The Business Master (3rd Edition)

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SCOUT A Memory Resident File Manager Version 4.4 (tm) ┌─────────┐ ┌─────┴───┐ │ Member ───│ │ │──────────────── │ ┌──────┴──┐ │ Association │ │ ├──┘ Shareware └──┤ ■ │ Professionals ──────│ ║ │─────────────────── └────╨────┘ by New-Ware Copyright 1986,87,88,89,90 All Rights Reserved Contents 1. INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 3. PROGRAM FILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 4. CONFIGURING AND INSTALLING SCOUT . . . . . . . . 7 A. CONFIGURING FOR OVERLAY FILE LOCATION . . . . 8 B. HOT KEY SELECTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 C. FILE MASK DEFINITION . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 D. FUNCTION KEY MACROS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 E. ASSIGN PRINTER CODES . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 F. SET PRINTER MARGINS . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 G. DEFINE PROGRAM MENU . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 H. DEFAULT SORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 I. SET FLOPPY DRIVE PARAMETERS . . . . . . . . 12 J. FILE COPY TIME/DATE SETTING . . . . . . . . 12 K. SET PRIME KEY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 L. SET CGA SNOW AVOIDANCE . . . . . . . . . . . 13 M. DEFINE CTRL-X PROGRAM MENU . . . . . . . . . 13 N. SAVING CONFIGURATION TO .BIN FILE . . . . . 13 O. RETRIEVING CONFIGURATION .BIN FILE . . . . 13 P. SAVING CONFIGURATION TO DISK . . . . . . . . 13 5. LOADING SCOUT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 A. RAM USAGE ADJUSTMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 B. OTHER COMMAND LINE OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . 15 C. GRAPHICS CAPABILITIES . . . . . . . . . . . 16 6. LOADING SCOUT-EM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 7. OPERATING SCOUT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 A. CALLING SCOUT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 B. MAIN COMMAND MENU . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 C. MAIN SCOUT DISPLAY . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 D. DIRECTORY CATALOG . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 7. SCOUT MAIN COMMAND MENU . . . . . . . . . . . 21 A. COPY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 B. MOVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 C. ERAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 D. BACK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 E. RENA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 F. SRCH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 G. FMT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 H. DRIV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 i I. ORDR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 J. PRNT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 K. INFO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 L. XTRA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 9. VIEWING FILE CONTENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 A. BROWSING A TEXT FILE . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 B. VIEWING ARCHIVE FILE DIRECTORIES . . . . . . 28 10. EXECUTING PROGRAMS FROM SCOUT . . . . . . . . 28 A. EXECUTE A PROGRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 B. EXECUTE PROGRAM MENU . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 C. CTRL-X PROGRAM MENU . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 11. QEDIT, LIST, & NORTON . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 12. COMMAND KEY SUMMARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 A. MAIN DISPLAY CONTROL . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 B. ALTERNATE COMMAND KEYS . . . . . . . . . . . 30 C. DIRECTORY DISPLAY COMMANDS . . . . . . . . . 31 D. TEXT FILE BROWSE COMMANDS . . . . . . . . . 32 13. SPECIAL VIDEO SUPPORT . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 14. MOUSE SUPPORT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 17. CHANGING BASE DIRECTORY . . . . . . . . . . . 32 16. TANDY OWNERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 17. EXTENDED KEYBOARD SUPPORT . . . . . . . . . . 33 Index 35 ii 1. INTRODUCTION This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). The ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for member products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at P.O. Box 5786, Bellevue, WA 98006 or send a Compuserve message via easyplex to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. The information in this manual is provided to support SCOUT and SCOUT-EM. Except where noted herein, the two programs are functionally identical. The two differ considerably, however, in where they reside in system memory and how they are initially loaded and run. SCOUT is a Shareware product. A Shareware product is one that is distributed through public access channels in order that prospective buyers may evaluate the product before making a decision to buy. Shareware is NOT public domain software and is NOT free. It is fully protected by state and federal copyright laws, is offered for sale, and is fully supported by its author. Unlike any other commercial distribution method, Shareware permits the user to try out the product on his/her machine so that he/she can better decide whether the product meets his/her needs and expectations. Accordingly, each user that evaluates SCOUT or SCOUT-EM is granted a temporary license to operate the software. The length of evaluation time will surely vary from user to user, but the bottom line is that if SCOUT or SCOUT-EM is loaded and used regularly, the user has accepted the program as a useful addition to his/her system and should register with New-Ware. If you try SCOUT and decide that it does not meet your needs and that you will not use it, then you don't have to face the inconvenience of calling or writing for a refund. Don't use it, don't buy it. But if you do like SCOUT and you use it, then you are obligated to pay for it. How much do you pay? SCOUT - NORMAL RAM version $30.00 SCOUT - EMS version $30.00 These are the registration fees for SCOUT that entitle you to legally use the program. All registered users receive a diskette containing the latest version and full technical support via telephone, BBS, or mail. - 2 - How do you register? You may register in one of three ways. By mail, by phone, or by Bulletin Board System (BBS). New-Ware accepts VISA or MASTER CARD registrations. To register using your Visa/Master Card, please fill out the following form and have it ready when you call (voice or BBS) or include it by mail. NOTE: YOU MAY FILL OUT AND PRINT A REGISTRATION FORM DIRECTLY FROM SCOUT'S MAIN SCREEN. SIMPLY POP UP THE MAIN SCOUT DISPLAY AND PRESS Alt-R. SCOUT 4.4 REGISTRATION FORM Product (circle one): SCOUT SCOUT-EM Name:_____________________________________________ Street address:___________________________________ City:_____________________________________________ State:____________________________________________ Zip code:_________________________________________ Telephone number:_________________________________ Card number:______________________________________ Expiration date:__________________________________ Signature:________________________________________ The telephone number and signature are REQUIRED for Visa/MC orders. To register by voice phone, have the above form filled out and call (619) 455-6225. To register on-line on the Shareware Products BBS, have the form ready and call (619) 455-5226 (1200/2400 baud). If you register SCOUT, wait for a day for your card to be validated (usually within one working day) and call the bulletin board again. You will be given access to download the registered version of SCOUT or SCOUT-EM for immediate use. A disk containing the latest program version, supporting files, and documentation is mailed to ALL registrants, regardless of the registration method. To register by mail, send check, money order, or Visa/MC number and the form to: New-Ware 8050 Camino Kiosco - 3 - San Diego, CA 92122 California residents must include 7.25% state sales tax. For technical support and/or questions, you can reach the author, John Newlin, via Compuserve (EASYPLEX/IBMSW forum - 71535,665), or by phone at: (619) 455-6225 [Voice] (619) 455-5226 [BBS] 1200/2400 baud You are free to copy and distribute the Shareware version of SCOUT for noncommercial use IF: No fee greater than $10.00 per diskette is charged. (Disk vendors please see VENDOR.DOC) It is not modified in any way. Bona fide computer user groups or clubs may make copies of SCOUT for distribution to members for a fee that covers copying and other administrative costs. Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) that operate through subscription fees may post SCOUT for download by its subscribers. Volume discounts, site licenses, commercial licenses are available. This program is provided AS IS without any warranty, expressed or implied, including but not limited to fitness for a particular purpose. The author is a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). Product support is available directly from the author via telephone, mail, or BBS and is not limited to registered users. The New-Ware Shareware products BBS is available 24 hours a day, seven days. Users are encouraged to access the board to download the latest product versions, submit questions and bug reports, and browse an excellent collection of Shareware and public domain software. Information about the board follows: Host system - AST Premium/286 - AST Bravo 286 Disk space - 230 Mb Network - Artisoft LANtastic Lines - 2 Modems - USR Courier HST - USR Courier 2400 Baud rates - 12/24/48/96/14.4 (HST) 12/24 (USR 2400) - 4 - Numbers - (619) 450-3257 (Registered users) - (619) 455-5226 (General use) SCOUT is available in two distinct versions. One loads into and executes from normal system RAM. The other is unique in that it loads into and executes from expanded memory (EMS). The normal RAM version utilizes approximately 64K of RAM. The EMS versions requires 4.5K of normal RAM and 9 pages of expanded memory. The Lotus, Intel, Microsoft (LIM) EMS specification 3.2 and above is required. 2. PROGRAM DESCRIPTION SCOUT is a memory resident disk/directory/file manager and DOS shell that may be invoked from the DOS level or from within an active applications program. Memory resident means that when SCOUT is executed, a portion remains active in memory waiting to be called via the keyboard. The rest of SCOUT (the majority of its code, in fact) resides in a file called an overlay file. This file is named SCOUT.000 (or SCOUT-EM.000) and contains approximately two-thirds of SCOUT's code and data. When SCOUT needs a function embedded in the overlay file, it needs to know its location so that it can access that file and load the required code. SCOUT has been designed to with two primary goals in mind. The first design goal is that it must be accessible from any applications program as well as from the DOS level. That is why it is a memory resident program. The second design goal is to provide an friendly, intuitive user interface. Version 4.4 of SCOUT departs drastically from previous versions in that the main screen display and user interface has been completely redesigned. The achievement of these two goals means that a user can be busy at work in an applications program and quickly call SCOUT into action to perform some disk housekeeping chore and return to productive work with a minimal interruption. Housekeeping includes copying, moving, renaming, and deleting files and a whole host of other functions. A third design goal was to make SCOUT as compatible as possible with the tremendous range of applications programs available for the IBM PC/XT/AT/PS2 (and clones) as well as a number of other memory resident programs. While it cannot be guaranteed that SCOUT will operate perfectly with every program, it is safe to say that it works with the vast majority of applications and memory resident utilities available today. The following is a summary of SCOUT's major features: + Execute programs + Graphic directory tree operations - 5 - + Move, copy, delete individual files + Move, copy, delete tagged files + Rename files, directories, volume labels + Create, remove directories, volume labels + Change file attributes + Sort files in five different ways + Specify ascending or descending sorts + User defined activation ("hot") keys + Operability with networks + Format 3.5 and 5.25 inch diskettes + Search entire disk for files + Print directory listing of files + Print graphic directory tree + Send printer control codes to printer + Print a text file (formatted or unformatted) + Browse (line by line) through a text file + Search a text file for a specified string + Go directly to a line number in a text file + Change drive:\directory with single keystroke + Change drives + Move files across drives + List unused space on all drives + View monthly calendar + View ASCII table + Automatically tag files for move, copy, delete + Pop-up over graphics screen images + Print graphics screen image + Save captured text screen image to text file + View system memory allocation + Reset file archive bits + Copy (backup) updated files + Set system date/time + Set file date/time + CRC checking during file copying + Built in mouse support + Remove from memory All of the above features except for the first (execute program) and the last (remove from RAM) are available by calling SCOUT while running an applications program. Program execution and removal from RAM require that SCOUT be activated from the DOS level. SCOUT has been tested in a network environment. It operates with no known problems on a LANtastic (NetBios) system with multiple direct and redirected drives. - 6 - 3. PROGRAM FILES The normal RAM version of SCOUT is distributed with the following files: SCOUT.COM Main executable file SCOUT.000 Overlay file RUNFILE.COM Program execution support file CONFIG.COM Configuration program SCOUT.DOC This file WHAT'S.NEW Latest changes, etc. The EMS version of SCOUT is distributed with the following files: SCOUT-EM.COM Main executable file SCOUT-EM.000 Overlay file RUNSCOUT.COM Memory resident control kernel RUNFILE.COM Program execution support file CONFIG.COM Configuration program REMOVE.COM Utility to remove from EMS/RAM SCOUT.DOC This file WHAT'S.NEW Latest changes, etc. Shareware distribution packages will contain a file named VENDOR.DOC that sets forth SCOUT and SCOUT-EM distribution restrictions. SCOUT.DOC (this file) is a formatted ASCII text file. It is formatted so that all that need be done to print it is to send it directly to a dot matrix or laser printer. 4. CONFIGURING AND INSTALLING SCOUT Installing and customizing SCOUT for a particular PC system is accomplished by executing the CONFIG.COM program. First, copy the SCOUT files to one of the permanent drives in your system. It is recommended, but not required, that this be the drive you boot up from. You may wish to create a subdirectory named SCOUT and place all SCOUT files in that directory or you can place them in any directory you desire. IMPORTANT!! It is mandatory that the program named RUNFILE.EXE be placed in the ROOT directory of the drive from which you intend to initially load SCOUT. You will not be able to run programs from SCOUT if this is not accomplished! Execute the configuration program by entering the following from the DOS command line: CONFIG SCOUT (or CONFIG SCOUT-EM) - 7 - Laptop or composite monitor (not RGB) users may enter an "M" on command line to force CONFIG to use a two-color monochrome scheme that is much more readable on these systems. CONFIG SCOUT m The configuration program will load and display the following main menu: SCOUT Configuration Options Assign Overlay File Path Assign SCOUT Activation Key Assign Default File Mask Keys Assign Directories to Function Keys Assign Printer Codes Set Printer Margins Define Program Menu Assign Default Sort Set Floppy Drive Parameters File Copy Date/Time Setting Set Prime Key Set CGA snow avoidance Define Ctrl-X Program Menu Save Configuration to .BIN file Retrieve Configuration .BIN file Quit With Option to Save The main CONFIG menu and all supporting submenus are operated via a sliding bar cursor that is controlled by the mouse or the up arrow, down arrow, home, and end keys. Moving the cursor bar to the desired item and pressing ENTER will activate that item. In some cases a prompt line will be presented on the screen just below the active menu and in other cases the selected item will be a toggle that will change each time ENTER is pressed. A. CONFIGURING FOR OVERLAY FILE LOCATION The most important item on the main menu is the first item. In order for SCOUT to function properly, it must know the location of the supporting overlay file. The overlay file for SCOUT is SCOUT.000 and the overlay file for SCOUT-EM is SCOUT- EM.000. It will not load into memory unless it can locate the overlay file. Selecting the first item will result in a prompt to enter the DOS full path name where the overlay file will reside. Be sure to enter the FULL path name (including the drive designator) as in the following examples: - 8 - C:\UTILITIES D:\ F:\UTILS\SCOUT When you have finished configuring SCOUT, be sure to place SCOUT.000 or SCOUT-EM.000 in the specified directory. B. HOT KEY SELECTION The second item on the main menu allows user selection of the "hot" key combination that is used to activate SCOUT. The default is Alt-F10, but that can be permanently changed to any one of the following key combinations: Alt F1 through F10 Alt Q,W,A,S,Z, or X Ctrl F1 through F10 Shift F1 through F10 None The key combination that most appeals to you may be the same key combination that is used in one of your application programs. Don't worry about it, SCOUT provides the ability to disable the hot key as long as the prime key is not disabled. If use of the prime key is toggled on, the "None" setting will limit SCOUT to being called with just the prime key alone. C. FILE MASK DEFINITION The third item on the main menu permits assigning DOS file mask strings to the ten numbered keys at the top of the PC keyboard. DOS file masks may include wild card characters such as "?" and "*". For example, assigning the string "*.BAS" to the Alt-2 key will provide you with a means of viewing all the files in the current directory with an extension of ".BAS" by just pressing Alt-2. Or assigning the string "AB??.*" to Alt-7 will result in SCOUT showing just those files starting with "AB" with names 4 characters long and having any extension, when Alt-7 is pressed. Pressing either "*" key at any time will restore the global mask "*.*". D. FUNCTION KEY MACROS Item number 4 on the main menu brings up another menu that permits assigning macros to the ten function keys on the PC keyboard. The macros are strings that will be entered for you in response to various SCOUT prompts for drive/directory path names. For example, suppose the string "C:\WORDSTAR" is assigned to the - 9 - F5 key. Then any time SCOUT prompts for a destination directory (such as in copying or moving files), simply pressing the F5 key saves the effort of typing in the entire path string and hitting the enter key. Note that the drive specifier may or may not be included in the macro strings. If it is, SCOUT will automatically change to the drive specifier for you. Thus, assigning "A:" to F10 provides a single keystroke method of logging on to drive A any time the F10 key is pressed. The function key macros also make it quick and easy to change to a frequently used drive:\directory. Pressing any one of the ten function keys will cause SCOUT to attempt to change to the drive:\directory specified in the assigned macro string. E. ASSIGN PRINTER CODES Menu item 5 permits assignment of printer codes to be sent to the printer from a menu in SCOUT. It is highly recommended that unless you have and Epson FX-80/85 and are satisfied with the default settings, that you have your printer user's manual handy when you enter the desire codes. Up to eight codes can be assigned. These will appear on a sliding bar menu available when SCOUT is called from DOS or an application program. Codes are entered in DECIMAL. Suppose you wish to assign the code that places your printer in the letter quality mode. Your printer manual tells you that sending the DECIMAL sequence 27, 120, and 1 will place the printer in the letter quality mode. Select the function key you wish to assign this code to and press it. You will be first be prompted to enter a descriptive name (10 characters maximum) for the code sequence. In this case you might enter "LTR QUAL". Next, you are prompted for the code sequence. Enter the decimal numbers (five maximum) as follows: 27/120/01 In this manner you can set up SCOUT to configure your printer directly from an application program. F. SET PRINTER MARGINS Item 6 on the menu provides the facility for setting up print margins and other parameters for printing text files. The following default parameters (used when SCOUT format is selected) can be set from this menu: Left margin Top margin Bottom margin - 10 - Lines per page Page numbering Today's date The lines per page needs some explaining. Normally, this would be set to 66 but if it is desired to set the printer to print 88 lines per page, then this parameter must be set in synchronization in order for SCOUT to page probably. These are default settings and are quickly reset on the fly from SCOUT, so 66 would be the most appropriate setting. Page numbering is a toggle that sets the default to on or off as desired. If set to on, SCOUT will place a page number at the bottom of each printed page when printing a file using the SCOUT format settings. Today's date is also a toggle that if turned on will place a one line header containing the current date at the top of the first printed page. G. DEFINE PROGRAM MENU Favorite or commonly executed programs can be assigned to a 10 item program menu. Pressing Enter with the cursor over a desired item results in three prompts for information. The first prompt requests the program name. It is not necessary to use the .BAT, .COM, or .EXE extension. The second prompt requests the home directory for the program. The full DOS directory path of where the program resides in your system should be entered here. The third prompt allows you to designate whether or not you wish SCOUT to prompt you for command line parameter entry prior to loading and running the program. This menu differs from the Ctrl-X menu in that this menu requires knowledge of where the program resides whereas the Ctrl-X menu depends on the specified programs being located in a directory that is in the DOS path. H. DEFAULT SORT SCOUT provides five different ways to sort the file data that appears in the main window display. This configuration option permits setting the default that SCOUT will use when initially loaded. The sort can be changed within SCOUT dynamically as well. The sorts that can be selected are: File name only File extension File date File size File extension/name (nested) No sort Ascending - 11 - The "Ascending" item is a toggle that can be switched between "Ascending" and "Descending". This controls whether the sort is ordered from lowest to highest or the reverse. I. SET FLOPPY DRIVE PARAMETERS Item number 9 will bring up the floppy drive parameter table that SCOUT utilizes for formatting floppy disks. Up to four system floppy drives may be configured for formatting. It is important here to note that the DOS drive designators, which are alphabetic characters, may not necessarily be in a sequence corresponding to the BIOS drive designators, which fall between 0 and 3. BIOS drive 0 is always DOS drive A, BIOS drive 1 may not be drive B, especially if the second floppy drive is an add-on. In that case, your driver might call the drive D or E. SCOUT Floppy Drive Table Setting A - 5 1/2" DUAL density B - 5 1/2" DUAL density C - 5 1/2" SINGLE density D - 5 1/2" SINGLE density Press drive number to change or ESC to quit: You will be prompted to specify disk size and density. Dual density means that the drive supports both high and low density as in the case of 1.2m and 1.44m drives. Sindgle deinsity means that the drive supports only low density as in the case of 360k and 720k drives. It is important to set the BIOS drive number with the corresponding DOS drive designator. Also note that dual density actually means high Capacity, i.e., a 1.2M or a 1.4M drive. If the drive does not support two formats, then select Single Density. For example, if your drive A is a 1.2M drive then select dual, otherwise it is a standard 360K drive and you should select single. J. FILE COPY TIME/DATE SETTING Menu item number 10 provides a rather unique capability. When a file is copied by DOS, the new file is given the same date/time stamp as the copied file. If desired, SCOUT will update the date/time of a new copy of a file to the current date and time. This feature can be toggled on or off as desired. - 12 - K. SET PRIME KEY Item 11 on the main menu permits enabling or disabling the prime key (~ on the keyboard) as a means of calling SCOUT. This key is so rarely used that it is an ideal one-key alternative to the dual keystroke combination. The prime key must be enabled if you plan to disable the main dual keystroke combination on the fly from within SCOUT. L. SET CGA SNOW AVOIDANCE This configuration item toggles a flag in SCOUT that determines whether or not SCOUT will pause during the video retrace cycle to avoid "snow" on older CGA monitors. Monochrome, EGA, and VGA monitors do not require snow avoidance checking. M. DEFINE CTRL-X PROGRAM MENU Main Menu item number 13 offers the capability to set up an additional program menu. This menu is activated by the Ctrl-X key combination and may contain up to 10 executable program names. These programs placed in this menu must reside in directories identified in the DOS path. N. SAVING CONFIGURATION TO .BIN FILE This item offers the ability to save multiple SCOUT configurations to disk files. This is handy for rapidly reconfiguring SCOUT on the fly, especially when re-configuring a new version. Select this to save the current configuration to a .BIN file. You will be prompted for the file name (no extension) and SCOUT will save the current configuration to disk in the current directory. For example, if you enter MYCONFIG, SCOUT will save the configuration to MYCONFIG.BIN. No check is made to see if the file currently exists and if it does, it will be overwritten. O. RETRIEVING CONFIGURATION .BIN FILE This menu item permits the retrieval of configurations saved with to .BIN files. Enter just the file name, since the default extension is .BIN. P. SAVING CONFIGURATION TO DISK Upon completion of establishing your SCOUT configuration, select "Quit and Save" from the main menu. If SCOUT is currently loaded, you will be given the option of dynamically updating it. - 13 - You will then be asked if you wish to make all changes permanent. If the answer is affirmative, SCOUT.COM (or SCOUT-EM.COM) will be modified accordingly and all the changes made during this session will be active the next time SCOUT is loaded. 5. LOADING SCOUT If you are using SCOUT-EM, please skip this section and go to the next section for loading information. Like any other executable program, SCOUT.COM can be loaded directly from the DOS command line or from a batch file. Many PC users have several other memory resident utilities that are loaded each time the system is booted. SCOUT is well-behaved and should work in conjunction with most Terminate and Stay Resident (TSR) software. A. RAM USAGE ADJUSTMENT SCOUT provides a way to adjust the amount of Random Access Memory (RAM) it occupies. As delivered, SCOUT is set to support up to 250 files per directory up to 50 directories per drive. Naturally, there must be enough RAM available to contain the data associated with each file and each directory. But if your system is such that you don't require support for 250 files/directory and 50 directories, these parameters can be adjusted downward to conserve RAM. For example, suppose you decide that 200 files/directory and 25 directories are sufficient for your system. Just place the number for the maximum number of files and the number for the maximum number of directories on the command line when loading scout as follows: SCOUT f200 d25 Be sure to place an "f" immediately in front of the desired value for maximum files and a "d" (upper or lower case) in front of the directories value. Since SCOUT uses 22 bytes for each file and 21 bytes for each directory, a memory savings of (50 * 22) + (25 * 21) = 1625 bytes will be realized. Just remember that SCOUT will retrieve and display up the the number of files and/or directories configured for. This means that if you configure for 250 files and view a directory containing more than 250 files, SCOUT will only retrieve and display 250 files. If you require that SCOUT support more than 250 files or more than 50 directories, you can increase the number in the same way as described above. For example, suppose you need to view up to 750 files per directory and that you have 125 directories on a single drive. Load SCOUT as follows: - 14 - SCOUT f750 d125 Just remember that SCOUT will use 22 bytes of RAM per file and 21 bytes per directory. Another means of saving memory is afforded to owners of Hercules (and compatible) Graphics Cards (HGC). Entering a single "h" anywhere on the command line will cause SCOUT to use some of the abundant HGC memory for storage of file and saved screen data. This will result in saving a not so trivial 15k of RAM. Two caveats are in order here. The first is that this will not work with Hercules Plus cards while a Hercules ramfont is loaded. The second is that some so-called Hercules compatible boards are not really so compatible and may cause SCOUT to behave strangely. Color users also may be able to significantly reduce SCOUT's image in RAM if they own an advance technology CGA that doesn't show flicker or snow. Entering a single "U" on the command line will also save 15.6 k of RAM. Color users get a bonus in RAM saved because SCOUT is able to use some of the available board memory for storage of screens saved. B. OTHER COMMAND LINE OPTIONS Various functional aspects of SCOUT can be controlled through the use of command line parameters. The F, D and H parameters were explained in the preceding paragraph. Other available command line parameters are: C - Force CRC checking to ON H - Use Hercules Video RAM (no graphics) K - Start with Function Key menu ON M - Force monochrome mode -P - Disable printer ready checks T - Use Tandy keyboard V - Configure for CGA/EGA/VGA graphics The C parameter permits starting SCOUT with CRC checking on for all file copying operations. The H option will inform SCOUT that there is a Hercules graphics adaptor in the system and to use some of that board's video RAM for internal storage. This will reduce the amount of RAM occupied by SCOUT but may not operate properly with some cheap Hercules imitations. Do NOT use the H and V option together. The M option is for those users operating SCOUT on lap top portables or on machines equipped with a composite two-color monitor. Lap tops and composite monitor equipped machines report themselves as having a CGA on board and - 15 - the SCOUT colors will look quite poor in this environment. Using the M command line option forces SCOUT into a two-color monochrome mode. The T option is for Tandy users. The Tandy 1000, for example, maps the keyboard slightly differently than does an IBM clone. Using the T options corrects keyboard problems that might occur with Tandy machines. The command line switch -P disables the check that SCOUT uses to check if the printer is ready. This switch is included primarily for network operations where a direct check of the printer through the BIOS is not feasible. C. GRAPHICS CAPABILITIES Both SCOUT and SCOUT-EM can be configured to pop-up on top of CGA/EGA/VGA and Hercules graphics screens. SCOUT saves the graphics image to disk in a temporary file named SCOUT.GFX which will be located in the directory in which SCOUT was intially loaded. SCOUT-EM saves image data to expanded memory. This feature has been tested with applications programs using the following graphics configurations: Graphics Type Resolution ------------- --------- Hercules mono 720 x 348 CGA 320 x 200 CGA 600 x 200 EGA 640 x 200 EGA/VGA 640 x 350 VGA 640 x 480 Super VGA graphics modes above a resolution of 640 x 480 are not supported. The graphics image save/restore feature in SCOUT and SCOUT- EM has been tested with the following programs on EGA and VGA monitors: DELUXE PAINT II EXPRESS PUBLISHER AVERY LABEL PRO QUATRO PRO (In graphics screen mode) KLONDIKE If popped up over a graphics image, both SCOUT and SCOUT-EM can print that image on one of three printer types. Printers supported are the Epson MX80 and compatibles (most dot matrix printers fall into this category), IBM graphics printers, and - 16 - Hewlett-Packard HP LaserJet (and compatible) printers. To print a graphics image, go to the Print Command Menu and select Graphics Print. If no graphics image has been stored, an error box will appear. If a graphics image has been saved, a menu window will appear that offers the following choices: HP LaserJet Format Epson Graphics Format IBM Graphics Format ABORT - NO Print SCOUT will restore the image and begin sending the data to the printer. The applications program will NOT be functional until the printing is completed. This is signaled by three beeps. Be advised that the resultant printed image may not be acceptable since some graphics applications use foreground/background colors that do not exactly translate to white/black on a printer. Users with EGA graphics cards are warned that since it is not possible to reliably read the EGA palette registers, some images may not be restored with the original colors. This is unavoidable. In the case of the VGA, SCOUT takes advantage of the VGA BIOS support for saving and restoring the complete video state. Even so, there are some graphics programs that do tricky things with EGA/VGA memory and it is possible that SCOUT may not restore the graphics image properly in those cases. Hercules graphics card owners should be aware of the fact that SCOUT only saves and restores graphics page 0. Since it is rare for graphics software to use page 1, this should not present a problem in most cases. Saving and restoring the Hercules InColor card graphics image is NOT supported. 6. LOADING SCOUT-EM SCOUT-EM must be loaded differently than the normal RAM version of SCOUT. Also, there are no command line options applicable to SCOUT-EM. SCOUT-EM may be loaded from the DOS command line or via a batch file. You should execute RUNSCOUT.COM immediately after executing SCOUT-EM. SCOUT-EM sets itself up in expanded memory. RUNSCOUT loads as a TSR into normal system RAM, retrieves important data from SCOUT-EM, and then waits to handle requests to call SCOUT-EM. Both SCOUT and SCOUT-EM can removed from memory. Call SCOUT from the DOS level and press Alt-Z to remove it. It is strongly advised that you not remove SCOUT unless it was the last memory - 17 - resident program loaded. SCOUT-EM is removed by executing the supplied utility REMOVE.COM. REMOVE will remove SCOUT-EM from expanded memory, release all assigned EMS pages back to the system, and remove RUNSCOUT from normal RAM. RUNSCOUT should be the last memory resident program loaded. 7. OPERATING SCOUT A. CALLING SCOUT Once loaded, SCOUT can be called from anywhere. Just press the defined hot key combination or the prime key (if not disabled) and SCOUT will pop up, saving the screen that was present when it was activated. If the graphics mode was selected via the command line parameter, you can even pop up SCOUT on top of a CGA/EGA/VGA graphics screen. To return to normal operations just press the ESC key and the SCOUT main display will be replaced by the screen that was present when SCOUT was called. When the ESC key is used to exit SCOUT, the next time SCOUT is called it will pop up showing files in the currently active directory. A paged help display may be activated from the main SCOUT display by pressing the Alt-F10 key. This display contains a list of all available SCOUT command keys and short descriptions of what each key accomplishes. The pages of the help display may be viewed by continually pressing the PgDn or PgUp keys. Press Ctrl-P while viewing this window to send a list of the commands to the printer. Press the Tab key to activate the Main Command bar menu (described later). B. MAIN COMMAND MENU Pressing the TAB key at the main display will pop up the SCOUT Main Command Menu. This is a horizontal sliding cursor bar menu that provides access to nearly all of the SCOUT disk management functions. The items on this menu are: Copy Move Eras Back Rena Srch Fmat Driv Ordr Prnt Info Xtra Each of these functions will be explained later in this document. Note that an explanatory help line appears on the bottom line of the display when the commend menu is up. C. MAIN SCOUT DISPLAY The main SCOUT display occupies most of the screen and consists of a window centered on the screen that contains 15 or more lines of file data for the files in the currently active - 18 - directory. The current drive label appears directly above the window and the current directory path and active file mask appears on the top left line of the window. The page number is displayed on the top right line and the file sequence number appears on the bottom right line. Up and Down arrows will appear on the right window border to indicate position within the file list. Three lines of status information appear immediately below the main display window. It should be noted that the bytes used value applies just to the files found in the current directory. The total bytes and bytes free values pertain to the active drive. The current system date/time is displayed below the status information along with a reminder that the TAB key is used to bring up the Command Menu. Individual file information is presented on each line of the main display window. Each line shows file name, extension, date, time, and size. In addition, file attribute information (hidden, system, etc.) will be displayed in an abbreviated form between the file time and size. Directory names and disk volume labels appear in different colors (highlight on mono systems) than normal files. A cursor bar indicates position in the file list and is movable with the cursor pad keys or mouse. Mouse support is provided for version 6.0 (or later) of the Microsoft mouse driver or compatible drivers. Many SCOUT operations on files can be performed on groups of files. A file group can be tagged for move, copy, or delete operations. To tag a file, press the space bar or plus key with the cursor bar over the file name. Pressing the space bar or minus key with the cursor over a tagged file untags it. Tagged files are visually indicated by a diamond to the left of the file name. Status of number of files and total bytes tagged appears just below the file display window. All files in the current directory can be tagged by pressing Ctrl-T. Pressing Ctrl-U will untag all files. If all files are tagged when Ctrl-T is pressed then all files will be un-tagged. Pressing the Enter key will do one of two things. If the file under the cursor is a .ZIP, .ARC, .LZH, or LHARC .COM/.EXE compressed file, SCOUT will bring up a window that displays the directory listing of the files contained therein. Self- extracting ZIP EXE files may be viewed by pressing Ctrl-Z with - 19 - the cursor over the target file. If the file under the cursor is a "normal" file, the SCOUT file browser will appear. This is intended primarily for use on ASCII text files, however. Pressing Ctrl-Enter with the cursor bar over an executable file (.BAT/.COM/.EXE) will execute that file IF SCOUT has been called from the DOS level. Pressing Ctrl-Home will cause SCOUT to change to the current drive root directory and display the files found there. Pressing Ctrl-End will change to directory that was active when SCOUT was called. This directory is known as the base directory. Pressing Alt-F9 toggles the optional Function Key Command Menu. When this option is OFF, the ten function keys are pre- assigned to ten drive:\directory paths. When this option is ON, the ten function keys are remapped in accordance with the menu that is displayed on the left side of the main display. This permits rapid, one-key operation of the ten functions assigned to the ten functions keys. The assigned functions are: F1 - Copy file(s) F2 - Move file(s) F3 - Delete file(s) F4 - Format Floppy Disk F5 - Directory Tree Ops F6 - Change Drive F7 - Rename File F8 - Sort Order F9 - Print Menu F10 - Xtra Function Menu D. DIRECTORY CATALOG SCOUT maintains a directory catalog for each disk on which it is used. The catalog is kept in a file name NEW-WARE.LOG located in the root directory of each drive except floppy drives A and B (these are dynamically stored in memory). When SCOUT initially logs onto a drive it will check to see if the catalog file exists in the root directory of that drive. If so, it reads the catalog. If not, it scans the drive, locates all directories, creates NEW-WARE.LOG, and stores the directory names in this file. Any time a new directory is created or a directory is deleted through SCOUT commands, the catalog file is updated. But if the user deletes or creates a directory OUTSIDE of SCOUT, the catalog will not be accurate. For this reason there is a - 20 - SCOUT command that will scan the current disk and update the catalog. Press Ctrl-S with the main SCOUT display up and SCOUT will scan the current drive. Pressing the prime (~) key (or Alt-T) will display a graphic tree that depicts the logical directory tree structure of the current drive. A movable cursor will be positioned over the current active directory. The cursor can be moved through the tree via the arrow and page keys on the cursor pad. The down arrow key will move the cursor down through though the tree at the same directory level. The right arrow key will move down through the tree directory-by-directory, regardless of level. The up arrow key will move up through the tree at the same level and the left arrow key will move the cursor up through the tree regardless of level. Other important commands available while viewing the directory tree are: Ins key Add a new directory Del key Remove a directory Enter key Change to indicated directory Ctrl-Home Change to ROOT directory Ctrl-End Change to base directory F6 key Rename a directory Ctrl-P Print directory tree F1 key Display help window When using the INS key to add a new directory, you will be prompted for the directory name. If you desire to add the new directory directly to the ROOT directory, preceded the entered name with a backslash character (\). Otherwise, if you wish to append the new directory as a subdirectory of the directory highlighted by the cursor bar, just enter the new directory name. Using a catalog file strategy greatly speeds up searches for files and permits very rapid verification of a user entered directory name. 7. SCOUT MAIN COMMAND MENU SCOUT provides a number of commands that facilitate management of the system. Each is invoked from the main SCOUT Command Menu display and is described in the following subparagraphs. Additionally, and of the commands available from the Command Menu or its submenus is supported by an alternate command key combination as described later in this document. - 21 - A. COPY The COPY function permits copying of single or multiple files to a designated destination. If no files are tagged, then the single file copy mode is invoked. You will be prompted for the DOS name of the destination for the source file. A single file name may be entered for copy to the same directory or a full DOS path name may be entered. If one or more files are tagged, the batch file copy mode will be invoked. You will be prompted for a DOS directory name in which to place the copies of the tagged files. After entering the name of the destination directory, you will be shown the names of all tagged files and asked for confirmation to go ahead with the copy. The display of tagged files is dynamically updated as the copy proceeds. Ctrl-C is the alternative command for this function. B. MOVE The MOVE function behaves almost exactly as the COPY function except that the files are moved from the current directory to the designated destination directory. If the destination directory is on a different drive, the files will actually be copied first and then deleted from the source directory. If the destination directory is located on the same drive, the files will be moved very rapidly from the source to the destination directory. Ctrl-M is the alternate command for this function. C. ERAS The ERAS command is similar to the COPY and MOVE commands except that it deletes the files from disk. Be certain to check the presented file list before confirming the deletion operation. Ctrl-E is the alternate command for this function. D. BACK The BACK command is intended to assist the user in backing up files that have changed since the last backup. Invoking this command brings up the file COPY display which lists all files that have their DOS archive bits set. The DOS archive bit is set each time a file is changed or updated. The listed files are copied to a user specified destination directory and then the archive bits of files in the source directory are reset. This provides a semi-automated backup facility for any directory of files. Ctrl-B is the alternate command for this function. - 22 - E. RENA The RENA item allows renaming a file. The file highlight by the main display cursor bar may be renamed. The rename will fail if another file in the directory has the same name or if the entered name is invalid. Volume labels and directory names may also be changed with this function. Ctrl-R is the alternate command for this function. F. SRCH SCOUT offers a powerful system file search facility. You will be prompted to enter the target name for the search and this name may contain the DOS wildcard characters (*,?). If a drive specifier precedes the target name, then that drive will be searched, otherwise the current drive will be searched. Here are two examples: D:S??.* Search for matching files on drive D *.PAS Search current drive for all matching When the target name is entered, a large window will appear that will contain up to sixteen names of the files matching the target. SCOUT will pause after finding 16 names before continuing the search. Ctrl-Y is the alternate command for this function. G. FMT SCOUT will format both 5 1/4" and 3 1/2" floppy drives. Selecting this item will bring up the format window. You will be prompted to enter the drive letter of the target floppy drive. If the drive is already formatted, you will be warned. Be certain that the SCOUT drive table is properly defined by using the CONFIG program. Alt-F is the alternate command for this function. H. DRIV The DRIV item on the Command Menu provides the means for changing active drives. You will be prompted to enter the letter corresponding to the DOS drive you wish to change to. Entry of an invalid drive letter or selecting a drive that is not ready will bring up an error box. When changing drives, files from the default directory of the target drive will appear in the main display window. Ctrl-D is the alternate command for this function. - 23 - I. ORDR SCOUT offers five different sort orders of file data. Selecting this item will bring up a sliding bar menu that offers the following selections: Sort on File Name Only Sort on File Extension Sort on File Date Sort on File Size Sort on Extension/Name No Sort Ascending Sort The first four items are self-explanatory. The fifth item, sort on extension/name, sorts first on the file extension and then orders the groups of file extensions by file name. The no sort option simply presents the file data as received from DOS. Sorts may be ordered from lowest to highest (ascending) or from highest to lowest (descending). This item is a toggle and affects all but the no sort option. Ctrl-O is alternate command for this function. J. PRNT Four different print options are available via the Print Menu: Control Codes Directory Files File Print Graphics Print The first item on this sliding bar menu permits sending predefined printer codes (defined in CONFIG.COM) to the printer. The second item offers the ability to print a two column listing of all files in the current directory. Item number 3 is used to print the text file highlighted by the main display cursor bar. The last item on this menu will print the saved graphics screen on a dot-matrix printer. Alt-P is the alternate command for calling the Print Menu. K. INFO SCOUT provides a wealth of information about the host computer system. Alt-I is the alternate means of accessing this menu. Selection of this item will bring up a sliding bar menu with the following items: - 24 - Sys Drive Space This Drive Info Calendar Version Info ASCII Table Memory Allocation The Sys Drive Space item will present a summary of the free space on all fixed disks in the system. Alt-D is the alternate command. This Drive Info provides information about the currently active drive. Ctrl-I is the alternate command. The SCOUT Calendar presents a monthly calendar. When initially displayed, the calendar will show the current month and the the current day will be blinking. Left and right cursor arrow operation will decrease and increase the calendar year, respectively. Up and down arrow operation will increase and decrease the displayed month, respectively. Alt-C is the alternate command. The Version Info window shows more system information and data pertaining to the current SCOUT program version. Ctrl-N is the alternate command. A pageable display of the PC ASCII character set is brought up by selection of the ASCII Table item. Ctrl-A is the alternate command. A summary of system RAM allocation is displayed by selecting the Memory Allocation item. Ctrl-Q is the alternate command. L. XTRA The last item on the Command Menu is titled XTRA. This provides access to a number of "extra" functions via another sliding bar menu. Alt-X is the alternate means of access to this menu. This menu contains the following items: Attribute Change CRC Check Toggle File Date/Time Hot Key Toggle Key Change Mask Change Reset Archive Bits System Time/Date - 25 - Label This Volume Verify Floppy Disk Write Vid to Disk The Attribute Change item permits changing the attribute of the file under the main display cursor. Attributes may changed to any allowable DOS attribute (normal, read-only, hidden, system, and combinations). File copying and moving is supported by an optional CRC check. CRC stands for Cyclic Redundancy Check. Using CRC checking during file copying (and moving across drives) virtually assures that a good copy of the source file is made. When CRC checking is in effect, SCOUT will use a 16 bit CRC algorithm to check each copied file. If even 1 bit of the copied file differs from that of the original, a CRC error will be detected and displayed. The File Date/Time item permits setting the date and/or the time of the file under the main display cursor bar. The date and/or time may be entered or set to the current system date/time as desired. SCOUT can be called via the designated Hot Key combination or the prime key. If the the prime key is active, the hot combination may be temporarily disabled. This permits the use of SCOUT with programs like Word Perfect that use just about every key combination on the keyboard. Function keys may be assigned drive:\directory string macros in the CONFIG program. These may be temporarily altered via the Function Key Macros menu. DOS file masks may also be temporarily set dynamically by invoking the File Mask Settings menu. The Reset Archive Bit function is designed to work in conjunction with the SCOUT backup function. Invoking this function will cause all files in the current directory to have their archive bits reset. This is useful when initially working with a new directory. First reset the file archive bits with this function and then later use the backup function to dynamically backup the changed files. SCOUT will change the DOS system time/date as desired with the System Time/Date item. Ctrl-F is the alternate command. - 26 - Any disk that does not already contain a label may be labeled using the Label This Volume function. The SCOUT floppy disk formatter does not use verification during format in order to speed up the format operation. If good quality diskettes are used, verification is normally not needed. The Verify Floppy Disk function will verify a floppy diskette. This function does NOT update the File Allocation Table (FAT) and will stop with an error message at the first bad sector detected. When SCOUT is popped up, it saves the current video screen to a buffer. This screen data may be saved to a disk file named SCREEN.DAT by invoking the Write Vid to Disk function. 9. VIEWING FILE CONTENTS A. BROWSING A TEXT FILE A text file may be browsed by placing the cursor over the desired file name and pressing the Enter key. Scout will display 23 lines of the file at a time. You can page back and forth through the file using the PgUp and PgDn keys. The Home key will show the first page of the file. The End key will take you to the end of the file. Note that if the file is a long one, there will be some delay while SCOUT moves physically to the end of the file. The file may also be browsed one line at a time via the up/down arrow keys. The file browse function supports text lines up to 100 characters in length. Lines over 100 characters will be truncated. To view lines that are over 80 characters long, use the right arrow key to scroll right or press Ctrl- RightArrow to show the longest line present. Ctrl-LeftArrow scrolls the display back to the left edge. Note that if a mouse driver is present, the mouse can be used to browse vertically and horizontally. Any text file with 35,767 lines or less may be browsed in this fashion. Press the F1 key to get a window showing a summary of file browsing commands. SCOUT will search the text file being viewed for a specified string. Press the F key while a text file is being browsed. A box will pop up prompting for a search string. The search is NOT case sensitive. Typing in a string and pressing return will start a search (forward only) through the file for the specified string. If the string is found, the line containing it will be placed on the first line of the display and it will be highlighted. Pressing the L key continues the search. It is also possible to go directly to a specific location in the file by entering a line number. Press the N key and then - 27 - enter the desired line number. If the entered line number is within file limits, the target line will be placed at the top of the display and will be highlighted. Pressing the S key while browsing a file will turn on a filter that strips the high bit from each file character. Many word processing programs (like WordStar) store text with numerous imbedded print and format control codes. Displaying these codes in a "raw" mode sometimes makes for a messy display. The display can be cleaned up significantly by filtering out the control codes. When the stripper is toggled to on, two blinking asterisks appear at both ends of the bottom status line. B. VIEWING ARCHIVE FILE DIRECTORIES Archive files are files that have been compressed by commonly available utilities such as PKZIP, ARC, and LHARC. SCOUT can view the contents of any valid .ARC, .PAK, .LZH, or .ZIP file. Just place the cursor over a valid compressed file and press the Enter key. If SCOUT finds that it is indeed a valid compressed file, a window will appear that shows the directory listing in pages of pages of 18 entries each. Each entry displayed has the compressed file name, the date, the time, the uncompressed file size, the compressed file size, and the method used in compression. To get a printed listing of the compressed file directory, press Ctrl-P at any time while displaying the file names. 10. EXECUTING PROGRAMS FROM SCOUT In spite of being a memory resident program, SCOUT has the capability to execute programs. A. EXECUTE A PROGRAM First, remember that you MUST have placed RUNFILE.COM in the root directory of the disk drive from which SCOUT is to be initially loaded into memory in order for you to successfully run a program from SCOUT. Second, SCOUT can execute a program only when it has been called (popped up) from the DOS level. The easiest and most direct method of running a program from SCOUT is to move the cursor to a .COM, .EXE, or .BAT file and press Ctrl-Return. SCOUT will execute the program. YOU CANNOT RUN A PROGRAM FROM SCOUT UNLESS YOU CALLED SCOUT FROM THE DOS LEVEL! But you may activate SCOUT from the program you executed from SCOUT. Just be sure to terminate the program before attempting to run another program. - 28 - In many cases it may be desirable to pass the program you desire to run parameters via the command line. Just press the / key with the cursor over the name of the program you desire to run. A window will appear prompting you for the command line string. Enter it and press return. SCOUT will pass the entered string to the executed program just as if you had invoked the program from the DOS command line. B. EXECUTE PROGRAM MENU The configuration program permitted you to enter up to 10 program names, parent directories, and flags indicating whether or not to pause for command line parameters. This menu may be invoked by pressing the back slash \ key. A window will appear that displays the program names you defined, the directory names they are located in, and stars ("*") for any you marked to pause for command line parameters. Each program is indexed by a function key. Press the function key associated with program that you desire to execute. If that program is flagged with a star, the command line parameter window will appear and request entry of the parameter string before the program is executed. The power of using the menu is that you can define programs that reside on disks other than the default drive and SCOUT will effect both appropriate drive and directory change so that the program can be executed from its parent directory. Just be sure to enter the full proper path specification in the configuration program. C. CTRL-X PROGRAM MENU SCOUT incorporates a second configurable program execution menu that differs functionally from the menu invoked by the \ key. This menu is invoked by pressing Ctrl-X and is preconfigured by the CONFIG program. This utility allows you to define up to 10 executable program names, which will appear on the Ctrl-X menu. There is an important and fundamental difference between the main (\ key) program execution menu and the Ctrl-X program execution menu. In the first case, the program to be executed has been assigned a resident directory name and, optionally, a command line parameter. When invoked, SCOUT will change to that directory and run the program. In the case of the Ctrl-X menu, SCOUT is depending upon the assigned program to reside in a directory that is identified in the DOS PATH string. Thus SCOUT does NOT change to the directory the target program resides in, but instead calls the program from the currently active directory - 29 - via the DOS PATH search function. Remember, the target program MUST be locatable through the DOS PATH. 11. QEDIT, LIST, & NORTON Three extra "hooks" are provided for the execution of the outstanding Semware editor QEDIT, Vernon Buerg's excellent LIST, and Peter Norton's NU. These programs must reside in a directory that is identified in the DOS path. QEDIT must be named QEDIT and is called from SCOUT when SCOUT has been popped up from the DOS level. The follow commands are relevant: Alt-L Call LIST with file under cursor Alt-N Call NORTON with file under cursor Alt-Q Call QEDIT with file under cursor 12. COMMAND KEY SUMMARY A. MAIN DISPLAY CONTROL The cursor pad keys control the position of the cursor bar in the file list. The following command/control keys are also available from the main display: Tab Call Main Command Menu Enter View file under cursor Change to directory under cursor ^Enter Execute .BAT/.COM/.EXE file under cursor ^Home Move to ROOT directory of current drive ^End Return to base directory Del Delete file under cursor Ins Rename file under cursor Alt-F10 Show alternate command key summary Shft-Tab Purge directory of ALL files B. ALTERNATE COMMAND KEYS The following is a list of alternate command keys available from the main display with a brief summary statement of the function of each: Ctrl-A View ASCII character table Ctrl-B Backup (copy) files with archive bits set Ctrl-C Single/Multiple file copy Ctrl-D Change disk drive Ctrl-E Erase (delete) single/multiple files Ctrl-F Format floppy disk Ctrl-I Single drive information summary - 30 - Ctrl-J View/change file masks Ctrl-K View/change function key macros Ctrl-L Create disk volume label Ctrl-M Single/multiple file move Ctrl-N Version information window Ctrl-O Change file sort Ctrl-P Print directory file listing Ctrl-Q View system RAM allocation map Ctrl-R Rename file, directory, or volume label Ctrl-S Scan current drive and update directory tree Ctrl-T Tag all files in current directory Ctrl-U Untag all tagged files Ctrl-V Write saved screen image to disk file Ctrl-W Wildcard tag Ctrl-X Call secondary program execution menu Ctrl-Z View contents of a ZIPped EXE file Ctrl-Y Search drive for file(s) Alt-A Set file attribute Alt-B Set base directory to current directory Alt-D View system drive space Alt-F Change system or file date/time Alt-I Call Information Menu Alt-L Call LIST with file under cursor Alt-N Call Norton (NU) with file under cursor Alt-P Call Print Menu Alt-Q Call QEDIT with file under cursor Alt-R Registration window (Shareware version) Alt-T Display directory tree Alt-X Call secondary program execution menu Alt-Z Remove normal SCOUT from memory C. DIRECTORY DISPLAY COMMANDS The following commands are operative while viewing the graphic directory tree: Enter Change to directory under cursor ^Home Change to ROOT directory ^End Change to base directory F6 Rename directory under cursor Ins Add directory to the tree Del Remove a directory from the tree Ctrl-P Print directory tree F1 Show help window - 31 - D. TEXT FILE BROWSE COMMANDS The following commands are operative while viewing a text file with the browse function: Use the cursor pad keys or mouse to move up and down in the file. F key Search for text string L key Continue search N key Go to specified line number Ctrl-P Print current file page F1 Show help window 13. SPECIAL VIDEO SUPPORT SCOUT and SCOUT-EM offer special video support for EGA/VGA systems capable of operating in modes that show more than 25 lines per screen. SCOUT will automatically detect and adjust to these modes. Normally, the main display window will contain 15 lines of file data and the directory tree window will contain 20 lines of directory names. If SCOUT is popped-up while in an extended display mode, the main display and the directory tree windows will expand to fill the available screen height. 14. MOUSE SUPPORT SCOUT has a built in support for mouse drivers conforming to version 6.xx or later of the Microsoft mouse standard. Main display window mouse operations are: Mouse up/down Cursor bar up/down Left Button Return key Right Button Esc key Mouse right Directory tree Mouse left Tab key 17. CHANGING BASE DIRECTORY The base directory is defined as the drive:\directory from which SCOUT was popped up. SCOUT will always return to the base directory when Esc is pressed and SCOUT is brought down. Returning to a directory other than the one active when SCOUT was popped up is accomplished by pressing Alt-B. When Alt-B is pressed, SCOUT will make the base directory the same as the directory SCOUT is currently in. - 32 - 16. TANDY OWNERS Tandy, for reasons God only knows, maps their keyboard differently than the standard IBM PC/AT method. The prime (~) key on the Tandy is mapped to the down-arrow key and thus if the prime key is enabled, SCOUT will be called each time the down arrow key is pressed. There are two ways to avoid this. One way is to use the CONFIG program to disable use of the prime key. The other is to enter a "t" on the command line when loading SCOUT or SCOUT-EM. Placing a "t" on the command line causes the SCOUT keyboard interrupt handler to reverse the mapping of the prime and down arrow keys. 17. EXTENDED KEYBOARD SUPPORT Users with enhanced keyboards may use the F-11 key in lieu of Alt-C for copying files and the F-12 key lieu of Alt-M for moving files. Thank you very much for trying SCOUT! Copyright 1985,86,87,88,89 New-Ware San Diego, CA - 33 - - 34 - Index 5 configuration program 7 / key 29 CONFIGURING SCOUT 7 \ key 29 COPY function 22 CRC check 26 A Ctrl-B 22 Alt-B 32 Ctrl-C 22 Alt-C 25 Ctrl-D 23 Alt-D 25 Ctrl-E 22 Alt-F 23 Ctrl-End 21 Alt-F10 9 Ctrl-Home 21 Alt-F10 key 18 Ctrl-I 25 Alt-I 24 Ctrl-LeftArrow 27 Alt-P 24 Ctrl-M 22 Alt-T 21 Ctrl-N 25 Alt-X 25 Ctrl-O 24 alternate command keys 30 Ctrl-P 21, 28 Archive Bit function 26 Ctrl-Q 25 ASCII Table 25 Ctrl-R 23 ASP 2 Ctrl-Return 28 ASP Ombudsman 2 Ctrl-RightArrow 27 Attribute Change 26 Ctrl-S 21 Ctrl-T 19 B Ctrl-U 19 base directory 20, 32 Ctrl-X 13, 29 batch file 14 Ctrl-Y 23 BIOS drive number 12 Ctrl-Z 19 bulletin board 3 D C Del key 21 Calendar 25 directory catalog 20 catalog 20 directory tree 21 CGA 15 DOS PATH 29 CGA/EGA/VGA 16 dual density 12 CGA monitor 13 command line 15 E Command Menu 21 EMS 5 compressed file 28 Enter key 21, 28 CONFIG.COM 7 ESC key 18 CONFIG menu 8 - 35 - F P F-11 key 33 page number 11 F-12 key 33 prime key 9, 13 F1 key 21 print margins 10 F6 key 21 Print Menu 24 F key 27 printer codes 10 file browsing commands 27 program menu 11 File Date/Time 26 program names 29 file mask 9 File Mask Settings 26 Q floppy drive parameter 12 QEDIT 30 format 23 Quit and Save 13 Function Key Command Menu 20 R Function Key Macros 26 RAM 14 function keys 9 register 3 registration 2 H RUNFILE.COM 28 Hercules 15, 16 RUNFILE.EXE 7 HGC 15 Hot Key 26 S hot key 9 SCOUT.000 5, 8 SCOUT Configuration I Options 8 Ins key 21 SCOUT-EM.000 5, 8 search 23 L Shareware 2 Label This Volume 27 Shareware Products BBS 3 LANtastic 6 snow avoidance 13 LIM 5 sort 11 lines per page 11 Sys Drive Space 25 LIST 30 System Time/Date 26 M T Main Command Menu 18 TAB key 18 major features 5 Tab key 18 Memory Allocation 25 tag a file 19 memory resident 5 Tandy 15, 16, 33 mouse 8 This Drive Info 25 MOVE function 22 V N Verify Floppy Disk 27 network 6, 16 Version Info 25 NEW-WARE.LOG 20 NU 30 W Write Vid to Disk 27 O overlay file 5, 8 - 36 - X XTRA 25 - 37 -