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Text File | 1987-11-30 | 15KB | 374 lines

HOMEBASE V 2.14 READ ME November 30, 1987 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ IMPORTANT There have been a number of significant changes in HomeBase. In order to take full advantage of the new features, changes in nomenclature, new installation procedures and new toggles to insure compatibility be sure to read the following information. HOMEBASE RELEASE 2.0 ==================== If you have a version of HomeBase earlier than 2.0, PLEASE run the HBINSTAL program found in this version. This program is much easier to use than previous versions and does some important checking of disk space and setting of the config.sys file. If you just copy the new files to an existing HOMEBASE directory then you will probably crash your system. 1.) Backup all HomeBase data files. (*.NBD, etc.) This is just for your piece of mind since HBINSTAL does not destroy existing data files. 2.) Put HomeBase Disk #1 in Drive A: 3.) Type: a:HBINSTAL 4.) Answer the questions and do what HBINSTAL asks you to do. QUICKY ------ If you are new to HomeBase you can quickly run HomeBase directly from the DISK 1 and 2 supplied or from the copies you should make of them. However, this is just for testing and play -- it does not make a permanent installation on your disk and will disappear when you turn off your machine. First boot up with FILES=20 in your CONFIG.SYS file. To run quicky type: A:QUICKY and answer the questions and do what quicky asks you to do. SWAPPING -------- Swapping is an important feature, but you must understand its limitations. Swapping is a great boon since it gives you 133K more memory for use by other progams that need it (like Lotus, etc.) However, some programs are not compatible with swapping and the swapping process takes more time than the non-swap "resident" method. How swapping works ------------------ When you type Alt-Shift-H (or Alt-Shift-Shift) the HomeBase kernel (HBKERNEL) program, which is always resident, first saves the current executing task and then puts HomeBase in its place. When you exit HomeBase the reverse occurs: HomeBase is written back to disk and the original program is brought back. While the kernel is reading and writing to the disk to perform the swapping you must wait. On a hard disk you wait about 3 to 5 seconds. On a RAM disk (like VDISK supplied with DOS) you wait about 1 second or less. We recommend that you use a RAM disk if you have Expanded or Extended memory (such as the ABOVE type board). If you do not have expanded or extended memory (i.e. memory that lies outside the normal 640k that DOS uses) then you should NOT use a RAM disk for swapping since there is no advantage -- either use hard disk swapping or use HomeBase in the non-swap resident mode. NOTES about SWAPPING: --------------------- 1) The 1 to 5 second delay applies only to the entry and exit of HomeBase. Once you are inside HomeBase, jumping to the many functions of HomeBase take no time at all. Swapping only occurs when you "escape" to the outside by typing Alt-Shift-Esc or Alt- Shift-Return. Esc alone works only if there is just one active HomeBase task; otherwise Esc jumps you to one of the remaining active HomeBase functions. 2) The HomeBase screens will appear immediately if they have been previously activated. This makes the delay seem faster. 3) HomeBase performs swapping by writing and reading a special "hidden" 181 Kilobyte file named HBSWAP$$.HB$. Thus there must be 181K space free on your disk. This file cannot be deleted by dos. If you don't want the file to be hidden, just create a dummy swap file before you run the HBINSTALL program by typing: copy hb.exe+hb.exe+hbkernel.com c:\hbswap$$.hb$ If you use RAM disk swapping the c: above may be d: or some other letter. The swap file must be in the root directory. For greatest speed the swap file should be contiguous. If you don't know what this means don't worry about it. 4) If you use a RAM disk only the swap file need be there. The HOMEBASE subdirectory can be on the hard disk. HBINSTALL will ask you for the drive letter of the disk where you want the swap file to be put. 5) To install HomeBase in the swapping mode you can: 1) Specify it during the HBINSTALL program. 2) Specify it in the HBCONFIG.HB$ file. Use your word processor to make or modify this file (which is created by HBINSTALL.) The first line should be: d: s where d: is the drive where the swap file should go. To cancel swapping change "s" to "-s". 3) Specify it manually by typing "s" in the right spot on the command line, e.g. to specify swap on drive D: type: hb d: s NOTE: The drive letter and "s" or "-s" must preceed the other letter options permitted by HomeBase (such as i, d, z, etc.). The colon (:) must be typed after the drive letter (as shown above.) The "DO NOT SWAP" Warning Beep ------------------------------ HomeBase must never try to swap out a user program that is using the asynchronous or timer-tick interrupts. If a modem sent a character or a timer tick occurred, the cpu would jump to code that no longer exists, i.e. it has been removed (swapped) to temporary storage on disk. HomeBase tries to detect programs that are unswappable, but without a priori knowledge about the user's program, there is no infallible way to prevent errors. Thus in rare cases HomeBase will try to swap out a program that should not be swapped out. HomeBase places itself as high as possible in memory so that it is unlikely to conflict with any but the largest programs. However if you have only 256K of memory then it is likely that part the main program you are running (like Lotus or a word processor) will be swapped out during HomeBase operation. HomeBase scans all interrupts for possible connections to the program that is about to be swapped out and, if found, does not swap and just stays in the user's program. However, in order to inform you that this has occurred and to prevent messing up the screen with a message, HomeBase plays the tune "Yankee Doodle Dandy". Sometimes HomeBase plays this tune but still allows swapping because the interrupt number is 50 or greater and these interrupts are rarely used when the program is not active. In any case, if you find a program that fools HomeBase or causes a problem, you can put a "safety shield" around it by using a batch program that runs the supplied SWAP.COM program. SWAP.COM: A Safety Shield for Non-swappable Programs ----------------------------------------------------- The SWAP.COM program prevents swapping until an unswappable user program has terminated. You must create a "batch" file in which SWAP OFF appears before the program and SWAP ON appears after it. For example, if you find that the program YYY.COM needs a safety shield, you would make the following batch file named RUNYYY.BAT: swap off yyy swap on Do not name this program YYY.BAT since when you type YYY, DOS first tries to run YYY.COM or YYY.EXE before trying to run YYY.BAT. Once this batch program is created (using an editor or word processor), you need only type: runyyy (Make sure the SWAP.COM program has been copied from the HomeBase distribution disk to your working disk.) Types of Programs that are Non-swappable ---------------------------------------- You cannot swap out programs that are using the async interrupts or the timer tick interrupts. Terminal emulator programs use the async interrupts, some word processor programs use int 8 and 9 and 16, and some spreadsheet programs use the timer tick, int 8 and 1C. Fortunately if you have 640K of memory then the non-swappable part of your program will not overlap the memory that is swapped out and replaced with HomeBase. Thus sometimes even non compatible programs will run fine with HomeBase in the swap mode. BUT PLEASE EXPERIMENT FIRST! Soon we will publish a list describing the programs which pose a problem. HBALARMS.COM ---------- If the user specifies the "-A" option in HBKERNEL then the alarm file will not be automatically read in. In this case the user must use the HBALARMS.COM program to perform the requeuing. To schedule today's alarms type: HBALARMS cq (i.e. clear and queue) If you made a mistake (set the time wrong, etc.) you can undo the mistake by typing: HBALARMS u If you forget how to use HBALARMS, just type "HBALARMS" and a short help message will remind you. QUICKTERM --------- If you are running HomeBase in the swap mode and Quickterm in the background, you will not be able to exit HomeBase and return to the "foreground", such as DOS or your word processor. You can however, switch between the several HomeBase functions. If you wish to use Quickterm in background mode while running other programs, you'll need to run HomeBase resident rather than in swap mode. An extra option has been added to Quickterm that permits logging on to a service without Quickterm sending a string of characters. This is particularly important when using EasyLink. KEYBOARD PROGRAMS such as PROKEY -------------------------------- As before, Prokey and other keyboard programs must be installed before HBKERNEL is installed. Now, you can have your Keyboard program signal Alt-Shift-Shift in order to activate HomeBase. Then you can have the Keyboard program signal the first letter of the HomeBase function that you want. Alt-Shift-Shift (activates Homebase Main menu) N (calls up the Notebase) Note: Both Shifts must be signalled, i.e. L Shift and R shift together with the Alt key. You can also type this manually. TEMPLATE MAKER: --------------- 1. When using the template maker program a1. You should have a hbvsi installed with 40k of screen buffer, i.e. in the autoexec.bat file it would read: hbvsi 40k a2. If you are going to alter the structure of a notebase you've previously constructed with the template maker, be sure to first UNLOAD the Notebase from the NOTEBASE PROGRAM before loading the notebase into the template maker. Use the UNLOAD command on the horizontal main Notebase menu. This will remove the Notebase from RAM so that you do not wind up with two conflicting versions of the same Notebase. b. After you create a notebase with the template maker. It will not be automatically loaded into the notebase list until you either reboot or use the ADD command on the main Notebase menu. c. When using the Template Maker, you must be in the directory and drive where your notebases are normally found. Otherwise, you would create a Notebase within a directory that does not auto- load it's Notebases into HomeBase. On a floppy disk sys- tem you want to be on drive b: when you load HBTM to ensure that you will save your newly created notebase on drive b: Example: Floppy Hard Disk b: cd \homebase a:hbtemplt hbtemplt NOTEBASE PRINT: --------------- 2. When using the Report Generator (HBPRINT.COM) program (previously called HBNBP.COM) a. When using the Report Generator to set up a report format for printing, if you are going to be printing pages that are larger than the size of your screen then you should add extra screen memory to HomeBase. Using the HomeBase Editor, read in the autoexec.bat file in your root directory. You'll note that there is a line that begins; original: hbvsi 33k This is HomeBase's screen management facility, and the number following it represents the size of the buffer opened for screen management. For the larger size reports you should change this to 40K, i.e. change to: hbvsi 40k QUICKTERM AUTODIALER: ----------- 3. Once you have set up all the information you need for a particular host computer you wish to contact, use the "Write" command found on the main Autodialer menu to save the configuration. Once you have done this, the name of the host computer will appear on your autodialer index. When you wish to call a particular host, just use the highlighting cursor bar, and the Select command on the horizontal menu to automatically configure and dial for you. GRAPHICS CARDS (EGA and Hercules type MONOGRAPHICS) --------------------------------------------------- 4. If you are using a monochrome screen with a graphic card (i.e. Hercules monographic card or something similar) and are running programs such as LOTUS which switch to graphics without telling DOS that they are doing so, then you will find that HomeBase will only appear correctly on the screen when LOTUS (or other like program) is in "text" mode. (i.e. if you call up HomeBase while showing a graph in LOTUS you will see garbage on the screen.) Just hit ALT/SHIFT/ESC and switch LOTUS back to the text/spreadsheet mode before trying to reinvoke HomeBase. FILE MAINTENANCE (HBCLEAN) -------------------------- 5. Most databases, Homebase's Notebase system included, require occasional file maintenance. The purpose of this is to remove little memory gobblers that attach themselves to files as you add and delete records and information. This helps you keep your notebases down to the minimum size and your system at its maximum effeciency. To perform a file maintenance, enter the subidrectory where your notebases are stored and type: HBCLEAN If you use your notebases a lot, you should try to get into the habit of running hbclean once a week or so. Added in version 2.11 --------------------- 1) HomeBase now uses an external ShareWare file called "HB.ECT". This file should be present in the current directory when executing HB.EXE (or HB.COM). Added in version 2.14 --------------------- 1) A new install/change configuration program HBINSTAL.EXE has beem written. It can be used to do the initial instalation and to change the setup for an aleady installed homebase. 2) The shareware screen is now several screens, and now contains a menu, this menu will let you register your copy in all the possible countries that Brown Bag Software has offices, also you can see the different prices. I will also print out a registration form. And it will let you print out the documentation. 3) HBCONV.EXE has been rewritten, and now has contextual help. 4) HBMOBILE.EXE has been added to the shareware disk, it will let you produce address lists, telephone lists, daily, monthly or yearly calendars in a format that will fit into your timemanager. have fun !