Boldly Go Collection/version40.iso/TS/05B/ROBIN.ZIP/README.ASC

Text File | 1991-09-27 | 17.0 KB | 397 lines

          September 21, 1991
          ******************************************************
          Greetings Future ROBIN! User,
          ******************************************************
          Enclosed is the latest release of ROBIN!.

          This version will require 640K of RAM, 540K available at
          runtime, at least ver 2.0 of DOS, a hard disk with at least
          400K of available space, and version 2.x or 3.x of Prodigy
          installed on your hard disk in a directory called PRODIGY.

          On this disk should be the following files:

          ROBIN    DOC
          ROBIN!   EXE
          CGA      BGI
          HERC     BGI
          VGA16    BGI
          LITT     CHR
          ROBIN    DAT
          RSCRIPT  RSF
          RSYS     RSF
          RINSTALL EXE
          RCONFIG  EXE
          RSCRIPT  DAT
          RSCC     EXE
          RSCRIPT  ASC
          RSYS     ASC
          RBAT2    ASC
          RBAT3    ASC
          README   ASC
          ROBIN!   GRP
          ROBIN!   ICO
          ROBIN!   PIF

          This one is README.ASC

          ROBIN.DOC is the manual.  It is in a form ready to print on
          your printer.  Just type COPY ROBIN.DOC PRN  at the DOS
          prompt.  There have been several updates to ROBIN! that are not
          reflected in them manual.  References to these are provided
          below.

          If you have a hard disk with Prodigy installed, you can
          install ROBIN! by just insert the enclosed disk in drive A: or
          B:, make that the default drive, and then type
          RINSTALL
          If you have a floppy system, see Installing on a floppy system in
          the manual.

          DO NOT copy the ROBIN! files to the prodigy directory and try to
          install.  Place the ROBIN! files on a floppy or in another
          directory!

          ***************************************
          KNOWN BUGS

          We know of only one bug at this time.  A few users have inidcated
          troubles when uploading to the first page of the BBS.  This
          version contains a patch that hopefully fix this.  However, we
          have never been able to duplicate the above bug on any of our
          systems, so only time will tell if this problem has been
          corrected.  If you experience a similar problem, please contact
          us.

          ***************************************
          KNOWN WEIRD THINGS

          Yep there are some known WEIRD things we do not consider bugs
          (not features either!).

          First, if you have a TSR that you use to pop up under some
          applications, but never works under Prodigy (like WindowDOS).  If
          you try to pop up this TSR, and then bring up a ROBIN! menu, the
          TSR may popup.  This is WEIRD but ROBIN! is a friendlier TSR and
          let's other TSRs do their thing even though prodigy may not.
          What will be WEIRD is that the colors of Prodigy once you return
          to it may be very WEIRD indeed. Not us but the other TSR, sorry.

          Next.  You can evoke ROBIN! at any time while in Prodigy.  Even
          while Prodigy is reading or sending data over the modem.  If you
          POPup ROBIN! while Prodigy is sending or receiving some critical
          data, and you are in ROBIN! a long time, sometimes the Prodigy
          HOST gets confused and will lock up.  Not much we can do about
          that.  Prodigy just is not designed to be interrupted by a TSR.
          If this starts happening to you, here is what you can do.  Only
          evoke Robin! when Prodigy is asking for input, i.e. you see the
          blinking box cursor.

          ROBIN! does not put an end of file marker at the end of Print
          files (nor does it look for one).  If your word processor does,
          then if you open up a print file, save it, then append to it with
          ROBIN!, your word processor will not see the new stuff.  You will
          have to use DEBUG to remove the HEX 1A or decimal 26 character in
          your file.


          ***************************************
          THE NEWS

          First, you will notice that the scripts that came with this
          version do not match those in the manual.  Sorry! Prodigy put
          into service its new EMAIL features just as we were distributing
          this version of ROBIN! So after some testing, we made some
          changes in the scripts and did not get around to changing the
          manual.  Below are discriptions of these  new scripts.

          Those of you with RAM drives can speed up ROBIN!s menus by
          specifying it on the command line.  ROBIN! will write its scratch
          files there.

          The power of script files keeps growing.  New ways to use them
          just keep amazing us.  Maybe we should have a contest, must
          useful script, most innovative script, most amazing script.  One
          person wrote a script to do animation, by flipping pages in a
          messages was able to make fireworks, strange people, very
          strange.  Send us script ideas.  We are still doing work to
          expand the manual and the script language.

          When you are uploading a file, particularly a big file over
          multi-messages, you will get better results if you do not format
          your file with CRs after every 40 columns.  Let ROBIN! and
          Prodigy do that work for you.


          If you become a registered user you will  receive version 2 via
          US mail for no extra charge.

          With this version ROBIN! has been updated to support the new
          Bulletin Board format including 60 column text.  Also, this
          version includes a new RCONFIG program which makes it easier for

          you to customize your ROBIN! settings, as well as a tool to deal
          with some future updates of Prodigy which may come along.

          There are also some enhancements not covered in the manual.  You
          can now change how the date is displayed (more later), there is a
          new script command called BBDate, which inserts the month and day
          into the BB date fields, minus a certain number of days which you
          can control. The download formatting has been changed.  Now
          rather than having the old three format options, 40 column, 80
          Column, or no format; you now have three formats (no not the same
          three) No format, any column format you want from 1 column to 160
          Columns, or Prodigy's default Column format.  Also the System
          Parameters Dialog has been changed.  The node wait time has been
          replaced with the Timer Size.  What is that, well hopefully it is
          a variable that some can use to try and patch the one bug we
          mentioned above we have not fixed.

          One feature has been removed.  The DATABASE uploads of messages
          to the message center has been removed.  Prodigy was not to happy
          about this and after the email charge, not to many used it
          anyway.  If this causes problems for you let us know and we can
          see what we can work out.

          The following provides more detail on each of these new features.

          DOWNLOAD FORMATS

          Now you have much greater control over the format of downloaded
          files and printer output.  You can have download or printer
          output in any column width you wish from 1 character (wierd but
          possible) to 159 characters (pretty wide but possible).  You can
          also have no column format, which is great if you are transfering
          a download message to a word processor.  New algorythms do a
          better job of removing unwanted spaces.  Also, you can just have
          the downloads formatted as prodigy would format it.  All of these
          ROBIN! formats work in all of Prodigy's printer options including
          the 60 column BB format.

          These formats can be selected in the ROBIN! parameters menu (Main
          Menu Option 5).  In the print format field you can type in the
          column width you desire, or enter a zero (0) if you want to use
          Prodigy's format, or 160 if you want no column formatting (for
          use with word processor).

          YEAR FORMAT

          Now the year portion of the date string can be set to a format of
          MM/DD/YY, MM/DD/YYYY, or MM/DD.  This can be changed using the
          RCONFIG program.  In the Date Format field a 1 means MM/DD/YYYY,
          a 2 means MM/DD/YY, and a 3 means MM/DD.

          SEND EMAIL

          The Send Email (Send Short Note) now has 3 options, 1 - Upload to
          Message Center, 2 - Upload a Public note to Bullentin Board, and
          3 - Upload a private note via Bullentin Board.  Each option will
          then correctly format the message in 40 or 60 columns with the
          correct page lengths and number.  BUTTTT! The RCONFIG program
          will also let you alter the page width and number of pages for
          each of these options.  This way if 60 Columns comes to the
          message center, you can siumply change these options and you are
          up and running.

          NEW SCRIPT COMMAND BBDATE


          A new script command BBDATE has been added.  This inserts a month
          and day into the Bullentin Board date field.  It uses the current
          date on your machine, minus a set number of days.  This can be
          used in a script to reset this date from the prodigy default. The
          number of days subtracted can be changed using RCONFIG.  The
          BBDate Offset field is the value subtracted.  The script BB REPLY
          uses the BBDate command and provides a good example how to use.

          NEW SCRIPTS

          The scripts provided with earlier versions of ROBIN! have been
          modified.  The old scripts have been updated, and a few new
          scripts added.  NOTE - If you have created your own scripts, you
          will need to merge them into the new RSCRIPT.ASC file, as well as
          RSYS.ASC if you have made changes to this file.  Here are the new
          scripts.

          A - COMP CLUB Goes to the main menu of the COMPUTER CLUB
          Bullentin Board.

          B - MESSAGES Goes to message center mail box.

          C - MAILSTMP This inserts a line that consists of your Login
          Name, Login ID, and the date.  Used as a stamp and the end of
          messages and notes.

          D - WRITE MSG Takes you to the message center and selects write
          message to display the write message editor.

          E - KIDS CLUB Takes you to the KIDS CLUB main menu.

          F - BBS REPLY  When the cursor is placed on the date field of the
          BBS main menu, this will enter a BBDate (see above Script
          Command) and then skip down to the TO: field and enter in the
          LOGIN ID (assumes you used autologon) and then go down to OK.  If
          you have selected a TOPIC then it will bring up the subject list.
          If you have not, then you will be prompted for the topic.  Once
          slected you will have to manually go down to the OK field.

          G - COMPREPLY Takes you to the COMPUTER CLUB Bullentin Board,
          enters in BBDATE, enters your ID in the TO: field, and selects
          OK.  You will then have to pick a topic and OK again.

          H - PRN NEXT While reading a message, prints the message and goes
          to the NEXT message.  This does not work on messages from PRODIGY
          which does not allow you to print.  RATS working on this one.

          I - PRN PREV While reading a message, prints the message and goes
          to the PREVIOUS message.

          J - ASK PRODIGY takes you to the main menu of the ASK PRODIGY
          Bullentin Board.

          K - ASK ROBIN takes you to ASK PRODIGY board, picks member
          utilities topic, enters a BBDate, selects OK which brings up
          subject list, and then searches for messages that begin with RO,
          which is normally messages that begin with ROBIN! like ROBIN!
          FEATURES, and ROBIN! HELP.

          Use these scripts as guides on how to write your own.

          NEW RCONFIG PROGRAM

          A new configuration program has been provided which provides a
          wider range of parameters to change including ROBIN!'s HOTKEYS!

          Yes, finally we have implemented what was mentioned in the manual
          but not provided.

          Temp Drive Path:  This is can be used to designate a path that
          ROBIN! will use for its temporary files.  A RAMDRIVE is an
          excellent choice and will speed up the opeinig of ROBIN!'s menus.

          System Path: This can be used to change where ROBIN! will place
          download files and look for upload files.

          Display Script Menu: Can suppress the display of ROBIN!'s script
          menu when the ALT-S hot key is used.  Allows ROBIN!'s scripts to
          become to key macros.

          Node Wait Interval: Sometimes ROBIN! pauses after upload a lot of
          stuff to Prodigy to allow the Prodigy node to catch up.  The time
          needed varies from node to node.  This will allow you to
          customize this pause.

          Year Display Node:  This is a new feature.  Changes how the year
          is displayed.  1 = MM/DD/YYYY 2 = MM/DD/YY and 3 = MM/DD.

          Pause Length: This adjust how long the PAUSE script command will
          pause.  This is the little beeps ROBIN! makes with some scripts.

          POPUP KEYS - OK, here they are, the pop key codes for the Main
          Menu ALT-TAB, Script Menu ALT-S, Upload Menu ALT-E, and Down Load
          menu ALT-D.  The values displayed are hex codes. the first three
          numbers or characters after the $ are the hex code for the status
          of the shift keys.  The next two numbers or characters are the
          hex of the key scan code being pressed.  Here are some typical
          values:

          NOTE - Scan Codes are IBM Keyboard Scan Codes, refer to any
          technical reference that list keyboard scan codes.

          Shift Status
          00 - No Special keys held down
          01 - Right Shift Key
          02 - Left Shift Key
          04 - Ctrl Key
          08 - Alt Key
          0C - Alt and Ctrl Key
          06 - Left Shift and Ctrl Key
          0A - Left Shift and Alt Key

          Scan Codes
          0F - Tab Key
          13 - R key
          39 - Space Bar
          3B - F1 key
          3C - F2 Key
          3D - F3 Key
          3E - F4 Key
          3F - F5 Key
          40 - F6 Key
          41 - F7 Key
          42 - F8 Key
          43 - F9 Key
          44 - F10 Key
          D9 - F11 Key
          DA - F12 Key


          Clear Key Count: This is a feature of ROBIN! that prevents
          Prodigy from gobbling up key strokes.  Special keys like cursor
          keys and funtion keys require a special pause for Prodigy to
          recognize.  This controls how long this pause will be.

          BB date Offset:  This is how many days will be subtracted from
          the current date before it is inserted into the Bullentin Board
          date field.

          Page widths and lengths.  Do not mess with these unless Prodigy
          makes changes.

          NEW AUTOEXEC COMMAND LINE SWITCH

          ROBIN! can now execute automatically a script after it has logged
          on.  This switch works, only if Autologon is used.  This switch
          is X=? where ? is the letter code of the script to be run after
          logging on.  This can also be provided via the ROBIN.BAT file by
          placing this switch on the command line after the autologin ID.
          For example,
          ROBIN 1 K
          would start ROBIN! and Prodigy, automatically logging on to
          Prodigy using the first ID in ROBIN.DAT and then uploading the K
          script, which unless you change it, will take you to the ASK
          PRODIGY Bullentin Board and search under the MEMBER UTILITIES
          topic for subjects that start with RO.

          Using this as a command line switch with ROBIN! would be
          ROBIN! V=C A=1 X=K
          which assumes you are using prodigy in the CGA mode.

          ROBIN! SCRIPT CODE COMPILER

          The bug in RSCC when compiling new RSYS.ASC scripts has been
          fixed.


          ***************************************

          Our Prodigy ID is WPTD01E.

          You can send this to your printer as follows:

          Copy README.ASC PRN

          Goodluck and enjoy, come visit us at the ASK PRODIGY BBS, under
          the MEMBER UTILITIES topic.  Look for subjects that start with
          ROBIN! of course.

          Ray Quay