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CHAPTER 1:  GETTING STARTED

Welcome!

Welcome to FREE & EASY!  FREE & EASY is a new kind of program which
lets you do "what if?" types of calculations and keeps track of
numerical and financial information, among other things.  FREE & EASY
is similar to a spreadsheet but much more flexible; it does not squeeze
you into a grid of cells and so allows FREEdom.  FREE & EASY is also
simple to learn and use.  It works in much the same way as you would
use a pencil and paper and is thus EASY!

This chapter will introduce you to FREE & EASY.  It will tell you how
to install FREE & EASY on your system and how to start up the program.


Summary of Disks

System Requirements:  Computer resources needed to run FREE & EASY are
minimal.  You will require an IBM-compatible computer with minimum
8086 processor, at least 512k of RAM memory, CGA video card and
monitor, one floppy disk drive (although a hard disk is recommended)
and DOS 3.3 or later.

5 1/4 inch   3 1/2 inch    Files        Description of Files
 disk #         disk #

1            1             F.EXE        executable file for FREE & EASY
                           README.EXE   information file
                           SFE.BAT      batch file to start FREE & EASY
                           SETUP.EXE    program to set up FREE & EASY
                                          on your hard disk
                           SB.EXE       screen blanking program
                           VENDOR.DOC   text file with information for
                                          shareware vendors

2                          FREE0.HLP    files for on-screen help
                           FREE1.HLP

3            2             VIEW.EXE     files used for on-screen
                           LESSON1.DAT  tutorials for
                           LESSON2.DAT  "A View of FREE & EASY"
                           LESSON3.DAT
                           LESSON4.DAT
                           LESSON5.DAT

4                          INSTR.EXE    Instruction Book
                           TITLE.TXT
                           CONTENTS.TXT
                           CHPT1.TXT
                           CHPT2.TXT
                           CHPT3.TXT
                           CHPT4.TXT
                           CHPT5.TXT
                           CHPT6.TXT
                           CHPT7.TXT








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                           CHPT8.TXT
                           APPENA.TXT
                           APPENB.TXT
                           APPENC.TXT

There are several other files included on these disks which are sample
programs for FREE & EASY. (All have the file extension .FRE or .MAK) An
explanation of these files is given in the text of the sheet.  A
summary of what is in each example sheet is in the sheet LIST.FRE.

The first thing you should do is to check to make sure that all disks
and files are present.  If not, contact FREE & EASY for replacements.
After this, back up all disks with the DOS copy command (see your DOS
manual for further information).


Running FREE & EASY from a Hard Disk

The is the preferred way to run FREE & EASY.  It is the most convenient
and involves no floppy disk swapping.  Several DOS commands are used in
the set-up procedure.  If you have difficulty understanding any of
these procedures, consult your DOS manual for further explanation.

The program SETUP.EXE can be used to install FREE & EASY on your hard
disk.  Just put the disk containing SETUP.EXE in the floppy drive and
type SETUP at the DOS prompt, then follow the instructions.
Alternately, you can do the installation yourself as described below:

First, make a directory for the files you need to run FREE & EASY.
Call this directory F&E (or another name, if you prefer).  Thus all
FREE & EASY files will be in C:\F&E.

Copy F.EXE into C:\F&E.  This is the minimum needed to run FREE & EASY.
In addition, to have the on-screen helps available, you should copy
FREE0.HLP and FREE1.HLP into this directory.

You can optionally copy all other FREE & EASY files to this directory
except the sample programs (those files with the extension .FRE or
.MAK)

Next make a directory to hold your FREE & EASY sample programs and the
FREE & EASY applications you develop.  Call this directory BIN (or
another name if you prefer).  Thus these files will be in C:\F&E\BIN.
Copy all files with the extension .FRE or .MAK to this directory.

When you start FREE & EASY, make the current drive and directory the
one containing your FREE & EASY applications (C:\F&E\BIN in this case).
Set the DOS path to this directory, to the directory containing F.EXE
and to your DOS files (usually C:\DOS).  FREE & EASY can then be
started by typing "F" at the DOS prompt.

The batch file SFE.BAT will start FREE & EASY as described above.  The
batch file contains:
C:
CD \
CD F&E\BIN








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SET PATH=C:\F&E;C:\DOS;C:F&E\BIN
C:\F&E\F

If you modify the installation procedure you can modify SFE.BAT to suit
your own setup.  Any text editor (or even the F.EXE program) can be
used to do this.


Running FREE & EASY from Two Floppy Drives

FREE & EASY can also be run from two floppy drives.  You should have
the DOS path as: SET PATH=A:\;B:\.
Make the current drive A:  and put the disk with the on-screen helps
(FREE0.HLP and FREE1.HLP) in drive B:

Put the disk containing F.EXE in drive A: and type "F" at the DOS
prompt.  When FREE & EASY has finished loading remove this disk and
insert a disk which will contain your FREE & EASY applications.


Running FREE & EASY from One Floppy Drive

FREE & EASY can even run from just one floppy drive although you will
have to do some disk swapping.  To start up, put the disk containing
F.EXE in the floppy drive and type "F" at the DOS prompt.  After FREE &
EASY has finished loading in, remove this disk.  You will have to
insert the disk containing the on-screen helps (FREE0.HLP and
FREE1.HLP) or the disk containing your FREE & EASY applications as
required.  FREE & EASY will tell you if the drive is empty or it cannot
find a file.


FREE & EASY Helps and Prompts

During a session of FREE & EASY you can always get help by pressing F1.
There are over 200 help topics available.  Helps are context sensitive;
virtually every situation you are in, every error or warning has an
associated help topic.  Help topics are also hyperlinked; you can
access related help topics from within a help screen.

FREE & EASY also has a prompt bar at the bottom of the screen.  The
prompts are also context sensitive and change according to the
situation.  You are encouraged to use these aids in order to help you
learn FREE & EASY.


A View of FREE & EASY

These are tutorials consisting of 5 lessons designed for the beginner
to quickly teach the basics of FREE & EASY.  Each lesson covers a
different aspect of FREE & EASY and takes about 20 minutes to complete.

To start "A View of FREE & EASY" insert the disk containing VIEW.EXE
into a floppy drive and type "VIEW" at the DOS prompt.  The files
LESSON1.DAT, LESSON2.DAT, LESSON3.DAT, LESSON4.DAT and LESSON5.DAT must
also be on the disk.  Once "A View of FREE & EASY" is started, just








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follow the instructions on the screen to do the lessons.

"A View of FREE & EASY" can also be installed on your hard disk.  It
can also be accessed through the "Help" pull down menu from within the
FREE & EASY environment.


Monochrome and LCD Monitors

During startup of FREE & EASY and all executable files in the FREE &
EASY package if a monochrome videocard is detected the display is
adjusted accordingly.  If you desire you can add the switches /B (for
black and white) or /R (for reverse black and white) to change the
display colors.  The switch /R gives a superior display for many LCD
monitors (found on many laptop computers).


Learning FREE & EASY

There are several approaches that can be used to learn FREE & EASY.
One way is simply to start up the program and begin using it.  You can
always use the prompt bar and helps to learn as you go along.

You may prefer to go through the Instruction Book in detail, chapter by
chapter to learn all the features of FREE & EASY.  The Instruction Book
is on floppy disk and can be installed on your hard disk.  You can
access the instruction by typing "INSTR" at the DOS prompt and then
just follow the on screen instructions.  The Instruction Book can also
be accessed through the "Help" pull down menu within the FREE
& EASY environment.  The Instruction Book can be printed one chapter at
a time or all at once.

A third possibility is to do each lesson in "A View of FREE & EASY".
After doing each lesson, try using the new features that you have
learned about in your own session of FREE & EASY.  After completing all
the lessons, use the Instruction Book as a reference for more details
on various topics as needed.

Chapter 2 in the Instruction Book also gives a good overview of FREE &
EASY.  After completing this chapter, you should be ready to start
using FREE & EASY treating the remaining portion of the Instruction
Book as a reference tool.


Opening Screen Bypass

The opening screen (showing FREE & EASY copyright information can be
bypassed by using the /S switch at the DOS prompt when starting up
FREE & EASY.  (e.g. F.EXE /S)  This screen will still be shown
momentarily while FREE & EASY is searching directories for the
location of help files, etc.  This feature is available on the
registered version of FREE & EASY but not the shareware version.

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