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B-Dir, B-Type, B-Look, B-Font, B-Apply
Part of the B-Ware family
Copyright Hexagon Products February 1990
B-Ware Table of Contents
Page Subject
2 Introduction
3 B-Dir
4 B-Dir Options
6 Common B-Dir Sorts
6 B-Type
8 B-Type Options
9 B-Look
11 B-Look Options
12 B-Font
13 Quick Start
14 Running B-Font
16 B-Apply
16 Importing Fonts
18 B-Pop
18 Introduction
18 Quick Start
20 Technical Specifications
23 A Word about TesSeRact(TM)
24 A Comparison of B-Pops
25 B-Ware Products
26 Price List
27 Registration Form
Introduction
============
B-Ware is a family of software products that bring large character
displays to DOS. Some of the programs, such as B-Edit and B-Pop, are
shareware; others, including B-Dir, B-Type, B-Look, are free. They
were written as samples of B-Ware or as premiums for shareware
registrations. This document tells how to use the free programs.
All B-Ware programs can run in text mode using characters that are 8
columns wide and 4 rows deep. A normal text display of 25 rows of 80
characters holds 6 rows of 10 characters of this large font.
On the original monochrome display, which does not support graphics,
this is your only option. However, on video hardware which can
display graphics, such as CGA or Hercules monochrome, you can switch
among several character sizes at the touch of a key.
To provide different character sizes, B-Ware programs contain several
character maps or fonts. If you find the B-Ware characters hard to read,
you can use the B-Font program to change the way any character looks. When
you have modified the characters to your liking, you can install them
in any B-Ware program with B-Apply.
Other B-Ware programs include B-Type and B-Dir, which are substitutes for
the DOS TYPE and DIR commands; B-Look, which is a text file browser, and
B-Pop, which is a memory-resident magnifying glass. B-123, a large character
interface to Lotus(R) 1-2-3(R), will be available in March, 1990.
B-Dir
=====
B-Dir is a free sample of B-Ware, a collection of large character utility
programs. B-Dir works like DOS's DIR command with the following enhancements:
* large character output;
* automatic pause at end of page;
* allows sorted directory listing;
* allows display of selected fields.
The DOS DIR command displays five fields for each file entry
like this:
BLOOK DOC 17348 8-28-89 4:14p
BTYPE EXE 12304 8-28-89 1:15p
BDIR EXE 8095 8-28-89 1:16p
The five fields are the Name, Extension, Size, Date, and Time. If you
enter just the BDIR command, you get a list of the Name and Extension
of every file on the current disk in the current directory. To save
space, the Size, Date, and Time are omitted unless you specificallly
ask for them. You change these defaults by entering an option or
argument following the BDIR command on the command line.
If you want to list files in a different directory or on a different disk,
or if you want to list only some of the files in the current directory, you
can enter a file name pattern. Only files that match this pattern will
be listed. For example, if you want to see only the EXE files in the
current directory, you can use the command BDIR *.EXE. Other examples:
BDIR A:
BDIR C:\DATABASE\*.DB1
BDIR *.WK?
You can use the wild characters * and ? exactly as in DOS. The * matches
any number of characters in that postion, and the ? matches any single
character in that position. The last example, *.WK? would match
JANUARY.WKS and A.WK1.
B-Dir Options
=============
You can also list the files in ascending or descending order of any of
the fields by adding an argument starting with a + or - followed by the
initial character of the field name (N for Name, E for Extenstion,
S for Size, T for Time, D for Date).
For example to sort all files by Extension, use: BDIR +E. There will
be ties, such as when there are a number of files with the EXE extension.
To resolve these ties, you can enter another argument. For example:
BDIR +E +N sorts first in order of Extension, then resolves ties by
sorting them in order of the Name. You can specify multiple arguments
in several formats. The following are all equivalent:
BDIR +E +N
BDIR +e +n
BDIR +E+N
BDIR +EN
The order, however, is important. BDIR +N +E is not the same as
BDIR +E +N.
If you use a - to precede the field initial, the files will be sorted
in descending order. For example BDIR -S sorts files in descending
order by size. The list will show the largest files first, and
the smallest files last. Using BDIR -D-T will sort by date and time
with the newest files first, and the oldest files last.
By default, only the Name and Extension are displayed. To see the other
fields, use the initial of the field preceded by a /. To see all fields,
use BDIR /SDT. The /, +, and - can all be mixed together on the command
line. The following are equivalent:
BDIR -DT/E
BDIR -D/E-T
BDIR -d -t /e
It might help you to remember that the three meaningful characters in
B-Dir arguments, +, -, and /, are also arithmetic signs. If you forget
the abbreviations or characters that must precede them, you can get a
quick list by entering BDIR ?.
You can combine a file pattern with the sorting and displaying commands,
such as: BDIR *.EXE +DT /S This command will list all files with an
extension of EXE, sorted by date and time. The order in which you specify
the arguments is unimportant, so BDIR *.EXE +DT/S is the same as
BDIR +D *.EXE +T/S. For each file, the file Name, Extension, and Size
will be displayed.
If you find that you always want to use the same arguments each time you
use B-Dir, put the BDIR command in a BAT file with the arguments you prefer.
Common B-Dir Sorts
==================
* You created a file yesterday afternoon, but forget the name of it. Use
BDIR -DT/DT to sort the files by date and time. Because of the -, the
files will be listed with the most recent first.
* Your disk fills up and you want to delete some files to regain space.
Use BDIR -S/S to sort the files by size. The largest files, that will
gain you the most room if they can be deleted, will be listed first.
* As part of general housekeeping, use BDIR +EN to list files grouped
together by extension. Any files in your mail directory with extensions
other than .LET will show up easily.
On video hardware such as CGA or Hercules monochrome, which can display
graphics, B-Dir supports a variety of character sizes. To change from one
to another, press the F2 key while B-Dir is running. On graphics screens,
you will be able to cycle among a half dozen video modes. On the original
monochrome display, which does not support graphics, you will only get the
large text block display.
If you are in the middle of a multiscreen directory list, you can cancel
B-Dir at any time by pressing the ESCape key.
B-Type
======
B-Type is a free sample of B-Ware. It works like DOS's TYPE command to
display ASCII text files, but B-Type uses large character output. Since the
file is displayed top to bottom, and does not have to be in memory all at
once, B-Type has no limit on the size of files it can display.
Only ASCII text files can be displayed. This means no EXE files or WK1
files, etc. You give the name of the file you want displayed on the
command line. For example, you can display a document file with
the command:
BTYPE BTYPE.DOC
On video hardware such as CGA or Hercules monochrome, which can display
graphics, B-Type supports a variety of character sizes. To change from one
to another, press the F2 key while B-Type is running. On graphics screens,
you will be able to cycle among a half dozen video modes. On the original
monochrome display, which does not support graphics, you will only get the
large text block display.
B-Type displays each record in its entirety before moving on to the next
record. This means that lines longer than the width of the display are
wrapped to the next line. The start of each line is marked off by a triangle
on the screen to show it differently from continuation lines. This differs
from B-Look which allocates one line to each record. The top line of each
screen shows the row and column of the text displayed in the upper left corner.
When B-Type is running, four keys have special meaning. Press the ESCape key
at any time to cancel B-Type before the file listing is complete. Press the
F1 key at any time to display a help screen. Press the F2 key at any time
to cycle to another size of display character. The F3 key starts automatic
scrolling.
B-Type pauses at the end of each screen of data until you press key without
a special meaning. However, if you press the F3 key, B-Type will pause at
the end of each screen for a given time. The default is 1.5 seconds, but
you can change this with the -A option.
B-Type Options
==============
Arguments can be used to override some of the defaults used by the
program. Specify arguments on the DOS command line along with the
file name. For example, BTYPE -A1500 BTYPE.DOC. If you find that
you always want to use the same argument each time you use B-Type, you
can put the B-Type command in a BAT file with the arguments you prefer.
-An
set time between automatic page downs when F7 key is pressed. N is
number of 1/1000ths seconds. For example: -A1500 means page down every
1.5 seconds.
-Tn
set the number of characters used for a tab character. The default is 8.
-Vn
set initial video mode. -V0 is the large text block mode. -V1 is the
mode you would get by pressing F2 one time after the large text block mode.
B-Look
======
B-Look is a free sample of B-Ware. It reads a text file into memory and
displays it using large characters. You can use the arrow keys to display
any part of the file in any order. This differs from B-Type, where once you
pass some data in the file, you can't go back and look at it again unless
you start all over. Files are limited to what can fit in memory. In a
256K machine B-Look should easily be able to process a 100K file.
Only ASCII text files can be displayed. This means no EXE files or WK1
files, etc. You give the name of the file you want displayed on the
command line. For example, you can display a document file with
the command: BLOOK BLOOK.DOC
On video hardware such as CGA or Hercules monochrome, which can display
graphics, B-Look supports a variety of character sizes. To change from one
to another, press the F2 key while B-Look is running. On graphics screens,
you will be able to cycle among a half dozen video modes. On the original
monochrome display, which does not support graphics, you will only get the
large text block display.
When you begin, B-Look displays the first characters in each of the first
records of the file. Long lines are not wrapped. To see characters of
lines that are wider than the screen, you must use the arrow keys to move
the display over to the right. This differs from B-Type which always wraps
long lines. The top line of each screen shows the row and column of the
text displayed in the upper left corner.
At any time during B-Look, you can press the F1 key to get help. When you
are done with B-Look, press the ESCape key to exit B-Look and return to DOS.
Scroll 1 Character or 1 Page
============================
You can use any of the four arrow keys to move the B-Look display by a
single column or row. You can use PgDn or PgUp to move the B-Look display
up or down by a page. A page consists of a screenful of data. In the
large block mode, this is 5 lines or 10 columns. Use the F3 key or the
Shift TAB key to move a page to the left. Similarly, use the F4 key or
the TAB key to move a page to the right.
Scroll to the Edge
==================
Wherever you are in your file, HOME takes you to the top row and leftmost
column. The F5 key moves to the left edge of the file, and F6 moves to the
right edge. The END key takes you to the last row of your file, or to the
bottom edge.
Automatic Scroll Down
=====================
The F7 key provides a way to scroll automatically. If you press the
F7 key, B-Look will act as if you press the PgDn key once every 1.5 seconds.
To stop the automatic scroll, just press any key. If you want to change
the interval between automatic PgDn keys, you must use the -A argument
to B-Look. For example, BLOOK -A2000 DOCFILE will set a 2 second delay.
Function
Key Meaning
=============================================
F1 Help Show help screen
F2 Zoom Change character size
F3 Left Page Move one page to the left
F4 Right Page Move one page to the right
F5 Left Edge Move to first column
F6 Right Edge Move to last column
F7 Auto ScrollRepeated page down
B-Look Options
==============
Arguments can be used to override some of the defaults used by the
program. Specify arguments on the DOS command line along with the
file name. For example, BLOOK -A1500 BLOOK.DOC. If you find that
you always use the same argument each time you use B-Look, you can
put the B-Look command in a BAT file with the arguments you prefer.
-An
set time between automatic page downs when F7 key is
pressed. N is number of 1/1000ths seconds. For example:
-A1500 means page down every 1.5 seconds.
-Vn
set initial video mode. -V0 is the large text block mode.
-V1 is the mode you would get by pressing F2 one time after
the large text block mode.
B-Font
======
B-Font is a font editor that lets you customize the character shapes
used by any B-Ware program, including B-Edit, B-Pop, B-123, B-Type,
B-Dir, B-Look, and even B-Font itself. Use B-Font to create a new
font that is easier to read for you, and then use B-Apply to install
the new font in any of the B-Ware programs.
Currently, three fonts are used in B-Ware products. These fonts are
known by the number of dots used to make up each character. The more
dots the finer the resolution. The three fonts are 8-bit, 12-bit, and
16-bit. Not all products use all fonts.
BPOP8 for example, contains only the 8-bit font, in an attempt to keep
it small. When you have modified a font to your liking with B-Font,
you can install it only on B-Ware products that use that size font.
If you try to do otherwise, the B-Apply program will give you the error
message: EXE file does not contain font.
On a CGA, the 16-bit font is used in graphics mode which provides either
640 or 320 bits per line. In 320 mode, the 16-bit font yields 320/16 or
20 characters per line. In 640 mode, the 16-bit font yields 40 characters
per line. The 12-bit font similarly is used to provide 320/12 or 26 and
640/12 or 53 characters per line. If you use B-Edit in 40 character
per line mode, you should modify the 16-bit font.
This document uses an 8-bit font for examples, but everything documented
herein also applies to the 12-bit and 16-bit fonts used by some B-Ware
programs.
Quick Start
===========
B-Font makes no backups, so you should run it on a copy until you are sure
of your work. Before you do a lot of work, make sure you are working on
the appropriate font for your level of magnification. Run B-Font but
change only one or two characters. Save the new font file, and apply it
to a B-Ware program. Then run the program and see that you have changed
the magnification level you are interested in.
To run B-Font at the DOS command line, give it the name of the font you
want to modify, such as:
BFONT THICK.8
Edit characters one at a time. Change to another character by pressing
its key. Within a character, move to the cell you want to change with
the arrow keys. Press F1 to toggle the cell. Save your work at any
time by pressing the F9 key. Use the F10 key to exit B-Font. If you
prefer to use a mouse, just move the mouse cursor to any cell; toggle it
by clicking any mouse button.
When you are done editing the font, you can install it into any current
B-Ware program. For example, to install the THICK.8 font to B-Type, enter
the following command:
BAPPLY THICK.8 BTYPE.EXE
Running B-Font
==============
B-Ware programs contain one or more patterns for all 256 possible
characters, called a font. The document uses an 8-bit font, but
everything said also applies to the 12-bit and 16-bit fonts used
by some B-Ware programs.
With an 8-bit font, each character is drawn in an eight by eight square
grid. The individual cells or pixels of the square are turned on or off
so the resulting picture looks like the original character. For example,
the letter 'A' entry looks like this:
..XX....
.XXXX...
XX..XX..
XX..XX..
XXXXXX..
XX..XX..
XX..XX..
........
where the dots are 0's and the X's are 1's. The inter-character spacing
is provided for in the font itself. Thus, the A has an empty row along
the bottom and two empty columns along the right hand side.
B-Font lets you modify the shape of any character used in any B-Ware program.
You might choose to modify the letters to exagerate the differences between
an H, M, and W, for example.
An 8x8 font is a bit too small to produce fine looking characters, but
it is large enough to provide some options. If you find it difficult to
distinguish between an upper case M and an upper case W, you might choose
to modify the letters to exaggerate the differences. These letters don't
have to look good to anyone but you. For example, here are three versions
of the letter A:
..██.... ..██.... ..██....
.█..█... .████... .████...
█....█.. ██..██.. ██████..
█....█.. ██..██.. ██████..
██████.. ██████.. ██████..
█....█.. ██..██.. ██..██..
█....█.. ██..██.. ██..██..
........ ........ ........
Thin Thick Solid
Designing fonts is an art requiring much skill and a more complex program
than B-Font. But if you don't know art, but know what you like, B-Font
will work fine for you. To get you started, you can use the fonts B-Ware
uses currently. These are called THIN.8, THICK.8, FONT.12, and FONT.16.
Font editing is an art which takes skill and sophisticated tools which
are beyond the scope of this program. This program is simply to make
some characters more readable.
Run B-Font at the DOS command line with the name of the font file you
want to edit, such as FONT.8 or FONT.12. B-Font runs in text mode on
color or monochrome displays. You edit characters one at a time. Press
any key to change the current character being edited. Move the cursor
to any square in the matrix and press F1 to toggle the square from on
to off or off to on. If you want to save the changes, press the F9 key.
Press the F10 key to quit. Back up your files first. B-Font has mouse
support.
B-Font uses text mode displays, so it will function on any video
hardware, including CGA, Hercules, and even the original monochrome.
BAPPLY
======
When you have finished creating a new font, you must install it in any
B-Ware program you want to use it. To do this, run B-Apply. On the
DOS command line, give it the name of the font file and the name of the
B-Ware program file. For example, to replace the existing 8-bit font with
one called THIN.NEW for BLOOK, enter the following command:
BAPPLY THIN.NEW BLOOK.EXE
B-Apply will read BLOOK.EXE as a binary file, locate the position of
the internal font, and replace it with the data from THIN.NEW. From then
on, whenever you run BLOOK, the display will be in the new font.
You will get an error message if B-Apply can't find an internal font in
the program file, or if the new font isn't in the proper format. In this
case, you have most likely given B-Apply the wrong file names.
Importing Fonts
===============
Fonts in the right format from other packages can be used directly in
B-Apply, or after modification by B-Font. For example the fonts with
the extension .F8 from Personics' Ultravision package can be used
directly as an 8-bit font. Any font used with Kim Kokkonen's BigEd
can be used for a 12-bit font. In fact, the original 12-bit font used
in B-Ware is provided courtesy of Kim Kokkonen of TurboPower Software.
He developed it for use in BigEd, a large character word processor.
BPOP - A TSR Magnifying Glass
=============================
Introduction
============
BPOP brings large-character screen displays to off the shelf software.
The fully functional BPOP is a shareware program for $27. However, included
on the distribution diskette is a free version of BPOP that was written
as a premium for registering BEDIT. The differences are described later.
BPOP is a TSR. You load it at the DOS command line, and it Terminates,
but Stays Resident (TSR). After that, it lurks in the background, waiting
to be popped up when you press a certain combination of keys (hot keys).
When you call up BPOP, it reads whatever is currently displayed on your
screen, and redisplays it using large block characters. Use the arrow
keys to scroll around to other parts of the display. When done, press
any other key to return you to where you left off. BPOP uses
TesSeRact(TM) to make it work with other TSRs.
Quick Start
===========
You run BPOP by entering the BPOP command at the DOS prompt. When BPOP
is loaded, it displays a short message, and then returns control to DOS.
It looks as if BPOP has terminated, but in fact, it is still resident
in your computer's memory. If you had done a DOS CHKDSK immediately before
and after running BPOP, you would have noticed that the memory available
in your machine has shrunk by about 30K. This is memory that BPOP is
residing in.
You can now enter any DOS command or program. For example, enter the DOS
DIR command to get a listing of your files as usual. Now, hold down the
Left Shift key and the ALT key and press the letter A all at the same time.
If everything is correct, BPOP will read the DIR display off your screen,
and replace it with part of the screen in large block characters.
BPOP is now active, and remains in control until you are done. You can
see another portion of the display by pressing any of the arrow
keys, including the 4 single arrow keys, and HOME, END, PGDN, or PGUP.
Also, the Tab key is Page Right, while Shift Tab is Page Left. These
keys cause BPOP to scroll over the underlying data, displaying a
different portion each time. The top line of the BPOP display
always shows the row and column of the underlying data that is currently
displayed.
While BPOP is active, two keys have special meaning. If you press an R,
not only will BPOP release control of the screen, but it will tell DOS
that it wants to go away completely. After this, you won't be able
to call BPOP with the hot keys again until you reload it. If you haven't
loaded any other programs on top of BPOP, the memory BPOP was using will
be returned for other use.
The other key that has special meaning when BPOP is in control is the H key.
If you press the H key, you will get a short help screen. If you press any
key that has no meaning to BPOP, such as the Enter key, BPOP will restore
the display of the underlying screen and become dormant, waiting for the
next time you press BPOP's hot keys.
Technical Specifications
========================
BPOP is a TSR written according to the TesSeRact(TM) specifications. It
should work on any IBM compatible PC running under DOS 2.2 or later. It
will run on any monochrome or color screen when they are in text mode.
BPOP Simple takes up about 30K when resident. It will run correctly on
screens in greater than 25 line mode, but BPOP Simple will not take
advantage of them.
BPOP will not pop up over a graphics mode screen, or when DOS is in the
middle of executing a task. If you try to invoke BPOP at these times,
BPOP will just produce a cascading series of beeps instead of popping up.
Moving Around the BPOP Display
==============================
BPOP can only display a portion of the underlying data that was on the
screen when BPOP was called up. Each underlying character which occupied
one column and one row will be enlarged by BPOP to take up 8 columns and
4 rows. The underlying data can only be fully displayed by BPOP if you
look at 8 pages across and 4 pages down. Since each BPOP screen covers
only about 1/32 of the underlying data it is important to be able to move
the BPOP display to other portions of the data.
The simplest way to do this is by using the arrow keys. The four arrow
keys cause BPOP to move one character in the given direction. UP and
DOWN move one row, while LEFT and RIGHT move one column. These arrow
keys are useful for fine adjustments. If you see most of what you are
looking for on the current BPOP display, you can use the arrow keys to
see what is just off the edge of the BPOP display.
If you get to the edge of the underlying data, the arrow keys cause BPOP
to wrap the display. For example, if you are displaying the top row of
the underlying data, and you press the UP arrow, since BPOP can't display
any further up, it will wrap down to the last row of the previous page of
columns.
This is analogous to how you read. If you are at the rightmost edge and
you press the RIGHT arrow, BPOP will go down a page and back over to the
left margin. Whenever BPOP wraps like this, it will issue a short low
beep to alert you to the situation. The top line of the display can
always be consulted to determine exactly what portion of the underlying
display is being shown at any given time.
There are also paging keys which will change the display a page at a time.
A page is defined as what can be shown on the BPOP screen at once. For
example, with an 80 by 25 display, a BPOP page consists of 10 columns of
5 rows. If you press the PgUp key, BPOP will display the data that is
5 rows above what you are looking at. Again, if the top row is already
on the display, BPOP will wrap to the last row of the previous page of
columns. The PgUp and PgDn keys move the display one page up or down.
The TAB key moves the display one page to the right, and the back tab
key, or Shift TAB, moves the display one page to the left.
In addition, two other keys can be used, HOME and END. HOME changes the
display to show the first column and first row of the underlying data.
Sometimes if you get confused about where you are in the display, you
can press HOME to take you to the top left to get your bearings, then
use the other paging keys to move around again. The END key takes you
to the bottom row of the underlying data but leaves the column unchanged.
Distance
========
1 Character 1 Page To the Edge
==============================
UP arrow PGUP HOME
DOWN arrow PGDN END
LEFT arrow ShiftTab
RIGHT arrow Tab
A Word about TesSeRact(TM)
==========================
BPOP 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:
TesSeRact Development Team
c/o Chip Rabinowitz
2084 Woodlawn Avenue
Glenside, PA 19038
(215) 884-3373
Compuserve: 70731,20
MCIMAIL: 315-5415
This MCIMAIL Account has been provided to the TesSeRact Development
Team by Borland International, Inc. The TesSeRact Development Team is
in no way associated with Borland International, Inc. TesSeRact is a
trademark of the TesSeRact Development Team.
TesSeRact is Copyright 1988 TesSeRact Development Team, All Rights
Reserved.
Other Products and Prices
=========================
Prices are fixed through 12/91. After that, check.
Product Price Latest Version
B-Edit $39 2.0
BIG for 1-2-3 $39 1.0
BIG for WP $39 1.0
B-Pop $27 2.0
$9 discount on each of second and subsequent items in a single order.
Documentation for all programs is provided in large, easy-to-read,
18-point type. In addition, all of the following large-character
utility programs are included with any purchase at no extra cost:
B-Type, B-Dir, and B-Print
are large-character replacements for the related DOS commands.
B-Print prints text files in large characters on Epson-compatible
dot-matrix printers.
B-Look
is a text file browser. Scroll with arrow keys.
B-Font and B-Apply
modify the character shapes used in the above
B-Ware products.
Registration
contact: Hexagon Products
Bill Arendt P.O. Box 1295
(708) 692-3355 Park Ridge, IL 60068-1295
B-Ware Registration Form
========================
When you register, please include the following:
Name: _________________________________________________________________________
Company: ______________________________________________________________________
Address: ______________________________________________________________________
City: ___________________________ State: ______________________________________
Zip: _____________ Phone: _____________________________________________________
Optional information:
Using on: Laptop Desktop
Display: VGA EGA CGA Herc Mono Dual
Oper.Sys: DOS OS/2
Preferred Input Device: Mouse Keyboard
Preferred chars/line: Less 10 20 26 40 52 58 More
Suggestions for improving B-Ware? _____________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
Where did you find B-Ware? ____________________________________________________
If you have speech synthesis hardware, what kind? _____________________________