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╔══════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║ ▄▄▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▄ TM ║ ║ █▄▄▄ █▄▀ █ █▄▄█ █▄▄█ █▄▄ █▄▄█ ║ ║ ▄▄▄█ █ ▀▄ █ █ █ █▄▄▄ █ ▀▄ ║ ║ ║ ║ Featuring the Combat File ║ ╚══════════════════════════════════════════════╝ (C) Copyright 1990 A.B.Martins All Rights Reserved A top level menu driver and command processor with unique and powerful features not available on any other product in its class. Two patents are pending. USER'S MANUAL Version IBMDOS 1.00 █▀▀█ Sigma █▄▄▄ Software ▄ █ Solutions ▀▀▀▀ ══════════════ Palo Alto, CA 94303 1990 TABLE OF CONTENTS SHAREWARE NOTICE SKIPPER SPECIFICATIONS & SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS SKIPPER REGISTRATION & REVISION POLICY SKIPPER FEATURES INSTALLATION The Software Package Configuration Options Skipper Installation Configure Skipper SKIPPER OPERATIONS User Interface Skipper Screens Service Commands Action Keys Hot Keys Commands & Services User Applications Menu Update Exit to & Return from DOS Disk Commands Directory Commands File Commands Kwiklook Search Target Menu Option Menu SKIPPER MENU Menu/Application Interface The Combat File The Structure of the Combat File The Structure of the Combat Module Choose the Right Module Application Setup Standard Applications Access Basic Interpreter Pass Parameters to Combat Modules Freeze Application Displays Database/Spreadsheet Applications Recycle Applications Specify Path Modules Setup Menu Create Combat Modules Convert Batch files into Combat Modules Set up Menu items TRADEMARKS SHAREWARE NOTICE The use of this shareware product is subject to the software license agreement set forth below. You should carefully read the terms and conditions of this license before using this product. SOFTWARE LICENSE AGREEMENT This software package may be freely copied and distributed on the condition that it is not modified in any way, nor distributed on any hard copy media and that no fee or consideration is charged except with the written permission of the copyright owner. This software product is provided 'as is' without any warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including but not limited to the limited warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, including the software license granted herein and the examples illustrated in the manual. Neither Sigma Software Solutions nor the copyright owner shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damage including but not limited to incidental, special, consequential or other damages. If you like SKIPPER and would like to use it, please send a license fee of $15.00 per single individual or household. For alternate licensing arrangements please see SKIPPER REGISTRATION & REVISION policy. This agreement will be governed under the laws of the State of California. If any part of this agreement is found void or unenforceable, it will not affect the validity of the rest of this agreement. All inquiries should be addressed to: Sigma Software Solutions 777-58 San Antonio Road Palo Alto, CA 94303 (415) 493-8804 (415) 493-6431 SKIPPER SPECIFICATIONS & SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ╒══════════════════════════════════════════════════╕ │ Nominal Memory 256k │ │ RAM resident portion 0-98k │ │ Maximum number of menu items 512 │ │ Maximum number of directories/display 256 │ │ Maximum number of files/display 256 │ │ Maximum number of directories/tree display 512 │ │ │ │ IBM PC/XT/AT or 100% compatible │ │ Two diskettes or one hard drive & one diskette │ │ MDA/CGA/EGA │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ SKIPPER REGISTRATION & REVISION POLICY Sigma Software Solutions publishes SKIPPER UPDATE, an occasional newsletter for distribution to registered users of SKIPPER. If the UPDATE reflects any changes in the SKIPPER program code either as a result of bug fixes or addition of new features, a free diskette will also be provided. Generally addition of new features that do not require significant changes in the manual, will be provided as Updates and not as a new version. The SKIPPER banner will display the version number with three decimal digits, the third digit reflecting the update number. The registration fee is $79.95 + sh. Registered users will re- ceive the then current UPDATE disk, printed manual and full technical support. Each registered copy will carry an unique registration number. Registration by third parties, citing your number will earn for you a commission of $10.00. Also, you can purchase the next version at a guaranteed price of $40.00. Corporations and similar entities may distribute the SHAREWARE copy of SKIPPER to their employees, subject to the licensing fee of $15.00 per employee, due from the employer. Additionally, they may print and distribute copies of this manual for the exclusive use of their employees. Any taxes due shall be paid by the employer. The currently registered version of SKIPPER may also be purchased in bulk at the following prices, exclusive of taxes & freight. Number of copies Price/copy 10 $60.00 100 $40.00 200 $35.00 the purchaser will receive all the benefits of individual regis- trants. The copies, however, will not carry a "commissionable" number; but one discount coupon will be included per copy that the end user may use to purchase a registered version of SKIPPER for his or her home computer at $35.00 + sh. Further, for Corporations ordering 100 or more copies technical support will be offered through the Corporation's own PC support group. Original equipment manufacturers, mail order houses and PC rental companies who would like to bundle any version of SKIPPER with other hardware or software packages, please contact Sigma Software Solutions. All purchases must be paid for in advance. California addresses please add sales tax. Please make your check payable to: Sigma Software Solutions SKIPPER FEATURES Version IBMDOS 1.00 ╒══════════════════════════════════════════════╕ │ │ │ Menu Driver: │ │ │ │ Fast access to hundreds of applications. │ │ Economical storage of batch programs. │ │ Automatic execution of Batch programs from │ │ Ram disks. │ │ Execution of memory hungry applications │ │ without squandering any memory on itself│ │ or on a second copy of Command.Com. │ │ │ │ Command Processor: │ │ │ │ Directory tree display from the entire disk │ │ or any directory from the Root. │ │ Integration of external software, like │ │ Editors, Word Processors for menu driven│ │ execution from file lists. │ │ Extended file processing beyond DOS with │ │ Kwiklook and Search. │ │ │ │ Kwiklook: a file text display utility, that │ │ locates strings within the file, sets print│ │ modes, send blocks of text to the printer│ │ or copies/appends it to another file. │ │ │ │ Search: a retrieval utility to search files │ │ from one or more directories or the entire│ │ disk, based on a number of parameters│ │ including strings within the file, and make│ │ the retrieved files available for process-│ │ ing by other file commands on the computer.│ │ More powerful that the UNIX command Find,│ │ yet Search is fast, flexible and friendly.│ │ │ │ Custom Options and User Aids: │ │ │ │ Logo Display (not available on shareware) │ │ Optional password protection. │ │ International date/time formats with week │ │ day/month character representation in any│ │ supported language. │ │ SKIPPER execution from Ram disks. │ │ User friendly, full featured sub-menus for │ │ setting options/target file specifications/│ │ print modes. │ │ On line display of Action Keys and Hot Keys │ │ to glide the user effortlessly through the│ │ SKIPPER operations. │ │ On line context sensitive HELP. │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────┘ SKIPPER FEATURES Version IBMDOS 1.002 The current registered version ╒══════════════════════════════════════════════╕ │ │ │ Menu Driver: │ │ │ │ Point & shoot execution of applications from │ │ Data Panel. │ │ PLIST - Automatically generate a list of │ │ programs on your hard disks. │ │ DIF modules. Data information modules display│ │ data files from any specified directory for│ │ execution by a specified program and match-│ │ ing programs from the PLIST. │ │ │ │ Enhancements to KWIKLOOK: │ │ │ │ PRVFILE: the counter point to NEXTFILE │ │ scrolls the file list backwards to look at │ │ files that had been viewed before. │ │ KEEP: marks a file currently being viewed for│ │ execution by the next file command executed│ │ after exiting KWIKLOOK. │ │ TARGET MENU: full featured target menu avail-│ │ able from within Kwiklook; copy to any │ │ disk or directory. │ │ PRN FILE: While using the COPY function, if │ │ the Target file is given the extension PRN,│ │ print modes may be embeded into the target │ │ file for later printing. │ │ │ │ Enhancements to SEARCH: │ │ │ │ Multiple Directories: Select multiple direc- │ │ tories directly from the directory list. │ │ Multiple Files: Specify upto 4 file specs. │ │ NOT Operator: Each file specification may be │ │ preceded by the NOT operator. │ │ NOT Operator also available with category │ │ searches by attributes, age, size, string. │ │ Save SEARCH list: Save list to disk and pass │ │ it to DIF modules at any time. │ │ │ │ Custom Options and User Aids: │ │ │ │ Full mouse support - Microsoft version 6.0 │ │ and compatibles. │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────┘ With SKIPPER on board, YOU are in total control INSTALLATION THE SOFTWARE PACKAGE The SKIPPER software package consists of the following files: 1. SKR.BAT SKIPPER's controlling batch file 2. SKIPPER.COM Main program file 3. SKIPPER.OVL File Manager program file 4. INITSKR.COM Sets up Fkey to recall SKIPPER from DOS and initializes DOS color for color monitors 5. INSTALL.BAT Automatically installs SKIPPER in designated drive 6. SETUP.COM Customizes SKIPPER operation 7. RECYCLE.COM Used in batch modules to recycle an applicat- ion repeatedly within the module 8. DOSERR.MSG DOS error message file 9. SKIPPER.HLP Help file for SKIPPER.COM 10. DOSSKR.HLP Help file for SKIPPER.OVL with installed printer controller 11. HELPDS.HLP Help file for SKIPPER.OVL 12. IBMPRO.SCR DEBUG script file for IBM proprinters II & XL 13. EPSON.SCR DEBUG script file for EPSON printers 14. HPLJET.SCR DEBUG script file for HP LaserJet 15. SAMPLE.MOD Sample COMBAT modules 16. MANUAL.DOC A copy of this manual 17. README.1ST Pre-installation intructions to view Manual 18. FORMS Forms for ordering SKIPPER, etc. SKIPPERM.MNU - the Menu file is created the first time you install a menu item. It is maintained on line. CONFIGURATION OPTIONS SKIPPER may be executed from a floppy disk, a hard disk or a RAM disk. You can also integrate external software into the SKIPPER system. You can also specify to SKIPPER, the basic interpreter to use when running BAS programs. SKIPPER has a built in printer controller. It is set up for IBM proprinters II and XL. Using the DEBUG utility, you may program it for your particular printer. SKIPPER supports DOS date and time formats, so please enter the country code in the config.sys file. You may also specify a three letter abbreviation for the day of week and the month in any language supported by DOS. Finally, SKIPPER offers optional password protection. You may choose not use it by leaving the password field blank. You should be aware however, that the password is displayed only when the cursor is in the password field. The SETUP program on your diskette, takes you step by step through its two page menu to help you configure your system. Execute SKIPPER from RAM disks You can run the full system or only the SKR.BAT file from a RAM disk. The full system includes the SKR.BAT file plus files 2 & 3 from the list described earlier. The first option requires about 48K of memory; the second option requires 2-10K of memory depending on your batch modules. If you have extended memory (i.e. you have AT with memory above 1 MB or have installed a product like INTEL's ABOVEBOARD), create a 48k RAM disk in extended memory. To run the entire system from this disk, execute the SETUP program and specify the disk letter under CMD DRIVE and PROGRAM PATH. If you have 640k of memory, try running the full system on a 48K RAM disk. If you encounter problems using some of your applications switch to the next option. To run only SKR.BAT from RAM disk, execute the SETUP program and specify the disk letter only for the CMD DRIVE. Start with 2k disk and increase the size if you get Disk full messages. SKIPPER relocates your COMBAT modules to the directory where SKR.BAT is executed from. So your minimum requirements are 512 bytes for SKR.BAT + the size of your largest COMBAT module (not the file). Integrate External Software You can integrate three external software products into SKIPPER. The first is an EDITOR. It must be free standing, i.e. able to function without access to any external data files or tables. SKIPPER looks for the Editor in the DOS directory. The default Editor is EDLIN, provided on your DOS diskette. Owners of 360k diskette systems should note that it may not be feasible to use editors much larger than 64k. Applications I & II are two additional external software products that you can integrate with SKIPPER. These products may reference other files or call other programs. They are installed in their own directories . The name of the Software product that you provide to SKIPPER is its nom de guerre i.e. the command with which you start a session and is the name of an executable file with the extension EXE or COM. You can install external software into SKIPPER through the SETUP program or through the DOS SET Command as shown below: SET EDITOR=EDIT SET APPONE=WORD C:\WORD SET APPTWO=DEBUG C:\DOS A space must separate the product name from its path. The path is not entered for the Editor, since it is always the DOS directory. The set command may be used interactively from the DOS prompt, or it may be executed from the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. When used interactively, it is effective for the duration of the current computer session. Any setting made through the AUTOEXEC.BAT file supersedes the setting in the SETUP program. Set up MODES for your Printer A series of nine printer control codes and escape sequences termed modes have already been set up for you in the three script files IBMPRO.SCR, EPSON.SCR and HPLJET.SCR. However, your printer may use somewhat different escape sequences or you may want to set up the modes differently. It is very easy to change or modify the script files. Each script file is setup as a mini assembler source code. It contains embedded commands for the program DEBUG.COM, comments (prefixed with ;) and data bytes (prefixed with DB). The first two lines and the last four lines in each script file are DEBUG commands. You will use the DEBUG program to assemble the desired script file into a machine language object code. The comments in the script file are there to help you understand the contents and organization of the file. The data byte fields are organized in two sections: 1. Header 2. Modes Header It identifies the printer and provides the menu interface for the modes that follow. It consists of: Printer ID: The field is 20 bytes and terminates with a 0. MODE Abbrv: Each abbreviation is three bytes and terminates with a space. There is space for only 9 modes. The ninth mode terminates with a zero. MODE Desc: Each description is 32 bytes long and correspond to each of the nine mode abbreviations. You may change or modify the text within ' ' in any of the fields of the header section, taking care not to change the size of any field. Modes: There are two sets of codes and escape sequences for each mode. The first set turns the mode on. The second set turns the mode off. The code string for each mode is 16 bytes long and is padded with hexadecimal FF. Following the last mode, is the reset code. It may be 32 bytes long and resets all modes to off. Note that the codes are entered entirely in hexadecimal format but without the identifying h suffix. Each hex digit is separated from its predecessor by a comma. There is no comma after the 16th digit of each mode. Familiarize yourself with your printer modes and you will find that changing the modes is just as easy as changing the text in the header section. Assembling the script file: Before you can use the script file, it must be assembled into machine language and the generated code appended to HELPDS.HLP to create the file DOSSKR.HLP. A COMBAT module SP that automates this process is included in the SAMPLE.MOD file. The module assumes that you have set up the file DEBUG.COM in a directory that has been identified to DOS through the PATH command. SKIPPER INSTALLATION Insert the SKIPPER system diskette in drive A and run the program INSTALL. Thus: Type A: and press <─┘ Type INSTALL C: and press <─┘ where C is your hard disk INSTALL will create a directory named SKIPPER in the root directory of your hard disk. It will copy SKR.BAT to the root directory and the rest of the files (except 5,7,15,16,17 & 18) on the SKIPPER diskette to the newly created directory. Remove the SKIPPER diskette and store it in a safe place. To install SKIPPER on diskette first prepare a bootable diskette. Assuming your boot drive is A, insert DOS program diskette in drive A, and a new diskette in drive B. Type FORMAT B: /S/V and press <─┘ DOS will format the diskette in drive B. Remove the DOS diskette from drive A. Insert the SKIPPER system diskette in drive A. Run the program INSTALL as above, but specify the B disk. If you have a CONFIG.SYS file on your system, copy it to disk B. Do the same for the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. From now on use the diskette in drive B for all your day to day work. Remove the diskette from drive B and insert it into drive A. From here on, we will refer to this diskette as the system diskette. CONFIGURE SKIPPER Use the SETUP program to tailor the SKIPPER's configuration. You should be logged to your disk with SKIPPER. Change to the directory SKIPPER and call SETUP. Type CD \SKIPPER and press <─┘ Type SETUP and press <─┘ Once you are in the SETUP program, you will see the SETUP menu on the screen. Make whatever changes you want to. There are two menu pages. The PgUp/PgDn indicator will tell you which page you are on. Bring SKIPPER on Line: If you have set up SKIPPER to run from its resident directory, it is already on line. Skip to the end of this section and start SKIPPER. If you have setup SKIPPER to execute from a RAM disk, copy the SKR.BAT to the RAM disk. The following example assumes your RAM disk is C and you have SKIPPER on your disk A. Type COPY A:\SKR.BAT C:\ and press <─┘ If you have elected to run the full system from RAM, copy two additional files to C:. Type CD \SKIPPER and press <─┘ Type COPY A:SKIPPER.COM C:\ and press <─┘ Type COPY A:SKIPPER.COM C:\ and press <─┘ Now switch to the drive from which SKIPPER is to execute, change to the root directory and start SKIPPER. Type SKR and press <─┘ SKIPPER's main screen will be displayed. You will also get the message 'Menu file missing'. You know, it is missing because you have not set up the menu as yet. So ignore the message and press F1 to activate the FILE MANAGER. Preparing the SKIPPER System disk If you had setup SKIPPER with a new EDITOR, the name of this EDITOR will appear under F6. You have to copy the Editor, to the DOS directory. If you are using a diskette system, you will also need to copy several DOS utilities to the DOS sub-directory. If you are using a hard disk system, and your DOS utilities are piled up in the root directory, move them out to a sub-directory. You also need a sub-directory to hold your COMBAT files. Create both sub-directories now. Owners of hard disk drives should note that the DOS directory need not be on the same disk as the SKIPPER system. Also in the following examples, use the MOVE command (instead of COPY), if Target and Source files are on the same disk. Press F2 Type D in the disk field, where D is SKIPPER drive. SKIPPER will display a list of directories on the left. It should show the root directory and the directory SKIPPER. The cursor will be positioned on the root directory. Press <─┘ SKIPPER will open the field FID for input. Enter DOS and press <─┘ The directory will be created and listed in the list of directories displayed on the left. You are still in the root directory. Repeat the process and create the sub-directory BATCH. Now you are ready to copy the Editor to the DOS directory. Log on to the EDITOR diskette. Select the CHANGE DIRECTORY command. Press F1 Enter the appropriate disk letter in the disk field. If the disk has any directories, they will be displayed to the the left. Move the cursor to the desired directory and press SPACEBAR. The directory statistics will be displayed and if there are any sub-directories, SKIPPER will automatically enter the TREE mode. Move the cursor to the desired directory and press <─┘. SKIPPER will make that directory the current directory. Switch to the alternate FKEY set and select the COPY command. Press AltF [Alt and F keys simultaneously] Press F4 SKIPPER will open the FID (file id) field for input. Press <─┘ This option will select all files for display. The list of files in the directory will be displayed on the left. Move the cursor to the EDITOR file. Press SPACEBAR This selects the file for execution by the COPY command Press <─┘ SKIPPER displays the Target menu. Enter D in the disk field, where D is DOS drive Type N for Path option. Enter DOS in the input field. Press <─┘ for fid (file name). The file will be copied to the DOS directory. The name/extension will remain unchanged. Now copy DOS utilities to the DOS directory. The following is a list of recommended utilities. ╒═════════════════════════════════╕ │ BACKUP FORMAT RESTORE │ │ BASICA GRAFTABL SYS │ │ CHKDSK GRAPHICS SUBST │ │ COMP LABEL XCOPY │ │ DISKCOMP MODE ANSI │ │ DISKCOPY PRINT VDISK │ └─────────────────────────────────┘ Complete the SKIPPER setup by copying the following files from the SKIPPER diskette as follows: SAMPLE.MOD to BATCH directory RECYCLE.COM to DOS directory. If you have set up a directory like TOOLBOX, etc copy to such a directory and identify this directory to DOS with the PATH command. Fire up SKIPPER Automatically DOS provides a way to start any program or process any command automatically, when you start the PC. You place the programs and commands in a file called AUTOEXEC.BAT. It is a convenient way to start SKIPPER. An example file is illustrated below. ╒══════════════════════════╕ │ ECHO OFF │ Turn Display off │ C:\DOS\MODE LPT1:80,6,P │ Load Mode.Com │ C:\DOS\MODE LPT1 │ │ C:\DOS\PRINT /D:LPT1 │ Load Print.Com │ │ Load TSR (Terminate │ │ and stay resident │ │ programs here. │ CD \SKIPPER │ Change to directory │ COPY SKIPPER.COM D:\ │ SKIPPER and copy the │ COPY DOSSKR.COM D:\ │ 3 SKIPPER files to │ │ RAM disk, if you are │ │ using the full option │ │ OR only the BAT file │ CD \ │ if you are using this │ COPY SKR.BAT D:\ │ option. │ │ │ C:\SKIPPER\INITSKR │ │ PATH C:\DOS │ Set Path for DOS to search │ │ │ D:\SKR │ Start SKIPPER. └──────────────────────────┘ Notice that the path command is extremely small: just one directory. In a two diskette system, you will have two paths. Thus: PATH A:\DOS;B:\ The programs in the DOS directory are the only commands that you will call directly i.e. without referencing the directory. All other programs you will call through the SKIPPER Menu. However, until the menu is set up, keep your old path command and modify it as needed to reflect the changes made. Do not load the MODE or PRINT command if you do not have a printer attached to your system. Modify the printer port as needed. Both MODE and PRINT are TSR type programs i.e. a portion of the program becomes resident after it is called. The format of the first MODE command used above makes the MODE command memory resident. However, it also forces DOS to loop indefinitely if it detects a printer time out. Thus, if you switched on the computer, but not the printer, DOS will detect a time out and go into an indefinite loop. The second MODE command tells DOS not to loop indefinitely in the event of printer time outs, but does not remove it from memory. Please see your DOS manual for details. If you plan to use any other TSR programs, e.g. SIDEKICK, load them after MODE and PRINT. TSR programs should not be called through the SKIPPER menu. Create the AUTOEXEC.BAT file in the root directory and save it. THE SKIPPER OPERATIONS USER INTERFACE SKIPPER Screens The SKIPPER presents a consistent user interface, whether it is working with menu items, file lists or directory tree. SKIPPER employs three screens: 1. The Menu screen 2. The File Exec screen 3. The File Manager screen All three have the format illustrated below. ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ ╔════════════════════╗ █████ My System ██████ │ │ ║ ║ ║ ║ │ │ ║ Data Panel ║ ║ Control Panel ║ │ │ ║ ║ ║ and ║ │ │ ║ ║ ║ Dialog Box ║ │ │ ║ ║ ║ ║ │ │ ║ Menu Item List ║ ║ System Stats ║ │ │ ║ Directory List ║ ║ Option Menus ║ │ │ ║ File Lists ║ ║ Messages ║ │ │ ║ Directory Tree ║ ║ Input fields ║ │ │ ║ ║ ║────────────────────║ │ │ ║ ║ ║ Service Panel ║ │ │ ║ ║ ║ ║ │ │ ║ ║ ║ FKEYS ║ │ │ ║ ║ ║ ║ │ │ ║ ║ ║ Action Keys ║ │ │ ╚════════════════════╝ ╚════════════════════╝ │ │ Hot Keys SKIPPER (TM) Date │ │ Copyright Notice │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ The Menu screen is the entry point and the exit point for SKIPPER. User applications are displayed as menu items in the data panel. If the command code being executed accesses a path module, the exec screen is displayed. DOS commands and the menu update services are assigned to FKEYs, and are displayed in the service panel. If there are more than 10 commands executed by FKEYS, two sets of FKEYS are defined for that screen, each set from F1 - F10. The AltF action key toggles the two sets. Whenever a FKEY is pressed, it is highlighted. The disk commands and the update services are provided on the menu screen. The directory and file commands are provided on the file manager screen. There are no FKEYs assigned to the file exec screen. Service Commands The service commands available on the menu screen are displayed below. ║──────────────────────────────║ ║ F1 FILE MANAGER ║ ║ F2 FORMAT DISKETTE ║ ║ F3 COPY DISKETTES ║ ║ F4 CHANGE DISK LABEL ║ ║ F5 COMPARE DISKETTES ║ ║ F6 CHECK DISK ║ ║ F7 CHANGE MENU ITEM ║ ║ F8 ADD MENU ITEM ║ ║ F9 DELETE MENU ITEM ║ ║ F10 EXIT / ^F10 RETURN ║ ╚══════════════════════════════╝ The File Manager executes directory and file commands. Two FKEY sets are available on the File Manager, as shown below. ║───────────────────────────────────────────────║ ║ F1 CHANGE DIRECTORY ║ F1 CHANGE DIRECTORY ║ ║ F2 MAKE DIRECTORY ║ F2 FILE ATTRIBUTES ║ ║ F3 RENAME DIRECTORY ║ F3 APPEND ║ ║ F4 REMOVE DIRECTORY ║ F4 COPY ║ ║ F5 XCOPY ║ F5 ERASE ║ ║ F6 EDLIN ║ F6 MOVE ║ ║ F7 COMP ║ F7 KWIKLOOK ║ ║ F8 PRINT ║ F8 SEARCH ║ ║ F9 BACKUP ║ F9 External Software ║ ║ F10 RESTORE ║ F10 External Software ║ ╚═══════════════════════╩═══════════════════════╝ Action KEYS The Action Keys are displayed at the bottom of the service panel. A maximum of 7 action keys may be displayed. These are: PgUp PgDn AltF AltLe AltS AltH Esc Each action key is selectively highlighted if the function represented by the key has been enabled. Thus: The PgUp key will be highlighted if a list is being displayed and the top of the list is not on the screen. PgDn is highlighted if the bottom of the list has not been reached. The AltS key is highlighted after a successful SEARCH. As long as it is highlighted, the file commands process the search list. The AltL key is highlighted if the current sort order for directory or file lists may be changed. The current sort order is indicated by the suffix e for primary sort by extension or n for primary sort by name. Press AltL to change the sort order. The AltF key is highlighted if there are two FKEY sets and it is OK to switch sets. The AltH key displays HELP. It is highlighted when HELP is available. The Esc key is highlighted if it is OK to quit. Esc resets you back by one step in the execution of your command. If the Esc key is pressed from the main prompt in the menu screen, SKIPPER clears the screen, displays the symbol ?> at the top of the screen but remains in memory. To return to SKIPPER, enter ?. If password has been set, SKIPPER will ask for the password. <CONTROL BREAK> is always enabled but not displayed. It resets you to the start of whatever SKIPPER screen you were on. It may be used to reset the SKIPPER screen. The screen gets disrupted if you attempt to switch to drive B in a single diskette system. When issued from within DOS, e.g. when executing an application through batch module, control may not return to SKIPPER. If the applications processes the control breaks, control will return to SKIPPER. If DOS receives control, DOS issues the message: Terminate batch job (Y/N)? If you enter N (upper case), DOS will skip the instruction following the aborted application, resume at the next instruction and control will eventually return to SKIPPER. If you do decide to terminate the batch job, certain files that SKIPPER created in the command drive, will remain on the disk. These files are bat files of the form $$x or $$$$x where x is a number between 1 and 4. Delete these files before resuming SKIPPER. HOT KEYS The Hot keys define the operations that may be performed on the data displayed in the data panel. There are four hot keys defined for the data panel. ╒═══════════════════════════════════════════╕ │ Cursor Keys SPACEBAR \ <─┘ │ └───────────────────────────────────────────┘ The operation is from left to right: 1. Use the cursor keys to move through the list and position the cursor on the desired menu item, file or directory. 2. Press the space bar to select the item or perform any function that is described just below the key. 3. Press <─┘ to execute the command on the selected items. File lists feature a fourth key \ to unselect all selections. Hot keys are defined separately for option menus. COMMANDS AND SERVICES User Applications Your applications are executed from the Menu screen. The command codes together with a description of the application are displayed to the left in the data panel. To execute an application you enter the two digit code. You may page through the menu with the action keys PgUp or PgDn. Or enter a letter followed by space to scroll the display to the command codes starting with that letter. However, it is not necessary that the code be displayed in the data panel, before you can execute it. If the code you called accesses a path module, the file exec screen is displayed, and executable files in the path are listed in the data panel. Select the desired file by moving the cursor to it and execute it by pressing <─┘. If the program you are executing is expecting parameters, press the SPACEBAR. SKIPPER will ask for your input. Press <─┘ when done, and the program will be executed. When the program terminates, SKIPPER will pause for you to continue. This ensures that any output from the program does not get erased from the screen, automatically, at the termination of the program. Menu Update The menu is updated from the menu screen and the updates are instantly effective. However, you must setup/change the corresponding COMBAT module separately, using your editor. To enter a new item, press F8. Press F7 or F9 to change or delete a menu item. The cursor moves into the data panel and the hot keys are displayed at the bottom of the panel. Move the cursor to the desired item and press SPACEBAR to select it. If the command was DELETE, SKIPPER asks for confirmation. Press <─┘ to confirm. The corresponding COMBAT module is not deleted by this process. If the command was CHANGE, SKIPPER waits for you to make the necessary changes. If you do not want to change the command code, press the TAB key. SKIPPER will place you in the descriptor field. If you change the command code, SKIPPER will automatically place you in the descriptor field after you have typed the two digits. If you do not want to change the description, press <─┘ otherwise make the changes and press <─┘ when done. Exit to and Return from DOS Press F10 from the main screen to exit to DOS. Press ^F10 (Ctrl & F10 ) to return to SKIPPER from DOS. The ^F10 key is set through the program INITSKR, with the ANSI.SYS driver. Therefore, you should load the ANSI.SYS driver from your CONFIG.SYS file. You may also return to SKIPPER by entering: D:\SKR and press <─┘ where D is the drive from which SKR.BAT is executed. DISK COMMANDS Six disk commands are provided on the menu screen, through FKEYS F2 - F6. Skipper prompts you for the disk and options, if any. Disk commands requiring a target disk are performed as a one disk operation. When formatting a new diskette, SKIPPER will display: General Failure Abort, Retry or Ignore (A,R,I)? To continue with the format, enter I. DIRECTORY COMMANDS The directory commands F1 - F4 are provided on the File Manager screen, in the first FKEY set. They let you change, create, rename or delete directories, respectively. The commands are re-entrant: you can switch commands while displaying a directory list called by another directory command. The change directory command is also available on the alternate Fkey set as F1. Mode of Operation: PRESS FKEY: To select the desired command. The directory commands allow you to optionally change drives/disks. To change drives/disks enter the drive letter; the disk is reset to the root directory. To continue with the same disk, press <─┘. The disk/dir stats are displayed. If there are any subdirectories, they are listed in the data panel. If in the root directory, the drive designator is at the top of the list and stands for the root directory. The cursor moves inside the data panel and positions at the top of the list. USE CURSOR KEYS: To position the cursor on the desired directory. PRESS SPACEBAR: To display directory statistics and/or tree. If the directory you select has one or more sub-directories, SKIPPER will automatically enter the tree mode and display the tree structure for that directory. The mode of operation remains unaltered. To return to the root directory press the UP arrow key from the directory at the top of the tree. You may enter the FULL TREE mode (for the entire disk) by pressing the SPACEBAR from the root directory. PRESS <─┘ : To execute the selected function. When the CHANGE command is executed, the new path is displayed and the command is exited. The other three commands remain in control until you press Esc. FILE COMMANDS The file commands (F5 - F10 on the first Fkey set and F2 - F10 on the alternate Fkey set) except for SEARCH, let you submit the selected files to the desired command. The file commands are also re-entrant. Generally, the file commands display only normal files; files marked system or hidden are not shown. However, the ATTRIBUTES command displays all files. This all file list can be passed to other file commands by pressing the appropriate FKEY. If the desired command is not in the current FKEY set, press AltF and then switch. SKIPPER returns to regular processing once you press Esc or execute the command and the cursor returns to the main prompt in the control panel. Mode of Operation: PRESS FKEY: To select the desired command. SKIPPER enters the input mode to let you enter file id (FID). Enter FID and PRESS <─┘ when done. Wild cards`*` and `?' are allowed in FID. Thus entering *.B?T will select all those files irrespective of filename with a three letter extension beginning with B and ending with a T. If FID is not entered, all files are displayed, otherwise only the matching files are displayed in the data panel. The drive letter and the path are displayed in the SKIPPER's control panel. USE CURSOR KEYS: To position the cursor on the desired file. PRESS SPACEBAR: To select a file to submit to the desired command. Pressing the SPACEBAR, while displaying a SEARCH list, also displays the path of the selected file. Any number of files may be selected. To unselect a file, position the cursor, and press the SPACEBAR again. To process all files, do not select any. SKIPPER will display 'No files selected. Do all (Y/N)?' and await your response. To unselect all files press \. PRESS <─┘: To execute the selected command. KWIKLOOK KWIKLOOK displays the contents of a file on the screen in a 78 column format. Longer lines are wrapped around. All of 256 characters including control characters are displayed. To view WORDSTAR type files press AltC. AltC will be highlighted and SKIPPER will strip the high bits from each character. The current display will not be affected but all subsequent displays will show the adjusted characters. The original file is not changed. To resume normal viewing, press AltC again. The text already in memory will not change. KWIKLOOK can display any number of files, one at a time. Press <─┘ to leave one file and get the next file. Press Esc to quit displaying files. The COPY function copies/appends a block of text to another file in the current directory or the root directory of any disk. If the file does not exist, it is created. If it exists, you have the option of erasing it or appending to it. Once defined, you may use the same target file for the duration of the KWIKLOOK session. The PRINT function sends a block of text to the printer. Any embedded control codes and escape sequences are also sent to the printer. If printer modes has been installed, it is called automatically every time the print function is invoked. For both the above functions, the top of the block is the top of the screen at the time the function is invoked. So move the desired line to the top of the screen before invoking the function. The end of the block is set automatically to the end of the current page but may be changed with the cursor keys. The maximum size of the block is 8k. When either function is active you cannot scroll out of the block. Home takes you to the top of the block and End to the end of the block. The CRT25/43 function switches display from 25 to 43 lines and vice versa. The SEARCH functions search the file for a given string. If the search is successful, the line with with the search string is scrolled to the top. The search string persists for the duration of the current KWIKLOOK session, unless reinitialized. Search is case specific. SEARCH SEARCH searches the default drive for a given file specification and or directory information about that file or a string within the set of files specified. String search is not case specific. Upon invocation, SEARCH prompts you for the file specification. The specification may contain wild cards. The Search option menu is then displayed. The options usage is as follows: SUB Search sub-directory files also. ATR Search by file attribute: Read_only, Hidden, All SIZ Search by file size: Small (LT 4k), Medium (4k LE 64k) Large (64k LE 256k), XL (GT 256k) AGE Search by file age: LE Week, LE Month, LE Quarter LE Year and GT Year STR Search by specified string within the file RNG Search range for string searches. Limit the search to: 1k, 2k, 4k, 8k or extend it to the entire file. If the search is successful, the AltS key lights up and the number of files found is displayed in the SKIPPER's control panel. The search terminates after the first 100 files have been retrieved. The search list is now available for processing by the other file commands. Press AltS (Alt and S keys simultaneously) to return to regular processing. Two or more search lists may be joined together by issuing the SEARCH command without resetting the AltS button. Searches may also be carried out on different disks and combined as described above. However, please make sure the right disk is in place when accessing a file from that disk. TARGET MENU If the command you select requires a destination, SKIPPER will display a menu for target specifications: drive, path and file id. OPTION MENU If the command you select requires options, SKIPPER will display an option menu. Shown below is an option menu for printer modes. Use the cursor keys to move to the desired option. The option abbreviation will be highlighted and its description displayed below. Press SPACEBAR to change an option. If it is set it is reset. A set option is indicated by an + in its input field. If the option is multi-valued, press the SPACEBAR until the desired value pops up in its input field. Press \ to reset all options to off. Press <─┘ to execute the changes. ██████████████ My System █████████████ ║ ║ ║ PRINTER MARGIN/MODES ║ ║ IBM PROPRINTERS ║ ║ MAR CON EMP NLQ PSP DWC DHI DHW CMP║ ║ █ █ █ + █ █ █ █ █ ║ ║ ║ ║<─ ─> SPACEBAR \ Esc <─┘ ║ ║CURSOR CHANGE RESET UNDO EXECUTE ║ ║ ║ ║ Near Letter Quality ║ ║────────────────────────────────────║ SKIPPER MENU MENU/APPLICATION INTERFACE The SKIPPER menu is the interface between your applications and the SKIPPER. The SKIPPER can process upto 512 menu items. Some menu items, in turn, may process hundreds of applications. This cryptic declaration will be explained hereafter. Not to worry! SKIPPER is unlimited. Each menu item consists of a two digit command code and 29 characters (maximum) of command description. The MENU item corresponds to a command module with the same name as the command code. The command modules are relocatable and independently executable PIF or batch modules within a larger parent file called the COMBAT file. This relationship is illustrated below: ╒═Menu══════════════════╤═Combat File B.BAT══════╕ │ │ │ │ BA BASICA INTERACTIVE│ :BA! START OF BA MODULE│ │ │ ..... │ │ BD DAILY BACKUP │ :BD! START OF BD MODULE│ │ │ ...... │ │ BM MONTHLY BACKUP │ :BM! START OF BM MODULE│ │ │ ...... │ │ BP BASIC PROGRAMS │ :BP! START OF BP MODULE│ │ │ ... │ │ │ END OF B.BAT │ └───────────────────────┴────────────────────────┘ Legal entries for the command code/module name are A - Z for the first digit and 0 - 9 and A - Z for the second digit. Legal entries for the COMBAT filename is a single digit A - Z. All command modules within a COMBAT file have the same first digit as the file name. All COMBAT files reside in a single directory BATCH in the root directory, and carry the file extension BAT. THE COMBAT FILE The Structure of the COMBAT File The structure of a COMBAT file is shown below. It consists of an Introductory module, a Body and an End module. The Introductory module checks if any parameter has been passed to the COMBAT file from the DOS command line, and thus eliminates the risk of inadvertent execution of programs, though careless typing of a single letter of the alphabet. The Body is composed of command modules. Each module begins with and ends with exactly the same delimiter. The delimiter consists of: 1. The label identifier : 2. A two digit module name 3. The label terminator ! ╒════════════════════════╕ │ The Introductory Module│ │ ┌────────────────────┐ │ │ │ ECHO OFF │ │ │ │ IF %1!==! GOTO ERR │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ GOTO %1! │ │ │ └────────────────────┘ │ │ The Body │ │ ┌────────────────────┐ │ │ │ :BA! │ │ │ │ ...... │ │ │ │ GOTO END │ │ │ │ :BA! │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ :::::::::::::::::: │ │ │ │ :::More Modules::: │ │ │ │ :::::::::::::::::: │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ :BP! │ │ │ │ :PIF │ │ │ │ GO TO ERRM │ │ │ │ ...... │ │ │ │ :BP! │ │ │ │ │ │ │ └────────────────────┘ │ │ The End Module │ │ ┌────────────────────┐ │ │ │:ERR │ │ │ │ECHO Missing Parms │ │ │ │GOTO END │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │:ERRM │ │ │ │ECHO %1 is PIF │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │:END │ │ │ └────────────────────┘ │ └────────────────────────┘ The End module has three labels: 1. The landing pad for an error exit in case the required parameters were not passed, followed by an appropriate message. 2. The landing pad for an error exit in case a PIF module was accessed through DOS, follow- ed by an appropriate message. 3. The landing pad for the final exit from the COMBAT file. The Structure of the COMBAT Module PIF modules are identified by placing a control label on the line following the start delimiter followed immediately on the next line by a GOTO instruction, as shown above for module BP. This ensures a graceful exit, should a PIF module be accessed from the DOS command line. The body of the module consists of a path specification including the drive identifier on the fourth line followed by a program specification (i.e file name and extension of the program), if any, on the next line. Parameters, if any, are entered on the sixth line. A module containing only a path specification, is called a path module. SKIPPER displays all executable files (files with extension BAS, COM or EXE) from the specified path. You can then point to a desired file and execute it. BATCH modules are set up as independently executable and re- locatable modules. Independence means that everything that needs to be done must be done within the module. Watch out for those GOTOs. Perform all error processing from within the module except for the initial test for parameter 1. You can ensure independence by writing all modules as independent batch files, test them in the DOS environment and then transfer them to COMBAT files. If you use replaceable parameters in the file, remember to increment them by 1 in the module, because parameter 1 is always the module name. Relocatability requires that the beginning and the end of the module be unambiguously defined. The name of the module in its label form i.e. prefixed with : is a natural marker for the beginning of the module. For added safety SKIPPER suffixes it with the character ! to mark both the beginning and the end of the module. Since the modules are part of a larger file, each module must exit the COMBAT file through a common landing pad. Thus all batch modules will end with a statement "GOTO END" or a functionally similar statement. CONTROL LABELS: In addition to the two delimiter labels, SKIPPER uses control labels to signify an alternative action that it may be required to execute. The use of the control label :PIF has already been described above. A second control label used by SKIPPER is :ASK. ASK tells SKIPPER that the module expects parameters passed to it. The names of the parameters may be entered after ASK, on the same line. SKIPPER will display these names as a reminder, when you execute the module. All labels (delimiter and control) are required in upper case. Choose the Right Module SKIPPER's memory requirements are illustrated below. When executing an application through a batch module, SKIPPER does not occupy any memory. If you have installed 640k of memory, you should be able to execute most applications through SKIPPER. ╒═════════════════════════════════════╕ │ Module Memory in Bytes │ │ │ │ Batch None │ │ PIF - Program 16k + 1-18k for Menu │ │ PIF - Path 38k + 1-9k for Buffer│ │ File Manager 98k │ └─────────────────────────────────────┘ Although, most DOS applications will function adequately with as little as 256k of memory, some function optimally with unlimited amounts of memory. Such applications should preferably be set up as batch modules. Examples of such applications are Database Management Systems(DBMS) and Spreadsheet Software. Batch modules have another built in advantage when servicing database applications and similar applications. You have the full power of the DOS batch processor to tailor your environment. Batch modules also allow you to stream several programs and or DOS commands together. With batch modules, SKIPPER cedes control and all its memory to DOS Batch Processor. Therefore, after the application terminates, SKIPPER and its menu file have to be reloaded. The reloading, of course, is done automatically and almost imperceptibly. The time delay of a few seconds is of little consequence when you spend several minutes with a database or a speadsheet. Nevertheless, in many a situation, you will be better served with PIF modules, provided there is adequate memory. You can calculate the memory available for your applications by executing the CHKDSK command from DOS. CHKDSK reports the amount of memory available after DOS and any TSR (terminate and stay resident programs, like SIDEKICK) have been loaded. Subtract from the amount shown, SKIPPER's memory requirements. The balance is the memory available for your applications. The advantage of PIFs is that SKIPPER and its files remain in memory and are instantly available, after the application terminates, to execute your next command. Typically, PIF should be reserved for stand alone applications. Editors function very well within PIFs. Other candidates are Games, Statistical Programs, Utilities. The Path module is a special kind of PIF module that lets you access and switch from one program to another with ease and dispatch without having to write a module or a menu item for each such program. APPLICATIONS SETUP Install your application according to the instructions in the application's manual. If the manual tells you to set it up in a batch file, examine if it should be set up as a batch module or as a PIF module. Some applications expressly require that it should not be invoked through batch files. Others indicate some problems if executed though menu drivers which in essence means they should not be set up as PIF modules. An example of one such program is the DOS utility CHKDSK. It has been reported that CHKDSK with the F option may trash your disk if run from a menu. Be particularly careful to avoid accessing such applications through the path module. While SKIPPER has been designed to access most applications, there is a group of programs that should be avoided. These are the Terminate and Stay Resident [TSR] Programs. TSR programs should not be entered as SKIPPER Menu items nor should they be accessed via the path module. TSR programs should not be installed nor de-installed from within SKIPPER. Ideally, TSR programs should be installed through the AUTOEXEC.BAT file before SKIPPER is invoked. Once so installed, TSR programs may be called within SKIPPER or within any application accessed through the SKIPPER. Some utilities like PC Magazine's PUSHDIR and POPDIR may also be called from COMBAT batch modules. If you need to de-install a TSR program leave SKIPPER and de-install it from the DOS command line. Standard Applications Most applications manuals prescribe that you install it in its own private directory and access it through a batch file. The figure below illustrates a standard batch or PIF module. ╒═══Batch══════╤═════PIF═══════╕ │ :A1! │ :A1! │ │ ECHO OFF │ :PIF │ │ D: │ GOTO ERRM │ │ CD \APPDIR │ D:\APPDIR │ │ APPNAME │ APPNAME.EXT │ │ CD \ │ :A1! │ │ GOTO END │ │ │ :A1! │ │ └──────────────┴───────────────┘ Where: D: is the drive identifier APPDIR is the directory where the application resides APPNAME is the name of the application Access BASIC Interpreter In some situations, the APPDIR will refer to the directory where the application writes its files as shown in the figure below. ╒═════════════════════════════════════╕ │ :BA! │ │ ECHO OFF │ │ ECHO Please enter the command SYSTEM│ │ ECHO when done to leave BASICA │ │ C: │ │ CD \BPROGS │ │ BASICA │ │ GOTO END │ │ :BA! │ └─────────────────────────────────────┘ Since the module name is BA the command code should also be BA and the SKIPPER menu item could look like this: BA BASIC ADVANCED, INTERACTIVE Now, when you invoke the command BA, SKIPPER will place you in the BASICA environment and any programs that you write will be filed in the directory BPROGS. To invoke a basic program from within a module, enter the program name after BASICA. To use a program this way, it must exit with the command SYSTEM. Otherwise, you might find it convenient to echo a message as illustrated above. You may also enter other options on the BASICA command line after the program name. For additional information please see your BASIC HANDBOOK. To set up basic programs as PIF modules, the program specification is entered on the sixth line as a parameter to be passed to the basic interpreter such as BASICA.COM which is entered on the fifth line as a complete program specification, including the drive letter. Pass Parameters to Combat Modules Many applications, specially of the stand alone variety, expect parameters such as filenames to be passed to it. If you don't, they may give you an error message, or more often they simply hang up your system. You must identify these applications to SKIPPER, with the control label :ASK, as described previously. SKIPPER looks for the first control label on the line following the start delimiter label. In PIF modules, the first control label is :PIF. If the :ASK control label is used in a PIF module, it is placed on the line following the program specification. The figure below illustrates a PIF module for a program called DIRCOM that requires two parameters: A source directory specification and target directory specification. The program is from PC Magazine's Power Tools and compares file directory information from two directories. ╒═══════════════════════════╕ │ :DC! │ │ :PIF │ │ GOTO ERRM │ │ C:\TOOLBOX │ │ DIRCOM │ │ :ASK Source_DIR Target_DIR│ │ :DC! │ └───────────────────────────┘ If the :ASK control label is not used, any text appearing on the parameter line is treated as a parameter string and passed through to the program, otherwise any text following the control label is displayed as a prompt to remind the user the kind of parameter that needs to be input. The next figure shows the same program set up as a batch module, ╒════════════════════════════════╕ │ :DC! │ │ :ASK Source_DIR Target_DIR │ │ ECHO OFF │ │ IF %3!==! GOTO ERR │ │ │ │ C: │ │ DIRCOM %2 %3 > D:\COMPARE.TMP │ │ BROWSE D:COMPARE.TMP │ │ GOTO END │ │ :DC! │ └────────────────────────────────┘ but with a few new wrinkles. Like native DOS, DIRCOMP does not scroll the display, so if you are not nimble with your fingers, you will only get to see the bottom part of your comparison. In the example illustrated above, the output from DIRCOM is written to a file named COMPARE.TMP on disk D:. The program BROWSE (also from PC Magazine) is then called to display the new file. Of course, you can skip the BROWSE part and goto SKIPPER's File Manager and call on KWIKLOOK to display the COMPARE.TMP file. Try it. You will like it, especially if you have an EGA monitor/adapter and use the 43 line display. Note that the path is not entered for either BROWSE or DIRCOM. It is assumed that the path has been identified to DOS through the path command. Freeze Application Displays As soon as an application terminates, SKIPPER takes over the screen. When returning from PIF modules, SKIPPER prompts you to press any key before clearing the screen. This is not so with batch modules. Therefore the batch modules for applications that display their output on the the screen should have the command PAUSE before it exits. Database/Spreadsheet Applications Database and Spreadsheet applications require a different approach. If you have several such applications, each on a different path, you need to identify two paths: one to the software package and the other to the application based on it. The path to the software package is set in the batch module. The path to the application is usually defined in the Configuration file (see your software manual for details). However, since the path varies with the application, the configuration file is by itself inadequate. The path to the application can be identified to DBMS in either of two ways: 1. Place the main driver or program of each application in the directory DBASE, and the rest somewhere else. Before the driver calls any procedure or database file, issue the SET PATH TO command to identify the path or paths to the other procedures and data base files. For the sample data base that comes bundled with dBASE, the the driver is ACCOUNTS.PRG. 2. With DOS versions 3.10 or higher, you can use the substitute option. Set the default (drive) in CONFIG.DB to E or some other logical, non-existing drive. In the BAT file, use the SUBST command to substitute E for the real path as shown below: ╒══════════════════════════╕ │ :DS! │ │ ECHO OFF │ │ SUBST E: C:\SAMPLES │ │ C: │ │ CD \DBASE │ │ DBASE ACCOUNTS │ │ CD \ │ │ SUBST E: /D │ │ GOTO END │ │ :DS! │ └──────────────────────────┘ Where C:\SAMPLES is the path to the data base. You should be familiar with the SUBST command before using it. Should you abort an application, the substitution may not get deleted. You can determine what substitutions are currently in effect by entering at the DOS command line SUBST without any parameters, and delete as desired with the option D as shown above. The solutions exemplified above will work just as well with spreadsheets or other software that do not accept parameters (application names) on the command line, as long as the path and the program name can be identified in the Configuration File. Thus you could write a menu processor and place it in the default directory and identify the menu processor as the work file to be automatically loaded, when the software is invoked. Alternately, you could use the SUBST option. Set up each application in a separate directory or drive but use the same identifier for all of them. The SKIPPER menu will keep them separate. Recycle Applications Quite often an user may need to repeat an application several times, using different parameters each time. SKIPPER provides a method for recycling an application as often as needed though the batch module with the program RECYCLE supplied with the SKIPPER software package. A sample batch module to recycle MASM - Macro Assembler from Microsoft Corp - is illustrated below. The module allows you to change the default drive and path for older programs that do not accept paths or use the current drive and path by passing the parameter ":". RECYCLE prompts you with "Recycle (Y/N)?". If the answer is "Y", RECYCLE prompts you for the new path. If it is the same as the old path, enter ":", else enter the new path beginning with the drive letter. RECYCLE will set the new path for your ASM files and repeat MASM. RECYCLE should only be used with programs that prompt for all the parameters needed by the program. ╒═════════════════════════════════════╕ │ :MA! MACRO ASSEMBLER │ │ :ASK Drive Path │ │ ECHO OFF │ │ │ │ IF !%2==! GOTO REPEAT │ │ IF %2==: GOTO REPEAT │ │ │ │ %2 │ │ CD %3 │ │ │ │ :REPEAT │ │ BREAK ON │ │ MASM │ │ BREAK OFF │ │ │ │ RECYCLE (Y/N)? │ │ │ │ IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO END │ │ GOTO REPEAT │ │ │ │ :MA! │ └─────────────────────────────────────┘ Specify Path Modules Path modules are ideal for stand alone programs that can be conveniently located within a single sub-directory, with other programs of a similar nature. Examples are: GAMES, BASIC PROGRAMS, TOOLs, etc. Let us assume you have the PC Magazine's POWER TOOLS setup on your hard disk, and the path is C:\TOOLBOX\PMTOOLS. This package contains over 200 programs. The path module to access PMTOOLS is illustrated below. The PC Magazine's package, mentioned above, contains a number of Terminate and Stay Resident programs. If you plan to use the path module to access any of the programs in the PC Magazine package, carefully separate the TSR programs from the rest, and put them in a separate directory. TSR programs should not be installed nor de-installed from within SKIPPER. They may, however, be called within SKIPPER or within any application accessed through the SKIPPER. ╒══════════════════════════╕ │ :PM! │ │ :PIF │ │ GOTO ERRM │ │ C:\TOOLBOX\PMTOOLS │ │ :PM! │ └──────────────────────────┘ Now when you execute the command PM, SKIPPER will display executable files from PC Magazine's Power Tools. You can pick and execute any of them directly from the list. Note that each path module begins with the label :PIF, and contains only a path specification. If any matter is entered on the line following the path specification, SKIPPER will assume that it is a program specification and attempt to load it with resulting error. Note also that the control label :ASK is not used in the path module. You can, however, pass any parameters to the program of your choice. SETUP MENU Create COMBAT Files Even if you have not written a single batch file, SKIPPER makes it very easy for you to create COMBAT files from the SAMPLE.MOD file. You should be able to write over 90% of the modules required, by changing the path name/application name in the sample modules. All path modules are the same, except for the path. You could use any one of the modules as your prototype and change the path as desired. Three application PIFs are included. The simplest is the ED module. Use this as prototype for applications that do not require parameters. There are just two lines to change: the path and the application name. Use the EL module for modules that require parameters. The MU module illustrates a more complex situation. Here the path specification refers to the path where the program (in this case MUSIC.BAS) resides, as with other modules. However, the program cannot run by itself. It needs BASICa or GWBASIC or some other BASIC interpreter. So the interpreter is loaded by specifying the full path and name on the command line. And the program name is passed to the interpreter as a parameter on the next line. The batch modules offer more power and versatility and consequently are more challenging to write. However, the standard batch modules are not that different from PIF modules. You specify the disk on a separate line and precede the path specification with the change directory command CD. If the application requires parameters pass the parameter to the program directly on the command line as shown for modules DB and WD. To pass the parameters at run time use module WO as a prototype. You should be able to use DS module as prototype for all your database or spreadsheet applications provided you have DOS version 3.10 or above and your database or spreadsheet software allows you to specify the default path for its applications. Similarly, the MA module will function as prototype for recycling an application without returning to SKIPPER. The other modules provided are one of a kind and illustrate the kind of things you can do with batch modules. If you have a printer and it is not IBM proprinter, use the SP module to set up the printer controller for your printer. Earlier, you copied SAMPLE.MOD file to the Directory batch. Log in to the BATCH directory and invoke KWIKLOOK to assemble a number of modules together to create a COMBAT file. Follow the the following steps: Log on to BATCH Directory. 1. From the Main Menu, press F1 to select FILE MANAGER. 2. From the FILE MANAGER, press F1 to Change Directory. 3. Enter the drive letter. A list of directories will be displayed to the left. Move the cursor to the directory BATCH and press <─┘. Display SAMPLE.MOD. 1. Press AltF key to switch to the alternate FKEY set. 2. Press F7 to select KWIKLOOK. A list of files will be displayed to the left. Move the cursor to the SAMPLE.MOD and press SPACEBAR. 3. Press <─┘. The file SAMPLE.MOD will be displayed on the screen. Assemble COMBAT modules. The very first module is the introductory module, and every COMBAT file has one. Copy this module to your COMBAT file. 1. Press F5 to select the COPY function. An input field will open to receive disk letter. 2. Press <─┘ to select the default path on default disk. 3. Enter the name of the COMBAT file. It is a single alphabet with the extension BAT. Thus: A.BAT 4. Press <─┘. The file A.BAT will be created and the top and bottom of the screen will be highlighted. The top highlight bar is at the start of the introductory module. Move the bottom highlight bar to the end of the introductory module. Include the trailing blank line in the module. 5. Press <─┘. The introductory module will be copied to the file and the highlights will disappear. Select the modules that you would like to include in your COMBAT file. For each module selected, move the start of the module to top of the screen and then invoke the COPY function. You do not have to enter the file name again. When SKIPPER displays the message "Append, Overwrite" etc enter A for append. At this point, it does not matter that the modules you have selected have names that do not begin with the mame of the COMBAT file. You will change that latter with your Editor. You may copy the same module more than once. Complete the process by copying the End module. Press Esc to leave KWIKLOOK. The list of files will reappear. Included in the list will be the new file that you have just created. Edit the COMBAT file. Convert Batch files into COMBAT Modules If you already have a number of batch files in place, use the SEARCH command to gather them together, append them as desired and set them up as COMBAT files in the directory BATCH. Set up Menu Items Press Esc to leave File Manager. You will re-enter SKIPPER's main screen. Press F8 to ADD new menu items. A box will open up on the right to accept the two digit command code. SKIPPER will check if the code is legal. If so, SKIPPER will open another box to accept the command description. Press <─┘ when done with the description. SKIPPER will prompt for the next menu item. Press Esc when you are finished with ADD. You can execute any command that is displayed or press an FKEY to execute the command described by the FKEY. Press F10 to leave SKIPPER. You are now in DOS. To return to SKIPPER from DOS, enter D:SKR where D is the drive where SKIPPER is installed. If you have installed INITSKR in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file, you can also use ^F10 (CONTROL & F10 keys) to return to SKIPPER. TRADEMARKS COMBAT & SKIPPER are trademarks of Sigma Software Solutions dBASE III is a trademark of Ashton-Tate EPSON is a registered trademark of EPSON America Inc. IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. MICROSOFT is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. SIDEKICK is a trademark of Borland International. UNIX is a registered trademark of AT&T Bell Laboratories.