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TAKE.TXT
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1988-05-28
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Documentation File Take.txt (revised 5/15/88)
>>> Take.Com <<<
- a memory resident screen line grabber for IBM PC work-alikes
(optimized for use with terminal emulation programs)
by Mark C. Smith version 88.5 (test version)
Introduction
There are many of us who spend a good portion of our PC time
interacting with a remote computing network using some kind
of terminal emulator software. Unfortunately, the terminal
emulators I use do not typically have a facility for the
re-entering lines that are still on the screen or in the
conversation buffer. The program Take was designed to provide
line re-entry with nearly any terminal program (Take is being
tested with Window - University of Michigan, Procomm 2.4.2, and
Kermit 2.29b).
Take is memory-resident and provides some interesting features:
- Editing of a potential re-entry line right on the screen in
the place the line appears (complete set of editing functions)
- Active indication of position and insert status using a normal
cursor. Insert on is indicated by a full height (block-style)
cursor.
- The ability to suspend itself to pass a keystroke pressed
when Take is "popped up" that Take does not recognize. This
allows scrolling of the communication program's text buffer
without turning Take off and back on again (by passing
Page Up and Page Down to the program, for example). This is
probably Take's most unique and difficult feature that Take
implements on top of multiple programs using memory resident
techniques.
- Transparency to the underlying program. Edited lines are
restored on screen, and cursor state is restored as well as
is possible.
- Facilities to turn off a resident version of Take and to
re-start a version turned off (but only one copy of Take
can be in memory, even if another is turned off).
- Tight code and fast operation. Take is written entirely in 8086
assembler, and screen read and writes are directly to video memory.
- User configuration option for all keys used by Take and for some
additional options. This will minimize interference with other
resident programs.
How To Get Take Up And Running
Take requires an IBM compatible machine, and should run
on any PC,XT,or ATs that have a CGA,MDA,EGA,or VGA display
adapter. Take does directly access the video display
memory, so this may cause problems in some clones (not
likely though). It should run under DOS version 2 or
greater. The resident portion of Take steals less
then 1900 bytes of memory (about half the code for Take
is for configuration modification/display and installation).
Take is bundled in the .arc format, which means that it
must be unArced to be useful. If you are reading this
documentation (take.txt) you must have already accomplished
the use of one of the arc programs to extract the files.
The files contained in the take.arc file are:
take.txt - this brief documentation you're reading now
take.com - a version of take configured "generically"
(no prefix or suffixes; CGA Snow=Yes)
take_p.com - a version of take configured for Procomm.
(prefix=ALT-F6,suffix=ESC,CGA Snow=No)
take_w.com - a version of take configured for Window
(communication program of the University
of Michigan. prefix=suffix=none,CGA Snow=No)
take_k.com - a version of take configured for Kermit.
(prefix=none,suffix=END,CGA Snow=No)
Note than all the _? files were made just by running take.com with
the configure option. They are provided as a convenience and as
examples of use of the prefix and suffix sequences.
The only file you need is one of the .com files. I suggest copying
one of the _p,_w,_k files to take.com if you only need one of them.
The syntax for invoking Take is:
take -{option}
or take /{option} where {option} is one of BCDIOR (bcdior)
Action Syntax Effect
------ ------ ------
install take -i Take is installed (memory resident) if it
is not already installed. Header and
author contact information is displayed.
brief install take -b Same as i(nstall), except most messages
are suppressed.
display config. take -d Displays the current configuration of Take.
This mostly consists of key definitions.
configure take -c Invokes the interactive configuration
process to set keys and more.
turn off take -o The version of Take resident in memory
is disabled (effectively off).
restart (turn on) take -r The version of Take resident in memory
is re-enabled.
usage info. take (No option specified). A usage message is
displayed. If not installed in memory
yet, you will be asked if you want to
install Take.
Using Take
Upon installation, Take becomes memory resident and checks in
the background for the hotkey to be pressed (the default is
ALT-F9). Typically, you will want to install Take (run with
-i or -b option) and then run your favorite terminal emulation
program. Any time you wish to use Take to re-enter a line that
is on the screen or in the conversation buffer, press the hotkey.
As long as the video is not in a graphics mode, Take will pop up.
(Note that Take cannot and will never pop up in a graphics mode).
Take will first send a prefix keystroke sequence to the program
currently running before popping up. This prefix feature is for
programs such as Procomm that require some keystroke(s) to invoke
conversation buffer scroll-back mode. (In Procomm, the prefix
is a single key: ALT-F6). The prefix can be nothing (as for
Kermit). Then Take will place the cursor at the beginning of
the line above the one it was last on and wait for keystrokes.
There are several general types of keys that Take handles in
different ways:
Cancel Key (configurable, default is ESC) - Take will pass a
suffix keystroke sequence to the program running
underneath and then return control to that program.
The suffix sequence is used to restore the program
to its previous state. (In Procomm, ESCAPE is used
to drop out of scroll-back mode; in Kermit an END
is used to return to the end of the conversation
buffer).
Grab Key (configurable, default is RETURN) - Take will pass
the suffix keystroke sequence (see above), and then
all of the text from the left of the line the cursor
is on to the last non-blank character in the line.
Presently, no trailing Return is sent at the end
of the line. This option may be added in the
future.
Editing Keys (configurable) - Take will perform an editing
action on the cursor line. Possible actions and
defaults:
Default Key Action
----------- ------
HOME Move cursor to beginning of line
END Move cursor to end of line