é *******¢ VTEX.COM - The Text Viewing Utility¢ Version 1.1 3/10/92¢ Program and Documentation by:¢é Larry Richardson¢ 5521 Madrid Ave.¢ Orlando, Fl 32807¢ ¢ This program is distributed as¢ SHAREWARE. I have spent a great deal¢ of time designing, coding, debugging,¢ and modifying this program. Any¢ donations I receive for my time and¢ effort will encourage me to continue¢ supporting this program as well as¢ writing new software for the Atari 8-¢ bit computer. Thank you.¢ USE arrow key to scroll pages ¢ FORWARD or BACK.¢¢ I. What does it do?¢ VTEX is a utility that¢ allows you to view any file on the¢ screen. If you have used DOS to view¢ a file (copy from the file to E:),¢ you already know how unfriendly it¢ is. VTEX is an attempt to give the¢ Atari 8-bit users an easier and more¢ powerful method to view a file.¢¢ II Features¢ VTEX can page through a¢ file, both forward and backward. It¢ has the ability to skip to the last¢ page and back to the first page, or¢ to skip in increments of ten pages.¢ Since VTEX doesn't go through CIO to¢ display on the screen, special¢ characters (such as the clear screen¢ command) will not interfere with the¢ display. VTEX has a pseudo-word wrap¢ (I'll explain later), and can delete¢ the leading spaces from the left¢ margin (good for viewing files that¢ have been PRINTed to disk). VTEX¢ also has string search capabilities,¢ ASCII CR/LF handling, adjustable¢ screen colors, a directory lister,¢ and the ability to save its default¢ configuration. It has been tested¢ under both Atari DOé 2.5 (2.0) and¢ SpartaDOS.¢¢ III. Running VTEX¢ From any Atari type DOS,¢ use the binary load command and load¢ the VTEX executable file (VTEX.COM). ¢ The program will prompt for a¢ filename. Enter the filename to view¢ and press RETURN. After VTEX opens¢ the file, the VTEX view screen will¢ appear. At the bottom of the screen¢ is the VTEX status line. It displays¢ the version number of the program,¢ the current page number of the file¢ being viewed and has an end-of-file¢ indicator. It also indicates if the¢ word-wrap, delete leading spaces, oré ASCII/ATASCII option are active or¢ not.¢ From SpartaDOS, you may¢ specify the filename to view on the¢ command line. Simply type - VTEX¢ filename <RETURN>. Under SpartaDOS,¢ VTEX will look for the filename on¢ the command line. If it doesn't find¢ the filename there, it will prompt¢ you to enter the filename (as it¢ always does under Atari DOS). With¢ either DOS, if VTEX encounters an¢ error while trying to open the file,¢ it will re-prompt you for a new¢ filename. If you wish to exit VTEX¢ at this prompt, press ESC. The¢ program will then exit to DOS.¢¢é IV. Commands¢ Once VTEX is running, you¢ have a number of commands to choose¢ from. The commands are explained¢ below. ¢ PAGE FORWARD¢ Press the down arrow key¢ (without holding down the CONTROL¢ key). VTEX will display the next page¢ in the file. As VTEX moves forward¢ through a file, it notes the position¢ of the beginning of each page so that¢ it can move backward (or jump¢ forward) directly to that page.¢ PAGE BACKWARD¢ Press the up arrow key¢ (without holding down the CONTROL¢ key). VTEX will display the previous¢ page in the file.¢ FORWARD 10 PAGES¢ Press <SHIFT> down arrow¢ (without the CONTROL key). Note that¢ because of the way Atari 8-bit DOS's¢ handle random access files, VTEX¢ cannot just jump to a page that it¢ has not yet read in a sequential¢ manner (see the explanation in PAGE¢ FORWARD). It doesn't know at what¢ point in the file the 10th page¢ occurs, for example, until it has¢ read pages 1-10. Therefore, when you¢ press <SHIFT> down arrow, VTEX will¢ either.¢ 1) Move forward 10 pages (if it¢ has already read that far in the¢ file)¢ - or -¢ 2) Move to the highest page it¢ has read (if less than 10 pages from¢ the current page)¢ BACKWARD 10 PAGES¢ Press <SHIFT> up arrow¢ (without the CONTROL key). VTEX will¢ either:¢ 1) Move backward 10 pages (if¢ the current page being displayed is¢ greater than 10)¢ - or -¢ 2) Go to the beginning of the¢ file. ¢ ¢ GO TO THE BEGINNING OF THE FILE¢ Press B to return to the¢ first page of the file.¢ GO TO THE END OF THE FILE¢ Press E to ATTEMPT to go to¢ the end of the file. VTEX can only¢ go directly to the end of the file if¢ it has already read the last page. ¢ If the last page has not been read,¢ pressing E will take you to the¢ highest page number read at that¢ point. Once the last page has been¢ read (using the down arrow to page¢ forward), VTEX notes the position if¢ this page so it can access it¢ directly.¢ DISPLAY THE CURRENT FILENAME¢ Press F to display the name¢ of the file that is currently being¢ viewed. Press F again to see the¢ normal VTEX status line.¢ WORD WRAP THE DISPLAY¢ Press W to turn on the¢ pseudo-word wrap. A 'W' will appear¢ on the left side of the status line¢ to let you know that word wrap is¢ active. This is not a true word wrap,¢ so long words will hang over onto the¢ next page. VTEX will simply start¢ looking for a space after column 31. ¢ If it finds a space, it will break¢ the line here and wrap the text at¢ this point. Pressing W again will¢ turn the word wrap off.¢ Note that because selecting¢ word wrap (or the delete leading¢ spaces option) will change the size¢ of the displayed pages, VTEX resets¢ the file to start back at page 1 when¢ either of these options are selected.¢ This allows the program to re-build¢ its pointers to the beginning of the¢ pages (which will now be in¢ different positions).¢ DELETE LEADING LEFT SPACES¢ Press D to turn on the¢ delete leading left spaces option. A¢ 'D' will appear on the left side of¢ the status line to let you know that¢ this option is active. Any spaces¢ that would have appeared on the left¢ edge of the page are now gone. Also,¢ the current page is reset to 1 (see¢ the note under the word wrap option¢ for an explanation).¢ Press D again to turn this¢ option off.¢ SEARCH FOR A STRING¢ Press S key to search for a¢ string. The program will prompt you¢ to enter a string. Type the string¢ you wish to search for and press¢ RETURN. The program will start from¢ the current page and look forward for¢ the search string. The search will¢ stop when the program has found your¢ string, the and of the file has been¢ reached, or the ESC key is pressed. ¢ The function will not search if the¢ current page is the and of the file.¢ ASCII option¢ VTEX can optionally display¢ ASCII carriage return/line feeds or¢ carriage returns alone as it would¢ ATASCII carriage returns. This is¢ useful for viewing text generated on¢ IBM PC's, such as many text files¢ that are on bulletin boards. ¢ Pressing A will toggle this option on¢ or off. An 'A' will appear on the¢ left side of the status line to let¢ you know that the ASCII option is¢ active. As with the word-wrap and¢ delete leading spaces option, the¢ file will be reset to the beginning¢ when this option is selected.¢ LOAD A NEW FILE¢ Pressing L will make VTEX prompt¢ you for a new filename to load and¢ view. Enter the filename and press¢ RETURN. If the program encounters an¢ error while trying to open the file,¢ the buzzer will sound and the prompt¢ will re-appear to allow you to try¢ again.¢ Pressing ESC at this prompt will¢ exit the option and let you continue¢ to view the current file. When a new¢ file is loaded, VTEX operates as if¢ it has just been loaded (i.e. you¢ begin at the first page in the file¢ and all pointer information must be¢ re-created). If no drive specifier¢ is given, the D: prefix is appended¢ to the filename before attempting to¢ load the file.¢ EXIT THE PROGRAM¢ To exit VTEX and return to DOS,¢ press the ESC key. Note that if you¢ choose the search option, pressing¢ ESC while the program is prompting¢ for the search string simply takes¢ you out of the search function.¢ This is also the case with the¢ load a new file option. Pressing ESC¢ while the program is prompting you¢ for a filename will simply abort the¢ command.¢ NOTE: The following are¢ functions that are new to VTEX (added¢ since version 1.0). Following these¢ will be a list of the other¢ enhancements made to the program¢ since the 1.0 version.¢ DIRECTORY¢ Press R to view a disk¢ directory. VTEX will prompt for a¢ path (the initial default path is¢ D:*.*). This path is the drive¢ specifier, subdirectories, AND file¢ specifier. For example, to view the¢ directory listing all of the .BAS¢ files on drive 2 in the BASIC¢ subdirectory, the path would be:¢ D2:>BASIC>*.BAS¢ To view all of the files on the¢ default drive in the current¢ subdirectory:¢ D:*.*¢ Pressing ESC at the path prompt¢ will abort the directory listing.¢ COLORS¢ VTEX now allows the user to¢ customize the screen color and text¢ intensity to his or her liking. The¢ < and > keys decrease and increase¢ the screen intensity. The 9 and 0¢ keys decrease and increase the text¢ intensity.¢ Finally, SHIFT < and SHIFT >¢ decrease and increase the screen¢ color, independent of the intensity¢ level.¢ SAVE CURRENT CONFIGURATION¢ Press C to save the current¢ configuration. This command saves¢ the state of some of the VTEX¢ features, allowing you to customize¢ your copy of the program. The¢ following are all saved by this¢ command:¢ - Word Wrap On/Off¢ - ASCII/ATASCII state¢ - Delete Spaces On/Off¢ - Screen color and Text¢ intensity¢ Press C and VTEX will prompt for¢ a VTEXfile name. This is the name of¢ the VTEX executable that you run. ¢ After entering the filename, VTEX¢ will update the executable file¢ itself with the new default values¢ for the above features. So, to make¢ a bright red screen and black text¢ your default, simply set the screen¢ colors and then press C.¢ HELP SCREEN¢ VTEX version 1.1 now has a help¢ Screen built in. Just press ? and¢ the help will pop up on the screen. ¢ All of the key commands listed in¢ this DOC file are on the help screen,¢ followed by a short explanation. You¢ may execute any key command from help¢ by just pressing the key (you don't¢ have to exit help first).¢¢ NOTE: To exit help without doing¢ a command, press ?, or any other¢ unused key.¢ Pressing ESC will not only exit¢ the help screen, but take you¢ completely out VTEX and back to DOS.¢ NOTES ON VERSION 1.1¢ ¢ After many suggestions, I had to¢ figure out what to add and what to¢ throw away. I wanted to keep the¢ program still fairly small, but add¢ enough of the good suggestions to¢ make it more usable than before.¢¢ The commands above were new to¢ 1.1 (Directory, screen colors, save¢ configuration, and help screen). ¢ Also, a few things were fixed and¢ improved.¢ ¢ - First, a bug hat caused VTEX¢ to sometimes exit to DOS before ¢ running was squashed!¢ ¢ - Another 1.0 bug... go to the¢ End-of-file, select A, D, or é, and¢ the program would not advance¢ forward. Squashed!¢ ¢ - The BREAK key is now disabled¢ while in the program.¢ ¢ - ESC will stop a string search¢ before getting to the end of the file¢ (I did a search on a 70+ page¢ document one evening... I put the ESC¢ feature in shortly after that!) ¢ - When loading a file with Lé¢ the default drive is now D: instead¢ of D1:. Now SpartaDos users can¢ specify a filename without a drive,¢ and the default SD drive will be used¢ instead of D1:¢ ¢ V. SpartaDOS X Notes¢ If you are lucky enough to¢ own a SpartaDOS X cartridge, then¢ this section will give you a few¢ common sense ideas on how to best use¢ VTEX.¢ ¢ First, it is very easy to¢ make VTEX behave as though it is¢ simply another command by placing it¢ on one of the active drives and¢ setting the PATH to look on that¢ drive. I use a 256K 800XL, so I have¢ an AUTOEXEC.BAT file that does the¢ following:¢ ¢ 1) Set up a ramdisk as D8:¢ 2) Copy VTEX up to the ramdisk¢ and call it V.COM.¢ 3) SET PATH=CAR:;D8:¢ ¢ With the path set up to look on¢ the ramdisk for .COM files, I can now¢ execute VTEX from the command line¢ without having to tell SpartaDOS what¢ drive it is on. Since it is on the¢ ramdisk, it loads and begins¢ executing in a second. Also, by¢ calling the program V.COM, all I have¢ to type to view a file is: ¢ V filename <RETURN>¢ ¢ Second (and last), SpartaDOS X¢ now handles the NONE and POINT¢
