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1986-12-10
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AUTOSAVE 1.0 Documentation
(C) Copyright 1986 Biologic Corp; ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Biologic Corp.
P.O. Box 1267
Manassas, Virginia
22110
INTRODUCTION
Autosave helps you avoid losing your current worksheet or
document due to power failure or other mishap by automatically
saving it at regular time intervals.
How It Works
When started, Autosave remains resident in memory as you use your
spreadsheet program or word processor. After a few minutes, it
waits for a moment of keyboard inactivity and automatically
enters the keystrokes necessary to save your file. Autosave
doesn't do anything else. Your program interprets the keystrokes
(just as if you had entered them yourself), saves the file, and
returns you to the point where you left off. Autosave continues
to save your work every few minutes until you exit the program.
Requirements
Autosave is compatible with almost all programs. It's flexible
because it doesn't save your file; it enters the keys that
instruct your spreadsheet or word processor to save a file. When
starting Autosave, you must tell it what keystrokes will save
your document and that sequence of keys must work at any time in
the program.
Autosave works best when used with a hard disk. Since a file can
be written to a hard disk relatively quickly, "autosaving" your
file every few minutes shouldn't be an inconvenience. Floppy
drives are much slower, though, and it may be better to manually
save your work only when you feel it's necessary.
Registration
Autosave is distributed as User Supported Software. Please make
copies of the unregistered version of this program and share it
with others. If you find it useful, we ask that you contribute
$25. Contributors will receive a registered version of Autosave
that has more capabilities and all 'C' and assembly source code
files with instructions on compiling and linking.
We encourage contributions by providing quality support now and
in the future. Our products are revised continually to correct
bugs and to introduce new features. The next updated version
will be mailed to registered users free of charge; all other
updates can be obtained for $10 to cover the cost of postage,
etc.
In addition, we're available to answer questions from registered
users by phone. Please call us if you're having problems getting
Autosave to work or if you'd like to discuss ways of improving
its performance.
(Note: Some capabilities of the registered version are not
supported in the unregistered version. Differences will be
noted in the following sections.)
STARTING AUTOSAVE
Format
Begin by typing "autosave" followed by required and optional
parameters. The last entry on the command line should be the
command you normally use to start your spreadsheet program or
word processor, including the name of the file to be edited, if
appropriate.
Example
If you normally type "123" to start Lotus 123, "123" should
be entered at the end of the Autosave command line:
AUTOSAVE (parameters) 123
(Note: The file name entered at the end of the Autosave
command must be a COM or EXE file; it cannot be a BAT
file.)
Parameters begin with a hyphen and a lower-case letter; the
corresponding upper-case letter will have no effect. All
parameters are required, unless indicated as optional, and can be
entered in any order.
The complete format for the command line is:
AUTOSAVE -kn[,n...,*,n...] [-f<name>] [-in] [-tn] [-u] <program>
(Note: The character n represents any allowable number- see
below.)
Parameters
-k This parameter tells Autosave the sequence of keys that
save a file. Keys are specified using numbers (see table
in appendix), and separated by commas. An asterisk can be
used to indicate the point at which the file name, as
specified by the -f parameter, is entered.
Example
With 123, you save a file by typing /FS, entering the file
name, and pressing ENTER. If the file already exists, you
also have to press R to confirm the save. Listed below is
a sequence of keys to save a file in 123:
47,70,83,*,13,82
To ensure that this sequence of keystrokes will save a file
even when in a menu, a few ESCs are added to the beginning.
In addition, an ESC is appended to the end to erase the R
that will be displayed if the file does not already exist:
27,27,27,27,27,27,47,70,83,*,13,82,27
The command to start 123 with autosave is shown below:
AUTOSAVE -k27,27,27,27,27,27,47,70,83,*,13,82,27 -fsave 123
(note: Use a batch file to avoid entering this command
every time you start 123. See the section on batch files
below.)
Example
When using PC-Write, you can save your file by pressing F1
and then F3. Use the command below to automatically save
your file while using PC-Write:
AUTOSAVE -k315,317 ed <filename>
(note: It's important to use a key sequence that works at
all times regardless of what you're doing in your program.
This may take a little experimentation and testing.
Registered users can contact us for help in getting
Autosave to work properly.)
-f (optional)
Specifies the file name to be included in the key sequence
in place of the asterisk. In the example for 123, above,
the file is saved as "save.wk1". If the list of keys
specified by -k includes an asterisk, this parameter is
required.
-i (optional)
Sets the length of idle time (in seconds) that must occur
before Autosave will save a file. If you set the idle time
to 20, your file will be saved after you have not pressed a
key for at least 20 seconds. This is useful if you do not
want to be interrupted while typing or, for example, when
selecting a Lotus 123 command. If you do not indicate an
idle time, Autosave will use a default time of 30 seconds.
Example
AUTOSAVE -i20 (other parameters)
(Note: this option is supported in the registered version
only.)
-t (optional)
Sets the minimum time interval (in minutes) between saves.
Autosave will wait this length of time before checking for
sufficient idle time to save the file. If you do not
specify a minimum time interval, a default of 5 minutes
will be used.
Example
With idle time set to 20 and the minimum time interval set
to 0, your work will be saved every time your keyboard is
idle for 20 seconds. If you set the idle time to 20 and
the minimum time interval to 10, your work will be saved
after an idle time of 20 seconds, provided at least 10
minutes has passed since the last save.
AUTOSAVE -i20 -t10 (other parameters)
(Note: this option is supported in the registered version
only.)
-u (optional)
Displays help screen.
Using a Batch File
Obviously, you won't want to type the entire Autosave command
line every time you use your spreadsheet program or word
processor. A simple solution is to set up a one line batch file
with the Autosave command in it for each program. Give it a
short name, like "1.bat" for Lotus 123, and put it in the
directory with your program files. Be sure to put "autosave.exe"
in this directory also, or include the directory that has
Autosave in the PATH string (read about the PATH command in your
DOS manual).
The appendix has sample batch files for a few popular programs.
USING AUTOSAVE
Although Autosave writes your file to disk every few minutes, you
should save your work, as you normally do, when exiting.
Autosave does not automatically save your file when you exit a
program.
In the example for Lotus 123 discussed previously, Autosave saves
the worksheet under the name "save.wk1" in the default directory.
The worksheet you are working on may have any name, "foo.wk1" for
example. If for some reason you lose your work, "save.wk1" will
contain the most recent copy of your worksheet. Just retrieve
it, and save it as "foo.wk1".
APPENDIX
Key Codes
Code Key Code Key Code Key Code Key
8 Backspace 75 K 306 Alt-M 366 Alt-F7
9 Tab 76 L 315 F1 367 Alt-F8
13 Enter 77 M 316 F2 368 Alt-F9
27 Esc 78 N 317 F3 369 Alt-F10
32 Space 79 O 318 F4 373 Ctrl-End
33 ! 80 P 319 F5 374 Ctrl-PgDn
34 " 81 Q 320 F6 375 Ctrl-Home
35 # 82 R 321 F7 376 Alt-1
36 $ 83 S 322 F8 377 Alt-2
37 % 84 T 323 F9 378 Alt-3
38 & 85 U 324 F10 379 Alt-4
39 ' 86 V 327 Home 380 Alt-5
40 ( 87 W 328 Cursor Up 381 Alt-6
41 ) 88 X 329 PgUp 382 Alt-7
42 * 89 Y 331 Cursor Left 383 Alt-8
43 + 90 Z 333 Cursor Right 384 Alt-9
44 , 91 [ 335 End 385 Alt-0
45 - 92 \ 336 Cursor Down 386 Alt-Hyphen
46 . 93 ] 337 PgDn 387 Alt-=
47 / 94 ^ 338 Ins 388 Ctrl-PgUp
48 0 95 _ 339 Del 513 Ctrl-A
49 1 96 ` 340 Shift-F1 514 Ctrl-B
50 2 272 Alt-Q 341 Shift-F2 515 Ctrl-C
51 3 273 Alt-W 342 Shift-F3 516 Ctrl-D
52 4 274 Alt-E 343 Shift-F4 517 Ctrl-E
53 5 275 Alt-R 344 Shift-F5 518 Ctrl-F
54 6 276 Alt-T 345 Shift-F6 519 Ctrl-G
55 7 277 Alt-Y 346 Shift-F7 520 Ctrl-H
56 8 278 Alt-U 347 Shift-F8 521 Ctrl-I
57 9 279 Alt-I 348 Shift-F9 522 Ctrl-J
58 : 280 Alt-O 349 Shift-F10 523 Ctrl-K
59 ; 281 Alt-P 350 Ctrl-F1 524 Ctrl-L
60 < 286 Alt-A 351 Ctrl-F2 525 Ctrl-M
61 = 287 Alt-S 352 Ctrl-F3 526 Ctrl-N
62 > 288 Alt-D 353 Ctrl-F4 527 Ctrl-O
63 ? 289 Alt-F 354 Ctrl-F5 528 Ctrl-P
64 @ 290 Alt-G 355 Ctrl-F6 529 Ctrl-Q
65 A 291 Alt-H 356 Ctrl-F7 530 Ctrl-R
66 B 292 Alt-J 357 Ctrl-F8 531 Ctrl-S
67 C 293 Alt-K 358 Ctrl-F9 532 Ctrl-T
68 D 294 Alt-L 359 Ctrl-F10 533 Ctrl-U
69 E 300 Alt-Z 360 Alt-F1 534 Ctrl-V
70 F 301 Alt-X 361 Alt-F2 535 Ctrl-W
71 G 302 Alt-C 362 Alt-F3 536 Ctrl-X
72 H 303 Alt-V 363 Alt-F4 537 Ctrl-Y
73 I 304 Alt-B 364 Alt-F5 538 Ctrl-Z
74 J 305 Alt-N 365 Alt-F6
Sample Batch Files
Lotus 123
AUTOSAVE -k27,27,27,27,27,27,47,70,83,*,13,82,27 -fsave 123
PC-Write
AUTOSAVE -k315,317 ed <filename>
Symphony
AUTOSAVE -k27,27,27,27,27,27,323,70,83,323,27,*,13,89,27 -fsave symphony