ERRNOTE.TXT A Note on errors incurred running dbLite dbLite is a DOS based computer program designed to work on IBM and IBM Compatible computers. It will work as a DOS program under Windows. It requires approximately 512K of memory to operate. That is, if your computer has 512K and you boot DOS 2.1 -> 6.2 you should have enough memory available to run dbLite. dbLite does not require any special graphics to operate but it does look much better in color. dbLite menus support mouse selection. The latest mouse driver circulated by Microsoft will definately work with dbLite and give you mouse menu support. Other drivers are questionable. If you want mouse support and do not see a mouse cursor, try updating your mouse driver. The mouse is only supported in menu selection at this time. If you are running under a DOS shell, you may find that you will not have enough memory to operate the program if all you have is 512K. The shell itself will be using some of your memory. Of course DOS itself takes up memory. DOS 4 was the biggest memory user of all and with DOS 5 Microsoft made better use of memory, decreasing what was needed from Version 4 to Version 5. DOS 6 uses a little more than 5. You can do a CHKDSK after booting DOS to see how much memory is installed on your machine and how much is then currently available for program use. If you are running other types of shells or overlays to DOS (Windows is a graphical overlay to DOS) such as GEOS or GeoWorks you will need approximately 400K of free memory. Each of these programs has its own memory management technique. Even though you may have expanded memory available, the core of the program may well take up standard memory in order to run. If you are running such a DOS shell and you do not have enough memory to run, dbLite will not load and you will get an error code of 07 from DOS. This means that there is not enough standard memory available to dbLite to load. If this is the case, you will probably be able to run the program from the DOS command line (your C:\ prompt) if you simply copy dbLite to a subdirectory on your hard drive (name dbLite probably, see your documentation for instructions on loading the program on your hard drive). To get the the command line, you will probably need to exit your shell. The DOS shell is exitable from the same key combo as Windows, which is Alt-F4. Once you are in normal command mode, change directory to dbLite's subdirectory and execute the program. This should clear up any memory problems if you do have at least 512K. Understand that if you are shelling to DOS from Windows or from DOS shell you are probably not going to have sufficient memory to run the program because you have DOS loaded into memory, you have your shell loaded into memory and then you have another DOS shell loaded into memory and well, there ain't much left for application programs to use. You may further have trouble running the program from a floppy drive if there is not sufficient disk space to start the program. (Theoretically this is true of a hard disk as well but is unlikely, unless you have filled it up over time.) You will get an Error 61 upon exit if this is the case. What is happening is the program is loading its data files from your disk on startup. It is further recording backup copies of the data file and its associated note file in case you decide to quit and abandon any editing changes. You will have to have disk space available for the program to do its work. The space available will need to be as big as the dbl and dbn files you are loading with some spare room to increase their size when you append records and notes. If you have a hard disk and you are running the program from a floppy, you should give the program a break and give it some hard drive space. Please follow the instructions in dblite.doc for installing the program on your hard drive. If you absolutely must run from a floppy, then copy the program (dblite.exe) to the floppy and run it without the collection of help files. You can use the included files one or two at a time. Make sure you copy both the dbl and dbn files together if you are using them separately. In other words to run the intro from the program, copy dblite.exe to a separate disk and further copy intro.dbl and intro.dbn to the same disk. You should then have enough space available to run the program and do the intro. Kick it off with "dblite intro" at the command line. If you copy a data file (filename.DBL) to another directory or disk and you do not copy its associated note file (filename.DBN) [assuming that there IS a note file] then upon running the program and loading the data file in question, you will find that your notes are messed up. To prevent this from occuring, make sure you always copy the name of your data file with a * character as the file name extension. That is, if you want to transfer your ADDRESS file to a floppy disk, copy ADDRESS.* to the disk rather than ADDRESS.DBL. This will insure that both the dbl and dbn files are kept together. This is esstential to maintaining note file integrity. Many new users have copied all their files to their hard drives as drive C:. This effectively makes the root directory the receptable for literally hundreds of files. This will eventually create an error situation. Error 67 will be reported if dbLite is trying to create a file on a directory which has too many files on it. You will need help to deal with all your files on your root directory. Consult a friend who is computer literate and get a files manager like Xtree. The key to determining your particular trouble will be the error code stated by DOS when the program fails to run or will be the error message given to you by Windows or other shell program which overlays DOS. If you experience trouble with the program and wish me to trouble-shoot a solution for you, you need to give me enough information to make a reasoned determination as to what is going wrong. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Information Necessary to Trouble-Shoot dbLite Problems Name: _________________________________ Addr: _________________________________ [FROM] Addr: _________________________________ City: __________________________ State: _______ Zip: _________ Brand, make and model of computer: ______________________________ Processor Type: 8086 (__) 80286 (__) 80386 (__) 80486 (__) Amount of memory installed: ______ Amount of memory reported by CHKDSK after DOS loads: (this is essential) Installed: __________ Available: ___________ Hard Drive Size: ______ ( if none, just put zero ) Floppy drive(s): ____ 5 1/4 low density ____ 5 1/4 high density ____ 3 1/2 low density ____ 3 1/2 high density Display type: ____ Monochrome ____ CGA ____ EGA ____ VGA ____ Hercules DOS Version: ____ If you are not running from a C:\> prompt upon booting your computer, then what shell or overlay are you running from? ________________________________________________________________ What version of dbLite are attempting to run? __________________ Where did you obtain it? _______________________________________ Exactly what shows on the screen when the program fails? ________________________________________________________________ Error Code Reported: ____________ Further Explanation: ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ Please send to: Mike Seither 6900 Hastings St. Metairie, La. 70003