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PRODUCT NAME AND VERSION NUMBER
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Button Painter for MS Access (versions 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003)
Version: 1.5

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COMPANY NAME
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Peter's Software - MS Access Shareware and Freeware for Developers
 
E-mail:  info@peterssoftware.com
Web Site: http://www.peterssoftware.com
	
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DESCRIPTION
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Button Painter is an add-in for Microsoft Access that adds smooth gradient colors to your command buttons and allows for button color changes on mouse over and when buttons are clicked. You can create buttons similar to those used in Office/Outlook 2003 by default, or you can specify your own custom button colors. Add a nice cosmetic touch to your application and impress your boss, or your clients with this colorful and professional looking enhancement.

When invoked from the Add-In menu, the Button Painter setup procedure updates* your application forms by adding special controls and event procedures. Your standard, bland MS Access command buttons will then come to life with color gradients that blend in with the Windows color scheme. You'll be able to easily add and remove these effects without affecting the function of your application. 

This version is distributed as shareware.

* Because Button Painter updates your forms, it is highly recommended that you make a backup of your database prior to using it.

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NEW AND SPECIAL IN THIS RELEASE
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Version 1.5
* Bug fixes

Version 1.4
* Performance improvements, especially for source code version
* Cosmetic enhancements

Version 1.3
* Support for enabled/disabled command buttons.

Version 1.2
* Support for buttons on tab controls
* Support for pop up forms
* Subroutine added ("bp_ButtonVisible") to make painted button visible/invisible.

Version 1.1
* Fix a bug that would sometimes cause valid Reg IDs to not be verified.
 
Version 1
* This version is entirely  new

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HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS
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* PC with a Pentium 75-megahertz (MHz) or higher processor
* Windows 95 or later, or Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 4.0 Service Pack 3 or later
* 32MB RAM
* 1.5MB of available hard-disk space
* Microsoft Access 97, 2000, or 2002

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INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS, GETTING STARTED TIPS, AND DOCUMENTATION
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*** Step 1 ***
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Open the downloaded zip file.

This file is named "bp.zip", or "bp_10.zip".

Double-click it to open the zip file archive.

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*** Step 2 ***
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Run the Setup/install program.

Double-click the "Setup.exe" file (you can do this from the WinZip window) and follow the on-screen instructions to install Button Painter on your computer.

To run the demo, choose "Button Painter for MS Access" from the Start menu.

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*** Step 3 ***
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Use the Add-In Manager to install the Button Painter Add-in ("bp####.mde", where "####" is your Access version - "97", "2000", "2002", or "2003") in your application.

The Access Add-in Manager will update Windows registry entries for the Button Painter Add-In. Here are detailed instructions for this step:

a.	Open one of your Access databases.
b.	Click Tools > Add-Ins > Add-In Manager.
c.	Click Add New.
d.	In the Open dialog box, select files of type: MDE Files (*.mde).
e.	Find the file "bp97.mde", "bp2000.mde", "bp2002.mde", or "bp2003.mde" in the folder you installed Button Painter to, highlight it, and then click Open.
f.	Click Close to close the Add-In Manager dialog box.

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*** Step 4 ***
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Open your application database and click Tools > Add-Ins > Button Painter.

The Button Painter Update form should appear. 

Also, the first time you do this, a reference from your application to the Button Painter library will be automatically added to your application database. To see this reference, open any module in design mode, and click Tools > References.

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*** Step 5 ***
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Select a form from the combo box, or type "All" to process all forms in your database, then click the "Add/Update Painted Buttons" button.

You will be reminded that this process updates the design of your form(s), so making a backup is recommended. After clicking "Yes", Button Painter will update the form(s) you selected and will display the results for each form.

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*** Step 6 ***
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To remove Button Painter effects, select a form from the combo box, or type "All" to process all forms, then click the "Remove Painted Buttons" button.

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*** Step 7 ***
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Make sure that your applications using these painted buttons have a reference to the Button Painter library. 

You can do this by opening and closing the Button Painter update form. Click Tools > Add-Ins > Button Painter, then close the form that appears. This open and close process will add a reference from your database to the Button Painter library and will insure that the painted buttons function correctly.




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*** Tips ***
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1. You may want to add painted buttons as a last step in your development process, then remove the painted buttons when you decide to make changes to your form. Once your changes are complete, you can easily add the painted button effects by following the instructions in Step 5. 

2. You can left-justify the painted button caption text by including the following text in your command button tag property:

BPCaptionTextAlign=Left;

"Center" and "Right" are also supported.

3. You can put the text "PSSkipEffectsForThisControl" in the tag property of a command button to prevent Button Painter from coloring that button.

4. You can specify your own custom colors by first adding painted buttons to your form, then edit your form OnActivate event procedure and replace the subroutine call to bp_PaintButtons with the following subroutine call:

bp_PaintButtons Me, BP_STYLE_CUSTOM, _
    <Color top>, _
    <Color bottom>, _
    <Color mouse over top>, _
    <Color mouse over bottom>, _
    <Color click top>, _
    <Color click bottom>, _
    <Color selected top (not used in this version)>, _
    <Color selected bottom (not used in this version)>

... where the "<Color...>" parameters are Access color values or Windows system color values (you can find out more about Windows system colors here: http://www.peterssoftware.com/sysclrs.htm)

5. You can make a painted button invisible by using the supplied subroutine "bp_ButtonVisible". Ex.:

bp_ButtonVisible Forms!MyForm!MyButtonControl, False

The following subroutine call will make the painted button visible again:

bp_ButtonVisible Forms!MyForm!MyButtonControl, True

6. If you change a painted button Enabled property during runtime, you'll want to run the "bp_SetEnabledDisabled" routine immediately afterward to dim/restore the painted button caption text. Ex.:

cmdMyButton.Enabled = False
bp_SetEnabledDisabled Me

7. (Source code version only) You can set the basButtonPainter module constant "gcPaintButtonsDuringSetup" to True in order to improve performance if you have a LOT of buttons on your form. The drawbacks are that your button colors will not adjust to different Windows color scheme settings unless you remove the painted buttons and add them again under the new color setting.



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IMPORTANT KNOWN PROBLEMS
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Graphic pictures on buttons not supported.

Toggle Buttons not supported.

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VERSION HISTORY
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PRICING INFORMATION
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US$24.95 (In-house license, MS Access versions: 97, 2000, and 2002/XP)
US$249.95 (unlimited, royalty-free distribution license with source code, MS Access versions 97, 2000, 2002/XP)
US$225.00 (upgrade from in-house license to unlimited, royalty-free distribution license with source code)

To order online, go to http://www.peterssoftware.com/buy.htm

More ordering information is in the help file.

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CONTACT INFORMATION
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http://www.peterssoftware.com
http://www.peterssoftware.com/bp.htm - Button Painter Homepage
http://www.peterssoftware.com/bpfaq.htm - Button Painter FAQ
info@peterssoftware.com

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DATE OR COPYRIGHT DATE, AND OTHER LEGAL INFORMATION
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Released 7/13/03
Copyright 2003 Peter's Software