The Business Master (3rd Edition)

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╔════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ┌─────────────────────┐ ║ ║ │ ABBREVIATOR │ ║ ║ │ Ver 3.0 │ ║ ║ └─────────────────────┘ ║ ║ (c) Copyright 1992 ║ ║ ║ ║ HiPerSoft Systems ║ ║ PO Box 597 ║ ║ Coventry, CT 06238 ║ ║ ║ ║ (203) 742-6249 ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════╝ LICENSE AGREEMENT HiPerSoft Systems grants you, without charge, the right to review, reproduce, distribute and use copies of this "Shareware" version of our ABBREVIATOR software product (including the disk documentation), on the express condition that you do not receive any payment, commercial benefit, or other consideration for the direct use of ABBREVIATOR. A nominal fee for copying and/or distribution is acceptable, as long as the program and documentation are not modified in any way and that both are distributed together. The rights to receive any such financial or other benefit, and to modify the product or its components, are reserved exclusively by HiPerSoft Systems. Under the Shareware concept you are provided a complete copy of the software free of charge. You have a period of ninety (90) days to evaluate the product to determine its usefulness. At the end of the trial period, you are required to become a Registered user of the product. This software may not be reverse-engineered or disassembled, and includes certain trade secrets and confidential information of HiPerSoft Systems. Registered User Benefits As a registered user you are entitled to the most recent version of the software, printed documentation, technical support, utilities to support and expand product capabilities, and software announcements. How to Register To become a registered user, send your name, company name (if applicable), mailing address, telephone number, version number, where you obtained your copy of the ABBREVIATOR, along with $34.95 plus $3.50 shipping (CT residence add 6% sales tax) to: HiPerSoft Systems PO Box 597 Coventry, CT 06238 For your convenience, a registration form is included as the abbreviation REG in the distributed expansion table. HiPerSoft has a number of attractive plans which allow the use of ABBREVIATOR on multiple computers within the same organization. For information on obtaining a site license, please contact us directly. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ........................... 1 Potential Uses ......................... 1 Overview ............................... 2 Getting Started ........................ 2 Setting Up a Hard Drive ................ 2 Starting ABBREVIATOR ................... 3 Using ABBREVIATOR ...................... 4 ABBREVIATOR Commands ................... 6 ABBRMGT Utility ........................ 8 Menu Facility .......................... 10 Creating a Menu ........................ 10 Activating New Information ............. 11 Using ABBREVIATOR from a Batch File .... 12 Obtaining ABBREVIATOR Status ........... 12 Automating ABBREVIATOR ................. 12 Technical Information .................. 13 Commitment ............................. 13 Error Messages ABBREV .................. 14 Error Messages ABBRMGT ................. 15 Helpful Hints .......................... 16 ABBREVIATOR INTRODUCTION ABBREVIATOR is a universal keyboard enhancement utility designed to expand a user defined abbreviation (up to 5 characters) into a string of characters (maximum 1,760). The abbreviation expansion is presented to the application program in control, as if the characters were typed in at the keyboard. The application can be any program which obtains character input from the keyboard, such as a word processor, data base system, or the DOS system. ABBREVIATOR can be used to enhance (or add) a macro facility to a word processing system. It can also function as a pseudo Batch file with the additional benefit of communicating to both DOS and an application program from a single abbreviation expansion. For example, an abbreviation can issue a series of DOS system commands, initiate a program, and then issue a series of character commands to the application. Once started, ABBREVIATOR monitors keyboard activity looking for the user defined abbreviation "expansion key". Upon finding the key, the characters preceding the key are used as an abbreviation to search for an expansion in the user defined table. If found, the abbreviation is replaced by the expansion. The abbreviation can be up to 5 characters in length and can consist of any alpha-numeric combination of characters, including the characters #, %, &, *, and @. The $ character is reserved for commands to communicate to the ABBREVIATOR system. POTENTIAL USES ABBREVIATOR is a universal keyboard utility designed to expand user defined abbreviations into a series of key strokes. The utility can be used to present character information to any program which accepts keyboard input. ABBREVIATOR can be used to: - Manage standard name and address information with uniform access to the same information from different application programs. - "Paste" common phrases or paragraphs in word processor applications with the additional benefit of using the same abbreviation in different word processing systems. - Build system command abbreviations which can set up and start a program and issue a series of character commands to the application. - Develop a DOS menu system to easily initiate application systems or perform standard DOS functions with a single key stroke. - Develop regression testing keyboard scripts for the verification of application program changes. 1 OVERVIEW The ABBREVIATOR system is composed of two major software modules: ABBREV and ABBRMGT. The ABBREV module is a DOS command which loads the disk copy of the user defined abbreviation expansion table and menu screen, and then initiates the TSR (Terminate and Stay Resident) software. The TSR software monitors keyboard activity, identifies abbreviations, and expands the abbreviation feeding the information to the computer as if the expansion were typed in at the keyboard. The ABBRMGT utility program is used to maintain abbreviation names and associated expansions, define the abbreviation expansion key, and set other ABBREVIATOR command keys. This information is maintained on disk in the abbreviation expansion table which is loaded by the ABBREV command each time the command is issued. The utility also allows the user to develop and maintain the ABBREVIATOR DOS menu screen. Menu information is also loaded into memory each time the ABBREV command is issued, unless the ABBREV /N option (No Menu) is used. Three DOS commands are also provided with the system. The MENU command is used to display the menu screen developed via the ABBRMGT utility and allows the initiation of a series of DOS and application commands with a single key stroke. The ABBRSTAT command gives ABBREVIATOR status information about the current memory resident system and table. The ABBSTACK command allows the use of abbreviations from a DOS batch file. GETTING STARTED It is recommended that you make a copy of the distribution disk and place the original in a safe place. If you are not using a hard disk drive, the just copied version becomes the ABBREVIATOR system. If you are not using a hard disk, skip to the section entitled "Starting ABBREVIATOR". SETTING UP A HARD DRIVE If you are using a hard disk drive, you may want to create a directory for the ABBREVIATOR software files. Assuming your hard drive is the C drive, type C: to make drive C the selected drive. Then type CD\ to make sure that the root directory is the current directory. Type PROMPT $P$G to make the DOS prompt include the current directory name. The DOS prompt should now appear as C:\> with the \ indicating the root directory. Next, to create a directory to hold the ABBREVIATOR system, type MD ABBREV. (You may choose a directory name other than ABBREV, if you wish.) After creating the directory, make it the current directory by entering CD ABBREV. Now place the ABBREVIATOR distribution disk into drive A and type the copy command COPY A:*.* to copy all the files from drive A into the ABBREV directory. 2 To verify that all the files have been copied, list the files in the ABBREV directory by typing DIR at the prompt. Compare the files displayed to the following list: FILE DESCRIPTION --------------------------------------------------------- * ABBREV.COM ABBREVIATOR TSR Command Module * ABBREV.MNU DOS Menu Information * ABBRMGT.EXE Utility to Maintain Abbreviation Definitions * ABBRMGT.WND Utility Help Windows ABBRSTAT.COM Command to Display ABBREVIATOR Status Info ABBSTACK.COM Command to issue abbreviations from a DOS batch file * ABBRVTOR.TBL Abbreviations and definitions * ABBRVTOR.KEY Table for Maintaining Abbreviations MENU.COM Command to Display ABBREVIATOR DOS Menu ------------ ABBREV.DOC ABBREVIATOR Documentation QUICK.DOC Quick start documentaion. READ.ME General Information (REFERRAL PROGRAM) Asterisk (*) files must be kept together in the same directory, if using a hard disk, or on a single floppy disk. The ABBRSTAT.COM, ABBSTACK.COM, and MENU.COM files are best placed in a directory which is generally available to the system. Review the use of the DOS PATH command in your DOS manual. The The READ.ME, ABBREV.DOC, and QUICK.DOC files can be deleted. STARTING ABBREVIATOR After setting current environment to the ABBREVIATOR system (placing the ABBREVIATOR disk in the appropriate drive or, if using a hard disk, switching to the proper directory), type ABBREV. This will activate ABBREVIATOR using the distributed abbreviation table and default abbreviation expansion key, the '=' (equal sign). The expansion key may be changed by using the ABBRMGT utility or via the Alter command, discussed later. Once activated, the ABBREVIATOR software and table of definitions remain in memory and are available universally, independent of the current environment. If you are using a floppy disk, you can remove the disk after the ABBREVIATOR system has been initialized. ABBREVIATOR has a default DOS menu facility. In order to use the menu facility, access to the file ABBREV.MNU is required during initialization. If the menu facility is not desired, ABBREVIATOR can be initialized with the 'N' option for 'No Menu', as follows: ABBREV /N. If you do not plan to use the menu facility, you should use the N option because it reduces resident TSR memory requirements (see "Technical Information"). DO NOT DELETE the ABBREV.MNU file. Access is required for the ABBRMGT utility, even if you do not plan to use the menu feature. 3 USING ABBREVIATOR The following discussion is based on the distributed ABBREVIATOR expansion definition table and the default command key settings. The distributed table contains 3 entries: @A, @S, and HPS. Assuming the system is active (you have entered the ABBREV command), enter the HELP command Alt+H (press the <Alt> key and H key together) to view the abbreviation table. Upon entering the command a Window containing abbreviation information appears. The Window will appear at either the top or bottom of the screen depending on the cursor position. Examine the top line of the Window. The abbreviation appears at the far left of the top line with ABBREVIATOR Help command key information appearing to the right. Up to 3 lines of the abbreviation expansion appear in the Window. The Help commands appear to the right. Enter a single character and the Help window is positioned at the first abbreviation starting with the character entered. The Up and Down arrows are used to scroll through the abbreviations in alpha-numeric order. The abbreviation list wraps automatically, if the list is exhausted in either direction. In other words, if the down arrow is entered after the last item in the list is displayed, the first item in the list appears. The <Enter> key expands the displayed expansion at the current cursor position. The <Esc> key will exit the HELP function removing the Window without expanding the abbreviation. There are two methods of expanding an abbreviation. You can use the HELP command, position the window to the desired abbreviation, and press the <Enter> key or you can enter the abbreviation directly followed by the abbreviation expansion key. Let's try both. Enter the HELP command Alt+H, position the Window using the up/down arrows to the @S abbreviation, and press the <Enter> key. The @S expansion issues the ABBRSTAT command, giving status information on the ABBREVIATOR system. Now, enter the abbreviation directly without using the HELP function by typing @S=. NOTE: the abbreviation characters are NOT case sensitive and that both @S and @s result in the same expansion. ABBREVIATOR expands an abbreviation without knowing which application is currently in control of the keyboard. If you were to expand the HPS abbreviation, an abbreviation designed for a word processing system, while in DOS, the DOS system would try to execute a series of nonexisting DOS commands. (Try it, type HPS=, it won't hurt anything.) Similarly, if you were to expand the @S abbreviation while in a word processing system, the result would be the addition of the character string "ABBRSTAT" followed by an <Enter> key to the text being edited. When using the ABBREVIATOR in a word processing system, the expansion takes advantage of the current character mode setting. If the character mode is set to "insert" the abbreviation expansion will be inserted at the current cursor position. If the mode is "typeover", the expansion will typeover existing information. 4 The abbreviation expansion for @A is interesting because it represents an example of an expansion which passes information first to DOS and then to the application. Use of the ABBRMGT utility will be discussed below, but for now let's bring up the utility first without the use of the ABBREVIATOR. Assuming you are still in the ABBREVIATOR environment, type ABBRMGT. As the utility starts, an introduction screen is displayed. When initialization completes, a series of 3 information Windows appear, asking you to "Hit any key to continue". (Please read the Windows at least once....thank you.) After you go through the Windows by pressing any key 3 times, the main utility screen appears. Note the series of keystrokes required to get to the point where productive work can begin. For now, press "X" to exit the utility, followed by a "Q" to exit without saving the Table. If you have been following along, you should be back in DOS. Examine the @A expansion. Issue the ABBREVIATOR HELP command Alt+H and position the Window to the @A abbreviation. The expansion appears as: ABBRMGT<<<< where the symbol < represents the <Enter> key. During the expansion, the ABBRMGT< is presented to the DOS system as if you typed the ABBRMGT command followed by the <Enter> key. After DOS initiates the ABBRMGT utility, the next 3 <Enter> key symbols are presented to the application program, in this case the ABBRMGT utility. Although the information Windows are displayed in quick secession by the utility, you can't read them. The net result of using the ABBREVIATOR is that you are brought into the utility to a point where you can immediately do work. Try it, with the @A abbreviation on the Help screen, press the <Enter> key. The ability to present information to the multiple environments from a single abbreviation, is a unique and powerful feature of the ABBREVIATOR. Not only can you use the ABBREVIATOR to enhance (or add) a Macro capability to a word processor, you can build pseudo batch (.BAT) files which can issue DOS commands to initiate an application and then present character information to the application. ABBREVIATOR contains a DOS full screen menu capability which allows the initiation of a series of DOS and application commands with a single key stroke. Construction and use of the menu facility will be discussed in the "Menu Facility" section. To expand on the above example, you may want to switch directories before issuing the ABBRMGT command. To do so, use the ABBRMGT utility to edit the abbreviation expansion to include the appropriate DOS commands. For example, CD\ABBREV<ABBRMGT<<<< Any set of DOS commands can be part of an abbreviation expansion. The commands should appear in the same sequence as they would if typed in from the keyboard. Don't forget the appropriate <Enter> keys. 5 ABBREVIATOR COMMANDS ABBREVIATOR commands are designed to communicate with and control the memory resident system, once active. ABBREVIATOR commands have two forms. Three of the commands start with the $ character. To initiate a $ command (listed below), enter the command followed by the abbreviation expansion key. For example, if the abbreviation expansion key is the = character, to place the current date on the screen, you would type the character string $D=. The command character, in this case the letter 'D', can be either in upper or lower case. Two of the commands are initiated by pressing the <Alt> key in combination with another key. Realizing conflicts may exist with other software packages in the system, the letters used in the Alt+ commands can be set via the ABBRMGT utility. $ COMMANDS $x$A Alters the Abbreviation expansion key, where x is the new expansion key. The expansion key can be any printable keyboard character key. The key can NOT be a function or special key. When deciding on an appropriate expansion key consider a key which is convenient, but not frequently used. Either the = or ] key makes an excellent choice. The expansion key is SENSITIVE to upper and lower case characters. If you forget (or inadvertently change the key) you can use the ABBRSTAT command to display the key and other ABBREVIATOR system information. $D Returns the current date as month (word), day, and year. For example, January 1, 1992. The date is formulated each time ABBREVIATOR is activated. $P Purges the ABBREVIATOR system, freeing all memory requirements. To activate a new abbreviation table, the Purge command MUST be issued prior to issuing the ABBREV command. Alt+ COMMANDS Alt+H Help creates a window displaying the abbreviation in the upper left corner and up to 3 lines of the expansion. The abbreviation list is presented in alpha-numeric order and can be positioned by typing in the first character of a valid abbreviation. Note the control commands in the right corner of the window. <1st Char> Entering a single character positions the Help window at the first abbreviation starting with the character entered. The Up and Down arrows are used to scroll through abbreviations in alpha-numeric order. The abbreviation list wraps automatically if the list is exhausted in either direction. In other words, if the down arrow is entered after the last item in the list is displayed, the first item in the list appears. 6 The <Enter> key expands the displayed abbreviation at the current cursor position. The <Esc> key exits the HELP function removing the Window without expanding the abbreviation. Alt+A The Add facility allows the adding of abbreviations and expansions directly into both the in-memory and disk tables. Access to the disk copy of the table (file ABBRVTOR.TBL) is required. If the file resides on hard disk, the disk update is automatic. If the file is on a floppy and the disk is not available, a request will be made to insert the disk when needed. If the Abort option is chosen in response to an unsuccessful disk access, the in memory copy of the table remains updated with the new information, while the disk update is terminated. To use this facility: Position the Cursor. BEFORE entering the ALT+A command, position the cursor at either the first character or after the last character of the expansion to be added to the table. The entire text to be used as the expansion MUST be entirely visible on the screen. Press the Alt+A key sequence. The Alt+A sequence is the default for the Add facility, but the sequence can be changed by using the ABBRMGT utility. After pressing the Alt+A sequence, a window will appear requesting the abbreviation name. Enter the new abbreviation name. Only valid abbreviation name characters will be accepted as input. When complete, press the <Enter> key. If the abbreviation name already exists, an error message will appear and the name can be re-entered. Highlight expansion text. After the abbreviation name has been entered, the original screen appears with an additional line indicating that the ABBREVIATOR is in control. The line will appear at either the top or bottom of the screen depending on the cursor position. Use the arrow keys to highlight the text for use as the abbreviation expansion. When complete, press the (Enter> key. Edit highlighted text. The highlighted text is placed into a window for review and editing. If no text was highlighted, the window will be blank and information can be added. Use the standard editing keys to update the Window. The capacity of the window and expansion is 640 characters, about eight lines of text. In moving the highlighted text to the window, the ABBREVIATOR edits and compacts text. For example, a full line of blanks is replaced with the enter key and all special characters are removed. Accept information. After editing, press the <Ctrl><Enter> sequence to accept the data into the in-memory and disk tables. Until the final <Ctrl><Enter> sequence is entered, the Add process can be terminated at any point by pressing the <Esc> key. 7 ABBRMGT UTILITY The ABBRMGT program is a support utility which allows you to create, alter, or delete abbreviations and maintain the MENU facility. The utility also used to define the Expansion key and set the Alt+ ABBREVIATOR command characters. ABBREVIATOR information is maintained in a disk file named ABBRVTOR.TBL and Menu information is maintained in a file named ABBREV.MNU. The utility is started from the ABBREVIATOR environment by typing ABBRMGT. The commands on the right side of the main screen are, for the most part, self-explanatory. A brief HELP window is available by pressing <f1>. The "Control Key" section displays the current setting os the Expansion key and the Help and Add commands. The "Information" section displays information about the abbreviation table and the size of the current entry. The "Peek" section of the screen displays the first 5 lines of the abbreviation expansion for the selected abbreviation. The ADD and UPDATE commands are used to add or update abbreviation expansions. The Add and Update commands use an expanded screen allowing for definitions up to a maximum of 1,760 characters. The <Tab> and <Enter> keys are treated as valid expansion characters and appear on the screen as a right arrow and left pointer respectively. While in the Add/Update mode, the <f2> key refreshes the screen. If the Add command was entered, the <f2> key results in a blank screen. In the Update mode, the screen is refreshed to the expansion as it was prior to the issuing of the Update command. The <f3> key associated with the Add/Update mode is designed to retrieve a data file. The function is useful to develop expansions from information which has been saved from a word processing system in the "DOS text" format. Review the section in your word processing manual on how to save a file in the DOS text format. ABBREVIATOR pseudo batch expansions can be developed by using the <f3> key to retrieve a DOS batch (.BAT) file. The <f3> retrieve function makes some assumptions on where to place the enter key when retrieving data. After retrieving information, making changes, and saving the expansion, it is suggested that the View command be used to inspect the results to insure accuracy. If ABBREVIATOR is active in the system, you can create a new expansion similar to an existing one by entering the Add or Update mode and expanding the already existing abbreviation. To expand an existing abbreviation, use either the $H ABBREVIATOR command or type in the abbreviation followed by the expansion key. The VIEW command explodes the abbreviation by interpreting the Tab and Enter keys. You can not update an abbreviation expansion in the View mode. 8 The CHG COMMAND KEY allows you to define the abbreviation expansion key and set the letters used with the <Alt> key to initiate the Help and Add ABBREVIATOR commands. The expansion key can be any printable character. It can not be a special or function key. When deciding on an expansion key consider a key which is convenient, but not frequently used. The expansion key is SENSITIVE to upper and lower case characters. The expansion key will take effect when the new table is loaded via the ABBREV command. The letters associated with the Help and Add commands must be an alpha character. Chose characters that do not conflict with any other systems in your environment. Some word processing system allow the <Alt> key to be used in conjunction with a macro capability and should be reviewed. The PRINT command allows you to print abbreviations. You can print all or selected abbreviations. In printing the abbreviation expansion, the Tab key is represented by the > character and the Enter key by the < character. The MENU command allows you to describe abbreviations for use in the DOS menu facility. Entering the Menu command brings up the Menu screen for editing. Creating a menu is discussed in the section entitled "Creating A Menu". The EXIT command (or <Esc> key) will exit the ABBRMGT utility. You will be prompted to either: S SAVE and Exit - Save updated abbreviation and menu information. A Save & ACTIVATE ABBREV - Same as above plus, if active, the memory resident version is purge and the ABBREV command issued. A prompt is issued for the loading of menu information. Q QUIT, No Save - Exit without saving any updated information. Depressing any other key will return you to the ABBRMGT utility. The prompt Window will inform you as to whether the abbreviation table or menu was updated during the session. If either the (S) Save or (A) Save & Activate option is chosen, the utility creates a file named ABBRVTOR.BAK, which is a copy of the ABBRVTOR.TBL as it was before the ABBRMGT utility was entered. To back out one level of abbreviation changes, rename file ABBRVTOR.BAK to ABBRVTOR.TBL. Note that the use of the Alt+A, direct add facility does NOT make a backup copy of the ABBRVTOR.TBL before updating the table. The <f10> key will provide you with HiPerSoft's phone number and registration information. Do not hesitate to call us with a problem or question. Our goal is to have a satisfied user and maintain the highest quality of software possible. 9 MENU FACILITY ABBREVIATOR contains a full screen DOS menu capability which allows the execution of DOS commands or abbreviator pseudo batch (.BAT) files from a menu screen with a single keystroke. The ABBRMGT utility allows you to create DOS menu entries and associate them with any abbreviation. Construction of menu items will be discussed in the section entitled "Creating a Menu". Returning to the demonstration and assuming you are in the ABBREVIATOR environment, type MENU. A menu screen should appear on the screen displaying the entries with their description. As distributed, the system contains two menu items, identified by the numbers 1 and 2. To view the abbreviations associated with the descriptions, press the F1 key and an abbreviation will appear to the right of each item. Menu comment lines do not have associated abbreviations. To initiate a menu item, enter the character associated with the menu description on the screen. For example, to get ABBREVIATOR status information, press the number 2 key. To exit the menu and return directly to DOS without executing a menu item, use the <Esc> key. The MENU command module (MENU.COM) should be placed in a program directory which is available to the system via the PATH command included in the DOS AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Review your DOS installation manual for a discussion of the PATH command and the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. An alternative method of displaying the menu would be to develop an abbreviation which issues the DOS commands to set up the ABBREVIATOR environment (switch directories, etc.) and then issue the MENU command. CREATING A MENU The basic process required to create a menu item is to use the ABBRMGT utility to first develop an abbreviation which defines a series of DOS commands or combination of DOS and application commands. To copy an existing batch file, use the <f3> retrieve function of the Add command (see "ABBRMGT Utility"). Next, add a menu item description by using the Menu command to edit the menu screen. When the Menu command of the ABBRMGT utility is entered, the current menu is displayed on the screen. Note the item description edit commands below the menu. To select an item for editing or to create a new item, position the highlight bar by using the arrows. The last line of the screen displays the first 80 characters of the abbreviation associated with the highlighted item. The Update command allows the editing of the item indicated by the highlight bar. The character (number or letter) associated with the item, the associated abbreviation, and menu description can be changed. If the <Esc> key is entered while in the Update mode, the original item is returned to the menu. Comment lines can be added to the menu by leaving the Item (I) and Abbreviation (Abr) fields blank during the update. Menu Item characters must be unique to the menu screen. If you attempt to define a duplicate Item character, an error message will appear. 10 The Move command allows you to move an item to a different location on the menu. Place the highlight bar on the item to be moved and press the "M" key. Position the bar to the new location and press the <Enter> key. An item may be returned to its original location, if necessary. The Erase command clears an item from the menu. No other changes occur. The Insert command inserts a blank item at the highlight bar, scrolling the item at the highlight bar and ALL entries below the bar down one item. The last item in the first column becomes the top item of the second column. CAUTION: The last item of the second column is scrolled off the menu and is lost. The Delete command deletes the highlighted item from the menu, scrolling ALL items below the bar up one item. The first item of the second column becomes the last item of the first column. The <Esc> key returns control to the main ABBRMGT screen, maintaining all changes to the menu screen. The changes to the menu screen are permanently saved when either the (S) Save or (A) Save & Activate option is selected upon exiting the ABBRMGT utility. The <f2> key will restore the menu to its original state, prior to entering the Menu command. In order to activate a new menu to the system, the ABBREVIATOR system must be restarted after saving the updated information from ABBRMGT utility. This will occur automatically if the (A) Save & Activate option is chosen when exiting the ABBRMGT utility. ACTIVATING NEW INFORMATION After using the ABBRMGT utility to update the abbreviation expansion table and/or the menu structure, the in-memory copy of ABBREVIATOR MUST be refreshed for the new information to take effect. If the (A) Save & Activate option is selected when exiting the ABBRMGT utility, the in-memory information is refreshed automatically. If the (S) Save & Exit option is selected and you want to activate new information, issue the $P Purge command followed by the ABBREV command. If the ABBREV command is issued with ABBREVIATOR active in the system, the initialization program will issue a message requesting that you Purge ($P) the current ABBREVIATOR system. 11 USING ABBREVIATOR FROM A BATCH FILE The ABBSTACK command allows access to abbreviation expansions from a DOS batch (.BAT) file. The command is useful to "stack" an initial character string to the subsequent application program initiated by the batch file. To use the command, place the ABBSTACK command statement BEFORE the batch file statement which initiates the program. Using the ABBRMGT utility again as an example, consider the following batch file. CD\ABBREV /* Switch directory ABBSTACK INIT /* Stack abbreviation INIT ABBRMGT /* Initiate ABBRMGT utility MENU /* Initiate MENU screen where the abbreviation INIT expands to three enter keys. The batch file switches environment to the ABBREVIATOR directory, stacks the three enter keys to the ABBRMGT program, and then initiates the ABBRMGT utility. The net result is the same as it was in the previous example, the ABBRMGT utility is initiated to the point where work can begin. The added benefit of this approach is that when you exit the ABBRMGT utility, the menu screen is immediate brought up. As with the MENU and ABBRSTAT commands, the ABBSTACK.COM program should be placed in a directory which is accessible to DOS via the PATH command. OBTAINING ABBREVIATOR STATUS The ABBRSTAT command reports on the status of the ABBREVIATOR system and gives other information about the memory requirements of the expansion table. ABBRSTAT will indicate if ABBREVIATOR is in the system, Table memory usage in bytes, Table size in bytes, Table entry count, and control key settings. As with the MENU command, the ABBRSTAT command module (ABBRSTAT.COM) should be placed in a program directory which is available to DOS via the PATH command. AUTOMATING ABBREVIATOR After you become comfortable with the ABBREVIATOR software, you may want to automate the starting of the ABBREVIATOR by placing it in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Please review your DOS manual on the use of AUTOEXEC.BAT. Adding the ABBREVIATOR to the AUTOEXEC.BAT file will make the system available each time you start your computer. Assuming that you are using a hard drive, add the following statements to the AUTOEXEC.BAT: CD\ABBREV ABBREV MENU If you are using a floppy disk and ABBREVIATOR is on the system disk, add the start up command, ABBREV. to the AUTOEXEC. 12 TECHNICAL INFORMATION ABBREVIATOR is a TSR (Terminate and Stay Resident) keyboard utility which monitors character flow between the keyboard and the CPU. A TSR is a program that remains active in memory and functions as part of the DOS operating system environment. ABBREVIATOR requires an IBM (or compatible) computer using MS-DOS 2.0 (or higher). The system does not require graphics capabilities or a color monitor, but does require a video subsystem with certain memory location and capacity characteristics. CGA, EGA, MCGA, VGA, and equivalent adapters meet these requirements. The MDA standard video subsystem does NOT meet the requirements and the system will fail. The resident memory requirements for the ABBREVIATOR are: 7,008 bytes for the TSR software module, 1,296 bytes for the optional menu facility, and up to 64k for the abbreviation table. The size of abbreviation table is dependent on the number of abbreviations defined. Actual Table memory requirements are displayed when ABBREVIATOR is started or you can use the ABBRSTAT command to review the memory requirements of your table. Note that the Table memory size is approximately 2,032 bytes larger than the actual size of the table. The extra table memory is used in conjunction with the ABBREVIATOR direct Add facility (Alt+A command). If memory utilization is of concern, the menu facility requirements can be eliminated by starting the ABBREVIATOR with the No Menu option by initiating the system with the command ABBREV /N. COMMITMENT HiPerSoft Systems is committed to providing the highest quality software possible to our user community. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions to improve the functionality of ABBREVIATOR, please contact us. HiPerSoft Systems PO Box 597 Coventry, CT 06238 (203) 742-6249 Thank you for your support. 13 ERROR MESSAGES: ABBREV ABBREV Start Up Messages Access/Path Error The ABBREV routine could not find the ABBRVTOR.TBL file. Make sure the file is intact and the ABBREV is executed from the directory or disk that contains ABBRVTOR.TBL. Insufficient Memory Not enough memory to hold the ABBRVTOR.TBL. See memory requirements above. Memory Resize Error Problem with program initialization. Contact HiPerSoft as this error should not occur. Read Access Denied Read Access to ABBRVTOR.TBL denied. Check the status of ABBRVTOR.TBL file and contact HiPerSoft for assistance. Status is ACTIVE - Please Purge - Issue $P Command The ABBREV command was issued with a copy of the ABBREVIATOR in the system. Issue the $P command to Purge the current copy and reissue ABBREV command. ABBREV ADD Messages Error - Duplicate Name When adding an entry, an abbreviation name was enter which already exists. Chose a different name. Error - Insufficient Table space - Reduce size or Quit. Each time ABBREV is started, a portion of memory is set aside for additions to the table. The size of the abbreviation expansion is larger than the alloted memory remaining in the table. Reduce the size of the expansion and try again. To continue to add new entries, Purge ($P) and restart ABBREV. Error - Path/File Access or Write error A problem was encountered while attempting to update the disk file ABBRVTOR.TBL. Correct the problem indicated and enter 'R' for retry or 'A' for Abort. If Abort is entered the disk write is terminated, but the in-memory table remains updated. Error - Table Full All available memory set aside for adding new entries was used. To continue to add new entries, Purge ($P) and restart ABBREV. Warning - Extracted text shortened due to Table Size or Window Size. The highlighted text was shortened for the stated reason. Review the text in edit window. 14 ERROR MESSAGES: ABBRMGT ABBRMGT Utility Messages Drive NOT Ready: Ready Drive & Hit Enter During file processing the drive containing the required file was not in the ready status. Ready the drive and press the enter key to resume processing. File Error: filename Error: xxxx During initialization or shutdown an error was encountered during the processing of one or more of the files. The problem file will be listed followed by an error code. 1002 - File Not Found During Initialization 1003 - Directory Path Not Found During Initialization 1x05 - Read Access to File Denied 1308 - Insufficient Memory Available 2002 - File Not Found During Clean Up 2003 - Directory Path Not Found During Clean Up 2x05 - Write Access to File Denied File or Path Not Found During the execution of the <f3> retrieve function from the Add or Update mode, a file could not be located. Re-enter the correct information. Printer Problem: 'Enter'-Continue 'H'-Halt During a print function the printer was not in the proper state. Attend to the printer and press <Enter> to continue printing or 'H' to Halt the current print process. Table Overflow: Table Limited to 65,515 Char During the adding or updating of an entry, the capacity of the ABBRVTOR.TBL was exceeded. Remove unnecessary entries. UNEXPECTED ERROR: xx An unforeseen error occurred and is indicated by the xx number. The program terminates. Call HiPerSoft for assistance. 15 HELPFUL HINTS Automate the starting of ABBREVIATOR by placing the ABBREV command in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file (See section entitled "Automating ABBREVIATOR"). Consider adding the ABBREVIATOR MENU command as the last line of the AUTOEXEC.BAT to display the menu at system start up. Place the modules MENU.COM, ABBRSTAT.COM, and ABBSTACK.COM in a directory which can be accessed from any environment. Review the use of the DOS PATH command and the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. If you do not plan to use the DOS menu facility, use the /N option when starting ABBREV. This saves on the TSR resident memory requirements. Do NOT delete the ABBREV.MNU file from the system because access to the file is required for the ABBRMGT routine. Use the retrieve <f3> function in the Add or Update mode of the ABBRMGT utility to create expansions from DOS text files. Create DOS menu items by retrieving batch (.BAT) files directly into the expansion. Always check the results of the retrieve function by using the View command. While in ABBRMGT, you can create a new abbreviation similar to an existing one by expanding the original abbreviation on the Add screen by typing in the abbreviation followed by the expansion key. The update the information and save the new expansion. The file ABBRVTOR.BAK is created each time you save changes to the abbreviation table from the ABBRMGT utility. By renaming this file to ABBRVTOR.TBL, you can back out one level of abbreviation changes. Backup the ABBRVTOR.TBL and ABBREV.MNU files on a regular basis, as these files contain abbreviation and menu definitions. In the event of a disk failure, restore the ABBREVIATOR system from the distribution disk followed by the restoration of the aforementioned files. While not required, chose a special character (@, #, %, *, or &) as the first character of DOS related abbreviations. This will help you avoid entering DOS abbreviations while in an application and vice versa. One way to create a menu system is to use your existing batch (.BAT) files in combination with ABBREVIATOR. The abbreviation expansion to invoke an application system could consist of a DOS command to change directory and issue the batch file name. Any expansion information following the batch file name would be presented to the application system started by the batch file. Add the ABBREVIATOR MENU command to the last line of the batch file to invoke the menu screen upon exit of the application. Use the ABBSTACK command to "stack" initial keystrokes to the program. 16 The ABBREVIATOR direct Add facility (Alt+A) is very useful for adding new permanent abbreviations. The 2,000 byte table expansion area, which is renewed each time ABBREV is issued, will hold about nineteen 100 byte expansions. Occasionally use the ABBRMGT utility to manage the table and delete unwanted entries. HiPerSoft's best source for obtaining ideas for product enhancements and improvements comes from our user community. Please call us at (203) 742-6249, if you have any questions or suggestions. We like to hear from users. 17