
                            ----------------------
                              Welcome to GBView!
                            ----------------------


GBView 2.6
----------
Simple Windows applet to browse GB/BIG5 texts, that is,
text of simplified mainland Chinese and traditional tai-
wanese Chinese.  Runs in any language edition of Windows
3.1, Win95/98 and NT4.

Two computerized Chinese systems
--------------------------------
One is GB (National Standard) of the mainland China.  The
other is BIG5 of Taiwan.  They are not compatible with each
other.  Many Chinese articles are released in both codes.

Features
--------
. views GB text, ASCII text, or the mixture
. views BIG5 text in simplified Chinese font
. files in BIG5 format can be converted and saved as GB text
. able to decode HZ to a new file
. able to decode quoted printable to a new file
. able to paste text on the clipboard to a new file and then open it
. automatic line wrap to adjust to the size of the viewing window
. automatic TAB expansion when displaying
. views contents up to 32,768 lines
. supports drag and drop
. assotiates with .GB files when running the first time
. able to uninstall itself from Windows

Editions
--------
v2.6 for win32 has 3 editions, one uses 15x16 Chinese font,
one uses 13x13, and one uses 11x11.  No other differences
exist among these editions.

About GBView 2.3 for win16
--------------------------
v2.3 for win16 also has 3 editions by font size.  They have
the features of GBView v2.2 for win32 but use the same font
as that of GBView 2.5/2.6 for win32 and have fixed all known
bugs.

Distribution
------------
This applet is freeware and is free for non-commercial
usage.  Please distribute it in its original package.

How to install
--------------
copy the GBVIEW.EXE to your windows directory, or any other
directory you like.  You have to "setup an application"
manually to get an icon in your Windows shell (usually the
Program Manager).  The first launch of the applet will ask
if you would like to associate .GB files with GBView program.

How to uninstall
----------------
Just click "file->uninstall" menu item, GBView will
unregister from Windows. The win16 GBView will also
remove the program file.

How to use
----------
Very simple!
. To browse a file, click "file->open", and select the file to be
  browsed.  If you open a file in BIG5, the display may be bizaar.
  In this case click "options->viewing BIG5 text" and the text will be
  readable.  When viewing text in GB, just deselect this option.
  Usually the applet will select or de-select this option automatically
  according to the extension of the file name.
. When the "options->viewing BIG5 text" is selected, you can click "file->
  save in GB as ..." to save the opened file into a GB file.  For
  large files, only first 32,768 lines can be browsed, but conversion
  to GB will be complete.  The converted file will be opened automa-
  tically.
. When browsing a HZ text (there's unreadable text in ~{ and ~} pairs),
  you can use "file->decode HZ as ..." to decode to a new file.  The
  new file will automatically opened.  Quoted printable file with many
  =XX=XXs can be decoded to a new file by "file->decode QP as..." and
  then viewed.
. Use "file->paste to file ..." to paste the text on the clipboard to
  a new file.  GBView will automatically open the newly save file.
. Use "Options->silent mode" to enable or disable audable message.  Use
  "Options->open-file dialog on startup" to enable or disable the open
  file dialog box when GBView is started.  These two options would be
  effective at once and forever.
. When browsing a file, use up/down arrow keys to scroll up or scroll
  down one line.
. Use pgup/pgdn key to scroll up/down one page.
. Use Home/End key to go to top or bottom of the file.
. You can also use the vertical scroll bar with a mouse, too.
. If the file is too long, only the first 32,768 lines can be browsed.

Related applet
--------------
I have another program called BIG5View, which can be used to
browse BIG5 files in traditional Chinese font.  It is a win16
app and, of course, can run well on win32 platforms.

How to contact the author
-------------------------
If you have any problems or suggestions concerning the
applet, or are interested in BIG5View, please contact me via
email: jiang_wq@yahoo.com, or jiang_wq@ynmail.com.

Jiang Wenqing,
February 2000.

============================================================
Version history:

What's new in v2.6 since v2.5:
------------------------------
. When GBView v2.5 for win32 runs on NT, it can't remember
  last visited directory and user set options.  This bug
  has been fixed in v2.6, which is also expected to run well
  on the newly released Windows 2000.

What's new in v2.5 since v2.4:
------------------------------
. Ascii font revamped to make it look more agreeable.
. Add audable hint when displaying message box.
. Two options added to enable/disable audable hint and open-file dialog
. Fixed a minor bug that more than one message box might appear when the
  file to be viewed has more than 32768 lines.

What's new in v2.4 since v2.3:
------------------------------
. Paste text on the clipboard to a new file and then open it
. Grayed some menu items whenever they are not applicable

What's new in v2.3 since v2.2:
------------------------------
. Decode HZ and quoted printables
. removes a bug causing unable to save to an existing file
. automatically open saved file

What's new in v2.2 since v2.0:
------------------------------
. Uninstall feature added.  This will unregister itself from the Windows
  registry file, remove initial entries in WIN.INI, and remove the GBView
  program file.  The win16 editons work well both on Windows 3.1 and 95/98.
. The big5 file suffix (*.b5, *.big, and *.big5) are supported, and these
  files will automatically be treated as big5 text files.  Files with .gb
  extension will automatically be treated as GB text files.
. Fixed two minor displaying bugs.  In v2.0, when other windows covering the
  GBView window are removed, some text formerly covered might fail to redraw
  completely.  This is due to a position miscalculation and has been fixed
  in this version.  Another problem with v2.0 is that when many consecutive
  TAB chars are displayed, a few of them would be mistreated as non-ASCII
  chars.  That blunder is also fixed in this version.

V2.0 and earlier versions:
--------------------------
v2.0 (named GBView): Big5 disaplay and conversion to GB added.
v1.3 (named GBrowser): Drag & drop supported, bug fix.
v1.1 (named GBrowser): Auto linewrap added to make line length adjust to
                       windows width; ASCII printable chars supported.
v1.0 (named Zephyr): Browse GB files.  No auto linewrap.  A Win16 app.

Tech specification:
-------------------
GB standard: GB2312-80.  Chinese character first byte
0x21-0x77 and second byte 0x21-0xfe, all inclusive, with MSB
bit set.  Charaters with first byte of 0x2a-0x2f (not
defined) are displayed as blank.  Unknown characters are
displayed as dotted box.

HZ code handling conforms with RFC1842/RFC1843.

I have not any specification about quoted printable, and handle it in
GBView just according to some experiment.  Any spec on it will be welcome.
