
                         IBM PC ASSISTANT (TM)
                      Developed by Mark T. Chapman
           IBM PC Company HelpCenter Technical Support Group
                   Copyright (C) IBM Corp. 1989-1995
                              ÄÄÄ  ÄÄÄ 

NOTE: The IBM PC Assistant *used* to be called the IBM Personal Systems (or PS)
Assistant.

The intent of this file is to explain what the IBM PC Assistant is, how to
install it, how to obtain future upgrades, and what problems or limitations you
might run into while installing or using it.  (Note: Change Bars (|) indicate
new or modified information since the last release of this file.  They are 
also used in the body of the INF files described below.)

A complete list of the files that you should have is as follows:
                          ASST.ICO
                          ASST.TXT  (This File)
                          ASST-CON.INF
                          ASST-GEN.INF
                          ASST-MKT.INF
                          ASST-OPT.INF
                          ASST-OS.INF
                          ASST-PC.INF
                          ASST-PPC.INF
                          ASST-PS2.INF
                          ASST-SVC.INF
                          ASST-SVR.INF
                          ASST-TP.INF
                          ASST-TTL.INF
                          ASST-VP.INF
The purpose of these files is described below.

 
OVERVIEW
--------
There are many sources of information available from IBM, including announcement
letters, service manuals, programming and technical reference manuals, how-to
"cookbooks," electronic bulletin boards (both public and IBM-use only), and
others.  The IBM PC Assistant is an attempt to bring much disparate and often
difficult-to-find information together into one easy-to-use "electronic book."

The IBM PC Assistant is an online help tool composed of PS/2 and OS/2-related
marketing, service, technical and general information.  The books include the:

1. IBM Consumer PC Assistant (ASST-CON.INF), which contains: 
    Hardware and software Qs & As for Ambra, Aptiva, and PS/1 systems and bundled 
     software. 
    Hardware technical tips. 
    Lengthy technical specifications documents for Aptiva and PS/1 systems, past and 
     present. 
2. IBM General Information Assistant (ASST-GEN.INF), which includes:
    Lists of IBM voice and non-voice telephone numbers. 
    A list of Non-IBM technical support telephone numbers. 
    A list of OS/2-related BBSes. 
    A list of OS/2-related PC User Groups. 
    An acronyms and abbreviations list. 
3. IBM OS Assistant (ASST-OS.INF), which provides: 
    Thousands of OS/2 and DOS Q&As.
    OS/2 and DOS technical tips. 
    OS/2 compatibility tables. 
4. IBM PC Marketing Assistant (filename ASST-MKT.INF), which contains: 
    IBM product industry awards and reviews. 
    IBM PC Factory Outlet catalog. 
    IBM PC hardware and software part number lists and descriptions. 
    IBM publication ordering information. 
    Feature Code/Part Number cross-reference. 
    Promotion and upgrade information. 
5. IBM PC Options Assistant (ASST-OPT.INF), which includes: 
    Hardware and software Qs & As for monitors, adapters, drives, and other PC-related 
     options
    Hardware technical tips. 
6. IBM PC Series Assistant (ASST-PC.INF), which offers: 
    Hardware Q&As.
    Hardware technical tips. 
    Lengthy technical specifications documents for PC 300/700 series systems, past and 
     present. 
7. IBM PC Server Assistant (ASST-SRV.INF), which contains: 
    Hardware and software Q&As for IBM servers and related network software.
    Hardware and software technical tips. 
    Lengthy technical specifications documents for PC Server 300/500/700 series, and PS/2 
     Server 85/95/195/295 systems, past and present.
8. IBM PC Service Assistant (ASST-SVC.INF), which contains: 
    Hardware and OS/2 error code information. 
    Latest DOS and OS/2 CSD information. 
    DOS and OS/2 diskette manifests. 
    Latest Reference and Diagnostic Diskettes list. 
    Micro Channel adapter ADF file cross-reference. 
    PC System/Monitor warranty information. 
    Hardware and software service tips and Qs & As, and more. 
9. IBM PowerPC Assistant (ASST-PPC.INF), which contains: 
    Hardware and software Q&As.
    Hardware and software technical tips. 
    Lengthy technical specifications documents for PowerPC-based PC and ThinkPad systems, 
     past and present. 
10. IBM PS/2 Assistant (ASST-PS2.INF), which contains: 
     Hardware and software Q&As
     Hardware and software technical tips 
     Lengthy technical specifications documents for PS/2 systems (except PS/2 servers) 
11. IBM ThinkPad Assistant (ASST-TP.INF), which contains: 
     Hardware and software Q&As
     Hardware and software technical tips 
     Lengthy technical specifications documents for ThinkPad systems (except PowerPC), past 
      and present. 
12. IBM ValuePoint Assistant (ASST-VP.INF), which contains: 
     Hardware and software Q&As
     Hardware and software technical tips 
     Lengthy technical specifications documents for ValuePoint systems 
  
  
The reason for having a number of different books instead of just one large one 
is two-fold.  First, there is so much information provided that it might be 
awkward to use, and would take longer to search through than smaller books.  
And second, by dividing up all of this information into related subject matter, 
those who don't need certain categories of information (such as service tips, for 
example), can delete entire books to save disk space.  Besides, these files can 
be logically linked together and viewed or searched as one large book, at your 
preference.  (This procedure is explained in the accompanying ASST.TXT file.)  
For convenience, the files will be collectively called the "IBM PC Assistant" 
throughout the rest of this document. 

Not only is the information more "centrally located" this way than distributed 
across all the individual documents, but due to its electronic nature, the specific 
information you seek can be found more quickly and easily.  The source 
information is compiled into binary files that take roughly half as much disk 
space as ASCII files would.  And since the compiler also creates a "data 
dictionary" of all words and numbers anywhere in the files, all occurrences can 
be found and displayed on-screen in only a few seconds via the search facility 
provided.  In addition, hypertext links (hyperlinks) allow you to jump from 
section to section within a book without ever having to return to the Table of 
Contents.  Hyperlinks are also used to display popup footnote windows at the 
point of the footnote reference, rather than making you have to scroll down to 
the bottom of a page, or the end of a chapter, to find the footnoted 
information. 

The IBM PC Assistant is created by compiling a scripted ASCII text file, using the 
Information Presentation Facility (IPF) Tag Language and Compiler.  They are 
included in the OS/2 2.1 or 3.0 Developer's Toolkits, IBM Hyperwise editor (P/N 
30H1731--3.5"), and IBM C Set++ First Step V2.1 (P/N 82G3744--3.5"; 
82G3746--CD-ROM") packages, among others.  The IBM PC Assistant requires 
OS/2 1.2 or later to operate, because it uses the OS/2 VIEW.EXE command to 
access the files.  This is the same command used to display the online OS/2 
Command Reference.  Since both files were created with the same compiler, and 
are displayed by the same command, they look and act very much alike.  So if 
you know how to use one, you also know how to use the other.

Note:  The IBM PC Assistant was tested, and does work, across an OS/2 LAN 
Server V1.2 or later network, relieving the need for disk space on the 
requester, not to mention not having to keep all those requesters updated with 
the latest versions of the IBM PC Assistant books.  (For instructions on Setting 
Up an OS/2 LAN Server to Share Online Books, see the document by the same 
name in the Networking Tips section of the PS Technical Assistant.)
 
Features include:
 - A Table of Contents listing a number of sections containing PS/1-PS/2-PS/VP,
   OS/2, DOS, and AIX Marketing information; PS and OS/2 Service information;
   and PS and OS/2 Technical information, as well as PC Assistant
   overview and usage instructions (What is the IBM *** Assistant? - Tutorial).
 - A keyword Search capability, which highlights all occurrences of a word or
   phrase, anywhere in the PC Assistant, and displays all sections containing
   that string in a selection window.
 - A Print feature allowing you to print the Table of Contents, any section
   or group of marked sections, or the entire book.
 - A Copy-to-clipboard function for copy/paste use.
 - A Copy/Append-to-ASCII-File capability to save to disk for future use.
 - A Bookmark feature to save a list of the frequently-referred-to sections
   for quicker access.
 - Contextual online Help for general usage information.
 
INSTALLING AND STARTING THE PC Assistant
------------------------------------------
For performance reasons I strongly recommend that you copy the files to a hard
drive.  You may wish to add the PC Assistant to the C:\OS2\BOOK directory,
which already contains the online OS/2 Command Reference (and perhaps other
online OS/2 books, depending on what you have installed).  If you prefer to
create a separate directory for the Assistant, you should also change the     
SET BOOKSHELF= statement in CONFIG.SYS.  For example, if you create a directory
called PS2ASST, change SET BOOKSHELF=  from:

SET BOOKSHELF=C:\OS2\BOOK

          to       

SET BOOKSHELF=C:\OS2\BOOK;C:\IBMASST
This tells OS/2 where to look for online books.)                                                                       

Then on an OS/2 1.x system either:
                ^^^
1) Create a menu option (using Program...New from the Group action bar)
containing the following information:
 
     Program Title:  PS Marketing Assistant
     Path:           C:\OS2\VIEW.EXE
     Parameters:     ASST-MKT
                     (Note: The .INF file extension is NOT necessary here.)
 
and simply click on the PC Assistant menu option to run the program.
 
                                   or,
 
2) Type:  VIEW ASST-MKT
 
to run the program directly from the command prompt.

Finally, you may wish to create a new Group specifically for the PS
Assistant, or for all online books, including the OS/2 and LAN command
references.  To do this, simply go to the Desktop Manager and select Group.

Then select New, and type in a Group Name (say, PC Assistant, or Online
Books).  After deciding whether to have the menu auto-start when you boot up
(under 1.3 or later), and whether to start minimized or "normalized", click on
Add, and you are done.  Once the group has been added, you can set up the menu
to include the Assistant books, by using Program...New, and filling in the
fields, as described above.

For OS/2 2.x or Warp users:
         ^^^
1) Open the Information object on the desktop, and use Create Another (or hold
   down the Ctrl key and drag a book icon elsewhere in the folder and then drop
   it) to duplicate an existing book object
2) Open the icon Settings and change the Parameter field to the name of one PS
   Assistant book; then change the icon title and parameters.
3) Repeat steps 1) and 2) for the other books

Or, use the VIEW command as in OS/2 1.x.

Finally, you may wish to create a new Folder specifically for the PC
Assistant, or other online books.  To do this, simply go to the Templates 
folder and drag/drop the Folder template onto your desktop (or inside another
folder)  The folder will be created with the name "Folder".  You can change 
this by either going into the folder Settings ("General" tab), or by simply 
pressing the Alt-Leftmouse button combination.

To install the other PC Assistant books, simply repeat the process,
substituting the other titles and file names in the above example.

 
AUTOSTARTING THE PC ASSISTANT
-----------------------------
If you would like to automatically start the PC Marketing Assistant when you
boot up your system, add the following statement to your OS/2 1.x STARTUP.CMD 
batch file:
 
   START C:\OS2\VIEW.EXE ASST-MKT.INF

Or OS/2 2.x/3.x users can add the appropriate book icons to the Startup folder.

 
LINKING BOOKS TOGETHER
----------------------
If you would like to logically link the some or all of the books together (to
simplify keyword searches of all the information in all of the files) into one
big menu, you can type from a command line (or put in a batch file or
CONFIG.SYS):
 
SET IBMASST=ASST-TTL.INF+ASST-MKT.INF+ASST-SVC.INF+ASST-OS.INF+ASST-TP.INF+...
(Note: The .INF file extension IS necessary here.)

This will create one "virtual" book called IBMASST (or any other name you
choose to assign).  To see the data, just VIEW IBMASST as you would with one
of the component files, or use IBMASST as the parameter name.

OR, 1.x users may create a menu option containing the following information 
(the file names can be in whatever order you prefer):
 
   Program Title:  PC Assistant
   Path:           C:\OS2\VIEW.EXE
   Parameter:      ASST-MKT+ASST-SVC+ASST-OS+ASST-TP+ASST-VP+ASST-CON+...
                   (Note: The .INF file extension is NOT necessary here.)
 
(The disadvantage to these approaches is that the "About PC Assistant" menu
heading will appear six times each on the combined menu, because it exists in
all files.  This makes the menu a bit more cluttered, but nothing worse.)
In the above examples, the title of the combined book would be "IBM PC
Marketing Assistant" because that is the title of the first file in the SET 
command.  If another file were first, its title would be used instead. 
 
For this reason there is one additional .INF file (named ASST_TTL.INF, less
than 1,000 bytes bytes) provided, which is merely a title header.  If you
precede the other file names in the examples above with this file name, your
title will show "IBM PC Assistant Series" as the title, instead of "IBM PC
Marketing Assistant."  This may be less confusing when you sometimes look
at just one PC Assistant book, and other times link several books together.
 
(NOTE: In case you are wondering why the .INF extension was used in some of
the examples above, but not others, the answer is that it is optional when
using the VIEW command directly, as in VIEW xxxx; however when the START
command is used to launch a program, or the SET command is used to link files
together, the fully-qualified program and file names are required.  Not using
the .INF extension in these cases will cause a "Cannot Open Input File"
error.)

*** TIP ***
If you already have the Assistant installed in a group/folder, and want to move
the entries to their own group/folder, you can simply drag and drop (using the
"alternate" ["right" for right-handed users) mouse button) from one window to
another.  This will save a lot of typing (in the new group/folder) and deleting
(from the old location).  This "trick" works with any folder or Group menu items.


INSTALLING THE PC ASSISTANT ICON
--------------------------------
There is one final file, ASST.ICO included with the PC Assistant.  It is an
icon that can be used to distinguish the PC Assistant books from others you may
have.  (Note:  While you can assign this icon to objects in a folder, when the
books are actually being displayed, and are minimized to the desktop, the
(default) icon for the VIEW.EXE program is used.)

For OS/2 2.1 or Warp users:
         ^^^
This is very simple:
First, use the Drives icon to find the directory (such as C:\OS2\BOOK)
containing the icon file, and open that folder/directory so that you can see
the ASST.ICO icon.  Then open the Settings for the book you wish to apply 
the icon to, and select the General tab. Then simply drag then icon (using the
right mouse button) from the folder onto the icon displayed in the Settings.
When you drop the icon it replaces the original one in the Settings.  This was
a new feature in 2.1.  Any icon can be replaced by any other icon in seconds,
without knowing the name or location of either the original or replacement
icon.  You only have to be able to drag one icon onto another, even if it is
an application on your desktop that doesn't have a specific icon file.  Just
drag and drop the application object onto the Settings notebook and the icon
will be "absorbed.

For OS/2 2.0 users:
         ^^^
First, open the Settings for the book you wish to attach the icon to.  Click
on the General notebook tab, press the Find button and then the Locate button.
Click on the Path tab and type in the path where the icons can be found (such
as C:\OS2\BOOK).  Press the OK button, then the Find. button.  Use the
scroll bar as necessary to spot the icon you want and then click on it to
select it.  Press the OK button; if the correct icon is now shown in the
Settings notebook, close the settings.  If not repeat the steps, being careful
to follow them exactly.  (This process sounds more confusing than it really is,
once you get used to it.)


USAGE INSTRUCTIONS
------------------
Information on using the PC Assistant is available by double-clicking on the
first option (What is the IBM PC Assistant? - Tutorial) on the Contents menu.
If you are familiar with using the OS/2 Online Command Reference, then you
already know how to use the PC Assistant; however there is some information
specific to the PC Assistant contained in this section that should be read
before using the first time.

*** HOT TIP ***                                                               
If you know the name of the section you will be looking in first, you can jump
directly to that section from the command line.  For example, if you want to  
look up a phone number, rather than typing VIEW ASST-GEN, and then selecting
the IBM Phone Number list, and then the IBM Voice Phone Numbers, you could    
type:                                                                         
                        VIEW ASST-GEN VOICE
 
and jump directly to that section.  This technique works only for the FIRST   
menu topic containing that keyword.  If, for example, you searched on PHONE,  
you would get the IBM Phone Number header.                                    
 
This trick won't always get you where you want to go on the first try, but it 
can be a time-saver once you get the hang of it.                              
 
******************************************************************************
 
UPDATES
-------
The PC Assistant is updated every 2-4 weeks, and released via the IBM PC Co.
BBS (see below) for end-users (IBMASST1.ZIP and IBMASST2.ZIP, as well as
individual books in ZIP'ed format), and the MKTTOOLS and PCWIN tools disks 
(IBMASST PACKAGE on MKTTOOLS and IBMASST2 PACKAGE on PCWIN) for IBMers.  IBM
Developer Assistance Program (IDAP) members,and customers registered as 
Technical Coordinators, who have access to IBMLINK also may download the PS 
Assistant, using the instructions provided (from the Software Mall).  End
users may also download the PC Assistant from a number of other public and
commercial sources, as follows:

  GEnie
  IBM PC Company BBS (919-517-0001) [PS2ASST1.ZIP and PS2ASST2.ZIP, or
   individual PS?A_xxx.ZIP files.]; or use AD command at command line
  OS/2 Shareware BBS (703-385-4325) [IBMASST1.ZIP and IBMASST2.ZIP, or
   individual ASST-xxx.ZIP files.]
  Other BBSes around the world that carry OS/2-related programs and files
  Prodigy [PS2AST.ZIP - Jump "OS/2 CLUB", double-click on "Download
   Library" icon, then "Browse Download Files", then "IBM files", then
   "Information".  Finally, page down until you find the filename.]

Note: The file names may vary from location to location, but they should all
look something like "ASST_xxx.ZIP", "IBMASSTx.ZIP" (where x may be anything),
or something similar.  The associated description should help identify it.

IBMers may type in the following command from the VM command line to get the
latest copy of the PC Assistant:

         TOOLCAT MKTTOOLS GET IBMASST PACKAGE

                         -or-

         TOOLCAT PCWIN GET IBMASST2 PACKAGE     <-- note the 3
                                  ^         
 
If this doesn't work, use the following:

         TOOLS SENDTO USDIST TOOLS MKTTOOLS GET IBMASST PACKAGE

                               - or -

         TOOLS SENDTO BCRVMMS1 PCWIN PCWIN GET IBMASST2 PACKAGE  <-- note the 3
                                                      ^

To subscribe to the PC Assistant (and receive future updates automatically),
repeat the previous command, substituting SUB for GET.


IMPORTANT NOTE:
---------------
Due to some technical problems with MKTTOOLS, some long-time subscribers have
had trouble receiving the PC Assistant from MKTTOOLS.  Those users
should try subscribing via the PCWIN disk as an alternative.


FEEDBACK
--------
If you have any comments, suggestions, or find any errors, please let me know.
I can be reached through the IBM PC Company BBS as follows: Dealers registered
with the IBM Technical Advisor program may use the 800 # to call the IBM PC 
Company Technical Advisor BBS (TA BBS) set up for them.  Others may call
919-517-0001.  All modems are V.32bis (14.4Kbps).  Communication parameters
supported are 300-14400 bps, N, 8, 1, except for the V-Series modems (9600).
In addition, I can be reached via Internet as MCHAPMAN@VNET.IBM.COM.

My fax number is 919-517-1012.

IBMers can reach me internally at T/L 255-0484 or MCHAPMAN at RALVM8.  There
is also a PS2ASST FORUM available on the IBMPC disk.

Finally, I can also be reached by mail at the address contained in the 
Tutorial section of each PC Assistant book.

******************************************************************************
 
KNOWN PROBLEMS AND LIMITATIONS
------------------------------
1) It appears that you cannot print from the Assistant if the OS/2 1.x Spooler
is disabled. If you receive printing errors, check to be sure the spooler is
enabled, or type SPOOL at a command prompt to enable it.
 
2) In some instances (such as searching through fixed-pitch text, such as the
price list, and some tables) a multi-part search string (for example,
MATH COPROCESSOR) may not return all valid matches.  This is a limitation of
the VIEW.EXE command, and thus outside my control.  If you do not get as many
"hits" as you expect, try a shorter search string (such as MATH), or use
wildcards (MATH CO*).  Single-word searches appear to work correctly.  This
is still a problem as of OS/2 2.0, but was fixed in OS/2 2.1.
 
3) If you try to use STARTUP.CMD to start more than one .INF file (whether
PC Assistant, CMDREF.INF, or other online help file) you may receive an OS/2 
error message for each attempt after the first.  This is due to a  
timing problem (the second copy trying to load before the first finishes) in
OS/2 1.2 and 1.3.  The fix for this bug is in OS/2 V1.30.1 (also called CSD
5015), and later versions.
 
4) There may be a problem trying to print (from VIEW.EXE) INF file information
on a PostScript printer.  If you encounter strange wrapping problems on a PS
printer, try changing your printer into IBM Proprinter (or other ASCII printer)
emulation mode if your printer has such a mode (or any other emulation mode
that is known to work with the PC Assistant).  Then set the Print Manager
Application Default (from Setup) to use an OS/2 driver compatible with this
printer mode.  (If this works, don't forget to reset your printer mode and OS/2
driver back to their original settings when done printing from the Assistant.
If your printer is capable of printing ASCII files, another approach is to use
the Copy to File pulldown option.  This will save the selected sections to a
file called TEXT.TMP, in the same directory as the INF file you are copying
from.  Then simply use the File Manager to drag-and-drop the file to the Print
Manager icon.  Then answer the prompt for the device driver to use, and when
prompted whether the data is Graphics or Text, specify Text.  (The reason for 
doing it this way, rather than using the Print command, is that many PS 
printers do not automatically switch from PS mode to ASCII mode, and tend to 
"eat" the ASCII file instead of printing it.  The drag/drop method forces the
printer into ASCII mode, if the printer has an ASCII mode.)

5) If you are using the Assistant on an OS/2 LAN Server 1.3 network, make sure
that all INF files are set up with read-only attributes, otherwise all users 
trying to share a file that is already open will receive "access denied" error
messages.  This is true of any INF files you might be sharing (Command 
Reference, etc.).

6) OS/2 1.30/1.30.1 servers attempting to share common INF files, while using
the "local" copy of VIEW.EXE from the requester will either need to install CSD
5050 or later (1.30.2), or upgrade to LAN Server 2.0 or later.  This feature 
was added after the 1.3 base code was released.

7) The 2.0 ServicePak introduced a bug that renders wildcard (*) searches
inoperative.  OS/2 2.1 fixes it.  So until you upgrade to 2.1, don't use
wildcard searches, which will always return "Cannot find Search Text" messages.

8) If you are trying to concatenate file names in the Parameters field of a
book object (such as: PS2A_TTL.INF+PS2A_MKT.INF+PS2A_SVC.INF+PS2A_TEC.INF+...)
on a 2.0 system, but get a "Cannot open input file" message, try removing all
the .INF extensions from the file names (they are not necessary).  There
appears to be a limitation to the length of this string in 2.0.  So don't try
to link more than about 6 file names this way, even without the .INF
extensions.  2.1 corrects this limitation.

I hope you find this tool to be useful.  Good luck!
 
                               Mark Chapman
                Advisory Marketing Support Representative
                        IBM PC Company HelpCenter
 
NOTE: The information contained in the IBM PC Assistant is copyrighted by IBM 
and may not be modified in any manner, or for any reason. In addition, the name
"PC Assistant" and derivatives thereof have been trademarked. See the "About PS
Assistant" menu option in the PC Assistant for trademark information and
additional disclaimers.

