dBTools 2.0 PRO Dbase Enhancement tools
(c) 1991 BERNATH COMPUTER


Welcome to the dBTools 2.0 PRO demo!

dBTools PRO is a Dbase language add-on enhancement package. It is
designed to make up for some of the deficiencies in the various
Dbase dialects, with dBASE III+ being the "least common denom-
inator" (ie, some of the other dialects will have internal
features which dBTools PRO mimics). One of the characteristics of
a dBASE III+ application (but which has been corrected to varying
degrees in other dialects) is its blandness and drabness. A modern
application should have popup windows, pulldown menus, use color
extensively, have mouse control, take advantage of different
printers' features, etc, etc. dBTools PRO provides these features
and more to any of the Dbase dialects (dBTools will work with
dBASE III+ and IV, dBXL, QuickSilver, FoxBase, FoxPro, and
Clipper).*

dBTools PRO is written entirely in assembly language for the
ultimate in speed and compactness, and is contained in two .BIN
files (DBTOOLS.BIN and DBTWORK.BIN) for the interpretive
langauges, or a single file DBTOOLS.OBJ that can be linked with
Clipper applications. These .BIN files may be distributed royalty
free with your applications, and the .OBJ file would be linked
into your application's .EXE file for Clipper. Using dBTools PRO
will require approximately 62k of memory.


ABOUT THE DEMO

dBTools PRO contains fourty advanced functions (see function list
below). If I counted every variation of a function (as some other
products do), there would be many, many more. For example, the
FADE function has nine fade types, and can either fade to a screen
image or a blank screen, so I >>could<< call that 18 functions.
But in dBTools PRO it is only counted as one.

The demo illustrates each of the dBTools functions. It is a
compiled Clipper application, using the DBTOOLS.OBJ module. You
should note that the demo does not take advantage of any of
Clipper's unique internal features (with the exception of the View
Docs option which uses Clipper's MEMOREAD), and everything could
be done just as easily (although slower) in dBASE III+ or any of
the other Dbase dialects.


dBTools 2.0 PRO Dbase Enhancement tools
(c) 1991 BERNATH COMPUTER


dBTools PRO FUNCTION LIST

1. ATSAY - alternative to the @SAY command. Includes color
control independent of the dBASE SET COLOR TO command and optional
shadow.

2. EFFECTS - five sound effects including a computerized bronx
cheer, a 3 note tone, a birdlike chirp, a siren, and a short blip.

3. BOX - draw framed, shadowed boxes with optional "explode".

4. CURSOR - turn cursor on or off, or control its shape.

5. ERASE - erase an area of the screen, leaving existing colors
intact or setting to a user specified color.

6. DELAY - timed delay.

7. DITHER - paint a background "wallpaper" using graphics
characters. Yields 100's of different background shades.

8. FADE - use one of nine slideshow type "fades" to display a
screen image or fade to a color.

9. HMENU - horizontal moving bar menu can trap function keys, and
has highlighted, user definable "hotkeys". Responds to mouse.

10. PAUSE - a more elegant alternative to the WAIT command allows
positioning of the default "Press any key to continue..." message
with user definable colors and an optional user defined message.
Will also trap function keys and return scancodes. Responds to
mouse.

11. PRINTER - printer driver loads escape sequences from a file,
and sends to a printer. Changing printer drivers is as easy as
specifying a new definition file. Included in the package is a
code module to create new and edit existing definition files.

12. READSCR - read a screen image from file into memory.

13. RECOLOR - recolor an area of the screen without changing the text.

14. RESTORE - write a screen image stored in memory to the screen.

15. SAVESCR - save current screen to memory or to a disk file.

16. SCROLL - scroll a portion of the screen.

17. PLAY - sound a tone through the speaker.

18. TWIDDLE - a 3 note "twiddle" sound (duplicate of function 2,1)

19. UNPOP - close a popup window.

20. VMENU - vertical moving bar menu. May be popup. User definable
hotkeys with highlights, traps function keys and returns
scancodes. Responds to mouse.


dBTools 2.0 PRO Dbase Enhancement tools
(c) 1991 BERNATH COMPUTER

21. WINDOW - define a popup window, with optional title or exploding.

22. PAGE - activate alternate video page (color adapters only).

23. NOBLINK - enable or disable blinking or high intensity
background colors.

24. PALETTE - set EGA/VGA color palette. Choose 16 out of 64 colors.

25. GETKEY - trap keystrokes and return unambiguous scancodes.

26. DIALOG - dialog buttons, an alternative type of menu. Pads or
"buttons" may be placed anywhere on the screen, with user
definable colors and optional shadow. Will trap function keys and
return scancodes. Responds to mouse.

27. MOUSE - turn mouse cursor on/off, restrict mouse movement to
an area, return mouse status (buttons pressed, mouse position).

28. ENCRYPT - encrypt and decrypt strings up to 128 bytes long.
Good for passwords or sensitive information.

29. SCHEME - color schemes, sets of colors that can be referenced
by other dBTools PRO functions such as HMENU, VMENU, DITHER, BOX,
WINDOW, PICKLIST, and PULLDOWN.

30. STUFF - put characters into the keyboard buffer as if they had
been typed.

31. COPYWIND - copy a window.

32. MOVEWIND - move a window.

33. PULLDOWN - along with related functions HPROMPT, VDEF, and
VPROMPT, PULLDOWN implements a full drop-down menu system with
hotkeys, "ghosted" items, and mouse response.

34. HPROMPT - part of PULLDOWN menu system

35. VDEF - part of PULLDOWN menu system

36. VPROMPT - part of PULLDOWN menu system

37. KEYDEF - define which function and control keys may be trapped
in the PAUSE, GETKEY, DIALOG, and menu functions.

38. DUPESCR - duplicate an area of the screen.

39. GETDIR - find matching directory entries, and return
information about files.

40. PICKLIST - scrollable picklist operates in two modes; one
returns info about the item selected, the second allows you to tag
multiple items with a checkmark for later processing.


dBTools 2.0 PRO Dbase Enhancement tools
(c) 1991 BERNATH COMPUTER

DBTOOLS HISTORY

I had originally written dBTools for my own edification as a
project in my freshly learned assembly language, and to make up
for the lacks I saw in dBASE III+, which I had also just learned.
I soon realized that I had a pretty neat tool, so I wrote some
documentation, added a few new features, and fixed a few quirks.
dBTools 1.0 was first released as a shareware product in October
1989. Shareware has the advantage that it costs almost nothing to
gain exposure for your product (dBTools has now gone interna-
tional); only a fraction of users actually register (you don't
make too much money).

As I started getting a few registrations and some feedback about
dBTools, I upgraded it to work with other Dbase dialects, added a
couple of more functions, and raised the price of registration
(from $15 to $25 for single users and from $25 to $40 for site
licenses). The latest shareware version is 1.23, where it will
stay.

From the very positive comments I was getting from the people who
did register, I finally figured out that I had a professional
grade product that people would be willing to spend some decent
money for. So I decided to do what many companies who got their
start in shareware do; I began work on an enhanced "commercial"
product.

Enter Galen Hall of HALLoGRAM Software. He believed that the 1.23
version of dBTools had a place in the commercial field as it
stood, and offered to market it for me. His help has been inval-
uable, since I knew next to nothing about marketing. One of the
first things we did was take the 1.23 version of dBTools, remove
the references to shareware, put in HALLoGRAM's address for
ordering, call it dBTools 1.3 and put a $75 price tag on it. In
the 3 months it has been available, it has netted as much in sales
as the shareware version has since it's release.

Now lest you say "But the people who ordered 1.3 from HALLoGRAM
are paying $75 for what the shareware people get for $25 or $40",
the buyers of version 1.3 get a FREE upgrade to the PRO version.

The finishing touches to dbTools PRO were completed in mid
February 1991. The official release of dBTools PRO is March 1991,
with an ad appearing in Data Based Advisor.


dBTools 2.0 PRO Dbase Enhancement tools
(c) 1991 BERNATH COMPUTER

THE DBTOOLS PRO PACKAGE

When you purchase dBTools PRO, you will receive:

The dBTools .BIN and .OBJ modules.

Complete source code to the demo, which provides a good example of
dBTools usage.

A Mini GL General Ledger accounting application with full source
code, illustrating the use of dBTools in a "real world"
application.

PAINT.COM and docs, authored by PC Magazine's Jeff Prosise with
which you can create screen image files.

Documentation on disk.

Technical support.

The first "bug fix" upgrade (knock on wood) for free.

Notification of other BERNATH COMPUTER products (once dBTools PRO
is running smoothly, I'm going to be writing a "dBTools
Productivity Package" which will contain source code to do higher
level operations using dBTools. Another project in the works will
be a true Clipper library).

PRICING

If you are viewing this demo, you will fall into one of these
categories:

1) You are a registered user of the shareware version before
3/1/1991. The upgrade price to dBTools 2.0 PRO is $75 regardless
of which version you registered.

2) You have just registered the shareware version prior to May 31,
1991, and are receiving this demo along with your dBTools 1.23R
copy. The official price of $125 for dBTools PRO applies, and
you will receive 100% credit for your shareware registration.

3) You have never registered a shareware version, and have
obtained this demo by responding to the ad from HALLoGRAM
Software, or you downloaded it from a BBS. The official price of
$125 applies.


dBTools 2.0 PRO Dbase Enhancement tools
(c) 1991 BERNATH COMPUTER

ORDERING

You may order dBTools PRO by calling or writing BERNATH COMPUTER.
Registered shareware users please include the registration credit card
you received with your distribution package, and subtract it from the
purchase price. If you did not receive a registration credit card,
you may contact BERNATH COMPUTER to determine the exact credit you are
due.

From within the demo, you may select Quit and Order Form to print an
order form.



Rev. Scott Bernardi

BERNATH COMPUTER
1821 Harding Court
Antioch, CA 94509
(415) 778-4423








* dBASE III+ and dBASE IV are products of Ashton-Tate
FoxBase and FoxPro are products of Fox Software
dBXL and QuickSilver are products of Wordtech Inc.
Clipper is a product of Nantucket Ltd.