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1995-02-10
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CLIPPER
Version 2.00
The MetriCon Clipboard Utility
Copyright (c) 1994 Harold Schwartz
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Harold Schwartz
P.O. Box 104482
Jefferson City, MO 65110
Welcome to Clipper!!!
CLIPPER has one use, and that is to allow users of MetriCon, the Unit Con-
version software, to paste the results of conversions into an underlying
word-processor or editor. MetriCon is DOS based software and, as is the
case with most DOS software, it does not afford the user any method of
easily transferring the output of the program to another DOS program. This
program addresses this problem by offering the user of MetriCon this option
in the form of a resident 'clipboard', much as the clipboard used in Windows.
Note that CLIPPER is useful only to users of MetriCon.
What is included in the CLIPPER package?...
There are only two files that can be considered as a part of the
CLIPPER software. They are:
CLIPPER.EXE
CLIPPER.DOC
These files are not distributed as a stand-alone package, but
rather are included as part of the MetriCon software package.
Is CLIPPER free software?...
No, CLIPPER is not free. It is sold only as a part of the
MetriCon software package. MetriCon is a very affordable
unit conversion program capable of making in excess of
30,000 different unit conversion. MetriCon specializes in
conversion to/from the metric system of measurement.
How does CLIPPER work?...
CLIPPER is a TSR (Terminate Stay Resident) program. A TSR is
a program that will stay in DOS memory, even while you are
running other DOS software, such as MetriCon. While MetriCon
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is running and after you have made a unit conversion, CLIPPER
will 'copy' the result of the conversion to the clipboard if
you press a Hot-Key. Then, when you quit MetriCon and enter
your editor or word-processor, pressing another Hot-Key causes
CLIPPER to 'paste' the result of the conversion into the editor
or word-processor at the location of the cursor. Each time you
copy a conversion to CLIPPER's clipboard the clipboard is
cleared of the result of the previous conversion.
What part of the converted value is pasted to the editor?...
When the 'copy' HotKey is pressed, the mathematical value of the
conversion as well as the unit description text is copied to the
clipboard. In other words, if a conversion yields the result
1.046457E-002 metre (m)
that entire string is copied to the clipboard and will be subse-
quently pasted to the editor. Once pasted in, it is the user's
responsibility to format the information to a suitable form.
Note that no matter what exponential option is selected in the
MetriCon program ( 'E' notation or '10' notation ), the result
that is pasted will be in 'E' notation format. The reason is
that most word-processors and printers cannot reproduce the
small characters used in the '10' notation, for example, as in
2.5 x 10². Whichever way the result is displayed in the STANDARD
CONVERSION window, it will be pasted in the 'E' notation format.
How do I install CLIPPER?...
When you install MetriCon, CLIPPER will be installed into the
same directory that MetriCon is installed to. Whenever you
want to use MetriCon and you want the capability of transferring
conversions into your word processor document, just run CLIPPER
first to install it into memory. Once CLIPPER is in memory you
may use MetriCon as you normally would to make a conversion.
After the conversion has been calculated and is being displayed
in the "STANDARD CONVERSION" window, simply press the 'copy'
Hot-Key to copy the conversion to the clipboard in CLIPPER. Then,
when you exit MetriCon and load a document into your word-process-
ing program, the converted value can be pasted into the document
at the cursor location by pressing the 'paste' Hot-Key.
How do I know if CLIPPER is installed?...
At the time CLIPPER is installed the user is informed of the swap
location that the program is using. At any time after CLIPPER is
installed, you can verify that it is in memory by pressing the
'copy to clipboard' HotKey. Each time this HotKey is pressed a
Page 3
high-pitched beep occurs and is a good indication that CLIPPER is
in memory. Each time the 'paste from clipboard' HotKey is pressed
a lower-pitched beep sounds, also.
How much memory does CLIPPER use?...
CLIPPER is designed to use as little low DOS memory as possible.
In order to do this, it must swap most of its code out of memory
when it installs. It does this by swapping to one of three diff-
erent location, either expanded memrory (EMS), extended memery
(XMS), or to a pair of files on the C-drive called CLIPPER.SW1
and CLIPPER.SW2. CLIPPER will first try to swap to EMS memory.
If you don't have EMS memory or you don't have enough free EMS
memory, it will try to swap to your C-drive. If you want CLIPPER
to swap to XMS memory, you must 'tell' it to do so by using the
/X command-line option as explained below. Once CLIPPER swaps
out of memory it uses only about 8K of low DOS RAM.
Can I remove CLIPPER from memory?...
Yes. If CLIPPER is installed in memory it can be uninstalled by
running it again with the /U command-line option. When run in
this manner, CLIPPER will remove itself from memory provided no
TSR's have been loaded after CLIPPER. If you load another TSR
after CLIPPER is in memory, you must remove the TSR from memory
before uninstalling CLIPPER.
What are the command-line options for running CLIPPER>...
There are a number of command-line options that may be used to con-
figure CLIPPER the way you want when you install it to memory.
Below is a list of the command-line options available and an
explanation of their use.
/A Use normal file attribute for swap file (instead of hidden).
/C HotKey Specify alternate hot key for copy to clipboard.
/D Force swapping to disk even if EMS is available.
/M Disable message appearing while TSR swaps to or from disk.
/N Force entire TSR to remain in memory (no swapping).
/P HotKey Specify alternate hot key for paste from clipboard.
/S Path Specify drive and directory for disk swapping.
/W Disables 'beep' on copy or paste operation.
/X Use XMS memory if available.
/1 Single swap file (for RAM disks or XMS).
/U Unload TSR from memory.
/?
Page 4
/A - If you have no expanded memory (EMS) or extended memory (XMS) on
your system, CLIPPER will swap most of itself to your hard drive
when it installs. In this way it is able to use a very small
amount of low DOS RAM (about 8K). The files on your hard drive
that CLIPPER creates for swapping are named CLIPPER.SW1 and
CLIPPER.SW2. They have the 'hidden' system attribute set by
default so that they won't be inadvertently deleted while ClIPPER
is running. If you do not want these files to have the 'hidden'
attribute set, you may use start CLIPPER with the /A command-line
option. (Note that when CLIPPER is uninstalled, it automatically
deletes these swap files.)
/C HotKey - If the default HotKey conflicts with a HotKey already in
use on your system, this option can be used to specify a
different 'copy' HotKey to copy conversions to the clip-
board. Listed in the section below are some of the many
HotKeys that may be specified. For instance, the command
CLIPPER /C 040E
would specify to start CLIPPER with the <Ctrl><Backspace>
HotKey activated to copy data to the clipboard. The sec-
tion below explains more about selecting HotKey codes.
Note that there MUST be a space between the 'C' and the
beginning of the HotKey code.
/D - If you wish to force CLIPPER to use the hard drive for the swap
location even if you have EMS memory on your system, use this
command-line option.
/M - When CLIPPER is activated by either HotKey, if it is using a swap
file on the hard drive, it will display a swapping message as it
swaps into and out of memory. This swapping message will appear
on the top or bottom line of your display very briefly. On very
fast systems, with fast hard drives, it may be barely visible. If
you do not want this message to display, it may be deactivated by
using this command-line option.
/N - If for some reason you do not want CLIPPER to swap to EMS or XMS
memory or to hard drive, you may use this command-line option to
force the entire program to remain in memory. If you use this
option, be aware that CLIPPER will take a considerable of memory
and may not leave enough room to run other programs at the same
time.
/P HotKey - If the default HotKey conflicts with a HotKey already in
use on your system, this option can be used to specify a
different 'paste' HotKey to paste conversions from the
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clipboard to your editor or word-processor. Listed in the
section below are some of the many HotKeys that may be
specified. For instance, the command
CLIPPER /P 040E
would specify to start CLIPPER with the <Ctrl><Backspace>
HotKey activated to paste data from the clipboard. The
section below explains more about selecting HotKey codes.
Note that there MUST be a space between the 'C' and the
beginning of the HotKey code.
/S Path - By default CLIPPER will create its swap files in the root
directory of your C-drive. If you want CLIPPER to use a
different location, use this command-line option to
specify the location. For instance,
CLIPPER /S C:\METRIC
would tell CLIPPER to use the METRIC directory location
for creating its swap files (that is, if it is using swap
files rather than EMS or XMS memory for the swap location).
/W - Normally CLIPPER emits a high-pitched beep each time the 'copy'
HotKey is pressed and emits a low-pitched beep each time the
'paste' HotKey is pressed. If you do not want CLIPPER to beep
each time a HotKey is pressed, use this command-line option.
/X - If your system has XMS memory available you may 'tell' CLIPPER
to use the XMS memory for the swap location. CLIPPER will use
XMS memory only if configured to do so by using the /X command-
line option.
/1 - Specifies that CLIPPER use only one swap file rather than two if
it is using a ram or XMS memory for a swap location. This will
conserve memory.
/U - Provided CLIPPER has been installed into memory, the /U command-
line option will 'tell' CLIPPER to uninstall itself. If you have
installed another TSR after CLIPPER was installed, CLIPPER will
respond that it cannot be unloaded.
/? - Shows a two-page help screen that briefly explains how to install
CLIPPER and what the command-line options are.
Page 6
These command-line options may be used singly or in combination. Be
aware that the /C, /P, and /S options MUST be used with a space
between the option letter and the HotKey code. For example, the
command
CLIPPER /C 040E /P 0C51 /X
would load CLIPPER into memory with swapping to XMS memory, with the
'copy to clipboard' HotKey configured as <Ctrl><Backspace>, and with
the 'paste from clipboard' configured as <Ctrl><Alt><Pg Down>. Note
that the /C and /P options have a space after the command-line desig-
nator.
What are the Hot-Keys used in CLIPPER?...
There are two default Hot-Keys for the CLIPPER program. They are:
<Left Shift><F1> to copy a conversion to the clipboard.
<Left Shift><F2> to paste a conversion to a document.
There may be times when these Hot-Keys may conflict with a Hot-Key
that is already used by the editor or word-processor that you are
using. If this is the case, you must change one or both Hot-Keys
before you use CLIPPER. This is done by starting CLIPPER with one
or both of the appropriate command-line options as discussed in the
previous section. There are many possibilities for the selection
of the Hot-Keys. The following listing gives some:
HOT-KEY CODES
<Ctrl><=> : 040D <Ctrl><Alt><F1> : 0C3B
<Ctrl><-> : 040C <Ctrl><Alt><F2> : 0C3C
<Alt><F11> : 0857 <Ctrl><Alt><F11> : 0C57
<Alt><F12> : 0858 <Ctrl><Alt><F12> : 0C58
<Alt><End> : 084F <Ctrl><Alt><F3> : 0C3D
<Alt><Home> : 0847 <Ctrl><Alt><F4> : 0C3E
<Alt><Insert> : 0852 <Alt><Rt Shft><&> : 0908
<Alt><Pg Up> : 0849 <Alt><Lft Shft><%> : 0A06
<Alt><Pg Down> : 0851 <Alt><Rt Shft><@> : 0903
<Ctrl><Rt Arrow> : 044D <Alt><Lft Shft><^> : 0A07
<Ctrl><Lt Arrow> : 044B <Alt><Lft Shft><$> : 0A05
<Alt><Up Arrow> : 0848 <Ctrl><Rt Shft><#> : 0504
<Alt><Down Arrow> : 0850 <Ctrl><Lft Shft><!> : 0602
<Alt><Lt Shft><}> : 0A1B <Ctrl><Rt Shft><{> : 051A
Page 7
Additional HotKey codes are given on the help screens.
A HotKey is specified as a hexadecimal word. The top byte specifies
the shift key(s) to be pressed and can be zero. The bottom byte
specifies the scan code for the hot key. Two hot keys may not have
the same scan code, even if the shift code differs.
The shift key codes are: Alt:08, Ctrl:04, Left Shift:02, Right
Shift:01. These codes give you the value for the high byte of the
HotKey code. The scan code for the other key used for the HotKey
code is used as the low byte. For example: 0844 performs lookup
when <Alt><F10> is pressed. The code for <Alt> which is 08 plus
the scan code for <F10> which is 44. If you want to specify a
combination of two shift keys for the high byte, you would add the
scan codes for the two shift keys to get the high byte. For ex-
ample, <Ctrl><Left Shift> would be 04 + 02 = 06. Remember that
the scan codes are hexadecimal numbers and must be added with hex-
adecimal arithmetic. Actually, there are already ample HotKey
codes shown above and it is doubtful that one could not be selected
for any application.
Is help available when using CLIPPER?...
There are two help screen available and can be accessed from the
command-line with the command
CLIPPER /?
These help screen describe how to install CLIPPER and show the
various command-line options available.
Is CLIPPER compatible with Microsoft Windows?...
CLIPPER cannot be used to transfer information between programs
in Windows that are running in separate windows. It can be used
however, to transfer converted results between programs that are
run in the same window.
There is a way to transfer the converted values from MetriCon to
a windows application. Run MetriCon in a window. You can do that
with Windows' DOS prompt by hitting <Alt><Enter> during the DOS
session. You can also use the Windows program information file
(PIF) Editor to change MetriCon's application information, desig-
nating the display as 'Windowed'. While MetriCon is running as
a Window and the result of a conversion is displayed in the
Standard Conversion window, click on the control bar and select
Page 8
Edit, Mark. Using the mouse, block-mark the converted value
(including the text portion, if you wish), and again select
Edit, Copy to copy the marked text to the clipboard. Then, enter
the Window's application and use the Edit, Paste command to copy
the contents of the clipboard to the cursor location.
Is CLIPPER compatible with earlier versions of MetriCon?...
Yes, CLIPPER is compatible with all versions of MetriCon through
version 6.0.
Thanks and ***ENJOY*** MetriCon.
--Acknowledgements...
In this documentation, references are made to several
products:
DOS refers to either PC-DOS or MS-DOS.
PC-DOS is a registered trademark of International Business
Machines Corporation.
MS-DOS and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft
Corporation.
***** DISCLAIMER *****
(please read)
"CLIPPER" is a powerful program. While I have
attempted to build in reasonable safeguards, as with
any useful computer software, "CLIPPER" may contain
errors in the program or documentation. The author
does not give any warranty, either expressed or
implied, to anyone using this program other than for
the replacement of defective media. In no event shall
the author be liable for any damages, including loss
of profits or anticipated profits, lost savings, or
other incidental or consequential damages arising out
of the use or inability to use this program. The
program comes "as is" and it is the user's responsi-
bility to determine whether the program is suitable
for his or her computer system and software needs.
Page 9
***** COPYRIGHT *****
Copyright (c) 1994 by Harold Schwartz. All Rights
Reserved. You may copy "CLIPPER" for backup purposes,
and you may give copies of the unregistered version to
other individuals, which they may also use and copy
under the terms of this agreement. If you copy the
unregistered version of "CLIPPER" for others, you must
include all of the files distributed with it. MetriCon
may not be sold, licensed, or a fee charged for its use.
If a fee is charged in connection with the unregistered
version of "CLIPPER", it must cover the cost of copying
or dissemination only. Such charges must be clearly
identified as such by the originating party. Under no
circumstances may the purchaser be given the impression
that he is buying "CLIPPER" itself.
The author encourages BBS operators to post the unregis-
tered version of the MetriCon package on their systems
for download by users wishing to evaluate it. No other
reproduction or use is authorized without the express
prior written consent of the copyright owner.