Night Owl 6

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Night Owl 6 / Night Owl's Shareware - PDSI-006 - Night Owl Corp (1990).iso / 008a / al21.zip / AL.DOC next >

Wrap

Text File | 1991-12-02 | 20KB | 508 lines

AL 2.1 Resident Periodic Alarm with optional clock by Bob Eyer CIS: [73230,2620] Dec 2, 1991 SEE SHAREWARE NOTICE BELOW ************************** Syntax ------ AL [/U] [Minutes Fminutes Cxxx Lyy BEEPS NOBEEPS TIME] If no parameter is given on the AL command line, AL will not install in memory, but will only display a help screen. At least one parameter is necessary to make AL resident in memory. The purpose of this default is to allow the user to see the help screen before deciding how to install the program. AL does not prohibit loading multiple copies in memory; such copies will operate independently as given by the commandline for each. This makes it possible to have many alarm schemes and display colours running simultaneously. Each copy uses about 6K of memory. The /U switch is designed to de-install AL from memory, only where one copy is resident for each interrupt installed. If several copies with the same interrupt are resident, the use of the /U switch will return the message INTERRUPT NOT UNHOOKED - RELEASE EXTERNALLY Where this message occurs, either reboot or use memory management tools such as the MARK/RELEASE utilities found in Kim Kokkonen's TSRCOM32.ZIP. Clarification: AL installs by hooking Interrupt 8 if the BEEPS command line option is used; otherwise, it installs by hooking Interrupt 1C. See discussion below about the BEEPS option. This feature allows two copies of AL to be made resident, so that each may be successively de-installed by using the /U switch. It also minimises the chance of hangs caused by interrupt collision with other TSR's which use the timer tick (Int 8). See CAUTION below. Generally, however, AL is not a risky application for hooking the same interrupt which other programs also use. Parameters (double underlining below) ------------------------------------- So long as the parameters are separated by spaces, the order of entry on the command line is immaterial. Minutes ======= The number of minutes to wait before next beeping the computer's speaker and displaying the time. Number entered for Minutes must be a positive integer and less than 9001. Where the number is not in the range 1 =< Minutes =< 9000, AL automatically sets equal to whichever limit is closest. If Minutes not specified, AL assumes one minute. Example, AL 15 sets the delay between successive alarm beep/display to 15 minutes; but AL 0 sets the delay to 1 minute. Fminutes ======== F is a token and must be used with a number setting minutes to wait before the First beep and time display. The primary purpose of this is to enable the user to install AL immediately, without having to wait until the beginning of the next wait period. If First minutes not specified, AL assumes zero First minutes that is, the first wait period begins immediately). Example, AL 15 F2 Sets the main delay to 15 minutes, but causes AL to wait only 2 minutes before sounding the first alarm beep. Cxxx ==== C is a token and must be used with a number providing the colour scheme of the time display. If none is specified, AL assumes white on black. See discussion below about time display colour. Example, AL C75 sets time display colour to bright cyan on red, and defaults the alarm delay to 1 minute. Lyy === L is a token and must be used with a number specifying the screen line on which the alarm time display is to appear. AL always puts this display in the far right margin, to minimise overlaying other text on the screen. The L option, however, enables the user to select Line 1, or any other line on which he would like to see the alarm time. If the L option is not specified, AL assumes that the alarm time display will be on the same line as corresponds to the current cursor position. Example, AL L12 sets the position of the alarm display to line 12 of the screen, using defaults for other parameters. BEEPS ===== If 'BEEPS' appears on the command line, AL will provide three beeps rather than just one (the default), for environments which may be too noisy for the user to notice just one beep. This option, however, degrades the accuracy of delays between one alarm and the next to a small extent. When the BEEPS option is activated, AL hooks Int 8 directly, otherwise it hooks Int 1C. NOBEEPS ======= If 'NOBEEPS' appears on the command line, AL will not provide a beep when the alarm time is displayed. TIME ==== If 'TIME' appears on the command line, AL will keep a separate clock display in the upper right hand corner of the screen, independently of the periodic alarm function defined by the other parameters. The clock display is updated only once per second, not once every clock tick. Example, AL TIME BEEPS L2 C26 15 F2 activates a separate time display at the upper right hand corner of the screen, uses a colour-scheme of bright green on blue, beeps three times on alarm display, puts alarm display at Line 2 with alarm delay of 15 minutes, starting 2 minutes from now. CAUTION ------- Like all memory resident programs, AL is vulnerable to compatibility problems which may arise from its use with other TSR's. If you find you must reboot, try removing other memory resident programs from your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, or try changing the sequence in which they are loaded until you find the best combination. AL has been tested widely, but has shown no problem, except with Lotus 123 (which takes almost complete control over video) and multitasking applications which grab timer ticks to multiplex active tasks. Desqview will hang if AL is loaded prior to DV. If AL is used with DV, it should be loaded in a non-communications task AFTER DV is loaded. AL's video will bleed through to all tasks. Display Colour -------------- The command line C-number determines the colour scheme for time displays. The default is 7, which describes white foreground on a black background. 0 is impossible (black on black), and so CA converts that number to 7 automatically. Foreground and Background numbers may be read from the following table: Back Fore Bright Fore ---- ---- ----------- Black 0 0 8 Blue 16 1 9 Green 32 2 10 Cyan 48 3 11 Red 64 4 12 Magenta 80 5 13 Brown 96 6 14 White 112 7 15 The correct C-number is found merely by adding the Foreground number to the Background number desired. For example, Bright Green on Blue background is 10 + 16 = 26. Avoid setting the C-number above 127. Colour numbers above that limit will produce blinking displays. *** SHAREWARE NOTICE *** ================ Although AL may be freely distributed and used, it is shareware. Technically, this means that, if you use AL regularly, then you should register with the author. However, a small utility like AL is hardly worth registration by itself - for which reason most of the benefit of registration is found in the additional programs and utilities you will receive as a result. See below. Registration means addressing a money order in the amount of $20 US to Bob Eyer, and sending this with a note providing your return address, desired diskette format, and person to whom programs are to be registered, to - Bob Eyer 1100 Bloor Street West Suite 16 Toronto, Canada M6H 1M8 Orders sent with checks or types of money order not promptly clearable through Canadian banks will not be processed. Do not send personal checks. Unprocessed orders will be promptly returned to the sender. Allow 1-2 weeks for delivery. If there is a problem, please leave a message at Compuserve Easyplex, userid [73230,2620]. In return for registering, you will receive a diskette full of the most recent updates of all proprietary utilities written by Bob Eyer, described below. On the note you submit with your money order, you must indicate whether you wish to receive these utilities on 360K 5.25" diskette or on 720k 3.5" diskette. Certain copies of utilities which you will receive will be personally registered. These copies may not be posted on bulletin boards or otherwise distributed without permission of the author. Warranty and Disclaimer: ----------------------- The author, Bob Eyer, guarantees the physical integrity of the diskette covering the points above, and will replace free of charge, if it is received defective. However, in no case will the author be responsible for any damages due to loss of data or any other reason. In no event does the author's liability for any damages exceed the price paid for the buyer's order of this software, regardless of the form of the claim. The person using the software bears all risk as to the quality and performance of the software. - The Eyer Collection - DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAMS YOU WILL RECEIVE WITH YOUR ORDER ******************************************************** Programs shown with asterisk have never been publicly posted. Registration entitles you to receive these as well as the most recent versions of all the others. Certain programs, such as CA and MG, will be registered to you personally. If you wish registered programs to be registered to a certain individual other than yourself - say, for Christmas giving purposes - please indicate the name in question on your registration note. Personally registered copies of these programs MAY NOT be posted on bulletin boards or otherwise circulated without permission of the author. AL --- Best and most flexible TSR alarm program with clock option. 6K memory use. PAUZ ---- Replacement for DOS PAUSE, allows specification of seconds to wait or target time, as well as what key to use for pause interruption. User triggering of error levels 1 to 9. Designed for batch files. Adds 'at or later than' interpretation to test for target time. CA -- TSR calculator with formatted displays and scientific notation. Smallest and most efficient in its class. 12k memory use. MG * -- Moving average graphing program. Especially designed for obtaining graphic updates on stock-market activity in practical trading environments, in which it is essential that the user get a quick graph immediately, with points of the graph directly associated with the numerical and other text information which these points represent (a feat impractical in Lotus graphics). Automatically calculates two moving averages and graphs them in the same space in which the data points are graphed. The user selects the period for each moving average. Inserts the graph within column-oriented number text. MG also features the capability to display many graphs in one run, using its powerful wildcard handling features, and summarises the results of all graphs in the last line of the display. Especially useful for users of VGA or Multisync monitors (43/50 line, or 132 column modes - see SETV program below). Since MG's output is redirectable, MG can serve as the basis for a BBS stock-market graphing door. No other stock price graphing program has these capabilities. SETV ---- Sets seven VGA text video modes. Enables Multisync or VGA user to make use of seven major video text modes at DOS level, including 132 column modes. Adds 43 and 50-line 80 column modes. Selected as the best video setter by the editors of Bantam Books' DOS Power Tools: Revised for DOS 5.0. SPC SPCC * ---- Multidrive columnar drive report. Single snapshot (you see everything about your machine in less than one page of screen display). SPCC measures coprocessor speed on the same scale as the CPU test used in SPC. PST --- Adds pause function to DOS's PRINT multiplexer. May soon be added to SPC in a new release, so if this one is not on your diskette, its function will be in your copy of SPC. ENV * --- Provides a readout for use of Environment space, applicable to all DOS versions (to replace ENVFREE.COM which does not work with advanced versions). Again, this function may shortly be integrated into SPC, so if it's not on your diskette, its function will be in your copy of SPC. CHG --- Attribute file/directory/date/time file changer/reader. System and user date/time file control. This one written to be smaller than and superior to the competition in every respect. MV -- Fast file mover. Move all files to WORK with 'MV . WORK' and transfer them back with 'MV WORK' just like DOS COPY. New: Preserves date/time/attribute stamp for all moves. Allows moving Read Only and Hidden files, source files opened in SHAREd mode for network users. This one recognised by Nelson Ford, of the Public (software) Library, as being a 'near perfect' file mover. More recent versions are still more perfect. DIV --- Returns blocks containing one or more of up to 64 different strings from large ASCII files. Useful in extracting messages or extended file descriptions containing a range of strings without manual cut and paste. Permits simultaneous formation of a remainder file. Supports wildcards. REV --- Reverses order of blocks of text (messages, file descriptions) in ASCII files. SPLT * ---- ASCII file splitter which, for the first time, offers the ability to prevent the split from resulting in split messages or other defined text blocks. COMB ---- Sorts and combines wildcard text files in specified order into first file found in that order. Primarily for simplifying the tedious job of accumulating message files. Ramdisk support. ADD --- Adds very lengthy columns of numbers found in ASCII text, such as byte counts in BBS listings. Can directly operate on BBS lists having more than 8,192 lines, thus directly addressing an arithmetic problem which spreadsheet programs such as Lotus 1-2-3 cannot solve. CITM ---- Counts similar items in formatted ASCII lists, where the similarity is based on a fixed string field found at one position in each line of text, and all lines have been previously sorted, based on the contents of that string field. Perfect as a companion utility for Baker's QSORT. LCNT ---- Counts lines of ASCII text. Handles wildcards. Presents formatted list of results. Can count files having more than 32,767 lines. So far, the fastest and smallest line counter. ESRT ---- Element sorter for ASCII line - rather than column - oriented lists. TYME ---- Program execution timer. CBRO ---- Compuserve Browse converter. Handles both old and new formats. DTR --- Toggles modem DTR line. RTS --- Toggles the RTS line without affecting the DTR line - useful primarily for correcting RTS line faults found in some BBS game programs. FVER ---- Compares a file list, like a BBS listing, to the actual files found anywhere in the BBS's download path. Operates in FAST or SLOW mode, depending on your safety requirements. MVA --- Moves files, even if set to read only status, from anywhere in a specified download path to a given location. Operates directly on ASCII lists, like directories or BBS listings. OTL * --- Generalisation of MVA - makes it possible to apply any set of operations, say, as specified in a batch file, to every file in an ASCII list, without having to specify the path information for each file. Another utility for Sysops. CURSOFF CURSON ------ Turns cursor on and off. EL * -- Converts a commandline number into an error level. CALL * ---- For users of DOS 3.0-3.2 who would like batch file control like that offered in the more advanced DOS versions. The Call statement allows a batch file to call other batch files, returning control to the calling batch file. SS * -- Secure shell, protects your system from keyboard redefinition resulting from ANSI codes read in remote message areas. Maintains default DOS colour scheme, but requires use of NANSI.SYS. ELIM ---- Replacement for DEL. Count of deletions as well as directory removal option. 'ELIM TEST D' deletes all files in TEST, then removes TEST. Full wildcard support. Eliminates 'are you sure' prompt. Allows deletion of files using illegal filenames. RNF --- Minimises keystrokes and keystroke error on renaming files with date or time info or special flags. If today is 11-03-91, why bother typing 'REN a.txt a1103.txt'? Just say: 'RNF a.txt /d'. Wildcard support, formatted display. WD -- Gives wildcard support to any program. DOS wildcard shortcuts; assumes wildcard present in first parameter after target program name where no wildcard detected. Recognises Microsoft compile option suppressor. Environment controls command and prompt action. SWP --- Fast sweep program, significantly faster than PC Mag's SWEEP.COM, but only handles the current level of the directory tree. Especially designed for programming environments in which the compile areas are always subdirectories of the pathed executable area. No unnecessary screen material. TSTF ---- Floppy disk status tester. Returns error level if device not ready, or if disk not formatted. ---------------------------- End of documentation