═══ 1. General ═══ The DOS BlackBox is designed to simplfy assigning DOS settings to your DOS programs. It especially deals with the "special settings" found on the second page of the DOS settings notebook with the tab of SESSION. Here there are more than 50 settings with names like: COM_RECEIVE_BUFFER_FLUSH and EMS_HIGH_OS_MAP_REGION With BlackBox you can fiddle with these individual settings - but the intent is to help you optimize your DOS and Windows programs without having to go to that page. BlackBox needs you to assign a Program Category and the Execution Method. The DOS BlackBox is designed to simplify assigning DOS settings to your DOS programs. It especially deals with the "special settings" found on the second page of the DOS settings notebook with the tab of SESSION. Here there are more than 50 settings with names like: COM_RECEIVE_BUFFER_FLUSH and EMS_HIGH_OS_MAP_REGION With BlackBox you can fiddle with these individual settings - but the intent is to help you optimize your DOS and Windows programs without having to go to that page. BlackBox needs you to assign a Program Category and the Execution Mode. And then press Apply & End. BlackBox will then create a program Object placing it onto your OS/2 Desktop - and assign it the optimal DOS settings. The intent is to be Clear & Simple. First BlackBox needs the name of your DOS program. This is a name with an extension of either: .EXE, .BAT or .COM e.g. BLACKJACK.EXE or CARDS.BAT or POKER.COM BlackBox lets you choose from three simple entry methods: 1) Enter the fully qualified drive:\path\progname.exe name into the Entry Field. 2) Press Retrieve DOS Program File button for an OS/2 dialog box. 3) Drag and drop a DOS program file icon to the drop area. After entering a valid name - (BlackBox does check to see if it exists and if it is a DOS executable) PRESS the Next step... button. ode. And then press Apply & End. BlackBox will then create a program Object placing it onto your OS/2 Desktop - and assign it the optimal DOS settings. The intent is to be Clear & Simple. First BlackBox needs the name of your DOS program. This is a name with an extension of either: .EXE, .BAT or .COM e.g. BLACKJACK.EXE or CARDS.BAT or POKER.COM BlackBox lets you choose from three simple entry methods: 1) Enter the fully qualified drive:\path\progname.exe name into the Entry Field. 2) Press Retrieve DOS Program File button for an OS/2 dialog box. 3) Drag and drop a DOS program file icon to the drop area. After entering a valid name - (BlackBox does check to see if it exists and if it is a DOS executable) PRESS the Next step... button. ═══ 1.1. Program Name Entry Field ═══ First BlackBox needs the name of your DOS program. This is a name with an extension of either: .EXE, .BAT or .COM e.g. BLACKJACK.EXE or CARDS.BAT or POKER.COM Enter the fully qualified drive:\path\progname.exe name into the Entry Field. e.g. D:\GAMES\CARDS\BLACKJACK.EXE ═══ 1.2. Drop Area ═══ Drag and drop a DOS program file icon to the drop area. OS/2 provides a facility to drag and drop objects represented by icons. Using the DRIVES folder find the program icon that represents your DOS program and select and drag it with the mouse pointer. Holding down the right mouse button drag it to the BlackBox drop area and release the mouse button. BlackBox will verify that it has a file extension of .exe, .bat or .com and proceed to the next screen where you can assign it a category and execution mode. ═══ 1.3. Retrieve DOS Program File ═══ A standard way to open a file in OS/2 is with a dialog box that helps you locate the file name found in a directory. Press this Retrieve DOS Program File button to open a dialog box. Then choose a drive and directory to locate your filename. BlackBox will verify that it has a file extension of .exe, .bat or .com and proceed to the next screen where you can assign it a category and execution mode. ═══ 1.4. ? Starting ═══ ? Starting? Starting A simple help panel to guide the first time user. ═══ 1.5. Next step... ═══ Press the Next Step button after identifying the program name in the Entry Field. It will pass control to the next screen where you will assign Program Categories and Execution Mode. ═══ 1.6. Getting Started ═══ Follow the steps outlined on this panel to get started. ═══ 1.7. Assign Group Settings ═══ Assign Group Settings This is the main control panel screen for the BlackBox program. Here you should: o Assign Program Categories to your DOS program. o Assign an Execution Mode o Apply and End - This creates the program object onto your desktop. Optionally you can also: o Search the migration Database for setting for your program. o Display and/or Modify Individual DOS Settings o Exit without creating a new program object. ═══ 1.8. Program Categories ═══ Program Categories BlackBox has identified those DOS settings that should be changed for "groups" of program categories. For instance a program that displays Graphical images on the screen like a drawing or painting program would have different settings than a text based program. BlackBox asks you to check those categories that best describe your program. Best results are achieved when the boxes are checked from top to bottom, for example a game that also uses graphics and is a Windows based program - check the categories in the following order: o Graphical o Windows o Game Some of the settings values are shared by each category - selecting them from top to bottom usually yields the optimal results. ═══ 1.8.1. Text Program ═══ Text Program This category is best described as the "good old DOS application" like Lotus 123 Release 2 or Word Perfect 5.1. Those applications that only produce characters on the screen. This category will be deselected if you also choose Graphical and vice versa. ═══ 1.8.2. Graphical ═══ Graphical category means that graphical information is displayed on the screen (perhaps in addition to characters). Pictures, bitmaps, clipart, and icons are examples of graphical information. ═══ 1.8.3. Windows ═══ Windows category simply means that the program was written to run in the Microsoft Windows environment. Examples are EXCEL and WORD for Windows. ═══ 1.8.4. Communications ═══ The communications category is for those programs that use a modem to communicate with other computers. HyperAccess/5 for Windows would be in this category as well as the Windows category. ═══ 1.8.5. Game ═══ Games are often the most difficult DOS programs to get to run under OS/2. That's because the game manufacturer has often written the program to interface with the hardware directly for fast action. BlackBox assigns those settings most common for this type of program. If you have checked this box and your DOS game won't run (or won't run well) then call us to see if there are some special settings for this program. Likewise, if you have discovered a special set of settings for a particular game call us and we'll share it with other users. WARNING - Some games execute in 386 PROTECTED MODE. This is usually stated on the box. What this means is that the program takes over the computer system. OS/2 WILL NOT ALLOW A PROGRAM TO TAKE CONTROL OF THE SYSTEM. If you have one of these programs you will have to run it with stand-alone DOS. You can implement DUAL-BOOT or the Boot Manager to have the option to boot DOS or OS/2. ═══ 1.8.6. MultiMedia ═══ DOS Multimedia programs are also a challenge to get running under OS/2. First be sure that your sound card and video adapter card have the proper support programs loaded. If you continue to have problems call us to see if your program is on our list. We'll try to compile a list of "problem" programs. Be sure to search the migration database for your program. ═══ 1.8.7. Default ═══ Default will reset all of the above program category check boxes. It will resort to OS/2 default DOS settings. This will let you use BlackBox to create a DOS program object on your desktop with standard settings - identical to using a program templet from the templet folder. ═══ 1.9. Execution Mode ═══ Execution Mode It is required that you choose one of the Execution Modes. BlackBox doesn't select a default execution mode except when you select certain program categories. The Execution modes are: o DOS Full Screen o DOS Window o WIN-OS2 Full Screen o WIN-OS2 Seamless o Separate Session Each are described under their own help heading. ═══ 1.9.1. DOS Full Screen ═══ DOS Full Screen is often needed for graphical and game programs, but character oriented programs will also operate at peak performance when in Full Screen mode. ═══ 1.9.2. DOS Window ═══ DOS window is most often used for character mode DOS programs. It provides the best environment for the situations when you want to cut from your DOS program and paste into another DOS or OS/2 program. Some DOS graphical category programs will not run in a Windowed DOS environment. ═══ 1.9.3. WIN-OS2 Full Screen ═══ WIN-OS2 Full Screen will provide the best performance for executing your Windows programs. But it is more difficult to do "cut and paste" operations to OS/2 programs from this environment. ═══ 1.9.4. WIN-OS2 Seamless ═══ WIN-OS2 Seamless or Windowed WIN-OS2 allows your Windows application to run in an OS/2 Window appearing almost like a native OS/2 application. Choose this if you have a fast processor and an accelerated Video adapter. It is the most convenient execution mode for your Windows programs. ═══ 1.9.5. Separate Seaaion ═══ Separate Session This check box determines if your Windows application will use a separate copy of Windows when it is started. When checked, a completely isolated copy of Windows is loaded when your application is started. This will cause the program load to take longer and will place more overhead on your system, perhaps causing slower overall performance. It will isolate the Windows application so that if a GPF (General Protection Fault) occurs only this application will end, thus providing better integrity for other Windows applications running in your system. ═══ 1.10. Search Database ═══ Search Database OS/2 provides a method for migrating and adding DOS applications. It uses a database with several hundred settings - many provided by the manufacturer of the DOS product. BlackBox provides a searching facility to take advantage of that database. It will search for the program name field, and if a match is found, give you the opportunity to apply the settings found in the data base Warning - this can take a few minutes to do the search. You can narrow the search by pressing the DOS only or Windows only buttons. ═══ 1.10.1. Search ═══ Press the Search button to initiate a search of the Migration Database for your DOS program. ═══ 1.10.2. Search String ═══ ═══ 1.11. Modify Individual Settings ═══ Press the Modify Individual Settings button to display and/or modify the individual DOS settings. These are the settings with the strange long names like DPMI_NETWORK_BUF_SIZE. BlackBox does try to offer a better explanation of these weird sounding parameter names. The operative word is try - some of these settings defy clarification. ═══ 1.12. Exit ═══ Press the Exit button to simply end without creating a program object. ═══ 1.13. Apply & End ═══ Pressing the Apply & End button will create a program object for the selected DOS program and place that object onto the desktop with the settings provided by you choices and BlackBox's groupings. After completing the task the program will end. You may then proceed to the Desktop and execute your new program object. This is a separate instance of the program object (you may have several instances of any program object). It may be moved to a folder or deleted by dragging to the shredder. (Shredding does not remove the actual program - only the program object (an instance of the program with BlackBox settings attached)). The actual program (original) is left intact - including its DOS settings. ═══ 1.14. Search Results ═══ This panel is displayed only if you pressed the Search (migration database) button and you found a match! ═══ 1.14.1. Matches Found ═══ Most of the time you will only see one program listed in the results. However, the migration database doe have multiple versions of some programs. For instance, 123.exe has several releases in the data base. If you find multiple entries in the search results list choose the release/version that matches your program. ═══ 1.14.2. Settings ═══ This is a list of the settings found in the migration data base for the specific version of the program selected in the matches found list. ═══ 1.14.3. Apply ═══ Assign the settings found in the migration database. Since these are the settings that the DOS program manufacturer recommends - it is best to apply these WITHOUT FURTHER MODIFICATION by BlackBox. That is, after choosing the apply button on this panel return will be passed to the previous screen. Choose Execution mode (if not previously selected), and then press the Apply & End button. ═══ 1.14.4. Exit ═══ Exit this screen without applying the matches found in the migration database. This is not recommended - always try the migration database settings first. If optimal results are not achieved then fiddle with the settings. ═══ 1.15. Individual Settings ═══ These are the individual DOS settings with the weird names. You may select each setting in the list on the left. Its current setting value will be displayed on the top right and a description will appear below the current setting value. This value will be the value that will be chosen for the setting when BlackBox creates the program object. You may modify each individual setting here. You may also reset to the default - this is the standard OS/2 default. Any values changed while on this screen will become the current setting value. It will reset any values chosen previously by BlackBox (a result of checking a category box or searching the migration database). ═══ 1.15.1. List ═══ ═══ 1.15.2. Unnamed panel ═══