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1992-03-21
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Back & Forth Professional Version 2.02
21 March 1992
Addendum
Copyright (C) 1990, 1991, 1992 by Progressive Solutions, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
Progressive Solutions
Sandi & Shane Stump
Box 276125
San Antonio, Texas 78227
Sales: (800) 833 4400
: (512) 670 0882
Technical Support: (512) 670 1061
Fax: (512) 670 1061
BBS 1200/9600: (512) 670 0954
BBS 2400/9600: (512) 670 1809
Compuserve: GO ZENITH section 13
Back & Forth Professional version 2.02 Addendum page 1
Changes included in Back & Forth Professional version 2.02
A note, some of the following modifications involve making additions to the
B&FHIPRO.BAT or B&FPRO.BAT batch files, created by the B&F Installation and
used to run Back & Forth. Where we instruct you to place the new statements
at the beginning of these files, this is not meant to be an absolute. Instead,
place the lines after the 4th line (the "cd" line), where the other "Set"
statements can be found. I mention this only to eliminate confusion.
We have optimized B&F for better memory usage for those of you who are using
EMM386.EXE included with MS-DOS 5.0. This change does not affect the
performance of Back & Forth with QEMM and 386^MAX. Up to 2.3k of local DOS
environment overhead can be loaded high if DOS is managing UMBs.
In version 2.0, we had added default support for the DOS 5.0 task switcher
API. We later found out that several programs (like PC-Tools, and the various
Norton utilities) will not run if the DOS 5.0 task switchere API is detected.
So, we have decided to make this support optional since it is generally not
needed by most users. If you do need it, to activate support for the DOS 5.0
task switcher API, include the following line in the B&FHIPRO.BAT or B&FPRO.BAT
at the beginning of the file.
SET BNF_DOS_5_API=ON
We have also added a new environment variable for network users who wish to
place their B&F variable files and other B&F data files in a different
directory than the B&F program directory which is used by default. To do this,
add the following line to the beginning of the B&FHIPRO.BAT or B&FPRO.BAT file.
set BNF_DATA_PATH=path
Replace "path" with the drive:\directory to be used.
Back & Forth Professional version 2.02 Addendum page 2
Introducing -- BackSight!
BackSight is a DOS level scroll back function. This lets you view the
information that has scrolled off of the screen. It works quite well with
most DOS commands like DIR, TREE, CHKDSK, DEBUG, EDLIN, LINK, MEM, etc. and
other command line utilities that use DOS to write to the screen. It will NOT,
however, work with programs that use the BIOS or write directly to the screen.
BackSight has been tested with ANARKEY, DOSKEY, CED, PCED, and B&F's own
command line editor. It almost but not quite works correctly with 4DOS's
command line editor. We are currently working with J&P software on some
necessary software hooks to be added to allow B&F to operate.
To activate BackSight, the following environment variable must be set before
Back & Forth is run. Place the following statement at the beginning of the
B&FHIPRO.BAT and B&FPRO.BAT files:
SET BNF_BACKSIGHT=memory type,buffer size
The memory type is the type of memory to be used by BackSight as buffer space.
You can choose to use either EMS or XMS. The size lets you limit the amount
of information that can be retained. For example, to save one screen filled
with information, set the size to 2k. The buffer size can be 1k to 64k.
BackSight must be activated within a program partition. BackSight support can
be selected by entering the Program setup, opening the [F8] extended setup
option, and setting the BackSight support option On.
To use BackSight, press its hot key. The default hot key is set to [Ctrl][`]
(the lower case character sharing the [~] key). This hot key can be reset
within the Options menu Hotkey setup. While at a DOS prompt using B&F's
command stack, you can also press [PgUp] to activate BackSight. The hot key
can be used to bring up BackSight within a program. Remember, Backsight only
works with programs that use DOS calls to print to the screen.
Back & Forth Professional version 2.02 Addendum page 3
Screen Blanker
The hot key used to automatically blank the screen while within Back & Forth
can now be selected. This option is located within the Screen Blanker setup
menu, found within the Options menu. The default sccreen blanker hot key is
set to the [5] key located on the number pad while [NumLock] is turned off.
(Just for your curiosity, this key is hardly ever used by other programs,
which is why we selected it. While at the main Back & Forth screen, press
[Alt][O] to select the Options menu, then press [S] to select the Screen
Blanker menu entry.
Back & Forth Professional version 2.02 Addendum page 4
Overtime! Appointment Book and Event Scheduler
Overtime! now displays the daily appointments closest to the current system
time (this is only when the appointment window is NOT the active window).
There was a minor buglet which displayed an error message when appointments
were assigned to days other than the current one. This has been fixed.
Back & Forth Professional version 2.02 Addendum page 5
KeyBack! Keyboard Macros
Macros can now be stored in XMS memory! To take advantage of this feature,
you must add the following environment variable to the B&FHIPRO.BAT or
B&FPRO.BAT file:
Change from: SET BNF_MACRO_BUFFER=EMS
to : SET BNF_MACRO_BUFFER=XMS
The amount of macro buffer space allocated for each task using macros will
automatically be set to 16k. This amount cannot be downsized.
Shorthand macros are now case significant. For example, if a Shorthand
abbreviation has been defined as follows:
Abbreviation = asap
Expansion = as soon as possible
Now, if "asap" is typed, it is replaced with "as soon as possible" (The lack of
sbbreviation capitalization is matched in the expanded output). Else, if "Asap"
is typed, it is expanded to "As soon as possible".
Back & Forth Professional version 2.02 Addendum page 6
RoloBack Address and Phone Book
A new index has been added: COMPANY/NAME. When an old ROLOBACK file is opened,
this new index will automatically be generated.
Within the File menu, several new commands have been added. These new entries
are:
Packing - This rewrites each record of the rolobase to a temporary file,
deletes or renames the old rolobase file, then renames the
temporary rolobase file to the name used by the old rolobase.
This is useful in reorganizing the rolobase after many records
have been updated or deleted. Lots of this activity may cause
the rolobase to grow bigger than it needs to be and will also
slightly slow down operation.
Append - This lets you append other rolobases to the active database.
Transfer - This lets you transfer records from the active rolobase to a
a new or different roloback file.
Export - This exports the contents of the active rolobase to a file
having the Dbase III compatible format. This file can then be
imported and accessed by any database program which accepts
dbase files.