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MANUAL.DOC
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1990-07-02
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┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ AUTOREAD │
│ │
│ A program to allow easy reading of large text files │
│ on a computer │
│ │
│ Author: David R Grigg │
│ │
│ Version 1: │
│ June 1990. │
│ │
│ │
│ │
│ MANUAL │
│ │
│ │
│ │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
1: IMPORTANT NOTICE!
═══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
If you are reading this file on your computer in any other way
than using AUTOREAD itself, then you are losing out on the
value of AUTOREAD, and you will also not be able to try out the
software as you follow the examples given later in this
document.
To read this document using AUTOREAD, go back to DOS and type:
AUTOREAD MANUAL.DOC <and press the enter key>.
DISCLAIMER
══════════
While every effort has been made to free AUTOREAD from errors,
NO RESPONSIBILITY IS ACCEPTED for any damage that may be caused
to your computer, disks or data by the use of AUTOREAD. If this
makes you nervous, try AUTOREAD out on a floppy disk first.
2: Introduction
════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
I wrote this program because I often find myself in the
situation of having a large text file on my computer's hard
disk which I am using because it has some kind of information
of value to me. Usually it is the manual for a shareware
program.
I adore shareware. I think the concept of trusting people to
pay a modest fee for software they genuinely find useful is
terrific. And I use a lot of shareware (and pay the
appropriate registration fees).
But the manuals for most shareware programs are distributed as
a text file unless you pay extra (and I generally don't). So I
end up with very useful manuals in a very NON-useful form: a
large text file on my hard disk.
Sure, I can print out the manual, but this can consume enormous
amounts of time, paper and printer ribbons (the QEDIT manual,
for example, is some 5500 lines long). And besides, I can
never find the manual when I want it. And even if I can,
finding the information I want can be very hard.
Aren't computers supposed to make life easier? Yet reading a
document on a computer screen is still extremely primitive.
Certainly you can use a useful utility like LIST, but this is
still missing something. It's hard to navigate around in a
large text file, to find the next chapter, or to locate key
words. Using the FIND utility in such programs is some help,
of course, but you have to type in the key word, and hope you
have spelt and punctuated it properly.
AUTOREAD is my attempt to fill this perceived gap. It works
very much like LIST, but it allows you to progressively
establish landmarks in the text and to go instantly to them.
AUTOREAD allows the creation of several kinds of 'landmarks':
* Chapter Stops
* Pre-defined Keywords
* Temporary Bookmarks
These are all available via pull-down menus for easiest
possible use.
What all this means is that you can very easily create a
comprehensive index to a particular text file, enabling you to
instantly find the section or information you are looking for.
It makes reading a text file on your computer as easy as
reading a hard copy, and in some respects easier.
3: Shareware Notice
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
AUTOREAD took a lot of effort to create. And I am still
working on improving it.
Please note that AUTOREAD is not, never has been, and never
will be free or public domain software. It is shareware.
The shareware concept is extremely simple. If you obtain a
copy of a shareware program, find it useful to you, and wish to
continue using it, you must send the requested shareware fee to
the program author.
Shareware relies entirely on trust. But it is a concept which
has allowed the creation and distribution of a large body of
excellent software at very low cost.
If you find AUTOREAD of use, please print out and fill in the
enclosed LICENSE.DOC document, and send it with the requested
$15 shareware fee to:
David R Grigg,
1556 Main Road,
Research,
Victoria 3095
Australia.
NOTE:
Most commercial software forbids you to make copies of it.
But because AUTOREAD is shareware software, you are positively ENCOURAGED
to share copies of AUTOREAD around, copy it for your friends,
upload it to bulletin boards, etc. The only stipulations are that
all those who use AUTOREAD for longer than a trial period of 14 days
must pay the required shareware fee, and that AUTOREAD must be
distributed with all the associated files, being:
AUTOREAD EXE
LICENSE DOC
MANUAL ARD
MANUAL DOC
MANUAL IDX
README BAT
STATS DOC
STATS EXE
4: Installing AUTOREAD
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
AUTOREAD is extremely easy to install.
The only file absolutely necessary to operating AUTOREAD is
AUTOREAD.EXE, which you should copy either into the same
directory as the documents you wish to use it on, or
(especially if you have a hard disk) into a directory which is
listed in your DOS PATH command (this is usually specified in
your AUTOEXEC.BAT file).
Many hard disk users have a directory called \TOOLS on their
hard disk. This is a good place for AUTOREAD.
To use AUTOREAD on a particular text file (as an example, say a
file called MANUAL.DOC), you would enter the following at the
DOS prompt:
AUTOREAD MANUAL.DOC
If you don't enter the file name, you will be prompted for it.
5: Files Created by AUTOREAD
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════
AUTOREAD maintains two different files of its own for every
text file that you use it on.
If you used it on a document called MANUAL.DOC, for example,
AUTOREAD would create the following files:
MANUAL.IDX
MANUAL.ARD
Unless you have changed