                                                                    Introduction







         "Objects underneath this T-shirt are larger than they appear!"

                                                                    1990 T-Shirt






What is the Object Toolkit?

         TechnoJock's Object Toolkit (or simply the Toolkit) is a library of
         objects, procedures and functions for Pascal programmers. While writing
         a PC program, most people spend 80% or more of their time writing the
         program's user interface, and only 20% on the "meat" of the applica-
         tion. The Toolkit is designed to provide a wealth of professional user
         interface tools which can eliminate up to 80% of your development work.
         For example, to display a sorted directory listing in a moveable window
         takes a mere three lines of code.

         The interface tools include such features as efficient screen writing,
         window management, menu management, full screen user input, list dis-
         playing, directory listing and much more. These tools give programs a
         truly professional appearance, and use the latest interface style with
         pop-up dialog boxes, scroll-bars and malleable windows, all with full
         mouse and keyboard support.

         As well as needing a user interface, many programs have to manipulate
         strings, access files, check attached hardware, and the like. The Tool-
         kit also provides a rich set of routines to help with these common
         tasks.

         If you are new to object oriented programming, you are in luck, for the
         Toolkit provides a great way for you to learn this powerful facility
         without requiring that you be a rocket scientist!


Required Software & Hardware

         The Toolkit is designed to work with v5.5 (or later) of Borland Inter-
         national's Turbo Pascal compiler for the IBM PC. To compile programs
         developed using the Toolkit, you will need Turbo Pascal v5.5 or later
         (or a 100% compatible Pascal compiler), and MS/PC-DOS (version 2.0 or
         later).

         Programs developed with the Toolkit will function on the same hardware
         as specified in the Turbo Pascal compiler documentation, i.e. IBM PC,
         XT, AT, PS/2, along with all true IBM-compatibles. A 640k memory mini-
         mum is recommended. Any of the standard display adapters are supported,
         including the monochrome, CGA, EGA and VGA. Software written with the
         Toolkit automatically supports the Microsoft (two button) and Logitech
         (three button) mice. Most other PC mice are compatible with these two

1-2                                                                 User's Guide

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
         industry leaders. If the system does not have a mouse, no problem, the
         mouse features are ignored. In other words, if you develop a program
         using the Toolkit, it can be run on machines with or without a mouse.



Royalties

         Many Toolkit users develop commercial programs specifically to sell for
         profit. TechnoJock Software, Inc. neither expects nor requires a roy-
         alty fee on such programs. The major restrictions are that you may not
         distribute the Toolkit files with your program, and that the program is
         itself not a Toolkit, i.e. a library of programmer's utilities.

         Refer to the License Agreement at the front of the manual for more
         information.



Using the Documentation

         In two words: READ IT! The documentation is organized into three main
         parts:


         Part 1     User's Guide

                    Describes the main components of the Toolkit and illustrates
                    in a tutorial-like way how to use every unit.



         Part 2     Extending the Toolkit

                    Good though it is, the Toolkit may not meet your exact
                    needs. One of the real strengths of object oriented
                    libraries is that the library can be extended and modified
                    without making any changes to the original library source
                    code. This part of the documentation provides guidance on
                    how to extend and tailor the Toolkit to meet your specific
                    needs. A basic knowledge of object oriented Pascal is
                    required.



         Part 3     Flash Cards

                    Small is beautiful. This part is a condensed reference
                    designed for the experienced Toolkit user who wants a
                    not-too-quick Quick Reference.



Support

         TechnoJock Software, Inc. strives to support its users. If you have
         problems that you are unable to resolve:

Introduction                                                                 1-3

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
         q     send a diskette containing the problematic software, together
               with details about the problem to:

                        TechnoJock Software, Inc.
                        PO Box 820927
                        Houston TX 77282-0927
                        USA


         q     transmit an electronic message on to one of the following IDs:

                        CompuServe: 74017,227
                        MCI Mail: TECHNOJOCK


         q     FAX the problem to (713) 493-5872

         q     call us at (713) 493-6354

         Be sure to identify the following: the version of the Toolkit, the DOS
         version, the contents of the CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files, and a
         description of the hardware. Try to distill the problem down into a
         small program - it can take many hours to sift through a huge and
         unfamiliar program.



Acknowledgements

         In this documentation, references are made to several products:

         Turbo Pascal is a registered trademark of Borland International. IBM is
         a registered trademark and PC, XT, AT, PS/2 and PC-DOS are trademarks
         of International Business Machines Corporation. MS-DOS is a trademark
         of Microsoft Corporation. Brief is a registered trademark of Underware,
         Inc. CompuServe is a registered trademark of CompuServe Information
         Service, Inc. Pagemaker is a registered trademark of Aldus Corporation.
         CorelDRAW! is a registered trademark of Corel Systems Corporation. MCI
         Mail is a registered trademark of MCI Communications Corporation. Lotus
         1-2-3 and Lotus Manuscript are registered trademarks of Lotus Develop-
         ment Corporation. Norton Utilities is a trademark of Peter Norton Com-
         puting, Inc. PC Tools is a trademark of Central Point Software. Deskpro
         is a registered trademark of Compaq Computer Corporation. Toshiba is a
         registered trademark of Toshiba Corporation. Postscript is a registered
         trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated.

         For those who may be interested, the Toolkit was developed on three
         computers: a Compaq Deskpro 286 8 MHz, a Compaq Deskpro 386 33 MHz, and
         a Toshiba T3100SX laptop. The editors used for code development were
         Brief 3.0 from Solution Systems, Inc., and Sage Professional Editor
         from Sage Software, Inc. The documentation was produced with Lotus
         Manuscript, Aldus Pagemaker, CorelDRAW!, Lotus 1-2-3 Release 3.1, and
         was printed on a Postscript printer.

         Enough preliminaries ... let's get busy!



