Help On TC-DIRECTOR (c)

Help on help


All help topics can be accessed via a standard click as it would be in a real-life webpage.
The helpengine will escort you to the selected topic so you can read it, click on the back to last position button to get back to the topic index.
If the back to last position button is gray you can go further back than you are at that point. (button a right hand top side of screen)
Most topics of TC-DIRECTOR (c) are handled in this helpfile, i can however happen that newer addons in tcd are not included in this help, this is because the development of tcd is more than alive and each build contains more new handy features.

Creating new documents in TCD


You can create a new document by pressing ALT+N together.
TCD will ask for a pagename (using the <TITLE> tag) and a filename to save the page under, after this is completed you can setup the body element of this page.
NOTE:Body elements are not displayed in the tcd internal viewer!
After all these questions you can start beginning to create your www page.

Using dialogs to create entries


The more complex tags that are currently available in html are easy to insert via their dialogscreens, this way you can create complex pages in a very short time and don't have to bother about proper syntax etc.

NOTE:All menu entries are handled in this helpfile, each entry will state if the entry is done by dialogs or in a standard manner.

Online registering of TC-DIRECTOR (c)


You can register online via internet, check our homepage for more information concerning this subject, or try our direct link (http://www.euronet.nl/users/rpe/readme.html)
Compuserve users will be able to register online via the SWREG forum more details on compuserve (GO SWREG 8713).
For pricing details check out our homepage (http://www.euronet.nl/users/rpe).
Upon registration the nagscreens will dissapear, there is no time limit anymore, the register gauge will vanish.
We keep you posted via our mailing list of new builds and versions.
How long will it be registered?, There is no limit for the registration to expire, its really until the world stops spinning or we decide otherwise in a newer version. No need to register your editor again and again as the new versions come out.
For a more detailed description check our About TC-DIRECTOR (c) information.
If you want to bundle TC-DIRECTOR (c), or place it on cdrom please checkout our disclaimer.

How to get on our mailing and information lists


When new versions or builds of the current version are to be expected, you can receive an automated email wich informs you how and when the new release will be available.
You can enter youre name automaticly on our mailing lists, if you want information on how to go around please send a email to rpe@euronet.nl, place in the subject header INFORMATION (must be uppercase), our mail program will send you a document in wich all metacommands are explained and how you can enter the mailinglist.

Using the menustructure


We tried to create a easy to follow menustructure, most html commands and their (if available) dialogscreens are tugged away beneath the menubar, in case of more options you will find a submenu wich handles the several options that are available.
Special items can contain a hotkey, if this is the case the hotkey is mentioned in the menu entry.
All the menubar items are discussed in this help file.

Using the filemenu option


When the filemenu is clicked you will see the following choices,
New file, Open file, Save file, Close current file, Start ftp session, load compressed, save compressed,Load templates, Setup printer, Print document, View document, View document via netscape, exit to windows.

New file

This enables you to create a new document, tcd will place all the needed items for you into the editor, you can select body colors etc., after this you can go on and create your page(s)
Open file / Save file
This enables you to open a existing file, in case of an open file tcd will prompt you with a question if you really want to do this. In case of save file TCD will save the current file on disk. (you can also use CTRL-S to save files).
Close current file
Does nothing more or less than closing the active file.
Load templates
This will load a template file, wich you created earlier, if there is a tpl file called STARTUP.TPL TCD will load this automaticly if this feature is turned on in the setup.
Setup printer
With this option you can setup your printer
View document
With this option you can take a sneak preview of your written document, this option is however limited to HTML 2 and does not support images, forms and tables. its mend to take a quick look to see if your text is correct, if you want a reallife preview use the view document via netscape feature (Hotkey F11).
View document via netscape
TCD offers a way to view documents via netscape (Hotkey F11), make shure that netscape is active and running, if you want to view offline then use the MOZOCK.DLL file, this DLL enables you to use netscape without going online.
Exit to windows
Closes any active file (saving it first), and returns you to windows

Compressed files
You can optionally choose for a compressed save or load of a file, the files are compressed files, thus saving precious diskspace, if you save compressed you can reload the document via the load compressed file option.
Start FTP Session
This feature enables you to directly upload your htmlfiles to your webserver, this feature however is only available in the registered versions.
Make sure that winsock is loaded and ready to dial in.
Before you start using the ftp client make sure you have setup the basic features in the setup screen (ALT+F9).
If no entry is found in the ini file, it will ask for a server to login, after login in, your accountname and password wil be asked.
After this go to your userdirectory, and transfer the files you want to put on your server.
Since the transferred files contain a 3 letter extension, you may need to rename the files on the server, select a file in the remotebox, click on rename, a dialogbox will appear type in the new filename, click on OK, the file is now renamed.
For exampe a file called INDEX.HTM could wel be renamed to INDEX.HTML.

Using the Editmenu


This menu offers the following choices.

Search [F3]
Searches for specified string in current document
Search and replace [F4]
Searches for specified string in and replaces them in current document
Undo
This option lets you stepback the last 5 jobs performed
Repeat last command
This repeats the last used HTML command.
Clipboard functions
Copy selected text
Copies selected text to clipboard
Cut selected text Cuts selected text to clipboard.
Paste selected text
Pastes selected text to current document
Delete Selected text
Deletes selected text in current document.
NOTE:These functions are also available via the right mouse button.

Document structure command (submenu)


With this menu you can set the structure of your document, you will find the following tags here.

HEADER
TITLE
ISINDEX
STYLE NOTATION
META

Document types (submenu)


Here you find the different document types.

HTML 2.0
HTML 3.0
Netscape

With these type you can write browser specific pages, for example the populair netscape browser will recognize wich document is presented via these types.
It will appear as follows in your document.

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3O//DTD HTML 3.0//EN"> (HTML 2.0 Type)
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML 2.0//EN"> (HTML 3.0 Type)
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//Netscape Comm. Corp.//DTD HTML//EN"> (Netscape Type)

HTML 3.0 tags menu command (submenu)


Under this menu most known html 3 commands are implemented, since html 3 is still a proposal not all commands are inserted yet!.
You will find the following;

Person tag
Acronym
Insert
Delete
Short quote
Define term

Remainder of html tags


The remaining submenus are all html2/3 tags that are common to the large population of web-authors.
The Microsoft specific tags are discussed in their own helptopic.
In case of low html knowledge we recommend the lycos server (www.lycos.com) to search for more detailed information about html.

The microsoft extensions to html (submenu)


Since windows '95 is released, there is also the plus package wich contains all the things one needs to acces the internet, they also released their own browser wich has some nice additions to the ones allready floating around on internet. We have inserted these additions to make TCD a flexible editor wich can be used for all famous browsers.
Here are the commands supported by TCD;

Marquee
Font face
Font color
Background sound
Play video clip

The marquee tag enables you set scrolling messages to your page.
The Font face tag enables you to have several fonts active on your page.
The Font color tags enables you to have several colors in one sentence in your page.
The Background sound tag enables you to force the browser to play a sound on the background of your page.
The Play video clip enables you to play avi files on your page.

These functions are relative powerfull to the ones available in other browsers, specially the playvideo function.
All the MSN extensions are handled via dialogscreens to setup those tags as easy as possible.

Using the SSi tags


SSi stands for Server Side Includes, this means that the server side (HTTPD) can handle certain tasks for you.
At this (beta )versions only a minor part is included, we are busy inserting all known ssi tags, we're also looking for documentation for server side includes.

Using the misc.tags menu


Here you will find the tags that are dialog or form driven, this to make it easier for you to create www pages.

Using the special menu


Here are all special options placed, you will find the following;

Show user defined tags ALT+F1
Insert user defined tags CTRL+F1
Insert textfile ALT+F2
Insert date and time ALT+F3
Insert document name ALT+F4
Create document template ALT+F5
Insert page last modified line ALT+F6
Macro's ALT+F8
Process macro's in document SHFT+CTRL+F12
Insert stamp information CTRL+INS

NOTE: Imported textfiles can be converted to html, you can select several options in the dialogscreen before pressing the OK button.

Using insert a textfile option


You will find this feature beneath the special menu, you acces it via a windows hotkey ALT+F2
This function lets you import plain asci textfiles, but you can also import and convert to html.
TCD defaults to convert to html (filter options), you can select via clicking the radio buttons.
If you choose to convert to html then you can check the items in the html box and / or the microsoft explorer box. After this click on OK, the file wil be converted and imported into the current document.

NOTE: Options checked in the microsoft explorer box cannot be handled by other browsers, you may endup with a slightly different look.
TIP:in case of more browser specific tags in one document make a special announcement in your page that your page supports the ... browser(s). This will explain to visitors why some items can be distorted on not- visible on your page(s).

Using macro's in your document


You can use macros in your document, there are 5 pre-defined macro's;

{TIME} : Will be replaced with the current time.
{DATE} : Will be replaced with the current date.
{ AUTHOR}: Will be replaced with your name found in the tcd ini file.
{(C)} : Will be replaced with your name found in the tcd ini file.
{EMAIL} : Will be replaced with your email adress found in the tcd ini file.

To process these macro's in your open document press ALT+1 a statusbar will indicated how far the converting progress is at that time.
You can choose to create your own macro's, press ALT+F8 for the macro editor, the same handling applies as for the build in macro's press ALT+1 to convert to them to the desired text.

Creating new macro's


By pressing ALT+F8 you can add new macro's to the macro.dat file.
There is no limit to this file, but keep in mind that how larger the file, the longer it may take to process the macro's.
You can enter anything you like as long as the macro is surrounded by the accolades ({ }), the macro entry in the document must be uppercase otherwise tcd cannot process it.
For a demo of macro's load the file called DEMO.HTM, this show the possibilities that TCD has to offer you..

How to contact us


You can reach us via internet and compuserve.

Email adress : rpe@euronet.nl
Cis (compuserve): 101337,1736
Compuserve via internet : 101337.1736@compuserve.com
WWW : http://www.euronet.nl/users/rpe/index.html

Using the image mapper


In this stage of development, the mapper is in a beta phase, aka its working is still rough, currently only bitmaps are supported (*.BMP), you can use the mapper but convert your .gif/.jpg to .bmp.
Usage is relatively simple go to the spot of your choice, click on left mousebutton, drag the box to the size you want, click the left button again, a dialogbox pops up, enter the correct http:// etc., press enter or click ok. repeat this procedure until you have mapped all regions you want to map..
Click on exit, TC-DIRECTOR (c) will ask you for a map name, enter a name, press enter or click ok.
Convert the image back to the format you want.

Using the mail wizard


With the mailwizard you can create mail forms to use on your page.
The wizard kan handle mailto: and cgi scripts, if you want to use a cgi script be sure that this exists on your server (or providers server) and type in the exact location of this script.
Are you in doubt if a script exists on your server kontakt your supervisor for details etc.

Using the guestform wizard


With this form you can create guestbook forms, fill in the editboxes before clicking on the corresponding buttons if not this will create blank form entries.
The return page is mend as a page to jump to after the guest entries are send.

Using the index wizard


With the index wizard you can create index pages, a index page is usually called index.html From this page you can create links to your other pages.

Using the thumbnail wizard


You have probably seen those pages with tons of small images neatly placed on a page.
Its much work, lots of typing an even more frustration, you can create thumbnailes pages easy with TC-DIRECTOR (c), select the images you want (.GIF/.JPG) fill in the titlepage name, select a background image, mark the options of your choice and TC-DIRECTOR (c) will create a nice page for you.
You can mark copy to active page TC-DIRECTOR (c) will then copy the hmlpage into your active document, if not he will ask for a filename to save the page under.
NOTE:Upload the graphics to your www directory, otherwise you have in your idea created a great page, but on the net it will show you nothing.

Using the javascript options


Javascript is a implementation from Netscape, its still growin and is a alternatief for the 32bits based java applets.
Javascript is relative easy to use and learn, you can include it in your html file.Under the html tags menubar you will find netscape specific options in a submenu there's a entry called javascripts use this to define where your script is starting and where its ending. We have included a java documentation page from Netscape.
Read this and learn from the possibilities javascript is offering you!.
NOTE: Javascripting currently works only under netscape browsers.

Using VB-Script


Microsoft has announced their version of JavaScript, its called VB-Script, it will be available early 1996.
We are checking on a daily basis to see if there is a initial release date of this script language, as soon as it hits internet we will implement it directly. (as far as it can be implemented).
The bits and pieces we have seen so far indicate that its a basic like script language wich enables those of you who treasure Visual Basic to create great pages.
Drawback is that only the IExplorer from Microsoft is (currently) going to support it.

Using the image browsers


You can preview the images you plan to use in your documents.
At this time the formats GIF, BMP and AVI are supported.
The images can be stretched to fit the viewing window.
If you run windows 3.x and want to view avi files, make sure that Video for Windows is installed, if you don't have Video For Windows you can download a copy directly at http://www.msn.com (Microsoft)

Using the right mouse button (Popup menu)


Pressing the right mouse button shows a popup menu wich holds most used functions within TC-DIRECTOR (c) The following items can be found under the right mouse button.

Setting up TC-DIRECTOR (c)


You can acces the setup dialog via the options menubar or ALT+F9.
The ini file called (TCDIREC.INI) is placed in your windows directory, when starting the setup dialog you will see a tabbed notebook dialog in wich you can setup your copy of tc-director.
The created ini file also contains debug information, please do not alter this by hand!, tc-director updates this information every time when the ini file is updated, this information is used by the bugform generator dialog.

The following tabs are available,

General information tab

General information contains checkmarks wich you can enable or disable to fully configure the working of tc-director, features as auto-save and auto-process you can find here!
User information
Contains information about you, your name and email adress.
TC-DIRECTOR retains your name from windows if no name is given. Please adjust this as you feel fit.
Do not edit the ini file directly, all information that is needed will be supplied via the setup dialog.
Stamp information
This tab hold the stampfile information doubleclick the edit field to load a pre-defined stampfile, if there is no stampfile present create one with the create stampfile button.
External browser
If you want to define your own browser this is the place to be, TC-DIRECTOR supports a standard dde link to netscape, but some people preffer the own popular browser.
Colors and Fonts
Each section of the mainscreen has its own colors and fonts you can select those using the colors and font tabs, tc-director will give you a selection of all availble fonts within windows. Default colors are black text and windowsgray background, default font is system.

Using the Options menu


Here you will find the options that are needed to run TC-DIRECTOR properly.
Below here are the current topics,

Setup tc-director ALT+F9

With this dialogbox you can setup tc-director (autosave features etc.).
Use did you know feature
Enabeling this feature leaves your with did you know notes every now and then.
Hide button bar
This will hide / unhide the buttonbar panels.
Turn on/off balloon hints
This will turn of the ballooned hints to square hintboxes
Turn on/off statusbar
This turns on/off the statusbar below on your screen.
Register
This option changes to registerinformation as soon as you registered tc-director, else you wil find a register dialog, when registering you will receive instructions via email.
Bug report
With this option you can create a bugform wich can be attached to a email message.

Disclaimer