README File
Ver. 1.20
10/19/92

Thank you for purchasing Eclipse FAX.  Most of your questions can be answered by looking in the Eclipse FAX manual or the on line help. However, there are a few other things we thought you should know. Here's a list of subjects covered:


INSTALL
REGISTRATION CARD
RE-SETTING YOUR MODEM
EGA AND CGA
PCX FILES
LOTUS 1-2-3 FOR WINDOWS
CAS BOARD USERS
STATION ID'S
ABORTING FAXES
ASSOCIATION / AUTOMATIC LAUNCHING OF EFAX
BULKMAIL.DOC


INSTALL
The install process has been improved since the manual was printed. Therefore, the look of the install screens may be different, although the basic functions are the same.


REGISTRATION CARD
As you may have noticed, a registration card is included on this disk. For those of you who would rather fax us this card, our registration fax number is included in the program's phonebook.  Simply fill in the blank areas (including the serial number) on the card by clicking on the appropriate section and typing in your information. Remember to use your mouse to click next to the fields; you cannot use the TAB key to move around! When the card is complete, choose 'print' from the file menu (with Eclipse FAX as the selected printer). The send dialog box will appear and listed under 'name'  is registration with our number.


RE-SETTING  YOUR MODEM
From time to time, Eclipse FAX will not be able to take control of your Class II compatible modem due to some unusual circumstance (dropped phone line, etc.) In these cases, the modem will carry on as though nothing were wrong and ignore commands from Eclipse FAX. To correct this on an external modem, exit the program and turn off the modem. Then turn it back on and restart the program. If you own an internal fax modem, exiting the program and restarting it will usually be sufficient. Also, clicking 'OK' in the Receive Setup dialog will send a reset command to the modem; this may also work in some instances.  Also, if you have no unread faxes, the EFAX\QUEUE\IN directory should be empty.  View and either move or delete any files which have accumulated in this directory to reset the program.


EGA AND CGA
Eclipse FAX was designed for VGA or better displays; it will not appear correctly using an EGA or CGA display. However, the program is still completely functional.


PCX FILES
If you use Paintbrush to create or edit images for use in Eclipse FAX, turn off colors in the Image Attributes dialog. Images will appear distorted if you leave color turned on.
Also, faxes that have been edited and saved with Paintbrush will appear distorted when loaded back into Eclipse FAX. This is because Paintbrush changes the resolution of a fax from 200 dpi to  640 by 480 pixels. You can avoid this distortion by faxing the image to file from within Paintbrush. Be sure to turn off the margins (in the Page Setup dialog) and click 'Use Printer Resolution' in the Print dialog.


LOTUS 1-2-3 FOR WINDOWS
Because of the way Lotus 1-2-3 for Windows uses memory during printing, Eclipse FAX functions that require secondary dialog boxes (Fax to File, Cover Page Notes, etc) will cause the system to hang. Simply faxing (without using these functions) will work properly. If you must fax to file or include notes, try sending the fax, then aborting before a connection is established. Then open the aborted file from the Send Log and make your changes or additions.


CAS BOARD USERS
Your CAS board has an on-board processor, and manufacturer-provided software to control it. Eclipse FAX works with this type of board by passing messages to the controlling software. In return, the CAS software sends messages to Eclipse FAX about the state of the board and received faxes. Because of this 'give-and-take' system, Eclipse FAX doesn't have direct control over the operation of your board. As a result, you do not have the Manual Send and Manual Receive functions.
Certain dialog boxes in the CAS version (such as the Send Setup and Receive Setup) will appear different from what is shown in the manual. This is because some settings are entered in the CAS control software, and do not need to be re-entered in Eclipse FAX.
CAS boards like the Intel SatisFAXtion use .DCX files by default. Because Eclipse FAX uses Group 3 TIF files by default, and you may have to change the file type on occasion (e.g., when saving a scanned image to a different file name).


STATION ID'S
Almost all standard fax machines have a Station ID capability; this is not necessarily true of computer fax modems. Some units lack the capability to store this information, and the Station ID  will not be displayed (or a nonsense string will be displayed) on your Status Dialog if you connect to such a machine.


ABORTING FAXES
It is best not to abort a transmission (either a send or receive) while the modems are handshaking. Handshaking is the exchange of tones (the hissing and screeching) that connect the two modems. Aborting during this process can cause the modem to 'hang'; that is, to ignore any further commands from Eclipse FAX. If this happens, you will need to re-set the modem (see the first README entry). We have tried to make it as difficult as possible to hang the modem, but it can still occur. In addition, if you abort a fax during transmission, the fax will continue until it reaches the end of the current page.


ASSOCIATION / AUTOMATIC LAUNCHING OF EFAX
E-FAX now supports association in Windows. The install program will change your WIN.INI so that double clicking on a TIFF, PCX, or DCX image will launch E-FAX and load the image in one step. Follow the instructions in the File Manager for associating these extensions with [Drive:Path]\EFAX\E-FAXMGR.EXE post-installation.


BULKMAIL.DOC
This file contains macros for Microsoft Word for Windows which permit you to do mail merge and automatic faxing from Microsoft Word.  NOTE: The PackRat Integration Library also provides macros for these functions.