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- Welcome to Version 2.0 of SECHO...Special ECHO for the IBM machines.
-
- Background...
- I Love Color. My Word Processors are set up in full color. My
- Database Programs are set up in full color. Spreadsheets, Utilities,
- EVERYTHING. But the one thing that didn't have any color were my
- batch files. I tried adding it throught the usual means of ansi codes
- and a small program to route these codes through ANSI.SYS, but this
- was not only slow, but cumbersome, and you could only have 1 color on
- each line. Thus, Secho was born.
- Secho is a replacment for the DOS echo command, but Secho supports MANY
- formatting, color, and variable commands within each line to be echoed.
- Trust me, you'll love it.
-
- Technical Information...
- Secho is written in Turbo Pascal Version 4.0. As soon as it is
- available, I will convert it to Turbo 5.0. It was developed on a
- 8 MHZ Turbo XT, with a Nec V-20 processor, so if you find any timing
- anomilies, drop me a line and I will clean them up!
-
- How it works...
- Secho works EXACTLY like the Dos echo command. As long as the file
- SECHO.EXE is available somewhere in Dos' path, it will work without
- a hitch! You simple enter SECHO <line of stuff>, and it is echoed
- to the screen. However, within that <line of stuff> you can have a
- myriad of commands for changing color, drawing windows, positioning the
- cursor, printing variables to the screen, and MORE!!!
-
- The Commands...
- A quick rundown before the actual syntax. Many numerical parameters
- need to be 2 digits. This means that if you want the value of 1,
- you have to enter 01. The reason for this was space and speed, and
- once you get used to it, it causes no headaches!
-
- \a
- This is the audible alarm. There are no parameters, and it is a
- replacment for the bell. It has a fun Zip sound, which I spent a
- good 45 minutes tuning, so if you don't like it...complain!!
- Example: SECHO \a
- This would sound the Alarm!
-
- \b#
- This sets the background colors of ALL following output. The colors
- are listed below. The parameter for this command is one, and only
- one digit.
- Example: SECHO \b1
- This would set the background color to blue.
-
- \c
- Very self explanitory. This command will clear the screen. No
- parameters are used.
- Example: SECHO \c
- This would clear the screen. (Redundancy is one of my better
- personal traits.)
-
- \d
- When executed, this command will display the current date to the
- screen, in the current colors. The format is "Sunday, July 22, 1988."
- Example: SECHO \d
- Obvious Result, yes?
-
- \f##
- The f command sets the foreground color. It MUST be two digits.
- Again, the list of colors are below.
- Example: SECHO \f01
- This would set the foreground color to blue. A note, if you
- were to enter SECHO \f1, an error message would appear, telling
- you that "Err=2." This means that the second digit of the
- parameter is invalid.
-
- \g
- I don't really know why this is here, but I have found a couple uses
- for it. This command will display, in the current colors, the current
- path you are in.
- Example: SECHO \g
- This would print to the screen your current position in the
- directory tree. ie: C:\APPS\DOS
-
- \h#
- The h command prints a number of backspaces. The parameter can be only
- one digit.
- Example: SECHO Hello!\b6Goodbye
- This would print Hello! to the screen, then immediatelly
- backspace over it and print Goodbye. Would be handy to have
- a pause command, eh? Read on!
-
- \m
- No parameters, this one just prints out the free RAM in the system, in
- the current color parameters!
- Example: SECHO Free Ram: \m
- Would print Free Ram: 569,000 (or whatever you happen to have
- free at the time!)
-
- \p#
- This is the afore-mentioned pause command. Takes one parameter, which
- can be only one digit. If the number is between 1 and 9, it will
- pause that many seconds. If the number is 0, it will prompt the user
- to press any key, and wait for a keypress.
- Example: SECHO \p0
- This would print " [PRESS ANY KEY] " to the screen, and await
- a keypress. When a key is hit, it will backspace over and
- remove the press any key message.
-
- \r#
- Prints 1 - 9 carrage returns to the screen. The parameter can be one
- and only one digit long.
- Example: Secho Hello!\r3Hello!
- This would print Hello!, then three lines below, print hello!
- again!
-
- \s
- Handy! Outputs to the screen, in the current colors, the amount of
- free space on the current drive. It is in the format 367,203 bytes.
- If applicable, i.e. the drive is larger than one megabyte, it will
- also convert this to meg.
- Example: Secho Drive Space: \s
- The output from this command could look like this:
- Drive Space: 3,250,585 bytes free. ( 3.1 Meg)
-
- \t
- Like the \d command, this will output the current time, according
- to the system clock.
- Example: Secho \t
- The output would look like this: 12:32 pm
-
- \wX1Y1X2Y2P
- This is the draw a window command. It is a bit involved. The parameter
- is 9 digits long, and the breakdown is as follows.
- Digits one and two are the x coordinates of the upper left corner of
- the window.
- Digits three and four are the y coordinates of the upper left corner
- of the window.
- Digits five and six are the x coordinates of the lower right corner.
- Digits seven and eight are the y coordinates of the lower right corner.
- Note, the coordinates MUST be 2 digits each, so if you want position 1,
- you MUST use 01.
- Digit nine is the window style.
- If it is a one, the window will be drawn with double lines.
- If it is a two, the window will be drawn with single lines.
- If it is a three, the window will have double horizontal lines,
- and single vertical lines.
- If it is a four, the window will have single horizontal lines,
- and double vertical lines.
- Example: SECHO \w010140123
- This will draw a window with the upper left corner having
- the coordinates of (01,01) and the lower right corner having
- the coordinates of (40,12). The window will have double
- horizontal lines, and single vertical lines.
-
- \xXXYY
- This is screen positioning. It have a FOUR digit parameter.
- The first two digits are the x value, and the second two are the y
- value.
- Example: SECHO \x4012
- This will position the cursor at (40,12), and subsequent
- output will start there.
-
- \z
- Screen ZAP! This is another command I added as a special effect.
- It will cause the screen to fade out, then clear. Just like the
- \c command, but more fun to watch. Try it!
-
- \-String,#1,#2
- This is the repeat function. What it will do, is repeat String #2 times.
- The first output of String will be in color #1, the second in #1+1, etc
- It cycles colors, and when it reaches 15, it reverts to color 1.
- Try it...its neat!
-
- }filename
- This will only work if the } is the VERY first thing on the command line.
- This is what is called file mode. Look at TEST.BAT to see it implemented.
- If you are going to output lots of data, doing it line by line from a
- batch file can be SLOW. The } command lets you create a file of secho
- commands, which are read by secho. This method is MUCH faster then
- normal command line mode, but also requires a data file.
- Again, look at TEST.BAT, and TEST.DAT for more information.
-
- The Colors!!!!
-
- This is a list of Color that secho can use!
-
- Foreground Background
- 01 - Blue 1 - Blue
- 02 - Green 2 - Green
- 03 - Cyan 3 - Cyan
- 04 - Red 4 - Red
- 05 - Magenta 5 - Magenta
- 06 - Low Yellow (Brown) 6 - Low Yellow (Brown)
- 07 - Light Gray 7 - Gray
- 08 - Dark Gray
- 09 - Light Blue
- 10 - Light Green
- 11 - Light Cyan
- 12 - Light Red
- 13 - Light Magenta
- 14 - Light Yellow
- 15 - White
-
-
-
- There it is! If you have any Comments, Suggestions, Donations, Thoughts,
- Grievances, Additions, Bug, Kind Words, etc, contact me at the following:
-
- Starfleet Command - Handle Genesis - User ID: 3 - Phone: (313)258-9864
-
- And please, drop me a line if you have any thoughts one way or the other
- about secho.
-
-
- Chris Lucksted.
- Secho Version 2.0 - Compiled September 25, 1988 - 4:20pm.
- (C)1988 Genesoft
-