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ShowBAT Ver. 2.11 ------------------------------- Slide show Batch file utilities for all IBM compatibles. Documentation and Technical Notes March 16, 1992 Copyright (C) 1991, 1992 by A & Z Management Service, Inc. All rights reserved. Legal Limitations ShowBAT is provided on an "as is" basis without warranty of any kind expressed or implied. In no event will A & Z Management Service, Inc. be liable to you for any damages, including any lost profits, lost savings, or other incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use of or inability to use the program, even if A & Z Management Services has been advised of the possibility of such damages, or for any claim by any other party. ShowBAT is copyrighted by A & Z Management Service, Inc. You are encouraged to give copies to your friends and upload it to bulletin boards, however, sale of the program for profit by anyone except A & Z Management Service, Inc. is strictly prohibited, with the exception of a small fee for duplication. That fee does not register you as a user of ShowBAT. If you like ShowBAT and find it useful, you are asked to register as a user with A & Z Management Service, Inc. A form is provided in this document. Shareware Notice-------- ShowBat is released as Shareware. This is copyrighted material: it is NOT "free software." You are permitted to experiment with this package long enough to determine if it suits your needs (up to three presentations). This means you have the opportunity to use and evaluate it before you decide to buy. If you regularly use ShowBAT then you are required to send your registration fee to the author according to the instructions below. (The cost as of this writing is $35.00 per single-user license plus $4.00 handling). Using these programs to create more then three presentations constitutes regular use under this license agreement, and requires the user to register with the author. LICENSE AGREEMENT: ------------------- All ShowBAT EXE files, data files, and ShowBAT.DOC are Copyright (C) 1991, 1992 A & Z Management Services, Inc. All rights reserved. Whether or not you become a registered user, you are permitted under this license to copy and distribute all the ShowBAT files freely. The ShowBAT files may be distributed via electronic Bulletin Board Systems and other electronic information storage and retrieval services only under the terms described above. No BBS or other storage and retrieval service may request any donation, or charge any fee or premium, for the electronic transfer of any of these files, excluding that service's ordinary connect charges, if any, without the express written permission of the copyright holder. Any use, copying or distribution of the ShowBAT files, other than that described above, is in violation of this license agreement. Please REGISTER YOUR ShowBAT Thank you for your interest in ShowBAT, slide show BATch file utilities for the IBM compatibles. Please register by sending the order form below with your check or money order for $35.00 per copy plus $4.00 for materials, postage and handling, to: A & Z Management Services, Inc. 4151 Bay Front Road Mobile, Alabama 36605 +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ | I wish to license _____ copy/copies of the latest release of the | | ShowBAT programs. I have enclosed $35.00 for each single-user | | license plus $4.00 for handling etc. (Prices subject to change). | | | | Name ___________________________________________________________ | | | | Company (if applicable) ________________________________________ | | | | Address ________________________________________________________ | | | | City _______________________________ State ______ Zip ________ | | | | I prefer: _____ 3-1/2" disk; _____ 5-1/4" disk (check one) | | | | | | If you received your copy of ShowBAT from a Bulletin Board System, | | User's Group, or software distributor, please supply its name and | | location (if from a public BBS, please add the phone number): | | __________________________________________________________________ | | 03/92 | +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ * To license one copy, for example, send $39.00; to license 10 copies, send $354.00. Please use the order form above. * U.S. funds only, please. * These prices are subject to change. +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ | To print a registration form: | | 1. Make sure your printer is ready (on with paper). | | 2. Type: PRINTREG<-' (the character: <-' is a short hand way of | | saying to press the enter key). | +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ Table of Contents OVERVIEW ShowBAT ................................... Installing ......................................... ShowBAT requirements ............................... What ShowBAT Does .................................. FOR Fast STARTERS .................................. Preparing YOUR own Screens ......................... DATA.xxx Options ................................... Using ShowBAT with other Programs .................. DEMO.BAT ........................................... REPORTING PROBLEMS/BUGS ............................ OVERVIEW ShowBAT-------------------- ShowBAT is a program set that provides you with the capability of performing professional screen transitions when using BATch files for the creation of presentations. An IBM Personal Computer or compatible PC using MS-DOS or PC DOS version 3.0 or newer is required. ShowBAT may work on some older versions of DOS, however, it has not been tested. There are 13 programs in the current version of the ShowBAT program set: BOT0.EXE and BOT1.EXE Replaces screen bottom-up moving-bar/wipe-out CENTER0.EXE and CENTER1.EXE Replaces screen center-out moving-bar/wipe-out CURSOR.EXE Turns the cursor on after slide show LEFT0.EXE and LEFT1.EXE Replaces screen left-right moving-bar/wipe-out RANRE.EXE Replaces screen randomly with/without banks RIGHT0.EXE and RIGHT1.EXE Replaces screen right-left moving-bar/wipe-out SHOW1.EXE Moving display box for text. TOP0.EXE and TOP1.EXE Replaces screen top-down moving-bar/wipe-out There are 12 data files. Each program uses its own data file that requires either six or seven entries. The data file tells the program: Display width (40 or 80), text color, background color, the display delay in milliseconds, the transition control selection (press any key, timed, or continuous), the American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) code number of the character to be used for the moving bar and screen cover, and for RANRE.EXE (only) whether to include a random character cover. Because SHOW1.EXE requires more than two colors, the data files only have a limited control of the color plan. DATA.B00 DATA.B01 DATA.C00 DATA.C01 DATA.L00 DATA.L01 DATA.R00 DATA.R01 DATA.RA0 DATA.S01 DATA.T00 DATA.T01 Typing the name of a program without a file name results in a help screen that identifies the required data file. All numbers in the data files must be left justified. The default values in the DATA files were: 80 for an eighty character display 15 for white text * numbers from 0 to 7 for a variety of backgrounds 100 for an 100 millisecond character delay 0 requires user to press a key to continue 176 uses a open box character: ░ for moving bar in addition DATA.RA0 has a YES on the line after the 176. +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ | When you first receive ShowBAT, please make a backup copy and put it| | in a safe place. When you make copies to pass on, please send a | | copy of the original. Our explanation in this document depends on | | starting with the original files. | +---------------------------------------------------------------------+ If you received your copy of ShowBAT from a friend, the data files may have been changed. If you are getting strange results, such as a screen with no letters, it may be that the prior user set the background and text colors equal to each other. Please check your DATA.xxx file carefully when you have problems. There are a total of 43 files on your disk. In addition to 13 *.EXE files and 12 DATA.* files, you should find 11 PART.*, files, 4 *.BAT files, one README, one REGISTER, and one SHOWBAT.DOC file on your disk. The * is a wildcard. If you count the number of files ending with *.EXE you will find 13. Each file will have its own first name. Installing ------------------- ShowBAT may be executed from a floppy or hard disk. If the program comes as a named SHOWBAT.ZIP file from a bulletin board, you will need PKUNZIP.EXE to un-zip the files. The procedure is to place ShowBAT on a diskette or in a subdirectory by itself and type: PKUNZIP *.ZIP<-' Once the ShowBAT files are available, you may use them directly on the disk where they are stored, by including the disk or subdirectory, or by including a path statement (please see your DOS manual for additional information on paths) in front of the instruction. BUT BUT -- the DATA.xxx file must be in the active subdirectory or disk. We designed the procedure this way because DATA.xxx files are custom to an application. ShowBAT REQUIREMENTS--------------------- To use ShowBAT, you need: a) IBM PC "compatible" computer b) at least one floppy diskette drive c) IBM-PC DOS (Disk Operating System), or MS-DOS, version 3.0 or higher You can use ShowBAT with both color or monochrome screens and with LCD overhead projectors. WHAT ShowBAT DOES------------------------------------- ShowBAT gives the computer user the capability of enhancing presentations by providing custom screen transfer displays. Figure 1 below illustrates the computer screen in the process of having its current display replaced by a new display. Figure 1 Screen Transfer +---------------------------------------| | I wish to license _____ copy/copies |----------------------------+ | ShowBAT programs. I have enclosed | | | license plus $4.00 for handling etc. | and User's Groups: | | |-------------------- | | Name ________________________________|is document for important | | |ns. | | Company (if applicable) _____________| | | |----------------------------+ | Address _____________________________| | |UR ShowBAT | City _______________________________ | | |tm), slide show BATch file | I prefer: _____ 3-1/2" disk; _____ 5|e register by sending the order | |r for $35.00 per copy plus $4.00 | | | If you received your copy of ShowBAT | | User's Group, or software distributor| | location (if from a public BBS, pleas| | _____________________________________| | | +---------------------------------------| FOR Fast STARTERS ---------------------------- The novice and power user may use ShowBAT to create slide shows with a multiple of transition procedures. If your have not done so (at the DOS prompt), type: A>README<-' After you type README and press the Enter key, you will see a demonstration of one of our screen transitions and then a short message on the screen. Our README file includes an overview of the package and some messages. The README.BAT file is a simple example of how to use ShowBAT. At the DOS prompt type: A>TYPE README.BAT<-' and examine the contents of the README.BAT file. You should see: @echo off center0 readme cursor @echo on There are four instructions in README.BAT. The first instruction: @echo off tells your disk operating system not to display future computer instructions (on the screen). Our DOS 5.0 manual tells us that including the @ in front of ECHO OFF means that this instruction will not be printed and that not including the @ means the instruction will be printed. We have found that some operating systems will not work right with the @ while others have trouble working without it. Check the your DOS manual, if the instruction does not work as indicated. The second instruction in README.BAT is: center0 readme. CENTER0.EXE is one of the ShowBAT programs. The instruction CENTER0.EXE README executes the program using the README file for data. The next instruction: cursor tells DOS to execute CURSOR.EXE. CURSOR.EXE turns the cursor on. The last instruction @echo on is the reverse of @echo off. Note: DOS and ShowBAT instructions are not case sensitive. You may use either upper or lower case. DEMO.BAT is BATch file that illustrates the use of all of the ShowBat transition screens. At the DOS prompt type: A>DEMO<-' to run the file. Press <-' to move from one illustration to the next. Examine DEMO.BAT in the same manner as you examined README.BAT. Notice that all programs (except CURSOR.EXE) in the ShowBAT collection require that you type the name of the program and then the name of the file to be displayed. For example: A>BOT0 part.001 ShowBAT instructions may be entered directly from the keyboard as well as in BATch file. Type BOT0 part.001<-', press <-' to exit, and then type BOT0<-'. The first instruction executes BOT0 using the screen display part.001, the <-' exist the program, and the BOT0<-' displays a copyright and default help screen. On this help screen you will find the name of the DATA.xxx file required by the program you are using. Preparing YOUR own Screens--------------- A word processor or some type of text editor is required to create a ShowBAT data screen. ShowBat programs display screen stored in the America Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) format. We recommend formatting the text using 79 columns by 24 rows for 80 column output or 39 columns by 24 rows for 40 column output. Almost all word processing, text editors, spreadsheet, and database programs can create ASCII files. ASCII files may be called DOC, DOS, TXT, text, PRN, and print files. If the file is readable when you: A>TYPE filename<-' then the file is an ASCII file. An ASCII file may be created in an ASCII editor, some spreadsheet programs, and some database programs. DATA.xxx Options ---------------------------- With the exception of DATA.RA0 each DATA.xxx file contains six numbers. DATA.RA0 requires one addition datum, a YES or NO (in upper case only). Number 1: The first number in the data set is the number 80 or 40. The number tells ShowBAT that an 80 or 40 column screen is being used, it does not instruct DOS to change to from one type of screen to another. The statement: MODE 40 or MODE 80 must be used to change screen modes. MODE.COM is a DOS utility that comes with your operating system. MODE.COM must be available to be used. You may copy MODE.COM from your system disk or subdirectory or include the DOS subdirectory in your path statement. Number 2 and 3: Table 1 lists the text and background colors available. We recommend you experiment with the color controls and examine their effect on your screen. We have found that the color displays vary from screen to screen. In particular, LCD overhead screens should be checked out before use. Table 1 Color Chart Text Color Text Background 0 Black 0 Black 1 Blue 1 Blue 2 Green 2 Green 3 Cyan 3 Cyan 4 Red 4 Red 5 Magenta 5 Magenta 6 Brown 6 Brown 7 Light gray 7 Light gray 8 Dark gray 9 Light blue 10 Light green 11 Light cyan 12 Light red 13 Light Magenta 14 Yellow 15 White ---------------- Number 4: ShowBAT's display speed is a function of the speed of your computer. Experiment with the character delay speed to determine what is best for your computer. We recommend you start with 100. The larger you make this value the slower the operation. Number 5: Number 5 may take on values of -1, 0, or a slide show delay value. A value of -1 means that ShowBAT does not include any slow down controls. It should be selected when using sound files or the PAUSE statement to control your show. A value of 0 means you must press <-' to proceed. The slide show delay value is used for automated ShowBAT shows. We recommend you select an initial delay value of 9000 and vary the value according to your system performance. Number 6: Number six controls the character for your moving bar. Check a DOS ASCII chart to determine what character you would prefer. The code number may be from 01 to 255. Word 7: DATA.RA0 requires a YES or NO (all upper case) on line 7 of its data file. If you include YES, RANRE.EXE first covers the screen with characters and then its text. If you include NO, the first step is skipped. Using ShowBAT with other Programs ------------------- Our original intent in developing ShowBAT was to integrate slide show capabilities with sound and graphics show functions. SOUND Sound may be produced using the internal speaker, an external speaker-sound printer (connected to your printer port), and an internal speaker add-on board. Sound includes voice, music, animal sounds, and buzzing. Sound may be recorded (digitized) or created from data files (synthesized). Sound speakers, boards, and support software for recording, playback, and voice synthesizing are available from both commercial and shareware vendors. We have used several external speakers system and have been very satisfied with how ShowBAT and these systems work together. GRAPHICS The integration of graphics into a batch file requires a program that displays a file and does not take over any other controls. There are a number of shareware vendors that provide programs of this type. DEMO.BAT --------------------------------- Included on this disk is a sample BATch file: DEMO.BAT. A BATch file contains instructions that tell the computer what to do. The instructions in this file are listed in table 2. The first instruction @echo off tells the operating system to execute instructions, but not to display the instructions on the screen. Depending on your operating system, you may find it necessary to leave off the @ when giving this instruction. Table 2 DEMO.BAT @echo off prompt cls mode 80 show1 showbat.doc cls BOT0 part.001 BOT1 part.002 CENTER0 part.003 CENTER1 part.004 LEFT0 part.005 LEFT1 part.006 RANRE part.007 RIGHT0 part.008 RIGHT1 part.009 TOP0 part.010 TOP1 part.001 CURSOR prompt $p$g cls The instruction: cls tells the operating system to clear the screen. Mode 80 changes the display from 40 to 80 characters across. The MODE.COM command must recorded in a subdirectory that is part of the PATH statement, or recorded in the same subdirectory as ShowBAT. MODE.COM is one of the utilities that comes with your operating system. The instruction: show1 showbat.doc tells the operating system to start the program SHOW1.EXE using the text file SHOWBAT.DOC SHOW1.EXE displays the files indicated by scrolling it in a display box on the screen. The data file DATA.S01 contains the information that tells SHOW1.EXE what colors to use. DEMO.BAT then proceeds with the execution of the other programs and instructions as indicated. REPORTING PROBLEMS/BUGS ------------------------ Please let us know (in writing, please) if ShowBAT ever fails to function on your system as documented in these pages. Also, if you feel there is an aspect of the program which is insufficiently documented here, I appreciate your written suggestions. If you submit a problem report, please be as specific as possible about what happens and in what sequence or situation. Be sure to mention these specific things: 1) your brand and model of PC; 2) your brand and version of DOS; 3) your brand and model of video adapter and display screen; and 4) what software program you are running when the problem occurs. Please send all correspondence to: A & Z Management Service, Inc. 4151 Bay Front Road Mobile, Alabama 36605 U.S.A.