Shareware Overload Trio 2

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Shareware Overload Trio 2 / Shareware Overload Trio Volume 2 (Chestnut CD-ROM).ISO / dir38 / blnks415.zip / BLANKS.DOC < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1993-12-01 | 60KB | 1,280 lines

╒══════════════════════════════════════════╕ │ BLANKs │ │ Revision 4.15.0 │ │ │ │ Copyright (C) 1988-1993 FM de Monasterio │ │ Licensed Material. All Rights Reserved │ ╘══════════════════════════════════════════╛ CONTENTS 1. SUMMARY 2. REGISTRATION 3. PROGRAM INFORMATION 4. INSTALLATION & USAGE 5. INSTALLATION IN UPPER MEMORY 6. TECHNICAL INFORMATION 7. OPERATION REQUIREMENTS & CONFLICTS 8. COPYRIGHT & LICENSE INFORMATION 9. DISTRIBUTION TERMS 1. SUMMARY BLANKs is a DOS-based, resident utility which blanks the screen after a selectable time interval without keyboard, mouse, or video activity; an interval as short as 1 minute or as long as 60 minutes can be selected. Selecting 0 minutes disables the timed screen blanking. BLANKs also provides options for parking the hard disk(s) upon blanking of the screen; for manual screen blanking if a (user-defined) hotkey is pressed or a (user-defined) mouse button is clicked and the mouse is at a (user-defined) corner of the screen; and for the use of a password to unblank the (manually blanked) screen. See BLANKS.NEW for a description of what is new in the current version. BLANKs is a (terminate-and-stay) resident program which can be executed repeatedly to change its parameters without yielding multiple copies to memory. It consists of a resident component, that contains the code for video blanking/unblanking and for parking the disk, which occupies less than 1 KB of RAM, and a non-resident component, that loads the resident component, communicates with the resident on further program executions and provides other ancillary video services. BLANKs requires MS-DOS version 3 or higher, or a compatible DOS system. Although not compatible with WINDOWS, BLANKs can be configured to avoid conflicts with WINDOWS 3+ (Standard or Enhanced Mode). 2. REGISTRATION This software is user-supported; the present release, although lacking the options marked by asterisks below, is a usable program. You may test this release for (in)compatibilities with your system, but after the testing is completed you are requested to order a registered copy of the full release of the software from the address at the end of this documentation. If you would rather use this unregistered copy, consider making a donation to the Children's Hospital of Washington DC, for indigent children in need of medical care. Every year in the USA, infant mortality claims the lives of tens of thousands of children before their first year of life, and most of them come from families below poverty level... Please send to the same address a check payable to the "PATIENT CARE FUND, CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL" on the obverse, and marked "For Deposit Only" on the reverse. Donations will be sent to Children's Hospital. Please identify the program for which you are making the donation. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ BLANKS.REG contains a form needed to register the Software ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ See the final part of this documentation for information on the Licensing, Distribution, and Limited Warranty of this software. 3. PROGRAM INFORMATION BLANKs is a DOS-based program that, after its loading, remains in memory until receiving a command to uninstall itself or the machine is rebooted (terminate-and-stay-resident). It blanks the screen after a user-defined time interval has elapsed without keyboard, mouse, or video activity; an interval between 1 minute and 60 minutes can be selected. A selection of 0 minutes disables the timed screen blanking. Once blanking has occurred, pressing any key unblanks the screen, unless the password-mediated unblanking is enabled (see below), in which case a user-defined password needs to be typed for the unblanking to occur. BLANKs can be executed repeatedly to modify resident parameters, without resulting in multiple copies to memory. The resident component requires about 1.0 KB of memory. BLANKs parameters can be specified from the DOS command line or with the DOS environment variable 'BLANKS=' (see below). BLANKING METHOD BLANKs supports dual video subsystems, e.g., a VGA color (primary) and a HERCULES monochrome (secondary) adapter. Subsystems can be reconfigured separately by the user via switches V1 (primary) and V2 (secondary). The video blanking is obtained by direct commands to the hardware (video controller) to turn off/on the video signal. This is a fast method that operates successfully in the IBM PC/XT, PC/AT and in most IBM compatible computers installed with MDA, CGA, EGA, VGA, and HERCULES video adapters or with IBM-compatible adapters from other manufacturers. Actually, the blanking/unblanking of the video signal was used by the original PC BIOS during some CGA video services. Starting with release 3.34, however, the blanking of HERCULES cards HGC, HGC+, and InColor, uses a zero-row display method, kindly made available by E.C. Raedecker, which preserves the current video mode (text or 720 x 348 graphics), except during CGA emulation (see switch V1). CPU VERSIONS The program is written in assembly language; each version consists of four processor-type releases (086, 268, 386 and 486) in which the code has been optimized for the CPU types of the 80x86 processor family. This is needed since the x86 processors differ markedly in instruction execution time and the incorporation of a memory cache in some CPU types affects such time by influencing the speed of instruction fetching and of memory access. A 486 release should be used with a 586 CPU (Pentium) to minimize degradation of performance vis-á-vis code alignment. In addition to standard (086) assembly language instructions, the 286, 386 and 486 releases of the program also use 286-, 386- or 486-specific opcode instructions in "real" mode (which is the native mode for 086 processors). The type and degree of code optimization vary with the CPU type, and yield relatively small differences in the resident size, which is less than 1000 bytes. REQUIREMENTS The program requires MS-DOS version 3 or later (or compatible DOS system) and an IBM-compatible SVGA, VGA, EGA, MCGA/CGA, or MDA video adapter or a HERCULES video card. SAFETY MEASURES Each time it is executed, the program verifies its code integrity through a number of cyclic redundancy checks (CRCs). Program execution is aborted if any check were to fail as such a failure indicates code corruption and the program should not be used for your own protection. The executable program is distributed as a fully encrypted and compressed EXE-type file in order to reduce the possibility of code tampering. NOTE -------------------------------------------------------------------- Because both encryption and compression change the code sequences to different values, it cannot be excluded that these processess might, by chance, yield an encrypted data sequence which triggers a warning from antiviral utilities that merely check disk-stored files against a list of code 'signatures' or instructions. Though all distribution diskettes are scanned with one such utility to avoid the possibility of spurious warnings, the changing nature of these 'signature' lists makes this exclusion difficult. If using these utilities, check the registered distribution diskette before installing the programs in your hard disk, and please contact the vendor (see below) if a spurious warning were triggered. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 4. INSTALLATION & USAGE In the descriptions below, {} enclose context variables, e.g., the number {n}, whereas <> enclose alphanumeric characters or keys, e.g., the letter <n>. The enclosed utility INSTALL.EXE may be used to copy the program files to a user-defined drive and directory, and--if so desired--to add statements to the file AUTOEXEC.BAT so that the program is loaded automatically upon booting and to append the user-defined directory to the PATH statement. MANUAL INSTALLATION Alternatively, to install the program manually, add the command {path}BLANKS [/SWITCH1 ... /SWITCHn] [;comments] to the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, if you wish to have the program installed after booting the system, or simply enter this command from the DOS prompt when you want to use the program. If given, {path} must specify the drive and subdirectory for the file BLANKS.EXE. Square brackets enclose optional command arguments; [/SWITCH1.../SWITCHn] are program command switches, whereas [;comments] are comments that might be useful to clarify batch file usage. If executed with a null argument (i.e., switches were not specified), the program searches the DOS environment block for a variable with the format BLANKS=/SWITCH1.../SWITCHn, to use such switches as program commands (see switch EV below). If the execution command has null arguments, an environment variable does not exist, and the resident is not yet installed, then the default (i.e., preselected) configuration is used for the installation. If the resident is already installed, and an environment variable does not exist, a null- argument command has no other effects than updating the resident in terms of the video system (except if switch V1 or V2, or both, were specified). The default cases of the various switches are given below. Once installed, the resident can be modified at any time by executing the program with new parameters. If other memory-resident programs were also used, make sure all residents installed are 'well behaved' and pass along the necessary interrupt data (see 'OPERATION REQUIREMENTS & CONFLICTS'). COMMAND SWITCHES These switches allow for the modification of the default (preselected) or of an already selected resident configuration, or the execution of one of the non-resident services provided by the program (e.g. display of a Help panel, adjustment of display brightness, etc). The switches can be specified in any order, and they must be separated by a space, tab, comma, or slash; a dash preceded by space may also be used. Switches are not case sensitive, e.g., PW = Pw = pW = pw. Invalid switch specifications may result in an error message or in program cancellation. Some switches have preset ('default') values which are used if new values were not specified. Most switches consist of 2 letters; with few exceptions, it is sufficient to specify the first letter to select such switch. The following command switches are recognized: ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Asterisks mark switches unavailable in the unregistered copy ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ SWITCH ? ~~~~~~~~ This switch displays the Status/Usage/Help panels, which are described in more detail in the section below. If a VGA or EGA is the active adapter, the program saves the contents of the palette registers prior to changing the video attributes for its various displays. See section 'STATUS/USAGE/ HELP PANELS' below. EGA users: The default MS-DOS palette attributes are restored if the EGA BIOS fails to store data in the Parameter Save Area. Old EGAs may store invalid data in this area, resulting in an improper restoration of the video attributes (use the DOS command MODE CO80 to restore the default attributes). SWITCH BCn± ~~~~~~~~~~~ Adjust screen brightness contrast (SVGA/VGA). The brightness change step is specified by the sign and value of number {n} ranging from -63 to +63. /BC-n For 0 < {n} < 64: Decrease the brightness of the screen, reducing the contrast of the display. /BC+n For 0 < {n} < 64: Increase the brightness of the screen, reducing the saturation of the display. /BC0 Restore screen to its original brightness as dictated by the settings of the monitor. Clears the screen. Brightness changes are additive. Repeated use of the switch or the use of large step numbers yields unreadable screens; use /BC0 to restore display contrast. (Switch BC is a sticky parameter, as brightness changes remain in effect even if BLANKs were made quiescent or uninstalled.) Defaults: /B = /BC = /BC+ = /BC+2, /B- = /BC- = /BC-2. * SWITCH CV± ~~~~~~~~~~ Verification of program commands. If a password for screen unblanking has been selected (see switch PW), switch CV± controls whether or not a user- defined password must be checked before any command (other than switch ?) can be implemented. /CV- Disable command verification. /CV+ [Re]Enable command verification. Defaults: /C = /CV = /CV+; no switch on installation = /CV-. * SWITCH DF± ~~~~~~~~~~ Enables/disables a brief click every 1.3 minutes after a screen blanking, when parking of the hard disk(s) is attempted. /DF- Disable disk parking feedback. /DF+ [Re]Enable hard disk parking feedback. Defaults: /DF = /DF+; no switch on installation = /DF+. * SWITCH DP± ~~~~~~~~~~ Enables/disables the parking of the hard disk(s) upon the manual or timed blanking of the screen. Moves the disk head to the highest disk cylinder for each physical disk that can be accessed via interrupt-13h calls (BIOS disk services). Parking is inhibited when BIOS-mediated disk or diskette activity is in progress at the time of blanking. /DP- Disable disk parking. /DP+ [Re]Enable hard disk parking. If BLANKs is installed in a machine lacking hard disks, parking should be disabled at the time of installation, as a parking attempt may crash some machines with poorly designed BIOSes. NOTE ------------------------------------------------------------------ Disk-parking-upon-blanking is not available in a special version of BLANKs for diskless machines to avoid potential conflicts. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Defaults: /D = /DP = /DP+; no switch on installation = /DP+. * SWITCH EV ~~~~~~~~~ When the *initial* copy of COMMAND.COM is loaded at boot time, it creates a block of memory that will contain the master or global DOS environment. The environment of DOS consists of a number of text-based variables, each variable consisting of a name and an associated string having the format: VARIABLE=string of characters in which the end of the string is marked by a zero byte. The environment contains a series of such variables, and the end of the environment block itself is indicated by an additional zero byte. These variables are used to pass information to and from COMMAND.COM (or a DOS shell replacement), batch files, and application programs, such as the PATH= and the COMSPEC= variables. Switch EV creates or, if it already exists, updates the environment-block variable: BLANKS=/SWITCH1/SWITCH2.../SWITCHn where /SWITCH1.../SWITCHn are the command switches to be implemented when the program is executed from the DOS command line or a batch file without any arguments. Although switch EV itself is incorporated in the variable as well, it is ignored when such variable is used to provide input to the program. (See 'ENVIRONMENT VARIABLE BLANKS' for more details.) Default: /E = /EV. SWITCH HK±?xn ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hotkey switch. In addition to timed screen blanking, BLANKs allows manual blanking of the video by pressing hotkey combination. The default hotkey combination is <Ctrl-B> in the distributed version of the program, but it can be changed with this switch in the case of a key-assignment conflict. Once the screen has been blanked via the hotkey (manual blanking), it can only be unblanked by pressing any key. BLANKs erases the hotkey from the keyboard buffer so it is not displayed. However, a program executed after BLANKs is loaded could save the hotkey; this is what happens, for example, with some word processors in which the hotkey needs to be erased from the text. /HK- Disable hotkey operation. /HK+ [Re]Enable hotkey operation. /HK? Permit selection of a new hotkey combination including an alphanumeric key, and one or more of the shift keys <Ctrl>, <Alt>, <left-Shift>, and <right-Shift>. * /HKxn Select {xn} as the hotkey combination, in which {x} is a alphanumeric character (0-9 or A-Z) only, and {n} is a digit between 4 and 15 only. This digit corresponds to one of the following shifting keys or their sum: 1 = <right-Shift> -------------------------- 2 = <left-Shift> Values higher than 15 or 4 = <Ctrl> lower than 4 are invalid 8 = <Alt> -------------------------- For obvious reasons, <Ctrl> or <Alt>, or both, must be part of a new hot- key combination either in switch HK? or HKxn. If a hotkey other than the default combination is needed routinely, it may be useful to store in the DOS environment the variable 'BLANKS=/HKxn' (see below). Defaults: /H = /HK = /HK+; no switch on installation = /HKB4 /HK+. * SWITCH LH ~~~~~~~~~ Loads the resident in the Upper Memory Area (UMA), between addresses 640 KB and 1,024 KB of memory; this is the region below the 1-MB boundary of the memory accessible by 086 CPUs, but above the 640-KB hardware barrier of MS-DOS. The switch requires an available upper memory block (UMB) of about 1 KB, which is allocated by the program itself either via a direct XMS request or, if MS-DOS controls UMB allocation (i.e. DOS 5+ linked to the UMA through the command 'DOS=UMB' in the CONFIG.SYS file), via calls to DOS. Allocation of UMBs requires the presence of an XMS manager (XMM) supporting the UMB services 10h-11h of XMS 2+, and (if the XMM lacks the capability of remapping memory) the presence of an UMB provider. SWITCH LHn A lower upper-memory limit for the UMB loading can also be requested via switch LHn, in which {n} is a four-digit hexadecimal number between A000 (640 KB) and FF00 (1,020 KB), in order to avoid or select specific areas of upper memory. SWITCH LHn@ A lower-memory resident marker can also be installed along with the UMB resident via switch LH@ or LHn@; the marker occupies 144 bytes of lower conventional memory, can be identified in some memory mapping utilities by the name BLANKs @ UMB and is released from memory when the UMB resident is uninstalled. This marker may be used (1) to remind that the resident is already installed in upper memory, (2) to help locate the UMB installation address in the case of some mapping utilities, and (3) to help avoid removal conflicts when lower and upper-memory residents are interspersed. Defaults: Low-memory installation if any error is found during the UMB loading; high-memory installation below lower-address limit if UMBs are not available above such limit. /L = /LH. SWITCH MA± ~~~~~~~~~~ Enables and disables the monitoring of Mouse activity compatible with the Microsoft/Logitech mouse driver format. Applications use different mouse programming styles, of which the most common are: calls to interrupt 33h, a software interface set up and serviced by the mouse driver, and a user- defined mouse event handler, which functions as a mouse interrupt service dedicated to those particular mouse events (e.g. right button pressed, no mouse motion, etc) defined by the requesting application. * /MA+ Enable global mouse monitoring (i.e. INT-33h calls and user- handler calls, and allowing mouse-mediated screen blanking); this is default status if a mouse driver (Microsoft/Logitech compatible format) is found to be ACTIVE when the program is installed. * /MA- Disable global mouse monitoring; this is the default status if a mouse driver (Microsoft/Logitech compatible format) is found to be INACTIVE when the program is installed. /MI+ Enable monitoring of INT-33h mouse function calls only. /MI- Disable monitoring of INT-33h mouse function calls only. * /MH+ Enable mouse monitoring of user-handler calls only. * /MH- Disable monitoring of user-handler mouse calls only. * /MB+ Enable mouse-mediated screen blanking; defaults to blanking when the right mouse button is clicked and the mouse points to the upper-left corner of the screen. Also: * /MBR@L Blank screen if the RIGHT mouse button is clicked and the pointer is at the LEFT-upper screen corner. * /MBL@L Blank screen if the LEFT mouse button is clicked and the pointer is at the LEFT-upper screen corner. * /MBB@L Blank screen if a mouse button is clicked and the pointer is at the LEFT-upper screen corner. * /MBR@R Blank screen if the RIGHT mouse button is clicked and the pointer is at the RIGHT-upper screen corner. * /MBL@R Blank screen if the LEFT mouse button is clicked and the pointer is at the RIGHT-upper screen corner. * /MBB@R Blank screen if a mouse button is clicked and the pointer is at the RIGHT-upper screen corner. * /MB- Disable mouse-mediated screen blanking. NOTE --------------------------------------------------------------- The monitoring of INT-33h function calls ignores functions #1 ('Show Pointer') and #2 ('Hide Pointer') of the mouse driver. --------------------------------------------------------------- The selected type of mouse activity avoids timed screen blankings. If the mouse-handler monitoring is enabled and a password is not not required for unblanking, keyboard activity or mouse motion unblanks the screen. Starting with release 4.13, BLANKs mouse awareness can be enabled not only when installing the program (if an active mouse driver is also installed), but after it has become resident as well. The latter feature allows BLANKs to become mouse-aware in cases when a mouse driver is installed just prior the execution of mouse-based applications. The following example is based on a batch file fragment, where the driver is being loaded and unloaded by the command-line driver load utility LOAD (available from the author): @Echo Off LOAD [path]MOUSE.SYS ; installs the mouse driver BLANKS /MA+ ; make mouse aware, get INT 33h <application filename> ; mouse-aware/based program BLANKS /MA- ; mouse unaware, unhook INT 33h LOAD /U MS$MOUSE ; uninstall the mouse driver ... It is very important that BLANKs be made mouse unaware (switch MA-) if the mouse driver is unloaded from memory, since switch MA+ captures the vector (i.e., address) of INT 33h and this vector will point to empty memory once the mouse driver is uninstalled. Defaults: /M= /MA = /MA+ = /MI+ /MH+ /MBR@L+; /M- = /MA- = /MI- /MH- /MB-; /MI = /MI+; /MH = /MH+ = /MH+/MBr@l; /MB[+] = /MB+ = /MB+/MBr@l; no switch on installation = /MH+ /MBr@l. * SWITCH PA± ~~~~~~~~~~ Controls audio feedback during the checking of the password (see switch CV and PW). If enabled, the feedback generates a short bell beep each time an invalid or erroneous key is pressed during password verification. /PA- Disable password audio feedback. /PA+ [Re]Enable password audio feedback. Defaults: /PA = /PA+; no switch on installation = /PA+. SWITCH PV± ~~~~~~~~~~ Controls video feedback during the checking of the password (see switch CV and PW). If enabled, the feedback displays a <■> each time a valid key is pressed during password verification. /PV- Disable password video feedback /PV+ [Re]Enable password video feedback. Defaults: /PV = /PV+; no switch on installation = /PV-. SWITCH PW±?x ~~~~~~~~~~~~ The switch controls password-mediated unblanking. A selected sequence of 1 to 15 nonshifted, alphanumeric characters, followed by <Enter>, must be must be typed in correct sequence to unblank the screen after it has been blanked manually (i.e., via the hotkey). Rebooting via <Ctrl-Alt-Del> is suppressed. NOTE ------------------------------------------------------------------ Even when password checking is enabled, a password is not needed to unblank the screen after a TIMED blanking. ------------------------------------------------------------------ * /PW- Disable password unblanking. * /PW+ Re-enable use of the resident password (if a password has not been loaded, the video will unblank only when <Enter> is pressed). * /PWx Specify the password from the DOS command line, which <x> is a string of 1 to 15 nonshifted, alphanumeric (0-9 A-Z) characters. Specification of the password via switch PWx does not enable or disable password checking. /PW? Request to specify a new password of up to 15 nonshifted, alphanumeric characters only. After these characters have been typed, press <Enter> to make this password resident; press <Esc> or <Break> to avoid changing the password and quit to DOS. The typed characters can be erased with the <Backspace> key. Specification of the password via switch PW? does not enable or disable password checking. NOTE ------------------------------------------------------------------ If <Enter> is pressed before any valid character is typed during switch /PW? interactive selection, unblanking of manual blanking of the video will occur only after pressing the <Enter> key. ------------------------------------------------------------------ If password checking on unblanking is enabled (PW+), further commands via switches PW±, PWx and PW? triggers a prospective password checking before such commands can be implemented to avoid unauthorized password changes. Defaults: /PW = /PW+; no switch on installation = /PW-. SWITCH /QU ~~~~~~~~~~ If loaded, the resident becomes quiescent until the next execution of the program, except if switch /QU or /? were specified at such time. Default: /Q = /QU. * SWITCH RK± ~~~~~~~~~~ In many cases when the keyboard interrupt (which is triggered whenever a key is pressed or released) is not shared by ill-behaved applications or subsequently loaded residents, switch RK permits restoration of keyboard access to avoid being locked out from screen unblanking were blanking to occur. Switch /RK+ or /RK- must be specified before installing the resident for the keyboard-access monitoring module to be part of the BLANKs resident; this increases the resident size by 48 bytes. Do not use this switch unless you experienced an unblanking lockout with an application that does not chain to the hardware keyboard interrupt 9, thus excluding residents from access to keyboard input. If the prescribed method to revector (i.e., hook) the keyboard interrupt were used by such a program, the dynamic keyboard-access monitoring code attempts to change the revectoring, so that the resident may still chain to the keyboard. Be aware, however, that if an ill-behaved program were not follow such a method, this switch would not provide keyboard access; see 'OPERATION REQUIREMENTS & CONFLICTS' below on how to avoid a lockout in these cases. /RK- Disable dynamic keyboard-access monitoring. /RK+ [Re]Enable dynamic keyboard-access monitoring. Switch RK+ should be used with caution, because conflicts may arise with programs that do not follow prescribed methods of interrupt revectoring, in some cases even crashing the system. (Use RK+ sparingly and issue RK- as soon as possible once the offending program terminates.) NOTE ----------------------------------------------------------------- Read 'OPERATION REQUIREMENTS & CONFLICTS' for resident unloading constraints once switch RK+ is used, in order to avoid problems! ----------------------------------------------------------------- Defaults: /RK = RK+; invalid switch after resident installation. SWITCH TBn ~~~~~~~~~~ Timed blanking period in minutes. This is the interval that the program waits before blanking the screen in the absence of keyboard, video (BIOS mediated), or mouse (INT-33h mediated) activity. /TBt Enable a period of 5 seconds for testing purposes. /TB0 Disable timed blanking. /TB1-60 Enable timed blanking after an inactivity period of between 1 and 60 minutes; a selection of 61 or more defaults to 60. Defaults: /T = /TB = /TB3; no switch on installation = /TB3. SWITCH UL ~~~~~~~~~ Uninstalls the resident code from memory. This request is disregarded if the address of any of the interrupts intercepted by the resident has been modified since the program was installed, since the revectoring indicates another resident has subsequently hooked the same interrupt(s). Thus, the program cannot be uninstalled, because this would leave such interrupt(s) pointing to empty memory, and the program would then crash. The program should be uninstalled only if it is the last resident to have been installed. In practice, however, it can also be uninstalled when any subsequently installed resident intercepts different interrupts; although increasing the fragmentation of memory, the resulting "hole" is innocuous and can be used by DOS for other purposes (e.g., an environment block). Default: /U = /UL. SWITCH V1 ~~~~~~~~~ BLANKs configures its settings on-the-fly for the video adapter type that is detected at the time the program is executed. This switch reconfigures the program parameters to satisfy the selected video adapter type for the primary or active video system (or the only system if no other adapter is present). /V1M MDA configuration: IBM Monochrome Display Adapter and, in text mode only, HERCULES adapters HGC, HGC+, InColor etc. The MDA configuration does not restore a graphics mode in the HERCULES card. Uses and restores bit 3 of video port 3B8h, but forces bits 7 and 1 to 0. /V1H HGA configuration: HERCULES adapters (HGC, HGC+, InColor) in text or graphics mode, but not in CGA emulation. Uses and restores register 6 of video port 3B5h. /V1C CGA configuration: IBM Color Graphics Adapter, MultiColor Graphics Array [MCGA], and compatible adapters. Uses and restores bits 0-3 of port 3D9h and bit 3 of port 3D8h. /V1E EGA configuration: IBM Enhanced Graphics Adapter and EGA- compatible cards. Resets video ports 3BAh and 3DAh. Uses and restores bit 5 of port 3C0h. /V1V VGA configuration: IBM Video Graphics Array and compatible adapters. Uses video port 3C4h, and uses and restores bit 5 of port 3C5h. /V1- Ignore prior forced configuration. Uses the configuration selected by BLANKs for the adapter detected at the time of (each) execution. Switch V1 does not need to be used unless you want to modify the settings of the program (read the following notice on adapter compatibility). NOTE ----------------------------------------------------------------- Proper blanking may not occur with some video adapters that are not compatible with the corresponding IBM adapter "standard" at the register level. Erratic adapter operation may occur in such cases, and the program should not be used. ----------------------------------------------------------------- BLANKs release 3.15 and higher assumes that a CGA whose ROM BIOS contains the letters 'COMPAQ' is a monochrome COMPAQ card; if you wish to override this assumption, switch V1C forces a CGA color configuration. Default: /V = /V1. * SWITCH V2 ~~~~~~~~~ BLANKs configures its settings on-the-fly for the video adapter type that is detected at the time the program is executed. This switch reconfigures the program parameters to satisfy the selected video adapter type for the secondary or inactive video system (if one is present). /V2N Ignore the presence of a secondary (or inactive) adapter. /V2M MDA configuration: IBM Monochrome Display Adapter and, in text mode only, HERCULES adapters HGC, HGC+, InColor etc. The MDA configuration does not restore a graphics mode in the HERCULES card. Uses and restores bit 3 of video port 3B8h, but forces bits 7 and 1 to 0. /V2H HGA configuration: HERCULES adapters (HGC, HGC+, InColor) in text or graphics mode, but not in CGA emulation. Uses and restores register 6 of video port 3B5h. /V2C CGA configuration: IBM Color Graphics Adapter, MultiColor Graphics Array [MCGA], and compatible adapters. Uses and restores bits 0-3 of port 3D9h and bit 3 of port 3D8h. /V2E EGA configuration: IBM Enhanced Graphics Adapter and EGA- compatible cards. Resets video ports 3BAh and 3DAh. Uses and restores bit 5 of port 3C0h. /V2V VGA configuration: IBM Video Graphics Array and compatible adapters. Uses video port 3C4h, and uses and restores bit 5 of port 3C5h. /V2- Ignore prior forced configuration. Uses the configuration selected by BLANKs for the adapter detected at the time of (each) execution. See Switch V1 above for notes and comments. No defaults. * SWITCH WA ~~~~~~~~~ WINDOWS 3.x awareness. If this switch is specified before installing the resident, the resident monitors interrupt 2Fh for the initialization and exit broadcasts of WINDOWS (386-Enhanced and Standard modes only). Then, BLANKs automatically becomes inactive when WINDOWS is ready to start up, becoming active again when WINDOWS ends (and standard DOS operations are ready to resume). Switch WA increases the resident size by 32 bytes. Defaults: /W = /WA; invalid switch after resident installation. COMMENTS The comments may be added in the command line after the desired switches and must be preceded by a semicolon. Such comments, which may be useful in clarifying batch files, are ignored by the program. Do not use the redirection and pipe characters in the comments since DOS will attempt to implement the implied redirection or pipe request. STATUS/USAGE/HELP PANELS Executing the program with switch /? selected allows access to the Status/ Usage and Help panels. (If a Mouse pointing device driver, compatible with the Microsoft Mouse driver version 6.0 or higher is loaded and active, all of the services provided by these panels can also be activated by pointing the mouse to specific areas of the screen and clicking either button. The mouse driver state is saved prior to the display, to be restored later, if sufficient memory is available for the panel display.) The STATUS/USAGE panel, which is shown first, describes status information for the resident and its services. If the program has not been installed, pressing key <F3> or <D> shows the default installation parameters. If it is installed, pressing key <F3> or <T> yields a 1-second blanking interval for testing purposes; the original interval is restored once the screen is unblanked by a keypress. The USAGE subpanel shows a menu for the command switches: To cycle between the main and the auxiliary menu, press key <F2> or <M>, or click the mouse upon the screen button labelled <Menu>. If the resident is installed, the status of some 'on/off' command switches is displayed by '+' or '-' before a given menu entry. Press key <F7>, or <X>, or click the mouse upon the screen button labelled <Exit> to return to the DOS-prompt command line. The HELP panel provides a summary description of the program and commands, and is displayed if key <F1> or <H> is pressed from the Status/Usage panel (or if the mouse is clicked upon the screen button labelled <Help>). Press the keypad cursor keys (Home/End, PgUp/PgDn, arrows) to scroll the display down or up or the key <S> to scroll in a closed loop; alternatively, click the mouse upon the Up/Down arrows at the top right corner of the screen to scroll. Press key <F1> to skip the brief program summary and position the text on the Usage section directly. A beating icon to the left of the preceding USAGE panel controls the speed of screen scrolling of the HELP panel via key <S> or the mouse arrows. By positioning the mouse pointer over the beating heart and clicking the left or right mouse button, the rate of scrolling can be respectively increased or decreased; the scrolling rate can also be changed by clicking the mouse on the icon that becomes visible on the top line of the HELP panel (if the mouse driver is installed). Press key <Esc> or <F2>, or click the mouse upon the rightmost icon at the top left corner of the screen, to return to the Status/Usage panel. Press key <F7> or <X>, or click the mouse upon the leftmost icon, to exit to the DOS-prompt command line. THE ENVIRONMENT VARIABLE BLANKS When the program is executed from the command line of DOS or a batch file without an argument, it searches the DOS environment block for a variable named 'BLANKS' having the format: BLANKS=/SWITCH1/SWITCH2 .... /SWITCHn Up to 128 characters are allowed after the equal sign. This string can be incorporated to the environment block via the 'SET' command of DOS or via switch EV of this program (see above). The variable can be used to specify a BLANKs default configuration (e.g., /DP-/HK/HKB4/PW-), which can be restored just by executing BLANKs without an argument after a temporary change of parameters. While the SET command modifies the current DOS environment block, whether it is the global or a local one, switch EV only modifies the global block (even when the program is executed via a secondary COMMAND.COM, as in the case of shelling out to DOS from an application). Notice that the local environment block is only a copy of the global block and lacks sufficient room to increase significantly the length of a variable, and that changes made to a local environment are not inherited by the global one. When searching for the environment variable, the program uses the current DOS environment block, whether it is the global or a local one. 5. INSTALLATION IN UPPER MEMORY This section describes in more detail aspects of the active (i.e., self- loading) or passive (e.g. via DOS LOADHIGH) installation of the resident in the upper memory region. UMA SELF-LOADING The utility can self-install the resident in the upper memory area (UMA), that is, RAM addresses between 640 KB and 1,024 KB, via switch LH (or its subfunctions LHn, LH@, and LHn@). The allocation of UMA blocks (UMBs) is arbitrated by an XMS manager (XMM) version 2.0 or higher; the XMM must be installed prior to the UMB-loading of the resident. Allocation also requires the remapping of UMA addresses by a UMB provider, when such a task is not implemented by the XMM itself. The XMM HIMEM.SYS and the UMB-provider EMM386.EXE are distributed with MS DOS 5+. The allocation of UMBs is controlled by DOS when these 2 drivers are installed, and the command 'dos=umb' is added to the CONFIG.SYS file. With DR-DOS 6+, UMB remapping and XMS support are provided by EMM386.SYS. Other 386-specific memory managers, of course, also provide UMB remapping and XMS support. All XMMs require MS-DOS version 3 or later. Switch LHn, where A000 ≤ n ≤ FFFF (hexadecimal), allows the specification of a minimum upper-memory limit for the UMB to avoid UMA regions having a very slow access time (or to preserve regions with a fast access time for other utilities that require faster times, such as a disk cache or screen accelerator), or to avoid fragmentation of the UMA when UMB allocation is not controlled by MS-DOS 5+, but by the XMM itself. The fragmentation may occur when the XMM allocates blocks on a first-fit basis, i.e., the first available UMB having the lowest UMA address is allocated, irrespective of whether or not a (smaller) block matching the requested size is available at a higher UMA address. Unless the size of the available UMBs increases with increasing memory address, first-fit allocation of a small UMB leads to the breaking of large UMA blocks into smaller ones, thus hampering the UMB installation of larger residents. If MS-DOS 5+ controls UMB allocation, the program enforces the allocation of the resident block on a best-fit basis when {n} is not specified, that is, all available blocks are searched (by DOS), and the one matching most closely the size requested is allocated. When DOS controls UMB allocation and {n} is specified, UMBs are allocated on a first-fit basis. While this may contribute to UMA fragmentation, it allows for the checking of a minimum memory limit in those cases in which the selection or avoidance of a specific UMA region is more important. Hence, compared to the upper-memory loading provided by the LH command of MS-DOS 5+, the HILOAD command of DR-DOS 5+, or a similar service provided by other memory managers, self-loading into a UMB has several advantages, including: (1) it does not require an initial free UMB of the size of the entire program (as opposed to the size of its resident only), (2) it does allow user control on the selection of the upper-memory block, and (3) it can help reduce UMA fragmentation. NOTE ------------------------------------------------------------------- The address and size of available UMBs can be obtained with MEM.EXE (when DOS controls UMB allocation) or via the memory manager itself (when the allocation is controlled by 386-specific memory managers. In either case, such data can also be obtained with UMAX.EXE, a UMA mapping utility that is distributed by the author. ------------------------------------------------------------------- UMA LOADING VIA MEMORY MANAGERS, DR-DOS 5+, or MS-DOS 5+ The resident can also be installed in the UMA via a 386-memory manager or DR-DOS 5+/MS-DOS 5+ commands (e.g., HILOAD, LH, etc), provided that there is a sufficiently large, free UMB for the actual size of the entire file, and any for additional memory that may be required by the loading service itself. Please note that, to minimize disk storage, the program is distributed as a compressed EXE file that expands on execution by a factor of 2 or less. Thus, the difference between the actual size upon loading and the nominal directory size may create conflicts with UMA-loading services that do not measure actual size: If the available upper memory were smaller than that required by the decompressed file but larger than the nominal (directory) size, such service would attempt to load the compressed file. Of course, the subsequent file decompression would overwrite the adjacent memory and likely crash the memory manager or DOS! When attempting to load the resident in a UMB via a memory manager or DOS 5+, do NOT request in the same command line switches that result in panel displays. These displays require an additional 8,000 bytes of *adjacent* free memory, and the free RAM measuring procedure used by the program can be negated by UMA-loading services that do not update the program segment prefix (PSP) of the program being loaded. Such switches are PW?, HK?, and /?. IDENTIFICATION IN MEMORY MAPS If the resident has been loaded in lower conventional memory, the program can be identified by name in usage maps yielded by various memory mapping utilities. Although the program sheds its own copy of the environment at installation time (to minimize the resident size), the name BLANKs n.nn.n will appear in the command line listing for the resident, irrespective of the actual content of the DOS command line at the time of loading; n.nn.n are the major and minor program version, and the revision number. However, when UMB loading is mediated by the XMS directly (e.g., extended memory manager and DOS versions 2-4, or MS-DOS 5+ not linked to the upper memory) and the resident is selfloaded via switch LH, many memory mapping programs do not list the allocated block, or lump it with other allocated blocks, or fail to reveal the name of the resident. If the identification of the UMB resident is necessary, use switch LH@ or LHn@ to load in lower RAM a small resident marker that shows up in most memory maps. If the UMB allocation is controlled by MS-DOS 5+, the UMB resident can be identified with some mapping utilities (e.g., MEM.EXE of MS-DOS) although it is listed as "Data" instead of "Program." Other mapping utilities can identify the UMB resident when its associated lower-memory marker is also loaded (see switch LH@). 6. TECHNICAL INFORMATION INTERRUPTS Whenever certain conditions occur, either within a program or the system, it becomes necessary for the processor to interrupt its current operation and execute one of a group of special routines. The action that triggers the execution of such a routine is referred to as an interrupt; there are internal interrupts, in response to a state of the CPU or an instruction, and external interrupts, caused by signals sent to the CPU from elsewhere in the system. When the program is waiting for keyboard (or mouse) user input during its Status/Usage/Help display, it invokes repeatedly the 'idle' interrupts of DOS: INT 28h and, if running under MS-DOS 5+, function 1680h of INT 2Fh, if this function indicates that it can process program suspension. INT 28h permits potential background activation of (some) other residents while INT 2Fh/1680h permits MS-DOS 5+ to suspend the program temporarily, and transfer control to another program. The program also intercepts several interrupts, INT 08h - Timer hardware INT 09h - Keyboard hardware INT 10h - BIOS video services INT 11h - BIOS equipment data INT 13h - BIOS disk services INT 21h - DOS system services INT 2Fh - DOS multiplex services INT 33h - (Microsoft/Logitech) Mouse services Interrupt 8h is triggered about 18.2 times/second by channel 0 of the 8253 /8254 timer chip (IRQ0) so the system can update its time-of-day count; it is monitored by the resident for its timed blanking service. Interrupt 9h is triggered by the keyboard when a key has been depressed or released; it is monitored by the resident for screen unblanking and manual (hotkey) blanking services. Interrupt 10h implements BIOS video input/output services; screen blanking is suppressed during video activity, but the activity does not unblank the screen once blanking has occurred. Interrupt 11h provides a 32-bit datum on the BIOS equipment configuration; it is used by the program to determine whether its resident is installed. Interrupt 13h implements BIOS disk input/output services; the disk parking is suppressed during disk activity. NOTE: Interrupt 13h is not intercepted in a special version of BLANKs, which is smaller than the standard version by ca. 100 bytes in the resident size. Interrupt 21h is the major interface for DOS functions; it is monitored by the resident for INT-9h revectoring requests. Interrupt 2Fh provides a motley of services for MS-DOS, WINDOWS, and third party applications; the resident monitors this interrupt for the so-called initialization and exit broadcasts of WINDOWS 3.x 386-Enhanced or Standard mode. Interrupt 33h is the interface for the (Microsoft/Logitech) implementation of calls to the Mouse driver; the interrupt is claimed by the Mouse driver during its initialization, and it is used by most mouse-aware programs. BYPASSING INTERRUPTS BLANKs bypasses interrupt 8 when a timed blanking period of 0 minutes has been specified (/TB0). Interrupt 9 is bypassed only when switches TB0 and HK- (see above) have been selected. If switch HK- has been selected along with a nonzero time period (TB1 through TB60), only the hotkey service of interrupt 9 is bypassed. BIOS interrupts 10h and 13h can not be bypassed by any command switch, while interrupt 33h can be bypassed by switch MA-. This information may be of use for testing potential conflicts with other resident programs. DOS ERRORLEVELS Upon completion, the program passes an errorlevel value which can be used to check (via ERRORLEVEL commands in a batch file) the outcome of program execution. The following errorlevels may be passed: Value Nature of Error ----- ------------------------------------ 255 Cyclical redundancy check failure 255 CPU type cannot execute 286+ version 255 DOS version 1 or 2.x encountered 128 XMM not installed/XMS error in UMB load 64 Error updating environment variable 32 Invalid password format 16 Invalid hotkey combination 8 Unknown video adapter 4 Unable to uninstall resident 2 Invalid switch request 1 User <CTRL-BREAK> keypress 0 Successful execution Some conditions generating errorlevels 1 through 128 may be additive, and the resulting error value may represent more than a single error. 7. OPERATION REQUIREMENTS & CONFLICTS BLANKs will fail to operate properly when access to interrupts 8 and 9 is denied by another program or resident loaded after BLANKs. This can occur with ill-behaved programs that take over the interrupts and fail to chain the information to those other utilities tapping the same interrupts (see TECHNICAL INFORMATION section), such as some WYSIWYG word processors, GUI systems, etc. KEYBOARD-UNBLANKING LOCKOUT In particular, if access to interrupt 9 is denied, keyboard activity will fail to unblank a blanked screen; when testing for incompatibilities with a given program, make sure that programs voiding the manual blanking when the hotkey is pressed, will still permit unblanking of the screen after a timed blanking. If the unblanking lockout occurs, switch RK± may be used (provided it was specified before installing the resident) as in the following batch file: @Echo Off BLANKS /RK+ ; keyboard access monitoring ON <application> ; ill-behaved program BLANKS /RK- ; keyboard access monitoring OFF ... If this switch cannot avoid the problem, inactivate the timed blanking as discussed for WINDOWS (see below). RESIDENT UNLOADING & SWITCH RK In the rather unlikely case that such ill-behaved program were a resident (loaded after BLANKs), the loading sequence must be scrupulously reversed during the unloading of the residents once switch RK+ has been issued: (i) If the program can uninstall itself, unload it before BLANKs because otherwise you may be unable to unload either one. (ii) If the program cannot uninstall itself and a TSR-removal utility was used to place a wedge in memory before the program was loaded (so it can be removed), use this utility to unload it before BLANKs because otherwise you will crash the system. WINDOWS 3.X BLANKs is not designed to operate under Microsft WINDOWS 3; starting with version 4.13, BLANKs becomes inactive when WINDOWS 3.x (386-enhanced mode or Standard mode) starts up and active when WINDOWS ends, provided switch WA was specified before loading the resident. For other WINDOWS modes or versions, WIN.EXE may be started via a batch file with the following: @Echo Off ... [path]BLANKS /TB0 /HK- ; inactivate blanker [path]WIN ; run Windows [path]BLANKS [/switches] ; reactivate blanker ... To monitor mouse activity, BLANKs must be installed after a mouse driver compatible with the Microsoft/Logitech driver format has been installed. In addition, starting with revision 4.13, the BLANKs resident can become mouse-aware after its installation (see switch MA for usage comments). Since the BIOS video services are comparatively slow, many programs write directly to video memory instead of using the BIOS services. Because such video writes are not detected by BLANKs, screen blanking may occur during during the video activity of such programs. Similarly, any mouse activity implemented by commands that bypass interrupt 33h will not avoid blanking of the screen (as in the case of some desktop publishing programs). 8. COPYRIGHT & LICENSE INFORMATION This documentation, programs, and other files distributed in this software package (the "Software") are the copyrighted property of FM de Monasterio (the "Author"), who provides the Software and licenses its use. All rights are reserved. The Software is not sold. A license fee is required to use this Software. This license does not transfer to you either the ownership of or the title to the Software, which remain the property of the Author. A form required to license the Software is provided in the enclosed file BLANKS.REG. SINGLE USER LICENSE. Grants you use of this Software in a single computer at a time; the Software may be transferred to another computer, as long as it is used only in 1 computer at any time; under the license, the Software may NOT be installed on a network server. SITE/15-PCs LICENSE. Grants you use of this Software in a sigle site or a set of sites, as long as the Software is not used in more than 15 machines at a time, and that such machines are located exclusively within the site. Licenses for more machines are available at discounted prices. SOFTWARE BUNDLING LICENSE. Please write to the Author. REFUNDS POLICY. If a problem notified within ninety (90) days of shipping of the registered copy cannot be solved, the registration fee (but not the shipping costs) will be refunded upon receiving a written request with the original diskette(s) enclosed. UPGRADE POLICY. Program upgrades are limited to licensed users. Upgrades within the same major version (e.g. release 4.00 through 4.99) are free of charge when a self-addressed, stamped, 5.25" diskette mailer with a 360-KB diskette is included with the request. Other upgrades are charged half the (single-user/site) registration fee. See the enclosed file BLANKS.UPG. U.S. GOVERNMENT INFORMATION The Software is Commercial Computer Software under the Federal Acquisition Regulations of the U.S. government and the Agency Supplements to them. The Software is provided to the Federal Government and its agencies only under the Restricted Rights Provisions of the above noted regulations applicable to commercial software developed at private expense, and not in the public domain. The use, duplication, or disclosure of the Software by the Federal Government or its agencies is subject to the restrictions set forth in the subdivision (c.1.ii) of the Rights in Technical Data and Computer Software clause at DFARS 252.227-7013 (October 1988) and FAR 52.227-19 (June 1987). 9. DISTRIBUTION TERMS You may distribute the Software, but you are specifically prohibited from: - Charging fees or asking donations in exchange of or payment for copies of this Software. - Distributing this Software with commercial products without the written, express permission in advance from the author. - Distributing this Software via a for-profit organization or group, either alone or with other software. - Changing any of the contents of this Software including the copyright notice and license information. You may not disassemble or otherwise reverse engineer the Software. Other uses of the Software are prohibited without a written authorization signed by the Author. Latest program releases may be found at the Information Exchange BBS (703) 836-0748, as a compressed archive file. WARRANTY DISCLAIMER FOR UNREGISTERED COPIES The information contained in the documentation for the Software is subject to change without notice. The Author cannot and does not warrant that any functions contained in the Software will meet your requirements, or that its operations will be error free. The entire risk as to the Software performance or quality, or both, is solely with the user and not the Author. You assume responsibility for the selection of the Software to achieve your intended results and for the installation, use, and results obtained from the Software. The Author makes no warranty, either implied or expressed, including with- out limitation any warranty with respect to this Software documented here, its quality, performance, or fitness for a particular purpose. In no event shall the Author be liable to you for damages, whether direct or indirect, incidental, special, or consequential arising out the use of or any defect in the Software, even if the Author has been advised of the possibility of such damages, or for any claim by any other party. All other warranties of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, are expressly excluded. By using the Software, you acknowledge (1) to have read and understood all parts of this document and (2) to have agreed with and accepted all of its terms and provisions without any reservation. For information on the terms of the Limited Warranty for licensed Software copies or any other information on this program, please write to: FM de Monasterio P.O. Box 219 Cabin John, MD 20818-0219 USA ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ Trademarked names are the property of the respective owners │ └─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ [End]