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-
- ======================================
- Intersheet from the Archimedes Desktop
- ======================================
-
- Version 4.3 - For RiscOS 3 - October 1992
-
- Copyright D.J.Holden 1989
-
-
- This application will enable you to run the BBC ROM versions of
- Intersheet from the Archimedes desktop and will make it respond to
- 'file clicking' in the proper RiscOS manner.
-
- As well as this program there are similar utilities for InterWord,
- (Archimedes disc version), View, ViewSheet, ViewStore and WordWise
- Plus (Archimedes disc version). If you have one of these programs then
- contact me to ask for details. If you have any other BBC ROMs that you
- wish to use on the Archimedes then if you send me a disc with a copy of
- the ROM (and an SAE please) I will try to help.
-
- Please note that in order to make this application work I have been
- forced to use some 'crude and dirty' programming methods. Normally this
- is transparent to the user and doesn't cause any difficulty.
-
- I offer no warranty for the operation of this program, nor will I
- accept any responsibility for its operation or suitability for any
- purpose or for any damage or loss of data caused by its use.
-
- Although Intersheet will take over the whole screen when running it
- otherwise behaves like any other RiscOS application and when you
- return to the Desktop any other programs you are running will continue
- as before. The only problem is that you can't leave Intersheet to
- return to the Desktop temporarily. If you do this without saving your
- Interword file your data will (probably) be lost.
-
- You will also find that the function keys work correctly. That is they
- are in the same PLACE as they are on the BBC computer ie. one NUMBER
- higher. You no longer need to press the Print key for F0. You will also
- find that the pound key works correctly and the "`" key (the key below
- the ESC key) now produces the "'" character so you can transfer files
- back to a BBC computer.
-
- Note that this program has so far only been briefly tested with version
- 1.06 of the Intersheet ROM. I don't normally use Intersheet and don't
- have a copy of the Manual so I haven't been able to test it properly. If
- you do have problems or have a different version and the program doesn't
- work properly then send me a disc with a copy of your version of the
- Intersheet ROM (and an SAE please) and I will try to help.
-
-
- Setting up the Application
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-
- TO START:
- Add the 65Tube program which is found on this disc into this directory
-
-
- 1. You must get a copy of your Intersheet ROM onto an Archimedes disc
- and copy it to the !ISheet directory. For obvious copyright reasons
- I can't supply this. Make sure that it is called SHEET and rename it
- if necessary. If you do have any difficulty then contact me and I
- may be able to help.
-
- 2. Open the !ISheet directory and double-click on the !Convert icon.
- You should now find that a new file 'ISheetMod' has appeared in
- the !ISheet directory. Once you have done this and tested the
- program the ROM image SHEET and the !Convert directory is no longer
- required and can be deleted from your 'working' copy of the program.
-
- 3. You will need a copy of the 6502 Emulator 65Tube in the !ISheet
- directory. This may or may not be included. It is sometimes removed
- to save space. If it isn't there then copy it from the RiscOS
- applications disc. Hard disc users may prefer not to have the
- emulator in the application directory. In this case just change the
- line in the !Run file which loads the emulator. Note that unlike
- Interword Intersheet will NOT work with 65Arthur.
-
-
- Running !ISheet
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- Double-click on the !ISheet application icon and it will install itself
- on the icon bar. If you click MENU (the middle mouse button) on this
- icon a menu will appear with the two normal 'Info' and 'Quit' items.
- If you click SELECT (the left mouse button) you will start up
- Intersheet at the Main Menu with no file loaded.
-
-
- Loading Files
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- If the file is an Intersheet file which has it's filetype set to &D81
- it can be loaded by 'double-clicking' on the file icon. If RiscOs has
- 'seen' the !ISheet application then double-clicking on an Intersheet
- file will start up !ISheet and load the file.
-
- To run ISheet by clicking on an Intersheet file without RiscOS seeing
- the !ISheet icon insert the following line in your system !Boot file,
- where <path> is the full path of the !ISheet application.
-
- SetAlias$@RunType_D81 Run <path>.!ISheet.!Run *%0
-
- If the file does not have the correct filetype you can load it by
- dragging the file icon to the ISheet icon on the icon bar. Note that if
- you do this no checks are made to see that it actually an Intersheet
- file. I assume that you know what you are doing. If it is not actually
- an Intersheet file you could crash the program.
-
- In either case the Currently Selected Directory (CSD) will be set to the
- directory the file is in so that you can save the file from the normal
- Intersheet menu.
-
- If you drag a directory icon to the ISheet icon the CSD will be set to
- that directory. Interword will then be started up at the 'Load File'
- prompt so you can enter the name of any file in the directory.
-
- You can of course load files from the Intersheet Load File prompt in the
- normal way.
-
-
- Setting Filetypes
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- The version of Intersheet that I have does not set the filetype of files
- that are saved although there is an official filetype for them (D81)
- although I believe that the Archimedes version of Intersheet does do
- this. Similarly any files transferred from a BBC micro will not have a
- filetype set. To make it easier to identify files and to enable the
- filetype of a BBC file to be easily set I have included a facility to
- set the filetypes of these. This will also set the filetypes of
- Interword files. I have assigned the 'master' file of an Interword
- multi-file document a filetype of D7F and the 'leaf' files a filetype of
- D7E and included sprites for these.
-
- To set the filetype of these or a BBC Interword or Intersheet file drag
- the file icon to the ISheet icon while holding down the SHIFT key. A
- menu will appear with the choice of Intersheet, Normal IWord,
- Multi-Master or Multi-Leaf. Simply click on the required one to set the
- type of the file.
-
- At present no checks are made to ensure that the file is actually of the
- type you have selected.
-
- Once you have set the type of a file in this way double-clicking on it
- will start ISheet and load the file. Unfortunately once a file has been
- loaded into Intersheet and saved it will lose it's filetype again so I'm
- afraid you will need to re set it each time.
-
-
- Screen Blanking
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- When ISheet is started by dragging or clicking on a file there is an
- annoying sequence where you jump from the Desktop to the main Interword
- menu, wait while the file is loaded and then jump to the edit screen. To
- avoid this eyeball-searing flicking between screens a command *ISBLANK
- is provided which will blank the screen while this is going on.
-
- This command is normally followed by the time in 1/100ths of a second
- during which you wish the screen to be blanked. Normally the command
- will be placed in the !Run file but it can be entered from the keyboard
- if required. Entering *ISBLANK without a following number will show the
- current setting.
-
- By default it is set to 150 (one and a half seconds) which seems to be
- about right if you are loading files from floppies. You may need to make
- this shorter if you are loading files from a hard disc or have an ARM 3
- or longer if you are using 640K floppies or long files. If you don't
- want to use the blanking feature then just use *ISBLANK 0
-
-
- Cumputer 'hangs' with blank screen
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- An unfortunate consequence of the screen blanking is that any error
- messages during this sequence may not be displayed and everything
- will appear to stop displaying a blank screen. This normally means
- that you have forgotten to insert the right disc or something similar.
-
- In theory it shouldn't happen because the program checks that the file
- actually exists and can be read before leaving the desktop, so if you
- have just forgotten to put the correct disc in the drive you will get
- the usual Filing System error message.
-
- However under certain circumstances it is possible for an error to occur
- while the screen is disabled.
-
- DON'T PANIC. Just press ESCAPE and you will return to the desktop where
- you can try to find out what went wrong. The most likely cause of this
- type of error is a corrupted file. To check this try to load it into
- Edit by dragging the file icon to the Edit icon on the icon bar.
-
-
- Leaving Intersheet
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- When you have finished with Intersheet DON'T PRESS RESET. Remember that
- although you are running a program under the 6502 emulator you are still
- in the Desktop, you just can't see it. Just type *QUIT (or *Q.) at the
- Intersheet command line and you will return to the Desktop which should
- be just the way you left it.
-
-
- Known Bugs
- ~~~~~~~~~~
- There are two problems that I know of with this program at present.
-
-
- There is a minor problem (with RiscOS 3 only) when Interword switches
- from the Menu to the Load/Save screens. In theory the screen should be
- blanked during this transition but under RiscOS 3 the blanking method
- used by Interword doesn't seem to work. This is not too serious however,
- and since curing the problem would involve altering the Interword code,
- which I have so far avoided doing, I shall ignore it for the present.
-
-
- Another problem exists if you press RESET while !IWord is loaded or
- running. This will remove the desktop 'front end' program but leave the
- two modules intact. In theory this shouldn't cause any problems but
- sometimes it can if you then run !IWord again. In theory everything
- should be OK but sometimes it isn't and strange 'Address Exception' and
- 'Bad String' errors can occur. I don't know why this happens but it
- isn't unique to !IWord as I have observed the same type of errors with
- other programs which operate as a combination of 'front end' and Module.
-
- The cure is obviously to always 'kill' the modules 'IWordDrivers' and
- IWordMod' whenever you 'quit' the program. If you select 'Quit' in the
- ususal way this will be done, but obvioulsly pressing RESET bypasses
- this action.
-
- To save you the trouble of pressing F12 and typing the commands I have
- included a file called 'KillMod' in the Application directory. If in
- doubt just open the !IWord directory and double-click on the KillMod
- icon and this will make sure that the modules are removed.
-
-
- Licence to Use and Copy
- ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
- This program is not Public Domain. The program and all associated
- material including this file are all Copyright D.J.Holden. Anyone may
- make personal use of it without restriction. You may only copy and/or
- distribute the program subject to the following conditions.
-
- 1. You must copy the compete !ISheet application with all it's
- auxiliary files, !Run, !Boot, ReadMe, ISheet, !Sprites, Templates
- and the !Convert application.
-
- 2. You must not make any alteration to any of these files
- although you may modify the !Boot and !Run files if necessary to
- suit your distribution discs.
-
- 3. You must ensure that you do not copy an ISheetMod file as this will
- contain code which is copyright Computer Concepts and must be
- provided by the user.
-
- 4. You must not make any charge for the program or for any additional
- material that you might supply. You may make a charge to cover
- media, postage, overheads, etc.
-
- 5. If you are running a P.D. library or are otherwise making any
- charge for copying this program, whether in fee or in kind, even
- if this fee is donated to charity, you are obliged to notify me
- that you are distributing !ISheet. I would appreciate a disc with a
- selection from your Library and I will respond by sending you the
- latest version and a selection of others.
-
-
- In the event of any problems or if you have any suggestions for
- improvements please contact me.
-
- David Holden
- 39 Knighton Park Road
- Sydenham
- London SE26 5RN
-
- 081 778 2659
-