Suzy B Software 2

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Text File | 1995-05-02 | 14.1 KB | 529 lines

BOOTMASTER v1.0 Version 1.0 IS SHAREWARE. Program and documentation designed and written by Michael F. Ellis. (c) Copyright 1991. All rights reserved. TO THE USER: This documentation and the included program are, to the best of my knowledge, complete and of the highest quality possible for a program in its first version (v1.0). As you probably have noticed, the program is SHAREWARE, and you may become a registered user by sending $5.00 (U.S. dollars) to the address below. This nominal charge entitles the registered user to future updates (and, of course, makes future updates WORTHWHILE) containing enhancements and bug fixes. If you find the program earns a place in your AUTO folder, please register; five dollars a copy hardly covers the hours of development and bug testing I have invested. Please notice, when using the program, that BootMaster is complete and all of its features work. An option that I chose not to exercise was to release the program as a DEMO version and omit some the features. USER'S GROUPS desiring quantity discounts can reach me at the posted address or leave E-mail addressed to MIKE-ELLIS on the GEnie information network. SEND THE $5.00 REGISTRATION FEE TO: Michael Ellis 3315 S.E. 15th Avenue Cape Coral, FL 33904 U.S.A. DISCLAIMER: I am not responsible or any damage, actual or implied, resulting from the use of this program. Use it at your own risk (I have for several months. Since the program violates no programming conventions, so you should be OK too! We have to write this legal stuff). and now the manual... AFTER REGISTERING, REMOVE THIS PAGE AT WILL. B O O T M A S T E R v1.0 By Michael Ellis (c) Copyright 1991. All rights reserved. Us and G.E.M.: A Love/Hate Relationship Since its introduction in 1985, Atari's Graphic Environment Manager (G.E.M.) has earned the support of thousands of users. However, for all of its good points, few will disagree that G.E.M., in its original incarnation, needed some improvements. With this in mind, clever programmers have proceeded to develop enhancements that come to the user in the form of "patches", which are programs that enhance G.E.M. by replacing or adding to the system's original routines. Patches are most often distributed as "Terminate and Stay Resident"(TSR) programs (programs that load, modify G.E.M., and then terminate). Of these, a few of the most popular are G+Plus, Universal Item Selector, Mouse Accelerator, Revolver, and Quick ST. Unfortunately, the convenience that each provides comes at a cost. TSR programs take memory, and when several are loaded at once, the user might find over 100K missing before an application has even been loaded. If you happen to have two megabytes or more, you probably can spare 100K, but to users of unmodified 520's and 1040's, the lack of 100K might prevent a document processor or desktop publisher from running. It is for these users that BootMaster was created. The Auto Folder Affair In order for a TSR program to correctly install itself, it is usually necessary for it to be executed from within a disk's AUTO folder on boot up. Most ST users that boot from hard disks, or floppy users that create "startup only" disks, keep all of their favorite TSR programs in the AUTO folder, and then disable the programs that they do not want to load by changing the .PRG extenders to .PRX. Since TOS does not know to load files with a .PRX extender, these programs are skipped and any memory they might have consumed is available to the user (Mega4ST users can stop grinning). The problem with the afore mentioned name changing procedure is that it can be quite cumbersome to use the desktop to change the names of several files. Also, you must first wait for the programs you are going to end up disabling to load in order to arrive at the desktop and disable them (how annoying). Wouldn't it be nice if we could tell the ST to stop in the middle of the auto folder and let us change some names? Surprise! Now you can. Installing BootMaster BootMaster is designed to make disabling and enabling auto-load programs and accessories as easy as possible. However, in order for the program to be effective you must carefully plan its placement in the AUTO folder. Programs located in this folder are executed in the order that they were placed in it, and not necessarily how they are listed on the G.E.M. desktop. For example, if REVLOAD.PRG is in the AUTO folder before G+PLUS.PRG, then even though G+PLUS.PRG appears before REVLOAD.PRG in the desktop listing, REVLOAD.PRG will execute first. Because of this, it might be necessary for you to rearrange the order of programs in this folder when installing BootMaster. It is important that you remember that there are certain programs that should absolutely be executed first. For instance, system dependent programs such as hard disk drivers, FAT lookup accelerators, and Quick ST should all be placed before BootMaster. To the contrary, programs such as Universal Item Selector, G+Plus, GDOS, Mouse Accelerator, and other programs that make "cosmetic" changes should be placed after BootMaster. Frankly, finding the ideal program order is largely trial and error; if it works, keep it. After all of this talk of rearranging, you are probably wondering exactly how to do so. If you do not have an AUTO folder on the boot disk already, simply create a new folder called "AUTO" and copy the files into it in the appropriate order (remember, not by name, but by priority). If you do have an auto folder already (most likely), the first thing you need to do is go into it and create a folder called "TEMP". Next, copy all of the current files from the \AUTO\ directory into the \AUTO\TEMP\ directory by highlighting and dragging them. Now, delete all of the files from the \AUTO\ folder so that you are left with only the TEMP folder in the \AUTO\ directory. Phase one is now complete. To begin phase two, open another window to the \AUTO\ directory and position it next to the one that is already open. You should now have two windows showing the same thing on the screen. To proceed, double click on the TEMP folder in the active window. From the TEMP folder, highlight and drag all system-dependent drivers and utilities to the window titled "\AUTO\". If you had any such programs, delete them from the TEMP folder. Now is the time to copy BootMaster to the \AUTO\ directory. Insert the disk with BootMaster, open another window to locate BOOTMAKR.PRG, click on the program, and drag it to the window titled "\AUTO\". Complete the process by copying the remaining files from the TEMP folder to the \AUTO\ folder, and finally, delete the TEMP folder. Congratulations! You are ready to go. Using BootMaster You will be happy to know that using BootMaster is considerably easier than installing it. Assuming that you have it properly installed, the program will load automatically the next time you boot up. Once loaded, you should see two columns, one labeled "Currently Enabled" and one labeled "Currently Disabled". At the top of the screen, the current directory path is displayed along with the default search mask "*.PRG". Notice that all TSR programs (with .PRG extenders) are listed in the "Currently Enabled" column. Similarly, all programs that have been disabled by changing the extender to "*.PRX" are listed in the "Currently Disabled" column. The arrow keys are used to move around the programs. For example, to disable a program, press the "left" arrow key. A cursor will appear over the first item of the "Currently Enabled" column. To move up and down the list, use the "up" or "down" arrow keys. The list will scroll if there are more than fifteen names. A program will be disabled if you press [RETURN] while the cursor is over its name. To enable a program in the "Currently Disabled" column, the process is similar. Simply press the "right" arrow key until the cursor appears in that column, and follow the same procedure. Changing directories is also simple. Using the arrow keys, position the cursor so that "Done" flashes in the center of the screen. Next, press the "up" arrow. A cursor will appear and allow editing of the path name or changing of the search mask. If you change your mind while editing, press the "down" arrow and the original path name will be restored. The ability to change folders is especially useful if you want to disable accessories. To do so, change the path name to the root directory (i.e. "C:\AUTO\*.PRG" is changed to "C:\*.ACC") and press [RETURN]. Move to the "Currently Enabled" column, position the cursor, and press [RETURN] on top of any unwanted accessories. (Note: if the path name is typed in without a search mask, BootMaster uses the default mask "*.*". For example, "C:\AUTO\" will produce the same results as "C:\AUTO\*.*") There are times when you may want to change a file's name altogether. To do this, move to the desired directory as described above, position the cursor over the desired file (in either column), and hold down the [SHIFT] key while pressing the [RETURN] key. The file's name will now appear at the top of the screen next to the current path. Edit the name and press [RETURN]. You will find the rename capability particularly useful if you have more than one GDOS application on a hard drive and each has a specific set of installed fonts. For instance, let's say you have Word Up and Timework's Desktop Publisher on the hard disk. If Word Up's ASSIGN.SYS file is named WORDUP.SYS and Timework's DTP's ASSIGN.SYS file is named PUBLISH.SYS, you can use BootMaster to change the name of either one to ASSIGN.SYS when you want it installed, thus controlling which font setup will be used. Although BootMaster can be quite useful, you will probably not use it every time you boot your computer. Therefore, you are given a choice of two ways configure the program. If you like, you can tell BootMaster to load only when you hold down the [ALTERNATE] key. That way, it will only run when you need it and will stay dormant otherwise. To configure it in this way, use the arrow keys to position the cursor so that the word "Configure" flashes and press [RETURN]. Press the space bar until "Alternate temporarily enables BootMaster" appears on the screen and press return. Your other choice is to have BootMaster load all of the time except when you hold the [ALTERNATE] key down; this is the default configuration. To choose this method, go to "Configure" as described above and press the space bar until "Alternate temporarily disables BootMaster" appears and press [RETURN]. Your preference is saved to disk, so you will not have to use configure more than once. Once you are through enabling, disabling, or configuring, use the arrow keys to position the cursor on top of the word "Done". Press [RETURN] to exit the program. Any changes to the configuration and any extenders that BootMaster has learned are then saved to disk in a file called BOOTMAKR.INF. This file should always remain in the AUTO folder along with BOOTMAKR.PRG. The Design of BootMaster When I designed BootMaster I realized that there were three major considerations. First, the program should have the ability to be configured so that it will not load unless the user wants to change something. Next, it should be rather small so that if the user does want it to load, he will not dose off waiting, and also, the user should have the ability to change the path and search mask so that only the files that need modification are displayed. Finally, "bells and whistles" should be kept to a minimum in order to insure the program's quick and efficient operation. I feel that I have succeeded in achieving these goals and hope that you find the program as useful as I have.