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The SWAP Utilities(TM) Version 1.70 -- 04/25/90 SWAPSK(TM) -- For SideKick SWAPSP(TM) -- For SideKick Plus SWAPTN(TM) -- For Tornado SWAPMT(TM) -- For Metro SWAPMM(TM) -- For MemoryMate SWAPSH(TM) -- For PCTools Shell SWAPDT(TM) -- For PCTools Desktop SWAPNG(TM) -- For The Norton Guides The SWAP Utilities(TM) and this Documentation are: Copyright 1989-90, Innovative Data Concepts All Rights Reserved. Innovative Data Concepts 1657 The Fairways Suite 101 Jenkintown, PA 19046 1-215-884-3373 This document; other accompanying written and disk-based notes and specifications; and all referenced and related program files accompanying this document are copyrighted by Innovative Data Concepts. Licensing and distribution requirements are described later in this document. For ordering information, see the included ORDER.DOC file. _______ ____|__ | (R) --| | |------------------- | ____|__ | Association of | | |_| Shareware |__| o | Professionals -----| | |--------------------- |___|___| MEMBER The SWAP Utilities are distributed as shareware -- this means that we encourage users, subject to restrictions described in the License Agreement, to share copies of this program with friends, associates and bulletin boards. You may not share the registered version of The SWAP Utilities; however, you may request a free shareware disk by completing the form in ORDER.DOC. If you make copies of The SWAP Utilities, you must include all files in the original distribution files, as well as the documentation archive. You are not permitted to distribute The SWAP Utilities without this documentation (normally stored as SWAPDO.COM). Innovative Data Concepts is a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals. ASP has established stringent standards for its members. ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a problem with an ASP member (other than technical support), ASP may be able to help. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at P.O. Box 5786, Bellevue, WA 98006. Documentation Conventions Throughout this documentation, the individual SWAP Utility programs will be referred to collectively by the term, SWAP??. The installation programs will be referred to as TEST??. If something applies specifically to a single SWAP Utility program, the full name of the program will be used. Page 2 SWAP Utilities 1.70 Documentation About the Version 1.70 Release Version 1.70 was primarily designed to add support for PC Tools Deluxe Version 6.0. SWAPDT now supports Desktop Macros and Alarms. SWAPSH works with the new 4DOS 3.0, as well as supporting all the new features of PCShell Version 6.0. For the other utilities, the changes were not so obvious. Primarily, we've added the /P command-line option, which gives you direct control over the size of the internal paste buffer SWAP?? uses. In addition, memory requirements for most utilities have been reduced. Support for EGA/VGA cards has been enhanced. DESQview 2.26 is now fully- supported. ^C is now passed through to applications that use that keystroke. SWAPMM now supports the ^P key for pasting, and functions in the same fashion that MEMO does (only ONE paste permitted). SWAPMT has minimal support for MetroKernal 1.0, and enhanced support for macros. SWAPNG will now correctly change all hotkeys if the defaults are not used. SWAPSP will now load correctly if an alarm is scheduled to go off during the loading process. There were no obvious changes for either SWAPSK and SWAPTN, other than the general changes mentioned above. Acknowledgements Without Anne Marie, none of this would be possible. Thanks, Love ..... Once again, my beta testers were terrific. Last time, I got in trouble for not mentioning everyone, so i think I'll just tell them ALL that they're about the best beta-test team a person could ask for. Special thanks to Marilyn Ratcheson for her assistance in preparing this documentation. Many thanks to J.D. Hildebrand, Jim Kyle and Computer Language Magazine for their wonderful support of my on-line beta testing. TradeMarks SWAPSK, SWAPSP, SWAPTN, SWAPMT, SWAPMM, SWAPSH, SWAPDT, SWAPNG and The SWAP Utilities are trademarks of Innovative Data Concepts. SideKick and SideKick Plus are registered trademarks of Borland International, Inc. Tornado is a trademark of Micro Logic Corp. Metro and Express are trademarks of Lotus Development Corporation. MemoryMate is a trademark of Broderbund Software. TesSeRact is a trademark of the TesSeRact Development Team. DESQview and QEMM-386 are trademarks of Quarterdeck Office Systems. Software Carousel is a trademark of SoftLogic Solutions, Inc. 386Max is a trademark of Qualitas, Inc. SWAP Utilities 1.70 Documentation Page 3 Table of Contents Introductory Notes..............................................2 Documentation Conventions.......................................2 About the Version 1.70 Release..................................3 Acknowledgements................................................3 TradeMarks......................................................3 What are The SWAP Utilities?........................................5 Installation........................................................6 Running TEST??.COM..............................................6 DESQview........................................................6 If your Shift-Keys "stick"..................................6 Quick Start.........................................................7 Loading SWAP?? into "high" memory...............................7 The SWAP?? Command-Line.............................................8 Detailed Explanation of Command Line Options....................9 Selecting Hot Keys.............................................11 Sample Command Lines...........................................11 How The SWAP Utilities use memory..................................12 Expanded Memory................................................12 Extended Memory................................................12 Disk Virtual Memory............................................12 IMPORTANT NOTES....................................................13 General Notes for All Utilities................................13 Note for Microsoft Word Users..................................13 Technical Information about SWAP?? TSRs........................14 Notes for Specific SWAP Utilities..............................15 SWAPSK.....................................................15 SWAPSP.....................................................15 SWAPTN.....................................................15 SWAPMT.....................................................15 SWAPSH.....................................................16 SWAPDT.....................................................17 SWAPNG.....................................................17 SWAPMM.....................................................17 Supported Versions.............................................17 If Something Goes Wrong............................................18 Technical Support..............................................18 Common Questions & Answers.....................................19 Error Message Descriptions.....................................19 COPYRIGHT NOTICE AND LICENSE.......................................21 Warranty.......................................................21 Registration...................................................21 Bulletin Boards, Users Groups and Disk Vendors.................21 About Innovative Data Concepts.....................................23 The Rest of The SWAP Utilities.....................................23 Introducing SWAPDOS............................................24 For Task-Switching Use ........................................26 Association of Shareware Professionals.............................28 Standards for the Association of Shareware Professionals.......28 PROGRAMMING................................................28 DOCUMENTATION..............................................28 SUPPORT....................................................28 GENERAL....................................................29 Page 4 SWAP Utilities 1.70 Documentation What are The SWAP Utilities? The SWAP Utilities intercept certain DOS calls made by ram-resident applications, and "swap" the entire resident portion of the application to extended or expanded memory, or to disk files. For most applications, this will greatly decrease the amount of "real" RAM needed to load these popular resident programs. When used in conjunction with a memory manager with "high DOS memory" capabilities, The SWAP Utilities will permit you to run these TSRs in zero bytes of low DOS memory. Some examples of these memory managers are Qualitas' 386Max and Move-Em products, or Quarterdeck's QEMM and QRAM products. The memory requirements (excluding environment space) for the various SWAP Utilities are: SWAPDT -- 7644 bytes SWAPSH -- 6816 bytes SWAPSP -- 6944 bytes SWAPSK -- 6608 bytes SWAPTN -- 6512 bytes SWAPMM -- 6656 bytes SWAPNG -- 6480 bytes SWAPMT -- 7936 bytes If swapping to disk, two swapfiles are created in the drive and directory specified with command line option /D or the TEMP environment variable. A third swapfile is created no matter what swapping method you have selected. SWAP Utilities 1.70 Documentation Page 5 Installation Running TEST??.COM Before running each swap utility for the first time, you must run its matching TEST??.COM program. TEST??.COM will detect your hotkeys, and otherwise configure SWAP?? to match your individual copy of the application. Copy the appropriate SWAP??.COM and TEST??.COM files to the directory that contains your application. If, for example, you are installing SWAPSP.COM to swap Borland International's SideKick+, copy SWAPSP.COM and TESTSP.COM to the directory on which your SKPLUS files are stored. While at the DOS prompt in that directory, type the following: TESTSP[ENTER] TEST?? takes no command-line parameters, and will display a group of hexadecimal addresses. If you have any problems with SWAP??, the information provided by TEST??.COM will help Innovative Data Concepts identify and correct them. Once TEST?? has been run, it is only necessary to run it again if you re- install your application, change operating parameters as with SKPLUS' INSTALL program, or otherwise change the configuration or hotkeys. If you make any such changes, it is essential that you run TEST?? again. WARNING!! If you use a program that compresses executable files, such as LZEXE, you must decompress them before running TEST??. DESQview In order to successfully use any of The SWAP Utilities loaded globally with DESQview, you must run TESTDV.COM first. Copy TESTDV.COM and T2-PIF.DVP into your DESQview directory. If you already have a T2-PIF.DVP, re-name the one provided with The SWAP Utilities to a different filename. Select Add a Program, and add the "SWAP Utilities Configuration" to your program list. Then, open the window, jot down the options specified by TESTDV, and add them to your SWAP?? command line(s). Once you run TESTDV, it is only needed again if you change the TSRs that you load globally with DV. If the application program you're using has multiple memory size options, as do SK+, Desktop, Metro, then you must install that program to use the maximum resident size possible, since these programs are not DV aware. Version 1.70 of The SWAP Utilities has added support for DV 2.26 and QEMM 5.0. Previous versions of DESQview may conflict with The SWAP Utilities on 386 machines. If your Shift-Keys "stick" DESQview 2.26 added a new DVSETUP option for keyboards: "Maintain Separate Shift States." TSR users who have this option set YES may find that the shift keys (ctrl, alt, shift) may "stick" after popping down from a TSR such as The SWAP Utilities. Re-running DVSETUP, and setting this option to NO will solve this problem. Page 6 SWAP Utilities 1.70 Documentation Quick Start After installing your SWAP?? program, re-boot your computer without loading the companion program. Change to the directory where your program is located, and type: SWAP?? [ENTER] You will see the SWAP Utility sign-on messages, and then you will see your application loaded into memory. Immediately thereafter, you will see additional messages explaining what kind of memory was used for swapping, and how much memory is really available, rather than what your program may have reported. Note that this memory value is in Kilobytes of RAM -- 10K is 10,240 bytes, not 10,000. Once you've seen how the SWAP?? program operates, you will probably want to add it to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, and have it automatically load your program when you boot your computer. To do this, add the following line to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, immediately before the line in the file that loads your application program: SWAP?? /N [ENTER] The "/N" option, more fully-described below, tells the SWAP Utility that you will load the application program through a batch file, and it should not attempt to load it when you return to the DOS prompt. The SWAP utility memory report may differ from what is reported by your application. For ethical reasons, it is not possible to change the signon screen of your application, to reflect the correct memory usage. The memory report you will see from your application is pessimistic -- the value that the SWAP utility displays is correct. The display will also tell you what kind of memory was used for the swapping; extended memory, expanded memory, or disk virtual memory. If for any reason the SWAP utility was unable to correctly swap out the application, a message will be displayed notifying you of that occurrence, and both the SWAP utility and the application will be removed from memory. You may load any or all of the SWAP utilities sequentially into RAM at the same time or load each one as needed. Loading SWAP?? into "high" memory If you have a hardware/software combination that allows you to load resident programs into "high" DOS memory, such as QEMM-386 or 386Max, then The SWAP Utilities may be loaded to take up zero low DOS memory. If your software uses a program such as "LOADHI.COM" or "386LOAD.COM", simply follow the syntax for loading SWAP?? into high memory. Be sure to use the /N switch! Then load your application program into normal memory. SWAP?? will take care of removing your application from RAM. SWAP Utilities 1.70 Documentation Page 7 The SWAP?? Command-Line The command syntax for SWAP?? programs is: SWAP?? [options] Where: Options are one or more of the options listed below. Options may be preceded by either a '-' or '/' as a switch character. Valid options are: /H /? ? -- Display a help screen /N -- When used in a batch file /U -- Remove SWAP?? and application from RAM /Dpath -- FULL PATHNAME to store swap files on (if not enough EMS is present) /Sx -- Set Swapping type (0=Auto, 1=Disk, 2=EMM, 3=XMS) SwapType = 0 is the default; if selected type fails (i.e.,no XMS is available with /S3), auto-check is done. /G -- Enable popping up over graphics modes /Tx -- Pasting Throttle (0=slow, 1=medium, 2=fast, 3=compat) [default=2] /Px -- Paste Buffers (0=minimum, 9=Maximum; Each buffer uses 256 bytes) /Vx -- Special DESQview Options FOR SWAPMT ONLY /E -- Special switch for Lotus Express users FOR SWAPEX ONLY /Pxxx -- xxx is the number of minutes between automatic polling of MCIMAIL. /Ay -- y = letter of your Lotus Express Comm_Manager application To set the hotkey /A -- Use Alt-Key for hotkey shift state /C -- Use Ctl-Key for hotkey shift state /L -- Use Left-Shift-Key for hotkey shift state /R -- Use Right-Shift-Key for hotkey shift state /Kxx -- Scan code for hotkey to use (see chart in documentation) requires two HEX digits following the /K All utilities except SWAPTN automatically default to the hotkey combination that you are currently using for the application. SWAPTN defaults to ALT- J, because this is only configurable on the TN command-line. Page 8 SWAP Utilities 1.70 Documentation Detailed Explanation of Command Line Options /N -- If the /N switch is used, The SWAP utility will not automatically place the appropriate keystroke combination to load the application into the keyboard buffer when it goes resident. This option must be used when loading The SWAP Utilities from a batch file. After loading SWAP?? with the /N switch from within a batch file, then loading the application, using the appropriate hotkey will call the application in the same fashion as if the application had been loaded from the DOS command line and was already resident. /U -- Use this option to cleanly remove SWAP?? and your application from RAM. If disk swapping is in use, the swap files will be deleted before freeing memory. If the application also uses expanded memory, it will be freed as well. If the application uses disk-based swap files (such as those SideKick Plus uses) they will not be deleted. In general, do not attempt to use a particular applications "unload" or "remove from memory" feature. It won't work, and will in all likelihood crash your machine. Use the /U feature of the SWAP utility instead. /Sx -- The /S parameter determines the type of swapping to use. In the default Autodetect mode, The SWAP Utility will attempt to allocated expanded memory, using EMS version level 3.2 or later. If EMS is not available, the utility will attempt to use Extended Memory that is available, using Microsoft's eXtended Memory Specification (XMS) (See note about XMS below). If neither EMS or XMS is available, two swap files will be created, and SWAP?? will use disk (default, C:\) for swapping. The /S parameter can be used to override the default mode, and force swapping to XMS, EMS or Disk. If the swapping method specified with /S is not valid, then Auto mode is used. Note that the third swapfile (SWAP??.SW3) is created in the path specified by the /D parameter, or the TEMP environment variable, no matter what swapping method is chosen. /G -- Because there are so many video adapters, and no standard way to deal with popping up TSRs over various graphics modes, the SWAP Utilities, by default, inhibit popping up over graphics modes. An exception to this is Microsoft Word; The SWAP Utilities will always pop up over MS Word (See note about Microsoft Word below) on systems with standard graphics adapters. Many TSR applications, however, have built-in support for graphics modes, so using the /G switch will enable the application to pop up, if possible. We recommend you avoid popping up SWAP utilities over graphics modes. This is because no resident program can guarantee that it will be safe to use over all graphics modes, and on all graphics adapters. There are just too many possibilities, combinations, incompatibilities, etc. That is why The SWAP Utilities default to not popping up over graphics modes. /Dpath -- The /D parameter tells the SWAP utility in what drive and directory to store the swap files. The default is the root directory on drive C (C:\). The pathname is limited to 30 characters, and must contain a valid drive specification, and path. The trailing backslash is not necessary. If the /D parameter is not the last option on the command-line, SWAP Utilities 1.70 Documentation Page 9 there must be a space character following the pathname and before another slash option. Note that at least one disk-based swap file will always be created on this path. An example path is: /DC:\TEMP /Tx -- This option may be used to "throttle" down the pasting speed of the SWAP utility you are using. Some applications, such as the Norton Editor, cannot handle characters as fast as SWAP?? can feed them, requiring a slower speed to be used. The valid values here are 0, 1, 2 or, ranging from slowest (0) to fastest (2). The /T3 switch is for "compatibility" mode. Use this switch if you are using a program that relocates the BIOS keyboard buffer, or expands the keyboard type-ahead buffer. This is the slowest option, but pasting will work in all cases. The default is fast (/T2). /Px -- This option may be used to reduce the "bounce" or "hiccup" associated with pasting large blocks of text into an application. The default value of '0' gives a 128-byte internal buffer, which is enough room for SWAP?? to paste 64 characters before "hiccuping" back to the application to get more keys. The maximum value of /P9 will allow you to have more than 1000 additional characters stored in the internal buffer, at the cost of more than 2K of additional RAM. Page 10 SWAP Utilities 1.70 Documentation Selecting Hot Keys The SWAP Utilities allow the use of more hotkeys than most applications do; for example, they will accept F11 (/K57), or Ctl-LShift-Q (/C /L /K10). The following table can be used to determine the scan codes of the key you wish to use with the /K parameter; this is not a complete table, it is intended simply as a guide: KEY CODE KEY CODE --------------------------------- A 1E B 30 C 2E D 20 E 12 F 21 G 22 H 23 I 17 J 24 K 25 L 26 M 32 N 31 O 18 P 19 Q 10 R 13 S 1F T 14 U 16 V 2F W 11 X 2D Y 15 Z 2C 0 0b 1 02 2 03 3 04 4 05 5 06 6 07 7 08 8 09 9 0A - 0C = 0D F1 3B F2 3C F3 3D F4 3E F5 3F F6 40 F7 41 F8 42 F9 43 F10 44 F11 57 F12 58 Sample Command Lines SWAPSP /K58 /T1 /S1 /DE:\ [ENTER] This command would load SWAPSP, swapping to the root directory of drive E:, using a hotkey of F12, and a paste speed of medium. SWAPMT/l/a/k25/df:\swappath [ENTER] This would load SWAPMT, swapping to EMS if available, otherwise to F:\SWAPPATH, with a hotkey of Left-Shift-Alt-K. SWAPTN /dD:\ /A/k14/S1 [ENTER] This would load SWAPTN, swapping to D:\, with a hotkey of Alt-T. SWAP Utilities 1.70 Documentation Page 11 How The SWAP Utilities use memory The SWAP Utilities are designed to use your system's resources as efficiently as possible. It is most efficient to swap to Expanded (EMS) memory, rather than to use Extended Memory or a Virtual Disk. Since EMS is treated as a part of the computer's "real-mode" address space, the SWAP?? programs can read and write a single memory location in one fast loop. Unless you specify which type of memory to use via the /S command-line option, SWAP?? will first attempt to allocate enough EMS for swapping; if that fails, XMS will be used; finally, disk-based files will be created in the swapping drive/directory. Expanded Memory When using EMS for swapping, the total amount of EMS required is the resident size of your application + its environment area, rounded up to the nearest 16K boundary. NOTE: A 4096-byte disk file with the extension ".SW3" will always be created in your swapping path. This file is required for correct operation of the SWAP Utilities, and is created even if you are using EMS or XMS for swapping. Extended Memory To use extended memory with The SWAP Utilities, you must use a driver that supports Microsoft's "eXtended Memory Specification (XMS), Version 2.0", such as Microsoft's HIMEM.SYS. The current versions of 386MAX and QEMM both support XMS on 386 machines; alternatively, the latest official XMS driver may be gotten free from Microsoft, either through their Compuserve Forum (GO MSSYS), or by calling Microsoft customer service at (800)426-9400 and asking for a copy of the "XMS Specification and it's supplemental diskette." If your computer supports both XMS and EMS, EMS memory is the preferred choice; using XMS requires almost twice the amount of memory. Disk Virtual Memory The third possibility is to swap to a disk drive. If your computer has extended memory, you may use either XMS or a virtual disk for swapping. The memory usage is virtually the same in either case, although XMS swapping is marginally faster (we're talking fractions of a second on 286 machines, so its nothing to worry about). Page 12 SWAP Utilities 1.70 Documentation IMPORTANT NOTES General Notes for All Utilities If you are swapping to disk, two swapfiles are created in the specified drive and directory. A third swapfile is created no matter what swapping method you have selected. These swapfiles must not be deleted while the SWAP utility is loaded. Doing so will cause your machine to crash if you attempt to popup! You must load The SWAP Utilities after all network drivers, disk cache programs, and other programs that require background processing or hook the device driver chain. With these exceptions, load order is not important. You can load The SWAP Utilities at any point, early or late in your TSR order. You can also load The SWAP Utilities in "high" DOS memory with 386Max, QEMM, or other similar programs. You may safely load a SWAP utility inside a Software Carousel(TM) partition, or as a global SC utility. You may notice a period of a blank screen when attempting to swap partitions after having used a SWAP utility, but be patient, and the partition will change normally. When pasting large blocks into an application, you will occasionally see a "hiccup" with the SWAP message on the display -- this is caused by swapping your application in and out, to read the next set of keys. Most applications support virtually unlimited paste buffers, and the memory used by The SWAP Utilities is limited. In general, do not attempt to use a particular application's "unload" or "remove from memory" feature. It won't work, and will in all likelihood crash your machine. Use the /U feature of the SWAP utility instead. When creating swap files for disk-based swapping, The SWAP Utilities default to the root directory of Drive C:. If you create an environment string called TEMP with the SET command, the utilities will instead default to the directory specified by that command, and the use of /D will not be necessary. An example of setting an environment string would be: SET TEMP=G:\ [ENTER] where G is a fast RAM disk. This would cause disk-swapping to take place in the root directory of Drive G:. The environment variable TEMP must, be set prior to loading your SWAP utility. The programs will attempt to swap in the following sequence: 1) Try to swap to EMS; 2) If /D specified, try to swap to specified path; 3) Try to find environment variable named "TEMP" and if it exists, swap to the specified path; 4) Try to swap to the root directory of Drive C:; or, 5) abort, and remove both the application and the SWAP utility from memory. Note for Microsoft Word Users When using The SWAP Utilities with Microsoft Word, you should not use the /G switch, even if you plan to use Word in graphics modes. The SWAP Utilities automatically detect the presence of MS Word 4.0 and 5.0, and SWAP Utilities 1.70 Documentation Page 13 will switch between text and graphics modes as needed. This switch works on CGA, EGA VGA and Hercules systems with Word 4.0, except in Hercules 90x43 mode. Word 5.0 users who work in graphics mode will need to do an extra bit of setup. In order for the switch between text and graphics to work, you must set both text and graphic display modes in the Word 5.0 Options menu. Load Word 5.0, and bring up the Options menu. Select the appropriate text display mode for your system. Return immediately to the Options menu, and now select the graphics display mode you wish to work in. Test the results by pressing Alt-F9, to toggle between text and graphics modes. Exit from Word, and you're all set! Technical Information about SWAP?? TSRs This product uses the TesSeRact(TM) Ram-Resident Library and supports the TesSeRact Standard for Ram-Resident Program Communication. As a part of the TesSeRact standard, it is possible for an external program to access information about a complying TSR. STACKEY, from CtrlAlt Associates (call 1-800-872-4768 or 1-301-387-4500), has a built-in capability to "popup" a TesSeRact TSR. To use this capability, you need two pieces of information: The TesSeRact ID String for the particular TSR, as well as the "Hotkey Code" used by the particular key you're trying to emulate. The following chart may be used to popup the various SWAP?? programs: Product ID String Hotkey Code SWAPSK SWAPSK15 0 SWAPSP SWAPSP15 0 (popup) 1 (paste) 2 (cut) 4 (dial) SWAPSH SWAPSH15 0 SWAPDT SWAPDT15 0 (popup) 1 (paste) 2 (cut) 3 (dial) SWAPMM SWAPMM15 0 (popup) 1 (paste) SWAPTN SWAPTN15 0 SWAPNG SWAPNG15 1 SWAPMT SWAPMT15 0 Page 14 SWAP Utilities 1.70 Documentation Notes for Specific SWAP Utilities SWAPSK Calculator Paste does not work with SWAPSK. However, Calculator Paste will work when SideKick is popped up, so you can paste from the calculator into the notepad, and then paste from the notepad into your application. SWAPSP Background communication must be disabled to use SWAPSP. If you're using Super PC-Kwik in EMS, do not use the /Q+ parameter. Returning quickly to the DOS prompt will cause problems with SWAPSP. If you change the Services menu text for "Paste from Clipboard" or "Screen to Clipboard", TESTSP will not be able to locate the addresses it needs. These two options must be set to their factory defaults in order for TESTSP and SWAPSP to run. The Ctrl-Center key works as the default "Display Dial" shortcut key. However, TESTSP is unable to detect that this key has been changed as a shortcut key, so in order to use this feature, you must use the default key. SWAPTN You will not be able to load Tornado using the "repeat" option. If you do not use the /N switch, SWAPTN will load Tornado as "TN 99" to allow you the maximum "pile" size. There is no cost in "real" RAM for this, so we recommend you load TN that way yourself, if you are loading it in a batch file. SWAPMT Some users have found keyboard compatibility problems when using MetroKernal 1.0. If you have conflicts of this type, please contact Lotus Development Corp for an upgrade. If you load METRO in a batch file that loads multiple utilities, such as the EXPRESS.BAT file that is created, you must add the following lines to the batch file to correctly swap out the entire application: At the beginning of the batch file, before the call to METRO, add: SWAPMT /N /E <and any other cmd-line switches you want> [ENTER] At the end of the batch file, after loading everything, add: SWAPEX [ENTER] This will ensure that all the METRO applications are correctly swapped. SWAP Utilities 1.70 Documentation Page 15 SWAPEX.COM has two command-line switches: /Pxxx -- xxx is the number of minutes between automatic polling of MCIMAIL. /Ay -- y is the letter of your Lotus Express Comm_Manager application. For example, if you load: SWAPEX /P60 /AX [ENTER] This tells SWAPMT to poll MCIMAIL every hour, and that Express is "X" on the METRO Menu. Approximately one minute after loading SWAPMT, Express will be popped up and be given the command to manually poll MCIMAIL. This automatic polling will not occur if the underlying application is a communications program, and if communications interrupts are "hot". If this situation occurs, SWAPMT will attempt to pop up at 10 second intervals, waiting for the communications program to finish. Also, if a key has been hit within 10 seconds of the scheduled popup time, SWAPMT will not pop up, but will attempt to pop up at 10 second intervals. This will prevent an unwanted popup while you're typing in another program. Any background processing will not take place as scheduled. You must popup METRO first. This includes Express. Alt-Shift-Enter works as a paste key, and all keyboard macros in the currently loaded macro file are operational at the DOS prompt. Use S_RUNKM.COM instead of RUNKM.EXE to run macros from a batch file. Use S_LOADKM.COM instead of LOADMAC.EXE to run macros from a batch file. The syntax for these programs is the same as their Metro counterparts. SWAPSH DO NOT USE PC-CACHE.SYS with SWAPSH, unless you actually have a Bernoulli Box installed. PC-CACHE.COM works fine. You must add the PC Shell's /R switch to the command-line when loading the program in a batch file. Without the /R switch, the program loads, but does not go resident. You may now execute programs when PCED is active, or when using 4DOS. You still must be at the command-line, but SWAPSH will detect the command-line with these additional environments. PCRUN.COM must be in your PATH in order to execute programs correctly. The SWAP Utilities can swap memory in and out faster than Shell. Therefore, if you do not use the /N switch, SWAPSH will load Shell with the /RLARGE parameter, forcing Shell to use as much memory as possible. Page 16 SWAP Utilities 1.70 Documentation SWAPDT You must add PC Desktop's /R switch to the command-line when loading the program in a batch file. Without the /R switch, the program loads, but does not go resident. Alarms are fully-functional. Keyboard macros work both inside DT as well as inside your applications. SWAPNG No special instructions. SWAPMM You must add MemoryMate's /R switch to the command-line when loading the program in a batch file. Without the /R switch, the program loads, but does not go resident. Supported Versions The following versions of the applications are known to work with the SWAP?? programs. Earlier versions may work, but we do not support them. If a new version of your program comes out that is not listed here, contact IDC directly. SideKick: Versions 1.52A through 1.58B. SideKick Plus: All Versions shipped as of 4/1/90 Tornado: Versions 1.70 through 1.80 Memory Mate: Versions 3.01 and 3.02 PCTools: Versions 5.5 & 6.0 Norton Guides: All Versions shipped as of 4/1/90 Metro/Express: MetroKernal 1.0, 1.1 and 1.11. SWAP Utilities 1.70 Documentation Page 17 If Something Goes Wrong If you have a problem loading your SWAP?? program, it will normally issue an error message with an attempt to describe the problem. If you encounter an error message, please check the section titled "Error Message Descriptions". Most message descriptions include a probable cause to help you to quickly identify the problem. If, however, your SWAP?? program will not load correctly, or crashes when you try to access the application, there might be a conflict with your system. Try the following steps to help us identify the problem: Check to make sure that TEST?? has been run, and did not abort. Check the version number of the program you are using against the section, "Supported Versions". Make sure you are using the /N option if you're loading SWAP?? through a batch file or a shell program's autoload feature. Use the /S1 option to force SWAP?? to write to disk. If this solves the problem, the conflict might be with your expanded memory manager, or with other parts of your hardware. Rename your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files, reboot your computer, and try to recreate the problem. If the problem does not occur during this test, then there is probably a conflict between SWAP?? and a TSR (Terminate and Stay Resident program) loaded by your AUTOEXEC.BAT or a device driver loaded in your CONFIG.SYS. To determine which one is causing the conflict, reintroduce the commands in your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS one at a time, and reboot and rerun SWAP?? after each change until the problem occurs. This should pinpoint the conflicting program. Sometimes rearranging the order in which TSRs are loaded will eliminate the conflict. Technical Support Direct telephone support is only guaranteed for registered users. Non- registered users will be supported directly only as time permits. The quickest and easiest way to get technical support, registered or not, is to contact Chip Rabinowitz at Compuserve 70731,20, MCIMAIL 315-5415, or FAX 1-215-886-4225. You may also write to Innovative Data Concepts at the address above, or call 1-215-884-3373. Page 18 SWAP Utilities 1.70 Documentation Common Questions & Answers Why should I use SWAP?? The most obvious answer to this is to save memory. However, the SWAP?? programs have additional benefits. You can load your TSR into high DOS memory, if available; you generally have a greater choice of hotkeys to use; and the SWAP?? swapping routines are usually faster than the swapping used by the applications. Plus, since the SWAP?? programs support the TesSeRact Standard for TSR Communication, there are documented ways to access them, something which is NOT available without them. How often do I run TEST?? You should run TEST?? the first time you install a new version of the SWAP?? program. This writes information into the .COM file that describes the exact copy of your application. The only time you should need to re-run TEST?? is if you change the configuration of the program -- give it new hotkeys, change the memory allocation, re-build the executable (as with SK+), etc. When do I need to run TESTDV? TESTDV is used to determine the RUN-TIME parameters of your DESQview environment. This MUST be re-run if you add an additional TSR to be loaded before DV, if you add a network, or even if you add a new device driver. All can affect the way DV configures itself for your machine. What is the optimal load order for the various SWAP?? programs? If you use more than one SWAP?? program, you should load them in reverse order of most common use. If you want to pop up one SWAP?? over another, you'll need to load the last program to pop up first. For example, you should load SWAPSH, followed by SWAPDT; this will permit you to bring up PCShell from the Desktop menu. Error Message Descriptions Invalid Command-Line Parameter! Please check your documentation!! The most frequent cause for this message is not adding the appropriate numeric parameters to a command-line option (such as /T3). Not enough Free Space on Selected Swap Drive This message is followed by the drive letter of your current swapping drive. There is currently not enough free space on the drive to successfully swap out your application. Use the /D command-line parameter, or modify the TEMP environment variable to fix this problem. SWAP?? already installed This message is issued if you attempt to load a SWAP?? program a second time. It may also appear if you attempt to load your application program a second time, if it has already been swapped. SWAP Utilities 1.70 Documentation Page 19 SWAP?? has successfully loaded .... Swapping to .... These messages are issued by SWAP?? AFTER successful loading of your application program, and indicate the name of the program you are swapping, as well as the type of memory being used. SWAP?? is not installed! Please run TEST??! You must run TEST?? before you can load SWAP?? SWAP?? is not loaded -- cannot be removed You cannot remove SWAP?? from memory when it is not installed. SWAP?? installed This message is given when the SWAP?? program installs and "goes resident", but before the application program is loaded. SWAP?? Removed from Memory When you load SWAP?? with the /U switch, you'll get this message. Note this does not mean that the SWAP?? program is immediately released -- if another TSR has been loaded after SWAP??, it may be using the same interrupt vectors, which will keep SWAP?? from successfully removing itself. As soon as the second TSR is removed, SWAP?? will disappear. You will also be unable to access SWAP?? during this time. Unable to Access Selected Swap Drive: This message is followed by the drive letter of your current swapping drive. The most likely cause of this message is that the specified drive does not exist. Use the /D command-line parameter, or modify the TEMP environment variable to fix this problem. Unable to Auto-Detect Memory for Swapping This is a serious error message that should never occur. It means that SWAP?? was unable to determine what kind of memory should be used for swapping. Unable to load SWAP?? -- Bad Swap File Name: This message is given when SWAP?? could not create a swap file with the specified pathname. A possible reason is that a swapfile with that name already exists, and is read-only. Error accessing XMS Memory Error accessing EMS Memory Error accessing Disk-Based Swapping Files Contact IDC immediately if you receive one of these messages. Page 20 SWAP Utilities 1.70 Documentation COPYRIGHT NOTICE AND LICENSE Innovative Data Concepts, the copyright owner for The SWAP Utilities, hereby licenses you to: use the software; make as many copies of the shareware version of this software and documentation as you wish; give exact copies of the original shareware version to anyone; and distribute the shareware version of the software and documentation in its unmodified form via electronic means. There is no charge for any of the above. This is not free software. This license allows you to use this software without charge for a period of 30 days. Any use of The SWAP Utilities past this 30-day period is in violation of federal copyright laws and will be prosecuted. No copy of the software may be distributed or given away without this accompanying documentation; this notice must not be removed. ONLY COPIES OF THE SHAREWARE VERSION MAY BE DISTRIBUTED IN ANY FORM. IDC will provide disks with the shareware versions of ALL SWAP Utilities programs upon written request. Warranty There is no warranty of any kind associated with this software, and the copyright owner is not liable for damages of any kind. By using this software, you agree to this. Every effort has been made by Innovative Data Concepts to make this product bug-free. However, the nature of software development is that it is impossible to guarantee bug-free software. If a registered user reports a verifiable bug, the user will receive a free upgrade to the next version of The SWAP Utilities. Registration Upon receipt of the appropriate registration fee, Innovative Data Concepts will send the user a printed copy of this documentation, a disk containing a version of SWAPDOS without the shareware registration screen, and a registration number entitling the user to upgrades and telephone support. Registered users will also be given a toll-free number that will permit them to receive a free Compuserve Intro-Pak, along with a $15 usage credit. Bulletin Boards, Users Groups and Disk Vendors Bulletin Board Sysops and User Groups are encouraged to fill out the form below, which will automatically place them on a mailing list to receive the latest version of all IDC shareware products as they are released, as well as upgrades to already existing programs. There is no fee for this service. Disk Vendors who wish to distribute The SWAP Utilities must satisfy one of the following requirements: 1) The vendor must have been accepted as an associate member of the Association of Shareware Professionals; or SWAP Utilities 1.70 Documentation Page 21 2) The vendor must agree to abide by the standards for disk vendors, as set forth by the Association of Shareware Professionals. Disk vendors who do not meet these requirements are NOT PERMITTED TO DISTRIBUTE THE SWAP UTILITIES UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES! For information on obtaining ASP-approved status, contact: Vendor Membership Coordinator Association of Shareware Professionals P.O. Box 5786 Bellevue, WA 98006 UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES MAY THE SWAP UTILITIES BE DISTRIBUTED WITHOUT ALL ACCOMPANYING DOCUMENTATION FILES (INCLUDING THIS COMPLETE FILE), ALL PROGRAMS, AND OTHER MATERIALS PROVIDED WITH THE OFFICIAL COPIES FROM INNOVATIVE DATA CONCEPTS. ANY SUCH DISTRIBUTION OF THE SWAP UTILITIES OR ITS RELATED FILES, EXCEPT AS PROVIDED FOR IN THIS LICENSE, SHALL BE DETERMINED TO BE IN VIOLATION OF FEDERAL COPYRIGHT LAWS AND WILL BE PROSECUTED. Page 22 SWAP Utilities 1.70 Documentation About Innovative Data Concepts Innovative Data Concepts is a consulting firm owned and operated by Chip Rabinowitz, specializing in Ram-Resident programs, communications, printing, video and more. Rabinowitz is an Assistant Sysop on the Computer Language Magazine Forum on CompuServe Information Service and also provides technical support for Borland International as a member of "Team Borland" on their Compuserve Forums, in the areas of Turbo C, Turbo Assembler, Turbo Debugger, and SideKick Plus. He is also the leader of the TesSeRact Development Team, a group pushing for Ram-Resident Programming Standards. The technique used to swap these applications may be applied to other resident programs as well, and Innovative Data Concepts is currently investigating other possible SWAP?? programs. If you have any suggestions/comments, please contact IDC. A similar technique may also be directly incorporated into resident programs; for more information, please contact IDC directly. This product uses the TesSeRact(TM) Ram-Resident Library and supports the TesSeRact Standard for Ram-Resident Program Communication. For information about TesSeRact, contact the TesSeRact Development Team at: TesSeRact Development Team 1657 The Fairways Suite 101 Jenkintown, PA 19046 1-215-884-3373 Compuserve: 70731,20 MCIMAIL: 315-5415 This MCIMAIL Account has been provided to the TesSeRact Development Team by Borland International, Inc. The TesSeRact Development Team is in no way associated with Borland International, Inc. TesSeRact is a trademark of the TesSeRact Development Team. The Rest of The SWAP Utilities At the present time, customized versions of The SWAP Utilities ship with GOfer 2.0, from MicroLytics, Inc., and Info Select, from Micro Logic Corp. Other companies are interesting in similar arrangements, and IDC will keep its users posted about future developments. Now for some of our other products .... SWAP Utilities 1.70 Documentation Page 23 Introducing SWAPDOS In March, Innovative Data Concepts released SWAPDOS, another memory-saving utility, this time focused on non-TSR applications. With SWAPDOS, you can run one large application while you're already inside another program. SWAPDOS expands your existing RAM by re-using your computer's memory when a program is not active. Simply use your application's "Shell to DOS" capability, and then use SWAPDOS to run another program, regaining all the memory used by the FIRST program. Imagine using the dBase "RUN" command to write a letter with WordPerfect! Or bringing up Microsoft Word while examining your 1-2-3 spreadsheet! You can even take your TSRs out of memory along with the program, and put them back again later! We'll let our users speak for themselves ... "Because I load a TSR spell-checker before running TAPCIS, I normally have only 140K available after shelling from TAPCIS. SWAPDOS makes more than 580K of memory free when shelling from TAP, allowing me to run Brief, Norton Commander, or MSGVU, from within TAPCIS. I also use it to run Brief when shelling out of QuickBasic." -- John P. Wexler, MD, PhD, Asst Dean of Scientific Computing, Albert Einstein College of Medicine "SWAPDOS fills more than the obvious need to re-claim memory while shelled from an application program. Standard DOS commands like DISKCOPY and XCOPY operate more efficiently when SWAPDOS temporarily frees even one TSR." -- Robert J. Rucinski, Audiovisual Services, Detroit Public Schools "I run a very complex system with many TSRs loaded most of the time. Still, occasionally, I run applications which require all or most of DOS' 640K. SWAPDOS has enabled me to define command synonyms (or batch files) that can unload all the TSRs, load the memory intensive application such as Ventura Publisher, and then reload my TSRs. I used to solve this by having numerous sets of AUTOEXEC.BAT's and CONFIG.SYS', and rebooting the computer constantly. Now I can get in and out of these applications quickly, and have the TSRs reloaded IN THEIR PREVIOUS STATE! Imagine running Ventura from a dBase shell! If SideKick Plus had five files loaded that I was editing, they're all still there! SWAPDOS is a concept whose time has come!" -- Robert K. Blaine, Owner, ECONO-SOFT Page 24 SWAP Utilities 1.70 Documentation "SWAPDOS is a great utility which uses much less memory than similar commercial products. We use it in my law office to swap out of Microsoft Word to run other programs. With SWAPDOS, my secretary does not have to save her work, then quit Word, run the next program, reload word, reload the document she was working on, and then find her place within that document. Instead, with SWAPDOS, executing just one command swaps Word and the document she was working on to memory and just one command returns her to Word in the document EXACTLY where she left off, with all glossaries and other macros, etc., still loaded!! Like all The SWAP Utilities, SWAPDOS is a must have!!" -- Gary L. Britt, Attorney at Law, Houston, Texas Even if you use an alternate command-shell ... ... such as 4DOS or FlexShell, or if you use a command-line enhancement utility such as PCED, DOSEDIT or ALIAS, SWAPDOS can save you RAM and move you between applications with ease. SWAPDOS provides an application independent method for one PC/MS-DOS application to run another, even if both would normally not fit in memory at the same time. A typical use is to temporarily swap out dBASE to make room for your text editor, or to swap out a text editor so that you can run memory hungry compilers, linkers, or even debuggers without losing your place in an editing session. SWAPDOS works by copying conventional memory used by the currently running application to expanded memory, extended memory, or to a disk file, thereby freeing conventional memory used by the application. SWAPDOS then runs the desired program before restoring the original environment. Attention Developers! A recent advertisement in Dr. Dobb's Journal from one of our competitors made several interesting points about their product. Since most of them apply to SWAPDOS as well, at less than HALF the price, we thought we'd let their ad sell our product: "... the incredible memory management utility that allows you to push stand-alone and RAM resident programs out of the way while you compile, link and test even the largest programs." "... reduces the overhead of Microsoft Make and Polytron's PolyMake from over 100K to a mere 4k <B>[SWAPDOS requires less than 3K!]<D>, giving you the memory you need to run your compiler and linker more efficiently. Just $25! SWAP Utilities 1.70 Documentation Page 25 For Task-Switching Use ... "... The world's most popular operating system still has some life left in it, thanks in part to task-switching utilities like Progressive Solutions' Back & Forth." -- PC Magazine First Looks, May 15, 1990. IDC's objective is to help users make the most of their available memory. IDC has planned for some time to develop a top-quality, small-footprint task-switching program, for those who need to run multiple applications. Back & Forth fulfills these requirements. In just a few short months, B&F has garnered reviews in PC Magazine, PC Week, InfoWorld and PC World. Back & Forth supports UltraVision, 4DOS, and several other DOS enhancement programs. IDC has added Back & Forth to its product family, under an agreement with Progressive Solutions, IDC will be marketing Back & Forth. IDC and Progressive Solutions plan to conduct joint product and technology development. Please note that Progressive Solutions is NOT a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals. How Does Back & Forth Work? Back & Forth is a program management tool that allows you to load up to 20 programs at once and instantly switch between them. Now you can switch between your word processor, spreadsheets, databases, and utilities at will, without having to wait. This eliminates the need to exit one program to open and use another -- which lets you concentrate on the reasons why you are using your software in the first place. Page 26 SWAP Utilities 1.70 Documentation Back & Forth features .... Delivers a flexible task management environment where up to 20 programs may be open in memory, each has as much memory as needed. Occupies only 12-15K of memory (0K Version if "high" DOS memory is available due soon). Easy-to-use, flexible environment. Supports CGA, VGA, EGA and Super-VGA graphics screens. Microsoft-compatible mouse Uses expanded or conventional memory, RAM disks and hard disks for swapping. (XMS support coming soon!) Executes programs at the touch of a key. 50 programs can be defined for use in the program. User definable Hot Keys for program selection. Defines all aspects of program use including: Program description Name and path Work path Command-line options (whether pre-defined or user-specified) Amount of memory needed Hotkey Flexible color customization. Provides DOS environments for executing programs, utilities or DOS commands. And much, much more .... For just $50! SWAP Utilities 1.70 Documentation Page 27 Association of Shareware Professionals Innovative Data Concepts is a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP), an organization formed in April 1987 to strengthen the future of shareware (user-supported software) as an alternative to commercial software. Its members, all of whom are programmers who subscribe to a code of ethics, are committed to the concept of shareware as a method of marketing. ASP has established stringent standards for its members. ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a problem with an ASP member (other than technical support), ASP may be able to help. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at P.O. Box 5786, Bellevue, WA 98006. The primary goals of the ASP are: To inform users about shareware programs and about shareware as a method of distributing and marketing software; To encourage broader distribution of shareware through user groups and disk dealers who agree to identify and explain the nature of shareware; To assist members in marketing their software; To provide a forum through which ASP members may communicate, share ideas, and learn from each other; and To foster a high degree of professionalism among shareware authors by setting programming, marketing, and support standards for ASP members to follow. Standards for the Association of Shareware Professionals PROGRAMMING STANDARDS: The program meets the ASP's definition of "shareware" (i.e., it is not a commercial demo with major feature disabled, nor a time- limited program). The program has been thoroughly tested by the author and should not be harmful to other files or hardware if used properly. DOCUMENTATION STANDARDS: Sufficient documentation is provided to allow the average user to try all the major functions of the program. Any discussion of the shareware concept and of registration requirements is done in a professional and positive manner. SUPPORT STANDARDS: The member will respond to people who send registration payments, as promised in the program's documentation. At a minimum, the member will acknowledge receipt of all payments. Page 28 SWAP Utilities 1.70 Documentation The member will establish a procedure for users to report, and have acknowledged, matters such as bug reports, and will describe such means in the documentation accompanying all versions of the programs. The author will respond to written bug reports from registered users when the user provides a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Known incompatibilities with other software or hardware and major or unusual program limitations are noted in the documentation that comes with the shareware (evaluation) program. GENERAL: Members will keep the ASP apprised of changes in mailing address; which shareware programs they have published and are currently supporting; the current version numbers; and of any changes in the status of their programs. If a user has a dispute with an ASP member-author, the user may appeal to the ASP to mediate for arbitration of the dispute. For more information about the Association of Shareware Professionals, contact George Abbot, Membership Coordinator of the ASP, at Compuserve 72617,1266, or write the ASP at P.O. Box 5786, Bellevue, WA 98006. SWAP Utilities 1.70 Documentation Page 29