9/1/92 NEGOTIATOR PRO (TM) Version 2.0 FOR MICROSOFT WINDOWS 3.1 (or above) This demo version of Negotiator Pro is available for purchase for $295 by calling Beacon Expert Systems at 1-800-448-3308. Since we're often having sales, please call for the latest price. You can also purchase a user's manual separately by calling the above number. Special multi-user licenses are available. If you are not using the option checklist you can disable that feature by clicking on it in the top pull down menu or by using a mouse and clicking on the button with v-list (check list). Windows almost gives the user too many options, and you might want to experiment to get the windows of Negotiator Pro where you want them on the screen. At first, you may want to disable the Q-list, or question list to keep the screen 'cleaner.' Call Beacon Expert Systems if any part of the program is problematic. It may be a 'bug' or 'undocumented feature' or something we can help you adjust to your liking. We also know there are some 45,000 lines of C code and especially after a major upgrade there may be a design or program error that needs fixing. Thank you in advance for your patience and willingness to share your reactions, pro and con, with us. You can also send feedback to any of the following email addresses: COMPUSERVE: 70621,1421 INTERNET: STWISLOS@Athena.MIT.EDU 70621.1421@Compuserve.COM DAVENPORTJL@GW1.Hanscom.AF.MIL TO INSTALL NEGOTIATOR PRO ON YOUR COMPUTER: ----------------------------------------- 1. You will need about 1 meg free on your hard disk. 2. Type A:INSTALL where is the drive and directory where you want Negotiator Pro installed. For example, to install Negotiator Pro to your hard drive C: in the directory NPRO, using the oroginal distribution disk in drive B:, you would type: B:INSTALL C:\NPRO MISC. NOTES ----------- 1. If you click on the "Print/View" button, you are given a chance to resize your Plan window. Please note that the text in the Plan window will be printed on paper *exactly* as it looks in the window. This is to facilitate the margin adjustments for the final output. Example: If the text in your Plan window is 40 columns wide, the printed Plan will also be 40 columns wide. 2. The command "Select Questions to Print" has been added to the menu of the Plan Window. This command allows you to select (or de-select) which questions from the Plan that you will print. 3. If your Negotiation Plan questions look funny: Users who have installed Adobe Type Manager for Windows may find that text in the Negotiation Plan questions comes up large and ugly. This is occurring because not all of the ATM fonts were installed. You can add the fonts by using the ATM control panal which is found in your Adobe (ATM) group. This problem comes about because ATM only installs the larger fonts (automatically), therefore you have to go in manually and select the smaller (missing) fonts from the ATM control panal. At a last resort you can disable ATM from its control panal which allows the Windows True Type fonts to be enabled again. Some people claim that the True Type fonts are superior (e.g. Bill Gates), however, Adobe Type Manager is often distributed with Lotus products like Freelance Graphics (tm). ----------------------------------------------- Please run Negotiator Pro in 386 Enhanced mode for fast, reliable performance. NPro allows you to customize the plan questions by specifying a special file or "template." There are two ways to tell NPro which template to use: 1. When you first start the program, NPro will ask you, "What do you want to do today?" Select option number 4, "Customize NPro or select another template." You will now be presented with a list of available templates. Click on the template you wish to use, and click the OK button. The process to start the plan with this template will begin automatically. 2. Under the OPTIONS menu of the Plan Window, choose "Select a template," and follow the instructions above. Negotiator Pro comes with several alternative templates such as "Sales" and "Purchasing." The "PIM" template is meant as a suggestion of how you can use Negotiator Pro as a Personal Information Manager or PIM to organize your day on the computer. You can attach up to 10 programs to each question. So, for instance, you can attach several word processors to the document word processing question; several e-mail programs to an email question; and likewise with the other questions. These samples are intended to give you an idea of how templates can be created. You can use these sample templates, or create your own template as discussed in 3. 3. Below are details about the format of the template files that you use to customize and create your own version of Negotiator Pro. Negotiator Pro expects template files to be in a particular format. This format is shown below: #1 Question Name: Question: Checklist: (optional) (optional) Hint: #2 , etc. Note that each question must be numbered with a "pound" or "number" sign (#), followed by the number of the question and a hard return. (A hard return comes from hitting the ENTER or RETURN key on your keyboard.) If one or more or the questions is numbered incorrectly, you will receive an error message advising you to "be sure that all questions are numbered properly." Each of the field names, "Question Name," "Question," "Checklist," and "Hint," must have a colon (:) immediately following the field name. For example - Question Question : would cause an error message advising you to "be sure the 'Question' field names are correct." The text for the optional Checklist field requires that a vertical bar (|) be placed at the end of each line that will be in the checklist. The first line in the Checklist field will not appear in the edit window in the plan when the user clicks on it since this first line is reserved for a short title for the checklist. The following example shows correctly formatted Checklist text: Checklist: INTERESTS| Financial security| Emotional security| Job recognition| Professional recognition| The Checklist text ends when the "Hint:" field name is found. The text for the Question and Question Name fields are limited to a maximum of 255 characters each. If the text for these fields exceeds this limit, Negotiator Pro will be unable to correctly identify the next field. For example: If the Question Name text is 270 characters long, NPRO will not be able to identify the next field. Since the next field is the "Question," (see format above) you will receive an error advising you to "be sure the 'Question' fields are correct." Misc. Notes ----------- If part of your checklist appears in the text of your question, make sure that you have the text "Checklist:" before the text of your checklist. If Negotiator Pro appears to be using the wrong question (i.e., question 20 comes up when question 2 should be displayed), be sure that all of your questions are properly numbered. (See the notes on numbering format above.) *********************************************************************** Now available: Module 2 of the Library of Negotiations Series: Financial Turnaround by Paul Catermole, C.P.A. Triad Group, Walpole, MA. For only $49 - call Beacon Expert Systems to order. - Please direct all questions and/or suggestions & feedback to: --------------------- Beacon Expert Systems 35 Gardner Rd. Brookline, MA 02146 --------------------- Phone: (617) 738-9300 Fax: (617) 734-3008 ********************************************************************* NOTES ON COMPATIBILITY ---------------------- Several Windows programs, including Negotiator Pro, may experience problems when running with QEMM, especially QEMM versions before 6.0. These problems are mostly due to improper setup of QEMM which results in upper-memory contention problems. If you have an older version of QEMM, spend the few dollars and request an upgrade. With any version of QEMM, be sure to read the section "Installing QEMM with Windows" to be sure that you have installed QEMM correctly for Windows compatibility. Some slight compatibility problems have also been reported with DESQView. *********************************************************************** Sit back, relax, and enjoy the program! --B.E.S. Sept. 1, 1992-- P.S. If you want to (heaven forbid) remove Negotiator Pro: REMOVING NEGOTIATOR PRO FROM YOUR HARD DRIVE: --------------------------------------------- To remove all NPRO files from your hard drive, you must remove special file attributes which make certain files hidden or read-only before attempting to delete the files. These files are set this way to prevent them from being corrupted by the user by accident. From the NPRO directory (or where Negotiator Pro is installed), type the following at the DOS prompt: ATTRIB -H *.* You may now delete all the files in this directory. See your DOS manual if you want further instructions on how to use the ATTRIB command. *********************************************************************