home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Collection of Tools & Utilities
/
Collection of Tools and Utilities.iso
/
tex
/
qp201.zip
/
QP.DOC
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1990-12-29
|
18KB
|
508 lines
Q U I C K P R I N T
An easy and fun to use
text file print utility
Version 2.01
December 29, 1990
DISCLAIMER
QuickPrint is provided as is, free of charge. There are no
warranties written or otherwise implied. While no problems are
expected the author assumes no responsibilty for damage to data
or hardware that arises out of the use of this program.
INTRODUCTION
QuickPrint is a handy and easy to use ASCII text print
utility. Some of the highlights of the program are:
- It is "human engineered" (ergonomically designed) to
provide maximal visual input with a minimum of fuss
(more on this later).
- Very few keystrokes are needed to load, view and print a
file.
- It tells you how many pages will be printed before
printing starts ( ALT-C ).
- It has a progress bar to give you quick input on the
status of the printing.
- It tells you which page is currently being sent to
the printer.
- View screens are numbered for reference purposes.
- The picklist is large, easy to read, alphabetically
sorted, includes the most important file information and
searches for names alphabetically.
- Works with color and monochrome monitors.
- Will automatically provide pagination and footers (page
numbers) for unformatted files. If a file is formatted
with form feeds then QuickPrint will not add formfeeds
or footers.
- Files can be tagged for easy printing of multiple files.
- Can print with or without line numbers.
- Can change number of lines printed per page ( ALT-N ).
( Default is 58 lines not including the footer ).
_ Can add margins to left side of page ( ALT-M ).
The major design philosophy behind QuickPrint's development
was that it should be a no frills, easy to use print utility that
will automatically provide pagination and page numbers.
This makes it an excellent tool for printing Readme and
documentation files provided on disks with programs. It is also
ideal for programmers wanting to print hardcopies of their code.
USING QUICKPRINT
A. THE PICKLIST
QuickPrint has been compiled as QP.EXE. It can be started by
typing QP alone or following it with a filename. If no name is
provided a picklist will be displayed. The long horizontal window
bar on the bottom displays identification and the number of files
in the directory. The central picklist window displays the current
directory's filenames, 21 names per display, sorted alphabetically.
The highlight bar is placed approximately in the middle of the list
to provide equal access to the filenames.
The following keys will work to allow navigation through the
list:
Home - This will put the highlight bar at the top on the very
first file.
End - This puts the bar at the bottom on the very last
filename.
PgDn - This pages down through the list displaying 21
filenames at a time. The highlight bar will be placed in the
middle of the list with each key press.
PgUp - Same as PgDn except pages up through the list.
Up Arrow - Scrolls up through the list, one filename at a
time.
Dn Arrow - Scrolls down through the list.
Alpha Numeric - Any filename starting with a printable ASCII
character may be searched for by pressing the appropriate key.
For example, pressing the 'A' key will place the highlight bar
on the first filename starting with an A. When possible this
name will be placed in the middle of the display. This is not
case sensitive. Subsequent presses will scroll through the list
of files starting with that character. If possible, the
highlighted filename will remain in the middle of the list.
Esc - Pressing the escape key terminates the program and
places you at the DOS prompt.
Enter - Pressing the <Enter> key starts the main program and
loads the file currently highlighted. ** NOTE ** If you
tagged several files for printing pressing <Enter> will
put you into a large window with the names of the tagged
files displayed. The text is NOT viewed in the window
when printing multiple files like it is when only a single
( untagged ) file is selected. Keeping this in mind you may
want to view the files individually before tagging them.
"+" - The plus key will tag a file for printing. This is used
to create a list of several files that are to be printed
consecutively in the order they are selected. When a file is
tagged an asterick ( * ) will appear next to the name.
"-" - The minus key will untag a file and delete it from
the list.
B. VIEWING FILES
Quickprint is meant to print files and is relatively crude at
displaying them. This feature is provided so you can quickly scan
the file to determine if it's worth printing. The selected file is
loaded into available memory. If not enough memory is available,
only that which will fit into memory will be loaded. The rest of
the file will be truncated. If this occurs, you will see 'TR'
displayed in the lower window bar just prior to the '<ESC>
to quit' message. This has no affect on printing. Despite
truncation, the ENTIRE file will be printed. The file is printed
from the disc, not from memory. Individual lines longer than 80
characters will be truncated to 80 characters on the display but
again, this does not affect the printed form.
Because QuickPrint has to read the entire document one line at
a time, and formats each line for display, some longer files may
take quite a few seconds to be read, especially if on a floppy
disk. After this is accomplished however, the file will be in
memory and no additional disk reads will be needed. Version 2.00
has been updated to load files much faster.
THE UPPER BAR WINDOW
The left hand side of the bar displays the filename. To the
right of the filename is a list of keys operable while viewing
the file. They are described below.
Alt-P - Pressing the Alt-P combination immediately
starts printing.
Alt-L - Will print with line numbers.
Alt-M - Will set left hand margin. Valid margins
are from 0 to 70 spaces.
Alt-N - Sets number of lines printed per page.
Valid numbers are 1 to 250.
Alt-C - Version 2.0 does not automatically count
the number of pages to print. This allows
for much quicker loading of the file. You
can get a count of the pages by pressing
the Alt-C combination. The count will be
displayed on the bottom line and will be
provided in any case when you start printing