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Night Owl 6
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Night Owl's Shareware - PDSI-006 - Night Owl Corp (1990).iso
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008a
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asker1.zip
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OTHRSTUF.DOC
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1992-01-26
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The Asker OTHRSTUF.DOC file contains stuff that wouldn't fit in the README.
Standard Universal Disclaimer.
This program is guaranteed to work in some way different from
the way you expect it to work. The manufacturer takes absolutely no
responsibility for its results in your life.
If you find yourself spending more than an hour a day communicating
with Asker, you may find that you also enjoy communicating with humans.
You are in charge.
Bulletin Boards.
Please feel free to upload the ZIP file of this program to any bulletin
board. The bulletin board will want to know how to list it. How about
'ASKER1.ZIP |A mindless question asker. fr Enigmatics'
or
'ASKER1.ZIP |Asks questions. fr Enigmatics'
These descriptions don't commit Asker to anything it can't deliver.
Files in this release.
README.DOC You may already have read it. It describes Asker.
OTHRSTUF.DOC This file.
INSTALL.BAT A batch file which can install Asker on your hard drive.
Type 'INSTALL' and it will tell you how. Or see below.
ASKER1.EXE The thing.
HI.BAT This just executes the command 'ASKER1.EXE'. So that
you can stick an Asker floppy disk in the A: or B: drive,
type 'HI', and Asker will respond to you immediately.
HI_C.BAT When you INSTALL this gets copied - with a name change -
to a file named C:\HI.BAT. Then you can type 'HI' at
any time and the Asker on your hard drive will respond.
C:\HI.BAT executes the command 'C:\ASKER1\ASKER1.EXE',
which runs Asker from a directory on your hard drive.
HI.BAT can can reside permanently anywhere on the path.
If you decide to put Asker on your D: drive or in a
subdirectory you will need to edit C:\HI.BAT so that it
points to that directory path. This is explained below,
in the 'Installation' section.
ASKER1.ZIP This is the file to upload to a bulletin board or to send
electronically. It contains all of the above files stored
in a compressed form. It may be decompressed by any
recent version of the PKZIP/PKUNZIP program. When sharing
Asker with another, do make sure that this file goes along
with the others.
Rules that are observed in Asker.
- The program must always ask questions. This rule is breached now
and then - the program occasionally gives non-committal responses.
- The program does not advise the user or tell the user what to do.
- The program never suggests action. Who knows what mind may be using
it? To justify what action?
- The program says 'yes' or 'no' only when this word is followed
by a question mark.
- The program is not a person. Has no character. No identity. No 'I'.
- The program does not let the user call the computer a person.
(Actually, it just whines a bit when it sees the word 'You'.)
- The user provides the context. The program can only inquire.
- Questions requesting yes-or-no answers are avoided here but are
potentially useful. (Potentially complicated, too.)
- The program RESPONDS to user INPUT. (These terms denote the data
flow out and the data flow in).
- The best questions appear to presume the least about the user's input.
Commands.
There are actually some commands in Asker.
Exiting.
To exit Asker type 'BYE'. Or 'END'. Or 'QUIT'. Or 'BEDTIME'.
Or 'GOOD BYE'. Or 'GOOD NIGHT'.
Timing.
Asker uses a timer to simulate a natural response rate.
When the program runs on an old pre-XT PC at 4.77 Mhz, it may take a
second or two to compute the response. On these machines the timer
will not add a noticeable delay. When the program runs on an XT, a 286,
or a 386 level machine the timer adds a delay of about a half second.
To turn off the delay completely, type 'TIMING OFF'. To turn it back on,
type 'TIMING ON'. To make it go faster, type 'FASTER'. To make it go
slower, type 'SLOWER'. You can cool Asker down - and let it cool you down.
Printer.
Asker asks you at the start of a session whether you would like to print
the results. If you said 'N' at the start, but suddenly the session
has gotten interesting, first do a screen dump to your printer. (Use
the PRINT SCREEN key for this.) Then type 'PRINT ON'. Your further
communications with Asker will be printed (if your printer is on.)
To turn the printer off type 'PRINT OFF'.
Menu.
To see a menu of the hidden commands, type 'COMMANDS'. Or type 'SC'.
Installation.
To install Asker on your hard drive from a floppy -
___ Put the Asker disk into your A: or B: drive. Type 'A:'. Or 'B:'.
Choose one of:
___ Type 'INSTALL A: C:' to install Asker in its own directory on the
C: drive. (It makes an ASKER1 directory.)
or
___ Type 'INSTALL B: C:' to install Asker from the B: drive to the
C: drive.
or
___ Type 'INSTALL A: D:' to install Asker from the A: to the D: drive.
(You get the idea....)
or
Type 'INSTALL A: C:\AE' to install the Asker directory as a sub-
___ directory in (existing) directory C:\AE.
If you install to somewhere other than C: you will need to
edit C:\HI.BAT to execute ASKER1.EXE using the full path name,
for example, 'D:\AUTOMATA\AE\ASKER1\ASKER1.EXE'.
To install Asker on your hard drive from a download directory
on your hard drive -
If you can read this file, you have decompressed ASKER1.ZIP and
are probably in the right directory. You need to be in the directory
which contains INSTALL.BAT. It should contain both ASKER1.ZIP and
all the files it produces when it is decompressed. (Keep the package
together - it is easier to share that way. A single COPY command
such as 'COPY *.* A:' can then create a copy for a friend.)
Suppose you are in C:\DOWNLOADS\TEST. You want to install the
ASKER1 subdirectory in directory C:\AE.
Type 'INSTALL C:\DOWNLOADS.TEST C:\AE' to do this.
Then edit C:\HI.BAT to say 'C:\AE\ASKER1\ASKER1.exe'
INSTALL sets you up so that you can turn your computer on, type 'HI',
and Asker responds.
A responsive computer is often nice to come home to.
Shareware.
There are lots of kinds of shareware. Some shareware producers
maintain a registry and issue updates. While Asker may go into
additional versions, I hope not to go into the disk-selling business.
Asker is bread on the waters. I want to program.
If you have enjoyed using Asker and you would like to see more of
its kind, any small gift will be welcome.
Your thoughts and ideas are also welcome.
Thank you,
Dan Stevens
Enigmatics
5401 South Hyde Park Blvd #1206
Chicago, IL 60615
January 17, 1991