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PIVOT!
VERSION 2.0
USER'S MANUAL
May 1990
TRIUS Inc.
231 Sutton Street, Suite 2D-3
P.O. Box 249
North Andover, MA 01845-1639
Tel. (508) 794-9377
(C) Copyright 1989, 1990
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
The PIVOT!(tm) Product is NOT "Public Domain" and it is NOT
"Freeware". PIVOT! is a copyrighted software product developed
and owned by TRIUS, Inc. located in North Andover, Massachusetts,
U.S.A.
TRIUS, Inc. grants you without charge the right to reproduce,
distribute and use copies of this version of our PIVOT! shareware
software product, subject to the limitations specified below, and
on the express condition that you do not receive any payment,
commercial benefit, or other consideration for such reproduction
or distribution, or change this license agreement or the
following copyright notice which appears in the software,
documentation, user interface, menus and magnetic media: (C)
Copyright 1989, 1990 TRIUS, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.
You may make and keep back-up copies of the software for your
personal use, provided that you copy all the copyright,
trademark, and other information indicated on the initial screen
display on each backup copy label.
You may distribute copies to other persons, but solely for their
evaluation (i.e., to decide whether to continue using the product
and therefore register) and solely for evaluation by such other
persons during a thirty (30) day period. PIVOT! must NOT be sold
or otherwise provided as part of a larger system, or as a part of
a more inclusive product or service, without express written
consent and licensing from TRIUS, Inc.
The rights to receive any such financial or other benefit, and to
modify the product or employ its components in any kind of
derivative work, are reserved exclusively by TRIUS, Inc. Support
from users enables us to develop additional features and future
versions of the PIVOT! product.
You may not reverse-engineer, disassemble, modify, decompile or
create derivative works of the product. You acknowledge that the
product includes certain trade secrets and confidential
information, all of which is the copyrighted intellectual
property of TRIUS, Inc. PIVOT! is a trademark of TRIUS Inc. and
the TRIUS Logo is a trademark of TRIUS, Inc. All rights are
reserved worldwide.
The PIVOT! User's Manual is copyrighted and all rights are
reserved. The reproduction of this document, in whole or part,
or its conversion to electronic medium are prohibited unless
prior written consent has been given by TRIUS, Inc.
EPSON is a trademark of Epson America Inc.
IBM is a trademark of International Business Machines, Inc.
LOTUS 1-2-3 is a trademark of Lotus Development Corporation
HERCULES is a trademark of Hercules Corporation
MS-DOS is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
Additions and modifications to this program and the manual may be
made periodically as needed and they should be considered
additions to the material presented herein.
LIMITED WARRANTY
THIS PROGRAM IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTY OF
ANY KIND, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE
ENTIRE RISK AS TO QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THESE PROGRAMS IS WITH YOU.
SHOULD THE PROGRAM PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU (NOT TRIUS, INC.) ASSUME THE ENTIRE
COST OF ALL NECESSARY REPAIR, SERVICING, OR CORRECTION. IN NO EVENT WILL
TRIUS, INC. BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY LOST PROFITS, LOST
SAVINGS, OR OTHER INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE
OR INABILITY TO USE THESE PROGRAMS, EVEN IF TRIUS, INC. HAS BEEN ADVISED OF
THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. THIS WARRANTY GIVES YOU SPECIFIC LEGAL
RIGHTS IN ADDITION TO LEGAL RIGHTS WHICH VARY FROM STATE TO STATE. SOME
STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR EXCLUSION OF
LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES SO THE ABOVE MAY NOT APPLY
TO YOU. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ THIS AGREEMENT, UNDERSTAND IT, AND
AGREE TO BE BOUND BY ITS TERMS AND CONDITIONS. YOU FURTHER AGREE THAT IT IS
THE COMPLETE AND EXCLUSIVE STATEMENT OF THE AGREEMENT BETWEEN US, WHICH
SUPERSEDES ANY PROPOSAL OR PRIOR AGREEMENT, ORAL OR WRITTEN, AND ANY OTHER
COMMUNICATION BETWEEN US.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
WELCOME TO PIVOT! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
REGISTRATION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
GETTING STARTED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
WHAT'S ON THE DISTRIBUTION DISK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
OPERATING REQUIREMENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
MAKING A WORKING DISK/DIRECTORY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
STARTING THE PROGRAM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
ORGANIZATION OF PIVOT!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
INSTALLING PIVOT! AS AN AS-EASY-AS ADD-IN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
COMMAND SUMMARY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
FILE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
BROWSE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
PRINT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
GRAPHICS CHARACTER EDITOR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
INTRODUCTION. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
SELECTING A CHARACTER FONT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
ACTIVE WINDOW . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
CHARACTER TABLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
FONT CHARACTER (SETTING/RESET). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
MENU. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
APPENDICES
A. PAGE LIMITS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-1
INTRODUCTION
WELCOME TO PIVOT!
We believe that you will find PIVOT! an excellent program, full
of features not found in other packages that cost many times
more.
PIVOT! uses a spreadsheet like interface which allows you to view
and print the contents of a *.WKS or *.WK1 worksheet file created
by AS-EASY-AS or other spreadsheet programs. It supports
spreadsheets up to 8192 rows x 256 columns and has complete
support for special string concatenation operations performed in
the spreadsheet.
PIVOT! prints the contents of a spreadsheet in either portrait or
landscape directions using a wide variety of print control
options. Six high definition character fonts are built right
into the program (3 Portrait + 3 Landscape). They are COURIER,
SANSERIF and TINY. Other special fonts are distributed on the
diskette as binary *.TRP (Portrait) or *.TRL (Landscape) font
files.
A companion program GCHAR (Graphics Character Editor, See Section
on GCHAR) permits you to customize any character or create a new
character set with a variety of editing commands. It even lets
you preview the interrelationship of characters (when used in
words) by viewing them in a special typographic mode displayed on
a graphics screen.
Characters are sent to the printer as binary graphics
information, NOT as ascii codes. The result is 18 different
combinations of text quality that YOU control when printing a
font.
For example, a typical character is based on a matrix of 16
vertical dots by 24 horizontal dots. Choosing a high resolution
output with four passes of the print head will result in the
highest quality text that your printer is capable of producing.
Of course, printing may be very, very slow. An alternate choice
might be to select two passes of the print head which doubles the
speed but slightly reduces the quality of the character printed.
Note: Some older printers may not be capable of printing with
high resolution.
This program was developed for YOU, the end user, with special
consideration given to the way it interfaces with you.
REGISTRATION
The complete PIVOT! package contains the following:
The program diskette
A bound User's Manual
A Purchaser Registration Card
Registration makes you eligible for reduced-price updates and
protects you against program defects.
Registered users will be notified when a significant update of
the program has occured. Updates will be made available to the
registered users of PIVOT! for a nominal fee.
GETTING STARTED
WHAT'S ON THE DISTRIBUTION DISK
The files contained on the distribution diskette might vary from
time to time, as more fonts become available. Typically,
however, the diskette should contain the following files:
PIVOT.EXE - The PIVOT! Program
PIVOT.CFG - PIVOT! Configuration File (Not required)
GCHAR.EXE - The Font Editor Program
XXXXXX.TRP - Portrait Font Files
XXXXXX.TRL - Landscape Font Files
SETUP.BAT - Installs the Program
READ.ME - Text files with latest information about the
program, how to get started, etc.
ORDER.ME - A form to order a registered copy
MANUAL.DOC - Simple instruction manual for using the
program
CONTENTS - Listing of all files on disk
SAMPLE.WKS - Sample AS-EASY-AS worksheet
YESNO.COM - File used with SETUP.BAT
Please refer to the READ.ME file on the diskette for any last
minute changes, any new files added to the disk, etc.
To view the READ.ME file on your screen, use the command from the
DOS prompt:
A>TYPE READ.ME [ENTER]
To print the contents of the READ.ME file on your printer, use
the command:
A>COPY READ.ME PRN [ENTER]
OPERATING REQUIREMENTS
HARDWARE
PIVOT! will operate on any IBM PC or fully compatible MS-DOS
computer system.
MEMORY
PIVOT! requires a minimum of 256K RAM to operate.
DOT MATRIX PRINTERS
PIVOT! supports either a 9-pin MX/RX Epson printer, a 24-pin LQ-
2500 Epson printer or any printer compatible with the above Epson
9 and 24-pin printers.
The Epson printers support the following graphics densities:
MX/RX LQ-2500
Low: 60 120
Medium: 120 180
High: 240 360
Other similar printers may be used by installing the graphics
control codes particular to that printer (Consult your printer
manual for specifics). To change the setup control codes used by
PIVOT! refer to the section on Settings Codes, in the Command
Summary.
LASER JET PRINTERS
If you have a laser jet printer, you don't need the capabilities
of PIVOT! because you can already print high quality text in
landscape mode.
Therefore, laser jet printers are not supported.
MAKING A WORKING DISK/DIRECTORY
Before you start using PIVOT!, you should make a working copy of
the program either on your hard disk or on a different floppy
diskette. The SETUP.BAT file provided on the PIVOT! diskette
makes the process simple, transferring the necessary files from
the original diskette. There are no copy protection schemes or
hidden files with which to wrestle.
CREATE A WORKING DISK - TWO DISKETTE SYSTEM
At the DOS prompt, place the original diskette in drive A, and
enter the command:
SETUP X:\Dir1\Dir2
where:
X - Identifies the drive where the working copy will
be placed, and
Dir1\Dir2 - Identifies the directory on the specified disk
(directories are normally used only on hard
disks).
For example, to make a working copy of PIVOT! on a floppy disk in
drive B: you should enter (the diskette should be formatted
first):
SETUP B:\ (.. and press ENTER ..)
CREATING A WORKING SUBDIRECTORY - HARD DISK SYSTEM
If you are installing PIVOT! on your hard disk, you must first
create a new subdirectory for the program by typing MKDIR PIVOT
[ENTER] from the root directory.
To make a working copy on drive C: in a directory named PIVOT,
you should enter:
SETUP C:\PIVOT (.. and press ENTER ..)
After the above operation is completed and the DOS prompt appears
on your screen, place the original diskette in a safe place. If
your working diskette gets damaged, you can repeat the above
process to make a new working disk.
STARTING THE PROGRAM
PIVOT! has no installation process, no external device drivers,
etc. The various configuration options that are available can be
invoked by a number of switches (option commands) when the
program is started.
The general form to start the program is:
PIVOT /switch1/switch2
The various switch options are described below. They can appear
on the command line in any order:
E - ENHANCED GRAPHICS ADAPTOR
Starts the program on an EGA monitor. This switch specifies an
IBM Enhanced Graphics Adaptor or equivalent available for
graphics (otherwise a CGA is assumed). The resolution on the EGA
screen will be 640x350 pixels with multiple colors. Quick
display mode is automatically assumed.
P - PANEL MENU
Starts the program with panel (rather than pull-down) menus.
Setting this switch allows you to select a horizontal panel menu.
When invoked, the commands menus will appear in the top two rows.
If the option is not invoked, then the default is the window
menuing system (see later section on menus).
Q - QUICK DISPLAY MODE
Quick screen updates (flickering on some monitors). This switch
speeds up screen I/O by writing directly to video memory.
NOTE: This switch is only required on color graphics video
boards (CGAs).
When the program has been loaded into memory, the opening screen
will be displayed and a prompt will be displayed on the bottom
line of the screen.
After the opening screen, a split screen will be displayed. The
top half shows the current contents of the spreadsheet and the
bottom half status information and font settings.
ORGANIZATION OF PIVOT!
MENUS
PIVOT! uses either a pop down menu or a horizontal panel menu.
You can choose the panel menu by starting the program with the /P
switch (see section on starting the program).
The Pull-Down menus provide you with a useful reference trail
through the different levels of submenus in the program.
The first option in the menu will be highlighted by a moveable
pointer, and the panel area, on the top of the screen, will
display additional information about the highlighted option.
The menu pointer can be moved by pressing the cursor arrow keys.
Pressing LEFT, UP or BACKSPACE will move the selection bar up.
Pressing RIGHT, DOWN or SPACE will move the selection bar down.
To select a command or sub menu, use the cursor keys to highlight
the option you want and press the ENTER key OR press the key
corresponding to first letter of the desired option. For
example if the following menu is displayed:
┌────────┐
│ FILE │ Press the letter [ F ] to select File...
│ BROWSE │ or
│ PRINT │ Press the letter [ P ] to select Print...
│ EXIT │
└────────┘
The panel menu uses two lines to display the menu choices. The top line
displays the menu commands and the second line displays a description of the
command which is highlighted. We believe that the Pull-Down menu is an
intuitive interface and suggest that unless you feel strongly about it, do not
use the /P switch.
The display position of the menu window can be toggled between the left and
right side of the screen by pressing the period (.) key. The type of menu can
be toggled from window to panel by pressing the exclamation mark "!" .
INSTALLING PIVOT! AS AN AS-EASY-AS ADD-IN
PIVOT! has the ability to operate as a stand alone program or it can function
as an AS-EASY-AS spreadsheet ADD-IN. To install PIVOT! as an ADD-IN perform
the following commands when running the AS-EASY-AS spreadsheet program.
/Wsheet General Install Addin Create PIVOT [ENTER]
To save the setting permanently, you must then select the WSheet, General,
Install, Save command.
NOTE: The PIVOT! program must reside in the AS-EASY-AS subdirectory
otherwise it will not be found when requested by the spreadsheet.
The new add-in will be visible in the /USER submenu and when executed will
share whatever spreadsheet data is currently loaded.
NOTE: To run the add-in successfully you must have at least 150K of memory
remaining in the spreadsheet, otherwise an error message will be
executed by AS-EASY-AS which says "CAN NOT EXECUTE PIVOT".
COMMAND SUMMARY
FILE
File (F)
Enter the File access menu. File commands allow you to list files present on
a specified disk, change the default directory, etc.
File, Retrieve (F R)
When this command is invoked, you are presented with a list of available
worksheet files on the current default disk drive/directory. Using the arrow
keys, highlight the file you want to retrieve and press [ENTER].
File, List (F L)
Lists selected files on the current default disk drive/directory. You are
presented with three possible choices:
w?? - List all files with "w" as the first letter of the file extension,
regardless of the second and third extension letters, (i.e., files
with WK1, WKS, WLL as a file extension would all appear in the
requested listing).
P?? - List all files with "p" as the first letter of the file extension,
regardless of the second and third extension letters, (i.e., files
with PRN, PRT, P1Q as a file extension would all appear in the
requested listing).
Other - List all files on the current default disk drive/directory.
File, Dir (F D)
Specify a new default disk drive and directory. When PIVOT! first starts, it
uses the logged drive and the default directory to search for all file
requests. This option will allow the user to access files in other drives and
directories.
File, Quit (F Q)
Exit the File access menu and return to the main menu.
BROWSE
The browse command allows you to scan the contents of a spreadsheet to locate
information and print ranges.
While in browse, the cursor movement keys have the following results:
UP - Move the cursor one cell up
DOWN - Move the cursor one cell down
LEFT - Move the cursor one cell to the left
RIGHT - Move the cursor one cell to the right
PGUP - Advance one page upwards through the spreadsheet
PGDN - Advance one page Downwards through the spreadsheet
TAB RT - Move one page to the right
TAB LT - Move one page to the left
HOME - Place the cursor at cell A1
END - A toggle key which when followed by a direction cursor key causes
movement to the end of the data range in the indicated direction.
PRINT
Print (P)
Enters the Printing menu. The commands available in this menu are displayed
below:
Print, Range (P R)
Define the range of spreadsheet to be printed. This operation must be
performed before any portions of the spreadsheet can be printed. If no range
has been selected and "Print, Go" is selected (see below), the program
displays an error message and returns to the menu.
Print, Borders (P B)
Define those rows or columns which you want as a permanent border on the
printed output. i.e. This is especially useful when a large table of
information is being printed and can be used to duplicate the table headings
on each successive page.
WARNING: You must make sure your Print Range does not include ranges
defined by Print Borders or you will get information printed
twice, once for the border and once for the print range.
Print, Linefeed (P L)
Advance the printer one line up. Useful for spacing printouts without
disrupting the printer's line counter.
Print, Pageadv (P P)
Advance the printer to top of next page, (Page eject).
Print, Adjust (P A)
Reset line counter to the top of page. If, for some reason, the printer is
manually interrupted, use this command to line up the printer top-of-form (top
of page) with the program top-of-page.
NOTE: Make sure that the paper sheet perforation is lined up with the top of
the print head in the printer when selecting Print Adjust.
Print, Options (P O)
Set different printer options according to the menu choices which follow
below.
Print, Options, Margin, Left (P OML)
Set the left Margin, (0 - 240 spaces).
Print, Options, Margin, Right (P OMR)
Set the right margin (0 - 240 spaces, i.e. you can print up to 240 characters
per line).
Print, Options, Margin, Top (P OMT)
Set the top margin (number of lines).
Print, Options, Margin, Bottom (P OMB)
Set the bottom margin (number of lines).
Print, Options, Pglines (P OP)
Set the number of lines per page, default 66 for portrait orientation.
NOTE: The page length should not exceed the calculated number of printable
lines. The maximum allowable number of lines is calculated by the
program and is displayed in the summary window. This value is based
on the LPI (lines per inch) setting that you select.
Print, Options, Header (P OH)
Set a single line for header message which will appear at the top of each
printed page.
Print, Options, Footer (P OF)
Set a single line for footer message which will appear at the bottom of each
printed page.
Print, Option, Quit (P OQ)
Exit the Print, Option menu and return to the main Print menu.
Print, Go (P G)
Selecting this command causes a settings window to be displayed in the center
of the screen.
To change any of the settings at this time, move the scroll bar, highlight the
option, and press ENTER. Each time ENTER is pressed the choice will cycle
through its permissible settings.
Press the letter [ G ] to start printing. Press [ Q ] or [ESC] to cancel and
return to the main print menu.
NOTE: You must define the print range before issuing GO or an error message
will be displayed and no printing will be performed.
MODE
Specify the print (character size) desired. Two modes are available.
Full mode: Uses the basic 16 x 24 bit definition of the character.
Half mode: Merges the bits into a 16 x 12 bit definition. The effect is
similar to regular condensed mode because fewer bits are used
to define the character. You can use HALF to print twice as
many characters per line (portrait orientation), or twice as
many lines (landscape orientation).
The different modes may be combined with other options to produce a wide
variety of print styles.
DENSITY
Three print densities are available in PIVOT!.
Low density: Results in very wide characters because the bit
information is spread out at 60 dots per inch (120 dpi
LQ2500 printers). To reduce the width of the characters,
you can select HALF mode printing. The result will be a
draft quality font which prints very fast.
Medium density: Result is somewhat slower but produces a better quality
print.
High density: Produces near letter quality (NLQ) print, on most
printers.
PASSES
Specify the number of passes the printhead is to make over the same line.
One pass: Fast but produces rough characters. This method merges even
and odd bit rows in the 16 x 24 matrix to produce an 8 x 24
character.
Two passes: Twice as slow but produces much better print.
Four passes: Slower but may be required on some printers, especially
those that are incapable of printing adjacent dots (i.e. the
high density 240 dpi graphics mode on RX/MX printers).
You should experiment with Mode, Density and Passes option combinations to
find the ones that produce acceptable print at reasonable speeds for you.
Print, Default (P F)
This menu controls all the settings that are required for the desired type of
printing. Once this menu is accessed, the user is presented with options to
select fonts, specify the print mode, etc.
Print, Default, Font (P DF)
Select one of the external disk fonts.
NOTE: To customize the appearance of a font see the GCHAR program which is
distributed as part of the PIVOT! package.
Print, Default, Width (P DW)
Set the width of the print page in inches. This information is used by the
program to determine the maximum number of characters permitted per horizontal
line. The default width is 8 inches.
Print, Default, Codes (P DC)
Use this menu to customize PIVOT! for your own printer. Once in this menu,
you can set your printer control codes for the following:
Default codes for:
MX/RX LQ-2500 printers
Single Density Graphics \027\075 \027\075
Double Density Graphics \027\076 \027\089
Quadruple Density Graphics \027\090 \027\090
LineFeed Spacing \027\051 \027\051
Reset \027\064 \027\064
Adjust 1 or 2 1 or 2
NOTE: For each control string, only the static part of the string is
defined by you. The program will insert the variable part of the
string by itself. For example the single density graphics string,
defined by your printer manual may be:
\027\075\n, where "n" is the number of bytes of graphic information
that follows. The value "n" is supplied by the program.
Control codes are specified using a three digit decimal ASCII number and are
separated by a backslash "\". For example \027\090 represents respectively
the ESCAPE character (\027) and the capital letter Z (\090).
Print, Default, Output (P DO)
Specify the parallel port to which your printer is connected. You are given
the choice of LPT1 or LPT2.
NOTE: The default parallel port is LPT1.
Print, Default, Printer (P DP)
Select the type of print driver to use when sending graphics information.
Choices are the MX/RX which uses 8-pins or the LQ-2500 which uses 24-pins.
Print, Default, Save (P DS)
This command saves all current settings, so that next time you start PIVOT!
(from the same drive and sub-directory) it will remember them for you.
GRAPHICS CHARACTER EDITOR
INTRODUCTION
The second program of the package is GCHAR (for Graphic Characters). This
powerful package allows you to define your own complete character sets with
very little effort. These character sets, in turn, can be used to print your
documents either in portrait or landscape orientation using the PIVOT!
program.
The GCHAR system is made up of the GCHAR.EXE program and a number of
XXXXXXX.TRP font files.
To run the program, put the diskette with GCHAR.EXE and the XXXXXX.TRP files
in the logged disk drive (or log on to the directory containing these files),
type GCHAR, and press [ENTER].
After you read the opening screen, press any key to continue with the
program.
SELECTING A CHARACTER FONT
GCHAR will display a pick list of all XXXXXX.TRP files on the logged drive.
To select a font file, move the file cursor (with the arrow keys) to highlight
the font name and then press [ENTER]. Once selected, the font will be loaded
into memory and the first character in the data set will be displayed.
The screen is made up of an ascii character table on the right, a character
definition on the left and a menu of editing commands displayed in the top
control panel.
ACTIVE WINDOW
A highlight bar is displayed on top of the active window, above either the
character or the ascii table. To move from window to window, press the TAB
key.
CHARACTER TABLE
The characters are arranged in 16 rows of 16 characters, the order proceeding
from left to right and from top to bottom. The current character is indicated
by a blinking highlight. The character font definition will be displayed on
the left side of the screen.
NOTE: Any changes made to the font character on the left will NOT appear in
the ascii character on the right, but will be placed into the font
definition.
The character highlighted in this table will appear on the left in whatever
bit pattern it might have. When the window highlight bar is over the top of
the ASCII table a new character may be selected by using the cursor keys to
move up, down, left or right.
FONT CHARACTER (SETTING/RESET)
A font character is displayed as a matrix of 16 bits vertically by 24 bits
horizontal. Any bit in the character can be set or reset by pressing the
SPACE bar. This is the simplest form of editing. For more sophisticated
manipulations use the menu commands.
MENU
The editing menu is displayed in the top panel of the screen. Each choice in
the menu may be selected by pressing the first letter of that choice. For
example to clear the current font definition press the letter "C". The
following list of commands are available:
COPY, (C)
This command prompts for the ascii character which you wish to copy into the
current character position. i.e. the entire bit pattern for that character is
duplicated and can now be used as a starting point for modification. This
technique is useful for foreign language characters which are similar to those
used in the English language.
ERASE, (E)
This command erases the contents of the current bit character, i.e it creates
a totally blank character. (Use UNDO to restore character).
PIVOT, (P)
This command performs an approximate 90 degree rotation of the character and
is useful when creating font characters with landscape orientation.
NOTE: Because the character bit matrix is 16 x 24 (which is not square)
some bits may be lost after the rotation.
DEL, (D)
Deletes the pixel at the cursor position and then moves the pixels to the
right of the cursor one space left. Continue to press the DEL command, until
the row is shifted to the position you desire. This command is very useful
when generating italics character sets.
INS, (I)
Inserts a blank pixel at the cursor position and moves all pixels to the right
of the cursor one space to the right.
REVERSE, (R)
Inverts all bits in the character. The effect is to produce a reverse video
character, i.e., any bit that is set becomes a bit which is not set and vice
versa.
MIRROR, (M)
Flips the character about vertical axis of symmetry.
VIEW, (V)
When view is invoked, the program prompts you for a color choice. Then, if
your system is equipped with a monitor that can support graphics, subsequent
typing will display the characters of the current font as a graphics image.
To exit from the typomatic mode, press enter to return to the main screen.
Typomatic graphics is only supported on CGA or compatible monitor/card
combinations and Hercules Monochrome Graphic.
SAVE, (S)
This command prompts for a new filename for the font. If none is assigned the
default name FONT.TRI will be assigned. The font file will then be saved in
the current subdirectory.
GET, (G)
Selecting this command displays a pick list of all font files residing in the
current subdirectory. To pick a file highlight it with the cursor (use the
up, down, left, right keys) and then press ENTER. The font will be loaded
into memory.
UNDO, (U)
This command restores the original character definition. It may be used to
undo or cancel the last editing command that was performed.
QUIT (Q)
When Quit is selected, a message appears in the center screen and asks if you
really want to quit.
To select a dialogue choice press the first letter of that choice.
If you press "N", GCHAR returns you to the main screen.
If you press "Y", GCHAR asks if you want to save the font file.
Answering "N" to this prompt, will bring you back to DOS and the font file you
were working on is not saved. If, on the other hand, you answer "Y", then you
are asked for a font file name. Type the name and press ENTER. If you do not
type a name and just press enter, then the font file is saved under the name
FONT.TR?
NOTE: If a file named FONT.TR? already exists, then it is overwritten by
the new file.
APPENDIX A: PAGE LIMITS
The following is a listing of limitations for PIVOT! Options.
Minimum Maximum
MARGINS
LEFT 0 240
RIGHT 0 240
TOP 0 30
BOTTOM 0 30
PGLINES 1 1024
LPI 1 92
CPI 1 92
WIDTH (Inches) 1 14