School Master Welcome to School Master. School Master is a comprehensive teacher productivity tool. It includes a full featured gradebook program suitable for individual instructors or entire school systems. In addition to the gradebook features, the program also does seating charts, tracks attendance, conduct and citizenship, creates reusable lesson plans, tracks appointments, maintains contact information and allows you to create and save your own database queries and form letters. It allows you to add your own database fields for recording any type of information and to print reports using those fields. This README file contains the basic steps required to install the program. After the program is installed, you can review the on-line help system for additional information about program pricing, site licenses, an order form, benefits of registering the program, etc. Installation School Master includes an automatic setup program that will install the program under Windows version 3.1 or Windows 95. To run the setup program from Windows 3.1, do a File, Run and then enter A:SETUP (or B: if using the B drive). From Windows 95, click the Start Button, then click Run and enter A:SETUP (or B:) in the Open text box. The setup program may also be run directly from your hard disk or CD-ROM if you have downloaded the program or obtained a CD-ROM copy. The setup program will locate an existing copy of School Master if one is installed. You may install over a previous installation if you are upgrading. The setup program will not delete or modify any of your existing data. The default directory for installing the program is; C:\SMASTER if installed under Windows 3.1 or C:\PROGRAM FILES\SMASTER if installed under Windows 95 The setup program gives you the option of installing a group window and icons under Windows 3.1 or of placing the program on the Task Bar under Windows 95. The setup program may also be run in manual mode by using the /m command line switch. A:SETUP /m This allows you to specify the installation location of all files. You can select the destination location for the program files, shared files that go in the Windows subdirectory and shared files that go in the Windows System subdirectory. Using manual mode allows you to review the SMASTER.HLP file without installing the program. The setup program will check all shared files for internal version information and only replace those that are the same revision or older. This allows you to replace any shared file that may have become corrupted by just running the setup program again. No other programs should be running when you run the setup program. If one of the shared files is in use, the setup program will not be able to replace it. If you get a message saying that a file is in use, you should shut down the program that is using it. If this is not feasible, you can elect to skip the file. Since the file is already installed, this is usually adequate unless the installed file happens to be an older version. School Master requires that file sharing be enabled. If you are running Windows for Workgroups or Windows 95, file sharing is automatically enabled. The setup program will install the VSHARE.386 virtual driver if it is not already installed. If you are running Windows version 3.1 in standard instead of enhanced mode, you will need to manually start the SHARE.EXE program prior to starting Windows. This is typically done by including a line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. If the following line is not in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file then use the Windows Notepad (or any other editor) to add the line prior to the line that starts Windows (if Windows is started automatically). C:\DOS\SHARE.EXE /L:500 /F:5100 Revise the line as necessary if SHARE.EXE is not located in your \DOS subdirectory. This only needs to be done if you are running Windows in Standard mode. If you receive an error such as "Insufficient File Locks" or "Object Variable not Set", then you probably have not started SHARE correctly. School Master requires the Visual Basic run time file VBRUN300.DLL to be installed in your \WINDOWS\SYSTEM subdirectory. This file may not have been included with your copy of School Master to conserve disk space or reduce download times. Most users would already have this file installed on their computer. If you get a message that you are missing this file, you can easily download it or order a copy from the program author. After running the setup program, you can start School Master by double clicking its icon under Windows 3.1 or by starting it from the Task Bar under Windows 95. The first time the program runs, it will create the database file. This may take several seconds or more than a minute depending on the speed of your computer. To view the on-line help without running School Master, just double click the SMASTER.HLP file from the File Manager or Windows Explorer. Program Support Registered users may obtain technical support for School Master directly from the program author. Do not call the 800 order line for support or to ask questions about the latest version, custom reports, etc. Please help keep the cost of School Master low by only using the 800 number for actual orders. Technical questions will not be answered on the 800 line. Depending on how fast you need an answer, you may obtain support by mail, email, fax or phone. If requesting support by mail or email, please identify yourself (email screen names do not identify you), and describe the problem you are having. Some problems may require you to send a backup copy of your database file (SMASTER.MDB). This file may be mailed on a disk or be emailed attached to a message. If you email the file, please email a backup (compressed) copy to minimize upload and download times. You may also need to send a copy of a printout. They may be faxed or you can copy the preview screen of the printout to the clipboard, paste it into Word, and then email the Word document. To obtain support by mail write: Russell Stevens R&R EdWare 5191 Pine Grove Drive Spruce, MI 48762 To obtain support by email send a message to: Compuserve - 70150,323 or (RAStevens) AOL - RAStevens Internet - RAStevens@AOL.COM Every attempt is made to provide same day email responses. Email may also be used to send custom reports, queries and form letters. To obtain support by fax call: 517-727-2066 - you must call before sending the fax. To obtain support by phone call: 517-727-2066 Registered users are welcome to call in the evening or on weekends when the phone rates are lower. Please call at reasonable Eastern Standard Times. If no one is available to answer your call please call again. Due to the volume of calls, the author cannot normally return calls. The author will return emergency calls if specifically requested. However, you may be asked to call back. If possible, you should call for support with your computer running School Master. Please refer to the Common problems and questions section of the on- line help prior to calling.