home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Media Share 9
/
MEDIASHARE_09.ISO
/
print
/
handb137.zip
/
HBK136.HBK
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1992-07-01
|
54KB
|
1,670 lines
.bl 15
.mn 1
.wi 0
HANDBOOK
Version 1.36
February, 1992
The Nit Orchard
2225 Desert Drive
Las Cruces, NM 88001
USER GUIDE
.pa
TABLE OF CONTENTS
.h1 BRIEF DESCRIPTION
HANDBOOK is designed to produce a 3" by
5-1/2" Handbook from a specially formatted
ASCII text file. The Handbook is printed on
both sides of 8-1/2" by 11" paper, eight
pages to a sheet, laid out for staple
binding.
A second Layout, Mini-Manual, prints 5-1/2"
by 8-1/2" double-sided pages suitable for
loose leaf binding in a medium-sized
notebook, or in Landscape mode ready for
staple binding.
A third Layout, Letter, prints full size
pages on 8.5" x 11" letter size paper,
suitable for binding in a standard loose-leaf
notebook.
HANDBOOK is intended to run on IBM PC
compatible computers using MS/PC-DOS 2.11 and
higher.
No display graphics capability is required,
however HANDBOOK can take advantage of EGA
and VGA extended text modes, if available.
.h1 OPERATION
.h2 Starting HANDBOOK
To start HANDBOOK, enter HANDBOOK <Enter>.
There are no required command-line arguments.
HANDBOOK has only two menus, MAIN and
CONFIGURE.
Your choices at the main menu are to (P)rint
All, Print (S)ome, (V)iew, (E)dit,
(C)onfigure, get (H)elp, or e(X)it to DOS.
.h2 Configuration
The first time you run HANDBOOK, you must
review the default configuration. You may
change any parameter, get (H)elp, (S)ave the
configuration to disk, or e(X)it to the Main
Menu. The first time you run HANDBOOK, the
configuration is saved automatically upon
exit.
Optional /m and /c command line arguments
allow your disabling automatic color or
monochrome operation. /m forces monochrome
mode, and /c forces color mode. It is
possible that these parameters may be useful
for LCD displays or to provide grey scale on
monochrome monitors.
The configuration parameters are (D)ata
drive, (W)ork drive, (P)rinter and Print
Mode, (C)opies, (F)orms, (L)ayout, (T)ext
File, (E)ditor Name, Video (M)ode, and Video
(A)ttributes.
"Data drive" refers to the drive that
contains your Handbook text file. Any valid
drive can be selected. (Handbook tries to
prevent you from selecting a non-existent
file, so the current (T)ext file name may
change when a new data drive is selected.)
"Work drive" refers to the drive used to
build a temporary work file during the
Handbook Print and View routines. Again, any
valid drive can be selected. Approximately
1.3 - 3.8 Kilobytes of temporary work file
space is required for each Handbook page.
"Printer" provides a menu of printers
supported by HANDBOOK. Select a printer by
menu number. Landscape mode is automatically
used when appropriate for H-P LaserJet
printers. If you are using an H-P LaserJet
IId/IIId, you can use Duplex mode, as well.
When you select a dot-matrix printer and
Mini-Manual layout, you can choose Landscape
mode, which will print the text sideways on
the sheet, four pages per sheet, ready for
staple binding.
"Copies" allows you to print up to nine
copies of a Handbook without having to
intervene until all copies of side one are
printed and it's time to turn over the paper
and print side two.
"Forms" lets you choose continuous forms or
cut sheets (manually loaded) for your
Handbook. Continuous forms is by far easier,
but if you must use manually loaded cut
sheets, you should be able to. (Select
"Continuous Forms" when using a Laserjet
printer and most cut sheet feeders.)
"Layout" refers to whether you will print a
pocket-sized Handbook, a sheaf of
medium-sized loose leaf Mini-Manual pages, or
Letter size pages.
"Text File" is your Handbook text data file.
The current data drive is scanned for files
ending with ".HBK", one of which can be
selected by menu number. Select "New File" to
create a new Handbook data file. (Handbook
tries to prevent the selection of a
non-existent file, so the current file name
may change when a new data drive is
selected.)
"Editor Name" is the complete path and
filename of the editor YOU want to use to
edit a Handbook file. The default editor is
simply "edlin", the standard line editor
provided with MSDOS since day one. HANDBOOK
can be configured to use any editor,
including VDE, which will fit into the memory
available while HANDBOOK is loaded. The
available memory will vary from PC to PC. The
memory constraint may preclude the use of
larger Word Processors, such as WordStar,
WordPerfect and similar fare.
HANDBOOK has been tested with edlin, DOS 5.0
Edit, QEdit 2.1 and 2.15, vi (from MKS
Toolkit), and VDE (Video Display Editor)
1.62, all of which are acceptable.
HANDBOOK now includes an excellent ShareWare
Editor, VDE (Video Display Editor), which
must be registered with Eric Meyer if used.
Please read Mr. Meyer's documentation on disk
for operating and registration details.
"Video Mode" refers to the number of 80
character lines displayed on the monitor.
25x80 is available to all video hardware,
monochrome or color, and is the standard
mode most PCs run at startup.
43x80 is available with EGA and VGA
hardware, and has the advantage of
allowing the (V)iew feature to present a
Handbook as facing pages.
50x80 is only available with VGA hardware,
and offers the additional capability of
viewing an entire Mini Manual page on one
screen rather than in top and bottom
halves.
60x80 is also only available using VGA
hardware, and allows you to view a Letter
Layout page on a single screen. This is a
graphics mode and is considerably slower
to display than the other modes. Since
only one background color can be used at
one time, you may need to adjust your
display colors before using this mode. The
default colors have been changed to
accommodate this situation.
HANDBOOK should prevent you from selecting
extended video modes which your hardware does
not support. In any case, you MUST restrict
your selection to modes which are actually
usable on the video hardware you are using,
in order that HANDBOOK will not try to
display characters beyond the limits of the
visible screen.
"Video Attributes" refers to the colors and
bold and blink attributes assigned to various
parts of the HANDBOOK display. Use the arrow
keys to move the brackets or highlight to the
attribute you want to change, then use
function keys F1 to F8 to select foreground
and background colors, and F9 and F10 to
toggle foreground bold and blink attributes.
When using monochrome video adapters,
selecting colors and attributes will have no
effect.
If a color adapter is used with a monochrome
display, you may be able to adjust grey scale
attributes using this routine.
In 60x80 mode, the background color is
restricted to a single color for the entire
screen. In this mode, the background color
for normal text is used for all background
attributes, regardless of the other
selections.
Running HANDBOOK is not very difficult, and
the best way to learn how is simply to get
started.
.h2 Entering Handbook Text
Select (E)dit from the Main Menu to edit the
current Handbook data file.
If you want to begin a new Handbook data file
you must first select (C)onfigure from the
Main Menu, then select (T)ext file from the
Configure Menu. Next, select "New File" from
the list of data files and enter a valid file
name when prompted. It is not necessary to
enter the file extension, ".HBK". The new
data file will be created on the data drive
and assigned as the current Handbook data
file.
Prior to version 1.20, both Handbook Layout
and Mini-Manual Layout used 36 lines and
columns per page. Mini-Manual Layout has been
expanded to 46 lines and columns to make
better use of the larger page. (Thanks to
Richard Scott for this suggestion...)
Letter Layout was added in version 1.36, and
uses the entire 8.5" x 11" letter size sheet
for each page. Letter Layout uses 66 columns
per line and 56 lines per page, including
headers and the page number.
Use the ASCII, or NON-document mode of a word
processor when entering your Handbook text.
HANDBOOK has been tested using several
editors, including WordStar, PC Write, VDE,
QEdit, and MSDOS 5.0 Edit, all of which are
equally sufficient.
Current versions of several popular word
processors may require more memory to run
than is available within the HANDBOOK
environment. If this is the case with your
editor of choice, you can still use it by
exiting HANDBOOK and running the editor from
the DOS prompt.
If you force HANDBOOK to process a word
processor format file such as those normally
produced by WordStar or WordPerfect, and
especially if picture graphics are used, the
resulting Handbook will most likely be
unusable. You should expect similar results
with most other special word processor file
formats. Stay with ASCII, DOS Text,
NON-document, or a similar mode.
HANDBOOK can print many of the graphics
CHARACTERS such as those used to draw menu
boxes on the monitor screen, if the printer
supports the IBM PC extended character set
without translation. Most late model dot
matrix printers can print some of these
characters, especially if the printer can
emulate the IBM ProPrinter. All supported
printers can print these characters in
Landscape Mode.
However, graphics characters below ASCII 32
(20 hex), the space character, must be
removed by HANDBOOK's filter routine. Even
though these characters can display properly
as graphics characters, they are interpreted
as control characters by the vast majority of
printers and not only do not print what you
might expect but often send the printer into
unusual operating modes at inopportune times.
You can enter extremely long lines, and
HANDBOOK will wrap the words to the next
lines, but you'll probably get more
predictable results if you enter your text
just as you want it to appear.
A Handbook need not take advantage of any
advanced features in order to be useful,
especially if it is quite short, for example
a two or three page list of phone numbers.
However, if your Handbook text file is larger
than ten kilobytes in size, adding headers,
subheaders, and an accompanying alphabetical
index may be desirable.
.h2 Formatting Handbook Text
All special formatting features are
controlled with "dot" commands, similar to
those used with WordStar. HANDBOOK uses dot
commands to control headers, indexing, page
breaks, blank lines, and several additional
features. All dot commands begin with a
period (.) in column one, have two specific
characters, either upper or lower case, in
columns two and three, and may accept a
parameter starting after column three.
The valid dot commands are:
.bl Leave a line blank
.bl # Leave a block of # lines blank.
Start a new page if less than #
lines left on the current page.
.h1 [text] Start a new page, using [text] as
the header at the top. If room,
print [text] double width and
centered. Create a major index
entry of [text]. Leave one line
blank under [text].
.h2 [text] Start a new page only if less
than 6 lines left on current
page. Otherwise leave one line
blank, print [text] centered, and
leave another line blank. Create
a minor index entry with [text].
.ca Insert a six-month calendar
starting on a new page, using the
system date to determine the
first month. Create a major index
entry for the calendar.
.ca mm-dd-yyyy Insert a six-month calendar
starting on a new page, using
mm-dd-yyyy to determine the
first month.
.ca prompt Prompt for valid calendar
starting date.
.cm # Reduces the number of months
printed per page by the .ca
(Calendar) command. Valid numbers
are 3 or 4 for Mini- Manual
Layout, and 3, 4, or 5 for
Letter.
.cp # Set the number of Calendar pages
to print. The default is two. In
Handbook Layout, three months per
page are printed; in Mini-Manual,
the default is four; and in
Letter, the default is five.
Note that it is possible, though
unlikely, for the page number to
not print if the calendar is
extremely long. If the calendar
on one page is long enough to
extend to the next page, through
some quirk of Gregorian Calendar
Physics, you must select a
different starting month or use
the .cm command to set the number
of months per page to a lower
number.
.dt Insert current system date. Handy
for documenting a Handbook
printing date.
.dw If room, print header (.h1) text
using double width characters.
.ix [text] Create a major index entry with
[text].
.mn # Set Minimum Number of "NOTES"
pages added after the index.
Valid numbers are 0 to 20.
.ni Suppress the INDEX completely.
Headers will be printed normally,
however, no index is generated.
.no Insert "NOTES" page.
.ns Do NOT sort index. (Handy for
Roman Numerals)
.pa Start a new page
.pa # Start a new page if less than #
lines left on the current page.
.pn # Sets the initial page number for
the Handbook. This must be at the
start of the Handbook text file
being processed. It will have no
effect if encountered after
processing the first page.
.qu Suppresses the "advertisement" on
the final "NOTES" page.
.sw Print header (.h1) text using
single width characters.
.ta # Set Horizontal Tab interval to 2,
4, or 8 column intervals. A
parameter other than 2, 4, or 8
leaves the interval unchanged.
.wi # Set Word Wrap Indentation to #.
The default is 2, and the valid
range is from zero to one third
of the page width. An invalid
parameter has no effect.
.. [text] Comment, not processed. Also,
illegal dot commands are treated
as comments and the entire line
will be ignored.
.h2 Index
The index is sorted by .h1 entries, keeping
the .h2 entries in a group under the.h1 entry
immediately preceding them.
The idea with this type of index is to use
broad descriptive names or titles as .h1
text, while using more pertinent labels as
the .h2 text.
This will produce an index in which it is
relatively easy to locate a topic, under
which several specific items are indexed.
Index entries created using .ix are sorted as
a major index entry with no group of minor
entries.
Use of the .ns (no sort) command anywhere in
the Handbook file disables the sorting of the
index for that file.
The index can be completely disabled by
including .ni at the start of the Handbook
file.
.h2 Notes Pages
HANDBOOK appends from zero to as many as
twenty three "NOTES" pages after the index
has been processed. The default minimum
number of "NOTES" pages is three, which can
be changed to any value from zero to twenty
using the minimum notes (.mn) command.
Additional "NOTES" pages may be appended in
Handbook Layout or Mini-Manual Landscape mode
to ensure that a bindable number of pages is
printed.
.h2 Suggestion...
Try printing the sample Handbook text using
HANDBOOK and again with the command, "COPY
SAMPLE.HBK PRN", to compare the dot commands
with their results. Extremely long lines were
used in that file to allow it to fill to the
margins in either Handbook, Mini-Manual, or
Letter Layout.
.h2 Viewing the Handbook
(V)iew provides an opportunity to preview
what will actually print on each page BEFORE
printing. View uses text video modes, and
does not require graphics capability, however
HANDBOOK can take advantage of EGA and VGA
extended text modes if they are available.
In viewing a Handbook using a standard 25
line video mode, each page is presented on a
single screen, the top half on the left, the
bottom to the right. In EGA 43 line, or in
VGA 50 or 60 line modes, the Handbook pages
are shown as facing pages.
In standard 25 line and EGA 43 line modes,
Mini Manual pages are split between two
screens, each showing half the printed page.
When VGA 50 line mode is used, the entire
page is shown on one screen.
Letter Layout pages are split between two or
three screens unless VGA 60 line mode is
used.
Press PageDn to view the Next page, or PageUp
to view the Previous one.
View the First or Last page by pressing
"Home" or "End", respectively.
To view a particular page, enter the page
number and press Enter.
When viewing a Mini Manual in 25 row or 43
row modes, either the (T)op or (B)ottom half
of the page can be displayed. When a new page
is selected, the top half of the page is
displayed first. View the bottom half by
pressing "B".
Letter Layout can be viewed one full page per
screen only when using VGA 60x80 mode. In
25x80 mode, select (T)op, (C)enter, or
(B)ottom to view the entire page in thirds.
In 43x80 and 50x80 modes, (T)op and (B)ottom
are used to display the page in halves.
Press "S" to (S)earch for text, selecting any
combination of (G)lobal, (I)gnore case, and
(B)ackward search parameters to make the
search more versatile.
With no parameters, the search begins on the
NEXT page, proceeds to the END of the
Handbook, and IS cAsE SensItiVe.
(B)ackward causes the search to begin on the
PREVIOUS page and proceed toward the First
page.
(G)lobal causes the search to start with the
First or Last page depending on whether the
(B)ackward parameter is also specified.
(I)gnore case means that Upper and Lower case
letters are treated alike.
Abort a search by pressing the Escape key.
The search text and parameters entered are
remembered, unless the search is aborted
using Escape. This allows successive similar
searches without having to do a lot of
retyping.
To change the search text or a parameter,
delete the character to the left of the
cursor using Backspace, or Erase the entire
field with Control E (This means hold down
the "Control" key and press E, then release
both keys). Control D performs the same
function.
After the search is complete, a status line
will display the results of the search. If
the search is successful, the page on which
the text was found is displayed, with the
"found" text highlighted (Color) or in upper
case (Monochrome).
While browsing through the Handbook, if
search text happens to be found on the
displayed page, it will display highlighted
or in upper case.
Press "Esc" to return to the Main Menu.
.h2 Printing the Handbook
Select (P)rint All from the Main Menu to
print the entire Handbook, Mini Manual, or
Letter Layout book.
To print a page or range of pages, or to
print only the front or back half, select
Print (S)ome from the Main Menu, then (T)ag
the pages you want to print. This can be
handy to reprint a few pages without having
to reprint the entire document. Please note
that if the Handbook text file is edited and
then only a few pages are reprinted, then you
must be certain that the changes you made
have not affected additional untagged pages.
HANDBOOK is designed to simplify the tagging
process by automatically tagging (or
untagging) all the pages on a sheet when any
page on that sheet is selected. The exception
(there is ALWAYS an exception) is when the
(F)ront or (B)ack sides are tagged; in those
cases, all existing tags are reset.
I have found the (F)ront and (B)ack tagging
to be valuable when printing to a network
printer. In my particular case, the network
spooler does not release the print job until
the entire job is complete, and by tagging
the front side, the spooler prints the front
side as soon as Handbook returns to the Main
Menu. After I have inserted the paper to
print side two (the back side), the back side
is tagged and printed, the spooler again
releasing the print job as Handbook returns
to the main menu.
If you are tagging pages in a Very Large Text
File, the page number display may be divided
over several screens. You can view other
screens by using PageUp and PageDn, but you
can still tag pages without having their
numbers displayed on the current screen.
HANDBOOK is designed to print on both sides
of 8 1/2 x 11 inch paper, positioning the
printed pages so that they can be trimmed
from the sheet and bound using staples in the
case of a Handbook or Landscape mode Mini-
Manual, or punched for a loose leaf or spiral
binder for a Portrait mode Mini Manual or for
Letter Layout.
The paper normally must be fed through the
printer twice in order to print on both
sides. The notable exception is those H-P
LaserJet printers which support Duplex
printing, such as the IId and IIId models.
Handbook pages and Landscape mode Mini-Manual
pages are printed from the outside of the
Handbook to the center, and Portrait mode
Mini Manual and Letter Layout pages are
printed from the start of the Mini Manual to
the end.
When printing side two, the "back" side of
the paper, be sure to feed the paper in the
same direction as when side one, the "front"
side, was printed, so that the pages are in
the correct order for binding. Also, be sure
that the paper is turned over so the printing
is now done on the "back" side. Positioning
the paper can be a bit confusing. I should
know this program well enough to be able to
load paper correctly in my sleep, but I still
goof it up occasionally.
If you are using a LaserJet printer in Normal
(Simplex) mode or a cut sheet feeder, the
page order will have to be reversed before
reloading the pages in the cassette to print
side two.
For a LaserJet, the pages should be loaded
for side two with the blank side up and the
top of the page toward the rear of the
printer, the first page to be printed on the
top of the stacked sheets.
For a cut sheet feeder, the first page to be
printed must be on the top of the stack, the
blank side on the back, and the top of the
printed page at the bottom of the bin so that
the top edge of the printed page feeds
through the printer first.
Remove any "curl" the pages acquired during
the first pass through the printer to reduce
paper feed problems. Usually, pulling them
gently across the edge of a desk or rolling
them up into a tube in the other direction
with your hands is enough if you can do the
trick without making them curl the other way.
Plus (+) signs are printed alongside the
Handbook text to help determine where to cut,
fold (spindle, mutilate), and staple the
pages. When printing a Portrait mode Mini
Manual, a combination of minus (-), plus (+),
and vertical bar (|) signs are used to
outline the pages.
It may be necessary to adjust the horizontal
position of the paper slightly in order that
the printing on the front and back sides
align correctly. With most printers, a
position can be found where the paper does
not need to be adjusted horizontally between
printing the front and back sides. On the
C.Itoh and Epson printers used to test
HANDBOOK, that position causes the leftmost
plus signs to print 1/4 to 5/16 of an inch
from the edge of the paper.
The vertical position of the paper is
critical for a Handbook, less important for a
Mini Manual or for Letter Layout. For a
Handbook, the top and bottom margins of the
sheet should be equal. If you are using a
C.Itoh ProWriter or Draft printer, a set of
plus signs will print exactly over the
perforations between sheets when the vertical
alignment is correct.
Three short Handbook files, "hbkalign.hbk"
(one sheet), "minialgn.hbk" (two sheets), and
"letralgn.hbk" (two sheets) have been
included to help locate the proper starting
points for Handbook, Mini Manual, and Letter
Layout printing, respectively.
For cutting out the pages, the best tool I
have tried is a paper cutter, the sharper the
better.
For a Handbook, the paper should be cut
exactly in half horizontally, to that each
Handbook page is 5 1/2" high. If the paper
was positioned perfectly during printing, the
cut should go exactly through the horizontal
row of plus signs between sheet halves.
The side margins should be trimmed to be
equal. Since it is simplest to make as few
cuts as possible, I recommend that the left
margin NOT be trimmed to the plus signs.
Rather, extend the right margin a matching
distance past the right plus signs.
Next, stack the pages in order, starting with
page 1 face down on the left (you will then
be looking at page two and the second from
last page), separating pages still connected
by a perforation.
A cover the same size as the Handbook can be
cut from heavier, perhaps colored, paper to
protect the printed pages.
Insert two or three staples from the outside
of the Handbook or Portrait mode Mini-Manual
to bind it together. Be careful to center the
staples between the facing pages.
The final steps are to fold the Handbook or
Portrait mode Mini-Manual and, if necessary,
to trim the page edges a final time to make
them line up properly.
.h1 DETAILS
An MS-DOS service is used to determine how
many legal drives exist in the system. This
determines how many drives will be presented
as legal drives during configuration. Prior
to MS-DOS version 3, this service always
returned the proper number of drives.
However, beginning with MS-DOS version 3,
this service returns a value of five or the
value corresponding to the drive code
contained in the LASTDRIVE entry, if any, in
CONFIG.SYS. This means that if no LASTDRIVE
entry is used, HANDBOOK may erroneously
report that drives A: through E: exist, when
in fact there may be fewer or more. In any
event you should restrict your selection of a
drive to drives which actually exist, even
though more may be listed in the drive menu.
When you select "Draft Printer" and
"Handbook" Layout, you must, before you start
printing, set your printer for Pica
Compressed Pitch (17 characters per inch) and
Eight Lines Per Inch (1/8" linefeed). If you
cannot do this on your printer, then you
cannot properly print "Handbook" Layout. When
"Draft Printer" is selected, only text (NO
printer control codes) is sent to the
printer, forcing you to set the printer
manually before you start. Try it...
HANDBOOK 1.36 includes HBKSET.EXE, which
allows the knowledgeable and patient user to
modify the graphic mode fonts for the
dot-matrix printers and the control codes for
all the printers. If you need to use a
printer which is incompatible with any of the
supported printers, you may be able to modify
the printer parameter file to provide
"aftermarket" support. My suggestion is to
modify the "Draft Printer" parameter set,
since it is least likely to be missed. It is
essential that the entire parameter set,
including Printer Name and index characters,
not exceed 128 characters, or it will be
truncated. Please make a safe copy of the
original HANDBOOK.PRT file before starting
ANY modifications, since it is quite easy to
bring HANDBOOK to its knees if the parameter
file is incorrectly implemented, and somewhat
more difficult to recover from scratch. If
you successfully implement any additional
printers, please take a moment to send me a
copy of your modified HANDBOOK.PRT file.
Perhaps it can be added to a future version
of HANDBOOK.
A bug which prevents HANDBOOK from running on
a Leading Edge Model D computer and on a true
blue IBM PC has come to my attention. The
effect is that HANDBOOK apparently loads but
displays nothing, locking up the PC. Cold
boot time. On the Leading Edge, even a "do
nothing" QuickBASIC program locks up, however
the IBM will run some QuickBASIC programs.
I'm investigating this...
When HANDBOOK encounters, during the (P)rint
or (V)iew routines, an invalid date or the
word "Prompt" as a parameter to a .ca (insert
calendar) dot command, you will be prompted
to enter a valid date, press X <Enter> for no
calendar, or <Enter> alone for a calendar
based upon the current system date. If you
elect to enter a new date, you MUST (!) enter
the date in the format MM-DD-YYYY, INCLUDING
LEADING ZEROS. To change the date for
subsequent printing, you can use (R)eset from
the Main Menu to force HANDBOOK to reprocess
the Handbook text file.
If you use an editor which employs word wrap,
set the right margin to 35 (not 36) for a
Handbook, 45 (not 46) for a Mini Manual, or
55 (not 56) for Letter Layout. Many editors
leave the space character between words on
the end of each wrapped line, and HANDBOOK
will wrap any characters beyond column 36 (or
46 or 56) to the next line. This can result
in blank lines occasionally being inserted by
HANDBOOK for no apparent reason. HANDBOOK
could be designed to ignore trailing spaces,
but I have mixed feelings about programs that
think they're smarter than the typist. I am
open for suggestions on this one...
Having invested many hours in fighting to use
a non-compatible computer in what often
appears to be a PC-compatible world, I had,
in versions prior to 1.25, reduced HANDBOOK's
dependence on full compatibility by
restricting all screen and keyboard I/O to
MS/PC-DOS and ROM-Bios services. This did, at
least, allow a Microsoft QuickBASIC 4.5
application to be developed on my absolutely
non-compatible NCR Decision Mate V PC.
The price paid for this concession to non
compatibility was a noticeable slowing of the
display and a considerably larger executable
program file containing the additional I/O
functions. With the addition of the (V)iew
feature in version 1.22, the slow display
became more noticeable, and the (V)iew
routines pushed the program size toward large
and unwieldy.
Both problems were addressed in part by
returning to internal BASIC I/O at the
expense of being able to run HANDBOOK on
almost compatible PCs; BIOS compatibility is
no longer sufficient.
I became a bit frustrated during the
development of HANDBOOK version 1.29.
HANDBOOK also had finally gotten to the size
where it would no longer compile within the
QuickBASIC environment, and in fact would
compile externally only if additional options
were employed, even so having only a hundred
bytes or so free. For the moment, this
irritation has been addressed by moving the
Help Text and Configure routines to external
files, a solution I had hoped to avoid. I
prefer that HANDBOOK not become a disk hungry
system of modules and overlays in the style
of so many other programs of recent release.
Later, while Duplex mode print routines were
being added, HANDBOOK again ran into the
wall, and the print routines were moved to an
external module, also. Adding Letter Layout
almost got it there again, but not quite.
The idea of rewriting HANDBOOK in C or C++ is
therefore still being kicked around. This may
allow a more efficient use of memory, faster
operation, and provide a smaller executable
file.
.h1 SHAREWARE
HANDBOOK is NOT in the public domain and it
is NOT free.
HANDBOOK is the Copyrighted Property of The
Nit Orchard, and all rights are reserved
exclusively to The Nit Orchard.
If you are in the business of acquiring
software and then attempting to restrict
further distribution of that software, then
you are cautioned that HANDBOOK is NOT
available for such acquisition and/or
restriction.
HANDBOOK is being released under the
"ShareWare" concept.
ShareWare is unique in that you have a
reasonable time in which to "test drive" a
program before paying for it. If you decide
to use the program on a regular basis, you
are expected to pay a "Licensing Fee" or
"Registration Fee" to the author. The
licensing fee is usually less than $50 and is
almost never over $100.
This compares very favorably with purchasing
a program in your favorite store for a large
sum of hard-earned plastic credit, with no
recourse if the program turns out to be
unsuited for your application. In that event,
you are out the purchase price, perhaps
several hundreds of dollars.
With ShareWare, you are out NOTHING with the
possible exception of a few bucks' shipping
if you paid somebody to send you a copy.
It has been my experience that few people
actually pay ShareWare licensing fees, the
rationale being that nobody needs to pay for
something they already have. I think that the
tendency to fail to pay for ShareWare may
herald the ultimate undoing of ShareWare
distribution. If ya don't use it, ya lose
it...
ShareWare has the potential to provide
quality programs at very low cost compared to
the prices charged by many large software
publishers.
This seems a good idea. It can do no less
than force large software publishers to
reduce their prices to reasonably competitive
levels. We can look at advertisements in
nearly any computer magazine and see that
there are some very nice software packages
available, at very attractive prices.
Only a few years ago, this was not the case.
I paid well over $100 for a GW-BASIC
interpreter, and another $150 for a GW-BASIC
compiler, both of which were riddled with
bugs. I also paid over $300 for P-System, but
I digress...
Compare that situation with a package like
Borland's Turbo-Whatever or Microsoft's
QuickBASIC, to mention only some, most of
which are available from many sources for
under $100, and which are far superior
programming environments in comparison to
GW-BASIC.
Certainly ShareWare is not the only factor
affecting software prices over the last few
years, yet it IS a factor, and software would
not be available so reasonably today had not
there been steady pressure to reduce prices
in competition with ShareWare.
The reason for this lengthy prose is to
encourage you to PAY for ShareWare, not only
this program, but all programs that you use.
If few users pay for ShareWare, an author has
far less incentive to continue to develop
enhancements and improvements to existing
software, or to begin the development of new
software.
So, by paying for ShareWare, you send the
author a clear message: "This is a worthwhile
program. Keep working on those upgrades."
I think the ShareWare concept is an important
one to support, and the asking price of
HANDBOOK is beyond a shadow of a doubt
reasonable. If you find HANDBOOK useful
enough to use regularly, then you should pay
for it.
If you wish to use HANDBOOK without paying
for it, then you certainly can do so, though
with my express disapproval. You will have
only yourself to answer to.
In the case of HANDBOOK, which can be
registered for as little as FIVE DOLLARS,
THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO EXCUSE TO NOT PAY FOR
IT if you use it regularly. Certainly, FIVE
DOLLARS is not too much to pay for any useful
program.
.h1 LICENSING AND MARKETING
If you use HANDBOOK, or a document you
produce using HANDBOOK, on a regular basis,
then you are responsible for voluntarily
paying a licensing fee described in detail
below, to:
The Nit Orchard
2225 Desert Drive
Las Cruces, NM 88001
There are four ways to license HANDBOOK:
You can use the enclosed INVOICE.TXT file to
print a registration form.
Send your Name and Address, and...
1. Send a FIVE dollar licensing fee. Your
name will be added to a list of registered
users, and The Nit Orchard will respond to
correspondence or questions on HANDBOOK. Your
conscience will be clear...
2. Send a FIFTEEN dollar licensing fee. The
Nit Orchard will, in addition to the above,
mail you printed documentation and the latest
version of HANDBOOK on 5- 1/4" or 3-1/2"
diskette. We will also notify you in writing
of the next two major revisions of HANDBOOK,
which you may request for a ten dollar
handling fee.
3. Send a THIRTY dollar licensing fee. The
Nit Orchard will mail the latest version of
HANDBOOK, as above, and will also mail the
next two major revisions of HANDBOOK without
waiting for your request, and free of any
additional handling fee.
4. Site licenses are available. Please write
to The Nit Orchard for details.
HANDBOOK is available by mail directly from
The Nit Orchard using either the FIFTEEN or
THIRTY dollar licensing options above.
Please address your request to:
The Nit Orchard
2225 Desert Drive
Las Cruces, NM 88001
PRICES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.
HANDBOOK may be available for downloading
from Bulletin Board Systems. Look for a file
called HNDBKnnn.EXE, HNDBKnnn.ZIP,
HNDBKnnn.ZOO, etc, where nnn is the version
number.
Some Shareware Suppliers have included
HANDBOOK in their offerings. You should be
aware that The Nit Orchard receives no part
of the fee you may pay these suppliers, and
that you should still license HANDBOOK with
The Nit Orchard if you use it accordingly.
.h1 PACKAGING
HANDBOOK consists of the following files:
HANDBOOK.EXE The HANDBOOK Program
HBKCFG .EXE The Configuration Program
HBKPRT .EXE The Print Program
HANDBOOK.PRT The Printer Command Parameter
file.
ITOH .FNT, EPMX .FNT, IBM .FNT
Fonts for the dot-matrix
printers in Landscape Mode.
HANDBOOK.HLP Help Text displayed by
HANDBOOK
HANDBOOK.TXT This documentation To Print:
COPY HANDBOOK.TXT PRN
SAMPLE .HBK A sample Handbook text file
demonstrating most features
HBKALIGN.HBK A short (one sheet) Handbook
text file to help align paper
for Handbook Layout.
LETRALGN.HBK A two sheet Handbook text
file to assist in alignment
of paper for Letter Layout.
MINIALGN.HBK A two sheet Handbook text
file to assist in alignment
of paper for Mini Manual
Layout.
CHARTEST.HBK Contains the IBM extended
character set. Can be used to
determine if your printer can
use those characters. These
characters are built into the
Landscape font files.
HBKSET .EXE A barebones utility which was
written primarily to expedite
the creation of the font
files and HANDBOOK.PRT. Used
carefully, it can allow the
support of printers which do
not conform to the standards
already supported by
HANDBOOK.
INVOICE .TXT A HANDY REGISTRATION FORM FOR
HANDBOOK.
HANDBOOK is also distributed electronically
as a self-extracting library, HNDBKnnn.EXE,
where nnn is the version number. When
HNDBKnnn.EXE is run, it creates the files
named above.
The reason for distributing HANDBOOK
electronically in this manner is that it is
much simpler to back up one file and keep
track of it than three.
Another consideration is that during the
library process, the member files are
compressed significantly, so less disk space
is required to back up a library than the
individual files.
Bulletin Board System operators generally
keep files in compressed library format to
conserve disk space and to reduce expensive
transmission time, as well.
If you want to upload this program to a
Bulletin Board System, you should upload only
the library, to make life easier for the
SysOp.
.h1 FINE PRINT
NCR and Decision Mate V are registered
trademarks of NCR Corporation, and/or AT&T.
IBM is a registered trademark of IBM
Corporation.
QuickBASIC, GW-BASIC, and Microsoft are
registered trademarks of Microsoft.
WordStar is a registered trademark of
WordStar Corporation and/or MicroPro
International.
WordPerfect is a registered trademark of
WordPerfect Corporation.
Borland and Turbo-BASIC (and Turbo Everything
Else) are registered trademarks of Borland
International.
LaserJet and Hewlett Packard are registered
trademarks of Hewlett Packard.
Qedit is a registered trademark of SemWare.
PC Write is a registered trademark of
QuickSoft.
VDE (Video Display Editor) is the copyrighted
property of Eric Meyer.
All other trademarks are owned by their
respective companies.
The Nit Orchard makes no representations or
warranties with respect to HANDBOOK and the
contents hereof and specifically disclaims
any implied warranties of merchantability or
fitness for any particular purpose. Further,
The Nit Orchard reserves the right to revise
this publication and to make changes from
time to time in the content hereof without
obligation to notify any person or
organization of such revisions or changes.
The HANDBOOK software and documentation is
provided AS IS and without warranty as to
performance. While The Nit Orchard firmly
believes this to be a high quality product,
and has run extensive tests to ascertain just
that, the USER MUST ASSUME ALL RISKS OF USING
THIS PROGRAM.
.h1 SUPPORT
<whew...>
Having said all that legal stuff, I should
let you know where I stand with reference to
HANDBOOK.
It is my intention to continue to upgrade
HANDBOOK to correct bugs and to be responsive
to users who may have questions, criticisms,
compliments, or whatever. I do, however,
maintain a record of LICENSED USERS, and will
handle correspondence with LICENSED USERS
before any other.
When a program such as HANDBOOK is released,
the author has to make a decision as to
whether further support is intended. If not,
then the program should be released to the
public domain so that others can modify and
improve the program as suits their needs or
fancy. If the author intends to retain rights
to and control of the program, then further
support is an automatic moral, though not
legal, obligation.
HANDBOOK, including all source code,
executable program code, and documentation is
the copyrighted property of The Nit Orchard.
All rights to and control of HANDBOOK are
reserved by The Nit Orchard, and that
morally, though not legally, obligates The
Nit Orchard to a minimum of support.
I admit to having mixed feelings about
supporting HANDBOOK. While I want it to be
bug-free and for users to be able to run it
with confidence, I don't want to be married
to it. My wife objects. So, supporting
HANDBOOK is hereby limited to part-time
status.
HANDBOOK is a pretty good program, a reliable
and predictable performer, and will probably
require very little support in any case.
(Famous last words...)
When you license your copy, please take time
to include a note letting me know what you
think of HANDBOOK, with a mention of problems
encountered and any suggestions for
improvement.
If, on the other hand, you think HANDBOOK
stinks and you have no intention of using it,
then of course you won't license it, either.
I would still like to hear from you to find
out why HANDBOOK was so inappropriate for
your use, in order that I can attempt to
improve this and other programs and make them
better products in the future.
Thanks for giving HANDBOOK a try.
.h1 PROGRAM HISTORY
1.00 Initial Release
1.01 Fixed problem in Epson pitch control
string
Removed delay routine
1.02 Replaced ANSI.SYS screen controls
with ROM-Bios video services.
Speeded up displays.
Added option to change default data
file name.
Added option to restore default
configuration.
Added character filter to remove
unwanted control characters from
processed text.
Added Key Buffer Flush routine to
reduce the effects of key (or finger)
bounce.
1.03 Added error trap to prevent printer
failures from crashing HANDBOOK.
1.04 Improved operator interface in
selecting drives and files.
1.05 Changed default data file name to
"SAMPLE.HBK".
1.06 Added error trap for recovery from
disk errors.
Removed "Beep" routine by popular
demand...
1.07 Added Calendar feature
1.08 Changed Calendar routine to allow
recovery when an invalid date is
entered.
1.09 Added extended error trap
1.10 Enabled Handbook format with draft
printer
1.11 Minor change to work file progress
messages
1.12 Changed file deletion routine
1.13 Added .no (Insert NOTES page) command
1.14* Changed "Save" to "Save and exit"
Minor change to progress messages
1.15 Fixed bug that caused early exit from
Configure Menu
1.16 Added abort if nothing in .HBK file
1.17 Cosmetic change to source code only
1.18 Added Hewlett-Packard Laserjet Series
II support
1.19 Fixed bug introduced in v1.18
calendar
1.20 Changed Mini-Manual Layout to 46
lines by 46 columns
1.21* Added word wrap for long headers
Added .dt (insert current system
date) command
Added support for IBM Proprinter
Added .ta (tab interval) command
Added .wi (wrap indent) command
1.22 Added .ns (no sort) command
Added .sw (single width) command for
.h1 text
Added .dw (double width) command for
.h1 text
Added View feature
Added .mn (minimum notes) command,
range 0 to 20
1.23 Added "Search" to View feature
Changed .mn command range to 1 to 20
1.24 Added 43x80, 50x80, and 60x80 screen
support
Changed Handbook view to facing pages
for extended screens
1.25 Changed most BIOS screen I/O to
internal BASIC I/O
Speeded up displays
Reduced size of executable program
file
1.26 Added (E)dit to Main Menu
Added (E)ditor name to Configure Menu
Removed 60x80 screen support (caused
problems with most editors)
Added Calendar entry to index
Fixed bug in Index Sort routine
1.27 Fixed bug in manual date entry
routine
1.28 Improved Help Screen display routines
Moved Help Text to external formatted
file
Changed (N)ext, (P)revious, etc, to
PageDn, PageUp, etc.
1.29 Added Color and Borders
1.30 Moved Configure routines to external
program
Added Display Attribute configuration
routine
1.31* Fixed bug in monochrome display
routines
Added /m and /c command line
parameters to override automatic
monochrome or color operation
1.32 Fixed bug in Notes and Index headers
Improved scrolling of help text
Fixed video mode bug in configuration
module
Now include Shareware editor VDE
(Video Display Editor) Note: VDE must
be licensed separately with Eric
Meyer if used.
1.33 Added .qu (Quiet) command to suppress
message on last page.
Revised .mn (Minimum Notes) command
to allow 0 - 20 NOTES pages added
after Index. Since a Handbook or
Landscape mode Mini-Manual requires a
bindable number of pages (divisible
by 4), .mn will be overridden if
necessary.
Added .ni (No Index) command to
suppress the Index.
Added Configuration Status box to
Main Menu screen.
Added Landscape print mode support
for H-P LaserJet printers.
Added Duplex (double-sided print)
mode support for H-P LaserJet IId and
IIId printers.
Added (R)eset choice to Main Menu.
This deletes any current work files
and forces the Handbook text file to
be reprocessed. This allows you to
select a new manually entered
calendar date between print jobs.
1.34 Moved Print routines to separate
modules.
1.35 Combined Print routines into single
external module.
Added .pn (Set initial page number)
command.
Added Print (S)ome to Main Menu. This
allows you to reprint a page or range
of pages without having to reprint
the entire Handbook.
1.36* Added Letter Layout (8.5 x 11).
Added 60x80 VGA mode to support
Letter Layout.
Modified .ca (Calendar) to print a
default of four months per
Mini-Manual page, and five months per
Letter Layout page.
Added .cm (Calendar Months per page)
command to adjust the number of
months per calendar page for the best
fit.
Added Landscape Mode for dot-matrix
printers.
Added HBKSET utility.
.h1 FUTURE PLANS
Development of HANDBOOK came to a temporary
halt early in 1990, for several reasons. I
was out of town on business for four months
starting in January, and in late May started
a new job which has occupied a great deal of
time. Finally, in September I returned to
College after an absence of nearly twenty
years to complete the requirements for a
degree in Computer Science. In December, my
department began a project which resulted in
my kids asking if, not when, I was coming
home from work. Fortunately this project is
complete and we are back to a normal rat
race.
All these things contributed to my shelving
HANDBOOK, but what made it easy was that
since it was initially released only a
handful of people had ever registered (or
criticized) the program, most of those
members of a local computer club. It appeared
that HANDBOOK was not being received well and
that there was little reason to improve
HANDBOOK beyond the basic capability which I
still used regularly.
More recently, HANDBOOK has been discovered,
kind of, and we have received some more
registrations and requests for upgrades. I
have therefore decided to dig back into it
and add some requested features plus a few I
wish I had thought of earlier.
As the previous version was being readied for
delivery, several users asked for additional
features within HANDBOOK. In some cases they
are probably beyond the scope of a $5
shareware program, but many have been
implemented.
I am considering a "Signature" mode in which
the Handbook is printed in 16-page booklets.
This is a suggestion from Evelyn Stewart, of
Milford, New Jersey, and in her words, near
as I recall, "...would allow some serious
bookbinding".
.h1 IN CLOSING...
I hope that HANDBOOK is as useful for you as
it has already been for myself and others,
and that it becomes one of those "handy
little programs" that keep getting used again
and again. I think that that hope is how
these things get written in the first
place...
I wish to thank those of you who have
registered your copies of HANDBOOK, and all
of you who provided constructive criticism of
the program in addition to letting me know
what is right with it.
The original idea for this program, and its
first implementation, is credited to Tony
Vasilakis, who needed a tiny phone list to
shove in his pocket for easy reference.
Pete Cosman expanded the phone list into
NOTEBOOK, coding in Microsoft MBASIC on an
NCR Decision Mate V PC under CP/M-80.
HANDBOOK is a complete rewrite of NOTEBOOK,
with many enhancements, and is implemented
under Microsoft QuickBASIC 4.5 with some help
from Microsoft Macro Assembler 5.1, running
under MS/PC-DOS 2.11 and above.
It is axiomatic that programmers should never
be permitted to produce their own
documentation. Several previous versions of
HANDBOOK provided a few pages of useful
instructions, and twenty or so of general
"grumble, grunt, and snort", or words to that
effect. I hope that the documentation is now
more useful. My sincere thanks to Evelyn
Stewart of Milford, New Jersey, for her
pertinent comments.
Special and Continuing Thanks to Richard
Scott, of Hobbs, New Mexico, for your
constructive criticism, and your consistently
excellent and valuable help. And thanks for
helping me through those first stumbling
trials when my Decision Mate V was new and
all I knew about computers was how to play
Adventure...
Again, thanks for giving HANDBOOK a try.
Chuck Sterling
The Nit Picker...