Zodiac Super OZ/MEDIADEPOT.ISO/FILES/03/NUVREAD2.ZIP/NUVAREAD.TXT

Text File | 1996-06-09 | 14KB | 325 lines

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:           NUVAREAD SHAREWARE UTILITY Ver.2 & 3

              by P.Mihok  -  June 1996



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:PRELIMINARY:

   Nuvaread has proven to be a popular program for displaying text
 as it works on any machine and is highly customizable. Translated
 into many languages, and customized in many ways, it is finding
 a niche in all sorts of text display systems. People are enthusiastic
 about the automated highlight menu, the quick search, the mouse
 operation, and the ability to provide all sorts of custom shells
 and command line switches on demand.

   The current release includes a version which loads into RAM rather
 than loading actively from the disc, and which provides a wider range
 of colour selections, a different highlight system, etc.

 NOTE - one reason for this new release is to notify users of our
 new fax number! 905-471-3217

:0>:INTRODUCTION to NUVAREAD:

   People who have previously tried VAREAD and found it was not
 quite suitable for distributing documentation, may be interested in
 NUVAREAD, which offers many more features as well as affording
 much better printing. NUVAREAD is mouseable, and gives an automated
 menu and also line highlighting, so it is very easy to create a useable
 document with it as well as to navigate around the file. NUVAREAD,
 like VAREAD, handles files up to 10,000 lines long; since I simplified
 the file loading, it loads much faster. (It doesn't auto wrap at the
 last space in a line, however. It just wraps at the end of the screen.
 VAREAD does autowrap, but I felt it took too long to load.) I have made
 versions which scroll to the left or right, which handle tables in a
 special manner, and which read in a different manner - loading into
 RAM rather than actively reading from the disc; hypertext versions,
 versions with custom FIND lists, etc.

    I have also provided full colour (text mode) graphics incorporated
 into the files, such as those drawn by VmASC. Thus one could have up to
 100 fully coloured title screens at any point in the file, for instance.

 (VmASC is in IBMAPP on COMPUSERVE, and its registration number is 7877)

   You could look for CYBRTEXT which is a version with a different menu
 system, a FIND list, and lots of hypertext capabilities!

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:1>:LOADING NUVAREAD:

    The utility can be summoned by typing

    NUVAREAD

 at the command line, in which case it looks for a file named
 NUVAREAD.TXT. (If there is no file, it complains.)

    Typing a file name after the name of the utility,

    NUVAREAD YOURFILE.TXT

 will load the specified file. Try not to use NUVAREAD to read unusual
 files (non ASCII) as it might not work right. (I haven't found anything
 that perturbs it unduly, however.)

    The utility will display ASCII files of up to 10,000 lines in
 length. It will truncate and wrap long lines, so long files with long
 lines may not be shown beyond the 10,000 (wrapped) length.

    It also loads a shell if provided.

    The utility shows you the first screen as it loads the file, so
 you can start reading right away as it is loading.

:2> DESCRIPTIONS:
:(a) HIGHLIGHT LIST/MENU:

  Hitting F10 will show a highlight list/menu which is created from
 one of the following:

     i) - if the documentation contains built-in highlights, created
 by placing a colon in the first column as shown:
 : (This would be a highlighted line if the colon were placed at the
 start of the line...)

     NUVAREAD will highlight the line when it is displayed and also
 show the line in the highlight list, which can be scrolled like a
 menu and from which you can move to any of the listed lines within
 the body of the text.

     ii) - if no such highlights have been provided, NUVAREAD will
 look for lines which might be title lines, seeking out isolated lines
 and listing them in the highlight list. I'm not entirely happy with
 the way this works, though, since everyone seems to have their own
 ideas of how a title line should be, so it's unpredictable what you
 will get.

     NUVAREA2 provides highlights based on lines which start at column
 zero, instead of having a colon. This version is a modified version of
 a recent customization, included to show some of the potential of
 NUVAREAD.

    Using the up down arrows or the mouse button, you can select a
 line in the highlight list and then ENTER or the Left mouse button will
 go there, or ESC or the right mouse button will escape the list.
 The list scrolls with the mouse cursor on the top or bottom line.

    The highlight list only handles 100 lines of highlight.

:(b) SHELL OPTION:

 If the name of a shell file is loaded at the command line as follows:

     NUVAREAD YOURFILE.TXT &BINGO

     NUVAREAD will then shell out and try to run the file named "BINGO"
 when F2 is hit. (The ampersand flags that it is the shell name.)

     If no shell file has been loaded, NUVAREAD will simply not respond
 to this key.
    (The shell now loads a copy of DOS if it doesn't find a shell,
 in response to user request! Hopefully COMMAND.COM is in your user's
 current path. No harm done if it isn't...)

     (A shell file is another file which you want the user to be able
 to run concurrently with the current one. For instance, a self-
 displaying diagram or illustration named PICTURE.EXE might be your
 shell file. Customized versions which provide multiple shell files
 responding to function keys or the mouse, easily defined in a separate
 text file, have been provided for some users.)


:(c) HELP:

- an improved help screen is now provided (hit F1). It provides a much
 more detailed description of the navigation and other options, and
 explains all the functions.

      As a programmer, I always regretted having to enlarge my file
 size by incorporating a lot of HELP text, but my newest software
 includes context sensitive full screen help and I realized that it
 can be really nice to have it. However there isn't really a reason
 to add much help to a simple utility like this.


:(d) ABOUT:

 - an ABOUT THIS FILE screen is now provided (hit Alt-A or F9).

 - HELP files, labels etc. customized for language or special user
 requirements have been provided on request to registered users.

    VAREAD's file information was rather obtrusive into the reader's
 reading experience, so I decided to place it in its own function and
 keep clear the screen that the user sees in NUVAREAD.

    The exit screen has a two second delay tied to the system clock,
 and says the software is unregistered as well as giving ABOUT
 information. I regret having to add stuff like this, but if you
 register, it will be gone! Please be honest and register -- I am
 really not asking very much for standard registration fees.

:AND IF YOU GO AWAY...

    The software now has a screen saver which comes up after 5 minutes
 of no user input.


:(e) WORD SEARCH:

   NUVAREAD will provide an edit box where you can type the
 word you wish to find, if you hit F (for Find.) The search is quite
 fast. Hitting ENTER or the left mouse button starts the search from
 the beginning of the file or Alt F from the current location, and
 ENTER or the left button causes it to go onward to the next match.
 The right mouse button or ESC stops search.

   You can now type longer strings with spaces, and hit "b" if you
 want to go back to the previously found string. (only one button
 deep memory, though.) (CYBRTEXT gives you a list of strings that
 were found, and other options are also available. These features
 are also available in NUVAREAD.)

   I supplied BOOLEAN find to several users, also to VLIST
 (VLIST is in IBMAPP and its registration number is 7833. A faster
 version of VLIST, with extended directory capability, is in the
 works, by the way.)

:(f) PRINTING:

  Two cascaded submenu selections - to select printing of all the
 text, the text from this point onwards, or only the current one page -
 followed by a choice of continuous or page-paused printing, allow you
 to control how you wish to print. Print can also be interrupted with
 the ESC key, and the page number being printed is displayed.

   The print function uses DOS to print and therefore cannot print
 extended graphic characters but only those characters loaded by the
 country information settings in your version of DOS, unless you
 specifically load the IBM emulation mode into your printer and load
 IBM Character Set 1.  You might also have to set the printer for 8
 bit data.

   Printing is always a source of the most grief with software, so
 if anyone has problems or suggestions about this aspect, let me know.
 Some users are using separate print utilities to print over their
 networks.

:(g) BACKGROUND HUES:

  Several hues are selectable by hitting F6. These hues do not affect
 the HELP or HIGHLIGHT hues, but the optional main text hues are
 provided since the user might find one of them less fatiguing to
 read. (I personally use the green on black because my eyes get tired
 reading on the computer with other combinations. I also did not wish
 to provide the magazine publisher with the option of giving different
 hues of text for different lines of text, which other programmers
 have provided. The publisher might enjoy adding all sorts of bizarre
 hues to their file, but as a reader of the file it just kills me to
 squint at yellow on purple and that kind of thing. It burns my eyes
 out. And I don't think I am the only one. Let the user choose...

   In fact, I have provided custom colours to several registered users,
 with the understanding that the end user can alter it if they wish.

   NUVAREA2 includes an enhanced colour selection system.


:(h) SCROLLBARS

   NUVAREAD shows a graphic display of your position in the file and
 also tells you what line number is at the top of the screen. The HELP
 screen gives a clock display and tells you the total number of lines
 that are in the file.

   The main body of the text can be scrolled with the mouse at the RHS,
 where arrows appear for page up and down, and stars appear for home and
 end. Or the mouse can be placed on the small scroll bar and used to
 place the window on the specified spot. I did not want to have a
 scrollbar on the right hand, though, because I thought it looked
 cluttered and sometimes obscured the underlying text. A switchable
 scrollbar (visible or not visible) is possible but not provided.

   There is also a scrollbar showing where you are in the highlight
 list. However the mouse only scrolls the text on the top or bottom
 lines of the box, and otherwise selects a line if the line is active.


:(i) MOUSE MENU:

   A small popup mouse menu appears in the lower left hand corner
 of the screen when the mouse cursor goes there. It allows you to
 run the HELP screen, FIND, SHELL and the HIGHLIGHT LIST, as well
 as EXIT the software. The right button dismisses the menu and the
 left button selects a function.

   This menu is greatly improved over the VAREAD menu, which was
 sort of clunky. I had not used the mouse much when using VAREAD,
 so I wasn't fully cognizant of the awkwardnesses. I'm not much of
 a mouse user to begin with. However when I do use the mouse, I
 prefer to use it in broad strokes without too much hassle about
 where it is exactly, so I tried to make the mouse work to accommodate
 this style of use.

   Mouse operation is improved in NUVAREA2, and it also operates in the
 colour selection menu.

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:FUTURE STUFF:

  So many custom versions of NUVAREAD exist now, it seems futile to
 list "standard enhancements!" Register, and you can request various
 enhancements as required. Prices for customization have ranged from
 $50 to $500, depending on their complexity.

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:LICENCE:

     You may use VAREAD and NUVAREAD on your own machine as much as you
 like. If you wish to distribute it, though, to display ASCII text files,
 you must register by sending $10. for VAREAD or $15 for NUVAREAD or $18
 for both to:

     VMV Ltd.   5694-4 Hwy 7 E. Unit 193, Markham Ont. Can. L3P 1B4

    You may register online at CServe at GO SWREG; the reg.ID number is
 #  7878.

    Custom version licencing must be arranged individually, and
 prepayment will be requested. Formal invoices will be issued.


    I can also be reached by fax at:

    905-471-3217

    or e-mail at
    [e-mail]

    A Web page will be available soon! Stay tuned.

    If you find NUVAREAD is almost what you require, but you would like
 additional features, please write or contact me and I shall be glad
 to accommodate your needs.

    If you register I will send you a copy with your name on the exit
 screen, and other enhancements, depending on the complexity of your
 request and any agreements made between us! You'll find I am eager
 to provide support and bug fixes.


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