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1994-05-02
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DBLCAP v1.0 ∙ CapsLock Fixer
Copyright (c) 1993 by Dale Nurden
______________________________________________________________________________
Ever noticed how often you've pressed the CapsLock key by mistake whilst
typing, only to notice it half a sentence later? Well DBLCAP prevents
this problem by making you press CapsLock TWICE if you really mean it,
and ignoring you if you only press it once.
DBLCAP is a small TSR (Terminate and Stay Resident) program that makes
the CapsLock key much less infuriating than it usually is. To use DBLCAP,
you simply need to run the program DBLCAP.COM and it will load itself
into memory. DBLCAP will work quite happily when loaded into high memory
as well, and since it only uses 384 bytes of memory, it can easily fit
into most small memory gaps that would otherwise have been left vacant.
An additional feature of DBLCAP is that it includes a hotkey activated
method of clearing the keyboard buffer. You know how sometimes you type
some commands in advance, and just after you've finished you change your
mind? Well now you can simply press Ctrl-Alt-Backspace to instantly
clear the entire keyboard buffer, effectively cancelling anything you
have typed ahead.
DBLCAP is released as FREEWARE, with complete Assembly source. Please
read the conditions of distribution, below.
______________________________________________________________________________
OK, SO WHAT DOES IT DO?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once DBLCAP has been installed, it will watch the keyboard for when you
press the CapsLock key. If you only press it once, then everything will
carry on as if you had not pressed it at all, but if you press it a
second time, within a certain time, DBLCAP will pass a single keypress on
to the rest of the system.
What this means in simple terms is that if you only press CapsLock once,
DBLCAP will assume you did so by mistake and ignore it. If you really
mean to press it, then you must press it twice (and fairly quickly).
DBLCAP comes with the maximum time set to 0.3 seconds. If CapsLock is
pressed twice within 0.3s of each other, the computer will think you
pressed it once. If the time between two presses of the CapsLock key is
greater than 0.3s, NEITHER press will be noticed by the computer.
You can change that maximum time by fiddling with the source and then
re-assembling it. To change the time, you must change the values of the
two macros TIMEHI and TIMELO. These two represent the maximum number of
microseconds allowed between presses of CapsLock for it to be noticed,
so to figure out what values they should have, you need to do this:
( If TIME = number of microseconds you require, then )
TIMELO = TIME % 65536 (modulas - I'm a C programmer!)
TIMEHI = TIME / 65536 (integer division)
Or you can do like I did and use a calculator with DEC-HEX conversion,
then:
TIMELO = righthand 4 hex digits
TIMEHI = next 4 hex digits
The CTRL-ALT-BACKSPACE hotkey activates the keyboard buffer clearing
feature. As soon as you press this, DBLCAP removes all keys already in
the buffer waiting to be serviced. An example of where this is useful is
when you start a program and then press some silly key by mistake while
it is still loading. You can remove that keypress simply by hitting the
hotkey, and all will be forgotten.
You can change the hotkey if you like, once again by fiddling with the
source code and re-assembling it. The macro BACKSPACEmake is the
keyboard makecode for the Backspace key, and the macro BACKSPACEmask is
the shift mask which defines the "Ctrl-Alt-" part of the hotkey. These
are the two things you will need to change, but you'll have to figure
out what changes must be made yourself. Don't change anything else
around there in the source, otherwise you may find that the CapsLock
function no longer works properly.
______________________________________________________________________________
CONDITIONS OF USE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I have included the Assembly source to DBLCAP in this package for people
who are interested. The source is released as is, and I make no guarantees
about its reliability, assemble-ility, or anything else. You may use
portions of it in your own shareware/freeware products, but please tell
me about it, just so I know my work is useful to someone else. I don't
want anything in return, except maybe a small note of credit in your
product. Obviously you may also make changes to the source, but if you do
(major changes, that is) then please let me know and send me a copy of
them (if possible). Only because I'm curious, that's all.
In addition to the above paragraph: DBLCAP is released as freeware,
which means I don't want anything in return for its use. You could send
me a postcard if you like, mentioning what you like/dislike about it and
suggestions if you have any. The address appears at the end of this
document.
WARNING! You use this program at your own risk. I didn't have any
trouble with it on my system, but that doesn't mean that your particular
machine configuration won't disagree with it somehow. I will not accept
any responsibility whatsoever for loss of, or damage to, your data or
system.
______________________________________________________________________________
PROGRAM INFORMATION AND REQUIREMENTS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Assembler: Turbo Assembler v3.1 [TASM DBLCAP.ASM /ML /ZN]
Linker: Turbo Linker v3.01 [TLINK DBLCAP.OBJ /T]
OS: MS-DOS 5 (will probably work with MS-DOS 3.x and up)
Memory: 384 bytes when resident, a little more than that to install,
loaded conventionally or high
Processor: 8086 and up
HISTORY
~~~~~~~
1.0 23/01/94 Updated algorithm to prevent CapsLock from triggering
if the CapsLock key is held down.
Added hotkey to clear the keyboard buffer.
Adjusted to run on an 8086 processor (previous version
was limited to minimum 80286).
0.0 17/06/93 Original release. Worked more or less like it was
supposed to.
______________________________________________________________________________
CONTACTING THE AUTHOR
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The address to send postcards to, or for any other snailmail
communications, is:
Dale Nurden
14 Willow Crescent
Pinetown
3610
South Africa
Or you can contact me at:
Email: dale.nurden@datavert.co.za
The Igloo BBS: International: (+2731) 7643377
Local: (031) 7643377
Leave mail for "Dale Nurden"
Connectix BBS: International: (+2731) 2669992
Local: (031) 2669992
Leave Email or a telegram for "TECH" (that's me!)
______________________________________________________________________________