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WINREAD.ME
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1992-03-15
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Using PC-Write Standard Level with Windows 3.0
If you choose the Windows Control Files option during installation, the files
listed below are copied to your working disk or directory. The file ED.PIF
is used automatically by Windows and should work well. To customize how
PC-Write Standard Level and Windows work together, see the sections below.
Topics Covered:
PC-Write Standard Level files for Windows
Setting up PC-Write to run from Windows
Program Information Files
Improving Performance
Associations
Using the Windows Clipboard
PC-Write Standard Level Files for Windows
These files for Windows are included with PC-Write Standard Level 2.0:
ED.PIF PIF for PC-Write Standard Level
EDB.PIF PIF for Background mode.
EDW.PIF PIF for running in a window.
PCW.ICO Icon for color screens.
PCWMONO.ICO Icon for monochrome screens.
PIFs are described below. Icons can be setup when creating a new Program Item
or added later by choosing File, Properties for a particular Program Item.
Setting Up PC-Write to Run from Windows
There are several ways to start PC-Write from Windows. The Program Manager and
File Manager have File, Run commands in which you type the name of a program
to run. You can also get a DOS Prompt from the Program Manager's Main window.
This gives you a C> prompt and you can start PC-Write as you would from DOS.
A better way is to setup an Icon (or Program Item) in the Program Manager.
This gives you a small Icon you can double-click to start PC-Write, just like
a Windows program. The Program Manager uses small windows called Program
Groups to organize your Program Items. Your Program Manager comes with groups
called Main, Accessories, and Games.
1) Make Program Manager the Active Window.
2) Choose the File, New command and then choose Program Group from the
dialog box and hit <enter>.
3) Type a Description for the Program Group. This will be its name, like
Main and Accessories are the names for the other Groups. Don't worry about
typing in Group File, just hit <enter>.
Now you're ready to setup the Program Item.
1) Again choose the File, New command from the Program Manager, but this
time verify that Program Item is selected and hit <enter>.
2) Type in a Description for the Program Item. This is the name you will
see below the icon. "PC-Write" would be appropriate.
3) Press Tab to move to the Command Line field. Type the path and name of
the program to run, or PIF to use. You must give the directory name used
to install PC-Write, such as "c:\pcw\ed.pif". Hit <enter> when done.
Your custom Program Group and Program Item are created. They're now a part of
the Program Manager. You may re-arrange the position and size of the Program
Group using the mouse or keyboard with the Size and Move commands on your
Program Group's menu. If you want the Program Manager to remember the size and
shape you set, make sure you choose Save Changes when you get the Exit Windows
dialog box. This dialog box appears whenever you quit Windows.
Program Information Files
Program Information Files (PIF's) control how Windows works with non-Windows
programs like PC-Write. A PIF is not necessary for a program; Windows is happy
using default settings. But to customize how a program runs under Windows you
need a PIF. You use the Windows PIF Editor to change the settings in a PIF.
Before we discuss how to change those settings we'll need a little background.
Windows can run in three different modes. Some Windows features we'll talk
about apply to only one mode. If you're not sure which mode Windows is using
it's easy to find out. Make the Program Manager the Active Window. Choose
Help, About Program Manager... and Windows will report that you are in either
386 Enhanced Mode, Standard Mode, or Real Mode.
The PIF used when you start a program is important. From the Program Manager
you can run a program from the File, Run... command, or choose an Icon. If you
use the program name "ed.exe" Windows looks for a PIF named ed.pif. If there's
more than one ed.pif, it's not obvious which will be used. It's safer to make
sure a particular PIF is used by typing "ed.pif" in the File, Run... command.
When you set up an icon in the Program Manager you can also type "ed.pif" in
the Command Line field. Then you can have several different PIFs for PC-Write,
choosing one depending on your needs.
There's a PIF with PC-Write Standard Level that's automatically installed to
your working disk or directory. This file is documented on p. 111 of the
Reference Manual. We'll make several changes to this base PIF to change how
PC-Write and Windows work together.
To change a PIF you run the PIF Editor program that comes with Windows. This
is in the Accessories group window of the Program Manager. Then load the PIF
you want to change, ed.pif, using the File,Open... command.
Many people want to change what happens when you exit PC-Write. If you're
running Windows in Standard or Real Mode, PC-Write's exit screen is visible
with the phrase "Hit Any Key To Exit". In 386 Enhanced mode, you still have
an inactive window when you exit PC-Write. In either case you need an extra
keystroke to exit. The fix is the same for all modes. Use the PIF Editor to
change the setting "Close window on exit". The next time you start PC-Write
with your new PIF it will indeed close fully when done.
In 386 Enhanced mode you have two choices for displaying non-Windows programs,
full-screen or in a window. In full-screen, the whole screen is used by your
program; Windows isn't visible. In a window, the rest of Windows is visible
behind your program's window. The PIF sets the starting mode. PC-Write's
default PIF uses Full Screen mode. You can change between running full screen
or windowed by pressing the Alt-Enter key. To change your PIF to start in a
window, change the Display Usage setting to Windowed.
You can do other things to facilitate running in a window. To use the PC-Write
Print, View command, change your ed.def file as follows. From the Customizer,
select Screen Display, Screen Options, Monitor, Override Monitor or Cursor,
and choose CGA (or put the line &C:6 in ed.def). If you don't do this Windows
will tell you the program can't run in a window when you try Print View.
Maximizing your PC-Write window is usually best. Do this by choosing Maximize
from the System menu for the window. This gives you a window large enough to
display the entire PC-Write screen.
Another choice available in 386 Enhanced mode is multitasking. This lets many
programs run at the same time. Most non-windows programs don't continue to run
when you switch away from them. The current program (the one with the focus)
is called the Foreground program. Others are called Background programs. You
might want PC-Write to run in the Background if you have a process that takes
some time, like printing. This lets you switch away and work elsewhere while
PC-Write prints in the Background. This feature is also enabled by the PIF.
To enable it, mark the Execution: Background check box. Note that any process
runs faster in the Forground than in the Background. Sometimes this is OK,
since you can do other work without waiting. Later we'll discuss things you
can do adjust the Forground/Background tradeoff.
Improving Performance
There are things you can do in 386 Enhanced mode to improve performance of
non-Windows programs. The easiest is to run PC-Write full screen as described
above. This gives the single greatest improvement.
Running in Exclusive mode can also gain performance, though it suspends all
other programs that would run in the Background, including Windows. Set this
in the PIF editor on the first screen by checking Execution: Exclusive.
Instead of setting Exclusive mode you can increase the Foreground priority.
Setting a large Foreground priority is almost as good as Exclusive mode, but
gives some processing time to Background programs. Set this in the Advanced
section of the PIF editor. Replace the default value of 100 with 10000 to get
the highest priority. In a similar way, Background Priority can be increased,
though it has an effect only if the PIF permits the program to run in
Background mode.
You can also make all programs run faster by using the Advanced Options screen
to set Detect Idle Time correctly for PC-Write. This affects how Windows knows
a program is not active. PC-Write can use the DOS Idle Call to tell Windows
it's only waiting for a keystroke and another program can run. This is better
than the default way Windows checks for idle time. First turn OFF the Detect
Idle Time box in PIF Editor. Then in the PC-Write Customizer go to Screen
Display, Screen Options, Monitor, Special and set DOS 5.0 Idle Call to ON.
Two other areas affect the performance of all non-Windows programs. They are
set system wide and so can't be targeted for PC-Write. Take care with these
settings since they are very system and task dependent. You might find one
setting works well if your only intention is to run one program under Windows,
but performance may be poor if you run Background programs, too.
First is the Minimum Timeslice setting, accessed from the Control Panel in the
386 Enhanced section. The default value is 20. Larger values often give better
PC-Write performance. Using 40 improved performance 35% on one system.
The other setting is in the Windows system.ini file. WindowUpdateTime only
affects performance of non-Windows programs when they are running in a window.
To change this value, edit system.ini and add or edit a line reading:
WindowUpdateTime=200
The default value is 50. Using 200 improved performance 25% over the default.
Associations
Associations link files of a given extension with a particular program file.
From the File Manager, select any (say) .doc file, choose File, Associate, and
type ed.pif as the program for .doc files to be associated with. Now when you
double-click on any .doc file it is automatically loaded into PC-Write. You
may also use the File, Run command from the File Manager or Program Manager
and enter the name of a .doc file.
Using the Windows Clipboard
The clipboard can be used to transfer information between non-Windows programs
and Windows or other non-Windows programs. The methods differ depending on the
mode Windows is running in.
In 386 Enhanced mode the easiest way to transfer text is when PC-Write is
running in a window. Switch to windowed mode with Alt-Enter if necessary.
Use the mouse to mark the text you wish to copy. Then pull down the System
menu for your PC-Write window and choose Edit, Copy. Pasting is similar; with
the text in the clipboard, pull down the system menu and choose Edit, Paste.
In Standard Mode you can also transfer text. To copy the text, press the
PrintScrn key to copy the entire PC-Write screen. To paste, first place the
cursor in your PC-Write file where you wish the text to appear, then minimize
PC-Write. Bring up it's System menu by clicking once on the minimized icon,
and choose Edit Paste to type the text into PC-Write.