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Welcome to the shareware version of QEdit Advanced 2.1! This is the shareware version of QEdit. Many hours of work have gone into the development of QEdit - over 10 work years, as of this version - and that does not include all the time spent on our new users guide/ reference manual. In addition, we provide full-time technical support, via phone during normal business hours, or mail if you prefer. What is the point of all this? QEdit is a professionally developed, packaged, and supported product. Our product has received excellent reviews, and our new manual and our product support are second to none. Just ask our users. We send out update notices to all registered users, and we regularly incorporate suggested changes into the product as we are able. The only way we can continue to provide products like QEdit and to offer outstanding technical support, is to stay in business; and the only way we can stay in business is for you to register your copy of QEdit. We like the shareware concept, and we would like to stay a part of it. But we can do so only through registrations of QEdit. Please don't take this the wrong way - try out QEdit for 30 days or so, under no obligation whatsoever. But if you continue to use it after that 30-day period, please pay for your copy. Thanks! Late-breaking news: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ QEdit TSR is now available! For those of you who would like to have access to your favorite editor at virtually anytime, in the middle of anything else, we at SemWare are proud to offer you QEdit TSR v1.1. And best of all, if you have expanded memory (256k minimum), extended memory (384k minimum) or a fast hard disk, QEdit TSR will only reserve 9k of DOS memory! Please call SemWare for details. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ QEdit is the winner of the Data Based Advisor Reader's Choice award, for best text or program editor of 1989. We thank our users for this vote of confidence and their continued support! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ QEdit for OS/2 is now available. If you'd like to have THE FASTEST editor available for OS/2, give SemWare a call! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ There is now a special German version of QEdit available. It is based on version 2.1 of QEdit. All text displayed by the program (including the status line!) is in German; plus the reference manual was painstakingly translated by a native German. For information on ordering the German version you can give SemWare a call, or if you prefer, you can call our German distributor directly at: 49-761-87419. Ask to speak to Manfred Luft. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Contents -------- I Contents of QEdit Shareware Disk II Technical Support III Version 2.1 - Release Notes - February, 1990 IV Version 2.08 - Release Notes - July, 1989 I Contents of QEdit Shareware Disk --------------------------------------- File Description ------------ ---------------------------------------------------------- Q.EXE The editor program. This is the only file required to run QEdit. QCONFIG.EXE The configuration program. QCONFIG.DAT The default Keyboard Definition File. QHELP.TXT The default Help text. QEDIT.DOC The documentation for the shareware version of QEdit. ORDERFRM.DOC Handy order from. READ.ME The file you are currently reading. QEDITTSR.DOC Release notes about the new TSR version of QEdit. There are additional files and utilities provided on the registered user disk. These include: An upgrade program, that will allow you to upgrade your configuration options from QEdit v2.07, v2.07A, v2.08 to v2.1, PAINLESSLY; an external mouse driver for QEdit; a macro "compiler" that will translate macros from text to binary format; and additional keyboard configuration files. Also, the REGISTERED version does not include the opening and closing shareware registration screens. The REGISTERED version also comes with a 125 page typeset, spiral-bound reference manual. If you find any other than the 8 files listed here, then you know this is not the official shareware distribution diskette and/or archive distributed by SemWare. Notes ----- Other product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. The ONLY file required to run QEdit is Q.EXE - the others are not required or used by the program. QEdit comes pre-configured to work on a large range of monitors. Because of this, the default colors are set up for a monochrome system. If you have a color system and would like to edit in color, then run the configuration program (QCONFIG), select the C)olors/screen options, and change the default colors. We do NOT release patch files for QEdit, under any circumstances. We release only fully-executable files. If you encounter a "patch" or "modification" file that modifies your Q.EXE file, be aware that it does not originate from us, and we cannot be responsible for the behavior of a patched QEdit. The only program you should use to modify your copy of Q.EXE, is the QCONFIG program that came with it. Keep this in mind also when calling for technical support. Please, make sure you read this entire file in order to take full advantage of the new commands/features in QEdit. II Technical Support --------------------- Due to the tremendous popularity of QEdit, we can give technical support ONLY to registered QEdit users. Please have your serial number handy when you call. Please! Before you call us with a problem, make sure you have read this entire READ.ME file to determine if it solves your problem. If you should have to contact us, please provide or have available the following information: QEdit version number, date of Q.EXE from the original diskette, and serial number DOS version Computer model Amount of RAM Whether you are using a hard disk or floppy disk based PC The names of any memory-resident programs you have loaded You may obtain technical support directly from SemWare as follows: 1. Call our remote electronic bulletin board service. The board is operational 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Modem settings are <N81>, 9600 HST, 2400 or 1200 baud. The telephone number is: (404) 641-8968. 2. Write us at: (We've moved!) SemWare Technical Support 4343 Shallowford Rd., Suite C-3 Marietta, GA 30062-5003 3. Send Compuserve E-Mail to userid 71520,67 4. Call us directly at SemWare, (404) 641-9002. Support hours are 9 am to 5 pm (ET), Monday through Friday. 5. Send us a Fax at: (404) 640-6213 SemWare is committed to supporting registered users. However, we request that you reserve telephone support only for questions or problems requiring immediate attention. As always, if you have a suggestion that you think would improve our product, don't hesitate to let us know. By the way, SemWare has grown! We now have eight full-time people on staff to help serve you better, and we have also moved to larger facilities. III Version 2.1 - Release Notes - February, 1990 ------------------------------------------------ 2.1 summary of changes: ----------------------- QCONFIG: -------- Deletions: "go to line number on command line option" has been removed. This has been replaced with a command line option. To go to a specified line number on startup in QEdit 2.1, use -n999 where 999 is the line number to go to. Additions: Under Advanced options: "Swap to Expanded memory or DISK on Dos and Shell commands?" QEdit can now optionally remove most of itself from memory when the Dos and/or Shell commands are invoked. "Drive to use for disk swapping [A..Z] *=default-drive ?" "Should the editor restore the starting drive/dir on program exit?" "Should the editor change the DOS PROMPT during a shell?" QEdit can optionally change the DOS PROMPT while in a DOS SHELL. "Should [TabRt]/[TabLt] be allowed to shift an entire block?" "Get number of rows on screen from BIOS data area(100% IBM PC ONLY)?" Use this option ONLY if you have a 100% IBM PC-AT or compatible. This option does NOT work on AT&T 6300's. "Number of rows on screen (NOT NEEDED with EGA/VGA) [25..100] If you select "N" to the "Get number of rows on screen from BIOS..." option, you must answer this question. In almost all cases you should choose 25, unless you have a special card and monitor that allow you to display more than 25 rows - THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE EGA/VGA enhanced display modes - QEdit handles those automatically. Under general options: "Do you want the bell to sound on warning messages and missed searches?" Under printer options: "Default top margin for printing [0..100]?" "Default bottom margin for printing [0..100]?" QEdit CHANGES: -------------- New command line option: -n command line option. For example: q filename -n36 goes to line 36 in filename after initial load. Operational changes: The [Dos] and [Shell] commands can now optionally swap QEdit out to disk or EMS leaving only a 2k kernel in memory, thus allowing much more memory for running memory-hungry programs from QEdit, especially compilers. This option is configurable via QCONFIG as well as interactively using the [ToggleSwap] command, found on the "Other" pulldown menu. Once in the shell, QEdit will optionally append "[QE]" to the DOS prompt string, provided that: 1) You have defined the prompt environment variable. 2) There is enough space left in the environment. 3) You have set the "Change DOS PROMPT during a Shell" option to [Y]es. See QCONFIG, under Advanced options. If you have NOT defined the prompt environment variable, then we suggest you do so. It is helpful with DOS command line operations in general. A suggested prompt is (this should go in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file): set prompt=$p $t $g If you do have a prompt string defined, but you do not get the "[QE]" prompt in the QEdit shell, add the following to your AUTOEXEC.BAT: set x=x ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Column blocks can now be deleted [DeleteBlock] <Alt G>, printed [PrintBlock] <Esc><PB>, and written [WriteBlock] <Alt W> to disk. [TabRt]/[TabLt] when pressed while the cursor is inside a marked block and insert mode is on, can optionally shift the entire block by the current cursor tab width. This is a configurable option, and is off by default The window resize command allows up and down movement, instead of only up or only down. .cpp, .hpp, .cxx, .hxx have been added to the list of valid C Mode file extensions. Prompt boxes show prompt strings in the block attribute while they will be overwritten when a character is typed; once a character or editing key has been typed, prompt strings revert back to their default color. [CurrentFilename] is now available outside of prompt boxes. In previous versions, the [CurrentFilename] command was active only during a QEdit prompt box. This command now functions while editing, too. Find/Replace command changes: "L" option added to [Find], [FindReplace]. Limits the Find/FindReplace to the currently marked block. If the cursor is outside the marked block, or the "G" option is also selected, the search starts at the beginning of the block. Otherwise, the search starts at the current cursor position inside the block. "G" option in [Find], [FindReplace] now works as it does in WordStar and the Borland editors; i.e., it starts the search at the beginning of the file. In [FindReplace] you can now enter a number to limit the number of replaces. The find string is now highlighted after a successful find. You can press <^Break> to halt a repeated command and/or macro, and to halt a long [FindReplace]. New commands: ------------- Summary list: CenterLine <^OT> FillBlock <^KL> JFalse JTrue Jump RepeatCmd <^QQ> SetPrintBotMargin <ESC><P><O> SetPrintTopMargin <ESC><P><T> ToggleSwap <ESC><O><S> Detailed list: [CenterLine] <^OT> If the cursor is inside a column block, the lines encompassed by the block are centered using the left and right columns of the block as the margins. If the cursor is inside a line block, the lines encompassed by the block are centered using column 1 and the right margin as the margins. Note that a line block is created by using the [MarkLine] command. Otherwise (this includes blocks created with other than the [MarkColumn] and [MarkLine] commands), the line the cursor is on is centered, using column 1 and the right margin as the margins. [FillBlock] <^KL> The user is prompted for a character with which to fill the block. With this command, you can now use the following macro to move a block, and blank fill the space used by the block, instead of the text closing in around the block. The macro assumes a block is already marked. The block will be [Cut] to the clipboard or system scrap buffer. You can then insert the block where you like by pressing the [Paste] key <Grey *>: f10 MacroBegin GotoBlockBeg Cut Paste FillBlock ' ' Return UnmarkBlock Choose a key (<f10> in the above example), and assign this macro to it in the QCONFIG.DAT file. Run QCONFIG, configure the keyboard, and you now have a "copy with wipe" command! [JTrue], [JFalse] and [Jump] commands. JTrue and JFalse are short for JumpTrue and JumpFalse, respectively. These commands are intended for macro use. All QEdit commands set an internal QEdit result code of "True" if they executed successfully, or "False" if they did not. The [JTrue] and [JFalse] commands can be used to take advantage of that fact. [Jump] is just an unconditional jump. You can also define labels for branching, in the format "label:". The maximum label length is 15 characters. For Example: A command to delete from the cursor position to the beginning of the line, assigned to the f10 key: f10 MacroBegin begin: CursorLeft JFalse done: DelCh Jump begin: done: This MUST all occur on ONE LINE in your QCONFIG.DAT file. [RepeatCmd] <^QQ> Repeats the last executed command and/or macro "n" times. You are prompted for "n". You can stop the repeating at any time by pressing the <^Break> key. If the result code from the command is FALSE, or if a result code from any of the commands in the macro is FALSE, repetition halts. [SetPrintTopMargin] <ESC><P><T> [SetPrintBotMargin] <ESC><P><O> Set the top and bottom margins used when printing. If QEdit's print page size is set to 0, these commands have no effect. [ToggleSwap] <ESC><O><S> Toggles Expanded memory/Disk swapping for the [Dos] and [Shell] commands. This option can also be set via QCONFIG. IV Version 2.08 - Release Notes - July, 1989 --------------------------------------------- Contents of this addendum: 1. SUMMARY OF CHANGES A. New Features 2. NEW COMMANDS 3. NEW MACROS 4. DETAILED DESCRIPTION/USE OF CHANGES ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. SUMMARY OF CHANGES ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A. New Features More consistent user interface. Read-Only files can now be edited; however, they can not be written back to disk. The bell now rings on warning messages and on "missed" finds. Sticky AutoIndent mode/option added. SmartTabs will now scan upward more than one line looking for a non-blank line upon which to base the next tab position. If you pass an invalid filename on the command line, QEdit will now prompt you for another filename to edit. Macro filenames can be passed on the commandline for loading or executing. A "SaveAs" feature, along with a facility to append a Block or file to a disk file, have been added. The Paste command is now available within QEdit prompt boxes. QEdit now saves everything that is deleted by DelRtWord, including characters between words. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. NEW COMMANDS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- COMMAND DEFAULT KEY ASSIGNMENT AltWordSet ---------- Instructs QEdit to recognize an alternate set of characters as "word" characters. By default, QEdit considers the following characters to be "word" characters: '0' thru '9', 'A' thru 'Z', 'a' thru 'z', and '_'. All other characters are considered word delimiters. QEdit also has an alternate word set that can be installed, using this command. AltWordSet adds the following characters to the default word set: \ ! # $ % & ' ( ) , - . / @ { } ~. (Currently, AltWordSet is used in the "edit filename at cursor" macro.) The default word set can be re-installed by executing the DefaultWordSet command. DefaultWordSet -------------- Re-installs the default editor word set. See the AltWordSet command for a description of editor "word" characters. EndPara ------- Positions the cursor just past the last character of the current paragraph. Flip <Alt 3> ---- ------- Changes the case of a character or Block of characters. If the cursor is in a marked Block, all characters in the Block are "reversed": lower case characters are changed to upper case, and upper case characters are changed to lower case. If the cursor is not in a marked Block, only the character at the current cursor location is reversed. Lower <Alt 2> ----- ------- Converts a character or Block of characters to lower case. If the cursor is in a marked Block, the entire Block is converted to lower case; otherwise, only the character at the current cursor location is converted. MarkWord <Ctrl KT> -------- --------- Marks, as a Block, the word at the current cursor location. If the cursor is not located within a word, no Block is marked. NextPara -------- Positions the cursor at the beginning of the next paragraph. NewFile ------- Issues the Exit and EditFile commands for the current file. Pause ----- Temporarily halts macro execution, until either Return or Escape is pressed. If Return is pressed, the macro resumes where it left off. If Escape is pressed, the macro is terminated. This command is provided to allow for input to macros. In previous versions of QEdit, there was not a way to allow a macro to stop and wait for input from the user. This command now makes user input possible. The new Pause command makes certain types of macros now possible. For example, suppose you wanted to create a "find" command that always searched forward, ignored case, and didn't prompt you for options. In the QCONFIG.DAT file, assign to whatever key you like (<f7> in this example): f7 MacroBegin Find Pause Return 'i' Return If you wanted to get really fancy, you could let <f7> be your find-forward, and <shift f7> be your find-backward: #f7 MacroBegin Find Pause Return 'ib' Return Note that the Pause command "eats" the Return or Escape that terminates the pause mode. PrevPara -------- Positions the cursor at the beginning of the previous paragraph. Sort <Shift F3> ---- ---------- Sorts a group of lines using the currently marked column Block as the key and the range of lines to be sorted. This command is operational only when there is just one window on the screen, and that window is not zoomed. ToggleBoxType <Alt F1> ------------- -------- Allows changing of the box characters used in box drawing. Upper <Alt 1> ----- ------- Converts a character or Block of characters to upper case. If the cursor is in a marked Block, the entire Block is converted to upper case; otherwise, only the character at the current cursor location is converted. GotoColumn ---------- Prompts for a column number, and positions the cursor at that column on the current line. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. NEW MACROS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Paste command is now functional inside of dialog boxes. You can copy a line or word to the scrap buffer, and insert it as the requested response to a dialog box. This makes a certain class of macros now possible with QEdit: <Ctrl ]> Executes the EditFile command on the filename at the cursor position. Macro definition in QCONFIG.DAT: ^] MacroBegin AltWordSet MarkWord Copy EditFile Paste Return DefaultWordSet Detailed explanation: AltWordSet --set the proper wordset for filenames MarkWord --mark the "word" (filename) at the cursor Copy --copy it into the system scrap EditFile --call editfile Paste --insert the copied filename as the response to the prompt Return --edit that file DefaultWordSet --restore the normal wordset <Alt => Does a "find" on the word at the cursor. Macro definition in QCONFIG.DAT: @= MacroBegin MarkWord Copy Find Paste Return Return Detailed explanation: MarkWord --mark the word at the cursor Copy --copy it into the system scrap Find --call find Paste --insert the copied word as the response to the prompt Return --accept the search string Return --use the default find options ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. DETAILED DESCRIPTION/USE OF CHANGES ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- QEdit now has a much more consistent, easier-to-use user interface. The "(Y/N)" messages have been replaced by pop-down menus. You can still select the appropriate response by pressing Return, "y" or "n". ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Read-Only files can now be edited; however, they cannot be written back to disk. The only time you will know you are editing a Read-Only file is if you try to save it. QEdit will not allow you to save a Read-Only file; if such is attempted, QEdit will remind you that the file is Read-Only. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The bell now optionally rings on warning messages and on "missed" finds. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AutoIndent can now be configured to be "sticky". If you choose this option (see General options in QCONFIG), when in AutoIndent mode, QEdit will search all the way to the beginning of the file looking for a non-blank line upon which to base the AutoIndent column. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Laptop Users: QEdit can now be configured to use a large, blinking, block cursor. See Advanced options in QCONFIG. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SmartTabs will now scan upward more than one line looking for a non-blank line upon which to base the next tab position. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- If you pass an invalid filename on the command line, QEdit will now prompt you for another filename to edit. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- QEdit can now load and execute macros from the command line. You can use either the "-" or "/" as the switch character. To load a macro file, use -l; to execute the first macro of a macro file, use -e. In this version, when using the command line switches, a file MUST ALWAYS be passed to QEdit. For example, to load a macro file saved with MacroWrite or created by QMAC, type: q filename -lmacroname QEdit can also execute a single macro from the command line upon start-up. This macro must have been created either with the MacroWrite command or by the QMAC program. Note that only the first macro found in the macro file is executed, and the macro is only executed after the first file on the command line has been loaded. q filename -emacroname You can both load one macro and execute another macro at the same time: q filename -emacroname1 -lmacroname2 Please note that all of these macros MUST be in binary format (i.e., the output of the QEdit MacroWrite command or one translated from text to binary by QMAC). A final example: You have a macro called "init.mac" that you want to execute when QEdit is loaded. You have a file of macros, called "qedit.mac" that you would like to have available after QEdit is loaded. Type: q filename -einit.mac -lqedit.mac ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A "SaveAs" filename feature, along with a facility to append a Block or file to a disk file, have been added. To do a SaveAs, execute the WriteBlock command from a file when there is not a Block marked. If there is a Block marked, then the WriteBlock command will behave as it did in prior versions. Also, if the file to be written already exists, the WriteBlock command gives you the option of appending to that file. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Additional notes (these relate to 2.07A): _________________________________________ QEdit fixes: ------------ In early 1988 we had literally scores of requests for QEdit to support the enhanced keyboard. So, one of the things that we made sure of was that QEdit v2.07 could use the extra keys found on an enhanced keyboard. We followed the readily attainable and recommended documented methods on how to use the enhanced keyboard, and everything worked just fine, or so we thought. Unfortunately, it appears that many other software vendors are still ignoring the enhanced keyboard. Worse yet, many of these vendors produce TSR programs that will not "popup" when a nice well-behaved program (like QEdit) tries to get input from the enhanced keyboard. So, if you have an enhanced keyboard, and have a TSR or mouse driver that will not work with QEdit 2.07 (and it previously worked with QEdit 2.06 or below), version 2.07A includes a configuration option that allows you to turn off enhanced keyboard processing. See the section on QCONFIG changes for using this option. Other Changes ------------- - When marking Blocks, character Block marking and line Block marking types may be mixed. - "U" is a synonym for "I" (ignore case) in the Find/Replace options. - AutoIndent mode can be used when Insert mode is Off.