PC Plus SuperCD (UK) 1995 August/PC Plus Super CD (Issue 106) (PCP106) (August 1995).iso/pcplus/handson/helpscn/share61e/help.txt

Text File | 1994-12-16 | 10.0 KB | 174 lines

    <ASCII-PRO>                                   K. Th. Hell-Türler (C)
HELP    "HELP.TXT" HELP FILE for <ASCII-PRO>
    Please, REGISTER  (see the FILE "REGISTER.DOC" for details)

    <ASCII-PRO> is completely MENU DRIVEN, that means you get only the
    OPTIONS to see which are appropriate. In CASE OF DOUBT just push
    >ENTER< KEY which usually gives you the best DEFAULT VALUE for the
    actual situation! The program is CHARACTER BASED and therefore uses
    the MEMORY for ACTION and not for (WINDOW) SHOWS:
    There are more than 50 different PROCEDURES with more than 500 OPTIONS!
    You may BREAK-OUT of any FUNCTION by PRESSING >ESC< + >ENTER<  but
    be aware that you will waste PROGRAM STACK SPACE (which might
    produce the message "OUT of STACK SPACE ... - RETURN to SYSTEM") !
*******************************************************************************
HELP: If you need HELP go to the MAIN MENU and ENTER >4< for OUTPUT to SCREEN:
    Press <F3> Function KEY and INPUT SEARCH KEY WORD. If needed push
    <F3> for REPEAT SEARCH. QUIT SEARCH with <F4>. QUIT OUTPUT with <F1>.
    <F5> shows a RULER to MEASURE LINE POSITIONS.
HEX-DUMP: PUSH >6< in MAIN MENU to get a HEX DUMP of any FILE to the SCREEN.
      EXAMINE why you did not get the expected result, e.g. CODE 9 <TAB>
      or CODE 255 mimiced SPACE(S), or ONE <TAB> takes more than one SPACE,
      or there are HIDDEN unprintable CODES < 32 SIGNS disturbing the
      outcome of a function.
FAST OUTPUT to SCREEN: No OPTIONS, no REFORMATING, only 80 CHARACTERS of LINE
    will be shown, suitable for FILES like "HELP.TXT" + "ASCIIPRO.DOC".
OUTPUT to SCREEN/PRINTER/FILE: Many OPTIONS like LINE NUMBERS, specially MARKED
    CODE SIGNS < 32 or > 128, replacing PRINTER CODES with NUMBERS in
    BRACKETS (e.g. {08}) or with SYMBOLS, etc.
MAKE a FILE READABLE: A special feature to make ANY file readable (TRY reading
    COMMAND.COM!); also for PRINTING readable parts of BINARY FILES.
    Contained within the MAIN MENU and also within "TEXT MANIPULATIONS".
ASCII FILE: Ends with the first CODE 26 <EOF> [END-of-FILE].
    Usually handled LINE bei LINE. END-of-LINE CODE is CODE 13+10 (<EOL>).
BINARY FILE or PROGRAM FILE: all CODES are allowed; no termination on CODE 26.
    How to distinguish ASCII and BINARY FILES:
    Run "SAMPLE.TXT": if the last words in the file are "END of ASCII FILE"
    then, it is an ASCII FILE! If you see "unprintable" CODES it is BINARY.
ASCII CODE: Every SIGN has a NUMBER (0-255) = ASCII CODE.
ANSI CODE:  Also 256 different CODES but partially DIFFERENT from ASCII CODES.
    With the SEARCH+REPLACE LIST "ANSI2ASC.LST" or "ASC2ANSI.LST" you can
    TRANSFORM any CODE from one system to the other (MODIFY the LIST!).
    Not all CODE SIGNS can be entered into the system by the keyboard.
    UNPRINTANLE CODE SIGNS are best entered as unused CODE SIGNS > 128
    and later REPLACED with "SEARCH + REPLACE CODE" or DIRECTLY as CODE.
    In the UTILITY MENU you find a TOOL to COUNT all CODES in ANY FILE
    and print thr RESULT to the file "COUNT.ASC": here, you can choose
    an unused CODE SIGN for DATA MANIPULATIONS.
TEXT MANIPULATIONS: A collection of different tools to HANDLE/CHANGE/CHECK
    TEXT like CONTROL of BRACKETS, CORRECTION of PUNCTATION MARKS, PATCHING
    any FILE, and so on. Special functions to TRANSFORM <TAB> to SPACES,
    to LIMIT the NUMBER of consecutive CHARACTERS, to HANDLE PRINTER CODES,
    to MANIPULATE DATA in DATA BASE FILES, to MAKE FILES READABLE, etc.
WORD LIST: A very powerful procedure to produce LISTINGS of WORDS with or
    without LINE/PAGE NUMBERS, FREQUENCY of OCCURRENCE and WORD NUMBER
    for INDEXING, LIST of CONTENTS, etc.
    Options for SELECTION of WORDS: Character CHOICE, SPECIAL characters
    and NUMBERS allowed, only UPPERCASE, CASE SENSITIVITY, etc.
    EXCLUDE RANGE of TEXT with MARKERS or EXCLUDE CERTAIN WORDS with
    a NEGATVE LIST (sample file "NEGATIVE.LST" for instructions).
    WORD LISTINGS can be produced of ANY FILE (also program files).
SEARCH up to 99 consecutive ASCII CODES: use this for VIRUS CODE SEARCH.
SEARCH+REPLACE with LIST: Unlimited SEARCH and REPLACE function which uses
    an ASCII TEXT FILE with the SEARCH and REPLACEMENT STRINGS in it.
    For details consult the file "SEARCH.DOC".
    Can be performed with PARAMTERS on the COMMAND LINE.
    SAMPLE FILES provided to transform  ASCII to ANSI CODE and vice versa.
    "LOWER2UP.CAS" will change any ASCII FILE from lower to UPPER CASE
    when used as a SEARCH+REPLACE LIST (you may MODIFY the list!).
SEARCH+REPLACE up to 12 DIFFERENT STRINGS simultaneously (manual input).
    MENU DRIVEN explained on SCREEN!
SEARCH STRING is EQUAL to REPLACEMENT STRING: NO CHANGES, but you get the
    NUMBER of HITS which tells you how many time the STRING is encountered.
LINE MANIPULATIONS: All sorts of LINE MANIPULATIONS (usually demanding an
    ASCII FILE). Working LINE by LINE. MAXIMUM LINE LENGTH is 32'000.
    The PROCEDURE "DELETE PART of LINE" (up to MARKER, between 2 MARKERS,
    at the BEGINNING/END of LINE, etc.) will COPY all deleted parts
    line by line to the file "DELETE.ASC".
COPY PART of LINES into a 2. FILE LINE by LINE (mixing to FILES):
    Useful to CREATE 2 COLUMNS (one of each FILE).
EMPTY LINE: Line characterized by the CODE STRING "13+10+13+10" [2x <EOL>].
    The number of consecutive empty lines can be reduced to 1 or 0
    using the procedure "MANIPULATE CODE < 32" or "SEARCH + REPLACE CODE":
    SEARCH for CODE LENGTH=4, CODE 13+10+13+10, if found DELETE it!
FLOW TEXT: Completely UNFORMAT any ASCII TEXT FILE for COMPATIBILITY with
    any text or data application.
    FAST (automatic) or SLOW (manual input of all the options) MODE.
RANDOM DATA FILE: Consider it to be one single huge LINE with all the DATA.
    <ASCII-PRO> DATA BASE TOOLS can put in any FIELD and RECORD DELIMITER.
    Best readability you will get if you ENTER CODE 13 + 10 as RECORD
    DELIMITER (<EOL> = NEW LINE). For FIELD DELIMITER you might consider
    CODE 179 ["│"] for best visibility of each FIELD.
    A RANDOM sample file "SAMPLE.RAN" is provided for TESTING.
SDF = STANDARD DATA FORMAT: the universal ASCII DATA BANK FORMAT with ONE
    DATA RECORD on ONE LINE, next on next line, and so on.
    FIXED LENGTH: No need of FIELD DELIMITER because every FIELD of
    the same NUMBER has the same LENGTH (NOT trimmed!).
    SAMPLE FILE "SAMPLE.SDF" provided for TESTING.
    You may TRANSFORM any SDF FILE in any ASCII DATA BASE FORMAT of
    VARIABLE LENGTH (by entering at least FIELD DELIMITERS) or of
    RANDOM FORMAT (by NOT entering any DELIMITERS).
VARIABLE LENGTH DATA BASE (DB): A FIELD DELIMITER defines the END of every
    FIELD (usually CODE 44 [","] or CODE 59 [";"] or <TAB> [CODE 9]
    or any other CODE SEQUENCE of up to 99 CODES)!
    <ASCII-PRO> can TRANSFORM ANY VARIABLE ASCII DB into FIXED LENGTH DB.
COMMAND LINE OPTIONS: You may run <ASCII-PRO> with PARAMETERS from the
    COMMAND LINE or from withi a BATCH FILE:
    PARAMETERS:     /C=0   (NO COLOR --> BLACK/WHITE SCREEN OUTPUT)
            /S=0   (NO SOUND --> Sound turned OFF)
    Also, perform SEARCH+REPLACE with LIST (PARAMETERS: see "SEARCH.DOC").
FILE MANIPULATIONS: PATCH any FILE, OUTPUT any FILE, SPLICE two FILES in ONE,
    DEVIDE a FILE using a MARKER (e.g. CODE 26 or 12), SPLIT FILES in up
    to 999 smaller files and REUNITE THESE FILES automatically, etc.
WORDSTAR (TR): Some procedures can transform the old WORDSTAR FORMAT (up to
    version 3.31) into ASCII CODE. For newer versions use "A2WSA.EXE"
    provided with WORDSTAR.
FOOTNOTES:
    This is an example on how to use <ASCII-PRO> for complex tasks:
    You have a VENTURA (TM) FILE with FOOTNOTES included in the text.
    You want to separate the normal text from the footnotes which are
    marked in the file like this:
    ... Normal text ... <$This is a footnote> ... normal text again ...
    To COPY normal text to a 1. file and FOOTNOTES to a second,
    follow these steps:
    1. Call the procedure "SPLICE/DIVIDE/SPLIT and REUNITE FILES"
    2. Choose OPTION >D< ("DIVIDE FILE in 2 COPIES")
    3. INPUT 1. MARK:  LENGTH=2 and CODE = 60 + 36 ("<$")
    4. INPUT 2. MARK:  LENGTH=1 and CODE = 62 (">")
    5. Choose OPTION "DELETE MARK" YES
    6. INPUT NEW MARK: LENGTH=1 and CODE = 13 + 10 (<EOL>)
    7. Choose OPTION "NEW MARK only in 2. COPY" YES
    8. ENTER FILE NAMES (2) for the two copies
    Now, COPY_1 contains normal text without footnotes and without MARKS,
    COPY_2 contains footnotes ONLY, each one on a separate line.
    This procedure accepts any file (also BINARY) because the function
    does not proceed LINE by LINE but handles CODE after CODE.

    Remaining MARKERS in COPY_2 (at the beginning of lines)
       can be DELETED with the following DIFFERENT FUNCTIONS:
        - "LINE MANIPULATIONS" [only ASCII FILES allowed]
           - "DELETE POSITION x to y"
           - "CUT/DELETE SIGNS at the BEGINNING of LINE"
        - "SEARCH+REPLACE"
           - with SEARCH LIST (first, you have to CREATE a SEARCH LIST)
           - with DIRECT INPUT (keyboard doesn't accept all signs!)
        - "SEARCH+REPLACE CODE SIGNS" [all CODES in ANY FILE]
           - Replace up to 256 different CODES simultaneously
           - Replace up to 99 consecutive CODES [usually best choice]


GENERAL HINTS:
    NEVER work with ORIGINAL FILES - always BACKUP your work!
    - COPY all files needed into the SAME DIRECTORY on your fastest
      HARD DRIVE (don't work on diskette drives if possible).
    - Use CACHE if available, and have sufficient space free
      for TEMPORARY FILES. Let the computer work during coffee breaks.
    - When SORTING have enough FILES in your CONFIG.SYS available
      (minimum 20 advised: "FILES=20").
    - In CASE of DOUBT push SPACE and/or ENTER KEY for DEFAULT INPUT.
    - The program does not change the original file but produces
      a new FILE COPY with the RESULT. If the file already exists,
      then, it might be OVERWRITTEN!
    - READ the different DOCUMENTATION, EXAMPLE and HELP FILES!
    - REMEMBER that any ADDRESS LIST and any TABLE might be considered
      as an ASCII DATA BASE and therefore can be PROCESSED accordingly
      with the <ASCII-PRO> DATA BASE TOOLS (samples provided).




AUTHOR's Address:
    K. Th. Hell, Dammerkirchstrasse 32, CH-4056 BASEL, FAX [phone]

            Thank you for using <ASCII-PRO> !