Index

Getting Started

  1. Introduction
  2. Hardware and Software Requirements
  3. The Distribution Folder
  4. Getting to know OAT
  5. Running for the First Time

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Introduction

Online Assistant for TeleFinder is a server program. This means that it is designed to run by itself, without input from the user. For this reason, when using OAT, you won't see any cute dialogs appearing from time to time informing you of exciting events, and at the same time stopping everything else on your system from working.

If you want to see what OAT has been up to, you should take a look at the 'Online Assistant Log', found in the same folder as the OAT program. For the most recent events, you can look in the OAT Status Window.


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Hardware and Software Requirements

OAT tends to have roughly the same hardware and software requirements as the TeleFinder Server suite, and as such you should not generally have any problems using it. However, it is worth detailing the necessities:

Hardware

Software


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The Distribution Folder

At the moment, OAT is distributed in a StuffIt archive file. When extracted, you will be presented with a folder containing the following items:
Configuration Files Configuration text files for use with OAT.
Documentation The folder containing this online documentation.
File Search Engine Data Data files for the OAT File Search Engine
Help Files Help files that can be accessed through OAT's online BBS help system
Log Files Folder where old log files are stored
Online Assistant for TeleFinder The Online Assistant for TeleFinder application itself.
Online Files For Your Users Text files which you can put online to tell your users how to use OAT.
TFEmail CGI Free CGI plugin for accessing your TeleFinder mail from a web browser. Please see the accompanying documentation
Highlander Data Systems TeleFinder User settings file for connecting to Highlander Data Systems' BBS

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Getting to know OAT

It is important that you understand the basics of the OAT application before you start using it. In this way, it should be easy for you to learn to use all of its features to the fullest extent.

At the moment, OAT is menu-controlled. It has very few dialog boxes to control its settings. I realise that this is not necessarily a good thing, and there are plans afoot to update the local user interface. However, for reasons of development speed, simple menus are the quickest user interface feature to design and implement.

There are two main windows that you will use when interacting with OAT. These are the Status Window and the Task List Window. Please familiarise yourself with these two windows/concepts (in particular the latter) before you begin.


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Running for the First Time

When your run OAT for the first time, you will have to enter the registration code that you received from Highlander Data Systems. Once this is done, you can continue using OAT. You may want to check out the OAT application information for memory requirements information before you launch the application.

When the application is first launched, it will create the log file, Online Assistant Log.

At this point, you should set up the program links to your TeleFinder Server programs.

Once you have set up your links, you are ready to begin using OAT.


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