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Software Vault: The Gold Collection
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Software Vault - The Gold Collection (American Databankers) (1993).ISO
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cdr26
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pwrutls2.zip
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README
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1993-06-03
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14KB
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317 lines
INTRODUCTION
------------
Congratulations! As a new or renewing PC/Computing subscriber,
we've sent you the all new, state-of-the-art PC/Computing
Utilities never before available in diskette form, complete with
their own handy, self-documenting, user-friendly shell program.
Now, instead of having to rely on the somewhat cryptic
filenames, or pages of a printed manual, simply call up
Michael J. Mefford's incredible shell by typing PCCx (where
x=the Utilities volume number)! The program names and their
descriptions and documentation are all right there on the screen.
Once you've chosen a utility and read about how it works, press
enter, type in any appropriate parameters, and hit enter again.
The utility will execute, and any key will return you to the
PCC shell.
We think this innovative presentation will allow you to get even
more use out of "the utilities that DOS forgot." Print out this
file and read it once to know all you need to know. Most of you
will find PCC1.COM a great program just the way it is. The more
enterprising among you will want to create your own custom
versions of the shell using PCCNDX.COM (see below). And press
F2 at any time while within the shell to see how you can log onto
ZiffNet, PC/Computing's interactive reader service.
BACKUP
------
Before you do anything else, make a backup copy of this disk.
The PCCNDX.COM program on this disk is capable of altering the
PCC1 shell program. Having a backup copy will insure that you
can always retrieve the original program files. To make a
backup, place an empty formatted disk in drive B:, put this
disk in drive A: and enter:
COPY A:\*.* B:
This will create an exact duplicate of this disk, that will now
be in your B: drive.
*****************************************************************
PRINT THIS FILE
---------------
To print a copy of this README file, turn on your printer and
enter:
COPY A:\README PRN
*****************************************************************
INSTALL
-------
To install the programs from this disk onto a hard disk, create
a directory and then copy all the files to the new directory. We
suggest that you use a directory named PCC, but you can use
any name that suits you. If you are going to install the disk on
drive C:, for example, and this floppy disk is in drive A, you
would first enter
MD C:\PCC
And copy the files to the newly created directory by entering:
COPY A:\*.* C:\PCC
*****************************************************************
ADD PATH
--------
It's not necessary for you to add the PCC directory to the PATH
statement in your AUTOEXEC.BAT, but we recommend that you do.
The reason for this is so that DOS can find and execute the PCC
shell and utilities no matter where on your hard drive you happen
to be working.
The quickest way to add or modify a PATH statement is with the
DOS line editor called EDLIN, but you can use any word processor
capable of saving a file in ASCII format. To edit with EDLIN
start with the command:
EDLIN \AUTOEXEC.BAT
(If EDLIN is not found you will get a "Bad file or command". If
that is the case the most likely place you can find EDLIN is in a
\DOS directory. First change to the DOS directory by entering
CD \DOS
and then try to load EDLIN again.)
Once you successful have EDLIN loaded you will either see the
statement
End of Input file
if you already have an AUTOEXEC.BAT or
New file
if an AUTOEXEC.BAT does not already exist.
If you find that you already have an AUTOEXEC.BAT, do the
following: At the EDLIN prompt (an asterisk: "*"), enter the
List Lines command:
L
If you see a line starting with the word PATH, enter the number
that prefaces that line and press F3. The desired PATH statement
should appear on two lines with the cursor at the end of the
second line. To add the new path enter at the cursor
;C:\PCC
Don't forget the delimiting starting semicolon. To save the
edited changes, enter
E
for End Edit and that is all there is to it. The edited
AUTOEXEC.BAT will be saved to disk.
If you don't see the PATH command or you got the "New file"
message you can add a PATH statement with the EDLIN insert
command by entering the following:
I1
That's the letter I followed by the number 1 (meaning Insert at
line 1). At the "1:*" prompt enter
PATH=C:\PCC
(Of course, if you use a drive other than C or directory other
than PCC, substitute those values in the above instructions.)
After pressing Enter, the prompt, "2:*", for the next line
will appear. Press Ctrl-C to exit EDLIN's insert mode by holding
down the Ctrl key and pressing C. Save the new AUTOEXEC.BAT file
to disk with the End Edit command:
E
If at anytime you want to abort the editing process, enter at
the "*" prompt:
Q
for Quit Edit.
Otherwise, the next time you boot, the edited AUTOEXEC.BAT will
set the PATH=C:\PCC so DOS can find the PCC shell and utility
files.
*****************************************************************
SETTING UP A BATCH FILE
-----------------------
Instead of adding C:\PCC to the PATH, you can set up a batch
file to change to the PCC shell directory. Create a batch file
with the name PCC.BAT, for example, with the following
instructions.
C:
CD \PCC
PCCx (where x is the volume number)
CD \
*****************************************************************
PCC SHELL
-----------
The PCC shell program on this disk has the name PCCx (where x
is the volume number of the utilities found on this disk). For
example, the first volume of the shell program is named
PCC1.COM. There is also a matching overlay program with the
name PCCx.OVL. This will be PCC1.OVL for the PCC1.COM
program.
To run the shell program, enter the command PCCx at the DOS
prompt (again, replacing x with the version of the shell that
you have).
To the left of the PCC menu is a listing of all of the names of
the PC/Computing utilities found on this disk. To the right of
the listing is a description of the utility currently highlighted
by the selection bar. Use the cursor navigation keys (the up and
down arrow keys and PgUp, PgDn, Home and End keys) to scroll
through the utilities in the listing window. As you move the
selection bar the full description of each utility will appear in
the window to the right.
To activate the description window, press the right arrow key or
the tab key. The description window will become illuminated.
You can then use the cursor navigation keys to browse through the
description.
Return to the listing window to select another utility by
pressing the left arrow key or the tab key. Press Esc at anytime
to quit the PCC shell program and return to DOS. Press F1 at
anytime for a summary of the PCC instructions in this README
file.
Run the currently selected utility while either the listing
window or description window is active by pressing Enter. A
parameters window at the top of the menu will become active.
Enter any necessary parameters indicated in the utility
description window and press Enter again.
The PCC shell program supports any number of display lines,
including the popular 43 line EGA mode and the 50 line VGA mode.
The PCCNDX described below enables you to created a customized
PCC shell with filenames and descriptions of your own.
If at any time you don't understand what to do, F1 will bring up a
concise, informative help screen.
*****************************************************************
PCCNDX
--------
PCCNDX.COM allows you to create a custom PCC shell of your
own. This can include any combination of PC/Computing Utilities
(selected from this volume, another volume, or downloaded from
ZiffNet). It can also include utilities from other
collections, such as commercial disk-management tools or
programs you have written yourself.
You need never run PCCNDX in order to use the utilities
provided on this disk. If you do not want to make a customized
shell, you can simply copy the files named PCCx.COM and
PCCx.OVL from your backup disk to your working diskette or hard
drive and you're ready to go.
Step 1 -- Creating the manual:
The first step in creating a custom shell is to use your word
processor to create or edit a specialized manual containing the
names of the programs and their descriptions. This will be
compiled by PCCNDX to appear in the description window next to
each utility, so it must exactly conform to the specifications
below.
Each utility name in the manual must appear on a line by itself
preceded by two @@ signs. The file descriptions should be on the
following lines. For example, if you have two utilities named
MYFILE.COM and YOURFILE.COM that you want included in your custom
shell program, your manual would look something like this
@@MYFILE.COM
This is the description of MYFILE.
@@YOURFILE.COM
This is the description of YOURFILE.
Of course, your descriptions will be more informative than this
example. The two @@ signs are the key that the PCCNDX program
uses to find the utility names to place in the utility name
listing window of the PCC shell program. Your utility
descriptions, therefore, cannot contain two or more @
characters in a row or PCCNDX will get confused.
The manual's utility descriptions should be in ASCII and have a
page width of no more than 65 characters per line, the width of
the PCC description window. Lines longer than 65 characters
will be wrapped and spoil the appearance. Use the manual on this
disk as a template for your own custom manual.
Again, this manual is the key to how PCCNDX creates your
custom shell. Not only does it contain the documentation that
appears in the text window, the @@ line also indicates the
filename that will appear in the scrollable program listing on
the left of the screen.
Step 2 -- Compiling the manual:
Once you have created your customized manual, run the PCCNDX
program to create the customized PCC shell. The first thing
PCCNDX will ask you is the name and path of the customized
manual that you just created. Enter the manual's path and
filename (example: "\PCC\mymanual.doc), PCCNDX will then
read the manual, sort the @@filenames alphabetically and index
the descriptions accordingly.
You can abort the PCCNDX program at anytime and return to DOS
by pressing Esc. Press F1 at anytime for a summary of the
PCCNDX instructions of this README file.
Step 3 -- Customizing the header:
At this point PCCNDX will give you the opportunity to enter up
to a 15 character title to personalize your PCC shell program.
The title you choose will appear in the top of the first line of
the PCC shell menu to the right of "PC/Computing". If you press
Enter without typing in a name, the default title of "Utilities"
will be used and look like this:
PC/Computing Utilities
Step 4 -- Naming the shell:
After entering the title, PCCNDX will ask you for up to three
characters as a suffix to PCC for the name of your shell. This
will be the name you type in to run your custom shell. For
example, you would enter MY if you want the name of your shell
to be PCCMY.COM. (Note that the first part of the shell name
must be PCC.) If you press enter without entering anything,
the name of your shell will be PCC.COM.
After entering the suffix, PCCNDX will ask you where it should
save the new custom shell. Enter the path to the directory of
your choosing. For example, if you want the shell saved to the
PCC directory of drive C, you would enter
C:\PCC
If you press Enter without entering a path, the shell will be
saved in the current directory. Once the path is selected,
PCCNDX will create a .COM file and a .OVL file with your chosen
shell name. The .COM file is used to load the .OVL which will
have an indexed copy of your customized manual.
If you wish to distribute your custom shell, be sure to copy to
disk both the .COM and .OVL plus all utilities you included in
the manual. Your manual does not need to be on the disk. The
utility descriptions are included in the .OVL file.