Better Software Bureau Mr. Konstantin Monastyrsky P.O.Box 522 Lyndhurst, N.J. 07071 Tel. 201-460-0677 VIEWER APPLICATION NOTES Demo Version 2.0 DESCRIPTION: None of the MS Windows programs allow to read text documents without loading them into the global memory first. In addition, Notepad cannot read document that are over 32K in size. These restrictions adversely affect Windows performance and its usefulness to the users who have to work with the large text documents, such as reports, source code files, records of on-line sessions, etc. The Viewer allows to work with the text documents of any size because it only records file positioning information (3 bytes per line of text) and does not load any part of the file into the memory. The Viewer utility is further advanced by the availability of powerful searching and bookmarking functions, ability to copy and paste blocks of text into other applications, and printing support that allows page formatting and selection of any available font. OTHER FEATURES ALLOW TO: - select different fonts for screen and printer - set-up a printer without control panel - select colors according to the user preferences - set-up default document extension for "Open..." dialog - access all open windows and active applications via "Windows" menu - select an alternative cursor shape - permanently record start-up options in win.ini file - integrate with other applications that adhere to MS Windows design guidelines - launch new instance of Viewer from the "Open..." dialog - perform automatic tabs expansion (*) - control from external application (the program can be requested to load and show a file, or to perform most of the available functions (*) - record and restore bookmarks when file is loaded (*) - split screen and view different file segments (*) - permanently display header information (set from the text file itself) (*) - ability to file documents into libraries under alias names up to 80 characters long (*) Not available in the demo version The ability to call Viewer from within any other application makes it most useful for Windows programmers and integrators whose applications must work with text files, such as downloadable mainframe reports, on-line references, etc. USER INTERFACE: Keyboard: Key Move ------------------------------------------------------------- Home top of the file End bottom of the file PgUp one page up PgDn one page down Up arrow one line up Down arrow one line down Left arrow one character to the left Right arrow one character to the right Clear key (5) Zoom to full size / Un-Zoom Escape Remove current active window (including Viewer) Enter Bookmark top visible line Mouse: ------------------------------------------------------------- Left Button Down Move pointer up or down to select block of text. Move pointer outside of the window to engage the auto-scroll similar to Write. Right Button Click Bookmark current line / Release Bookmark LIMITATIONS: The current version does not verify the fact that the file in use has been changed by another program because we had not been able to recover from OpenFile() function with the OF_VERIFY | OF_CANCEL flags set on. The program will read any requested file, and does not attempt to distinguish text files from binary. With later it can hang-up the system in some cases. The keyboard interface to select the text block is not provided. The program has not been tested on the monochrome system. (The internal color/BW test works). The tab expansion will only work properly with the monospaced (fixed) fonts. In addition, those document that were produced by the editors with variable tab intervals, may not be represented accurately. The tab expansion increment can be modified in win.ini file; if set to 0, no expansion will be performed. A lot of care went into the testing of each individual program's module. The complete program itself, however, undergone very limited testing. We will rely on your input to find bugs, if any. Nevertheless, the program is very stable with the memory (does not eat any) and does not leave files open longer then necessary. Also keep in mind, that the program had been compiled using 2.0 Windows Development System Beta version. DEMO VERSION LIMITATIONS: The program cannot be called from another program (including itself) with the file name as an argument (also it cannot be called by selecting a designated file in the MS-DOS Executive). Obviously, these limitations have been imposed in order to prevent an unauthorized integration of the Viewer with other products. LICENSING: The Viewer had been designed to work with our Windows vertical applications. It was intended to simplify the productions of various reports and usefulness of these reports to the users. It accomplishes, in our opinion, its goals for programmers (f to i) and users (a to e) by: a) giving users the opportunity to integrate reports output with other Windows applications; b) producing long reports almost instantaneously by writing them to the disk (instead of printing); c) storing reports on the disk for further recall and review; d) unmatched flexibility and adaptability of the report presentation and output; e) providing simultaneous access to an unrestricted (within reasons) number of reports; f) relieving the programmer from the need to write custom code for the reports printing and screen output; g) providing uniform and consistent form of the reports manipulation to users; h) significantly cutting applications development time; i) increasing product sellability and competitiveness by high quality presentation of the most comprehensible part of the sales demonstration - business reports; We have also found the Viewer very useful in our programming work (try to read windows.h with the Notepad or Write) and alongside PageMaker, Write, etc. It also sells our products better than the products itself. We have invested a lot of man-hours into the Viewer in order to accomplish its polished look and performance. We sincerely hope that you will not duplicate our efforts and chose to license the Viewer source, object code or executable version. We will be glad to customize the Viewer to your special needs. We do not plan to distribute a retail version of Viewer because, in our opinion, it is a limited use utility that can only justify itself as a part of other application. Please contact us by phone or mail (no CIS e-mail please) for details. ___________________________________________________________________________ If you use bulletin boards that may find Viewer attractive to their membership, please upload VIEWER.ARC there. We will appreciate your comments, suggestions, and critique. ___________________________________________________________________________ License ------- Copyright (c) 1988 Better Software Bureau. All Rights Reserved. You are free to use, copy and distribute Viewer Demo for noncommercial use if: NO FEE IS CHARGED FOR ITS USE, COPYING OR DISTRIBUTION. IT IS NOT MODIFIED IN ANY WAY. Clubs and user groups may charge a nominal fee (less than $5) for expenses and handling while distributing Viewer Demo. Site licenses, commercial licenses and custom versions of Viewer are available. Write to the address below for more information. This program is provided AS IS without any warranty, expressed or implied, including but not limited to fitness for a particular purpose. Better Software Bureau P.O.Box 522 Lyndhurst, N.J. 07071