<<<<<<< TANKMINDER VER 1.0 Bulletin - Updated 3/24/93 >>>>>>>>

Please be sure that you read and understand this ENTIRE NOTICE prior to
installing and using TANKMINDER!

DISCLAIMER and WARRANTY
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Shareware Software Disclaimer and Warranty

The author makes no warranty of any kind, expressed or implied, including
without limitation, any warranties of merchantability and/or fitness for
a particular purpose. The author shall not be liable for any damages,
whether direct, indirect, special or consequential arising from a failure
of this program to operate in the manner desired by the user. The author
shall not be liable for any damage to data or property which may be caused
directly or indirectly by use of the program.

IN NO EVENT WILL THE AUTHOR BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING
ANY LOST PROFITS, LOST SAVINGS OR OTHER INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
ARISING OUT OF YOUR USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM, OR FOR ANY CLAIM
BY ANY OTHER PARTY.

Tankminder - General Notes, Last Minute Additions, and General Info:
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This document contains important information regarding the usage of Tankminder.
Be sure to take a moment and read ALL of the information contained here
(there will be a quiz!) BEFORE using the system.


Version 1.0 - IMPORTANT NOTICE!
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The current release of Tankminder is version 1.0. This version has gone
through a several months of testing by many people and we beleive it to be
both fully functional, and complete. However, as with any new endeavor,
you may encounter a problem. If you do, please report it, and as much detail
as you possibly can about it to Tanksoft - either by regular mail, EMAIL,
or via our Tankminder BBS.
Please include:
Your machine, make, model,
Memory and disk space, both installed and available.
(you can find the amount of memory available by using
the DOS MEM command).
Exactly WHAT you were doing (or trying to do)
(please be SPECIFIC - down to the keystroke if possible)
You can forward this and any other pertinent information to the address
shown below, our Customer Support BBS, or our PRODIGY or COMPU-SERVE id's.

========================================================================

TANKMINDER INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS:
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Tankminder requires aproximately 560K of free "conventional" memory after
loading DOS, and any device drivers. You can check this number, by using
the dos "MEM" command. The number listed as the "largest executable program
size" is this number. If you have problems loading Tankminder, this is
probably the cause. Try using a "memory manager" or removing any dos "device
drivers" or "TSR" programs, you may have installed in your CONFIG.SYS file.

NOTE: The installation procedure needs to be used ONLY when the installation
files are on a floppy disk. If you are installing from a hard disk, simply
use the dos MD command to create a directory named TANKMIND, and COPY the
Tankminder files to that directory. (Check you dos manual for more information
on the "MD" and "COPY" commands.)

If installing from a floppy disk:
1) Be sure to read this ENTIRE readme before installing Tankminder!
2) type A: (and press the ENTER key). The system should respond A:>
note(if installing from a "B" drive, use B in the above line)
3) type INSTALL x
- where x is the name of the drive where you want to install Tankminder.
(e.g. "INSTALL C"). Tankminder will install the software into a
directory on that drive called "TANKMIND".

RUNNING TANKMINDER:
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1) Be sure to read this ENTIRE readme before using Tankminder!
2) Change to the directory where you installed the product, and type:
TANKMIND
The software will start, or else you should receive a message explaining the
problem.

BACKING UP DATA FILES:
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As with ANY software, you should ALWAYS back-up your data regularly.
Tankminder stores data in two files named TM.IDX and TM.DAT. You can back-up
your tank data by copying these two files to a floppy disk, or at a minimum,
to another location on your hard drive. This way, if these files ever become
corrupted, you can copy your back-ups to the Tankminder directory. More
information about the COPY command is available in your DOS manual.

Previous Beta Testers - Take Notice!!!!
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BETA 1.2, 1.1, & 1.0 TESTERS! - Be sure NOT to erase the files TM.DAT
and TM.IDX from your TANKMIND directory on your hard-drive. These files
contain all of your log information! To use this version of Tankminder:

1) Copy the TM.DAT and TM.IDX files to another location
(be sure to VERIFY that the copy worked)
2) Run the installation bat as described below.
(you will get a message that the TANKMIND directory already
exists. You may disregard it.)
3) Copy the TM.DAT, and TM.IDX files BACK to the TANKMIND directory.
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What's new in this version - ver 1.0
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Based on feedback from the Beta Test 1.2, 1.1, and 1.0, a number of new
enhancements, changes and problem fixes were implemented in this version.
Some of these include:

- MORE LOGICAL PREFILLS - The S.G. (specific gravity) and PH fields are
now prefilled with 'default" values on new entries. You can, of course,
always override these values.

- MAINTENANCE SCHEDULING - The maintenance scheduling screen now includes
a SORTED maintenance schedule option. This will list the next time each
of your tasks is scheduled IN ORDER BY THE DATE THEY ARE DUE! You can
access this option by pressing F2 from the maintenance scheduling screen.

- MONOCHROME SCREENS - Several of the selection bars which were invisible
should now visible on "truly monochrome" screens. ("Truly" is used here
because many black and white screens, particularly in laptop PC's, are not
actually monochrome and provide much better resolution and gray scale than
their "mono" predecessors.) While Tankminder IS usable on a "true" mono-
chrome screen, it's a little like watching "Fantasia" in black and white,
and therefore, is not the recommended viewing meduim.

- IMPROVED GRAPHING RANGES - The graph ranges were "tuned up" a bit to try
and narrow in on what would generally be "normal" values. The trick here is
NOT to try to be too generic, have too wide a range, and therefore not be
able to notice any minor fluctuations day to day. On the other hand, we've
tried not to make them so narrow that they don't apply to some users.
Hopefully we've hit a good compromise!

Based on feedback from previous Beta tests, a number of enhancements
were made to the original that are also included in this release.
These include:

-WATER QUALITY ENTRY FIELDS - The water test entry screens now includes
fields for dKH, and O2 saturation. Also, the fields that capture Ammonia
(Nh3), Nitrite (No2), and Nitrate (No3) now capture decimal points.
Changing these made sense as most tanks never reach 1000 ppm of ammonia.

- GRAPHING - The graphing screens now include graphing for Calcium, Redox,
O2 saturation, and dKH levels. Also, the ranges on the NH3, NO2, and NO3
fields have been altered to correspond to the new screen fields. The ranges
are detailed on the screen where you choose them.

- MAINTENANCE SCHEDULING - The maintenance scheduling screen now includes
ALT-I, and ALT-D commands to insert and delete new maintenance items between
existing ones. This was requested because of the way that Tankminder
1prioritizes maintenance. Be sure to read the newly revised help panel on the
maintenance scheduling screen for more information.

ABOUT TANKMINDER:
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The information contained in Tankminder is based on the input of a number of
aquarium keepers - both professional and amateur. The vast majority of it's
contents is common aquatic knowledge. However, no system is perfect, or
totally comprehensive. Nor could it be. In developing this software a number
of generalizations have been made, particularly with regard to compatability
and disease diagnosis. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU ALWAYS DOUBLE (OR EVEN
TRIPLE) CONFIRM ANY RESULTS YOU OBTAIN HERE WITH EITHER A VETERNARIAN WHO IS
FAMILIAR WITH FISH, OR AN EXPERIENCED FISH DEALER.
You dealer is probably one of your best sources of information. They most
likely sold you your equipment, as well as your animals, and are hopefully
familiar with both. Beware, however, of any dealer who always seems to have
the only solution to your problem "right here on the shelf". Almost ALL of
the most common aquatic problems can be both prevented, and cured, by good
aquarium husbandry practices. You should SELDOM need to purchase new,
additional, or expensive equipment or additives, simply to cure a problem.
In addition, since you already have a computer, if you've got a modem,
you've already got access to a number of other great sources of aquatic
husbandry information (besides Tankminder, that is!).
- The TANKMINDER CUSTOMER SUPPORT BBS will be continually updated
and will hopefully become a reference source for all types of aquarium and
fish-husbandry related information, software, and support. It is available,
24 hours a day, at (609) 629-9604. Feel free to call and leave your ideas,
opinions, questions, or anything else you feel is relevent. As it grows,
we hope to have a number of articles, graphics, icons, shareware, and
any other "fishy" computer things we stumble across available for you
to download for FREE!! Got ideas? We'd love to hear them, and we've got a
forum just for that purpose!
- The PRODIGY dial-up computer system has an excellent and very active
electronic bulletin board which specializes in fish-keeping. (While in
Prodigy, use the JUMP command to JUMP PETS BB). Every day hundreds of
questions and notes are posted and answered by aquarists all over the
country in areas including Freshwater, Saltwater, and Marine Reef
aquarium subjects. If you put a question up here, YOU'LL GET AN ANSWER,
GUARANTEED! As of this release, Prodigy charges a flat monthly fee
for ALL of it's services (currently $12.95/ month at 2400 baud).
- The COMPUSERVE system has a similar bulletin-board called, appropriately
enough, FISHNET. (While in CompuServe, type GO FISHNET to access the
forum). Fishnet has all types of information and conversation on fish
related subjects! Plus, it maintains a community library where you can
download articles, pictures, etc. (CompuServe currently charges a flat
monthly fee-currently $7.95 per month for their BASIC service, but
access to FISHNET is on a "fee-per-hour" basis, currently $12.95 per
hour at 2400 baud, in addition to the monthly BASIC fee.)
Start-up kits for both Prodigy and CompuServe are available through
your local software dealer. But remember, YOU'RE ALWAYS WELCOME AT THE
TANKSOFT BBS! - and it's FREE!

HELP
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Press the F1 key anywhere within Tankminder, and a help panel will appear
to explain every panel in the system.
Tankminder uses "context sensitive" help in it's system, which basically
means that the sytem follows what your are doing, and tries to give you help
related to that. For example, if you're trying to print, and don't know what
the particular print options mean, F1 will bring up an explanation of just
what options are available from that screen, as opposed to a huge list of
help topics that you'd be forced to wade through to find what you want.
Similarly if you tried to print, and got an error, the help would give you
suggestions as to what the error could be. You should find it easier and faster
to use than "typical" helps.

GETTING AROUND
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Every screen in Tankminder will have details on any keys you can press
displayed on the bottom of the screen, with a description of what each key
will do immediately next to it.
If a key is available to you at ANY time in Tankminder, IT WILL BE LISTED
ON THE BOTTOM OF THE CURRENT SCREEN. If one screen is placed on top of
another, and the keys available on the bottom of the first screen still
show through, the keys listed on the previous screen WILL NOT WORK!
Remember, only the keys on the CURRENT window or screen will be active.

In GENERAL however:
> The ESCape key will always back you up. If you're unsure if you want to do
something, press ESC. Similarly, if you want to exit a function, press ESC.


> The ENTER key allows you to select from a list or advance to the next
screen. Check the descriptions on the bottom of each screen for more
details. If you think of ESC as you "backup" key, think of ENTER as your
"continue" key!

> The TAB key will always take you to the next entry field on a screen. This
is most often used to skip fields, or to proceed to the next field when your
entry is complete. Tankminder employs AUTO-TAB on most fields, which means
that when you reach the maximum allowed number of characters for a field,
Tankminder will automatically TAB you to the next field. You will find that
this feature saves you time when entering data. However, if you wish to
get back to a field which Tankminder auto-tabbed away from, you can simply
use the BACK TAB key combination, which is described next.

> The BACK TAB (which is entered by pressing and holding the SHIFT and
TAB keys simultaneously, takes you back to the previous field on a screen.
It is basically the opposite of TAB.

> The CURSOR UP / CURSOR DOWN keys (up and down arrow keys) will move the
highlighted selection bar up and down a list of options. On certain screens
they may also funtion as TAB Forward, and TAB Backward. If you are trying to
skip to a field above or below where your are, and the UP/DOWN keys do not
work, try using BACK TAB (shift TAB) to go up, and TAB to go down.

Remember, if your confused, the F1 key ALWAYS displays a HELP panel.

REGISTRATION
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The Tankminder product is distributed as "Shareware". This means that you
can try this product and use it up for up to 30 days (or 90 seperate runs)
for free. After that time, the system will lock you out, and you'll
receive a message telling you that you have been using it past this limit.
If you want to use Tankminder past the 30 day limit, you MUST register.
Registering your software has many benefits. You'll receive complete access
to all upgrades plus express support via our 24-hour on-line Support BBS -
open 24 hours a day! The software will be unlocked, and you won't get any
more messages about being over the 30 day limit. In addition, you'll have
access to a number of "Tankminder-specific" utility programs just for
registered users!
When you register, you'll receive your own private password. This password
will only work with YOUR name and on YOUR PC. This prevents others from using
your registered copy.
The SHARE-WARE system only works if people like you support it. If you are
using Tankminder, and you like it, do the ethical thing. Register!
Thank you for supporting ShareWare and Tankminder!
Your questions or comments are always welcome at address below,

by EMAIL on PRODIGY by contacting ID # WMDP78A
on CompuServe by contacting ID # 74050.144

OR
============================================
== Call our 24 Hour On-line Support BBS! ==
== ==
== The TANKSOFT CUSTOMER SUPPORT BBS! ==
== 300 - 1200 - 2400 ==
== and 9600 Baud service! ==
== ==
== (609) 629-9604 ==
============================================

To register send $35 check or money order (NO CASH!!!) to:
Tanksoft Software
P.O. Box 945
Sicklerville, NJ 08081

Tankminder(c) 1993 - Tanksoft Software
P.O. box 945 Sicklerville NJ 08081