United Public Domain Gold 2/United Public Domain Gold 2.iso/text/sid2

Text File | 1995-04-09 | 24KB | 614 lines

                                 SID v2.00
                               Trial Version

                       The Ultimate Amiga Power Tool

                                  3/28/92

                    © Copyright 1988-92 by Timm Martin
                       All Rights Reserved Worldwide



Distribution Rules ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Trial Version of SID2 may be freely distributed with the following
restrictions:

  1) SID2 may not be distributed by PD libraries, bulletin board systems, or
     any other means within Europe until Amiga Computing has released SID2 on
     its magazine coverdisk.

  2) All of the files must be included in their original form without
     additions, deletions, or modifications of any kind.

  3) All copyright notices must remain intact.

  4) SID2 may not be sold commercially alone or as a component in
     another product.  This includes magazine coverdisks.

  5) SID2 may not appear on shareware or public domain disks for which
     the consumers are charged more than a nominal disk copying fee of
     seven dollars (US $7) per disk.

  6) SID2 may not appear on any electronic service which charges more
     than the basic access fee to download SID.

  7) SID2 may not appear on any electronic service that claims copyrights
     to uploaded programs, either alone or as part of a collection.

For variances to the above terms and conditions, please contact the author.
Please report violations of these rules to the author.



Legal Stuff ~~~~~~~~~~~

THE PROGRAM SID2, ALL SUPPORTING PROGRAMS, ON-LINE HELP FILES, AND RELATED
DOCUMENTATION ARE COPYRIGHTED © 1988-92 BY TIMM MARTIN.  ALL RIGHTS ARE
RESERVED WORLDWIDE.  NO PART OF THE SOFTWARE OR DOCUMENTATION MAY BE
REPRODUCED, TRANSMITTED, TRANSLATED INTO OTHER LANGUAGES, POSTED TO A NETWORK,
OR DISTRIBUTED IN ANY OTHER WAY WITHOUT THE PRIOR WRITTEN CONSENT OF TIMM
MARTIN, P.O. BOX 3205, CINCINNATI, OH 45201-3205, U.S.A.

THE SID2 SOFTWARE AND DOCUMENTATION IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF
ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE
IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
YOU ARE ADVISED TO TEST THE SOFTWARE THOROUGHLY BEFORE RELYING ON IT.  YOU
AGREE TO ACCEPT THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE
SOFTWARE AND DOCUMENTATION.  IN NO EVENT WILL TIMM MARTIN BE LIABLE FOR
DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES RESULTING FROM ANY
DEFECT IN THE PROGRAM.

Timm Martin reserves the right to make improvements to the product and
documentation at any time and without notice.


Companies ~~~~~~~~~

Companies which wish to use SID2 for more than one employee should purchase a
separate license for each employee.  Enterprise licenses are available for
large companies.  Please contact the author for details.


User Groups ~~~~~~~~~~~

Because SID2 is now registered to each individual, User Group discounts are no
longer feasible.



A Programmer's Plea -- if you haven't registered
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SID is shareware.  If you find this program useful, please send $25 to:

    Timm Martin
    P.O. Box 3205
    Cincinnati, OH 45201-3205
    U.S.A.

Please send payment in one of the following forms:

    U.S. cash (be careful!)
    U.S. check in U.S. dollars
    U.S. money order in U.S. dollars
    U.S. Postal money order
    Canadian Postal money order in U.S. dollars

In return for your contribution of $25 or more, you will receive a diskette
containing the most recent version of SID, its support programs, on-line help
files and complete documentation.  You will also gain free access to the SID
Electronic Bulletin Board where you may ask questions, leave comments and
download minor upgrades for free.  A separate registration form is included
with this file, or you can print a registration form from within SID.

Please promote the shareware system by making a contribution to the authors of
the shareware products you commonly use.  There are many advantages to the
shareware system:

    You can receive quality programs at a decent price.  Had this been a
    commercial program, you could expect to pay at least $49.95.

    You can thoroughly examine a shareware program before reimbursing the
    author.  Once you've purchased a commercial program, however, you're
    stuck with it.

    You promote the creation of a number of exciting and diverse programs
    that would otherwise not reach the public if commercial marketing was the
    only alternative.

To encourage shareware contributions (rumor has it that only one in every two
hundred SID v1.06 users sent in a contribution), I've released a Trial version
which is fully functional and doesn't have any annoying "guilt" screens, but
will not save user preferences.  Thus, people can enjoy all of SID's features,
but if they want to use it on a long-term basis, they're more likely to become
a registered user.

To discourage software piracy, the full name and address of each registered
user will be encoded in their own personalized version of SID2-Professional.
To see this, select "Registration" from the "Program" menu.



Special Thanks ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There are a number of people I would like to thank for helping me make SID2 a
reality:

    Vicki Wilson
        ...for catching me up on all my administrative duties, for sifting
        through the piles of mail, and for filtering me from some of my more
        abusive "fans."  Thanks for having the patience and faith in me that
        others seemed to lose.

    Jeff Hoag
        ...for helping me through the "Dark Ages," for reminding me that bad
        news is better than no news at all, and for sharing the fun trips to
        Australia.

    Mary Beth Benkin
        ...for nursing me through my last illness.  I would have never made
        it through October without you.

    Tim Perez
        ...for getting me addicted to "The Simpsons," for teaching me the
        finer points of racquetball, and for being the primary reason that
        SID is so late!  ;)

    ~~~~~~~~~~~

    Queensrÿche
        ...for keeping the metal sharp enough to carry me through those long
        programming sessions.

    The Procter & Gamble Company
        ...for actually paying me to play with technology.  Man, what a job!

    ~~~~~~~~~~~

    ...and my beta testers; Richard Stanton for the wonderful submarine ride;
    Ray Lambert Jr. for some expert programming advice; Mike Monaco for the
    pattern-matching routines and assembler assistance; Ron Sudweeks, Gustav
    Mussmann, Wolfgang Strobl, and Ray Burt-Frost for contributions over and
    above the call of duty; Scott Fry, Vernon Marcum, and Dick Raymond for
    not losing the faith; and all of you who bothered to send me a shareware
    contribution and have been defending me on the electronic boards.

    Thank you!



A (Somewhat) Brief History ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SID began in October 1988 when a friend of mine wanted me to collect some
public domain software for a friend of his who just purchased an Amiga.
Specifically, he wanted some type of program that would make file manipulation
easier.  As a die-hard hacker, I had always used the CLI and had never even
seen a directory utility before, but in my search for this collection of PD
software, I came across DirUtilIII.  Now this was a very ambitious program for
the Amiga in its infancy, but after using it for five minutes, the arrogant
programmer in me told me that I could do better.

My best friend Jeff Hoag was also using this program to maintain files on his
BBS, so when he heard of my interest in writing a new DU, he immediately
handed me a wish list.  The most important things were an improved user
interface and no limits (he had thousands of files in each directory, but
DUIII could only handle 300 at a time).

I released SID v0.49 in early 1989 to Jeff and some friends in the local user
group.  The general consensus was that SID had great potential but could use
some improvement.  So I gathered suggestions and rewrote SID from scratch. It
took me hundreds of hours, but I released SID v1.03 locally as shareware in
the summer of '89 and used it for my senior project in college.  After a few
more revisions, I released SID v1.06 to the world in December 1989.

What was the beginning of a wonderful period in my programming life was also
the beginning of a disastrous part of my personal life, affectionately known
as "The Dark Ages."  I moved in early 1990, and in the hustle and bustle lost
most of the source code to SID v1.06.  (This is when I began a system of seven
rotating backups including two offsite).

Unfortunately, as certain deficiencies were uncovered in 1.06, I was helpless
to fix them.  These included the "SeparateDirs" bug that blackened screens, a
cryptic config file, problems with Kickstart v2.0, and only a single
configurable button.  In the spring of 1990 I decided to write a completely
configurable SID with interactive editing--the way it was meant to be on the
Amiga.  After three months of design, I started writing SID that summer.

For the next year I spent over a thousand hours writing SID before compiling a
single byte of code!  I was receiving enough shareware fees to keep up my
interest in SID2, but unfortunately not enough to forsake my day job and
program full-time for the Amiga--a dream I've always had. Thus, while spending
nights on SID, I spent days working and finishing my last year in college.

Spring 1991 was a particularily enjoyable time in my life.  I graduated from
the "seven-year plan" with honors, I accepted a job at Procter & Gamble in
Cincinnati, and I released a beta version of SID2.  I fully expected to have
SID ready for general release in the summer, but look out! My new job and life
consumed most of my free time, and suddenly SID fell behind.

Then in October I contracted a mysterious virus (my second in three months)
that landed me in the hospital.  I spent the entire month of October in bed,
then the entire month of November in bed as soon as I got home from work.  I
became especially frustrated when a commercial developer released a directory
utility that looked strikingly similar to SID2-beta, so much so that some
people wondered if this was the commercial version of SID2.  (I guess that's
the ultimate form of flattery).


History, cont'd ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I began to doubt if there was still a future and interest in SID2.  But having
invested so much time and effort, I decided to keep on plugging. From December
through February I averaged just over five hours programming seven days a
week--on top of the 9-11 hours per day at P&G.  The result, after 2300 hours
work and 2.9 million bytes of code, is SID2.


Tools of my Madness ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SID2 was created with the following tools:

    Commodore Amiga 3000
        25MHz 68030, 200MB hard drive, 6MB RAM.

    UEdit by Rick Stiles
        Without a doubt, the world's best text editor on any machine--period.
        I've always wanted to write my own, and UEdit gave me the tools to do
        just that in less than two days.  It's not just configurable; it's
        fully programmable.  If you like things "your way," be sure to check
        out UEdit.

    Manx C
        For years, Lattice (now SAS) and Manx have leap-frogged over each
        other in features and performance.  SAS now seems to have an edge,
        but I'm hoping that Manx will soon again take the lead.


Three Faces of SID2 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There are three different versions of SID2:

    Personal
        SID2-Personal is a more compact version that contains all the basic
        features of SID, but does not edit or save preferences.  After you
        have configured SID to your system, use this version if you are tight
        on memory.

    Professional
        In addition to all the basic features, SID2-Professional edits and
        saves all SID preferences.  This version is personalized with the
        full name and address of the registered user and should not be given
        to others.

    Trial
        The Trial version is similar to SID2-Professional except that it does
        not save preferences and is not registered to individuals.  You are
        encouraged to distribute this version to all interested parties
        within the restrictions listed in its documentation.  Due to disk
        space limitations, the Trial version is NOT included on the diskette
        sent to registered users.  You can download this from my BBS.

There is also a separate program called QuickPrefs which reads your SID v1.06
configuration file, if any; asks you some quick questions; configures SID to
your system; and copies the help files, documentation, and programs to your
system if desired.



Running SID ~~~~~~~~~~~

You must run QuickPrefs first to create the seven preferences files that SID
needs to run.  Double-click on the QuickPrefs icon from the Workbench and
answer the questions.  You can display help at any time by pressing the HELP
key or clicking on the HELP button.

You can run SID from the command line or from an icon.  Unfortunately, this
version of SID will not detach from the CLI by itself, meaning you cannot
close a CLI window after running SID (this will most likely affect users who
run SID from their startup-sequence).  As a temporary fix, two "runback"
programs are included which will detach SID from the CLI, one that runs under
Workbench v1.3 and requires the NULL: device, and one that runs under WB 2.x
and doesn't require any external device.  Both are stored in the "programs"
directory and are copied to your system (where you specify) by QuickPrefs. In
the following examples, assume you copied all SID programs to a directory
named "WORK:SID2".

To run and detach SID from the CLI under Workbench v2.0
-------------------------------------------------------

    Add the following line to your s:workbench-startup file (or if you do not
    follow the WB 2.x conventions, add it to your s:startup-sequence file
    AFTER the "LoadWB" command but before the "endcli >nil:" command):

        WORK:SID2/runback_wb2.x WORK:SID2/SID2

To run and detach SID from the CLI under Workbench v1.3
-------------------------------------------------------

    If you do not already have the NULL: device mounted on your system:

        Add the supplied NULL-MountList entry to your devs:MountList file.
        You can do this with a text editor, or enter from the CLI:

            WORK:SID2/NULL-install

        Add a command to mount the NULL: device from your s:startup-sequence
        file.  Using a text editor, add the following line BEFORE the
        "LoadWB" line:

            mount NULL:

        To mount the NULL: device now without rebooting, enter the above line
        at the CLI.

    Add the following line to your s:startup-sequence file AFTER the "LoadWB"
    command but before the "endcli >nil:" command:

        WORK:SID2/runback_wb1.3 WORK:SID2/SID2


Running SID, cont'd ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Command-Line Arguments ----------------------

You can specify additional options when running SID from the command line by
adding the following arguments after the program name:

  -b ... if SID2 normally opens on a custom screen, it will open behind
         all other screens
  -s ... opens the SID window in the shrink mode (as a small window on
         the Workbench screen)
  -p ... following by a path name will force SID to look in the specified
         directory for the SID preferences files

For example:

  SID2 -s -pdf0:prefs

runs SID2 in shrink mode, loading the preferences files from the "prefs"
directory on DF0:.

You can also tell SID to load one or two directories upon startup just by
listing the directory name(s) after the program.  The -c argument will load
the current directory.  For example:

  SID2 -b WB:tools -c

will open the SID screen behind all other screens and will load the WB:tools
directory and the current directory upon startup.

Note that the arguments can be in upper or lower case and can appear in any
order.

To run SID from an icon: ------------------------

When running SID from an icon, it is best to use IconX to open a CLI window,
and use the appropriate runback program as described above to launch SID. Two
icons are provided (appropriately labelled SID_WB2.x and SID_WB1.3) which do
this.  They were copied with the other SID programs to your system where you
specified in the QuickPrefs program.



Troubleshooting SID ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SID2 should be compatible with all Amiga models and Kickstart v1.3 and v2.x.
Check this troubleshooting flowchart if you are having difficulties starting
SID.  If you are having difficulties with one of the features once SID is up
and running, use the on-line help system.

If you still cannot resolve the problem, call the SID support bulletin board
system (BBS) at 606-344-1647.  The BBS operates 24 hours a day and handles
1200 and 2400 baud.  First time callers are granted the ability to read and
leave messages to and from me.  If you are a registered user, you will be
granted full access to the rest of the bulletin board usually within 24
hours.


Does SID end with a requester saying "SID Failed:"?

  What does the second line in the requester say?

    button file

      SID requires seven preferences files to run, and the first file it
      looks for is the button file.  Make sure you have run QuickPrefs to
      create the preferences files.  If you have, then check to see if the
      S:SID2.path file exists.  The SID2.path file contains the name of the
      directory where the SID preferences files should be stored.  If
      s:SID2.path does not exist, then SID expects the preferences files to
be
      in the s: directory.

      Check the directory where SID expects to find the prefs files.  You can
      double-check to make sure SID is reading them correctly by running SID
      from the CLI and specifying the -p argument with the name of the
      directory to load those prefs.  If SID can find the files but still
      ends with the "button file" error, then either 1) the button file is
      corrupted, or 2) the button file format has changed.  Note that the
      latter case may be possible if you had been using a beta version of
      SID2.  The release version of SID2 is purposely incompatible with the
      beta version because of heavy pirating of the beta version.

    color file

      The SID color preferences file is likely corrupt.  Run QuickPrefs to
      create a new one.

    config file

      The SID configuration preferences file is likely corrupt.  Run
      QuickPrefs to create a new one.

    console.device

      SID cannot open the console device.  This is a problem because the
      console.device should be resident at all times.  Reboot your system and
      attempt to run SID again.

    desc file

      The SID description preferences file is likely corrupt.  Run QuickPrefs
      to create a new one.


Troubleshooting SID, cont'd ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    diskfont.library

      SID cannot open the diskfont library which should be located in the
      libs: directory.  Copy the "diskfont.library" file from a clean
      Workbench disk to your libs: directory.

    font file

      The SID font preferences file is likely corrupt.  Run QuickPrefs to
      create a new one.

    graphics.library

      SID cannot open the graphics library.  This is a big problem because
the
      graphics library should be present in ROM at all times.  Reboot your
      system and attempt to run SID again.

    icon.library

      SID cannot open the icon library.  This is a problem because the icon
      library should be present in ROM at all times.  Reboot your system and
      attempt to run SID again.

    input.device

      SID cannot open the input device.  This may just be a low-memory
      problem.  Reboot your system and attempt to run SID again.

    layout file

      The SID layout preferences file is likely corrupt.  Run QuickPrefs to
      create a new one.

    memory

      SID ran out of memory while creating the basic structures needed to run
      the program.  End other programs to free up memory for SID.

    menu file

      The SID custom menu preferences file is likely corrupt.  Run QuickPrefs
      to create a new one.

    packets

      SID could not create the message ports necessary to send communications
      packets to AmigaDOS.  This may just be a low-memory problem.  End other
      program to free up memory for SID or reboot the system.

    ROM font

      SID could not open the Topaz8 ROM font.  This really shouldn't happen,
      though if you have severely altered the system ROM font (which you
      really only can do with Amiga 1000 kickstart machines), this error may
      appear.


Troubleshooting SID, cont'd ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    screen

      SID could not open the custom screen, most likely due to lack of
memory.

    tampering

      Tsk, tsk, somebody has been tampering with the program.  If someone
      attempts to modify my name in the program, modify the version number,
      or modify the registered user's name, this is the first and only
      warning.  Should you bypass this verification, there are over two dozen
      others and none of them are as polite as this one.

    trackdisk

      SID cannot open the trackdisk device.  This is a problem because the
      trackdisk device should always be accessible (after all, it monitors
      disk activity).  This may also just be a low-memory problem.  Reboot
      your system and attempt to run SID again.

    window

      SID could not open its window due to low memory.  End other programs to
      give SID more breathing space.


Is SID acting very "strangely" after opening up or sometimes during its
operation?

  Most likely somebody has been tampering with the program.  If you attempt
  to modify my name in the program, modify the version number, or modify the
  registered user's name, strange things will happen.


Does SID crash when started?

  Make sure you are using the proper version of runback, if any. RunBack_1.3
  should be used when running Kickstart 1.3, and RunBack_2.x should be used
  when running Kickstart 2.x.  See "Running SID" above.



Once SID is Running ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SID2 is equipped with full context-sensitive on-line help and a help index. To
receive help at any time, just press the HELP key.  You can also receive help
for any button or menu by pressing and holding the CTRL key while you select
the button or menu item.  You can also select help from the "Program" menu:
there's help getting started, help registering SID, and a glossary.


Bugs ~~~~

...or "undesirable features," as I like to refer to them.  If you have
determined that SID is just not operating as it should, attempt to replicate
the problem.  Just telling me that "SID doesn't work" will not help me solve
the problem.  Once you have identified the bug and can repeat it, either write
me or call the SID support BBS and provide me with the following information:

  > The steps required to produce the bug.
  > The symptoms of the bug (crashes, locks, draws smiley faces, etc.)
  > Amiga model number
  > Kickstart and Workbench versions
  > Other programs you're running if you think the bug is the
    result of an interaction between SID and another program


Ideas ~~~~~

I am always looking for new ideas.  If you have something that you would like
to see in SID, or if you have an idea for another Amiga program, please pass
it on!


The Future ~~~~~~~~~~

The future of SID depends on your interest and support.  If you like this
program, please send in your registration fee and promote it to others. If you
don't like this program, please let me know why so I can improve it. SID has
become what it is today due to heavy input from some very talented users.


The End ~~~~~~~

Well, that's it.  Because SID2 has full on-line help, I didn't see much need
to repeat it here.

Let me know what you think about SID.  But most of all, enjoy it!


SID2.Docs v2.00 03/28/92 © Copyright 1992 Timm Martin All Rights Reserved
Worldwide

/*-- END --*/