CD School House 9/CD School House 9.0 - Wayzata Technology (1994).iso/pc/dos/teachaid/pccai/cai210.doc

Text File | 1994-05-18 | 31KB | 887 lines

                                  PC-CAI 2.10
                                Manual Supplement
                                 TexaSoft, 1993


          PC-CAI 2.10 Supplement

          Copyright 1993 by TexaSoft.

          All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of
          America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in
          any form or by any means, or stored in a database or
          retrieval system, without prior permission of the publisher
          except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical
          articles and reviews. Making copies of any part of this book
          for any purpose other than your own personal use is a
          violation of United States copyright laws. For information,
          address TexaSoft, P.O. Box 1169, Cedar Hill, 75104.

          This book and software program is sold as is, without
          warranty of any kind either express or implied, respecting
          the contents of this book and software program, including
          but not limited to implied warranties for the book's or
          software's quality, performance, merchantability, or fitness
          for any particular purpose. Neither TexaSoft not its dealers
          or distributors shall be liable to the purchaser or any
          other person or entity with respect to any liability, loss,
          or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or
          indirectly by the book or software program.

          MANUAL AUTHOR:Alan C. Elliott
          PRODUCTION TEAM:Alan C. Elliott, Carol Bigler, Paul Witt,
          Nancy Witt
          TESTING TEAM: Paul M. Allen (Texas), James Bair
          (Conneticut), Randy DeKler (Florida),Tom Dolan (Ireland),
          Joyce Epstein (New York), Nicholas Humphries (Australia),
          Robert McNary (Montana), Don Moore (Iowa), Mike Pennachi
          (Montana) and Joe M. Wolff (New York)












                                        1






          PC-CAI 2.10 Manual Supplement
          _________________________________________________________


          PC-CAI 2.10 INTRODUCTION
          ========================
          This manual supplement describes new program features to the
          PC-CAI program  not included in the main PC-CAI manual.

          Note: Before beginning to use PC-CAI, please be sure to run
          the CAI-UTIL program to set up default drives, colors, and
          other options for the editor and for CREATE. Also, be sure
          to look at the two demo programs called DEMO and CREATE. You
          can start these programs at the DOS prompt with the
          commands:

          CAI DEMO          (requires CGA compatible monitor)
          and
          CAI CREATE

          OTHER PC-CAI PROGRAMS/SAMPLES ON DISK
          =====================================
          PCTUTOR - A CAI tutorial on how to use DOS
          MENU - A sample program using the @CASE command
          BORDER - Sample borders
          BOX - Sample boxes
          FUNCTION - Sample use of function keys
          VIEW - Sample use of viewer
          TESTPCX - Sample use of TXPCX program
          And other sample .CAI programs

          Run these programs by entering CAI programname at the DOS
          prompt.

          OTHER PROGRAMS ON DISK
          ======================
          BIGLET - A program to produce BIG letters
          PM2IMG - A program to translate Print Master
          graphics into PC-CAI IMG graphics.
          CAIGRADE - Program that reads GRADE output file and
          reports results

          For more details about these programs see the section
          "Supplemental Programs later in this document."








                                        2






          PC-CAI 2.10 Manual Supplement
          _________________________________________________________


          SUBMIT YOUR OWN SAMPLES
          =======================
          The SAMPLES.DOC file contains a sample submission form. If
          you submit a short sample, and it is used, you will receive
          a free one year Extended Support for your PC-CAI program
          giving you all updates free for a year.

          USING PCX GRAPHICS IN PC-CAI
          ============================
          There are now two ways to display PCX graphics in PC-CAI.
          The .PCX command can be used as described in the main
          manual, or you can use a new PCX viewer program called
          TXPCX. In order to display PCX graphics properly on the
          screen using the .PCX command, they need to match the
           .SCREEN command. For example, if your PCX file was created
          in low resolution CGA mode, you will need to be in SCREEN 1
          mode. High Resolution CGA mode is SCREEN 2, and EGA color
          mode is SCREEN 9. These are the only modes directly
          supported. Displaying PCX graphics that were created in
          other modes may distort the graphics picture.

          However,  there are two other ways to display PCX graphics.

          1. Using the CAIPCX Program
          2. Using the TXPCX Program

          USING THE CAIPCX PROGRAM
          ========================
          The purpose of the CAIPCX program is to display a PCX
          graphic file on the screen. This can be used instead of the
           .PCX command in PC-CAI.

          The format of the command is:

            CAIPCX filename pcxmode,y,x,returnmode,returntype

          where...

          filename - the name of the PCX graphic file
          pcxmode - the mode to be used to display the graph (see mode
          numbers listed below)
          y - vertical location
          x - horizontal location
          returnmode - the mode that you want to revert to when then program
          ends. (see END NOTE below)



                                        3






          PC-CAI 2.10 Manual Supplement
          _________________________________________________________


          returntype - 0 is text, 1 is graphic. Specifies what type you want
          to return to when the program ends.

          If you leave off returnmode and returntype by using the syntax:

             CAIPCX filename pcxmode,y,x

          the PCX graphic will be displayed and the PCX viewer program will
          immediately end, leaving the graphic on the screen and remaining in
          the same mode and type. This is the standard way CAIPCX is used
          from PC-CAI when you use the PCX command. If you include a
          returnmode and returntype, the PCX graphic will be displayed and
          remain on the screen until a key is pressed. Then the screen will
          go to the specified returnmode and returntype.

          CALLING CAIPCX FROM WITHIN PC-CAI
          =================================
          If you are using one the standard modes within PC-CAI
          (SCREEN 0, 1 or 9), then use the .PCX command as described
          in the PC-CAI manual. If you want to display a PCX file in
          another mode, use the @SHELL command. For example:

            @SHELL(*CAIPCX TESTPCX 4,0,0,0,0*)

          Would display the file named TESTPCX in mode 4 (EGA 2
          colors) at position 0,0. When a key was pressed, the screen
          would revert to CGA text mode. See the table of monitor
          modes on the next page.

          USING THE TXPCX PROGRAM
          =======================
          Use the @Shell command to access the TXPCX command. For example,
          the syntax of this command is

            @SHELL(*TXPCX  filename,n*)

          where filename is the name of a .PCX file and n is a number
          from 10 to 100, designating the size of the PCX file to be
          displayed. For example, the command

            @SHELL(*TXPCX  WOLF,50*)

          would display the wolf.pcx graphic as 50% size. See the
          program TESTPCX.CAI




                                        4






          PC-CAI 2.10 Manual Supplement
          _________________________________________________________




            Table of Monitor Modes for the CAIPCX Program
          --------------------------------------------------
               0 - 320 x 200 pixel CGA (4 colors)
               1 - 640 x 200 pixel CGA (2 colors)
               2 - 320 x 200 pixel EGA (16 colors)
               3 - 640 x 299 pixel EGA (16 colors)
               4 - 640 x 350 pixel EGA (2 colors)
               5 - 640 x 350 pixel EGA (16 colors)
               6 - 640 x 480 pixel VGA (2 colors)
               7 - 640 x 480 pixel VGA (16 colors)
               8 - 320 x 200 pixel VGA (256 colors)
               9 - 720 x 348 pixel Hercules (2 colors)
               10- 800 x 600 pixel Tseng (256 colors)
               11- 640 x 350 pixel Tseng (256 colors)
               12- 640 x 480 pixel Tseng (256 colors)
               13- 800 x 600 pixel Tseng (256 colors)
               14- 800 x 600 pixel Paradise (16 colors)
               15- 800 x 600 pixel Paradise (2 colors)
               16- 640 x 400 pixel Paradise (256 colors)
               17- 640 x 480 pixel Paradise (256 colors)
               18- 800 x 600 pixel Video 7 (16 colors)
               19- 640 x 400 pixel Video 7 (256 colors)
               20- 640 x 480 pixel Video 7 (256 colors)
               21- 800 x 600 pixel Video 7 (256 colors)


          NEW & IMPROVED "AT" (@)  COMMANDS
          =================================
          The following sections describe new and improved "@"
          commands in PC-CAI version 2.10.

          CHAINING PROGRAMS (@CHAIN)
          ==========================
          The @CHAIN command allows you to chain a number of programs
          together so that when one stops another is automatically
          begun. The syntax for this command is

             @CHAIN (*FILE*)

          This command allows you to exit one PC-CAI program and start
          another. It allows you to break your programs into modules
          and chain from one to another. For example, suppose you want
          to leave one PC-CAI program and begin one named NEWPROG. You



                                        5






          PC-CAI 2.10 Manual Supplement
          _________________________________________________________


          can do this with the command

             @CHAIN (*NEWPROG*)

          Your old program will be removed from PC-CAI memory, and the
          new one will be loaded and run. This enables you to write
          longer programs that would not normally fit into the PC-CAI
          editor (about 30K). When you chain programs, grading WILL BE
          REMEMBERED across chained programs. You will not lose your
          count of right, wrong answers or the percentage right grade.
          Another aid in writing long programs is the Question Bank
          found in the PC-CAI PLUS edition.

          NEW GRADE OPTIONS (@GRADE)
          ==========================
          This new command allows you to output grade results at any time.
          The syntax for the @GRADE command is

             @GRADE [FILE = filename] [SCREEN] [SUMMARY]

          The FILE= option allows you to send results to a file. If SUMMARY
          is used with the FILE= command, only the final summary of the grade
          is reported instead of the results of each individual question. The
          SCREEN option causes the grade report to be displayed to the
          screen. See also the @STOP command.

          NEW IF OPTIONS (@IF)
          ====================
          New to the @IF command is a GRADE condition. You can now use the
          @IF command to branch the program according to the current grade.
          For example, you can use the statements

              @IF GRADE < ## then :LABEL
          or
              @IF GRADE > ## then :LABEL

          where ## is a number between 0 and 100. If the condition is
          met, the program will branch to the designated label. For
          example:

            @IF GRADE<90 then :WASLESS
            Your score is 90 or above
            @GOTO:SKIPGRADE
            @LABEL:WASLESS
            Your score is less than 90



                                        6






          PC-CAI 2.10 Manual Supplement
          _________________________________________________________


            @LABEL:SKIPGRADE
            continue...

          MENUING COMMAND (@CASE)
          =======================
          You can now use the options NOBOX and NOCHOICE in the @CASE
          command. The NOBOX option causes the command to display the
           @CASE information without a box and the NOCHOICE option
          causes the command information to be displayed without the
          "Enter Choice:" option being displayed. This allows you more
          freedom in using this command.

          OPTIONS GOTO (@OPTIONS)
          =======================
          A new option in the @OPTION command is  ESCAPE:Label. This option
          allows you to specify where the program will go when the user
          presses the Esc key. For example, the command

            @OPTION ESCAPE:MENU

          would cause the user to be sent to the label called

            @LABEL:MENU

          in the program when the Esc button was pressed.

          ZERO OUT GRADING (@RESTORE)
          ===========================
          The @RESTORE command zeros out counting for question
          grading. Thus, if you have some preliminary questions to ask
          before starting to keep records, place the @RESTORE command
          right before you want to start counting right and wrong
          answers.

          STOP COMMAND ENHANCEMENTS (@STOP)
          =================================
          The syntax for the @STOP command is

            @STOP GO:LABEL

          A new option to the @STOP command is GO:Label. When you use
          the @STOP command with the GO:Label option, the program will
          end, then resume at the label specified in the GO:Label
          option. For example:




                                        7






          PC-CAI 2.10 Manual Supplement
          _________________________________________________________


            @STOP GO:AGAIN

          would cause the program to stop, then begin again at the
          label named AGAIN. Other options to the @STOP command
          include the GRADE SUMMARY

             @STOP GRADE SUMMARY

          This causes the grade option to output only the final
          summary of the grade rather than the result of each
          individual question. See also the new @GRADE command.

          NEW PC-CAI 2.10 DOT COMMANDS
          ============================
          The following commands are new and enhanced commands for
          version 2.10.

          MAKING BORDERS (.BORDER)
          ========================
          The syntax for the border command is

            .BORDER (*a,b,c,d) [double] [fill]

          where a,b,c,d are the coordinates for the top left (a,b) of the
          border and the bottom right (c,d). Examples:

            .bord (*1,1,20,70*)
            .bord (*1,1,20,70*) double
            .bord (*1,1,20,70*) fill
            .bord (*1,1,20,70*) double fill

          Putting a color command just before the .bord command will
          allow you to display the border in a color. Place another
           .color just after the .bord command to return to your
          default color. For example:

            .color 4,7
            .bord(*10,10,20,65*)
            .color 15,1

          See also the sample program called BORDER.CAI.







                                        8






          PC-CAI 2.10 Manual Supplement
          _________________________________________________________


          MAKING BOXES (.BOX)
          ===================
          The box command allows you to create boxes containing text. The
          syntax of the command is

            .box (*x,y*) [border] [right|center] [shadow]
            :
            text
            :
            .endbox

          Where x and y are the coordinates of the top left of the
          box. The width and length of the box are determined by the
          text. For example:

            .cls
            .box (*10,12*) border right
            Place the box to the right, no shadow
            This is the first line
            This is the second line
            Last line, special character (.CHR225)
            .endbox

          To make a box a different color from the screen and text
          colors surrounding it, put the colors for the box
          immediately before the  .box command. Resume the default
          screen colors with another .color command immediately after
          the .endbox. For example:

           .color 4,7
           .box (*10,10*) border center

            Exercise Two

           .endbox
           .color 15,1

          See also the program called BOX.CAI.










                                        9






          PC-CAI 2.10 Manual Supplement
          _________________________________________________________


          SPECIAL CHARACTER DISPLAY
          =========================
          To print a special character (any ASCII character), you can
          use the command

          (.CHR###)

          where ### is the ASCII code for a character. For example,
          the code (.CHR225) would display the ASCII character number
          225 (an alpha). For an example, see the program BOX.CAI.

          NEW (.INF) OPTIONS
          ==================
          The (.INF #) command is used to store information gathered
          from a  .INFORMATION command. Two new ways of using the
          command are as follows: If you embed the command  (.) in
          output, the (.) will be replaced with the answer given for
          the last questions. For example, you could use the following
          in a program:

          Your answer was (.) for the last question.

          If the answer was WASHINGTON, for example, this would be
          displayed as Your answer was WASHINGTON for the last
          question. Three new defined meanings for (.INF #) are as
          follows (.INF 11) is the current number of RIGHT answers.
          (.INF 12) is the current number of WRONG answers. (.INF 13)
          is the current PERCENT RIGHT grade (for example 80 for 80%
          right) This information can be displayed at any time. For
          example, you could use the statement: Your current score on
          this test is (.INF 13). See also a new option in the @IF
          command.

          DEFINE FUNCTION KEYS (.FUN)
          ===========================
          The new .fun command allows you to define the meaning of the
          function keys. The syntax for the command is

            .fun# =GO:label or


            .fun# =SHELL:command

          This command allows you to define what will happen when the
          user presses a function key. The GO option causes the



                                        10






          PC-CAI 2.10 Manual Supplement
          _________________________________________________________


          program to go to a label. The SHELL option causes the
          program to shell to DOS and execute the command specified.
          For example, to cause the PC-CAI Help to appear when F1 is
          pressed, you would use the command:

            .fun1 =shell:txhelp cai.hlp

          You can create your own help file using the structure of the
          current CAI.HLP file. For an example of using functions see
          the program FUNCTION.CAI.

          RECORD COMMAND CHANGES (.RECORD)
          ================================
          If you include the option TIME at the end of the record
          command, the output will include the system time appended to
          the end of the output line. This allows you to tell when an
          event took place. If you place a record before and after a
          question, you can tell when the question was answered, and
          how long between the display of the question, and the end.

          VIEW A FILE (.VIEW)
          ===================
          This command allows you to view the contents of an ascii
          (text) file. The syntax of the command is:

            .view (*filename*)

          The viewer will appear, and the user can scroll up or down.
          This can be used if you want the user to be able to read and
          review a long passage before going forward in the program.

          When viewing a file, you can change colors at any time by
          including the following code on a line (). These
          are the same colors used in the .COLOR command. You can
          perform more than one color change on a line. For example:

           This is an (~15,2~)IMPORTANT!(~15,1~) message.

          For an example of the view command see the program VIEW.CAI.









                                        11






          PC-CAI 2.10 Manual Supplement
          _________________________________________________________


          PC-CAI RUNTIME NOTES
          ====================
          The following sections contain other information about new
          features in version 2.10

          BRUN40.EXE FILE NO LONGER NEEDED
          ================================
          To distribute a CAI program, you must include the CAI.EXE
          runtime program on disk. In earlier versions, you had to
          also include the file BRUN40.EXE on disk. A change in the
          way CAI is now compiled means that the file BRUN40.EXE is no
          longer required to run CAI.EXE. However, there are a couple
          of extra program files that you need to know about, and
          which you can place on the disk of a program you are
          distributing. These are:

          CAIPCX.EXE - This file needs to be on disk if the command
          ".PCX" is used in a program. It is the command that allows
          you to display PCX graphics.

          TXPCX.EXE - This file is needed if you use this program to
          display PCX graphics.

          Therefore, to distribute a CAI program, all you need to
          include on the disk is the file CAI.EXE. However, if you can
          optionally include the other files as needed. YOU MUST BE
          A REGISTERED USER BEFORE YOU CAN DISTRIBUTE PROGRAMS USING
          THE CAI RUNTIME MODULES.

          The "runtime" program (CAI.EXE) is now separate from the
          editor, so there is no possibility that an encoded file can
          be edited. The editor will not edit an encoded file. You
          must run an encoded file through the decoder first in order
          to edit it.

          To begin editing a file, use the CAIEDIT command. To run a
          CAI program from DOS, use the command

             @INDENT = CAI filename









                                        12






          PC-CAI 2.10 Manual Supplement
          _________________________________________________________


          DEFINE ALT KEYS
          ===============
          By placing key definitions in a file called CAIKEYS.DAT, you
          can define meaning for an ALT-KEY combination. For example,
          if the following information is in this file:

           A=ü
           B=é
           C=â
           d=ä
           e=à

          For example, whenever you hold the Alt-key down and
          simultaneously press the B key, an e with an accent will
          appear. This works both in the editor and in a CAI tutorial.
          Therefore, you can use it for creating a tutorial, and the
          person taking the tutorial can use it to enter answers in a
          program. The only restriction is that you cannot use ASCII
          characters above 250. You will have to inform your audience
          what the keys mean.

          SUPPORT FOR SOUND BLASTER
          =========================
          If your computer is equipped with a sound blaster and the
          SBTALKER software, you can cause CAI to "talk". SBTALKER
          must be installed prior to running PC-CAI. Usually, it is
          with a DOS command such as

           sbtalker /dblaster

          Then, you can use the .TALK (*something*) command to cause
          yourprogram to talk. For example:

            .talk (*This is a test of talker*)

          If SBTALKER is not loaded, the command is ignored -- thus
          you can put it in your code and it will not cause a problem
          if the person running the program does not have Sound
          Blaster.

          Note: SBTALKER makes a good effort at pronouncing words.
          However, sometimes you may have to spell a word phonetically
          for it to sound right.





                                        13






          PC-CAI 2.10 Manual Supplement
          _________________________________________________________


          CAI STARTUP MODE CHANGES
          ========================
          A change has been made so CAI does not automatically clear
          the screen when begun. This allows you to display a message
          on the screen using a batch file that will not be erased
          until the program takes over. This comes in handy when you
          are beginning a program from an encoded file, which may take
          some time before appearing on the screen. For example, you
          might want to use a batch file like this:

           ECHO OFF
           CLS
           REM put some message here
           CAI MYPROG

          Then, your message will be on the screen until the MYPROG program
          takes over.

          SUPPLEMENTAL PROGRAMS
          =====================
          1. The BIGLET program allows you to create big letters. This
          is useful for creating large titles for your PC-CAI
          programs. Save the results to a file, then merge the file
          into your CAI program using the editor (or the .USE
          command).  Begin the BIGLET program from DOS with the
          command BIGLET.

          2. The CAIGRADE program will summarize the output of a CAI
          tutorial for which you have used the GRADE option. The .BAS
          (Basic language) source code is included so you can modify
          this program for your own use. Begin the CAIGRADE program
          from the DOS prompt with the command CAIGRADE.

          If you have two or more grade output files (say from
          separate disks), use the copy command to append them
          together before running the CAIGRADE program on them. For
          example, say you have the files GRADE1.OUT, GRADE2.OUT and
          GRADE3.OUT. You could create a file named GRADE.OUT with the
          DOS copy command:

          COPY GRADE1.OUT+GRADE2.OUT+GRADE3.OUT GRADE.OUT

          3. The PM2IMG program translates Print Master (PM) shape
          files to TexaSoft PC-CAI Image (IMG) files. To translate PM
          files, you should have a SDR and SHP file. The example on



                                        14






          PC-CAI 2.10 Manual Supplement
          _________________________________________________________


          disk are files called CARLOGOS.SHP and CARLOGOS.SDR. Begin
          the program at the DOS prompt with the command

          PM2IMG

          You will be asked to enter the name of the PM file to convert.
          Enter the name. For this example, it would be

          CARLOGOS

          The translation will take place, and each image will appear
          on the screen as it is translated. The result will be an IMG
          file for each PM Shape. You may now use these images in the
          PC-CAI program or edit them in the PC-CAI Image Editor.
          Note: The PM2IMG will not translate shape files from the New
          Printshow, only from the older editions.

          4. Files with a .CAI extension are sample PC-CAI programs.
          These are here to give you examples of how to write your own
          programs. You may use parts of these programs to create your
          own programs. If you have sample programs you would like to
          donate to this disk, please send them to TexaSoft, PO Box
          1169, Cedar Hill, Texas 75104. (See the SAMPLES.DOC file on
          the PC-CAI disk).  For example, the COLORS.CAI program,
          donated by Don Moore of Teikyo Marycrest University (Iowa),
          helps you choose color combinations for screen.






















                                        15