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Frequently asked questions on Clic 3.0
ClicDB does not print reports
There is compatibility problem between Windows 98, NT and 2000 with
applications made with VisualBasic 3.0 (like ClicDB) and some HP printers
when the screen is configured to more than 256 colours. The problem
is explained in Microsoft
support pages.
Solution: Configure the screen to 256 colours before printing,
using the "Screen" icon in the Control panel of Windows. When done,
return to the original resolution of 16 million colours.
I can't install the activity packs found in the Clic corner!
This problem can be due to one of the following reasons:
a) "Corrupt installation media" message appears
It means the installation file has become corrupt during the downloading
process. The only solution is to delete the bad file and download
it again.
The installer files larger than 1.4 MB are divided into separated
pieces for easier copy to diskettes. The first portion always contains
the EXE extension and the rest have the same name but with ending
with W02, W03.etc. The normal process is to copy all the files into
a single folder in the hard disk and then run the first file, which
will access the information contained in the others when necessary.
You can also copy each file into a separate disk, run the first one
and the change them when the installer program asks for it.
The problem can appear when the files are downloaded using Internet
Explorer 5.0, since in some cases the file can be saved with the
name changed. For example, it could happen that when downloading the
file COSHUMA.W02 it gets saved in your computer with the name COSHUMA.W02
(with two dots) or COSHUMA.W02.W02 (The extension is repeated). Solution:
manually rename the file so that it has its original name (in this
case COSHUMA.W02).
c) The installer says I have an old version of Clic already installed
The installers base their operations on the information found on the
section [Extensions] of the file win.ini. The win.ini
file is updated while the installation of Clic, but this information
stops being valid if we move or rename the Clic folder. For example,
if you have dragged the Clic folder to "Program Files" probably you
will find this error message. Solution: repeat the installation of
Clic 3.0 indicating the folder where you really want to place the
program.
How can I modify Clic activity packs?
Clic activity packs can be presented in two different formats: "open"
packs (have the PAC extension) and "compacted" packs (have the
PCC extension). The activity packs in open format can be modified directly
from inside Clic through the menu Edit - Edit activity, but the
compacted packs are protected and the modification can't be done directly.
The majority of the activity packs found in the Clic corner are
distributed in compacted format (PCC), but can be converted into open
format (PAC) through the utility ClicPac, that can be installed
with Clic.
The steps to follow to modify a PCC are:
- Convert the PCC into a PAC through ClicPac.
- Run Clic and, in the File-Open menu, search for the PAC file.
- Modify the activities as desired.
- Reconvert the PAC into a PCC to protect it.
You will find more information in ClicPac's help and in Clic's user's
manual.
How do you prepare the EXE installer files for Clic activities?
The installers can easily be created with the MKInst
utility.
Juan José Mateo Molina has found a shareware version of WISE
(2.0), which you can use to make more customized installers. You can
find this utility and the instructions in his páginas
de aplicaciones educativas (in Spanish).
Some of the buttons in Clic 3.0 appear with a wrong image
This error can appear sporadically with some ATI video cards.
The manufacturer recognizes that it's latest versions of the drivers
for Windows 95/99 are not 100% compatible with 16 bit applications (and
Clic is one of them!). As a consequence the manufacturer proposes the
installation of the version 5.11 (build 4.10.2330), which after the
trials we have managed to make, behaves well with Clic.
In ATI's web the reasons
for this problem are explained, and the version
5.11 of the drivers can be downloaded.
Clicking on the "Fonts" button makes the program freeze
This occurs when there is an exaggerated amount of font types installed
in the computer (more than 1000). Clic tries to prepare a list with
al the names and runs out of memory. The solution is simple: take out
of the folder Windows\Fonts the types that aren't used regularly
and copy them into a different place in case they become necessary in
the future. You'll see the applications running a lot quicker and smoother.
Warning: when doing this clean-up of fonts you should never
touch the system fonts (Arial, Times New Roman, Courier New, System...)
nor the font Marlett, which is the one used by Windows to draw
the buttons that appear on the corner of the windows. A good way of
doing this is to only move those fonts that have an installation date
posterior to the installation of Windows.
I have a sound card but it shows an error every time I play a WAV file
from one of Clic activities
The WAV files inside Clic activities are compressed using the audio
MSADPCM. The Clic installer adds this codec when it is run from a Windows
3.x, but it won't do it for Windows 95 since it is supposed to be already
incorporated by default. If the W95 installation was incomplete it could
be that the codec wasn't installed. To correct this problem, follow
these steps:
- Open the W95 Control Panel.
- Double clic on the icon Add/Remove Programs.
- Choose the Windows Installation icon.
- Double clic on Multimedia.
- Check the Audio Compression box, the program will ask for
the Windows 95 installation CD to add the codecs.
Can we avoid error messages from showing up when we are running a multimedia
activity?
In computers that don't have sound cards you can deactivate the use
of the multimedia files modifying the file CLIC.INI, which is found
in the Clic directory. With Windows Notepad you need to change the lines
sound, midi, wave and mci to say "=no".
The modifications will become active the next time you run the program.
The versions 2.2 and later detects if the computer has an installed
sound card and, in case it doesn't, it disables the reproduction of
the multimedia files.
The screen shows up with a transparent background!
It is due to the presence of an old version of BWCC.DLL. The solution:
copy the file C:\CLIC\BWCC.DLL to the directory C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM.
We've created some images with "Paint Shop Pro" but Clic tells us the
format is not the right one
Surely you have saved the images in BMP format, a "Windows RLE encoded"
sub-format, and the only sub-format recognized by Clic is "Windows
RGB encoded". Anyway, it is always better if you save your images
in GIF format.
We've created a drawing with "Paint Brush" but Clic shows it too small
and in a corner
When you create a new image PaintBrush prepares a surface of 640x480
pixels. Even though your drawing may occupy only a small portion of
the surface, PaintBrush will save the entire image. The solution is
to save only the portion of the drawing that you are interested in:
- If you work with Windows 95 "Paint" you can adjust the image size
by dragging the lower right hand corner to the desired size.
- In Windows 3.1 you can use the rectangle tool in PaintBrush to select
the valid zone in your drawing and then use the menu option Edit
- Copy to... to save only the selected area. On exiting PaintBrush
say NO; you don't want to save the entire drawing (It's enough with
the portion you have selected and saved previously).
The images appear with different colors!
This problem occurs when you use many images which are 256 colors from
different palettes. For example, if in the same activity there is an
image with 256 grays and another with 256 tones of blue. you would need
to simultaneously show 512 colors. If Windows is set up to millions
of colors there won't be a problem, but if it is configured to 256 it's
impossible to have 512 colors on the screen. Some programs solve this
problem by drawing patterns instead of pure colors, but Clic doesn't
have this option. The result: the grays will look bluish or the blues
grayish, depending on which image is last therefore imposing it's palette.
The solution: save all the images with a common palette. This can
be done from within PainShopPro, increasing the color depth (menu
Color - Increase color depth - 16 million colors) and then
lowering it again (Color - Decrease color depth - 256 colors)
choosing in this second step the option Palette Standard and
Error diffusion.
Another possibility that offers better results is to use the program
Jasc Batch Master, that you can find in our page
of resources, for calculating and applying the optimal palette
for all the images. The function to choose is Apply fully optimized
palette. It is recommendable to always select the box Include
Windows Colors.
Any other questions? You can e-mail us at: clic@xtec.cat
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