DISTRIBUTION SETS
                 (c) Brian Stewart, 1983-2000
                     Release:  March 2002



1.  INTRODUCTION

1.1.  This is a complete or `distribution' set of the files which
make up the programs and documentation for performing
calculations in connection with the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

1.2.  Distribution sets are normally only made available to
Office of Fair Trading (OFT) staff and to local authority Trading
Standards Departments (TSDs) so that they can produce restricted
sets (explained below) for other users or to copy further
distribution sets on to other TSDs.

1.3.  The general documentation in the file CREDIT.DOC gives full
details of the terms and conditions under which the programs and
other material are provided.  These indicate that the user must
copy all the files given to them when passing them on to third
parties.  Please note that OFT staff, ITSA and LACOTS, and
individual Trading Standards Authorities are released from this
requirement so that they may issue restricted sets if they wish
to do so.  This also applies to one or two other users (such as
the Finance Industry Standards Association - FISA) who have been
individually allowed make restricted sets.

1.4.  Further distribution sets should only be issued to other
OFT staff or TSDs.

1.5.  Although the programs are primarily produced for use by
consumer advisers such as staff within OFT, TSDs, CABs etc.
exceptionally, you may also wish to copy some programs to
consumers or traders.  In those cases, please only provide the
minimum set necessary to meet their particular requirement.  In
most cases this will be the `Simple Set' described below or
individual programs as described in section 6.



2.  RESTRICTED SETS

2.1.  There are 10 alternative `restricted' sets because:

(1)  The main calculator programs Trurate and Rebates come in two
versions known as `Plus' and `Two' and the `Schedule' program can
be used with or without the additional `Schedule Builder'.  The
simpler Plus versions lack some facilities but will cope with
most calculations and are a little easier to learn to use.
Either the Plus, Two or both versions can be incorporated in a
set, giving three alternatives.

(2)  In addition to the `Credit' programs set (which provides
programs for both APR and rebate calculation), sets incorporating
just the APR calculator programs or just the rebate calculator
programs can be produced.  This gives another 3 alternatives,
making 9 in combination with the program versions.

(3)  From September 1995 you can also produce a `Simple' program
set which just provides very basic APR and rebate calculators,
which gives the tenth alternative.



3.  MAKING SETS

3.1.  The process of producing sets is controlled by the menu
program !DISTRIB.BBC - which can be run via the Credit Programs
Link menu by keying F1 once the programs have been installed on
your hard disc.  Using !Distrib to make copies of sets from a
floppy disc is not recommended and may not even be possible.

3.2.  The first three entries on !Distrib's menu indicate the
currently selected program set (Simple, APR, Rebate, Credit or
Distrib), the program version (Plus, Two or Both) and target
floppy drive for copying the programs (A: or B:).

3.3.  These options can be cycled through by choosing the
relevant entry on the menu.  Note: if you select the `Simple' or
`Distrib' program set, the program version option will be set to
(-) and skipped over when you move the highlight bar because, in
these cases, the versions to be copied are determined by the set
chosen.  Having selected the options you want, choose `Copy
Program Set' from lower section of the menu to start copying.

3.4.  PLEASE NOTE:  When making a new copy program set !Distrib
also looks for any FORMATS.INI file being used by the set of
programs doing the copying - either in the `network' or `default'
directory - and constructs a new FORMATS.INI file in the copy
set.  This is a default file, apart from the APR `truncation or
rounding' and `days in a year' setting, which it copies from the
current set.  This is so that, when a package is amended to cope
with a change in the rules, all copies made by it will then
automatically have the same setting.  (Any !Boot file found in
the network directory is copied over too.)  If there is no
FORMATS.INI file being used none will be included in the new set,
and the copy APR programs will default to truncation and 365 days
in a year (rather than 365.25 or 365 and 366).  In this state,
they conform to the current position at the time of writing.  The
onus ultimately rests with the end user to ensure that they have
the right setting for the current legislation.


4.  DISTRIBUTION SETS

4.1.  In addition to !DISTRIB.BBC and DISTRIB.DOC, a complete
distribution set contains different versions of the Credit Link
menu definition files, giving different menu options for the
various restricted sets and an alternative CREDIT.DOC file called
SIMPLE.DOC for use with the Simple set of programs.  !Distrib
handles copying these and renaming them to make up a working
restricted set.



5.  OTHER !DISTRIB MENU OPTIONS

5.1.  !Distrib's menu also provides a number of other options to
help with copying the programs.  `List Target Drive' will list
all the files on the currently selected target drive (so you can
check it's the right disc, etc.) and `Wipe Target Drive' will list
the files and then offer you the option of deleting all the files
(so you can clear up a disc before copying the programs onto it).

5.2.  `Format Target Drive' at its simplest, issues the command
`FORMAT A:' or `FORMAT B:' to DOS, depending on which target
drive is selected.  If this is the right command for use on your
PC then you can use this to format discs.

5.3.  !Distrib also provides facilities to define an alternative
formatting command in a file called TFORM.BAT.  Essentially, it
checks for the presence of that file, in the default directory
only, and if it finds it, executes the DOS command 'TFORM A:' or
'TFORM B:' instead of the usual commands.  If you can write DOS
batch programs, this can be used in a number of ways to alter the
behaviour of the program when formatting (eg to set formatting
options or use a different command from FORMAT), but this is
unlikely to be necessary nowadays as most discs are the same
format and often come ready formatted.  Also, if you are using
Windows, you can use that to format a disc.  The detailed
instructions on using TFORM.BAT have therefore been deleted and
it is simply recommended that you make sure you don't put a file
called TFORM.BAT in with your copy of the programs - except
perhaps to disable formatting by using an empty file.



6.  COPYING INDIVIDUAL PROGRAMS

6.1.  Exceptionally, you may want to provide someone with an
individual program.  If you do this you will have to copy the
programs manually - and please remember that, in addition to the
.BBC file and any associated .DOC file, the recipient will need
to have a copy of RUN.EXE to make the program work.

6.2. You should also provide either CREDIT.DOC, or SIMPLE.DOC
renamed as CREDIT.DOC, not just because this provides part of the
instructions, but also, importantly, because it contains the
formal conditions under which the material is provided.

6.3.  You should also explain to the recipient that to start the
program they will need to use the command `RUN <program>' at the
DOS prompt (where <program> is the name of the .BBC file).
Alternatively, you might want to write the user a small .BAT file
(with a REM or ECHO command indicating that you wrote it,
please).

6.4.  For example, if a consumer is interested in having a
program that deals with reasonably complicated APR calculations
you might want to sent them Trurate Plus.  You could send ...

        TRUPLUS.BBC
        TRUPLUS.DOC
        RUN.EXE
        CREDIT.DOC

... and you could provide a short .BAT file `APR.BAT' with the
following text ...

        @echo off
        cls
        echo Running Trurate Plus ...
        echo    batch file by Fred Bloggs, Anytown TSD.
        run truplus

...  you can then tell the consumer they just need to type `APR'
at the DOS prompt to run the program.  A .BAT file could also be
used by Windows 95/98 users, if they create a Shortcut or Start
Menu entry to run it.

6.5.  Remember that, when the rules for calculating APR have
changed to require rounding and 365.25 or 365 and 366 days in a
year (14 April 2000), the user should also get an appropriate
FORMATS.INI file with any APR programs.



7. COPYING TO ANOTHER DRIVE OR TO A DIRECTORY OR FOLDER

7.1.  An additional facility has been added with the March 2002
release of the programs.  You may want to copy the programs to
another drive than A: or B:.  To allow for this, the programs now
look for a file called TARGET_B.INI (in the default directory
only) and use that as the place to put the copies.

7.2.  For example, if you create a TARGET_B.INI text file
containing just the text 'Z:' then all the files in the chosen
set will go there rather than B:.  The fact that you are
using what's defined in TARGET_B.INI will be indicated in
!Distrib's menu by '#:' in place of 'B:'.

7.3.  I also find it useful to copy the files to a particular
directory on my hard drive or network - for example to put them
all in one folder where I can make them into a zip file.
TARGET_B.INI can be used for this too, for example by putting
'c:\data\temp\' (include the trailing '\') in it.  The target
folder must exist beforehand for this to work.  !Distrib will NOT
create it.





Brian Stewart
March 2002