The Pier Shareware 9/The Pier Shareware #9 (Pier Exchange).ISO/thepier.txt

Text File | 1996-03-03 | 15.9 KB | 379 lines

                      The Pier Shareware CD-ROM
                 Copyright (c) 1995 The Pier Exchange
                         All rights reserved.

             ThePier(tm) - High Performance CD-ROM Access




                          Retrieval Engine
                 Copyright (c) 1995 RoboSoft Systems.
                         All rights reserved.




                         Table of Contents

    1 ........................................ Introduction
    2 ........................................ Installation
    3 ..................................... Basic Operation
    4 .................................... The Subject List
    4.1 ............................. The Subject List Menu
    4.1.1 ................................. The System Menu
    4.1.2 ................................. The Search Menu
    4.1.3 .............................. The Configure Menu
    4.1.3.1 ............................. Configure Display
    4.1.3.2 ............................ Configure Database
    4.1.3.3 ......................... Configure Directories
    4.1.3.4 ............................. Configure Viewers
    4.1.3.4.1 .............................. Default Viewer
    4.1.3.4.2 ................................ Custom Shell
    4.1.3.4.3 ............................... Smart Viewers
    5 ...................................... The Files List
    5.1 ............................... The Files List Menu
    6 .............................. The File Detail Screen
    6.1 .................................. The Content List
    6.2 .............................. The File Detail Menu
    7 ..................... Technical Questions and Support





1. Introduction


      Please take the time out to fill out the
registration form which can be found on the CD; file
name REGISTER.TXT. It is not required, but it would
help us better serve you in the event of a problem with
the CD, BBS file listing, ThePier database, or a
particular software application. Also, by popular
demand we will be offering an AUTO Pier Shareware
Program which will allow you to receive a new CD as
soon as it is released, for those of you that must have
The Pier Shareware CD as soon as it is released. This
program is only available to credit card holders.
Please check the appropriate box, and fill out all of
the registration form if you wish to participate in
this program. Thank you for taking the time to fill out
this form.

Congratulations on your purchase of one of The Pier
Shareware CD-ROMs, the finest shareware CD-ROMs
available.  ThePier CD-ROM Access program will assist
you in finding files on your CD-ROM and performing
common operations on those files.  It will allow you to
view the filenames and descriptions of the files,
search the CD-ROM files for filenames, keywords, and
archive content filenames, and view many of the content
files.


2. Installation


To install ThePier CD-ROM Access program, change to the root
directory of The Pier Shareware CD-ROM and type INSTALL.  The
install program will ask where on your hard drive you want
ThePier CD-ROM Access program to reside and will copy all
necessary files to that directory.  (For performance reasons,
ThePier must be installed to a hard disk.  It can not be run
directly from the CD-ROM.)  ThePier requires approximately 1MB
of disk space for the program and associated data files.
Additional disk space will be used for the comments you enter
in the comment database.


3. Basic Operation


You should find ThePier very easy and intuitive to operate.  To
start ThePier, change to the directory where ThePier was
installed (for example, CD \THEPIER) and type THEPIER.

ThePier is designed to use the best available video mode your
computer will support.  By default, it will try to use graphics
mode (EGA or VGA required) and resort to text mode if graphics
mode is unavailable.  If you have problems viewing the screens
in graphics mode, you can force the program into text mode by
using a /T parameter on the command line (i.e. THEPIER /T).
Graphics mode also requires the file EGAVGA.BGI to be present in
the directory where THEPIER.EXE resides.  (The install program
will put it there.)  If this file isn't present, ThePier will
use a text mode display.

Online help is available throughout ThePier.  Press F1 to view
the context-sensitive help screens.


4. The Subject List


The first screen you see when you start ThePier is a list of the
subjects available on The Pier Shareware CD-ROM.  If you have a
mouse on your system, a mouse pointer will be displayed.  You
can use the mouse to click on any of the subjects, the items on
the menu bar on the top of the screen, or on the scroll bar to
the right of the screen.  If you click on a subject, a list of
the files in that subject will appear.

4.1  The Subject List Menu

At the top of the subject screen you'll see a drop-down menu bar
containing System, Search, and Configure.

4.1.1  The System Menu

At this point there are three options on the System menu:

    1) Shell to DOS, keeping ThePier in memory and ready
       to go when you type EXIT at the DOS prompt.
    2) Execute a Custom Shell program.  (This will be
       covered in more detail under Configuration.)
    3) Exit ThePier.

4.1.2  The Search Menu

The Search menu will allow you to search ThePier database for
matching file names, keywords, or content file names.  In this
context, file names refers to the names of the files on The Pier
Shareware CD-ROM, many of them archive files; keywords refers to
significant words used in the file descriptions; and content
file names refers to the files that are contained within the
archive files.  At this point (on the Subjects List screen),
searches will included all subjects.  If you wanted to search for
all files that might have something to do with Windows, you would
select Keyword from the search menu and type WINDOWS in the
prompt box.  ThePier will then display a list of all the files
containing the word "windows" somewhere in their description.

Wildcard characters are not recognized in search strings, but
partial strings are allowed if the Exact Match box is not
checked.  For instance, you could have entered WIN in the search
above and matched all occurrences of Windows (along with all
other keywords that begin with the letters WIN).

4.1.3  The Configure Menu

The Configure menu allows you to change the operational
parameters used by ThePier.  You can force the display to text
mode (meaning you wouldn't need the /T on the command line),
change the active database (useful if you have more than one The
Pier Shareware CD-ROM), change the directories used by ThePier
for temporary files, and set up viewer programs to be called
automatically when certain files are selected. On all of the
configuration screens, if you press ESCape, any changes you
entered on that screen will be thrown away and the old data will
be restored.

4.1.3.1  Configure Display

The Configure Display screen allows a simple choice between
forcing ThePier to use text mode displays or allowing it to use
graphics mode displays.  (Graphics mode requires an EGA or VGA
display system.)  Graphics mode displays are slightly larger than
text mode, allowing more subjects and files to be displayed on a
single screen, but they are slightly slower than text mode
displays.  Other than these minor differences, the two modes are
functionally identical.

4.1.3.2  Configure Database

The Configure Database screen can be used to select an alternate
ThePier database.  If you have more than one The Pier Shareware
CD-ROM you can use this screen to select the database associated
with one of the other CD-ROMs.  If you only have one The Pier
Shareware CD-ROM, do not change the settings on this screen.

You can select any of the directories shown in the lower right
section by clicking on them with your mouse.  If you don't have
a mouse, use the TAB key to switch to the directory section,
then use the arrow keys to highlight the desired directory.
Press the ENTER key to select the directory.

If the desired directory is on another drive, position to the
Dir field and type the desired drive letter.

When you've selected the proper directory, position to the left
window and select the desired database file.  To finalize the
database selection, position to and select the OK button.

4.1.3.3  Configure Directories

Directories Configuration allows you to specify the directories
used by ThePier.  The Work Directory is used by ThePier for
temporary files. A default value is set up by the installation
program, but you can change it if desired.  The Work Directory
should be on a drive that has free space at least as large as
the largest file you intend to view.  (Five megabytes should be
more than sufficient.)

The Default Copy/Extract Directory specifies the default
directory used when copying or extracting archive files.  This
is just a default and can be changed on the fly when copying or
extracting files.

The Comment Database Directory specifies the location of the
comment database.  By default, this is the directory where
ThePier program resides.  It is recommended that you stay with
the default.

CD-ROM Drive specifies the drive letter of your CD-ROM drive.
The installation program initially sets this value to the drive
from which ThePier was installed.  If you have more than one
CD-ROM drive, you will need to change this value if you move The
Pier Shareware CD-ROM to a different CD-ROM drive.

4.1.3.4  Configure Viewers

The viewers are one of the nicest features of ThePier.  They allow you
to associate programs with data files on the basis of the data file
extension.  The Viewer configuration screen is divided into several
areas.

4.1.3.4.1  Default Viewer

At the top of the screen is the default viewer.  This is the
viewer program that is called whenever the selected file does not
match one of the file extensions specified on this screen.
ThePier has a built-in viewer that is used as the default viewer
unless you specify something different.  Leave the Default Viewer
field blank if you want to use the built-in viewer.  (The
built-in viewer is designed to work only with plain ASCII text
files and will view only the first 32k bytes of any file.  If you
plan to view non-ASCII files or very large files, you will
probably want to specify a different program as the default
viewer.  Vern Buerg's LIST program is an excellent choice for the
default viewer.)

To specify a different default viewer, enter what you would
normally type at the DOS command line to start that program.
Where you would ordinarily type the name of the file to be
viewed, enter $F.  ThePier will replace the $F with the name of
the file you've selected for viewing.  If you wanted to use Vern
Buerg's LIST program as your default viewer, your default viewer
line might look like:

      Default Viewer: LIST $F

4.1.3.4.2  Custom Shell

The next field allows you to specify a "shell" program. This is
intended for use with DOS "shell" programs such as PCTools Shell
and Norton Commander.  ThePier will allow you to jump directly
to the program specified in this field and return to ThePier
when you exit the shell program.  If your DOS shell can accept a
directory on the command line, you can use $D to designate the
current working directory.  If you use the Extract and Custom
Shell option, $D will be the directory into which the file was
extracted.  If you wanted to use PCTools Shell as your shell
program, your shell program line might look like:

        Shell Program: PCSHELL $D

4.1.3.4.3  Smart Viewers

The other viewers are all paired with a line of file extensions
associated with that viewer.  Anytime you select a file with an
extension from the viewer list, the viewer program associated
with that extension will be executed.  The viewer command lines
are just like the Default Viewer line as far as format goes.
Use $F in the command where you want the file name to go.


5.  The Files List


When you select one of the subjects on the Subjects List, you'll
see a list of the files in that subject along with as much of
the file description as will fit on a single line.  If you select
one of the files by clicking on it with your mouse or pressing
enter when the file is highlighted, you'll see detailed
information about that file.

5.1  The Files List Menu

At the top of the files list screen you'll notice the menu bar
has changed.  System is still there, though it now contains an
additional "Return to previous menu" item.  (You can also return
to the previous screen by pressing ESCape or clicking on the
little box in the upper left corner of the file list window.)
The Search menu is still there too, but its function has changed
a bit.  At this point searches will not scan the entire
database, but will be limited to the subject currently selected.


6.  The File Detail Screen


The File Detail Screen contains detailed information about the
file you've selected.  In the upper left of the detail screen is
the file name, location, size, and date.  In the upper right is a
list of the contents of this file.  (If the file is not an
archive file, you'll just see the file name again.)  In the
middle of the screen is the full file description.  The scroll
bar at the right of the file description box can be used if the
full description doesn't fit in the available lines.

Toward the bottom of the screen is a box where you can enter
your own comments about this file.  These comments will be saved
in a database on your hard disk and redisplayed when you view
this file's detail information again.

At the very bottom of the screen is a prompt bar.  Pressing any
of the specified keys will perform the indicated action.  You
can also click with your mouse on any of the words to take the
indicated action.

6.1  The Content List

The content list in the upper right of the detail screen is where
the viewers come in.  If you select one of the files in the
content list, that file will be extracted from the archive (if
necessary) and passed to the appropriate viewer program.  If no
viewer is associated with the selected file extension, the
default viewer will be used.  (When ThePier executes a viewer,
it swaps all but about 10k of itself to EMS or to disk, so the
viewer program should have plenty of memory available.)

6.2  The File Detail Menu

At the top of the file detail screen you'll see the familiar
System menu along with a File menu.  The File menu will allow
you to copy a complete file or to extract an archive file.  If
you select either of these options, you'll be prompted for a
destination directory for the copy or extract operation.  These
directories will default to the Copy and Work directories
specified in the configuration menu off the subjects screen.
You can change them by selecting a different directory from the
displayed list.  If you want the files to go to a different
drive, you'll have to type the drive letter on the directory
line.

The File menu will also allow you to Extract and execute the
Custom Shell or Extract and Shell to DOS.  Both of these options
will allow you to select a directory for the extract operation
and will then either execute your Custom Shell or shell to DOS in
the extraction directory.


7.  Technical Questions and Support

If you have trouble installing ThePier(tm), contact The Pier
Exchange at:
              Info [phone]
              BBS [phone]

If you have detailed technical questions or comments about the
access software, you can contact RoboSoft Systems, the authors of
the retrieval engine, at:

                        RoboSoft Systems
                        P.O. Box 2221
                        Orange, CA  92669