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___________________________________________________________________________ PullDown Menu Shell System, Version 2.17 U.S. ShareWare Release PULL217.ZIP ___________________________________________________________________________ Released 20 September, 1990 User's Guide All Materials, Files, Contents of Distributed Files, Software and Documentation (C) Copyright 1989-1990 Sam Horton and Copyright (C) 1990 MicroDynamics Development Corporation 1445 Mensch Lane Gilbertsville, PA 19525 ASP Membership Application Pending CIS ID 72010,2546 GEnie S.HORTON1 All Rights Reserved. ___________________________________________________________________________ TABLE OF CONTENTS ___________________________________________________________________________ License, Terms of Use, Distribution............................. 2 License Distribution Consultant Dealerships Virus Protection File Description/Librarian's Reference.......................... 3 Introduction.................................................... 5 Feature Overview Pure Text Files Installation, ShareWare Version................................. 8 Making Menus.................................................... 8 Basic Menu Definition Advanced Menu Definition Help Subsystem Use/Definition Using the SAA Interface......................................... 26 Keyboard Dialog Elements Getting Around Mouse Configuring the Menu System..................................... 28 Option Clusters for Configuration Colors Passwords/Toggles for screen mode, NumLock, Resume Registration System Command Line Parameters......................................... 31 Technical Support & Registrations............................... 31 Domestic USA Germany (DDR & FDR) Consultant's Dealerships........................................ 32 APPENDIXES ---------- A: Troubleshooting Guide........................................ 33 Unexpected return to menu shell, no selection activated Unexpected Results of a selection and debugging Tips Locking system Mouse Problems Unexpected System Halts/Fatal Errors B: Files included in package and used by PullDown/LAN Useage.... 37 C: Foreign Versions & Technical Support in Overseas............. 38 D: Technical Notes.............................................. 39 E: Key Word Quick Reference (Complete Summary).................. 39 F: Load Time Minimization/Performance Optimization.............. 41 Special .DEF keyword Considerations G: Special Thanks............................................... 42 Page 1 * All commercial tradenames and trademarks referenced are property of their respective owners, and MicroDynamics makes no claim to any names or commercial trademarks commonly known to be held by owners other than MicroDynamics referenced within this or any other distributed document or file. Please note also that the illustrations in this manual do not look like the REAL menu system, as non line-draw characters are deliberately unused to support Epson default settings on printers. LIBRARIAN'S STANDARD FILE DESCRIPTION: ___________________________________________________________________________ PULL217.ZIP A sleek SAA compliant professional-style pulldown menu shell for MS- DOS systems featuring a full range of powerful options permitting total system customization. Requires DOS 3.0+, 256K RAM, IBM PC, XT, AT, PS/2, PS/1 or full compatible. 80286 or higher recommended. LICENSE AND TERMS OF USE --------------------------------------------------------------------------- SHAREWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT ACCEPTED BY YOUR USE: As a non-commercial private user you are permitted to use/evaluate this product at no charge for a period of 60 days. At the end of that period, if you feel that this work has some value to you, please consider a donation of $20 (US funds or your local currency equivalent plus 20%) to register the product. Print and return the enclosed form in the file REGFORM.DOC to request upgrade diskettes, if desired, and registration numbers. After 50 unregistered starts, the command line registration system is automatically invoked until registration. Unregistered copies are fully functional with the sole exception of permanent saving of custom colors. Commercial business users are restrained from using the product in the unregistered state under ALL circumstances. Site licenses and multiple copy terms are covered within the REGISTRATION section of this document file. MicroDynamics assumes no liability arising from your use or inability to use this software product, nor does MicroDynamics assume liability for direct, indirect or consequential damages resulting from your use. DISTRIBUTION: PullDown v2.17 MUST be distributed in its original, unmodified form on only public-access BBS systems, through non-profit ShareWare libraries, or APPROVED vendor sites and catalogs. Any distribution for remuneration beyond the cost of the diskette/mailing is strictly forbidden without the written permission of MicroDynamics and the author. (User group demo and distribution for member donation excepted.) Consultants/Dealers can obtain an on-site registration system upon acceptance of the "Dealer" agreement obtained from MicroDynamics. CONSULTANT DEALERSHIPS: Dealers and Consultants are presently using an onsite registration system and remitting a percentage of collected registration fees while providing a very clean professional look to their client's systems. If you would like to join that growing list, please notify MicroDynamics in writing, or call one of the technical support centers. A simple contract will be returned to you for approval. Voice support is available to registered Dealers and Consultants. VIRUS PROTECTION: The authorized shareware distribution copy of this software is continued within a tamper-proof ZIP file called PULL217.ZIP. If you did NOT see a banner notifying you that the ZIP file you received is valid upon invoking PKUNZIP, then assume the worst and find another copy. In fact, you are strongly advised to run a virus-checking program immediately after UNZIPPING *ANY* file or files from ShareWare libraries or Public Domain sources. However, please don't give in to the unfounded and frequently hysterical "fear cum mania" associated with the entire issue of computer viruses.... just be careful, and enjoy! Finally, if PullDown Page 2 refuses to start, displaying a message "CRC Check Failed!" then immediately check the system for virus presence. PullDown contains a measure of anti- virus self-checking, and should not start if the file is modified in any way. INTRODUCTION ___________________________________________________________________________ What are PullDown menus? In short, they are identical to the familiar PCTools Deluxe interface, and very similar to the Windows pulldown menus you are likely already familiar with. The purpose of the menu shell is to make access to programs contained on the PC to be effortless. Moreover, in the case of PullDown, the process becomes both elegant and efficient. PullDown is unique among menuing shells, providing you with the ability to define truly professional quality menus for any system quickly using a simple text editor (or Word Processor saving files as text only) and a set of easy to master commands. Beyond a reasonable working knowledge of DOS, and the ability to learn, no other expertise is required to use PullDown. However, if you should become confused as your read through the documentation please seek assistance from a knowledgeable co-worker, a friend, or call one of the Technical Support BBSs... MicroDynamics wants to serve you in any way possible, and to the extent time is available even unregistered users can get technical support from the author of the product. Please, if you have ANY trouble, or suspect the menu system of "locking" or otherwise interfering with your computer, then call for support! PullDown, in summary, contains the following features: * Professional quality SAA compliant PullDown menus with custom color, screen mode, dialog, and mouse control. * All of the basic menuing system features including password protection, command line prompts, and screen blanking, PLUS user- defined help for each menu item, defined dialog boxes ranging from simple <Ok> and <Yes><No> one-liner messages to full screen scrolling message boxes and custom input boxes. * Color, Background Fill control, and unlimited upgrades via a command line registration system. * Support for up to 10 Top Bar menu items with up to 46 selections EACH, with unlimited menu file branching--practically limitless options can be defined. * Automatically resumes the state of the menus as you left them last, and can be toggled to turn NumLock off on entry automatically. * Non TSR design assures conflict-free operation. Clear, concise manual replete with examples and troubleshooting guide. To configure the menu system properly, a working knowledge of DOS is most helpful, as well as some programming background. The programming background would help you understand very quickly how to configure the menus, but is NOT required to operate the system. More importantly, you must be familiar with the distinction between so-called "pure" text files and standard word processing files. For those who do not know what this means, let's take a minute to explain the differences, and finally to tell you how to save a file as pure text--the kind PullDown needs to operate Page 3 correctly. (If you already intend to use a text editor, then skip on ahead three or four paragraphs.) [NOTE: It is assumed that the reader has used a word processor before, and if you have never used one, then it is likely that you will need some help setting up this menu system.] When you edit or create a word processing file, regardless of the word processor you use, you first LOAD the file, work with it, and then SAVE the file. Loading and editing a pure text file is no different from working with any of your standard word processing files.... it is the SAVE function that differs. To save a pure text file instead of the usual format of your word processor, select the option TEXT ONLY, or TEXT WITH LINE BREAKS as an option just before you save. The following paragraphs deal with exactly how do this in Word Perfect and MS Word. WORDPERFECT v5.1: [Alt =] [Text Out] [Dos Text] Then enter the filename. The file will be saved without any special formatting options as pure text, with line breaks. MS WORD, v5.0: [Esc] [Transfer] [Save] [Tab] [Space] [Space] [Enter] This selects Text-only-with-line-breaks, which saves a pure text file. Using the Text-Only selection will create a file which may not be compatible with PullDown's help system. See your manual for details. If you are using WORD for WINDOWS, the process is quite similar, only you select the option from within a dialog box instead. If you use another package, look in the index of your manual for Save Options/ASCII/Files or SAVE AS TEXT for references on how to do this. If you are familiar with the use of text editors such as PE2, PE3, QEDIT, or ZIA, then simply use on of those to create and maintain the required files. As an aside, the reason that you cannot simply save in your word processor's native format it twofold. First, word processors wrap the lines for you on screen from long lines. For example, a paragraph is wrapped for you when you type it in, you don't have to press ENTER at the end of each line. This is achieved by saving the paragraphs on disk (and memory) as one very long line, and then wrapping them on your screen or printer on the fly. Second, certain characters, known as control codes, are saved within the word processor's document to store attributes of your text such as bold, underline, indented, left or right justified and so on. In most cases, "header" information about the overall document format like margins, running footers etc. is also stored within the file. If you were to view one of your word processing files strait, without the benefit of the word processor's interpretation of the control codes, you would see smiling faces and other goop on your screen, along with your text. PullDown is not equipped to interpret the extra formatting information, nor is it useful to the menu system. The first thing to check, if a menu behaves unexpectedly or a defined help screen looks bizarre, is the format in which you saved the file. If in doubt, issue the following command at the DOS prompt to check the file out: TYPE FileName.EXT Where: FileName.EXT is the file you suspect you saved incorrectly. If you get any beeping, strange characters you did not type in, or weird formatting like lines falling off the screen, then the file was saved in Page 4 the word processor's format. To correct it, load the file again using the word processor, and then save it in the correct text-only format. Finally, to configure the menu system you MUST know the following about each of the programs you will place under the shell: * The DOS Drive it is contained on. * The DOS Directory it is in. * The command used to start the application. And, to have the system start each time you turn on your PC: * Where the special DOS file AUTOEXEC.BAT is. * Whether or not you are presently using another menu system. Is is presumed you know the first set of information about your programs, but just in case you are unclear, here is a short example of the DOS commands one might type to start Lotus 1-2-3 on drive C: in the directory LOTUS: C: [ENTER] CD\LOTUS [ENTER] 123 [ENTER] And 1-2-3 would start. In order, you typed the drive it was on, the directory it was in, and the command to start the program. You will need this same information about each application you will place under the menu shell. In version 3.00 of PullDown, an automated installation routine will do all of this for you, but for now you will need this information when configuring the shell. Making PullDown start each time you turn your PC on is covered in detail under INSTALLATION below. It is really easy to do, although it sounds cryptic when first explained. This manual is divided into the following general sections: - Installation, menu configuration, and interface usage - Menu system options - Technical Support and Registration - Appendixes on Troubleshooting and Technical Details We hope that you find this reference document lucid and easy to use. As always, your comments, suggestions, and feedback on the documentation are more than welcome. Enjoy. INSTALLATION ___________________________________________________________________________ In the ShareWare form, the menu system is typically distributed within a PKZIP file called PULL217.ZIP. ZIP files, as they are called, are simply compressed sets of other files. To remove the files from the ZIP file, and make them useful, you must UNzip them using the PKUNZIP utility from PKWARE. Assuming that you are installing the menu system for the first time, follow these steps in order to uncompress the files from a diskette in drive A: to the subdirectory MENU on drive C:. If you have the ZIP file on a different drive, or within a subdirectory, then substitute that information where you see the A: drive letter below. Of course, you can use any subdirectory or drive other than C:\MENU, just substitute your information in place of C:\MENU. Where not noted below, press the [ENTER] Page 5 key after each command.... you MUST have a copy of PKUNZIP on your system and available to UNzip the files for this to work. 1. Place the PullDown installation or distribution diskette in drive A: 2. Type the following at the DOS prompt. C: MD\MENU PKUNZIP A:PULL217 C:\MENU ******** IMPORTANT ******** The files will be extracted, and when the process is finished you should see the following message on your screen: Authentic files Verified! # UQL485 (C) MICRODYNAMICS DEVELOPMENT / S.HORTON IF YOU DO NOT see this message, then you cannot be sure that you received a fully functional unmodified VIRUS-FREE copy of PullDown. It is suggested that you call the tech support BBS, notify MicroDynamics of the problem and where you obtained the file, and download the guaranteed clean copy of the system from the BBS. The BBS is on (215)-623-6203 24 hours a day. If you cannot do this, then a diskette containing the program will be sent to you free of charge for notifying MicroDynamics of the error(s) you encountered. Viruses and hackers are rightly maligned, and we will do everything we can to limit their impact on your enjoyment of the software. 3. Edit the batch file used to start the menu system Using your text editor, or a word processor saving files in pure text, edit the file PULLDWN.BAT to match your menu system IF you did not install it exactly as described above. That is, if you substituted a drive other than C:, or a directory other than \MENU for the system, then you will have to modify the batch file used to call the menu system. The DEFAULT contents of that file are the following: ECHO OFF CLS REM PullDown Menu Shell System (C) 1990 MicroDynamics Development REM File=PULLDWN.BAT Modify as required. C: CD\MENU PULLDWN1.EXE %1 %2 %3 TEMPPULL.BAT Again, substitute your drive letter for C:, and your path for \MENU if you used something other than the default information described in step 2. 4. Copy the file PULLDWN.BAT to C:\, and/or place \MENU in your PATH. This is necessary in order to support starting PullDown from anywhere you happen to be in your system easily. If you elect to copy the file PULLDWN.BAT to the root (\) directory of drive C:, your system will always be able to find it, regardless of the PATH setting in AUTOEXEC.BAT. [If that statement confused you, just follow the Page 6 directions for copying the file to the root directory and be done with it.] If you wish, you may modify the PATH to include C:\MENU. A) Copying the file. COPY C:\MENU\PULLDWN.BAT C:\ B) Changing the PATH command. (Optional but recommended) 1. Edit C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT and modify the path. Append with ;C:\MENU 2. Save the file as pure text 5. IF you want PullDown to start automatically each time you turn your computer on, and you have a hard disk on which the first partition is C: (the first drive letter that is a hard disk) then follow these steps with care. A) Edit the file C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT. If it does not exist, then create it anyway. B) IF the file already exists, then perform the following edit: 1) If you were using another menu system, and it used to start when you turned your PC on, then you will have to replace the command used at the end (most likely) of your AUTOEXEC.BAT file with PULLDWN to start the new shell. Look on the last line, if you see AUTO, 3DMENU, 3D, EZ, EZMENU, or MENU, then overtype it with PULLDWN. If you see nothing like that, then add the line PULLDWN to the file after the last existing line. TIP: If the menu system fails to start after you have done this, then check with an experienced user or send the contents of the file to MicroDynamics on the tech support BBS for assistance. 2) Save the file as pure text. C) IF the file does not exist at all, then enter these lines to create a sample file that will start PullDown automatically. 1) Enter these lines. ECHO OFF CLS SET PROMPT=$p$g PULLDWN 2) And save the file as pure text. 6. Decide which text editor or word processor you will be using to configure and run PullDown with. Write down the program's drive, directory, and the command you use to call it up with. The example below assumes that you will use QEDIT in the directory C:\QEDIT. Full paths are shown as samples only, and do not need to be used if C:\QEDIT is already in your path. TIP: If you need to know what IS in your path, then type the command SET at the DOS prompt and look at the line with PATH on it. A) Edit the file EDITOR.BAT in C:\PULLDWN. You will see the following contents: Page 7 ECHO OFF CLS REM EDITOR.BAT for inclusion with PullDown menu system. C:\QEDIT\QEDIT %1 B) SAMPLE: If you are using PE2, which is contained within the directory C:\EDITOR, then change the file to the following: ECHO OFF CLS REM EDITOR.BAT for inclusion with PullDown menu system. C:\EDITOR\PE2 %1 C) SAMPLE: If you are using WordPerfect v5.1 in the directory F:\WP51 then change the file to the following: ECHO OFF CLS REM EDITOR.BAT for inclusion with PullDown menu system. F:\WP51\WP %1 And be sure to save the files you edit for PullDown as pure text. (DOS Text in the case of WP). You need to modify this batch file so that the selections in the menus concerning editing of the .DEFinition files is correct. (i.e. The selections call "EDITOR FileName.DEF".) MAKING MENUS ___________________________________________________________________________ The files that contain the definition information PullDown uses to create menus have the extension .DEF. The included files are PULLDWN.DEF, which is the default menu file PullDown will load on startup, ADVANCED.DEF, which contains several advanced examples, and WINDOWS.DEF, which demonstrates starting Windows Apps from PullDown. These files, and the ones you might create in the future, are pure text files with line breaks. That is, when you edit them you MUST save them as described above under the INTRODUCTION section. Files in any other format will cause PullDown to fail when loading the definitions. These .DEF files are loaded by PullDown and the menus you describe within them are displayed on screen. Each title is defined explicitly, and is followed by the command(s) to be issued to DOS through TEMPPULL.BAT. That is, the defined commands you give PullDown in a .DEF file are written into the file TEMPPULL.BAT, and then that file is executed when you make a selection. Recall from above the contents of PULLDWN.BAT... ECHO OFF CLS REM PullDown Menu Shell System (C) 1990 MicroDynamics Development REM File=PULLDWN.BAT Modify as required. C: CD\MENU PULLDWN1.EXE %1 %2 %3 TEMPPULL.BAT That last line ^^^^^^ containing TEMPPULL.BAT is executed after you exit the menu shell. PullDown basically creates a batch file called upon by TEMPPULL.BAT that contains the menu definitions you create. Now, let's see how a basic menu is constructed, and then move on to the more advanced features of the menu shell. Page 8 BASIC MENU DEFINITION ===================== The basic keywords used by PullDown are: DEF Defines a new title heading to follow, and a new pulldown set. %TitleString 1) When immediately following DEF, defines top menu selection 2) When second through last for a menu, defines the title of the selection definition that follows it. +BatchCommand Following a %TitleString defines a DOS batch command associated with the preceding selection title. 'CommentString Anything preceded by ' is a comment and ignored by PullDown. Embedded comments are not supported, so keep them on separate lines. To demonstrate how this works, suppose you wanted to create a PullDown menu for your applications containing 1-2-3, Harvard Graphics, and MS Word 5.0. The corresponding DEF file would look like this, of course adjusted to reflect the DOS subdirectories and drive(s) in your system: DEF %Applications %Lotus 1-2-3 +C: +cd\lotus +123 +pulldwn %Harvard Graphics +c: +cd\harvard +hg +pulldwn %MS Word 5.0 +c: +cd\word5 +word +pulldwn And the result on screen would look something like this, but better of course, as this is just roughed out here for tutorial purposes... Applications --------------------- | Lotus 1-2-3 | | Harvard Graphics | | MS Word 5.0 | --------------------- Page 9 NOTES: The keyword DEF tells PullDown that a new TOP BAR menu definitionfollows. See how that first one is Applications, and how all the others fall in under it? The keyword DEF is special in that way, and is used ONLY when you want a new menu selection and attendant subselections to follow. That last line on each selection, PULLDWN, ensures that the menu shell will be restarted for you after you use each program. If you omitted it, you would be at the DOS prompt (C:\ or similar) upon exit from an application. To continue with this example, suppose that you wanted to add another menu selection containing your utilities. One for the Norton Utilities, one for PC Tools Deluxe, FastBack Plus, and finally a selection to format a diskette in drive A:. You would then ADD to the above file the following definitions: --- ' Second TOP BAR is Utilities.... (This is a comment ignored by PullDown) DEF %Utilities %Norton Utilities +C: +cd\nu +nu +pulldwn %PC Tools Deluxe +c: +cd\pctools +psshell +pulldwn %FastBack Plus +c: +cd\fastback +fb +pulldwn Format Diskette in Drive A: +format a: +pulldwn Then, your menu would FIRST appear on screen like this..... Applications Utilities --------------------- | Lotus 1-2-3 | | Harvard Graphics | | MS Word 5.0 | --------------------- Upon pressing the RIGHT arrow key, or sliding the mouse across the top bar while holding the left button, the menu would switch to the second TOP selection and appear something like this.... Page 10 Applications Utilities ----------------------------- | Norton Utilities | | PC Tools Deluxe | | FastBack Plus | | Format Diskette in Drive A: | ----------------------------- Thus, the whole file contains: ------------------------------ DEF %Applications %Lotus 1-2-3 +C: +cd\lotus +123 +pulldwn %Harvard Graphics +c: +cd\harvard +hg +pulldwn %MS Word 5.0 +c: +cd\word5 +word +pulldwn ' Second TOP BAR is Utilities.... (This is a comment ignored by PullDown) DEF %Utilities %Norton Utilities +C: +cd\nu +nu +pulldwn %PC Tools Deluxe +c: +cd\pctools +psshell +pulldwn %FastBack Plus +c: +cd\fastback +fb +pulldwn %Format Diskette in Drive A: +format a: +pulldwn Page 11 And a complete working menu is defined. But, PullDown contains many morefeatures to spice up the menus, and two of them are the HighLite key and the unselectable horizontal bar. HighLite (or HiLite) keys are used to permit quick keyboard access to a selection. Like PC Tools, PullDown employes the SAA (standard applications architecture) definition of their behavior. That is, if you press ALT+HighLite Key the selection is made, if you press and release ALT, then the HighLite keys are lit and stay lit until one is pressed. (NOTE: PullDown starts in this state, but the Dialog Boxes require an ALT press) Pressing a lit HighLite key moves your cursor to the selection indicated. In the case of multiple keys on screen, the first one encountered moving down the current menu is selected. The unselectable bar is there for aesthetic separation of options only. First, suppose that you wanted the L in "lotus 1-2-3" to be a HighLite key. You would change the portion of the selection as shown below: (The dots before and after indicate that the example is a code fragment, and that other things follow and/or precede it.) . . %Lotus 1-2-3 HI=0 +C: +cd\lotus +123 +pulldwn . . The only thing changed is the addition of the HI=0 statement. HI=nn defines the character position of the highlite character in the preceding title. It has no meaning if following the TOP BAR titles APPLICATION and UTILITIES, but does have meaning in any other context. Note that the default for the system, if you do not specify HI= for each selection, is the HI=0 position. Now, why is the position 0 in HI=0 and not 1? Easy, we start counting the positions in the title at 0, not 1. So the O in Lotus is position 1, not 2 as you might suspect. A good habit to get into is placing a counter comment line above each selection to avoid confusion. e.g. . . '01234567890 %Lotus 1-2-3 HI=0 +C: +cd\lotus +123 +pulldwn . . To drive the point home, what number would follow HI= to highlite the 2 in 1-2-3 above? The answer is 8, as you can see plainly. Continuing on the unselectable divider bars, suppose you wanted to add one between the FastBack Plus and Format options under the UTILITIES top bar menu... you Page 12 would do this by adding the special %- command which defines the bar likethis: . . %FastBack Plus +c: +cd\fastback +fb +pulldwn ' The %- below inserts the unselectable bar to separate selections. %- %Format Diskette in Drive A: +format a: +pulldwn . . And, the menu appearance would CHANGE to this when the UTILITIES menu is displayed: Applications Utilities ----------------------------- | Norton Utilities | | PC Tools Deluxe | | FastBack Plus | |-----------------------------| | Format Diskette in Drive A: | ----------------------------- Examining and modifying the PULLDWN.DEF file will give you a good flavor for using these and other options. In summary, the basic keywords and menu file structure are: DEF Defines a new title heading to follow, and a new pulldown set. %TitleString 1) When immediately following DEF, defines top menu selection 2) When second through last for a menu, defines the title of the selection definition that follows it. +BatchCommand Following a %TitleString defines a DOS batch command associated with the preceding selection title. 'CommentString Anything preceded by ' is a comment and ignored by PullDown. Embedded comments are not supported, so keep them on separate lines. Page 13 And the basic structure of ALL .DEF files is: --------------------------------------------- DEF %TopBar Title One %First Selection HI=nn +batch command +batch command %Second Selection HI=nn +batch command . . DEF %TopBar Title Two, appearing to the RIGHT of the preceding menu %First Selection, Menu Two HI=nn +batch command +batch command %Second Selection, Menu Two HI=nn +batch command +batch command . . And so on, up to 10 total top bar menus, limited in depth down the screen to the number of rows on the screen minus four. (Discussed later.) Of course indenting the lines is optional, but helps the eye follow selections and contents easily. Next, advanced menu elements such as password protection, command line parameter passing, and dialogs are covered. After that discussion, an overview concerning use of the interface with both the keyboard and the mouse is explained. ADVANCED MENU DEFINITION ======================== The advanced elements of menu definition are: PASS=PassWord User is prompted for a password to continue. The selection halts execution at the line PASS is encountered if the user cannot enter the correct response, or selects <Cancel>/presses ESC. ?QuestionString Shows the user PromptString and awaits input. If the user selects the <Cancel> or presses ESC, the execution of the selection halts and the user is returned to the menu. Up to 10 are supported, and passed to the batch file on a command line as if keyed. REQUIRED keyword call prior to ? will force a non-blank response to all subsequent ? uses. Toggled OFF with NOTREQUIRED keyword call. Default=NOTREQUIRED. Page 14 OKBOX=PromptString Places a single <Ok> dialog box before the user containing only the string PromptString. If the user clicks on <Ok>, or presses ENTER, then execution continues. If ESC is pressed, then the user is returned to the menu without action being taken. HighLite keys are O in <Ok> only. YORN=PromptString Places a single <Yes><No> dialog box before the user containing only the string PromptString. If the user clicks on <Yes>, or presses ENTER, then execution continues. If ESC is pressed or <No> is clicked, then the user is returned to the menu without action being taken. HighLite keys are Y in <Yes> and N in <No>. SCROLLBOX=HelpFile,HeaderString Presents user with an <Ok> scrolling mouse sensitive dialog box containing up to 50 lines of user-defined help in the text file HelpFile. Presents the lines directly following the first encounter of HeaderString (so make it unique in the file, or the first occurrence) up to the stop marker ### on a line by itself. User- defined help file syntax is covered a few paragraphs from now with a complete example. As an aside, the F1 key calls help in the same way for any defined menu selection in the file PULLDWN.HLP. Again, this is covered in detail later. @MenuFile.DEF Loads a the MenuFile[.DEF] menu definition file from the .DEF path. This path is either: 1) The path to PULLDWN1.EXE -or- 2) The path set in the PULLDWN=Path environment variable, if present. (Optional) [.DEF] denotes that the extension is optional. Strongly recommended that you follow syntax with .DEF to prevent confusion. Any of these elements can be used as many times as you like under any title selection. The only exception is ?QuestionString, which is discussed in detail below. Working from the top of the list, here are complete examples concerning how to use each command: PASS=PassWord - - - - - - - Description: PASS=PassWord User is prompted for a password to continue. The selection halts execution at the line PASS is encountered if the user cannot enter the correct response or selects <Cancel> or presses ESC. If you did not want just anyone running the Norton Utilities, then you could protect the selection like this: Page 15 . . '0123456789012345 %Norton Utilities HI=7 PASS=YourWord +C: +cd\nu +nu +pulldwn . . For those of you who did not catch it, the HI=7 command was added to demonstrate highlite of the U in Utilities above. Also, the user is now asked for the password when selecting this item, and cannot proceed without entering "YourWord" (no quotes, of course) correctly. To use multiple passwords (unlimited) just place PASS=PassWord type statements under the item repeatedly. ?QuestionString - - - - - - - - Descriptions: ?QuestionString Shows the user PromptString and awaits input. If the user selects the <Cancel> or presses ESC, the execution of the selection halts and the user is returned to the menu. *NOTICE TO v2.01 USERS* &BatchCommand No longer supported. Simply the same as using + In the simplest case, let's say you want to prompt for the file to load into MS WORD 5.0 when you use it. Change the MS Word 5.0 selection FROM THIS: . . %MS Word 5.0 +c: +cd\word5 +word +pulldwn . . TO THIS: . . %MS Word 5.0 ?Enter file to load, [Enter] for None: +c: +cd\word5 +word %1 Page 16 +pulldwn . . NOTICE that the ONLY line to receive the %1 variable is the one that invokes the program, WORD. To clarify the result, suppose that the user enters MEMO as the response to the ? prompt. The resulting SHELL.BAT file, (called in turn by TEMPPULL.BAT), used to actually start WORD in this case will be: c: cd\word5 word MEMO pulldwn Similarly, if the user had entered nothing (just pressed ENTER alone), then no file would be loaded. The resulting PULLDWN.BAT file would be: c: cd\word5 word pulldwn Which is what you had by default before you included the prompt. To use multiple prompts, simply call ?QuestionString repeatedly. Up to 10 variables can be passed, and are denoted IN ORDER OF ENTRANCE by %1, %2, %3 . . . %9, %0. Let's take a moment to digress on the use of those %n variables for the less expert users. Skip the following three paragraphs and examples if you already know about the variables in batch files. When you invoke a program from DOS, you can typically place a filename or parameter following the command used to invoke it, and the software will take some action. For example, when you start MS Windows you can specify a program to run by placing it's name on the command line. Likewise, your editor or Word Processing application does something similar in loading the file specified. All the %1 through %0 symbols mean is "place that string found on the command line in position X here" where X is the number following the % symbol. (With 0 equal to number 10) Consider the following batch file.... echo off cls echo The first thing on the command line is %1 echo The second is %2 echo and the third is %3 Suppose it is called TEST.BAT... if you typed this: TEST Hello SecondString ThirdAndLast you would get this back: The first thing on the command line is Hello The second is SecondString and the third is ThirdAndLast Further, notice what you get if you type: TEST Hello is only: Page 17 The first thing on the command line is Hello The second is and the third is and this: TEST First Second Third Fourth is only: The first thing on the command line is Hello The second is SecondString and the third is ThirdAndLast The fourth was carried in, but not used. All PullDown does is places the user's responses IN ORDER ENTERED on the command line. Using multiple prompts for PullDown menu files is not ANY different from using them in standard DOS batch files. i.e. ALL Batch Command Language extensions are available to you. To learn more about DOS, the batch language, and how to use it, try "Supercharging MS DOS" by Van Wolverton, Microsoft Press... it is a GREAT book on the PC's abilities, and you will learn a great deal reading it. Second, try BATCOM, a Shareware DOS Batch extender for more power in your batch language applications. Let us turn back to PullDown now, and go over an advanced example. Let's use a hypothetical example where you might want multiple prompts: copying the contents of one disk to another disk where the disks are not known in advance. . . '0123456789012345678901 %Copy from Disk to Disk HI=10 ?Enter the SOURCE (First) Disk Letter: ?Enter TARGET Disk Letter: %1 CD\ +XCOPY %1 %2 /S/M pulldwn . . Suppose the user responded A: and B: in order. The resulting batch file is: A: CD\ XCOPY A: B: /S/M pulldwn [Look up the XCOPY command to understand why the switches /S/M are included... essentially the disk is duplicated by "walking the tree" on the source and creating corresponding subdirectories and files on the target] Continuing with the example, let's add a second tier of query, which disk to run CHKDSK on after the copy operation: Page 18 . . '0123456789012345678901 %Copy from Disk to Disk HI=10 ?Enter the SOURCE (First) Disk Letter: ?Enter TARGET Disk Letter: +XCOPY %1 %2 ' Clear the variables to get ready for the next question ?Enter the disk to run CHKDSK on after completion: +CHKDSK %3 pulldwn . . Assuming the user responds A: to the second question, and A: B: to the first two, The TEMPPULL.BAT contents would result as: XCOPY A: B: CHKDSK A: pulldwn If the user did NOT respond to the second prompt and just pressed [ENTER] above, having done everything else the same, the result would be in error as: XCOPY A: CHKDSK A: pulldwn If you KNOW that input is required, then place the keyword REQUIRED within the selection BEFORE you use ? prompts. If you need to turn REQUIRED off, place the keyword NOTREQUIRED in the system. See ADVANCED.DEF for an example. OKBOX and YORN - - - - - - - - Descriptions: OKBOX=PromptString Places a single <Ok> dialog box before the user containing only the string PromptString. If the user clicks on <Ok>, or presses ENTER, then execution continues. If ESC is pressed, then the user is returned to the menu without action being taken. HighLite keys are O in <Ok> only. YORN=PromptString Places a single <Yes><No> dialog box before the user containing only the string PromptString. If the user clicks on <Yes>, or presses ENTER, then execution continues. If ESC is pressed or <No> is clicked, then the user is returned to the menu without action being taken. HighLite keys are Y in <Yes> and N in <No>. These two commands are similar in that they pop a message you define to the user. Execution of the selection is then in the user's hands, as selecting <No> in the YORN type box, or pressing ESC in either box halts and returns Page 19 the user to the menus where s/he left off. To illustrate, suppose youwanted the user to know that other applications such as the NotePad or COMPRESS are available within PC Tools Deluxe... . . '012345 %PC Tools Deluxe HI=3 OKBOX=Select APPLICATIONS in PCSHELL for more Utilities +c: +cd\pctools +psshell +pulldwn . . The user would see something like this on the screen.... (Only it looks much better) ----------------------------------------------------- | | | Select APPLICATIONS in PCSHELL for more Utilities | | | |-----------------------------------------------------| | <Ok> | ----------------------------------------------------- In the case of YORN, the only difference is the bottom line. For example, including the following: . . '012345 %PC Tools Deluxe HI=3 YORN=Select APPLICATIONS in PCSHELL for more Utilities +c: +cd\pctools +psshell +pulldwn . . Would produce this style box: ----------------------------------------------------- | | | Select APPLICATIONS in PCSHELL for more Utilities | | | |-----------------------------------------------------| | <Yes> <No> | ----------------------------------------------------- Of course, YORN is more appropriate for situations where confirmation is requested. For example, if you wanted to create you own EXIT TO DOS selection, you might add the following to your growing .DEF file: Page 20 . . DEF %Exit %Exit to DOS YORN=Are you sure you want to Exit? PASS=YourPass +echo off +cls +echo Type PULLDWN [Enter] to Start the Menu Shell ' Notice that NOT calling PULLDWN on the end exits to DOS %Load the default PULLDWN.DEF file @PULLDWN.DEF When the user selects "Exit to DOS", they will be prompted to be sure that this is what they want to do, and then required to enter the password "YourPass" to proceed with the operation. The second portion of this example demonstrates how to load a menu definition file from a menu selection, which is discussed at length below. @MenuFile.DEF - - - - - - - Description: @MenuFile.DEF Loads a the MenuFile[.DEF] menu definition file from the .DEF path. This path is either: 1) The path to PULLDWN1.EXE -or- 2) The path set in the PULLDWN=Path environment variable, if present. (Optional) [.DEF] denotes that the extension is optional. Strongly recommended that you follow syntax with .DEF to prevent confusion. Branching to another menu file is the feature of PullDown permitting you to define unlimited submenus for your system. All that happens is PullDown loads the file you specify after the @ symbol key. If the file is not found, then the user is prompted for a valid file. If the second file is not found PullDown exits to DOS displaying help and where to call for technical support. This option is amply demonstrated above, and should prove to be a valuable tool as you build your menu tree. Of course, you don't have to use it, but it is worthwhile to split large chunks into different files if for no other reason to optimize load time of a given .DEF file. (See APPENDIX E, PERFORMANCE OPTIMIZATION for details on why this is true.) As a final note on @, you can load PULLDWN.DEF at ANY time by clicking on the word PullDown at the bottom tag line, or pressing F9. This was added in the event you define a submenu you call and forget to allow an exit back to the main menu. (It happens!) DEFINING USER HELP SCREENS ============================ It is worthwhile to detour at this point to a feature inherent within the menu system before explaining fully the SCROLLBOX= command. PullDown can call upon defined help within external text files such as the samples contained within the package SAMPLE.HLP, and the main help system file Page 21 PULLDWN.HLP. The two are syntactically identical, but serve distinct purposes. In short, PULLDWN.HLP is the *ONLY* reserved .HLP file name within the system, and it holds the help screen text for *ALL* defined menu selections in any .DEF file you might use. All others are defined by you, and called individually in your SCROLLBOX= commands. First, let's suppose that you wanted to define a help screen that the user would see if s/he pressed/clicked [F1] from within your menu while the bar was on "Lotus 1-2- 3". You would edit the PULLDWN.HLP file to include something like this: . . Lotus 1-2-3 The world's leading spreadsheet, which has about 5,000,000 registered copies sold, with roughly that same number bootlegged. ### . . And, if the user pressed or clicked F1, then the screen would show the following type of dialog box to the user: ------------------- Lotus 1-2-3 --------------------- | | The world's leading spreadsheet, which has + | about 5,000,000 registered copies sold, with + | roughly that same number bootlegged. + | |-----------------------------------------------------| | <Ok> | ----------------------------------------------------- Upon pressing [Enter], clicking <Ok>, pressing ALT+O, or ALT followed by O and [ENTER], the box is cleared. This box is scrollable, can contain up to 50 lines of help, and can accommodate up to 69 characters in width. The box is self-sized about your text, and centered on the screen for you automatically. Of course, the box on screen looks much better than this one, but you can gather that this is a powerful and useful feature. Some rules apply when you define user help screens, and in summary they are: 1) PullDown will read lines UNTIL *one* of the following conditions is met: a) The End of Help marker, ###, is encountered ALONE on a line b) 50 lines are read into memory c) The end of the file is reached 2) Lines that are too long (up to 100 char) are truncated 3) The header you define in SCROLLBOX= or the title in the menu system should occur at the beginning of the help screen FIRST in the file. Otherwise, PullDown stops and reads the text following the first found header match. (See sample of this condition below, this includes comments in this version.) 4) A memory constraint is not anticipated, as memory is allocated for these lines when the program starts. 5) Embedded blanks within the SCROLLBOX=HelpFile,HeaderString are not permitted. i.e. follow the = with the HelpFile, string. Page 22 To conclude, you can pop a scrolling box like this with defined contents from your custom filename as follows: SCROLLBOX=HelpFile,HeaderString - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Where: HelpFile is any strait ASCII file, and HeaderString is the first unique occurrence of the header in the file followed by a help screen set of lines, ended by a ### on a single line. Full Description: SCROLLBOX=HelpFile,HeaderString Presents user with an <Ok> scrolling mouse sensitive dialog box containing up to 50 lines of user-defined help in the text file HelpFile. Presents the lines directly following the first encounter of HeaderString (so make it unique in the file, or the first occurrence) up to the stop marker ### on a line by itself. User- defined help file syntax is covered a few paragraphs from now with a complete example. As an aside, the F1 key calls help in the same way for any defined menu selection in the file PULLDWN.HLP. An example might be popping a multiple line notice giving the user specific directions. Building on the prior example for the Norton Utilities, suppose you wanted to tell the user that undeleting a file is supported, and where to call in your organization to obtain help if s/he cannot undelete it automatically: . . '012345 %Undelete a File HI=0 SCROLLBOX=MYHELP.HLP,Undelete a File YORN=Do you want to continue? ?Enter file to undelete: +UNDELETE %1 +pulldwn . . And, within MYHELP.HLP you had placed: . . Undelete a File 1) Attempt to use this automatic utility first to recover your file 2) If this fails, then DO NOTHING MORE, but call Tom Guru in MIS at x4567 and ask for assistance. If Tom is not in and you get his terse voice mail, then call Shelly at x5678. 3) Have a nice day. ### . . Page 23 The user would be presented first with your help box, asked if they really want to continue, and finally prompted for the filename to recover. You can see more examples of this in ADVANCED.DEF and SAMPLE.HLP. DEFINING HELP SCREENS - - - - - - - - - - - Help files usually have the extension .HLP on them, and are pure text files like the definition files. As shown above, the syntax to call up a help screen is simple. In general, the format for each screen is: Unique HeaderString Help Text . . . . ### Rules for use: 1) Lines may be up to 69 characters wide. This limit is actually defined by the width of the screen (80) less the number of characters displayed for the surrounding boxes and shadow(s). 2) Up to 50 lines excluding the header line are permitted. This limit is arbitrary and can be raised if you have need. 3) The HeaderString *MUST* be the first occurrence of the header within the .HLP file, as PullDown scans for it and then displays the following lines as help. If you get unexpected text on the screen, it is likely that you either did not make the header unique, or that there is another occurrence of the same string before you expected it for the help screen. 4) For ALL >menu selections< F1 help screens in ALL .DEF files, the file to use is PULLDWN.HLP - and PullDown expects it in the same subdirectory as PULLDWN1.EXE (C:\MENU unless you installed the system somewhere else on your PC... see INSTALLATION). 5) SCROLLBOX= statements may call upon any filename, any number of times. 6) Lines with a leading ' are comments, BUT the contents are scanned for the unique header string. Ample examples of defining user help are provided in the preceding sections, but let's take a close look at designing your own system in total with help for each menu selection here. Suppose you had a definition file with these contents: DEF %Applications %Lotus 1-2-3 +C: +cd\lotus +123 +pulldwn %Harvard Graphics +c: Page 24 +cd\harvard +hg +pulldwn %MS Word 5.0 +c: +cd\word5 +word +pulldwn ' Second TOP BAR is Utilities.... (This is a comment ignored by PullDown) DEF %Utilities %Norton Utilities +C: +cd\nu +nu +pulldwn %PC Tools Deluxe +c: +cd\pctools +psshell +pulldwn %FastBack Plus +c: +cd\fastback +fb +pulldwn %Format Diskette in Drive A: +format a: +pulldwn It is suggested that you take these steps to create help screens for use within the F1 HELP screens for your .DEF files, if desired: 1) Load the .DEF file into your editor or word processor. 2) Clip out all but the Title definitions (each line contents following the % symbols) without the leading % sign. 3) Set up a ruler to show where character 69 is 4) Write you help screens, ending each with termination marker ### 5) Save the file as PULLDWN.HLP, pure text. 6) Repeat for each .DEF file in your system, appending the file as needed. TIP: Keep the text "balanced" within an imaginary box on screen as you type. This will prevent an unprofessional appearance to the help screens when they are displayed. Page 25 Your help file, in part, might look like this: ' Applications Help ' Ruler: ' MAXIMUM >>> *------------------------------------------------------------------| Lotus 1-2-3 Leading spreadsheet. Use this option to edit the monthly operating report in the file RPTFIL.WK1. Print the report using ALT+P, save with ALT+S, then exit using /QY. ### Harvard Graphics Use this software to make the charts for the monthly operating and marketing reports. Load the charts one at a time, and key the new values. When they are finished, show them to Mr. Jones, who will tell you what to change this month. ### MS Word 5.0 Use word processor when you need to write long letters to coworkers or clients. ### . . and so on.... As noted in prior sections, each help text content definition is displayed in a dialog box that users can scroll through. Users press [ENTER], [ESC] or click on <Ok> to clear the box. USING THE SAA INTERFACE ___________________________________________________________________________ USING THE KEYBOARD ================== The first thing you see on invocation of the menu system is the PullDown front interface. A menu is initialized for you and rolled on to the screen. The HiLite HotKeys appear in a different color from the rest, and if pressed move the HiLite menu bar to the selection. If you then press [ENTER] the item is selected and the commands you defined in the .DEFinition file are executed. To access the selection directly, press and hold the ALT key, followed by the HiLite key of the selection desired. This is the same as pressing [ENTER] with the HiLite bar on that same selection. To access any function key, simply press it and the action is taken. That is all there is to the standard interface. On to Dialog Boxes. Dialog Boxes appear when you invoke them, and for the [F2=Options] [Options] [Settings...] setup dialog box. A couple of concepts need to be covered here for the less experienced user, and so again if you are a real "power" user skip ahead three or four paragraphs past the examples to save time. For the majority of others, we will take a look at dialog box Page 26 elements, how the keyboard modifies each one, how to move around, and finally how to select options. Dialog boxes consist of one or more elements. An element is simply a type of dialog box interface that behaves in a certain way. Let's start with the most basic, the command button. A command button is bracketed by less than and greater than symbols on your screen. An example is the <Ok> dialog box you saw earlier in the documentation that looked like this: ----------------------------------------------------- | | | This is an <Ok> Dialog Box Example. | | | |-----------------------------------------------------| | <Ok> | ----------------------------------------------------- On your screen the cursor would rest on the O in OK. Where the cursor sits, that is called the current focus of the dialog box. If you press [ENTER] on a command button where the focus lies, that is the selection you make. To move the focus, you press the [TAB] key. For example, the <Yes><No> dialog looks like: ----------------------------------------------------- | | | This is a <Yes><No> Dialog Box Example. | | | |-----------------------------------------------------| | <Yes> <No> | ----------------------------------------------------- and the focus (cursor) rests on the Y in Yes at first. If you pressed [ENTER] you would be selecting <Yes>. Pressing [TAB] moves the focus to <No>, and pressing [ENTER] then would be answering <No>. By the way, unless otherwise noted, [ESC] is like pressing <No> or <Cancel>. Besides [TAB] there is another way to move the focus in dialog boxes. If you press and release the [ALT] key, you will see HiLite keys lit on the screen. Pressing the HiLite key letters moves you around in the dialog box. For example, the HiLite keys in the <Yes><No> dialog box are Y and N, just as you would expect. Finally, if you pressed and held the [ALT] key down, followed by the HiLite letter, you would select the option just as if the focus rested upon it and you pressed [ENTER]. These basic movement principles hold for ALL dialog boxes, no matter how complex. Now let's examine the elements you will encounter in the SETUP options of PullDown and how to navigate them. The exact meaning of the options is discussed in the section coming later on CONFIGURING THE MENU SYSTEM. Option Button Clusters look like this: () Option One of Three < Current selection ( ) Option Two ( ) Option Three When the focus is on this cluster, the cursor will be on the selected option with the burger dot. To change options selected, press the [Up] or [Down] arrows. Press [TAB] to move on to another element, or press [ALT] and release it to activate the HiLite HotKeys. Page 27 Check Boxes have this appearance on screen, and are either ON or OFF,depending upon whether or not they contain an X. (In other interfaces this could be a check mark, dot, or other character that is not a blank space) [X] Selected Option and one that is inactive looks like this: [ ] Selected Option Move the focus in one of the manners described above, that is with either the [TAB] key or the HiLite key presses. To toggle the option status while in the box, press the [SPACEBAR] key. Finally, a text box is one that takes user input, like the box that is popped to screen when you use the ?PromptString command. The focus initially rests on one of two places, depending upon whether something is already in the box when you enter it. If the box is empty, the cursor rests on the left margin of the box and is ready for your input. If the box contains something already, the text will be in a different color from the background and the cursor will be on the last character of the string contained in the box. At that point, if you want to replace the contents entirely just start typing. The old string is erased and you start anew. If you want to simply edit that string, press the LEFT arrow key. Then all standard editing keys take effect. i.e. [INSert], [DELete], and other edit keys all have meaning just like they do in your word processor. To accept the input AND exit press [ENTER]. To move on to another element press [TAB]. As a final note, when using the color selection palette move around with the arrow keys, accept selection with [ENTER] and cancel with [ESC]. USING THE MOUSE =============== Using the mouse with dialog boxes is the most natural way to select options and change the focus of the dialog. To select command buttons like <Ok> or <Cancel> just click and release the left mouse button on them. The same holds true for the SAA front end, the [Function] keys on the bottom row, and the word PullDown in the lower left, which loads the default PULLDWN.DEF menu regardless of your current menu load status. (The key equivalent is [F9] for selection of the default menu file.) To change option's status AND focus, click on the desired selection, and to change focus to text input boxes, just click the left button on them. The SAA was designed with the mouse in mind, and you will find it the most natural extension of the keyboard allowing speed and accuracy of selection in a very easy to comprehend interface. CONFIGURING THE MENU SYSTEM OPTIONS ___________________________________________________________________________ Pressing or clicking [F2=Options] on the bottom row of the screen invokes PullDown's setup system. The menus are, of course, PullDown in style and reflect the exact colors of the system as they will appear on exit back to the menu shell. The first set of color options are changed by selecting each in turn and reconfiguring the colors with the sample box that pops up on the right side of the screen. Click or select with the keyboard the color you want for each element, or press [ESC] to back out. The menus will instantly reflect your changes, and by iterating through this process Page 28 you will arrive at your own color configuration. If you are a registered user, you may save the colors as the defaults and exit the setup system by pressing [F10], clicking the [F10=Save & Exit] option on the bottom row, or lastly by selecting the SAVE option from the EXIT pulldown menu on the far right. You may abort at any time. If you are an unregistered user, the SAVE of ONLY the colors is withheld. ALL OTHER OPTIONS FUNCTION NORMALLY even if you never register the system. Let's go over the other options available under the second pulldown menu and what each means. First selection, second menu, SETUP options, brings a large dialog box to the screen. Each option cluster is clearly marked, and will contain rational defaults. The box looks roughly like this in layout, and each cluster is numbered below for reference as the options are explained below: () Normal Mouse () Normal Screen Mode (25 Lines) ( ) Fast Mouse -> ( ) 43 Line EGA/VGA Mode -> ( ) Very Fast Mouse | ( ) 50 Line VGA Mode | ( ) No Mouse Support | [X] Show Blanker Flag | | | | | Cluster Two, with check Box, Option 2 Cluster One, Mouse Options. Option 1 And the lower section has two check boxes and two text boxes in it: [X] Turn NumLock OFF on Entry to Menu System <- Check box, Option 3 [X] Resume Status of Menus on Entry <- Check box, Option 4 ----------------------------- ----> Number of Minutes to Screen Blank | | | ----------------------------- | ----------------------------- | --> Password Required to Modify Options | | | | ----------------------------- | | | Password to get to [F2] options, Option 6 | ----------------------------- | --> Password Required to Exit to DOS | | | | ----------------------------- | | | Password to exit to DOS, Option 7. | Screen Blanker Countdown Timer Option 5. The options, and their impact on the menu system are: 1) The mouse speed of movement across the screen as you move the device is defined in units called Mickeys. (No kidding!) PullDown let's you select your speed to taste from normal to very very fast. The second box, the very fast option, is likely your best bet in 43/50 line mode as you can get around that big screen more quickly. The final option disables the mouse completely (makes it invisible, really) for those who hate rodents or have MS incompatible hardware that they want disabled. 2) The number of screen lines is limited by the type of display adapter you have. PullDown automatically detects your monitor type, Page 29 and will not permit you to select a mode that is unavailable to you. This option also limits the number of %Titles you can have DOWN the page, as the number down the page is equal to the number of screen rows less four (top line, second line for box, lower line for box, and shadow... four). If you select 50 line mode, load a 46 line menu file definition, and then select 25 lines, the menu system will refuse to change screen modes. If this happens, load a smaller menu file and then change back to a lower number of screen rows. Selecting the 50 line mode on EGA systems results in the 43 line mode being invoked. Finally, SOME clone systems MAY give PullDown a "false" impression of the type of monitor and video card installed within the system. If this happens, then the menu system will refuse to continue and issue a detailed fatal error message instructing you to call for technical support. The check box allows you to turn the screen blanker flag that rolls across the screen OFF as you wish. 3) PullDown can turn off that annoying NumLock key on startup. Toggle this option ON to have PullDown do this each time it starts. 4) PullDown can resume the menus exactly where you left them when you selected an option. This is the default setting, and if you turn it OFF, then the system will load PULLDWN.DEF and show the first selection of the first menu when you enter the shell. 5) Acceptable minute to blank settings are 1-99. Values less than one are returned as the default value of three minutes, as are values greater than 99 or less than zero. 6) A password can be required to protect option settings from children who enjoy changing colors or users you do not want to have access to the options. 7) This password, if entered, is required to exit to DOS using the [ESC] key. CAUTION: Don't set a password to modify options and a password to exit to DOS and then forget them. If this happens, and you defined passwords as required to exit from all available selections, you can get trapped in the shell! [See Appendix A, Troubleshooting, if this happens to you!] The other options available in the OPTIONS pulldown are Registration, How to Register, and Return Colors to Default Values. The latter option just returns the colors to something sane if you get too far gone (!) when setting the colors up, and the others are self-explanatory. Essentially you need to send the $20 registration fee for a matching registered name and number if you want to register the product. The number you need is based upon a non-linear algorithm of the ASCII encrypted values of your registered name. Lines under a certain length are not even acceptable, and repeated attempts to register without a valid MicroDynamics issued number will invariably fail. When it comes time to register your copy, you can start the menu system with the word REGISTER behind it to obtain the registration system screen without going all the way into the SETUP screens. Finally, the EXIT option contains the two options SAVE & EXIT or ABORT. Selecting ABORT cancels all changes EXCEPT registration. Registration is final after the registration system is run once. (As you might suspect, the registered name and number are saved in a double-encrypted binary format in PULLDWN.CNF. Deleting that file voids your registration.) Page 30 COMMAND LINE PARAMETERS ___________________________________________________________________________ Formal PullDown Syntax is: PULLDWN [DEBUG] [CANCEL] [HELP] Where: DEBUG - Causes PullDown to display stages of messages concerning the activities carried on startup. Used when the program locks a clone system for an unknown reason to debug remote. CANCEL - Erases the PULLRES.FIL file containing the resume status of the menu shell, thus cancelling the resume feature on startup. Used when it is known that the .DEF file that was loaded on exit no longer exists. Specifically, PullDown creates this file each time you exit when the [ ] Resume Status box is checked ON, and the contents of that file define which menu file to load (the one you were in when you selected an option) and the specific item your cursor was on when you left the system. REGISTER - Invokes the command line registration system. Used when registering the product. See the following section for details on how to obtain your registration number. HELP - Displays a help screen concerning DEBUG and CANCEL TECHNICAL SUPPORT & REGISTRATIONS ___________________________________________________________________________ Even unregistered users are welcome to ask any and all questions, provide suggestions, and test BETA copies of the software without charge. You can contact MicroDynamics on the follow electronic systems via modem: * CompuServe ID 72010,2546 * GEnie Mail S.HORTON1 * RunWay BBS (215)-623-6203 8n1 - 2400-14,400 HST 3 Nodes, No Fee for Technical support or to download the latest versions - This BBS is subscription only for general downloads. Enter conference number FIVE (5) for MicroDynamics Technical Support and new offerings, including all BETA versions for general download. There is no charge at all to access the technical support SIG and any files contained therein. - Leave mail for SAM HORTON in any conference for help, preferably the MAIN or tech support conference #5. PLEASE do not leave messages to the Sysop (although they too will be answered quickly) as MicroDynamics is NOT the owner/sysop of the system. * DelChes BBS (215)-363-6625 8n1 - Public Node, no fee required, mail-in registration a MUST in advance - All latest posted under MicroDynamics SIG. Select from main menu these keystrokes to enter the conference: MSCS Page 31 * EXEC-PC - Leave E-MAIL to Sam Horton - Answer not guaranteed in under one week - Latest release always posted on this premier BBS BY MAIL: MicroDynamics Development 1445 Mensch Lane Gilbertsville, PA 19525 To register, print and return the form contained in the disk file REGFORM.DOC. If you are unfamiliar with this process, type the following at the DOS prompt, assuming that you used the defaults to install the system as described earlier in INSTALLATION: C: CD\MENU TYPE REGFORM.DOC > PRN *IF* you know your printer is on a serial port on COM1: (unlikely, but check if you are uncertain), type: C: CD\MENU TYPE REGFORM.DOC > COM1: Turnaround is almost always less than one week, (often one day) and if you provide a valid CIS ID, or are a GEnie or EXEC subscriber, then you will get your registration number electronically. Diskettes are mailed at extra cost, and 3.5" DSHD diskettes carry a premium over 5.25" DSDD diskettes. The reason for the charge is simple: diskettes, stamps, mailers, and the labor cost money. You can save the charge by picking up the latest version on the tech support BBS or CIS electronically. MAJOR upgrades are always announced and chances are excellent you will receive a letter notifying you of their availability. Upgrade diskettes, again, are mailed for a fee. IF you find a virus infected copy, your diskette is FREE when you disclose the source of the file you obtained. Your registration number will be valid for all future releases, unless a code change is required to support a smaller faster link library. IF the code changes, you will be sent a new number in the mail upon release. In any case, if you upgrade an existing copy, the registration upgrade is automatic. Back up your PULLDWN.CNF file when you register, as this is the key file containing your user information. VOICE: Available shortly to registered users, always available to registered consultants and dealer sites. MULTIPLE SITE COPIES: Number of Copies Price Per Copy in Range ---------------- ----------------------- 1-20 $20 21-50 $15 > 51 $10 Page 32 LANs registered by number of nodes on system with access to the menu shell in the same structure. Technical support is presumed to be first handled on site, and second through MicroDynamics for multiple site copies. OUTSIDE THE USA? See APPENDIX C: FOREIGN VERSIONS/TECHNICAL SUPPORT OVERSEAS below. CONSULTANT'S DEALERSHIPS ___________________________________________________________________________ Several consultants worldwide are presently installing PullDown for clients to differentiate themselves from the pack using the old "A" "B" "C" or rolling one style menus. The arrangement involves significant margin for the consultant, and increased customer satisfaction. Please call or write for details if you are interested in joining the growing list of authorized dealers. APPENDIX A: TROUBLESHOOTING GUIDE ___________________________________________________________________________ As with all software, you may have trouble configuring PullDown to suit your needs. The following guide is designed to get you through the vast majority of problems you might encounter, and the design of the product often includes a full help screen describing critical conditions that cause failures. However, there are some things the software is not presently capable of trapping as errors, and you will find this section helpful when you encounter one. PROBLEM: Option is selected and nothing happens--you just return to the menu shell without the application starting as expected. CAUSES AND SOLUTIONS: 1) Batch contents are in error. Examine the option in the .DEF file loaded for: a) Spelling errors and typos b) Erroneous contents... e.g. wrong directory for startup, bad drive letter(s), incorrect syntax. c) Commented out contents. Leading ' characters cause the line to be ignored as a comment. d) Situations where REQUIRED for input should have been used TIP: If you cannot determine what the problem is in short order, try modifying your batch definition for debugging as follows: Original Contents: . . ?Enter File to Load: echo off cls cd\word5 word %1 pulldwn . Page 33 Suggested contents to "debug" the definition: . . ?Enter File to Load: echo ON Page 33 cd\word5 pause word %1 pause pulldwn pause . . Then execute the selection again. This time you will see ALL DOS errors and each command followed by the PAUSE message "Press Any Key to Continue". Look for your errors and correct them as required, then when you have the selection working remove the pause commands and change echo ON to echo OFF so that the commands are no longer visible as they execute. A short guide to debugging in general follows below. What to look for as the selection runs: a) After the cd\word5 command, see if DOS says "Invalid Directory". If so, fix the path in your command to match the path to WORD. b) After the word %1 command, see if DOS says "Bad Command or Filename". If so, change the command to the correct name of the program. (May happen if you determine (a) above is the problem.) c) After the PULLDWN command, the menu shell should start. If not, likely DOS returned "Bad Command or Filename" -- if so modify your PATH as described in INSTALLATION. 2) You started the menu shell using PULLDWN1 instead of PULLDWN. Use the batch file PULLDWN to start the shell, or the temporary files are never executed. You will know if this is the problem as the shell will just exit to DOS when you select anything at all and never restart. 2a) Start the shell using PULLDWN1 as the command, and then check the contents of SHELL.BAT to make sure that you are getting the expected contents. If you are, and the system is supposed to pass a command line variable, then check TEMPPULL.BAT to make certain the command line parameters are going through. Remember, it is up to you, the batch file author, to trap bad command line parameters. If you know that the paramaters being passed into the batch MUST be non-blank, use the keyword REQUIRED before the ?Prompt call. See ADVANCED.DEF for a working sample. 3) All runs well, but you cannot get back to the line containing PULLDWN to restart the menu shell.... caused by a program that "clears the stack" on exit, thus erasing the batch file from memory. To circumvent this, modify your batch contents to use a command shell to invoke the program ONLY. e.g. modify the sample above to look like this: Page 34 . . ?Enter File to Load: echo off cls cd\word5 command/c word %1 pulldwn . . This should solve the problem. An alternative is to compile your batch files using a utility from PC Mag called BAT2EXE. A discussion of its usefulness is beyond our scope here, but if you are an advanced user you should check that utility out. You can get a copy on just about any major BBS in the country, or on CompuServe in the PCMAGNET forum. PROBLEM: System locks up or "freezes" permanently. CAUSES AND SOLUTIONS: 1) If you are running ANY TSR (Terminate and Stay Resident Programs, like SideKick, PC3270, CXI, PCOX, PCSHELL in TSR mode.) uninstall it and retry the menu shell. If it starts, reload each TSR in order until the conflict arises again. While PullDown is known to be well- behaved and stable on IBM hardware, there are clone BIOS chips out there that will cause conflict when certain TSRs are running. [If this is too technical, and you suspect the problem on your system, consult an expert or call for technical support... we will be glad you help.] 2) If you are using PC3270 or 3270 as a TSR gateway to your mainframe, invoke it only with the T command line option. Using the R option and invoking the HotKey over PullDown will cause a crash every time. Suffice it to say IBM did a less than perfect job with the keyboard handling in the 3270 program. If you know you have this problem, simply never pop up the 3270 as a TSR while inside the shell. A future version of PullDown may solve this problem for you, but it remains to be seen. The problem is also specific to some but not all genuine IBM PS/2's. 3) If all fails and the system locks continually, try the DEBUG command line parameter, note the last message on the screen after the crash and report circumstances to MicroDynamics. There are some AMI BIOS chips in some 80286 clones KNOWN to lock every time PullDown is run. If you call MicroDynamics technical support with a problem like this, please have the following handy: - BIOS manufacturer and date (shown on boot up) - Contents of CONFIG.SYS (in C:\ most likely) - Contents of AUTOEXEC.BAT (also in C:\) 4) Zenith Z series PC clones are notorious for being incompatible beasts. PullDown will undoubtedly crash on these machines, and the Zenith video ROM debugger will appear on the screen. If this happens, it means you cannot use PullDown on your computer. Page 35 PROBLEM: Help system or main menu system displays unexpected or bizarre results. CAUSES AND SOLUTIONS: 1) You used a word processor to save the file without converting it to pure text. Reopen the file with the same word processor used to create the file in error, and then resave it as text. See INTRODUCTION section. 2) .DEF file is corrupt. Check to ensure nothing is wrong with it, and that it is in fact pure text. 3) You have a string occurrence of the exact menu title or search string used to define the help header BEFORE the header itself. Remove the duplicate occurrence of the help header, or change the header to be unique within the file. 4) You have an exact match of menu titles within the system. Each %TitleString in this version must be unique, just as headers in help files need be unique. PROBLEM: Mouse intermittently disappears, but reappears after you select F2 options and reenter the menu system, or the mouse does not select correctly when clicked on a menu item. CAUSES AND SOLUTIONS: 1) Your IBM mouse driver is outdated. Get an update from a current copy of WINDOWS or directly from IBM. Versions dated 1897 or earlier do this routinely in high resolution screen modes on IBM PS/2s. 2) You are using a Logitech C7 mouse. There is an acknowledged bug in the mouse... to see if this is the case, gently shake the mouse, then try again. If this works, call Logitech for a driver upgrade, or a new mouse. 3) You are running an MS 200 DPI mouse in emulated graphics mode. When you do this, you must select a pixel within a menu item exactly to get the system to function correctly. PullDown is simply not designed anticipating a character mode emulated in 200 DPI graphics! Use the system in text mode to avoid the problem, or stick to the keyboard. A future version may address this problem directly and solve it. PROBLEM: System halts and exits unexpectedly with an error message in the format "Fatal Error at ####:####" CAUSE: Fatal internal error. Might be a bug, and should be reported with all circumstances to MicroDynamics. Our policy is that if it is a PullDown bug that can be solved, we will solve it and ship a working copy to you free of charge in under one week. TRY FIRST: If you are using a CLONE VGA card: restart the menu system. Likely the system is returning VGA to the menu shell and does NOT correctly support the 43 or 50 line video mode. If the system fails again, delete the file PULLDWN.CNF. It is a read-only file, and thus you will have to use a PCTools or Norton utility to delete it, or use the DOS attribute command to strip the attribute and delete the file. Page 36 The vast majority of internal errors are elegantly handled within the system, and the fault tolerance is very high. Most errors are not "fatal"- - that is they do not cause the system to exit to DOS. Those that are, like corrupt .DEF files with no ensuing valid user response as to what file to load, corrupt configuration files, completely invalid .DEF files, and more are handled internally. IF the system ever exits to DOS with a fatal error, a detailed screen describing the problem and where to call for technical support is likely to follow. If not, the reason is technical, and you should call MicroDynamics for help. We will be happy to assist even unregistered users as time becomes available. Debug requests and help calls from registered users, of course, take priority, but we want you to be happy first, and THEN register the product if you are having problems. APPENDIX B: FILES INCLUDED IN THE PACKAGE OR CREATED BY PULLDOWN v2.17 ___________________________________________________________________________ Files used to run the system: ---------------------------- PULLDWN.BAT .......... Main command to start the menu system PULLDWN1.EXE .......... Executable called upon in PULLDWN.BAT PULLDWN.DEF .......... Default menu definition file. PULLDWN.HLP .......... Main help file for ALL F1 help menu definitions EDITOR.BAT .......... Used within sample .DEF files to call your editor Files created by PullDown to run the system (Not on disk or in .ZIP file): ------------------------------------------- PULLDWN.CNF ........... Binary encrypted file containing colors etc. PULLRES.FIL ........... Binary file containing resume information TEMPPULL.BAT ........... File called upon in PULLDWN.BAT with SHELL.BAT SHELL.BAT ........... User-defined batch file. Parameters passed to it within TEMPPULL.BAT as SHELL %1 %2 .... %0 Documentation: ------------- PULL217.DOC ........... This file, the main documentation file on disk QREF.DOC ........... A quick reference one sheet card to keep by your keyboard when first using the system. UPGRADE.DOC ........... Specific instructions for v2.01 or earlier users who are upgrading to v2.17 REGFORM.DOC ........... Registration mailers. IF YOU NEED AN INVOICE, WE WILL BE HAPPY TO BILL YOU IN LIEU OF RETURNING THIS FORM. PULLDWN.REG ........... Registration help screen for OPTIONS pulldown Extras: ------ ADVANCED.DEF ........... Advanced samples for your inspection WINDOWS.DEF ........... A mock MS WINDOWS menu for your inspection SAMPLE.HLP ........... A sample external help file for SCROLLBOX calls VFILE.EXE ........... Quick generic but elegant file viewing utility VENDOR.DOC ........... Small description file for PSL and sysops. Page 37 NOTES ON FILE LOCATIONS AND LAN SUPPORT --------------------------------------- PullDown EXPECTS the following in the path to PULLDWN1.EXE unless a SET PULLDWN=Path environment variable is used to override: [Use the SET env. command on networks that support private user directories when you use PULLDWN on a NOVELL network or similar.] *.DEF - i.e. ALL definition files PULLDWN.CNF PULLDWN.HLP PULLRES.FIL PullDown writes the following files to the DEFAULT DOS directory when running: TEMPPULL.BAT SHELL.BAT PullDown expects PULLDWN.REG to be in the default directory. DISK/FILE I/O ERRORS -------------------- IF PullDown encounters an unexpected file condition, you will be prompted to either input the correct file, or sent to DOS with a specific help screen concerning what is wrong and how to fix it. If you do get a somewhat technical error message like "Error Cnf() FOpen() [1]" then call for technical help. It may mean you are out of disk space, but most likely a hardware error has occurred and you should seek assistance in fixing the condition. APPENDIX C: FOREIGN VERSIONS/TECHNICAL SUPPORT OVERSEAS ___________________________________________________________________________ First, if you are registering the product outside the USA, you must either: 1) Remit in United States Dollars 2) Remit in your local currency by check or money order PLUS 20% to cover currency conversion and handling charges here in the US. 3) Contact your local country/region distributor. To date, only Germany has a distributor, so that is the only country in which you may to contact them directly. If you are in Germany, (DDR or FDR), contact: MicroServe, GmbH Leher-Laempel-Weg 41 A D-2800 Bremen 41, West Germany (FDR) CompuServe ID: 73727,475 BBS: +49-42-983-0086 A German language version of the documentation will be available in the future, and there is a strong possibility a full German language operating version will be made available in 1991. In any other country, contact MicroDynamics Development directly as described within the preceding section REGISTRATION AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT. Page 38 APPENDIX D: Technical Notes on PULLDWN1.EXE Creation. ___________________________________________________________________________ PullDown was created entirely within the QuickBASIC Extended environment in conjunction with the Assembler Library QuickPak/Professional for BC7 from a fine company called Crescent Software located at 32 Seventy Acres, West Redding, CT 06896, (203)-438-5300 CIS 72657,3070. The dialog boxes were created using DIALOGIC from DIALOG Software. The DIALOGIC system can also be purchased from Crescent. The AutoHelp system used to display the help screens is a commercial product available from MicroDynamics development, and may be included in the upcoming utilities pak for DIALOGIC owners through Dialog software. The final .EXE for versions over 2.17 will be created using PDQ v2.0 also from Crescent, God willing, and with a little luck on the command line. Conversation concerning QuickBASIC is also invited on the tech support BBS systems. Enjoy, and happy coding! (Source for AutoHelp is available to DIALOGIC owners for the asking.... so call or write if you want a copy. Full source for PullDown is not presently available.) APPENDIX E: Key Word Crossreference/Quick Reference Long Format ___________________________________________________________________________ By Usage: Menu Definition Commands: ----------------------- DEF Defines a new title heading to follow, and a new pulldown set. %TitleString 1) When immediately following DEF, defines top menu selection 2) When second through last for a menu, defines the title of the selection definition that follows it. +BatchCommand Following a %TitleString defines a DOS batch command associated with the preceding selection title. 'CommentString Anything preceded by ' is a comment and ignored by PullDown. Embedded comments are not supported, so keep them on separate lines. And the basic structure of ALL .DEF files is: --------------------------------------------- DEF %TopBar Title One %First Selection HI=nn +batch command +batch command %Second Selection HI=nn +batch command +batch command . . Page 39 DEF %TopBar Title Two, appearing to the RIGHT of the preceding menu %First Selection, Menu Two HI=nn +batch command %Second Selection, Menu Two HI=nn +batch command . . And so on, up to 10 total top bar menus, limited in depth down the screen to the number of rows on the screen minus four. Where: HI=nn is the HiLite key number, counted in left to right starting at zero. Example: %Lotus 1-2-3 followed by HI=6 highlights the 1. PASS=PassWord User is prompted for a password to continue. The selection halts execution at the line PASS is encountered if the user cannot enter the correct response or selects <Cancel> or presses ESC. ?QuestionString Shows the user PromptString and awaits input. If the user selects the <Cancel> or presses ESC, the execution of the selection halts and the user is returned to the menu. Up to 10 are supported, and passed to the batch file on a command line as if keyed. REQUIRED keyword call prior to ? will force a non-blank response to all subsequent ? uses. Toggled OFF with NOTREQUIRED keyword call. Default=NOTREQUIRED. OKBOX=PromptString Places a single <Ok> dialog box before the user containing only the string PromptString. If the user clicks on <Ok>, or presses ENTER, then execution continues. If ESC is pressed, then the user is returned to the menu without action being taken. HighLite keys are O in <Ok> only. YORN=PromptString Places a single <Yes><No> dialog box before the user containing only the string PromptString. If the user clicks on <Yes>, or presses ENTER, then execution continues. If ESC is pressed or <No> is clicked, then the user is returned to the menu without action being taken. HighLite keys are Y in <Yes> and N in <No>. SCROLLBOX=HelpFile,HeaderString Presents user with an <Ok> scrolling mouse sensitive dialog box containing up to 50 lines of user-defined help in the text file HelpFile. Presents the lines directly following the first encounter of HeaderString (so make it unique in the file, or the first occurrence) up to the stop marker ### on a line by itself. @MenuFile.DEF Loads a the MenuFile[.DEF] menu definition file from the .DEF path. This path is either: 1) The path to PULLDWN1.EXE -or- Page 40 2) The path set in the PULLDWN=Path environment variable, if present. (Optional) [.DEF] denotes that the extension is optional. Strongly recommended that you follow syntax with .DEF to prevent confusion, and to remain compatible with future compiler versions which WILL expect .DEF files only. APPENDIX F: Performance Optimization (Load Time Minimization) ___________________________________________________________________________ Some guidelines and a special .DEF command are given below to help you minimize the time it takes PullDown to parse and load the text files used for menu definition... all .DEF files, that is. In a future version, a separate compiler will be included, and PullDown will flash to your screen with the menus you define. However, for now, a performance hit occurs when the text file is parsed. Some optimizing techniques can be used to minimize the load time for you, and if you use all of them you will be happier with the performance. [Remember, PullDown loads large amounts of information relative to most menuing systems....] 1) After you have settled on a particular .DEF file definition, place the number of DEF statements present in the file on the FIRST line of the .DEF file, preceded by MAXDEFS=. Sample: MAXDEFS=4 Misdefining here does nothing fatal, but will result in a dialog box telling you of an error. The maximum is 10, anything higher is ignored. An example is included in ADVANCED.DEF. 2) Use the letter combination DEF a minimum number of times in the .DEF file. The reason is somewhat technical, but in lay terms the system stops and looks for the keyword DEF on a line by itself EVERY time it encounters the three letters DEF in sequence. It is not a noticeable performance hit, and is vastly superior to testing the first three nonblank characters of each line, but if even the embedded three letters DEF occur many times, you are slowing the system down for no reason. This comment applies really to those who might otherwise overcomment the file and refer to the DEF file etc. many times. 3) Minimize the overall size of the .DEF file. Do not include huge sets of batch commands, place them in separate batch files and call those files from within PullDown. .DEF files larger than about 20K are not really useable due to the performance decrease on non-80386 or higher machines. 4) Minimize the number of comments within the .DEF or .HLP files. Again, more to scan, more to load. 5) Don't bother putting the menu system on a RAM disk.... it does not help you much. PullDown is very efficient in loading the .DEF files into memory, and that operation is a small portion of the total time it takes PullDown to start. In the compiler versions, it might be a factor, because then the time to load the .EXE and .DCF files will be relatively important. 6) If you are using an IBM mouse, or some clone mice, the load time on a serial unit is likely to be impacted by the version of the mouse driver you have. Be safe: just get the latest. MS makes the driver available to users many ways, the latest of which is the new driver included with Windows v3.0. Page 41 7) Scanning of .HLP files for the header and reading the lines is very fast, and will mostly depend upon disk access time. Slower disk, longer time to scan. Larger files are not likely to cause a detectable performance decrease on newer 80286 or higher based hardware. 8) Use a version of DOS over 3.0. There are several file I/O goodies in that version not available in 2.xx DOS. The system is untested under v2.xx of DOS, but should function normally. To date, no trouble has been reported to MicroDynamics under any v2.xx of DOS. Note: Leading blanks and tabs do NOT contribute to slowing PullDown in general. APPENDIX G: A SPECIAL THANKS ___________________________________________________________________________ - Crescent Software and Dialog Software for support and superior tools - Ted Rosenberger of TARGET Software for performance tweaks and advice - Ray Novino for excellent Sysop support on RunWay BBS - Peter Rucci for great support and fine Sysop help on the DelChes BBS - Conrad Kreyling for code, help, encouragement and vital testing - John Hanks of Skagit Valley Computer Solutions for testing and assistance - One hundred ShareWare authors I cannot name, and the ASP, for setting fine examples to follow over the last four years. - Brenda Donovan (and Ed) for testing v2.01 BETA - The many registered users and sites that provide the economic incentive to continue the insane pursuit of product development * Dedicated to Pat. Page 42