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Text File | 1992-05-18 | 22.0 KB | 440 lines

┌────────────────────────────┐ │ VIEW.EXE │ ╞════════════════════════════╡ │ Programmed by Jim Wilson │ │Copyright(C) 90-92 * Ver 2.1│ └────────────────────────────┘ Stop, hold the presses! Major story breaking - View has been rewritten! Yep, it's true. This little file viewer has had almost a complete rewrite, all for the sake of speed and increased functionality. I've added lots of features and enhanced it's value tremendously (at least I think so). For example; there is no longer a 64K file size limit - you can load files that are equal in size to your available RAM (minus what View itself needs, of course) or 10, 000 lines, whichever comes first. There is no longer an 80 character per line restriction - you can read lines up to 250 characters wide. Loading files from disk is also about 200% faster! For those of you still using versions 1.0, 1.1, and 1.1a you might not notice the changes immediately because the program appears the same - but you will, trust me. If all this sounds kind of dramatic for such a little program then maybe I let my enthusiasm get the best of me. You see, I've spent a great deal of time enhancing View, so read on and find out what I'm talking about. ┌──────────────────────┐ │ GENERAL INFORMATION │ └──────────────────────┘ View is a text and ASCII file viewer. You can use View to read just about any BAT, DOC, TXT, or Read.Me type of file. It allows you to read a file with up to 10,000 lines, or as many as will fit into your RAM. Each line can contain up to 250 characters. What's so special about that? I'm glad you asked! There are a million text file viewers floating around. Hell, you may have even written one yourself. I've written three or four different, but somewhat specialized, viewers over the years. If you have spent more than 2 seconds with any ShareWare or Public Domain software you know that the manual is usually a DOC file included on the diskette, just like this one. There is almost always a Read.Me file with last minute changes that didn't make the manual on time (most commercial software even contains one). Some of these files can grow quite large (I saw a ShareWare programmer's editor that had a DOC file that was 357K - too big to be loaded by the editor it came with!). Your only available choices for reading files of this type have been either a file viewer that could only read one 64K block of text at a time (one memory segment, which View use to be), one that tried to read the entire file into RAM (which meant you usually had a viewer with a big EXE file or one that took a lot of RAM itself), your word processor (what a lousy choice that is), or your text editor. If your file was real big most viewers or word processors would not be able to load the entire thing so they wouldn't load ANY of it. If your lucky the text editor you use is able to "unload" the text that can't fit in memory onto your hard drive like the one I use - Bingo. Now, just because you have about 550K of available RAM doesn't mean that your viewer or editor could load a file that big - it needs space to work in too. Enter View. With View you can read any ASCII text file, even ones that are over 450K! And if the file is too large for RAM View doesn't just say "sorry pal, it's too big for me so I'm going to exit to DOS" (which a lot of programs do!), it will display what it could read. In short, Views combination of speed, features, and small size make it the ideal choice for almost anybody. Because the EXE file is only 9,459 bytes you can carry it anywhere. And since all the major movement commands are present (Arrows, PgUp, PgDn, Home, End, etc..) you're not sacrificing features for portability or speed. This program has been carefully crafted to use as little of your precious RAM as possible, so there's more available for your file. ┌──────────────────────┐ │ PROGRAM INFORMATION │ └──────────────────────┘ View uses only about 59K of RAM for itself. This means that you can use it on virtually any PC. (If you don't have that much RAM available your in the wrong business!) Essentially what this means is that all the remaining conventional (base) memory in your system can be used for file storage. For example; if, after having loaded all your device drivers and TSR's you have 560K of RAM free (as reported by chkdsk or some similar program), then you would be able to load and read any ASCII text file up to about 500K (or 10,000 lines)! Not too bad from an EXE file of only 9,459 bytes! View starts by verifying that the file you want to read exists. If it does View then verifies that the file actually contains data (some programs will attempt to read a file with 0 bytes of data). View then checks to see that you have at least 75K of free RAM. If everything is good up to this point View then loads itself into memory. Once loaded, it proceeds to set up 10,000 5 byte pointers for the data structure (each one will contain a line number and the string length for the data it is about to read). After the pointers have been set up View then starts reading until it reaches the end of the file, runs out of RAM, or until it has read 10,000 lines (this limit will be explained later). Once the file has been loaded you can use the up, down, left, right, ctrl-left and ctrl-right arrows, along with the PgUp, PgDn, Home, and End keys to move around. If you hit a wrong key or if you hit a "limit", like hitting PgDn when your on the last page already the program gives a very gentle beep (not the annoying kind!). I've spent a considerable amount of time fine tuning the RAM requirements for View. With all the tweaking that was done I probably gave View the ability to read a file that was 25K - 30K bigger then when I first wrote the new memory scheme. That may not seem like a lot in todays world of multi-megabyte systems, but when you only have 640K of RAM for DOS all of the sudden 30K seems like a lot. Even with that I was able to give the program a few extra features like a status line at the bottom of the screen which contains the name of the file you're viewing, the current line number, the last line number in the file, and the right column position. I've also incorporated direct video writes (which required a procedure to determine what type of monitor you have), pretty good error checking, a goto line number feature, and even a brightness control for laptops or PC's with crappy contrast (does your present file viewer have a brightness control as a feature?). ┌────────────┐ │ RAM USAGE │ └────────────┘ OK, enough of the propaganda, now let's get serious. The RAM that View uses is broken down as follows: 50K - 10,000 5 byte data pointers. 4K - Error checking and all status information 5K - Video writes, keyboard routines, associated "housekeeping" ===== 59K - Total RAM used by View.Exe (approximately) Not too bad, huh? The EXE file is only 9, 459 bytes, which is 541 bytes less then my maximum target of 10, 000. It will work with ANY type of monitor, be it monochrome, CGA, EGA, VGA, LCD, Gas Plasma, or whatever you happen to have. As a matter of fact, the procedure which determines what type of monitor you have is so accurate that you will probably never have to use the /M command line option, which is discussed a little later in this document. The video writes and the keyboard handler were written in assembler for the fastest possible performance on any computer. ┌────────────────┐ │ KEYBOARD USAGE │ └────────────────┘ The keys that View uses are all pretty self-explanatory (hell, if you made it this far in the documentation you figured out how to use most of them already). Here's a listing of them, anyway. LeftArrow - Moves the data on the screen 5 columns to the left RightArrow - Moves the data on the screen 5 columns to the right UpArrow - Moves back to the previous line of data DownArrow - Moves down to the next line of data PgUp - Moves back to the previous 24 lines of data (1 page) PgDn - Moves down to the next 24 lines of data (1 page) Home - Goes to the first line of the file End - Goes to the last line of the file CtrlLeft - Moves the data 40 columns to the left CtrlRight - Moves the data 40 columns to the right B or b - Toggle: turns the brightness of the data up or down G or g - Goto a specific line number ESC - Exits View NOTE: When using the 'G'oto function the line number you specified will be placed directly above the status line. If you select a number less then 24 then View will display the first page of data from the file. If you specify an invalid line number then View will just beep. If you decide that the number you entered is not correct you can hit the BACKSPACE key to erase it. If you decide against using this function at all you can hit the ESC key to cancel. Another bit of information that might make you understand the status line a little better; the Col:## is the right most column currently being viewed while the Line:## is the last line displayed on the screen. This makes the numbers you see always the extremes - the last line and the last column of that particular screen. ┌─────────────────┐ │ PROGRAM OPTIONS │ └─────────────────┘ View supports only three command line options, which are: /? or /H - A small help screen /M - Forced monochrome mode Filename.Ext - Name of the file to view Options can be entered in any order and you can use either upper or lower case letters, but you must leave a space between each option selected. All unrecognized commands are ignored. One option causes an immediate response - /? (or /H). This instructs View to print the help screen and then return to DOS. This option will be acted upon REGARDLESS of where it's placed on the command line. If you don't specify a file name you will get the help screen to remind you what to do. The definition of the available options is: /? or /H - Use this option to get a help screen that looks similar to the one above. If no file name is given on the command line then View will print this Help screen as a reminder. /M - By default View displays white text on a blue background. On most systems this doesn't present a problem. However, on certain laptops, portables, and monochrome EGA or VGA monitors this can be difficult to read. Use this option to instruct View to display white characters on a black background. The 'B'rightness command will recognize your selected color choice and will work accordingly. Filename - The name of the file you would like to view. Drive letters and paths are fully supported. ┌─────────────────┐ │ VERSION HISTORY │ └─────────────────┘ 1.0 - Initial release to the general public. Only used by myself 6/91 prior to that. 1.1 - Added the /I option to ignore blank lines. Added the /S option 8/91 to check the file size in lines. Fixed a bug with the error checking routine. Fixed a bug when you had a file with less than 24 lines (1 full page) of text. Fixed a bug with the monitor checking procedure. 1.1a- Fixed a bug with file names that started with a number, like 10/91 4DOS.DOC. View mistook that for a 'start at line number' command (similar to the /##### option). 2.0 - Major rewrite! Removed the /##### (start at line number), /I 3/92 (ignore blank lines), and the /S (show size of file) options because they are no longer necessary - they existed strictly to make the 64K file size limit a little more bearable. Added support for the left and right arrow keys, the 'B'rightness and the 'G'oto line number functions as well as being able to load files up to the maximum size of your free RAM. All this and the EXE file is only 1.1K larger! 2.1 - Added the ctrl_left and ctrl_right arrow keys to scroll the 5/92 screen 40 columns to the left/right, respectively. Fixed a memory allocation error where View was loading 1 line less then it said it was if your file was either 10,000 lines long or it used up all the RAM in your system before the end of the file. Added some color to the display, for those of us with color monitors. Fixed a bug with the 'G'oto command if the user entered a number larger then the total number of lines in the file. Performed some general "housekeeping" on the source code for the sake of speed and/or size. All this and the EXE file is now 148 bytes smaller than version 2.0! Yeah I know, 148 bytes ain't much - but how many times have you seen a program updated with new features and bug fixes that actually got smaller in size? 2.1a- Fixed a keyboard handler problem where the keyboard would 5/92 respond sluggishly, if at all, when the file you loaded took all available RAM and you had the TSR SuperKey loaded. ┌──────────────────┐ │ FINAL RAMBLINGS │ └──────────────────┘ Some last words of wisdom (or at least as close as I can come). As with all Public Domain programs I take no responsibility for View. If it blows up in your face then it's your fault, not mine. It if melts your hard drive, then so be it. If it makes you wish you were a Vulcan (for all you Star Trek fans) then "live long and prosper". Actually, I get pretty fed up with the legal crappola that's necessary in todays world. Of course my program won't blow up in your face or melt your hard drive - I'm being sarcastic and ridiculing the legal establishment! I use View every day and I have yet to see a Vulcan (prior to consuming larger quantities of Becks, that is). View has a "big" brother called ReadIt. Yes, that's right - if you like View but want something a little more powerful I can certainly help you out. You see, View is kinda like my "test bed" for new ideas. It's also something I happen to give away for free because I'm a nice guy! ReadIt is my ShareWare program, the one you have to pay for. Both View and ReadIt share the same basic "engine" (file access, error handling, keyboard reading, and video writes). ReadIt, however, includes online help, text search (case sensitive or not), a file information window, monochrome or color palette selection, user selectable TAB expansion, and the ability to print any part of the file with automatic or manual form feeding and line widths up to 250 characters. This is all wrapped up in an interface featuring popup windows with shadows and an EXE file size of only about 16K! If this sounds good to you then send just $10.00 dollars to me at the address at the end of this DOC file, along with a letter containing your name and address, and I'll rush a copy of ReadIt out to you. You've probably noticed that I have given View a 10,000 line limit. This file size limit is because I'm trying to get you to buy ReadIt, which has limit of almost 16,000 lines - that's more then 50% greater then View! Why does ReadIt have such a limit at all? Well, it's not because of me really - it's Borland. For some reason they set a limit on the size of a data structure you can create when your allocating RAM from the heap. I don't know if Turbo C suffers from the same restriction as Turbo Pascal, which View and ReadIt were written in. If it were up to me I would have ReadIt use all available RAM, regardless of the number of lines. If you happen to be one of the few unfortunate souls who still have a CGA monitor you had better be prepared for a "blizzard" of snow. View writes directly to video RAM and I didn't program any routines to perform the necessary synchronization for the video retrace signal. On all other types of monitors there will be no problems. View works exclusively in read only mode. What exactly does that mean? Well, it means you can read ANY file, regardless of its attributes (hidden, system, readonly) or its type (DOC, TXT, HLP, etc). View doesn't create any temporary files for data storage nor does it alter the original so you can use it without concern. From time to time you might see some strange symbols appear on the screen. This is the way View prints the TAB (ASCII code 009), FORMFEED (ASCII code 012), and a few other "difficult" characters. View doesn't have routine to expand TAB's into spaces. Very few files are saved with TAB's anyway, so this shouldn't be a problem. If it is, then get a hold of ReadIt which does have TAB expansion as an option. The three areas I've concentrated on the most when writing View were file reading, video writes, and memory allocation. These three functions were tweaked and tweaked till they screamed. Consequently, they are the areas that work the fastest and consume the least amount of memory (as it should be). ┌──────────────┐ │ WHAT'S NEXT? │ └──────────────┘ What's next for View? Well, I'm not really sure. My main objective is to keep the program small and fast - that design goal will never change. However, I'm not going to ignore a good suggestion for an enhancement if you've got one. Want a neat new feature added? Then drop me a line at the address below and I'll check into it. Some of the things I'm contemplating are: a search or find function, a "bookmark" or place holder to mark a spot in the file so you can easily jump back to it later, and maybe the the ability to use EMS or XMS memory for data storage. ┌──────────────┐ │ REGISTRATION │ └──────────────┘ Why is this part of View.Doc last? Because it's the least important, that's why! I don't believe in a lot of legal rhetoric. VIEW IS A PUBLIC DOMAIN PROGRAM. YOU ARE FREE TO USE IT FOR YOUR OWN *PERSONAL* USE. YOU ARE ENCOURAGED TO GIVE IT AWAY TO ANYONE AND EVERYONE WHO WANTS IT (except as noted below). The only real restrictions I impose are: 1. Whomever you give this program to, whether you copy it onto a diskette, a hard drive, or you upload it to a BBS, *MUST* be given the complete set of files (at this writing they are View.Exe and View.Doc). 2. None of the files (View.Exe or View.Doc) may be altered in any fashion and must remain in their ORIGINAL form. NO EXCEPTIONS! 3. You CANNOT, under ANY circumstance, use this program in a commercial, retail, promotional, or other similar fashion without the expressed written consent of the author. 4. You CANNOT, under ANY circumstance, use this program to make a profit. This includes distributing it with your own software, selling it, "renting" it, or any other such arrangement that you obtain reimbursement for. If you do desire to distribute View with your ShareWare catalog, your commercial software, or for any other non-personal endeavor, please write to me at the address below. I would be more then happy to license View to just about anybody. Remember, it's entirely free for personal use! If you would like to be kept abreast of any new developments concerning View then send me a buck (one thin dollar!) and I'll add your name to the mailing list. Make sure you tell me what version your using. If you would like me to automatically send you the next version then send me five bucks. Even if you don't send a buck (you cheap skate) feel free to drop me a note and let me know what you think about View, especially if you've found a bug (God forbid!). ╓────────────────────────╖ ║ Jim Wilson ║ ║ 9 Miller Ave ║ ║ Washington, NJ 07882 ║ ╙────────────────────────╜