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Text File | 1996-01-20 | 13.4 KB | 314 lines

READ.DOC 1 Revised: 01/20/96 Program written by: Bruce Guthrie Room H-4885 U.S. Dept of Commerce/ESA/STAT-USA Washington, DC 20230 voice: (202) 482-3234 e-mail: bguthrie@doc.gov You may freely copy and re-distribute this program; however, the U.S. Department of Commerce neither guarantees nor assures compatibility of the program with all computer software or hardware. Foreign users: Please provide an Internet e-mail address in all correspondence. READ allows you to view any ASCII text document with 16,000 lines or less (about 900,000 bytes). You can also search for text within a document, scroll around in the document, and split up big files into small files for printing or copying to another file. Features of the READ program: * Handles files up to 16,000 lines only. * Supports a mouse scroll bar at the top if a compatible mouse is detected. * Handles DOS text files (lines end with CR/LF), Mac text files (lines end with CR), or Unix text files (lines end with LF). * Allows text to be blocked and copied or printed. * Supports 43/50-line mode under EGA and VGA. * Allows jumping to DOS as well as allowing you to turn off this feature (useful for public-use terminals). * Supports printer-initializing strings for wide and normal-width text. * Allows the user to adjust terminal colors. * Allows text searching within the file, either case-sensitive or case-insensitive. * Shows a ruler line if desired. * Shows the file before it has finished loading so you can start reading sooner. * Can Ctrl-PgUp/Ctrl-PgDn among up to 100 files. * Expands tabs on display. READ.DOC 2 Revised: 01/20/96 Specifying parameters: Parameters for this program can be set in the following ways. The last setting encountered always wins: - Read from an *.INI file (see BRUCEINI.DOC file), - Through the use of an environmental variable (SET READ=whatever), or - From the command line (see "Syntax" below) The READ.INI file: The READ.INI file (see BRUCEINI.DOC) is very useful because READ.EXE doesn't have a default for setting compressed mode on your printer when you print things. If you have a Hewlett-Packard printer, it is recommended that you create a READ.INI file that's stored in the same directory as the READ.EXE file. The READ.INI should have at least the following lines: /INITT=\027E /INITW=\027E\027(s16.66H /AFTERF=\012\027E /AFTERP=\012\027E The READ.INI file can be created with any text editor. You can also use the free READINIT.EXE program if you have it. READ.DOC 3 Revised: 01/20/96 Syntax: READ [ filespec | @listfile ] [ /TITLE="title" ] [ /DATE=NONE ] [ /line ] [ /MONO | /COLOR ] [ /EGA | /VGA ] [ /-MOUSE ] [ /DOS | /-DOS ] [ /Iinitfile | /-I ] [ /Q ] [ /PORT=port ] [ /INITT=string ] [ /INITW=string ] [ /AFTERP=string ] [ /AFTERF=string ] [ /COLOR=nnn nnn nnn nnn ] [ /? ] [ /?&H ] where: "filespec" is the file specification you want to view. You can use a path specification and a single wildcard if you'd like. It defaults to three wildcard selections; *.DOC, *.TXT, and *.BAT. If more than one document in the directory matches the wildcard, you can switch back and forth between documents with Ctrl-PgUp and Ctrl-PgDn. The program allows you to view up to 100 files in a single pass (it will skip the 101st *.TXT file). "@listfile" is a text file that contains the names of any files you want READ to process. The text file should contain one filename, with path if desired, per line. You can include an optional title after any of the file name references (see /TITLE="title" option). "/TITLE="title" " lets you specify an optional descriptive title to appear at the bottom of the screen instead of the file name. The title can be up to 29 characters in length unless /PAGE=NONE is specified in which case it can be up to 44 characters in length. Multi-word titles should appear in quotation marks. "/DATE=NONE" says to leave off the date-time stamp for the file on the status line. This allows a user-defined title to be up to 44 characters in length. "/line" puts line "line" at the top of the screen. Only applicable if "filespec" (vs "@listfile") is used. "/MONO" (or "/-COLOR") forces the system into monochrome mode. "/COLOR" or "/-MONO" forces the system into color mode. This is typically the default. "/EGA" or "/VGA" will put you in 43/50-line mode if your monitor supports this. The two options are actually synonymous (you'll get the best your monitor supports). You can also switch to and from 25-line and 43/50-line mode within the program by using Alt-E. "/-MOUSE" says to present the non-mouse menu bar even if a mouse is present. "/DOS" allows access to the jump to DOS feature of the program. This is typically the default. "/-DOS" prohibits jumping to DOS. "/Iinitfile" says to read an initialization file with the file name "initfile". The file specification *must* contain a period. Initfiles are described in the BRUCEINI.DOC file. Initially defaults to "/IREAD.INI". "/-I" (or "/INULL") says to skip loading the initialization file. READ.DOC 4 Revised: 01/20/96 "/Q" suppresses a message that shows up while the program searches for your initfile. "/PORT=port" specifies the printer port to use for printing. This typically defaults to /PORT=LPT1:. "/INITT=string" ("initialize thin") provides the string that will be sent to the printer before printing if all lines in the document are 80 characters or less in length. The string can include decimal and hexadecimal characters (see BRUCEHEX.DOC file). "\027" is the code for the special character Escape. You can specify /INITT=NULL if desired. Defaults to "/INITT=NULL". "/INITW=string" ("initialize wide") provides the string that will be sent to the printer before printing if any lines in the document (not just the section printed) exceed 80 characters in length. See "/INITT=string" description. Defaults to "/INITW=NULL". For a Hewlett-Packard LaserJet, the following codes would typically be used: /INITT=\027E (portrait mode, 80 column) /INITW=\027E\027(s16.66H (portrait mode, 132 column) "/AFTERP=string" specifies the string to print after a partial document is printed. This string can include a page eject character ("\012") or any printer reset codes ("\012\027E") you want. Initially defaults to "/AFTERP=\012". "/AFTERF=string" specifies the string to print after a full document is printed. See "/AFTERP=string" description. Defaults to "/AFTERF=\012". "/COLOR=nnn nnn nnn nnn" specifies the color settings to use for (in order) (1) regular text, (2) the status line, (3) marked text, and (4) found text. Each setting must consist of three digits, the first two being the foreground color and the last being the background color. The foreground color should be padded on the left with a 0 if it is only one digit in length. Defaults to "/COLOR=150 151 157 143". You can stop providing numbers at any point after the first if you're willing to accept the default colors. Foreground colors: Low intensity High intensity 0 = black 8 = dark grey 1 = blue 9 = light blue 2 = green 10 = light green 3 = cyan 11 = light cyan 4 = red 12 = light red 5 = magenta 13 = light magenta 6 = brown 14 = light yellow 7 = white 15 = bright white Adding 16 to any color will make the text blink. Background colors can consist of 0 to 7 above. Bright white on blue, for example, would be "151". "/?" or "/HELP" shows you the syntax for the command. "/?&H" gives you a hexadecimal and decimal conversion table. READ.DOC 5 Revised: 01/20/96 Return codes: READ returns the following ERRORLEVEL codes: 0 = no problems 254 = input file(s) not found 255 = syntax problems, or /? requested Viewing options: While you're viewing a document with the READ command, you can use the following keys: Cursor movement keys (up/down): Up moves up one line Down moves down one line Home moves to the top line of the document End moves to the bottom line of the document PgUp moves up one screen's worth PgDn moves down one screen's worth #line or Gline moves to the given line in the document (goto line) +line moves forward a number of lines -line moves backward a number of lines Cursor movement keys (right/left): Right moves one column to the right Left moves one column to the left Tab moves 8 columns to the right Shift-Tab moves 8 columns to the left Ctrl-Right moves to the far right of the document Ctrl-Left moves to the far left of the document READ.DOC 6 Revised: 01/20/96 Search for text: \ or F or f search for text within the document (the search is case-insensitive; "/COMMERCE" will find "Commerce", "commerce", and "COMMERCE") / search for exact (case-sensitive) text within the document F3 search for the next occurrence of that text F9 search for the previous occurrence of that text Marking lines: Alt-M mark top line for copy or print Alt-B mark bottom line for copy or print Alt-U unmark all lines Copying/printing lines (can copy/print either marked lines, all lines, or just the lines that are currently on the screen): Alt-C or Alt-D copy (duplicate) lines to a file Alt-P print lines Next/previous documents: Ctrl-PgUp go to the previous file viewed Ctrl-PgDn go to the next file specified on the input line Miscellaneous: Alt-E toggles between 25-line and 43-/50-line mode (if your system supports EGA and VGA respectively) Alt-J or Alt-G jumps (goes) to DOS; say EXIT to get back to program; this feature can be turned off using the /-DOS switch Alt-R shows ruler at the top of the listing Ctrl-P or Ctrl-F do a form feed to the printer F1 show key help screen Esc leave READ program Note that you can't view beyond the beginning or end of the document. This is obvious but you cannot scroll to the right if you're already seeing the far right of the display. READ.DOC 7 Revised: 01/20/96 Marking and copying text: If you need to copy a portion of your file to the printer or to another text file, you will typically want to mark sections of the text first. This is done using the mark functions: Alt-M marks the top line on the screen and Alt-B marks the bottom line on the screen. For example, you might decide that you have a 2,000-line document and you want to print 50 lines of it. Go to the first line you want to print or copy (you can use the search options if you want to). Get that line at either the top of the screen or the bottom of the screen. If it's the bottom line, press Alt-B; if it's the top line, press Alt-M. Now go to the last line you want to print or copy. Again, get that line at either the top of the screen or the bottom of the screen and press Alt-B or Alt-M appropriately. Having marked two lines, the program tags those lines and all those lines between them. You can use the F1 (help) key; it will tell you the first and last lines that are marked. Now press Alt-C (or Alt-D) to Copy the lines elsewhere or Alt-P to print them. When you select these functions, you'll be asked if you want to process the whole file, just those lines on the current screen, or the lines that are marked. Ask for the marked lines. If you selected Alt-C, you'll be asked for the file name to copy the lines to. If the file already exists, you'll be allowed to overwrite the existing file or append to it. Note that you can say "LPT1:" or "PRN:" when you're doing Alt-C in which case the text will go to the printer. The differences between Alt-C and Alt-P are: (1) Alt-P will remove linefeeds during printing whereas Alt-C leaves them in. Typically, Alt-C will result in double-spaced printing. (2) Alt-P may reset the printer based on the width of the current document if a READ.INI file is used.