Automated Review Form
Installation and Operation Instructions

Installation

	The Bandai Automated Review Form (BARF) is actually an Excel spreadsheet, written to be compatible with Excel 2002, and is likely compatible with Excel 2003 and possibly Excel 2000. There is no installation procedure for the spreadsheet itself, other than to copy it to a convenient location in the user's document directory, desktop, or anywhere else appropriate on the user's hard drive.

	Excel, however, needs to be prepared for proper operation of this spreadsheet. Macros need to be enabled, either with medium security, or low security. It is recommended that medium security be used, so that in the event spreadsheets other than this one are loaded and attempt to execute macros, the user can be warned of it. Low security may be appropriate for certain situations, but may render the system vulnerable to macro-based virus and trojan horse attacks in an otherwise unprotected environment.

	To set up the appropriate macro security level, go to the Tools menu in Excel, then Macro, Security, and select Security Level. Select the appropriate security level (Medium or Low), and then click OK or press RETURN to enable it. Without this step, the BARF will not function.

Operation

	Operation of the BARF is pretty straightforward. When the user double-clicks on the file or opens it from Excel, the macros will auto-initialize, and the user interface screen will pop up. If there was information saved from a previous session, it will be automatically be imported into the user interface.

	The major functions of the user interface are self-explanatory: Clear Form erases all the information currently entered, Print prepares the text for printing and sends the user to the standard Excel print dialog box, Save allows the user to save the review in a separate file, and Quit exits the macro (but does not quit Excel).

	Two buttons are provided on the spreadsheet itself: New Survey, which re-initializes the spreadsheet and brings up the user interface, and Resume, which simply returns the user to the user interface with all data intact if they clicked on Quit.

	A typical session with the BARF is as follows: Reviewer opens BARF though his or her preferred method, clicks "Enable macros" if asked, enters in the title of the game, clicks on the appropriate platform, and enters their own name. After filling in all the fields in the remaining tabs, the reviewer will click on the Home tab to return to the main screen. If a printer is connected, the reviewer will print the form for filing, and then click on save to store a copy of the review for archival/reprint purposes. 

	In the event the reviewer must stop writing the review before it is complete, the following procedure should be used:  Click on Quit (in the BARF user interface Home tab), then quit Excel. When Excel asks if the file should be saved, click YES.  The next time the spreadsheet is opened, it will automatically reload everything into the BARF user interface and allow the reviewer to continue with the review.

	If data has been saved with the BARF main file, and needs to be cleared out, the easiest way to do this is to load BARF, click on Clear Form, Quit, then save and quit Excel.

Interface Details

	The interface was designed to assist reviewers fill out the form properly, and to make data collection consistent. If the reviewer fails to fill in all the fields, a warning will be displayed when they attempt to save the file, though it does not prevent the reviewer from continuing.

	There are 9 tabs organizing the data, which the reviewer can click directly or access via the "Previous," "Next," and "Home" buttons at the bottom of the interface.

	Home: Contains the Game Title, Game System, Evaluator's name, and Review Date.

	Presentation, Graphics, Sound, Gameplay, Appeal/Value: Here the reviewer can rate
	three areas in each category on a scale of 0-10. For non-release (i.e. alpha and beta
	versions of games) that have a "not applicable" or "unimplemented" status for a given
	field, the reviewer can make sure that field is not counted in the score by right-clicking
	the slider bar to clear any existing score. Any comments can be entered here as well.

	Features: The available choices for each feature is Yes (present), No (not present), and
	N/A (not applicable). In addition, there is a field for game completion time in which the
	reviewer can enter in either the actual completion time or an estimate. There is no
	required format for this field.

	Comments: This area is used for general comments and impressions about the game that
	do not fit into other categories (such as graphics, sound, etc). Reviewers can discuss their
	impressions of how fun the game is, what they particularly liked or disliked, and so on.
	Additionally, this field is used for "overflow" from other comment fields--any text that does
	not fit in any of the other fields is continued in this one, when the form is printed.

	Compare & Suggest: These two comment areas are used to compare the game to other
	similar games the reviewer may have played in the past or is aware of, and a place to
	offer suggestions on how to improve any aspect of the game or suggestions for sequels.

Advanced Functionality

	This program is somewhat configurable, in the event that at some point in the future there is a desire to change the specific subcategories and/or descriptions used in the review.

	Most of the text used in the review sheet and the user interface is stored under the "Ref" tab in the BARF spreadsheet itself. Modifying this text will automatically update the user interface text the next time the spreadsheet is loaded. By default, the "Ref" worksheet is fully protected against modification to prevent accidental loss of data.

	Any cells that are greyed out must not be modified in any way. Doing so could prevent the BARF macros from running properly.  Cells that are shaded light blue are header text, and are only marked that way for reference--the contents may be modified. Cells that are not shaded may be freely modified.  Do NOT change the layout of this sheet (i.e. add/delete rows or columns) as that, too, could adversely affect the operation of the BARF.

	The actual layout of the printed form can be modified as well. The "Template" tab in the spreadsheet contains a locked-down template which is used to build the spreadsheet in the "Main" tab. Should small modifications become necessary (for example, the form doesn't print properly on a new printer), the template can be unlocked, tweaked, and tested until it fits properly. Remember to protect the worksheet again when done, or accidental changes to the template could wind up rendering the BARF inoperable.

Troubleshooting

	The user interface does not appear when the file is loaded.
		Make sure that macros are allowed to run in Excel. Check under Tools, Macro,
		Security that the security level is either Medium or Low.

	I get an error when loading the spreadsheet, or when using the Resume button
	on the "Main" spreadsheet tab.
		The format of the main page has been corrupted. Click New Survey on the main
		page to restore all the proper formatting.

	When I print, I get two pages printed on a single sheet of paper.
		After hitting Print from the BARF user interface, click on Printer Properties from
		the Print dialog screen, and search for an option specifying "Pages per Sheet."
		Adjust as needed.

	I always have to adjust the printer properties every time I print.
		To set default printer properties, go to the Printer Properties in the Print dialog
		box, adjust the proper settings, then click OK and then close the Print dialog box.
		Exit the BARF user interface if necessary, then save the spreadsheet. This will
		store the proper printer settings with the spreadsheet.

	We just got a new printer, and now the review sheets don't fit on the page properly.
		There are two ways to fix this:
			1. The preferred method is to adjust the printer scale--this keeps everything
		in proper proportions. If the printer driver supports it, the settings can usually

be found under the Printer Settings or under the Advanced Printer Settings, the
actual location varies by manufacturer.
			2. If there is no zoom or scale function available through the printer driver,
		the other option is to unprotect and adjust the Template worksheet. Carefully
change the column widths and/or row heights in small increments to get it to fit.
The print preview screen can help in this, as well as test prints of the Template
sheet. Once the settings are satisfactory, remember to re-protect the worksheet
under Tools, Protection, Protect Sheet menu, using the same password used to
unprotect the sheet earlier.

	The program gave me an error, and now I'm sitting in some strange screen with "Microsoft
	Visual Basic" at the top, and lots of strange text.
		Something unexpected happened the program was unable to deal with. First quit
		the Visual Basic screen, replying "Yes" if it asks about stopping the debugger. Click
		the New Survey button on the Main worksheet (Make sure you are in the original
		workbook, i.e. "InternalGameReviewSheet-Electronic.xls" or whatever it is now
		called.)  If that does not fix the problem, then quit Excel completely without
		saving the BARF workbook, and try reloading it. If this does not fix it, call
		whoever maintains the BARF master file for a new copy.