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Text File | 1992-06-10 | 31KB | 394 lines

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ GEdit 1.00.05Γ - PUBLIC Gamma Release Wed 10 Jun 92 │ │ Copyright 1992 by Chris Patterson, All Rights Reserved │ │ │ ╞════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╡ │ GProduct Support Sites │ ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ │ │ 1:170/301 (FidoNET) 1-918-251-6252 2400..14400 (v.32bis/HST/v.42bis) │ │ 1-918-251-1033 2400..9600 (Hayes V-9600/v.42bis) │ │ │ │ All program updates are available from the above numbers. All bug reports │ │ and suggestions can be sent via FidoNET NetMail addressed to the author, │ │ Chris Patterson. Reports may also be made via the BBS or by US Mail. │ │ │ ╞════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╡ │ « 1.0 » What is GEdit? │ ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ │ │ GEdit is a full-screen external message editor for use with RemoteAccess, │ │ QuickBBS, SuperBBS, and any other BBS system that uses the QuickBBS-style │ │ external message editor interface. GEdit will allow users to edit their │ │ messages in a comfortable, full-screen editing environment. GEdit │ │ includes support for both ANSI and AVATAR emulation codes, making it a │ │ very fast alternative to the other editors which are available. │ │ │ │ After becoming tired of using an available but under-utilized AVATAR/0+ │ │ emulation, I decided to develop a full-screen editor which fully used the │ │ advanced capabilities of AVATAR/0+ to provide the smooth, easy-to-use │ │ interface of GEdit. The simple, yet powerful capabilities of this │ │ program, as well as the speed of the displays should bring it to the front │ │ of the message editor arena. │ │ │ ╞════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╡ │ « 1.1 » General Features │ ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ │ │ Here are some of the great features of GEdit. While this list is not │ │ complete, it gives a basic summary of the powerful design that went into │ │ the program. │ │ │ │ ≡ Full support for both ANSI and AVATAR/0+ emulation codes, including │ │ automatic detection of advanced ANSI capability beyond the basic │ │ support provided by DOS ANSI.SYS. │ │ │ │ ≡ Keyboard commands almost 100% compatible with TopED, as well as │ │ support for the DOORWAY/AVATAR keyboard and VT-100 keypad codes. │ │ │ │ ≡ Automatic word-wrap and line-wrap while entering text, including │ │ paragraph reformatting. │ │ │ │ ≡ Screen length adjusted to users setting to provide maximum editing │ │ area for fewer screen redraws. │ │ │ │ ≡ Extremely simple interface provides a short learning curve for new │ │ as well as experienced users. │ │ │ │ ≡ Sysop commands for shelling to DOS, adjusting users time remaining, │ │ disconnecting user, and importing text files from the local disk. │ │ │ │ ≡ Easy-to-use quote window with full-navigation is available to make │ │ replying to messages easier. │ │ │ │ ≡ Message information is displayed when used with QuickBBS, SuperBBS │ │ or RemoteAccess. The message information is displayed on status │ │ bars while the message is being edited. │ │ │ │ ≡ The quote option is only displayed when quote text is available. │ │ │ │ ≡ Multi-node systems are not a problem with GEdit. No special │ │ configuration is required. Setup is the quickest around. │ │ │ │ ≡ Very minimal screen output for excellent response time on slow │ │ modem connections. │ │ │ ╞════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╡ │ « 1.2 » Technical Features │ ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ │ │ ≡ Built-in support for RemoteAccess, QuickBBS and SuperBBS EXITINFO │ │ files. MSG.INF, MSGINF, and MSGED.BBS are read by GEdit to display │ │ message information. │ │ │ │ ≡ All communications are performed using the FOSSIL driver for best │ │ compatibility with system configurations. │ │ │ │ ≡ Carrier, user time remaining and idle timeout are all monitored │ │ internally for safe operation. │ │ │ │ ≡ All video routines are handled internally, including the ANSI and │ │ AVATAR/0+ emulation decoding. What you see locally is what the │ │ user should see as well. │ │ │ │ ≡ The program is written in Borland C 2.0. The video and keyboard │ │ functions are all written in high-speed assembly language for the │ │ fastest operation. The entire program was written by the author. │ │ No external libraries or toolkits were used. │ │ │ │ ≡ DESQview aware. Idle time-slices will be handed off to the other │ │ processes. │ │ │ ╞════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╡ │ « 1.3 » Hardware and Software Requirements │ ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ │ │ GEdit can be run on any MS-DOS based system that uses an 8088 or higher │ │ processor. │ │ │ │ GEdit has been tested with the following software packages: │ │ │ │ QuickBBS 2.75, 2.76 (Beta-II) │ │ RemoteAccess 1.11+ │ │ SuperBBS 1.15, 1.16 (Gamma-2) │ │ │ │ The remote terminal programs which have been tested with GEdit are: │ │ │ │ Telemate 3.01 ANSI or AVATAR modes can be used │ │ Qmodem 5.01 ANSI mode only (limited ANSI implementation) │ │ ProComm Plus 2.0 ANSI mode │ │ Telix 3.15 ANSI mode only (AVATAR is not AVT/0+ compatible) │ │ FDTerm 2.02 AVATAR mode recommended, ANSI mode okay │ │ Lync 2.0 ANSI mode only │ │ Commo 4.5 ANSI mode │ │ Desterm 2.0 ANSI mode (on Commodore 128) │ │ │ │ GEdit has no problems working in multitasking or LAN environments. It │ │ has been tested under DESQview/386 as well as Novell NetWare 386 and │ │ NetWare Lite. │ │ │ ╞════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╡ │ « 1.4 » Warranty and Disclaimer │ ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ │ │ GEdit is provided to the user "AS IS" with absolutely no warranties or │ │ guarantees of any kind. The entire risk as to the results and │ │ performance of GEdit are assumed by you. I, Chris Patterson, do not make │ │ any claims, promises or guarantees as to the usability, or inability to │ │ use GEdit or any other GProduct. I cannot and do not accept any │ │ responsibility for system damage, loss of profit, or any other special, │ │ incidental or consequential damages resulting from the use or inability │ │ to use this product. │ │ │ ╞════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╡ │ « 1.5 » Copyright and License Agreement │ ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ │ │ GEdit is distributed under the ShareWare concept. You are licensed to │ │ use GEdit for a period not exceeding 30 days. After that time period has │ │ expired, you must either register GEdit or stop using it. By using GEdit │ │ beyond this evaluation period, you are in violation of United States │ │ Copyright laws and may be subject Federal Prosecution. Any blatent │ │ attempts to violate this copyright WILL result in prosecution to the │ │ fullest extent of the law. │ │ │ │ GEdit, and the original distribution archive, may not be modified in any │ │ way, shape, or form by any means. The archive format may be changed, but │ │ no files may be removed or inserted. The archive header should remain │ │ intact if possible. │ │ │ │ I, Chris Patterson, retain all rights to GEdit and it's source code. No │ │ disassembly or reverse-engineering of the executable images is allowed. │ │ The source code is not available and remains the property of the author, │ │ Chris Patterson. No fees may be charged for the distribution of GEdit or │ │ any GProduct without obtaining prior written permission. │ │ │ ╞════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╡ │ « 1.6 » Registration │ ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ │ │ GEdit is a very powerful editor with a lot of enhanced features designed │ │ into the code for future enhancements. Because of the time and energy │ │ required to develop and maintain such a powerful product such as GEdit, I │ │ am asking for a registration fee of US$15. │ │ │ │ If you are a software developer, an alternative to paying the registration │ │ fee would be to send a registered version of your product to the author of │ │ GEdit. Files may be sent via FidoNET to the above listed address or may │ │ be mailed to the registration address below on either 5¼" or 3½" disks. │ │ The software product must be approved before being submitted to the author │ │ in exchange for registration of GEdit. │ │ │ │ If you are a registered user of TopED or QuickED, you can move up to GEdit │ │ for only US$10. You must provide proof of registration to qualify for │ │ the upgrade price. │ │ │ │ Registrations, along with the US$15 registration fee, should be mailed to │ │ the following address. Checks and money orders are accepted. │ │ │ │ Chris Patterson │ │ P.O. Box 1660 │ │ Broken Arrow, OK 74013-1660 │ │ USA │ │ │ ╞════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╡ │ « 2.0 » Program Installation And Configuration │ ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ │ │ GEdit does not require any configuration before use. │ │ │ │ To execute GEdit, you must include the full name and path of the │ │ program file GEDIT.EXE. This can be set using RACONFIG or whatever │ │ your BBS configuration program might be. │ │ │ │ An example of this would be: │ │ │ │ D:\RA\GEDIT.EXE │ │ │ │ Or: │ │ │ │ D:\RA\GEDIT.EXE *M │ │ │ │ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! │ │ !!! DO NOT USE THE *N MACRO (Node Number) WITH GEDIT !!! │ │ !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! │ │ │ │ When the offline editor is invoked from the BBS, the configuration │ │ information is read from the EXITINFO.BBS files created by QuickBBS, │ │ SuperBBS or RemoteAccess. The format is automatically recognized. │ │ │ │ If you wish to examine GEdit's functionality from DOS, you can specify │ │ the command line as: │ │ │ │ GEDIT TEST [A<1=ANSI,2=AVATAR>] [R<screen length>] │ │ │ │ The above command can also be used to allow GEdit to be used with an │ │ offline editor I imagine. I have added a command line parameter to pass │ │ a filename to GEdit for editing. The interface is crude at the moment, │ │ but if enough people are interested in this option, it will be expanded │ │ to become more user friendly. An example command line to use GEdit to │ │ edit a standard DOS text file would be: │ │ │ │ GEDIT.EXE TEST A3 R25 F<filename to edit> │ │ │ │ The help files for GEdit (GEHELP.A?? and GEQUOTE.A??) must exist in the │ │ same directory where the program is executed from. The files are checked │ │ in the order of AVT, ANS, ASC. The appropriate file will be displayed │ │ depending on the emulation mode selected by the user. │ │ │ ╞════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╡ │ « 3.0 » Operation │ ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ │ │ The following keys are available while editing using GEdit. The keys that │ │ are preceeded by a caret (^) are to be pressed with the control key. │ │ │ │ ^A (^Left) Move the cursor to the previous word │ │ ^B Center the current line │ │ ^C (PgDn) Move the cursor down one screen length │ │ ^D (Right) Move the cursor one column to the right │ │ ^E (Up) Move the cursor up one line │ │ ^F (^Right) Move the cursor to the next word │ │ ^G (Del) Delete the character under the cursor. If the │ │ cursor is at the end of the line, the following │ │ line will be brought up onto the end of the │ │ current line. Depending on the structure of the │ │ paragraph, the lines may be reformatted. │ │ │ │ ^H (Backspace) Delete the previous character. If at the beginning │ │ of the line, will move to the end of the previous │ │ line, bringing the line up with it. │ │ │ │ ^I (Tab) Move the cursor to the next horizontal tab stop. │ │ ^K (F4) Close the quote window if it is open. │ │ ^L Redraw the screen. │ │ ^M (Enter) Move the cursor to the beginning of the next line. │ │ If the cursor is not at the end of the line and the │ │ editor is in insert mode, the text will be moved to │ │ the next line as well. │ │ ^N (ShiftTab) Toggle autoindent mode. In this mode, while typing │ │ a paragraph, if the text wraps past the last column │ │ on the screen, it will be indented equal to the │ │ indention of the previous line. The result would │ │ look like this reference section. │ │ ^O (ESC) Bring up the editing functions menu. │ │ ^P (End) Move the cursor to the end of the current line. │ │ ^Q (F3) Open the quote window (if quote text is available). │ │ ^R (PgUp) Move the cursor up one screen length. │ │ ^S (Left) Move the cursor left one column. │ │ ^T (AltK) Delete the word or space to the right of the cursor. │ │ ^U (Ins) Insert deleted lines from the scrap buffer. │ │ ^V (AltI) Toggle insert mode. │ │ ^W (Home) Move the cursor to the beginning of the line. │ │ ^X (Down) Move the cursor down one line. │ │ ^Y (AltD) Delete the current line to the scrap buffer. │ │ ^Z (ESC/S) Save the message and exit the editor. │ │ │ │ (^Home) Move the cursor to the top of the edit window. │ │ (^End) Move the cursor to the bottom of the edit window. │ │ (^PgUp) Move the cursor to the top of the message. │ │ (^PgDn) Move the cursor to the end of the message. │ │ (Grey+) Copy the current line to the scrap buffer without │ │ deleting it. │ │ (Grey-) Cut the current line to the scrap buffer (the same │ │ as ^Y and AltD. │ │ (AltQ) Quit without saving or asking any questions. │ │ (AltX) Bring up the command menu (like ^O and ESC). │ │ (AltW) Save message and exit without any questions. │ │ │ ╞════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╡ │ « 4.0 » SysOp Specific Operation │ ├────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │ │ │ GEdit has a number of functions which are available to the system │ │ operator while the program is executing. These functions are only │ │ available from the local keyboard and cannot be activated in any way by │ │ the caller. │ │ │ │ AltF2 Allows a text file to be imported from the local disk. │ │ The sysop is prompted for the filename in the command │ │ area of the screen display. While the program is │ │ waiting for a filename to be entered, the program is │ │ no longer checking any time limits. This function is │ │ available from the local keyboard at all times. │ │ │ │ AltC Invoke an external chat utility to chat with the user. │ │ In the unregistered version, GCHAT.EXE is hard-coded. │ │ In future registered versions, any external chat program │ │ will be able to be specified. │ │ │ │ AltH Hangup on the current user and return to the BBS. The │ │ modems DTR line will be dropped until the carrier is │ │ lost or until the hangup routine times out. │ │ │ │ AltJ Swaps the editor to EMS/XMS/Disk and invokes a DOS │ │ shell. If insufficient memory is available to swap │ │ the editor, the shell will still be attempted but the │ │ amount of available memory will be reduced. │ │ │ │ AltU Toggles the users keyboard on/off while user is online. │ │ │ │ Alt- Decrease the users time remaining by one minute. │ │ │ │ Alt= Increate the users time remaining by one minute. │ │ │ │ ShiftF1.. Sysop macro keys. These keys, when pressed locally, │ │ ShiftF12 will send the respective keyboard macro string to the │ │ editor. The macros are kept in a standard DOS text │ │ file. The first 12 lines of the text file are assigned │ │ to the Shift-F1 throught Shift-F12 function keys. │ │ │ │ The text file "GEDIT.MAC" must be located in the same │ │ directory as the GEDIT.EXE file. │ │ │ │ The following characters are recognized as special │ │ characters in the macro string. These characters are │ │ identical to those used by FrontDoor in the editor │ │ keyboard macros. │ │ │ │ | - insert [Enter] key │ │ ~ - begin control sequence using next character │ │ ~ - insert tilde (~) │ │ | - insert pipe (|) │ │ ! - invoke DOS shell │ │ > - cursor right │ │ < - cursor left │ │ ^ - cursor up │ │ V - cursor down │ │ } - delete to end of line │ │ S - save message │ │ # - save message │ │ U - insert user's name │ │ │ │ │ │ ««« NOTE the following keys are temporary kludges until the GEdit »»» │ │ ««« Customization Program is completed. NO BUG REPORTS ON THESE »»» │ │ ««« KEYS PLEASE!!! »»» │ │ │ │ AltS Select color to change. The name of the color item to │ │ be changed is displayed in the lower-right corner. │ │ │ │ AltF Increment the foreground color by one (cycles). │ │ │ │ AltB Increment the background color by one (cycles). │ │ │ │ AltW Write color information file (GEDIT.CLR). The file is │ │ created in the directory from which GEDIT.EXE was loaded. │ │ To reset the defaults colors, delete this file. │ │ │ ╞════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╡ │ │ │ Thank you for trying GEdit. I hope that you find it useful and make it │ │ the default editor on your system. If you have any problems or │ │ suggestions for future versions, please feel free to contact me at any of │ │ the locations mentioned in this document. │ │ │ │ I would like to personally thank all of the beta testers that helped with │ │ the testing of GEdit. Your patience and dedication is appreciated. │ │ │ │ - Chris Patterson, GEdit Author │ │ │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘