ProfitPress Mega CDROM2 Shareware Freeware (MSDOS)(1992)(Eng)

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Text File | 1991-04-11 | 14.1 KB | 314 lines

ANSIKEY, version 1.0a April 11, 1991 Keyboard function keys redefinition through ANSI.SYS, made a whole lot easier! (c) Copyright 1991 by Ping Huang, All Rights Reserved PLEASE READ THIS! ----------------- I assume absolutely no legal or moral responsibility for any damages which may result in any way from the use of this program, nor do I make any guarantees as to its suitability for your particular needs. Your choice to make use of this program constitutes agreement with these terms. However, if you do encounter problems, please drop me a line. I welcome any comments, compliments, suggestions, *JOB*OFFERS*, etc. If you like the program, and/or if it proves useful to you, read about the Shareware concept. You are hereby granted permission to make use of this software ONLY AS LONG AS IT TAKES TO EVALUATE ITS SUITABILITY FOR YOUR PURPOSES. Use after the trial period is an infringement on my rights unless you have registered with me. Feel free to upload to any BBS's you frequent (and even those you don't) or distribute to other users in other ways, on the conditions that: (1) you make no modifications to the software or docs without express written permission; (2) all files related to this program that you received, you are passing along, preferably in the form ANSIKEY.ZIP; (3) it is not bundled with a commercial package (unless prior arrangements have been made); (4) if disk copying and handling charges are levied in the distribution of this program, they MUST be $5 or less. [Flame: I'm sick tired of dealers who charge $7-8 for disks that are nearly empty!] If you have suggestions, problems, compliments, CONTRIBUTIONS (hint,hint), et cetera, contact me: Addresses to reach me at: Ping Huang e-mail: pshuang@athena.mit.edu 1435 - 26th Avenue school: 450 Memorial Drive San Francisco, CA 94122 Cambridge, MA 02139 =================== PROGRAM DESCRIPTION =================== ANSIKEY makes it easy to make use of ANSI.SYS which came with your computer's DOS to redefine certain keys on your keyboard. These redefinitions (also known as macros) will work at the DOS command prompt and any program (such as DEBUG and many other command-line based programs) that uses DOS function calls and not ROM BIOS interrupts for keyboard input. If that sounded like gobbly-gook to you... if the program you have in mind has a fancy, full-screen display, then ANSIKEY probably won't help you, but it won't hurt to try. You probably can think up your own uses for such a capability, but I'll tell you what kind of things I use it for (and I use it a lot, since I wrote the program originally for own use and decided to refine it a bit for general consumption). When I program using Turbo Pascal, and the program is too large for me to run it in the IDE shell, I use ANSIKEY to define F9 to compile the program with all the compiler switches that would be tedious to type over and over again. I program Alt-E to always mean EXIT so that after I shell out of a program to execute some DOS commands, with a single keystroke I can go back to the application very quickly. I program the other function keys to run programs that are hidden deep in the directory structure of my hard disk, like C:\FOO\BAR\LAMBDA\TURBO; by doing so I make it easy for me to run them, but I don't have to include such lengthy directory names in my DOS PATH. ============= PROGRAM USAGE ============= ANSIKEY [DEF│UND│CLR│ESC│TST] [key scancode] [redefinition text] By default, a brief condensed help screen appears on the screen. THE FIRST PARAMETER ------------------- ■ DEF defines the key using the following string on the command line. ■ UND restores normal use of the key associated with the keycode. ■ CLR undos all redef's made using ANSI.SYS and takes no params. This may or may not work properly with ANSI.SYS substitutes, notably DBLANSI.SYS that comes with the software package DoubleDOS. ■ ESC outputs an ANSI command header(ESC+"["), followed by the rest of the command line. Use only if you understand ANSI escape sequences. You can use this to output ANSI codes that change the colors on your screen, for example. ■ TST will output the scan code for the next key pressed. After the computer executes your command, the redefinition text will then be produced by the keystroke represented by the key scancode entered on the command line; this text may include any IBM-ASCII character with the exception of those that are translated; see the translation section of this documentation for more details. ========================== What is ANSI.SYS, you ask? ========================== Good question. ANSI.SYS is a device driver, or a special type of program, that comes with PC/MS-DOS. ANSI stands for American National Standards Institute; a committee at ANSI created a set of standardized codes for application programs to control how the screen looks by outputting escape sequences, i.e. a stream of characters that are preceded by the ESC character. Among the many functions that ANSI.SYS provides is a way for keys to be redefined. DOS does not automatically activate ANSI.SYS and load it into memory; you must explicitly tell DOS to load the device driver into memory from the ANSI.SYS file. To do this, look in the root directory of the disk that you regularly boot up your computer from. If there is already a file there called CONFIG.SYS, you need a text editor to insert this line (use the appropriate drive letter and directory to the file ANSI.SYS): DEVICE=[d:][\path\]ANSI.SYS If CONFIG.SYS did not already exist, you should create one. The easy quickest way to do so is log onto the boot drive and change to the root directory. Then enter the following commands at the DOS command prompt: COPY CON \CONFIG.SYS <ENTER> DEVICE=[d:][\path\]ANSI.SYS <ENTER> BUFFERS=30 <ENTER> FILES=30 <ENTER> Now type Ctrl-Z and a final <ENTER>; you should see the disk light come on as the computer writes the info you typed into the CONFIG.SYS file. NOTE: The last two lines are not necessary for ANSIKEY to work properly, but will help to speed up your computer's disk operations. ========================= OTHER FEATURES OF ANSIKEY ========================= MNEMONIC ABBREVIATIONS ---------------------- The scan code numbers that represents keys are not easy to remember, and you shouldn't have to look them up tediously in a table -- that's what computers are for, after all. Thus, the TST parameter, which will return the scancode for the next keystroke that you make. However, to make things even easier, ANSIKEY knows a number of mnemonics for certain keys for your convenience. Mnemonics must be entered exactly as they appear below (although upper/lower case doesn't matter): F1 through F12 CF1 through CF12 SF1 through SF10 AF1 through AF10 A-A through A-Z A1 through A0 The easy way to remember these mnemonics (ironic, isn't it, my telling you how to remember the mnemonics) is to keep these rules in mind: F1...F12 represents the function keys, while A...Z and 1...0 represent the respective keys on the keyboard. Prefixing a 'A' character, a 'C' character, or a 'S' character means that you are referring to the Alt'ed, Ctrl'ed, or Shifted function keys. (That is, hold the Alt or Ctrl or Shift key down while pressing one of the function keys.) CHARACTER SUBSTITUTION ---------------------- ANSIKEY by default will replace certain special characters (namely the tilde, the greater-than and lesser-than signs, the vertical bar, the space, and the carriage return) in the redefinition string with other characters that would otherwise be intercepted by DOS and cannot be entered as themselves. The translation table is as follows: { becomes < } becomes > $ becomes | ~ becomes CR # becomes SPC If you need to use one of the above characters ({,},$,~,#) "as is", use a double quote as the first character of the redefinition. The quote will be removed, and the characters above will not be substituted for. I put the translation table in because with it you have the ability to execute multiple lines of DOS commands at the touch of just a single key without having to deal with the memory costs and interrupt conflict hassles caused by many TSR (memory resident) keyboard macro programs. This opens up possiblities for a DOS menu system based on ANSIKEY. For example, you could program F1 to become "CLS~TYPE C:\MENU.TXT" where C:\MENU.TXT was a text file describing programs that can be started with a single keystroke. You would then put statements in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file to redefine those keys. Contents of an example C:\MENU.TXT: --------------------- begin cut --------------------- [Alt-2] Lotus 1-2-3, release 2 [Alt-3] Lotus 1-2-3, release 3 [Alt-W] Wordperfect 5.1 [Alt-D] dBASE III+ [F1] See this menu again Press the appropriate function key: --------------------- end cut --------------------- Partial contents of an example AUTOEXEC.BAT: --------------------- begin cut --------------------- ANSIKEY DEF F1 CLS~TYPE C:\MENU.TXT ANSIKEY DEF A-1 C:~CD \123R2~123~ ANSIKEY DEF A-2 C:~CD \123R3~123~ ANSIKEY DEF A-W C:~CD \WP51~WP~ ANSIKEY DEF A-D C:~CD \DBASE~DBASE~ --------------------- end cut --------------------- This could make using programs much easier for novice users once a more experienced user set up such a system for them, since they wouldn't have to be tought DOS commands. This kind of DOS menu has some advantages over a specialized DOS menuing system: it takes up less of system memory than most DOS shell/menu programs, and it doesn't get in the way of expert users (who can simply completely ignore it), as specialized menu programs often do. Disadvantages include less control over what the ignorant user may or may not do. ========================== SHAREWARE: WHAT IT'S ABOUT ========================== ██████▓▓▓▓▒▒▒▒░░░░ S H A R E W A R E ░░░░▒▒▒▒▓▓▓▓██████ A DEFINITION BORROWED FROM ASSOCIATION OF SHAREWARE PROFESSIONALS ----------------------------------------------------------------- Shareware distribution gives users a chance to try software before buying it. If you try a Shareware program and continue using it, you are expected to register. Individual programs differ on details -- some request registration while others require it, some specify a maximum trial period. With registration, you get anything from the simple right to continue using the software to an updated program with a printed manual. Copyright laws apply to both Shareware and commercial software, and the copyright holder retains all rights, with a few specific exceptions as stated below. Shareware authors are accomplished programmers, just like commercial authors, and the programs are of comparable quality. (In both cases, there are good programs and bad ones!) The main difference is in the method of distribution. The author specifically grants the right to copy and distribute the software, either to all and sundry or to a specific group. For example, some authors require written permission before a commercial disk vendor may copy their Shareware. SO, Shareware is a distribution method, not a type of software. You should find software that suits your needs and pocketbook, whether it's commercial or Shareware. The Shareware system makes fitting your needs easier, because you can try before you buy. And because the overhead is low, prices are low also. Shareware has the ultimate money-back guarantee -- if you don't use the product, you don't pay for it. All right, here goes the pitch you've been waiting for. If you make often use of this program, you are obligated to send a contribution of some sort to me. If you do not, you have no right whatsoever to continue using this program! I'm not going to make ridiculous threats about how it'll affect your karma if you don't pay for what you get, because to not do so is to be stealing from me! Hopefully, your conscience will convince you faster than my words ever could. Perhaps if I can get some contributions for my program, I can justify all the time I spent not doing my real work and stuff like that .... A sum of $10 to $15 dollars is suggested, but most amounts will be gratefully accepted. IF YOU WOULD PREFER, YOU CAN MAKE THE CHECK OUT TO A CHARITY INSTEAD, and include a stamped addressed envelope; I will pass it on, and you can consider your legal and moral obligation discharged. Another alternative payment is to mail me a couple of diskettes with other useful shareware and public domain programs, especially those that you have found to be hard to find. Just consider how much a few hours of custom programming would cost you, then consider that I spent more than just a FEW hours on this. Shareware puts everyone on a "honor" system: you CAN prove its detractors wrong and keep it alive. Register other shareware programs you use, too! If there is enough response, I may be convinced into doing upgrades to ANSIKEY. One change which I have in mind is to implement a more elegant way to insert special characters into the redefinition string, i.e. using metacharacters flagged with "$" to represent un-enterable keys. Ping Huang April 11, 1991 P.S. Happy computing! [distibution:simtel20]