
                            ----------------------
                              Welcome to GBView!
                            ----------------------


GBView 2.2  -  Simple Windows applet to browse GB/BIG5 texts, that is,
               text of simplified mainland Chinese and traditional
               taiwanese Chinese.  Runs in any language edition of Windows
               3.1 and Win95/98.

Two computerized Chinese systems:
        One is GB (National Standard) of the mainland China.  The other is BIG5
        of Taiwan.  They are not compatible with each other.  Many Chinese
        articles are released in both editions.

Features:
        . views GB text, ASCII text, or the mixture
        . views BIG5 text in simplified Chinese font
        . files in BIG5 format can be converted and saved as GB text
        . automatic line wrap to adjust to the size of the viewing window
        . automatic TAB expansion when displaying
        . views contents up to 32,768 lines
        . supports drag and drop
        . assotiates with .GB files when running the first time
        . able to uninstall itself from Windows

Edition files:
        . GBV22C.ZIP, compact edition for win16, using 13x13 Chinese font
        . GBV22S.ZIP, standard edition for win16, using 16x16 Chinese font
        . GBV22T.ZIP, tiny edition for win16, using 11x11 Chinese font
        . GBV_22C.ZIP, compact edition for win32, using 13x13 Chinese font
        . GBV_22S.ZIP, standard edition for win32, using 16x16 Chinese font
        . GBV_22T.ZIP, tiny edition for win32, using 11x11 Chinese font
        . README.TXT, this file.  Not required when running.
        (note: win16 programs run on Windows 3.1 and up, but not Windows 3.0
         or earlier version.  The programs are bundled into two packages,
         one for win16 platform and another for win32.)

Distribution:
        This applet is freeware and is free for non commercial usage.  Please
        distribute it in its original package.

How to install:
        Just copy GBVIEW.EXE to your windows directory, or any directory you
        like.  You have to "setup an application" manually to get an icon in
        your Windows shell (usually the Program Manager).  The first launch
        of the applet will let you associate .GB files with itself.

How to uninstall:
        Just click "file->uninstall" menu item, GBView will unregister from
        Windows and remove the program file.  The win16 GBView edtions work
        well on both Windows 3.1 and Windows 95/98.  The win32 edtions will
        use remove all pertained information from the registry when uninstall,
        but will fail to remove the program file itself.  On NT platform, the
        GBView w32 might fail to remember the window size and directory of the
        last opened file of previous session.  That's the two known problems
        of the w32 beta.  Experts on w32 programming will be welcome to give
        me some information to cope with these problems.

How to use:
      . To browse a file, click "file->open", and select the file to be
        browsed.  If you open a file in BIG5, the display may be bizaar.
        In this case click "option->view as BIG5" and the text will be
        readable.  When viewing text in GB, just de-select this option.
        Usually the applet will select or de-select this option automatically
        according to the extension of the file name.
      . When the "option->view as BIG5" is selected, you can click "file->
        save in GB as ..." to save the opened file into a GB file.  For
        large files, only first 32,768 lines can be browsed, but conversion
        to GB will be complete.
      . When browsing a file, use up/down or left/right arrow keys to scroll
        up or scroll down one line.
      . Use pgup/pgdn key to scroll up/down one page.
      . Use Home/End key to go to top or bottom of the file.
      . You can also use the vertical scroll bar with a mouse, too.
      . If the file is too long, only the first 32,768 lines can be browsed.

Memory consumption:
        The applet uses about 250 KB (w16 compact edition) of memory when
        running, regardless of the size of the file being browsed.  Other
        editions use more or less, depending on the font size they use.
        W32 edtion generally uses more memory that a w16 one.

Related applet:
        I have another program called BIG5View, which can be used to browse
        BIG5 files in traditional Chinese font.  It is a w16 app and, of
        course, can run on w32 platforms.

Contact the author:
        If you have any problems or suggestions concerning the applet, or
        are interested in BIG5View, please contact me via email:
                           wjiang@xmu.edu.cn.

Jiang Wenqing,
October 1998.

----------

What's new in v2.2 since v2.0:
. Uninstall feature added.  This will unregister itself from the Windows
  registry file, remove initial entries in WIN.INI, and remove the GBView
  program file.  The win16 editons work well both on Windows 3.1 and 95/98.
. The big5 file suffix (*.b5, *.big, and *.big5) are supported, and these
  files will automatically be treated as big5 text files.  Files with .gb
  extension will automatically be treated as GB text files.
. Fixed two minor displaying bugs.  In v2.0, when other windows covering the
  GBView window are removed, some text formerly covered might fail to redraw
  completely.  This is due to a position miscalculation and has been fixed
  in this version.  Another problem with v2.0 is that when many consecutive
  TAB chars are displayed, a few of them would be mistreated as non-ASCII
  chars.  This blunder is also fixed in this version.

Version history:
v1.0 (named Zephyr): Browse GB files.  No auto linewrap.  A Win16 app.
v1.1 (named GBrowser): Auto linewrap added to make line length adjust to
                       windows width; ASCII printable chars supported.
v1.3 (named GBrowser): Drag & drop supported, bug fix.
v2.0 GBView: BIG5 display and BIG5 to GB conversion added.
v2.2 GBView: Uninstallation feature added, minor bugs fixed; beta version for
             win32 released.

