ELF-BOOT! by Randy Constan, Elfin Magic Software (c)1991
I. INTRODUCTION
Thanks for trying ELF-BOOT!, a powerful new startup utility for
the ATARI ST, from Elfin Magic Software. While there are many startup
utilities for the ST which go in your auto folder, this is the only one
that provides a familiar GEM-like interface, complete with mouse
pointer, dialog boxes, one click functions, and even a file select
window! If you decide not to install ELF-BOOT, because you think your
current startup utility is probably just as good, you're really missing
out! Try it... I guarantee you'll like it! Finally, I must mention
that the user interface is so instinctive, that you may be tempted to
lay the docs aside. READ THESE DOCS! Otherwise, you'll never get
optimum use out of the system.
***** Important Note on DEMO version! *****
If the your main program file is called "ELFBOOTD.PRG", this is a
demonstration copy of the program, but don't worry... It contains
every single feature that the "registered" version contains. However,
a commercial message about shareware has been added to the code. Which
brings us to an important point. This program IS a shareware offering.
In actual use you will find it to be a very complete and thoroughly
planned application, with features you would expect to find in a
commercial offering. If you agree and find ELF-BOOT to be a valuable
asset to your system, you'll want to register your ownership by sending
$15 to:
Randy Constan c/o Elfin Magic Software
23 Brook Plane, E. Islip, NY 11730
In return, You'll receive a copy of the registered version in the mail,
along with printed documentation (if you request), full support for any
problems you encounter, and access to updates and revisions at a
substantial discount. In fact, it is possible that by the time you
register, more features will have been added! The demo version contains
a 40 second commercial message, which will appear only 1 out of 4 times
the program is used. It is a simple reminder that a lot of time and
effort went into this product, and shareware authors gotta eat too!
******** DISCLAIMER ********
Although I (and several 'beta' testers) have beaten the program to
death forcing every conceivable error, I must hereby state that I nor
the Elfin Magic company assume any responsibility for lost time or data
resulting from the use or misuse of ELF-BOOT. The user assumes
responsibility for backing up his system to prevent such disasters. I
can only affirm that to the best of my knowledge, the program will
perform as stated in the docs, and at the time of distribution
contained no 'viruses' of any kind.
THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR SUPPORTING SHAREWARE AUTHORS!
Page 1
ELF-BOOT! by Randy Constan, Elfin Magic Software (c)1991
FILES:
Before proceeding, be sure you have all the following files in
your ELFBOOT package:
ELFBOOT.PRG Main program (or ELFBOOTD.PRG for demo version) .
ELFHELP.PRG Utility to assist in preparing special batch files.
STARTGEM.PR A public domain program run utility.
RAMDISK.PRG ATARI's public domain reset proof ramdisk.
RDSET.TTP A freeware utility from Elfin Magic to set the
default drive and size of the ramdisk.
DESKTOP.L Some default desktop.inf files for each resolution
DESKTOP.M
DESKTOP.H
ELFBOOT.DOC The file you're reading.
README.DOC May contain last minute changes. Check it out!
ELF-BOOT: What it does...
ELF-BOOT normally resides in the AUTO folder of your hard disk. It can
also be re-run from the desktop at any time. For maximum utility, it
also requires that the file "STARTGEM.PR" (notice the missing "G") be
placed in the AUTO folder, after ELF-BOOT has been added. When it runs,
ELF-BOOT will allow you to:
1) Load, and modify up to 50 desktop.inf files. Desktop colors,
printer configuration, keyboard repeat, delay, bell silence and
key click can all be controlled, as well the option to confirm
copies & deletes, and turn disk write verify on or off.
2) Automatically select a default desktop file based on the
current monitor (color or mono), so that your system can boot
up properly with no manual intervention.
3) Install an option called 'AUTOCOLOR' which keeps your selected
desktop colors in place when the system completes it's startup.
This feature also prevents other applications from changing
your colors, unless you want them to.
4) Completely eliminate the need for the ATARI control panel desk
accessory, freeing up 2 valuable 'slots' for other accessories.
5) Enable or disable programs in your AUTO folder.
6) Easily change the order in which programs in your AUTO folder
will run.
7) Activate any one of up to 50 ASSIGN.SYS files for use with
GDOS, or prevent any from becoming active.
8) Enable and disable Desk accessories.
9) Automatically transfer any number of files from up to 50 user
defined lists, from any drive (and path) to an active ramdisk.
10) Cause your ST to run any of 50 preset programs without having
to double click them from the desktop. As of the time of this
writing though, THIS OPTION IS UN-USABLE WITH TOS 1.4.
Hopefully, this will soon change.
page 2
ELF-BOOT! by Randy Constan, Elfin Magic Software (c)1991
11) Create and or activate up to 50 macro files, which can perform
all the above functions, in one mouse click!
12) View and/or modify the system time and date, for those without
a real time clock.
Best of all, even though the program runs in an AUTO folder, It
provides an active mouse, dialog and alert boxes, multiple fonts,
button click functions, and even displays a file select window with
scrolling arrows! No, I have not discovered some hidden feature in the
ATARI to make this possible. Rather, I wrote my own 'mini-GEM' in 100%
assembly code. Because of the familiar environment, you'll find that
in most cases, just guessing what to do will give you the expected
result. But again.... read _ALL_ the documentation!
**********************************************
II. PREPARATION:
1) DESKTOP.INF FILES
ELF-BOOT can be used with or without desktop.inf files. But unless
you're a rare breed that likes ATARI's default lo res. desktop, these
files are important. The first thing you should do is prepare at least
one "default" desktop file for each of the 3 normal ATARI resolutions.
Since many users don't have both color and mono monitors, a sample
DESKTOP file for each res. is provided on the ELF-BOOT disk, so you can
accomplish this step even if you have only one monitor.
If you have a color monitor, prepare your own desktop.inf file in
medium resolution, with the desired colors, window/icon placement, and
installed applications you desire. If you do not currently use a
ramdisk, setup an icon for one now. To do this, just select any disk
icon, and select "INSTALL DISK" from the desktop menu. Then, specify
an unused drive identifier from D: thru P: at the prompt. Finally,
place the new icon in a convenient location on the desktop.
Set up your colors using ATARI's CONTROL.ACC for now. See your
ATARI manual for details. When you've saved the file using the 'SAVE
DESKTOP' option, rename the file "DESKTOP.M". Then, close all your
windows and switch to LO res with the set preferences option from the
desktop. When you're satisfied with your LO res setup, again save the
file, and RENAME it to DESKTOP.L. If you have a monochrome monitor,
follow the same procedure, this time renaming the file "DESKTOP.H".
Finally, switch to the resolution you use most often, set up your
screen, and do one final DESKTOP save, without renaming the file. If
you have only/Ç ê@6ã⇨ÿÇ`⇧0sπ ⇧αôα`Γ③Γb⇩#Ç `pβ⓪ôΓ ⇧3α`Γ③Γ Çb⇧③αÇ ③π⇨Ç2 |3≤≤≤≤α⇨Ç⇩③αÇ ⇧!⇩ b0sΓ! ③α`Γ③µ⇦f0◆$⇦ sΓ Çb⇧③ββ éb⇩p<<3≤≤≤≤≤≤≤≤≤α Γ 3µ⇦f0◆$⇦ sβ cü a③α⇧≡sαÇsα` ⇧③Γ ⇧3πôΓ Çb③π⇨Ç`b⇩sµf⇧⇦ d⇧≡$ä&0<3≤≤≤≤Σé3αÇsΓ Ç"a③α "⓪sαÇsα Ç`sπÇ#Ç`Ç"③αÇsα`③α⇨Ç⇩③β ⇧"③αÇr⇧③usable for the
current monitor type. If not, it will look for the default "DESKTOP.M"
or "DESKTOP.H" depending on the monitor you're using. Providing the
program finds a usable desktop file, it will allow the user a chance to
exit the program immediately, and will automatically copy the file to a
new DESKTOP.INF file if necessary, when the program exits.
page 3
ELF-BOOT! by Randy Constan, Elfin Magic Software/נננבîBFBBFpp≡pנננננ≡pננננננננננé OÇ⇩OÄ⇧ä Oî⇦ê⇧êOÇ◆נüÇOIJבנÇ ⇦êOבüÇ⇧Ä⇧נijGאOëê⇦ ⇧Ç◆נêé⇧ê⇦AנêÇ⇦≡pנננננÄ⇧üנé ⇦נÄ◆çüé ⇧é ä@נÆ⇧ז⇦Oå ⇩⇧êOâÄ ëéOüÇOâÄ êOüâê@22¨Œ´7Õ⓪0Õ82ã¨⓪;œ´4╱à⓪⓪⓪⓪⓪:42É897Õ2¨⓪;œÃ27†¨É7Õ2Ã⓪0Ã2⓪1ÃÀ7¨9É9Ø´⓪4Ã⓪0õõè20Ã1ØÉ;œ´4⓪:42É;è5É<ôåà⓪⓪⓪⓪⓪4Ã:2Ã2⓪:7É27ù⓪ øãœÃ⓪:47´øœ⑥⓪37¨⓪0É10¨2É6œÃ4À´Àû⓪<ôÉ9œ7´À2⓪40†2É0´╱à⓪⓪⓪⓪⓪62㨴⓪⑧É34À2É7Ã⓪40Ã2⓪34À2É37¨⓪2ãõœ⓪92¨ÃÀ:´4ÃÃ⓪<ôÉ:¨Øû⓪0Ã2⓪4´③¨É0É3ÃÃØ╱à⓪⓪⓪⓪⓪4Ø2ãÉ:7É:¨ØÉ:42É2¶:2Ã22¨⓪7ø⓪:42É34À2Ã0ÀØÉ:7É4Ã24õã´2É:42É92¨ÃÀ:´4ÃÃ⓪4´╱à⓪⓪⓪⓪⓪4¨É4Ã:2Ã22Ø⓪37¨⑦⓪!2¶ÃÃ2⓪:44¨t. In fact, it is possible that by the time you
register, more features will have been added! The demo version contains
a 40 second commercial message, which will appear only 1 out of 4 times
the program is used. It is a simple reminder that a lot of time and
effort went into this product, and shareware authors gotta eat too!
******** DISCLAIMER ********
Although I (and several 'beta' testers) have beaten the program to
death forcing every conceivable error, I must hereby state that I nor
the Elfin Magic company assume any responsibility for lost time or data
resulting from the use or misuse of ELF-BOOT. The user assumes
responsibility for backing up his system to prevent such disasters. I
can only affirm that to the best of my knowledge, the program will
perform as stated in the docs, and at the time of distribution
contained no 'viruses' of any kind.
THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR SUPPORTING SHAREWARE AUTHORS!
Page 1
ELF-BOOT! by Randy Constan, Elfin Magic Software (c)1991
FILES:
Before proceeding, be sure you have all the following files in
your ELFBOOT package:
ELFBOOT.PRG Main program (or ELFBOOTD.PRG for demo version) .
ELFHELP.PRG Utility to assist in preparing special batch files.
STARTGEM.PR A public domain program run utility.
RAMDISK.PRG ATARI's public domain reset proof ramdisk.
RDSET.TTP A freeware utility from Elfin Magic to set the
default drive and size of the ramdisk.
DESKTOP.L Some default desktop.inf files for each resolution
DESKTOP.M
DESKTOP.H
ELFBOOT.DOC The file you're reading.
README.DOC May contain last minute changes. Check it out!
ELF-BOOT: What it does...
ELF-BOOT normally resides in the AUTO folder of your hard disk. It can
also be re-run from the desktop at any time. For maximum utility, it
also requires that the file "STARTGEM.PR" (notice the missing "G") be
placed in the AUTO folder, after ELF-BOOT has been added. When it runs,
ELF-BOOT will allow you to:
1) Load, and modify up to 50 desktop.inf files. Desktop colors,
printer configuration, keyboard repeat, delay, bell silence and
key click can all be controlled, as well the option to confirm
copies & deletes, and turn disk write verify on or off.
2) Automatically select a default desktop file based on the
current monitor (color or mono), so that your system can boot
up properly with no manual intervention.
3) Install an option called 'AUTOCOLOR' which keeps your selected
desktop colors in place when the system completes it's startup.
This feature also prevents other applications from changing
your colors, unless you want them to.
4) Completely eliminate the need for the ATARI control panel desk
accessory, freeing up 2 valuable 'slots' for other accessories.
5) Enable or disable programs in your AUTO folder.
6) Easily change the order in which programs in your AUTO folder
will run.
7) Activate any one of up to 50 ASSIGN.SYS files for use with
GDOS, or prevent any from becoming active.
8) Enable and disable Desk accessories.
9) Automatically transfer any number of files from up to 50 user
defined lists, from any drive (and path) to an active ramdisk.
10) Cause your ST to run any of 50 preset programs without having
to double click them from the desktop. As of the time of this
writing though, THIS OPTION IS UN-USABLE WITH TOS 1.4.
Hopefully, this will soon change.
page 2
ELF-BOOT! by Randy Constan, Elfin Magic Software (c)1991
11) Create and or activate up to 50 macro files, which can perform
all the above functions, in one mouse click!
12) View and/or modify the system time and date, for those without
a real time clock.
Best of all, even though the program runs in an AUTO folder, It
provides an active mouse, dialog and alert boxes, multiple fonts,
button click functions, and even displays a file select window with
scrolling arrows! No, I have not discovered some hidden feature in the
ATARI to make this possible. Rather, I wrote my own 'mini-GEM' in 100%
assembly code. Because of the familiar environment, you'll find that
in most cases, just guessing what to do will give you the expected
result. But again.... read _ALL_ the documentation!
**********************************************
II. PREPARATION:
1) DESKTOP.INF FILES
ELF-BOOT can be used with or without desktop.inf files. But unless
you're a rare breed that likes ATARI's default lo res. desktop, these
files are important. The first thing you should do is prepare at least
one "default" desktop file for each of the 3 normal ATARI resolutions.
Since many users don't have both color and mono monitors, a sample
DESKTOP file for each res. is provided on the ELF-BOOT disk, so you can
accomplish this step even if you have only one monitor.
If you have a color monitor, prepare your own desktop.inf file in
medium resolution, with the desired colors, window/icon placement, and
installed applications you desire. If you do not currently use a
ramdisk, setup an icon for one now. To do this, just select any disk
icon, and select "INSTALL DISK" from the desktop menu. Then, specify
an unused drive identifier from D: thru P: at the prompt.n (very!) quickly transfer a group of files to a
ramdisk! This is very handy if you have an ongoing project in which you
normally spend time moving the same files into your ramdisk every time
you boot. However, in order for ELF-BOOT to accomplish this, the
RAMDISK program must have been previously run. This is why I recommend
keeping ATARI's reset proof RAMDISK in your AUTO folder. It is easily
sized or even disabled at boot time with a single keystroke. However,
If you use a DESK.ACC type ramdisk, you can still make great use of
this feature, since ELF-BOOT can be re-run from the desktop at any
time.
For now, just Create a folder in your root directory, and call it
"TRANSFER". Later, we'll see how the supplied support program
"ELFHELP.PRG" may be used to quickly create up to 50 'batch' files for
use with this feature.
6. STARTGEM
If you're using any version of TOS but 1.4, create a folder in
your root directory called STARTGEM. The public domain program
STARTGEM.PRG (renamed .PR in your ELFBOOT package) is capable of
automatically running any program on bootup, just by placing the
programs' full path and filename in a text file called STARTGEM.INF.
In the STARTGEM folder you just created, you can store up to 50 such
text files, with names of your choosing. ELFBOOT will automatically
take care of copying the one you select, and enabling/disabling
STARTGEM.PRG as needed. (This is why it's current filename ends in
".PR" instead of ".PRG"). Later, we'll see how the supplied ELFHELP.PRG
can assist you in accurately creating these text files, without errors
or hassle.
7. MACROS!
Create one more folder in your root directory called "ELFMACRO".
No need to fill it with anything, ELFBOOT handles all the processing
here. Later, we'll see how almost everything ELFBOOT does for you can
be saved in a macro file, for a totally customized setup every time you
use your ST!
III. PROGRAM USE:
OK... now comes the fun part! For the first time, run ELF-BOOT
from the desktop, even though it's in the auto folder. This way, if
there's anything wrong with the program file, or if there's any
incompatibility with some other program that's resident in memory
(TSRs), you'll find out with a harmless crash to the desktop.
When you run the program, the startup screen will appear, followed
by an alert box. If the DESKTOP.INF file was present (or alternately,
if either DESKTOP.H or DESKTOP.M is all that's available), the dialog
box will offer 3 choices. You have 10 seconds to choose, or option 2
(EXIT with AUTOCOLOR) will be selected by default. For now, click the
mouse on choice 3: USE ELF-BOOT!. If no DESKTOP file was found, you
will see a different dialog box reminding you to select one before
exiting. In this case, click on EXIT (upper right corner of screen),
page 6
ELF-BOOT! by Randy Constan, Elfin Magic Software (c)1991
followed by clicking on EXIT WITHOUT AUTOCOLOR in the next dialog box.
Then, retrace your steps and see where you went wrong. Remember, in the
demo version, 1 out of 4 exits will display, a 40 second commercial.
When you select the 'USE' option, you'll see the entire ELF-BOOT
work screen. To the left, there are displays for the Time, Date,
printer configuration, keyboard configuration, Disk parameters (Confirm
copies, deletes, and disk verify), buttons for keyboard click and bell,
and in the lower left, color control. The parameters displayed are all
taken from the 'current' desktop file (or from the system itself if no
desktop file exists). Here is a brief synopsis of how these work:
Printer: Just like the ATARI control panel. Set each parameter by
clicking the appropriate box. These parameters may be changed
at any time, whether the program is run from an AUTO folder at
boot time, or later from the desktop.
Disk: For the confirm deletes/copies buttons to be toggled, a
desktop file must exist. But even so, these parameters can
only be changed in the system when the program is run from the
AUTO folder at boot time. Write verify for disk operations
however can be turned off or on at any time. But note that
this item will always default to active (verify on) since I
believe it shouldn't be disabled without user intervention.
Time/Date: These displays update automatically every 2 seconds. To
change the time or date, just click on the appropriate box
and type your new entry. The program parses date and time
strings fairly intelligently, and all the following are
legal entries:
Time: 03:22:10 AM, 3:23, 3:24P, 03:23 PM
DATE: 05/01/91, 5/01/91, 5/1/91
Press escape if desired to clear the string and start again, just as in
a normal GEM dialog box. Other than that, the backspace is your only
active editing key. Hit RETURN, ENTER, or click the mouse to complete
your entry. The new date or time will be installed in the system and
displayed. If the program can't make sense out of your entry, the
original time or date will re-appear.
Keyboard: The keyboard click and delay rate may be varied to within the
same limits that the ATARI CONTROL.ACC allows. Simply click
on the up or down arrows for the desired parameter. Feel free
to press any key and hold it to check the results of your
change. To the right, the keyclick and console bell sound may
be enabled or disabled. Keep them both enabled for now
(highlighted), since they are used to aid the unfamiliar
user of ELF-BOOT. For example, anytime you click the mouse in
an inactive area, or when certain errors occur that the
program wants to draw attention to, the console bell will
ring in addition to any status messages present.
Color: This is a big feature if your using a color monitor! Click on
any color box from 0 to F (representing 1 - 16 in GEM order),
and you'll see the color change, both in the screen display,
and in the color box to the right. Note that even though the
program is running in medium res. (on a color monitor), all
16 colors can be viewed in this special color box!. This
will allow you to alter all the colors of a LO res
page 7
ELF-BOOT! by Randy Constan, Elfin Magic Software (c)1991
desktop.inf file without even being in lo res! To alter any
color, select the color number (0-F), then click the left or
right arrows in the RED, GREEN, or BLUE box. The numerical
color value, as well as the color itself will show up in the
color box. If you're in monochrome, colors 0 and 1 will only
allow two settings (BLACK on WHITE, or WHITE on Black). The
other colors may be edited normally.
A very important feature of the color control is this: You can select
any resolution desktop file (we'll see how to do this later), and the
program will make visual sense out of the colors! That is, from a color
monitor, You can load in a HI or LO res desktop, and edit the colors
perfectly, While the screen display accurately shows what the colors
will look like in the resolution of the chosen desktop. You'll have to
experiment with this later to see what I mean. Also, should you
accidently edit the colors in such a way that the screen becomes
difficult to read, clicking the color box itself will temporarily
install a preset color palette. This will not effect the color box or
the color data itself. Any additional editing, or clicking the color
box again will toggle the actual desk colors back to the screen. The
more you need to use this, the more you'll like it!
Status Box:
In the status box on the lower right, the default message shows
the current free ram, as well as the type of desktop file
currently in memory. Actually, the 'Free RAM' message indicates
the amount of memory that ELFBOOT has available for copying files,
etc, rather than the total ram available. For most disk
operations, this status box will also display information showing
the various stages of the selected process, or will provide
instructions as to your next logical action. If during a disk
operation, you hear the console bell and all activity seems to
stop, check the status box to see how to proceed.
FILE OPERATIONS:
In the center of the screen there are 8 boxes with associated file
select operations. Each is designed to accomplish it's goal in as few
mouse clicks as possible. All items make use of the file select window
to the right, in one way or another. When a file function box is
clicked, the associated directory will be displayed in the window. If
more than 12 items are in the directory, the right sidebar will become
shaded, as an indicator. In this case, you can use the UP and DOWN
arrows at the upper right and lower left of the window, to scroll the
display. If no items are present, the status box will reflect this, and
the menu box you selected will clear. Also, regarding the UP and DOWN
arrows, holding the mouse button down will allow continuous scrolling.
When the window can be scrolled no further, the console bell will ring.
The status box will also reflect the number of items found. To select a
file from a directory, just click on it (double click has no meaning in
ELF-BOOT). The Top window bar will also display the name of the
selected directory!
Note that ELFBOOT will automatically choose the 'MACRO SELECT' box
and display the 'ELFMACRO' directory, IF there are macros present.
Since no macros have been created yet, the system will instead default
to the 'SELECT DESKTOP.INF' option. This should be the case now, and a
page 8
ELF-BOOT! by Randy Constan, Elfin Magic Software (c)1991
directory of your desktop files should already be present in the
window. We'll skip this option for now though, and explore all the
menu boxes from top to bottom.
1. Auto Program Enable:
Clicking this item causes all entries in your AUTO folder with
either a .PR or .PRG extende⇦נüÇOîêOä⇨Ç ijנüÇOäê Ä ✓Oבê Ä üêBOÄOijçä≡pנננננêé⇧êAנÇÇ⇦⇧נî⇧é OÇ נé⇧ijנüÇOëé⇦ üêOÄOijçäÿOêé⇧êAנÄ✓⇩ נÇÇ⇦⇧נî⇧é OÇ נé⇧ij≡pנננננÆ⇧ז⇦OüâÄ⇧נä⇩ ◆üêNOÿ ⇨נüé ✓Oé Oî⇧é OÇ נÄOêé⇧êAנüâêOä⇧Ä⇧Ç⇦OîÇ⇨נÇ⇩⇧ü≡pנננננä⇨Ç OüâêOäê⇦ ⇧üIJנÄ ëנüâêOëé⇦ê ⇧Ç⇦éOÇ⇩⇧üנîêOäê✓äê⇦⇨ê ijנÆ î⇩ ê üÄ⇧üéAנéÕ;@4❎·⇩²⇨⇦⑤ךòזüíàךö®╱⇧> ②② >82 ◆>╱!> ⇩82╱ '> ③>&✓⓪82╱ '>⓪╱8╱ ①> #IJב????>⓪╱x②╱``A⇩②⇨>`Fc r@@◆> ✓╱◆>╱8 !>08②!> #>╱8◆>8 ╱ 8╱✓08╱╱ >8①IJב????>⇩ 0 ⓪⓪8e are displays for the Time, Date,
printer configuration, keyboard configuration, Disk parameters (Confirm
copies, deletes, and disk verify), buttons for keyboard click and bell,
and in the lower left, color control. The parameters displayed are all
taken from the 'current' desktop file (or from the system itself if no
desktop file exists). Here is a brief synopsis of how these work:
Printer: Just like the ATARI control panel. Set each parameter by
clicking the appropriate box. These parameters may be changed
at any time, whether the program is run from an AUTO folder at
boot time, or later from the desktop.
Disk: For the confirm deletes/copies buttons to be toggled, a
desktop file must exist. But even so, these parameters can
only be changed in the system when the program is run from the
AUTO folder at boot time. Write verify for disk operations
however can be turned off or on at any time. But note that
this item will always default to active (verify on) since I
believe it shouldn't be disabled without user intervention.
Time/Date: These displays update automatically every 2 seconds. To
change the time or date, just click on the appropriate box
and type your new entry. The program parses date and time
strings fairly intelligently, and all the following are
legal entries:
Time: 03:22:10 AM, 3:23, 3:24P, 03:23 PM
DATE: 05/01/91, 5/01/91, 5/1/91
Press escape if desired to clear the string and start again, just as in
a normal GEM dialog box. Other than that, the backspace is your only
active editing key. Hit RETURN, ENTER, or click the mouse to complete
your entry. The new date or time will be installed in the system and
displayed. If the program can't make sense out of your entry, the
original time or date will re-appear.
Keyboard: The keyboard click and delay rate may be varied to within the
same limits that the ATARI CONTROL.ACC allows. Simply click
on the up or down arrows for the desired parameter. Feel free
to press any key and hold it to check the results of your
change. To the right, the keyclick and console bell sound may
be enabled or disabled. Keep them both enabled for now
(highlighted), since they are used to aid the unfamiliar
user of ELF-BOOT. For example, anytime you click the mouse in
an inactive area, or when certain errors occur that the
program wants to draw attention to, the console bell will
ring in addition to any status messages present.
Color: This is a big feature if your using a color monitor! Click on
any color box from 0 to F (representing 1 - 16 in GEM order),
and you'll see the color change, both in the screen display,
and in the color box to the right. Note that even though the
program is running in medium res. (on a color monitor), all
16 colors can be viewed in this special color box!. This
will allow you to alter all the colors of a LO res
page 7
ELF-BOOT! by Randy Constan, Elfin Magic Software (c)1991
desktop.inf file without even being in lo res! To alter any
color, select the color number (0-F), then click the left or
right arrows in the RED, GREEN, or BLUE box. The numerical
color value, as well as the color itself will show up in the
color box. If you're in monochrome, colors 0 and 1 will only
allow two settings (BLACK on WHITE, or WHITE on Black). The
other colors may be edited normally.
A very important feature of the color control is this: You can select
any resolution desktop file (we'll see how to do this later), and the
program will make visual sense out of the colors! That is, from a color
monitor, You can load in a HI or LO res desktop, and edit the colors
perfectly, While the screen display accurately shows what the colors
will look like in the resolution of the chosen desktop. You'll have to
experiment with this later to see what I, and displayed in the PRINTER, DISK, KEYBOARD, and COLOR
displays. Any modifications you make to these boxes will instantly
change the file data, as well as the ST itself. Again, these changes
are not really permanent, since ELF-BOOT normally saves this file as
DESKTOP.INF (a filename that is constantly overwritten). But the
changes CAN be saved permanently, as we'll see next.
4.1 DESKTOP.INF file save.
It isn't included in the 8 menu functions we're discussing, since
it's a "SAVE" rather then a "SELECT" or "LOAD" function. However, it
does seem logical to discuss it here. Skip down to the bottom of the
screen, and you'll see a SAVE DESKTOP select button. Assuming a desktop
file is installed in the program (either automatically on startup, or
manually with the previous menu function), you can control whether, and
HOW it is saved by clicking here. Assuming the file is in memory,
you'll be able select:
1- SAVE NOW
2- SAVE WHEN PROGRAM EXITS
3- CANCEL (DON'T SAVE AT ALL)
These options are self explanatory, except that option 2 (save when
program exits) will force it to be saved as DESKTOP.INF (the default
condition). The current filename is also displayed. Option 3 prevents
saving on exit, in case you're just browsing through your desktop
files.
page 10
ELF-BOOT! by Randy Constan, Elfin Magic Software (c)1991
If you choose option 1 to SAVE now however, you'll be given 3
additional choices:
1- SAVE with current filename
2- Save as 'DESKTOP.INF'
3- Enter a new filename.
The current filename is of course also displayed. Picking option 1
or 2 will save the file immediately. Saving with the current filename
means that any change you made to the system parameters is permanently
saved. Again, this illustrates how ELF-BOOT eliminates the need for the
ATARI CONTROL accessory. Saving as DESKTOP.INF instead just causes the
normally automatic save on exit to occur now instead of later, and
the original file is not altered. If option 3 is selected, another
dialog box will appear, allowing you to enter a new file name. Don't
enter any drive specifiers or path names here! Just a (max 12 char.)
filename. The save will always go to the root directory. Entering a
blank line will abort the operation in case you change your mind. The
same text editing rules for time/date entry also apply here. Just
remember that the name you choose must start with "DESK..." if you want
it to be selectable from ELF-BOOT.
5. Desk Accessory enable:
This works just like AUTO program enable/disable! Click here, and
all root directory files ending with .AC or .ACC will be displayed.
Clicking on one will either enable or disable it, and an appropriate
status message will be posted. The same rules of the FILE SORT box
discussed earlier also apply here. Also, remember that only the first 6
accessories will load into the system, and some files like CONTROL.ACC
(which you'll probably never use again) and SNAPSHOT.ACC take up 2
accessory slots! You must keep track of this yourself.
6. Ramdisk Transfer:
Clicking here will display any text files you'll prepare later
with the ELFHELP.PRG program. You don't have these set up yet, but
here's how it will work when you do. Selecting one of the 'transfer'
files will cause the program to copy all the files specified within
that file to the active RAMDISK. It's kind of a 'batch' copy command!
Of course, thorough checking is done to make sure the ramdisk/ä◆ê ⇩✓é✓ ≡pנננננîéOé ⇦נêé⇧êOê⇨üê ëê⇦נé⇦OÄ ⇧é êAנÄ ëנÇ✓✓◆נüäÄ OÇ✓נÄ⇧נüê⇦⇧נijOÇ⇧âê⇦≡pנננננçäÇ üê ⇦OüâÄ⇧נî ✓⇧ëנÄ⇦é⇦✓Aנä ⇨נÄ⇦OÄOêé⇧êOîê⇩ êOüÇ Oîé✓OêÇ⇦נüâêppנננננäÄ é⇦ @נÇ⇧î⇨נüâêOä⇧Ä⇧Ç⇦ng the appropriate box. These parameters may be changed
at any time, whether the program is run from an AUTO folder at
boot time, or later from the desktop.
Disk: For the confirm deletes/copies buttons to be toggled, a
desktop file must exist. But even so, these parameters can
only be changed in the system when the program is run from the
AUTO folder at boot time. Write verify for disk operations
however can be turned off or on at any time. But note that
this item will always default to active (verify on) since I
believe it shouldn't be disabled without user intervention.
Time/Date: These displays update automatically every 2 seconds. To
change the time or date, just click on the appropriate box
and type your new entry. The program parses date and time
strings fairly intelligently, and all the following are
legal entries:
Time: 03:22:10 AM, 3:23, 3:24P, 03:23 PM
DATE: 05/01/91, 5/01/91, 5/1/91
Press escape if desired to clear the string and start again, just as in
a normal GEM dialog box. Other than that, the backspace is your only
active editing key. Hit RETURN, ENTER, or click the mouse to complete
your entry. The new date or time will be installed in the system and
displayed. If the program can't make sense out of your entry, the
original time or date will re-appear.
Keyboard: The keyboard click and delay rate may be varied to within the
same limits that the ATARI CONTROL.ACC allows. Simply click
on the up or down arrows for the desired parameter. Feel free
to press any key and hold it to check the results of your
change. To the right, the keyclick and console bell sound may
be enabled or disabled. Keep them both enabled for now
(highlighted), since they are used to aid the unfamiliar
user of ELF-BOOT. For example, anytime you click the mouse in
an inactive area, or when certain errors occur that the
program wants to draw attention to, the console bell will
ring in addition to any status messages present.
Color: This is a big feature if your using a color monitor! Click on
any color box from 0 to F (representing 1 - 16 in GEM order),
and you'll see the color change, both in the screen display,
and in the color box to the right. Note that even though the
program is running in medium res. (on a color monitor), all
16 colors can be viewed in this special color box!. This
will allow you to alter all the colors of a LO res
page 7
ELF-BOOT! by Randy Constan, Elfin Magic Software (c)1991
desktop.inf file without even being in lo res! To alter any
color, select the color number (0-F), then click the left or
right arrows in the RED, GREEN, or BLUE box. The numerical
color value, as well as the color itself will show up in the
color box. If you're in monochrome, colors 0 and 1 will only
allow two settings (BLACK on WHITE, or WHITE on Black). The
other colors may be edited normally.
A very important feature of the color control is this: You can select
any resolution desktop file (we'll see how to do this later), and the
program will make visual sense out of the colors! That is, from a color
monitor, You can load in a HI or LO res desktop, and edit the colors
perfectly, While the screen display accurately shows what the colors
will look like in the resolution of the chosen desktop. You'll have to
experiment with this later to see what I
When you click on a macro file, It's like watching ELF-BOOT run itself
at high speed. All the menu items will select themselves, and set up
their options according to your macro specification! However, all non-
fatal error checking is bypassed.
page 12
ELF-BOOT! by Randy Constan, Elfin Magic Software (c)1991
Instead, a MACRO ERROR STATISTICS box (example below) will be displayed
In this example, 8 AUTO programs specified in the users' macro
have been activated and are now ".PRG". All others have been
deactivated. An ASSIGN file has been specified and copied as well. The
DESKTOP.INF function failed however. Perhaps the file specified in this
macro was intended for a mono monitor, while the user is currently in
color mode. Six requested desk ACCESSORIES have also been enabled,
while all others have been disabled. The TRANSFER function was able to
copy only 3 out of the 4 files specified by the user, so this
discrepancy is flagged by a '*' character. No program has been
specified to run under STARTGEM, and so "0"s are displayed.
In the event such errors occur, any exit condition specified by
the user is cancelled, and the next mouse click will return the USER to
ELF-BOOT. If you so desire, you can try to manually retry the failed
operation. In normal (or "manual") mode, the error messages are much
more extensive, and will provide full details on the nature of the
problem. If no errors occurred, and the user specified an exit
condition when the macro was created, ELF-BOOT will post a final
'good-bye' message, and exit.
9.1 MACRO RECORD.
While TRANSFER and STARTGEM files must be prepared outside the
ELF-BOOT environment with the ELFHELP.PRG, this is not the case with
macros. All you have to do is set up your system the way you want it
for a given application, and click the RECORD button. Again, the system
will scan all the menu items, this time recording all your selections.
For each, the status window reflects the users choices, but these
messages normally are too fast to actually read. ELF-BOOT will then
prompt you to select an exit condition for the macro. Basically, You'll
either exit the program when the macro is used, or simply return to the
ELF-BOOT environment. The normal exit condition is EXIT WITH AUTOCOLOR,
as this option replaces the color functions of the ATARI CONTROL panel.
Note again that this choice does NOT cause the exit to occur now.
Rather, it specifies what will occur when the macro is actually used.
After this selection, a directory of macro files is displayed, and ELF-
BOOT will prompt you for a filename. Pressing return with no entry
aborts the process, while an actual filename entry will cause a save.
On problem that can arise when creating several macros in
succession, is that you must remember to specifically select every menu
item that you want changed. For example, if you create a macro that
(among other things) runs a program, and then proceed to create another
macro that should NOT run a program, you must remember to select the
RUN PROGRAM box, even though you don't intend to select anything.
page 13
ELF-BOOT! by Randy Constan, Elfin Magic Software (c)1991
In other words, selecting the box automatically clears the 'macro
memory' of the last selection. This is also true of ramdisk TRANSFERs,
ASSIGN file selections, and DESKTOP file choices. So, when preparing
multiple macros, make sure to select ALL menu items, including the ones
for which you don't pick a file.
Another problem that arises when recording multiple macros is that
the system is unaware that you really don't want any actions to occur,
and that you're only preparing to do a macro save. So, to suspend all
file saving while setting up for a macro, click the FILE PROTECT box at
the bottom of the screen so that is highlighted. From here on, all
ASSIGN, PROGRAM RUN, TRANSFER, and automatic DESKTOP saves are
suspended, until the file protect box is turned off. With FILE PROTECT
on, file selection causes the associated file (or multiple files in the
case of TRANSFERs) to be loaded, so that basic error checking can
occur. However, instead of proceeding to copy the file(s) as usual, the
message "Selection Noted, No action Taken" will appear in the status
window. Selecting the FILE PROTECT option before making any macros will
also help to eliminate some of the "OVERWRITE (YES/NO) and "DELETE
(YES/NO)" messages, that can be very distracting. Incidentally, the
FILE PROTECT box has NO effect when actually EXECUTING (selecting) a
macro.
I.V. MISCELLANEOUS functions:
About Program.
If you click the box in the upper right hand corner of the screen
a short commercial message for ELF-BOOT will appear. Click the
mouse anywhere to escape this message. Note that the Demo and
Registered copies of the program contain different information. If
you have a registered copy of ELF-BOOT, be sure to check this out!
V. EXIT OPTIONS:
1. Exit on Startup
As we saw earlier, when ELF-BOOT starts up, you have the choice of
exiting immediately, or using the program. The default is to exit
with AUTOCOLOR enabled, and this option will occur after 10
seconds if the user does not intervene. We'll discuss AUTOCOLOR
more in a moment. For now, the important thing to realize is that
exiting at this point will allow you to enter the ST environment
with the/ä ✓Oî ëé⇧é äOüâÄ⇧נê⇨é⇦⇧ and you'll see the color change, both in the screen display,
and in the color box to the right. Note that even though the
program is running in medium res. (on a color monitor), all
16 colors can be viewed in this special color box!. This
will allow you to alter all the colors of a LO res
page 7
ELF-BOOT! by Randy Constan, Elfin Magic Software (c)1991
desktop.inf file without even being in lo res! To alter any
color, select the color number (0-F), then click the left or
right arrows in the RED, GREEN, or BLUE box. The numerical
color value, as well as the color itself will show up in the
color box. If you're in monochrome, colors 0 and 1 will only
allow two settings (BLACK on WHITE, or WHITE on Black). The
other colors may be edited normally.
A very important feature of the color control is this: You can select
any resolution desktop file (we'll see how to do this later), and the
program will make visual sense out of the colors! That is, from a color
monitor, You can load in a HI or LO res desktop, and edit the colors
perfectly, While the screen display accurately shows what the colors
will look like in the resolution of the chosen desktop. You'll have to
experiment with this later to see what Ion 1 when the program is run from an AUTO
folder during bootup, Your Desktop colors will never be installed
(Unless you re-enable the ATARI CONTROL.ACC).
option 3: coldstart
We'll come back to option 2 in a second. Exit option 3 will
cause a re-boot. This is an full coldstart, and is much more
thorough than pressing your RESET button. Some possible uses are:
1. When you've re-sequenced your AUTO folder programs, and
now want to reboot with the new configuration.
2. When you want to disable the ATARI ramdisk completely,
with a '0' key-press.
3. When a program (any program) causes a severe system crash,
and the desktop is behaving strangely. Earlier versions of
PINHEAD sometimes caused this to occur. A coldstart is the
next best thing to powering down for 10 seconds, and can
solve many problems that the RESET button alone can't
cure.
NOTE: While we're on the subject of RESET, note that exiting from
ELFBOOT with the RESET button is not recommended. In order to do the
simulation of a GEM mouse and event manager, many system changes are
made which will never be restored properly if RESET is pressed.
option 2. Autocolor Exit:
So what the heck is AUTOCOLOR anyway? Autocolor is a very powerful
feature of ELF-BOOT that goes beyond the ATARI control panel in
keeping your selected colors in place. Autocolor is a small piece
of program code (less than 1 k) that stays in memory after the
program ends. It can be installed only once, but enabled and
disabled at will. Normally it is installed when the program is run
from the AUTO folder (but this does not have to be the case).
When ELF-BOOT starts up, as long as a usable DESKTOP file is found,
the program will exit WITH autocolor installed (or enabled) after
10 seconds on user inactivity.
page 15
ELF-BOOT! by Randy Constan, Elfin Magic Software (c)1991
AUTOCOLOR... How it works:
When autocolor is initiated, the program will exit with the
selected desktop colors still active. It steals the primary vertical
blank vector from the system, and monitors the video hardware and
screen 60 times a second waiting for the desktop to appear. At this
point, it installs itself properly in the system vertical blank queue,
intercepts the mouse data from the keyboard, and restores the primary
vertical blank vector to it's original state.
What it does:
ALRIGHT...ENOUGH TECH TALK! With AUTOCOLOR installed, you'll see
your selected colors appear when the desktop appears. From there on,
ANY program that attempts to change the screen colors will fail to do
so! This is especially useful when you use a lot of programs that seem
to insist that the programmers choice of colors is superior to the ones
the user selected.
Enabling/disabling Autocolor:
Well that's all fine and well, but what happens when you run a
program that needs to control the colors. A drawing program like DEGAS
ELITE would be crippled without such control. In fact, Some parts of
DEGAS ELITE will fight the AUTOCOLOR program so hard, that sometimes,
after much screen-flickering battle, the program may actually crash!
So, we need a way to easily enable or disable AUTOCOLOR, to really make
it useful.
I thought a lot about this, and decided that the old approach of
pressing ALT - SHIFT- CTRL plus a key has been over used. My chances of
coming up with a new combination that no one else has used are pretty
bleak, and you'd probably forget the key combination anyway. So, here's
what I did. If you want to disable AUTOCOLOR, press the RIGHT mouse
button, and move the mouse to the left, _QUICKLY_, while still holding
the button down! Just a quick left 'swish'. Slowly won't do it! Once
you do that, The current colors will still remain, but any program that
wants to change them will be able to (including the old ATARI control
panel if you want!). To re-enable AUTOCOLOR, press the RIGHT mouse
button again, and this time move quickly to the RIGHT. The desk colors
will come back immediately. This sounds awkward, but believe me, it
becomes quite instinctive. You'll find that most of the time you
discover the need to enable or disable AUTOCOLOR, your hand will
already be on the mouse! In addition, You'll be hard pressed to find a
program that really does anything destructive in response to quick
mouse movements with the right button pushed. And, programs that do use
the right button, never require any movements fast enough to trigger
AUTOCOLOR. By the way, remembering the on-off direction is easy; just
think: "RIGHT ON!!"
Whenever you re-run ELF-BOOT, it first checks the system to see if
autocolor has been installed. If so, it disables it (but doesn't remove
it!). If you then exit the program and choose AUTOCOLOR exit, it senses
that AUTOCOLOR is already resident, and simply re-enables it, rather
than waste memory installing it again. This is why you will normally
ALWAYS exit WITH autocolor. The one exception may be monochrome only
users, since most mono programs accept the default 'black text over
white background' format. Also, if while re-running ELF-BOOT you decide
to change the screen colors (either manually, or by loading a new
page 16
ELF-BOOT! by Randy Constan, Elfin Magic Software (c)1991
desktop file), the new palette will be installed into AUTOCOLOR
automatically when you exit. This is in fact the only way to change
the AUTOCOLOR palette. Incidentally, AUTOCOLOR is smart enough to keep
your colors consistent and logical, even if you/î⇨Ä ê✓@92¨ÃÀ:´4ÃÃ9É397Àåà⓪⓪⓪⓪⓪:42ùגג⇩ ij⇨ατij⇩gijij◆⇦τIJ gijIJג'ij⇩@ D'גג⇩ ij⇨τגA ג'88x8x8gττττijI gכ✓כ`H✓ τא ⇨בז⇩@τij ח✓ח ח ⇩'τβτµF@ IJ⇦⇩&gβ88x8x8gττττπ gττאLא α@ijב°8x8gτττττττττijij'א⇦ τij⇨τijIJג'נ נ⇩I'אG ⇦IJ⇩ 'ijij'ו'גIJ⇦DD⇩D @τגג⇦G ijτא⇧ D'וץê⑨Ü]ÖCBê✓✓✓✓②Q♪✓⑧ץ⇧αôα`Γ③β&a╱ p `a≤Γ Çb③πÇ"sα`Γ③β'ä╱dü⇦⓪!β&③Γ Çb③α and you'll see the color change, both in the screen display,
and in the color box to the right. Note that even though the
program is running in medium res. (on a color monitor), all
16 colors can be viewed in this special color box!. This
will allow you to alter all the colors of a LO res
page 7
ELF-BOOT! by Randy Constan, Elfin Magic Software (c)1991
desktop.inf file without even being in lo res! To alter any
color, select the color number (0-F), then click the left or
right arrows in the RED, GREEN, or BLUE box. The numerical
color value, as well as the color itself will show up in the
color box. If you're in monochrome, colors 0 and 1 will only
allow two settings (BLACK on WHITE, or WHITE on Black). The
other colors may be edited normally.
A very important feature of the color control is this: You can select
any resolution desktop file (we'll see how to do this later), and the
program will make visual sense out of the colors! That is, from a color
monitor, You can load in a HI or LO res desktop, and edit the colors
perfectly, While the screen display accurately shows what the colors
will look like in the resolution of the chosen desktop. You'll have to
experiment with this later to see what Iders with mouse clicks, it is quite difficult
sometimes to remember the full path of a program. For example, my
terminal program " FLASH" requires a path sting like this to make a
GEMSTART file:
D:\TELECOM\FLASH\FLASH.PRG
I couldn't expect the user to remember strings like this from
within ELF-BOOT, and adding code to make the file select window into a
full replica of the GEM file selector box was in my opinion, too much
effort for too little gain. The solution was to provide a separate
program which could be run from the desktop, and so provide the user
with a real GEM file selector box, or allow him to use whatever file
selector replacement he is used to. the ELFHELP.PRG does just that.
Preparing STARTGEM files.
ELFHELP.PRG is run from the desktop, and should normally reside in
the root directory of your boot disk. It will first ask you whether you
want to create a STARTGEM file, TRANSFER file, or EXIT the program. If
you choose STARTGEM, a familiar file selector box will appear. Use it
to find the program you want ELF-BOOT to be able to run from it's
page 17
ELF-BOOT! by Randy Constan, Elfin Magic Software (c)1991
'RUN PROGRAM' option. Click on the desired file, followed by the OK
button. (Clicking the CANCEL button will return you to the start of the
program). Note that the program file you choose may be imbedded in any
combination of drive partitions and folders you choose. At this point,
ELFHELP will store the selected path/file name in a text file in the
STARTGEM folder. the name of the file will be the filename you
selected, with a ".RUN" extender. If you try to run ELFHELP from
anything other than your boot drive, it will not be able to find the
STARTGEM folder you prepared earlier. In that case, the file will be
saved to the current directory. In either case, when the save is
complete, the program will return to the initial dialog box and prompt
you for what to do next. When preparing STARTGEM files, be careful not
to mistakenly select a non program file. Programs on the ST all have
an extender of ".TOS", "TTP", ".APP", or ".PRG". Note also that the
text files produced do not have to be named the way ELFHELP names them.
You can rename them to anything you want, so long as they stay in the
STARTGEM folder.
Preparing TRANSFER files.
Selecting TRANSFER at the start of the ELFHELP program will again
allow file picks via the GEM item selector box. Use this option to
create LISTS of files that ELFBOOT will use in it's RAMDISK TRANSFER
function. It works like this:
1) Use the file selector to pick files you want to be transfered.
2) After each file pick, you'll be asked if you want to add more.
3) Selecting CANCEL from the item selector will simply return you to
the above message, and will list the files picked so far.
4) When you're done selecting files, you'll be prompted for a
filename to save under, using the same file selector box. If the
program can't find the TRANSFER folder, the file will be saved in
the root directory.
5) With TRANSFER files, remember that the extender must match your
RAMDISK specifier (Ex: MYTRANS.G = transfer to drive 'G:').
VII. ADVANCED USER NOTES:
These are just some tips I've discovered, that make using ELFBOOT
a little more logical. First, as mentioned earlier, try to get into the
habit of using generic filenames for programs, accessories, and any
other files that ELFBOOT must handle. This is especially true if you
use macros and transfer files a great deal. When new versions of a
program get installed into your system, keeping the name consistent
will avert the need for rebuilding MACRO, TRANSFER, and STARTGEM files.
It is also important to note that as text files, MACRO, STARTGEM,
and TRANSFER files can all be hand edited with a text editor, or
word processor capable of saving in straight ASCII format. While the
contents of the latter two files is probably obvious by now, the macro
files need a little more attention.
page 18
ELF-BOOT! by Randy Constan, Elfin Magic Software (c)1991
Here is a typical macro text file:
#auto:
PINHEAD.PRG
RAMDISK.PRG
SUPCLKRD.PRG
FOLDER200.PRG
ELFBOOT.PRG
#assign:
#desktop:
DESKWP.M
#accessories:
CALC.ACC
MEMFILE.ACC
PRINTDIR.ACC
CALENDER.ACC
#transfer:
#startgem:
WWRITER.RUN
#exit:
2
Pretty straightforward really. For each macro category, an entry
must exist even when no file is specified, as is the case with the
"#assign:" directive above. If files are specified for the "#transfer:"
or "#startgem:" directives, the files must be the text files prepared
by ELFHELP. In other words, if you try to hand edit one of these, don't
specify FLASH.PRG (example) for a startgem file. Rather, specify the
name of a filename, in your STARTGEM folder, that contains the full
path to the FLASH program, in ASCII form. If all this sound confusing,
then don't worry about it. The information is just here to aid the
advanced user. Directly editing macro files may yeild some time savings
over building a new file from ELFBOOT. A good example is when a complex
macro needs only its' DESKTOP file changed, to accomodate a mono or
color monitor. The final digit in the file specifies the exit condition
for the macro. 0 means return to program when done, and '1' and '2'
refer to exiting WITHOUT or WITH autocolor, respectively.
As you become familiar with the system, you'll ultimately think of
many ways in which the program could be made even more powerful.
Several ideas have come to my mind already. (Not bad for a version 1
though ehh?). Please feel free to send comments and suggestions either
by mail, via COMPUSERVE (EMAIL only to 73637,317), GEnie (ATARI
roundtable, or GE Mail address: R.CONSTAN)AÇ⇦נüôÿOÉÿ⇦⇧IJנÇ⇨é ⇨נé⇦OüâêO≡pנננננÇ✓êé ⇩⇧נ££äOÇ✓נüâêOæÇ êOÆ⇦⇧Ä ëנß⇧Ä⇦éOÇ⇦✓⇦נÿ⇦Ç ◆ijנüâê⇩9⓪7:Àõ2¨⓪4¨É╱à⓪⓪⓪⓪⓪əÿ¢⑥Ö⑨Ü⑥ÜÜ⑨ù⓪&2´⓪6ØÉ9´0´2É47†Ø†2¨⓪:40´⓪;œ0´⓪$ôÀÉ6è´⓪4Ã:2¨2¨´2Ø⓪4Ã⓪╱à⓪⓪⓪⓪⓪4¨É2Ã40Ã1ØÀØÃ:9É:7É6ãŒØÉ:42É897ø¨0ÀÉ6è2É:¨Øø:À⑥⓪90´42¨⓪:42Ã⓪5:¨´⓪╱à⓪⓪⓪⓪⓪67Ã3ب⓪É⓪④$ôÀ6⓪72†2¨⓪6ãŒØÉ4´⓪860¶É6´¨œõÉ7¨⓪290†É84õ´:¨2¨É37¨⓪2¶0ÀÕ62öù╱à⓪⓪⓪⓪⓪ À9Ãû⓪$ôØ⓪64ŒØÉ:7É5Ã7†É7ø⓪0Ã<É0Ã2⓪0À6⓪4Ã1ÃÀÕatibilities with other
programs you discover. Unfortunately, I did not find out until the very
last minute that STARTGEM does not work with TOS 1.4. I will try to
find a way around this as soon as possible, and again/äê✓⇩⇦⇧ê⇦ê נÇ⇦✓⇦äO≡pנננננÇ⇩⇧üנêé ëנÇ ⇧נÇéOëé⇦ê ⇧נÇ⇩⇧é êAנÇ⇨ê ê ê⇦נÇê Oÿ①ÿijÉ⓪⇧נÇê⇦ä⇩ äOÇ⇦≡pנננננé êÇ⇦Ç⇧é נîê ✓⇦OÄ Ä⇩⇧Ä üê@נä Oêé Ä⇧üéAנÇ êOüÄ⇦⇧נüé ✓@נÆ✓נé Oüé ✓O≡pנננננüâêOçäÇ✓⇦Ä Aנçüê⇦✓Oäê✓⇩⇦⇧ê⇦ijנß ëIJנé✓נé H⇦êOçÄ⇦üנÇ✓נÄOÇ⇦✓⇦נê⇦Ç ◆IJנ≡pנננננüÄ ✓OחijOÇ✓êנüâêOäê✓⇩⇦⇧äÄ⇧é mally.
A very important feature of the color control is this: You can select
any resolution desktop file (we'll see how to do this later), and the
program will make visual sense out of the colors! That is, from a color
monitor, You can load in a HI or LO res desktop, and edit the colors
perfectly, While the screen display accurately shows what the colors
will look like in the resolution of the chosen desktop. You'll have to
experiment with this later to see what I
fee for these modules, I can say that they will be very reasonable
provided that proper credit is given in the docs of the resulting
products. Here are some of the more interesting source codes available:
AUXMOUSE.S This module creates a completely stand alone mouse cursor,
that exactly duplicates the GEM mouse function. It installs cleanly in
the VBI, and may be removed at any time. It may be passed a list of
rectangles, and will return the Rectangle number and button data in
response to a mouse click. The rectangle list may be changed at any
time, to allow for secondary graphic inputs, such as simulated alert
boxes. Because of it's independence, it can run equally from an
AUTO.PRG, or under GEM. It also provides for the possibility of changing
the cursor form, with standard mouse data, mouse mask, and hotspot data.
All 3 standard resolutions are supported.
FONT6X6 This is a standalone utility for printing 6x6 system fonts,
but only ascii codes from 1 to 127 are included. You pass it position
and color data, and a pointer to a standard (zero terminated) string.
Options are included to control both foreground and background color, as
well as X-RAY or BLOCKED mode. Again, this runs with or without GEM
surfaces, in all 3 resolutions.
DRAWFILL.S This is actually a high performance graphic package which was
originally intended for an ST version of SUPER 3D PLOTTER (something
only 8 bitters would remember). Anyway, It can draw lines, draw filled
or unfilled boxes (with borders), and fill convex polygons with any
number of sides. Line clipping is also built in, allowing the user to
specify points anywhere in a + or - 32K range. The fill commands allow
16 dithered patterns in monochrome and med res., as well as the standard
16 colors of lo rez. As a line engine, it exceeds 1000 lines/second in
random line draw tests.
ALERT.S Actually, this code is somewhat imbedded in the ELF-BOOT code,
but I can extract it if someone is interested. It allows all the alert
box actions in ELF-BOOT, and could easily be modified to allow a default
RETURN keypress button. It's much less cumbersome than the GEM alert
box, and allows much more variation in size, text size, and text color.
Of course, the 6x6 font code is needed if the alert boxes are to contain
the small system font.
I would also like to hear from other developers, so that we can
work together to insure that ELF-BOOT gets along well with, and maybe
even enhances other applications. There are many startup utilities out
there. ELF-BOOT, though it's macros, may for the first time allow the
user to select any startup program or desktop replacement, at boot time!
For example, the ramdisk transfer can be used to copy files not only to
a ramdisk, but to any active drive. By carefully combining this utility
with the other setup function, a macro could be created to setup for
NEO-DESK(TM), HOTWIRE(TM), or a host of other packages. The program is
very open ended, and I am open to changes to make ELF-BOOT support other
products.
Finally, I wish to thank Steven Stubbs and John Aalto of the Long
Island ATARI user group. You have these relentless beta testers to thank
for beating the program bug free, and gently forcing me to add many
important features to ELF-BOOT. Enjoy the program!
