*P*toDisk 4.0--a shareware program--is a combination INIT and FKEY that is compatible with Finder, Multifinder, and System 7.0. It is an upgrade from the previous version 3.2 which offers several additional features.
*P*toDisk 4.0 Features (an asterisk indicates a new feature for this version)
1. Diverts Prodigy PRINT/COPY data to up to five destinations simultaneously.
2. Allows adding to existing files as well as creating new files.
3. Allows access to an unlimited number of files during a Prodigy session.
4. Is small and fast.
5. Is compatible with Multifinder, Finder, and System 7.0
6. Is always there (no need to remember to run a DA before logging on).
7. Offers a "type-ahead" option to speed up Prodigy access on older Macs.
8. Allows upload of TEXT files from disk into Prodigy messages, bulletins, and replies.
9. Offers keyboard equivalents for all *P*toDisk dialog box functions.
10. Allows user selection of the owning application for all future newly created files.
11. *Allows continuation of a previous Upload which required more than 6 Prodigy pages.
12. *Provides an alternate upload filter for "choppy" messages.
13. *Provides a hot-key (Option-a) to immediately clear the Type-ahead buffer.
14. *For System 7 users only: allows switching to the Finder (and from Finder to other applications) while Prodigy is running.
Installing *P*toDisk 4.0
NOTE to *P*toDisk version 1.0, 1.1, and 1.2 users: the two versions will not work together. Before installing *P*toDisk 4.0, use Font/DA Mover (or your DA handling utility) to Remove *P*toDisk version 1.0, 1.1, or 1.2.
NOTE to *P*toDisk version 2 and 3 users: the two versions will not work together. Before installing *P*toDisk 4.0, completely de-install *P*toDisk version 2 or 3.
1. Install the INIT named *P*toDisk
Drag *P*toDisk into the "System Folder" on the startup disk you use with Prodigy (if you run System 7.0, place the INIT into the Extensions folder), then copy (Option-drag) it into PRODIGY® service folder 1. However, if you use an INIT handling utility, consult its documentation for installation details. The copy in PRODIGY® service folder 1 is always required.
2. Install the FKEY found in *P*toDisk FKEY
The FKEY, which comes set for command-shift-9, can be installed in one of the following ways.
(a) Suitcase II or other FKEY handlers/installers -- Many are available on AOL and other BBSs (FKEY Mover by Andrew Welch works just like FONT/DA Mover and is recommended). Follow the instructions for your installer. Note that the *P*FKEY usually must have an ID between 5 and 9 to be accessible from within Prodigy.
(b) Resedit -- [Note: if you feel uncomfortable using Resedit on your System file, you should use another method to install the *P*toDisk FKEY instead of Resedit.] Copy the *P*FKEY FKEY from *P*toDisk FKEY and paste it into the FKEY resource of the System file on the startup disk you use with Prodigy. You may want to change the ID of the FKEY (using Get Info) before copying it from *P*toDisk FKEY if command-shift-9 is already in use on your MAC.
3. Configure Prodigy to repaint the screen (System 7 users only)
Using TeachText (or your word processor) open CONFIG.SM (which is in PRODIGY® service folder 1). Find the line which begins with "printer:". Insert a new line above it so it looks like this:
repaint key r
printer:none
(Note that the letters following printer: may be different in your system and should not be changed).
(Note also that some CONFIG.SM files may not contain a "printer:" line at all. In this case, add the new line above the "prntype:" line).
Leave everything else as it was. Save CONFIG.SM and quit.
4. Choose Restart from the Special menu
You must "Restart" your MAC so the *P*toDisk INIT will run.
Using *P*toDisk 4.0
After you open Prodigy, *P*toDisk is in the background ready to help you enhance your Prodigy session. To use *P*toDisk, you must first type command-shift-9 which will display the *P*toDisk dialog box in front of Prodigy's screen. Now you are ready to open files to receive Prodigy print data, to enable keyboard buffering, to open a TEXT file for uploading, or for System 7 users, to switch to the Finder. Clicking the OK button removes the dialog box and returns you to your Prodigy session.
Printing to Disk
When you first log on to Prodigy, *P*toDisk will allow all of Prodigy's PRINT and COPY data to go to your printer as it would were *P*toDisk not installed. To change this, invoke the FKEY you installed above.
The FKEY will cause the dialog box to be displayed. The first time you see the dialog box in a Prodigy session, the box for "Printer" will be checked and the boxes for the four "***available***" file slots will not be checked.
To OPEN a file to receive print data, click on one of the buttons "Create new file" or "Extend old file." If you want to create a brand new file, click the "Create new file" button (but see "Owner for new files" below). If you want to add data to a file which already exists, click the "Extend old file" button.
As a result of clicking one of these two buttons, you will see a box which will allow you to choose the file. If you clicked "Create new file," you will be expected to type the name for this new file (after selecting the desired folder). If you clicked "Extend old file," you will be expected to double-click on the name of an existing file in some folder on one of your disks. Only files of type "TEXT" will be displayed for you to choose from. After you enter your file choice, the box will disappear and the *P*toDisk dialog box will again be visible. The name of the chosen file will appear in the topmost file slot, replacing "***available***." Its check box will be checked automatically and if this is the first file you have opened in this Prodigy session, the Printer box will be automatically unchecked.
You can choose up to four different files in this way, to be open at the same time, and by clicking on the checkbox(es) of any combination of the four files and your printer, can direct the PRINT/COPY data wherever desired.
You can CLOSE any of the four open files by clicking on the "Close" button to the right of the file's name. When you click on a file's "Close" button, that file is closed, and the file slot will display "***available***." You can then open another file in that slot.
The file produced by *P*toDisk is a "vanilla" text file, with a carriage return (hex 0D) following each print line. New files created by *P*toDisk have a file type of "TEXT" and a file owner of "EDIT" (but see "Owner for new files" below). "TEXT" files extended by *P*toDisk retain the file ownership they had before they were opened. When Prodigy sends print lines with trailing spaces, these spaces are removed before the line is written to the disk file. All word processing applications should have options to allow opening text files.
Note: *P*toDisk is driven by Prodigy printing to your printer. If you check the Printer and file(s) boxes, but your printer is not powered on, *P*toDisk will not write to the file(s). If the Printer box is unchecked, *P*toDisk will write to the file(s) whether or not the printer is powered on.
Owner for new files
As *P*toDisk 4.0 is shipped, any new file you create with it will be owned by the program "Edit." This means when you double click on the file, your Mac will look for an application called "Edit" to launch in order to display the file. If you would like to change the application that is launched when you double click on a new file, click on the text in the dialog box which says "Owner for all NEW files" or on "Edit." This will open a box to let you choose your preferred application. Double click on it (e.g. Word, WriteNow, MacWrite, TeachText, etc.) and the dialog box will then show your choice. From that point until you change it again, double clicking on new files that you created with *P*toDisk 4.0 will cause that application to be launched. This feature has no effect on files you extend nor on any other "old" files.
Uploading Prodigy messages, bulletins, and replies
A file to be uploaded must be a TEXT file containing only letters, numbers, signs, and carriage returns; tabs will be ignored. If your TEXT file requires more than 6 Prodigy pages, you will have the option to continue it in a new Prodigy message. See the following section "Suppress returns on upload" for information about filtering options.
To upload a TEXT file:
1. place Prodigy's cursor where the first letter of the file should go.
2. open the *P*toDisk dialog box
3. click on Upload TEXT file
4. open the file you wish to upload, a beep means file-too-big, or file empty. The maximum file size is 32K.
5. The file will be inserted into the message, bulletin, or reply. All pages and overlapping words will be handled automatically.
6. To ABORT the upload, press any key on the keyboard.
To continue a file which required more than 6 Prodigy pages:
1. place Prodigy's cursor where the first letter of the continuation should go.
2. open the *P*toDisk dialog box
3. click on Resume upload
4. The rest of the file will be inserted into the message, bulletin, or reply. All pages and overlapping words will be handled automatically.
5. To ABORT the continued upload, press any key on the keyboard.
Please note that YOU must fill in the "TO" and "SUBJECT" fields for the continuation of a message and place the cursor where you want the continuation of the text to go before clicking on the "Resume" button.
Miscellaneous:
1. The mouse works while the file is being uploaded. Clicking the mouse will reposition Prodigy's cursor and therefore the data being uploaded.
2. You will get best results if you save the file you intend to upload as plain TEXT, not "TEXT with line endings."
Suppress returns on upload
Data to be uploaded into Prodigy messages, bulletins, and replies can come from many sources. Some of this data can format incorrectly when uploaded to Prodigy. To help with this situation, *P*toDisk offers two different methods of handling upload text. These methods are selected by clicking on the message "(Suppress-returns is off)" in the *P*toDisk dialog box to toggle between them. Following are the recommended uses for each:
(Suppress-returns is off)
(1) TEXT files created in your word processor as plain TEXT
(2) a previously downloaded Prodigy message (40 character line) being uploaded into a new Prodigy message (40 character line)
(3) a previously downloaded Prodigy bulletin or reply (60 character line) being uploaded into a new Prodigy bulletin or reply (60 character line)
(4) any text data which has returns at the ends of paragraphs but not at the end of each line
(Suppress-returns is on)
(1) TEXT files created in your word processor as TEXT with line endings
(2) a previously downloaded Prodigy message (40 character line) being uploaded into a new Prodigy bulletin or reply (60 character line)
(3) a previously downloaded Prodigy bulletin or reply (60 character line) being uploaded into a new Prodigy message (40 character line)
(4) any text data which has returns at the end of each line
If an upload is not being formatted satisfactorily with one option, clear the message or bulletin and retry the upload with the other option.
Type-ahead
*P*toDisk's type-ahead option changes the way Prodigy treats your keystrokes and mouse clicks, making Prodigy a little more Mac-like. When "(Type-ahead is off)" is displayed in the top right corner of the *P*toDisk dialog box, Prodigy will "forget" any keystrokes or clicks that you did before Prodigy finished its previous activity (this is how Prodigy works without *P*toDisk). If you click on "(Type-ahead is off)" it will change to "(Type-ahead is on)" and any keystrokes or clicks that you do before Prodigy is ready for them will be saved and presented to Prodigy when it is ready. When "(Type-ahead is on)" you can type/click one or more screens in advance. For example, if you want to look up the article on "music" in Prodigy's Encyclopedia you would type:
J [return]
enc [return]
music [return]
[return]
[return]
If "(Type-ahead is off)" you must wait after each [return] until Prodigy has completed displaying the response screen. If "(Type-ahead is on)" you can type everything continuously, and Prodigy will receive each command when it is ready. *P*toDisk retains your type-ahead setting through multiple Prodigy sessions.
The current type-ahead operation can be aborted by typing Option-a. If "(Type-ahead is on)" and you discover that something that you typed unintentionally is taking Prodigy "where no one has gone before," type Option-a and the type-ahead buffer will be discarded immediately. Typing Option-a does not affect the status of type-ahead. If "(Type-ahead is off)" and you type Option-a, Prodigy will beep at you as you would expect.
Warning: Macros created with QuicKeys without type-ahead will probably cause problems when used with type-ahead on. This problem does not occur with MacroMaker.
Finder
System 7 users have the option of switching to the Finder and back during a Prodigy session.
To switch to the Finder:
1. open the *P*toDisk dialog box
2. click the Finder button (this button is dimmed and unavailable on those Macs running a system earlier than System 7)
To return to Prodigy:
Use the application menu in the upper right corner of your menu bar to select Prodigy or double click on the Prodigy application's ICON in the Finder.
Because of the way the Prodigy software was written, Prodigy's window will remain hidden whenever Prodigy is in the background.
Files that are checked for print capture in the *P*toDisk dialog box may be opened in other programs while Prodigy is in the background. However, close these files before returning to Prodigy or *P*toDisk may not be able to add new data to them.
You will find that with the *P*toDisk 4.0 INIT installed, many application switcher utilities that would not previously work with Prodigy, will now work.
Dialog Box Keyboard Equivalents
All dialog box functions can also be invoked from the keyboard:
c or C - Create
e or E - Extend
f or F - Finder
o or O - change Owner for new files to be created
p or P - toggle Printer check box
r or R - Resume upload
return or enter - OK
s or S - toggle Suppress-returns
t or T - toggle Type-ahead
u or U - Upload TEXT file
1 or 2 or 3 or 4 - toggle check box for file 1 or 2 or 3 or 4
Command+1 or 2 or 3 or 4 - Close file 1 or 2 or 3 or 4
Keyboard Command
Option+a - Abort current type-ahead operation (see above, under Type-ahead)
B E E P S ! !
*P*toDisk communicates error conditions by beeping at you. The meaning of the beep depends on what you or Prodigy are doing when it happens. Following is a list of times when *P*toDisk might beep.
1. System Startup time--*P*toDisk was unable to get enough system memory to initialize. Contact me as described below.
2. Before Prodigy Sign-on Screen--*P*toDisk was unable to get enough memory to initialize. This should only happen on 1Meg MACs or with Multifinder. For Multifinder, increase Prodigy's memory allowance (add 80K) in its Get Info window. Otherwise, contact me.
3. When you invoke the FKEY--This could be the same problem as number 2 above. It can also be caused by the name of the copy of the *P*toDisk INIT that is in PRODIGY® service folder 1. Check to be sure that this copy is named "*P*toDisk" (without the quotes, but with this exact capitalization and with no leading or trailing spaces).
4. While PRINTing or COPYing--(1) *P*toDisk ran out of disk space to write the PRINT or COPY data. If you press the FKEY, you will see that *P*toDisk has unchecked the file which ran out of space. It is recommended that you CLOSE that file (and optionally open another one on a different disk). It is probable that the last addition to that file is incomplete. (2) *P*toDisk cannot find one of the files that you checked to receive print data. Ensure that the disk where you created it is available to your Mac. (3) System 7 users only: a file that *P*toDisk is trying to print to is open in another application. Switch to the Finder, close the file, return to Prodigy, open the *P*toDisk dialog box, recheck the file for printing, and reprint the data.
5. When returning from the Finder--Ensure that you performed installation step 3 above.
Other problems
1. Nothing happens when you invoke the FKEY--Assuming that the *P*toDisk ICON displayed when you started your Mac, this is most commonly caused by the name of the Prodigy application. For *P*toDisk to recognize that it is running with Prodigy, the Prodigy application must be named "PRODIGY service" (without the quotes, but with this exact capitalization and with no leading or trailing spaces). (For System 7 users, there are no restrictions on names for aliases of the Prodigy application).
2. *P*toDisk creates a file but it is empty--This is caused by Prodigy's unusual method of dealing with Mac printers. Open TeachText (or your word processor), then open CONFIG.SM (found in PRODIGY® service folder 1). You will see a line which says "printer:none." Insert another line after it so it looks like this:
printer:none
prntype:2
Do not change anything else in CONFIG.SM. Save it and quit. Do NOT run Prodigy's configure program after making this change or you will have to repeat the change.
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Your comments and criticisms are welcomed and will be consulted for enhancements and corrections to future releases. I can be reached on Prodigy as VFDN48A, on America Online as Restemeyer, and on Compuserve as 76150,672.
The requested shareware fee for *P*toDisk 4.0 is $15 if you downloaded it or $18 if I mailed you a disk (this includes an extra $3 for the disk, mailer, and postage). If you have already paid for a previous release, please subtract $10 from the appropriate fee. If you keep and use *P*toDisk 4.0, please send the fee to:
