Languages Around the World/LanguageWorld.iso/language/chinese/duke_typ/install.dct

Text File | 1987-04-21 | 10.5 KB | 204 lines

               THE DUKE CHINESE TYPIST INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

1.  SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

     In order to use The Duke Chinese Typist, you will need an IBM PC, XT,
AT, or compatible microcomputer with at least 512K RAM, a graphics card with
IBM Enhanced Graphics Adaptor (EGA) compatibility, and a monochrome (not
composite, except with EGA Wonder card--see below) or enhanced color monitor.
If EGA graphics is not available to you, and you have an expansion slot
available, consider buying an EGA card.  While the least expensive EGA cards
cost less than $200, it is probably worth the extra expense to get one of the
more flexible multi-standard graphics cards. These cards, capable of
automatically switching among EGA, Color-Graphics Adaptor (CGA), Hercules,
and MDA (monochrome) graphics modes, have become very popular in recent
months, and can be found for as little as $300. I enclose a brief review of
one new multi-standard card, the EGA Wonder, from ATI Technologies, which we
recently bought for around $300, thoroughly tested at Duke, and are very
satisfied with. It has the unique ability to run any software on any monitor.
With an EGA Wonder, you can run DCT with an ordinary IBM color monitor or a
composite monitor, such as on an IBM portable, but with a slight compromise
of the clarity of an ordinary inexpensive monochrome monitor. Note that the
newly announced IBM Video Graphics Array (VGA) standard also offers downward
EGA compatibility.

     A hard disk, although not required, is recommended for faster and easier
program loading. It will not affect speed of operation of the program.
However, use of an AT or other machine with a faster processor speed than the
standard IBM PC will noticeably improve screen update performance.

     Since the DCT editor program, with its dictionary and character font
libraries, almost entirely fills 512K of RAM, 640K is preferable. If you have
512K and are not using an AT, it is probably preferable to boot with a 2.x
version of DOS (e.g. 2.10), rather than DOS 3.x, since it is smaller, and DCT
functions perfectly well with DOS 2.x. Most memory-resident programs, such as
Sidekick, use more memory than is available while running DCT with 512K.
Because of the memory limitations, only a small (less than 10,000 bytes)
document can be created within 512K, although this should be adequate for
most student Chinese word-processing needs. (DCT stores all characters,
Chinese or English, as 2-byte units, so 10K = 5000 or so characters.) If
running out of memory proves to be a problem, you can also make sure there is
no DCT.RC start-up command file in the current directory when DCT starts,
such as the sample one on the distribution disk DCTHELP.RC, which
automatically splits the screen and loads an on-screen help file HELP.TXT
into the upper window.  Just delete or rename any existing DCT.RC file. With
640K or more, there is breathing space for other memory-resident programs,
larger documents, and the DOS shell command.

     For printing, the printer program DCTPR.EXE will work with the IBM
Proprinter, the Epson FX series, or the Hewlett-Packard Laserjet. DCT version
1.0 has essentially no page formatting, such as left and right margin control,
so on dot-matrix printers you will need to adjust the paper in the printer to
allow for a left margin, and control line length within the DCT editor
program.

2. INSTALLATION PROCEDURE

      The Duke Chinese Typist Program Disk (Disk 1) contains the following
files:

       DCT.EXE           Duke Chinese Typist editor
       DCTPR.EXE         Duke Chinese Typist Page Printer
       TYPIST.BAT        Batch file for use on double floppy system
       FLOPAUTO.BAT      Sample AUTOEXEC.BAT file for floppy system
       FLPPRINT.BAT      REName PRINT.BAT on double floppy system
       CONFIG.SYS        Suggested system configuration file to use on bootup
       INSTALL.DCT       This document
       KNOWN.BUG         Some shortcomings already known to us!
       SAMPLE.TXT        Sample DCT file (.TXT files are non-ASCII DCT text
                         files)
       README            Most up-to-date information on DCT
   (Files below are those used with DCT in Duke Humanities Computing Lab)
       AUTOMENU.COM      User-supported Menu Shell program (REName one of the
                         sample files below AUTOMENU.MDF as a script file)
       FLOPMENU.MDF      AUTOMENU.MDF for use with AUTOMENU on floppy system
       HARDMENU.MDF      AUTOMENU.MDF for use with AUTOMENU on harddisk system
       HARDAUTO.BAT      Sample AUTOEXEC.BAT file for use in root directory
                         of hard disk system
       (perhaps also other miscellaneous files)

     The Duke Chinese Typist Dictionary and Font Disk (Disk 2) contains the
Chinese character font library files, the internal dictionary which DCT uses
to access them, and other miscellaneous files:

       DCT1.FNT          Chinese Character Font Library (255 16x16 matrix
          .              characters per file)
          .
          .
       DCT21.FNT
       DCTPYIN.FNT       English and pinyin w/tone character font library
       DCTPUNC.FNT       Chinese punctuation font library
       DCT.DIC           Internal dictionary used by DCT editor
       TEACHME.DCT       Tutorial on use of DCT's Chinese input function keys
       TEACHME2.DCT             (continued)
       TEACHME3.DCT                 "
       DCTHLP.SCR        Command summary screen displayed by <F1> or Esc...?
       DCTHLP2.SCR       A more descriptive alternative (to use with DCt 1.0
                         you must REName it DCTHLP.SCR to replace above file)
       DCT.HLP           Alternative help screen in DCT text (.TXT) format
       HELP.TXT          Onscreen guide to special Chinese input keys
  (The files below are copies of those used with AUTOEXEC.BAT and
  AUTOMENU.COM in Duke Humanities Computing Lab)
       DCTDEMO.RC        Rename DCT.RC for brief demonstration routine
       DCTHELP.RC        Rename DCT.RC for automatic onscreen guide to Chinese
                         input function keys
       DEMO.TXT          Sample text used in demonstration routine
       PRINT.BAT         A sample batch file used for printing
       DCTNOTE           Message about printing used with hard disk
                         AUTOEXEC.BAT and PRINT.BAT
       DCTNOTE.FLP       Modification of above for double floppy system
       DATENOTE          Reminder to tell computer today's date


Save these disks as back-up masters, making working copies to use, by either
copying onto other floppies, as explained in a. below or onto a hard disk, as
explained in b. below.

  a. Double floppy system

     First make working copies of your Duke Chinese Typist distribution
diskettes, using standard DOS commands. For the DCT Program Disk, you will
find it convenient to COPY all the files thereon to an already formatted,
bootable disk containing the DOS system files, which you can use to boot
your system as needed. Put the DCT Program Disk in the A drive and type

            A>copy a:*.*  b:    <CR>

     If you do not boot with the DCT Program Disk, you should have on your
boot disk a CONFIG.SYS file specifying an adequate number of input-output
buffers for DOS to use, similar to the CONFIG.SYS file on the DCT Program
Disk. You can also use any English word processor which produces ordinary
ASCII text to add a line "buffers=15" to your pre-existing CONFIG.SYS file.
This will speed up program loading from floppy disks.

     For the DCT Dictionary and Font Disk, you can either use the procedure
above or you can DISKCOPY it to a new unformatted disk. First put your DOS
disk containing the DISKCOPY program into the A drive, then type

            A>diskcopy a: b:    <CR>

then replace the DOS disk in the A drive with the DCT disk, put the blank
disk in the B drive, and proceed.

     When you have finished making your working copies, store your
distribution disks and boot with your copy of the Program Disk in the A drive
and the Dictionary and Font Disk in the B drive. The DCT editor program looks
for its .FNT font files, .DIC dictionary file, and optional DCT.RC start-up
command file (a powerful, but not yet documented, DCT feature!) in the current
directory on the default disk drive. The DCT page printer program also looks
for its .FNT font files in the same place. There are several ways you can
assure that these DCT programs will find all the files they need. One is to
run the batch command file TYPIST.BAT:

        A>typist [filename]  <CR>

which will log onto the B drive (which is then the default drive) and run
DCT from the A drive, with the command B>a:dct, then when you exit DCT,
return you to the A drive. Or you may log onto the B drive and run DCT.EXE
or DCTPR.EXE yourself, with the commands:

       A>b:   <CR>
       B>a:dct [filename]  <CR>
       (or to print your document, B>a:dctpr [filename] <CR>).

Finally, you are free to rearrange all the files however you please,
including reversing the disks in the A and B drive, if you prefer, as long as
you remember that the DCT programs will look in the default drive and current
directory for their supporting files.

  b. Hard disk system

     As under a. above, DCT files will load slightly faster if your root
directory contains a CONFIG.SYS file with a line specifying an adequate
number of input-output buffers for DOS to use, such as "buffers=15".

     Create on your hard disk a subdirectory especially for all the Duke
Chinese Typist files, by typing, while in the root directory or other
directory under which you wish the DCT files to reside

           C>md dct      <CR>

Then place the DCT diskettes one at a time in the A drive, and copy all
the DCT files to the DCT subdirectory you created with the command

           C>copy a:*.*  dct     <CR>

Subsequently you can run DCT by changing to the DCT subdirectory with the "cd"
or "chdir" DOS command, then typing

           C>dct [filename]    <CR>

  c. Other hardware configurations

     If you have a system with lots of extended memory which you could
devote to a RAM disk, or a Bernoulli box or other mass storage device, you
presumably already know what tricks you could use to make DCT easily
and quickly accessible.

3. KNOWN BUGS

     Too numerous to mention! However, if you are alert to some of the
more common ones, you will be able to work around them more easily. Consult
separate list of bugs in DCT Version 1.0. Please let us know others you
discover.