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  *                V  E  R  S  I  O  N       2   .  0                    *
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  SECTION 1:   TABLE OF CONTENTS.
  -------------------------------
  Table Of Contents.................................................1
  Introduction......................................................2
  Statement Of Purpose..............................................3
  Disclaimer........................................................3
  Definition Of Terms...............................................4
  The Opening Screen................................................5
  Entering a Filename...............................................7
  Using The Menus Section A: File Menu..............................8
  Using The Menus Section B: Edit Menu..............................11
  Using The Menus Section C: Special Menu...........................13
  Format Of The TBT File............................................14
  Conclusion........................................................15


  2
  SECTION 2:   INTRODUCTION.
  -------------------------------
  Hello,   and welcome to the world of ShadoBoy and his   programming.
  This is a manual to my program "Time-Table Version 2.0",   a rather
  cool and X-TREMELY comprehensive,  menu driven timetable maker.

  The program,   just so all of you out there reading this know,  was
  originally written as a FREEWARE program,   for the people at  CQU
  Rockhampton,  for a structured programming  assignment (FUN FUN FUN,
  I hear you say  * grin * ).    It has since grown into much more.
  The program is now a professional project,  is shareware,  and most
  of all,   it is something that can be useful to  many people out there,
  due to the wonders of the Internet.

  One thing I must say here though,   which is an unfortunate fact of
  life -- this program is SHAREWARE!!!   No,   really,   it  is!
  People who use this program have to very good reasons to register
  this software:   Registering will give me the author,   the chance
  to develop more mind blowing software (semi-sarcasm there) for U the
  user to use.   RisticShadows productions (consisting of myself and
  my Croatian friend,    Maja Ristic - hi there if you're reading this
  :) ...) is still in its baby stages -- in fact if the truth be known,
  it is still sucking it's programming thumb,   struggling to crawl out
  of the cradle of unemployment (aaahhh,  how poetic don't U think?),
  and needs (moula,  green,  cash,   whatever U call it) to survive and
  develop,   to produce more software.   Your gracious (hehehe) donation
  will help us do that.

  The other option which may be more appealing to you,  is that
  registering will give us the ability to keep U updated (at a small
  fee for disk copying etc.) with future versions of the software or
  whatever,   and will allow U to get discounts on future versions of
  our software (that's FREEBEE's and the like - kewl,  eh?)  So come
  on and get to it (or at least consider for now) -- registry details
  are at the bottom of this document.

  Continuing with why I'm writing this document:  I decided to write
  this manual after a person fairly inept with menus and similar things
  commented that the program was not documented well enough, and was
  (surprisingly) difficult for the novice computer user to use.   My
  first attempt to remedy this was a bar at the bottom of the screen
  to explain how to activate the Menus.

  However,  this did not adequately explain the use of the various
  functions on the menus,   and so as a final solution to this problem,
  instead of installing Context Sensitive Help (a big job both for me
  and the marker of the program,   and rather impractical at first
  glance...),   this manual was written.

  So any help U need with the program,  or info on the disclaimer
  etcetera,   simply read this manual.   Or,   failing this,  contact
  me,  the author,   at the contact addresses mentioned at the VERY End
  of this document.

  Ciao!
  ShadoBoy,   author of this manual and the program associated with it.




  3
  SECTION 3:   STATEMENT OF PURPOSE.
  ----------------------------------
  This document will attempt to explain the use of, and in's and out's
  of,   the program T-TBLE.EXE,   my Time-Table version 2.0 program.
  It shall attempt to do this step by step,  from the beginning of the
  program to the end.

  It will also explain the new codes added to the Time-Table file for
  comments and other such things.


  SECTION 4:   DISCLAIMER.
  ------------------------
  It's a pity that we live in a world where this sort of thing is
  necessary.   Oh well,   here goes....

  This documentation and its associated program files are (c) April 1995
  by the author,  ShadoBoy.   If these files are to be distributed to
  people other than the current user,   these files MUST NOT BE MODIFIED.

  This documentation and its associated program also contain no warranty,
  expressed or implied,   on their lifespan or quality.

  In no event will the author of this document be liable for direct,
  indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages arising out
  of the use or inability to use the information contained within.
  Use of this document is at your own risk.




  4
  SECTION 5:   DEFINITION OF TERMS.
  ---------------------------------
  Throughout this document,    I will be referring to certain terms which
  may or may not be known to the reader.   For this purpose,   the below
  information on those terms is included.

  The Program    :  This refers to "TimeTable Version 2.0 by ShadoBoy",
                    the program for which this manual is written (unless
                    otherwise stated).

  Edit           :  To alter,  change,  or modify something (typically a
                    file).

  Extension      :  The characters which appear after the dot in a file
                    name.   For example,  "TBT",  or "EXE".

  Hard Disk      :  This refers in this case,   to ANY form of electronic
                    media,   used to store and retrieve digital information
                    from,   which is supported by the DOS interface as a
                    device to write to.

  Option         :   A choice for the user, presented by the program.

  Menu           :   A collection of Options,   each able to be selected
                     by an appropriate keyboard action.

  TimeTable File :   A file created or currently being created by the
                     program.   It either has the name "TIMES.DAT",  or
                     has an extension of "TBT".

  Message        :   A string of characters,  other then extended ones,
                     which can contain alphabetic characters,  numeric
                     characters,  or punctuation characters (at the same
                     time).

  Save           :   To record the file being edited on hard disk,  under
                     the name originally chosen for it.

--------------------END OF DEFINITION OF TERMS-----------------------------

  5
  SECTION 6:    THE OPENING SCREEN.
  ---------------------------------
  After starting the program (by typing "T-TBLE" or the program's name at
  the Dos Prompt in the correct directory,  or compiling in Borland Turbo
  Pascal Version 7.0), the opening screen appears.   This begins with the
  program  telling you that  it is  currently  searching  your  currently
  selected hard disk for  files which fit the Time-Table file description
  (see definition of terms).

  This may take up to a minute,   depending on the size of your hard disk
  (read  HOW  MANY  FILES  ARE STORED ON IT).   Be   patient  here,   and
  eventually the following will come up.

  Either:  THIS.....
------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Do you want to:
     (a)  Open an existing timetable file.
     (b)  Create a new time-table file.
     (c)  Exit this whole thing and return to the OS (Dos,Windows,etc.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
  OR:   THIS...
------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Do you want to create a new timetable file?
  (Enter Y for Yes,  N for No):
------------------------------------------------------------------------
  If the second option is displayed,  this means that there is no files
  on the currently selected hard disk (see  Definition of Terms)  which
  fit the description "TIMES.DAT" or "*.TBT".   Entering Y for Yes will
  bring up a screen in which you can enter a  filename  (with extension
  TBT only) to create and then edit (see next section - ENTERING A FILE
  NAME).

  Hitting N for No will cause the program to terminate,  after displaying
  a "GOODBYE" message.   The program will switch back to  the   directory
  which the program was started from,  and leave you with a blank screen,
  with the Dos Prompt at the top.

  If the first option is displayed,  you must select an Option from the
  menu of options displayed.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
  6
  Hitting the "A" key will allow you to enter in the name of an existing
  time-table file.   Make sure you know the name of the file you want to
  load,   or select Y when the program asks if you want to   display the
  of valid filenames you can load.    You MUST MUST MUST enter the  full
  path name of the file,  otherwise the program will not recognise it.

  NOTE 1:   If you wish to load a file from another drive,   you must exit
            the program,  and switch to that drive.  Then run the  program
            again.   The program will then be able to load your file.

  NOTE 2:   If you select the "View Files" Option from the Open Existing
            File Screen,  make sure you note  down  the  filename before
            hitting enter,  as the screen output area will  clear  after
            hitting return/ENTER.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Hitting  the "B"  key will allow you to enter a new  file name   (as the
  original  menu allows you to do.)   See SECTION 7:  ENTERING A FILE NAME
  for more  details on how to do this.   This file can only be a TBT  type
  file.    It cannot have the name TIMES.DAT.   It  may  have   the   name
  TIMES.TBT,   however the DAT extension is not supported (this is because
  other  programs  use  the  DAT  extension  frequently,   and it is quite
  possible that the program could otherwise try to load a   file  which is
  not a time-table file,   thus causing bad errors.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Hitting the "C" key,  obviously,   will return you to wherever you ran
  the program from.  It will say:  "Please press the Enter  Key or  wait
  for five seconds."   The program then returns to  Dos/Windows/Whatever
  you ran the program from.
------------------------------------------------------------------------


  7
  SECTION 7:   ENTERING A FILENAME.
  ---------------------------------
  Depending on where in the program you are entering a file name from,
  it may take on any of THREE (3) different forms.

  (1)   An Eight Character String,   containing any of the following
        characters:
        ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz!$-~_012
        3456789
  (2)   A string up to 70 chars long,   containing any of the following
        characters:
        ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz!$-~_012
        3456789:\.
  (3)   A Series of short strings:  a one char drive name,   a directory
        name,   a filename,  and an optional extension.

  If a filename is encountered that the program does not like,  it will
  tell you,    and will allow you to re-enter the file name.






  8
  SECTION 8:    USING THE MENUS SECTION A:  FILE MENU.
  ----------------------------------------------------
  By now you should have entered your filename,   and should see a screen
  something like this:
 TimeTable v2.0 by ShadoBoy 
 Editing file - TIMES.DAT   ͳ
   File          Edit           Special                               
ͳ
                                                                      
                                                                      
                                                                      
                                                                      
                                                                      
                                                                      
                                                                      
                                                                      
                                                                      
                                                                      
                                                                      
     At any time while not  Editing  a  File,  Alt + the first        
        of the menus name activates the menu.   Alt-X exits.          
______________________________________________________________________
(I hate drawing my own screens!)

  Pressing Both the "Alt" and "F" keys simultaneously will bring up the
  File  Menu.   This  menu  contains various  options   for  performing
  operations on files.   To select an option,  press the down arrow key
  to move down an option,  and the Up Arrow Key to move Up.  The option
  currently selected will be shown in  inverse  (a greyish  white,   as
  compared with the standard Yellow on Black).   To move between menus,
  Press the Left and Right Arrow Keys while in any menu.   To   perform
  the option currently selected,   press the Enter Key.
  9
  Here are what the options in the File Menu Do:

  View Contents Of TBT -  This allows you to view what you have so far
  created.   Performing this function straight after creating your file
  will display a blank timetable,   with "[Nothing]" or "[None Entered]"
  displayed after the important headings.   While viewing your timetable,
  press Enter to move to the next screen.   The last page of data will
  remain on the screen after the function has finished.

  New / Open - This allows you to create a new file,  or open an existing
         one.   It returns you to the OPENING SCREEN,   after asking you
         if you wish to save your file.

  Save / Save As- This saves your file to disk.   Doing this straight
         after creating a new file,   will save a 16 byte long file to disk.

  Print - This will let you print out your file,   either to your local
          printer,   or to a file on disk.   (or exit that function by
          pressing the "C" key.

          After selecting it,   a Menu of Options will appear.   Hitting
          the "A" key (for the Option labelled (a)) will print the  file
          to a file on  disk,   which is more readable to a   human than
          the raw TBT or DAT filetype.   This  file  can  be  up  to  30
          Kilobytes long,  depending on how many days and hours   contain
          data etcetera.   The program takes  you  through  entering  the
          drive,   the filename,  the optional extension and finally  the
          directory which you wish to save the  data to.   Once  you  are
          sure of your filename,   the program will save the file to disk
          and return to the Editing Screen.
  10
          Hitting the "B" key will print your file to an Epson Compatible
          printer.   The printer which is used is the default printer, or
          the one which is considered to have the highest priority to the
          system you are working on.   The  program  will wait until the
          printer is online,  has paper in it,   and then tell you to hit
          ENTER.   Doing so will print out your timetable to the printer.
          If your printer is not Epson Compatible,   the program may print
          out garbage,  so you are asked before starting whether your
          printer is INDEED Epson Compatible.  Answering no lets you return
          to the Editing Screen.

          The Print quality is rather high,   and professional,  able to
          be displayed on an office wall for instance.

  Exit - This Option,   obviously,   will allow you to exit the program.
         The program will first ask if you wish to save your file.
         Entering Y for Yes will save the file,   Entering N for No will
         simply  do  nothing.   The  program  then  terminates,   with a
         "GOODBYE" message.

         This option (Exit) can also be activated by pressing Alt-X, while
         in either the File Menu,   or the Editing Screen itself.   So  be
         careful what you press! ;-)

  11
  SECTION 9:    USING THE MENUS SECTION B:  EDIT MENU.
  ----------------------------------------------------
  This Menu is activated by pressing the "Alt" and "E" keys
  simultaneously.   You can "navigate" the Edit Menu in exactly the
  same way as you can all other menus.   See the above section for how
  to "navigate" the menu system.

  The Options in The Edit Menu Are:

  Add A Message To File - This allows you to leave a message for yourself
  or someone else on that particular day,   within the timetable file. It
  first asks you what day you want the message to be on.    To save you
  the user typing too much (and to cut down code and complexity ;-)), the
  day is entered as a number from 1 through to 7.   1 is Sunday,   2   is
  Monday,  3 is Tuesday,   and so on.

  You are then asked what time you want the message to be for.    This is
  also entered as a single number.  It is the same as army time -   0 for
  Midnight,   1 for 1 AM,    2 FOR 2  AM,    13 FOR 1 PM,  and so on.

  The program then tells you IN PLAIN ENGLISH what time you chose,   and
  asks "is this  correct?".   Answering N for No lets you  re-enter  the
  whole thing.

  If there is a message already down  for that time,  it will be displayed,
  it confirmation as to whether you wish to overwrite the message will be
  asked for.  If you do not wish to overwrite the message in that position,
  answer N for No to the question,  and you will be returned to the top  of
  the function (Entering the Day et cetera).
  12
  After this,  you enter the message you want in the space provided by the
  program.   Once you are sure of the message,  and have hit Enter,  hit
  "Y" for Yes to Commit the message to memory.   NOTE:   You must save the
  file before the data is declared permanent.

  Delete A Message From File - This lets you delete a message from the
  timetable file being edited.   The program first asks if you are sure
  you want to delete from the file,   since there is no "Undo" command
  in any of the menus (future versions of the program may include Undo,
  if they eventuate).    If you select Y for Yes,  you are then asked
  what day you wish to delete from,   and then the hour.   They are
  entered in the same way as you would Add a Message (see above).  The
  message in that position is then displayed,  and confirmation that you
  want to delete that message is asked for.   Answering Y for Yes to
  the question deletes the message.   If there is no message in the
  position,  you will be told so.   The Editing Screen then reappears.

  Move A Message Within The File - This lets you move a message within
  the file (or copy it,  depending on how you work).   Firstly,  as in
  the delete message command,   the program asks for confirmation, since
  you can't Undo the command.

  If you hit "Y" for Yes,  the program continues as the other two
  functions do,   asking for the source day,  the source hour,  the
  destination day,  and the destination hour.   The rest of the command
  then proceeds as does the delete command,   with the exception of the
  fact that the function also asks you if you want whether you want to
  delete the source message.    If you answer N for No to this question,
  the command acts similar to a Copy command,  copying the  message from
  the source time to the destination time.

  The Editing Screen then Re-Appears.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
  13
  SECTION 10:    USING THE MENUS SECTION C:  SPECIAL MENU.
  --------------------------------------------------------
  The Special Menu contains two SPECIAL options,   for use by the new
  time-table file format.   These are:

  Comment TBT File - This allows you to add a comment line to the TBT
  file being edited.   The comments do not interfere with the other file
  (times.dat)'s reading.    The program simply gets a 70 character string
  from the user for the Comments,  afterwards asking if the comments are
  correct.    If The user responds Yes,  the comments are committed to
  memory,   and can be saved.

  Enter TBT File Creator - This is similar to the above command,   except
  that the 70 char string that is entered by user is used as the Name for
  the owner of the TBT file / Time-Table.   The method of entering the
  owner is the same as for entering comments (see above).

  The program then returns to the Editing Screen.

  Shell To Dos   -   This lets you go to the DOS shell,   to nose around
        a bit.    Note that this option is kind of unstable at the moment
        and so I cannot be held responsible for anything bad happening
        while in the DOS shell.    Report all strange occurences to do
        with this to me.   Hopefully,   you will encounter nothing bad
        in this respect.







  14
  SECTION 11:   FORMAT OF THE TBT FILE.
  -------------------------------------
  The format of the time-table file is quite simple,  as it is a text file.
  Each line contains two integer numbers less than 256 and greater than -1,
  followed by a string of characters up to 70 characters long.

  The first number is the day of the week that the message falls on.
  If it is greater than the number of days in the week (currently 7),
  and equals 255,  then the string of characters following the next number
  is considered to be one of the special lines of data - Comments,  or
  The TBT's Owner.    If the hour after the 255 is 0,   the line read in
  is assigned to the Comments,  and if the hour after the 255 is 1,  then
  the line read in is assigned to the TBT's Owner.

  Otherwise,  if the day of week and time of day read in are  OK,  the
  line read in is assigned to the message for that time on that day.

  This is current structure of the TBT file,  however in future versions
  of TimeTable it may differ.   (Eg.  It may be packed,    to save disk
  space.)




  15
  SECTION 12:   CONCLUSION.
  -------------------------
  This is the end of the manual (documentation) for the program TimeTable
  Version 2.0 by ShadoBoy.  Who knows where the program will go from here.
  Where it goes will depend on whether this program is released to the
  general public,   and whether the public have enough need for a program
  like this.   Also,  it will depend on the time the author of this program
  gets to modify it,   and how much feedback I get from its users.

  A general equation for this might be:
  Versions:=1+(2*Time_On_Authors_Hands + Sqr(FeedBack) + exp(Neccesity))
  *NumberOfUsers/10;             :)

  Until the  next version of this program comes out,   the documentation
  is ended (apart from the registration  details at the end of this
  document.)  However,  please feel free to contact me using any of the
  following methods:

  By Telephone,   during WeekDays 5:30pm onwards,  and during Weekends
  virtually _ANYTIME_.  IN AUSTRALIA:  (079) 782983.

  By IRC,  on whatever channel I may be on - just /msg me.   My Nick is
  TheFlash. (this is only for when I am on IRC - not a lot of the time...)

  By E-Mail - send a message to me via my topaz account:
  harveym@topaz.cqu.edu.au
  E-Mail is _ALWAYS_ welcome :)
  ---------------------------.
  | Finally,  by snail mail: |
  | P.O. Box 1146,           |
  | Gladstone,  Qld. 4680,   |
  | AUSTRALIA.               |
  ----------------------------

  Any suggestions for modifications to this program,   ideas for games
  I could make :))),  compliments on my programming style,   kinky e-mail
  (just kidding about that last bit ;-)) (maybe...),   or anything else
  you can think of are welcome.

  Hope to hear from you.

  Otherwise,    good-day / goodnight to you all,
  where ever U R.........

  ShadoBoy / The Flash.
  ---------------------        25th April,  1995.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
ooo              "The woods are lovely,  dark,  and deep,                ooo
ooo               But I have promises to keep,                           ooo
ooo               And many miles before I sleep,                         ooo
ooo               And many miles before I sleep."  - R.F.                ooo
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

REGISTRATION:   Well,   this is the bit that we all hate (apart from the
                authors  ;-).)   But anyway,   here's how to  register.

       -   Within  Australia,   simply send a cheque,  money order,  or
           cash (no credit cards,   sorry!) payment of AUS$20 to:

           ShadoBoy of RisticShadows Productions,
           P.O. Box 1146,
           Gladstone Qld. 4680.

           along with your address (so I can inform you of future versions
           of the software -- not necessary if you're just registering this
           for your own conscience (yeah,  right!))

       -   If you're from outside of the 'great old land of OZ',   then
           it gets a bit more difficult.

           Send a cheque (drawn on an Australian bank) or international
           money order for AUS$25 (the extra fiver is for transportation
           costs for future software,  and the extra trouble caused trying
           to cash my dough!).    Credit Cards are not accepted sorry,  it
           takes to much trouble to work out all the in's and out's of
           cashing the money (and besides,  I've got other worries to
           attend to :) )   Also send your address,    if you want the
           next version of the software when it comes out (or any freebees
           that I decide  to generously give people :) ).

           The address,   of course is  just the same as above -- just
           add Australia on the end.

       -   Finally,   if you're from  another planet .... (just kidding.)

C U Later --  hope you decide to do the right thing by RisticShadows
productions,   and REGISTER THIS SILLY THING!

Blessed Be,   as  the Wiccans say.

ShadoBoy of RisticShadows Productions.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------