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1991-10-21
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BILLKEYS.ARC - User Notes
-------------------------
1. Purpose - The purpose of this ARC file is to provide a workaround to
the absence of the Billing History feature in ST Aladdin v1.30.
This solution assumes that the following software is part of your
system's software configuration:
a. "Codekeys" by Codehead Software
b. "STeno" by Gribnif Software
c. "LookIt/PopIt" by Codehead Software (optional)
d. "Little Green Selector" by Little Green Footballs Software
(optional)
2. Software Usage Notes:
a. This ARC file contains a Codekeys .KEY file which contains two
macros needed for the workaround. Users should copy these two
macros to whatever .KEY file that they "link" with ST Aladdin
when they run that program. (NOTE: Contrary to appearances, I
would have liked to have condensed this down to one macro, but
when using Codekeys to call STeno, macro processing stops with
that operation for reasons I don't pretend to understand.)
b. STeno needs to be present as a desk accessory, either inside of
or outside of MultiDesk (i.e., doesn't matter).
c. In order to work properly, the Codekey macros need to be
executed immediately -after- logging off from GEnie and -before-
exiting from (Aladdin) Terminal Mode.
d. Record Billing History Macro #1:
1. This macro first executes an Alt-C (Copy) command to copy
the contents of the Aladdin terminal screen, still in view,
to the Clipboard which needs to be in the same location for
both Aladdin -and- STeno (e.g., I keep mine on my E:\ hard
drive partition. Aladdin is located on that partition and
STeno has been reconfigured to point there, also).
2. There is a 1-second pause.
3. The macro executes a Shift-Control-E to use the PopIt! desk
accessory to select and open the STeno desk accessory. The
macro may be rewritten by those who do not use PopIt! to
substitute mouse movements instead.
4. As noted in 2.a. above, the macro must end here as the
STeno/Codekeys combination will not process any more
commands in this macro.
e. Record Billing History Macro #2:
1. The macro executes an Alt-O command to direct STeno to
display the file selector so that a file may be selected to
open (for editing).
2. There is a 1-second pause.
3. The macro executes a Shift-F5 command which, on my system,
directs the Little Green Selector to point to the Aladdin
subdirectory (on my E:\ hard drive). Non-Little Green
Selector users can substitute other keystroke combinations
or mouse movements for this purpose.
4. There is a 1-second pause.
5. The macro presses the Escape key to clear the filename line
of any previous filename displayed there.
6. The macro then fills in the filename line with the name,
BILLING.TXT, used in earlier versions of Aladdin to store
Billing History information.
7. The macro then presses the Carriage Return key to select
BILLING.TXT as the file to be "opened" by STeno.
8. There is a 1-second pause.
9. The macro then executes a Shift-Home command to move to the
end of the BILLING.TXT file.
10. There is a 1-second pause.
11. The macro then presses the TAB key in order to place the
cursor in the file immediately under the "Date" column in
the BILLING.TXT file.
12. There is a 1-second pause.
13. The macro then executes an Alt-V command which "pastes" the
contents of the Clipboard into the BILLING.TXT file at that
point, immediately after the cursor.
f. The user will then have, at his disposal, all of the sign-off
information provided by GEnie from his last session including
the date, the time logged off, and the total connect minutes for
inclusion in his BILLING.TXT table. The Aladdin connect time
estimate, however, is not "copied" from the Terminal mode screen
to the clipboard and the user will have to toggle back to the
terminal mode screen in order to get that information. At the
completion of the editing process, the user will need to save
his changes to the BILLING.TXT file using the STeno Alt-S
command.
g. Exit Steno and return to Aladdin Terminal Mode and continue
Aladdin usage.
3. While I recognize that this method is not as slick to use as the
Billing History feature previously found in ST Aladdin versions 1.23
and earlier, it will serve as a workaround until GEnie directs the
Billing History feature reinstated (drop an encouraging note to
FEEDBACK via GE Electronic Mail if you haven't already). Of course,
if someone has a slicker solution to this problem, post it on the
Aladdin Roundtable and I'll use that method instead.
... Michael Squire
(M.SQUIRE)