

LANtastic(R)                                           Compatibility Bulletin



Product:         Micro Perfect products from Micro Perfect Corp.

Updated:         02/15/96

Classification:  Vertical Market(s) -- (Various)

Engineer:        /skh



This product is certified to work great with LANtastic when installed as 

described in this bulletin.  As a participant in the LANtastic Developer 

Alliance, the listed version of this product was tested for compatibility 

with the LANtastic Network Operating Systems indicated.  Bulletins are 

available to help with the installation of many compatible products and with 

many aspects of managing or enhancing your network. Bulletins are available:

  

  By fax from the Artisoft FaxReturn System at (520) 884-1397; request 

  document 2001 for a list of compatible applications and other software, 

  document 2044 for a list of compatible network interface cards and other 

  hardware, document 2 for a current list of all available bulletins;



  Through the Artisoft Home Page http://www.artisoft.com on the World Wide 

  Web;

  

  As ASCII text or Acrobat Text Enriched (PDF) files from the Artisoft 

  Arti-Facts BBS at (520) 884-8648 (1200 baud - 28.8 Kbps, 8 data bits, 1 

  stop bit, no parity, full duplex), the GO ARTISOFT forum on CompuServe, or 

  the Artisoft anonymous FTP site ftp.artisoft.com; download APPCOM.TXT from 

  the BULLETIN section for a list of compatible applications and other 

  software, NICCOM.TXT for a list of compatible network interface cards and 

  other hardware, !BLTXREF.TXT for a current list of all available bulletins.



COMPATIBILITY STATEMENT

Micro Perfect products from Micro Perfect work great with LANtastic.



PRODUCT OVERVIEW

Micro Perfect products include Auto Perfect, BailBond Perfect, Basket 

Perfect, Cards Perfect, Catering Perfect, Checkbook Perfect, Club Perfect, 

Comics Perfect, Command Perfect, ComRent Perfect, Contact Perfect, Co-op 

Education and Placement Perfect, Courier Perfect, Dental Perfect, Docket 

Perfect, Doctor Perfect, Herd Perfect, Hospital Perfect, Hotel Perfect v2.0, 

Insurance Perfect (for Brokers), Insurance Perfect (for Carriers), Jazz

Perfect, Job Shop Perfect, Limo Perfect, Liquor Perfect, Marina Perfect, Menu  

Perfect, Parcel Perfect, Pit Stop Perfect, Pizza Perfect, P.O.S. Perfect, 

Public Relations Perfect, Recipe Perfect, ResRent Perfect, Restaurant 

Perfect, Salon Perfect, Service Perfect, Support Perfect, Teacher Perfect, 

TimeClock Perfect, Video Perfect.



SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS

All Micro Perfect products are compatible with all known DOS providers and 

all versions 3.3 and later. Micro Perfect has DOS, Windows v3.1, and Windows 

95 products.



INSTALLATION

The setup information relevant to LANtastic is the same for all Micro Perfect  

products because all Micro Perfect products have the same technical core.  

The setup considerations are the same for both DOS and Windows v3.1.



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CONFIGURATION

You do not need SHARE.EXE to run any Micro Perfect Programs.  If you have to 

run SHARE for other programs then you may have to expand its configuration.  

By default SHARE.EXE only opens 30 files and file name space of 2048 

characters (bytes).  If you have SHARE loaded for any purposes it must be 

expanded beyond its defaults.  Try adding "/L:500" and "/F:4096" after the 

SHARE command to expand its parameters.  If you are running several other 

shared applications or if you are running your Micro Perfect applications for 

multiple companies then the "/F:" might need to be set much larger.  If you 

get a message like "CANNOT SHARE" then SHARE's "/F:" or "/L:" is either 

missing or set too low.



As long as you do not run a WRITE BACK disk cache you can shut the server or 

any workstation down at any time and do no harm; if you run a WRITE BACK disk 

cache you will blow your data away sooner or later.  You must use a WRITE 

THROUGH cache only.



   SMARTDRV must have a "/X" parameter to be WRITE THROUGH.

   NCACHE2 must have a "/-I" parameter to be WRITE THROUGH.



In the event you lack DOS file editing experience (via EDIT or EDLIN) you can 

get a copy of RECONFIG.EXE from Micro Perfect (or the dealer that sold you 

your Micro Perfect program.)  The RECONFIG.EXE program was specially designed 

to rewrite your AUTOEXEC.BAT and your CONFIG.SYS to get it completely up to

specification for Micro Perfect programs.  It will also move your LANtastic 

STARTNET.BAT information into proper position so MEMMAKER can do its 

optimization correctly.  In addition, RECONFIG.EXE may double check and 

correct inappropriate caching program setups to protect your network and its 

data overall.



If you have a network registration and you still can run only one or just a 

few stations then you may need to expand your "SERVER STARTUP PARAMETERS" in 

LANtastic NET_MGR.



   1.)  Check NET_MGR "SERVER STARTUP..." for the number of STATIONS; this 

        may be too low.

   

   2.)  Check NET_MGR "SERVER STARTUP..." for the number of FILES; bump it up 

        to 500 (if it is less than that) and see if this clears your problem.

   

   3.)  Check NET_MGR "SERVER STARTUP..." INTERNAL SHARE..." for the number 

        of FILES; bump it up to 500 (if it is less than that) and see if this 

        clears or improves your problem.

   

   4.)  Check NET_MGR "SERVER STARTUP..." INTERNAL SHARE..." for the FILES 

        SPACE; bump it up to 5k (if it is less than that) and see if this 

        clears or improves your problem.



Micro Perfect products do not require any special expanded or extended memory 

configurations.



Use MEMMAKER to maximize the amount of CONVENTIONAL memory you have free.  

Consult your DOS manual on the use of MEMMAKER.



Since MEMMAKER will not trace down through the BATCH files that AUTOEXEC.BAT 



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will call you must copy the contents of those BATCH files into AUTOEXEC.BAT 

for MEMMAKER to optimize those batch files' use of memory.



This means LANtastic's STARTNET.BAT is not normally optimized by MEMMAKER.  

You MUST copy STARTNET.BAT into AUTOEXEC.BAT for MEMMAKER to optimize 

LANtastic's use of memory.



If you get a message like "ABNORMAL PROGRAM TERMINATION" you have low 

conventional memory.



Make FILES=255 arbitrarily.  If you get a message like "TOO MANY FILES" or 

"NOT ENOUGH FILES" then you have FILES set less than 140.



MULTI-USER ACCESS

Micro Perfect products should be loaded on the server.  They can optionally 

be write protected with the DOS "ATTRIB +R *.EXE" command.



PRINTING

Micro Perfect products will work on any basic printer at any LPT1 to LPT4 or 

COM1 to COM4 port.  These ports can be local or network printers.



COMMON INSTALLATION-RELATED OVERSIGHTS

If you can get one station or one server running but no more then you may 

have a single user version of our software.  Check your registration.



Any insufficient memory messages encountered while the program is in 

operation can be permanently avoided by setting up our internal memory 

swapping mechanisms.  Add the following three lines to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file



   CLAVM0=MEMORY,64           Note #1: ZERO not "o"

   CLAVM1=C:\,512             Note #2: ONE not "i" or "l"

   ERASE VM*.                 Note #3: period





RESTRICTIONS AND CAVEATS

Your hardware will eventually fail so you must back up and verify your 

backups frequently.  98% of businesses that suffer a catastrophic data loss 

go bankrupt within three years.



User are encouraged to remember the three rules of surviving in an automated 

world:

          

   Always keep several generations of verified backups,

   Always keep several generations of verified backups, and,

   Always keep several generations of verified backups.



Micro Perfect applications have built-in backup routines but you are not 

limited to those routines.  You can use any backup routine or device, 

however, we prefer and recommend DAT tape backups.  You should also take at 

least one backup off-site each week.



NETWORK DISCONNECTS

In the event of a network disconnect, a DOS critical error message will 

appear and you may Abort, Retry, or Fail the operation.  If you are using 

Windows you may be able to use LANtastic Network Connections to reconnect, 



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then return to the application window and Retry.



INTEROPERABILITY

For Windows 95(TM) you should use the LANtastic drivers and not the Windows 

95 drivers.  This is because non-standard record locking has been implemented 

in Windows 95.  Industry standard is for a 5/18 second delay on record 

locking.  Windows 95 has 1/18 second record locking.  This non-standard 

record locking can cause numerous errors and messages in a variety of 

products.  An undocumented patch for the 1/18 second record locking problem 

is available from Microsoft.



VENDOR INFORMATION

Micro Perfect products are software products of:



     Micro Perfect Corp.

     225 West 34th Street

     New York, New York  10122

     

     Sales:              (212) 629-6082       FAX  (212) 629-8578

     Technical Support:  Call Sales number for Technical Support information



ARTISOFT TECHNICAL SUPPORT

Artisoft offers a wide selection of technical support options.  For 

information regarding technical support services, please refer to our 

Directory of Support Services, available where you obtained this bulletin 

(request fax document 4, check Support & Services at our Home Page, or 

download file DIRLIST.TXT).  You can also obtain this information by calling 

Artisoft at (520) 670-7000.



_____________________________________________________________________________

Artisoft makes no warranties as to the completeness or accuracy of this 

document.  Artisoft is not responsible for lost profit or revenue, loss of 

software use, loss of data, cost of re-creating data, cost of any substitute 

equipment or program, or any other claim.  Artisoft makes no warranty that 

complying products will operate under any other conditions, or that products 

will satisfy requirements, or that products will be without defect or error,

or that product operation will be uninterrupted.  Artisoft's aggregate 

liability is limited to the total of payments made by the customer for the 

Artisoft product and Artisoft shall not in any case be liable for any 

special, incidental, consequential, indirect, or punitive damages, even if it 

has been advised of the possibility of those damages.  LANtastic is a 

trademark of Artisoft, Inc.  Brand names, company names, and product names 

are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.



Artisoft, Inc.

2202 N. Forbes Boulevard

Tucson, Arizona  85745-1412



Sales Consultation Center:  (800) 846-9726  FAX (520) 670-7359

Product Certification Message Center:  (520) 670-7107  FAX (520) 670-7225

Information regarding Technical Support:  (520) 670-7000  BBS (520) 884-8648











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