                             Welcome To BOBBY!  
                             =================
                     (C) Copyright 1996   - October
                          By Jimmy and Jon Yergaw
			  
   This is our first venture into high-level language programming on the PC
and in making a program like this.  We KNOW that we have made a much 
better program than the other file managers available for the PC especially
in the area of ease of use.  We felt that the creators of the other file 
managers were making incomplete, "DOS promoting" programs just for a quick
buck (usually $40US).  Just to annoy the creators of those file managers, we 
decided to make BOBBY FREE to everyone.  Please, ENJOY!

   This is BOBBY v1.4 and IS the last version of BOBBY being written by John
and I.  The latest version of BOBBY, BOBBY SENIOR, was bought out by a
software company who wishes to remain anonymous (John and I were 60% done at
the time of the buy out).  The money the company paid was a "SUBSTANTIAL"
amount and we couldn't refuse!  Unfortunately, the next versions of BOBBY (if
the company chooses to continue using the BOBBY name) will become COMMERCIAL-
WARE and not FREE-WARE, going against our philosophy. I must admit, it was FUN
while it lasted!!

    We really never expected SO MANY phone calls, letters and email about
BOBBY!  We REALY REALLY appreciate all the positive feedback you all have
given us and its really a shame that this is the last version by us.
We REALLY hope the improvements and additions to this version of BOBBY
totally satisfies you!  As much as possible, PLEASE spread BOBBY to your
friends, relatives, or other INTERNET/BBS sites.  This would make everything
we've done (from staying up days on end, barely eating, not having a social
life, etc.) all worth it since everyone got to experience BOBBY!


First Of All, What Is BOBBY?
============================
	
   BOBBY is a file managing Dos prompt replacer program that gives you the 
capabilities of all disk activities with special features like playing 
sounds, showing pictures, running your favorite programs all from a click 
of a specific pre-defined button that's either built into the program or from 
commands provided by you for a button.  These are but a few of the functions 
you can do with BOBBY.  All this is provided and wrapped around a smartly 
designed, easy to use 3D graphical interface.  We have also listened to and
have thought about your greatest plea of all, and have agreed to make BOBBY
100% FREEWARE.  


How Does BOBBY Achieve Such EASE OF USE? 
========================================
	  
* It replaces the text mode of the DOS prompt with a High-Resolution display 
  and graphical output.  Full color can now be seen on a pixel by pixel 
  basis.  
	  
* By having a smartly designed graphical interface commands and functions can
  be performed with the littlest of effort and the fewest of clicks and key-
  board inputs.

* It provides complete commands for handling all of your actions.  If any 
  errors occur, you will be notified in human readable messages rather than 
  by error #'s.

* Online tip's are available when you begin BOBBY, thus providing you with
  a variety of tidbits on how to use BOBBY more efficiently.

* Pop up Online Help + the Manual are available for every feature found in
  BOBBY.  All the information you'll ever need about anything can be found 
  while you are still in BOBBY.


WHAT IS FEATURED IN BOBBY:
==========================

   BOBBY comes bundled with many features that programs even costing up to 
$100.00 (US) don't even have yet.  Here are a few:

* Viewing of JPEG/BMP/PCX/GIF picture file formats from standard VGA
  resolutions and colors Up To the crisp colors and higher resolutions of
  SVGA (with VESA support).  High resolution pictures which can't be
  displayed by your system are Automagically handled so that they "CAN" be
  viewed everytime.

* Playing of 8-16 bit VOC/WAV sound file formats with useful informational
  displays.

* The launching of other programs as "children" to handle certain tasks for 
  BOBBY.

* The launching your favorite programs by a simple double click on a 
  Launching Icon you have created.

* A "mouse-click-away" access from entering a long path name and viewing its 
  contents.

* User-defineable HOTKEYS for any action command 
	  
* Displaying and/or Marking(highlighting) file names based on patterns found 
  in the path. 

* A running highlight tally size displayed to let you know the exact size of 
  the marked files you have so far.
	  
* Copy Smarting files where you can copy files that will best fit any
  diskette(s) so as to use less amount of disks.

* A quick GET SIZE command for directories to determine their sizes.

* The ability to RUN other programs and pass full arguments, that they may 
  require, to them. 

* On running of other programs, BOBBY can shut itself down just before the 
  launch or keep itself in memory.  Once the launched program is complete, 
  BOBBY will pop right back up again. 
   
* Blanker and blanker time settings to help prevent any damages than can 
  occur to your monitor.

* New Files Since XX Days.  You can tell BOBBY to highlight FILE DATES that 
  are within a certain amount of days, to let you know that those files are 
  NEW.

* You can choose to edit/create up to 64 new Action Buttons and/or up to 24 
  new Drive Buttons with all buttons a "mouse-click-away" from doing the task 
  you set for them.

* Sound FX play for BOBBY items.  Sound FX VOC/WAV sounds can be applied to
  certain items found in BOBBY.  Such items include: 
  +  BOBBY Startup: ie. play a Mozhart sound file when BOBBY first pops up.
  +  BOBBY Buttons: ie. play a keyboard click sound everytime you click the 
			3D push buttons.
  
* Color coordinate the TEXT/BUTTON colors for all "64" 3D Action Buttons
  and all "24" 3D Drive Buttons.

* Auto load any directory path(s) into a Dir Win with respective WILDCARD(s)

* And many more features... (Please, Check Out The Manual!)

 
System Requirements To Run BOBBY
================================

	+ IBM or Compatible 386 - 33 Mhz Machine or Higher 
	+ VGA Graphics Display Card
	+ Ms-Dos 5.0 or Higher
	+ 400K of XMS Memory or Higher 
	  (HIMEM.SYS should be set in your Config.sys file.)
	+ 200K of Conventional Memory Free or Higher
	+ Mouse (You must have your Mouse Driver pre-loaded)
        + Hard Drive with At Least 2 Megabyte of Free Space
        
   * NOTE: BOBBY v1.4 is now FULLY compatible with all versions of
           Quarterdeck's QEMM, and runs under WINDOWS 95/3.1


Recommendation Requirements To Improve BOBBY:
=============================================
	
	+ IBM or Compatible 486DX2 - 66 Mhz Machine or Higher
        + SVGA Graphics Display Card with VESA Compliancy
	+ Ms-Dos 6.21 or Higher
	+ 4 Megabytes of Memory or Higher
	+ Sound Blaster or Compatible Sound Card


To Quickly Get BOBBY Up And Running
===================================

               Type:  SETUP.EXE  (at the Dos Prompt)

  This will bring up BOBBY's INSTALLER.  This program is used to install 
BOBBY properly onto your system.  You can only install BOBBY to a Hard Drive 
that has at least 2 Megabyte of free space.  Please take notice of the system
requirements (and recommendations) found at the bottom of the Install screen
(and in the previous sections) before installing.
 
   Once you have provided the Installer with an acceptable path to install 
to, select the INSTALL Button to begin the process. 
   If everything goes as planned BOBBY will install correctly.  To run BOBBY
either select the RUN Button in the Installer or:               
	       
               Type:  BOBBY.EXE (at the Dos Prompt)


How To Use BOBBY
================
**For all SVGA owners, make sure to run your VESA support program to take 
  advantage of the higher resolutions and higher colors for viewed pictures
  (optional).  Do this before running BOBBY.  Most new SVGA cards, though,
  have this built into them so having to run a VESA driver won't be necessary.

* Use your mouse to move around the mouse cursor when using BOBBY.
* The Directory Windows represent the two large window displays found in the
  top half region of the screen.  The active Directory Window's Information  
  Bar (found above either of the two windows) is shown in a pink color 
  (default).  The active Directory Window represents the 'source' path and
  the non-active Directory Window represents the 'target' path.
* Click and release one of the presented Drive Buttons, found at the bottom
  half region (and to the far left), to show this buttons' path in the current 
  active Directory Window.
* By clicking your left mouse button on the directory or file names presented 
  in the Directory Windows, you can highlight these names to perform 
  activities on.  Highlighted names that are clicked again will be de-
  highlighted.
* Click and release one of the shown Action Buttons found in the bottom half
  region of the main screen to execute an action on these highlighted names.
* Use the Scroll Bar found to the right of the Left Directory Window and  
  found to the left of the Right Directory Window to scroll through names 
  that may be unseen in the Directory Window.
* Close down any popped up windows by hitting the ESC key on your keyboard.
* The square display found on buttons of popped up windows represent that the
  ESC key can be hit to cancel the action and close the window down.
* The triangle display found on buttons of popped up windows represent that 
  the ENTER key can be hit to perform the action it is displayed on.
* Double-Click on any of the icons that you may have defined in the Icon 
  Window (found just above the Action Buttons) to launch the program that 
  icon represents.
* Click the enigma (?) button found at the bottom-right corner of the screen
  to access Online Help anytime in BOBBY.  Once the Online Help Window is up   
  you can click on any of the buttons/zones that appear in the current active
  window of the screen.  Help will be given on what it is, and how to use 
  that button/zone.
  
** Check out the "Bobkeys.txt" (also found in the Manual) file for the 
   listings of built-in keys and special mouse activities found in BOBBY.
