home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Collection of Tools & Utilities
/
Collection of Tools and Utilities.iso
/
tex
/
cread211.zip
/
READ.ENG
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1994-01-14
|
19KB
|
439 lines
READ - A Text Browser
=====================
(Siehe READ.DEU für deutsche Dokumentation)
0. Why READ?
------------
Archives, Public Domain disks and other software is often shipped with
ready-to-print documentation (like this file); you just have to send it
to your printer... and then you've got 100 sheets of paper less, and
ribbons or toner cartridges cost money, too. So it's advisable to have
a look at the documentation file first, maybe you don't need it printed.
Just type TYPE PROGRAM.DOC | more <┘. But what was that just one screen
ago? ****, same procedure again. Well, that's really not comfortable.
You might say: 'Well, I've got a README.EXE or LIST.EXE (or something)
to read texts.' Fine. Ever tried to read texts that are formatted with
more than 80 columns? Sure, you can scroll horizontally, but maybe your
video adapter is capable of some extended text modes... even if the
manual doesn't specify them... READ.EXE uses them!
Text files often contain formfeed characters. Does your lister show them
as a female sign, or does it show clear page separation? Can you leap
page-wise through your text? Does your browser recognize the longest line
on screen and scrolls horizontally as far as necessary to display the right-
most character?
Does your lister recognize typical text files if you don't specify
them?
Can your lister be used as a replacement for MORE? Can it accept data
piped in from another program?
Does your lister understand UNIX files (without CR in front of LF)?
Is your browser able to show text files with different charsets? Especially
ISO-8859-1?
Can your lister be fully operated with a mouse?
Is your lister capable of bookmark features?
Well, I hope you're convinced that READ is just what you've always wanted.
1. Requirements
---------------
READ is fairly modest. It gets along with about 120k of memory, and it's
already fast enough on an XT. Nearly every graphics card is supported, even
in its special modes. DOS 3.xx is required, DOS 5.xx or 6.xx advisable. A
hard disk is not needed. In DesqView(tm), READ runs in an 128k window if
you zoom it; when idle, READ does not consume any considerable amount of
CPU time in multitasking environments like DesqView and Windows.
[DesqView is a registered trademark of Quarterdeck Office Systems.
Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corp.]
2. How to start READ
--------------------
Simply specify one or more filenames on the command line, eg.
READ *.TXT *.DOC
The only switch available is /S; if specified, READ takes its input from
STDIN rather than files. This allows you to 'pipe in' text:
DIR | READ /S
READ /S <text
If you didn't specify a unique file name (maybe you used wildcards), READ
offers you a list of possible files (max. 128), from which you choose one
with the cursor keys, PgUp, PgDn, Home, End, and Enter. Use Del to remove
files from the list, or add others with Ins (of course you can give one
or more templates at a time!). Abort READ with Q or Esc.
If you like to, you can sort the file list alphabetically or according to
file size. Just press A, Shift-A, S or Shift-S.
You can also select a file with your mouse. Hold down the left button, then
move mouse until the wished file is highlighted, then release the left button
(to lock the mouse) and press the right button. If you press both buttons,
READ quits.
Save the file data with W if you want to quit READ and continue reading later
on. READ notes down all chosen files, all your bookmarks and other info
(the charset you used, where you were reading, etc.) and allows you to read
back this info by pressing R.
3. How to move round in your text
---------------------------------
Use the cursor keys to scroll one line up/down or some characters left/right.
Ctrl & cursor left/right uses an alternate stepsize (see configuration).
PgUp/PgDn jumps one screen page up or down, Ctrl-PgUp/PgDn jumps to the
nearest formfeed character in the text or to the text start/end if there are
none. If you wish to jump directly to the text start/end, press Ctrl-Home/End.
Home/End does the same as with your full-screen editor: it aligns the screen
in a way that allows you to see the leftmost/rightmost character of the
longest line on screen. Q quits immediately, Esc takes you back to the file
selection.
A special feature is the space bar: it moves to the next formfeed character
if there's not more than one screen page to go; Otherwise, it acts like the
PgDn key.
You can also move round with your mouse. See the chapter on mouse
configuration.
Of course you can call DOS at any time: just press Alt-Z. Make sure you don't
install any memory-resident programs. EXIT takes you back to READ; READ
normally occupies 55k of memory when swapping to DOS, but just 20k if
you have XMS or EMS memory (eg. you installed HIMEM.SYS, EMM386.SYS or
QEMM386.SYS).
Searching for a key-word? Press F to specify one; press N to search again. The
search is case-insensitive, as long as you don't press Shift-F instead of F.
Do you wish to drop bookmarks? Of course you can! Use Alt-1 to Alt-0 to mark
positions within the text, then jump to those positions with 1 to 0.
READ remembers the current location and the bookmarks if you choose to read
another text in the meantime. Bookmarks are text-specific!
You want to jump to a specific line? Type G, then enter the line number! This
may take awhile since READ must count the lines from the beginning of the
text.
If you type Shift-G, READ calculates the line number of the upmost line on the
screen and the total number of lines. With long files, this may take some
seconds.
Of course you can abandon functions that take a while by pressing Esc. If you
hit Q instead, READ quits immediately.
4. How to influence the text display
------------------------------------
Well, READ makes use of up to twelve screen modes that can be selected with
F1 to F12, but they have to be defined first (see later on).
Then you can freely choose foreground and background color: use < and > for
the foreground color and ( and ) for the background color.
Are there Tab characters within the text that don't refer to 8 colums margins?
Adjust the tab spacing with T and Shift-T.
Does your text make use of the ISO-8859-1 charset? Select a charset with C.
Is your text taken from the Usenet and coded ROT13? Type R.
Don't you like the elevator bar to the right? Toggle it on/off with E.
Your text is narrow compared to the screen wide? Indent or unindent with I
and Shift-I.
You prefer long lines to be wrapped-around rather than shifting the screen
window horizontally? Switch to wrap-around mode with W. Note that one line
is still one line internally, even if it is splitted into ten! But if
you put a line "W 0 1" in your config file, READ tries to estimate the
start of the screen lines in your text when you scroll back in wrap-
around mode (without putting you in it at first, of course).
5. Is that all?
---------------
No. READ is capable of printing, cutting and catenating text parts; charset
conversions and ROT13 are taken into account if you wish.
Type P to select Printing. Then select a start and an end (READ offers you
a list of salient points that can be used) and choose if the text in-between
is to be sent to a printer port or to be written/appended to a file. Of course
you can abort printing at any time with Esc. If you wrote the text to a file
that is not already in the file selection list, READ suggests it to be added.
Of course you may add or remove CRs...
6. Am I to remember all these keys?!
------------------------------------
No, of course not. Just one: H. It displays a help screen.
7. Well, READ is rather cute, but I don't like XXXXX.
-----------------------------------------------------
If XXXXX is a feature of READ, you can probably change it. READ has a config
file that's called READ.CFG (change this if