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Shareware Overload Trio 2
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ARTICLE.TXT
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1993-08-22
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169 lines
INTRODUCING "BATMOUSE" - A MOUSE FOR YOUR BATCH FILES
Have you ever wondered what makes a batch file seem slow at times
or have you tried to write a batch file and given up in
frustration? Did you ever think you might like to have multiple
batch file menus or to interface your batch file with keyboard
responses? Better yet, interact with your mouse? Read on.
If you use DOS programs exclusively or if you use Windows and
occasionally need to go to DOS to use some other program.
BATMOUSE and DIRECTOR.BAT provide a means to display a
sophisticated menu from within a batch file and are completely
compatible with all programs. You may invoke Windows from
DIRECTOR.BAT and exit Windows temporarily to DIRECTOR.BAT,
execute an otherwise Windows compatible program, return to the
DIRECTOR and then return to Windows - no problem.
DIRECTOR.BAT is an accumulation of ideas for batch files that
ultimately led to the development of the mouse interface program
BATMOUSE. Simply put, BATMOUSE is a standalone program that may
be called from any batch file or from DOS; it causes the mouse
cursor to appear seamlessly and reacts to any keyboard input and
to the movements/clicks of your mouse.
Communications between any batch file and BATMOUSE are conducted
via the environment variables HR & VC (for horizontal row &
vertical column) for a mouse click and the testing of ERRORLEVEL
for the last key pressed.
BATMOUSE checks the environment for variables HR & VC in order to
set the mouse position to that which was clicked on the during
the last execution of the program, if there was one. This is
performed at startup unless the environment variables have not
been previously set or have been set to a "-", in which case the
mouse appears in the center of the screen. BATMOUSE always sets
HR & VC to a "-" when the user presses a key instead of a mouse
button. This allows the batch file to discern which kind of
interpretation to make - mouse coordinate or key press. If
either HR or VC = "-", the user last pressed a key. Mouse screen
coordinates are 1,1 for the upper left corner and 25,80 (HR,VC
respectively) for the lower right corner.
The DIRECTOR batch file may be used with or without a mouse.
However, one of its greatest features is the integration of the
mouse interface program BATMOUSE. Used without a mouse,
DIRECTOR.BAT requires the use of a program available on most
bulletin boards called REPLY.COM or KEYPRESS.COM. They have been
described in numerous magazine articles and will not be discussed
here. If you are currently using one of these programs with your
batch files, your existing batch file should work seamlessly with
BATMOUSE since the key values returned are identical.
A complete listing of DIRECTOR.BAT with line reference numbers is
found in file DIRECTOR.TXT. The line sequence numbers and
leading white space found in the left column of this listing
should be removed if you plan to use this example to create your
own batch file.
DIRECTOR.BAT is sensitive to seven parameters (%1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6
%7). If you do not pass parameters the defaults of black and
white are used. This allows you to pass only as many parameters
as you require - if you pass only parameter one, a particular
background screen will be painted and all the text will be white
on black. The program SHOW (line 211) will paint any of 17
predefined background screens - the screen names are DIRSCN (B&W
or default use) and DIRSCN00-DIRSCN15 (various color
combinations). Therefore, if parameter one (%1) contains 00 or
01 or 02 ∙∙∙∙ 15, the corresponding screen will be displayed;
hence, SHOW DIRSCN%1.
The remaining six parameters are used to paint certain text
portions of the menu:
- %2 & %3 (foreground/background) are used to paint your
personal menu title.
- %4 & %5 (foreground/background) are used to paint the
function key information.
- %6 & %7 (foreground/background) are used to paint the
program names at each line of each menu page.
Each of the above color parameters may be created using the color
combinations for foreground and background. The following
information is derived from the documentation for ANSI.SYS:
Foreground Colors:
30 - Black
31 - Red
32 - Green
33 - Yellow (which is brown unless BOLD is on)
34 - Blue
35 - Magenta
36 - Cyan
37 - White
Background Colors (bold does not affect these colors):
40 - Black
41 - Red
42 - Green
43 - Brown
44 - Blue
45 - Magenta
46 - Cyan
47 - White
Try some of the following calls to the DIRECTOR:
%1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7
DIRECTOR
DIRECTOR 00
DIRECTOR 02
DIRECTOR 03
DIRECTOR 04
DIRECTOR 05
DIRECTOR 10
DIRECTOR 12
DIRECTOR 14
DIRECTOR 00 33 44
DIRECTOR 00 33 44 37 47
DIRECTOR 00 33 44 37 47 37 44
DIRECTOR 00 33 46 37 47 37 44
DIRECTOR 06 33 37 37 47 37 41
DIRECTOR 08 33 47 37 47 37 41
DIRECTOR 08 33 40 37 47 37 41
The following is a synopsis of the main features of DIRECTOR.BAT:
Multiple page menus - lines 8-23, 30-65, 73 & 90-95
Complete screen repaint - lines 2, 28, 78, 116 & 211
Minimal screen repaint - lines 30-65, 127 & 128
Internal program calls - lines 156-158
External program calls - lines 160-161
Personal customization - lines 31-39, 44-51, 56-63, 213 plus
color settings discussed above.
As you can see, the options are quite diverse - you can change
DIRECTOR.BAT to suit any situation or menu requirement and to
paint most any color combination. The best news of all is that
the process is compatible with all programs, performs very
quickly and requires no resident memory - unless of course you
aren't already using ANSI.SYS which does require 4K of resident
memory.
BATMOUSE.COM and DIRECTOR.BAT are available through some BBS's
and shareware distributors.
Nick Makris is a small business consultant and systems engineer
on the North Coast of California. For a 'no-nonsense', fully
registered version of BATMOUSE, the corresponding files and this
more complete documentation, send a check for $10.00 (including
$1.00 P/H) to:
Startech Systems
BATMOUSE
PO BOX 1395
Gualala CA, 95445-1395
California residents add appropriate sales tax.