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Monster Media 1996 #15
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Monster Media Number 15 (Monster Media)(July 1996).ISO
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bvs_pm10.zip
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README.TXT
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1996-04-05
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456 lines
┌────────────────────────────────────┐
│ BEAVIS & BUTT-HEAD │
│ Automated Episode Guide v1.0 │
│ 32 bit OS/2 PM Version │
└────────────────────────────────────┘
┌──────────────────────────┐
│ What This Program Does │
└──────────────────────────┘
This is a full-featured OS/2 PM program that makes it easy to view info
on the popular MTV show, Beavis & Butt-Head.
┌───────────────────────────┐
│ How To Run This Program │
└───────────────────────────┘
There are several ways to run this OS/2 PM A.E.G. (These methods assume
that you have already unarchived the .ZIP file into a directory somewhere
on your hard drive):
USING THE PM A.E.G. FROM AN OS/2 COMMAND LINE SESSION:
------------------------------------------------------
Simply, CD to the directory that the OS/2 PM A.E.G. .EXE file resides.
Type the filename of the executable file and the PM program window should
appear on your desktop. See the "How To Use This Program" section for
details on maneuvering around the program.
USING THE PM A.E.G. FROM AN OBJECT ON YOUR DESKTOP:
---------------------------------------------------
Create a permanent directory somewhere on your hard drive for the PM A.E.G.
Move the contents of the .ZIP file into this permanent directory (the .EXE
file, the .HLP file and the aeg_inst.cmd are the only "required" files. The
.INF file is an "offline" version of the .HLP file -- you can click on it
from the Drives Object or use the OS/2 view.exe program from the command
line. This .INF file isn't required for the PM A.E.G. to run).
From an OS/2 command line session (full screen or window) run the REXX
script named aeg_inst.cmd. It will create a desktop object for the PM A.E.G.
After this desktop object is created, you can move it anywhere you want to
(into a folder, onto your LaunchPad, etc.) Double click on the PM A.E.G.
icon to run the program.
┌───────────────────────────┐
│ How To Use This Program │
└───────────────────────────┘
When you first run the A.E.G., a large PM window will appear on your screen.
It will have the title and version of the A.E.G. on the top border and three
menu titles on the menu bar, and a group of toolbar buttons underneath.
You choose options from the three menus on the menu bar in order to display
the various information contained in the A.E.G. The three menus are EXIT,
EPISODES and HELP. Each of these will contain at least one option underneath
(but probably more than one).
Note: The buttons on the toolbar perform the same actions as the items on the
EXIT and HELP menus. Also, if your mouse pointer hesitates over a toolbar
button for a second or so, a small "Floating Help Window" will appear giving
a brief description of what that toolbar button does.
Here's a rundown of each of the three menu titles and the options that may
appear beneath (I have paraphrased some menu options because they may be
different depending on the specific A.E.G. that you're running).
Note: These items may be accessed from the drop down menus on the menu bar
*OR* via the Context Sensitive Popup Menu which is activated by clicking
the right mouse button anywhere on the the OS/2 PM A.E.G.'s window.
MENU BAR MENUS:
------------------------------------------------------
Exit Episodes Help
------------------------------------------------------
| Exit F9 | | Season 1 >| | Useless Help F2|
+--------------+ | Season 2 >| | About Program F3|
| Season 3 >| | Shareware F4|
| Season 4 >| | Disclaimer F5|
| Season 5 >| | Other SBI Prgs F7|
+-----------+ +-------------------+
CONTEXT SENSITIVE POPUP MENU:
+---------------+
| Season 1 > |
| Season 2 > |
| Season 3 > |
| Season 4 > |
+---------------+
| Help > |
+---------------+
| Exit F9 |
+---------------+
You will notice a couple of things (that I can't recreate here because this
is a plain ASCII text file). First, each menu option has *ONE* character
UNDERLINED. This is the KEYBOARD SHORTCUT for that given menu option (See
the section that follows about Keyboard Shortcuts). Second, the MENU OPTIONS
on the EPISODES drop down menu & the Context Sensitive popup menu have little
arrows pointing to the RIGHT of some options (I used the > character to
represent them on the above diagrams).
These arrows mean that each option has ANOTHER sub-menu. You can cascade
these sub-menus by highlighting the menu option (it will automatically pop up
to the right of the drop down menu that you are currently using). You can then
move your mouse to the right in order to highlight the various options on that
sub-menu. Be sure to hold down the left mouse button until you are on the
sub-menu option that you want to choose! It takes a bit of dexterity on the
longer sub-menus. If that's too hard, read the section that follows on using
Keyboard Shortcuts.
MENU OPTIONS:
To choose things off any of the three drop down menus, you simply move your
mouse down until the option is highlighted (the option will be reversed, like
a button that has been pressed).
Here is a list of the "general" options that will appear on most of the
A.E.G. program drop down menus.
----------------
Exit
----------------
| Exit F9 | <--- This option quits & exits the A.E.G.
+--------------+ (Note: the F9 function key can be used to exit the
program at any time).
-------------
Episodes
-------------
| Season 1 >| <--- These menu options will pop up a sub-menu to the
| Season 2 >| <--- right of each option (notice the little arrow).
| Season 3 >| <--- On the pop up sub-menu will be a list of the various
| Season 4 >| <--- episodes of the TV show for that given season.
| Season 5 >|
+-----------+
----------------------
Help
----------------------
| Useless Help F2|<-- This will pop up a reminder on how to use the A.E.G.
| About Program F3|<-- Displays the title, version & programmer of the A.E.G.
| Shareware F4|<-- A shareware reminder.
| Disclaimer F5|<-- A disclaimer about the information in the A.E.G.
| Information F6|<-- Info specific to the featured TV show.
| Other SBI Prgs F7|<-- A list of other Snake-Byte programs.
+-------------------+
Note: the F1 - F7 function keys can used at almost any time to execute the
various menu options. See below for exceptions.
Also: F1 which isn't listed above summons the new "Online Help System" which
uses the OS/2 Help File engine. The Online Help file is similar to this
README.TXT in content. It is contained in the *.HLP file and must be in
the same directory as the A.E.G.
I included an *.INF version of the Online Help file which can be
viewed using the OS/2 command line program view.exe. I included this
file for the people who like to group all their "Help Books" in one
directory. The *.INF file doesn't need to be in the same directory
as the A.E.G.
KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS:
Each option on each menu (and the three menu titles on the menu bar, or the
options on the context sensitive popup menu) have *ONE* character UNDERLINED.
This represents the keyboard shortcut for THAT given menu option. Most people
prefer to use their mouse pointer to click on the option, but these keyboard
shortcuts perform the same actions as the mouse. The way to "activate" the
keyboard shortcut is to press the <ALT> key on your keyboard (it should be a
small key on either side of your <SPACE BAR>). When you press the <ALT> key,
you will notice that the first menu title on the menu bar is highlighted (it
looks like a button that's been pressed).
This means that the option that is highlighted is now activated and can
be chosen by pressing your <ENTER> key. For example, if you hit <ALT> and
the EXIT menu title is highlighted on the menu bar, if you were to hit
<ENTER> the menu beneath the EXIT title will drop down. You can use your
cursor arrow keys to move the reversed/highlighted area back and forth on
the menu bar (or up and down within a drop down menu).
To pick the second episode of the first season of a show in an A.E.G., use
these keystrokes (in order & don't hold any key down during the process):
<ALT> E 1 2
ACCELERATOR KEYS:
You will also notice that certain items on some of the menus may have an
"F Key" on the far right of a given menu option (F2 on the Help option or
F9 on the Exit option). These are "accelerator" keys that can be used as
an alternative to the above methods of executing menu options.
Note: they can be used at almost anytime while the program is running. The
only exceptions are when a message dialog box (the Weasely Disclaimer, for
example) or the Online Help is activated.
Hot Keys help for most Snake-Byte A.E.G. Programs:
<F1> Summons the New Online Help file
<F2> Totally Useless Help Message Box
<F3> Weasely Disclaimer
<F4> More Info On This Program
<F5> About the program and the programmer
<F6> Obnoxious Shareware Notice
<F7> Other Snake-Byte Programs
<F9> Quit and Exit the Program
┌───────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ The Harsh Reality of Trickle Down Economics │
└───────────────────────────────────────────────┘
This program took a lot of hard work to produce. I have completely
re-designed the OS/2 Presentation Manager Automated Episode Guide engine,
adding ONLINE HELP, a Toolbar, Floating Help Windows and a Context Sensitve
Popup Menu. This involved several weeks of honing the OS/2 PM code and a
couple of weeks of entering the data and debugging/proof reading the output).
This all resulted in THOUSANDS of lines of C/C++ code!)
And, unfortunately, nothing in life is free. But this nifty little
program almost is! That's right -- you can clear your conscience and
assure that there'll be future updates to this program (as well as
other neato-frito programs from Snake-Byte Inc.) for the ridiculously
reasonable, almost-FREE sum of $5.00. How can we afford to let this
rare jewel of a program go for the piddly little amount of $5.00?!?!
Because, here at Snake-Byte Inc., we deal in VOLUME! VOLUME!! VOLUME!!!
We'll eat a bug to make a sale! Come on down to our Midnight Madness
sale and...Wait a minute. Wrong sales pitch. Sorry. Anyway, you get the
picture. <Insert normal shareware begging/pleading/demanding here>.
What do you get for your $5.00? That warm-tummy feeling of satisfaction
knowing you did the RIGHT thing. This program is in no way "Crippled". I
detest "CrippleWare" and decided early on that I wouldn't do that kind
of thing. So, there's no "registered version". What you have now is the
fully-functional program. It contains one little shareware notice option
on the Help menu (that you don't even have to look at if you don't want
to) and it shows that "nag" screen ONLY when you exit the program, so
it doesn't inconvenience you before or during the program's execution.
(And if that gets your shorts in a bunch, send me a 3.5 disk plus return
postage and the registration fee and I'll compile you a special version
sans nags!).
Here's where to send the cash/check/money order:
Will Morgan
2516 Wood St.
Texarkana, Tx 75503
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ A Note To Fans Of This TV Show Outside The U.S.A. │
│ Who Want To Register This A.E.G. │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Because this TV Show is also popular overseas, a perplexing question
came up recently from a person in the United Kingdom: How do I get the
proper currency to register the A.E.G.? Well, John McCoy came up with a
solution to this problem. His email message follows:
Date: Sat, 10 Feb 1996 21:31:21
Subject: Re: Yeah, I finally did it....
From: "John A. McCoy" <jamccoy@maurabrid.win-uk.net>
All I did was take my VISA card to a Bureau d'Echanges (currency exchange)
and say:
"I would like to buy <amount> US, American Dollars, please." It took a while
for the clerk to follow my intent, but I eventually got <currency amount> in
odd-looking money. I slipped both into an airmail envelope and added stamps,
and an address. Hopefully the correct address.
You don't need a card to buy currency, any Bx will take any currency and sell
you any other, and that day's rate for swapping is marked prominently.
The rate you buy dollars with sterling pounds is LESS than the rate you buy
pounds with dollars. And they charge a commision, but these rules and extras
are also made prominent. Have to be, by law.
John A. McCoy
email: jamccoy@maurabrid.win-uk.net
┌───────────────────────────────────────┐
│ The History of This OS/2 PM Program │
└───────────────────────────────────────┘
Version 0.999 - Beta version. Honed the mechanics of the program.
Version 1.0 - First release version of this 32 bit OS/2 PM program.
This version features redesigned episode info dialogs
that are easier to read!
This is also the first OS/2 PM A.E.G. to include the
new Context Sensitive Popup Menu, the Toolbar, the
Floating Help Window and Online Help features!
┌─────────────────────────┐
│ Known Bugs & Problems │
└─────────────────────────┘
One small one: The Floating Help Windows use mouse coordinates to calculate
when they should pop up to describe a Toolbar button. If you drop down a menu
from the menu bar and don't release the left mouse button while scrolling down
through the menu options, when you are at the same mouse coordinates as one
of the toolbar buttons, one of the floating help windows will appear onscreen
OVER the drop down menu.
Note: This doesn't affect the operation of the program in any way. It's just
a picky little annoyance.
Work-arounds: If this little bug annoys you, (a) Use the Keyboard Shortcut
to drop down the menu and the cursor keys to scroll down the menu options or
(b) click the left mouse button to activate the drop down menu, then release
the left mouse button. The menu will still be open and active. You can now
move your mouse pointer to whichever option you want without the floating
help windows appearing.
┌──────────────────────────────┐
│ Swatting Any Pesky Insects │
└──────────────────────────────┘
If you encounter any problems with this program (either bugs in the actual
mechanics of the program, or misspellings and/or incorrect info in the various
episode data fields) please drop me a line at one of e-mail addresses in the
last section of this document. I will try and implement the fix in the next
version of the program that I release.
┌────────────────────────────┐
│ Big Plans For The Future │
└────────────────────────────┘
What?!?! The new Toolbar, Context Sensitive Popup Menu, Floating Help Windows,
and Online Help System features weren't enough for you?! Whoah, tough crowd.
Seriously, I'm always tinkering with my programs, and here are a few things
that may (or may not?) appear in future versions:
I will update this program if/when new episdes/seasons are completed. If
the show no longer exists on television, the only updating I can do is to
correct any misspellings and other errata. If you spot something that is
wrong, email me and I'll include the correction in the next version.
I'll probably add some printing routines so you can print out a brief
episode list, eps by season, a particular episode by itself or a full
blown, everthing-included EpGuide.
I want to add some global search routines.
I'd really like to add some multi-media stuff to the program, like
sound clips or maybe some pictures. But due to the legal ramifications,
this dream may never come true. Slimy show-bid'ness lawyers just love to
prey on the little guys who use the images and sound clips of their
copyrighted and trademarked clients.
Other A.E.G.'s? Yes, TV Buffs and Couch Potatoes! I plan on releasing a
series of A.E.G.'s for various TV shows based on this A.E.G. "engine".
Here are the shows that currently have A.E.G.'s available in 32 bit DOS,
32 bit OS/2 Text *AND* PM versions as well as 16 & 32 bit Windows versions.
(check at ftp.cleaf.com /pub/mst3k/snake-byte):
TV Show Name DOS Filename OS/2 Text OS/2 PM Win Filename
========================================================================
Mystery Science MSTDOS##.ZIP MSTOS2##.ZIP MST_PM##.ZIP MSTWIN##.ZIP
Theater 3000 Win32/Win95-->MSTW95##.ZIP
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The X-Files XFLDOS##.ZIP XFLOS2##.ZIP XFL_PM##.ZIP XFLWIN##.ZIP
Win32/Win95-->XFLW95##.ZIP
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quantum Leap QLPDOS##.ZIP QLPOS2##.ZIP QLP_PM##.ZIP QLPWIN##.ZIP
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Star Trek: TNGDOS##.ZIP TNGOS2##.ZIP TNG_PM##.ZIP TNGWIN##.ZIP
Next Generation
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Star Trek: TOSDOS##.ZIP TOSOS2##.ZIP TOS_PM##.ZIP TOSWIN##.ZIP
Original Series
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Deep Space 9 DS9DOS##.ZIP DS9OS2##.ZIP DS9_PM##.ZIP DS9WIN##.ZIP
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Simpsons SMPDOS##.ZIP SMPOS2##.ZIP SMP_PM##.ZIP SMPWIN##.ZIP
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Babylon 5 BA5DOS##.ZIP BA5OS2##.ZIP BA5_PM##.ZIP BA5WIN##.ZIP
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Beavis and BVS_PM##.ZIP BVSWIN##.ZIP BVS_PM##.ZIP BVSWIN##.ZIP
Butt-Head Win32/Win95-->BVSW95##.ZIP
========================================================================
Coming soon: 32 bit Win32s/Win95/WinNT versions of each of these programs!
*ALL* versions are available on the FTP site at ftp.cleaf.com,
which is where I release all Snake-Byte programs. The path is
/pub/mst3k/snake-byte (for the MST3K programs)
/pub/mst3k/snake-byte/NON-MST3K (for all others)
You can also point your World Wide Web browser to the following URL:
http://www.cleaf.com/~wmorgan/snake.html
If you're interested in seeing an A.E.G. for your favorite show, contact me
via one of the methods described below. Production of other A.E.G.'s depend
on the availability of information about the show (via Internet) and whether
or not the show's info translates well to a single screen in the A.E.G.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Other Programs Available From Snake-Byte Incorporated │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
32 bit DOS, 32 bit OS/2 text mode, 32 bit OS/2 Presentation Manager &
16 bit Windows/Win95 versions of the DALLAS COWBOY FANATIC's Companion.
They're available from ftp.cleaf.com /pub/mst3k/snake-byte/NON-MST3K/Cowboys
the filenames CBYDOS##.ZIP (DOS) or CBYOS2##.ZIP (OS/2 text), CBYWIN##.ZIP
(Windows/Win95) or CBY_PM##.ZIP (OS/2 P.M.).
┌────────────────────────┐
│ Gratitude Department │
└────────────────────────┘
Extra special thanks to Frank Miller, my C programming guru. If it weren't
for Frank, I probably would've given up on C programming within the first
few days. He has helped me solve many of my seemingly endless beginner's
problems.
Special thanks to Peter Fitzsimmons & all the OS/2 programming gurus on
the Fidonet OS/2 Programming echo which is a gold mine of info for OS/2
programming beginners, like me.
Another special thank you goes to all the OS/2 programming gurus who are
responsible for the Electronic Developer's Magazine, an OS/2 .INF file full
of great information on just about anything you can think of. If you're a
beginner or intermediate who wants to learn some nifty things about OS/2
programming, RUN, don't walk to the Hobbes OS/2 FTP site or CD Rom and
check out these fantastic help files!
One more time...Thanks to Dan Pawlak who maintains the Beavis & Butt-Head
Episode Guide and has a great B&B web site with the EpGuide maintained online:
http://www.mcs.net/~batcave/public_html/bnbguide.html
┌────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ Contacting the Author of This Program │
└────────────────────────────────────────┘
Want to thank me for such a fantastic program? Bitch me out for wasting
your download time & hard drive space? Suggest future additions to this
program, corrections on the data/info or ideas for future programs?
Lonely and just need a cyber-shoulder to cry on? Well, for all these
reasons except that last one there, you can contact me by one of the
following methods:
Fidonet Netmail: 1:3819/128.103
Fidonet Echos I Hang Out On: MST3K, NFL & OS/2
Internet email: wmorgan@clover.cleaf.com
will.morgan@p103.f128.n3819.z1.fidonet.org
US Snail Mail: (See Address in the Shareware Nag)