Dear user,

Thanks for your interest in MaxBase!

MaxBase is a fairly big suite of tools that
deal with databases, completely written in 
Java (whose installation gotchas are not 
yet widely known to most end users) and thus
requires your attention at least for installing
and checking system requirements. 
Please take the time to read this file before 
installing, or at least read the updated 
sections before upgrading.

NOTE: Please see the HTML documentation for
license information (the "legal info" link
from the main index page). The start page
for HTML documentation is in the 
docs\index.htm file.
MaxBase is *not* freeware (though it is 
cheap!).

Index:

* INSTALLATION AND FIRST STEPS       (updated)
* HOW TO GET 'LATEST AND GREATEST'   (updated)
* DIFFERENCES FROM PREVIOUS RELEASES (updated)
* PLATFORM CONSIDERATIONS
  (The above includes release notes -> important!)
* CONTACTING THE AUTHOR


INSTALLATION AND FIRST STEPS
"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'

MaxBase runs only under Java 1.1.x and above.

PLEASE READ THIS IF YOU ALREADY 
HAVE INSTALLED AN OLDER VERSION
OF MAXBASE:

Note: A new program has been added to the suite,
File Utils, so you should add it to your MaxBase
folder (your desktop, whatever) if you have 
installed a MaxBase version prior to 1.16. 
OS/2 users should re-run the installer (config.sys 
won't be touched) in order to have the new program 
pop up in the MaxBase folder, while users from other
operating systems can exploit the .bat and bash 
scripts (and icons).

Note: If you have a MaxBase version earlier than
1.10, remove it from your hard disk (after having
stored in a safe place your databases, of course!)
and then replace it with this one.
If you have already installed 1.10 or more recent,
just unzip this file over the old installation 
(your registration information WILL NOT be 
overwritten).

Warning: this program heavily depends on the 
quality of your Java Virtual Machine.
Please get and install the latest release of 
the Java VM for your computer/Operating System 
before running MaxBase.

Installation under OS/2 Warp
----------------------------
Type install.cmd from the directory that the 
program has been unzipped in.


Installation under Windows 95/NT
--------------------------------
I have included a very simple 'runme.bat' batch 
file for Windows 95 which will start MaxBase.
You can create a shortcut for this file on your
desktop and, optionally, assign to it the icon
you will find in res\win32. Drop a MaxBase .dat
file on it and it will be opened.

'MERGe.bat' is the file that launches MERGe, the
all-new report writer for MaxBase: if you plan to
run it stand-alone (as opposed to inside MaxBase),
please add a shortcut for this file on your 
desktop -- an icon is available in the res\win32
directory. Same deal for convert.bat (the batch that
launches the file conversion utilities).

You can create a shortcut also for 'runsrvr.bat'
(an icon is available in the res\win32 directory);
when you will drop a MaxBase .dat file on it,
the DB Server will make it available on the network.

Finally, the "msrunme.bat" file is identical to
runme.bat, but it uses Microsoft's own JVM.
Why this move? Is it any good? Well, MS JVM is some
33% faster than SUN's JDK 1.1.5, so I thought you
Win32 users would have found this interesting.
Please note, however, that while it is fast, it has
also its fair share of problems. You can't print,
keyboard accelerators don't work, and the DB server
won't start at all! The MS JVM is, however, very fast
in "local mode" to do data entry or queries.

Don't forget about the comprehensive HTML manual,
whose main page is the docs\index.htm file.
It is a guide, reference and FAQ both for end 
users and developers.


Installation under Unix
-----------------------
You can use the shell scripts included (runme, MERGe,
cnvrt, runsrvr) to run MaxBase, MERGe the file 
converter and RXDBServer; don't forget to 'chmod +x' 
them. X-Windows icons are included in the res/xwin 
directory.
Don't forget also about the comprehensive HTML 
manual, whose main page is the docs\index.htm
file. It is a guide, reference and FAQ both for
end users and developers.

NOTE: If you find errors in any of the 
applications in this package, please report them 
to maxbase@bmtmicro.com, along with the error dump 
(you can find that in the shell where you have 
launched the program) and an explanation of what 
you were doing.


HOW TO GET 'LATEST AND GREATEST'
"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'

The web page for maxbase can be found at:

*************************************************
http://www.bmtmicro.com/catalog/mb-web
(BMT-Micro in USA, with secure online order form)
*************************************************

*************************************************
http://www.ososoft.com/RXDBASE.HTM
(OsoSoft in Italy, with plain online order form)
*************************************************

You can get MaxBase from any of the two, although
BMT-Micro usually has the most up-to-date version.

I am working also with the OS/2 Super Store to
activate the Rapid Internet Purchasing mechanism
for MaxBase.


DIFFERENCES FROM 1.15
"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"

.) New: Added a new GUI program, Converter, that
lets you easily convert files and DBs from a format
into another (and even encode/decode Base64 ASCII
files).

.) New: A new Java Bean (PageLayout) has been added.

.) Improved: MERGe now has a section devoted to
page setup (with features like background bitmaps,
use of headers/footers, etc).

.) Improved: the HTML manuals have been improved
and revisited (content-wise).

.) Improved: the dialer (an included MaxBase plugins)
now saves settings such as dial string, COM ports, etc
on exit.

.) Corrected: RXDbase and associated programs had 
problems with DBs > 1 MB (Out Of Memory Error).

.) Corrected: indexes were corrupted (and a deadlock
was occurring) when you tried to modify a record that
was already deleted.

.) Upgraded NetRexx and TabSplitter packages to latest
releases.



PLATFORM CONSIDERATIONS
"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"'"

I tested this program on OS/2 Warp 4, Windows 95,
Linux Red Hat 5.0, and did some tests on Warp 3 and
Solaris (the latter two thanks to MaxBase users).

Release notes:

Common to all platforms:
Please note that in order to fully enjoy the reporting
application, MERGe, you really need a JDK at 1.1.5 level
(or better), because in 1.1.5 the following bug was
corrected:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
AWT PRINTJOB BUG - In earlier JDKs, java.awt.PrintJob.getPageResolution 
and java.awt.PrintJob.GetPageDimension would return incorrect values in 
some circumstances. This bug has been fixed in JDK 1.1.5. [Bug 4049865]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

This doesn't mean that you can't print if you don't have a
1.1.5 JVM, but only that page dimensions will, most likely,
not be correctly reported on screen. YMMV.


Linux: Reports don't seem to work very well with BlackDown
JDK 1.1.3 (PostScript output to file is ok, but sometimes 
there are problems printing directly to the printer).
I am contacting the person doing the JVM 1.1.5 port to
resolve this problem. Interestingly, while 1.1.3 should be
affected by the [Bug 4049865] above, it really isn't.

OS/2: Reports can take a long time to print on certain
printers, hogging the CPU. Also, DBF <--> DAT conversions
often don't work as expected (with and without JIT).
OS/2 is, currently, at JDK level 1.1.4, so it is affected
by the [Bug 4049865] above. Moreover, after you have
finished printing, some GUI component seem to be garbled.
Scary. :-)

Windows 95: I have added a batch file to use JVIEW, 
MS's answer to java.exe, but while it is faster it also
has its fair share of problems: you can't print,
keyboard accelerators don't work, and the DB server
won't start at all! The MS JVM is, however, very fast
in "local mode" to do data entry or queries.
MaxBase tends to crash a lot when run under Sun's JDK
with JIT turned on.

Other platforms:
If you're using MaxBase under other platforms, please 
drop me a note on your results with it, I'd be
really pleased.


CONTACTING THE AUTHOR
"'""'"'"'""'"'"'""'"'

If you find any bug, or have suggestions, please
report all of your comments to:

 Max Marsiglietti,

 E-mail:
  maxbase@bmtmicro.com (Internet), 2:332/529.12 (Fidonet)

 Snail Mail:
  V.Landino 13,
  41049, Sassuolo (MO)
  Italy.

Ciao and thanks for your time 
evaluating and using MaxBase!

Max.
