Night Owl 6/Night Owl's Shareware - PDSI-006 - Night Owl Corp (1990).iso/001a/tagit11.zip/TAGIT.DOC

Text File | 1991-09-23 | 23KB | 421 lines

                          Tag-It Version 1.1


     General Information:

         Tag-It  is a  Terminate Stay Resident (TSR) program that can be
     used to  "pop-up" over  any TEXT application and copy from one to a
     maximum of  12 characters  at  a  time  and  paste  these  captured
     characters back into the keyboard buffer.  Its designed purpose was
     to capture  file names from Bulletin Board Systems and automate the
     transfer process  by entering  the files  to be up or downloaded by
     pasting the  names into  the keyboard buffer.  However, the cut and
     paste functionality  lends itself to a broad range of uses.  If you
     think of  a new  way to  use Tag-It, please let us know and we will
     include your ideas in future upgrades.


     Distribution:

     Tag-It is  being distributed  as ShareWare.   Due to the burgeoning
     BBS community,  I will  not burden  you with  the minutiae of legal
     descriptions.

     For those  who may  not know  what ShareWare  is: It  is  simply  a
     different method of marketing software.  You are free to distribute
     Tag-It to anyone you wish.  The requirements are simple:

            1)  If after  trying Tag-It for a "short" period of time you
     find that  it is  useful and  you will continue to use it, then you
     must pay for it.

     This software  is copyrighted  and enjoys  all  the  protection  of
     software you  purchase "off  the shelf".  ShareWare authors  simply
     allow you to try our software before you buy it.

          2) You must not alter Tag-It in ANY MANNER.  It is distributed
     only in .ZIP format and consists of 3 and only 3 files.
          TAGIT.COM - The executable file
          TAGIT.DOC - The documentation (this file)
          REGISTER.FRM - Registration form

         While  it is  not required  that you  distribute Tag-It in .ZIP
     format, you are required to distribute all three files.

         For  those companies  that  distribute  and/or  sell  diskettes
     containing ShareWare programs:
        You are welcome to distribute Tag-It by itself or in conjunction
     with other  programs. You  are not permitted to accepted monies for
     registration of  this product,  but  may  charge  whatever  fee  is
     customary for  your  service as long as it in no way purports to be
     for registration of this program.

       If   you  find   Tag-It  useful,   if  you   find  a  problem  or
     incompatibility, if  you have  suggestions on  how to  improve  the
     program, I  would like to hear from you.  A small postcard or short
     note or  letter expressing  your  opinions,  suggestions  and  even
     criticisms are  appreciated.  Of  course  a  paid  registration  is
     appreciated the  most, but  even if you do not feel it is worth the
     registration fee, I am still interested in your comments.

         What  do you  get for  your registration?  Other than perhaps a
     "warm fuzzy" feeling for supporting the ShareWare concept, nothing.
     Tag-It is  not crippled  or inhibited  in ANY WAY.  The program you
     are using  is the  only one distributed.  I find it foolish to send
     out a  different  program  with  a  few  more  features  or  a  few
     annoyances removed  when the  cost involved  is so small.  I do not
     think it  would add  to the  number of  registrations, yet  it most
     definitely cuts  into the  small profit  generated by  the program.
     Once you  register any of my ShareWare programs, you are registered
     for LIFE.   That simply means that you can use any and all upgrades
     of the  registered program without paying any additional fees.  The
     burden on locating the upgrades however, is on you.

         At  the end  of the  documentation I  will list  the names  and
     telephone numbers  of some  BBS systems  that will  always have the
     most current  version of Tag-It and most of my ShareWare and Public
     Domain programs.


     Program Operation:

     To load Tag-It, simply enter the executable name at the DOS prompt.
     Example: TAGIT <enter>

         The  copyright notice  will appear and the program displays the
     hotkeys that activate the program, which is currently ALT-SPACEBAR.
     If I  receive enough  requests, I can make Tag-It self modifying so
     you can change the hot-key as well as the colors.

         To  remove Tag-It from memory, simply type: TAGIT /u (case does
     not matter)  at the  DOS prompt.  If  the  program  can  be  safely
     removed, it  will print  a message telling you that the removal was
     successful. If  there is another program loaded above Tag-It and it
     can not be removed, it will tell you this as well; however, it more
     than likely  will de-activate itself. I do this to keep from making
     a "hole"  in memory  which would  corrupt memory and cause a system
     lock. Once  you have removed any other programs "above" Tag-It, try
     and de-install Tag-It again and it will remove itself from memory.

         If you try to load the program more than once, it will tell you
     that it is already loaded and will not place a second copy in RAM.

         Tag-It  currently occupies approximately 18K of RAM on a system
     with a  color video card. If you are using Tag-It with a monochrome
     card, the RAM requirements will be exactly 4000 bytes greater.  The
     difference is  the amount  of memory that must be allocated to save
     the screen  of the  application Tag-It  will be  "popped-up"  over.
     Color cards  have 8  different video  pages, most  of which are not
     used. So when you activate Tag-It, I copy the current display to an
     inactive video  page and  restore it   when  you "pop-down".  Since
     normal mono systems do not have this ability, I must reserve memory
     in RAM to save your display.

        Tag-It will  automatically detect  the  type  of  video  adapter
     installed, and  fully supports  25, 43 and 50 line modes. While you
     can tag  a file from anywhere on the screen except the bottom line,
     which is used for Tag-It's status line, the file display is limited
     to only  the top 25 lines.  Since Tag-It is currently limited to 96
     separate items  in the buffer, I saw no need to take the extra code
     to display  them in  two columns in 43 or 50 line mode vs 4 columns
     in 25 line mode.

       Most of the keys (commands) that Tag-It understands are listed on
     the status  line when you activate (pop-up) the program.  Since one
     line in  standard text  mode is  limited to 80 characters, I had to
     either use 2 lines to display all the commands simultaneously or be
     selective on  what I  display.   Considering the  simplicity of the
     program, and  hopefully the  intuitiveness of its  design, you will
     find the prompts sufficient.

        There are  total of  three different  prompt lines  that can  be
     displayed using  a combination  of the following commands. When you
     first activate  Tag-It by pressing the hot key, the program that is
     currently active  is suspended and the first prompt line displayed.
     If you  press either  the "T"  or any  of the  movement keys listed
     below, the  Current screen  color will  change and  a highlight bar
     will appear.  Once at  least one  item has been tagged or placed in
     the buffer, or a file has been loaded into the buffer, you can view
     the current buffer by pressing either the "D" (for Download) or "V"
     (for View).

         Since Tag-It suspends the foreground process without disrupting
     the interrupts  or dropping  carrier, you  can use  it  to  prevent
     information from  scrolling off the screen before you have a chance
     to read  it. Many PC communications programs have a built in scroll
     back buffer,  which will  allow you  to read  information that  has
     scrolled off  the screen.  Tag-It is  not  meant  to  replace  this
     functionality, simply add to it.

         Movement Keys: Once you have activated Tag-It and pressed a key
     to display the highlight bar, you can move the highlight bar around
     the screen  using the following keys: The arrow keys, Page Up, Page
     Down, Tab, Shift-Tab, Home and End. All should be self-explanatory.


        To adjust the width of the highlight bar, hold down the CTRL key
     and press  the right  arrow to increase the size (max of 12 spaces)
     and the  left arrow  to decrease  it (min  of 1). While I strip off
     blank spaces  on the  front and  end of  all  tagged  items  before
     pasting them  into the  buffer, it is normally a good idea to "left
     justify" the  item you  want to  tag in  the highlight  bar  before
     pressing enter  and putting  it into the buffer.  This simply means
     align the first character of the file you want to tag with the left
     side of  the highlight  bar.  The primary reason for this is if you
     sort the  files, they  are sorted starting with the FIRST character
     in the  filename. An  empty space  will cause  the sort to turn out
     different from what you may expect or want.

     [T]ag Files-  when you  press "T",  I reverse the video or on color
     systems use  yellow on  black with a blue highlight bar.  To tag or
     copy the  highlighted characters  into the buffer, simply press the
     ENTER key.  To move the highlight bar around the screen you can use
     any of  the arrow  keys, Home, End, Page Up and Down, TAB and Shift
     TAB. To  change the  width of the highlight bar, hold down the CTRL
     key and  press the  left or  right arrow keys.  The bar will change
     from a  minimum of  one and to a maximum of 12 characters in width.
     When you  tag or  copy an  item into  the buffer,  I  automatically
     advance the  highlight bar to the next line. If you are on line 24,
     the highlight bar increments the width of the bar and moves to line
     one.

         Tag-It  is currently limited to a maximum of 96 tagged items in
     the   buffer at one time.  Why 96?  When using the maximum width of
     12      characters, 4 columns fits the best on an 80 column screen.
     Multiply that by 24 rows which is the most common usage, you end up
     with 96.  Another reason is to keep the RAM footprint small.  Since
     I store  all of  the tagged characters in memory for fast access, I
     have to  reserve space  for the maximum amount of characters that I
     allow. Currently  this buffer  takes  up  1152  bytes  of  the  18K
     footprint of  the program.   Increasing  the number  or size of the
     tagged items would directly increase the RAM used by Tag-It.

     [V]iew files- obviously works only if you have some tagged.

     [D]ownload- same  as above  when on  main screen,  takes you to the
     listing of  tagged files.  Pressing [D] while a file is highlighted
     will cause  those characters  to be stuffed in the keyboard buffer.
     You can also press the ENTER key while highlighting a file to paste
     it into  the buffer.   Once a file has been pasted into the buffer,
     the next  time you  activate Tag-It,  this same  screen will be the
     first one  displayed and  a check mark "√" will appear to the right
     of all  files that have been pasted into the buffer.  Additionally,
     the highlight bar will be incremented to the next item in the list.
     If you are using Tag-It to upload or download files, this minimizes
     the number of keypresses to accomplish the task.

     [C]lear- you  guessed it,  clears all tagged files from the buffer.
     This key  is only  active when  you are  in the  "Tag Screen"  (the
     number of  files tagged  is displayed in the lower left corner). No
     prompts or  warnings are  displayed. Once you press "C", the buffer
     is cleared.

     [F]ile R/W-  Read and  write disk files. When you press [F] you are
     prompted with  "[R]ead or  [W]rite to  a file:"   Press  R or  W to
     indicate your  choice or  Escape to  cancel.   If you press [W] and
     you haven't  tagged anything  yet, it  will just bleep at you...try
     again. If  you try to read a file that is not in the proper format,
     it will  bleep at  you and  not load  anything.  If you are viewing
     some       files  you just  tagged, and  then read  in another file
     without saving  these first,  Tag-It will  read in  the  new  file,
     totally overwriting  the existing  data.   The input  field for the
     file names  is VERY  simplistic and very limited. Keep in mind this
     is in  assembly, and since this routine has a VERY limited purpose,
     it is kept simple to keep it small.

     [S]ort- you  can press  sort at anytime and any items in the buffer
     will be  sorted in  ascending order.   This  is blindingly fast. To
     see for  yourself, tag  96 items (the current limit). Press [V]iew,
     and  then  [S]ort.  Before  you  can  blink,  the  sorted  list  is
     displayed. When  you use  the Sort  command  all  Check  Marks  and
     Asterisks are  cleared. I  did not  feel it was worth the amount of
     code necessary  to maintain  this information  after the sort. With
     this in mind, it is best to SORT the items BEFORE you begin pasting
     them into  the keyboard buffer, if you want to maintain the markers
     next to the tagged items (check marks and asterisks).

     [Space Bar]-  while viewing the buffer (tagged items), pressing the
     space bar  will toggle  the check  mark "√"  next to  any item. All
     files that  you paste  into the  keyboard buffer will automatically
     have this Check Mark placed next to them.  This is to help you keep
     track of  those files  which have  been downloaded.  The Space  Bar
     gives you the ability to toggle this mark.

     [Del]ete- while you are viewing the tagged items, you can press the
     delete key  and the  currently highlighted  item is deleted and the
     list re-displayed.   Again,  this  is  very  fast.  All  marks  are
     preserved during this operation.

     [X] Marks  the highlighted  item with  an asterisk  "*"  for  batch
     downloads. All  files so marked will be pasted one after the other,
     in batch mode, when  you press  CTRL-ENTER.  Several  BBS  programs
     allow batch  downloads, but  differ on  the method used. Some allow
     you to  type in  a long  list of  names separated  by a  space  and
     terminated with  a Carriage  Return (Enter).  Others require you to
     enter a  FileName -  Enter, FileName  - Enter,  etc.   Tag-It, will
     accommodate BOTH  methods. If BatchLine is enabled (see command [B]
     below), then  the FileNames  will be entered all on one line with a
     carriage return  at the  end of  the list.   If  BatchLine  is  NOT
     enabled, each  FileName is terminated with its own Carriage Return.
     Also make  note of  the "D" switch listed below. This switch is not
     mutually exclusive  with BatchLine  mode.   If both are toggled on,
     then both options are used.


     ENTER- Active  only when you are in the File Display mode. (Viewing
     the files  you have tagged.) If you have a file (or part of a file)
     highlighted and  press enter. Those characters that are highlighted
     will be  pasted into  the buffer. Refer to the [D] prompt below for
     additional information.

     CTRL-ENTER- Active  only when  you are  in the  File Display  mode.
     (Viewing the  files you  have tagged.)   Pressing  Ctrl-Enter  will
     paste all  files marked  with an asterisk into the keyboard buffer.
     The method  used will  depend on  whether or  not BatchLine mode is
     active (see below).

     NOTE: For  BBS systems  that do not support batch downloads, do NOT
     attempt to  use the batch method. The extra characters being pasted
     into the  keyboard can  cause  "unpredictable"  results.  Most  BBS
     systems that  do allow  batch downloads  require you  to have first
     selected a  transfer protocol that supports batch transfers. Please
     refer to  the documentation  for  the  specific  BBS  software  for
     further information.


     Toggle States:

     When you  start/load Tag-It,  you have the option to pass it any of
     the four  command line  switches that  it recognizes.   All four of
     these switches,  enable or  disable certain features.  All of these
     switches can  also be toggled while the program is active by an ALT
     key combination  listed below.   The  command line switches are NOT
     case sensitive,  can be  passed in any order and do not require any
     special separators.  The status  of the  switches is indicated by a
     small box  on the  right end  of the status line. If the particular
     option is  ON, the  corresponding letter  will appear in the box on
     this line. [DSTB]


     [D] Prompt:  (ALT-D) Most BBS software recognizes the letter "D" as
     the command  to download a file, and many allow you to pass the "D"
     followed by  the filename(s).   When the D-prompt is ON, EVERY file
     that is  pasted into  the keyboard  buffer will have the letter "D"
     and a space prepended to it. If you are in the File View screen and
     have a  file highlighted  and press ENTER. If there is a "D" in the
     status box  on the end of the bottom line, then Tag-It will pass "D
     FileName" to  the underlying application.  If you tag several files
     and press  CTRL-ENTER, Tag-It  will put  a "D  [space]" in front of
     each and every file.  If BatchLine mode is disabled, then each file
     will be  pasted to  the buffer  in the format "D FileName [CR]". If
     BatchLine mode  is Enabled  then Tag-It  would send  "D FileName1 D
     FileName2 D  FileName3...etc".   I have  not seen  a BBS that would
     accept this  last method,  so if  you are using BatchLine mode, you
     may want to be sure that the D prompt is DISABLED.


     [S]ound: (ALT-S)  When you  pop-up Tag-It it makes a short "chirp".
     If you  find this annoying, then either enter an "S" on the command
     line when  you start Tag-It, or you can toggle the sound off and on
     with the  ALT-S key  combination. When  sound is  OFF, an  "S"  for
     Silence will appear in the status box at the end of the line.


     [T]ag Mark:  (ALT-T) When  you are  tagging FileNames  to be placed
     into the  buffer, you  highlight the  characters you want and press
     the ENTER  key.   The highlight  bar increments  one  row  and  the
     counter in  the left  corner of  the bottom line also increments by
     one.   If you  want to have a small marker placed next to the items
     you have  placed in  the buffer,  either enter a "T" on the command
     line when  you load  Tag-It, or press ALT-T to toggle the marker on
     and off.  When Tag Mark is ON, the marker "" will be placed to the
     right of  the tagged file. Should the right bounds of the highlight
     bar be  on column 80, then the marker will be placed to the left of
     the file.  The only  drawback to  using the Tag Marker is of course
     until you  "pop-down" that  marker is  on  your  screen  and  could
     overwrite part  of a  filename or  other data.  Of course  when you
     "pop-down", the original screen is restored unchanged regardless of
     this status.


     [B]atchLine mode: (ALT-B) When BatchLine mode is enabled, all files
     Marked "*"  will be  entered one  after the  other,  with  a  space
     CHR$(32) between  them, when  the  CTRL-ENTER  key  combination  is
     pressed while  the tagged files are displayed. If BatchLine mode is
     disabled, each  file marked will be pasted into the keyboard buffer
     with a Carriage Return CHR$(13), between them.


     Warranty/Guarantee: While  Tag-It has  been  thoroughly  tested  on
     several different  BBS packages,  it  is  provided  "as-is".  Micro
     Business Consultants  is not responsible for any damages or loss of
     data (either  real or  perceived) that may arise as a result of the
     use or  misuse of  this software.  Your use of this program implies
     your agreement with these terms.


     Other Uses:

     1) Use  Tag-It to save the message numbers that you want to read as
     you are doing a Quick Scan on PC Board or similar systems.
     ----------------------------------------------------------------------

     Other Shareware/Public Domain programs by M.B.C.:

     Q-Boot:   Create/maintain and swap multiple configuration files
               (Config.Sys and Autoexec.Bat) in one master file and
               optionally  reboot your PC.  Chosen by Software Labs as
               "Best In Group" 1991.

     SayTime:  Tells the date and time over the PC speaker.

     SayIT!:   A public domain program that allows you to pick any words from
               the existing library and playback messages over your PC Speaker,
               in whatever order you wish.  Make sentences, phrases etc.

     AutoFile: Automatic unattended file transfer program.  This is a stand-
               alone Shareware program.  It does NOT interface with any
               other communicatons packages and is not meant for BBS use.

     QCopy:    A public domain replacement for DOS Xcopy or copy.  Provides
               overwrite protection if the filename exists in the target and
               the file being copied has an earlier date/time stamp.  Only 5K!

     Scrn2File: Dumps the current text video display to a user defined file
                with date/time stamp.
     -----------------------------------------------------------------------

     Support/Contacting the author: (Tim O'Pry)

     I can be reached through any of the following BBS:

     Atlanta, GA:

     Paradigm- [phone]
     IBM PC Users Group- [phone]
     Cam's Wilcat House- [phone]
     The Big Peach- [phone]

     Denver, CO:

     System Support- [phone]

     Compuserve ID: 76357,2152


     If you  have any  problems, comments or suggestions I would like to
     hear from you.  If you would like to register, please print out the
     registration form in the REGISTER.FRM file and mail it with a check
     for $10.00 to:

     Micro Business Consultants
     1298 Cedar Park Place
     Stone Mountain, GA  30083


     Thank you for taking the time to evaluate Tag-It and supporting the
     shareware concept.

     Tim O'Pry
     September 1991