@'READ ME' file for the geoSHELL Programmer's Development Package
Copyright 1994 by Maurice Randall
Thank you for your interest in geoSHELL and especially in creating commands for geoSHELL, whether it be for yourself or others also. There is a great deal of information contained in this package. If you've obtained it via the postal service, you either received it on one 1581 disk or three 1541 disks. If you downloaded it from a network or BBS, then it is most likely in three arc'd files. You can use CS-DOS, ARC 2.30, or Omega-Q to dearc the files. Each file will require one 1541 disk side.
You will find that referring to this information by viewing it in GeoWrite can be tedious. The best thing to do is to print out the entire manual so that you may have all of the information at your fingertips while working on your source code. Although, in addition to the index, you can use GeoWrite to search for a word that might lead you to the topic you need information on.
Everything included here is in GeoWrite format and was created using the COMMODORE 10 pt font. This will allow you to use the NLQ print mode of your printer for a much faster printout. The entire manual including the cover (GeoPaint file) is 194 printed pages. I've created two new commands for geoSHELL that will help you to print this manual. The command 'ppaint' will print the cover for you, and 'pwrite' will print the rest of the manual. Both of these commands are included in this package along with documentation for them. Ppaint will use your GEOS printer driver, while pwrite uses it's own built-in driver with your printer's built-in font. 64 users, make sure you copy your printer driver to disk one, or the disk that contains the cover file, gsdevpakcover. Be sure to read the documentation on pwrite and edit the file pwconfig before using it. Also, if you wish to use any codes that are in pwconfig, geoSHELL must be able to find it when you use the pwrite command.
There is an 'exec' file that you can use from geoSHELL that will handle the entire printing chore for you. Just enter...
exec printdevpak
...and follow the onscreen prompts. This exec file will also call one of two other exec files, printserial or printgeocable. If the exec file refers to a particular disk side, just make sure that it is in one of your drives. Also make sure that ppaint and pwrite are available. First the cover will be printed followed by the odd pages. Then you will be prompted to put the paper back into the printer so that the even numbered pages will now be printed on the back side of the odd sides. Once again, make sure that pwconfig can be found during the printing process if you wish to use it's added features. If necessary, copy pwconfig to your path partition, or your ramdisk, or each of the devpak disks along with the pwrite command. Feel free to modify this exec file if you need to print the manual in a slightly different manner. Or you can just print each segment one at a time with GeoWrite or pwrite.
There will be a few more files in the package that won't get printed by the exec file. These contain some routines that you may use in your own source code. There is also the sample source code files that you will use for your starting templates. The geoSHELL equate files are also included. The documentation gives full details on these files. If you wish to print any of these, just use pwrite or GeoWrite to do so.
Here is a listing of each file that is i
Here is a listing of each file that is included in this package:
READ ME What you're looking at now.
printdevpak Exec file for printing out the manual.
printserial Used by printdevpak.
printgeocable Used by printdevpak.
ppaint Command for printing GeoPaint files.
ppaint.doc Documentation for ppaint.
pwrite Command for printing GeoWrite files in NLQ.
pwconfig Configure file for pwrite.
pwrite.doc Documentation for pwrite.
gsdevpakcover The manual cover in GeoPaint format.
gsdevpak1 Section 1 of the manual.
gsdevpak2 Section2, pages 1 through 31.
gsdevpak3 Section2, pages 32 through 61.
gsdevpak4 Section2, pages 62 through 90.
gsdevpak5 Section2, pages 91 through 130.
gsappendix1 Appendix A of the manual.
gsappendix2 Appendix B.
gsappendix3 Appendix C.
gsappendix4 Appendix D.
gsdevindex The index for the manual.
MiscSource Miscellaneous source code.
GSVariables Assemble this to create GSVariables.rel.
GSVars1 geoSHELL variables. (.included in GSVariables)
GSVars2 geoSHELL variables. (.included in GSVariables)
ShellEquates geoSHELL equates. (.included in GSVariables)
GSVariables.rel Always put this in your link file.
Sample.lnk Template for your link files.
SampleHdr Template for your header files.
Sample Template for your source code files.
Color80.lnk Link file for color80 command.
Color80Hdr Header file for color80 command.
Color80src Source code for color80 command.
If you obtained this package in the form of
three arc'd files, they are as follows:
gs1dvpak.arc Disk 1, the first 12 files.
gs2dvpak.arc Disk 2, the next 3 files.
gs3dvpak.arc Disk 3, the remaining files.
These files will dearc to three 1541 disk sides.
Or all three files will dearc to a single 1581 disk.
Since you will use GeoWrite for your text editor when creating your source code, you will be able to easily cut and paste any of the included example routines that you will find in this package.
If you should encounter any problems, please let me know. Thanks, and good luck.
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