The Business Master (3rd Edition)

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BIG - A TSR Magnifying Glass - Version 1.0 For Use with Lotus(R) 1-2-3 (R) Part of the B-Ware Family Copyright Hexagon Products 1990, 1991 A Note on this Document The printed version of this document is produced on a laser printer using large, easy to read, 18-point type. The page numbers in the table of contents refer to this printed version. The disk copy contains no embedded form feeds, and all lines are less than 80 characters, except where screen images are used as examples. Screen images are 82 characters wide, two box characters on either side of an 80 character line. BIG for 1-2-3 is one of a family of such low-priced, large character products, collectively known as B-Ware. When you purchase BIG for 1-2-3 for $39, you receive several of these related programs at no extra cost. You also receive a copy of this documentation printed in large, easy-to-read, 18-point type. For pricing information on BIG for 1-2-3 and related products, see the last pages of this file. ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║D5: +BIG FOR READY║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ A B C D E F G H ║ ║1 ║ ║2 ║ ║3 ║ ║4 ║ ║5 1-2-3(R) ║ ║6 ║ ║7 ║ ║8 ║ ║ ▀█▀▀▄ █▀▀▀▀ ▀█▀▀▀▄ ▀█▀▀▀█ ▄▀▀▄ ▀█▀▀▄ █ █ ║ ║ █ █ ▀▄▄▄ █▄▄▄▀ █▄█ █ █ █ █ ▀▄ ▄▀ ║ ║ █ ▄▀ █ █ ▀▄ █ ▀ ▄ █▀▀▀▀█ █ ▄▀ █ ║ ║ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀ ▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ║ ║ ▄ ▀█▀▀▀▄ ▀█▀ ▄▀▀▀▀▄ ▀█▀▀▀█ ▄▀▀▀▄ ▀█▀▀▀▄ ║ ║ ▄▄█▄▄ █▄▄▄▀ █ █ ▄▄▄ █▄█ █ █ █▄▄▄▀ ║ ║ █ █ █ █ ▀▄ █ █ ▀ ▀▄ ▄▀ █ ▀▄ ║ ║ ▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀ ║ ║ ▄█ ▄▀▀▀▄ ▄▀▀▀▄ ▄▀ ▀█▀▀▀▄ ▀▄ ║ ║ █ ▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▄▀ ▄▄▄▄▄ ▄▄▀ █ █▄▄▄▀ █ ║ ║ █ █ ▄ ▄ █ ▀▄ █ ▀▄ ▄▀ ║ ║ ▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀ ▀▀ ▀ ▀ ║ ║07-Mar-90 01:23 PM ║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ BIG - A TSR Magnifying Glass - Version 1.0 For Use with Lotus(R) 1-2-3 (R) Part of the B-Ware Family Copyright Hexagon Products 1990, 1991 Table of Contents Page Subject Introduction 4 Quick Start 5 Releasing BIG 6 Controlling BIG A Pictorial Guide 9 Example: READY 10 Example: VALUE 11 Example: MENU 12 Example: POINT 13 Example: ERROR 1 14 Example: ERROR 2 15 Example: The Bottom Line Customization 16 Changing BIG's Font 18 Example: Thick and Thin 19 Changing BIG's Colors 21 Running with a Colorized 1-2-3 21 Changing BIG's Hot Keys Miscellany 27 Running with 1-2-3 Vers. 3.0 28 Trouble-Shooting 30 A Word about TesSeRact(TM) 31 Disk Vendors, BBS's, Users Groups 32 Other Products and Prices 33 BIG 1.0 Registration BIG - A TSR Magnifying Glass - Version 1.0 For Use with Lotus 1-2-3 Part of the B-Ware Family Copyright Hexagon Products 1990, 1991 Introduction BIG is a memory-resident context-sensitive display enlarger specially designed for use with Lotus 1-2-3. BIG works with versions 1A, 2.01, 2.2, and, with some restrictions, version 3.0 of 1-2-3. BIG is a companion to (and not a replacement for) 1-2-3. As such, BIG is not manufactured, approved, or supported by Lotus Development Corporation. You load BIG at the DOS command line, and it Terminates, but Stays Resident (TSR). BIG remains inactive until it determines that you are using 1-2-3. BIG then enlarges part of the 1-2-3 display. The part it enlarges depends on the state of 1-2-3. For example, when 1-2-3 displays an error message, BIG automatically enlarges the bottom line. If you are in a 1-2-3 menu, BIG enlarges the menu choices and descriptions from lines 2 and 3. You can type directly into 1-2-3 without disturbing the BIG display. Whenever the 1-2-3 screen changes, the BIG display changes dynamically with it. BIG is part of the B-Ware family which includes B-Edit, B-Pop, B-Type, B-Look, and B-Dir. B-Ware is intended for vision impaired users, but can be used in any situation where it is hard to see the computer screen, such as enlarging faint letters on a laptop or making a computer demonstration visible to people in the back of a conference room or classroom. Quick Start Enter the BIG command at the DOS prompt. When BIG is loaded, it displays a short message, and then returns control to DOS. It looks as if BIG has terminated, but in fact, it is still resident in your computer's memory. If you had done a DOS CHKDSK immediately before and after running BIG, you would have noticed that the memory available has shrunk by about 30K. This is memory that BIG is using. You can remove BIG from memory by running it a second time. You can now enter any DOS command or program. When your computer is idling, BIG examines the screen but only changes the display when you are in 1-2-3. BIG determines the state of 1-2-3 by reading video memory and will enlarge an appropriate portion of the screen using large block characters. Because this checking involves some overhead, you should remove BIG from memory when you are not running 1-2-3. BIG uses 12 lines for its display at the bottom of your screen. To prevent any conflict, you should tell 1-2-3 not to use this area. The best way to do this is to divide the screen up into two horizontal window panes and have 1-2-3 use the top one only. Do this in 1-2-3 by pressing the F5 key to move the cursor to cell A9. Then enter / <W>orksheet <W>indows <H>orizontal and press Enter. If you are using a display with more than 25 rows, such as a 43-line EGA, the BIG display will still be shown on the bottom part of your screen. Define the second, lower window to coincide with the BIG display. After you have done this, you can run 1-2-3 normally. BIG will follow along with no further guidance. A few keys have special meaning to BIG. These keys are Ctrl L, R, U, D, U, B, and S. (The letters are abbreviations for the commands Left, Right, Up, Down, Bottom, and Status.) When any of these keys are pressed, they are interpreted by BIG and are NOT passed through to 1-2-3. These keys have no meaning to 1-2-3, so you shouldn't need them. However, these missing keys could be a problem if you left BIG active even outside of 1-2-3. Although you can change these hot keys to some combination not used by any of your software, it is better to remove BIG from memory whenever you are not using 1-2-3. It is easy to do this. Releasing BIG BIG has meaning only when you are executing 1-2-3. At all other times, it just takes up space and adds overhead. It can even be detrimental, if for example, you run a data base program and the word READY in the upper right corner of the screen triggering a meaningless BIG display. Or, since BIG takes up some control keys, you may find yourself in the middle of a word processor and not be able to control it. Although an attempt has been made to render BIG harmless in these circumstances, it is best to deactivate BIG when you will not be using 1-2-3. All you have to do to remove BIG completely is run BIG a second time. BIG will find itself already resident, and will pass on a command to the resident copy to remove itself. If you have loaded no other TSRs after BIG, all the memory will be restored to your application space. You can make up a BAT file that executes BIG just before and immediately after 1-2-3. Then execute the BAT file instead of executing 1-2-3 or LOTUS. Controlling BIG A few keys have special meaning to BIG. These keys are Ctrl L, R, U, D, U, B, and S. (The letters are abbreviations for the commands Left, Right, Up, Down, Bottom, and Status.) When any of these keys are pressed, they are interpreted by BIG and are NOT passed through to 1-2-3. Normally BIG senses the context of 1-2-3 and displays an appropriate part of the underlying screen. However, since BIG uses so few characters, there may be times when you want to see something other than the default display. You can use Ctrl-R to scroll the BIG display to the Right, or Ctrl-L to the Left. For example, when 1-2-3 is displaying an error, BIG shows 20 characters of the message from the bottom line. Normally this is sufficient to understand the error. However, you can see more of the error message by pressing Ctrl-R. BIG will shift its focus to the right. You may want to suspend BIG operations sometimes. You can do this by pressing Ctrl-D, to shut it Down. This is not the same as removing BIG from memory. BIG is still resident, but it will not display anything. Resume BIG activity with by pressing Ctrl-U to start BIG Up again. 1-2-3 uses the bottom line to display various items including Undo, Calc, Caps, and Num Lock status. To view these at any time, press Ctrl-B and BIG will enlarge the bottom line. If the status display won't fit in a single BIG display, use the Left and Right commands, Ctrl-L and Ctrl-R. The final control key is Ctrl-S which you can use to remove some of the video snow on some CGA monitors. The key combinations for these commands were chosen because they are not used by 1-2-3, and are mnemonic. Since they may cause a conflict if you run BIG with other software, it is recommended that you completely deactivate BIG when you are not running 1-2-3. You can also specify different key combinations for these commands. This is described in a following section on customization. A Pictorial Guide The easiest way to understand what BIG does is to look at some sample screens. The following shows the development of a simple worksheet. It calculates how many copies of movie sequels a video rental store should stock, based on the idea that there will be a dwindling demand for each sequel. The first screen shows the format of the worksheet. BIG uses three large data lines. The first line usually shows the cell ID and as much of the indicator as will fit. If the cell ID has many characters, such as AB101, the indicator (READY) will be truncated to fit. Lines 2 and 3 vary with the context of 1-2-3. Example: READY ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║A23: "Rocky READY║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ A B C D E F G H ║ ║21 Sequel Video Rentals ║ ║22 1 2 3 4 5 ║ ║23 Rocky 10 ║ ║24 Halloween 12 ║ ║25 Jaws 15 ║ ║26 Police Acad 6 ║ ║27 Raiders 25 ║ ║28 ║ ║ ▄██▄ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▀██▀▀█▄ ▀██▀▀▀█ ▄██▄ ▀██▀█▄ ██ ██ ║ ║██ ██ ▄▄█▀ ▄▄█▀ ██▄▄█▀ ██▄█ ██ ██ ██ ██ ▀█▄▄█▀ ║ ║██▀▀██ ▄█▀ ▄▄ ▄▄ ██ ██ ▀█▄ ██ ▀ ▄ ██▀▀██ ██ ▄█▀ ██ ║ ║▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ║ ║ ██ ██ ▀██▀▀█▄ ▀██ ║ ║ ▀▀ ▀▀ ██▄▄█▀ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▄█▀▀█▄ ██ ▄█▀ ██ ██ ║ ║ ██ ▀█▄ ██ ██ ██ ▄▄ ██▀█▄ ▀█▄▄██ ║ ║ ▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▄▄▄▄█▀ ║ ║ ▀██▀▀█▄ ▀██ ║ ║ ██▄▄█▀ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▄█▀▀█▄ ██ ▄█▀ ██ ██ ║ ║ ██ ▀█▄ ██ ██ ██ ▄▄ ██▀█▄ ▀█▄▄██ ║ ║ ▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▄▄▄▄█▀ ║ ║16-Jan-90 03:06 PM ║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ At the READY, line 2 shows the text entered into the cell as copied from the top line of the 1-2-3 display. A label starts with the prefix character, a value shows its formula. Line 3 shows the text as 1-2-3 displays it in the body of the spreadsheet. In this example, line 2 has "Rocky, whereas line 3 shows Rocky preceded by several spaces which are the result of the right justification prefix. Example: VALUE ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║D23: VALUE║ ║+C23*.8 ║ ║ ║ ║ A B C D E F G H ║ ║21 Sequel Video Rentals ║ ║22 1 2 3 4 5 ║ ║23 Rocky 10 ║ ║24 Halloween 12 ║ ║25 Jaws 15 ║ ║26 Police Acad 6 ║ ║27 Raiders 25 ║ ║28 ║ ║▀██▀█▄ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▄█▀▀█▄ ██ ██ ▄██▄ ▀██▀ ██ ██ ▀██▀▀▀█ ║ ║ ██ ██ ▄▄█▀ ▄▄█▀ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██▄█ ║ ║ ██ ▄█▀ ▄█▀ ▄▄ ▄▄ ██ ▀█▄▄█▀ ██▀▀██ ██ ▄█ ██ ██ ██ ▀ ▄ ║ ║▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ║ ║ ▄▄ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▄▄ ▄▄ ▄█▀▀█▄ ████████ ║ ║▄▄██▄▄ ██ ▄▄█▀ ▄▄█▀ ▄▄████▄▄ ▀█▄▄█▀ ████████ ║ ║ ██ ▀█▄ ▄▄ ▄█▀ ▄▄ ▄▄ ██ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▄▄ ██ ██ ████████ ║ ║ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ████████ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║16-Jan-90 03:07 PM ║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ In the example, the number of film copies to order for each sequel is determined by multiplying the previous value by a constant factor. As you enter a formula to multiply the cell to the left by the value 0.8, BIG uses both lines 2 and 3 to display the text being entered. The cursor is indicated by a large box character. Lines 2 and 3 will scroll if necessary to show the text being entered. Example: MENU ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║D23: +C23*0.8 MENU║ ║Worksheet Range Copy Move File Print Graph Data System Add-In Quit ║ ║Copy a cell or range of cells ║ ║ A B C D E F G H ║ ║21 Sequel Video Rentals ║ ║22 1 2 3 4 5 ║ ║23 Rocky 10 8 ║ ║24 Halloween 12 ║ ║25 Jaws 15 ║ ║26 Police Acad 6 ║ ║27 Raiders 25 ║ ║28 ║ ║▀██▀█▄ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▄█▀▀█▄ ██▄ ▄██ ▀██▀▀▀█ ██▄ ██ ██ ██ ║ ║ ██ ██ ▄▄█▀ ▄▄█▀ ███████ ██▄█ ██▀█▄██ ██ ██ ║ ║ ██ ▄█▀ ▄█▀ ▄▄ ▄▄ ██ ██ ▀ ██ ██ ▀ ▄ ██ ▀██ ██ ██ ║ ║▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ║ ║ ▄█▀▀█▄ ║ ║██ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▀█▄▀▀█▄ ██ ██ ║ ║▀█▄ ▄▄ ██ ██ ██▄▄█▀ ▀█▄▄██ ║ ║ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▄██▄ ▄▄▄▄█▀ ║ ║ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▀██ ║ ║██ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▀█▄▀▀█▄ ██ ██ ▀▀▀█▄ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▄█▀▀█▄ ██ ║ ║▀█▄ ▄▄ ██ ██ ██▄▄█▀ ▀█▄▄██ ▄█▀▀██ ██ ▄▄ ██▀▀▀▀ ██ ║ ║ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▄██▄ ▄▄▄▄█▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ║ ║16-Jan-90 03:07 PM ║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ Bring up the 1-2-3 menu to copy the factor formula to all sequel cells for all movies. After you press the slash key to bring up 1-2-3's menu, and use the arrow keys to move the cursor over to the Copy command, BIG shows the current menu choice on line 2 and the explanation on line 3. If you want to see more of the explanation, you can press the Ctrl-R key to shift the display to the Right. Example: POINT ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║G27: +F27*0.8 POINT║ ║Enter range to format: D23..G27 ║ ║ ║ ║ A B C D E F G H ║ ║21 Sequel Video Rentals ║ ║22 1 2 3 4 5 ║ ║23 Rocky 10 8 6.4 5.12 4.096 ║ ║24 Halloween 12 9.6 7.68 6.144 4.9152 ║ ║25 Jaws 15 12 9.6 7.68 6.144 ║ ║26 Police Acad 6 4.8 3.84 3.072 2.4576 ║ ║27 Raiders 25 20 16 12.8 10.24 ║ ║28 ║ ║▀██▀█▄ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▀██▀▀█▄ ▄█▀█▄ ▀██▀ ██▄ ██ █▀██▀█ ║ ║ ██ ██ ▄▄█▀ ▄▄█▀ ██▄▄█▀ ██ ██ ██ ██▀█▄██ ██ ║ ║ ██ ▄█▀ ▄█▀ ▄▄ ▄▄ ██ ▄▄ ██ ▀█▄ ▄█▀ ██ ██ ▀██ ██ ║ ║▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ║ ║ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▄█▀▀█▄ ██▀▀██ ║ ║██ ▄▄█▀ ▄█▀ ║ ║▀█▄ ▀██ ▄█▀ ▄▄ ██ ║ ║ ▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ║ ║ ▄██ ▄█▀▀▀█▄ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▄███ ║ ║ ██ ██ ▄███ ▄▄█▀ ▄█▀ ██ ║ ║ ██ ███▀ ██ ▄▄ ▄█▀ ▄▄ ▀▀▀▀██▀ ║ ║ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ║ ║16-Jan-90 03:08 PM ║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ After the factor formula has been copied to all cells, the results were not integers. To fix this, enter /<R>ange<F>ormat<F>ixed and 0 decimal places. 1-2-3 then asks for the range to be formatted. You can use the arrow keys to drag the shadowed box over the range of cells. As you POINT to the cells to be formatted, BIG shows the anchored cell on line 1 and the moving cell on line 2. So you can see where you are going, the value of the moving cell is shown on line 3. In this case, the range currently highlighted is D23..G27. The value in cell G27 is 10.24. Example: ERROR 1 ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║D23: (F0) +C23*0.8 ERROR║ ║Enter address to go to: facrot ║ ║ ║ ║ A B C D E F G H ║ ║21 Sequel Video Rentals ║ ║22 1 2 3 4 5 ║ ║23 Rocky 10 8 6 5 4 ║ ║24 Halloween 12 10 8 6 5 ║ ║25 Jaws 15 12 10 8 6 ║ ║26 Police Acad 6 5 4 3 2 ║ ║27 Raiders 25 20 16 13 10 ║ ║28 ║ ║▀██▀█▄ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▀██▀▀▀█ ▀██▀▀█▄ ▀██▀▀█▄ ▄█▀█▄ ▀██▀▀█▄ ║ ║ ██ ██ ▄▄█▀ ▄▄█▀ ██▄█ ██▄▄█▀ ██▄▄█▀ ██ ██ ██▄▄█▀ ║ ║ ██ ▄█▀ ▄█▀ ▄▄ ▄▄ ██ ██ ▀ ▄ ██ ▀█▄ ██ ▀█▄ ▀█▄ ▄█▀ ██ ▀█▄ ║ ║▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀ ║ ║ ▀██▀ ▀██ ▀▀ ▀██ ║ ║ ██ ██▀▀█▄ ██ ██ ▀▀▀█▄ ██ ▀██ ▄▄▄██ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▄█▀▀█▄ ║ ║ ██ ██ ██ ▀█▄▄█▀ ▄█▀▀██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ▄▄ ██▀▀▀▀ ║ ║ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ║ ║ ▀██ ▀██ ║ ║ ██ ██ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▀█▄█▀█▄ ▀█▄█▀█▄ ▀▀▀█▄ ██▀▀█▄ ▄█▀▀▄█▀ ║ ║ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ▀▀ ██ ▀▀ ▄█▀▀██ ██ ██ ▀█▄▄██ ║ ║ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▄▄▄▄█▀ ║ ║Invalid cell or range address ║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ Now you might want to adjust the FACTOR. Use the F5 key to tell 1-2-3 to GO TO a new cell, but spell FACTOR wrong, causing a 1-2-3 error. BIG uses both lines 2 and 3 to display as much of the error message as will fit. Example: ERROR 2 ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║D23: (F0) +C23*0.8 ERROR║ ║Enter address to go to: facrot ║ ║ ║ ║ A B C D E F G H ║ ║21 Sequel Video Rentals ║ ║22 1 2 3 4 5 ║ ║23 Rocky 10 8 6 5 4 ║ ║24 Halloween 12 10 8 6 5 ║ ║25 Jaws 15 12 10 8 6 ║ ║26 Police Acad 6 5 4 3 2 ║ ║27 Raiders 25 20 16 13 10 ║ ║28 ║ ║▀██▀█▄ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▀██▀▀▀█ ▀██▀▀█▄ ▀██▀▀█▄ ▄█▀█▄ ▀██▀▀█▄ ║ ║ ██ ██ ▄▄█▀ ▄▄█▀ ██▄█ ██▄▄█▀ ██▄▄█▀ ██ ██ ██▄▄█▀ ║ ║ ██ ▄█▀ ▄█▀ ▄▄ ▄▄ ██ ██ ▀ ▄ ██ ▀█▄ ██ ▀█▄ ▀█▄ ▄█▀ ██ ▀█▄ ║ ║▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀ ║ ║ ▀██ ▀██ ║ ║ ██ ██ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▀█▄█▀█▄ ▀█▄█▀█▄ ▀▀▀█▄ ██▀▀█▄ ▄█▀▀▄█▀ ║ ║ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ▀▀ ██ ▀▀ ▄█▀▀██ ██ ██ ▀█▄▄██ ║ ║ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▄▄▄▄█▀ ║ ║ ▀██ ▀██ ║ ║▄█▀▀█▄ ▀▀▀█▄ ▄▄▄██ ▄▄▄██ ▀█▄█▀█▄ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▄█▀▀▀▀ ▄█▀▀▀▀ ║ ║██▀▀▀▀ ▄█▀▀██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ▀▀ ██▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀█▄ ▀▀▀█▄ ║ ║ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀ ║ ║Invalid cell or range address ║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ You can see the rest of the error message by pressing the Ctrl-R key. This causes BIG to shift the display to the Right. Example: The Bottom Line ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║A2: +A1 READY║ ║ ║ ║ ║ ║ A B C D E F G H ║ ║1 0 ║ ║2 0 ║ ║3 ║ ║4 ║ ║5 ║ ║6 ║ ║7 ║ ║8 ║ ║ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▀██▀ ▀██▀▀█▄ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▄██▄ ▀██▀ ▄█▀▀█▄ ║ ║██ ██ ██▄▄█▀ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ║ ║▀█▄ ▄▄ ██ ██ ▀█▄ ▀█▄ ▄▄ ▀█▄ ▄▄ ██▀▀██ ██ ▄█ ▀█▄ ▄▄ ║ ║ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ║ ║ ▄█▀█▄ ██ ██ ▀██▀▀█▄ ██▄ ██ ██ ██ ██▄ ▄██ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▄██▄ ║ ║██ ██ ██ ██ ██▄▄█▀ ██▀█▄██ ██ ██ ███████ ██ ██ ██ ║ ║▀█▄ ▄█▀ ▀█▄▄█▀ ██ ▀█▄ ██ ▀██ ██ ██ ██ ▀ ██ ▀█▄ ▄▄ ██▀▀██ ║ ║ ▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ║ ║▀██▀▀█▄ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▀██▀▀█▄ ▄█▀█▄ ▀██▀ ▀██▀ ║ ║ ██▄▄█▀ ▀██▄ ▀██▄ ██ ██▄▄█▀ ██ ██ ██ ██ ║ ║ ██ ▄▄ ▀██ ▄▄ ▀██ ▀█▄ ▄▄ ██ ▀█▄ ▀█▄ ▄█▀ ██ ▄█ ██ ▄█ ║ ║▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ║ ║31-Jan-90 10:09 AM CIRC CALC OVR NUM CAPS SCROLL END║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ 1-2-3 Status messages are displayed on the bottom line. These include UNDO, CAPS, CIRC, etc. If you want BIG to display these at any time, just press the Ctrl-B keys. The status messages will be enlarged. If they don't all fit on one screen, you can use the Ctrl-R keys to scroll the status display to the right. Customization Options Changing BIG's Font BIG uses text mode for enlargement, so it will function on any video hardware, including CGA, Hercules, and even the original monochrome. BIG contains a pattern for all 256 possible characters, called a font. The pattern for each character consists of an eight by eight square. The individual cells or pixels of the square are turned on or off so the resulting picture looks like the original character. For example, the entry for the letter 'A' looks like this: ..XX.... .XXXX... XX..XX.. XX..XX.. XXXXXX.. XX..XX.. XX..XX.. ........ where the dots are 0's and the X's are 1's. The inter-character spacing done in BIG is provided for in the font itself. Thus, the A has an empty row along the bottom and two empty columns along the right hand side. An 8x8 font is a bit too small to produce fine looking characters, but it is large enough to provide some options. If you find it difficult to distinguish between an upper case M and an upper case W, you might choose to modify the letters to exaggerate the differences. These letters don't have to look good to anyone but you. For example, here are three versions of the letter A. ..██.... ..██.... ..██.... .█..█... .████... .████... █....█.. ██..██.. ██████.. █....█.. ██..██.. ██████.. ██████.. ██████.. ██████.. █....█.. ██..██.. ██..██.. █....█.. ██..██.. ██..██.. ........ ........ ........ Thin Thick Solid A simple font editor, called B-Font, is provided with BIG. You can use it to modify the font BIG uses. You can also import other fonts of a suitable size and format. For example, you can use any font with the .F8 extension from Personic's UltraVision package. This is all described in a separate section on B-Font. Designing fonts is an art requiring much skill and a more complex program than B-Font. But if you don't know art, but know what you like, B-Font will work fine for you. To get you started, BIG comes with two fonts, one called FONT.8, and the other called THIN.8. An example of these fonts is shown on the next page. (The thin font looks better on the screen than it does in print.) Example: Thick and Thin ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║A1: LABEL║ ║Thick font example! ║ ║ ║ ║ A B C D E F G H ║ ║1 ║ ║2 ║ ║3 ║ ║4 ║ ║5 ║ ║6 ║ ║7 ║ ║8 ║ ║ ▄██▄ ▄██ ▀██▀ ▄██▄ ▀██▀▀█▄ ▀██▀▀▀█ ▀██▀ ║ ║██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██▄▄█▀ ██▄█ ██ ║ ║██▀▀██ ██ ██ ▄█ ██▀▀██ ██ ██ ██ ▀ ▄ ██ ▄█ ║ ║▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ║ ║█▀██▀█ ▀██ ▀▀ ▀██ ▄█▀█▄ ▄█ ║ ║ ██ ██▄▀█▄ ▀██ ▄█▀▀█▄ ██ ▄█▀ ▄██▄ ▄█▀▀█▄ ██▀▀█▄ ▀██▀▀ ║ ║ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ▄▄ ██▀█▄ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ██ ▄ ║ ║ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ║ ║ ▀██ ▄██▄ ████████║ ║ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▀█▄ ▄█▀ ▀▀▀█▄ ██▄▄██▄ ▀█▄▀▀█▄ ██ ▄█▀▀█▄ ▀██▀ ████████║ ║ ██▀▀▀▀ ▄█▀█▄ ▄█▀▀██ ██▀█▀██ ██▄▄█▀ ██ ██▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ████████║ ║ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▀▀ ▄██▄ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀ ████████║ ║31-Jan-90 10:08 AM ║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ ╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗ ║A1: 'Thin font EDIT║ ║'Thin font example! ║ ║ ║ ║ A B C D E F G H ║ ║1 Thin font ║ ║2 ║ ║3 ║ ║4 ║ ║5 ║ ║6 ║ ║7 ║ ║8 ║ ║ ▄▀▀▄ ▄█ ▀█▀▀▀█ ▀█▀▀▄ ▀█▀ █▀▀█▀▀█ ║ ║ █ █ █ █▄█ █ █ █ █ ║ ║ █▀▀▀▀█ █ █ ▀ ▄ █ ▄▀ █ █ ║ ║ ▀ ▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ║ ║ █ █▀▀█▀▀█ ▀█ ▀ ▄▀▀▄ ▄ ║ ║ █ █ ▄▄ ▀█ █▄▄▄ ▄█▄ ▄▀▀▀▄ █▄▄▄ ▀█▀▀ ║ ║ █ █▀ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ ▄ ║ ║ ▀▀▀ ▀▀ ▀ ▀▀▀ ▀ ▀ ▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ ║ ║ ▀█ █ ║ ║ ▄▀▀▀▄ ▀▄ ▄▀ ▀▀▀▀▄ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ ▀▄▀▀▀▄ █ ▄▀▀▀▄ █ ║ ║ █▀▀▀▀ ▄▀▄ ▄▀▀▀█ █ █ █ █▄▄▄▀ █ █▀▀▀▀ ▀ ║ ║ ▀▀▀ ▀ ▀ ▀▀▀ ▀ ▀ ▀ ▄█▄ ▀▀▀ ▀▀▀ ▀ ║ ║31-Jan-90 10:05 AM ║ ╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ Changing BIG's Colors BIG uses four colors for its displays. By default, on a color display, these are White, Red, Green, and Blue on a black background. On a monochrome display, only White on Black and Bright White on Black are used. You can override any of these color choices with a command line option. The first color, normally White on Black, is used to display a cell's entry, such as a formula or label. When you are displaying a Menu, the first color is used for the subcommand or description. The second color, normally Red on Black, is used to display the indicator and error messages. The third color, normally Green on Black, is used to show the cell name (or names in Point mode), and in Edit mode, shows where the cursor is located. The fourth color, normally Blue on Black, is used to show the highlighted command in a Menu, or text being edited. For each color you want to change, you have to name both the foreground and background color. Red letters on Black has a foreground of Red and a background of Black. The colors are all represented by a single character code. Refer to the following chart to find the code of the color you want. When used for background, the "special" codes mean the cell will blink. When used for foreground, the "special" mean a brighter or high intensity color. Color Normal Special Code Code Black 0 8 Blue 1 9 Green 2 A Cyan 3 B Red 4 C Magenta 5 D Brown 6 E White 7 F To override BIG's use of colors, you must specify whether you want to override the choice for color or monochrome displays, which of the four BIG choices you want to override, and finally, the background and foreground colors to use. For example, if you want error messages to be displayed in Red on White, you should load BIG with the following command: BIG -C274 The dash indicates an option, and the C indicates an override of a Color attribute. (You would use M to override a monochrome attribute.) The 2 means to override BIG's second color choice, the one used for error displays. The 7 means a background color of black, and the 4 means a foreground color of red. You can specify several color overrides in one command, such as: BIG -C10F -C20C -C30A -C409 Once you have settled on a choice of colors, you can put the BIG command into a BAT file so you won't have to enter it again. Running with a Colorized 1-2-3 Some packages modify 1-2-3 directly so it uses different colors for its display. In many cases, BIG will be able to recognize this automatically and function normally. However, in a few cases, BIG will not run correctly without an adjustment. When you have a menu displayed, BIG scans across the second line of the 1-2-3 display looking for the currently highlighted selection. If you have changed 1-2-3 so the menu choice is not highlighted, or shows up in a color different from Black on Cyan or Black on White, you may have to change BIG also. To do so, you enter a color change option just as described in the previous section, but use color choice 0. For example, if you have changed 1-2-3 so the menu choices are displayed in White on Red, and BIG fails to notice this change by itself, you must load BIG with the following command: BIG -C047 The C is for color displays, use M for monochrome. The 0 is for the 1-2-3 menu color, the 4 is for a Red background, and the 7 is for White foreground characters. Changing BIG's Hot Key BIG has several options which can be specified on the command line when you invoke BIG. Each option is preceded by a dash (-) and a single letter. An example is an option to redefine the control key used for the Right command, -R. An example of BIG with a new Right command is: BIG -R0413 There is no space between the option letter and the value. It does not matter whether you enter the option letter in upper or lower case. If you have to use two options, it doesn't matter in what order you enter them. For normal usage, you need not enter any options. When BIG is active, it understands a few commands, Right, Left, Down, Up, Bottom, and Snow. These commands are normally invoked with the combination of the Ctrl key and the letter R, L, D, U, B, and S. If this is not a convenient combination to use, or if it conflicts with another TSR program you are running, you can change the hot key combination with an option. Use the -R, -L, -D, -U, -B, or -S option followed by a code to show what key combination should be used for the associated command. These commands are entered on the DOS command line when you first start BIG. For example: BIG -R0413 would give you the same hot key you get by default. The first two characters after the R (in the example, 04) indicate what shift keys must be pressed for the hot key to be recognized. There are 4 shift keys: the Ctrl key, the ALT key, and the Left and Right Shift keys. In this example, the 04 means the Ctrl key. The last two characters after the R (in the example, 13) indicate what letter or number key must be pressed for the hot key. In this case, the 13 means the letter R. You can choose from any of the letter keys, number keys, or function keys. It is important that you choose a shift and key combination that does not interfere with other software that you run. For example, Lotus 1-2-3 uses the F1 key for Help. You could tell BIG to move Right whenever the F1 key was pressed, but if you did that, you would never be able to get Help from 1-2-3. In addition to any normal software you use, such as spreadsheets, databases, or word processors, you have to make sure that the BIG hot key doesn't interfere with any other TSR programs you may also be running. But BIG is only intended to be running when 1-2-3 is running. When you exit 1-2-3, you should remove BIG from memory. If you make a mistake, and BIG turns up where you don't want it, you can remove BIG from memory by running it a second time from DOS. The following is a list of Shift Key combinations you can use with these parameters: Code Shift Key Meaning 00 No shift keys needed 01 RightShift 02 LeftShift 03 RightShift +LeftShift 04 Ctrl 05 RightShift +Ctrl 06 LeftShift +Ctrl 07 RightShift +LeftShift +Ctrl 08 Alt 09 RightShift +Alt 0A LeftShift +Alt 0B RightShift +LeftShift +Alt 0C Ctrl +Alt 0D RightShift +Ctrl +Alt 0E LeftShift +Ctrl +Alt 0F RightShift +LeftShift +Ctrl +Alt The following is a list of character codes you can use with these parameters: Char Code Char Code Char Code A 1E J 24 S 1F B 30 K 25 T 14 C 2E L 26 U 16 D 20 M 32 V 2F E 12 N 31 W 11 F 21 O 18 X 2D G 22 P 19 Y 15 H 23 Q 10 Z 2C I 17 R 13 Char Code Char Code Char Code 1 02 F1 3B F11 57 2 03 F2 3C F12 58 3 04 F3 3D 4 05 F4 3E 5 06 F5 3F 6 07 F6 40 7 08 F7 41 8 09 F8 42 9 0A F9 43 0 0B F10 44 The default hot key combinations for BIG are Ctrl-L, Ctrl-R, Ctrl-D, Ctrl-U, Ctrl-B, and Ctrl-S. As an example, if you wanted to set the RIGHT command to Ctrl-R yourself, find the Ctrl line in the top table. It is opposite code 04. Then find the code for the letter R in the next table. It is code 13. Placing these two next to each other gives -R0413. If you ran BIG with this combination, you would get the default setting. The last two codes, F11 and F12, will not work on all machines. Try them out if you are interested. For example, if F11 and F12 work on your machine, you might want to use them for the Left and Right commands. The following command would do this: BIG -L0057 -R0058 You can omit the shift code, as this example shows. If you do so, however, you must pick a base character that has no meaning to 1-2-3. If, for example, you set the F1 key to mean Left, you would not be able to get Help from 1-2-3. At this time, you cannot omit the character code. So, for example, you cannot set the Left and Right commands to Ctrl Left Shift and Ctrl Right Shift. Running with 1-2-3 Version 3.0 1-2-3 version 3.0 has a number of new features which are good for spreadsheets, but bad for BIG. For example, you can display version 3.0 worksheets in three dimensions, but if you do so, there won't be room for the BIG display. You can use three dimensions, but cannot use the / <W>orksheet <W>indows <P>erspective command to view them together when BIG is running. Beyond that, on some display devices, using some drivers, Version 3.0 operates in graphics mode. Since BIG reads text from the 1-2-3 screen, BIG will not operate unless you force 1-2-3 to run in text mode. Fortunately this is possible if you arrange for it when you are installing 1-2-3. You must pick out the right set of display drivers. If you have already installed 1-2-3, you can reinstall it to change your driver selection. Three display device drivers operate in text mode. They are Monochrome, Hercules 80x25, and CGA. You MUST select one of these to run BIG. If you have a device capable of a better display, such as an EGA, you can select the EGA device driver as primary, and CGA as secondary. Then, when you want to run BIG, switch to the secondary CGA driver. When you want to run with the EGA driver, switch to the primary. This switching is easily done in Version 3.0 with the / <W>orksheet <W>indows <D>isplay command. When you use a text mode driver, you cannot use the Hot View Graph option which places a graph on half of your screen and the spreadsheet on the other half. However, with a text mode driver, functions like Print Screen will work smoothly. Having both a text mode and a graphics mode driver installed together costs a little bit of memory, but is a useful combination. Trouble-Shooting Use <W>indows <H>orizontal to restrict 1-2-3 to the top of the screen. BIG may not be useful with macros that expect a full screen display, use windows other than what you have set for BIG, or use the {INDICATOR} command With 1-2-3 Release 3.0, use a text mode driver. With Release 3.0, don't use <W>indows <P>erspective On a CGA with snow problems, pressing Ctrl-S removes some of the snow. (BIG does a lot of work in the background. Removing all the snow would interfere foreground processing.) With a colorized 1-2-3, you might have to use a color option on the BIG command line. If you have a dual monitor setup, you can run BIG with a -2 option and the BIG display will show up on whatever monitor 1-2-3 isn't using. If you have a conflict running BIG with another TSR program, try changing the order in which you load them. If you cannot resolve the problem, please send in the name of the other TSR program. There is no guarantee that the conflict will be resolved. It is easy to remove BIG from memory, just run BIG a second time. It might be possible for you to create a BAT file that removes the other TSR from memory before running BIG. Then, when you are done running 1-2-3, you can remove BIG and reinstall the other program. BIG is a TSR written according to the TesSeRact(TM) specifications. It should work on any IBM compatible PC running under DOS 2.2 or later. It will run on any monochrome or color screen when they are in text mode. BIG requires 30K of resident memory. BIG will run on screens with greater than 25 rows or 80 columns with no change. BIG will not run with DesqView or other similar products. BIG will not operate when you have a 1-2-3 graph being displayed. A Word about TesSeRact(TM) This product uses the TesSeRact(TM) Ram-Resident Library and supports the TesSeRact Standard for Ram-Resident Program Communication. For information about TesSeRact, contact the TesSeRact Development Team at: TesSeRact Development Team c/o Chip Rabinowitz 2084 Woodlawn Avenue Glenside, PA 19038 (215) 884-3373 Compuserve: 70731,20 MCIMAIL: 315-5415 This MCIMAIL Account has been provided to the TesSeRact Development Team by Borland International, Inc. The TesSeRact Development Team is in no way associated with Borland International, Inc. TesSeRact is a trademark of the TesSeRact Development Team. TesSeRact is Copyright 1988 TesSeRact Development Team, All Rights Reserved. Disk Vendors, BBS's, Users Groups Anyone following the Association of Shareware Professional guidelines may distribute this software. Specifically: Distribute all files that make up the program essentially unchanged. Charge less than $10 for distribution of the program. Be sure your customers know the program is not free but is shareware, and that payment for your distribution is not payment to the author. Forward copies of problems or complaints about this program to the author. In return, the author will make an attempt to answer such problems or complaints. Let the author know that you are distributing the program, if possible by sending the author a copy of your catalog or literature that mentions the program. In return, the author will supply you with updates or corrections to the program. Distribute the latest version of the program when it is made available to you. Other Products and Prices Prices are fixed through 12/91. After that, check. Product Price Latest Version B-Edit $39 2.0 BIG for 1-2-3 $39 1.0 BIG for WP $39 1.0 B-Pop $27 2.0 $9 discount on each of second and subsequent items in a single order. Documentation for all programs is provided in large, easy-to-read, 18-point type. In addition, all of the following large-character utility programs are included with any purchase at no extra cost: B-Type, B-Dir, and B-Print are large-character replacements for the related DOS commands. B-Print prints text files in large characters on Epson-compatible dot-matrix printers. B-Look is a text file browser. Scroll with arrow keys. B-Font and B-Apply modify the character shapes used in the above B-Ware products. Registration contact: Hexagon Products Bill Arendt P.O. Box 1295 (708) 692-3355 Park Ridge, IL 60068-1295 BIG 1.0 Registration Form Please complete the following registration form and send it to: Hexagon Products P.O. Box 1295 Park Ridge, IL 60068-1295 (708) 692-3355 Name: _________________________________________________________________________ Company: ______________________________________________________________________ Address: ______________________________________________________________________ City: ___________________________ State: ______________________________________ Zip: _____________ Phone: _____________________________________________________ Optional information: Using on: Laptop Desktop Display: VGA EGA CGA Herc Mono Dual Oper.Sys: DOS OS/2 Preferred Input Device: Mouse Keyboard What programs other than 1-2-3 are you interested in? _________________________ Suggestions for improving BIG? _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________ Where did you find BIG? ______________________________________________________ If you have speech synthesis hardware, what kind? _____________________________