Help Index
CaseLinr Help Index

The Index lists all Help available for CaseLinr.  To learn how to use Help, press F1 or choose Using Help from the Help menu.

Overview

Registration

Commands

File Menu Commands

Layout Menu Commands

Fonts Menu Commands

Text Menu Commands

File Association

Glossary


Overview

CaseLinr is a Windows 3.1 program which prints case liners (a.k.a. J-Cards) for audio cassettes -- including DAT.  The image displayed on the CRT screen approximates what will actually be printed.  The printed result is quite accurate and can be cut, folded, and then inserted into an empty (preferably clear plastic) audio cassette box.

To install CaseLinr, copy the files CASELINR.EXE and CASELINR.HLP to any directory and then use the New Program Item in the Files menu of the Program Manager to install CaseLinr within any group.

You have control over many variables determining the final result.  The default fonts look fairly nice on my Epson LQ850 and HP LaserJet IIIP, but you will probably want to change them to fit your own printer.  The font dialog boxes allow access to all variables which are part of a Windows font definition.

The Title and Song dialog boxes are multi-line edit boxes which allow horizontal and vertical scrolling.  Use the Enter key to actually enter multiple lines.  Either click on the OK button or Tab to the OK button and then press Enter to complete title and song entry.  Even though there is no Edit menu, the Windows clipboard can be used for copying (Ctrl+Ins), cutting (Shift+Del), and pasting (Shift+Ins) titles and/or songs.  When entering songs and titles, just enter each song on a separate line and let the program perform word-breaks and spacing, it's by no means perfect but it tries.


Registration

CaseLinr is Shareware. It is not free software, but it is also not Crippleware.  It is fully functional and does not contain any randomly appearing oversized dialog boxes with insulting messages, charge card graphics, or floating buttons.  If you like CaseLinr and find it useful, you are requested to support it by registering (i.e. sending me money).  Part of the CaseLinr software package should have been a file named REGISTER.FRM.  If for some unknown reason this file has vanished, the gist of its contents are:

Registration fee is $15

A copy of the latest version is an additional $3 USA and Canada, $5 foreign; and indicate preferred diskette size.  NOTE that you may already have the latest version -- check todays date with the EXE date.  If I determine that you have the latest version, I will wait for the next version before sending you a floppy -- unless you are into collecting floppy disks.

All funds should be in US dollars -- cash, check (drawn on US banks only), money order, or postal money order.  I don't wish to slight foreign currency, but the local banks (in a small town) charge a very unattractive fee for such services.  No credit cards -- I haven't made it to the big time yet.

Please make all checks payable to Ed Adasiewicz, and forward your payment along with name, address, and comments to:

Ed Adasiewicz

260 Richmond Lane

Crystal Lake, IL  60014

This program is being made available on an "as is" basis, and carries no warranties, express or implied.  The author shall in no way be held liable for any damages resulting from the use of this program or the media on which it is distributed, including, without limitation, loss of business profits, interruption of business, loss of information, damage to equipment, or any other incidental or consequential damages.


File Menu Commands

New

Starts a new (untitled) liner.  If the current liner has not been saved, CaseLinr lets you save that liner before displaying a new liner.  The new liner has no title or songs and uses any settings that were Saved in the Global Layout command and Side Layout commands.  The new liner uses either default fonts or fonts that were Saved with the Font commands.

Open

Opens an existing liner.  If the current liner has not been saved, CaseLinr lets you save that liner before opening the requested liner.  This is a standard Windows File Open dialog box.  It contains the name of the current Directory, a Directories list box for selecting a drive and/or directory, a Files list box for selecting a file within the current directory, and a Filename field for directly entering filename and/or pathname data.  The default extension for CaseLinr files is *.CAS.  You may want to also use *.DAT if you are using the DAT feature.

The Title area is a multi-line display only field with scroll bars.  It is not for modifying titles, but rather for determining the contents of a case liner -- eight character file names tend to get quite cryptic.  When you click on a valid CaseLinr file, the titles contained within the file will be displayed.  Needless to say, if you click/open a file which was not created by CaseLinr (e.g. an EXE file) you will probably notice some pretty erratic behavior on your machine!

Save

Saves changes to the current liner in the filename displayed in the caption.  If the liner is (untitled), CaseLinr prompts you for a filename -- as in Save As.  When you choose Save, the liner remains open so you can continue working on it.

Save As

Saves the current liner after prompting you for a filename.  If the filename already exists, CaseLinr will ask you if the existing file should be overwritten with the current liner.  If the liner is currently in a file, this original file remains unchanged.  This is a standard Windows File Save As dialog box.  It contains the name of the current Directory, a Directories list box for selecting a drive and/or directory, and a Filename field for directly entering filename and/or pathname data.  The OK button is not enabled if the Filename field is blank.

Print

Prints the currently displayed liner on the default printer using any print settings entered with the Printer Setup command.  You can specify the distance, relative to the top and left edges of the paper, that the liner will be indented prior to printing.  Upon exiting CaseLinr, the last entered margins are recorded in CASELINR.INI and used the next time CaseLinr is executed.

To print multiple liners on the same sheet of paper, setup your printer to use landscape orientation, print the first liner (with the margins set accordingly), insert the printed sheet of paper back into your printer, and then print the second liner (with the margins (re)set accordingly).

Printer Setup

Sets printer options for the default printer.  These options are not local to CaseLinr but apply to all of Windows -- this is equivalent to configuring a printer through the Windows Control Panel.

Exit

Exits CaseLinr.  If the current liner has not been saved, CaseLinr lets you save that liner before exiting.


Layout Menu Commands

Global

Defines options which are global to a case liner.

Cut Lines -- The line style used for the border (where you cut the liner).

Fold Lines -- The line style used for the three interior lines (where you fold the liner).

Side Letters -- The type of cassette side letters (A and B).

Normal -- Black letters on a white background.  This field is disabled if DAT is chosen.

Reverse Video -- White letters within a black rounded corner rectangle.  This field is disabled if DAT is chosen.

Title

Alignment

Left -- All title lines will be left aligned.

Center -- All title lines will be centered.

Right -- All title lines will be right aligned.

Margin -- The distance left (right) aligned title lines are indented relative to the left (right) edge of the liner.  This field is disabled if Center Alignment is chosen.

Wrap -- If a title line requires more than one line, this is the distance that subsequent (wrapped) lines will be indented (right or left based upon Title Alignment) relative to the first line.  This can be a negative value.  This field is disabled if Center Alignment is chosen.

Split Title -- Draws a horizontal line separating the title area into two equal portions.  The first two title lines (either or both blank is OK) are centered vertically within each portion and any other title lines are ignored.

Feature Order -- Defines both the order in which features will appear on a liner and also the text that will be used for feature names.  Entering a feature order of either zero or blank will result in that feature being omitted (i.e. nothing is printed).   A feature name can be at most twenty characters in length, and can be blank.  The underlined numerals serve to associate the feature name with its corresponding value combo box in the Side Layout commands.  For a non-DAT cassette, feature names are centered horizontally with the associated features placed to the right and left.  For a DAT, feature names and features are printed together.

If Center on Flap is selected and all of the selected (non-zero) features fit on the feature flap then the feature order sequence "1 3 4" is treated identical to the (more normal) sequence "1 2 3".  The selected features will fit if the number of selected features times the larger of the Feature font height and the Feature Name font height does not exceed the height of the feature flap.  This is the only way features worked prior to version 3.9.

If Center on Flap is not selected or all of the selected features cannot fit on the feature flap then feature order is absolute.  For a non-DAT liner, features proceed down the liner, 1 per line and missing numbers are replaced with blank lines.  For a DAT liner, features also proceed down the liner, but 2 per line with odd numbers on the left and even numbers on the right and missing odd/even pairs of numbers are replaced with blank lines whereas a single missing number will result in half of a blank line.

Sides

Invert Image -- Flips the entire liner.  A flipped liner is oriented like a liner that accompanies a pre-recorded cassette, whereas an un-flipped liner looks like one that comes with a blank cassette.  Go ahead and compare the two, I didn't realize there was a difference until this feature was requested.  This field is disabled if DAT is chosen.

1-Up Sides -- Causes the songs on Side A to be printed across the entire width of the liner followed by the songs on Side B.  This feature is especially useful for classical music where the song titles are long.  This field is disabled if either Bisect Sides or DAT is chosen.

Bisect Sides -- Draws a vertical line separating the songs on Side A from those on Side B.  This field is disabled if either 1-Up Sides or DAT is chosen.

DAT -- Results in a liner suitable for DAT.  Only Side A layout is used (Side B is disabled) but songs from both Sides A and B are used.  An existing non-DAT liner can be printed as a DAT liner without having to re-enter all of the data.

OK -- Applies all selected options to the current liner.

Save -- Saves all selected options to CASELINR.INI but does not apply them to the current liner, and changes the Cancel button to Close.

Reset -- Resets all options to those Saved in CASELINR.INI but does not apply them to the current liner.

Dimensions -- Activates a dialog box containing the physical Dimensions of a liner.  Two sets of dimensions, DAT and non-DAT, can be entered.  Five separate measurements, all in TWIPS, can be entered: Width, Feature Flap Height, Title Height, Primary Song Height, and Overflow Song Height.

Side A

Defines the side layout for Side A of a case liner.

Side B

Defines the side layout for Side B of a case liner.  This menu item is disabled if DAT is chosen.


Side Layout

Defines the feature values for one side of a case liner.  Each combo box permits selection of all saved and/or initial values for a feature.  If a feature was given an order of either zero or blank in the Global Layout command, then its corresponding combo box will not be enabled.  The feature name entered in the Global Layout command appears in the title of the combo box, preceded by an underlined numeral -- the same numeral that preceded it in the Global Layout command.  A value can either be selected from the dropdown list of the combo box or entered directly into the edit field of the combo box.  A feature value can be at most nineteen characters in length.

Song

Alignment

Left -- All songs on the side will be left aligned.

Center -- All songs on the side will be centered.

Right -- All songs on the side will be right aligned.

Margin -- The distance songs on the side are indented left or right based upon Song Alignment and whether 1-up songs have been chosen -- e.g. 2-up side A songs are right aligned with the center of the liner whereas 1-up side A songs are right aligned with the right edge of the liner.  This field is disabled if Center Alignment is chosen.

Wrap -- If a song on the side requires more than one line, this is the distance that subsequent (wrapped) lines will be indented (right or left based upon Song Alignment) relative to the first line.  This can be a negative value.  This field is disabled if Center Alignment is chosen.

Side Letter

Song Area -- Causes the side (A or B) letter in the song area to either print or not print.

Feature Flap -- Causes the side (A or B) letter on the feature flap to either print or not print.

Song Title -- Selecting either Title Align or Song Align will cause the title to print above the songs using the Title Over Songs font.  For DAT, the entire title will be printed.  For a non-DAT cassette, the first line of the title will print over Side A and the second line ( or the first line if there is only one line) will print over Side B.

Title Align -- Uses Alignment, Margin, and Wrap entered in Global Layout for the title.

Song Align -- Uses Alignment, Margin, and Wrap entered in the current Side Layout for songs.

OK -- Applies all selected options to one side of a case liner and records any dropdown list modifications within CASELINR.INI.

Add -- Adds the value in the edit field of a combo box to the dropdown list of that combo box.  The addition is only permanent (i.e. saved in CASELINR.INI) if OK is eventually requested.  This button is not enabled if the value in the edit field is already in the dropdown list.  The status of this button can change dynamically as you enter characters into an edit field.  This button acts upon the feature which currently has the input focus.

Remove -- Removes the value in an edit field of a combo box from the dropdown list of that combo box.  The deletion is only permanent (i.e. removed from CASELINR.INI) if OK is eventually requested.  This button is not enabled if the value in the edit field is not currently in the dropdown list.  The status of this button can change dynamically as you enter characters into an edit field.  This button acts upon the feature which currently has the input focus.

Short Date -- Either places the current system date into a blank edit field or appends the current system date (preceded by a single space) onto a non-blank edit field.  This button acts upon the feature which currently has the input focus.  The date is formatted according to the settings entered under Short Date Format in the International portion of the Control Panel.

Long Date -- Either places the current system date into a blank edit field or appends the current system date (preceded by a single space) onto a non-blank edit field.  This button acts upon the feature which currently has the input focus.  The date is formatted according to the settings entered under Long Date Format in the International portion of the Control Panel -- due to size limitations, the weekday portion is NOT currently used.

Time -- Either places the current system time into a blank edit field or appends the current system time (preceded by a single space) onto a non-blank edit field.  This button acts upon the feature which currently has the input focus.  The time is formatted according to the settings entered under Time Format in the International portion of the Control Panel.

Save -- Saves all selected options to CASELINR.INI but does not apply them to the current liner, and changes the Cancel button to Close.

Reset -- Resets all options to those Saved in CASELINR.INI but does not apply them to the current liner.


Font Menu Commands
Fonts Menu Commands

Side Letter

Specifies the font definition to be used for the Side Letters on a case liner.

Title

Specifies the font definition to be used for the Title lines on a case liner.

Song

Specifies the font definition to be used for the Songs on a case liner.

Feature Name

Specifies the font definition to be used for the Feature Names on a case liner.

Feature

Specifies the font definition to be used for the Feature Values on a case liner.

Title Over Songs

Specifies the font definition to be used for the Title lines printed over the Songs on a case liner.

Reset All Fonts

Sets all (six) fonts to either default fonts or fonts that were Saved with one of the Font commands.  This is equivalent to requesting Reset in each of the above Font commands.


Text Menu Commands

Even though there is no Edit menu in either the title or song dialog boxes, the Windows clipboard can be used for copying (Ctrl+Ins), cutting (Shift+Del), and pasting (Shift+Ins) titles and/or songs.

Title

Enter the title for the case liner.  There is no limit to the number of lines (more than three may not be practical) or the number of characters in each line -- the Title Font will help determine how pleasing this appears.  Use the Enter key to actually enter multiple lines.

Songs Side A

Enter the songs for Side A of the case liner.  There is no limit to the number of lines or the number of characters in each line.  A warning message will appear if all the songs will not fit on the side.  Use the Enter key to actually enter multiple lines.

Songs Side B

Enter the songs for Side B of the case liner.  There is no limit to the number of lines or the number of characters in each line.  A warning message will appear if all the songs will not fit on the side.  Use the Enter key to actually enter multiple lines.


Font Definition

All of the data entered for a font is used to create a logical font for the default printer.  There are only a certain number of such fonts that each printer will support (usually less than the number of fonts definable via the dialog boxes) and the logical font created is the one closest to a font actually supported by the printer.  Next, a screen font is created that is the closest to the actual printer font and also supported by the display device.  You just have to remember that changing certain fields will not necessarily change the font and that all printer fonts cannot be displayed on the screen -- which is why some fonts will display text in an area which does not appear on the printed liner.  And on top of that, there may even be a bug in the code!

Fonts

This list box contains the names of all typefaces supported by the default printer and is used to select a typeface.

Sizes

This list box contains various point sizes associated with the chosen typeface and can be used to select a point size.

Point Size

This field can be used to enter a point size not in the Sizes list box.  It also reflects the point size selected from the Sizes list box.

Bold

Specifies a bold font if selected.

Italic

Specifies an italic font if selected.

Underline

Specifies an underlined font if selected.

OK

Applies the font to the current liner.

Save

Saves the font definition (including any data entered through More) to CASELINR.INI but does not apply the font to the current liner, and changes the Cancel button to Close.

Reset

Resets the font definition (including all data entered through More) to the values Saved in CASELINR.INI but does not apply the font to the current liner.

More -- Activates a dialog box containing more font definition fields (not for the faint of heart!).


More Font Definition

This topic describes all of the fields in a (More) Fonts dialog box.  This information is not original and, in fact, is pretty much verbatim from the Microsoft Windows SDK (Software Development Kit).  Unless you have a fairly sophisticated printer (mine is not) you probably don't need to muck with these fields since they won't do anything!.  Why did I put them here?  Because I wanted to see what would happen.

Height

Specifies the average height of the font (in TWIPS).  If this field is greater than zero, it is transformed into device units and matched against the cell height of the available fonts.  If this field is zero, a reasonable default size is used.  If this field is less than zero, it is transformed into device units and the absolute value is matched against the character height of the available fonts.

Width

Specifies the average width of characters in the font (in TWIPS).  If this field is zero, the aspect ratio of the device is matched against the digitization aspect ratio of the available fonts for the closest match by absolute value of the difference.

Escapement

Specifies the angle (in tenths of degrees) between the escapement vector and the x-axis of the display surface.  The escapement vector is the line through the origins of the first and last characters on a line.  The angle is measured counterclockwise from the x-axis.

Orientation

Specifies the angle (in tenths of degrees) between the baseline of a character and the x-axis.  The angle is measured counterclockwise from the x-axis.

Match Aspect

This alters the algorithm that the font mapper uses when it maps logical fonts to physical fonts. If selected, the mapper will only select fonts whose x-aspect and y-aspect exactly match those of the specified device.  If no fonts exist with a matching aspect height and width, Windows chooses an aspect height and width and selects fonts with aspect heights and widths that match the one chosen by Windows.

Strike-Out

Specifies a strikeout font if selected.

Pitch

Specifies the font pitch and can be any one of the following values:

Default

Fixed

Variable

Quality

Specifies the font's output quality, which defines how carefully Windows must attempt to match the logical-font attributes to those of an actual physical font.  It can be any one of the following values:

Default -- Appearance of the font does not matter.

Draft -- Appearance of the font is less important than when Proof is used.  For Windows fonts, scaling is enabled, which means that more font sizes are available, but the quality may be lower.  Bold, italic, underline, and strikeout fonts are synthesized if necessary.

Proof -- Character quality of the font is more important than exact matching of the logical-font attributes.  For Windows fonts, scaling is disabled and the font closest in size is chosen.  Although the chosen font size may not be mapped exactly when Proof is used, the quality of the font is high and there is no distortion of appearance.  Bold, italic, underline, and strikeout fonts are synthesized if necessary.

Char Set

Specifies the font's character set.  It can be any one of the following values:

ANSI

OEM

Symbol

Weight

Specifies the font weight (in inked pixels per 1000).  Although internally in Windows this field can be any integer value from 0 to 1000, only the following values are defined:

Don't Care	0 -- A default weight is used

Thin	100

Extra Light	200

Light	300

Normal	400

Medium	500

Semi-Bold	600

Bold	700

Extra Bold	800

Heavy	900

These values are approximate; the actual appearance depends on the font face.

Clip Precision

Specifies the font's clipping precision, which defines how to clip characters that are partially outside the clipping region.  It can be any one of the following values:

Default

Character

Stroke

Out Precision

Specifies the font's output precision, which defines how closely the output must match the requested font's height, width, character orientation, escapement, and pitch.  It can be any one of the following values:

Default

String

Character

Stroke

Family

Specifies the font family.  Font families describe the look of a font in a general way. They are intended for specifying fonts when the exact typeface desired is not available. The values for font families are as follows:

Don't Care -- or don't know.

Roman -- Fonts with variable stroke width (proportionally spaced) and with serifs. Times Roman, Palatino, and Century Schoolbook, for example.

Swiss -- Fonts with variable stroke width (proportionally spaced) and without serifs. Helvetica and Swiss, for example.

Modern -- Fonts with constant stroke width (fixed-pitch), with or without serifs. Fixed-pitch fonts are usually modern. Pica, Elite, and Courier, for example.

Script -- Fonts designed to look like handwriting. Script and Cursive, for example.

Decorative -- Novelty fonts. Old English, for example.


File Association

CaseLinr files can be opened using file association.  File association is binding a filename extension (e.g. *.CAS) to a specific application (e.g. CASELINR.EXE), so that when you open a file with that extension, the corresponding application is automatically initiated with the file.  See your Windows manual or File Manager Help "Associating Documents with an Application" for information on how to setup file associations.


Glossary

default printer

distance

feature

TWIPS


Default Printer

The printer whose name appears in the Default printer box within the Windows Control Panel application.


Distance

A number which indicates a measurement in inches.  At most two decimal places are allowed and the value is usually positive.


Feature

The text which appears between the case liner side letters.  At most four separate features are allowed per liner.  Each feature consists of a name (initially DATE/TIME, MODE, SOURCE, and NOISE REDUCTION) and two side values (e.g. the SOURCE can be tape for Side A and CD for Side B).


TWIPS

1/20th of a point or about 1/1440 of an inch.