T G B v 1.20 for IBM Compatible Personal Computers User's Guide Voice: (618) 995-2208 Internet: tdf@midamer.com Table of Contents TGB Legal Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Disclaimer of Warranty. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Choice of Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 License Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Disk Duplication Agreement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Technical Support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Online Support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Phone Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Documentation Additions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 You Can Help Us. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Note From the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Reporting Bugs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 Defective Disk Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Concept and Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Using Keys. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Using the Mouse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Automatic Installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Manual Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 The TGB System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Getting Started . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Program Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Using the Main Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Backing Up Your Data. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Class Input. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Creating a New Class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Class Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Cloning a Class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Naming Files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Moving / Sizing Windows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Printer Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Opening and Erasing Files. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Grades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Defining Your Grading Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Using Total Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Using Weighted Grades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Letter Grades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Entering grades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Changing Grades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Dropping Grades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 "X" Grades. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Deleting Records (Students). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Reports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Printing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Drawing Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Variable List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Deleting Reports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Changing Colors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Questions and Answers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 TGB Legal Information The TGB software and User's Guide (documentation) are licensed properties of TDF SoftWare. Use of this software indicates your acceptance of the following LICENSE STATEMENT, DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY, DISK DUPLICATION AGREEMENT, and CHOICE OF LAW. This is a legal agreement between you, the end user, and TDF SoftWare. The TGB software is licensed by TDF SoftWare for use only on the terms set forth herein. Use of this software indicates that you accept these terms. Disclaimer of Warranty We have made every effort to bring you an effective tool for creating labels. However, you must be aware that TGB is sold as is, without any warranty of any kind. USERS OF TGB MUST ACCEPT THIS DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: TGB IS SUPPLIED AS IS. TDF SOFTWARE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND OF FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. TDF SOFTWARE ASSUMES NO LIABILITY FOR DAMAGES, DIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL, WHICH MAY RESULT FROM THE USE OR MISUSE OF TGB. GOOD DATA PROCESSING PROCEDURE DICTATES THAT ANY PROGRAM BE THOROUGHLY TESTED WITH NON-CRITICAL DATA BEFORE RELYING ON IT. THE USER MUST ASSUME THE ENTIRE RISK OF USING TGB. ANY LIABILITY OF THE SELLER WILL BE LIMITED EXCLUSIVELY TO PRODUCT REPLACEMENT OR REFUND OF PURCHASE PRICE. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IN NO CASE SHALL TDF SOFTWARE'S LIABILITY EXCEED THE PURCHASE PRINCE FOR THE SOFTWARE. Choice of Law THIS AGREEMENT SHALL BE GOVERNED BY THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS AND SHALL INURE TO THE BENEFIT OF TDF SOFTWARE, INC. AND ANY SUCCESSORS, ADMINISTRATORS, HEIRS AND ASSIGNS. 5 ANY ACTION OR PROCEEDING BROUGHT BY EITHER PARTY AGAINST THE OTHER ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THIS AGREEMENT SHALL BE BROUGHT ONLY IN A STATE OR FEDERAL COURT OF COMPETENT JURISDICTION LOCATED IN WILLIAMSON COUNTY, ILLINOIS. THE PARTIES HEREBY CONSENT TO IN PERSONAM JURISDICTION OF SAID COURTS. License Statement TGB is licensed for the exclusive use of the original purchaser for use on one computer only. You must treat this software just like a book. An example is that this software may be used by any number of people and may be freely moved from one computer location to another, so long as there is no possibility of it being used at one location while it's being used at another. Just as a book cannot be read by two different persons at the same time. The only exception is that purchasers of multiple or site licenses may use the software on the number of computers specified by the purchase agreement. Disk Duplication Agreement This software is not copy protected. TDF SoftWare authorizes you to make BackUp copies of the software for your archives only, for the sole purpose of protecting your investment from loss. Copyrights and Trademarks The TGB 1.20 software is licensed property of TDF SoftWare, Inc. and is copyright (c) 1995-96 by TDF SoftWare, Inc. All rights reserved. TGB User's Guide, copyright (c) 1995-96 by TDF SoftWare, Inc. IBM and AT are registered trademarks, and PC, PC/XT, PC/2, and PC-DOS are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. MS-DOS, Microsoft, Microsoft Mouse, and Microsoft Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. The TGB 1.20 software, User's Guide, or portions thereof may not be reproduced in any form at all without the written permission of TDF SoftWare, Inc. All other brand and product names are trademarks or 6 registered trademarks of their respective companies. Direct all correspondence concerning the TGB 1.11b software and User's Guide to TDF SoftWare, Inc., RR 1 Box 74, Goreville, Il 62939-9608 USA. Acknowledgements Many people have helped to mold TGB throughout its development process. Without their help this product would not have been possible. A very special thanks to my wife Vera. Her help was invaluable in designing the flow of this program. Thank you. Technical Support Registered customers receive free technical support for one year, notices of product updates and new product announcements. We offer phone support that is best used for getting you up and running. In depth support is provided via CompuServe and other online services, as described below. We don't recommend written correspondence because of the lengthy time delays. If you have physical disabilities that affect your ability to communicate with us, please mention your preferred method of responding. Online Support  Internet Address: tdf@midamer.com Phone Support  (618) 995-2208 Documentation Additions Any changes to the program that occur after this manual was sent to the printer will be included in the on disk file ADDENDUM.DOC. 7 You Can Help Us We have spent long hours preparing this software and have provided it to you at a very reasonable price. For your convenience, the disk you have received is not copy protected in any way. Our license is very liberal in allowing you to make BackUp copies to protect your investment. Your honesty in not providing copies of the registered version to others will help us to stay in business and give you even better software in the future. Note From the Author Thank you for choosing TGB for your computer grade book program. TGB was designed to be "user friendly" and to be free of "bugs" or errors. Sometimes we don't always get what we want. If you find any errors, bugs, or would like to see the program act in a different manner, write to me. Let me know your concerns. All comments are appreciated and will be given serious consideration. If enough people want the same thing then every effort will be made to make it happen. I want future versions to be designed especially for you and by you. In the case of bugs give me as much information as possible. I have to be able to duplicate the bug before I can correct it. Please realize that everything you don't like is not always a bug. If you have found a true bug then after fixing it I will send to you the newest version with that bug fixed. Reporting Bugs I'll need your help to find and fix a bug. As I mentioned before I need to be able to recreate the situation where the error occurred. Please send me as much of the following information as you can. For some of it you may have to refer to your DOS reference manual. 1) Type of computer (brand and is it 100% IBM compatible?) 2) The contents of your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files. 3) How much free memory do you have on your computer? You can get this by typing the DOS command MEM. 4) Were there any error messages? What did they say? 5) Did the program crash? Was there a runtime error? In the case of a program crash you may get a runtime error. Example: Error 201 400B:100E If you get anything like this write it down, it is very important. 6) Printer brand name and model 7) DOS version 8 8) Version of TGB 9) Were you running the program from a hard drive or floppy disk? 10) Write a detailed description of just what you were doing and what happened. Defective Disk Replacement Users of the registered version of TGB will receive free replacement of any defective disks during the first 30 days of purchase. After the first 30 days there will be a $6.00 charge. You can help avoid this by making an exact copy of the original disk and using the copy for all your work. If you have a bad disk you will usually receive one of these DOS error messages. "General failure reading drive..." "Sector not found..." "Bad sector..." "CRC error..." "Address mark not found..." "Unrecoverable read error..." Check your DOS users manual for more information. Concept and Definitions The bar at the top of the menu which contains the menu items File, Class, etc. is called the menu bar. The other boxes are called pull down menus. Every menu item has one letter that is highlighted (a different color from the rest). Press the highlighted letter on your keyboard to activate that item. A menu item followed by the sideways triangle () opens another menu. A menu item followed by three dots (...) opens a dialogue box. A menu item followed by nothing starts that feature. Using Keys If you want to activate an item in the menu bar, press the Alt key + the highlighted letter of that item and the appropriate pull down menu will be activated. Activating an item in a pull down menu is done by pressing the highlighted letter. Pressing the 9 Up or down arrow keys will move the lightbar to different menu items, press the ENTER key to activate that item. Pressing the right or left arrow keys will move to the pull down menu under another menu bar item. Using the Mouse Move the mouse (point) to any item, menu bar or pull down menu, and mouse click (press the left mouse button once) to activate that menu item. When selecting from a list, double click (press the mouse button two times) on that item. Installation First of all, make an exact BackUp copy of your TGB disk and store the original disk in a safe place. You can use the DOS DISKCOPY command or a utility such as our KOPYIT program. Automatic Installation Substitute the floppy disk drive letter in the following command from which you are installing the TGB program. From the DOS prompt type the commands:  A: press ENTER  INSTALL press ENTER Follow the prompts during installation. INSTALL will copy the files needed to a directory of your choice. INSTALL will not make any changes to your computer system files. Manual Installation You can manually install the program by copying the contents of the program disk to a directory of your choice. Substitute the drive letter that the program disk is in and any legal directory name in the following example. These DOS commands will install the program. Place the program disk in your floppy disk drive. From your hard drive type: MD TGB CD TGB COPY A:\*.* 10 After each of the commands are typed press the ENTER key. The first command creates the directory named "TGB". The second command changes to that directory. The last command copies the files from the floppy disk in "A" drive to the directory. Once TGB is successfully installed on your computer, change to your new directory and type TGB press ENTER to start the program. The TGB System  Supports the use of a Microsoft or compatible mouse.  Is small enough to be run from a floppy disk.  Easy to use pull down menus with contact sensitive help.  Easily customized colors.  Uses variables (codes) to generate many different reports.  Prints to LPT1, LPT2, or LPT3 - supports several printers.  Create as many class databases as you need. Each database can hold 1,200 records. The size is only limited by your hard disk capacity.  Add up to ten lines of notes (memos) in a report. This is done on the fly (at the time the report is printed). Getting Started TGB was designed to make your grading tasks easier and not designed to make you spend a lot of time learning a new computer program. Most will be up and running in as little as fifteen minutes. Everything you need to know is in the online help and is just a keystroke away. Getting started can be as easy as 1, 2, 3. 1) From the "Setup" menu - define your grading system. 2) From the "Class" menu - create a new class. 3) From the "Class" menu - enter new grades. 11 Program Requirements In order to install and operate TGB successfully, you need  An IBM PC or 100 percent compatible personal computer with a hard disk drive  512K of RAM (1M of EMM memory recommended)  MS-DOS (or PC-DOS) version 3.20 or later  Printers supported: most dot matrix; Laserjet 4 (tm) and compatible laser printers.  Almost any monitor  Formatted disks (for making working copies). Using the Main Menu By using the Arrow keys you can move the lightbar to different menu items. Pressing the ENTER key will activate that choice. Pressing F1 will show additional help for that menu item. To quit the program you need to be at the main menu. There is nothing worse than not being able to exit a program any time you want. TGB was designed with this in mind. From the Main Menu there are six different key combinations you can use to exit the program. Use any of the following keys to bring up the Quit Prompt. ESC Alt+F+X Alt+X Alt+Q Ctrl+X Ctrl+Q Pressing the keys Alt+X from the class form will bring you back to the main menu so that you can do other functions or quit TGB. 12 Backing Up Your Data From the Tools menu select BackUp data. This backs up the current open class database to a floppy disk drive specified by you. You will be prompted for the disk drive letter. You must be running this program from a hard drive to use this feature. Class Input From the Class menu choose Create/edit class to enter the class form where you can edit or create new classes. The class form consists of input fields that allow you to enter information about your students. Enter their last and first name and a 3 or 4 digit class "code". The code is important because in many situations you might want to refer to a student by this code. Example: you could post a list of current class grades, each students knows his/her code but not the others. Note the following special keys and their functions: F1 - Help. F2 - Save. Saves the current record in the database. If you are editing a record then the record is replaced in the database. If you are Adding then see F5. F4 - Edit the label record. You must manually save your changes in this mode. See F2. F5 - Add mode. This positions you in the label form and erases the current contents (screen only). After typing in the 3 digit student code and pressing the ENTER key the record will be saved. F9 - Cancel edit mode. Unless you have saved the record then no changes made will be permanent. See F2. F10 - Create a new class (database). You will be prompted for a file name. See Creating a new class below. Alt+K - A list of all the keys needed in the class form. Alt+R - Repeats the text into the current field that was in the same field in the previous record. This can save time when several records must contain some of the same information. 13 Alt+X - Returns you to the main menu. Crtl+E - Erases the contents of any line that the cursor is on (screen only). PageUp - Go to the previous record in the database. PageDown - Go to the next record in the database. Insert - Toggle from insert mode (default) to overwrite mode. Overwrite mode replaces the current character with the new one. Creating a New Class If you wish to create a new class then follow these steps. 1) Press the "F10" key and follow the prompts. 2) Type in the student's last name, press ENTER 3) Type in the student's first name, press ENTER 4) Type in the student's code, press ENTER Note: the student code is NOT optional. The record will be saved automatically. To continue adding more records (students), repeat steps 2,3 & 4. You must always enter a 3 digit student code. This code is used to index all of the records. Without this code TGB will not be able to find your records. In the first step you will be asked to name the file (this will be a DOS file name - see Naming files) and to enter a class description. This description can be anything like "Algebra II Second Hour". Class Description When you first create a class database you will be prompted to enter a class description. This can be up to thirty characters long and will appear on all reports when using the variable . You can edit or change the description at any time, from the Class menu choose Class Description. Cloning a Class From the Class menu choose Clone a class. Many times a teacher will have the same students for more than one class. This procedure allows you to copy the students from one class to another class named by you. Student names and 14 codes will be copied but not any grades. This is a great time saver as you only enter the students one time. Naming Files DOS will only accept certain characters for filenames. For a complete listing check your DOS reference manual. If you enter an illegal character DOS will report an error to this program. To be safe follow these rules. 1) A filename can be up to 8 characters long. 2) You can use the letters A to Z and/or the numbers 0 to 9. 3) An extension will be added to all filenames. Do not try to add one! An extension of a filename is a period followed by three letters. Example: MATH2.DTA The .DTA is an extension and is what will be added for you. All you would need to do is type in MYDATA. Do not use or end your filename with a period, this character is part of the extension. All databases will have two files, MATH2.DTA & MATH2.IDX. The .DTA file will contain the database records & the .IDX file is the index file that TGB uses to sort the database and find records. Moving / Sizing Windows Almost all of the windows and input forms (forms are in a window) you see on the screen can be moved and some can be resized. All of the little prompt (message) windows can be moved. The best example to practice with is this help window you are viewing now. Resize this window by pressing the combination keys of: Alt+F5 and use the arrow keys to move the bottom left corner up/down/Left or right until you get the size you want, then press the ENTER key to set the new size. Ctrl + F5 = Move window to a new position, press ENTER when done. Alt + F5 = Resize window. (Not all windows respond to this command) F5 = Return window to full size or last size set by you. 15 Printer Installation If you haven't already done so, from the Tools menu choose Select Printer. You will be presented a list of the available printers. There are only four printers to select from but TGB uses only the most common commands for text styles, one of these will probably work for you. Check your printer manual and see what kind of emulation your printer uses. A file will be created (TGB.PDF - Printer Definition File), this file must remain in the same directory (or floppy disk) as TGB to be able to use your particular printer commands. Opening and Erasing Files Use the up/down arrow keys to move to the file you wish to open. Press the ENTER key to open that file or double-click the file name with your mouse. Use caution when deleting (erasing) a file, TGB has no way or restoring any files accidentally deleted. The file deletion box is a different color than the file open box, hopefully this will insure that any files that you delete were meant to be. Use the same procedure as when opening a file, double click with a mouse or hi-light and press ENTER. As a final safety precaution before the file is actually deleted you will receive a prompt asking for confirmation. By clicking on the Yes button, the file will be erased. If you are deleting a database file then the corresponding index file will also be erased. Do NOT use this function if all you want is to reset the class for another period. Grades Defining Your Grading Scale Defining your grading scale and setting up your grading system only needs to be done once, all classes will use the same setup. You must define a grading scale. See "using letter grades" below. TGB allows you to mark a grade for a student without it being counted against him/her. This is called an "X" grade. An "X" grade is entered by using the letter X rather than a number. Any time TGB finds an "X" grade it simply ignores it and it's value. This is useful for a student who may take the test at another time. 16 Using Total Points Enter a label (description) for each category of grades you need. You must use at least one, each category will allow you to enter 60 grades for each student. If you can use all six then you will have 360 possible grades to use. In the weighted column leave all of them blank and your grades will be calculated using total points. g1 = grade 1, etc Total Points = combined total possible points g1 + g2 + g3 + ... GPA = 컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� Total Points Using Weighted Grades Enter a label (description) for each category of grades you need. You must use at least one, each category will allow you to enter 60 grades for each student. If you can use all six then you will have 360 possible grades to use. In the weighted column enter a percent of 100 that you wish each category to be valued at. The total of category percents must equal 100%. c1= category 1, c2= category 2, etc... Each category grade is calculated by the following: Total student points c1 = 컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴 * 100 Total possible value The Grade Point Average is calculated: GPA = ( (c1 * percent) + (c2 * percent) +(...) ) Letter Grades TGB assigns a letter grade to a student by comparing his/her GPA against your grading scale. Some teachers like to use A+, A, & A- while others prefer to simply use A, B, C, etc. TGB will assign either of these styles based on the following information that you enter. 17 The default settings look like this: A+ A A- 0 0 91.5 B+ B B- 0 0 84.5 C+ C C- 0 0 77.5 D+ D D- 0 0 69.5 E/F F Change any or all of these to meet your scale. If you want your grades reported with + and -, you must enter something for all of them. Grades will then be reported as A+, A, A-, etc. If you want your grades reported without the + or - sign then leave all of the scale set to "0" except for the column marked with a - sign. This columns grades are defined as the least a student can make and expect to receive a particular grade. Grades will be reported as A, B, C, D, etc. The last field allows you to enter the letter you want to assign for a failing grade. Entering grades From the Class menu choose Enter Grades. You can enter up to ten grades for each student at a time. Remember the grade categories you used to set up your grading system? You choose a grade category, the maximum value for the grade and then a label (a label is nothing more than a description) for the grade. Try to get in the habit of using a label for each grade, it will make changing grades later a lot easier. Repeat until you have the number of grades you want for this session. Press the F10 key to proceed to the actual grade input form. You will be positioned to enter the first score (grade) for the first student. Students are listed in grade book order (this is the order you first entered the students in the class). The grade can be from one to three digits (0..999) or you can type in the letter "X". See "X Grades". When you have entered the last grade for this student you will be on the 18 Process button. This is the time to make sure the grades are correct, if not use the arrow keys to move the the field you want to edit. When you press the Process button the next student will be presented. TGB holds grades for up to fifty students in memory before writing to the database file. If at any time (before you end or reach fifty) you want to quit you can and no grades will be saved. Once you reach the end of the student list (or reach fifty students ) all grades will be saved. Changing Grades Each individual grade can be changed. Remember the grade label you entered? Now it will come in real handy. From the Class menu choose Edit Grades. You will be presented with a list of students, move the lightbar to the student whose grades you want to change and press the ENTER key. Now a list of grade categories will be presented, choose the appropriate one. Next you will see a list of all the grades for that student in the category you chose. Beside each grade will be the label and the possible points. Move the lightbar to the grade you want to change and press ENTER. You will be presented the opportunity to change the possible points and the grade. Just follow the prompts. Of course you can press the ESC key to quit at any time. Repeat until finished. Dropping Grades If you want to change a particular grade you will have to edit that grade manually but if you merely want to drop the lowest grade in a category you can. From the Class menu choose Drop lowest grade. You will be asked to choose a grade category. The lowest grade in that category will be changed to an X grade (see X grades). Some teachers like to give extra points by giving a grade and assigning the possible points a value of "0". Grades with the possible points assigned as "0" are not changed when dropping the lowest grade. "X" Grades "X" grades can be a powerful and useful tool, but remember that since an "X" grade is not counted it can significantly change a students total grade point average (GPA). There may be times when a student misses an exam and you don't want to give him/her a zero. If you give the student a grade of "X" then the test is not counted against them. 19 It's as if the test never existed, the grade is ignored completely. When you are entering grades instead of a numerical value type in the letter X, no quotes. This is the only letter accepted in the grade input form. As with all grades you can go back and change the value. An "X" grade is automatically given to a student when you choose the option "Drop lowest grade". Deleting Records (Students) From the "Class" main menu choose "Drop a student". You will be presented with a list of students. Move the lightbar to the student you want to drop and press the ENTER key. This student and all of their grades will be permanently erased. Reports TGB has several example reports that you can use or customize to your needs. From the File menu choose edit to select an existing report to change. A list of existing reports will be presented, select the one you wish to work with and it will be positioned into the report editor. Choose create to start a new report. You will be asked to name this report and then it will be positioned into the report editor. The report editor is nothing more than a simple text editor. Well, not so simple but it is easy to use. The editor does have some advance features such as cut and paste which you access via the shift + arrow keys (mark text), cut with the shift + delete keys and paste with the shift + insert keys. You type your report just like typing a letter. While in the editor press F1 for help and press F2 for a list of variables. These key variables can be placed into your report and will be replaced with particular information about a student. From the F2 list move the lightbar to the one you want and press ENTER, it will be placed into your report at the current cursor location. You can also type these variables manually. A variable must be in capital letters and enclosed with <>. Example: This variable would be replaced with the students last name. It is important to note that there are three variables that must be the last item on a line or the only item on the line. Anything following these on a line will be ignored. These three print "lists" of information. They are: , , and . The variable is a special one that allows you to enter information into a 20 report from the keyboard when you print the report. Every time TGB finds this a screen will popup asking you to type in information to be printed. A memo can be up to ten lines of information. Printing You must have installed your printer from the Tools menu by selecting Select printer before trying to print any of the following. From the Print menu you can print several different reports that are already predefined or print a report that you have designed. Choose Class list to print a class roster. You will be presented with a dialogue box that allows you to set options for printing. Choose GPA to print a list of grade point averages for the students in the open class. Again you will be presented a dialogue box to set printing options. If you choose Student grades a list of all grades for each student will be printed. Choosing Statistics shows the class statistics based on grade point averages and optionally lets you choose to print it. Class reports lets you choose a report that you have designed. You choose the report and then the student that you want includes in the report. Drawing Lines You can insert a single or double line into your report by pressing the keys: ALT+1 for a single line (컴) and ALT+2 for a double line (袴). Repeat until the line is the length you want. Most printers will print these as lines but some may print "garbage", if yours does the try using the equal symbol (==) or the underscore (__) as lines. Variable List : current system date : students first name : students last name : letter grade : * list of all grades : * grading scale : total grade point average : class name : minimum grade for an "A" : minimum grade for a "B" 21 : minimum grade for a "C" : minimum grade for a "D" : * information that you add "on the fly" : form feed (ejects the printer paper) Use the variable when you think your report is going to be more than one page long. TGB prints reports as if they are only one page in length except when it encounters this command. * these must be the last or only variable on a line. Deleting Reports From the File menu choose Delete Report. A list of available reports will be presented. Move the lightbar to the one you wish to erase and press ENTER. Changing Colors From the Tools menu select Colors and a menu of items will be shown. Choose any of these items and the color selector will pop up. Use the arrow keys to move the small window to the color combination you want and press ENTER to set the colors. As you move the window through the different colors, the area marked text text, etc will change to the colors that are in the small window. If you are using a mouse then simply double click on the colors you want. Repeat this for every item of the program for which you wish to change colors. The area of the program you are changing is listed at the top of this form. If you want to use these colors the next time you start TGB then you must choose Save Desktop from the menu. Password From the Tools menu select Password to initially set or to remove a password. Once the user has set a password, it must be entered before anyone can run the program. You password will be one single word. You will be required to enter it twice before it is set. This will verify that what you enter is the password you want to use. Only someone who knows the password can change or remove it. Do not forget your password. 22 Questions and Answers Q) Do I have to install the program on my hard drive? A) TGB will work faster from a hard drive but was designed to be small enough to let you run it from a floppy disk. Q) How many students can I have in a class? A) 1,200. TGB was tested with a class of 150 students and worked fine. If you have very large classes then you need a lot of disk space. A file containing 150 students takes up 818,250 bytes. Q) How many grades can I give each student? A) To maximize the number of grades for each student, set up your grade categories using all six possibilities. Name them things like: Test, Quiz, Homework, Attitude, etc. Each category can be given sixty grades. The answer: 6 x 60 = 360 possible grades per student. Q) How many classes can I have? A) Depends on the amount of free disk space you have. Add as many classes as you need. If you are running TGB from a 3 1/2 " high density floppy disk (1.44M) you can keep the program files and enough classes for about 175 students on one disk. Q) How do I keep unauthorized persons from changing grades? A) Use the password feature. If you set a password then TGB will not even run unless the correct password is typed in. Do Not Forget Your Password. This can not be stressed too strongly. 23 TGB v1.20 Order Form & Registration TDF SoftWare Date: R.R. 1 Box 74 Goreville IL 62939-9608 U.S.A. __________________________________________________________________________ Single User: (one license) $29.95 U.S. = Amount Multi-User or Site Licenses: 2 - 14 USERS ($18.00 U.S. x Number of licenses) = Amount 15 - UNLIMITED $270.00 U.S. = Amount Multi users will receive: two disks & the right to use TGB on the number of computers that equal the number of licenses purchased. You must make the additional number of copies for each user. Amount :_______ Illinois residents add Sales Tax @ 6.25% Tax :_______ Add Shipping Charges (S&H): $4 USA, $9 Others S&H :_______ Total Due :_______ Disk size needed (circle one) 3 1/2" or 5 1/4" Co. Name: __________________________________________________ Name : __________________________________________________ Address : __________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ Phone : _______________________ __________________________________________________________________________ If paying by check, make it payable to TDF SoftWare. Checks must be converted to U.S. Dollars or equivalent Canadian Dollars and must be drawn on a U.S. or Canadian bank. For our records: Where did you get your shareware copy of TGB from? __________________________________________________________________________ Thank You! Your business is appreciated. Comments or Suggestions