WorkBook(C) Utilities Toolkit (WorkTools) Version 2.0
(C) CopyLeft 1989-1999 Bill Buckels
All Rights Reversed.

Introduction
------------

The WorkBook Utilities ToolKit ("WorkTools") is a FreeWare collection of
Utilities targetted at users of the author's Educational Children's
program, WorkBook.Exe. (WorkBook lets you use your own Custom Lesson
plans.) Windows and DOS Users can create Custom Lesson plans and
graphics using the various utilities that are described in this
document, and distributed in this package. (See "Can WorkBook Be
Customized" in the WorkBook ReadMe).

Many of these same utilities also have uses that go beyond the needs of
users of WorkBook, and may be generally handy for folks who are
"Do-It-Yorselfers" when it comes to computer graphics and programming.

The modern equivalents of the same UTILITIES that were used to create
WorkBook are in the WorkBook Utilities package. This package, was
originally available only to registered users but is now distributed as
FreeWare, and comes complete with source code.

The WorkBook Utilities are targetted primarily at DOS users who want to
make Custom Lesson Plans for WorkBook, although Windows users who are
serious about making Custom Lesson Plans will also find these helpful.

Of course, if you are a Microsoft Windows User, you can create Custom
Lesson Plans in Microsoft Access 97. WorkBook also uses Windows .BMP
Graphics Files, so you can easily add Custom Graphics created in Windows
Paint.

But Windows users who use Microsoft Access to create lesson plans may
still like to use SHOWPIX and PLAYSND (discussed below) to sample images
and songs.

Installing The WorkBook Utilities ToolKit ("WorkTools")
-------------------------------------------------------

Install WorkBook Utilities by "UNZIPPING" WrkToo20.ZIP complete with
pathnames to the drive of your choice. If you decide to install WorkBook
Utilities to Drive C:, WorkBook Utilities will be installed into the
directory C:\WORKTOOL.

To run WorkBook CORE Utilities in DOS, type AUTOMENU.EXE and press
[Enter]. To Run WorkBook CORE Utilities in Windows, click-on
AUTOMENU.EXE.

What's Included - Summary
-------------------------

MCG2BMP - Convert 320 x 200 x 256 Color .PCX and .MCG Picture Files into
.BMP files that can be loaded and customized in Paint Programs that
accept .BMP files (like Windows Paint). (You can convert all the .PCX
files that are currently used by WorkBook into .BMP files by using
MCG2BMP.)

MCGBDUMP - A DOS ScreenCapture Program (memory resident (TSR) program)
that lets you capture screens from programs that use the 320 x 200 x 256
color screen mode. This program saves to Windows .BMP format, making it
easy to edit these in a paint program later.

WORKMAKE.EXE - WORKMAKE.EXE is the original editor (DATABASE MANAGER)
provided for maintaining WorkBook's "Lesson Plans". WorkBook's indexes
including WORKMAKE.DBF are an XBASE III format database and can be
revised to present selected BACKGROUNDS, MUSIC, and VOCABULARY in a
customized manner and degree of difficulty, and even the time limit for
each sentence or word can be varied by making the appropriate
adjustments to WORKMAKE.DBF.

Using WorkMake you Can Do The Following:

- Create a New Lesson Plan
- Modify an Existing Lesson Plan
- "Import" a Lesson Plan from an external data file
  (Including a Microsoft Excel .CSV (Comma Separated Value) file.)

But WORKMAKE.EXE is an older DOS (Clipper) program, and if you can use
MS Access, we recommend that for ease of use, you use MS Access instead
of WorkMake, and follow the procedure for using MS Access that is listed
in the WorkBook ReadMe.

SHOWPIX - Menu Driven Picture Viewer for DOS. Displays .BMP, .PCX, and
.MCG files suitable for use in WorkBook Custom Lessons.

PLAYSND - Menu Driven Sound File Player for DOS. Plays .SND files
suitable for use in WorkBook Custom Lessons.

AUTOMENU - A Dos Menu System which makes navigating the WORKMAKE,
SHOWPIX, and PLAYSND utilities noted above easier.

Windows users have the advantage of opening multiple Windows at once and
may find it useful to run multiple copies of Automenu to launch and run
WORKMAKE, SHOWPIX, and PLAYSND each in a seperate window, and easily
flip between windows to create custom lesson plans.

These Utilities could have been included in WorkBook. But WorkBook is
already a large download, so we decided to keep these separate. Also not
everyone wants to make custom lesson plans.

Customizing WorkBook
--------------------

The index WORKMAKE.DBF is an XBASE III format database and can be
revised with our utility WORKMAKE.EXE to present selected BACKGROUNDS,
MUSIC, and VOCABULARY in a customized manner and degree of difficulty,
and even the time limit for each sentence or word can be varied by
making the appropriate adjustments to WORKMAKE.DBF.

If you have Microsoft Access 97 installed, you may be able to use MS
Access to create and modify WorkBook lesson plans without using the
utility WORKMAKE.EXE. See the WorkBook ReadMe for more information about
using MS Access to create custom lesson plans for WorkBook.

Using "Lesson Plans" in WorkBook
--------------------------------

WorkBook will accept any number of alternate databases in this XBASE III
format using the database name as a "Command Line Argument". CUSTOM
USAGE is "WorkBook <yourfile>.DBF". So by simply creating and renaming
unique lesson plans an infinite assortment of themes is possible.

Up to 5 Alternate Databases can also be selected from within WorkBook,
from the Main Menu. If you don't plan on extensively using alternate
"lesson plans", this will probably be sufficient.

What is the "Layout" of the XBASE III "Lesson Plan"?
----------------------------------------------------

The record structure of WORKMAKE.DBF (XBASE III format) is:

DESCRIPTION            TYPE        LENGTH

1. IMAGE NAME          Character   12
2. CAPTION             Character   40
3. TIME LIMIT          Character   2
4. SOUND FILE NAME     Character   12

What Kind Of Image Files are Supported by WorkBook?
---------------------------------------------------

WorkBook supports 3-standard file formats:

Windows .BMP - Widely Used and Well Known.
ZSoft .PCX - Still used, but not as popular anymore.
BASIC .MCG - Obsolete. Left-in for backward compatibility.

The WorkBook Utilities focus on standardizing the image format as a .BMP
file because it is easier for most users to create and edit. Utilities
for creating the other 2 formats are no longer provided in this version.

Windows .BMP support is a BIG Plus for folks who want to make new
pictures for WorkBook in Windows Paint and Build Their own lesson plans.

The Windows BMP variations that are supported by workbook are as
follows (Sorry, no support for .BMP's with more than 256 colors):

320 x 200 x 256 Colors
320 x 200 x 16 Colors
320 x 200 x 2 Colors

What Kind of Music Does WorkBook Play?
--------------------------------------

WorkBook plays music through the PC Speaker.

The .SND Music (sound) Files are the SAME Binary Format as Those
Distributed on our other SHAREWARE distribution packages and those may
be used in WorkBook Lesson Plans. The sound file is a frequency,
duration format that I developed, measuring duration in 18.2 ticks per
second.

This format is covered quite extensively in the SND2MIDI package, which
is available from our website.

Copyright, Licence Agreement, and Conditions of Use
---------------------------------------------------

The WorkBook Utilities ToolKit ("WorkTools") is Distributed as FreeWare.

The Programs included with this package and their associated files are
Copyrighted by their author, Bill Buckels. The Workbook Utilities
Toolkit is not a derivative work of any other author and is the
exclusive property of its author, Bill Buckels, with the exception of
some of the media included in this package, which is either used fairly
or is in the public domain.

The images and sound files used in WorkBook were produced by Bill
Buckels (the author) and as such are the author's own expression, and
either the author's own property or a fair use of content that is either
in the public domain, or that has distributed as free images and sound
files for a number of years, authors unknown.

You may use these in any way you find useful and fair, provided that you
agree to not compete with the interests of Bill Buckels and authors
unknown, and you agree that Bill Buckels has no warranty obligations or
liability whatsoever resulting from any associated loss or damage.

If you redistribute the WorkBook Utilities Package, please distribute it
its entirety. If you are missing files, you can download a complete
version from the internet at:

http://www.escape.ca/~bbuckels/kidstuff

Bill Buckels
589 Oxford Street
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3M 3J2

Email: bbuckels@escape.ca
WebSite: http://www.escape.ca/~bbuckels

Appendix A
----------

File List
---------

Core Utilities and Documentation
--------------------------------

\WORKTOOL\AUTOMENU.TXT
\WORKTOOL\AUTOMENU.EXE
\WORKTOOL\*.BAT
\WORKTOOL\README.TXT

MCG and PCX to BMP Graphics Conversion Utility
----------------------------------------------

\WORKTOOL\MCG2BMP\MCG2BMP.EXE
\WORKTOOL\MCG2BMP\README.TXT
\WORKTOOL\MCG2BMP\SRC
\WORKTOOL\MCG2BMP\SRC\MCG2BMP.C
\WORKTOOL\MCG2BMP\SRC\MCG2BMP.MAK

Memory Resident Frame Grabber (DOS Users)
-----------------------------------------

\WORKTOOL\MCGBDUMP\MCGBDUMP.C
\WORKTOOL\MCGBDUMP\MCGBDUMP.EXE

Sound File Player and Sample Files (Run from Automenu)
------------------------------------------------------

\WORKTOOL\PLAYSND\PLAYSND.EXE
\WORKTOOL\PLAYSND\*.SND

Graphics Viewer and Sample Files (Run from Automenu)
----------------------------------------------------

\WORKTOOL\SHOWPIX\SHOWPIX.EXE
\WORKTOOL\SHOWPIX\*.PCX
\WORKTOOL\SHOWPIX\*.BMP

Source Code for Core Utilities
------------------------------

\WORKTOOL\SRC\AUTOMENU.C
\WORKTOOL\SRC\AUTOMENU.MAK
\WORKTOOL\SRC\PLAYSND.C
\WORKTOOL\SRC\SHOWPIX.C
\WORKTOOL\SRC\WORKMAKE.PRG

DataBase Utility
----------------

D:\WORKTOOL\WORKMAKE\WORKMAKE.NTX
D:\WORKTOOL\WORKMAKE\WORKMAKE.EXE
D:\WORKTOOL\WORKMAKE\WORKMAKE.DBF

Appendix B
----------

ReadMe File for
Mcg2Bmp (C) Version 1.0
CopyLeft Bill Buckels 1999
All Rights Reversed.

Introduction
------------

Mcg2Bmp is a Graphics Utility program that is used to convert "Old
Style" 256 Color Graphics Files to Windows .BMP files. It is one of a
collection of utilities that are currently available from the author to
assist users of his educational software to customize and manage
graphics used by his programs.

This utility will allow you to convert MCGA (320 x 200 x 256 Color VGA
format) screen dump files of either a BASIC BSAVED IMAGE (.MCG) File or
a ZSOFT 256 Color .PCX File to a 320 x 200 x 256 color Windows .BMP
file, suitable for use with WorkBook Version 2.1 and greater, as well as
many other programs that accept .BMP files.

Windows .BMP support is a BIG Plus for folks who want to make new
pictures for WorkBook in Windows Paint and Build Their own lesson plans.
With MCG2BMP, you can convert 320 x 200 x 256 Color .PCX and .MCG
Picture Files into .BMP files that can be loaded and customized in Paint
Programs that accept .BMP files (like Windows Paint). (You can convert
all the .PCX files that are currently used by WorkBook into .BMP files
by using MCG2BMP.)

Installing Mcg2Bmp
-------------------

Mcg2Bmp is part of the WorkBook Utilities Toolkit Core Collection
(called "WorkTools"), and is installed with WorkTools from the Archive
file, WrkToo20.Zip.

Install Mcg2Bmp by "UNZIPPING" WrkToo20.ZIP complete with pathnames to
the drive of your choice. If you decide to install WorkTools to Drive
C:, Mcg2Bmp will be installed into the directory C:\WorkTool\Mcg2Bmp.

Mcg2Bmp is a Dos command line utility, and must be run in DOS, or from a
"DOS box" in Windows. To run Mcg2Bmp in DOS, type Mcg2Bmp.EXE and press
[Enter]. This will display usage help.

Command Line Usage
------------------

Mcg2Bmp MyMCGA.PCX
Mcg2Bmp MyMCGA.MCG

Output will be MyMCGA.BMP, equivalent to the source .PCX or .MCG file.

Licence Agreement, Copyright and Conditions of Use
--------------------------------------------------

Mcg2Bmp and its associated files are Copyrighted by their author, Bill
Buckels. Mcg2Bmp is not a derivative work of any other author and is the
exclusive property of its author, Bill Buckels.

You have a royalty-free right to use, modify, reproduce and distribute
this program and its source code in any way you find useful, provided
that you agree that Bill Buckels has no warranty obligations or
liability resulting from said distribution in any way whatsoever, and
provided you do not use this program to compete with Bill Buckels or his
agents in any way. If you don't agree, remove this program, and its
source code from your computer now.

If you redistribute the Mcg2Bmp program, please distribute it in its
entirety, with source code and this ReadMe. If you are missing files,
you can get a complete version of Mcg2Bmp by donloading the latest
version of WorkTools.Zip from the internet at:

http://www.escape.ca/~bbuckels/kidstuff

Bill Buckels
589 Oxford Street
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3M 3J2

Email: bbuckels@escape.ca
WebSite: http:www.escape.ca/~bbuckels

End of ReadMe
