ZW-DOS SOFTWARE NOTES 

                       (c) Ya-Gui Wei 1992


  ZW-DOS seeks to simulate a text-mode screen that is Chinese-compatible
using the graphic capabilities of the various video adaptors. Since
the graphic capabilities of the video systems vary, it is not always
possible to simulate all the text-mode features completely, -- this
results in some visual peculiarities. The incomplete simulation some-
times affects program execution, therefore incompatibilities. Sometimes,
due to programmer inaptitude or oversight, the computer is not doing
what the programmer wanted it to do, these are bugs.

  This file is intended to document the various peculiarities of
ZW-DOS that the user needs to be aware of.
   
  (1) Visual peculiarities due to incomplete simulation of text 
mode. Note: These peculiarities occur only when the screen display
is in Chinese mode.  In ASCII mode, you should not see any of 
these.

 a. ZWEGA/ZWVGA:  The EGA and VGA versions of ZWDOS have
    the most complete simulation of the text modes. Character 
    color and intensity are well-simulated. Yet some of the
    EGA/VGA features are no longer supported:
    - Loading of alternate ASCII text fonts are no longer 
      supported. The default system fonts are always used.
    - Switching of the screen to 43-line mode (or anything
      other than a 80x25 dimension) is no longer supported.
    - Blinking characters are no longer supported -- they will
      appear with a high-intensity background color instead.

 b. Hercules Monochrome version:  The Hercules version simulates 
    the original monochrome character attributes such as 
    invisibility, underscore, and reversed vido. Yet:
    - Blinking characters are no longer supported. They appear
      the same as regular characters.
    - There will be no visual difference between low-intensity
      and high-intensity attributes.
    - Control of cursor size is not implemented. 

    When running ZWHERC for the first time on your computer, your
    monitor may show some fast-scanning lines or other garbage
    instead of Chinese characters. If this occurs, try to adjust
    the horizontal sync of your monitor (a knot usually at the
    back of the monitor), which should fix it.


  (2) Incompatibilities related to mice:
      With ZWEGA, you may not be able to load the mouse driver
      when the display is in Chinese mode.
 

  (3) Incompatibilities related to graphic applications

  ZWDOS only simulates a Chinese-compatible text mode. It does nothing
with the graphic modes of the video systems. You cannot input or display
Chinese characters with graphic mode applications.


  (4) Running ZWDOS with QEMM386, DESQview/386, Windows 3.0, or OS/2:

  Despite what is said about the multi-tasking capabilities of these
systems, they may still be confused when the screen is switched to
Chinese mode by ZWDOS. Therefore it may be best to load ZWDOS within
a DOS session of these systems, and run that DOS session in full
screen mode at all times. When you are done with ZWDOS, try to make
the screen switch back to ASCII mode before closing that DOS session.

   Running ZWDOS with Expanded Memory Manager (EMM386.EXE or
QEMM386.EXE): You should add "x=A000-BFFF" to the command line 
where EMM386 or QEMM386 is invoked (in CONFIG.SYS).

   Running ZWDOS in DESQview: To run ZWDOS in a DOS session in
DESQview, the DOS session must be set up as follows: (1) it allows
writing directly to screen; (2) it uses graphics; (3) screen output
must NOT be virtualized; (4) it allows use of 2 graphic pages. Also,
protection level must be set to 0.

   Running ZWDOS in MS Windows 3.x: ZWDOS should run in a full 
screen DOS session if you start windows in standard mode (win /s).
In enhanced mode, ZWDOS may have problems.

   No info about running ZWDOS under OS/2 is available at this
time (let me know if you have tried it).


  (5) Removing ZWDOS from memory.

  You can use any of the comercial or PD utilities that remove
memory resident programs to remove ZWDOS from memory, however,
be sure that the display is NOT in Chinese mode when you do this.
  

  (6) Bug List:

  If you discover some bugs or problems with the programs that 
have not been described in this file, report it to the programmer.
The programmer will try to fix the bug.  If it is too much
trouble, the bug will appear in this file in future releases.