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P5HLP000.TIP
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PowerBase *.* Quick Key Reference (PgDn for Manual)
Window Manipulation Extracting and printing
------------------- -----------------------
Alt-F3 Close window Alt-F Listing(s) to file
F5 Zoom window Alt-P Print tip
Ctrl-F5 Move/Resize window
F6 Next window Finding Tips
Alt-C Cascade windows ------------
Alt-T Tile windows Alt-D Database tips
Alt-1..9 Jump to window Alt-O DOS tips
Alt-S Spreadsheet tips
Scrolling Alt-W Wordprocessor tips
--------- Alt-M Miscellaneous tips
PgDn Next page
PgUp Previous page Miscellaneous
Arrows Move up, down, etc. -------------
Ctrl-PgDn Bottom of file F1 or Alt-H Help
Ctrl-PgUp Top of File F10 Menus
Home/End Start/End of line Alt-X Exit
How to Use the PowerBase *.* Desktop
The PowerBase *.* Desktop is a fully mouseable, text-based
user interface with pulldown menus, hot keys, and sizeable,
scrollable windows. If you're not already familiar with this
type of interface, the following instructions will help you
get acquainted.
Choosing a Tip
After the opening dialogue, the PowerBase *.* Desktop
starts with the menu of DOS tips pulled down. If you're
using the mouse, you can select a tip from this menu or pick
another menu by clicking a category name on the menu bar. If
you're using the keyboard, use the arrow keys to move among
the menus. Hit Enter while a tip's name is highlighted to
see that tip. There are two "immediate" items on the menu
bar -- Help! and Exit! -- that don't have pulldown menus
beneath them. The exclamation points indicate that if you
select one of these items, it performs a function
immediately.
Reading a Tip
If you're using the mouse, you can use the scroll bars on
the right side and bottom of the window to move through the
text. If you're using the keyboard, you can use the arrow,
PgUp, and PgDn keys to do the same. Ctrl-PgDn takes you to
the end of the file, while Ctrl-PgUp takes you to the
beginning. You may wish to practice using these keys while
you're still in this help window.
Moving Between Windows
The PowerBase *.* Desktop allows you to open several tip
files at once -- or open the same tip more than once to view
two sections simultaneously. You may open as many as 9
windows, not counting the help window.
If you're using the mouse, moving from one window to another
is easy. Simply click the mouse on any portion of any
window, and it will come to the front and become the current
window. To bring each open window to the front in turn with
the mouse, click on "F6 Next" on the status line at the
bottom of the screen.
If you're using the keyboard, you can gain immediate access
to any specific window. Simply press Alt plus a number key
(on the top row of the keyboard, not on the numeric pad) to
move to the window with that number in the upper right-hand
corner. (Alt-H or F1 brings the help window to the front, or
opens it if it is not already open.) If you want to leaf
through the windows on your screen, the F6 (Next) key will
take you to each in turn, round-robin fashion.
Resizing and Rearranging Windows
To move a window with the mouse, drag it by its top border
to a new position. To resize a window using the mouse, drag
the lower right-hand corner until the window is the size you
want. If you don't have a mouse, press Ctrl-F5 to enter
Move/Resize mode. In this mode, you can use the arrow keys
to move the window. Shifted arrow keys (that is, arrow keys
pressed while you're holding down a shift key) resize the
window. When you're done moving and resizing the window,
press Esc to return to normal operation.
The F5 (Zoom) key grows a window to the full size of the
screen; hitting F5 restores it to its original size. You can
achieve the same effect by clicking the mouse on the "zoom
button" -- the arrow-shaped control in the upper right-hand
corner of each tip window. You can also zoom and unzoom a
window by double-clicking its top border with the mouse or
by clicking on "F5 Zoom" on the status line.
If you have more than one window open, and would like to see
all of them neatly arranged on the desktop, you can press
Alt-T to tile the windows or Alt-C to cascade them. These
commands are disabled if you don't have at least two windows
open.
Closing Windows
To close a window, click on the close button -- the box-like
control in the upper left-hand corner of the window. If you
don't have a mouse, Alt-F3 performs the same function.
Leaving the program
To leave the PowerBase *.* Desktop, press Alt-X. You can
also click the mouse on the Exit! item on the menu bar to
exit the program.
Printing a Tip
You can send a copy of the tip in the current window to your
printer by pressing Alt-P. The printing routine sends a
formfeed character after the last page of text for your
convenience. If you have a laser printer, this guarantees
that the last page will be ejected. However, if you have one
of the very few printers that do not respond to formfeeds,
you'll need to remove the last page by hand.
Incidentally, the PowerBase *.* Desktop software considers
this help file to be a tip, so the Alt-P command works on it
as well. If you'd like a printed copy of these instructions,
including the Quick Key Reference, try pressing Alt-P now.
Extracting a Listing
Some of the tips in this collection are accompanied by
listings that you may want to use as the basis for your own
work. To copy one of these listings (which are marked off by
lines saying BEGIN LISTING and END LISTING) to a file, press
Alt-F. You'll be given an opportunity to select a path for
the file. If you are about to overwrite an existing file,
you'll be given a chance to change your mind before the
write is performed. Note that this command saves ONLY THE
LISTING to a file, not the whole tip.
To Skip the Opening Graphic
The opening graphic is normally displayed for four seconds.
If you don't want to wait that long, you can proceed to the
Desktop more quickly by pressing a key. If you have an
unusual or incompatible graphics adapter that does not
display the opening graphic properly, or don't want the
graphic to be shown even for an instant, place the parameter
"+n" on the command line.
About the Tips In This Collection
All the tips in PowerBase *.* Volume 5 appeared in the *.*
and Dialog Box columns of PC World between January and
December of 1992. They were updated, corrected, re-edited
for disk, and converted to executable and
application-specific file formats by Brett Glass.
How This Program Was Written
The PowerBase *.* Desktop was written in Turbo Pascal.
Borland International's Turbo Vision, an object-oriented
text-based application framework, was used to build the user
interface. The opening graphics use the BGI (Borland
Graphics Interface) bitmap and font routines, also included
with Turbo Pascal. The 3-dimensional PC World and PowerBase
*.* logos were created in CorelDraw and scaled for EGA, CGA
and Hercules graphics adapters using ZSoft's PhotoFinish.
They were then converted from PCX to BGI format using
hand-written Turbo Pascal graphics translation and color
mapping programs.
<BG>
Title: PowerBase *.* Volume 5 Help
Category: HLP
Issue date: N/A
Editor: Brett Glass
Supplementary files: NONE