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P R O G R A M M E R ' S P R O D U C T I V I T Y P A C K --------------------------------------------------------------- Version 2.50 -------------- A N S W E R S . T X T ----------------------- Copyright (c) 1989,1990 by Falk Data Systems. All rights reserved. August, 1990 Edition TABLE OF CONTENTS: ------------------ Introduction ................................................. 2 Customizing Questions ........................................ 2 EMS/XMS Memory Questions ..................................... 3 Disk Cache Questions .......................................... 4 Hot Key Questions ............................................ 5 Keystroke Recording and Playback Questions ................... 6 Miscellaneous Questions ...................................... 7 Performance Questions ....................................... 10 Screen Grabber Questions .................................... 10 Sidekick Questions .......................................... 10 Video Display Questions ...................................... 11 Mouse Questions .............................................. 12 Conclusion ................................................... 12 Common Questions & Answers Page 1 of 12 The Programmer's Productivity Pack 2.50 - ANSWERS.TXT INTRODUCTION: ------------- Welcome to the ANSWERS.TXT text file. The purpose of this text file is to answer the most commonly asked questions regarding the use of The Programmer's Productivity Pack. The information provided here is also present in the ProPak User's Guide. This file presents information in the form of questions and answers, designed to enable you to quickly find the answers to any questions that may arise. Please read the ProPak User's Guide and this text file before obtaining Technical Support. The answers to any questions you may have will often be found in these two sources. Of course, if you have any questions that are not answered in the ProPak User's Guide or this text file then please contact us for Technical Support. We will be glad to assist you in any way we can. Complete instructions for obtaining Technical Support may be found in the User's Guide. Thank you. Note: The term "ProPak" is used interchangeably with "The Programmer's Productivity Pack." While ProPak is the name of one of the versions of the .EXE file, it is usually used to refer to The Programmer's Productivity Pack in general, including ProPak, ProSwap, and PCustom. CUSTOMIZING QUESTIONS: ---------------------- I want to set different colors for each version of ProPak so that I can tell immediately which version I'm using. Is this possible? Yes. You can easily do this using PCustom. When PCustom asks you which version or versions to customize only select one of the versions. You'll have to do this for both versions in order to keep them different from each other. Since both versions are essentially identical in terms of their operation, we don't recommend making each version different. Things can get rather confusing after awhile. Your best bet is to always change both versions together to keep them consistent. PCustom was designed to make it easy to keep both versions consistent with one another. PCustom does this by making sure that whenever more than one version is opened for customizing, each of those versions are identical when written back out to disk. In other words, PCustom updates every customizable option, not just the options that were Common Questions & Answers Page 2 of 12 The Programmer's Productivity Pack 2.50 - ANSWERS.TXT changed. So the last .EXE or .CFG file read will be used as the standard by which each of the others will be set. So unless you prefer customizing each version individually, we recommend that you change both versions together and that you keep them consistent with one another. What's the difference between changes made with PCustom and changes made on the fly? When you make changes "on the fly" the changes are made in memory only. So when you turn off or reboot your computer, or when you unload ProPak or ProSwap from memory, any changes made "on the fly" are lost. PCustom writes the changes to disk (inside the .EXE and/or .CFG files). This means that changes made with PCustom are "permanent." By permanent, we mean permanent until you change them again later. I have an old IBM laptop computer with the old style LCD screen. It is monochrome only (not gray scale) and it does not have the ability to display underlined or intense attributes. It is really hard to see the options on the PCustom menu for customizing colors. How can I tell what I'm doing? In addition to displaying each color attribute the way it would appear on your monitor, you can also look at the top of the color pick window and see the hexadecimal value of the currently selected color attribute. If you use only the values 07 hex (white on black) and 70 hex (black on white - reverse) then you will be able to easily see all of the screens on your old style IBM LCD screen. EMS/XMS MEMORY QUESTIONS: ------------------------- I don't have EMS memory, is there anything special I should do to maximize ProPak's performance? Not necessarily. ProPak will work as shipped regardless of whether or not you have EMS memory. However, PCustom provides an option to enhance ProPak's performance when EMS memory is not being used. In PCustom's "Advanced Options" menu, "Miscellaneous" options submenu, there is an option to supplement the size of ProPak's overlay buffer. For specific details please refer to the User's Guide. Common Questions & Answers Page 3 of 12 The Programmer's Productivity Pack 2.50 - ANSWERS.TXT Changing the size of the overlay buffer can make a big difference in how well ProPak performs. Of course, changes made with this option only take effect when EMS memory is not in use. So you can customize this even if you will sometimes be using EMS memory. On those occasions where ProPak is allowed to use EMS memory it will automatically use the smaller size overlay buffer. I don't want ProPak to use EMS memory because I'm going to be using it for something else. What should I do? Use PCustom to tell ProPak NOT to use EMS memory, even if it is available. This can be done through PCustom's "Advanced Options" menu, "Miscellaneous" options submenu. I have plenty of extended memory, but ProSwap refuses to use it. Why? ProSwap can only swap to extended memory that complies with the Extended Memory Specification (XMS). Simulated extended memory, or non-XMS extended memory cannot be used. Is there any way to reduce the amount of disk space or XMS memory used by ProSwap for swapping purposes? Yes. PCustom provides an option under "Advanced Options"/"Swap Control"/"Swap Tuning" which allows you to determine which is more important to you - speed or conserving space. DISK CACHE QUESTIONS: --------------------- I use Super PC-Kwik (disk caching software) and sometimes I have problems when ProSwap activates the Pop-Up DOS Shell. Is there anything I can do to fix this? Yes. PC-Kwik causes problems for many programs which use EMS memory. There are several things you must keep in mind in order to avoid conflicts between PC-Kwik and ProSwap. 1) Always load PC-Kwik BEFORE loading ProSwap. 2) If PC-Kwik is using XMS (Extended) memory, then ProSwap may swap to either XMS or EMS memory. 3) If PC-Kwik is using EMS (Expanded) memory, then ProSwap MUST use either EMS memory or disk for swapping purposes. DO NOT allow ProSwap to swap to XMS memory if PC-Kwik is using EMS memory. Common Questions & Answers Page 4 of 12 The Programmer's Productivity Pack 2.50 - ANSWERS.TXT HOT KEY QUESTIONS: ------------------ I changed the Hot Keys on the fly and now I can't remember what I changed them to. What should I do? The two main Hot Keys, the one for the Calculator and its attachments, and the one for the Control Center, are displayed on the DOS command line when you load ProPak (or ProSwap) into memory. Simply attempt to load ProPak into memory again. Since it is already loaded you will get a message telling you about it, but it will also display the Hot Keys currently in use for both the Calculator and the Control Center (even if you've changed them). The Hot Keys used to start and stop recording keystrokes, and the Hot Key for the Screen Grabber are all displayed on the "Modify Options" submenu of the Control Center. MAPMEM (part of the TSR Utilities - supplied with the Bonus Disk Set) will also show you the main hot key for a resident copy of ProPak or ProSwap. What is the difference between a Hot Key and a Trigger Key? A Hot Key is used to pop up one of ProPak's built in features. A Trigger Key is used to trigger the playback of a Keystroke Recording. A Hot Key is a main key that has been modified by one or more modifier keys (<Alt>, <Ctrl> or <Shift>). A Hot Key can be made up of many keys. For instance a Hot Key can be set to <Ctrl><Alt><LeftShift><RightShift><F10>, although you may need help holding down all those keys at the same time. A Hot Key MUST include at least two keystrokes. A Trigger Key is a key or key combination that can be normally used for something else. A Trigger Key can be a single key, or a combination like <Shift><F10> or <Ctrl><F10> or <Alt><F10> or just <F10>. A Trigger Key is one or two keys that could be used regardless of whether or not ProPak is in use. For more specific information please refer to the ProPak User's Guide. Several TIPs contain a lot of information about the differences between Hot Keys and Trigger Keys. Common Questions & Answers Page 5 of 12 The Programmer's Productivity Pack 2.50 - ANSWERS.TXT I have a 101/102 key enhanced keyboard and I want to set the Calculator's Hot Key to <Ctrl><Alt><F12> but it won't let me. Why not? Some key combinations work better than others as Hot Keys. On an enhanced keyboard the extra function keys (F11 and F12) do not make very reliable Hot Keys. In order to prevent unexpected problems, ProPak and PCustom will not accept any Hot Key combination that includes either F11 or F12. For more detailed information on Hot Keys please refer to the User's Guide, especially to the TIPs that deal with Hot Keys. I know that ProPak is loaded in memory, but none of the Hot Keys seem to work. What's going on? This usually occurs when you turn on Keystroke Recording and forget to turn it off. While recording keystrokes all other features of ProPak are disabled. You will need to press the Hot Key used to stop recording keystrokes. The default Stop Recording Hot Key is <Alt><TopRowMinus>. I know that ProSwap is loaded in memory, but none of the Hot Keys seem to work. Why? This usually occurs when you are in a Pop-Up DOS Shell. You can verify this by trying to load ProSwap a second time with the "-U" command line option. If ProSwap is currently providing a DOS Shell it will print a safety message telling you this after it attempts to unload the resident copy. KEYSTROKE RECORDING AND PLAYBACK QUESTIONS: ------------------------------------------- When I play back a long Keystroke Recording, some of the characters are missing. Is this a bug or what? Nope. It's not a Hercules Beetle or even a Lady Bug. ProPak can play keystrokes back as fast as 1,000 keystrokes per second. Some software can't keep up with this life in the fast lane, so in those cases you will simply need to tell ProPak to slow down a little bit. You can easily instruct ProPak to insert a delay of from 0 to 100 milliseconds between each keystroke played back. You can change the default value using PCustom, or you can make temporary changes "on the fly" from the "Modify Options" submenu in the Control Center. Common Questions & Answers Page 6 of 12 The Programmer's Productivity Pack 2.50 - ANSWERS.TXT Is there any way I can tell how big a Keystroke Recording file will be, BEFORE I save Keystroke Recordings to disk? The size of the file will be nearly identical to the amount of memory currently being used to store the Keystroke Recordings. Here's a simple method to figure out how much disk space will be required. Each keystroke requires two bytes of storage. Also, each Keystroke Recording file has a small header used to store information needed by ProPak. This header is less than 100 bytes. So, multiply the number of keystrokes in the recording by two, and add 100 bytes for the header. The file will always be slightly smaller than the answer. MISCELLANEOUS QUESTIONS: ------------------------ While ProPak (or ProSwap) was loaded into memory I tried to enter some box drawing characters from the extended character set, but I couldn't do it. This is serious! I use extended characters a lot! What do I have to do in order to enter extended characters? ProPak modifies the BIOS keyboard interrupts in order to be able to recognize key combinations like <Alt><PgUp>. Because of this, entering ASCII characters is done a little differently. Instead of holding down the <Alt> key and entering the ASCII code with the numeric keypad, you will need to hold down the <Alt> key and one of the <Shift> keys. For more detailed information refer to the TIPs in the User's Guide. I use Microsoft Windows as a multitasking operating system and sometimes I have problems when ProSwap attempts to activate the Pop-Up DOS Shell. Can I avoid these problems? Yes. ProSwap is compatible with Windows. As mentioned in the documentation for ProSwap, ProSwap must NOT be loaded BEFORE a multitasking operating system like DESQview, TaskView, Windows, etc. We have had reports of ProSwap successfully working when loaded before Windows 3.0 when Windows is in Real (8086) or Standard (80286) Modes. While it may be possible to load ProSwap before Windows, we don't recommend it. ProSwap will DEFINITELY not work properly if loaded before Windows while Windows is in 386 Enhanced Mode. Common Questions & Answers Page 7 of 12 The Programmer's Productivity Pack 2.50 - ANSWERS.TXT Please remember that you can use Windows to switch between applications and that a memory resident program is not really necessary. You can start ProSwap with the "-S" (Stand-Alone mode) command line parameter. This will cause ProSwap to run as any standard program (not memory resident). I really don't like memory-resident programs, but I use ProPak (or ProSwap) because it's the only program that has all the features I need. Do you have any suggestions for someone who really dislikes memory-resident stuff? Sure. ProPak provides three methods by which it may be safely unloaded from memory whenever the need arises. You can unload ProPak from within the Calculator by pressing <Alt><U> or <Ctrl><U> twice in a row. You can unload from within the Control Center by selecting the "Unload from Memory" option. You can even unload from the DOS prompt by typing in "PROPAK -U" and pressing <Enter>. So even though ProPak is a memory-resident program, it is very easy to get it out of the way when you need memory for something else. For more specific details regarding safely unloading any memory-resident programs from memory refer to the ProPak User's Guide. Of course you can also run ProSwap in stand-alone (non- resident) mode. For complete instructions please refer to the User's Guide. My computer is not 100% IBM compatible, but I still want to use ProPak (or ProSwap). Is there anything special I need to know about? As you may know, by their very nature, memory-resident programs are more machine dependent than most other kinds of software. Because of this, memory-resident programs depend quite heavily on a specific environment. The primary compatibility issue is the built in ROM BIOS in your machine. If your machine is BIOS compatible with IBM then you should not have any difficulties. Some machines, such as the old Tandy 1000, are not very IBM compatible. The Tandy 1000, for instance, has a very different keyboard than the original IBM PC or XT. Even the BIOS keyboard services are different (as you have undoubtedly noticed). This makes a difference when you run programs designed for IBM compatibles. Common Questions & Answers Page 8 of 12 The Programmer's Productivity Pack 2.50 - ANSWERS.TXT ProPak goes to great lengths to maximize performance and ease of use on IBM compatible machines, but a side effect is that compatibility becomes a very important issue. The Keystroke Reference Center is the place that this compatibility issue will be the most noticeable in cases like the Tandy 1000 that do not have IBM compatible keyboards. In a case like this, the best thing to do is to become familiar with the differences between your keyboard and an IBM compatible keyboard, and take that into consideration as you use any programs written for IBM compatibles. When I try to load ProPak the system appears to hang, but when I press <Enter> ProPak finishes loading and works fine after that. This is rather disconcerting. Is there something I should know about? Yes, there is. You probably had PopCalc (from BellSoft) loaded when you tried to load ProPak. PopCalc does strange things to other memory resident programs. The way to get around this is to load ProPak BEFORE you load PopCalc. How do I know if ProPak (or ProSwap) is compatible with the other memory-resident programs that I use? The best way to find out how well one program works with another is to experiment. Use them together. If they get along then you're all set. If they don't get along you'll have to make adjustments for the conflict. The best thing to do when you find a memory resident program that conflicts with ProPak, is to load ProPak before you load the other program. ProPak was specifically designed to get along well with any memory-resident programs loaded after it. When I press a Hot Key, ProPak just beeps. What's the matter? There are two possible causes. First, it may not be safe for ProPak (or ProSwap) to pop up. Both programs inspect your system very closely when a Hot Key is pressed. Your best bet is to try again in a few seconds. Please consult the User's Guide for more detailed information. Second, ProPak will only pop up in an 80 column text mode. If your system is in graphics mode ProPak will not pop up. Common Questions & Answers Page 9 of 12 The Programmer's Productivity Pack 2.50 - ANSWERS.TXT PERFORMANCE QUESTIONS: ---------------------- I don't have a hard disk and ProPak is too slow when run from a floppy disk. Is there anything I can do to speed things up? Of course there is! Fire up PCustom and instruct ProPak to increase the size of its overlay buffer. This will make a very noticeable difference in performance when the overlay file (attached to the end of the .EXE file) is kept on a floppy diskette. SCREEN GRABBER QUESTIONS: ------------------------- When I grab text from the screen will ProPak waste memory storing all the trailing blank spaces at the end of each line? No. The Screen Grabber automatically removes trailing spaces from the ends of each line before converting the characters into keystrokes. This helps to ensure that no memory is wasted storing blank space. SIDEKICK QUESTIONS: ------------------- I use Sidekick from Borland International. Is there anything special I need to know to use ProPak with Sidekick? Not really. The ProPak User's Guide includes a detailed discussion about Sidekick and the problems it can cause other memory resident programs. Refer to that for the nitty gritty details. ProPak (and ProSwap) is so compatible with Sidekick that it can even be loaded AFTER Sidekick. I use SideKick Plus, is there anything special I need to know that is different than the older version of Sidekick? The conflicts that arose with the older version of Sidekick have been corrected in SideKick Plus. There is no special information needed to use ProPak (or ProSwap) with SideKick Plus. Common Questions & Answers Page 10 of 12 The Programmer's Productivity Pack 2.50 - ANSWERS.TXT VIDEO DISPLAY QUESTIONS: ------------------------ I have two video adapters and two monitors. I switch back and forth during program development and debugging. What will this do to my use of ProPak? Not a thing. ProPak is smart! It will always pop up on the current monitor. Also, when it pops up on a color monitor it will be in color, when it pops up on a monochrome monitor it will use monochrome display attributes so that it still looks good. I have a black-and-white monitor and ProPak's displays look kind of funky. How can I fix that? Black-and-white monitors are basically an inexpensive way to simulate a color monitor by using varying shades of gray. As far as any software programs are concerned, your black- and-white monitor is a color monitor. So what you need to do is modify ProPak's (and ProSwap's) colors so that they look good on a black-and-white only monitor. PCustom allows you to select a display attribute set that looks good on black-and-white monitors, or even to customize each attribute individually. PCustom itself can be told to use black-and-white attributes by entering "-B" on the PCustom command line. More specific information is covered in the ProPak User's Guide. Are any particular video modes inappropriate for use with ProPak (or ProSwap)? Because ProPak was designed as a memory-resident program there was no way to foresee every possible situation and environment in which it would be popped up. Because of this, certain design decisions had to be made. In making these decisions care was taken to ensure that not only would ProPak be useful in a wide variety of situations and environments but also that it would not require an excessive amount of memory to do it. ProPak was designed to work in text modes only, not in graphics mode. Graphics displays require a lot more memory in order to store the contents of the screen before popping a window up over something else. Additionally, with all the differences in hardware, ProPak would have to be significantly larger just to deal with each graphics adapter and monitor combination. So you must be in a text mode in order to pop up ProPak (or ProSwap). If you are in graphics Common Questions & Answers Page 11 of 12 The Programmer's Productivity Pack 2.50 - ANSWERS.TXT mode ProPak will beep when a Hot Key is pressed, but it will not pop up. Another consideration is video modes that display 120 or 132 columns at a time. This mode is rarely used, so the current version of ProPak does not support it. The last consideration are video modes that display only 40 columns of text at a time. The problem here is that ProPak's displays won't fit in 40 columns. The bottom line is that ProPak will only pop up while your system is in an 80 column text mode. Of course ProPak does support 25, 43 and 50 line text modes. MOUSE QUESTIONS: ---------------- Sometimes when I return from the Pop-Up DOS Shell (using ProSwap) a mouse cursor appears when it shouldn't. What should I do? Start ProSwap with the "-P" (Preserve mouse state) command line option. This will instruct ProSwap to preserve and restore the state of the mouse cursor around a Pop-Up DOS Shell. CONCLUSION: ----------- Any problems or questions that arise can usually be resolved by consulting the User's Guide. If you can't find the answer there, or in this question and answer file, then please contact us for Technical Support. We'll do our best to help you. Please be sure to have your ProPak serial number handy when you call. Thanks for your purchase. We hope you enjoy your new productivity package. Happy ProPak'n! Common Questions & Answers Page 12 of 12