BirdData 3.12 Bird Breeders database/record-keeping program. Print this file for program instructions. ©1991-1996 All rights reserved _______ By Don Bradner ____|__ | (R) Arcata Pet --| | |------------------- 600 F Street | ____|__ | Association of Arcata, CA 95521 | | |_| Shareware |__| o | Professionals -----| | |--------------------- |___|___| MEMBER Compuserve: 76130,1007 America OnLine: DBirdMan Forum KeyWord: ArcataPet Internet: dbirdman@arcatapet.com http://www.arcatapet.com Contents of this file: A. Note to users of BirdData 2.x I. Program Description II. Program Requirements III. Installation IV. Getting Started V. Files that make up BirdData VI. Troubleshooting VII. Getting future upgrades VIII. Registration and distribution IX. ASP Ombudsman Statement A. NOTE TO USERS OF BIRDDATA 2.X. This version of BirdData uses a completely different file structure from previous versions. It is possible to run BirdData 3 and a previous version simultaneously without harm. It is recommended that version 3.x be installed to a completely different directory than 2.x, so that files don't get "jumbled." There is a conversion program (convert.exe) included to convert 2.x files to 3.x format. The conversion program installs to your BDATA3 directory along with the rest of the files, so it may be run later. If the conversion is run after data has been entered in 3.x format, THE NEW DATA WILL BE OVERWRITTEN. Consequently, the conversion should only be done once. Your version 2.x data will not be disturbed by the conversion process. If you are a registered user of an older version, there is no charge to upgrade. If, after installing version 3.x you see the shareware "nag" screen, it means that the SETUP program did not find the version 2 registration key. You need to manually copy the key (BDATAREG.KEY) from your version 2 directory or the distribution diskette to the version 3 directory. In most cases SETUP will take care of this automatically. I. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION. BirdData is a custom database for the types of records useful to bird keepers. The program is oriented towards the needs of Parrot breeders, but may be useful to pet owners as well. Bird records include identification information, fields for 6 items of user-defined data, and weight/journal for up to 2000 lines. Weight information may be shown graphically for individual birds and various groupings of birds. Bird records are placed in user-defined groups. There is a search function for bird records that allows searching for a text string among any of the identification items or the six user-defined items. A handy daily-weigh function will locate all babies that are a specific age or less on a specific date, and allow weights and comments for that date to be entered. This is useful both for daily entering of data, or for entering groups of paper-written info maintained on a per day basis. Pair data includes identification information, information on bird origins, free-form date-stamped diary entries, and ongoing egglaying data. The program will calculate hatchdates, based on user input or prior data. Pet data was maintained separately in previous versions, but is integrated with the rest of the bird data in version 3.0. Most records and lists may be printed to provide permanent records. Full documentation is included in the form of a Windows Help file. When you desire help, press your F1 function key for context-sensitive help, or press the help key if you are in a dialog box. II. Program requirements. BirdData requires an IBM compatible 286 or better, running Windows 3.1, with at least 4 megs of RAM. A 386 with 8 megs or more is recommended. A mouse is required for some funtions. About 1 megs of hard-drive space is required to install, and each bird record will use about 2K of disk space initially and more as the data increases. III. Installation. If you obtained BirdData by downloading it from a computer Bulletin Board (BBS) or another online source, one necessary file may not have been included. You will need a file called VBRUN300.DLL, which is almost always available from any source that would have BirdData. On BBS systems the file will usually be called VBRUN300.ZIP or VBRUN3.ZIP. Registered versions obtained from the author should always include VBRUN300. If the file is included with the program it should be installed by the setup procedure; if it is independently obtained it should be unzipped and placed in your Windows\System Directory. To install BirdData, run the included setup program. If the program is on a floppy disk, you can use File/Run in the Program Manager and type a:bdsetup or b:bdsetup, whichever drive is involved. You can use the same technique to run setup from a directory on your hard drive by supplying the full path, such as c:\temp\bdsetup. Alternatively you can use File manager to find the files and double-click on BDSETUP.EXE. Windows 95 users can use the "Add/Remove Programs" item in the Control Panel to find and start BDSETUP. IV. Getting Started. The SETUP will create a "Bird" program group, with icons for the program and the various text files. Double-click the BirdData icon to start the program. The best way to familiarize yourself with the program elements on screen is to click the help (question mark) icon, or choose "Help" "Overview" from the menus. In the helpfile's overview, you may graphically choose different program elements to see an explanation of their function. Now click the "New Bird" icon (the "chick-in-shell"). Select a category and input a bird's information. Don't worry about getting everything right; you can always edit it or delete the record later. Add a couple of additional records, then try out the other program elements as they relate to those records. When you are comfortable, you can convert any paper data you have to the BirdData format and begin to use the program on a daily basis. V. FILES AND UNINSTALLING When BirdData is installed, a program (UNINSTAL.EXE) and a data file (INSTALL.LOG) are placed in the BData3 directory. The following information is provided to aid in removing the program in case those files are lost or damaged. Files distributed with BirdData: BDSETUP.EXE This file contains all of the program files. Running it will install the files where they belong, and will also produce a record and program that can be used to uninstall this package. README.TXT The text file you are reading now. It is placed outside the main install program so that it is readable before the program is installed. VENDINFO.DIZ, FILEID.DIZ Information files for shareware distributors and online services. These explain distribution rights and allowable methods. Files installed by BirdData: Main Program directory files BDATA3.EXE, BDATA3.HLP, BDATA3.INI, README.TXT, UNINSTAL.EXE, INSTALL.LOG. An Icons subdirectory under the main program directory is created by the install and a number of custom icons included with BirdData are placed in it; they were drawn by the author or by Sally Blanchard. Sally's all have a file name beginning with 'SB'. You may use these as you wish, to replace the bird group icons in the program defaults. There is also a blank icon included to use as a template for creating your own icons. You will need an icon editor; there are many free and shareware editors available; IconWorks is included with registered copies from the author and is directly accessible from the Tools menu. Windows\System directory files BDTLIBR.VBX, CMDIALOG.VBX, GRID.VBX, Registered users will have three additional files: 1) BDATAREG.KEY; this file must be in your BData3 directory, and will keep the startup shareware screen from appearing. If you upgrade to a new version of BirdData, do not delete this file - it will work with all future versions; 2&3) ICONWRKS.EXE and ICONWRKS.HLP, an icon editor that can be called from the BirdData tools menu. Files required by BirdData: VBRUN300.DLL A "runtime" library for programs written in Visual Basic 3.0. This file is almost always available from any source for BirdData. From on-line sources, look for VBRUN3.ZIP or VBRUN300.ZIP. It must be placed in your Windows\System directory. Files created by BirdData: BirdData will make a one-line section addition to your WIN.INI file. This entry tells the program the directory path to the program files. BirdData will create a number of .REC files and .NDX files in your BDATA3 directory for the storage of data. If you follow good backup procedures, these are the most important to backup, along with BDATA3.INI. Uninstalling BirdData: If the UNINSTAL.EXE program and INSTALL.LOG file have been left intact in the BData3 directory, running the program will remove all files that were installed with BirdData. The uninstaller does not know anything about the files created by the program, so those require manual deletion. If the UNINSTAL program has been removed, use the file list above to determine which files to remove. VI. Troubleshooting. Errors will frequently relate to a corrupted .INI file. You may load BDATA3.INI into Windows Notepad or a similar text-only editor and look for obviously bad entries. Always make a backup of the file before changing any entries, since it is easy to make problems worse. Some errors may be corrected by use of the Rebuild Indices menu item in the Category menu. If a specific record causes problems all of the time, either restore a backup copy or else delete the record and do an index Rebuild. In the latter case you would lose that record's data, which is a good reason to do frequent backups. VII. Getting future Upgrades. When you register BirdData with the author, you will receive a copy of the latest version and a registration key that removes the startup screen. That key file will work with future versions of the program, so no upgrade fee will be required. Current versions of BirdData can always be found at the author's internet FTP site: ftp://redshift.com/arcatpet/bdata/bdataxxx.zip where xxx is the version number. There is also a jump available from the author's web page at http://www.arcatapet.com Registered users who do not have online access may get a disk copy from the author for a fee of $5 ($7 non-US). Send a short note indicating your registered status and requesting the latest copy. Please use the same name under which you are registered. VIII. Registration and Distribution. BirdData is shareware. Free use is extended to any user for a reasonable evaluation period; typical idea of "reasonable" is 30 days. If use is continued, the program should be registered with the author. Registration fee is $30. Registrants receive a disk copy of the latest version of BirdData. A convenient form for registration is included in the Help file (and may be printed from there). Until you register, there will be nag screens asking you to register, which you will have to respond to. When you register, this annoyance will go away. Otherwise, this version is complete and un-crippled in any way. As a registration incentive, the author will provide on request two free scanned images from your original prints or slides, when sent with the registration. Commercial use: BirdData may be used commercially, as long as there is a registered copy for each computer/terminal that is using it. You may freely distribute BirdData as long as no fees are charged for the program, and all necessary files are included. Shareware services may charge their normal fees for distribution of the disk, so long as it is clear to the purchaser that they are not buying the program itself. If you are a registered user, do not distribute the file BDATAREG.KEY, which identifies you as the user (This identification shows up in the startup logo and the About box). The author is very interested in feedback from users. Please feel free to make contact at the address shown at the beginning of this file with any comments/questions/problems. IX. ASP Ombudman Statement This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442-9427 USA, FAX 616-788-2765 or send a CompuServe message via CompuServe Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536