SCREEN DESIGN is a shareware program. You can try it without charge and if you find that it is of use, you are urged to register and pay a fee $10.00 for it's continued use.
SCREEN DESIGN and all files distributed with it are Copyright 1989, Chuck Reams d/b/a E/Z Soft Inc.
11406 Beehive Court Germantown,MD 20874.
All Rights Reserved.
INTRODUCTION:
SCREEN DESIGN is an easy to use program for designing fullscreen output for the IBM PC. With SCREEN DESIGN the user can position the cursor and type characters anywhere on the screen. When the screen is finished SCREEN DESIGN will automatically write to disk the necessary BASIC CODE needed to generate the designed screen. This generated code can then be merged or chained with other BASIC programs. Function keys, 5 thru l0, are set to generate special and graphic characters, which the user may then use to design their own special screen.
REQUIREMENTS:
SCREEN DESIGN support the following minimum requirements:
IBM Personal Computer or compatibles
One diskette drive (single or double sided) or hard disk
64KB of memory
A Monochrome or Color Monitor
IBM Disk Operating System (DOS 1.1 THRU 3.10)
IBM Matrix Printer or any compatible printer
GETTING STARTED WITH SCREEN DESIGN:
For a one drive system, place your DOS in drive A then start your DOS by either switching on the IBM Personal Computer or holding down the CTL, ALT, and DEL keys. After you enter the time and date, the DOS prompt ( A> ) will appear. Take out the DOS diskette and put the SCREEN DESIGN diskette in drive A, then TYPE DESIGN, or make a directory on your hard disk copying all the SCREEN DESIGN files to that directory. Type DESIGN when you want to use the program.
MAIN MENU:
While SCREEN DESIGN is loading, you will see the LOGO screen and by pressing the return key you will be then shown the SCREEN DESIGN'S main menu. The menu will show you various options that you can select. Next you will be able to select any of the available color options that you desire. You can always return to this menu from any place, and at any time during a design effort by pressing the ESC. key. If a selection is not made within one minute, SCREEN DESIGN will automatically go into the DEMO mode. SCREEN DESIGN creates a work screen that allows you to use the display screen of the IBM PC like a chalkboard for designing colorful text screens with ease. Function keys F3 and F4 are used to change the various screen definitions. If you are planning more than one design effort, you must save each DESIGN before going to the next one.
The following is a description of SCREEN DESIGN'S menu options and what each does:
DESIGN:
Selecting the "D" (for DESIGN) option provides you with a blank screen for your designs, with the cursor in the upper left hand corner. It will take a few seconds for the cursor to appear. The cursor may be moved to any position on the screen by using the arrow keys on the right side of the keyboard. As the FUNCTION KEY characters are typed, they will appear wherever the cursor is located on the screen. TAB, INSERT, DELETE, BACKSPACE and HOME are all supported in SCREEN DESIGN to simplify screen construction. Displayed along the bottom of the screen are the graphic characters currently assigned to FUNCTION keys 3 thru 10. When one of these keys are pressed, the associated graphic character will be displayed on the screen. These keys allow you to construct boxes, histograms, and other graphic figures on the screen.
Pressing F4 "NEXT" keys the definition to a set of graphic characters. Each time F4 is pressed a new set of graphic characters is displayed. Pressing F3 "BACK" returns the key definitions to the preceding set of graphic characters. Once you have finished your screen, then press ESC. This will take you back to the menu. The screen you have just defined is now contained in the workspace. Now you can save it using the "S" option.
MODIFY:
Selecting the "M" (for MODIFY) option allows you to display and change a screen that is already in your workspace. The screen that was in your workspace was placed there by either a DESIGN ("D") option or a LOAD ("L") option. After you have completed your modifications, press ESC. This will take you back to the menu. The modified screen is now in the workspace.
SAVE:
Selecting the "S" (for SAVE) option tells SCREEN DESIGN to write the screen definition currently in your workspace to disk. Once you have selected the "S" option, you will be prompted to select a name for the file. After you have ENTERED the desired file name, SCREEN DESIGN will instruct you to "STAND BY" while it translates the current screen in the workspace into BASIC CODE. The screen program will then be stored on disk in ASCII format with the name and file extension that you have given it.
LOAD:
Selecting the "L" (for LOAD) option brings a screen definition from disk into your workspace. SCREEN DESIGN requires that if a file is to be LOADED, that file must be on disk in ASCII format. SCREEN DESIGN does this for you when you SAVE a screen (using the "S" option). However if you modify the file with the BASIC program editor and then save that file using the BASIC command, you must save it in ASCII.
You must save it in the following manner: EXAMPLE: SAVE"<FILENAME.EXT>",A
After the file has been LOADED and you wish to modify it, go to the MENU and select the "M" option, which will display your file in the workspace.
EXIT:
Selecting the"X" (for EXIT) option will terminate SCREEN DESIGN. All data in the current workspace will be lost, unless you use the SAVE command prior to the EXIT command.
HELP:
Selecting the "H" (for HELP) option displays a screen which explains the functions of SCREEN DESIGN.
SCREEN DESIGN HELP MENU:
KEY TOGGLE?
F1 YES DRAWS SINGLE LINE WITH CURSOR
F2 YES DRAWS DOUBLE LINE WITH CURSOR
F3 SELECT PREVIOUS CHARACTER SET
F4 SELECT NEXT CHARACTER SET
F6 TO F10 PRINTS SELECTED CHARACTER
ALT C CHANGES DEFAULT COLORS
ALT D DELETES CURRENT LINE
ALT E ERASES ADJACENT AREA
ALT F FILL COMMAND AREA
ALT H DISPLAYS HELP INFORMATION
ALT P YES PAINT LAST CHAR WITH CURSOR
ALT U UNDELETE LAST DELETED LINE
CTRL HOME ERASES ENTIRE SCREEN
ESC RETURNS TO MAIN MENU
ALT F1/F10 DIRECTLY SETS DEFAULT COLORS
CTRL F1/F10 ALSO SETS DEFAULT COLORS
SHIFT F1/F10 ALSO SETS DEFAULT COLORS
HOME LOCATES CURSOR AT TOP LEFT OF SCREEN
ENTER KEY CURSOR TO LEFT EDGE OF NEXT LINE
FILES CREATED BY SCREEN DESIGN:
The files that are created by SCREEN DESIGN, and written to disk, may be loaded into any IBM PC BASIC editor and examined. As you look at one of the files, you will notice that each begins with a BASIC CLS (CLEAR SCREEN) statement. The balance of the file lines are BASIC LOCATE statements followed by PRINT statements.
The BASIC code that SCREEN DESIGN writes to disk may be executed, merged, or chained just as any other BASIC program. It can be modified by EDITORS or loaded back into SCREEN DESIGN for any type of modification that you desire.
INPUT DATA FIELDS:
SCREEN DESIGN cannot define input data fields for you. However, your own input statements can be added to the file after you leave SCREEN DESIGN. Use the BASIC LOCATE statement to specify where on the screen you wish to put your input field, and then use a BASIC INPUT statement to define your input field. Multiple input fields on the same screen can be set up using the BASIC INKEY
function (see the BASIC Reference Manual for further details).
ERROR MESSAGES:
Errors are trapped by SCREEN DESIGN and result in an error message. SCREEN DESIGN was designed so that error occurrences will not affect the contents of the workspace. In each case the error message displayed will include an error message number which refers to the error message descriptions contained in Appendix A of the BASIC Reference Manual
CHARACTERS AVAILABLE:
There are a total of 256 characters listed in Appendix G of the BASIC Reference Manual, 94 of these are normal keyboard characters. These may be included in SCREEN DESIGN'S screen definitions if you wish, by simply typing the appropriate keyboard key
(ASCII codes 32/125). There are two
instances which will cause the normal keyboard characters to create an undesired result, these are:
(1) Quote (") Since SCREEN DESIGN translates the screen into a series of BASIC LOCATE & PRINT statements, and the PRINT statement uses quotes to encase each literal string; you should not use quotes in your design efforts.
using the quotes will cause whatever quoted to appear in the PRINT statement as a zero. If you wish to have quotes on your screen design, place them in your program after you leave SCREEN DESIGN using your favorite EDITOR.
(2) Comma (,) A screen design which has one or more commas can be saved on disk without any difficulty. Such a file cannot be loaded back into SCREEN DESIGN with the "L" option. SCREEN DESIGN sees your screen as a sequential data file. Sequential files use commas as delimiters; so when SCREEN DESIGN tries to load a file containing commas, it misinterprets the commas, gets out of sync, and your screen will not be loaded. You may use commas in your design, but remember that you will not be able to load it back for modification
Of the remaining 162 characters listed in Appendix G of the BASIC Reference Manual, 152 of them may be used for your screen design by using the Function keys as described in the DESIGN option.
The remaining 10 characters have special meaning to the IBM PC and will cause SCREEN DESIGN or your screen not to function properly:
000 007 008 009 010
028 029 030 031 255
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