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ASP Advantage 1993
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The Association of Shareware Professionals Advantage CD-ROM 1993.iso
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boxer50b
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reconfig.doc
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1993-04-06
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INTRODUCTION:
-------------
The RECONFIG utility can be used to create a new keyboard definition
file for BOXER. The keyboard definition file associates the
editor's commands with the keys which activate those commands. You
may wish to use RECONFIG to create the file DEFAULT.KEY to match an
editor or word processor with which you are already familiar.
USING A SUPPLIED DEFINITION FILE:
---------------------------------
If you would simply like to permanently install one of the ready-made
definition files as the default, do this, for example:
COPY WORDSTAR.KEY DEFAULT.KEY
In this case, you will not need to use the RECONFIG utility - unless
you find you would like to further alter the supplied definition file.
You can create an assignment reference listing for one of the supplied
definition files by invoking RECONFIG with just the name of that file.
For example:
RECONFIG WORDSTAR.KEY
will create a file named WORDSTAR.REF which documents the command key
assignments in WORDSTAR.KEY. You may wish to print this file to create a
hard copy reference for the new assignments.
USING RECONFIG TO CREATE A NEW DEFINITION FILE:
-----------------------------------------------
The RECONFIG utility should be run from within BOXER's home directory,
usually \BOXER. The file BOXER.KEY contains key assignments which match
those contained within the BOXER executable, B.EXE. BOXER.KEY is not
loaded on startup; it is provided only to make it easy to make changes to
BOXER's default assignments. Rather, BOXER will automatically load the
file DEFAULT.KEY, if present. It is recommended that you maintain the
BOXER.KEY file as is, so that you can always return to the default layout
if needed.
To begin a keyboard reassignment session invoke the utility as follows:
RECONFIG <INPUT.KEY> <OUTPUT.KEY>
The <INPUT.KEY> argument is the filename of the key map file to begin
working from. The <OUTPUT.KEY> argument is the name of the new file to
create. The filenames may be the same. Both of these filenames should
have a .KEY file extension. BOXER requires that all keyboard definition
files have this file extension.
If you would like to make changes to BOXER's default layout, you would
invoke the utility as follows:
RECONFIG BOXER.KEY DEFAULT.KEY
The RECONFIG utility will prompt you to press a key (or a sequence of up to
3 keys) for each of BOXER's commands which may be reconfigured. Some
special commands - such as Enter, Escape, Delete and Backspace - are not
reconfigurable. The current assignment for a command is shown labeled
'old'. If you are satisfied with the current assignment you may simply
press Enter to leave it unchanged. If you wish to change the assignment,
press the key sequence you would like the command to be assigned to. The
names of the keys you press are echoed to the screen. Press Enter to signal
the end of a 1 or 2 key sequence. A sequence of 3 keys automatically moves
to the next command.
You may return to a previous assignment by pressing 'P' as the first key in
an assignment. If pressed as the 2nd or 3rd key in the sequence, the 'P'
will be added to the sequence. This may be helpful to correct a mistake that
has been made. When an assignment conflict occurs, the number of the earlier
conflict is reported. The 'J' command can be used to jump back to a prior
assignment by number.
You can specify that a command is to be available only from the pull-down
menu by pressing 'M' as the first key of an assignment. If pressed as the
2nd or 3rd key in the sequence, the 'M' will be added to the sequence. You
should avoid using 'M' for frequently used editor commands, as you may tire
of accessing these from the pull-down menus.
You may abort the session at any point by pressing Escape as the first key
in an assignment. If pressed as the 2nd or 3rd key in the sequence, the
'Escape' will be added to the sequence. Aborting will cause all changes to
be lost, so you must confirm your intention to do so.
After the session has been completed you may choose to save or abort your
changes. If you save your changes, a new definition file will be created
using the output name you specified on the command line. A listing of the
new assignments will be written to a file of that same name with the file
extension ".REF". You may wish to print this file for use as a reference
to the command assignments which were used.
USING THE ESCAPE KEY FOR PULL-DOWN MENU ACCESS:
-----------------------------------------------
The use of the Escape key for main menu access is possible with the command
line/environment option "-5". Due to the special nature of the Escape key,
it is not possible to simply assign that key to access the menus in the
usual way with RECONFIG. By placing a "-5" in the BOXER environment
string, the Escape key will activate the main menu system.
HOME-HOME-HOME STYLE CURSOR MOTION:
-----------------------------------
It is also possible to configure BOXER to perform the style of cursor
motion wherein a single command will jump successively to start of line,
start of screen, and start of file. Typically, the Home key is used for
this function, and the End key for the analogous motion to end of line, end
of screen and end of file. As this style of cursor motion entails a
program logic change, its activation is by an option flag, and possibly a
key reassignment. The "-6" option flag will activate this style of cursor
motion. If the Home/End keys are desired to be the activating keys,
reassign these keys for the beginning/end of line commands, respectively.
The Top and Btm of screen commands can then be assigned to <menu>, as these
commands will be available on Home-Home and End-End, respectively.
IMPORTANT NOTES:
----------------
There is a restriction placed on the use of multi-key sequences. If you
have assigned a command to <Ctrl X><Ctrl W>, for example, you may not also
use the lone key sequence <Ctrl X> for another command. In this example,
<Ctrl X> has become a "lead-in" key - a key which will cause the editor to
wait for another key to be pressed before executing a command.
In a sequence which contains alphabetic characters in positions 2 or 3
(such as <Ctrl X><A>), the case of the letter is insignificant. This
ensures that the key sequence will be properly interpreted within the
editor regardless of the shift state (upper/lower).
You will be provided a chance to make alternate assignments for the Up,
Down, Left, Right, Page Up, and Page Down commands. These commands are
regarded specially by BOXER, so they will additionally retain their
intuitive assignments to the Arrow and PgUp/PgDn keys regardless of the
assignments you make. This permits you to use Ctrl key assignments (for
example) for these commands without losing the natural assignments.
The Alt-0 through Alt-9 keys are not allowed to occupy the first position in
a key sequence. These keys are reserved by BOXER for inserting embedded
printer codes.
The +, -, and * keys on the numeric keypad can resume their conventional
functions by using RECONFIG to relieve them from their command key
assignments. Likewise the / key on the numeric keypad, if present, can be
used as a command key. Unless assigned to a command, it will retain its
natural function.
BOXER can recognize a number of key sequences which are particular to the
enhanced keyboards. You should feel free to use these during reassignment,
provided you have such a keyboard. For example, the Alt shift applied to
any of the cursor motion keys will generate unique sequences. Feel free
to experiment!
During reassignment, a few commands will appear twice - the second
instance being labeled "dup". This indicates that two different key
sequences can be used for this command. If you have no interest in
supplying an alternate sequence, simply assign the second of the pair to
the menu with the 'M' command.
The ready-made definition files supplied represent our best effort at
emulating other editors. No two editors are identical, and it can be
difficult to create a one-to-one map for differing features or styles of
operation. Also, we are not intimately familiar with other editors (we show
a preference for using BOXER), so you may be able to improve on the supplied
files. If you do, please send in your suggestions. If you create
definition files for other popular editors, we will likely include them
in future releases.