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PublicScreen.doc : PublicScreen 1.02.08 (Release 1, rev 2 minor rev 7)
===============================================================================
Copyright ©1992 Edward D. Berger, freely redistributable.
What is a Public Screen?
===============================================================================
Public Screens are new Amiga Screens that can have program windows on them,
instead of the Workbench Screen, allowing you to avoid shuffling windows around
the Workbench Screen in order to get to your Icons. A good use of this would be
for opening a public screen and putting both an Amiga Shell Window and a Clock
Window, as a CLI work environment, leaving Workbench available for file/icon
manipulation.
***********************************************
* WARNING!! WARNING!! DANGER WILL ROBINSON!! *
***********************************************
1.) Do NOT try to close a PublicScreen Screen any way other than by
selecting its menu item, or you will crash your Amiga!
(Other public screen programs are not aware of our menu window.)
2.) PublicScreen may not find ALL programs that use its screen, and therefore
not shutdown properly, resulting in an ill/crashed Amiga.
(OK, I found 1 old program that caused this behavior...)
REQUIREMENTS:
===============================================================================
Amiga OS 2.04 (v37 system libraries) is required to use PublicScreen.
USAGE INSTRUCTIONS:
===============================================================================
CLI Usage: PublicScreen <ScreenName> (defaults to PublicScreen.1 etc.)
Workbench Usage: Double Click on icon (what else?)
Installation: PublicScreen expects to find the following programs/files
S:PublicScreen-Startup (a startup script for the shell menu item)
PublicScreen (in the current dir or C: [I have no paths])
C:ED (the standard AmigaOS 2.04 Editor)
SYS:Tools/memacs (the standard AmigaOS 2.04 memacs editor)
SYS:Utilities/clock (the standard AmigaOS 2.04 clock)
SYS:Tools/Calculator
About the Tools Menu:
These are currently hardcoded values, through use of some C string
manipulation, I directly supply ED and SHELL with CON:specs that
substitute the current screen, for the SCREEN keyword argument.
CLOCK, CALCULATOR, and MEMACS are SHANGHAI'd by setting that mode
silently, launching the program and waiting half a second, before
returning default/shanghai back to their previous off status. In
A user configurable version, I will probably have a settable DELAY
value, for people with slow machines.
In a future release I hope to make this tools menu(s) configurable,
I just wanted to give something out now that was more usable than
the previous releases of PublicScreen.
Description: PublicScreen simply opens a Public Screen with the same attributes
as your workbench screen, (Same Font, Same Screenmode, etc.)
and stays open until you select the menu item to close the screen.
(If it finds no other programs using the screen. See Warning above.)
I have included a basic Tools Menu, so you can launch a shell,
ed-editor, memacs-editor, clock, and/or calculator windows on
your newly opened public screens.
PublicScreen has menu items on the public screen for default mode.
On a 512K CHIP amiga approx 12 non-interlaced public screens can
be opened, or 6 interlaced ones. These numbers increase with
1M CHIP and 2M CHIP machines. Machines with ECS should be able to
open public screens in Productivity or SuperHires modes, if that is
how their workbench screen is configured.
Requirements: AmigaOS Release 2.04 (v37)
Known BUGS: YES!
Revision History:
REV 1.01: first usable version - alpha released 04/08/92
REV 1.02: changed default behavior for CLI to match workbench - not released
REV 1.03: reorganized some code, etc. - not released
REV 1.04: basic Menu functionality Added -alpha released 04/09/92
REV 1.05: fixed "leave shanghai/popup mode on" bug - not released
REV 1.06: added autoname function code both CLI (no-args) and Workbench
REV 2.00: RELEASED for general consumption 04/10/92
REV 2.02: changed process name from "Background_Process" to "PublicScreen" 04/12/92
(was quite rude, not giving our real name, could be suspected as virus...)
added Command Template for CLI "PublicScreen ?" 04/12/92
fixed another "leave shanghai/popup mode on" bug 04/12/92
REV 2.03: added 'low CHIP ram' to Error requester and updated docs 04/12/92
REV 2.04: added menu item for New PublicScreen (buggy implementation) 04/14/92
added cli warning message for 1.3 lusers 04/14/92 not released
REV 2.05: looking into adding startup file design and calling modes 04/15/92 not released
changing CLI template to SCREENAME,FROM/K:
for SCREENAME=<name_of_screen> and FROM=<startup_file>
rearranging some code, increasing number and clarity of comments
since there will be a lot of changes coming.
REV 2.06: added basic CLI based program launching, and Tools Menu 04/17/92 not released
fixed bug with CON: opening with wrong font, used wrong screentag, Sorry!!
replaced some SAS/C specific code with something more portable. 04/19/92 not released
REV 2.07 Got SCREEN independent program launching working... Yeah! 04/21/92 RELEASED
REV 2.08 Changed ED commandline to have a proper close gadget, oops!
Changed CLOCK commandline to be over more to left (fit on no-overscan screens)
FUTURE:
Rev 3 and Beyond:
- Add a user configurable menu for launching programs so that once a public
screen is popped up, it is immediately usable, without switching screens.
SCREENMODE/Font selection support?
- Add user configurable option to automatically start various programs when
publicscreen is opened.
- Add External (arexx?) Support to 1.)Close Screen
2.)Bring Screen to Front
3.)Push Screen to Back
4.)Open other screens?
- Get closer to the 'ideal application' in Amiga User Interface Style Guide.
Anyone want to create a better Icon?
Write Some utilities with JUMP gadgets?
NOTICE TO OTHER PROGRAMMERS:
--------------------------------------------------------
PLEASE make your programs Public Screen aware, and font sensitive.
-Ed Berger
internet: eberger@psc.edu
eb15@andrew.cmu.edu