INSTALL.TXT Installing F-PC by Tom Zimmer F-PC includes an installation program, but since installation programs are nebulous black boxes, this file will tell you where things go. WHAT INSTALL DOES. The first thing INSTALL.EXE does is ask you whether you are installing F-PC on your hard disk, or configuring a copy of F-PC already present on your hard disk. To this question, you would answer "I" for Install, or "C" for configure. The default is "I". Question two is "Where you want F-PC placed on your hard disk?". You will need to answer that question for yorself now. The default is "C:\FPC". Question three is "Where are you installing F-PC from?", which is usually drive "A:", but can be "B:" or any drive and directory (like "C:\MASTER"). At this point you are asked six (6) yes or no questions about what portions of F-PC to install. I will discuss those below. Lastly you are prompted to insert F-PC disk number one, and press Enter to start the installation. INSTALL.EXE proceeds to create directories and expand .ZIP files onto your hard disk. This process takes only a few minutes, and will consume about 2.5 megabytes if all portions are installed. After installation completes, the program proceeds into the configuration section. You are asked questions about your hardware. Then an installed copy of F-PC is created. If the above process makes you uncomfortable, or you just want to do it yourself, proceed to the next section. Otherwise just type: A:INSTALL . INSTALLING F-PC WITHOUT USING INSTALL.EXE 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴커 � In this section I am assuming you are an experienced � � DOS user. If you are not, then please go ahead and use � � INSTALL.EXE. The process is pretty painless. � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴켸 Unlike F-PC Version 2.25, F-PC Version 3.5 makes its own Forth PATH command and several directories to hold its files. This keeps the clutter down in the main F-PC directory while keeping files available when needed. F-PC's directory structure looks like this: C:\ 컴컴컴컴컴� \FPC 컴컴컫컴컴 \SRC � 쳐컴� \HLP � 쳐컴� \TOOLS � 읕컴� \NEWZ You can of course put F-PC on a drive other than C:, and in directories other than \FPC etc. but for this discussion we will assume you will be using the above directory structure. NOTE: A known bug in the install program prevents its working on a drive higher than "F:". Create the above directory structure on your hard disk using the dos "MKDIR" (make directory) command. Use PKUNZIP.EXE to "unzip" the .ZIP files from floppy into the directories as shown below: Directory .ZIP File 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴쩡컴컴컴컴컴컴� � \FPC � FPC.ZIP � 쳐컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴탠컴컴컴컴컴컴� � \FPC\SRC � FPCSRC.ZIP � 쳐컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴탠컴컴컴컴컴컴� � \FPC\HLP � FPCDOC.ZIP � � � FPCHLP.ZIP � 쳐컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴탠컴컴컴컴컴컴� � \FPC\TOOLS � SAMPLES.ZIP � � � SMITH.ZIP � � � CURLEY.ZIP � � � ZIMMER.ZIP � 쳐컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴탠컴컴컴컴컴컴� � \FPC\NEWZ � NEWZ.ZIP � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴좔컴컴컴컴컴컴� A typical PKUNZIP command line looks like this: C:> PKUNZIP A:FPC C:\FPC When you have finished the above, copy the following files from floppy to the "\FPC" directory: README FLOPPY.TXT INSTALL.TXT INSTALL.EXE This completes installation, and leads us into configuration. CONFIGURING F-PC WITHOUT USING INSTALL.EXE The following section will allow you to configure F-PC for your hardware without using INSTALL.EXE. It is however MUCH EASIER to configure F-PC using the install program, so PLEASE USE IT. F-PC uses a configuration file to hold several default configuration commands. The F-PC.CFG file is automatically loaded each time you startup F-PC from the DOS command line. Part of the installation process is creating a configuration file for your hardware environment. Since we are doing the installation manually, we need to create a configuration file. Using your favorite text editor (One that doesn't insert TABs or other special characters into the file.), place the following lines in a file named "F-PC.CFG" (don't include the box around the text). 旼컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� � FPATH C:\FPC;C:\FPC\SRC;C:\FPC\HLP;C:\FPC\TOOLS � � FAST � � COLORIZEON � � BLANKOFF � � ' >COLOR IS INITCOLOR � � BACKUPON � 읕컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴컴� When creating F-PC.CFG, if you installed F-PC on a hard drive other than "C:", change each occurance of "C:" following the FPATH command above to the drive letter you used. The above words setup F-PC for a normal configuration. It will work even if you have a MONOCROME system. The commands have the following meaning: FPATH C:\FPC;C:\FPC\SRC;C:\FPC\HLP;C:\FPC\TOOLS The Forth PATH tells F-PC which directories to search when you open or load a file. You can include other directories as well up to a maximum of 132 characters. FAST Select direct video writes. The opposite option is "SLOW" DOS i/o. COLORIZEON Use colors when displaying various Forth word classes. This is automatically disabled on Monocrome systems. The opposite option is "COLORIZEOFF". BLANKOFF Don't blank the screen when writing to the display. If you have a CGA display you may want to use "BLANKON"; all other displays use BLANKOFF. ' >COLOR is INITCOLOR Allow F-PC to support a color monitor if one is available. Will support monocrome even with this command included. BACKUPON Keep a single backup file for each file edited. If you are very short on disk space, or are using F-PC on a floppy system, you may want to use "BACKUPOFF". Optionally you can add a command to select a default printer type, PROPRINT and LASERJET are the only two supported currently. After the configuration file is saved to disk, issue the following command from the DOS prompt while in the "\FPC" directory: C:> F-PC - FSAVE F BYE This command will startup F-PC, which automatically reads in the configuration file we just created. The "-" above signifies no other file is to be opened. The next two words "FSAVE F", save F-PC to disk with the new name "F.EXE". You can of course use a name other than "F". "BYE" leaves F-PC and returns to DOS. This process creates a fully configured copy of F-PC called F.EXE that contains all of the default configuration parameters you specified. If you are doing this on a floppy based system, use "FSAVE F-PC" to save the executable back to the same file since there is not room for an additional executable. Be sure to include the "C:\FPC" directory in your system PATH command in AUTOEXEC.BAT. After rebooting your computer, you can run F-PC from any drive and directory by typing "F ", and Forth will be able to find its source files, help files, and tools from wherever you are. I hope this clears up any questions you may have about what INSTALL does to your computer. Now if you haven't already done so, go ahead and use it to install F-PC, its really pretty painless.