Mega CD-ROM 1/megacd_rom_1.zip/megacd_rom_1/HANDICAP/VUDEMO.ZIP/VUDEMO.DOC

Text File | 1990-03-04 | 12KB | 197 lines

            VU.EXE Copyright (c) 1990 by Charles L. Broome
       Charles L. Broome, P.O. Box 2270, Rockport, Texas, 78382
                          [phone]

  VU is a file-reading program with it's own built-in large-letter display
that can be switched between 6 lines of 20 columns and 3 lines of 10 columns.
The program will work ONLY on systems that either have or can emulate CGA
cards. I'm currently working on a version that will also function on systems
with a monochrome graphics card, and a version for braille and voice is
already completed except for a little last-minute polishing up.

  This is a demo version of the program, and is limited to reading about
three or four pages of information. The current price for the full version is
fifteen dollars through the 15th of March, 1990. That price applies to any
orders postmarked on or before that date. The price includes one free update
if I find it necessary to fix any major bugs.

  One of VU's unique features is that you can set and save up to 9
"bookmarks" to disk so that you can come back to the same place later. Each
bookmark is selected by a key that identifies itself by a label that the user
can assign. VU's colors can also be configured and saved to disk. The program
tries to avoid splitting words at the boundaries of the display, features an
automatic "7th bit filter" and also includes a phrase-search function.

  There are already plenty of file-reading programs out there that, combined
with a good character-magnification program, will already accurately reflect
the relative positions of characters in a file. VU is a horse of a different
color - it re-arranges text to eliminate large amounts of blank space and to
avoid splitting words at the ends of lines, which makes it fantastic for
reading large amounts of text. Though this same feature makes it impractical
for reading tabular information, I think you'll agree that it excels at what
it was designed for - reading straight text files.

  To read a file with the program, just type "VU <filename>". Use the up and
down arrow keys to step through the file. PAGE-UP and PAGE-DOWN step about
300 words at a time forwards or backwards. Shift-PAGE-UP and shift-PAGE-DOWN
step forwards and backwards by about 1/10th the file size. HOME goes to the
start of the file, and END goes to the end of the file. The INSERT key
toggles between the 10 column and 20 column modes.

  The shifted-arrow keys adjust the foreground and background colors. If you
are logged into the directory containing VU.EXE and the program's name
remains unchanged from "VU.EXE" and the program is not write-protected, then
pressing ALT-F10 will configure the program with your choice of colors and
with the current character size.

  To search for a phrase, press F10. In the 20-column mode, you'll get both a
prompt and, in braces, the current search phrase. In the 10-column mode,
you'll get only the current search-phrase in braces. Either way you can
press the ENTER key to start searching for that phrase from the current
position, or you can type in a new phrase. If you type in a new phrase, then
the screen will clear when you type the first character, and then only what
you are typing will be displayed. Phrases can be up to 70 characters long,
but in the 30-column mode you'll see only the first 30 characters. When you
press the ENTER key, the search will begin. All searches begin from the
current position and go towards the end of the file.

 Searches are case-insensitive and the amount of whitespace (blanks, tabs,
carriage-returns, etc.) between words is irrelevant in searches.

  The question-mark will cause the filename, your current position, and the
filesize to be displayed. When done reading this, press any key to go back to
the regular display.

   Bookmarks are set by pressing the unshifted function keys F1 through F9.
If a key has not been assigned to a bookmark, then it will give a fast
triple-beep when pressed to indicate that it has saved the bookmark. If a
bookmark is already assigned to that key, then it will give a single
high-pitched beep and it's current assignment will remain unchanged. If you
then press it again before pressing any other key, then the NEW bookmark will
be assigned to that key. This prevents accidentally overwriting bookmarks.

  When you assign a bookmark, you will be given a chance to type in a label.
As with searches, the old label (if any) will be shown in braces and you can
either just press the ENTER key to accept it or type in a new one. If the key
has never been assigned before and you don't assign a label, then about 60
characters of text starting at the bookmark will be assigned as a label.

  To go to a bookmark, press the shifted function keys. Each one will
announce the label assigned to it's unshifted counterpart. If all you do is
press the keys, they just announce their labels. Following one with the ENTER
key jumps to the appropriate bookmark. Shifted F10 is a special kind of
bookmark - whenever you do anything that jumps you around the file, it's
bookmark is automatically set before jumping. If you make a wrong move, like
accidentally hitting the HOME key, then you can press shift-F10 to jump back
where you were.

  VU uses two methods to remember a bookmark. First, the current location in
the file is saved. Second, about 70 characters following that location are
also saved. When you jump to a bookmark, VU jumps to the location that has
been saved and then compares the characters there to the ones that it has
saved. If the file has not been altered than they will match and VU will
simply stay there. But if the file has been altered than the place that you
marked will have been moved forwards or backwards in the file.

  Because VU saved the characters immediately following your bookmark, this
gives it a second way to find the bookmark by searching for those characters.
It will automatically copy these to the search phrase, pause to inform you
that it;s going to have to search for the bookmark, and then do a normal
phrase search starting at the beginning of the file. On rare occasions that
sequence of characters may appear in more than one place in the file, so you
may have to use the search function to repeat the search. Once you find the
right spot, don't forget to re-assign the bookmark again!

  Bookmarks are only written to disk when you exit the program normally by
using Control-C. (Control-C is the only way out of the program). At that time
you'll be asked if you want to save them. They will be saved to a file with
the same name as the file you're reading, but with an extension of ".BKM".
And that's about all there is to the program!

  VU is only one among many programs I've written for blind and visually
impaired computer users. Following is a partial list of other programs. WHere
I say a program is "free", I mean that the version that's been released to
BBS's and for general passing-around are complete and are not just "DEMO"
versions. However, writing all this software is a full-time job that
precludes any other source of income so I always ask people to please send me
five or ten bucks even for the "free" programs. There are plenty of other
programs in the works, but whether I will be able to finish them depends
heavily on donations or lack thereof. I try to keep my prices low enough that
even people in the worst of circumstances can afford my software. If you
happen to be particularly well-off, a little extra donation would be greatly
appreciated - I need all the help I can get to be able to keep this up.

  ADIR (free on BLINK LINK or other BBS's) is a rejuvenated version of an
early prototype for my DosZilla DOS manager program for blind and visually
impaired computer users. A large-letter display was added and a few features
cleaned up to make a fairly nice program for navigating among files and
directories. Although primarily of use on hard drives, the program is also
handy on floppies. Unlike DosZilla, ADIR cannot be used with voice
synthesizers or braille terminals, but in a few days I'll be releasing
"ZDIR", which is a version of ADIR customized for use with voice synthesizers
and braille terminals.

  The program initially comes up in it's directories menu, showing the
current directory. You can use the up and down arrow keys to check out other
directories in the alphabetically sorted list. Pressing a letter of the
alphabet goes to the first directory on the list that starts with that
letter.

  When you get to the directory of interest, press the ENTER key and the
program switches into that directory and displays files one at a time. Once
again, you can use the up and down arrow keys to step through the list of
files, and pressing a letter of the alphabet searches for the next filename
that starts with that letter. Press the ESCAPE key to go back to showing
directories.

  DosZilla was designed primarily for use with braille terminals and voice
synthesizers, but it's output works quite nicely with screen magnification
software, and I'm thinking about adding the same screen-magnification
routines that are built into this program.

 DosZilla copies, moves, renames, and deletes files singly or en-masse;
creates, deletes, and renames directories; allows users to easily navigate
among directories and files, searches a disk for a given filespec or a file
containing a give phrase, "attaches" descriptions to filenames, and has a
menuing system that allows filenames to be passed to user applications. Most
keys announce themselves when pressed and action is only taken if the ENTER
key is thereafter pressed.  DosZilla has it's own built-in file-reading
routine that has been optimized for use with adaptive hardware and software.

  DosZilla took four months of 12-hour days to write, so it's a lot more
expensive than anything else I've done. Although I'm trying to hold the line
at $75, the price may eventually have to double if I don't get enough other
income-producing programs finished soon enough or if orders don't build fast
enough to keep up with expenses. A demo version of the program comes with the
package, and if customers are dissatisfied with the demo they can return the
rest of the package within three weeks for a refund of all but $10 of the
purchase price. A manual on cassette is included with DosZilla.

  There's a demo version of DosZilla out that's called "DZDEMO.EXE", though
it might be archived under the name of "DZ101".

  BigCalc is a scientific-calculator program that comes in several different
forms for use with braille terminals and voice synthesizers, and one version
has it's own built-in large-letter display. The full version of the program
sells for $25, but I have a $15 introductory offer going through March 15,
1990. A demo version called "BCDEMO" might be found on a local BBS. BigCalc
also comes with a manual on cassette.

  CGACLOCK uses a 10-column display to display time, date, and day of week.
It has an alarm, a timer, and a stopwatch function. Someday I'll make it
memory-resident, but I try not to get too serious with anything that's too
trivial to be worth selling. CGACLOCK is free from BBS's.

  I have a half-dozen smaller programs in the works - everything from a
hard-disk backup program down to to envelope addressers and label makers and
even a few games. If you're blind or visually impaired, drop me a line and
I'll let you know what all I have and what my current prices are.

  For four dollars to cover expenses, I can send you an assortment of my demo
programs on three or four 360K diskettes.

  I'll probably keep tweaking my various programs as time permits, so the
latest version of any of them may (or may not) be better than the demo
versions. Incidentally, this info file is only included in the demonstration
version of VU, so the full version is about ten kilobytes smaller.  -- Chuck