Copyright: Copyright ® 1992-1993 Windows OnLine.
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Windows OnLine™ is an on-line (modem) service dedicated to supporting Windows users and Windows network professionals. WOL prides itself on having the most complete and up-to-date library of Windows shareware in the world. We have over 9,000 Windows 3.x programs and files to download. With 13 phone lines, (all equipped with US Robotics high speed dual standard modems), operating 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

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More Operating Systems!

Novell had released a new version of Digital Research (DR) DOS on the same week that Microsoft released DOS 6.0. Now that Microsoft has released DOS 6.0, what will Microsoft do next? They could finally release Windows NT. I expect Microsoft will officially add another operating system to the world with the roll out of Windows NT later this month.

May 31 is Memorial Day. Have a Happy Holiday!

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Windows OnLine has created a weekly magazine, the

WinOnLine™ REVIEW™ Shareware Edition,

which is strictly shareware to go. Going on Issue #8, this magazine contains:

Shareware product briefs

A shareware Review or two

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Index Page

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   Shareware Briefs,  by Wolly

Shareware Choices For April!

  Visual Basic Insight,  by Steve Peschka

Overture! Curtains! Lights!

  Tips On Obtaining Good Technical Support,  by Wolly

  Database Computing,  by Steve Peschka

Using Bookmarks, Forms, and Dynasets

  FaxGrabber 1.2,  by Ed Hoffman

  Windows Printing System,  by Randy Wong

  Micrografx Designer 3.1,  by Tami Brydone-Jack

  Pro Menu 1.2,  by Ed Hoffman

  BoardWatch Contest Form

  Modem Specials


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Shareware
  Wolly's Shareware Choices for April!

(The following were extracted from several articles contained in the WinOnLine™ Review Shareware Edition)

WORLD TIME

Whaddya want Wolly? It's 2 a.m. here!!!

Sorry, Bob (East Coast Editor). It's only 11 here in California. That's why the Windows OnLine BBS is here on the West Coast. We've got three more hours to operate each day then those East Coast boards! HA! I guess I should look at this World Time program before I call Hong Kong. (Don't tell Frank) Who knows what time they think it is right now?

Three time zones can be shown on the World Time display: where you are, GMT (Greenwich Mean Time - from soggy old England) and a location you can choose yourself. Many obscure places (New Jersey?!?) around the world are already a part of the database, and more can be added. So, Bob, since you're up, download TIMZNA13.ZIP (27K) and get with it! It's freeware, so you don't even have to register. I think I'll call Randy (West Coast Editor). At least he knows what time it really is.

MASTER AMORTIZER

Oh, No! Financial reality

What if? How much? What's the effect of a bit more, a bit less? Master Amortizer goes beyond the mundane spreadsheet orientation of payment amortization schedules into the sublime of useful calculations. The clean interface makes many functions available from drop down menus and icon bars. Once you've entered the base information of amount, term and rate, select a matrix of payment figures based on user-selectable increments of interest rates and principal borrowed to see your range of options. Or view a bar chart of the payments and total interest you'll pay for varying terms.

One really useful feature of the program allows you to view your amortization schedule while popping up a box with an interactive conclusion of how much you'd save in interest and term if you added so many dollars to your regular payment. This can be a real eye-opener and incentive to add that $50-100 to your mortgage payment. The ancient and cruel Rule of 78's can even be used instead of simple interest. But I'd move to another state before I got stuck with that rip-off method. Take a look at AMOR28.ZIP (217K) to see if it will fit your needs and help you get out from under your present mortgage or perhaps, under a new one. Registration is $21.95.

WIN HOG

This is no pig

When disk space becomes short, it's time to determine what's fat and can go (no ex-wife jokes, now). Win Hog may not sniff out truffles, but it will sniff out the fat stuff on your drive. A very useful difference that Win Hog brings to the genre is the ability to look at your entire drive, like most, or drop down to any level of subdirectories to visualize the content. The left window presents a pie chart with the right window displaying the color coded percentages and directory or file names. Wolly found that 34% of his C drive was taken up by the Graphics subdirectory, and 36% of that subdirectory was hogged by Corel Draw. Pretty amazing, since Wolly can't draw.

WINHOG20.ZIP (18K) was a bit slow on the uptake, spending nearly a minute analyzing and displaying the content of my 240meg 15ms drive, but the wait was well worth it. Send author Michael Price the low-low price of $5.00 for registration including a personalized version of Win Hog on a return disk, or for $15.00 he'll include the source as well.

ACCENT

Acute, Grave, Circumflex, Umlaut, Tilde, A ring, & Cedilla

Raise your hand if you have a handy chart of the Windows extended ANSI characters within reach. Thought so. Who can remember the ALT + #### assignments, especially when you get into the more obscure ones? If you find yourself using diacritics, those little accent marks, often in your writing, Accent may be for you.

The program allows the use of a hot key combination to toggle to Accent and an entire new keyboard definition table, or for individual diacritic or other character substitutions, to use it to access special characters like ™,  © or £. Multiple configurations are available, and custom setups (lower case "c" to represent "©" when using a hot key combination) for your own particular needs could be very helpful. ACCENT21.ZIP (79K) is from Pro+++ Software of Canada, which offers convenient alternative arrangements to collect your $25.00 registration fee. Did you know all these? Wolly didn't. NOW, pronounce them.

ACCENT:	Acute:	á  é  í  ó  ú  ý  Á  É  Í  Ó  Ú  Ý

Grave:	à  è  ì  ò  ù  À  È  Ì  Ò  Ù

Circumflex:	â  ê  î  ô  û  Â  Ê  Î  Ô  Û

Umlaut:	ä  ë  ï  ö  ü  ÿ  Ä  Ë  Ï  Ö  Ü

Tilde:	ã  õ  Ã  Õ  ñ  Ñ

A ring:	å  Å

Cedilla:	ç  Ç

WINIMAGES: MORPH

NOT Worf's long-lost brother

This is another of those "This is really cool" programs. Take Wolly's word for it and grab this one. "Morph" is shorthand for metamorphosis, or changing from one form to another. The program will take two of your DIB, GIF, IFF, PCX and other file formats and create a "filmstrip" which will cause the first image to gradually change into the second. Yeah. And it works. Sample files are included so you can see the effect and get the idea of how it could work for you. This week's toy is MRPHWIN.ZIP (380K), a limited version of the full product. No price is disclosed. Wolly usually doesn't review limited demos, if fact usually complains about them, but this one was fun to play with. I may have even violated the prime directive. Could it be - - - commercial?!?

     Wolly's Shareware Tips

If you're the type of animal that has to try a lot of shareware, like Wolly, it can easily get out of hand. Program groups begin to gain weight, and you forget what's good, bad, used, unused, registered and unregistered.

Wolly has a subdirectory called EVAL(uation) where shareware goes into subdirectories named the same as the zip file. A program group titled EVALS holds them for a looksee and a period of time to determine their use(less/ful)ness. Wolly uses another program group called ALMOST OUT where tired or rejected programs go to retire. After a while he'll scan that group and bounce anything that is still not being sought out for use.

To be completely honest, Wolly ignores shareware that proclaims a ten or fifteen day restriction unless he actually uses and therefore experiences the application every day. Few users of shareware actually use a graphics program, for example, more than a couple times in a fifteen day period, and it's not a fair tryout for either party. Each user has to establish his or her own standard as to when to register a program, but one which doesn't cheat the author or cause regret because of premature (and pre-bug discovery) registration of a program. Authors, be sensible. Users, be fair. And everybody wins!

Click for Table Of Contents


SVP

Overture! Curtains! Lights!

"Overture! Curtains! Lights!  This is it, the night of nights."  Ah, that old Bugs Bunny/Road Runner theme song sometimes runs through my mind like a late-night senior-citizen streaker. Try as you might, you just can't get it out of your mind. Thinking about it, though, got me to pondering about the animation abilities of Visual Basic, or perhaps lack thereof. There isn't any real inherent capabilities, so instead, we'll throw together a short code example of adding a swooshing About box.

The mission here will be to create an About box that has your program information slide in from the sides when the form is opened. The finished product will look like this:

The components of this About box are as follows:

  A form

  A frame

  Three labels

  A timer

  A command button

The need for the form is obvious. The frame is used because it acts as a container for our labels. This is important because when we load the form, we're going to hide the labels by setting the LEFT property to an extreme enough value that they can't be seen. In addition, having the labels zing across in a frame gives the impression that the animation is much more controlled than if they were flying across a form. The timer is used to set the animation in motion, and the command button is used to unload the form.

As I hinted above, the first step we want to take is to hide the labels when the form loads. To do that, we put the following code in our Form_Load routine:

Sub Form_Load ()

Label1.Left = -3000    'hide this label to the left

Label2.Left = 7000     'hide this label to the right

Label3.Left = -3000    'hide this label to the left

End Sub

This code snippet puts the labels LEFT property so far to the left or right, that they cannot be seen when the form loads. When the form first loads then, it is going to look like this

.

The next step then, will be to kick our animation into gear. To do that, we use a timer control. At design time, the INTERVAL property of the control is set to 1, which means that its code will start executing in 1/1000th of a second after the form loads. This is where the real meat of the program, limited as it is, is at. The code snippet for the timer is as follows:

Sub Timer1_Timer ()

While Label1.Left < 1440               ' while the label is off center

  Label1.Left = Label1.Left + 50     'move it over 50 TWIPS at a time

  x% = DoEvents()                          'give the system time to redraw the label

Wend                                             'at its new position

While Label2.Left > 1440

  Label2.Left = Label2.Left - 50     'this label is off in the

  x% = DoEvents()                         'opposite direction, which is

Wend                                            ' why we're subtracting 50 instead

                                                     'of adding

While Label3.Left < 1440

  Label3.Left = Label3.Left + 50

  x% = DoEvents()

Wend

Timer1.Enabled = False    'turn the timer off so it doesn't

                                        'keep coming back and trying to

                                        'execute this code

End Sub

As you can see, the basic concept isn't too tough. Our While...Wend loop is going to continue to execute until the LEFT property is at least 1440. In this case, when I set up the finished product at design time, I aligned all of the labels in the center of the frame. Then, I got the LEFT value from the Properties box, and that is how I was able to determine the value to which the labels needed to move.

The timer code just keeps moving the label over in the appropriate direction, and then pauses to allow the system to process the event and redraw the label in its new position. Once the timer has done it's job, we turn it off so it won't keep tripping off and try to perform its assigned mission. Once again, when it's all done, it shows up on the screen like so

.

You could also experiment with this method to get the labels to roll upwards, much in the same way that credits roll up at the end of a movie. You've got the basic building blocks now, so give it a "roll" and let me know what you come up with!

Written By,

Steve Peschka

Click for Table Of Contents


Tech_Support

Tips On Obtaining Good Technical Support

There comes a time in every Windows user's experience, when they find the need to get Technical Support from a software or hardware manufacturer. This experience can be frustrating, costly or rewarding. We have heard the cries from the disgruntled user about how long it took to speak to a human, if at all, and how the user was not given the help they so desperately needed. We have also heard the opposite, about how the XYZ Company gave superior support in a fast and helpful manner, leaving the user satisfied and happy. Why is there a diverse spectrum of experience? What can a user do to maximize the success rate of obtaining good Technical Support?

We have taken this opportunity to hopefully assist the user in getting the assistance they need in the most efficient manner possible. We have combined the experiences of users and support technicians to compile this guide. While every experience may differ, we find that by following the guidelines contained herein, the user can maximize the Technical Support experience.

Have A Clue. . .

"Nothing in the world is more dangerous

 than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."

Martin Luther King (1929-1968)

American civil rights leader

When you have a problem with a program or obtain an error message, the first thing you need to know is what exactly were you doing when this occurred. It is unwise to immediately call Microsoft when the General Protection Fault dialog box appears, without knowing if they are the ones to call in this instance. Doing this could start a series of annoying reference calls, where Company A will have you call Company B because your problem first occurred when using Company B's product, etc., etc. In other words, be reasonably sure who to call first. Once you have determined this, you need to have some vital information ready to relate to the support technician.

First, know your hardware setup! Support techs may need to know your brand and speed of your CPU, how much installed memory you have, your hard disk type, capacity and free space, your video setup and driver configuration and any other peripherals you may have installed, etc. Don't take small details for granted as a "given", as often these details are more vital than you may think.

Second, know your software setup! You will likely need to tell the technician which version of their product you are using, and the versions of the other software on your system, most importantly your DOS and Windows versions. When this error occurred, what else was running on your system? What TSRs are in memory? Have you changed software or configurations recently? Have you added any new hardware recently? Be ready to tell the tech the contents of your CONFIG.SYS file, AUTOEXEC.BAT file, WIN.INI file and SYSTEM.INI file, and any other files that might be related to the product you are using. Again, small details can be vital, so don't over look them.

Our tech support contact in the industry relates, "Way too often, I will pick up the line only to hear the user say he double clicked on the program icon and got a GPF, and then dead silence as if he'd called the Psychic Hotline and I'm supposed to rattle off a solution without any other information."

The user needs to remember that he or she is speaking to a human being that cannot see what is happening on your screen. It is up to the user to clearly state what is going on with the system in front of them. (Calling for support when you are not in front of the computer with the problem is never advised!). The user must also realize that every system can act differently, and what is true for one system may not be so for another. If you give a technician so little to go on, you will waste vast amounts of time while the information needed to resolve a problem is slowly dragged out of you. The user should also save some embarrassment by being sure to have read the manual carefully before calling for support. Our industry contact claims that 80% of support calls are easily solved with information contained in the manual, or in the System Requirements section on the outside of the products box, which the user did not read.

Third, know the basics of computing! If you do not know the very basics of DOS and Windows, then have someone who does with you when you call for support. It is not the job of the support person to teach you basic commands and procedures. There is no shame in being a neophyte, unless you expect others to think for you. The user should think about the other people waiting on line for their support calls. The longest support calls are those that require the tech to hold the hand of someone who knows nothing about computers, while considerate users wait on hold for their turn. We found it appalling at how many "good intentioned" consultants will set up a system for a neophyte that boots directly into Windows, to avoid DOS, but do not supply a bootable diskette in case the users Windows system becomes hosed. Not only is this stupid, but it is downright irresponsible. This brings us to:

HARSH REALITY OF LIFE #1: If you don't know the basics of DOS, then you have no business running Windows!

Harsh, but true. Windows still needs DOS to run, and many DOS conventions are still used by Windows. Often, at times in Windows support it is necessary to have the user exit to DOS to do certain tasks. It can be very frustrating to have to teach a user such basics as changing to a different directory or how to read a DOS prompt. The point here is if you don't have the basic know how to navigate your system, then have someone with you who does when calling for support!

Troubleshooting 101

Let's face it, troubleshooting over the phone is at best a difficult task. The technician cannot see what's happening on your screen, so they must rely on you the user to concisely and accurately tell what's happening. The first point is can you the user, reproduce the error or problem? If last week you got a GPF while using a program, and you have not been able to duplicate it since, then don't expect some miraculous solution. When reproducing a problem, reproduce it exactly as it happened to the best of your ability. If you were running five other applications when this error occurred, then run those same applications to reproduce it. Be ready to edit your configuration files! Have your program diskettes handy as well as your Windows diskettes. Some companies may require that you provide proof of registration to get support. Be prepared for that with your serial number, etc.

The technician may find it necessary to modify your setup. In the case of a video problem, it may be necessary to change a driver to narrow down a conflict. Be willing to comply. Most important, LISTEN to what the tech says to do, and do it exactly as the tech tells you to do it. The tech may have a very good reason for you to use a keyboard command instead of a mouse command. Remember that it is often necessary to take a step by step approach to troubleshooting, to zero in on the problem. It may take time, so be patient and follow the technician's instructions.

Interfacing With The Technician. . .

For conversation well endued;

She calls it witty to be rude;

And, placing raillery in railing,

Will tell aloud your greatest failing.

The Furniture of a Woman's Mind [1727]

Jonathan Swift  1667-1745

Please keep in mind that a support technician is only human, and that person has feelings too. You may have a problem that has caused you irritation and frustration, but do not take it out on the technician. Do not cop an attitude. Finger pointing and blame will not solve your problem. Remember, there is no such thing as "bug-free" software. Do not be rude. The technician is there to solve your technical problems, do not be abusive. On the other hand, your technician should be courteous to you at all times. If you find that a tech is rude, arrogant or even abusive, you can ask to speak to another tech, or a supervisor. Always get the name of the person you spoke with! Often times there are less than exemplary technicians who will blame another company for a problem, and cause you to make other long distance calls, only to find out that the company who's tech blew you off are the ones to blame. Having this technicians name will aid you in holding someone accountable.

In explaining the problem you are having with a product, avoid telling your life story, give just the facts concerning the specific problem. Answer the tech's questions truthfully, and if you are unsure of a question or topic tell the tech so. Don't try to hide the fact that you don't know something, as that can lead to other problems. Don't get upset if the technician has to research the problem and call you back. Complex problems may require a tech to find out more information from the engineering department to solve your problem. The tech may ask that you to fax or mail in copies of your configuration files to study. This does not happen often, but it is sometimes the only way to solve a given problem. There are times when the tech will have to try to reproduce the problem at their end, which can take time, depending on the problem. Try to remain patient. If you are using old or outdated software or hardware, don't be surprised or upset if it is suggested that you upgrade. Most software is designed to run on the newest technology better than older technology.

Many times, an update or revision of the software you are having a problem with is available, and the technician will arrange to have you receive it. You should not expect though, to have a "fix" sent out for every little problem you have. Bugs deemed not critical may not be addressed until the next major update. So once again, patience is needed here.

How To Know If You Get Good (or Bad) Support

Obviously, if your problem was fixed or resolved to your satisfaction, then you have had good support. A good technician will take a step by step approach to your problem, to determine where the problem lies. If after the careful process of elimination, the tech determines that his product is not causing your problem, then he may suggest you call the tech department of the other involved companies. A bad support trick is when the tech asks you to list all other products you are using and upon hearing some other company's name says, "Call them, they're always having trouble with their software." You can bet you actually have been told to "take a hike." A good tech will first eliminate all possibility of his product causing the problem before having you call elsewhere.

Some companies will try to mislead users from the beginning. Take for example the recent releases of two different shell programs for Windows (Major Companies). They were so bold as to include a lengthy readme files containing numerous established products that they claim are incompatible with their new products. Instead of fixing their software to be compatible with those products, they direct users to call these companies for updates! With such insolence, these companies are telling everyone that those software products released before their Windows programs, need to be fixed. I think not! Don't be fooled by this kind of deceit. Your common sense will tell you the real story. If a company can't face up to and explain its own incompatibilities, then we should not be buying their products!

Good tech support persons own up to the bugs in their software. They will offer a work around or perhaps a fix. They don't try to blame everyone else in the industry. One thing you must remember though. When talking to a support person, don't quiz them on products that may be under development, or in the works. Employees are sworn to secrecy and could lose their jobs for giving out unauthorized information. So don't be offended by the lack of information you get on these matters. It's the nature of the industry.

Good tech support departments return your calls promptly if you choose to leave voice mail. If you write or fax in a problem, they get back to you in a timely manner. You should have a reasonable time on hold, with options to leave a message or get an automated response.

In Conclusion. . .

I hope that this has been informative and helpful to you. You can get good tech support from most companies, with a little patience and understanding. The better prepared you are, the better the support. By taking our suggestions to heart, you should have a more rewarding support experience all the way around. For further information, Read Your Manual!

Click for Table Of Contents


Database_Computing

Using Bookmarks, Forms and Dynasets with Microsoft Access

As a fairly heavy user of Microsoft Access, I continue to run up against what I consider to be holes in the product documentation. Please note right off that I am not referring to product "bugs"  - instead, it is simply an area where a particular function or method is not sufficiently documented. The "bugs", that some publications have been flouting about Access, have been far off the mark in my opinion. As an ex(and wild about it)-Paradox for DOS user, I think Access has been a terrific product that plugged a gaping hole in Windows database category.

This article will deal with a fairly important aspect of manipulating data for a user - bookmarks, dynasets and forms. I recently ran up against this problem when working on an Access project. Obtaining a solution required three phone calls and about 45 minutes on hold with Microsoft technical support, so this is a topic that could obviously use quite a bit more attention.

The basic problem is this -- an end-user is working with a form in Access, manipulating the data as you have laid it out. Suppose now, that the user changes a field that affects all records from that point forward. You have to determine where you are, make your changes, and then return to your starting point. The trouble comes in establishing your starting point; once you get that licked, the rest should be pretty easy.

The easiest way to accomplish this type of task is to create a dynaset in Access Basic and make your changes. The trick is, once you create your dynaset, you want to go to the same record in the dynaset that your form is at. Access documentation refers to this process only in the vague terms:  Unlike its form, the Dynaset initially has no current record. To make the same record current in the Dynaset, assign the value of the form's Bookmark property to a string variable, and then set the Dynaset's Bookmark property to that variable. You can also use one of the Find or Move methods to make any record in the Dynaset current.

At first blush, these instructions seem fairly obvious. Unfortunately, there is no where in the documentation that describes how to set a bookmark for a form. Part of the problem, as I found out, is that you aren't actually setting a bookmark for the form; you're setting the bookmark for the form's dynaset. Did this [image] happen to anybody yet?  Okay, let's go on.

First, lets dimension a couple of variables for our routine:

Dim MyBookMark as String

Dim MyDynaset as Dynaset

Next, we need to set the bookmark for the form, or more precisely, the form's dynaset. We do that as follows:

MyBookMark = Forms![MyForm].Bookmark

Anyone feeling it [image] yet?  This statement assigns a random string to the variable MyBookMark. Using this string, we can set the starting position for our dynaset, move around, and return back to where we started.

The next code snippet actually creates our dynaset, and then moves to the same record that our form is at:

Set MyDynaset = Forms![MyForm].Dynaset

MyDynaset.Bookmark = MyBookMark

Some of you techno-geeks should have this [image] going now. We're now free to make changes to any of the records in the dynaset that we want. Once we're done, we can simply quit the routine. If we need to return to the same record with which we began, we simply include the following command:

MyDynaset.Bookmark = MyBookMark

Once you've finished the work in your subroutine, you should refresh the form's dynaset to reflect any changes you made. You can do this with a DoCmd in Access Basic (DoCmd DoMenuItem A_FORMBAR, A_RECORDSMENU, A_REFRESH) or DoMenuItem (Forms, Records, Refresh) in the Access macro language; the easiest way is with a macro - using Access Basic would also require you to make a form variable and set it to the form the user is working with.

Hopefully, the above information will save you some time. It's a fairly simple concept, once you get the information documented.

Written By,

Steve Peschka

Click for Table Of Contents


Fax_Grabber
FAXGrabber 1.2

Today it seems virtually every time I upgrade my software I find the programs have undergone a metamorphosis. Programs that were formally small and agile have become loaded down with additional features that I neither asked for nor really need. The dreaded featuritis disease seems to be running rampant throughout the newer software. Just when I thought all my old friends were gone, I had a pleasant surprise. FAXGrabber, one of my more useful programs was released and is actually an upgrade and not a completely new program.

FAXGrabber 1.2 is a rather unique program in today's software arena. This program is a program that does one thing, and does it remarkably well. The primary function of FAXGrabber is reading and translating FAX documents from graphic images to text files. Or in other words it's an OCR (Optical Character Recognition) program designed for use with FAX documents. The program allows you to convert incoming FAX documents into text files that you can edit or change, just like any other document.

My first experience with FAXGrabber was with version 1.0. I had a hair brained idea that I thought would work, but I wasn't sure. I had a pile of documents I needed to get into the computer. These were leftovers from my pre-computer days and rather than re-typing 70+ sheets of paper I wanted to find a way to do it automatically. This idea revolved around using my fax machine to send these papers to my computer. Sounds simple, but as I was to find, a bit more complicated than I initially thought. Since I already had two phone lines, all I needed was a fax-modem for the computer I wanted to receive the incoming faxes. After getting everything I needed setup and running I was delighted to see how easy the transfer seemed to go. But, once in the computer, all I had was a graphic that had to be deciphered. Here's where the fun began.

It seemed each OCR program I tried, simply choked and died. I think I tried about six different programs, both commercial and shareware. To be fair, the input I had wasn't the best. The original was created on an old dot matrix printer. Then a friend suggested FAXGrabber. It seems he had tried it out for the faxes he received and liked how it worked. Well I tried it, and low and behold it worked. Where the best of the other OCR programs gave me about 40% correct text, the FAXGrabber astounded me by reading between 90%-95% of the input correctly. Since then I've used the program to import text from two of my books that I was revising. So, rather than doing the old cut-and-paste with paper, I could actually submit my changes completely integrated with the existing text of the book.

Since my initial experience, I've had an opportunity to try several other programs, both straight OCR programs as well as integrated FAX/OCR programs. Though these programs are reasonable well behaved, none can compare to the work FAXGrabber produced for me. When the new FAXGrabber 1.2 was released I was right there in line waiting to try it.

The program accepts input from a wide range of fax cards and will export the results in virtually all popular word processor formats. So, rather than only having ASCII text that you'll need to convert to your word processor, FAXGrabber does it automatically. The program also offers a variety of features that make working with incoming faxes much easier. There is a preview mode that allows you to see the fax before you run the program. You can also setup the program to automatically process incoming faxes.

If transferring faxes to real text is a problem for you, take a look at FAXGrabber 1.2. The program is both fast and easy to use. But, moreover, the accuracy of the program is truly impressive. Since you already have the FAX software that came with your FAX card, you may only need to add OCR capability. If so, this program could be just what you need. The FAXGrabber 1.2 program may not answer your every need, but it sure has worked wonders around this office.

FAXGrabber 1.2

($89.00 retail)

Available From:

Calera Recognition Systems, Inc.

475 Potrero Avenue

Sunnyvale, CA  94086-9408

Brought to you by:

Ed Hoffman

Staff Writer

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Windows_Printing_System
Hewlett-Packard LaserJet Printer enhancements have been slowly appearing on the market. They are usually made up of both hardware and software parts, which interact together to get the most from the printer. Many of these enhancements will boost printing speed, or resolution, or both. Hardware devices are in the form of either I/O cards or a printer cartridge, that plugs into the printer's cartridge slot. The software consists of fonts and drivers. They may even supply a special print manager. All of the printer enhancements support Microsoft Windows in one way or another. We have seen the LPAC DoubleRES IV product (Issue #72) which is an I/O card and has special drivers for Windows. Another printer enhancement product that is quite interesting is the Microsoft Windows Printing System.

The Microsoft Windows Printing System (WPS) is the best solution for printing from the Microsoft Windows environment. There are three main functions. It provides faster printing, easier access to your LaserJet capabilities, and produces better looking objects on paper. It boosts printing speed by way of releasing your application faster when requesting to print. If your HP LaserJet printer is capable of printing only four pages per minute, the printer will not print any faster. The printing speedup is the way the Windows Printing System handles how Windows applications print. Microsoft has incorporated the Windows printing functions onto a print cartridge that plugs into the HP LaserJet printer's cartridge slot. This is the only hardware piece of the product. It is very easy to install, just push the cartridge into the slot. To speed up the printing process, a new Print Manager is included. With the Printing System's cartridge installed, when you request a printout, your printer will return you back to your application faster. Allowing you to continue working while it is printing.

The printer setup has more functions to control your printer. Besides the standard Dots Per Inch (dpi) settings, you can control the Resolution Enhancement (RET) that are on some LaserJet printers. From the main printer setup, you can specify the number of copies, collated or not, portrait or landscape, and paper size. The paper source displays your printer type, and you can select the paper source from either, manual, paper tray, etc. When you get into the Options settings, you can do two sided printing, a very unique feature. Scaling and separator options are set from this Options popup window. From the Graphics setting, you can select the Dots Per Inch (dpi) settings, either 150 or 300. If your printer supports RET, then you can select it to Off, Light, Medium, or Dark. The printing quality of images and objects are set using diffuse gray tones, which turns out quite well. You will have to play with these settings if you want your images to look better. Depending upon how you want to see the printing status, you will have to go into the Display options to select it. There are only three styles to choose, the progress bar only, printer animation, or both the bar and animation. Of course, I chose the latter, for its entertainment value.

While printing, you have the option of visually seeing what the printer is doing through a window. The status window displays the document name that is being printed, estimated time of printing, and the page it is printing. On the graphical side, you get to see the paper travel through your printer. A complete animated display of what your printer is doing. There is a progress color bar that can be displayed. The progress bar is displayed on the minimized icon. The picture of the printer that is displayed, will be the LaserJet printer you have on your system. The PCL mode is supported through Windows, either from printing in a DOS application or set manually through the Printer Setup. The Windows Printing System is smart enough to know when to switch to PCL mode or to the WPS mode.

The Microsoft Windows Printing System is a very inexpensive way of boosting your HP LaserJet II or III family printer. For the HP LaserJet IIP and LaserJet IIIP printers, this is the only enhancement available that I know of. If you are using Windows, printing is faster. Furthermore you will see an improvement in printing images. Sharper printing images are not as good as the other products that boost printing enhancements from 300 dpi to 600dpi. The Windows Printing System was made to speed up printing in Windows and add more visual controls to the user. Network users sharing the printer will see what is going on with the printer, which is helpful. One annoying point, the WPS does take time to switch back and forth from the standard PCL mode and the WPS mode. There is a drawback, and it applies to  the 'P' or personal LaserJet printers, use of the only printer's cartridge slot. If you don't use the Postscript cartridge or a special font cartridge, then the printer's cartridge slot will be available for the Windows Printing System cartridge. Else you are out of luck. The Windows Printing System is perfect for users that want to print faster through Windows and do not need to print images higher than 300dpi. Since I fit in this category, the price tag made it easier for me to justify getting it.

   Any Microsoft Windows based computer.

   A Hewlett Packard LaserJet Series II, IID, IIP, IIP+, III, IIID, or IIIP printer with an available printer's cartridge slot.

   Microsoft DOS 3.1 or higher.

   Microsoft Windows 3.1.

   2 MBytes and higher random access memory (RAM).

   Approximately 3 Mbytes of disk space is required to install.

   Any Windows pointing device.

For more information, please contact:

Microsoft Corporation

One Microsoft Way

Redmond, WA 98052-6399

206-882-8080

1-800-426-9400

Retail Price : $199.00

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Designer

Micrografx Designer 3.1

by Tami Brydone-Jack

with Rich Young

Micrografx Designer has many powerful features which can help even a non-artist create some very nice graphics rather easily. Designer, while being a powerful tool, is user-friendly enough to not overwhelm the casual user. In no time at all I was up and running with this program. It was surprisingly easy to get started, and I soon was creating my own artwork.

Designer is a vector-based drawing program, not a paint program. It includes the standard drawing tools, (i.e. circles, ovals, rectangles, rounded rectangles, etc.), as well as parabolas, polyline figures, elliptical curves, pies, text and freehand drawing. Objects may be slanted and rotated as well. The toolbox is located along the side of the screen and it is fully customizable. Text may also be converted to curves, which is useful for the special fills Designer has available. The drawing tools are also located in the Draw menu.

Another exciting feature is Trace. This feature will trace an imported graphic image, rendering it much smoother than the original, without the jagged effects so common with resizing graphics.

The Line menu offers many choices of line styles. Invisible, colored, hairline, wide style and even calligraphic lines are available.

A wide range of color choice along with the ability to edit any color's RGB, CMYK and HLS values makes Designer's color output very versatile. Colors are accessed through the Pattern menu.

Also included in the Pattern menu, are hatch, bitmap and gradient fills. Gradient fills are fully editable, so creating a special effect is a simple task.

Objects may be combined, broken apart, connected and arrayed by the Arrange menu. They may also be slanted, rotated, flipped horizontally or vertically and mirrored by the Change menu.

Designer ships with a large clip art collection, and can import as well as export many different graphics formats. These are easily accessible through the File menu. I was surprised that Designer supports WPG files, yet BMP files are not. Perhaps in the next release, there will be some changes...

Designer ships with approximately 180 ATM fonts, which made this font-a-holic very happy. Only one of those fonts (Flamenco) caused problems on my system. Adobe TypeAlign is also included in this package. TypeAlign can create some stunning text effects, such as circular text, monograms, text that looks like waves, and even objects that don't look like text at all.

Designer has the capability of creating custom on-screen presentations with a utility called Slide Show. Slides may be created in Designer and sent via modem through Telegrafx, which sends the images to a service bureau for processing. The slides or transparencies are ready within 24 hours.

The documentation is thorough and well presented. When you register your package, Micrografx sends you a training video that is very informative. My one and only complaint is the Help function. For such a powerful, high-end product, I felt that the help function looked amateurish. Not only that, the user is constantly referred to the manuals for clarification. It makes help requests very cumbersome and not consistent with the otherwise high quality of this package.

System requirements are 286 (386 recommended); IBM PC, PS/2 or compatible; 1MB RAM (2MB recommended); Windows 3.0 (or higher); DOS 3.1 (or higher); hard disk, mouse, Windows compatible monitor (EGA, VGA, Super VGA 8514/A, 1024 x 768). Designer runs acceptably on my 386/40, 4MB RAM, Super VGA (1K), Windows 3.1, DOS 6.0 (with DoubleSpace and MemMaker loaded) system. I did not notice any difference in speed when I upgraded from DOS 5.0.

Now for the acid test...I am not an artist, nor do I play one on TV. However, with Designer, I was able to create these graphics:

I made Barney's head by starting with a circle. I edited the curve points (adding and subtracting as well as changing) until the shape was just right. His eyes are layered circles. The eyebrows are two parabolas joined together. The mouth was created entirely with layered and connected parabolas.

"San Francisco" was started in TypeAlign using the Arnold Boeklin font and creating the "bridge" effect. I then imported it into Designer, changed the color of the lines and added a gradient effect to the text.

Believe it or not, "Spring" started out in TypeAlign as well. I used the Mistral font and typed an "i" in a circle, edited the curve points to create the flower shape, and copied it several times in different colors. Next, I imported it into Designer, added the stems (colored parabolas) and typed "Happy Spring" in the Mistral font in blue.

This is but a small example of the capabilities of Micrografx Designer. You are only limited by your imagination. Designer should please the graphics professional as well as the typical user. We highly recommend this program to anyone who wants a powerful, complete, and user-friendly design package.

Designer lists for $695.00. You may contact Micrografx at: 1303 Arapaho, Richardson, Texas, 75081, (214) 234-1769 or 1 (800) 733-3729.

Brought to you by:

With. . .

   (Click)

  Rich Young

  Staff Writer

  Windows OnLine

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Rich Sig


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Tami Brydone-Jack can be reached via Windows OnLine (BBS) at (510) 736-8343.


ProMenu_Review
ProMenu 1.2

It seems just about every time I look, someone has come out with another Windows menu program. While I'll agree that some of these programs are very good, some could still use a bit more work. Plus, how many new features can you really add to a menu program? So, it was with a great deal of skepticism I downloaded a program called ProMenu 1.2. As I installed the program, I prepared myself to look at the same old thing for the umpteenth time. Well, I was pleasantly surprised. This wasn't the same old menu program.

Instead of being simply a program launcher, ProMenu as it turns out, is a menu program with a great deal to offer. Yes, it can function as a program launcher, but that's only part of what this unique program can do. I guess the simplest way to describe the program is that ProMenu is a Windows utility that brings menus to your mouse. Rather than locking the user into a program defined menu location, this program shows you the application menu wherever you are on the screen. So, as you move around the screen, the complete program menu bar for your application is at your finger tips. Simply click the mouse button and there it is, your menu bar, right under your cursor. You can then select any desired option just as if you used the menu bar.

ProMenu configures itself to the programs you are using. It automatically loads the menu bar for whatever program you currently have active. As you change programs, the ProMenu program changes too. So, no matter what program you're in, the correct menu bar is right there, under your cursor. If you need to change programs in the middle of something, no problem. Simply click the mouse and ProMenu can take you anywhere in your system. The program allows you instant access to Task Manager, or whatever program you use to switch programs. There is even a built-in rotate command that cycles you through your open applications just like the Alt-Tab key combination. But rather than simply showing you titles, ProMenu cycles you through the menu bars for each program. Thus giving you fast and easy access to any command you want, in any of your active programs.

The program is completely configurable and is ideally suited for those of us with a three-button mouse. With ProMenu the middle button on my mouse now has something to do. If you don't have a three-button mouse, the program works fine with any type of mouse. ProMenu will also allow you to pass through a mouse click to an application. So, for example, if you have your right button set to activate ProMenu, if you click the mouse button once, ProMenu appears. But, double click the button and the command is passed through ProMenu to the application.

It does take a few minutes to get used to the feel of the program, but now that I've used it for a few days it feels quite natural. This is one program that has found a home on my system. But, you better watch out, try this program at your own risk, you might just get hooked on it too. Members of Windows OnLine can find a shareware/demo version of the ProMenu 1.2 program as PROMNU10.ZIP in Directory #150 - (WINDOWS-New Uploads).

ProMenu 1.2

($70.00 retail)

Available From:

Cain International Corporation

8675 Ballantrae Drive

Colorado Springs, CO  80920

(800) 793-2246

Brought to you by:

Ed Hoffman

Staff Writer

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