═══ 1. Snake-Byte Help Intro ═══ Snake-Byte Incorporated presents the OS/2 Presentation Manager version of the Automated Episode Guide. This is a full-featured OS/2 Presentation Manager program that makes it easy to view information on this popular TV show. If you are reading this file from the Online Help (by hitting F1 while the A.E.G. is running), choose CONTENTS from the OPTIONS menu above for the Table of Contents to this Help file. ═══ 2. How To Run This Program ═══ How To Run This Progran If you are reading this page, you must have figured out how to run the program on your own (or are reading the .INF help book). There are several ways to run this OS/2 PM A.E.G. (These methods assume that you have already unarchived the .ZIP file into a directory somewhere on your hard drive) USING THE A.E.G. FROM AN OS/2 COMMAND LINE SESSION: Simply, CD to the directory that the OS/2 PM A.E.G. .EXE file resides. Type the filename of the executable file and the PM program window should appear on your desktop. See the "How To Use This Program" section for details on maneuvering around the program. USING THE PM A.E.G. FROM AN OBJECT ON YOUR DESKTOP: Create a permanent directory somewhere on your hard drive for the PM A.E.G. Move the contents of the .ZIP file into this permanent directory (the .EXE file, the .HLP file and the aeg_inst.cmd REXX script are the only "required" files, you can delete the rest of the files if you want to. But, please read the shareware notice in this readme.txt before deleting!). From an OS/2 command line session (full screen or window) run the REXX script named aeg_inst.cmd. It will create a desktop object for the PM A.E.G. After this desktop object is created, you can move it anywhere you want to (into a folder, onto your LaunchPad, etc.) Double click on the PM A.E.G. icon to run the program. ═══ 3. How To Use This Program ═══ How To Use This Program When you first run the A.E.G., a large PM window will appear on your screen. It will have the title and version of the A.E.G. on the top border, three menu titles on the menu bar, and a group of TOOLBAR BUTTONS. You can choose options from the three menus on the menu bar in order to display the various information contained in the A.E.G. The three menus are EXIT, EPISODES and HELP. Each of these will contain at least one option underneath (but probably more than one). NOTE: the buttons on the toolbar perform the same actions as the items listed on the EXIT and HELP menus ═══ 3.1. The Automated EpGuide Window ═══ The Automated Episode Guide Window You can choose program options from the drop down menus or the buttons on the toolbar (see diagram above). You can also click the right mouse button anywhere in the program's window for a Context Sensitive Popup Menu with the same options as the ones on the drop down menus or toolbar. If your mouse pointer hesitates over one of the buttons on the toolbar, a Floating Help Window will appear with a brief description of what action that button performs. Here's a rundown of the Toolbar Buttons and the actions they perform EXIT: Hit this button to quit and exit the A.E.G. HELP: Displays a Useless Help reminder DISC: Displays a Standard Weasely Disclaimer about the TV program featured in this A.E.G. INFO: Displays a bit more information about the data featured in this A.E.G. ABOUT: Displays a pointless vanity screen with info on the A.E.G.'s author. SHARE: Displays an Obnoxious Shareware Notice. Have you registered your A.E.G.? It's only $5.00! What a bargain! SNAKE: The SNAKE button displays a list of other neat programs available from Snake-Byte Incorporated a bargain! LEFT ARROW: The Left Arrow displays the PREVIOUS episode data dialog. If you reach the 'TOP' of the available episodes, hitting this button again will 'WRAP AROUND' and display the LAST AVAILABLE episode data dialog. RIGHT ARROW: The Right Arrow displays the NEXT episode data dialog. If you reach the 'BOTTOM' of the available episodes, hitting this button again will 'WRAP AROUND' and display the FIRST AVAILABLE episode data dialog. DOWN ARROW: The DOWN Arrow jumps to the first episode of the NEXT season. If you reach the 'BOTTOM' of the available seasons, hitting this button again will 'WRAP AROUND' and display the first episode of the FIRST AVAILABLE season. UP ARROW: The UP Arrow jumps to the first episode of the PREVIOUS season. If you reach the 'TOP' of the available seasons, hitting this button again will 'WRAP AROUND' and display the first episode of the LAST AVAILABLE season. SOME NOTES ON THE NEXT / PREVIOUS EPISODE TOOLBAR BUTTONS: When you first run the Automated Episode Guide, the program defaults to the FIRST EPISODE from the FIRST SEASON. In other words, if you were to hit the RIGHT ARROW button, the FIRST EPISODE data dialog from the FIRST SEASON would display. If you were to hit the LEFT ARROW button, the program 'WRAPS AROUND' and displays the LAST AVAILABLE EPISODE data dialog. Also, if you pick an episode from the drop down menu, or off the context sensitive popup menu, the A.E.G. 'REMEMBERS' which episode data dialog you just viewed! For example, if you were to choose the THIRD EPISODE from the SECOND SEASON menu then click the OK button to get rid of the dialog, if you were to hit the RIGHT ARROW button, the next episode data dialog to display will be the FOURTH EPISODE from the SECOND SEASON. Clicking the LEFT ARROW button would display the SECOND EPISODE from the SECOND SEASON. Use this approach to jump past certain episodes and seasons and then selectively scroll through only the episodes you wish to view! THE NEXT / PREVIOUS SEASON TOOLBAR BUTTONS. These two buttons work similarly to the Next / Previous episode buttons. The Next Season button jumps to the FIRST EPISODE of the season which follows the LAST SEASON YOU VIEWED AN EPISODE FROM. If you have just started the Automated Episode Guide and hit the Next Season button, the A.E.G. will jump to the FIRST EPISODE of the SECOND AVAILABLE SEASON. The Previous Season button jumps to the FIRST EPISODE of the season immediately preceding the LAST SEASON YOU VIEWED AN EPISODE FROM. If you have just started the Automated Episode Guide and hit the Previous Season button, the A.E.G. will jump to the FIRST EPISODE of the LAST AVAILABLE SEASON. ═══ 3.2. Menu Options ═══ Menu Options Here's a rundown of each of the menu titles and the options that may appear beneath (I have paraphrased some menu options because they may be different depending on the specific A.E.G. that you're running) EXIT: Contains the Previous Episode option, Next Episode option, the Previous Season option, the Next Season option and Exit. See elsewhere for descriptions. EPISODES: Usually contains several items, normally SEASON 1, SEASON 2 and so on. CHARACTERS: Some versions of the Automated EpGuide will contain a 'Characters' menu which will contain a list of prominent characters from the given TV show. HELP: Usually contains several items, normally HELP, DISCLAIMER, INFO, ABOUT, SHAREWARE and OTHER SBI PROGRAMS. NOTE: These menu items can be accessed from the drop down menus or via the context sensitive popup menu (right mouse click anywhere in OS/2 PM A.E.G.'s window to activate the popup menu) Also, each item on the HELP and and EXIT menus can be activated by pushing it's matching button on the toolbar. ═══ 3.3. Picking A Menu Option ═══ Picking A Menu Option To choose things off any of the drop down menus or from the CONTEXT SENSITIVE POPUP MENU, you simply move your mouse down until that option is highlighted (the menu option will be reversed, like a button that has been pressed). Each menu option has one character UNDERLINED. This is the KEYBOARD SHORTCUT for that given menu option (See the section that follows about Keyboard Shortcuts). The MENU OPTIONS on the EPISODES menu and the same items on the context sensitive popup menu have little arrows pointing to the RIGHT of each option. These arrows mean that this option has ANOTHER sub-menu. You can cascade these sub-menus by highlighting the menu option (the sub-menu will automatically pop up to either side of the menu option that you are currently highlighting). You can then move your mouse pointer onto the sub-menu in order to highlight the various options on that sub-menu. Be sure to hold down the left mouse button until you are on the sub-menu item that you want to choose! It takes a bit of dexterity on the longer sub-menus. If that's too hard, read the section on using Keyboard Shortcuts. ═══ 3.4. Keyboard Shortcuts ═══ Keyboard Shortcuts The option on the three menus on the menu bar and the various options on the CONTEXT SENSITIVE POPUP MENU have ONE character UNDERLINED The underlined character represents the KEYBOARD SHORTCUT for THAT menu option. Most people prefer to use their mouse pointer to click on the options, but these keyboard shortcuts perform the same actions as the mouse. The way to ACTIVATE the keyboard shortcut is to press the key on your keyboard (it should be a small key on either side of your ). When you press the key, you will notice that the first menu title on the menu bar is highlighted (it will look like a button that has been pressed). This means that the highlighted option is now activated and can be chosen by pressing your key. For example, if you hit and the EXIT menu title is highlighted on the menu bar, if you were to hit the menu beneath the EXIT title will drop down. Note: You can use your cursor arrow keys to move the highlighted area back and forth on the menu bar (or up and down within a drop down menu; the same goes for the context sensitive popup menu). For example, to pick the second episode of the first season of the TV show in this A.E.G., use the following keystrokes (in order and don't hold any key down during the process): E 1 2 ═══ 3.5. Accelerator Hot Keys ═══ Accelerator Hot Keys Certain items on some of the menus may have an F Key or CTRL Key listed on the far right of a given menu option (F2 on the Help option or F9 on the Exit option). These are ACCELERATOR KEYS that can be used as another alternative to the previously listed methods of executing menu options. Hot Keys help for this Snake-Byte Program: Summons THIS online help file Totally Useless Help Message Box Weasely Disclaimer More Info On This Program About the program and the programmer Obnoxious Shareware Notice Other Snake-Byte Programs Quit and Exit the Program Ctrl+L Display Previous Episode dialog Ctrl+R Display Next Episode dialog Ctrl+D Jump to the First Episode of the NEXT season Ctrl+U Jump to the First Episode of the PREVIOUS season These HOT KEYS can be used at almost any time while the program is running. The only exceptions are when a message dialog box (the Weasely Disclaimer, for example) or the online help is activated. ═══ 4. Obnoxious Shareware Notice ═══ The Harsh Reality of Trickle Down Economics This program took a whole lot of hard work to produce. I have completely re-designed the OS/2 Presentation Manager Automated Episode Guide engine, adding ONLINE HELP, a TOOLBAR and a CONTEXT SENSITIVE POPUP MENU. This took several weeks of honing the OS/2 PM code and a week of entering the data and debugging and proof reading the output). This all resulted in many thousands of lines of C/C++ code! And, unfortunately, nothing in life is free. But this nifty little program almost is! That's right -- you can clear your conscience and assure that there'll be future updates to this program (as well as other neato-frito programs from Snake-Byte Inc.) for the ridiculously reasonable, almost-FREE sum of $5.00 How can we afford to let this rare jewel of a program go for the piddly little amount of $5.00?!?! Because, here at Snake-Byte Inc., we deal in VOLUME! VOLUME!! VOLUME!!! We'll eat a bug to make a sale! Come on down to our Midnight Madness sale and...Wait a minute. Wrong sales pitch. Sorry. Anyway, you get the picture. . What do you get for your $5.00? That warm-tummy feeling of satisfaction knowing you did the RIGHT thing. This program is in no way Crippled. I detest CrippleWare and decided early on that I wouldn't do that kind of thing. So, there is no Registered Version. What you have now is the fully-functional program. It contains one little shareware notice option on the Help menu (that you don't even have to look at if you don't want to) and it shows that NAG SCREEN only when you exit the program, so it doesn't inconvenience you before or during the program's execution. (And if that gets your shorts in a bunch, send me a 3.5 disk plus return postage and the registration fee and I'll compile you a special version sans nags!). Here's where to send the cash/check/money order: Will Morgan 2516 Wood St. Texarkana, Tx 75503 ═══ 4.1. To People Outside The USA ═══ A Note To Fans Of This TV Show From Europe, Australia, the United Kingdom, or anywhere else outside the United States. Because this TV Show is popular overseas, a perplexing question came up recently from a person in the United Kingdom: How do I get the proper currency to register the A.E.G.? Well, John McCoy came up with a solution to this problem. His email message follows: Date: Sat, 10 Feb 1996 From: John A. McCoy All I did was take my VISA card to a Bureau d'Echanges (currency exchange) and say: "I would like to buy US, American Dollars, please." It took a while for the clerk to follow my intent, but I eventually got in odd-looking money. I slipped both into an airmail envelope and added stamps, and an address. Hopefully the correct address. You don't need a card to buy currency, any Bx will take any currency and sell you any other, and that day's rate for swapping is marked prominently. The rate you buy dollars with sterling pounds is LESS than the rate you buy pounds with dollars. And they charge a commision, but these rules and extras are also made prominent. Have to be, by law. John A. McCoy ═══ 5. Program History ═══ The History Of This Program o Version 0.9 Beta version. Honed the mechanics of the OS/2 PM program. o Version 1.0 First release version of this 32 bit OS/2 PM program. o Version 1.1 The new version features redesigned Episode and Character dialogs, new Context Sensitive Menu, a Toolbar, Floating Toolbar Help, Previous / Next Episode buttons, Previous / Next Season buttons and an Online Help system! ═══ 5.1. Known Bugs and Problems ═══ Known Bugs and Problems One small one: The Floating Help Windows use mouse coordinates to calculate when they should pop up to describe a Toolbar button. If you drop down a menu from the menu bar and don't release the left mouse button while scrolling down through the menu options, when you are at the same mouse coordinates as one of the toolbar buttons, one of the floating help windows will appear onscreen OVER the drop down menu. Note: This doesn't affect the operation of the program in any way. It's just a picky little annoyance. Work-arounds: If this little bug annoys you, (a) Use the Keyboard Shortcut to drop down the menu and the cursor keys to scroll down the menu options or (b) click the left mouse button to activate the drop down menu, then release the left mouse button. The menu will still be open and active. You can now move your mouse pointer to whichever option you want without the floating help windows appearing. ═══ 5.2. Bug Reports ═══ Swatting Any Pesky Insects If you encounter any problems with this program (either bugs in the actual mechanics of the program, or misspellings and/or incorrect info in the various episode data fields) please drop me a line at one of e-mail addresses in the last section of this document. I will try and implement the fix in the next version of the program that I release. ═══ 6. Future Versions ═══ Big Plans For The Future! What?!?! The new Toolbar, Context Sensitive Popup Menu, Floating Help Windows, and Online Help System features weren't enough for you?! Whoah, tough crowd. Seriously, I'm always tinkering with my programs, and here are a few things that may (or may not?) appear in future versions: I will update this program if/when new episodes/seasons are completed. If the show no longer exists on television, the only updating I can do is to correct any misspellings and other errata. If you spot something that is wrong, email me and I'll include the correction in the next version. I want to add some printing routines so you can print out a brief episode list, eps by season, a particular episode by itself or a full blown, everthing-included EpGuide. I want to add some global search routines. I'd really like to add some multi-media stuff to the program, like sound clips or maybe some pictures. But due to the legal ramifications, this dream may never come true. Slimy show-bid'ness lawyers just love to prey on the little guys who use the images and sound clips of their copyrighted and trademarked clients. ═══ 6.1. Other A.E.G.s ═══ Other Automated Episode Guides Other A.E.G.s? Yes, TV Buffs and Couch Potatoes! I plan on releasing a series of A.E.G.s for various TV shows based on this A.E.G. ENGINE. If you're interested in seeing an A.E.G. for your favorite show, contact me via one of the methods described below. Production of other A.E.G.s depend on the availability of information about the show (on Internet) and whether or not the show's info translates well to a single screen in the A.E.G. Read the section in this document entitled Other Snake-Byte Programs for a list of the currently available Automated Episode Guides. ═══ 7. Other Snake-Byte Programs ═══ Other programs by Snake-Byte Incorporated... AUTOMATED EPISODE GUIDES for the following TV shows: o Mystery Science Theater 3000 o Star Trek: The Next Generation o Star Trek: Deep Space 9 o Star Trek: The Original Series o Babylon 5 o The Simpsons o The X-Files o Quantum Leap o Beavis and Butt-Head Also by Snake-Byte Incorporated: The DALLAS COWBOY FANATIC'S COMPANION v1.1 Note: 32 bit DOS, 16 bit Windows, 32 bit Win32/Win95/WinNT, 32 bit OS/2 Text Mode and 32 bit OS/2 Presentation Manager versions of all of the above programs are available, so if you have a friend or relative that would be interested in any of these programs but they don't use OS/2, tell them about the DOS and Windows versions! ═══ 7.1. Getting These Programs ═══ How To Get Any Of These Snake-Byte Programs All current versions of Snake-Byte Inc. programs are ALWAYS available on the FTP site at ftp.slinknet.com under the path /pub/snake You can also point your World Wide Web browser to the following URL: http://www.slinknet.com/~wmorgan/snake.html ═══ 8. Credits ═══ Credit Where Credit Is Due Extra special thanks to Frank Miller, my C programming guru. If it weren't for Frank, I probably would've given up on C programming within the first few days. He has helped me solve many of my seemingly endless beginner's problems. Special thanks to Peter Fitzsimmons and all the OS/2 programming gurus on the Fidonet OS/2 Programming Echo which is a gold mine of info for OS/2 programming beginners, like me. Another special thank you goes to all the OS/2 programming gurus who are responsible for the Electronic Developer's Magazine, an OS/2 .INF file full of great information on just about anything you can think of. If you're a beginner or intermediate who wants to learn some nifty things about OS/2 programming, RUN, don't walk to the Hobbes OS/2 FTP site or CD Rom and check out these fantastic help files! Super-Duper thanks to Janis Kracht for all the work she's done on the Snake-Byte File Distribution Network! Similar thanks go to the people at US Robotics for giving shareware authors the oppurtunity to start FDN's and get their programs to a wider audience. ═══ 9. Contacting The Author ═══ Contacting The Author Of This Program Want to thank me for such a fantastic program? Bitch me out for wasting your download time and hard drive space? Suggest future additions to this program, corrections on the data/info or ideas for future programs? Lonely and just need a cyber-shoulder to cry on? Well, for all these reasons except that last one there, you can contact me by one of the following methods: o Fidonet Netmail: 1:3819/128.103 o Fidonet Echos: MST3K, NFL and OS/2 o Internet email: wmorgan@slinknet.com o US Snail Mail: (See Address in the Shareware Nag) ═══ 10. The Snake-Byte Inc. File Distribution Network ═══ The Snake-Byte Inc. File Distribution Networ SnakeByte FDN is carried by all IFDC FileGate HUBs and SuperSites (Zones 1-6), and EXEC-PC BBS, as well as Planet Connect Satellite Systems, PageSat Satellite Systems, the FidoNet FileBone, and paonline.com. Files are also available via FidoNet File Request or first time download at 1:2320/38 (502-245-8117) or 1:2320/100 (502-245-1146), at V.Everything. International Sites for Snake-Byte FDN International HUB/SuperSite Map IFDC FileGate Project Zone 1 -- Main Site -- USRobotics Skokie, Ill. North American HUBS o 1:270/101 - George Peace, PageSat Satellite Systems, Harrisburg, PA (FidoNet FileBone) o 1:3615/50 - Planet Connect, Satellite Systems o 1:154/280 - EXEC-PC BBS, Elm Grove, WI o 1:124/7009-Lee Laird, Garland, TX o 1:167/234 - Patrick Dufresne, Quebec, Canada o 1:115/251 - Tony Tang, Wilmette, ILL. o 1:2320/38 - Janis Kracht, Louisville, KY o 1:272/44 -- Ted Delamare, Middletown NY IFDC FileGate International SuperSites Zone 2 -- United Kingdom SuperSite -- Fareham, UK 2:251/25 -- Graham Print, Fareham UK Zone2 -- Mainland Europe SuperSite -- Netherlands 2:281/506 - Ron Huiskes, Netherlands Zone 3 -- Ausralian SuperSite -- Essendon Victoria, Australia 3:50/99 - Steven Lutrov, Essendon Victoria, Australia Zone 4 -- South American SuperSite -- Bolivia, South America 4:823/1-- Adolfo Justiniano, Bolivia, South America Zone 5 -- South African SuperSite -- Port Elizabeth, South Africa 5:7104/2 - Henk Wolsink, Port Elizabeth, South Africa Zone 6 -- Asian SuperSite -- Tokyo, Japan 6:731/16 - Bill English, Tokyo, Japan