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Text File | 1993-01-31 | 11.3 KB | 254 lines

ON_LINE.DOC 1.3 JAN. 1993 NOTE: These programs need to be on a HARD DRIVE to run. The purpose of these programs is to provide an editable On Line manual or On Line HELP! for any Program with a Pull Down Menu. These programs will run in ST high & ST medium. These programs have been tested on an ATARI MEGA ST 4 with TOS 2.06 and limited testing on a TT After UnArcing ON_LINE.ARC there should be 4 files. 1. ON_LINE.DOC 1.3 - This text file. 2. ON_LINE.ACC 1.3 - The On Line accessory. 3. CREATEON.PRG 1.3 - The program that initially creates the random access file ( ********.RAN ). And does other stuff also. 4. MANUAL.TXT 1.3 - An example manual in text file form. Quick Start - For those in the crowd that would like to get started right away. Copy ON_LINE.ACC to directory C:\ Copy CREATEON.PRG to your hard drive (anywhere). Run CREATEON.PRG You may be able to figure it out from there. Upgrade from 1.0 to 1.3 - Run CREATEON.PRG v. 1.3. Use the "1.0 Create a Text File from .RAN" menu option under the "More Me" menu to transfer your existing manual to a ********.TXT file. The rest you should be able to deal with. Slow but sure start - Read this file. CREATEON.PRG - Pull down menu. Desk Me - CreateOn - a note about who wrote the programs. Random Me - Create Random Access File - the random access file is made up of pages (records). The size of the page is up to the user - you. The size of the page is configurable from 15 to 79 characters horizontally. 5 to 20 characters vertically. And there may be 100 to 1000 pages in the random access file. The random access file size will be shown and then the user will be given a choice to create the file or not. If there is not enough space on the hard drive to create the file an alert box will let the user know. The random access file can be anywhere on the hard drive and can be named anything. If the extension .RAN is left off it will be added for the user. The file C:\ON_LINE.DAT will also be created at this time. This file contains data that ON_LINE.ACC will use. ON_LINE.DAT must stay in the root directory on C:\ drive. Also if at anytime the user wants to mess around with these files make a copy and mess with the copy. It is almost guaranteed that if these files are altered the programs will not run correctly. Recommended beginning random access file size - 79 characters horizontal, 20 characters vertical, 300 pages. Note: v. 1.3 ********.RAN files will be 1.95% - 11.10% smaller than v. 1.0 files. Depending on your configuration. Random Me - Initialize Existing Files - this option will initialize ********.RAN and ON_LINE.DAT The random access file size will remain the same. Random Me - Add to .RAN from a Text File - select a text file and the pages (records) in the .TXT file will be added to the random access file. Duplicates will not be added. MANUAL.TXT should be the first text file added to the random access file. The pages (records) in the Text file must be separated by "*****" At least 5 asterisk in a row. Look at MANUAL.TXT for a better idea. Random Me - Create a Text File from .RAN - this selection will generate a text file from the random access file. The pages (records) will be alphabetically sorted. This is a good way to make a back up of the random access file. Also this is the method that will be used to transfer an On Line manual when new versions of these programs are released. Random Me - Append a Text File from .RAN - an existing text file will be appended from the random access file. The pages (records) added will be in alphabetical order. Random Me - Absolute - .RAN to Text File - a text file will be generated from the random access file sequentially. It is possible for pages (records) to get lost in the random access file. This is a way to recover that information. The pages will not be in alphabetical order. This option will not recover deleted records. Random Me - Call ON_LINE.PRG - ON_LINE.ACC may be renamed to run as a program. If there is enough free RAM and if ON_LINE.PRG is in the same directory as CREATEON.PRG ON_LINE.PRG may be run from CREATEON.PRG Random Me - Quit - quit the program. More Me - Analyze Synonym Chaining - This option will analyze the efficiency of the ********.RAN file. A record with 0 links is the most efficient and can be accessed very quickly. More Me - Recover All Deleted Records - Name a new ********.TXT file in an existing path. Use this menu selection to recover all deleted records that have not been overwritten by new ADDed or MODIFYed records. More Me - Rebuild ON_LINE.DAT - If ON_LINE.DAT becomes corrupt (or your dog deletes it) use this option to rebuild the ailing file. More Me - 1.0 Create a Text File from .RAN - Transfers the manual from the ********.RAN to a Text file (********.TXT). This option will only work with a random access file created with CREATEON.PRG v. 1.0 More Me - Show Hour Glass Slow - The mouse changes shape 22 times. View it here with out accessing your hard drive. More Me - Show Hour Glass Fast - Don't blink. The hour glass change shape rapidly. ON_LINE.ACC - the On Line manual interface, runs in 44 K. The options at the bottom of the screen are selected by pressing the outlined letter in the respective word or clicking on the word. For example to select Add - press "a" or "A" on the keyboard or click directly on the word "Add". Add - use this option to add a new page to the random access file. The index of the page must be in the first line and the first 15 characters. An addition might look like this. characters ________ Note: characters under the dashed 1. PRINT line will show in the list 2. of pages. Neat is easy to read. 3. In the example the index is the word PRINT. List an existing page for another example. Modify - this is the way to modify an existing page. Select a page to modify from the list of pages. Then modify it. Delete - delete a page from the random access file. Select a page to delete from the list of pages. The page will be shown on the screen, then the user will have the option to delete. Deleted records may be recovered later with CREATEON.PRG v. 1.3 if the deleted records have not been overwritten by new additions or modifications. List - Select a page from the list of pages. The page will be displayed to the screen. ⇧ (up arrow) - the list of pages can get pretty long so this is the way to move around in the list. Move alphabetically backward. Also the list of pages only shows the first 8 characters of the index. 15 characters are used by the program internally for comparisons. ⇩ (down arrow) - move alphabetically forward. Quit - Return to the parent program when called as an accessory or return to the desk top when run as a program. The file ON_LINE.DAT maybe updated at this time if any significant changes have been made. So if the user turns off power to the computer before Quit - significant changes maybe lost. Significant changes would be - an Add, a Delete, a Modify that changes any characters with in the first 15 characters of the first line of a record. Reload - The information in ON_LINE.DAT is read when the accessory is first loaded. If the user makes significant changes with ON_LINE.PRG or CREATEON.PRG and then uses ON_LINE.ACC to access the ********.RAN file the ON_LINE.ACC information may not be up to date. Reload will update ON_LINE.ACC so it has the current information. Reload will be disabled if On_Line is run as a program or if significant changes are made while using ON_LINE.ACC LF: #### of #### ###.## % - yes that's a mouth full. Lets say there are 100 pages in the random access file and 10 to them are full. The load factor line looks like this. LF: 10 of 100 10.00 % Get the idea. The load factor tells the user how full the random access file is. ON_LINE.ACC is stable and fast up to and including 100%. If the ********.RAN file is full and more ADDs are required use CREATEON.PRG to save the manual to a text file and create a larger .RAN file. CAUTION - a word of caution. Although these programs have been used and tested the user may want to back up the hard drive. This is a good idea whether or not the user uses these programs. Credit - these programs were written in the United States using GFA BASIC and DevpacST2. Assembly language was used to speed up some of the routines - not that GFA is slow but assembly is faster. Share Ware - Support Share Ware programmers. It's so easy to go about our business and forget that someone spent hours designing a program for us to use. They could have kept it to themselves. Often Share Ware programmers receive very little thanks - Seriously. Don't count on some other user to send in a check. Every other person is thinking the same thing you are - someone else will do it. If you want to support these programs and their continued development show some interest by registering. Upgrades from v. 1.0 to v. 1.3 are FREE! Bugs - yea, there are probably some still in there. If you run into one let me know even if you aren't registered - you will be doing everyone a favor. The editor - The on line editor is not the best I know. Some users may want to use a favorite word processor for major editing of a text file and then add the text file to the random access file. There is a rumor that an integrated word processor is in the works. These programs are Share Ware: $15 CHARLES H. HARVEY P.O. BOX 701 LOUISVILLE, CO 80027 On Genie: C.HARVEY9 Atari, ST, are copyrights of Atari Corporation. All other products mentioned are copyright and/or trademark of their respective holders.