Better Software Bureau
Mr. Konstantin Monastyrsky
P.O.Box 522
Lyndhurst, N.J. 07071
Tel. 201-460-0677

VIEWER APPLICATION NOTES

Demo Version 2.0



DESCRIPTION:


None of the MS Windows programs allow to read text documents without
loading them into the global memory first. In addition, Notepad cannot
read document that are over 32K in size. These restrictions adversely
affect Windows performance and its usefulness to the users who have to work
with the large text documents, such as reports, source code files, records
of on-line sessions, etc.

The Viewer allows to work with the text documents of any size because
it only records file positioning information (3 bytes per line of text) and
does not load any part of the file into the memory.

The Viewer utility is further advanced by the availability of powerful
searching and bookmarking functions, ability to copy and paste blocks of
text into other applications, and printing support that allows page
formatting and selection of any available font.


OTHER FEATURES ALLOW TO:

- select different fonts for screen and printer
- set-up a printer without control panel
- select colors according to the user preferences
- set-up default document extension for "Open..." dialog
- access all open windows and active applications via
"Windows" menu
- select an alternative cursor shape
- permanently record start-up options in win.ini file
- integrate with other applications that adhere to MS Windows
design guidelines
- launch new instance of Viewer from the "Open..." dialog
- perform automatic tabs expansion
(*) - control from external application (the program can be requested
to load and show a file, or to perform most of the available
functions
(*) - record and restore bookmarks when file is loaded
(*) - split screen and view different file segments
(*) - permanently display header information (set from the text
file itself)
(*) - ability to file documents into libraries under alias names
up to 80 characters long


(*) Not available in the demo version


The ability to call Viewer from within any other application makes it
most useful for Windows programmers and integrators whose applications must
work with text files, such as downloadable mainframe reports, on-line
references, etc.


USER INTERFACE:

Keyboard:

Key Move
-------------------------------------------------------------
Home top of the file
End bottom of the file
PgUp one page up
PgDn one page down
Up arrow one line up
Down arrow one line down
Left arrow one character to the left
Right arrow one character to the right
Clear key (5) Zoom to full size / Un-Zoom
Escape Remove current active window (including Viewer)
Enter Bookmark top visible line


Mouse:
-------------------------------------------------------------
Left Button Down Move pointer up or down to select block
of text. Move pointer outside of the window
to engage the auto-scroll similar to Write.

Right Button Click Bookmark current line / Release Bookmark



LIMITATIONS:

The current version does not verify the fact that the file in use has
been changed by another program because we had not been able to recover
from OpenFile() function with the OF_VERIFY | OF_CANCEL flags set on.

The program will read any requested file, and does not attempt to
distinguish text files from binary. With later it can hang-up the system
in some cases.

The keyboard interface to select the text block is not provided.

The program has not been tested on the monochrome system. (The
internal color/BW test works).

The tab expansion will only work properly with the monospaced (fixed)
fonts. In addition, those document that were produced by the editors with
variable tab intervals, may not be represented accurately. The tab
expansion increment can be modified in win.ini file; if set to 0, no
expansion will be performed.

A lot of care went into the testing of each individual program's
module. The complete program itself, however, undergone very limited
testing. We will rely on your input to find bugs, if any. Nevertheless,
the program is very stable with the memory (does not eat any) and does not
leave files open longer then necessary. Also keep in mind, that the
program had been compiled using 2.0 Windows Development System Beta
version.


DEMO VERSION LIMITATIONS:

The program cannot be called from another program (including itself)
with the file name as an argument (also it cannot be called by selecting a
designated file in the MS-DOS Executive). Obviously, these limitations
have been imposed in order to prevent an unauthorized integration of the
Viewer with other products.



LICENSING:

The Viewer had been designed to work with our Windows vertical
applications. It was intended to simplify the productions of various
reports and usefulness of these reports to the users. It accomplishes, in
our opinion, its goals for programmers (f to i) and users (a to e) by:

a) giving users the opportunity to integrate reports output
with other Windows applications;
b) producing long reports almost instantaneously by writing
them to the disk (instead of printing);
c) storing reports on the disk for further recall and review;
d) unmatched flexibility and adaptability of the report presentation
and output;
e) providing simultaneous access to an unrestricted (within reasons)
number of reports;

f) relieving the programmer from the need to write custom code
for the reports printing and screen output;
g) providing uniform and consistent form of the reports manipulation
to users;
h) significantly cutting applications development time;
i) increasing product sellability and competitiveness by high quality
presentation of the most comprehensible part of the sales
demonstration - business reports;

We have also found the Viewer very useful in our programming work (try
to read windows.h with the Notepad or Write) and alongside PageMaker,
Write, etc. It also sells our products better than the products itself.

We have invested a lot of man-hours into the Viewer in order to
accomplish its polished look and performance. We sincerely hope that you
will not duplicate our efforts and chose to license the Viewer source,
object code or executable version. We will be glad to customize the Viewer
to your special needs.

We do not plan to distribute a retail version of Viewer because, in our
opinion, it is a limited use utility that can only justify itself as a part
of other application.

Please contact us by phone or mail (no CIS e-mail please) for details.


___________________________________________________________________________

If you use bulletin boards that may find Viewer attractive to their
membership, please upload VIEWER.ARC there.

We will appreciate your comments, suggestions, and critique.
___________________________________________________________________________


License
-------

Copyright (c) 1988 Better Software Bureau. All Rights Reserved.

You are free to use, copy and distribute Viewer Demo for noncommercial
use if:

NO FEE IS CHARGED FOR ITS USE, COPYING OR DISTRIBUTION.

IT IS NOT MODIFIED IN ANY WAY.

Clubs and user groups may charge a nominal fee (less than $5) for
expenses and handling while distributing Viewer Demo.

Site licenses, commercial licenses and custom versions of Viewer are
available. Write to the address below for more information.

This program is provided AS IS without any warranty, expressed or
implied, including but not limited to fitness for a particular purpose.


Better Software Bureau
P.O.Box 522
Lyndhurst, N.J. 07071