Attend for Windows
Employee Attendance Tracking Database Program
Version 1.5b, February 1998

Copyright 1992-98 Robert J. Manning, author.
South Bay Computer Assistance, PO Box 21, Stanton CA 90680-0021
Shareware version summary documentation 2/98

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Please view the file REGISTER.TXT for a registration form.
Print out a copy, fill it in and mail today! PLEASE NOTE OUR
NEW ADDRESS:

Robert Manning, PO Box 21, Stanton CA 90680-0021 USA

Email: RobertM782@aol.com or 76022.1630@compuserve.com
Pager: (310) 723-0676 (Calls returned collect)

Visit the SBCA Web Page for other SBCA programs at:
http://members.aol.com/robertm782/public/sbcapage.htm
=======================================================================


DOCUMENTATION AND REGISTRATION
=======================================================================
This file contains important information regarding installation
and operation of the program. Please read it through if you have
any problem installing the program. Manual installation instruct-
ions are included.
    
Upon registration you will be sent a package containing your fully 
functional copy of the program, and the full AFW Help file. The full
printed documentation for the program, various accessory or conversion
programs are options available with registration. Please see the file
REGISTER.TXT for a registration form. You can also print a registration
form from the HELP | ABOUT window in AFW.
    
Registered users receive full program support and 50% discounts on 
future versions of Attend (DOS or Windows versions).


RECOMMENDED HARDWARE CONFIGURATION
=======================================================================
AFW requires a 386DX processor or higher, 8MB ram or higher, and
Windows 3.1 or better to run optimally. Memory is just as important
as processor speed, if not more important. AFW will run slower on a
486 processor with 4MB ram than a 386 with 8MB ram. This is even
more pronounced on a system using Win95. If you have a choice of
systems at your firm, select the one with more ram available.


ABOUT ATTEND FOR WINDOWS
=======================================================================
Attend for Windows (AFW) is a special-purpose database program,
designed to track employee attendance incidents. It was created to
fill a niche in office management software. Tracking employee
attendance can be done in many ways, and there are many programs
which accomplish this. However, Attend organizes this task in a way
specific to the needs involved.
    
The program keeps a running record of attendance incidents, as well
as vacation and sick leave. Excused and unexcused incidents can be 
recorded, and a running total of unexcused leave time is also shown. 
The program keeps a seperate dataset of imported incidents in the 
form of timeclock punches, and can be used to total time worked and 
calculate pay, if data is entered consistently. Time clock punches 
can be imported from the enclosed timeclock utility, to the main
database. Lengthy comment files can be kept on each employee for
those really interesting excuses.

AFW keeps records of employee names, ID numbers, personal
information, vacation and sick leave, excused and unexcused
incidents, free-form comments, can act as a timeclock, track hours
worked and calculate unadjusted pay for you, and also import those
timeclock records that create incidents (ie, attendance anomalies)
to the incident dataset. Functions are provided for updating leave
time available, calculating and configuring updates to leave time
for ten status types, using six different update periods, with
leave time accumulation limits. Information can be copied from text
files or the Clipboard, and pasted into AFW.


NEW FEATURES AND CHANGES IN VERSION 1.5B
=======================================================================
* New functions in the Import Utility: Advance and Statistics Functions.
* Advance functions allow entering employee clock punches for some
range of dates in advance, when the employees are not actually punching
the clock. This way, you can just modify the punch records when an
employee is late or on vacation.
* Statistics functions allow you to find out what percentage of the
time your employees are actually working. It will also total hours
worked over the period you specify.
* Documentation updated for new author contact address.
* Various minor improvements or bug fixes.


CHANGING SCREEN COLORS
=======================================================================
Some systems colors may prevent the various data entry controls in
AFW from being readable. The following Windows Control Panel settings
can adjust the colors in AFW:

-Button colors can be changed using the color setting for windows
'Button Faces'.
-Data display components use the color setting for windows
'Application Workspace' (Win3.1) or 'Application Background' (Win95).
-Window menus and borders respond to your other windows color settings
for these components.
-Most other components will remain a fixed color (silver/black).
    

THANK YOU!
=======================================================================
Thanks for downloading Attend and these necessary files and giving 
it a try! I have prepared this file to inform you of what is needed 
to run Attend for Windows.

Attend for Windows uses Borland's Paradox file format, which can
be accessed by not only Attend, but by other programs which can
access Paradox database files, such as most major spreadsheet
and database programs.

Making the data more accessible has benefits and drawbacks. The 
fact that you can access Attends databases with other programs 
means that you may be able to do more with the data (ie, 
loading it into some other database program), but this also 
implies reduced security of the data. Please keep this in mind 
if absolute database security is necessary for your business.


INSTALLATION UTILITY HELP
=======================================================================
There are four steps to installing the program. Please read
this information, and/or the help file (INSTALL.HLP) before installing.

INSTALL.EXE copies Attend's files into the directory C:\AFW, and
creates a program manager group and icons for the program.

SETUP.EXE installs the Borland Database Engine. Please use their
default path, C:\IDAPI, for installation. This engine is required
to use Attend for Windows.


INSTALLATION STEP ONE
=======================================================================
Run INSTALL.EXE, and select the directory to install AFW into.
A default name of C:\AFW is given, you may change this to any
name you wish to install the program to, with the exception of the
same directory that the program is installed *from*.
    
If you already have a copy of Attend for Windows installed in the
in this directory, you will be prompted before the installer
over-writes each database file (*.DB and *.MB). Should you have any
data entered into your current database files, *DO NOT* OVER-WRITE
ANY .DB OR .MB FILES, AS THIS WILL RESULT IN DATA LOSS!


INSTALLATION STEP TWO
=======================================================================
The installation utility will run SETUP.EXE for you after copying
the program files. This utility installs the Borland Database Engine
version 2.52 to your system. Please follow the prompts in that program
and choose their default installation directory.


INSTALLATION STEP THREE
=======================================================================
You will also need to run the program BDECFG.EXE in the C:\IDAPI
directory once the BDE is installed, so that you can change the
setup for FOURDIGITYEAR to TRUE.

To change to four-digit years, run BDECFG.EXE located in the
directory C:\IDAPI AFTER you install this program. Click on the
PARADOX driver on the Drivers page, then click on the page marked
'Date'. On this page are several parameters, the third of which
is called FOURDIGITYEAR. Click on this parameter and change the
display from FALSE to TRUE. Then click on 'FILE - SAVE' to save
the configuration.


INSTALLATION STEP FOUR
=======================================================================
Finally, you must change your Windows 'International' settings for
Dates, so that it uses Four Digit Years. Instructions for this process
are detailed below.

WINDOWS 3.1:
Activate Control Panel and double click the International icon.
Under the Date Format section, press the Change button. In the
Short Date format section, click on the check box next to the
item marked 'Century' (the box should be checked to activate
four digit years). Also, in the Long Date format section, click
on the right most button in this section, which displays the year.
Select the four digit year. Finally, click on OK - OK, then close
Control Panel to save these changes.

WINDOWS 95/NT:
Click on the My Computer icon, then on Control Panel, and then on
the Regional Settings icon. Click on the Date tab. In the Short
Date group box, click on the drop down list named Short Date Style.
Choose one of the styles that contains 'yyyy' in it (this represents
a four digit year). Then in the Long Date group box, click on the
drop down list named Long Date Style, and again choose one of the
styles that contains 'yyyy' in it. Finally, click Apply and Close.


A NOTE ON Y-2000 AND FOUR-DIGIT YEARS
=======================================================================
Attend for Windows uses four-digit years for dates. Since we are 
fast approaching the turn of the century, it is best to enter all 
dates with four digit years. Some functions in Attend depend on 
correct date entries to function properly. The Borland Database Engine
as well as Windows both by default use two-digit years. Thus the
reason for these extra steps. Once you have performed these two
extra steps, you can be assured that your data will be safe once
we reach the turn of the century.


WHAT IF THE INSTALLATION DOESN'T WORK
=======================================================================
I grant that this process is more complex than I'd like it to be,
but in order to use the Borland Database Engine, one has to comply
with their rules. So, we have a multi-step process involved with
this installation.

You can perform the installation manually. I provide the installation
utility to assist you with this process. However, I am sure that
you can do this all yourself. Here is what needs to be done.

   1) Create a new directory named C:\AFW.
   2) Copy the following files into C:\AFW:

      AFW.CFG
      DEPTS.CFG
      AFW.EXE
      AFW.ICO
      ATTEND1.DB
      ATTEND2.DB
      ATTEND3.DB
      ATTEND3.MB
      ATTEND4.DB
      ATTEND5.DB
      ATTEND6.DB
      ATTEND7.DB
      CALENDAR.DB
      CALENDAR.MB
      E1.DB
      E2.DB
      H1.DB
      H2.DB
      O1.DB
      O2.DB
      S1.DB
      S2.DB
      T1.DB
      T2.DB
      AFW.TXT
      AFW15.HLP
      FILE_ID.DIZ
      REGISTER.TXT

   3) Copy the following files into your C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM
   directory (Windows 3.1) or C:\WIN95\SYSTEM directory (Win 95):

      BIVBX11.DLL
      AFWRESC.VBX

   4) Run the SETUP.EXE utility included with the files you
   downloaded. It will exist in the directory where the files
   you downloaded are. The directory that their files should
   be copied into is C:\IDAPI. If it is NOT C:\IDAPI, then you
   may have a situation where SETUP.EXE thinks that there is a
   different copy of their BDEngine installed on your disk. If
   you do indeed have another copy of this program on your disk,
   you should install the files to a different directory, such
   as C:\IDAPI2 or some suitable name. Remember where this
   path points, you will need to use the program BDECFG.EXE in
   that directory in the next step.

   5) Run BDECFG.EXE in the C:\IDAPI directory, and Click on 
   the DATE page and change the setting named FOURDIGITYEAR for
   PARADOX drivers to TRUE. Now, click on FILE | SAVE and exit
   the BDECFG.EXE utility.

   6) Enter your Windows control panel, International section, and
   change your date format to 'Century' (ie, four-digit years).
   Attend for Windows needs this setting for certain functions.

   7) Create a new program group and icons as desired. You will now
   be ready to run Attend for Windows. Run the file AFW.EXE in the
   C:\AFW directory, and you're up and running!


LEGAL STUFF
=======================================================================
SOUTH BAY COMPUTER ASSISTANCE AND ROBERT J. MANNING (THE AUTHOR)
EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL LIABILITY FOR ANY DAMAGE, IN ANY
FORM, FOR ANY REASON, ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF THE PROGRAMS NAMED
ATTEND FOR WINDOWS (AFW.EXE), ALL RELATED ADD ON PROGRAMS, PRINTED
AND ELECTRONIC DOCUMENTATION, AND ALL RELATED OPERATING FILES. BY
USING ANY OR ALL OF THESE PROGRAMS OR DOCUMENTATION, YOU AGREE
THAT ALL LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF THEIR USE RESTS WITH YOU, THE USER.
IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH THIS CLAUSE, THEN DO NOT USE THE PROGRAMS.


COPYRIGHT STUFF
=======================================================================
The Borland Database Engine is a product of Borland International, 
Inc. Borland, BDE, Delphi, and Paradox are trademarks and/or copyright
by Borland International, Inc. Per Borland documentation:

"NOTE: Delphi includes a redistributable license to deploy
royalty-free applications as well as Borland Database Engine (BDE)
and ReportSmith Runtime files." Some of the files contained in this
archive represent the BDE in it's redistributable form.


And last...
=======================================================================
Thanks for trying out Attend for Windows! I realize that downloading
such a large file set as this is somewhat intimidating and time
consuming.

Please consider registering your copy of Attend for Windows.
A registration form is included in the file REGISTER.TXT. There
are a number of features reserved for the registered version
of Attend. A registration form can also be printed from the HELP
| ABOUT window in AFW.

Conversion utilities are available for users of the DOS version 
of Attend so you can convert your Attend for DOS data into 
Attend for Windows. This utility will only be made available as 
a purchase option, to registered users of the program.

=======================================================================
Attend for Windows
Employee Attendance Tracking Database Program
Version 1.5b, February 1998

Copyright 1992-98 Robert J. Manning, author.
South Bay Computer Assistance, PO Box 21, Stanton CA 90680-0021
Shareware version summary documentation 2/98

Visit the SBCA Web Page for other SBCA programs at:
http://members.aol.com/robertm782/public/sbcapage.htm
=======================================================================
