Shareware Supreme Volume 6 #1

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╔═══════════════════════════════════╗ ║ ║▒▒ ║ SCREEN WIZARD ║▒▒ ║ Batch File Enhancement ║▒▒ ║ Version 4.5 ║▒▒ ║ ║▒▒ ╚═══════════════════════════════════╝▒▒ ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ June 11, 1993 SCREEN WIZARD 4.5 Warren Small (c) 1992 TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 SW.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 DI.EXE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 OPTIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 NOTES ON DOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 WINDOW APPEARANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 /F# Foreground Color /B# Background Color . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Color Values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 /L# Window Border (Lines) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 /S# Shadows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 /W Wide Edge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 /2 Double Spacing /0 No Margin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 /R# Row /C# Column . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 /H# Here . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 /D Draw Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 /Z Zoom Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 TEXT APPEARANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 /T# Text Color /G# Global Text Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 /E# Enhanced Text Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 /M# Border Message . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 /J# Justify . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 SCREEN APPEARANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 /K# Klear Screen (with optional Fill Character) . . . . . . . . . . 6 /K# Klear Screen, set Foreground Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 /K# Klear Screen (with optional Fill String) . . . . . . . . . . . 6 /O# Outside Edge (Screen Border) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 /X# Xtra Lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 /@# Set Cursor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 /@- Hide Cursor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 OTHER SWITCHES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 /P# Pause . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 /Q Query . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 /Q Function Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 /I# User Input . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 /I#var User Input, Custom Variable Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 /I# User Input, Multiple strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 /I#### User Input, Long Strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 /I##* User Input, Password Blanking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 /N# Input Line Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 /U Input Uppercase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 /ch Fill Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 /ch/ Window Separator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 /A# Alert /A#,# Alert with Frequency, Duration . . . . . . . . . 11 /A##-##[,##] Alert Sweep . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 DEFAULTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 i SCREEN WIZARD 4.5 Warren Small (c) 1992 SCREEN DEFINITIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 TIPS AND TRICKS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 SHAREWARE INFORMATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 SW.EXE History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 ii SCREEN WIZARD 4.5 Warren Small (c) 1992 INTRODUCTION The batch file language for the IBM PC could be described as useful but not much else. It is lacking a great deal in terms of flexibility. These 2 utilities, SW.EXE and DI.EXE, attempt to make batch files much more powerful and at the same time make them nice to look at. SW.EXE grew out of my hatred for the ECHO statement. Any time that I needed to say something to the user, ECHO was the only way. It was slow and difficult to make look halfway decent. And if I wanted color, there was ANSI.SYS... DI.EXE was introduced with SW 4.1 as a response to users who have been utilizing SW as an install tool for software distribution. DI allows interro- gation of the disk drives to determine if they are ready for whatever use you had in mind. This way you can avoid hardware errors which can pop up in the middle of your nice SW screens. See DI-13.DOC for the details on using DI. SW.EXE will display up to 50 lines of text in a window using either its command line format or an external 'Screen Definition' file. With either method, the color of each line can be defined separately or as a group. Also, the colors for the window, its border, the screen background and its border can be specified. Five different window borders are possible and the screen background can be filled with characters or complete strings. SW.EXE also provides functions for retrieving input from the user, either single keystrokes or strings, controlling batch file execution through branching and alerting the user with various sounds or even simple tunes. Command Line Syntax: SW [options] "text1" [options] ["text2"] [options] ["text3"] ... External File Syntax: SW @filename [label] The biggest advantage to using the external file approach is that more than one window can be displayed with only one call to SW! This can be a tremendous speed advantage if the batch file is being run from a floppy disk. The screen definition can also be written into the batch file that utilizes it so that disk space is used optimally. The optional label shown above is used to mark different definitions within the same file. The demo batch file, SW45DEMO.BAT, contains many examples of both methods. See page 14 for more information. On the next page is a list of the various switches along with a short description of what each does. This list appears on the screen when SW is called without parameters. Page 1 SCREEN WIZARD 4.5 Warren Small (c) 1992 OPTIONS Window: /f# Foreground (0-15) /b# Background (0-7) /l# Border (0-5) /s# Shadow (1-4) /w Wide Edge /2 Double Spacing /0 No Margin /r# Row (1-25) /c# Col (1-80) /h# here + # /d Draw /z Zoom Text: /t#|g# Text (0-15) /e# Enhanced Text /m# Border Msg /j# Justify Screen: /k#[ ] Clear screen (0-7) [char] /o# Outside edge /@# Set Cursor Other: /p#[-] Pause /a#[,#] Alert (0-9) /q... Query /char Fill Line /i# User Input /n# Input Line /u Uppercase /x# Xtra Lines Switches can be in almost any order, upper or lower case (except /q and /i, see page 8), and a space is required between each. NOTES ON DOS - There is a limit to the length of a command line whether it is typed directly from the DOS prompt or inside a batch file. This limit is 128 char- acters. Anything past that point will be ignored. - The Query feature described on page 8 makes use of Errorlevel codes to allow the batch file to determine which key has been pressed. A series of IF ERRORLEVEL x statements are used to test for the value. You must test from largest to smallest since the statement will be true if the value is equal to OR greater than x. - The User Input feature (page 9) and four DI switches make use of the DOS Environment. (DOS 3.3 or higher is required for these features) This is an area in memory containing information stored by your boot up procedure as well as some programs. You can see this information by typing SET from the command line. There are three variables commonly found in the environment. PATH is a list of directories DOS will search to find a program not in the current directory. You must set this yourself, usually as part of the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. COMSPEC tells DOS where to find COMMAND.COM. If it is anywhere but the root directory of the boot drive, you will have to set it. PROMPT describes what the DOS prompt will look like. Your DOS manual has more information. - To check the answers returned by User Input, the IF statement is used. In your batch file, the variable name must be preceded and followed the % sign. On page 9 is a quick example. If you wish to check the actual value use this form: IF "%ANS%"=="" goto Label This will branch to Label if the user entered nothing. Use IF NOT to reverse the logic of the comparison. Adding NOT to the above example would branch to Label if ANS had some value. - To be sure there is room in the environment you can set the size manually when booting. "SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM /E:512 /P" in your CONFIG.SYS file will set the size to 512 bytes. This value can be as large as 32768. Page 2 SCREEN WIZARD 4.5 Warren Small (c) 1992 WINDOW APPEARANCE /F# Foreground Color /B# Background Color Foreground and background colors for the window are set by the /f# and /b# switches. The color can be selected using the numbers or names. Valid background colors are limited to 0-7. If your command line gets to be longer than 128 characters, use the numbers to gain some space. DOS will ignore anything past the 128th position on the command line. Color Values 0 or bla = Black 8 or BLA = Grey 1 or blu = Blue 9 or BLU = Bright Blue 2 or gre = Green 10 or GRE = Bright Green 3 or cya = Cyan 11 or CYA = Bright Cyan 4 or red = Red 12 or RED = Bright Red 5 or mag = Magenta 13 or MAG = Bright Magenta 6 or yel = Brown 14 or YEL = Yellow 7 or whi = White 15 or WHI = Bright White /L# Window Border (Lines) Border type is defined by the /l# (line) switch. /l0 - none /l1 - ┌─ /l2 - ╔═ /l3 - ╒═ /l4 - ╓─ /l5 - █▀ If a character is used instead of a number, it will be used as the window border. (e.g. /l* or /l▓). /S# Shadows A shadow can be added with the /s# option. If the shadow covers other characters on the screen they will be darkened, rather than hidden. /s1 - right, below (default if /s is used alone) /s2 - left, below /s3 - right, above /s4 - left, above. /W Wide Edge The /w switch will give your window a wide edge, making it 2 rows taller and 4 columns wider. Using this option will reduce the maximum string length to 64 and the maximum number of lines from 20 to 18 if you are using a screen definition. The /w switch will have no effect on a window with no border (/l0). /2 Double Spacing /0 No Margin The /2 option will add a blank line between each text line passed. The /0 switch removes the blank space between the border and first and last lines of text. Combine /0 with the /l0 switch and the resulting window will be only as large as needed for the text passed. Page 3 SCREEN WIZARD 4.5 Warren Small (c) 1992 /R# Row /C# Column The position of the window can be set using the /r# (row) and /c# (column) switches. These are referenced to the upper left corner of the window. If the window is too big to fit, these coordinates will be adjusted by the program. Thus if you have a line that places a window in the lower right hand corner and you want to add a shadow, just put a /s on the end of the line and the window will be positioned properly without changing the row and column switch values. If you wish to set the size of the window yourself, a second /r# and /c# will define the bottom row and right column. If the text passed to SW will not fit in the window, these settings will be adjusted by SW automatically, adjusting the bottom and right sides first. If you set only top and bottom or left and right, SW will calculate the proper values for you. A shorthand version of absolute sizing is available. You can now show the start and end with one switch for the height, /r#### and one for the width, /c####. The first 2 digits are the start value. /r1020 is equiva- lent to /r10 /r20, saving 3 characters on the line. /H# Here For simpler positioning, /h# (here) will set the row according to the present cursor position adding # to it if provided. The value can be plus or minus. Use the /h# switch when you're trying to mix screen output from another program with an SW window. The window can be easily placed relative to the other text and will be centered left to right unless you use the /c# switch. /D Draw Window When a Pause, Query or User Input is utilized, the window will "popup" on the screen and disappear when the pause finishes or the input has been processed. If you want the window to be left on the screen, specify the /d switch. This will draw the window instead. See page 8 for more information on Pause, Query and User Input. ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ NOTE TO PREVIOUS USERS - Since Pause, Query and User Input windows │ │ now disappear when the function is completed, you may wish to change │ │ your batch files by adding the /D switch. │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ /Z Zoom Window A special effect for SW is Zoom Window. Sometimes called "exploding" by other applications, this switch will cause the window to be drawn in several steps, from small to its final size. The shadow and border are zoomed as well with the text added when the proper size is reached. Page 4 SCREEN WIZARD 4.5 Warren Small (c) 1992 TEXT APPEARANCE /T# Text Color /G# Global Text Color Text color can be controlled with the /t# and /g# switches. Both use the same color table shown above and both are position sensitive. /g# will change the text color for all text following the switch. /t# will effect only the text string immediately after the switch. Multiple /g# switches could be used to color groups of lines. To make "text" blink, add 128 to the color # or put a + after the color name. (e.g. red+ = 4 + 128 = 132 = blinking red). The window foreground color can also blink if desired. /E# Enhanced Text Color This switch selects the "enhanced" text color. This is the color used when you want to highlight characters within a line. The location of this switch is important as it effects only those lines of text that follow it, like the /G# switch. In fact, you could use the switch to give each line a different highlight color. Marking characters to be highlighted in a line can be accomplished in one of two ways. The Query example on page 8 shows the use of the ~ (tilde) character preceding the 'Y' and 'N' and will cause these charac- ters to appear bright red (/eRED) while the rest of the text is the default bright white. If the e parameter is omitted, SW.EXE will use the color of the current line with the opposite intensity. There is no limit to the number of characters that can be highlighted on each line. If you want to highlight a group of characters on a line, an alternative to placing a ~ in front of each character is to surround the portion of the line you want highlighted with curly braces ({ and }). If you need to use any these characters on a line without highlighting, use a pair of each. The string "{{Normal Text}}" will appear as "{Normal Text}" in the window without being highlighted. /M# Border Message A /m# preceding a text string marks the string as a Border Message. If it is the first string in the window, it will appear at the top. If it appears after the first line of regular text, the message will appear at the bottom. The # must be l, r or c for left, right and center. Center is the default if /m is used alone. The message color is defined the same way as all other text with /t#, /g#, and /e#. /J# Justify Text can be justified (aligned) to the left or right as well as the default centering. This switch works on all strings following its position, just like /g#. /jl will align text left and /jr will line up the text to the right. /jc would restore the default. Page 5 SCREEN WIZARD 4.5 Warren Small (c) 1992 SCREEN APPEARANCE /K# Klear Screen (with optional Fill Character) The /k# switch will clear the screen using the color # (0-7) and places the cursor at the upper left corner. A single character can be added after the # to give some texture to the screen. (e.g. /k4─ or /kred─) This can make the shadow effect more interesting. /K# Klear Screen, set Foreground Color A second /k# switch on the same line can be used to set the screen fore- ground color (0-15). SW /kblu /kWHI sets the screen color to bright white on blue. This will NOT affect the current DOS screen color. The default screen foreground value is 7 or whi. /K# Klear Screen (with optional Fill String) Instead of a simple fill character for the background, a string could be used in the form /k#string. The string can be up to 80 characters long. Interesting patterns will result depending on the length. Lengths like 2, 4, 5, 8, 10, etc. divide into 80 evenly. Other values result in each line being offset from the last. Don't limit yourself to just words. Use some of the special IBM characters in different combinations. The Demo batch file has some examples. If you want spaces within the string, either surround the string with quotes or substitute the underscore (_) for each space. They will be replaced by spaces before being displayed. /O# Outside Edge (Screen Border) The /o# switch will set the screen border color. All color values are valid. Using the switch without a color will reset the border to normal. This switch could be used alone to set or reset the border. SW /ored will set the screen border to red. Some programs ignore the border color, others reset it and still others set one of their own. You will have to experiment on your own is you wish to set a special border color for a program. /X# Xtra Lines SW is EGA 43 and VGA 28/50 line aware, i.e. if the screen is already in one of those modes, SW will be able to utilize the entire screen. This switch allows SW to setup 28, 43 and 50 line displays by using /X28, /X43 and /X50 respectively. /X25 will return to the normal 25 line mode. The maximum text lines displayed in a box is increased to 23 for the 28 line mode, 38 in the 43 line mode and 45 in the 50 line mode. 5 more lines can be displayed if the window uses /L0 /0 for parameters. /@# Set Cursor If you wish to move the cursor to a particular place on the screen, this switch will accomplish it. The number which follows /@ can be a row or a row and col. /@15 will place the cursor on row 15 col 1 and /@234 will set it on row 2 col 34. The next text output to the screen will begin at this point. It is important to note that setting the column to something other than 1 will affect only the first line put on the screen. The rest will start at the left margin. This switch does NOT affect SW's output. Page 6 SCREEN WIZARD 4.5 Warren Small (c) 1992 /@- Hide Cursor SW can hide the cursor after it has finished processing with this switch. You can make the cursor reappear with any SW command which means that you need to include this switch on each command line if you want the cursor to remain hidden. Only one instance of the switch is neces- sary in a screen definition. Page 7 SCREEN WIZARD 4.5 Warren Small (c) 1992 OTHER SWITCHES /P# Pause The /p# switch will pause for # 10ths of a second before proceeding. If # = 0 or is missing the program will wait for the user to press a key. If you combine Query and Pause, the pause will occur after the query unless the query specifies a default (See below). Adding a - after the number will allow the user to interrupt the timer. e.g. /p50- will pause for 5 seconds or less if the user presses a key. Maximum value for pause is 300 or 30 seconds. /Q Query (Controlled Branching) The Query switch (/q...) allows user input of single characters. The selected key sets the DOS Errorlevel allowing conditional branches in your batch file. Example: sw /eRED "Continue?" "~Yes ~No" /qyn if errorlevel 2 goto exit if errorlevel 1 goto next This will wait for the user to press the 'y' or 'n' key rejecting all other keystrokes with a 'beep'. If 'n' is pressed, Errorlevel 2 will be set and the batch file will branch to the label ":exit". 'y' will cause a branch to ":next". /Q Function Keys The Query can also look for function keys, if desired. They can be included in the string with other characters in the form "/qabc[F1]". Pressing the F1 key, in this case, will return EL 4. F1 through F10 can be used with F10 being represented by [F0]. See the section on Screen Definitions beginning on page 14 for a special application of F1. /Q Special Characters, ~ ` ^ * If the ~ (tilde) character immediately follows the /q, the ESC key is also available and will set Errorlevel 0 if pressed. Up to 70 characters can be designated as option keys. If you wish to use the space bar or the piping (|) and redirection (< or >) characters, enclose all the characters in quotes. (e.g. /q"abc "). Query is not case-sensitive. The ` or ^ character can be used to indicate a default choice for the Query. This choice is available to avoid conflicts with NDOS/4DOS. Example: sw /eRED "Continue?" "~Yes ~No" /q^yn This makes a 'Y' the default. SW will return Errorlevel 1 if ENTER is pressed. Also, by combining a pause with a default choice, SW will return the default if no key is pressed before the pause time elapses. An asterisk (*) used in the Query string acts like a wild card choice. SW will return an Errorlevel corresponding to its position in thestring. Page 8 SCREEN WIZARD 4.5 Warren Small (c) 1992 Example: sw /eRED "Press ~Y to Continue" "Any other key to abort" /qy* 'Y' returns Errorlevel 1 and all other keys return 2. ESC and/or a default response could be combined with the wildcard option as well. Pressing ENTER would then return the default choice as would a Pause timeout. Users who wish SW to flush the keyboard buffer prior to checking for Queries can use an uppercase /Q switch rather than a /q. In both cases, the result of the query is the same. /I# User Input (Requires DOS 3.3 or higher) The /i# switch will add an edit line to the window which will accept User Input. The # defines the length of the line. This feature can be used to ask for directory names, file names, drive letters or other information which can then be used by the batch file. SW will put the answer in the batch file's environment with the label ANS. DOS 3.3 or higher is needed for this feature. You can then use the ANS variable in your batch file. A Pause used with this feature will occur after the input. Example: sw "Which Directory?" /i40 if exist %ans%\nul cd %ans% This does has some limitations since it is difficult to check the validity of the answer from a batch file. ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ NOTE TO SW 3.8 USERS: If you have used the /i# switch in your batch │ │ files, be sure to remove the line "CALL SW-ENV.BAT" since SW 4.x │ │ does not create the batch file in favor of direct manipulation of │ │ the environment. │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ /I#var User Input, Custom Variable Name Optionally, you can specify your own environment variable name with the /i# switch. The variable is indicated by a string, up to 8 characters long, placed after the number. e.g. /i24Dir gives you a 24 character field and places the answer in the environment variable DIR. (All environment variables are shifted to upper case.) This allows you to get more than one string before processing. Just be sure your environment is sized properly. Check the SHELL command in your DOS manual. The string input editing keys include HOME, END, , , BackSpace, DEL, INSert and Overtype modes and use of the ESCape key for aborting. A large cursor indicates the Overtype mode and a small cursor signifies Insert. IMPORTANT NOTE: SW 4.2a altered the action of ESC by NOT changing the original value and returning EL 1 to the batch file. This prevents unnecessary alteration of the environment. If an error occurs when SW Page 9 SCREEN WIZARD 4.5 Warren Small (c) 1992 tries to add the result to the environment, an EL 2 will be returned. EL 0 is returned with normal input. When using the /I switch, SW will check the environment to see if the variable you are using is already present. If it is, the value will be used as a default value in the User Input field. A SET command should always precede an SW call with the /I switch. If you do NOT want a default, you have to make sure the variable is not present. 'SET ANS=' preceding the input call will make sure there is no value in the ANS variable. Like the /Q switch, /I will flush the keyboard buffer if an uppercase /I is used rather than /i. The results for both are equivalent. /I# User Input, Multiple strings Assuming that you have adequate space in your environment, you can retrieve more than one string from a user with only one call to SW. This is only practical for screen definitions since it requires a good deal of information to set it up and probably would not fit in a 128 charac- ter command line. Each input defined would need its own variable name and prompt. The only caveat to this method is that an ESC is not record- ed except by the last /I to be processed. /I#### User Input, Long Strings If you need to get string input that is longer than the maximum field length of 70 , use the form /I####. The last 2 digits define the field size and the rest of the number represents the maximum length of the string. e.g /I8020 defines a 20 character field with a maximum string length of 80. Additionally, if the default value found in the environ- ment exceeds the string length, SW will automatically adjust to compen- sate. However, the string cannot be made any longer. Maximum string length is 127 characters minus the length of the variable name. Maximum field length is 70 if it is on a line by itself. The field size will be adjusted if its length plus the length of text on the same line exceeds 70 or 64 if using wide margins. /I##* User Input, Password Blanking For anyone wanting to use SW to get password input, add an asterisk between the length and the variable name (if used). This prevents the password from being displayed on the screen by substituting an asterisk for each character entered, improving security. It is important to note that since a batch file is being used to check to validity of the entry, someone could find out what the password is by looking at the file so you should at least hide the file to make it more difficult to circum- vent. /N# Input Line Number By default, the User Input field is placed on the last line of the box. By using the /n# switch, the field can be placed on any line. If # is positive, the field will appear after the string on line #. If # is negative, the field will appear by itself on line #. Page 10 SCREEN WIZARD 4.5 Warren Small (c) 1992 /U Input Uppercase If you want only uppercase characters in the answer, use the /u switch. This can be useful when asking for a drive letter and want to put the results on the screen for verification. /D Draw Window Pause, Query and User Input windows "popup" on the screen, i.e they disappear after the Pause, Query or Input finish. /D is used if you want the window to stay on the screen. /ch Fill Line This parameter is used to indicate a character which will be used to fill a text line position in the window. Any character that is not already used by another switch is valid. This switch could be used for horizontal separators in the text box using a ─ (ASCII 196) or a ═ (ASCII 205). The area filled is just inside the border of the box. The switch should be positioned as if it were a string on the command line or within the Screen Definition. Its color can be specified the same as a normal text line. See the first Screen Definition on Page 14 for an example of its use. /ch/ Window Separator This switch is similar to Fill Line except that it will fill the line completely. If a horizontal line drawing character (ASCII 196 or 205) is used along with borders /l1 through /l4, the line will be connected to the border. The line will assume the color of the border. /A# Alert /A#,# Alert with Frequency, Duration The Alert switch (/a#) can be used to produce the normal IBM beep if # is 0 or missing. If that's too boring, nine other sounds can be produced varying from simple tones to more complex sounds using the values below. Alert Switch Values 1 - Low Freq Tone 5 - Bweep Two 2 - Mid Freq Tone 6 - Bomb 3 - High Freq Tone 7 - Siren 4 - Bweep One 8 - Phasor 9 - Tweeter The demo batch file gives you a chance to try them all. The /A switch can also produce any tone that the PC speaker can put out. Using the form /A##,##, the first number will be the frequency of the tone (20-20000) and the second is its duration (1-300 tenths of a second). Using a screen definition, songs are actually possible using a series of lines like "_window /a440,1". This produces a 440 hertz tone for 1 tenth of a second. SW45DEMO.BAT has some short examples. The use of a screen definition is needed for speed of execution. Trying this from several command lines in the batch file will result in a less than smooth output. Page 11 SCREEN WIZARD 4.5 Warren Small (c) 1992 For you musicians out there, there is an easier way to create those little tunes. Notes can be specified with the /A switch as well. Middle C is designated as C4. A sharp is shown as C4# and a flat as B3b. The full form of the switch is /AA4,10 which will play an A, 4th octave, for 1 second. The tunes in SW45DEMO.BAT use this form of /A. The valid range is from E0 to B9. It should be noted that the IBM speaker has limita- tions in reproducing high notes and the practical limit is probably around a G9 or about 12,000 Hz. Your results could vary depending on your computer type. /A##-##[,##] Alert Sweep A quick sweep of tones can be programmed with this form of the /A switch. This first number is the start frequency. After the hyphen is the finish frequency. Optionally, the third number can be used to define the number of steps to be used from the start frequency to the finish frequency. Each tone is sounded for about 1/18th of a second so 18 steps will take about 1 second. The default is 10 steps. Any valid frequency can be used. Notes values are not accepted. Example: sw /a100-1000,15 This will start at 100 Hz and reach 1000 Hz in 15 steps. The start frequency can be larger than the finish frequency for a reverse sweep. Page 12 SCREEN WIZARD 4.5 Warren Small (c) 1992 DEFAULTS Yellow double line border on a centered blue window with white single- spaced text. No Clear Screen, Shadow or Zoom. Enhanced color will default to the text color with the opposite intensity. (/fYEL /bblu /gWHI /l2 /ewhi) Example: sw /kwhi /fblu /bred /gYEL "Line 1" /tWHI "Line 2" "Line 3" /s2 This will display a blue (/fblu) on red (/bred) window with a shadow to the left and below it (/s2). The screen color will be white (/kwhi). Lines 1 and 3 are bright yellow (/gYEL) and line 2 is bright white (/tWHI). See the batch file SW45DEMO.BAT for many more examples. If no text strings are passed, features such as Clear Screen (/k#), Query (/q...), Pause (/p#), Alert (/a#[,#]), and Outside Edge (/o#) can be used with no window output. (e.g. sw /p10 will pause for 1 second.) Page 13 SCREEN WIZARD 4.5 Warren Small (c) 1992 SCREEN DEFINITIONS Screen Definitions, introduced with version 4.0, greatly enhance the flexibility and power of SW. It simplifies the command line by putting all the switches and text into a file that SW can read into memory. Multiple windows can be defined in the file and displayed with one call to SW. Also, text handling by one window is expanded to 20 single spaced lines, more if EGA or VGA modes are used (See /X#, page 6). When you run SW45DEMO.BAT, you can easily see the advantages of using a screen definition. All switches just described are applicable in a screen definition, including Query, Pause, and User input. Windows will be displayed in the order that they are read from the file. A pause with the third window causes the pause to take place after the third window is displayed. In the batch file, the syntax for using a screen definition is: SW @filename [label] The definition can be in a separate file or even within the same batch file (See note on page 16). The optional label is used when more than one defini- tion is in the file. The default label is 'Display'. 'End_Display' marks the end of the definition. What follows is a breakdown of a portion of one of the screen defini- tions that can be found in SW45DEMO.BAT. There are a total of 5 definitions used by the demonstration, three of which are within the batch file and two are from external files. ┌─────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │Default Label │ :Display │ │first window │ _window /kcya┼ /r2 /s /bred /w /0 │ │text 1 │ SW.EXE - Expanded Text Handling! │ │text 2, new color │ /tWHI+ Multiple Windows! │ │text 3, footer │ /m v 4.5 │ │2nd window │ _window /r10 /s /bwhi /gblu /l1 /fred /0 │ │text 1, new color │ /tBLU Optional Command Line Syntax: │ │text 2 │ SW @filename [label] │ │3rd window │ _window /r16 /s /bwhi /gblu /l1 /fred /0 │ │text 1, new color │ /tBLU SW 4.x ADDITIONAL FEATURES │ │text 2, fill line │ /tred /─ │ │text 3, justify left │ /jl - Define the entire screen with multiple windows│ │text 4 │ using external text files. │ │4th window, pause │ _window /r25 /l0 /0 /p100- │ │text 1 │ - Press any key for more - │ │5th window, pause │ _window /r19 /bwhi /gblu /l0 /jl /0 /p100- │ │text 1 │ - Text handling can be expanded to 20 single-spaced │ │text 2 │ lines per window. │ │. │ . │ │. │ . │ │Final label │ :End_Display │ Page 14 SCREEN WIZARD 4.5 Warren Small (c) 1992 └─────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ The _window line contains the switches that describe the window and screen and have the same form as they would on a command line, preceded by a slash and separated by a space. The lines that follow will be interpreted as text until another '_window' or the 'end_display' label is found. The text switches can appear on the same line preceding the text. The /t switch is used to change the color one line of text and is separated from the text by a space. /g can be used before a text line to change the color of the rest of the lines. /j can be used to change the text alignment and /m is used to specify a border message. Finally, /e is used to specify the "enhanced" text color. Multiple switches can precede the text. The text can be enclosed by quotes if additional spaces before or after are desired. This example has 4 pauses and defines small windows that fit inside larger ones to change the text without redrawing the whole window. If a different label is needed, simply substitute it for 'Display'. The label can be up to 15 characters. In SW45DEMO.BAT 2 of the other definitions use the labels 'Snd_Menu' and '4.5'. Note that when using the /k switch with a fill string in a screen definition, do not use quotes around the fill string. This is necessary because of the way the switch is processed when using the screen definition. As before, if you need spaces within the string, use the underscore (_) character. It will be replaced with a space. A Query will have to be the last item in the definition for the return code to be valid. User Input can occur anywhere but you will have to wait for the entire definition to be displayed before checking the answer. Environment variables will be evaluated when included inside a screen definition. This enables you to create a screen to display the user's answers or other information without having to resort to the command line mode. If the variable is not found, the variable name will be displayed in the window just as it appears in the screen definition. It is possible to "nest" screen definitions. One potential use is to reuse a portion of one definition and add a new window to it. Here's what a simple example would look like: :Display1 :Display2 _window ... text :End_Display1 _window ... text :End_Display2 The command "SW @file Display1" would show only the first window and "SW Page 15 SCREEN WIZARD 4.5 Warren Small (c) 1992 @file Display2" would display both. Any line beginning with a colon (:) is ignored by SW. This technique could save some disk space. A Screen Definition can contain a special help window that can be accessed with the F1 key. A Query (See page 8) must be part of the screen def but it does not need to include the F1 key. The help window is preceded by "_window_help" and is defined the same as a regular window. This window is displayed only when the F1 key is pressed. It is a "popup" window which will disappear after pressing any key. The "_window_help" can appear anywhere in the definition and only one is permitted. ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ One final note on Screen Definitions. If you include them in a batch file,│ │ be certain that the flow of the batch file does not go through the screen │ │ def. The DOS batch processor will not have any idea what those lines mean.│ │ If you see a lot of "Bad command or file name" appearing when the batch is│ │ run, check to see if the screen definition has been bypassed with a goto │ │ or check for a goto that directs the batch file to the screen def. │ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Page 16 SCREEN WIZARD 4.5 Warren Small (c) 1992 TIPS AND TRICKS - Change the contents of a window without redrawing the whole thing. Use the /l0 and /0 switches to create a window just big enough for the text and without a border. This way you can overwrite part or all of the inside of a window and change the text in a flash. The first demo screen definition above uses this technique. - Use the ECHO batch file command to create screen definitions "on the fly". If you use the redirect character > and the redirect with append >> you can build a screen definition while running the batch file. In SW45DEMO.BAT, this method is used to create the help screen for DI.EXE. Here is a portion: echo :Display > di.hlp echo _window /kmag▒─┼─▒ /s /bred /r2 /0 /w >> di.hlp echo SW.EXE - Now with DI!>> di.hlp echo /mc v 4.2 >> di.hlp echo _window /jl /s /0 /r9 >> di.hlp echo /mc Disk Information >> di.hlp echo.>> di.hlp di >> di.hlp echo. >> di.hlp echo _window /r25 /bblu /l0 /0 /p300- >> di.hlp echo - Press any key to continue - >> di.hlp echo :End_Display >> di.hlp The first line creates the file "di.hlp" and the following lines append to it. Then you call SW @di.hlp. Please note that, if quotes are used around any strings, the >> should be placed directly after the end quote so there won't be a space after it in the file. If there is a space, SW would display the end quote in the window which is probably not desirable. You should also keep in mind when capturing text from another program, that any text longer than 72 characters will be truncated and should be less than 20 lines long unless you are using an EGA or VGA mode (See /X#, page 6). If more lines are found they are ignored. This way you can show the result of an operation without destroying the look of the screen. - Use the Enhanced text color attribute (/e#) to display text in two colors on the same line. You could make whole words stand out in this manner. SW /tRED /eRED+ "{Blinking} Red" - If you want to display an empty window, set the size with /r#### and /c####, then pass one space in a string. SW /r814 /c2060 " " - Use a FOR loop to evaluate errorlevels returned by a Query. Although it is slower and requires the use of numbered labels, it can shorten a long series of IF ERRORLEVELs to one line. In the demo batch file, the sound menu uses a line like the following to select the sound: for %%e in (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12) do if errorlevel %%e goto beep%%e Page 17 SCREEN WIZARD 4.5 Warren Small (c) 1992 SHAREWARE INFORMATION These programs are "shareware". You are allowed to use the programs, free of charge, for a reasonable amount of time. If you find them to be useful, and continue to utilize them, a registration fee of $15 is required. This will entitle you to personal notification of future releases and give your suggestions for enhancements more value. Many of the enhancements listed in the history are the result of user comments and suggestions. *** BONUS PROGRAMS! *** Anyone registering SW 4.5 will receive a disk with the latest version, plus an additional program, SWV.EXE. This program is a simple text file viewer that integrates with SW. SW can generate a window and then call SWV to display the file within that window. This can be indispensable when a batch file needs to display a large amount of information with only a little work. SWV includes features like Search, Place Marks, and Zoom to full screen. SWV can be used as a stand-alone as well and is EGA 43 and VGA 28/50 line aware. You will also receive SW-DIR.EXE, a pop-up file directory for batch files. It inherits many of the appearance switches of SW while allowing the user to pick from the file list and return the name through the environment. DOS 3.3 or higher is required. The newest bonus program is SW-DOS.EXE which allows SW to call DOS commands or even batch files and have the output confined to a window. It can be used to display the results of file copying, archive extractions and even a shell to DOS. Now you don't have to sacrifice a nice SW screen just to be able to see what your batch file is doing. Finally, you will receive some more examples of what can be done with SW with a little work and imagination. Thanks to Bill Davis for HIS work and imagination. There is also an example of how multiple strings can be re- trieved with a screen definition. Registered SW 3.x users can upgrade to SW 4.5 for $5. This is a free upgrade for SW 4.x users. 4.x users who wish to receive SWV, SW-DOS and SW- DIR can do so by sending $2.50 for postage and handling to the address below. Please specify disk size. The file SW-45.REG is provided to simplify regis- tration and ordering. CompuServe Members can register by entering GO SWREG at the ! prompt and registering ID #641. Just follow the instructions online. Site licenses can be negotiated. Feel free to give it to friends or upload the original archive file to other BBS's provided that no fee is charged for distribution and it is not modified in any way. Note to BBS Sysops: Please post this archive file as is, with all files included, and without changing the filename. Page 18 SCREEN WIZARD 4.5 Warren Small (c) 1992 SW.EXE Ver. 4.5 - June 11, 1993 Warren Small CIS 71076,407 35 Benjamin Street GEnie W.SMALL Manchester, NH 03109 Prodigy RSJW31A SW.EXE History 3.6 - 12/31/89 First general release. 3.7 - 02/01/90 Increased text lines to 5. Colors can be specified with 3 letter codes (p. 3). Added Here (/h#, p. 4), Double Spacing (/2, p. 3), No Margin (/0, p. 3), Enhanced text color (/e#, p. 5). 3.8 - 04/22/91 Added 3 border styles (p. 3), 3 shadow positions (p. 3), Pause Interrupt (/p#-, p. 8), User Input (/i#, p. 9). 4.0 - 10/31/91 User Input changed to modify environment rather than create SW-ENV.BAT (p. 9). Removed limit on Highlighting (p. 5). Added custom window border (/l#char, p. 3), Border Message (/m#, p. 5), Justify (/j#, p. 5), Outside Edge color (/o#, p. 6), 9 Alert sounds (/a#, p. 11), Wide window edge (/w, p. 3), Foreground color for screen (/k# /k#, p. 6), Query wildcard (p. 8), default (p. 8), and Pause timeout (/q*^ /p#-, p. 8), Window size control (/r# /r# /c# /c#, p. 4). Screen Definitions introduced (p. 14). 4.1 - 12/1/91 Enhanced User Input (p. 9). Pause, Query and User Input window changed to popup style. Added Fill String (/k#string, p. 6), Zoom Window (/z, p. 4), Input Line (/n#, p. 10), Uppercase Input (/u, p. 11), Draw Window to override popup (/d, p. 4, 11), custom environment variables (/i#var, p. 9). New utility added to check disks (DI.EXE, see separate docs). 4.2 - 2/2/92 Added Fill Line (/char, p. 11), shorthand window sizing (/r#### /c####, p. 4), Alert Freq, Duration (/a#,#, p. 11) or Note, Duration (/aN,#, p. 12), key buffer flush option for /Q (p. 9) and /I (p. 10), default value for /I by setting environment variable (p. 10), Window appearance modified slightly for bordered (1-4) and borderless windows. 5 text line limit removed from command line form of SW. Environment variables are now evaluated inside screen definitions (p. 15). 4.2a - 2/29/92 Fixed bug in environment variable evaluation in screen files which caused rest of file to be read improperly. Added another Query default indicator ^ for compatibility with NDOS (p. 8). User Input enhanced to allow large string input in small fields (/I####, p. 10). 4.3 - 6/30/92 /x# added for EGA 43 line & VGA 50 line modes (p. 6). SW now also detect and setup 43 and 50 line modes. Text lines longer than 70 characters are truncated without displaying an error. "Nested" labels possible in screen defs (p. 15). 4.3a - 9/16/92 Corrected /w /l5 /─ bug. Added multi-input capability Page 19 SCREEN WIZARD 4.5 Warren Small (c) 1992 for screen defs (p. 10). 4.3b - 11/22/92 Fixed /l0 /0 /x43 bug. Added /@# (p. 6) to set cursor position and /@- to hide it (p. 7). 4.4 - 12/16/92 Added /x28 mode for VGA displays (p. 6). Added use of {} to highlight groups of characters (p. 5). Allowed /E# to be used for each line of text (p. 5). Text handling increased for /L0 /0 windows to the maximum the screen will allow (80 characters by 25, 28, 43 or 50 lines.) 4.4a - 12/29/92 Fixed /I bug which caused input line to appear in the wrong place. 4.4b - 3/5/93 Help now in external file to shrink EXE and provide a way for the user to customize it. Added password blanking to /I (p. 10). 4.5 - 6/12/93 Window separator added (/ch/, p. 11). Function keys added to Query (p. 8). Help window added to screen def (p. 16). Alert Sweep tones added (p. 12). Page 20