Cream of the Crop 1/Cream of the Crop 1.iso/UTILITY/PRN2FIL3.ARJ/PRN2FILE.DOC

Text File | 1992-02-11 | 6KB | 113 lines

PRN2FILE
Command

Tom Kihlken     1987/No. 22 (Utilities)
******************************************************************************
** Modified Feb 11, 1992, by John Durso.  Note, I added the
following Modifications made by Mel Brown to the original PRN2FILE
(1987 version 1.0) program in 1989 to the new PRN2FILE (1991
version 1.1)

* Modified May, 1989, by Mel Brown.  See the Addendum on page 2 of this *
document.  Added a sound as a reminder to the user that printer traffic is *
being redirected to a disk file by this program.  Also corrected several   *
logic errors in the original version of the program.  Many thanks to   *
Christopher L. Morgan, author of "Bluebook Of Assembly Routines For The IBM   *
PC & XT", for the sound routines used in this program.
******************************************************************************

Purpose:  Captures any output nominally directed to a printer to a file
          that can then be edited by a word processor or printed later.

Format:   PRN2FILE [d:][path]filename [/Pn] [/Bn] [/U]

Remarks:

     PRN2FILE is a memory resident program that is normally loaded as part
of your AUTOEXEC.BAT file.  It should be installed before other print
utilities, such as a print spooler or the DOS MODE command.  Once installed,
the program may be run multiple times to change the filename (the drive and
path default to the current directory unless specified) designated to receive
the printer output.

     Unless the filename is changed, successive print operations are
appended to (rather than overwrite) the created file.  To disable the printer
output redirection, simply omit to specify a filename.

     The optional /Pn parameter designates the printer number (the default
is LPT1) to be redirected.  Note that output to a non-existent printer (/P2
in a one-printer system) is supported.  This is another way to permit normal
printing while PRN2FILE remains resident.  Legal values for Pn range from 1
through 3.

     The optional /Bn parameter sets the buffer size.  The default value is
4096 bytes, and values up to 64K may be specified.  The buffer repeatedly
empties when partially full in order to minimize the chance of buffer
overflow even when DOS may be called on for other activities than writing the
buffer to disk.  Should buffer overflow occur an error message is produced,
but some data will be lost, so the file should be re-written using a larger
buffer.

     The optional /U parameter is used to unload PRN2FILE from memory.  If
other memory-resident utilities have been loaded after PRN2FILE and have
chained onto the same interrupts, it will not be possible to unload the
program, and a message to this effect will be displayed.

     All optional parameters may be entered in any order, but must each be
separated by a single space character that acts as a delimiter.

PRN2FILE                           Page 2
******************************************************************************
                                   ADDENDUM
     Modifications to PRN2FILE by Mel Brown, May, 1989.

     I use PRN2FILE frequently, and have shared it with many others.  It's easy
to forget that this ever-so-useful routine is running in the  background.
Occasionally, this leads to some confusion when I want to send a file to the
'real' printer.  So, I have modified the original version of PRN2FILE to sound
a reminder that it is in use.  When PRN2FILE receives printer data, and five or
more seconds have elapsed since the last data was received, it will produce a
short double beep sound.

     With this modification, the next time you crank up your word processor
with PRN2FILE active, you won't be puzzled as to why your printer won't work.
PRN2FILE will now remind you with a short sound that it is gobbling up your
printer output and redirecting it to a disk file.

     You can modify the sound characteristics either in the .ASM file, or
directly in the .COM file.  In the .ASM file, look for these labels:
     FREQ1     (pitch of first sound, preset to 0400 Hz)
     FREQ2     (pitch of second sound, preset to 1300 Hz)
     LGTH1     (duration of first sound, preset to 40 milliseconds)
     LGTH2     (duration of delay between sounds, preset to 40 milliseconds)
     LGTH3     (duration of second sound, preset to 90 milliseconds)

Modify any of those decimal values to suit your taste, then use the following
procedure to create the modified .COM file:
     masm prn2file;
     link prn2file;
     exe2bin prn2file prn2file.com
     del prn2file.exe
     del prn2file.obj


CAUTION!  Unless you are fluent with the hexadecimal numbering
          system, and are totally comfortable with DEBUG, don't
          attempt the following procedure, especially on your only
          copy of PRN2FILE.  Experiment on a work copy only.

     In order to modify the .COM file directly, enter 'DEBUG PRN2FILE.COM'.  To
examine the data elements in the order listed above, enter 'D 200 209'.  You
will see ten bytes (five words) of data.  They are shown in hexadecimal, and
the two bytes of each word are reversed left to right.  You must keep that in
mind if you want to modify the numbers to produce a different sound.  Once you
decide on the new values, use the DEBUG command 'E 20x hh hh' to change the
data, where 'x' is the appropriate address, and 'hh hh' is the hexadecimal data
you want to enter.  When finished, enter 'W', then 'Q' to write the updated
file and quit to DOS.  Finally, deinstall PRN2FILE and reinstall it to effect
your changes.

     To test your modifications, just 'print' a short file.  You will hear the
new sound immediately.  To test it again, wait at least five seconds, then
'print' the file again.