--------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------- ----------------------------------- ------------------------------- --------------------------- ----------------------- ------------------- --------------- Ruler by Rob W. Smetana and Pro~Formance --------------- ------------------- ----------------------- --------------------------- ------------------------------- ----------------------------------- --------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Ruler is a free, RAM-resident (TSR) ruler to show you: 1) the row and column your cursor is on. 2) the colors on the screen at that row and column (foreground, background and combined). 3) which character is at that row and column. 4) how wide text is, or how many rows and columns are in a rectangular area of the screen NOTE: This is an enhanced version of our original Ruler. This new version now lets you MARK columns and rows to determine the width or height of text, windows, menus, etc. Copyright (C) 1990-1998, Rob W. Smetana All Rights Reserved Worldwide Pro~Formance, P~F, Sparkle and P~F Presents are Trademarks of Rob W. Smetana =================================================================== Introduction =================================================================== Included are: Ruler.Exe & Ruler.Txt (program and this manual) Purpose: A handy, RAM-resident utility you can call up from within other programs -OR- at the DOS prompt to: 1) display a "ruler" showing the row and column the cursor is on. 2) display the colors on the screen at that row/ column (foreground, background and combined). 3) tell you which character is at that row/column. 4) let you mark areas of the screen to determine you how wide a line of text is, or how many rows and columns a rectangle consumes. Compatibility: Ruler supports 25-, 43- or 50-line screens. It's designed for 80-column, text-mode screens only. Uses: We developed Ruler as a companion to many of our other programs. For example: * Our Sparkle batch file enhancer offers TWO options to turn text screens into scrolling bar menus! Just display some text, then tell Sparkle where on your screen the menu-portion is and voila! Ruler helps you determine on which row and column your menu begins and ends. * Our P~F Presents presentation program (PFP) also offers scrolling bar menus. As with Sparkle, Ruler helps you tell PFP which portion of the screen to turn into a menu. And PFP also lets you "paint" the screen, and re-map colors. Here again, just call up Ruler to tell you what colors are at various places. * Programmers, batch file users, etc. often need to know how wide something is to, for example, properly center it on the screen (or prevent it from wrapping around to the next line). Ruler's "mark" option helps you determine width. You can also use Ruler to determine where you should locate the cursor after, say, you've drawn a window or displayed a prompt. ============================================================= WARRANTY & DISCLAIMER ============================================================= This product is provided "AS IS" without warranty of any kind. The entire risk as to the results and performance of this pro- duct is assumed by you. We warrant only that any disks we sent you are free from physical and workmanship defects under normal use and service for a period of 90 days from the date shipped. Our entire liability, and your exclusive remedy, as to the disk, shall be to, at our option, either (1) return the purchase price; or, (2) replace disks which don't meet our limited warranty. * Since you can try "user supported" versions of our programs before ordering them, we offer no other warranty beyond that stated here. We'll gladly replace defective disks. But no refunds or credits can be issued. Neither Pro~Formance nor RWS & Associates, nor any of their of- ficers or employees shall be held responsible for: failures of this product to satisfy any needs, damages due to using this product, or any effects this program has on you, your business or operations. This product, its manual and any supporting materials may be modified or changed from time to time. They may contain opera- tional inaccuracies or typographical errors which may be cor- rected by future versions, if any. Registered users may be notified of available updates. =============================================================== LIMITED LICENSE ============================================================== RULER is a copyrighted work. It is NOT public domain software. However, you may use it free. If you'd like to contribute some- thing, see the last few pages where we've described some of our other programs. The last page has a registration form. =============================================================== Ruler MAY NOT be distributed with any other product or service without a prior license arrangement. =============================================================== DISTRIBUTING Ruler =============================================================== Bulletin board Sysops, clubs and shareware distributors may copy and distribute shareware versions of Ruler, provided: *** Your company name IS NOT: California Freeware *** American Freeware US Freeware or any other firm, group or association which uses terms like "free software," "freeware" or "free" to misrepresent "user-supported" software. (1) It is distributed in completely unmodified form. (2) You charge nothing other than a "disk distrubution fee" of up to $8.00 to cover distribution and handling. (3) You state YOUR fee is NOT payment or registration for OUR software. (4) You clearly encourage registration by stating that con- inued use justifies sending contributions to the developer. (5) You include all these files intact: Ruler.Exe, Ruler.Txt ================================================================== Using Ruler ================================================================== To run Ruler: Type Ruler (It uses about 8k of RAM.) To unload it: Type Ruler /u To call it up: Press Ctrl-Esc (sorry, at this time there's no way to change hot keys) NOTE: If you use QEMM, 386Max or other memory-management software, you can usually load Ruler "high" (ie., into high memory) so that it consumes NO DOS memory. ================================================================== Run Ruler then press Ctrl-Esc to call it up. Press: Left/Right cursor keys to move the CURSOR Left/Right Home/End to move the CURSOR to the Left or Right side of the screen (column 1 or 80) Up/Down cursor keys to move the RULER up/down PgUp/PgDn to move the RULER to the top/bottom of your screen. M or Enter to begin marking the width or height of something. To turn OFF marking, press M or Enter again. As you press cursor pad keys you'll see numbers in the ruler change: * Ruler shows which row and column you're on. * It also shows 3 Color numbers: the Foreground (FG) and Back- ground (BG) color at the row/column your cursor is at, plus the combination of the 2. - This can be useful to find when colors change, or when colors aren't what you expected them to be. - The combined color number is useful with our Sparkle program, which needs a combined foreground/background color for printing text, windows, Big! Font messages, etc. * Finally, it displays the ASCII code of the character beneath the cursor. For example, 32 = Space, 65 = A, 97 = a, etc. Consult your DOS or BASIC manual for a list of all 256 ASCII characters and their numbers. Determining the Width or Height of Something ============================================ Once you press Ctrl-Esc to call up Ruler, you can press "M" (or Enter) to "turn on" [M]arking mode. When you do: * Ruler will reverse the color of its 2nd line to let you know you're in "mark" mode. * Ruler will reset both Row and Column to 1 -- indicating you're at the first Row and Column of whatever you're marking. * As you move the cursor, the numbers beside Row and Column will change telling you how wide (# of Columns) or tall (# of Rows) something is. Note: You may move in ANY direction. Ruler shows the absolute number of rows and columns you've travelled since you turned "mark" mode on. That means you need NOT move to the top left corner of something to begin marking. To turn OFF marking mode, press "M" or Enter again. To mark something else, move the cursor to one corner of what you want to mark, then quickly press "M" twice -- once to turn it off, then again to turn it back on again. Marking mode REMAINS on or off between calls to Ruler. So if you're in marking mode, press Escape to put the ruler away, then press Ctrl-Esc again, marking mode will still be on. Just press M or Enter to turn it off. Uses ==== Mark mode has many uses. For example: * To print text centered on the screen, you need to know how wide text is, and then locate the cursor (or pad it with spaces) using the formula: 40 - (Width / 2). * Some programs need to be told how wide or tall something is (eg., draw a window 30 columns wide and 15 rows high starting at column 25, row 5). * Programmers or batch file users often need to know how wide things are. To Order =============================================================== Because we offer so many programs, our order form has 2 pages. * THIS PAGE lists our programs and the per-copy cost of each. Please read CATALOG.TXT for a description of each program. * THE NEXT PAGE is the actual order form. - On the next page, fill in the name of each program you're ordering. PLEASE BE CAREFUL here and use the names listed below. If we're not sure which program you're ordering, we may have to return you're order. - If ordering by Visa or MasterCard, fill in the section for credit card orders. BE SURE TO SIGN it. Program Name Per Copy ============================================================== Multi-Print $19 if ordered w/ ANY other program $19/$29 Font Pak "Pro" Programmer's Fonts & Mouse Shapes $49 Font Pak "DOS" Hundreds of DOS text-mode fonts $29 PDT The Pro~Formance Data Tool $139 PDT Tool Kit (FREE when you order PDT!) $39 inform-Z Professional Forms Design/Database $29 Mail Call With MC Express $29 Pro~Scribe & PS Express $29 P~F Presents Professional Version $79 P-Screen Professional $49 " Plus $29 Pro~Stamp Stamp Collection Manager $29 Ram-Man RAM-resident Text File Browser $19 Sparkle AND Menu Magic $29 The Survey Catalyst $395 ================================================================= PACKAGE DISCOUNTS Call about quantity discounts & site licenses. ================================================================= THE WORKS! One of each program (except The Catalyst) $299 Sparkle -AND- P-Screen $49 inform-Z -AND- Mail Call $49 P-Screen Pro -AND- P~F Presents (Pro versions of both) $99 ============================= TO ORDER ============================= For FASTEST delivery of your programs, CALL with a Visa/MC card number. F __________________________________________ M Rob W. Smetana Pro~Formance R __________________________________________ A T 132 Alpine Terrace San Francisco, CA O __________________________________________ I O 94117 (415) 863-0530 M __________________________________________ L Make checks payable Phone ( ) ______-________ Date ___/___/___ to: Rob W. Smetana ======================================================================= For Visa or MasterCard Orders ======================================================================= Credit Card Number: ________________________________ Expires: ___|___ Signature (Required for credit card orders): __________________________ Be sure your name at the top matches how it appears on your credit card. =============================================================== ruler = Name of Program or "Package" # of Copies Price/Copy Total ======================================================================= Multi-Print ($19 if ordered /w other pgm) _____ x $19/$29 = $_______ _____________________________________ ________ x ______ = $_______ _____________________________________ ________ x ______ = $_______ ======================================================================= Shipping & Handling: Total Number of Programs (and Copies) ----->> _____@ $4/copy $ ______ =============================+========================================= | Subtotal $ ________ INTERNATIONAL ORDERS: : : | | CA. residents, add 8.5% tax $ _______ * US funds only please. +-----------------------+----------------- * Money order, check drawn a | US bank, or VISA/MasterCard |TOTAL $ ________ =====================================================+================= WHERE did you got your copy of our program? _________________________ This helps us learn the best way to get new programs to you. And feel free to write comments and suggestions on the other side. Thank you.