If  you're a new BASIS user, and this is the first time that  you  are
installing BASIS you should read the following information.

The best order for doing things is:

1.   Install  the  software  using  the  INSTALL  program.  For   your
     convenience,  the  section of the manual concerning  installation
     and getting started is provided in the following pages.

2.   Create  a new directory for BASIS data files, using the DOS  'MD'
     command.  It is most convenient to create one data directory  and
     keep  all  data  files in it, although some  BASIS  users  create
     individual  project directories, and some even use  floppies  for
     data.

3.   Change  to the drive and directory where the BASIS programs  were
     installed,  \BASIS.DIR. Type BASIS2 at  the  DOS  prompt  to  run
     BASIS. Select F5, System Defaults, from the BASIS Main Menu.  You
     can select it by either pressing F5, or by clicking on it with  a
     mouse, if you are using one.

4.   From  the  System Defaults menu, select the Data Directory  item.
     You can select this item by clicking on it with the mouse. Or you
     can  position the selection bar on it by using the cursor control
     keys  or  by  pressing the first letter of the choice,  and  then
     pressing ENTER.

     A  dialog-box  will  appear, requesting  the  name  of  the  data
     directory that you've created. Type in the complete specification
     of the data directory.

     For  example,  if you've created a data directory named  COGODATA
     off the root of drive C, enter

     C:\COGODATA

     If you want to use floppies in drive A: for data, type

     A:

     Notice  that you should not append a '\' character at the end  of
     the path...BASIS will do it for you automatically.


5.   Every BASIS data directory must have a BASIS 'Catalog'. If you've
     only  created  one  data directory, then  you'll  only  need  one
     catalog file. If you've created several, then each one must  have
     its  own catalog. If you're using floppies, then each floppy that
     you plan on using for BASIS data must have a catalog.

     To  create a catalog, select F1, the Disk Management System  from
     the  Main  Menu. When the Disk Management Menu appears, press  F1
     again, for Create Catalog.

     The  first  prompt displays the default data directory  that  you
     entered  in  step  four,  above. To  create  a  catalog  in  this
     directory,  press  ENTER.  To create  a  catalog  in  some  other
     directory, type in the specification of the directory.

     Unless  BASIS detects that a catalog already exists, it will  ask
     you  if  you  want  to proceed. Type 'Y' to proceed,  or  'N'  to
     cancel.

6.   You're  now ready to start working with BASIS. Although  you  can
     access  on-line  help at many places in BASIS, you  may  want  to
     print the manual.

     The  BASIS manual is 125 pages in length, and includes  an  Index
     and  Table  of Contents. It is formatted for 8.5 x 11 paper,  and
     can be printed by typing

     TYPE [drive:][path]BASIS2.DOC >PRN

     at  the  DOS  prompt. [drive:] and [path] represent the  optional
     drive  letter  and  directory specification of the  documentation
     file BASIS2.DOC.

     For  example, if the DOCUMENTATION diskette is mounted  in  drive
     A:, you could type

     TYPE A:BASIS2.DOC >PRN to print out the manual.

     If  you do not want to print the manual at this time, you can use
     the  freeware  utility BROWSE.COM, supplied on the  DOCUMENTATION
     diskette to read through BASIS2.DOC on screen.

     Type

     BROWSE BASIS2.DOC

     at  the  DOS prompt. You can then use the PgUp/PgDn/Home/End  and
     cursor keys to position yourself in the document.
The following sections are taken from the BASIS manual.

SYSTEM  REQUIREMENTS - The following represents the minimum  equipment
configuration for running BASIS:

          1. 640 Kb RAM, AT Compatible (80286 CPU or greater)
          2. Math Co-processor
          3. Hard Disk
          4. DOS 3.1 or greater

An  EGA display adapter, or better is recommended. However, BASIS will
run on monochrome (MDA) systems.


RUNNING THE INSTALL PROGRAM - To install BASIS on a hard disk,  insert
BASIS diskette 1 of 2 into drive A or B and type
                              [d:]install

where  'd'  is  the  drive letter of the floppy  drive  in  which  the
diskette  was mounted. The BASIS installation program will  appear  on
the screen.

The  installation program will request the drive letter  of  the  hard
disk  on which it will install the software. Press the letter key that
corresponds to the target drive for installation.

BASIS will automatically copy the program files from the floppy into a
directory  named \BASIS.DIR on the target hard disk. If this directory
does  not  exist,  it will automatically be created. After  the  first
diskette is installed, a prompt will appear requesting that the second
diskette be mounted in the floppy. Insert BASIS diskette 2 of  2  into
the drive, and press ENTER.

After  the  BASIS files have been installed, the installation  program
will  ask  if you want to automatically modify the AUTOEXEC.BAT  file.
BASIS  requires  that  two  DOS Environment  strings  be  placed  into
AUTOEXEC.BAT. The first, "BASIS", names the drive and directory  where
the  BASIS programs were installed. For example, if BASIS is installed
on drive C, then the statement

                        SET BASIS=C:\BASIS.DIR

must  appear in AUTOEXEC.BAT. In the above example, it is assumed that
BASIS  was  installed on drive C. If installed on a  different  drive,
then  the appropriate drive letter should appear in place of  'C:'  in
the example. Note that a trailing backslash is NOT used.

Optionally, a default text-editor can be named that will  be  used  by
some  of  the  BASIS  programs. For example, to use  an  editor  named
C:\UTILS\TED, place the line

                        SET EDITOR=C:\UTILS\TED

in AUTOEXEC.BAT.

If you respond by pressing 'Y' for Yes, the original AUTOEXEC.BAT file
will be saved as AUTOEXEC.BAK, and these changes will be automatically
made.  The  installation program will ask you  for  the  name  of  the
default text editor that some of the programs require. By default, the
program will name BCEDIT, the text editor supplied with BASIS, in  the
EDITOR   environment   string.  If  you  are  upgrading   a   previous
installation  of  BASIS,  the program will  detect  and  update  these
statements if they already exist.

If   you  press  'N'  and  do  not  allow  automatic  modification  of
AUTOEXEC.BAT,  then  you  MUST add these  statements  to  AUTOEXEC.BAT
manually  for  the  software  to function  properly.  Unlike  previous
versions  of BASIS, you must at least include the SET BASIS  statement
even if the software is installed on drive C.

The  installation  program will then ask if you want  to  install  the
AutoCAD  drafting  enhancements. If you are  not  using  AutoCAD,  you
should  respond by pressing 'N' for 'No'. Otherwise, if  you  do  have
AutoCAD, and would like to install the drafting enhancements,  respond
by pressing 'Y' for 'Yes'.

If  you  select 'N' and decide that you want to install  the  drafting
enhancements  later on, you can run the install program  with  the  /D
option.  With this option, the installation program will only  install
the drafting enhancements. To do this, mount the installation disk  in
a floppy drive and type

                            [d:]install /D

where [d:] is the drive in which the diskette is mounted.

If  you  selected 'Y' (or if you run INSTALL with the /D option),  the
installation  program  will request the name of  the  AutoCAD  program
directory.  The  default  is  C:\ACAD.  Next,  a  prompt  will  appear
requesting  the  directory of the ACAD.PGP file (a  file  of  external
commands  described in AutoCAD's documentation). The  default  is  the
AutoCAD  program  directory named above. However,  if  you  are  using
software  such  as  DCA engineering software, ACAD.PGP  will  probably
reside in a different directory than AutoCAD, such as C:\DCA\CIVIL. Be
sure that you name the correct directory.

The  installation  program  will add a few external  commands  to  the
ACAD.PGP file, saving the original ACAD.PGP file as ACADPGP.BAK. If an
existing  BASIS installation is being upgraded, the appropriate  lines
will be modified as necessary.

The installation program will copy the drafting enhancement Lisp files
and  executables into the AutoCAD program directory. And it will  copy
BASIS  point  blocks  into a directory named C:\ACAD\BLOCKS.  If  this
directory  does not exist, it will be created. If you already  have  a
directory  named  C:\ACAD\BLOCKS, and have a  DCA  point  block  named
POINT.DWG  stored  in  it,  the  BASIS POINT.DWG  will  overwrite  it.
Functionally, there is no difference, although the text attributes  of
the  BASIS point blocks are smaller than DCA's and are a slant simplex
style, rather than standard txt style.

After  the  installation is complete, a prompt will appear  that  will
allow  rebooting  the  computer (unless you did not  select  automatic
modification of AUTOEXEC.BAT.) You must reboot the computer  in  order
to make the modifications to AUTOEXEC.BAT take effect.

Note: BASIS installs a graphic headliner program, as well as a screen-
saver.  Both  these programs require as a minimum, an EGA display.  If
your  display hardware does not support EGA graphics, then delete  the
files BASIS1.EXE and SAVER.EXE from BASIS.DIR after installation.


1.03  UNPACKING INDIVIDUAL FILES - Although you'll probably never need
it, a utility program named LZHUF.EXE is provided on disks one and two
of the distribution set.

This  program lets you unpack (or pack) individual files if  you  ever
need only one file from the originals and don't want to spend the time
for a complete re-installation.

The program usage for packing a file is:

[d:][path]LZHUF E [d:][path]filename [d:][path]filename

For unpacking:

[d:][path]LZHUF D [d:][path]filename [d:][path]filename

In  either of the above, [d:] and [path] represent optional drive  and
path specifiers. The first file is the source file and the second file
is the target.

To  distinguish between packed and unpacked files, BASIS uses modified
extensions, as indicated below:

     Packed Extension         Unpacked Extension
          $EX                      EXE
          $CO                      COM
          $BA                      BAT
          $HL                      HLP
          $DA                      DAT

For  example,  suppose that you want to re-install the file  COGO.EXE,
the  interactive  Cogo program. This file is stored  on  the  diskette
labelled PROGRAMS 2, as a packed file \SURVEY\COGO.$EX.

If you place the original diskette in drive A, you could type

           LZHUF D A:\SURVEY\COGO.$EX C:\BASIS.DIR\COGO.EXE

As  mentioned, you'll probably never have to do this. But you may find
LZHUF  handy  for  packing  your  own files,  such  as  large  AutoCAD
drawings,  so they take up less space on your disk. If you  find  that
you are using LZHUF very frequently for your own purposes, I recommend
that  you  obtain a copy of the excellent PKZIP shareware  compression
utilities  which  provide  comparable compression  with  much  greater
convenience.  Unfortunately ZIP files are not  compatible  with  those
created  using LZHUF. You can obtain a copy of PKZIP from  most  major
computer Bulletin Boards.

LZHUF  is a public-domain implementation of the Lempel-Ziv compression
algorithm with Huffman coding, written by Haruyasu Yoshizaki.  It  was
translated to English by Haruhiko Okumura, sysop of the Science SIG of
PC-VAN,  a  Japanese  computer bulletin board. The BASIS  installation
program  uses  portions  of  the  original  LZHUF.C  source  code  for
unpacking compressed files.



