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LIBRA.MAN
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L I B R A
Microsoft Librarian Shell
USER GUIDE
────────────────
Version 1.01
1 December 1988
Copyright 1988 by Herb Rose
All Rights Reserved
Disclaimer and Warranty Statement
This software is provided "as is" without any warranty of any
kind, either expressed or implied, including, but not limited
to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a
particular purpose. The entire risk as to the quality and
performance of the software is with you. Should the software
prove defective, you (NOT ADEPT SOFTWARE) assume the entire cost
of all necessary servicing, repair, or correction.
In no event shall Adept Software be liable to you for any
damages, including lost profits, lost savings or other
incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use or
inability to use this software even if Adept Software or it's
authorized representative has been advised of the possibility of
such damages, or for any claim by any other party.
Several trademarks and trade names appear in this manual, as
well as copyrighted names of programs. These include Microsoft,
Intel, LIB, and MS-DOS.
Table of Contents
i. Ordering Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. Assumptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3. Running LIBRA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
4. The LIBRA Display Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
5. Module Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
6. PUBLIC Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
7. EXTERNAL Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
8. Selecting Modules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
9. Extract Modules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
10. Delete Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
11. Add Modules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
12. Replace Modules. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
13. Extract and Delete Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
14. Quitting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
15. Help Screen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
16. Searching For Symbol References. . . . . . . . . . . 4
17. Other Display Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
LIBRA User Guide Page 1
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
i. Ordering Information.
This program is distributed as SHAREWARE. Under this
distribution system, you are licensed to use this program for
the purpose of evaluating it. You may legally make copies of
the program to distribute to your friends or place on BBS
systems, etc., provided the program and text files are not
modified in any way.
This program is not, and has never been, in the Public Domain.
The copyright is held by Herb Rose, owner of Adept Software. If
you wish to continue using LIBRA after evaluating the program
and becoming familiar with it, you must purchase it from Adept
Software.
Registrationprovides you with one year of technical support from
Adept Software, and reduced prices on future upgrades.
Send to: Adept Software
P.O. Box 2181
Woodbridge, Va. 22193
Name ______________________________________
Company Name ______________________________________
Address ______________________________________
City, State, Zip ______________________________________
( )LIBRA Registration . . . . . . . . . . . $20.00 ________
( )LIBRA Program Disk - Current Version* . $ 4.00 ________
W/Registration Only
( )AUTOPARK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $12.00 ________
Sub-Total ________
Virginia Residents add 4.5% sales tax ________
Total ________
* - Be sure to specify the version you are registering. If there
is a newer version available, it will be sent immediatley.
Otherwise, you will receive the next available release.
LIBRA User Guide Page 2
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
LIBRA User Guide
1. Introduction
LIBRA is a user interface for the Microsoft LIB program. Object
libraries are an important programming tool, and this program
will make the task of managing your object libraries easier and
more enjoyable. LIBRA will not take the place of the LIB
program provided with MS-DOS or your programming language. It
is designed to work with LIB to make library management easier.
LIBRA will read object modules and object libraries in
Intel/Microsoft format. All Microsoft compilers and utilities
produce object modules in this format. The LIB utility combines
these object modules into libraries. LIBRA provides a user
interface to the LIB program that is both informative and
intuitive.
2. Assumptions
This utility is a programmer's tool. It is assumed that the
concept of object modules, libraries, compilers, assemblers, and
linkers is familiar to you. That being the case, you will
undoubtedly appreciate the greater control over your libraries
that LIBRA will provide.
It is assumed that the LIB program is present in the current
directory, or in a directory listed in the current PATH. LIBRA
does not replace LIB, it simply enhances the user interface to
it. LIB is called by LIBRA to perform all library
modifications.
3. Running LIBRA
From the DOS command prompt, type 'LIBRA [filename]', where
[filename] is the name of an object library in INTEL/Microsoft
format. LIBRA will read the library file, and display important
information about each object module in the library. If the
library file cannot be read, or the file is not in the correct
format (i.e. not an Intel/Microsoft library file), an error
message will be displayed, and LIBRA will not run.
LIBRA builds tables for each module which hold the names of the
PUBLIC and EXTERNAL symbols defined or used by the module. If
there is not enough memory available to hold these tables, LIBRA
will display the message 'Not enough memory', and will not run.
This should not be a problem, as I have run LIBRA against a 300K
library file with a 512K PC.
4. The LIBRA Display Screen
On the top line of the display you will see the LIBRA version
number, followed by the file name being viewed. On the right
LIBRA User Guide Page 3
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side of the screen you will see the size of the input file.
The main portion of the display is composed of 4 text windows.
The largest window, on the left side of the screen, shows the
module names of all the object modules in the library. A
reverse video bar is the LIBRA 'cursor'. The module name under
the cursor is the 'current' module.
In the center of the screen is a narrow window which shows the
size of the object modules.
On the right side of the screen are 2 windows which display
symbols defined or used by the 'current' module.
5. Module Names
The large window on the left of the screen shows the names of
all the modules present in the library. The Up Arrow and Down
Arrow are used to scroll this window one line at a time. The
PageUp and PageDown keys are used to scroll the window 10 lines
at a time. The HOME key is used to set the cursor on the first
module name, and the END key places the cursor on the last
module name in the library.
6. PUBLIC Symbols
The upper window on the right of the scrren displays a list of
PUBLIC symbols defined in the current module. These PUBLIC
symbols are made known to other object modules when the library
is linked into an application. The F7 and F8 keys are used to
scroll this window up and down if more than 8 PUBLIC symbols are
defined by the module.
7. EXTERNAL Symbols
The lower window on the right of the screen displays a list of
EXTERNAL symbols referenced by the current module. The EXTERNAL
references must be resolved by the linker, using PUBLIC symbols
defined by other modules. F9 and F10 are used to scroll this
window up and down, if more than 8 EXTERNAL symbols are
referenced by the current module.
8. Selecting Modules
LIBRA works on a 'selected' module scheme. You select the
module or modules to be acted on, then choose an action for the
selected modules. To select a module, position the cursor on
the module to be selected, and press ENTER. The selected module
will be highlighted, and a marker will be shown in front of the
module name. The cursor will automaticlly advance to the next
module name. You may select as many modules as you wish in this
manner.
To un-select a module, position the cursor on the module name to
LIBRA User Guide Page 4
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
be un-selected, and press ENTER. You may un-select all selected
modules by pressing the F3 key.
9. Extract Modules
Once you have selected one or more modules, you may extract the
modules by pressing the 'E' key. Object files will be created
for each selected module. The contents of the library file are
unaffected.
10. Delete Modules
Pressing the 'D' key will cause all selected modules to be
deleted from the library. No object files are created.
11. Add Modules
It is not necessary to select any modules to perform an Add
operation. Press the 'A' key, and you will be prompted for the
file name of an object file to Add to the library. After the
object file has been added to the library, the library is re-
loaded into LIBRA's memory.
12. Replace Modules
When you press the 'R' key, all selected modules in the library
are replaced. Replacement means that they are first Deleted,
then Added back into the library. The object files associated
with the modules must reside in the current directory. The
library file is re-loaded when the Replace function completes.
13. Extract and Delete Modules
Pressing the 'X' key will cause all selected modules to be
Extracted, then Deleted from the library. The library file is
re-loaded when the the Extract and Delete function completes.
14. Quitting
Pressing the 'Q' key or the ESCape key will terminate LIBRA.
You will be asked if you really wish to quit the program.
15. Help Screen
Pressing the 'H' key will cause the LIBRA Help Screen to be
displayed. This is a reminder screen, and does not contain full
operating instructions.
16. Searching For Symbol Refernces
You may search through the modules for references, both PUBLIC
and EXTERNAL to specific symbols. To do this, simply press the
F1 key. You must supply the name of the symbol to search for,
and press ENTER to accept the symbol and begin the search. If
LIBRA User Guide Page 5
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
you make an error entering the symbol name, use the BACKSPACE
key to correct it, just as you would on the DOS command line.
To abort the search operation, press ESCAPE. The search
function will terminate, and return you to the LIBRA display
screen.
The search starts at the current module. If the symbol is
found, the module containing the symbol is made the current
module, and it is displayed on the screen.
To continue searching for a previously defined symbol, press
the F2 key. The search will begin at the module immediately
after the current module.
17. Other Display Fields
Below the windows you will find several peices of useful
information. They are :
Publics : The number of PUBLIC symbols defined by the current
module.
Externs : The number of EXTERNAL symbols referenced by the
current module.
Module 2 of 12 : Shows how many modules are defined in the
library, and the number of the current module.
n Modules Marked : Shows how many modules are currently
selected. See section 8 above.
LIBRA User Guide Page 6
──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
The following is an advertisement for AUTOPARK.
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at a time, while I work on several projects. I have developed a
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With AUTOPARK, you can be assured that your data is protected as
much as possible when you lose power, or when a less diligent
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The program is great for BBS systems and office environments,
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there is no disk activity, the heads are safely parked. When
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the heads are parked again. Each disk access restarts the timer.
The duration of the timer is set when you first run the program,
and is variable up to an hour. The program only takes 640 bytes
of RAM, and does not interfere with other memory resident
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To order AUTOPARK, send $12 (price includes S&H) to :
Adept Software
P.O. Box 2181
Woodbridge, Va. 22193
Specify that you are ordering AUTOPARK.
Va. residents please add sales tax.
Herb Rose
