Simtel MSDOS 1992 June/SIMTEL_0692.cdr/msdos/ventura/vpapp_6.arc/VPAPP_6.TXT

Text File | 1989-05-23 | 15.6 KB | 364 lines

@PARAFILTR ON =

@BANNER = Ventura Publisher<M^><190><D>

@APP NOTE = Application Note #6

@NAME = Subjects:    DOS file operations<R>
     Sidekick Plus

@HEAD 1 = Overview

While within Ventura Publisher, many people want to have access to
full DOS file operations. Some reasons for this include:

@BULLET 1 = Need to format a disk in the middle of a Multi-Chapter
Copy operation.

@BULLET 1 = Need to verify the date, time, and size of a file.

@BULLET 1 = Need to copy several files to another directory, but do
not need all of the Multi-Chapter capabilities.

@BULLET 1 = Need to look at data within a file using the DOS TYPE
command prior to loading.

@BULLET 1 = Need to search across a number of files for the occurrence
of a magic text string which will help you locate the correct file
for loading.

@BULLET 1 = Need to rename a file (the File Type/Rename actually creates
a new file rather than renaming).

@BULLET 1 = Need to override the read-only status of a file without
leaving Ventura Publisher (a dangerous practice, but some people want
to do it).

One option is VP Manager from New Rider's Publishing which provides
some, but not all, of these DOS operations. This program installs
directly into Ventura Publisher and also provides many document management
features not available with any other product.

However, in addition to wanting to execute these DOS functions, many
other people also want to be able to perform simple file editing using
a standard text-based word processor without leaving Ventura Publisher.
Application Note #4, describes how to use multi-tasking operating
system add-ons such as DESQview in conjunction with your favorite
word processor, to give you full DOS functionality, text editing and
more. However, for many users, this approach is not attractive because:

@BULLET 1 = Multi-tasking software will not fit in their computer.

@BULLET 1 = Multi-tasking software requires more computing power than
their computer provides.

@BULLET 1 = Multi-tasking software requires more work to set up than
they want to deal with.

Therefore, this application note describes a much simpler approach
which uses the popular application <B>Sidekick<M^><190><B> Plus<D>
from Borland Software. This program includes all of the simple DOS
capabilities described above and also provides a powerful ASCII text
editor. In addition, a very large number of people already own Sidekick
Plus and therefore no additional software purchase is necessary.

@HEAD 2 = Reference Guide warning

As described in the Ventura Publisher Reference Guide, TSR (Terminate
But Stay Resident) programs such as Sidekick are not normally recommended
for use with Ventura Publisher for two reasons:

@BULLET 1 = They consume valuable conventional memory space and may
therefore make it impossible to load Ventura Publisher.

@BULLET 1 = They often improperly reset the video mode, thus making
it impossible to return to Ventura Publisher after running the TSR
application.

While conventional memory is still a very precious commodity that
should be conserved, Ventura Publisher's use of EMS memory, starting
with version 2.0, decreases conventional memory requirements and therefore
lets you successfully run Sidekick Plus (or other TSR programs) if
your computer contains EMS memory. You must still pay attention to
the TSR's installation, however. This application note provides proper
installation information.

While graphic incompatibilities are still possible, Sidekick Plus
provides superior graphics handling compared to Sidekick. With most
graphics cards, the Ventura Publisher screen will reappear correctly
after running Sidekick. (You may encounter problems with some EGA
cards. If so, you're out of luck.)

@HEAD 1 = Installation

After installing Sidekick Plus, you should customize it for best possible
memory utilization In addition, if your primary reason for using Sidekick
Plus is to provide DOS services and a text editor within Ventura Publisher,
then you will want to delete unneeded functions. The following procedure
will accomplish both of these goals.

@HEAD 2 = Run INSTALL

The first step in configuring an already-installed Sidekick Plus is
to run the INSTALL program again. The <B>Configuration<D> menu then
appears. Change the settings to conform to settings shown in the second
illustration, then select <B>Continue SKPLUS Design<D>. If you plan
to install the minimal configuration described here, set EMS memory
to 300K bytes. (A full Sidekick Plus configuration requires more EMS.)
If your computer doesn't contain much EMS memory, specify as much
EMS as you can spare. If insufficient EMS is specified, the portion
of Sidekick Plus which won't fit into EMS plus conventional memory
will be swapped to hard disk. Sidekick Plus will still run.

Note: <MI>Make sure you leave at least 48K EMS for Ventura Publisher
or 256K for Professional Extension!<D> If you allocate all EMS for
Sidekick Plus, then Ventura Publisher will not load. For example,
if your computer has 512K EMS available, then you should not allocate
more than 464K for Sidekick Plus if you plan to use Ventura Publisher,
or 256K for Sidekick Plus of you plan to use the Professional Extension.

If you want to create a special version of Sidekick Plus to run with
Ventura Publisher, then you can create another EXE file. Otherwise,
use the SKPLUS.EXE filename which is provided as the default (see
third illustration).

The last illustration on this page shows a minimal Sidekick Plus configuration
for use with Ventura Publisher:

@BULLET 1 = Make sure you move the cursor to the <B>EMS<D> column.

@BULLET 1 = For each application you want to include, press the <B>Enter<D>
key. For certain applications, such as the Notepad and Phonebook,
you will need to answer certain other questions.

The amount of EMS memory you specified at the beginning of this installation
must equal the EMS amount (152K in this example) plus Resident Size
(71K in this example), plus Data Buffer (64K in this example). Once
you have gotten this far, if the total of these three memory sizes
is less than what you allocated in the earlier step, press <B>ESC<D>
several times to get back to the earlier screen, specify the correct
amount, and then return to this screen by retracing the steps above.

Press <B>F2<D> to begin the build process.

@HEAD 1 = Load Sidekick Plus

The simplest way to load Sidekick Plus is to type <B>SKPLUS<D>. If
you have EMS memory and have configured Sidekick Plus for the minimal
configuration shown above, and if you have very few other device drivers
or TSR programs, then Ventura Publisher or the Professional Extension
should load.

If you have a 386 computer using Quarterdeck's <B>QEMM-386<D> or Qualitas
Software's <B>386max<D>, or if you have a 286 computer using All Computer's
<B>Chargecard<D>, then you can use these program's LOADHI function
to load Sidekick Plus into the memory area between 640K and 1 megabyte.
This will make Sidekick Plus appear to consume virtually no conventional
memory. You should definitely load Sidekick Plus into this high memory
area if you have this hardware and software.

@HEAD 2 = SWAPSP

If you don't have any of this hardware and software, then Sidekick
Plus will consume at least 71K of conventional memory. As described
in Application Note #2, you can run Ventura Publisher with only 500K
remaining, and you can run the Professional Extension with only 465K
remaining in computers which contain EMS memory. Thus, you may be
able to tolerate 71K. If you can't, you can purchase a simple utility
called <B>SWAPSP<D> from a company called Innovative Data Concepts.
Their address is: 1657 The Fairways, Suite 101, Jenkintown, PA 19046.
The product costs $20. You can either order directly from them, or
else first download the program from Compuserve in the BORAPP forum
and then send in your money. This program reduces the amount of conventional
memory usage from 71K to less than 10K by swapping the resident portion
of Sidekick Plus to EMS. Your computer must contain at least 64K more
EMS memory than what you have already allocated for Sidekick Plus.
Performance degradation resulting from swapping the resident portion
is virtually undetectable even on a slow 286 AT computer.

To install SWAPSP, copy the SWAPSP.COM and TESTSP.COM files to the
same directory where the Sidekick Plus EXE file resides. Then, run
the TESTSP program to install SWAPSP. Once this is done, simply type:

@TABLE = <F1M>SWAPSP /G<F255D>

@BODY NO INDNT = to install Sidekick Plus. The /G makes sure that
graphics is swapped out correctly when you invoke Sidekick Plus from
within Ventura Publisher.

To use SWAPSP from within a batch file, change to the drive and directory
which contains SWAPSP and your Sidekick Plus EXE file. Then enter
the following two lines (assuming SKPLUS is the Sidekick Plus EXE
file):

@TABLE = SWAPSP /N/G<R>
SKPLUS

@HEAD 1 = Screen shots

For those not familiar with Sidekick Plus, the screen shots on the
following page show the file manager, ASCII table, and notepad.

@HEAD 1 = Advanced use

@HEAD 2 = Cut & Paste

Sidekick Plus can be used in many ways. In addition to providing DOS
file facilities, it can be used to cut and paste between different
applications. While you cannot cut <MI>from<D> Ventura Publisher,
you can paste text which you have cut from other applications <MI>into<D>
Ventura Publisher. You may need to slow down Sidekick Plus' paste
speed when pasting large blocks.

@HEAD 2 = Word processing

The Notepad in Sidekick Plus has a full search and replace function.
This can be used to perform search and replace on an ASCII file without
leaving Ventura Publisher. As an example of how to use this feature,
consider the following:

@BULLET 1 = Open a chapter from within Ventura Publisher.

@BULLET 1 = If the text within this chapter is not saved as ASCII
text:

@BULLET 2 = Select the frame which contains the text file.

@BULLET 2 = Select the <B>File Type/Rename<D> option.

@BULLET 2 = Select <B>ASCII<D>.

@BULLET 2 = Select <B>OK.<D>

@BULLET 2 = Then select <B>Save<D> in the File menu. The text file
will now be saved in ASCII format.

@BULLET 1 = Invoke Sidekick Plus (<B>Ctrl Alt<D>).

@BULLET 1 = Select the Notepad.

@BULLET 1 = Use the New File (<B>F3<D>) option to load the ASCII text
file you just saved.

@BULLET 1 = Use the search and replace (<B>Ctrl QA<D>) and other editing
functions to edit the file.

@BULLET 1 = Save the file (<B>F2<D>). Return to Ventura Publisher.

@BULLET 1 = After returning to Ventura Publisher, select <B>Open<D>
from the file menu and re-open the same chapter. You must do this
to load all the changes you just made. Similarly, if you make changes
in Ventura Publisher, you must <B>Save<D> those changes before going
to back to Sidekick Plus <MI>and<D> you must then use the new file
option (<B>F3<D>) again to re-load the text file. This re-loading
is the only way to transfer the changes between the two applications.

@HEAD 3 = Hints

@BULLET 1 = If you use the notepad extensively, you should set the
Options File Autosave <B>ON<D>. This assures that any changes made
within Sidekick Plus will always be saved before you return to Ventura
Publisher.

@BULLET 1 = If you exit from Sidekick Plus using <B>Ctrl Alt<D> instead
of <B>ESC<D>, then when you return to Sidekick Plus from Ventura Publisher
you will be returned directly to the application in use (in this case
the notepad).

@BULLET 1 = To re-read the same file upon returning to Sidekick Plus,
press <B>F3<D> then <B>Enter<D>.

@HEAD 3 = Wordwrap

Note that if you edit the file with automatic wordwrap turned on,
or if you reformat a paragraph using <B>Ctrl B<D>, Sidekick Plus will
wrap the blank space which Ventura Publisher places at the end of
each line. This results in two spaces between words. You can either
use the search and replace function in Sidekick Plus to remove these
extra spaces <MI>after<D> you have finished editing, or your can remove
them as soon as you load the file. To remove them immediately after
you load, search for <B>space/carriage return/line feed<D> and replace
this with <B>carriage return/line feed<D>. This is done as follows:

@BULLET 1 = Place the cursor at the beginning of the file (<B>Ctrl
QR<D>).

@BULLET 1 = Press and hold the <B>Ctrl<D> key. Then press <B>QA<D>.

@BULLET 1 = On the <B>Search For<D> line, delete any characters remaining
from the last search.

@BULLET 1 = Press the space bar once.

@BULLET 1 = Hold the <B>Ctrl<D> key and press <B>PMPJ<D>. This is
the code for a carriage return followed by a line feed.

@BULLET 1 = Press the <B>Enter<D> key.

@BULLET 1 = On the <B>Replace With<D> line, delete any characters
remaining from the last search.

@BULLET 1 = Hold the <B>Ctrl<D> key and press <B>PMPJ<D>.

@BULLET 1 = Press the <B>Enter<D> key.

If the cursor is at the beginning the of the file before you begin
this operation and if you have set Ask Before Replace to <B>No<D>,
then the blank space at the end of each line in the entire file is
deleted. If you don't want to watch all the search operations as they
occur, press <B>Ctrl Q<D> as soon as the replace operation begins
(this is an old Wordstar trick that also works in Sidekick Plus).

If you later bring this file back into Ventura Publisher, the lack
of a trailing space won't affect character spacing. Also, the search
and replace options are remembered. Therefore if you save the document
from within Ventura Publisher and then use the New File (F3) option
in Sidekick Plus to retrieve the edited document, you can simple type
<B>Ctrl QA<D> followed by <B>Enter Enter<D> to replace the blank space
at the end of each line.

The notepad is limited to 54,000 characters.

@HEAD 2 = ASCII table

Sidekick Plus also has a complete ASCII table. Although the character
mapping above ASCII 128 is not identical to the characters used in
Ventura Publisher, the characters between 128 and 168 <MI>are<D> the
same. Therefore, if you need to quickly find most foreign characters:

@BULLET 1 = Call up the ASCII table within Sidekick Plus.

@BULLET 1 = Find the character in the table.

@BULLET 1 = Press<B> Enter<D> to paste the character into the Paste
Buffer.

@BULLET 1 = Press <B>Alt +<D> to paste the character from the ASCII
table Paste Buffer into the Sidekick Plus clip board.

@BULLET 1 = Exit from Sidekick Plus.

@BULLET 1 = If not already in Text mode, switch to this mode and place
the text cursor where you want the new character to appear.

@BULLET 1 = Press <B>Ctl Ins<D> to paste the foreign character into
Ventura Publisher.

Note: you may want to change the Services Setup Clipboard End of Line
Character option.

The ASCII table in Sidekick cannot be edited.

@HEAD 1 = Summary

This note describes how to install and use Sidekick Plus with Ventura
Publisher or with Professional Extension. One final note. Although
you can run Sidekick Plus with the base Ventura Publisher, the amount
of memory available for your document will be decreased. This will
cause Ventura Publisher to swap portions of the document to hard disk,
resulting in delays as you go from page to page. If you cannot accept
any performance degradation, you may wish to limit use of Sidekick
Plus only to those computers on which you have installed the Professional
Extension.