Snake-Byte Automated Episode Guide Help File v1.0

What this Snake-Byte program does...

This is a full-featured Windows program that makes it easy to view information about each episode of this popular TV Show.

How To Run This Program

How To Use This Program

This Program Is Shareware

Program Information

Other Snake-Byte Programs

Credits

Contacting The Author Of This Program


How To Run This Program

There are several ways to run this A.E.G. in Windows 3.1 (All of 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 The Windows File Manager

Using The A.E.G. From The Program Manager Menu

Using The A.E.G. From A Program Manager Program Group

Using the A.E.G. From MY COMPUTER in Windows 95

Using The A.E.G. From THE EXPLORER In Windows 95

Using The A.E.G. From A SHORTCUT Under Windows 95


Using The A.E.G. From The Windows File Manager

Run the Windows 3.1 File Manager (If you don't know how to do this, see the Windows 3.1 documentation for details).

Click on the hard drive icon of the drive where the A.E.G. program executable (.EXE) currently resides.

Click on the folder/directory where the A.E.G. program executable is located.

Find the small icon that represents the A.E.G. program executable and double click that icon.

The A.E.G. program should start executing. You should see a small, introductory message dialog with information about the program. If you don't see this message, go back to the beginning of this page and make sure you did everything correctly.


Using The A.E.G. From The Program Manager Menu

Click on the FILE menu at the top of the screen in the Windows Program Manager (If you don't understand the Program Manager concept, or don't see the FILE menu, refer to the Windows 3.1 documentation for an explanation).

A drop down menu will appear with several options.

Click on  RUN (it should be the next-to-the-last item on this menu).

A dialog box will appear on your screen with four buttons: OK, CANCEL, BROWSE and HELP.

Use the BROWSE button to tell Windows where the A.E.G. program executable (.EXE file) is located on your hard drive. You will get a BROWSE dialog box where you can click on the various directories and disk drives that you maintain on your computer -- if you aren't sure how to use this dialog box, see the Windows 3.1 documentation for more information.

Once you have told Windows where to find the A.E.G. executable file, the RUN dialog box will have the path & filename in the COMMAND LINE text box. Click the OK button.

If you did everything correctly,  you should see a small, introductory message dialog with information about the program. If you don't see this message, go  back to the beginning of this page and make sure you did everything correctly.


Using The A.E.G. From A Program Manager Program Group

This section shows how to add the A.E.G. to an already existing Program Group on your Windows desktop. If you'd rather put the new A.E.G. program icon in a separate Program Group, see the Windows 3.1 documentation for details on creating a new Program Group.

Click on the FILE menu at the top of the Windows 3.1 screen in the Program Manager. A drop down menu will appear with several options.

Click on NEW (it should be the first item on this menu).

A dialog box named NEW PROGRAM OBJECT will appear on your screen with three buttons (OK, CANCEL and HELP). The PROGRAM ITEM option is already selected. Click the OK button.

A PROGRAM ITEM PROPERTIES dialog box will appear on your screen with five buttons (OK, CANCEL, BROWSE, CHANGE ICON and HELP). It also has four empty text boxes (DESCRIPTION, COMMAND LINE, WORKING DIRECTORY and SHORTCUT KEY).

Use the BROWSE button to tell Windows where the A.E.G. program executable (.EXE file) is located. You will get a BROWSE dialog box where you can click on the various directories and drives that you maintain on your computer -- if you're not sure how to use this dialog box, see the Windows 3.1 documentation for more details.

The A.E.G. program's drive path and filename should now be in the COMMAND LINE

text box. Two other options are available now, but they aren't required:

    (1) You can type in a detailed description in the DESCRIPTION text box (if you

         don't, Windows will use whatever characters are on the left side of the dot

         in the program's filename).

    (2) You can change the default icon of the A.E.G. program at this time (or any

         other time in the future) by clicking on the CHANGE ICON button. I've included

         five icons linked into the A.E.G. executable, but if those aren't to your liking

         you can change them by using the BROWSE button on the CHANGE ICON

         dialog box that is currently on your screen.

Once you have the path and filename in  the COMMAND LINE text box, hit the OK button and the A.E.G. icon should appear in the opened Program Group. If it didn't, go back to the beginning of this section and make sure you've followed all the steps correctly.

You can now click on the A.E.G. icon to start the program. Skip to the section on how to use the A.E.G. program once it's up and running.


Using the A.E.G. From MY COMPUTER in Windows 95

Open the "My Computer" folder and click on the icon of the hard drive where the A.E.G. program executable (.EXE file) currently resides.  Open the folder/directory

where the A.E.G. files are located. Click on the icon that represents the A.E.G. program executable (If you don't understand how to use folders or program objects,

see the Windows 95 documentation for more information).


Using The A.E.G. From THE EXPLORER In Windows 95

Start the Windows 95 Explorer (See Windows 95 documentation for details on starting and using the Windows 95 Explorer) and click on the hard drive where the A.E.G. program executable (.EXE file) resides.

Open the folder/directory where the A.E.G. executable is located.

Click on the icon that represents the A.E.G. executable file.


Using The A.E.G. From A SHORTCUT Under Windows 95

Right click on the location where you want to create a SHORTCUT for the A.E.G. program (you may put it on the Windows desktop or in an already existing folder, for example).

A popup menu will appear. Choose NEW from this menu and move to the CREATE NEW SHORTCUT option from the sub-menu that appears.

A dialog box will pop up. Click on the BROWSE button and specify the location of the A.E.G. program executable (.EXE file).

Give the newly created SHORTCUT a suitable name and the icon will change to the default A.E.G. icon and be ready for use.

Double click on the icon to run the A.E.G. (if you don't understand how to create a shortcut, maneuver the BROWSE/FILE dialog boxes or any other operation under

Windows 95, see the operating system's documentation).

For details on how to use the A.E.G. program after it's up and running, see the HOW TO USE THIS PROGRAM section that follows...


How To Use This Program

This section takes each menu on the Automated Episode Guide and tells you what each option does.

The Intro Dialog

The Automated Episode Guide Window

The Exit Menu

The Episodes Menu

Sub-Menus

The Help Menu

Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard Shortcut Example

Using Accelerator Keys


The Intro Dialog

When you first run the A.E.G. you will get a small introductory dialog box with a little information about the program (see illustration above).

There will be two buttons on this dialog (OK and CANCEL). If you click the CANCEL

button, the A.E.G. program will stop running and you will be returned to the Windows

3.1 Program Manager.


The Automated Episode Guide Window

If you click the OK button, a large window will appear on your screen (see illustration above -- Note: the size of the window varies depending on the TV show featured in the A.E.G.).

The window will have a Title Bar with the title and version of the A.E.G. you are running.

There will be three menu titles on the Menu Bar of the window (EXIT, EPISODES and HELP).

The area below the menu bar is the View Screen. All episode information for the TV show featured in the A.E.G. will be displayed in this area.

You can choose options from any of the three menus on the Menu Bar in order to display the various information contained in the A.E.G.  Each of the menu titles will contain at least one option "underneath" it on a drop down menu.


The Exit Menu

When you select a menu from the Menu Bar, the menu title will be highlighted in the same color as the Title Bar (colors vary depending on how you have Windows 3.1 set up on your system. Light blue was the default on my system).

A drop down menu will appear below the menu title. In the above illustration, for example, the Exit menu drops down to reveal two menu options below it:  Clear

Screen and Exit.

You will notice a couple of things:

          (1) Each menu option has ONE character underlined. This is the KEYBOARD

               SHORTCUT for that menu option. See the section elsewhere in this Help

               file which describes KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS.

          (2) Both menu options on the Exit menu have an F-Key listed on the far right

               of the drop down menu. These F-Keys are the ACCELERATOR KEYS for

               that menu option. See the section elsewhere in this Help file which

               describes ACCELERATOR KEYS.

To choose a menu option from the Exit Menu (or any other menu), you simply move your mouse down until the reversed/highlight is over the option that you want.

Here's a brief description of the menu options on the EXIT MENU:

               CLEAR SCREEN: This options clears the area of the View Screen

               that displays the episode information. If the display ever needs

               to be cleared, use this menu option (or the ACCELERATOR KEY F8).

               EXIT: This option is self-explanatory. If you choose the Exit

               option, the Automated EpGuide will prompt you to make sure that you

               want to quit & exit the program, display a brief shareware message

               and return you to the Windows Program Manager (you can also use

               the ACCELERATOR KEY F9 to exit the A.E.G.)


The Episodes Menu

When you select the Episode menu from the Menu Bar, the menu title will be highlighted in the same color as the Title Bar (colors vary depending on how you have Windows 3.1 set up on your system. Light blue was the default on my system).

A drop down menu will appear below the menu title. In the above illustration, for example, the Episode menu drops down to reveal four menu options below it: Season 1, Season 2, Season 3 and Season 4.

You will notice a couple of things:

          (1) Each menu option has ONE character underlined. This is the KEYBOARD

               SHORTCUT for that menu option. See the section elsewhere in this Help

               file which describes KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS.

          (2) All four of these menu options have a small triangle pointing to the

               right at the far right edge of each option.  These little arrows mean

               that each menu option has ANOTHER sub-menu below it.

Read the next section for a description of SUB-MENUS.


Sub-Menus

The menu options that have a small triangle pointing to the right at the far right

edge of each option have ANOTHER sub-menu below it.

You can "cascade" these SUB-MENUS by highlighting the menu option (the SUB-MENU will automatically pop up to one side of the option you are currently

highlighting).

You can then move your mouse onto the SUB-MENU in order to highlight one of the various menu options that appear on the SUB-MENU.

Be sure to hold the mouse button down until you are on the SUB-MENU option that you want to choose! It takes a bit of dexterity on the longer SUB-MENUS. If this action is too hard for you, read the section on KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS.

In the illustration at the top of this page, the user has "cascaded" the SUB-MENU beneath the SEASON 1 menu option and highlighted the First Episode on that SUB-MENU.


The Help Menu

When you select the Help menu from the Menu Bar, the menu title will be highlighted in the same color as the Title Bar (colors vary depending on how you have Windows 3.1 set up on your system. Light blue was the default on my system).

A drop down menu will appear below the menu title. In the above illustration, for example, the Help menu drops down to reveal six menu options below it:  USELESS HELP,  ABOUT PROGRAM, SHAREWARE, DISCLAIMER, INFO and OTHER PROGRAMS (these menu options are "paraphrased". The options may vary from one Automated Episode Guide to another).

The same general actions and attributes apply to these menu options.


Keyboard Shortcuts

Each option on each menu (and the menu titles on the Menu Bar) have ONE character underlined.  This represents the KEYBOARD SHORTCUT for that particular menu option.

Most people prefer to use their  mouse pointer to click on the option, but these

KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS perform the exact same actions as the mouse.

The way to "activate" the KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS is to press the <ALT> key on your keyboard -- it should be a small key on either side of the <SPACE BAR>.

When you press  the <ALT> key, you will notice that the first menu title on the Menu Bar is now highlighted in reversed colors (the color vary depending on the color scheme that you run on your computer -- though, it should be the same color as the Title Bar). This means that you now can pick that option by hitting the <ENTER> key on your keyboard.

For example, if you pressed <ALT> and the EXIT menu title is highlighted on the Menu Bar, if you were to now hit <ENTER>, the menu beneath the EXIT menu title will now drop down revealing the other options on the Exit Menu.

You can now use the cursur arrow keys to move the "active" highlighted area up and down on the EXIT drop down menu, or left and right on the Menu Bar.


Keyboard Shortcut Example

If you want to view the SECOND EPISODE of the SECOND SEASON of the TV Show featured in this Automated Episode Guide, the KEYBOARD SHORTCUT would be as follows...

NOTE: Press Each Key Listed ONCE In This Sequence, And Don't Hold Any Of The Keys Down.

<ALT> e 2 2

If you did this action correctly, the EPISODE MENU should drop down, the SEASON 2 sub-menu should cascade to the side and the second episode should be highlighted momentarily.

After this, the information for this episode should appear in the View Window of the Automated Episode Guide. If it didn't, go back to the start of this page and make sure you did everything correctly.


Using Accelerator Keys

If you see a "key" listed on the far right side of a drop down menu option, that "key" will execute the given menu option at ALMOST any time during the Automated Episode Guide's execution.

For example, at anytime after you get the main A.E.G. window up and running on your screen, you can hit the F1 function key to bring up this online Help File.

This F-Key is called an ACCELERATOR KEY, because pressing the key by itself is all that it takes to activate the given menu option.

NOTE: If one of the dialog boxes is already on the screen (the Other S.B.I. Programs dialog box, for example), the ACCELERATOR KEY will not work UNTIL you click the OK button to cancel that dialog box. Also, if you have pressed the <ALT> key to activate the Menu Bar (for a KEYBOARD SHORTCUT), the ACCELERATOR KEY will NOT work until you either (1) complete the KEYBOARD SHORTCUT; or (2) hit the <ESC> key to "de-activate" the Menu Bar, thus cancelling the KEYBOARD SHORTCUT sequence.


This Program Is Shareware

Have you hugged your shareware author today?

Me neither...

Obnoxious Shareware Notice

Registering The A.E.G. From Overseas


Obnoxious Shareware Notice

The Harsh Reality Of Trickle Down Economics.

This program took a lot of hard work to produce (several weeks of honing the Windows code and a week or so of entering the data and debugging and proof reading the output. All of the blood, sweat and tears 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 there will be future updates to this program, as well as other neato-frito programs from Snake-Byte Incorporated!

All of this 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 Incorporated, we deal in VOLUME! VOLUME!! VOLUME!!! We'll eat a bug to make a sale! Hurry on down to our Midnight Madness

sale and... Wait a minute. Wrong sales pitch. Sorry. Anyway, you get the picture. <Insert Normal Shareware Begging/Pleading/Demanding Here>.

What do you get for your $5.00? That warm-tummy feeling of satisfaction knowing you did the RIGHT thing. This program isn't "CRIPPLED". I detest "Crippleware" and

decided early on that I wouldn't do that kind of thing. So, there's no "Registered Version". What you have now is the fully-functional program. It contains one small

shareware notice option on the Help Menu (that you don't even have to look at if you don't feel like it). The program shows that shareware notice 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 inch disk plus return postage and the registration fee and I'll compile you a special version that doesn't even have the shareware notice! What a guy, huh?)

Here's where to send the cash/check/money order:

                                                 Will Morgan

                                                 2516 Wood St.

                                                 Texarkana, Tx.  75501


Registering The A.E.G. From Overseas

Since this show is popular in countries other than the United States, a perplexing

question came up recently from a person in the United Kingdon:

How do I get the proper currency to register the Automated Episode Guide?

Well, John McCoy came up with a solution to this problem. Here's part of  his email message to me with details on getting American currency:

Date:  Sat, 10 Feb 1996 21:31:21

Subj:  American Currency

From: John McCoy <jamccoy@maruabrid.win-uk.net>

All I did was take my VISA card to a Bureau d'Echanges (currency exchange) and say:

"I would like to buy <amount> US, American Dollars, please." It took a while for the

clerk to follow my intent, but I eventually got <currency amount> in odd-looking money. I slipped it into an airmail envelope and added stamps, and an 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.


Program Information

The History Of This Windows Automated Episode Guide

Known Bugs And Problems With The A.E.G.

Bug Reports

Big Plans For The Future

Other Automated Episode Guides?


The History Of This Windows Automated Episode Guide

Version 0.99   Beta version. Honed the mechanics of the program.

Version 1.0w   First release version of the 16 bit Windows Automated EpGuide.

                        Added Windows format .HLP file to the A.E.G. archive (you are here)

                        Added the F1 ACCELERATOR KEY Online Help option.


Known Bugs And Problems With The A.E.G.

There are NO known bugs or problems (knock simulated wood grain computer desk).


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 information in the various episode data fields), please send me a message at one of the 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.


Big Plans For The Future

I will update this program if/when new episodes/seasons of the show are completed. If the show is no longer in production, the only updating that I can do is to correct any misspellings and/or mistakes in the mechanics of the program. If you spot any incorrect data or bugs in the program, send me some e-mail and I'll include the correction in the next version.

I  want to add some printing routines so the user can print out a brief episode list, episodes by season, a particular episode by itself or a full-blown, everything included episode guide.

I also want to add some 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/or sound clips of their copyrighted and trademarked clients.

NOTE: There are 32 bit DOS and 32 bit OS/2 Presentation Manager versions of this program available, so if you know someone who'd be interested in one of those versions of this program, pass the word!


Other Automated Episode Guides?

Yes, TV Buffs and Couch Potatoes! I plan on releasing a series of A.E.G.'s for various TV shows based on this Automated EpGuide "engine" (See the section that follows entitled "OTHER SNAKE-BYTE INC. PROGRAMS" for the A.E.G.'s that are currently available).

If you're interested in seeing an Automated Episode Guide for your favorite TV show, contact me via one of the methods described in the last section of this document.

Production of other A.E.G.'s depends on the availability of information about the TV show and whether or not the show's information translates well into the A.E.G. format. Some shows just won't work!


Other Snake-Byte Programs

Programs Available From Snake-Byte Inc.

Where To Get These Snake-Byte Programs


Programs Available From Snake-Byte Inc.

                                          AUTOMATED EPISODE GUIDES

Here are the TV  shows  that are currently available in 32 bit DOS, 32 bit OS/2 text

mode, 32 bit OS/2 Presentation Manager and 16 bit Windows versions. Check at

the FTP site I run at ftp.cleaf.com /pub/mst3k/snake-byte

TV Show Name                     32 bit DOS    OS/2 Text      OS/2 PM     Win/Win95

=============================================================

Mystery Science Theater          Yes!              Yes!            Yes!            Yes!

The X-Files                                Yes!              Yes!            Yes!            Yes!

Quantum Leap                           Yes!              Yes!            Yes!            Yes!

Star Trek: TOS                           Yes!              Yes!            Yes!            Yes!

Star Trek: TNG                           Yes!              Yes!            Yes!            Yes!

Deep Space 9                            Yes!              Yes!            Yes!            Yes!

The Simpsons                           Yes!              Yes!            Yes!            Yes!

Babylon 5                                  Yes!              Yes!            Yes!            Yes!

Beavis & Butt-Head                                                            Yes!            Yes!

=============================================================

                                          Also By SNAKE-BYTE INC.

                       THE DALLAS COWBOY FANATIC's COMPANION

                   32 bit DOS, 32 bit OS/2 PM & text, 16 bit Win/Win95


Where To Get These Snake-Byte Programs

All versions of all Snake-Byte Inc. programs are *ALWAYS* available at the FTP site that I take care of at:

ftp://ftp.cleaf.com/pub/mst3k/snake-byte

You can also point your World Wide Web browser to the following URL:

http://www.cleaf.com/~wmorgan/snake.html

Get one Snake-Byte program...get them ALL! We'll make more!


Credits

Gratitude Department...

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.


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?

Have an idea for a future program?

Point out picky little mistakes or actual bugs?

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:

Fidonet Netmail:                                1:3819/128.103

Fidonet Echos I Hang Out On:           MST3K, NFL and OS/2

Internet e-mail:                                  wmorgan@clover.cleaf.com

                                                          will.morgan@p103.f128.n3819.z1.fidonet.org

US Snail Mail:                                    See address in the Shareware Nag...