Welcome to KATE, the multi-purpose PC Organiser and Desktop Manager. 8
It comes with a number of built in functions, and the ability to start other programs as required. The built in functions include a Diary with To Do list and automatic reminders, a hypertext-style Book
Compiler, Text file Editor, Text and Hex file Viewers, a Calculator, Calendar, Clock, some Games, and more.
All functions can be activated either indirectly from the Menu
Bar using the keyboard or mouse, or by direct selection with the mouse or by the use of shortcut
keys. 3
Press the <Esc> key to put this help screen away.
Drag Mode
You are in Drag mode, where you can move or resize a Window on the Desktop. R
If you entered Drag mode by selecting Move/Size from the Window
pulldown
menu, then press the arrow keys to move the window around the desktop, or hold <Shift> and press the arrow keys to change the size of the window. Press <Enter> to save the new size and location of the window, or press <Esc> to put the window back the way it was. -
If you entered Drag mode by clicking and holding with the mouse button on the window's Title Bar (along the top) or the Resize icon (at the bottom right corner), then move the mouse around to either Move or Resize the window. Release the mouse button to save the new size or location of the window.
Print Manager
The Print Manager is displayed on the desktop by selecting the Print
Manager operation from the Tools
pulldown
menu.
The Print Manager handles a queue of DOS files, Commands, and lines of text to be printed on the default printer. The window allows the print queue to be viewed and manipulated, and has a typewriter function for printing individual lines.
Whenever the Print operation is selected from the File
pulldown
menu, the current file or list is sent to the Print Manager. If there is no file or form active, then the Print
dialog
box is displayed. b
The Print Manager will print each file in order, allowing full use of KATE while it is doing so. $
The Print Manager window contains:
a Print list box showing what has been printed
a Queue list box showing what will be printed
a Typewriter input line with a history list
buttons to [Pause] or [Continue] the Print
Manager, [Delete] the current command, and set [Options].
Press the [Options] button, or select Window
Options to display the Print
Options
dialog
box.
Macro Manager
The Macro Manager is displayed on the desktop by selecting the Macro
Manager operation from the Tools
pulldown
menu.
The Macro Manager handles a queue of Macro
Commands which perform various functions in KATE. The window allows the macro queue to be viewed and manipulated, and has an input line to type in new macro commands. $
The Macro Manager window contains:
a Macro list box showing what has been processed
a Queue list box showing what will be processed
a Macro input line with a history list
buttons to [Pause] or [Continue] the Macro
Manager, [Delete] the current command, and set [Options].
Press the [Options] button, or select Window
Options to display the Macro
Options
dialog
box.
Program Starter
The Program Starter is displayed on the desktop by selecting the Program
Starter operation from the Tools
pulldown
menu, or by opening a Menu
Definition
File.
The Program Starter is a user-definable menu system to supplement the functions available from the Menu
Bar and its associated pulldown menus. Each menu items can run one or more Macro
Commands.
The Program Starter menus are hierarchical to an unlimited level, so any menu item could either run a KATE Macro or display another menu. The menu structure and function is defined by the Menu Definition File.
To select a menu item, move the cursor to it and press <Enter> or <Space> or the [Open button, or double click on it. To back up one menu level (ie go to the current menu's parent) press <Esc> or the [Cancel] button. =
Any number of Menu Definition Files may be open at one time. The Program Starter operation on the Tools pulldown menu simply opens the default file, which has a file name the same as the User name, and an extension of ".MDF". The User name may be changed via the User
Logon operation on the Desktop
pulldown
menu. g
To edit a Menu Definition file, select File
Text and then enter the name of the file.
File Manager
The File Manager allows DOS files to be opened, changed, moved, copied, or deleted. For each operation, select the file or files to process, and then select the appropriate command from the File
pulldown
menu or by pressing one of the buttons. F
The File/Directory
input
line allows the drive, directory and/or file name to be entered directly. Wildcards such as "*.TXT" may be entered to get a particular list of files within a directory. The default is "*.*". This input line also has a history list which stores a number of the previous entries in this field.
The Directory
box shows the directory structure of the current drive in graphical form. Use the <Up> and <Down> arrow keys to highlight any particular directory and then press <Enter> to select it, or double click on any directory to select it.
The File list box lists all the files in the selected directory which match the specified wildcard. The default wildcard is "*.*" which means all files in the selected directory will be displayed. If you need you specify a particular file for the operation you wish to perform, then use the <Up> and <Down> and <Left> and <Right> arrow keys to highlight the file, or click on it. U
The File
information
panel at the bottom of the window describes the selected file.
The Clipboard
The Clipboard is a special type of editor window which can be used for temporary storage of text to be moved, copied or deleted.
When in a File
Editor or Post
Note window, text may be selected for deleting or copying between that window and the Clipboard. N
There are four basic editing operations: Erase, Cut, Copy and Paste. Erase and Cut both delete text from the Editor. Cut and Copy add text to the Clipboard from the Editor. And Paste adds text to the Editor from the Clipboard. Note that the general term "Editor" is used here to refer to a File Editor, Post Note, or Memo Field.
ERASE: This deletes the selected text from the Editor. An Erase is done by pressing <Ctrl+Delete> or by selecting Edit
Erase from the Menu Bar.
CUT: This deletes the selected text from the Editor and copies it to the Clipboard. A Cut is done by pressing <Shift+Delete> or by selecting Edit
Cut} from the Menu Bar.
COPY: This copies the selected text from the Editor to the Clipboard. A Copy is done by pressing <Ctrl+Insert> or by selecting Edit
Copy from the Menu Bar.
PASTE: This copies the contents of the Clipboard to the Editor, overwriting any selected text in the Editor. A Paste is done by pressing <Ctrl+Insert> or by selecting Edit
Paste} from the Menu Bar.
Note that at any time the Clipboard will only contain the text from the most recent Cut or Copy operation. There is no way to recover previous contents of the Clipboard once overwritten. p
The current contents of the Clipboard can be seen at any time by selecting the Edit
Clipboard operations. Z
The Clipboard can be resized and moved using the operations on the Window
pulldown
menu. 2
The Clipboard can store up to 64K bytes of text.
Post Note
A Post Note is a tiny editor window which holds up to a thousand characters of text. Use Post Notes to put reminders or other bits of information up on the screen where you can see it. %
Post Note windows can be resized and moved just like other windows. Post Notes cannot be saved into files like other Editor windows, but text can be copied to and from other windows using the Clipboard. However, Post Notes are saved and reloaded along with all other windows on the desktop. >
Post Notes will remain on the desktop until they are closed.
File Editor
The File Editor allows you to look at and modify the contents of a text file. A file is loaded via the File
Open or File
File or File
Text operations. A
The following arrow keys may be used to move about in the file.
<Up> Move up one line
<Down> Move down one line
<Right> Move right one column
<Left> Move left one column
<PageUp> Move up one page
<PageDown> Move down one page
<Home> Move to start of current line
<End> Move to end of current line
<Ctrl+Right> Move to next word
<Ctrl+Left> Move to previous word
<Ctrl+PageUp> Move to top of file
<Ctrl+PageDown> Move to bottom of file
Hold down the <Shift> key with <Up>, <Down>, <Left>, <Right>, <PageUp>, <PageDown>, <Home> and <End> to select blocks of text as the cursor moves. <
Other keys may be used to modify the contents of the file.
<Insert> Toggle Insert/Overwrite mode
<Delete> Delete character at cursor
<Backspace> Delete character left of cursor
<Ctrl+Home> Delete to start of line
<Ctrl+End> Delete to end of line
<Ctrl+Backspce> Delete line
<Ctrl+T> Delete to end of word
<Ctrl+Y> Delete line
<Alt+I> Toggle Indent/Flush mode
<Alt+U> Undo last change to current line
Text may be copied or moved within the edit window, or between windows, using the Clipboard.
<Ctrl+Delete> Erase selected area
<Shift+Delete> Cut selected area to Clipboard
<Ctrl+Insert> Copy selected area to Clipboard
<Shift+Insert> Paste Clipboard contents
File editors can be resized and moved using the operations on the Window
pulldown
menu. 8
Note that only files of up to 64K bytes can be edited.
Text File Viewer
A Text File Viewer shows the contents of any file in normal text format. A file is loaded via the File
Text operation. A
The following arrow keys may be used to move about in the file.
<Up> Move up one line
<Down> Move down one line
<Right> Move right one column
<Left> Move left one column
<PageUp> Move one page up
<PageDown> Move one page down
<Home> Move to start of current line
<End> Move to end of current line
<Ctrl+PageUp> Move to top of file
<Ctrl+PageDown> Move to bottom of file
Text File Viewers can be resized and moved using the operations on the Window
pulldown
menu. U
Note that only the first 16K lines of a file can be seen with the Text File Viewer.
Hex File Viewer
A Hex File Viewer shows the contents of any file in Hex format. A file is loaded via the File
Hex operation.
The window is divided into three areas. The leftmost column shows the byte number of the first byte in the line. The middle area shows sixteen bytes of the file in hex. The rightmost area shown the same sixteen bytes in normal ASCII mode. A
The following arrow keys may be used to move about in the file.
<Up> Move up one line
<Down> Move down one line
<PageUp> Move one page up
<PageDown> Move one page down
<Ctrl+PageUp> Move to top of file
<Ctrl+PageDown> Move to bottom of file
Hex File Viewers can be resized and moved using the operations on the Window
pulldown
menu.
Note that in Real mode edition only the first 64K bytes of a file can be seen with the Hex File Viewer. This is increased to 512K bytes in the Protected mode edition due to its enhanced memory management capabilities.
Book Viewer
A Book Viewer allows you to see the contents of a KATE Book, which is a hypertext style document. A Book is made up of many topics with links between topics to connect related information. This Help system (which you are currently reading) is itself a Book which was compiled in this way. t
A Book is loaded via the File
Open or File
OpenFile operations. Book files always have the file extension ".KBK". 9
You can use the arrow keys to move about within a Book.
<Up> Move up one line
<Down> Move down one line
<Right> Move right one column
<Left> Move left one column
<PageUp> Move one page up
<PageDown> Move one page down
<Home> View right most column
<End> View left most column
<Ctrl+PageUp> View top of file
<Ctrl+PageDown> View bottom of file
<Tab> Select the next Topic
<Shift+Tab> Select the previous topic
<Enter> Jump to the selected topic
Book viewers can be resized and moved using the operations on the Window
pulldown
menu. In most cases, the text in the Book is reflowed to remain within the new bounds of the window. 3
KATE Books are created through the Book
Compiler.
Calculator
The calculator is a simple four function calculator with add, subtract, multiply, and divide. To operate the calculator you can either use the Keyboard or press the buttons on the calculator with the Mouse.
The [C] button (<C> key on the keyboard) clears the calculator; the [
] button (<Left> key on the keyboard) erases the last character typed; and the [
] button (<_> key on the keyboard) toggles the value from positive to negative.
Calendar
The calendar displays the current month, highlighting todays date. U
Press <Left> or <Right> to move the cursor backwards or forwards a day at a time, and <Up> or <Down> to move a week at a time. The Month will automatically change to keep up with the cursor position. Press <PageUp> or <PageDown> to go backwards or forwards a month at a time, and <Ctrl+PageUp> or <Ctrl+PageDown> to move a year at a time.
The Mouse can also be used to move the cursor to a day by clicking on it. Click on the
icons to go backwards or forwards a month at a time. g
See the Diary for a way to attach notes, reminders and activities to a particular day or set of days.
Keyboard Codes
The Keyboard Codes displays the ASCII Codes for the entire IBM PC character set. The current character is marked by a blinking block cursor, and the decimal and hexadecimal ASCII values of the character are displayed below the chart, as is the full keyboard scan code for any valid key combination. A new character is selected by pressing it on the Keyboard, by clicking the Mouse on it in the chart, or by moving the cursor using the arrow keys.
Memory Monitor
The Memory Monitor window gives information about the different categories of memory that KATE has to deal with. The size allocated to each category, and the unused or free amount, is specified in bytes. Z
1. Heap refers to the general pool of memory for dynamic allocation of windows and data. E
2. Overlay refers to the memory allocated to overlaid program code. ;
3. Stack refers to memory allocated to the program stack. D
4. DataSeg refers to memory allocated to the program data segment. D
5. Program refers to memory allocated to the program code segment. O
6. System refers to memory used by the operating system and TSRs below 640KB.
Diary
The Diary is displayed on the desktop by selecting the Diary operation from the Tools
pulldown
menu, or by opening a file which has an extension of ".KDY". f
The Diary is a flexible specialised database which manages a list of items. Each item may be assigned to any one day or sequence of days, and may have a specific time of day attached. The Diary then allows you to view lists of these items in different ways. Diary items may also post automatic reminders or alarms or run programs or macros at set times. K
If the Alarm sounds, it may be turned off by selecting Desktop
Alarm
Off.
The main Diary window shows a Calendar for the current month. This calendar operates in exactly the same way as the standalone Calendar, and allows you to page forward and backwards to see any month. 8
The Diary, however, allows you to associate specific items with the days on the calendar. To add an individual Diary
Item press the <Insert> key or the [New] button. The day, month and year that you are pointing to on the calendar will be automatically filled in, but may be changed on the Diary Item window. 3
Move the cursor to any day to see lists
items:
Select View
Day or press the [Day] button or double click on the day in the calendar to see a daily
list for the selected day. b
Select View
Week or press the [Week] button to see a weekly
list commencing on the selected day.
Select View
Month or press the [Month] button or click on the month name at the top of the calendar to see a monthly
list for the selected month.
Select View
Year or press the [Year] button or click on the year at the top of the calendar to see a yearly
list for the selected year. j
Select View
Do or press the [To Do] button to see a To
list of events which are not yet completed. ]
Select View
All or press the [All] button to see a complete
list of all items in the Diary.
Note that for any Diary items that relate to more than one day, the daily, weekly, monthly and yearly lists will automatically show the item under every relevant day.
Note also that the Diary must be actually on the desktop for any scheduled events such as reminders and playing macros to be activated on time. H
Any number of Diaries may be opened at once through the File
File operation. The Diary operation on the Tools pulldown menu simply opens the default file, which has a file name the same as the User name, and an extension of ".KDY". The User name may be changed via the User
Logon operation on the Desktop
pulldown
menu.
Any changes made in the Diary are automatically saved after KATE has been idle for 30 seconds, or when the Diary window is closed. You may also save the Diary manually at any time by selecting File
Save or pressing the [Save] button.
Diary Item
The Diary Item window displays all the information attached to a single item in the Diary. Each item consists of the following fields:
NOTE: This is the description of what the item is all about, and is displayed in each Diary
list. It is also used as the message text for any reminder or alarm message boxes. All items must have something entered in this field.
TIME: This is the time of the event. If entered is must be in either 12 hour format followed by an "A" or "P", or in 24 hour format. If the seconds are omitted (ie only HH:MM is entered) then the time will be set to the exact minute. If both the minutes and seconds are omitted (ie only HH is entered) then the time will be set to the exact hour. Note that scheduled actions such as Reminders, Alarms and Macros (see below) are triggered only once each minute in any case, so any seconds entered will be ignored.
D.O.W: This is the Day of the Week. If entered, the days must be in three character abbreviated form, ie "MON", "TUE", "WED" etc. Use "S*" for weekends only, and "NOT S*" for weekdays. m
DAY: This is the Day of the Month. If entered, it must be one or two digit numeric between "01" and "31". d
MONTH: This is the Month. If entered, it must be one or two digit numeric between "01" and "12". P
YEAR: This is the Year. If entered, it must have all four digits, eg "1993". M
TASK ID: You may enter an identifier for the event, up to four characters.
PRE-REQ: You may enter the identifier of another event that it a pre-requisite for this one. No checking is done to see whether the event actually exists. R
PRIORITY: You may enter a priority rating for the event, up to four characters. K
CATEGORY: You may enter a category for the event, up to four characters.
ACTION: Select one of the four actions that this item may perform. A "Diary" item will appear only on the various Diary lists and do nothing else. A "Reminder" will also put a reminder
message on the screen when the appropriate date and time arrive. An "Alarm", like a reminder, will put an alarm
message on the screen and also sound an audible alarm. (The alarm may be turned off by selecting Desktop
Alarm
Off). A "Macro" item will execute the contents of the Macro field as a macro at the appropriate time.
STATUS: Select one of the four states that this event may be in. "Planned" means the event is something that needs to happen or be done, but has not yet commenced. "Started" means that the event is currently underway, but not yet finished. "Completed" means that the event is passed or has been finished. "Ongoing" means that the event occurs more than once, such as for a weekly meeting, monthly payment, or anniversary.
MACRO: This field may contain a Macro
Command. If the Action field is set to "Macro", then this command will be passed to the Macro
Manager at the appropriate time.
EXAMPLES
To make an entry for a certain day, enter the Day, Month and Year. A specific Time may also be entered. Set the Status to "Planned", "Started" or "Completed" as appropriate.
To make an entry for something like a birthday or wedding anniversary, enter the Day, Month and Year of the original event, and set the Status to "Ongoing". This item will appear in every subsequent year on that Day and Month.
To make an entry that covers multiple days, enter a Match
Mask in one or more of the D.o.w, Day, Month and Year fields, and set the Status to "Ongoing".
To make an entry for every weekday, enter "not S*" in the D.o.w field, and leave the Day, Month and Year fields blank. Similarly, enter just "S*" in the D.o.w field to mark the item for weekends.
To make an entry for a particular day of the week each month (eg second Thursday of each month) enter the actual day (eg "THU") in the D.o.w field, and enter a range (eg ">=8 AND <=14") in the Day field, and leave the Month and Year fields blank. Z
Any of the various Actions may be selected for any of the types of entries listed above.
Press <F4> or click on the Close icon to save the item and close the window, or press <Esc> to close the window without saving the item.
Diary List
A Diary List window shows any number of items in the Diary in ascending order of date and time. The list may show items for a Day, Week, Month or Year, it may display a To
list, or it may list All the items in the Diary. 1
Place the cursor on any item and press <Enter> or <Space>, or double click on the item, to open the Diary
window and see or update the whole item. Select File
Delete or press the <Delete> key to delete the item from the Diary. Select File
New or press <Insert> to create a new item for the Diary.
Any number of Diary list windows may be open for each Diary. New list windows may be opened from the main Diary window. Select any operation on the View
pulldown
menu to change the type of list in the current window. Z
All Diary list windows are automatically updated whenever changes are made to the Diary.
Daily Diary List
The Daily diary
list displays all items in the Diary for the currently selected day. The Title Bar displays the selected day. The list shows the Time (if any) and the Note attached to each item. 1
Place the cursor on any item and press <Enter> or <Space>, or double click on the item, to open the Diary
window and see or update the whole item. Select File
Delete or press the <Delete> key to delete the item from the Diary. Select File
New or press <Insert> to create a new item for the Diary.
Weekly Diary List
The Weekly diary
list displays all items in the Diary for the currently selected day and subsequent six days. The Title Bar displays the selected day. The list shows the Day and Month and the Note attached to each item. 1
Place the cursor on any item and press <Enter> or <Space>, or double click on the item, to open the Diary
window and see or update the whole item. Select File
Delete or press the <Delete> key to delete the item from the Diary. Select File
New or press <Insert> to create a new item for the Diary.
Monthly Diary List
The Monthly diary
list displays all items in the Diary for the currently selected month. The Title Bar displays the selected month. The list shows the Day and the Note attached to each item. 1
Place the cursor on any item and press <Enter> or <Space>, or double click on the item, to open the Diary
window and see or update the whole item. Select File
Delete or press the <Delete> key to delete the item from the Diary. Select File
New or press <Insert> to create a new item for the Diary.
Yearly Diary List
The Yearly diary
list displays all items in the Diary for the currently selected year. The Title Bar displays the selected year. The list shows the Month and Day and the Note attached to each item. 1
Place the cursor on any item and press <Enter> or <Space>, or double click on the item, to open the Diary
window and see or update the whole item. Select File
Delete or press the <Delete> key to delete the item from the Diary. Select File
New or press <Insert> to create a new item for the Diary.
Diary To Do List
The To Do diary
list displays every item in the Diary which are dated on or before the selected day, and which are not Status "Completed" or "Ongoing". The Title Bar displays the selected day. The list shows the full Date, Priority and the Note attached to each item. 1
Place the cursor on any item and press <Enter> or <Space>, or double click on the item, to open the Diary
window and see or update the whole item. Select File
Delete or press the <Delete> key to delete the item from the Diary. Select File
New or press <Insert> to create a new item for the Diary.
Diary List of All Items
The All diary
list displays every item in the Diary. The list shows the full Date and the Note attached to each item. 1
Place the cursor on any item and press <Enter> or <Space>, or double click on the item, to open the Diary
window and see or update the whole item. Select File
Delete or press the <Delete> key to delete the item from the Diary. Select File
New or press <Insert> to create a new item for the Diary.
File Association window
The File Association window manages a list of file extensions and associated program names.
When a file is opened by the Open or Open
File operations on the File
pulldown
menu, KATE first checks to see whether the file extension of the file being opened is contained in the association list. If so, then the program associated with that file extension is automatically run, and the selected file is loaded into it. This enables you to use KATE to search and maintain and select the files you want to work on, but run the appropriate programs to view and update those files when required.
The File Association window contains a List Box with all the previously defined associations, and [New], [Open] and [Delete] buttons.
Pressing the [New] button, or selecting File
New from the Menu
Bar, or pressing the <Insert> key, will open the Association
dialog
box where a file extension and program name may be entered.
Pressing the [Open] button, or selecting File
Open from the Menu Bar, or pressing the <Enter> or <Space> keys, will open the same Dialog Box but with all the details of the current item already filled in. These details can be viewed and changed.
Pressing the [Delete] button, or selecting File
Delete from the Menu Bar, or pressing the <Delete> key, will delete the current item.
Games
KATE is a very serious program, but that doesn't mean that we can't have a bit of fun with it. Apart from the joy of simply using this wonderful program, there are a couple of games to add some extra light relief.
Sweeper is similar to the version in Windows 3.1, except that the field gets bigger and harder every time you win. Try to get up to level 10! v
Puzzle is the same one we all know and love. Try it with a friend to see who can solve it in the fewest moves.
Tile Puzzle
The Tile Puzzle is a game. The object is to get the characters to form the following pattern: :
A B C D
E F G H
I J K L
M N O
Clicking the Mouse on a tile next to the empty space moves the tile into the space. Pressing one of the arrow keys moves a tile into the empty space in the direction indicated by the arrow key. The move counter is updated every time a tile is moved. Try to complete the puzzle in as few moves as possible.
Mine Sweeper
The Mine Sweeper is a game. The object is to find all the mines on a grid.
The game starts with a 10x10 grid, making 100 zones, fifteen percent of which contain mines. The content of each zone is initially unknown, and so they are displayed as [
Each zone can either be Marked (if you think there is a mine there) or Occupied (if you think there is no mine). A Zone can be Marked by either moving the cursor to it and pressing the <Space> key, or by clicking on it with the right mouse button. A zone can be Occupied by either moving the cursor to it and pressing <Enter>, or by clicking on it with the left mouse button.
Marked zones are shown as [
]. Occupied zones are denoted by a number indicating how many mines are in the adjacent eight zones, or a blank if there are no mines in adjacent zones. These numbers can be used to work out where nearby mines are.
The object of the game is to Mark every zone which has a mine, and Occupy all the others. A counter is kept of zones remaining that have not been Occupied or Marked, and also of the number of mines apparently unmarked (ie, number of mines less number of markers used).
There is no immediate loss if a zone without a mine is Marked, however, the game cannot be won. A Marked zone may be unmarked again by pressing the <Space> key or the right mouse button on it. If an attempt is made to Occupy a zone with a mine, then the game is lost immediately.
At the end of the game the contents of all zones are revealed. Mines are shown as [
], and incorrectly placed Markers are displayed as [
Each time the game is won, the grid increases by 1, until it reaches 20x20. Each time it is lost, the grid decreases by 1. The ultimate objective is to win on the 20x20 grid.
Clock
At the top right of the Menu
Bar is a simple clock that displays the current day of the week, date and time. This clock reflects the system date and time set in your computer. g
The date and/or time may be changed through the Set
Date/Time operation on the Desktop
pulldown
menu. t
The format in which the date and time are displayed may be changed through the Country operation on the same menu.
The Desktop
The Desktop is the main work area on the screen. It may contain one or more Windows and Dialog
Boxes of different types.
There are many different kinds of windows in KATE. Some allow you to View or Edit files. Others, like the Calendar or Key
Codes give information of various kinds. Still others do simple functions like the Calculator or File
Manager.
You may customise the some aspects of the appearance or function of the desktop by using the operations on the Desktop
pulldown
menu.
Windows
Each Window on the Desktop has a Frame, a Title, and one or more Icons and Controls for handling the window and its contents. There may also be one or more Buttons to perform specific actions relating to the window.
There is a Close icon [
] in the top left corner of every window. Click on this with the left mouse button to close the window. =
Grab the Title Bar with the mouse to move the whole window.
There may be a Zoom icon in the top right corner of the window. If the window is full size (Maximised), the Zoom icon will look like [
]. Click on it with the left mouse button to Restore the window to its "normal" size. If the window is in its Restored state, then the icon will look like [
]. Click on it to Maximise it again. Edit and View windows start out the full size of the desktop, therefore their Restored and Maximised size is initially the same. $
There may also be a Resize icon
in the bottom right of the window. Grab this with the mouse to change the size of the window.
Note that all the above functions may also be performed with or without a mouse by using the operations on the Window
pulldown
menu.
Normal windows are usually "non-modal", which means they do not take control of the desktop while they are active. You may open and close them and switch between them as you like. ;
Note that Dialog
Boxes are just special kinds of Windows.
Dialog Boxes
Dialog Boxes are special types of Windows on the Desktop. Like any other window, they have a Frame, a Title, and a Close icon. However, they cannot normally be resized. T
Dialog boxes are usually shown to inform you of something that is happening, warn of possible consequences of an action, or ask for input from the user. To do this, they contain text to describe what is the purpose of the dialog box, one or more controls to accept information, and/or one or more buttons which tell KATE what to do next.
Use the <Tab> or <Shift+Tab> keys to jump forwards or backwards between the controls and buttons on the dialog box. Press <Esc> or press the [Cancel] button or click on the Close icon to quit out of the dialog box.
Because of their nature, dialog boxes are usually "modal", which means they take control of the whole desktop while they are displayed. You cannot do any other action until you have responded to the dialog box.
Icons
Icons are tiny pictorial representations of functions or objects that may be on Windows or Dialog
Boxes or on the Desktop itself. Clicking on icons with the mouse will either perform the function or open the object that the icon represents. ?
Following is a list of some of the most common icons in KATE.
] is a Close icon, which is in the top left hand
corner of every window and dialog box. Click
on it to close the window.
] is a Zoom icon showing that a resizable window
is at full size (Maximised). Click on it to
Restore the window.
] is a Zoom icon showing that a resizeable window
is at normal size (Restored). Click on it to
Maximise the window.
is a Resize icon which is at the bottom right
corner of every resizable window. Grab it with
the mouse to change the size of the window.
is a Page Up icon which is at the top of every
vertical Scroll Bar and some other places.
Click on it to page up one screen.
is a Page Down icon which is at the bottom of
every vertical Scroll Bar and some other
places. Click on it to page down one screen.
is a Page Left icon which is at the left of
every horizontal Scroll Bar and some other
places. Click on it to page left one screen.
is a Page Right icon which is at the right of
every horizontal Scroll Bar and some other
places. Click on it to page right one screen.
Controls
Controls are used to display information in a particular way, and/or accept input from the user. There are a number of different types of controls.
INPUT LINES:
Label
Input Lines are spaces where you can enter text or numeric data. They will often have a label to the left or immediately above to indicate what is expected to be entered. They may also have a History of previous entries into this input line which may be viewed and selected by pressing <Down> or clicking on the History button to the right of the input line. Often the type of input is restricted so that invalid data will not be accepted, such as alphabetic characters where a number is required. An example of an Input Line is the File
input
line at the top of the File
dialog
box.
CHECK BOXES:
[X] This option is selected
[ ] This option is not
Check Boxes are items which can be in just one of two states, such as ON/OFF or YES/NO. They may be on their own, or in groups of related entries such as in the Print
Options
dialog
box. Any number of check boxes in a group can be on or off. The state of each check box is toggled by jumping to it and pressing <Space> or by clicking on it.
RADIO BUTTONS:
) This option has been chosen
( ) These others have not
Radio Buttons, like Check Boxes, can be in one of two states, and are toggled in the same way. Unlike check boxes, only one radio button in a group may be on. In other words, they are used to indicate mutually exclusive options. See the Diary
window for an example.
LIST BOXES:
Label
First item in the list
Second item in the list
Third item in the list
Last item in the list
List Boxes are short or long lists of objects such as files or items, displayed in one or more columns. You may scroll through the list by pressing the <Up> and <Down> keys, or by clicking on the Scroll Bar which will usually be found to the right of the list box. An example of a list box is the File
box in the File
dialog
box. ~
An item in the list box is selected by moving the cursor to it and pressing <Enter> or <Space>, or by double clicking on it. >
If the list box allows its items to be changed, then a new item may be added by pressing <Insert> or selecting File
New from the Menu
Bar or pressing the [New] button. An item may be deleted by moving the cursor to it and pressing <Delete> or selecting File
Delete from the Menu Bar or pressing the [Delete] button.
Buttons
Buttons are found on many Dialog
Boxes and some other windows. Many functions of KATE are activated by "pressing" buttons. Many of these functions are also available from the Menu
Bar or Status
Line.
A button can be "pressed" either by clicking on it with the mouse, or by pressing the <Tab> key to highlight the button and then the <Space> or <Enter> keys. G
There are a number of standard buttons that are used throughout KATE.
[OK]
[Yes]
[No]
[New]
[Open]
[Save]
[Print]
[Compile]
[Copy]
[Move]
[Rename]
[Delete]
[Attribs]
[Make]
[Change]
[Remove]
[Synch]
[Pause]
[Continue]
[Options]
[Preview]
[Defaults]
[Cancel]
[ OK ]
If you choose [OK], the changes made in the dialog box are accepted, and the dialog box is closed.
[ Yes ]
If you choose [Yes], the action specified in the dialog box is performed, and the dialog box is closed.
[ No ]
If you choose [No], then no action is performed, and the dialog box is closed.
[ New ]
The [New] button will create a new instance of the selected object, such as a directory, file or individual item.
This action can also be performed by choosing New from the File
pulldown
menu, or by pressing <Ctrl+N>, or from some List Boxes by pressing the <Insert> key.
[ Open ]
The [Open] button will open a window to see and/or modify the selected object such as a directory, file or individual item.
This action can also be performed by choosing Open from the File
pulldown
menu, or by pressing <Ctrl+O>, or from most List Boxes by pressing the <Enter> or <Space> keys.
A file can be opened in a specific way by choosing one of the operations under the Open
submenu on the File pulldown menu.
[ Save ]
The [Save] button will save the selected object such as a file or individual item.
If the object is a file and it is Untitled (ie the window has been opened with the File
New operation) then the Save
dialog
box will be shown automatically so that a name can be assigned prior to saving.
If the object is in a Parent window (such as the main Diary window) then any Child windows are automatically saved along with the Parent. r
This action can also be performed by choosing Save from the File
pulldown
menu, or by pressing <Ctrl+S> or <F2>.
[ Print ]
The [Print] button will send the selected object such as a file or list to the Print
Manager to be printed on the default printer. k
This action can also be performed by choosing Print from the File
pulldown
menu, or by pressing <Ctrl+P>.
[ Compile ]
The [Compile] button will send the selected file to the Book
Compiler. Y
This action can also be performed by choosing Book
Compile from the File
pulldown
menu.
[ Copy ]
The [Copy] button will allow the creation of a copy of the selected file or directory. Q
This action can also be performed by choosing Copy from the File
pulldown
menu.
[ Move ]
The [Move] button will allow the selected object such as a file or directory to be moved. Q
This action can also be performed by choosing Move from the File
pulldown
menu.
[ Rename ]
The [Rename] button will allow the selected object such as a file to be renamed. S
This action can also be performed by choosing Rename from the File
pulldown
menu.
[ Delete ]
The [Delete] button will delete the selected object such as a file or individual item. A confirm
message dialog box will be shown before deleting the object.
This action can also be performed by choosing Delete from the File
pulldown
menu, or in some List Boxes by pressing the <Delete> key.
[ Attribs ]
The [Attribs] button will allow the date, time, and other attributes of the selected file to be changed. The File
Attributes
dialog
box will prompt for the new attribute data. T
This action can also be performed by choosing Attribs from the File
pulldown
menu.
[ Make ]
The [Make] button will create a new directory or sub-directory. m
This action can also be performed by choosing Make
Dir from the Directory
submenu on the File
pulldown
menu
[ Change ]
The [Change] button will make the selected directory the current default directory. o
This action can also be performed by choosing Change
Dir from the Directory
submenu on the File
pulldown
menu
[ Remove ]
The [Remove] button will delete the selected directory and all its contents. o
This action can also be performed by choosing Remove
Dir from the Directory
submenu on the File
pulldown
menu
[ Synch ]
The [Synch] button will allow the contents of two directories to be synchronised. n
This action can also be performed by choosing Synch
Dir from the Directory
submenu on the File
pulldown
menu
[ Pause ]
The [Pause] button will suspend the action in the current window, which may be the Print
Manager or Macro
Manager. A
Press the [Continue] button to resume the action in the window.
[ Continue ]
The [Continue] button will resume the action in the current window following activation of the [Pause] button or processing of the ".pause" Macro
Command or Print
Command.
[ Options ]
The [Options] button will display all the various options for the current window, and allow them to be changed. V
This action can also be performed by choosing Options from the Window
pulldown
menu.
[ Preview ]
The [Preview] button will allow you to see the effects of changes in a window or dialog box without committing the changes. v
Even after [Preview] has been selected, you may reverse the changes by selecting the [Defaults] or [Cancel] buttons.
[ Defaults ]
The [Defaults] button will change all settings and options in the current window back to their original default values.
[ Cancel ]
The [Cancel] button cancels any changes or pending actions and closes the dialog box. >
This action can also be performed by pressing the <Esc> key.
Menu Bar
All the functions in KATE can be accessed from the Menu Bar at the top of the screen above the desktop area. Selecting any item on the Menu Bar opens a pulldown menu which contains many operations that can be performed. Many of these operations can also be activated by shortcut
keys or from the Status
Line. z
The Menu Bar itself can be activated with the mouse by clicking on any menu item; or with the keyboard by pressing <F10> or </> and then using the cursor movement keys and <Enter> to select the required item; or by holding the <Alt> key and pressing the letter highlighted for a menu item, that pulldown menu is opened. For example, the "File" menu is pulled down by <Alt+F>. 8
There are seven pulldown menus listed on the Menu Bar. 1
File Edit View Tools Window Desktop Help
The Menu Bar also has a clock which shows the current day, date, and time.
Status Line
The Status Line is at the bottom of the screen below the desktop area. It displays some of the main Function key shortcut
keys with labels. It also shows the status of most of the toggle keys, such as the left and right <Shift>, <Ctrl>, <Alt>, <Num Lock>, <Caps Lock> and <Scroll Lock>.
Shortcut Keys
Most functions within KATE can be accessed directly by shortcut keys.
FUNCTION KEYS
<F1> Help about current object or task
<F2> Save the current file or item
<F3> Exit from KATE
<F4> Close the current window
<F10> Activate the Menu Bar
<Shift+F1> Help Index
MENU SHORTCUTS B
<Alt+F> Activate File pulldown menu
<Alt+E> Activate Edit pulldown menu
<Alt+V> Activate View pulldown menu
<Alt+T> Activate Tools pulldown menu
<Alt+W> Activate Window pulldown menu
<Alt+D> Activate Desktop pulldown menu
<Alt+H> Activate Help pulldown menu
CURSOR MOVEMENT KEYS +
<Up> Move cursor up one line
<Down> Move cursor down one line
<Left> Move cursor left one character
<Right> Move cursor right one character
<PageUp> Move cursor one page up
<PageDown> Move cursor one page down
<Home> Move cursor to beginning of line
<End> Move cursor to end of line
<Ctrl+Left> Move cursor one word to the left
<Ctrl+Right> Move cursor one word to the right
<Ctrl+PageUp> Move cursor to beginning of file
<Ctrl+PageDown> Move cursor to end of file
In editor windows, hold down the <Shift> key with <Up>, <Down>, <Left>, <Right>, <PageUp>, <PageDown>, <Home> and <End> to select blocks of text as the cursor moves.
EDITOR SHORTCUTS
<Alt+A> Search (Locate or Replace) Again
<Alt+I> Toggle between Indent and Flush mode
<Alt+L> Locate text
<Alt+R> Replace text
<Alt+U> Undo changes since last cursor move
<Ctrl+Delete> Erase selected area
<Shift+Delete> Cut selected area to Clipboard
<Ctrl+Insert> Copy selected area to Clipboard
<Shift+Insert> Paste Clipboard contents
FILE SHORTCUTS
<Ctrl+N> New file or item
<Ctrl+O> Open file or item
<Ctrl+F> Open file
<Ctrl+E> Edit file as Text
<Ctrl+V> View file as Text
<Ctrl+H> View file as Hex
<Ctrl+U> User Viewer
<Ctrl+S> Save file or item
<Ctrl+A> Save file As
<Ctrl+P> Print file or list
<Ctrl+C> Copy file
<Ctrl+M> Move file
<Ctrl+R> Rename file
WINDOW SHORTCUTS
<Alt+O> Options
<Alt+F4> Close window
<Alt+F5> Zoom (maximise/restore) window
<Alt+F7> Move or Resize window
<Shift+F4> Close all windows on desktop
<Shift+F5> Tile windows on desktop
<Shift+F6> Cascade windows on desktop
<Shift+F7> Jump to Previous window
<Shift+F8> Jump to Next window
<Shift+F9> Jump to Parent window
<Shift+F10> Jump to Child window
OTHER SHORTCUTS !
<Alt+X> Exit from KATE
File menu
<Alt+F>
The File pulldown menu on the Menu
Bar contains operations to open and manipulate files, change directories, and exit the program.
New Create a new text file or individual item
Open Open (to run, edit or view) a file or item
Open
File Open (to run, edit or view) a file
Open
To Open a file in a specific way
Save Save the current file or item
Save
As Save the current file with a new name
Print Print a file or list on the default printer
Compile
Book Compile a file into a Book
Directory Perform operation on a directory
Copy Copy a file to another name, directory or drive
Move Move a file to another name, directory or drive
Rename Rename a file
Delete Delete a file or item
Exit Exit from KATE
Open To
The Open To submenu on the File
pulldown
menu contains operations to open an existing file in a particular way.
Associate Associate a file extension with a specific program
Edit
Text Edit a new or existing file in text form
View
Text View an existing file in text form
View
Hex View an existing file in hex form
User
Viewer View a file with a user defined program
Disk Drive
The Disk Drive submenu on the File
pulldown
menu contains operations that relate to whole disks or drives. -
Format:FormatDsk} Format a diskette
Label Disk:LabelDsk} Set a disk volume label
Check Disk:CheckDsk} Check a disk
Copy Disk:CopyDsk} Copy a whole diskette
Defrag Disk:DefragDsk} Defragment a disk
Virus Disk:VirusDsk} Check disk for viruses
Backup Disk:BackDsk} Backup a disk
Directory
The Directory submenu on the File
pulldown
menu contains operations that relate to whole directory trees.
Make
Dir Make a new directory
Change
Dir Change the default directory
Copy
Dir Copy a directory
Move
Dir Move a directory
Synch
Dir Synch contents of two directories
Remove
Dir Delete a directory
<Ctrl+N>
The New operation on the File
pulldown
menu creates a new instance of the currently selected object. l
If there is no object currently selected, then a new untitled File
Editor
window is opened on the desktop.
Open
<Ctrl+O>
The Open operation on the File
pulldown
menu opens the currently selected object, such as a directory, file or individual item.
If the selected object is a file, or if no object is currently selected, then the Open
dialog
box is displayed as per the File
File operation.
If have an object selected, but want to open another file rather than the selected object, then use the File
Open File operation.
If the file chosen is already open in a window on the desktop, then that window is brought to the front rather than opening the file again in another window.
Open File
<Ctrl+F>
The Open File operation on the File
pulldown
menu displays the Open
dialog
box so that a new or existing file can be entered or selected for opening in the default manner. g
If a file has already been selected, such as in the File
Manager then the file is opened immediately.
Note that this is different from the Open operation in that it can only be used to open a file. This is useful when you are already in a window that has individual items that can be opened, but you want to open another file. H
The file extension is used to determine how the file should be opened:
Firstly, the list in the File
Association
window is consulted to see whether the extension of the selected file is defined to be associated with another program. If so, then that program is run using the name of the selected file as a parameter.
If the file extension is not associated with any program, then KATE uses its own internal list of file extensions to identify the type of file, and "open" it in an appropriate fashion. KATE knows about the following file extensions: H
".COM" and ".EXE" and ".BAT" files are programs, so they are executed. M
".MAC" files are KATE Macros, so they are played through the Macro
Manager. 6
".KDY" is a KATE Diary, so a Diary
window is opened. ;
".KBK" is a KATE Book, so a Book
Viewer
window is opened. u
".BAK" and ".DSK" and ".$$$" are temporary files or should not be edited, so the Text
Viewer
window is opened. g
For all other files, provided they are less than 64K bytes in size, the File
Editor
window is opened.
If the file chosen is already open in a window on the desktop, then that window is brought to the front rather than opening the file again in another window.
You may override the default manner of opening, or open a second window with the same file, either by using the file association mechanism or by selecting one of the specific opening methods on the Open
submenu.
Open File dialog box
The Open File dialog
box allows a file to be entered or selected.
This dialog box contains:
a File
input
line with a history list
a File
box to browse the directory
a File
information
panel that describes
the selected file
Press <Enter> or the [Open] button to open the selected object. V
Press <Esc> or the [Cancel] button to close the dialog box without opening anything.
Open To
Associate
The Associate operation on the Open
submenu on the File
pulldown
menu opens the File
Association
window which allows specific file extensions to be linked with other programs.
If a file has already been selected, then the File
Association
dialog
box is opened immediately with the extension of the selected file already filled in.
File Association dialog box
The File Association dialog
box allows you to enter a file extension, associated program name, an some options as to how the program will be executed. X
The File Extension must commence with a period "." followed by up to three characters.
The associated Program Name should be a fully qualified name such as "c:\qpro\q.exe". It may also be followed by additional parameters, such as in "c:\utils\backup.exe /e /t /s". 7
If Prompt For Parameters is checked, then the program name and all parameters will be shown in a dialog box prior to running the program, allowing any parameters may be added, changed or deleted. If this option is not checked, then the program is run immediately without any additional prompt for parameters.
If Maximum Memory Required is checked, then KATE will completely unload itself to run the program. This is done through the ".BAT" Macro
Command. If this option is not checked, then only the memory that is not being used by KATE is available for the program, in a similar manner to the use of the ".DOS" Macro Command. Selecting Maximum Memory Required makes considerably more memory available for the program, but increases the time required to unload and reload KATE. P
Press <Enter> or the [OK] button to save the new or modified file association. \
Press <Esc> or the [Cancel] button to close the dialog box without saving the association.
Execute Program dialog box
The Execute Program dialog
box allows you to enter parameters for the program that you are about to run. Some parameters may already be filled in from the File
Association
dialog
box or the Desktop
Options
dialog
box.
You may also select the Maximum Memory Required check box to completely unload KATE and make all memory available to the program to be run. This is done through the use of the ".BAT" Macro
Command. If this option is not checked, then only the memory that is not being used by KATE is available for the program, in a similar manner to the use of the ".DOS" Macro Command. Selecting Maximum Memory Required makes considerably more memory available for the program, but increases the time required to unload and reload KATE. :
Press <Enter> or the [OK] button to execute the program. [
Press <Esc> or the [Cancel] button to close the dialog box without executing the program.
Open To
Edit as Text
<Ctrl+E>
The Edit as Text operation on the Open
submenu on the File
pulldown
menu displays the Edit
dialog
box. o
If a file that can be Edited has already been selected, then a Text
Editor
window is opened immediately.
Note that this operation will open a new window containing the selected file whether or not the file is already open in another window.
Edit Text File dialog box
The Edit Text File dialog
box allows a file to be selected. This will then open a normal Text
Editor
window which allows you to see and modify the selected file.
This dialog box contains:
a File
input
line with a history list
a File
box to browse the directory
a File
information
panel that describes
the selected file
Press <Enter> or the [Open] button to edit the selected file. T
Press <Esc> or the [Cancel] button to close the dialog box without editing a file.
Open To
View as Text
<Ctrl+V>
The View as Text operation on the Open
submenu on the File
pulldown
menu displays the View
dialog
box. o
If a file that can be Viewed has already been selected, then a Text
Viewer
window is opened immediately.
Note that this operation will open a new window containing the selected file whether or not the file is already open in another window.
View Text File dialog box
The View Text File dialog
box allows a file to be selected. This will then open a normal Text
Viewer
window which allows you to see, but not change, the selected file.
This dialog box contains:
a File
input
line with a history list
a File
box to browse the directory
a File
information
panel that describes
the selected file
Press <Enter> or the [Open] button to view the selected file. T
Press <Esc> or the [Cancel] button to close the dialog box without viewing a file.
Open To
View as Hex
<Ctrl+W>
The View as Hex operation on the Open
submenu on the File
pulldown
menu displays the View
dialog
box. i
If a file that can be Viewed has already been selected, then a Hex
Viewer
window is opened immediately.
Note that this operation will open a new window containing the selected file whether or not the file is already open in another window.
View Hex File dialog box
The View Hex File dialog
box allows a file to be selected. This will then open a normal Hex
Viewer
window which allows you to see, but not change, the selected file.
This dialog box contains:
a File
input
line with a history list
a File
box to browse the directory
a File
information
panel that describes
the selected file
Press <Enter> or the [Open] button to view the selected file. T
Press <Esc> or the [Cancel] button to close the dialog box without viewing a file.
Open To
User Viewer
<Ctrl+U>
The User Viewer operation on the Open
submenu on the File
pulldown
menu displays the View
dialog
box.
If a file has already been selected, then the User Viewer Program is run immediately, using the name of the file selected as a parameter.
View User File dialog box
The View User File dialog
box allows a file to be selected. This will then run the User Viewer Program as defined through the Desktop
Options
dialog
box.
This dialog box contains:
a File
input
line with a history list
a File
box to browse the directory
a File
information
panel that describes
the selected file
Press <Enter> or the [Open] button to view the selected file. T
Press <Esc> or the [Cancel] button to close the dialog box without viewing a file.
Save
<Ctrl+S> or <F2>
The Save operation on the File
pulldown
menu saves the currently selected object, such as a file or individual item.
If the object is a file and it is Untitled (ie the window has been opened with the File
New operation) then the Save
dialog
box will be shown automatically so that a name can be assigned prior to saving.
If the object is in a Parent window (such as the main Diary window) then any Child windows are automatically saved along with the Parent.
Save As
<Ctrl+A>
The Save As operation on the File
pulldown
menu displays the Save
dialog
box. This allows the current file to be saved under a new name.
Save File As dialog box
The Save File As dialog
box allows a file to be selected, or a new name to be entered. This will then save the current file under that name. When a file is saved under a new name, the original file if any, remains unchanged under it's old name.
This dialog box contains:
a File
input
line with a history list
a File
box to browse the directory
a File
information
panel that describes
the selected file
Press <Enter> or the [Save] button to save the current file under the new name. U
Press <Esc> or the [Cancel] button to close the dialog box without saving the file.
Print
<Ctrl+P>
The Print operation on the File
pulldown
menu prints the currently selected object, which may be a file or list of items. The object is printed by sending it to the Print
Manager. R
If no object is currently selected, then the Print
dialog
box is displayed.
Print File dialog box
The Print File dialog
box allows an object such as a file or list of items to be selected. The object will then be sent to the Print
Manager for printing on the default printer.
This dialog box contains:
a File
input
line with a history list
a File
box to browse the directory
a File
information
panel that describes
the selected file
Press <Enter> or the [Print] button to print the selected object. W
Press <Esc> or the [Cancel] button to close the dialog box without printing anything.
Compile Book
The Compile Book operation on the File
pulldown
menu displays the Compile
dialog
box. t
If a file object that can be Compiled has already been selected, then it is sent to the Book
Compiler immediately.
Compile Book dialog box
The Compile Book dialog
box allows a file to be selected. The file will then be sent to the Book
Compiler.
This dialog box contains:
a File
input
line with a history list
a File
box to browse the directory
a File
information
panel that describes
the selected file
Press <Enter> or the [Compile] button to compile the selected file. V
Press <Esc> or the [Cancel] button to close the dialog box without compiling a file.
Copy
<Ctrl+C>
The Copy operation on the File
pulldown
menu displays the Copy
dialog
box in which you can select a file or files that you want to copy.
If a file has already been selected, then the Copy
dialog
box is displayed to ask for the name of the new copy of the file.
If a directory has already been selected, then the Copy
Directory
dialog
box is displayed to ask for the name of the new copy of the directory.
Copy File dialog box
The Copy File dialog
box allows a file or files to be selected for copying. A second Copy
dialog
box is then displayed to ask for the name of the new copy of the file.
Wildcards are acceptable for both the "Copy From" and "Copy To" file names. In this way, multiple files may be copied at once.
This dialog box contains:
a File
input
line with a history list
a File
box to browse the directory
a File
information
panel that describes
the selected file
Press <Enter> or the [Copy] button to display the Copy To File dialog box. T
Press <Esc> or the [Cancel] button to close the dialog box without copying a file.
Copy To File dialog box
The Copy To File dialog
box allows a name for the copy of the previously selected file to be entered. Q
Wildcards are acceptable, and will be resolved from the "Copy From" file names. =
Press <Enter> or the [OK] button to copy the file or files. T
Press <Esc> or the [Cancel] button to close the dialog box without copying a file.
Move
<Ctrl+M>
The Move operation on the File
pulldown
menu displays the Move
dialog
box in which you can select a file or files that you want to move.
If a file has already been selected, then the Move
dialog
box is displayed to ask for the name of the new location of the file.
If a directory has already been selected, then the Move
Directory
dialog
box is displayed to ask for the name of the new location of the directory.
Move File dialog box
The Move File dialog
box allows a file or files to be selected for moving to another drive or directory. A second Move
dialog
box is then displayed to ask for the name of the new location of the file.
Wildcards are acceptable for both the "Move From" and "Move To" file names. In this way, multiple files may be moved at once.
This dialog box contains:
a File
input
line with a history list
a File
box to browse the directory
a File
information
panel that describes
the selected file
Press <Enter> or the [Move] button to display the Move To File dialog box. S
Press <Esc> or the [Cancel] button to close the dialog box without moving a file.
Move To File dialog box
The Move To File dialog
box allows the destination of the previously selected file to be entered. Q
Wildcards are acceptable, and will be resolved from the "Move From" file names. =
Press <Enter> or the [OK] button to move the file or files. S
Press <Esc> or the [Cancel] button to close the dialog box without moving a file.
Rename
<Ctrl+R>
The Rename operation on the File
pulldown
menu displays the Rename
dialog
box in which you can select a file or files that you want to rename. {
If a file has already been selected, then the Rename
dialog
box is displayed to ask for the new name of the file.
Rename File dialog box
The Rename File dialog
box allows a file or files to be selected for renaming. A second Rename
dialog
box is then displayed to ask for the new name of the file.
Wildcards are acceptable for both the "Rename From" and "Rename To" file names. In this way, multiple files may be renamed at once.
This dialog box contains:
a File
input
line with a history list
a File
box to browse the directory
a File
information
panel that describes
the selected file
Press <Enter> or the [Rename] button to display the Rename To File dialog box. U
Press <Esc> or the [Cancel] button to close the dialog box without renaming a file.
Rename To File dialog box
The Rename To File dialog
box allows a new name for the previously selected file to be entered. S
Wildcards are acceptable, and will be resolved from the "Rename From" file names. ?
Press <Enter> or the [OK] button to rename the file or files. U
Press <Esc> or the [Cancel] button to close the dialog box without renaming a file.
Delete
<Ctrl+D>
The Delete operation on the File
pulldown
menu deletes the currently selected object, such as a directory, file or individual item. If no object is selected, then the Delete
dialog
box is displayed.
Delete File dialog box
The Delete File dialog
box allows a file to be selected. _
Wildcards are acceptable as a file name. In this way, multiple files may be deleted at once.
This dialog box contains:
a File
input
line with a history list
a File
box to browse the directory
a File
information
panel that describes
the selected file
Press <Enter> or the [Delete] button to delete the selected file or files. U
Press <Esc> or the [Cancel] button to close the dialog box without deleting a file.
Attribs
The Attribs operation on the File
pulldown
menu displays the File
Attributes
dialog
box in which the Date, Time and other attributes of the currently selected file or files may be and altered.
File Attributes dialog box
The File Attributes dialog
box allows you to change the date, time and certain flags for one or more files.
Enter the Date in the format as specified in Country Options. If only two digits are entered for the year, then it will presume a year in the 20th century. If any of the year, month, or day are omitted then those fields will not be changed. 2
Enter the Time in either 12 hour format followed by an "A" or "P", or in 24 hour format. If the seconds are omitted (ie only HH:MM is entered) then the time will be set to the exact minute. If both the minutes and seconds are omitted (ie only HH is entered) then the time will be set to the exact hour. G
Select any or all or none of the other attributes in the check boxes. g
Press <Enter> or the [OK] button to update the file with the new attributes and close the dialog box. b
Press <Esc> or the [Cancel] button to close the dialog box without changing the file attributes.
Directory
Make Directory
The Make Dir operation on the Directory
submenu on the File
pulldown
menu displays the Make
Directory
dialog
box. In this dialog box you can enter the name of a directory to create. h
In the File
Manager, if a new directory name has already been entered, then it is created immediately.
Make Directory dialog box
The Make Directory dialog
box allows a new directory or subdirectory to be created.
The dialog box contains:
a File
input
line with a history list
a Directory
box to browse the directory
a File
information
panel that describes
the selected directory
Press <Enter> or the [Open] button to navigate around the directory tree.
Type in a new directory name, then press <Alt+K> or the [Make] button to create a new directory with that name and close the dialog box. Z
Press <Esc> or the [Cancel] button to close the dialog box without creating a directory. I
The new directory name may be either an absolute or relative directory. O
An absolute directory has a fully specified path, in the form "X:\DIR1\DIR2".
If the directory is on the same drive as the one currently displayed in the dialog box then the drive letter may be omitted, as in "\DIR1\DIR2". =
If the new directory is a subdirectory of some place on the tree currently being displayed, then it may be specific in relative form, as in "DIR3" or "DIR4\DIR5", or even "..\DIR6". For example, if the File input line is displaying "C:\KATE\" and you enter "DATA" then the directory "C:\KATE\DATA" will be created.
Every level in the subdirectory tree is automatically created if necessary. For example, if only the "\DATA" directory exists, and the program is requested to make directory "\DATA\FINANCE\BUDGETS", then the "\DATA\FINANCE" directory is also created.
Directory
Change Directory
The Change Dir operation on the Directory
submenu on the File
pulldown
menu displays the Change
Directory
dialog
box. In this dialog box you select the directory you want to be the default.
Change Directory dialog box
The Change Directory dialog
box allows a new directory to be specified as the default. The default directory is the one whose contents are displayed first when the File
Manager or any file dialog box is opened.
This dialog box contains:
a File
input
line with a history list
a Directory
box to browse the directory
a File
information
panel that describes
the selected directory
Press <Enter> or the [Open] button to navigate around the directory tree so that the appropriate directory can be selected. |
Press <Alt+H> or the [Change] button to make the selected directory to be the current directory, and close the dialog box. d
Press <Esc> or the [Cancel] button to close the dialog box without changing the current directory. E
The directory name may be either an absolute or relative directory. O
An absolute directory has a fully specified path, in the form "X:\DIR1\DIR2".
If the directory is on the same drive as the one currently displayed in the dialog box then the drive letter may be omitted, as in "\DIR1\DIR2". =
If the new directory is a subdirectory of some place on the tree currently being displayed, then it may be specific in relative form, as in "DIR3" or "DIR4\DIR5", or even "..\DIR6". For example, if the File input line is displaying "C:\KATE\" and you enter "DATA" then directory "C:\KATE\DATA" becomes the default.
Directory
Copy Dir
The Copy Dir operation on the Directory
submenu on the File
pulldown
menu displays the Copy
Directory
dialog
box in which you can select the directory that you want to copy.
If a directory has already been selected, then the Copy
Directory
dialog
box is displayed to ask for the name of the new copy of the directory. K
When a directory is copied, all subdirectories within it are also copied.
Copy Directory dialog box
The Copy Directory dialog
box allows a directory to be selected for copying to another drive or directory. A second Move
Directory
dialog
box is then displayed to ask for the name of the new location of the directory.
This dialog box contains:
a File
input
line with a history list
a Directory
box to browse the directory
a File
information
panel that describes
the selected directory
Press <Enter> or the [Copy] button to display the Copy To Directory dialog box. Y
Press <Esc> or the [Cancel] button to close the dialog box without copying a directory. K
When a directory is copied, all subdirectories within it are also copied.
Copy To Directory dialog box
The Copy To Directory dialog
box allows the destination of the new copy of the previously selected directory to be entered. 9
Press <Enter> or the [OK] button to move the directory. X
Press <Esc> or the [Cancel] button to close the dialog box without moving a directory.
Directory
Move Dir
The Move Dir operation on the Directory
submenu on the File
pulldown
menu displays the Move
Directory
dialog
box in which you can select the directory that you want to move.
If a directory has already been selected, then the Move
Directory
dialog
box is displayed to ask for the name of the new location of the directory. I
When a directory is moved, all subdirectories within it are also moved.
Move Directory dialog box
The Move Directory dialog
box allows a directory to be selected for moving to another drive or directory. A second Move
Directory
dialog
box is then displayed to ask for the name of the new location of the directory.
This dialog box contains:
a File
input
line with a history list
a Directory
box to browse the directory
a File
information
panel that describes
the selected directory
Press <Enter> or the [Move] button to display the Move To Directory dialog box. X
Press <Esc> or the [Cancel] button to close the dialog box without moving a directory. I
When a directory is moved, all subdirectories within it are also moved.
Move To Directory dialog box
The Move To Directory dialog
box allows the destination of the previously selected directory to be entered. 9
Press <Enter> or the [OK] button to move the directory. X
Press <Esc> or the [Cancel] button to close the dialog box without moving a directory.
Directory
Synch Dir
The Synch Dir operation on the Directory
submenu on the File
pulldown
menu displays the Synch
Directory
dialog
box through which the contents of two drives or directories can be synchronised and brought up to date with each other. X
When two directories are synchronised, all their subdirectories are also synchronised.
Synch Directory dialog box
The Synch Directory dialog
box allows a drive and/or directory to be selected so that its contents may be synchronised with another drive or directory. A second Synch
Directory
dialog
box is then displayed to ask for the name of the second directory. =
Directory synchronisation involves copying files in both directions to ensure that both drives or directories contain the latest versions of all the files in each. Any file in either directory or its subdirectories will by copied to the other one if the other has an older version or does not have the file at all. X
Two diskettes can be synchronised through the same drive using a three
stage
approach.
The Synch Dir function is particularly useful when connecting two PCs together, such as a notebook and a desktop, to ensure that both machines receive any changes made on the other.
This dialog box contains:
a File
input
line with a history list
a Directory
box to browse the directory
a File
information
panel that describes
the selected directory
Press <Enter> or the [Open] button to navigate around the directory tree so that the appropriate directory can be selected. U
Press <Alt+Y> or the [Synch] button to display the Synch With Directory dialog box. W
Press <Esc> or the [Cancel] button to close the dialog box without copying any files.
Synch With Directory dialog box
The Synch With Directory dialog
box allows the name of the second drive or directory involved in the synchronisation to be entered. \
A drive cannot be synchronised with itself in one go: a three
stage
approach may be taken. `
Press <Enter> or the [OK] button to copy the file or files to synchronise the two directories. W
Press <Esc> or the [Cancel] button to close the dialog box without copying any files.
Synchronising diskettes in the same drive
Two diskettes can be synchronised in the same drive by using another drive as an intermediary. (Use a hard disk as the intermediary if possible, and create a temporary directory on it so that other files on the hard disk are not accidentally included in the Synch operation).
The synchronisation is done in three steps: 1. Synch the first diskette with the intermediary, 2. Synch the second diskette with the intermediary, then 3. Synch the first diskette with the intermediary again.
Directory
Remove Directory
The Remove Dir operation on the Directory
submenu on the File
pulldown
menu displays the Remove
Directory
dialog
box. In this dialog box you select the directory you want to delete.
If a directory has already been selected, then the directory and all its contents (including any subdirectories) are deleted immediately.
Remove Directory dialog box
The Remove Directory dialog
box allows a directory to be deleted. Note that all files and subdirectories in the directory are completely deleted by this function, so use it with care.
The dialog box contains:
a File
input
line with a history list
a Directory
box to browse the directory
a File
information
panel that describes
the selected directory
Press <Enter> or the [Open] button to navigate around the directory tree so that the appropriate directory can be selected. r
Press <Alt+E> or the [Remove] button to delete the selected directory and its contents and close the dialog box. d
Press <Esc> or the [Cancel] button to close the dialog box without changing the current directory. f
Note that all files and subdirectories are completely deleted by this function, so use it with care.
File/Directory Name input line
Name
The Name input line is where you enter the name of the directory or file, or a file mask to use as a filter for the Files
box ("*.*" for example). Pressing the Down arrow key, or clicking on the History button to the right of the input line, opens a small window with a list of previous entries that may be selected.
Directory Tree list box
Tree
[Drives]
C:\
KATE
DATA
FRED
JANE
The Directory Tree list box shows the directory structure down to the currently selected directory.
Press the <Tab> key if necessary to move the cursor to the list box, then use the arrow keys to highlight a directory. Press <Enter> or <Space> to select it.
File list box
List
FILENM01.DOC
FILENM08.TXT
FILENM02.TXT
FILENM09.MDF
FILENM03.DOC
FILENM10.KDY
FILENM04.MAC
EXTRA\
FILENM05.MAC
TUTOR\
FILENM06.DOC
..\
FILENM07.DOC
The File list box lists the names of files in the current directory that match the file mask in the Name
input
line, plus the parent directory and all subdirectories.
Press the <Tab> key if necessary to move the cursor to the list box, then use the arrow keys to highlight a file or directory name. Press <Enter> or <Space> to select it.
File information panel
Disk Size 42366976 Free 5228544
C:\KATE\DATA\*.DOC
LETTER.DOC 3803 4 Apr 1993 12:30:45 ---A
The File information panel shows two or three lines of data about the selected disk, directory and file. The third line is not displayed in the Make
Directory or Change
Directory or Remove
Directory dialog boxes. U
The first line gives the total size, and free space, of the selected disk in bytes. O
The second line gives the selected path name, and current file mask (if any). u
The third line gives the file name, size, date, time and other attributes of the selected file. The attributes are 5
R Read Only
H Hidden
S System File
A Archive
If any attribute is not set, then it's place is denoted by "-". Therefore if a file's attributes are "R--A" then it's Read Only and Archive attributes are set, but the others are not. =
None of the items on this information panel are selectable.
Exit
<Alt+X> or <F3>
The Exit operation saves the current state of the desktop and terminates the program.
Edit menu
<Alt+E>
The Edit pulldown menu on the Menu
Bar contains operations to change the contents of a file, search for text, and work with the Clipboard.
Indent
Mode Toggle between Indent and Flush mode
Undo Undo changes since last cursor move
Erase Erase selected area
Cut Cut selected area to Clipboard
Copy Copy selected area to Clipboard
Paste Paste in Clipboard contents
Show
Clipboard Show the Clipboard
Locate Locate a character string
Replace Replace a character string
Search
Again Locate or Replace again
Indent Mode
The Indent Mode operation on the Edit
pulldown
menu toggles between Indent and Flush mode. By default, Editor
windows are in Indent mode. This means that when a new line is entered, the cursor automatically indents the text to line up with the first character of the line above. If Flush mode is selected, then all text starts at the very beginning of each line.
Undo
The Undo operation on the Edit
pulldown
menu reverses the addition and/or deletion of any characters since the last time the cursor was moved.
Erase
The Erase operation on the Edit
pulldown
menu deletes the currently selected text, if any.
The Cut operation on the Edit
pulldown
menu deletes the currently selected text and copies it to the Clipboard.
Copy
The Copy operation on the Edit
pulldown
menu copies the currently selected text to the Clipboard.
Paste
The Paste operation on the Edit
pulldown
menu copies the contents of the Clipboard (which is there as a result of a previous Cut or Copy operation) to the current cursor position. If there is any text already selected, then that text is deleted and replaced by the text from the clipboard.
Show Clipboard
The Show Clipboard operation on the Edit
pulldown
menu opens a File
Editor
window to show the contents of the Clipboard. Like other windows, this can be removed from the desktop at any time by pressing <F4> or clicking on the Close icon.
Locate
The Locate operation on the Edit
pulldown
menu displays the Locate
dialog
box, where you can search for text in a document.
Locate dialog box
The Locate dialog
box allows you to search a file in a File
Editor
window for specific text (either a single character or string of characters).
This dialog box consists of an input line where the "Text to locate" is entered, and two check boxes which determine how the search will be performed. 5
The search starts from the current cursor position. >
If the "Case sensitive" option is checked, the search will match only upper case with upper case and lower case with lower case, therefore "Alf" will not match with "alf" or "ALF". If it is not checked (which is the default), then case differences will be ignored, and "Alf" would match "alf" or "ALF" or "alF" etc. :
If the "Whole words only" option is checked, the search will match only whole words, therefore "trip" would not match "tripped". If it is not checked (which is the default), then the characters can match anywhere in a word, or even across words, therefore "trip" would match "tripped", "tripod" or "stripe" etc. l
Only the first matching text will be shown. However, further text can be found by selecting Search
Again.
Replace
The Replace operation on the Edit
pulldown
menu displays the Replace
dialog
box, where you can search for and replace text in a document.
Replace dialog box
The Replace dialog
box allows you to search a file in a File
Editor
window for a specific text (either single character or string of characters), and replace it with other text or with nothing.
This dialog box consists of an input line where the "Text to locate" is entered, another input line where the "New text" is entered, and four check buttons which determine how the search and replace will be performed. 5
The search starts from the current cursor position. =
If the "Case sensitive" option is checked, the search will match only upper case with upper case and lower case with lower case, therefore "Alf" will not match with "alf" or "ALF". If it is not checked (which is the default), then case differences will be ignored, and "Alf" would match "alf" or "ALF" or "alF" etc. <
If the "Whole words only" option is checked, the search will match only whole words, therefore "trip" would not match "tripped". If it is not checked (which is the default), then the characters can match anywhere in a word, or even across words, therefore "trip" would match "tripped" or "tripod" or "stripe" etc.
If the "Prompt on replace" option is checked (which is the default), then you will be shown the matching text and asked if you would like it to be replaced or not. If it is not checked, then the text will be replaced without further prompting.
If the "Replace all" option is checked, then the search will continue through the whole file and all matching text will be replaced. If it is not checked, then only the first matching text will be replaced. However, further text can be replaced by selecting Search
Again.
Search Again
<Alt+A>
The Search Again operation on the Edit
pulldown
menu performs the last Locate or Replace again from the current cursor position. In this way, a complete document can be searched.
View menu
<Alt+V>
The View pulldown menu on the Menu
Bar contains operations which define the way in which some particular windows such as the Diary display their information. If the current window is capable of displaying the information in the manner requested then it does so, otherwise a new window is opened to display it.
Day Display items for selected day
Week Display items for following week
Month Display items for selected month
Year Display items for selected year
Do Display items not completed
All Display all items
The View Day operation on the View
pulldown
menu displays all items for the currently selected day.
Week
The View Week operation on the View
pulldown
menu displays all items for the currently selected day and the following six days.
Month
The View Month operation on the View
pulldown
menu displays all items for the currently selected month.
Year
The View Year operation on the View
pulldown
menu displays all items for the currently selected year.
To Do
The View To Do operation on the View
pulldown
menu displays all items which are dated prior to or on the currently selected day, and which are not Status "Completed" or "Ongoing".
The View All operation on the View
pulldown
menu displays all items in the list.
Tools menu
<Alt+T>
The Tools pulldown menu on the Menu
Bar contains operations to invoke a number of built in utility, information and game windows. J
Program
Starter Menu of programs and Macros
File
Manager Manipulate files on the disk
Macro
Manager Manage the macro queue
Print
Manager Manage the print queue
Calculator Four function desktop calculator
Calendar Calendar for any month of any year
Diary Continuous Diary and To Do list
Post
Note Post a reminder note on the desktop
Mine
Sweeper Mine Sweeper game
Tile
Puzzle Tile Puzzle game
Keyboard
Codes List of ASCII keyboard codes
Memory
Monitor See what memory KATE is using
Tools
Program Starter
The Program Starter operation on the Tools
pulldown
menu puts a simple Program
Starter on the desktop. ;
The Program Starter is a customizable menu to run Macros.
Tools
File Manager
The File Manager operation on the Tools
pulldown
menu puts a simple File
Manager on the desktop. U
The File Manager allows DOS files to be opened, changed, moved, copied, or deleted.
Tools
Print Manager
The Print Manager operation on the Tools
pulldown
menu displays the Print
Manager on the desktop.
The Print Manager allows the print queue to be viewed and manipulated, and has a typewriter function for printing individual lines.
Tools
Macro Manager
The Macro Manager operation on the Tools
pulldown
menu displays the Macro
Manager on the desktop.
The Macro Manager allows the macro queue to be viewed and manipulated, and has an input line for entering individual macro commands.
Tools
Calculator
The Calculator operation on the Tools
pulldown
menu puts a four function Calculator on the desktop.
Tools
Calendar
The Calendar operation on the Tools
pulldown
menu puts a small Calendar on the desktop. O
The Calendar displays the current month, and allows you to view other months.
Tools
Diary
The Diary operation on the Tools
pulldown
menu puts a Diary on the desktop.
The Diary allows you to enter past, current or future events; show summaries by day, week, month and year; have automatic reminders, alarms, and running of programs; and produce a To Do list.
Tools
Post A Note
The Post A Note operation on the Tools
pulldown
menu puts a small Post
Note on the desktop. _
The Post Note allows you to enter a few lines of text as a reminder to yourself of something.
Tools
Tile Puzzle
The Tile Puzzle operation on the Tools
pulldown
menu puts a Tile
Puzzle game on the desktop.
Tools
Mine Sweeper
The Mine Sweeper operation on the Tools
pulldown
menu puts a Mine
Sweeper game on the desktop.
Tools
Keyboard Codes
The Keyboard Codes operation on the Tools
pulldown
menu puts a Keyboard
Codes
window on the desktop.
The Key Codes window displays the ASCII Codes in the IBM PC character set, with decimal and hexadecimal equivalents, plus the full codes for any valid key combination on the keyboard.
Tools
Memory Monitor
The Memory Monitor operation on the Tools
pulldown
menu puts a simple Memory
Monitor on the desktop. C
The Memory Monitor shows how much memory is left for KATE to use.
Window menu
<Alt+W>
The Window pulldown menu on the Menu
Bar contains operations to close, move and change the size of windows, and switch between them. ;
The following window management operations are available. 9
Close Close active window
Zoom Maximise or Restore active window
Move/Size Move or Resize active window
Prev Go to Previous window
Next Go to Next window
Parent Go to Parent window
Child Go to Child window
Options Set options for active window
Window
Close
<Alt+F4>
The Close operation on the Window
pulldown
menu closes the active window. n
You can also click the Close icon [
] in the upper left hand corner of any window or dialog
box to close it. [
Select the Close
All operation on the Desktop
pulldown
menu to close all windows at once.
Window
Zoom
<Alt+F5>
The Zoom operation on the Window
pulldown
menu Maximises the active window (ie, expands it to the full size of the desktop). If the window is already maximised, selecting this operation will Restore it to its previous size.
You can also double click anywhere on the window's Title Bar except on the Close icon, or click on the Zoom icon ([
] or [
]) to Maximise or Restore the window.
Window
Move/Size
<Alt+F7>
The Move operation on the Window
pulldown
menu changes the size or position of the active window. F
The window will go into Move mode, which is indicated by a change in colour of the border frame. While in Move mode, press the arrow keys alone to move the whole window in that direction. Hold down the Shift key and press the arrow keys to expand or contract the window. When complete, press Enter to terminate Move mode. E
Windows can also be moved by dragging the Title Bar with the Mouse.
If a window has a Resize corner in the bottom right (a single line corner of a different colour to the rest of the frame), then the window can be Resized by dragging that corner with the mouse.
Window
Prev
<Shift+F7>
The Prev operation on the Window
pulldown
menu cycles backwards through the windows on the desktop.
Window
Next
<Shift+F8>
The Next operation on the Window
pulldown
menu cycles forwards through the windows on the desktop.
Window
Parent
<Shift+F9>
The Parent operation on the Window
pulldown
menu locates and displays the Parent window (if any) of the current window on the desktop.
Window
Child
<Shift+F10>
The Child operation on the Window
pulldown
menu locates and displays the first Child window (if any) of the current window on the desktop.
Window
Switch To
The Switch To operation on the Window
pulldown
menu doesn't do anything at the moment.
Window
Options
The Options operation on the Window
pulldown
menu displays a dialog
box with all the various options and settings relating to the current window. Most of these options may be altered or reset to default values from the dialog box.
Desktop menu
<Alt+D>
The Desktop pulldown menu on the Menu
Bar contains operations to alter the appearance or function of the whole desktop.
Close
All Close all windows on the desktop
Tile Arrange windows in tiled fashion
Cascade Arrange windows in cascade fashion
User
Logon Change the current User name
Save Save the state of the desktop
Restore Restore the state of the desktop
Alarm
Off Turn off the audible alarm
Blank
Screen Blank the screen immediately
Options Set options for the desktop
Mouse Change the behaviour of the mouse
Video
Mode Change the screen size and/or type
Colours Change default colours
Country Set country options
Date/Time Set System Date and Time
Prompt Enter DOS commands or run programs
Desktop
Close All
<Shift+F4>
The Close All operation on the Desktop
pulldown
menu closes all windows on the desktop. z
To close just the active window, select the Close operation on the Window
pulldown
menu, or click on its Close icon [
Desktop
Tile
<Shift+F5>
The Tile operation on the Desktop
pulldown
menu arranges all resizeable windows on the desktop in a tiled fashion.
Tiled
Windows
Desktop
Cascade
<Shift+F6>
The Cascade operation on the Desktop
pulldown
menu arranges all resizeable windows on the desktop in a cascaded fashion.
Cascaded
Windows
Desktop
User Logon
The User Logon operation on the Desktop
pulldown
menu displays the User
Logon
dialog
box on the desktop. =
This dialog box allows the current User name to be changed.
User Logon dialog box
The User Logon dialog
box allows the current User to be changed. Each user has a unique name up to 8 characters long. There are separate default Desktop files, Menu
Definition
files and Diaries for each user. When KATE is first run, the default User name is "DEFAULT". {
If a new User name is entered, then the existing desktop is saved for the old User, and the new User's desktop is loaded. X
Press <Enter> or the [OK] button to accept the new User name and close the dialog box. d
Press <Esc> or the [Cancel] button to close the dialog box without changing the current User name.
Desktop
Save
The Save operation on the Desktop
pulldown
menu saves the state of all windows on the desktop to a file called username.DSK. G
This file can be restored by selecting the Desktop
Restore operation. F
The desktop is automatically saved when KATE is terminated normally.
Desktop
Restore
The Restore operation on the Desktop
pulldown
menu restores the state of all windows on the desktop from a file called username.DSK. 4
This file is saved via the Desktop
Save operation. Z
The desktop is automatically restored to it's last saved state whenever KATE is started.
Desktop
Alarm Off
The Alarm Off operation on the Desktop
pulldown
menu turns the audible Alarm off if it has previously been activated by the Diary.
Alarm
The Diary has set the Alarm off to remind you of something. An alarm
message will have popped up to tell you what it was for. P
The alarm can be turned off by selecting AlarmOff on the Desktop
pulldown
menu
Desktop
Blank Screen
The Blank Screen operation on the Desktop
pulldown
menu immediately blanks the screen so eliminate the possibility of "burning in" images that are displayed for a long time. G
Blank Screen is activated automatically after a period of inactivity.
A small window on the blank screen indicates that the screen saver is in operation. Press any key on the Keyboard, or move the Mouse, to restore the screen to it's normal state.
Desktop
Options
The Options operation on the Desktop
pulldown
menu displays the Desktop
Options
dialog
box showing all the various options and settings relating to the whole program. These options may be altered from the dialog box.
Desktop Options dialog box
Selecting the Options operation on the Desktop
pulldown
menu displays the Desktop Options dialog
box showing the various options which define some of the overall behaviour of KATE.
User Viewer Program: This is the name of the program that will be called by the Open
Viewer operation on the File
pulldown
menu. Enter the program name fully qualified, with directory, name and file extension (eg "C:\NORTON\VIEW.EXE").
User Blanker Program: An external program may be specified here as a replacement to the internal Screen Blanker. If this is not blank, then this program is run after a period of inactivity of the mouse and keyboard. If it is blank, then the normal Screen Blanker is activated instead.
Desktop
Mouse
The Mouse operation on the Desktop
pulldown
menu displays the Mouse
Options
dialog
box, where you can set various options that control how your Mouse works, including how fast a double click is, and whether to reverse the operation of the mouse buttons.
Mouse Options dialog box
The Mouse Options dialog
box allows you to change the settings that control how the Mouse operates. It consists of a Slider Bar and Check Box.
Mouse Double Click
Fast Medium Slow
The Mouse Double Click slider bar adjusts the double click speed of the mouse. You can try out the speed by clicking on the "Mouse Double Click" text. ^
[X] Reverse Mouse Buttons
Reverse Mouse Buttons makes the right mouse button take on the normal functions of the left and vice versa. ]
Press <Enter> or the [OK] button to accept the new mouse settings and close the dialog box. a
Press <Esc> or the [Cancel] button to close the dialog box without changing the mouse settings.
Desktop
Video Mode
The Video Mode operation on the Desktop
pulldown
menu displays the Video
dialog
box, where you can set the number of lines displayed on the screen, and whether to display in Colour, Black & White or Monochrome.
Video Mode dialog box
The Video Mode dialog
box allows you to change the character mode of the video display.
Screen Size refers to the number of lines that will be displayed. The first option displays the normal 25 lines on the screen. The second allows 43 lines to be displayed on EGA systems or 50 lines on VGA systems. The default is 25 lines.
Screen Type refers to the colour scheme that your video card and monitor can best display. This will be set to Colour, Black & White or Monochrome automatically depending on the type of video adapter that you have. However, if your monitor is not capable of displaying this properly then you may want to alter it. For example, Notebook computers with black and white LCD displays, although they have colour adaptors, will probably be much more readable on the Black&White setting. Y
Press <Enter> or the [OK] button to accept the new video mode and close the dialog box. ]
Press <Esc> or the [Cancel] button to close the dialog box without changing the video mode.
Desktop
Colours
The Colours operation on the Desktop
pulldown
menu displays the Colours
dialog
box, where you can customise all the colours on the desktop.
Colours dialog box
The Colours dialog
box allows you to change the colours of the desktop, menus and windows. It consists of two list boxes, a text display area, and either two colour palettes (on colour and black and white systems), or a set of radio buttons (on monochrome systems).
Group
Desktop
Menus
Editors
Information
Games
Dialogs
Help
Blanker
The Group list box contains the names of the different regions of the program that you can customise. e
Item
Frame passive
Frame active
When you select a group from the Group list, the Item list box displays the names of the different views in that region.
Foreground
Background
On colour and black and white systems, you use the Foreground and Background palettes to modify colours.
Colours
) Normal
( ) Bold
( ) Underline
( ) Inverse
( ) Bold Undr
( ) Bold Invr
On monochrome systems, you use the Colours set of radio buttons to modify the character attributes. Q
Text Text Text
Text Text Text
On all systems, the display text shows the current colour or attribute settings. V
Press <Enter> or the [OK] button to accept the new colours and close the dialog box. S
Press the [Preview] button to display the new colours without committing to them. f
Press the [Defaults] button to return all settings to their default values and close the dialog box. Z
Press <Esc> or the [Cancel] button to close the dialog box without changing any colours.
Desktop
Country
The Country operation on the Desktop
pulldown
menu displays the Country
Options
dialog
box, where you can customise the Date, Time, Numeric and Currency formats.
Country Options dialog box
The Country Options dialog
box allows you to change the Date, Time, Numeric and Currency formats from the default values for the country that are set in DOS.
Before making any changes to the Country Options however, first check that DOS is set up correctly for your country. The CONFIG.SYS file should normally contain a command which sets the country number, something like this: "
COUNTRY=061,,C:\DOS\COUNTRY.SYS
If this command is present and correct for your country, then most formatting options will be as you want them. This dialog box can then be used to do special customising.
Note that any changes made to the Country Options are only used within this program. Other programs will continue to use their own settings or the defaults set by DOS. r
Press <Enter> or the [OK] button to accept the new formatting options for this country and close the dialog box. t
Press the [Defaults] button to return all formatting options to their DOS default values and close the dialog box. e
Press <Esc> or the [Cancel] button to close the dialog box without changing any formatting options.
Desktop
Set Date/Time
The Set Date/Time operation on the Desktop
pulldown
menu displays the Set
System
Date/Time
dialog
box, where you can change the date and/or time of the system clock. The Country operation may be used to change the format in which dates and times are displayed.
Set System Date/Time dialog box
The Set System Date/Time dialog
box allows you to change the date and time of the system clock.
Enter the Date in the format as specified in Country options. If only two digits are entered for the year, then it will presume a year in the 20th century. If any of the year, month, or day are omitted then those fields will not be changed. 2
Enter the Time in either 12 hour format followed by an "A" or "P", or in 24 hour format. If the seconds are omitted (ie only HH:MM is entered) then the time will be set to the exact minute. If both the minutes and seconds are omitted (ie only HH is entered) then the time will be set to the exact hour. \
Press <Enter> or the [OK] button to accept the new date and time and close the dialog box. _
Press <Esc> or the [Cancel] button to close the dialog box without changing the date or time.
Desktop
DOS Prompt
The DOS Prompt operation on the Desktop
pulldown
menu freezes KATE temporarily to enable you to execute a DOS command or run another program. C
Any spare heap space that is not being used by KATE (as indicated in the Memory
Monitor) is made available to DOS. If there is not enough space to do what you want in DOS, try closing down all the windows in KATE before calling the DOS Prompt. Alternatively, to free up all KATE's memory, use the ".BAT" Macro
command.
Note that the DOS Protected mode edition of KATE is often able to free up almost as much memory for the Dos Prompt as can the ".BAT" macro command. See memory for more information. ?
When complete, type EXIT at the DOS prompt to return to KATE.
Help menu
<Alt+H>
The Help pulldown menu on the Menu
Bar gives access to a number of different types of assistance and information about KATE. The following operations are available.
Help Get help about the current object or action
Help
Index See a list of major Help topics
Using
Help Find out how to use the help system
About
KATE See program and author information
Documentation View additional documentation
Troubleshoot View system configuration information
Registration View registration and support information
Copy
Program Make a Shareware copy of this program
Using Help
KATE has an extensive context sensitive hypertext-style Help system. It is activated in any one of the following ways:
WITH THE KEYBOARD:
1. Press the <F1> key, or
2. Press the <F10> key then press
<H> to activate the Help pulldown and
<H> again to activate Help.
WITH THE MOUSE: .
1. Move the mouse pointer over the "F1 Help"
text at the bottom left of the screen and press one of the mouse buttons, or 0
2. Move the mouse pointer over the "Help" menu
at the top of the screen and press a mouse button, then move the mouse pointer down to the first item in the pulldown menu and press a mouse button again. _
From anywhere in the Help system you can get back to this information by pressing <F1> again.
It is context sensitive, because the Help screen that is shown is related to the specific object, window, dialog, menu item, or control that is currently selected on the screen. At any time in KATE you can get Help about the thing you are currently doing or looking at. @
You can get the Help
Index at any time by pressing <Shift+F1>.
It is hypertext style, because most Help screens provide links to other related Help information. These links are identified by highlighted text on the Help screen. (You can see these at the bottom of this page.) The related information can be obtained by pressing the <Tab> key to select the required topic and pressing <Enter> on the keyboard, or by moving the mouse pointer over the highlighted text and double clicking a mouse button. _
You may now want to get further information about KATE, or it's Menu
Bar, desktop or windows.
About
The About operation on the Help
pulldown
menu displays a window showing program details, copyright information, and registration status.
About dialog box
The About dialog
box shows program name, version, date and edition, copyright information, and whether the program is registered or not. V
To close the dialog box press the <Esc>, <Space> or <Enter> key, or the [OK] button.
Documentation
The Documentation operation on the Help
pulldown
menu opens a Text
Viewer
window and displays the contents of the KATE.DOC file which comes on the original installation diskettes.
This file contains a general description of KATE, installation procedures, the history of the program, and any last minute information that may not be included in the Manual or online Help. N
See Help
Registration for information on pricing, registration, and support.
Troubleshoot
The Troubleshoot operation on the Help
pulldown
menu creates a file called TROUBLE.RPT containing a range of information about the hardware, drives, memory, operating system and configuration of your computer. A Text
Viewer
window is then opened to display the contents of the file. k
The information in this file can be very useful in tracking down problems with this or any other program. H
See Help
Documentation for more helpful information about KATE itself.
Registration
The Registration operation on the Help
pulldown
menu opens a Text
Viewer
window and displays the contents of the REGISTER.DOC file which comes on the original installation diskettes. R
This file contains all pricing and registration details and support information. O
See Help
Documentation for product information and installation instructions.
Copy Program
The Copy Program operation on the Help
pulldown
menu allows the program to be copied. This operation can only be performed if all the necessary files are in the directory where KATE is installed.
If all files are present and the copy can be made, then the Copy
Program
dialog
box is displayed so that the copy destination can be specified, otherwise the Copy
Program
Error
dialog
box is shown.
Copy Program dialog box
The Copy Program dialog
box gives some information about copying KATE. As this program is Shareware, it may be freely copied, provided that the copy is made using this operation, and that the copy is not modified in any way.
The copy can only be made if all the necessary files are in the directory where KATE is installed. The display of this dialog box indicates that all files are present, and the copying process can begin.
You will need to insert a pre-formatted diskette in drive A: or Drive B:. Any normally formatted 3.5" or 5.25" diskette can be used as long as it has at least 300KB of free space. n
Press <Enter> or <Space> or <Alt+A> or the [Drive A:] button to begin copying KATE to the A: diskette drive. X
Press <Alt+B> or the [Drive B:] button to begin copying KATE to the B: diskette drive. Y
Press <Esc> or the [Cancel] button to close the dialog box without copying the program.
Copy Program Error dialog box
The Copy Program Error dialog
box states that KATE cannot be copied because some files are missing from the directory in which it is installed. KATE will have to be reinstalled from the original Installation Disk to reinstate the missing files before this operation will work. V
Re-installing KATE will not effect any options or settings that you have customised. V
To close the dialog box press the <Esc>, <Space> or <Enter> key, or the [OK] button.
Product Registration dialog box
The Product Registration dialog
box allows genuinely registered users to "imprint" their Serial Number and other details into the program. This not only identifies the rightful holder of the software license, but it also prevents the program from displaying any more registeration reminder notices. .
You need to enter the following information:
SERIAL NUMBER: is as specified on your Registration Certificate. Note that alphabetic characters must be entered in upper case. F
NAME: is your own name in any format, just as you like it displayed. ^
OF: is your company or business name, department, or address, just as you like it displayed.
Take care in entering this information, as you will not be able to alter it without completely reinstalling the program from your Registered Installation Disk. `
Press <Enter> or <Space> or the [OK] button to accept the information and imprint the program. \
Press <Esc> or the [Cancel] button to close the dialog box without imprinting the program.
Warning message
The Warning message dialog
box warns you of an action that is about to be performed that cannot be easily undone. Typically, this may be the deletion of a file or item. O
Press the <Enter> key or the [OK] button to continue to carry out the action. K
Press the <Esc> or <F4> keys or the [Cancel] button to cancel the action.
Error message
The Error message dialog
box tells you that an error of some type has occurred. The message may also describe some action that needs to be taken. V
Press the <Enter> or <Esc> or <F4> keys or the [OK] button to close the message box.
Information message
The Information message dialog
box conveys information of an incidental nature. No action needs to be taken as a result of this information. h
You can also generate Information messages by the use of the ".INFORM" macro
command or print
command. V
Press the <Enter> or <Esc> or <F4> keys or the [OK] button to close the message box.
Confirm message
The Confirm message dialog
box asks for confirmation before performing an action on a particular object. It is often used when an action has been selected for a whole series of objects, such as replacing all occurrences of a word, or renaming a group of files. x
Press the <Enter> or <Y> keys or the [Yes] button to carry out the action on this object and go on to the next object. X
Press the <N> key or the [No] button to skip this object and go on to the next object. f
Press the <Esc> or <F4> keys or the [Cancel] button to cancel the action for all subsequent objects.
Reminder message
The Reminder message dialog
box gives you a message from the Diary. You can create reminders by setting the "Reminder" option in the Diary
window. V
Press the <Enter> or <Esc> or <F4> keys or the [OK] button to close the message box.
Alarm message
The Alarm message dialog
box gives you a message from the Diary and sounds an audible alarm. You can create alarms by setting the "Alarm" option in the Diary
window. V
Press the <Enter> or <Esc> or <F4> keys or the [OK] button to close the message box. P
The alarm can be turned off by selecting AlarmOff on the Desktop
pulldown
menu
Book Compiler
The Book Compiler converts a normal text file into a KATE Book, which is a hypertext style document. A Book is made up of many topics with links between topics to connect related information. This Help system (which you are currently reading) is itself a Book which was compiled in this way.
Whenever the Book
Compile operation is selected from the File
pulldown
menu, the selected file is sent to the Book Compiler. If there is no file, then the Compile
dialog
box is displayed. '
The Book Compiler will create a new file in the same directory, and with the same file name, but with the extension ".KBK". (If the file name is "HELP", then a symbol file is also generated, which is of use to Pascal programmers who want to use the Book in the Help system of their programs.) A
Books can be viewed by the user through the Book
Viewer
window. [
To create a KATE Book, the input text file needs just a few special tags and identifiers.
Each topic in the Book is given a name (i.e Introduction), and optionally a page number. The text following the topic line is put into the Book, which can then be viewed in a Book viewer window which displays one whole topic at a time. $
The syntax for a ".topic" line is: -
.topic name[=number][, name[=number][...]]
Note that a topic can have multiple names that define it. The page number is optional, and is generally only used internally by the Book viewer, so would not normally be required. Once a page number is assigned, all following topic symbols will be assigned numbers in sequence. For example: &
.topic Introduction=3, Intro, Start
will assign page numbers 3, 4 and 5 to topics "Introduction", "Intro" and "Start" respectively. D
Since the Book viewer window can be resized, some of the text will need to be wrapped to fit into the window. If a line of text is flush left with no preceding white space, the line will be wrapped. All adjacent lines that can be wrapped are wrapped as a paragraph. If a line begins with a space it will not be wrapped. N
For example, the following is a topic in a Book about someone's family tree. t
|.topic Grandad
| Grandfather Williams
| --------------------
|Thomas Edward Williams was born in Surrey in...
The "Grandfather Williams" line will not be wrapped with the "-----------" line since they both begin with a space, but the "Thomas Edward..." line will be wrapped.
Cross references can be embedded in the text of a topic to allow the user to quickly access related topics. The format for a cross reference is as follows:
{text[:alias]}
The text in curly brackets is highlighted by the Book viewer. This text can be selected by the user, and will take the user to the topic by the name of the text. Sometimes the text will not be the same as a topic name. In this case you can use the optional alias syntax. The real name of the topic is placed after the text, separated by a ":". The following is a paragraph of text using cross references; the first with an alias and the second without:
|When Nigel was sixteen, {Grandfather Williams:Grandad}
|gave him a gift that he treasured for the rest of his life.
|It was a cuckoo clock, finely crafted, which was kept in the
|family residence at {Geelong} until his death.
The user can press the <Tab> key or use the mouse to select more information about "Grandfather Williams" or "Geelong". q
If you want to use a left curly bracket in the text of a topic itself, then simply put two together as follows: m
Nigel Williams {{ Lived together in a miner's }
Betty Williams {{ shack at Hill End until 1874 }
The text within the curly brackets does not constitute a cross reference, as it starts with a double curly bracket. When the text is compiled, this will just look like normal text within single curly brackets. V
The Book Compiler handles forward references, so a topic need not be defined before it is cross referenced. If a topic is referenced but not defined, the compiler will give a warning message, but will still create a usable Book. If the undefined reference is used, a message ("No help available...") will appear in the Book viewer window.
Comment lines may be added to the input text file by prefixing them with double dots "..". These lines are ignored by the Book Compiler.
Note that each individual paragraph in a topic cannot be more than about 1000 characters long. If your topics are longer than this, then break them up into multiple paragraphs by inserting blank lines throughout the topic.
Menu Definition File
The Program Starter menus are defined in a Menu Definition File such as "DEFAULT.MDF". Special dot commands are used to define the specific parts of the whole menu structure.
.title xxx Defines the name of the first
or primary menu. This is
optional, and defaults to
"MAIN MENU" if not specified.
.menu xxxx Defines a new menu level,
with name xxxx
.item xxxx Defines a new item within
a menu, with name xxxx
.end Defines the end of the current
menu level
.. Comment line
Any other non-blank lines are the actual Macro
Commands to be executed. ;
Following is an example of a simple Menu Definition File.
.title My Main Menu
.menu Applications Menu
.item Quattro Pro 4
.bat cd \qpro
.bat q
.item WordStar 7
.bat cd \ws\text
.bat \ws\ws
.item Calculator
.end
.item Norton Commander
.bat \nu\norton
.menu Utilities Menu
.item Check Hard Disk
.bat chkdsk /f c:
.bat pause
.item Format Diskette in A:
.dos format a:
.item Norton Backup
.bat cd \nbackup
.bat nbackup
.end
Macros
Macros are one or more Macro
Commands which can be DOS commands to be processed by the operating system, special dot commands that are recognised by the Macro Processor, or short sequences of keystrokes to be fed into KATE to perform predetermined functions. #
Macros can be used in three ways:
Firstly, they can be entered as parameters when KATE is invoked. For example, if you enter on the command line "kate /ts", then KATE is run and the Program Starter is placed on the desktop automatically. In fact, the KMENU.BAT program does exactly this. C
Secondly, they can be used in the Program
Starter. Every line in the Menu
Definition
File which is not a Program Starter dot command, is treated as a command for the Macro Processor. For example, the line "/tf\dos\*.*~" would cause that menu item to open the File Manager and display all the files in the DOS directory.
Thirdly, they can be used in the Diary. Macros can be set to run at specific times and days by putting items in the Diary
window with the "Macro" field checked and the macro line itself entered in the "Macro" field. For example, the entry ".dos backup \mydata\*.* a:" would backup everything in the \MYDATA directory automatically on each day according to the "D.o.w", "Day", Month" and "Year" fields, at the time specified in the "Time" field.
Print Options
Pressing the [Options] button on the Print
Manager displays the Print Options dialog
box which displays the options which define the formatting that the Print Manager does.
Text Format: If this option is on, text will be read one line at a time and output will be formatted. Turn this option off to print files exactly as they are without any formatting.
Print Page Numbers: If this option is on, page numbers will automatically be printed at the bottom of each page. Turn this option off to suppress printing of page numbers.
Use Form Feeds: If this option is on, the Form Feed character will be sent to the printer at the bottom of each page. Turn this option off to send multiple Line Feeds instead.
Pause Between Pages: If this option is on, the Print Manager will pause at the end of every page. Turn this option off if you have continuous stationery in your printer. )
Page Length: Number of lines per page. B
Page Offset: Number of columns left blank at left side of page. S
Left Margin: Number of columns text is indented, in addition to the Page Offset. q
Right Margin: Number of columns from Page Offset to the Right Margin. This value is not used by Print Manager. F
Top Margin: Number of lines from top of page to first line of text. H
Bottom Margin: Number of lines from bottom of text to bottom of page. R
Header Margin: Number of lines between last Header Line and first line of text. R
Footer Margin: Number of lines between last line of text and first Footer Line.
Header 1-3: Header Lines
Footer 1-3: Footer Lines. M
Note that all the above options may be set with WordStar-like Dot
Commands. M
Press the [Defaults] button to return all settings to their default values.
Print Commands
The Print
Manager handles a number of WordStar-like dot commands and special characters. These can be embedded in text files, or typed directly in the Print Manager window. G
The following dot commands are available (default values shown by [])
PAGE FORMATTING COMMANDS {
.pa Go to next page
.cp nn Go to next page if < nn lines left
.pl nn Set page length to nn [66]
.pn nn Set current page number to nn [1]
.op Do not print page numbers
.pg Print page numbers []
.po Set Page Offset to nn [0]
.lm nn Set Left Margin to nn [0]
.rm nn Set Right Margin to nn [65]
.mt nn Set Top Margin to nn [3]
.mb nn Set Bottom Margin to nn [8]
.hm nn Set Header Margin to nn [2]
.fm nn Set Footer Margin to nn [2]
.he xxxx Set Header Text line 1 to xxxx
.h2 xxxx Set Header Text line 2 to xxxx
.h3 xxxx Set Header Text line 3 to xxxx
.fo xxxx Set Footer Text line 1 to xxxx
.f2 xxxx Set Footer Text line 2 to xxxx
.f3 xxxx Set Footer Text line 3 to xxxx
.fi ffff Print file name ffff at this point
OPTION SETTING COMMANDS
.defaults Reset options to default values
.format on Text file: process dot commands [on]
.format off Binary file: ignore dot commands
.formfeed on Use Form Feeds at page ends [on]
.formfeed off Use Carriage Returns at page ends
.inform xxxx Display xxxx in an information box
.pause Pause the Print Manager
.pausebtw on Pause between pages [on]
.pausebtw off Do not pause between pages
.. Comment line
Dot commands must always start in column 1. They may be entered in upper or lower or mixed case. Spaces between the command and the parameter are optional (eg, ".lm2" ".lm 2" ".lm 2" will all set the left margin to 2. For commands that have parameters of "on" and "off", "1" is the same as "on" and "0" is the same as "off". E
See Print
Options for further information about the above commands. l
Special characters, such as print control characters, may be entered in the format "\nnn", where nnn is a three digit number. This will pass the character with ASCII code nnn to the printer. This allows any character, including those otherwise unprintable or inaccessible by the keyboard, to be entered. See the KeyCodes
window for a full list of ASCII codes.
Macro Options dialog box
Pressing the [Options] button on the Macro
Manager displays the Macro Options dialog
box showing the various options which define the way in which Macros are processed.
Batch Name: This should contain the name of the batch file which runs KATE. Normally this is KMENU, but this must be changed if the batch file has been renamed. I
Note that the above options may be set with WordStar-like Dot
Commands. M
Press the [Defaults] button to return all settings to their default values.
Macro Commands
Macros are made up of one or more Macro Commands. Each command may be either 1) a DOS command to be processed by the operating system, 2) a special dot command that is recognised by the Macro Processor, or 3) a short sequence of keystrokes to be fed into KATE as if they had been typed at the keyboard.
1) DOS commands are identified by the dot commands ".DOS" and ".BAT". These denote the two different ways in which commands may be passed to DOS by KATE.
In the first method, KATE simply makes its free memory available to DOS to process the command. This makes the command execute very quickly, but means these is only limited memory available for the command to process. For example, the macro command
.dos chkdsk c: /f
would work fine, because the CHKDSK program does not need much memory to operate correctly. m
In the second method of running DOS commands, KATE completely removes itself from memory and makes it all available to DOS. This enables very large programs to run just as if they had been activated from the DOS command line, however it causes a slight delay after the command has been run, as KATE must then reload itself. Multiple DOS commands may be run one after the other before KATE reloads. Note that for this method of processing DOS commands to work, KATE must be run from the special startup program KMENU.BAT, and the name of the startup program must be properly entered in the Desktop
Options
dialog
box.
In the following example:
.bat cd \lotus
.bat 123
would unload KATE, change directories and run Lotus 123, then reload KATE after 123 had been terminated. W
2) Macros may also include other dot commands. The following commands are available 9
.defaults Reset options to default values
.edit xxxx Edits the file xxxx (as per File
Text)
.inform xxxx Display xxxx in an information box
.keyin yyyy Adds keystrokes yyyy to keyboard buffer
.open xxxx Opens the file xxxx (as per File
File)
.pause Pause the Macro Manager
.play xxxx Plays the macro file xxxx (equivalent to ".open xxxx.mac")
.view xxxx Views the file xxxx (as per File
Text)
.wait nnn Waits for approximately nnn hundredths of a second
.. Comment line
Dot commands must always start in column 1. They may be entered in upper or lower or mixed case. For commands that have parameters of "on" and "off", "1" is the same as "on" and "0" is the same as "off". M
See Macro
Options for further information about some of the above commands. "
3) The final type of Macro command is simply a string of keystrokes that are processed exactly as if they had been typed directly into KATE. Some special symbols are used to depict keys that cannot otherwise be entered into a macro. These symbols are translated by the macro processor. '
"~" (Tilde) is equivalent to <Enter> C
"/" (Slash) is equivalent to <F10>, which activates the Menu
"\x" (Backslash followed by a single character) mimics some other frequently used keys on the keyboard. The character may be in upper or lower case. The full list is as follows:
\C Escape
\T Tab
\S Shift+Tab (reverse tab)
\B Backspace
\I Insert
\D Delete
\H Home
\E End
\P Page Up
\N Page Down
\L Cursor Left
\R Cursor Right
\U Cursor Up
\W Cursor Down
Any other character following a backslash is treated
literally. For example, "\Q" is equivalent to "Q".
To get a literal backslash, enter "\\".
"\nnn" (Backslash followed by a three digit number) will enter the character with ASCII code nnn. This allows any character, including those otherwise unprintable or inaccessible by the keyboard, to be entered. See the KeyCodes
window for a full list of ASCII codes. Y
All other alphabetic, numeric, and punctuation characters are used exactly as they are.
As an example, the command "abcdefg" would simply type the first seven characters of the alphabet into the currently active window, which might be an editor. With the Tilde character we can simulate the <Enter> key, so that the command "*.DOC~" in the File Manager window would cause it to display all files with a ".DOC" file extension in the current directory. And with the Slash character we can access the Menu Bar, so the Macro "/tc" would place the Calculator on the desktop.
Match Mask
A Match Mask is a way of entering fields which are imprecise, or which cover a range or set of values. They are commonly used for matching against another field or value (the Reference Field) which contains precise values. T
An example of the use of Match Masks is in the Diary
window, where, for example, the Month can be entered either as an exact value (which will match only that month), or a Match Mask (which may match for any number or all months). In this example, the Diary Item contains the Match Mask and the current Month is the Reference Field. J
Match Masks are very flexible, and offer many ways of expressing values.
EQUAL TO: "=" or nothing in front of a value signifies that the value must exactly equal the Reference Field for the Mask Match to be true.
NOT EQUAL TO: "NOT " or "<>" in front of a value signifies that the value must not match the Reference Field for the total Match Mask to be true.
LESS THAN: "<" in front of a value signifies that the value must be less than the Reference Field for the Match Mask to be true.
LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO: "<=" in front of a value signifies that the value must be less than or equal to the Reference Field for the Match Mask to be true.
GREATER THAN: ">" in front of a value signifies that the value must be greater than the Reference Field for the Match Mask to be true.
GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO: ">=" in front of a value signifies that the value must be greater than or equal to Reference Field for the Match Mask to be true.
SOUNDS LIKE: For alphabetic fields, "LIKE " in front of a value signifies that the value must sound like the Reference Field for the Mask Match to be true. Note that the first character must still match exactly.
BOTH MUST MATCH: AND between two values signifies that both values must match the Reference Field for the total Match Mask to be true.
EITHER MAY MATCH: OR between two values signifies that either value may match the Reference Field for the total Match Mask to be true. I
WILDCARD CHARACTER MATCHING: Certain characters have special meanings. b
"*" in the Match Mask is equal to any number of
characters in the Reference Field.
"?" in the Match Mask is equal to any one character
in the Reference Field.
"@" in the Match Mask is equal to any one alphabetic
character in the Reference Field.
"#" in the Match Mask is equal to any one numeric
character in the Reference Field.
OPTIONAL CHARACTERS: Square Brackets [ ] signify optional characters which may or may not be in the Reference Field for the Match Mask to be true. }
NESTING: Round Brackets ( ) signify nesting of values, and can be used to force the order of evaluation of the Match Mask.
ADDITIONAL NOTES: ]
Match Masks are not case sensitive, therefore "FRED" equals "Fred" which equals "fred" etc. v
Leading and trailing blanks are ignored when matching, therefore "A" is less than " B" and "GG" is equal to " GG ".
Where both the Match Mask and the Reference Field are completely numeric, then leading zeros are automatically added to ensure that proper sequence is maintained, therefore "2" is less than "12" and "05" equals "5".
EXAMPLES 6
Match Mask Reference Fields which match
"CHAIR " "chair", " Chair", "chAIR "
"=CHAIR" "chair", " Chair", "chAIR "
"<=AHG" "A", "AHF", "AHG"
">AFF" "AFFA", "AFG", "B"
"like fred" "Fred", "fried", "FREED"
">1980 and <2000" "1981", "1993", "01999"
"1 or 3 or 5" "1", "003", "05"
"b*" "Blue", "bluff", "brief", "b"
"b*f" "bluff", "brief" "bf"
"f* or *f" "Fred", "bluff", "fluff"
"IN??@" "in00p", "inxyz", "IN&$A"
"d[octo]r" "Dr", "Doctor"
"(a* or c*) and *l" "all", "call", "carol", "chill"
The Keyboard
The keyboard is the main way that information is entered into KATE. All functions of KATE can be accessed by the keyboard or the Mouse. To speed things up even more, many common operations may be done quickly through the use of Shortcut
Keys, which are either the Function Keys or two other keys pressed together.
There are several styles of keyboard available. The most common one is the Enhanced keyboard with 101 keys, which looks something like the picture below. However, KATE will operate just fine with any keyboard.
THE ENHANCED KEYBOARD
- - - -
The Mouse
All functions in KATE can be accessed by the Mouse or the Keyboard. The Mouse however cannot be used for entering text. Y
KATE, like many other programs, allows you to use the mouse in many very flexible ways.
You can "select" objects by moving the mouse so that the mouse pointer on the screen is over the object, and then pressing the left mouse button once. Some action may then be performed on the selected object.
You can perform the default action on an object (usually "Open") by "double clicking" on the object. This is like selection, but the mouse button is pressed twice in rapid succession. H
You can move or copy many objects using "drag and drop". This is done by moving the mouse pointer over an object and pressing and holding the left mouse button. This will "grab" the object. Now "drag" it by moving the mouse. When you have moved to the destination location, "drop" the object by releasing the mouse button.
The Mouse
dialog
box on the Desktop
pulldown
menu can be used to alter the way the mouse operates with KATE. For example, you can reverse the functions of the left and right mouse buttons, and you can alter the speed of a double click.
There are several styles of mouse available. They will have either two or three buttons, and may look something like one of the pictures below. KATE requires only a two button mouse, but a three button mouse will work just fine - just ignore the middle button.
computer <
computer <
Memory
KATE comes in two editions. The one you are running can be identified by selecting the About operation on the Help
pulldown
menu.
1. The DOS Real mode edition uses the normal Real mode of the 8086 and higher processors. It can use only up to 640KB of Normal memory, and some Expanded memory if available. In addition to the operating system and TSRs, all KATE's code and fixed data, plus the stack and the heap (which is all the dynamically allocated data such as windows and dialogs and their contents) must fit within that 640KB (or less if your system does not have 640KB). The Memory
Monitor shows how much memory is being consumed by each of the above.
The code is overlaid, so not all of it needs to be read into memory together. The amount of memory allocated to overlaid code is adjusted depending on the amount of memory available, giving an appropriate balance between speed and memory usage. *
If you have Expanded Memory then the overlay file is copied there when KATE is started. Less Normal memory needs to be allocated to overlaid code, and the code can be read from Expanded Memory very quickly, thereby increasing both the amount of memory available and the speed of the application. @
When shelling out to DOS (either by selecting the Dos
Prompt operation from the Desktop
pulldown
menu, or by using the ".DOS" Macro
command) then only the unused heap space is made available to the Dos Prompt. Windows can be removed from the desktop prior to calling the Dos Prompt to free up more space if necessary. k
In addition to the overall memory limitation, there are a number of other data size restrictions in KATE: S
Maximum number of lines in any scrollable window
(eg Editor or Viewers) is 16K.
Maximum size of file in Text Editor is 64KB.
Only the first 64KB of a file can be seen in the
Hex Viewer.
Maximum length of any line of text is 255 bytes.
2. The DOS Protected mode edition uses the Protected mode of the 80286 or higher processors, and therefore cannot run on a machine with only an 8086. However, its larger addressing capability opens up significant additional opportunities. The most significant is that any Extended Memory up to 16MB can be accessed and used by KATE. This allows much larger data files, and even more windows on the desktop.
There is no artificial line between code and data, allowing memory to be allocated anywhere in the most efficient fashion, and overcoming need for overlays at all if there is enough memory available.
KATE makes use of memory above 1MB first, thus leaving memory within the 640KB mark free until the last moment. This means there is a lot more memory available for shelling out to Dos. k
Some other restrictions are also alleviated. For example, the Hex Viewer can show up to 512KB of a file. j
The Protected mode edition is based on the DPMI 0.9 specification, and will run under Microsoft Windows.