ASP Advantage 1994 2nd Q2

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Text File | 1994-03-01 | 13.5 KB | 327 lines

TAKE FIVE by Ssorg Software P.O. Box 621331 Orlando, FL 32862 DESCRIPTION Take Five is basically a PC message service and security system. The program can display a graphical image on the screen and accept messages while your away. The graphics are stored in Zsoft's PC Paintbrush format. This allows the user to create and edit images using any paint package that supports the "PCX" file format in EGA or VGA mode. Program menu screens allow you to change the position of the display, set delay time and type of screen fade. Providing a password activates the system's message taking ability and security system. In addition a limited screen editor allows text to be added to the display in different colors and sizes. The program requires EGA or VGA display capabilities. INSTALLATION Floppy Disk - The program can be run as is from a single floppy disk. To do this switch to the drive that contains the disk in and enter "TAKE5". Please note that unless the install program is run the override password will not be set. Hard Disk - The program "TAKE5.EXE" needs several files to be in the current directory or path for the program to work right. An install program has been included to set this up for you. Insert the disk in the appropriate drive (A or B) and type "A:INSTALL" or "B:INSTALL" and hit the enter key. STARTING Before starting the program all users should read the LICENSE.DOC file. This file contains important license information regarding the use of TAKE FIVE ver 2.0. When the program is started it first checks for all required files. The program will then check you computers graphic capability to make sure it can support EGA or VGA graphics. If any problems are found you will get a error message identifying the problem with a possible solution. RUNNING THE PROGRAM The first screen the program will display is a list of PCX files in the current directory. The current path is shown at the top of the screen with specific file information at the bottom. Use the arrow keys to highlight the graphic file you wish the program to display on the screen. The F2 key will let you change the drive and directory and F3 will display more detailed information on the image file currently highlighted. The program is designed to display only 16 color EGA images and 256 color VGA images. If the image highlighted is of one of these types the F4 key will let you preview the image. Once you have selected the graphic image a program configuration screen will be displayed. This screen allows you to set specific program options. Using the tab and arrow keys you can move between these options. The first option that can be set is a password. This password can be up to eight characters and is required if you wish the message taking capabilities of the program to be active. The X and Y coordinates allows you to move an image around a screen. For example, an X coordinate value of 100 will have the image to the right when it is displayed on the screen. A negative value (i.e. - 100) will move the image to the left. The delay value determines how long the program will wait between each fade-in and fade-out of the image. A value of 0 for the delay will cancel the fade-in and fade-out and leave the image continuously on the screen. The value for fade determines what type of fade-in or fade-out is used. For this version of Take Five there are 4 different types of fades: pixel wipe, spiral, radar, and a rainbow sweep. A value of 5 for the fade will have the program randomly pick the fade. The last option on the screen is to have the program place your current Take Five configuration in the autoexec.bat file. This will set the program to run every time the computer is turned on or rebooted. Please be cautious about doing this. If you forget your password the only way to bypass the program is to use the override password set up by the install program or to boot the computer from a floppy disk. If you have to boot the machine from floppy disk you can remove the Take Five command line by editing the autoexec.bat file on your hard disk. The first line in the autoexec file should be the Take Five command line. Upon setting up program options you will be prompted on whether you want to create a batch file with the configuration you set up. Creating a batch file will let you run Take Five exactly the way you set it up (including password if any) just by entering the batch file name. For instance, you can set the program up with the LUNCHVGA.PCX image, password "OPEN" and a rainbow fade then save it as a batch file called "lunch". From then on, every time you go to lunch you can just enter "LUNCH" at that directory prompt to run it. A demonstration of this type of batch program is included on the program disk. To run this program just enter "DEMO" at the prompt. Please make sure your default drive and path are the same as the program files. (i.e. C:\TAKE5) TEXT EDITING Every time you start Take Five you will have a chance to add text to the screen display. You will only be able to do this in the first few seconds of the display by hitting the Enter key. This is to prevent others from changing your display. Text editing is limited to four text sizes, and any color in the current palette (The palette is the total number of colors your display can show in the current video mode). One limitation, when adding text is that there is no option for editing text that has already been entered. If you require better text editing capabilities you should use a good paint program to add text to the original PCX image. The following key commands are available for Take Five text editing: F1..F4 - Changes the text size being entered. The cursor blinks in the current text size and color. Page Up - This will change the color to the next higher palette color. If the last color in the palette has been reached (16 for EGA and 256 for VGA) then it will jump to the first color; Page Down - This will change the color to the next lower palette color. If the first color in the palette has been reached then it will jump to the last color; Arrow Keys - This will move the cursor eight pixels in the direction indicated. Escape - Will exit the text editing mode of Take Five. Please note - If the text color is set to the same as the background screen color you not see the cursor or text being entered. You should page through the palette colors until you can see the cursor clearly. MESSAGES If the program is running with a password configuration a "Hit F1 to leave message" prompt will be displayed at the bottom of the screen. For anyone to leave a message all they have to do is hit the F1 key. This will switch the display to text mode and display a text input screen. All messages left this way are time and date stamped. EXITING Hitting any key other then F1 will display a system lockout message. At this point you can enter the password and unlock the system. If there are any messages you will be prompted on whether you wish to read them or not. If you decide to read the messages you will have the option to file (as an ASCII text file) or print each message. Several options are available when the program is displaying your messages. These options are listed at the bottom of the display message box. Hitting the F1 key will print the currently displayed message, F2 will write it to a file as straight ASCII text and F3 will exit to DOS. The program can save an unlimited number of messages. The program will store all messages to a file named "MESSAGES.T5" on the default drive and directory. This limits the total number of messages only to the maximum available space on your drive. ERRORS #1 - Unacceptable X coordinate. Possible Cause: - Non-numeric characters (i.e. X=4F). - Value to big (larger then 640). - Value to small (smaller then -640). #2 - Unacceptable Y coordinate. Possible Cause: - Non-numeric characters (i.e. Y=4F). - Value to big (larger then 320). - Value to small (smaller then -320). #3 - Unacceptable delay value. Possible Cause: - Non-numeric characters (i.e. D=3F). - Value a negative (i.e. D=-20). #4 - <Filename>is not a recognizable PCX file. Possible Cause: - Not a PCX file or not a 16 color or 256 color image. #5 - Unable to detect EGA or VGA graphics. Possible Cause: - Your system's graphics card does not support EGA or VGA. - Your card has a non-standard EGA or VGA bios. #6 - Unable to read <FILENAME> please check file. Possible Cause: - A file with that name could not be found (check current directory and path for file) #7 - Unable to read "LOCK_OUT.VGA" please check file. Possible Cause: - A file with that name could not be found (check current directory and path for file) - The file has been corrupted. #8 - Unable to read "LOCK_OUT.EGA", please check file. Possible Cause: - A file with that name could not be found (check current directory and path for file) - The file has been corrupted. #9 - Unable to read "FONT1.FNT", please check file. Possible Cause: - A file with that name could not be found (check current directory and path for file) #10 - Unable to read "FONT2.FNT", please check file. Possible Cause: - A file with that name could not be found (check current directory and path for file) #11 - Unable to read "FONT3.FNT", please check file. Possible Cause: - A file with that name could not be found (check current directory and path for file) #12 - Unable to read "FONT4.FNT", please check file. Possible Cause: - A file with that name could not be found (check current directory and path for file) #13 - Unable to access full "FONT1.FNT". Possible Cause: - The file has been corrupted. SITE LICENSE For a low price companies or groups can receive a site license to the Take Five program. This license will legally allow an unlimited number of people to use the program at a single location. Site licenses holders receive a special copy of the program with their company (or group) name displayed promptly on the introduction screen. In addition, their version of the install program will allow custom setting of the override password. Please contact Ssorg Software (P.O. Box 621331, Orlando, FL 32862) for more information. TECHNICAL SUPPORT All registered users of Take Five are entitled to 90 Days of technical support. This is available by telephone, electronically through Compuserve, or by mail. Non-registered users will receive "limited" mail support. To obtain support by mail send questions to the following address: Ssorg Software /T5 P.O. Box 621331 Orlando, FL 32862 To obtain support electronically, send questions to: CompuServe: 70621,440 Internet: 70621,440@COMPUSERVE.COM * * * ASP OMBUDSMAN POLICY * * * This program is produced by a member of the Association of Shareware Professionals (ASP). ASP wants to make sure that the shareware principle works for you. If you are unable to resolve a shareware-related problem with an ASP member by contacting the member directly, ASP may be able to help. The ASP Ombudsman can help you resolve a dispute or problem with an ASP member, but does not provide technical support for members' products. Please write to the ASP Ombudsman at 545 Grover Road, Muskegon, MI 49442 or send a CompuServe message via CompuServe Mail to ASP Ombudsman 70007,3536. _______ ____|__ | (R) --| | |------------------- | ____|__ | Association of | | |_| Shareware |__| o | Professionals -----| | |--------------------- |___|___| MEMBER * * * DISCLAIMER - AGREEMENT * * * Users of Take Five must accept this disclaimer of warranty: "Take Five is supplied as is. The author disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, including, without limitation, the warranties of merchantability and of fitness for any purpose. The author assumes no liability for damages, direct or consequential, which may result from the use of Take Five."