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READ.ME
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1988-05-15
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Instinct Software
11311 N. Central Expressway, Suite 300
Dallas, Texas 75243
Orders Only! Phone Line (214) 739-5543
Bulletin Board Phone Line (214) 368-2709
1200/2400 Baud, 8 data, 1 stop, no parity
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▒ Introduction ▒
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The purpose of ALT is to provide a useful, new framework for
computing with your IBM PC, PCAT or compatible. It is a
multi-faceted tool containing functions and capabilities that
can literally make the difference between getting the job done
effectively on the computer and abandoning the computer and
going back to "doing it by hand". While none of the tools ALT
provides are unique in nature, it is our opinion that most of
them are superior in their operation and breadth of
capabilities. ALT is best classified as a memory-resident
(i.e., always available) integration of four major, popular
utilities under a common user interface:
* Context switching and management for running several tasks
simultaneously with user definable menus
* Desk Accessory programs that imitate and surpass
their real-life counterparts
* A DOS shell providing powerful file and directory
management capabilities
* Macros and Data Transfer (Cut and Paste)
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▒ Installing ALT ▒
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To install ALT from the floppy to a hard disk drive:
Type: A:
Press: Enter
Type: Install
Type: (drive letter of your harddisk and colon, i.e. C: )
Press: Enter
The install program will then install ALT onto the designated
hard disk.
For those who have obtained the ALT shareware program without
the install program, perform the following steps to install ALT:
1. Create an \ALT subdirectory on your harddisk.
Type: (drive letter of your hardisk and colon, i.e. C: )
Press: Enter
Type: md \alt
Press: Enter
Type: cd \alt
Press: Enter
2. Copy all files from floppy (assuming drive A:) to newly created
subdirectory.
Type: copy a:\*.* \alt
Press: Enter
3. The Alt shareware program is distributed in an archived (or
crunched) form. The ARKE.COM program is used to unarchive (or
uncrunch) the files required by Alt.
Type: Arke Alt
Press: Enter
The installation of ALT is complete. Please note the following
for successful operation of Alt.
1. Make sure you have the following lines in the \CONFIG.SYS
file on your boot disk (usually your hard disk).
FILES=25
BUFFERS=25
2. Have the \ALT subdirectory included in your path, i.e.
PATH=\ALT
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▒ Running ALT ▒
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To run ALT, first go to the ALT directory:
Type: cd \ALT
Press: Enter
Type: alt
Press: Enter
The ALT banner will appear on the screen. Press any key to
continue. If ALT is being run for the first time, a screen for
configuring the swap drive will be presented. The swap
drive is the disk drive used by ALT for temporarily storing
programs run in other partitions while they are not being
used. It is this capability that allows ALT to give more
than one program, the entire memory resources of your
computer. Thus, it is very important that you spend a few
minutes setting up the swap drive configuration screen
correctly. The swap drive configuration screen appears
similar to the following:
The Swap Drive configuration screen contains two columns: a
swap drive column in which you fill in drive letters for the
disk drives available to ALT for memory swapping and a
column specifying the corresponding maximum amount of memory
ALT is allowed to use temporarily on the disk. Note that
ALT's use of your disk space is temporary. It will be freed
upon exiting ALT. You must enter at least one disk drive
letter for ALT to operate. We suggest using a RAM disk as
the swap drive if you have one. This will make swapping
much faster. Another good alternative is to use expanded
memory. To use expanded memory, enter 'X' as the first swap
drive letter. Then enter the maximum amount of disk space
in kilobytes you can afford in the corresponding column to
the right. Allow for about 600K per partition you plan to
use plus about 130K for each accessory you use. You may
leave this column blank if ALT is allowed to use all of the
disk space available (you must enter a number, however, when
using the expanded memory 'X' option). You can specify as
many as five different swap drives as available to ALT. It
is recommended that you specify your hard drive as the last
swap drive if you are using a RAM disk or expanded memory.
This will give ALT some memory to use temporarily in case it
runs out of space on the RAM disk or expanded memory. Leave
the Maximum Swap Size column blank for the last drive
specified in order to avoid the "Out of Swap Space Error".
For example suppose you have one hard disk C: and no RAM
disk or expanded memory. Then the following simple
configuration will suffice:
Swap Drive Maximum Swap Drive
C K
As another example, suppose you have a RAM disk D: with 3
Megabytes and a hard disk C:. Then a recommended swap drive
configuration might be:
Swap Drive Maximum Swap Drive
D 1500 K
C
The above sets up drive D: as the principal swap drive of
which ALT is only allowed to temporarily use 1500K or 1.5
Megabyte. Drive C: is specified as the secondary swap
drive.
As a final example, suppose you have an expanded memory card
with 4 Megabyte. Then you might configure ALT in the
followinig manner:
Swap Drive Maximum Swap Drive
X 2000
C
This makes the expanded memory card the principal swap drive
with enough memory to swap about three running programs and
some accessories before running out of "disk" space on the
expanded memory card. If ALT needed more than 2000K it
would then use drive C:
After configuring the swap drive, you will not see this
screen again. You can, however, change these settings
by using the setup program and selecting (D)rives.
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▒ The ALT Accessories ▒
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ALT provides a number of familiar desk accessory tools such as
calculators, an appointment book, editors, file services and
more. To bring up the ALT main menu and select an accessory:
Tap: Alt ( i.e. the key marked Alt on your keyboard. Do
not hold down the Alt key. YOU MUST TAP IT
SHARPLY. )
Select: the desired accessory
To get back to your running task or program, tap the Alt key
again and select the task from the upper menu by pressing the
appropriate number (i.e. 1).
To get quickly to the last accessory you were in from another
program, tap the Alt key twice. This is referred to as double
tapping. Likewise, double tapping while in an ALT accessory
returns you to the program you were in before entering the
accessory. Another way of accessing the last accessory visited
is to tap Alt and then press 0. (Think of the last accessory
visited as being in partition 0).
All accessories incorporate a user-interface similar to Lotus
123. At the bottom of each accessory appears a menu. (For some
accessories you must first press F10 to retrieve the menu line).
Items from the menu are selected either by using the arrow keys
to position the highlighted bar over a menu selection and then
pressing return, or by pressing the first letter of the menu
selection. As the highlighted bar is moved with the arrow keys,
an explanatory message appears beneath the menu line to remind
you of the use or function of the selection.
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▒ The Concepts of User Partitions and Program Switching ▒
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Like many programs for the IBM PC family, ALT resides in memory
so that it is instantly accessible. However, ALT operates
differently from most memory-resident software. ALT divides the
memory in your computer into one or more partitions. This gives
you the capability to run several programs simultaneously and
allows you to switch at will between them. The partitions are
numbered 1 through 9. When ALT is loaded it puts you back at
the DOS prompt in partition 1. To switch to a new partition,
tap the Alt key and then press the number of the partition
desired. For example, to go to partition 2, tap the Alt key
and then press 2.
What does all of this mean to you? Well, for instance you can
simultaneously run Lotus 123 in partition 1 say, and WordStar
in partition 2. Furthermore, you can switch between the two
programs at will. With ALT you are no longer constrained to
doing just one thing at a time!!!
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▒ Partition Configuration ▒
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If the partition you are switching to has never been visited
before, then a partition configuration screen will be
displayed. The first field configures the size of the
partition. Enter the smallest size in kilobytes as needed to
allow your application program to run in the partition. If you
do not know the amount of memory needed, try giving the
partition a large amount of memory, say 512K. However, the
larger the size you enter, the more ALT must swap memory out to
disk. Typing a larger number than the total amount of memory
available will give all available memory to the partition. When
in doubt, experiment! If the program you will be running in
the new partition is a graphics based program then answer Yes to
the second field (see below if EGA). If the program you are using
is a communications program, answer No to the third field. This
prevents ALT from swapping the program to disk during critical data
transfer operations. Finally, press F10 to initiate the switch to
the new partition or ESC to abort the operation.
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▒ EGA ▒
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ALT can be used with programs running in graphics mode on an
EGA monitor, but there are some restrictions that do not
apply to the lower resolution CGA monitor:
o Only one program running in EGA graphics mode can
be run at a time.
o Programs running under EGA graphics mode must be
run in partition 1.
o ALT will automatically detect the EGA, but you
must configure partition 1 for running graphics
if you plan to use EGA graphics mode.
It should be noted that the above restrictions do not apply
when running programs in EGA text mode only. Furthermore,
as many EGA text mode programs as desired can be run
simultaneously with a graphics mode program running in
partition 1.
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▒ Help ▒
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Help is available at all times inside ALT by pressing F1. In the
abridged shareware version however, we are unable to provide
the help file because of its size. However, pressing F1 does
provide information about functions missing in the shareware
version and how to order the complete version of ALT.
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▒ Recording Macros and the CUT/PASTE Facility ▒
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The ALT main menu gives you access to the CUT/PASTE facilities
and the macro record feature. To record a macro:
Tap: Alt
Select: Other
Select: Record
Press: the key you wish to associate with a macro, i.e. Ctrl-F1
Type: a short descriptive title for the macro
Press: ENTER
Type: the keystrokes you wish to record
Tap: Alt - to retrieve the macro Quit menu
Select: Quit - to terminate recording
Thereafter, the keystrokes you typed will be "played back" each
time the recorded key is pressed.
To incorporate the Alt accessories into your keyboard macros, tap
the Alt key while in the macro Quit menu. This will bring up the
familiar Alt Main Menu, which you can then continue on normally in
your keyboard macro record.
To cut some text for pasting back later:
Tap: Alt
Select: Kut
Then use the arrow keys to position the cursor at one of the
corners of the text you wish to cut. "Anchor" the selected
corner by pressing the period "." or the "+" key. Use the arrow
keys to select the opposite corner of the text to be cut.
Finally, press ENTER to complete the operation. Hint: When
moving around the screen during a cut operation, use Ctl-Right
and Ctrl-Left to move quickly forward and backwards one word
respectively. To paste back the cut text:
Position the cursor in your application program where you wish
to paste the text.
Tap: Alt
Select: Paste
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▒ Instant Macros ▒
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Several keys are available for recording macros without entering
the ALT main menu. The available keys are Alt-F1 through
Alt-F10. For example, to associate a macro with the Alt-F2
key:
Press: Alt-Shift-F2 (hold down both the Alt, Shift)
Type: Quick example
Tap: Alt - this action terminates recording.
Notice that while you were typing "Quick example", a short
click could be heard. This is to remind you that you are
recording keystrokes. To play back the macro associated with
Alt-F2:
Press: Alt-F2
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▒ Configuring ALT ▒
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ALT is easily configured by using the setup.exe program included
on the ALT distribution disk. With the setup program you can
configure such things as the size of the first partition, the
type of monitor you are using, the drives used to swap programs
in an out of memory, whether you have a mouse, etc. To use the
setup program, go to the ALT directory:
Type: setup
Press: Enter
The setup program is used in the same fashion as an ALT
accessory. Select a menu item to configure a particular
function. For instance to configure mouse operation, select
"System" and then "Mouse".
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▒ Quitting ALT ▒
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Occasionally you may want to remove ALT from memory entirely.
For example, you may want to free up the memory it is using to
run a large program. To do so:
Tap: Alt
Select: Other
Select: Quit
Press: Y
CAUTION: When you quit ALT in this manner all running programs
will be terminated and any unsaved data will be lost forever.
Make sure all data is saved and all programs in the partitions
are exited before using this option. If you have recorded any
macros that you wish to keep, these must also be saved before
quitting.
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▒ The Full Version of ALT ▒
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Alt is available in two versions, the Shareware and the Full
version. The Shareware version is limited in many of its
capabilities because of the disk space required to distribute the
program. The Shareware version will fit on one disk and can be
copied and distributed freely among interested persons. The
Shareware version is not freeware, however. If you continue to
use it, you must register. When you register, you will receive
the Full version.
You can register and receive the Full version of ALT by either
using the handy on-line order form available from within ALT:
Tap: Alt
Select: Info
or through the Instinct bulletin board or by calling the number
given below. The cost of registering is only $29.95. With the
Full version, you get the following extra benefits:
* Ability to run nine programs (or tasks) instead of just two.
Switch freely between all nine programs which each having
access to all available RAM.
* A printed manual.
* All three calculators. A Reverse Polish Calculator (RPN)
with 3 modes (business, statistical, and computer-based),
an adding tape calculator, and an algebraic scientific
calculator.
* Full context sensitive help. Press F1 at any time while in
Alt, and a detailed help will be provided on the accessory
that you are visiting.
* Increased memory area for keyboard macros. Macro key area can
be increased from .5K to 10K to handle an almost unlimited
number of macros.
* Rolodex capacity is increased from 20 names to an amount only
limited by the size of your hard disk.
* Added functions to the Disk Filer.
* Product support over the Instinct Bulletin Board System with
extra privileges.
* A user configuration menu program that will allow each user
of Alt to configure his own interface to Alt. For example,
you can move Alt's accessories and functions that you use most
to the top of the Alt Main Menu. This allows you to access your
favorite accessories even quicker.
* * * Plus !!!! A Disk Services program. Why buy Norton
Utilities when you can undelete files, unfragment your disks
(optimize), directly edit sectors, sort directories, perform
disk diagnostic tests, and much, much more with Instinct
Software Disk Services. This is free with each Full version
of Alt.
All of this for only $29.95 !!! Orders can be made either through
the Instinct Order Line (214)-739-5543 or through the Instinct
Bulletin Board System (214)-368-2709 (1200/2400 Baud, 8 data bit,
1 stop bit, no parity).
P.S. See the file TUTORIAL for a hands on approach to learn the
power of ALT.