README.TXT   dLSoft

dIndex Pro Shareware version.

This Shareware version provides all the facilities of dIndex, with the 
exception that files may not be saved. The full version is available,
complete with an instruction manual, and may be obtained by registering
as detailed in the nag screen.

Please note that the colour control and barcode creation and printing
facilities of this version are derived from the Professional Edition
of dIndex, and are NOT present in the Standard Edition

For details of how to order the full version see the file ORDER.TXT on the 
distribution disk.

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The dLSoft Install program will install dIndex into a user specified subdirectory. 

Run the INSTALL program on this disk from within Windows. When using 
Pogram Manager, insert this disk in your drive (A: or B:), select RUN from 
the FILE menu, and type A:INSTALL (or B:INSTALL) and click on OK. 
INSTALL will prompt you for an installation directory name.  During 
installation a library file name "COMMDLG.DLL" is copied into the 
installation directory. If your system already contains a more recent copy 
of this file on the Windows path, the version which comes with dIndex may 
be deleted from the installation directory.

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Background dialog

The background colour and page boundary colour used by dIndex may be set 
from the SET BACKGROUND option of the DISPLAY menu.

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Form/Label dialog

The Form/Label sizes dialog has a new procedure for changing the definition
of a form/label size:
1) Select the name of the form/label which it is desired to change from the 
list in the forms/labels listbox on the left of the dialog.
2) Make the required changed to the name, sizes and repeat numbers.
3) Push the Accept changes button when you are satisfied with the new 
definitions.
4) If you wish to make the changes permanent, check the Save on OK box.
5) Push the OK button. 

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Import dialog

The Import dialog has been modified by the addition of a check box which, 
if checked, results in the removal of quotation marks (") from imported data. 
This has been provided to allow for the easier import of some types of comma 
delimited files.

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Print dialog

The PRINT dialog has been simplified, by the movement of a number of the 
less commonly used options to a second dialog box called the PRINT 
OPTIONS DIALOG. This dialog is also the one summoned when PRINTER 
SETUP is chosen from the FILE menu.

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Replacement dates

The Replacement date (the date which replaces the ^ symbol) may now be 
specified, although it continues to default to the current date. The date format
 is now the format set within the Windows Control Panel. 
See the HELP system for details.

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Page view

The Page View option now displays the white form(s) background at the size 
specified in the forms/label dialog. The superimposed black rectangle shows
the prinable area of the page reported by the Windows printer driver. The 
position of this rectangle will be determined by the current margin and paper 
feed settings of the Print Options dialog. Note that some laser printers in 
landscape mode print the page justified to the righthand margin rather than 
the normal lefthand margin, and that this is significant if the physical pages 
fed to the printer are smaller than the size specified in the printersetup dialog.

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Command line startup

dIndex may be started from a command line which may include any or all of the 
following parameters in any order:

[path]dIndex.exe [path]filename.dlx [path]stylename.dls /p

where the filename and/or stylename are the names of files which will be 
loaded automatically on startup, and /p indicates that form/labels for the 
entire database will be printed immediately.

This latter facility has been incoporated to allow automatic unattended 
printing following startup. It is the user's responsibilty to ensure that the 
printer setup is correct in the chosen style, that the printer is available, and 
(if a printer spooler is used) that the system contains sufficient disk space to 
handle the volume of printing.

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Sample styles

The sample styles are supplied with non-TrueType font settings for 
compatability with Windows 3.0. If you are currently using Windows 3.1 
with TrueType enabled you may wish to change these settings to a suitable 
TrueType font for improved screen display.

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Graphics elements

A picture element may contain a graphics image which may be pasted from the
clipboard (using PASTE PICTURE) or imported from a file in .CLP, .BMP, .DIB,
.PCX, .WMF or .TIF format (using EDIT SELECTION).


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Version 2.2  additional details                                       

dIndex now allows any field other than the index field to display graphics images.
The images may be stored in files in the database directory, using .CLP, .BMP, .DIB,
.PCX, .WMF or .TIF formats. Each image file may be selected by pushing the IMAGE 
button in the field block editor. See the HELP system for details.

Note that only standard (public) TIF format records may be imported. Private
record formats defined by some manufacturers for their own purposes will not
be interpretted by dIndex.

dIndex now allows each Field to have its own font. The Field font option 
now sets the font for fields which do not have their own font assigned 
through the Selection font option.

Fields may start with the Replacement date character and may be followed 
by an added number of days to advance the date (eg. ^+7). This facility 
allows labels with"Sell by" or "Best before" dates to be created readily.

dIndex now displays by default in Printer View rather than Normal View 
as described in the manual. If you are planning to follow the tutorial 
introduction you may wish to set dIndex into normal view as soon as 
you start the program. This may be achieved by clicking on the NORMAL 
item of the DISPLAY menu.

In response to user requests, the Index field may now be hidden (ie non-printing). 
To implement this the EDIT SELECTION menuitem of the EDIT menu has 
been split intotwo items: EDIT SELECTION and FORMAT SELECTION. 
EDIT SELECTION summons the appropriate editor for editing the content of a 
selected block, while FORMAT SELECTION summons a formatting editor for 
fields, allowing the field text to be centred, left or right aligned, wordwrapped 
or hidden. See the HELP system for details.

Professional version:

Barcodes may now be created from the Index field as well as from any other 
field.The Barcode dialog field selection combo box now includes an entry 
"First", indicating that the first field of the record (the Index field) may be 
used asthe barcode source.



End of README.TXT   March 1993

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