The Business Master (3rd Edition)

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Text File | 1993-02-28 | 17.7 KB | 578 lines

█▀▀▀█ █▄▄▄█ ▄ ▄ █ █▀▀█ ▀▀█▀▀ █▄▄█ █ █▀▀█ █ █ █ █▀▀█▀▀█ █ █ █ █▀▀█ █▀▀▀ ▀▀█▀▀ █▀▀▀ █▀▀█ █ █ █ █▀▀█ ▀▀▀█ █ █▀▀▀ █▀█▀ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄█ ▀ ▀▀▀▀ ▀ ▀▀▀▀ ══╗ ╔═╗ ╔══╝ ╔╩═╣ ╚════ ╚══╝ *-* The Ultimate Path Utility *-* David Smith, 1993 ------- WHAT'S NEW 2.8 ----------------------------------------------- EXTREMELY Fast execution. ADVANCED information on the Path ( /INFO ) Graph and statistical data on the current environment, including how much is used, free, and a bar graph displaying this info. ( /SIZE ) ENVIRONMENTAL preferences: *-----------------------------------REGISTERED VERSION ONLY------* | | | TURBO *Extremely* fast operation | | REPL Replace one dir with another | | CONFIG Modify CONFIG.SYS for environment stretching | | NFILE No configuration file in root directory | | BOTH Set both the Master and Active Environments | | DESIGN3 Show Design #3 as Window Background | | DESIGN4 Show Design #4 as Window Background | | DESIGN5 Show Design #5 as Window Background | | | *----------------------------------------------------------------* ACTIVE Use Active Environment MONO Use Monochrome Screen Writes SHOPATH Show New Path on Exit SHOSTAT Show Statistics on Exit CLRSCR Clear Screen After Exit DESIGN1 Show Design #1 as Window Background DESIGN2 Show Design #2 as Window Background SOUND Enable Sounds NEXIST Don't Check Dir Before Adding NCHECK Don't Check for Dir Before Deleting NMOUSE Disable Mouse Add Directory to end or beginning of Path. Delete directory with window. Authenticity check of directory before delete or add. Put path in active vs. master environment. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- WHAT IS PATH MASTER ? Changing your path is a pain. Mainly because you must type the ENTIRE thing in from scratch, or make 20 different batch files that change your path that clutter up your hard drive. PATH MASTER solves this by allowing you to: 1) Choose your path from a menu. 2) Totally configure your menu, and change a path quickly and easily. 3) Add or delete a directory from the path. 4) Change your path on the command line. 5) Use your mouse to control PATHMASTER 6) Learn about the PATH, how it works, and how to both expand and locate it. 7) Showing you exactly how much environment you have left, and how much has been used. 8) Allow setting preferences in environmental variable. ==== HOW TO OPERATE PATH MASTER =============================================== To begin, you must configure your favorite paths into the configuration file that will be stored in your root directory. Type: PM /E {edit the configurations} You have 20 blanks that you may enter paths into. To move around, press [ENTER] after typing a path, or use the arrow keys. Regular editing keys are valid in EDIT mode: HOME, END, INSERT, DELETE, PgUp, PgDn, ENTER, BACKSPACE Examples of a valid paths: C:\DOS;C:\UTILS;C:\TURBO\BIN\INCLUDE C:\UTILS A:\DOS;C:\PCPLUS;C:\WP51 D:\STACKER;C:\DOS (Notice that a valid path consists of NO SPACES, a semicolon between the directories, and does NOT include the "PATH=" statement.) Fill it up with up to 20 configurations, then press [F10] to save and quit. Press [F1] for a help screen. If you are using a MOUSE, ensure your mouse driver is installed, and move your mouse up and down to choose from the menu or move around the configuration editor. Press the LEFT button to select an item, or press the RIGHT button to escape PathMaster. ==== USING THE MENU INTERFACE ================================================= Once you're configured, just type: PM to pull up the menu. Use UP/DOWN arrows, PgUp, PgDn, Home, End to move around, then press [ENTER] to choose a new path. Press [F1] for a help screen. ==== USING OTHER OPTIONS ====================================================== On the command line, if you want to remove a directory from your path, type: PM /DEL If you want to add a directory to the END of your current path, type: PM /AE If you want to add a directory to the BEGINNING of your current path, type: PM /AB For a listing of the current path, type: PM /S To place the path in the Active Environment, instead of the Master Environment, type: PM /ACT To create a totally new path, type: PM [path] Press [F1] for a help screen. To see advanced information on the PATH, how it works, how to alter and expand it, etc. use the /INFO switch. This pulls up 15 pages of graphical information. Use up/down arrows or PageUp/PageDown keys to move around the info. When you are done reading, press [ESC] to exit. To see the current environment, how much you have used, how much free, and a bar graph showing this information, use the /SIZE switch. A box will appear containing this stuff, along with the HEX address of the start of your current environment. ==== WHAT IS A "PATH" ? ======================================================= A path is a list of directories that DOS uses to search for files that are not in the current directory. For example, if I am in the C:\DOS directory, and want to use PKZIP.EXE to compress a couple of files, then PKZIP.EXE would have to be in the current directory. BUT, if I have PKZIP.EXE in my C:\UTILS directory, then I can just type: PATH=C:\UTILS and dos will look in that directory in addition to the current one to find PKZIP.EXE. NOTE: Data files are not included in the search. DOS only searches for executable files (with extension .EXE or .COM). If that executable file needs a data file somewhere other than the current directory, it will NOT FIND IT, because DOS tricks the executable file into thinking it is in your current directory. So Why Not Just Include ALL My Directories In My Path ???? Because DOS looks through all the directories in your path to find a file, it can eat up your hard disk and take forever to run a program. Including all your regular utilities into one MAIN directory reduces the time DOS takes to find files, and saves your hard disk from unnecessary use. == WHY DO I NEED MORE THAN ONE PATH ??? ======================================= When I compile programs, I need my path to include my Turbo C++ directory, and my Turbo Assembler directory, and also my Utilities dir. So when programming, I use: PATH=C:\TURBO\BIN;C:\UTILS;C:\DOS;C:\TASM When I use Turbo Pascal, I need the Toolbox directory, the Turbo Pascal directory, and of course my utils: PATH=C:\UTILS;C:\DOS;C:\TP\TOOLBOX;C:\TP But when downloading a file from the local BBS, I need my Procomm Plus directory, my B: drive (my SCAN program is there), and my downloading directory. PATH=C:\DOS;C:\;B:\;D:\PCPLUS;C:\DOWNLOAD Do you see the conflict ? Without Path Master, I was using 12 batch files to do all the work. ==== WHAT IS THE "ACTIVE" AND "MASTER" ENVIRONMENTS ? ========================= When you first turn on your computer, a line is usually included in your CONFIG.SYS that says: SHELL=C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM /P or COMSPEC=C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM This tells DOS that COMMAND.COM will be used as your command processor. So now, when you type: DIR, the directory command is extracted from COMMAND.COM and run. COMMAND.COM contains a space in itself for the Environment. These are variables set by you to determine your preferences. The Environment holds things like: ■ Your Path ■ Your Prompt ■ Preferences for other programs (like Norton Backup) You set these things by typing: SET [variable]=[your preference] on the command line. The MASTER Environment is the COMMAND.COM space that is run when you first boot up. Sometimes in your PC dealings, you may want to shell out of a program (like Windows). When you do this, you call COMMAND.COM again, and set up a new Environment. This is the ACTIVE environment. When you shell out, COMMAND.COM copies its environmental space into the new COMMAND.COM space. However, if you change a setting (like your Path), the change is only temporary. Because after you exit back into the program your were originally in (Windows), by typing: EXIT, the temporary settings are lost, and the old Environmental space is used again. Try this experiment: 1 Type: SET PATH=C:\DOS;C:\MASTERPATH (be sure to include the DOS directory) You have changed your path to a new one, that includes our key-word MASTERPATH. This will soon dissapear. 2 COMMAND.COM (this won't work unless you include the directory that COMMAND.COM is in on line 1) A new environment has been started. It is a copy of the Master environment, but overlaps the Master one. So that any changes made to your new environment are only temporary. 3 SET Note the PATH= statement at the bottom. 4 SET PATH=ACTIVE_PATH We changed the Path to Active_Path. But this change lasts only as long as our new COMMAND.COM is active. 5 SET See our new Path at the bottom? It is now "ACTIVE_PATH". 6 EXIT We now exited our new COMMAND.COM, and have returned to the Master Environment. All the changes to our Active Environment have dissapeared. 7 SET See our Path? It's now back to the original one we typed at the beginning. We have returned to the Master Environment. ====== COMPARISON TO OTHER UTILITIES ========================================== Compared to other path utils, Path Master blows them away! Nothing else loads you up with options like these. Graphical interface, advanced information, totally re-configure a path, choose from 20 configurations and so much more. I looked on 27 BBS' including CompuServe, 14 ShareWare CD Roms and asked around, and only found 3 utils that come close (I had to eliminate the ones that just added and deleted directories): PathTool New World Designs PathUtil ?? PathEditor Ray Dittmeier SetPath Donald E. Ekman Here is a comparison of features: ┌ PATHMASTER │ ┌ PathTool │ │ ┌ PathEditor │ │ │ ┌ SetPath │ │ │ │ ┌─────────────────┬───┬───┬───┬───┐ │Graphical menu │ X │ │ │ │ ├─────────────────┼───┼───┼───┼───┤ │Multiple configs │ X │ │ │ │ ├─────────────────┼───┼───┼───┼───┤ │Both Active and │ X │ X │ │ X │ │Master environ. │ │ │ │ │ ├─────────────────┼───┼───┼───┼───┤ │Mouse support │ X │ │ │ │ ├─────────────────┼───┼───┼───┼───┤ │Add path │ X │ X │ X │ X │ ├─────────────────┼───┼───┼───┼───┤ │Delete path │ X │ X │ X │ X │ ├─────────────────┼───┼───┼───┼───┤ │Add to end/begin │ X │ X │ │ X │ ├─────────────────┼───┼───┼───┼───┤ │Sound effects │ X │ │ │ │ ├─────────────────┼───┼───┼───┼───┤ │Modify config.sys│ X │ │ │ │ ├─────────────────┼───┼───┼───┼───┤ │Stretch environ │ X │ X │ │ │ │if needed │ │ │ │ │ ├─────────────────┼───┼───┼───┼───┤ │Run-time advanced│ X │ │ │ │ │path info. │ │ │ │ │ └─────────────────┴───┴───┴───┴───┘ ===== REGISTRATION ============================================================ There are two registration options: 1) $10.00 registers Path Master, gets you the *special* version including lots of options not available otherwise. This allows unlimited upgrades to Path Master, and free technical support by mail or by CompuServe. 2) $20.00 gets you the Dave Utils disk. See the enclosed CATALOG.EXE file for details. This also gets you the updated PathMaster, unlimited upgrades and technical support as described above. You also get over 30 more utils, and unlimited upgrades on those also, new information about other stuff I create, etc. = EXAMPLES ==================================================================== PM /E Edits the current configuration file. PM /AE Pulls up a window and prompts you to add a directory to the current path. It will be added to the END of the path. PM /AB Pulls up a window and prompts you to add a directory to the current path. It will be added to the BEGINNING of the path. PM /DEL Pulls up a window and prompts you to delete a directory in the current path. PM C:\DOS;A:\TP\TOOLBOX Creates a new path that consists of c:\dos and a:\tp\toolbox directories. PM /? Shows the help screen. PM /S Displays current path on the screen. PM /INFO Shows fifteen pages of useful information concerning the Path and advanced items that allow you to expand your environment and better understand how your computer works. PM /SIZE Displays a bar graph of how much space you have used in your environment, the hex address of the current environment's beginnings, and other useful stuff. PM /ACT Pulls up the path menu as usual, but adds the selected path to the Active Environment (see above details about Active and Master Environments). To use the environmental variable PM, use the following format: SET PM= [your preference] You can put this line in your AUTOEXEC.BAT, or create a batch file called P.BAT that contains the following lines: SET PM= [your preference] PM.EXE That way, whenever you start PathMaster, your preferences will already be set. USAGE: SET PM=[preference],[preference],[preference], ... EXAMPLES: SET PM=MONO,SOUND,DESIGN1 Sets monochrome ability, enables sound and uses Design1 as your background for window operation. SET PM=SOUND,ACTIVE,NMOUSE,SHOPATH Enables sound, writes new path into Active Environment, disables mouse, and shows new path on exit. ===== TECHNICAL NOTES ========================================================= Path Master works by scanning the PSP of COMMAND.COM, locating the environment segment, then altering it. The Active environment is affected by stuffing the keyboard buffer with a batch file that changes the environment. I have tried this technique (with success) on 9 different machines, all of which worked fine. There may, however, be bugs when running with some systems. If you find a bug, or lock up this program, please report it to me by: COMPUSERVE 71441,2723 or by Mail: David Smith 1104 Mason Dr. Hurst TX 76053 If you find a verifiable bug, please report it so that I can fix it. A GREAT DEAL ! See the included CATALOG.EXE to order Dave's Disk full of Utilities. For only $20.00, it's a definite bargain !