OS/2 Shareware BBS: 5 Edit/05-Edit.zip/pbxs_200.zip/PASTRY2.DOC

Text File | 1996-10-11 | 18KB | 409 lines

Pastry Box - version 2.00

I. Overview:

Pastry Box is a multifunction utility that contains several useful
tools and is easy to use but difficult to explain.

Pastry Box has the following functions:

        Clipboard Aid:
        Hex Dump Utility:
        Multiple Editor (MLE) Windows:
        File List Maker:
        CMD File Builder:

A description of each of the Pastry Box functions follows.

Clipboard Aid:
One problem with using the OS/2 clipboard is that it will only hold
one item.  If you want to copy noncontiguous lines of text from one
file to another, each noncontiguous line takes one copy and paste
operation. Pastry Box will let you mark multiple noncontiguous lines
of text in the main window and copy them to the clipboard in one
operation.  Pastry Box will load text from a file or will allow text
to be pasted from the OS/2 clipboard.  Loading a file into the main
Pastry Box window is done on a thread to allow larger files to be
loaded without impacting the user.

I use Pastry Box with an off-line mail reader to select lines from
other sources to paste into replies.  It could also be used to select
multiple names from an organization list to form a distribution list.
It could be used to make a subset of a list of items and copy the
subset to the clipboard.

The main window is a listbox and the text inserted into the listbox
cannot be directly edited although the user can insert, append, and
delete lines of text. The lines pasted from the OS/2 clipboard can be
appended or inserted into the existing lines of text.  If there is a
marked line in the main window, the contents of the clipboard is
inserted above the marked line, if not it is appended at the end of
the text in the main window.

There is a search search function that will search for text in the
main window. If a match is found, the display text will move so that
the line that contains the matched text is at the top of the listbox,
unless the last line of text in the main windows is already on screen.
The lines that contain the search string are marked to make it easy
to find information to copy to the clipboard.

The user may save lines of text from the main window, either the
marked text may be saved to a file or the contents of the main window
may be saved.  When text from the main window is saved or copied to the
OS/2 clipboard, the trailing spaces are removed.  This was added
because some usenet messages I copied were padded to a fixed length
and importing them to another utility often reformatted the text due
the trailing spaces.  Removing the trailing spaces prevented the
reformatting.

A time stamp option is available to insert or append a time stamp to
the text in the main window.

Hex Dump Utility:
The user is given the option to load a file into the main Pastry Box
window in the form of a hex dump.  Once loaded into the listbox, the
hex dump is treated as a normal text file.

Multiple MLE Windows:
Pastry Box allows multiple MLE (Multi Line Editor) windows which can be
used for temporary storage for text pasted from the clipboard.  This
gives the effect of having multiple OS/2 clipboards without making
any changes in the way OS/2 functions.  The editor windows were added
as part of the CMD file builder, but they make a convenient place for
temporary storage of clipped text.  There are two different editors.
One that uses CR-LF pairs to terminate a line and one that uses a LF
to terminate a line.  The editor described as a UNIX mode editor uses
a single LF character to terminate text lines.  Text loaded into the
regular editor that uses CR-LF pairs will be converted to CR-LF format.
The UNIX style editor only modifies edited lines.  Neither editor
removes trailing spaces like the main Pastry Box window.

File List Maker:
Pastry Box offers a way to create list of files via a File Dialog Box
that allows the selection of multiple files. The names of the files
selected are inserted into the main Pastry Box window. The file list
may be appended or inserted into the existing text.  If a template
file has been loaded, the user must clear the template via the
'Clear Template' selection.

CMD File Builder:
As an extension of the file list making function, Pastry Box has the
ability to apply a template to each of the file names selected. This
allows the user to generate a set of commands that performs an
operation or set of operations on the files selected.  The result is
inserted in the main Pastry Box window.  The template consists of the
OS/2 commands that the user wants to apply to the files and a %s is
used to represent the file name.  Up to 12 instances of %s can be used
in the template. The template can be created using the CMD template
editor or it can be loaded into the editor.  File selection can be
made multiple times, so the user can select files from multiple
directories or drives.  If a '%' character needs to be in the
resulting CMD file, enter two of them - '%%' - in the template file.

The substitution is done using the printf conversions, and any of
the conversions could be used but most of them would not produce
anything useful.


General Information:

The font, text color, background color used in the listbox may be
configured via the drag & drop method.  Configuration changes may be
saved by using the save settings option which is under Exit. The
physical information about Pastry Box such as the size and position
of the window, the background and text color, and the active font are
saved in the PASTRY.INI file which is read when Pastry Box is loaded.
The font and colors may be changed by using the drag & drop capability
of the WPS. Some of the other information that is saved is the name of
the file loaded, the state of the case sensitivity toggle, and the search
text.  The file name is used to load a file into the listbox when
Pastry Box is loaded. The PASTRY.INI file is loaded from the working
directory if it exists or created if it does not exist. Multiple
configurations can be saved by using different working directories.

The utility is WPS aware, so you may also select a file by dragging a
copy of it onto the icon object.  The utility does not support drag &
drop onto the opened application.

The main Pastry Box window is a listbox and will accept a large text
file, but the editor windows should be limited to text files less
than 32 Kb.

Pastry Box does not add anything to the OS/2 INI files or add any WPS
classes.

Pastry Box is a shareware program and if you continue to use the
program you should register it.  Pastry Box does not have any
code to check on how long the program has been in use, so it is
up to the user to determine a reasonable trial period.

The shareware version of Pastry Box is fully functional, but has
extra prompts that remind the user that he or she is using the
shareware version. These prompts appear when the user selects any
of the file save selections and when the user exits Pastry Box.


II.  Installing Pastry Box:

Run the INSTALL.CMD script from an OS/2 command prompt, or by double
clicking on the install file's icon.  You will be prompted for a
destination drive and directory.  If the directory does not exist,
the script will create the directory and then transfer the files.
The script will also create a Pastry Box program object on the desktop.

If the install program cannot create the desired directory, just move
all unzipped files to the working directory before running the
install program.


III.  Files

Pastry Box is distributed in the compressed archive pbxr_xxx.zip,
where xxx is the version number.  The archive contains these files:


NAME          SIZE       DESCRIPTION

FILE_ID.DIZ        195    File description for BBS use.
INSTALL.CMD       2396    Install script.
LICENSE.TXT       4661    License.
ORDER.BMT         6745    BMT Micro order form
PASTRY.EXE      408465    Program executable.
PASTRY.ICO         874    Program icon.
PASTRY2.DOC      18065    This file.
READ.ME            492    Getting started information

IV.  Uninstalling Pastry Box:


If you find it necessary to remove Pastry Box, simply delete the
program object and the Pastry Box files. Pastry Box makes no entries
in the config.sys or OS/2 INI files.


V. Using Pastry Box


The Pastry Box Menu Bar:

File:
The 'File' selection has five sub-menu items:  'Open File',
'Hex Dump', 'Save Listbox Contents as File',
'Save Marked Listbox Text as File' and 'Exit'. All of the selections
except 'Exit' bring up the standard file dialog box.  The name of the
file loaded into the listbox is one of the settings that may be saved.

Search:
This selection has four sub-menu items:  'From Top', 'Find Next' ,
'Case Sensitive' and 'Enter Search Text'.  'From Top' starts the search
from the beginning of the text in in the listbox.  'Find Next'
continues the search from the last match.  The search direction is
always forward. The 'Case Sensitive' selection is a toggle and a
check is put at the head of the selection when it is active. The
'Enter Search Text 'selection brings up a simple dialog box that allows
the user to enter or modify the text used for the search.  When the user
closes the dialog via a carriage return or clicking on the 'OK'
button, the search starts from the top of the text in the listbox.
The search text and the state of the case sensitive toggle are saved
when the settings are saved.

Global:
This selection has four sub-menu items: 'Select All', 'Deselect All',
'Clear All', and 'Delete Marked Lines'.  The actions of each is
described by the selection name.

Clipboard:
This selection has three sub-menu items: 'Copy to Clipboard',
'Paste From Clipboard', and 'Time Stamp'.  The 'Copy to Clipboard'
selection copies the marked lines to the OS/2 clipboard.  The
'Paste From Clipboard' selection copies text from the OS/2 clipboard.
The text can be appended to or inserted in the existing lines of text.
If there is a marked line in the main window, the contents of the
clipboard are inserted above the marked line, if not it they are
appended at the end of the text in the listbox.  The 'Time Stamp'
selection inserts or appends the current time into the listbox.

Editor:
This selection has two sub-menu items and both open a Multi Line Editor
(MLE) window.  You may have more than one of these windows open, and
each window will be given a number that reflects how many MLE windows
have been opened since the main window was opened. The user will be
warned if there is a MLE window open when the main Pastry Box window
is closed. This is the same editor window that is used for creating or
loading the CMD template.  The first selection 'Open Editor' opens a
normal OS/2 style editor that inserts CR-LF pairs at the end of
lines.  Any text imported into this editor will have CR-LF pairs when
it is save or exported.  The 'Open UNIX Text Editor' opens a MLE
window that is configured for text that terminates a line with only a
LF character.  The window title will reflect which type of editor
window has been opened.

File List:
This selection has six sub-menu items.  All of the sub-menu selections
relate to the CMD builder, but the the first three can be used when
there is no template loaded.  The 'List' selection brings up a file
dialog box that allows the user to select multiple files. When the
file dialog box is closed, the files selected are applied to the CMD
template. Each file names is applied to the template where the %s
is replaced by the file name. The result is inserted or appended to
the listbox, and this is repeated for each file selected.  The 'List'
selection may be repeated until all of the desired files have been
selected. The files may be from different directories or drives.
Each time the 'List' selection is repeated, the result is appended to
the listbox or if there is a marked line the result is inserted above
the marked line.  The 'Clear & List' selection clears the listbox
each time it is selected, but other than that it works the same as
the 'List' command.  The 'Load File List' allows the user to select
a file that contains a list of files, and then applies that list of
files as if they had been selected by the file dialog box.  The
'Open Template Editor' opens a MLE edit window that can be used to
load or create a template file and then load the template for use.
The 'Show Template' selection opens a editor window and loads a
copy of the current CMD template for examination or modification.
The 'Clear Template' selection clears the loaded template.  When a
template has never been loaded or has been cleared, the default
action is to insert or append the files to the listbox.


Exit:
This menu selection has two sub-menu items. The 'Save Settings'
selection saves the current state of the main Pastry Box window
and some of the options.  The physical information about Pastry
Box such as the size and position of the window, the background
and text color, and the active font are saved in the PASTRY.INI
file which is read when Pastry Box is loaded.  The font and colors
may be changed by using the drag & drop capability of the WPS.
Some of the other information that is saved is the name of the file
loaded, the state of the case sensitivity toggle, and the search
text.  The saved file name is used to load a file into the listbox
when Pastry Box is loaded. The PASTRY.INI file is loaded from the
working directory if it exists or created if it does not exist.
Multiple configurations can be saved by using different working
directories.

About:
This selection has no sub-menu and displays a message that has
the version number and in the shareware version it includes the
registration information.

Keyboard Accelerators
There is a different set of keyboard accelerators active in the
main window and the editor windows. In all cases, the keyboard
accelerators are not case sensitive.


The active keyboard accelerators in the main window are:

Exit                    Alt+X , Alt+F4
Copy                    Ctrl+Insert
Delete Marked Lines     Shift+Delete
Paste                   Shift+Insert
Select All              Ctrl+/
Deselect All            Ctrl+\
Open File               Alt+F
Reload File             Alt+R
Save Marked             Alt+M
Save File               Alt+S
Open Editor             Alt+E
Insert Date             F2
Search from Top         Ctrl+F , F6
Search Next             Ctrl+N , F8
Enter Search Text       Ctrl+E , F9
Delete Marked Lines     Del
List                    Alt+L
Clear and List          Alt+C


The active keyboard accelerators in the editor windows are:

Exit                    Alt+X , Alt+F4
Copy                    Ctrl+Insert
Cut                     Shift+Delete
Paste                   Shift+Insert
Select All              Ctrl+/
Open File               Alt+F
Save File               Alt+S
Save Marked             Alt+M
Save Marked             Alt+M
Use As Template         Alt+T


The Pastry Box Editor Menu Bar:

File:
The 'File' selection has four sub-menu items:  'Open File', 'Save As',
'Save Marked Text As' and 'Exit This Editor'. All of the selections
except 'Exit This Editor' bring up the standard file dialog box.

Edit:
The 'Edit' selection has four sub-menu items: 'Cut', 'Copy', 'Paste'
and 'Select All'.  All of the selections are standard functions and
do not require any special knowledge.

Options:
The 'Options' selection as two sub-menu items: 'Font' and 'Word
Wrap'.  The 'Font' selection brings up the standard font dialog box
and allows you to select a display font. The 'Word Wrap' selection is
a toggle that turns word wrap on and off.  Word wrap only effects the
displayed text, the wrapped text is not saved.  Neither option settings
are permanent or effect other Pastry Box Editor windows.

Template:
This selection is only present on the CMD Template editor and only has
one selection and it is used to load the editor window contents into
the template buffer.


VIII.  Why & How to Register:

Pastry Box is a shareware program and if you continue to use the
program you should register it.  Pastry Box does not have any
code to check on how long the program has been in use, so it is
up to the user to determine a reasonable trial period.

Registered users feel good about supporting OS/2 developers and enjoy
these additional benefits:

The extra prompts present in the shareware version of Pastry Box are
not present in the registered version.

Registered users are supported via e-mail.  Send help requests and
good ideas to me at [e-mail].


There are two places to register Pastry Box.  Through BMT Micro and
directly with the author.

Registration through BMT Micro:

BMT Micro will accept credit cards and will be more convenient for
OS/2 users outside the United States.  BMT Micro's price to register
Pastry Box is $25.00 (US Dollars).  BMT Micro also has an FTP area
where the registered version can be obtained after registration.


Direct registration:

Stuff small bills, gold coins, diamonds or even checks (US banks
only, please) valued at $24.00 (US dollars) into an envelope and mail
to:

Don Hawkinson
4555 N Hillcrest
Wichita KS, 67220-3832
USA

Please don't send $100 bills (or larger) in the mail without
purchasing full postal insurance.  Also, no change will be
returned because it is absolutely unsafe, and unwise, to send cash
through the mail.

The registered version of Pastry Box will be made available from
my web page as a password protected download , so make certain that
your e-mail address is included with your registration fee.

Registered users will be notified of updates via e-mail.

Registration covers all 2.xx versions of Pastry Box.