Simtel MSDOS 1992 June

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Text File | 1989-05-23 | 16KB | 364 lines

@PARAFILTR ON = @BANNER = Ventura Publisher<M^><190><D> @APP NOTE = Application Note #6 @NAME = Subjects: DOS file operations<R> Sidekick Plus @HEAD 1 = Overview While within Ventura Publisher, many people want to have access to full DOS file operations. Some reasons for this include: @BULLET 1 = Need to format a disk in the middle of a Multi-Chapter Copy operation. @BULLET 1 = Need to verify the date, time, and size of a file. @BULLET 1 = Need to copy several files to another directory, but do not need all of the Multi-Chapter capabilities. @BULLET 1 = Need to look at data within a file using the DOS TYPE command prior to loading. @BULLET 1 = Need to search across a number of files for the occurrence of a magic text string which will help you locate the correct file for loading. @BULLET 1 = Need to rename a file (the File Type/Rename actually creates a new file rather than renaming). @BULLET 1 = Need to override the read-only status of a file without leaving Ventura Publisher (a dangerous practice, but some people want to do it). One option is VP Manager from New Rider's Publishing which provides some, but not all, of these DOS operations. This program installs directly into Ventura Publisher and also provides many document management features not available with any other product. However, in addition to wanting to execute these DOS functions, many other people also want to be able to perform simple file editing using a standard text-based word processor without leaving Ventura Publisher. Application Note #4, describes how to use multi-tasking operating system add-ons such as DESQview in conjunction with your favorite word processor, to give you full DOS functionality, text editing and more. However, for many users, this approach is not attractive because: @BULLET 1 = Multi-tasking software will not fit in their computer. @BULLET 1 = Multi-tasking software requires more computing power than their computer provides. @BULLET 1 = Multi-tasking software requires more work to set up than they want to deal with. Therefore, this application note describes a much simpler approach which uses the popular application Sidekick<M^><190> Plus<D> from Borland Software. This program includes all of the simple DOS capabilities described above and also provides a powerful ASCII text editor. In addition, a very large number of people already own Sidekick Plus and therefore no additional software purchase is necessary. @HEAD 2 = Reference Guide warning As described in the Ventura Publisher Reference Guide, TSR (Terminate But Stay Resident) programs such as Sidekick are not normally recommended for use with Ventura Publisher for two reasons: @BULLET 1 = They consume valuable conventional memory space and may therefore make it impossible to load Ventura Publisher. @BULLET 1 = They often improperly reset the video mode, thus making it impossible to return to Ventura Publisher after running the TSR application. While conventional memory is still a very precious commodity that should be conserved, Ventura Publisher's use of EMS memory, starting with version 2.0, decreases conventional memory requirements and therefore lets you successfully run Sidekick Plus (or other TSR programs) if your computer contains EMS memory. You must still pay attention to the TSR's installation, however. This application note provides proper installation information. While graphic incompatibilities are still possible, Sidekick Plus provides superior graphics handling compared to Sidekick. With most graphics cards, the Ventura Publisher screen will reappear correctly after running Sidekick. (You may encounter problems with some EGA cards. If so, you're out of luck.) @HEAD 1 = Installation After installing Sidekick Plus, you should customize it for best possible memory utilization In addition, if your primary reason for using Sidekick Plus is to provide DOS services and a text editor within Ventura Publisher, then you will want to delete unneeded functions. The following procedure will accomplish both of these goals. @HEAD 2 = Run INSTALL The first step in configuring an already-installed Sidekick Plus is to run the INSTALL program again. The Configuration<D> menu then appears. Change the settings to conform to settings shown in the second illustration, then select Continue SKPLUS Design<D>. If you plan to install the minimal configuration described here, set EMS memory to 300K bytes. (A full Sidekick Plus configuration requires more EMS.) If your computer doesn't contain much EMS memory, specify as much EMS as you can spare. If insufficient EMS is specified, the portion of Sidekick Plus which won't fit into EMS plus conventional memory will be swapped to hard disk. Sidekick Plus will still run. Note: <MI>Make sure you leave at least 48K EMS for Ventura Publisher or 256K for Professional Extension!<D> If you allocate all EMS for Sidekick Plus, then Ventura Publisher will not load. For example, if your computer has 512K EMS available, then you should not allocate more than 464K for Sidekick Plus if you plan to use Ventura Publisher, or 256K for Sidekick Plus of you plan to use the Professional Extension. If you want to create a special version of Sidekick Plus to run with Ventura Publisher, then you can create another EXE file. Otherwise, use the SKPLUS.EXE filename which is provided as the default (see third illustration). The last illustration on this page shows a minimal Sidekick Plus configuration for use with Ventura Publisher: @BULLET 1 = Make sure you move the cursor to the EMS<D> column. @BULLET 1 = For each application you want to include, press the Enter<D> key. For certain applications, such as the Notepad and Phonebook, you will need to answer certain other questions. The amount of EMS memory you specified at the beginning of this installation must equal the EMS amount (152K in this example) plus Resident Size (71K in this example), plus Data Buffer (64K in this example). Once you have gotten this far, if the total of these three memory sizes is less than what you allocated in the earlier step, press ESC<D> several times to get back to the earlier screen, specify the correct amount, and then return to this screen by retracing the steps above. Press F2<D> to begin the build process. @HEAD 1 = Load Sidekick Plus The simplest way to load Sidekick Plus is to type SKPLUS<D>. If you have EMS memory and have configured Sidekick Plus for the minimal configuration shown above, and if you have very few other device drivers or TSR programs, then Ventura Publisher or the Professional Extension should load. If you have a 386 computer using Quarterdeck's QEMM-386<D> or Qualitas Software's 386max<D>, or if you have a 286 computer using All Computer's Chargecard<D>, then you can use these program's LOADHI function to load Sidekick Plus into the memory area between 640K and 1 megabyte. This will make Sidekick Plus appear to consume virtually no conventional memory. You should definitely load Sidekick Plus into this high memory area if you have this hardware and software. @HEAD 2 = SWAPSP If you don't have any of this hardware and software, then Sidekick Plus will consume at least 71K of conventional memory. As described in Application Note #2, you can run Ventura Publisher with only 500K remaining, and you can run the Professional Extension with only 465K remaining in computers which contain EMS memory. Thus, you may be able to tolerate 71K. If you can't, you can purchase a simple utility called SWAPSP<D> from a company called Innovative Data Concepts. Their address is: 1657 The Fairways, Suite 101, Jenkintown, PA 19046. The product costs $20. You can either order directly from them, or else first download the program from Compuserve in the BORAPP forum and then send in your money. This program reduces the amount of conventional memory usage from 71K to less than 10K by swapping the resident portion of Sidekick Plus to EMS. Your computer must contain at least 64K more EMS memory than what you have already allocated for Sidekick Plus. Performance degradation resulting from swapping the resident portion is virtually undetectable even on a slow 286 AT computer. To install SWAPSP, copy the SWAPSP.COM and TESTSP.COM files to the same directory where the Sidekick Plus EXE file resides. Then, run the TESTSP program to install SWAPSP. Once this is done, simply type: @TABLE = <F1M>SWAPSP /G<F255D> @BODY NO INDNT = to install Sidekick Plus. The /G makes sure that graphics is swapped out correctly when you invoke Sidekick Plus from within Ventura Publisher. To use SWAPSP from within a batch file, change to the drive and directory which contains SWAPSP and your Sidekick Plus EXE file. Then enter the following two lines (assuming SKPLUS is the Sidekick Plus EXE file): @TABLE = SWAPSP /N/G<R> SKPLUS @HEAD 1 = Screen shots For those not familiar with Sidekick Plus, the screen shots on the following page show the file manager, ASCII table, and notepad. @HEAD 1 = Advanced use @HEAD 2 = Cut & Paste Sidekick Plus can be used in many ways. In addition to providing DOS file facilities, it can be used to cut and paste between different applications. While you cannot cut <MI>from<D> Ventura Publisher, you can paste text which you have cut from other applications <MI>into<D> Ventura Publisher. You may need to slow down Sidekick Plus' paste speed when pasting large blocks. @HEAD 2 = Word processing The Notepad in Sidekick Plus has a full search and replace function. This can be used to perform search and replace on an ASCII file without leaving Ventura Publisher. As an example of how to use this feature, consider the following: @BULLET 1 = Open a chapter from within Ventura Publisher. @BULLET 1 = If the text within this chapter is not saved as ASCII text: @BULLET 2 = Select the frame which contains the text file. @BULLET 2 = Select the File Type/Rename<D> option. @BULLET 2 = Select ASCII<D>. @BULLET 2 = Select OK.<D> @BULLET 2 = Then select Save<D> in the File menu. The text file will now be saved in ASCII format. @BULLET 1 = Invoke Sidekick Plus (Ctrl Alt<D>). @BULLET 1 = Select the Notepad. @BULLET 1 = Use the New File (F3<D>) option to load the ASCII text file you just saved. @BULLET 1 = Use the search and replace (Ctrl QA<D>) and other editing functions to edit the file. @BULLET 1 = Save the file (F2<D>). Return to Ventura Publisher. @BULLET 1 = After returning to Ventura Publisher, select Open<D> from the file menu and re-open the same chapter. You must do this to load all the changes you just made. Similarly, if you make changes in Ventura Publisher, you must Save<D> those changes before going to back to Sidekick Plus <MI>and<D> you must then use the new file option (F3<D>) again to re-load the text file. This re-loading is the only way to transfer the changes between the two applications. @HEAD 3 = Hints @BULLET 1 = If you use the notepad extensively, you should set the Options File Autosave ON<D>. This assures that any changes made within Sidekick Plus will always be saved before you return to Ventura Publisher. @BULLET 1 = If you exit from Sidekick Plus using Ctrl Alt<D> instead of ESC<D>, then when you return to Sidekick Plus from Ventura Publisher you will be returned directly to the application in use (in this case the notepad). @BULLET 1 = To re-read the same file upon returning to Sidekick Plus, press F3<D> then Enter<D>. @HEAD 3 = Wordwrap Note that if you edit the file with automatic wordwrap turned on, or if you reformat a paragraph using Ctrl B<D>, Sidekick Plus will wrap the blank space which Ventura Publisher places at the end of each line. This results in two spaces between words. You can either use the search and replace function in Sidekick Plus to remove these extra spaces <MI>after<D> you have finished editing, or your can remove them as soon as you load the file. To remove them immediately after you load, search for space/carriage return/line feed<D> and replace this with carriage return/line feed<D>. This is done as follows: @BULLET 1 = Place the cursor at the beginning of the file (Ctrl QR<D>). @BULLET 1 = Press and hold the Ctrl<D> key. Then press QA<D>. @BULLET 1 = On the Search For<D> line, delete any characters remaining from the last search. @BULLET 1 = Press the space bar once. @BULLET 1 = Hold the Ctrl<D> key and press PMPJ<D>. This is the code for a carriage return followed by a line feed. @BULLET 1 = Press the Enter<D> key. @BULLET 1 = On the Replace With<D> line, delete any characters remaining from the last search. @BULLET 1 = Hold the Ctrl<D> key and press PMPJ<D>. @BULLET 1 = Press the Enter<D> key. If the cursor is at the beginning the of the file before you begin this operation and if you have set Ask Before Replace to No<D>, then the blank space at the end of each line in the entire file is deleted. If you don't want to watch all the search operations as they occur, press Ctrl Q<D> as soon as the replace operation begins (this is an old Wordstar trick that also works in Sidekick Plus). If you later bring this file back into Ventura Publisher, the lack of a trailing space won't affect character spacing. Also, the search and replace options are remembered. Therefore if you save the document from within Ventura Publisher and then use the New File (F3) option in Sidekick Plus to retrieve the edited document, you can simple type Ctrl QA<D> followed by Enter Enter<D> to replace the blank space at the end of each line. The notepad is limited to 54,000 characters. @HEAD 2 = ASCII table Sidekick Plus also has a complete ASCII table. Although the character mapping above ASCII 128 is not identical to the characters used in Ventura Publisher, the characters between 128 and 168 <MI>are<D> the same. Therefore, if you need to quickly find most foreign characters: @BULLET 1 = Call up the ASCII table within Sidekick Plus. @BULLET 1 = Find the character in the table. @BULLET 1 = Press Enter<D> to paste the character into the Paste Buffer. @BULLET 1 = Press Alt +<D> to paste the character from the ASCII table Paste Buffer into the Sidekick Plus clip board. @BULLET 1 = Exit from Sidekick Plus. @BULLET 1 = If not already in Text mode, switch to this mode and place the text cursor where you want the new character to appear. @BULLET 1 = Press Ctl Ins<D> to paste the foreign character into Ventura Publisher. Note: you may want to change the Services Setup Clipboard End of Line Character option. The ASCII table in Sidekick cannot be edited. @HEAD 1 = Summary This note describes how to install and use Sidekick Plus with Ventura Publisher or with Professional Extension. One final note. Although you can run Sidekick Plus with the base Ventura Publisher, the amount of memory available for your document will be decreased. This will cause Ventura Publisher to swap portions of the document to hard disk, resulting in delays as you go from page to page. If you cannot accept any performance degradation, you may wish to limit use of Sidekick Plus only to those computers on which you have installed the Professional Extension.