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1995-12-09
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Tessler's Nifty Tools (tm) (TNT)
Copyright (c) 1986-1994
All Rights Reserved.
*** Tessler's Nifty Tools (tm) ***
"Tessler's Nifty Tools" is a collection of over 30 ultra low cost
DOS and Windows programs for both the casual and power user who
desires to increase his/her PC productivity and enjoyment. Many of
the unique programs are so incredibly useful that you'll never
understand how you lived without them.
Many programs have been reviewed in InfoWorld, PC Computing,
COMPUTE, and PC Techniques magazines.
Each program is available separately ($19 or $29), as a complete
collection, or TNT may be purchased in "mini" packages -each of
which addresses the needs of a specific type of user. Each "mini"
package offers significant savings over purchasing each program
separately. The complete collection offers even more savings.
Any one "mini" package: $69
Any two "mini" packages: $119
All three "mini" packages
(the complete collection): $159
Add an additional $5 for shipping. (California residents must
include state taxes.)
Each program has on-line documentation. "Mini" package and complete
collection purchases include a printed manual. TNT is distributed
only on 3+ HD disks.
U.S. checks, money orders, and purchase orders (NET 15) are
accepted. Returned checks will be charged a $15 processing fee.
Credit card orders are not accepted. Corporate and institutional
site licenses are available at substantial discounts.
Technical support is provided through CompuServe, U.S. Mail, and
collect return telephone calls.
Designed and developed by:
Gary S. Tessler, P.E.
Copyright ( 1986-1994 by GST
All Rights Reserved.
Tessler's Nifty Tools (TNT)
430 Canyon Woods Place Suite A
San Ramon, Ca. 94583
CompuServe: 71044,542
*** THE EXPERTS ARE RAVING ABOUT TNT... ***
Tessler's Nifty Tools is the utility package that's different from
all the rest. Instead of supplying yet another version of the same
familiar programs, TNT gives you unique utilities that let you
maintain, fine-tune, and control your system in ways you can't do
with anything else. If you want to control your serial port's UART,
or modify Windows INI files through a batch file, edit a Windows
group file, or check on various Netware operations, TNT is the one
package you need. This is one of the most useful and original sets
of utilities on the market."
-Edward Mendelson Contributing Editor
PC Magazine
"TNT's new edition of some much needed tools provides a powerful
way to maintain alternate Windows configurations... I especially
like DIR2BAT, which writes batch files to carry out commands on any
file specification..."
-Brian Livingston Infoworld 8/30/93 and 4/11/94
"If you need to configure Windows on the fly, I think you'll find
that these programs give you a degree of control that has
previously been very difficult to achieve."
-PC Computing 11/94
"Vdel - the command that Microsoft forgot."
-PC Computing "DOS Application of the Month" 3/94
*** "MINI" PACKAGE DESCRIPTIONS ***
Power Windows User, Multiple Configuration & Control Pkg.
Cfgcntrl -Intelligent text file controller for Windows INI,
LanManager, Autoexec and Config.sys files.
Grp2ini -Convert a Windows GRP (group) formatted file into a text
file for editing.
Ifonscrn -Check if specific characters appear on your screen and
act on them by stuffing keystrokes into your application.
Ifwait -Beep or buzz your PC's speaker or any LPT port device.
Ini2grp -Convert a Grp2ini text file back into a Windows GRP
(group) formatted file.
Power User & Programmer's Pkg.
Capstat -Determine if your printer is being Netware
captured.
Chek4dup -Check for duplicate EXE & COM programs.
Chkparm -Determine if pathname is drive, directory, filename; new
or existing; local or Lan reference.
Comspeed -Determine actual modem DTE line speed during a call.
Controlp -Control printer echoing ^P within batch files.
Dir2bat -Perform a series of commands on a series of files.
Dvcpu -Set Desqview's Share-CPU option from the command line.
Dvprompt -Embed a Desqview window's switch number in the DOS
prompt.
Dvrun -Determine if Desqview is running.
Feefifo -Enable and control 16550a UART serial chip's FIFOs.
Growp -Grow and change your DOS prompt each time you shell to
DOS.
Rlist -Display or print a portion of a text file.
Setbeep -Control the duration of your PC's beep sound or silence
your PC.
Vers -Set DOS' version better than Setver does.
Safer & Easier Computing & Multimedia Pkg.
Chk4root -Check for a root directory reference & protect DELTREE
from deleting every file from your disk!
Copywa -Copy files along with their attribute bit.
Crtdump -Copy your monitor's text screen to a disk file for
editing.
Expndtab -Convert tab characters to spaces with document alignment
preserved.
Parkhead -Park your hard disk(s) before turning off your PC.
Pdel -Permanently delete a file so that it can't be recovered.
Player -Play a wav or voc format sound file.
Prtscrff -Send a formfeed (paper eject) command to your printer
whenever you press the Printscreen key.
Rwdir -Display files that are read/writable (not read-only).
Thot4day -Display a random humorous thought of the day on your
monitor.
Tune4day -Play a different sound file every time you turn on your
PC.
Vdel -Delete files (including read-only files) with
verification.
Zdir -Determines the size of sub-directories nicer than DIR
does.
*** COLLECTION SUMMARY ***
CAPSTAT ($19) determines if your local printer is being Netware
captured.
CHEK4DUP ($19) generates a list of files that exist in both .EXE
and .COM form. This usually occurs when software is
upgraded from a COM format to an EXE format and the old
COM version is accidentally left on the system when the
new EXE program is put onto the system. DOS will always
invoke the COM program before the EXE program so you
should delete the older COM program.
CFGCNTRL($29) (Config-Controller) is an intelligent text (ASCII)
file controller. Just what does this mean? Well a bit of
history is required to explain this new type of software
utility... I created CFGCNTRL to solve common office and
home Windows computing problems.
Before CFGCNTRL, the typical office had MS-DOS laptop PCs
running Windows software and LanManager LAN software that
had to have specific LAN device drivers and video drivers
installed and activated when the laptop was plugged into
its desktop docking station with a LAN card and external
video monitor, and a different set of device drivers
installed and activated when the laptop was out in the
field running remote LAN access software with its
internal LCD display which required custom video drivers.
The PC "techies" were managing this mess by keeping two
copies of Window's configuration files -WIN.INI and
SYSTEM.INI files and LanManager PROTOCOL.INI files
present on each PC -one set for the docking station mode
and one set for remote access mode. This didn't work
well, for every time the user added/deleted or moved a
group on his/her desktop, these changes were never saved
to the other set of configuration files. Installing
software that modified these configuration files had to
manually be added to the other set of configuration
files. Maintenance became a total nightmare. Similarly
having two separate LanManager PROTOCOL.INI files was
just as difficult to maintain.
In the home, my users wanted a way to configure Windows
in a 'minimal' mode so that their kids would not have
access to certain programs on their PC, and then have
their 'normal' mode with full program/group access for
themselves.
Out of these needs was born CFGCNTRL... CFGCNTRL does
away with multiple configuration file sets. You only
have your single set of standard Window's configuration
files and LanManager files to deal with. CFGCNTRL and
DOS' batch file capabilities allow you to control all
aspects of your configuration files including adding or
deleting complete groups of programs to or from your
desktop.
CHKPARM ($19) analyzes the file specification and returns via
DOS' ERRORLEVEL whether the specification is a drive
letter, file or sub-directory, whether it exists or not,
and if it is a local reference or a network (remote)
reference. Great for use in batch files.
COMSPEED ($19) determines the actual baud rate that a COM (serial)
port is set to. With today's high speed modems that can
adjust their phone line and data rate (speed)
automatically, it is often very difficult to determine if
your line is operating at the proper rate. Use COMSPEED
to check your COM port's data rate after establishing a
data connection.
CONTROLP ($19) allows you to turn on screen to printer echoing as
if you had pressed Ctrl-P or Ctrl-PrtScr. Read your DOS
manual for more information on printer echoing.
COPYWA ($19) will copy files with the source file's attribute
copied into the destination file too. Great for
preserving your read-only file's attribute when copying
them.
CRTDUMP ($19) copies the contents of a text mode video screen to
a disk file. Great for preserving screen messages for
later review or printing.
DELTREE-CHK4ROOT ($19) uses CHK4ROOT to determine if a file
specification refers to the root directory. DOS'
DELTREE.EXE can easily delete every file on your hard
disk. Now use CHK4ROOT to protect yourself...
DIR2BAT ($19) performs a series of commands on a series of files:
Will write a listing of files that match your file
specification to the file DIR2.BAT. Each file found may
be prefixed and suffixed by user provided strings. This
batch file will then be able to perform actions to the
files. For example, if your C:\ disk contains the
following files:
list.doc printer.doc readme.doc
then the command:
DIR2BAT c:\*.doc "attrib -r ! /s" "del !" /f
will create a DIR2.BAT file with the following contents:
attrib -r c:\list.doc /s
del c:\list.doc
attrib -r c:\readme.doc /s
del c:\readme.doc
attrib -r c:\printer.doc /s
del c:\printer.doc
DVCPU ($19) is a DesqView utility program that is meant to be
run right before running a program that requires full
usage of the CPU's computing power. It pops up the
DesqView window and sets 'Share CPU when in Foreground'
to Yes or No depending on the parameter entered. Useful
for programs that insist on running in a non-multitasking
environment such as voice sampling and digitization
programs.
DVPROMPT ($19) is a DesqView utility program that facilitates easy
recalling of your current DOS window's switch number by
retrieving and embedding its switch number in its DOS
prompt. For example, upon opening and using several DOS
windows with command line programs, the user often finds
it difficult to remember which window he/she was doing
what task in. Since each window has the same DOS prompt,
DOS gives him/her no visual clue to the identification of
the current window. Will change each DOS window's DOS
prompt into the typical form of:
1 C:\> for DesqView switch window #1
2 C:\> for DesqView switch window #2
3 C:\> for DesqView switch window #3
DVRUN ($19) is a DesqView utility program that determines if
DesqView is running. Useful within batch files.
EXPNDTAB ($19) copies a source file to a destination file with any
embedded tabs converted into spaces in the destination
file. Document tab alignment is preserved. Great for
printers that don't expand tabs correctly or word
processors that don't expand tabs into the proper number
of on-screen spaces.
FEEFIFO ($19) enables the FIFO of a 16550A high speed UART chip
at the serial COM port specified by you. This allows
many non-FIFO aware programs to use and benefit from FIFO
serial ports.
GROWP ($19) grows your DOS prompt each time you shell to DOS.
It adds a user specified growth character to the
environment's 'PROMPT' string each time another copy of
COMMAND.COM is invoked, and removes the growth character
when the copy of COMMAND.COM is terminated. Each growth
character represents a suspended program in RAM and gives
you a visual warning that you should not turn-off your PC
before returning to the suspended program and gracefully
exiting it. This program is meant to be useful in
situations where you invoke COMMAND.COM from within
Windows, DesqView, a word-processor or from within a
spreadsheet. In this typical scenario, GROWP gives you a
visual reminder that you have suspended -not terminated a
critical program. This program will also help avoid
SMARTDRV write-ahead cache data losses.
GRP2INI-INI2GRP ($29) (Group file to INI file converter and back)
converts encoded (non-text/non-ASCII) Windows 3.0 and 3.1
GRP (group) files into a plain text (ASCII) INI format
file for your review and editing. It is considered a pre-
processor to the CFGCNTRL program. After GRP2INI creates
the textual INI formatted output file, you can edit it
with your word processor or use CFGCNTRL to act on it.
Then the companion post-processor INI2GRP (INI file to
group file converter) must be used to reconvert the INI
file back into the encoded GRP file format that Windows
requires. GRP2INI-INI2GRP puts a powerful dimension of
Windows configuration control into your hands with or
without the use of CFGCNTRL.
A 'group' in Windows is a collection of icons (programs).
Example Windows groups are: Main, Accessories, Games, and
Startup. Example items in a typical 'Main' group are:
File-Manager, Control-Panel, Clipboard, and PaintBrush.
GRP2INI reads the encoded GRP file and constructs an INI
formatted text file that has a section of information
associated with each item in the group. Each section's
entries are explained in plain English. You can control
every aspect of the complete group's window including its
size, location, and name. You can control every aspect of
your group's items including each item's name, program
name, program location, working directory, short-cut-key,
run-minimized state, icon picture (bitmap), icon size,
icon colors, and location of the item's icon within the
group's window, etc..
Tired of waiting for Windows to start up? GRP2INI can
help. As you add and delete more and more items from a
Windows group, your GRP files grows in size. Windows does
a poor job of recovering wasted space in your group's GRP
file. In fact, Windows does no wasted space recovery.
GRP2INI will automatically remove all wasted space in
your GRP files. Just run your GRP file through GRP2INI-
INI2GRP and notice the file size and speed improvements.
This wasted space recovery is similar to disk
defragmentation processes.
Have you ever wanted to force Windows to load certain
programs in your Startup group in a certain order? Before
GRP2INI-INI2GRP you couldn't. Now you can! Windows loads
items in the order that they appear in the GRP file.
However, when adding a new item into your group, Windows
simply finds puts the item into the first hole it finds.
Simply generate the INI output file and move the sections
around to suit your needs...
If you've ever wanted to 'move' an application from a
disk drive to another disk drive (perhaps because your
hard disk was filling up and you wanted to rearrange your
data), or even to another sub-directory, you were forced
to uninstall the application (losing all of your
application's settings) and reinstall it in the proper
new location all because of Windows' encoded GRP
formatted files. With GRP2INI and INI2GRP, you simply
generate and edit the text INI file replacing the
application's paths, locations, and working directories
with whatever you want.
IFONSCRN ($29) will examine the video screen for the appearance of
up to three case sensitive trigger (search) character
strings. Once found, a message box may pop up, and/or
user keystrokes may be stuffed into the keyboard buffer
including rebooting the PC. IFONSCRN may be run as a TSR
(RAM-resident) or as a non-TSR program. Great for
detecting how a program terminated if it does not set
DOS' ERRORLEVEL. Great for detecting modem, gateway, mail
router, and print server failures and then automatically
reboot them.
IFWAIT ($19) will beep the screen or the IFBUZZ device either
once or will wait until you press any key. It can run in
a WAIT mode where the device beeps cyclically until a key
is pressed, or in a BEEP mode where it beeps the device
once and terminates without a key needing to be pressed.
PARKHEAD ($19) parks an IBM PC 286, 386, 486, Pentium and most
compatible PC's hard disks.
PDEL ($19) permanently deletes a file so that it can't ever be
recovered.
PLAYER ($19) plays a wave or voc formatted sound file on a Sound
Blaster or compatible audio. card.
PRTSCRFF ($19) automatically appends a form-feed (paper eject)
command to your printer whenever you press the
PrintScreen key. Very useful to keep your printer always
at its top-of-form position. For laser printers, this
saves you from taking the printer off-line, and pressing
the PageEject button.
RLIST ($19) prints a range of lines from a text (ASCII) file to
the screen or printer.
RWDIR ($19) generates a list of non read-only files. Useful to
see which files would be deleted when issuing a DEL *.*
command. It is recommended to make most of your
application programs (programs ending with com, exe, and
bat) read-only to minimize the risk of accidental
erasure. RWDIR will help you identify the files that
might need to be made read-only.
SETBEEP ($19) is a memory resident program that will set the beep
character's (ASCII decimal 7 or control-G) duration to a
user specified value or disable it leaving you with a
silent PC. The PC's default beep tone duration is 1
second which is too long and annoying for many people.
THOT4DAY ($19) (pronounced "Thought-for-day") is a unique program
that will display varying personalized messages on your
PC's computer screen. You, the user can create a list of
messages (THOTs) to be displayed by the program. Many
Murphy's Law-like thoughts are included.
TUNE4DAY ($19) plays a different sound file from a directory of
files every time you run the program. Useful in your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file to play a new sound every time you turn
on your PC. Uses PLAYER. May also be used to run any
program with a different filename as its argument from a
directory of files.
VDEL ($19) (Verify DELetion) asks you if you want to delete
file(s) matching your filename. It can delete read-only
files too. For each file that VDEL finds, you can
configure it to or not to ask you if you want to delete
it.
VERS ($19) installs itself as a memory-resident program that
will set the DOS version(s) to user specified value(s).
This is useful when running programs that require a
specific DOS version for no useful reason. (Many DOS
supplemental programs require specific versions for no
legitimate reason). VERS works better than SETVER does.
VERS can set both the TRUE and FAKE (SETVER) versions
that DOS provides to programs.
ZDIR ($19) determines the size of sub-directories nicer than
DIR does.
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