DP Tool Club 18

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Text File | 1994-10-09 | 25KB | 563 lines

______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ __ __ ▐\ \ ▐\ \ ▐\ \ ▐\ \ ▐\ \ ▐\ \ ▐\ \ \ \ ▐ ░░░░░░\ ▐ ░░░░░░ ▐ ░░░░░░ ▐ ░░░░░░\ ▐ ░░░░░░ ▐ ░░░░░░ ▐ ░░ ░░ ▐ ▓▓ ▓▓ ▄▄▄▄ ▐ ▓▓ ▐ ▓▓ ▐ ▓▓ ▓▓ ▐ ▓▓ ▐ ▓▓ ▐ ▓▓▓▓ ▓▓ ▐ ▒▒▒▒▒▒/ ▐ ▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▐ ▒▒ ▐ ▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▐ ▒▒▒▒▒ ▐ ▒▒▒▒▒ ▐ ▒▒ ▒▒ ▒▒ ▐ ▓▓ ▐ ▓▓ ▐ ▓▓ ▐ ▓▓ ▓▓ ▐ ▓▓ ▐ ▓▓ ▐ ▓▓ ▓▓▓▓ \░░ \░░░░░░ \░░░░░░ \░░ ░░ \░░░░░░ \░░░░░░ \░░ ░░ Utilities This brief manual explains how to use P-Screen's utility programs: Program Version Purpose ──────────── ─────── ─────────────────────────────────────── Translat.Exe All Print text files (like our manuals) and translate Low/High ASCII characters (boxes, shading and titles (like the one above) to characters ANY printer can print. Ruler.Exe All** A TSR "ruler" that's great to determine: - Where the cursor is (row and column). - What color or character is under the cursor. **Registered versions can also tell you how wide or tall something is (to determine, for example, offsets to use to center things). Manager.Exe Registered A program to help you manage screen libraries: delete screens, add screens, merge screen libraries, etc. Repair.Exe Registered A program to help repair, salvage or recover damaged screen libraries. Capture.Exe Registered "Capture" text-mode screens from other programs, saving them to disk in BSAVED format. Use Manager or P-Screen to save them to screen libraries. ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Copyright (C) 1988-1994, Rob W. Smetana and Pro~Formance P-Screen, it's manual and supporting materials are protected by U.S. and International Copyright Laws. All Rights Reserved. P-Screen, P-Screen Professional, P~F Presents, Font Pak, P~F and Pro~Formance are Trademarks of Rob W. Smetana For information, or if you have questions, call or write: ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ Rob W. Smetana 132 Alpine Terrace San Francisco, Ca. 94117 (415) 863 - 0530 (10-5 Pacific time please) Using Translate ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ Purpose: Many on-disk files (like this and our other manuals) contain "low" or "high ASCII charac- cters." We use these for titles, section head- ings and "screen shots" (to help show what you'll actually see when running programs). But some printers can't print low/high ASCII characters. They print italic or non-English characters, or they simply print blanks. Translat.Exe translates low and high ASCII characters to characters ANY printer can print. For example: ┌────────┐ +--------+ │This Box│ will become |This Box| └────────┘ +--------+ Translate can send output to your printer (LPT1, LPT2 or LPT3), or to another file. Even Better: For even greater flexibility, use our Multi-Print program (MP) to print text files, source code, "readme" files, etc! MP includes 17 fonts (Epson, LaserJet and DeskJet) letting you print most any ASCII character). And MP is an easy-to-use, menu-driven program with which you can: * Print text 5 different ways (2 portrait and 3 landscape) with up to 9 pages of text on EACH sheet of paper (conserving up to 85% of the paper you'd normally use). * Use Epson, LaserJet or DeskJet printers. That's right, even on EPSON printers you can print in 3 landscape modes. And you can use ANY printer and print 2-sided in normal portrait mode. * Print on Letter, A4 or Legal paper. * Control margins, title lines (page numbers, a title, the date, etc.) and on and on and ... Using Translate (continued) ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ Syntax: translat filename destination <enter> where: "filename" is the name of the file you want to print. "destination" is LPT1, LPT2 or LPT3 to send output to your printer. Or "destination" can be a file name. If "destination" already exists on disk, it WILL be overwritten Examples: 1. Display the proper syntax. translat <enter> 2. Print Utility.Doc on LPT1 (Note NO colon ":"). translat utility.doc lpt1 3. Translate P-Screen.Doc and send it to a new file called New.Doc. translat p-screen.doc new.doc Using Ruler ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ Purpose: Ruler is a RAM-resident ruler to determine: * Which row and column the cursor is on. * What color is under the cursor (foreground, background and "combined"). * And what character is under the cursor. Finally, the enhanced version we send regis- tered users (Ruler2.Exe) lets you quickly measure how wide or tall things are. We use this information to, for example, quickly determine the offsets needed to center things. Ruler comes in v-e-r-y handy with many of our programs: P-Screen, P~F Presents and Sparkle. So we created a TSR rather than building the same capability into each program. To Run Ruler: Type Ruler <enter>. To Unload it: Type Ruler /u <enter>. To Call it up: Press Ctrl-Esc (sorry, at this time there's no way to change hot keys). Notes: Ruler works ONLY in text mode. It won't pop up in graphics mode. Ruler works on 25-, 43- or 50-line screens. It's designed to work on 80 column screens only. If you're in 40 column mode, the ruler will "wrap around." This CAN give you what you want; but the ruler will only be visible when your cursor is in the top 1/2 of your screen. Using Ruler (continued) ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ 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. As you press these keys, you'll see numbers in the ruler change: * Ruler will show which row and column you're cursor is on. * Ruler will also show 3 color numbers: - "Clr" is the "combined" Foreground and Background color. - "Fg" is the Foreground color (should range from 0 - 15) - "Bg" is the Background color (should range from 0 - 7) * Finally, Ruler will show you the ASCII code of the character found at the cursor. Registered users who use Ruler2.Exe may press "M" or <Enter> any time the ruler is visible to "M"ark the width or height of something. When you press "M": * Part of the ruler changes colors to signal that you're in "marking" mode. * As you move, ROW: # and COLUMN #: no longer show you which row and column you're on. Instead, they show you how far you've MOVED since turning mark-mode on. When you turn mark-mode ON, both Row and Column will read 1. Press "M" or <Enter> again to turn mark-mode off. Using Capture ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ Purpose: Capture is a RAM-resident program to: * Capture text-mode screens. * Save them to disk in BSAVE format. Both P-Screen and Manager can these screens. Even Better: Users of P~F Presents (our desktop presentation program) who ALSO order the Presentation Suite receive PFCap_X -- which will save ANY type of screen, and offers an option to save graphics-mode screens in PCX format. To Run Capture: 1. Log onto the drive/directory where you want to save screens. Capture ALWAYS saves screens to the drive/directory you were on when you first run it! This is useful. We often log onto a RAM disk and then run Capture. This way we don't fill our disks with unneeded BSAVE screens. We save many screens to the RAM disk, then later load them into P-Screen and save them in other forms (libraries, COM screens, etc.) Use Manager to save up to 100 BSAVED screens to libraries. This way we don't fill our disks with unneeded BSAVE screens. 2. Run capture by typing capture <enter> It consumes 8k of memory. To Unload it: Type capture /u <enter>. To Call it up: Press Ctrl-Space (sorry, at this time there's no way to change hot keys). Using Capture (continued) ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ Notes: Capture sequentially numbers screen names. We start with SCR-0001, then SCR-0002, then SCR-0003, etc. You can change screen names to ANYTHING you like. But we suggest that the LAST 2-3 characters start out as "00" or "AA." This will let us "increment" the numbers without destroying the name itself. Letters ("AA") give you far greater range than numbers ("00") since we can increment "A" 26 times before we have to roll to the 2nd "A." We "increment" ONLY 0-9, A-Z and a-z. All other characters are untouched. NEVER add an extension to screen names. We add ".bsv" so P-Screen and Manager can recognize them as BSAVE files. Using Manager ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ Purpose: Manager is a small program to help you manage screen libraries. You can delete screens, merge screen libraries, copy screens from one or more other libraries, etc.. And if you've captured screens to BSAVED files, Manager is the fastest way to add ALL of them to a screen library -- up to 100 at a time! Manager helps you save screens in the smallest amount of space possible. This is useful if, for example, when you first created screens, you added "garbage" to them to ensure you'd later be able to add things to them. Run Manager and create a new screen library -- with each screen consuming only the space it actually needs. And Manager offers an option to "squeeze out the white space" -- a little extra space we add when you first save screens to give you a little "breathing room" to add things to them. * Squeezing out the white space cuts 5-10% off the size of screen libraries. * But it also may prevent you from adding things to screens. So only "squeeze" final versions. If you later find you have to add things to screen(s), use Manager to create a NEW screen library -- but don't squeeze it. Manager will add some extra space (about 10%) you can then fill up. You can mark the screens in the order you want them saved to the "output" library. This is particularly useful if you use P~F Presents. By grouping related screens together, it's easier to add them to presentations in "logical clusters." And since screens near the top of screen libraries load faster than those down below, you can use Manager to re-order screens so time-critical screens are near the top of screen libraries. Finally, Manager is the only way you can "delete" screens from a library. Actually, you don't delete screens. You mark the screens you want to save, save them to a different library, then delete (or rename) the old library. Using Manager (continued) ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ BEFORE Running Manager: 1. Run P-Screen. Press F9 to get a directory of screen names and descriptions in input libraries. Turn your printer on and press Shift-PrtSc to print each page of names and descriptions. Screen libraries hold up to 100 screens. And since Manager displays only the screen names (not descriptions), it may be hard to know which screen is which. Printing screen names and descriptions can help you decide which screens you don't need, which you do, and in which order you should save them. 2. Check there's enough free disk space, and that the screen library (or libraries) you want to read from (the "input" libraries) are on the CURRENT drive/directory. Manager saves "output" libraries to the SAME drive/directory you're on. The amount of free disk space must equal or exceed the size of the input library. And Manager expects to find all input libraries on the current path. Manager.Exe, however, can be on a different path. To Run Manager: Type manager <enter> Manager will then ask you several questions: 1. Do you want to load BSAVED screens, or screens from a screen library. Press B/L. 2. Whether you want to "squeeze out the white space." Press Y/N. 3. The name of the INPUT screen library (if you press "L" (screen library) at step 1. 4. The name of the OUTPUT screen library. If you specify a screen library that already exists, Manager will ask if you want to <A>dd to it, or <O>verwrite it. 5. If you want to confirm EACH screen. Using Manager (continued) ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ Once you answer these questions, Manager displays ALL screen names in the input library (or the names of BSAVEd screens on the "current" drive/directory). Manager then highlights the first screen name, and asks you to press: Cursor Keys To move the highlight to another screen V To view the screen that's highlighted M To mark ALL screens U To unmark ALL screens Space To mark a screen for inclusion (or to UNmark it) <Enter> To indicate you're all done marking screens, and want Manager to create the output library Esc To cancel If you want ALL screens added to the output library -- in the order they appear -- press <cr> with NO screens numbered/marked. Mark the screens in the order you want them saved. * Move the highlight to the first screen you want saved and press the Space Bar. "1" appears next to the screen name. * Move to the next screen and press Space. "2" appears. * Continue this until all screens you want are marked. * To UNmark a screen, highlight it and press Space. However, once you mark a screen, the number we assigned to it is used and gone. Why? Suppose you mark 10 screens, and then unmark #1. If you then mark another screen, Manager numbers it #11 -- since it can't know if you want it to be #11 or #1. If you make a mistake, press Escape and start over. When you're done marking screens, press <cr>. Manager will then display each screen in the order you marked it. If you asked to "confirm" each screen, Manager will ask if you want it saved. Press <Y>es or <N>o. Press <Escape> to cancel the process. Once all screens are added to the output library, Manager returns to the initial screen. If you want to add more screens to the same output library, just begin the process again -- specifying a different input library (or BSAVEd screens), but the same output library. Using Repair ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ Purpose: P-Screen's screen libraries, like any data- base file, can get damaged. Repair.Exe can help you salvage damaged screen libraries. * P-Screen or Manager use the "index" at the top of screen libraries to locate screens in screen libraries and display them. But if the index is ever damaged, or if a stray byte is ever added to (or deleted from) a screen library, your screens may be irretrievable! * Beginning with version 5.4, both P-Screen and Manager "mark" the beginning of screens in screen libraries. Repair ignores the index and finds screens by looking for this "marker." When it finds one, it loads the screen data and saves it to a DIFFERENT screen library. NOTE: If you have pre-5.x screen libraries, we STRONGLY URGE YOU TO re-create them using Manager (a version dated 12/93 or later). If you don't, Repair will be of NO USE to you in recovering damaged pre-5.x libraries! Also note: Repair ignores the index -- except to read screen names and descriptions. If these are damaged, they'll be saved as-is in the new screen library. But at least your screens will be accessible; and you can use P-Screen's "rename screen" option to repair the names and descriptions in the new screen library. To Run Repair: 1. Log onto the drive/directory containing: - A P-Screen screen library. - Enough free disk space to save a SECOND copy of that screen library. 2. Run Repair this way: repair oldlib newlib <cr> where: "oldlib" is a screen library name "newlib" is the name of the library you want to create If you include NO file extensions, we'll assume ".PSL." Repair is v-e-r-y fast. So watch closely!