
  Dear Computer User:

  ArcMaster (AM) is a powerful and sophisticated system that is designed
  to make the compression, extraction, and management of archive files
  quick and easy.  In fact, AM does much, much more and can be used as a
  primary file management "shell".

  Those of you that are knowledgable, experienced computer users will
  not need the information contained in the remainder of this file.  But
  many users are new to the world of computers and will benefit from
  this information.  Hopefully, this info will assist the less
  experienced person with dealing with the complexity and power of AM.

  All users are urged to read AM.DOC, which contains complete operating
  instructions for this program.

  IMPORTANT:  AM requires an 80286 or better CPU.

  On-line Help
  ------------
  AM offers a sophisticated on-line help system.  You can access this
  help from just about anywhere in the AM program by pressing the F1 key
  on your computer.  You can user your computer keypad arrow and Pg keys
  to move help system cursor to where you want it.  Use the computer
  Enter key to select a help topic.

  Dual-Windows
  ------------
  The AM main display is dominated by dual display windows that contain
  lists of file names extracted from the directory active for that
  window.  Each window can be set to the same or a different directory.
  Only one window can be "active".  The active window is the one with
  the solid cursor bar that moves when an up/down arrow key is pressed.
  You can "move" from one window to the other with the left/right arrow
  keys or the Tab key.  All AM operations originate in the active
  window and resulting files are placed in the inactive (target) window.
  The drive and/or directory can be changed with the F3 or F5 key.

  Menu System
  -----------
  You can press either slash key ("/" or "\") while viewing the main
  dual-window display to activate the AM menu system.  A cursor bar will
  appear on the very top line of the screen which contains menu titles.
  Move this cursor bar with the left/right arrow keys.  Press the Enter
  key to display a selected menu.  Even after the menu is displayed, you
  can move to an adjacent menu with the left/right arrow keys.  Each
  menu has a cusor bar wich can be moved vertically to a desired menu
  item.  Press the Enter key activate a selected menu function.

  File Masks
  ----------
  A file mask is a sort of filter that uses DOS wild card characters
  ("?"  or "*") that you can use to limit the files you can view in an
  AM window.  For example, you may wish to view only those files that
  match the filter "*.ABC".  This means that AM will show you all files
  that have an extension of "ABC".  The File Cmds menu has an item named
  Define File Mask that permits you to create different file name
  filters.

  Tagging/Untagging File Names
  ----------------------------
  The term "tag" means to mark a specific file.  Files are tagged for
  group or batch operations.  For example, you may wish to mark a set of
  8 or 10 files for compression by one of the supported file compression
  systems by tagging each of files.  Files can be tagged/untagged in
  either of the dual windows by pressing the space bar or the "+" key.
  All files in the active window may be tagged/untagged with Ctrl+T.
  A tagged file is marked by small diamond character to the left of
  the file name.

  Finally, it is most important that you read the section in AM.DOC
  entitled "Configuring ArcMaster".

  Thank you for trying ArcMaster!

  New-Ware
  Copyright 1987..1993, all rights reserved.

