Magnum One/Magnum One (Mid-American Digital) (Disc Manufacturing).iso/d22/help433.arc/READTHIS

Text File | 1989-05-01 | 16KB | 397 lines

                            HELP! Version 4.30

     Welcome to HELP!  Version  4.3.    If  you are a previous user of
     HELP! you will notice some very  big  changes in this version.  A
     lot of effort went in to making this program very reliable  so it
     will  not blow up.  If you have never used HELP! before, sit back
     and feel the power as you command your system like you have never
     done before.

     HELP! is a program designed to  get  the  most out of a HARD Disk
     based computer system.   It  was originally conceived as a way to
     help beginners use their systems.  It soon became much  more than
     that.  As a professional engineer whose was in charge of  many PC
     based systems  in  a  large  corporation,  I  found HELP! to be a
     valuable  tool  in  maintaining these systems.  One of my primary
     goals was to incorporate  all  of  the  valuable utilities I have
     used or felt I needed into one powerful package.  This package is
     HELP!

     HELP!  is  not  a memory hog when it executes other programs.  In
     fact it takes up less than 4K  of  memory.    HELP!  is  also not
     memory resident.  This means that other memory resident utilities
     should  work fine.  The way it works is this.  The file HELP!.COM
     is loaded into memory first.  This program is small and  stays in
     memory as long as HELP! is running.  This then calls HELPRUN.EXE.
     This is the guts of the program.  This program is large, but does
     not stay in memory when another program is run from within HELP!.

     Any Memory resident utilities should be  loaded  before HELP!.COM
     is  started.    If they are not, the system will probably not run
     correctly and will not release  the memory used by HELP!.COM when
     you quit HELP!.   Some  of DOS's commands are memory resident and
     should be run before HELP!.  These are PRINT, GRAPHICS,  MODE and
     others.


     List of Features for Version 4.3

     o    Copy, Move, Erase, & Compare one or more files.

     o    Locate a File or Files on your disk.    This  allows  you to
          search for a  file  name  in  all of the directories of your
          disk.

     o    Change the file Attributes  of  a file.  This will allow you
          to protect and un-protect a file from change  with  the read
          only attribute.  Or you can change the  other  attributes as
          well including the time & date Stamp.

     o    Tree  gives  you  a visual map of the directory structure of
          the disk.  This is a quick way to  change  directories  when
          cleaning up your disk.   This also will have the directories
          marked which  contained matches from the last Locate.  Trees
          from one or more drives can be read during  the  loading  of
          HELP!.    These trees can be saved  to  disk  files  so  the
          reading will not be necessary when HELP! is started the next
          time.

     o    View allows you to view 1-4 text files.    Their  is  also a
          scan & compare command so you can see where files differ.






     o    A full screen editor capable of editing multiple files

     o    Most  data entry now has a line editor  that  will  in  most
          cases remember what was in this edit field last.

     Features Added or Changed in Version 4

     A full screen editor has been added to version 4.1.   This editor
     is  capable of editing up to 6 files at a time or viewing one  or
     more sections of a single file or any combination.  It also has a
     macro capability.

     The help system  has  been  totally  redone and is now an indexed
     system.  What this means for the user is that  it  is much faster
     retrieving  screens.    Also when using the Help command from the
     main menu you can randomly access the help screens.  It is almost
     like having the HELP! manual online at all times!

     The view command has been totally redone.  The screen  layout and
     the command sequences have been changed and are much more logical
     now.  Many  commands  have  been  added to help you navigate your
     file.  Among these is the  Search  command and the Scan & Compare
     command.  Scan & Compare allows you to compare two to  four files
     from any point in the files (not necessarily the same  point) and
     it will stop scanning at the first non-compare.

     The screen combinations have  been  enhanced  also.   You can now
     turn  off the key status display and  gain  the  file  attributes
     display.   This allows the viewing of far  more  files  than  the
     verbose file display of the older versions.  Also  you  can  turn
     off the status window and have just a file window that  fills the
     whole screen.

     For  EGA/VGA users I've added a 43 line mode for EGA/VGA and a 50
     Line mode for the VGA.  HELP! auto configures itself  by default.
     What this means is that if you are running an EGA  that  is  in a
     120 col X 43 line mode, HELP! will use the  whole  screen and add
     columns and rows to the file display and view displays and  so on
     to use all of screen.   The  only requirement is that the display
     adapter  use  the  EGA/VGA conventions of storing the size in low
     RAM.  This covers most EGA style adapters.  If your  EGA/VGA does
     not have
     these modes the 43  and  50 lines are available from within HELP!
     and can be automatically used at the programs start.

     Your color  selections have also been enhanced and are selectable
     from the options menu as they have always been.

     DOS's Mode BW80 can be used to send HELP!  into  it's  monochrome
     color  set  for  color  adapter  users  who  run with  monochrome
     displays.  This can also be turned on from the options menu.

     The Erase Subdirectory command has  been  eliminated  and  is now
     included in the Erase Command.  This, I  am  sure,  will  be more
     convenient.

     The Equipment command has been added to the Utilities menu.  This
     will display the Display  Adapters  and  Monitors in your system,
     the number of serial & Parallel ports you have and  the Processor
     & Co-Processor Type.  Any Extended & Expanded Memory amounts will


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     also be displayed.  I've found this command  to  be  an  asset in
     maintaining multiple systems in a business.  With two key strokes
     you can instantly inventory your system.

     The Print Command has been redone also.   It  is  faster  and now
     prints margins correctly.   Also  the  ability  to send output to
     other than LPT1 has been added.    You  can send output to any of
     your  serial  or  parallel  ports.   You can  also  automatically
     program your serial ports on start-up.

     The Expert Level Can be set to get rid of  some  of the prompting
     such as Are You Sure?  Are You Sure You Are Sure? and so on.

     In  the Past error checking has been  handled  poorly  by  HELP!.
     This  has all changed now.  No more will the screens be messed up
     with Abort, Retry, Ignore?  Trying to erase read only  files will
     not  blow  up  the system, copying them will be allowed.  Try it!
     I'm sure you'll  like it!  If you are printing and you run out of
     paper or you jam or something else occurs, this  is  now  handled
     eloquently.

     Format now truly  recognizes  if  it  is  a HARD Disk you want to
     format and prompts you as such.

     The  Attributes Command appears on both the  Main  Menu  and  the
     Utilities menu where it used to be.

     The  Locate  Command  now reads the tree when it is running.  Any
     matches found will  be  flagged  in  the TREE so you can remember
     which directories contained the matches.


     The TREE  Command  will  not  be  reread  when you make, erase or
     rename subdirectories.   This  is handled automatically now.  You
     can flag directories with special attributes in the tree display.
     TREE & Locate will now operate to the maximum  depth  allowed  by
     DOS.  The TREE  Display  will  automatically configure itself for
     the screen size and the maximum depth of the directories  on your
     disk.  This allows  the  entire disk structure to be seen without
     horizontal scrolling.    You  can  also  rename  directories from
     within the TREE Command.  This  will  only work on version 3.0 or
     later of DOS.  The TREE  also  allows  the reading of one or more
     drive TREEs when  HELP!  is  started.   These TREEs can either be
     abandon  when HELP! is quit or saved on disk.  If they are saved,
     you run the risk  of  not having current information in the TREE.
     Should this occur, the TREE can be re-read at any time.

     The  Date  &  Time Commands now allow you to set an AT compatible
     battery clock.  This is prompted after the internal clock is set.

     Edit fields are now  present  in most data entry positions.  Most
     of these fields will retain their last value for later recall and
     editing.  Should a previous value be present in  an  edit  field,
     simply press <Enter> to use that value or <End>, <Home>, <Delete>
     or  an  arrow  key to edit this old value.  If you want to type a
     new value, just start typing and the old value will be erased.

     New Features of Version 4.30

     Version 4.30 fixed some  problems  with the HELP! Editor.  One of


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     these problems would cause the screen to go  into  random colors.
     Another would put the files into a merge mode if the  last window
     was closed.

     Also  some things were added to the HELP! Editor.  The first is a
     useful block column  mode.    What  this  will allow you to do is
     Copy, Move or Delete a block made up of  columns  of  information
     rather than  whole  lines.    I also allow a line to be joined by
     pressing <Del> at  the  end  of  a  line.  Some more function key
     definitions were added as well.

     Version 4.30 added mouse  support  to  HELP!.   This should prove
     very  useful to mouse users.  I also fixed a problem that 4.2 had
     with the  Print  Command  and  under  certain  circumstances, the
     computer would hang  up.    Also,  4.2 did not work properly with
     older XT's.

     The cursor does not move when you invoke the  View  Command  now.
     This  should  save  a  lot  of  key  strokes.  Also, to save  you
     keystrokes when  using  the  Multiple  Selection  Screens,  I now
     automatically move the cursor after a selection is made.   I also
     now allow the use of ``+'' to select a file and ``-'' to deselect
     a file.  Of course the <spacebar> still works as a toggle in file
     selection.

     The Copy Command now  has  three overwrite options.  The first is
     the default and will prompt you  if  you are about to overwrite a
     file  of  the  same name in the destination.  This is enhanced to
     show  you  the  date,  time  and  size  of  both  the source  and
     destination files.  The second option available is new.  This one
     will only overwrite older files in the destination.  If the files
     are the same date and time but their size is different,  the copy
     will proceed.  Under  all  other  circumstances,  no copy will be
     performed and no warning will be given.  This  allows  the  rapid
     updating of files  by  time  stamp.   The last option will always
     overwrite the destination files.

     The TREE Command has been enhanced in the way it uses the screen.
     This  will  make  it  work  more smoothly on slower machines  and
     machines with CGA's.    Also,  the  TREE  can be used to select a
     directory  from the destination screens of  the  Copy,  Move  and
     Compare screens.  This is done by pressing  <PageDn>  or <PageUp>
     when  the destination path edit field is on  the  screen.    This
     works best if used with the Auto Tree Read Options.

     A  couple  of  key stokes have been added to the  Main  Menu  and
     Utilites Menu.  These are listed below:

     <Alt> C  Brings an edit  field  into  the menu area for entring a
     new directory path. (For DOS lovers)

     <Alt> K  Toggle key status (i.e. Caps, Number, Scroll Lock).

     <Alt>  V    Toggles  between  the verbose and normal file  window
     styles.

     <Alt>  W    Toggles  between  wide window (no status window)  and
     normal mode.

     There are many  more  changes  that  were made and there are many


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     more planned for the future.  Please if you have  any suggestions
     or things you would like to see, write me.



     Installation

     There  are 6 files supplied with HELP!.    These  are  HELP!.COM,
     HELPRUN.EXE, HELP!.HLP, HED.EXE, HED.HLP, and this READTHIS file.
     The first three are all that  is  needed  to run HELP!.  The next
     two are the HELP! Editor and are needed only if  you  want to use
     this  editor.    You  can  also  define  your  own editor or word
     processor to be called with the new Words Command instead  of the
     HELP! Editor.

     The simplest way to configure your system, is to copy these files
     into  a  directory  and type HELP! to start.  This is the easiest
     but not necessarily the best way to start HELP!.  The recommended
     way,  is  to  copy  these  files  into  a  directory that the DOS
     Variable PATH points to.    This will give the advantage of being
     able to start HELP! anywhere you might be on the disk.  Of course
     if  you are going to use HELP! all of the time this would not  be
     an advantage, but it would not hurt either.  If  you  do not need
     the on-line help  system  you  can  get rid of HELP!.HLP.  Please
     note  that on the HELP! Editor you need to go to the Options Menu
     and  Load File Options and set the  Home  Directory  to  indicate
     where  the  help  file is located.    This  should  be  the  same
     directory in which you put all of the HELP! files.

     On some machines running  under  different  versions of the mouse
     driver, the time for the Main Screen to be active can be a couple
     of  seconds.    This  is  the fault of the mouse  driver/hardware
     combination.    If  this  bothers  you, disable the mouse in  the
     options menu.    You  will  not be able to use the mouse in HELP!
     under these circumstances.



























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     Invoice

     (Ver 4.33S)

     Please Send:



     Qty  Description                             Price Ea. Total


     ____ HELP! (Latest Version & Documentation)  $ 30.00   $ _____


     ____ HELP! Registration Only                 $ 20.00   $ _____


     ____ HELP! Latest Disk Only                  $ 10.00   $ _____


     Please Subtract Any Discounts (see chart below)        $ _____

     TOTAL                                                  $ _____

     Discount Chart
     10 - 24      15% Discount
     25 - 49      20% Discount
     50 - 99      25% Discount


     Site License and Limited Copy Agreements are also available



     Name ____________________________________________________________
     Company _________________________________________________________
     Address _________________________________________________________
     _________________________________________________________________
     _________________________________________________________________
     _________________________________________________________________


     Send To:

     Bruce A. Taylor
     Taylor Software Tools
     1103 Mendoza Dr.
     St. Peters, Mo.  63376














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