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The BOSSKEY Package
Version 1.4 (November, 1989)
R E F E R E N C E M A N U A L
Stephen Meredith
Data del Mar
10423 Byrne Ave
Cupertino, CA 95014
(408) 865-0706
_______
____|__ | (TM)
--| | |-------------------
| ____|__ | Association of
| | |_| Shareware
|__| o | Professionals
-----| | |---------------------
|___|___| MEMBER
Copyright 1989 by Stephen Meredith
The BOSSKEY Package Page 2
Table of Contents
Preface............................................3
Chapter 1: Legal Information
License............................................4
Warranty...........................................4
TesSeRact..........................................4
Chapter 2: General Inforamtion
Shareware..........................................6
Association of Shareware Professionals.............6
Technical Support..................................7
E-Mail Addresses...................................7
Ordering Information...............................7
Order Form.........................................8
Chapter 3: SCRSAVE
What it does.......................................9
How to use it......................................9
Known Incompatibilities............................9
Chapter 4: BOSSKEY and NEW-IMG
What it does......................................11
How to use it.....................................11
Changing the screen...............................12
Known Incompatibilities...........................12
Chapter 5: SHOW-IMG
What it does......................................13
How to use it.....................................13
Chapter 6: CONV-IMG
What is is........................................14
How to use it.....................................14
Example...........................................15
Chapter 7: SHOWLIB.OBJ
Using showlib from Turbo C........................16
Example...........................................17
Copyright by Stephen Meredith, 1989
The BOSSKEY Package Page 3
Preface
The Bosskey Package consists of five programs, an object
module, and a header file. The programs include a text
screen saver, a saved screen viewer, a 'bosskey' program, a
bosskey utility program, and file conversion utility for
programmers. The object module contains a C function for
displaying screens with special effects in C programs. The
programs are named as follows:
BOSSKEY.EXE
SCRSAVE.EXE
SHOW-IMG.EXE
NEW-IMG.EXE
CONV-IMG.COM
The object module is:
SHOWLIB.OBJ
The header file is:
SHOWLIB.H
The BOSSKEY program is a program which allows you to pop-up
a previously saved screen of your choice when you hear the
boss coming. When he is gone, you can get rid of the screen
and get back to whatever you where doing before he came in.
The SCRSAVE program is a program for saving text screens to
disk. First you run SCRSAVE, which loads into memory and
returns you to the DOS prompt. Then you run whatever
program you wish. When you want to save a screen, you hit a
special key combination, and a snapshot of whatever is on
your screen is saved to a file. You can use these files
with BOSSKEY, SHOW-IMG, NEW-IMG, and CONV-IMG. You can also
use them in C programs.
SHOW-IMG shows you one or more saved screen snapshots. You
can use it as a simple demo program.
NEW-IMG is used to change the snapshot in use by the BOSSKEY
program.
The CONV-IMG program (CONVert IMaGe) is a utility for
programmers who write in C. It takes a screen image file
and converts it to an array. It writes the array out to a
file which you can include in your C program for easy screen
manipulation.
The SHOWLIB.OBJ module can be linked with a C program to
display screens using special effects.
Copyright by Stephen Meredith, 1989
The BOSSKEY Package Page 4
Chapter 1 Legal Information
License:
The BOSSKEY Package, consisting of the included programs,
functions, and all supporting documentation, is copyrighted
by Stephen Meredith, 1989. The copyright owner hereby
licenses you to use the software for evaluation purposes,
make as many copies of the software and documentation as you
wish, give exact copies of the original to anyone, and to
distribute the software and documentation in its original
unmodified form via electronic means.
This software is shareware: it is not free software. This
license allows you to use this software without charge for a
period of 30 days. At the end of this trial period, you are
trusted to either register your copy of the BOSSKEY package,
or discontinue using it.
You are specifically prohibited from charging or requesting
donations for any copies of this package. Exceptions may be
granted to organizations which charge a small fee for
materials, postage and handling. No organization is
authorized to charge any amount for distribution of the
software or documentation under any other conditions.
In addition, no part of this package may be include with
another package, except for the SHOWLIB.OBJ object module
(as long as it is linked as part another program.) You may
not use any screen image file created with the SCRSAVE
program in any other program, or in demonstration of some
other product, whether commercial, public domain, shareware
or other, until you have paid the registration fee.
Warranty:
There is no warranty of any kind associated with this
software. By using it, you agree to this. Every effort has
been made to make this product error free. However, it is
impossible to guarantee bug-free software.
TesSeRact:
This product uses the TesSeRact(TM) Ram_Resident Library and
supports the TesSeRact Standard for Ram_Resident Program
Communication. For information about TesSeRact, contact the
TesSeRact Development Team at:
Copyright by Stephen Meredith, 1989
Chapter 1 Page 5
TesSeRact Development Team
1657 The Fairways
Suite 101
Jenkintown, PA 19046
Phone: 215-884-3373
CIS: 70731,20
MCI: 315-5415
FAX: 215-886-4225
If you are a programmer considering writing a TSR, I highly
recommend this package. It is not for the complete novice,
but it simplifies the creation of TSR programs by one or two
orders of magnitude! The time you save by using this
package will be immense. There are TesSeRact libraries for
C, Pascal, and assembly language. And it's another
shareware package, so you can try before you buy.
Copyright by Stephen Meredith, 1989
Chapter 2 Page 6
Chapter 2: General Information
Shareware:
This package is marketed as shareware, also known as user-
supported software. Shareware is a method of marketing
software which allows potential buyers to try out programs
before actually purchasing them. If you use the software
for a while, and like it, you are trusted to mail in the
registration fee. If you don't like it, you don't have to
buy it. What could be better for you?
The shareware method is also benefitial to software authors.
It keeps the costs of marketing and packaging to a minimum.
The savings are reflected in the low price tag that comes
with the software.
Registration for this package is only $10.00! Payment of
this fee entitles you to:
1: A disk with the latest version of the BOSSKEY Package.
2: The right to use the software as much as you like.
3: The right to distribute screen image files create with
this package as part of other products.
4: Upgrades to future versions for a nominal fee.
5: The satisfaction of helping the shareware system work.
Association of Shareware Professionals:
Stephen Meredith is a member of the Association of Shareware
Professionals (ASP). This organization was formed in April
of 1987 to strengthen the future of shareware as an
alternative to commercial software. Its members, all of
whom are programmers who subscribe to a code of ethics, are
committed to the concept of shareware as a method of
marketing.
ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works
for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related
problem with an ASP member by contacting the member
directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can
help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member,
but does not provide technical support for members'
products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at P.O. Box
5786, Bellevue, WA 98006, or send a Compuserve message via
easyplex to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536.
Copyright by Stephen Meredith, 1989
Chapter 2 Page 7
Technical Support:
If you have a problem with the software, please let me help.
You may call, write, or send E-Mail. I have several E-Mail
addresses, and will answer with support as soon as I can.
The only way I can learn about (and fix) bugs is if you let
me know what's happening. I can't test every possible
machine configuration with the BOSSKEY product. So please
let me know what kind of problems you have with the software
(and documentation.) I am also looking for suggestions and
improvement ideas.
E-Mail Addresses:
Compuserve: [72571,1512]
Internet: 72571.1512@compuserve.com
Ordering Information:
To order, please fill out the order form on the next page.
Send it to me with a check or money order for $10.00 made
out to Stephen Meredith. Sorry, I don't take credit cards
yet. (U.S. Funds, please.)
Copyright by Stephen Meredith, 1989
Registration Page 8
The BOSSKEY Package Registration
NAME________________________________________________________
STREET ADDRESS______________________________________________
CITY, STATE, ZIP____________________________________________
Where did you get this copy of BOSSKEY (if BBS, say which)?
____________________________________________________________
What would you do to improve this product?
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
Would you benefit from a full screen editor for image files?
___YES ___NOT REALLY
Would you like to see BOSSKEY.EXE cover graphics screens?
___YES ___NOT REALLY
Can you use a program to convert screens for use with BASIC
or Pascal?
___YES ___NOT REALLY
------------------------------------------------------------
Please send this form with a check or money order for $10.00
to:
Stephen Meredith
Data del Mar
10423 Byrne Ave.
Cupertino, CA 95014
Copyright by Stephen Meredith, 1989
Chapter 3 Page 9
Chapter 3: SCRSAVE
What it does:
SCRSAVE is a memory-resident program (also called a TSR,
short for Terminate but Stay Resident) which can be used to
save a snapshot of a program's non-graphics screen to a
file. This snapshot file may then be used with BOSSKEY, or
as part of a demo, or in some other way. The screen is
stored in the standard CHAR-ATTRIBUTE format.
How to use it:
You invoke SCRSAVE just as you would any other program.
First, make sure you are in the directory which contains the
SCRSAVE program (or be sure it's in the DOS search path.)
At the DOS prompt (A> or C> for example) type SCRSAVE and
press the [ENTER] or [RETURN] key. The program will load
into memory, and you will be returned to the DOS prompt.
SCRSAVE is now ready to go to work saving screens to disk at
your command. You save the image of a screen by pressing
[ALT] [PRN-SCREEN]. On some keyboards, you may have to
press [ALT] [(GREY)*] (that's the * over on the numeric
keypad.)
If SCRSAVE has already been loaded into memory and you try
to load it in again, it will tell you. Only one copy of the
program will be loaded into memory at one time. You can
remove the program from memory by typing SCRSAVE OFF at the
DOS prompt. In order for the program to be removed from
memory, it must have been the last memory resident program
loaded. If you type SCRSAVE OFF, and some other programs
have gone resident since you loaded SCRSAVE, it will be told
to leave memory as soon as the other programs have also been
removed. While it is in this waiting state, the SCRSAVE
program is essentially off--it will not continue to save
screens. To reactivate the program, type SCRSAVE again.
After the program is loaded into memory, you can take a
snapshot of any screen from most any program. The only
exceptions are that you can't take a snapshot of a screen
which is using graphics mode and you can't take a snapshot
of another memory resident program's pop-up screen. If you
attempt one of these illegal operations, you will hear a
short series of descending tones (I'll call them 'error
tones' from now on.) You will also hear the error tones if
there is already disk access when you try to save the
screen, or when there is not enough free disk space to save
the screen.
Copyright by Stephen Meredith, 1989
Chapter 3 Page 10
To take a snapshot of a screen and save it to disk as a
screen image file, simply press the [ALT] key and hold it,
and then press the [PRT-SCREEN] key. You will either hear
the error tones (telling you that you can't take a picture
of this screen) or you will see a prompt at the very top of
your screen. At this point, the snapshot has already been
taken. The program is asking you for the name of the file
to save the screen under. Enter a filename. Only one
screen is saved in each file. Filenames are limited to
eight characters, and an optional '.' (period) followed by
another three letters (commonly called the 'extension.') If
you enter a filename that already exists on the disk, you
will hear the error tones, and the screen will not be saved.
You may also press [RETURN] by itself at the filename
prompt. Doing so causes the screen to be save in the
current directory. A filename will be chosen for you for
this screen and all others you wish to save after this.
SCRSAVE will try to save the screen in a file called 1.IMG.
If that file exists, it will try the name 2.IMG, then 3.IMG,
and so on, until it finds a number which does not exist as a
filename. From now on, each time you press [ALT] [PRT-
SCREEN] the snapshot of the screen will be given one of
these automatic filenames. This feature comes in handy when
making many snapshots of a program's screens for use in a
demo or some similar application.
It is a good idea to name all your screen image file with
the same extension. This makes it easy to keep track of
them. I use .IMG. If you have some other naming convention
which you already use, that's fine; none of the programs in
this package require the .IMG convention.
Known Imcompatibilities:
This program will not work with programs that steal the
interrupts it needs. Most programs that steal interrupts
restore them at the end of the program. Thus, SCRSAVE is
only disabled while these programs are in use. It works
again as soon as the offending program terminates. Programs
which fall into this catagory include:
SNIPES SuperSet Software
BUGS! Michael Ouye
Copyright by Stephen Meredith, 1989
Chapter 4 Page 11
Chapter 4: BOSSKEY and NEW-IMG
What it does:
BOSSKEY is another TSR which is used to hide the screen of
whatever program you are using by covering it with the image
of a screen from some other application which has been saved
to disk. Use SCRSAVE for the job of saving the screens--see
chapter 3.
How to use it:
To invoke BOSSKEY, type BOSSKEY at the DOS prompt, followed
by the filename of the screen to use as the cover, followed
by [RETURN] or [ENTER]. The filename you give it must be
the name of a screen image file saved with SCRSAVE (or some
other compatible program--all that matters is that the image
file is in CHAR-ATTRIB format.) It easy to recognize screen
image files. They are 4000 bytes long. Those created with
the SCRSAVE automatic naming feature will end in .IMG.
BOSSKEY will read the screen image file and itself into
memory.
If you still have the SCRSAVE program in memory when you
call this program, you will be given a warning (in case you
don't want both in memory at the same time.)
If something goes wrong during the load process, you will be
given an error message. In this case, you may not have
given the program the correct filename, or no filename at
all.
To cover up a screen with the screen read from the image
file, simply press any [CTRL] or [CONTROL] key and press
the shift key located on the right hand side of keyboard.
Pressing the left shift key will not work. If the disk
drive lights are not on and you are not in graphics mode,
whatever you where doing will be suspended and you will see
the screen from the image file on your screen, just as it
appeared when you saved it. To get back to whatever you
where just doing before covering up the screen, hit [CTRL]
[RIGHT-SHIFT] again. This will unfreeze your program. Its
normal screen will come back. You can now continue where
you left off.
Copyright by Stephen Meredith, 1989
Chapter 4 Page 12
Changing the screen:
You can press the [CTRL] [RIGHT-SHIFT] keys as many times as
you like. The same screen will pop up each time. If you
are done with BOSSKEY, type BOSSKEY OFF to mark it for
removal from memory. If you would like to change the screen
which pops up, type
NEW-IMG filename.
Replace the word 'filename' with the name of the new image
file which holds the screen you would to pop-up when you
press [CTRL] [RIGHT-SHIFT].
For example, if you origianlly loaded BOSSKEY with the image
file SCREEN1.IMG but would rather see the image stored in
SCREEN2.IMG, type
NEW-IMG SCREEN2.IMG
Now each time you hit [CTRL] [RIGHT-SHIFT] you will see the
screen stored in SCREEN2.IMG.
Known Imcompatibilities:
BOSSKEY will not work with programs that steal the
interrupts it needs. Most programs that steal interrupts
restore them at the end of the program. Thus, BOSSKEY is
only disabled while these programs are in use. It works
again as soon as the offending program terminates. Programs
which fall into this catagory include:
SNIPES SuperSet Software
BUGS! Michael Ouye
Copyright by Stephen Meredith, 1989
Chapter 5 Page 13
Chapter 5: SHOW-IMG
What it does:
SHOW-IMG is a utility program for viewing screen image
files, like those created with SCRSAVE. You can use it as a
simple demo program.
How to use it:
To view a screen image file, type SHOW-IMG filename.
Replace the word 'filename' with the name of the image file
you would like to view. The screen saved in the image file
will appear on your screen. Press any key to return to the
DOS prompt.
To use SHOW-IMG as a demo program, list all the names of the
screen images you wish to view. For example, to see the
three file 1.IMG, 2.IMG, and 3.IMG, type:
SHOW-IMG 1.IMG 2.IMG 3.IMG
1.IMG will show first and wait for you to press a key. Then
2.IMG will appear. Press a key one more time to see 3.IMG.
You may also use wildcards in the names of the screen image
files. For example,
SHOW-IMG *.IMG
will show all the image files ending in the .IMG extension.
It shows the files in the order in which they appear in the
directory.
Copyright by Stephen Meredith, 1989
Chapter 6 Page 14
Chapter 6: CONV-IMG
What it is:
CONV-IMG is a utility program for C programmers who wish to
use saved screens in their programs. Actually, there are 2
ways to accomplish this. First, you can use the CONV-IMG to
turn a screen image file into an array and compile it into
your program. The other way to do it is to read the screen
from disk as your program is running. There are advantages
and disadvantages to each method.
How to use it:
To use CONV-IMG, you must first have a screen image file
saved to disk. You can create screen image files with
SCRSAVE. To convert an image file to an array, type
CONV-IMG filename
where filename is the name of the screen image file. The
resulting array will have the same filename as the original
image file, except that it will have the extension '.H'
instead of the original extension.
The resulting .H file will be quite a bit larger than the
original image file. The array will be named
screen_filename, where filename is the name of the image
file, less any extension that may be present. The .H file
created from the image file s2.img will look something like
this:
char screen_s2[] = {
0x20,0x70,0x20,0x70,0xE2,0x70,0xC2,0x70,0x20,0x70,0x20,
0x41,0x70,0x72,0x70,0xE2,0x70,0xC2,0x70,0x20,0x70,0x20,
.
. ( 246 more lines of similar stuff )
.
0x20,0x70,0x20,0x70,0xE2,0x70,0xC2,0x70,0x20,0x70,0x20,
0x41,0x70,0x72,0x70,0xE2,0x70,0xC2,0x70,0x20,0x70,0x20,
}; /* screen_s2 */
Note that the array name is screen_s2[]. To use this .H
file in your programs, you use the #include directive. You
can then refer to the variable name in your program.
Copyright by Stephen Meredith, 1989
Chapter 6 Page 15
Here is a short example program written for Turbo C 2.0:
#include <conio.h>
#include "S2.H" /* your screen will be loaded */
/* at compile time and is */
/* called screen_s2 */
void main()
{
puttext(1,1,80,25,screen_s2); /* display the screen */
getch(); /* wait for key */
}
This short program displays the screen and waits for a
keystroke. It uses the Turbo C library function puttext(),
which puts a block of text on the screen. Using this
technique, you can switch between several screens very
rapidly for animation. Or you can create stand-alone demos
which don't require disk access for each frame. You might
also find it handy to make help screens this way. (See
chapter 7 for another way of displaying screens--the
showscreen() function.)
You can also compile the .H files into object modules which
you link with your program. To do this, you must treat the
variables as extern. This will save compilation time.
Here is another short program demonstrating how to read an
image file from disk at run-time and display the screen
stored in the file. Again, I am using the example S2.IMG,
which is assumed to be on disk.
#include <conio.h>
#include <stdio.h>
void main()
{
FILE *fp;
char scr_buff[ 4000 ];
fp = fopen( "S2.IMG", "rb" );
fread( &scr_buff, 4000, 1, fp );
fclose( fp );
puttext( 1,1,80,25, scr_buff );
getch();
}
The utility SHOW-IMG is written similary, but the image read
directly into screen memory.
You can also use the showscreen() function (provided in
object form with this package) to display screens with
special effects. It is descibed in detail in Chapter 7.
Copyright by Stephen Meredith, 1989
Chapter 6 Page 16
Chapter 7: SHOWLIB.OBJ
Using with Turbo C:
SHOWLIB.OBJ contains a Turbo C function showscreen(). The
function showscreen() can be used to move a screen from a
character array to video memory using special effects. Note
that this function works with the Large memory model only.
Use MK_FP to get a far pointer to your video memory (see
example below.) Don't forget to link SHOWLIB.OBJ with your
program. Do this by placing the line
SHOWLIB.OBJ
in your project file, or adding SHOWLIB.OBJ to the command
line list of object files when invoking TLINK.
FUNCTION:
Shows an array of 4000 bytes (one screen) with special
effects.
SYNTAX:
#include "showlib.h"
void showscreen( char far *dest, char far *source, int func,
int speed );
PROTOTYPE IN:
showlib.h
REMARKS:
Copies a block of 4000 bytes from memory pointed to by the
pointer 'source' into video memory located at 'dest' using
one of the methods specified by 'func' at a rate specified
by 'speed' (0 is fastest.) The constants to use in the
'func' parameter are defined in showlib.h. Each is a
different special effect. They are:
SLIDE_RIGHT
SLIDE_LEFT
SLIDE_UP
SLIDE_DOWN
WIPE_UP
Copyright by Stephen Meredith, 1989
Chapter 7 Page 17
WIPE_DOWN
WIPE_RIGHT
WIPE_LEFT
PUSH_UP
PUSH_DOWN
PUSH_LEFT
PUSH_RIGHT
PUSH_LEFT1
PUSH_RIGHT1
FLASH
RETURN VALUE:
None.
EXAMPLE:
#include <conio.h>
#include <bios.h>
#include <dos.h>
#include "showlib.h"
/*1.h contains array screen_1 -- use SCRSAVE and CONV-IMG*/
#include "1.h"
#define MONOCARD 0x0030
#define MONOMEM 0xB000
#define COLORMEM 0xB800
/* shows screen_1 (from 1.h) and waits for a key */
main() {
char far *scrbuff;
scrbuff = MK_FP( (((biosequip() & MONOCARD ) ==
MONOCARD ) ? MONOMEM:COLORMEM), 0x00 );
showscreen( scrbuff, screen_1, WIPE_LEFT, 2 );
getch();
}
Copyright by Stephen Meredith, 1989
