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1987-10-30
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TOAD HALL
7573 Jennings Lane
Fayetteville NC 28303
(919) 868-3471
31 October 1987
TOADMENU DOS SHELL
Copyright (C) 1987 David P Kirschbaum
All Rights Reserved
TOADMENU is a version of a DOS shell. It displays two menus, with
various menu selection options. Menu selections are programs or DOS
commands that will be executed from TOADMENU. When that selected program or
command is completed, you will return to TOADMENU.
Move the cursor to any desired menu entry with the Up Arrow or Down
Arrow keys. Move to the top or bottom of the menu with the Home or End
keys.
Toggle between the two menu screens by pressing the space bar or the
Page Up or Page Down keys.
Choose a selection by:
Function key (F1 through F10)
Cursor movement to the desired entry (and hit RETURN)
Key character (enter the illuminated character)
Certain selections permit you to enter a "Command Parameter". The
Command Parameter is any text or commands you wish to pass to the program
that will execute. Example:
One selection is the DOS DIR command.
If you enter no Command Parameter (just hit RETURN), you will get
the normal DIR response (all the file names, sizes, dates, etc.,
scrolling down the screen).
If you enter the Command Parameter "/w" (without the quotation
marks), TOADMENU will pass the "/w" to DOS. The entire command
will then be "DIR /w", and you'll see the DOS "wide" display (file
names only, across the screen).
If you enter the Command Parameter "*.DOC", DOS will only do a
DIRectory of .DOC type files.
LIST (Buerg's famous file display program) will accept a file
name at the command line. (If you enter no file name, LIST will
prompt you for one.) You can pass the name of the file you wish
to display by entering the name (wild cards permitted for LIST) at
the Command Parameter prompt.
TOADRPT permits redirection of its report or form letter
output. Certain menu selections have already forced redirection
(with a ">PRN:", for example). This redirection cannot be
changed, so you will NOT get the Command Parameter option. Any
OTHER selection (without the ">PRN:") can be redirected if you use
the Command Parameter. Example: ">MYREPORT.NOV" redirects
TOADRPT output to the file MYREPORT.NOV.
One menu selection is "Change drive\subdir." You can move to any drive
or subdirectory in your system by entering the desired path. (Read your DOS
manual to learn more about paths.) This selection (and others) uses the
public domain utility CDD.COM.
Another menu selection is "Push to DOS." This permits you to
temporarily return to DOS and execute any program or command. TOADMENU
remains in memory, awaiting your return. You can return to TOADMENU by
entering "EXIT" at the DOS command line.
TOADMENU remembers the original drive and subdirectory where it was
first called up, and will return you to that drive and subdirectory when you
exit TOADMENU.
TOADMENU requires its command file, TOADMENU.DAT (a simple text file),
in the current drive and directory, or in DOS's PATH. (Read your DOS manual
about the use of the PATH command, or use the public domain utility
SEARCH.COM to establish system paths.)
TOADMENU.DAT provides TOADMENU with the menu selections and their
associated key characters, DOS commands, and text. You can edit
TOADMENU.DAT with any text editor (e.g., WordStar in the nondocument mode).
However, do NOT make any changes without thoroughly understanding the rules.
They are briefly explained in comments at the beginning of TOADMENU.DAT
TOADMENU has been compiled to use the minimum necessary memory. It
will, however, use memory space when executing other programs. If your
system is limited in memory or you've eaten up huge amounts with other
resident programs or RAM drives, you may see a DOS error reported relating
to insufficient memory when you attempt to execute large programs.
As an example, my system has 640Kb RAM, PC-DOS 3.1, and a 360Kb RAM disk
installed. I first ran MEMSIZ.COM (a public domain utility) before running
TOADMENU to obtain the available free memory. I then started TOADMENU and
selected "Push to DOS" to return to DOS. At this point both TOADMENU and
DOS's COMMAND.COM are now in residence. You can see the reduction in
available memory for any program I'd wish to run.
Available memory = 232144 bytes before TOADMENU
Available memory = 199088 bytes TOADMENU's Push to DOS
TOADMENU was written in Turbo Pascal v3.0, and should run on any PC-
compatible system (DOS 2.1 or higher). I acknowledge contributions from
several other programmers in the source code. I maintain the copyright and
all commercial rights to TOADMENU. The program and source code, however,
may be freely distributed, copied, and used for any purpose so long as the
following conditions are met:
Author's name and copyright are not removed from the program or
source code.
The program name is not significantly changed from TOADMENU.
(Version numbers, if patched, may be indicated by replacing the
last character with the version number (TOADMEN1, TOADMEN2, etc.).
All credits remain in the source code.
Distribution or copying fees do not exceed $6.00.
The source code, sample TOADMENU.DAT, and documentation must be
distributed with the executable program.
Disclaimer: The author accepts no responsibility for the functioning
of TOADMENU, or for any losses or other damage that may ensue from its use
in any fashion. The author offers no support or assistance in the
understanding or use of TOADMENU. If you wish to modify the TOADMENU source
code, be my guest. However be sure to add your own comments indicating the
changes made so that others may undo your foolishness.
Author: David P Kirschbaum
Toad Hall
kirsch@braggvax.ARPA