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M E M T O O L U S E R ' S M A N U A L Version 3.0 - 09/01/91 For the IBM PC, XT, 286, 386, 486 Copyright (C) 1987-1991 Chris W. Woodmansee All Rights Reserved TABLE OF CONTENTS: Introduction 1 Registration/Site License 2 Installation 3 Option Switches 5 Using MemTool 8 Calculator 9 Calendar/Appointments 10 File Editor 11 DOS Shell 15 Phone Dialer 17 Alarm Clock 18 ASCII Table 19 Screen Ruler 20 Screen Capture 20 Screen Saver 20 APPENDIX A - Alternate "Hot-Key" Codes 21 APPENDIX B - Errors 23 APPENDIX C - Pop-up and Screen Restore Problems 25 INTRODUCTION Congratulations on having made a wise choice in choosing MemTool. MemTool is a memory resident program meaning it is designed to be loaded once into your computer's RAM memory and remain there all day, waiting for you to summon it with the "Hot-key". MemTool's handy features can be used at anytime no matter what you're doing just by pressing the "Hot-key". When you exit MemTool you'll be returned to exactly where you left off to resume your previous work. MemTool is designed to work on any IBM or compatible micro computer and will "pop-up" over most graphics screens. MemTool uses only about 5K of RAM memory, if EMS expanded memory is available or if Disk-swapping is used. MemTool will never hog a large portion of memory leaving little left for your application programs. MemTool can be used on any type of LAN Network system allowing ALL users on the network to access and use a single copy of the program. MemTool, if used on a network, creates separate files as needed for all user automatically. If you have any comments or suggestions on how to improve MemTool please write me. If you have registered your copy of MemTool feel free to write anytime with your technical support questions. Address correspondence to: Chris W. Woodmansee 6548 Camden Avenue San Jose, CA 95120 DISCLAIMER The author hereby disclaims all warranties relating to this software, whether express or implied, including without limitation any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. The author will not be liable for any special, incidental, consequential, indirect or similar damages due to loss of data or any other reason, even if the author or an agent of the author has been advised of the possibility of such damages. In no event shall the author's liability for any damages ever exceed the price paid for the license to use the software, regardless of the form of the claim. The person using the software bears all risk as to the quality and performance of this software. - 1 - REGISTRATION/SITE LICENSE: You are encouraged to freely distribute this software to friends and associates as long as you don't modify it in any way and don't charge a fee for distribution. Be sure to include all files when distributing this software. Remember that Shareware software like MemTool allows computer users to try many different types of software and then commit themselves to a small few that best fits their needs by registering their use of the software with the author. If you decide that you like MemTool, find it useful and will continue to use the program, you should register your copy. For registrations of $30 or more I will include your name in my database of users entitled to automatically receive future minor versions at no cost. Registration also includes unlimited written technical support. If you intend to use MemTool on a network, many users can make use of a single copy of the program. Here's a registration table, based on the number of users using the program: Number of users: License fee: -------------------------------------------------- 1 $30 (single user) 2-5 $50 6-15 $75 16-30 $100 30+ $125 To register your copy of MemTool please refer to the file REGISTER.DOC on your distribution diskette. This file contains a registration form that can be printed on any printer. The following command will print the form. TYPE A:REGISTER.DOC > PRN Be sure to fill in the needed information, and send the form with your registration today! - 2 - INSTALLATION MemTool is designed to be easy to install with a minimum number of needed steps. To begin with, start up your computer and get to the DOS prompt. If you're installing MemTool on a network be sure to login as "supervisor" so you'll have full rights to the system. Note that if you have been using a previous version this new version WILL NOT overwrite any existing data files. STEP ONE: The first thing you must do is to determine where on the hard disk MemTool will reside. The program must have its own directory. I recommend using "\MEMTOOL" as the directory. Get to the Drive where the program is to be installed by typing: d: <Enter>, where "d:" is the Drive Letter where MemTool is to be installed. STEP TWO: The next step is to create the Directory that you wish MemTool to reside in. Use the following commands: CD\ <Enter>, to enter the Root Directory. MD [path] <Enter>, where "path" is the Directory name that you've decided on. Example: MD MEMTOOL <Enter>. STEP THREE: Now that you've created a directory for MemTool you should copy the program files from the distribution diskette into the directory. Insert the diskette into Drive A: and close the drive door. Use these commands to install the software on your disk drive: CD\[path] <Enter>, where "path" is the Directory where MemTool will be stored. Example: CD\MEMTOOL <Enter> COPY A:*.* <Enter>. STEP FOUR: If you currently have version 1.2 (or lower) of MemTool and have been using the PhoneView option, you must convert the old file format to the new one. If you have version 2.0 or 2.01 you DO NOT need to convert your phone file! Use the following command to convert your phone file if needed: CONVPHN <Enter> - 3 - NOTE FOR NETWORK USERS: After creating the new directory, you must give all users on the network FULL RIGHTS to the directory. If you don't, some users may not be able to use MemTool. Giving rights to users is explained in your network manuals. Usually there is some type of utility program to allow the "SUPERVISOR" to give directory rights to the users on the Network. The following chapter describes various "switch" options that can be placed in your Autoexec.Bat file to customize the way MemTool works. If you've installed the program on the C: drive, and in the "\MEMTOOL" directory you can run MemTool immediately by typing: MT <Enter>. If you have installed the program on somthing other than C:\MEMTOOL be sure to read the next chapter before trying to use the program. - 4 - OPTION SWITCHES MemTool has a provision to allow the user to customize the way the program will work by allowing the use of "switches" placed in your Autoexec.Bat file. This file can be found in the Root Directory of the Drive from which your computer "Boots-up". This drive is usually C: for a standalone computer and A: for a network workstation. The Autoexec.Bat file, if it exists, is automatically run whenever your computer is first started, allowing DOS commands to be automatically executed. MemTool's option switches should be placed in the Autoexec.Bat file, if they are to be used. You should also put the MT command (used to run MemTool) into this file as well, which will automatically load MemTool into memory each time the computer is turned on. Be sure to put the MT command AFTER any MemTool switches used. Refer to your DOS user's guide on created and modifying your Autoexec.Bat file. Here is a description of MemTool's option switches: SET MTPATH=<d:\directory> The "SET MTPATH=" switch is needed if you HAVE NOT installed MemTool in "C:\MEMTOOL". If you HAVE installed MemTool in C:\MEMTOOL you may skip this switch. Substitute "<d:\directory>" in the above example with the Drive and Directory of where MemTool has been installed. Note that a trailing "\" should not be used. Don't forget the Drive Letter in your specification. If you do not specify the Drive Letter Disk-swapping will not work! Example: SET MTPATH=F:\PUBLIC\MEMTOOL SET MTFLAGS=<list of flags> The "SET MTFLAGS=" switch allows the user to enable and disable certain options. Substitute "<list of flags>" with the Flags needed to enable or disable the desired options, as described below: /D This flag tells MemTool NOT TO USE disk-swapping to store the program when it is loaded into memory. MemTool will use about 280K of RAM memory if this switch is used but will pop-up immediately when the "hot-key" is pressed. If you DO NOT use this switch MemTool will use only 5K of RAM memory but will need to swap itself from disk requiring a few seconds to pop-up once the "hot-key" is pressed. If you need as much conventional memory as possible to run your application programs, it's recommended you NOT use this switch. If you have EMS expanded memory, or your application programs do not require much conventional memory it is reccommended you do use this switch. Default operation is for MemTool to use Disk- swapping, therefore using only 5K of conventional RAM memory. /I Ignore EMS memory if available. If this flag is used MemTool will not attempt to use EMS memory even if it's available in your computer. Otherwise, existing EMS memory will automatically be used. Use this flag only if you find problems with MemTool trying to use it, or if your current applications need it, etc. - 5 - /Nuser Use this flag if MemTool is being used on a network by multiple users. Substitute "user" in the switch for a unique group of letters that will differentiate each user. The name must be a group of letters (from 3 to 8 letters) with no spaces and no special characters in between. Example: /Nchris /Hxx,yy,desc Use this flag to change the "Hot-key" used to invoke MemTool. The default "Hot-key" is Ctrl-Alt AND the SysReq key. If this is acceptable, this flag is not needed. If this flag is used it MUST be placed LAST on the "SET MTFLAGS=" switch line. Substitute "xx" for the new "Hot-key's" Shift Code, "yy" with the Scan Code, and "desc" with the "Hot-key" description. Be sure to separate the 3 parameters with commas (,). More info on this switch is coming up. Example: /H4,94,Ctrl-F1 Be sure to include a trailing "/" (frontslash) at the end of the flag list on the SET MTFLAGS= switch. Example: SET MTFLAGS=/D/NJOE/ SET MTDS=<d:\directory> This switch is no longer needed by version 3.0 of MemTool. All swap files are stored in the MemTool installation directory. If you are currently using the switch, remove it from your Autoexec.Bat file. CHANGING THE DEFAULT HOT-KEY The "hot-key" is the key or group of keys that invokes the program. Since the default "hot-key" (Ctrl-Alt) may interfere with some application programs, MemTool provides a way to change it to a different combination of keys. Note that the SysReq key is automatically available as an alternate "hot-key". As described above the "hot-key" is defined using the /H flag on the SET MTFLAGS= switch, located in your Autoexec.Bat file. Here's an example of the flag which, in this example sets the "hot-key" to Ctrl-F1. The 3 parameters are described: /H4,94,Ctrl-F1 | \ \ | \ \ | \ DESCRIPTION | SCAN CODE SHIFT CODE - 6 - SHIFT CODE - Used to specify the shift status of a keypress. This code describes the Shift-Keys (Right shift, Left shift, Ctrl, or Alt) that will be used for the "hot-key". Note that any combination of Shift-Keys may be used. SCAN CODE - Used to specify the scan code of a non Shift-Key to be used in addition to a specified Shift-Key. DESCRIPTION - The third parameter of the /H flag is used to describe the key combination. This description will be display when MemTool is first loaded into memory. Always specify a description of the "hot-key" used. It's the only way an unfamiliar user will know what keys to use! In the above example, "4" is used to specify the "Ctrl" key as the desired Shift-Key, and "94" is used to specify the "F1" as the "Regular" key to be used in addition. Thus, Ctrl-F1 would pop-up MemTool in this case. Remember that "Shift-Keys" and "Regular" keys can be used in any combination you desire. If you want to use only "Shift-Keys" for your "hot-key" then be sure to specify a "0" for the SCAN CODE (used to describe a "Regular Key"). For a list of possible "hot-key" combinations using the SHIFT CODE and the SCAN CODE refer to APPENDIX A of the user's manual. From this list of SHIFT CODES and SCAN CODES you should be able to find a suitable "hot-key". Note that the /H flag is NOT NEEDED if MemTool's default "hot-key" (Ctrl-Alt) is suitable. FINAL NOTES ON USING MEMTOOL SWITCHES These switches are not needed if you're satisfied with default operation of the program. Default operation is: 1) Program is installed in C:\MEMTOOL 2) Use EMS memory if available. (only 5K RAM used) 2) Use Disk-swapping if EMS memory is not available. (only 5K RAM used) 4) Ctrl-Alt and SysReq to be used as the "hot-keys". 5) MemTool will not be used by multiple users on a network. If MemTool is being used on a network system, be sure to follow the same procedure for putting the switches into the AUTOEXEC.BAT file on ALL the boot diskettes on each of the user's workstations, who'll be using the program. The boot diskette is located in the Drive A: of the workstation in most cases. Whenever you modify the switches in the Autoexec.Bat file these changes will not take effect until your computer is rebooted (turned off then on again), and not until MemTool is reloaded using the MT command. - 7 - USING MEMTOOL MemTool is a memory resident program, meaning it loads itself into memory once and remains there until summoned by the "hot-key". So before you can use it, it must be loaded into memory. Go into the directory where MemTool was installed and type MT and press <Enter>. This will load the program into your computer's memory. NOTE: Once MemTool has been loaded into memory be typing "MT" at the DOS prompt, typing MT again will display a message reminding you that the program is already loaded. ALSO: The command used to initially load MemTool into memory may be placed in your Autoexec.Bat file allowing MemTool to be automatically loaded whenever the computer is turned on. If this method is used, be sure to put the MT command AFTER any MemTool switches used. KEEP IN MIND: It's best to invoke MemTool (using the "hot-key") while your computer is idle. If your application program is saving a file, in the middle of a calculation, etc., wait until the operation is complete, and then pop-up MemTool. However, no harm will be caused if you accidently invoke the program while DOS is busy. MemTool will simply tell you try again later. After the Main Menu appears you are free to select any of the available options. You may select an option by moving the highlight bar with the keypad arrow keys, or by pressing the corresponding Function key. Note that to select from the options on the right of the menu with your Function keys, you must press a Ctrl-Function key combination. Note that for each MemTool option, a corresponding "command line" will appear at the bottom of the screen, summarizing the commands available for this particular feature. For a more detailed description of the feature, refer to the correct section in the manual. The <ESC> is used to return you to the previous screen of a particular option, and will always function in the same manner. This key is also used to exit MemTool, when at the Main Menu. After exiting the program the menu will disappear and you will be returned to your previous work, in the same position as when you left. - 8 - CALCULATOR To enter digits 0 thru 9, and the ".", "-", and "+" keys, press the corresponding keypad key. To Divide: press the "/" key. To Multiply: press the "*" key. To Total: press <Enter>. To Clear Last Entry: press the "C" key. To Clear all Memory: press the "A" key. The calculator can be moved to any location on the screen by first pressing the <Num-Lock> key on the keypad, and then using the keypad arrow keys to move the calculator. Once the desired position is found, press the <Num-Lock> key again to reactivate number entry. The calculator handles numbers with up to 10 digits to the left of the decimal point, and 3 decimal places to the right. If a calculation contains more than 3 decimal places, it will be rounded up or down, to fit into the 3 decimal place format. If you exit the calculator and return later, all calculations will be left intact, enabling you to continue where you left off. - 9 - CALENDAR/APPOINTMENTS This option features a full-range calendar that ranges from the years 1900 thru 2100. You can also store and later retrieve, appointments for any of the calendar days. If you're using MemTool on a network, each user's appointments are kept in separate files. Use the keypad Arrow Keys to change the Calendar month and year. To log an appointment, first select the year and month using the Arrow Keys, then select the day by entering a 1 or 2 digit number. Then press the <Enter> key. The appointment pad for this day will then appear on the screen. Use the arrow keys and <Enter> key to move to the desired time slot, and then make your entry. The appointment pad can be printed to your printer by pressing ALT-P. The calendar layout and the current date shown at the top will change when either the Year or Month is changed. Note that the calendar defaults to today's date. Press <Enter> to bring up the Appointment Pad for the date shown at the top of the calendar. If you need to know all the days for which you've logged appointments in a given month, press ALT-A. MemTool will search for all Appointment Pads created during the month that's currently showing on the Calendar. When an Appointment Pad for that month is found, the day is highlighted on the calendar. Then you can quickly view or modify a particular Pad by entering the 1 or 2 digit day number and pressing <Enter>. If no appointments are found, the word "NONE" will show in the lower right-hand portion of the "command line" at bottom of the screen. The ALT-D option of the Calendar/Appointment feature allows the user a means of erasing all Appointment Pads for the current month. When ALT-D is pressed MemTool will search the hard drive for Pads created during the current month and erase them. It's a good idea to use ALT-D on the previous month's appointments to free up disk space. - 10 - FILE EDITOR This handy option allows the user to leave the application in current use, and edit an existing file, or create a new file on a disk drive without having to leave the current work. The Editor is a full-function editor with all the features of a good file editor. It allows files up to 3000 lines long, 256 characters wide, and a maximum size of about 63,000 bytes. Any ASCII formatted file may be edited. Formatted files such as ones created by certain word processors, should not be edited. If you do you'll lose your formatting! Binary file may not be edited either. EDITOR FUNCTIONS: Keypad ARROWS - move cursor up, down, right, and left. DEL key - deletes character the cursor is on and pulls characters on the right to the left. If a block is being marked the Del key will delete the block. INS key - used to insert text that was copied to scrap. PGUP key - View previous screen of text. PGDN key - View next screen of text. CTRL-PGUP - Moves cursor to the first line of the file. CTRL-PGDN - Moves cursor to the last line of the file. HOME key - Moves cursor to start of the current line. END key - Moves cursor to end of the current line. CTRL-HOME - Moves cursor to the top to the screen. CTRL-END - Moves cursor to the bottom of the screen. TAB key - Moves cursor 10 spaces to the right. SHIFT-TAB - Moves cursor 10 spaces to the left. CTRL --> - Moves cursor to the next word. CTRL <-- - Moves cursor to the previous word. ALT-L - Loads a file from disk, into the editor. ALT-W - Writes the current file to disk. If a block is highlighted this function will save the block to disk. ALT-P - Prints current file to the printer. If a block is highlighted the block will be printed. ALT-R - Restores the previous session. A session is stored when you SAVE the file you're working on. If you then leave and later return to the Editor, you can press ALT-R to restore that earlier session to exactly where you left off. ALT-D - Deletes line of text that the cursor is on and pulls lines below the cursor, up. ALT-C - Toggles the search case sensitivity ON or OFF. If case sensitivity is off, the search function (F1-F4) and the Translate function (F5-F6) will find text regardless of whether it's capital or lower case text. If case sensitivity in on, these function will only find the text if it matches exactly. ALT-H - Brings up a help screen describing each feature in the file editor. ALT-I - Toggle between the Insert and Replacing modes. When in the Insert mode the cursor is large and characters are inserted. When in the Replacing mode the cursor is small and entered character overwrite existing ones. - 11 - ALT-K - Deletes text from the point of the cursor to the end of the current line. ALT-F - Shows the FULL filename and path of the current file. ALT-O - Used to rename the current file. SEARCH AND TRANSLATE: CUT AND PASTE: -------------------------------- -------------------------------- F1 - Search forward F7 - Line mark F2 - Search forward again F8 - Column mark F3 - Search backward Ins - Insert scrap F4 - Search backward again Del - Delete block F5 - Translate forward - - Delete to scrap F6 - Translate backward SEARCHING FOR TEXT: Allows the user to quickly find text in the file being worked on. To search forward from the point of the cursor press F1. Now enter the text to search for and press <Enter>. If the text is found the cursor will be repositioned there. To search again for the same text press the F2 key. Use the F3 and F4 key to search upward, beginning from the point of of the cursor. TRANSLATING TEXT: Keys F5 and F6 allow you search for the specified text and then replace it with different text. Say for example you want to replace all occurrences of "TXT" with "TEXT". First position the cursor at the point at which you want the search to begin, then press F5. Now enter TXT. And then enter "TEXT" as the text to replace "TXT" with. The Editor will now search thru your file and stop at each occurrence of "TXT" and display this prompt: Change? (Yes, No, Global) If you press "Y" for yes, the highlighted word will be replaced with the replacement text. The Editor will then search for the next occurrence. If you press "N" the Editor will search for the next occurrence, leaving this one unchanged. If you press "G" for Global, the Editor will go through the whole file replacing all occurrences of the text with the new text automatically with no prompting of the user. Be sure that you really want to use "G" before pressing it because it can't be undone! You may press the <Esc> key at any time to cancel the Translate feature. If you would like to Translate upward through the file instead of downward, press the F6 key instead of the F5 key. The option works the same. LINE MARK AND COLUMN MARK - (For Cut/Paste options) The File Editor has facilities for deleting, copying, printing, and saving - 12 - certain portions of the file by using the Cut and Paste features. Cut and Paste operations are accomplished through 2 steps: 1) MARKING A BLOCK OF TEXT - Text can be marked using the F7 (line mark) and F8 (column mark) keys. Position the cursor at the point that you want the marking to begin and press F7 or F8. Now use any of the Editor's movement keys to highlight the text in the file. While marking a block of text, you can cancel the mark by press the same Function Key again. You can also switch from one type of mark to the other by simply pressing the corresponding key. LINE MARK: The line mark should generally be used for marking portions of a paragraph, whole paragraphs, or even larger sections of your text. COLUMN MARK: The type of mark should be used when the Line Mark is inappropriate, for example when you need to mark a menu or some other box or rectangular area and don't want the text on either side of the area. 2) DOING SOMETHING WITH THE MARKED TEXT - Now that you've marked a block of text you should do something with it. You have several options: PRESS THE "-" KEY. This will delete the highlighted block to scrap, meaning the block will be removed from the file you're working on and copied to a temporary holding area called "scrap". PRESS THE "+" KEY. This will copy the highlighted block to scrap, leaving the highlighted text in your file. PRESS THE "Del" KEY. This will delete the highlighted block from the file, and not copy it to scrap (leaving anything already in scrap untouched). The Editor will confirm this option because once you use "Del" key on a highlighted block it's gone! PRESS Alt-W. This will tell the Editor to save the block to disk. You will be required to specify a filename for the block. PRESS Alt-P. This will print the highlighted block to your local printer. Remember that while marking a block of text you can use ANY of the regular movement keys. You can even search for text using the F1 and F2 keys while marking a block. Some features are disabled while marking a block. COPYING TEXT FROM SCRAP - (For Cut/Paste options) Once you have copied text to SCRAP, you may insert into your current file at any point in the file by pressing the "Ins" key. The Editor will confirm you decision to insert scrap. Just move the cursor to the point at which you want the scrap to be inserted and press "Ins". - 13 - The MemTool File Editor will always warn you if your about to exit without saving, or overwrite memory with a newly loaded file, etc. Don't be afraid to experiment with the options. Load an expendable "test" file and play with each of the editor's funtions. Once you get used to them and feel confident with how they operate you'll value the File Editor as an indispensable tool for quickly editing files. - 14 - DOS SHELL The DOS Shell option allows the user to instantly search for any file in any directory on any drive on the system. Upon selecting the option MemTool begins by reading the directory tree of the current disk drive. After this is done the option appears, showing you a graphical representation of the drive's tree structure and files found in the Root directory. Notice that there are two main boxes, the Directory Tree box and File Listing box. The File Listing box shows all the files found in the high- lighted directory in the Directory Tree box. To see the files in a different directory just move the highlight bar to the desired directory using the keypad arrow keys, Home/End, and PgUp/PgDn keys. Once a desired directory is displayed in the File List box, you can move to that box with the Tab key. The Tab key will highlight the box telling you that it is now current, meaning the keypad keys will now control movement in that box. Notice at the top of the screen there is a list of all Drive Letters found on your system. You can change to a different Drive at any time by pressing the corresponding letter. At the bottom of the screen are a list of ALT-<letter> commands that allow you to Copy, Delete, Move and Rename files. Each of these commands effects the HIGHLIGHTED file. The highlighted file is determined as the one with the highlight bar on it, UNLESS, one or more files have been highlighted manually using the <Enter> key in the File List box. Example: You could enter the File List box (using the Tab key) and press the <Enter> on 3 files. These files will then appear in a different color meaning that they are the HIGHLIGHTED files. The Copy, Delete, Move or Rename options will effect only these files. You could then un-highlight these files using the <Enter> key again, and this time the Copy, Delete, Move, and Rename options would effect only the one file highlighted with the movable highlight bar. Note that the ALT-<letter> commands at the bottom of the screen will work no matter which box is highlighted. Here's a description of what each command does: ALT-C)opy - Copies the highlighted file(s) to a desired Drive and/or Directory. When the question appears asking you for the drive and directory you may enter either a drive or directory, or both. A filename specification is not valid. ALT-D)elete - Deletes the highlighted file(s) from the current Drive and Directory. A prompt is displayed to confirm your descision. ALT-M)ove - Moves the highlighted file(s) from the current Directory to a different Directory on the current Drive. Note that the files are MOVED as against COPIED and only on the current disk drive. Specifying a drive letter is invalid. ALT-R)ename - Renames the only the file highlighted by the movable high- light bar. Only a filename is valid here, no Drive and no Directory specifications are allowed. - 15 - ALT-I)nclude All - Highlights all files in the File List box. ALT-E)xclude All - Un-highlights all files in the File List box. ALT-F)reshen Tree - Reloads the directory tree for the current drive. Note that users on a network my find that people will remove or add directories from time to time while someone else is in this option. If you suspect that someone has done this just use ALT-F to recreate the tree. An important feature of the DOS Shell option is that when the option is first used, the directory tree is read from the disk and this information is then saved in a file. If you exit the option and then return, the saved tree information is read from the file which greatly increases the time needed to re-read a large directory tree. This is very nice feature to have when constantly entering and exiting the DOS Shell option that would otherwise have to read the tree on a hugh disk drive with hundreds of directories. One thing to remember is that this saved tree information is read all day, every time you enter the option. The tree is automatically updated and re-read from the disk on the next day. If you are sure nobody has added or deleted directories during the day then all is well, but if you suspect that someone has just use the ALT-F)reshen Tree option. This will force DOS Shell to re-read your drive's directory tree giving you the most current information. - 16 - PHONE DIALER The Phone Dialer option allows the user, on the spur-of-the-moment, to log a phone number in MemTool for later reference. It has happened to everyone: You're working away at your desk and suddenly you remember that you must call someone at 2:15 p.m. But what was the phone number? Bring up the Phone Dialer and in seconds you'll have it! ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Name/Notes/Extension Phone Number only │ ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ John Jones at First Federal Ext.1077 408-255-3494 │ │ Spectrum computer supplies 415-267-0923 │ │ Sam Young at Harvard Mortgage 211-467-1231 │ │ Subway Sandwiches 408-268-8643 │ │ │ │ │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ALT - D)ial I)nsert E)rase S)ort P)rint C)om Port <Esc> menu. Use the Keypad Arrows to move the highlight bar to the desired entry. Also use PgUp, PgDn, Ctrl-PgUp, and Ctrl-PgDn. The phone number can be entered in with or without dashes. If you plan to use ALT-D to quick dial your phone numbers, do not include the area code if you are in that area code. The Phone Dailer option holds up to 500 entries, and for users on a Network, each will have his own personal file. ALT-D)ial - If you computer has a modem and a telephone attached to the modem you can use this option to quickly dial an entry. Just position the highlight bar on the Name or Phone Number and press ALT-D. Pick up your telephone and MemTool will dial. Note that a "," (used to tell the modem to pause) can be used in offices where you must press "9" before dialing your number. Example entry: 9,408-371-1234 This would have the same effect as pressing "9", then pausing a second or two, then dialing your phone number. If you need a longer pause for your type of phone switch, use 2 or even 3 commas in row. ALT-I)nsert - Inserts a blank line at the position of the cursor, pushing following entries down 1 line. ALT-E)rease - Removes the line that the cursor is on. ALT-S)ort - Will sort you phone directory in ascending alphabetical order. ALT-P)rint - Will print the entire phone directory to your printer.. ALT-C)om Port- Tells the Phone Dialer option which communications port your modem is attached to. The dialer will not work correctly if this is not set. Valid entries are 1 thru 4, with 1 and 2 being the most likely settings. If you are having problems with the dialer, try setting the ALT-C option to each Com setting first. - 17 - ALARM CLOCK This is a very handy option of MemTool. It's a full function Alarm Clock, that can be set to display a preset message on the screen on any specified time or date. When the alarm sounds a message will appear on your screen along with the alarm to alert you. Here's what the Alarm Clock screen looks like: ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ TIME: 09:45:10° SET CLOCK: │ │ DATE: 10-12-1991 Ctrl-T)ime Ctrl-D)ate │ ├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ ALARM: is ON SET ALARM: │ │ Time: 11:15 Alt-T)ime Alt-D)ate │ │ Date: 10-12-1991 Alt-M)essage Alt-A)larm on/off │ ├───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ MESSAGE: Enter a message here._____________________ │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Notice that in the upper, left-hand corner is the current Time and Date. These can be changed by pressing Ctrl-T and Ctrl-D. Always enter the Time in military format with a ":" between the Hour, Minute, and Second. Example: 14:16 for 2:16pm. TO SET THE ALARM: First enter the Time that you wish the alarm to sound. Once again be sure to enter the time in military type format. Example: to enter a time of 4:15pm, you would enter 16:45 and press <Enter>. Next you should enter a Date for the alarm to sound. The Date part of the alarm is an optional specification and does not have to be entered, but if it is it must be in MM-DD-YYYY format! If the alarm Date is NOT entered or the current one is removed by the user, the alarm will sound every day at the specified Time. If a Date IS entered the alarm will sound only on that Date and at the specified Time. Always use either a "/" or "-" between the Month and Day. The next step is to use Alt-A to activate the alarm. When Alt-A is pressed, the alarm Mode will toggle from ON to OFF. Note the MemTool alarm clock will not sound if the alarm is set to OFF. The last thing to enter is the Message that you may want to appear on the screen when the alarm sounds. The message used here is handy if you've forgotten why you set the alarm! Use ALT-M to enter a message. The Alarm Clock feature of MemTool works exactly like a regular alarm clock and will always sound if it is ON at the specified Time. The only difference is that the MemTool Alarm Clock has an optional Date feature. If a Date is specified the alarm will only sound on the selected Date. To make the alarm sound at a given Time EVERY day, do not enter a Date. - 18 - ASCII TABLE This option in MemTool displays an ASCII table that shows all the standard computer characters available to the user. This can be useful when you need a list of ASCII graphics characters for graphics or to enhance your text (boxes, lines, corners, etc.) but are not sure of the ASCII codes for those characters. Say for example you're creating a document using MemTool's editor, and you would like to create a box in the document. With MemTool's ASCII Table you can easily find the characters you need to create the box. The table shows the Decimal and Hex value of the character and the actual character itself. Once you know the character's Decimal value you can produce the character by holding down the ALT key and entering the value using the Keypad numbers. Once the number is entered, release the ALT key and the character will appear at the position of the cursor! Most word processors and text editors will allow the user to enter characters in this manner. Example: ALT-218 would produce a single-line character of the upper left-hand corner of a box. Use the Arrow keys and PgUp/PgDn keys of the keypad to display previous, and next screens of the ASCII Table. You may also print the ASCII Table to your printer by pressing ALT-P. - 19 - SCREEN RULER This is a handy feature allowing the user to pop-up a ruler to measure text on the screen. The Ruler can measure horizontally and vertically. Press ALT-O to swtich. Use the keypad arrow keys to move the Ruler to the desired location. SCREEN CAPTURE This option can be very useful and is much more convenient and flexible then the "PrtSc" key provided by DOS. Once the option is selected you'll see this screen: ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Capture to: SCREEN.1________________________________ │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ At this point you have several options. You can press <Enter> to save the current screen (not including the Screen Capture prompt box) to the file shown in the prompt. The file will be stored in the default directory. Note that each time you save a screen the number in the extension part of the filename is incremented automatically. You may enter your own filename here if you wish. A Drive and Directory may be included in the filename. By pressing the Up Arrow and Down Arrow, you can change the output device to your Printer or to Scrap (used in the File Editor). If you want to save the current screen to your printer, just press the Down Arrow until "PRINTER - (LPT1 will be used)" is shown on the prompt line. Then press <Enter> and the screen will be printed. If you want to save the screen to SCRAP so it can be used in the File Editor, just use the Arrow keys to select "SCRAP - (Used in the Editor)". Then press <Enter>. Now you can select the File Editor option from the MemTool menu and insert the Scrap you just saved here! For more information on using the Editor's scrap and Cut/Paste features refer to the chapter "FILE EDITOR". SCREEN SAVER Use this option to blank your screen when computer is idle. This can prevent "burn-in" of the monitor. Simply select the option, and set the number of seconds of keyboard inactivity it takes for MemTool to blank the screen. The number of seconds can range from 10 seconds to 1777 seconds (about 29 mins). Use ALT-S to turn the option on and off. When off, no screen blanking takes place. Note that Screen Saver will blank the screen if the specified number of seconds has passed, even if your computer is accessing the hard drive or doing something similar. Be sure to set seconds large enough to take this into account. Default seconds is 300 (5 minutes). When the screen is blanked out just press any key to restore your previous work. - 20 - APPENDIX A - HOT-KEY CODES The "hot-key" switch allows the user to specify a different "hot-key" to be used to activate MemTool: /Hxx,yy,description | \ \ | \ \ | \ DESCRIPTION | SCAN CODE SHIFT CODE Remember that "Shift-Keys" and "Regular" keys can be used in any combination you desire. If you want to use only "Shift-Keys" for your "hot-key" then be sure to specify a "0" for the SCAN CODE (used to describe a "Regular Key"). Here's list of possible "hot-key" combinations using the SHIFT CODE and the SCAN CODE: =============================================================== For a "Hot-Key" using either SHIFT key (right or left): =============================================================== Set the SHIFT CODE: 1-<Right shift key> 2-<Left shift key> 3-<Both shift keys> Set the SCAN CODE: 84-<F1> 85-<F2> 1-<Esc> 72-<Up Arrow> 86-<F3> 87-<F4> 28-<Enter> 80-<Down Arrow> 88-<F5> 89-<F6> 14-<BackSpace> 75-<Left Arrow> 90-<F7> 91-<F8> 71-<Home> 77-<Right Arrow> 92-<F9> 93-<F10> 79-<End> 82-<Ins> 135-<F11> 136-<F12> 73-<PgUp> 83-<Del> 81-<PgDn> 15-<Tab> 57-<Space Bar> =============================================================== For a "Hot-Key" using the CTRL key or CTRL plus either SHIFT key (right or left): =============================================================== Set the SHIFT CODE: 4-<Ctrl key> 5-<Ctrl plus right shift key> 6-<Ctrl plus left shift key> 7-<Ctrl plus both shift keys> - 21 - Set the SCAN CODE: 94-<F1> 95-<F2> 1-<Esc> 115-<Left Arrow> 96-<F3> 97-<F4> 28-<Enter> 116-<Right Arrow> 98-<F5> 99-<F6> 14-<BackSpace> 132-<PgUp> 100-<F7> 101-<F8> 119-<Home> 118-<PgDn> 102-<F9> 103-<F10> 117-<End> 57-<Space Bar> 137-<F11> 138-<F12> =============================================================== For a "Hot-Key" using the ALT key, or ALT plus either SHIFT key (right or left), or the ALT key plus the CTRL key: =============================================================== Set the SHIFT CODE: 8-<Alt key> 9-<Alt plus right shift key> 10-<Alt plus left shift key> 11-<Alt plus both shift keys> 12-<Ctrl plus Alt key> 13-<Ctrl plus Alt plus right shift key> 14-<Ctrl plus Alt plus left shift key> 15-<Ctrl plus Alt plus both shift keys> Set the SCAN CODE: 104-<F1> 105-<F2> 57-<Space Bar> 106-<F3> 107-<F4> 108-<F5> 109-<F6> 110-<F7> 111-<F8> 112-<F9> 113-<F10> - 22 - APPENDIX B - ERRORS USING MEMTOOL From time to time you may experience errors while using MemTool. Error messages can be caused by many different causes. The program may have a bug, the user may have setup the program wrong, etc. Here are some error messages you may encounter and what to do: EMS memory usage errors: PROGRAM WILL NOT USE YOUR EMS MEMORY. Be sure that your memory over 1 megabyte is EXPANDED memory conforming to the Lotus/Intel/Microsoft version 3.0 standards. This type of memory can not exist on a PC or XT. A 286 computer would need a memory expansion card, and a 386 can have this type of memory on the motherboard. Extended memory is not the same as expanded memory and MemTool can not use of it. "EMS MEMORY STORAGE REQUIRES DOS 3.0 OR HIGHER.". - You must be running under DOS 3.0 or higher to use your EMS memory for program storage. If you wish to use EMS memory you'll have to upgrade your DOS version. "EMS MEMORY NOT AVAILABLE OR ALREADY IN USE.". - Either your computer has no EMS memory or it is already in use by other programs. If you wish to use EMS memory you free up about 280K of it for MemTool. Disk-swapping errors: "INVALID USER NAME." - Means the name user name specified on the SET MTFLAGS=/Nuser/ switch is invalid. Refer to "OPTION SWITCHES" for the correct format. "NOT ENOUGH DISK SPACE." - There is not enough disk space to store the needed disk-swapping files. Free up space and try again. "MUST USE DOS 3.0 OR HIGHER. " - The disk-swapping feature of MemTool requires that you have DOS 3.0 or higher. Upgade your DOS version. "FILE ACCESS ERROR. " - MemTool cannot create the needed disk-swapping files. Check that you have installed MemTool in C:\MEMTOOL or have used the SET MTPATH= switch. See "OPTION SWITCHES" for more info. Errors occurring after typing MT: "Not enough memory." - Indicates that your computer does not have enough memory to load MemTool. Free RAM space if possible. If you have specified that MemTool not use Disk-swapping remove this switch and try again. "Unable to become memory resident." - Program could not load itself into memory. Write down type of computer, hardware, RAM size, and special conditions and write me. "MemTool needs to run under DOS 3.0 or higher." - You must upgrade your DOS to 3.0 or higher. See your software dealer to do this. - 23 - Errors while program is running: "Error xx at Line xxxx" - this type of error may indicate that the program has a bug. If you have tried to resolve the error yourself but can't, write down the Error Number and Line Number. Write me a letter indicating under what conditions the error occured and be very detailed. Errors popping up while DOS is busy: "You've popped up while DOS is busy... " - While this message is not an error, problems may occur after exiting MemTool. If strange things start to happen after receiving this message it may be due to other small utility TSR programs such as a Keyboard Enhancer, etc. These types of TSR's can cause problems. If you will routinely popping up MemTool while DOS is busy, you should remove these types of utility TSR programs from your Autoexec.Bat file. You may have to experiment to determine which TSR's are causing the problems. - 24 - APPENDIX C - POP-UP AND SCREEN RESTORE PROBLEMS If you are experiencing problems popping-up MemTool over certain programs or restoring your original screen after the program pops down, this section may help to determine the problem. When MemTool pops up it will attempt to save your current screen before displaying the menu. The program also determines the video mode that you're in, for example, Mono Text, Color Text, Color Graphics, etc. If you are in a graphics program when you pop-up MemTool, the program will save the screen, force the video mode to text, and then display the MemTool menu. Forcing the video mode will erase your screen before the menu appears. This is normal. In most cases MemTool will operate correctly with CGA, EGA, VGA, and some Hercules graphics images. Hercules Graphics Images: MemTool will correctly save Hercules graphics images only when BOIS video mode 8 is active. This mode is 160 x 200 graphics - 16 colors. It is impossible for MemTool to save other Hercules graphics because the BIOS data area is not maintained correctly in these cases. MemTool Does Not Pop-up: If MemTool does not appear after the "hot-key" is pressed this may be due to you trying to pop-up over an image that can't be restored when MemTool pops down. In this case MemTool will not pop-up. If you hear MemTool's pop-up "beep" but the program does not appear, chances are the program has poped-up but can't be seen! In this case, press the <Esc> key and control will be returned to your application program. This problem is known to occur when popping up over programs that are writing to a different video page in memory even though they are in a color text mode. This problem is known to occur using BRIEF version 3.0 on a color adapter. MemTool Pops-up But Does Not Restore Screen: This can happen in some incompatible video modes. Due to a lack of standards in this area, MemTool will pop-up just fine over a certain program but will not correctly restore the screen when it's time to pop down. You just have to experiment and not pop-up over the known "problem programs". - 25 -