Sample configuration. |
|
|
QAWIN contains the Q&A for Windows application
files. |
|
|
MY_CO contains user files - the paired DTF and
IDX
files
C:\QAWIN\QAWIN.EXE (Q&A for Windows)
C:\QAWIN\QAWRITE.EXE (Q&A Write for Windows)
C:\MY_CO\COMPANY.DTF
C:\MY_CO\COMPANY.IDX
C:\MY_CO\CLIENTS.DTF
C:\MY_CO\CLIENT.DTF |
TEST - TEST - TEST. |
|
If a Windows or network technician is helping configure a new
computer, test the application before the technician leaves your
site. |
|
|
1. Find the Q&A application EXE file.
The technician should create a shortcut to this file.
2. Open Q&A.
3. Run through the various steps that would be done in a
normal work cycle. Open databases, try printing, try posting if you do
that, create a new record, try a mail merge.
|
|
APPENDIX: More Detailed Notes. |
|
|
Long File names and Q&A.
Find files on the old computer.
Configure new computer. Drive Mappings and Network Considerations.
Backup and Restore - rather than Install.
File List and Descriptions.
Q&A Version list.
Running Q&A for Windows on Windows XP and on Windows 2000 and Windows
NT.
Q&A Write.
Q&A Write documents.
Q&A for DOS Macros.
|
|
Long File names and Q&A. |
|
|
Q&A doesn't understand long names for files or directories.
Keep file and directories to less than 8 characters. |
|
|
|
Find files on the old computer. |
|
|
Unlike many applications Q&A may be installed in
more than one location on a computer. If so, determine which is
actually used by checking short cuts or the BAT files being used to run
Q&A. |
|
|
Look for the Q&A executables (QA*.EXE) and
for the databases (*.DTF). Each database has two files, a DTF
and an
IDX
file. Both files are needed. |
|
|
Also find the QAWIN.INI file in C:\Windows. This file contains options that had been selected in
Q&A. It also contains the MRU list (which some people are lost
without). If this file is copied onto the new computer, copy it BEFORE
any configurations in Q&A are made because it will over-write those
settings. (Note: on a Windows 2000 computer, the file is in the C:\WINNT directory.) |
Configure new
computer. Drive Mappings and Network Considerations. |
|
|
If Q&A must be installed on a new computer in a
different location than used on the old computer, create the new
directories. Copy and restore the files. |
|
|
Open the Q&A for Windows application and on the
main menu under File go to Preferences to modify the
database location. This affects where the application looks for the
databases when Q&A main menu options File and Open
are used. |
|
|
Do NOT hard code paths for XLOOKUP statements in
Q&A Windows. For example, XLOOKUP to “CUSTOMER”, not “F:\APPDAT\CUSTOMER”.
QAWIN will expect to find the two databases in the same directory - the
companion DTF and
IDX
files. |
|
|
For network environments, each user should have Q&A for
Windows installed on their hard drive. The database files can
be on a local drive on a server or a shared drive. |
Backup and
Restore - rather than Install. |
|
|
Copy or restore Q&A rather than installing the
application. Frequently the Q&A Installation process does
not work well. No files are written to the Registry or to Windows
System directories, so the application can be restored or copied on to
the new computer. However, you may not have any trouble installing the
application from the diskettes - it appears that the install process
could be OS dependent – 2000 doesn’t work, XP might. |
File List and
Descriptions. |
|
|
Required file extensions:
*.DTF Q&A database file
*.IDX
Q&A index file - file name matches the DTF file |
|
|
Default file extensions:
*.ASC Q&A Macro files
*.DOC
Q&A Write or Microsoft Word documents
*.QW Q&A Write documents |
Q&A Version list. |
|
|
Q&A for DOS.
The version is displayed on the lower left
corner of the main screen. |
|
|
Q&A for DOS, Version 3.0.
(QA1.EXE
date modified of
10/26/1989) |
| |
Q&A for DOS, Version 4.0
(QA1.EXE date modified of
09/20/1993) |
|
|
Databases created in DOS 4.0 can be opened with Q&A Windows 4.01.
The
first time the database is opened a warning will indicate that the file
will be updated.
Symantec's 'Interoperability' Patch enables Q&A
for DOS 4.0 to run on Windows. See
Downloads. |
| |
Q&A for DOS, Version 5.0
(QA1.EXE date modified of
12/1/1995) |
|
|
Q&A for Windows.
Q&A for Windows
displays the version information in Help and About. |
|
|
Q&A for Windows, Version 4.0
(QAWin.EXE date modified of 09/1993)
English version only. This version will run on Windows XP if the
QAWin Compatibility Patch has been installed
|
|
|
Q&A for Windows, Version 4.01
(QAWin.EXE date modified of
11/3/1993)
This version is likely a “bug” fixed version of
the 4.0 application.
Help, About displays 4.0 instead of 4.01.
This version will run on Windows XP if the QAWin
Compatibility Patch has been installed.
|
|
|
Q&A for Windows, Version 4.06
(QAWin.EXE date modified of
06/15/1995)
Version 4.06 is very easily recognized.
1. The user is using Q&A for DOS, Version 5, and
2. Help, About says 4.06, with a yellow splash screen instead
of a white splash screen.
|
|
|
Q&A for Windows Version 4.06 is compatible with Q&A
for DOS version 5 in that it can read the data and run reports,
but it gets very confused and crashes if any of the new programming
features of Q&A 5 are used. |
Running Q&A for Windows on Windows XP and on Windows 2000 and Windows
NT. |
|
|
Q&A for Windows, as it comes out of the box, will not run on
Windows XP - it will crash immediately with a message about QABCL.DLL.
There is a fix. A patch, QAWin Compatibility Patch, is available
through John T. Dow, Software Services and Products (SSP).
See
QAWin Compatibility Patch for more information. This “patch”
works on Q&A for Windows versions 4.0, 4.01 and 4.06 plus
various versions in other languages (German, French, Swedish, Dutch. |
Q&A Write. |
|
(English versions only.) |
|
|
QAWrite - Q&A for Windows 4.0
(QAWrite.EXE
date modified of
09/24/1993) |
|
|
QAWrite - Q&A for Windows 4.01
(QAWrite.EXE
date modified of
11/3/1993) |
|
|
Q&A Write for Windows
4.01
may not work on Windows XP, Windows NT or Windows 2000, while Q&A
Write for Windows 4.0 will run without a problem. |
Q&A Write documents. |
|
|
If you have been using Q&A merge documents, those
documents should be copied into the same drive and directory where they
were located on the old computer. If these files are moved, the merge
process will give you errors, because the documents contain path
information. |
|
|
Fix: |
|
|
Open your merge document.
From the menu bar in Q&A Write select Insert and then
Merge Field...
Click on the Change Database button.
Navigate to the database.
Because the box to click OK is grayed out; click on the X
in the upper right corner to close the windows.
Save the document. |
Q&A for DOS Macros. |
|
|
The macro files can have any name. The default extension is
ASC.
Q&A for Windows does not have macros. |
DTFWIN. |
| |
DTFWIN is another option to boost the capabilities of Q&A Windows
with scripting (much like macros in Q&A DOS, except more powerful) as
well as supporting and connecting multiple databases. It supports
Windows list boxes so you double click to get data from another database
or text file. For more information go to
DTFWIN.
|