PsL Monthly CD > To view this file, use the PgUp and PgDn and cursor keys. > When done, press ESC to exit this file. > Then PSL_SHRD will run. That is the program that lets you browse > through the descriptions of the programs on this CD. > Next time, you can just run PSL_SHRD to skip seeing this file. > PSL_SHRD is a DOS-based program. To access the CD from Windows, > run PSL_SHRW.EXE by using File-Run from Program Manager's menu bar. > PSL_SHRW will let you search the database of ALL programs on ALL > CDs, in addition to browsing the descriptions for the current month. > Run SETUP.BAT from the DOS prompt before running the Windows version. > Run COPYFILE.BAT to copy a file from the DOS command line. NOTE: The Windows-based access program mentioned above, PSL_SHRW.EXE, lets you search PsL's ENTIRE catalog, including DOS and OS/2, not just Windows programs. Welcome to the PsL December 1995 CD (Vol.3, Num 12). This month's CD contains over 1000 new programs received by PsL in the last 30 days. In addition, this month's CD includes the programs from the Windows "Home" sections of PsL. See DIRECTRY.TXT for a list and description of the directories on this CD. PAST CD's SECTIONS-OF-THE-MONTH: Each time a section of PsL's library is featured on the Monthly CD, we start with what was on the CD the last time the section was featured and add all the new and updated programs which have come along in the subsequent months. Following is a list of the sections from the most recent CDs. By getting all of these CDs, you would have every program/file in PsL's collection. Programs for both DOS and Windows are included in each group. Vol. Num. 3 11 Business (accounting, finance, general business, time managers, general business, database, spreadsheet, mailing list managers, and more.) 3 10 Games and Sounds & Music for DOS 3 9 Games and Sounds & Music for Windows 3 8 Programming (assembler, Basic, C, Cobol, Fortran, Pascal, Modula, Visual Basic, general tools, and more.) 3 7 Communications & Network (comm programs and utilities, BBS systems, programs for FAX cards, pagers, etc., plus networking pgms.) 3 6 Education 3 5 Words & Graphics (word processing, drawing program, clip art, desktop publishing, spelling/grammar checkers, hypertext, fonts, printer utilities, and more.) 3 4 Utilities for DOS & Windows and ALL files in PsL for OS/2 3 3 Home Applications for DOS & Windows FUTURE CD's: Following is the schedule for the section-of-the-month for coming CDs. Because the number of programs in each section continues to grow each month, it may be necessary to split up one or more of the following sections onto separate months' CDs. If this is important to you, check before ordering. Vol. Num. 4 01 Utilities plus all OS/2 programs in PsL 4 02 Home Apps for DOS 4 03 Words & Graphics 4 04 Education 1. License & Warranty: Run PSL_SHRD's start-up screens or PSL_SHRW's HELP menu to read the CD-ROM usage license and warranty. 2. File Format: All programs are in ZIP format. Some programs have installation programs which must be run after using PsL's programs to un-ZIP the files to your hard disk. After un-ZIPping a program, look for README and *.DOC text files, as well as for INSTALL.* and SETUP.* programs, for information about installing and using the individual programs. 3. Directory Structure of CD: See the file DIRECTRY.TXT in the root directory of the CD. 4. The \SCREENS Directory The Screens directory contains screen shots of some programs on this CD. The screen shots can only be viewed by the Windows program PSL_SHRW, not the DOS program PSL_SHRD. 5. RUNTIMES The RUNTIMES directory contains run-time files required by some other programs. 6. Problems All the programs on this CD have been tested and should run. If you have difficulties, write or call PsL's Tech Support department. Most difficulties can be cleared up over the phone in a couple of minutes. There is normally no waiting to talk to a technician. In over two years of producing the Monthly CD, we have NEVER found a single problem caused by a "bad CD copy". If you cannot get a CD to work on your machine, please try it on another machine if possible. Otherwise, please read the following Q&A's. If none of this works for you, return the CD and we will check it and replace it if necessary. (1.) "My machine locks up or reboots when I try to install a program." You have one of the small percentage of systems with a CD-ROM driver that is incompatible with PKUNZIP. To get around that problem, we have placed a public domain unzip program on the CD. To invoke it with the DOS-based program, run it using the syntax: "PSL_SHRD /U" (without the quotes). In the Windows based program, select UNZIP in the window that appears after pushing the Install button. In Windows, you can also elect to use WinZip to dearchive files. (2.) "PKUNZIP tells me to insert another disk when I try to unzip the file from the CD." The programmer used a PKZIP flag that he shouldn't have when zipping the program. To get around this, copy the ZIP file from the CD to your hard disk and use PKUNZIP to unzip it to the same directory on your hard disk as the ZIP file. (3.) "There are no files on the CD." "There are no files in one of the directories." "I get an error trying to copy a file from the CD." We have only had a few such complaints, but in all cases, there was nothing wrong with the CD. Some of the users who made the complaints were able to read the CDs without error on other machines or even when trying later on the same machine. We suspect that the problem is with dust or dirt in the drive or, more specifically, on the laser lens, or on the CD-ROM disc itself. If you do not have a CD lens cleaner, get one from your dealer. Also inspect the non-printed side of the CD for dust or debris. One caller took the CD out, wiped it off, put it back in, and it worked. Maybe it was dirty or maybe just re-seating it helped. (4.) "When I install from the Windows access program, it tells me FILE NOT FOUND." Some combination of flukes in Windows/DOS cause some systems not to be able to find PKUNZIP.EXE on the CD-ROM drive. The solution is to copy PKUNZIP.EXE into your WINDOWS directory on your hard disk. SOUND BLASTER PRO OWNERS: On the January 1995 CD-ROM, we went over 600MB on the CD for the first time and a couple of people with Sound Blaster Pro cards and CD drives were unable to get a directory on the CD. If you have a Sound Blaster Pro and have this problem on a future CD-ROM, ask Creative Labs for a new CD-ROM driver. 7. Frequently Asked Questions: (1.) "Why don't you install the programs on the CD ready to run instead of in ZIP format?" There are many reasons: - Many programs try to write back to the directory that they are installed in, which cannot be done on a CD. - Many programmers require that their programs be distributed in archived format. - Some installation programs configure the software to the system they are installed on, so that a program installed on our system may not work on yours. - Because we add a section of PsL's disk-based library to the CD each month, there is not room to have all the programs dearchived. - For use of the CDs on BBSs, files must be in archive format. Distributing the programs in archive format makes for a much neater package, making programs easier to find. Dearchiving a program to hard disk only takes a few seconds and by using a temporary directory, you can easily delete the files when done. (2.) "Are the same programs repeated on each month's CD?" No. The \DOS, \WIN, and \OS2 directories contain only the new programs received by PsL during the last 30 days. In addition, we put a different section of our disk-based library on each month's CD. These sections do repeat every eigth months, but they are updated for the thousands of new files received during the previous eight months. (3.) "I'm not interested in the section of PsL being added to the CD this month. Why should I have to pay for a CD with a section I don't want in order to get the lower subscription price?" For the same reason that a magazine purchased from a newsstand costs twice as much as the same issue if you subscribe. The reason for the lower price in a subscription is that you agree to take every issue. In addition, focusing on the old programs, which we decided to add to the CD as a free bonus, is ignoring the purpose of the CD. The PsL Monthly CD was conceived (and priced) as a way to get the many hundreds of new programs received at PsL each month out to the public in an economical way. The first CD was released in July 1993 with about 350 programs on it and sold out in two weeks. We did not start adding sections of our library to the CD until December 1993. By that time, the number of new programs on each month's CD doubled to an average of over 700. Even though it meant a back-breaking amount of work to get the additional 2000 to 3000+ files onto the CD each month, we did not raise the price of the CD a penny. Yet some people who had happily paid $19.95 to get the 700 or so new programs each month, suddenly focused only on the programs on the files that they did NOT want - a particular section of our disk-based library. That may be because for retail sales purposes, WE have had to emphasize the library section on the cover of the CD, even though that is not the purpose of the CD. Please remember that there is no other source to get so many new programs on such a timely basis for such a low price. If you do not have a need for a particular section of our disk-based library, just ignore it and focus on the new programs on the CD. You only have to use/enjoy a few programs, clip art files, sound files, etc., per month out of the 1000+ new programs each month to more than offset the cost of the CD compared to disk fees and download fees. (4.) "After the PSL_NEWS program installs a file, the program sometimes has to be installed again from those files. Why can't it just be installed once directly from the CD-ROM?" Some shareware authors have custom installation programs which create directories, put files in specific directories, configure the program to the user's specific hardware, etc. We cannot have multiple INSTALL programs in the same directory and it would be cumbersome to have a separate directory for each program, so we are forced to archive such programs, resulting in their having to be dearchived from the CD-ROM before they can be installed with the author's installation program. 8. Contacting PsL Your comments and suggestions are appreciated. We are striving to make this the ideal CD for sysops and vendors, as well as for individual and users. We will implement every possibly suggestion which will still allow us to produce the CD in a timely manner and which will not degrade the CD is some other way. If you are a programmer and want your program distributed on this CD, simply send it on disk to the address below or if it is a Windows program, upload it to our forum on Compuserve (GO PSLWIN). Public (software) Library P.O.Box 35705 Houston, TX 77235-5705 Voice: 713-524-6394 FAX: 713-524-6398 CompuServe: 74777,3465 Now press ESC and the PSL_SHRD.EXE program will run. (NOTE: If at all possible, you should run the Windows access program instead. It gives access to the full PsL database of ALL CD's and has many search options not available in the DOS version. To run the Windows program, press ESC now, then press CTRL-BREAK, then run SETUP and follow the instructions.) ˙ Once the program is running, you can press F1 for more instructions, although the use of the program should be pretty obvious and simple. ˙ In brief, you select a category, read about programs, and press I to install one. The installation will leave you at the DOS prompt, ready to read the documentation files and run the program. ˙ PsL's installation simply un-ZIPs the files onto your hard disk. Some programs may require you to perform a further installation. After the files are put on your hard disk. Look for files like INSTALL˙ or files with README in the name or with extensions of .DOC or .TXT. These files can be read with the VIEW program from the CD. If your CD is drive D:, for example, type D:\VIEW READ.ME (assuming you are in the installed program's drive and directory). If you need assistance, call PsL's Tech Support at 713-524-6394.