Cream of the Crop 20/Cream of the Crop 20 (Terry Blount) (1996).iso/os2/pms_104.zip/PMSTRIP.DOC

Text File | 1996-07-03 | 14KB | 357 lines

PMStripper 1.04


I. Overview:


This PM shareware utility strips HTML codes from Web pages, leaving
only the text and URLs (optionally).  Some of the page's formatting
is retained, but since PMStripper is not an HTML interpreter most
formatting is lost.  While the layout of tables and lists is lost
during stripping, data is sorted to separate lines for legibility.

PMStripper is designed to provide a quick conversion of HTML coded
files into plain ASCII text.  Although the converted files can be
edited while loaded in PMStripper, only simple edit commands are
available.  Therefore, if extensive editing is needed, the text
should be loaded into a more capable word processor or text editor.

The registered version offers a menu item to easily move stripped
files to programs suited for advanced editing.

One convenient use of PMStripper is to quickly convert Web pages to
text for spell checking without having to constantly click to accept
(or add) HTML codes and links to the spelling dictionary.

PMStripper is a shareware program and if you continue to use the
program you should register it.  PMStripper does not have any
code to check on how long the program has been in use, so it is
up to the user to determine a reasonable trial period.

The shareware version of PMStripper is fully functional, some of
the convience features are disabled but they do not effect the
function of the utility.  Trying the disabled features will bring
up an unregistered message requiring a user response.


II.  Installing PMStripper:


1) Unzip the archive.

2) If REXX is installed:  Run the INSTALL.CMD script from an OS/2
command prompt, or by double clicking on the install file's icon.

The script will create a destination directory and transfer program
files to it.  Optionally, you may use the unzip directory as the
working directory.  In either case the script will create a
PMStripper program object on the desktop and set file associations
for .HTM and .HTML files.  Setting associations this way allows
instant loading, and stripping, of saved web pages by double clicking
their icons.

If the install program cannot create the desired directory, just move
all unzipped files to the working directory before running the
install program.

3) If REXX is not installed:  Unzip the archive in the desired
working directory and manually:  a) Create a desktop program object,
and b) Sets .HTM and HTML associations.  (See OS/2 documentation for
instructions, if needed.)


III.  Files


PMStripper is distributed in the compressed archive PMS_xxx.zip,
where xxx is the version number.  The archive contains these files:

NAME          SIZE       DESCRIPTION

FILE_ID.DIZ        434    File descrption for BBS use.
INSTALL.CMD       2326    Install script.
LICENSE.TXT       4661    License.
ORDER.BMT         3708    BMT Micro order form
PMSTRIP.DOC      13968    This file.
PMSTRIP.EXE     367797    Program executable.
PMSTRIPR.ICO       874    Program icon.
PMSTRIPB.ICO       874    Program icon.
TIPS              1125    Tips on using PMStripper



IV.  Uninstalling PMStripper:


If you find it necessary to remove PMStripper, simply delete the
unzipped files, program object, associations and directory.
PMStripper makes no entries in configuration or initialization files.



V. Using PMStripper


PMStripper is a simple program with only five menu bar items:

1. 'File' offers three pull-down menu item:  'Open File', 'Save As'
and 'Exit'.  Each perform in a standard OS/2 manner.

The 'Open File' selection can also be used to reload the HTML file if
you make a change in the processing options.

If the INSTALL.CMD file is used to install PMStripper, the association
for .htm and .html files has been set so you can also double click
on the file icon and it will be loaded into PMStripper.

The utility will also load HTML coded files for stripping via drag
and drop of the file's icon onto that of the PMStripper.  However,
the capability to load files by drag and drop onto an open edit
window does not exist.

Picking a file name for the 'Save As' is easy: Highlight some text
for the name and then click on 'Save As', or simply highlight and
then press Alt+S.  If you have not highlighted text for the file
name, the original file's name (with the extension .htm or .html
replaced by .txt) is offered as the default.  The option to use
highlighted text is only available in the registered version.
The 'Save As' function now does a check for valid file names and
for write access if the user is trying to overwrite an existing
file.  A message box is displayed if one of these errors is detected.


2. 'Edit' has five sub-menu items which also operate as expected.
They are 'Cut', 'Copy', 'Paste', 'Select All' and 'Undo Change'.  The
'Undo Change' selection will undo the last change made to the text in
the window and is only one level deep.


3. 'Options' has five sub-menu items.  They are 'Display Options',
'URL Settings', 'External Editor Settings', 'Filename Settings' and
'Save Settings'.

'Display Options' has two sub-menu items.  They are 'Font' and 'Word
Wrap'.  'Font' brings up a standard OS/2 font dialog box and will
allow the selection of any of the installed fonts.  'Word Wrap' is a
toggle setting that turns word wrap on or off.  The wrap function
does not actually reformat the text, instead it effects only the way
text is displayed.

'URL Settings' has two sub-menu items.  They are 'Add URLs' and
'Leave URLs'.  These options effect how the HTML file is processed
and the file must be reloaded for these changes to effect current
file.  'Add URLs' appends the URLs found in the HTML file to the end
of the stripped text.  'Leave URLs' leaves the URLs found in the HTML
file in the stripped text.

'External Editor Settings' has two sub-menu items.  They are 'Use
__TMP2__ File' and 'Use Clipboard'.  'Use __TMP2__ File' causes the
temporary file __TMP2__ to be left in the current working directory
for use by an external editor.  'Use Clipboard' causes the stripped
file to be copied to the OS/2 clipboard when the user selects 'Exit
to Word Processor'.  These option settings are only effective in the
registered version.

'Filename Settings' has four sub-menu items.  They are 'Replace Space
with Underscore Character', 'Leave Space in Filename', 'Get Default
Save Path, and 'Use Default Save Path'. The first two items are
toggles and only one setting is active. They determine how the
highlighted text is converted to a destination file name for the
stripped HTML file.  These option settings are only effective in
the registered version.  'Get Default Save Path' brings up a dialog
box that allows the user to enter a destination path that is used
when the stripped file is saved to disk. 'Use Default Save Path' is
toggle that enables the use of the default save path. This option is
only active in the registered version.

'Save Settings' saves all of the option settings to an INI file named
PMSTRIP.INI which is located in the current working directory.  The
display options are not part of the saved settings and the utility
reverts to word wrap on and the default font when loaded.

NOTE:  When PMStripper is activated by dropping the icon of a HTML
file onto that of PMStripper, the location of the HTML file becomes
the current working directory.  PMStripper will look for its INI file
in that directory, and if not found will create a new file, with
default settings, in the directory.  Upon shutting down PMStripper
the newly created INI file will remain.  This is convenient for those
who may want several INI files, each with different attributes,
according to the location of the source HTML file.

4. 'Exit' has two sub-menu items.  They are 'Exit' and 'Exit to Word
Processor'.  'Exit' causes the stripped file to be discarded and
PMStripper to close.  'Exit to Word Processor' causes the OS/2 CMD
file PMS_CMD.CMD to be executed and PMStripper