REGISTRATION FORM Please sent registration to: Doug Farren P.O. Box 561 Mentor, OH 44060 Name: _______________________________________________ Address: _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ Comments: _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ Price: Registered version only - $15.00 _____ Complete source code - $ 5.00 _____ Total = _____ Check which processor you desire to have the program compiled for: ___ 8086 ___ 80286 ___ 80386 Disk format desired: ___ 5-1/4" ___ 3-1/2" NOTE: The shareware version has been released prior to the final version being completed. If too few registrations are received then the final version will remain my private property and will not be released. In this event any registrations received will be returned. WELCOME TO QUESTOR FEATURES ======== * Unlimited submenus. * Releases all memory when running a program in overlay mode. * Completely user customizable menus (free form entry style). * User definable date and time display. * Customizable colors. * Simple password protection. * Capable of running any DOS command or program. * User specified screen blanker. Future plans ============ * Mouse support. * Browser for program selection. * Changable number of displayed lines. DISCLAIMER ========== QUESTOR is provided "as-is" with no warranties of any sort associated with it. You can be assured that this program has been debugged to the greatest extent possible and that the program as originally provided by the programmer does not contain any virus programs or other harmful code. The programmer is not responsible for altered copies of the program nor can he be held responsible for improper use of this program. RIGHT TO USE ============ This program is distributed as SHAREWARE and is thus not free. The SHAREWARE concept of program distribution has been in existence for some time and I will not bore you with all the details of what it means. I am asking for a small fee of $15.00 to help compensate me for my efforts. For this $15.00 I will provide you with a disk which contains the latest version of the program. For an additional $5.00 I will include the complete source code which was used to develope the program. Note that the SHAREWARE version has been compiled so that it will run an a standard 8086 machine. When you send in the registration form you can specify which processor version you would like to have the program compiled for. Currently I can compile for the 386 and below. HOW TO USE QUESTOR ================== QUESTOR is very easy to use. The primary program is named QMAIN.EXE. The main program is not run directly, if it is then control will not return to the main program after another program overlays (overwrites) QUESTOR. The program is started using a batch file named QUESTOR.BAT. This file is on your distribution disk. To start QUESTOR simply copy everything on the distribution diskette to the desired directory, change to that directory, and type QUESTOR. You should place QUESTOR into a subdirectory that is listed in your PATH environment variable; this will allow QUESTOR to locate itself when it restarts. QUESTOR creates and uses certain files during normal operation. These files are listed below. QUESTOR.BAT Batch file used to run the menu system. QMAIN.EXE Main menu program. QT293DDF.SAV This is a temporary file used to save the menu structure when QUESTOR releases control to another program. QT293DDF.BAT This is a batch file used by QUESTOR to execute a program which will overwrite the main program file. QMAIN.MNU Initial menu file used to start QUESTOR. This filename cannot be changed. When you first start QUESTOR the main menu file will not exist and QUESTOR will inform you of this. You must then create a menu file. You will be placed in the editing mode (as identified by the flashing line of EDITs at the bottom of the screen). You must create at least one selectable menu item. Once a menu has been created you can use it to execute programs. During normal operation use the arrow keys, the TAB key or the space bar to move between selectable menu items. To activate an item - first select that item then press the ENTER key. If the item leads to a submenu that submenu will be displayed. To return from a submenu or to exit QUESTOR press the ESC key. You can also select an item by typing the first letter of the item. QUESTOR will select the next item that contains that letter as its first letter. You can place items anywhere on the screen you want. The TAB, BACK-TAB, and SPACE BAR keys scan the items as you would read them. The UP and DOWN arrow keys look only above or below the current item. CREATING A NEW MENU =================== If you are not in the editing mode you can get there by pressing the F3 key. Editing mode is identified by a flashing line of EDITs at the bottom of the screen. While in editing mode the cursor is free to travel to any location on the screen except the bottom two lines. If the cursor moves into an item that entire item is highlighted and you can edit it. If the cursor is not on an item and you start typing, a new item is created and you may edit it. QUESTOR uses "items" to create the menu screen. An item consists of any sequence of characters typed together. Once an item is created it can be moved, edited, deleted, and modified as the user sees fit. Items fall under one of several general catagories. The catagory of an item describes the action that it takes. These catagories are described below. PROGRAM Executes a program when selected. A program can be any OR legal DOS command. Optionally, you may instruct QUESTOR COMMAND to release virtually all memory prior to running a program - this is known as "overlay". MENU The item leads to a submenu. QUESTOR uses the filename specified on the command line to create the new menu file. It is suggested that all menu files end with the .MNU extension, however, this is not requirement. TEXT This item will be unselectable in a non-editing screen. This type of item is useful for titles and such. This is the default type if none is specified. TIME12 This item is unselectable in a non-editing screen. The TIME24 item will display a 12 or 24 hour time (13:15). DATE This item is unselectable in a non-editing screen. The item will display a date in any one of several forms. You can combine the forms using adjacent items to create the date format you desire. NOTE: While you are in the EDIT screen the TIME12, TIME24, and DATE catagories of items display the characters which you typed in the editing screen. While in the normal display screen these items will display the characters associated with the desired display. Only as many characters as you entered in the EDIT screen are used so it is possible to truncate one of these items. For example: You enter "HH" on the EDIT screen for a TIME24 item. If the time is 4:32 PM and you exit the EDIT screen you will see "16" displayed - the rest of the time is truncated. While in the editing screen the following keys have the following meanings: ARROWS Moves the cursor in the direction pressed. CONTROL + ARROWS If the cursor is resting within a highlighted item, that item is moved in the desired direction. If the cursor is not within an item then the key is ignored. Note that these keys will only work on an enhanced keyboard. CTRL + (U, D, R, or L) These keys take the place of the CTRL ARROW keys for those systems that do not have enhanced keyboards. INSERT Turns insert mode on or off. Insert mode is identified by a block cursor shape. Overtype mode uses an underline cursor shape. HOME Moves the cursor to the far left of the current line if not in an item. If the cursor is in an item then the cursor is positioned to the beginning of the text for that item. END Moves the cursor to the far right of the current line if not in an item. If the cursor is in an item then the cursor is positioned to the end of the text for that item. DEL If the cursor is within an item the character under the cursor is deleted. ENTER Displays the item parameter modification screen. BACKSPACE Deletes the character to the left of the cursor (if one exists) and moves the cursor to the left one position. CREATING A NEW ITEM =================== To create an item follow the below procedure: 1) Make sure that you are in editing mode. 2) Position the cursor to the area of the screen where you want the item to start. 3) Begin typing information. All normal editing keys will work. Note that if you accidentally move the cursor out of the item the item is deselected. To continue modification of the item move the cursor back into the item. 4) Once you have created the text for the item press the ENTER key. 5) A menu will appear on the screen. This is where you tell QUESTOR how to execute the menu item when ENTER is pressed in a non-editing screen. 6) QUESTOR defaults to TEXT for each initial item typed in. Use the page up and page down keys to select the catagory desired. Press ENTER when the proper item type has been selected. 7) A data entry screen will then be presented. Use the arrow keys or press ENTER to move around the data entry screen. Change the information as desired. 8) Once all the information on the data entry screen has been properly entered press the ESC key. You will be returned to the normal editing screen. 9) Repeat steps 1 - 8 for all items you wish to create. 10) Press F3 or ESC to end the editing session. The menu file will be saved. The menu is now ready for use. Note that each item on the data entry screen will display a help line at the bottom of the screen to assist you in entering data. The TIME12 and TIME24 item catagories do not have a data entry screen. The DATE catagory data entry screen functions like the catagory selection screen - use the page up and page down keys to select which date style you want. NOTES: QUESTOR will use whatever video mode your monitor is in at the time it loads. In other words if you have set your monitor to display 43 lines on a screen (such as by issuing MODE CON: LINES=43 from the command prompt with ANSI.SYS loaded), then QUESTOR will always use that mode for the menu displays. If you want to have QUESTOR switch to a different lines per screen from menu to menu there is a trick you can use. QUESTOR remembers the video mode for each menu screen. To create a menu screen in a different video mode exit QUESTOR, switch to the desired mode, rename the QMAIN.MNU file to something else and restart QUESTOR. QUESTOR will inform you that it cannot find the main menu file and you must build it. Build the menu screen you want. Exit QUESTOR. Rename the newly created QMAIN.MNU file to something else (this will be the new sub-menu). Rename the old main menu file QMAIN.MNU. Restart QUESTOR. Create an item on the menu for the sub- menu you just created and enter the name of the file which you renamed it to into the filename space on the properties screen. This procedure will become completely automated when the new version of QUESTOR is produced. The SHAREWARE version of QUESTOR does NOT have control + break interrupt interception turned on. In other words anyone knowing how to press control + C can exit the program! This feature will be activated in the release version which will enhanse the password protection feature of QUESTOR. Additionally, selection of a removable drive may cause the operating system to write over the QUESTOR screens. If this happens press the ESC key to back out of the present screen. This will also be corrected in the release version. One final note concerning the password feature. This password protection is VERY SIMPLE and is not meant for ultimate security. It simply keeps the normal passerby (or your kids) from using programs you do not want them to use. The password is displayed unscrambled on the properties screen. The password is stored in the menu in a scrambled form. The password feature will not prevent access to the system if another program allows you to shell out to DOS. Finally, if you have any questions or problems please report them to me. I have had this program installed on my kid's machine for some time now and I believe it to be 100% bug free. I have encountered no problems with the program for some time and my 3 beta testers have reported no problems. If time permits I'm planning on trying to redo this program in overlay form so that it uses less memory when running programs in non- overlay mode. In other words parts of this program will not be called into memory (the editing code for example) until it is actually needed. If you register with the source code option you will receive a complete copy of the up-to-date source code used to compile this program. I use the Microsoft C/C++ 7.0 compiler. The program is written in C++ and was used at a learning tool for that language. Since I'm a former C programmer this program is not a true C++ program but is sort of a mix of the two programming styles.