, the phone lines could be bad or the modems don't like each other.

Well, that's all I can help you with for now. If you still can't get it to
work, get a friend who's really smart to help. If the two of you can't get
it to work, I guess you should go out and (gasp) *pay* for better software.

You can contact me through internet email at <lundiec@eagle.ca>.
