                       WELCOME TO BLADE RUNNER
                       ----------------------

This README file contains installation instructions, information about
how to contact Borland, and important last-minute information about
Blade Runner.

You have been selected as a test site because you have agreed to
provide feedback on your experience with Blade Runner.  Your opinions
regarding features and implementation will help dBASE continue to be
the leading desktop database standard.  Thank you in advance for
letting us know what you think.

  **************************************************************
  Please remember that this material is provided in STRICT
  CONFIDENCE.  Fundamental to your confidential relationship with
  Borland is your commitment not to disclose information about 
  this product, describe its features and functionality, or 
  release the results of your testing to anyone other than 
  Borland employees.  Your conscientious cooperation in this 
  regard is vital to our business.

  Please consider your status as a test site as confidential 
  information. Respond to inquiries regarding product status and
  functionality with a simple statement that it would be a 
  violation of your non-disclosure agreement.
  **************************************************************

With this release, we have completed implentation of all major 
features.  The dBASE language and user interface will change only 
slightly or not at all from now on.  We would like you to focus on 
these areas to help us meet our quality and performance goals:

- Application development capability.  With this field test release
  you should be able to begin projects in earnest.  

- Design tools for creating queries, forms, and reports.

- dBASE language object extensions.  Notice that the Form Designer
  generates code that creates objects and specifies their properties
  and methods.

- Data integrity.  With the exception of secondary indexes on Paradox
  tables, all data manipulation should produce reliable results.

Performance tuning has not yet been a priority.  However, if you find
any area or program construct that seems behind on performance, we
would like to know.

The CompuServe forum has proven to be a valuable place to communicate
your feedback to us and to discuss Blade Runner with other testers.
See below for more information on how to log on to the Blade Runner
forum.


Contents
--------
I.    Installation and Configuration
II.   Overview of Components
III.  Getting Help & Reporting Bugs
IV.   Known Problems
V.    Acknowledgements



I.  Installation and Configuration 
----------------------------------

System requirements:

  - DOS 3.1 or higher
  - Windows version 3.1
  - 6 MB RAM required, 8 MB recommended
  - 25 MB free disk space

Follow these steps to install Blade Runner:

  1. Back up your hard drive. We recommend this step before
     installing any pre-release software that is being tested.

  2. Insert disk 1 in a floppy drive. (The rest of these
     instructions assume you are using drive A. Substitute your
     drive letter if necessary.)

  3. From Windows: Choose File|Run from the Program Manager,
                   type: A:INSTALL.EXE
                   choose OK.
     OR

     From DOS: Make sure Windows is on your DOS path, and from the
     DOS prompt
                    type: WIN A:\INSTALL

  4. Follow the instructions on the screen, and insert floppy
     disks as prompted.

Configuration:

DBASEWIN.INI

The Blade Runner configuration file is DBASEWIN.INI.  DBASEWIN.INI is
the Blade Runner equivalent of the dBASE DOS CONFIG.DB file.  The
Install program copies DBASEWIN.INI to your \DBASEWIN subdirectory.

DBASEWIN.INI is structured like a typical Windows .INI file.  Settings
are grouped into sections, which are marked by a name in brackets,
such as [Fonts].  


Borland Database Enginge (IDAPI)

The configuration file for the Borland Database Engine is IDAPI.CFG.
Blade Runner uses the Borland Database Engine to access dBASE, Paradox
and SQL tables.  The IDAPI.CFG file is maintained by the IDAPICFG 
utility.  **WARNING**  Later field tests of other Borland products 
using the Borland Database Engine may not work with this version of 
IDAPI.  To minimize conflicts, this field test installs the engine in 
Blade Runner's \bin directory.  Finally, local share must be TRUE to 
use both Blade Runner and another Borland product that uses ODAPI, 
the previous name for the engine.


Changing Language Drivers:

International customers will need to change the default language driver
to the appropriate language driver as used with dBASE IV. To do so:

1.      Run the IDAPI Configuration Utility.
2.      Choose the File|Open command.
3.      Open the file IDAPI.CFG.
4.      Select the Driver tab, or select Pages|Drivers.
5.      Select DBASE in the Driver Name box.
6.      In the LANGDRIVER parameter field, enter the name of
	the desired language driver as follows:

 IDAPI    Desc/Codepage

 DB850PT0 Brazil/Portugal 850  
 DB860PT0 Brazil/Portugal 860  
 DB865DA0 Danish          865  
 DB437FI0 Finnish         437  
 DB437FR0 French          437  
 DB850FR0 French          850  
 DB850CF0 French/Canada   850  
 DB863CF1 French/Canada   863  
 DB437DE0 German          437  
 DB850DE0 German          850  
 DB437IT0 Italian         437  
 DB850IT1 Italian         850  
 DB437NL0 Netherlands     437  
 DB850NL0 Netherlands     850  
 DB865NO0 Norway          865  
 DB437ES1 Spanish         437  
 DB850ES0 Spanish         850  
 DB437SV0 Swedish         437  
 DB850SV1 Swedish         850  
 DB437UK0 UK              437  
 DB850UK0 UK              850  
 DB437US0 US              437  
 DB850US0 US              850  


7.      Choose File|Save, then exit the IDAPI Configuration Utility. The
        new language driver is now installed.  You need to re-load 
        dBASE for Windows to load the new driver.


II.  Overview of Components
---------------------------
Software components 

Filelist.doc lists the files that make up this field test release of
Blade Runner.  Once installed, you should see icons for dBASE for
Windows, the dBASE Debugger, this readme file, and the IDAPI
Configuration utility.

Documentation Components

Documentation for this field test consists of written drafts of
several components and online Help.

Printed Documentation

   The Getting Started manual describes how to install and configure 
   Blade Runner and introduces the user interface and language 
   features.

   The User's Guide explains how to do most common tasks: creating and 
   working with tables, queries, and forms.

   The Programmer's Guide is the detailed manual for developers who 
   want to build Blade Runner applications with the dBASE language.

Online Help
   
   The online Help system provides reference material for the dBASE 
   language and task-oriented material for the user interface.
   
   The Language Reference is online only for this Field Test release. 
   It is a detailed reference of all the dBASE language commands.

CBT

   The interactive tutors are not provided with this Field Test.

Samples

The file, SAMPLES.TXT in the \samples directory, describes the samples 
included and their usage.


III.  Getting Help & Reporting Bugs 
-----------------------------------
To get technical support from Borland, and report bugs, use
CompuServe.  The special CompuServe forum for BladeRunner testers is
called BORABETA.  Type GO BORABETA from any '!' prompt and leave your
message in section 10.  If you have any difficulty, call Lynda Greer at
one of these numbers:                                           

   Inside CA 1-800-742-4045 Ext 1687
   Outside CA 1-800-231-2167 Ext 1687


IV.  Known Problems 
-------------------
A second file, readme2.txt, describes known problems with this field
test release.


V.  Acknowledgements 
-------------------- 
The sound files were provided by Programmer's Warehouse from Sound
Explosion for Windows.  Copyright (c) Programmer's Warehouse.  All
rights reserved.  Licensed sounds Copyright (c) 1990-1992 The Hollywood
Edge.