Visual Reference

Synopsis: Place Objects with Data on a drawing or picture of your choice.

Long Description:
 
VisRef allows you to place objects and associated data on top of a drawing or picture that you place in the program's folder. When you click on an object, its data becomes visible. Objects can be Moved, Changed, Resized, Rotated, Magnified, and Aligned. By assigning Color to an object, its State or Status can be determined. In View/Search mode, multiple indexes allow you to search through hundreds or thousands of objects instantly. Objects blink to identify their exact location in the diagram. A database with several linked tables allows you to store additional information for each object. Double clicking on an object brings up, this information. Reports are included. Database, Repair and Backup modules as well as a Scheduling program and other ancillary items are available free from the authors web site. VisRef can be used by any business that needs to track information visually. Data and diagrams can be e-mailed to others with the program to allow almost 'real time' assessments of remote sites activities. A Tutorial is included in html format and a help file is under development VisRef is fully operational and there is no time or usage limit as long as you keep the object tally under 21. Registration, in keeping with the shareware theme, is priced incrementally, depending on your needs. The program is priced from $19.95 for 50 objects to $249.95 for unlimited usage. 

STATUS: Shareware $19.95 +

DISTRIBUTION STATUS: VisRef can be distributed via any means as long as the visref(x).zip file is left intact without any changes whatsoever. There is no time or date limit on its use, but the addition of > 21 objects is disabled without registration.

MORE EVALUATION NEEDED? Simply delete some of the objects you have placed on the diagram. This will allow you to further experiment with the program.

INSTALLATION NOTES:

PLEASE PRINT ME NOW!

VisRef is a 32-bit application, and runs on the Microsoft(r) Windows(r) 95/98 operating system. The program should also run under Windows(r) NT and Windows(r) 2000

The program uses the Borland DBE database engine, which is included. 

You have opened the visref(x).zip file. Its contents are:

1 File_ID.diz (required file for upload, but not needed by the user for any purpose.

2 readmenow.txt which you are reading now.

3 whatsnew.txt will contain information pertaining to any new enhancements and or bug fixes.

4 A faq.txt file may be included. If so, it will contain Frequently Asked Questions and their answers. Note: Further information, ancillary utilities, updated files, etc. can be found at the following site www.vis-ref.com

PREPARATION:

INSTALLING visref.zip (The Program)

If the zip and other files including this document ARE NOT in their own folder, we suggest that you do that now. Simply exit your unzipping program now and run Windows Explorer (right click on Start and select Explore). Point to xxx(C:) and from the File menu select New and Folder. Name it visreftemp and move the visref(x) file to it.

To insure the most efficient use of disk resources, we suggest that you unzip visref.zip into the folder, which holds it. That is, when unzipping visref.zip, you want to extract the included files by pointing to the download folder as the extraction or destination folder. This way, when the installation is complete, you can simply delete the download folder to regain that space on your hard disk.

After unzipping the visref(x) file you will see that it has created four additional folders (Disk 1-4). Open the disk one folder and double click on the setup.exe file to install the program.

The rest of the process is automatic. When installed, there will be an item (VisRef) in your Start Programs listing. If you let the program install to the default location, VisRef can be found in C:\Program Files\Visref. There, you will find the tutorial.htm file and several other files mentioned above.

Before running VisRef from Start Programs VisRef, we suggest you open the VisRef folder and click on the TUTORIAL.HTML file and spend some time reviewing how the program works. Printing the file may help. Go to the File menu in your browser and select print.

After installation, delete the visreftemp (or other download folder).

DISPLAY SETTINGS:

Because certain drawing dimensions and proportions need to be maintained, we have opted to design the program to run in 800x600 mode. This should be well within the capabilities of most if not all systems running 95/98 and even smaller 12"-15" screens.

When VisRef is started, you are shown a message if your display is not set to a screen area of 800x600. The colors setting you select will depend on the drawing colors your diagram needs. We suggest that you try one setting above 256 colors. These may be set in Start - Setting - Control Panel - Display - Setting Tab. Also, slide the Screen area control to 800x600 if it is not already there.


Problem(s) - Questions - Comments should be directed to the author via e-mail at

visref@home.com

Tim Mandeville
